by Kyla Logan
Micaela could only stare at Gaea. She had created them with a dual purpose in mind all those long centuries ago? Why?
“Why did you do that? Why did you think we would need to become the mates for these aliens?”
Gaea frowned at her. “First of all, Micaela, they are not aliens to me. They have been part of my world for millennia; they are as much my children as my shifters are.”
“I apologise, my Lady. I meant no disrespect.”
Gaea reached over and took hold of Caela’s hand. “I know you are stressed from the revelations of this day. But you have mated with Jordan, an Ainen warrior. You have to accept that fact or you will condemn both of you to a lot of needless suffering.”
“I know he is my mate, Gaea… it’s just all the other facts that are hard for me to accept.” Micaela broke off as a knock, or rather a hammering, was heard on the door.
Chapter Ten
Jordan was pissed, both at the developments at the lab and the fact that Micaela had taken it into her head to run from him at the first opportunity.
He had been in deep discussion with the warehouse manager when he became aware of her intention to leave his home. Not being able to do anything about it at the time was hard for him to take. Then to discover that when she shifted he was unable to keep his link with her -- well, he was extremely unhappy with his life mate at that moment in time.
Once she changed forms, he had been able to follow what was happening. Her startled thoughts matched his and his family’s when they discovered that the Alpha shifters had known about their existence. Then the connection was blocked -- not cut, but blocked.
And he didn’t know what caused that to happen. The door to the cottage opened and a tall, well-built man stood there waiting for him to talk. “I am looking for my life mate, Alpha. Please be good enough to get her for me.”
“I think you better come in, Jordan of Aine. There is much to talk about.”
Jordan knew that the only way to get to Micaela without taking out the Alpha was to go along with his suggestion. Nodding, he entered the dwelling, and preceded the other man into the living room, his gaze going immediately to Micaela who stood beside a couch.
“Why did you run, Micaela? I told you I would explain further when I returned.”
“Jordan -- I…” She broke off, looking at one of the other women who stood beside her, as though asking for help.
Jordan gave her a quick look, then another, closer one. “Oracle? How?”
The woman sighed and moved toward him, hands held out in welcome. “Ah, I wondered if you would remember this form, my brother. Yes, for a time I was the Oracle at Delphi, who you visited looking for answers,” said Gaea softly as she took his hands in hers.
“Wait; let me get this straight. You met Jordan when you were the Oracle of Delphi? Goddess, how many identities have you played, Gaea? How many lives have you organised and used as pawns to fulfil your vision?” Micaela ground out.
Jordan broke away from the Oracle -- or Gaea as Micaela called her -- and pulled Micaela into his arms. She came into them eagerly, Jordan linked with her for the first time since entering the room. He was heartened by her reaction to him coming after her. She needed his comfort, which he was happy to provide.
“Take me away from here, Jordan. It’s been too much for me to take in, too many new insights into how I viewed the world before today. I need time to take it all in.”
Jordan didn’t waste a second; he teleported them to Cayden’s manor. He knew that both he and Marda needed to know exactly what Micaela had learned while he was unable to link with her.
And she needed to know about the damage to her equipment.
The warmth of the open fire was welcome after the slight chill of teleporting.
Cayden and Marda were curled up together on the fireside rug, glasses of wine in their hands. Cayden nodded to the table beside the sofa. “Help yourselves, we were expecting you.”
Jordan drew Micaela with him toward Cayden and Marda, who stood up as they neared. Putting his arm around her shoulders, he introduced his brother and his life mate to his own mate.
Cayden pulled Micaela from Jordan’s grasp and after hugging her he gave her red cheek a kiss. “You are most welcome, mate of my brother. This is Marda, my own mate of five years.”
Marda was her enchanting self, and reached up to kiss Caela. “Welcome, sister. I know you have much to ask, but will you do us the courtesy of answering our questions first?”
Micaela glanced at him in inquiry. Jordan picked up two glasses of white wine and handed one to her. “Come, let us sit and discuss this. We know what happened up to the point where your Alpha let you know that some of the shifters knew about us. I was linked with you up till then -- but for some reason after that our link was blocked. I know from what you said at the cottage that the things you learned upset you. Will you tell us what happened?”
To Jordan’s delight, Micaela sat close beside him on the sofa. He put his arm around her shoulder, and to his joy she smiled up at him before taking a sip of her wine.
Looking at Cayden, Jordan knew he was getting impatient, so he whispered in Caela’s ear, “Tell us what was said, love.”
“This has been a strange day for me. I learned that things are not the way they seemed before.”
Jordan listened as Caela repeated what Gaea had told her. It was unbelievable. There was a shifter race in the world and they had spent centuries watching him and his Ainen family without their knowledge. How was this possible?
Cayden beat him to the question. “How was it possible for your race to hide themselves from us? You are the first person any of us have come in contact with that we could not read. That was the thing that triggered Aislin and Eilish to the fact that you might be more than human.”
“Gaea didn’t come out and say why, Cayden. But from what she said about her shield around the planet, I would think hiding our two races from each other would be child’s play. She must have dropped the shield to let each of us sense the other when I came into contact with you all.”
Before Jordan could ask another question, Micaela’s stomach gave a loud rumble -- much to her embarrassment if the red cheeks she tried to hide on his shoulder were any indication.
Laughing, Jordan said, “I have neglected you, my love. I took your blood earlier, and I know you haven’t had anything to eat since.”
“You can both have something here with us, Jordan,” said Marda.
Jordan caught the negative reaction in Caela’s thoughts. “Thanks for the offer, Marda, but I think we need time alone. I know there are more questions to be answered. But tomorrow -- tonight I need to be with my mate.”
Standing up, he pulled Caela with him and gathered her in his arms. “See you tomorrow.” Then he teleported them to the kitchen at his home.
* * *
Micaela gave a sigh of relief as she sat at the table and watched Jordan pop a ready meal in the microwave. Not the best nutrition, but under the circumstances she would eat anything he gave her. She was both hungry and exhausted. The events of the day had finally caught up with her and she found it hard to keep her eyes open.
She gave a start when the bell rang, signalling the meal was ready. Jordan looked at her when he sat the plate filled with a pasta and chicken mix in front of her. “You were just about asleep, little one. Eat this and then we will go up to bed.”
Micaela did as he suggested, watching his economical movements as he prepared his own meal, before sitting beside her to eat.
Forking the last mouthful of pasta into her mouth, Caela stood up and rinsed her plate before putting it in the dishwasher beside the sink. Then she turned to watch Jordan as he bent over to place his own utensils in too.
His wonderfully tight buttocks clenched and she found it hard to resist touching him. But she was tired, and needed her bed.
“Come on, little one. Let me get us upstairs, then it is bedtime for us both,” Jordan said as he put an arm around her sho
ulders and teleported them into his bedroom.
“Do you have a spare toothbrush, Jordan?”
“Come in here and I will find you one.”
Micaela gave her face a quick cleanse, and used some of the moisturiser sitting on the shelf, then brushed her teeth, before walking back into the bedroom.
“Take off the shirt and slip under the covers. I will be back shortly,” Jordan said as he passed her heading into the room she had just left.
Micaela slipped off the shirt and slid between the silky sheets with a sigh. She knew it wouldn’t take long for her to fall asleep.
* * *
Micaela stirred from her deep sleep, drowsy and still not quite awake, to the feel of Jordan’s hands running over her breasts.
Sorry to wake you, little one. I need you so much.
His husky voice was too much for Micaela and her wolf to even try to deny. She turned into his embrace and lifted her lips up toward his.
Jordan took control of their kiss, his tongue taking hers in a duel of passion. She felt his hard body react to her light caress as she ran her fingers through his hair.
She was through with denying that she wanted this man for her mate. The way he had chased her down and the protective way he had cared for her made it impossible for her to deny his claim to her.
Jordan broke away from their kiss and bent his head to lick his way down to her breast, tongue swirling as he traced patterns over her skin before lowering his mouth further to take her nipple into his mouth.
Caela’s body felt tight -- taut and so, so hot. It was as though her blood was boiling, and heating her whole body, and the only thing that would cool her down was Jordan… her mate.
Jordan’s hands slid over her ribs and stomach, lingering a few moments before moving upwards again. He left one hard nipple before moving to the other, licking his way over her skin.
Micaela moaned in passion as her body clenched in pleasure at his touch.
“I need to be deep inside you soon, Micaela,” Jordan said huskily before continuing his trail of kisses over her stomach.
When he reached her belly button, he swirled his tongue in the small indentation, then moved lower until he reached her mound.
Moving her legs apart, Micaela watched the expression on Jordan’s face as he bent and inhaled her intimate scent. Her body reacted by releasing a flood of moisture, which Jordan licked from her labia.
Micaela jumped as his tongue brushed over her clit. That little bundle of nerves was so sensitive to his touch.
His fingers found her hot, wet centre, and he slowly inserted his finger deep into her pussy. He looked up at her, and withdrew his finger, before replacing it with two. “Tell me what you want, Caela. Tell me that you need me as much as I need you,” Jordan whispered, as he moved his fingers back and forwards, in and out of her pussy.
Caela was turned on by his little comments, his unsaid demands for her surrender. Her skin felt as though it belonged to someone else as Jordan added yet another finger. She could do nothing as her body fragmented and shattered, as waves of pleasure washed over her. “Jordan, oh goddess, please come inside me. I need you so much,” she moaned.
His answer was to remove his fingers from her depths, but he replaced them with his mouth. Caela cried out. Her body rippled around his tongue. It was too much; the pleasure was too much for her to bear.
She tried to move away, pushing at his head at the same time. But he held her still by grasping her hips in both hands. It was as though he wouldn’t stop until she had given every ounce of her pleasure to him to drink. He was ravenous in his need to savour her essence. Caela was astounded by his desire for her, although why, when she was experiencing the same herself?
Her breath caught in her throat as the fire in her blood made breathing difficult. She reached out with her mind to Jordan. Please, my mate, I can’t take any more. I need you.
She knew that was the signal he had been waiting for. She was so linked mind to mind with him it was hard to know where she finished and he began. They were intertwined, and nothing would separate them again.
Jordan pulled away from her pussy, licking his wet lips, fire burning in his eyes. “On your hands and knees, my mate.”
Micaela did as he instructed as quickly as she could, turning over and bringing herself to her knees just before he gripped her hips in firm hands. “You are my mate, Micaela. Never will I let you leave me -- never!”
He ground out the last as he thrust hard, driving his hard, thick cock deep into her wet depths. Jordan held himself steady for one brief moment, letting her adjust to his size and possession, before moving his hips harder, deeper.
Too much, it’s too much.
It will never be too much, Micaela. You know it, and I know it.
Caela moaned as white-hot streaks of lightning danced through her body as Jordan’s teeth sank deep into her jugular vein. He only took a sip, but it was enough to fragment her body once more, driving her toward a stronger, deeper orgasm that seemed never ending.
Jordan waited until her body stopped shuddering, then pulled out and lay on his back and lifted her over him. “Ride me, my mate. Make me your own.”
Micaela swung one leg over his muscled hips, steadying herself with hands on his taut, washboard stomach. She rose up, and then, moaning, sank down onto his thick cock.
Micaela knew what Jordan wanted; it was what her wolf was clamouring for too. She leaned forward and sank her shifted teeth deep into the muscle over Jordan’s heart. His blood pumped into her mouth, and she drank in the delicious liquid. The taste was unlike anything she had taken before. So sweet, so spicy… so Jordan.
Licking over the pinpricks to seal the wound, Micaela raised herself up once more, and moved quickly up and down on Jordan’s cock.
Looking into his emerald eyes, she saw the same look of passion, of possession, that she knew he read in hers. This link was amazing. She would always know where he was, what he was doing.
Jordan gripped her hips, moving her quicker than before. His body clenched, tensed, and then he emptied himself into her depths. She felt the hot jets of his come fill her pussy with his seed.
Caela collapsed on top of his shuddering, sweating body. He wrapped an arm around her as her pussy gave little contractions around his still spurting cock.
At last both of them lay still, bodies recovering from the amazing mating heat that had gripped them. Jordan stroked her hair in a soothing gentle way, which did much to quieten and slow her heart to more manageable proportions.
Micaela wasn’t sure when this warrior of Aine had sneaked into her heart, but she could tell he was there to stay.
“I should hope so, mate. Because I know that you are in mine for all time. I will never let you go, Micaela. Never.”
Micaela gave a little smile as she closed her eyes. She knew they had things to talk about, questions that needed answering. But tomorrow would be soon enough for those.
Chapter Eleven
Jordan looked over the Standing Stones, which marked and protected the space ship. They had decided it was best to leave it where it rested until they had the means to repair some of the critical instruments. It would soon be time for them to make forays into the ship itself. They had set up the hydroponics bay and carefully monitored the life support systems.
They were just about fully functional now. Enough for them to make little trips to access the database itself anyway.
He looked up at the sun; it was hotter than he liked. He still couldn’t get used to being able to be out in the sun at the hottest time of the day. Taking off his jacket, he laid it over one of the stones, listening to its tale as he touched it.
They hadn’t realised what their tutors had planned or left for them until it was too late to stop them. They had placed their life force into the very centre of these stones, so that the ship and its information would be available to him and the others when they needed it.
Jordan looked at his watch, Micaela should be alo
ng soon. She had wanted to talk to the Alpha pair. He was keeping a line open to her, but was giving her the privacy she asked for in talking to them.
He was suddenly aware of her presence. Looking around, he saw a female wolf loping toward him. As she reached him she started her change, until his mate stood before him.
She walked into his arms as though she missed the contact as much as he had.
“I did, my mate. You and I are mated in both your way, and the way of the wolf. With such a binding, it’s impossible for us to be apart for any length of time. Not if we don’t want to suffer the stress of separation.”
“I know, I can feel it too, Micaela. Come, we have much to discuss with the others, and we have to find out who is trying to sabotage your work.”
“It might not just be mine, Jordan. From what you told me earlier, there are a lot of experiments into alternative fuel and power sources going on at the lab. They could have just targeted any shipment. It might not mean anything personal.”
“Until the perpetrator is caught, you won’t be out of my sight for long,” Jordan said in a firm voice.
“I think I can live with that, my mate,” Micaela said softly as she looked at the Standing Stones. “This area appears different to me now. Before when I ran here, the stones didn’t seem alive as they do now.”
She walked over to the stone where his jacket lay, and placed her hand on it. Jordan stayed quietly in her mind, as she watched a vision from the past.
Micaela turned to him, tears in her eyes. “That was amazing. How can I see this now, when I couldn’t before?”
“You are part of me now, Caela. You have Ainen blood in your veins.”
“I saw you and Cayden, and another male. Who is he? He seemed close to you, Jordan.”
Jordan swallowed a lump in his throat. “That was Jaden. He was my uncle.” Micaela touched his arm, sympathy flowing through their link in waves. Covering her hand with his, he said, “It happened a long, long time ago, Caela.”
