by K. F. Breene
I felt his presence come up behind me, then around, sitting next to me on the stone bench. I leaned into his great, muscled shoulder, feeling solidity and strength.
“I just had a very…interesting meeting,” he started, roping an equally great arm around my shoulders.
I closed my eyes as a delicate wind caressed my face in passing. The night sky had lightened, swishing its metaphorical cape to olé the daylight through. The familiar magic soaked into my skin, my chest and limbs warming.
“Hmm,” Stefan said, squeezing me. He could feel it as I could. However his special gift worked, it enabled him to share in the feeling, his skin electrifying, as mine did to outsiders. But within our embrace, only pleasure pulsed between our bodies. We sat outside often, sharing the night with each other.
“You are a seer, did you know?” he asked quietly.
“As in, like, a fortune teller?”
“Yes.” He shrugged. “I guess. In full strength a person can see the future before it happens. Can you do that?”
“No. But I do get, like, premonitions. Kind of…I don’t know. Like a directional sense. It’s how I find your secret doors.”
He shook his head. “That sounds like your magic. What about when you battled Jonas? You seemed to move right before he got there…”
I thought back. I’d had a letter opener and a whistle as my only defense to rescue my ex-boyfriend Jared from a sadist named Jonas. Oh, yeah, I remembered. Stefan was right, I had moved just in time.
“I don’t know. Maybe a seer, or maybe my survival instinct, or maybe just female intuition.”
“Apparently female intuition is a mark of a seer. I am led to believe more than a few humans have this trait.”
“Ah. And how did you know I had this?”
“That smell you give when you’re aroused. Arousal has to come naturally, however. Since we are rarely without the pheromones when dealing with humans, manipulating their lust or some other emotion, well…”
That wasn’t the cause for concern. The shoe had yet to drop.
“You have to go away,” he said.
And there it was. I turned my face into his shoulder. “Without you, I take it.”
“Yes, but only for a short time. Dominicous is sending you and Toa into the Mata territory as some sort of…exchange program. You will go as a delegation. As my mate.”
My body froze, a tear nearly wobbling free from the first piece of news. I straightened up slowly, my eyes meeting his. I could just make out his perfect face in the shadow, breathtaking as always, but with a slow smile and softening of eyes that he wouldn’t show in public.
“I love you.”
It was the first thing that came to me.
He leaned over slowly, brushing his lips with mine. “I love you, too. I know a human tradition is to ask for your hand with jewelry and surprise and all that, and I will do that for you, but this exchange is, unfortunately, business.”
I shook my head, tears at the surface for a different reason. “You don’t need to.”
He nibbled my lips, softly brushing them with his tongue, but backed off before I could deepen it. “Your status as my mate is my intention. It is not cemented, unfortunately. My clan has to accept you as co-leader. Which means you actually need to learn to lead.” He smiled at me in jest. “Dominicous thinks it is wise to train you away from prying eyes.
“This progression is important, and your status as human and my mate is important. You are very much one of us, but also human. You cross that line. We hope…” He paused, a vein popping out on his jaw from how hard his jaw clenched.
I nudged him with a grin.
“I am supposed to hope,” he amended, “that you develop a positive relationship with them. To unite our two factions.”
“Who are these Meta?”
“Mata. Shape Changers. Varmints and critters and useless fools that think I should make way for their strange rituals and odd behavior.”
“I’m sorry—ˮ I leaned forward to think for a second. I turned to him on the bench, needing to be absolutely clear about this. “Shape Changers? As in…werewolves?”
“Yes, and no. Well, not really. There are wolves—the stinky, mangy animals. But also other absurd human mutations.”
“Okay, I am getting the feeling that you don’t like these people—ˮ
“Mata.”
“—but I am stuck on the ‘turning into an animal’ part of the story. How is that real?”
“I’ll let them explain it. There is one other thing. Who are your parents?”
That took me aback. “Because of the lineage thing? I don’t know. I lost them when I was five years old in a multiple car accident. I told you that, remember?”
“But you survived.”
“Yes. I was found a mile away in a park sitting on my own. Do you not listen to me?”
“And you have no idea how you got there?”
I shook my head, returning Stefan’s intense gaze. “Why?”
“Dominicous. He…is claiming you as his.”
Two emotions warred through me. One was an intense confusion, because since I first walked into the room with him, I’d felt something. It was very faint, almost a non-thing, but…it was vaguely familiar. Like I’d known him all my life.
The next was a thrill of fear, dropping my jaw. “So you had to challenge him, or whatever? Because I am not sleeping with that man!”
Stefan chuckled, and then looked around to make sure the big bad leader wasn’t caught actually laughing. We wouldn’t want a mass challenge because he had a sense of humor…
“He put you in that park. He saw you that night, a little girl standing amongst the carnage, flame starting to lick up your leg. He removed you, fed you his blood to ensure you lived until found, and then waited until you were. He’s as close to a father as you have. He has put himself in that role. I’m sure your power level helped solidify his decision regarding this.”
My world tilted and reeled. Then fell over.
A huge chunk of my life had just surfaced. The last piece that helped me put it all in perspective.
I had always been able to see the shadow men and women lurking in the night, huge people no one else had noticed. I could sense their presence, knowing I shared the world with something else, but never able to identify it with a likeminded person. Strange events had mentally crippled others, but energized me. I rushed into scuffles and battles where others, like Jared, whimpered.
“Would his blood have any lasting effect?” I asked in a daze.
Stefan pulled me into his body, sensing my strangeness to this news. “We don’t know. Trauma is a funny thing, especially to a child. But you resist our pheromones easily, and you have a soft link to him, though the experiences of the day have probably masked that. He thinks of you as blood, since he gave you blood as a child. Usually, giving blood once isn’t enough for any sort of lasting link.”
“But maybe to a child…”
Stefan gave a noncommittal shrug.
“So…what does that mean?” I asked.
“It means lineage is the least of your worries. So is a backer. That will help bring people around. All you have to do is learn to lead. Learn to hold your cards to your chest, and most importantly, learn to defend yourself. As my mate and especially bearing my mark, any battles you have are also my battles. Unfortunately, that reverses, as well. If I am challenged, you will be expected to meet that challenge with me.”
“Well, I’m pretty good at protective boxes and freezing air…”
He chuckled, rubbing my back. “Yes, very. If they’d had any doubt to your power level, that took it away. Toa has not recovered. He’s not used to someone with a higher power level that is not sitting on a council somewhere.”
I closed my eyes as his soft lips trailed up my neck. “Shall we head to bed?”
“No time. I need you.” His teeth barely scraped against my suddenly throbbing pulse.
I gasped, my stomach doing a somersault.
“Hmm, freshly baked cookies on a warm summer evening.”
I had yet to ask him about his parents, forever curious how they had died, but never sure how to bring it up and chickening out. Once again, this wasn’t the time.
I let my head fall back as he kissed down my chest, getting to my cleavage, and then unzipping my hoodie. His hands tucked under my thin shirt, lightly trailing along my stomach as his mouth took in my ear lobe. I felt him undo the top button of my pants.
“Oh!” A thrill shot through me, a possible witness making my panties go wet.
I kissed Stefan harder, wanting to try this. Wanting to act like his people and express myself openly. Wanting to engage in sexual expression outdoors! In plain sight!
Embarrassment and social rules reared their head. Oh, my God, am I seriously going to do this?
“We’ll go fast, love. Like getting into cold water,” Stefan assured me, his lips quirking.
He knew I wanted to experiment. That I wanted to try some kinky things in an extremely safe and trusting situation. But oh, Lord…
I jumped up and ripped off my pants, trying to get my panties off as well, but was stopped by his hands.
“Hold on just a moment.”
He bent forward, his fingers peeling off the lace of my underwear as his face dipped between my legs. I moaned and closed my eyes, all thought slipping away as his naughty tongue hit me in just the right places. My body started to burn as the pressure increased, shivers erupting from my groin and spiraling up my torso.
He backed off, his eyes holding mine hungrily. “I love you,” he said as he undid his pants and slipped them down his muscular thighs. His erection sprung free, large and bobbing.
He took my hand and brought me closer, lifting my legs to each side of him, allowing me to kneel on the bench and position my body over his. His tip pushed past my lips slowly until he had sheathed himself completely, filling me up.
I hugged him, showing him my throat, craving that deeper connection. The scrape of his tooth exhilarated me, offsetting the sweet rush of him inside my body. Pain, like pinching, blossomed at the base of my neck. My gasp immediately turned into a moan; his suction reached all the way through my body, tingling my groin as he dove in and out, the pleasure from the contrast something I could barely comprehend with sensations so complex.
I rocked harder, my body feeling that pull, then the wet slide, tingles overcoming me. I sucked in magic, fire and air mostly, the others swirling in, too, and poured it into his body along with my essence, wanting to share myself with him in this new, magical way.
With each pull my chest grew hotter, my limbs humming, the connection with him deep inside me exploding. Stefan moaned, his lips still at my throat, thrusting into me as I pounded down on him. The pressure mounted, at a crest now, so tight.
“Oh, G—od!” I cried, blasting apart, the very seams of my being coming undone.
Stefan shuddered into me a second later, hugging me with ragged breaths. He leaned against my chest, his ear to my heart. “Lovely.”
“That was fun,” I murmured contentedly, draping across him. “Let’s go to sleep. It’s been a long day.”
Fifteen minutes later we walked down the hall toward his room, only to find Charles sitting outside. “Hey, Boss, Sasha. Heard about the trip, wanted to talk to you—ˮ
Charles squinted at Stefan. “Sasha, step away for a quick sec, would you?”
I took one step, my hand still in Stefan’s.
“Boss…you… Sasha, go another step. Actually, go in the room for a second.”
“What’s the matter?” Stefan asked in a deep growl.
Charles put up his hands immediately. “Did she mark you, somehow? Can humans do that? You know what, you two have issues, that’s all I’m saying.”
Stefan stared at him.
“I’m stepping out of line, and I know it,” Charles continued, “But Jonas guarding her on this trip is a terrible idea. He can’t be trusted. He said something about other plans before you banished him for a time. Just a thought, but that’s a weird coincidence, you know? So, he has got to be a no-go. I can protect her, along with Snow White.”
“Go to bed, Charles, before you say something you can’t unsay,” I said quietly, watching the edge creep quickly into Stefan’s eyes.
“Yeah, good call. I want a day off. Also, good night.” Charles trudged away, the least graceful I had ever seen him.
“He had his legs crossed when you froze us all. His balls got extremely hot and sweaty in that hour.” Stefan chuckled as we walked into his section of the mansion. “I felt bad for the guy.”
“He deals with a lot around me,” I said sadly. “I love having him around—he’s like a brother to me—but maybe you should rotate him out. He’s got to be sick of the bodyguard detail.”
Stefan sighed and unceremoniously stripped. “I’ll talk to him about it. For now, though, I’m exhausted.” He reached for me, folding me within his strong arms, then sighed gratefully. “G’night, mate.”
I didn’t mention that he sounded Australian.
*****
“You are worried.”
Stefan glanced at Dominicous on his right before returning to the final preparations in front of him. It had been a short two weeks since Dominicous and Toa showed up, but the Regional had lost no time. Today the delegates left to visit and make repairs with the largest nuisance in the history of the world: those damn Shape Changers. Stefan would ban them all from his side of the world if he could. The whole lot of them would rather run and hide than stick their neck out for Stefan’s kind. He’d seen it often enough, and histories had shown it more than that. To think that now he would stick out his hand to welcome these miscreants into his fold, when he knew they’d just turn tail and sprint away at the first sign of danger, galled.
“Worried is not a term I know,” Stefan answered, an eye always on Sasha.
He not only had to make social repairs, he had to send a piece of himself—the largest, most important piece of himself—into their den. If they turned tail, they’d leave her behind. And then Stefan would kill them all.
Dominicous laughed, easily ignoring the violence sweating out of Stefan’s every pore. “I am sending Toa. He is the best magic worker of his age, and soon to be one of the top three in the world. He will see her safe from the enemy. From herself, though, that is a different concern.”
Stefan clenched his jaw, a bad trait that showed weakness.
“In other news,” Dominicous went on good-naturedly, “it seems she has found a way to mark you, though she is human and shouldn’t have the capability. Such an interesting female. Survival is strong in her. You should have seen her that night, stumbling away from the wreckage, and then staring down a hunting party. Usually I wouldn’t get involved, but… well, here we are.”
“She doesn’t have the dumb luck of youth anymore. She has a complex to save those close to her. If she makes friends with those… with the Mata, then she’ll risk her life to save their cowardly hides.”
“Noble.”
“Foolish.”
Dominicous bowed his head. “Here is Tim now.”
A stocky male of average human height with a barrel chest walked up as if he expected an attack at any moment. His brown eyes flashed in his grim face, in a clear attempt to appear forbidding.
Stefan would show this shifter forbidding…
“Tim,” Dominicous said easily, stepping forward to deliver a human handshake. “You know of Stefan, of course.”
Tim’s eyes snapped to Stefan’s. The hard gaze tried for intimidating. Stefan almost laughed.
“I do,” the mongrel stated.
Stefan stuck out his hand, as was right in his role, for the human handshake. The man met the grip, squeezed, then stepped away, out of Stefan’s reach. Smart.
“Let’s move past the pleasantries, shall we?” Dominicous asked easily. “Tim, you have some valuable possessions being transferred into your care. That is the reason
for their guard. They are both extremely high in magic, but one, Sasha, is untrained. Our enemy seeks Sasha as a poor miner seeks gold. She needs to train, but most importantly, she needs to be kept well away from enemy lines. We have leaks in our establishment, which means they will probably know she goes with you. Which is why her exact destination is solely in your hands.”
Dominicous paused for a second, his gaze sweeping toward Toa, who had directed his trademark stare at Jonas, loading supplies into an off-road vehicle. Jonas, strong, fierce, and resolute, either didn’t notice the gaze, or, most likely, was not bothered by it. Jonas had his faults in plenty, but he was loyal. He and Stefan had grown up together, and out of everybody, Jonas knew most why the filthy vermin couldn’t be trusted. He’d been there when Stefan had learned firsthand.
His focus returning from his linked mage, Dominicous continued, “We trust you with these most valuable possessions because we want to solidify our agreement. It is a huge leap of faith not only for our organization, but with Stefan and me personally. So, I must warn you, if you treat them ill, or have any dealings with our enemy, I will personally see to it that every one of your people is destroyed. Going a step further, I will personally make it my mission to eradicate your entire race from this earth, starting with the children. I hope you can believe me on that score…”
In a show of pure courage, or absolute stupidity, Tim said, “You forget, those aren’t the only…loved ones being exchanged. You have my Beta—my second in command--and his entire family. His wife is pregnant. We each have given over something precious to ensure this working relationship. It is that important, and so we will treat it as such.”
“Then we understand each other. I’ll leave you to it. Stefan, you might say your goodbyes.”
Stefan stared at Tim as Dominicous walked away toward Toa, wanting to verbalize his own threats, but refrained, knowing he’d only sound redundant. Instead, for his mate, he said, “Sasha thinks she fails constantly, which brings her down. I’d be grateful…” Stefan refused to let his jaw clench. “…if you would play positive around her. Keep her spirits up. She is truly a remarkable female, but she doesn’t know it.”
