Wild and Free

by Kristen Ashley

  His Aurora, always the tease.

  One side of his lips hitched up.

  The panties dropped to her ankles and his cock started throbbing.

  “Step out of them,” he commanded.

  With less hesitation, she did as told.

  He opened his thighs. “Closer, Aurora.”

  Rubbing her lips together, she moved between his legs.

  Yuri bent forward and wrapped his hands around the backs of her knees, his head tipped far back to hold her gaze captive. Then he watched, he listened, he smelled, he heard her anticipation heighten as he slid his hands slowly up the backs of her thighs until he cupped her bare ass.

  Her lips parted.

  She liked his touch and he very much liked touching her.

  He smoothed his thumbs against the soft skin at the sides of her cheeks. “This will be sore, Aurora,” he noted, carefully taking in her response in order to ascertain if there was fear that was not the good kind, aversion, or anything to indicate she didn’t desire that.

  Instead, he got a waft of musk from between her legs that nearly had him lifting up her skirt and burying his tongue there.

  Abruptly, he let her go and sat back.

  “Over my knees,” he demanded.

  He again saw indecision before she watched him closely as she moved to his side. When she positioned to put a knee in the couch beside him, he gave her a short nod. He heard her breath catch as she looked away in order to finish arranging herself precisely as he wanted her over his thighs.

  He reached out an arm, grabbed a toss pillow, and gently tucked it under her head, which was resting on the couch, her face turned away. This would not be his choice, but he allowed it. The next time, he’d demand she face him so he could watch her reaction to what he gave her.

  “You may wish to hold on, sweet,” he murmured.

  Instantly, her hands came up and gripped the pillow at its sides.

  When she had her hold, slowly, excruciatingly slowly, he slid a hand up the back of her thigh and up, until he’d bared her ass.

  Perfection. So much so, he’d sink his fangs there.

  Eventually.

  But now, she’d earned different.

  And he gave it to her, his hand landing on her cheek, filling the room with a sharp crack.

  She jumped.

  He drove his hand between her legs and found her, already wet.

  Ready for it.

  She moaned.

  He gave her that until she was lifting her ass and grinding into his fingers that were drenched with her moisture, all this whimpering uncontrollably.

  Only then did he go back to her ass.

  She cried out, a sound that scored a path straight to his shaft, but she kept her ass lifted.

  She was there, exactly where he wanted her.

  Yuri smiled and he kept her there, taking her further until he did as he’d promised he’d do, her ass pink, her body writhing, her lips begging for release. It took some time. She’d held out beautifully.

  But it was so spectacular, he needed more.

  And it was time to give his little witch what she needed.

  With his natural speed, he had her up, his cock out, and had her straddling him before he stopped her, her soaked cunt barely a hint against the tip of his cock.

  She was blinking, recovering from the swiftness of her change in position, and only when he had her focus did he use his hands on her hips to slowly lower her down on his cock, filling her.

  Taking her.

  Bloody hell.

  Finally, she was his.

  He watched her head drop back and the pulse pound in her neck, that same pulse throbbing around his cock.

  Fucking divine.

  “Now, sweet,” he murmured, his voice rough. The velvet feel of her was driving him mad, and it took a great deal for him to finish. “You take what you want.”

  She lifted her head and found his eyes. Hers were vague and heated. She placed her hands on his shoulders and whispered, “You feel good, Yuri. I want more.”

  “Then take it,” he ordered.

  “Okay,” she breathed and moved.

  Bliss.

  Bloody fucking hell.

  Digging his fingers into her hips, scraping them back to her ass, he coaxed her to go faster.

  She didn’t need a great deal of coaxing. She rode him, fast and hard, gliding her hands from his shoulders to his neck and up into his hair, fisting them there.

  “Sweet goddess,” she whimpered, pleasure suffusing her face, making the rose of her cheeks rosier, her fresh musk all he could smell, and it was beyond brilliant, so much so, she was fucking him and his mind was filled with that as well as the myriad ways he intended to fuck her.

  “I want your mouth,” he demanded.

  She bent forward and gave him her mouth. He took it, thrusting his tongue inside to taste peaches and rain and Aurora just as she cried out with her orgasm, bucking against him, grinding onto his cock, her cunt gripping him and thrumming with the rapid beat of her heart.

  He lifted, flipped her to her back on the couch, and powered hard and deep into her slick tightness until he groaned his release against her wet lips.

  When the sensations moved through him, he slid his cheek along hers, down, until he could glide his lips along her jaw. He went up and captured her mouth, finally kissing her as he’d wanted from near the moment he met her, thoroughly and for a long time.

  When he lifted his head, her eyes were still vague but replete, the light in them dimmed to an indolent glow.

  It wasn’t what he’d wanted to see.

  It was better.

  Yuri lifted a hand and stroked her jaw with his knuckles, feeling her body melt even further under his, before he dropped his hand to the tail of her hair and wrapped its softness around his fist.

  “Are you going to be good for me from now on?” he asked.

  “Uh…well, probably not,” she whispered.

  Again, very slowly, Yuri smiled.

  Her eyes dropped to his mouth and watched. When he was done, they lifted back to his.

  “You’re not cute,” she declared.

  “No.” He continued to smile. “I’m not.”

  “But you’re hotter than I expected.”

  Excellent.

  Yuri said nothing.

  “No one’s ever done that to me before,” she admitted quietly, and again, Yuri had to bury his howl of elation.

  “If that’s the case, my sweet, there are a great number of things I intend to do to you that no one’s ever done before.”

  “Sweet goddess,” she breathed.

  He bent and slid his nose down hers, holding her gaze.

  “Shall we get started?” he asked.

  “Now?” she asked back, her eyes widening.

  “We have thirty-five and a quarter hours to kill,” he answered.

  “Then, yes,” she breathed.

  And again, very slowly, Yuri smiled.

  * * * * *

  Yuri shifted to his back in the bed, keeping his cock buried deep inside Aurora’s wet sheath and settling her on top of him.

  She snuggled closer and sighed.

  He stroked her spine and listened to her heartbeat quiet.

  After long moments, she murmured, “You’re staying hard.”

  “That’s because I’m not done fucking you.”

  She lifted her head and gave him big, blue eyes.

  “Wow, vampires have stamina.”

  He lost count of how many times he’d done it that day, more than any in recent memory, he was certain, but he did it again.

  He smiled.

  She watched him do it and melted into him.

  However, after she did that, she said, “I hate to say this, sweetheart, but that bowl needs to be checked and stirred occasionally. We’ve been busy. I should see to that.”

  He nodded, adding, “I should also probably feed you.”

  Not to mention, he needed to feed. Her pulse had been call
ing to him for hours.

  He’d been introducing her to a variety of things she very much enjoyed. But she was young and obviously had little experience, so he would take his time introducing her to that.

  He did not savor the idea of bagged blood.

  But for Aurora, he’d endure it.

  “I’ll get the room service menu while I’m out there,” she told him.

  “Do that,” he replied, lifted his head and brushed his mouth to hers.

  Then he moved his hands to her waist and watched her face as he slid her off his shaft.

  He’d learned in the past few hours that she liked him inside her and missed him when she lost him, and she didn’t hide either.

  All of which he relished.

  “Hurry,” he whispered.

  She nodded and slid off him, but when she got to the end of the bed, she hesitated, curling the end of the sheet around her breasts.

  More of what he relished. He could make her abandon all thought with what he was doing to her when he was pleasuring her, but now, she became Aurora. A hint uncertain and definitely shy, both utterly charming.

  “My shirt,” he said, and she looked his way. “Use my shirt, button.”

  “Right,” she murmured, then slid from between the sheets and hurried to his shirt.

  She shrugged it on and threw him a timid grin as she left the room.

  He watched her doing this, deciding he was going to keep her. As soon as he could, he would release his concubine so it was only Aurora.

  How long he’d keep her, he had no idea.

  However, he knew it would take some time to lose his taste for her.

  Perhaps eternity.

  This was not a thought Yuri had ever had. He’d never been tied to a vampire or human. His longest relationship had lasted eleven years, and at his age, that was not very long.

  But he remembered his father’s agony when, in order to save her life when The Dominion outlawed vampire/human partners in a way they meant it, and if defied, they killed both, Gregor had denounced his human mate.

  Thus, he was the sole vampire in recent history (that being five hundred years) who broke a vow.

  But he did it for the best reason there was.

  Love.

  His father had not shown his torment to anyone but his son. And his suffering held Gregor in such a grip that Yuri worried he’d end his own immortality. It didn’t help that Gregor kept tabs on the mate he’d saved from the noose. Even watched her himself on occasion.

  And thus, he saw her marry another human, give him children, and find her brand of happiness.

  But Yuri also watched her. He’d liked her. He’d liked that she’d made his father happy. But in the life she built without him, she had not been truly happy. Not as she was with Gregor. Not the happiness of a woman who knew she was with the precise being on this earth who the fates had destined for her.

  Yuri rarely thought of it as it brought back unpleasant memories, but he knew then, as he knew now, that his father had found his lifemate—the one being who would exist throughout eternity who was meant for him.

  She died at ninety-two years of age, a long life for that time; however, Gregor had been giving her his saliva for decades so he’d given her one last gift: an elongated life. A gift Yuri had no doubt she didn’t want, living those extra years without Gregor.

  Experiencing this through his father, living under the edicts that vampires were not allowed to take human lovers unless at a Feast, he’d not thought of eternity. Not with vampire. Not with wolf. Definitely not with human.

  He found it freeing to be able to do so now.

  And thinking of it at the same time thinking of Aurora, it was not only freeing, it was pleasant.

  His phone rang, and considering all that was happening, Yuri didn’t have the luxury of ignoring it. Therefore, he moved to the end of the bed and reached out an arm to his slacks. He got his phone, looked at the screen, and saw it was his father calling.

  He gritted his teeth but took the call.

  “Father,” he greeted.

  “I’ve sent you an email,” his father said as reply. “In it is a video that’s gone viral on social media. A video that shows Myrna Buchanan being raped by a vampire while he drained her…completely.”

  Yuri knifed to sitting and bit out, “Pardon?”

  “We’ve received reports,” Gregor carried on. “Currently, the number stands at two hundred and seventeen concubines, either currently in service or retired, who have been taken.”

  “Fuck,” Yuri growled, throwing the covers off, angling out of bed, and bending to gather his clothes.

  “You’re needed back here.”

  He dumped his clothes on the bed as he reminded Gregor, “Five witches survived the slaughter last night, Father. The rest of the witch world gets wind of that, they might be in danger.”

  “We’ll leave a detail for them.”

  “No,” he clipped.

  “Yuri, after this is sorted, you can go back to play with your new toy.”

  Fire burned through him and it took effort not to throw his phone across the room with his natural strength, which would reduce it to dust.

  “I’ll say this once, knowing you’ll understand me and I’ll not have to repeat. That was the last time you speak of Aurora in that manner. Now, she comes with me. As do her witch sisters.”

  Gregor’s tone was conciliatory even when he said, “We have enough on our plate up here.”

  “And when we get there, you’ll have more.”

  “We can’t host five hostile witches,” Gregor’s voice nearly snapped.

  “What you mean is you don’t want to. But you can.”

  Gregor was silent but only for a moment.

  “I’m hiring a private jet. Bring them, but don’t delay. I’ll text you the location of the airstrip. You have two hours.”

  “We’ll be there.”

  Gregor hung up and Yuri didn’t turn to his clothes.

  He called his concubine.

  Once he ascertained she was still safely in the compound where he’d left her, he called his friend Jordan and arranged for him to see to her. That being, see she was safe but not in the compound where he would soon be taking Aurora.

  Only when that was sorted did he turn to his clothes.

  He was zipping his slacks when Aurora walked in looking adorable in his shirt, hair tousled, leather-bound room service menu tucked under her arm.

  At one look at him, she halted two feet into the room.

  “Is everything okay?”

  “No, my sweet,” he answered, pulling on his sweater, then pinning her with his gaze. “Does that bowl travel?”

  Her eyes widened, but she answered, “Uh…probably.”

  He nodded once before ordering, “Dress, Aurora, and phone your mother. We’re going to Oregon.”

  “But they won’t be able to finish their work,” she protested. “The implements won’t be safe.”

  “She can bring them with her.”

  “She won’t—”

  He was standing in front of her in a nanosecond.

  “Dress, button, we have no time to waste.”

  She stared up into his eyes and whispered, “Oh boy.”

  Oh boy was right.

  His Aurora, her mother, and three other witches, all in a building that was crawling with vampires.

  Not to mention The Three.

  Bloody fucking hell.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Blocked

  Abel

  “Can I kick him?”

  This question came from Hook, who was in the room they were using to interrogate Miko. Though, “interrogation” wasn’t exactly the word since Abel had controlled his mind and he’d spilled all he knew.

  And he knew a lot. Enough that vampire, wolf, and wraith rescue teams worldwide were preparing to extract a number of concubines from the vampires who were holding them.

  But for some, it was too late. Six more videos had appeared
on social media sites. Six more concubines losing their lives while being violated. The last one posted had included a vampire walking onscreen after the event and relaying a message:

  Give up The Three, or there will be more. And worse.

  If that wasn’t enough, Miko also shared the not-great news that the reason they hadn’t heard from Serena was because The True had captured her en route to her mate, Gastineau. They’d tortured the good wraiths still deep cover in their ranks and got the details on where to find her and how to capture her.

  They were holding her on charges of being traitor to her race as well as traitor to the rightful governing body of immortals, The True. They intended to put her on trial, a case she’d lose, and then they were going to execute her as another message to immortals who did not fall in with their plans.

  Seeing as nothing was coming from the phantoms at all since Serena left (as it hadn’t before she took off), even though Gregor frequently attempted to contact them, Gregor sent yet another message to Gastineau. This one to see if he knew his mate had been taken. Gastineau had a policy of being incommunicado with any supernaturals outside of phantoms so Gregor also sent a crew of wraiths to see if they could access him, share and get his allegiance and support in locating then rescuing his mate.

  Hook knew all this, seeing as he’d been in the interrogation room since Abel started, so Hook, like all of them, wasn’t a big fan of Miko’s.

  Abel looked from the vampire, who sat blank-faced in his chair, to Hook, but it was Gregor who answered Hook’s question.

  “As we’ll be holding tribunals for war crimes after we quell the rebellion, which would not play well on videotape,” he explained as he floated an arm toward the camera filming the interrogation, “I think not.”

  Hook didn’t take his eyes off Miko as Gregor answered, but when Gregor was done, Hook bared his teeth at the vampire almost like Hook was wolf.

  “Maybe it’s time you take a break,” Abel suggested.

  Hook tore his eyes off Miko and gave them to Abel.

  They were burning with angry, badass biker hellfire.

  Fuck.

  “You don’t do that to a woman,” he growled low.

  “I know, Hook,” Abel said low too, and hopefully calming.

  “You sure as fuck don’t do it to six of them. And I’m not talkin’ about takin’ their lives, which everyone knows is not fuckin’ cool. I’m talkin’ about makin’ their last memory on this earth—”