Mate With Me

by BJ Wane

  Jacob brought his hands around and filled them with her abundant, malleable flesh, kneading her full breasts as he said, “You’re perfect, as are these babies. They’re the perfect size for fucking.”

  “Huh?”

  She looked adorably naïve as she stared up at him with her brow furrowed. Chuckling, Jacob pushed her breasts together, telling her, “Like this, they make a perfect soft bed for me to snuggle into. I can’t wait to decorate you with my come.”

  “Grace!”

  Damien’s shout right before he strode angrily into the bedroom made Grace jump in startled awareness of her nudity, but she refused to shame Jacob by trying to hide. She had never been comfortable with her body, certainly not in front of her one lover or Mason, but Jacob had let her know without any doubts how much he desired her, wanted her as she was. She was also pretty sure Jacob, like Damien and Abby, wouldn’t let a little thing like privacy keep him from taking her whenever and wherever he wanted.

  “Where are they?” Damien demanded, his face both livid and concerned as he came to the bathroom doorway. Jon and Luc came up behind him and glared at her with the same look.

  Despite feeling herself blush from her neck up, Grace managed to reply calmly, “Caitlin needed to get to work, so Abby offered to take her.”

  “I swear that woman’s not going to sit for a week when I get done with her.”

  “I do believe after we show Caitlin how serious we were about her waiting for us, Abby might have some company in that department,” Jon stated angrily. While he could admire and respect her need for independence, her safety came first, and always would. Something she was going to have to come to terms with soon. His scowl turned to a grin when he looked at Jacob and quipped, “It’s about fucking time.”

  Damien winked at Grace before he and Jon turned to leave then Luc gave Grace a leisurely look from head to toe, his eyes lingering on her bare pussy before shifting to Jacob. “You had a lot more restraint than I would’ve had, brother.” Turning, he left the happy couple to go in search of his own mate with a lot more compassion for what Jacob went through and less patience for Caitlin’s stubbornness.

  Isabelle looked around at the scant occupants in her playroom. The five rogues she had sent after the Preston brother’s mate hadn’t returned, telling her they had failed. When the first two had returned after finding her then failing to bring her back, she had increased the team in the hopes that would suffice. She hadn’t counted on a third brethren member as backup, assuming all the others, including Damien and Jacob were too busy playing the over protective lover to come to the aide of another. She was now down to five minions, and two of those didn’t look like they were going to survive the trip down into insanity much longer. Now that all of the brethren have found their mates, even if they haven’t all fully bonded, they were a force she couldn’t take lightly. If they banded together and came after her as a group, she wouldn’t stand a chance. Her only hope would be to either take a chance that some of them wouldn’t be willing to leave their mates to confront her or to increase her supply of little mercenaries quickly and substantially and send them after the brethren en masse.

  Not one willing to leave her existence up to chance, she decided on the latter. It was best to lay back for a week or two, travel abroad and bring back as many newly turned victims as possible, bring them to heel with a gluttony of sex and blood, a course of action that had never failed her except with Damien, and then turn them all loose on those damn do-gooders. Targeting those polite society labeled scum of the earth, she has found them to be cream of the crop for her needs.

  Right now, her temper had lit a fire of lust in her and, striding across the room, she grabbed the hand of a young, fairly newly turned girl. She found this one giving a blow job in an alley in Dublin, high as a kite after having robbed an all-night liquor store and stabbing the owner to death. Hopefully, she wouldn’t have too much trouble finding a couple dozen more just like her.

  “Come with me, pet.” Grabbing her long, stringy blonde hair, she jerked the girl’s head back and kissed her with ruthless intent before trailing her lips down her vulnerable neck and sinking her fangs into her rapidly beating pulse, careful to only take enough to whet her appetite yet not leave the girl too depleted to please her. Pulling away, she demanded, “Lick my lips,” knowing they were red-rimmed with her blood.

  Glassy-eyed, the girl gladly obeyed, licking the succulent drops from the soft, enticing lips of her maker. Lifting her hands, she lowered the straps of the sheer sheath Isabelle wore, following the gauzy material down until she came to her breasts. Moaning against her mouth, she tweaked her nipples painfully just how she knew her mistress liked before sinking to the pile of cushions on the floor and covering her naked body with her own.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “So,” Caitlin said, waving her hand before taking another sip of her strawberry margarita, heavy on the tequila, light on, well, everything else, “your guy didn’t want to bang you right off the bat?”

  “No, well, yes, he did, but he was being all noble.” Abby practically sneered the last word as she looked morosely down into her almost empty glass.

  “But now he does?” Caitlin had to be persistent because Abby was proving to be an easy drunk. She was feeling a slight buzz herself after nearing the end of her second margarita, heavy on the tequila, light on, well, everything else, she thought again with a giggle. It took a lot for her to get a buzz, so she figured poor Abby was well into her cups and wouldn’t be able to tell her much more, and make sense, soon.

  “Oh, he bangs me every chance he gets now, that’s no longer an issue.”

  “So, what’s the problem?” From everything Abby had told her, Damien sounded like he would be a keeper if it wasn’t for the whole bite the neck, suck the blood thing. With a shudder, she finished her drink, set her glass down and leaned her arms on the bar top.

  “He won’t…” Abby had enough sense to look around to see if anyone was within ear shot before she lowered her voice, leaned toward Caitlin and whispered quietly, “He won’t blood bond with me and won’t tell me why.”

  “The bastard,” Caitlin whispered back, although, for the life of her she couldn’t figure out why Abby would want him to suck her blood. Can anyone say gross? “Wait a minute,” she snapped out, instantly coming to her new friend’s defense. “Does that blood sucker cheat on you?”

  Abby laughed, really laughed at the outrage on Caitlin’s face. She really liked the twin’s mate, and now that Grace had made Jacob happy, she really liked her too. Right now, she really liked everyone except Damien, and until he took her blood or gave her a good reason why he won’t, he was going to remain on her shit list.

  “No, he doesn’t cheat. He does need blood to survive, but he gets it from men, usually unsuspecting jerks who need some encouragement to change their ways. Tell me what it was like fucking two men,” she said, changing the subject. Tonight she didn’t want to think about what a jerk Damien was being. “How’d they talk you into it?”

  Caitlin felt her body respond to the memory of that night. It had been awesome, her orgasms unlike any she had experienced before and what woman wouldn’t enjoy having four hands and two mouths all over her body? “The body wants what the body wants,” she answered her with a grin. “And my body wanted theirs. What can I say? I’m easy.”

  Somehow, Abby doubted that, but all she said was, “I thought it was the heart wants what the heart wants?”

  “Not my heart. It’ll want what I tell it to, and I’m definitely not giving it to two men who’re…how old did you say they were?”

  “Damien said they were turned in 1865.”

  “Man, did they rob the cradle.” Both women erupted into peals of laughter, making more than a few heads turn in their direction, including Bobby’s. “Hold on, I’ll get us a refill.”

  “No, you won’t,” Bobby said as he came up and removed both glasses. He had been worried about Caitlin when she didn’t answer her phone
last night. He knew she wouldn’t have it on during the tour so he had tried when she should have been done and headed back to the bar, but he hadn’t heard from her until this afternoon when she called to let him know she was on her way and apologized about not helping out last night. Her excuse about not feeling well would have been believable if she had been upstairs in her apartment all night, but she had arrived with the other woman, a pretty brunette with bright blue eyes, and had stayed at the end of the bar with her for the last two hours, talking quietly. He didn’t intrude on their conversation, even though he wanted to know what was going on, but he could tell by her frowns, gasps, and an occasional shake of her head as if in denial that she didn’t like what the other woman was saying. In the last fifteen minutes, their intense discussion had taken a turn and both women started grinning more, telling him the talk had turned to sex.

  “Come on, Bobby. I said I was sorry about bailing on you last night.” Caitlin felt bad enough about leaving him to hold the fort alone last night; she didn’t need his puppy eyes giving her that look.

  “You’ve had enough.” Leveling his stern look on her friend, he added, “Both of you.”

  Throwing her arm around him, she whispered loud enough for Abby to hear, “How about if I ask the guys if you can join us next time?”

  Bobby’s face lit with excitement before he narrowed his eyes at her when he noticed her teasing grin as well as the hint of possessiveness in her eyes that had him thinking his girl was already a goner over those two. “That was just cruel, Cat.”

  “Okay, I’ll behave.” Abby had given her enough to think about tonight, and she needed to start clearing her head before she could rationally consider everything she had learned. “Give me a minute and I’ll take over so you can take a break.”

  “Thanks, Cat.”

  “You two are close,” Abby commented when the other bartender walked away.

  “He’s family, the only family I have now that Dan is gone.” She could really use Dan’s no nonsense way of laying things on the line for her, stating the facts and telling her to deal with them accordingly, making sure she didn’t do anything illegal and stayed safe. Since she didn’t think there were any laws against fraternizing with vampires and, apparently, the only way to stay safe for the time being was to do just that, Dan would be proud of her if she agreed to Jon and Luc’s plan to stick close to her until the coast was clear. Then what, she wondered was holding her back? She didn’t have time to take that thought any further as her eyes flew to Abby.

  “Uh, oh.” Abby’s eyes widened as they met Caitlin’s, her arm absently rubbing against the side of her breast where her mark was warming.

  Slow smiles spread across both women’s faces as Caitlin intoned in a sing song voice, “They’re here,” while rubbing her thighs together in a futile attempt to ease the soft pulse that was quickly reciprocated in her pussy.

  A few minutes later Caitlin knew she was in big trouble. It wasn’t the scowls on Jon and Luc’s faces or the anger simmering in their eyes when they entered her bar and headed directly toward her with determined, ground eating strides that worried her. It was the way her heart was taking a slow roll in her chest that had her palms sweating with agitation, a reaction that had nothing to do with the arousal she was not quite, but almost getting used to experiencing whenever they were near. When she decided to sleep with them last week it was with every intention of making it a one-time thing, never expecting to see them again let alone develop any kind of relationship. Now, knowing and accepting what they were, she had decided she wasn’t going to have sex with them again until she knew for sure she wanted the commitment they thought was inevitable. They were asking, no, demanding much more from her than a casual sexual relationship with both of them, and no matter what her body kept telling her, and maybe even her heart, it was her mind that had to get on board with that idea. One thing was for certain, she wasn’t about to be dictated to.

  “What part about waiting for us did you not understand?” Jon asked her in a deceptively soft voice, his anger at her tempered only slightly by his lust filled reaction to being near her again.

  “What part of I don’t take orders from you did you not understand?” Caitlin countered as she leaned her elbows on the bar to keep from swaying.

  “You do for now,” Luc growled, irritated with himself as much as her. His anger at discovering she had taken off without waiting for them paled in comparison to his worry over her safety. He was going to have to come to grips with the possessiveness that seemed to accompany the lust as well as the caring that came with finding a mate. Whether he was ready for her or not, it looked like she was his. “Did you not learn anything last night?”

  “Quit picking on my new friend,” Abby injected while glaring daggers at Damien who hadn’t said a word. The look in his dark eyes, however, spoke volumes, a look that promised punishment she knew she was going to like, damn it.

  “Why don’t we let them work out their problem while we go home and work out ours?” Damien took Abby’s hand and pulled her off the bar stool then had to wrap an arm around her waist as she fell against him in a boneless heap.

  “Hi.” Grinning stupidly up at his stern face, Abby snuck a hand between them and lightly cupped his erection, his slacks doing little to disguise the obvious bulge. “I’m happy to see you, too. Kind of. Except I’m still mad at you. Kind of.”

  “I’m still mad at you also. Kind of.” Damien had to struggle to keep from grinning. He had never seen Abrielle tipsy, but just because she was a cute drunk didn’t mean he was going to let her get away with defying him and putting herself at risk. “Come on. We’re going home.” Nodding to the twins, he leveled a dark look at Caitlin before pulling Abby outside.

  “What was that look for?” Caitlin demanded as she glared at Damien’s retreating back.

  “Damien takes his position as leader seriously and after the close call with almost losing Jacob last night, he’s going to be even more diligent in making sure all of us stay safe.”

  Caitlin turned her scowl on Jon, swearing under her breath. “Great. Not only do I have to contend with you two, now I have another over bearing Neanderthal breathing down my neck. I have to get back to work. If you’re going to insist on waiting around, you’ll have to entertain yourselves for a few hours.” Caitlin moved away from them without waiting to hear their reply.

  “She’s running on empty,” Luc said a few hours later as they watched Caitlin struggle to hold back a yawn as she mixed yet another drink. There were only a few late night stragglers left and they didn’t seem to be in any hurry to leave, which was typical. The establishments in the Quarter, especially those on Bourbon Street, didn’t sleep except for a few hours between dawn and noon. Caitlin’s bar was one of only a few that didn’t open until later in the day, for which both he and Jon were extremely grateful. It was hard enough keeping track of their reluctant mate during the night when they were up.

  “Yeah, we should probably usher her home soon.” Jon winced as the woman belting out Delta Dawn across the room at the Karaoke station hit another sour note. “The sooner the better.”

  “Maybe it’s just our acute hearing that has her sounding so bad.” Luc too has had enough of the clueless woman’s inebriated singing.

  Jon signaled Bobby, not caring why the woman sounded God awful, just wanting to get out of earshot.

  “Hey guys,” Bobby said with a grin, glad that they had called on him and not Cat. She was looking frayed enough from having these two scaring off anyone who lingered too long near her with just a look. He didn’t know what kind of hold they had on her, or what it was about them that kept his radar alert, but it was good to see someone take an interest in Caitlin that seemed to be more than sexual attraction. “Decide you want a drink before calling it a night?”

  “No, thanks,” Jon answered. Both he and Luc couldn’t help but notice the appreciative looks the young bartender occasionally sent their way, looks they found both amusing and flatter
ing. “Can you close up without Caitlin’s help?”

  “No problem,” Bobby replied easily, glad that they were going to see she turned in early tonight. “Taking her back to your place?”

  “After she gets some things from her apartment. Thanks.” Luc rose and went down the hall where Caitlin had headed, Jon right behind him.

  Caitlin turned before entering the bathroom, her jaw tightening when she saw both Jon and Luc following her. “Seriously? I can’t even go to the bathroom without you two on my ass?”

  “The last time we let you come this way alone, you ended up facing two rogues in the alley. Use your bathroom upstairs, gather what you need and we’ll head back to the plantation.”

  “I never said I was ready to go, Jon. We’ll leave after I help Bobby close up.” Damn it, why did the thought of being alone with them again in her apartment have her body wet and ready for a replay of their night together? She refused to give in to this need that was growing steadily worse each day until she was sure of what she wanted. Narrowing her eyes in warning, she stated implacably, “I am not having sex with you again.”

  Luc raised a tawny brow, his amber eyes going cool as he replied flatly, “I don’t recall asking you to.”

  Caitlin tried not to let his rebuke bother her, instead concentrated on the hard to miss proof of their desire. “You didn’t have to ask,” she said as her eyes drifted to his crotch, “you’ve been advertising it all night.”

  “Just because our bodies respond to yours so blatantly, doesn’t mean we have to act on it,” Jon replied because Luc’s jaw had gone as rigid as his cock. “Come on.” Taking her arm, he led her toward the back stairs. “Bobby agreed with us that you were looking peaked and needed to call it a night. He doesn’t mind closing by himself tonight. We can see he’s a good friend to you.”

  Jerking her arm free, she glared up at him. “Yes, he is and I’m perfectly capable of deciding whether or not I want to impose on him for the second night in a row to pull my weight.”