Chasing Cristabel (Ashland Pride Six)

by R. E. Butler

  “I moved into the boarding house quickly. It’s a huge place, but it feels small sometimes.”

  “How so?”

  “Well, we can’t have privacy unless we’re in our room. At any given time, there’s someone milling around downstairs. The kids doing their homework in the kitchen. Pride members making meals or watching TV in the family room. It’s a neat place to live, and I’ve enjoyed a lot of aspects of it, but we’re hoping to find a place of our own.”

  “Have you gone house hunting?”

  “We saw a few places earlier this week. Chase has been doing all the legwork with our realtor.” She turned her attention back to her hair and finished straightening it. She wasn’t wearing much makeup because she knew that she might tear up from the pain of their bites, and she didn’t want to draw attention to her discomfort. When they’d bitten her before, she’d been locked up in a spiral of pleasure that was so deep and so good that she hadn’t even been aware of their fangs. This time, she’d be completely sober, not drunk on their abilities to make the center of her body turn to liquid.

  Her mother followed her out of the bathroom and sat on the bed while Cris slid open the closet door. There wasn’t a special mating ceremony outfit, and her mother’s outfit had been a simple off-the-shoulder satin dress. Since she and her mates were going to get married by human standards in the future, she opted to leave the fancy dress for her wedding day. Tossing her robe aside, she slipped a white crocheted cami off a hanger and pulled it over her head. The cami was lined with satin, and her white, strapless bra ensured that only the delicate straps of the cami showed on her shoulders. She paired simple, black satin dress pants with strappy stilettos.

  Looking down at her pink sparkly toenails, she grimaced. “I probably should wear sensible shoes since we’re going to be outside. Nothing about what I’m wearing screams warmth outside.”

  After they introduced her parents and pride members to the mountain lions, her dad had suggested they move the ceremony from the bedroom to the backyard, and she and her mates had agreed.

  With a chuckle, her mom stood and joined her. “You look lovely. Cold toes aren’t such a bad thing when you have three mates to warm you up. Now, do you have any questions?”

  Cris blinked at her mom. “I…no. Not really.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I don’t mean about being with your mates. Trust me, as your mother, there are things I don’t need or want to know about. What I meant was do you have any questions about the ceremony.”

  “I’m a little worried about the pain.”

  “It does hurt, but like childbirth, it’s the kind of pain that you forget, because on the other side of that pain is something wonderful.”

  “That’s sweet.”

  “I’m happy for you, my little lioness. Are you ready to be mated?”

  “More than anything.”

  Stopping to take another look at herself in the mirror over the bathroom sink, she took her mom’s hand and left the bedroom. At the bottom of the stairs, James and John were standing, smiling broadly.

  “We’ve come to escort you to the back patio,” James said, offering Cris his arm as John offered her mom his.

  “The patio? I thought the ceremony would be out in the yard.”

  James smiled. “Dylan said that he didn’t want you freezing on top of them having to hurt you to mark you. Eryx brought over their outdoor fireplace, so the patio is nice and warm.”

  “Your pride is very sweet,” her mom said.

  “We’ve had a lot of hardships,” John said. “Being there in extraordinary ways when our males find their mates is one way we come together as a group.”

  The lights were off on the first floor, but someone had put candles on the kitchen island to illuminate the space. For once, Cris didn’t hear the television going with either a movie or a video game. She suspected the kids had been sent off to visit friends or the pride members who lived away from the boarding house. The door that led to the screened-in porch was open. She and James stayed back as John led her mother outside.

  James patted her hand that rested in the crook of his elbow. “Are you glad you came to Ashland?” he whispered.

  “Yes. It’s one of the best decisions of my life. It’s funny how one small thing – like me standing up to tradition – made all the difference in how my life panned out.”

  He glanced down with a nod. “Those single decisions are often the crux of our new lives. I’m honored to have you as part of the pride, and I wish you and your mates the sweetest of lives.”

  Tears stung her eyes, but she blinked them back.

  “Ready to start the next chapter of your life?”

  “Yes,” she said, staring out at the porch where firelight flickered along the screened wall.

  As she moved with James out onto the porch, the scent of snow mingled with burning wood and made her cat purr. It was their mating night, when her cat and their traditions would be honored. She wouldn’t change a thing, except to wish she’d come to Ashland ages ago so she could have met her sweethearts even sooner. But like everything in life, things happened for a reason and in a time that was out of all of their hands. She had three males who were perfect for her, each with his unique strengths, ready to fight for her, protect her at all costs, and love her until they parted ways in death and met in the great beyond.

  It was more than she’d ever hoped for in her wildest dreams.

  * * *

  When Cris walked onto the porch, Dylan wanted to roar in happiness. She looked amazing, but he wasn’t surprised because she always looked good enough to eat. His cat bristled with pride, purring and prancing in his mind. Hunter stood between him and Chase, near the ceramic outdoor fireplace that emitted shafts of amber light around the enclosed space. He and his cousins stood in dress pants and shoes, but bare chested. Gustav had told them that it was tradition for the males to be shirtless. Beyond the screened porch, the grounds were covered with fresh snow, and the moonlight glinted off the ground, making the entire yard look as if diamonds had been scattered on the surface. It was fitting to have such a lovely backdrop for the ceremony.

  Next to them stood Gustav, who silently watched James escort Cris to the center of the room. James patted Cris’s hand and then stepped away, leaving her facing her mates and her father.

  Because it wasn’t a long ceremony, there weren’t chairs set up, so the adult mountain lions and African lions formed a U-shape several rows deep to watch. They were reverently silent, an encouraging wall of family and friends who approved of their joining. Dylan hadn’t realized how important traditions were to Cris until she’d had a breakdown at the bar because of them. Mountain lions didn’t have a whole lot of traditions. The males marked their mates privately, and then when they were ready to be married by human standards, the pride would join in the celebration. He liked the idea of a mating ceremony to cement their mating in the eyes of her people, but he also liked the idea of making this part of their family traditions, to encourage their future children to follow suit.

  Gustav cleared his throat. “I see the value of changing traditions with the times. My daughter, once destined to be in an arranged mating, now stands before us with three mountain lions seeking to lay claim to her body, her heart, and her soul. These males are the mates of her heart, and as such, hold an honored place for her family and pride.”

  Gustav’s gaze settled on each of them, and then he said, “Cristabel, sweet daughter of mine, do you accept these three males as your mates? Do you vow to honor and love them for all of your days?”

  Cris’s eyes glistened with tears. “I accept my mates, and I vow myself to them forever.”

  Gustav nodded in approval. “Hunter, do you accept Cristabel as your one true mate? Will you honor, love, and protect her and your cubs for as long as you live?”

  “I accept her and vow myself to her forever,” Hunter said, his voice deep with emotion.

  “Give your female your wrist,” Gustav said.

&nb
sp; Hunter held out his left wrist to Cris, and she opened her mouth, her fangs glinting in the firelight. She didn’t say anything; she simply sank her fangs into his wrist, and if Dylan hadn’t been watching Hunter’s face, he wouldn’t have seen his eye tick. As much as they were going to be hurting Cris when she wasn’t entranced with bliss from multiple climaxes, she was also going to be using her fangs on them, too.

  She lifted from Hunter’s wrist with a soft purr, licking her lips. Hunter gave her a lopsided grin as he pressed his wrist to his heart and left it there as a symbol of their heart-chosen mating.

  Her dad asked Chase the same question, and then Dylan. When it was his turn, Dylan watched Cris as the tears slipped over her cheeks. He didn’t like her crying, but he knew they were happy tears.

  “I accept her and vow myself to her forever,” he answered, offering Cris his left wrist. Her eyes were glowing the sandy color of her cat, and her fangs seemed to throb in her mouth. She looked at him, smiling, and held his gaze as she placed the tips of her fangs against his wrist. Although it hurt, there was a sweetness behind the action that made it not matter how much it stung. His mate was marking him so that anyone who saw the bite would know that he belonged to her. She purred as she swallowed his blood and then slowly extracted her fangs.

  “Cristabel’s marking is complete,” Gustav said. “Claim your female.”

  They’d all agreed beforehand to do their best to mark her swiftly and together so the pain wouldn’t be prolonged. It would be a careful dance to ensure that they each marked her cleanly near their original marks so they didn’t mar her lovely skin any more than they had to.

  Cris sank to her knees and they followed suit, each moving into his place. Dylan cupped her face and kissed her lips gently, just once. He held her head still as Chase and Hunter moved behind her, each taking one side. Dylan had originally marked her on the left side, just under Hunter’s mark.

  Cris trembled, and the scent of her fear spiked for only a moment before she purred and gazed into Dylan’s eyes. “Love you,” he mouthed to her.

  “Love you, too,” she mouthed back.

  Hunter and Chase struck swiftly, and she let out a whimpering cry as tears pooled in her eyes and spilled over her cheeks. She gripped Dylan’s wrists hard as Hunter and Chase held their fangs in her neck only as long as it took for them to swallow her blood. Hunter extracted his fangs first, and Dylan moved in quickly, positioning his fangs over his other marks and biting her.

  She tasted even better than he remembered, her blood cresting his tongue and filling him with the knowledge that she was truly, permanently theirs, and no laws or traditions or interfering shifters would ever change that.

  Pulling from her flesh, he pressed his still-bleeding wrist to his mark to help mingle their blood, cementing them as a mated group forever. As Chase and Hunter held their bleeding wrists to her wounds, Dylan brushed the tears from her cheek with his thumb and marveled at how right things felt in that moment. Cristabel was his mate, the one female on the planet who was right for him, made for him, and everything he’d ever wanted and more.

  “Mine,” he whispered.

  * * *

  Hunter felt something warm caress him, stroking him from root to tip. The room was dark, and a quick glance at the clock on the nightstand showed he’d only been asleep an hour. After the pride had a dinner celebration for their mating, and they’d shared the amazing-looking lioness cake, her parents and their pride members had headed back to Kentucky, and he and his cousins had taken their sweetheart to bed.

  She’d fallen asleep hours later, skin flushed from pleasure and a purr in her throat. He hadn’t expected her to wake up again for…well, a long while. Not that he cared because anytime she wanted to touch him, he was happy to oblige.

  Cris snuggled against his side and kissed his chest as her hand made pleasurable patterns on his erection, her fingertips grazing his balls with each pass. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her up his body. Her head tilted back, and he pressed his lips to hers, sliding his hand down her back to the swell of her ass. Giving one cheek a squeeze, he bit back a groan when her hand squeezed slightly on his dick.

  She rolled to her back, tugging on his shoulders. He followed her, pushing her knees wide to bare her pussy for him. Slipping into the cradle of her hips, he paused as the head of his dick touched her pussy. She was scorching hot.

  He pressed his palm to her forehead. It was wet with sweat and hot to the touch. “Sweetheart, are you feeling okay?”

  Her head thrashed and she whimpered. “It’s the heat.”

  “So soon?”

  She gasped, her hips tilting as she let out a soft cry.

  “What’s happening?” Dylan asked, sitting up abruptly in bed.

  “She’s in heat,” Hunter said.

  Chase rushed from the bed and hit the wall light switch, causing the ceiling fan to creak to life and move the air around in the room. He pushed open the windows and spread the curtains wide to let in the cool night air. Hunter’s skin chilled, but he didn’t care as long as Cris was okay.

  “Do you want some water? Do you need to take a cool bath?” Dylan asked.

  “No, damn it, just fuck me,” she growled.

  For a heartbeat, none of them said anything, and then Hunter laughed. “Right. You’re not sick. You’re turned on. How about we fix that, sweetheart?”

  Her lips parted, and she groaned, pressing her head back into the pillow and digging her nails into his shoulder. “Please.”

  Chase climbed onto the bed on her other side and gripped her knee, pulling it up and spreading her legs farther. “No begging necessary, love.”

  She had told them that she’d go into heat after they mated her properly, but he hadn’t expected it to happen so soon. Maybe because there were three of them. He wanted to tell her how happy he was that she would be carrying one of their cubs, but he couldn’t form any words as she tilted her hips and rubbed her hot pussy against his dick. If he could have formed a coherent sentence, he might have shouted for joy, but all he could do was sink into her.

  Their bodies touched and he almost lost it. She felt so damn good. He gazed down at her, their eyes locked, bodies touching chest to hips, and thanked his fucking lucky stars.

  He angled his hips, sliding out of her entirely before plunging in. She moaned, and as she blinked heavy-lidded eyes at him, he could see her irises flashing to the sandy color of her cat. She let go of his shoulders, reaching under his arms to plant her hands on his back, urging him into her. She hooked her ankles together under his ass, her whole body moving to meet his strokes.

  He reached up and grabbed the headboard for leverage and slid his other hand underneath her, raising her lower body off the bed as he plunged deeper. The headboard knocked against the wall, a fast staccato sound that he was pretty sure would wake the entire house.

  “Ah, fuck,” she groaned as he angled her hips higher, his body rubbing against her clit. Her pussy gripped him like a fist, and he gritted his teeth against the sweet sensations that threatened to pull him under. He wanted her to come first, to feel that rush of heat as she exploded around him.

  Lowering his mouth to his mating mark on the side of her neck, he licked the slightly raised bumps where his fangs had pierced her flesh. She gasped and shuddered, and he purred, wondering if he’d found a new hot spot for her. Licking the spots again, and getting the same reaction from her, he sucked the scarred flesh into his mouth and pounded into her pussy, holding her body tight to his as she screamed in pleasure. He followed her, coming hard with a roar as her arms and legs locked around him, holding him just as hard as he held her. Releasing her neck, he slowly licked the mark, and she gasped, writhing as her pussy fluttered around his dick.

  “I think she likes having her marks licked,” Chase said with amusement.

  “Isn’t that interesting?” Dylan drawled.

  Cris panted for breath, her lips parted and her fangs gleaming. “It feels like the mar
k is connected to my clit.” Her voice was rough, and he loved knowing that he’d done that to her. Made her so crazy she screamed herself hoarse.

  As he looked down at her and their gazes locked, he knew as he watched the lovely blue of her natural eye color swirl with pale gold that she wasn’t done with her heat, and they were in for one hell of an amazing mating night.

  Pressing his lips to hers, he whispered, “I fucking love you so much.”

  Her arms and legs went slack, falling to the bed as she grinned. “I love you, too.”

  * * *

  Dylan yawned so hard his jaw cracked, but he didn’t care how exhausted he was because their mate was finally asleep. He pressed the back of his hand to her forehead and smiled, knowing that the heat was over. Beyond the open windows, the sun was setting. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d stayed up for twenty-four hours, and he’d never, ever spent all that time making love to a woman.

  Chase trudged across the room and closed the windows, pulling the curtains even though darkness was descending. Dylan was pretty sure they’d sleep all night and into the next day.

  Hunter stepped from the bathroom with his cell. “Perry said no problem and he’ll see us tomorrow night.”

  It had occurred to Hunter at some point after the sun rose that day that there was no way they’d be able to go to work that night. They were lucky that they had an understanding boss. Dylan couldn’t think about doing anything except being with Cris right then. He felt closer to her now, and he knew that part of it was because of the ceremony. It had been enough for him to mark her neck, the way that mountain lions did with their mates, but this was a different, deeper kind of marking. They’d shared blood, together, and her mark on his wrist meant more to him than he thought possible.

  Slipping from the bed where Cris lay, he grabbed his jeans and whispered, “I’m going to get some food for us.”