by M F Adele
I moved to stand in front of Sloane, dropping my shirt onto the floor. Her multicolored irises were alight with disbelief as the wand landed in my outstretched hand. I smirked when she narrowed her eyes at me.
As I flipped the switch on the toy, the vibrations crawled across my palm and up my arm. Buzzing filled the silence of the room, barely muffled as it touched her thigh.
“Yer gonna count them with me. Four, Love,” I reminded her.
The blunt end of the wand brushed against her pussy lips. She tipped her head back as she took a deep breath. The muscles in her thighs jumped, her arms strained against the cuffs, and her jaw ticked.
I slid a single finger inside her slick channel as I circled the head of the toy over her clit. When her walls began to clench, I backed away, removing my finger and the wand.
“One,” I whispered in her ear. “Are ya gonna be a good girl?”
She rolled her lips in to stop her smile, shaking her head. So I shrugged, knowing that I didn’t really want her to be good. I reveled in the challenge in her eyes. I wanted her to push me.
I repeated my process, dragging the wand against her clit but applying a little more pressure. I rubbed two fingers around her soaked entrance but didn’t press inside.
She moaned softly while squeezing her eyes closed tightly.
Bringing her to the edge a second time was quicker than the first. As she flexed, her right thigh twitched. I smiled at her stubborn streak.
Tensing wouldn’t stop the orgasm; I would.
And I did.
“Two.”
I pressed my fingers against her lips, and she sucked them into her mouth. Removing them, I fused my mouth to hers, sweeping my tongue past her lips to chase her taste.
She groaned into the kiss as I lightly touched the wand to her over-sensitized clit. I widened the strokes, applying the pressure at her entrance before delicately brushing across her bundle of nerves.
Her muscles quivered as she neared her third attempt at release. I broke away from our kiss, and she panted, leaning her forehead on my shoulder.
“Three.”
I added an inch of slack to the chains as I circled her. Popping the button open on my khakis, I tugged the zipper down and dropped my pants onto the floor with my discarded shirt.
Once more.
Last time.
I used the same delicate swipes as I slipped the head of my cock between her thighs. Pushing just the tip inside of her, I almost wanted to say fuck the fourth, but I had more control than that.
I needed to finish the punishment, even if there would be nothing gained from it.
Her body shook, her jaw extended to scream, but nothing came out except a frustrated growl. I didn’t move, gave no friction where she wanted it most.
She tightened around me, and I snatched the wand away, tossing it behind me onto her bed.
“Four. Would ya like to cum now?” I asked, running my knuckles gently down her sides.
She nodded, her breaths heaving as she tried to calm down. I slid inside her, just a little further, and waited for her to speak.
“Yer gonna have to speak up a bit. I didn’t quite catch that.”
“Yes, sir,” she murmured, rolling her head back to rest on my shoulder again.
I pushed up slowly, filling her as she gasped. At her height—while she was still on the balls of her feet—I loved this angle. I didn’t have to bend awkwardly when I pulled out. It was perfect.
She yanked her arms, wanting to touch me, and I sped up my pace, fucking her in earnest.
Her moans turned into an incoherent shout as she reached her orgasm. I steadied myself, thrusting slower to prolong the release.
Her walls fluttered around my cock, and I groaned low. Wrapping my hand around her neck, I pressed harder with my index finger and thumb, feeling her heart beat wildly on the left side.
Over and over, I pumped into her, lengthening my strokes until I was almost completely unsheathed with each pass. Faster and faster, I lost myself in the rhythm and her cries of ecstasy.
“Cum, Love,” I demanded, feeling her squeeze my cock.
As she shouted my name, I felt myself swell inside her. The head of my cock grew more sensitive with every thrust and tremble of her body.
I tipped over the edge of my own release, uttering her name like a prayer—or maybe a curse.
I pulled out after a moment, rubbing my fingers through the dripping cum on her thigh as I asked quietly, “Are you going to be a good girl now?”
Sloane shook her head, turning so I could see her smiling profile. Her cheek was rosy, lips dark pink, and her mascara had left splotches of black under her eye.
“No. I’m not a good girl. I’m not planning on being good either, especially if all the lessons are like that.”
I sighed as I removed the shackles from her ankles. Her legs were gelatinous as I scooped her up before releasing her arms. I set her on the bed gently as I made the cuffs disappear.
She stretched out, arching her back as she rolled over and flexed her hands. I sat beside her, massaging her arms and shoulders before working my way down her body.
She hummed appreciatively, then snorted.
“You know…” she trailed off, flipping over and tugging my face closer, “There really is nothing to be gained from punishing me, right?”
“How did you—”
She kissed me quickly and then tapped her temple. “You like it when I’m stubborn, when I challenge you. You may be good at splitting your attention, but you got too complacent and let your mental barriers fall.”
“Godsdamnit.” I grinned at my mate.
My fucking mate.
She was everything. I didn’t deserve her, but fuck, I wanted her more than I’d ever wanted anything in my life. That’s all I could think about—all I did—when I was around her.
I wanted.
The bad and the good.
The complicated and the simple.
The fury and the excitement.
The crazy self-sacrificing and the insane protection.
I wanted every dark piece of her to cherish and treasure. I wanted to bask in the shadows of her tarnished soul, rejoice in her sunlight, and—
Fuck.
I wanted to love her.
“Palmer?” Her hushed voice fanned across my neck as she turned her head to look at me through sleepy eyes.
“I’m definitely a curse.”
4
Sloane
Wednesday, June 3rd
Early Morning
I dragged myself down the stairs to the kitchen for coffee. Once the liquid gold was brewing, I stomped to the pantry in search of chocolate. Anything chocolate. I needed caffeine and happiness to get through the next few days.
And probably a few orgasms.
More than a few.
As I wandered around, slamming mugs and broken chocolate bars on the counter, York walked up behind me. He placed his hand over mine, stopping me from lifting my mug again.
“Sweetheart, stop. I can feel your agitation eating away at you.”
I cut my eyes at him, but his voice soothed the dread gnawing at the pit of my stomach. Staring at the ceiling, I breathed deep to calm my twisted emotions.
Godsdamnit, it was a great fucking time to feel that shit.
He sighed. “I know you don’t like visiting the pack, but not everyone can go without sleep. It’s four in the morning. Give them two more hours.”
“I hate being around the pack,” I admitted, leaning my head back until it hit his chest. “I love my dad, but… gods. I’m just ready to get this trip over with.”
“We have a six-hour car ride,” he offered. “We can make it eight or nine if we stop.”
“I don’t want to ride, York. We’re going through the Void. I dread being around so many shifters, but I want to know what’s going on sooner rather than later.”
“It’s going to be troublesome when we get there, isn’t it?”
I nodded
my head. “Hasn’t it always been?”
It was a rhetorical question meant for myself. Being back on the pack property was the equivalent of eating donkey balls. Tough, salty, and I couldn’t stab them with a fork.
York left me to my sulking after a quick peck on my cheek. I put in real effort to be quiet as I moved aimlessly around the lower level of the house.
I didn’t have anything to do. My pink duffle bag was packed and sitting on the kitchen table. The hounds were doing one last patrol, and Pete was stretched out in the yard as he napped.
Thinking about leaving the hellhounds made me uncomfortable. If we were going to be dealing with anything drug-related, then I wanted them with us.
Pete was smart, resilient, and came with his own advantages, but I hadn’t seen him truly fight. The things that Lawrence had told me in Paradise circled around my mind until I was sure I needed to bring the pedmar as well.
By the time I had double-checked all the things that didn’t matter and decided to make Pete a pretty, black butterfly to match the boys, I was agitated once more.
The guys had filed into the kitchen one-by-one, making coffees and snagging breakfast before we left. Novak leaned against the island, drinking from a dark glass bottle as he grinned at me.
I squinted my eyes at him, then glanced down to make sure I was dressed. Not that that mattered either, but the last thing I needed today was for Franklin to walk in and see me naked again.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Just trying to figure out how you know so much about donkey balls,” Novak quipped without missing a beat, and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling back.
Stone nodded at him. “Salty, and you can’t stab them? Sounds shitty. But who are we talking about in particular?”
“All of them. Being in the middle of such a large pack is tough,” Briggs commented. “You think she fights a lot now? We’ll both be dodging shifters the whole time we’re there so we can avoid challenges. They’ll still come, but I’d rather have ten fights than twenty.”
“The fighting is the only thing that makes it fun,” I muttered as I mentally called out to my hounds.
As soon as they entered the kitchen from their room, I turned them into the red, blue, and yellow butterflies I was beginning to adore. They were such innocent creatures, but with one thought, they’d transform into massive, hellish nightmares.
Cute and deadly.
I snorted to myself, knowing that cute was the last word anyone would associate with hellhounds—or a pedmar.
The four butterflies clung to my hair. I was careful as I eased the strap of my bag over my shoulder.
“To the Nav?” Briggs asked.
I winced. “She’s trashed. Totaled. Franklin reported the Navigator stolen the night we came home from Baton Rouge. We’re traveling through the Void.”
Stone nodded thoughtfully. “That’s the best way to show up unannounced. Maybe you’ll get a few days of peace?”
I laughed humorlessly as I stepped through the Void. Peace sounded great, but it wasn’t going to happen any time soon. At this point, I wasn’t going to get my hopes up for an off day.
I landed in the foyer of the pack lodge and summoned my mates to me as I pouted. Saving the supernatural world was… bullshit. Not even going to lie to myself.
We’d stopped a brewing war in the Underworld and cut off the source of the drug with the vampires, but nothing felt like it was finished.
I couldn’t bring myself to mark those things off my to-do list, and that shit was nagging me to no end.
Thank gods Franklin didn’t sleep, because he was running all the aspects of my day-life while also helping with whatever issues we were facing.
He’d hired and fired people for me at the pharmaceutical company. He’d even managed to get a full supernatural research team to start actively looking for a cure for SEF47.
I guess I should start calling it by its clinical name instead of the drug.
Simon was taking care of any illegal activities that came through the club, but he was physically stuck in Baton Rouge. I had no idea who he’d brought in to cover the rogue hits or any of the other assassination jobs that came in.
It wasn’t like we were comfortable talking about it over a phone call, so I was blind, but I trusted him to make the right decisions.
It took the guys a moment to follow my summons. Everyone stepped through the Void into the foyer except for Novak. Just as I started to worry, I heard him cursing from the other side of the door.
Palmer opened the rustic wooden door of the pack lodge, and Novak spun to glare at us.
“Waiting for yer invitation are ye, Vamp?”
“Get fucked, Mage. I still don’t understand how you guys can land right on top of her. It’s hard enough to get into—”
York and Briggs sniggered as Vaughn cut my vampire off mid-rant.
“Some of us don’t have any issues landing on top. It’s only hard if you make it hard.”
“Come on in,” I drawled, crooning my index finger at Novak.
“That’s not funny. I don’t need a fucking invitation, and that’s not—You know what?” He stopped abruptly and pointed at me.
“Nope. We need to get some of that frustration out of you. These aren’t my emotions. But right now, I want to throw a fit or kill something. Maybe both.”
Stone watched me for a moment, those lapis eyes of his staring all the way to my soul. He didn’t find what he was looking for outwardly, so he shrugged and said, “You have a good poker face.”
“We can play later. Only if there’s stripping involved, though.”
I’d lose on purpose.
Then win enough hands to have him equally naked. Sitting around a table with a deck of cards and nothing else sounded like a perfect way to make this Wednesday feel less like a Monday.
I could picture it clearly.
Stone down to his socks. Palmer shirtless as he eyed me critically. Novak, Briggs, and Vaughn in absolutely nothing as they tried to win back their clothes. York would start the first game naked because he knew better than to play poker with a mind reader.
“For Devil’s sake, Lo,” Jack whisper-shouted from behind me.
“Just once. Just fucking once, can you not picture that shit when I’m around? They’re hot; I get it. But you do it so often that I think it’s starting to condition my mind to see them the way you see them, and I’m not okay with that.”
Grim coughed out a laugh. “Are you saying that she’s brain-washing you into wanting dick that you can’t have?”
“Yes,” Jack agreed quickly before acknowledging my mates.
“No offense or anything. It’s just weird. The more her filthy thoughts trickle into mine, the more I try to think of things that don’t turn me on. And that’s few and fucking far between. I’ve realized in the past few weeks that almost everything turns me on.”
Poor Jack.
“Uhm, no offense taken, I think?” Briggs replied, his brows furrowed as he rubbed a tattooed hand across his beard.
“I don’t know that I understand what’s happening right now,” Vaughn commented. His voice rose at the end, making it sound like a question.
I grinned at Jack, but Dad walked around the corner with Blaire before I could say anything. His eyes bounced between Jack and me, and then he sighed dramatically.
“The universe did not bless me with enough patience to deal with you two as adults.”
“Does that mean we can stay in two of the cabins so that we’re not under your roof?” Jack sassed.
I covered my mouth with my hand, nodding my head enthusiastically. There was no way we were staying in the lodge.
Zero.
I could not be in the same room with any of my mates if my dad was within earshot, and he could hear every corner of the lodge.
“Yes,” Dad acquiesced. “I’d love to have you here to spend some time with, but not until you two settle down. Just do your mind-speak thing, because
there are some things a parent doesn’t need to hear.”
I kissed Dad’s cheek before dragging my mates out the door and down the steps of the wrap-around porch on the lodge. The cool morning breeze danced around me as I strolled to the back of the mock-log cabin.
To outsiders, the property would look like a mountain-side retreat. Cabins were spaced out around the lodge. Some were in the open, and some were in the tree line surrounding the enormous yard.
They ranged in sizes and functionality, but with the faction alphas coming in this week, they’d fill up fast.
Jack knew precisely which cabins I was heading toward.
Tucked in the trees behind the lodge was a row of seven cabins. They hadn’t been updated since the ‘60s, but they were in excellent condition if you could overlook the retro interior.
I didn’t think any of the alphas remembered them being back here.
No one should bother us.
The cabin in the middle was the biggest, so I went straight to that one. I returned my hounds to their English Mastiff forms and opened the door to let them sniff around.
Cronus broke off to search the cabin that Jack stopped at. I was momentarily shocked to see Blaire standing between him and Grim. She rolled her eyes at them both as she ran her hand down Cronus’s back affectionately.
After we had the all-clear to go inside, I transformed Pete from a black butterfly to a large tortoise. It was the only animal I could think of that would fit in the house and still stick to his vegetarian diet.
I didn’t immediately go in, though. I couldn’t take my eyes off Grim and Blaire. His hand was on the small of her back, and she gave Jack a coy smile, which he returned with heated eyes.
Jack had closed our connection, but I was thinking about prying it open. Grim and Blaire both had blank minds even though I could see them communicating.
I needed to know what was going on between the three of them. I had no doubts that those two picked women up all the time. I also wasn’t going to let Blaire be some conquest for them to conquer.