Rafe pulled back and golden eyes focused on hers. They stayed locked in each other’s gazes for a long moment before she went flying through the air. She squeaked and bounced on the mattress. His rough hands grabbed her ankles and he dragged her to the end of the bed. The sound of ripping cloth met her ears. He lifted her bottom and tugged the material away.
He pushed her thighs open with his shoulders and bent his head, licking up through her cleft to her clit. The quick flicks he delivered to the nub tightened the bundle of nerves, sensitized it. She squirmed, unable to escape his teasing. His arm over her hips held her in place. His teeth closed around the nub and the press of his fangs against the hooded edge tore a whimper from her throat, but he didn’t hurt her. Not even close. She hovered on the brink of ecstasy.
“Rafe, need…”
He answered her with the press of his tongue to the spot he’d teased. The orgasm rolled over her. He flicked his tongue over her clit to keep it going. Pleasure neared the point of pain, but he took her down, eased her from the edge and left her limp.
Sated and relaxed, sleep called. She closed her eyes but Rafe flipped her. He tugged her to the edge, bent her over the bed. With his palm on her ass holding her still, he stroked the head of his cock along her drenched cleft. She shuddered, tried to scramble away but he pushed the head between her swollen lips. Still sensitized from her orgasm, her sheath clenched around the invasion. Rocking into her, he forced his way past her pulsing muscles.
Once lodged deep, he collapsed on top of her. Her breath whooshed out with his dead weight. A moment later, he pushed up on his elbows and dragged his cock back through her core.
“Heaven, baby. My personal heaven,” he breathed the praise against her neck.
Another thrust and he filled her. It was heaven and the steady rhythm of his strokes took her to the stars. He slid his arm under her chest and urged her to her knees. The new position pulled him deeper and each thump of his cock reverberated up through her body.
His mouth closed over her shoulder right where her neck met bone. He laved the spot with his tongue while he steadily fucked her. The pace of his pistoning hips quickened. Sharp fangs pressed into her skin. She tensed, waiting for the bite, the one Mira wore. He pressed his fingertip to her clit and thrummed it. An orgasm rolled through her. Waves swept from the top of her sheath to her womb. He tore his mouth away and buried his face against her neck. Hot jets of seed filled her but the bite she’d expected never came.
The pleasure was wonderful, a full-body release that left her sated. When he tucked her against his chest, she snuggled close but tears filled her eyes. She waited until Rafe’s deep, slow breaths told her he slept then let the drops fall. She sobbed but didn’t know why she was so upset he hadn’t bitten her. She shouldn’t want anything permanent. It was too soon. She should just enjoy their time together, not worry about the future, but dammit, she wanted to be treasured for life. Loved.
Sure, Rafe would always keep her sated and happy…unless he walked away. Found someone else.
The thought she’d had last night came back to her and she wondered if she’d been right about regretting the sex they’d shared. But her regrets didn’t matter now, did they? Rafe had sealed her fate. He’d claimed her as a beloved human. Owned her.
She’d always known being part of the shifter world was dangerous, but now that her emotions were on the line, it was deadly. She wasn’t so sure she’d survive her time with Rafe, at least not with her heart intact.
Chapter Eighteen
Rafe padded down the hallway and peeked into the children’s bedroom. Seth and Levi slept on the floor in sleeping bags while Megan and Mira had the two beds. Rafe grinned. Five years old and they were already taking care of their pride’s females. He chuckled. Mira lifted her head. Vibrant yellow eyes streaked with green and brown met his. Yesterday, she’d worn specialized contacts that hid her feline eyes but he knew she didn’t like to sleep in them. She slid from the bed before he could tell her not to get up.
The door clicked behind her. “I’m sorry for blurting about our past in front of Jazz. I truly didn’t think anything of it,” Mira whispered.
He reached forward and gave her arm a small squeeze. “It’s okay, Mira. Neither did I.” He glanced back toward Jasmine’s bedroom. “I keep screwing things up with her.”
Mira scrunched her nose and motioned toward the steps that led to the kitchen. Once in the dimly lit room, she leaned against the counter with her arms crossed in front of her. “Jasmine is your one, isn’t she?”
He nodded. “Yes. I’d heard other males proclaim the pull to their human mates was immediate and undeniable. I didn’t believe it, but it’s true.”
“Be grateful you can claim her. Our males have been truly blessed.”
“Blessed?” He chuckled. “Killing the person you care about isn’t a blessing.”
“Isn’t it?” She raised a brow. “Nothing worthwhile comes easily, Rafe. If it did many of our royal males would take human mates for the wrong reason. They’d choose their female based on looks or social standing and miss out on finding their one.”
He pulled out a box of pizza from the fridge and grabbed a cold slice. He ate it in two bites and took another. All the sex he’d shared with his female stirred his appetite. Hunger abated for the moment, he said, “We don’t have destined mates.”
She shrugged. “The gods don’t speak to me. You can ask your twin to pose that question to the goddess the next time she visits him, but what I do know is that we have kindred spirits. It’s those souls who complement us, make us truly happy.” She waved toward the living room. “They can be our friends and even our lovers, but the one who fits us better than all others is the gods’ gift to us.”
“Our one?”
She grinned. “Exactly. And I am glad Jazz is yours. I like her.”
He glanced toward the stairs. “I never planned on taking a mate.”
Mira took a piece of pizza from the box and shoved the rest into the fridge. “Then it’s a good thing the gods brought the two of you together.” She turned and walked to the patio door but stopped with her hand on the glass and looked over her shoulder. “Oh, Kade said Megan’s parents were slaughtered when she was taken but she has a twin who’s unaccounted for. So it looks as if Josh will be staying with us.”
“Lucky us,” he grumbled. He watched her step out onto the deck. “How’s Devin?”
Her back straightened. “Not good and I hate knowing it’s my fault.”
“You’re not to blame, Mira.”
She hung her head. “I should’ve just let Edmund mate me. He’d be dead by now and I could’ve gone on with my life. Maybe taken another mate.”
“Most widows don’t. The emotional connection often runs too deep.”
“Not for me, I never would’ve loved him,” she said and walked away.
Rafe waited until she was safely inside the barn where Devin was sleeping, then headed back to his female. Mira’s words played in his head. He realized she was right. If the process was easy, he might’ve chosen a female for the wrong reasons. And the thought of meeting Jasmine and not being able to love her chilled him.
Once inside their room, he climbed onto the bed and smoothed the mass of wild blonde strands away from her face. Beautiful. His gift. Whether the gods brought them together or not, he was glad he’d waited to take a mate so he could find her.
He settled behind her so his cock pressed into the seam of her backside. She sighed and snuggled against him, stimulating his already hard erection with her wiggling bottom. He bit back a groan. She was tired but by the gods, he needed her, didn’t think he could survive the few hours while she slept without experiencing her passion. Once more and he’d let her rest.
He tilted his hips and his rod slipped between her thighs. He rubbed along the damp seam until cream coated the length and Jasmine’s breathing changed. Not awake yet but close. With his arms wrapped around her, he shifted her so he could cup her breasts.
He inched his fingers over the mounds and drew a circle around the nipple, listening for her reaction. A low sound of hunger crawled from her throat and more welcoming arousal bathed his erection. Perfect. He lined up the head of his shaft to the opening of her sheath and filled her with one hard push.
She gasped and arched back, pushing her breasts into his palms. He held still while she panted, her body holding him in a tight fist.
“Are you okay, Jasmine?”
“Yes,” she mumbled. The slight quiver to that one word filled him with shame.
“I am sorry. Didn’t mean to hurt you. Just needed you. Couldn’t wait.”
She shook her head. “You didn’t.”
He kissed her neck, felt the rapid beat under his lips. “You sure?”
She nodded and covered his hands so they both held her breasts. He plumped the flesh and toyed with the nipple, rolling and tweaking the tip between his fingers. Her breaths deepened so he repeated the motion. She groaned and her petal-soft muscles squeezed around his shaft.
“Gods, baby, love being inside you,” he praised. “So tight, so damn good.”
It was and better than it had been with any other woman before. Being joined with Jasmine was damn near close to heaven. He didn’t know how he’d lived without it. Wanting to show her how much he enjoyed loving her, he nuzzled her neck and slowly moved, dragging his erection through her tight grip. Each time he parted those tender muscles, it was like finding his home, the place he wanted to stay forever. But the ache in his balls and the need to feel that squeezing stroke on his cock forced him to thrust, to fill her. Every push built the pressure, made the urge to drag his shaft through her silken fist grow.
He panted, his pace racing him to completion. Tingles swept to his lower spine, down to his balls. Heavy, full and pressed up against his groin. Gods, he wanted to come but she wasn’t there yet. He couldn’t find pleasure before his female. He slid his hand out from under hers and inched it down her belly. The wet curls teased the tips of his fingers. He found the bundle of nerves and thrummed it. Quick flicks to match the driving rhythm of his cock. The nub hardened with his attentions. Whimpers fell from her lips.
“Come for me, my Jasmine,” he ordered and pressed her clit at the same time as he thrust deep.
Muscles clenched tight then rippled along his length, pulling his seed free. He grunted with the first jerk and groaned as she milked him. Steady strokes over her clit kept her from falling into unconsciousness. He wanted her awake, to reach for him so they could sleep together, twined like lovers…like mates.
Her pants slowed. He lifted his thumb away but couldn’t pull free, not yet. Didn’t want to lose any moment of his time in paradise.
He kissed from the base of her neck up to her ear. “You are amazing. I think I might wake you up this way every day.”
Jasmine tensed and the muscles holding his cock tightened but pleasure didn’t drive the response. Fear did. It tainted her scent and aggravated him.
“We can’t keep doing this,” she blurted.
He pushed back the annoyance that his female would deny him and focused on her fear. She was afraid. If it was something he had done, he wanted to know about it so he didn’t do it again.
“Don’t you enjoy my touch?”
She laughed, a breathless sound that eased his angst. “No,” she said but quickly added, “I mean yes. I do. Very much and that’s the problem”
Confused, he repeated the words in his head but didn’t understand them the second time either. “How is that a problem?”
“I can’t think straight when you touch me. All I want is for you to fill me, take the emptiness away. I don’t want to think about why you shouldn’t be inside me.”
Anger rose with those words. He pulled his cock free and jumped from the bed. He paced the small room, from the dresser to the door. At the base of the bed he stopped and faced her. She sat with a sheet held to her chin, blocking her breasts from his view. He didn’t like the fact that she hid her body any more than he liked her last statement.
“And why is that, Jazz? Am I not good enough to fuck you? It’s okay for us to share oral sex but I can’t join our bodies?”
Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. She snapped it closed and matched his angry gaze. “You’re assuming an awful lot, Rafe.”
“Am I?” He stepped forward and pulled the sheet free. She covered her breasts with a hand and reached for a pillow. He yanked it from her hand before she could use it to shield herself. “Why hide your body from me? I’d say we’re past the point of shyness.”
She slowly dropped the arm wrapped around her chest and pushed up on her knees. The heavy weight of her breasts hung with pebbled tips when she leaned closer to him. He fisted his hands to stop himself from reaching forward and capturing those tempting globes.
“Humans do that when they’re nervous or feel threatened. And I am both,” she spat.
The confession hit him with the ring of truth. Shame filled him. He ran a hand through his hair. “No matter how angry I become, I would never hurt you.”
“You keep saying that, but why?”
Not wanting to admit that he wanted her to be his mate, especially after the way she’d just reacted, he said, “Because. I can’t explain it. Just know it isn’t something that will end. You’re mine.”
“Dammit, that’s the problem. The possessiveness. The ownership. I am not a thing. You can’t just walk into my life and take over.”
He groaned. She’d warned him they’d continue this conversation but right after sex wasn’t the right time for it. Knowing he had to soothe her, he reached for her and laid his fingers against her cheek. She didn’t pull away from him so he stroked her jaw and tried to come up with the right words.
“Of course you’re not a thing. You’re my female.”
She smiled and nodded as if that was exactly what she was waiting for him to say. “And what makes me yours, Rafe? The sex. That’s why Mira hasn’t had a lover in years. Isn’t it? She said she’s afraid to risk it.”
He dropped his hand and sat back on his knees. His female was smart, intuitive and knew where to go for information. And she was right, not that he’d admit it with that angry look in her eyes. He sighed and hedged, “Mira’s situation is different.”
She raised a brow. “Is it? Mira is afraid a man will mark her womb, make her his. He’ll become fixated on her, not let her go. And it won’t matter if he loves her or not.” She leaned forward and pressed her hands on his bent thighs. “And you have repeatedly come inside me. It’s the same as marking your territory. Isn’t it?”
He brushed his fingers down the valley between her breasts. “You are an intelligent woman.”
She glanced down at his hand. “And there’s no going back. I’m yours. End of story. Am I right?”
He lowered her to the bed. With his gaze locked to hers, he settled between her legs. He waited for her to deny him. She didn’t so he pushed the head of his cock into her drenched opening, joining them. He held still until she adjusted to him then propped on his elbows and lazily thrust inside her, building their desire slowly.
“Yes, my Jasmine. You’re right.”
She lifted her hips to match his gentle strokes and panted, “I knew it that first night. You’re not a knight in shining armor. You’re a conqueror. You saw something you wanted and took it. I had no choice.”
He stared into his female’s face. Regret rose, not for what happened between them. He wouldn’t take it back for anything. Now that Jasmine was in his life, he couldn’t imagine it without her. The instincts of a focused male ensured he would remain devoted to Jasmine, treasure her, love her. But Jasmine was human. The same drives didn’t guide her and she hadn’t known the potential consequence of being with a shifter male.
“Five hundred years. That’s how long I’ve been bedding females. When we came together, I didn’t know I’d keep you until it happened.”
Her eyes widened. “Five hundred years?”
A look he couldn’t describe passed over her face. She closed her eyes, hiding whatever he could discern from them. He pressed kisses to her closed lids and whispered, “You are important to me, my Jasmine. That is not the same thing as ownership. I will always take care you. Be with you. Worship you. Never control you.”
After a moment, she swallowed hard. “Oh okay then.”
When she didn’t say anything else, he slid his cock, which wasn’t quite as hard as it had been, back into her sheath. She widened her legs and linked her arms around his neck. A gentle tug and she pulled his head to hers, twined their tongues. He kissed her and slowly fucked her. The passion built, his cock hardened once more and when they came, they did so together, but something was missing…or wrong. And he didn’t know what.
Chapter Nineteen
Jazz woke to Rafe’s scent in her nose and his warm, hard body pressed along her back. The rigid length of his erection lay nestled in the seam of her backside. If she hadn’t woken first, he would’ve roused her from sleep by thrusting that length inside her. Over the course of the night, they’d had sex three, maybe four times. She’d lost track. Their passionate encounters had become one continual loop of pleasure, release and sleep. It had been amazing but with the sun streaming through the windows, the sadness returned.
Rafe hadn’t bitten her. He’d had the chance, had obviously thought about it if the fangs pressing against her shoulder were any indication but he’d turned his head away. The sense of rejection had been sharp. She’d rationalized it and pushed the emotion away but when he dropped his second hammer, her heart had cracked. He was immortal. A royal descendent of the gods. It seemed unreal but fantasy had become reality five years ago and nothing since had shocked her overly much. Well, until Rafe walked into her life and silly dreams she’d never known she’d harbored surfaced.
UnexpectedFind Page 18