“Now,” he commanded, yanking on the butt plug to remove it from my ass. I splintered apart, taking him with me.
“You wrecked me,” I mumbled into the sheets minutes later when I could finally find the power to speak. My body throbbed in all the right places as I lay in a boneless heap on the bed. When he pulled me into his arms, my legs slid against each other and I felt the slick remnants of the lube against my inner thighs. “Literally and figuratively. I’m a mess.”
“A beautiful mess,” he said, punctuating the statement with a kiss to the top of my head. “Even better, you’re my beautiful mess, which means I get to help clean you up.”
I liked the sound of that. “It’s only fair since you’re the one who dirtied me up in the first place.”
“I think I just found the secret to keeping you compliant.”
I hummed in agreement, because really, who was I to argue with him giving me plenty of orgasms in the many years we’d spend together?
Chapter 7
Camden
“Are you sure we can’t go back to your house and spend the rest of the day in bed together?”
I shifted into park. I wanted to take Selene up on her suggestion, I really did, but there were two reasons I couldn’t turn my truck around, head back to my place, and fuck her brains out again. “No more sex for you until you aren’t sore anymore.”
“I’m fine,” she sighed.
“That’s not what it sounded like this morning when I had my fingers in your pussy and you moaned in pain instead of pleasure.”
“Camden!” she shrieked, her face heating in embarrassment. “You can’t say stuff like that right before I meet the rest of your family.”
I reached over and pulled her hand up to kiss her knuckles. “Meeting my family is exactly why we need to stay. If we wait, you’ll spend the rest of the day worrying about how they’ll react to you. But you don’t need to be scared.”
“Easy for you to say. You’re not a witch about to meet her consort’s family who happen to all be shifters and will probably hate her. Just wait until our roles are reversed and you’re the one meeting my entire coven.”
The idea was nerve-wracking, but it wasn’t quite the same thing as her meeting my brothers and their mates. “My brothers and I are close. We’ve been together ever since we shared a womb and we’ve always wanted the best for each other. You’re my mate. You’re what’s best for me, and they’re going to recognize it the second they see us together.”
“I really hope so,” she sighed.
“Not that you have to worry, but I’ll be right by your side and I’m sure your mom won’t let you out of her sight either.”
Her fingers tightened around mine. “Promise?”
I nodded in confirmation. “Absolutely. From now on, you’ll never have to look far to find me. I’ll be exactly where I belong—with you.”
“How do you know exactly what to say to make me feel better?”
“Easy,” I answered. “I was made for you the same way you were made for me.”
“There you go again with the sweet.”
“Was it enough?”
She tilted her head, brows furrowed. “Enough for what?”
“To sweeten you up, and convince you to loosen your death grip on my fingers and go inside to meet my brothers and their mates.”
Letting go of my hand, she giggled. “Yeah, you’ve managed to do the impossible. I’m ready now.”
She still seemed nervous, but she put on a brave smile anyway. I figured it was for my benefit, that she didn’t want me to worry. Out the corner of my eye, I saw the door to my dad’s house open and several heads peeked out at us. I knew they were watching us, but it didn’t matter. I pulled her into my arms and claimed her mouth. By the time I was done, we were both gasping for air and I’d forgotten we were being watched. They didn’t forget about us, though. That was made obvious by the loud clapping coming from the front porch.
Selene’s head swiveled in their direction and she gasped. “It looks like we have an audience.”
“Well, the good news is you don’t have to go far to meet my family.”
“Watching us suck face wasn’t exactly the introduction I was hoping for,” she sighed.
“I think if you look at their expressions, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.” A furtive glance at the porch confirmed my guess. Alasdair and Braden had huge grins on their faces. Finley was smiling while crying, and Tahlia gave me a thumbs up.
“Alrighty then. Let’s do this thing.”
She waited for me to walk around and help her out of the truck. By the time she stepped down, she was smiling again, and it was genuine. We only made it to the bottom of the porch steps before everyone descended on us. Finley was the one to break the ice when she hug-tackled Selene, almost taking her to the ground. Luckily, I had my hand at the small of her back and was able to hold her up as Finley barrelled into her.
“I’m Finley, Alasdair’s mate,” she said, leaning back, but still holding onto Selene. “It’s wonderful to meet you. I’ve never known a witch before.”
“Finley,” Alasdair growled, “we talked about this earlier.”
Finley rolled her eyes at my brother and then flashed a smile at Selene. “Whatever. He wanted me to ignore the elephant in the room, but c’mon. So Camden’s mate is a witch, big deal.” She pointed to Alasdair. “He mated the daughter of his father’s enemy and that worked out fine.”
“It turned out a hell of a lot better than fine,” Alasdair protested, pulling her into his arms and resting his hands on her rounded stomach.
“Which just goes to show everything will work out for your brother and Selene. They’re fated mates, like we are. Even if she’s a witch, they have the whole prophecy thing going for them too.”
“You guys already know about the prophecy?” Selene asked.
“Yeah,” Tahlia confirmed, stepping forward to give Selene a quick hug. “Your mom and Carrick filled us in on the situation at breakfast this morning.”
“It seemed best since we weren’t sure you guys would make it over anytime soon,” Braden joked.
“Like you two were any better when you were newly mated,” I responded.
“It’s not as if we’re any better now either,” Tahlia added.
“C’mon guys, let’s not crowd your brother and Selene,” my dad called from the door. “They’re probably hungry, and lunch is ready.”
“I could definitely eat,” Selene murmured as everyone turned to walk up the stairs ahead of us.
“We certainly worked up an appetite.”
“That, we did,” she agreed before mumbling under her breath, “Lions and wolves and bears, oh my!”
“Does that make your mom and Tempest the wicked witches and you Glinda?” I teased. “Although, you got the quote wrong. It’s tigers, not wolves.”
“Ha-ha. Not funny,” she snarked, digging her elbow into my side. “It might have been tigers in the movie, but Finley isn’t a tiger. She’s a wolf. And I mean, technically, I guess I should have said lioness, wolf, and bears instead, but you know what I meant.”
“Wait a second,” I breathed and pulled her aside so nobody else could overhear our conversation. “How do you know what kind of shifters Finley and Tahlia are?”
“I just know,” she drawled, looking up at me with wide eyes. “The same way I’d know if someone I met was a witch. Or how I’d notice what color hair or eyes they have. It’s just a part of them.”
“Have you always been able to do figure out a shifter’s animal by looking at them?”
“I don’t think so,” she answered. “The only other shifter I had met before you was Damien and I didn’t sense anything different about him even though I knew he was a dragon shifter. Why? Is it weird that I know what their animals are?”
“Weird is one way to describe it. Usually shifters have to get a good whiff of each other at least to gauge what species they are. And I’ve never heard of any human who was able to figur
e it out.” What I didn’t say was it made me nervous. Her ability to do this didn’t scare me in any way, but it might worry other shifters. It was one more thing for them to hold against her and I figured they’d be looking for things since she was a witch. My family accepted her because she was my mate, but that didn’t mean others would be as understanding. I knew there would be shifters looking for another reason to try to take her down once they heard about the prophecy, some of whom would be against the idea of harmony between witches and us.
“I’m not a human, though. I’m a witch. And not just any witch, but one who’s mated to a shifter and part of a prophecy to bring witches and shifters together. Maybe it’s an ability I’ll need for one reason or another. My powers are a gift, not a burden. We might not know why I have this particular one now, but I have to trust in the Goddess. She did give me you as my consort, after all.”
“You make an excellent point, but how about we keep this newfound ability between the two of us for a little while? You’re my mate, and part of my job is to keep you safe—from anyone and anything.” Her stomach growled loudly. “And fed.”
“Let’s go inside so I can stuff my face with food while keeping my mouth shut about being able to discern a shifter’s species so easily.”
I led her into my dad’s house. “Hopefully you aren’t expecting anything fancy. My dad isn’t much of a cook.”
As we neared the kitchen, the aroma of Mexican food wafted our way. “I think my mom decided to help out with lunch because unless my nose is tricking me, that’s the smell of her tacos. They’re incredible and one of my favorite dishes. Homemade corn tortillas, a salty seasoned ground beef mixture, chopped onions, cilantro, freshly squeezed lime juice, and salsa verde.”
“You’re practically drooling. You better be careful or you’re going to make me jealous of your mom’s tacos.”
Audra must have overheard me, because she yelled out, “I know they say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, but you’ll quickly discover it’s definitely the way to my daughter’s heart. She likes to eat, but hates to cook.”
“Then I guess I’d better ask you to teach me how to make all her favorites.” Audra smiled at me and nodded as Selene and I walked over to the counter to fill our plates with food.
When we took our seats at the table, my dad gave me a hard look. “She’s here to help us with the witches hiding Channing, not give cooking lessons.”
“Dark practitioners,” Audra corrected coolly. “They aren’t worthy of the title witch.”
“While I understand where you’re coming from, my mom is perfectly capable of helping us with the protection spells we need and teaching Camden how to cook a few things. She’s awesome like that, and I think it’s important for my mom and my consort to spend time getting to know each other.”
I trailed my fingers down Selene’s back in a comforting gesture. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t alienate my mate and her mother at our first meal together, Dad.”
“That wasn’t my intention,” he grumbled.
“I’m sure your dad’s just worried about protecting his family—a family my daughter is now a part of. How can I possibly be offended by that?”
“Thanks for letting my dad off the hook, Audra. But you missed one thing. You’re part of our family now, too.”
“Well, then, this family member says to dig in before the food gets cold,” she replied. “After lunch, Tempest, Selene, and I have some spells to cast, so your first lesson will have to wait until dinner.”
Chapter 8
Selene
“One more time,” Tempest commanded, guiding me through a complicated spell based in water magic—one an earth witch shouldn’t be able to do. Any earth witch except me, apparently, because here I was, lifting water from a nearby lake with a wave of my hand and sending it in a crashing wave toward my fellow covener. This was the third time I’d cast this particular spell and the closest I’d come to hitting her with the water.
“Much better,” she congratulated me. “Even though I’m a water witch who knows the exact spell you’re casting, it’s getting harder and harder to counter it.”
“And easier for me to cast.”
“That was awesome!” Finley breathed. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.” She and Tahlia had been watching from the safety of the porch, but moved closer now that Tempest and I were done.
“Neither have I,” Tempest murmured. “Selene’s magic has grown more than any of us could have anticipated.”
“I’ve experienced a bump in my magic with each step in my relationship with Camden—starting from the first surge I felt when I saw him in my vision while meditating and culminating in the...bonding we did last night.” I felt my face heat as I thought about exactly what our bonding involved and regretted any mention of it. I didn’t want anyone to ask questions about what we’d done since there was no way I’d be able to answer them.
“Your powers have been getting stronger as you and Camden grow closer?” Tahlia asked.
“By leaps and bounds,” Tempest confirmed.
Tahlia gave me a considering look, a speculative gleam in her eye. “I’ve heard consorts can anchor their witches, but Camden seems to do more than that for you.”
"You're familiar with consorts?"
“I’ve had a little bit of contact with witches in the past because of my role with the council. There have been situations involving dark practitioners where we’ve needed help from witches,” Tahlia explained.
“Witches helping the shifter council?” I couldn’t keep my shock out of my tone. When our coven had decided to help the McMahon clan, it had been a difficult decision because we thought we’d be risking a backlash in the witch community.
“It’s something the council has kept quiet,” Tahlia explained. “It would have been considered a sign of weakness to turn to the witches for help, but battling dark practitioners required a skill set the council just didn’t have. Ultimately, their job is to protect the shifter community, and the council members take their responsibility very seriously—whatever it takes and whomever they have to work with to accomplish their goal.”
I thought about my mom’s role as high priestess of our coven and everything she’d taught me about being a leader. “Something witches and shifters have in common, then.”
“Considering the prophecy, it’s a good thing you’re already finding commonalities,” Tempest added, laughing afterwards. “I can’t believe I just said that. I feel like I’m in the twilight zone.”
“How about I make it even stranger?” Tahlia asked. “I’m guessing you’ve never attended a shifter claiming ceremony before?”
“Of course not,” Tempest and I answered in unison.
Tahlia’s attention centered on me. “I think tonight’s the perfect time to have the first ever claiming ceremony between a shifter and a witch.”
“Yes!” Finley agreed. “I think that’s a perfect idea.”
“Don’t you think Camden and I should be the ones to decide when we have our claiming ceremony? Don’t you see how ridiculous this is? I don’t even know what a claiming ceremony is and Camden hasn’t brought it up to me yet.” I was practically babbling in consternation at this point.
“There are three stages to a shifter mating,” Finley explained. “First, you have the mating words, the phrasing of which is unique to each family. It’s how a shifter male shows his commitment to his mate. Then, the marking, the bite which deepens the bond between mates and shows the female’s acceptance of her male. I know you’re familiar with both since I spotted Camden’s mark on your shoulder when we met.”
“And the claiming?” I asked.
“Well, that varies by species, and I’m guessing you’ll be glad Camden’s a bear instead of a wolf. They’re more laid back when it comes to claimings. They don’t really do any of that chasing down of their mate in front of their whole pack to stake their claim.”
Finley’s answer shocked me—and mayb
e even intrigued me a little bit. Not that I’d ever actually consider sex in front of other people. I wasn’t into voyeurism.
“I think we’re losing sight of why I suggested this in the first place,” Tahlia interjected. “A McMahon claiming is a relatively straightforward event without much pomp and circumstance and definitely no public nudity. What it will involve is cementing the mating bond between you and Camden, and hopefully, give you another burst of power. An edge we might need when it’s time to face the dark practitioners.”
“If he wanted us to do the ceremony this soon, then he would have asked me,” I argued. “And I don’t want to force him into something this important if he isn’t ready yet.”
“Is that what you think?” Camden asked.
I swiveled around to find him standing on the porch steps, arms crossed over his chest and a frown tilting his lips at the edges. “Yes? No? I don’t know,” I said, and really didn’t know what to think.
“Selene,” he sighed, striding toward me, “I have no doubts, no reservations whatsoever, when it comes to you.”
“Then why haven’t you mentioned the claiming to me?” I ask, my voice sounding like that of a hurt little girl, and it dawned on me I really was concerned about why he hadn’t explained the bear mating customs to me.
The feel of Camden’s arms wrapped around me went a long way to settling my nerves, and his answer put an end to any doubts I was experiencing. “Because you’re more important to me than anything else. I never want you to think, not even for a minute, our claiming ceremony happened for any reason other than my need for you as my mate. Not the upcoming battle, or the prophecy. When our claiming happens, it will be because we want it to for ourselves, and no other reason.”
“And if I wanted you to claim me now?”
“Then I’d call my dad out here to do it.”
“Really?” I breathed.
“Is that what you’re telling me? Do you want to have the claiming ceremony today?”
His dark eyes held hope, as though he was worried my answer would be no, letting me know exactly how important this was to him. “Yes, I’d love to.”
Bear the Burden: McMahon Clan 3 (Fated Mates Book 6) Page 5