FavoriteObsession, page 29
He crowded her against the door and used his hips to pin her so she’d stop writhing over him. The urgency to sink his cock inside her beat at him but he refused to give in to the animalistic impulse. She deserved his devotion. And dear god, he’d give it to her if it killed him. He gripped the hem of her shirt and tugged it over her head. The gorgeous breasts he revealed looked plumper. Her nipples stood erect. Each rough breath she took lifted them, begged him to close his mouth around the points and suck.
Hands circling her waist, he lifted her, bringing those luscious buds closer. She sifted her fingers through his hair and used her hold to direct his head to them. No need for her unspoken order. He wanted the same. He drew one nipple into his mouth and sucked.
“Gods, yes.”
Her shuddered sigh pleased him and her whimper as he laved her stimulated flesh urged him on. The yearning to give her pleasure warred with the need to spill his seed inside her and get her with child. They’d make their triplets tonight. Two boys and a girl, the ones he’d dreamt about.
He ran his tongue around her nipple once more and eased back. Dilated, hungry eyes latched on to his. “I’m going to make love to you, kitten. What we’ll create tonight will be a result of our commitment. You understand?” She didn’t. He saw the confusion in her eyes. “Do you trust me?”
She nodded. No hesitation.
“Good. Then, let’s fulfill our destiny.”
He kissed her. Affection fed the melding of their mouths. Lust took over. She returned the fevered kiss as if she too wanted to crawl inside him as much as he did her. Each thrust of her tongue, each moan he swallowed increased his need. She ground her moist center against him. Her frustrated groans betrayed her growing desperation. Not yet. He hadn’t worshiped her enough.
He grasped her ankles and gently pried her legs off him. Once assured she stood on her own two feet, he cupped one glorious breast and raised it to his lips. He pressed kisses to the heavy flesh and licked the hard bud.
“Again, do that again.”
He grinned at the command and gave her what she demanded. He circled her areola with the tip of his tongue then flicked the tip. Once, twice. Her breath escaped in a rush. He captured the point with his teeth and tugged. She cried out, all the encouragement he needed. He repeated the teasing until she dug talons into his shoulders.
The bite of pain did it for him. He fucking loved knowing he broke through her control. She’d never bled him. Even the times when she’d been lost to orgasm, she’d held on to her wild side. Not tonight. No, tonight she treated him as her mate in truth, able to withstand her primal drives.
His gums ached, his fangs eager to descend. He fought their emergence only because he worried they’d be enough to cut through her desire-ridden haze. He didn’t want to deal with Mira’s questions now, even though he had the answers. The images his cats had showed him when he and Mira had first made love explained everything. He wouldn’t be able to shift, but he’d have claws and fangs.
He let the thoughts go and focused on Mira. Releasing her breast, he moved to the other, treating it to the same attention. The scent of her arousal filled the room. It took on a richer tinge. Sweet, honeyed…ripe. The buildup of her signature from the first night they’d made love and all the encounters since had primed them both.
Now. He had to be inside her now.
He reached between them, popped the button on his jeans and shoved his pants down. His dick sprang free. Without any more foreplay, knowing she didn’t need it, he joined them in one hard thrust.
Mira cried out. Her sheath clamped down on him so hard his heart skipped a beat. He rode out her orgasm. She raked her claws down his back. He ignored the blood soaking his t-shirt. The small bite of pain felt more like a reward than anything else.
As soon as the waves eased, she whimpered. Actual pain seized her body. It resonated through the link he shared with her. Shame filled him. He’d wanted to pleasure her, but this wasn’t about how many orgasms he could pull from her. This joining went deeper than that but it was simpler too.
She needed a good, hard fuck. Lucky for them both, he could give it to her.
He pulled his dick back so only her nether lips squeezed the head, and waited a heartbeat until her lust-hazed eyes focused on him.
“You’re mine, Mira. Mine. Always and forever.”
He thrust into her quivering core. She cried out but he kept up the pace of his driving cock, pushing her higher. As long as he kept moving, she wouldn’t hurt. Her pants and breathy groans confirmed it. He dragged his rigid shaft in and out, pounding into her and shaking the door at her back.
“Gods, yes. Fuck me harder.”
Her breathy command forced him to do exactly that. He couldn’t deny her if he tried. With the strength humming in his limbs, he slammed into her, hitting her cervix with a thump that whipped vibrations up his cock. Again and again, he smacked the mouth of her womb until the tightness in his balls grew unbearable. He stilled with his erection lodged deep and let the orgasm dancing along Mira’s sheath take hold.
She screamed his name. In a rolling wave that whipped from the base of his dick to the head, her clenching muscles massaged his seed free. He didn’t fight this time. He groaned and filled her up.
Love you, kitten. Love you. Always and forever.
He didn’t know if she heard him but the way she tightened her arms around him made him think she did.
On and on their joint orgasm flowed over them until he gave her everything. She sagged in his arms. He eased out of her core and swung her unconscious body into his arms.
Dressed in only her short skirt and sexy black boots, she could’ve passed for a naughty temptress. Beautiful. My personal goddess.
He pressed his lips to hers. “My mate, my heart, my love.”
With her body cradled in his arms, he kicked off his boots and made his way to the couch. He stretched out on the surface with Mira on top of him. Slowly, he petted her hair. She might be asleep, but she’d feel the soft caresses and know she was safe.
“We did it, kitten. We broke the rules and made our own.” With a little help from the gods he’d been convinced hated them both.
Now if only he could remember what else the goddess had told him after she lectured him about his stubbornness, but he couldn’t wrap his mind around the memory. He was too sated and too damn happy. Later, he’d worry about it later.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Mira woke to Josh’s steady heartbeat under her ear. She grinned and snuggled closer, but the first hint of unease slithered through her. Although she didn’t hear or smell anything unusual, her instincts flared. Not wanting to wake Josh, she reached inside herself and prodded her inner cats who’d been dozing too. They’d done it again and given their trust to Josh. She growled at each big predator, reminding them they had to stay on alert to protect their human mate.
Their annoyance resonated along the bond she shared with them but her tigress raised her head. After a moment, she snarled.
Josh sat up, wrapping his arms around her. He swung his head in the direction of the door and cursed.
“Smoke,” she stated the fact Josh seemed to have picked up on too. “The bar’s on fire.”
He lifted her and set her on her feet. The next thing she knew he was yanking a shirt over her head. He grabbed sweats off the back of the couch and had his phone in hand before she could move. She shook her head. He’d moved so fast she’d barely followed him.
He grabbed her hand and tugged, already dialing on his cell. “Let’s go, babe. When we get out in the hall, stay below the smoke.”
In her three hundred years of life, she’d never been in a fire. Her heart raced. She clung to Josh’s hand.
He wrapped the edge of his shirt around the doorknob. With her held back and to the side, he flung it open. A wave of heat swept into the room. She blinked rapidly to ease the sting the smoke rushing in caused.
“What fucking good are they if they fall asleep?” Josh muttered.
She frowned at his words but didn’t get the chance to question him. He pushed firmly against her head and forced her to squat. The confident hand holding her trembling one gave her strength. Josh led her into the darkened hallway while he relayed the fire to someone on his phone.
“Kade’ll be here in five. He’s calling the fire department.”
She breathed a sigh and crab-walked down the hall behind Josh. Although the smoke hung thick above them, the space they occupied didn’t fill her lungs with the noxious scents. The heat irritated her skin and agitated her cats, however. She ignored it, mentally soothing her inner spirits with gentle strokes, and kept her eyes on Josh’s strong back.
The first crackle of fire reached her ears. She peered over his shoulder. Flames crawled along the walls in the main bar, spreading along the dark wood faster than she imagined it would’ve.
“It’s moving fast.”
Josh gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “That happens when you use an accelerant.”
She gasped at his words. This wasn’t an accidental fire. Micah had followed through with his threat. She inhaled deeply. There. She scented the chemical, faint and unrecognizable.
Josh got behind her and gave her bottom a small push. She’d stopped to watch the flames race in a line toward the bar. “Hurry, kitten. Once the flames reach the alcohol we’re going to be in trouble.”
They weren’t already? She didn’t voice her fear. It wouldn’t help. She focused in front of her and moved as quickly as she could toward the door. Once there, he set her to the side and hit the handle to open it. It didn’t budge. He tried again. No luck.
“It’s locked,” she stated the obviously.
Something loud popped. A whoosh sounded. An angry roar rang out that shook the wall behind her back. She screamed. Josh threw his shoulder against the door. He groaned and pushed harder. It flew open, him stumbling out with it.
He reached back a moment later and tugged her into his arms. Her feet left the ground. He cradled her against his chest and ran. More breaking glass tinkled in the background. More sizzles and pops. She buried her head in the crook of Josh’s neck, needing his scent and comfort. Her inner predators reached for him too. Gods, she should be the one protecting him. She wiggled in his arms. No use, he held her tight.
Before she realized it, they were at the small building on the rear of the property. He used to live in the tiny one-bedroom apartment. Zoe did now.
Her back met the door and Josh curled his body around hers. A moment later, an explosion shook the world.
* * * * *
Fangs filled Josh’s mouth. The tips of talons peeked from his fingers.
Somebody—Micah or Zeb, he’d guess—had tried to kill Mira. Well, in all honesty, she wouldn’t have died. Hurt? Hell yeah. According to Devin, being engulfed in flames resulted in excruciating pain but wouldn’t kill a royal. Only losing their heads or their hearts would do that. He’d know too. He’d been set on fire multiple times while confined to the shifter torture chambers—their version of prison.
He glanced over his shoulder. Flames hungrily ate the beloved bar his great-granddad had started. Josh had used his college savings toward remodeling the place. He’d invested everything he owned into that bar. It angered him to see it destroyed. He pushed aside the loss and focused on the woman who could’ve been hurt in the fire—the real reason the world around him took on the red tint he now knew came from the predators inside him.
He reached between them and laid his palm on Mira’s belly. “Are you okay, kitten?”
“Your bar.”
The hollow look on her face and the fear souring her scent pushed his rage to a higher level. He didn’t like seeing her upset. He reined in his anger so as not to add to her unease. “I have insurance. Don’t worry about it. I want to know how you feel. Any pain? Dizziness?”
She shook her head. “No, no. I’m fine.” She pressed her hand to his cheek. “You could’ve been killed.”
He flashed her a lopsided smile. “No. I don’t have to worry—”
A garbled groan stopped his words.
Zoe.
Hands at Mira’s waist, he lifted her to the side and threw his shoulder into the door leading to Zoe’s apartment. Mouth parted, he inhaled. The scents of blood, pain and anger seeped into him—all Zoe’s. Not smelling or hearing anyone else’s heartbeat, he tugged Mira inside and slammed the door behind them.
Mira scooted around him and headed for the stairs. The only rooms on the first floor were a half-bath and the storage room housing the furnace, water heater and enough crap to have ten yard sales. Josh caught her before she stepped on the first thread.
“I go first, never you.”
He saw the irritation in her eyes but they didn’t have time for a verbal spat. He set her to the side and took the stairs three at a time. The small bedroom at the top looked nearly the same as he’d left it when he’d moved out—a big bed and a lamp on an overturned milk crate. Except now, Zoe was tied spread-eagle to the four posters. Thankfully, she still wore her sleep shirt and panties.
The sight didn’t ease him, however. Cuts ran down her arms and legs. Bruises marred her pale skin. With one eye swollen and a gag shoved in her mouth, she should’ve look scared, especially considering her history, but his little sister had given up that crippling emotion years ago. What he saw in her eyes was what had saved her life.
Rage.
She thrashed against her bonds. Mira ran to her side, unleashed a talon and sliced the thick rope before he could.
Zoe pulled the balled-up shirt out of her mouth. She cursed.
“Who did this, Zo?” he asked so he could find the fucker and kill him.
“Don’t know. He was a shifter, though.” Her lip split. Zoe winced but licked the trail of blood away. “Ugly bastard. Thin face, long black hair—”
“Micah.” Mira’s hand fell away from the knotted rope she held. She hurried back to Zoe’s side and grabbed her hand. “Did he rape you?”
Zoe shook her head. “But he said…”
“Please,” Mira choked back a sob, “what did he say?”
“If you didn’t give him what he wanted he’d rape and kill me then start picking off all of Josh’s loved ones.”
Mira covered her mouth. “Oh gods.”
“He won’t hurt you, Zo, and he sure as hell won’t hurt our family. I’ll kill the fucker first.”
Zoe nodded.
Police sirens wailed in the distance. Josh glanced toward the door. “Kitten, give Zoe some blood while I stall the cops.” He focused a hard glare on his stubborn sister. “Take her gift, Zo. Either that or Ella will insist you talk to the shrink again once she sees what happened to you.”
Zoe’s eyes widened. “Cut a vein, Mira, and make it quick.”
Questions danced in Mira’s eyes. He turned away. Yeah, he had the answers to them, but he wasn’t sharing them tonight and not without Zoe’s permission. She’d already lost enough. She didn’t need her secrets to become common knowledge among the shifters. Those painful memories were locked away in her juvie record. Bad enough half the town knew some of them. Some, not all. He planned to keep it that way.
He slipped outside and waited for the cavalry to show Kade’s ’Cuda pulled in a moment before the fire truck. The police would be next. Josh had to get Mira and Zoe out of here before they showed.
Kade parked and jogged across the lot. The scent of his rage swept out ahead of him. Josh tensed wondering if the shifter would notice the change in him now that his cats were fully bonded to his soul. Mira hadn’t.
“Who did this?” Kade’s slurred voice betrayed his anger.
Josh waited a moment more, but Kade didn’t ask any questions about his altered human status. Although Josh’s curiosity rose as to why, he filed the info away to consider later. The ambiguity might be a damn good thing, however. Different wasn’t always better.
“Micah,” Josh answered.
“I knew he’d be trouble.” Kade curled his hand but not soon enough to hide the tips of talons poking through the ends of his fingers. Luckily, nobody else hovered close.
Josh motioned toward the burning bar. “Mira and I were padlocked inside. I’d bet money Micah wanted me dead so he could swoop in and claim Mira.”
“And if Mira was weakened from being burned she wouldn’t be able to fight him.” Kade cursed. “It’s the only way he’d succeed. Mira could rip him a new one in seconds.”
Josh closed his eyes. The thought of Mira being at Micah’s mercy enraged Josh. He breathed through the fury with a promise to his soul’s hitchhikers that he’d make Micah pay. “Get Mira and Zoe out of here before the cops show up. Zoe won’t want to give any statements.”
At the mention of Zoe, Kade tensed. He flicked his gaze to the tiny apartment. “She was here. Is she okay?”
“Mira’s giving her blood. Micah roughed her up.”
Josh barely got the words out. Kade pushed past him and rushed up the stairs. Josh heard his bellowed curse, but he turned his attention to the pissed-off cop heading his way.
“What happened?” Ella asked. She didn’t pause for an answer. She pointed at the burning building. “Every door is padlocked with thick chains. The lines for the phone and electricity were cut and the fire hydrants were tampered with. They’re going to have to truck water in.” She looked him up and down. “Someone tried to kill you. I want to know why.”
Ella’s words played through his head. He sucked in a rough breath. “Every door?”
“Well the front and side—”
He sprinted across the yard, faster than he’d ever moved. Shit. He’d have to be careful not to run so fast around humans. Humans. He would’ve laughed at the distinction but he had to avert another catastrophe first.
He picked up the broken metal chain and padlock from the ground in front of the employee exit. The snapped heavy links couldn’t be found.
