by Wood, Vivian
She pushed against his chest, not expecting a real response. The next moment Jace was moving, somehow keeping Tessa pressed against his body and pulling her onto his seated lap. Her thighs spread as she slid down his lap to press against him, and her dampness pressed down on his cock through his jeans. She ground against him instinctively, her hands ripping at his tshirt and yanking it up over his head. She didn’t even hear the material hit the floor because Jace was nuzzling her again, this time just where her neck met her shoulder.
Tessa ran her nails over his bare shoulders and back impatiently. She rocked her hips harder, eliciting a murmured curse from Jace. His hand grasped the hair at the back of her head and tugged firmly, forcing Tessa to further expose her neck to his ministrations. He nuzzled and licked mercilessly, and suddenly bit the side of her neck in a very tender spot. She convulsed and cried out again, loving his rough play.
He brought his hands down to her narrow ribcage and squeezed, just hard enough to make her exhale. The sensation heightened Tessa’s excitement even as it made her feel vulnerable, and she pounded her fist against his chest.
Jace slipped his hand down between them and brushed two big fingers against her softness through her panties. Tessa gasped and rolled her hips, trying to get him to touch her most sensitive spot. He pushed aside the scanty material of her panties, avoiding touching the throbbing ache he’d created and instead dipping his fingertips into her core. He probed gently, rubbing her own creamy response around to prepare her.
Then he slid a single large finger inside her, and Tessa nearly forgot to breathe. He gently worked his finger in and out before adding a second one, stretching her sheath slowly. Then he all but withdrew before sliding his fingers home forcefully, making Tessa let out her breath in little gasps as he did it several times. Jace slid his fingers deep and stroked her in a certain spot that had her toes curling as she cried out, shouting his name.
Tessa wanted to cry when he froze, then withdrew his fingers. He kissed her fiercely, then picked her up and moved to the side. Her reaction was nearly violent until he pulled her back onto his lap. As she straddled him, she realized that they were skin to skin now. He’d slipped his jeans off and at last nothing separated them. Tessa pressed down until the tip of his cock pressed against her entrance, and then she hesitated. She had never wanted anything so badly in her life, but her inexperience was a barrier between them. Biting her lip, she decided that the only thing to do was to press all the way down, taking all of his hardness at once.
As she started to move, though, Jace caught her hips and slowed the movement. She took him in just an inch before he eased her back up, and she protested. Jace growled and repeated the action until Tessa was panting, dripping with need. Then he slowly began to press her down further with each thrust, stretching her tightness in measures so that she could feel every exquisite inch of his penetration. Finally he slid all the way down his length, obviously fighting not to lose control.
Tessa couldn’t decide if she loved his control or hated it, but either way she needed more. Slipping her arms around his neck for balance, she began rolling her hips in a smooth rhythm. She could feel him struggle to keep her easy pace, shifting her body around as if he needed to find just the right angle before letting go.
He slanted Tessa’s body backwards and leaned back against the couch, and suddenly he was touching the same spot he’d reached with his fingers. She let out a breathy cry as a look of purely masculine smugness flashed over his features. He closed his eyes in concentration as he thrust into her, increasing the pressure as he his tip rubbed that same sweet spot with every motion. Tessa’s toes curled again and every muscle in her body tensed so hard that she shook.
Tessa stared down at Jace, enraptured, as he made every thrust with precision and intent. She watched as he bit his lip, concentrating. She wanted to lean over and kiss him but she didn’t dare interfere with the wonderful heat spreading outward from her softness and reaching all the way to her fingertips and toes. Her inner muscles began to clench, and she was all hot need and fiery sensitivity.
“Oh God,” she said softly, feeling her body beginning to unravel. Jace groaned but kept his pace steady, rubbing and pressing the spot that was threatening to push Tessa over the edge.
“You want it?” he growled, his thrusts becoming punishing.
“Yes,” she whispered, trying to pinpoint the storm about to erupt in her body.
“Louder, Tessa. Tell me you want it,” he said, his voice sending chills down her spine.
“I want it. Oh god, I want it,” she said.
“Now say my name. Tell me who owns you, Tessa,” he snarled.
“Oh god, Jace. Please,” she shouted.
“Tell me what you want,” he demanded.
“Make me come, Jace.”
In a flash of movement, Tessa was lying on her back with Jace inside her to the hilt. He adjusted, automatically homing in on the center of her pleasure and hammering into her heedlessly. Just as Tessa knew she would explode, his fingers rubbed her clitoris.
Waves of hot pleasure shot through her body as she cried out his name again. He was still pounding against her, keeping the ripples of sensation alive. His thrusts were frantic now, barely keeping a rhythm and swearing to himself.
Jace tensed and an inarticulate cry escaped him. Then Tessa felt a searing flash of pain at her Jace tensed and an inarticulate cry escaped him. Then Tessa felt a searing flash of pain at her
neck as he pumped his seed inside of her mindlessly. Opening her eyes, Tessa saw that his mouth was smeared with blood and saliva. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but she was adrift, weightless, boneless.
Jace collapsed against her heavily, breathing hard. They lay in silence for a handful of minutes, trying to regain their breath or must enough energy to talk.
Jace broke the silence with a loud swear. He pulled away and looked at her, then grabbed her chin and turned her head. Another curse escaped him as he brushed his fingertips over her neck. Tessa sucked in a breath as he did it, confused.
“Ow! Quit!” she protested, slapping weakly at his hand.
“Jesus. God damn it all,” he growled, releasing her chin and pushing off her body.
“What is your problem?” she asked languidly, unable to bring herself to care about much of anything.
“Just get dressed,” he mumbled, snatching up her bra and panties and tossing them at her.
“Nice. This is great,” she muttered, pulling the panties on and fastening the bra. Tessa glared at him as she snatched up her other clothes from the floor.
Jace had pulled on his jeans and shirt in silence, a deep frown on his face. He’d really screwed up now. He’d initiated the mating ritual without asking. Shit, he hadn’t so much asked her out on a real date yet. And now time was ticking; Tessa had to complete the ritual as soon as possible or suffer the consequences.
When Tessa found out what he’d done, she would be repulsed. What had Jace been thinking, mindlessly giving her the bite? All he could remember was a flash of possessiveness, an irresistible need to make her stay with him, to make her commit. Which was insane, because she wasn’t the one with the commitment issues.
His own fears had once again made him weak, and this time it had hurt Tessa. He should have told her he respected her, told her what an amazing Shifter she had become. But no, not Jace. He could never make it that easy on himself, or on Tessa.
Jace let out another string of curses. He didn’t even have the damned ring he’d ordered. He was counting on having something sparkly to soften the blow when he explained the permanence of mating between Shifters.
“Does this mean we’re on speaking terms again?” Tessa asked, only half joking.
Jace stopped and looked at her for a moment. She looked confused and a little hurt. His stomach twisted sourly as he realized he was causing her pain. He had to go get the ring and do this properly before he ruined everything.
“I have to go do something. Stay here
until I return.”
Jace opened the door to his office and stepped outside, taking a deep breath. Then he simply took off without another word. He half-jogged to the exit and disappeared, leaving Tessa standing alone in the doorway.
EIGHTEEN
Watching Jace practically run out of the building, Tessa felt hot tears stinging her eyes as she tried to keep her lower lip from trembling pathetically. She shouldn’t care about his rejection, wouldn’t care.
Spotting a ladies’ room at the end of the hall, Tessa slipped inside to try to make herself presentable before she had to face Kat or Shaw or anyone else.
Flipping the light on, she walked to the sink and gasped as she caught her reflection in the small mirror. The side of her neck bore a perfect set of crimson marks in the shape of a bite. The wound was neat and clean-looking, but when she touched it fresh blood welled to the surface.
Jace had friggin’ bitten her. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and sought her wolf. The wolf was quietly satisfied, and didn’t seem to want to answer Tessa’s summons.
Digging in her purse for the scarf she’d borrowed when Kat has rescued her from the infirmary, she looped it around her neck to cover the bite mark. The scarf was still just as hideous, but Tessa wasn’t about to walk around with the wound on display for everyone to see. It seemed private, somehow.
Jace’s command for her to stay put rankled, making Tessa aware that he was all too comfortable ordering her around already. He switched from hot to cold with such frequency that Tessa couldn’t really assume that he even liked her. For all she knew, Tessa was just one of many girls that Jace chased around. She pushed aside a little voice in the back of her mind that insisted that couldn’t be true.
Tessa needed someone to talk to, and this time even Kat wouldn’t do. She needed help catching up her own thoughts and needs. She needed to make sure that she was making the right decisions. She needed to talk to Camilla.
When she returned to Camilla’s room in the infirmary, she found Camilla wide awake. True to her word, Kat had stayed by her side and was softly filling Camilla in on what she’d missed in the last week. Tessa’s heart swelled, thankful beyond words that her new friend would be so thoughtful and considerate of Camilla’s needs.
“Tess!” Camilla shouted, the second Tessa entered the room. Kat shuffled out of the way and Tessa fairly flung herself on Camilla. Steeling her nerves, Tessa promised herself she wouldn’t start sobbing again. This was a happy reunion, and everyone had come out of it safely.
Kat cleared her throat gently.
“I’ve caught Camilla up on all the action as best I can, I think,” Kat ventured.
Tessa released her sister and turned to Kat, overwhelmed with gratitude. “Thank you so much, Kat. I know you’ve been here for ages, so I can take over if you want.”
“And miss the gossip about Jace? I think not,” Kat said slyly, pulling up a chair on the other side of the bed.
“Kat wouldn’t tell me anything about you and this Jace character other than to say that she approves of him. I’m going to need some details, Tess,” Camilla said, giving Kat a wink.
Tessa’s face colored, and she was at a loss for words.
“I’m not- I don’t know what’s going on there. I don’t know what to tell you. Besides, you must have a million questions about Shifters and the Den and this whole life…” Tessa trailed off.
“No, I think I’m pretty good. Between James’ version and Kat’s version of everything, I “No, I think I’m pretty good. Between James’ version and Kat’s version of everything, I
think I’ve got my bases covered,” Camilla said with a nonchalant shrug.
“Aaaaaand you’re not freaking out right now?” Tessa asked skeptically. “You can tell us if
you’re freaking out, you know.”
“Please. You might’ve had your head stuck in the sand all this time, but I’ve always known
we were different. I just didn’t know how different we really are,” Camilla said mirthfully. “Cami…” Tessa said, eyeing her sister sharply.
“She’s fine,” Kat cut in, “so out with the gossip. Did you find Jace?” Tessa’s blush was an
answer in itself, and Kat and Camilla burst into giggles.
“Tessa the ice queen finally let a guy warm her up? I can’t believe it,” Camilla said, her tone
teasing.
“Come on, like you’ve ever… done that,” Tessa retorted, embarrassed.
“Uh, yeah. Ages ago, Tess. Remember Julien from St. Katherine’s Prep?” Camilla said with
a smirk.
“The French exchange student? Camilla, you didn’t!” Tessa protested, but she was hardpressed to keep a serious expression.
“Anyway, back to you. How was it? Was it romantic, or was it wild? I bet it was wild, he
seems like kind of a heathen,” Camilla teased, making Tessa’s cheeks flame.
“We’re not talking about this,” Tessa insisted.
“Well at least tell us if you two have worked things out,” Kat said. “I want a happy ending. I
want you to stay with us, both of you.”
Tessa sighed and her shoulders sagged a bit.
“I’m not sure. After we… he just sort of ran off. I’m not really sure what I did,” Tessa
replied slowly.
“Just let me know when you want me to kill him, Tess,” Camilla offered.
“I’ll help you, Camilla. I’ll be damned if Jace Copeland is going to drive off a couple of
females I actually like,” Kat said tartly.
“I was hoping… if Shaw lets me, that is… I was planning on staying with the pack anyway,”
Tessa said hesitantly. Kat clapped her hands and cheered, but Camilla gave her an appraising
look.
“What about Boston?” Camilla asked.
“What about it? I feel safe here, and I like the people. That’s more than I can say about our
collection of frenemies in Cambridge,” Tessa said, crossing her arms.
“What about all your save the rainforest charities? What will you do down here for work?
You’ll go crazy without something to do,” Camilla pointed out.
“About that…” Kat started in.
“Yes, about that,” Tessa cut in, “I’m going to be working with Kat. She basically runs the
whole pack, and I’m sure she could use a hand.”
Kat gave Tessa a grin, and looked speculatively at Camilla.
“I could use more than one, actually,” Kat suggested.
Camilla rolled her eyes with a laugh.
“Jeez, my first day here and I’m already being drafted into service. Well, I am pretty
awesome…” Camilla said, pretending to admire her nails.
“So you’ll stay?” Tessa asked hopefully.
“At least until you’re settled. We don’t have to decide our entire future right now, Tess.” Tessa laughed and gave Camilla another hard hug, then leaned over and hugged Kat. The Tessa laughed and gave Camilla another hard hug, then leaned over and hugged Kat. The
girls all laughed, relaxing.
“I can’t help but think this is the start of something either very great, or very terrible,” Kat
said, her eyes gleaming.
Tessa caught Camilla’s eye and winked, smiling. She couldn’t disagree with Kat; life would
only get more interesting from here out.
Jace roared, sweeping a hand across his desk in anger. Papers scattered everywhere, and plastic shattered as his laptop hit the wall. That laptop was his prized possession, but none of it mattered.
He had well and truly ruined things this time. Gripping the velvet ring box in one hand, he contemplated throwing the thing out the window. Slowly he unfurled his fingers, placing the delicate box on his desk.
She would come back, Jace was certain. He didn’t know much about what happened in a one-sided mate bond, but he knew that the afflicted partner couldn
’t last long without the other. The question was more what condition she’d be in by the time she returned.
He couldn’t just sit here and wait. If she was already damaged by the time she came back, Jace wouldn’t be able to live with himself. He’d brought this on her without asking her permission, and hadn’t been able to tell her why she shouldn’t run. That slowly she’d begin to suffer in his absence, or even that her mind might fragment in slow increments.
“Are you alright?” came a soft voice from the doorway. Jace looked up to find Cera just outside his office, arms full of papers and rolled maps. Her wide eyes were taking in the wreck of his office, concerned.
“What’ve you got?” he asked, sidestepping her question.
Cera entered the office and looked around, then unceremoniously dumped everything onto Jace’s now-cleared desktop. She pulled up a chair and began sorting everything into piles, explaining as she went.
“Okay. Shaw filled me in on what’s going on and asked me to help you formulate a plan to protect the Den. I didn’t really know what we’d need, so I brought everything: elevation maps, floor plans of the Den, old tax record blueprints from the compound the Legion is occupying, aerial maps, and a printout of every single document we had that could be remotely related,” Cera said, pointing to each as she organized everything. Pulling out the aerial map, she flipped to the page that covered the Den.
“I figure our best chance is to hole up in Arcady, right outside of the portal. They can’t get into the Den, so we can focus our efforts on dispatching as many of their men as possible,” Cera said, sounding for all the world like an Army major.
“That would be true, but you’re forgetting something. The Legion has some way of getting into the Den. They’ve done it before,” Jace said, keeping his expression carefully blank.
“I’ve always assumed that the Legion just waited around until they got someone under their thumb, and then got them to invite everyone in,” Cera said, her brow wrinkling in confusion. “That’s not a problem I anticipate here. This is a small pack, as close as a family. We would know if someone was planning to betray us, don’t you think?”