“Female lions don’t want things like relationships or families. They’re cold and often cruel. Mountain lion males are the ones who are the nurturers, the ones who want mates and children, and to make a home. Once the females shift at age sixteen, they leave their fathers and brothers.” He sighed, running a hand through his light brown hair. His blue eyes dropped down to where his fingers drew an invisible pattern in the blanket. “The females will have sex with males, even carry children, but they will abandon the children immediately and want nothing to do with them. They don’t seem to even recognize their own offspring. Many males have tried to have relationships with the females, to make a family with them, but they refuse.
“Where things get tricky is that while the females don’t want the males for anything outside of sex, they refuse to allow the males to pursue relationships outside of the pride. When males would date humans, the females would threaten and even attack the women, driving them away. It wasn’t until my brothers found their mate and left the pride that the females started to lose their power over the males. We’d stayed in the pride because we didn’t know that truemates existed for our kind, until Ethan and Eryx mated Callie, and it was clear as crystal that they were meant to be together. That hope is what prompted my family to leave the pride and move out here to Ashland.”
She tipped his face up with her finger, and his eyes were filled with sadness. “You never knew your mom?”
“I know who she is, but she never acted like a mom, or even that she knew who I was. Our father loved her, and he always hoped that she would come around, have an emotional epiphany, and suddenly want to be a wife and mother.”
She kissed his forehead and hugged him. His arms went around her waist immediately, and the tension that had been evident in his body relaxed. After several quiet minutes, he eased away and continued the story of their lives in Ashland. The pride believed that the majority of the female lions had relocated into Canada after the deaths of two of the females at the hands of a girlfriend of a male pride member several years earlier.
Jericho asked, “And you haven’t heard from the females since?”
Alek said, “After my brothers first moved here, they got a nasty delivery in the form of some unflattering pictures meant to drive a wedge between them and Callie. But, much worse than that, is back in April several females hired some thugs and came here to the house to kidnap the kids while we were all out hunting on the full moon.”
Lachlyn’s mouth fell open. “What?”
Alek nodded. “Henry escaped, and Sam bought us time to get home by convincing the thugs to take her instead. The females disappeared over the border into Canada, and all the kids and Sam were safe, but it still haunts us all. How close we came to nearly losing the kids.”
Jericho’s voice was a low growl. “What are you doing to prevent it from happening again?”
Alek stared at Jericho and then nodded. “Now, we hunt in shifts. Those who are home on the full moon take turns going out hunting so that the kids and Sam are never alone. We stay vigilant. And the Canadian authorities are in contact with your Uncle Don, to alert us if any of the females try to cross the border.”
Jericho snorted. “Fat lot of good their human descriptions would do if they shifted and ran over.”
“It’s not a perfect system, but we haven’t heard from the females since then, and we’re hopeful that they’ve given up.”
Lachlyn could tell by the look on Alek’s face that he was certain that the females had not given up in their quest to have the males back under their oppressive thumbs. She said, “Now you have a big bear to help keep the kids safe.”
Alek raised a brow. “You said you were a bear.”
She grimaced. “I am, but I’m a shifting dud. I’ve never been able to shift.” When he smiled in understanding, encouraging her to speak, she found herself telling him everything about herself, from the moment she realized she would most likely never shift, to the death of her parents and, most recently, her grandmother, to the situation with Jericho’s father.
Alek’s eyes flashed angrily, and he looked over her shoulder to Jericho. “Are you safe here? Both of you?”
Jericho nodded briefly. “I don’t see how he could know that we are here. We’ll just have to be careful not to use our real names.”
Alek straightened. “Everything that I have is yours. Whatever you need to be safe. I’ll do my best to help.”
Jericho said, “I have an idea.”
“Oh?” she asked.
“We should change our last names.”
“To what?” She was willing to do anything at all to be safe. It wasn’t just that she wanted to be safe herself, but also she didn’t want anything to happen to Jericho. Or Alek.
“Fallon,” Alek offered. “I can marry Lachlyn, and she can change her last name, and Jericho, you can change your name legally.”
The room was dead silent for several moments, and Alek’s face heated with blush. He began to stammer, “I didn’t mean, uh, Jericho, that you should marry me, too, or anything.”
Jericho barked out a laugh and slapped his thigh with his hand. “Holy fuck, Alek, I know you didn’t mean that. Shit.” He started to laugh again, and Lachlyn thought that Alek’s confused face was too adorable.
Jericho finally stopped laughing. “I know what you meant, Alek, and I think it’s a great idea. I don’t wish to carry on with the name Knight any longer. But you can’t marry her legally right now. Her name would be on the marriage license and that would go into a database that anyone could access, even my dad. Don told me earlier tonight that he knows a man who can make fake IDs. We can use your last name for now on the fake IDs, and when we’re able to, we can change our names legally, and you can marry Lachlyn for real.”
He moved on his knees across the bed to where she sat with Alek. Putting one hand on both of their shoulders, he said to Alek, “I love Lachlyn. I’ve loved her since we were kids. As my mate’s other mate, I see you as a brother and nothing more.”
Relief washed over Alek’s handsome face, and he grinned. “I’m glad, Jericho. I definitely welcome you into my family, as my mate’s other mate and as my brother.”
Lachlyn hugged her mates together, bracing herself between them as their arms wove around her and each other. “Let’s keep each other safe. And happy.”
Looking at Alek, Jericho said, “Are you ready to make love to your mate, Alek? I think it’s time we solidified our new mating by making our mate scream our names.”
A devilish grin eased across Alek’s lush mouth, and Lachlyn felt her heart kick up a few notches.
“The walls are sound proofed, sweetheart,” Alek said as he gently pushed her back on the bed. “Just so you know.”
“Then you don’t have to be quiet, either,” Lachlyn groaned as Alek pushed up the hem of her shirt and kissed her stomach.
“I won’t be.” He grinned at her.
Jericho helped Alek strip her, and then they shed their own clothes. Alek leaned over and looked down at her with bright blue eyes. He lowered his head, brushing his lips across hers in silent invitation. She wrapped her arms around his neck, playing her fingers through his soft, short hair as the kiss deepened. Their tongues stroked and played together. One of his hands slid down her side tentatively, and she could feel the tension in his shoulders. She was nervous, too, because it wasn’t as if she’d ever dreamed that she’d wind up with two mates.
He left her mouth, dropping kisses on her chin and neck, across her collarbone, and biting lightly against the crux of her neck. With aching slowness, he kissed down her chest, his hand moving upward at the same slow pace until he cupped her breast and kissed her nipple. She drew in a deep breath, shivering when he stroked his tongue across the hardened tip and then sucked it into his mouth.
As he licked and sucked on her nipple, she opened her eyes and found Jericho, stretched out next to her, his dark eyes smoldering. One corner of his mouth lifted slightly, and she saw acceptance and under
standing in his eyes. He wasn’t going to touch her right now, because this was her first time with Alek.
She mouthed, I love you.
Love you, he mouthed back.
Turning back to Alek, she slipped her hands through his hair and scratched her nails lightly against his scalp. He shivered and made a soft groaning sound, sucking her nipple deeply into his mouth, making her arch her back in appreciation. He lavished her other breast with the same slow attention, until her whole body throbbed. With a low growl, he kissed down the center of her body, pushing her legs apart and slipping between them.
His fingertips brushed over the neatly trimmed curls that covered her sex, and he inhaled deeply. Exhaling on a growl, he pushed her knee up and to the side with one hand, spreading her body wide for him. Her hands dug into the comforter in anticipation.
The first stroke of Alek’s tongue up her pussy made the world around her drop away. There was nothing but the feel of his tongue as it glided around her throbbing clit and dipped into her core, the firm grip of his hand on her thigh as he kept her leg open, and the soft tickling brush of his hair against her inner thigh. Sucking her clit into his mouth, he rubbed the tip of his tongue around in dizzying circles. Her stomach clenched and heat flooded her. A finger pushed inside her, ratcheting up her desire, as his tongue tormented her, pushing her close to the edge. A second finger pushed inside her and she cried out a little, driving up her hips. His top teeth grazed her swollen clit and pleasure spiked through her. Her climax hit her fast and hard, and she cried out in bliss, “Alek!”
In an instant, he left her lower body, sliding over top of her body and aligning his cock against her tingling, throbbing pussy. Her legs slid around his lean hips as he stroked inside her, joining them together until they were as tightly wed as possible. His head pressed against her throat, his breath fast and hot against her flesh.
She felt his teeth against her neck, hard enough to bruise but not mark permanently, and she shifted her hips and hugged him closer with her legs, her nails digging into his back. Licking the bruise, he lifted his head and stared into her eyes as he pulled almost completely out of her body before stroking back inside. She curled her hands over his shoulders and met his thrusts, her body still reeling from her orgasm as sweat slicked their bodies. His movements became jerky and frantic, and he shouted her name as his cock spasmed inside her.
His arms slipped under her, and he lowered himself down with a groan. She held him, feeling happy tears sting her eyes. She reached out for Jericho, and his hand clasped hers.
Alek lifted his head and kissed a tear from her cheek. His own eyes were shining with unshed tears. “I didn’t know it would feel so good to find my mate, Lachlyn,” he said with a rough voice. “I’m yours and you’re mine and Jericho’s.”
Their lips met and they held each other for several minutes, until he eased away from her with a kiss. “Thank you for letting us have this first time together,” he said to Jericho.
“It’s what she wanted,” Jericho said, “and I’d do anything to make her happy.”
She was feeling pretty damn happy right now. But she wouldn’t be completely fulfilled until she and Jericho had made love. It had been too long, really. Almost a year since he had journeyed to Georgia to visit her. But that night, although nice, had been missing what they shared right now. The missing piece of their mating. Alek. Her second mate.
Jericho hauled her onto his lap with a short growl, and she straddled him. With a laugh, she pushed her hair from her face. “Impatient?”
“You were getting that wistful I’m thinking look on your face, and my cock is so hard I could drive nails through concrete.”
“I’ll think later, then,” she giggled, reaching for his hard cock and angling it toward her pussy. Her legs wrapped around his back as she slid down until she was seated fully, his cock twitching inside her.
His large hands splayed across her hips, lifting her and lowering her with ease. She was always amazed at his strength. Her hands slipped across his broad shoulders and tightened on his neck as she leaned forward to kiss him.
When their lips met and parted, their tongues touching, the part of her that felt like a bear roared in happiness in her mind. She’d never felt a true connection to Jericho before. Not like this. Now she knew, without a doubt, that he was her mate, as much as Alek was.
He nipped at her bottom lip. “Mine,” he growled, flexing his hips and driving her harder and faster against him. Her clit rubbed against his stomach, and she moaned, dropping her head back and digging her nails into his shoulders. Pleasure bloomed in her core, and she moaned loudly. He moved her faster, his fingers digging into her flesh. She began to use her legs to meet his thrusts, digging her heels into his back and slamming herself forward. One of his hands grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled back, stretching her neck. Teeth closed around her pulse, and she shattered, her body spasming around his cock as shivers raced up and down her spine.
She shrieked his name as he released her neck and came, bellowing her name and wrapping his thick arms around her to hold her close.
Jericho lifted her off his lap and laid her down at the top of the bed, her head landing on a soft pillow. Another set of hands touched her, and she opened her eyes and smiled at Alek who was stretched out on her other side, mirroring Jericho. She lifted one of each of their hands and kissed their palms.
“My mates,” she said. “I’m finally home.”
Chapter 9
Alek hadn’t slept so well in his entire life than he did when he finally succumbed to sleep on Sunday night. For once, his mind didn’t wonder about whether he’d ever be happy. His heart didn’t pang with loneliness. Instead, he fell asleep with Lachlyn’s sweet scent in his nose and her smooth skin under his hand, her body nestled between him and Jericho.
He was the first one awake, but within a few minutes of his eyes cracking open and his heart swelling at the sight of Lachlyn asleep next to him, his two bedmates were awake and looking at him in anticipation.
“How about we clean up and then get some breakfast?” he suggested.
Lachlyn sat up and stretched, kissing both of them and then sliding off the bed. She strode into the bathroom and flipped on the light. The shower started and he glanced at Jericho who was scratching his jaw and yawning.
Jericho said, “I don’t think I’ve ever really felt at home somewhere before. But it’s nice here. Lachlyn’s happy and safe, and my bear is at ease for the first time in years.”
He smiled in understanding and got out of bed, gathering clothes from the dresser. He knew that truemates existed because he saw how his brothers and uncles were with their mates, but until he met Lachlyn and felt that instant connection to her, he hadn’t thought he was meant to have a truemate himself. By the time he walked into the bathroom, Lachlyn was peeking out from the shower curtain, asking for a towel. He grabbed one for her from the cabinet, and she stepped from the shower and wrapped it around herself.
He showered and dressed quickly. While Jericho cleaned up, he helped Lachlyn put away her clothes. A half hour later, they were down in the kitchen. Tristan, the resident breakfast maker, grinned at Alek and pulled a casserole dish from the oven. “I’m Tristan,” he said to Lachlyn and Jericho. “My brother Micah and I live on the third floor. We’re not related to the Fallons, but we are from the same pride in King. There’s coffee and juice on the table and plenty of my French toast casserole.”
The table was set for them, and Alek thanked Tristan for saving them breakfast and brought the coffee pot over to the table where Jericho and Lachlyn were sitting already.
While they ate, they made plans for the day. When the meal was over, Jericho stood and picked up his plate and Lachlyn’s. “Go watch TV, Sunshine. Alek and I will handle the dishes.”
“Really?” She stood and kissed Jericho’s cheek. “I could get used to never doing dishes.”
She kissed Alek on the cheek as she walked by, and Jericho waited until they heard her
saying hi to whomever was watching television, before he said, “I need access to a computer so I can get the money for our IDs after I talk to the guy who makes them. Then I’ll need to drive up there to pick them up. When do you work today?”
Alek carried his dishes over to the sink and turned on the water. He said, “I don’t. I work Tuesday through Saturday, one night shift and the rest morning shifts. We have a computer in the office on this floor that you can use, and the keys to my car are hanging up on the hook by the front door. It’s the black Challenger.”
Jericho leaned against the counter next to the sink and looked out the window. As Alek washed a plate and rinsed it off, he said, “There’s something that I wanted to ask you about.”
Jericho didn’t look at him. “Yeah?”
“Why does your dad hate that Lachlyn can’t shift?”
Jericho turned away from the window, leaning his back against the counter and folding his arms across his chest. “We’ve been tight since we were in elementary school. My dad didn’t care, until she couldn’t shift. Every month that she didn’t turn into a bear, he grew more and more suspicious that she never would shift. My father believes that bears that can’t shift are genetic rejects and will taint the den if they’re allowed to stay and mate and have children. When she moved to Georgia for college and her parents joined her there shortly after, he thought that things were over between us. He didn’t know that I was still seeing her from time to time and keeping in touch. About a year ago, he told me it was time for me to get mated, and when I wouldn’t settle down with any of the unmated she-bears in the den, he was pissed, but I thought he’d dropped it. I think that he found out about my trips to visit her. When she came home to settle her grandma’s estate, he took the opportunity to get her out of my life permanently.”
Alek rinsed off the last dish and turned off the water, drying his hands on a towel. “What can I do to help keep her safe?”
Loving Lachlyn (Ashland Pride Two) Page 6