by Elle Lincoln
He drops me abruptly, only to tear off my shirt. “What the hell, Knight?” I slap his hands away.
“Whose blood is this?”
“Dude, leave her clothes on.” Donovan steps close to me, putting a hand on Christian’s shoulder.
“I’d remove that hand, he may rip it off.” I wish that was a joke. It wasn’t.
“He’ll just hit me like Con here.” Don jerks his head over to his twin, who slowly stands.
“Not cool, man. Not cool.” Connor steps into our circle while Christian’s hands run all over me, searching for injuries. “It isn’t her blood.”
“I know that, Con, I just need to see for myself.”
“Wait.” I step back, my mind whirling once more. “You know each other?”
“Oh, aye.” Donovan’s accent thickens with that one word, but I don’t get the chance to grill him before hands lift me up and twirl me around and I’m in Liam’s arms, his head buried in my neck.
Chapter 24
“Doll face.” Liam says my name like it’s a plea, a salvation to his inner calm. A prayer and a thanks all in one. He crushes me against his torso, his naked torso, but my mind for once doesn’t fall into the pit of desire it usually does.
I’m just so damn happy to see him. I push back, trying to get him to release me just a little because his arms are squishing me. “Can’t. Breathe.”
“Sorry.” He isn’t sorry, but he pulls back, his eyes dark in the night.
Nerves flutter in my belly. His eyes dart to my lips as I hear the other guys chatting with my family. Yet I can’t tear my gaze away from him even as my need to see the others safe overwhelms me.
His lips lift in that playful smirk, and in the next moment they descend upon mine to feast. My stomach flares to life with a thousand fireflies as he kisses me like a starved man. His lips nip and swallow every breathy moan I give him.
My legs wrap around his waist, hanging on tight as my hands grip his face, holding him still as I deepen the kiss. My lips convey every emotion I felt in the last few hours. The worry. The stress. The unknowns. My fear at losing him. At losing them. All of it wraps up into my need to taste him and devour him with my kiss. My desire.
My body burns and lights up from the inside out as my lips mold against his. Fast and furious and lit with burning passion, we crash against each other, starved. His kiss is like the storm that battered us, quick and thunderous while injecting desire into every inch of my body.
Voices rise just as Liam pulls back, his hooded eyes promising more later.
“It’s your fault they attacked her at all! We warned Allen this pack didn’t have the proper wards. Anyone can walk right onto this territory and kill her!” Donovan snaps, losing his normal, peaceful tone as he yells at Athos and the guys. “One week! She’s been here one week and look what happened! I knew we should have come right away.”
“She wouldn’t have gone for that, nitwit!” Pepper calls down from her perch.
“It’s utter shit, and you know it!” Connor chimes in. “If it wasn’t for Nessa, we would have lost her. Do you have any idea what that would have done to our mate?”
Mate.
I wiggle down, turning to Connor and Donovan as Athos just stands there and takes every bitter word they throw at him. “Stop.” I gaze up at the guys I’ve known for so long they are more like a part of my family than they could ever realize.
They tear their gazes away from Athos and stare down at me. “We wouldn’t survive your loss, Sabina,” Don states softly, before his eyes flicker up to Pepper who’s gripping the railing in anger. Her eyes are lit with an eerie glow in the dim lighting of the outside lamp.
“She doesn’t look too happy with you,” I point out with a laugh. Then I laugh a little harder, knowing exactly how I’ll get her back for the purple clit shredder. I hope she likes her dildos girthy and long and sent to a certain little pub.
“She denies us,” Connor snarls, his lip split where Christian hit him.
I scrub a hand down my face, weary and exhausted. I turn to my guys, then back to Connor and Don. “Can you two take the girls inside for a few? Please?”
They stand there, unmoving, but watching the guys with furious expressions. “You are family, Sabina, and they threatened your life.”
“They didn’t threaten a damn thing. A rogue pack did.”
“Because they didn’t listen to us the first time!” Connor roars back.
“Look.” I prop my hands on my hips, my body threatening to slip into exhaustion here on the spot. “Let’s schedule this for the morning after breakfast. Doughnuts and coffee for all. But right now you two are acting like my big brothers, and while I secretly love it, you need to chill the fuck out.” Don opens his mouth to argue, but I hold a hand up. “No. You two and Pepper can take the queen room on the top floor. Ash and Nessa, you’re in my room. There’s a pullout under the bed.”
“Sabina.”
“Nope! Go.” I point at the house. I don’t even know what time it is, but right now I need to talk to my mates, and these idiots are interfering with that. “Shoo.”
“Did you...” Don rubs his jaw. “Did you just shoo us?”
“I did, now go away.” I flick my fingers until they move toward the house. I watch in silence as their shoes crunch over the gravel and they all walk inside—though Pepper stands on the balcony giving me a murderous glare. I kiss the air a few times until she walks away. Her reactions to Donovan and Connor make so much more sense now. Once alone, I turn back to the guys who all stand in a semicircle. But it’s Nix whom I seek out. Hesitantly, I walk to him, his dark eyes even darker in the cloudy night sky. His skin is full of bruises and cuts. My heart aches as my fingers trace over each one, while he stays still and quiet.
“Sabina,” he begins, his voice tortured.
“Nope. Don’t even. I left you. I didn’t listen and I didn’t run to the shelter. Nix, I’m so sorry I didn’t listen.” Once again, my eyes tear up.
“Stop. Please stop.”
“I’m not strong. I should have stayed and sought you out. But I felt weak and worthless. What could I possibly do?”
“Torture them with your smart mouth.” Christian steps into my line of sight, peering down at me as he reaches up to palm my face. “We never expected you to fight for us. It was our job to stay and keep you safe.”
I turn back to Nix. “Dakota?” My throat chokes on his name, the thought of him not walking this earth hurting me more than anything.
“He’ll make it. He’s with the healer now,” Nix assures me, but the sadness upon his face never leaves, and I know it will take time to help him through the horror of tonight.
“How many—” I can’t speak the words, they freeze in my throat.
“We lost many lycans tonight, Sabina.” Athos steps up beside nix, his eyes drawn to the woods behind me. “Your brothers are correct. We should have allowed them to ward the grounds to more than just humans, but the pack couldn’t take on that debt. However, it looks like that decision cost us in the end.”
I roll my lips inward, unsure how to help him feel better because he made a mistake. “The wolf.”
“What wolf?” Athos cocks his head with interest.
“I’m not so sure he wanted to hurt me.” My brows draw down and my nose wrinkles.
The guys all look at each other before Liam moves to stand behind Nix. “Did you feel anything?” Liam’s eyes dart to my chest where my hand reached up to rub the ache away.
“No, just that I didn’t want to hurt him.” I frown, not quite wanting to bring up Kade but also needing to. “Let’s do this.” I change the subject, needing to make this official, to say screw it and just make it happen.
I turn around, heading for the line of glass doors.
“Do what?” Liam inquires hesitantly.
“Let’s do this mate thing.” I glance down at my skin where red, bloody splotches decorate my body like lace.
Hands haul me back around, and I glance
up to see Athos staring down at me with longing on his face that pierces my soul. “Sabina?”
I lay my palm on his chest with a crooked smile. “Athos.” I drift my hands down, reaching to my jeans where I flick the button. Only his hand stills my own.
“You can’t come back from this.”
“I don’t intend to.”
“No, what he means, Damsel, is that once you mate with us, that’s it, baby. You are stuck with us for life.” Christian’s words are hard and full of ice as he dares me to leave.
“I’m not walking away,” I insist.
“The curse?” Nix reminds me.
“Goddess blessed. I was told it probably isn’t a curse.” I smile, then frown. “I can confirm with Ash if you want though?”
“No,” they all shout at once.
“Once you mate with us, then you’ll get an upgrade.” Nix smiles for the first time, his voice conveying that he’d feel better with me having that upgrade.
“So human 2.0?” I like that idea.
“You’d be able to punch Christian in his sexy face and knock him right out.” Liam laughs as Christian smacks him upside the head.
“Well, since you are all naked—” My eyes glance down to see four cocks all directed at me and pearling with anticipation. I lick my lips and walk forward to take one in my mouth right here outside, right now. No shame, because the succubus is about to get what she wants.
Arms lift me up and throw me over a shoulder with a groan. “Damsel, stop looking at us like that when you are covered in the blood of another. I need you clean.”
“Throw me in the pool.” I peek at the pool house then wince, knowing I’ve neglected it and it’s covered in algae. “Never mind, don’t do that. Shower.”
He crouches as he walks through the door, the others trailing behind single file until Christian stands before the bathroom, sliding me down his body so I can feel every hard line and plane. Desire churns with the ball of nerves in my belly, and a flicker of hesitation crosses my features that Christian doesn’t miss.
“We don’t have to rush, Damsel.” His voice is softer than it has ever been before, yet I don’t miss the glint of disappointment on his face.
“Though it would benefit you to not be a breakable.” Liam leans against the wall, his eyes trailing over a spot of blood on my torso.
“Little cub, as much as I want this, I won’t mate with you when hesitation crosses those delicate features.” Athos leans against the armory door, his eyes glancing over the lock with a frown. I still have to show him that room.
“My hesitation was more along the lines of how we would make this work.” I wave a hand over my body. “Not enough holes, boys!”
“We are not boys.” Nix’s chocolate voice rolls over me to stroke my clit.
I cough into my hands. “No, you aren’t.” Dammit, my eyes flicker back down, catching a very hard and erect cock.
Athos groans, but not from the pleasure my eyes are trying to convey. “We have a live one.” He straightens up, his eyes lighting with a fire that burns bright, but not pleasantly. His jaw ticks as he grinds it.
“Rogue or Shadow Pack?” Liam straightens, his voice crackling with rage.
“Wait, they both breached our territory?” Tonight was so much worse than I thought.
“Yes.” Nix’s one-word reply tells a story I’m not sure I want to hear.
“I’m in.” Liam squares his shoulders before glancing down at me. Inside his gaze, something gleams with danger. His playboy facade slips to the side, and in its wake is a soldier hell-bent on retribution. The menace glimmering in his eyes goes deeper than any other personality trait, one he works damn hard to hide.
“Me too.” Nix leans in, his lips sweeping across mine before he rushes out, his body shifting as he goes.
Liam leans in next, kissing my cheek before he glares at Christian. “No less than four orgasms, and I want the link open so I can hear every breathy moan.”
“Won’t that distract you?” I ask on a laugh.
Liam glances down at me with that edge once more. “No, Doll, each moan will only remind me of what we could have lost.” He marches off, shifting to follow Nix.
“I better go include Donovan and Connor in this.” Athos runs a hand down his face.
“How do you know them?”
“The twin mages? Your father.” I don’t have time to dwell on that because he takes off, leaving me gaping like a fish. I’m now alone with Christian, who leans against the far wall, his arms crossed as he stares at me with desire.
“Just us then, Knight?”
“Shower off that blood, Damsel.” He pushes off the wall. “Better yet, I’ll do it for you.”
“I am more than capable.” He’s already pushing me back into the bathroom with a devious smile. Reaching behind me, he flicks on the water, not once looking away from me.
“Yes.” He shrugs, looking smug as he kneels before me, his fingers dipping into my jeans as his thumbs swirl along my stomach. “Tell me, Damsel, does my touch feel better than your own?”
Is that a question he wants an answer to? Because I can’t actually think when he’s touching me. I’m not even tired anymore. His fingers slip inside my jeans, slowly lowering the zipper as steam fills the bathroom. My breath spills from my lungs as he stares up at me with hunger.
“Can’t talk? That’s fine, I can talk.” The lace of my pink panties stands out in stark contrast to Christian’s tanned skin. His thumbs slide over to hook in my jeans as he ever so fucking slowly lowers them down over my hips. “The way you’re looking at me, I know my touch is better than your own. Though I want to watch these delicate” —he grabs my hand, pushing my fingers into the lace— “little fingers slide over the hood of your clit as I watch you fall apart.”
My fingers bunch in the lace, and I can’t even yell at him for being smug.
He’s right.
I love his touch. Finally, I smile down at him on his knees and throw back the words he first spoke to me. “I thought you wouldn’t fuck the burn away, Christian.” Though I’m about to give in real quick here, and beg just as my skin heats and that burn settles under my skin once more. Refusing them for this entire week has need suddenly crashing into me.
The laugh that pours from him warms every molecule in my body. Or maybe that’s the steam.
“Is that all I am to you, a fuck?” Gah! The way he says it runs a shiver down my spine.
“No,” I whisper. I can’t breathe as he lowers my jeans all the way down, his eyes following in their wake, eating up every inch of exposed flesh. “Christian.”
His lips twitch as he rises over me, his skin glistening with sweat and his cock stretching out to reach me. Giving in, I flick off my bra, leaving us naked before each other. Pulse pounding, I give him my back, choosing instead to step into the shower. The heat relaxes my muscles, driving away the ache from the night.
Silently, Christian steps in behind me. As though we’ve done this before, we take turns washing under the spray until he grabs the rag, choosing to rub it over me. Each swipe is methodical, calculated. The abrasive material scratches in a way that teases my senses and makes me gasp. He isn’t touching the places I’m silently pleading with him to touch. He runs the rag along the side of my breast, leaving me breathless and panting.
“Christian, dammit.” What? What do I want? I can’t seem to voice the desire and need building inside me. But he knows.
“You want me to touch you now that you’re clean?” One hand roams down my body, while the other threads through my wet hair. “Liam said four orgasms. Tell me, Damsel, are you ready to scream for me? For them?”
“Just fucking touch me, Knight.” Ease the ache.
His finger ever so slowly slides down, just skimming my slit. Once, twice. My hands reach out, holding onto his biceps. My knees threaten to buckle with just that one touch. “That all for me, Damsel?” He slides a finger deeper, my wetness coating his digit.
“Yes.”
“You’re driving them crazy, but they deserve it for using that purple thing on you.” His gruff voice sounds almost jealous.
“Can they see me?” Breathless, I’m breathless.
“Snapshots, Damsel.” He dips his finger in again, this time delivering just a hint of pressure to my clit, making me squirm. “Stay still.”
“Christian, I can’t.” My hips buck with the need to come. My body yearns for him to end this slow torture.
“Say my name again, Damsel.”
“Christian,” I growl.
He spears me, his finger driving in where the pad of it glides over the bundle of nerves that makes me jolt again. His palm presses against my clit as his finger dives in again and again.
“Is this want you want? Sweet relief? You want to come on my finger, screaming my name while they listen through our link?” His movements stop, making me growl. “Tell me, is that what you want?”
“Dammit, yes, Knight! Then I want you to fuck me against this wall until I scream again.” My hands fall away from his arms, sliding up my body to roll over my pebbled nipples. The sensitive nubs send heat straight to where Christian’s finger slides back in before he adds a second.
“I’m going to teach you to come when I want you to.” His voice is rough, demanding, squeezing out more and more pleasure from my body. My eyes want to drift shut, but I can’t move them away from him. I’m so close, my knees shake as he thrusts his fingers harder, his palm flattening on me, rubbing with just the right amount of friction. “Come for me, Sabina.”
I shatter.
His lips slam against mine, stealing my scream. His tongue dances inside my mouth, taking all I have to give and then more. I float through the air, soaring as my body slowly comes down.
No. No, that’s me.
Christian lifts me up, slamming me against the tiled wall, and with one smooth thrust, he buries himself deep inside me just as I anchor my feet behind him. I rip my lips away, screaming to the ceiling as pleasure engulfs me. He doesn’t even bother waiting for me to adjust. Just like the man, his demand is carnal sin.
