Underneath

by Maggie Walsh

  “It’s not Micah,” Taylor whispered from somewhere.

  Micah couldn’t see anyone else. His eyes were solely focused on his mate. Micah took an unsteady step forward and then another, and then he ran to Jesse.

  Jesse opened his arms wide. Micah scooped him up and held on tight. Jesse wrapped his legs around Micah’s waist and his arms around his neck. Micah buried his face in Jesse’s neck and let the tears flow. He drew in a deep breath through his nose, inhaling his mate’s intoxicating scent. “Baby,” Micah whispered around the lump in his throat. He swallowed hard and sniffed. “Oh gods, baby. I missed you so much, Jesse. I thought I lost you. I have never been so scared in my life as when we came back here and saw the shield gone and the house empty,” he whispered through the tears.

  Jesse ran his fingers through Micah’s hair. “I’m here, babe. And I’m okay,” Jesse said on a sob.

  Micah pulled his head back and looked into Jesse’s eyes. “I love you, Jesse,” he said, and pressed his lips to Jesse’s. Jesse opened up to him and Micah slid his tongue inside, moaning from the taste of his mate.

  * * * *

  They approached the house from the tool shed next to the driveway that they had just exited. At the front of the house was some kind of battle. The wolves were snapping and snarling at four really big men. The big guys were defending and trying to avoid getting bitten by those powerful jaws. Two other big guys were holding onto Micah as he struggled against them and held onto Ryland’s shirt.

  “What the hell?” Gabriel asked, and started to move faster toward the fight.

  “Wait,” Phenex said, halting Gabriel. “That’s fae warriors. They won’t hurt your friends.”

  They stepped closer and Phenex yelled, “Stop!” Everyone froze except for Micah. He took advantage of the distraction and nailed Ryland right in the face, sending him flying backward onto his back on the stairs. Then Micah jumped on him and started pounding him.

  Jesse called Micah’s name and Micah froze. He slowly turned his head, his eyes were full of sadness, until they landed on his mate’s face. They all stood and watched the beautiful reunion between the Alpha and his mate. His eyes shifted to look around at the wolves as they started to shift back. A beautiful brown wolf with golden highlights approached him, and Raffy knew who it was. He met those beautiful cobalt blue eyes of his mate and tears started to fall from his eyes. Christian shimmered and suddenly his gorgeous mate stood before him in all his naked glory. His eyes were also damp as they bore into Raffy’s. Christian grabbed him around the waist and picked him up, pressing his lips against his roughly. He opened to his mate as he wrapped his legs around Christian’s waist. He grabbed onto his mate’s hair with a ferocity he never felt before. He needed to feel Christian against him, around him, in him and he needed it now. Their tongues slid together with a fever of desperation and need. Christian slid one hand down and cupped his ass as he pulled them closer together.

  Christian pulled back and growled against his lips. The sound went straight to his cock and filled it instantly. “I missed you, mate. I missed you so damn much,” Christian said, and reclaimed his lips in another heated, passionate kiss. He needed more and he needed it soon. Christian was consuming him with his mouth and Raffy’s body was heating up. He started to thrust his hips against Christian, rubbing the underside of his denim-clad cock against Christian’s stomach muscles.

  Raffy pulled back from the kiss and panted. He looked into Christian’s eyes. “I missed you, too, Christian. I missed you so much. I didn’t think I was ever going to see you again,” Raffy cried, and buried his face in Christian’s throat.

  “It’s okay, angel. You’re here now. You’re right where you belong. Right in my arms. I love you, angel,” Christian whispered against his hair.

  “I love you, too, Christian,” Raffy said on a sob, and held on to Christian tighter.

  Gabriel cleared his throat. “Not that I’m not happy for you both and this little reunion isn’t beautiful, but I can’t watch you humping on my little brother, man.”

  Christian started to chuckle and looked up at Gabe. “Too bad.”

  Raffy started to laugh against him and then lifted his head and turned toward Gabriel. “Like I had to stand there and watch you and Taylor paw all over each other in that cave. If it wasn’t for Phenex you two would have ripped each other’s clothes off right there and screwed on top of the cage.” Raffy laughed. Gabriel’s eyes went wide in shock. The expression on his face only made Raffy laugh more. He turned back to look at Christian and saw an identical expression on his face. Raffy burst out laughing and dropped his forehead to Christian’s shoulder as his body shook with laughter.

  “What the hell did you do to my mate?” Christian asked in amusement.

  “Nothing,” Gabriel said in shock.

  “Maybe it has something to do with him standing up to our father and telling the prick off? He stood up for himself and for us,” Cass said. They turned to look at him and Christian finally realized his best friend carried an unconscious man in his arms.

  “What do you have there, Cass?” Christian asked.

  “He was another captive. We think he’s the missing dragon,” Cass explained.

  “Brett?” Ryland called out, and came rushing toward them. He stopped in front of Cass and looked at the man in his arms. “Yes, it’s him. It’s Brett,” Ryland confirmed.

  “Well let’s get him inside so I can check him out and see what I can do for him,” Aaron said from Raith’s arms.

  “You have to be very careful with him, Aaron. His blood is very toxic,” Ryland said.

  “I know, but we still need to take care of him. Cass, can you carry him some more?” Aaron asked.

  “He is starting to get a little heavy here,” Cass answered.

  “Here, let me help you, gorgeous,” one of the big guys said, and took Brett from his arms. He gave Cass a sexy smile and winked at him. “I’m Valor,” he introduced himself.

  Cass smiled back at him with a cheeky grin. “Well hello, Valor. I’m Castiel, but everyone just calls me Cass. But uh…you can just call me,” Cass said seductively as his eyes roamed over Valor’s body, and he licked his lips.

  Valor dipped his head, kissed Cass quickly on the lips, and pulled back. He licked his lips and hummed. He smiled at Cass. “I’ll do that,” he said seductively, and turned away, walking toward the house.

  A shiver went through Cass as he licked his lips. “Damn. Now that’s what I call a man,” he groaned and followed Valor into the house.

  * * * *

  The kitchen was crowded as everyone gathered around to tell their side of the events of the night. Even Dante, Dare, and Dale were there. “So you took Noah and Rory’s powers into you and said the spell and Jesse woke up? Then you figured if you could get out of the house and called Phenex that you could get to the cave and rescued those three and then you were coming back to help us?” Micah asked in shock. The mates all smiled and nodded at him.

  “But how did you get out of the house? You shouldn’t have been able to get past my shield,” Ryland asked.

  The mates explained how they used the Grimoire to escape the house, along with using Phenex’s powers to get inside the cave.

  “It was a genius plan actually,” Phenex said proudly.

  “What did you do?” Dale asked with eyes wide open.

  “Rory found notations in his Grimoire about jump starting someone’s powers. Adam had told us how with Raffy’s omega powers and Taylor’s guardian powers how everyone should get their powers sooner. Well if Jesse is part fae and fae are born with their powers, then Jesse should already have his. Noah said he spent his childhood learning how to use his powers and control them, so why didn’t Jesse have his? We figured Malachi probably bound his powers when he was a child. So the notation that Rory found about kick-starting powers said that if he drank the blood of one of his birth parents and syphoned that parent’s powers at the same time, that it would be new powers and they would brea
k the binding spell and free his original powers. So that’s what we did,” Aaron explained.

  “So Phen cut his arm and Jesse drank from him as I held onto both of them and syphoned Phen’s powers and amplified them into Jesse. It worked. Whatever Malachi did to bind Jesse’s powers vanished and his powers woke up,” Taylor said.

  “In the meantime, I was in the underworld before they called, and I was speaking with Lord Lucifer. He gave his permission for us to bring Malachi and Brighton down to him directly. The approval was given from above him. So I called my Legion Warriors to join us,” Phenex explained.

  “So how did you beat Brighton and Malachi?” Micah asked in confusion.

  “Adam and Jesse gave us that little boost,” Taylor said. “Adam said that if it were only possible for me to syphon the power of a more powerful being that we could syphon Malachi’s power and use it against him. And seeing as I had already syphoned Phen’s power, why wouldn’t I be able to take Malachi’s as well? Then Jesse reminded us of the time I syphoned Ryland’s powers and dumped his ass in the ocean.” Taylor looked at Ryland and smiled. “I still ain’t sorry for that.” Ryland crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at Taylor. Taylor laughed and turned back to Micah. “After we explained to Phenex about that story and he stopped laughing his ass off, Aaron brought up the point that Malachi would try to use his power to escape us. Adam remembered a spell in the Grimoire about blocking escape spells and turning them on themselves as trapping spells.

  “So we came up with a plan, but we didn’t know what kind of condition these three were going to be in,” Taylor motioned to Cass, Gabe, and Raffy. “We wanted to have Aaron nearby to help with healing them if they needed it. Then Phen said I could take all his powers into me to help boost what we were going to do. His powers are more badass than Malachi’s. The only problem was, his powers would have a delay in me. Once I took them in it would take a few minutes to kick in.

  “The Legion dude kept us behind the wall as we waited for them to get into place. I was about to syphon Phen’s powers when we heard Malachi give the orders to go to Dante’s and get him, Dare, and Dale and to bring them back alive.” Taylor retold the story of the events from the cave as everyone listened in shock.

  “So then Malachi started to chant and Rory was able to use the power I amplified to him to counteract Malachi’s escape spell as I drained him without him even knowing. So as Malachi said the spell, he didn’t realize he was blocking himself from leaving, because Jesse was amplifying all the power to turn Malachi’s spell against him. Once the rogues were destroyed, Malachi was shocked when he realized he was powerless. You should have seen his face. It was priceless. So then the Legion Warriors grabbed them and dragged them off to hell to meet Lucifer and here we are,” Taylor finished.

  Micah turned and looked at Dante, who was smiling like the Cheshire cat. He raised his eyebrows at Micah. Micah then turned to look at Storm, and he also gave Micah a smile. Micah looked around the room and met each member’s eyes, then settled on Jesse. He gave him a big smile and shook his head. “You all are truly amazing,” he said, and turned to glance at everyone again. “I am in awe of your genius and the way you all stick together. For the first time since all of this shit started, I finally feel like we’re getting somewhere. We still have a long road ahead of us. Even with Brighton and Malachi gone, the ripple effect from what they have done will still be a challenge. But with all of you by my side I have more hope of our success.”

  “So what happened with you guys?” Jesse asked.

  Micah told them about finding the town in hysterics and how they calmed them and sent them home. Then he explained about the battle they had with the rogues.

  “So, we know Raith did the water thing, and Christian did the floating in air thing, but who did the ground thing?” Taylor asked.

  Lexi cleared his throat and looked at Taylor sheepishly as he raised his hand. “That would be me,” he said with a smirk.

  Everyone’s eyes went wide. “You got your powers? But you’re not old enough. How did you get your powers already?” Crew asked with a whine.

  Lexi shrugged his shoulders. “Beats the hell out of me. It started about a month ago, and I’ve been playing around with them here and there.”

  “It’s because of Raffy and Taylor, like Adam said,” Rory said.

  “So we all really will start getting our powers now?” Xander asked.

  “Looks that way,” Micah answered.

  “Wait, if we’re all here, who’s protecting the borders?” Gabriel asked.

  “I placed protection spells around your territory before I went back to my realm to get my warriors,” Ryland explained.

  “But that was before the rogues came. How did they get in?” Aaron asked.

  Ryland stood up straight and looked at Micah. “Shit! Warriors, go to the far outskirts of the wolf territory and place new spells around it. Then stand guard until I send reinforcements,” Ryland commanded. The Warriors all bowed to Ryland and headed out the door. Valor turned back, gave Cass a look, and left.

  “Well I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m exhausted and horny. I need to go take advantage of my mate,” Gabriel said and stood up with Taylor clinging onto his front.

  “Ooh, man of mine. I’m liking this new side of you,” Taylor purred, and licked a path up Gabe’s neck.

  “You would have been proud of him, Taylor. The way he messed with the old man and told him off. It was great,” Cass said, and laughed. Raffy joined him as he nodded his agreement.

  “You saw your pops?” Taylor asked in shock.

  “Yeah, but we don’t need to worry about that sick bastard anymore. Brighton killed him after our father killed Uncle Rafael,” Gabriel said solemnly, and looked at Micah. “I’m sorry, brother.”

  “It’s okay, Gabe. I already knew my Father was dead,” Micah said in a pained voice.

  “Not that it excused Dad’s sins or actions, but he was a pawn in Brighton and Malachi’s plan. They made him believe that the three of them would rule. Well, Brighton and Malachi would rule, but Dad would be the ruler of the wolves. But once he killed Uncle, they didn’t need him anymore and they got rid of him,” Cass explained.

  “We’ll talk more in the morning. Something tells me we’re going to need all the sleep we can get,” Micah said, and stood up, still holding on to Jesse.

  Dante and his men stood, too. “That’s our cue to leave. I need to get back to Vik. We have members showing up already. Ryland, thank you. Your men have been a big help. I will not forget this,” Dante said, and nodded at the fae king.

  “You’re welcome, Dante. If you need more assistance, just let me know,” Ryland answered.

  Dante nodded and grabbed his mate’s hands. “We’ll talk again tomorrow, Micah. Jesse, it’s so good to see you back with us again.”

  “Thank you, Dante. And thank you for helping the big guy here while I was…well.” Jesse stopped as his eyes got sad.

  “We are always here for you both,” Dale said with a smile.

  “Come on, mates. Let’s go home,” Dante said, and disseminated.

  “Well, I need to go make sure the underworld’s two newest residents are uncomfortable in their new home,” Phenex said with a smirk as he stood up.

  “Phenex, wait,” Jesse said. He tapped Micah’s arm for him to put him down. Reluctantly, Micah placed him on his feet and let go. Jesse walked to Phenex and met his eyes. “Will you be back soon?”

  “It will take me a few days to take care of some things now that the paranormal world is in chaos, but yes, I will return. If you need me before that, just call,” Phenex offered, and reached a hand up to touch Jesse, but stopped and dropped his hand.

  Jesse gave him a shy smile. “Good. I would like for us to talk.”

  Phenex gave him a bright smile and nodded. “I would like that.”

  Jesse stepped closer and reached up, wrapping his arms around Phenex’s shoulders. Phenex froze for a moment and then
softened, wrapping his arms around Jesse. He closed his eyes and held Jesse tight. After a few moments, Jesse pulled back and stood on his tiptoes. He kissed Phenex on the cheek and whispered in his ear. “Thank you. For believing in us and…for everything.” Jesse stepped back and met Phenex’s eyes. They were full of happiness and love. He swallowed and cleared his throat, then smiled softly at Jesse and nodded. He turned and left through the wall.

  Jesse walked back to Micah. “Take me to bed, my love,” he said around the lump in his throat. Micah gently wiped away the tear that escaped Jesse’s eye and kissed his forehead. He picked Jesse up and headed for the door.

  “Jesse?” Ryland called out, stopping Micah. He turned them to face the fae. “I…”

  “I’m not quite ready to talk to you yet, Ryland. I need some time to think about some things first,” Jesse said sadly. Ryland nodded and looked down. Micah turned and carried Jesse from the room.

  Chapter 11

  The hot water on his sore muscles felt so good as the water cascaded down his head and over his skin. But it wasn’t even close to the heaven his body and mind were in with what his mate was doing to his body. Raffy stood facing the tiled wall. His hands and forehead pressed against the cool surface. Body bent, back arched, legs spread, ass sticking out for Christian’s attention. And boy was his mate giving him attention. Christian was on his knees behind him. His hands held Raffy’s cheeks firmly as they spread him wide so Christian could lick and suck his hole. Raffy moaned out as Christian thrust his tongue in him again and added a slick finger. By the time Christian sawed three fingers into him with ease, his mind was lost in a blissful fog and his legs were shaking from the effort of holding himself up.

  Christian stood and wrapped a strong arm around his waist, keeping him steady on his feet. Then he felt the blunt tip of his mate’s cock at his hole. Christian pressed forward and the head of his cock spread his outer ring open and slid inside. “Oh shit, angel. This is going to be fast. I need to feel you around me and my wolf needs to reclaim you,” Christian said in a strained voice.