Rhys!
The white of his mane was blackened and singed in places, and blood still dripped freely from too many wounds for her to count, but he was there. Still breathing. Still alive.
Which was more than she could say for the prides outside.
The only sound that remained was the snap and crackle of flames and the steady beat of wings overhead.
Chapter 27
Rhys woke suddenly, but didn’t move. Some sound pulled at him, but it was different from the gunshots of his nightmares. He held steady and still, hardly even daring to breathe while he sorted through the night noise.
Two days. That was how long it took for life to return to normal. The only sounds now were what he expected of a ranch in the middle of the night. Bugs sang their night songs, the occasional distant murmur of a cow settling into a new position for more hours of sleep, and a single truck bouncing up the road after a night in town.
Cleanup went by fast with so many hands offering to help, but Trent finally popped his top and ordered everyone out of his territory, leaving the pride to finish fixing the fences. Rhys swore he spent more time pricking himself with barbed wire than doing anything useful with his life.
Hailey was cleared with strict orders to report any changes or unusual pains. Between Trent and all the mates fussing over her, Rhys bet she’d be the next one to bring down the house in an avalanche of frustrated annoyance.
Sage had gone quiet again, which he expected. He hated every minute of silence that stretched on, but he didn’t push. He spent every free second close and slept in fur on her porch, but he didn’t push. As much as he wanted to praise her for finding the strength to shift and put down the bastard who terrorized her and threatened a few thousand innocent lives, she needed to come to terms with it on her own.
But holy fuck, had she looked amazing in her lioness form. She’d been powerful. Unstoppable, even. And he’d spend the rest of his days making sure she believed it.
He cocked his head at the sound again, then rose to his feet. A leap carried him off the porch and to the ground below. Quick steps bolted him around her den. On the other side, a lioness streaked through the night.
Rhys waited a split second before chasing after her.
His paws carried him over the ground as fast as he could manage. He didn’t want to lose sight of her, and not just because of the recent war. He didn’t want to miss a single damn second of her finding her paws on her own.
She looked over her shoulder as he neared, then put on a burst of speed that carried her ahead. Faster, then faster still. Every breath clouded in front of her mouth right before she burst through it, casting her in an ethereal haze.
She led them over hills and to the far edge of the territory, then banked at the fence separating Crowley lands from the newly formed Kincaid clan. Colette’s boss was an easy going man, but Rhys wasn’t so sure about some of the shifters under him. Sage kept on their side of the border for a mile or so before turning and heading deeper into the ranch.
She slowed once they were out of sight, then jumped over the fence marking off a pasture. Two more leaps bounced her back and forth, chuffing with mischief as she tried to get him to join her. When he cleared the fence easily, she approached and rubbed her face against him from his back leg to his chin.
He rumbled a purr of pleasure, then marked her just the same. Juniper, rain, and baked earth were scents he’d never forget. She was part of his pride, holder of his heart, and his gorgeous mate.
He wasn’t sure how long they ran for. The moon was high overhead by the time she turned back. And she was the decider. Rhys made absolutely sure she had the power to give her lioness room to roam. She would never need to worry he’d cage her like the assholes they’d defeated.
No more Jasper. No more Roland. The prides they brought with them were dead and burned. Sage was free.
The air took on the peculiar, tingling sensation as her shift rippled out of her. Her form shimmered and cracked, fur receded, and her lioness stepped back to let her human shape take control.
By the time he finished his shift, she stood on two feet in front of her door, entirely naked.
“I changed my mind about waiting,” she said softly.
The words were magic. They breathed over his skin and hooked around his heart, drawing him forward with one slow step after another. Amber eyes watched him as he mounted the steps, the bright color ebbing to show the green of her human half.
“What did you change it to?” he asked.
Juniper and rain thickened in his nose. Every breath dragged more of her into his lungs, but it wasn’t enough. Would never be enough. He could bottle up that delicious scent and carry it in a little vial around his neck for the times he needed a refresher, and that still wouldn’t be enough.
He wanted a lifetime of her scent on his clothes, in his bed, coating his skin. He wanted to wake up with it thick on his tongue, and fall asleep with it draping over his body.
Sage flattened her palms against his chest and leaned up, lips barely touching his. “I want you to be my mate. Tonight. Forever.”
He didn’t need to be told twice, closing that final distance between their lips with a growl. She opened for him immediately, arms going around his neck to keep him from pulling away. As if she had to worry about that ever again.
She was his, just as he was hers. Tonight, and forever.
Rhys fumbled behind her for the door handle, and they staggered inside the moment the wood fell away. He looped an arm around her waist to catch her before she tripped, kicked the door closed behind him, and pushed her against it on the other side.
“You’re perfect, Sage,” he murmured, kissing a line down her neck. “So fucking impressive. So damn powerful.”
Rhys groaned as her hand snaked between them and wrapped around his cock. One stroke took him from semi-erect to harder than stone.
“Powerful, you say?” she teased. She nipped at his skin and dragged another groan from his chest. “That won’t bother you? You don’t want someone weak?”
He pulled back enough to search her face. “Never,” he told her fiercely. “I want someone who knows when to be gentle with her people, and when to stand up and fight. I want someone with a good head on her shoulders, an honest spirit, and a caring heart.” He leaned close again. “I want you exactly as you are.”
She exhaled sharply, and a grin spread over her face. She worked her other hand between them, and with both wrapped around his length, stroked him again. “You’re mine.”
Rhys let his head fall to her shoulder. Eyes open, he watched her hands work over him. Any other time, and he’d let her keep going, maybe even nudge her to her knees to see those plump lips wrapped around him. Right then, her words still ringing in his ears, he knew he wouldn’t last long.
With a jerk of his hips, he pulled himself away and went to his knees. He nipped at one hip, then dragged his tongue across her navel to nip the other. “And you’re mine,” he growled.
Loving Sage wasn’t a betrayal of Hannah. He didn’t love her any more or any less. It was just… different. New. An extra page to a book he thought had been closed forever.
She gave him new life.
He skimmed his hands up her calves and thighs. Her scent thickened with her arousal as he dipped his head and sent a teasing lick up her entrance.
She watched him, mouth parted just enough for her tongue to dart over her lips. Her eyebrows shot down in an almost pained expression when he didn’t immediately continue. That, as much as her taste on his tongue, crumpled up and threw away any plans he had of drawing out some pleasurable torture. His mate needed him, and she wouldn’t be denied.
Rhys growled and buried his face between her thighs, licking through her folds to her wet center.
A sharp hiss burst out of his mate when he sucked her clit between his lips. He rolled his eyes upward and nearly died at the sight. Flushed cheeks, one hand on her breast, she watched him with a wanton light in her eyes tha
t demanded more.
Sliding his hand around to cup her ass, he pumped the fingers of his other into her core. She fluttered around him, body almost sucking him deeper with her need. Her breath caught in her lungs, then exhaled in a sound as close to begging as a wordless cry could be.
He worked her relentlessly, pumping his fingers faster, licking and sucking her clit until a scream ripped free. She clenched around his fingers in a pulsating rhythm that made his cock twitch and beg to be buried inside her as he brought her to that point again and again.
Rhys eased her back down, then kissed the insides of her thighs. Pushing to his feet, he planted more kisses along her collarbone, her neck, across her jaw. “Gorgeous cat,” he whispered over her skin. “Do you know what you do to me? How wild you make me? I could lick you all damn day and still not get my fill.”
She chased him, breath catching again, arms wrapped around his neck, until he finally gave in and crushed his mouth to hers.
He reached down and grabbed her thighs, hauling her up and pinning her against the door. One last questioning look gave him all the answer he needed before he lined his cock up and thrust into her with one smooth stroke.
* * *
Sage threw her head back as he surged inside her. He felt so good, filling her to the brim. So damn good.
It was more than physical, too, though she found it hard to think beyond the pleasure he rocked through her body. He made her feel good everywhere. From the tips of her toes, to the top of her head, he supported her when she needed and stood at her side when she pushed to her own feet. The holes in her heart and the missing pieces in her head were filled in and completed by him.
Hers. He was hers, just as she was his.
Her lioness rolled through her, fangs pressing against her gums. The cat was ready and waiting to claim the man as theirs forever.
Heat blasted off his body, the extra degrees making the rest of her feel chilled by comparison. But he was prepared for that. His big hands slid against her, stroking, smoothing, touching. Worshipping. He made her feel like an absolute goddess.
Her legs trembled as she tightened them around his waist. He dragged himself back, until only the tip remained inside her, then thrust forward with enough force that she thought the door might break off the hinges and send them falling back into the cool night air. She doubted even that would slow or stop them, both riding pure need and chasing after the ending that waited at the finish line.
They balanced on that knife’s edge of wanting to rush there, but also draw everything out until they were left twitching and gasping. Sage felt her release building, circling, waiting for the moment to strike as he pounded into her again and again.
Just as she was about to leap over the edge, Rhys pushed away from the door. He carried her straight to the bed, letting his knees hit the mattress before he folded over and laid her down.
The change in angle caught her clit between their bodies and added an extra pinpoint of pleasure with his thrusts. She writhed against him, catching him with her teeth, tangling her fingers in his hair, but nothing diluted the incredible magic he worked on her.
He reached for her hands and stretched them above her head, fingers twining together. Ragged breath burst out of her lungs as she tried to hold herself together, slowly being driven mad by the sheer ecstasy that pulsed through her body.
“Rhys,” she panted, the desperate sound of her voice surprising even her. High pitched, keening, the one word mixed between her softer moans was all she could manage as her world narrowed to pure sensation. The scrape of his beard. The withdrawal and thrust of his cock. Heat, everywhere, burning her up under his hands, his mouth, his big body.
He thrust into her faster, hips bucking hard enough that she could barely catch her breath. “Come, Sage,” he growled, teeth grazing her skin. “Come, and I’ll make you mine.”
Her body doubled down on the pleasure rolling through her, letting each wave bleed into the next and build until she thought she’d combust. Pressure, so much pressure, coiled inside her center. Close. So… so… close.
Her nails dug into his shoulders as she arched against him. Every cell in her body split apart, pure bliss shooting through her nerves. She shattered around him, every last muscle seeming to contract at the same moment, milking him for all she was worth.
Sage turned her head, gums aching, and claimed her mate.
Rhys roared, slamming his hips into her again and again. He stilled at the exact moment he sank his fangs into her shoulder.
Relief shuddered through her as he slowed, then stilled. Hers. He was all hers, the same as she was his. The monsters who tried to beat her down until she had nothing left hadn’t succeeded. Here she was, body exhausted from a run on four paws and making love to her mate. Her every breath was proof of how she’d won.
Pleasure sparked under the rasp of Rhys’s tongue running along the edges of her new claiming mark, and Sage smiled against his shoulder.
They weren’t broken. They were survivors. Together.
Epilogue
“Sage!” Hailey called, bouncing Abby on her hip.
“Coming!” she hurried out of the cubs’ bedroom. “Fed, changed, and costumed up. Rhea is ready for her first Halloween.”
Hailey flashed a smile at her younger-by-minutes daughter. Voice high pitched and happy, she griped, “Now where is your father, huh? He knows he can’t miss pictures or I’ll make sure you’re the only two children he ever has.”
Trent yanked open the door and slunk down the hall, shrugging into a deep burgundy jacket. Jeans and a dark, checkered shirt rounded out his costume, but the plastic ax hanging from his belt really made him into Jack Torrance. “I want it known that I hate this.”
“Now, now, all work and no play makes Trent a dull boy,” Hailey teased, tightening the belt of her blue bathrobe.
Sage handed Rhea off to her father, then stepped back. The twins were the most easily recognizable. Both wore blue dresses with white ribbons around their waists, and she’d readily give up her soul to play with them forever.
Trent fixed Sage with a mournful look. “Please, for all that’s holy, make Rhys as miserable when your cub is born.”
“Don’t worry.” Sage bumped her shoulder into Hailey. “I’m taking lessons from the best.”
“Suck up,” Hailey grinned. “Come on, everyone will be waiting.”
Sage was the first out the door, and threw her arms wide. “Presenting this year’s absolutely winning family costume. First up, we have Hailey modeling her bathrobe chic, with Abby in a truly out-of-this-spiritual-plane gown.” The snickers from the others almost had her breaking before Trent stepped through the door. “Next, with yet another little ghost with the most—”
“You’re mixing up your references!” Lilah heckled. “Booo!”
Sage waved her off and continued, “We have Trent, sure to go above, beyond, and straight through any door in his very best hotel caretaker impersonation.”
Lindley chuckled, handing out drinks to everyone gathered. “We’ll know the vote’s been rigged if you lose to some condiment bottles.”
“Are we sure they’re even allowed to participate?” Seth asked, scent swirling with the tease he kept off his face. “Last I heard, we weren’t supposed to show our faces at town celebrations.”
“That was a total misunderstanding,” Dash defended. “And besides, who here hasn’t accidentally wondered aloud if the Old Maids have such big purses to carry all the fun they suck out of people?”
More than one laugh picked up at his glossing over of the fact that he’d said so with the trio of elderly boar shifters right behind him, or that they’d all three unleashed said purses on him, giving him a black eye in the process.
“Toast!” Hailey called, then winked at Sage. “Toast for those of us who can drink. Apple juice for the lone sucker that can’t!”
Sage laughed. “And guess who just lost her free babysitter,” she said to no one in particular.
“Don’t think I won’t order you into it,” Trent threatened with a smile.
Rhys growled. “You can try.”
“I have something to say,” Kyla jumped in before the night devolved into a fist fight and a brawl. “I’d like to make a toast to this entire year. We’ve had our ups and downs, but mostly ups, and for that, I’m very grateful. I’m so happy to have every last one of you—yes, Dash, even you—in my life.”
Dash slapped a hand over his heart and pretended to stagger back with the shot taken. Colette jabbed her elbow in his side to make him straighten.
“I’ll chime in,” Rhys said, lifting his drink and shooting a warning look to any naysayers. “Kyla’s right. This year has been more up than down, but it’s been more than that, too. It’s been about finding home. Not just a place with walls and a roof, either. I mean the kind of place that you’re happy to go to at the end of the day. I hate you all with every fiber of my being,” he paused to let the snorts and wolf whistles die down, “but you’re part of home to me. Along with this one, here.”
Sage took the hand he held out to her and let him reel her in. She ducked her face against his arm and gave him a small squeeze, then turned to the others. “He’s right. He hates you all,” she laughed, leaning against her mate. His hand dropped around her to rest on her belly, and there was nowhere she’d rather be. Surrounded by her pride, held by her mate, she was where she belonged. “To home!”
“To home!” the others echoed, clinking their drinks.
Hailey and Trent were the first to depart, heading for a Trick-or-Treat event for cubs in the town square. Dash and Colette were next, with Colette tugging her mate’s arm and promising he could be extra rude to her brother if he’d just hurry up and take her to the party at the Ashford B&B. Lindley, Kyla, Seth, and Lilah all disappeared into their dens, agreeing to meet up in an hour to head to The Roost for a night of drinking.
“Guess it’s just us tonight, huh?” Rhys looped his arm around her waist and led her back toward their den.
Savage Exile: Lion Hearts Book Five Page 19