Chapter 19 #2
The first stop was Brax and Cerys’s place.
It had been decided that Nico would stay the night with them.
Cerys, as a nurse, would keep an eye on him.
If something came up, they’d call us so we could bring Granddad to them.
Nico tried to say it wasn’t necessary, but he was ignored.
It worked out because when we arrived, we discovered Cerys, Akiva, and Cerys’s grandma, Twyla, had prepared dinner for all of us.
It was a great way to relax after the stressful drive and get to know them more.
I loved Twyla. She was funny, a little crazy, and loving.
And the food was amazing. I ate too much, but it was worth it.
After helping with the cleanup and a short period of socializing, we dispersed to go our separate ways. Now, we were standing outside Keir’s house. My family and I stood there, admiring the outside and marveling at how big it was. You could fit three of ours in it.
The outside was light, mossy-green shake shingles with river stone around the garage, and then the porch pillars and the two steps up onto it. The trim was white, and the front door was a pale stained wood. Those were visible because the exterior lights were on.
It sat surrounded on three sides by woods. The lane leading to it was private. Danu purred at the sight of it. This property was the kind of place a leopard would love to roam free.
“I’ll give you an outdoor tour tomorrow when it’s daylight. Let’s get you inside, and I’ll show you where everything is, and then you can settle down to rest,” Keir offered.
Walking inside, I was no less struck by the inside than I was by the outside.
It had plenty of open space. On the first floor, there was an office, a mudroom, a laundry room, a half-bath, a walk-in pantry, and a great room that opened into the dining room and kitchen, with its huge U-shaped counters and a small island in the middle.
Off the back of the house was a screened-in porch that ran the width of the house, and beyond it was a concrete patio.
On the second floor were the main bedroom and en suite bathroom, plus three more bedrooms with walk-in closets, two full baths, and a loft with built-in shelves.
But it didn’t stop there. There was a third floor with a huge bonus room.
At present, it was finished and empty, but I could imagine it as a kids’ playroom or game room.
There weren’t enough words to describe how beautiful it was or how impressed we were.
Once the tour was done, and after allowing my family to choose which rooms they wanted to use, we all went our separate ways.
But only after Keir made sure to tell them to make themselves at home.
If they got hungry or thirsty, the kitchen was theirs.
He and I had come to the main bedroom thirty minutes ago. We’d taken a shower together and were curled up together in his big bed.
“I love your house, Keir. It is way more than I ever expected. How did you not rattle around here?”
“You mean our house. And you know how we shifters are. We like space and openness. I admit there was more than I liked left unused, but I was always hopeful I’d find a mate one day.
And since I plan to stay here for the foreseeable future, I had it built the way I wanted it.
So you can see, there’s plenty of room for Galen and Gal here if they choose to stay.
But I’m still totally okay with building a cottage, too. ”
“We’ll see what they say after they get a chance to relax and see what they want,” I told him.
As much as I liked talking about our home, there was something else I wanted to do more.
The feel of his body pressed into mine with his hard contours and fine body hair stimulating every nerve ending in my body made my nipples hard.
And the heat between my legs grew, while producing the telltale moisture to welcome him inside of me.
But it was more than I wanted to have sex with Keir, though I did want that. There was something else I was dying to do. It had been on my mind for days. Now that we were in Needles, it was time.
I rolled, so I was mostly lying on top of him.
I lifted myself until I stared into his face.
He gave me a loving look. Without saying a word, I captured his lips.
I pressed a hard kiss to them first, then eased back so I was free to nibble on them.
I tugged the lower one with my teeth. Then, I ran my tongue over it to soothe the sting.
The growl that came rumbling out of him made it clear that he enjoyed it.
I pressed the tip of my tongue at the seam of his lips.
Keir opened up without resistance. His tongue was waiting for mine and immediately twined around it.
The kiss went on for a couple of minutes at least before I broke away.
My entire body was flushed hot, and my breath was coming out in small pants. Keir had a constant purr going.
I’d ended up straddling his waist. His cock nudged my pussy. I was soaked and frantic to have him buried in my core. More foreplay would have to wait. I was desperate.
“What do you—” Keir’s words were cut off when I reached between our bodies, grasped the base of his shaft, then stood it up straight, before I lifted myself and placed the head at my opening.
His eyes flared with even more heat. Giving him a sexy smile, I sank onto him.
It wasn’t slow or fast. It was at a nice steady pace. We both groaned.
When he was fully engulfed inside of me, I lifted, pausing when only the tip was still encased. I followed that up with another slide down. Up and down I rode, keeping it to a steady pace, but I knew it wouldn’t last for long. My body wasn’t able to wait, and he appeared rather frantic himself.
After a good minute or two, I placed my hands on his pecs and increased my speed.
This must’ve been the signal Keir had been waiting for because he grasped my hips in both of his hands.
When I was at the tip of him the next time, he yanked me downward hard.
It drove his cock deeper and made me cry out as he groaned.
Our rhythm increased. The loudness of our breathing and the moans, groans, and gasps filled the air.
Along with them was the slap of skin on skin and the scent of sex perfuming the air.
I was riding him too fast to be able to attempt another kiss.
It didn’t take long before my body tightened and I shouted his name.
My pussy pulled at his shaft, but he resisted me and held off coming.
When I relaxed, he was still leisurely stroking in and out of me. I wanted to climax again and this time, take Keir with me. I went back to riding him hard. This time, I interspersed my strokes with twists of my hips and clenching of my inner vaginal muscles.
“Fuck,” he muttered.
“You feel so good,” I whispered hoarsely.
“Not as great as you do, Piscín,” my mate moaned.
I already felt the climb to the peak happening to me again. I sped up a tad and clenched him more. He had to orgasm, too. It was the only way to do what I wanted. His fingers bit into my hips. I knew I’d have bruises later, and I was all for marks showing I was his.
When the second orgasm hit me, I didn’t scream his name. I lowered my head and latched onto his shoulder in the same spot he had marked me with his claiming bite. I sank my teeth in, breaking his skin. I wanted him to bear my mark for others to see.
“Son of a bitch!” Keir shouted, then he slammed his cock deep, held himself there as his cock kicked repeatedly, filling me with his cum.
The guttural grunts he let out made it clear he was loving every part of this experience.
I stayed latched onto him until our bodies began to quiet.
That was when I disengaged, licked the wound to stop the bleeding, and sealed it.
Keir gripped my head between his hands and lifted it to kiss me.
It was the perfect way to end our intimate moment.
I collapsed on top of him and let my body float.
“Fiona, that was so unexpected,” he eventually murmured.
“I’m glad you liked it. I’ve been thinking about it for days. I want to have your skin bear evidence that you belong to me, the same way my body bears your mark,” I confessed.
“I’ll show it with pride. Thank you. Thank you for loving me and giving me my dream.”
“I’m the one who should be thanking you. I never let myself hope I’d be this happy or have a mate, a future family, and a home.”
We lay there basking in the afterglow and our love. For now, worries about the Knights, Pytho, or anything else were put on the back burner.
?
Our first full day in Needles started with a family breakfast. All four of us worked together in preparing it. Gal and Granddad talked about how well they slept last night. Keir said he had a great night too. I caught his smirk and wink.
After we finished eating, we went outside to explore the property and get the lay of the land.
In total, he had thirty acres. Into the woods we went.
Keir showed us the boundaries of his property.
He had Royal’s and Gunnar’s properties up against his.
All seven Sentinels had their land touch a central clearing where they held shifter meetings and kept hidden prison cells for anyone they might have to hold before disposing of or turning them over to the Council of Oracles.
However, with the issues and unrest within the Council, no one had been directly handed over to the Oracles’ control for months.
The Sentinels were imprisoning them directly in the main prisons.
There was one in every part of the world where a phalanx of Sentinels policed.
Since it was daytime, we resisted the urge to change forms and run free.
But come nightfall, I knew that we’d all want to let our leopards out to have fun and stretch.
After the tour, we visited Cerys and Brax. Granddad wanted to check on Nico. It was Sunday, so none of the guys were working. I wasn’t sure if it was by design, but when we arrived, Banner and Gunnar were already there. Not long afterward, the others showed up.
Cerys, Gal, and Granddad had been the ones to assess Nico and redress his wounds.
I could tell by their faces when they rejoined the rest of us that they weren’t happy.
Nico insisted on joining everyone in the living room rather than staying in bed.
Nico’s color was still off, and though he tried to hide it, I caught his grimaces of pain as he walked over to the recliner.
“You’re concerned. What’s wrong with Nico?” Brax asked before anyone else had a chance.
“Nothing, I’m fine,” Nico rushed to say.
“No, you’re not,” Cerys argued.
“Galen, what’s going on with him?” Royal asked.
“His wounds aren’t healing. They should be much further along in the healing process.
At the moment, they’re not demonstrating signs of even beginning to close.
Also, he shouldn’t be in so much pain. I don’t get it.
There isn’t any infectious drainage. We cleansed the wounds thoroughly again.
I put topical antibiotics on them. We’ll also start him on a course of IV antibiotics.
Cerys told me she has someone who’ll prescribe them.
I don’t have a license in California. He refused a script for painkillers.
If he can’t rest, he’ll only delay his recovery more,” Granddad explained.
All eyes landed on Nico. He scowled.
“Don’t give me those looks. I’ll be fine. And I can take care of my own wounds. There’s no need to make Galen and Cerys do it. They don’t need to trek out to my place after I head back there today. You’re all worried for nothing.”
“Nico, I’ve never known you to take days to heal. And for the wounds not to show any signs of closing, that’s not normal. You’ll let Galen doctor you and do whatever they say. If not, you won’t be able to protect anyone who needs us,” Brax reminded him.
The way Nico sighed told me Brax had taken the right approach with him. If he’d ordered him or tried to make it only about Nico, he would’ve pushed back. By bringing in the people he couldn’t help, he bypassed that.
“Fine, I’ll let Galen doctor me and take the damn antibiotics. But no pain pills. You’ll see, it’s just lagging a bit. By the end of a week, I’ll be one hundred percent. But I guess it’ll be good for one reason.”
When he paused, it was me who asked the question on all our minds. “What reason?”
A big grin spread across his face. Mischief was apparent. “At least this way, you all get a chance to be the heroes and not have me always doing all the saving and work myself.”
This remark prompted a response from the other Sentinels.
They hurled insults at him. Others came up with inventive swearing.
The smack talk was cutting. My family, Akiva, Cerys, and I laughed.
It took a while for it all to die down. When it did, Cerys went to place the call to her friend who would order the antibiotic.
The guys turned to my granddad and asked him if he’d consider getting his license in California and returning to practice medicine.
I knew he yearned to do it. He agreed to think about it.