Chapter 19 – Emerson #2
“I am,” Arsyn says earnestly. “I can offer our pup no protection if a high-level shifter wishes to claim her. She needs an alpha able to fight in a challenge if any half-cocked idiots get a little too interested in the fact she's a female shifter.”
“She's not even two,” I hiss. I vaguely remember when Dread said something to the same effect, but this shit blows my damn mind.
“No, but female shifters are growing increasingly rare. Even as a half shifter, she'll have her choice of mates one day. Adult shifters age extremely slowly. They'll think nothing of waiting fifteen or twenty years to have a mate that can shift. We need Dread to give her his ultimate protection.”
Maybe it's the lust, but my heart races at hearing him so focused on protecting my daughter.
Parenting alone is a challenge, especially since I don't belong in their world. I never have, but I've done my best to wade around in the mud, even when it felt like I might drown in it.
Having help and guidance isn't a bad thing. Unless they abandon me too, just like Alix did.
“Our souls are quite literally tethered,” Arsyn murmurs, kissing me again. “I understand your fears, but I assure you, I will never forsake you. I'd fight to my dying breath to keep the two of you safe.”
Bonding is no fucking joke in the supernatural world. And somehow, I mated Arsyn without a second thought. Without a single idea that what I was doing had lifelong consequences.
I've never had the urge to bite a sexual partner to the point of drawing blood. It almost felt instinctual, especially going for his lip.
“I'm sorry,” I say, my gaze falling to my feet. “I never meant to take away your choice.”
“No, dove.” Arsyn tips up my chin. “Never apologize for that. I'm completely content in our pairing.”
Dread's hands run over my stomach, and he lets out a low growl.
“Would you like a dose?” Arsyn asks, getting very close to Dread's face. My head swivels so I can watch them up close and personal. “Triple kiss.” Arsyn directs their heads down to mine. The kiss is frantic as I try to shove my tongue in each of their mouths...at the same time.
Okay, so Arsyn's lust doesn't always push you to make logical choices, since I'm pretty freaking sure that's impossible.
“Fuck,” Dread snarls. I twist to face him, and his pupils are huge, the red glow of his eyes brighter than normal.
“I'm going to ensure they put on something good to bump and grind to,” Arsyn says, shoving me into Dread's chest. “Take good care of my mate.” He chuckles, spinning around and striding away.
“I’m having a very severe reaction to the thought of your stomach swelling with my pups,” Dread growls, pulling me into him. His thigh notches between my spread legs, and then he's grinding against my pussy.
“Is this a weird role-play thing?” I ask, laughing and shaking my head. “Or are you just high on lust?”
“You're going to be my mate,” Dread says, staring straight into my eyes. “Do you not wish for more children?”
I laugh. “Dread, I really have no idea what's going?—”
He wraps his arm under my ass and lifts me up his torso.
His mouth claims mine in a slow and sensual kiss that has me grinding over his zipper.
Let's be real here. I'm closer to two hundred pounds than I am to one-fifty, and it's a little crazy that he can lift me, let alone hold me up with such ease while. ..
A hard sting smacks on my ass.
“Hey,” I grumble, pulling back from the kiss and glaring over my shoulder at Arsyn.
“I wasn't joking. Continue to try me with such petty thoughts, and I truly will tie you to the wall naked in The Den and make you watch all the monsters salivate as I pleasure your delightfully curvy body.” Arsyn quirks a whitish-blond eyebrow.
“I'd like to join in,” Dread says, nuzzling his cheek to mine.
“Did you know male hellhounds don't achieve their first orgasm until they meet their mates?” Arsyn asks.
He pulls my hair to the side and licks his way down my neck.
“You poor dear. He's got a four-hundred-year cork he's about to burst inside your tight little cunt.
And you're worrying if we find your curves enticing?” He bumps my face back toward Dread.
“What?” I whisper.
“You're my mate, Emerson,” Dread assures me. “It took me several long days of constantly fighting the hound to realize why we're so drawn to you.”
His face is so earnest that I have no idea what to say.
I didn't know Alix was a shifter until I was pregnant.
He disappeared soon after telling me. He made it clear I wasn't his mate.
It really hurt my feelings at the time because of how reverently he spoke about the bond and how blunt he was about me not being his.
“I'm sure you can feel my cock about to break through my jeans,” Dread growls. His hand slides up the back of my dress. “I'd very much like to know what it's like to have an orgasm. You have no idea how frustrating it can be to become aroused but never achieve that next level of release.”
I can only imagine how annoying that would be.
Dread continues to knead my ass like we aren't in a crowded club. My gaze darts around, checking to see how many others on the dance floor might be able to see my ass, since I can feel a cool breeze.
“You both need another kiss,” Arsyn says, chuckling.
“Details and adult things tomorrow. Tonight, you have a point to make.” I nod as he pulls my mouth to his.
“Deep breath, then shotgun the rest to Dread.
You two are taking too long to get to the exciting bits.
We've got quite the audience building to see what happens when a prime alpha claims his mate. I've got a reputation to uphold.”
He manages to kiss me breathless, and when I gasp for air, his lust-filled smoke floods my lungs. I cough a bit, but it doesn’t burn. In fact, it's smooth and incredibly easy to inhale.
“Now blow some back to your hellhound,” Arsyn instructs, tilting my face to Dread's.
Dread quirks a bushy eyebrow and looks at me expectantly.
Arsyn begins to lick his way down my neck to the strap of my dress as my mouth hungrily attacks Dread's.
The sounds he makes as I blow the smoke to him sends a shiver down my spine.
Or perhaps that's the expert way his hands cup and pull apart my ass while barely teasing the lips of my sex.
Music pounds through the air, but the song changes and becomes something dark and sensual.
Or maybe I'm high as fuck on Arsyn's lust and the insane idea that Dread thinks I'm his mate.
Add in the proprietary way he holds me to him like I'm something precious.
... It's all doing funny stuff to my brain.
I'm thinking impossible thoughts and wanting unrealistic things.
“You are going to give me a yard full of pups,” Dread growls, sucking my lower lip and nipping at it. “Right, love?”
My nipples tighten to a painful degree as Arsyn slides his hands down my hips, helping me to stand in front of Dread instead of being cradled in his arms.
“Maybe,” I concede. “I don't like the idea of Ember being an only child. I know what that was like for me when my mom and grandma died.”
“We should begin immediately,” Dread says, nodding his head and looking at me like he's about to fuck my world up in the best way possible.
“I have problems . . .” I shake my head.
“I intend to solve them all,” Dread assures me, staring directly into my eyes. His huge hand cups my face. “That's the beauty of having a mate. We're a team, and you'll always have my pack at your back in any situation that might need reinforcements.”
“It's quite the deal, isn't it?” Arsyn muses. His hands fall to my hips, leading me to grind against him with the beat of the music. “Never-ending support and men dead set on giving you as many orgasms as your tender little human body can handle.”
“I don't think either of you understand how plentiful my problems are,” I say, still feeling a little dazed. “But I won't turn down unlimited orgasms.”
“That's my girl,” Arsyn murmurs. He steps back, and I'm bereft when his warmth disappears. He looks at Dread. “I'll stay close to ensure you have additional protection.”
With that, Arsyn swaggers off across the dance floor. My eyes follow his tight ass in those dark jeans. How the hell does he hide the wings? They can't be comfortable under that leather jacket.
“I'd prefer if you keep your pretty blue eyes on me,” Dread murmurs, sounding so serious I can't help but laugh.
“You do realize how insane all of this seems to me, considering I'm essentially human, right?” I ask as he pulls me flush with his front.
“I've waited nearly four hundred years to finally sink inside a woman,” Dread growls. His huge hand wraps around my head, pulling my mouth to his.
“What?” I gasp into the kiss.
“The best piece of advice my oldest brother ever gave me is that it's easier to abstain if you don't have a taste of what you're missing,” Dread says in between fantastically sensual kisses. “Holy fucking hell do I want a taste of you. I want to devour you whole.”
He growls, and I shove him back toward the owner's table. The one that looks out with an excellent view of the club.
“Can you have them move it?” I ask, guiding my giant hellhound toward the booth.
The cranky gargoyle, who's too good to even talk to me lately, pops over the guardrail from the lower level.
He's shirtless, like always. I lick my lips, watching the strong muscles of his chest and arms flex.
He lifts the table, and with a flutter of his black wings, he's airborne, moving the massive, heavy-looking thing with ease and setting it down between us and the dance floor.
He spreads his wings wide and rises in the air. He sits on the edge and nods to the circular booth like he's saying get on with it .