by Helen Scott
When I was done, I sat back and looked up into Roman’s face. “So what do we do now?”
“We wait. As difficult as it will be, we can’t do anything until tomorrow when we know what Micah’s status is.”
“You mean whether or not he’ll wake up?”
Roman nodded grimly. The silver serum should work its magic and get the nasty stuff out of Micah’s system, but if it had spread too far and too fast, then it may not work and would leave Micah in a coma for the rest of his life. I knew right then and there that I wouldn’t accept that as a possibility. If it came to it, I’d use the second vial of the serum, consequences be damned.
4
Nina
We’d made some dinner, which meant cooking some of what Roman had caught over the fire since we couldn’t get the stove working, and we were both equally exhausted and unable to sleep when we climbed up into the loft bedroom of the cabin. Our bags were still downstairs, which made me somewhat anxious since that meant we couldn’t get to them quickly or easily, but we’d both showered and cleaned up. Roman had elected to just wear his boxers to bed, and I was in a T-shirt and panties as I snuggled up next to him.
His hand stroked over my hair in a soothing motion as my gaze traveled over the cabin in the dark. I knew what was downstairs and pictured it in my mind so I knew exactly how I would get out if I needed to. We’d moved Micah to the couch, so I could jump down from the loft onto the table and then launch myself from there to the door of the cabin. Easy.
“What are you thinking about? I can practically hear the gears turning,” Roman murmured against my hair.
“Planning the best route out of the cabin if we needed to make a run for it,” I replied honestly.
“We won’t need to run. We’re safe here,” he said, bringing a knuckle under my chin and raising my face so we were watching each other.
“Doesn’t hurt to be prepared,” I whispered, feeling a wave of desire wash through me. Was it mine? Or was I feeling him through the mate bond? I wasn’t sure and didn’t really care.
I pushed up and brushed my lips against his. It was supposed to be a brief kiss, something that expressed how grateful I was that he was in my life now, but instead, it was a spark to tinder and we were both suddenly engulfed in the flame of our desire for one another.
“I was so worried about you today, angel. When you stepped into the clearing, I thought I’d lost you before I’d ever really had a chance to have you,” Roman whispered between kisses.
When he went to kiss me again, I pulled away slightly so I could look him in the eyes as I said, “I’m not weak, Roman. You know that. You only know a fraction of what I’ve survived. Don’t make me into the princess in the tower. I’m the dragon, or in this case, the wolf.”
“My wolf,” he said with a growl in his voice as he moved forward and quickly claimed my lips.
I’d let it slide for now, but if he kept thinking of me as a princess in need of saving or protecting, then we’d have issues. I had only been able to rely on myself for years now, and I wasn’t about to give up that independence to satisfy a man.
When he rolled on top of me, my brain short circuited and all coherent thought cut off. The hardness of his cock pressed against my core as I wrapped my legs around him, pinning him to me as he rolled his hips against my own. I gasped when his hand found one of my breasts, his fingers expertly brushing over my nipple and making my hips jerk up to meet his.
“Angel, I don’t want to rush you. I know today has been hard, harder than my cock is right now, but if you’ll allow me, I’ll bring you pleasure.” Roman’s words only made my body coil even further in anticipation.
“Fuck me, Roman,” I whispered a second before he descended on my neck and began peppering kisses from my ear all the way down to my collarbone, sucking on the delicate flesh there until I was moaning in his ear. Every movement he made, every touch, no matter how light or how firm, it all drove me into a frenzy of need.
I had been just as scared for him earlier as he had been for me. It was that emotion that had propelled me into the clearing. I’d known it was a risk, but I didn’t care. I’d rather risk my life than sit back and watch the two of them die. Just the thought of Micah’s unconscious form on the couch below was enough to make my heart ache with preemptive grief.
“Stay here with me,” Roman said, his lips brushing against my skin with each movement.
His words had the desired effect and pulled me from my racing thoughts to the sensations that he was producing within me. The fingers that had been gently caressing my breast landed on my nipple and pinched it hard enough to make me gasp. It wasn’t just a pinch though, as he held my nipple between two fingers while rubbing his thumb over the very tip. The sensation was exquisite and made my brain actually go silent for once.
I pushed at the edge of his boxers, desperate to feel his cock against me, and he helped me shimmy them down his legs a moment before he did the same thing with my panties, which were already soaked. I’d never experienced anything like what I experienced with Roman and Micah. My body responded to them in a way that I would have thought impossible if someone had told me about it before I met them.
“Let me see you, angel,” Roman said from where he sat back on his heels, looking down at me like I was a buffet.
I knew what he wanted, what he always wanted when we were together, so I pulled my T-shirt over my head until I was completely naked before him and spread my legs, bringing my knees up and to each side so I was as exposed as possible. Even in the low light, I was completely on display. If it had been pitch-black, then his vision may have been obscured, but with the moon being as bright as it was, I knew he could see everything. Including how wet I was for him.
“Touch yourself,” he said, his voice low and gruff, never taking his eyes off my pussy.
I released one of my legs and slid my hand down toward my throbbing core. As I slipped one finger between my folds, I pulled some of my slickness up and circled my clit, making me moan with need.
Roman’s hand went to his cock, and he stroked himself in time with my movements. I watched with fascination at the way he held his cock. It wasn’t a vice-like grip, but something much more delicate, using just the tips of his fingers. The bead of pre-cum that had formed on the crown glistened in the low light, just like I was sure my own folds did.
“Finger yourself,” he said, his hand speeding up to keep pace with my movements.
I dipped my hand lower and pushed two fingers into my core, the wet heat engulfing me immediately as I began to pump them while I watched him. Without warning, he gripped my wrist and pulled my hand from my pussy up to his mouth. He licked and sucked on my fingers as though they were covered in the essence of life itself.
The sensation of his tongue sliding between my fingers and caressing them as he cleaned them off made me want to rub my thighs together to try and ease some of the need that was building within me. My whole body felt like it was on fire for him.
“Please, Roman.” I heard myself say the words but hadn’t actually thought about it.
“Please what, angel? What do you want?”
“I want you to fuck me. I want to feel you inside of me as I come on your cock.” The words fell from my lips, and if it had been anyone other than Roman, I would have been embarrassed, but I knew he liked my dirty talk.
“As you wish,” he murmured a moment before he speared me on his cock in one thrust.
I cried out as he filled me, stretching me. He didn’t give me a chance to get used to it before he pulled out again, holding his cock in his hand before pushing into me once again with one long stroke. Roman repeated the action a few more times, until I was left panting and moaning my complaints.
The next time he thrust in, he stayed there for a second before he finally began to actually fuck me. His rhythm was brutal and unrelenting, his balls slapping against my ass as he folded me over so my feet were up by my head. Each time he filled me was a little piece of heaven
, and I was quickly becoming addicted to it.
Just as I was starting to meet him thrust for thrust, he flipped me over, the movement so fast and sure that I hadn’t even had to move myself. He thrust into me again from behind, his fingers tight enough on my hips that they’d probably leave bruises behind, not that I cared. In fact, I’d wear them with pride.
Roman grabbed one arm, then the other, until he had them both pinned against his chest behind my back so I couldn’t brace myself and was completely relying on him. The slightly submissive pose made my wolf both excited and nervous. He got both arms in one grip and then took his free hand and wound it into my ponytail and pulled, forcing my head up from where it had been hanging down.
Each time he pounded into me, I felt the jolt through my whole body with just a tinge of pain on my scalp where the hair pulled. It didn’t turn me off though, in fact, it only made me want Roman even more. He knew how to move me around, how to touch me, how to elicit the most pleasure, and how to pair that pleasure with an edge of pain.
He kept going like that, each thrust edging me closer to a level of pleasure I wasn’t sure I’d ever experienced before. The grip he had on my hair tightened, and he contorted my body even further until I was almost bent completely backward, with my head as close to his chest as it would go.
“Come for me, angel. I want to feel you tighten around my cock.”
I wanted to, I really did, but I couldn’t get myself over the edge. When Roman’s grip on my hair abruptly released, my head fell forward and I felt the blood rushing back to it. He didn’t waste any time though as his hand found my clit between my legs and began circling it ferociously. The speed and pressure were overwhelming when combined with how he was fucking me, and I exploded. My whole body felt like it convulsed with pleasure radiating out from my core through every cell of my being.
A few thrusts later, and I heard Roman call my name, which sent a thrill through me, even in my blissed out state. I was his and he was mine in every way we could be each other’s. There was only one thing that we hadn’t done, and that was mark each other. As much as I wanted to do it, I also wanted it to be something we talked about, something that he and Micah were both part of, something that brought us closer together and didn’t drive a wedge between us.
We collapsed onto the bed, both lying so we could curl around each other. We might’ve been sticky and sweaty and I should’ve probably gone to pee just to be safe, but getting myself to move after that orgasm proved to be more difficult than I expected, so I just stayed where I was. The comfort and safety I found in Roman’s arms, and Micah’s when he was able to be present, was more than I had ever hoped to find as an adult.
Sure, I’d always felt safe with my parents, but whenever we left the house, I knew I was exposed, taking a risk, drawing unwanted attention, the way any female shifter would. Until they were mated that was. My mother, for instance, could’ve gone anywhere, done anything, without drawing much attention, because all the males in our pack knew she had a mate.
Now I had my own mate, something that I’d avoided for so long, and not just the one but two. There had to be a reason behind it. The fates didn’t just do something like that randomly. What that reason was though, I hadn’t a clue.
Having two mates was both a blessing and a curse, and as I lay there snuggled in the safety of Roman’s arms, I couldn’t help but wonder what the fates had in store for us. Somehow, I had a feeling it was going to get worse before it got better. I just hoped the blessing side won out eventually, and that we didn’t get stuck with the curse.
5
Nina
When we climbed down from the loft in the morning, I immediately went to check on Micah. Relief coursed through me as I took in the pallor of his skin. Instead of the pale almost grayish tone it had been yesterday when we arrived at the cabin, it was back to its normal pinkish undertones.
“How’s the patient?” Roman asked from over my shoulder.
“He looks a bit better, don’t you think? And the cut on his arm is starting to heal, which is a good sign.”
“Maybe. We’re not out of the woods yet,” Roman said as he moved away, heading toward the kitchenette. His tone said everything that he hadn’t. He wasn’t sure Micah would survive, even with the help from Brecken. Maybe I was being too hopeful that the silver hadn’t made it to his brain, but I’d decided when I woke up this morning that holding on to hope, no matter how fragile that hope might be, was better than giving into despair. What was it they said about hope singing in your soul?
Despair was something to wallow in, a blanket of depression to pull over yourself and hide from the world. I was a firm believer in feeling my emotions, whatever they were, and giving them space to exist. Denying them was useless to everyone and would just wind up with me being tormented by that which I was trying to deny. That being said, I refused to allow myself to indulge in unhelpful emotions for too long.
I sighed as I looked down at Micah and brushed some of the hair from around his face. It had dried and was crusted with old sweat from when he’d been throwing up the silver no doubt, but I didn’t care. He was still my handsome mate. The longer I looked at him, the more I realized that he must have some Norse blood running through those veins of his. He had a strong brow bone and high cheekbones, which framed his azure eyes that I wished would open.
For a moment, I let myself think that if I just willed him to open his eyes hard enough, it would happen. I concentrated on him and probably looked a little crazy, but I just needed him to bat those ridiculous lashes at me and make a joke once more.
“There isn’t any food here, so I’m going to go and hunt,” Roman said, startling me out of my battle of wills with an unconscious Micah.
“We’re leaving? I don’t feel good about leaving Micah all alone like that,” I replied, worrying my bottom lip as I looked between the two men.
“Not we, angel, me. You stay here with Micah. You’re right—he shouldn’t be alone, not yet anyway. I’ll go and hunt us down some breakfast and be back before you know it.”
I nodded, unable to trust my voice in that moment, afraid that if I did say something, it would be to ask Roman to stay and for us both to go hungry until we knew what was going on with Micah. Asking something like that would be unfair though. I knew that Roman was just trying to take care of us, so I watched with my lips pursed as he walked out of the cabin, stripping before the door had even fully closed behind him.
A small yip sounded in the still of the morning, and I knew that was him letting me know he was leaving. I focused on the mate bond, the rope that felt like it was tied around my heart, and tried to channel some of the affection I felt for him down it. When I felt the same but more return, I knew he’d received my message.
What I was supposed to do while he was out, I didn’t know, but I’d figure it out. I knew that I couldn’t just stay there staring at Micah, that would just be weird. Plus, if he woke up, like I knew he would eventually, I didn’t want to be just hovering over him staring at him. Sometimes when a person woke up, they needed a moment of privacy before the world came crashing in, or at least I did.
There wasn’t much else to do, other than clean and prepare for whatever might come, although how I was going to ready myself for the unknown was still a mystery, but I was determined to try. I quickly changed into some yoga pants and a T-shirt, then grabbed a bowl and a rag from the kitchenette and began scrubbing the blood and vomit off the large wood table that Micah had been lying on.
The water in the bowl turned pink after the first dunk of the dirty rag and then quickly became a deep, dark red that made my stomach turn just thinking about how much blood Micah had lost. I had to empty and refill the bowl several times before the water didn’t turn that same garnet color.
Being alone wasn’t exactly my favorite thing though, and if it hadn’t been for the cleaning, then I probably would have started to get irritable. It wasn’t that I was scared, so much as I had never had to protect anyon
e before, not really. Yes, I stepped into the fight with Micah and Roman, but they’d been holding their own, it wasn’t me protecting them.
I’d been in plenty of fights before. Hell, I boxed every other day for the last few years, but fighting and protecting someone? That wasn’t something I’d ever done before, and if the guys from their pack—the ones like Rob and Joe—could find us at some random stopping point by the river, then they could find us in the cabin if they were determined enough.
It was that thought that had me stretching and doing some yoga next to the big table in front of the door. If someone tried to get in, then I’d be ready and directly in their way. If I had to, I’d protect Micah until my dying breath. These men weren’t going to get anywhere near him while I had anything to say about it.
There was one emotion that kept worming its way to the surface, no matter what task I focused my energy on.
Guilt.
None of this would be happening if it weren’t for me. Sure, Roman hit me with his car that night the mate bond activated, but if I had been smarter and kept my damn eyes off him, then we might have passed like ships in the night. The fates were cruel though, and that was pretty much the opposite of what happened.
If I’d just run as far and as fast as possible the moment I could’ve, then I would have never met Jax again as an adult. I’d be homeless, jobless, and who knew what else, but I’d be free and Micah would never have had this happen to him. Hell, Micah and Roman would still be members of their pack.
This whole situation was why I had been avoiding wolf shifters to begin with.
I pushed the thought from my mind as I moved my body into cobra pose. For the next few seconds, I just held the pose and breathed, enjoying the stretch and flex of my muscles. Just as I was flowing into downward dog, I heard a cough from the couch.
Without pausing, I pushed out of my yoga pose and moved to the couch, just in time to find Micah blinking his eyes open. Hope fluttered in my chest as I watched him for a moment, waiting to make sure he was actually waking up and this wasn’t some kind of false positive.