by Nova Carlyle
“Okay.” She took in a deep breath. “You want me to claim you right now, without any fanfare of any sort. And I can’t bring myself to do that because it would hurt. There wouldn’t be any pleasure in it for you.”
“That’s not entirely true.” The pillow moved enough that his craggy jaw, lower lip and the dark space of his mouth was visible. “The pleasure would be in the result of the bite. My mate.”
“Yes. But, if everything I’ve heard can be trusted to be true, a bite in the right circumstances can be a form of ecstasy all on its own. I’d rather give you that experience.”
A hot breath escaped him and he shifted on the bed. “Pleasure frightens me,” he admitted in a low, tight voice.
Her heart swelled into her throat and she brushed a kiss over his knuckles. “Bryce. If I asked you to bite me—right now—would you do that knowing it would hurt?”
The revulsion curling at what little she could see if his mouth was her only answer.
“What would you do instead? How would you make it pleasurable for me?”
“Clementine—” he shifted on the bed. “I—I don’t know. Maybe—maybe I’d kiss you?”
“I’d like that.” Letting go of his hand, she instead reached for his face, watching him carefully as she rubbed her thumb ever so carefully over his bottom lip. “Here?”
His reaction to her little experiment was to lick his lips as if chasing after the feel of her touch. “Yeah.”
“And, maybe…” she ran her fingertips lovingly down the column of his throat. “Here?”
His chest rose and fell with every jerking breath. “Yes, there.”
“And, would you put your mouth here on me?” She captured his nipple through his shirt and rolled it with a soft squeeze. “Would you make me feel good, Bryce?”
He arched violently, twisting into her touch. “Yes,” he gasped. “I want to make you feel so good.”
Clementine deftly undid the row of buttons, parting his shirt before Bryce could twitch away or stop her. Then she leaned over him and slipped her mouth over the same nipple she’d squeezed, sucking on it with careful pressure. Bryce bucked, but quickly stilled. His body was drawn so tight she could feel the strain even through the gentle hold of her mouth on him.
“Would you kiss my other breast?” She whispered against his skin.
He nodded and she gave the same suckling caress to the other side of his chest. When she lifted, his free hand was white knuckling a railing on the headboard.
“The thought of you kissing me there makes me feel so good already, Bryce.” And it did. She clamped her legs together, wishing he understood just how sexy the idea of his mouth anywhere on her body was. “Is there anywhere else you’d kiss me?”
He moaned her name, but he uncurled his fingers one by one and shakily drew his hand down. Silently, he touched his stomach.
Clementine kissed him there. Then scratched her teeth along the narrow center of his six pack until she reached his belly button. Dipping her tongue into it, she relished the harsh cry he gave. The pillow still covered his face, but now he clutched it with both hands like a life line.
“Maybe,” she said, running her finger down the thick press of his erection behind his jeans. “Maybe you’d take my pants off? And maybe you’d want to kiss me here?”
His hips thrust against her touch and he brokenly cried out her name. Heat clenched low and tight through her middle. Her fingers shook as she undid the snap and eased down his zipper. Bryce quivered, his breath sobbing in his chest. Clementine unconsciously matched his rapid breath, her pulse kicking high in her ears. Hooking her fingers into the top of his boxers, she drew both them and his jeans down the long, long line of his legs, letting them fall forgotten to the floor.
On her knees, she eased back up towards him. Blood poured from where he’d bitten his bottom lip, but now, his eyes glittered at her from the shadows under the white pillow. His hips rolled, his every breath was harsh and wild. Her mouth watered at the desperation carved into his expression. This was how she wanted him—needy and focused on her and only her.
She turned at his side and angled her ass towards him as she leaned up over his body.
“I’m going to kiss you here.” She cupped his heavy sack and gave a quick, deep stroke along the length of him. “And while I do, I’m going to touch myself here.” Watching him from over her shoulder, she dipped her fingers between her legs.
Bryce’s canines doubled in size, bursting from the sides of his mouth. He panted around them. The heavy ache in her body doubled at the sight of them and she bit back a moan.
Pillow forgotten, he leaned up on his elbows. “Show me,” he begged. “Please.”
Clementine eased down and licked up the length of him. Bryce’s legs twitched on the bed and went rigid when she slipped her mouth over the tip of his erection. She eased him in as deep as she could, her hand squeezing and twisting on what she couldn’t, pulling down moisture from where her mouth fervently worked. Bryce growled weakly and the sound was all pleasure.
Arousal flushed over her skin, tightening it to a painful ache. She rubbed her clit, her hips circling and searching for a release she so badly needed.
“Clementine.” Bryce’s hot gasp only deepened the hollow feeling expanding up through her pelvis. She pushed her fingers inside and her tight walls clamped and pulled on them but it wasn’t enough. With a frustrated mewl, she clenched him tighter with her fist and hollowed her mouth.
He cursed and covered her ass with a heavy palm. Fingers biting into the thick flesh, he pulled to the side, as if giving himself a better view. Bryce’s hips started to move to the same frantic rhythm of her fingers.
As much as it pained her, she dropped her hands away from her slick skin and slowed the movement of her mouth over him.
Bryce cursed again, his hips thrusting uselessly. Clementine looked over her shoulder and met his blistering gaze. She wiggled her ass in silent demand.
Slowly, the hand squeezing the plump of her cheek released its hold and she felt the blunt probe of his fingers where her own had just been.
She smiled and Bryce swallowed hard, tearing his eyes away to watch his hand move on her body. He pressed his finger in as if testing her, but it was too slow, too careful. Clementine pushed back, taking him deeper and he groaned.
Pleased with both of them, she moved her mouth back to him, pumping him with her fist as she licked to her hearts content.
“Fuck.” He thrust into her again then added another finger. “Clementine. So good.”
She rocked against him. “Do you want to be inside me?”
“God, yes. Now.”
She didn’t get a chance to respond, Bryce sat up and lifted her, turning her around before setting her over his lap.
And it wasn’t the heat of lust in blazing in his eyes that had her heart shimmying up her throat, it was the smile of wonder that had transformed his hard mouth.
Clementine caught his jaw, catching his lips in a first kiss. Bryce’s lashes fluttered and he leaned into her.
“Mate,” he murmured.
She nodded and then eyes locked on his, she sank down, taking him inside of her. Her nerve endings rejoiced with a sticky sweetness that filled the air.
Bryce’s hands dug into her thighs, jerkily tugging her, trying to move her. Clementine followed his lead, bouncing hard and heavy. Suddenly, he couldn’t stop touching her. Gripping her breasts, squeezing them, her sides, her waist, rubbing around to squeeze her ass cheeks and then up to stroke her throat, he touched her with nothing but adoration and need. Then just as quickly, he clamped her hips into place, holding her still while he gave a few practice pumps into her, bringing his mouth to suckle on her nipple.
She purred her pleasure. Fisting his hair, she pulled his mouth to her neck. “Bite,” she commanded. “Claim me, mate.”
It happened instantly. His teeth broke her skin, the snap of it forcing a spray of lightening down through her body. The white hot heat was all she
could see, all she could feel as her body clenched into tight oblivion.
But Bryce still panted, still palmed her, still worked under her with a bruising need. Arms heavy but heart and soul light with the weight of her love, she pushed her hands through his hair again and guided his head to the side.
“Tell me, Bryce.”
“Bite. Now.”
She did. His taste exploded over her tongue and she moaned her pleasure. His fingers dug into her hips and he pumped into her, his seed spilling into her body. Slowly his strained tension subsided, leaving him lax and winded. Clementine tucked his head to the other side and brought her mouth to his neck and bit down again—leaving a second mark on his skin.
“Clementine!” He groaned heavily. His cock twitched inside of her and he thrusted his hips weakly.
“Two bites. So you’ll never doubt that you’re mine and I choose you and you’re stuck with me for always.”
Bryce collapsed backwards, blood running down onto his bed sheets.
“Hmm.” She tucked her hair behind an ear. “Well, that’s technically three things. So that should be three bites, right?”
He pressed a finger over her mouth when she leaned towards him. His laugh was husky and raw. “Two on me, one on you. That’s three.”
She kissed his finger and tugged it down so she could burrow into his arms. He grunted and tugged her against him, pressing his mouth to the top of her head.
“I feel like I could hibernate into next spring.” She yawned, the slight smattering of hair on his chest tickled against her jaw and she liked it so she nuzzled deeper into it. “But I also want a round two with you and more food and a round three after that.”
His chest rumbled with an appreciative sound.
Quiet settled over them and Bryce’s breathing slowed so much that Clementine smiled. She tilted her chin, watching him sleep. Nothing she ever did would change the sharp edges of his face, Bryce would always look fierce and angry without even trying. It was a gift she was only slightly jealous of. But Clementine had managed to change the one thing that mattered.
She touched his mouth where a crooked smile lingered.
Her mate was happy now and the knowledge that she’d given him that was empowering. She understood her own worth now—beyond just a pretty face. She was the one person in the entire world who could give this man the love and life he so desperately deserved and needed.
Pure joy squeezed her chest tight and she decided three minutes was a long enough nap. So she kissed her way down his body, waking him up the best way she knew how. Bryce stuttered her name with sleepy delight and Clementine decided that three rounds would have to change to four.
Six
“Are we taking your bike again?” Clementine accepted her sword from Bryce and he turned to lock the door.
“Truck today.” He glanced over his shoulder, his green eyes were bright in the early morning light. Although new shades sat in his shirt collar, he’d agreed to leave them off while it was just the two of them. “You need to be able to drive and get away should things go wrong today.”
Her nose bunched at the thought. There was no doubt in her mind that she could handle the exhole. But she had to protect more than herself now—she had to protect Bryce too. The thought of something going wrong no longer filled her mind with images of Grant hurting her—but of hurting her mate.
Mistaking her silence, he slipped his arm around her waist, his movements still a little hesitant but full of affection. “Let’s meet up with Rae at the Agency and then dispatch the exhole. After that, I’ll make it up to you and we’ll go shopping for your very own motorcycle.”
She bounced on her toes. “I want one that’s purple and sparkly.” Oh, she’d make that bike look good. And later, once she’d fully grown her ass back out, she’d make leather chaps look real, real fucking good.
Grinning to herself, she didn’t notice Bryce’s sudden tension until the slack in their arms tugged her back to his side.
“What’s wrong?” She asked, following his gaze around to the front yard. Bright coral feathers decorated the lawn. “Huh. Looks like someone killed Big Bird’s cousin. Shame, it’s such a pretty color. It reminds me of the robe I gave Teddy—”
Her heart stopped and she was dimly aware of Bryce slinging his arms under her shoulders to hold her up.
“Deep breaths, mate. Steady, now.”
“He’s got Teddy!” The shrill edge to her voice cut her vocal folds, but she pushed past the pain. “That fucking bastard took my dad!” She clutched at her sword, but even the weight of it couldn’t bring a feeling of power back. Grant had her daddy. He had one third of her entire world at his mercy and there wasn’t a fucking thing she could do to end the nightmare and wake up right then and there.
“Clementine.” Bryce tucked her up against his side and she let him hold her, let him support her while she reeled in pain. He lifted his phone to his ear, pinning in place with a shoulder before returning that hand to once again soothe along her back.
“Rae!” He barked. “Grant took Teddy—”
Her shifter hearing heard Rae’s response, but she was talking too fast and Clementine was too stunned to follow. It was Bryce who filled her in once he shoved his phone away and swiftly guided her up into the truck. He tucked her sword behind her seat and then buckled her in.
“Charlie is fine. Grant nabbed Teddy when he slipped out of the hotel to grab coffee. I take it he frequents the Black Bean café often?”
“Almost daily,” she replied in a voice still not quite her own.
“Any other case, I’d say Grant was going to use Teddy as ransom.” Even with her sitting in his truck, he was still taller than her and he filled her vision. The puckered pink marks of her bites teased at the edge of his shirt collar, bringing a bit of gravity to her body and pulling her back down from outer space. Her focus sharpened and dissolved the black at the edge of her consciousness. Bryce continued gruffly. “The feathers tell me that Grant’s trying to bait you and lure you out.”
“But why?”
“Well. Because he’s a dick, Clementine. You proved to him you could outwit him and escape his trap. So he has to one up you now and prove he can hurt you.”
“He’s not just a dick. He’s a prick. That’s the worst kind of dick.” She scrubbed her face, searching for the buzz of little sleep and great sex energy that she’d woken with. “What am I going to do?”
“You’re going to use that sword and kick his ass.”
Clementine laughed. His confidence in her pumped a fresh wave of adrenaline through her. She nodded firmly. “Okay.”
“And then you’re going to turn him over to the wolverines.”
“Wait, I’m going to do what now?”
Her question went unanswered for the short time it took for him to cross around the truck and climb into his seat. She stared at him expectantly.
“Instead of trying to track down the exhole, Rae brokered a deal with the wolverines last night. They get Grant and in exchange, they leave you the hell alone.” She started to protest but he held a finger up. “And they don’t care if you poke him a bit with the sword first.”
She pumped her fist. “Alright! So now we just need to find him.”
“Already done. The wolverines found him. They’re telling us where he is in exchange for getting a chance to watch you kick his ass.”
Clementine blinked. “I’m dreaming, aren’t I?”
Bryce chuckled and guided her hand to his mouth. He pressed a kiss to her palm and her insides melted through to the floorboards. “I’m going to get so turned on watching you and your sword. I hope that’s not a problem.”
“Oh, it’s a big problem. Huge. One that I will give my full attention to as soon as Teddy is safe.”
“You leave Teddy to me. You focus on Grant and Grant alone. Everyone else is my problem, okay?”
Instead of answering his question, she grinned out at the pink of dawn kissing the tops of the trees. “We make a gr
eat team.”
“We do.”
“We’re going to have some badass kids.”
The truck swerved a fraction over the centerline but only because Bryce was looking at her like she was the single most wonderful thing in the world. And wasn’t it delightful to know that for him? She totally was.
The exhole had little imagination when it came to secret hideouts. A private airstrip sat on the outskirt of town and couldn’t have been used in over a decade for its intended purpose. The asphalt was a shattered background for the jungle of weeds growing through every crack. The old airplane hangar stood like a toothless architectural zombie. Rust poured from its eaves, as red as blood and just as disturbingly macabre. Several metal sheets were missing and the gaping holes sat black and lifeless. So imaginative, no, but Clementine had to give him credit. It certainly had mood.
Bryce said something as they approached the gate, but Clementine couldn’t make it out. The giant monster truck in front of them made a stupid amount of noise as its big fat tires ate up the ground. She shot it another lusty look. If it hadn’t of been the big stinky wolverines driving it—and their predatory aversion to Bryce even with his shades back on—she’d have wanted to ride in it.
The padlocked gate was getting closer. The wolverines sped up and their truck blew through the fence like a breeze through a dandelion.
Clementine leaned towards Bryce and yelled. “So maybe we should have one of those trucks someday?”
He laughed. “Whatever you want, pretty girl.” His foot hit the gas, keeping pace with the monster truck as they cruised down the deserted strip before screeching to a lurching halt in front of the hangar.
Immediately wolverines from the monster truck and those who’d followed further back in ancient Broncos and old military Humvees swarmed around the outside of the building.
Clementine jumped out of Bryce’s truck and pulled her sword out, letting the sunshine kiss the blade. Bryce caught her hand and tugged her along. He held another sword in his other hand. Rae and Nico were already yanking one of the hangar’s oversized doors down the rusted slide.
