Legend of the Feral 3: Passion's Roots (Siren Publishing LoveEdge)

by Jenny Penn

  * * * *

  Jaxon stood by the window staring out at the gardens that still sat barren as he listened to Kragen interrogate Bridget. She’d been with them for years, as both servant and lover. It was the latter that was the source of their problems. They had too many former lovers, and jealousy was an emotion that women had perfected.

  Now it was all coming back to bite them on the ass.

  “But…I didn’t…” Bridget stammered away, but there was no point to her futile attempt at denying. They could smell the lie on her.

  “Silence!” Kragen barked, no doubt tiring of her lame excuses. “This is not a matter for discussion. You are to pack your bags and leave the premises. You are no longer welcome here.”

  “But⎯”

  “Now!”

  Jaxon glanced over at Bridget and watched the reality of the situation sink in. It deflated her, and she retreated with a sour look that warned them both there would be trouble. That wasn’t a worry. There already was trouble. Jaxon frowned as that thought hit him, his gaze narrowing on the sight of the Great Owl circling in the sky.

  The big white bird had been a constant presence over the past week, soaring overhead, and, hopefully, admiring the work the Jaris had done. They’d all felt the weight of the God’s judgment, but Jaxon could sense that something was different today. In his heart, he knew almost immediately that it could only be Jezie.

  Jaxon stilled in that moment, his senses prickling with a sudden unease. In that second, he knew something was wrong. In the next second, he knew Jezie was in danger. A roar ripped straight out of his heart as he ripped through the curtain into the barren garden outside. Leaping forward on two feet, he landed on four as the wolf whipped out of him, panicked and in full war mode.

  In a flash his clothes were shredded rags on the ground as he tore off through the yard, howling with enough pain and anger to draw almost all of the pack to him. That included his brother, who caught up with him in a matter of only a few steps. Then they were racing side by side across the yard all the way to the Dead Tree.

  It stood alone. Khan lay mere feet from it as blood seeped out of his body into the soil. The scent of both death and something much more dangerous loomed in the air. Jezie, though, wasn’t there. She was gone. Her sweet fragrance was thick only along the ground, and instinctively Jaxon began to dig, allowing the rich aroma of her fear to drive him forward.

  She was in there. In the ground. He just knew it.

  Jaxon didn’t hesitate. He dug deep, ripping into the land with his sharp claws as Kragen joined him, along with the rest of the pack. They tore through streams of blood and roots as thick and hard as bone. With every crack of the wood, Jaxon’s panic and fear bloomed to all new heights.

  He couldn’t lose Jezie. Not now.

  He needed her. That truth pumped with every pound of his heart until finally her pale face emerged from the dirt. Then he shifted back to human form, trying to pull Jezie’s limp body from the dirt, even as he sought not to hurt her any further in his rush. She was bathed in blood and didn’t appear to be breathing. He knew in that moment he’d lost her.

  She was gone, and his grief was endless, each second only adding to the pain and misery flooding through him until actual tears began to well in his eyes. They fell helplessly down as he pulled her free and clutched her close, whispering out an inane babble of pleas and hopes.

  “No…no…you can’t leave me. Please, Jezie, please. Come back. I need you.”

  Those weren’t his words falling into the still air but Kragen’s as he tried to wrestle Jezie away from Jaxon. Jaxon snarled, refusing to relent. She was his, and he would not let her go. He’d kill any man, even his brother, who tried to take her from him. The emotions moving through him were that deep, that raw that they poured out in tears that fell onto the land, igniting a ripple through the dirt as he grieved with a depth of anguish that could only be soothed by the ragged cough that shook Jezie’s body.

  She suddenly drew in a deep breath. Even then, Jaxon could only clutch her closer, whispering a thanks to the god circling above as he squeezed another cough out of Jezie.

  “She needs to breathe,” Kragen snapped, once again trying to pull Jezie into his arms.

  This time Jaxon let her go, hearing the reason in Kragen’s words and too weak with relief to stop him. Instead, Jaxon fell forward onto his hands, his fingers digging into the grass that sprouted with unnatural speed. As the tears continued to drip off his chin the soft, green shoots spread out in all directions, leaving a ripple of murmurs from the men gathered around.

  Jaxon cared not about the land or the miracle unfolding around him. He was still trying to catch his breath and control the tremors, too weak to rise up in that moment. He was at the mercy of emotions he could not control, and he didn’t even try. It didn’t matter that he knew his men were watching. Jaxon couldn’t manage in that moment to care about anything other than how close he’d come to losing Jezie.

  Just the idea ignited a rage so potent and hot it threatened to consume him whole. It flooded through his veins, filling him with the strength to rise up. Kragen was already gone, carrying a weeping Jezie away from the tree and leaving Jaxon to handle the men all standing around now on two legs and staring in shock up at the Dead Tree.

  It was alive…and it had claimed one, too. Still reeling from almost losing Jezie, Jaxon wasn’t ready to hear the truth from one of his lower commanders as the man came rushing up. There was no blocking his words, though.

  “Shardar…Khan…He’s dead…He was…shredded, limb to limb, and is half-buried in the dirt.”

  That news cut through Jaxon’s black thoughts as a different kind of sorrow flooded through him. Khan couldn’t be gone. He was Jaxon’s closest friend beside Kragen, but there was no denying the other man’s words as he stuttered over them.

  “He’s been…been torn into, like a wild beast got him.”

  That made about as much sense as everything else did right then, and Jaxon wasn’t in the mood to sort the details out. All that mattered was the revelation that Jezie was alive…and he needed her.

  Chapter 12

  Kragen was still shaking by the time he reached the bedroom. Jezie was curled against his chest, weeping softly and clinging to him. He clutched her closely, but it wasn’t enough. He needed. Needed her now. Needed to know that she was safe and whole.

  That single thought drove him as he stormed across the room and slammed through the bathroom doors. Kragen didn’t even pause to strip Jezie from her clothes as he stepped into the massive shower stall that would easily have accommodated more than four people. There had been points when it had, but those days were over. Now there was only Jezie, and she was all that mattered.

  Stepping into the stall, Kragen clicked on the water and set it for steam. He was desperately cold, and at the same time, he felt as if he was burning up from the inside. The heat seared away all reason, all consideration, leaving him overwhelmed by his most primitive, feral desires. Those had his claws growing as he shredded Jezie’s clothes from her body.

  Jezie didn’t complain but, instead, caught his mouth a kiss that stole every bit of breath in his body as Kragen dropped her feet back down to the ground. In seconds he had her naked and pressed against him, only the harness standing in his way, but he didn’t have the will right then to do anything more than kiss Jezie back.

  Her tongue was wicked and wild, but he was in no mood to be teased. Instead, Kragen laid claim to the sweet, moist recesses of her mouth, conquering all of her resistance as he ravaged her with a relentless hunger that only flamed hotter as her lips closed over his tongue and sucked hard enough to make his dick weep. It didn’t ache for a kiss, though. It ached to be buried deep inside the hot sheath it had been denied too long. He wasn’t the only one who had held back to the point of breaking.

  Kragen released Jezie’s lips, his hands going to the clasps on her harness, only to find Jaxon’s already there. Their eyes met and held for a long moment
as both brothers accepted that their patience had finally worn out. The near loss of Jezie had snapped both men’s control, and yet neither man would never take what wasn’t offered, especially from Jezie.

  So together they glanced down at the woman trembling between them. Jezie stood there looking like a delectable treat with her head bowed and her lips swollen from Kragen’s kisses. It took every last bit of his strength not to rip the harness from her hips, but he hesitated long enough to ask for permission.

  “Jezie?” Big, honey eyes swimming with want and need glanced up at him, and Kragen knew she wanted this, but he still needed to hear the words. “Tell us to take you.”

  She hesitated, swallowing slightly as she blinked up at him with such longing his heart about broke. “Do you love me?”

  It was Kragen’s turn to swallow, hesitant to admit the truth, but how could it be denied? The proof was there for all to see. “More than life itself.”

  That was just the honest truth. In those seconds when he’d thought he’d lost her, Jaxon’s entire life had been raped of meaning. There was nothing in this world for him if there wasn’t Jezie. She was his everything, and her smile was a gift that he’d cherish for the rest of his days.

  “And my heart belongs to you, Shardar.” Jezie glanced back over at Jaxon, who still looked ready to kill. That didn’t seem to bother Jezie in the slightest. “Both of you.”

  “Just as our lives belong to you,” Jaxon vowed, his fingers releasing the clasps on her harness.

  With a wiggle, Jezie shed both dildos packing her full and turned back to Kragen with a glimmer in her eyes that warned him they’d just unleashed a wanton vixen who planned on claiming everything as her own. They were doomed and blessed and ready for the fucking of their lifetime.

  There was no stopping now, not when Jezie threw herself back into Kragen’s arms to capture his lips in another heated kiss as she ground her soft curves into the hard planes of his body. She felt so good, better than anything ever had, and Kragen couldn’t help but grasp her hips and lift her up so that the heated softness of her mound cushioned the hard, hot length of his dick.

  Her slick, molten folds split around his thick length as Jezie arched her hips. She pumped them against his in a demand he had no intention of denying. How could he? His head was spinning with a delicious delight that he’d only ever found with Jezie.

  Kragen’s hands slid farther down her hips to lift her up even higher, her legs parting around him until her knees were clenched at his waist and her hands locked behind his head.

  The warm, creamy dew of her arousal coated the throbbing tip of his cock, easing his way as he pressed up against the ring of muscles guarding her virgin entrance. Jezie gasped at the feel, breaking free of his kiss to lean back and watch him with a molten gaze full of want as he slowly started to penetrate the tight depths of her cunt.

  Her slick, velvety walls parted, sucking him in deeper as Jezie panted, her breasts lifting in a tantalizing caress against his chest with every deep, ragged breath she drew in. It was the most amazing moment of his entire life.

  * * * *

  Jezie was entranced by the feel of Kragen sliding deep into her body. It was indescribable. He was so thick he filled her to the point of pain, but even that left her humming with a delight so pure, so sparkly, it blinded her to the fear that still poisoned the edge of her heart. She wasn’t ready to deal with what had happened out there at the Dead Tree, but she was ready to truly become Jaxon and Kragen’s woman.

  This was where she belonged, right here, caught between the two of them, penetrated by both. That thought sent a wild thrill racing through her that had Jezie shuddering and moaning as her sheath pulsed hungrily around Kragen’s hard length. She wanted more. She wanted harder. Deeper. Faster. But Jezie didn’t have the words or the breath to form them as Kragen finally settled the full length of his cock deep into her body.

  He clutched her close, holding her hips steady even when she tried to buck. Jezie needed to move, she needed more of that sweet friction, but Kragen denied her, forcing her to remain still, even as she felt Jaxon’s rough hands palm her ass. They slid over her fleshy cheeks, parting them, even as she felt the smooth, rounded head of his dick begin to slide up and down her sensitive crevice.

  Jezie’s breath caught, her nails digging into Kragen’s back at the warning caress that left no doubt what Jaxon intended. It was what she wanted. Still the moment he slid far enough to press up against her aching entrance was filled with a tantalizing thrill that Jezie cherished almost as much as she did the feel of Jaxon beginning to fill her body.

  Both brothers were bigger, thicker than any toy they’d used on her, and together they had her gasping as her eyes flew wide and rounded at the intense pressure that strained her muscles and left her quivering in their arms. Nothing had ever felt like this before. Nothing had ever felt this good, and molten waves of true ecstatic delight rushed through Jezie blinding her to all else.

  Then they were moving, redefining her entire world. Slowly at first, Jaxon and Kragen began to sway, allowing her to grow accustomed to the rhythm before they began to pull back, thrusting forward in a mismatched beat that never left her empty or truly full. It was a teasing torment that quickly had her crying out for more.

  Now wasn’t the time to tease. Neither was it the time for tenderness and caring. What she wanted, what she needed, was something a whole lot rougher and more savage than that. Without the words to express just what she was feeling, Jezie bit down on Kragen’s shoulder, pumping her hips hard as he growled, his fingers biting deeper into her hips as he tried to hold her steady.

  Jezie would not be tamed.

  She bucked harder, demanding what she didn’t have the ability to ask for. This time they gave it to her. Faster. Rougher. Deeper. Their hips began to piston in time with each other, their thick dicks stretching her wide and making her sensitive sheaths pulse and clench with a pleasure beyond words. The rapturous waves of molten glory flooded through her, making Jezie cry out even as she bounced between them, fucking both brothers back as she raced them toward the ultimate explosion.

  Then it blew through her, shattering her soul and leaving her body to the whim of instinct. Those primitive urges had her pumping back and forth with even greater speed as her release bloomed to new, exciting levels. Jezie felt herself skyrocketing straight into the very heat of the storm until it consumed her whole, and only distantly was she aware of Jaxon and Kragen roaring out their own pleasure as they joined her in a perfect moment of bliss.

  * * * *

  Kragen felt Jezie go limp in his arms as she gave herself over to her climax. He wished he could have done the same as every muscle in his body tensed and shuddered with the most amazing release he’d ever experienced. Nothing had ever been that good. Nothing and no one compared to Jezie. None had ever touched him as deeply.

  It didn’t even matter to Kragen in that moment that everybody knew now what his greatest weakness was. It didn’t even matter that all he wanted to do was fuck her all over again. All that mattered was taking care of Jezie. She barely bothered to open her eyes as he and Jaxon gently pulled free of her body much less assist either man as they gently cleaned her and carried her back to bed.

  They tucked her in amongst the soft bedding and watched her settle down with a sigh. Then they moved back to the other side of the room to discuss the matter in hushed tones.

  “Khan’s dead,” Kragen stated, pulling no punches and letting no emotion seep into his tone.

  Jaxon nodded slowly, his frown saying it all. He had only one question. “How?”

  “You mean what,” Kragen corrected him. “He was ripped apart by the land, but whatever evil lied within it…it must be freed now or the grass wouldn’t be growing.”

  “We need to gather the men for the hunt.”

  There was no question what Jaxon meant. Whatever had poisoned their land had to have escaped. He didn’t even consider for a moment that it had been vanquished. That wo
uld be too easy. Even if it was true, they had to be sure. They couldn’t simply allow the evil to find a new home.

  “One of us will have to stay behind.” Kragen glanced over to where Jezie slept and ached to be that one. “Somebody has to watch over Jezie…and the recruits. This hunt could take a while.”

  Something told Kragen it would not be easy to track down their prey. After all, it wasn’t like it had shape or form, but they would find it. Find it and destroy it, because united, the Jaris could do anything.

  A little help, though, wouldn’t hurt. Kragen knew exactly who they needed to turn to. The Masters of Cerberus.

  “I’ll go.” Kragen sucked in a deep breath and resigned himself to being lonely for possibly the next several weeks. “You stay here, and watch over Jezie.”

  “Fine,” Jaxon agreed almost instantly, more than eager to be the one that got to stay home for a change.

  Normally, Kragen would have teased his brother over that fact. It was disgraceful for a Jaris not to hunger for a fight, not to revel in the battle, but Kragen understood all too well that things were changing, changing for the better..

  * * * *

  Jaxon watched from the balcony as Kragen gathered and organized the hunting party. There was commotion and chaos in all directions. Men rushed about the place, prepping for their coming journey while others built a large funeral pyre in the middle of the yard. They had to go and gather the stones to protect the grass that suddenly seemed to cover the fields.

  Despite the mourning and the anger seeping up from below, Jaxon could also sense the undertones of excitement as they men felt the evil fading from their land. There was an underlying assumption amongst all that the curse had been broken, but Jaxon didn’t think things were that simple.

  The evil might have been banished, but Jaxon knew deep in his heart, that the only unions that would be futile were the ones with love at their core. The Jaris were going to have to learn to grow hearts.