by Donya Lynne
“Is that your way of saying I’m right and you’ll go see Brak and your father?”
He cupped her face in his large right hand. The hand that could strike death in an instant or infuse her with more pleasure than she’d ever felt.
“It’s my way of saying that fate got this shit right.” He pushed his fingers into her hair. “You and me? We’re good together. Fate chose my mate well.”
Cordray wasn’t about all the girly shit. She wasn’t into flowers, romantic shows of affection, or candlelit dinners on the beach, but something about hearing Trace proclaim that fate had gotten things right by making her his mate made her want to roll around in rose petals while snuggling with purring kittens.
After reeling in the smile that overtook her face, she said, “Yeah, well, you still haven’t answered my question. Are you going to go see Brak and Maddox?”
The corners of his mouth turned up. “See? You’re perfect. Always busting my balls.”
“Two weeks ago, you would have sent me through the window for even bringing Brak up.”
“That was two weeks ago. This is now.” He reclined, dropping his head back to his pillow, taking her with him, pushing her hair away from her face. “My attitude has changed where you’re concerned.”
“Ditto, stud.” She grinned down at him, supported by her arms outstretched on either side of his shoulders. “Now, are you going to go visit them or not?”
He searched her eyes then gently nodded. “Yes, beast master,” he said mockingly. “On one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“You go with me so I can introduce you.” He squeezed her rump. “As my mate.”
She smirked. “You’re never going to get tired of calling me that, are you?”
“Nope.”
She sighed then nestled herself against him, resting her head on his chest. “I guess I can live with that.”
His fingertips traipsed up and down her back, sending pleasant shimmers through her nerve endings. “So, are you going to tell me what happened last night before I got here? And who I need to kill for putting you in danger?”
“I wasn’t in danger.”
“You were tied up.”
“But I was never in danger.”
“Still—”
“I’m fine, Trace.”
“Just tell me what happened.” He swatted her ass. Hard.
She shot up at the sharp contact and let out a startled squeak. She’d never been spanked, and she had to admit, she kind of liked it. Not being able to feel pain had its advantages, but some types of pain were obviously more pleasurable than others. “Did you just spank me?”
“Yes. And I will again if you don’t tell me what happened here last night.”
She briefly considered the idea, thinking it might be fun to experience a little painful pleasure at Trace’s hand. Then she decided they could play later.
“Skeletor was here.”
Trace shot up, gripping her around the waist so she didn’t slide off is lap. “What?”
“Calm down, beast boy.” She patted his cheek. “He wasn’t here to hurt me.”
“Like hell.” Possessive, mated rage flashed over his expression. “He tied you up. He could have hurt you. He could have violated you.”
Cordray had never even considered the possibility, because while Skeletor was a lot of things, rapist wasn’t one of them. In the few encounters she’d had with him, not once had he put off the signal that he was capable of such an act. He seemed more noble than that.
“But he didn’t.” She took Trace’s face in her hands and steadied him. “He didn’t, okay? I’m fine. I’m safe. I’m untouched.”
Trace’s mated-male side wasn’t ready to give up the chase. “I swear to God, when I catch him, he’s going to wish he’d never—”
“Calm down, tiger.” She had to admit, she liked seeing him so worked up over her safety. It was nice knowing she had a male like Trace—with a built-in nuclear device in his hand—catching her back.
His fury dialed back a notch, and he took a deep breath as if trying to force himself to relax. “What did he want?”
“To warn me.” She averted her gaze, knowing she needed to tell Trace that she was Bain’s sister.
She was between a rock and hard place. By keeping her relationship to Bain a secret, she would betray the trust that should exist between mates, but by revealing that relationship, she would betray her brother. Well, her half-brother, but what difference did that make? She was still going to betray someone in this scenario.
“Warn you about what?”
“He wants me to stop helping Micah track him down.” She quickly told Trace about how Skeletor had hacked her. About how Micah had determined he’d used the underground pedway to escape. About what she’d learned about the stolen ankh.
She thought back over her encounter with Skeletor the night before. “You know, he said something strange to me last night. When I mentioned that he was endangering my kids, he said that I’ve got bigger problems here than him.”
“What did he mean by that?”
“He wouldn’t tell me. He said that if I wanted to know, I needed to stop helping Micah.”
Trace scoffed. “And if we don’t stop?”
“We?”
He grinned as his eyelids closed halfway, his expression dripping with possessive sexuality. “Oh yeah, baby. We’re definitely a we now.”
She rolled her eyes and sighed. “We are, huh?”
His arms encircled her more securely. “Definitely. So tell me, if we don’t stop, what’s Skeletor going to do?”
“Other than not tell me what my real problem is here?” She bit her lip and lowered her gaze, recalling Skeletor’s words. I’ll tell everyone who you really are.
Trace stiffened as if he’d picked up on her nervousness. “Cordray?”
She drew in a long, fortifying breath then blew it out as she lifted her gaze to his.
She had to make a choice. Either she was going to be faithful to her mate, or she was going to remain faithful to her brother. She couldn’t have both.
“Cordray, what aren’t you telling me?”
She bowed her head and sighed. “Trace, I need to tell you who I am. Who I really am.”
Chapter 35
“You’re King Bain’s sister?” Now that Trace looked closely, he saw the family resemblance. The black hair. The blue eyes. The aristocratic nose and high cheekbones.
“Half-sister,” she corrected, frowning. She nervously bit her lip.
It all made sense now. How she got away with addressing the king as Bain instead of King Bain. How she was able to speak to him so casually and disagree with him without suffering repercussions. Why she’d reacted with such disgust when he thought she and King Bain were lovers. How she had been able to persuade him to shorten Trace’s prison sentence from a month to two weeks, as well as convince him to give Io a chance and not execute him.
Wait a second. Did this mean . . .?
“Are you saying I mated a princess?”
Her cheeks filled with color. “Technically yes. Officially? No. No one can know my true relationship to the royal family, or it will damage Bain’s reign. People will see him differently. They’ll judge him for the actions of our father.”
Trace ran the backs of his fingers over her cheek. “I promise not to say anything. Not even to Micah.”
“Yeah, but he can see inside your thoughts now. He’ll find out eventually.”
“And I’ll swear him to secrecy when he does. Micah’s tight. He won’t reveal your secret if I tell him not to.”
She swept her hands down his shoulders and over his biceps, letting them come to rest at his elbows. “If you haven’t noticed, Micah doesn’t exactly like me.”
“Yeah, but you and I are mates now.” He took her hands in his. “He’ll honor that.”
“Well, even if he does, Skeletor might not.”
“What do you mean? Does he know?”
She bit her lip then nodded. “I don’t know how, but he knows. And he says if I don’t back off, he’s going to tell everybody. I can’t let that happen.”
“Fuck him. We’ll get to him before he can do any damage.”
She nibbled the inside of her bottom lip, the skin around her eyes tight. “I want to believe you, but he’s proving to be a worthy opponent. What if we can’t stop him?”
He cradled her face in his hand and rubbed his thumb reassuringly over her cheek. “We will. He might have an advantage now, but the tables can turn in a blink. We’ll get him.”
She nodded tightly then let out an abrupt sigh as she shifted on his lap and forced a wary smile. “So, you’re not mad?”
“About what?”
“That I’m Bain’s sister.”
He laughed and let go of her hands so he could wrap his arms around her hips and draw her closer. “Are you kidding? I mated a princess.” He tilted his head to the side. “True, you’re not the kind of princess who wears designer gowns and tiaras and paints her fingernails all day, but if you were, I’d probably curse God for pairing me up with you. I can’t stand all that hoity-toity bullshit.”
“Hey, I’ve been known to paint my fingernails.”
“But I bet you paint them black or purple or dark blue. You know, some cool color. Something wicked. Just like you.”
“You think I’m wicked?”
Trace arched one eyebrow. “Does Godzilla breathe fire?”
Her eyes danced upward as she rocked her head side to side. “Technically, it’s not fire. It’s nuclear fumes or some shit. Godzilla’s a biological nuclear reactor.” She leaned forward and nipped his upper lip. “Kind of like you.”
Always the contrarian, but she was his contrarian. His feisty, frisky female. “Quit being cute. You know what I mean.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean.” She pushed away. “Come on, we should get cleaned up. Mya and Brenna will be in the kitchen getting ready for breakfast any minute.”
“Not yet.” He pulled her back down. His lips met hers in a blood-warming caress. He wasn’t ready for the lust-inducing revelation of being mated to end just yet. “Five more minutes.”
* * *
Five minutes turned into fifteen, followed by a shared shower where, for the first time ever, Cordray actually felt the water rushing over her body as Trace pressed her face-first against the wall and fucked her from behind, sinking his fangs into the curve where her neck met her shoulder as he came.
He’d marked her with his bite at least half a dozen times. Her neck, her shoulder, her breast, even her inner thigh.
After the venom euphoria wore off, he shampooed her hair and lathered her body from head to toe, paying special attention between her legs, where he used his fingers to coax yet another orgasm from her.
By the time they finished, the water had begun to run cool.
Time to buy a bigger water heater.
While Trace cleaned up the mess in the hallway, she joined Mya and Brenna in the kitchen.
“Good morning.” Even with only a couple hours of sleep, she was wide awake and alert.
Mya looked her up and down, holding a half-peeled orange, and flashed a knowing smile. “And good morning to you. What were you up to last night?” Today, Mya wore a light-blue T-shirt with a cartoon marshmallow, graham cracker, and slab of chocolate running away from a ball of fire. Where she found these funny shirts of hers, Cordray had no idea, but she seemed to have an endless supply of them.
Cordray poured herself a mug of coffee and leaned against the counter. “Nothing much.” She blew over the hot liquid then sipped.
Mya leaned closer and sniffed. “Yeah, sure. That’s why you smell like a sex marathon and have the remnants of a bite mark on your neck.”
Her hand flew to her throat, and she quickly adjusted her collar to cover the evidence of what Trace had done to her.
Brenna glanced up long enough from cutting biscuits out of homemade dough to give her a wicked grin. “You wouldn’t be taking advantage of the help now, would you, C?”
Both females giggled as Cordray found herself in unfamiliar territory. The I-just-got-fucked-silly-and-found-my-mate kind of territory.
Trace chose that moment to saunter into the kitchen like the sex god he was.
“Morning, ladies.” He glanced from Mya to Brenna as he slid behind Cordray and purred, lowering his voice provocatively as he turned her around and brushed his lips over hers. “Beast master,” he said in greeting.
Heat flooded her cheeks, as well as other parts of her body, as his arms slinked around her waist. He nuzzled her neck, that deep purr stabbing pleasure into the very heart of her.
After hours of enjoying each other, she would have thought they could go at least five minutes without getting hot for one another, but damn, this mated business wasn’t having any of that. She wanted him now as badly as she’d wanted him in the hall last night.
“Don’t you have someplace to be?” she said, gently nudging him, even though all she wanted was to take him back upstairs to bed. But he needed to go back for the SUV he’d left at Micah’s house, and then she was planning on meeting him so they could visit his brother before she had to leave for Grudge Match. Hopefully, Micah had received his invite and would be there tonight so they could get started on figuring out the connection between the fight club and Bishop’s lab.
Trace’s lips brushed over her ear, and he whispered, “I’m exactly where I want to be.” He placed a chaste kiss that was full of naughty intentions behind her ear.
Mya and Brenna giggled, knocking awareness back into her. Smiling, she eased out of his grasp and took his hand. “Um, yeah. Trace and I are sort of . . . well . . .we’re—”
“We’re mated.” Trace proudly jutted his chin as his chest puffed out like a cocky rooster’s.
Mya gasped. Brenna’s mouth fell open a split second before she covered it with her hand.
Heat flooded Cordray’s face as she first met Brenna’s gaze then Mya’s, who was smugly eyeing her. “Don’t go looking at me like that, Mya.”
“Like what?” Mya smirked, her eyes twinkling mischievously.
“Like you want to tell me you told me so.”
Mya went back to peeling oranges. “Well, I did. I told you your biological clock was ticking.”
Cordray lifted her abashed gaze to Trace’s, only to find unadulterated reverence shining back at her. She nibbled her lip under his heated stare.
“My tough-as-nails mate.” He flashed her a confident, crooked grin. His thumb rubbed back and forth on her knuckles. “But I don’t care how tough you think you are, Cordray. It’s my responsibility to take care of you. It’s my duty from this day forward to see to your every need and protect you. Your breath is my breath now. Your blood, my blood. And I don’t intend to take either for granted.” He closed the short distance between them. “I’ve searched all my life for you. You, Cordray.” He squeezed her fingers. “You were made expressly for me. You tame my beast and make me feel free for the first time in my life. Truly free. And in front of these witnesses”—he glanced toward Mya and Brenna—“I vow to have, keep, and nurture you for as long as I walk this earth—whether you like it or not—and rain hell down on anyone who tries to take you from me.”
Damn. Now that was a declaration of love. Prince Valiant had nothing on Trace.
Girly shit be damned, if there had been a tub of pink candy hearts in her kitchen, she would have dived in and risked sugar shock. Bring this girl a bouquet of roses and a heart-shaped box filled with truffles, because Valentine’s Day just became her favorite holiday.
“Um . . .wow?” They were the only words she could muster.
He smirked. “What’s this? You’re speechless? I actually rendered you speechless?”
“Don’t get cocky, Trace. You caught me off guard, that’s all.”
He chuckled, and the sound reminded her of cherries covered in dark chocolate. Decadent and sweet, with a bit of tartness to m
ake the tongue sing.
The back door flew open and Null dashed into the kitchen, little Aiden close behind.
“Twace! Twace! Make me fly!”
Trace leaned down, picked Null up, and spun him around before tossing him just high enough that he didn’t hit the ceiling. Then he settled him on his hip and tapped his button nose with the tip of his index finger. “I’ve got to run into the city for a while, little man, but I’ll be back later, okay? And then I’ll really show you how to fly.” He booped his nose again. “How’s that sound?”
Null flung his arms around Trace’s neck, squealing and kicking his little legs excitedly.
Trace caught Cordray’s eye as he handed Null to her. “I’ll see you later.”
“I’ll meet you at Micah’s in an hour or so.” She would dematerialize there rather than drive. Then they could take the Denali and ride together to where Brak was staying.
He leaned in, and as naturally as if she’d been doing it all her life, she lifted her face, meeting his mouth with hers in a tender kiss.
Null and Aiden giggled and slapped their hands over their eyes. “Ew, cooties.”
Trace smiled against her mouth then kissed her again. “I like your cooties.”
“You know, yours are kinda growing on me, too,” she replied.
He gave her one last kiss then kissed Null on the cheek and bent to kiss the top of Aiden’s head.
Then he headed out.
“Bye, Twace!” Null flapped his arm as he waved.
Mya eased up behind her while Null was distracted. “Hearts are flying out your ass, C,” she whispered.
“Get used to it,” she whispered back with a playful glare. “Because I’m crazy about that SOB.”
Mya giggled and returned to making fruit salad.
Cordray bounced Null on her hip, patting his rump. A moment later, something fell off his back pocket, skidding across her palm, then flipped to the floor.
She set Null down, crouched, and picked up a button.
“Turn around, Null. Let me see your jeans.”
He spun, and she inspected the tiny back pockets. One had a button and the other didn’t. Great. Another button to mend.