by R. E. Butler
He focused on her, parting her lips and licking up and down, tonguing her core and playing with her clit. She made a gasping sound that was muffled by his cock, and he grinned, rubbing the side of her clit over and over, until her legs began to shake and her gasp turned to a deep, throaty moan. She came a few moments later, and he lapped at her sweetness as she lifted from him and sank her nails into his thigh.
“Fuuuuck,” she moaned.
He could’ve made her come over and over, but the drive to mate her properly and make her his in truth was hard to ignore. While she shivered through her orgasm, he rolled them over and flipped his position, settling into the cradle of her hips and driving home. She clutched at his back, her short nails digging into his skin, and let out a deep moan that ended with his name.
He would never get tired of hearing her say his name. He was one hundred percent certain of that.
She opened her eyes and they were a stunning vivid chocolate with gold striations. He leaned down to kiss her as he moved, flexing his hips to pull himself free from her silky depths before plunging back in. She hugged her legs to his sides, lifting her hips to meet his thrusts. They moved together, kissing and touching, gliding and thrusting, until he thought his whole body would explode from the sheer pleasure.
Or melt.
No, explode was a better word. He was going to fucking explode in the best way, marking his sweet mate from the inside out with his essence and binding them for life.
He took one of her hands and linked their fingers, pressing it to the bed and over her head. He kissed her lips and began to move harder and faster, the words of his people’s mating vows falling from his lips like a chant.
“I mark you as my mate with my seed to make you mine in truth. From the moment of our joining, we’ll be bound together forever, never parted even into the afterlife. Take me, all of me, and declare yourself my mate.”
She arched under him, her body shuddering through another wave of pleasure. “Yes! Yes, Anders, I’m your mate. And you’re mine.”
His wings broke free as he climaxed, his falcon letting loose with a cry of pure pleasure. He sank to the hilt inside his mate, his cock spasming over and over. “I’m yours, Hadlee! Forever!”
Another piercing cry from his falcon echoed in the room as his body shuddered and a shiver wove down his spine. He curved his wings over them and kissed her gently on the lips, the cheek, and then down her neck. “Mine.”
“Yours,” she said, her hands gliding up and down his sweat-slicked back. He shivered at the light touch, his wings twitching. “I didn’t expect your wings to come out.”
“I didn’t either. My falcon wanted to be in on the fun.”
Slipping from her sweet body, he moved to his stomach, too keyed up from pleasure to release his wings. He rested his head on his forearms and smiled at Hadlee as she turned to her side. Her eyes were sparkling with happiness, her lips swollen from their kisses, and her cheeks flushed. He’d never seen a more beautiful female.
“You’re amazing,” she said.
“You are too. The most beautiful, amazing female on the planet.”
“Careful,” she whispered with a sexy grin. “Compliments will get you seconds.”
* * *
Anders woke the next morning with a tail in his face. He moved the black tail to the side and saw that Osiris had climbed up onto the bed at some point while they slept and then onto him. The cat purred, the sound vibrating his chest and making him chuckle.
“Osiris, you have a bed,” Hadlee said, snuggling into Anders’ side and scratching the cat’s head.
“I must be more comfortable.”
“You must be.” She yawned and it made him yawn.
“I don’t mind a bit. It was just startling to wake up with his butt in my face.”
“That’s cats for you. They have no sense of personal space.”
They lounged in bed for a while, until Osiris got up, stretched, and sank his little dagger claws into Anders’ skin and made him wince. Hadlee called him a naughty kitten, but Anders was pretty sure he did it on purpose.
“I guess he wants us to get up,” Anders said as Osiris walked off of him, hopped off the bed, and went to the door, where he sat and stared at it.
“I think he’s hungry,” she said.
“Me too. There was this vixen in bed with me last night.”
“You know it,” she said with a wink.
They showered together, where they made love again, and then dried off and dressed. It was a beautiful fall day, perfect for the party that night. They talked with his mom over breakfast about the party planning, and when the meal was over, he left his sweetheart and his mom to plan and prepare and met with his top males in his first-floor office.
“Everyone’s coming to the party, right?” Anders asked when they were all seated. The six males closest to him, the ones he trusted the most, were in the room with him. They’d get to the bottom of the mystery before whoever wanted him dead took another crack at it.
“I’m certain we’ll find the truth tonight,” his uncle Lars said. “Your mate is clearly a powerful witch since she saved your life. We’ll figure out who did this and they’ll be punished to the full extent of our laws.”
“Hear, hear,” Phoenix said.
“Thank you all for your support,” Anders said. “Whoever did this is a cancer in our midst and must be removed.”
He trusted Hadlee. She was confident she could cast a spell to reveal bad intentions and figure out who wanted him dead. He certainly hoped so. With each hour that passed, he felt like a noose was tightening around him. And also Hadlee. He was more worried for her than he was for himself.
“Let’s increase patrols ahead of the party,” Anders said. “The coward who poisoned me will be revealed tonight and dealt with severely.”
Everyone agreed, their voices blending as they left the office to get to their assigned tasks.
“I’d like to meet your mate and welcome her to the family,” Lars said. He was his father’s half-brother, a male who had been part of Anders’ life for as long as he could remember.
“Of course, I’m sure she’d love to meet you too.”
They left the office and found his mother and mate outside with a large group of males and females setting up tables in the manicured backyard.
“Sweetheart, this is my Uncle Lars on my father’s side. Uncle Lars, this is my mate, Hadlee.”
The two hugged, but Hadlee frowned for a moment. Then smiled as she stepped back into Anders’ embrace. “It’s so nice to meet you,” she said.
“You as well,” Lars said. “I’m quite the historian, so if there’s anything I can answer for you about our people, please let me know. You don’t have the benefit of growing up among our kind and that can be a disadvantage.”
“Thank you, I will,” Hadlee said.
“I must be off,” Lars said, giving a small bow. “Until the party.”
After he disappeared, Anders turned and gave Hadlee a kiss. “Are you okay?”
“Sure, why?”
“You made a face when you hugged him. Did he smell weird or something?”
She chuckled then shook her head. “I can’t explain it, but something felt off when I hugged him. I think it’s just nerves since I hadn’t expected to meet anyone from your family right now.”
“I didn’t think a kickass female like yourself would get nervous about anything,” he teased.
“Maybe just this one time.”
He chuckled. “If you’re sure?”
“I am.”
“All right,” he said, clapping his hands. “I’m free to help, so put me to work.”
“As you wish, my king.” She gave him a little curtsy and he laughed.
The day passed quickly and before he knew it, he was buttoning up the dress shirt he’d picked to wear, a pale blue that matched the tunic and leggings Hadlee was wearing to the party. He liked the idea of the party so much, he decided they should have regular p
arties every month.
“Ready to meet your new people?” he asked as they headed down the stairs.
“Yes, just give me a minute to cast the spell.” They reached the back door and stopped.
He watched as she cast a spell, speaking a language he didn’t recognize as she held a shell from the beach in one hand and crushed what looked like dried lavender in her other, sprinkling the pieces over her shoulders. He saw a faint golden glow surround her and then fade.
She wrapped a piece of leather string around the seashell and fashioned a quick necklace, which she put on.
“That was pretty amazing,” he said.
She patted the seashell. “This is like a ward. It will help me divine people’s intentions.”
“How long will the spell last?”
“A few hours. Long enough for me to meet everyone and hopefully get to the bottom of things.”
“I hope so too,” he said. He gave her a kiss and pushed away the worry that tried to surface every time he thought about what might happen if this didn’t work. He didn’t know what he’d do if this failed, but he’d cross that bridge when they came to it. He just hoped like hell that the spell worked.
Chapter Eleven
Note to self: Nothing is ever as easy as it’s supposed to be.
Hadlee was pissed. The party was nearly over, and her divining spell had given her zero bad feelings about anyone. She knew she hadn’t gotten the spell wrong, but it must be wrong if all she got was happy feelings from everyone. Even the uncle, who she’d had a weird feeling about, was all positive vibes from his aura. She kept a smile on her face, even though she was distraught. She didn’t want anyone to know she was upset.
Osiris wove a figure eight around her ankles and rubbed his cheek on her shin. She reached down and picked him up, and he snuggled into her arms, his purr going a mile a minute. “What did I do wrong, kits?” she whispered, scratching his neck.
He meowed against her neck.
“You all right, sweetheart?” Anders asked as he joined her.
“Yeah.”
“Your face says otherwise.”
She snorted. Her mother had always said she wore her emotions on her face like a billboard. “The spell didn’t reveal anything.”
His brow furrowed. “You were certain it would. So what does it mean that it didn’t?”
“Honestly? I don’t know.” She stared at the sea of people in the mansion’s backyard as they milled about, eating and drinking, and enjoying the party. She could see the auras’ layers of translucent colors so clearly. There wasn’t a smidge or smudge of evil intentions anywhere. “Have there been others on the island recently besides me? Like, could someone have come and poisoned you and then left?”
He shook his head. “We leave the island, but we don’t bring people back.”
She arched a brow.
He laughed. “You know what I mean.”
“True, I just like to bust your balls a bit.” She exhaled sharply, feeling defeated. “I don’t know what it means that I can’t figure out who wants to hurt you. It should’ve worked.”
“We’ll find the culprit, sweetheart, I promise.”
She wanted to believe him. He seemed so determined. But wariness poked at her, and she wasn’t so sure that things would go their way.
Reciting the spell again under her breath, she held onto Osiris and touched the seashell hanging from her neck. She felt her power flare, saw a golden glow emanate from herself and move across the yard like fog that was only visible to her, and then recede.
Nothing.
She focused on Uncle Lars. He looked squirrely, but maybe she just got the heebie-jeebies from him for no good reason. Maybe he was just Anders’ uncle and a good male. After all, Anders had only good things to say about his father’s half-brother.
Hadlee couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong, that someone in this crowd wanted to take out Anders. While she could spend time trying to find a motive, the biggest one seemed to be taking over the nest. If Anders died without an heir, the leadership would go to the next eligible male. Was that Lars? Or someone else? Would there be a fight for the leadership of the nest if Anders was gone or would it pass seamlessly to someone else?
“Do you have law books?” she asked.
“Of course. What are you thinking about?”
“Succession.”
He hummed. “Lars is the best person to talk to about that, he’s really well versed in our history.”
“I know, but I’d like to see for myself.”
“The library on the first floor has all the books. You can look to your fill and I’ll go with you to help research. But I already have a good idea who would take over if I was gone.”
She didn’t want to say the name, but she did anyway. “Lars.”
“Yes. But you said you don’t see him having evil intentions, so that must mean he wasn’t behind it.”
“Did you suspect him?”
“I think no one is above suspicion, but he’s family, I don’t think he would hurt me.”
Hadlee wanted to believe that, but she just didn’t. Something was off with dear old Uncle Lars, and she was going to get to the bottom of it.
“I can’t wait to see the library. Osiris loves to explore libraries too. He’s a regular biblio-cat.”
Anders smiled and scratched Osiris between the ears. “We’ll figure this out, I promise. We’ve got plenty of protection until the culprit is found.”
She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She wasn’t sure what she’d say anyway; that his father’s only brother might be plotting against him to take over the nest? She had no proof, and her magic was off. It would be helpful if she had Delaney and Kinsley with her, then she’d be able to cast a really powerful spell.
Sighing, she put away the thoughts of danger and who wanted to take out her sexy mate and focused on the party. She found Darla speaking to some of the females and joined in their chat about the upcoming holidays and how they could make this year’s holiday celebrations even better than before. Hadlee was on board for any kind of party and especially loved decorating.
Before long she forgot about plots to overthrow her mate, poisons, and curses, and was able to relax and enjoy the party.
Tomorrow there would be time for less savory things. She’d put on her sleuthing cap and get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding her mate. He was hers and no one was going to take him out.
* * *
Anders was at his wits’ end. He’d fully hoped that either he’d be able to figure out who tried to take him out, or Hadlee’s spell would work. But here he was, pacing outside on the terrace at one a.m., trying to solve the riddle. Just who in the hell wanted him dead?
He could be thankful that no one had taken any shots at him or Hadlee during the party, but he doubted that whoever had sights on the nest leadership was going to give up after one failed attempt. He simply couldn’t figure it out. First, how had he even gotten poisoned? He’d made a sandwich for himself for lunch but hadn’t eaten any dinner. His mom hadn’t been poisoned, so it was doubtful that the food in his fridge was the culprit. He didn’t remember getting shot by anything before he lost his ability to hold his shift, so that ruled out a sniper situation.
So how in the hell had it happened? How had he nearly died during a hunt, not only poisoned but also cursed?
“Hey,” Hadlee said softly.
He turned to see her wrapped up in one of the blankets, her hair mussed, looking sleepy.
Moving to her, he put his arms around her and drew her close, inhaling her sweetness. “Did I wake you?”
“No, I rolled over and the bed was empty. Are you okay?”
“Frustrated.”
“I’m sorry that my spell didn’t work. I was so sure it would.”
“It’s not your fault.”
She sighed and rested her head on his chest. He looked past her into the dark bedroom. He could see the glint of Osiris’ eyes as he stared at t
hem from his little bed. “I will get to the bottom of it, I promise.”
“I know you will.” She leaned back and went onto her toes to kiss him. “Just remember that you’re not alone, you’ve got me.”
He smiled. “I’m so thankful for that.”
“Do you want some company?”
“You can go back to sleep. I’m going to pace some more.”
She nodded and gave him another kiss, then returned to the bed. He turned and leaned against the railing, staring out over the water. The moonlight danced on the waves and glittered like diamonds. He’d always found it peaceful to listen to the waves at night, but all he could hear now was his brain’s wheels spinning, trying to figure out who wanted him dead. Never having faced this sort of backlash in his life before, he wasn’t really sure what to do, except hope he figured it out before the culprit took another shot at him.
Or Hadlee.
He thought about how she’d asked him to see the law books because she’d been thinking about succession and he’d gone to the library with her. He’d read the books as a youngster because that’s what future kings did. He couldn’t lead if he didn’t know what the laws were. They’d confirmed what he’d known to be the truth: succession went from father to son. Right now, he didn’t have an heir, which meant that the kingship would go to someone in his family line.
On his father’s side, there was only his Uncle Lars, his father’s half-brother. He didn’t have any cousins or other family members. It was just him and his mom and Lars.
He paused on the top step, his mind spinning.
Lars was his advisor. He was like a second father to him.
Shaking his head, he pushed the thought aside, but it nagged at him. Maybe Hadlee was right and it was related to Lars. If Lars was the person who would take over if Anders was out of the picture but was innocent, then someone else was planning a coup and Lars wasn’t safe either.