by M. L. Briers
“I wanna do that again…”She breathed out on a long sleepy sigh and Dale almost growled with annoyance that she had worried him, but her words just made him smile instead. “Too tired…”She whimpered and he couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Sleep and I promise that when you wake, we’ll do that again, and again, and again.”He saw the small grin that stretched her lips, but it faded quickly as she succumbed to sleep.
CHAPTER THRITEEN
To say that life had returned to normal within their pack wouldn’t be exactly true. For one thing they had a couple of protective vampires that liked to pay a visit at stupid hours of the day and night. Dale surmised that it was some kind of show to the rest of the pack that the vampires were never far away from the Fae mates, and a warning that they were stealthy. Appearing out of nowhere and causing a stir on many occasions.
Then there were the mates themselves. Jill’s rush to sarcasm was met with a few odd stares as they became accustomed to her ways, but she was quickly accepted among them, even if her mischief was frowned on in certain circles, but not by Rafferty, he loved the ripples that the newcomers had created and tended to follow them around almost as much as the vampires.
After threatening Jed over the guns that he’d brought onto pack land with banishment if anything like it happened again, the Omega seemed a little more settled in his ways. He even went out of his way to get to know both the Fae mates. But Rafferty still kept a beady eye on him. Just in case.
But it was Petra that surprised Dale the most. She threw herself into pack life with a vengeance. She even seemed to relish the most mundane tasks like helping out with cooking during the weekly informal pack gatherings at the main house. After a week of experiencing her charms there were no more mutterings behind hands about her. Rafferty again proved most valuable in his ability to sooth any doubts that people had about her being a Blackwell witch and a legacy of the old coven.
“Two witches don’t make a coven.”He was prone to saying when anyone mentioned a coven, and that steady glare he could conjure up in an instant had silenced wagging tongues.
Breakfast had become a free for all. Rafferty as always made an appearance, but now the table didn’t seem complete without a vampire or two as well. It was sometimes exhausting, infuriating and downright comical, but Dale found peace like he had never known before within this new slightly crazier pack.
Dale had finally admitted to Petra that, like her mother, his father had died that night in the coven attack eighteen years ago. He was worried that she might pull away from him, knowing that his father had been there, and not knowing who had dealt her mother the fatal blow, but it seemed to only bring them closer together in their loss.
And then there was the added advantage of having his mate next to him when he woke in the morning and when he went to sleep at night. Curled around her, keeping her safely tucked inside his arms, he was grateful to the Fates for choosing so wisely. She was truly his soul mate in every respect.
Dale felt her curl further into him as she stirred from sleep. Her hand brushed down his abdomen as she instinctive reached for him, brushing fingertips over the tip of his erection as it nestled between their warm bodies. The gentle growl that rolled through him brought her wide awake and she smiled up at him.
“Look what I found.”She giggled like a schoolgirl and her fingers made his length twitch in response to her touch.
Dale rolled her onto her back and without a word he disappeared under the covers, moving down her body, kissing and caressing her as he went and she opened for him, expecting his touch, but instead he moved back up, his head reappearing from under the covers.
“I can’t…”He offered with a small wince and she gapped at him as if he had suddenly grown another, uglier head.
“Say what?”She shot back, her brows rising on her forehead and he winced again.
“I can scent you, you’re fertile, and I know you’re not taking birth control pills…”He offered apologetically and she twisted her head on her neck and slapped him upside his head.
Dale growled out in shock and annoyance as he blinked twice. “And that was for?”He enquired patiently. She was becoming more Lycan by the day. Instead of using her words she had taken to violence.
“For getting me all hot and bothered and then telling me that you don’t want me.”She berated him and his brows drew down on his forehead as he scowled at her.
“I never said I didn’t want you. I said you were fertile…”She slapped him upside his head again, and this time he growled a little longer and a little harder at her.
“Stop growling, you know you’re not going to bite.”
“Stop slapping me and I’ll stop growling at you.”He rolled his eyes.
“Did you just roll your eyes at me?”She demanded and he raised only one brow this time in a rush to guilt.
“N-o.”He offered slowly as she narrowed her eyes on him as he tipped his head to one side and pouted for a long moment. “M-a-y-b-e.”
“First you reject me, and then you insult me. Is that what mates are supposed to do, because I can do that…”
Dale climbed out from under the covers and pinned her down to the bed. Making sure he had her damn wrists in his hands so that she couldn’t slap him again. He took a long calming breath and let it back out on a sigh.
“I did not reject you…”
“Did too…”
“Oh for the love of…”Dale growled long and hard. If she were a man he would already have ended this conversation, probably with a fist. She was so damn frustrating when she was like this, irrational. “There is no saying that you’ll get pregnant if we have sex now, but there is a chance.”He growled down at her and she gave him that look again, questioning his sanity.
“And you have a problem with that because?”She snapped back at him.
Dale went to open his mouth to speak, and he did open it, but he found that no words came out. It just sort of flapped about for a long moment or three. Then a few grunts followed, and he managed to err and ah. He kind of wished he wasn’t holding her hands down so she could slap him, hard, it just might kick start his brain.
“Use your words puppy, Good boy.”She teased and watched his head snap back on his neck as if she had physically reached out and slapped him.
“I didn’t think…”He started and heard her snort.
“That’s a given, you’re male.”
“That is, we hadn’t discussed…”
“A conversation? Us? Go figure.”She teased and watched his dark brows dancing over his forehead like a couple of funky caterpillars.
“Pups. We haven’t really, that is you haven’t…”He was spluttering and stumbling like a teenager on his first date. She actually found it kind of endearing.
“Been practicing? Oh I think we’ve done plenty of that.”She liked this side of him. Soft and cuddly with an air of adorableness, all wrapped up in the sexy man that was pressed against the length of her.
Dale couldn’t hide the slow grin that swept over his face. “So you’re fine with…?”
“Practicing? Definitely. Fate can take care of the rest.”She saw the grin on his face spread, saw the glint in his eyes, and the desire that burned within him as a slow gentle growl rolled through his chest. Petra narrowed her eyes on him and gave him an expectant look. “Weren’t you…?”She flicked her head, urging him back down her body and watched as the realisation of what she wanted dawned on him.
“Oh, yeah…”He released her hands and disappeared beneath the covers again, only to emerge seconds later. “You’re sure that this is what you want?”He felt the sharp slap hit the side of his head and growled again.
“Did that answer your question?”She offered innocently and he clamped his lips shut and gave a curt nod of his head.
“Pretty much.”He went to disappear again, but she snagged a handful of his hair and yanked him back up.
“I changed my mind…”She gave a small shrug off her shoulders and saw the light
fade from his eyes.
“That’s ok. If you’re not ready to…”He shut up when she palmed his chest and pushed at him with all of her might. He took a long moment to consider it before he rolled over onto his back. He couldn’t say that he wasn’t disappointed that she’d changed her mind, but respectful of her decision.
Petra rolled on top of him and straddled his hips. “I figure if I want something done right then I should just do it myself.” She informed him and felt his hands clamp down on her hips as she squirmed against him.
“Let me get that for you.”He offered, lifting her over him and gently lowering her down the length of him as she closed her eyes and savoured the feel of him inside her.
“You know that practice makes perfect right?”She breathed out as he lifted her and settled her down on him again.
“I heard that somewhere.”He grinned and she opened her eyes and locked her gaze on his.
“Then I think we shouldn’t leave this bed for the next couple of days. I think we need all the practice we can get.”She told him. Certain that fate would be kind enough to grant her the blessing of a pup with their first try, but wanting to make damn sure they gave it their best shot, just in case.
Dale had her flipped onto her back in a heartbeat. “You want our pup?”He saw the slow smile creep across her face and then she nodded her head. “Well, I’ll certainly try my best, love.” He assured her as he claimed her mouth and moved inside her.
The End.