by Briers, M L
Nathan could feel every inch of his lover’s body climbing towards release as she held onto to him with her legs and her arms. Her claws dug deeper into his flesh and she embedded her fangs deep into his shoulder as she bonded with him.
Nathan felt her within his mind, heard her thoughts, felt her pleasure as she tasted his blood, as he pounded inside her core, and as she released her fangs from his neck he answered her plea for release.
Sucking hard against her vein to increase her pleasure, he felt her head roll to one side as he took her as fast and as deeply as he could. The feel of her claws inside his flesh, her inner muscles locking harder around him as her body tensed, and the taste of her blood washing down his throat served to bring him close to his own release, and when she roared her release, and her inner muscles massaged his shaft, he released his fangs from her neck and buried himself against her womb as the orgasm tore through him.
By the time he regained himself enough to seal her wound, his body was already expelling her claws from inside his flesh. Her blood in his veins healed him faster than human blood would have done. The bite she had placed within his shoulder was already healed and when she nuzzled into his neck, coming back to him, he ran his tongue up to just under her ear and nipped at the tender flesh of her lobe.
“Mine.” Nathan breathed against her ear and felt her curl even further around him possessively. Even her inner muscles tightened around him, and she growled gently against his chest as she felt the blood fill his penis as he grew rock hard for her again.
“Mine.” She answered his claim on a gentle growl and he couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Now, where we’re we before?” He teased, lifting her and placing her down on her back beneath him on the bed. Pulling his hips back he took her gently from the tip of his shaft to the hilt and she practically purred like a lioness beneath him.
Sienna smiled up at her daughter as Sky placed the breakfast plate in front of her. The only time she had known Sky to be up and start on breakfast before her was the first time she had her breeding cycle and she was ravenous, and the smile on Sienna’s lips was both knowing and grateful for getting the morning off from cooking.
Nathan was still on the other side of the counter helping out, and as Sienna looked down at the perfectly cooked meal in front of her she couldn’t help but wonder if Nathan and not Sky had cooked the majority of the meal.
“Thank you, it looks wonderful.” Sienna beamed as Wade and Jasmine made an appearance, coming down the stairs and across the open plan room towards the table. Wade offering his mate a chair, and Sienna’s eyes couldn’t help but look for the bonding mark in the Fae’s flesh, slightly disappointed to find that it wasn’t yet there.
“Nathan cooked most of it.” Sky admitted as she fetched another two plates and brought them over to Jasmine and Wade.
“Does that mean, like vampires, it looks good, but taste like…?” Wade started, but his sister hissed a low growl at him. “Hmm, someone bonded.” Wade commented and grinned at his sister in amusement. She blushed crimson as she turned away from him.
“And how’s that working out for you, Wade?” Nathan couldn’t help but make that dig, just as Wade had played him the day before because he hadn’t even mated with Sky.
Wade narrowed his eyes on Nathan, “Unlike you brother, I am in no rush to bond, I prefer that my mate is more than comfortable with the idea.” Wade announced, both taking the high road and throwing Nathan’s words back at him for the day before.
Nathan couldn’t help but chuckle as he nodded his understanding. “If your mate has doubts about you as a mate, then I can understand you waiting.” Nathan said assuredly and Wade almost bit off the end of the fork he had in his mouth.
The low growl of annoyance reached Nathan’s ears and he knew he had hit his mark, he just wanted to look back into Wade’s annoyed eyes to savour the moment.
“She does not have doubts…” Wade started after swallowing down the food without even chewing it, and when Jasmine coughed into her hand in amusement beside him his head snapped around on his neck to look at her. Wade’s eyes narrowed on her and she couldn’t help but look decidedly guilty as she tried to hide the smirk on her face, and Wade couldn’t help the deep frown that appeared on his forehead. “Do you?” He added, now unsure if that had been the reason for her cough, and if she had said something to Nathan that she felt she couldn’t tell her own mate.
Jasmine’s eyes flashed surprise at what Wade was asking her and she took a long moment to gather her thoughts.
“Of course it would be only natural for a Fae to consider all of her options when faced with such a big decision…” Nathan offered, seeing Jasmine’s lack of clarity on the situation as his opening to stir the pot and ruffle the assured Alpha a little more.
“Are you considering your options, Jasmine?” Wade almost demanded and Jasmine balked at his attitude.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Now hold on one damn minute here, Alpha…” Jasmine started, but Wade held up his hand to silence her as he placed his fork down on the plate.
“I get it, you spoke to the vampire…” He started and Sky piped up.
“Who are you calling the vampire…?” Sky put her hand on her hip and regarded her brother with a look of disdain.
Wade bit down on his jaw and turned to look at his sister. He didn’t need her attitude right now, not when he wanted to know what was being said between Jasmine and Nathan.
“The one of us that drinks blood.” Wade offered her sarcasm, but that was all as he turned back towards his mate. “Jasmine?” He demanded and watched as she balked again.
“He has a name you know.” Sky tried again to get her brother to show some respect for her mate, and she got a dark glare back from him as he snapped his head back around to look at her.
“Yes he does.” Wade conceded. He wasn’t in the mood for niceties and small talk. He wanted to know what had been said between his mate and her ex-lover. “Is there something going on between you and the vampire that I should know about?” Wade growled out. If she’d been talking to Nathan instead of him, he wasn’t going to be best pleased.
Jasmine felt her jaw drop as she stared back at her mate. His arrogance in expecting her to answer his stupid, irrational questions not only annoyed her, it insulted her intelligence.
“Like what?” Nathan demanded from the other side of the counter. He could see how angry Jasmine was becoming, and truth be told he didn’t like where the Alpha’s questions were leading either.
“You…” Jasmine narrowed her eyes and flicked her hand in his direction. The simple little touch of magic that she added to that flick sent his breakfast rushing across the table at him, and as he reached for the plate it flipped over and deposited his food in his lap.
Nathan winced as the Alpha jumped up from his chair. The sound of the plate hitting the floor and the low rumble of anger that rattled through the alpha sent everyone in the room quiet, everyone except Jasmine as she jumped to her feet and slapped her hands on her hips in defiance. Her eyes were blazing with rage as she stared up at her mate.
“I told you not to use magic on me…” He growled down at her, but her brows were already halfway up her forehead as she tossed her hair over her shoulder and drew a long breath into her longs.
“I did not use magic on you, I used it on the plate, and how dare you…” Her eyes flashed with fire, but Wade growled louder.
“Semantics. You used magic, and I’m the one wearing the end result. And how dare I…?” Wade leaned in over the top of her and his eyes became blacker with every second. “I dare because I’m your mate and your alpha.” He informed her and she balked again.
“Oh you can kiss my ar…” She growled back at him and Sienna almost choked on the mouthful of food she had been trying to swallow since Jasmine had dumped his breakfast in his lap.
“Now, Jasm…” Nathan could see she was winding up for the big swing and he didn’t want things to get out of hand. When Jas
mine was mad, she couldn’t help but retaliate the only way she knew how. Magic.
“Mind your own business, Vampire.” Wade growled over his shoulder as he tried to stare his mate down.
“You know what, Alpha, Sky’s right. He’s not vampire, he’s Nathan, and as for demanding me to answer an asinine question like the one your feeble mind came up with, you can go and shove your head right up your arse.” Jasmine heard the sniggers that came from Sky and Sienna, and unfortunately so did the Alpha.
“Jasmine, I’m warning you…” Wade growled, and his mate balked again.
“Oh are you now? Well you know what, Alpha, bite me.” Jasmine pushed past him and headed for the door. Wade was caught between going after her and showing her just who was the alpha here, and letting her cool off enough for her to see the error of her ways by herself.
If she was having second thoughts about becoming his mate, then he didn’t want to push her over the edge, but he couldn’t have her open show of defiance against him either.
“Damn it!” Wade growled out. He didn’t like to second guess himself and he had never been in the position where he had to do it, until he met his little Fae mate.
The sound of the front door slamming pretty much forced his hand as his eyes came up and locked onto Nathan’s. Both men were spurred into action by Jasmine going out alone and unprotected.
Jasmine was mad enough to spit nails as she slammed the front door and put up her shields. She wanted to be alone. Needed it. Needed to be somewhere where everyone else wasn’t. She wasn’t best pleased with Nathan either, stirring the pot like a little weasel, and yet she was even angrier with Wade’s total overreaction.
Jasmine reached deep inside herself and called on her magic. Raising her arms in an arc above her head, she offered nature her scent and asked the breeze to carry it far and wide to shield her from anyone who would try to track her, and as she hurried into the woods, she cloaked herself in the foliage that still clung to the trees around her.
If either one of those knuckleheads wanted to track her now they would have a nearly impossible task on their hands.
Wade made it outside first, but only because Nathan conceded that it was now the Alpha’s job to protect his mate. He might have been itching to stop Jasmine doing anything stupid, but he felt he had done enough to put a wedge between the mates this morning. Even if he had only been trying to wind Wade up, he certainly hadn’t expected this to happen. Now it just felt like his job to fix it.
As his eyes took in the area around them, he scented the air for her and felt that Fae thing that she did that made his senses tingle.
“Damn it.” Nathan bit out between clenched teeth bringing Wade’s attention towards him.
“I can’t pick up her scent, it’s everywhere…” Wade growled out in annoyance and Nathan nodded.
“Yeah, she’s gone native. She’s covering her tracks with her magic, and that means that your mate doesn’t want to be followed or found.” Nathan informed him. He’d had some of this treatment before and he knew one thing, with this kind of magic they would both be chasing around in circles until she decided to come back.
“Impossible…” Wade bit out and Nathan spanned his hands out in front of him.
“And yet try as you will, for as long as you will, you will not pick up her scent or her tracks.” Nathan dropped down onto his haunches to scan the ground around them. It was as if someone had brushed over the earth with a broom, levelling out the area and making hunting her footsteps impossible.
Nathan reached for a handful of earth and scented it, nothing. He tossed it out in front of him on a long sigh of annoyance and pulled himself back to his full height, as Wade continued to scan the foliage for any sign that she had brushed by it.
“We can’t just stand here and do nothing…” He growled and Nathan shrugged his shoulders as he stared back at him.
“She’ll have you chasing your tail out there. Trust me about this, she’s not going to be found until she wants to be. By anyone, and that includes the damn rogue, so don’t even worry about him right now.” Nathan spat out, disgusted with himself for how this had played out.
“I’m going to take a run around the area and see if I can find anything…” Wade wasn’t about to give up. He knew that Nathan was as eager to find Jasmine as he was, and he knew that the vampire wouldn’t deliberately steer him wrong on this, not when it could mean Jasmine’s life was in danger, but right now he needed to be doing something.
“You won’t find her. But I don’t feel right about you trying to track her alone with the rogue out there, so if you want some company...?” Nathan offered and Wade took a long moment to think it over. If the rogue was out there then he could use help defending Jasmine from the beast. He wasn’t about to let his pride stand in the way of protecting his mate.
“That’d be good. Thanks.”
Jasmine walked and talked herself out of and back into a relationship with Wade. She told herself all of the reasons it could never work. His arrogance, that overinflated sense of self that he had, his alpha-ness. His inability to trust her, especially around Nathan, who was now mated to his sister, and no threat to the great Alpha-ego himself, and the domineering nature of the beast that had made her want to stick his breakfast plate right where the sun don’t shine, but she’d settled for his lap instead.
Then she conceded his good side. The way he felt when she was in his arms, safe and warm and loved. The way he made love to her like she was the only woman in the world made just for him, and even though she was, it was still the most life affirming gift he could give her.
The way he gently growled when he caught her looking at him, out of desire, out of knowing she desired him. The way he gently growled when she did something he didn’t like. The way his eyes devoured her, the way his lips devoured her. The way he looked when he was standing there in a pair of low hugging jeans and no shirt…
Damn, how could she not spend the rest of her life with him when she was so in love with him that she ached for his touch, his presence?
Jasmine decided that she’d had enough alone time and turned on her heels, tracing a path back the way she came, when a gentle rustling of the underbrush to her right caught her attention and she stopped in place, reinforcing her shields, and made sure she was still hidden within the cloak of her surroundings, just in case.
The sight of the large black wolf almost took her breath away. When it paused to scent the air on a low growl she felt her heartbeat batter against her ribs and prayed to the Fates that her magic wouldn’t forsake her now. What if they were out looking for her and they ran into the rogue? What if one of them was injured or died because she was being selfish?
Jasmine called on her magic and projected her mind further back inside the woods. She needed to distract the rogue in order to make her way back to the cabin. Hopefully neither Wade nor Nathan was out here this far, and if they were then she would have to cross that bridge when she came to it, but for now she needed to buy a little time.
Jasmine found what she was looking for with her mind and with a forceful shove of her psyche she pushed against a damaged bough and saw it sway in the gentle breeze she helped to create. She didn’t need for the branch to fall, she just needed for him to pick up on the sound and turn his attention elsewhere.
The sound of fast paws on the ground let her know that the Rogue was no longer near her physical body and she waited just long enough to have sight of the wolf, before she allowed her mind to return to where she stood shrouded by Mother Nature.
Jasmine moved with haste, covering the path back that she had walked to get where she was twice as fast on her return journey, all the while mindful to listen for any sounds from the woods around her to give her a warning of anyone approaching. By the time she saw Wade she was practically on top of him and he still hadn’t caught her scent.
“Wade…” She whispered a warning that made him stop in his tracks, listening, his eyes scanning the area. When she uncloaked
herself he looked at her with awe, and then annoyance. “Rogue.” She warned before he had the opportunity to launch any kind of tirade against her actions.
Wade covered the short distance between them and wrapped his fingers around her wrist, yanking her behind him to the relative safety of his back, he growled gently at her.
“Where?” Wade’s senses were on full alert.
“He was up ahead. I sent him towards a clearing with a large overhanging bough that was damaged, further up the track. I don’t know where…” She whispered beside his ear, and when she felt his fingers tighten around her wrist she stopped.
“I do.”
“Then go. I’ll be safe…”
“No.” She heard the protective growl to his voice and wanted to shake some sense into him. She had more than proved to him that she would be safe, his protectiveness would allow the rogue to slip away.
“I think I’ve proved I can hide from…”
“No.” Jasmine felt the annoyance flare within her again.
“Wade…”
“I can’t trust you, Jasmine.”She went to pull backwards, away from him, but the hold he had on her wrist kept her in place, and she wasn’t about to use her magic to separate them.
“Don’t be petty.”She hissed beside his ear, just as a sound emanated from above them and Wade’s body tensed, even though he knew it could only be one person.
Nathan dropped down in front of Wade with a devilish grin.
“You found her then.” He offered and heard the hiss of annoyance come from Jasmine.
“She found me. The rogue is up ahead to the right. You take Jasmine back and I will go after him.” Wade saw the hesitation within the vampire and knew that he wanted nothing more than to hunt the rogue himself, but he nodded curtly.