Chapter 66
Chapter Sixty-Six
Otis
It took far too long to get Hailey back into what I considered safe territory.
Only two places really counted—my cabin and her house—but even her house seemed too exposed right now, so I made the executive decision to take them to my cabin deep in the woods.
I guarded its location ferociously, but Hailey and the creatures she had collected were mine to protect. All of them.
My beast rumbled deep in my chest with the urge to stuff them all in a car and drive them away from any threats.
Despite her injuries, the cops had taken Hailey down to the station where she was being interrogated for the death of an angel—Allison.
Despite being injured himself, Eric had remained at her side as her lawyer, and that was the only reason I hadn’t broken in there and busted her out.
Ilyas was sending me updates on Syke, who’d gone to a healer in demon territory. He said he was looking better already, and they were happy for him to go home on bedrest. No shadow walking anywhere. No strenuous activity. All of that would be doable in my cabin.
Louis paced back and forth in the waiting area of the police station, until I could see a line where his boots had shined the dirty linoleum. I didn’t tell him to stop. If I didn’t have such a tight grip on my beast, I’d be up there pacing with him… or worse.
Finally, Hailey emerged with Eric trailing behind her, weaving a little on his feet. He looked pale, and I knew he was going to need bed rest too.
Pulling them into his arms, Louis hugged Hailey then Eric.
I wanted to scoop them up and take them out of here right now.
Instead, I herded them gently toward the entrance.
My car was parked on the pavement, and I didn’t give a damn.
Although she’d been cleared by paramedics, Hailey had soft tissue damage on her ribs, arms, and face.
She was covered in bruises and scrapes, and I…
I didn’t realize I was huffing until she laid her soft hand on mine. “I’m okay now. We’ll all be okay now.”
I grabbed her gently up in my arms and kissed her softly. I needed her to know that she was mine and I loved her.
After she rested.
I put her next to Eric in the back of the car, Louis climbing in after them to keep them close. I messaged Ilyas and gave him directions to my cabin. He didn’t argue, just texted back that he was going to borrow Louis’s truck and follow behind us.
The adrenaline crash was real. Both Hailey and Eric were asleep before we made it out of the city limits. Not me, though. I wouldn’t relax until we were somewhere in my territory. Louis didn’t speak either, which was odd for the were.
“Are you alright, Louie?” I asked softly, careful not to wake my sleeping mates.
He looked at me, his eyes big and haunted. “No.”
“Me either.” I didn’t sugarcoat it for him. We could have lost her today. We could have lost Syke. Eric could have landed wrong and snapped his neck. If Eric or Hailey died, Ilyas would have been a shadow of himself forever. If they both died, then he would follow them. Louis too.
Our family had been one moment from complete destruction, and I wasn’t sure how to deal with that. This precious thing was so fragile, so terrifying, but I couldn’t give them up now.
I’d take a moment of being loved by them than a century of being safe from pain. “We’ll be careful. Vigilant. We will love them with everything we have and keep them safe. They are worth every moment of worry.”
He let out a long breath. “I know.” He was quiet for a long time, his arm over the back seat so Hailey could lean against his chest, and he could palm Eric’s head, his fingers tangled in his hair like he could protect him from any further damage. “Otis?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m glad you were there today. I’m not sure if we’ve told you enough, but you fit with us. I’m happy you’re a part of our family.”
I swallowed down the lump in my throat. “Me too.”
* * *
It had been a week since the accident and Hailey’s abduction, and we were still at the cabin.
I couldn’t bring myself to leave yet, and no one else seemed to be in a hurry to get back to civilization.
The Northern Border Center had sent an interim team down to take over from Chet and team two for the time being, and I was relieved that I wouldn’t have to head back to work and pretend to be normal.
We needed this.
I sat outside with Hailey on a rug beneath the cooling summer sun.
She was curled up on me like a kitten on her favorite rock, and I didn’t want to be anywhere else.
I just wanted to sit here and watch the way her hair turned a vibrant gold in the sunshine and listen to the birds and her soft breaths.
This was the only place I wanted to be for the rest of my life.
My hands stroked up and down her back. She wiggled a little and slipped her knees on either side of my broad torso, then she pushed herself up on her hands so she could gaze down at me.
“I love your home, Otis,” she told me softly, and I was transfixed by the way her lips formed my name.
“It’s better now that you’re in it.”
The smile she gave me was filled with warmth, and she leaned forward and kissed me.
I could never get enough of her kisses. I’d spent more time in my man form than ever because I loved the way her lips moved over mine.
Minotaurs didn’t usually kiss. A snout didn’t really make for a pleasant kissing experience.
We had other methods of showing affection of course, and I’d inundated her with those in my other form.
Pressing my head to hers, and rubbing my cheek along the soft curve of cheekbone were a minotaur’s equivalent of kissing, but there was something wildly erotic about her sticking that little pink tongue in my mouth and battling for supremacy.
“Otis, have you ever had sex in your minotaur form before?” she asked, her eyes sparkling with mirth, probably at my scandalized expression.
I frowned at her. “Only other minotaurs. I am… large. I wouldn’t want to hurt you.”
She smirked at me. “I know, I watched you shower yesterday, remember?”
I remembered. She’d snuck into the bathroom while I was stroking my cock.
She’d watched with fascination, her fingers stroking her pretty little pussy while I bellowed her name and coated the shower stall with my release.
When I saw her sitting on the countertop, I’d fallen to my knees and proven that while I was a vegetarian, I could still eat pussy like a champion.
The extra long tongue had to come in handy for something.
She tilted her head down to me. “I think I could take it.”
I groaned, lifting up to bury my face in her throat. “Hailey,” I whined. “You’re going to be the death of me, you know that, right?” She just laughed, the evil little temptress. “Maybe we should start with this form. We have years to work up to you taking my minotaur.”
Leaning down, she kissed me again. “Okay, Otis. Just know that I’ve never shied away from a challenge.”
She wiggled her way down my body, and I grunted as her hot little core settled over my cock. I curled up so I could kiss her again. “What are you doing, little one?”
“Grinding myself on your very impressive cock,” she replied breathlessly. She had nothing on but a tiny little pair of underwear and one of my shirts. “You feel so fucking good,” she murmured.
“Out here?” I groaned, thrusting up as my hands gripped the bottom of her shirt, tugging it off.
“The only creatures who will see us are the birds and the bees and the men we love. Besides, they are going to see us having sex sooner or later, unless you don’t want to?”
I grunted and dragged her over the head of my cock, and she threw her head back and moaned. “I am going to make you scream my name, Hailey.”
“Please,” she begged, and I gave her everything I could. I leaned up and took one of those perfect nipples in my mouth, sucking them sweetly as she grew wetter and wetter, soaking my shorts.
Fuck.
“Shove my shorts down,” I ordered with my mouth full of her tit. “Take what you want, Hailey. I’m all yours. Forever.”
In the sunshine, her pupils were blown wide as she lined my cock up with her dripping core. Next time I would drag her to delirium over and over until she forgot her name, and I would worship her like she deserved, but if I didn’t get inside her now, I was going to perish.
She gripped my cock, her fingers not even connecting, and held steady as she sank down on me, mind melting inch by mind melting inch.
“Oh fuck, oh God,” she panted. I rested one hand on her hip and used the other to fist the picnic blanket, holding myself still as I let her take the lead, even though I wanted to buck up inside her and sheathe myself in the wetness that already dripped down my cock.
Finally, gripping my pecs, she pushed down on my cock with an animalistic moan.
She felt… like heaven. Oh fuck.
I planted my hands on her hips and helped her move.
I needed her to move, or I was going to blow.
I moved her easily up and down my cock, thrusting up until I was buried then dragging back out, and repeating the movement all over again.
Steadily. Concisely. I could keep my head if didn’t change the rhythm. I could get her there first.
She kept her hands propped on my chest, her nails digging into my skin and leaving red streaks. Our combined sounds of pleasure echoed through the clearing, and as she chanted my name with every exhale, I thought it might be the most perfect thing I’d ever heard.
“Oh fuck, please, Otis, please. Don’t stop.” Stopping was not a fucking option. “I’m going to—”
Her body clenched around me, and I swear she was going to cut off circulation to the head of my cock as her perfect little body milked me. I came right along with her, filling her until every drop painted her sweet little channel. She collapsed on my chest, still wrapped around my cock.
“Holy hell,” she murmured. “RIP to my IUD.”
I laughed, curling my body down so I could kiss the top of her head. The size difference was a little extreme, but if anyone ever asked, I’d tell them that she fit me perfectly, body and soul.