Page 18
Chapter
Seventeen
Whatever was in the tea that Cinder had made for Jade had done wonders for her aching throat. By the time Brick was able to return to human form, the remains of the male who’d come after her weren’t recognizable as anything but bones, and she was feeling like herself again.
“We’ll keep the fire burning until the bones are ash,” Everett, one of the pack elders, said as he poked at the wood and moved some of the logs around with a long-handled metal rod. “Then we’ll scatter them in the creek. You two can head out. The elders will handle things.”
“Thank you,” Brick said.
He looked down at Jade. “You ready, sweetheart?”
“I’m ready to talk to you privately.”
Her body was humming like a tuning fork and had been ever since the healing tea had fixed her aches.
She’d spent the last two hours talking quietly to her wolfy mate about her past and her hopes for the future.
He’d been a captive audience, gazing up at her with amber eyes.
She’d spilled her proverbial guts to him, telling him everything she could think of about her past and how crazy she was about him.
“Of course,” he said. “But let’s take my truck instead of walking.”
She grinned and said, “I’d like to get mated tonight. If you want to still?”
“We don’t have to. That male is dead and no longer a threat.
We can wait until the full moon.” He looked down at her, his brows drawn in thought.
“But I do want to if you do. But not for any reason other than you and I can’t wait until the full moon because we’re just so very crazy about each other that we can’t wait a minute longer. ”
She couldn’t help but smile. She was definitely crazy about him. “I want to do it for us and I don’t want to wait.”
“Then let’s talk to Adam and Cinder and get somewhere private so we can talk.”
They said goodbye to the elders and he took her hand, walking with her toward the alphas’ home. “Clothes would be nice,” she said, glancing at his nakedness, which just made her wish they were closer to being somewhere private.
“Yeah,” he said with a laugh. “I bet they’re still in the road, or maybe the security team picked them up. I can grab some from my room though.”
They hurried to the house, where he changed, and then met with Adam and Cinder, who were seated at the kitchen table playing a card game, which Cinder was clearly beating Adam at, much to his chagrin.
“Absolutely we can do the mating ceremony tonight,” Adam said, putting down the cards.
“No worries at all. You two spend the afternoon together and come here an hour before sunset. Cin and I will get everything together. We’ll have the ceremony, a cookout, and a shift and hunt with the pack.
We could use the distraction from everything that’s been going on. ”
“Thanks,” Brick said. “We’ll see you guys before sunset.”
Cinder pushed the cards into a pile to shuffle. “Enjoy your time together, and don’t worry about anything. We’ll handle it because you’re family, and that’s what family—and pack—does for each other.”
Jade smiled at the couple and thanked them, and then left with Brick.
“So where are we going?” she asked as he opened the door to his truck and helped her inside.
“Where I used to live.”
“Your parents’?”
“Yes and no.” On what turned out to be a very short drive, Brick said, “When I was a teenager, I wanted more privacy, but I wanted to also be close to my folks, so my dad and I built a stand-alone garage with an apartment over it. It’s a large studio basically, with a kitchen and bathroom.”
“That’s really awesome.” She’d only ever lived at home. In her old pack, females didn’t move away from their parents’ home until they were mated.
He parked in front of a large two-car garage. As she got out of the truck, she looked at the house next to the garage. “That’s where your folks live?”
He led her up the metal stairs to a small landing.
He used his thumb on a keypad and the door unlocked.
“Yep,” he said, holding the door for her.
“Sometimes I crash here when I don’t feel like being around the noise of the alphas’ house, especially on the prep days leading up to the full moon.
It’s like the house is never quiet. When we wanted privacy, this is the first place that came to mind. ”
She looked around the space. A bed was along one wall, a dresser with a lamp, a small couch and TV hung on the wall, and a kitchenette. He pointed to a door and said, “Bathroom’s in there. The fridge is stocked. Are you hungry or thirsty?”
She put her hand on the door and pushed it closed. “I’m good.”
He hooked his hand around her waist and drew her close. “You look like you’ve got wicked things on your mind, sweetheart.”
“I do,” she said. “Even though we haven’t known each other long at all, it feels like we’ve been together so much longer.”
“Well, a lot of seriously messed up shit happened in a short amount of time,” he said with a chuckle.
“Definitely. But even if things hadn’t gone to hell… several times… I’d still want to be yours in truth, to wear your marks and join the pack.”
“We’re truemates. That kind of connection makes everything feel accelerated.” He pulled her a little closer and she felt the ridge of his erection. “You’re so fucking sexy, Jade. Everything about you calls to me on a cellular level.”
“You’re pretty damn sexy yourself.”
He lifted her into his arms and carried her to the bed, setting her on the edge and standing between her parted legs. He cupped her face and gazed down at her. She could see his wolf, the edges of his eyes simmering with amber.
“I love you,” they both said at the same time.
And then they both laughed.
He leaned down for a kiss. “I do, sweetheart. Love you.”
“I love you too,” she said. “Great minds think alike.”
He kissed her again. “I have a great mind with great ideas.”
“Do tell, sexy male.”
“I’d rather show you.”
He leaned into her, kissing her again, deeply and sweetly.
She fell back onto the bed and he followed, climbing up the bed over her.
While she pushed up on his shirt, he undid the buttons of her top and spread it open, rubbing his fingers lightly over the swell of her breasts.
He straightened enough to take off his shirt.
She wiggled from her shirt and unhooked her bra, and he helped free her from the satin and lace.
He leaned down and kissed her nipples, taking one into his mouth and sucking on it gently. She closed her eyes and reveled in his attentions as he drove her wild with his talented tongue.
He kissed his way down her body and stripped her shorts and panties off, and then he stood and shucked his jeans. With a light tug on her knees, he pulled her to the edge of the bed and dropped to his knees.
“You’re a fucking feast, sweetheart,” he said with a growl.
And then he was licking her like she was his favorite piece of candy and everything in the world dropped away but them. He drove her to a quick climax, a shout of pleasure making her voice crack as waves rolled through her.
He climbed up her, his eyes glowing with his wolf, and fit the thick head of his cock inside her. Her head kicked back as he thrust hard and fast into her, and then he stilled, holding himself over her for a heartbeat. Their gazes clashed and he grinned, showing his fangs.
She shivered and hooked her legs over his hips. She couldn’t wait to be his mate.
As they made love, reveling in each other, she kissed him and whispered her love for him.
“I’m not scared anymore,” she said against his lips. “I’ve got you.”
“You will always be safe with me,” he said.
Then he drove her to another great height of pleasure, and just as she crested the wave of bliss, he sank his fangs into her neck and marked her as his. He lifted from her throat and growled as he came, his cock spasming inside her.
She shouted his name as happiness wove through her.
He scored his tongue and licked across the wound to ensure it scarred, and then he tilted his neck so she could do the same to him.
When she’d marked him and made sure it would remain forever, the connection between them solidified, their bond as mates unbreakable.
As they both came down from the heights of pleasure, they snuggled on the bed and talked quietly about what they both wanted for the future.
A place to call their own.
A family.
And a life full of love.
She couldn’t wait.