by M L Briers
“Sounds like fun.” She offered back to him on a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. Now probably wasn’t the time to brace the subject, she decided to let it drop for now.
She felt the pull on her magic and she allowed it to happen. The others were performing a healing spell on their new arrival, and she knew that by the time that they reached Luke’s cabin in the woods they would be redundant. Caleb had suffered her company for nothing, and she wanted to curse at the same time that she was grateful for the new witch’s return to good health, but her good health didn’t help her mate.
“We can go back now.” Wendy informed him as she stopped in the middle of the worn path.
She noted that he had taken an uncustomary two steps more than her before he stopped and turned. Usually his vampire senses would have been attuned to her movements and he would have stopped immediately. Then there was the fact that he didn’t bring his eyes up to hers, and that was something that irked her.
“Caleb…” She tried again, and again he silenced her with a forced smile and a quick change of subject.
“I guess the Coven has successfully healed the witch.” He heard her draw a harsh breath and his eyes snapped up to hers to find the direction of the thing that worried her.
Her eyes were doe wide and staring over his left shoulder. Turning quickly on the spot; he dropped his arms down to his sides and back towards her body to cage her in as best he could and offer his body as protection for hers. There in front of him was the biggest, meanest looking werewolf he had ever seen in his life…
“That can’t be…” Wendy’s words spilled from her tongue at the sight of the beast.
The beast’s red rimmed eyes were locked onto the vampire and she feared for Caleb’s safety. There wasn’t a full moon due for another week. How the hell had this werewolf shifted into his beast without the celestial power of the moon at its strongest?
Caleb was ready and itching for a fight. He could feel his bloodlust growing stronger within him by the day and this was just what he needed to keep it at bay. Even with the size of the beast; he could easily take this one on and end him…
Another set of red rimmed eyes caught his attention from deep inside the underbrush. Caleb’s eyes flicked around them. Four, he counted four beasts, and even with every instinct inside of him screaming out to take on each and every one of them, he knew that he couldn’t defend his mate like this.
He turned fast on his heels and scooped her against the length of his body. With one push of his knees he was quite easily balancing on the thick bough high above the ground. Wendy was pressed hard against his body and holding onto him for dear life, his mate was not overly fond of heights.
“Stay here and…” He started but she only held onto him tighter for fear he would leave her there.
“If you leave me stuck up a damn tree.” She hissed out against his ear. The rush of lust for her was more overwhelming than the need to rip and tear the beasts below apart.
“Hold that thought.” He offered on a smile that did reach his eyes this time, eyes that were black with the bloodlust running through his veins, and she wasn’t best pleased that her suffering was what jolted the real Caleb back to her, and yet neither was she pleased to be forty feet up in the air. He covered her ears with his hands and shouted at the top of his lungs for the pack wolves.
“Werewolves here…” He bellowed before chuckling at the thought of the all-they-could-eat buffet that he was directing the pack towards.
He picked up the sound of the fast paws coming towards him a moment before the werewolves did. Not as fast, agile or powerful with their senses as other supernatural beings, it had taken them a surprisingly fast amount of time to catch up with him. He watched as they drew back into the underbrush before he heard them take off in all different directions. He took his hands from Wendy’s ears as she looked up at him with those big wide eyes full of nervous apprehension.
“Let’s get you down.” He offered playfully and saw her bite down on the curse that he knew she desperately wanted to offer him.
“Oh, this is funny to you?” Wendy slapped at his chest with annoyance, but they both knew that even if she’d put any real force behind that slap the only one who would feel any pain was her.
“This…” He considered it. “This is funny to me.” He admitted and heard her groan.
“Well, I’m glad my pain works for you. Next time you’re feeling down I’ll just slam my head in the damn door.” She mumbled out and followed it off with a heady squeal as he dropped them back to the ground.
She was more than grateful to feel the solidity of the earth beneath her feet, but there was something so intimate about being up in that damn tree with him that she couldn’t quite shake off. Caleb’s breath was against her cheek from where she’d buried her face against his chest, and she tipped her head back to look up at him. He had a roguish grin on his lips that made him even more appealing than he already was…
It didn’t really help that the mating pull had gripped her body around about the same time as the fear had. Now that they were back on solid ground and the fear had receded; the mating pull was humming and tingling through her body like a damn beacon. Every inch of those feelings were centred towards her womb and she felt the flush to her cheeks as his eyes narrowed on hers. Then she realised what he was doing…
“Don’t you dare read my damn mind.” She bit out and watched his grin spread wider at her misfortune.
“Too late.” He almost whispered the words and this time it took her mind no time at all to figure out what he was going to do next…
He brought his lips down on hers in a demanding kiss that she couldn’t have denied him even if she’d wanted too. She opened for him on a gasp of delight at the jolt that fired straight to her womb and rebounded around the nerves that were laced throughout her whole body. Every inch of her body was alive with the nearness of him and she practically climbed up his body and wrapped her legs around his hips, with a little help from his hands against her backside.
She didn’t notice that they’d moved, but she did notice the hard press of the tree trunk against her back. A part of her mind reminded her that they were out in the open where werewolves could attack at anytime if they doubled back, and yet the need to touch and taste him overwhelmed any sense of her personal safety, if anything it only heightened the experience. Her hands dropped down to the hem of his shirt and she yanked it upwards, desperate to feel his flesh against her hands as she palmed his chest and clawed down with her nails.
Caleb groaned at the feel of his mate finally opening up to him with so much passion that he could have ripped his length out and thrust it into her right there and then. He wanted to devour her, and he might just have done it had the sound of the fast, heavy paws not pounded in his ears. His one overriding concern was for the safety of his mate.
Caleb dragged his lips away from hers and tore from the spot where they had been standing. Without another thought in his mind; he ran on fast legs back towards her land. If he encountered damn werewolves along the way then he had more than enough incentive to rip each and every one of them apart…
He needed to have her and it needed to be now while his monster still lurked in the background of his persona.
“I’m fine, stop with the hands…” Tilly batted his big hands away from her every time that he tried to paw her.
It had been bad enough that she’d come back to reality to find four witches standing over her at the bed. When one of those witches had been lifted in the air and turned away from her and a big damn Lycan had taken her place, well that was just a step too far. She wasn’t quite as far gone from reality as she might have liked to be when he sat beside her on the bed and she felt the recognition for the man who had been with her before she’d passed out.
With the first hum over her body, and with the first touch of his hand against her cheek, she groaned with knowing exactly who the big guy was… She’d found herself a damn mate, and a Lycan one t
o boot. Now she was busy keeping his large hands at bay from touching her and making the mating pull any worse.
“I just need to check…” He started on a growl that rumbled through him, through the mattress, and then through her body.
“I’m fine. Keep those bloody paws to yourself.” She pulled her body up in the bed and tried to squirm away from him as he tried to reach for her with those big hands, and the way she looked at them as she squirmed, he could have thought that his claws were out and dripping blood.
“Perhaps you should make her a cup of tea.” Annabeth offered him her advice and he frowned up at her.
“A cup of tea, that would be good.” Deborah assured him and his eyes flicked towards her and the smirk that was firmly on her lips.
“She’d like that…” Eloise offered with a reassuring smile and he frowned hard as he turned his eyes towards Samantha wondering how much damn advice they thought he needed to deal with his own mate, but the newest witch just shrugged.
“How do you know that she’ll like that?” Luke growled back. He didn’t like that the witches were trying to take him away from his mate. He had already stepped aside and allowed them to heal her, what more did they expect him to do?
“I would love that.” Tilly lied. She didn’t want tea; she wanted something much stronger to deal with the nervous apprehension that was washing through her like a tidal wave. She was a Lycan mate. How much worse could things get?
“See. All witches like tea.” Annabeth offered him with a smirk and a wave goodbye, but it wasn’t her that was leaving, and he didn’t much like the fact that he was going to have to leave his mate’s side. He pushed up onto his feet all the same and headed for the door. His mate had asked and he had a duty of care towards her to see to her needs.
“Training is everything.” Annabeth offered towards their newest coven member, and Tilly’s hand snapped to her lips as she tried to suppress the laughter that the woman’s words stirred up within her. She knew that she was more than likely going to like this witch.
The growl and muttering of the Lycan was reward enough for Annabeth, mainly because she considered it was payback for him daring to block their path when they were trying to help a coven sister. He was looking back over his shoulder with his dark eyes intent on her as she waved him goodbye once more, but this time with more zeal; when he ended up slamming his shoulder into the doorframe.
She almost collapsed in on herself as a cry of laughter was torn from deep inside her. Luke stopped in his tracks and growled long and hard back at her. Annabeth lifted her hands in the air and shrugged her shoulders.
“Run along little puppy, fetch your mate her tea.” Annabeth offered between chuckles.
Luke wasn’t impressed with Annabeth. Knowing that she was the most troublesome and outspoken of the witches didn’t help his sense of pride either. Her mate was working on giving her schooling in pack etiquette and yet he didn’t seem to be getting very far.
“Be careful, Annabeth. My good nature and patience only go so far.” Luke warned her.
“You? Good natured?” She drew her head back on her neck as if shocked by his words and then she folded her arms across her chest. “Is this a recent development because I didn’t get the email?” She tossed out at him and heard the deep warning growl that rolled back towards her.
“I’m not the one who has a problem with the witches.” Luke bit down on his annoyance when her eyes flared as she digested that tasty morsel of information. Then he cursed his stupidity for saying anything at all…
CHAPTER THREE
“So who does?” Annabeth asked with a tone of voice that told him she was about to become a dog with a bone and unfortunately, he was that bone. He groaned inwardly.
“That’s not for me to say.” He turned and walked away from her, but Annabeth wasn’t done yet. She needed to know if the pack as a whole was affected by this or if it was just an undercurrent. She followed him hard on his heels into the kitchen.
“Annabeth…” Luke held up a hand to silence her as he kept his back firmly towards her. He wasn’t about to get into the rights and wrongs of pack poitics with her, not now, not ever.
“No, Luke. This is important, too important for you to keep it to yourself, especially now that you have a Fae mate of your own.” If she needed to spell it out for him then she would. “I take it that little protective gene of yours has already switched itself on?”
“I’m not a damn robot, Annabeth…” Luke growled over his shoulder.
“It would be easier if you were.” Annabeth gave him her honest take on the matter. “You’ve been programmed for so long with putting the pack first, well now you have a mate. You’re going to have to decided, if push comes to shove, mate or pack.”
Annabeth saw his shoulders tense and his back snapped straight. She’d obviously given him food for thought and he would have to process exactly what that meant for him. Now that his mate was healed Annabeth would give him time to discover his feelings for her, and that should seal which side of any conflict the man was on.
“We should be going so you can get to know Tilly in your own way.” Annabeth informed him. When he turned to look at her she was already walking away.
Luke had expected her to keep on until she had the information from him that she required. This sudden turn of events had thrown him. What she had said about mate or pack was right, but he’d already made that decision within himself. His mate was his everything and he would gladly defend her with his life against all, even his own people.
It was a frenzy of who could pull and tear clothes off the fastest. Caleb won, but Wendy wasn’t that far behind him. He discarded the last of his clothes and backed her up against the bedroom wall.
His hard, satin length was pressed against her stomach. He caught her wrists with his hands as she reached for him and thrust them up over her head against the wall. Holding them there with one hand; his other hand had already started a detailed journey down her inner arm, over her breast, down the soft skin of her side and found her hip. He waited; testing the waters to see what she would do.
Her breathing was ragged as she stared back into his dark eyes and told herself to remember who she was with. This was Caleb. This was her mate and he wouldn’t hurt her for the world.
She wanted him. She needed him inside her. She wanted the feel of his body pressed against hers as she wrapped herself around him and felt his body deep within.
Why isn’t he touching me? Why isn’t he moving? Why isn’t he inside me already?
“Your choice now and forever, Love.” Caleb gave her the kind of smile that warmed her soul, but she saw the smirk that lingered there.
“Stop reading my damn mind, Caleb…” She bit out on a small frown. His smile broke wide across his face…
“Now is not the time for me to stop reading your mind…” Caleb assured her with the kind of sexual innuendo that only he could give.
“Then you know that I want you…” Wendy berated him for his lack of action.
“But it’s you that needs to make the first move.” He whispered against her lips.
In that moment she saw it all so clearly. He was still waiting for her to release him from the chains of inaction. He was still playing by her rules and she needed to set him free.
“Take me, love me, feed from me…” Wendy pushed her hips against his and heard the deep groan that was born of the desire to do all of that and more.
His hand moved against her hip. He ran his touch down over her leg and came back up her inner thigh. He used his knee to open her legs wider for his intimate touch.
His eyes held hers as his fingers slowly slipped against the wet heat of her folds. He saw her eyes flare and her mouth open just slightly as he rimmed her channel. With his thumb against the sensitive nub of her clit; he watched her breath hitch in anticipation, and when he applied pressure against her flesh she bit down on a sound that he desperately wanted to hear.
One long, thick finger pushed up
inside her channel and she had to lock her knees to keep herself from ending up on the floor at his feet. Her arms tugged at the hold he had on her hands with the natural instinct to touch him. He wasn’t about to let her go anywhere now that he finally had her.
“You’re so damn wet for me…” The satin smooth tone of his voice was becoming more gravelly with the desire that was swelling with him.
“That’s because I need you inside me.” Wendy teased him with her words, but the truth was still laid bare in front of him. She wanted him more than she wanted anything in her life before.
When he circled that one finger around the inner walls of her channel; he watched her fight against the need to close her eyes and savour the feel of his touch. She was his. Now and forever, and he could finally take her the way he had longed too since their first meeting.
“I’m in no rush. Your surrender has soothed the monster inside me and I have a mind to show you just how much waiting for you to come to me has driven me insane…” She felt his finger curl against the inner wall and he stroked in search of that spot that would make her knees even weaker.
She gasped at the feel of his touch as he found those nerves within. She bit down on a moan as her muscles clenched hard around him. It wasn’t enough, she needed more.
“What does that mean…?” She bit off another moan when he added another finger inside of her.
His thumb worked against the outside as his fingers stretched her opening and worked within. His lips brushed hers. His length twitched against her hip and she knew how much he wanted her.
“It means I have a mind to tease the hell out of you.”
“I didn’t tease you…” She protested.
“Not purposefully, but you drove me bloody well insane, woman.” He didn’t give her a chance to answer. He claimed her lips with the passion of a man who knew what he wanted.
Wendy felt the knot that had been in her stomach for so long move downwards into her womb. His lips were demanding, but not as demanding as his fingers. He took her up towards release fast, fast enough to make her head spin and her knees weak, and then he pulled his hand away from her.
