by Delta James
He laughed. “Guilty as charged. Your brother is mated to another one.”
“I’m glad you said that. It reminded me, Gia and I made a pledge that we would visit Ireland at least once a year and they would come to Texas at least once a year.”
“Your family and friends are always welcome in our home. And we will come to Ireland whenever you like.”
“Not too often—it’s rainy and cold here. I rather like our weather in Galveston.”
As the knot softened and lost most of its size, Cameron eased from her body. Riley was unprepared for the discomfort and loss she felt.
“That I don’t like at all.”
He nuzzled her. “I know, but you need to rest and let your body recuperate.”
“If you think you’re getting out of knotting me on that plane... think again.”
“So not only a frequent flyer but a member of the mile-high frequent flyer club.”
“Damn straight!”
Cameron rolled her onto her side, spooning his body along hers and holding her close. She snuggled deeper into him.
Chapter Twenty-One
Riley woke the next morning after the sun had arisen and found herself alone in bed. She was tired and sore. Cameron had knotted and tied her a second time with the tie ending only a short time ago. She certainly wasn’t complaining. She was quite certain that was the single most amazing thing a man could do to a woman. She felt sorry for those who would never experience it at all and those who would only experience it as a wolf.
She sensed his return even before she could smell the aroma from the food he was bringing with him. The door opened and Cameron, her mate, entered.
“Good morning, sweetheart. You stay in bed. I brought you breakfast.”
“I’m glad to hear that. And the food will be nice too. Now come back to bed and at least fuck me again if you aren’t going to knot me before we leave on the plane.”
Cameron laughed. “You, my mate, are being naughty. I expect you to behave. We’re going to eat, get dressed, and head to the plane. I’ve informed our men that accompanied me that they will be flying home on a commercial jet. I did get them first-class seats, but I have taken a considerable amount of crap from them about why it might be that I want you on that plane with only the pilot locked up in the cockpit. And your brother is having a great deal of fun at my expense.”
Riley threw back the covers and crawled toward Cameron.
“Want me to beat him up for you? I can,” she purred.
Cameron chuckled. “I’ll just bet you can. But if I wanted your big brother beat up? I’d beat him up myself. Seriously, get back under the covers. You are way too distracting like that. And I do want to get on our way this morning.”
“Pfft. You’re no fun at all.”
“That’s not what you said earlier this morning when I knotted you for the second time. You aren’t too sore, are you?”
“Not too bad,” she lied.
The fact was her pussy had never felt as raw and stretched as it did, but she wanted him to have no reason not to knot her. She was quite certain than when alpha males released their cum when knotting their mate, it secreted some kind of addictive chemical.
“I want more. Lots more. I’m greedy. Did I mention I was greedy?”
He put the tray down on the bed and leaned down, kissing her before saying, “No, but if you lie to me again, sweetheart, even to keep me from feeling guilty, I’ll go see if I can’t find a suitable switch.”
“Killjoy!”
“Yes, but I mean it, Riley. When I ask you a question, I want a straightforward, honest answer and if I don’t get one, you’ll get your mouth washed out and a spanking. Understood?”
“Yes, Cameron. So yes, I’m a bit sore, but it isn’t too bad and I so want you to do it again.”
“You’re not to worry about that. I have no intention of not availing myself of your greedy nature... but not until we’re airborne.”
“It’s a private plane... we can leave any time.”
He smiled and kissed her again.
“Enough, Riley. Let’s have breakfast and get ready to leave. You’re going to want to say goodbye to your pack...”
“Our pack is waiting for us at home in Texas.”
He grinned. “Yes, sweetheart, our pack is at home in Texas.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and drew herself up along his body. “And I don’t care about any of them,” she purred. “If you won’t knot me, then at least fuck me.”
“No, Riley. Do I need to have them leave a bowl of fresh ginger on the dresser next to those switches?”
Riley flopped back on the bed. “You are mean.”
“I am alpha, Irish. And while my natural inclination is to indulge you when you want to get laid, there are times I will tell you no and when I do, I mean it. Now, quit pouting and eat your breakfast.”
Riley rolled away, showing her back to him. It was a mistake she would remember not to make in the future as his hand connected sharply with her backside.
“Christ, Cameron. That hurt.”
“Not as much as it will if you don’t settle down. Considering I intend to do as you asked and knot and tie you to me on our flight home, I’d prefer not to have to rewarm your pretty backside. But I’m willing to bet I can find other ways to keep you mindful of behaving.”
She searched his face. “That ginger wasn’t a one-time thing, was it?”
“Given your predisposition to being naughty, I doubt it. But there are other ways to both punish and pleasure a little wolf’s bottom hole.”
“There is no pleasure in it at all.”
He grinned. “That’s because I haven’t been trying to pleasure you, but I will. And given your raging libido, you will find pleasure when it is pleasure I wish to give you. Last time without some kind of consequence, eat your breakfast.”
She sat up and lifted the cloche, brightening considerably. It was an interesting assortment, but one she knew had been made by the chef at the estate. Fresh trout hash with eggs scrambled in, parmesan cheese, and bacon... lots of bacon. She grinned at Cameron, who raised an eyebrow at her.
“I’m sorry, Cam. I just woke up wanting you and you weren’t here and then when you were...”
“I wouldn’t let you have your way so you decided to pout. That and/or throwing a tantrum is not going to get you what you want. And if there’s a next time, I won’t warn you again until you’ve spent some time over my knee getting my hand applied to your bottom.”
“Again, you bastards wonder why we don’t just fall in line to get paired up with an alpha.”
He chuckled. “But we do have that knot thing you seem pretty enamored of.”
Riley sighed with contentment. “Yes, there is that. It is a toss-up but luckily for you, I find the knot wins out. Best you use it often to remind me how much I like it.”
Cameron’s laughter filled the room. “That will not be an issue.”
Riley tried to hide the sadness and guilt that suddenly threatened to overwhelm her.
He sat down next to her, pulled her into his lap, and hugged her close. “We’ll get them, Riley, I promise. We are gathering more information all the time and we will bring an end to this.”
“But they’re waiting, Cameron. How can I be so happy when I know they’re waiting?”
“It’s life, Riley. There is always good and bad, light and darkness. We don’t have to enjoy the darkness, but we have to embrace both. I haven’t forgotten what you said to me or the fact that you have freed so many while the Coalition made its plans. Your fight... your mission is now mine as well. If the Coalition can’t bring this thing to an end quickly, we will find a way to get to them.”
“We?” she asked quietly.
“We. I’m torn between every instinct that says to hogtie you, wrap you in bubble wrap, put you in a high tower somewhere guarded by my best men, and keep you safe and the fact that I know I could have no better warrior at my side than the one that shares m
y bed.”
“You really do understand,” she said.
“I do. And there are others. Marco and Jean-Michel both feel the same. Marco will not let Catherine into the fray, but both Jean-Michel and I know that it will be safer to keep our mates close.” He laughed before continuing, “Jean-Michel made a remark at Marco’s that he had Darby with him because he didn’t trust that anyone else could control her. I know just what he means.”
Cameron refused to let Riley up off of his lap until they had finished their breakfast. Once he allowed it, Riley got up went into the bath and came out dressed in some of the things she’d had with her while she was living on the road.
“Cameron? Can I take some of my things with me... things that I’d left here before?”
“No need, sweetheart. Gia said she would get it all packed and have it shipped to you in Texas.”
“Thank you.”
“Thank Gia. She’s the one who thought of it. I want you to be happy, Riley. I think having some of the things you grew up with will help.”
She crossed over to him and wrapped her arms around him. “If I am with you, mate, I will be happy. It was so hard to leave you when you would call to me. It was physically painful.”
“Then perhaps you shouldn’t have tried so hard and instead should have heeded my call.”
“Perhaps,” she said with a sly grin. “Or perhaps your ego needed a bit of tweaking instead of stroking.”
He rumbled at her, causing her libido to once again kick into high gear.
“The only stroking that will be done is my cock stroking that sweet pussy of yours.”
“Promise?” she teased.
“Promise,” he said solemnly.
She put the rest of her things in her duffle. Cameron picked up both with one hand and held out his hand to her with the other. She could tell it pleased him far more than she thought it should when she took it and walked out with him.
They went down the stairs where her family awaited them with the rest of the pack hanging back to give them space.
Riley kissed both of her nephews before saying to Aidan, “They really are beautiful boys. Try to raise them not to be jackasses like their father.”
The noise Cameron made was half growl and half laugh. Riley glanced over her shoulder at him and just giggled.
Gia hugged her as did Aidan and several others. Riley was a bit disappointed that Liam did not seem to have come to say goodbye. He had been a large part of her life. She and Cameron walked down the stairs and headed to the car that would take them to the private plane.
Once they were at the plane, the pilot came down to confirm the flight plan and that Cameron didn’t wish to be disturbed. The pilot headed up the stairs into the plane. Liam appeared at the door and came down the steps.
“You’re here,” Riley said softly.
“You didn’t think I’d just let you run off to America with this cowboy of yours without saying goodbye, did you, lass?”
“I hoped not.”
Liam wrapped her in his embrace and hugged her hard. “Now, little wolf, you mind your mate,” he said.
“No promises,” she teased.
Liam turned to Cameron. “If you ever truly hurt her, you’ll answer to me. Her father bade me to watch over her. He always feared she would not have an easy time of it.”
Cameron extended his hand. “You have nothing to fear, Beta. My mate is the most precious thing in this world to me. I will keep her safe whether she likes it or not.”
“See that you do,” replied Liam.
Liam walked past them and got into the car. Riley watched with tears starting to fill her eyes.
“He can come to Texas too,” whispered Cameron.
Riley laughed. “Oh, God, he’d hate it. Absolutely loathe it. First, he hates to fly, then he hates the heat, and last, if you make him leave Ireland for any length of time, it just about kills him.”
Cameron escorted her up onto the plane. He engaged the control to pull the stairs up and indicated to the pilot that he could start the plane and take off when he was ready.
Riley was almost to her seat when she began to cry in earnest. Cameron rushed to her side.
“What is it, sweetheart?”
Riley pointed to the soft leather seat. There, cradled in her mother’s favorite cashmere shawl sat her father’s instrument. “The fiddle and bow,” she whispered.
“Liam must have brought you your fiddle...”
“No, Cameron. It’s not mine. It was my father’s. It’s very, very old. It’s been in my family for generations.”
Cameron leaned down and picked up the note.
Your father meant for you to have this. Let it bring sweet music to your pack.
Love always,
Liam
Riley gently put it and the bow in their case, closed it, and stowed it in the overhead bin.
“That saves me some money. I figured a good one of those wasn’t going to be cheap,” Cameron quipped.
“You were going to buy me a fiddle?”
“The Galway pack isn’t the only musically inclined one. You’ll have to learn to play ‘Cotton-Eyed Joe’ and ‘The Devil Went Down to Georgia,’ but you can teach them ‘Galway Girl.’ But that song you played for me, that is only to be played for me alone or when one of our children finds their own fated mate.”
Riley kissed him deeply. “Promise me you will never force a daughter of ours into a pairing she doesn’t want.”
Cameron shook his head. “No way. If she’s anything like her mother, she’ll be hell on wheels and will refuse whatever wolf is lucky enough to be called to her. But I will only allow him to make her run if he can convince me he is her fated mate.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Once the plane was airborne, Riley lost no time in stripping herself naked and rushing back to the bed laughing and beckoning Cameron to come knot her again as they crossed the Atlantic. Cameron was more than happy to oblige her. This time when she was tied to him, he rolled to his back so that he held her close without her having to bear his weight.
He stroked her body and rumbled at her quietly, encouraging her to give in to her exhaustion and rest. He had taken it to heart when she had shared that she was weary and meant to start ensuring she got the rest she needed. Riley fought falling asleep but found that with everything else she tried to resist, when Cameron insisted, he found a way to get her to do as he asked. She found something deeply reassuring about being tied to her mate with her head resting on his chest listening to the steady rhythm of his heart.
She awakened several hours later to find Cameron reviewing some documents on a laptop as he sat on the bed with his legs stretched out beside her. Riley was lying on her belly and crooked her head to see what he was doing.
“Whatcha doing?” she said, looking at the screen.
“Just the monthly financials for the ranch. And there it is,” he said, pointing.
Riley couldn’t figure out what he was pointing to. It was an item under the revenue column. As her eyes adjusted to being awake and focused, she began to laugh. As clear as the sky that surrounded them, her restaurant was listed and what they had paid for beef and seafood from him.
“By the way,” she teased. “I expect to start getting a deep discount on that.”
He laughed. “Sweetheart, what was mine is now yours as well. Seems kind of silly for you to pay me for something that is already yours.”
“Do we have someone in the pack that does books really well?”
He nodded. “Oddly enough, my bratty little sister, why?”
“Because mine are a mess,” she confessed. “I mean I know we’re making a profit, but I hate bookkeeping.”
“Then we’ll get her to sort it out and take that over from you. I’ll need to ask Sam if he’s okay with that and with her going to the restaurant with you as needed.”
Riley growled low. Cameron leaned over and kissed her.
“Shh. Sam is trying to get a handle on her a
nd I am not going to do anything to cause him any setbacks. After all, aren’t you happier?”
The question hung in the air. Riley let it hang.
“Hmm...” she said. “I suppose you aren’t too awful when you’re using your considerable physical prowess to pleasure me.”
Cameron laughed out loud. “Brat.”
“Loving mate,” she corrected, giggling. Taking the computer, she saved his work before flinging the laptop across the plane. “Now, mate... come pleasure me again.”
He shook his head. “Lest you get it into that pretty red head of yours that I am not the dominant partner between us,” he said as he stroked his hand down her back and gently rubbed her bottom. “I think perhaps it’s time you learned that your back channel can be used for pleasure as well as discomfort.”
Riley tried to flip onto her back, saying, “No.”
She wasn’t quick enough and found herself pressed down into the mattress.
“Yes, Riley.”
“There’s no way your cock will fit in there.”
He chuckled lasciviously. “It will in time, but not today. I want you to get used to being pleasured there so that you don’t just know punishment.”
Cameron straddled her and began to massage her shoulders. She didn’t want to relax but it was difficult not to do so when he was focusing on getting the kinks out of her neck and upper back.
“Just relax, sweetheart. I won’t ever hurt you.”
“That ginger wasn’t pleasant,” she hissed.
“No,” he agreed amiably. “It wasn’t supposed to be pleasant. In the same way that when I have to discipline you by putting you over my knee isn’t supposed to be pleasant. But it doesn’t mean that you won’t find pleasure at my touch and my stroking. But it didn’t hurt now, did it?”
“The ginger or the spankings?” she said, trying not to yield the point to him.
“The ginger. The spankings were supposed to be painful and are used as a deterrent. I think adding ginger to either of your nether holes will add a different kind of punishment as will my making you wear a butt plug and eventually being fucked there. But just like when I fuck you after a spanking, it isn’t the pain that does the trick to increase your arousal... it’s the reminder that I am dominant and you are not.”
