Page 32 of Fae Devoted (Fae Touched #3)

J ohnnie closed her eyes, savoring the feel of Jacob’s hard body flush against hers. The warmth of his lips on the side of her neck. The smell of a wintry forest morning in her nose. The proof of his desire pulsing alongside her bare thigh.

Jacob shifted his weight, and she squeezed his neck, curling her limbs around his narrow hips, trying to lock him in.

The action caused the hem of her half-open shirt to slip to her waist. Her modesty kept intact by a lone set of unbroken buttons and a tiny scrap of lace.

She didn’t care. Not as long as Jacob stayed right where he belonged—in her arms and between her legs.

But instead of leaving as she expected him to do, his head lowered and captured her lips in a devastating kiss. His tongue dipped into her mouth, the velvet strokes, slow and deliberate, creating a raging inferno she knew only he could quench.

Jacob kissed her as though he owned her. He kissed her like he’d never let her go.

She moaned into his mouth. The throbbing at her apex turning into an insistent ache as Jacob slid his hard length along her center, dragging it across her clit. Still teasing her lips with rough nips and gentle licks, he ground his pelvis in time with his tongue.

Gently collaring her throat, Jacob broke the kiss and growled, “You’re mine, Jo.”

She shivered as the honeyed rumble washed over her skin, everything feminine within her responding to the lust in his tone, his words—his deep-rooted dominance.

Her nipples stiffened, the satin material of her pajama top brushing almost painfully against the sensitive tips.

Liquid heat pooled low in her abdomen, and she clenched her thighs.

Her core demanding to be filled, while her soul begged to be claimed.

“Jo?”

Johnnie lifted her lids and met the glowing irises of Jacob’s wolf which were bright with all-consuming need and possession.

His hand switched from her neck to her cheek, his gaze softening in its intensity.

The vulnerability in her big, strong male brought moisture to her eyes.

How could he imagine, even for an instant, she’d ever reject him?

“Yes,” she whispered, fingers skating to his waistband and pushing impatiently. Leaving no doubt what she wanted. What she needed.

Jacob reared to his knees, her compliance like setting a match to dry tinder.

After tearing the last two buttons from her shirt, he shoved his pants over his hips, and his cock sprang free, thick and jutting.

He fisted its rigid length and pumped once.

His lids went heavy, golden eyes riveted on her bared breasts.

Johnnie’s chest flushed, the heat rising to her cheeks.

Jacob pitched forward, bracing on a forearm as his lips wrapped around a pebbled nipple, wicked tongue flicking over the sensitive peak. He drew it into his mouth, the suction a sweet tether making her core go soft and wet.

“Jacob,” she cried, arching up to get closer, needing him inside her.

He let go of her breast with a final lick, and she couldn’t quell the whimper that sounded embarrassingly close to a sob at the loss.

“I want to taste you first,” he murmured, voice guttural.

Johnnie’s heart stuttered, then sped up as his mouth slid over her torso, skimming her trembling flesh and moving steadily downward. A tug and the lace fabric ripped in half, the last barrier between her slick center and his mouth destroyed with the flick of his wrist.

Jacob lapped at her as though he were dying of thirst, the feral sounds issuing from his throat pushing her steadily toward a towering cliff, threatening to throw her over the edge.

Two fingers joined the sensual torment, plunging in while the tip of his tongue swirled and sucked.

Her legs shook, and her breaths came in loud pants.

So damn close to flying off the steep ledge.

A sharp canine glanced off her swollen clit, and Johnnie flew.

She was still soaring when Jacob’s fangs pierced her inner thigh, sliding in deep and latching on. Mating magic crashed over Johnnie in torrents, the powerful blast singeing nerve endings. But instead of the searing sting from his teeth extinguishing the fire, it fanned the flames.

Jacob growled softly, pinning her jerking hips to the bed.

Johnnie squeezed her eyes shut and tried to hold still, knowing he was worried about tearing her skin.

Exquisite spasms racked her body, and she clutched at the sheets, the fusion of carnal rapture and erotic pain impossible to contain.

As the bond remained incomplete, her emotions swung from pure bliss to sheer terror, fear igniting an ugly firestorm in her chest.

What if they weren’t truemates after all? Oh God, what if…

Masculine satisfaction and sweeping elation sung through the newly strengthened bond, and Johnnie felt a tear trickle into her hair.

Jacob’s teeth released her thigh, then he licked the fresh Mark to seal the puncture wounds.

Prying open her right fist, he threaded their fingers together, and another tear fell.

Inching up her torso, Jacob crooked his elbow behind her left knee, drawing her leg toward her shoulder and placing their entwined hands beside her head.

Johnnie felt him hovering above her, so close his breath caressed her lips. “I was right all along.”

His mouth traced the tear-dampened skin of her temple, then moved to her ear. “Ca’anam.”

“You belong to me,” she whispered in wonderment, hardly daring to believe. The months of niggling doubts floated away as the truth sank in.

Jacob was hers. And she was his. Finally.

Johnnie kept her lids closed, fighting the overwhelming urge to weep though she was anything but sad, knowing the floodgates would open if she looked at him now.

“I will,” Jacob promised, angling her bent leg outward, nudging her entrance with his cock, “always,” he pushed the broad tip inside, then buried it with one thrust, “be yours.”

Johnnie’s neck and spine bowed, the air erupting from her lungs in an audible whoosh at the indescribable sensation of fullness. The delicious burn of being stretched.

“Give me those pretty eyes,” he demanded, plunging somehow deeper. The softness of his voice a stark contrast to the clenched jaw and taut cheekbones she saw when he slowly withdrew and then drove forward again.

She gasped at the force of his thrust, and her nipples scraped against his sculpted chest, the combined sensations turning the gasp into a drawn-out moan.

Jacob tilted his pelvis until he was hitting her clit, his hand flexing in hers with every downward stroke.

Scorching heat spread from her core to her neck, traveled to her limbs, and curled her toes.

The mounting pressure almost unbearable.

Johnnie’s heart fluttered, skipping a beat.

“Jacob,” she breathed, lashes lowering.

“Eyes, baby,” he reminded, voice wrecked.

Jacob was all she could see, filling her vision like he filled her heart. His focus never strayed from her face as he surged into her, tempo increasing.

Johnnie untangled her unclasped hand from the covers and clung to his shoulder, his skin hard and hot beneath her grasping palm.

He pushed her knee to her chest, sinking to the hilt.

He stroked, rocked, and withdrew. Stroked, rocked, and withdrew, steering her toward a climax that might tear her apart.

Johnnie held on for the ride, blunt fingernails digging into his flesh, heel pressing into his thigh as she climbed ever higher—on the verge of slipping over the precipice once again.

“Let go,” he ordered on a broken growl, grinding hard against her clit.

Johnnie clamped down and obeyed his command, falling into shattering ecstasy.

She convulsed around him, and Jacob’s pace turned frenzied, the cords of his neck straining with effort, chasing his own release.

The veins in the side of his neck pounded a fierce rhythm, his gaze turning to molten wolf-gold.

His muscles tensed, hips bucking as he threw back his head and roared, canines gleaming white in the shadowed darkness.

Johnnie’s throat closed, his primal beauty taking her breath away.

Jacob released her leg, but not her hand. He collapsed to his elbows and pressed his lips to her forehead.

“Mine,” he murmured, nuzzling her temple.

“Yours,” Johnnie agreed, sighing in total contentment. She turned to lick the thudding pulse on the side of his throat, his skin tasted of evergreens and sea salt. She butted his chin up with her nose and nipped at his stubbled jawline.

“Behave.” Jacob raised his head, flashing pointed canines. The bond hummed with amusement.

“You bit me first. Who knew kittens had such big teeth? Or should I say…” She grinned, loving the intimacy of their linked bodies and the stronger connection of a second Mating Mark. Loving him. “Who knew my Bunny —”

Johnnie hissed as Jacob used those teeth to graze the older Mark on her shoulder. He traced the lines of the bruise-colored stain above her clavicle with his tongue, and it buzzed like a live wire.

“You were saying?” he asked, palming her breast and brushing the tender nipple with his thumb.

“Ummm…” Her mind blanked, electricity zinging straight to her core, her sex clenching around his swiftly swelling cock. Jacob’s mouth crashed on hers, hips rolling then driving home, obliterating all thoughts of things soft and fluffy.

His heart felt like it was being torn from his body, the membranes holding it in place ripping in concert with Jo’s screams. Blood soaked the ground, the stain spreading as he looked on…powerless to stop his brother from hurting his female. So fucking helpless.

Tucker jerked awake, eyes opening to the blunted colors of his wolf-vision. Instinctively, he tightened his arms around Jo, and the light weight draped across his torso shifted. He blinked, and the dull yellow haze cleared.

His she-wolf—his truemate—was safe.

“Another nightmare about Jeremiah?” Her drowsy voice calmed his galloping pulse, and he loosened his grip.

“Yeah.”

“Want to talk about it?” Jo propped her chin on his breastbone, her fingers tracing soothing circles on his chest. “You’ve never told me what happened between the two of you all those years ago. Why did you leave the Grayson Pack?”

“It was either break ties or challenge Jeremiah for the role of Alpha.” Tucker sighed and ran his hand from the crown of her head to the wild tips of her sleep tousled hair, wrapping a thick lock around his fist then resting it on the graceful curve of her spine.

“I didn’t have much choice. He was convinced I wanted the Texas pack for myself. ”

“You would never consider usurping your brother.” Jo’s delicate brows pinched, her voice rising in volume. “That’s ridiculous.”

Shit, this female. Her trust in him was absolute.

“He wasn’t…himself. And hadn’t been for a while.” The day Jeremiah attacked Fitzgerald was the final straw, but the camel’s back had been bent long before then.

“The Fae?” Her sadness, understanding, and…love strummed the bond like a guitar string playing a series of dulcet notes.

Tucker nodded, his chest clenching as he brushed the back of his hand over her cheekbone, then mapped the smattering of freckles on her nose with his fingertip. How had he ever considered giving her up?

“He attacked an inexperienced warrior during a training session and almost killed him.” His lids closed, reliving the events leading to his decision to choose exile as if they happened yesterday.

“I stopped him in time, but Jeremiah saw my interference as a betrayal. When I went to see him later that night, he said my actions would sow dissension within the pack.” Opening his eyes, he trailed the lone digit to her mouth, caressing the fullness of her lower lip.

“Accused me of undermining his authority.”

“I’m sorry.” Jo sighed, her breath brushing his skin.

“I asked him why his wolf reacted to a young clanmate’s momentary rashness as if it were an assassination attempt.”

“What did he say?”

“Nothing.” Tucker had never told anyone this part of the story. Not even Samuel. “Jeremiah went into a rage and sliced the side of my face open.”

Jo gasped, and her hand on his chest stilled.

“He stared at my blood dripping from his claws as though his hand were attached to someone else’s arm. Then he stripped me of my beta status and ordered me out of his sight.”

You are no longer fit to serve as my second. I won’t have someone at my back, brother or no, whom I can’t trust.

Jo crawled up his torso, her bare breasts sliding over his heated skin. She raised to both elbows, lifting her head enough for him to watch her hazel eyes go soft and earnest. “Jacob, there’s no way you could have known about his relationship with the Fae.”

“But I knew these weren’t the actions of the male I’d known since I took my first breath. Yet instead of staying close enough to figure out what the hell was going on…I left. I was afraid when the pack found out I was no longer their beta—”

“They might choose you to be Alpha over your brother?”

“Our dominance levels are equal, and Jeremiah wasn’t…himself. But I couldn’t do that to him. I couldn’t divide the pack or face him in a battle I had no desire to win.”

“He’s your twin, and you love him.” She kissed his chin, then snuggled underneath it. “I think we’re close to finding him. Maybe King Alexander can help us?”

“We’re not sure Remington can be trusted yet. He might be working for the Fae.” He wouldn’t be the first of the Nine to yield to Daimhín’s bidding.

“Then we’ll find Jeremiah together.” She yawned, slender arms and long legs wrapping around him like a spider monkey. “We’ve gotten this far by ourselves, haven’t we?”

Freckled skin, auburn hair, and blood. So much blood.

“My brother might still be under the Sídhe Lord’s compulsion.” Tucker’s stomach pitched, and his chest went ice cold, the thought of Jo confronting a corrupted Jeremiah freezing the blood in his veins.

Claw marks on her cheek. Teeth marks on her neck.

“We’ll figure it out once we catch up to him,” she mumbled, half-asleep, shivering as if she felt the chill seeping into his limbs. “I can’t wait to meet him.”

Agonizing screams.

“Sleep, baby,” he forced through a throat as dry as dust. He pulled up the blanket and tucked it around her shoulders. “No one will harm you as long as I live, I swear it.”