by Riley Storm
Arms splayed wide, she grabbed fistfuls of the covers as her world went white. Unbelievably intense pressure spread out across her body in sharp waves that ripped the control of her muscles from her. Klaue gripped tight with his free arm, holding on while she writhed wildly in his hands, wrapped up completely in the ecstasy he was inflicting upon her.
Then, just like that, she went limp, shuddering several times as Klaue slowed, instead of stopping abruptly. It was the greatest comedown she’d ever experienced, bringing her slowly back to zero. Then before she could recover her breath, he started up again.
“Klaue I don’t know if—” Jessica’s body abruptly decided otherwise, and her protests subsided until yet another bruising climax ripped free of her body some amount of time later. She didn’t know, and it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered, except Klaue.
“I think you need to fuck me now,” she said when she’d recovered enough to speak. “Please.”
Klaue got on top of her, nudging her Jello-like legs to the side when they didn’t respond to her commands. Jess knew she wanted this, but she was still recovering from the pleasurable onslaught that had ravaged her body so far.
“I’ll be slow,” he promised, bending down to kiss her as he lined himself up.
Jess nodded. She needed that. It was obvious he was large and—
Then Klaue entered her for the first time and she forgot everything else.
25
He watched her face carefully for any sign of pain. The last thing Klaue wanted was to hurt his mate. Not now, after the fun they had shared.
Groaning as he pushed into her, Klaue fought to keep from losing control. He was so close to the edge already, despite having barely been touched. It was so unlike him that he felt a surge of embarrassment, and hoped that he would be able to properly pleasure Jess before his willpower gave out.
So soft and warm. I can’t…
Then he was inside her, hips firmly against the inside of her legs. Jess was staring up at him wide-eyed, he realized, watching his face as he had hers earlier. Suddenly self-conscious, he buried his face in her neck before kissing his way up her cheek and finding her lips.
“You know, I have to confess something,” Jess whispered playfully, scratching his back lightly with her nails as she ran them from shoulder to waist.
“What’s that?” he rumbled, grinding gently against her.
“I kinda wish I hadn’t skipped out on you earlier. If I’d had any idea it would be this good…” she said, trailing off with a happy sigh as Klaue withdrew slightly and thrust back into her while she spoke.
“Me too,” he agreed, feeling himself swell inside her even more at the compliment. He was so near to bursting, Klaue feared to even move.
“Is everything okay?” She must have sensed it.
“Just…feels really good,” he muttered, trying to calm himself. “Really good.”
Jess grabbed his head and pulled it down to her, kissing his cheek. “I want you to fuck me Klaue,” she said, breathing heavily into his ear until he could feel the arousal in her voice. “Just do it. If you lose control, that’s fine. I just…I just need to feel you.”
He couldn’t fight that kind of request. No sane man could. So Klaue did as he was told. Pushing his weight onto his hands he watched Jessica’s face intently while he built to a steady rhythm, trying his best to stop himself from going over the edge.
It was tough with such a beautiful face staring up at him, filling with pleasure at every stroke. Her features slowly went slack, then tightened up, then went slack again. The tiny O that her lips formed after calling out his name, or the way her eyes looked nowhere but at him, the chocolate hazel in them melting. He watched, noting in his peripheral vision that her nipples had gone hard again as her breasts bounced from the motion.
The visual was too much. Klaue couldn’t stop himself as his primal instincts took over. He crashed hard into her, drawing cries that were louder than any before. His growls rose in volume, mixing their sounds together as they lost control.
Klaue was first. He stiffened and felt his cock swell to the breaking point a split second before he exploded. Jessica gasped, arms flying up around his neck as she pulled him down to her, kissing him hard, forcing her tongue into his mouth. Klaue shuddered hard, and an instant later, his mate’s legs clamped around his sides and her arms locked into position as she cried out his name.
Spasms wracked both their intertwined bodies for time unending. Klaue had never felt anything as strong before, and the strength caught him off guard as he surrendered to it. To Jessica.
Beneath him, he could feel her gaze, watching him, drinking in his climax in a way that no woman had cared about his pleasure before. There was something intimate about it, beyond the simple romantic or lustful. Something powerful both scared and intrigued him in a way he couldn’t explain, even in his own mind. It was like a magnetic attraction. He could feel it, but it was invisible to the naked eye.
“Klaue,” Jessica sighed as her body went limp under him.
It was a fight to keep his weight from crushing her as his body did the same, but somehow, Klaue kept enough of his wits about him to rest on his forearms.
“Yeah?” he asked, stunned by how tired he felt.
“That was amazing. Fuck me if it’s cliché, but it was.” She laughed at the double-entendre.
Klaue growled, taking a deep breath, his body singing as fresh oxygen reached his starved muscles. “I intend to,” he said fiercely, then sagged again. “In a minute. That was…far more draining than…than…”
“Yeah,” she said in an understanding and similarly tired voice. “Yeah.”
He rolled onto his side and stared at her. They locked eyes for a moment, and then just started laughing at the pathetic state their lovemaking had left them in. They laughed and laughed, until tears streamed down their cheeks and they were red in the face. Then they laughed some more, until neither of them was sure what it was they were laughing about anymore.
All at once, a surge of arousal hit Klaue like a truck and he rolled on top of Jessica, the laughter gone in an instant. He kissed her fiercely and listened to her giggles become soft moans.
“That was sudden,” she said with just a hint of sass.
Klaue was about to reply and question if she wanted it, but just then, Jessica spread her legs, giving him all the answer he needed.
26
Breathing a sigh of relief at finally reaching the door to their quarters, Jessica took a moment to compose herself. The journey to the kitchen had been mostly uneventful, but it hadn’t been easy. Or peaceful.
First, she’d gotten lost, but that was just a minor detail. Upon her arrival, she’d been greeted with stares from most of the other members of House Ursa who were there having breakfast. Some had been neutral, a few had been friendly or on the verge of it, but more members than she was comfortable with had been outright hostile.
Although she tried not to let it show to Klaue, it bothered her that so many of his fellow bear shifters seemed to detest her. It wasn’t like she was loyal to House Canis. Quite the opposite, in fact. She hated them, and if it wouldn’t put her sister in danger, Jessica would have spilled everything from the start.
A fresh wave of guilt swept over her as she remembered her sister, probably kept locked away in Lorran’s quarters, while Jessica was here, spending a carefree night—and morning—making love to Klaue. It bothered her, but as the door closed behind her, she couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps she and her sister were in similar situations?
Jessica might not be locked in Klaue’s rooms, but she wasn’t exactly comfortable leaving them either, not with the level of hostility she faced from so many faces. Klaue assured her it wasn’t anything personal, that the House as a whole was still hurting from the betrayals it had faced, and was leery of anything that could possibly be in league with Canis.
Setting the two bags she was carrying down on the eating table, she fetched some plates and glasses.
The little kitchenette was set into a nook directly to the left after entering his quarters, with the guest bathroom and closets forming a solid wall the rest of the length that side. On the right of the entryway through a set of huge sliding pocket doors, was the large entertainment and seating area, and next to that in the back right was Klaue’s study. The bedroom and master bath occupied the space beyond the wall opposite the entry door.
It was a huge space, even with two of them occupying it instead of just Klaue. Moving about, she set the plates and glasses out without disturbing him. When she’d left Klaue had been fast asleep, and Jessica doubted anything had changed in the half an hour since. He had exerted himself for her benefit, and she was more than content to let him sleep.
Truthfully, Jessica found that she was enjoying doing something as simple as getting breakfast for them. It was domesticated as shit—well, almost, she hadn’t made it herself—and that was something that she’d never thought she would see herself as. But with Klaue, it was different. With him, she wasn’t forced into that role. She wanted to be there. It was weird, to say the least, but for now she wasn’t going to fight it.
“Hey, sleepyhead,” she said lightly, pulling open the doors to the bedroom and gliding over to the bed. “Time to stir.”
Klaue made a pathetic protest and started to roll over, but then his nostrils flared. Jessica couldn’t prevent a giggle from getting out at the way the smell of fresh coffee, eggs and more changed his mood. It was absolutely adorable. Eyes flickering open, Klaue took in a deep breath.
“Did you get food?” he asked tiredly.
“I did. It’s on the table and getting cold, so get your sexy butt out here, Mister. That’s an order.”
“I smell coffee.”
“You do. But you’re not getting it in bed, because then I know you’ll never get up.”
A giant mitt of a hand reached up and dragged her down into the bed. Jess shrieked in protest but there was no way she was fighting him. Klaue growled happily and smothered her in kisses despite her attempts to escape.
“You are the best,” he whispered in her ear, before planting an extra wet kiss on her cheek.
“Ew! Man-slobber, yech!” she yelped, leaning in and wiping it off on his shoulder.
Klaue just chuckled and stood, stretching with hands high above his head. Jess lay back on the bed and admired how the light streaming in from the door framed his body to her. He looked like nothing more than a shadow. A shadow with near-perfect physiology.
Reaching out, she pinched his butt. It was Klaue’s turn to yelp.
“I’m going, I’m going!” he said, grabbing a pair of sweatpants from the closet and pulling them on.
“Good.” Hopping out of the bed, she paused just long enough to drape her arms over him and kiss his back with a happy sigh.
Sitting down together, she doled out the breakfast of goodies. An egg sandwich, a hash brown and a fruit smoothie for her, and the rest for Klaue.
“You trying to fatten me up?” he asked, looking at the spread in front of him.
“Like that’s possible. It’s just a few egg sandwiches, a small stack of pancakes, a few hash browns, an extra order of bacon, and some orange juice. Keep you healthy,” she teased, giving him a big wink.
“Just…she says. It’s “just” all that.” But Klaue dug in with a grin.
Twenty minutes later, she was clearing the empty plates as Klaue sipped at his orange juice, perfectly content at having somehow compacted all that food into his stomach. It boggled her mind, but she was getting used to how much he ate.
“Thank you,” he said suddenly, looking up at her, blue eyes full of warmth and appreciation. “That was really nice of you.”
Jess blushed. She liked when he looked at her like that. It was something that, in the darkest recess of her mind, she admitted she could maybe get used to. For longer than her brief stay at the Manor was likely to be.
Maybe.
“You’re welcome. Thank you for last night.”
Klaue chuckled. “That was a joint effort, if I recall correctly.”
Jess laughed, blushing a bit more. “Maybe. Now, I assume you’re going to want to sleep that all off?”
Arctic blue eyes became slits. “Were you bribing me with breakfast?” he accused. “Because if so, there’s a good chance it worked.”
Waltzing over to his side, she planted a kiss on his cheek, feeling affectionate. “Not really, no, but Haley did invite me to come see her today.”
“She did? Good.”
Jess frowned. “Good? What, are you trying to get rid of me?” she joked, wondering at his abrupt approval.
“No, nothing like that,” Klaue said, grabbing her head before she could pull back and giving her a bacon-smelling kiss on the lips. “But today, I have to officially do work stuff. With Kirell on his honeymoon, that leaves me in charge of the guards, and unfortunately, I can’t quite delegate everything. Someone has to be in charge.”
“Ooooh, you’re in charge are you?” she mocked. “Big bad Klaue, giving orders.”
Klaue stood up, grabbing her hands and slowly pushing her back until she was against the wall, wrists pinned against it on either side of her head. Then he leaned in and very slowly, very thoroughly and very steamily kissed her. Jessica was breathing a little heavier when he finally pulled back.
“I don’t remember you complaining about that,” he whispered in her ear, and then slipped from the room.
“Don’t you dare just leave me like that!” she called after him, watching as he disappeared into the bedroom.
Then he reappeared a moment later, but the sweatpants were gone.
“Then come here,” he ordered with a twinkle in his eye.
Biting her lip in anticipation, she obeyed.
27
Klaue was trying to stop himself from whistling as he walked the corridors of Ursidae Manor.
It was tough, though. His mood was threatening to break through the icy façade he had in place. Normally, that just made him grimmer, cooler than normal, but today he was downright jovial. Things with his mate were progressing at a speed that was constantly leaving him surprised.
All he needed to do now was keep at it until she was comfortable telling him what was going on, and then maybe the entire House would begin to see her the way he did. Klaue couldn’t wait, because Jessica was a wonderful person, and absolutely not deserving of the hate she was getting, even if he understood the reasons behind the rest of his House’s treatment of her.
Just because I understand it, doesn’t make it acceptable. They should know better. Act better. We are High House Ursa! Not some pathetic minor squabbling mass like House Panthera or Raptere. We should be above this.
The glow in his eyes faded as he grew irritated once more at the harassment of his mate. Klaue wondered if he should reveal that she was his mate. So far, only Kincaid and the Queen knew about it. They’d kept it under wraps until now, mainly for her safety, but maybe it would help.
“Klaue.”
He turned to see Kasperi coming down the hallway toward him. “Kasperi,” he said, returning the greeting.
The two former combatants clasped forearms, the animosity of their bout long forgotten. If there was one thing real fighters could do, it was set aside their emotions during a fight, especially in organized combat like the Trials.
“What can I do for you?” he asked.
Kasperi pushed back the hair from his face, the thick brown tinged with natural blond highlights.
“I thought you would want to know the results of the fight.”
He perked up at that, having forgotten the fights had been this morning. In the Trials of Combat and Weapons, the nominees to face him had been clear-cut. In the Trial of Claws, however, two foes had emerged, neither having strong enough backing to claim themselves as nominee outright. In true Ursa tradition, they were to then fight for the chance to face Klaue.
“That didn’t take long,” he said, glancing at his watch.
“The fight was to start less than fifteen minutes ago.”
“Karnne is dead.”
“What?” He stared at Kasperi.
Death in the Trials wasn’t unknown, but it wasn’t common either. Death between two potential nominees, however, was nearly unheard of. On top of that, he’d had his money on Karnne emerging victorious, but that was also because he knew next to nothing about the challenger. He was backed by several other Title Holders in Ursa, and some other benefactors who had declined to be named.
“How?” he asked, needing more information.
“Korpez…” Kasperi shuddered. “He’s big, mean and likes to kill. He waded in there and took Karnne apart like he was a beehive. It wasn’t fair, Klaue. Under five minutes. That’s all it took for him to win.”
“How did he win?” Klaue needed to know. To know what he was up against.
“He crushed Karnne’s skull,” Kasperi said, looking pale as he spoke. “Just like that. Didn’t give Karnne a chance to submit. Knocked him down, stomped on it. The end. Got up, shifted back and walked away, didn’t even wait for the Queen to pronounce him the nominee. You need to be careful when you face him.”
“Yeah,” Klaue said, drawing out the word as he made a mental note to review the footage of the fight. He didn’t enjoy watching the death of a fellow Ursa, but if this Korpez was as vicious and mean as he sounded, then Klaue was going to need every advantage he could get to not end up dead as well.
“Thank you,” he said, clapping the other man on the shoulder.
“You’re welcome.” Kasperi shook his head. “I didn’t like it. We don’t need someone like that as our Champion.”
“I’ll do my best,” Klaue assured him with a tight smile.
“I know.” Kasperi gave him a respectful nod. “I need to go. Guard change is soon. My boss will kill me if I’m late.”
Klaue laughed and pushed the other man on his way. “Damn right, he will. That guy is an ass!”