A Promise on White Wings (Wiccan-Were-Bear)
Page 4
“Let’s wake up our mate, Chance,” Jes said, smiling, “and help her shift.”
Chance climbed up on the bed and knelt next to Danika, placing his hand gently on her stomach. The moment his hand touched her skin, her eyes fluttered open.
And then she cried out in pain.
Chapter 6
Danika felt as though she drifted in warm water. Her body was languid, her mind calm. She knew there was something significant happening, but she just couldn’t muster the ability to care. Vaguely she recalled being given something to help her get into this state, and whatever it had been, she thought the substance should definitely be bottled and sold commercially.
She began to feel a light, tingling pain in her back at her shoulder blades. Her fingers and gums were aching. With each passing moment, her body began to slip away from relaxation and towards pain. She wanted to struggle against that feeling and stay in her current state of quiet nothingness forever. But her body had other plans.
Her vision began to clear as the pain turned from tingly to white-hot, as if burning swords had been shoved down her back.
“Ow, fuck!” she shouted.
She was rolled, and she landed on a warm, solid male body. A hot, rigid cock nestled against her pussy and she moaned, blinking until her vision cleared entirely and she stared down into the handsome face of Jesuit, the curly black-haired falcon Prince.
Jesuit’s hand slipped between her parted thighs, and two of his fingers speared inside her. “Come quick so we can fuck you, little bird,” he growled.
“We?” Her voice was rough and scratchy, and she lifted her upper body as she straightened her arms.
Jesuit’s fingers wiggled in her pussy, his thumb rubbing in tandem to their rhythm. A finger, cool with lubricant, touched her anus, and she tilted her head to the side and saw the lion Prince, Chance.
“Did you forget about me, katja?”
His finger rubbed in a small, fast circle around her tightest opening, and her nails dug into Jesuit’s chest as she stared into Chance’s handsome face.
“No,” she whispered as his finger pushed inside her slowly.
Jes and Chance’s fingers worked in tandem inside her, one pressing in as the other slipped out, driving her wild with arousal. She’d never had sex with two men at the same time before, and she’d never, ever let anyone touch her the way that Chance did, but it felt amazing. Jes’ thumb rubbed against her clit as his fingers drove inside her and she shuddered, her stomach tightening as she stood on the edge of climax.
Chance added a second finger, twisting and scissoring the digits deep, and her stomach clenched and heat filled her as she tossed her head back and cried out with her climax.
Jes and Chance both growled in happiness as pleasure shivered through her body and danced along her skin. Jes continued to finger her pussy, drawing her pleasure out as Chance positioned himself behind her and fit the head of his lubed cock against her anus.
“Relax,” Jes whispered, stroking her sensitive clit with his thumb.
Chance pressed against her, and her body refused to cooperate. The pleasure had eased the pain in her back, but it was still there – the burning and aching – and she longed to go back to the place where it hadn’t hurt.
Chance’s hands gripped her hips, and he surged forward, the head of his cock breeching her tightest place. He paused when she gasped at the strange fullness in her body, and then pushed forward a tiny bit. Jes rubbed his fingers against the walls of her pussy, and she looked over her shoulder at Chance, her beautiful lion Prince, and exhaled slowly.
Relaxing her body, she reached one hand back to rest on Chance’s that gripped her so tightly and whispered with a rough voice, “Deeper, Chance. I want to feel you all the way inside me.”
He snarled slightly, his hands tightening on her. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
Pain sparked in her back, and she bit her lower lip. “You won’t, please. I need you both.”
She held his beautiful blue eyes for a moment longer and then turned her head to look down at Jes’ gorgeous forest green eyes. She’d never seen such tenderness so quickly. She’d heard the word prophecy when the witch had been talking with him, but she had been so out of sorts with pain that she wasn’t sure what it all meant. But she was here right now with two of the most handsome men she’d ever seen in her life, and they were helping her get through the pain of whatever her body was trying to do to her.
Chance growled deeply and pushed into her, and she relaxed her body further as Jes cradled her face with his hands and kissed her. His tongue slid into her mouth and danced against hers. He angled her head to deepen the kiss, and she felt Chance’s legs against the backs of her thighs and knew he was buried as deeply into her body as he could be.
Jes nipped at her bottom lip and lifted his hips, using one hand to guide his cock into her throbbing pussy as Chance eased out of her bottom. She groaned at the feeling of being filled in a different way, and Jes whispered her name as he sank all the way inside her.
Chance pushed into her as Jes slipped out, and her body began to hum with pleasure again, and she could feel the climax coming as they held her between them and took her hard and fast. Chance’s hands on her hips were gripping her so hard that she knew she would have bruises, but she’d wear the marks with pride. Jes’ hands slipped from her face, down her shoulders, and to her upper arms, his fingers digging into her flesh.
Pleasure bloomed inside her as they thrust into her in tandem, first Jes and then Chance, in a punishing rhythm that made stars wink behind her eyes and her heart pound in her chest. Heat coiled inside her as her fingertips and gums ached and her back began to burn.
Her body locked up in a spiral of pleasure, ripping a scream of pure ecstasy from her throat as pain surged through her gums and fingers and her back felt as though it was being sliced apart by knives. Chance roared as he came, and she felt fangs dig into her neck as he orgasmed deep inside her ass, and Jes shouted her name as his cock spasmed in her pussy, and pain scorched across her arms.
Blinding pain made her scream and something hard slid from her back and her fingers and gums suddenly weren’t aching anymore. Chance eased out of her body and helped her to lay forward on Jes. Although she felt strange, she felt better than she had since the pain had started several hours earlier.
Chance used a warm, wet cloth to clean the lubricant from both of their bodies and she sat up slowly. A strange weight settled against her back, and she looked over her shoulder and saw a pair of white-feathered wings. She reached her hand up to touch one and saw that black claws now tipped her fingers.
“What the hell?” she asked, inspecting her claws as she climbed off Jes and sat next to him. She clicked her claws together a few times before reaching for one wing. They spread out behind her like white shields, the tops soaring over her head and the bottom feathers resting against the bed. With a flex of her shoulders, the wings spread further apart. They almost felt like a second pair of arms.
Chance returned from the bathroom and settled on the bed next to Jes. Both of them looked curious and relaxed.
“I’ve got wings,” she said.
Jes chuckled. “And fangs and claws, little bird.”
Stretching her arms forward, she noticed claw marks on her biceps and remembered the pain at her neck as well. Reaching up, she touched the tender skin of her neck and found fang marks.
“You guys marked me?” she asked.
“You’re our mate,” Chance said. “Are you upset that we did that?”
“No.” She looked at both men. Jes was beautiful, with olive skin and a head of black curls that brushed his shoulders. His green eyes were filled with concern, and it warmed her that he cared about her already. Chance was golden all over. Muscles kissed by the sun and long golden hair. His blue eyes were bright like a summer sky. She could tell that he cared about her already, too, and she couldn’t really explain it either, but she cared about them.
Chapter 7
Curling her fingers and inspecting the delicate, black claws that sprouted from the tips, she licked her lips and made a snarling sound, which ruined the angelic effect but was endearing nonetheless. “Am I going to do this every time I come?”
Jes hid his smile behind his hand as he feigned a cough. It would certainly be a “tell” if she only could sprout wings when she climaxed.
Chance, lounging next to him, said, “I doubt it, baby. You can control your abilities. You just need practice.”
She arched a brow. Kneeling between them, she peeked over her shoulder and then reached back to touch one of her wings again. With a little effort, she flexed the wing forward so she could see it better. “Do you think I can fly?”
Jes shrugged. “There’s only one way to find out. But first, little bird, you need to be able to control how to make them retract and appear from your body. If you’re like normal were-birds, then you need to build up the strength in your wings before you can actually fly.”
She rested her hands lightly on her thighs, mindful of the claws. “I didn’t shift all the way to anything, though.”
“Maybe you won’t,” Chance offered. “You’re almost a combination of lion and falcon. You have fangs and claws, but white wings. Partly like me and partly like Jes.”
Jes mulled that statement for a moment while Danika went back to looking at her new wings. She did truly appear to be like both of them in some ways. He wondered if that was what the prophecy meant. If the reason she could join with him and Chance was because she was some kind of catalyst for their kind. Able to birth children with both traits.
Her stomach took that moment to rumble, and Jes got up and went to the dresser. He lifted the lid from the covered tray. Inside was a platter with several grilled steaks, a terrine of baby new potatoes in butter, and a bowl of blackberries. Jes chuckled at Ley’s sometimes psychic abilities and brought the blackberries, a napkin, and a glass of orange juice over to the bed. He handed Chance the bowl and sat down next to Danika.
“Blackberries?” She looked past him to the dresser. “I see steak.”
“We always recommend that falcons eat plenty of blackberries after their first few shifts because they’re so good for your body. They have vitamin C for energy, E to aide in the repair of cells that are stressed during shifting, and K for bone health. Your body isn’t used to being warped like this. However your wings came about, they weren’t active until today, and add in the new fangs and claws, and your body has been stressed enough as it is.”
Chance sat up and held a blackberry to her lush mouth, and she opened and he popped it inside. She regarded Jes while she chewed and then accepted the orange juice.
“You have a servant?”
Jes shook his head as Chance fed her more blackberries. “I wouldn’t call Ley that. He’s more of an attendant or assistant, I suppose. As the leader of the nest, I have a lot to manage, and Ley helps to keep it all organized so nothing falls through the cracks. He’s been around a long time, and he served my father before me and will go on serving until he can’t any longer. I’ll introduce you both to him after we rest.”
She finished eating the blackberries and then Jes fed her one of the steaks, insisting that it was part of his culture to feed his mate.
When he mentioned once more that they were mates, he saw something flicker through her eyes. It was almost…unbelieving. He glanced at Chance and saw that he also looked concerned.
After finishing feeding her, he and Chance ate the remaining steaks and potatoes, and he put the tray outside of the bedroom with the lid back in place. After shutting the door, he joined them on the bed and cupped her face. She was stunning. Wide blue eyes surrounded by thick lashes. Plump lips. Cheeks flushed with passion.
“Relax, Danika,” he spoke with a soft voice. “Clear your mind and let your body do what comes naturally.”
“It hurt when it happened, though,” she said as she grabbed his wrist with one hand and reached out for Chance, who caught her hand and kissed the top.
“It hurts for a while, but you’ll get used to it,” Chance promised. “The pain will go away with time.”
The corner of her mouth quirked up. “We could make love again.”
“You can’t have sex every time you want to make your abilities come and go, sweetheart,” Jes chided her.
“Sure I could. You guys would just never be able to leave my side. Or the house.”
Chance chuckled and then sobered. “Listen to Jes, katja, and relax. Your body knows how to make the fangs and claws and wings go away. We’re right here with you.”
Jes kissed her, pressing his lips to hers for a brief moment before leaning back and capturing her hand with his. She sighed. And then she took in a deep breath as her eyes slid shut. She exhaled slowly, her breath hissing softly between her lips. Her face tightened slightly and she froze, her hand tightening against his, and then she seemed to get past the pain and her wings began to recede into her back. A few tense moments later, she was completely human once more.
She stood and walked into the bathroom, and he could see from the open door that she was looking at her back in the long mirror over the sink, her back to the mirror and her head peering over her shoulder. “There are just two slits over my shoulder blades,” she called to them.
“What did you expect?” he asked.
“I don’t know, but those marks weren’t there before. I only had the white marks.”
“How did it feel this time?” Chance asked.
“Better than the first time.”
“It’s always hardest the first time.”
She came out of the bathroom and leaned against the doorway. “Should I try shifting again?”
“I wouldn’t recommend it,” Jes said. “You could tire yourself out. You can try again in the morning.”
He held out his hand to her, and she hesitated, not joining them. He was about to ask her what was wrong when she said, “They’re going to come for me. Whatever you did to get me out of the den and away from my people will only deter them for a while.”
Chance darted off the bed, scooped her up in his arms and tossed her next to Jes. She bounced once with a squeal before Chance leapt back onto the bed and caged her with his body over hers.
“You’re wearing my fang marks on your neck and Jes’ talon marks on your arm. What we did tonight means that you’re ours forever and we’re yours forever. No matter what fucked up claim that male had on you, it was false. You’re Jes’ prophesied mate.” He straddled her legs and sat up, drawing his hands down her body. “And you’re my katja, the mate of my soul. No one on earth will take you from us.”
She bit her bottom lip and tears welled in her eyes. “You promise you can share me? Forever?”
Jes and Chance both nodded. Jes knew that it would be difficult, but nothing worth having was easy.
“We promise, Danika,” Jes secured her hand with his. “Whatever happens with your den, you’re safe here with us, and no matter what, you’re our mate and that’s all that really matters.”
Her fears seemed to ease, but not entirely disappear, and Jes took that as a good sign that she trusted them at least on the surface. Being mates meant that there was an inherent trust between them already, but it was a thin trust, shallow like a puddle after a rainstorm. But it would grow and deepen, until the trust between the three of them was as wide and deep as the ocean, and as powerful as the waves that broke across the shore.
“We should get some rest,” Jes said, picking up her hand and kissing her palm. He looked at Chance as he eased off of Danika and settled on her other side.
Chance nodded and picked up her other hand. Jes could tell that they felt the connection to each other the way that he did to them. He felt as if Chance had become a brother, and
their new mission in life was to protect their mate and their future offspring.
Danika yawned and Chance said, “Let’s rest, katja. We can talk more tomorrow.”
She leaned forward and kissed both of them. “We’ve got the rest of our lives.”
Jes got up to extinguish the candles and then returned to bed. Danika settled between him and Chance, and exhaustion fell over him as he moved close to his mate and cradled her hand against his chest.
Great Falcon, help me keep her safe.
Jes woke up at dawn, even though it had been well past midnight by the time he fell asleep. He was always an early riser, and his parents had teased him, quoting the saying about the early bird getting the worm. It was hard-wired into his DNA. He just couldn’t sleep late.
He rose quietly and grabbed a pair of slacks out of the closet. When he came back out into the room, he saw the glint of Chance’s eyes and knew he was awake now. Jes whispered, “I’m going to check on the situation with her den.”
Chance nodded and Jes smiled as Danika turned into Chance’s side and snuggled closer but flung an arm out behind her as if she were searching for him. Even in her sleep she wanted both mates with her. It was tempting to stay in bed with her, but he needed to know if anything had happened overnight with her den and begin the process of moving the rest of the lions into the nest. His to-do list for the day was a mile long and the sun was barely above the horizon.
He met Ley in the kitchen. He turned around with a mug of coffee in his hand and gave it to Jes. “Did you and your mate and the lion Prince sleep well, Sire?”
Jes smiled at Ley’s formality. “We did. Thank you for all of your preparations. How did you know that we would need blackberries?”
Ley looked thoughtful. “There was something in the air last night, Sire. I don’t really know how to explain it. I was thinking about the prophecy the Wiccans shared about you and our people, and when I was preparing the late meal for you, blackberries seemed like a wise addition. Did you need them?”