“Stop it!” Cora said. “You went through shit for these guys. You were hurt, and you got back up, your heart was battered, but you carried on, and now when they’ve finally come to an arrangement to share your heart, you’re doubting it?” She cupped my shoulders. “Your problem is that deep down, you always think you’re not worth it. But you are. So shut the fuck up and accept the love you’re offered. Trust me, if any of the guys ever feel they can’t hack it anymore, they’ll let you know.”
She was right. Of course, she was right. “I’ll speak to Grayson as soon as he gets back. I have to be honest, whatever the outcome.”
She studied my face. “Damn, Fee, you need more sleep. You have dark circles under your eyes.”
“I did sleep. A lot.”
“I think Cyril must be doing the same. I haven’t seen him in days.”
Come to think of it, neither had I. “You know what…I think Keon left without Delphine. I think her and Cyril are holed up somewhere here. He did say something about nesting.”
Cora sighed. “Even the fucking python is getting some love. He’ll show up when he’s ready. Come on, let’s get you some healthy food.”
We headed for the door. “How is the Magiguard mission going.”
“It’s not. I’ll tell you all about it later, and you can fill me in on the Underealm escapades.”
We headed back downstairs and stepped out of the lift into an atmosphere charged with tension. I smelled Grayson before I saw him. He was standing in the kitchen, face to face with Uri, lip curled, husky eyes in Loup shift mode.
“Answer me,” he said. “Why do you have Fee’s scent all over you?”
Uri kept his hands loose at his sides, his stance non-confrontational. “I slept in her bed.”
Oh fuck.
Grayson’s chest rumbled in a growl. He was about to attack. I ran across the room, and his head whipped my way. I skidded to a halt, my Loup instinct warning me to back away. He strode toward me, and the alpha in me kept me rooted to the spot in defiance. His nostrils flared, and then I was scooped off my feet and slung over his shoulder.
Heat coursed through me as my Loup recognized her mate, acknowledging the fact he wouldn’t hurt her, but the demon and the human sides of me trembled with fear. Because this was rage. This was crazy. And Grayson was in their grip.
I barely registered the lift ride, and then we were slamming into our chambers, but he didn’t stop there, he took me straight into the bathroom and set me down.
“Grayson?”
He wouldn’t look at me. Instead, he turned on the shower.
“Grayson, look at me.”
“Take off your clothes and wash him off you,” he growled through clenched teeth. “Do it now, please, Fee, before I lose my shit and tear his head off.”
I wanted to explain that he had the wrong end of the stick. That Uri and I had only slept together, not slept together. But he was on a knife’s edge, the beast warring for control, and I needed to remove the trigger.
I stripped quickly and got under the spray of water. His shower gel was at hand, so I lathered up and began to wash, heart thundering in my chest like an epic storm.
So far, I’d seen many sides of Grayson, but this…This was new. It was frightening and exhilarating, and I was so totally fucked up. I caught movement through the frosted glass of the cubicle, and then Grayson slid back the door and stepped in with me. He pushed me up against the wall and pressed the length of his powerful body to mine.
“You fucked him?”
“No. I didn’t.”
“He reeks of you. He said he slept with you.”
“He did sleep with me. Sleep, Grayson, not fuck. I sleepwalked off the pinnacle, and he saved me. He was making sure I didn’t do it again.” I kept my gaze locked with his. “We kissed. That’s all. Nothing else happened. I wouldn’t take that kind of step without speaking to you first.”
He gripped my jaw and forced me to look up at him. “But you want him. Your heart wants him.”
“I care about him…More than a friend.”
His chest rumbled. “And if I say no. What if I say you can’t have him?”
I swallowed the lump in my throat and blinked back hot tears. “Then I’ll understand, and I’ll let him go.”
His harsh, punishing expression softened. “Dammit, Fee.” And then he kissed me.
I was expecting a punishing kiss, bruising even, but it was soft and pleading and filled with longing.
I wound my arms around his neck and pushed up on tiptoe to kiss him back properly. He tasted of bacon and coffee and something sweet I couldn’t put my finger on. I devoured his mouth with teeth and tongue, raking my fingers through his wet hair and pulling him closer. The water battered against our skin, blocking the world out as he hoisted me up, wrapped my legs around his waist, and entered me. A gasp tore from my throat as he filled me, and he pulled back to lock gazes with me. His hand went to my nape, gripping firmly.
“Mine,” he growled. “Say it.”
“Yours.” My voice trembled with need as he flexed inside me. “Grayson, please.”
“Please, what?”
“Fuck me, dammit.”
His gaze dropped to my lips, and he rolled his hips against mine.
My moan barely kissed air before he captured my mouth in a bruising kiss. And then he began to thrust, hard and fast, pressing me up against the tile, trapping me there and branding me with the heat of his arousal. This was a claiming our Loup understood, and my body spiraled fast, eager, and ready for release.
“Mine,” he growled in my ear as he came. “Mine.”
“I wanted to hurt him,” Grayson said. “I would have torn him to shreds and I don’t think he would have fought back.” He shook his head.
“He’s a good guy.”
“I know that, but the beast doesn’t care about how good a guy is if he’s carrying its mate’s scent.”
“I’m sorry I put you in that position.” Guilt was a boulder on my chest bringing tears to my eyes. “I feel awful.”
He gathered me to him and kissed the top of my head. “Don’t. This thing we have, it’s new to us all. We’re all adjusting and learning, but the premise hasn’t changed. We all love you, and we want to make you happy.”
I pulled back. “But I made you unhappy. That isn’t fair.”
“I wasn’t unhappy. I acted on instinct. Loup don’t like to share.”
“But you do it for me.” I stared at him in wonder. “You all give yourselves to me fully, and it’s time I do the same. No more. Our family is complete, and my heart belongs to you guys. There will be no one else.”
He sighed. “Fee, that isn’t how it works. You can’t shut off your heart. We know that, and if at any time we can’t cope, we’ll let you know, but thank you.” He twisted a tendril of my hair around his finger. “If this thing with you and Uriel matters, if you have a connection, then I’ll accept it. But when you’re here with me in our pack house you’re my mate. You can’t come here reeking of another male. The pack won’t stand for it.”
He had a point. “It won’t happen again. I promise.” I snuggled against him and closed my eyes. “I thought I’d lost you for a moment.”
“You’ll never lose me,” he said. He stroked my hair. “But I’m worried that if we don’t find Hunter soon, we might lose him.”
I sat up. “You have a lead?”
“We did, but it went cold. I think he’s in real trouble, and as much grief as he’s given me in the last decade, all I want is to have him home.”
“It’s the Tribus, isn’t it?”
He nodded. “There’s more. Petra did some research on the Tribus. It isn’t as simple as we thought. The female Loup in a Tribus must mate with each male in human and Loup form to seal the Tribus. You’ve mated with me in human form and Hunter in Loup. If we don’t find Hunter soon, if we don’t complete the Tribus, the Loup who hasn’t completed the mating will die.”
I ran my hands over his chest.
“But I haven’t mated with you in Loup form yet. Does that mean—”
“Yes.”
I climbed off the bed. “Get up. We need to go, now.”
He sat up, his expression confused.
I swallowed a sob. “Dammit, Grayson. You need to mate with me as a Loup. I can’t lose you. I won’t.” I took a shuddering breath. “I’m worried about Hunter, of course, and we need to find him, but we do this first. Once we’ve made sure you’re safe, we’ll reach out to Hunter. If we do it together, maybe we can find him in the Vista.”
Hunter was my mate too, but I loved Grayson. I loved him with every fiber of my being, and right now, if I had to choose between him and Hunter, he’d win, hands down every time.
I held out my hand and he grasped it, allowing me to tug him out of bed. “Now. We do it now.”
He grinned down at me, his expression feral and hungry. “I know a place we can run.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Cora
“It’ll be fine.” I pat Uri’s shoulder. Ooh, he has some muscle going on there. “Fee and Grayson will sort it out.”
He stands with his palms braced on the table, his expression stony. “This is my fault. I should go speak to them and—”
“Nope. No, you do not want to do that right now.”
“She’s right,” Dean says. He flicks the kettle on, then leans back against the countertop, arms crossed over his chest, biceps bulging enticingly. “Have some tea, sit.”
Uri pulls out a chair and does just that, but he looks troubled. “I should have known better than to come in here with an alpha mate’s scent on me.”
Dean grabs mugs and makes tea. “They’ll work it out.”
The confidence in his tone gives me hope. I know how much Grayson means to Fee, and I know how much Uri is starting to mean to her, but it isn’t my place to matchmake. Not when it comes to the delicate dynamic of Fee’s relationships.
I don’t envy her, that’s for sure. Three guys are a lot to handle. I’ll be happy with one.
My gaze flicks to Dean again, and I catch him watching me, and the urge to walk over to him and kiss his sexy mouth rushes through me.
Instead, I step away from the counter. “I’m going to shower before dinner.”
I head upstairs to my sanctuary and straight into the bathroom. The shower is temperamental in this room, one of the reasons no one has claimed it. There’s no tub, just a stall, but I haven’t had any issues with it.
Until today.
It clanks and clunks but nothing more. No water. Not a drop.
Fuck.
I stride out of my room and smack bang into Dean. He grabs my shoulders to steady me.
“You okay?” His rumbling voice sends shivers down my spine.
“My shower won’t work.”
“Use mine.”
He makes it sound so easy, but to me, it means being naked in his room. Okay, so it’s in his bathroom, but still. Naked.
He’s looking at me with a slight smirk as if he can read my mind, and I’ll be damned if I let on that the idea of showering in his room gives me tingles down there.
I nod curtly. “Thanks.”
He strides off, and I follow.
His room is dark wood, beige and brown throws, and cedarwood scent. No, don’t focus on the bed. I head straight into the bathroom, turn on the shower, strip, and get in, and then realize I forgot my fucking clothes.
Shit. I shower quickly, using his shower gel that smells of…well, him. And then wrap a towel around my body and tentatively open the door. My plan is to make a mad dash to my room, but I’m confronted with Dean’s naked back. He’s stripped off his shirt and is doing bicep curls with some weights.
Macho thing to do, but does he have to do it now?
I tiptoe out of the bathroom, intending to slip by him.
“You forgot to bring clothes,” he says.
Fuck. I cross my ankles, holding the towel close. “Yeah. I’ll just go get changed in my room.”
He’s looking at me as if he wants to strip me with his gaze, and I’m tempted to drop the towel. I mean, why the fuck not? I want him, and he looks like he wants me.
He scoops his T-shirt off the bed and prowls closer. Heat skates over my body at his proximity.
“You still owe me a date,” he says, his voice low and intimate.
“Oh, the Italian place?”
“Yes, although right now, I’m tempted to forgo the date and fast forward to afters.”
“What makes you think there’d be afters?”
He smiles, his dark gaze sweeping over my face and lingering on my mouth. “A Loup can only hope.”
I’m so focused on his face, the neck of his shirt is over my head before I realize. He urges me to thread my arms through and then surveys me with satisfaction.
“I like you in my clothes.” He reaches up to touch my mouth lightly with the tips of his fingers. “I like you a lot, Cora.”
My heart melts, and I bridge the distance between us, grab his nape, and pull him in for a kiss. Stubble rasps at my skin, a contrast to the softness of his lips as they slant over mine.
He tastes like sweet coffee, and I tip my head back, throwing myself flush against him to deepen the kiss. His hands slide into my wet hair, fisting and holding me captive as he plunders my mouth. Heat spirals down to the apex of my thighs, wet and throbbing.
“Cora?” My name is a question slipped in between kisses.
I know what he’s asking. “Yes.”
He tugs the towel down, leaving me bare underneath the T-shirt. Yes, I want him to touch me, to slide his hands under the cotton and skim his palms over my skin.
I want his fingers, his mouth, and his cock.
I grind against it now, letting him know just how much I want him.
Ice blasts the backs of my legs, and then I’m yanked away from Dean.
He stares over my shoulder in stunned horror, and then thunder clouds his expression. “What the fuck?”
Jasper hugs me to him, his arms bands of steel. “Not tonight,” he bites out. “Tonight, her wet cunt is mine.”
Dean takes a menacing step toward us and stops, immobilized by Jasper’s power. “Let her go,” he demands.
Jasper’s grip on me tightens so that the ridges of his abs are pressed into my back.
“Oh, but we have a deal, Cora and I. She traded her body to help her friend, and tonight it belongs to me.”
Dean’s face wrinkles in disgust; it’s a fleeting expression, but I catch it before he can smooth it over. My throat seizes up.
Dean’s eyes widen as if he’s realized his faux pas. “Cora…I…"
I turn my face away. “Let’s just go.”
I can’t look at him. Not anymore.
We materialize in my room in the pack house. Jasper releases me abruptly, and I stumble forward, righting myself stiffly. My limbs are hot with fury, and my eyes burn with the threat of tears of shame.
I face him, lifting my chin and meeting his piercing eyes. “You want my cunt, huh? You want to fuck me because of our deal. Fine. Let’s get it over with then.”
My chin wants to tremble, but I clench my jaw. Like fuck will I cry.
I grab the hem of Dean’s T-shirt and make to tear it off. Jasper blurs, and then his fingers are around my wrist, holding me immobile. Holding the T-shirt down.
“What?”
He grips my jaw with his free hand and pulls me closer, so our mouths almost touch. “Stop it,” he says. “Stop crying.”
I blink back tears. “I hate you.”
His mouth turns down, and his eyes darken. “I know.”
And then he’s gone.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Fee
Grayson and I returned to the pack house exhilarated but exhausted. The world was turning gray when we climbed back into bed with the night scents clinging to us. We curled around each other, skin moist with dew.
“Are you ready?” Grayson asked, his voice already thick wit
h sleep.
I ran my fingers through his hair and kissed his jaw before snuggling close. “I am.”
We drifted off together, bodies entwined, and slipped into our Vista.
It was a moonlit night as always in our special place. A time for us to run, play, and be free, but not tonight.
Tonight, we needed to find Hunter.
Grayson shook himself and jerked his nose up into the air. I did the same, searching for Hunter’s scent and listening for his howl.
All was silent, and his absence was a gaping wound.
We need to go to his spot, Grayson said.
I nodded and then set off. The route was engraved into my soul, and I took the trail quickly, weaving through trees and leaping over logs, paws crunching on bracken. The moist earth and the woodland creatures that lived here wouldn’t be a distraction to me tonight.
The clearing came into view up ahead, and my heart leaped with hope, expecting to see Hunter sitting on his rock looking out at the lake, his dark coat kissed by silver rays, but the rock was empty.
Grayson prowled forward, sniffing the earth until he was at the base of Hunter’s rock, and then he stopped and stared.
Fee, look.
I joined him and studied the markings clawed into the stone. A symbol, a circle scratched into the surface by desperate claws.
It looks like a snake, Grayson said.
A snake eating its own tail.
I know this symbol, Grayson said. I’ve seen it.
I turned to him to ask where he’d seen it, but a wind howled in my ears, and then a strange voice filled my head.
“Now, do it. Do it now.”
Grayson and the Vista faded away, and darkness flooded my mind.
One more step. Just one more.
My feet shuffled forward. Feet, not paws. Wait, what was happening?
“NO!” the disembodied man screamed.
The darkness rushed away, and then I was looking out at the city laid out before me, bathed in early dawn light. I was high up. High up on…On the fucking roof.
Oh, shit.
I looked down to see one foot half off the ledge of the roof and the other firmly planted on it.
Reaper Unhinged (Deadside Reapers Book 6) Page 13