by Lexi Ostrow
“Damn, bro. That's a burn if I ever heard one.” He chuckled even as Stryder punched him in the arm. “Hey, no fair! I wasn't ready.” He rubbed his arm and even she joined in the laughter.
“So what is different here, Ciara?” Jessica's question made her stop laughing and think.
It felt like forever had passed when she finally realized the answer. “I'm going to say nothing. How can I know there aren't demons and what not running around my world? For all I know my downstairs neighbor is a vamp- the man never comes out during the day!” She grinned. “But really, things seem to be the same. Sky is the same color, cars look the same. Technology is a little different since my brain only conjures what was around in Demarcus's book.” She paused. “I'm sorry I didn't mean to bring that up. I need to work on that.”
“Don't worry about it, Ciara. I can't quite say I believe you, but the stuff you've answered about me… well either it's true or you're one fucking sick psychic. If anything I'm pissed you aren't far enough in to tell me when I'm getting laid!”
Water shot out of her mouth and she coughed. Choking from the comment. Demarcus just shrugged when Stryder glared at him.
“Sorry, but damned if I'm not curious what stalled it.”
She was laughing so hard from choking, that tears were streaming slowly down her cheeks. Her whole body twitched with laughter and she thought she must look like a loon. Trying to gather her self control she righted herself. “Sorry, please-” another stream of laughter burst from her and she bit down on her cheek to stop herself. After a few moments of more laughter, she let out a slow, deep breath. “I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me. Stress?”
Jameson wiggled his brows at her. “You know what they say? Sex is a great outlet.”
Someone grunted and Stryder glared at Jameson.
“Like we don't all know you're doing it, we can smell you on her and the way you gush on and on about her- we're not fucking stupid, man.”
The growl that came from Stryder sent a shiver through her. He was up so fast he flipped the table they were sitting around. His eyes flashed black and his hand sprouted the vicious claws she'd seen him use before. Jameson rose, but was too slow as Stryder punched him in the jaw and then into the stomach before grabbing him around the throat. He grunted as Jameson kicked him in the shin and wrapped a hand over the one Stryder was trying to choke him with.
“You will not speak to her again. You will never say that out loud another fucking time.” Stryder's words sounded more like hissing and he slashed a hand across his brother’s face drawing blood.
She jumped up too and wrapped a hand around Stryder's bulging bicep. “Stryder, stop it. What on Earth are you doing? You're going to wind up hitting me, both of you.” Classic comedy moment and she wasn't thinking clearly enough to dodge Jameson's blow and a slice appeared on her shoulder. She winced, but didn't cry out. Stryder was a loose cannon and somehow she thought Jameson scratching her would set him off like nothing else.
“ENOUGH!” Demarcus's voice boomed through the kitchen and neither brother stopped. “ I SAID ENOUGH!”
Ciara swore the room shook with the force of his shout and this time, though they didn't release their holds on each other they did stop. But then Stryder did drop his grip. Growling, he turned to look at her. His grip was rough as he grabbed her shoulders and kissed her. His tongue deliberately pushing past the seam of her lips.
Dominant. Demanding. She melted into his hold and let their mouths fight with one another, let his kiss send heat through her from her head to her toes. When he pulled back she whimpered. But she shouted when he flashed from the room, leaving her alone after a mind melting kiss.
“Well fuck,” Jameson said it all.
Chapter 18
Four hours had passed and she was holding ice over the slice on her shoulder and telling Jameson for the ninetieth or so time that it was an accident. Stryder hadn't been back and she was tired of waiting. A few answers and she would go home and wait till he was done stewing like a child. At least she could get drinks with Gina and maybe see more of what her friend thought of her having feelings for Stryder, without telling her too much about him.
“What I don't get is what was all of that about? I mean, I know he has this thing about protecting me because he's nervous about what the man that seems to be in charge of all of this will do to him. But to attack each other? Or is that normal?”
Jessica cleared her throat and stood up, taking as many coffee mugs as she could to the sink. “Well that part is normal. You get used to the he-man game when you're around it long enough.” She smiled. “But I do think it's time to tell you something that no doubt Stryder will kill us for.”
Her heart stopped. There could be more secrets than the one he shared about the foursome's deception to Lucifer? She pushed her own mug away from her and buried her head in her hands and sighed dramatically into them before popping her head up and letting her body slump into the chair. “What more could there be?”
Jessica just shook her head and laughed. “This is one of those good things, but perhaps best not done in a roomful of people.” She bent down and kissed Fasheem. “In fact, after an attack of that nature earlier, I would assume you boys have better things to be doing than sitting here playing get to know the new girl.” She put her hands on her hips and the image of an angry mom caused a crack of a smile on Ciara's face. Especially when the men grunted and stood.
“She's right. Sorry about my dickhead brother, catch ya on the flip side.” Jameson flashed out and Demarcus did so as well with a simple nod.
Jessica nodded at her. “I've got some laundry to do if you can believe that. I'll let Fasheem do the explaining, he's by far more logical and won't butcher it like I might.” She gave her husband a wink and left the room. Suddenly Ciara felt a little uncomfortable alone in the room with Fasheem.
“Umm, is there any chance I won't be freaked out by whatever this secret is?”
The smile he gave her made her a little more at ease, but his words didn't. “Not a chance in hell. But it's not a bad thing. I bet you can ask Jess later.” He paused and cracked his knuckles. “You know the books so really, there's no need to tiptoe around this. You're Stryder's mate.”
She felt her mouth drop open and did her best to close it. “That's not possible.” She thought back to the other night when he called her “mine” and to the words Jameson had said right before Stryder had freaked and panic wrapped around her a little. “No it's not possible. I don't belong anywhere but my world and he certainly doesn't belong in mine. I'm just confused because he's gone and well Stryder does ooze sex. You all do actually.”
Fasheem sighed loudly. “Look you've slept with him, right?”
She nodded slowly, a little embarrassed even at her age.
“Then let me take a little guess at some point he told you that you were his?”
She definitely flushed as she nodded.
“And you just took this to be normal?” He arched a brow and she felt like a child.
“I just, I didn't think anything of it to be honest. It just didn't matter. I was kind of um focused elsewhere.”
“Yes well your lack of denial probably made my brother’s hopes soar through the roof. We've all been waiting ages for our mate to come and we don't make mistakes. Heed that warning. We don't make mistakes.” He rose from the table and walked away without another word leaving her to her thoughts in the now cold and empty kitchen.
“What have I done?” Her whisper was low, barely audible even to herself.
She wouldn't deny her feelings for him, but she had preferred to think it was something she was in control of, that it was just the Guardian bond amping up her sex drive and making her fall in love. This other explanation, that they were mates, meant she wasn't in control, that she had no choice in her attraction and lust toward him. It just had to be the Guardian thing.
“But what if it isn't?” She thought about the way he made her feel. Despite everything, she fe
lt protected when she was with him, comforted. They hadn't had many moments of peace, but the picnic, they were laughing a little and she felt if the stories she heard before they began questioning her were true that he would be able to make her laugh anytime. “Don't you owe it to yourself to find out? To see where your heart is actually taking you, rather than running?” She wasn't sure she wanted the answer. But sitting here alone, and not talking to Stryder wasn't going to help. “You wanted a great romance, looks like you got it.”
Walking cautiously out of the kitchen she was relieved to find Fasheem and Jessica sitting on the couch watching TV. He stroked his wife's hair and she bit back a weary sigh. She wanted what they had and she knew she had that with Stryder, she just didn't like the idea it was fated. She preferred that she chose him and he chose her.
“Fasheem?”
He stopped playing with Jessica's hair and looked over at her.
“I am not sure if you have a way of knowing where he is – but can you take me to him. Please.” Her voice was weak, emulating how she felt in this situation.
“It's about damn time you figured that part out. He's at his house researching. Let's go.” He kissed Jessica before taking Ciara's hand. In an instant too quick for her to process, she was staring at the grandiose mansion Stryder lived in. “Go give him hell, Ciara. But don't fucking hurt him. He has three badass brothers I'm told.” With a creepy wink he left her there.
Slowly, putting one foot in front of the other, she crossed the expanse to the front door. She raised a hand to knock, but it opened on its own, revealing Stryder standing on the other side. Eyes black as night, but the rest of him appeared normal. Bare chested with sweats on, she almost forgot to breathe.
His words cut through her, “I felt you. I can't fucking stop feeling you and if I could, I would since I disgust you.”
She put her hand on his chest and looked into his eyes. She watched as they swirled between black and his beautiful blue before settling on the normal color. She ignored his comment about disgusting her and forced herself to talk. “Am I yours?”
Pulling back from her, he crossed his arms over his chest. “Sorry, sweetheart, but you are. Don't worry it's not a fucking confession of love. It's animal instinct. Plain and simple. So don't get your panties in a bunch over it. I can do my damn job though, don't worry. I can protect you and keep it in my pants. But shit works two ways. No more playtime for you either. I meant what I was saying before shit blew up. No pansy ass feelings intended, I just don't take second place.”
His words stung, but she had a feeling he was trying to anger her. Belittle the situation to make himself feel better about what he thought was her rejection. Breathing deeply she walked toward him again and focused on pulling him toward her. Reaching out her hand she imagined a string connecting them and she gently tugged on it.
His body hit into hers and she didn't know what made her happier, that she had tried using some power that Alcott had taught her, or the feel of his hardened body against hers. “I am choosing to ignore that for now. I don't know what this is. I don't understand anything except that I'm confused.” She looked at the ground and cleared her throat before raising her eyes to meet his. The deep blue shone hot and hard at her, with lust or anger she honestly couldn't tell. “I don't want to be confused anymore.”
That was all the catalyst he needed. His piercing eyes followed her hands as she trailed them down his chest. His muscles were hard and ungiving beneath her hands. Leaning forward she kissed her way down his body, his skin hot under her lips. Her hands worked the tie of his sweats. The hiss of fabric was loud in the silence as she pulled them down from the waistband.
His hand reached behind her neck, grazed the skin there and untied the black string, causing the halter top of her black dress to flop forward and hang there until his hand slid down her back and undid the tie there and slid it down her body. She hadn't put on a bra earlier and she was glad. Her nipples were pebbled from the feel of his hand across her neck. Pushing his hand back from its target, she smiled coyly at him.
Reaching out she wrapped her fingers around his shaft and gave a gentle squeeze before working her hand up and down it. Running her hand over the foreskin she rubbed gently while gently rolling her finger over the head of his large cock. His hands came down on her shoulders, gripping them and tugging her to him for a kiss. She tangled her tongue with his while moving her hand up and down his erection and playing with his balls with the other. His needy groan made her clamp her legs together in an attempt to relieve her own need. Releasing his balls she pressed his chest backwards and smiled wickedly. His mouth found hers again and she was kissing him back, melting into him, meeting his tongue stroke for stroke and sucking it into her mouth. Shocks were streaking through her body with every stroke of his tongue and she realized she was grinding her body into his.
He traced a finger over the crotch of her cotton panties and she jolted, causing her to arch into him, whimpering for him to remove the bottoms. He rubbed his finger over the fabric in circles as he ran his tongue down her neck. She had no response except to take his hand and slide it under the edge of her underwear and grab his head to kiss him. His fingers stroked across her clit and she bit his lip and jerked onto his hand. Breathless she broke their kiss. She heard him growl when she squeezed his shaft as she pumped. His finger worked in and out of her, faster than before and she couldn’t stop herself from riding it. From pushing down on it as he added a second- scissoring them inside her and she stroked him harder. His thumb found her clit and rubbed her too. Her body was going to burst. She was already starting to see colors and her hand released his cock. All she could do was slam her body onto his hand as her head fell backward. She could feel her walls start to pulse, making his fingers hit them harder, deeper. Her scream would have broken through the silence in the house had he not taken her mouth with his again.
Using his distraction to her advantage, she pressed her palm flat against his chest and began to walk them toward the couch, pushing him until he was pressed against it. Leaning forward, she kissed the top of his ear before tugging on it slightly with her teeth and running her tongue down his neck and her nails gently down his chest as she bent her knees and stopped before his large, hard cock. His cock jumped as her tongue swept across the top of it and more so when she gently blew across the tip of him. Her lips slowly closed over the head of his erection and she slid her mouth down it and ran her tongue back up it like it was a lollipop. She felt his hands fist into her hair and guide her head as his hips bucked up. She smirked before twirling her tongue around the head and then slid her mouth up and down his hard length.
Continuing her game of sucking and licking his hard shaft, she stopped when she heard him tell her too. Taking his cock out of her mouth with a wet popping sound, and he had sat down on the couch, his large cock bobbing proudly against his stomach as he beckoned her to him. She slid up and wrapped her legs around his waist and guided him to her. She ran the head of him against her entrance driving them both mad. He was so large she could already feel the delicious stretch of her body as his head pushed inside of her. Without another word she straddled his body and took his shaft in her hands and pushed down without hesitation. His groan was full of pleasure and sent spikes of it through her body. His hands reached up and gripped her hips, pulling her down to him and setting their pace. Running her hands over her breasts she thrust with him and sighed as his hands replaced hers on her breasts. Moans and whimpers pulled from both of them. Her body still pulsing and near release as she took him deep inside with every thrust. Pulling herself completely off of him she ran her hand down his shaft, pumping her hand as his hand found her core and two fingers pushed their way inside of her.
Sliding back down on his cock she groaned and his growl filled her ears. With a wicked grin he grabbed her ass in his hands and rolled her underneath him, her nipples, pebbled harder as his hands left her ass and tweaked them hard enough to cause a wonderful pain. Every movement made h
is shaft squeeze into her body and she screamed his name through clenched teeth and heard it echo in the emptiness of the room. He pumped his hips up into her, harder and faster, his hand finding her clit and working the nub to a throbbing point. A climax shot through her as she felt his cock jerk inside of her and his hands grip into her hips, thrusting longer until they were both panting hard.
He picked her up and walked slowly through the house to his room. She'd look at it later. Not now. He laid her down gently on the casual looking, king bed. He traced a finger over her folds, they were wet with her own pleasure and he grinned wickedly at her before covering her body with his and slowly inching his shaft into her. Wrapping her legs around his waist she met him thrust for thrust, breathing hard. Her orgasm came without warning this time and he cut off her scream with a scorching kiss. Tongues tangling, hands groping one another, he continued to rock his hips against her, driving himself deep into her body until she saw the veins in his neck strain. She knew his balls would be tightening against his body, waiting to release. His thrusts grew faster, longer; as he pulled out and slid across her sensitive nub with each move until a grunt spilled out as his own release came. Panting, she cried out as he pulled out and laid next to her.
“Gods.”
She blew out a breath and tried to force herself to see things properly, and not blurry from her release. “I don't have a belief system, but if I did, I would say that. Stryder, hold me.”
“Sweetheart, you don't need to ask me twice.” His arms wrapped around her and her last thought as she drifted off to sleep was that this choice was going to tear her apart.
Chapter 19
The buzzing of an alarm jerked her from her sleep. Stretching like a lazy cat she turned and squeaked seeing Stryder.
“We are not back to that are we?”
She grinned and laughed before placing a kiss on his nose. “No it's just that…well, I just missed work and if I missed work, at some point my girlfriends will come to check on me when I'm not responding to texts. Not to mention I'll be broke and homeless. Which reminds me.” She climbed out of bed and cursed realizing she hadn't brought her phone. “I'd kill to know if they work here.”