Blood of the Maple mg-1

by Dana Marie Bell

  “Try this.” Parker grabbed her hips and lifted her, placing her slick ass right over his cock. She took him in one inch at a time, the burn warring with the pleasure; soon, only the pleasure was left. Far too soon her ass rested on his thighs, and his cock was so deep it throbbed in her belly. “Now. Fuck me, Amara. Take me. Make me yours.”

  Amara rose on her knees until only the head was inside her, then lowered herself. She loved the slow, wet slide of him, so thick, so hard.

  He tilted her head until her neck was bared. “Play with yourself, love. Come on my cock. I want to feel you coming around me.”

  Amara reached between her legs and stroked her clit. The sensation as she rode him was so intense, so very good. “Like this?”

  “Mmm. Pretty. Now dance for me.” It took Amara a moment to figure out what he wanted, but when she swiveled her hips and danced on his cock, he almost lost it. “Yes. Just like that. Take me, sweet.”

  He licked her neck, prepping her for his bite. He tugged on her nipples, bringing them to stinging life. The added pleasure-pain caused her to move faster. She abandoned the dance and rode his cock hard, eager to bring them both to climax.

  He stroked his fangs across her skin, and she knew he was close, knew he’d bite into her before they came. She clenched her muscles, needing the feel of his fangs within her, the knowledge she was feeding her mate. “Going to fuck you under my tree, Parker. Make you a part of her, a part of us. Make you mine once and for all, so no one will ever take you from me.”

  His thrusts became erratic. She felt a sharp sting as one of his teeth accidentally drew blood.

  “You’d like that, Parker? Like to hold me up against that rough bark, the wind caressing our bodies? My hands pressing into my tree while you fuck me from behind and take my blood?”

  She was baiting the beast, but she was close, so damn close. He had to take her, had to bite her.

  “Do it, Parker. Bite me. Make me yours.”

  Sharp pain and then pleasure, so much pleasure she drowned in it. She screamed soundlessly as she came; her body arched into his, her ass throbbing around his cock.

  She was bent forward onto her hands and knees, his body thrusting inside hers, his fangs embedded in her neck. He fucked her like a wild thing, taking what he wanted from her. He ignored her gasps as the orgasm rolled into another one, this one almost as intense, almost as good as the last.

  When he finally came, she was wrung out, sweaty and tired and oh so thoroughly fucked she couldn’t do much more than purr her pleasure. She felt the gentle swipe of his tongue as he closed the wounds.

  “I gather you liked that idea.”

  His entire body wrapped around hers. “You think?”

  She snuggled in and allowed him to warm her cooling flesh. “We’ll have to see when we can arrange that.”

  “Soon,” he mumbled against her shoulder.

  “Soon,” she agreed. Sooner than soon if she had her way.

  She stifled her grin. I wonder when he’ll be up for round two?

  Parker picked up the broken shards of the ornate pot he’d used to plant some of the hardier orchids and sighed. It was going to take forever to get The Greenhouse back up and running.

  Luckily he had an in with the owners. “Greer?”

  “Yeah?” The blond poked his head out from behind some ferns he was manhandling onto a table. The ferns were beat up, but with loving care, they’d survive what had happened. “It’s going to take a lot longer than we thought to get this place back open.”

  Greer shrugged and hefted the second pot. It had to weigh almost as much as he did. “I know. Ash knows. Mina is ticked, but she knows too. It is what it is, man.” The dryad leaned over and whispered to the ferns. Parker swore the plants quivered in green ecstasy.

  “Terri is alive.” Parker’s jaw clenched. It had been three days since the attack on the town, and he’d neither seen nor scented his nemesis. He’d hunted for her high and low, in and out of the forest, but he’d found no sign other than a blackened patch of ground where Dragos had ripped off her head. Mina had been livid.

  She’d circled the area, chanting so softly Parker couldn’t pick up the words. When she was done, not a leaf would drop into that spot. It was isolated from the rest of the wood by the forest queen’s will and would remain that way until she was satisfied the poison had been completely leached from the soil. Earth elementals monitored the site, trying to repair the damage. From their hollow looks, it wasn’t going well.

  Amara had watched Mina’s ritual with wide, glowing eyes, and he’d understood instantly how much being included had meant to her. The knowledge that the local dryads not only accepted her presence but wanted it had lifted his dryad’s spirit. Last he heard, the town’s female dryads had organized some sort of shopping trip. He’d told her to come home with plenty of lacy underthings or not at all.

  He rubbed the top of his head where she’d smacked him with a cooking spoon. Sometimes his wife had no sense of humor.

  “Don’t worry. We’re keeping our eyes open for her. Mina would love to have a chat with her.” Greer whispered to an orchid, and the flower bloomed for him.

  “I hope she doesn’t come back here. What happened hurt Mollie quite a bit. She loves this place. Did you see the scorch marks?”

  Greer’s jaw clenched, but he didn’t look up from the plant he was repotting.

  Interesting. “She made those marks trying to save this place. Thing is, she was almost dead on her feet by the time I got here.” Greer’s cheek twitched, and Parker wondered if he’d found the source of Mollie’s fascination with plants. He decided to test the waters, so to speak. Getting Mollie loosened up would make his life a hell of a lot easier. Her attitude toward him had softened quite a bit since the attack, asking after Amara and allowing him the time for his nightly hunts without argument. He’d watched the loving way she handled the plants; this was more than a hobby for her. It was her passion. The woman who’d worked her ass off for this place was someone he’d come to respect. She was someone he was coming to like as well. He hadn’t quite managed to get her to the point where she would actually laugh at one of his jokes, but he’d come close.

  “Mollie mentioned a joint program with the learning center where kids who visit one can get half-price tickets to the other. What do you think?”

  “It’s fine.”

  Huh. This was the quietest he’d ever heard Greer.

  “She might even start doing weekend work at the center.”

  Greer grunted and set the pot back on the ground.

  “I think she’d do a wonderful job teaching the children about the plants in their natural habitat. What do you think?”

  “Whatever. Hand me the potting soil.”

  Parker gave him the twenty-five-pound bag, and Greer set it on the stainless-steel worktable. “Speaking of the forest, what if Terri’s in the heart of it, hiding like some kind of poisonous vine, waiting for a chance to strike again?”

  Greer crumpled the edge of the table like paper with his bare hands. “We kill her.”

  “Fascinating.” Parker shook his head. “Why is Amara considered the guardian of your species if you can all do that?”

  Greer looked down at his hands. Shock raced across his features before it was quickly wiped away. “No reason.” He pointed toward the office door. “Fergie in yet?”

  Fergie? Parker wouldn’t dream of calling Mollie Fergie. He’d barely wrapped his brain around calling her Mollie, and that only after she’d insisted. “Not that I’m aware of. She spent most of today cleaning up and left a note that she planned on returning first thing in the morning.” And considering Fergie was usually there at the crack of dawn and left late at night, she had to be exhausted.

  “She needs to get more rest. If her emotions aren’t under control, she runs the risk of setting fires she doesn’t want to.”

  “Really? I thought elementals were taught to control their powers from the cradle.”

  Greer hef
ted another massive pot onto the table, careful of the crumpled edge, and whispered to it, packing potting soil around the exposed roots. “Fergie’s a halfer.”

  “Um. What?”

  Greer chuckled. “Halfer. Her father was human, her mother a fire elemental. With halfers, you never know if you’re going to get a supernatural, a human with psychic powers or an ordinary human. Fergie got her mom’s abilities, but they didn’t hit until puberty. No one’s quite sure why, except maybe Selena, and she’s not talking.”

  Puberty, eh? “When did you meet Mollie?”

  Greer put the pot back on the ground and hefted the next one. “When we were young, maybe eleven or twelve. Why?”

  “And she suddenly had powers. Think about it.”

  Greer shook his head, the orange highlights looking like…well, flickering fire. “No way. Fergie’s gay.”

  Parker burst out laughing. “Gay?”

  “Yes, gay. What’s so funny about that?”

  Parker laughed harder. “Parker. That’s not funny. We accept everyone here—gay, straight, werewolf, cursed vampire. You name it. Making fun of someone because—”

  Parker held up his hand, cutting Greer off. “She’s not gay.”

  “Yes, she is. Several people have told me so.”

  “And you believed them?” Parker wiped tears of laughter from his eyes. “Trust me, she’s not gay.”

  Greer, a stubborn expression on his face, crossed his arms over his chest. “How would you know?”

  “Because she checked out my ass.”

  Greer chuckled. “Yeah, right. That flat old thing?”

  “Jealous much?” He smirked at Greer’s snarl. “I know when a woman checks out my ass, and her eyes were all over it.” Of course, that was weeks ago, but Greer didn’t need to know that. And once Mollie realized he was her new employee, all checking out of body parts had stopped.

  “Which one? The one behind you or the one on your shoulders?”

  “Ha-ha. Funny man. You mark my words. Mollie is very much into men.”

  Greer relaxed with a grin. “Prove it.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me. Put your money where your mouth is, pretty boy. Prove Fergie isn’t gay.”

  “First off, if I lay a hand on her, Amara will go bonkers, and we all know how that would turn out. Second—Hell. I will prove it.” And he knew just the man to help him too. “Watch this.” Parker pulled out his cell phone and punched a number he now had on speed dial.

  “Hello?”

  Carter was strangely alert. Perhaps he was on the night shift. “Evening, Carter.”

  Greer flinched.

  “Hey, Parker.” Carter seemed remarkably happy to hear from him. Perhaps he was ready to pay his debt. “What can I do for you?”

  Parker put it on speakerphone. “Remember that debt you owe me?”

  Carter didn’t hesitate. “Mine or the pack’s?”

  “Yours. I need a favor.”

  “Name it.”

  “I need to prove to someone that Mollie Ferguson is not a lesbian. Think you can help me?”

  “Mollie? A lesbian?” Carter laughed so hard Parker had to turn down the volume. “You’re kidding me, right?”

  “Nope. I’m at The Greenhouse with Greer Berkeley, and he’s insisting Mollie is gay.”

  Carter snorted. “Yeah, right. That’s why she paid twice to come to my kissing booth at the county fair last summer. Girl has some serious lips on her.” Carter’s voice had gone dreamy yet hungry, and Parker knew he’d relished the chance to kiss the woman.

  “So you’ll do it? Prove Mollie isn’t gay?”

  “Man, twist my arm. Hell, I need to owe you debts more often.”

  “I’ll take that as a yes.”

  “You can take that as a hell yes.”

  Greer’s jaw went slack. “Oh hell no.”

  The table Greer was working at snapped in half. Parker looked over at the startled, angry dryad. “Hmm.”

  “What hmm? And what was that noise?”

  “I think Greer doesn’t like you wanting to date Mollie.”

  Carter snorted again. “He had his chance and blew it. Now it’s my turn.”

  Greer threw his hands up in the air. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Mollie asked you to prom, remember? And you turned her down. Some say you turned her down so hard she completely bottled herself up and that’s why we rarely see the old Mollie. But you watch. I have every intention of bringing that Mollie back. All that fire and passion. Think about it, Greer. That’s a hell of a fire a man can warm himself at.”

  “She was a child, Carter.”

  “So you knew she had a crush on you?”

  Parker was fascinated. He hadn’t intended to open a can of worms, but apparently he had.

  “No!” Greer’s hair moved on its own like leaves in a breeze. “She had a crush on Mina, not me!”

  Carter erupted once more into laughter. “Dude. You are blind. But hey, your loss will definitely be my gain. Thanks for the call, Parker. I’m more than happy to repay this debt.” Carter disconnected the call.

  Greer’s eyes were wide and unfocused. “She wanted Mina, not me.”

  “And that’s why you turned her down, because you thought she wanted your queen?”

  Greer shuddered. The sound of leaves rustling was painfully loud in the quiet greenhouse. “Partially.”

  “And are you going to let our resident fireman win the lady?”

  If looks could kill, Parker would have been digging himself out of his grave again. “What do you think?”

  “I think he’s two kisses up on you.”

  “Are you trying to get one of my wolves into trouble, Mr. Hollis?”

  The deep, gravelly voice sent Parker’s beast into a frenzy. He prepared himself for battle with the man who’d hunted Amara through the woods like an animal. “Noah Wulfenbach, I presume?” He turned to face the huge wolf standing in the doorway.

  Noah Wulfenbach had to be at least six-four, with dark hair and eyes black as night. An aura of power surrounded him that had been missing from the other wolves Parker had met.

  This man was dangerous; he knew it, and he was damn proud of it. If he’d hunted anyone else’s mate Parker would have felt a grudging respect for him. Hell, he might even have believed the man had been well within his rights.

  Except he’d hunted Amara. And Parker was as dangerous as the wolf.

  “I believe you wanted to speak to me.”

  Parker grinned viciously, not that he cared. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t drain you dry.”

  Noah shrugged. “We were protecting our people.”

  “You would have killed her.”

  Again the wolf nodded, showing no remorse.

  “What would you do if it had been your mate?”

  “I have no mate, so I don’t know.”

  Greer jumped lightly onto the end of the broken table, and Parker knew where some of Tolkien’s light-footed elves had gotten their abilities. The dryad stood on the tilted edge with all the ease Parker showed on the level concrete floor. “Knock it off, Noah. You were wrong, and you know it. Unless you make reparation to both Amara and her blood mate, you’ll have trouble no matter what forest you enter.”

  Noah crossed his arms over his chest and glowered at Greer. “Can you tell us where Terri is?”

  “I wish. She’s hidden so well not even the tree roots can find her.” Greer jumped off the table edge. He landed gracefully, barely making a sound. “But maybe I can check with the others. We’ve never searched for anything like her before, and we’re not entirely certain we can find her.”

  “You’re the Dr. Doolittle of plants. If you can’t get something out of the forest, I’d be shocked.” Noah took a step forward and extended his hand. “Tell me about hamadryads, Parker.”

  He eyed the alpha wolf with disdain. “Why?”

  “So our cubs don’t make the same mistake we did.”
/>   Greer rolled his eyes and returned to his plants. “That’s his idea of an apology, by the way.”

  “The only way to stop the mistakes of the past from repeating themselves in the future is if we learn from them. What are the signs of the hamadryad? How will we know one when we see one? What can we do to assist him or her, and can a hamadryad go bad?”

  Parker growled.

  “Not that yours did.”

  It was a concession, of sorts.

  Noah had asked Parker the question, but it was Greer who answered. “The hamadryad is the truest guardian of the forest you’ll ever meet.” Greer kept his attention on the plant on the table. “You really fucked up going after Amara the way you did. If you’d been alone, she could have killed you with a thought.”

  Noah’s left eyelid flinched, the only indication he gave that he understood exactly how merciful Amara had been.

  “You saw her other form?”

  Noah nodded. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “And you never will again.” Parker watched Greer, happy, fun-loving Greer, go cold. The dryad’s gaze bored into the alpha to drive his point home. “The hamadryad can be human or—” his gaze darted over to Parker, his lips twitching, “—weretree.”

  Noah coughed. “Weretree?”

  Parker rolled his eyes. “Shut up.”

  “They can command any plant life within a certain radius to do their bidding, but it tires them, and their first instinct is to protect that plant life. Hell, their first instinct is to protect every living thing within the hamadryad’s territory.” Greer grinned. If he’d been a vampire, his fangs would have been showing. “Amara would sooner chop off her leg than hurt the people of Maggie’s Grove. Too bad the same can’t be said of all of you.”

  Noah was silent.

  Parker stared at him and knew what he wanted him to do. “I want an apology from you.”

  Noah scowled. Someone less sure of himself might have growled.

  “Not to me. To Amara. Your pack has tormented her for years, tried to kill her. If it were up to me, those trees you wound up in would have pulled off your furry nuts.”