by Tara Rose
He reached under with one hand and teased her clit as he fucked her, and Valerie screamed as an orgasm tore through her, so intense that she was sure she was going to pass out. It didn’t let up even when he pulled out and Stephen took his place. Micah changed his condom and stroked her hair and back as Stephen fucked her in the ass.
He was just as careful as Micah had been, and fresh tears welled up at the tenderness they both showed her. They’d never hurt her. She was certain of it. When Stephen pulled out, he changed his condom as well, and then Micah pushed a pillow under her hips to lift them slightly. He kissed the soles of her feet. “Thank you. That was exquisite.”
“Thank you, Sir.” She could barely speak. Micah continued kissing her, traveling up the back of each leg now, and then he kissed the sensitive wounds on her ass cheeks. He spread them and licked her wet slit, and then he straightened up and slid his cock into her pussy. Valerie moaned again as he thrust in and out with incredible speed and force. It didn’t hurt this time. It was simply amazing, and she was shocked to realize yet another climax was building.
When he came, his cries joined hers. Stephen took his place, but before he put his dick inside her, he kissed her back and ass cheeks, licking her asshole as well as her pussy. Valerie could hardly breathe now. These two filled her with such intense longing, and even when her orgasms were spent she wanted them again. She hoped she never grew tired of this. Never.
Stephen fucked her pussy hard and rough, but she loved it. Her climax was strong again, filling her with overwhelming longing. Tears trickled down her cheeks as he cried out loudly and came inside her. He stroked her hair and back for a few seconds before pulling out, and then he rolled her onto her side and cradled her in his arms.
Behind her, Micah draped one arm and leg over her body, and she fell asleep listening to their combined breathing, blissfully happy and fulfilled. Nothing could hurt her now. She had her Doms and they would protect her. Her father wasn’t here anymore, and if he did come back, Stephen and Micah wouldn’t let him touch her. Her life was finally perfect.
Chapter Fifteen
Stephen woke to the sound of someone knocking on the bedroom door. He jumped off the bed and glanced around for his pants, finally spotting them in a ball at the foot of the bed. He pulled them on, and crossed the room carefully because the candles had burned down and he didn’t want to trip over anything and risk waking up Micah or Valerie.
When he opened the door, his father stood there with a worried expression on his face. “I wouldn’t have disturbed you, but this can’t wait. Gary is downstairs, and he needs to speak with Valerie.”
There was no point in pretending that she wasn’t in the room with him and Micah. “All right. We’ll be down as soon as possible.” Stephen pulled on the rest of his clothes after cleaning up quickly in Micah’s bathroom. Were they never to have some time with Valerie without interruptions? This was only the second time they’d made love to her, and both times now had come right before an epic disaster. The fact that Gary had come over to the house couldn’t be good news. He rarely came just to socialize.
Stephen glanced at the clock and was shocked to realize they’d actually slept for three hours. No wonder his stomach was growling. His parents would be eating dinner by now, and had probably been interrupted by Gary, which made it all the more likely that the news he’d brought was grave. He woke up Micah first and told him what was going on. When Micah went into the bathroom, Stephen woke up Valerie.
“Did your father say why Gary needs to speak with me?” Her big eyes were filled with worry, and Stephen wished he could take it from her for the rest of her life. He hoped this news had something to do with the jaguars locating her father. She needed to be able to put this behind her.
“No, sweetheart, he didn’t. Go back to your room and fix yourself up as quickly as you can. Micah and I will wait for you, and we’ll all go downstairs together.”
Stephen paced in Micah’s room as they waited for Valerie to return. “Do you think they’ve found him? Her father?”
Micah ran a hand over his face. “I don’t know.”
“She needs to put this behind her. It’s not right.”
“I agree.”
Stephen glanced at his brother. He looked unusually distracted. Was it from worry over why Gary was here, or something else? “You had fun, right? With the play? She did well, didn’t she? I was surprised by how much she took. She’s a natural sub.”
“What? Oh, yeah. She’s fabulous. Exactly what we’ve always talked about. Why? Didn’t you enjoy it?”
“Of course I did. I was just wondering why you look like you’re a million miles away right now.”
Micah shook his head. “Sorry. I had a weird dream.”
Stephen took a seat on the bed next to Micah. “Want to tell me about it?”
“I think I need to tell Gary about it, only I’m quite positive Valerie won’t like it when she hears it.”
“Maybe we should wait then and tell him another time?”
“I don’t know. Let’s first see what he has to say tonight. If the dream has something to do with why he’s here, I’ll reveal it.”
“Fair enough.”
Valerie peered inside the room, and both men rose from the bed to join her in the hallway. Stephen took her hand as they started down the stairs, and wasn’t surprised to find it cool and clammy. He gave it a squeeze and smiled down into her face, but she only returned a slight lifting of the corners of her mouth. Her big eyes were filled with trepidation, and Stephen cursed her father.
Gary had better be here to tell them that Reynard had been found, or he and Micah would go out and hunt down the bastard on their own. Valerie didn’t deserve to have this hanging over her head. Losing Abby had been bad enough, but knowing her father was still out there and might return was more than anyone should have to deal with.
The smell of venison stew and roasted potatoes greeted them when they walked into the dining room. His mother smiled and gestured toward the table, where Gary and his father sat at one end, poring over The Alpha Legend. Why were they looking through the ancient text? What had happened?
“Sit down and have some dinner you three.”
“I thought Gary was here to talk to Valerie?” asked Micah.
“I am.” Gary didn’t even look up from the text, and neither did his father. “In a minute.” He went back to the book, and Stephen gave his mother a curious frown.
“We’ve already had our dinner,” she said, “but the food is still warm.”
They sat down and began to eat. Stephen was really hungry and his mother’s venison stew was one of his favorites. After a few moments, he watched Valerie. She ate, but her gaze kept flitting to the book spread out before his father and Gary. They spoke in hushed tones and kept flipping back and forth to several pages. “Do you know what that is?” he asked her.
She nodded. “I think so, although I’ve only seen a copy once. It’s The Alpha Legend, right?”
He nodded. “Yes. It’s the ancient text that explains the legend surrounding alpha cats, starting specifically with Sleepy Cat. Are you familiar with that one?”
“Yes. Saffron told me about it when she was here last month. The snow on Sleepy Cat Peak forms the shadow of a cat. When the snow melts early, the cat goes down into Passion Peak, angry because he was awoken early from his slumber. It has something to do with the original settlers of that town summoning him, right?”
“That’s right.” Stephen ate several more mouthfuls of his stew, and glanced again at his father and Gary. They were deeper in conversation than Stephen had ever seen them. “But Sleepy Cat is only part of the legend. The rest of it speaks to three kinds of alpha cats—leopards, cougars, and jaguars. It also explains the special power that melanistic cats have.”
“There must be a lot of copies floating around by now.”
“I imagine so, but as far as any of us know, this text isn’t known outside of shape-shifter societies. It also contains spells, warnings
about interaction with humans, and details of how and why in certain circumstances alphas are allowed to share a mate. And it describes how tribes with more than one alpha cat in them should function.”
Valerie’s cheeks colored slightly, and she cut her gaze toward Micah. “That particular part must be of special interest to you two.”
His mother came back into the room, carrying fresh glasses of water, and placed one in front of each of them. She then sat to Valerie’s right. “Make sure you eat plenty of food. It will help you gain back your strength. It’s so good to see you out and about again.”
“Thank you. I don’t have words for your kindness this past week.”
She patted Valerie’s arm and smiled. “You don’t need them. We’re thrilled to have you here with us.”
His father finally looked up. “We have several things that we found in here to point out, but give us a few minutes yet.” His gaze swept over their bowls. “Please, finish eating first.” He and Gary went back to their conversation, and Stephen and Micah exchanged an amused glance. Their father was the sharpest man either of them had ever met, but when he was deeply focused on something, he became oblivious to all else.
Valerie’s face filled with worry again, and she cut her gaze from his father and Gary back to Stephen. “What else is in that book?”
Stephen wasn’t sure he should keep discussing the contents of The Alpha Legend with Valerie, but she needed something to occupy her thoughts right now. The fact that both his father and Gary had their noses in the book made Stephen think what they’d found was old, dark magic. His father knew that book so well that only something puzzling and disturbing would require him to consult with Gary or anyone else, for that matter.
“The heart of it surrounds the importance of panthers, or melanistic cats, and what their presence in a tribe means. It says they exist in cougars, leopards, and jaguars, but that they’re very rare. In fact, if you look it up online today, the human scientific community disagrees whether a cougar can truly be melanistic.”
“That’s why the League was hunting Saffron and Landon, right? She’s melanistic and he was born to melanistic parents.”
“Nevada is melanistic as well,” said Micah. “And anything that rare is worth hunting, if you’re the wrong kind of people. The legend says that if two mates are both melanistic, their cubs would be more powerful than any other shifters, male or female.”
“Do you two think all shifters believe in that? I mean in all the things in that book?”
“I think so, yes,” said Stephen. “For the same reasons that humans believe wishing on birthday candles will give them that wish if they blow them all out at the same time, or why they carry around a rabbit’s foot. All superstitions have their origin in real events.”
“What are the origins of the legends in that book?”
“No one is sure,” said Emme. “But we believe these things, regardless. The League members work hard to carry out their perversions of the legends in that book. Everything they do is based on their beliefs of the ancient legends, but they twist them to use the magic for their own rituals. Nothing they do is aimed at preservation of our kind, which is what those legends are all about. The League is only interested in destruction.”
Stephen swallowed hard. It was rare to hear his mother speak out so vehemently against anything, even the League. Whatever Gary was here to tell them was not even close to good news, and Stephen had the horrible suspicion that it also meant Valerie was in even worse danger than any of them had realized.
* * * *
Valerie pushed her bowl away. If she ate anything else, she’d throw up. She drained her water glass then rose, taking the bowl into the kitchen with her. She rinsed it out and placed it in the sink, then poured herself another glass of water, and returned to the table. Stephen and Micah were finished, and she started to clear their bowls, but Emme stopped her.
“Sit. I’ll get these. Are you sure you ate enough?”
“We’ll make sure she eats more later,” said Micah, giving her a sharp look full of concern. She forced herself to smile at him. It was enough that Drake and Gary were pouring over that damn book and so clearly distracted that they’d barely heard any of them come into the room. Whatever they had to tell her, it wasn’t good. The last thing she wanted to do was add to Micah or Stephen’s worry because she hadn’t stuffed herself full of potatoes and stew.
Finally, Drake and Gary straightened up. After Emme asked if they needed anything and both declined, Drake fixed Valerie with a pointed stare. “What do you know about quartz and labradorite?”
Valerie blinked a few times, confused. “Nothing. Why?”
He pushed the book over to Micah, who was closest to her on the left. “Show her that passage I’ve marked.”
Valerie noticed for the first time that he and Gary had placed sticky pieces of paper on several pages of the book, including one on the page that was open. Micah read it, frowning, and then he moved the book so he and Valerie both could read it. She’d only seen her father’s copy once, and she’d been about ten years old at the time. The writing was so stylized and faint that she hadn’t been able to make out any of it, and she certainly couldn’t have asked him to interpret.
This copy wasn’t much better, but she could read cursive now and even though some of the words were old spellings and the writing was still difficult to read, she was able to make out enough of it to decipher what it said.
Micah read out loud. “It says a piece of quartz and a piece of labradorite worn together over the heart, and when used in conjunction with a specific incantation, can make a person appear to vanish. They can actually travel, physically, from one place to another, but only for short distances.” Micah glanced at his father. “Does the person have to be in human form to do this, or would it work in animal form as well?”
Drake shook his head. “We’re not sure. That’s what we were trying to find out. But it would explain why Reynard was able to escape the jaguars last week. They all told Gary the same thing. Reynard simply disappeared.”
No one spoke. Valerie stared at the book, and then she cut her gaze toward Gary and Drake, and finally she made eye contact first with Stephen, and then with Micah. “Are you telling me that my father has stones in his possession that can make him disappear and then appear in another place?”
“We don’t know that for certain,” said Gary. “But this is one theory that would explain what happened last week.”
“It would also explain my dreams and what I saw when I awoke from each one.”
Drake frowned. “Yes, it would at that.”
Valerie didn’t care that it was now obvious that Stephen and Micah had shared her dreams with their father. She was grateful that she wouldn’t have to repeat the story, and now they’d finally believe her. She had seen him. She wasn’t crazy. But as she realized that, she also remembered what the guys had suggested about her father having contacted Abby before the group went to Passion Peak last week, and her stomach suddenly felt queasy. “Is this what you came here to tell me?” she asked, fixing her gaze on Gary’s face to watch his reaction.
“Not entirely. When we went through the home you shared with Abby, we found a stash of herbs in her pantry.”
“She used herbs all the time.” She’d even taught Valerie the mixture to make in order to help with menstrual cramps because hers had been very severe when she’d first come to live in this village.
“Yes, but we also found this book, hidden behind a sliding panel in a cupboard in the same pantry.” Gary pulled out a small leather-bound notebook from inside his jacket and handed it to Micah, who handed it to Valerie. “Can you tell us if you’ve seen this before, and if that is her writing?”
Valerie’s fingers shook as she brushed a finger along the worn, dark leather cover. “I’ve never seen it.” She opened it, and tears welled up at the familiar heavy script. “But this is definitely her handwriting.”
“We’ve read it. It appears to be
a list of herbal mixtures, and most of them are innocuous. Help with sleep, prevention of pregnancy, healing of small wounds, things like that. But turn to the marked section in the back and read that one. Do you remember Abby ever talking to you about such a mixture or the spell she has written next to it?”
The passage he’d marked used fennel, among other things, and accompanying it was a spell to banish evil spirits or persons from one’s home or dreams. Valerie read it, and suddenly everything fit. Abby had known that her dreams were about her father. She may have even seen him herself a time or two, standing across the street from their home.
And Stephen and Micah had been right. Her father had contacted Abby before last Saturday. Abby had been trying to banish him, or at least had been trying to protect herself and Valerie from him, but she’d lost the fight. And the debt she’d paid for that loss had been her life.
Chapter Sixteen
Micah brushed a hand along Valerie’s hair and she actually flinched, but he didn’t think it was from his touch. “It’s all right. We’ll find him.”
“How?” She looked at him with so much pain and confusion that the urge to pull her into his arms and hold her was overwhelming. No one at this table would mind if he did, but there were answers that Gary and his father needed first. “How will you do that if he can make himself…” She waved her hands in a gesture of utter frustration. “If he can make himself invisible and move around at will?”
“We will find him.” Micah emphasized each word, but the hopelessness still hadn’t left her eyes.
“When did he first contact Abby?” She cut her gaze toward each of them in turn, including his mother. “I have to know.”
“When did your dreams start?” asked his father, quietly.
She glanced at the book for a few seconds. “About two weeks before we went to Passion Peak.”
“Then I would imagine he contacted her sometime around three weeks ago.”
