Chapter 4
Damn, they make hot males in Northernmost.
And also… her truemate apparently.
The male holding her hand – dark hair, dark eyes, lips worth killing for – held on tightly as he led her and Sandman inside the main building along with other security team members who’d been dispatched to meet them at the Portal.
Gabriel.
What a freaking sexy name.
And the way his eyes had bled to amber when he’d heard she was in danger? Be still her freaking heart.
Once they were inside and she felt like she could breathe without icicles forming when she exhaled, she pulled on Gabriel’s hand and he stopped, turning to face her.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his brows drawn in worry.
“Yes, I’m fine. I’m just being targeted by Nightmare. Or my family is. But I can’t believe you’re here. I haven’t been to Northernmost since I was a teenager. It’s been eight years or so.”
“I’ve only been up here for six years. Before that I lived in Southern Ohio.”
“I live in Michigan with my family and our dream walker guild.” She mused for a moment, and then reached out slowly and touched his cheek. “Okay, you’re real.”
He chuckled deeply. “Yes, I am. So why is Nightmare targeting you, and do you want me to just go kill him?”
His dark brown eyes shimmered to amber as he spoke, and she knew he was very serious. He was gorgeous, but the moment he said he was willing to kill on her behalf after just meeting her, he rose to a level of handsomeness she’d never witnessed before.
She was singularly attracted to him in a wild and wanton way.
“Oh damn.”
“What?” he asked.
“We have to talk to Santa.”
“You and I can talk later. Your safety and that of your family comes first.”
“Later sounds good, but not as good as now.”
He grinned sinfully and she almost melted in her boots.
“Come on, you two,” Sandman called. “Save the sweet nothings for later.”
She smiled and shrugged at Gabriel. He squeezed her hand, and they resumed their walk down the long hall to Santa’s office.
She’d always thought it was weird that Santa had an office. She’d pictured him in a house, reading through the naughty and nice lists while smoking a pipe in a rocking chair.
But he wasn’t just Santa. He was the most powerful warlock in the world, and that meant he was responsible not only for the Well of Magic but also for all the good magic users in the world, the elves who lived and worked in Northernmost, and, of course, delivering toys to good boys and girls on Christmas.
His office had a massive desk in front of a picture window that showcased the Well of Magic and the Portal beyond. A low-banked fire glowed in the fireplace, and a mantel was hung with two stockings that looked like they’d been handmade by someone who had poured love into every stitch.
Perhaps his wife, who’d been taken by Frost in the seemingly never-ending battle for control of the Well.
The truth was, if the Well fell to Frost, all good magic users would eventually have to choose – lose their magic or turn dark and follow Frost. Good magic, the essence of goodness itself, would cease to exist.
That couldn’t happen.
She scooched a little closer to Gabriel.
His wolf rumbled in approval and she smiled.
“So,” Santa said, rising and coming around the desk.
“I just sent Mother Nature and Tooth Fairy home to check on their people, since it appears my brother has teamed up with the worst of the worst this year. That brings us to you, Ana, and the dream walkers.” He sat on the edge of the desk, his blue eyes dark with concern. “Tell me everything.”
She took in a deep breath, then said, “I was out on my patrol overnight when Nightmare showed up and turned all my good dreams to nightmares…”
Ana said goodbye to Sandman, who was leaving Northernmost to secure more guards for her family and send word to all dream walkers that Nightmare was on the prowl.
She and Gabriel left Santa’s office to head to his underground apartment, and just being alone with him made her whole body warm with the thought of finally finding her mate.
She hadn’t been able to focus on Gabriel because things were dangerous and she’d needed to explain the situation to Santa.
Both Santa and Sandman had suggested she stay in Northernmost because it was the safest place for her, and she was happy to do that.
Not just because Nightmare was after her, but because her sexy truemate lived here.
But now that she’d said what needed to be said, they were free to spend time together.
Gabriel.
Sexiest male in the world.
He must have known she was thinking sexy thoughts, because his wolf let out a rumbling growl and she felt him staring at her as they walked down an empty hall. She peeked at him and her skin flushed when she met his bright amber gaze.
He stopped and drew her close, backing her against the wall. She could feel the hard planes of his muscles, and oh my, his erection pressing into her belly.
He smelled like fall and the woods at night, like bonfires and camping, and starlit skies. It was the best kind of cologne because it came from him naturally, his wolf’s scent meant just for her.
She was going to drown in it.
Oh, yes. Maybe he tasted good too.
Gabriel tilted her chin up until she was looking into his eyes.
“I can tell what you’re thinking, sweetness, but you can’t go pressing those sweet lips to any part of my body without me returning the favor, and out here in the hallway is not my idea of taking good care of you.”
She slipped her fingers into his waistband and drew him a little closer. “What did you have in mind?”
“That depends.” He leaned into the arm braced against the wall over her head.
“On?”
“If you want to talk first.”
Oh.
Not even a little bit.
But how much of a hussy did that make her?
Well, he was her truemate. And her body’s natural reaction was simply that – natural. She could see the hint of fangs as he smiled down at her, his eyes a mix of chocolate and amber.
Slipping her hands up to his face, she went onto her toes and kissed him.
The kiss stole the ground out from under her.
It was just them. Lips pressed, tongues dancing, the deep, sweet kiss feeling like it was going on forever.
He lifted his lips from her with a soft growl and said, “We can talk later?”
“Eventually. Later. Yes.”
His eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled.
He stared at her for a moment, and she could practically see the wheels turning in his mind. Then he ducked down, put his shoulder against her belly, and lifted her over his shoulder as he straightened.
She let out a laugh as she found herself dangling over his back.
“I’m not that slow of a walker.”
“It’s definitely faster this way, sweetness. Trust me.”
“Then take me home, Gabriel. I’m all yours.”
Gabriel settled her on her back on a big bed and lowered himself over her, his arms straight and his wolf rumbling in his chest.
The air was charged between them, neither of them speaking for a long moment.
The next move would change everything.
So who would make it?
Was she forward enough to… oh.
Oh.
Gabriel pushed her tunic up and exposed her belly, lowering his head to kiss her navel.
Her body turned liquid with heat, and she closed her eyes as he licked and kissed around her belly, tugging her leggings low enough to kiss just above her most tingling place.
Her toes curled in her boots, and she cursed the fact that she was wearing anything at all.
He kissed up her belly, pushing her top higher as he moved. She’d forgone a bra because the tank top beneath her tunic was form fitting enough to hold her girls in place, and right now she was really glad she had.
He gathered the material above her breasts, and she reached for him, sinking her fingers into his soft, dark hair as he worshipped her breasts, sucking and licking her nipples until she writhed beneath his touch.
He eased back and pulled his shirt off, then kissed her deeply. Then he slipped from the bed, removed her boots and tossed them to the floor before he pulled her leggings and panties down over her hips, nipping at her skin as he stripped them away.
Gabriel was between her thighs a heartbeat later, pressing his lips to her heated flesh, his tongue finding her clit and sending a shiver of delight through her.
He brought her knee over his shoulder and lifted her bottom from the bed to give himself better access.
His tongue slipped down to her entrance, and he tongued her core like he couldn’t get enough.
Whenever he pushed his tongue into her, he growled, the vibrations making her clit tingle, then he’d follow with a few strokes up and down.
His warm hand pressed against her belly, and his thumb settled on her clit, rubbing lightly back and forth, up and down, until he found the place that made her whole body light up and her shoulders lift from the bed.
“Right there!” she gasped.
He chuckled and licked at her as his thumb worked that spot with just the right pressure and speed, until her stomach tightened, heat filled her, and stars winked in her vision as she tunneled toward bliss.
As she crested the wave into pleasure, she shouted his name and rocked her hips against his face, her skin prickling and her body alive with sensation.
He rolled her to her belly and hauled her up to her knees. She heard the faint sound of his zipper, and then the thick, hot head of him was at her entrance. He pushed inside her in one hard thrust, so deep and full that her breath caught.
Her head kicked back as his body hammered into hers again and again, his hands tight on her hips, holding her where he wanted her so he could take them both to the height of pleasure.
She slid her knees a little farther apart and clenched the blanket under her hand. He snarled as he moved, thrusting and retreating, their bodies moving together like they’d made love a thousand times instead of just meeting an hour earlier.
She could feel the connection between them blooming as her body raced toward a second climax. She wanted nothing more than to come with him, to feel him empty into her as she hit another peak. She was greedy for it, for his pleasure.
Gripping the blanket with one hand, she reached for her clit, and he snarled out a deep “Yes” as she rubbed the sensitive bud the way she knew would send her over the edge. He pounded into her harder and faster, his fingers digging into her hips and holding her tight.
She let out a deep cry as she found an answering rhythm to his thrusts and exploded around his cock. He bellowed a howl from his wolf as he came, thrusting a few more times and shuddering, his body pressed tightly to hers.
He hooked his arm around her chest, drew her back against him, and pushed her hair over her shoulder to expose her neck.
“Tell me yes, and I’ll make you mine forever,” he said, licking a slow line up her neck. “Tell me no, and I won’t. You’re mine either way.”
Her nails dug into his forearm as she held herself against him and tilted her head, breathlessly giving in to what she hadn’t known she needed and wanted. “Yes, Gabriel. Yes, please.”
He snarled in approval and sank his fangs into her neck.
It hurt, but the pain was brief since she was still rolling through the pleasurable waves of her second orgasm.
He extracted his fangs, and she caught the scent of blood a moment before he licked the wound tenderly.
She knew he’d nicked his tongue and licked her wound to make sure the marks scarred instead of disappearing with her accelerated healing.
He lowered her gently to the bed, turning her onto her back, then kissed her sweetly, his body just inches from hers. She let her hands roam over his muscular, bare chest.
He nuzzled her chin and kissed the unmarked side of her neck.
“So this is what it’s like,” she whispered.
“What’s that?” he murmured.
“Finding the one guy in the world meant for me.”
“It’s pretty damn incredible,” he said. “I would have searched the world for you if I’d known how sweet your pussy tasted and how close I would feel to you after marking you.”
She grinned and wrapped her arms around his neck, lifting off the bed and kissing him. “I bet you taste sweet too, sexy male.”
“One more time for you,” he said, slipping down her body by kissing a heated path to the juncture of her thighs.
“Just one?” she asked, feeling greedy and needy and wanton, her inner hussy having a ball.
“As many as you like, sweet female.”
“All of them, Gabriel. All of you.”
He sent her into the heavens again with the most talented tongue in the world, and she decided right then and there that Nightmare was some kind of twisted matchmaker, his threats having sent her straight into the arms of her truemate.
She’d send him flowers.
Later.