She was thankful for Max’s strength as he wrapped his left arm beneath her torso and helped her to rest on her side. His cock was knotted deep inside of her, pulses of cum erupting in short bursts over and over again. The new position made her clit throb with renewed bliss. Her vaginal muscles contracted with pleasure with each repeated ejaculation.
“You’re our mate,” Max growled against her shoulder as he licked his bite clean and closed the puncture wounds with his healing saliva.
“Yes.”
“You’re carrying our cub.”
“Yes.”
“You’re never leaving us again.”
“Never.”
He held her tightly against his body, waiting for their hearts to slow and his knot to recede. It was no hardship to wait with her in his arms. He loved the way she constantly caressed his forearms and pressed closer to him. To love Shelly was a beautiful thing.
When his cock finally slipped from her body, she turned and wrapped her arms around him, kissing his face, his chest, and his neck. When she sat up and pushed him onto his stomach, he laughed softly, wondering what in the hell she was doing.
When he felt her tender kisses across his back, he knew. She was kissing each and every scar that had been inflicted upon his back by the silver-tipped whip that Randall had wielded. He was overcome with the tenderness and the caring nature of their mate.
“Shelly,” he whispered when her kisses ceased and she tugged at his shoulder to have him turn over onto his back. He looked up at her and saw the incredible love that shone at him from her pretty blue eyes.
Her eyes flashed golden in an instant, her wolf coming forward to reclaim him. He moaned as she bent forward and bit into the muscle just above his heart. He didn’t know how it was possible, but he came again so hard, he thought he would pass out from the pure joy of it.
When she pulled away and licked at the bite, he held her head gently. She continued to lick at his torso, gathering up every drop of seed that he had expelled and suckling the softening length of his cock to clean him. She kissed the head and slid up his body to look down at him with a sweet smile on her face.
“You’re my mate,” she told him.
“Yes.”
“Your going to be a wonderful father to our cubs.”
“Yes.”
“And you’re never going to leave me again.”
“Never.”
Chapter 45
Eli smiled at Max and Shelly as they made their way down the stairs and took their seats at the kitchen table. She was wearing one of Max’s Tshirts, the black one that had a hole in the shoulder. Shelly loved to tease Max when he wore it. It had become her favorite pastime—teasing him. It was good for Max. Eli always worried about his triad partner being so serious all the time. With Shelly, and because of Shelly, Max was able to relax and enjoy life.
He knew that Max had needed time to reconnect and reclaim their woman. He did, too. But he knew that Max’s needs were much more urgent than his. The worry he had for Max’s mental state was deep. To have Max think that it was ten years before, and they had lost Shelly, was more than frightening. He needed his triad partner to know that their life was happy and filled with love because Shelly was with them once again. He needed Max to accept it and be soothed by it. Max needed to know that they had the rest of their lives together to reclaim and love their Shelly.
He placed a platter of scrambled eggs in front of Shelly then leaned forward and kissed the top of her head. He was about to turn and walk away to retrieve the basket of freshly baked biscuits and the other platter that was filled with crispy bacon strips when Shelly slipped her arms around his waist and hugged him, resting her head against his torso.
He caressed her hair lightly, loving the softness of her silky tresses. “Are you okay, sweetheart?” he asked her gently.
“I am now.”
Eli slid to his knees before her, framing her beautiful face with his hands. “Do you have any idea how much we adore you?” he asked her.
Shelly smiled and nodded once. “Do you know how much I adore you and Max?” she asked him back.
Eli couldn’t prevent the chuckle that escaped him. He was filled with joy. Shelly did that for him.
“Are you feeling well?” Shelly asked him, reaching up and slipping her hand beneath the neckline of his white T-shirt and caressing the nape of his neck lightly. She could still picture the raw tears on his neck that testified to the fact that Ethan Webber had ripped into him with his teeth. She eased back and pushed up his T-shirt to expose his abdomen, thankful that the wounds there had also been healed.
“I’m good,” Eli told her, leaning forward and kissing her forehead lightly. “How’re you doing, little mother?”
“I’m fine. I’m glad you’re home,” Shelly whispered. “I need you to claim me again.”
“Oh, sweetheart. I need that, too.” He hugged her carefully, loving that she rested her cheek against his shoulder. She fit so perfectly within his arms. She fit so perfectly within his heart.
“Will you come back to bed with me, Eli?” she asked him, hugging him just a little tighter.
“After breakfast,” Eli whispered.
Shelly eased back and looked up at him in surprise. “You seriously want to eat instead of making love?” she asked him, shocked by his choice. She eased back in her chair and gaped up at him.
“No, sweetheart. I would gladly go without food in order to make love to you every moment of every day,” he told her, smiling as he looked down at her. “But, our cub needs nourishment, and so do you. I would be remiss in my duties as your mate if I put my needs above yours.”
“But I need you,” Shelly protested.
“And I need you. But we’re both going to control ourselves for now.”
He slipped his hand between them and pulled up the oversized T-shirt she was wearing so he could caress the beautiful swell of her abdomen. He smiled as he felt the firmness of her belly and pressed against it carefully. He loved it when their baby kicked against his hand. He was concerned that he didn’t feel any movement.
“Has the baby been moving?” he asked her quietly, determined not to make her get nervous.
“She was kicking up a storm before Max woke up,” Shelly told him, covering his hand with hers and pressing it firmly against her belly. “She’s probably tired. She has to sleep, too, you know.”
Eli nodded, relieved to know that their cub was active just a little while ago. He pulled Shelly to her feet then knelt down before her so he could kiss her belly. He loved that Shelly carded her fingers through his hair as she held him close.
“Hello, Allison,” Eli whispered against Shelly’s belly. “Make sure that you rest and grow strong.”
He kissed her baby bump one last time before he rested his cheek against her warm skin. He felt their baby kick twice and laughed softly.
“She’s moving,” Shelly whispered.
“I know. She just kicked my cheek,” Eli said, looking up at Shelly with eyes that were sparkling with happiness.
He stood up and kissed Shelly’s lips lightly before turning her so that she was able to take her seat once again. He left her to retrieve the rest of the breakfast. Max helped him to take out the orange juice and the milk from the refrigerator. Between the two of them, they had the table set and Shelly eating her breakfast within minutes.
“I’ll be in the workroom after breakfast,” Max said as he bit into a piece of bacon and winked at Shelly. “You and Eli should take care of that reclaiming business.”
Shelly laughed softly, blushing brightly at Max’s suggestion. Eli just looked at her with a happy smile on his face.
“We’ll do that, Max,” Shelly agreed. “Won’t we, Eli?”
“I would race you up the stairs, but I don’t want you to fall,” Eli answered, scooping another helping of scrambled eggs onto Shelly’s plate. “I’ll carry you up instead. Eat up, sweetheart.”
Eli settled Shelly in the middle of their bed, loo
king down at her and growling at the sight of their naked mate. Could she be more beautiful?
He’d always heard that a pregnant woman had a glow about her and a beauty that was deep and true, but he had never realized just how accurate that description was. Shelly was more than beautiful. She was stunning. The changes that her body had gone through to accommodate their growing cub were amazingly beautiful. Her breasts were fuller. The nipples were darker. Her belly was round with the swell of their cub. It beckoned his touch, which he did often.
He climbed up onto the bed, running his right hand up the outside of her left thigh as he positioned himself along her right side. He loved the shiver that left her, knowing it wasn’t from being cold. It was from the desire that was coursing through her. She was so in tune with him and Max, it was like they danced to the song of love no matter what they were doing, or where they were. They just fit together—in every way.
“Love you,” he whispered as he kissed her neck and nuzzled against her cheek. “Gonna love you.”
“Gonna love you back,” Shelly whispered, reaching up and gripping his hair to hold him still so she could enjoy the deep kiss that she’d been dying to give him all morning.
He opened to her immediately, accepting her tongue and sucking on it before pressing his own into her mouth and tasting her sweet flavor. He growled against her lips as she scored her nails down his back and gripped his ass cheeks.
“Eli, please fill me,” Shelly whispered. “Please, claim me again.”
Eli eased away from her and settled between her spread thighs. He slid his hands up her inner thighs and teased her swollen lips with the pads of his thumbs before slipping them inside of her velvet channel and pumping them slowly. She was already wet for him. He was going to make her even wetter.
Leaning forward, he settled his chest on the mattress, shouldering her legs apart, and breathing in the scent of her need. Shelly’s scent was an aphrodisiac. It ramped up his need every time. Her taste was even better. He wasn’t about to deny himself the luxury of experiencing the sweetness of her cream.
Pressing forward, he licked a long line from her vaginal opening to her clit and back again. Extending his tongue, he dipped inside her channel and lapped up the sweet nectar of her desire. Slipping his first two fingers inside of her body, he slid his tongue up the pink folds and suckled her clit, loving the soft gasp that escaped their woman as he teased it with just the right amount of pressure.
When Shelly’s hips began to move restlessly and she was moaning softly, he knew that he had to be inside of her. He wanted her to come around his cock. He needed to be buried inside of her, his mating knot locking them together as he filled her with his seed. He needed to bite her right shoulder and reclaim her. He needed their woman.
Moving up her body, he held her legs open and slipped inside of her with no effort at all. She was soaked with desire and open from his preparation. She took all of his shaft deep inside of her welcoming body with no problem. Once he was as deep as he could go and his balls were pressed against her ass, he sighed. He was home.
Looking directly into her eyes and keeping constant contact with them, he began to move slowly, loving the drag of her tight sheath pulling on his cock and squeezing him to keep him deep. Shelly gripped his forearms and held on tightly as he pumped into her. He was careful to hold his body above hers so as not to put pressure on her belly. He worried for a moment when she started to move her hips in sync with his plunges and retreats.
“Shelly, let me do all the moving,” he cautioned her.
“Hell no!”
Eli was shocked by the vehemence in her voice. “Shelly…” he began, ready to tell her to be careful.
“Eli Granger, I will not stop moving,” she told him firmly. “It feels good to move.”
“Okay, sweetheart,” he said, his words coming out on a groan as Shelly tightened her vaginal muscles and squeezed deliciously around his cock. That was all it took for him to lose complete control.
He gripped her shoulders and pulled her up into his embrace, allowing her to sit comfortably on his thighs. He slipped his hands behind her back and hips to press her tighter against his body. He moved his hips in rhythm with her movements, loving the way they matched so perfectly in their joining.
The wet heat of her channel surrounded his shaft, sending shocks of pleasure through him. The nerve endings were firing as he slid deeper and harder with each plunge and retreat. He never would have imagined that making love with their woman would ever be this wonderful. Sure, he had been told by other mated men just how great loving their mate would be, but he had never truly understood the depth of the joy he would experience, or the pleasure that being mated would bring.
“I need you so much, Shelly,” he whispered against her shoulder.
“Love and need you, Eli,” Shelly told him, pressing against his chest and biting down on it.
It happened so quickly, Eli had no warning that it was coming. He gasped as pleasure filled him at her claiming. His canines dropped and he bit into her right shoulder to reclaim her. Both of them cried out as their orgasms exploded within them. Eli filled her with his seed. His cock knotted and held him deep.
Caressing her hair and her back, he soothed her as they calmed. He carefully eased them around so that he was leaning against the headboard and she was sitting comfortably on his lap.
“I need you to promise me something, Eli,” she told him softly.
“Anything.”
“I need you to promise me that we’ll always be together. I need you to promise that you, me, and Max will have a long and happy life together that will be filled with babies.”
“Sweetheart, that’s the easiest promise I’ll ever make,” he told her gently. He reached up and touched her cheek with the back of his right index finger, caressing it slowly. “I promise you, we will be together for the rest of our lives. We’ll have Allison, Matthew, and Luke and the two other cubs that we haven’t seen in our visions yet. We’ll love them all and help them grow.”
Shelly sighed as she relaxed against Eli’s chest, kissing his neck tenderly. “I’m going to hold you to your promise,” she whispered.
“I’m counting on it, sweetheart.”
Chapter 46
Vera Moore stood just within the grove of trees that hid her from view of the old alpha house. Her clothes were threadbare and disheveled, inadequate to keep her warm in the coolness of the early October day. There was a bruise on the left side of her face that was several shades of green and yellow. The silver collar that she wore had burned scars into her neck and had prevented her from shifting. And it was all because of Shelly and Synthia.
Her daughters had been a thorn in her side from the moment they had been born. Neil and Kurt had wanted both of the whelps, but Vera hadn’t wanted any cubs. Of course, what Vera wanted had never mattered in her life. She had been on her own since she had been in her early teens. She had wandered from pack land to pack land, trying to find a place to live after the death of her parents.
She had kept herself hidden as she watched each pack, trying to determine if it was a good place for her to live. She had watched in fear for two weeks in one pack’s land. Alpha Randall had been cold and cruel. She didn’t like him the moment she had seen him terrorizing his people. She had been able to run from his land before she could be found and punished for trespassing. It had been a frightening time for her.
When she had come upon Alpha Hayward’s pack land, she had thought that she might have found the place where she would finally belong. Hayward had been accepting of her presence, although he made her work for her keep. She had learned to cook and clean and take care of the men of his pack. He had told her often enough that she wasn’t mate material, but he had a plan for her.
When she had turned twenty-one, he had sent her to Alpha William Matheson’s pack land. He had instructed her to seduce the two men who lived not far from the lake. Their names were Neil Lancaster and Kurt Brooks. He had told her
to be their mate, have children, and then come back to his pack with the cubs once she had found out as much information about Alpha William and his son Jace Beckett as she could. It was important to him to know everything about Alpha William and the boy who would someday be alpha after his father.
That had been Vera’s intention, but she hadn’t counted on the way Kurt and Neil had loved their daughters. It was sickening, really. Vera saw no worth in the girls except as her ticket back into Hayward’s pack. She had watched Alpha William and his son, reporting to Hayward at least once a month over the years. Each time, she would ask Hayward if she could come home, and each time he would tell her that it wasn’t time. She hadn’t exhausted her usefulness as his informant.
Even when Hayward had killed Kurt and Neil, he had made her stay on Beckett’s land. It was only after Synthia had left the pack to go to college and Shelly had turned twenty-one that Hayward was willing to allow Vera to come back to his pack—as long as Shelly was brought back with her to be his mate.
The disgust that filled Vera at the thought that Hayward wanted Shelly and not her had eaten away at her over the years. Shelly had escaped her that day so many years before and Hayward had refused her once again. It wasn’t until Laurie Young had come to the Circle Three Ranch that Vera had thought she had finally found her way back to Hayward.
That hadn’t gone as she had planned. Her attempt to kill Laurie and her unborn cub, destroying both Jace and Jackson in the process, had been thwarted. Jace had banished her from the pack. She had gone to Hayward once again to seek asylum. The fact that he was so wrapped up in his plans to kill the members of Beckett’s pack had been the only reason he hadn’t thrown her out of the small cabin that she had managed to take up residence in.
It was a broken, falling-down cabin that had no heat or running water. Vera had been forced to chop her own wood to fuel the one fireplace in the cabin. She had also had to haul water from the stream nearby and melt snow over the fire during the winter months. It had been a horrible existence that she kept waiting and hoping would improve. It never did.
Shelly's Forbidden Mates [Beckett's Wolf Pack, Triad Mates 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) Page 44