by Brenna Lyons
“A Warrior masters his curse,” he quoted. “If I lack self-control, I deserve my punishment.”
“They couldn’t know...”
She stopped herself, uncertain for the first time. What if he really didn’t feel it? What if she was pursuing the wrong man? There had only been two Blutjagdfrau before her. The fact that they had both known their mates immediately, at least once they were cursed, might have been a fluke. If he wasn’t the right one, she’d have to face the madness when she broke printing. Just the thought of it sent an unwelcome and atypical shaft of fear through her.
No! Blutjagdfrau don’t pursue the wrong men. They don’t. They always go to their mates virginal.
There’s a first time for everything. Look at your birth. Look at his.
“They know,” he grumbled, snapping her out of her internal argument. “They know all about my little—gift.” His tone made it seem that he didn’t consider it a gift, at all.
“Yes, I guess they would.” Why couldn’t he say it? Was she wrong?
“I fight my own fights and take my own punishments. Understood?”
Katie grimaced, forcing back the need to tell him how her printing demanded she protect him. Mate or not, he was a Warrior and not a child. His pride alone would dictate that he stand on his own feet. “Yes. I understand. You’re right.”
Scott hesitated, touching the bruise again.
“It wasn’t all that hard,” she assured him. “It will be gone in a day or two.” It would have been much worse for him, though.
“Yes. I know.” Still, he didn’t move.
“Scott?”
He met her eyes, seemingly deep in thought.
“What is it?”
His smile erupted. He cupped her buttocks in his hands, pulling her to his body so that his cock nestled between her thighs. Katie pushed against his shoulders, forcing his body up a few inches and herself down until he settled a fraction of an inch inside her.
Scott grasped her hips and stopped her cold. “Oh no, you don’t. You don’t tease me and not pay off,” he informed her.
“Tease you?” Katie asked incredulously. “When have I failed to pay off?” Dear gods, given the chance, she’d drag him to bed for as much of the day and night as their duties would excuse them.
“You haven’t, and I intend to keep it that way.”
“Mind telling me what I promised then?” And quickly. His cock pulsing lightly at her labia was making her crazy.
Scott sat up, leaving her body, lifting her with him until she sat across his lap with his legs on the floor beside the bed. “You said we’d finish later. You left me aching on the cycle, you know.”
She smiled widely, standing and straddling his legs, shedding her robe onto the floor. “Can’t have that,” she purred. Katie stroked his cock slowly, shivering at his gasp of delight. “Are you aching?”
He scooped her legs behind him as she was on the cycle. Without missing a beat, he pushed her hand away and guided Katie onto him. She gripped at the tattooed bands on his arms, fighting for breath as he stretched her around his length.
“Are you?” he taunted.
Katie nodded frantically, shifting further onto him.
“Yes, you are. I feel it.” Scott started lifting her and forcing her down, thrusting up into her over and over. “Oh, God,” he breathed. “I feel it.”
She buried her face at the base of his throat, kissing along his collarbone. Scott stiffened as she nibbled on him, marking his shoulder. His thrusts slowed.
Katie looked up, meeting his questioning eyes, embarrassed at having done something so juvenile. One hand left her hip and cupped her mouth back to the spot.
“You want me to mark you?” she whispered.
“I want to feel it burning all day. Leave scratches. Leave love bites.”
She didn’t waste time. Katie sucked at his shoulder, biting lightly, raking her nails along his back, growing rougher as her climax loomed.
Then it crashed over her. She pulled her head back, a groan of pleasure building to a scream. Scott captured the sound as he always had, his mouth ravenous, his thrusts stilling as waves of come flooded her body.
He cradled her against him, his kisses becoming less frenzied, his lips feathering over her face, then returning to drink deeply from her again, his eyes closed, his cock still pulsing in aftershocks. “Someday,” he breathed.
Her heart pounded in anticipation, her fingers pausing in their investigation of the furrows she’d left on his back. “Someday, what?”
His eyes opened, and he stared at her, seemingly speechless. “It’s nothing,” he denied.
“Scott,” she warned.
He pulled her closer, as if he expected her to walk away from him. “Someday...” His expression was abruptly pained. “I want to do that on the cycle,” he admitted sheepishly.
“Oh. As long as it’s not dark, I can’t see why not.” Why did she keep hoping for more? Because, you’re my mate! But he treated her like a mistress, a sordid little secret.
Katie forced a smile to her face and traced his lower lip with her fingertip. “Why do you always do that?”
“Do what?”
“Mute the sound of my release. I do have autonomy, you know.”
* * * *
Scott tensed involuntarily. And what would happen if someone did hear her?
According to the rules of sanction, she was allowed to sleep with whoever she wanted to, as long as she didn’t conceive a child outside of printing, but he wasn’t stupid enough to think that the Lord König would approve of Scott. The Lady König was gracious, as were most of the Warrior wives he’d met, but Curtis Lord König had the look of a man who’d like to beat Scott into obedience and respect.
The scene played out in his mind in startling detail. The other Warriors of Armen would hear her, and one of them would, in all due concern, let her parents know who was ‘fucking’ their precious daughter. It was a damned miracle that Corwyn hadn’t informed them already, but someone in the Armen household was sure to, most likely Tevin. There was little doubt that that particular shithead would do it just to spite Scott.
Though Katie had the autonomy to fuck—or even to marry—whomever she wanted, her parents had the right to place her in any range they wanted to. If they knew she was screwing Scott, she’d be shipped off to Cross, Hunter, or Maher range so fast it would make her pretty little head spin, surrounded by relatives and far from Scott. Or, conversely, Tyler would strand Scott as far into the Canadian ice as he could for the duration.
The thought of it made him ill. Anything he had to do to keep it from ending, Scott would do. Keeping their relationship quiet ranked high on that list, as far as he was concerned.
“Scott?” Katie prodded him, something that resembled uncertainty in her eyes.
He kissed her, groaning into her mouth as her Warrior-strength passion took off again. Scott thrust inside her, pulling his mouth away at her whimper.
“Your sounds are for me alone,” he informed her. “Not for your brother. Not for the Armens. For me.”
A smile lit her eyes, warming his heart. Scott had no idea what he’d said right, but her expression promised the ride of his life.
* * * *
Katie slipped back into her room, too excited to sleep though not doing so would give Bear the upper hand in training, a rare event in their lives. She stretched out on her bed, parting her robe and trailing her fingertips over the love bite Scott had left on the upper swell of her breast.
He was getting possessive—and protective of her. That was a good sign. It wouldn’t be long until he’d ask her to marry him. Katie smiled. Knowing Scott, he wouldn’t ask; he’d demand it, probably while he was buried inside her body. If her great-grandfather Corwyn Lord Hunter was right, that day was coming soon.
Theoretically, as she neared high cycle, their drive to print should become more urgent. She was approaching cusp. Soon, they’d have to either seal and conceive a baby or not seal and start u
sing protection—or seal and choose to wait to conceive, though Katie wasn’t certain that was possible.
The urge to mate was usually kept in check by a rational, human mate—or the Stone’s schedule-making. With two Warriors the Stone wanted to reproduce, the drive to do so should be nearly impossible to ignore.
Katie sighed wistfully, running her hands down to the soft expanse below her navel. What would it be like to feel Scott’s child growing in her? She smiled even wider at the thought of sealing printing.
The only thing that troubled her was his insistence on secrecy. There was no reason she could understand for it.
One of the rules of sanction was that no Warrior could interfere with the mating of another, unless the woman was a freed daughter. That precedent had been tested and set in stone by her grandmother Jayde and grandfather Talon. Maybe Scott didn’t know it.
Or, maybe he does! Katie bit back a peel of laughter. Jayde and Talon had kept their mating secret until the lords came upon them in a heated embrace in hopes that Jayde would be trained enough to defend their union, if it came to that. Did Scott think he’d be called to defend their choice? Did he fear he’d fail that challenge?
Memories of how he’d mastered her sexually sent shivers down her spine. No man was more worthy to be her mate. All she had to do was prove it to Scott—and perhaps bring their relationship more into the public eye.
Chapter Twenty-nine
November 4, 2049
Matt paused at the edge of the training field, swiveling his wrist, making his weapon dance to limber his wrists and arms. His brow furrowed as he catalogued the Warriors present. He strode to Antony, glancing at the ferocity with which Tevin was training in unease. Had he and Scott tangled verbally again? Or worse...physically?
“Morning, Dad,” Antony greeted him.
“Morning. Uh... Where is Scott? Early workout?”
Though he’d tried to discourage it, this wouldn’t be the first time—or the last that Scott chose to catch an early training with one Warrior instead of the main workout with the bulk of the household. It seemed that his eldest son used any opportunity to isolate himself to the fullest: living in a private corner of the house, working in the garage, even disappearing for hours with armloads of texts to Gods knew where.
“König invited him for some special instruction.” His youngest son’s smile spread in apparent glee. “Tevin’s really hacked about it, too.”
“Corwyn?” he asked. Though Matt anticipated a negative response, he wasn’t certain why he did. There’d been little sign that either of the Königs had taken more than a scientific interest in Scott—save the fact that he’d obviously been invited to call the princess ‘Katie.’
“Nope. Kaitlyn.” He chuckled and then continued. “A very innocent little invitation it was, too. Buuut...you know Tevin. He looked as if Scott planned to seal printing tonight or something.”
Matt managed not to grimace at the idea of his sons going head to head over a woman...barely. Gods, but some days he really wished he knew what was going on in his family before it turned to fists.
“Well then...” What excuse could he give? “Maybe I should go see what fault Kaitlyn found to correct in his battle style.” He winced at the blow Tevin dealt Jordan. “Make sure your brother doesn’t kill anyone.”
“Am I my brother’s keeper, now?”
Matt glared at him.
Antony put up his hands in mock apology. “The humans say it. It comes from one of their holy texts.”
“The Bible, Antony. Your mother owns one.”
Sincere interest lit his eyes. “Does she, really?”
“It’s not that surprising. Just remember what happened to the man who said it.”
His smile disappeared. “I don’t know what happened to him,” he admitted.
“Ask your mother to tell you the tale.” He looked to Tevin pointedly. “After training.”
Antony nodded, and Matt left him with a clap on the shoulder. Though the Bible wasn’t their text, it often had important lessons to teach.
The distance to König’s chosen training ground gave him more than enough time to think. This rivalry between his older sons had to end, but as much as Matt would love to call a halt, his sons were grown men and not errant children. They were Warriors and had to learn to work together.
Kaitlyn’s laughter reached him before he topped the hill, then the sound of blade on blade. Matt scowled in the realization that Scott was just the type of careless pup who would agree to train that way.
He was good—a damned sight better than most of the other young Warriors his age, despite his lack of Warrior training. His first battle had proven that, the fact that he’d sent a beast to ground without a sacred weapon. Still, he took too many wild chances, crazy stunts that no other Warrior alive took—which probably kept him alive that night in Maher range. When fighting beasts, a certain level of being different was good.
Matt topped the hill and dropped to one knee, watching Kaitlyn and Scott train together. They went at each other hard but smiling and laughing. That was unusual. Scott was typically focused and serious in training. This relaxed stance was something Matt had never seen from him. Of course, he wasn’t at ease with his family, in general.
Scott sliced at her head, and Kaitlyn ducked and danced away with another tinkling laugh. She responded with a side snap kick that he deflected easily. Scott wagged his finger at her, clucking his tongue as if in reproach, a move sure to infuriate her.
Kaitlyn kicked it up a notch, swinging blades that Scott avoided or deflected, spinning away from his attack, then back-fisting his shoulder without warning. He took a step back, looking from his shoulder to her smirk.
“I see,” Scott mused, sheathing his weapon.
Matt furrowed his brow. What did Scott see? That he’d left a hole? He hadn’t really left one. It was impossible to cover his entire body at once, and Kaitlyn moved faster than any Warrior and some beasts.
His son stalked around his opponent, unarmed, a speculative look on his face. She glided with him, sheathing her own weapons, her hands loose at her sides as if waiting to grapple instead of laying fists.
Kaitlyn moved first, a punch to his face that came to a screeching halt with his hand wrapped around her wrist. She drew in a shaky breath, her smile fading fast.
“You want to use my weakest point?” he taunted. “Two can play that game.”
Matt bit back a laugh at his son’s balls of steel. Insinuating that a König had a weak spot was a death sentence in the making.
At least, it typically was. Kaitlyn stared at him in seeming shock, making no move against him as Scott nestled her captured hand to her back and pulled her against his body.
A flicker of movement caught Matt’s attention, and he snapped his head around, noting Corwyn turning away from the field. The young prince went still, his jaw tensing as their eyes locked.
“Hey, Matt!” he yelled in a cheery voice that was completely at odds with his look of warning.
His reaction gave Matt a moment’s pause. Suddenly, nothing made sense. What was going on here? Tyler had confided that the Königs had come to Armen to meet his son, but there’d been no sign of a relationship forming. If that was what was going on, why would anyone hide it from him? He looked back at the couple on the field, hoping for anything that would make this interaction clear to him.
Scott had already released Kaitlyn. Gone was the relaxed young Warrior, happier than Matt had ever seen him. His son was tense, more pissed than Tevin had been by far.
A sudden flash of comprehension made Matt wince. Hadn’t he considered that his sons were going head to head over a woman on the way here?
Please, for the love of Ani and Dobler, don’t let this be a game to him. Matt knew for a fact that Kaitlyn had never permitted Tevin such intimacy. If she did with Scott, she was playing for keeps. If Scott wasn’t... If he was pursuing Kaitlyn just to spin Tevin tight, the results would be catastrophic.
�
��Matt?” Kaitlyn asked calmly. “Did you need something?”
He hesitated. By the rules of sanction, Matt had no right to interfere in Scott’s mating or release...
Release! It was a safe bet Scott didn’t know that Blutjagdfrau took no release but self-release until they intended to mate. “I—need to speak to Scott. Later. When you’re done.” Matt turned abruptly and started back to the main training area.
“We’re done,” Scott grumbled. Before Matt could turn back to protest, his son had crossed the distance of the field and started up the hillside.
The twins each shot him a look that promised his early end, and Kaitlyn’s Blutjagd flared for a moment.
One look at Scott convinced him that it was too late to call it off now. Once his son made up his mind about something, you needed to knock it loose with a sledge. He nodded and fell into step beside Scott. Finding the words he needed was painful—in the extreme.
Scott sighed. “Let’s get this over with.”
Matt faltered. “Get what over with?”
“Whatever you’re about to lecture me about. What? You think I don’t know when you’re about to do it?” The sarcasm Matt loathed settled in his voice again.
“I didn’t tell you to leave training. I said I wanted to talk to you later, at a time convenient to you. This isn’t a lecture.”
“Then what is it? People don’t go out of their way just to talk to me.”
Matt swallowed the urge to snap back at him. Scott’s attitude was the reason no one talked to him. Given the chance, Matt would spend hours filling the void Lynne had left him with, getting to know the relative stranger that was his oldest son. Scott wanted a fight, and Matt wasn’t about to give it to him this time.
“I just wanted to warn you about—”
Scott scowled at him, Blutjagd burning lightly in his skin.
“It’s not what you think,” Matt protested, frustrated that he hadn’t even gotten an entire sentence out before Scott jumped to the conclusion that he was being sanctioned for something. “It’s just...” Matt growled a curse on Lynne. “There’s something you need to know about Blutjagdfrau.”