She whimpered when Ben removed his fingers completely, leaving her empty, only to moan and open her eyes when she felt the head of his cock press against her entrance. Jacqueline stared into his eyes as he slowly pressed forward. She ignored the slight burn and pinch as he stretched her farther than she had ever been. When he was fully inside of her, Ben pressed his forehead against her as they both breathed heavily.
“You feel so good, little mate. Like warm silk against me.”
Jacqueline nodded, unable to speak. There were no words to describe how good he felt buried deep inside her. She finally understood what he’d meant when he said fate had made them for each other. They fit together perfectly. She arched her back and exhaled quickly when Ben rotated his hip.
Ben chuckled. “Ready, little mate?”
“Make me yours.”
With her permission given, Ben shifted his hips, pulling his cock out, only to slam it back into her pussy. Jacqueline let out a choked moan as he repeated the process over and over again. All she could do was wrap her arms around him and hold on. She felt her orgasm building as she trailed her hands up Ben’s back, memorizing the feel of his muscles flexing as he moved against her. He nipped her lightly just before Jacqueline felt the sting of his teeth as they entered her shoulder. There was pain at first, but it quickly gave way to pleasure as she bit down on Ben’s shoulder to muffle her scream. She flinched as her teeth sank into his skin but forgot about it when her orgasm came out of nowhere. The intensity of her release had black spots swimming before her eyes. The last thing Jacqueline remembered was Ben’s howl in her ear and the feel of hot fluid jetting into her channel before everything went dark.
Chapter 11
“Welcome back.”
Jacqueline smiled at the comment. She heard the smug tone in Ben’s voice over the fact that she had passed out. She couldn’t blame him for being proud he had given her too much pleasure. It was something she’d never thought possible.
She opened her eyes and smiled up at her mate lying on his side next to her with his head propped up on his palm. “Thank you.” Those two words held a world of meaning for her. She wanted to tell him thank you for trusting her, for giving her a second chance and not hating her, for being strong enough to take her away from her father.
“Believe me, little mate, the pleasure was all mine.” Ben grinned.
Jacqueline shivered. She didn’t think she would ever get enough of the man. She wished they could stay locked in the safe room away from the outside world, but the problems would still find them. They had already started creeping back into her head. “So what now?”
Ben seemed to know exactly what she was thinking because he flopped his head back on the bed and sighed. “Now we get up and go on. I’m sure Mitch is pacing the floors in his office right now waiting on me. As much as I would love to stay in this bed making love to you over and over again, we have work to do.”
As Ben leaned over to kiss her, Jacqueline caught a whiff of the most wonderful smell. It was the best thing she had ever smelled and made her mouth water for more. The scent was a mix between maple syrup and sugar cookies. “What is that smell?” she asked as she took a deeper breath, taking it in. She didn’t know if she wanted to drench herself in it or to eat it.
Ben frowned down at her, and she realized the scent was coming from him. “Oh, God, it’s you. Umm, you smell so good.” She buried her face in his neck and ran her tongue over his skin to see if he tasted as good as he smelled.
Ben laughed. “I take it you like my scent.”
His statement had Jacqueline pulling back and the scientist in her taking over. “How come I’ve never smelled you before?”
“It’s because we mated.”
“What do you mean because we mated?” Jacqueline asked, confused.
Ben frowned at her again. “You don’t know, do you?”
She could only shake her head as he pulled her closer and hugged her. “I’m so sorry, Jacqi. When you asked me to mate with you, I thought you knew everything that comes with the mating. I figured maybe you had gone to Tessa for advice or something. It’s hard to remember that you don’t know everything. If I had known, I would never have mated you without explaining first.”
Now, Jacqueline was starting to get scared. Ben didn’t sound as though he already regretted mating her, but he had a look of guilt on his face. “Explain what, Ben?”
Ben sighed and sat up. “When we bite our mate during sex, it binds them to us. If they’re already a shifter, then not much happens besides a bond forming between the two. In your case, since you’re human, you begin to change.” He held up his hand to stop her question before continuing. “You won’t become a shifter, but over time, you will start to develop most of our traits, heightened senses, rapid healing, and increased strength. Your life span will also change to match mine.”
Jacqueline swallowed as she tried to process the information. “Is there anything else?”
“You won’t want to be away from me for long periods of time. The longer we stay apart, the more anxious you’ll get.”
She thought over everything Ben had just told her, and none of it seemed like a deal breaker. She loved the man and nothing he’d just told her would have changed her decision if she had known before mating him. Another thought struck her, “What about Nico?”
“What about him?”
“I was confused at first, but after everything you just told me, it all makes sense. He heard the rogues long before I did. At one point, he was next to me so fast I never saw him move.”
Ben smiled. “Most people would never notice, but leave it up to my little scientist to figure it out. Mitch bit Nico after he mated Tessa. It’s rare, but it happens when a shifter mates a human that already has a child. Normally, a shifter waits until the child is old enough to make the choice on their own, but Tessa had a panic attack when she realized she could possibly out live her son. With the rogue situation and the danger from your father, Mitch went ahead and marked him.”
“I can understand that. It’s something I would do as well.” Jacqueline smoothed the lines on Ben’s forehead. “I’m not upset. I would have still decided to mate with you. I love you.”
Ben breathed a sigh of relief before giving her a wide grin. It was Jacqueline’s turn to sigh like a teenaged schoolgirl who had just spotted her crush. When Ben smiled, he was gorgeous. Add that to his scent, that was quickly becoming her favorite in the world, and the combination was devastating. She wanted to throw him back to the bed and climb on top of him.
“Stop thinking whatever it is you’re thinking,” Ben groaned. “I can smell the lust coming off you.”
After what they had just done, Jacqueline was surprised she felt herself blush at his comment. She kissed him on the cheek and quickly got out of bed, putting him out of his misery. Ben followed, and they dressed in silence. Jacqueline winced when she saw the bite mark she left on Ben’s shoulder, but he didn’t seem to mind it as he threw his shirt over his head. Once they were done, he took her hand in his and led her out of the basement.
Jacqueline slapped her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming as they rounded the corner to the living room, and she skidded to a stop. It was one thing to know Mitch was a lion, but it was completely different to actually see it up close and personal. The gigantic lion was lying on the floor in a patch of sun with his eyes closed. She knew he wasn’t asleep by the fact that his tail kept slowly flicking. What stunned her the most was Nico crawling over the lion’s back, trying to catch the tail.
“He’s not going to eat him, is he?” she whispered to Ben as she watched the lion’s eyes lazily blink open.
Ben laughed. “No, aside from the safe room, on the back of Mitch’s lion is probably the safest place Nico could be. Mitch would protect him with his life if he had to.” He turned to Mitch. “If you’re done, Your Highness, we need to make plans before we’re attacked again.”
The roar that came from the lion had Jacqueline rele
asing the death grip she had on Ben’s arm to cover her ears. She was stunned when Ben and Nico both started laughing. Neither of them was fazed by Mitch’s roar. She, on the other hand, was grateful she had emptied her bladder before coming upstairs. If not, she would have definitely been standing in a puddle at the moment.
“Don’t let him scare you, little mate,” Ben said as he led her to Mitch’s office. “He’s always a little cranky right after his nap.”
He must take an awful lot of naps then. Jacqueline kept that thought to herself. It seemed Mitch was always cranky.
* * * *
Ken and Ryan were already in the office when they arrived. Ben watched as they both sniffed the air then turned toward him and Jacqi at the same time. Ryan grinned and stood first. He came over and pulled Ben into a one-armed man hug, thumping him on the back. A deep growl had him smiling as Ben watched Ken pull Ryan away from him and wrap his arm around Ryan’s waist. Ben hadn’t known the big man could move so fast.
Once Ken had Ryan in his arms, the scowl on his face changed into a huge smile. “Congrats,” he said, thumping Ben on the shoulder and nearly sending him to the floor.
Ben grimaced and rubbed his arm. “Thanks, guys,” he said as he led Jacqi over to the loveseat and pulled her down beside him. It felt good to show his mate off. For someone who had been so adamant about never having a mate, he could barely remember back to the time before he’d met Jacqueline. If he had known then what he knew now, Ben would have combed the earth searching for her. He kissed her forehead as Mitch finally came through the door, fully dressed.
“Let’s get this over with. My mate is about to take a nap, and I wouldn’t mind joining her since mine was rudely interrupted.” Mitch glared over at Ben.
He had a feeling Mitch’s nap involved a lot more than just going to sleep with his mate. “Is that what they’re calling it these days? In that case, let’s proceed,” Ben joked. “I wouldn’t mind taking a nap with my mate as well.”
The grunt from Mitch was exactly what Ben had expected. “Are we any closer to finding out where the asshole is hiding? Maybe we can take the fight to him.”
“No,” Mitch answered. “The man owns multiple properties all over the world. At this point, unless he offers us an invite to his front door, it’s going to be pretty much impossible to find him.”
Ben agreed, but he hated to sit and wait on Percival to come to them. He had a feeling that as long as the man sent his minions to do his dirty work for him, they were going to be waiting a long time.
“Okay, we all agree the attack was just the first wave. I called the council and let them know what happened,” Mitch said. “They wanted to send out more enforcers to help, but I told them no. We don’t know if there are still people on the council working for Percival, so I trust no one but the people already in this house. We can handle our own.”
Ben agreed. Everyone he trusted to guard his back was already in the room with him. They didn’t need the extra help. “Something tells me they won’t be so loud when they come back. They will try to sneak up on us. I can set charges around the perimeter and farther into the woods. It’ll weed a few out and let us know they’re coming at the same time.”
Mitch nodded before turning to Ryan. “Once those charges have gone off, I need you and Ben up on the roof with the rifles. They won’t be expecting guns, so if you use a silencer, you can pick them off one by one.”
Ben thought Mitch’s idea was a good one. Most shifters despised guns, preferring to fight with tooth and claw. It would take them a while to figure out their pack was getting gunned down and where it was coming from.
Mitch continued. “If any of the rogues make it past that, then they will have Ken and me waiting for them in shifted form.”
Ben felt sorry for any rogue that made it that far. There would only be little pieces to scrape up by the time Mitch and Ken were done with them.
“What about Tessa and me? What are we supposed to do?” Jacqi asked quietly.
Ben felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up at the thought of his mate putting herself in danger. “You won’t be doing anything. You’ll be in the safe room, along with Tessa and Nico.”
“Surely there is something I can do. I want to help. The only reason my father is coming here is because of me and what I did. I just can’t sit back and let you all risk your lives for me.”
Ben turned to Ken. “Have you found anything on Jacqi’s mother?”
“No,” Ken rumbled. “It’s like the woman never existed. I need more information if I’m going to continue to search. What I have now just isn’t enough.”
“Then that’s what you can do, little mate. While you’re working on finding the cure, you can be thinking of anything that can help Ken find out who your mother was. I know you were young, but anything you can remember, no matter how silly it seems, could help.”
“I can do that, but that isn’t the kind of help I was offering and you know it.”Jacqi frowned at him. “I can’t just sit back and watch while you guys risk your lives for me.”
Ben looked over at Mitch, who nodded, signaling the meeting was over. Lifting Jacqi in his arms, he carried her out of the office and straight up the stairs to the room they had been sharing. He needed to have a talk with his little mate about her idea that she could put herself in unnecessary danger. Once in the room, he sat on the bed with her in his lap, not ready to let her go just yet.
“I already know what you’re going to say,” Jacqi said, her face determined. “Could you at least listen to my idea?”
“No.”
“But—”
“No buts, little mate.”
His mate sighed and laid her head on his shoulder. “You have a bad habit of cutting me off.”
“I only do it when I’m right.” Ben laughed. “Which is usually most of the time.” He turned Jacqi so he could see her face. “None of this is your fault. Your father knew we were after him. How could he not? We actually blew up the man’s house, so it was only a matter of time before he came after us here.
“As far as you helping out, the best way you can help is by being in that safe room when the attack comes. If I know you’re anywhere close to the danger, then I won’t be able to concentrate. My focus would be on you and not on my job. It’s the fastest way to get myself or one of the guys killed. I can’t let that happen. Please tell me you understand,” Ben pleaded with his mate. He couldn’t stand her being angry with him or hurt, but making sure she was in that safe room was something he wasn’t budging on.
Finally, Jacqi nodded, and Ben felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. “Thank you,” he said and kissed her. His mate moaned against his mouth when he slid his tongue against hers. The sound sent shivers down his spine and straight to his cock, which had been rock hard since the moment he’d pulled her onto his lap. It seemed he couldn’t get enough of Jacqi, and he had a feeling it would always be that way. Walking around with a constant hard-on was something he was willing to endure as long as he had his mate by his side.
Grabbing Jacqi’s hips, he turned her so that she straddled his lap and pressed her down against the erection tenting his jeans. He moaned at the feel of her against him. Ben trailed kisses down her neck, and his mate craned her head back, giving him room. He grinned when he got close to his mating bite on her shoulder and paused. When he had explained the benefits of mating to her, Ben had purposely left out one detail. He wanted it to be a surprise when she found out. Now, he looked up at his mate. She had her head thrown back and her eyes closed with a look of bliss on her face. Keeping his eyes trained up at her, Ben leaned down and gently grazed his teeth across the mark.
His mate’s reaction was instant as she yelled out. Her eyes shot wide open, and her knees clamped tightly around his waist. “What was that?” she asked, panting for breath.
Ben grinned at her and rubbed his finger over the mark, drawing a whimper from her. “That’s my mating mark. The redness and swelling will go away, b
ut the scar will never fade. When I bit you, it became an erogenous zone, but only in response to me. Any time I touch you here”—he rubbed the spot again to make his point—“it will be a turn-on for you. If any other male were to touch you there, you would feel uncomfortable, almost like you were sick to your stomach.”
Jacqi moaned and pressed her shoulder harder against his finger. “I knew I mated you for a reason.”
Ben laughed at his mate and tossed her to the bed. “I hope that’s not the only reason,” he said, hovering over her.
Jacqi looked up at him through half-closed eyes and grinned wickedly. “At the moment, it’s the only reason I can think of.” She squealed and laughed when Ben dove on top of her.
“That wasn’t nice, little mate,” he said then tsked. “I think you deserve to be punished for that. I wonder how many times I can make you come by just touching my mark.”
Jacqi’s voice was husky when she spoke. “Do your worst.”
Ben grinned. That was a challenge he wasn’t willing to pass up.
Chapter 12
Jacqueline lay in bed next to Ben, wide-awake. The man had proven his point about her mating mark until she had lost count and finally passed out. She should have still been asleep, but her brain wouldn’t stop working. An idea was right on the edge of her mind, and the scientist in her wouldn’t let her go back to sleep until she explored the thought thoroughly.
Giving up on getting back to sleep, she eased out of the bed, careful not to wake Ben, and slipped on her clothes. Jacqueline tiptoed out of the room and headed down to her lab in the basement. On the way, she heard sound coming from the kitchen and saw Tessa sitting at the table eating ice cream.
“I didn’t wake you, did I?” Tessa asked as Jacqueline walked into the kitchen.
“No. I couldn’t sleep.”
“As much screaming as you did, I figured you would be out for the night.” Tessa winked.
Jacqueline felt the heat creeping up her neck as she blushed. She opened her mouth a few times, but nothing came out.
Forever Is Not Enough [Council Enforcers 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 10