by Shara Azod
“There aren’t many left, and they are all rare African tigers,” she confessed. “Most of us were orphaned, raised by humans. That is how Nicoli, my brother-in-law, found them so quickly. My sister and I were different. Our parents hid among humans, but were very careful with us. Nicoli was very charming as he courted Larissa, my sister. My parents gave their blessing for their union, as it was destined. But Nicoli never wanted Caleb, he’d rejected his own cub. He wanted me, I don’t know why. He considered Larissa weak. Not long after the mating, they broke into our home, Nicoli and his tigers, and they kidnapped me. I went without a fight for my sister’s sake.”
Aya stopped and watched them carefully. They were furious, she realized, and confused. But neither said a word as they waited for her to continue. As much as she hated the next part, she had to let them know what they would be up against if she stayed.
“As soon as they took me back to their lands in Oregon, I saw the other women. There are about five left. There were originally fourteen. Because none of Nicoli’s men were their natural mates, they could only use them, which they did often after Nicoli did in defiance of Nature herself. They killed them all. But Nicoli kept me for himself. He wanted to mate me as soon as Larissa died. After Caleb was born he ordered him left in the woods in wolf territory. I followed and stole him away, keeping him hidden while my sister yet lived, but I knew she didn’t have long. As soon as she died, I ran, with Caleb. I have to get away, go into Canada. Nicoli has too many enemies there. He won’t follow us across the border.”
There, that was all of it in a nutshell.
“Nicoli is a vicious tiger,” she warned, seeing the resolve on their faces. They couldn’t fight ten near-rabid tigers. There was no way they could win. “You are good men. I cannot in clear conscious put you in danger. Please let me and Caleb leave. You can always find us later…if you still want to. One day Caleb will have to learn the ways of a male. I cannot thank you enough for volunteering to be his guides. But I cannot allow you to place yourselves in any danger—”
A wall of heavily muscled, gorgeous blond tiger shifter closed around her before she could finish the sentence. This time it was Ilya who took her lips in a soul-searing kiss, while Ivan nipped along the side of her neck. How could she continue to fight? Their lips were tender, yet insistent. As Ilya released her mouth, Ivan was there, pulling her head backwards against his broad chest and placing his own mark on her through a kiss. Her body felt as if it were melting from the inside, completely at their will.
All too soon, Ivan lifted his head, Ilya guided her with gentle fingers to look directly in his eyes.
“Nothing will happen to you, Aya. We will never allow that. Nor would we ever send you and our son out there to run scared and alone,” he promised solemnly.
“We are not without resources of our own,” Ivan added against her ear in a low grumble. Fates, the timbre of his voice sent chills running down her spine to pool deep inside her womb, making her pussy weep for attention. “You are not running, not anymore. And you will not fight alone.”
Chapter Six
They would have to call Uncle Valeri, Ilya realized. But later. Much, much later. First they had a woman to mate. After tonight, she would be bound to them, bound to the Teegr family. Nicoli, a disgrace to tigers everywhere would never threaten them again.
“Aya, we would never do anything against your will,” Ilya assured her. Although his cock was throbbing painfully hard, he would have her consent, as would Ivan, who had stepped back and was watching as Ilya coaxed her. “If you don’t want this, just let us know. But krasavitsa, we want you very much. There could never be another for us. We knew it as soon as we detected your scent on the wind.”
Surely she felt it too. She said she had been raised by her natural parents, that they had known the monster they’d given her sister to was the woman’s natural mate. Would she continue to deny what was so obvious?
“I know,” she answered softly, her eyes downcast. “I just…I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
Using one finger, Ilya lifted her face and saw unshed tears shining in her eyes. His heart swelled even as it ached. So sweet, so perfect. So theirs.
“That is not going to happen,” he promised solemnly. “Say the words, allow us to claim you as we ache to do.”
“Yes.”
It was whispered, but it was there. Sweeping her off her feet, Ilya rushed to the master bedroom, the one he and Ivan had created with care but never used, placing her on her feet next the bed. As Ilya moved behind her, Ivan stepped up to her front, caressing her cheek before moving to unfasten the buttons of the shirt she wore. As his brother slowly moved the material down and away from her body, Ilya feasted on her lovely skin, tasting her in gentle kisses from her neck to the small of her back. How perfectly she was shaped, like an abundant hourglass, curved in all the right places. Ivan lifted her once the shirt and socks were gone, placing her on the middle of the bed and kissing down the front of her body.
Ilya didn’t join them immediately, but watched as Ivan greedily suckled her breasts as his hands wandered down her stomach to her pelvis. Her legs opened for Ivan immediately, allowing his full access to her dewy, glistening pussy. Ilya’s mouth watered, but he still didn’t move forward. As he slowly disrobed, the watched her every response to what his brother was doing. The way she sighed when Ivan circled her nipple with his tongue. The way she whimpered when he plunged his finger deep inside her pussy while sucking hard on the breast he had so recently teased. He loved the way her breathing got harsher, her hips rising to meet Ivan’s fingers the more the thick fingers pistoned in and out of her. By the time her whimpers became full-blown cries of pleasure, Ilya was right there beside her on the bed, taking in every nuance. As her body tensed, a cry of release blossoming on her lips, Ilya took her mouth with his own, swallowing her scream of pleasure.
He smiled as her eyes slowly opened, leaning back to caress her face.
“You are gorgeous, kotyonok,” he murmured, pushing her hair away from her face. “But even more so when you come for us.”
His voice was thicker to his own ears, but it was so enticing watching her pleasure. He could tell by the looks crossing her face now that Ivan was a long way from being done. Glancing down her frame he saw his brother slowly kissing his way down her frame, holding open her thighs while he nuzzled all along her pussy without touching it quite yet.
“That is driving you crazy, isn’t it?” he asked, tweaking a rock-hard nipple between his fingers. “You want him to taste you, don’t you, Aya?” When she didn’t answer, he tweaked her nipple harder. “I’m sorry, love. I couldn’t quite hear you.”
“Yes,” she croaked out. “Oh, goddess, yes, I need him to taste me!”
“Need? That is certainly serious,” Ilya cooed, rewarding her with a soft, gentle kiss. “Ivan, our little kitten is in need.”
Watching Ivan slowly lick his way up her pussy was the most erotic thing Ilya had ever witnessed. This wasn’t the first time they had ever shared a lover, but it was the first time they had ever made love to their mate. That made it more exciting, more alluring. Ilya filled his hands with her ample breasts, caressing and kneading them as he watched Ivan feast on her.
“If you could only see what I see,” he whispered hotly in between searing kisses. “How beautiful you are…” kiss, “…how perfect Ivan looks between your thighs…” kiss. “You are perfection, Aya. You are ours.”
It didn’t take long at all before she was bucking against Ivan’s mouth. Unable to stand not touching her, Ilya engulfed her breast in his mouth, sucking greedily. He was so hard, so ready. But this was for her. They had to make her feel as if she were the most desirable female in the world, because to them she was.
“Please!” Aya whined, one hand clutching Ivan while the other tugged at his hair. “I can’t…I can’t…”
“Let go, kotyonok,” Ilya demanded roughly, looking up to watch her. “Show us how much you want us, need us.�
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This orgasm was far more intense than the last. Ilya could feel her body shaking as she screamed, still clutching each of them for dear life. As soon as the quakes settled somewhat, Ivan lifted his body, moving away from the bed. Ilya smoothly slid on top of her to hover.
“Last chance, Aya,” he warned her, his cock pulsating madly at her entrance. “Once we take you, you will be ours. And we will never let you go.”
Fates be praised, she actually smiled up at him. “I could never be anyone else’s.”
That was all he needed. Ilya slammed home hard and fast.
Chapter Seven
Aya thought she was more than prepared for Ilya’s entrance inside her. She had been wrong. Nothing could have prepared her for the incredibly thick, impossibly long shaft embedded so deep inside her she couldn’t move. Hell, she could barely breathe!
“I won’t move until you adjust,” Ilya promised, his voice sounding deliciously strained. In fact, he looked to be almost in pain. She could feel the tension in his body as he fought to stay completely still. Just thinking of how badly he wanted her made her grow even wetter.
“I think our kitten wants you to move,” Ivan murmured, climbing back on the bed, this time without his clothes. “Don’t you, Aya? You want Ilya to pump his cock in and out of you. You want him to possess you completely.” Goddess, yes, she did. To hear Ivan say it made her want it even more. “And when he does, I will be right here watching,” he went on. “Touching you, kissing you, biting you.”
Aya came in a rush, completely by surprise; her body just fell apart at his words, causing her to jerk underneath Ilya. That was all it took to get him to move, praise the Fates. In, then out, slow, powerful strokes that made her body sing.
“You are so wonderfully responsive, lyubimaya moya,” Ivan encouraged, reaching down between her and Ilya’s body to find her clit. “I find I have need to see you come over and over again. Can you do that for me, Aya-love?”
As if she had any kind of a choice! Ivan had begun to slowly circle her clit with the pad of his finger while Ilya stroked her pussy to perfection. The combination of sensations was overwhelming, threatening to drive her crazy.
“One day soon, you will take us both,” Ilya promised, his aquamarine colored eyes blazing down on her. “At the same time. We will fill you up, possessing every inch of your body.”
They already were, and she was giving them access gladly. The problems outside the room faded to nothing as Aya became nothing more than a being of pure sensation. Her back arched, her thighs spreading even wider.
“As soon as you come, I will take Ilya’s place,” Ivan promised. “And we will both mark you, making you ours forever. Would you like that, Aya?”
In response, Aya threw her head back, baring her neck. She hadn’t even thought about what she was doing, just acted on instinct. Ilya snarled above her, his hips slamming into her faster and faster. Ivan’s fingers became more insistent. Aya could feel something building deep inside her, like an impending tsunami. Soon, but goddess, not soon enough!
“Now, Aya!” Ilya thundered, his dick plunging inside her so hard, so fast it was hard to keep her breath. “Come for me now.”
He pushed in deep, hard, grinding his pelvis against hers. Ivan chose that exact moment to withdraw his hand a split second before Ilya smashed their bodies together and took a breast into his mouth while his fingers toyed with the free nipple. Aya detonated. Completely, utterly, from the inside out. Her body was limp, completely sated as the brothers shifted positions, with Ilya now behind her, holding her, while Ivan took his place between her thighs.
How could she take any more? There was no way she could…
But then Ivan entered her, slowly, but without pause. Every bit as endowed as his brother, he stretched her just as much, filled her just as perfectly.
“Now there is a lovely sight, krasavitsa,” Ilya murmured, nuzzling the side of her neck while his hands played with her chest, plucking her nipples between his fingers. “Look at the way the two of you are joined. See how beautifully you are connected?”
As if all he had to do was instruct her to look, her gaze went to the cock pressing inside her before retreating. It was fascinating to watch the shaft repeating the cycle over and over again. They did look beautiful. The contrast of her dark skin against his tanned but much paler tone was entrancing. But it felt even better than it looked. All of her senses seemed wide open, receiving their passion, their desire for her. Oh sweet moon it was almost too much, but it would never be enough.
“He was so hard for you,” Ilya breathed. “So ready. It drove him crazy to watch me take you and not be inside you too.” Oh, goddess, it was building again. A euphoric ache that was building, building—ever closer to the surface. “Just as I want to be back inside you now. I still want you, still hard for you…”
She couldn’t hold back. She felt the stirring of her orgasm on the very edge of her senses, but then both Ilya and Ivan sank their fangs into either side of her neck. The pain mixed with pleasure was exquisite. Aya screamed, her body convulsing. The connection was immediate; their desire slammed into her, increasing the power of her already titanic release. She felt Ivan come, but she could also sense it as if she were a part of him. The same with Ilya; she felt his desire as well as the completeness he’d felt from his own orgasm earlier.
All the sensations coursing through assaulted her at once. She couldn’t hold on. Not really feeling the need to, Aya allowed them to overtake her, slipping into a deep, finally peaceful sleep.
Chapter Eight
Watching Aya sleep peacefully was a joy. Seeing her where she belonged—in between himself and Ilya—was heaven. Ivan knew there was a silly grin on his face, but he just couldn’t help himself. This was so much more than he’d ever hoped for—ever dreamed. The baby’s cradle had been moved into the room just after Aya had passed out, or rather fallen into a deep sleep. It was needed in her case; she’d been through so much in such a short amount of time. Soon, he and Ilya would have to leave her here to rest alone, though. Dinner had to be prepared, and there was a very important phone call he needed to make.
Aya had told them this Nicoli had at least six other tigers with him. It was beyond strange, as tigers never moved around in packs like that. They had their family, or streak as they were called by humans, and that was all. Even within families, each adult male generally found his own territory, close to his family but not too close. All indications pointed to Nicoli being far more dangerous than even Gleb had been. Not a good sign. Attempting to stand alone against his numbers would be foolish. Ivan just hoped their streak could get here before Nicoli found the place. Yes, they had wiped Aya’s trail clean, but only as far as a few miles away from the property’s borders. In the meantime, he and Ilya needed to work on defenses as best they could. Set up traps and early warning systems. Just in case.
Mentally going over all the things they had on hand to help them achieve this goal, Ivan jumped at the heavy knock sounding at the front door. He and Ilya shared a quick look before disentangling themselves from Aya’s still prone body and quickly slipping on jeans. Ivan didn’t bother with a shirt or even shoes as he silently made his way to the front door, Ilya right by his side.
The scent—or scents—hit him just before they reached the heavy oak that shut out the outside world from their inner sanctum. Their home now. Uncle Valeri, Aunt Megan, Luke, Mica, Sergei, Maxim and Grigori stood on the other side. The only people missing were Misha and… No, there he was. Misha and Elba and two cubs bringing up the rear. The cavalry had arrived!
Ivan threw open the door, ready to tell them everything before they all could even get into the house, but as usual, Uncle Valeri beat him to the punch.
“We were tired of you finding excuses not to come home, so we decided to bring home to you this Christmas,” their boisterous uncle announced loudly.
Too loudly. The baby woke with a little yelp. They had gotten to know the yelp was a mere precursor t
o a deluge of teas and powerful little screams if he wasn’t attended to right away. Ilya was on it in a heartbeat, racing up the stairs to the bedroom, leaving Ivan alone with eleven pairs of inquisitive eyes.
“Come in, have a seat,” he sighed. “This may take a minute to explain.”
By the time they were all in the living room, staring at him expectantly, Ilya had returned with a bright-eyed Caleb in his arms.
“That is your cub,” Aunt Megan announced, confusion evident in every word. “But the mating I smell is recent. How is that possible?”
While Aunt Megan hadn’t been raised a shifter, she was indeed a tigress through and through. And a fast learner, apparently. Tigers couldn’t reproduce without mating. It had been previously been believed that they couldn’t have sex before meeting their destined mate. Uncle Valeri had been mated before, but Fate had blessed him with another—Aunt Megan. Before Megan had come into their lives, no one even knew a tiger could mate twice.
“Caleb is our son,” Ivan began carefully, not really sure how to go about explanations without Aya. This was in large part her story; she deserved to tell it the way she wanted. “And our mate is…”
“Like me,” Megan breathed out in awe, looking towards the staircase. She was half out of her seat when Ilya and Ivan moved in unison to stand in front of the steps.
“She’s sleeping,” they said in perfect unison, trying not to show aggression towards their family, but unwilling to allow anyone to disturb their new mate.
“You managed to find a tigress and a cub in the middle of nowhere?” Sergei moaned, sinking down into the cushions of the couch. “That’s just not right. It’s not fair!”
“What, and you’re in a hurry to get mated all of a sudden?” Maxim lifted a brow, but still peered at his cousin curiously. “Seriously, though, how is it you managed to find another tigress in the middle of nowhere, Idaho?”