Of Savage and Sin (Wolves of Ossary #2)

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

–Naya–

I HAD MADE two decisions since I learned Bain would die to keep me safe.

Fuck no, and hell no.

That’s all I ever needed to get my way in life. An unbending, unwavering, uncompromising mentality that had served me well so far and would going forward because while I got it—there was no stopping us from screaming toward Fated Mate-hood and all that came with it—losing Bain was off the table.

I refused to let it happen.

I would spend every waking moment between now and tomorrow morning ensuring his addiction to me and showing him all the ways I could make him feel wanted. A task I willingly and most pleasurably set to the moment we stepped foot in the den Mave provided for us. It seemed she knew us well, too. While it looked simple enough with a fur-covered bed, a small fire, and a table and chair set up with food and drinks, when I took a closer look, I had to grin because there were a few blindfolds laid about and various ropes and straps tied here and there.

“You choose,”

I murmured in Bain's ear, running a hand over his strong muscles as I sauntered around him. Licking my lips with promise, I dropped to my knees and looked up at him seductively. “Wear a blindfold and control me, or don’t and let me have all the control.”

Thankfully, he opted for no blindfold. Good, because he would want to watch this time. Probably every time. I freed him from his pants, drooled at the sight of all he had to offer, and set to giving him the best experience of his life. Interestingly, because we were bonding, I knew everything he liked and disliked but ignored it all because what I offered was unique and better than all the rest. Knee-buckling. Something proved when he released a long, low groan of approval and had to grip the bedpost to sturdy himself because, despite his substantial size, I managed to take all of him and pleasure him in ways he never imagined.

There was no need to steer or control me, only give in to me. And he did in no time, roaring with release and letting me taste him the way I’d wanted to from the start. Let me consume him in a way that had me groaning and climaxing before I knew what hit me. A first when doing this, and I loved every minute of it.

I loved it so much I barely realized he had tossed me on the bed until he was hovering over me, and we were naked. I was on my belly, feeling his long, hot, muscular length against me as he murmured in my ear everything he intended to do. How he would make me feel, and I’ll be damned, if his naughty words didn’t rev me up even more.

“Position yourself for me,”

he growled—ordered—after he had kissed and licked just about every part of me. “Offer yourself to me.”

Understanding what he wanted, I came to my knees, let him blindfold me, then pressed my chest and cheek against the fur and arched my back, giving him the view he longed for. It was a common enough position, yet something about doing it without sight, knowing Bain was admiring me and desperate to take me, made it incredibly erotic. Heightened every sensation. Not just that, but the way he touched me, rough and controlling yet tender, too.

If that weren’t enough, he excelled at building me up and keeping me on edge. I found myself having mini-orgasms as he touched and stroked and kissed me all over without entering me. We had intense chemistry, but even if we didn’t, I knew it would feel just as incredible because Bain knew how to touch a woman. How to pay attention to her likes and dislikes and show her things she didn’t know she liked.

He showed me a few things, using his teeth in ways I had no idea worked for me. There was a playful, mysterious side to his lovemaking, too. Sinful, almost. He would order me not to give into sensation even as he built me up and teased me, knowing I wouldn’t be able to stop my body’s reaction. He told me he would do one thing and then do another, so I was repeatedly caught unaware.

The best example was when his hot breath was against my center one moment, and I expected his tongue, only for him to drive his cock into me a blink later. Crying out in pleasure, I nearly let go, but something about him ordering me not to yet, caused a terrible yet pleasurable ache to continue hovering just out of reach and kept me from going over the edge.

After that, he rode me so well it was a wonder I didn’t release multiple times, but I hadn’t been given permission, so he had his way with me, touching, stroking, and thrusting until he was good and ready. Then, and only then, with his hoarse whispered words by my ear, did he order me to let go.

It felt like a tidal wave of built-up need crashed over me because I let out a long, low, strangled cry when he pressed deep and filled me. And it went on and on. An immense full-body gush of pleasure that had me trembling all over in the best way possible.

And the fun by no means ended there.

I couldn’t say how many times we got each other off as the night wore on, only that every time felt better than the last. I went into the whole situation rightfully confident, but I still learned a thing or two and taught him a few tricks in turn. Every moment in his arms was intoxicating and addictive, and I wanted more.

I might have his heart, but I wanted tomorrow, the next day, and all the days after. This life and all it entailed, whether here or in the twenty-first century or split between the two. I wanted to have children even though I couldn’t, and I wanted to grow old with him.

“Hell,”

I groaned when the truth hit me hard. Really hard. I was wrapped up in his arms, coming down from my latest release, our sweaty limbs tangled up in each other, when I knew, without question, I loved him too.

Like head over heels, stupid crazy love.

I had never felt it before, but my heart still recognized it, and while a part of me soared, another part felt the crushing weight of potentially losing him all over again, only a thousand times more intensely.

It seemed he understood because when I started sobbing, he held onto me. There was no drowning this kind of sorrow and locking it away because it would only scream to the surface again. I had to ride it out with him and let it go.

Then, I needed to be as strong for him as he had been for me.

Bain might be willing to die to keep me safe, but he still felt the agony of our impending separation. The deep, soul-wrenching hurt. How many more times would we make love? Would we ever feel the exhilaration of running together again? Would we ever battle alongside each other?

There was no way to know how this worked. Did he drop dead once our cycle was complete? Was it a slow, painful process or long and drawn out? We had no clue. Worse still, there was no controlling it, and I hated that. Hated feeling so helpless.

“Yet you are not because things are under control, and you will be safe,”

he murmured against my temple. “The Wolves of Ossary will always be yours wherever you are, and I will find you again in our next life.”

He meant it, and I believed him, but it didn’t ease the ache. Yet the sobs slowly faded beneath his caresses and kisses and eventually turned to sensual moans as we pleasured each other most of the night, only taking a break to eat, drink, and talk. Every moment was precious, and we cherished each one.

I opened up to him in ways I hadn’t with anyone else, even my cousins, talking not just about the day I’d found out I was infertile but when our boat sank and the repercussions it had on the three of us going forward. My cousins and I had never really talked about any of it because dwelling on things that couldn’t be changed served no purpose in the life we’d been thrust into.

“Uncle Conner did the best he could, and Kaia too.”

I sipped my wine and shook my head as we lounged on the bed together. “But it was a massive change for us. We were raised in Southie but not in the projects. We’d had homes and a family unit. But with Uncle Conner, who was too young to be raising three girls and involved with the mafia even then, it was brutal.”

“Yet you pulled yourself out of it,”

Bain said, pride evident in his voice. “And did very well.”

“I did,”

I admitted, never forgetting the day I finally got out of there and bought my first upscale place. “But it wasn’t without a lot of hard work and doing things I wasn’t always proud of. I suppose that’s why Niall stuck around. He knew a part of me would always be Southie because he had been there when I was young, part of a life that crawls inside you and never lets go. I might be wealthy and successful now, but I could not have gotten here if I hadn’t wanted out of there so badly. I guess it's just impossible to shake your roots altogether.”

I eyed him curiously, knowing he’d had to leave his family behind when he turned. “Speaking of roots, what happened to your family?”

“They succumbed to illness a few years after I turned wolf.”

He sighed and took a long swig of ale. “By the time I found out, it was too late to turn them if ‘twas their wish.”

“I’m so sorry,”

I said softly, understanding the pain he had suffered all too well. Curious, I couldn’t help but ask why he hadn't started another family of his own. “Sure, you don’t like being locked down to one woman, but why not have children anyway? I’ve seen the way women look at you, and you’re an alpha, so I know damn well some of them would have given you children without becoming mates.”

“I could not say other than they were not you,”

he replied, surprising me with his response. “Not just that, but I feared...”

When he trailed off, I understood, feeling the deep sadness he had suffered losing his human family. “You feared losing another family and suffering that kind of pain again.”

“I did,”

he admitted. “’Tis something Tréan and I have in common, and it kept me from seeking out females in heat. Plus, we raised the Viking girls, so I felt satisfied enough.”

I had heard about the little Viking girls, one-half seer, and one-half dragon, that the Wolves of Ossary had taken in for several years to keep them safe until they eventually returned to their people. It had been, in part, the reason for the war Bain and his people now faced because dragons were their predators, and some thought it foolish to have them near, but it had been worth it. Raising and loving them had been worth it, according to what I felt inside my mate. A love for the girls that most Wolves of Ossary pack members still felt.

“Then there was you...”

Bain traced the contour of my shoulder as if continually mapping out every corner of me. “Always you.”

Curbing the conversation before it saddened us both for what I couldn’t give him, he circled back to our previous topic, genuinely curious, and I didn’t blame him. “Why did you flirt with Niall the night you were bitten? Why, when ‘tis clear in your thoughts, you hardly enjoyed his friendship anymore?”

He shrugged, drawing my eyes to his strong shoulders. “I understand you like dangerous men, but why him?”

“Because he was there, I suppose,”

I replied, wishing I could undo that night, but I might never have made my way to Bain if it hadn’t happened. Narrowing my eyes, I thought about it. “But even then, I wasn’t going to let it get that far...I didn’t want his kiss. It was just there. He was there. And then I was under his spell somehow.”

“’Tis the Lure of the Lycan,”

Bain said, his voice rough with frustration. “Unfortunately, the worse the wolf, the stronger his ability to lure his victims. Tadc has more than perfected it.”

“And do other wolves usually come through to the victim when they’re caught in this lure?”

I wondered, still seeing Bain’s eyes in that darkened hallway. Still felt him close.

“I don’t know.”

He trailed his fingers down my neck, between my breasts, and made light, electrifying circles on my stomach, arousing us both based on his renewed erection. About the hundredth he’d had since stepping into this room. “Any more than I know how I traveled a thousand years through time to be on the shoreline that fateful day. How I have been with you for so long in my dreams, other than ‘tis of the curse and fated mates. Of the Wolves of Ossary and the wolven magic that means to keep it safe by bringing its protectors together.”

“Because it did,”

I whispered when a strange sensation washed over me. An absolute certainty backed up by the way the Viking blade caught my eye in the firelight where it rested on the table. “Wolven magic aided by Viking dragon magic. By souls like us finding each other for the greater good. For the strength it will bring.”

My eyes drifted to Bain’s face, but it seemed hazy. Far away, even though I knew he was right there. “For those who are coming...and for those already here.”

Then, it felt like a ton of bricks slammed into my chest, and panic spiked through me. “Come back for them! Protect them!”

“Naya?”

I heard Bain say, but the room swirled into darkness, and I must have passed out because when I opened my eyes, he was over me, trying to rouse me awake. “Naya, can you hear me?”

“I can,”

I managed when his face snapped into focus. Confused, I blinked up at him. “What happened?”

“I have no idea.”

Clearly troubled and concerned, he frowned. “Who were you talking about? The pups?”

Meeting his frown, I sat up slowly, feeling a little lightheaded. “I don’t know what you mean.”

Grateful, I took several sips from the cool, refreshing water he held to my lips. “The last thing I remember, I was certain Viking and wolven magic had brought us together across the centuries, then the next thing I knew, you were rousing me awake.”

“I want everyone at Callum’s castle now,”

Tréan ordered into our minds and undoubtedly into the minds of Mave and her pack before letting us know Kaia was already with him. “’Tis time to rally around the pups and stand as a united Wolves of Ossary in one location.”

When I shook my head in confusion, Bain filled me in on what else I had said before passing out. Something about coming back for them and protecting them, which obviously meant the pups and what had spurred Tréan to rally his troops.

“I have no recollection of saying that.”

I frowned as we dressed, sad we couldn’t make love again but surprisingly eager to meet the pups. Then again, technically speaking, they were my blood, so I suppose it made sense.

“Something similar happened to Kaia.”

Bain tucked the Viking dagger into a sheath at my waist once I was dressed and cupped my cheek, the loving way he looked at me humbling. “And it only pushed her that much closer to her fated mate. Bonded them even more.”

I swallowed hard against the knot in my throat because even though I wanted to be as close to Bain as possible, I was terrified of completing our Fated Mate Cycle and losing him. But I had promised myself when I cried in his arms earlier that I would show him strength rather than weakness going forward.

So I did.

Offering him a warm, seductive smile, I traced my finger along his bearded jaw and scratched my nails down his neck just enough to remind him of the wounds on his back from my scratching him during one of our many releases. “And here I thought we’d bonded plenty already.”

A low growl of need rumbled up from his broad chest, and his cock strained against his pants as he backed me up until I hit the bedpost. My body thrummed with anticipation at the raw, primal look in his eyes when he ordered me to wrap my hands around it above my head. After I obeyed, he fell to his knees in front of me, inhaled me deeply, and went to yank my pants down, only for Tréan to growl into our minds, letting us both know he meant business, and we had best listen.

I met Bain’s groan of frustration when he inhaled me one more time, hung his head as if trying to rein in his need, and finally stood. Not before he made it clear he’d heed his alpha, but he was an alpha too and reeled me against him, only to cup my cheek as if I were the most precious thing in the world and kissed me softly. It wasn’t our usual desperate, hungry kiss but slow, romantic, and full of all the ways he cared about me.

Full of the future he wanted to have with me if given half a chance.

And it made things crystal clear what came next when we finally reunited with Mave and headed for Callum’s territory.

Something I wasted no time revealing.