Frieda pulled back, her hands moving to stroke him inside of her mouth. She grinned up at him. “That’s what I’m planning on doing.”
She moved to take him into her mouth again, but this time he shook his head and stopped her. Even though the pressure was enough to make him explode, there was something he wanted—needed—first. He pulled Frieda to her feet, then stripped off the rest of his clothing. His eyes darkened as he started on her. First to go was the tank top. She wore no bra beneath, and so he immediately went to her breasts, sucking on one nipple then the other. They hardened, pointing up towards the ceiling and his waiting mouth.
Next to go were her pants. The sweet scent of her arousal filled the air as he tossed them aside, then knelt so he could remove her underwear an inch at a time. It was her turn to clench her hands into fists. Her head fell back as he pushed a hand between her thighs. She clenched them on his fingers, but he still found her slick center. He grinned at her wetness, then glanced up at her and cocked a brow.
“Mind sitting down for me?”
Frieda let out a moan and collapsed to the couch. She spread her legs wide, lifting her knees over his shoulders. Stewart kissed her inner thigh, enjoying the way she shuddered. He slowly made his way up. She spread wider, opening up like a flower to him. His tongue flicked over her entrance. She was as sweet as he always imagined her tasting. The soft whimper that came from her throat was just as he imagined as well. A grin curled his lips as he slowly made his way to her clit.
It was already hard, and when he laved his tongue over it, Frieda’s whole body gave a jerk. She lifted her hips, mashing herself into his face. It was so unexpected that Stewart pulled back with a grunt. He glanced up at her face and found it beet-red. She opened her mouth, but before she could apologize, he dove into her again. He kept his gaze on her face as he worked her clit. Her chest heaved, her eyes widened, and her jaw went slack.
“Fuuuuuck,” she groaned, and Stewart grinned into her. He could feel his wolf in his chest, growling with pleasure. A sense of triumph and connection went through him. He’d imagined this for so long, he hadn’t realized he feared what might occur if she didn’t enjoy it.
But she was enjoying it. Her legs were starting to tremble, her knees jerking back and forth. Her back arched and she clawed at her own hair, panting and crying out in turns.
And that wasn’t enough. With a slight snarl in the base of his throat, Stewart pulled back. He plunged two fingers inside of her, happy to find her soaking and ready. He moved her hips so she lay across the couch, then took up a position kneeling over her. Giving himself a couple strokes to get himself hardened again, he pressed against her entrance.
Frieda’s hands moved up his arms. She sighed, and he looked up into her eyes as he pushed in. The pleasure he saw there echoed his own. Her back arched, her hips lifted, and her eyes fluttered shut. Stewart clenched his jaw against his arousal. She was so warm and welcoming. They fit together perfectly, like pieces of a puzzle.
“I’m not going to last long,” he warned. “It’s been a while since I…”
“Same.” A shiver ran down her back, and he loved the pink flush in her chest as he started to move. “Oh, Stewart! I had no idea you were this big.”
Stewart chuckled as he gently fucked her, then moved down so he could capture her mouth with his as he continued. “You’ve seen me naked before.”
“Mmmm, but I never looked. On purpose at least.”
He chuckled as he picked up speed. Freida’s eyes flew open and she let out a strangled cry. The pressure inside of him was blinding now, pleasure coursing through him so powerfully that he could hardly keep himself in a steady rhythm. Her fingers scratched down his back and he kissed her again. Their mingled tastes drove him crazy. He could feel her clenching and releasing around him. With a wild roar, he jackhammered into her, the whole couch shaking with the force of his thrusts. She lifted her hips, matching him, her fingers now digging into his arms.
They flew apart on the same note, her clenching down on him as waves of darkness washed over his vision. He collapsed over her, his thrusts jerky and hard as she cried out, gasped and kissed him. Slowly they both became still and held one another. Stewart buried his face in her shoulder, breathing in the scent of sweat clinging to her skin. He finally registered the pain from her nails digging into him, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.
Eventually, Freida let out the softest of sighs and stroked her hands down his back. “We can change positions so you don’t have to hold your weight up like that. I can feel you trembling.”
“Not because I’m too weak to hold my own weight.”
“Never said you were weak.”
Stewart pulled back anyway. They shifted their position on the couch, and he eased gently out of her. They lay face-to-face, she pressed against the worn backing and he on the edge. Her eyes sparkled and glowed as she stroked his face. Stewart’s heart swelled, filling with so much warmth that he thought he might burst apart. How was it that after so many years, they had finally jumped across the breach? He knew without a doubt this was one thing he would never regret. He opened his mouth to say so—
The door opened.
Stewart twisted as Frieda gasped. He let out a bark of warning and saw Roxy, Andy, and Daniel for a brief moment before Roxy slammed the door shut. Peels of laughter burst from the other side. Stewart and Frieda stared at each other in horror.
“You’d better get dressed,” Guinevere’s lilting, languid tones came through the door.
“You should knock!” Stewart spat back. He rolled off the couch, casting an apologetic look at Frieda as he reached for his pants. She covered her face, shoving her fist in her mouth to muffle her giggles.
Stewart grabbed her clothes and threw them at her. Shifters might not think much about nudity, since it was something that was going to happen from time to time, but having his family walk in on him having sex? Ugh! Well, at least we had finished the sex.
Frieda continued to giggle madly as she threw on her clothes. Stewart dressed quickly and dragged his fingers through his hair as he strode for the door. By the time he reached it, his face was no longer flaming red, and instead, a scowl stretched across his lips. What were they doing, just walking into his house like that?
“I told you we should have called,” he heard Guinevere say just before he yanked open the door.
“You should have,” Stewart agreed. He held the door open for them to come in. Frieda had gotten her giggling under control by now and nodded to each one of them as they entered.
To his surprise, Andy looked furious. He poked a finger into Stewart’s chest. “The hell do you think you’re doing? Both of you! You shouldn’t be doing that.”
“Chill out, Twister.” Frieda rolled her eyes. “As though you never fucked with any of the crew before.”
“That’s different—”
Stewart stepped in front of his brother. “We’re both adults and we make our own choices. You don’t get to say what we should and shouldn’t be doing. What are you doing here, anyway? This is my place now, you don’t get to just walk in without even knocking!”
“It’s my fault, Uncle Stewart,” Daniel said. His hands were shoved into his jeans and he shrugged, looking a little red around the ears. He looked up at the ceiling, as though too embarrassed to look at Stewart directly. “You said I could come over any time, so I thought it’d be fine if we all just came over… Mom said we should have called.”
Stewart let out a breath, trying to calm himself. If it was any other situation, he wouldn’t have been angry at them for just walking in. Honestly, this was as much his fault for not locking the door. People in his family rarely knocked or told each other ahead of time when they were coming over. It just wasn’t something they did. He dropped to the couch beside Frieda while the others found spots to sit. Andy still looked furious, but when Guinevere gave him a stern look, he shrugged and sat as well.
“So, what brings all of you here, anyway?�
�
Guinevere and Andy exchanged another look. The rest of the anger faded off of Andy’s face and he sighed. “Daniel.”
Stewart twisted to look at his nephew. Just as he opened his mouth, though, Roxy started talking. Daniel shut his mouth, annoyance flashing over his face.
“We’re all dead certain that the reason Daniel has not been able to fully tap into his shifter side is because he’s surrounded by vampires all the time. So, he’s decided that he wants to live around shifters more. Since you’re family and you’ve already got various security systems in place,” she nodded at the door; this whole floor of the apartment building had various shifters associated with the Savage Brotherhood living on it, “we decided it was the best place for him. And we think it’s going to be good for his personal growth, too, not to have to be the prince all the time. Being able to be a little more anonymous.”
Stewart turned to Daniel. “Is that what you want?”
“Yeah. Well, I thought it might be better if I had my own place but—”
“But that is far too dangerous,” Guinevere interrupted. She put a worrying hand on her son’s shoulder. Pain flashed in her gaze even as she tried to hide it. “But he’ll be safe here.”
Stewart met Daniel’s gaze. He saw the frustration there and nodded slightly to show that he understood. Daniel was a grown man, both physically and mentally. It was only natural that his parents would fret a little, but this? It was coddling him. He understood where they were coming from.
On the other hand, it was a good idea for Daniel to come live here. It’d let him have some independence. “Yeah, that’d be fine. I’ll get a key made for you.”
Daniel dipped his head toward him. “Thank you.”
“Yes,” Andy said, a little suspicion slipping back into his voice. “Thanks. But there is something else that we—”
“No, we don’t have to talk about it,” Frieda said flatly. “Stew, I gotta hit the road. See you later.”
Stewart nodded at her. They shared a quick kiss, and then Frieda left. He sighed as he looked back to his family. This was going to take some explaining.
Chapter Eight
Polaris
When Frieda got a call from Typhoon telling her to come to headquarters to speak with him, the first thought that ran through her mind was that Twister ratted her and Stewart out. Technically what they had done wasn’t against the rules, but Typhoon frowned very strongly on relationships between people on the same crew. It was even worse because Frieda was Stewart’s supervisor.
Typhoon would be furious with her. Probably put Stewart’s training to a different crew.
She walked into headquarters with her head held high and her gaze steely. She wasn’t going to let him intimidate her into being ashamed. What she and Stewart had done was no more than what others did… She wasn’t going to let her judgment be clouded just because of her feelings for him!
When she strode to stand before Typhoon’s desk—it always surprised her just how office-like his office was; he truly ran the Savage Brotherhood like a military business—he didn’t look up for several moments. She could see his nose twitching, though, and bit back the urge to tell him to just spit it out. He’d speak in his own time.
Eventually, he set down the pen he was using and looked up, folding his hands on the desk. “I have never known you to fuck one of the new recruits before.”
For some reason, even though she had been thinking of what she and Stewart had done as fucking, the way Typhoon said it made her hackles raise. Maybe it was because of his tone. He made it sound so animalistic. There was so much more than lust in what they’d done, though.
Typhoon sighed as he stood. “I have always said that mates make my people crazy. I had hoped you were above that, Polaris.”
“Above it?” Frieda snorted. “You make it sound like there is something shameful about having a mate. What’s Mia going to say?”
“Leave Mia out of this.” He glared at her for a moment, but a slight smile tugged at his lips. “Your point is taken, though. I’m not happy with you sleeping with Stewart, but I can’t say I’m surprised. However, that does make what I am about to say have a bit more… edge, I suppose you could say, to it.”
Frieda sat when he gestured her to sit and nodded.
“I am going to give you and Cyclone a mission. It’s going to be dangerous, there’s no question about that, and if you’re caught I will deny all knowledge of it.”
Ice started to creep into her veins. “So, like a black ops thing?”
“Exactly. You and Stewart are going to assassinate King Rudolph.”
Frieda blinked. Then stared. Then blinked again. Her thoughts tumbled over one another as she struggled to process what she had just been told. King Rudolph. He was a vampire king over near Oakvale. His kingdom wasn’t especially large, but it was wealthy. What in Hell’s Fires did he do that Typhoon would want him dead?
“So you want us to die?” The question came out spitting. “It’s against the treaty! And how are we supposed to get close enough to a vampire king to kill him? Is this because I called you Bobby once when we first met?”
“I assure you, it is not.”
Frieda threw her hands into the air. “Then why? What did I do? What did Stewie do? What could we have done that is so bad that you want us dead?”
Typhoon sighed.
“Not only that, but when Guinevere and Twister find out that you sent us to our deaths, they’re not going to be happy with you, either. So, you’re going to antagonize the only vampire allies that the Brotherhood has and—”
“Calm the fuck down.” Typhoon glared at her. “You’ve got a good head on your shoulders. Stop acting like a hysterical woman.”
Frieda’s nostrils flared. Her eyes narrowed, but she sealed her jaw shut. Hysterical woman? He tells her to go on a suicide mission and then calls her hysterical when she is upset about that? And not just any suicide mission, but a suicide mission with someone who wasn’t even a full-fledged member of the Brotherhood yet! Stewart could handle himself in a regular fight, but to go into the vampire’s nest?
“You calm now?” He arched a brow at her.
That question alone was almost enough to make her lunge at him swinging, but she held herself back, keeping her ass firmly seated in her chair. “My question still stands. This is suicide. And no matter how much you can deny having any sort of knowledge of our involvement, the fact is it’s going to come back to bite the Brotherhood on the ass. What’s going on here? It’s not like you to throw the baby out with the bathwater.”
“Nobody is throwing anything. You and Cyclone have the best chances at this. You are quick on your feet and fast in your head. And quite frankly, Cyclone being Guinevere’s brother-in-law gives him and you the best chance at being held hostage should you fail, rather than being killed outright.”
She wanted to be furious about that. Wanted to tell him that was a relationship that they couldn’t touch. She kept her mouth shut, though. Blowing up at Typhoon, especially since he was already writing off her feelings on the matter, wasn’t going to help anybody.
“Rudolph is planning something big,” he continued. “I can’t share all the details with you, but the attack on your crew was set up by him. He wants to bring vampires out of the shadows, and now that he knows how to make them human enough to resist sunlight, he’s been experimenting. My sources say he might be close to finding a way for vampires to keep all their abilities with none of the weaknesses. He’s like most of the vampire kings in that he thinks they ought to be ruling over all of us.”
Frieda felt a chill steal down her spine. There were plenty of vamps that thought that way. She thought it must have something to do with the fact that they had to kill humans to survive. It twisted something in their brains; how could they survive the guilt if they saw humans as equals?
“So, you want Stewart and I to kill him before he gets there. But if he’s having it researched, then shouldn’t we be going after his scien
tists?”
“He is his scientists. He’s had tons of schooling and always keeps his notes in his head. He’s paranoid about it being stolen and the glory taken by someone else. So you kill him, you end this threat.”
Frieda tapped her fingers against the arm of her chair. Her eyes darkened. Over the past few years, things had been going up and down with the vampires. It seemed like every time they got a leg up on the leeches, they rallied back in another sector, throwing everything out of sync again.
“We need to just solve this once and for all!” Frieda snarled. Her hands bunched to fists. “We can’t keep running around like headless chickens, plugging up one hole only for two more to spring open. It can’t keep going on like this.”
“We agree on that one.” Typhoon pinched the bridge of his nose. “And I am working on it. For right now, I need you on damage control. If humans were to find out about vampires and shifters, it would be utter chaos.”
That was for fucking sure. Frieda slumped in her chair. Most shifters themselves didn’t know about vampires. Those who did find out generally had some pretty intense reactions, and that was with one foot in the world of the paranormal already. With humans? It was even worse. Sure, one human here, another human there, they could deal with that. But the whole kit and kaboodle? Not a chance.
Which brought her to another thought. “Brad Duster. Can we trust that he won’t say anything?”
“We’ll have to.” Typhoon’s voice grew hard again and he dropped his hand. “Because the last thing we need right now is an increased cop presence in our way. Now. I don’t want to know how you plan to kill Rudolph. I want you to go back to Cyclone and the two of you can figure it out on your own. Don’t mess up. I won’t be able to help you if you do.”
***
It took three days for Frieda and Stewart, having intense conversations in hotel rooms and parked at make-out spots to avoid drawing suspicion, to put together their plan. Frieda wished that they could have more time than that, but from what she heard from Typhoon, even the three days was pushing it. On the third day, they told Daniel that they were going to have a weekend camping trip. He waved them off, shaking his head and telling them that his dad found the whole situation weird but that he was happy for them.
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