Chapter 10 - Renz
Jasmine pushed away from the table. “Excuse me. I don’t think I should stay…”
“No—” I started.
She held up a hand toward me. “Please.”
I stepped back, nodding reluctantly. If she didn’t want to be a witness to this fight, then I should let her go. Seeing her head around the lake, walking swiftly to get herself out of earshot, my wolf growled.
Owen glared at me, leaning his hands on the table. “Oh? By speaking up and not letting her bamboozle you all?”
“You’re double the asshole for using the word ‘bamboozle’ like that,” I responded dryly.
“You’re so annoying!”
Normally, it was kind of funny when I could get under Owen’s skin. Normally, it was because he was taking something too seriously, and after a bit of light teasing, he relented and could see where exactly he had gone off the rails. Not today. Not when it was about Jasmine.
She had finally started to open up to us, and what did he do? He shut her down by insulting someone who clearly meant a lot to her. I’d ask what the fuck was wrong with him, but I wouldn’t get an answer. He’d only go back to blaming Jasmine for it all.
I wanted to know, genuinely. We all just followed after him when he started tormenting her, and I wanted to know why. Now that I saw things so much more clearly, I needed to have a good reason to tell Jasmine.
“You can’t just keep attacking her like that,” I said, a rare moment of trying to be reasonable. “She is our wife. Our mate. She’s going to go into heat soon. How is she supposed to trust us with her body when this keeps happening?”
Owen folded his arms. “So, my feelings don’t matter? You’re just assuming that it’s fine for her to have my body even though I don’t trust her?”
I opened my mouth to say it wasn’t the same thing, but stopped myself in time. He was right. In marriage, it was a natural thing for the alphas to make their mate the center of their concerns, but we couldn’t lose sight of each other, either.
Jace cleared his throat. He’d lingered nearby, arms folded. “If you have concerns about sex, you need to address those concerns instead of attacking her.”
Owen’s jaw tightened. I could practically see his head getting harder as the stubbornness set in.
“I’m going to find Jasmine,” I said. She’d disappeared from around the lake. “You might have better luck without me around.”
Owen sent me another furious look but didn’t protest. Jace rounded the table and started speaking to him in a low voice. I hoped that it was going to work. If anyone could coax Owen into actually saying what was bothering him, instead of continuing this stoic, angry schtick, it was Jace.
I found Killian and Jasmine shortly. They’d gone about halfway around the lake, then headed into the woods just until they were out of sight from camp. They had found a spot on a low log to sit, and Jasmine had tucked herself into Killian’s arms.
“It really isn’t your fault,” Killian was saying. “Owen has always been like that. He doesn’t say what's really on his mind. His home life wasn’t great, and even with us, he’s still guarded.”
I should step back and give them space. Clearly, Killian had calmed her down, and I risked upsetting the balance they’d achieved. But I stayed where I was, watching. I wanted to be closer. I wanted to hold her, too, and to reassure her. It felt like the least I could do.
I was still hesitating when Jasmine looked up.
Her expression changed, turning into a smile.
When she gestured for me to join them, I pushed aside my doubts and headed straight to them.
When I sat next to her, she wrapped one arm around me, though she still snuggled into Killian.
The result was a little uncomfortable, leaning against her as I was, but her sweet scent filled me and made my wolf relax.
“You didn’t have to do that for me,” she murmured into my neck.
The feeling of her lips on my skin and her breath wafting over that sensitive area made me stir and harden. I hoped that the relaxed fit of my jeans would keep it from showing.
“Didn’t have to do what?” I asked, distracted.
“Defend me like that. I’m grateful for you, but I also don’t want to cause more trouble between the four of you.
With everything that has been happening, the pack needs you to be unified now more than ever.
” Her fingers curled into mine, and she pulled me even closer.
Gods help me. I was practically on top of her, and her scent was making it hard to think about anything else.
I tried to put an arm around her, but she and Killian were plastered so close together I couldn’t wedge my hand between them. I gave up and instead started to trace my fingers up and down Jasmine’s spine. She shivered in response, which only made my wolf hungrier.
“It’s amazing,” I murmured. “Even after the pack treated you like dirt, you’re still compassionate and caring. You still think about what is good for them. And for us. I understand why the Goddess picked you. Who else would be good enough?”
Jasmine shook her head, her nose brushing my jaw as she did so. “Don’t say that. It sounds like a line you’re giving to get me to open my legs for you.”
Images of her on her back, legs wrapped around my waist as I slowly fucked her while toying with her clit and making her back arch filled my mind. I pressed against my jeans, and if Jasmine looked, there would be no hiding the fact.
“I know it sounds like a line,” I said, trying desperately not to let my voice give away how horny I’d become. “But it’s also true. You understand what the pack needs from the perspective of how bad it is at the bottom.”
Killian shifted closer. It took only a glance to see that he was as affected by her presence as I was. He tried to put his hand between us, and I flashed him a canine to warn him to back off.
Jasmine must have seen, because she squirmed in our hold. “Let go. You’re both getting too close. I can’t breathe,” she complained.
My wolf whimpered, pained by the thought that she didn’t want me touching her like this. I let my hand fall to the ground, and I reluctantly leaned away, giving her space.
“Now that’s too far!” Jasmine squirmed, growling in a way that was most unlike her.
As I chuckled, confused and yet pleased, her scent hit me even harder.
All thoughts were driven from my mind, and all I wanted to do was to pull her into my lap and start kissing her.
I froze on the spot, understanding lighting a fire in my low belly.
She really was too far away from me, and I wanted her closer.
Much closer, so that our bodies would fuse and become one entity.
There was only one reason why we were being so affected by her, and why she was simultaneously wanting to push us away and bring us closer.
“You are having a difficult day, aren’t you?” Killian chuckled. He kissed her, almost as an unconscious motion.
And they both froze. Lips still touching, eyes wide.
It was clear that the kiss caught them both off guard, but neither of them wanted to break apart.
Instead, they drew in closer to each other.
Jasmine pulled herself up, half on his lap as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
I watched, mute, unable to make my mouth move in the way I knew it had to.
I should tell them.
Oh, but then they might stop, and I was enjoying this too much.
The way Jasmine tilted her head, the way she rocked her body against him.
The way his hands splayed over her back, his thumbs rubbing in small circles just at the base of her ribs.
Jasmine whimpered into Killian’s mouth, and he swallowed it with a groan.
The sight was just so hot as the sounds of their kisses filled the air. They slanted their heads one way, then the next, and when they pulled back from each other, a string of salvia connected them until it fell to Jasmine’s chin and she licked it away.
“Oh,” she murmured.
Killian nuzzled her cheek. “Oh? Does that mean you liked it?”
“I liked it,” she said faintly, then asked, “Did you?”
He laughed. “Yes. I quite enjoyed it. You taste delicious.”
Jasmine shimmied her shoulders, and Killian loosened his grip on her. While his eyes were still full of stars, hers were widening. When she glanced at me trepidatiously, I understood. She had figured it out, too, and was now looking for an escape.
I slid closer again, putting one hand on her upper back and the other on her hip. “It’s alright. We’re here to help, Jasmine. You don’t have to go through this by yourself.”
“Go through what?” Killian asked.
I met his gaze, even though I’d prefer to be kissing Jasmine herself. “Her heat has started.”
Killian’s eyes widened. “It has?”
“Just smell her. Her scent is making you hard, isn’t it?”
Jasmine flushed and pressed her legs tighter together.
“It’s more than her scent making me hard,” Killian answered with a slight grin. His hands moved to her hips, and he gripped her tightly. “So. Is this your first heat?”
Jasmine nodded once. “I know it’s unusual for someone my age to never have experienced a heat before, but…”
I combed my fingers through her hair. With everything being so fresh, we couldn’t go all the way. But still, “We need to do something to help, before it puts you in pain.”
“H-help?” Jasmine whispered.
I forced myself to focus on her face, reading the emotions there. Desire, yes, and a certain amount of longing. But also worry and uncertainty.
“Not sex,” I said, keeping my voice firm despite my own desire for the opposite. “Killian and I will keep our pants on. At this point, any orgasms will help. Eventually, you won’t be able to climax without penetration, but for now, manual stimulation will be enough.”
Killian snorted. “Penetration? Manual stimulation? Way to make it sound sterile.”
But Jasmine’s tight expression relaxed. Her lips tilted upward, not quite a smile but trying to be. She nodded, adjusting herself again. “That would be alright, I think. I just, um…” she trailed off as she chewed her lip, clearly not sure what to say.
“You just what?” Killian asked.
“I’m worried about dirt,” she finished, cheeks flushing.
I pulled my shirt off. “You can sit on this.”
Her eyes trailed over my exposed chest, taking in all the tattoos on my torso. One hand reached out and traced a dragon that ran the length of my stomach, from ribs to hip. I shuddered at her touch, desire moving through me. I couldn’t hold back anymore and leaned in, seeking her mouth.
She turned toward me, catching my face in her hands.
As we kissed, she moaned. Her body rocked toward me and her hands gripped me tightly.
I reached for her hips, meaning to pull her snug against me, but Killian was faster.
He pulled her hips back, bringing her to a half-kneeling position.
He bent over her, kissing her back as I thrust my tongue into her mouth.
Jasmine responded with another moan, simultaneously pushing back against Killian while trying to kiss me deeper.
I laughed into her mouth, then broke away to kiss down her neck.
The taste of her filled me, the scent of her arousal filling the air.
Killian tugged her jeans down to her knees, then tucked my shirt under her to give her extra padding.
Her hands trembled as they moved to my shoulders, and she glanced back, as though to check what he was doing.
I supported her, her body leaning into mine as Killian pushed his hand between her thighs. From my position, I couldn’t see, only the round globes of her ass. They trembled as her hips rolled backward, then forward. Jasmine gasped.
Her cheek lay on my shoulder, and I continued to kiss her shoulders and neck, arms around her as I held her in place.
Killian’s free hand gripped her hip, and the one buried inside of her remained tantalizingly out of sight.
His expression was determined as he worked her.
Jasmine gasped and twitched, whimpered and moaned.
Her scent grew even stronger, making it impossible to ignore how hard I was.
I pulled her face back to mine and thrust my tongue into her mouth, needing some part of myself to be inside of her. The wet sounds of Killian’s fingers matched with the thrusts of my tongue as I explored her mouth.
It didn’t take long for her to buckle. She jerked, cried out, and all her muscles shook at once.
I pulled her half on top of me to stop her from collapsing, and Killian let out a pleased noise.
Jasmine moaned as she writhed against me, riding out her orgasm.
She shuddered, and the smell of her made me even harder, if that was possible.
“What’s…” a voice said.
Jasmine gasped lightly. I held her tighter as I broke the kiss and glanced over. Owen and Jace stood a few feet off. Judging by their flushed faces and the bulges in their pants, they had seen enough, too.
“Maybe camping wasn’t a good decision, after all,” I panted, need echoing in my body. “It seems Jasmine has gone into heat already.”
Owen stepped back, face paling.
Jace, however, nodded once. “Then we should go ahead and have sex. I brought condoms in case this happened.”
“No, not yet,” Killian said. He helped Jasmine tug her pants back into place. “This is enough to stave off the pain for now. We still need more time to adjust.”
“There’s no point—” Jace started.
“Ask Jasmine,” I interrupted.
Jace shut his mouth with a snap. Both he and Owen looked at Jasmine, who shrank back. She buried herself between Killian and me, panting, trembling, her gaze on the forest floor.
“Not yet,” she whispered. “Please. I’m not ready. But…but if you need to do it, then I will be okay. I don’t want to put you in pain, either.”
A protectiveness swept through me. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her tight against my chest. “We’re grown men. We can handle a little abstinence.”
“I can leave,” Owen said gruffly. “If that’s why you’re holding back. I don’t have to be here. I can leave, and you can have them take care of you without me around.”
It was the most generous thing he’d ever said to her. Before Jasmine could answer, though, the satellite phone at Jace’s hip rang. He answered, and soon the voice of one of our commanders came through.
“We need you to return right away,” he said, sounding stressed. “There’s been an incident.”