by Sam Hall
“Well?”
“Jack has made a petition and is using Hawk as his token,” Finn said.
Those grey eyes inspected the lot of us and then, she smiled. “My Jack, always the cunning one.”
“Mother,” Kelly said. “This is not helping.”
Mother? I thought. Again. Seriously, we were five minutes away from someone announcing they were long lost siblings or had had a secret baby for ten years. Ophelia merely shrugged, a cool presence in what was obviously an interesting family dynamic. Nice to know being able to transform into a smoke wolf monster didn’t preclude you from family drama llamas.
“It’s not for us to say yea or nay to another woman’s offer. If she feels the token is pleasing, she accepts. It does not tie her to Jack in any way, it merely puts the offer on the table, allows him to pursue her. If he fails to persuade her, she returns the token,” her eyes slid over Hawk’s still form, “and everything returns the way it was. How is it different to any other petition?”
They argued about it for a bit—even Slade got involved—but the sound dropped away for me. Instead, it was obscured by the regular thump of my heart, the rasp of my breath in my ears.
“Is this what you want?” I said to Hawk. I’d seen him in the field outside the honeymoon cottage, on his knees with his mouth full of Jack’s dick, but I’d never heard him say a word.
“Yes,” he replied, his voice a deep rumble. He moved towards me, his breath starting to come in faster, if the shift in his chest was anything to go by, and then he stopped himself. My eyes zipped down to where his hands began to tremble.
“It’s OK,” Jack said, placing a hand on his forearm. He turned back to me. “Don’t let their bullshit get in the way of this. You want him, I can smell it on you. Take him, please.”
For a moment, I just hung there, the guys so close that I could feel the warmth radiating off of their bodies. I swallowed, feeling a hard lump in my throat. I didn’t need any more guys in my life. I was already concerned about my ability to meet the needs of the five I had. But that greedy little girl—who came out to play when they were all naked—inspected that powerful body, the long fall of chestnut brown hair, and wondered how soft that beard would be between my thighs. My eyes flicked to Jack. How did he fit in to all of this? The implication was he wanted to pursue me, something he’d made obvious in previous meetings, but this offer?
“What do you want?” I asked. Fuck all this walking around with only parts of the whole picture. I needed to start asking a lot more questions, finding out what the hell was going on. “What do you get out of this?”
Jack’s pupils flared for a moment, his mood communicated only in the sharp tip of his chin.
“You asking if it’s gonna be a chore, squiring you around the town on dates to keep him by your side?” His smile spread, displaying his sharp white teeth. “I’ve got your scent, sweetheart, bloody near tasted it when you were fucking Shaunie on the tabletop. Don’t get it twisted, love, I’ll be hard as a fucking rock the whole damn time you’re with me, wanting a taste of you, him, and if I had my wish, both.”
“Yes,” I said. To what, I wasn’t totally sure, caught on the end of Jack’s gaze as I was. His smile changed at that, the corners twitching. “I accept your token, your offer.”
When I turned to face the others, they all fell silent. Ophelia looked like the cat that had the cream, and Kelly just short of having an aneurysm. Finn’s eyes were wide and empty, something that had the hair on the back of my neck standing up.
He needs caring for, my Tirian said.
They all do, I said, looking to where Hawk had taken a place by my side.
But that one puts everyone else’s needs first, leading through service. You are the leader of the pack, with that comes responsibility to those you want to include in it.
Got it, I said, moving away from the crowd.
“I’ve made my decision. Ophelia says the matriarchs will support it. Can I ask the rest of you to consult with them and check? I need a moment here.”
“Sure thing, princess,” Slade said with a nod and then turned to walk outside.
“The ceremony—” Kelly said.
“In a minute,” I replied, taking up position beside Finn. He looked down at me in surprise when I grabbed his hand.
“This is—” she began to splutter, but Ophelia swept over, taking her daughter by the arm and walking with her towards the back door.
“Come along, the children have things they must do. No one’s going to notice if things are delayed by a few minutes.”
That silence I’d longed for settled over the living room, but now it felt a little too big, too much, as if I had to somehow answer its weight.
“Hey,” I said, turning to look up at Finn and reaching up to pull his lips down on mine. Something restless settled inside me when we connected. It was just a dry, soft, almost shy kiss, but those weren’t the feelings that it inspired. I let out a breath I hadn’t realised I was holding when we pulled apart.
“That bad?” he said, his grey eyes twinkling.
“You have no idea. I hashed it out with Brandon, which gave me a bit of respite, but then...” I gestured lamely to the room.
“Come here,” he said, drawing me over to the couch. We both collapsed down onto it, my legs going over his, his arms going around me. “Bonding, creating a pack, it’s a big emotional thing for the whole community. It changes things. Relationships are made and broken. Alliances shift. Families are tugged to and fro by the shifting status of the people involved. It’s really, really intense, which is why we were all going to wait.”
“But Slade.”
“Always but Slade. We call people like Slade tricksters. They smash through tradition, rules, customs, not always aware of the consequences of doing so.”
“That sounds bad,” I said, bristling. He was a bit of an arse at times, but the fact I could rely on him to tell me what was going on was reassuring, though that pregnancy thing...
“It’s not. It’s just chaotic. We need rule breakers as much as rule creators. If we have too many breakers, anarchy reigns, if we have too many creators, society ossifies.”
“You’re a creator, aren’t you,” I said with a smile.
His, when he returned it, was devastating. I hadn’t realised how much I’d missed that brilliant flash of white teeth against deep brown skin.
“As a rule, yes. You can’t work for the alpha and not be. But today, I’m going to take a leaf from Slade’s book.”
My eyes went to where his hand reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small bag, undid the drawstrings, and pulled out a silver ring, placing it on my palm. I just stared into his grey eyes, the intensity there startling. Finn always came across as unflappable, but this was a whole other beast.
“Give me the chance to pursue you, and I’ll do so to the ends of the earth. You want this, you won’t get away from me, Jules. I’ll hunt you down with everything I have.” His arm tightened around my shoulders as I turned the ring around in my fingers. It was incredibly beautiful, with tiny Tirians running along the band. “You’re right, I’ve worked all my life to try and keep order. I’ve always done what the matriarchs wanted; kept the order with the men, brought the single men’s concerns to them, acted as a broker between the factions. But I’d give it all away. Fuck Kelly, fuck all of it, if that’s what it takes to make you mine. I don’t resent Slade for what he did, I envy him.”
I looked up at him, his eyes almost glowing with his intensity. My Tirian rose within me, looking out of my eyes at this contender. She met his stare head on, then nodded in acknowledgement. I plucked the ring from my palm and slid it on my finger.
“Fuck, Jules...” he growled, and dragged me onto his lap. His mouth was on mine in the next second, open and hungry. “My beautiful girl...” he panted between kisses, and then stopped for a moment, his eyes staring into mine as our foreheads pressed together. Then he kissed me again, slower, softer this time. My breath hitched in my
chest as our lips made slow work of each other.
God, I was drowning in him, his spicy sandalwood scent, the feel of his big hands clamping down on my hips and shoving me down hard as his rolled up in just the right spot. I was hot, so hot, but it wasn’t the same blinding sexual burn as before.
Did I love Finn? I wasn’t sure. I felt like I stood on the precipice of something huge and was teetering on the edge...
I threw my arms around his neck, putting my head on his chest and just lying there for precious seconds. Taking my cue, his arms went around me, holding me. I listened to the rapid thump of his heart, the rustle of his breath in and out, and thankfully, everything else dropped away.
What was this feeling? It wasn’t one of those high key ones like lust or anger. It wasn’t even quite like peacefulness. Instead, I felt something…release. Right now, there was nowhere else I wanted to be. I searched through clichés to try and describe what this was like, to process it. He didn’t complete me, he didn’t belong to me, but it felt something like that.
Connection, my Tirian said. You two are connected. The silver is nothing, merely a symbol of what you know.
She knew. I hadn’t thought about it that way before, but that’s exactly what it felt like. It was the power thrumming through me when I pulled back, placed my hand on his cheek, and stared into his eyes. When we kissed, it was like creating an electrical connection. I heard it in his gasp, that he could feel it as well. It had a language, this connection, written over my flesh as his hands roamed, as my nails scratched at his chest. It passed between us, mouth to mouth. We spoke—much more eloquently than when we used words—of our desire, our need, our affection for one another. A myriad of memories cascaded through my brain, of those big broad hands serving me coffee in the morning and trailing across my shoulders as he moved past. Of him listening to my stories and complaints patiently, and watching me drunkenly proposition him. Of him making sure I was safe, tucking me into bed with a kiss on my forehead and wrapping me in his arms to kiss me all over. When I pulled away his eyes had transformed. While they might appear bright depending on his mood, now they glowed Tirian green, too intense to look on for long, but I was unable to look away.
He is pack, she said, in that patient, long-suffering way.
But not now, I said.
Not yet.
“You know what I want to do, don’t you?” I said. It became patently obvious that wasn’t totally clear to Finn, until I’d said the words. His face transformed, some of the ravenous hunger softening as the surprise registered.
“You know I want nothing more than to wear your mark,” he said. The words came out raspy, like he was struggling to force them out.
“I know.”
“But if I walk out there bleeding...”
“I know.”
He laid a gentle kiss on my lips. “Mark me in another way.” His hand went to the hem of my dress, sliding underneath.
“What? You want to...?”
His hand skimmed upwards, strong fingers scoring the soft skin of my inner thigh. I stared at him, not sure what he intended, until his fingertips grazed the crease of my thigh.
“Let me wear your scent on me. Let me walk out into that group of people, all congratulating Slade on becoming the first of your mates, with your sweet scent on my fingers. I might not wear your bite on my neck, but I’ll have something...” His fingers plucked at the edge of my knickers, edging underneath. “Jules?”
“Yeah?” My reply came out all breathy.
“You want that?”
“I shouldn’t.” I twisted around, saw the kitchen and the food, heard the sound of the crowd out back for the first time in ages.
“I won’t, not if you don’t want me to.” As if to bely his words, his fingers grazed the sensitive flesh just inside the leg seam and slid down.
“What about you?”
“I don’t care about me. I want you, riding my fingers, shuddering as you come, crying my name. Then I want to lick every damn drop off of them.”
“Goddamnit, Finn. I’m supposed to be out there being the hostess or some shit, not getting a handjob in the lounge room.”
“Say no.”
“You know I don’t want to do that.”
“Say no, love, and I’ll stop.”
He wore that singular male smirk that said, at the very least, he was enjoying my struggle, if not outright doubting my ability to say that one word. Then his finger swiped up along my seam.
“Oh fuck,” I whispered, fighting to keep my groan inside. I throbbed with need.
“You’re so fucking wet,” he said, and his fingers slid over drenched flesh. I whimpered, not able to keep the sounds back now. “Your little clit is all perked up and ready to be touched.” I nodded, unable to get out the words to agree as his thumb grazed over it. “I want to take my time, stretch this out, have you crying and pleading for more, but I can’t. So many can’ts.”
I was about to argue, plead, whatever it took to turn this slow, light stroke into something firmer, when his fingers shifted rapidly, two pushing inside and forcing a moan from me, as his thumb worked my clit faster.
“Are you feeling that stretch inside you? Like the feeling when we push into you, but different, I imagine.” I nodded, hips starting to shift with his thrusts. “I’m going to curl my fingers, rub the pads of them against that hard little swell.” I gasped when he did. He knew me now, exactly when and where to get a reaction. “Is that it? Yes, it is, isn’t it? Feels like I’m massaging your clit from the inside. So, what’s it feel like when I do this as well?” His thumb rubbed back and forth over my clit, the motion growing more and more rapid. “You look so fucking beautiful, love, like a goddess taking her pleasure from us mere mortals.” Both of our heads whipped around as we heard another knock on the door. “Gotta make this quick. I don’t want to, but we’ll have so much time later, I promise. Come for me, love.”
I always found scenes where the romantic leads told the FMC to come weird and dumb. Like our clits were good little puppies, ready to roll over at an order. But here I was, my back arching as I felt a godawful pressure build within me. I yelped when he pushed another finger in, as it was too much and not enough. I knew if he pulled them out of me, it would hit those places in me so good, especially when he altered the angle just right.
Another knock at the door.
“C’mon, love, or we’re about to get an audience.” My eyes flicked open to see that his smile had become devilish. He watched my reaction as he slammed his fingers in hard, twisting on the downstroke. “That’s it, love, just let it go.”
I fell upon him, my tongue tangling with his as I worked myself against his hand, the two of us racing, racing...
“Fuck!” I hissed against his lips, my hips jerking as wave after wave of pleasure washed through me, leaching all of the day’s tension out. My hand shot down to hold his in place, unable to tolerate him moving anymore but not letting him pull away.
“You OK, Jules?”
I’d have liked to have come up with something heartfelt or sweet to say, but instead, I was just wiped out. I collapsed against him, catching my breath in the crook of his arm.
“Mmm,” Finn said, and neat as a cat, licked his fingers clean. Fuck, after being with guys who either didn’t like or simply tolerated going down on a girl, watching him do that like a little boy with an ice cream was fucking hot. Another, more terse, knock came from the door. “I’d love for you to stay here all night, but I think it’s time to become the gracious hostess.”
“God, but I don’t want to.” I flipped my skirts and arranged myself in what I hoped was a semblance of neatness.
“We won’t get much of a chance to hang out tonight with all the pomp and circumstance that’s about to take place, but I’ll come for you soon. We’ll do something, just the two of us.”
“Maybe we should just walk in,” a muffled voice came from outside.
“Into an unknown woman’s house?”
“I’d like that,” I said, then squared my shoulders and plastered a socially appropriate smile to my face before opening the door.
7
The first thing I did when I returned to the back yard was grab a beer, the second was take Slade’s hand. I sought the reassuring pulse that came down our connection like a child with their favourite toy. He looked up from the conversation he was caught up in and smiled. His nostrils flared for a moment, and then his eyes darted over my shoulder to where Finn went to pay his respects to the matriarchs. His smile turned sly.
“Soothing our boy, were you?” he whispered into my ear. “You hot little minx.”
I pulled away slightly, as his mouth created a delicious buzz down my spine, and I’d reached and surpassed my public sex quota for the day. “How about we piss all these people off, and I show you how hot I am?”
He just stared back, smiling that damn crooked smile of his. “You know how much I want that.”
“But...? There’s a but coming, isn’t there? And not in the way it was this morning.”
“Goddamnit, Jules, don’t remind me of that. Walking around with a raging boner I can’t satisfy will crack the Nanas up.”
“They can tell?” I said, aghast.
“Those old bitches know everything. If you decided you were into pony play and stuck a horsehair buttplug up my arse and rode me about the room, one of them would be neighing at me before the day ended.”
I shook my head, trying to process that very vivid, if unconventional, image.
“But this is your introduction to Sanctuary, your real one. You’re becoming part of a community. You’ll be living and working beside these people, making decisions about our future.”
“OK, you convinced me,” I said, leaning into his embrace. I felt so damn tired.
“And anyway, think what it’ll be like tonight, when I peel this bloody confection my mother selected, off your lush body.”
