Mating Call

by Martha Bourke

  Holy shit. Troy never would have thought in a million years that he’d be her first. She was so beautiful and she’d known everyone at school. But she was his. Suddenly, he wanted to be inside of her, like yesterday. He leaned down and took her mouth. Hard.

  Ilah.

  Mine.

  He pulled off her jeans and ran a finger lightly alongside her panties. Maybe just a little tease first. She gasped as he slipped his finger just underneath, but not quite far enough. He slid them down her legs, and when the smell of her arousal hit, his erection literally jumped in his jeans. But it was gonna have to wait. Not until he touched her softest skin. He leaned down to taste her, watchin’ as she watched him. She cried out as he ran his tongue gently up her center. Then he put his hands on the curve of her hips and let himself go, his tongue lapping at her smooth, silky hot sex. She called his name as she came and his instincts went into overdrive. That’s all, folks. He shucked off his pants and laid over her, keeping most of his weight on his arms. She tensed as his erection hit her between her thighs and he quickly felt for her stress and pulled some of it away.

  He brushed back her hair. “I’ll be gentle. We’ll go real slow, okay?”

  She bit her bottom lip and nodded.

  Then the strangest thing happened. As he slowly entered her, there wasn’t any resistance. None. He looked down at her face. Her eyes were closed, her lips slightly parted. He felt for her emotions. That wasn’t fear. That was…

  Well, fuck this missionary shit. He wanted her against him. He wanted to feel every inch of her skin on his. Keeping them joined, he sat back, bringing her up with him so she was in his lap. He held her to him, and as their bodies connected all over the place, he almost lost his shit right there and then.

  Evy couldn’t believe how lucky she was not to have any pain her first time. From what she’d been told by friends, it was a damn miracle. Somehow it was as if their bodies were perfectly in tune. Her nervousness left her and suddenly all she wanted was more of him inside her. Their heights evened out and he put his forehead to hers, framing her face with his hands. Evy looked into his glowing aqua eyes and for the first time she could see beyond their brilliance. There was pain. But there was love, too. So much love, and it was all directed toward her.

  All at once she wanted to make him feel good. Really good. She pulled him into a kiss and undulated her hips. He closed his eyes and groaned softly, so she did it again, this time with more force. Oh, God. He felt so good inside of her. He moved his hand to her lower back and reached up under her shoulders, keeping her close to him. Over and over they moved, until they were slaves to the endless rhythm, their bodies slick with sweat. She held onto his strong shoulders, their moans becoming louder with every rise and fall. As she tired, he took over, letting her fall back against the pillows. He thrust deep inside her and she wrapped her legs around his back and arched her body, taking in all of him. He came violently, flooding her, the tremors of her own orgasm milking him over and over. She grabbed onto his back, pulling him to her, eyes suddenly wet with tears. He wasn’t for her. They were for each other.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Helen took the small sledgehammer in her hands and looked doubtfully at the wall through her safety goggles.

  “Are you sure, my male?”

  “Yep. Just think about how much you hate the son of a bitch and whack the shit out of it.”

  “Okay.” Helen gave a loud “hiyah!” and let the hammer do its thing. It landed dead center.

  X raised his hands over his head. “Bouya!”

  Diesel gave his mate a high five. “Nicely done, Doc.”

  X nodded. “She’s got the shoulders of a surgeon.”

  He raised a brow. “What’s that about her shoulders?”

  The brother cleared his throat. “Well, I got plenty to do, so I’m gonna head out.”

  Diesel gave a little wave. “I had a feeling. Bye-bye, X!”

  Helen smiled. “Wow. Possessive much, my male?”

  “Hell, yes. Now let’s just take a little break and discuss the h-u-m-a-n.”

  She walked over and closed the door. “I don’t know much more than I told you, but I am worried about Troy. If he ends up mated to her, what will happen?”

  “No idea. I can tell you the chances the Order will keep him will be slim to none.”

  “But why? Just because of what she is?”

  “It’s more like what she isn’t. She’s not a shifter. She can’t protect herself. That makes her a liability. So you think they’ll mate while she’s here?”

  “He’s so in love with her, my male. And I think she returns it. Maybe they’ll be better off in the human world. Troy can easily pass as human. We have no idea how she’d even accept our ways anyway.”

  “You may be right there. In the meantime, let’s see another slam against that wall. The faster it’s down, the faster we get to christen our new pad.”

  She gave him a sexy smile. “Well, in that case.”

  Diesel watched his female as she turned back to the wall and gave it everything she had. Looked like that christening wasn’t too far off. Hot damn!

  Evy lay under the warm duvet with her head on her mate’s chest. Mate. She smiled. She actually liked the sound of that. It was, well, hot. She propped herself on her elbow and touched the gold cross Troy wore around his neck, the perfectly carved savior in its place. “Huh.”

  He brushed his hand along her cheek. “You okay?”

  “Yeah. Just thinking. Are you religious?”

  “Nah, not really. I mean, we have a goddess.”

  She laid her head back on the pillow. “Shifters do? Do you all worship her? Or is it more like Eastern thought?”

  “Well, she more like tells us what she wants us to do and we do it if we want to survive into the next century.”

  She sat back up. “She talks to you?”

  “Well, yeah, when she’s here.”

  Evy felt her chin drop. She couldn’t help it. “Are you saying you’ve met her?”

  “I’ve only met her once, but others have seen her more.”

  She went back to looking at the cross. “This is so lovely.”

  “It belonged to my younger brother, Patrick.”

  “You have a brother?”

  “I did. He died my senior year.”

  She put her hand to her mouth. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Yeah. They split us up and had us in two different foster homes. Made it a lot harder for me to look out for him. We went to different schools. That didn’t help. He got caught up in some drug-related shit. Separating us was bad news from the beginnin’.”

  He brushed her hair back from her eyes. “You are so beautiful.”

  She felt that damn Irish skin of hers betray her yet again. “Troy, stop.”

  “Nope. You’re stuck hearin’ that every day from now on. Startin’ to regret pickin’ that lock yet?”

  She snuggled back down against him. “Nope. So, what happens now?”

  “Well, I guess we’ll wait ‘til you’re healed and Helen gives the thumbs up. Then I’ll have to talk to the HNBIC. See if there’s any way we can stay.”

  “Do you think we might?”

  “Honestly, I doubt it. I think I’ll probably be asked to leave.”

  She sighed. “This totally sucks. It’s all my fault.”

  He moved down next to her and laced his fingers into her long waves. “Hey, I don’t ever wanna hear you say that. I’m the one who couldn’t keep his protective instinct in check and followed you around like an idiot. Fuck, I’m the one who got you kidnapped. I’m so sorry for everything I put you through, Ev.”

  She leaned up and kissed him softly. “I don’t care about any of that as long as it got us to where we are right now.”

  He grinned. “I shoulda just gone to the damn dance.”

  “Hell, yes! What was up with that anyway?”

  He lightly stroked her back. “I dunno. I’d loved you a long time by then. It was probably
a combo of not wanting to get hurt and not wanting you to get hurt.”

  “How would I have gotten hurt?”

  “The Cobbs were seriously evil people, Ev. I realize now that you were reaching out to me. I just couldn’t see it.”

  She nodded. “I wish I could have helped you.”

  “Don’t feel bad about somethin’ you couldn’t do anythin’ about. Besides, you’ve helped so many kids at the center.”

  She leaned in and gave him another kiss. This time she lingered, letting her tongue caress his.

  “What was that for? Not that I’m complainin’.” He grinned.

  “For basically buying the entire tech lab for them.”

  “Nah, it was nothin’.”

  She gave him a little jab to the ribs. “Bullshit. It was amazing. But I still don’t understand why you did it.”

  He shrugged. “It was important to you, so…”

  She sucked in her breath. For her. He’d done it for her. She thought her heart was going to leap out of her chest. She climbed on top of him, straddling his sides as she watched his eyes grow wide. “Maybe we can try it this way?”

  The rings around his pupils lit up in their bright aqua.

  She smiled. I’ll take that as a yes.

  Seth opened his eyes and saw nothing but darkness. He had some kind of hood over his head. His hands and feet were bound with what felt like thick wire cording of some kind. Smart not to use rope. Clearly, these douches weren’t taking any chances.

  He felt the hood yanked away and he was forced to squint as the light hit his sensitive eyes. It looked like he was in some giant warehouse. Two big rogues stood on either side of him, as a human male dressed in all black with the longest legs he’d ever seen walked toward him.

  “You the leader around here?”

  “I ask the questions here, Seth.”

  Wait. The guy had an accent from the Caribbean somewhere. Batiste. And he knew his name. Fuck.

  “How do you know my name?”

  Batiste nodded to the oaf at his right and without warning the prick slammed his fist into the side of Seth’s face.

  Seth shook it off. “Watch it! Jesus.”

  “So, where were we? Oh, yes, questions. My name is Batiste. I’m sure you know that. You’ve been asking everyone in Boston who would listen. Not very smart.”

  “Can I ask a question yet?”

  He nodded at the dickhead to the left and Seth felt a blow to the other side of his face. “Aw, come on!”

  Man, he was going to look like shit when this little come to Jesus was over; if he survived at all.

  Batiste laughed.

  Jesus Christ. The guy had the most insanely white teeth Seth had ever seen. Just say no to the bleach, dude.

  “I know all about you and your pathetic little crew. Losing half your boys in that amount of time? That must be a world record.” He looked at his cronies. “Leave us.”

  As he waited for the rogue to leave, Batiste pulled out a box of cigarettes—Dunhill, of course. Blue fucking box. The guy spent eleven bucks a pack and he bought lights?

  “Smoker, I see.” He lit two cigs and held one out for Seth.

  Did this mean he was about to be iced? Either way, beggars or whatever. The guy lit two cigarettes and held one out. He took a drag. Whoa. They were lights, but they were the real deal.

  “As you can see, I’ve obviously found a use for your kind, but I have something special in mind for you. Interested?”

  Seth was afraid to hope. Things could go either way here. Bodyguard wasn’t exactly what he’d had in mind, but at least they still needed oxygen. Of course, he wasn’t allowed to ask questions. Fucking A. He looked the guy squarely in the eye. “Yes.”

  Batista barked a laugh. “Perfect! You have some nerve. That could have been your last cigarette and still you don’t question me. I must tell you, I hate to be questioned. Now, you have two of your kind left other than yourself, correct?”

  “Yeah. Mark and Tommy.”

  Batiste offered him another drag. “Excellent. I’ll have them picked up and offered jobs as runners. I assume they can do an errand without somehow pissing off a New Breed?”

  He nodded and exhaled.

  “Good. Boys!”

  The two guards flew back in the room like their goddamn lives depended on it. Probably did.

  “Cut his wires. You can smoke your own cigarette while I make you an offer you can’t refuse.”

  Troy walked down the back stairs to the compound. He checked his watch. He had duty in a few hours. Evy was gonna love that. He stopped and banged on X’s door.

  “Come in.” X was stretched out on the bed with his laptop and a bunch of papers.

  “Hey. Where ya been? You weren’t answerin’ your phone.”

  “Out. Whassup?”

  Troy shrugged his shoulders. “Just wanted to see if you could fight with someone else tonight.”

  “I doubt it. We’re stretched thin as it is. Brothers need their nights off right now. Why do you…”

  Troy would never forget the look on the brother’s face. It was as freaky as freaky got, at least for X. He was expectin’ like, the apocalypse. Instead the male looked…curious. WTF? If he thought they were gonna have some kinda heart to heart…

  He seemed to snap out of it fast enough. Thank fuck.

  “You mated her?”

  He nodded.

  “Damn. Anyone else know?”

  “Hell, no. I’m hopin’ Helen will give the okay tomorrow.”

  “Then what?”

  “Talk to the big cheese and see if we can stay, but I’m not countin’ on it.”

  X nodded. “Yeah, that’s probably wise. If you’re asked to leave, Evy will be well enough to go.”

  “That’s the plan. Listen, I gotta jet. I have an errand to run.”

  “Aight. I’ll check you later for duty, dig?”

  He turned to go.

  “Hey, Troy, just so you know. When you talk to Reyn, you won’t be going alone.”

  He stopped before going out the door. “Thanks, my brother.”

  “You got it.”

  Evy rinsed the shampoo out of her hair. She was so glad she could take a shower by herself. She let the hot water run down her back one last time before turning it off. Mated. Mated to Troy. She could hardly believe it. But at the same time, it just felt so…right. She looked in the mirror. She didn’t look any different. The same big brown eyes stared right back. She rolled her eyes. Grow up, Evy.

  Now if she could only figure out who the hell was talking in her head. It was definitely not her own voice or thoughts. Could it be the goddess Troy had mentioned? That just seemed ridiculous. She believed what he had told her, but why would the shifters’ goddess be talking to her? As she combed out her hair, she wondered if she should tell Troy what she’d heard. Somehow she had a feeling that hearing voices was probably not the best thing to admit to shifters either. Crap. Well, for now she would keep it to herself.

  She started to brush her teeth and stopped. What was the date? She thought back to the Friday she’d been kidnapped and counted forward. “Oh, my God.”

  Tomorrow was her twentieth birthday.

  She had almost forgotten. She and Troy would be the same age. Well, for a little while, at least. For a moment she thought of her family. How would they feel when she was still missing on her birthday? An unwelcome nausea hit her stomach. In the moment she had kissed Troy, everything had changed. Now she could never go back. There had to be a way to let them know she was at least alright. She sighed, pulling on her jeans and Troy’s sweatshirt before heading back to bed. Troy had left her his book. She’d read it twice, but hell, anything was better than more TV.

  There was a knock at the door. She figured it was Helen or X. “It’s open.”

  A handsome auburn haired shifter she’d never seen before poked his head in the door. “Hi. I’m James. Do you mind if I come in?”

  CHAPTER NINE

  James got about th
ree steps in the door and froze. Holy shit. The female was human. It had never even occurred to him. Hanging with humans was against pretty much every law in the Order’s book.

  “It’s okay. You can come in. I’m Evy.”

  “I’m really sorry to bother you.”

  She put down her book. “You’re not, believe me. I’ve been going insane all afternoon. So, are you a New Breed?”

  “Ah…” Jesus Christ. Just how much did this human know? He nodded. “Yeah. Like Troy.”

  She smiled. “You look young. Not that it’s a bad thing or anything.”

  He leaned against the back of the side chair. “Yeah, I’m eighteen. I’m the youngest. The thing is you know how you and Troy know each other from school?”

  “Yep.”

  His heart sped up. “Well, I think you might know someone who used to be a friend of mine. My best friend, actually.”

  “Oh. What’s his name? Or is it a girl?” She grinned.

  He flushed. “Um, no. We played Varsity basketball together.”

  He wasn’t sure how to say it exactly. He didn’t want to scare her. “His name is Seth.”

  Her big brown eyes got even bigger.

  “Oh, no, it’s okay. You’re safe here. I just needed to know something.”

  “What?”

  “Did he, you know? Was he the one who stabbed you?”

  She looked at him for a moment before nodding her head slowly.

  He sighed. “I’m sorry I bothered you with this. You must have been terrified. I’m so glad Troy was able to find you.”

  He stood up to go when the door opened. One minute Troy was in the doorway and the next the brother was materializing right in from of him. He grabbed him by the front of his sweatshirt and slammed him against the wall.

  Troy’s aqua eyes bore into him.

  “Get out, James,” he said with a feral growl.

  “Everything’s cool. I just asked her a question.”

  “Get out, James!”

  He didn’t even bother using the door. He gleamed back to his own room where he paced off the adrenaline. His mind was reeling. It was Seth. Seth had stabbed the female. As he walked back and forth, the seriousness of what had just happened with Troy started to set in. That was not the behavior of a protective friend—those eyes, that growl, the force behind that push. Those were the behaviors of a mated male. The brother was mated to a human.