by Paige Taylor
“I’d love that! I’d really like to help plan your Mating, if you need it, that is? I’ve helped with a few others, and I’d be glad to help,” Annabelle offers.
“Yes! Oh my god, thank you. Honestly, I have no idea what is involved or what to do, so yes, I will take any help and friendship I can get.” I turn my head to Sophie to see her reaction, and she is smiling and nodding her head in agreement. Well, looks like I’ve got myself a date.
“I don’t want to ruin everyone’s night, but Ava, I have a couple of questions for you, Dylan, and Wade if you don’t mind,” Steven asks. Dylan, Wade, and Marco all turn their heads and excuse themselves from their own conversations before coming to sit down with us on our side of the fire.
“What’s going on, Steven?” Wade asks once he has gotten comfortable and pulled my feet up onto his lap.
“I want to talk about both of the packs’ defences,” Steven responds.
“Seriously, we couldn’t just leave it one fucking day.” Wade’s frustration is evident and mirrors my own.
“It’s okay, Conan, we need to discuss it,” I placate him using his nickname, hoping that he will just hear his Beta out.
“Fine. What would you like to discuss?” he asks, squeezing my feet tightly to let me know he didn’t miss the use of the nickname.
“I was watching Ava fight today, and she is good, very good. I wanted to ask you, Ava, if you would consider running the wolves through some drills every day, training up both the inexperienced and the experienced fighters. We need to be able to defend ourselves.”
“I completely agree, the guys have been planning on fighting me in return for me quitting fighting in the Pit, so maybe instead of having to fight them to keep my skills up to scratch, I can run through sessions with all able wolves. What do you guys think?” I ask, turning to look at everyone in the circle. I’ve trained almost my whole life to be able to defend and attack when the situation calls for it, so why not share my knowledge with the people I know will need it?
“I like it, it will keep everyone from letting the fear fester.” Dylan’s logical response comes first.
“Agreed. It’s going to give us a better chance of getting everyone out of this alive,” Wade grumbles out, the pressure on my feet once again increasing and relaxing under his grip.
“I think it’s best for everyone to learn to fight a bit better, but I think combining the packs during the sessions is going to help in the long run with getting the packs used to co-mingling,” Marco replies into the waiting silence. I knock my shoulder into Zane’s chest when he doesn’t voice an opinion, I need his, too.
“If you’re doing it, Angel, so am I. I’ve been in more fights than I care to count, so I’ll help train everyone with you,” he whispers into my ear.
“We can run two a day, one for beginners the other for the more experienced, that way we can fast track some people, each of the Alphas on rotation. In terms of patrols, I think we should have people go out in groups of four, one patrol every 30 minutes on each property, each patrol with a combination of the two Packs. That way both teams can meet back in the middle, check in, and continue on,” Dylan explains to the group. Damn, how does he pull those together so quickly? I, seriously, can’t even organise what I’m eating for dinner most nights, let alone an entire defensive plan in under 2 minutes.
“Well, that’s settled, then. That worked out a little better than I expected,” Steven says with a slightly bewildered look on his face.
My fatigue hits suddenly, my mouth opens in a very long yawn. I don’t even have the forethought to cover my mouth, so I sit there looking like a big gaping fish trying to catch some food. Holy shit, when did I get this tired? I try keeping my eyes open, but my eyes keep fluttering shut. All my Mates rise to their feet, while Zane lifts me up from under my knees and then settles me on the ground once I have my balance.
“Time for bed, Angel,” Zane whispers in my ear. Normally, I would have gotten angry at being put to bed, however, this particular time, they were giving me exactly what I wanted.
“Okay, good night, everyone! Sophie, Annabelle, I’ll talk to you girls tomorrow about a girls’ night,” I say, waving to everyone who is still sitting around the fire.
Marco walks around me and swoops his arms under my legs and into a fireman’s carry making the breath whoosh out of me for a second or two. That familiar scent of mint-chocolate invading my senses. Before he can start moving, though, Dylan steps close to my chest his Italian, olive skin glowing under the fire’s light, his lips coming down on top of mine giving me a gentle and quick good night kiss.
“Night, Beautiful, I’ll see you in the morning,” he whispers before tucking my hair behind my ear and stepping away. Wade takes his place against my chest.
“Sleep sweet, Baby,” he says as he grasps my head between his hands and quickly presses his mouth to mine, his tongue coaxing my lips open and slipping inside, flicking over my tongue gently before retreating and placing a quick kiss on my nose and moving out of my eye sight.
“Tomorrow is our day, Angel. I’ve got a surprise for you,” Zane says in a gravelly voice, before he side-steps into my view. The blonde, shaggy hair shifts forward as he leans closer, his breath fanning over my face. I can practically feel the little hairs of his stubble touching my chin, but at the very last second, his lips move to my cheek where he presses the kiss gently onto my jaw line, right under my ear. The shivers spread across my skin and down to the base of my spine, my eyes closing from the feeling, Goosebumps break out across my skin.
“Night guys, I’ll see you all in my morning . . . I mean in the morning,” I say, snuggling into Mac’s chest, closing my eyes one last time and letting his warmth lull me to sleep.
“Love you guys,” I hear. Shit, did I just say that? Oh well, too tired to care, right now. My mind once again fades away as I lean into the warmth behind me.
Chapter Fourteen
“Sweetheart, it’s time to wake up,” I hear Mac whisper into my hair as I feel my body being lifted from my comfy seat in the car.
“No. I don’t want to.” I whine, snuggling into the heat radiating from Mac’s body. I open my eyes just long enough see us walking towards the front door.
He unlocks the door effortlessly with one hand, his forearms cradling me closer to this chest. As soon as we are through the front door, he walks us quickly up the stairs and towards his bedroom not even pausing to turn on the lights. The pounding sound of his feet hitting the hardwood floor pulses through me with every step, closing the distance between us. All the air leaves my lungs suddenly as I’m thrown across the room, landing with a small thump on the soft mattress.
“Mac! So not cool!” I yell, trying to untangle my arms and legs from underneath me.
Marco’s eyes cloud over, lust filling his gaze, and a delicious smirk growing across his face. He leans down, placing an arm on either side of me, slowly crawling towards me like a predator hunting its prey. His hand moves over the top of my chest, pushing my back down onto the bed, my legs spreading to accommodate his size between them.
“I went easy on you for our first time Ava, but from here on out, we will be doing this my way.” His lips brush over my ear, his breath shivering down my neck causing tingles to run from my head to my toes.
His hand skims from my shoulders down to my wrists, encircling both my wrists tightly and pinning them above my head, my breath coming in pants as I get more and more turned on at the idea of being dominated by Marco. One of his hands keeps hold of my wrists, while the other encircles my throat squeezing it just enough to stop me from being able to take deep breaths. He gives my neck one more squeeze before trailing down my chest and over my right breast, rubbing his palm over my nipple before closing his hand over the sensitive tissue and squeezing. The mix of pain and pleasure makes my back arch, pushing me further into his hand, wetness flooding my core at the sensations. I try to move my hand down so that I can run my hands through his hair, but his hand only pushes m
e further into the pillow.
His head moves down, laying kisses over the skin not covered by my t-shirt, while his hand moves down across my stomach and starts lifting the shirt up, pushing it slowly higher and higher until it drags up my arms, and he wraps it around my hands still locked above me. His mouth begins kissing up my stomach moving back up to my boobs.
“Keep your hands above your head, they are not to be moved,” he commands, his eyes serious and burning with promise. I nod my head, not willing to risk him stopping his delicious torture.
His hands grasp either side of my bra, ripping it right down the middle to free my breasts. Marco’s head immediately dips down to my breasts, his head drawing my nipple deep into his mouth as his teeth close around the sensitive skin in a rough bite.
“Oh, God,” I can feel the pleasure building and he hasn’t even gotten to my jeans, yet. He releases my nipple only to have his head move to the other side, repeating the process to get both sides wet and extra sensitive.
He pulls back and rises onto his knees between my legs. I feel my jean button flick open and the zipper being pulled down slowly, followed by two hands grasping the sides of my jeans and underwear and pulling them down, leaving me bare before him. Every brush of Mac’s fingers feels intensified. I clench down, hoping to feel some form of release, and yet, all it does it make it achingly clear what I’m missing.
Marco’s fingertips tickle from my ankle, up my calves, and stop at my knees pushing them open until the sides of my legs are lying flat against the bed while he moves closer to my aching slit. My hips move of their own volition, pumping upwards, searching for any relief, my breath coming in pants, and my heart thundering in my ears. His fingers begin their slow movement back and forth up my thighs, getting as close as the crease of my thigh.
“Oh god, Marco I need you. I need you, now,” I cry out, the anticipation killing me.
“Patience, sweetheart, patience.” His hands massage the muscle at the top of my thighs slowly, I throw my head back against the pillow, surrendering to the pleasure.
His fingers finally find my core, moving in and out of me at an achingly slow pace. My mouth opens in a silent scream, the air leaving my lungs.
“That feel good, Sweetheart?” Marco’s gruff voice rings out as his fingers continue to slowly pump into me. I can only groan in appreciation, as his fingers curl up inside me, rubbing against the right spot. I start to feel my orgasm rushing towards the surface, my pussy clenching around his fingers.
“Not yet, Ava,” Marco says before pulling his fingers out of me.
“Fucking hell! Fuck me, Marco, or so help me go–” I don’t even get to finish that sentence before his mouth is on mine, and his long length is sliding inside of me. My mouth opens underneath his lips, letting his tongue in to brush against mine, while his hips pumps slowly into mine.
Without warning his pulls out of me, and rolls me over onto my stomach, pulling my hips up so that I am on my knees. His hand moves over the top of me to hold my hands down in front of me. My body completely compliant to everything he is doing to me. I feel his body stretch out over mine, his chest resting on top of my back, his hips pumping his cock into me. Oh god, the feeling is indescribable. I feel his hand wrap around my stomach, his fingertips hooking between my legs to rub against my clit, the sensation bringing me further and further towards climax.
“Mac, oh god, I can’t stop it!” I try to yell, the bed muffling some of my volume, my fingers fisting and twisting the sheets above me.
“Not yet, sweetheart. Do not come until I say so,” he grunts out between thrusts.
I try to hold it in and focus on the feeling of him moving in and out of me, the pleasure shredding through my body. The sensations of his cock, fingers, and all the foreplay from before is making it so hard to hold it in. I feel Marco slam his body harder and harder into me, our breaths coming faster, sweat slicking between us.
“Now, Ava. Come, now,” he bursts out, his cock continuing its assault deep inside me. With the permission I was granted, I let my body fly apart, wave after wave of pleasure coursing through my body. I feel my wetness release as Mac continues to thrust. Within seconds, his body tenses, a deep, masculine groan breaking through him.
“God, you feel so good,” he grunts, slowing his pumps till they are in time with each burst of cum releasing from his cock.
I feel him pull out of me and get off the bed, I turn my head, watching him walk towards the bathroom, my own body collapsing onto the bed, my heart still beating out of my chest. Mac moves back onto the bed and starts wiping between my legs with a wet cloth, my body too tired to even react to the cold material.
“You did so well, Sweetheart. You did everything I asked. Maybe next time we can add some toys,” he whispers before placing a kiss on my lower back.
“It’s always the quiet ones that have the kink. Who knew you had the Dom streak? Wait, did you say ‘toys’?” I ask, slightly raising my head off the bed to look at him over my shoulder.
“Yes. Toys. Now, get under the blanket, so we can sleep,” he orders with a light tap on my arse.
I crawl into the blankets and hold the sheets open for him as he slips in beside me. I snuggle into his side, his arms curling around my shoulders, pulling me partially onto his chest.
“Tonight, was amazing. Thank you, Marco, sweet dreams.” I whisper, lifting to kiss him lightly on the lips.
“Thank you for trusting me to do that, Ava. Sleep sweet.” Mac’s lips brush the top of my head, while his fingers run up and down my back, lulling me into sleep.
“I love you too, Sweetheart,” he says right as sleep descends on me.
I walk out the front door at six am ready for my morning run and am greeted by yet another spectacular ass, this one belonging to Zane as he bends over to stretch his legs. Seriously, between my four Mates, I could create my own version of Playboy for women. His tight black shorts and lack of t-shirt make it a very welcome sight. With his shirt off, I can finally see the full expanse of his tattoos across his arms and back, one arm is completely covered in a full sleeve, a range of colours bursting from different sections, the other arm is completely bare. Across his back is one of the largest, wolf tattoos that I have ever seen in my life, the wolf staring back at me looking so life-like that I swear I see it move. The shading and colouring of the face mirrors what I remember Zane’s wolf looked like; it was equal parts intimidating and serene. I continue my perusal of Zane, my eyes tossing up between looking at the tattoo and his arse. I was never an arse woman till I met these men, and now I can’t seem to take my eyes off of them! I’m like a goddamn arse moth to a flame.
“You done staring, Angel?” I hear Zane’s voice breaking through my focus. I look up into his eyes, blushing at being caught ogling him so intently.
“No. But, let’s go for a run, anyway. Three, two, one, go!” I yell, running away on three, giggling when I hear his frustrated huffs before his feet start pounding quickly behind me.
A squeal breaks from my throat, and I jump up in the air mid-run when I feel a large hand slap my arse. Zane laughs as he runs up beside me. I put a hand over my stinging bum and turn my head towards him to yell at him, but what I see stops the protest about to emerge from my throat. The man is blushing! The bikie-looking, body building, blond tank is fucking blushing!
“Close your mouth, Ava, you look like a stunned mullet,” he chides without even turning his head to look at me.
“You’re blushing! You! The toughest-looking man on the planet is blushing over slapping my ass!” I exclaim.
“Well, it’s a damn fine ass.” He shrugs his shoulders in response before focusing on his run again, pumping his arms and legs just a little harder. I run faster to match his speed, practically sprinting just to keep my stride with his.
We continue running around both packs’ lands for the next forty-five minutes, having slowed our speed significantly. We come across a stream further into Dylan’s land, I slow my run to a walk and fall t
o the ground, letting all my muscles completely relax into the cool, slightly damp grass. I feel the impact Zane’s body creates when his body follows suit and gives out on the grass beside me. We lay there in silence, our chests rising rapidly, just trying to catch our breath.
“Z, can you tell me something about you? I don’t know anything about you,” I ask into the silence.
“Well, I’m thirty, was in the Army for four years, and I’ve been a lone wolf since I was sixteen,” he summarises quietly, not exaggerating on any point.
“Why have you been a lone so long?” I ask trying to dig deeper into the puzzle that is Zane.
“My parents died in a hunting accident, I didn’t have any other family, and to be entirely honest, I prefer to be on my own. It’s not that I can’t get along with people, I just don’t like being around them for long periods of time,” He replies. My heart sinks just a little at his response. What if he gets sick of me?
“Hey, Angel. Don’t get that look on your face. You are my Mate, I could never get sick of you. You’re also forgetting that I’ve had time to think about this. I took time to figure out if I wanted to be part of your life long-term, before you knew about me.” His fingers tap my chin to turn me towards his face. His emerald eyes searching mine, almost begging me to believe the truth.
“Something has been bothering me Angel, you said the other day that vampires took your family. What did you mean?” he asks, his voice dipping lower than I even thought possible, sympathy growing down our early stage bonds.
“When I was twelve years old my parents went into one of the bigger cities near our Pack, they were cornered by some vampires and bled out, their bodies weren’t found until a week later,” I whisper, tears coming to my eyes. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t have them at the back of my mind, wondering what they would say, how they would feel. Losing my parents was world changing.