by JL Madore
Hawk closes in behind me and gathers my hair. Shifting it away from my neck, he drops his mouth to my bare shoulder and his breath washes over my skin. “So. Fucking. Hot.”
I groan as he nuzzles and nips at my shoulder—the same shoulder Brant bit earlier today. His mark has healed, of course, but I still feel the erotic sting of his hold on me as Hawk’s steel length presses hard against the small of my back. Hawk’s tall… too tall to be inside me at the same time as Jaxx when we’re standing. Jaxx picks up his rhythm and each penetration has me clamoring for more.
“That’s what I’m talking about,” Brant says, wading in to join us.
“So much for a discreet moment,” Hawk chuckles against my neck.
“Hey, if you weren’t having a party, you shouldn’t have sent the sexy invitation over the mating bond.”
I let my eyes roll closed as another set of hands caress my ass and down my arms. Yeah, I feel it then, our mating bond is lit up and throbbing with sexual need. I suppose that’s as good as an invitation. All we need to make it perfect is—
“I’m here, Chigua,” Kotah whispers softly against the shell of my ear.
“Oh, good,” I groan, my voice ragged. “So good—oh!”
Hawk tilts me back off Jaxx’s chest and a rush of warm water flows over my skin. I open my eyes and catch Kotah’s smile. He’s watching the moonlight glisten on my wet breasts, my nipples standing straight up off my chest.
The growl of my wolf vibrates right to my core and I bite my lip to keep from crying out.
Hawk mutters something and I feel the tingle of magic fall over us. “No holding back, Spitfire. I dropped the cone of silence over us. A little gift from my mother’s side.”
“Thank gawd,” I gasp, letting off a groan simply because I can. “More Jaxx. If no one can hear us, I want you to make me scream.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Hawk, raise her shoulders a little. Brant and Kotah, you’ve got her legs.” Jaxx adjusts the angle of my hips and presses against a raw and delicious spot deep inside me.
“Oh, yes,” I groan, my breath getting sucked from my lungs. “Right there.”
Jaxx chuckles. “You say that like I don’t know where all your sensitive spots are, kitten. We know you inside and out. Prepare to scream and cream.”
“That’s poetic, Jaguar,” Brant says. “Prepare to scream and cream. I’m getting t-shirts made.”
Jaxx’s hips thrust forward and my vision fritzes. He rubs that spot again and it’s like raw bliss. I do as instructed and close my eyes, absorbing every probing stroke. My head falls back to the surface of the water and I groan at the ecstasy of it all: Jaxx’s cock, the touch of my mates, the warm water lapping at my skin as he picks up his pace and rocks harder and harder inside me.
With the four of them holding me, there’s no fear of sinking. I close my eyes again and absorb it. One important thing that blindfolded sex with Hawk has taught me is how much I love sensation.
Lost in the pumping thrusts, with my breasts being caressed, and the slap, slap, slap of water splashing against my skin, I embrace the keening building inside me.
Jaxx isn’t the only one who needs this. We all do.
“Purr for me, Jaxx.”
The throaty rumble of my jaguar does me in. He plunges into me a few more times and my body shatters. I’m lost to him, as I always am. I swallow and try to hold off, but with Jaxx’s purr and his cock and his throaty grunts filling my ears, my hips convulse and my world shatters.
I cry out, arching in the water as my mates support me, and Jaxx’s breathing hitches in a throaty grunt.
On a shout, he pitches his hips forward and locks into place. With bruising fingers at my hips, he throws his head back and comes hard. I open my eyes then, to watch his end. With his muscled chest heaving and the cords in his throat strained tight, he spills into me.
My Texas cowboy in all his glory.
After a moment, he settles, and I ride out the ebbing waves of pleasure. Despite the world awaiting our return, I refuse to rush this. “Thank you, puss.”
He withdraws and I shiver with the loss of his heat. “No. Thank you, kitten.”
The other three are looking equally moved and I chuckle. “I don’t care if everyone in that camp knows what we’re up to. Is anyone else having trouble with their wild sides? Because I’m happy to keep doing what we’re doing until all my mates are sated.
“Since you’re offering,” Brant says, waggling his brow. “My bear could use a moment of your time. And when I say moment, I mean it. Fuck, Jaguar, that was hot. I’m not gonna last long.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Hawk
By the time we get back, the five of us have calmed our wild sides and are ready to eat. In truth, we’d been hungry most of the day but giving Calli all the food was a no-brainer. She’s the one who collapses annnd she has our baby phoenix growing inside her.
Fuck. I never thought I’d get weak in the knees about a baby. I never wanted kids. I never liked kids. But this baby is ours. The five of us came together in passion and love and created life.
Five become one.
Yep, I’m completely absorbed. I’m also scared shitless.
“What the hell?” Brant grumbles as we break from the trees. “Did Uber Eats explode in this forest while we were fooling around?”
I look at the spread of food and blink. “Looks like it.”
Not far from the fire, someone has set up a makeshift, sawhorse table and the surface is covered from end to end with food: pizza, egg rolls, pans of lasagna, quartered chickens, potato salad, cheese tray, veggie tray, dessert squares…
“We didn’t know what kind of food Calli eats,” Yarko says, jogging over to meet us. “I said we should find you and ask but Rowan said we definitely shouldn’t. I knew you ate pizza before, so I thought we were good to start there. Then, we went with a broad selection and figured we’d get lucky somewhere. Oh, and Doc and Keyla cooked the rabbits you caught too. There’s plenty for everyone.”
“I see that.” Calli pulls to the front of the group and rushes to the table. “And yes, this is perfection. Thank you, both.”
Yarko shrugs and grabs a square of cheese as he walks along the table with us. “Honestly, we did it so you and your husbands will help Rowan save his family. They aren’t his real family but they took him in and they’re good to him. That can be family too, can’t it?”
“It absolutely can,” Brant says. “It’s the only family I ever had and it’s all you need.”
“Same,” Calli says, popping an eggroll into her mouth. “My friend Riley and I were on our own from the time we were maybe a year or two older than you. We had each other and that was enough.”
Yarko nods. “That’s what I thought. So, eat, get strong, and then, you can help us get his family back.”
I make a heaping plate and make sure Calli is getting enough on hers. “Give us fifteen minutes and we’re all his.”
“Cool. Thanks. I’ll tell him.”
When the kid jogs off, I catch a glimpse of me as a young boy, alone in the world and making the best of my situation. I feel responsible for the kid. After all, my father stole his last moments with his parents before their deaths.
“It’s nice that he has someone who understands his powers who can watch out for him,” Calli says.
“I’m not sure a Forest Lord is the best role model, but if not, I’m sure I can find a foster home for him.”
Brant scoops a heaping mound of lasagna on his plate and points the serving spoon at us. “It so happens I know a fabulous couple who specialize in fostering lost boys. Margo and Ben would take him in, and he could grow up with a real family and not stuck in the woods with a giant walking-stick.”
“Something to think about for sure, but as we all know, families come in all sorts of packages. If they’re happy and thriving, it’s none of our business.”
Once we all have our selections made, I gesture to the seats by the fir
e and head over to join the others. “Okay, everyone, eat up and then we’ll regroup and get ready to repay our favor to Rowan.”
“Which is bullshit,” Brant snaps. “Our destiny is right here. Calli and the portal gate. Nowhere in any of the lore did it mention rescuing fire dervishes from your old man’s clutches.”
“Honestly, I’m with Brant on this one,” Jaxx says. “I think Calli’s been through enough for one day. If we have to go, fine, but she should stay here and guard the gate. It’s her destiny and she could rest.”
“Hey! You trying to get rid of me, puss? I thought we said no more splitting up. I’m good. By the time I eat all this food and we get our plan sorted, I’ll be one hundy percent. Why would you want to bench me?”
Jaxx pegs me with a questioning gaze and I shake my head. No. Not a good idea.
Calli scowls and waves her fork between Jaxx and me. “What’s with you guys today? I’ve been catching strange glances and weird vibes all afternoon. What am I missing?”
“Nothing we need to get into at the moment,” I say, finishing my plate. “Yes, there is something we need to tell you, but it’s private and we’d rather do it when we’re not surrounded by fae creatures, friends, and foes.”
Her frown deepens. “But you’re all okay? No one’s sick or hurt, or anything terrible?”
I chuckle and offer her a genuine smile. “Nothing at all terrible, just private. We’ll talk about it when we get back to the castle or settle somewhere for the—”
Lukas shouts as an explosion lights up the clearing.
Sparks light up the night sky as power sizzles in the air. By the source of the magical pyrotechnics, I know in an instant what’s happening.
My father’s men are making their move.
I curse, drop my plate, and launch into the fray.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Without thinking, I draw my gun and head for the tree where my father was tied up. Two men cut me off. One of them has magic and shoots off a couple of jolts of magical energy.
I duck the blasts of orange magic and a tree explodes bark behind me. Rolling to the side, I find cover behind a tree. There’s nowhere to go.
Lukas is busy casting and seems to be negating the spells of my attacker. I peer around the tree and search for my father. “Where fuck is he?”
In the split-second, I glance away, the tallest of the attackers grabs something out of his belt. The metallic edge glints gold in the light of the fire.
With sickening speed, the man unleashes the dagger into the air. I follow the trajectory and curse when I see Brant standing directly in its path. Our bear is grappling with an attacker and doesn’t see the danger.
“Brant!”
He turns but doesn’t have time to avoid the hit. All he can do is throw up his arm and block.
In a blur of movement so fast my eyes barely register it, Yarko throws up his hand and the air swallows the dagger. The kid swings his hand back toward the influx of Black Knight minions and the blade reappears and impales one of their own.
I’m staring in wonder when Jaxx cages me into his arms and spins us out of the path of another approaching blade.
Kotah moves in fast, plucks the dagger out of the air, and without hesitation sends it end-over-end back to its owner.
The blade sinks true. The attacker’s hands grasp at the hilt of the weapon lodged in his throat as he crumples. Blood fountains through his clenched fingers, pooling like oil and seeping into the soil of the forest floor.
Three others stepped over him and advance.
Damn, how many men does he have? The forest is seething with men in black gear and I curse. We’re so fucking outnumbered it’s pathetic.
I scan the surroundings, assessing where my mates are when a burst of magic rushes through the clearing. One minute we’re getting overrun by the enemy, and the next, they’re gone and the forest falls eerily quiet.
“What happened?” I snap. “Where are they?”
“Gone,” Lukas says. He’s standing with his hands on his hips scowling at the empty space where my father had been tethered for the past hour.
“Fuuuuck!” I shout. “How the fuck did this happen? Where’s Rowan? And where’s the kid?”
Lukas shakes his head. “It shouldn’t have happened. That spell was a lock. None of his men we’ve come up against had the juice needed to break it.”
“The greater fae tree freak does,” Brant snaps.
Lukas frowns. “Why would Rowan set Sabastian free when he helped us capture him?”
The air snaps with the arrival of a traveler. Yarko appears and holds out his hand. “Okay, hurry. We followed them and know where they went.”
No one grabs on.
“What? Don’t you want to get Sabastian back?”
Brant moves to grab the kid’s hand and I stop the contact. “No, don’t. This stinks of a double-cross. I’d rather let my father walk now and be sure of our next move. I wondered why he was so calm. This is exactly the kind of mind-fuck he’d pull. The whole enemy of my enemy is my friend bullshit could be a ploy.”
Brant chuckles. “Awesome. So, now we’re back to thinking the Forest Lord is a bad guy?”
“No, he’s not,” Yarko snaps. “You don’t want to come, fine. I’m not leaving him on his own.”
The kid flashes out and we’re still standing there wondering what the hell happened when Rowan flashes back. He lifts my father’s severed head by the hair and scowls. “You gave me your word and I am a man of honor. Your father escaped and I tracked him. Come or don’t but fifty narys just witnessed me slice his head off, so there will be repercussions.”
“Fuck.” I stare at the gruesome head dripping onto the soil below. My father is dead? There’s so much I need to reconcile about that but there’s no time. “Amir and Andy, secure the portal rift. Doc and Keyla, hold the fort. Lukas, you’re with us.”
Calli grips Rowan’s arm and Jaxx’s cat lets off a ferocious growl. “Calli should stay here with Doc and Keyla. Establishing a portal gate is her destiny. Seriously, Hawk. Leave her here. She’s been shot twice today already. How much are you willing to risk for your father’s bullshit?”
I hate the fear in his eyes and know it’s all about the baby. I’m worried too but Calli is a strong, independent woman and has the greatest chance of survival out of all of us.
Calli frowns. “I’m not sure who pissed in your cat box, puss, but even if Sabastian laid a trap, we can handle it together like always. You don’t get to leave me behind.”
I nod to Rowan. “Six of us, locked and loaded.”
Jaxx
Before I can argue, the six of us, plus Rowan, and Sabastian’s head materialize beside Yarko and Sabastian’s body. They’re tucked behind an outdoor screen of a smoking corral attached to the side of a twenty-story, steel and glass office building. I assess the body more out of habit being a paramedic than because I believe he might still have a pulse. But, after seeing Hawk put three bullets into his chest earlier and him getting back up, it can’t hurt to be thorough.
“And?” Hawk asks as if he is thinking the same thing.
“Definitely dead. Your theory was correct.”
“Holy shit, Hawk,” Brant says. “Look where we are.”
The two of us straighten and I look down the block at… “Wait. Isn’t that the FCO building?”
As an FCO First Responder, I never came to the Manhattan head office, but as Hawk’s mate, we were attacked here a week or two ago by Sabastian’s men.
Hawk studies the cityscape and freezes in place.
It sinks in then. His father set up shop across the road from his building to actively destroy him. How long was he here? How long had he planned this? Hunter worked here for three years. That’s messed up.
I know Hawk is losing his shit because our avian has a tell. First, he clenches his jaw tight enough you’d swear he’s going to snap off his back molars, and then a vein starts throbbing beside his temple.
Other people p
robably don’t notice, but once Calli pointed it out to me, it’s hard not to see.
Pulling out his phone, he calls up a contact and hits send. “Jayne, I need a full breach team and two field teams down the road at 9525. Yes, you heard me… Not now… Jayne, just send the fucking teams. A Forest Lord decapitated my father in front of the building. They can’t miss it. And have Mallory Daniford from the security desk come too. I need his skills.”
He hangs up and tucks his phone back into his pocket. “Okay, next dilemma. Do we know where the dervishes are being held?”
“No, but I feel them inside,” Rowan says.
“Have we got any idea what kind of security protocols they have for gaining access to the building?”
Rowan lifts Sabastian’s head. “Retinal scanning and a key card.”
“Your father was a paranoid freak,” Yarko says.
Hawk nods. “If you stab enough people in the back, you get that way. Brant, search for his card.”
After a moment of going through the man’s pockets, our bear comes up with a card wallet and tosses it to Hawk. “So, are we ready to rumble?”
Lukas pulls a small silver case out of his flack vest. He pries open the lid and turns it until the clear earbuds nestled in black foam are facing us. “Everyone, grab one and tap the little button before you put it in your ear. It’s easier that way if you’re not accustomed to using them.”
We do as we’re told.
Hawk finishes going through his father’s cards and holds up two possible winners. “I’m good. Are you guys set?”
Not even close. I look at Calli and unlike other times when we’ve been marching into battle and all I saw was her almost indestructible strength, now all I see is the vulnerability of what violence against her could cost us.
Today she got shot in the shoulder and the knee. What if she got shot in the abdomen? “Stay close and stay safe, kitten.”
Calli squeezes my hand. “S’all good, puss.”
“Ready,” Brant says, anticipation lacing his smile.
“I will come too,” Rowan says. “Exposure is no longer an issue—which I am sorry about—but I refused to let him escape. Now that your team is coming to negate exposure, I wish to go inside and join the fight.”