Wild and Free

by Kristen Ashley

  “Okay,” I cut in semi-loudly. “How about this? We let these ladies fill up their plates. I get them some drinks. We let them eat. And then we can interrogate them some more.” I looked down at Abel and asked gently, “Work for you, baby?”

  He grunted but said no words.

  I decided to take that as my go-ahead.

  “Work for you, ladies?” I asked them.

  “We’re supposed to be here on a diplomatic mission, but I’d kill for some of that kung pao shrimp right about now,” Leah declared.

  I grinned and relaxed in Abel’s lap. “Then let’s not cause a supernatural incident. Just dig in.”

  Chen got them plates. I slid off Abel’s lap, took orders, and brought them both beers.

  I got a fresh one for my man too and climbed back on his lap.

  They filled their plates and I went back to mine that I’d loaded earlier but had only been picking at.

  “You know, me being a human and Sonia living nearly her whole life thinking she was one, explanations would be far more thorough if Lucien and Callum were here,” Leah pointed out carefully.

  Abel looked at her, then looked to Sonia. “Can you explain, if a wolf’s mate is his reason for existing, why the fuck he’d let you walk in here with me, my brothers, and a fuckload of bikers?”

  “Because you’re half wolf,” she said softly. “Because you would kill and die for your mate. Because he knows you know somewhere in your soul he would do the same. So he knows you’d never harm me, not only because it isn’t the way you’re made, but because you wouldn’t take another’s mate from him, nor would you unduly court the possibility that you would be taken from yours, leaving her unprotected.”

  Abel said nothing.

  “That said, he wasn’t a big fan of this plan even though he knows all of that,” she finished on a murmur. “He’s overprotective that way.”

  “Sister, do I get that,” I shared.

  Sonia grinned at me.

  Abel growled.

  “His growl is worse than his bite,” I assured them.

  “Too bad for you,” Leah stated. “Mine bites and…” Her eyes got lazy as she said, “Divine.”

  “I hear that too, sister,” I replied.

  Abel shifted and I looked to him to see his jaw hard and his eyes on the ceiling.

  I looked to my father to see his eyes to his plate, his lips smiling, his hand curled around his fork, shoveling in food.

  In fact, I looked around the table and saw all the men doing this except Chen, who was staring at me and smiling huge.

  So I looked back to the women and gave them big eyes.

  A second later, we all burst out laughing.

  * * * * *

  I stood in the door of the restaurant watching Sonia and Leah leave, waving and then putting my hand to my ear with pinkie and thumb out, shouting, “Right! Call me! We’ll sort these boys out!”

  “You got it,” Leah called back, waving behind her.

  “Thanks for the delicious food, Mrs. Jin,” Sonia yelled, folding into the back of a shiny, flash, black SUV at which a big brawny guy (their driver!—total class) was waiting at the door.

  “My pleasure!” Jian-Li yelled back as she stood beside me.

  She’d joined us not long after Sonia, Leah, and I bonded over being werewolf/vampire bitches and the meal descended into a girls’ lunch at the Chinese restaurant.

  Most of the guys drifted out, my dad and his boys going first. They didn’t do bitch shit.

  Chen, Wei, and Xun weren’t far behind.

  Abel had to stay because I was sitting on him.

  As soon as the driver dude closed the door on Sonia, Abel yanked both Jian-Li and me in and slammed the front door.

  I turned to him to see him opening his mouth to speak, but Jian-Li beat him to the punch.

  “What did I say?”

  He shut his mouth and scowled at her.

  “I am no fool, Abel,” she declared.

  “Okay,” I butted in, moving in between them and looking at Jian-Li. “Totally get your need for a nanny-nanny-foo-foo, Jian-Li, but all’s well that ends well, right?”

  She smiled a bit at my “nanny-nanny-foo-foo” comment and then agreed, “Right, Lilah.”

  I turned and looked up at a still-scowling Abel. “So, I’ll chat with Leah and Sonia, we’ll set up a meet with their men, find out officially what’s going on, and move on from there. Yeah?”

  “Yeah,” he grunted.

  I took a step to the side and pressed the air down with both hands. “Now everyone can relax. At least about the supernaturals at The Biltmore. Am I right?”

  “You are, Lilah,” Jian-Li replied.

  Abel just jerked up his chin.

  “I have a kitchen to supervise preparing for the dinner hour,” Jian-Li murmured. “You two enjoy the rest of your afternoon.”

  “Will do,” I assured her.

  She grinned at me, moved to Abel, and even still annoyed, that didn’t mean he didn’t bend low so she could touch her cheek to his.

  She bustled off.

  I moved to stand in front of my man.

  “Aren’t you relieved?” I asked, taking in his continued displeasure.

  “I’ll be relieved when I have no threats against the ones I hold in my heart, not that one of them has turned out not to be a threat in the first place.”

  I understood that.

  And it was sweet.

  I got close and put my hands on his chest.

  “Let’s celebrate even small successes, yeah?”

  His face got soft as he slid his hands from my waist to my back. “And how would you like to celebrate, bao bei?”

  I tipped my head to the side and pressed in closer. “I have some ideas.”

  His eyes dropped to my mouth as his muttered, “I bet you do.”

  I slid both hands to his neck, lifted up on my toes, and whispered, “This time, I want you to bite me.”

  His eyes flared and the brown spikes started to obliterate the blue.

  Then we weren’t in the entryway of the restaurant. My hair was flying, I was holding on, and, presto, we were in Abel’s room.

  He tossed me to the bed.

  I blinked, pulled in breath, and scrambled to my knees.

  We looked into each other eyes.

  Abel’s were both brown.

  Oh yeah.

  He lunged.

  I met him halfway.

  * * * * *

  Sonia

  That evening, Sonia put her knee to the bed, her eyes to her husband who was lounging in it, chest bared, covers up to his hips.

  She barely got in and settled back on her calves before Callum reached for her, muttering, “Why you persist in wearing nighties to bed, I will never know.”

  And then he tugged the tie on one side that held up the nightie at her shoulder.

  Why she bought it knowing Callum would do just that, she did not know.

  No, she did. Because she knew he’d do just that.

  It was just that, right then, she needed his attention on other things.

  She lifted a hand to hold the silk over her breast, saying, “Cal, we need to talk.”

  He stayed leaned toward her, weight now in his forearm in the bed, but his eyes came to her.

  “We can talk after.”

  She knew what that meant, considering his voice was a rough growl and the tawny spikes were seeping into his blue eyes.

  She also responded to it. Just hearing his voice, knowing what it meant he wanted from his eyes changing, but more, seeing the hunger on his face, the urge she used to try to fight but no longer bothered started to come over her.

  “It’s important,” she said quietly.

  He dropped his hand to her knee and replied, “It’s important to me to get my wife out of that nightie and for her to lay on her belly and spread her legs so I can play.”

  The urge escalated significantly, but Sonia fought it back.

  “I’m worried about Abel,
” she told him.

  “We’re all worried about Abel,” he told her.

  “No, my handsome wolf,” she said gently, “I’m worried because he’s somewhat like me. I’m worried because he knows nothing about his people.” She covered his hand that was moving up her thigh and leaned his way. “I think before Gregor shares about The Prophesies tomorrow, you and Lucien should take Abel aside privately. Share about his nature. His people. Himself.”

  Callum’s hand arrested, and not because Sonia’s covered it.

  “The Prophesies take precedent,” he declared.

  She shook her head. “No, Cal, I sense he’s confused about who he is and what that means.”

  She watched her husband’s brows snap together. “He has to be at least one hundred fifty years old, maybe older, Sonia. He couldn’t have existed without learning about his nature. A pup has no control over turning wolf, and a vampire feeds on blood from the time they’re weaned from their mother’s breast.”

  “But there’s so much more to it,” she reminded him.

  “Yes, there is, but none of it is more vital than sharing with him that he and his mate play a pivotal role in keeping humanity safe from enslavement, which includes the possibility one, the other, or both will die in the process.”

  “Cal—”

  He leaned deeper toward her and his voice was firm when he said, “I know this. I know as wolf. You told me the wolf is winning out in him so I know, Sonia, that the most important thing to him is to know the extent of danger his mate is in and how he can do something to stop it.”

  She could not argue with this.

  She still had a bad feeling.

  “I’ll talk to him. Later,” Callum stated. His hand went back to moving up her thigh and his voice gentled but came thick when he said, “Now, baby doll, take off that fucking nightie and get on your belly for your wolf.”

  The blue in his eyes was gone and they shone with the hunger she felt gnawing through her. A hunger that had to be assuaged. An urge she could no longer deny.

  So Sonia, Queen of the Werewolves, took off her nightie, slid off her panties, and moving on trembling limbs, she got on her belly for her wolf.

  Chapter Eleven

  Dark Day

  Abel

  Abel stood at the basin, the light over it the only light that lit his space, his hands curled around the edge of the sink, his eyes to the mirror.

  They were meeting the vampires and wolf that morning at nine at the restaurant.

  He could not, for the life of him, sense anything other than genuineness from the human bride of the vampire and the queen of the werewolves, and his senses were keen. The women were open, honest, friendly, as well as slightly guarded, but only in a way that it was clear they wished to establish trust and not do anything that might harm that mission. They also bonded with Delilah swiftly and easily.

  And he knew, being who he was and now understanding part of what he was, that it was a massive statement, their mates allowing them to come to the restaurant unprotected.

  He was still worried.

  That day was going to be a dark one; he knew it in his gut.

  He’d left Delilah asleep in bed, but he sensed her stirring.

  He didn’t move. It was early and he hoped she’d go back to sleep, something he had problems doing after Leah phoned her to arrange the meeting. They’d gone back upstairs to make plans with the men as to how to handle it¸ then back downstairs to fuck yet again and go to sleep.

  His hopes were thwarted when she didn’t settle. After a few moments, he heard the covers thrown back, then he heard her pull on her nightshirt and panties, and finally he heard the fall of her bare feet moving across the floor his way.

  When she came into view of the mirror, Abel watched her approach, her face sleepy, her eyes on him, her hair tangled and messy, the vision of her starting to make him hard.

  She said nothing. Just disappeared behind his back at the same instant he felt her hands light on the sides of his waist right before he felt her lips brush the indent of his spine.

  He closed his eyes to fight against the pull of how good that felt.

  He’d hoped he’d have this. Just this. He’d hoped when he found her this was what they would be. What he saw with Jian-Li and Ming. What he saw with all the women who had been family to him, who had held him close to their hearts, and who he had watched with the men they eventually let in them. The casual affection. The quiet support. The catching of eyes where things were communicated perfectly with no words, things no one else would understand except the two communicating them.

  But having it…

  It was more than he could have imagined and he’d spent over a century imagining it, building it up, making it so beautiful that deep in his gut he’d worried the reality would never live up to it.

  But it did.

  And then some.

  It got better when he felt Delilah press her cheek to his back and whisper, “It’s early.”

  Abel opened his eyes. “Yeah.”

  “You didn’t sleep well,” she noted.

  He thought she’d slept well, but apparently he was wrong. She’d felt his restlessness and he could tell by her tone and actions she was concerned.

  Yes, she lived up to the dream and made it better.

  “No,” he confirmed.

  She slid her hands around so her arms were wrapped around his stomach. He felt her shift her head so her nose and forehead were pressed to his spine. When she did that, the soft feathering of her breath drifted down his spine and he again had to fight against going hard at the same time he gave the tightness forming in his chest free rein.

  After she did this, she gave him a squeeze and assured, “It’ll be okay, honey.”

  “I hope so.”

  Another squeeze. “It will.”

  He didn’t reply, just stared into his eyes in the mirror.

  “Can I ask you a question?”

  “Shoot,” he invited.

  He got another squeeze, this one seeming automatic, before she stated, “No recriminations. I don’t know why I need to know, I just do, and it’ll be okay because you’ve been around for a long time. You had a life. I get that. But have you, um…held another woman in your lap like you did with me yesterday?”

  “Absolutely not,” he replied immediately and felt her tense at his back.

  “Really?”

  Abel wrapped his fingers around one of her forearms and gave it a tug. She got him, let him go, and he shifted her to his front, moving in so she was pressed to the sink.

  She tipped her head back, lifted her hands to rest them on his chest, and he caught her eyes.

  “I honest to God didn’t even know I was doin’ it with you,” he told her.

  He saw relief in her face before she murmured, “I kinda sensed that, but I asked because I, well…had to be sure.”

  “It’s only been you, Lilah.”

  Her peering into his eyes turned to staring.

  She understood what he was saying.

  Two hundred years and only one.

  Her.

  Still, she asked, “What?”

  “Never lived with a woman,” he informed her. “Never had a relationship. Never really even dated. Went out with women. Had drinks. Had fun. Did other shit,” he added the last carefully. “Nothin’ else. Especially not the lap thing.”

  “That’s important,” she guessed, still staring in his eyes.

  “Only realized it when Sonia pointed it out. But yeah. The minute I became aware of where you were and that I put you there, I knew I couldn’t handle you bein’ anywhere but there.” He dipped his face closer to hers. “Not another woman got that from me. Not another woman really got anything from me, save my dick. But I don’t think in all my years I’ve even put one in my lap for any reason, pussycat. Not shittin’ you. Musta sensed it was important so I didn’t do it.”

  “That’s cool,” she whispered, the relief still there, but now it was heavier.
/>   “Yeah.”

  “So many things about you are cool, Abel,” she kept going and he felt her words deep in his gut. “The more you learn, the more awesome it all is.”

  Fuck, he fucking loved that she thought that way. And she was not handing him a line, saying words to make him feel better. It was written clear in her expression.

  Awe.

  And something else. Something warm and exquisite.

  Something he felt in his gut, tightening further in his chest, and hardening his cock in a way he couldn’t fight.

  He gave in to the last, moved his hands to her nightshirt, and bunched it at the waist.

  Her lips parted, her eyes went hooded, and he smelled the rush between her legs.

  That did it; his cock stiffened and began to pulse.

  He pulled her nightshirt up further, slid his hands in, then down. Hooking his thumbs in her panties, he pulled them down.

  She bit her lip and leaned into him as they dropped to her ankles and she stepped out of them.

  He gripped her hips and yanked her up, resting her bared ass on the edge of the sink.

  She opened her legs, the lush rise of the scent of her cunt assaulting him, and he growled.

  Her fingers went to the jeans he’d tugged on and gave a passable go at buttoning, leaving the last two undone. He dropped his mouth to hers and stared in her eyes, their breaths coming heavy, twining as she unbuttoned more, reached in, and wrapped her hand tight around his dick.

  “Hard for me,” she breathed.

  “Yeah,” he grunted as her hand got tighter.

  She stroked and he braced, his fingertips digging into the flesh at the top of her ass, wanting to thrust into her hand but wanting more to give her what she wanted to take.

  “Is this mine?” she whispered.

  “Fuck yeah,” he growled.

  She stroked again, a groan stuck in his throat, and he slid his hand along the juncture of her thigh and in.

  She gasped against his mouth, the rush of breath so sweet, he thrust into her hand as he slid two fingers deep into her wet.

  “Is this mine?” he asked, voice rough.

  “Oh yeah.”

  He thrust his dick into her hand again as he did the same with his fingers into her pussy.

  Her breath hitched and wet flooded around his fingers.

  Beautiful.