by Kyle, Celia
In her mind, her climb to bliss resembled a cliff, her furry bunny legs bringing her closer and closer to the edge, spurred by her mate’s attentions. By then, desire pulsed through her veins, pounded and beat at her, chased her toward the final explosion of her need.
She didn’t resist the pull. No, she craved it, was desperate to pulse and burst around her mate, milk his cock and encourage his release to mirror hers and fill her with his cum.
“Mate, mate, mate…” The word became a chant, each word punctuating his thrusts and she kept her gaze focused on his features, watched the look of pleasure and pain ghost across his face. “Come with me, mate.”
The words ended on a breathless gasp, but Neal answered her call. His pace increased once again, one thrust after another as he pounded her needy cunt. Over and over.
That cliff, that representation of her orgasm, was suddenly before her, the edge within her grasp. And she embraced it. Carly flung her pleasure-filled body over the threshold and soared through the air, let the sky embrace her, ruffle her delicate fur, and pound along her veins.
Pure bliss—an ecstasy she’d never known—enveloped her, and it blossomed. Her pussy clenched around him in a jerky rhythm, milking his cock while her own release crammed into every corner of her body from head to toe.
She screamed his name and pulled at him, brought his shoulder to her mouth and didn’t hesitate to sink her teeth into him. She slipped through his skin and grasped his muscle, clenched and sucked, drank down the essence of her mate.
And still her body twitched and spasmed with the pleasure that pounded through her.
Neal mirrored her movements, his thrusts suddenly jerky and inconsistent, until he sealed his hips against her, cock throbbing and seeming to grow inside her pussy. His dick twitched and pulsed, signaling his release and his teeth were suddenly buried in her flesh, mouth sucking and tongue laving her abused body.
They remained still, locked and tasting each other while their breathing returned to normal.
Minutes—maybe hours—later, she slid her mouth from his battered shoulder and Neal did the same, slumping over her, his cock, now soft, still deep within her pussy.
Okay, hot, dirty, ‘OMG I almost lost you’ sex was the best evah.
Seriously.
Coated in sweat and smears of blood, Carly relaxed fully into the bed, exhausted. She just wanted to sleep…
Of course, the men waiting in the living room wouldn’t let them. The fierce thump, thump, thump of a fist hitting the bedroom door pulled them out of their exhaustion.
“Let’s go!” Alex’s voice echoed through the room.
With a reluctant groan, Neal rolled away from her. “Come on, angel. Let’s get this over with. I want to figure out what the hell is going on.” He stroked her arm, caught her hand and brought it to his lips. “I want to get on with our lives and make sure you and our baby are safe.”
Resolved, Carly crawled over him and from the bed, tugged Neal along with her, and then hunted for clothes. She found her top, blood staining the fabric, and frowned. “Cowboy? Do you have something else I can wear?”
In a flash, a white button down shirt appeared before her along with a pair of sweatpants. She snatched them and he crowded her toward the wall, pressing her against the hard surface, his erect cock settling between the cheeks of her ass.
“Damn, angel. I want you in my clothes. Want to surround you.” He ground his shaft against her heated skin. “Want you…”
“Neal!” Alex barked out her mate’s name.
Heh. Barked.
With a snarl, Neal left her, a quick swat to her ass before he moved out of range.
Frowning, she tugged on his clothes, making sure that the buttons were all secured tightly, and then tromped to the bedroom door. Her mate at her side, they headed to the living room, right toward a crowd of carnivores.
And she had blood on her skin.
Lovely.
It wasn’t long before Neal was pulling her through his home; she got the impression of dark colors, large furniture, and not much else. The walls were sparse and empty. She’d change all that after she moved in. And she wasn’t going to examine that decision all that much. Sure, they still had issues, but after the bite, things had shifted between them. She didn’t want to examine the change; she was afraid she’d overthink everything and get them back to where they’d started. For now, she’d enjoy his attention, trust in his professed love, and try very, very hard not to claw out Naomi’s eyes.
Okay, somewhat hard.
But if that beyotch…
She took a deep breath. The woman was the mother of Neal’s children. She couldn’t kill her, no matter how much the bunny wanted the bitch’s blood. Her relationship with Neal had turned her into a freakin’ carnivore.
Ick.
Okay, only ‘ick’ if she wanted to murder anyone but Naomi.
Carly was pulled from her thoughts of ripping Neal’s ex limb from limb when she stepped into the living room and into the lion’s den. Or rather, lion slash wolf slash rabbit den.
Seated around the room were the prime and his second, Grayson. Not far from them were Max, Alpha of the Stratton wolves, along with his enforcer, Riley, and then Ian, the warren’s Buck, and his second, Devlin. Poor Devlin looked exhausted and wrung out. The normally bright eyed, smiling man was withdrawn, eyes sunken with dark bags just below them. He looked defeated.
Neal tugged her to a large, leather chair nearby and settled into the seat, dragging her to sit on his lap.
“What are we dealing with?” Her mate didn’t bother with introductions. “Why’s someone after Carly?”
Carly opened her mouth to ask what the fuck was going on, why her mate thought she was the target of the nights fun, but Alex cut her off.
He sighed and began. “A quick survey of the parking lot didn’t reveal much of anything. We found nine millimeter shell casings along the side of the building, but with so many customers…” The prime shrugged and sighed. “I left Wyatt and Deuce behind to follow a few trails.”
“Why do we think someone’s after me? It could have been someone going after Neal…” Every male in the room looked at her like she was an idiot, including her mate. He was so not getting rabbit pussy anytime soon. “Me?”
She turned her attention to her brother. “Ian?” Carly glanced at Devlin. “Dev?”
Kind, tired eyes met hers and Dev’s gravelly voice washed over her. “There was a note with Beth’s…” He took a deep breath, closed his eyes for a moment and then continued. “Her body. We won’t go into details, but you were the target. It was pretty vague, but they definitely wanted you.”
Target.
She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “Beth died for me? And you think today was an attempt on my life?” Tears burned her eyes and a tear slid down her cheek. “Why? I haven’t… I’m not involved in the warren or the pride. I’m a nobody.”
Ian leaned forward. “You’re my sister and Neal’s mate, and Neal guards the local pride’s prima. With your death, Maya and I would have been devastated. Add in Alex being upset over Maya’s being upset… The warren would go into chaos without a leader keeping everyone under control and I doubt I’d be able to do that if I lost you. Neal wouldn’t be functional.” Carly agreed. Even if they hadn’t known one another long, mates could barely live without their other half. “It would then leave Maya vulnerable and Alex would be just as torn up. We’d all be easy prey.”
Both Alex and Neal growled, sending the tension in the room skyrocketing.
“Enough.” Max, the proverbial big, bad wolf, pulled their attention. “We’ve got three theories. It’s either personal, Freedom, or the HSE.”
She was pushing for personal simply because Freedom was a group focused on destroying the warren, pack, pride…whatever relationship between shifters. They were anti-authoritarian. The HSE, Humans for Shifter Extermination, just wanted shifters gone altogether and killed indiscriminately. Killing Carly would meet
Freedom’s needs… Not so much for HSE. Regardless, both of those options sent a shiver of dread down her spine, fear quickly following that emotion.
And hey, cloaking herself in fear in a room of men who’d like to eat her for dinner was a not good, very bad, thing.
Joy.
Carly cleared her throat and raised her hand. “I vote for personal. Naomi is a total ‘psycho hose beast’. She seriously hates me. Like, ‘she wouldn’t be concerned if I was dead’, kind of hate. And, dude, the whole ‘hell hath no fury’ saying had to come from somewhere, right?”
The men all nodded, but Alex and Grayson didn’t look all that convinced. The prime and Neal shared a look she couldn’t interpret, but she sure as hell knew it didn’t mean anything good. She was seriously going to torture him until she got an explanation.
“We didn’t smell a human around Beth and I know Naomi’s scent. There were rabbits, of course…a male or two I recognized, but no human.” Alex leaned forward, hands clasped loosely between his knees, looking just as tired as she felt. “Besides, she’s the mother of Neal’s cubs. I doubt she’d hurt him that way. Mates have been known to follow their other halves into death and killing you would mean killing him.”
She slumped against Neal. “So that leaves two sets of crazies, both set on causing trouble by killing me.” That statement drew another growl from her mate and she stroked his forearm. “Easy cowboy. You’re not going to let anything happen to me.”
The ring of a phone broke the silence and Riley, Max’s enforcer, dug his cell out of his pocket. “Yeah… We sure? Right… No, that’s good… I’ll pass it along… Give us five.” He ended his call, swept the room with his gaze and focused on Alex. “Your boys found something, but need you to check it out. They can’t figure out what they’re sniffing at.” He turned his attention to his Alpha. “Our wolves can’t nail it down, either, and they’re not sure if it’s because there’s a couple of ‘em working together or because there’s so many people in and out of there.”
Max frowned and Alex’s expression mirrored his. “We’ll head over, then.”
Neal stood and she nearly plopped to the ground on her ass. “I’m going.”
“You’re staying.”
Her mate shook his head. “My mate. My hunt.”
Alex glared at him. “And who’s going to protect her while we’re off chasing these guys down?”
“It could totally be a girl,” she grumbled, but was ignored. The ‘big boys’ were talking.
Ian broke up the fight. “Quit measuring your dicks and focus. You can all go. Dev and I can stay here.”
Five sets of eyes turned on her brother and she bristled at their doubt, but Neal ended the potential fight before it began. Ian was not one who tolerated doubt all that well.
“I’ve seen your sister’s shift.”
Ian nodded. “So you know that pain is something we’re familiar with.” Alex flashed her brother a questioning glance and, it seemed that he was going to be accommodating. “Rabbits may be small, cute, and fuzzy little creatures, but how much tolerance for pain do you think I had to develop in order to go from two hundred and twenty-five pounds down to five?”
“It sure as fuck ain’t pretty.” Neal spoke under his breath.
She whacked him. “It’s fucking gorgeous.”
He tugged her close. “Of course, angel.”
“Patronizing ass.” She stuck out her tongue.
“Don’t show it if you’re not willing to use it.”
Carly pushed to her tiptoes and Ian broke into their moment. “Please don’t maul my sister in front of me.” She glared at her brother. Ian didn’t seem to care. “So Dev and I will stay here and the rest of you can go check out what the others have discovered. Call me if you find anything.”
Everything decided, the house became a flurry of activity. Neal strapped on a gun, or ten—at least it seemed like it—filled his magazines and secured long-ass knives to his thighs.
The rest of the men were outfitted just like him.
Men and their toys.
Before long, she had Neal looming over her, worry etched in every line of his face. “Be careful.”
She snorted. “You be careful. I’m going to watch some TV and worry about you. You’re prepared for war.”
Neal cupped her cheek, stroked her bottom lip with his thumb. “Not war. Just a ‘come to Jesus’ meeting.” He brushed a soft kiss across her lips. “Stay inside. Listen to Dev and your brother. We’re going to follow this trail and get rid of whoever’s after you.”
Chapter 6
Bored.
Bored. Bored.
Worried.
But still bored.
Had she mentioned bored?
It hadn’t even been that long. Twenty minutes, tops, and since they hadn’t received a call from the men, she knew they hadn’t arrived at the bar yet.
At first, she’d stayed glued to the couch, phone in hand, afraid to move an inch in case one of the males called. That lasted all of five minutes. She didn’t do ‘worried waiting missus’ well.
Her brother and Devlin had searched the house, checked windows, lowered the blinds, and closed the curtains. No sense in making her an easy target, they’d said.
Target. Wow.
All she’d wanted was a mate…a cub…happiness…
Well, she’d gotten the mate and the cub. Happiness was being stubborn as all get out, but she figured she’d get it someday.
Carly pulled her legs onto the couch, wiggled and shifted until she could lie down, and then plopped the phone onto her chest. Letting out a slow, deep breath, she closed her eyes. She might as well relax while she could. No telling when the guys would call in with news. Then again, if Alex’s lions and Max’s wolves couldn’t scent the culprit, she wasn’t sure how the big bad leaders could do any better.
Whatever.
Okay, not whatever. She was worried, terrified, and anxious. Somewhere out there lurked a homicidal freak who wanted her dead for one reason or another. Hell, based on what the guys had said, it could even be groups of crazies.
Carly still thought it was the psycho-bitch, Naomi.
Seriously.
“Okay, little bit?”
She smiled at hearing her nickname on Ian’s lips. “Yeah, Ian. I’m fine.”
“The kit?”
She opened one of her eyes a crack. “Does everyone know?”
He just grinned and she recognized a bit of young Ian, the boy she’d known before he’d had the mantle of being the warren’s Buck thrust upon him. “Everyone that knows you and knows your scent. You’ve got a bit of sunshine added in now.” Ian snagged her hand and held it in the cradle of his palms, eyes serious while he stared at her. “Are you happy, little bit?”
Carly slid her free hand over her abdomen to rest on her lower stomach, thinking of the tiny life growing inside her. “I am.”
“You sure you’re good with that cat? I know you’ve been…hesitant about him.”
She snorted. Couldn’t help it. “That’s putting it mildly. I dug in my heels so deep I thought I’d end up in China.” She sighed. “But he loves me and I refuse to let him off easy and tell him that I love him. I need to make him sweat a bit.”
That comment got her a wide grin from her brother. “That’s my girl.”
“I know, right? I figure I’ll make him suffer a little more and then pounce and sex him up—“
Ian dropped her hand so fast, she thought maybe he’d caught fire. Opening her eyes wider, she watched him clap his palms over his ears. “La la la, I’m not listening. Sex and my sister do not go into the same sentence.” He glared at her. “Ever.”
Carly raised a single brow and smirked at him. “And what do you think I used to do during the Gaian Moon?”
“I pretended you didn’t exist.”
She stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry. “Pft on you.”
“Pft on me?” Ian narrowed his eyes. “Don’t make me freeze all your accou—“<
br />
“Children?” They turned their attention to Devlin. “Looks like we might have some company. Car’s coming up the driveway.” That really got their attention and they swiveled their heads toward Dev and watched as he kept low, gun in hand, and peered through the covered window. “Small four door, dark. One person behind the wheel, but that doesn’t mean others aren’t hiding in there.”
The gravel crunched and shifted as the car drew nearer.
“Do you really think people trying to kill me would be that stupid?”
Ian pushed from the coffee table and crouched beside her, tugging her from the couch. He pulled her through the room, down the hall, and back toward Neal’s bedroom. Without a word, he yanked her into the master bathroom, pushed her into the tub, and then gave her a glare that told her he’d gladly kill her himself if she moved an inch.
So she stayed put.
Mostly.
Okay, not really.
The second she thought she was safe (from Ian, not the visitor) she crawled from the tub and crept through her mate’s room, skirted the big-assed bed, and then squatted near the window, back against the wall. She twitched the corner of the curtain aside and peered into the darkness. The lights on the vehicle disappeared and she watched as a single person emerged.
She totally knew that silhouette!
“It’s Andrew! Don’t shoot him!” She popped to her feet and raced through the house, worried that Ian and Devlin would kill her best guy friend. Then again, she wasn’t sure why she was a big ball of worry since he was part of their warren and her brother was sure to recognize the male. Hopefully. But the guys had seemed uber twitchy, so better safe than sorry.
“Damn it, Carly!” Huh. Her brother could almost roar as loud as Neal.
She dodged her brother and thumped right into Devlin.
“Carly.” Oh. His growl was almost scary.
Ha! As if.
“It’s just Andrew.” She pouted.
Carly could hear her brother’s grumble about dumb sisters and tying them to trees, but ignored him. He’d only gotten the jump on her that one time and she’d been five…
