by Thorne, Elle
Whew.
Alexa unzipped the dress, struggling to do something she’d normally need help with. It didn’t help when she heard the soft whisper of fabric tearing as she reached the last stage of the zipper’s teeth parting the fabric.
She threw the dress in the corner. That damned thing needs to be burned after that ordeal.
Grabbing a pair of black slacks and a yellow top, she donned them quickly and picked up her toothbrush.
What I should do is brush this messy mop. She grimaced at her reflection in the mirror.
Was it true, what they said about vampires? That they had no reflection?
She had no clue.
Maybe it’s a good thing I can see mine then.
On the nightstand her cell phone vibrated. She darted toward it.
She didn’t recognize number and it wasn’t attached to any of her contacts. Could it be Valencia? She picked it up.
“I miss you already.” A low sexy voice said in her ear, pulling at her core, tugging at her senses, making her want him.
“Reese!” She knew her voice sounded like a teenager’s, and the breathy whisper was because she wasn’t sure if anyone was in hearing range. “I miss you, too.”
“Then open the damned door already.”
She looked across the room at her reflection in the full-sized mirror on the wall.
Fuck it.
She ran to the door and flung it open.
“God, woman. Do I really get a moment alone with you? Without security guys, protective older brothers, or vampires?”
“Hard to believe, isn’t it?”
“I should bond with you before something else gets in the way.”
“It feels like we already are,” she said. Her tigress snarled in agreement.
Maybe he hadn’t noticed or didn’t feel the same reactions she did to his presence?
“It does. But if we did, would it be stronger? More intense?”
God, they seemed so in tune already. Could that possibly become more powerful? Amplified?
“And if we take the time to bond now, woman, maybe I won’t let you out of your room for days.” He pulled her close, lowered his head, cupping her face with gentle hands. “I thought I was going to lose you last night. An eternity spent seeking and dreaming of you, and a damned vampire could have taken that away.”
She leaned her body into his as she leaned her face into his hand.
“I’d have died alongside you.” He pressed his lips along her jawline.
“She said bloodlust happens when you’ve shared blood with a vampire… but the way Leandra acted, seems that may be as bad as death.”
He pushed the neckline of her top down, his lips traveling the column of her neck to the hollow at the base. His lips sought the center of the dip, pressed firmly and he kissed her.
He released a low grunt, his mouth rising to hers. He slipped his tongue between parted lips on her more-than-willing mouth. He reconquered and reclaimed.
To Alexa it felt like the most natural of acts. Like she was in the most wonderful and familiar of territories, and yet a fire of a pleasant sort, very different than the one earlier in Leandra’s cabin.
His hands traveled her back, sliding up and down along the fabric before finally cupping her ass cheeks and pulling her close.
His groan was tortured, borne of eons of waiting it seemed.
He squeezed her flesh, her self-consciousness about her body vanished as she noticed how perfectly it molded to his.
He pulled away his gaze piercing hers. “This is…” he began.
“Yesss,” she released the word in a long exhale. “It is.”
It was as if they could finish one another’s train of thought.
His fingers tangled in her hair. He nibbled on her lips, sucking her bottom one in his mouth. She seized the fabric of the shirt he’d changed into and pulled him closer. His desire evident and pressing against her. Her hips arched into the hardness, her body pulsing for him.
His kiss drove her senseless and breathless. He drank in her moans and whimpers, then pulled away.
“No.” A growl erupted from deep within Alexa.
Her tigress wasn’t having this. She wasn’t about to let Alexa give him a pass. There would be no getting away for the wolf. Things were different. She needed him to fulfill what they’d started and should have had long ago. She’d waited an eternity for this.
The tigress fueled Alexa’s action, pouring kerosene over the fire of her yearning.
She grabbed his shirt, tugged him back. Her arms snaked over his shoulders, around his neck, she brought his head down until his lips met hers. She pressed her tongue against his lips, then slipped it in. She stroked his tongue slowly, tentatively. Was she rushing this?
She intertwined her fingers behind his neck, melting against a firm chest and hard abs. She applied gentle pressure, pushing him slowly toward the bed.
“You’re not in a hurry to get downstairs, I hope.” Reese’s voice was sex-husky, low and imbued with his and his wolf’s desire.
He sat on the bed, raised his hands to hers, took her fingertips and ministered to each, one at a time. Kissing, licking, sucking on them.
Each time he took one of her digits between his lips, he sent shockwaves through her body. Her stomach quivered and her core contracted.
She let out a shaky breath. “I need to be yours.”
“You already are.”
“I need… more.”
“You’re asking me to mark you with our couple bond?”
“I…” Tears pricked the backs of her eyes. The bridge of her nose burned with those same tears. “I am.”
His wolf growled, then Reese said, “You know that only happens when we make love.”
She nodded, afraid her voice would betray her and crack with emotions.
“And you’re okay with that?” A bemused smile tipped the corners of his mouth.
I’ve been more than okay with that for an eternity. “Yes.”
His low groan sent a delicious shiver traveling up her spine, working its way along her nerve endings.
He unbuttoned her top, one breath-holding, lung-burning button at a time, until she stood before him in pants and a bra and goose bumped flesh. Her breasts swelled behind the satin. Her nipples hardened to pebbled peaks.
His nostrils flared.
She scented his desire—musky, sexy, hot, earthy.
The imprint of his hardness pressed against the fabric of his pants made the lump in her throat the Rock of Gibraltar. She ran her hands lightly over his chest and the muscular curves of his triceps and forearms. Her hands drifted downward. She unclasped the button of his jeans. He leaned back, his eyes glued on hers. Their gazes locked, she tugged on the zipper, the ripping sound of it was the only noise in the room, not even their breathing.
She pulled on the pants. He arched his hips, then hooked his thumbs in the elastic of his briefs, releasing his hard, thickness. Alexa let out a little breath—not one of relief, but one of anticipation and eagerness.
He sat up, his shirt hiding part of his erection. With haste, Alexa had the buttons undone and the shirt off her mate.
She ran fingertips over a hard chest with a sprinkling of hair, tracing tiny circles that became ever widening, touching his nipple. His response was instantaneous. His cock jerked in response.
A gleam appeared in his eyes, a yellow glow flared. A claw extended from his finger. He hooked it in the waistband of her pants and ran the length of the out seam until the garment had parted and lay at her feet. Her panties had the same fate, joining her sheared pants on the floor.
He tucked the claw between her breasts and her bra, then raised it. The bra released with a soundless pop, setting creamy mounds free.
Her nipples were on fire with a yearning for his touch. He leaned forward, taking one burning nipple in his mouth. He sucked on it, drawing on it with such force the pain was an exquisite pleasure. Alexa leaned into him, her hands in his hair, pulling him
closer while a moisture pooled with every flex of her core muscles.
He pulled her onto his lap, having her straddle him, her folds opening for his viewing pleasure. Placing a hand on her inner thighs, he spread her legs until she was completely exposed. The air cool on her moist folds.
His fingers trailed along the outside of her nether lips, skimming the inner area, then barely touching the trimmed triangle. Up and down, he skimmed her sensitive skin, not touching her where she needed him most.
“Reese.” His name was a request, a demand, an order, an ultimatum. “Please. Now.”
The words were a command, the tone was tortured.
He plunged two fingers into her and she opened her mouth to scream. Hand behind her head, he pulled her in with preternatural swiftness, capturing any sound she was about to make.
She squeezed his shoulder, her tigress coming out as her claws extended and scored his flesh.
He didn’t relent, his fingers stroked over and over while a primal burst exploded in her head, setting off starbursts of fireworks behind her closed lids.
“I want you,” he murmured against her neck. His breath heating her flesh, his stubble a bristle reminder of his maleness. His lips latched on her nipple just as a second climax hit her.
Palming her ass, he adjusted their bodies, lifting her, his length against her wetness, then he pushed her back, aligned his hardness and dropped her onto his shaft. She gasped at the excruciatingly delightful way he filled her, pressing against every bit of her quivering pussy.
Alexa wrapped her legs around him, pulling him deeper. Her tigress mewled, the sound coming from Alexa’s lips, giving her pause, surprised her tigress’s passion had erupted from her mouth.
“Fuckkkk.” He rotated his hips, thrusting into her hard and fast. “You feel so damned good. Just like I rememb—”
Her eyes flew open. She remembered too. She remembered now, his wolf, her tigress, they’d been one. A sob escaped her.
“We’re together now.”
She shook her head in confusion. She didn’t understand…
Alexa didn’t dwell on it for long, his lips seized hers in a kiss that shoved everything away, leaving just the two of them. He pumped in and out of her, plunging deep. A climax began to build, waves of heat pulsing through her body.
A quivering wave turned into a series of muscle spasms as her body grew tight around him and his cock swelled.
A rumble started in his chest, building into a roar their kiss contained. She knew the moment he was going to come undone.
She tore her lips from his. “Bond me, Reese.”
Reese didn’t need to be asked again. He sunk his teeth into the soft flesh at the base of her neck where it curved into her shoulder.
Ecstasy and agony merged at the juncture where he’d bitten her. His lips closed over the wound, sealing it. Another orgasm exploded within her while he released his passion in hot spurts.
He licked the wound while her shifter healing powers healed it.
She collapsed against his body. Reese held her close, their hearts beating with the same pulse.
Moments later, Alexa rained tiny kisses on the corner of his lip, his jaw, his chin, his neck.
Reese took her by the shoulders and held her so he could look in her eyes. “You’re going to make it so we can’t go downstairs to brunch.”
Puzzled, she studied his face. “Food? You think I’m concerned with food right now?”
“I’d think you’d be concerned about your brother walking in on us. We got lucky the first time.”
Her face flared with heat, she was sure a blush had darkened her cheeks. “I suppose you’re right. I don’t think I’d appreciate Lézare catching us. Anyway, Maylene said he’d found someone. Maybe my brother will finally take a mate.”
“I’d say he has. I saw them together as I walked up. Unlike you, I didn’t sneak in the back.” He gave her a wink.
Alexa playfully struck his arm. “It’s all your fault.” She turned toward the mirror and reached for the long-forgotten hair brush.
“Oh, sure. Because that’s what I want my woman doing, attacking vampires. Yeah, right.” He smacked her ass with an open palm.
She whirled and turned on him, wielding the brush like a weapon, the smile quick and easy on her face.
It did feel like they’d been together forever.
He tugged on the brush, pulling her into his chest with a crash, taking her lips hostage. He twirled her around and tossed her on the bed. “Don’t say you weren’t warned. You’ll just have to meet your brother’s mate Natalya later.”
Alexa froze. Her tigress snarled. “What?” she drew back. “What did you say?”
“About meeting your brother?”
“About his mate. No. There’s no way. That shrew is not good for my brother. What the hell is Lézare thinking?” I’m going to kill him.
Chapter Twenty-One
Reese stared at Alexa’s departing back. A luscious ass attached to a lovely set of hips, on a rampage down the stairs as quickly as she could, acting as if the house were on fire.
He followed her downstairs, hoping she wasn’t going to kill the blonde he’d seen attached to Lézare’s arm, since Lézare seemed genuinely fond of the woman.
He couldn’t even say he was surprised by Alexa’s actions. This was the woman he’d always known she was, even though all he had were dreams of a tigress. She was passionate and loyal and quick to leap to the defense of those she loved.
Alexa reached the bottom of the stairs. “Maylene!”
Maylene was carrying a tray toward the kitchen. She paused and studied Alexa’s face, but didn’t say a word.
“Tell me it’s not true.”
Maylene nodded. “It is.”
“B—bu—but…” She stomped her foot, grinding her heel into the carpeting. “How dare he? How…”
“Lower your voice. The baby’s asleep. I’ve just taken his little momma some brunch.”
Alexa harrumphed. “Where’s Lézare?”
“He’s looking for Evie and Mr. Martinez. They haven’t been seen since yesterday morning.”
“What? He’s gone?”
Reese spied Rory walking in the front door and waved him over. “Where’s Mason? And Evie Arceneaux?”
Rory shrugged. “Where have you been?”
He glanced at Alexa, who stood there, a frown on her face, anger turning to concern.
Rory opened his mouth in an O. “Really?”
Reese nodded.
Oh, boy, Rory mouthed then shook his head.
“Does Lézare think something’s wrong with Evie?”
“All’s I know is he and Ms. Natalya left for New Orleans. He said to go ahead with the brunch if you wanted.”
“If I wanted?” Alexa turned to Reese. “Maybe we should help him find Evie?”
Reese nodded. “Sure.” He turned to Rory. “You want to take care of things at home while I head to New Orleans?”
So much for the underground fighting ring, but right now, finding Alexa’s sister is more important.
Though he did wonder if this was some sort of sulking histrionic on Evie’s part. He’d overheard several conversations between the Tiero tigresses the night before.
A sound caught Reese’s attention.
Rory raised his head—he heard it. too.
Then Alexa.
“A car’s approaching! It’s probably Lézare with Evie.” Alexa’s voice had a hopeful note.
Let’s hope.
Reese could then grab his newly bonded mate and go to Houston for some quality, drama-free time.
Reese followed behind Alexa, his brother Rory next to him.
“Interesting weekend,” Rory said.
“I’ll say.” You have no idea, little bro. And with any luck, no one would ever find out all that had transpired.
A red little sports car pulled up.
“Valencia!” Alexa squealed her sister’s name.
For fuck’s sake, it’s ab
out time, Reese thought.
A curvy redhead stepped out of the tiny car. More like she ejected herself with the speed of a fireball.
“Alexa!” The newcomer flashed even white teeth, and jumped to the first marble step.
She froze. Looked at Reese, her mouth dropping open. Then her gaze flew to Rory. A gasp, nostrils flaring, eyes dilating—
She shut down as if someone had disconnected her from a power source.
Totally off. No emotion. Nothing.
Reese glanced at Rory. Was it him she’d reacted to?
Why?
Rory’s eyes narrowed to slits.
Reese could sense his brother’s pulse had quickened.
“Hey.” Reese nudged Rory with his elbow. “You know her?”
“Who?” Rory slipped his sunglasses on.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Alexa contained her fury with her sister. Valencia was here! And in one piece.
At least one thing is going right, because the shit’s hit the fan where Lézare’s concerned. And now Evie’s run off…
Valencia lifted one suede booted foot, then stopped midair. A tiny gasp escaped lips that were fuller than Alexa’s. Eyes a darker green than Evie’s widened.
Valencia swayed the tiniest bit. Alexa put a steadying hand on her sister’s shoulder.
“What’s wrong?”
Valencia glanced away. “Nothing.”
“Something,” Alexa countered.
But Valencia wouldn’t raise her gaze from the ground. “No. But I need to go.”
“Go?” Alexa squeezed her shoulder. “You just got here.”
Alexa turned to Reese. Maybe he could provide reinforcements, help, something, somehow.
Reese was staring at his brother.
Rory had gone pale, sunglasses hiding his eyes but his stare was fixed in Valencia’s direction.
“Valencia. I want you to meet Reese. He’s…”
God, am I really going to break the news like this?
Then again, isn’t that more or less what Lézare did? Nothing formal, he simply did what made him happy, and she had to hear it from others.
Maybe we’re more alike than I thought.
She smiled at her mate. “Reese.”
