by Emily Bex
Kate heard the low feral growl of the mountain lion as she stalked through the garden and entered the ring of light around the patio. Kate called to her, "Come on, Riparo. Come see the baby."
The mountain lion walked on silent feet as she approached slowly, nuzzling her head against Kate's arm before peering into Lorenzo's blue eyes, open in fascination, his tiny hand reaching for the whiskers of the large cat.
Shade tried to remain calm. He knew the animals listened to Kate, but his son was being held inches from the mouths of ferocious animals who could attack him if they so desired. He was still leery of her gift of animalism.
"Mi amore, be careful, please. I know you trust them, but they move so fast. Damn, this makes me nervous, I must admit. He seems to respond to them, though. He may have the same gift. I don’t know."
Aegis walked in a circle and then sat down in front of Kate. Kate turned her head to the side, listening. "Aegis says he doesn’t have the gift of animalism. But one other will. I guess that means another child? Yes. She says yes. Aegis says you need to trust her. She would fight to the death to defend what is hers, and all that is yours is also hers."
Kate heard the raucous cawing of the raven as Poe landed in a tree nearby. She shook her head. "Well, haven't heard from you in a while."
Shade pointed to Poe and grinned. "I like that damn bird, he hates Rissa!"
Night Stalker approached Shade and sat on his haunches beside him. Reaching down, Shade rubbed the wolf behind his ears. "Must be the old man's corner over here. You are one smart warrior, Night Stalker."
Kate chuckled as Shade adjusted to the intrusion of the animals. She was about to stand and go back inside when she heard the loud screech of the falcon and knew Danica had joined them. The bird of prey remained high in the trees, her silhouette clear against the night sky.
Kate chuckled. "Well, I didn't know it was going to be a party."
She was not sure if Lorenzo's vision was keen enough yet to see the large bird, but he definitely responded to the sound and looked skyward.
"Can you see him, Lorenzo?"
Kate caught movement out of her peripheral vision and looked down on the ground to see a large snake.
"Fuck!" She jumped up, stepping back quickly and clutching Lorenzo to her chest. Aegis danced around her, leaping up on her hind legs as Kate caught her breath.
"Are you sure, Aegis?"
The wolf chuffed at her and walked over to the snake. The snake was huge and looked like he could swallow Lorenzo whole, but Aegis was telling her the snake's name was Harley, and he was a member of the pack.
Shade reached out to her. "Cazzo! Give me Lorenzo, now!"
Taking his son in his arms, he too, was alarmed. "Damn it, Kate! A snake? What in the hell, this is like a zoo now! I am not keen on those reptiles and there is no way in hell I am letting Lorenzo near it. Just step away from it…please?"
Kate watched Aegis continued to step over and around the snake, until the snake curled up passively. Kate watched and listened to the wolf intently.
“Okay. Aegis knows Harley freaked us out, and she asked him to stop approaching."
She stood still for a second as she realized these animals were under her control as well, not just Aegis'. She approached the snake and acknowledged him. “I know you’re here to protect, but it has me a little wigged out right now. If you don't mind, maybe you could visit another time?"
The snake raised his head as if to strike and Kate took a step back. His tongue flicked out as he turned and slithered back across the yard and into the dark.
"Well, that went well."
Kate was about to tell Shade they should take Lorenzo back inside when another large bird flew over. She looked up to see a large snow white owl land in the tree near Danica. "Seriously? What now?"
Aegis circled at her feet as Kate nodded her head. "Okay. I got it. His name is Wizard. Any more surprises?"
Aegis sat at her feet quietly. "No? Good. I think that’s enough for one night."
She rubbed the wolf's head as she turned to Shade. "The animal parade is over. I think we can go back inside now."
He stood, cuddling Lorenzo, watching as her warriors arrived one at a time to make themselves known. Lorenzo cooed and tried like hell to reach to them, but his suit of puffy armor didn’t allow much movement. His cheeks were rosy from the cold, but he was clearly enjoying the animals. "I think your son enjoys the parade, but I also think he is cold.”
Shade held him up in the air and wiggled him back and forth above his head as Lorenzo cooed. Pulling him down, he went nose to nose with him. "Padre loves his little warrior, but I do believe it is time we went back inside where it is warm and we can snuggle with Madre, si? And if we are good warriors, she may let us both snuggle with her in the big bed!"
Cradling Lorenzo in his arms, he took bel’s hand. "I think a roaring fire is in order!"
Kate slipped her hand in his as they walked back inside the house. She cast a glance over her shoulder as they went through the door to see the family of wolves, the mountain lion, and the birds of prey, all watching them closely.
109
Kate woke before him and lay across his broad chest, listening to his even breathing. She loved that her pre-baby shape was back, and they were now able to sleep as before with her arm and leg draped casually over him, her head on his shoulder. She felt him stir beneath her and knew he was awake, as the whir of the electronic blinds opened onto the darkening sky.
They were both sleeping better now that Lorenzo had been moved to the nursery, although Kate remained alert and knew every time Lorenzo woke during the day, and when he fed from Nita.
Shade slipped from the bed and started to dress in leathers as Kate watched him. “I’ve missed you, lover. We’ve both been so busy it seems. Stay with me tonight.”
Shade ran his hands over his face, combing his fingers through his hair. “Mi amore, Marcello has scheduled trials today.”
Kate scrunched up her face. “Trials?”
He continued dressing as he talked. “Si. For the new recruits. It is an exercise that has them moving quickly from one weapon to the next. They will fight mock battles, on the ground, on the rooftops. It is a means to see how they are advancing and where they need further work.”
Kate pulled the blankets up over her shoulders and buried her face in the pillow. “Oh, okay.” She couldn’t hide her disappointment.
“Bel, are you all right?”
“I’m fine, really. I’ll be busy with Lorenzo. You’d think with a nanny there’d be nothing to do, but somehow, he manages to keep us both busy.”
Shade leaned over the bed and kissed her. “We need time alone, si?”
Kate looked up at him, his dark curls falling forward around his face. “Yes…alone time.”
“Soon, mi amore. But right now, I need to be in the camp. Oh, the lawyers called. The seller accepted our offer on the land that adjoins our property. So, plant whatever you want.”
Kate gave him a half smile. Is that what she wanted? Another project? She responded without much enthusiasm. “That’s good news.”
He kissed her again before leaving their room. She heard him stop in the nursery to check on Lorenzo before he left the house.
Kate closed her eyes and sighed. She didn’t realize how much the baby would alter their lives. Even the pregnancy had dictated change. He’d continued to make love to her, almost until she delivered. But it was awkward and limiting. And he was so careful with her. She didn’t realize how much she’d miss the intimacy of his feeding from her.
She knew each time he went to Luca, and although she was grateful for Luca’s cooperation, she could feel their passion, and selfishly wished it was her.
Lorenzo was just over a month old now, and he fed almost exclusively from Nita. Kate had lost the baby weight and had her figure back. Now she wanted her mate back.
She climbed from bed and slipped on her jeans. She’d abandoned her jeans during the pregnancy in favo
r of dresses, so pulling them on and getting the zipper closed made her smile. She pulled a sweater over her head and slide on a pair of boots. She brushed out her hair before leaving the room and headed to the nursery.
As she opened the door of their bedroom, she could hear Cory clamoring down the stairs from his suite. He passed her in the hallway, waved and said, “I’m late!”
She waved back as he flew down the second set of stairs to the first floor and out the door.
Kate entered the nursery to find Theresa in the rocker, holding Lorenzo to her neck as he suckled. “Where’s Nita?”
Theresa smiled. “She’ll be here shortly. But he was hungry, and I hate to make him wait.”
Kate shook her head. “Somehow, I think this baby is going to have a hard time understanding the concept of waiting for anything.” She dragged a basket of clean clothes and linens and started folding them.
Theresa studied her. She’d spent more than a year now under the same roof with her and could read her moods. “Is something on your mind, my lady?”
Kate looked up at her surprised. “What? No. Nothing, it’s nothing.”
Theresa stared her down. “You’re not very convincing, my lady.”
Kate threw up her hands, tossing the laundry aside as she paced the room. “I feel so...restless…or something.”
Theresa smiled at her. “Restless? Are you sure restless is what you feel?”
Kate flopped down on the sofa bed. “I don’t know what I’m feeling. Confused? Frustrated? Agitated?”
Theresa chuckled. “My lady, Lorenzo has stopped feeding. Have you invited master to feed from you again?”
Kate looked at her skeptically. “Invited? What do you mean ‘invited’? I sleep right next to him. He needs an invitation?”
Theresa laughed. “Well, yes, he does, actually. Not all masters would wait. Some would resume feeding whether their mate was ready or not. But that was not how Shade was raised. Some females want a period of time after the baby stops feeding to regain their strength before their mate comes to them again. He needs to know you are ready.”
Kate looked at her with a confused expression. “So, I just tell him?”
Theresa looked at her over Lorenzo’s dark curls. “My lady, I don’t think you need any direction from me on the art of seduction. I have lived under this roof as well, yes?”
Kate smiled at her. “Seduction. Oh, I understand seduction.”
Theresa smiled back. “Indeed you do.”
Kate stood and walked to the door. “Do you have everything under control here?”
Theresa gently rocked the baby as she answered, “Take all the time you need.”
Kate returned to their bedroom to find Emma had already made their bed. She folded back the spread and blanket, and then stripped off the boots and jeans, tossing the sweater over the chair. She filled the room with soft candlelight before walking into the bathroom and filling the large tub with water, sprinkling in her rose-scented bath salts and tossing some rose petals on the surface. She lit candles in the bathroom, filling the room with a warm glow. She pinned her hair loosely on top of her head, letting tendrils fall around her face. Stepping into the large tub, she slid into the steaming hot water. Laying her head back against the tile, she took a deep breath then called to him. “Lover? Can you join me please?”
***
Shade and Marcello walked around the training field, observing the new recruits in action. Several of the newbies had been paired up with the experienced warriors to cover the outside security for the Canton wedding. It had been a small start to give them experience, even though the event went off without a hitch. Still, it gave Marcello an opportunity to observe how they’d handle themselves on a professional assignment.
Shade was feeling restless and sluggish. He should feed again, but didn’t want to return to Luca. He knew bel had stopped feeding Lorenzo, and he was hoping he could wait it out. Luca’s blood had sustained him, but it was her blood he craved.
Marcello was recording their observations about each recruit’s performance during the trials when Shade heard her invitation in his head, and felt her desire wash over him.
Shade turned to Marcello. “You got this, brother? I think I’m needed in the main house.”
Marcello looked up from his notes. “Sure, no problem.”
Shade teleported to their bedroom, which was bathed in candlelight. He picked up the scent of roses. “Mi amore?”
“In here, lover.”
He followed the sound of her voice into their bathroom, also lit by the flickering light of many candles. She had learned to will forth music, as Norah Jones seductively sang, “Turn Me On.”
He pulled off the boots and stripped off the leathers as he looked at her. Her cheeks flushed pink from the heat of the water. The fine tendrils of her crimson locks clung to her face in the steam that rose from the bath. He walked to the tub and she slid forward, and he slipped in behind her. He lowered himself into the hot bath, his long legs straddling her, as she lay back against his chest.
“Lover, I’ve missed you.”
His hands explored beneath the surface of the water, sliding over her hips and encircling her waist before moving up and cupping each breast in his hands. “Mi amore, are you ready?”
Kate lay her head back on his shoulder, exposing her neck to him, her lips slightly parted, her eyes closed. Her actions told him more than any words could speak. He bent his head to her, letting his tongue explore the pulsing vein in her neck, his cock growing hard, as the moan escaped her lips.
“Lover, it’s been too long.”
“Si, mi amore, much too long.”
Her breasts filled his hands, her nipples hard against his palms as he slid his hands across those soft orbs. He lowered his lips to her neck, nipping first, breaking the skin, and letting a single drop of her deep red blood flow down her neck against her lily white skin. He heard her hiss as his fangs punched through, and he bit into that tender flesh, drawing deep. Her blood flowed over his tongue and he growled deep in his chest. He had missed the taste of her, the unique energy he got only from her. He swallowed, feeling her blood slide down his throat as every cell crackled with life. How had he managed to go five months without feeding fromher?
Kate felt the explosion of heat between her legs as his fangs penetrated her skin, and his lips closed around the wound, sucking and drawing her blood into his mouth. She cried out with the pleasure his feeding brought as her hands slide down his thighs, her nails gripping him tight. She could feel the heat from his steel-hard cock, throbbing against her ass. She pushed her hips hard against him. He drank from her like a dying man, thirsting in the desert, each swallow bringing both of them pleasure.
He unlatched, his eyes glowing red as he stood. Lifting her with him, he stepped from the tub. He carried her as he walked, glistening wet in the candlelight back to their bed. He sat her on the side of the bed and pulled the pins from her hair, letting her crimson fall around her shoulders as single red rose petals randomly clung to her body.
“My walking sin.”
He removed the petals with his mouth, slowly, one by one, licking them away as they stuck to his tongue. As he held her hand in his, he dropped the petals into her palm. His breath hot against her skin, he watched the goose bumps that trailed behind the explorations of his tongue.
When he’d collected all the petals inside her palm, he looked at her, their eyes locked in a loving gaze. They needed no words to express what they both felt as their love washed over them.
"It seems as though we were like the petals of that rose, scattered, in disarray, yet still together. You hold my heart, mi amore. There will be times we struggle to be together, to be in sync with one another, but we are never without the other."
Kate sprinkled the petals across the sheets, and then lay down on their bed, pulling him with her.
"You’ve taken care of me, watched over me and Lorenzo, and we’ve both been pulled in a lot of directions. But I m
iss us. I want us."
He leaned over her, his weight supported on his elbow, as she ran her hands through his tangled locks, the tips of his hair still damp from the tub.
"Si. I did not want to rush you. Each female is different in their need after the birthing. I will not make demands, but I have such need, mi amore. With us, it is always a slow, simmering burn that erupts in fireworks.”
Taking her in his arms, he willed the music of Lifehouse singing, “Falling In” to play softly in their room lit from the candles and the moon. He held her body, soft and naked against his bare skin, as he leaned down, kissing her neck before moving to her waiting lips. He rolled over, taking her with him as he stood and lifted her from the bed. His hands wrapped under her ass, lifting her to his waist. Her legs wrapped around his hips as she clung to him. He danced slowly around the room and watched as she leaned back, her crimson locks falling behind her. Leaning forward, he sucked a nipple into his mouth, letting his tongue tease until her nipple was a tight, sweet bud in his mouth.
Kate couldn’t remember the last time they were playful. His mouth was hot and wet on her nipple, and it sent a chill down her spine. She rose up to meet him, kissing him slowly, biting at his lower lip and drawing it into her mouth before kissing him deeply.
"You keep kissing me like that, mi amore, there will be fireworks far too soon. Patience."
Her amber eyes stared back at him with such innocence, but he knew behind those eyes there was so much passion, reserved solely for him. Laying her on the bed, she slithered into a seductive pose and he growled.
As he walked to the nightstand he could feel her eyes on his every move. Rummaging in the drawer, his found the bottle of exotic rose massage oil. Walking to the foot of the bed, he poured a generous amount in his hands and rubbed them together, warming the oil in his hands as the fragrant scent wafted into the room. He stared into her eyes and a wicked grin slid across his face. "Turn over."
She slowly raised her arms above her head and rolled onto her stomach, arching her back, lifting her ass slightly. She looked over her shoulder at him through her tousled red hair. "Like this, lover?"