“What the fuck…?” Caelan hurled out of bed, gun mysteriously in hand before his feet hit the floor.
“Oh shit, oh shit.” Tears streamed down Tieran’s face as she hopped around on one foot and held her throbbing toe in the other. The bouncing made her nausea return in force.
Forgetting the pain, she bolted for the toilet once again, landing on her knees in a semi-skid on the small carpet in front of the commode. She flipped the lid up and lost the contents of her stomach.
When the worst ended, she crossed her arms over the seat and rested her forehead there. Good God, when would this go away? Would she never live a normal life, free of the nightmarish visions plaguing her?
The water in the bowl whooshed and swirled away as she stared down at it. Her body felt like jelly, so unless she had passed out for a second and forgotten that she’d reached up and flushed, he was there, standing over her.
She groaned in defeat. What a mate she made. Naked and sprawled out on the floor next to the john, puking her guts out. She heard the water run in the sink and the clink of glass on metal. Caelan crouched down a millisecond before he swiped her hair out of the way and placed a blessedly cool washrag on the back of her neck.
“Leave me alone,” she begged. Puking in front of him once had been embarrassing enough, twice was downright mortifying.
He sighed. One of those chiding, exasperated, drawn-out sounds that made her want to scratch his eyes out.
He handed her a capful of mouthwash from next to his sink and she took it gratefully. After swishing her mouth out for long seconds, she spit into the toilet and sighed.
“You getting sick isn’t going to run me off, my own. I wouldn’t care if you grew horns and a third eyeball. It’s my job—”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I do, so get the hell away from me. Leave me to puke in peace,” she mumbled and slid down to lay in the fetal position on the cold, tile floor surrounding the one area rug below the toilet.
“I can’t.” He swiped at her bangs so he could look into her eyes. She closed them and pressed her cheek into the floor. “You see, we’re like magnets. Your pain is my pain.”
“Oh, right. Don’t give me that crap,” she said weakly. She drew her knees more tightly to her chest and hugged them with both arms. “I’m going to die.”
“No you won’t.”
“How the hell would you know?” she bit out, shrugging his hand off her shoulder when he reached for it. “Had many visions lately?”
Caelan nearly laughed at her defiance. She still didn’t want to pin her nausea on their baby. “Not a one, but Tieran, I’m telling you, with most of our human mates, this goes away after a few months.”
“Well bully for them, Caelan,” she shouted and rose up shakily to kneel. She stabbed a slender finger through the air in front of his chest, coming close but never actually poking him. Though he knew she wanted to.
“My throwing up doesn’t have a fucking thing to do with a baby,” she continued, “if there even is one, which I haven’t quite decided yet. This isn’t something that’s just going to—‘poof’—disappear in a few months for me. It happens every goddamn time I have a stupid vision. Perhaps if your…your…people would stop killing each other, it might subside for a few days, but no—”
“What’d you just say?” Pissed, Caelan grabbed the hand she was waggling at him and dragged her closer until their noses touched. She’d been teasing with his mother last night about having puppies. No way did she think she wasn’t going to be a mother. No way did she not think she was carrying his child. Not after the elders had pronounced her “with child”. That’s not what concerned him, she was just letting off a little steam and thought it might hurt him to say those things.
Tieran’s wide, wild eyes looked everywhere but at him. She swallowed, confirming to him that she hadn’t meant to say what she had. Her little mouth moved faster than her brain sometimes.
“What did you just say?” he gritted out. He grabbed her other arm when she tried to pull away from him and held it captive with the first.
“I’m not sure there is a baby,” she lied breathlessly.
Caelan waved that off. “Yesterday, you were damn sure convinced. I heard you with Hayward defending our whelp, remember? There is one, deal with it. I’m not talking about our baby right now anyway. You didn’t tell me you’d had another vision, but clearly your words say otherwise. Help me, by telling me what happened, or so help me God, I will turn you over my knee and spank the answer out of your sweet ass.”
Their faces were so close to one another she gasped against his mouth. “I am not a child, Caelan.”
“Then stop acting like one.” With his free hand he held her head in place and sealed their lips together. He plundered her surprised mouth with his tongue, swiping the velvet softness of hers until she capitulated and angled her head for better access. His wolf growled to the surface, his cock hardened painfully beneath his jeans.
Fortunately his brain was still functioning or he’d have taken her right there on the bathroom floor. She was ready for him, he could smell it. He could work his hand between her legs and physically test for himself how wet she was, but that would make matters worse. They needed to resolve some serious issues, not fuck.
He pulled back as far as the cabinet behind him would allow, still holding her hands in one of his. Her eyes were glazed over, her lips were a puffy red, and her breathing was heavy.
“Let go, Caelan.” Damn, why did he affect her like this? She licked her lips, tasting him and the minty mouthwash, and pulled at her captive hands. If she claimed he was hurting her, he would probably drop them in a heartbeat and caress them until the redness went away.
Who was she kidding, there wouldn’t be any redness.
His jaw ticked, indicating that despite the heated kiss he’d just laid on her, he was still perturbed with her.
“I’m serious, Tieran, tell me about your vision. And don’t bother trying to deny it, you’ve already given yourself away. If you know something else, I need to know. This goes beyond you and me, my own.”
“Ooohh.” If she could stomp her foot in this position, she would. As it was, her knees were starting to hurt something fierce from the hard tiles beneath them. “You and my grandmother. ‘It goes beyond just you and me’,” she mocked.
Frustration shimmered in waves around her body. Her head hurt, her tummy muscles were sore, and she was damn good and pissed about being led around like a puppy. Did they both think she was so fragile she might break in two?
“I need more descriptions, more clues, anything. Goddamnit!” he shouted, clearly frustrated. “We have nothing. Do you understand? Nothing. Except you and what you see. Is that clear enough?”
“Yes,” she hissed, “and I’ve tried to tell you, but each time the only thing you’ve done is deny what I’ve said. ‘It isn’t Eli’. Well if it isn’t, it sure as hell looks like him. If it weren’t for the scar and the fact you’ve been with me all this time, I would suspect you too. Is that clear enough?”
Slowly rising to his feet, he pulled her up with him, his eyes narrowed with deadly intent. The little muscle jumped along his jaw again. Tieran stepped back and tried to convince herself she wasn’t afraid of the big bad wolf. He urged her out of the bathroom. Her heel struck the threshold, making her trip. Caelan’s strong hands reached out, grabbed hold of her upper arms and yanked her to him, crushing their chests together. Then he continued to practically reverse frog-walk her, turning the corner until he had her backed against the wall outside the bathroom door.
“And you say you’re not a child. That’s how you’re acting right now. Maybe I should show you what happens to recalcitrant children when they misbehave.”
Tieran had to swallow the semi-fear, semi-arousal threatening to choke her. The look on Caelan’s face said he would clearly enjoy punishing her, making her more than aware of the tingling in her pussy. Her cheeks flamed as she thought about the ways he might do it. She pushed her le
gs together hoping to stem the flow of juices from between her now slippery labia.
“Does the idea of me punishing you excite you?” he growled. His lip curled, allowing her a glimpse of sharpened teeth and reminding her of them sinking into the flesh of her shoulder as he pumped his cock into her from behind.
Her knees nearly buckled. A slow throb pulsed in her swollen clit and in the wound he’d left with said teeth. Her head sagged against the wall when he insinuated his knee between her legs. The top of his thigh pressed infuriatingly at her pussy, sending tiny shocks of desire strumming through her body. Suddenly she didn’t care who either of them was. She wanted him. No, needed him. Now. Questions and answers be damned.
His mouth bore down on hers, bruising her lips with their intensity.
Breaking the kiss, she whimpered, “Please make love to me.” She raked her fingernails in a not-so-gingerly fashion over his abs.
Tieran made him so fucking hot. One minute Caelan wanted to strangle her, the next, he wanted to lay her out, spread her thighs as wide as they could go and slurp at her delicious pussy. He groaned when her fingers landed on a nipple and pinched the tight bud. His cock begged, wanting to plant itself in the sweet haven of her body and thrust into her until it exploded and spent its seed deep inside her.
He didn’t have time to screw around right now.
Moving his lips over hers, he tasted and nipped as she moaned beneath his onslaught. He smoothed his hands everywhere along her heated body. Her skin was so soft. It quivered with his touch along her belly and she sucked in another breath. He liked that he could make her breathless so quickly.
Answers. No time for this.
The sleek gold ring at her navel snagged his wandering fingers. Holding her pinned to the wall with his upper body, he played with it, flicking the gem dangling from its hoop, and tried to insinuate his free hand between his thigh and her mound.
“Have to stop, my own. Need to talk.” At least his brain knew what he needed to be doing, even if it couldn’t form the sentences properly.
“Later,” she panted. “Promise.” Her head rolled back and forth on the wall and her hand took a direct route south from his nipples to his groin. She squeezed him until he thought he would go blind from the feel of her fingers wrapped around his length. He pulled her away.
“Gonna come before I want to.” Great. Now he was fucking panting.
He dropped to his knees in front of her. Damn if she wasn’t the prettiest woman in the world. Everything about her was beautiful. Her brain, her courage, her body. Her cunt was swollen and glistening with the slick essence of Tieran. With his palms on the inside of her thighs, he spread her legs then slid his hands upward to either side of her vagina.
Pulling back her labia, he opened her up and inhaled her scent. Fresh, feminine, peaches, his. God he was hungry. With the flat of his tongue, he licked her from back to front. A long, casual stroke that had her gasping and squirming on his mouth. He ended at the distended nub of her clit, which he uncovered further by pulling back the hood of skin still trying to shield it.
Circling it with the tip of his tongue, he teased Tieran until she slapped at the wall with both hands in frustration. When one hand came to fist in his hair, Caelan flicked at the bundle of nerves, setting her off like he’d touched her with an electric charge. She screamed. The muscles in her thighs bunched and quivered beside his head as she tried to keep them open for him. She was standing on her tiptoes and begging for the release he kept just out of reach.
He slid his tongue along her slit again, gathering up the copious amount of cream spilling out of her, then moved back to the point where her body would convulse like wildfire. He sucked the tiny bundle of nerves between his lips and her body slammed down on the soles of her feet.
With two fingers, he entered her tight passage. Her pussy walls contracted in an explosive climax that had her back climbing up the wall to get away from his still pillaging tongue on her clit. Caelan wrapped his other arm around her back to keep her from doing so. He drank his fill, bringing her down from her high and taking her back up at the same time. She collapsed inch by inch onto the floor and he eased her way to lay her down on the carpeted hallway.
A dreamy satiated smile lifted her lips as he fumbled unsteadily to guide himself between her legs.
She sighed as he pressed slowly into her and gripped the back of his legs with her heels.
“How do you do this to me? Make me lose all thought?” she whispered.
“The same way you do it to me, my own.” He held her gaze while he withdrew, pulling out of her until only the head was lodged inside her, then slid back home. She gasped when his pelvis rasped along the clit he’d just shattered into a million pieces.
“I don’t want to have another one, Caelan, please.” Her voice wobbled.
At first he misunderstood her, thinking she couldn’t stand another orgasm, but then he realized what she really meant. She didn’t want to have another vision. She was scared and at least once already he’d somehow triggered one.
He held still, quivering as his body screamed for release. It would kill him if she rejected him for fear she would have another terrifying vision. Angling his head, he placed a kiss on her sweaty forehead and whispered, “What do you want me to do, my own?” Please God, don’t say go away, he begged silently.
“I don’t know.” Tears collected in her eyes. When he leaned forward to swipe at them his cock slipped further into her pussy. Her eyes widened then closed and her hips lifted to meet his. “Don’t stop,” she breathed.
Hallelujah. “I’ll help you through it, whatever happens, Tieran, trust me.”
Her eyelids lifted slowly again. For a split second, her liquid gaze was almost sad, but then she moved again and the moment was gone.
Caelan pounded into her. She grunted with each of his thrusts, her breasts bouncing beneath him, and he bent to latch on to one of the nipples with a greedy mouth. Tieran threw her head back and bit her lip.
His balls tightened with every penetration and slapped against her ass. With one last drive, he coated her sheath with spurt after spurt of his seed and sank his teeth into the soft skin above her breast, marking her. He laved the small cuts with his tongue, offering the quick-soothing healing powers found in his saliva. A very faint mark would remain but heal fast, just like those he’d left elsewhere on her body.
Spent, he rolled off, disengaging himself when he wanted to stay buried in her forever, and lay on his back next to her. Or rather, tried to. Their bodies took up the width of the hallway so the doorjamb gouged into his shoulder blade with every hard breath he took.
He turned his head and looked at her, sprawled out, knees still spread far apart and breathing just as harsh as he was. The air was permeated with the scent of their lovemaking. She was absolutely the most beautiful thing on the planet. Caelan linked his fingers through hers.
“You okay?”
“No,” she murmured, alarming him when her eyes scrunched up as if she were in pain.
“Another one?” He levered his body up until he was propped on his elbow and laid his hand on her belly.
“Uh-uh,” she grunted. “Rug burn. On my ass.”
Caelan barked out in laughter, glad to finally have his feisty mate back. “Don’t tempt me to add my handprint to that fine ass of yours.”
“I can’t move.” She groaned, trying to sit up.
Caelan jumped to his feet and pulled Tieran along with him, then held her until she got her bearings back.
“You haven’t gotten out of talking to me, baby.” He turned her towards the bed and sent her walking with a little shove between her shoulders, wincing at the red marks marring the soft skin of her butt. She really did have a bad case.
Caelan scooped up her pants from where she’d tripped over them earlier and handed them to her. “Since I don’t see either of us going back to sleep, take a shower, get dressed again, then come eat. Whether you believe me or not, our baby needs the prote
in.”
She sagged onto the side of the bed and without looking at him, nodded.
“I’ll go fix us something.”
Chapter Eleven
His head pounded like a drum. Eli groaned and wondered what the hell had happened. Must have been some night if he couldn’t even remember it. Slowly neurons started firing in his brain. Something sharp poked into his cheek where he lay and his shoulders screamed in agony. He tested them to see why they were hurting so much and discovered he couldn’t move them.
What the fuck? His wrists clinked behind him. Handcuffs. He opened his eyes a crack, wincing as an explosive fresh wave of pain took over his head.
“Well look who’s decided to join the party?” The sneer came from a long way off, compounding an already colossal ache.
Eli inhaled. He was face down on the ground, handcuffed. Christ what had happened? Why couldn’t he remember?
“You’re going away for a long time, boy.”
Eli wanted to tell him to fuck off, but didn’t have the energy. He wanted to go back to sleep and had to fight the darkness closing in on him once again. With extreme effort, he forced his lids open. Dancing lights cut through his brain like a knife and Eli slammed his eyes shut.
A pungent smell wafted by his nose, making him gag and flinch to get away from it. The movement caused another dagger of pain to pierce his temple. He peeked again. Slowly the world, which had been dark when he’d gotten here, came into focus. It clearly wasn’t night anymore, but sometime very early morning. A voice shouted, another responded, a short burst of a radio transmission, flashing red and blue lights. One of his eyelids was lifted open and an explosion of light blinded him.
“The son of a bitch is awake, can we go now?”
Eli recognized the voice, but couldn’t place it.
“He needs to be transported to the hospital, Detective.”
Why? Eli’s mind was blank. Besides arriving at the warehouse and getting out of his car, there was nothing else.
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