by Anna Santos
I stared at Shane, overwhelmed by his words. They were sweetly spoken and breathtaking. I’d never known I could want someone as I wanted him or that love could be like that. It was like now my sole reason to live was because he existed. And even if this screwed things up, the world seemed amazingly coherent and perfect.
I didn’t have time to reply to him because he took me from the bath, bridal style, and wrapped me in a fluffy towel. I was feeling much better after I’d fed and loved him, but I was confused by his actions.
“Weren’t you supposed to mark me?” I asked, unsure if he had changed his mind after all that I had told and shared with him.
He smiled and brushed my lips with his, sniffing and licking where my shoulder and neck met. It sent a shiver of pleasure across my body and soul. I liked that a lot! “Yes,” he said huskily. “We’ll be on dry land for that,” he joked, getting a towel to dry himself. “Are you feeling better?”
“Much better.” I sighed, stretching my arms up in the air and smiling. He tasted wonderful, and I knew I had a silly smile on my face because it had been amazing to see his memories, and because we had just made love several times and I couldn’t be happier than when I was next to him.
He grabbed me, surprising me, and I let out a startled squeal. He took me to bed, where he crawled over me. I felt my body relax against the mattress. It was much more comfortable and dry. I smirked at him, noticing how beautiful he looked: wet hair and shining naughty eyes, gentle smile and rough beard. I liked that on him. He was sexy and irresistible. I bit my lower lip, staring at his plump and dreamy lips.
“Are you going to bite me now?” I asked, breathless. I felt impatient and excited. I wanted to be marked. I wanted to be part of him like he was now part of me.
“No, I’m going to make you scream from pleasure before that.”
“Again?”
“You never complained before,” he teased near my mouth.
“I’m not complaining,” I said with my most innocent face and voice, making him laugh.
“I just want to kiss you a bit more. After I bite you, I can get a bit out of control and… savage. I won’t be able to control my wolf. So don’t get scared, and feel free to punch me if I get too wild.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” I pushed him to my arms to kiss and tangle my tongue with his. “I’m still a bit savage myself,” I confessed, feeling all my body burn with lust.
I needed him really bad. I needed his hands on me and our lips locked, gasping for air.
It was a bit of a challenge to get rid of the towels and rub our naked bodies together. He was already aroused, and I was wet enough, needy enough to open my legs and feel him slide inside me, making me smile and sigh with pleasure and relief. Our lips together, moving at the same pace, our skins burning against each other and our mouths eagerly kissing—nothing seemed more perfect. I was all feverish and ready to come a few moments later. But I didn’t, because he turned me on my stomach, gave me a slight tap on my butt before spreading my legs, and slid inside again, doggy style.
It felt even better, like my insides were ready to burst in flames and consume me. One of his hands was grabbing my breast, and the other was on my hip, drawing me against his hard, big shaft. Then the hand that was on my hip trailed up my back until it grabbed my hair and pulled it from my left shoulder. He left a trail of kisses on my neck and upper back. And then he made some feral growls, some husky and sensual growls near my skin, making my body shiver in delight and leaving me breathless with lust. Next, his teeth carved between my neck and shoulder, in my trapezius muscle, making me gasp at first and then come once, twice, three times while he was still plunged inside me, holding his bite.
I could feel his teeth in my flesh, my blood dripping in his mouth, but it was erotic, sensual, and pleasant. I came a fourth time before his hand descended over my pubis area and held me still against his hips. He was jerking, moaning in pleasure. Then his mouth left my skin. He grabbed my shoulders and turned me to face him. I gazed at him, amazed, gulping at his beastly form. His fangs were dripping blood as he lazily licked his lips. He had amber glittering eyes with black stripes flickering around like special effects. He looked breathtakingly sexy!
I crawled on the bed, trying to make myself comfortable, feeling his mark burn in my back. It felt painful for the first time, and he growled when I tried to touch it. His growl made me stop and stare at him again. He was a bit scary, I had to confess, and I kind of got startled when he moved closer to me, sniffing and giving me an odd-looking smirk. I swear I thought he was going to bite me again, and I held my breath and closed my eyes. But he just started to lick me, and I opened an eye, finding it weird, until I opened both eyes and started to giggle, ticklish. He continued to lick my cheeks then my neck and breasts until he trailed down me with his tongue, transforming my first oh of surprise to a different shivering oh! of delight, that then became an oh my god!, repeatedly, as if I was some kind of devoted believer in higher deities. But I could not find better words to describe it; they seemed to express perfectly the happiness that was breaking throughout my body under Shane’s tongue.
Then I heard him inside my thoughts, which made me open my eyes, amazed. The mind link had been established, and I could hear him as if he was using his voice. He was saying: God has nothing to do with this honey, this is all me.
I laughed hysterically. He grabbed my legs and pulled me down the bed, crawling over me and smirking with shiny amber eyes. He kissed me while I heard him growling in my mind and sigh in both pleasure and pain.
He wanted to mark me again, to carve his teeth once again in my flesh and taste my blood. He wanted to get inside me once more, and I was losing control, feeling my fangs come out. Lust was mutual, and I told him mentally to stop fighting his wolf and give in to his urges. He bit me, and I bit him, and we rolled on the bed, ecstatic and completely high on love and yearning.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Anna
Walking on clouds couldn’t even come close to explaining what I felt the day after our final bonding. I loved having him in my head, loved talking to him without speaking, and loved sharing that strong connection that allowed me to always know his location.
I still had to help out at school with the prom arrangements plus the meetings to decide the final grades; I also had to write college recommendation letters for the ones who were leaving high school. So I didn’t have all my time free for Shane, nor did he, because he also had to take care of the safety of the town, since the prom was a huge event and security had to be tight. A lot of kids from other villages would come to town; many kids would do stupid things that night because of the alcohol. Safety measures needed to be in place; students had to attend classes to learn about them. Most of the kids would find it boring and unnecessary, since their youth made them think they were invincible, being supernatural. However, even if they were stronger than humans, they could still get hurt; rogues or radicals could enter undetected and cause trouble.
It was without a doubt a stressful week for Shane and me both. We all hoped it would all be worth it at the end of the prom night, though.
My marks burned from time to time, making an itchy feeling or sending waves of sexual desire whenever Shane thought about me or told me he missed me. Mentally sharing the ins and outs of our daily jobs was nice. I loved his sense of humor. I knew I walked around daydreaming with a silly smile on my face because we both got lost in conversations taking place inside our heads. Of course, others didn’t mind, because many could guess that I had been marked; mostly werewolves and vampires looked at me and gave me an I-know-how-you-feel smile.
Well, James, the principal and one of Shane’s best friends, did not. He began to look at me in a funny way, weirder than before. He still told his jokes and made flirty comments; however, something was definitely strange in the way he looked at me. He was still probably envious of what Shane and I had in our relationship. Honestly, I couldn’t understand James—he was kind o
f a puzzle. I didn’t much care to try, though. I was in my own world of happiness and was going to enjoy it as long as I could.
***
In the middle of the week, I had a weird meeting with James; he warned me that the prince wanted to see me that day and was coming to town. The prince was the son of the supposed king, who granted protection and ruled the little kingdom. Well, it was not that little. The town was big enough, and the surrounding woods were large and good enough to protect, making the town less attractive to humans who wanted to move there.
The royal family was also the owner of the majority of the houses, the school compound, the health facilities, the theater, and the only shopping mall which had a bunch of fancy stores and even a cinema. They were also the owners of the majority of the companies that provided work to the people of the town. They had furniture factories and building-industry companies; even the huge grocery store was theirs. So, summing up, the majority of the real estate was theirs. And then they also sponsored the fire department and, of course, had total control of the police department, putting their men there to protect and take care of their town.
They were rich, for sure. They were also a pureblood vampire family, so the wealth was not a surprise. What was surprising was the way things were well organized, and how everybody lived relaxed and happy. They even had peaceful affiliations with packs of wolves and covens of witches that lived in nearby towns. Many of the teachers were from neighboring villages; their citizens also studied in our local school and were even made part of the town security force. We had a lot of werewolves from other packs coming to practice with us during the week; they all seemed to get along just fine. One of the alphas was even the scholastic wrestling coach, and he took his job serious. Sebastien was younger than the majority of the wolves, just twenty-five, but he was responsible and ruled over his wrestling team as if they were a SEAL task force. His team was probably better than the SEALs, since they were stronger, faster, and supernatural. He would push them to the limits and smile about it.
Sebastien was nice and funny. I was almost his age, so we had a lot of things in common. At least we were part of the same generation! Because the rest of the teachers were older, much older than us, sometimes we felt a bit disengaged by the things they would talk about or remember from other decades. They seemed nostalgic about times when children behaved better and thought about things besides cell phones, Glee, Gossip Girl, and other shows that influenced their perspective on the world, giving them ideas to get out of town and explore the world outside. That could be dangerous, the older teachers thought, but they were young and avid about seeing new things and having new experiences. Who could blame them?
“Everybody is excited about the dual meet on Friday evening,” Eve said enthusiastically. She was the math teacher, and she had a huge crush on Sebastien. It was hard not to notice.
We were in the teacher’s lounge talking to Sebastien, who had given his victims a break for once. Evelyn, the gorgeous blonde vampire, used the opportunity to flirt with him. Eve was nice and talkative; she had a really sweet personality that reminded me a bit of Jessica. Besides, I could understand her crush on Sebastien. The boy was hot! He had amazing green eyes and was an Alpha. Alphas reek of attraction and power to females. He had a whole league of fans among the teachers and female students. He was my friend and Shane’s, too. He trained with us and was actually one of the fighting teachers. His pack would often come to practice with us so they could face vampires and hybrids and become more prepared. Another thing, he was mateless; he had no Luna attached to him yet. I noticed a seeming curiosity in his eyes about my mate bond with Shane, once that was finally completed. I was guessing that he wanted a Luna really badly and I thought it was sweet of him to be so romantic about his soul-mate.
“I had no idea that the wrestling team was the pride and joy of the town!” I said, relaxing against the couch. We were finished for the day, but I had time to waste, waiting for Shane to finish his work.
“It’s a huge deal after the football team,” Sebastien said, putting down the notes he was reading and giving us his attention.
“This dual meet will attract a lot of people coming to watch from other schools. A lot of supernatural beings will be gathered in the same place, and it’s always a problem with the security,” I said, reminding myself about all the time Shane was dedicating to secure the town because for that event.
Humans’ wrestling season would normally take place from November to March, but the supernatural season was from January to May because it was something that didn’t obey human laws. Our team had made the post-season finals.
“Oh, yes, it’s a huge deal. We will fight against three of the strongest teams of other werewolves and shifters. Last year’s winner is one of the favorites. The boys are feeling a lot of pressure,” Sebastien said.
“The girls are all excited, too.” Eve‘s eyes sparkled, her gaze on Sebastien. “All they talk about is their cheering routine and the prom. I had no idea that the wrestling team needed to be cheered.”
“In my opinion, the girls are a distraction,” Sebastien said, making me chuckle.
“Boys will be boys. Besides, the girls need to practice their routines.” Eve waved her hand, ignoring his lack of interest and grumpy observation. “You should be happy we’ll all be there cheering for you.”
“James forced me to meet with the cheerleaders to explain the rules so they wouldn’t cheer when they shouldn’t,” Sebastien said. “It was a waste of time. They asked me a bunch of stupid questions and were more interested in knowing about my private life than the scoring rules.”
“I’m sure they did.” Eve giggled. It was pretty funny, actually. Sebastien had more attention from the females than he wished. “Sebastien, I could use some lessons about that, too,” she added with a mischievous grin.
“The dual meet is tomorrow. But I can give you the flyer I made for the girls,” Sebastien said, innocently.
The dual meet was scheduled for Friday evening, the day before prom on Saturday night. The teachers had decided that it was better to hold the prom on a weekend in order to have the entire population’s help controlling the teenagers and to have more patrolling teams in the woods and on the borders.
“Are you coming to the dual meet, Annabel?” Eve asked me.
“Oh, definitely. Shane is excited about it, too. Actually, all the guys are excited about it.”
Apparently, the wrestling championship was really a challenging display between other packs or teams of supernaturals, so it was rather important for the reputation of each supernatural community that competed. Wars weren’t an option for resolving disputes anymore. Wrestling matches were a more civilized way of showing superiority. So all the men were excited about the show, and the boys felt the pressure, because they would be representing the entire community. Sebastien had a lot of pressure on his back, too. He had been a champion himself when he studied at that school. I had seen the trophies and pictures in the school’s Hall of Fame. This was his first year as the coach of the wrestling team, so he had to prove himself.
“That’s cool. I could join you, and we could cheer for Sebastien together,” Eve proposed. “I’ve never been to a fight before.”
“Sure, you can keep us company. Shane will be too busy arguing with the referee anyway,” I said, amused because he’d spent a lot of his time discussing with the other guys in the bar how, the previous year, their team had been penalized by the referee.
“Cool. I don’t know a lot of people here.” Eve smiled, a bit shy, and I realized that it was true. She really kept to herself. Besides her crush on Sebastien, she barely spoke with the others. She was a substitute teacher like me. She was a vampire, but she didn’t seem to have been a vampire for a long time. “Sebastien, are you going to James’s party tonight?”
“I need to rest and get focused for tomorrow. Besides, I’m going to patrol the town.”
“I thought Shane had that covered for tonight,” I said
.
“Oh, I’m not patrolling with the guys. I’m just going to make sure the boys aren’t partying until late at night. I don’t want them drinking and partying before the fights. They can party all they want after it, not before.”
“I could help you with that, and then we could go to James’s party just to see if there isn’t one of your fighters there,” Eve proposed.
“I really don’t want to bother you. I’m sure you have better things to do,” Sebastien said.
“Not really. Besides, the school year is finishing. I’ll go back home for a couple of months and… we might not see each other for a while.”
I smiled, staring at my bag. Sebastien was clueless or just trying to seem clueless. Either way, I felt like a third wheel. I also felt sorry for Eve: it was clear that Sebastien wasn’t into her. She shouldn’t be so insistent. Maybe she was just feeling lonely.
“What are you doing tonight, Annabel? Are Shane and you going to James’s party?” Sebastien asked.
“What? Oh no, Shane and I are going to Sam’s Bar to meet our friends. No wild parties for us.”
“It’s a pity. We could meet there,” Eve proposed. “Unless… I would love to go to Sam’s Bar, but I don’t want to go alone. You could keep me company and buy me a drink, Sebastien.”
“Eve, some other night. I wouldn’t normally say no to spending time with friends and colleagues, but tonight I really need to rest.” Sebastien spoke soberly; she simply sighed and nodded.
“It’s a pity that no one thought about a going-away party for the teachers. We may not be together next year,” Eve reminded us. “Are you going to keep teaching here, Anna? Since Shane and you are mates and there’s an open position for a permanent literature teacher here?”
“I don’t know,” I said, blushing at the direct question. I guess people were assuming that I was going to live there permanently, since I was Shane’s mate. James was pressuring me for a decision, but Shane knew better than to pressure me about anything. We had marked each other; it had been a huge step in our relationship. He had been understanding enough to know that I didn’t need to live there to be with him. There was an entire world outside the safety of that town, a world that needed me.
