Their Mating Rituals [Paranormal Protection Unit 4] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Honor James

  “If they do, will you make sure to make them pay for ratting me out?” she asked him with a grumble as she took another bite of steak. “Because I can’t eat too fast or else I will get sick, and I know that you don’t want that at all, darling.”

  “I will rip their throats out and watch as their lives slip away,” he said honestly. “Or I can make it slower if you wish, darling. However you want, babe. I love you and will do whatever you want.” He smiled at her.

  “Depends on who it is,” she said and bumped her shoulder to his. “For now I think that we will just finish eating and then we will smuggle some steaks into our home as well because there is no way in hell I’m eating that.” She pointed to the offensively bland chicken thing that they had wanted her to eat.

  Looking over at the drying-out chicken, he snickered. “The doctor is going to be very upset,” he teased her. “But really, that is beyond overboard. Chicken doesn’t need to be boiled to be good for you. There are ways to make it healthy and tasty, sugar.”

  “No kidding. And I have blood sugar issues. That’s all. As long as I eat and take the insulin I’m good. If I hadn’t gone so long without eating and then the shock of learning I was going to have twins…It was just too much for my system,” she admitted. “And I hate that. I really do.”

  “Better we found it out now,” he said quietly to her. “I like knowing that you are healthy, though,” he said, wrapping an arm around her neck. Hugging her close, he pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I don’t want to lose you, babe.”

  “And I don’t want to be lost.” Lina looked up at him and smiled. “So tell me”—another bite of steak—“just how many text messages did you get when my father was talking to me and told me about the possibility of twins? And how many ratted me out for my explosive outrage?”

  “In total?” He pulled his phone out and, unlocking it, set it before her. “Four hundred and eighty-six,” he said to her softly. “You can read them. Some are actually pretty funny, others are dire and foreboding. It’s a good read now that I know you are going to be all right.”

  That had her shaking her head with a chuckle. “I think that we should read them together. So…” She paused and looked up at him. “Why did it take you so long to get to me? Were you waiting for Daddy to calm me down or what happened?” She wondered.

  “I was off base helping Allister move a sofa,” he told her honestly. “When the first text came in I didn’t even hear my phone. It was around text number fifty when they were coming in rapid-fire that I finally heard the blasted thing and tore out of there.” Aiden paused. “Which reminds me, I owe them a new front door.”

  “Oh goodness,” Lina said with a frown. “I’m sure that Jackie is super happy about that, huh?” she teased. “All right, so you owe them a new door and we will deal with that later. For now we will finish eating, my love, and then after that you and I are going to go home and snuggle.” She was chilly, hated being cold. Where Jackie had been hot her whole pregnancy, she was cold.

  “Yeah, Jackie was thinking up vicious and vile things to do to me and my testicles apparently,” he muttered. “I may owe them more than a door from the sounds of things, but Allister was laughing too hysterically to get anything out of. I’ll go over tomorrow and see the damage myself and find out just what needs to be done. Today we are worrying about you and getting you settled at home so you can sleep, rest, and relax per orders.”

  “Yep, that sounds good to me.” Lina was done eating. She had eaten all she could fit in her stomach and now was leaning against Aiden. “You are so warm.” He was, too. Her bond-mate was so nice and warm. “I think that I need to start to carry jackets around with me because I tend to be cold all the time.” Which was weird since she was half-Dragon herself, but she had always been that way from the day she had been born.

  “You won’t be going anywhere for a while, so you can just stay curled up under your fuzzy blanket all the time,” he told her honestly. Finishing his meal, he pushed the tray aside and hugged her in close to him. “Come on, babe, let’s get you home and into bed, shall we?”

  “And are you going to curl up on said bed with me?” Lina asked with a grin. “Because nothing gets me warmer than being naked with a sexy Dragon of mine. He has such interesting ways of warming me up,” she teased.

  “I will curl up with you, darling, but I want you resting tonight,” he said softly. “You scared me today, Talina, and I haven’t quite gotten over that fear yet. So I just want to curl up with you where I can protect and watch over you and hold you while you sleep. Tomorrow I’ll get you all warmed up for the day, but tonight I need to just hold you, love.”

  “I am perfectly fine with that, but it means that I might just need you in the middle of the night. Would you turn me away?” She asked the question knowing the answer.

  Shooting her a look, he snorted. “Like you even need to ask, tiny little female of mine.” He’d likely be buried deep inside of her sleek wet pussy and halfway to an orgasm before he woke enough to realize what was going on. It had happened before, the evil female, and it would likely happen again.

  Grinning, she patted her hand to his and then gave it a squeeze. “Thank you.” She laid her head on his shoulder and hummed along happily. “Because we all know that I need to stay nice and warm for Fire-breather One and Two that I’m growing and all that fun and happy stuff.”

  “Uh-huh,” he murmured, giving her a squeeze as he grinned against her hair. “Come on, love, let’s get out of here and get you home. You do need some rest, after all, before you and your devious little mind get you into trouble.”

  “Oh it won’t get me into trouble. It will get me into some really, really good things. Things that I so very much look forward to enjoying.” She teased him with a grin. “And you know that you will love every single moment of it as well. We will do some wonderfully happy things in the middle of the night when I wake up chilly and needing to be warmed.”

  Chuckling, he stood and scooped her up into his arms. Kissing her lips, he carried her out of the cafeteria and headed downstairs for the parking lot. “Now all I need to do is remember where I abandoned the truck,” he murmured with a frown. “Hopefully it still has the keys in it, too, since I’m pretty sure I just left it all there.”

  “My poor Dragon. I’m so sorry that I scared you as I did. I promise that I didn’t mean to at all.” In fact she had been scared out of her mind as well from the fainting spell. “I’m sure that the guys likely secured the truck. You might have to go to the Security Office and get your keys, but I’m sure they are there.”

  “Keys are for wimps,” he said quietly as he carried her out through the door. Stopping, he grinned as he saw the truck neatly parked with a security guy in a golf cart waiting. “Looks like we won’t have to hotwire it after all,” he chuckled, carrying her toward the truck. While he could hotwire most things, Aiden wasn’t so sure about the new vehicles. They were a raving bitch.

  “So you can imagine my surprise when I drove around to find your truck with its bumper up against the building, it still running.” Rio snickered. “I thought that maybe we had done been fucking invaded, but then the YouTube video came out where Lina passed out and I knew exactly why your truck was where it was.” Tossing the keys to Aiden, he looked to Lina. “The YouTube will be done soon. Don’t know who had the balls to post something like that but I’m sure that Skittles is already working on figuring out who it was.”

  “He’d better,” Aiden said calmly, “because I’ll want the bastard’s head mounted on my wall.” He smiled pleasantly. “Put out the word that if they want to live they will come forward,” he said to Rio. Moving to the truck, he opened the door and helped Talina inside, shutting the door gently. “If I see the video when I get home and go looking for it, whoever put it there will be in a world of pain for the next fifty years of their lives.”

  “Why would anyone do that anyway?” Lina asked with a frown on her face. “I haven’t lived with the Teams, but even
as an outcast as I was I never dreamed of putting a friend on YouTube for something like this. Especially with us being as we are. Nothing should ever be posted there because of just who and what most of the people inside the base are.” Because they were Gaia’s children.

  Looking to her through the open window of her door, he shook his head. “I don’t know, baby, but they will pay for this either way.” He let out a breath once more before saying to Rio, “Put the word out that I want whoever did this in Talon’s office first thing in the morning or I come looking for them, personally.”

  “Can and will do,” Rio said with a nod. “And Talina”—he looked to the woman and smiled—“no more going without food and getting shocks. Take care of yourself. You are important to all of us.” Not because she was a daughter of the Dragon King, but because she was who she was. She was as sweet as candy and sometimes just as tart. She was also very good for Aiden and had saved his ass, and for that she would always be special to the Teams.

  “Quit making eyes at my female, Rio, or I’m going to have to not like you anymore,” Aiden said, pushing Rio away from the vehicle. Shaking his head, he got into the truck. “I swear there is something in the water that just makes all males feel fearless around us Dragons.”

  “Nah, I’m sure that they fear you, but they also know that since my heart belongs to you and only you, he can attempt to try to be suave.” She grinned and added, “It didn’t work by the way. I didn’t think that he was all that suave. Think he needs lessons?”

  “More than likely,” Aiden muttered, getting them moving off the base. Looking her way, he reached over and took her hand. “I’ll recommend it to Talon, see if he has room in the budget to get those lads some lessons on how to talk to women.”

  Lina looked at Aiden and smiled. “I love you so very much, Aiden.” She was worried though. Not for the babies, but she was worried because someone had willingly exposed her to the world. All of them to the world.

  “Hey,” he said, squeezing her fingers gently. “No more of that worrying, love. Quincy will get it all fixed and turn it into a huge hoax and all will be well again. I hate to say this, darling, but it wasn’t one of the ‘others.’ It had to have been a human.”

  “Oh that’s even worse,” she whispered. “I know how hard that you have all been fighting for so very long, and to have the humans that we all trusted do something like this…” If they were willing to do something to expose the others, what else would they do?

  “Shh,” he said softly, turning the truck into the town limits “This isn’t your fault, love and, as we all know, there is always one that ruins it for everyone. We’ll figure it out and deal with it, sweetheart, so just calm and relax.”

  “I know,” she sighed and shook her head. “I just hate it is all. I truly hate that there is someone we think of as a part of our family that we can’t trust. It drives me nuts knowing that we won’t be able to fully trust all the full humans that live and work here.”

  “It happens now and again,” he murmured again softly. “We don’t hold all humans responsible, but we will hold the one that did it very responsible. They will be lucky to get off the base alive. But it does tend to set a good example for the others not to fuck with us.”

  “True.” Leaning her head back, she sighed. “I will let you guys worry about that though. Honestly I’m exhausted and just want to go home and sleep for a bit.”

  Shooting her a look, Aiden stayed quiet for the rest of the drive. Pulling into his garage, he flicked a look to his brother’s place across the road before hitting the button to lower the door. Shutting off the engine, he let out a breath as he tucked his remote back into his pocket. He had to figure out a way to make Talina understand it wasn’t her fault about the video. None of it was her fault, at all.

  When Aiden came to her side of the truck she slipped out and into his waiting arms. Wrapping her arms tightly around him she held onto him and whispered, “I love you, Aiden. I wouldn’t know where I would be and what I would do without you. Please never leave me?”

  Looking stunned by her words, he held her to him and stroked her hair. “Baby, I’m not going anywhere,” he whispered. “You are mine, in all ways. I’m never giving up the best thing to ever come into my life. I love you, Talina. I couldn’t breathe without you in my life, angel, and that’s the truth.”

  “That’s good.” Lina petted him and looked up. “I love you, too, darling,” she whispered happily and winked at him. “Now then, let’s go and see what kind of bland-assed food the doctor ordered for me so that we can toss it all and buy new food.”

  “Excellent plan.” He grinned down at her. The smile slipped though as soon as her back was turned to him. Her words had him worried. Something was going on with her but he didn’t want to stress her out either. She was pregnant, high risk at that, but he couldn’t help wonder what was wrong that she would question him and his love for her. Following on her heels, Aiden sighed. He really needed to get female insight. Unfortunately he had a feeling he’d have to settle for Jackie and her less-than-feminine ideals and thoughts.

  “You worry too much,” Lina tossed over her shoulder. “I can feel your worry, love. No clue what you are so worried about, but you are worrying too much. It will be all right, won’t it?” she asked and turned to face him. “Between us, it’s going to be okay, right?”

  “Kind of what I was wondering, love,” he murmured, moving to her. Cupping her face, he looked down at her. “You scared me asking me never to leave you,” he whispered. Slipping his arms around her, he stared into her eyes. “Why would you ever ask that? You know you are my everything, Lina. I can’t function without you in my life.”

  “I don’t know.” She sighed and shook her head. “I think that it’s hormones. I honestly don’t know why I asked that. I just needed to know that you would never, ever leave me. I need you in my life so very much more than you can possibly understand.”

  “Okay, hormones are all right,” Aiden said, tucking her closer to him. “I can deal with hormones.” Not really, but it sounded good. “Just remember I love you, I worship you, and you are the woman who saved my life and my heart. You are my bond-mate, Talina. If you ever have any doubts, just go rooting around in my head. Just promise never to open the door marked ‘boys only’ up there. You do not need that adding to all the therapy I’m sure you already need just being in my life.”

  “I know.” She patted his arm lovingly before adding, “And I don’t need therapy, darling. I have you in my life, and honestly that’s all that matters. As long as you and I are together, I’m happy.” She yawned and moved in as close to him as she could get. “I say that we figure out what the doc set up as my diet and then we go and cuddle on the couch for a time. What do you think of my wonderful planning?”

  “I like it,” he told her. “But I have a feeling you are not going to.” Grinning at her, he took her hand and led the way to the kitchen where there was a bowl of fruit out now, not a good sign. Opening the fridge, he felt his eyes go wide and slammed it shut. “You don’t want to look in there.” There was something called tofu in his fridge. Oh, he knew what it was, but never, not in all his years, had he ever, ever had it in his fridge or gut. Someone was going to die.

  She shook her head. “We will clean it all out and get better food tomorrow. I swear if they think that they are going to change my diet that much they seriously have another thing coming.” She knew what she needed to do to keep her sugar in balance, and it was mostly eating right and every two hours.

  “Yeah, well, I think they think that they can,” he said, opening a cupboard, then another and another. “Someone is going to die a painful death,” he said with the Dragon in his voice. “They took my coffee,” he growled.

  “Oh boy.” She could do without it, but her Dragon, oh hell, he loved coffee. “I’m so sorry, honey.” It was her fault. She was the reason that he had lost things he loved. “We will get you some more, love,” she promised.

  “It is not
your fault,” he said, turning around slowly. “Those rat bastards even took my coffee maker. My customized, chrome, high-tech coffee maker specifically made just for me! I swear to the Gods, if they threw it out, their fucking lives are forfeit and I will make them die very, very slowly.” The Dragon was fully in his voice now and he was pissed.

  Doing the only thing she could, Lina pulled his head down to hers and met him halfway. Opening for him, she kissed him. Food could be replaced, they would find his coffee maker, but for now she wanted to soothe her Dragon, needed to soothe him.

  Growling softly, Aiden lifted his head slowly and smiled faintly. “Damn, woman, you really know how to get my attention, don’t you?”

  “I’ve been practicing ways to get your attention, you know. It’s so very difficult,” she said with sarcasm dripping from each and every word. “So what are you going to do about it now that I have your attention? What should we do to get your mind off of them invading our space?” she asked as she began to tug at his shirt.

  “Somehow I think if I say hunting them down and eviscerating them that would be the wrong answer.” He pulled his shirt off over his head when she got it up as high as she could. “I think, in this particular situation, the correct and wise answer would be that I think we should make wild, passionate love.”

  “Oh, I love how you think,” she told him happily. “See this is why I think you are the most brilliant man ever,” Lina said as she began to peel out of her clothes as well. “Where would you like to make love with me, darling? Bed, floor, couch, chair, where?”

  “Anywhere at all.” He smiled and looked around the room, “Except for this desecrated space,” he sneered. Maybe those that had emptied his place had been semi-smart and taken the coffee maker to Allister’s. He’d have to check with his brother in the morning. Looking to her, he smiled again and laid a hand on her belly. Dropping to his knees, Aiden pulled her in close and pressed a kiss to her rounded stomach. He still couldn’t believe how truly blessed he was. A mate, children, a full and promising future before him, them.