by M. L. Briers
“Ok, George…” Zana said his name and immediately heard a deep rumble within his chest. He obviously liked the way that she said it. “So … talk to me, George.”
“We’re mates…” he said, then abruptly stopped.
“I got that email…” she smiled.
“And fate wants us to…” he stopped again. It was harder than he thought it was going to be.
“Bond…” she said and his beast rose up within him…
Mine…
“Mate…” he rushed out, slamming the cage door on his wolf before the beast got a foothold.
“That leads to bonding…” she said…
Mine…
George groaned outwardly as he fought his beast once more…
“You really need to stop saying that word…” George muttered.
“Oh, because of your…?” she shrugged a little…
“Big problem…” George growled back.
“Got it.”
“So, I was wondering…”
“Please don’t ask for a ballpark figure, an estimated time of mating, because…”
“I wasn’t…” George scowled at the thought.
He wasn’t about to pressure her into anything. She was his. And his beast could damn well wait until she was ready – he knew he could…
“Good, so …?” she rolled her eyes around the area. Not that she could see much beyond his chest, his shoulders, and his face… “We’re good? Done here?”
“N-no…” George looked confused.
“O-k…” she relaxed a little more.
She was already fighting her body to try to keep her frame as normal as possible, even with it having a mind of its own and wanting to press herself as damn close as she could get to him…
Hell, if she’d let her body have its way then she might have just crawled up his thick muscled thighs and wrapped herself around him like a clinging vine…
“I just need to know that you are considering it…”
“Hell, yes…”
Zana was more than surprised by the words that shot out of her mouth, she was gobsmacked – but the grin that took his lips and backlit his eyes was almost worth the rush of awkwardness that slapped her around the back of the head and made her wish that the ice storm was back so she could bury her heated cheeks in something frosty.
“That’s all I needed to know…” George grinned like the wolf that had got its prey right where he wanted it.
“I’m going to go and … dig a big hole and bury myself in it now…” she muttered the last part…
“One more thing…” George rushed out, before she could start to pull away from him…
Then he brought his lips down on hers with a kiss that was more than demanding – it was impossible to say no to.
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
~
“Whoa … my bad, just make out like I’m not here…” Vicky muttered as she rounded the corner of the stone wall and came face to face with … wooing.
“One could only wish it was that easy…” Connor called out to her as George and Zana disentangled themselves from each other.
“Connor, so help me, that’s three for three…” Vicky stalked around the corner and there was the sound of a hard grunt that came from the vampire…
“Those two are really mates?” Zana asked, taking a long step back from George even thought her body and mind disagreed with her decision…
“Mates…” George growled on a nod of his head.
His body was primed for so much more, and he needed to back the hell off and let her move away from him, before he took things to the next level…
Mine… His beast demanded…
Soon… He growled back – keeping the cage on his wolf firmly locked inside of him.
~
~
~
“So, if all goes to plan…?” Roloko stood on the edge of the vast Glen and eyed the witch that faced him.
He was searching for signs of deceit from her. Her mate was impossible to read, and she was difficult, but her mask slipped at times.
“Your dragon should start to slumber…” Vicky informed him.
“At which point…” Connor started, but Roloko didn’t let him finish.
“You’ll kill me…” he said – his eyes still firmly locked onto Vicky’s face to catch even the remotest of giveaway signs…
“Don’t be a butthead …” she offered back. “If we wanted to kill you then we could have done it.”
“Yes, but then you wouldn’t have been able to test your magic and they would just have sent someone else.”
“Trusting soul…” Connor bit out with a roll of his eyes.
“With good cause,” Vicky reminded him. “Imagine if your dark side had been on a leash for the last six hundred years…”
“It is…” Connor shot back.
“You still feed. His dragon doesn’t get to come out and play…” Vicky shot back.
“I wouldn’t call it playing…” Roloko said … but neither mate was paying the blindest bit of attention to him…
“Here we go…” Landon grumbled, eyeing the sky, and groaning inwardly.
“I feed, but my dark side is still…”
“Ohh, boo-hoo for you…” Vicky babied him and the vampire scowled.
“Moving on…” Connor announced.
“Lets…” Landon grumbled.
“They are seriously mates?” Roloko questioned the alpha bear…
“Yep,” Landon grumbled, folding his arms across his chest and grunting in amusement.
“Fine…” Vicky bit out with a big dollop of annoyance for her mate.
“Good,” Connor shot back.
“Damn…” Roloko shook his head.
“Get ready…” Vicky warned the man.
Then she stilled her mind and concentrated on the power of the witches that were not too far away in the castle. She mixed her magic with theirs and started the chain of events that would bring about the whole of the area being bathed with magic, and hopefully, protected by it.
Roloko felt the draining of energy from his body towards the dragon as the beast tried to hold onto its place within him. It was becoming weak as it started the short journey towards slumbering once more.
But the beast didn’t go without a fight, trying to cling onto the present, as it slid back into the dormant state…
Roloko’s legs grew weaker the more that the beast pulled on his very essence. His muscles quivered as he fought to stay upright, but it didn’t take much more for his knees gave way beneath him.
He shot out a hand as he dropped to the ground.
“How far do we let the dragon go?” Landon asked…
“Just far enough that the ancestors believe the alpha is dead and the dragon is set to slumber … or die.” Connor answered, keeping a careful watch on the man as the fire slowly died within his eyes…
Connor waited as long as he could. Then he moved fast to toss the dragon shifter over his back and carry him beneath the protection of the witches…
“We’re done, right?” Connor asked Vicky as the witch opened her eyes…
“Done. The dragon was almost at slumber, which means for all intense and purposes – the true alpha is dead and the dragon is no threat…” She gave a small victorious grin to her mate.
“You see, this is why I love that you are so damn devious.”
~
~
~
Roloko hadn’t expected to survive. He’d believed that once he had played his part in making the ancestors think that the true alpha was dead then they would kill him and end the whole sorry tale there and then.
But, there he was, being given long, curious looks by other members of the pack and clan that had found their way out of the charred castle…
“Let’s talk living arrangements…” Connor said as he strolled up behind the behemoth and slapped him on the back… “Hmm, solid … like a brick wall.”
Roloko eyed the vam
pire for a long moment…
“You’re not my type…” he offered in a dry tone that impressed the vampire.
“And a sense of humour to boot,” Connor announced with relish. “We’re gonna get on just fine for the next hundred years or so…”
“Hundred…” Roloko scowled down at the man…
“Maybe longer, considering the mates might have offspring…” Connor smirked.
“You never said hundreds of years…” Roloko grumbled.
“Welcome to your new home,” Connor chuckled. “But, don’t worry. I’m sure our little witches or their little witch-let ankle biters can eventually come up with a charm, token, talisman, or some such that will allow you to venture further afield.”
Roloko grunted. It was deep, hard, and sounded like someone had thudded him on the back.
“Oh, and I’d stay away from Vicky for a while, because when she stops crowing about saving you and the true alpha, I think she’s going to be really miffed about what you did to her castle.” Connor said, before expanding his hand and motioning to the green, luscious fields and the mountain that towered above them.
“Home…” Roloko nodded solemnly.
His dragon already felt at ease.
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
~
With a flick of Zana’s wrist she held the dagger between them, pressed up against the hard bulge of his aching length that was fit to burst out of the jeans that he wore.
“Not another step, and stop drooling…” she offered to the true alpha – the feral looking, sexy God like man that stood before her like a statue – now that his manhood was in danger…
George’s jet black eyes took her in. She was sure that she saw a glimmer of red in them a moment before, but that was gone now – they were hungry eyes, but, it wasn’t food that he lusted after…
The muscles of his jaw tweaked with tension, and a moment later a wide, wolfish smile spread his lips and backlit thoughtful dark eyes with a sprinkling of humour…
“My kickass, witch mate…” The depth of his tone rumbled through the air along with a growl that underpinned his words and caused her heart to miss a beat, maybe two – she wasn’t counting – she was too enamoured with that smile…
“You know it,” Zana offered back, lifting her chin with pride, and looking him squarely in the eye…
“So, what are we going to do about it?” George said, leaning towards her just enough to put a little pressure on that dagger – she gave an inch, easing the blade against his length, and he took a mile…
His hand reached for her wrist, and a heartbeat later, her back was against his chest – one of his thick, muscled arms was wrapped around her body holding her in place, and the hand that held that dagger was now trapped out to one side…
She’d let her guard down and he’d got her good…
“Compromise is good…” she offered back.
George couldn’t resist dipping his head and taking her scent at source. His beast rumbled an approving growl that echoed through his broad chest and vibrated against her back…
“I have you where I want you…” George growled the words against her ear, and his heated breath sent a shiver down her spine and every fine hair on her body rushed to stand to attention.
“Maybe, I have you where I want you…” Zana said.
“How so?”
He regretted it the moment that the words came out of his mouth. Talk about a red rag to a bull – he’d been waving that alright.
Zana acted fast, blindsiding him while his little brain was busy making erotic plans that his big brain had no real control over.
He was on his back in a heartbeat. There was a second dagger held against his throat and he swallowed hard, even though he knew that she was never going to use it…
“A challenge…” George growled out.
He snagged her wrist once more, kicked out a sweeping foot at her ankles, spun in place and dropped, and brought her crashing down the length of his body, both her arms were splayed out to the sides, snagged, with no real hope of escape…
“I could zap you…” Zana hissed out.
She might have blindsided him, but he’d done it right back to her again, and now she was a lame duck…
“Cheating,” he growled, and moved fast to push her arms up above her head as he spun her onto her back on the floor…
Zana huffed.
“Cheating? Super strength boy?” She tossed back, but all he did was give her the sexiest damn wolfish grin that she had ever encountered in her life before.
She was hooked on him…
“Drop the daggers…” he growled and she took a long moment to consider it.
The blades made a clanging sound as they hit the floorboards.
“I can cheat without using my magic…” she warned, and then wrenched her head forward on her neck and brought her lips against his…
George’s big brain stopped working completely. His little brain was in charge and he liked it.
He liked that she’d kissed him, even if his beast might have been in shock, but then, she was a kickass witch – he should expect that she was going to be more forthright and not a shrinking violet.
He liked that as well.
Mine…
Yes, she is … He growled back at his beast.
Zana had only meant to shock him so that she could throw the man off balance and get out from under him, but the moment that her lips met his – she didn’t give a damn who was on top – she was right where she wanted to be.
George waited for her to pull back – he gave her the opportunity to end her trickery – but, when she carried on kissing him, he deepened the kiss with a hearty, hungry growl that would surely let her know exactly what he was thinking…
Not that it was hard to guess. His cock was pressed against her stomach and hard like steel, and she had to know that every fibre of his being desperately wanted her.
At first, he kissed her like she was made of glass, but that wasn’t enough for either of them. She was giving back as good as she got, and he was more than ready to take things further if she’d let him.
Mine…
He used one large hand to keep her hands against the floorboards for fear that she would blindside him once more, and with the other, he palmed her cheek.
His kisses were hotter than hell, and Zana couldn’t deny that her body was full steam ahead to mate with him…
But bond…?
I have a mate and he has fangs … mating and bonding go hand in hand…
It’s not like I’m squeamish or anything…
It’s not like I haven’t had fangs in me before … but that was different – that was fighting…
But bonding?
For life…
My life – his life – pups … oh, wow … pups…
I wanna touch…
I wanna run my hands down over those hard ridges of his chest and abdomen and lick him like a damn lollipop…
I want to sink my teeth into those corded muscles in his shoulder while he’s buried deep inside of me…
Bite … I want his bite …
I want his mark…
Ah hell … I want him…
She snatched her head back and felt it bounce off the floorboards. The pain was minimal, but the dull thud got his attention, and he growled and scowled down at her…
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
~
“Are you trying to damage yourself?” George growled.
“Much like you, I have a thick head…” she grinned. Her tone was full of amusement and mischief and he wasn’t entirely sure what way to take her argument…
“Insulted by my own mate…” he teased, waiting to see her reply.
“Just bond with me and…” She got no further…
There was a growl that roared from within his chest and got lodged within the back of his throat, and George needed no more encouragement from his mate than that.
He released her wrists and used his h
ands wisely to separate her from her clothing – stripping her naked – as he ran his tongue over her skin to taste every last inch of her … but one place that he was waiting to savour.
“Bed…” he growled out – finally able to make a rational thought enter his mind when his knee thudded against the floor board on his way back up her body…
He couldn’t possibly mate and bond with her on the damn floor…
“Why waste the time? We’ll only end up right back here again…” she said – her eyes flashing with mischief and mayhem … she grew a wicked smile upon her lips.
George’s rock hard cock twitched within his jeans. It had a mind of its own and that mind was set on getting to her.
He practically ripped the fabric in two to get them open – his cock bounded out like it was gasping for air – and he wrenched the material down his thick, muscled thighs as her eyes took him in…
“Holy hellfire, I know I’m going to enjoy this…” she chuckled, as she bit down on her tongue between her teeth and grinned like the Cheshire Cat…
“Damn straight you will, sweetheart…”
George’s growl sounded so damn hungry that there was a part of her that flashed a warning and rang a bell, but she knew where that hunger came from – she felt it too – even if she couldn’t growl the way that her man could.
“Talk is cheap…” she chuckled, but he’d already shucked off his jeans and was reaching for her shapely thighs, spreading her wide, and dipping his head towards her body for the cream that he longed to taste on his tongue.
The man was wild and ravenous against her sex. She was sure that what little fingernails she did have had clawed up the floorboards on either side of her body as he took her, fast and furiously, towards the height of an orgasm that shot to every inch of her body, over and over, until she gripped his hair and yanked his head upwards…
George looked slightly miffed and quite startled to be looking back at her…
“More…” she demanded, and he went to tug his hair free and dip his head once more, but she had a grip that he’d never known before in a female…