by Milly Taiden
He knelt in front of the cell door and scooted a tray loaded with food through a slot at the base of the door.
“No, you don’t know me. But we know you, Ms. Paters. We have plans for you, an offer you can’t refuse.”
She snorted. “I can refuse a lot, asshole.”
He replied with a smile. “Will you refuse your mate’s life?” Devin’s arms squeezed her to him. She kept her mouth closed. The man stood.
“Both of you sit quietly. The boss is busy for several hours, and I’m not babysitting two weak shifters. This is enough food and drink to hold you until tomorrow, if need be.” His dark eyes focused on her. “It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Paters. With your assistance, I’m sure we’ll be even stronger. Unstoppable maybe.” He left the room.
Marika chewed on her lip. “What do you think he meant?”
“Whatever it was, it wasn’t good. You heard them; they have plans for you. They will take you away from me.” His arms tightened until she could hardly breathe.
“Devin,” she complained.
He loosened his hold. “Sorry, my love.”
She didn’t know what to say. Everything looked rather dim at the moment. Devin tapped her leg. “Up you go, love.” He pushed her to her feet, then got to his own. His fingers started unbuttoning his rumpled shirt and sleeves. She liked this, but wondered what was going on. Him shifting wouldn’t help them get out, as far as she could see, anyway.
He untucked his open shirt, but left it on. His heated eyes met hers. Breath caught in her throat. He took her into his arms and twirled her around the space. He smelled so good, and her face rested on his molded chest.
She looked up at him. “What’s going through your mind, sweetie?”
His grin turned devilish. “I’ve changed my mind about mating with you.”
Marika pulled away from him. “What? Changed your mind?”
He nodded. “Yes. I’d decided to keep you safe by not mating with you. Even though you are stronger and ninja-like.”
Anger flared inside her—
“I said I had decided. Now I’ve changed my mind,” he said quickly.
“Oh.” A smile came to her face. Then she realized what he meant to do. “Oh,” she said in a raspy voice. “Here? Now?”
Hungry eyes looked at her. “He said it would be hours before anyone would check in on us.”
“Yeah, but . . . here?” she asked, her eyes taking in the sparse room. “What if someone is watching?”
“I already checked all around us. Doesn’t seem to have cameras.”
He dipped down and lined kisses across her neck. She tipped her head back with a soft moan. “Okay, here it is, then.”
Their clothes came off in a rush and she tried not to think of anyone else watching them at the moment. He wanted to mate with her now and she wouldn’t refuse. She needed that link, that connection to him to feel more at peace. And if they died, well, they’d die together. On second thought, fuck that! No way in hell she’d let anyone lay a hand on her man.
He kissed her and pulled her back into the heat of the moment. She sucked on his tongue, nipping at his lips and moving down to his jaw. He stroked her with his hands up and down her back, raising goose bumps on her sensitive skin. They moved by the bars, and she pushed him against them, the glazed look of need in his eyes driving her actions.
She wouldn’t be deterred by his touch. She wanted to give her man all the pleasure she could. Kissing her way down his rock-hard abs, she continued down until she was kneeling in front of him. With a hand curled around his hot, smooth length, she glanced up.
His jaw was clenched and harsh breaths made his chest rise and fall. “Sweetheart, you don’t have to―”
She grinned and licked him from root to tip. He groaned and she did it again.
“I want to.” She flicked her tongue over his shaft, putting the head of his cock into her mouth. She gripped him harder and slid him farther down her throat. He groaned and drove his fingers into her hair, holding her head hostage and guiding her movements.
He didn’t thrust hard, instead he groaned and encouraged her as she took more of him into her mouth.
“Ah, baby. Your mouth is so hot.”
She suctioned her cheeks tight and flattened her tongue, widening the back of her throat to take him as far as possible. Then he pulled back, his cock leaving her lips coated in her saliva.
“That’s the sexiest fucking thing I’ve seen all day.”
She loved how his animal made his voice raspy and knew his control was near shattering. Another suck and he moaned, his hips flexing forward slightly. She continued sucking him deeply and releasing him slowly. Once she had him tensing, she increased her speed and gripped his left ass cheek with one hand while fondling his balls with the other. She jerked, squeezed, and sucked harder every few seconds, making him grunt and hip thrust.
“You’ve been holding out on me, love,” he mumbled. “I didn’t realize how amazing you were with those beautiful lips of yours.”
An increase in pressure made him press his back farther into the bars and repeat the thrusts into her mouth. She wanted him to come. She felt his body tensing, muscles locking into place.
She knew just what to do to make him go over the edge. She sucked harder, flicking her tongue under his dick, allowing her spit to dribble down the sides of her mouth and using it to continue jerking him faster. When his body started shaking, she raked her fingers-turned-to-claws over his ass and scratched him deep, letting him feel the bite of pain as he closed in on his climax.
He tried to pull her head away from his cock, but she took him deeper and sucked faster. He came in her mouth, shooting streams of hot cum down her throat.
“Fuck!”
She swallowed and jerked him, taking everything he gave her.
“God, baby,” he said through choppy breaths as he helped her stand. The animal sat just below his skin, ready to come out at any moment. His eyes shone bright gold and his voice was barely understandable.
She licked her lips and grinned. “You taste good.”
“Fuck, sweetheart.” He flipped them around so she was the one with her back toward the bars. “Don’t say shit like that.”
She grinned. “Why not? It’s true.”
He kissed her with a renewed desperation that she liked in him. She wound her arms around his neck and raked her nails over the back of his neck. Somehow, knowing that this man who loved to be in control and have everything in its place lost his cool because of her was sexier than anything.
He pressed his body to hers, his hands gripping her hips. She curled her legs around his naked waist, glad he held her up between his body and the bars. The broad head of his slick, hard cock slipped into her and surged forward.
Their gazes held as he filled her. He went in fast and hard, until he was deep inside her, his balls pressed snugly against her pussy.
She dug her fingers into his shoulders, her claws scratching at his skin, leaving thin, bloodied lines. “Give it to me, Devin.”
He brought his head forward and licked up the side of her neck. “I’m going to give you everything you want, baby.”
“Good. Fuck me harder.”
He pulled back and surged into her with increased speed and power. Every drive pushed her into the bars. She gulped, trying to get rid of the dry throat from breathing harshly through her mouth.
“More,” she mumbled.
He continued to ram her with his cock, the feel of him inside her making her fox wild and desperate for more. She was so close. Her muscles tensed at the nearing climax.
“I fucking love being inside you,” he whispered by her ear, biting down on her jaw. “When we get out of here, I’m taking you outside and fucking you in the open forest.”
She groaned and closed her eyes, visualizing them doing just that. “Open? Why?”
“I want to watch you under the moonlight. My dick sliding in and out of your wetness. I’ll pull it out of your pussy slick with your
heat and shove it in your mouth.”
She inhaled sharply, her body getting hotter the more he spoke. “Oh god.”
“I want you to suck your own juices off my cock. Then I’ll press you up against a tree, like I have you right now, and shove my dick deep inside you. Leave your knees shaking and my cum dripping down your legs.”
She cracked. A soft scream left her throat as tension turned to a wave of pleasure that made her feel like she was floating. He didn’t stop driving into her like a madman. He continued, harder, faster, until his cock pulsed inside her and he tensed. He growled by her ear.
“You’re mine, mate. I’m keeping you.”
He bit down on her shoulder, hard, embedding his canines into her flesh. Shock held her immobile. Shock and the fact that she couldn’t move. He filled her channel with the heat of his cum, his teeth still embedded in her shoulder. Semen spurted from him with every short thrust until he wasn’t moving any longer, his cock still deep in her sex.
A rush of emotions from both of them filled her chest. She couldn’t make heads or tails of all the affection she felt coming from him. Much to her shock, her heart dropped all walls and an instant wave of love and care for Devin filled her heart.
She wasn’t sure what was going on. Was this what mating was? This immediate sense of belonging together? This open love and devotion that they shared? And she was sure he felt it too. There was a new link between them once he bit her. A love so powerful, so strong, she was a little scared by it.
Maybe she’d never been in love or even lust before, but this was so new, so different, she was going to need time to adjust. Not that her fox cared or even her heart over her brain. She loved Devin, and it was decided that she and her fox were keeping him. Mine.
She couldn’t argue with her fox, but she hoped the more she got to know him, the easier it would be to deal with all this love and affection that came out of nowhere.
He kissed her bitten shoulder and licked at her already scarred wound. “I’m going to fuck you all over again, right now.”
She nodded, a smile working her lips. “This time, I get to bite.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Devin snuggled with his mate. He had honestly thought this day might never come. He’d searched and traveled whenever he could, always looking for the one. Granted, her office looked like a tornado went through it, and she had a tendency to make a mess. But she was funny, loving, brilliant, and his.
And now, no matter where she was, he would be able to find her. Their bond, their link, not only tied them physically, but soulfully. He felt her presence as she felt his. Following this invisible pull would lead them to each other, always. Only one thing could sever that bind.
His mate rolled in his arms to face him. “You know, I might be able to squeeze through the slot at the bottom of the door in my fox form.”
He glanced at the opening, then her. “You think? It’s really narrow.”
“And I’m a secret foxy ninja.” She wiggled her hips against him.
He couldn’t help the smile on his face. “Yes, you are definitely foxy. And quite limber, I might add.” Her blush made her so adorable. She morphed into her animal, then hopped to the front of the cell.
He watched as she lay on her back, stretched her front paws under the top bar of the slot, and pulled herself through until the bridge of her nose hit the bar. Her snout was the only thing keeping her from sliding all the way through.
She pulled and shoved, inching her head farther out, tilting it down for the bar to go over her snout. Devin felt pain on his nose and back of the neck. He knew it came through their connection and his mate. She put herself in agony to try to save them. God, he loved her.
The pain grew to make his eyes water. He slipped to the floor, needing and begging for a way to take her pain. If her body was limber enough, her head would continue to tilt forward, as her body moved under the bar, driving her snout against her chest. A whimper escaped her locked jaw.
“Stop, my love. You’re hurting yourself. Stop,” he cried. The pressure on his face felt as if it would pulverize his nose into his brain. He had to do something to help her. Save her from this.
He straddled her slight animal form, wrapped his hands around her ribcage, and shoved her under the bar. A line of fire seared down his face, but his hands were on the other side of the cage. A strip of skin was missing from the top of his mate’s snout, but she was through.
She shifted to her human form, rubbing her nose, and gestured for her clothes. Devin didn’t move. His eyes roamed her body. His hand reached through the bars, headed toward her neatly trimmed triangle of hair.
Suppressing a giggle, she slapped his hand away. “Stop that. We have to get out of here. Get my clothes, horny toad.” Devin licked his lips, but did as she said and slid her clothes to the other side of the cell. She dressed quickly, then pulled the keys from the table by the door.
After freeing her love, they poked their heads out the door to see what there was to see. Not much. Concrete walls, floors, and ceilings as far as the eye could see. They really were in a prison. But Marika knew from the damp air and slight mustiness that they were underground.
She looked at him. “Which way, love?”
Devin’s brows pulled down. “One way looks just as bad as the other. You choose.”
Marika stepped into the hall, sprang into the air, and whirled in circles. When she landed, she faced to the right. “This way.”
With a smile, Devin asked, “What was that stunt all about?”
“That?” she said. “Oh, that’s nothing. Just my version of heads or tails.” Devin shook his head, hiding his smile with his hand.
“What have I gotten myself into?” he asked.
Marika smiled back at him. “A whole lotta fun, mister.” She grabbed his hand and they hurried down the hall, hoping to find an exit sooner than later. They’d be out of there in no time.
CHAPTER FORTY
After driving around for hours, Charli walked into her house, physically and emotionally exhausted. Her worst nightmare had come true. Barry had left her. He remembered his life and realized he had better elsewhere. Someone he loved more.
She was cried out. Numb. Based on what Rupen had said at lunch about Perry, maybe it was better that he was gone. But she couldn’t see him as a mean person, someone who would purposely hurt others. Perry, perhaps. Barry, never.
After dropping her purse onto the table—leaving her unanswered phone inside—she trudged toward the bedroom. She wanted to curl under the covers and never come out. What would be the purpose? There’d be no reason, would there?
She turned a corner and standing in the hall outside the living room, Barry looked at her. She couldn’t read his expression. Was he happy, sad, angry? He didn’t move toward her or away. No words made their way to her mouth. Nothing escaped the sludge in her brain. Was he here to say good-bye? Yes, that must be it. She turned away from him, unable and unwilling to face reality.
That put him in motion. “No, Charli, don’t walk away from me. I can’t handle that.” He stopped her with a hand on her shoulder and gathered her into his arms. Charli had just thought she was cried out. But tears, fresh and hot, rolled down her cheeks. She couldn’t handle this either. He held her tightly and she wrapped her arms around him. They stood for a long moment until he kissed the top of her head.
He asked, “Do you believe I love you?”
“I don’t know what to believe. You said you did, yet you ran from me.” She pulled away from him. “You said the man you were before was dead.” Anger built with each word. “You said it didn’t matter who that person was. He no longer existed. But you bolted the first chance you got.”
He tried to pull her to him, but she refused to let him. “Charli, I love you more than life itself. And if you knew Perry, you’d be shocked it came from my mouth.”
“Then why did you leave me? We can work this out. I’m sure Rupen understands the situation and knows you’re not li
ke that anymore.”
“Am I, Charli?” She stared with tear-ridden eyes into his. Her heart said he wasn’t, but what did she know about the real him? “I am ashamed and horrified of what Perry has done with the past five years of his life. He wasn’t totally to blame. He was under mind control . . .”
She looked stricken. “Mind control? What are you talking—”
“Nothing,” he lied. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got it covered. Perry’s been saved by a beautiful angel he’ll do anything to protect, who he’ll love for the rest of his life. I asked you a question over the weekend and did a piss-poor job doing it. Now, I’ll do it right.”
He shoved his hand into his pocket and knelt on one knee. From his pocket, he pulled a small diamond ring. Charli’s heart stopped along with her breathing.
“It’s not nearly big enough to match your beauty or how much I love you, but we’ll deal with that later. But Charli Avers, will you marry me, eventually?”
Her brain was jammed with questions, yet empty of words. Did this mean he was staying, that he would never leave her again? Yes, that had to be what he meant. She had to ask: “So you learned about your horrible life and ran from me to go ring shopping?”
“Well, I had some other things going on, but yeah. I’m getting my priorities straight, and you top the list in several ways.”
“What do you mean ‘several ways’?”
He looked at her for a second. “Do these questions mean yes, or no, about marrying me?”
She chewed on her lip. “I don’t know. I’m debating how long I want you on your knees groveling.”
He dropped his chin to his chest to hide his grin, which was unsuccessful. “As long as you want me to, baby.” She stepped up to him, took his face in her hands, and brushed a kiss over his lips.
“Yes, Barry. I will marry you, eventually. Promise me you’ll never leave me again.”
He returned her kiss harder. “I will never be far from you. I go where you go.” He slipped the ring onto her finger, then carried her to the bedroom. Their lovemaking was slow and deliberate. So different from before with the raunchy words and domineering personalities. But it was still as intense. His hands and hot mouth over every inch of her skin. Soft caresses down her curves and flesh. Lips and tongue sucking and lashing her tender spots.
