Soroyan shook and began to pant as he tossed her over the edge of a mountain on a wild ride, only to catch and throw her over again while her body erupted in the most shattering explosions she’d ever felt, again and again, until finally, he threw back his own head and roared with the intensity of his release.
He spilled his hot seed into her and then lowered his head and rested it against her.
When he was done and had caught his breath, he began to move away. “No, don’t,” she said, still breathless and while unable to move much, she wrapped her arm around one of the tree trunks that was his arm, holding him still.
Soroyan stilled in that way that he had. “I am sorry.”
“Sorry?”
“Yes, I lost control, I never meant to hurt—”
“I’m not hurt and I wanted you to lose control, remember?” she asked and felt him shake his head.
“You say that, but I know I am big …” he let it trail off and while she could agree with him being big, she realized that he really did believe he may have hurt her.
Again, he began to move away and she shuddered as another orgasm rocked her. She reached back and wrapped an arm around him the best that she could. “No, don’t go.” Her voice was raspy.
“See, I did hurt you,” he said, stilling once again.
Raven snorted. “I am not hurt.”
“Then why—”
She could feel his confusion. “I just don’t want to let you go yet,” she said and smiled when he wrapped his arm around her and carefully lay them both on their side.
“You are sure?”
She turned so she could see him and the vulnerability she glimpsed before it was gone stunned her. “Soroyan, I am not some fragile being who will break. You did not hurt me. Could you not feel what I felt?” she asked.
She could hear his hesitation before he answered. “So, you enjoyed it?” he asked with a gleam in his eye and she turned back and snuggled into him, holding him tight inside of her.
“Enjoy? That’s an understatement. That was the most amazing sex I’ve ever had,” she blurted out with a snort of her own while her body continued to drift on the aftermath of what they’d done.
Soroyan didn’t say anything for a moment. “Really? The most amazing?” he asked and she sighed loudly.
“Men,” she mumbled. “Yes, really,” she stressed and then for added effect, she wiggled her ass against him and clenched her insides, squeezing him, reveling in the sound of his indrawn breath. A moment later it was she drawing in a breath of surprise as Soroyan began to fill her and stretch her once more as he grew hard again.
She glanced over her shoulder at him, eyes wide. “Again?”
“Yes, can’t handle it?” he asked, a fierce glint in his eyes.
Raven laughed, even more surprised and more than ready to go another round. “Oh, I can handle it, baby, just wasn’t sure that you could.” She raised her eyebrow suggestively.
“What?” he asked with a growl that was all play and shocked her. “Wait, did you call me baby?” he asked and she chuckled at his confusion.
“I did call you baby,” she answered, then pressed back against him, making him groan as he grew even thicker. “And as for the other comment, I meant get it up again so soon.”
This time Soroyan was gentle, reverent almost as he made sweet love to her, licking and kissing her everywhere so that before long, she was panting and begging him to go harder, deeper. He held out until the moment he brought her screaming, then he picked up his pace and a moment later, he joined her.
Afterward they lay blissfully, drifting on the cloud of their love making. Finally, Raven opened her eyes and took a deep breath. She didn’t want to leave her big wolf’s warm embrace, but she hadn’t been looking for any sort of commitment and was pretty sure he wasn’t either. It would just be easier this way.
She began to move away, when his arms tightened around her. “No, don’t go, please,” he said.
Soroyan had surprised her many times this night, and she finally let him slide out of her and turned to face him. The eyes looking back at her were deep pools, languid with spent passion, along with another emotion, another kind of need.
Once again surprised, Raven nodded, knowing there was no way she could up and walk out with him looking at her that way. And, really, did she want to?
She lay down in the circle of his arms and reaching up, touched his face, trailing her fingers over the black shadow of his jaw.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Loki
Soroyan held Raven, her long black hair spilled like fine silk over his arm as she snuggled into him and closed her eyes. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. Her black lashes rested on her high cheek bones and, her skin, slightly tanned yet smooth, made him want to touch, taste all over again …
He groaned as he grew hard once again. Before Delsie died, he’d enjoyed sex, but his size had been a problem. He remembered having to be so careful not to hurt his dear mate, she’d been so tiny. Soroyan marveled at the gift Raven had given him, not once, but twice tonight. He’d been horrified, thinking he’d hurt her, but to find out he hadn’t and that she enjoyed it as much as him, well, he was glad she was asleep and couldn’t see the moisture in his eyes. She had no idea what tonight meant to him.
He couldn’t remember a time in his life when he’d been able to let loose so completely like that and it had been incredible. Amazing, just like Raven had said. He smiled and then felt Raven’s hand on his face again. Her violet eyes, deep pools of understanding, were open and staring up at him.
“You are beautiful. You should smile more often,” she said, before falling back to sleep.
A lump formed in his throat at her words and gentle touch, and for a brief moment he wished he could keep her. Yet that wasn’t in the plans and he had no right to even think it. Still, right here, right now, he felt more relaxed, more at home than he had in …well, he couldn’t remember how long. Maybe when he’d been a wolfling pup, but even then his grandfather had been grooming him to take his place if and when the time came.
Memories of his childhood intruded. Memories of standing off to the side and watching the other kids play, his own siblings even, having fun, laughing, or playing tug in wolf form. He’d been forbidden to play with anyone. Not his siblings, or the other kids, in either form. “They won’t respect you if they only see you as a friend, or fellow playmate,” Loki, his grandfather would say, and as a stupid boy, he’d wanted nothing but to please the male who was his only father figure. His own father, Fenrir had died when he was just a young pup.
His youth had been very lonely as he’d often stand off to the side and wish he was someone else’s son. He couldn’t help but yearn to be included, have a friend of his own and be able to join the others and have fun.
No one dared go against his grandfather, their king. Loki had been very powerful and ruled with an iron fist. He didn’t give second chances and mercy was unheard of. So, as firstborn grandson, even if his mother hadn’t been Fenrir’s true soul mate, Soroyan was the prince and revered, but never included. In fact, it was forbidden for any of the pack to even meet his eyes.
Thankfully, after Kyrian became king, things changed, only now instead of being afraid to meet his eyes due to their king’s wrath, the pack did it in fear of what they knew he was capable of.
Soroyan sighed. He loved his pack and would die for any member in it. He never told anyone how much their distance hurt, though he suspected his brother knew.
Raven twitched in his arms. She seemed to be in the middle of a dream, and he wondered what it was about. Then he wondered about her abilities. He’d never seen anything like it. He and his brother had always assumed that Tierney’s dad was a Fallen, and no one had disabused them of that belief.
Now, he knew Zander and Raven were something more, or, at least Raven was. He could sense another inside her, but didn’t know what it was. He’d been stunned when she had shown back up in the parking lot earlier and h
elped him and Mark fight. He’d been even more amazed at how well she fought, as if it was second nature. So seamless and fluid.
As his body reacted to her again, he groaned and tried to clear his mind. He concentrated on the sound of clock ticking out in one of the other rooms. He normally didn’t sleep much if at all. He had too many regrets and they always had too many enemies that they needed to be on the lookout for. In fact, he couldn’t remember a time when he could just let his guard down. It didn’t matter that he didn’t really know Raven, somehow, he felt connected to her so deeply, and there wasn’t any doubt that he could trust her.
Finally, he closed his eyes and in moments fell into a deep, dreamless sleep for the first time in hundreds of years.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Deafening Silence
Raven came awake to find the covers pulled over her, keeping her warm, but the bed beside her cold and empty. She sat up to look around the room. It too was empty, yet she could feel that Soroyan was close.
She got up, dressed in her underwear and Tierney’s t-shirt again and then made her way down the hall. She found him fully dressed in the same black t-shirt and black jeans he’d been wearing the day before, standing in the living room, staring out the window at the city.
“We should get going,” he said without looking at her.
Raven was startled by the pang of hurt that shot through her at how distant he was acting. She watched him for a moment and then walked over to stand beside him. “How is your wound?” she asked.
“It is fine,” he said, flicking a quick glance over her before turning to stare back out the window.
She narrowed her eyes on him and then with a shrug, turned and made her way to Tierney’s room where she redressed in her clothes and tossed Tierney’s shirt into the washer with the few other clothes in there, knowing they had a service that came in weekly to clean.
The silence in the car was deafening as they headed out of Spokane a short while later. Raven had grabbed an apple and yogurt out of the fridge before they left, tossing one at Soroyan.
“I’m not hungry,” he said. Raven just arched an eyebrow and without another word, he bit into the apple and began to eat.
“Are you all right?” she asked, wondering what had happened from last night to this morning to make him so cool with her.
“I just need to question the Were we caught last night,” he said, sounding distracted.
Raven wondered if that was all it was. She knew how desperate he was to get his nephew back. Reaching over, she turned the music back on, then sat back and tried to enjoy the ride, but her mind kept slipping back to the night before and it was hard not to fidget as she grew warm at the memories.
When they pulled up outside her brother’s home, they both got out without a word and Soroyan immediately headed through the garage to speak with the Were-wolf.
Raven’s mouth watered wistfully at the sight of his sexy ass and the reminder of what they’d done the night before. With a deep, frustrated sigh, she turned and walked through the mud room into the kitchen. The aroma of breakfast, bacon and eggs along with something baking in the oven tickled her nose.
“Hey, wasn’t sure if we’d see you back today,” Sami said with a smile when he caught sight of her. He sat surrounded by his mate, her three siblings and a few others.
“I didn’t know if I’d be here today either,” Raven answered, then frowned at the sight of Thaniel cooking everyone breakfast. “Do they always make you do the cooking?” she asked, annoyance clear in her voice. She hadn’t thought her niece would make her mate cook for everyone all the time, but ever since she had arrived, she’d found Thaniel was the one to do most of the cooking.
At her tone, Thaniel glanced up at her and Raven saw a flash of fear on his face before he lowered it. “I … like to—” he started to say just as Tierney walked in.
Raven’s annoyance morphed to anger as she remembered how Soroyan had watched her niece in the kitchen just two days before. Then she took a deep breath. As quickly as the emotion rose, she pushed it back down. She was shocked at the jealousy, the depths of her feelings for someone she had only slept with once, and didn’t plan to be around much longer.
“You all right?” Tierney asked before glancing at Thaniel. The love on her face made Raven ashamed. “We told him repeatedly that he doesn’t have to cook,” Tierney said teasingly as she walked over and wrapped her arms around Thaniel. The Were-leopard blushed behind his long blond hair.
“Well, it certainly smells great in here,” Raven admitted, catching the scent of baking and cheese, while trying to make up for her bad attitude.
Thaniel let Tierney go and pulled a tray out of the oven, then he slid the delicious baked items onto a plate. “They’re cheese biscuits,” he said, holding it out to her with a shy smile.
“Thank you, Thaniel,” she said as she accepted one. She’d just bitten into it and moaned at how good it tasted, when Jax walked in. “What did you make, Kitty?”
Raven smiled to see Thaniel blush once again, but when Jax reached for one, he pulled the plate away. “These aren’t for you,” he said and set the plate on the counter in front of Hellfire and her siblings.
“Hey, that’s not fair, what did I do to deserve such treatment?” Jax asked, pretending to be offended. Thaniel went back to the oven and pulled another tray out.
No one said anything as he slid a biscuit that was twice as large as the others and had an extra layer of cheese on it, onto a small plate. Then he leaned over the counter and handed that to Jax. “I made you a special one,” he said with another shy smile.
“You did?” Jax asked, and a big grin lit his face.
Tierney and the others laughed and Raven watched her niece hug Jax. “He got you.”
“He did.” Jax set the plate down and walked around the counter and over to Thaniel, where he pulled the Were-leopard into a hug. “Thanks, Kitty.”
Raven could see Thaniel beaming as he turned away to finish what he was doing.
Since she’d already finished her own biscuit and eaten a second, Raven waved and grabbing a piece of bacon, turned and walked into the great room. She needed to shower and put on clean clothing. Even more, she needed to get away. Everyone seemed sickeningly happy, and while it hadn’t affected her before, for some reason it made her wish for things that just weren’t in her future.
As she crossed the large room, she saw little Lilly playing with some of the wolfling pups while Bastien sat playing a video game, showing one of the older Okami boys what to do. She bit her lip as her thoughts turned to the three kids she’d left in the tunnel on Norvafellan.
When she’d left them she’d tried not to feel guilty, but now, she worried about them, even though they’d lived there long before she came along. Besides, what could she have done? They barely trusted her and it wasn’t like she had a home to offer them. At least she’d given Win a generous pile of coin when she left him at the secondary portal. That should help them for a while anyway.
Pushing thoughts of the kids away, she hurried up to her room.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Painful Avoidance
Soroyan bit back his frustration at their Were-wolf prisoner. Mark had already worked the guy over the night before, but besides some faint bruising, their prisoner was mostly healed. At least unlike the Ilyium woman, Amelis, they could actually use force on the Were.
Still, if he’d had full use of his power, he’d have gotten everything the Were knew. As it was, the Were-wolf verified what he’d already learned from Marcius and later from Amelis.
Val Jean trusted no one. Everyone who wanted to see him met his valet and was then chauffeured in. Supposedly, an obfuscation spell was used to prevent anyone from learning the location of his stronghold.
Soroyan turned at the sound of someone approaching and saw Tierney. He stepped from the cell and closed the door, then turned to her.
“I thought you might be hungry,” she said and handed him a plate
. Soroyan’s stomach growled.
“I heard you were wounded, are you all right?” she asked.
“I’m fine,” he said, glancing into the cells before nodding that they move away from their two prisoners.
Tierney smirked. “Don’t worry, they can’t hear us. Your brother cast another spell after Mark brought that guy in.” She indicated the new Were prisoner, then looked back at him. “We didn’t think they should be able to communicate with each other, or listen to anything said out here either.”
Soroyan nodded, glad his brother was on top of things.
“I know you don’t like to hear it, but you are for all intents and purposes, human right now. Are you sure you’re okay?” Tierney asked, touching his arm and looking up at him with such sincerity that it touched him deep inside.
Movement in the doorway drew his gaze and he noticed Raven. Her long black hair was wet and her shirt clung to her breasts as if she’d just showered and hadn’t wasted too much time drying off.
At the sight of her, his heart beat picked up and happiness filled him. Her gaze met his and Raven’s eyes darkened with anger and something else for a fleeting moment. Face once more impassive, Raven turned and left.
Suddenly he felt bereft.
“Soroyan?” Tierney asked.
“I promise, I’m fine,” he said and shoved a biscuit into his mouth.
He could tell she didn’t believe him by the frown on her face.
“All right, but you do know you can talk to any of us, anytime, right?”
Soroyan clenched his teeth, knowing it wasn’t going to happen.
He managed to avoid Raven for the rest of the day, though he suspected that she was avoiding him as well, and he wanted to kick himself for the way he’d acted earlier. It was so hard being around her and not taking her again.
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