by B N Miles
“You’ll bond,” he said through clenched teeth. “I can’t. Please don’t.”
Jessa leaned toward him. Her eyes were wide. Jared pushed himself back against the window as she got close. She put a hand on his thigh, and god, she smelled good, she felt good.
“Bond?” she whispered in his ear, and kissed his cheek. “I already want you,” she said, blushing. “If this helps… I want to help.”
She pressed her lips against his and her taste flooded his mouth. It was grass and morning dew, and Jared let out one last growl of frustration before wrapping his first in her hair and pulling her tight against him.
There was no more thinking. The priori still lingering in his body crackled and burned his flesh. He was hard as she unbuckled his belt and reached down the front of him, finding his shaft. She stroked him, leaning over him, and he reached down to take off her shirt. It came off easily, her small, perky breasts just barely covered with a black sports bra. He slid that off, threw it on the floor and kissed her neck, palming her breasts.
She tugged down his jeans, his boxer briefs. She moved down, kneeling on the seat, and took him in her mouth. He growled and grabbed her hair tight as she sucked him slow, looking up into his eyes. She slid his shaft deep into her throat, pulled back with a gasp, and sucked him faster.
Cassie was watching as she drove, glancing back in the rearview. Jared met her gaze and wanted to pull her back, wanted to make her join them, but he was too lost in the moment. “That’s good,” Cassie said. “That’s right. You’ll feel better.” She smiled and Jared groaned in pleasure as Jessa took him deep into her throat.
He couldn’t handle more. He helped her get her jeans off, her panties slipping off her firm, perky ass. Her body was slimmer than Cassie, her breasts smaller, her ass smaller, but she was tight and taut. She straddled him and he kissed her, hand in her hair, pulling it tight as she moved back down along his shaft.
His cock slid deep inside her tight pussy and he growled as he felt her warm, wet spot wrapped around him. She felt incredible, dripping for him already, soaked through with desire. He believed her now when she said she wanted this, and he pulled her tight against him, thrusting deep inside.
She moaned in his ear. “Oh god yes,” she whispered. “Oh god yes.”
“From the first second I saw you, I wanted this,” Jared whispered back and kissed her. She worked her hips faster, faster, riding him, riding his thick cock in and out, taking him deep inside her tight pussy. She moaned into his kiss as he filled her to the brim, stretched her out and made her take every inch.
He thrust inside her, licking her nipples, palming her breasts, not holding back. The Need was screaming and he had to be satisfied. He fucked her rough and raw, deep between her legs, the pleasure building and shifting between them, driving Jared wild with lust and need. She was sweating, working her back, taking him deep, moving faster and faster.
There was nothing else, just Cassie watching, Jessa riding, Jared thrusting. The pleasure built as he took her gorgeous body and Jessa met his gaze. He saw the bliss in her eyes and took her hard, making her perky breasts shake with each hard thrust. “Oh fuck yes,” she screamed, throwing her head back. “Keep going.”
Jared didn’t slow, couldn’t slow. He was an animal, taking her body, sliding his thick cock deeper into her. She leaned forward as her body tensed and shook. “Come for me,” he whispered, fucking her faster. “Come for me, oh fuck.”
He couldn’t take any more. The Need was screaming, her body was beautiful, her orgasm incredible. He felt the unnatural power and bliss of the priori flow through him as he gripped Jessa’s hips and thrust hard deep between her legs.
He came in thick spurts, filling her deep, the power ripping out from his body. Jessa screamed with pleasure as her orgasm redoubled, her head thrown back. They lifted off, both of them coming, the intense howling pleasure of the priori tearing from Jared’s body and into Jessa, making both of them lose their minds in pure ecstasy.
Slowly, he came down. Jessa fell off him, naked and dripping, her body curled up next to his. Jared put an arm around her and pulled her tight against him, his head dizzy and spinning… but quiet. God, so quiet. He felt like himself again.
Cassie broke the silence. “That was the hottest fucking thing I’ve ever seen,” she said.
Jared laughed. Jessa groaned and covered her face. “Oh my god I forgot you were there,” she said. “I’m so embarrassed.”
“Don’t be. Holy shit.” Cassie grinned at them in the rearview. “You better be willing to do that for me, Jared.”
“I think I can manage,” he said. “But we can’t leave Jessa out.”
“I mean, uh… what?”
“Actually, maybe I should just start with her. Look at that body. She’s fit. I’m kind of jealous.”
Jared laughed at how red Jessa’s face got.
“Okay, enough,” he said. “She’s going to die from embarrassment.”
“Not before I get my taste,” Cassie said, grinning.
Jared helped Jessa get dressed, kissed her, then pulled on his own clothes. He felt drained in several different ways. Using magic like that took a toll on him, and then sating his Need so quickly took even more out. He was exhausted but happy, a smile on his lips. Jessa curled up against him, her head against his chest.
He looked at her, brushed the hair from her face, and wondered if he’d just made a horrible mistake.
He had no clue if she’d bond to him now. Not that he’d mind all that much. She was beautiful, smart, talented. He’d love to have a woman like her bonded to him.
But he was afraid she didn’t realize what she’d done.
Then again, her words rang in his ears. I already want you.
He’d have some explaining to do back at the house. But for now, he would enjoy this moment.
30
When they got back to Jessalene’s house, Jared typed up a report, sent it off to Wyatt, and then went to sleep. He felt Cassie curl up against him sometime later that night, but he was so exhausted and dead to the world that he barely woke up.
The next morning, with sunlight streaming in through his window, his phone began to ring. It rang and rang, screeching at him, until he rolled out of bed with a sigh and answered it.
“Hello?”
“Marshal, you’ve got a lot of talking to do.” Captain Wyatt did not sound happy. “Starting with how you let that Dryad get his hands on the artifact.”
Jared let out a breath. Cassie was stirring. She sat up and the covers fell away to expose her naked chest. He did a double take and tilted his head, and she just grinned at him.
He got up and pulled on sweats and a long sleeve shirt. “It wasn’t planned that way, sir,” he said, and gave Wyatt a quick version of what had happened as he went about figuring out how to make coffee in Jessalene’s kitchen. Even simple things become impossible tasks when you’re doing them in someone else’s house. Jared didn’t even bother with trying to turn on the TV.
When he finished, the coffee maker was chugging along and Wyatt was quiet for a long moment before letting out a breath. “I passed your written report on,” he said.
Jared froze. “That sounds ominous.”
“Son, I’m sorry,” he said. “I tried to keep you out of the loop as best I could, but now that Ferric has the artifact, it’s time we all understood the stakes of the game.”
“Could you be a little more direct, sir.”
He cleared his throat and sounded uncomfortable. “You know the nine Magi houses direct the Meta Department, correct? I mean, aside from normal governing duties.”
“Yes, sir. Or at least I assumed as much.”
“Well, one in particular has been very interested in this case, and I suspect they’re going to send a representative to aid in your further investigation.”
“Let me guess,” he said. “It’s the Medlar family.”
“Yes,” Wyatt answered, and they were both quiet. Jared stared at the coff
ee maker, blissfully unaware of anything else happening, spitting out coffee into the pot. When it was full, Jared poured a mug and left the rest for Cassie and Jessa.
“All right,” he said. “I’m not shocked, since they have a vested interest in this whole thing.”
“It’s not a simple, straightforward grab and return anymore,” Wyatt said. “If the Medlar get involved, they’re going to want… accountability.”
“And you think they’ll hold me liable?”
“Maybe.”
Jared sighed. “I’ll deal with that, sir,” he said.
“I hope so. I wish I could be more use to you. I’ve kept you shielded until now, but…” He trailed off.
“I understand. There’s only so much you can do.”
“I’m sorry, Jared.”
“Don’t be.”
There was another short silence between them. Jared knew his Captain meant well and wanted to keep everyone in the Meta Marshal Service safe, but there were politics above his head that even Wyatt couldn’t deal with. If it was the Medlar putting pressure on him from the start, Jared had to admit that Wyatt did a good job holding them at bay.
It still didn’t explain a lot of things. For instance, why does the Medlar even want this Dryad land? It’s such a pain in the ass for them, and it can’t be worth all that much. Then there’s the question of how they were even buying it. Jessalene told him that the land is held in trust by an allied Elf, but that Elf went missing. That story had foul play written all over it, but Jared couldn’t prove it.
He only knew that Magi families did whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted to, and any Meta in their way would be steamrolled or eliminated.
If the Medlar wanted this land, they’d do anything to get it, including hurting that Elf.
“I have some questions, sir,” Jared said.
“Ask me in a couple hours.” Wyatt cleared his throat. “I need you to report back to the scene at the river.”
“I can do that, sir.”
“Bring your companions.”
“Cassie and Jessalene?”
“Yes. Bring them.”
He frowned. “I will, sir.”
“Good. We’ll debrief then and I’ll tell you what I can.”
He hung up the phone. Jared stared at the counter for a long moment, not seeing much of anything.
He didn’t like the way Wyatt said that. Everything about what Wyatt said at the end, about Jared bringing Cassie and Jessalene, threw up all sorts of warning signs and red flags. He was trying to work out how he could convince them to stay behind when Jessalene stepped into the kitchen.
She looked surprised to see him. She wore small, cotton shorts and a thin white t-shirt. Jared could see her breasts beneath it, the curves of her body, and her long, beautiful legs. He felt that stirring, the human one.
“Morning,” he said.
“Oh, hey. Good morning.” She smiled a little.
“I made coffee.” He gestured at the machine. “It was like building a bomb.”
“Other people’s stuff is always complicated,” she said and walked over to pour some. “Thanks.”
Jared watched her, feeling tense. She got her coffee and leaned against the counter, looking at him. She drank it black, just like he did.
“We should talk,” she said.
“Yeah, probably should.” He tilted his head. “Look, last night, in the car—“
“I liked it,” she said.
He grinned. “I could tell.”
“No,” she said, blushing. “Not like that. I mean, like that, but also… I liked it after, too. And when you went to bed, Cassie stayed up with me and we just… talked. It was weird and comfortable.”
“I know what you mean,” he admitted. “I liked it too. During and after. Not so much before, though.”
“You were suffering,” she said.
“I’m not used to using so much magic.” He sipped his coffee. It was bitter but hot and fresh. “Magi need to build up a tolerance or else the Need is really bad afterward. I haven’t used much magic these last few years.”
“Really?” She sounded surprised. “I didn’t know Magi could go that long.”
He laughed. “Most can’t and don’t want to. But I just…” He stared at her for a moment. He wasn’t sure why he felt the need to talk about this, but she tilted her head, and he could tell she was listening, really listening. “I hit rock bottom. I went and served and did my duty, and afterward, I couldn’t stop myself anymore. Didn’t really want to, after what happened. I got to the point where I cared just as much about the drugs and the magic keeping the Need at bay as I did about living. I saw what happened to my family, how they all seemed to lose it by the time they turned forty, and I just… I didn’t want to go down that path.” He hesitated and looked away. “I’d already seen enough suffering. Already caused enough.”
“So you quit,” she said, her voice soft.
“Yeah. I quit. It wasn’t easy. I cut ties with my family and joined the Marshal Service, mostly because I figured it would mean lots of paperwork and I was already over qualified.” He smiled a little. “I was right about that.”
“I always thought Magi liked the power too much to give it up.”
“Most do. I think I do, too. But I just… I hit rock bottom.” He shook his head, not ready to go into detail. He could still remember the power he used to wield, the magic coursing through him… the death he’d rain down. There were still parts of the world where Metas didn’t accept Magi rule, and every young Magi was expected to do their part. Some liked it and some didn’t. Jared was one of the former, and that scared him the most. “Couldn’t keep going on like that.”
“I understand,” she said, although Jared doubted that was true. “So by quitting, you have to start over?”
“More or less, at least in terms of my tolerance. I still have all the memgrams I learned over the years, I just need to practice most of them. I was always good with shields, so they came naturally to me.”
“That’s useful, at least,” she said, grinning. “You saved us back there.”
He looked down at the floor. “I should’ve done more.”
“Jared, he was wearing an ancient artifact. And the sort of magic he was using? Dryads can’t do what he was doing.”
He took a deep breath and let it out. “I know, and we don’t know as much about that glove as we thought.”
“Now he’s out there,” she said. “And I’m afraid of what he’ll do.”
“Listen, things will get more complicated.” He clenched his jaw. “The Medlar are coming. I think there’s going to be some oversight.”
“Oversight?”
“I don’t know exactly what that means yet.”
She nodded once. “Okay. We can deal.”
“But there’s… one more thing.” He looked at her again, meeting her gaze. “Before we… you know. In the car.”
She smiled a little. “Before we had sex?”
“Right,” he said, not sure why he was feeling bashful all of a sudden. “I said something. About bonding.”
“Yeah,” she said. “I was going to ask about that. You seemed really afraid of it.”
“When Magi sleep with a woman, they release their stored up priori. That’s why it feels so good when I… you know.”
“Come inside of me?” She grinned, blushing again.
“Right,” he said. “But there’s a side effect. Women tend to bond to the Magi. It’s this… emotional thing. Sort of like falling in love, but intense and immediate. It builds over time, gets stronger and stronger with every new infusion of priori. That’s why most Magi end up using drugs to keep the Need at bay instead of bonding a bunch of women to them.” He hesitated then grinned. “Although some Magi sure do love building enormous harems of women. It’s not moral, but.” He shrugged. “Magi aren’t known for their morality.”
“Oh,” she said, surprised. “Wow. Okay. I didn’t know that.”
He moved, unco
mfortable, and tilted his head toward her. “Look, if you’re feeling… you know… really intense things about me, just say so. It’s okay, I mean, I like you Jessalene. I just—”
“Jared,” she said, holding up a hand. “It’s fine. Really.”
He frowned. “It’s fine?”
“I mean, I liked you before last night,” she said. “You and Cassie are both just… I don’t know what it is. I was drawn to you back in the library, remember? Then you helped me, and I just…” She trailed off, blushing again. She looked away and Jared took a step toward her. He puts his coffee down on the counter.
“I don’t want you to think you need to be in this if you don’t want to be,” he said. “And now I’m afraid you can’t decide you don’t want it.”
“I wanted it before we slept together,” she whispered and looks up at him. “Is that crazy?”
“No,” he said. He stepped closer, pressing himself against her, and kissed her slow. She returned his kiss, sucking a breath in through her nose. He broke the kiss off. “I hope the bond isn’t strong yet. You can still choose… you can still choose to back out, if you want. I need you to have that choice, at least while you still can. We won’t bond more unless we sleep together after I’ve used magic.”
“I’ll think about it,” she said, staring into his eyes, then reached up to pull him close. They kissed again, slower this time, deeper.
“Morning lovers!”
Jared broke off and looked back at Cassie. She was standing with her arms crossed and was thankfully wearing clothes.
He smiled at her. “Hey,” he said.
“What were you two doing?” she asked, grinning. She walked over, went right up to Jared, and pressed herself against him. She kissed him, then turned to Jessalene and did the same thing. Jared stared at the two women kissing and felt a strange, contented excitement in his chest.
Cassie turned back to Jared and kissed him again, slow and deep, but he broke it off. “We need to talk,” he said.
“Do we have to?” she complained. “Can’t you just use a little magic then fuck me first?”