Their Improbable Mating [Paranormal Protection Unit 3] (Siren Publishing Allure)

by Honor James

  Jackie moved slightly away from Aiden and shot him a nasty look. “Bump me again to try to get me to miss and I’m going to break this freaking weapon over your head,” she told him with a low growl. “I mean it, too,” she said simply. She didn’t even take note of their kill counts. She simply kept shooting, focusing on what she had to do and not worrying about Aiden.

  “I didn’t bump you, wench. You stepped into my line of vision trying to get me to stop shooting so you could rack up kills. Big difference. Stay on your bloody side and you won’t have to worry about bumping into me,” Aiden snarled back at her.

  Groaning, Allister rubbed a hand over his face. This was so not going well.

  “Next time we will draw a damn line between us, put furniture between us or something,” she muttered and took out the last three kills on the level and grinned, then cursed when the game went dead. “What the fuck?” she screamed. “What the hell happened to the game?” How the hell had the whole thing fucking shut off?

  Twirling the cord, Allister sat there waiting until they both turned to look at him. “You two are forevermore banned from playing together. Ever again,” he said, getting up to take their controllers and the game console. “I absolutely refuse to be a part of you two beating on one another in any form,” he said and headed for the door. “Either just beat each other up and get it over with or get along. Enough is enough,” he warned before heading for Talon’s office to return the game. He was getting tired of their crap.

  Jackie grinned up at Aiden and held out her hand. “Pay up,” she told him with a smile. “I told you that he wouldn’t put up with us arguing and you thought it would take more than one game. Silly Dragon. I told you that I knew Al and knew that he wouldn’t put up with us bitching at each other. He loves us both too much so”—she wiggled her fingers—“a hundred bucks, right?”

  “You suck,” he muttered, digging out his wallet and giving her two fifties. “Fleecing unsuspecting Dragons.” He shook his head and wrapped an arm around her shoulders and they headed out of the office. “Feel like getting a bite?” he asked curiously.

  “I would love to,” she said and wrapped her arm around his waist. She and Aiden got along wonderfully, now. At first she knew the Dragon wanted her dead, but now the two were as tight as siblings. She adored her brother-by-bonding, thought that he was nearly as amazing as his younger twin. Nearly. “You do know one day Allister is going to catch on to the fact that we pick on each other around him only, right?”

  “One day but not today,” he said with a grin, leading her to the mess hall. “We may even break it to him eventually. But again, not today.” He chuckled, hugging her in close. “You are good for him, darling. I’m really glad you two got your acts together,” he said quietly but sincerely. Allister was his baby brother. Aiden worried for him and likely always would even when they eventually were old and gray.

  “Thank you for that. I know I’ve said it before, but thank you again, Aiden. If not for you…” Jackie shivered. “Well, I don’t want to think about it,” she whispered. “All that I want to focus on is that we got over it, I got over my bitchiness, and he and I are together now.” She looked up and added, “I’m going to ask him for a baby tonight,” she said to Aiden, her brother, friend and confidant. “I want a baby. I’ve gone off my birth control, and tonight I’m going to make sure he knows.”

  “Well, good, I need some semi-adorable nephews and nieces to spoil rotten and play with. To teach how to be absolutely rotten and enjoy every second of their lives.” He grinned at her. “I adore you, Jackie. You’re good for him and I know you will make an amazing mother.”

  “Thanks, Aiden, and I think you are going to make an amazing uncle.” She looked up at him. “But just know, if you hype them up on sugar and try to send them home to me to deal with I’m totally sending them right back to you,” she told him with a wink.

  “Sugar only works on Dragons for about ten minutes,” he told her honestly. “Chocolate is our Achilles, darling. Something in the cocoa beans makes us all souped up. Watch out for that stuff. As adults, in small doses we can handle it and burn through it. But as kids”—he shook his head—“totally off the wall.”

  “Oh good lord, then there is no chocolate allowed around my kids when I finally have them,” she muttered. “I mean it. If you or anyone dares feed my babies chocolate, when I am blessed with them, I’m making whoever does it babysit for them for a month of Sundays, and before they get them I will pump them full of chocolate myself,” she muttered. “So get the word out.”

  “All the changer races know about the chocolate. No one willingly gives a child anything that could get them fried by their mother or father. Or uncle who loves the little boogers more than anything.” He hugged her tight to him.

  “Good, because I can’t fricassee anyone, so I’m totally going to rely on you and my Al for that,” she said with a smile. “But let’s not tell him yet,” she said with a grin as she got into line with him for food.

  “I try not to discuss my brother’s sex life at any time,” he said, popping a grape in his mouth and grinning at all the sudden attention they had. “He’s my baby brother. I so do not need to know all the crap you guys do behind closed doors.”

  “And here I was going to make sure that you had detailed lesson plans so that when you finally found a woman to sleep with you would know just what to do to give her pleasure. Silly man,” she said with the shake of her head, grinning as she did so and taking the grapes from his tray since he took the last bunch. “Hey, I need the vitamins. Possible baby maker here, mister.”

  Taking back half, he stuck out his tongue. “Get some protein, too. Since you’re trying to make a Dragon baby you’re going to need a lot. Steaks are good, really good, especially if just lightly singed and juicy inside.” He smacked his lips with a grin.

  She frowned. “Oh no, not bloody. I’m totally good with being able to have steaks all the time because I’m a total carnivore, but I want them less bloody than you boys like your steak.” She grabbed a plate of chicken instead of steak since there weren’t any out.

  “That’s because you don’t yet have a little fire breather inside demanding it,” he pointed out and grinned when one of the staff brought him out a perfectly cooked steak. “I sent a text ahead of us to let them know to throw one on the grill,” he supplied to answer her questioning look.

  “Awesome, thanks,” she said with a grin and put the chicken back to accept the steak. “It’s going to be handy having you around feeding me as well, huh?” she teased him happily. “Good thing that I do have you and my Al as well. Between the two of you, I and the little fire breather that I want to have will never want for anything.”

  “Course it won’t,” he told her with a smirk and took his own steak. “Thanks, Trace,” he called to the woman and moved to get some other goodies. “We’re going to ensure you are properly pampered and relaxed. Dragon babies tend to be larger than your average baby, and the birth is often a little trying, too, so the more relaxed you are, the better.”

  “Relaxed is damn good,” Jackie murmured, “but remember, we aren’t telling Al that I told you first,” she teased with a grin. “And I’m totally naming our firstborn son at least with your name as his middle name.” She would be fine naming her son Aiden. He was, after all, the reason she and Al were together. “But I will call him Ai, so get used to it, mister,” she teased with a bump of her hip to his.

  “You are just so wrong in so many ways,” he muttered to her, grabbing a container of milk for her. “You need your calcium,” he said and grabbed a bottle of water for them both. “I won’t tell him a damned thing as long as you promise never to use the nickname around me, please?” It still made him cringe and actually hurt him to hear it.

  That had her snickering, but she did sober. “I’m just pulling your leg, Aiden. I know how much that name makes you cringe. I was just giving you a hard time because I can.” She bumped against him. “After all, I am your sister
and your co-conspirator in driving Allister batty at times.”

  “I know, Jacqueline,” he said with a straight face even as he was grinning with glee inside at her near shudder. Sitting across from her, he handed her a water. “The sad thing is I don’t even think we have to try all that hard anymore. He’s so paranoid I’ll say something to upset you or you’ll go and get mouthy as you tend to do and piss me off. He’s always waiting with pillows to cushion one fall or the other. I think we need to let him mellow out a little, chill, sit back, and not have his paranoia running rampant all the time.”

  “I could beat you,” she said with a smirk and cracked open the bottle of water. “Should we go ahead and make sure that he knows that we aren’t really at each other’s throats like he seems to think that we are?” she murmured. “Maybe we should let him know that you and I actually really like each other and just give each other trouble for the hell of it.”

  “Oh yes, you both should definitely do that,” Allister said from the doorway to the mess hall.

  Turning his head, Aiden took in his brother’s stance, the look on his face, and the fact his entire demeanor screamed that he was seriously displeased. Falling on the old standby, he pointed at Jackie. “It was all her idea. She was blackmailing me, bro.” To her he hissed, “He won’t pummel you if you suck up, woman.”

  Her eyes went wide as she watched her co-conspirator jump off the ship as fast as possible. “Oh that’s so wrong.” She turned and looked up at Allister with a smile. “Hello, honey,” she told him with a smile. “I love you, Allister, and I really wanted to have a nice lovely conversation with you tonight, if you wouldn’t mind?”

  Snorting at that, Allister shook his head. “Neither of you are getting off yanking me around like this,” he said. Shaking his head again, he headed for the food to get something to eat.

  “Sorry,” Aiden muttered. “I panicked,” he said and then grinned because that was a load of shit. Yeah, he was a horrible liar. “But it worked. He’s amused instead of pissed like he was when he first showed up.” The fact Aiden hadn’t sensed his brother though was weird, very weird.

  Jackie smiled and she shook her head. “He’s just happy that we actually get along. I think he was really starting to worry about the two of us not getting along.” Which was the truth. She knew that Allister had been very upset that the two of them hadn’t gotten along, the two people he loved the most in the world.

  “If he could have ulcers he likely would,” Aiden commented, looking over his shoulder at his brother. “Thankfully not a human condition we suffer from,” he chuckled. “Eat if you plan on going along with your plan tonight,” he muttered with a wink. “You’ll need the nutrients.”

  “He better get enough nutrients as well,” she said happily and began to eat. “Because I fully intend on working every single calorie off of his beautiful body that he puts in and then some,” she told Aiden happily. “I fully intend on rocking your brother’s world.”

  Putting his fingers in his ears, Aiden squeezed his eyes tight. “La, la, la,” he sang softly. “Don’t need to hear it,” he kept singing. “La, la, la.”

  Walking to the table with a plate, Allister sat next to his bond-mate. “What’s his deal?” he asked, pointing at his brother and his…well, odder than normal behavior.

  “I was telling him that I really hope that you bring a lot of calories on your plate because I fully intend on making you work off a hell of a lot of them,” she stated simply and winked at her bond-mate. “Meaning sex. Lots and lots of sex. Marathons of it.”

  “Ahh.” Allister nodded and flicked a pea at his brother. “She’s done talking sex for the moment. Eat your meal before she changes her mind.” Grinning at how fast his brother got to eating, Allister shrugged at her. “You should eat as well, you know.”

  “I plan on it,” Jackie said with a grin and began to look at the meal she had there before her. “But before we get to do anything that we want to do I really and truly would like to talk to you first, so keep that in mind, all right, Allister? I need to have a chat with you first. Promise me we will talk first?” Because she knew herself. She would likely attack him the moment they got naked or in their rooms.

  “We can talk,” he said softly, touching her cheek lightly. “I promise we will talk tonight, sweetheart,” he murmured. Leaning in, he kissed her gently. “I love you, Jackie,” he whispered softly against her mouth.

  “I love you, too, Al,” Jackie whispered right back and then impulsively pulled him in close for a hug. All my heart, all my soul. I live for you, Al, she told him softly. Pulling back, she then smiled and shot a look to Aiden. “Get that look off your face. I’m allowed to kiss my bond-mate, mister man.”

  “Didn’t say a word.” Aiden grinned at them. “Eat your nutrients and protein, female,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows at her. When he felt his brother poking, he ensured that he kept absolutely everything he and Jackie had discussed deeply buried.

  Chapter Ten

  “I want a baby,” Jackie told him the second that they were alone in their room. “Al, I want to be a mother. Please.” She knew that he certainly hadn’t been expecting that when she had told him at lunchtime that she wanted something. “I know that we have so much time before us, but I want a baby now, honey, please?”

  Blinking at her, he stared for a long time and then nodded. “All right,” he said with a shrug. “We can start anytime you wish, my love.” He smiled at her. Chuckling at her suspicious look, he moved closer. “Did you think I’d refuse you?”

  “I was worried,” she admitted. “And I’m glad that you feel that way because I’ve already gone off the pill. Many weeks ago,” she admitted. “So now comes the fun part,” she told him happily. “Now we get to get busy every possible moment that we can since I should have started ovulating today.” Tilting her head to the side, she asked bluntly, “Can you tell? Am I?” She didn’t know what he could do with his sense of smell and all that.

  Shaking his head at her, he lifted her hand to press a kiss to her skin. Pressing his nose to her neck, he breathed in slowly. “Your scent has changed slightly, still early ovulation, but it’s possible. Either tonight or tomorrow could see you knocked up, darling,” he teased, nipping at her throat.

  “Oh, I love that idea!” Jackie began to peel at his clothes. “In order for that to happen though we should be naked,” she said happily. Winking at him, she pulled at his belt. “Naked, my darling man. I really and truly need and want you naked. Now, please.”

  “You seem to be making great progress. Why would I interfere?” he asked with a grin. Though he did pull his shirt off over his head since he knew there was no other way for it to come off without him folding up like an old, rickety lawn chair under Aunt Mary.

  “I don’t think that this is very fair, honey, because I really and truly would love to get naked as well.” She all but pouted. “So how about we both get naked and meet in the middle of the bed? Or the wall, or the chair, the dresser. You choose, darling.”

  “Well, then you had better get at least caught up before I drop my pants. Because we both know if you don’t then I’ll be standing here flapping in the breeze as you gawk and lick your lips. It’s slightly nerve-wracking and more than a little disturbing.” Especially given the hungry look she always got.

  “But you love it when I gawk and lick my lips,” she told him with a grin. “You and I both know it,” she said happily. “And besides, I love it as well. I love watching you move around naked,” she admitted and started to peel out of her clothes, her eyes never leaving his.

  He kept his eyes on her face since he knew her game. “Keep going,” he told her as she paused after ditching her shirt. “You have a lot more layers on than I do, darling, and you need to be down to your adorable little panties before I drop my pants.”

  “I’m not wearing panties,” she told him bluntly and dropped her pants and then reached behind her for the clasp of her bra. “I figured that you don’t have to wear the
m so why should I.” She teased him and let the bra fall. “Now then, why is it that I’m so far ahead of you?”

  Lifting a brow, he grinned at her and dropped his jeans, kicking them aside. “Now there’s no issue, is there?” he asked, bending slightly to pick her up at her thighs. Lifting her, he spread her wide and set her ass on the edge of the dresser. “Are you wet for me?” he asked even though he could smell her heavy arousal.

  “Very,” she panted. And she was. Jackie was so wet that she could feel it dripping on her thighs. “Touch me, Allister. Touch me and feel just how much I want and need you, my love.” She loved when he touched her, loved the feeling of him anywhere near her.

  “I think you should show me,” he snapped and growled out softly, watching her intently. “Show me just how wet and ready you are so I can just take you now.” His patience was thin right then. He needed to be buried between her legs and soon.

  Reaching out, she grabbed his hand in hers and led their joined hands to the juncture of her thighs. Taking one of his fingers and one of hers, she pressed them up and into her wet and waiting body with a sob of pure and simple pleasure. “Gods, yes,” she whimpered. “See, wet,” she panted.

  Grinning slightly, he pressed their fingers in deeper. “Very wet,” he agreed. Stroking her a couple of times, he pulled their hands away and lifted them. Sucking their digits dry as he watched her, Allister stepped in closer. Adjusting how she was sitting, he slid into her slowly, enjoying the sensations of her slick channel.

  Jackie’s legs wrapped around him and tried to tug him closer, deeper, but she wasn’t able to. “Please,” she begged him and moved in closer to him. “Come on, baby. Need you,” she told him with a demand. “Harder, baby. Please.” She needed every part of him, and she was more than a little impatient, more times than not.