by Eva Chase
“Thank you for your rogue-cleanup services,” Marco said.
“Our pleasure,” the fae woman replied without any hint of irony. She stepped backward to where a thin stream of sunlight penetrated the cave ceiling. With a quick leap, her form wavered and vanished into the glow.
“Should we be... worried?” I asked, staring up toward the sliver of daylight. Was she still here, only invisible, or could we assume she’d completely left? I didn’t want to talk too freely in case it was the former.
“We’ll just have to wait and see,” Aaron said, a little grimly. “Let’s keep moving while we have the light.”
Chapter 5
Ren
Someone’s mouth was moving over my bare skin. Scorching it with hot breath and the graze of his teeth. My breath was already coming in sharp pants.
He kissed his way down my throat, between my breasts, and over my belly. His tongue scorched me everywhere it touched. His fingers trailed down my sides, even hotter than his mouth. They came to rest on my hips just as his face hovered over my sex.
A thrill of anticipation and need tingled through me. I arched up encouragingly, and he took me in his mouth.
His tongue slicked over my clit, sending sparks of bliss all through my body. I whimpered as he suckled harder. He was devouring my core as if he meant to swallow me whole, and I was all for it. I moaned, weaving my fingers into the soft, smooth strands of his hair. A deeper need swelled inside me. An ache to feel him inside me, all of him. To know he was mine and I was his, now and forever.
“Please,” I murmured. “Please.” I tugged at his hair, and he raised his head. West’s dark green eyes gleamed. His lips curled with a satisfied smile, and—
I jerked awake, my heart thudding. The chilly mountain air cooled my flushed face. The weight of the thick sleeping bag enveloped me. I was completely covered up and completely alone. It’d only been a dream.
But fuck, what a dream. My panties were sopping beneath the leggings I’d worn to bed. The ache of need lingered deep in my belly. I had the urge to reach down and take care of things myself, but I wasn’t actually alone in the tent. Marco lay on one side of me, with a murmur of breath that reminded me of the little meows sleeping cats made. And West, the real West—
I turned my head to look at him instinctively, as if to confirm he was definitely still the grouchy, standoffish guy I’d had to badger into even kissing me the other day. Although it’d been quite a kiss when he’d given in. My eyes found his form in the darkness, lying on his side a couple feet away from me.
But not asleep. Just enough of the light from the campfire outside seeped through the tent wall for me to make out his features. To see him staring right back at me.
My pulse skipped again as our gazes met. I expected him to pull his away, to roll over and shut me out. Instead his eyes stayed locked with mine. They didn’t hold the same lustful warmth as in my dream, but a tingle crept over my skin all the same. His expression was tense, but I also saw the same hunger I had when he’d looked at me naked after my shift. As if he were just a hair’s breadth from reaching out and yanking me to him.
As if he’d woken up from the exact same dream I had. Suddenly I was sure that was what had happened. I could smell his arousal in the air, a waft of piney musk. But he was fighting it.
I wet my lips, and his gaze twitched down to my mouth. Before I could decide what to do about this weird but oh-so-tempting moment, Marco stirred at my other side. He scooted closer and nuzzled the back of my neck.
“Someone feeling the need for a little middle-of-the-night action?” he murmured in his languid voice. I guessed it wasn’t just West’s arousal scenting the air. My nerves hummed with anticipation. I needed something, that was for sure.
I arched into Marco encouragingly, and he kissed the crook of my jaw. The zipper of my sleeping bag hissed as he eased it down for better access.
I tipped back my head to offer more of my neck to him. Marco branded me with his hot mouth, drawing his body against mine. His hand traveled up under my shirt. He groaned when his fingers brushed over my unconfined breasts. He stroked them skillfully, tracing pleasure all through my chest, and I whimpered. My gaze slid back down to meet West’s again.
He was still watching. His pupils had dilated, and I could hear the quickening of his breath in time with mine. My awareness of his desire turned me on even more. I gasped as Marco pinched one of my nipples.
“Tell me what you want, princess,” he said huskily. “Anything at all. It’s yours.”
I didn’t think I’d ever wanted anything more than for West to cross that gap between us and add his mouth and hands to the mix. Just the thought of it made me twice as wet between my legs. In that instant, my hormones overrode common sense. I reached out my arm toward West to beckon him over.
Before I’d even finished the gesture, West flinched. His gaze snapped away. “Don’t,” he said, his voice thick with strain. He shoved off his sleeping bag and threw himself onto his feet. With a slap of the tent flaps, he’d stalked out.
Marco chuckled under his breath. “He’ll come around, princess. Especially after he sees how good the rest of us have it. But don’t worry, I can make you see stars all by myself.”
He rolled me toward him and caught my mouth with his. The heat of his kiss washed over me. It was hard to think much about West when I had this much man right in front of me.
I kissed Marco back, letting all my need and desire spill into the places where our bodies touched. He let his hands slip lower, teasing over my stomach and tracing the waist of my leggings. When I kissed him harder, he dipped his hand right under the fabric. He cupped my sex, grinning against my mouth as I moaned.
His mouth claimed mine again. His tongue tangled with mine. His fingers stroked over the sensitive folds between my legs with increasing pressure. I clutched him, shivering with pleasure, riding his hand.
“That’s right, princess,” Marco murmured. “That’s my girl.” He kept up his gentle caresses as he kissed his way down to my chest and tugged my shirt up with his other hand. His breath spilled over my bare skin. He swirled his tongue around my breast before sucking the nipple into his mouth.
A little cry of pleasure burst from my lips. I felt ready to explode.
“You taste so good. I need to taste you everywhere.” Marco gave my breast one more swipe and then ducked lower. I whimpered in dismay when his hand left my sex, but it was only to ease my leggings down. A second later, he’d lowered his face between my legs.
Like West in my dream. Fragments of that imagined intimacy darted through my head as Marco swirled his tongue over my clit. I gasped, arching up, and he licked lower, teasing my opening. Carried on the rising wave of bliss, I almost felt as if both he and West were there, my dream and reality merging into one. The ache in my belly came back, twice as strong. My hips bucked, wanting more. Wanting everything.
I gripped Marco’s hair, but he didn’t release his claim on my pussy. He laved my clit until I was trembling. One finger, then two tested my wetness and then slid up inside me. I moaned again as the pleasure rose higher.
Marco nipped me, just hard enough to send a brief spark of pain through the pleasure, and that tipped me over. I came, shuddering against his mouth. The orgasm washed over me, and the stars Marco had promised flashed behind my eyes.
Marco smiled and kissed my sex again as my tremors subsided. He eased up beside me, pulling my body flush against his, and brushed his lips against mine. My tart flavor lingered in his mouth. I pressed closer to him, sated and yet still hungry. The hard length of him bulged against the fly of his pants. His hips rocked against me as his hands caressed my ass, sending fresh sparks all through my nerves.
It would be so easy to peel off his pants and open myself to him. To solidify our mate-bond and tie us together for life.
“Ren,” Marco mumbled against my mouth. I heard the wanting in his voice. An awful lot of me wanted it too. But as we rolled with him on top of me now,
my gaze dropped to West’s empty sleeping bag.
This whole encounter had started with the wolf shifter. With him and that scorching dream. And here I was getting down and dirty with Marco instead.
Could I really know what I wanted right now, in the heat of the moment? The mate-bond, it was for life. When I accepted it with each of the guys, I wanted to be absolutely sure, no room for doubts. No misguided lust clouding my thoughts.
Marco adjusted himself over me so our bodies aligned perfectly. His erection pressed between my legs. I was drowning in the heat of him.
I touched his cheek and eased him back after another kiss. He grinned down at me, his eyes so bright with longing that guilt twisted my stomach. The grin faltered when he took in my expression.
“Princess?”
I drew in a shaky breath. “I’m sorry. I don’t think I’m ready. Not quite yet.”
He couldn’t hide the disappointment that darted across his face before he schooled it into his usual cool nonchalance. He nuzzled my hand, his smile coming back. “Ren, I’m not going to push. But you understand why I want you so much, don’t you? My lovely Princess of Flames. You have no idea how much you mean to me already.”
The soft words brought a flutter into my chest. “You hardly know me,” I couldn’t help pointing out.
“I know you enough.” He bent his head close to mine, not to kiss me but to whisper by my ear. The rich spicy-coffee scent of him filled my nose. My mouth practically watered.
“I know you’re the most determined woman I’ve ever met,” he said. “I know you’ll do anything to defend the people you love. I know you’ve got a sharp enough tongue to rival mine sometimes. I’ve never cared about anyone as much as I care for you. You can take that as a promise.”
The flow of his words against my ear left me tingling. He moved above me, and I almost whimpered at the feel of his cock, still hard against me. My fingers gripped his shoulders. He rocked against me gently, sending quivers through my core. It was getting hard to think again. So much of me was screaming for another release.
“And I hope you have at least a few positive feelings about me,” Marco added lightly.
“I think that should be pretty obvious,” I muttered, but that flippant answer didn’t feel good enough. “It’s not about you. This whole situation just—it still doesn’t feel normal to me. I’ve never committed to anyone, let alone four guys in just a few days. You grew up knowing it’d be like this. I can’t wrap my head around the idea that fast.”
“I know, princess. I know.” He stilled and kissed my cheek. “I’ll wait. I just can’t help wanting to start our lives together as quickly as possible now that I’ve found you.”
My throat tightened a little at the emotion in those words. “I’ll be ready soon,” I said. “I’m getting there.”
At least, I hoped I was. The feelings in my chest suddenly felt a lot more tangled. Lust was easy. Love... Was I really going to be able to handle giving my whole heart to all four of these guys, as drawn to all of them as I was?
Chapter 6
Marco
I’d been through plenty of pain in my life. You named it, I’d probably been there at least once. But I’d never experienced any torture quite as exquisite as waking up next to my mate who still wasn’t entirely my mate.
Ren was still sleeping. Her expression was soft and her hair a mess of dark brown waves spilling from the top of the sleeping bag. I wanted to kiss her gently like the angel she looked like—and I also wanted to pull her to me and ravish her until she agreed to finishing what we’d started and come so close to ending last night.
My cock hardened just remembering the feel of her. Her smell flooding my nose, her taste filling my mouth, the little cry she’d made as she came. I could take her even higher than that. All I needed was for her to give me the chance.
It was going to take time for her to come around. That was understandable. What we’d all been waiting for across nearly two decades, she’d only had a few days to process. I was a feline, wasn’t I? I knew how to give a person space.
As painful as that space might be.
I stretched on the hard ground, willing my erection to subside. That fae woman—thinking of her was a good mood killer. I’d bet if she touched my dick, it’d shrivel up like a fallen autumn leaf.
There, that did the trick. All cooled down below. I peeled off the sleeping bag and ducked out of the tent.
Nate had a pan sizzling over the fire. We’d brought a good stock of cured bacon, but even though it didn’t need cooking, it tasted twice as good fried. The salty, meaty smell tickled into my nose. My stomach grumbled. I wasn’t normally much of a hiker, and all this mountain climbing had left me ravenous.
If I couldn’t devour Ren the way I wanted, at least I could have my way with breakfast.
“Where’s our wolf and eagle?” I asked, sinking down by the fire and stretching out my legs. The smoke curled up toward a small gap in the cave ceiling above us. “And how long until you surrender some of that bacon?”
“You can have it now,” Nate said with a hint of a smile. The bear looked more relaxed this morning, even though he’d been up the second half of the night on guard duty. He flipped a couple of strips off the pan with surprising grace and tossed them to me. I snatched them out of the air and dug in. The hot, crispy pork seared my tongue, but the sting was worth it.
“Biscuits,” Nate added, tossing over the bag. The doughy lumps didn’t appeal half as much as the meat, but they made for good energy at the start of the day. Nate dug into one of his own as he tossed a few more strips of bacon onto the pan. “Aaron and West are taking a quick survey of the area farther down the cave in both directions. Aaron didn’t want to be careless after yesterday.”
Because of the fae woman or because of the weasel? Both were reason for concern. I tore a biscuit in half and shoved the rest of my bacon inside to form a rough sandwich. In a minute, I’d gulped that down and was reaching for another. Nate gave me a bemused look when I started eyeing the pan again.
“We all need to eat,” he said. “Ren is still sleeping?”
I nodded. “I figured the princess deserved her beauty rest.”
Nate bristled slightly, as if he thought I’d meant that remark as an insult. “She’s been holding up well.”
“Of course she is,” I said, waving him down. Ren had been even less prepared for this kind of physical strain than the rest of us. And she’d shifted into dragon form twice that first day. I’d have let her sleep until noon without judging if I could have. But we did need to get to the end of this journey soon. The biscuits were already getting a tad bitter with staleness.
“West was sleeping by the fire when I got back from sentry duty,” Nate said, with a prodding tone. “Instead of in the tent.”
I shrugged. “You know how wolf boy is. He’s still got issues with our Princess of Flames being anywhere near his personal space.”
The canine alpha was an idiot. The mate we’d all been waiting our entire lives for had been right there in front of him, practically begging him to come to her, and he’d turned tail in the opposite direction. He had to want her just as much as I did. I couldn’t understand that kind of self-denial at all.
Footsteps sounded on the rocky ground. Aaron came into view, his thoughtful expression perking up at the smell of the food. He ambled over to the fire and grabbed a piece of bacon right out of the pan. Show-off.
I eyed the eagle shifter as he hunkered down by the fire. What exactly had he done to make Ren choose him first? Choose him—and still hesitate about the rest of us. I was at least that bird-brain’s equal.
“No reason for concern up ahead,” he said. “At least not from what I saw.”
“Not behind us either,” West said, emerging from the shadows in the other direction. He flexed his neck with a crack of his joints. “Let’s eat and get going. Where’s Ren?”
“Coming, coming,” a muttered voice carried from the tent. Our dragon shifte
r pushed past the flap, running her fingers through the rumpled waves of her hair. Even barely awake and dressed in wrinkled clothes, she was the most gorgeous specimen of womankind I’d ever seen. I took her in, enjoying the eyeful.
She lifted her head and sniffed. “Bacon again?”
“Take what you can get, Sparks,” West said, his already gruff expression shuttering even more. Yeah, wolf boy had a few issues to work through. Too bad for him. That just left more room for me to make my moves.
Ren ambled over. “Oh, I’m not complaining. I’d eat nothing but bacon for the rest of my life if I wouldn’t end up with scurvy.” She sat down cross-legged between Aaron and me and hummed happily as Nate passed her a couple strips.
Even the way she crunched into the bacon was sexy enough to get me half hard again. Fuck, this mate-bond thing was brutal. In the most tantalizingly torturous way.
A much less pleasant sensation twisted in my gut. My body stilled. I frowned as my stomach gurgled and roiled. I didn’t like the feel of that at all. What was going on with my innards all of a sudden?
“What’s wrong, Marco?” Aaron asked, being Mr. Eagle-Eyes.
“Nothing,” I said with a dismissive gesture. “Just a little—”
I’d been going to say it was just indigestion. But before I could get the words out, a feverish flush washed through my body. My stomach outright lurched, heaving up toward my throat. There was nothing I could do but spin around before I vomited the food I’d just eaten onto the ground.
Ren
Marco knifed over with a sickly gurgle. I jumped to my feet, my pulse hiccupping. My fingers dug into the biscuit I’d just taken. The salty flavor of the bacon went sour in my mouth.