by Emma Dean
The whole world could hear his growl of approval and she didn’t give one single shit.
Kenzie kissed him again, slower this time. She enjoyed the spicy taste of him with a hint of rice whiskey on his breath. She was so lost in him she hadn’t even realized they were moving until he was walking up the stairs.
Yes, she’d wanted this for so long.
A flutter in her belly made her pull back and study him. Hunter let her, holding her gaze as he navigated the house from memory alone.
Despite how much she wanted him she was still nervous as hell. What was this going to be like? Was their connection going to make this easier, or was it going to be awkward before it was going to be good?
Then they were in his room and he closed the door behind them with a kick.
“I accept the mate bond, Kenzie Kavanagh.” The words were quiet but strong. Hunter was sure.
And it settled into place like a heavy jacket in the biting cold. Welcome and warm and exactly what she needed. Kenzie sighed as it wrapped around her.
“I accept the mate bond, Hunter Wilson,” she whispered.
His grip on her tightened and she knew he could feel it too.
For a moment they just stared at each other as they adjusted to this new reality.
Even though she’d understood Hunter for the most part before, this bond opened him up to her completely. Kenzie sensed that she could hop right into his head if she wanted. What would she see there?
Then he laid her on his bed and she kicked off her flats, feeling nervous again.
“Don’t worry,” Hunter murmured, slipping out of his boots. “We’ll take things slow. It’s been a while for me.”
For some reason that made Kenzie feel better. And he could sense her emotions. So she focused on his while he slipped off his socks.
He wasn’t nervous exactly. Hunter wasn’t even apprehensive. She could feel he was all in and that settled some of her own nerves. But her emotions seemed to be making him uncomfortable. Hunter wouldn’t stop staring at her.
“Is everything okay?” she asked, reaching for him.
Taking her hand he tilted his head and considered her words. Kenzie tugged him forward and then reached for his belt. Hunter’s eyes widened but he didn’t stop her.
“Everything is good,” he told her. “It’s simply an adjustment. I’ve never felt so much at one time before. Not like this. I usually compartmentalize, but I don’t want to do that with you.”
“You will eventually,” she told him, unzipping his pants. “It becomes instinct. I don’t feel Finnick and Ash right now, but they’re there in the back of my mind. If I wanted to I could check in on them and see how they’re doing. The only time I don’t have control over what I sense is when the emotion is strong. Like fear, or…intense desire.”
Saying it out loud made her blush, but Kenzie didn’t stop. She’d wanted Hunter for a while now and she was going to take her prize. Sliding his pants down she looked up at him, extremely aware of how his hard dick was pointed right at her.
“Right now, Kenzie, I refuse to give up what I can sense from you.” Hunter gripped her chin and Kenzie squeezed her thighs together as his touch washed through her in a tingling wave. “Now…I want you in your underwear. Strip for me.”
The demand made her wet and Kenzie wanted nothing more than to take him in her mouth, but it made sense to take off her clothes first. Because when she did make him lose control it would be one less step.
So she unbuttoned the blouse, leaving it on but open to show that she wasn’t wearing a bra. The pants were next. The black lace piece of nothing and whatever Hunter could scent made his pupils dilate and she could feel his desire spike hard.
It was enough she nearly laid back and begged him to take her. But that could wait.
Kenzie yanked down his boxer-briefs and wrapped her hand around the base of his dick. Then she wrapped her lips around him, taking Hunter as deep as she could before sucking.
The way he groaned and thrust into her mouth gently had her closing her eyes in pleasure and triumph. Kenzie worked him, taking in his length and girth as she did so.
What would it be like when he finally took her?
She sucked harder, taking him deep. Kenzie wanted him inside her now, but she wanted him to beg her first.
“Stop,” he growled, gripping her hair and yanking back.
Kenzie did, but only for a moment so she could smile up at him. “Why do you want me to stop?” She pulled him into her mouth again, licking and sucking, fingers working his base and then…
This growl was less dominating. There was a tinge of pain to it as he pushed her away. Her back hit the mattress and Hunter ripped off his shirt, eyes blazing gold. “I want you to stop that,” he panted. “Because I want to make you scream first.”
Her entire body shuddered at the dark promise in his words. Yes, she wanted whatever he had in mind and more.
“You don’t need this,” he told her, ripping the panties away with barely a thought. That was when Kenzie noticed the tips of his fingers were claws.
He was on the brink of losing control.
She smiled and lifted a shoulder so the silk shirt fell off, exposing her breast. “What about this?”
His fingers wrapped around her thighs and Hunter’s grip was hard enough to bruise. “I like that shirt too much to rip it off,” he said, voice guttural and deep. It was barely human. “If you want to remove it that’s up to you.”
Hunter bent down and shoved her knees apart to make room, taking her exposed nipple into his mouth at the same time.
Kenzie gasped, arching up into him – every part of her wanted to be touching him.
She wasn’t expecting the sharp canines but the sensation made her desperate. Her hands gripped him, nails digging into his skin, trying to force him closer.
Then he bit her.
It was the most intense combination of pain and pleasure she’d ever experienced. Kenzie could even smell her blood on the air as she let out a little shriek. She was so wet she was dripping.
“Hunter, enough,” she growled, rubbing against him.
Her slickness made him slide right over her folds and her clit. Kenzie groaned as he licked the aggressive love bite leisurely. She angled her hips so the head of his cock was right against her entrance.
A little wiggle and he’d slide right in. But she wanted him to take her.
Hunter looked up, staring deep into her eyes as he leaned forward and licked her lips. “Enough? But I was just getting started.”
Her hips bucked and he slid in just an inch. Kenzie couldn’t help it, not when her mind was racing with everything he could possibly mean by that. “Maybe next time.” Even though he was barely inside she was already pulsing around him – so fucking worked up thanks to weeks of teasing and taunting.
He didn’t look away, or even blink as he nodded in agreement. Hunter slid in gently, slowly, taking his sweet fucking time.
It felt like forever before his hips finally met hers.
And he was so fucking gentle about it. Kenzie could hardly believe this was how Hunter was in bed, but then the skin right above her nipple stung in reminder. Well, he wasn’t exactly gentle all the time.
Never knowing what to expect from him had been what had sucked her into his charm in the first place and it seemed like that was what still turned her on. Hunter lay nestled between her legs, hilt deep as he stared into her eyes.
“Kenzie,” he sighed, brushing her hair back. He studied her in the moonlit room; neither of them had even bothered with lights. It didn’t matter when they could see in the dark – when he looked so mysterious and gorgeous in the silver glow of the moon.
Like Artemis herself had blessed him.
“Yes?”
“I claim you,” he whispered, kissing her softly.
Then he started moving inside her, sliding out slowly only to press back in, even slower.
It didn’t matter how hard she dug her nails into his
ass, or that she pressed up against him. Hunter was a thousand times stronger than her and he was taking this at the pace he wanted to take it.
And he obviously wanted to torture her.
“Hunter,” she finally begged, writhing beneath him. “Please.”
“Please what?” he asked with that wicked smile that reminded her so much of Finnick.
“I need you,” she whispered, moving her hands to his face. It was so easy to hold his gaze, to run her thumb across his cheekbone. Being this close to him wasn’t as weird as she’d worried it would be. No, it was perfect – more right than anything else they’d done together.
“I want you to scream,” he growled, but he picked up his pace.
She was right on the edge. Her grip tightened and Kenzie gasped at the feeling of him stretching her, forcing her to make room for him. She couldn’t look away from his golden eyes as he took her hard – exactly like she wanted.
He thrust inside her; Hunter ground against her clit, sending her right over the edge so hard she saw stars.
Kenzie’s head flew back and she screamed for him as the sensation ripped through her.
Somehow, even though she’d won, Kenzie felt like Hunter had still gotten exactly what he wanted and then some.
Chapter Sixteen
Kenzie
Kenzie heard the shower start and she blinked a few times, trying to get the sleep out of her eyes. She must have fallen asleep at some point. And Hunter was a snuggler after sex. Who fucking knew?
She’d laid with her head on his chest and his arm around her after, just absorbing everything and taking it all in. Hunter had said nothing of course. He’d simply run his fingers over her arm again and again.
It had made her drowsy and content. Kenzie had drifted off thanks to the orgasm, the whiskey, and the way she just felt safe with Hunter.
But now she was alone in the bed, and Hunter had to be showering. Kenzie reached for her phone and then realized she didn’t have it with her. Hunter’s phone was still on his nightstand though. She rolled over and snatched it to see what time it was.
Wow. It was barely nine in the evening. How bizarre. And where was everyone else?
Kenzie glanced at the texts on his home screen. It was locked and the messages didn’t display anything but the names. A few from Finnick, one from Ash, and one from Jace. Or so she assumed. There wasn’t a name on that one, but it had a raccoon emoji with #1 next to it.
She couldn’t help but smile as she looked at the way he’d individualized his contacts. Finnick had a bomb next to the letter ‘F’ and Ash had a male mermaid. Kenzie didn’t even bother trying to decipher that one.
Tossing his phone back on the nightstand, she decided if they could text then they were still alive.
So she sat up and stretched, rolling her head from side to side.
Kenzie wanted to join Hunter.
She grinned and threw back the blanket. Three long strides and she was in the bathroom. Part of her had thought he might lock the door, but he hadn’t. Somehow even though they’d just had sex she still felt…shy with him.
There was really no other word she could think of. It was different being physically close with Hunter. Kenzie would definitely say they were friends, but this was that weird, awkward middle part where they had to relearn who they were, together.
“Can I join?” Kenzie asked, admiring the silhouette of Hunter through the glass.
“If you think it’s worth the risk,” he told her, sliding open the door. “After all, this is a boy’s bathroom.”
Her jaw dropped. “Are you teasing me about last time?”
Hunter gave her that panty-dropping half smile of his. “Maybe. Are you going to get in or not? Your indecision is letting all the cold air in.”
She snorted and stepped into the shower. Hunter closed the door behind her and suddenly it was just the two of them in a world of steam and water and black tile. Then Kenzie saw there was something that didn’t quite fit in with his ‘bad boy billionaire’ décor.
“Are those my soaps?” she asked, bending down to pick up the body wash you could only get at one store in San Francisco. “Did you take them from my bathroom when I wasn’t looking?”
“No.” Hunter grabbed her shampoo, giving her a delicious eyeful. “That would be rude. I bought duplicates so we could have them in both bathrooms since you were insistent on your own the last time I invited you into my shower. Remember, you always have a choice, Kenzie.”
Why did that make her want to squeal like a fifteen-year-old girl? Kenzie smiled when he turned her around and began washing her hair. “You’re such a stalker.”
She could hear the amusement in his voice when he said, “Some find it endearing. Isn’t it called ‘paying attention’?”
Kenzie groaned when he started massaging her scalp, lathering the soap in her hair like a pro. “You know, I thought you would be bad at this kind of stuff,” she confessed.
“But not the sex?”
It was hard not to laugh. “Definitely not the sex,” she told him. “I meant the normal stuff.”
Hunter pulled her into the water and started washing the soap out of her hair. “I’m glad I’m not bad at the sex,” he said – completely serious. “I haven’t had any complaints, but I also haven’t cared this much before.”
She turned and wrapped her arms around his neck, appreciating the smallest concessions he made for her. Hunter talked to her, he was there for her whenever she needed him, and she knew without a shadow of a doubt that he would do anything to keep her safe – to protect her.
Some small part of Kenzie was terrified at what he would do to make sure of that, but the other part knew Hunter wasn’t stupid. It would be very hard to kill him.
“Hey, are you two fucking?” Finnick asked, barging into the bathroom.
Hunter just sighed, but he didn’t release her either. “Some of us bathe, you heathen.”
The shower door slid open to reveal Finnick’s cocky grin and bright red hair. “You accepted the bond,” he said in a sing song voice. Then he saw the bite mark on her breast. “Hey! You didn’t claim her did you?”
The alpha fox just gave Finnick a lazy grin and Kenzie hid her smile in Hunter’s shoulder. “You and Ash got to be first at everything else,” Hunter stated. “So I took this one thing. You have a problem with that?”
Finnick grumbled but didn’t say anything else on the matter. “So—”
“You’re letting all the cold air in, get in or get out,” Hunter interrupted. Then he reached for Kenzie’s conditioner.
Oh Fates, if Finnick took him up on this offer…was she finally going to get what she wanted?
Then Finnick’s smile widened and Kenzie felt that predator side of him focus – razor sharp. “Well, since you invited me in.” He went to go close the bathroom door and Kenzie’s eyes widened when Ash’s hand stopped the door from closing completely.
“Does that offer extend to all parties?” Ash asked, looking from Finnick to Hunter, and then Kenzie. She drowned in his hungry gaze.
“Foxes only,” Hunter said with a nod. Then he started working the conditioner into her hair.
Kenzie had never felt more exposed in her entire life than she did in this moment – naked in the shower with Hunter, and then Ash and Finnick practically begging to join. Did she feel like this because of how nonchalant Hunter was about it?
Maybe, but it was hard to tell when she was also vibrating with need.
“I’m not a fox,” she finally managed as she watched Ash close the door behind him.
Finnick kicked off his nice leather shoes that she’d never guessed he’d own – but he also owned a suit to die for.
Hunter’s fingers on her scalp were relaxing and she leaned into his touch, not caring what he could sense from her anymore. “And I never will be,” she murmured. “Even with the claiming mark. Purebred witches can’t become shifters.”
Finnick sat on the toilet and pulled off his socks. “You don’t
have to be able to turn into an actual fox to be one, Kenzie.”
“Agreed.” Ash pulled off his shirt in one smooth motion and then tossed it into the corner of the bathroom. “You’re crafty, sly, and full of trouble.”
“Definitely,” Hunter murmured, tilting her head back so he could wash out the conditioner. “After all, you were the one stealing from the Alpha of the West Coast Pride when we first met. We were just stealing from you.”
That made her laugh. Kenzie couldn’t argue with him there.
“So how did the hearing go?” Kenzie asked, unable to rip her eyes off of Finnick and Ash efficiently stripping down to nothing but their skin. The feel of Hunter behind her and his hardening dick poking her ass made her wet as hell all over again.
Finnick grinned and stood to unbuckle his pants. “Well, we didn’t put Brad away for life. But we certainly proved without a shadow of a doubt that he’d paid off the victims for something. The court couldn’t decide on what exactly since the testimonies were years old. But what Hunter found out about hiding evidence for clients? Brad managed to pawn that off onto lawyers underneath him – claiming he knew nothing.”
“But clients are already leaving,” Ash added. “The firm is being liquidated as we speak and the victims are getting paid off. Some chose to live their lives under their true names. The rest were sent off with the raccoons to get started on their new identities.”
Then they were both naked and coming into the shower.
Kenzie felt like she could barely breathe.
Finnick didn’t immediately reach for her like she thought he would. Instead he reached down and grabbed her soap. Slowly he lathered it in his hands before finally putting them on her.
Ash…Ash was doing the same for Hunter.
Her legs turned to liquid and it felt like her entire body was on fire as she watched Hunter sigh with relief, letting his head fall back against Ash’s chest.
She’d been living here for over a month now and Kenzie had never seen them so familiar with each other. Well, not Hunter. Finnick and Ash weren’t gay, but they definitely weren’t straight either. She had given them carte blanche to do whatever they wanted with each other weeks ago after watching Ash suck Finnick off for the first time.
