Unicorn Mates (Valentine Pride Book 1)

by Laura Greenwood

  I followed him into the bathroom, Cas and Kerry trailing behind. My jaw dropped when we walked in. Half the bathroom was a massive shower. “How the hell do you have all this state of the art stuff in here?” I asked in amazement.

  “Cas is in security,” Levon said before pushing a keypad on the outside of the shower. “He’s rolling in it.” The shower came on with a blast, and Levon pushed a few more buttons, taking the jets to more of a slow waterfall.

  Kerry laughed. “Cas has the kind of money that makes us not feel bad that we work for him.”

  Cas strode forward and entered the shower. “It’s not a big deal. I write code that helps make important people and their valuables safe. They pay very well for that security.” He let his head fall back under the spray. “It helps me keep the pack financially secure, so I keep doing it.”

  I walked in the shower with him, amazed that I was three feet from him without needing to climb him and put his dick in me again. It had gone soft. I glanced down at it as he scrubbed his hands over his face. He was a shower. Not a grower.

  Turning on my side of the shower, I put my hands into my hair to help the water run through all of it. Kerry and Levon entered the shower. They were both growers. Interesting.

  I used the shampoo on the shelf, hoping it didn’t make my hair brittle. Smelling it before using it, I discovered it didn’t smell like anything.

  The shower passed quickly, all of us in there just to wash. I didn’t feel like I’d ever grow tired of sex with those three men, but I was worn out and a little sore.

  I relaxed into them, enjoying the feel of their skin against mine, enjoying what was no doubt a brief break in the proceedings.

  Chapter Five

  I rubbed my hair dry as I stepped back into the bedroom. My eyes fell on the rumpled sheets of the bed, a testament to the fun we'd had. I hoped the fact Cas hadn't cleaned up behind us meant he wanted me to stay. I hated doubting them, but even though they'd said they wanted me around, a little part of me was still apprehensive.

  "Cas is in the kitchen," Levon answered my unspoken question.

  I nodded. "Can I borrow a clean shirt?"

  "You can have one," he responded, walking over to the dresser and pulling one out.

  "We're in your room?" Not that it really mattered which of the three men this particular bed belonged to. The only thing that mattered to me was that they were all in it.

  Kerry chuckled as he exited the bathroom. "Levon is the neatest of the three of us. We wanted to make a good impression, and Levon's room seemed like the best choice."

  "That's a lot of thought into where to have sex with me," I teased. I took the shirt from Levon with a grateful smile. I didn't mind being naked, but something told me Cas was in the kitchen for a more important kind of discussion, and for that and I wanted to be covered.

  Probably because I wouldn't get distracted by their eyes straying to my boobs at every opportunity.

  "We want you for more than just sex," Kerry responded, getting a sharp look from Levon for his trouble.

  "You do?" I raised an eyebrow, hoping he'd tell me more about what was to come.

  "That's for Cas to tell you," Levon answered.

  Ah, so now they were deferring to their alpha. Interesting to see how that changed with what they were doing.

  I turned toward the door, ready to have answers to all the questions I didn't know I’d had. All I knew was that there was a lot I needed to know.

  A delicious smell filled the air as I walked into the open plan living area—one that was completely lacking in meat. What was up with them? I could understand a willingness to accept other people's dietary requirements, but they were going above and beyond to see to my needs. I was already worrying they weren't paying enough attention to their own. They needed meat just like I needed to avoid it.

  Cas placed a large pot of steaming soup in the center of the table before returning to the oven and pulling out a delicious smelling loaf of bread.

  "All vegan," he promised.

  "I don't mind if you eat non-vegan stuff in front of me," I countered. "I don't want you to go without for me."

  "We're not. There are cold cuts on the table. But Kerry texted our housekeeper and arranged for this while we were about to get in the shower.”

  I glanced back at the other man, only for him to shrug at me as if it wasn't important. To him, maybe it wasn't. But to me, it meant the world.

  "Thank you," I whispered, my voice cracking slightly with the emotion of the moment. If this was how they were going to treat me for the rest of my life, then they'd have no complaints about the mating process. I'd be all for it.

  I pulled back one of the chairs, noting the dining table seems to have the same modern feel as the kitchen, with a glass top and metal and leather highlights. I liked it. It was the same style I'd have gone for if I'd have picked it myself.

  "Are you hungry?" Kerry asked.

  "Yes." I hadn't realised it until that moment, but my stomach rumbled to make up for it.

  "You're in for a treat," Levon said as he took the seat next to me. "Kerry makes the best soup."

  Cas ladled it into four bowls, passing them around to us all.

  "It's all vegan, even the bread," Kerry put in, echoing Cas’s earlier words.

  "Thank you." I'd guessed that already from the mere fact that Cas was serving me it in the first place. From what they'd said before, it would be bad for me to ingest meat.

  We lapsed into silence as we dug into the soup. It was almost strange to be so casual with the men I'd just had sex with, but something about us just clicked.

  "I guess we need to talk," I said as I dropped my spoon into my empty dish.

  "You make it sound so ominous," Levon joked.

  "Isn't it? We're talking about the rest of our lives," I pointed out.

  "Would you like to go somewhere more comfortable for this?" Cas asked, an earnest expression on his face.

  "No. If we keep the table between us, we can't get distracted and end up back in bed."

  I felt all three of their eyes bore into me.

  "You really think we'll end up in bed that easily?" Cas's mouth turned up into a smirk.

  "I think I'll want it, yes," I responded. I didn't see any point in lying about my desires. Not to them. They deserved to know every dirty secret I could come up with.

  "Alright, we'll stay here." He leaned back in his chair. "What did you want to talk about?" he prompted.

  "What do you think?" I responded, folding my arms to convey just how serious I was about this. "What's going on here?"

  "We told you. Our spirit animals are brown unicorns and we want you." Levon shrugged as if he thought that would explain everything. Maybe it did. Perhaps it really was that simple. A girl could only dream.

  "And that makes you think we're fated mates?" It couldn’t be that easy.

  "Do you not feel like we are?" Cas prompted. "You seemed fairly certain in bed."

  I gulped loudly. He had me there. I felt whatever this was between us just as strongly as they apparently did.

  "I didn't say that," I countered. "I just want to be sure how you feel before I do something stupid. You've all had a lot longer to get used to this world. I learned about it by accident and am still getting used to it. So yes, I need to be sure about this when it's not my lady bits talking."

  "Lady bits?" Levon raised an eyebrow but did nothing to hide the amusement in his tone.

  "Yes, lady bits, what would you rather I call them?" I could have sworn I was blushing even thinking some of the words I could have used, and wasn't sure I could say them aloud if we weren't in the throes of passion.

  "Pussy?" he suggested.

  "Fine. I don't want to think with my pussy then." My cheeks flamed red. If they wanted me to talk dirty around them, I'd have to practice saying things like that.

  "Is it the mates thing?" Kerry asked.

  "Yes," I admitted softly. "How does that work? Why could you refrain from biting
me in bed?" I almost didn't want to ask, but I knew I had to.

  "We're old enough to be able to control our shifts, even when our passions are raised. It's one of the first things our parents teach us. Though I think that has more to do with the risk of us accidentally shifting when we got angry, rather than during sex," Cas explained. "I can't speak for Kerry and Levon, but I just used that to stop myself from biting you before you were ready."

  "Me too," Kerry added.

  "Yep." That was from Levon.

  "Thank you, that means a lot to me."

  "But we're not going to be able to hold off biting you much longer. If you're not ready, we might need you to move back to your own place. Just until it's..."

  Oh, then they did want me to move in. I fought a grin. "No," I blurted. "I don't want to move back to my place." There was nothing for me there. I could work from anywhere that had a kitchen and wifi. And this place's kitchen would be a joy to work in.

  "Are you telling us you've now moved in?" Levon tried to hold back his amusement, but I could hear it in his voice.

  "Yes." I forced myself to look each of them in the eyes. I didn't want them to think I was just agreeing to words put in my mouth. This was what I wanted.

  "Then we're going to claim you," Cas warned.

  "I know." And I was ready for it, even if I wasn't sure how it would feel to have their teeth sink into me. Would it change me as a person? I couldn't imagine how it would, but I was so new to the shifter world that it could be something completely unexpected.

  "Then we're going to," he promised.

  "Good. But tell me what that will mean tomorrow." This was the bit I really needed to know. I wasn't about to become some housewife to the three of them. That had never been a part of my life plan, I didn't expect that to change now.

  "It will mean you're ours," Levon pointed out.

  "Yes, I get that." I picked up my water glass and took a sip. "But that can't be the only thing it means.”

  "It isn't," Kerry responded before taking a sip of his own water. "Any shifter you meet will know you're mated."

  I nodded. That made sense to me, otherwise what was the point of biting someone in the first place?

  "How many other shifters am I likely to meet?"

  Kerry and Levon both shifted their attention to Cas. Apparently, that question was one for the alpha.

  "We live in a whole community of shifters. You're likely to meet a lot."

  "Okay..." I felt like there was more to it, so I didn't say anything else, hoping he'd tell me more without me having to dig for it.

  "Cas isn't just the Valentine Pride alpha—" Kerry started.

  "The what?" Did he just say Valentine?

  "It's our name. All the mountain lion shifters in the pride are called Valentine," Levon answered.

  "How many mountain lions are there?" I asked.

  "Fifteen," he answered. "But only the three of us live here. The rest are dotted around the mountain."

  "Okay...so if you're not just the alpha of the mountain lions, what else are you?" I looked Cas straight in the eyes as I asked, determined he would answer me and not one of the others.

  "I'm technically the leader of all the mountain shifters," he admitted. "Whenever anything needs overseeing, I'm the one that does it."

  "Wow. So I'm going to be the First Lady of mountain shifters," I joked.

  "Without all of the annoying press," Levon added.

  "Good to know. I'm not planning on being followed around for the rest of my life." None of what they'd said sounded particularly worrying to me. "And the claiming itself..." I prompted. I needed to know how that was going to happen and if it was something I had to prepare for.

  "I'll claim you first as is my right as alpha. Then Levon and Kerry will."

  "And you'll claim me during sex?" My voice quivered as I asked but mostly just in anticipation of being in bed with them again. Even just thinking about it was making me wet again. Would the effect they had on me ever fade? Not that I minded.

  "Yes. We could claim you right here, right now, but it's nowhere near as fun." His eyes twinkled as he spoke. "I know a couple of female shifters who've told me getting bitten during sex makes the whole thing even more intense."

  Now that I could get on board with. I focused on the upcoming fun and not on the female shifters he might’ve slept with.

  "Alright then." I scraped my chair back, drawing even more attention from the three of them. I started walking away from the table, wondering how long it was going to take them to realise what I was doing.

  The lack of movement worried me, and I almost turned around but thought better of it. I whipped the shirt over my head and let it fall to the floor, the cool air hitting my skin and causing my nipples to pucker as I turned back into Levon’s bedroom. If they didn't get the message now, I'd be truly disappointed.

  The sound of three chairs scraping back was music to my ears. I readied myself for what I knew was going to be the hottest sex of my entire life. Even more so than our previous adventures.

  Epilogue

  I twisted the lock on the bathroom door so I was shut off from the world and my mates wouldn't just walk in on me. It wasn't something that I'd normally do, but this was far too important to have one of them barrelling in, especially because if I was right about what was happening to my body, this wasn't the way I wanted them to actually find out.

  My heart thudded in my chest as I tore open the white and blue box that looked so innocent, and yet contained something that would change my life forever.

  Or it would if it came out positive. They said that there was no way of knowing how you truly felt about something until you had it taken away from you. So I guessed a negative would also change my life in some ways. Maybe.

  "Huh, you really do have to pee on a stick," I mused as I looked at the instructions. I'd always wondered if that was true or just a myth used for comedy in sitcoms. I'd never had to take a pregnancy test before.

  At least it was easy. I followed the instructions, before setting it on the sink and washing my hands. All those hugs straight after positive results between couples on TV seemed way more gross now I realised they were supposed to still be holding a pee covered stick between them.

  I stared at it even though I wouldn't have any answers for another two minutes. What did I want the answer to be? I'd never really thought about kids before, but the idea of holding one of my lion's babies in my arms...maybe motherhood wouldn't be too bad.

  "Come on," I muttered at the stick, willing it to go faster.

  Would it even work on me? They were designed with humans in mind, and I definitely wasn't that. Perhaps it would give me some kind of error message, if that was even possible.

  "Pull yourself together, Leola," I ordered myself. No matter what the result was, I'd be able to go about my life knowing I had the support of my mates, and that was the most important thing of all.

  My phone buzzed, meaning the two minutes was up. I closed my eyes and took a steadying breath. This would all be fine. No matter what the pee stick said, I'd be okay.

  Slowly, I peeled my eyes open once more and looked down at the tiny screen.

  A thrill passed through me at the word on the screen, and I was grateful I'd got one that actually said the word.

  Pregnant.

  I was going to have a baby.

  I kicked the bin accidentally, making myself jump. The pee stick dropped from my fingers and clattering to the side.

  Oops. I hadn’t meant to do that.

  I grabbed the stick and wrapped it in some tissues. I wasn't ready for them to find out, and I certainly didn’t want them to find out by accidentally looking in the bin. At least not until I'd checked a couple more times. I’d heard that false positives happened all the time.

  “I’m going to be fine,” I promised myself.

  Or I would be. Once I figured out how to tell my mates about our upcoming little bundle of joy.

  Thank you for reading Unicorn M
ates, continue Leola and her lions’ story in Unicorn Luck: http://books2read.com/unicornluck

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  The Paranormal Council (Laura Greenwood’s Reader Group)

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  More from L.A. Boruff & Laura Greenwood

  Valentine Pride (Steamy paranormal reverse harem)

  Unicorn Mates

  Unicorn Luck

  Unicorn Truth

  The Platypus and Her Wolves

  Magic and Metaphysics Academy (paranormal academy reverse harem)

  Magical Mischief

  Saturday in Reverse (contemporary romance)

  Coming Soon...

  About L.A. Boruff

  L.A. (Lainie) Boruff lives in East Tennessee with her husband, three children, and an ever growing number of cats. She loves reading, watching TV, and procrastinating by browsing Facebook. L.A.’s passions include vampires, food, and listening to heavy metal music. She once won a Harry Potter trivia contest based on the books and lost one based on the movies. She has two bands on her bucket list that she still hasn’t seen: AC/DC and Alice Cooper. Feel free to send tickets.

  Other Works from L.A. Boruff

  The Unseen War (Paranormal RH)

  War of Fangs

  War of Fire

  War of Wings

  Coven’s End (Paranormal RH Complete Series)

  Kane

  Voss

  Quin

  Jillian