A Twist of Luck (Shifter City Fated Mates #2)

Chapter 28

CHAPTER 28

KELLAN

Pretty Girl: Hey, Golden Boy. I’m lying next to you, and I wish you were awake so we could chat. I could really use a dose of your positivity and humor. This fucking sucks. I can’t believe you jumped in front of that magic for me. If you ever do that again…

M y left arm tightened as if to bring her closer, but she was already sprawled across my chest. As close as I could physically get to her without this shit turning awkward and weird… though… Tempting.

My sweet, perfect mate. I’d fucking stand between her and anything. She could never stop me from doing it again and again.

Pretty Girl: Okay, so maybe threatening you when you’re possibly dying isn’t exactly appropriate, but just know, I’m very mad at you. We’re in a fight, okay. And right now I’m winning and you’re losing, so I need you to wake right up. Immediately. Like now. Please…

My heart thudded roughly in my chest, the ache so acute that I would have rubbed my sternum, except both hands were occupied with the two most important things in the world. Emme and her thoughts.

Pretty Girl: Okay, so, let’s talk about something else because I need my mind off what’s happening. I’m sorry about the bike… my poor, pretty baby. I’m assuming she got totaled when they blasted us, and I never even got a chance to tell you how much that gift meant to me. Along with the helmet and jacket. Goddess, it was more than anyone has ever done for me, you sweet, beautiful shifter, and I need you to know that it broke me. In the best ways.

I’d already sent out a few messages to get her bike replaced, and this time I’d be the one to give it to her. I needed to absorb her emotions in person rather than via security footage that Slade reluctantly shared with me after. Greedy fucking dragon.

Focusing on the phone again, I savored these messages, saving them into another private chat. These tiny snippets were glimpses of my Emme, and she was never this open normally. I was experiencing the tiny cracks in her chest as she bled out her emotions.

The fact that I’d almost died and missed this was unacceptable.

Turning my face toward her, I breathed in her scent, letting my wolf calm. He was prepared to escape from my skin and storm Silver City until we tracked down the fuckers who almost stole me from my mate. I understood why my pack hadn’t done anything while I was unconscious and on death’s door, but now there was nothing to stop us.

I pressed my lips to her brow, and again between her eyes, and down her perfect, cute little nose, tracing each of her freckles. I had them memorized by now, and as I pulled away, it hurt to see her normally rosy tanned skin so pale. Even during rest, exhaustion lined her features, and I wished I could erase everything I’d put her through.

Or go even further back and start with her mom.

Unfortunately, reversing time wasn’t one of my talents, but I could ensure that the rest of her days were filled with so much love and happiness that it drowned out her past until she couldn’t hear it at all. No matter what it took or who I had to destroy along the way.

Tucking her against my chest once more, I returned to the phone.

Pretty Girl: The witch didn’t have good news, baby. But I know you’re strong enough to fight. To stay here with me. It’s not just me either. Finley is a mess, and our two stoic alphas are keeping up their usual gruntiness, but they’re struggling as well. We all need you and your sunshiny ways. YOU HEAR ME, GOLDEN BOY. Do. Not. Fucking. Leave. Us.

At the start of her next message, my heart skipped a few beats, and I was fairly sure it was about to pound out of my chest as I read on.

Pretty Girl: I’ve told you this many times in your unconscious state, but I love you, Kellan Jackson. I think I fell in love with you the first day you stalked me in the forest, shifted into one of the hottest golden men I’d ever seen, and all but flopped your penis out in front of me like it was just a regular Tuesday. It is a really nice penis, btw. Anywho. You’re not going to die, and I will delete all these messages in that case, but I have to put it in writing. I love you. You’re one of the best things that ever happened to me. The end.

The tightness in my chest overwhelmed me as the heat in my eyes rivaled the fire of my previously fought magical battle. “I love you too, pretty girl,” I whispered, dropping the phone by my side and wrapping her up with both arms. “I love you so much it hurts. You’re the other half of my soul, and now I need you to wake up so I can tell you that.”

My emotions were a swirling pit of warmth, love, and despair, and I wasn’t sure how to let them escape without howling to the heavens. It almost slipped free when I felt the slightest movement in my hold…

“Kellan.” Her rasp was barely audible, but I heard her. Choking back a very manly sob, I was just so goddess-be-damned thankful she was awake.

“Baby,” I breathed, joy piercing through my chest until it felt like my heart was as tattered and bleeding as hers had been in her messages. I rocked her back and forth, before pulling away to see her eyes slowly open. “Are you okay?” I demanded, assessing her vital signs, which were all stable. “Do I need to call in healers?”

Another slow blink, then she shook her head, tongue darting out to moisten her lips. My gaze locked on that tiny pink tip, and I almost leaned down and tasted her. Now was not the time, but as the bite on my neck pulsed, reminding me of our new connection which I felt all the way to my wolf soul, I wasn’t sure how long I’d be able to hold back.

From my mate.

“I feel weird but okay,” she mumbled as she tried to moisten her lips again and groaned. “Need water.”

There were a few bottles on my desk, which I could only reach by bringing her along with me. I sure as fuck wasn’t about to let her go. Cracking the lid, I sipped it so it wasn’t so full, and then lifted her upper half closer. She closed her eyes as she drank, and when she’d had enough, I recapped it and threw it to the floor, letting Emme slump into my hold once more.

“What happened?” she whispered, sounding marginally clearer. “Did we bond, or did I dream that?”

Pure bliss was a shot of adrenaline to my body. “Baby, we absolutely bonded, and you saved my life. Again.”

There was a pause as her eyes widened and her cute little brows wrinkled. “When did I save your life the first time?”

Fucking hell she was adorable. There had to be a way for me to bottle her up and keep her with me always. I was hooked. I refused to spend even a single day without a dose of Emmeline. “You saved me when you arrived in Golden Claw. My existence was empty, and I didn’t even know how pathetic it was until you filled it with… well, you. With warmth and love and perfection. With the other half of my soul.”

Her wide eyes bored into me, a murkier blue than usual. When her lips trembled, I shook my head and cupped her face with one hand. “Oh, Shortcake. Please don’t cry. Your tears illicit two reactions in me: I need to beat someone to death, or cry with you. Neither of which are appealing when I have you here, alive, in my arms.”

“You almost died,” she croaked, that tremble more pronounced, heavy moisture rimming her lash line. “You almost left me, right after you made me love y?—”

She cut herself off, breathing deeply, and I laughed as I leaned down and kissed her lips. Tasting her soft sweetness. “I’ve read your messages, my perfect mate. You didn’t get a chance to delete them, and for that I’m eternally grateful. You don’t need to hold back how you feel. I fucking love you too. More than anything in existence, more than this world, more than I thought was possible. You will never get rid of me, baby. You have to know that. We are one now, and I can feel you deep in my wolf essence… in my soul.”

The heat of her tears slipped between our lips, and we tasted her salty sorrow as we kissed. “I love you, Golden Boy,” she breathed, her words strangled. “I’ve never said it out loud to someone who was awake before, but I can’t wait another second to tell you. Please don’t ever leave me again.”

Fuck my heart. It shattered in my chest, and each piece glowed with the knowledge that she loved me. “They will have to tear me away,” I whispered back. “Cleave and tear me from you.”

Her ragged breaths eased as she leaned back, and while the remnants of tears remained, she was calmer. “I can’t believe this is happening.” She lifted her hand and pressed it against the now healed mark on her shoulder. My wolf howled at the sight of her wearing our claim, and whatever possessiveness I’d felt before was a million-fold now. A billion even.

Fuck. There wasn’t a number high enough.

“Mine,” I rumbled, my voice low and threaded with my beast. “My pretty mate.”

Emme’s breaths quickened again, but in a completely different way as her pupils dilated. “Yes,” she whispered. “As you are mine.”

I was. Completely and irrevocably.

This time when our lips met there was desperation between us, and I sucked her tongue against mine, needing more. When she moaned against my mouth, my cock kicked hard in my boxers, and I groaned in return. Knowing I’d been in this bed for days and was no doubt gross as fuck, I hauled her tiny frame into my arms and lifted us from the mattress.

We didn’t stop kissing even as I strode into the bathroom, pleased to see my strength had returned to normal, with no apparent lingering weakness from the spell. When the water was warm, I stripped off our clothes and stepped under the spray.

Emme arched against me, and I barely held on to my control as my dick jerked in an attempt to get closer to the warmth between her thighs. Emme’s perfect, pretty pussy had a manicured strip of dark blond hair leading to paradise... Fuck. I could feel her arousal, and smell it, against my stomach, but I refused to claim her for the first time in the shower.

She deserved more than a quickie. She deserved hours of me worshipping her as the goddess she was.

“Please, Golden,” she cried, arching again as she tore her mouth from mine and threw her head back under the spray. Sliding one hand higher up her back, I supported her as she ground her core against me. “I need you inside me. Now.”

Gah . She was going to kill me again if she wasn’t careful. What a fucking way to go though.

With a strangled laugh, I dropped my head and sucked one of her tight pink nipples into my mouth, consumed by how delicious she tasted. She was sweet chocolate, and I was enthralled. This siren had me completely under her control, and I’d never been happier. “I will be inside you, baby. For hours. Don’t worry about that. I just need to get cleaned up first, then we’re heading right back to bed.”

The snarl that erupted from her had my dick kicking harder against her soft skin, and when she turned needy and demanding, I was even more of a goner. “Please, Golden. Please, please, please.”

The begging, that was it, the best moment of my life. “Patience, my little wolf. You know I’ve got you.”

Her pupils were blown as she slowed her thrusts against me, the smallest of sigh escaping. “I did actually throw up earlier, so maybe some teeth brushing wouldn’t go astray.”

I hadn’t noticed any vomit; my sole focus always on Emme. Florence had probably cleaned it up at some point. “Why were you sick?” I took in her drawn features, happy to see a little color already returning.

“Distress over you,” she whispered, no longer moving against me at all. She just studied my face as though she’d never see it again. “You were dying.”

Her lip tremble had returned, so I quickly reassured her, “I'm alive and well, and I'm not going anywhere.” With her still firmly in my arms, I stepped from the shower and grabbed my electric toothbrush and a new head if she wanted to switch it out.

“Thank the goddess,” she whispered, accepting the brush, and I wasn’t sure why I was pleased as fuck when she didn’t switch the head, but I was. Every part of her was mine, and the least of the germs we would share was via a toothbrush.

Finishing my own shower took a few minutes longer than usual because I refused to let her out of my arms. When we were both clean, I got us out, dried, and back in my room. Somehow, I knew that the sheets would have been changed by Florence, our absolute miracle worker. Sure enough, we found fresh sheets, blinds drawn, the door closed, and no vomit.

The perfect setting for me to love my mate.

“Baby,” I said as I lifted her onto the middle of the bed and crouched over the top of her on my hands and knees. I got distracted by the sight of her long, naked limbs spread out below me, the wet strands of her strawberry hair bright against the white sheets.

A cheeky smile lit up her expression, and I was relieved to see that the icy blue of her irises had returned. “Yes, Golden? Though I do like when you look at me like a starving shifter.”

Holy fuck. Starving didn’t even come close to the desperate hunger I had for her. “Shortcake…” I pressed my lips to her shoulder, and then down to her throat. “I’m ravenous. I’m going to eat you like you’re a buffet and I have an all-day pass.”

Her pupils dilated as she reached for me, her fingers grazing over the bite mark she’d left on my throat, and her lips parted as she panted. “Good boy.”

My cock jerked so hard that I had to reach down and palm the fucker to stop it from jumping out of its skin. Desire, need, and joy merged into a desperate vortex inside me of. “You keep that up, pretty girl, and I’m not going to even get inside you before I’m coating you in my cum.”

Emme nodded, her pupils dilating as she parted her full lips and gasped. “Yes. I want you to mark and claim me in every single way, Kellan. You will do that for me, won’t you? My perfect, good boy.”

Goddess. Fuck! My cock leaked pre-cum everywhere. I’d never been this hard in my life. It was a pain that both tortured and pleased me.

Dragging my tongue along her soft skin, I sucked her right nipple deep into my mouth, gently biting around the tip, while my tongue laved as much of her skin as I could reach. Emme let out a guttural sort of scream, lacing her fingers into my hair and tightening her hold until it was almost painful. I wanted more .

I kissed between her luscious boobs, tasting every freckle I found on my way, and gave the left nipple just as much attention. Emme writhed against me, desperation clear in her little moans, and when I moved down her stomach, finding more sweet freckles, I finally settled between her thighs. The most perfect pussy, spread out for my feast.

I breathed in the scent of her arousal, a groan building from the deepest part of my chest. Guttural was this need. Desperate and frantic.

Sliding my nose across her lower lips, my tongue darted out to taste her, and my beast roared in my chest. I growled louder than I think I’d ever done, burying my face in her cunt and devouring my sweet omega.

“Kellan, oh fuck!” She bowed her back as I sucked hard on her clit. I was coated in her cum when she squirted, taking both of us by surprise. The best fucking surprise . Was it my birthday? Christmas? Did I just get a wish granted, because this was my lucky day.

Refusing to waste any of that deliciousness, I moved faster, my tongue swiping through her sex and across her clit, and when my hands tightened on her thighs, I relished the deep tremble in her muscles.

Determined to make her come again, I shifted my right hand to slide two fingers inside her, curling them up to her g-spot, shuddering as her walls clenched around me. “So tight, baby. I can’t wait to feel you on my cock. I need to claim every part of you.”

“Y-yes,” she mumbled, her mouth open as she palmed her tits and held on for life.

Pre-cum leaked so hard from my dick that I was all but lying in a wet patch as large as the one under Emme. Despite my best efforts to devour all her release, my girl was a squirter, and I was fucking here for it .

New goal in life, make sure we both ended up in a puddle every morning.

And night.

And lunchtime.

All fucking day.