by Sabrina Rue
Throwing open the door to the porch, Desiree smiled at the oldest Were waiting there. “Come in and let’s see what we discover.”
Standing, he said, “Sweetheart, I’m a decade past a hundred. My Mate is probably long dead.”
“Stay positive!” Juliette called. “Our odds so far have been excellent.”
With that, the four of them got to work.
The poor man had no idea what to do with the knowledge that his Mate was the head of Vampire Parliament.
He stared at each of them fifteen minutes later with a frown. “Are you sure? I mean, they hate Weres almost as much as the Purists.” Hand on his slim hip, he huffed. “Pure jealousy, if you ask me. Those little shits are cold and barren.”
Justice laughed the way only a little boy could. “Yeah, we’re sure. The Vamps aren’t so bad, you know? My mom stayed with a couple for a little while once when she was hurt. She told me the movies either make them romantic or evil so some play it up.” He shrugged.
In a school teacher tone, Juliette told him, “She’s your Mate so you’ll get past the hurdles. Oh, and they live longer than Weres because they don’t procreate. Isn’t that fascinating?”
The elder Were gave a shiver. “I mean…it’s kind of terrifying.”
“No worries,” Desiree assured him. “You think on this and we’ll figure out a way to contact her.”
He shuffled from the room shaking his head.
It took several hours to not only inform the waiting Weres if their Mates were alive but to counsel them about steps to take forward.
Their last appointment was a Were from South Texas. He was tall, slender, with some unexpected opinions.
“Talon called and told me to get my ass up here. I’ve seen you match up a bunch of the others, told some their Mates were dead. I’m probably in the latter group but you know, I don’t really give a shit. Unlike most, I think a Mate will fuck my life all the way up. After eight decades alone, I can’t imagine having another person to think about. I’m not much of a people person. At all.”
Crossing his arms, he leaned against the heavy farmer’s table in the center of the room. “How do we go about all this?”
Juliette hopped up to sit on the edge of the table and stared at him. “I think you’re scared to death right now, Ridge. That’s okay. We see it a lot. You figure if you don’t get your hopes up, the news will hurt less. I get it. Let’s see what we find.”
She held out her hand and after a long pause, the Were put his in it.
Justice rested his hand on his sister’s forearm while Desiree and Titus each held the children’s shoulders.
After several seconds, Juliette frowned. “Stop fighting me! What are you do…? Oh! Oh, I see. Okay. Relax. Seriously, just relax.” The Were tried to tug his hand away and she hissed, “Stop it right now. No one will judge a damn thing. It’s unusual but not unheard of so calm down. A Mate is your biologically perfect other half.”
Desiree watched the male’s eyes and he looked terrified. “Ridge?” He glanced at her. “Breathe. Let us help you.”
He positioned his body as if preparing to run. Then he stopped trying to block them. “Fine.”
Juliette put her other hand on top of his. “As I thought.” She opened her eyes and said, “You never saw a Shaman. You knew what they’d find and you didn’t want anyone to know.”
“I don’t…”
“I found your Mate, Ridge,” she interrupted him. He whimpered in response. “I found the one person meant for you. You share the same terror because of familial obsession with preserving their bloodline. I wonder how much more tolerable the fear will be with someone at your side. You’ll be stronger together, happier together.”
“Y-you found my Mate?”
“I did. I can see them clearly. It will take Titus’s power pushing Desiree’s gift to get the name and location.”
“I don’t…you can’t.”
“Ridge.” His bright green eyes locked on Desiree’s. “The Daemon male who is your Mate is from a powerful family. Titus shared their lineage with me. There won’t be an easy path ahead but he’s very old, physically exhausted, and mentally worn down to a dangerous point.”
Titus said quietly, “Without you, Shika will die. When he does, he’ll take a lot of innocent people with him if the usual habits of those who break holds true. He needs you more than you need him, there’s no doubt about that. You won’t die without him.”
Stepping around Desiree and Justice, he stared at the Were. “However, what you must consider is that while you won’t die without him…will you ever truly live without him?”
“I don’t know what to do. Weres, ones like me, are rare.” He shook his head. “I-I don’t know what would happen. I need my Pack.”
“Titus is powerful and made me powerful,” Desiree informed him. “His actions made these children powerful and all of us will stand behind you. Mating as I have with a Daemon of such age will make you stronger than you ever imagined…what others think won’t matter.”
Reaching out, Titus lifted the man’s hand and turned it over to expose his wrist. “We can’t tell you what to do. I won’t force you even though I fear for your Mate’s eventual killing spree brought on by mental anguish and eternal loneliness…”
“No guilt or anything, right?” the Were asked with a careful smile.
“Perhaps a little,” her Mate replied. He pressed the pad of his thumb against Ridge’s inner wrist. The imprint glowed for a moment before fading to look like a pale birthmark. “If you decide to call for your Mate, I’ve placed a sort of…hmm, signal? By pressing this and picturing him in your mind, Shika will feel a sort of ripple across his consciousness that will make him seek you out.”
Releasing him, he stepped back. “Were males are strong. They aren’t ruled by fear. Cast yours aside and reach out to your Mate. You’ll both be happier for it.”
“I need to think.” Ridge stared at the floor. “Thank you. I’m unsure what to do but…thank you.”
He turned and walked from the small building.
Desiree walked over and collapsed on the sofa of the small seating area. “I’m exhausted. He was blocking us with everything he had.”
Titus sat beside her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “We’ve helped every member of Texas Pack over the age of sixty.”
She nodded as the kids flopped on the other sofa. “Daemons need our help badly.” Taking a deep breath, she said, “Let’s load up some supplies and get added protection for the kids. I want to start as soon as possible. Every day we hesitate is another chance that one of your people could begin to lose their grip on reality like Forneus.”
Holding her close, he kissed the top of her head and murmured, “Thank you, Mate.”
Justice said, “I’m starving! I’m going to take Juliette back and tell Grandma what happened.”
Desiree muttered, “Better you than me…have at it, kid.” The twins laughed and were gone an instant later. “I’m hungry, too.” She could feel Titus’s grin against her head. “Don’t make fun of me. I can’t help it that we eat more than three humans.”
“I’m going to take you home, put you in a lovely hot bath, and get everything necessary to make you a gourmet meal. Then I’m going to make love to you until you’re comatose with pleasure.”
“Of everything you just said, I find myself most fascinated with the fact that you know how to cook…”
Chuckling, he said, “I don’t require or remember basic needs anymore but I’ve learned a bit about everything in my long life.” Tilting her head up with his finger under her chin, he added in a grumble, “I can’t believe you’re more interested in my cooking than the pleasure I want to overdose you on.”
“Hmm…the order of things is incredibly important. By feeding me first, you give yourself a window of ten hours before I need to eat again. I’m sure you can be quite creative with those hours.”
Then he was kissing her, touching her, slowly undressing her.
The door slammed and she realized he’d transitioned to it and back fast enough to not break the kiss.
“I like trying new things again. Revealing your beautiful body one inch at a time. It has a certain eroticism I never would have expected.”
The time for discussion was over. Her Mate wanted to play and nothing else mattered as much.
CHAPTER TWENTY
There was much to be done and they needed time to rest, to prepare for their journey. They would take the children with them and bring them back when Hope was ready to deliver her daughter.
A contingent of Royal Guards would accompany them for the sole purpose of guarding Juliette and Justice. Their tutor asked to come along to document their work and offer a bit of normalcy to the twins.
The young Were male was excited to get started.
Titus would find the eldest of Daemon kind. Desiree’s gift would soothe them. Justice would provide his sister the power and peace to focus. A unit, working together, making strides to end two Daemon factions’ wars on human kind and those of the Lesser Kingdoms.
They needed to leave the following day, particularly after the effect finding a Mate had on the Daemon Forneus. All of them were anxious to get started and the children’s families understood the urgency.
Time could not be wasted.
After her promised dinner and luxurious soak, Titus transitioned them to the Between. He explained his refusal to neglect their Mate bond, particularly as new as it was and as long as he’d waited to find her.
Not even to save lives on every side.
His compromise was to use the threshold between her world and his. To steal the moments without wasting the seconds.
For hours, days, he loved her in the Between.
Kept her suspended in the space that bridged their worlds as he crawled over her body and made them closer with every touch, every word. Constantly encouraging her to take pleasure, delaying his own until he could no longer resist.
Titus loved her. With his heart, his soul, and his body. He loved her in ways she didn’t know it was possible for one being to love another.
As a result, Desiree let him fill her up in every way he could, and took him as part of herself.
It was magnificent.
There were no physical structures in the Between. Only light and mist. It wasn’t a place to exist but could be used to find the time alone they would need in the coming months.
Now that they were fully Mated, Titus felt no hesitation about using his power to place them in the sort of dream state.
The pleasure, the closeness, felt no less real.
Bracing her back with his palms spread to touch as much of her skin as possible, he watched her ride him and she didn’t look away while she took his cock as deep as possible.
The silver of his eyes held her mesmerized. The glint of his bright white canines made her veins throb to feel him drinking from her. His shimmering silver hair caused her palms to itch with the desire to hold it in her fists.
No matter what she wanted, he provided it. She never imagined a Mate who could intuit her curiosity and rise to the challenge of satisfying it.
Her Wolf was almost docile. Calm in ways she’d never been. Relaxed in his company and willing to listen to his direction. It made Desiree’s heart race when the powerful being who lived inside her bowed to the will of her Daemon Mate.
Riding him, she let herself trace all of him within her reach. Massaging lean muscle, petting skin that was softer than she would have thought before she touched it for the first time, scratching her claws over a male who only smiled at the pleasure/pain.
Throwing her head back when one climax after another stole her breath and made his hands tighten on her. Eventually, he took his own release but seemed enthralled watching hers.
Time didn’t pass for her in the Between but her lust for him wasn’t easily appeased. She was glad the feeling was mutual. Hunger didn’t affect her, sleep was unnecessary, and there were no bodily functions.
He came for her a dozen times and it made her wonder.
She whispered, “Do you want a child, Titus?”
The stumble in his rhythm, the way he held her hard enough to hurt, the increased force of his thrusts into her pussy, all told her how badly he wanted a child with his long-awaited Mate.
It was impossible to impregnate her in the Between. They were essentially fucking inside their minds. However, she wanted to know for their life outside their safe haven.
“The…fuck, Desiree.” He took several deep breaths. “The biological imperative Weres feel is nothing compared to Daemon kind. For many generations, our people have gradually lost numbers. Because we’re so long-lived, couples on my home world could produce a dozen children. More if they wished. Most Mates chose to stop at three.”
“On any planet, being able to have children endlessly would strain the environment, the ability to care for everyone sufficiently.”
He nodded against her and pulled back to look into her face. “When we arrived here, the inability to find our Mates meant very little offspring was produced. Wars, insanity, and death have claimed the lives of many who accompanied me here. Meanwhile, there have been fewer than five hundred Daemon births in all this time.”
“So few?” He nodded and as she traced her fingers over the angles of his face, she asked, “How many came here with you?”
“Seven thousand. Among those, only six were Mated within the first century.” He stroked her hair away from her face. “Concerned about the amount of time Matings were taking, those six couples produced half a dozen children each by the time we’d been here two hundred years. It took five centuries for three dozen of my people to discover their Mates. More than half of the original travelers are gone now.”
“Half? That’s terrible.” Desiree frowned. “Are you and your sister the last of your bloodline?” He nodded. “Titus…”
“I want a dozen children with you, Desiree. I won’t lie to you about that. The thought of watching them grow inside you, holding them in my arms, helping them learn all I have in my mind to teach them, has played in my dreams since the first time you took my hand.”
Inhaling deeply, he whispered, “As a member of the Royal family, the founding family of the capital on our home world, there’s an urgency to save those Daemons entrusted to my care. I must put my people before my need to contribute to my bloodline and our history.”
“I understand.” She idly wondered if he could hold to such a pledge.
He slipped his palm between them, smoothing it over her abdomen. “I must make progress, to know the oldest among us are on the road to recovery, and then, yes.”
Lowering, he claimed her mouth with aggression. “Yes, I want to place my child in your belly and become a father almost as much as I wanted to become a Mate.”
“I can wait.” She smiled and reached up to cup his face. “Let’s agree to five and negotiate from there.” His laughter vibrated through her and she pulled him back. “More. Right now, I need more, Titus.”
He nodded at her in silence as he pushed himself to greater efforts to leave her boneless with ecstasy.
Desiree let him give it his all without argument.
* * *
Eventually, Titus returned them to his house and tucked his Mate’s freshly cleaned and well-loved body beneath the blankets. A full night’s sleep was easy to attain after losing no time in the Between.
He watched her slumber, listened to her breathe, and held her warm, soft body against him.
Desiree assumed their synchronized heartbeats were a fluke but they would forever beat in tandem.
Should he lose her, he’d follow within a day. If she lost him, she’d stop breathing as well. Insisting on drinking of him until her body passed the Were threshold, she refused to be left to live without him.
It was a development Titus hadn’t expected when he learned of his little Wolf.
Redbird Blackwell was one example of a Were Mate who managed to carry on aft
er losing those who completed her soul. Slade Kassis was another who bore the pain for two years after losing his Journey.
Every member of the Lesser Kingdoms could continue without their destined Mate but not one Daemon had ever managed it.
Their lives were simply too long.
Grief that went on and on for decades, centuries, millennia, eventually destroyed the psyche. Only their Mates made such an extended existence bearable. Having another to walk beside you into years that continued without end was a source of peace. Losing them after connecting on a cellular level simply could not be overcome.
Now, his Mate was more Daemon than Were. It would protect Desiree against everything but iron piercing her organs or being cut down by one of the swords forged by his people.
He would keep her safe. Together, they’d complete the mission they’d assigned themselves and then he’d bend his will to seeing her receive all she dreamed of having.
Children were at the top of that list. It wasn’t surprising. The Weres were more family-oriented than the rest of the Others.
Shifters were solitary outside their litter mates. Vampires were too bitchy to live together. Merpeople migrated in similar patterns to their ocean counterparts but were rarely seen in groups larger than three.
Outside their covens, true witches and warlocks were few and far between. They were insular by nature and incredibly secretive.
There were too few of the remaining races to even form a true Pack, though many had attempted it. Perhaps stopping the Purists would make it possible for them to rebuild their numbers in the future.
None of those who had ever touched his body over the course of his long life had ever succeeded in reaching his heart. There were times he’d resented his seeming inability to love. As if every emotion inside of him insisted on waiting for someone who might never arrive.
Now, his beautiful Desiree was stretched out peacefully beside him in a bed he’d designed and carved himself when he was barely five hundred years old. A quiet preparation for his Mate.