by M. L. Briers
Petra already felt weak from the orgasm that had taken her breath away and was still gently rolling through her. The feel of his mouth hot against her sex, his teeth nipping and nibbling, and his tongue soothing her and bringing her back to life, was almost too much. Her hands hit the floor in front of her as she knelt on all fours over him, her breath came in pants between the moans of pleasure he was giving her.
“I can’t…”She’d never been able to climax more than once before, but then she’d never come with just the feel of a man inside her either, but this was different, this was her mate, and his body seemed to be able to command, demand that her body respond to him.
The deep growl that rolled against her flesh sent her even further towards the edge. Her fingers curled into the hard earth and her nails dug in as he fevered against her, ferocious intensity, it was the only way she would ever be able to describe what he was doing to her, and as he took her over the edge she cried out through the waves of unbelievable pleasure that soared through her.
Dale tasted and felt her orgasm at the same time. Savouring her essence as her inner muscles tensed and released against his tongue. It almost drove him insane with his need for her. She’d said she couldn’t, he was determined to show her just how much she could respond to his touch.
‘Mine.’ His beast urged him from the ground, urged him to take his pleasure in their mate, to give her more pleasure than she had ever had before. To mark her as his.
Kneeling behind her he pressed back inside her slick channel. Her body opened for him, tight and throbbing around him, but ready for him again. He moved slowly as she came back to him, taking her from the tip to the hilt, and when she moaned her approval he moved faster, shorter thrusts that rocked back and forth over her sweet spot, taking her breath again as he built another release within her.
He wrapped his arm around her waist and brought her body back against him. With his other hand he fisted her hair and drew it away from her shoulder, away from where he wanted to place his mark.
“May I claim you, love?”His feral growl gave her clarity, and as his tongue swirled over her skin she moaned out her agreement. “Says the words, Petra, tell me you accept me as your mate.” He needed to make sure. He wouldn’t mark her without her consent.
“I accept you.”
‘Mine.’
“Mine.”He growled against her neck. His fangs elongated from his gums. He pounded his hips against her in short bursts that brought her to the very edge of her release before he thrust to the hilt inside her and felt her body convulse with the orgasm that tore through her. Pressing his fangs into her soft flesh, she hardly made a sound. She didn’t try to pull away from him as they cut through her skin, and when he tasted her blood, her very life force, he knew he could never let her go.
Dale released his fangs, tasting her blood on his tongue as he sealed the wound. All the time he thrust into her, closer and closer to his own pleasure as her inner muscles massaged him to release his seed deep within her. He tossed back his head and howled into the night as over and over he pulled back his hips and thrust deeply, spilling inside her until he had nothing left to give.
Dale sat back on the ground and gently eased her back against his chest, cradling her within the protectiveness of his arms as she fought to regain her breathing. The scent of their bodies need for one another hung in the air, mixing with the scent of her blood that lingered, and he drank it up, revelled in it as he soothed her back to him with gentle growls and soft words.
“Do you still hate me, love?”He breathed against her ear and felt her body shiver. He wrapped his arms even tighter about her body to keep her against his heat. He knew her reaction had nothing to do with the chill in the air, and that knowledge warned him even more.
“You’re not my favourite person, but I never hated you.”He nuzzled his face into her neck and took his fill of her scent.
“Do you still want me?”He was feeling playful, but he wasn’t sure that her reaction to him would be the same when she regained full control of her senses. But right now she was his and he was hers and he could wait for her to be comfortable with that.
“More than before.”He was expecting deceit. Expecting her sharp tongue to spit out some sarcastic comment to wound him, and was ready to read her emotions rather than her words, but she offered none. Her shields had long since been dropped and he could feel her emotions, they were in turmoil, but she wasn’t trying to push him away anymore.
Dale loosened his hold on her. His hands found her hips and he lifted and turned her towards him. His strength making it easier than it seemed as he sat her back in his lap and moved his hands to cup her face, bringing her eyes up to his.
“I claimed you as mine…”
“I know.”It was slightly hazy amidst all of the orgasms, all of the pleasure, but she remembered agreeing. She remembered the slight pain of his bite. Although that was nothing compared to the pleasure of what he had done to her, and if she was entirely honest, perhaps the bite itself had even increased her pleasure.
“Will you stay with me, be my mate?”
“I know I rejected you, but from the moment I met you I don’t think that there was any real doubt that you would be mine and I would be yours. What I said was not how I felt, not deep down…”She dropped her eyes but he tipped her head further back and dipped his head to see her eyes.
“I hoped that was the case…”
“But your pack might not be so…”
“My pack has been told that you are my mate. That you are not under a blood feud any longer, and what your mother did that night to try to help us, Petra.”
“I wished I knew her. I wished I had memories of her with me…”He pulled her to him, wrapped his arms around her and felt her curl into his warmth.
“The pack has archives that date back a lot further than your mother. I’ve spoke to the elder who maintains those archives and she’s more than happy to dig through and see what she can find on your mother and the coven. When you’re ready I’ll take you to her.”Petra closed her eyes and felt a weight lift from her very soul. “Doesn’t Jerome have anything of your mothers?”
“I didn’t ask. It feels like just having me here is reminder enough for him. He has a look of sadness in his eyes when he looks at me.” Petra admitted. She’d seen it more than once, before he put his vampire face back in place and became Mr Blank. She didn’t want to dig too deeply in that wound just yet.
“She was his soul mate. In a way, it’s probably easier for a Lycan to lose a mate, become rogue and have it ended for them by the pack. Vampires have to live a very long time knowing they’ve lost their mate.”Dale felt for the man. He’d known that he lost a mate, but no one had ever gone into the details before and it wasn’t something that you brought up in polite everyday conversation.
“I can’t believe that I found my family and he’s a vampire. What are the odds?”Petra frowned even through her sarcasm. But Jerome was her family. She didn’t know who her real father was, but for everything that Jerome and Wesley had done for her, they were family.
“My father in law the vampire. That’s going to take some getting used to.”He growled gently as he brushed his hands down her back. Nothing else mattered but her, her wellbeing, her happiness, her safety. He could live with an overbearing, bloodsucking vampire for an in law, just so long as she was happy, and he intended to make her very happy.
“Your pack just got gifted two Fae and two vampires. Enjoy.”She sniggered against his chest and heard him groan at the very thought.
“Speaking of which, how’s Brad getting on with your sister?”
“Oh trust me, they’ve mated, he roared a howl like a mental wolf earlier…”
“Roared? Sweetheart, if he roared, they’ve not just mated, they’ve bonded.”He felt her lift her head away from his chest and angled his head so he could see her face. She looked a little shocked, but the grin that swept over her face lit her eyes and she sniggered again.
“She doesn’t even like Lycans. I wonder how he managed that…”
“Does she like sex?”He teased and Petra chuckled.
“Who doesn’t…?”
“Good to know, and there’s your answer. Perhaps you might have agreed to bond with me in mid coitus if I’d asked…”He was back to playful again and she bit down on her lower lip and considered her answer very carefully. She very much doubted he had much willpower left within him after he’d chased her down and managed to fight off his beast’s instincts to claim her on the spot.
“Perhaps I would. Perhaps I will soon, but perhaps you should wait to be asked.”
“Perhaps I will.”He growled back, grabbing a hold of her torn jacket and yanking her back against him as he covered her mouth with his. The time for conversation was over for now, before she said something to make his wolf antsy again. The beast was practically dormant within him, and he wanted to keep it that way for just a while longer.
Rafferty had eyes on Jed’s cabin. After the man’s outburst at the pack meeting he wanted to make sure that he didn’t take it into his own mind to go against the alpha. The Omega was a hothead. But he was old enough to have lived through the events at the coven circle eighteen years ago, and he held the old alpha in esteem. Some would say the man wore rose coloured glasses where he was concerned, Rafferty felt it was just blind loyalty. He hoped Jed would show the same loyalty to Dale.
Rafferty was more than prepared for a long night. The Omega was due out on patrol at three in the morning and Rafferty had arranged with Tony, Dale’s second Beta, to keep an eye on him as they ran the borders. But until then Rafferty felt it was probably in everyone’s best interest to stay close. One or two uncomfortable nights mulling around the cabins wouldn’t do Rafferty’s beast any harm, and it might even give him a better night’s sleep. The older he seemed to get the less sleep he seemed to need.
Not having had the luck to find his own mate, Rafferty couldn’t even imagine what it would be like to lose her, but he was damn certain he wouldn’t let that happen to Dale. That wasn’t to say he hadn’t spent many years loving his partner, he had. They’d had a good life until she was taken from him, but he’d never experienced the kind of loss that would send him rogue. Perhaps that was a blessing, but he felt it more like a curse. He never regretted his life with Nina, but he wished he’d experienced, even for a short time, what his alpha had with the Fae girl.
His beast turned towards the cabin as he spotted signs of movement inside. Jed might have been in human form but he was prowling around within those four walls like his damn beast was antsy and Rafferty didn’t like it. He didn’t like it one bit. Something was off, he could just sense it in the air, and he’d stay here for a month if he had too.
“Are you sure about this?” Jerome didn’t seem in the kind of mood that Petra had come to expect. His dark brows were drawn together over the bridge of his nose in a constant frown from the moment that Dale had announced he was taking the mates home. His arms were folded over his chest and he seemed on edge, and an on edge vampire was never a good thing.
“She’s with me, Jerome, what harm could she possibly come too?”Dale shot back. He knew that Jerome was her de facto father, and he had been her guardian practically all of her life. But she was his mate, it was his job to protect her now, and he’d do that with his last breath.
“You know if anything happens to her I’ll kill you myself.”It wasn’t an idle threat, it was a promise. It was the kind of challenge that both the Alpha himself and his wolf would gladly tear someone’s head from their body for making. Dale took a long step towards the vampire and growled long and hard…
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“That would be welcome.”Dale offered back with all sincerity. Petra was his mate, if he lost her he wouldn’t want to go on alone. It was the Lycan way and probably why most mates turned rogue after losing their mates. A quick end at the wrath of the vampire would be a sweet release that Dale would look forward too, even embrace should the worst happen to Petra.
Jerome rolled his eyes and dropped his arms to his sides. “You Lycans are a weird bunch.”He mused. His threat would have sent shivers down any vampire’s spine, considering how old and accomplished in taking down his enemies he was. But for the alpha, it was seen as a godsend. Not really the kind of response he would have hoped for. “Perhaps I should have threatened to take your kitty litter box away.”
That comment elicited a low deep growl from the alpha and made Jerome smile internally with his accomplished goal, to get under the man’s skin. He’d spent many centuries perfecting the art and it heartened him to know that he hadn’t lost his touch. He liked Dale, but he liked winding people up just as much. After so many centuries what else was a vampire to do with his time? Crochet a damn blanket.
Petra sat in the armchair and watched the interaction between the two men. A day ago she was self sufficient and out there alone in the big wide world, or so she thought, with only Jill to guard her back from the big bad things that go bump in the night. Now she had two supernatural beings that were vying over protecting her. Go figure. She couldn’t say it didn’t feel good to know that someone was watching out for her, but she wondered if it would get old really quickly.
“What you boys both seem to be forgetting is, I am Fae. I have enough tools in my arsenal to protect myself should it come to it.”Petra snorted her contempt for both of them, but inside she was kind of proud of the men in her life. The vampire and the Lycan, both formidable creatures of the unseen otherworld, and both on her side, what more could a girl ask for?
“Oh listen to the little witch. It’s so cute, like a kitten finding its claws for the first time.”Jerome teased, and this time it was Dale who rolled his eyes. Witch baiting was about as much fun as taunting a grizzly, either way you were poking an angry bear. This bear happened to be his mate and he’d already felt her anger once tonight.
“I wouldn’t go there if I were you. Not unless you have a wish to fly, and backwards to boot.”Dale bit out. If he hadn’t of been Lycan he would surely still be feeling the after effects of that little confrontation. Jerome had witnessed it too, albeit from a distance as he watched over her. He’d also witnessed her running from the wolf like an idiot and had been more than ready to swoop in and rescue her, but to Dale’s credit he’d managed to hold off the beast within him. After that he’d given them a little privacy…
“Or perhaps just float aimlessly…”Petra didn’t wait for any great fanfare, she just pulled on her magic and lifted her vampire daddy into the air with as much ease as picking up a newspaper. To his credit, he neither looked fazed, nor did he move a muscle, instead he just hung in place. “I could do my nails at the same time too.”Petra informed him going for the bored look just to top it off.
“Nice parlour trick, but you have to let me down some time.”Jerome folded his arms across his chest and gave her the look of a father berating his child.
“I could snap your neck…”Petra offered.
“Wouldn’t really kill me now would it?”Jerome offered back with a smug look.
“I could toss you across the room…”
“Still not dead.”Jerome shot back teasing her.
“Onto a spike?”
“That might work, but your aim had better be good.”He offered and she sighed.
“I could set you on fire…”
“That would probably do it, but still no guarantee I wouldn’t get to you before I die…”He tossed back at her, the twinkle of amusement playing in his eyes as she considered it.
“How about if I snapped your neck, then impaled you on a spike and set fire to you?”Petra offered with a large grin.
“Lesson complete.”Jerome looked as if he was going to applaud her inventiveness. “When dealing with vampires, always go for overkill, so to speak.”Jerome dropped his arms from his chest and pointed to the floor that was a good five feet beneath him. “You can let me down now.”
Petra flicked her hand as if di
smissing him. He dropped like a stone, but he was a vampire and that was akin to being a cat, he landed on his feet and made a show of brushing his hand down over his top. His eyes flicked towards Dale, the amusement was still there.
“You can take my daughter with you, but remember to treat her with the respect having a vampire father at home deserves.”Jerome teased the pair of them before he turned on his heels and walked away. He might be giving her mate the authority to care for her now, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t be dropping by, just to make sure all was well.
“Thanks dad.”Dale called after him and chuckled to himself when he saw the vampire hesitate in his step. He turned his attention back towards Petra. “As soon as Brad and Jill get down here, we can go.” He felt a little guilty about interrupting them mid coitus when he’d used the link between his beta and himself to locate them. But he’d at least had the good grace to allow them time to finish. Even though he burned with a desire to take his own mate home and have her once more within his own bed.
“Are you sure your pack are ok with this, I wouldn’t want to ruffle any…fur.” Petra offered and her mate was on one knee in front of her by the time she had blinked. He reached for her hands and encased them within his own.
“Worried?”Dale reached out to feel for her emotions. She hadn’t bothered putting her shields back in place since he had claimed her as his mate, and he was grateful for that trust. He didn’t sense any fear within her, but there was a little anxiety.
“You’ve met my folks. I guess it’s only fair I get to endure the same thing, right?”Petra gave a small shrug of her shoulders. She wasn’t worried about being torn to pieces by an angry blood-lusting pack of wolves. She was more worried that they wouldn’t like her, that they wouldn’t accept her as part of their pack.