He smiled, “I think we should go for a walk in the moonlight.”
That suited her, so she watched him swipe his charm to pay for their meal, and she took his arm as they exited the restaurant and breathed in the magical air of the Crossroads.
Chapter Eight
Shifting with a stranger was surprisingly intimate, even though she had known that stranger for her entire life.
Pansy shook out her quills and looked over at the honey badger at her side. It was funny that he was an Asian badger born to a North American family and she was a porcupine born to wolves. Neither of them matched their parents.
She headed for the trees at a rapid waddle. While he started rooting around, she climbed and watched him from a nearby branch. Wrestling with him would cause him injury, so she had to settle for watching him dig.
Boredom set in, so she returned to ground level and shifted back into her human form. She wrapped her arms around her knees and watched him.
In under two minutes, he noticed her and his shift was as rapid as hers had been.
Her first kiss started slow. He brushed his lips against hers before he backed her against the tree trunk and pinned her there. Being naked, their contact went from exploratory to intimate in a matter of seconds.
Pansy’s body throbbed, and she twisted against him, wrapping her arms around his neck and opening her mouth to him. The taste of Axander was addictive. Musk, honey and a hint of the wine from dinner all mixed together to make an elixir that she sought out with her own tongue while his slid into her mouth to explore.
His hands were moving on their own, stroking down her torso, cupping her breasts and teasing the nerves that hadn’t received any action before. She moaned into his mouth.
When he slid a hand between her thighs, she blushed at the slick wetness he found there. She kept reminding herself that she could stop this at any time, but she didn’t want to stop it. She wanted to find out what was behind his polite exterior, and she was hoping that her quills kept quiet while she explored.
Pansy bit his lip when he slipped a finger inside her. She released him and moaned again, hiding her face against his shoulder while he slipped another finger in and moved them in a slow rhythmic motion.
His thumb pressed and relaxed on her clit, causing a tension to build deep inside her beyond the reach of his hand.
She stroked his chest and worked her way down to his erection, hissing at the heat of his skin while she examined the thick shaft and slick head with her fingers.
When his fingers moved more rapidly inside her, she gasped. He carefully removed her hand from his cock, and without any warning, he was on his belly between her legs, using his mouth to supplement the strokes of his fingers.
She was embarrassed, she was self-conscious, but the next moment, she was clutching his hair and arching into his mouth as the length of his tongue unfurled inside her and the tension snapped, releasing a wave of pleasure through her.
If she had been at home, birds would have taken flight. Here at the Crossroads, there was only the wind to answer her cry.
He held her locked in the throes of pleasure until her body shivered and shook with fatigue.
When he finally lifted his head, he licked his lips slowly and smiled as he kissed and licked his way up her body.
She bit her lip as she watched his slow progress and felt her body waking up again.
The moss that covered the roots made for a comfortable, if somewhat lumpy, bed. He eased her to her back and moved over her. “You taste like honey.”
She didn’t. She knew she didn’t. She had read up on oral sex once and tried to figure out what her partner would taste. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t honey. The worshipful look in his eyes made her keep her lips uncharacteristically shut.
He kissed her again and fitted the head of his cock in her sex.
Pansy was busy trying to decide where she wanted to concentrate her attention when he thrust into her with a short jerk of his hips.
“Son-of-a-bitch!” She hissed against his lips, and she clawed his shoulders while the burning pain kept her focus.
She smelled blood and kept writhing against him until the pain subsided. He remained stoic and motionless inside her. The blood wasn’t just hers; it was the claw marks she had made in his shoulders.
Moonlight lit them both, and he eased back, thrusting gently into her. When she lifted her hips against his, he thrust a little harder.
They rocked together in the moonlight until that delicious tension built again. When she broke apart, she heard Axander mutter something with relief, and he groaned long and low, his back arched and his hips thrust firmly against hers.
She moaned as he shuddered and relaxed onto her body. She clutched him with arms and legs, holding him tight and soothing his sweat-covered skin with long strokes of her hands.
The occasional twinge of pain made her wrinkle her nose. She had known that losing her virginity would not be comfortable, but she hadn’t counted on his determination to make up for it. She didn’t know if she was going to have enough energy to get her back to the Open Heart.
Axander lifted his head and smiled, “Hello, mate.”
She smiled shyly back, “Hello, mate.”
He nuzzled the join between her neck and shoulder. “This was not how I imagined this evening going, but I am not complaining.”
“I am. You are heavy.”
He laughed and rolled until he was under her. “Better?”
“Yes. I wasn’t imagining this for my first date either. Heck, I only learned to dance this afternoon.”
Axander was drawing patterns on her back. “Who taught you? Teebie?”
“No. Andy from the general store. He was a pretty good instructor.”
Her mate stiffened under her. “He held you, touched you?”
She blinked. “Uh, yeah. We danced.”
He was tense.
She stroked his chest and the marks she had made on his shoulders. “Why are you so tense?”
He shuddered under her slow touch. “No one touches my mate but me.”
“But I wasn’t your mate this afternoon.”
“My beast is protective. So sue me.”
She wrinkled her nose and kissed his jaw. “Your beast just mated with the prickliest creature in our vicinity. Me. I made up my mind that it was you and you alone that day that I rescued you and your poor car on the side of the road.”
He grinned. “You were my knight in a shining pickup.”
“Well, I was going for lady, but I can understand your confusion. Is my job going to be a problem?”
“Only if you insist on it while you are pregnant. I don’t want to imagine you under a car with a huge belly.”
She twisted her lips. “I was thinking of keeping my participation to administration from now on. Well, until I get another job. My family might not be comfortable with me if I smell like you.”
He blinked. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
“My godmother did. She has—over the years—provided me with plenty of territory and enough money to live on. Will that make you uncomfortable?”
“No. The family business could use summer help now and then. Would you like to work with my mother?”
She laughed. “We will see. There might be a less drastic course of action.” She shivered.
“Are you cold?” There was concern in his tone.
“A little. Can we head back to the Open Heart?”
He blinked. “You are staying at the Open Heart? Damn. I tried to book a room there, but they were locked down for a VIP.”
She ducked her head. “That would be me, and I am far less VIP than DIY.”
He laughed and sat up, slipping out of her. “Well, let’s head back to your territory then. As long as I get to hold you all night, I don’t care where we are.”
Pansy smiled. “That was the right answer.”
They gathered their clothing and
headed for the Open Heart with a shower and a good night’s sleep on the agenda. Anything else was incidental.
Chapter Nine
A quick shift in her room healed both of them of the aches, pains and minor damages they had inflicted on each other. The shower took care of the rest.
Pansy had never slept with someone, but her inner beast was completely at ease. She finally understood what Keelie had so tactfully tried to tell her. Her beast chose its mate at the Crossroads. She merely had to negotiate the details. Simple.
As she lay wrapped in Axander’s arms, she thought about jobs and income streams. Her favourite past time was making the porcupine-quill jewellery, but she had always wished to try her hand at clock making. It was an extension of her fascination with cars but one that would keep her in her territory and away from car hoists.
She had a feeling that her Aunt Keelie would be able to help her set up with that particular hobby. Pansy wanted a large family, so it would be best for her to find an income stream that she could engage in from home. It only made sense.
Smiling, she let idle thoughts drift through her mind until it was time to rise. The moment that Axander woke up, his hands tightened and then started to move.
He pressed his lips to her shoulders and whispered, “Morning.”
She snuggled back against him and shifted her buttocks against his erection. Her instincts took over, and she reached behind her to grip his hip, pulling him into firmer contact.
He stroked his hand down the back of her upper thigh and pulled her leg gently toward her chest. He slid his fingers down the seam of her buttocks and parted her slowly.
Pansy let out a ragged breath as he pressed against her and slipped inside. There was nothing to distract her this time. No sounds of the wild, no whispers of wind, no howls in the distance, just Pansy and Axander starting a slow dance that would bind them for the rest of their lives.
Entry from the rear provided a stroke against the front of her channel. She curled forward with every inward slide until he pinned her back against him with one arm around her chest, cupping her breasts with his hands as he continued to rock inside her.
She covered his hands with hers for a moment before stroking down her belly and touching her clit a little awkwardly.
He released her and moved her fingers aside with his own.
Pansy heard her voice in breathy cries, and his grunts and groans matched her own as his hips jerked more violently against her.
He bit and nibbled at her neck, she twisted to kiss him, and the change in position caught her by surprise, sending shockwaves of pleasure through her and offering her pleasure to him in the form of her vocalizations.
She took his sharp grunt of release in turn and put her hands on top of his, holding him tight as the morning was greeted in the most wonderful way.
When their heartbeats reached normal, she turned to him with a smile. “That was almost as good as bacon for breakfast.”
“Almost?” He raised his dark brown eyebrows with a smirk.
“Well, yes. That is the best morning I have to compare it to, so that is my yardstick, either that or I am hungry and Teebie is making bacon.”
He looked a little offended, but then, he lifted his head and inhaled. “Bacon, muffins and honey. Why are we still in bed?”
She burst out laughing when he carried her to the bathroom and squealed when he stuffed her into the shower and the cold water struck her before it warmed. “That was nasty.”
He chuckled and crowded her back. “Tough. It was revenge for saying that bacon was better in the morning than I was.”
She pinched his nipple with a hard tweak. “If you aren’t willing to work, this isn’t going to be much of a union.”
Axander winced and grabbed her hand. “All right, if you want me to work, I will.”
He pinned her hands to the wall and lifted her against the cool tile. Between the heat of his body, the warmth of the water and the temperature of the wall behind her, her mind was reeling as it tried to figure out what was going to happen next.
He kissed her, his chest against her breasts and his hips holding her in place. Axander bit at her lips and snarled low.
She shivered and held tight.
He whispered, “Is this better?”
She blinked into his eyes and noted the small gold flecks against the mahogany brown. “Better than what?”
He nibbled at her neck under the pounding spray. “Bacon.”
The laughter welled up and burst out. “Much better than bacon.”
He bit her neck softly. “Are you sure? Bacon is pretty good, almost as good as honey.”
“Almost isn’t good enough.” She tilted her head to one side as she shivered.
“Ah, you are sweeter than honey when you are in my arms.” Axander stroked her torso with the hand not holding her arms above her head.
She twisted, seeking more contact with him. He laughed softly and released her, standing back and scrubbing her back before sliding his fingers inside her. She had no idea what was going to happen next, so she was hot, bothered and leaning against him when he righted her and patted her bottom. “I will be with you in a moment, Prix.”
She winced. “Please don’t call me that. I have been Prix, Prickie, Prickles, Prixie and Little Prick all my life. Can you call me something else?”
“It will be an adjustment. I mean, even your coveralls have said Prix.” He pointed out the obvious while lathering up his cock.
She tried not to look, but it was hard. “I know, but that was a joke by one of my half-dozen brothers. My coveralls have had any number of names on them. None of them have been Pansy.”
“I will work on it.”
She grinned. “Thanks, honey.”
He winced. “Okay, anything but that.” He rinsed off and turned off the water.
She handed him a towel and dried her hair before chasing water droplets across her skin. It was hard for shifters not to shake dry, even when in human form. Pansy had developed a routine that resulted in her being dry from head to toe, in that order.
When she was done, Pansy wrapped herself in her towel and headed back into the bedroom. She froze in her tracks. “Damn, she is good.”
Axander bumped into her. “Whoa. Did she really come in here?”
Pansy looked up at him. “I doubt she set one foot in the room. Have you seen Teebie?”
“At the bar the night before last. She’s blue. Why?”
“She’s a djinn, the same way my godmother is a fae. Magic is in their blood. You can’t separate one from the other. They use it the way other folk use hands.”
Pansy found her hairbrush and took a seat at the makeup table, brushing until her hair fell down her back in a damp curtain.
“How long does it take you to do your hair each day?” Axander was sliding on his jeans.
“I brush it and go. When it’s dry or when I have to climb under a car, I braid it or tie it up.” She ruffled her roots with her fingers and the flat sheet of hair rippled into even waves.
Pansy grabbed her underwear and shimmied into the sparkly blue fabric. She slipped her bra on and tried to settle her breasts without him noticing. She heard him chuckle and knew that he had seen her. Well, having a big bust was her problem, and if he wanted to watch, she would give him a show. Pansy bent over, settled herself properly and stood up.
“That is quite the sight.”
She turned and her bra was perfectly aligned for the shirt she slipped over her head. “Thanks. The ladies had me practicing until I could get them in without any trouble. I used to just yank on a sports bra that squished them flat.”
A pair of sparkled jeans and some low heels and she was ready for breakfast.
“I have never seen a woman get dressed so quickly.”
She waited for him to open the door and gave him a peck on the cheek. “I am used to working under a tight deadline. By the way, do you cook?”
&nb
sp; He blinked. “Now and then. I eat out a lot.”
“Sweet. I have always wanted a reason to learn.”
“You don’t know how to cook?”
“The kitchen is in the pack common area. I am not allowed to cook.” She smiled brightly. “You had better hope that I learn quickly.”
Teebie met them at the foot of the stairs. “Pansy, I have never met a faster learner. You must be Axander.”
He was a little hesitant when he extended his hand, but the moment that her hand slipped into his, he relaxed.
“Come this way. Breakfast is ready.”
With that invitation, Axander relaxed even more. He slipped an arm around Pansy’s waist and urged her to follow their host. Honey and bacon were waiting.
Chapter Ten
Pansy held Axander’s hand and looked at Teal and Tony. “Are you sure that this is going to work?”
“All repairs have been made, and as long as he surrounds you when you transport, you should be fine.” Tony grinned. “Any explosion will be on the other end.”
Axander laughed. “Very nice. It is a good thing we are arriving away from her pack’s house. They might be even less hospitable if she blew the roof off.”
Teal chuckled and beckoned them over to the flat stone in the centre of the Zen garden.
With all the paperwork done and their mating safely recorded for both their families, there was nothing to do but return home. Axander was carrying both their packs, and as Tony positioned them, Axander put his arms around Pansy and held her tight.
She tried to relax. “Ready when you are, guardians.”
Teal grinned. “Stay calm and let the portal do the work. We are going to turn up the power gradually until your magic pulls you through. Think about where you want to go and then move yourself there.”
“Right.” She had been given a five-minute briefing and was confident that she could hold herself together for the few seconds it would take to transport back home.
“Okay. We are starting now. Stay relaxed.” Teal smiled encouragingly and extended her arms.
Little Prick Page 5
