by Tl Reeve
Charisma giggled. “We both know you’ll be able to go again the second after you find your release, Royce.”
She was not lying. One of the amazing things about wolf shifters, Royce couldn’t speak on the others, since it wasn’t really a conversation he wanted to have, but he had stamina for days. The only time it wasn’t possible was when they knotted their mate’s pussy.
“Fuck,” he groaned, remembering what it felt like when Charisma’s pussy flexed and stretched around his knot. Bar none, it was the best fucking feeling in the world. They’d remained locked together anywhere from fifteen minutes to over an hour while they each continued to come.
After the knot went down, and his balls were drained of his seed, he got this perverse feeling watching their combined releases slip from her folds and trickle down her inner thigh. Pride welled in his chest. Above all else, she would always be his and he could spend the rest of his life making his transgression up to her. He’d also spend the rest of his life a smug bastard because his scent would always coat her.
Between his errant thoughts, and the sight of Charisma’s flushed, luscious body, he lost it. Her pussy cinched down on him on his second stroke, and Royce grunted while his orgasm pulsed from his tip.
Fuck. He just came like a boy getting his first taste of pussy. Charisma was clueless and didn’t say a word about his faux pas. His wolf, the asshole, wasn’t too happy with him, letting him know his displeasure by growling and snapping inside of his head to the point it started to give him a headache. Or maybe the headache was because he came so hard. Who the hell knew or cared at this point.
Temperamental fucker. That’s what you get for keeping her pregnancy hidden from me, asshole.
Focus, stupid ass. Nothing like finally getting your dick in your mate after a three months dry spell, and instead of fucking her, I decided to have a conversation with my god-damned wolf.
He tightened his grip on Charisma’s hips and started to move again. Her pussy flexed around him, teasing him. Willing him to give over another load of his cum. He pulled out till just the fat cockhead was inside of her. His gaze lowered, focusing on where they were joined. His dick was slick, covered in her juices and his seed. He gathered the gooey mess off his cock then rubbed it across her hard nipples. Later, after they had fucked till exhaustion, he’d sip at her succulent nipples, savoring the taste of their combined orgasms on her flesh.
He fought the urge to slam deep inside of her pussy and fuck the hell out of her. He wouldn’t because of her swollen belly and the precious cargo she carried. Hurting their pup wasn’t something he wanted to do with his passion, nor did he want to do anything to his mate she wouldn’t enjoy.
She scraped her blunt fingernails across his lower belly, and the muscles fluttered in response.
“Fuck me, Royce,” she moaned, hips rolling, pussy fluttering around him. “You can’t hurt me or the baby.”
He flexed his hips and sank back into her warmth, then repeated the process over again. The slowness of his movements was killing them both. The tip of his cock rubbed against her sweet spot. Her legs tightened around his waist, and, without thought, he pushed her thighs open. It changed up the angle of penetration. His pace increased, and the feel of her walls fluttering around his intrusion left him light-headed and dizzy with pleasure. He nuzzled her neck, allowing the pained, blissed out sounds he made to heighten her arousal too.
Charisma squeezed him. Her arms went around his neck, holding him to her while she matched him stroke for stroke. The smell of sweet ripe magnolias surrounded him, drawing him into her intoxicating presence. Sweat coated his face and chest, rolling in drops down his chest and adding to the combined moisture of their sex.
No longer able to keep himself upright, he released her hips before placing his hands on either side of her head, looming over her, his hips slapping against hers as his dick pounded at her.
“Come, Oasis,” he demanded, needing to feel her pussy milk his cock.
She dug her fingernails into his ass as she screamed. Her pussy held him in a tight fist before the first ripples and flutters of her climax began.
“That’s it, baby, give it to me. I want it. Coat my balls with your cream.” He loved how her pussy responded to his filthy words.
“Royce…ohmigod…Royce,” she whimpered beneath him.
He wrapped his hand around her long hair and gave a not so gentle tug. Her hazel eyes flew open, meeting his. “This pussy is mine, Oasis. Do you understand?”
She mewled.
“Not an answer, mate. Tell me who’s pussy this is.” He ground his hips against hers, feeling her clench tight around him. “Fucking tell me.”
“Yours,” she sobbed. “All yours.”
“That’s right. Mine to fuck whenever and wherever I want. Whenever you need it. From now on, when you need the relief you’re going to climb onto my lap and take it, aren’t you?”
Yeah, it was a bitch move to get her to agree to something when she was blissed out of her mind, but Royce was a Raferty and they weren’t always known for fighting fair. He’d use whatever was at his disposable to see her pretty eyes filled with happiness again.
“Tell me, baby,” he growled before leaning down to nip at the mark he’d left on her breast three years before. “Whose pussy is it?”
“Yours…you fucking bastard,” she moaned.
Rearing back up, Royce pressed his thumb hard against her hard clit, rolling it in small, tight circles while he fucked her in hard, demanding thrusts.
“Fuck...yeah, it’s mine.” He snarled, exposing his canines before dropping back over her. He sank his teeth deep into her shoulder when his dick got longer and harder before throbbing his release deep inside her. The coppery taste of blood filled his mouth as Charisma shuddered and shook beneath him.
Royce released his hold on her skin. He laved the abused flesh with his tongue, knowing the chemicals in his saliva would ease any swelling and prevent infection. Tomorrow the bruise there would show everyone who she belonged to.
He adjusted their position, putting all of his weight on his forearms. “Fuck, baby, I love you.” He peppered her with kisses along her neck and shoulder, while he continued to mutter against her damp skin. “You’re my Oasis. Always there waiting in the barrenness of my life.” He cupped her cheek. “You don’t get it, but you are my safety, my calm in the storm of my daily life. With you, I can escape the hell of my life. Don’t ever leave me.”
“Oh…Royce...” Tears shimmered in her eyes.
Royce saw the raw emotions playing across her features. “I can’t survive without you.”
“Me either,” she admitted.
He slipped from her, then pulled her into his arms. He cuddled her while he lay a protective hand on her belly, covering their growing pup. Even after he bared his soul to her, he was aware she never promised to stay, or her love.
His wolf gave a low, pain-filled howl.
One day at a time, asshole. He couldn’t expect anything more until he began to prove the words he spoke while being buried deep within his mate.
Chapter Six
Window Rock, Arizona – Kalkin’s office
Kalkin Raferty sat behind his desk and stared out the window overlooking Window Rock. The days were getting shorter and cooler. The investigation was out of his hands, and it ate at his gut. When things happened in Window Rock, he could control the machinations to certain degrees. Since things were happening twenty-four hundred miles away, he couldn’t do a thing about it.
He scrubbed his face.
Keeley paid the price for his inability to act most of all. Though she might never complain about his proclivities, the more he worried, the darker his desires became. Last night, he stayed inside her until neither of them could move.
He also knotted her twice.
This morning, she got up and acted like it’d been a normal night with him. He snorted. Nothing had been normal about them since the day he claimed her as his mate. If she had any qu
estions, she didn’t voice them, and when she got into the shower, he climbed in behind her and took her once more.
Shit... he needed to get himself together. If he kept at Keeley like he was, they’d be welcoming another Raferty to the brood already occupying half of Window Rock—not that it bothered him. His mate, on the other hand...
Long afternoon shadows darkened his window, drawing his attention to the clock hanging on the wall. There were no new updates, yet. Royce would still be at the college and Mackenzie would be at the construction site. The niggle of worry sitting between his shoulder blades since everyone left intensified. He smelled the truth on Charisma the minute he picked her up at Penelope’s house. He figured Saber smelled it as well. Pregnant. Strong too. Over the years only one Raferty mated pair had suffered a miscarriage. He worried it would tear Caden and Danielle apart, especially since it happened soon after their reconciliation, yet they thrived through the horrid situation. It also helped that Brie had been there to talk them through their grief. The anxious, unsettled feelings returned the minute he figured out why Charisma left.
Kalkin had caused the other part of it.
However, the disquiet between her and Royce had blocked her mate from scenting the pregnancy and, though it’d been strong, Kalkin was concerned they’d fall to the same fate as Caden and Danielle. The phone in his office rang, and he answered it. No one used it much anymore. If anyone needed him, it came through on his cell phone.
“Sheriff Raferty,” he growled.
“I requested the class you said to,” the boy answered. Adrian Geithner. No one knew he existed, and Kalkin wanted to keep it that way. “With the name you said to use.”
After Simon and Hazel’s death, a call had come in. A boy, about five years old, had been found in the rubble of the hotel. He didn’t have any identification, and he wouldn’t talk to authorities. Kalkin made the trip up to the pediatrics unit and stared at the boy through the window of his room. Something about the kid reminded him of Bodhi. Maybe it was the shape of his face. The tilt of his gunmetal grey eyes. Or, his sandy blond hair. He didn’t know, but the kid belonged there, in Window Rock, with him. Of course, after the first few days, the boy told him his name. It made sense then why this serene little creature looked like Bodhi so much; he was Bodhi’s and Hayden’s little brother. A fact no one to this day knew.
When Keeley could concentrate, he introduced the boy as Samuel Johnson. His parents perished in the hotel bombing. Kalkin had gone through the motions with her, looked for other relatives—there were none—and finally with a little pushing from Jerome and the state’s attorney, was made a ward of Window Rock Orphanage.
Holly and Hayden’s arrival complicated everything, but somehow Kalkin had kept the kid hidden, and now, he’d been glad he did. After Adrian graduated high school, he put out feelers. Whispers of a Geithner heir. A missing link. Nothing came about.
Until recently.
PBH was under reorganization, according to one of his assets. Holly might believe she’d picked up where her lunatic brother left off, but she hadn’t. Her rise to power would be temporary. Kalkin knew it in his gut. For now, he had to play his cards close to the vest.
“Good,” Kalkin answered. “How are things there?”
“As best as can be expected. Holly has made contact once. Would like to meet me.”
“Meet with her, see what she has to offer.” Kalkin had meant for her to run into him. It’d been part of a much larger trap he’d laid before everyone left.
“Okay. I don’t like her though.”
He didn’t think the kid would. “Neither do I.”
“Are you sure she’s my aunt? I barely remember my parents.” Kalkin figured as much. The boy’s memories were a bit altered by one of the other orphans with abilities. Another thing he never told Keeley about.
“Yeah, just as sure as I am about Royce being your cousin and Hayden and Bodhi being your siblings.”
The boy sighed.
“I can arrange for them to find out who you are, if you’d like,” Kalkin offered.
“No,” the boy said. “I don’t want to be a burden to them.”
“I have protected you for a reason, son. This can all be fixed now. Once Holly is dealt with, you can be free.” Not a complete lie, but a lie nonetheless.
“No. It would tear apart their lives. Is it true...Hayden and Bodhi have kids?”
“Asher is your nephew. We’re not sure what Emma is having yet,” Kalkin replied.
“From the auction,” Adrian said. “Right. Good. They should be concentrating on their families. Not me. It’s not my place to interfere. Look, Rexx—er, Royce is pretty cool. I think I’ll like his class.”
“Perfect. If you find yourself in a spot, go to him. Tell him I sent you to him. Royce will protect you.”
“How do I get information to him?”
“If you need to tell him immediately, slip him a note. Other communique should come through me,” Kalkin answered.
“Sure...right. You’re right.” He let out another breath.
“Adrian. Listen to me, we’re all right here. If you need your family, I can provide them to you. They will welcome you with open arms. I know my niece and nephews. They will protect you.”
“No,” Adrian said, with a little more steel in his tone. “I appreciate the help, Uncle Kalkin. I can do this job. I’ll do whatever it takes to fix all of the bullshit you and your family have had to deal with due to my family. It’s the least I can do.”
Kalkin sighed. The boy had no idea who he was dealing with when it came to the PBH. He’d kept it that way. Kalkin never wanted to expose any of them to the dangers lurking just under their feet. Charisma was right, and the same could be said about his mate and her sister—he couldn’t let anything go. If Holly ever had the chance to sink her nails into Adrian, he’d lose the boy forever. She’d take him away from Hayden and Bodhi. He’d become like his Uncle Henry. Kalkin would not watch another member of his family fall into the madness of the Geithner clan, no matter what.
“It is a standing offer. You’re a Raferty kid—my kid—no matter what,” Kalkin answered. “Now, did you hear anything about what your aunt might be planning?”
“Not even a peep. I think I found out about an auction on accident, though. Brooklyn is a talker. The only time she doesn’t say shit is when she has a dick in her mouth.”
Kalkin shook his head. “I don’t even want to know about it, kid.”
“Sorry,” Adrian said. “It’s true though. Since then, she’s tightened up her loose lips.”
“Do you think Holly found out?”
“Not sure,” Adrian replied. “She spends more time in the underground of Boston—subway tunnels, and the underground portions of Scollay Square. There is a whole plaza under city hall. I don’t know what’s going on in there either. She’s the only one with access.”
Kalkin grunted. “See if you can loosen them lips up. It’ll help us in the long run.”
“Are you telling me to fuck her?”
The surprise in Adrian’s tone had a smile tugging at Kalkin’s mouth. Wasn’t like the kid hadn’t allowed her to suck his dick. “I’m not telling you to do anything, kid.”
“Right.”
“Listen, this is part of the job. I know it isn’t the best part of the job. I know your body is your own, but sometimes you have to do things that go against your better judgement.” In the time he’d watched over Adrian, the kid never once made a move. Full moon after full moon he’d been oblivious to everything around him. The kid being human shouldn’t have detracted from the electric pull in the community. He should have gotten with some female or male teen wolf. However, he’d been content to hang out in the orphanage. He was nothing like Kalkin’s family members. “You’re in college, kid, act like it. Live a little. Party. Have fun. Get drunk and fuck. Be a part of all of it. Got me?”
“Yeah... Y-yeah, I think so.”
“Don’t just do it without context and without
protection,” Kalkin reminded him. “You guys go out and have fun. If one thing leads to another, good. Then while you’re pleasing her, tease the answers out of her. If you do it right, she’ll tell you whatever you want to know without even realizing what’s she done. Like with the blow job.”
“Oh. Okay, yeah. I got you.”
Kalkin shook his head. At eighteen years old, the kid still had the innocence of an untried boy. In this line of work, if Adrian wanted to keep going down this path, he’d have to learn how to work people. Sometimes, the body was the easiest way to get what they’d need. Still, Keeley would gobsmack the shit out of him if she knew what he told the boy to do. “Remember to wear a condom. Don’t need you getting sick or any unwanted pregnancies.”
“Yes, dad.”
Kalkin chuckled. Yeah, he’d always considered the boy his. Hearing him say those words... Fuck. He rubbed his chest. “Don’t need to have the sex talk with you, do I?”
Adrian groaned. “Not really.”
“Look, just don’t end up getting your ass knotted or knock a girl up. Being mated or a father in this line of work won’t be easy.”
“Yeah, something tells me, I’ll be on my own for a long damn time.” A bell tolled in the background. “I need to go. Classes. I’ll call you if I hear anything. Text you if it’s important.”
“Sure, kid. Remember—”
“Have fun. Gotcha, Kalkin. Later.” Adrian hung up, and Kalkin placed the phone back on the receiver.
“Fucking kids. Gonna make me old and gray one day.”
Kalkin had just relaxed into his chair when the phone at his hip rang. He unclipped it from the holder and swiped his finger across the screen, without looking to see who’d been calling. “Raferty.”
“Ah, Sheriff, it’s so good to hear your voice.” Sloan Harnut. Kalkin had been expecting this call.
“Sloan,” he replied. “What can I do for you today?”