by Ivy Asher
“Why now?” I ask, not sure what the sudden rush is, not that I’m complaining, but I just figured he’d be the last and hardest to coax into this.
“Because you’re right. Well, partially right anyway. I agree with Bastien that we don’t have to stab each other to be the best possible fighters we can be. But I do agree that our enemies aren’t going to come when we’re at our strongest. They’ll try to pick us off or come for the weak links.”
Leaves crunch under our feet as we weave through the trees, and Sabin holds my hand firmly in his as he leads us further away from the houses.
“That night with the shifters and Elder Albrecht, I was the weakest link. I never want to be that again. I love you. You love me—even if it freaks you out to say it—I know you do. So I just don’t see the point in holding off. We need to be united and as strong as we possibly can be.”
I can’t argue with the logic behind Sabin’s words, but they don’t exactly make me feel all warm and glowy either. I stop, and it yanks my hand from his when he keeps moving forward. Sabin looks back, his brow furrowed in question.
“So your sudden desire to fuck is all about duty and the greater good?” I ask flatly.
Sabin’s forest-green eyes flit back and forth between my seafoam green irises. He takes a step closer to me, and the quiet intensity that surrounds him makes me shiver.
“My desire for you is not sudden or based on any sense of duty. I’ve wanted inside of you from the minute I walked in on you, Ryker and Valen in the closet. It was all I could do not to unfold that towel around your wet body and lick every drop of water from your skin. I’ve wanted to fuck you among the trees since the second I pulled you off of a runaway Darcy. Then I had to deal with the torture of riding back on Bennet, with you rubbing back against me with every hoof-fall. It would have been easy to reach around, unbutton your pants, and make you moan my name while we slowly made our way back.”
Goosebumps breakout over my skin, and my nipples grow hard and needy with every word out of Sabin’s mouth. He steps closer to me.
“I wanted to be inside of you when I told you I loved you and that you were more than I could have ever wished for. I should have been thrusting in and out of you when I confessed what a dumbass I was for not seeing that clear as crystal right away. I should have been begging for your forgiveness, with deep kisses while you were underneath me, your pussy tightening around my cock and begging for release.”
Wind pushes a strand of hair in my face, and Sabin twirls it around his finger and watches the effect his words have on me. My eyes drop to his lips, and I step into him, the tips of my fingers lightly grazing the muscles of his stomach. My pussy clenches at the feel of him against my hands, his body brushing up against my peaked breasts, his breath on my face. I take the blanket from his pliant hands and move to spread it out.
There’s a tree trunk practically at each corner, and it’s not the most spacious or private, but it will have to do. I turn around to find Sabin’s dark green eyes fixed on my every move. I kick off my shoes and step back onto the blanket, pulling my shirt up and over my head.
“O Captain! My Captain—” I don’t get another word out of my mouth before Sabin’s lips are on mine, his kiss drinking up my unvoiced invitation, his tongue lapping up my desire. I moan his name into his mouth as he pinches my sensitive nipples through my sports bra, and he hums in appreciation when I suck on his bottom lip the way I want him to be sucking on my breasts right now.
With no further direction needed, he whips my bra off, picks me up and lays me on my back on the blanket. His hot mouth latches onto my breast, and he sucks hard as he simultaneously flicks the tip of his tongue against my nipple. It sends zings of sensation from my chest to my clit, and I writhe underneath him, needing more. Sabin trades nipples and shoves his hand between my legs to rub my slit over my pants. I ride that friction as I yank his shirt off and push at the waist of his pants.
Sabin leans back, fire banked in his gaze, and he methodically slips his pants down his thighs and off. I run my greedy and appreciative eyes over his incredible body as he does. His creamy, smooth skin is a gorgeous contrast to the dark tattoo that runs up his left arm, and I want to trace every inch of muscle on his body with my tongue. I free myself of my bottoms, and the cool air against my wet pussy makes me ache for him even more. I spread my legs, and Sabin licks his luscious lips. He leans down to lick me, but I sit up and pull at his face.
“I need you to fuck me now.”
A flash of violet magic sparks from me to him, but Sabin doesn’t question it, he just smiles and then kisses me so deeply and thoroughly that nothing else matters right now. He nudges the tip of his cock against me, and as irritated as I am that he’s not inside of me right now, he keeps hitting my clit in this delicious way, and it’s distracting the fuck out of me. Out of nowhere, a wall of leaves flies up into the air and starts to swirl all around us, shielding us from the outside and instantly creating an intimate and stunning atmosphere. Reds, golds and purples cyclone around us, and I’m momentarily mesmerized by how breathtakingly beautiful it is.
Sabin rubs against my clit again, and I’m brought out of my trance by the feel of him all over my body.
I lean away from his kiss and smile. “Always the romantic, you and your leaf sanctuary.”
He laughs and nips at my jaw. “Just in case we’re not as alone out here as we thought. I don’t want any distractions while I’m buried deep inside of you and you’re screaming my name.”
With that, I use my heel to kick him in his incredible ass. “Let’s go then,” I tell him and then click with my tongue the same way I do when I’m trying to get Darcy to pick up the pace.
He brushes a lock of hair out of my face, and then he watches my reaction as he slowly pushes inside of me. It’s so torturous and perfect, and I can’t help but close my eyes and revel in the feel of him filling me up. His hips meet my inner thighs as he releases a deep groan, and I kick him in the ass again, my need for him to speed the fuck up clear. Sabin laughs, and then he obliges.
I’m so lost in how good he feels I have no idea what I’m rambling, all I know is that I am. Sabin doesn’t seem bothered by my incoherent encouragements; he just works me harder until he’s fucking his name out of my mouth over and over again. His face is scrunched in concentration, and I suspect that he’s trying to hold off his release, but my orgasm is just on the brink as he pounds into me deeply.
He watches me bring my hands up to pinch my nipples, and a few thrusts later he reaches between us and pinches my clit. Just like that, I explode and swirl exactly like the multicolored leaves still cocooning us, riding my orgasm like it’s a whirlpool. Sabin presses his face into the crook of my neck and shoulder, purple magic crackling from me to him, and then he buries himself as deeply as he can get, the words, “I love you, Vinna,” painting his orgasm.
10
“So, how long does it take usually?” Sabin asks as he pulls up his pants.
“Anywhere between twenty to forty minutes. Knox and Ryker seemed to have the biggest gap between sealing our bond,” I tell him, using air quotes, “and getting their runes. Bastien’s runes showed up around the twenty-minute mark, and so did Valen’s. It’s kind of a crap shoot,” I offer with a shrug.
I pull my sports bra back on and watch the leaves still swirling around us as we both get dressed.
“I wonder why it’s different?” Sabin muses to himself, but I don’t say anything. Primarily because I have zero answers, but also because, in the grand list of questions I want answers to, this one just doesn’t rank very high. I straighten my shirt on my body and lie back down on the soft blanket that barely pads the hard earth underneath us. I know we need to get back to the others and continue to work our asses off, but I just don’t want to yet.
“What’s the sigh for?” Sabin asks me, caressing my cheek with the back of his fingers.
“I’m not looking forward to going back to the cluster fuck that is our training ses
sions,” I tell him as I trace the shadowed trees that make up the tattoo on his arm with my fingers. “We take five steps forward and twenty back practically every day, and I don’t know what to do about it.”
“They’re big boys, Vinna, they’ll figure it out.”
I snort humorlessly. “If by figure it out, you mean take each other out of the equation, then yes, I believe that’s accurate.”
Sabin chuckles and shakes his head. He watches the leaves that are still swirling all around us for a minute. “Enoch’s coven is just a sore spot for all of us for one reason or another. We’re a coven, and if you fuck with one of us, you fuck with all of us. For the twins, it started when the council made it very difficult for Lachlan or anyone else to go looking for the missing paladin. We know now that Elder Albrecht was working with Adriel all along, but we didn’t know that then. The council dragging their feet and not sanctioning searches created a lot of issues between Lachlan’s coven of paladin and the council.”
Sabin’s eyes fix on mine, and I nod with understanding.
“The twins carried the issues and frustrations that Silva and the others were experiencing and set them right at Enoch and his coven’s feet. It wasn’t fair, but the twins directed their frustrations at Enoch and Becket because of their fathers. Then there was the whole thing that went down with Ryker and his needing to be taken away from his dad. We’re two of the most powerful covens our age, which has always put us head-to-head against each other for things like mates and our place as Paladin Conscripts.
“I’m not saying Enoch and his coven mates aren’t responsible for this feud we have going on too. They’ve perpetuated this bullshit just as much as we have, but now to have you in the middle of it all and…well, cluster fuck. The covens have never trusted each other. Never had to work together, and the circumstances around Enoch, Nash, Kallan, and Becket being marked are suspicious as fuck.”
“I know that, and I get it, but we don’t have time for this petty shit. We could face off with Adriel any day now, and I’m worried if we do that, they’ll be looking for opportunities to eliminate each other instead of the enemy. It’s stressing me the fuck out.”
Sabin sits up and pulls me into his lap, and I soak up the comfort. “Vinna, we know what’s at stake here, but we all need time to adjust. Not only to each other, but to our bond with you and our new abilities. It’s a lot.”
“I get that, Sabin. I really fucking get that, but time is the one thing we just don’t have.”
He nods and then shakes his head. “Fuck, maybe we should do some trust exercises or something. I mean, shit, it couldn’t hurt at this point,” he mumbles.
I picture the guys all trust-falling backwards into each other’s arms, and I crack up. “We’ll throw yoga and group meditation into the mix too. I mean, worst case scenario, if they all kill each other off, I can at least start a pretty sweet resort here.”
Sabin pulls me in for a laugh-filled kiss. He hisses when I pull away and nip at his bottom lip, but it’s not the sexy kind of hiss a girl wants to hear when she’s doing that. I climb out of his lap, and Sabin leans all the way forward like he’s trying to crumble in on himself. I guide him onto his side and notice in my periphery that the leaves are no longer swirling around us but floating slowly down to the ground.
Movement to my right sends my heart racing, and alarms blare through my brain. Fuck, not again, not when he’s hurting, I plea with the universe. In a blink, I have short swords gripped in each hand and am on my feet standing protectively over Sabin. He’s rocking and groaning in pain on the ground, and I let anger fuel the rising fight in me. I’m fucking pissed that I’m dealing with some other shit instead of being there for Sabin when he’s hurting.
I tap into the runes on my ring finger and signal to the guys that I need them. A naked man with long curly ash-brown hair seems as surprised to see me as I am to see him. He doesn’t try to cover himself up; he simply tilts his head to the side and inhales deeply.
Shifter.
My mind identifies that much, but I have no idea what kind. He says something to me in a language that could be Russian, Belarusian, or fucking Swedish for all I know. I watch him and call on the runes to increase my hearing. The naked shifter repeats whatever he just said to me, but I focus on the sounds around me instead of his voice. I don’t want to take my eyes off of him, but I need to make sure no one is sneaking up on Sabin and me from behind. The stranger takes a step forward, and I crouch automatically.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” I warn him, and he stops.
Sabin cries out through clenched teeth, and the shifter’s eyes drop to him, confused. I want to comfort Sabin like I’ve done with all the others, but locked in this weird standoff with this guy, all I can do is lamely tell Sabin, it’s okay. I hear something moving fast toward me, and I flash a barrier over Sabin and me and prepare to have something slam up against it. Torrez’s massive charcoal-gray wolf leaps out of the trees and lands in front of me.
The second the naked shifter sees him, he also shifts into a wolf. This guy’s wolf is smaller, and his coat is primarily white and gray with touches of gold on his chest and his muzzle. They both flatten their ears, pull their lips back off their teeth, and release menacing growls at one another. They do this for what feels like a lifetime—but in reality is probably only twenty seconds—before they both stop and just stare unblinking at each other.
The tricolored shifter’s eyes move to mine for a fraction of a heartbeat, and another growl vibrates out of Torrez. The shifter’s yellow gaze snaps back to Torrez, and he lowers his head slightly like he’s apologizing. They face off like statues for another beat before the shifter turns around and trots away.
I drop my barrier, and Torrez moves in a circle around me, sniffing at the air and the ground before he comes back to me and rubs up against my side. My short swords disappear, and I shove my hands into his thick dark fur. Adrenaline pumps through me, and I try to calm myself down now that the immediate threat seems to have passed. Or at least I think it has, judging by Torrez’s sudden affectionate behavior. Bastien, Valen, Ryker, and Knox come running through the trees into the small little clearing, and Enoch, Kallan and Nash are right on their tail.
“What the fuck happened?”
“Are you okay?”
“Fuck, he’s fast.”
All sound off at the same time as everyone runs their gazes over me, Sabin who is clearly suffering on the ground, Torrez the wolf, and the woods all around us.
“I’m fine,” I tell Ryker, answering his question first. “A shifter showed up out of nowhere. He surprised the fuck out of me just when Sabin’s transference started,” I tell Enoch, answering his question, and I ignore Knox’s comment, figuring it was more a statement than anything that needs to be addressed.
“Where’s the shifter?” Valen asks, his gaze moving through the trees around us.
Torrez flashes from his wolf into himself, and it’s accompanied by groans and the others shielding their eyes.
“Come on, man, no one wants to see that,” Knox whines as he fixes his eyes on the sky.
“You could have warned us or something,” Bastien grumbles. I try not to laugh or stare too hard at Torrez’s dick or his muscles or at Torrez at all, because Sabin is on the ground suffering from our bond, and the last thing I should be thinking of is where to pin the dick on the Sentinel. Torrez turns to me with a smirk, and I want to punch him in his overly sensitive nose for always knowing what I’m thinking because of how I smell. Traitorous fucking hormones—or whatever it is that makes me smell.
“We’re on the edge of a pack’s territory,” Torrez announces, his heated eyes never leaving mine. “Muriel was patrolling when something about leaves caught his attention. I’m not sure what he meant; he has a pretty heavy accent.”
I snort at the name Muriel, and Torrez looks at me, perplexed. “Muriel,” I tell him, because really that’s explanation enough, but it’s clear he doesn’t get it. “Just
seems like a funny name for a big bad wolf shifter,” I add. I look around to the other guys for support, but it seems I’m the only one amused by the revelation.
“Bunch of grumpy fuckers,” I mumble to myself.
“Anyway,” Torrez continues, gesturing to me and Sabin. “He ran into these two, asked them what they were doing, I showed up and explained, and we’re now invited to dinner on Sunday.” Torrez moves past me, his warm arm brushing mine, and it starts a delicious fluttering in my stomach and leaves a trail of goosebumps on my arm.
“Wait, what do you mean we’re invited for dinner?” Kallan asks as Torrez moves further away from the group.
“Well, not you guys, I should say. Just Vinna and I,” Torrez answers casually, like this is no big deal and none of the other guys should take any issue with it.
I count down in my head: three, two, one…
“Yeah, that’s not fucking happening,” Enoch and Bastien say at the exact same time.
“Jinx,” I throw out on a chuckle, but once again, I seem to be the only one amused by what just happened. I sigh when both Enoch and Bastien just glare at each other.
“It’s a formality that has to happen if we don’t want issues with that pack. I’m a shifter who’s staying close to their land with my mate, and it’s polite to introduce yourself to the neighbors so they don’t try to rip your throat out,” Torrez tells them, as if that settles any argument they may have.
“Have you not seen the trouble that finds Vinna whenever she pairs off or tries to do anything alone?” Valen asks him.
My first reaction is to object to Valen’s words, but as irritating as it is, he’s fucking right. Torrez fixes his dark brown eyes on me, and the corner of his mouth twists up in a smirk. “She is a little trouble magnet, but I’m fast and strong and can more than hold my own, and she’s…Vinna. We won’t have any problems.”
“You don’t know anything about this pack. They could very well be working with Adriel, and you two are about to casually walk into a trap,” Knox argues.
