Chapter 39 #2
He growled to her before nipping at her lip. “Screaming my name and grinding your sweet cunt into my face while I eat you out, isn’t really a workout.”
He could smell her immediate lust, and he gave her a wicked grin. “I’ll be up in five. Be waiting for me on the bed, naked with your pretty thighs spread wide, my mate.”
Her voice breathless, her knuckles already glowing green, she said, “If you insist, honey.”
He gave her ass a squeeze, and she wiggled it at him before nearly running up the stairs.
With another grin, he took off his jacket and hung it and Cece’s in the closet before walking to the kitchen.
He grabbed two bottles of water from the fridge and headed back to the stairs.
His bear growled out a warning as a familiar scent tickled his nose, and he stopped abruptly at the foot of the stairs, staring in surprise at the woman closing the front door with a quiet click.
“Lucille?”
“Hi, Briggs.”
His mind spinning, he set the water bottles on the stairs and walked over to her. “How did you get into my house?”
“I still know the code,” she said with a small smile.
“What are you doing here?” He glanced back at the stairway.
“I’ve missed you,” she said. She took a step toward Briggs, pausing when his bear made a warning growl.
She gave him that pout, the one that, all too often, had bent him to her will. “Don’t let him growl at me, BB.”
He grimaced at the nickname as Lucille gave him a soft smile.
At six foot five, she was one of the bigger females in Wellington, and her body was thick with muscle.
Her dark hair was shorter now, just brushing her shoulders, but she still wore her signature magenta lipstick, and her ankle-length thin coat looked like it cost more than his entire wardrobe. His ex had expensive tastes.
“You can’t just walk into my house,” Briggs said. “I have a mate, Lucille.”
The smile dropped from her face, and the familiar annoyance took its place for a second or two before it flickered out of existence and the smile returned. “I know. I’ve heard lots about her this past week. She’s been the talk of the town.”
His bear growled again, and Lucille sighed. “I don’t mean that in a bad way. Just that, for a human, she’s doing an okay job of fitting in. For now.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked.
She shrugged. “You know exactly what that means, BB. I know you hate living in the city and want to return here. You brought your girlfriend -”
“Mate,” he said.
She waved her hand dismissively, her matching magenta nails gleaming in the light. “You brought her here in the hopes that she would fall in love with Wellington and want to stay. But you and I both know that’s a fool’s dream. Humans aren’t meant to live in Wellington.”
“I’m sure Imani and Barbara will be surprised to hear that,” he said.
She shrugged. “Both of them are terribly unhappy, and no one will be shocked when they divorce their mates and leave.”
“You’re making a lot of assumptions,” Briggs said. “You don’t even know Imani and Barbara. You’ve always been dismissive and cold to them.”
She gave him a frustrated look. “This isn’t about them, Briggs. This is about you and me.”
“There is no you and me. My mate is Cecelia, and I love her,” Briggs said.
She took another step toward him. “I know you think you love her, but living in the city, being apart from me, it’s messed with your head, BB. This human has taken advantage of your loneliness, that’s all.”
“You’re wrong,” Briggs said.
“I’m not,” she said softly. “You and me… we’re meant to be together. I see that now, okay? I’m sorry for what I did.”
“Sorry for cheating on me?” he said. “Sorry for fucking Louis when you were my mate?”
She winced. “Yes, all that.”
“All that,” he scoffed. “Do you know what your cheating did to me? To my bear? He wanted me to kill Louis for fuck’s sake. I had to leave Wellington, so I wouldn’t go to prison for killing your lover.”
“Stop being so dramatic,” she said.
“You’ve lost the right to tell me what to do,” he snarled.
“I’m not telling you…” she took a deep breath. “Look, can we please just put the past behind us? I’m willing to forgive you for your mistakes. All I ask is that you do the same for me.”
“My mistakes,” he said.
That flicker of annoyance crossed her face again. “Yes, Briggs. You weren’t perfect either. How many nights did we sit in silence because you wouldn’t even make an effort not to be so closed off?”
Guilt rolled through him, and he shook it off like an ill-fitting coat. “Don’t, Lucille. Don’t equate me being an introvert to you cheating on me.”
“That’s not what I’m doing!” she growled before closing her eyes and taking another deep breath. “I didn’t come here to fight, okay?”
“Then why are you here?”
She opened her eyes and smiled at him. “Because I still love you, BB. I want us to be together again.”
Shock rolled over him. “Are you serious? It is over between us, Lucille. I am no longer in love with you. I want you to leave me alone.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“I do,” he said. “For fuck’s sake, Lucille, my mate is -”
“Not here,” Lucille said. “I know she’s at your sister’s house tonight. We have the house to ourselves. Let me show you what you’ve been missing.”
She untied her jacket with a flourish and let it slide down her arms to pool at her feet. Briggs’s jaw dropped, and he stared in wide-eyed disbelief as his bear growled in annoyance.
“You like what you see,” Lucille said with an infuriating smile. “I bought this just for you, BB.”
She wore a bright red lace teddy, cut high on the thighs and with a deep V-neck that showed off her cleavage. She took another step toward him, growling softly. “Come upstairs with me, BB. No one needs to know what happens tonight but you and me, right? Come upstairs and -”
“Well, hello there.” Cece’s voice floated down the stairs, and Briggs’s bear growled happily as Briggs wondered what Lucille would look like when Cece finished with her.
She’d shown major improvements in controlling her magic over the last two weeks, but she was topped up from their fucking earlier in the day, and his little mate could have a temper.
Lucille’s bear chuffed in surprise, and he almost grinned at the shock on her face when Cece joined them and slipped her arm around his waist. He put his arm around her, drawing her up against him as her magic hummed in his veins.
Cece looked Lucille up and down before smiling at Briggs. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend, honey?”
“Cece, this is Lucille. Lucille, this is my mate, Cece.”
“Nice to meet you, Lucille,” Cece said. “That’s a cute outfit you’re wearing.”
“Thanks.” Lucille’s normally confident voice was faint and, to Briggs’s surprise, he could even scent a hint of embarrassment on her.
Laughter and just a tinge of mocking in her voice, Cece said, “Would you like to join us for a drink? I’m sure you and Briggs would like to get caught up.”
Briggs could practically see Lucille’s temper snap. Her voice a low growl, she said, “Don’t be so foolish. I know Briggs has told you who I am and what I mean to him, human.”
Her voice turned sweet as syrup, and with pure innocence on her face, Cece said, “I’m sorry, I don’t. Briggs has never mentioned a Lucille to me.”
A growl of shock erupted from Lucille, and her gaze swung to Briggs. “You didn’t… you haven’t told her about me?”
“Are you a friend from high school?” Cece asked. “Or did you work with him at the logging company?”
Briggs could barely keep it together. He’d expected an all-out war and, instead, with an acting skill that could have won her an Oscar, Cece had completely disarmed Lucille.
He could smell Lucille’s confusion, and her gaze kept swinging from him to Cece as she tried to decide if what Cece was saying was true. Finally, with a soft growl, she bent and grabbed her coat. She yanked it on, tying it shut with quick and angry movements before stomping toward the door.
As she yanked it open, Cece called, “So nice to meet you, Lucille!”
The door slammed shut, and they stood in silence for a moment before Cece said, “Was that too much? It was too much, wasn’t it?”
He burst into laughter. “Baby, that was fucking brilliant.”
She grinned and did a little curtsy. “Thank you. Not to brag, but I did play villager number four in a high school play and absolutely killed the one line I had. So, you know, acting is in my blood.”
He laughed harder, and she smiled up at him before kissing his chest. “So, is this something that will happen a lot? Lucille dropping by and wearing very little clothing?”
“Christ, I hope not,” he said. “I’ll change the door code tomorrow.”
“Perfect,” she said.
He caught her hand when she started toward the stairs, and she looked over her shoulder at him. “You know she means nothing to me, right, my mate? You’re the only one for me, always.”
She smiled her sweet smile before kissing his knuckles. “I know, my mate. Now come upstairs and eat my pussy like you promised.”