“I want to do it over there.” She shoved off him and rushed toward the waterfall. “Can you catch me?”
She didn’t have to ask him twice. He was part canine, there was nothing he liked better than to chase, unless you counted catching his prey—which he intended to do this time.
Still in her human form, Leah shrieked as she ran toward the falls. Stopping at the edge, she looked down at the lake below and he had one second to realize what she planned before she leapt over the edge into the water. Without a thought, he followed her over barely noticing the rather cold water that surrounded him, as he was so intent on locating Leah.
Pushing himself to the top, he saw her laughing as she swam toward the side. Finally catching up with her, he grabbed her leg as he hauled them both to shore.
“Are you crazy?” His heart pounded hard both from Leah’s naked form spread out beneath his body and also from the mini-adventure she’d just put them both through. “You could have been hurt.”
She shook her head. “No, my wolf said we’d be fine. It was fun.” As she grabbed the back of his neck, he let her pull his head down to her own. Her lips met his and he sighed. She was right; there was no way she would have been seriously injured. That still didn’t mean he wanted her to know just how scared he had gotten watching her do it. Breaking their kiss, she raised a brown eyebrow at him. “Now stop stalling and mate me, Azriel.”
They were both wet, the ground was hard and he couldn’t care less. Life became all about Leah, what she wanted, what she needed, what they could do together.
Touching her pert, pink nipples he teased the buds until they became engorged. She moaned and he smiled at the sound, guessing that they had to feel tender. That’s how he wanted her, aching, desperate, and begging for his touch.
Moving so he could see her better, he pressed his lips to her already touch-ravished nipple, sucking on it hard. Her back arched off the ground and she drove her hands into his hair. He was on fire from the taste of her, sweet and salty at the same time. Leah’s breasts were small and firm, he’d never considered himself a ‘breast man’ but right at that moment he couldn’t think of a more heavenly, female thing than the two mounds of ecstasy that sat on Leah’s chest.
She laughed. “I can tell you like the two sisters. That’s good. I’ve always wished they were bigger.”
Pulling his mouth off her nipple, he grinned. “They’re perfect. Just the right size for me to suck on, play with, and caress all at the same time. Besides on your frame, if you had big bulging boobs, you might fall over.”
Leah smacked him lightly on the side of the head. “I’m skinny, I get it. I come by it naturally. I eat all the time.”
“Don’t ever say that aloud in public. Everyone in the whole world will turn on you in anger.”
“You’re funny.” Her eyes shone brightly in the moonlight.
He thought about telling her he hadn’t been kidding and changed his mind. Not the time to ruin the mood. It helped, he realized, that they were naked. There wasn’t any need to remove their clothing. A benefit he’d never considered to the shifting process.
“Woo-hoo, Mister Mind, attention here on me right now.” Her eyes were still bright; she didn’t seem to be insulted, which was a good thing.
“I’m sorry, my head just goes off on tangents that I can’t seem to control…”
“Really?” Her hand grasped his erection hard and he groaned. “Now do I have your total attention?”
“Every last bit of it.”
Letting him go, she wrapped her legs around his waist essentially trapping him between them. He kissed her, their tongues battling in each other’s mouths. It was no longer gentle; having reached a frenzy that seemed to say they should get serious about what they were doing or stop doing it.
In and out, their tongues swirled, one showing the other what they wished they had begun to do with other parts of their body. His desire for this woman, the one the universe had picked out for him and perversely stuck in a cage in his lab, grew stronger every second he was around her. Now touching her like this, in the most intimate way, he wasn’t sure he could survive it.
Leah St. James—five feet nothing weighing in, he would guess, at less than one hundred pounds could destroy him if she wanted to. For some insane reason, he was more than happy to give her permission to do just that.
“I’ve waited a lifetime for you.” His voice sounded lower than usual, not surprising considering the lump in his throat.
Her trusting gaze bore into his. “Sorry it took me so long to get here. I came as fast as I could.”
“I know you did.”
“Take me.” Her command was barely a whisper. He was thrilled to comply.
With one solid push, he entered her warm inviting core. She gasped and he stopped moving, realizing he’d just broken through a barrier. His eyes widened.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was raised to believe nothing short of mating was worth very much. If I couldn’t have that, I didn’t want it at all.” Her hands cupped his cheeks. “I waited for you, Az.”
Her words almost undid him. Snug within the heat of her body, her words were a salve for his wounded soul. He’d been drifting, miserable, waiting for her and even though her life had been so much briefer than his, in her way, she had waited for him as well. It was an amazing gift.
Almost fully inside of her, he desperately wanted to move, to place himself up against her womb, to know the real completion of being joined as one with her. With a last thrust, he broke all the way through, filling her completely. She moaned and he stopped moving again.
“Az,” she opened one eye to look at him. “This might be my first time but I don’t think we’re supposed to be so still and unmoving.”
“I’m trying to give you the chance to get used to me.”
She wiggled and this time it was his turn to gasp. She teased him into submission, his only thoughts were to fulfill her every need, her every desire. Placing his hand between them, he teased the sensitive spot he found with the tips of his fingertips.
She screamed her delight, her tight muscles clenching around his hard shaft. Az wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold on. In and out of her he plunged, all rational thought leaving his mind. There was only Leah, only the two of them on this planet.
Her fingernails dug into his back as she threw her head back and lost herself in release. He watched, as if from a distance, overcome with desire and love for the amazing woman the universe had gifted him. Seconds later, his own needs overwhelming him, he spilled his seed deep inside her.
Barely able to support his own weight, he pressed his forehead on hers trying to concentrate on just breathing for a while.
Leah’s indrawn breath brought him back to the here and now. He opened his eyes looking down at her. “What’s wrong?” Gods, please don’t let her regret what they’d just done.
“Look, Az.”
He followed her gaze to the small space between them and almost jumped off her. Leah’s arms came around him. “Don’t worry. I’m sure this is the mating. Remember how you said you didn’t understand what changed between shifters after they mated? This must be it. I can feel your soul inside me.” She paused. “Can you feel me?”
He could. Nodding, because he couldn’t talk, he watched the dance of miraculous lights that illuminated between them, pushing parts of his soul into Leah and placing parts of hers inside his.
The warm white light that always came with a change surrounded them, but this time it made a giant circle around both their bodies. Each part of their souls seemed bathed in color. Reaching out, he touched the blue strand that floated from Leah, knowing instinctually that it represented her tremendous sense of loyalty. His hand moved through it as though it was no more than air, yet when it found its place inside him it felt solid like a brick being inserted into its spot in a wall.
Each color seemed brighter than the next. Red, for her sense of humor, yellow for the kindn
ess she had for everyone around her, an assortment of oranges for her artistic nature. Looking down at her, he bit his lower lip.
“I’m getting all this goodness from you and you have to be filling up with insecurity and anger.”
Leah raised an eyebrow, a look he was becoming very familiar with. “That’s not what I’m getting from you, Az. Gods give me the patience to show this man who he really is.” She sighed. “Your soul is beautiful, it’s filled with brilliance, confidence in your abilities, compassion, love, loyalty and fun.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think of myself that way.”
“Then I guess it’s a good thing you’re not in charge of this process, isn’t it?”
Another piece of Leah’s soul entered him and he sighed. She really was filling him up. He didn’t feel empty, or lost. She was always going to be with him now, even when they weren’t together.
He finally understood. “You know what this means? This is why we’ll never be able to live without the other one. You hold half of my soul in you. If you were to die,” and even saying the words die and you in relation to Leah made him ill. “Then you’ll take me with you.”
“Considering that the same goes for you, I’m going to have to insist that you don’t take too many chances there, Azriel Kane. I’d like a long, happy life.”
He smiled. Personally, he’d take a few lifetimes with her. “I’m going to start to age now. Since Theo mated, he’s found a grey hair.” The thought made him smile. “You’ll just continue to progress as you would have—twenty-six years old and onwards—but I’ll pick up like I’m really thirty and not,” he had to pause to think about it. “Eighty-two.”
“Best looking geriatric I’ve ever seen.”
He laughed, her smile touching him so deeply he had to lean down and kiss her. Reluctantly, he lifted his head. He could already hear real life intruding on his luxurious thoughts.
Taking a deep breath, he scented others in the distance—not too close but less than a mile away—they were moving slowly. It was Theo and Tristan. Neither of his brothers would be coming at such a slow pace if they didn’t want to give Az time to scent them.
“I smell them too.”
Leah was a remarkable wolf. She’d only been truly shifted for twenty-four hours and yet she’d grasped onto this part of herself with both hands, embracing it. “Let’s shift and meet them halfway.”
His hope was that they’d brought clothes. He really didn’t want others to see Leah naked, not unless it couldn’t be helped. She belonged to him now, and it turned out that one of his personality traits was an unapologetic need to keep what belonged to him all to himself.
Az shifted first, taking the clothes from his brothers. He dressed himself. Looking at Tristan and Theo, he motioned for them to turn around.
Tristan laughed and they both complied. “You know we’re both mated men, completely devoted to our other halves. I am the Alpha of this pack. During ceremonies, I’m going to see her naked. I see all the pack naked.”
Shrugging, Az couldn’t force himself to see the truth of what Tristan said, not just yet anyway. “We’ll deal with that when we get to it.”
Leah shifted, bathed for a second in the white light that would always look different to him now that he’d been mated to her in its embrace. Az let his eyes stroke her body and was rewarded by watching her nipples peak at his lustful stare. He reluctantly handed her the clothes.
Leah dressed herself. “You can turn around. I think Captain Caveman over here will behave.”
Az hoped he could. Everyone changed during matings. Maybe he got more aggressive and difficult.
Don’t worry so much, I was making a joke.
Leah’s voice in his mind was a warm caress. You know me so well now.
Tristan spoke first. “I’m sorry to interrupt your mating.”
Theo laughed. “Who is he kidding? None of us get long, uninterrupted matings these days. My mate turned into a demon an hour later.”
Leah grasped Az’s hand tightly. Faith’s a demon? Not any longer. “What’s the problem?”
“Cullen’s spies tell us that Leah’s father is on his way here.”
His mate’s eyes filled with anger. “I told you not to call him.” She looked at the ground quickly and Az realized she was warring with her need to scream and her wolf’s need to be subservient to Tristan.
“It’s okay, Leah, Tristan is used to us occasionally blowing up at him during extreme circumstances. He’s not going to throw you out of the pack.”
Tristan shook his head. “You’re a Kane now. All of my brothers and their wives take extra liberties with me. I’m used to it.”
Az didn’t miss the look Tristan threw him that indicated that perhaps Azriel had taken a few too many of those moments himself but then his brother smiled.
“At this point, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I wasn’t Alpha until I’d lived with these guys over a hundred years. It would be weird for my brothers to always look at the ground when I showed up. In any case, I didn’t call him.”
Leah looked up, squeezing Az’s hand even tighter. “So how does he know I’m here?”
“Therein lies the problem.” Theo crossed his arms over his chest. “It seems Kendrick Kane told him.”
Az cursed loudly. So much for basking in the glow of his new mate. His father was once again playing havoc with his life.
9
Everything had moved so quickly, Leah could hardly keep track. One minute they’d been out in the field. The next, she’d been rushed back to the mansion to await her father’s return. Standing in Tristan’s office, she tried not to let her hands shake. Nathan St. James might be her father, but he could be a scary son of a bitch when he wanted to be. Right now, he seemed intent on putting on a show.
Leah couldn’t believe this was happening. She stood in front of the man she’d believed to be her father for twenty-six years of life and she felt nothing but terror. Not one tiny ounce of feeling of love or compassion to the person she used to believe had been at least half responsible for giving her life.
“Leah, these men, they’ve brainwashed you. This is a cult. I’ve called the authorities; they are on their way here.”
To give him his due, the man sounded frantic.
His announcement earned a growl from Tristan, whose office they were currently borrowing for this strange reunion.
“They didn’t kidnap me, Dad. Kendrick Kane did.” “No, they’ve deluded you into believing that.”
She wanted to laugh but couldn’t muster the energy. “Really? They’ve convinced me they didn’t kidnap me? They’ve done something to my brain to confuse me about exactly who broke into my bedroom in the middle of the night and took me away?”
“Leah…”
Don’t taunt him, she-wolf, he’s a powerful enemy and a good ally.
Az’s solid voice was the only thing keeping her from leaping at her father and ripping his head to shreds with her teeth. Leah could practically feel her teeth extending in her mouth at the thought.
That’s just because you are a new wolf. It’s hard sometimes to separate the emotions. You may not want to see him again but you would never forgive yourself if you
gave into the instinct. Even your wolf wouldn’t like it when it was over.
Leah cleared her throat. “What about you, Dad? Did they do anything to your mental faculties?”
Hands fisted at his side, Senator St. James, who it turned out was her uncle, looked like he wanted to break heads together. His bodyguards had been detained at the boat deck. Whether or not the local authorities had jurisdiction on Westervelt was a bit of a tricky question. The truth was, Az had told her, they probably did, but it was enough of a grey area to at least keep them busy on the phone with state officials while she tried to work this out with ‘Dad’.
“I don’t think I understand the question, daughter.”
“Has anyone here done anything to you that would make it impossible for you to tell
what is happening to you?”
Don’t do it.
She shouldn’t be surprised her wolf didn’t want her to show him what she could do. In this case, she was going to have to discard the canine’s advice. Calling the white light, she slipped easily into her canine form. Through her wolf eyes, she stared up at her father.
Az, I’m going to need you to translate for me, as the one flaw with this plan was that now he can’t hear me.
Her beloved cleared his throat. “I’m going to speak on behalf of Leah who, obviously, you can’t hear.”
Her ‘father’ had been hostile toward Az when he’d first met him, which Leah might have resented as much as the fact that he’d all but handed her off to Kendrick to be kidnapped.
Does he believe me now?
Az repeated. “She wants to know if you believe her now.”
Her father nodded. “This has become hugely more complicated for me.”
To him? This had become more difficult for him? With barely a thought, Leah transformed back into her human form. Standing in front of her father, she immediately realized she was naked. As if reading her mind, Az threw a robe around her nude form. She smiled her gratitude. Someday she might get used to the constant shifts into nudity on Westervelt but she doubted she’d ever feel that way in circumstances such as this one.
“How is this more complicated to you?” She couldn’t help the sarcasm and pettiness she heard in her voice. He was supposed to love her. As far as she knew, he thought she was his daughter. She would probably always think of him as her dad.
“Because Kendrick told me you were latent. I thought that meant you would be spared what is to come.” Her father chewed on his bottom lip as Leah’s pulse pounded loudly in her ears. What had he just said? “I know you won’t believe me. I never wanted you to be hurt. I guess you’re going to be the first casualty of this war.”
“Cullen.” Tristan yelled as he shifted into his wolf form. Behind her she heard several loud growls.
Shift. Hurry.
Her wolf was begging her to move and Az screamed something but all she could see was that her father’s green eyes had turned gold in front of her. She stared into them, transfixed. Who was this man and what was he doing to her?
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