by Bonnie Vanak
“One minute. Table’s in the way,” Aiden said roughly.
As Jackson broke the kiss, Lexie glanced over her shoulder to see Aiden lift the heavy cocktail table like a child’s toy and set it aside. She turned back to Jackson, who began thrusting his hips upward, each surge of his thick cock creating delicious friction inside her.
A belt unbuckled. A zipper rasped. Her aunt stared, jaw slackened, at Aiden standing behind her.
A tremor shook the Blakemore alpha’s voice. “You can’t be serious…”
“When it comes to holding and protecting those under my care, I’m always serious,” Aiden said in a deep voice.
Peering over her shoulder, she saw him grip his thick, hardened penis and took a deep breath, knowing what was expected of her.
“Hey,” Jackson said softly. “He’s not there. Only me. Only us. Look at me.”
She did, concentrating on her mate.
Cool air washed over her bare buttocks, then she felt the touch of cold gel slide between her cheeks. Panic flared. Aiden’s hand upon her back was solid and powerful as he gently pressed her down. She felt the touch of the alpha’s erection slicking across her bottom, then a nudge forward.
Lexie whimpered and fisted her hands in Jackson’s shirt. He stroked her hair and whispered assurances.
“You can do it,” Aiden murmured. “Relax, don’t resist me.”
The pressure from Aiden’s penis increased as he seized her hips. Lexie stared into Jackson’s heated brown gaze and felt her tension ease, replaced with sensual excitement.
Aiden gripped her hips and growled.
“By the ancient Lupine right of the bond of flesh, I claim this female, Lexie Walters, for my pack, along with her mate.”
Lexie bit her lip.
Pushing, pushing, the pulsing of her blood throbbing in her ears as the tip of his penis pressed into her channel. No dice. She was too tense.
Jackson unfastened her blouse. Bending his head, he took the tip of one pearling nipple into his mouth and sucked. The teasing flicks of his tongue stroked to the beat of Aiden’s cock sliding in and out as the alpha began breaching her.
Then, with a smooth slide and a growl, the Mitchell pack alpha thrust deep, penetrating fully.
She moaned.
They began moving and swaying. Sliding up and down to the rhythm of the narrow hips slapping against her bare bottom, she gripped Jackson’s powerful biceps. The sounds of their ragged breaths mingled, as explosive need spiraled through her. Her soaked sex caressed Jackson’s cock as Aiden fucked her from behind.
Claiming her for his pack, as was an alpha male’s right.
Jackson’s hand dropped between their bodies, sliding over her wet, female flesh. He stroked her in teasing caress as Aiden kept thrusting. The exquisite pressure of the powerful alpha taking her from behind, and Jackson’s thick shaft deep inside her channel, became almost too much to bear.
Two powerful Lupines claiming her, one for his pack, the other for his heart.Jackson whispered into her ear, “C’mon, Lexie, I’m close. I’m going to explode inside you, you feel so fucking good. C’mon, sweetheart, let go, let it all go…”
Throwing her head back, she screamed as the orgasm slammed into her, feeling the hot rush of Jackson’s seed flood her channel and rush deep into her womb. Fisting a hand in her hair, Aiden growled and she felt the hot, potent wash of the alpha’s seed where it would never take root.
She collapsed against Jackson’s chest as he tenderly stroked her hair. The delicious pressure in her backside eased as the alpha withdrew, tucked his semi-erect penis back into his jeans and zipped them up.
“I fulfilled the laws of the ancient texts,” Aiden rumbled. “I claimed Lexie, and in doing so, claimed Jackson as well.”
“The texts…” Nikita’s eyes widened.
“Have vague conditions,” Jackson added. “Technically, Aiden followed them.”
“You fucked another male’s mate, Aiden,” Nikita cried out. “She has the mating mark, the mark that biologically diffuses any male’s sexual interest in her, other than her mate. It’s impossible.”
Aiden adjusted his crotch and gave a confident smile. “Not impossible. Sweetheart, all I had to do was imagine I was fucking you.”
A dull flush covered her aunt’s face. Nikita looked at Jackson. “You let your alpha do this?”
“I told you, I’d go to any lengths to claim Lexie as my mate.” His voice deepened as his gaze went hard and flat. “Anything.”
Slowly, Lexie slid off Jackson. Aiden handed her back her rumpled skirt and kissed her on the forehead. “You are fully under my protection now, Lexie. Mine and Jackson’s.”
She and Jackson quickly dressed. Nikita went to her, her gaze fraught with worry. “Is this the life you want, Lexie? Are you happy? I want you to be happy, sweetie.”
Emotion clogged her throat. “I am. I want this very much. But you…” Her voice cracked. “You’ve been so good to me. I love you, Niki. I’m so worried about you. I don’t want to abandon you.”
Nikita hugged her fiercely. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine, everything will be a-okay. Got it? I love you and I want you to have a good life.”
Blue eyes luminous, Nikita released her and turned to Jackson. “You take good care of my niece, Palmer.”
As Lexie wiped her brimming eyes, he slid an arm around her shoulder. “Yes, ma’am. I’m going to devote the rest of my life to Lexie.”
But as Nikita started for the door, Aiden called out in a deep voice. “One more thing.”
Her aunt turned and folded her arms across her chest. “Now what, Mitchell?”
The pack alpha handed her a folder. She opened it, scanned the contents and looked ashen.
“The Blakemore ranch now belongs to me,” Aiden told her.
White lines bracketed the sides of her pretty mouth. “You bastard…you bought the note on my ranch?”
Lexie winced. She knew about this, knew how it would end… Please, Niki, please drop your pride. Your people need help.
“Careful how you address your new owner.” Aiden’s mouth thinned. “You can have the note back on your ranch. I’ll deed it back to you, with conditions.”
The paper shook in Nikita’s hand. “Seems like you Mitchell pack males like blackmailing females.”
“Not blackmailing. Bargaining.”
“Name your conditions.”
“You agree to host a mating challenge at the Blakemore ranch. Winner takes all. You as his mate and he claims all available single females in your pack to mate with any single males in his pack.”
Blood drained from Nikita’s face. “You can’t do this.”
“My decision is final.”
“A mating challenge? With you as the sole competitor? That’s fair.” She gave a gurgling laugh. “Some challenge.”
Aiden’s gaze remained steady. “You’ll invite all the single alpha males within Montana, hell, I’ll even include Wyoming and Utah to make it interesting. And I’ll fight and defeat every single one.”
“You’re a bastard, Aiden. A cocky, stuffed full of yourself bastard who only wants to gain all my pack for your males.” Nikita threw the folder down.
“Sweetheart, I want your pack, true. But I’ve wanted something more for years. You.” He clasped her chin and stared down at her. “Stop fighting me on this. You’re a damn fine competitor, but I’ll show you how nice surrender can feel.”
A calculating look entered her aunt’s eyes. Lexie squeezed Jackson’s hand, deeply worried. Backing Nikita into a corner would force her alpha into making desperate choices.
“I want the challenge to begin in two weeks,” Nikita said.
Aiden shook his head. “Four weeks. I need Darius back here to run operations while I’m gone. Darius went to Oregon to claim his mate. She’s alive. Knowing him, he’s probably buried balls deep inside her right now.” His gaze glittered. “When you want a female that bad for that long, you can’t wait to consummate the mating bon
d.”
Nikita scowled. “I won’t go easy, Mitchell.”
His smile held a hint of sex. “I wouldn’t anticipate anything less. It’ll take some time to tame you in bed. I’ve been patient with you long enough, Nikita. I will challenge you for dominance of your pack. The moment I win, you will be under me and submit to my will.” His smile deepened. “In more ways than one.”
Nikita gave him a level look. “Try it and I’ll put more than scratches on your back, you son of a bitch.”
“Looking forward to it, sweetheart.”
A snarl erupted from Nikita’s mouth. Claws emerged from her fingers. But then Aiden did something totally unpredictable. He picked up Nikita’s hand, claws and all, and kissed each trembling digit.
“We’ll make a good team, Niki. Drop your pride and stop this. Join with me, join our people and we’ll have the strongest pack in the west.”
An odd, wounded look entered her gaze. “You can’t come to my ranch,” Nikita whispered. “You just can’t.”
Aiden rubbed her hand against his bearded cheek. “Tell me, Niki. Why do you always insist no males visit you? What’s wrong? I want to help.”
A shadow touched her aunt’s face. Then she yanked her hand away. “Help? You can’t help, Mitchell. And I’ll drop my pride when you drop down to the ground, bloody and wounded, from fighting your competitors.”
Aiden smiled. “Oh, and the third condition? Full physical to prove you’re still a virgin and eligible to become my mate and bear my young, according to pack law.”
Pack law dictated Aiden had to mate with an untouched female to ensure any young were fathered by him, Lexie realized.
“Maybe I’ll find a willing male to remedy my virginity before the challenge.”
Aiden clasped her chin firmly. “Try it and I’ll shred the male with my claws and scatter his body all over your territory as a warning. You don’t want that death on your conscience.”
Nikita fell silent. Aiden slid an arm around her waist. She did not pull away.
Then he bent his head and kissed her. Nikita struggled at first, then relaxed, her arms winding around the alpha’s neck. Aiden gave a soft growl and drew her closer.
The Blakemore alpha rubbed against him as they kept kissing.
“Whoa,” Jackson murmured.
Whoa indeed. She knew her aunt harbored a secret crush on Aiden, but this chemistry....the room temperature must have kicked up several degrees.
When he released her, Aiden’s gaze darkened to onyx. “A small sample, sweetheart, of what you can expect from me.”
Eyes huge, Nikita licked her kiss-swollen mouth. Suddenly her fist shot out and she decked Aiden. Spiraling from the punch, he staggered back against the wide desk.
“A small sample, darling, of what you can expect from me.”
A deep, husky laugh rumbled from Aiden as he wiped a small crimson smear off his lip. “We’re even now, Blakemore. Blood from me to match the blood you’ll spill on our mating bed when I claim you.”
As the pretty alpha stormed out the door, Aiden stared after her with a terrible longing that made Lexie’s heart squeeze tight. He caught her studying him.
“I care deeply about her,” he said quietly. “Have for a long time. She’s just too stubborn to realize it.”
“She’ll be okay.” Relief spilled through Lexie. “It’s about time someone took her in hand, because things are so bad at the ranch.”
The big alpha’s shoulders sagged. “Lexie, what is wrong with Nikita’s pack?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know… no one will tell me. I’ve always lived in a cabin far from the lodge so I don’t mix much with the pack, but there are rumors. And the males, not that there were many anyway, but the ones who lived there… over the past year, they’ve all vanished.”
Aiden and Jackson exchanged glances. “Left?” Aiden asked.
“I thought so. Until one night when I saw Nikita and her beta in the pasture. They were both sobbing…and digging a grave.”
Blood drained from Aiden’s face. Jackson softly swore.
Turmoil squeezed her stomach. “Shedoesn’t want you there because she’s too proud, Aiden. I think it’s to protect you.”
He nodded. “Perhaps. But now it’s my turn to protect her.”
This big male, with his sometimes gruff attitude and tender heart, wanted her aunt. And Nikita needed help, fast. Lexie relaxed.
“If anyone can help her out of this, it’s you, Aiden.”
They left the alpha alone in his study, staring thoughtfully out the window.
“Come walk with me,” she told Jackson. “We need to talk.”
Pale moonlight washed over them as they strolled to the nearby paddock. Lexie leaned against the railings. Soon, she’d run with the pack and her new mate.
She bit her lip. “Now that Aiden has stepped forward with Nikita. I’m not riding on the rodeo circuit anymore. I’ll stay with you on the ranch and work in the stables, with the horses.”
The guarded look dropped from Jackson’s gaze.
“I’ve always wanted you, Jackson,” she whispered. “I just wanted the rodeo life as badly. I wish, how I wish, I could have both. The Silver Wizard said I can’t.”
Amusement entered his gaze as he stepped forward and framed her face with his work-roughened hands.
“Darling, I know conditions when I hear them. I’m a gambling man, remember?” He stroked a thumb over her cheek, his touch making her shiver. “Tristan said you couldn’t race in the Bordello rodeo. Never said anything about hanging up your saddle for good.”
Faint hope flared. “But you wanted me settled, here, with you.”
Jackson sighed. “I want you, Lex. Either riding on the circuit or here at home. I’ll take you any damn way I can have you. We’ll work something out with Aiden so I can be with my rodeo queen when she travels. I’ve been practicing my roping. Maybe I’ll even enter a competition.”
“You’re very good with a rope,” she said, her heart beating faster. “But will Aiden agree?”
He kissed her, his mouth warm and firm. “Aiden’ll learn to accept it with conditions. I love you, Lexie. And I’m yours. Where you go, I go.”
She slid her arms about his neck. “No more conditions between us, Jackson. Never again. ‘Cause I love you, Jackson Palmer. Unconditionally.”
END
Author’s Note
If you enjoyed this book, look for others in my Werewolves of Montana series.
Book 1: The Mating Chase
Book 2: The Mating Hunt
Book 3: The Mating Seduction
Book 4, The Mating Rite, Darius’ story, coming soon.
Book 5: The Mating Challenge, Aiden’s story, coming soon.
Book 6: The Mating Season, Tristan’s story, coming soon.
Stay updated with previews of more Werewolves of Montana books by visiting my website, www.BonnieVanak.com and signing up for my newsletter.
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