by Ann Denton
I couldn't resist. She looked so open and vulnerable in that moment that I couldn't help but lean forward and peck her lips. I just had to kiss her, even the tiniest bit.
That kiss triggered our mate magic, which ripped through the three of us like lightning. I had to grab my dick around the base and squeeze hard so I didn't come, but I felt my sweet mate shudder against my lips and heard the soft moan escape from her mouth and enter mine. I loved breathing in her pleasure.
Easton drew out her orgasm as long as he could until I heard him tear himself away from her sweet cunt with a groan. "Fuck, sweetheart, you're so perfect."
He stood behind her and rubbed his hands up over her hips, along her stomach. He squeezed her breast so tight she gasped before he walked her forward and pressed her against the washing machine.
She bent and that gorgeous mouth was near my cock again. I couldn't resist. I let my shaft slip inside her lips as Easton gently parted her folds and slowly worked himself in down below.
While he thrust gently, it was perfect. I floated on a cloud of lust and could hardly see a thing beyond Aubry's wings fluttering in front of my face. It was like seeing the world through a kaleidoscope, the view changed depending on which delicate facet of her semi-transparent wing I looked through. Gradually, Easton started to go faster. That's when I pulled out and grabbed Aubry's torso, supporting her as Easton pistoned in and out.
Her sweet breasts slapped against my chest with each thrust and I couldn't help but stare into her eyes. My soul left me in that moment—or maybe I finally just noticed it was gone. But it wasn't mine anymore. It was hers.
"Aubry, I —" I licked my lips, nervous for the first time in years.
"I love you." Her words came without hesitation.
My heart fucking exploded like a party popper or a firework or a condemned building brought to its fucking knees—decimated irreversibly.
"I love you," I whispered, pressing my forehead to hers. I'd never admit it, but goddamned tears gathered in my eyes and I had to blink hard to shove those motherfuckers back.
"Kiss me?" she asked.
My lips swept over hers, mate magic surging through us all, and she and Easton cried out in a wave of ecstasy that made me happier than I'd ever been. A happiness that had less to do with me than them, which was a first.
When they came down from their high and sagged against the vibrating washer, I petted Aubry's hair for just a moment, letting her catch her breath, before I asked, "So, was the machine all it was cracked up to be?"
She raised her head and gave me a wry smile. “Oh, yeah. It was totally the machine."
"Hey!" Easton smacked her rump.
She giggled. "All the machine."
He spanked her again.
"Only the machine!"
"Careful," I stuck a finger under her chin and raised her eyes to mine. "You know where we fuck mates that are naughty."
Her eyes glittered with unfettered mirth. "Oh, I know."
And that was my tipping point. I didn't care if she needed more rest. I couldn't wait. I had to sink inside my mate's cunt. Now.
I surged forward, knocking her and Easton back. He stumbled a step before righting himself, but she just fluttered her wings and tried to fly away from me.
I snatched her wrist and yanked her around in the air until her front smacked against my torso. I loved the feel of her curves pressing against me. "Oh no, Butterfly. I've caught you."
I grabbed those sweet hips of hers and squeezed. She flapped those pretty wings, but I just dug in tighter and sank my lips over a nipple. Seconds later, when I bit down hard, she stopped trying to escape.
"Yes," she moaned.
I dropped her hips, letting her feet touch the floor. "Lay down," I ordered.
As soon as she was on her back, I climbed on top of her. Without preamble, I sheathed myself inside her. She was soaking wet and the heat and the grip of her soft flesh felt so good that my eyelids fluttered. I pushed myself up onto my hands, planting them between her neck and wings, so I could watch her. I fucked her hard, slamming our bones together, letting the blood flow to my dick. I got harder. And bigger. I watched her eyes widen beneath me.
My wolf howled and panted.
Just wait, little Butterfly, I thought. Just wait. You haven't met the big bad wolf yet.
"East, you might wanna stroke her wings. She's gonna need it." She thought she’d seen thick with Easton, but she hadn’t seen anything yet.
The base of my cock grew even thicker and Aubry's moans became little gasps of intense pleasure. I kept fucking her hard, her shoulders slamming up against my hands with each thrust. Glancing down, and saw her breasts bouncing, those cherry red nipples still hard as rubies. I grew thicker still.
Aubry's legs spread wider and she gasped, "Holy shit! What the hell is happening?"
Easton sprang forward and asked, "What is going on?"
I stared down into Aubry's chocolate eyes. "Knotting."
It was as much of an answer as I could give because my wolf shifted my eyes just then and tried to shift my teeth into fangs. He desperately wanted to mark our mate.
I shoved him back. Not yet, I told him.
I rutted harder, swelling even more.
Aubry groaned.
Easton started stroking her wings and that mindless, golden sunlit pleasure shot through me. I gave one final thrust that sent my hip bones crashing into Aubry's. And then I came. My dick pulsed and my knot jumped inside her, searching for that perfect spot. As I throbbed again and again, my knot knocked against her g-spot.
Aubry came with a scream that made me feral.
My fangs descended and I lowered my head to bite her neck.
Easton shoved my face back, stopping me. "She's not a shifter. You don't know how she'll take it."
I growled, but backed off, instead focusing on my knot and riding out the sensations inside. I started to thrust again, letting the knot brush up and down along Aubry's sensitive interior instead of just pulsing against it.
I felt her spasm a second time.
Then she sagged against the floor. "Mercy. Please. Just give me a few minutes."
I leaned down and trailed my nose over her delicious neck, inhaling that orange citrus scent. I pulled my fangs back, so that I wouldn’t be tempted to mark her. "I can’t, babe. Not until it’s over."
Her eyes widened. "What?"
I gave a grin. "When wolves fuck, this is what happens. We’re now physically tied together until the knot goes down. I've been going easy on you."
Instead of flashing with alarm, like any other woman's might, Aubry's eyes glazed with lust. "Fuck," she said.
"Yes, ma'am," I started thrusting again, setting a rhythm only slightly less punishing than before.
Easton stroked her wings and then reached a hand between us to tweak her nipples.
Aubry arched her hips up and the new angle—I couldn't fucking stand it—I closed my eyes and spurted again.
"Yes!" she cried as I filled her up.
My fangs descended again and dug into my lips as I clamped them together and drew out the sensation for both of us.
My perfect mate lolled her head to the side and said, "Okay, for sure, that had to be it, right?"
I just laughed, leaning up to circle her clit as I fucked her gently. "Not quite, babe."
Her jaw dropped then, giving me a little more of the shocked panic I'd expected initially. "Don't worry, Butterfly. Easton and I are gonna make sure you O every single time."
She shook her head and started to squirm. "You're gonna rub my clit off."
"Aubry, the more you struggle, the more you're gonna turn me on. My wolf likes it." I groaned and a bit of an animalistic growl seeped through my voice.
She bit her lip and nodded complacently, relaxing in my grasp. It took two more rounds before the knot finally shrunk. And when I finally slid out of her, I turned her limp form onto her side and smacked her ass.
"See, there? Clit fully intact." I winked.
Aubry didn't glance over her shoulder to look at me, but I heard her breathless chuckle.
I watched her for a second before Easton scooped her up. He gave her post-sex cuddles while I went over and switched the laundry into the dryer. I grabbed one of my clean wet shirts and cleaned her up. I was just about to demand my turn for cuddles when Aubry leaned up and whispered something in Easton's ear that made him smile softly. He turned and nuzzled her.
Damn it to fuck. There he goes being the nice one again, I thought, annoyed, even though I'd just given her seven amazing orgasms.
My mate noticed when I sank down to the floor, my back against a washing machine, watching them with jealous stillness. Immediately, she shimmied off of Easton's lap and crawled toward me. Even though I was completely spent at the moment, I still memorized the image for the spank bank later.
She climbed onto my lap and snuggled in, resting her head just below my chin. My hands wrapped around her and I had to swallow down a pussy-sounding sigh of contentment. "Mate," I whispered.
"You're amazing," Aubry told me.
My chest grew light and airy. Aubry kissed me on my pec, just over my heart.
Then she hopped up and sauntered naked over to the dryer. I watched her ass as she pulled out a pair of stretch pants and put them on. I’d just put that load of laundry in; there was no way in hell it was dry yet, but she didn’t seem to care. She tossed on a wet shirt, too.
I smiled, amused when she surrounded herself in a little circle of flames that dried her clothes. She was so adorable. Her magic. Her cute little nose. Her wings.
I was feeling post-knotting giddy.
I closed my eyes and savored the feeling.
Easton's question startled my eyes open. "Aubs? Where are you going?"
Aubry stood by the laundry room door. When had she walked over there? She pressed her lips together and a frown marred her beautiful face.
The light, sunny feeling in my chest was covered by a cloud.
What the hell was going on?
Aubry's eyes flickered between us and her expression settled into one I was very familiar with. It wasn't the open, vulnerable expression she'd worn minutes ago. It was one of hard, stubborn-as-fuck determination.
I stood, not caring that I was naked.
Aubry yanked open the door. "I’m leaving. I don't want either of you to follow me. I don’t want you interfering in any way."
"What?" I lurched forward.
But Larry was behind Aubry. And there was a damn glowing turquoise line on the ground—the same kind of line that surrounded the campus—a Movement Restriction Spell. A sense of betrayal rolled over me like fog. Had Larry been in here setting up that spell? For us?
"What the fuck?" I roared. Fear, anger, fury, betrayal, all of them attacked me at once, like a pack of wolves tearing me apart.
"Aubry?" Easton's voice wasn't angry. It was hurt and pleading at once.
Fuck that shit. I wasn't gonna plead with her. I was gonna demand. I threw every ounce of my alpha power into my command. "Tell us what the fuck you're doing!"
My mate didn't answer. She just turned away.
Larry looked at her. "I grant you permission to leave the circle."
Without another word, my mate, my love, my everything—walked out—leaving me trapped and completely horrified. Because why the fuck would she leave and trap us here, unless she was gonna do something irreversibly awful?
22
Aubry
I took one last deep breath, gathering my courage. I smoothed my icy white hair down over my shoulders. Then I exhaled, sprinting through the Movement Restriction Spell that protected Mag-Sorgin University from the outside world.
It only took seconds for Mage Police to surround me.
Two MP fae shot out of the sky like spears, wings tucked. All I had time to do was smash a Lethal Protection Potion onto my chest before they got to me. It wouldn't buy me a ton of time, but hopefully it would buy me enough. I needed them to take me in.
My nerves jittered like wind chimes. But not the beautiful kind, the tinny, monotone kind that grated on my nerves and made my teeth clench.
Rough hands grabbed me, and water shot at my face and into my mouth, making me choke. Winter fae, fuckers. They didn’t try to rough me up while I sputtered and coughed up the water in my throat. I was surprised they didn't waterboard me again. But maybe they’d seen the green goo on my chest and knew that murder would be a no-go for a few more minutes. Maybe they were biding their time.
Their pale blue wings, shaped like snowflakes and hard as fucking ice, scraped against my arm with bruising cold as the two guys shoved me between them. They each grabbed an arm and frog-marched me down the street to a spot where a female mage in a dark purple suit waited, arms crossed.
Citrine Pierce, Triton’s mentor, stared down at me coldly. Her silver hair was slicked back into a bun. A sneer curled her lips and she raised a brow, revealing a set of forehead wrinkles she hadn't been able to spell or Botox away.
"Well, well, looks like we caught ourselves a renegade," she sneered.
"Councilwoman Pierce," I nodded toward her respectfully.
I saw her eye twitch in fury at my response. She hated the way I didn’t bite back, and she wasn’t able to feign nonchalance because, just like Easton, she wasn’t the greatest actor. Hopefully I was better.
We’re about to find out...
At least I was a big enough threat to rate a senior Council member for my ‘arrest.’ Or was she here to watch the campus itself? Had the shifters really struck a nerve taking out the local mage supply chain?
Citrine grabbed several Portal Potions from her purse and passed them to the fae, keeping two in her own hands. They all smashed their bottles against the ground. Shards of glass and colored smoke surrounded us, yellows, reds, and greens blending to an ugly muddy brown as the world around us faded and reshaped behind the magical fog.
When the smoke cleared, we stood in front of the precinct. The big glass building loomed over me, seven stories tall. I'd never thought of it as intimidating before but standing at the base and staring up at the tinted windows—times had changed.
MPs coming out the front doors stopped short when they saw me in custody. They stared like I was some circus side-show—a bearded lady cartwheeling through fiery hoops while riding an elephant. One elf even spat on the ground in my direction.
I clenched my fists against the urge to knock that bitch back into last week. She wanted to act like a llama? I’d shave her head and knit her a scarf, then strangle her with it. Just imagining my revenge calmed me down.
The two winter fae dragged me up the cement steps, and the building became nothing more than a black shadow, backlit by the sun. It felt like I was heading into a crypt.
Maybe I was stepping up to mine?
Shut up, Aubry, you got this. Be brave. Every brave act was just the outcome of a foolish lack of self-preservation, anyway. Every hero in history stamped down and beat their own survival instinct until it was a slavering, sobbing mess on the floor. Then bravado took over.
I waited for mine to come, but the fucker didn't show.
Instead, my mate bonds were tugging at me, rubbing the inside of my chest raw. I pushed them aside as hard as I could. I tried to shove all emotion aside.
Go numb. If I couldn't channel arrogance, then I didn't need any damn emotion. Just focus.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes as I was dragged through the glass front doors. I tried to pretend this was another mission. Another fight. I had a plan and a goal and all I had to do was execute it. Inside, though, I knew that this wasn’t the same. It was way more than that.
My mates would think I'd betrayed them. And I supposed I had, by trapping them and leaving them behind. But I had to stop all this bullshit. I had to end it.
And I was the only one who could.
I opened my eyes just as Citrine gave me my flattering intro, "Presenting, Her Royal Highness, Princess Aubry of the S
ummer Fae!"
The gasp that went through the precinct lobby sucked all the air out of it. I kept my head high and made eye contact with each and every person in the room nearest to me. Most MPs stood up at their desks, lips curling as they eyed me with distaste.
That was fine.
I wasn't here for them.
Shelly, the little pixie secretary, fluttered around the shoulders of MPs blocking her view, eager to see what the fuss was all about. When she spotted me, she seemed to forget how to fly. She tumbled down and would have smacked right onto the floor if a siren woman with purple hair hadn’t been standing next to her and caught her at the last second.
"Traitor!" she yelled in my direction, from where she sat in the siren’s palm. Her high-pitched voice was barely a squeak, but it broke the silence.
That's when the roar of sound began, as loud as an ocean wave as it crashed into a rocky coast and swallowed up everything in its path. Their fury washed over me and made it hard to breathe. I was a lone swimmer, struggling against the tide, pinned between a rock and the crushing weight of their ire.
I swallowed hard and glued my eyes back to Citrine. She was enjoying this little moment of victory. Mages tended to get off on displays of power. Several of them had been doms at Syn, but I’d always preferred humans. They were less sadistic.
"Aren't you going to ask me how I escaped The Shadow?" I looked at Citrine expectantly.
Her eyes narrowed. "You didn't escape. We captured you."
"No." I nearly scoffed. "No, I ran out of there right into your awaiting arms. I practically gift wrapped myself and put a shiny bow on my head. Those shifters have been dosing me with Memory Wiping Potion. At first…"
I shook my head as if ashamed of what I’d been through.
"At first, remembering anything human was impossible. I didn't even know what a coffee maker was." I shook my head and scrunched up my face. "They have a mage on their side, Lenny or something, but he doesn't do the spells right. I didn't even know what my shoe was for twenty-four hours!"
