As they parked at the main entrance, a valet appeared to take the keys, and Hades went to the rear of the car and collected their bags, waving off another worker who approached to assist with the luggage.
As they walked inside, they were greeted by a spacious lobby that was clean and open, with large windows all around the upper story that showed the gorgeous trees and the night sky.
It was decorated with all sorts of trappings that gave the appearance of a remote hunting lodge or a log cabin, but the deep burgundy carpet and the large chandeliers gave it a very upscale feel.
Cassie nestled into Hades’s side, and he transferred his duffel bag into the other hand so he could wrap his arm around her, loving the feel of her soft warmth next to him.
For the rest of his life, he would never stop wanting to be right next to her like this, regardless of the situation.
They approached the desk and were greeted by a young, well-dressed woman wearing her hair in a tight bun.
“Good evening, sir. How can I be of assistance?” she asked with a smile.
“Just looking to get a room. Something nice,” Hades said.
“And do you have a reservation?”
“No. Just kind of a last-minute stay.”
The woman grinned at them and then turned to the computer screen in front of her, typing and furrowing her brow as she looked at the options.
“Something… exclusive, if you have it,” Hades said, handing her his card and ID with a liberal tip sandwiched between them. “Money’s no object.”
She took it and, with a knowing glance, hit one last key on her keyboard and gave him a grin. “I have just the thing.” She took a couple card keys from her drawer and swiped them through something that activated them, put them in an envelope, and then gestured for another employee to take her spot at the desk as she walked out from behind it.
She waved for them to follow, and they did, Cassie raising a curious eyebrow at Hades as they walked outside a side door and into the night. There was a small, stone-paved path leading out into the forest around them, in the direction of the mountains where there would be a sky resort in the winter.
“We have something special for you two,” she said, coming to a stop in front of a small, luxurious cabin that was set a ways off from the main building, shadowed by trees and utterly private. “It’s our version of a honeymoon suite.”
“Great,” Hades said. “We appreciate it.”
She opened the door for them and showed them the room. The living room was homey, with wood floors covered by plush rugs, leather couches, a large flat-screen TV above the mantle, and a gorgeous stone fireplace beneath it.
“It’s beautiful. We’ll take it,” he said. She bowed graciously and left them alone, and Hades turned to see his mate gaping up at the vaulted ceiling and the furnishings around them.
“Wow, I hope this doesn’t cost you too much,” she said.
Hades raised a dark eyebrow. “As I said, money’s not an issue.”
Cassie walked to the couch and sat down but then saw a brochure on the coffee table and picked it up to look through it. She made a little squeak of surprise and waved it at him, blond curls bouncing. “Oh my gosh, look. Ryder Hart owns this lodge! Apparently, he met his wife here.” She looked down at the picture of him as Hades looked over her shoulder. A tall, broad-shouldered man with his arm around his wife, a much shorter woman with shining dark hair and eyes.
“Ryder Hart,” he muttered. “The billionaire?” Hades wondered, looking at the man, if he wasn’t a bear as well, based on his height and the sheer size of him.
“Yeah, I guess his family owns it? Look, he and his brothers come here sometimes.”
Hades frowned. Despite that being kind of an interesting factoid, he didn’t really care for Cassie seeming fascinated by anyone but himself. He reached over and closed the pamphlet, startling her by placing a soft kiss on her ear that made her give a little shudder.
She leaned in as he kissed down her neck, lightly lifting her shirt to caress her shoulder. She squirmed against him and let out a small moan. Then he pulled back, satisfied to have her full attention once again.
“Are you hungry?” he asked, even though they’d eaten at a diner on the way up, on Ares’s recommendation.
She shook her head, eyes softly glowing at him as he stood and took their bags over to the main bedroom. It was connected to the living room by a door to the left, and Hades noted they had a large, king-size bed and lavish decorations that would set the perfect romantic mood.
He came back into the room and looked down at his mate. She was curled on the couch, soft curves looking irresistible, skin slightly flushed. Hair a little askew from the wind, with a stray curl here or there sticking in an upward direction.
But utterly beautiful in every way.
Every second that ticked by, the anticipation in the air grew stronger. True, it wasn’t the first time they were going to make love, but it was going to be the first time they made love like this. With nothing between them, for the purpose of binding together as one.
From here on, they would be mated, officially and inseparably connected to each other for life.
No thought in the world made Hades happier.
“Maybe I am a little hungry,” she said, raking him up and down with her gaze. “For something.”
“Well, in that case…” Hades said, picking his mate up off the sofa as she gave out a light squeak, then walked toward the bedroom. “Let’s make sure you’re satisfied.”
Cassie laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck as he carried her. “For being the most dangerous man I’ve ever known, you can be surprisingly cheesy when you’re feeling romantic, John,” she said.
Hades smiled at hearing his mate call him by his real name, then set her down on the bed as he threw off his shirt. “I don’t do anything halfway,” he said, as he came over her on the bed, surrounding her everywhere. “But I’ll never make you feel unwanted. I’ll never so much as look at another woman so long as either of us is still alive. It’s only you for me, Cassie,” he said, coming down over her lips and kissing her deeply.
For a moment, they shared a long, romantic kiss, the stress and worry and drama from the past few days completely melting away. His mate was safe, and now it was just the two of them. Hades deepened the kiss as Cassie opened to let him in, welcoming him with soft strokes of her tongue. As he moved against her, he could feel her body’s arousal increase more by the second. And the more she was aroused, the more he wanted to give her. The more he couldn’t resist pleasuring her.
He felt insatiable, and he needed her clothes off. Now.
Hades kissed a trail from her mouth to the soft outer shell of Cassie’s ear, then down her neck, her give soft moan of pleasure escaping as he did. Then he ran his fingers along the hem of her shirt and made to pull it off, but Cassie stopped him.
“You first,” she demanded playfully, arching back on the bed in a sexy position. “I enjoy the view.”
Hades pretended to think on the matter, then relented, coming off the bed and undoing his fitted jeans. “I can do that. But I’m gonna need yours off too. Stat,” he said, pulling his jeans down as she pulled her own shirt and pants off.
Cassie then paused, staring at him with a look of anticipation as she waited for him to pull off the gray boxer-briefs he wore and expose everything, but Hades just folded his arms and raised an eyebrow at her, unsatisfied by the clothes she still had on.
Cassie took off her bra but left her panties on. “You’ll have to come get this yourself,” she said, snapping the waistband of the pink, lacy underwear she wore and lying back on the bed, her body beautiful and curvaceous and almost entirely bared to him.
“With pleasure,” Hades said, pulling off the last article of clothing covering him and enjoying her shocked look of pleasure as she saw all of his body. Then he got on the bed, determined to strip his curvy little mate bare.
* * *
Cassie’s mouth w
atered as she admired Hades’s tall, powerful body as he came over her on the bed, a soft, predatory gleam in his gray eyes. His muscles were so defined, so perfect. His scars were proof of his heroism, and despite his own dislike of them, Cassie loved them deeply. Like she loved every part of him.
She especially loved how hard he was right now. How large. It was a rush every time, knowing she had that effect on him.
And now that he was over her, surrounding her and encasing her on every side, his hands on either side of her head, his taut, powerful thighs surrounding her curvy hips, Cassie couldn’t help but be even more aroused. By his scent, smoky and woodsy and uniquely his, filling the room around them. He was so close she could almost taste him, eagerly awaiting more of his touch.
“Don’t expect me to go easy on you,” he said, running his hands slowly over her curves as his mouth came over her breasts. A dark lock fell over his eyes, giving him a wicked, rakish look as he pressed a kiss to her skin.
“I wouldn’t expect… anything less,” she tried to say between gasps as his teeth closed gently over one of her nipples, applying just the right amount of pressure to make her mind go haywire with pleasure.
Hades responded with his mouth, sucking over her other nipple while he caressed and squeezed both breasts with his large hands. The feel of it was amazing as he ran his hands over them possessively, lovingly, then paused to press both thumbs over her nipples at the same time, making her arch as passion surged through her.
For some reason, everything he did felt even better than before. Maybe now, with all the conflicted feelings out of the way and no more misunderstandings between them, she could more fully and freely receive what Hades wanted to give her.
And oh, did he give and give.
His hands didn’t leave her breasts, but his mouth moved down her body, first licking under her breasts, then over her stomach, pausing for a moment to delve into her belly button, then lower to the hem of her panties.
“Perfect,” he purred, ripping off her underwear in one smooth, painless motion and then spreading her legs with his hands. She could feel the wisps of warm breath over her center as he looked up at her devilishly, all of her pleasure in his control.
She wouldn’t have it any other way, though.
He started slow first, giving a light kiss at the apex of her hips, over her mound, and then just barely brushing his tongue over her clit. But with all the buildup and the way he was touching her breasts earlier, Cassie could feel her body so close to the precipice, poised right at the very edge of everything.
As if he sensed this, Hades waited one moment, then gave one long lick directly over her. Then everything went white for her as she grasped at her hair, the sheets, anything to hold on to while her body coursed with powerful, pleasurable release from the intense orgasm that had been building since the moment they started. As her body slowly calmed, she could feel everything inside her relaxing, more ready to take whatever pleasure came next.
Hades was relentless. No longer slow, he licked over her, swirling his tongue in deft motions that made her back arch from the intensity of it. While he did that with his mouth, he brought his hands over her breasts and played with them like he had earlier, the pleasure of his thumbs running over her hardened nipples coupling with the burning heat brought by his mouth melding into something even more incredible than either act alone.
“I’ll make you so sensitive you’ll come just at the thought of me being inside you,” Hades said possessively, making her think about him doing just that.
As if timed, in the same moment, he kissed her center hard once again and she felt her entire body careen into a wonderful orgasm that shook through her entire body, even more powerful than the previous one. Pleasure surged through her in waves as she screamed Hades’s name to the quiet night, letting the universe know just who was doing this to her and just who her mate was and forever would be.
Hades sat up on his knees and watched her with a pleased look as her body finally relaxed to the closest thing that could be considered normal for the time being. Then he dipped a finger inside her, then two, the slight friction of his hand just a taste of what she knew his thick cock felt like inside, filling her with anticipation for when he would claim her.
He brought his hand up and licked his fingers, the sight embarrassing and also erotic. She could feel herself blush even more than she already was.
“So wet. So ready,” he mused, seemingly to himself.
His powerful body came over her, propped up on his thick arms, and she could feel his tip poised at her entrance, teasing her, testing her, tantalizing her.
Before, they’d always used protection, since they were young and still figuring things out and since Hades was in the military and often gone for long periods of time. But that didn’t keep her from wondering what it would feel like to finally have him inside like this.
With one smooth, long, agonizingly delicious motion, he slid into her, filling her completely. Somehow, the sensation spread across her entire body, making even the ends of her fingers and tips of her toes feel pleasured, like he could touch her everywhere at once.
For a moment, they stayed like that, joined together at the hips. But even without him moving, Cassie could feel her body quickly responding to his hardness. Hades looked down at her lovingly, eyes warm and aroused despite their grayness, and he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her mouth, the touch of his lips a promise.
Before he even broke the kiss, though, she felt him move out of her, then thrust back inside. The pressure was even more exquisite than before. Having him unsheathed inside her was ecstasy.
“Damn. So beautiful,” Hades said as he looked over her body, then back up to her eyes. As he moved into a slow, mouthwateringly pleasurable rhythm, he held his body up with one hand as the other cupped her cheek.
Sometimes, with a certain soft expression in his eyes, Cassie could still seen John, the man she’d known and loved when they were younger. Other times, the heat and passion and danger were much more a part of Hades, the man who’d come back to her.
She loved both sides of him equally. They made him who he was.
Her thoughts were interrupted as his hand left her face and reached down between her legs. With one small flick of his finger and a long, deep thrust that filled her with sensation, Cassie came apart again. This time, he was there with her, arms wrapped around her as she cried his name and dug her nails into his back. But even as the orgasm slowly ebbed, she could still feel him inside her, already prepping her body for the next one.
This time, Cassie moved her hips away from Hades, then pressed back into him. He let out a surprised gasp, then smiled with lust down at her.
He growled and kissed the base of her neck, then thrust into her again, this time fast and voracious and possessive all at once. The friction was so delicious, so wonderful, that she grasped onto his shoulders to try to hold off the quickly rushing orgasm building in her. Cassie could feel her body was all but spent, but it didn’t diminish even slightly how intensely good everything he did felt.
And as he moved more and more quickly, she could feel his body tensing and watched with anticipation as his breathing sped up, heralding what she’d been waiting for all night—no, ever since she’d first met him and felt he was destined to be her mate. The magical moment when two shifters came together and became one, mated and belonging solely to each other for the rest of time.
Cassie could still feel each amazing thrust, but her entire body was so alight with burning passion that she had to hold her breath. Every limb, every nerve, every inch of her skin was screaming Hades’s name, wanting to release, but not wanting what was happening to ever stop; it all felt so wonderful.
With one final thrust, Cassie felt her body at its absolute limit. Hades brought his hand and touched once over her center, and then everything inside her exploded. She felt Hades become harder than ever before. Then his body jerked as he went inside of her, the incredible sensation only s
toking her now raging release to further heights. Everything swirled inside her, immeasurable pleasure and relentless release, the most powerful feeling she’d even experienced in her entire life as their bodies were joined together.
Through the haze of pleasure, Cassie watched as her mate rode out his release as well, muscles tightening and body tensed, gray eyes burning with passion as they held each other, closer than they’d ever been before.
Slowly, second by second, the euphoria of the moment passed into a gentle, relaxed feeling that settled through Cassie’s entire body. He gave her one kiss on each cheek, then slipped out and curled his huge body protectively around her, making her feel safe and warm.
“I love you, Cassie,” John whispered into her ear as he pulled the covers up around them.
“I love you too, John,” she replied, nestling into his arms and the feel of his muscles surrounding her. “But you probably already knew that.”
“I’ve known it a long time, yes. But from here on out, it’s just you and me. Hopefully, along the way, you can see I’ve felt the same for you too, in spite of my mistakes,” he said, holding her close, his deep voice tickling the back of her neck slightly. “I won’t ever push you away again.”
“I won’t let you,” she murmured, holding him close. Wondering just how they’d gotten to this moment as she felt him relax in her arms.
She stroked his chest and listened to his breathing.
He’d come home from the war to his own personal hell, and she’d been in a hell of her own, built from the losses in her life and the loneliness.
But somehow, after the events of the past week, that had all been resolved. All the drama and the anger and the sadness was behind them, and what lay before them was the beautiful promise of forever with the man she loved and had always wanted to be with.
He’d once been king of the darkness, but she wouldn’t call him Hades anymore.
Because somehow, in finally coming together in the way they’d always been meant to, they’d transcended hell together and found something much more like heaven.
Big Strong Bear (Soldier Bears Book 3) Page 11