The Animal Within
Page 6
Lucian tenses under me and sits forward. "You."
One word, but I understand what he means. She is the one who helped the men escape. She gave them the time, and the means, to slip free from their bondage and now she is here to help them again. At least that is what my mate suspects.
"I...couldn't have children." She looks away for a moment with heartbreaking longing in her eyes. Just because she couldn't have them didn't mean she didn't want them and my heart hurts for her. "It just wasn't in the cards for me. So I threw myself into my studies and my research. I lead team expeditions into ancient cities buried by the hands of time under so much dust and dirt that it is amazing we ever found them. And I was good. No one knew how to find a lost city better than me." She doesn't look like this is a good thing. I mean the pride is there but something else is mixed with it. Maybe self-criticism.
"One day I was studying satellite readouts, looking for a new place to explore, when I found what looked like a temple, one of the old ziggurats from the Mesopotamian era. One nobody had ever heard about before."
"That would be the ancient of the ancient. That's the birthplace of civilization."
Her smile was instant and it covered her whole face. She looked above me at Lucian with something akin to pride in her eyes. "I am so happy Lucian found someone not only lovely and kind but also, smart and intelligent enough to follow what I am about to tell you."
Lucian puffs out his chest and I roll my eyes.
"I led a team into the ruins of something so old, so ancient that the government, both mine and the local one, agreed not to reveal its existence. I would be allowed to keep digging and continue researching as long as I told no one where the city was or what we found there. What I eventually unearthed was a birthplace for a legend, a womb for a god if you will. It led me from one place to another and another, all buried and forgotten. Until I had enough information and enough material to reproduce what our ancestors had done eons ago." The excitement and energy she put into this tells me some of the reasons she was so good at leading expeditions. People naturally want to follow her, and she made it sound so wonderful because to her it was something wonderful. Her eyes lose some of their light and her mouth takes on a pinched look.
"I made monsters."
I gasp. Surely she couldn't mean she...genetically engineered Lucian and his brothers from something she found in the temples.
"Every ancient civilization, all the way up to the very near past has had myths or legends of men who can change into animals to protect their loved ones. Become half man, half animal and fully wild. In ancient Rome you have the story of Romulus and Remus, in China and Japan, there are half-dragons or snakes. In Egypt, gods that roamed the world with animal heads were worshiped and feared. In Viking times the berserkers could change into wolves and bears in battle to fight with a fearsome lust that scared even the people they fought for. And don't forget the myths of the Celtic selkies and the better-known werewolf. I could go on and on but I think you get where I am going with this. Each of these civilizations had information, information that should not have been in the hands of ancient man at all. It showed us how to create creatures that would fight to the death for their mates' people. Fierce warriors who seemed godlike in what they could do when faced with threats to loved ones. Men genetically made to fight, to lead, and to protect. Perfect soldiers."
She didn't have to go on. I realize what had happened. They found the recipe and maybe even the genetic ingredients to make a modern-day warrior and the governments of these two nations could not pass it up. They grew them in a lab and thought they could control what they did and why.
"You said that the...," I was not about to call them creatures, "men fought for the...," fuck I try to remember how she put it and was coming up empty, "their mates' village or region or something."
"Yes, it hasn't always been as it is now. Some of my research shows that the balance isn't always there. In very rare cases the woman has betrayed her lover and used them for very bad things so power could be laid at her feet. Some of the creatures were more beast than man and act as the animal would, thus being promiscuous."
I gasp and my rounded eyes fly to Lucian. I thought mates meant one person forever. What if that isn't true for my mate? The thought of another woman with him tears at my heart like a fork into an overcooked steak.
"Wolves mate for life. Even if my animal was more than my human I would want no other."
I exhale and just realized I was holding my breath.
"Oh no, no, no, I was thinking more along the lines of...well cats."
Oh, my poor friend. Keke didn't deserve to be less than someone's everything. I catch Dr. Bridgewater's assistant looking over at where the twins sit sprawled out on another sofa. I wonder why she would be looking at those two when the doctor mentioned the unfaithfulness of a cat.
"Damien and the twins aren't like that. They would never betray their mates like that." Lucian comes to the feline brothers' defense.
"Of course not." Dr. Bridgewater sits up straighter like he has just insulted her instead of standing up for his brothers. "As I said, only some of the men exhibited signs of unfaithfulness to their chosen mate. Mostly lions, which is why I didn't..." she chooses her word wisely and steers clear of words like 'make' or 'create'.
"Pick. I didn't pick them for this project." Wow, she actually made it sound better than I thought she could. She made it sound like the men just signed up for it. "Besides, dear, have no worries about Damien's loyalty to your friend, he...well, it will be easier to let me finish explaining."
I nod for her to go on, hooked to the story she's telling.
"We built the laboratory and got started on doing what the ancients did. There were several failures. We couldn't get the embryos stable enough in the artificial wombs and if they made it past the first couple of weeks after birth..." she huffs and her shoulders slump. "Well, they had some mutations that caused us to have to put them down." She doesn't meet anyone's eyes and I can tell it was not something she wanted to do.
"Then one night, due to long hours and back-breaking research, there was an accident. One of the testing samples had human DNA mixed in with the ancient DNA. A simple accident, one single drop of blood from a nick on the hand and all of a sudden we had what we'd been looking for. The animal part of their DNA caused rapid growth to appear in the first years of their lives. We spent a lot of time slowing it down and bringing it back to a human pace. Afterward, they were trained by military professionals and taught by some of the best teachers. Most of what they recall is genetic memory so there was no need to learn how to do things humans have been doing for centuries like driving a car or reading. All the men can read in multiple languages and have shown remarkable adaptability in accord to their surroundings." The pride in her voice was no secret. I didn't have to read minds to know that she had the pride of a parent for the men.
"The accident...the scientist was you." Her eyes burn with her passion for the men. "They've become your children."
Lucian straightens behind me and takes a new interest in what is being said.
"Which is why I couldn't put Raven down. Even though it meant I might die if anyone ever found out. He was my son, what was I supposed to do?"
"He's not dead. You didn't kill him like the General wanted you to." Lucian stared at the doctor with just as much heat as she had for her subject. "If you were the one to help us escape why didn't you just come with us when we left? Why risk being caught?"
"To buy you time." Her answer was so simple yet the implications were massive. Like a mother, she risked herself for the lives of her children. All the fight melts out of Lucian as he comes to accept what this woman is to him and what she has done for him.
"The twins stayed behind, even though I told them not to and when me and Tia were ready to leave they helped us."
Shadows cross the faces of Dr. Bridgewater and Tia, and I am thankful someone said her name because I didn't know it before now. Everyone kept
calling her the doctor's assistant. The dark shadows let me know just how the twins had 'helped' get the two women out.
"Your research? Was it destroyed? Did you bring it with you?" Lucian looked from the doctor to the twins trying to find his answer.
"Burnt. Everything was destroyed in the fire." Wow, guess I was right about that not being a nice ‘I quiet’ stroll down the old cubicle walk of shame if there was a fire involved.
"Are you sure doctor? You have to be sure. If someone else starts...," he stumbles over the words that cause fear in his mind, "so many people stand to lose so much if more of us are made."
"Everything was destroyed...before the fire." She looks at him with raised eyebrows, and he relaxes under me.
"The fire was a cover-up. Very clever." He smiles a lopsided grin that makes him look boyish and charming and not at all like the man who first came into my house and kidnapped me. Well, I don't know if you call it kidnapping, he didn't really take me anywhere but my bedroom.
"I'm sorry about your research and all that you had to lose though."
The doctor reached into her pocket and pulled out a flash drive. "I know I shouldn't but I couldn't let all of that ancient knowledge go up in flames without saving it somewhere. As long as I am alive your secret is safe with me."
For the first time, Lucian smiles at the doctor. Before anything else can be said Damien and Keke come back into the room. The big man prowls, there really is no better word for it than that, across the room with Keke's hand in his and takes a seat beside us.
"Did you keep up?" Lucian leans over to ask Damien. I start to wonder what he means when he answers him, "I heard every word, so as long as you were actually listening, I was too."
Keke leans over to me from the confines of Damien's lap, "What'd I miss?"
Clearly she was not reading her mate's mind. I try to give her the quick run down, "Really smart people found something really scary. Really dumb people fucked with it and brought it to life wanting to use it for really bad things. We're in really, really deep shit."
"That about covers all of it. Yeah." One of the twins nods his head up and down in agreement when his brother speaks, finishing his thought. "That is how you tell a story, doc."
I blush at the semi-real compliment but I think I already like the twins and that we are going to get along well because they are smart asses too.
Damien turns his head to the doctor, "I don't know how 'safe' it is to have any of the research survive though."
"I had to save what I did. You needed what I saved and so did the women you mate." Damien's eyebrows draw together in a questioning look. She sits up and looks at me and Keke with a smile on her face, "Congratulations on the babies. I imagine things will be very interesting for you all in the weeks and months to come and you will need a doctor who has the knowledge handed down from civilization to civilization and one who has a strong understanding of modern-day genetics as well, to keep not only your mates safe but also your offspring."
A wave of dizzy washes over me at her words. I've followed this entire time, keeping up; not getting lost but I can't process what the doctor is trying to tell me now. I turn to meet the gaze of the man who made me his mate hoping that something in his eyes will help explain what my brain is trying to tell me.
Just as I am about to lose my shit, Keke literally falls to the side and almost off of Damien's lap. She crumples like a house of cards. Keke's reaction drives home better than anything else that what the doctor said is a truth that we have to figure out before things change for us again. I'm eighteen and I just got knocked up by a wolf with ancient DNA who mates for life. Kind of makes me wish I was the first one to pass out instead of Keke. Damn it now I have to stay conscious since she already took the spot of fainting damsel in distress away from me.
Damien
I knew the moment my mate's needs became too great for her to endure. What she feels, I feel. It doesn't take me being in her mind to know that she was in need. Anyone can see it, I am almost positive Lucian's mate sensed something is wrong with her friend. I run my eyes over my mate and see the sweat that runs down her creamy skin and watch as she tries to press her thighs together to seek some comfort in the pressure it provides.
I stand and interrupt the doctor. The woman can go on and on about history if you let her. I inform the room that I have priorities and my mate is at the top of every list, besides I can always 'listen in' through my brother's mind and find out what is being said. I take my mate upstairs because I don't want the twins to wander around and come up on my mate finding her pleasure. The only reason I was okay with Lucian being in the same room was because I was covering her. This time I want her in a bed and I want her to ride me.
By the time we are to the top of the stairs she's panting heavily and her eyes look scared and too big for her face. I pick a room that doesn't have a heavy scent in it; because it smells unused I am betting it's the guestroom. I drop her on the bed, and she bounces nearly coming off the bed on the other side. I yank my shirt over my head with one hand and with the other I catch myself as I fall on top of my mate. Her legs come up around my waist and as my lips touch hers she moans in my mouth.
Knowing that I am giving my mate what she needs has my cock dripping with cum and very ready to be inside of her. I run my now free hand down her beautiful, soft body. I love everything about my mate, but I am in lust with these hips. I grip them and let a growl vibrate out of me. It's enough to make Keke jerk back from the kiss and throw her head back in a sexy mewl that turns me even harder if that is even fucking possible.
"What's wrong with me? Damien, what's happening? I feel like I can cum just by you touching me but that's not possible. Is it?"
I spread my lips in a feral grin because my little mate doesn't realize how possible it is. But she will. I sit her up and yank my shirt over her head. The fact that she's in something of mine makes me want to rub myself all over her every time we have to leave the bed. I push her legs down breaking her hold on me, my heart lurches with happiness when she whines because she has to let me go.
"I'm not going anywhere my fierce little tigress. I just want to show you something." Lucian and his mate 'talk' more in their heads than my mate does with me. She still finds it odd and intrusive. I come to her side on both of my knees with her laid out in front of me. My mouth waters at the sight she makes. "I told you that we share a bond, that our passion and pleasure are shared and multiplied through one another. This bond, this connection, gives me the ability to give you pleasure without having to touch you."
I let my hand hover over her furry little mound with its cute tufts of strawberry blonde hair that tickles my nose when I am eating her sweet little pussy. I concentrate on sending the blood flowing through her veins to the special spot she likes me to caress and lick. Her eyes go round and her legs spring open in invitation for me to come on in.
"Oh, oh my God! What are you doing?" she arches her back like she's looking for my touch. I put my other hand over her breasts but I don't touch her skin. I send blood there and enjoy watching them plump and swell from my mental touch.
"Your body is answering my call. Your instincts are offering to me what it knows it needs in return. When we connect and share bodies, blood, minds we are sharing something so deep it builds a web around us twining us together. We listen and communicate on a level that is subconscious. Ours is a bond stronger than any on earth. She tenses and I see her orgasm course through her. I can't help but reach out and shove two of my fingers deep inside of her. It sends her into another whirlwind of ecstasy. Her pussy clamps down on my fingers and milks them like she is about to milk my dick.
I yank my fingers out of her and waste no time undressing and flipping her over so all her hot, wet heat is hovering over my thick cock. She's so ready to take me that when I lower her hips and hold her there to make her wetter, to make her want it more; it trickles down from her and around my dick. Who needs lube when I have her this wet just by teasing her?
The thought of her round with my child makes me squirt cum inside of her which sends her into another climax as her body is so tuned in to my own. She keeps rocking her hips back and forth trying to get more of me inside of her. I look up at her and notice her eyes are glowing. We must share some of our special traits with the women we choose to mate but the books and scrolls that the doctor found never mentioned anything about that.
I put it in the back of my mind for now. All that matters now is my mate and her pleasure. Keira. Such a lovely name, one that I plan to be growling out very soon if she doesn't stop raising herself up and dropping herself back down over and over again. When we both are close this time something sharp leaves behind an intense burn that swells my cock up even harder. Looking down I see that she's used her new nails, that she didn't have before we started, to rake down my chest leaving behind lines that are deep enough to have blood beading up to the surface. Before they can roll down my sides Keira takes her tongue and licks the beads off moaning as she does so.
Holy fuck is that hot! It makes my hips tunnel up into her tightness harder and faster. I push her to the edge and wait for her to fall off but as her body squeezes up on mine her teeth sink into the top left side of my chest. Now I am the one throwing their head back and moaning at how fucking good it is to be with my mate in this way. Hot streams of cum erupts out of me and into her as her body milks me dry.
When she is done reaching the pinnacle of her orgasm she licks my chest clean, sealing the wound with her saliva and collapses on top of me. Something has changed between us. I can sense it, but I can't put my finger on it. She has always brought a sense of calm to me but this feels deeper, stronger. I will have time to analyze why and how later. I have my whole life to get to know my mate and all that she brings me.