19. Cherry
Cherry
“The bond. Is it back?” Hunter asks as literal happiness pours out of me in the forms of laughter and tears. I don’t think I’ve even seen Bain smile this big before, even the first time we mated.
I throw my arms around him, pulling him in for a tight hug as he rolls us to our side.
“It worked,” I say with a small laugh of joy. I’m not sure if I’ve felt this happy before. Top three definitely, up there with finding out they’re my mates and the first time I bonded with each of them. Okay, so maybe that made it like top ten, but still, it was up there.
“What worked?” Maddox asks from our side.
I tilt my head and look at him. Like the other three, he’s dressed in only his boxers, and the sight of him has me ready to climb him and reclaim him as mine, but I know I have to wait for Bain’s knot to die down before that can happen.
So instead, I decide to answer his question and explain what Lillian told me.
“Erica’s grandmother, Lillian, told me that the bonds were still there. We just needed to reconnect them, the same way we made them.”
“It was really that simple?” Gage asks from the other side and I nod.
“Apparently, we were the only reason it hadn’t been fixed. Which is why I came home and, well… you know…” I trail off, referring to how I put on the sexy red underwear and practically threw myself at them. To be honest, I thought I’d have to do a lot more begging to get them to agree.
Thank Goddess for Bain.
Speaking of which, the way he’s sniffing my neck and his cock is twitching tells me his knot won’t be going down anytime soon, so I decide to tell them what else I learned from Lillian.
“I asked her about my shifting too.”
“What’d she say?” Gage asks eagerly.
“It’s like we thought, the reason I couldn’t shift is because I had spent too long as a wolf and my body couldn’t remember how. But the reason you five were able to make me shift was because I needed your power to balance mine.”
I glance at Gage over Bain’s head, and he nods slowly, absorbing my words carefully. “We were stabilizing you. And the more we were touching you, the more you stabilized until you were balanced enough to control it yourself.”
“What you’re saying,” Chase says, his arms crossed over his chest and an eyebrow raised in amusement. “Is that we fixed her.”
“I’m not sure—” Gage starts but I cut him off.
“You did.” His eyes snap to mine, the amusement fading.
“I don’t know if you’ll ever understand how much you all truly saved me.
Being in that place was awful. I begged the Goddess that each death would be my last.” A collection of sharp inhales sound throughout the room, and Bain holds me tighter, even as his knot deflates and he pulls his cock from me.
Suddenly, I’m pulled from his grasp, but by the look on his face, I know he could have held on to me if he wanted to. That thought completely escapes me when I find myself back on my back, with Maddox leaning over me, his piercing green eyes staring into mine.
He runs the crook of his finger down my cheek and across my lip as he studies me. My breath hitches as he leans closer, his bare cock pressing right against my core.
When did he get naked?
“I’m sorry that happened to you,” he says gently. “I’m sorry we weren’t able to save you.”
“But you did—” He presses a finger over my mouth, silencing me from speaking any further.
“Yes, we came for you last time, but you never should have been taken in the first place. I’m your alpha, your mate, and the leader of this pack, and I failed in all those roles the moment you were taken from our home.”
I open my mouth to speak, but he presses his finger against me firmly, giving me a look that says he’s not done yet. I close my mouth and swallow, hating that he blames himself for what happened.
“If I were a better man, I would relieve myself as leader of this pack, as your mate,” I gasp, my eyes widening with fear as he continues, “I don’t deserve you.
But I find I can’t leave you, either. So I vow, here and now, that if you give me a second chance, I will do everything in my power to make sure you are always safe and protected with us. ”
“And loved,” Hunter adds, making Maddox’s eyes flick to him before returning to me.
He nods. “And loved.” Slowly, he pulls his finger away and watches me carefully as if there is any other option here.
I can’t believe he was considering leaving me. Anger starts to boil inside me, despite his cock pressing into me, and my hand tightens into a fist. Then, surprising both of us, I punch him in the chest.
Of course he doesn’t move. He probably barely felt it, but his eyebrows rise in surprise as Chase lets out a laugh.
“Did she just punch you?”
“Yeah, well, he deserved it.”
His eyebrows lower, as do his eyes and he nods. “You’re right, I do.”
“For the love of—Maddox!” I say loudly, growling out his name as I cup his face and raise it until his eyes meet mine again.
“The only thing I’m mad about is you daring to consider, even for a minute, that you would leave me.
That is unacceptable! How could you even think that?
!” He opens his mouth to answer, but I keep going.
“And you are not to blame for me being kidnapped. That was all Blaze. We had no idea what sort of magic and power he had, but we do now. And if you love me, at all, you will understand how ridiculous your question about giving you a second chance really is. Have I, for one moment, treated you like I was upset, or didn’t want you? ”
His mouth parts again, but I shake my head. “No. The answer is no, I haven’t. So don’t insult me by thinking I would ever have a reason to stop wanting you, to stop loving you. Promise me that no matter what happens, even if I’m kidnapped a hundred more times, you will never give up on us.”
When he just stares at me, I move my hands to his shoulders and give them a small squeeze as I tell him, “You can answer now.”
“I promise, I will never give up on you. And if it helps, I only considered it for like a half a second.” The corner of his lip pulls up in a hint of amusement, and I find my own mouth doing the same.
“Half a second?” I prod as my fingers trail down his arms.
“More like a millisecond,” he says, lowering his head closer to mine, his lips hovering so close I can feel his warm breath on my face, his scent filling my nose and reminding me of where his cock is right now.
“Maddox,” I whisper, my lips brushing his. His hips slowly move, gliding his cock through my folds as he looks into my eyes.
“My beautiful little mate,” he whispers right before his lips connect with mine. His hips move a few more times, then he reaches between us, his fingers finding their way inside me. “Goddess, Cherry. You’re drenched.”
“Need… You…” I pant out as I claw at his back.
He pulls his fingers out, grabbing his hard cock and nudging it at my entrance.
He presses his tip inside and I try not to tense up.
Agonizingly slow, he moves his hands up the outside of my hips and starts to press in.
When his fingers skim over my nipples, my back arches, and he surges forward, eliminating the space between us.
“Maddox!” I gasp as he starts to thrust, his knees on the bed between mine. My hands find their way to the back of his neck as my feet hook around his hips, encouraging him to thrust harder. My eyes roll back in my head. One long moan rolls from me as I’m brought to my peak at lightning speed.
“I love you so much, Cherry,” he whispers. I open my eyes, finding his piercing green ones only inches from mine.
“I love you, my mate, my Maddox.” I drop my hand to his cheek and he closes the distance, kissing me. His tongue matches the rhythm of his cock, thrusting in and out of me at an inescapable pace.
When I know I’m moments away from coming, I rip my mouth from his and tilt my head to the side as I beg, “Bite me!”
He literally growls, and without hesitation, his fangs dig into me. The first bite of pain is quickly washed over with pure pleasure, and I explode, coming hard on his cock, which sets him off. He growls against me as his hips lose their rhythm, then he holds himself deep inside me as he comes.
I feel his knot start to grow and I whimper as a second orgasm hits me. He pulls his teeth from me and licks my wound before returning his mouth to mine. I’m unable to keep up with him this time and instead let him take complete control of the kiss, as his knot continues to grow inside of me.
Suddenly, we both tense and gasp as the bond between us snaps back into place. My wide eyes meet his, then I feel his emotions roll into me.
A happy tear rolls free, and he starts to kiss it as I laugh with happiness. “It worked!”
“My mate,” he whispers between kisses.
I feel inside for his emotions and find shock, happiness, love, arousal, and a touch of worry and unease.
I cup his face, my eyes bouncing between his. “Maddox, what’s wrong? I can feel your unease and worry.”
He smiles softly, his body, unlike his knot, deflates a little as some of the tension fades from him. I even feel his love growing stronger, pushing the worry aside. “Just still worried this is a dream, that I don’t deserve you.”
“You need to stop being so self-deprecating,” I tell him a little forcefully. “Nobody else blames you for my kidnapping. Right guys?”
I turn my head to the others, and my eyes widen so much I fear they might fall out of my head. Chase is standing there in the middle of my bedroom, completely naked and unashamed as he strokes his cock.
Hunter is sitting on my armchair, his elbows resting on his knees as he leans forward, staring at me, his eyes filled with heat. Bain is lounging beside us on his side, his head propped up by his hand as he watches me, and Gage sits on the bed behind him. He’s the one to answer me.
He nods, his eyes moving to Maddox as he speaks. “She’s right. We’re all equally to blame.”
“That’s not what I meant,” I grumble, frowning at him and he continues.
“I know, but it’s how we feel. However, unlike Maddox, the rest of us are under no false idea that leaving would ever be the right move.”
“I said it was for like half a second!” Maddox exclaims as he rolls us to our sides and hugs me close to his chest, his knot still firmly inside me.
“So stop filling your mind, and hers, with unpleasant and completely unnecessary thoughts. We have enough to worry about without you making shit up.”
Maddox sighs before nodding. “Okay, I’ll try.” I tilt my head up to him, and he gives me a gentle kiss before pulling back. “I promise."
“As nice as this all is, I’m fucking dying over here, holding myself back,” Chase hisses. I glance over my shoulder and see him still stroking his rock-hard cock.
An idea comes to me, and I try to act casual as I ask, “Who told you to hold back?” When the room grows silent, I glance at him and he’s just staring at me with wide eyes.
I look inside myself to see what he’s feeling, and I find an extreme amount of arousal, mixed with some eagerness, hope, and confusion.
“Well?” I prod him. “I have more than one hole.” I’m not sure where I get the boldness from, but feeling four of their arousals mixing with my own makes me eager.
“If she wants to be filled,” Gage suddenly says, making us all snap our attention to him, “Then let’s do this properly.”
I’m not sure if he says something to Maddox through the bond, because suddenly he moves us, positioning himself in the middle of my large bed on his back, with me sitting on top of him, his knot still inside me.
He lifts his hips, me with them, as Gage shoves a couple of pillows underneath, causing my hands to press down on his chest so I don’t fall forward.
Maddox bucks his hips a couple of times, and I gasp, his knot rubbing on a new spot that feels insanely good. Movement has me looking up as Hunter, now naked, moves in front of me on his knees, fisting his cock as he stares down at my face, licking his lips.
Then, all at once, Maddox’s hands are on my breasts and Chase’s are on my ass. They both massage and rub me, making me moan. Then Chase slips a finger inside my ass, and I gasp. But with what Maddox is doing, with both his hands and his knot, that tightness quickly changes to pleasure.
“Fuck, baby, you’re so tight,” Chase groans.
It doesn’t take him long to add a second finger, then a third, and soon he’s pressing his entire hard cock into my ass. Maddox’s finger plucks and tweaks at my nipples at the same time that Chase snakes a hand around my waist and flicks my clit.
“Chase!” I gasp.
“Bring those pretty lips over here,” Hunter says, surprising me. I open my eyes, finding him still kneeling right beside me, his cock aimed right at my lips. When I feel for his emotions, his arousal is so potent that it encourages me to open my mouth and press forward as he surges in.
I groan, the arousal of them fueling my own even more. Hunter grips my head, holding me still as he starts thrusting into my mouth.
Suddenly, I’m utterly aware that I’m being filled by three of my mates at once, and it’s enough to push me to the edge.
“I’m coming!” I gasp through the bond as my body starts to shake. My limbs turn to spaghetti, and lightning shoots through me. Luckily, multiple sets of strong arms hold me up, then I feel Maddox and Chase coming inside me at the same time, prolonging my own orgasm.
Hunter starts to pull back, but I manage to throw a hand up, grabbing his ass and holding him to me just in time, as in the next moment, he’s filling my mouth with his release. I swallow eagerly, finding the taste entirely Hunter.
I’m not entirely sure what happens next, because an extreme wave of exhaustion rolls through me. I can feel the contentment and happiness coming from my four bonded mates as I’m pulled against someone's chest. I inhale, smelling cedar and leather with a hint of ash. Maddox.
Strong arms hold me tightly. Several hands grip my skin, telling me they’re all touching me right now, and knowing they’re all here and happy has me falling into a deep sleep.
The last thought that hits me before I fall asleep is how there’s just one more bond to go before my pack is complete.