* * * *
God, she was beautiful. He’d overheard some women criticizing her full bottom and saying her mouth was too wide and her nose was too long, but they were just being catty, jealous. To him, she was perfect. If fate had chosen a mate for him, it had certainly done well. Of course, Mason liked to believe it wasn’t just fate that drew mates together. He preferred to believe mates felt something deep and natural for each other the first time they met that set fate in motion, rather than the other way around.
“Good morning,” he said, nuzzling her neck in greeting. “You smell good.”
“Really?” She laughed. “Ugh. Don’t smell me. After last night, I’m sweaty and gross.”
He took another big whiff of her neck and then moved down to bury his nose in her cleavage. “No, you smell like sex, and something else. Jasmine, maybe?”
She giggled and ran her hands through his hair. “Whatever you say.”
Mason was hard again. He always woke up that way, but her scent had his cock practically hurting with need this morning. He wanted her again, badly, but he didn’t want to hurt her. He knew she might be sore from taking him and his brother so many times last night.
Lifting his head, he stared into her eyes, dark and filled with mysteries he would be happy to spend a lifetime unlocking. She stared back, lips parted, and he captured her mouth in a soft kiss that grew deeper by the second. He’d better stop and go jump in a cold shower before he took her again and worsened any pain she was in from last night. Pulling back, he looked down at her as a slow smile curved her lips. “How are you this morning? I mean…are you hurting anywhere?”
“I’m fine.” The way she said it, with that sexy smile on her face, he could almost believe it. “You know what would make me feel even better?”
“No. What?” Whatever it was, he’d do it.
She ran her hand down his chest and over his belly to circle his cock, provoking a sharp intake of breath from him. “You in a hot shower with me.”
“Enough said. Let’s go.” Her wish was Mason’s command. He stood up and lifted her in his arms, prepared to carry her to the suite’s bathroom.
“Coming, Luke?” Nikki asked.
Mason hadn’t realized his brother was awake until Nikki spoke to him. He didn’t mind his brother joining them, of course. Seeing Nikki writhe and moan at his brother’s touch only turned Mason on more.
“No.” A single word was all the answer Luke offered, and Mason could have taken the time to wonder what that loaded word meant. Maybe Luke was angry, maybe he was jealous. All Mason knew was he had his woman in his arms, who, from the smell of things, was ready for him all over again. Luke’s problem, whatever it was, would have to wait. He crossed the room to the bathroom in just a few strides. “Suit yourself,” he called out just before he kicked the door shut behind him.
Had his cock ever been so hard? Everything Mason had ever heard about the insatiable hunger a wolf shifter felt for his mate had been true. It was as if the wolf inside him wanted to consume her. He pushed himself to be patient and calm as he washed her hair and rinsed it clean. Nothing could please him more than pampering her after the incredible pleasure she’d given him, nothing except plunging deep and hard into her silky channel again.
Nikki sighed as he massaged her scalp under the running water. “That feels wonderful.”
Mason smiled, hearing that, and leaned down to plant a soft kiss on the side of her neck. He couldn’t resist nibbling her neck a little, and when she stepped backward to press herself against him, he realized he should have stuck with just washing her up. The feel of her round buttocks pressed against his already-hard shaft was too much. He needed her like he needed to breathe. “Shit, Nikki. Don’t do that. You’re driving me crazy.”
She laughed a throaty, sexy laugh that caused a tightening in his balls, and he could swear his cock grew another inch just hearing it. Releasing her hair, he ran his hands down her sides over her hips, kissing her neck and shoulders as he went. Then, he ran his hands back up, over her slippery, wet belly to cup her dripping breasts, enjoying the slick feel of her delicate skin and the hard beading of her nipples. “I want you, but the last thing I want to do is hurt you. Are you sore from last night?”
“No worries,” she said, turning in his arms to face him and press her hot little body right up against his. “You won’t hurt me. And if you do, well, I don’t mind a little pain with my pleasure.”
That wasn’t exactly an answer about the current state of her nether region, and he opened his mouth to ask her again. The words never made it past his lips, because Nikki looked up at him with a wicked grin and then dropped to her knees.
Mason was what most people would call a good guy, but damn, deep down he was just an animal, and rational thought deserted him just then. He only sort of remembered there was something he should press her about, but when she opened her mouth and touched the tip of her tongue to his cock, he promptly forgot even that.
She seemed tentative at first as she licked the head of his cock, but that didn’t last long. He couldn’t stop the groans that escaped his mouth at her touch, and that seemed to spur her on. She licked from the tip of his cock down to the base and then back again. When he reached out to grab her by the hair, she opened wide and pushed forward, taking all she could of him into her mouth.
Mason concentrated on breathing deeply, as he could have shot his load right then and there, but he wanted to savor the feel of her mouth wrapped around him. He looked down at her as she started to bob up and down. Her eyes were closed and her sensual mouth was stretched wide in an effort to take him. Groaning again, he began to move with her, pumping in and out of her mouth, holding her hair as tightly as he could without hurting her. That’s when he felt her hand on his balls. “Baby, stop. I’m going to come.”
He tried to move away, but she wouldn’t let him. She cupped his balls and used them to draw him forward again, taking him back into her mouth. This time, she used her teeth, too, gently scraping them down his length before circling the tip with her tongue, applying firm pressure on the underside of his cock where the head met his shaft.
Every muscle strained with the effort to hold back and wait until he could shoot his load in her pussy. But when she opened her eyes and looked up at him, he lost all control, pulling her forward onto his cock and pumping once, twice, three times before he came, hard, spurting an unbelievable amount of cum into her mouth as he leaned against the shower wall to keep from losing his balance. He was a strong man, but her touch, her mouth…Well, he was clearly no match for that.
When he was sure he was steady on his feet again, Mason pulled her up and kissed her senseless. He tasted his cum on her tongue and felt a thrill, knowing she had swallowed. Most women he’d been with were not up for that sort of thing.
The mind-blowing orgasm she’d just given him would put him out of commission for a short time, but he wanted to return the favor. “Your turn,” he said, shutting the water off and stepping out of the shower. They’d have to finish getting cleaned up later. At the moment, she was on the menu.
He reached for his mate and lifted her from the shower, stopping only to towel her off before carrying her back to bed and spreading her thighs wide. He barely registered Luke’s absence. There were far more important things on his mind. At the first touch of his tongue against her slit, Nikki moaned his name and arched upward, pushing her pussy against his face. Mason dove in.
* * * *
“What happened? Did you wear out your welcome already?”
Luke groaned inside. He’d only wanted to grab some breakfast, but he should have waited until he was sure the dining room was empty. Now he’d have to hear it from his father.
“Good morning to you, too, Dad.” Luke concentrated on filling his plate. He was starving, and if he had to listen to the lecture he knew was coming, he might as well fill his belly while he did it.
“It doesn’t look like such a good morning for you, Son.”
Okay, he’d play along. “What do you mean?”
“Why aren’t you with your mate? The hydan is meant to be spent getting to know one’s mate in every way possible. Yet, here you are, alone.”
Luke carried his plate over to a table by the window, leaving his father to follow or not. He could only defy Grey so much, and this was one way to do it. The frilly tablecloths weren’t his speed, but he could look out the window and try to tune Grey out.
Like he’d expected, his father sat down opposite him, glaring. “Well?” he demanded.
“Well, I am getting to know something about her. I’m getting to know what it feels like to leave the room after spending the entire night with her and eat breakfast on my own.” He could have just said he was hungry and Nikki was…busy, but that would have been too easy. Luke was still pissed enough at his father to take joy in annoying him.
“Don’t be an idiot. Has the union been consummated? Have you claimed her?”
Luke almost wished his father would just ask if he’d fucked her. He was beginning to hate the word “consummate.” Still, he had to answer. “Yes. Happy now?”
He knew he probably sounded like a defiant child, but he disliked being questioned, especially about something so intimate. Nikki was his mate now, and his business. Couldn’t his father just leave them alone now?
“Good.” Grey sat back, and exhaled powerfully. “It’s about damned time.”
Luke had to give him that. If he’d known how good her pussy would feel, he would have fucked her long before their official joining night. The problem was, he could feel more than just carnal desire creeping up when he lay next to her, and he didn’t like it.
“Great. Glad you’re happy. Are we done here?” He’d enjoy his breakfast more if he could eat without Grey breathing down his neck.
His father glared at him, an expression he’d grown used to over the years. “Don’t you think you should be taking your breakfast with her?”
Luke shoveled some eggs in his mouth, frowning. He’d waited too long. They were cold. “So you’re going to control that, too? I’m surprised you let me fuck her without a detailed list of instructions.”
Grey’s whole body tensed and for a moment, Luke thought his father would hit him. He tensed as well. He respected Grey, despite his anger, but he was too old to submit to that treatment, even if it was from the alpha. Luke had put up with enough of that after his mother died, before his father took a new mate. Sobered up and with renewed purpose, Grey had apologized and Luke had come to forgive him over time. What else could he do? The clan was his family, and he was still a young boy back then. Now, though, that thinking only stretched so far, family or not.
Eventually, Grey blew out a rush of air and Luke watched as his father visibly relaxed again. “Look, Luke, it doesn’t look good for you to eat here alone. I need you to at least appear devoted to your mate during the hydan, at least until the merging ceremony is complete. You know how important this is to the smooth transition to one clan. If either side believes this union is unhappy at this juncture, the merger could still go to hell, even with Mason as her mate.”
“We wouldn’t want that.”
Grey’s built-in frown grew deeper, if that was even possible. “Look to your left, Luke. Even now we are the subject of discussion. That’s Caleb Lowe over there. Remember him?”
“Sure, he’s the wolf Smith Grant got into that skirmish with in the spring. What was it? Construction near the border line?”
“Yes, exactly. Smith’s new construction came a little too close to the Raven side for Caleb, and he and Smith nearly killed each other over it.”
“So?”
“So, he’s been staring daggers this way whenever he thinks we’re not looking. Zion says he’s been one of the most vocal against this merging of clans. And there are those who agree with him.”
“There are always dissenters. That’s nothing new. It’s the vote that speaks.” Both clans had voted to bring the Ravens and the Lycans together, though there had been nearly as many against it as there had been for the merger.
“What is new is the merger itself. It’s unprecedented, and if enough clansmen raise doubts, someone may decide he has the balls to issue a challenge.”
Luke didn’t think Grey had much to worry about on that score. “He’d be a fool to. There are two of you now.” Then again, both alphas were moving out of their prime, and a young, powerful wolf might have a shot at beating at least one of them, becoming the new alpha of that clan and possibly withdrawing his clan from the merger before the ceremony took place to make it official.
“This is uncharted territory for both clans, and we can assume nothing. Look to your right now, Luke.”
Glancing to the right, Luke saw a long table full of Lycan clansmen, pointing their own dagger-filled stares at Caleb Leidolf. “Oh, shit.” Apparently, Grey wasn’t the only wolf to notice the anger Caleb wasn’t trying hard enough to conceal. Luke raised a hand and nodded toward Bran, the apparent ringleader, then turned and gave the same greeting to Caleb, a big grin plastered on his face. Yeah, fuckers, I see you. Don’t start that shit.
Turning back to Grey, Luke sized his father up, trying to figure out what the man was thinking. Grey wasn’t really the type to cooperate with another alpha. Was the threat of attack by Ulric and war with the vampires really enough to change him, or was his father up to something? And more importantly, how would whatever his father was up to affect him? “The offer you and Zion made—that I could live elsewhere, separate from Nikki. You were just bullshitting me?”
“No, that offer still stands. Her father has no wish for her to be tortured with the constant presence of a mate who doesn’t care for her, but this hydan, this initial period, is critical. After that, we’ll make up some excuse to have you leave for a while. Maybe say you’re needed at our northern border. Eventually, people will get used to your absence and by then, it won’t matter. The transition will be complete and the foundation for a single clan built.”
“And that’s what you really want? A clan united under a single leader?”
Grey’s eyebrow rose. “Isn’t that what I’ve been saying?”
The trouble was, Luke just didn’t buy it. “Fine then. It’s not like I have a choice.” Luke would do his part to smooth the transition to one clan, not that being close to Nikki was truly any hardship. Then, he would get out before she got too attached. Or he did. His inner wolf would just have to suck it up.
Grey stood, looking down at Luke, who calmly returned to eating his cold breakfast. “It’s your duty to your clan. Just remember that and we won’t have a problem. For the rest of the hydan, whatever I see you doing, I want to see you doing it with Nikki. I’m asking as your father, but ordering as your alpha.”
Luke watched his father walk away. Yes, he would obey, because he’d been given a direct order from his alpha. No, he wouldn’t like it. Or, if he was honest with himself, he would try very hard not to.
* * * *
Nikki left Mason sleeping in bed, drawing the sheet up to cover him. His mouth was slightly open and she had the urge to bend down and kiss him, but that might wake him up. She wanted to shower and finish washing up this time. If he woke, she’d never make it back in there. Showering with Mason had been amazing, but she felt sweaty again after he’d brought her to another trembling climax. She didn’t want him waking up to her funk.
She’d made it halfway across the room when she heard the suite door open, and turned as Luke walked in wearing a pair of jeans and a white T-shirt. It was nothing special, but damn, he looked good in his clothes—and out of them. Her pussy flexed as she remembered their passionate lovemaking.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey,” she answered. Awkward. There should be nothing embarrassing about being naked in front of him. As wolf shifters, they were used to seeing the naked body. After all, you couldn’t carry clothes around after you shifted. Still, she felt unspeakably exposed at the moment. And greeting hi
m again, not knowing what he was thinking, that was embarrassing. “I wondered where you got off to.”
“I went to get breakfast.” He sounded as awkward as she felt.
“Oh.”
He stared down at the floor and then back up again. “I’m going for a run. Want to come with me?” The look in his gray eyes made her heart jump.
“I was just going to take a quick shower.” Her inner wolf screamed at her to say yes, sweat be damned. That little bitch had a big mouth.
“Take one when we get back.”
“I’m sweaty…and honestly, I must smell.”
Luke gave her a half-grin and walked over, making a big show out of scenting the air around her. “You smell fine to me. In fact, it smells like you already took a shower, and then, maybe…” He didn’t continue, but she was sure he could tell she’d climaxed, too. She wondered why he was being so insistent. Maybe something had changed since he’d claimed her. Maybe that final step in their mating had caused a change of heart.
Luke leaned down and brushed his lips against her ear, sending a shiver up her spine. “Please come with me.”
Well, when he put it like that. “Okay, I can shower later.” Depending on how fast and far they went, she’d just get sweaty again, anyway. And she had a feeling he had more than exercise in mind. “Should we wake Mason?” Actually, she was surprised he’d slept though this little exchange.
“No, let him sleep.”
Nikki turned to look at Mason one last time. He was still asleep, so she reached for her bathrobe and slipped it on, tying it loosely around her waist. She decided not to bother with clothes. As soon as they got outside, they’d need to shed their clothing to shift anyway.
Luke immediately started for the front door, but Nikki stopped him with a hand on his arm. Going that way, they’d surely bump into at least a few people who’d want to wish them well and probably even some who’d feel it was their duty to make lewd jokes. They’d all be good-natured, but Nikki wasn’t quite ready to face them yet.
Nikki's Fated [Wolves of River's Bend 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 7