Chapter 19
JAX
As I come down from the high of our mutual orgasm, I realize two things.
One: Tippy and I are stuck together.
And two: there are dark, red droplets of blood oozing out of a small incision in her neck.
When my knot entered her and her sweet cunt locked around my cock, there was no going back.
I was ready to burst, my balls rock hard and my knot pulsing inside her.
I felt the pleasure building, and when I demanded that she come for me, and she broke apart around my cock, every last bit of restraint left me.
I pounded into her as I snarled out a litany of dirty words and love, and the gods only knows what else, as my orgasm practically blew my head off.
In those final moments, all I wanted was to plant my seed deep inside her.
Bite her.
Claim her.
And now I’m slumped over her on the tabletop, with our dinner plates on the floor.
And we’re well and truly locked together.
Tippy starts to giggle. I find myself joining in. “Hmm, this is definitely new to me.”
“And me. Now what, Jax?”
“I’m going to stand and carry you over to the sofa, okay babe?”
“Okay.”
I wrap my arms around her and stand up. I snuggle her against my torso and stride awkwardly over to the large sofa. I drop down to sitting, then roll so we’re lying down, with Tippy’s back spooned into me.
“That worked,” I murmur into her hair. “Any idea how long this lasts?” I feel like a bit of idiot, like the knot virgin I am. Guess I could have researched this more.
“Not sure, maybe half an hour?” Tippy supplies and we both snort with laughter again.
With her little ass snug against me, my cock warmly embedded, all I can do is nuzzle into her neck. I lap the droplets of blood gently away with my tongue. “Shit, babe, did I hurt you?”
“Yes, a little. And I loved it.”
“I shouldn’t have bitten you. I’m sorry,”
“You claimed me, Jax. It’s normal for wolves to do that with their mate. And it was perfect.” She casts a glance over her shoulder with a cheeky little grin. “And now we’re stuck together, so you can’t roll over and leave me in the wet patch. How cool is that!”
I chuckle. “I would never do that.” I cradle her closer to me, bury my face in her hair, a lump in my throat. “You are amazing. The most amazing creature, the most beautiful… the most wild and wanton…”
“I think I may be in heat, Jax.”
I grin like an idiot at her admission. “Would you give me my marching orders if we had a cub?”
“No, why?”
“You said guys aren’t welcome in vixen shifter’s lairs.”
“I guess we could make an exception—maybe.” I detect the laughter in her voice.
“That’s not good enough,” I growl. “Say yes or else.” Then I tickle her until she relents. And since she’s still knotted to my cock and can’t escape, relenting happens pretty damn fast.
“Okay,” she laughs, squirming. “Okay, yes.”
“Promise?”
“I promise, I promise.”
Some fifteen minutes later, my knot releases and we go and shower together outside in the balmy Wolftown air.
Then we clean up the mess in the kitchen.
Finally, we snuggle back into my big bed, kiss and talk about what a future might look like together. A future with younglings, and a home of our own.
Tomorrow we will leave our little den. Say our farewells. And the day after that, I will go on my mission, fortified by our love, our mateship bond, and the promise of a future together.
I feel no fear now. The memories of loss, the fear that I will never find happiness, a partner, have a child of my own—that has all evaporated.
The words form in my heart and I let them fall from my lips.
“I love you, Tippy Honeywell,” I whisper into the shell of her ear.
The only response is her soft, even breathing, and I stifle a small stab of disappointment that she didn’t get to hear the first time I said those three little words.
Well, so be it. Maybe she’ll hear them in her dreams.
Suddenly her ears twitch, and then a small, sleepy voice murmurs, “I love you too, Jax Summers. All the way to Earth and back.”
TIPPY
I wake up cuddled into Jax, but the joy is soon swamped by the knowledge that our amazing time together is about to end.
We linger over breakfast. I give him an elixir, and he drinks it just to keep me happy. Other than that, we hug and kiss so often that we are barely ready when Traggar knocks on the door of the den.
Our bags are packed, the potions are all in my case. So is the story of Agdar and Leonora. In pieces. Not sure how I will explain that to Aunt Felicia.
On the table sit Jax’s last two vapes.
When Traggar walks in, his lips twitch as he spies them.
He raises his bushy brows at Jax. “Well? Has Tippy cured you?”
Jax nods. “There’s the evidence. I have no desire to vape. Zero. Zip.”
“You have done well, both of you.” Then his gaze falls to my neck, and to the bite marks I’ve made no attempt to hide, and while his face remains serious, I see a definite twinkle in his eyes.
“Otis will be here shortly to take you back to level one,” he says to Jax.
“There, you will have twenty-four hours to prepare for the mission.” He turns to me.
“Tippy, you will go with your aunt. She has found runes to enhance the performance of the portal cape and needs your help to sew them into the cape’s lining. ”
I nod, glad to have something that will keep me busy, and that will also keep my beloved safer.
What if I lose him?
The thought is like a knife to my heart. Our conversation last night exposed the dark underbelly of Sparkle City. Sure, I knew it was a bad place, but that meant less before someone I loved was directly affected.
To think he will be voluntarily walking back into danger. Will his wolf, and the cape, protect him from the dark malefaction at Sparkle’s core?
No, I won’t think about it. I won’t. Besides, I don’t have time. Otis arrives in his jeep and Jax hugs me long and hard while Otis sits waiting patiently. He lifts his brows at me through the window with a grin as Jax hops in. “Potions worked then?”
I give him a thumbs-up, and he winks. When they drive away, Jax’s gaze holds mine for as long as possible before the jeep disappears around the corner.
I sigh, and walk back inside. It feels like we’ve been together here forever, not just three days. Already this den feels like home—our home, mine and Jax’s. It’s so full of love. Could I live here, I wonder? In Wolftown with the wolves?
Yes, with Jax by my side, I absolutely could.
After all, I’ve never seriously contemplated going back to Vixenville to live. I imagine spending my days in an almost exclusively female environment, knitting and baking and caring for our cubs. It would be lovely, but very one-dimensional.
Perhaps we’ve been too unkind to our fox men. Maybe they’re not as bad as vixens make out. I sure know that wolves aren’t.
My belly warms and I touch myself there.
All I want is for Jax to come home to me. For us to experience family. Like the family he lost. Like the family I’ve never really had. With a dad as well as a mom.
Heck, I’ll give him as many pups as he wants.
My fantasy is broken when my aunt sashays through the door in a billow of silks and tinkling jewelry.
“Hello, Tippy-Anna, are you packed and ready darling?” she says. “We’ve got work to do. Come along.”
She’s picked up my bags and hurried me into her bright blue buggy before I have time to even answer.
“I trust the weekend went to plan?” she remarks as we drive off.
I cast her a sideways glance. “Which plan do you mean, exactly?”
She turns her head and pops her eyes at me, narrowly missing a wolfman on a bicycle.
“Honey, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Then she turns her eyes—thankfully—back to the streetscape and starts humming a wixen ballad as she drives.
After a few minutes, I pluck up the courage to say, “The book you lent me. I’m sorry, it got a bit damaged.”
“In what way?”
“Some pages, er, fell out.”
She shrugs. “Doesn’t matter. It’s a copy.”
I turn and stare at her. “A copy! Where’s the original?”
“In the Wolftown library.”
“The original is with wolves?” I can’t help it, I start to laugh a little hysterically.
She gives me a mock-stern look, but after a moment she laughs right along with me.
“Oh honey. The nice ladies of Vixenville did not want this book in their collection. So I lent it to the Trojans. We’ve agreed that it should stay down here for now.”
My lips quirk up. Mom and my other aunts and cousins would certainly find that book challenging. “Why did you give me it to read— now?”
She casts me a look, like I’m being deliberately obtuse. “It was time you learned the true story behind our wixen-hood.”
“It was a bit confronting,” I mutter, coloring up slightly, remembering how those images threw me into full-blown heat.
My aunt gives a theatrical huff. “You were fighting your fate, Tippy-Anna. I just gave fate a little nudge. But let’s not quibble. It’s sorted, is it not?”
I clasp my bag tighter and try not to let my smile stretch from ear to ear. “I guess, um, yes, it is.”
Understatement of the century.
Changing the subject, I ask, “Traggar said you and I had work to do on the runes, something about sewing more into the lining of the cape?”
“Yes. I’ve had time this weekend to join up runes from the Silver and Red books. And I have managed to combine three that will enhance the cape’s magic.”
“In what ways?”
“One is for direction. The cape is notoriously bad at knowing where to land, its mapping is not accurate. It has to take Jax to the exact spot he needs to be, not meander all over Sparkle.”
“Makes sense.”
“The next rune is for safety. The cape lacked an aura, which meant if a foot slides out or an arm is exposed, it will be visible to onlookers. This rune will ensure an aura of invisibility surrounds the cape. Thus, if a body part gets exposed within a six-foot radius, it won’t be visible to onlookers. ”
I sigh with relief. “What’s the third rune for?”
Auntie hesitates. “To curb emotional disruptions.”
“From Jax?”
“No, from the cape itself. Being a sentient object, it can get excitable just like the rest of us. This rune will help it to remain rational even in exceptional circumstances.”
“Exceptional!” I feel my chest tighten. “Meaning bad?”
“Not necessarily bad.” She smiles at me and pats my hand. “But either way, the portal cape has a job to do, and it can’t let its emotions get in the way.”