Chapter 34 #2
The dip of her waist. The flare of her hips. The soft swell of her breasts beneath the worn cotton of her shirt.
I wanted her naked.
I wanted her writhing.
I wanted to hear her scream my name.
"Off," I growled against her throat, tugging at her shirt. She lifted her arms and I pulled it over her head, tossing it somewhere behind me. Her shorts followed a moment later.
Then she was bare beneath me, flushed and breathing hard, and I had to pause just to look at her.
"Quin." There was a warning in her voice. "If you ask me if I'm sure, I swear to—"
I silenced her with my tongue on her nipple.
Her back bowed off the bed, a gasp tearing from her throat. I lavished attention on one breast, then the other, my hands busy on the rest of her. The curve of her ribs. The soft plane of her stomach. The slick heat between her thighs.
"You're so wet," I murmured against her skin.
"Your fault." Her hips lifted, chasing my touch. "Quin, please—"
I made sure the blunting cap was securely in place, then slid a finger inside her and watched her eyes roll back. She was tight and hot and perfect, clenching around me as I curled my finger against the spot that made her moan.
"More." Her hands fisted in the sheets. "I need more."
I added a second finger, and it was my turn to groan. My cock had fully emerged from its sheath, the head already slick with pre-cum.
"Look at me," I commanded.
Her eyes snapped to mine, dark with desire.
"I'm going to make you come on my fingers first. Then I'm going to fuck you until neither of us can move."
She whimpered. Actually whimpered. The sound went straight to my cock.
I increased my pace. My thumb found her clit and circled with just enough pressure to make her gasp.
"Quin—I'm going to—"
"Let go."
She shattered with a cry, her inner walls clamping down on my fingers as waves of pleasure crashed through her. I worked her through it, gentling my touch as the tremors faded.
When her breathing steadied, she looked up at me with a lazy, satisfied smile.
"That was—"
"Just the beginning." I withdrew my fingers and brought them to my mouth, licking her arousal from my claws. Her eyes went wide. "You taste incredible."
"Oh god."
I positioned myself at her entrance, the head of my cock nudging against her slick folds. I hesitated a beat too long.
"Quin." She wrapped her legs around my waist and pulled. "Fuck me."
I sank into her in one long, slow thrust.
The sensation was overwhelming—her heat enveloped me, her body as it welcomed me in, the bond flaring bright. She gasped, her nails digging into my shoulders, but when I paused to let her adjust, she shook her head.
"Don't stop. Don't you dare stop."
I began to move.
Slow at first, shallow thrusts that let her feel every ridge and spike along my length. She moaned with each stroke, her hips rising to meet mine. The scent of her arousal filled the room, until the air was thick with it. It intoxicated me.
"Faster," she demanded.
I obeyed.
The rhythm built, my hips snapping against hers. The bedframe groaned in protest. I hiked one of her legs higher on my waist, changing the angle, and she screamed.
"There—right there—don't stop—"
I drove into her, chasing the sounds she made, the way her body tightened around me. The bond amplified every sensation until I couldn't tell where I ended and she began.
Her second orgasm hit without warning. She clenched around me so hard I saw stars, her back arched, my name ripped ragged from her throat like a prayer.
It triggered my own release.
I roared as I came, spilling inside her in hot pulses, my hips stuttering through the aftershocks. The bond lights erupted around us—brilliant blue points of light that wove through the air like living things.
I collapsed beside her, careful not to crush her, and pulled her against my chest. We were both breathing hard, sweat-slicked and satisfied.
"That was..." She trailed off, apparently unable to find words.
"Earth shattering?"
She laughed breathlessly. "I was going to say 'life-changing,' but sure. That works too."
I nuzzled into her hair, breathing in her scent. Candy sweetness and something uniquely us.
"We should do that again," she said.
"Give me ten minutes."
"Deal."
We didn't make it ten minutes. Her hand found my already-recovering cock and I growled, rolling her onto her stomach and lifting her hips.
"Quin, what—"
"I want you like this." I ran my tongue up her spine, making her shiver. "Is that okay?"
She answered by pressing back against me.
I slid inside her again, groaning at the new angle, at how deep I could reach. She buried her face in the pillow to muffle her moans as I set a punishing pace. My claws dimpled the flesh of her hips but didn't break skin—I had that much control, at least.
I reached my tail between her legs, the tip finding her clit, and I felt the exact moment she started to climb. The bond sang with shared pleasure, feedback loops of sensation that built and built until we were both trembling on the edge.
We crashed over the edge one after the other, our cries mingled, the bond blazing so bright I had to close my eyes. Wave after wave of pleasure rolled through us, shared and amplified until I wasn't sure whose orgasm was whose.
When it finally faded, we collapsed in a tangle of limbs.
"Okay," Haven said eventually, her voice muffled against my chest. "Now I can't move."
"Mission accomplished."
She snorted. "Smug bastard."
I pressed the tip of my muzzle to the top of her head. The closest I would get to a kiss. "Your smug bastard."
"Yeah." She tilted her face up to look at me, and the love in her eyes nearly undid me. "Mine."
We lay there for a while, catching our breath, basking in the afterglow. The bond dimmed contentedly between us, a reminder that we were connected in ways that went beyond the physical.
We caught our breath lying side by side. "Tonight we end it." My voice was rough. "Tonight Justin Beringer learns what happens when you hurt my mate."
"I'm ready," she whispered.
I knew she was.
JUSTIN BERINGER'S ESTATE WAS exactly what I expected from a man who fancied himself a god. Adorned with so much gold and flourishes, it sped past ostentatious and settled into gaudy. Surrounded by enough security to make the underground lab at BioSynth seem welcoming.
It didn't matter. Bull easily disabled the alarm system, and the seven of us moved through the guards with as much notice as a summer breeze.
We located him in his office. He startled when he looked up from his glass of whiskey to find us crowded around his desk. Surprise turned to fear.
"What? How?"
"You knew I'd come for you." Haven's voice was steady. "You had to know when you left me in that room. When you learned I didn't die."
"You can still change your mind. Take me up on my offer. Work with me. You'll be richer than you can imagine."
Haven huffed a humorless laugh. "Money is so clichéd. I thought you had more imagination."
"What do you want then?"
"I want to not have had my DNA altered without my consent. I want to have not been a lab rat. I want to not have been an attempt at controlling them."
She gestured to me and my brothers.
"I want you to pay for what you've done. What you did to me. What you did to the others."
Justin slumped in his chair. "I'll never admit to anything. Any confession I give now would be inadmissible. Coerced."
Haven shook her head, her eyes narrowed. "I'm not interested in courts."
I watched as understanding dawned on him.
"You can't! You'll never get away with this."
"We already have." My growl filled the air.
"Your money is gone. The others who worked on 55B are gone.
After we release carefully redacted documents from the trial, your reputation will be gone.
You'll be forever associated with illegal experimentation on humans.
Novagen will crumble. Everyone will assume you fled in disgrace. "
He sputtered, not quite able to form a full word.
"You wanted to control us by controlling our mates. You forgot one thing." I looked at Haven, at the bond lights that connected us. "We were made to kill. And the one thing we value above all else is something we will protect with every skill baked into our creation."
I looked at Haven, who nodded. Satisfied now that he knew what was coming. He understood the consequences of his actions.
"Haven, please don't do this. Have some mercy..."
She planted her palms on his desk and leaned into his face. "I will give you the same mercy you gave me." She straightened and turned to Roul. "Get creative."
We left the room as his last attempts at survival rang out.
"I can help you! I have power and influence! I can—"
His desperation morphed into a scream.
Neither of us looked back.
Later that night, with Haven tucked into bed, Roul found me on my porch. I heard his soft footsteps long before he appeared. He settled next to me at the railing, his bulk making the wood creak in protest.
We sat in companionable silence as we stared into the woods.
"You're happy," he grunted eventually.
"Yes."
Another grunt. I spoke Roul grunts fluently, and knew this one meant good. After a moment he added, "She cares about you."
I nodded. "She cares about us."
"I'm glad you found her."
His voice was soft. Full of longing with a twinge of hope. The way I remembered it being. Before our escape. Before the rage that had become his constant companion.
"Me too." I wasn't sure what else to say.
He stood, his steps heavy until he paused halfway between the porch and the woods. "Bull says Isabelle reached out about BioSynth again."
My hackles rose. "Are we going in?"
He shook his head. "She said she still needs time."
The words were almost unrecognizable beneath the growl. Time was something he could ill afford.
"Then we wait. We prepare."
He nodded then disappeared into the night. I stayed on the porch and watched the stars overhead. My contentment was tinged with guilt. I wanted all of my brothers to have this peace. Roul most of all. I couldn't imagine the torture of leaving a mate behind.
They hadn't bonded—there'd been no time for a bite. I didn't know how much time he had before the phantom limb feeling drove him mad.
We'd find them before then. We had to. And when we did, there wouldn't be enough of BioSynth left to fill a test tube.