by Eva Chase
“My beautiful princess,” he murmured.
I met his gaze with a soft smile. “My gorgeous mate. I love you.”
He gave me that familiar crooked grin. “And I love you. Couldn’t more.”
He filled me with one quick thrust that shocked another moan from my throat. His hand slipped beneath my ass to urge me up to meet him. His cock stroked against the most sensitive spot inside me. Bliss raced through me. I was so close to coming again already.
“Oh, Ren,” Marco muttered. “You have no idea how amazing you feel. If it was just us, I’d stretch this out forever, but I won’t be selfish.”
He sped up his rhythm. Someone pinched one of my nipples. My hips canted up with my whimper, my clit grazing the base of Marco’s cock, and just like that I was gone. As the second rush of pleasure swept through me, Marco followed me over the edge with a few quirk jerks of his hips.
Marco sat back, dipping low to kiss my core with a smirk. As he scooted to one side, my hand closed around Nate’s. The warmth in my bear shifter’s eyes turned smoldering.
He flipped us over, pulling me on top of him. I gasped as my sex slid against his thick erection. When he touched my cheek to meet me for a kiss, other hands glided over my thighs, my back. Nate cupped my breasts, rolling my nipples against his palms until I shivered with pleasure.
“I love you,” he said, before I rediscovered my capacity for words. “Standing beside you is the greatest honor of my life.”
My throat tightened. I leaned down to kiss him again. “I love you too. And I’m honored to stand by your side.”
He grasped my hips, and together we guided me down onto his cock. His thickness stretched me with a pressure that made every nerve in my body tingle.
I threw back my head, starting to ride him with all longing I had in me, chasing another release. Nate’s hand slid down to stroke my clit. A tongue slicked over one nipple. Teeth teased another. One of my other mates kissed the small of my back. I braced my hands against Nate’s broad chest, pumping against him, shivering as I started to shatter.
A long moan broke from my throat. The bear shifter caught me as I sagged over him, a groan slipping from his lips at the same time. He thrust up into me one last time and filled me with his release.
My thighs were wobbly as I eased off of Nate. Aaron was there waiting. He pulled me into his embrace, kissing the back of my neck. “Not tired out yet?” he asked with a slightly playful note in his raspy voice.
I laughed. No, the itch inside me wasn’t quite scratched yet. I reached to close my fingers around the hard length of his cock. “Not any more than you are.”
“Then what do you say we fly?”
I tugged him around to kiss him on the mouth. We toppled over on the bed together.
Aaron sank into me as if he was meant to be nowhere else—and in that moment, he wasn’t. I ground against him with each thrust, my hips bucking faster. My skin was damp with sweat now, my breath lost in panting, but I’d never felt so lit with energy in my life.
Flying. Yes, that was the word for this.
“I love you,” I mumbled before I lost my hold on my words again.
Aaron’s breath stuttered against my cheek. “I love you too. My first and my last. One and only.”
He thrust into me so deeply the final damn burst. I toppled over the edge of that last peak of ecstasy, shaking and gasping. My sex clenched hard around Aaron’s cock. With a moan, he came apart too.
Finally, blissfully sated, I let my muscles go slack against the mattress. My four mates cuddled close around me, surrounding me in a wash of affection—and more than a little satisfaction.
“You know,” Aaron said lightly, “coming together all at once—it’s not guaranteed to work on the first try. Just so you’re not disappointed.”
A giddy giggle popped out of me. “That’s okay,” I said, tugging them all a little closer. “We’ll just have to keep practicing until we get it right.”
CHAPTER 22
Ren
Several months later
“IT WON’T HURT them at all, right?” I said, standing at the edge of the boundary the fae woman had just laid down. Her magic shimmered faintly against the earth between the trees—and then faded from my sight completely. It left the slightest scent in the cool spring breeze, something faintly sweet under the crisp green scents of the forest just waking up from the winter.
The fae shook her head. “The humans won’t even feel it. They’ll simply find themselves completely uninterested in continuing in this direction.” She gave me a small but bright smile. “And you shifters won’t be affected at all.”
A couple of her companions farther away raised their hands to us to indicate they were finished with their parts. The effort was one step in a plan the alphas and I had come up with after discussions with the fae leaders, to expand the shifter territories without encroaching on the fae. New settlements could be formed in areas of wilderness where we’d no longer need to worry about random hikers or curious tourists happening by.
“Thank you for helping us with this,” I said. “I’m really hoping having more room to spread out in will make it easier for us all to get along.” There’d still been a few spats between shifters and fae since we’d conquered the vampire threat, but at least they’d been minimal, nothing harmed but egos and feelings.
“I’d like to see us happily sharing more ground again someday,” the fae said. “But it’s hard to enjoy sharing when you’re forced into it. I believe this will benefit both our people. Will we set down the next one near the avian estate next week?”
“That’s the plan.” I waved to them before heading across the boundary to where the car I’d come in was parked.
Kylie and Felix were waiting there, enjoying a little picnic in the meadow beside the road. The fae’s magic would affect my best friend, but she didn’t have any need to visit the smaller settlements anyway. These days she split her time pretty evenly between the dragon shifter estate and Felix’s post in New York.
She jumped up when she saw me coming over. “It’s done? That didn’t take so long at all.”
“Fae magic is powerful stuff,” I said.
Felix stood too, gathering the remains of their meal into the basket. He shot me a grin. “The vampire king will be happy to hear about the progress we’ve been making. More precautions to stop humans from catching wind of us. They’re still pretty paranoid about the whole keeping supernaturals secret thing.”
The fox shifter was now our ambassador of sorts among the vampire community. Not that he lived right with the bloodsuckers or anything—I could only imagine what he’d say about that suggestion—but they’d given permission for one shifter to live right within New York City so that any disputes between vampires and shifters could be settled quickly.
And also so he could simply keep an eye on things. The new king might not be as eager for carnage as the last one, but I didn’t think any of us trusted the vamps farther than we could spit.
“You can tell him all about it at that big party tonight,” Kylie said, wrapping her hand around her boyfriend’s elbow. Her face lit up almost as bright as her neon hair whenever she looked at Felix these days. I’d been a little worried that moving in together so soon after they’d met might bring out the clashing sides of their personalities again, but I’d never seen her happier.
“You’ve got to head back right now?” I said as we piled into the car.
“After we drop you off at the estate,” Felix said. “Unless there’s something else you needed first.”
My heart pinched. It would have been nice if Kylie could have stuck around to hear my news right away… but this was definitely one case where my mates, not my bestie, should be the first to know. But I wouldn’t have to wait very long.
“No, that’s fine,” I said.
Kylie gave me a playfully suspicious look. “Is there something going on that you’re not telling me?”
I smiled back at her. “You’ll jus
t have to wait and see.”
She waggled a finger at me. “I’m due back in a couple days, remember. I’ll pry all your secrets out of you then.”
When we reached my estate, one new car was already parked by the house. Marco was lounging on the front step. He leapt up with his easy grace as we pulled in.
I went to greet him, feeling my own face light up. I’d gotten used to spending days and sometimes even weeks apart from one or more of my mates, but I never felt quite as centered as when they were with me.
“Hello there, princess,” Marco drawled. He brushed a strand of hair back from my cheek and leaned in to press his lips to mine. I gave myself over to the heat of the kiss for as long as I felt I could get away with when we had company.
“I’ve just got to say good-bye to Kylie,” I said. “Then I’ll be right back with you.”
“Take your time,” the feline alpha said. “I get to have you for the whole rest of the day.”
I headed back to the car and gave Kylie a tight hug. “I expect you back in two days,” I said. “Be on time.”
She laughed. “I always am. Like I’d want to miss out on whatever adventures you get yourself mixed up in next.”
“Keep up the good work with the vampires, Felix,” I added to the fox shifter.
He saluted me with a twinkle in his sharp eyes. “I’m glad to serve.”
As they drove off, I ambled back to Marco. “How have relations been going between the feline and avian settlements I talked to last week? No further conflicts?”
“They’ve managed to keep the peace so far. I think your talking-to—and the compromise—did the trick. Until they find something new to squabble about.” He shook his head. “We also had another stray rogue turn up, one who was born on that side of the divide, wanting to make amends. The next time you can make it to Florida, I’ll have you truth-fry him to make sure he’s genuine.
“Happy to,” I said. The kin had claimed a couple dozen former rogues since our war with the vampires—and the death of the last of the rogue’s leaders. But I’d helped question them all thoroughly first, of course.
Marco slid his arm around my shoulders. “So do I get you all to myself, or is this going to be a bigger party?”
“The other guys should be on their way,” I said. “I asked everyone to get here mid-afternoon-ish.”
“Well, no reason we can’t enjoy this alone time while we have it,” he murmured.
I snuggled into his arms as he lowered his mouth to the side of my neck, but he hadn’t gotten any farther than that when another engine sounded down the road. “Hmm,” he said, raising his head to look. “We can always pick up where we left off later.”
I laughed. “I’m sure we will.”
West got out of his jeep with his usual gruff expression. It still gave me a little thrill seeing that serious look vanish behind a warm grin when our eyes met. He strode over and tipped my chin up for a kiss without bothering to detach me from Marco’s arms.
“Too long,” he said. He’d been off dealing with some issues in a few of the canine settlements while I’d been busy with the fae alliance, so we hadn’t seen each other in nearly two weeks.
“We’re almost done enclosing the new territories,” I said. “Then you won’t be able to get rid of me.”
His grin stretched wider. “Believe me, I’m looking forward to that.”
Aaron arrived next, in a sedan that sputtered when he brought it to a stop. A thin stream of smoke trickled from the hood. He made a face as he got out. “I’m not sure which I like less now—jets or cars.”
“One of the kin on the estate is a mechanic,” I said. “I’ll get her to have a look.”
Marco brushed his hands together. “Let me at it. I’m not totally hopeless with cars.”
The other guys and I exchanged a skeptical look. The feline shifter waved us off. “Just because I like extravagant things doesn’t mean I’m afraid to get my hands dirty now and then.”
We’d just gotten the hood propped up when Nate’s pick-up truck pulled in. “Okay,” I said as the bear shifter emerged. “Car maintenance can wait. Come on inside.”
Nate fell into step with us on the way to the house, and that beautiful sense of completion wrapped around me. Here I was with all my mates. Everything as it should be. More than they even knew yet.
“What’s going on, Ren?” Nate asked. “It sounded like this meeting was a little more urgent than usual.”
“Not in a bad way,” I assured him. “There’s just something I wanted to talk to all of you about, that I figured it’d be best to do in person.”
“I’m never going to object to spending time with you, any time I can,” Aaron said. He raised my hand to kiss the back of it, his blue eyes gleaming with affection.
I led the way down the hall to my private quarters. In the sitting room, I stopped, motioning them closer. “Give me a hand. All of you.”
Marco raised an eyebrow, but my alphas all held out one of their hands. I grasped them lightly with my fingers and guided their palms to my belly.
“Can you feel her?” I said softly. “Because I can.” The new life I was carrying inside me touched my senses with a gentle energy like the flickering of a candle flame.
Nate’s eyes widened. His hand left my belly to pull me into a fervent kiss. Then Aaron was kissing me, then West and Marco again, all of them closing around me in a ring of love.
“Here’s to the next dragon shifter,” Aaron murmured.
Motherhood was a whole new expanse of brand-new territory waiting ahead of me, but I was ready for it. Especially with my mates by my side.
I rested my hand over that glimmer of life and smiled. “Here’s to her and all of us, and the future we’re building for her.” A future that could now be lit with harmony and hope.
DRAGON’S JOY
THE DRAGON SHIFTER’S MATES CHRISTMAS NOVELLA
CHAPTER 1
Ren
NATURALLY, the string of Christmas lights I’d been unraveling and hooking along the hedge ended exactly five feet before the hedge did. I glowered at the string and at the hedge, as if that were going to convince one to grow or the other to shrink. Unfortunately, neither gave a damn what the leader of all shifter kind would have liked.
I stepped back into the courtyard of the avian estate and considered. Worse to leave a gap in my decorations or to have to go searching for another extension cord?
The damp chilly wind swept over my hair, flicking strands across my cheeks. It wasn’t the biting cold I was used to from New York winters growing up, but at least in New York we’d have had a little chance of seeing snow. Aaron had told me it hadn’t snowed in December here by the west coast in as long as he could remember.
Good thing I had three more Christmas celebrations after this to cover all the bases.
Footsteps tapped across the courtyard, and my avian alpha’s sister, Alice, came to a halt beside me. She cocked her head at my handiwork.
“We do have estate staff who can handle this kind of thing for you, you know,” she said in a slightly teasing tone. “There’s no reason our dragon shifter should be out in the cold, hanging lights.”
I made a face at her. “It’s not really a strain stringing lights on a hedge. I’m staying off ladders as promised.” The dampness in the air filled my lungs as I dragged in a long breath. “All these celebrations were my idea. I wanted to show how much I value the support I’ve gotten from the kin. I’m not sure that’ll really come across if I sit back and make them do the work for me.”
“I think they’d understand. You’re eight and a half months pregnant. Which no one with eyes would be able to miss, even if all shifter kind hadn’t been celebrating the news since you announced it.”
I rested a hand on my rounded belly. As if in answer, my daughter prodded my bladder with an elbow or a heel—something knobby. She had an awful lot of knobby bits, I’d discovered over the last few months of squirming and kicking.
Not yet,
I reminded her. Sleep in there a little while longer. Not that I wasn’t looking forward to having all of her out where I could cuddle her without my internal organs getting bruised.
“I’m fine,” I said, waving Alice’s comment off and patting my belly. “We’re a team effort. Believe me, I’ve already promised at least ten people that I’ll put up my feet the second I start feeling worn out.”
Alice gave me a skeptical look, but she didn’t prod any further, just walked with me back to the front of the courtyard by the avian estate’s massive house, where I’d left the last string of lights. Possibly I waddled more than walked. Even my dragon shifter reflexes couldn’t completely offset the extra weight in front of me. It wasn’t a struggle to carry my growing child, but it did require a bit of a balancing act.
“Have you decided on a name?” Alice asked. “Not much time left.”
My daughter squirmed again, and I smiled. “I’ve thought about it,” I said. It was hard not to, with all those months feeling her grow inside me. “But I don’t think I’ll know what’s right until I’ve actually gotten to meet her.”
“Fair enough. But you know all the kin will be waiting with ears perked for that announcement.”
The wind settled down as we moved along the last hedge. We’d just positioned the last of the lights when a golden eagle soared by overhead.
My heart leapt at the sight of my mate. Aaron dipped down around the side of the house—probably to land on the balcony of his bedroom.
A few minutes later, the avian alpha strode out the mansion’s front doors in slacks and a wool coat. I hurried over to meet him. A pleased light lit in his bright blue eyes as he leaned in to kiss me, his hand coming to rest over mine where my fingers had instinctively smoothed over my belly again.
“How are you?” he asked. Not exactly an unusual question, but I’d swear I’d been hearing it ten times more from the moment my pregnancy started showing.
“Ready to kick things off,” I said. “Did you get everything set up out there?”