Page 6

MARLOWE

“Elias!” I cried.

His teeth scraped my neck while one hand made its way up my shirt and under my bra, kneading my breast.

I certainly didn’t need the reminder that I was his, but the passion that drove him forward was intoxicating, slick pooling in my underwear from his desire and need for control. He could reclaim me as often as he liked, as far as I was concerned. Although I did feel a little bad for Julian being forced to chauffeur us back to the house.

Elias had practically shoved me into the back once he’d ordered Julian to drive, pulling me on his lap when he came in afterwards. I let him take whatever would reassure him, all of me was his.

He ground against me and growled at my jeans. “I need to buy you more skirts.”

He nipped at my ears and continued. “I want to take you shopping, buy you everything you want and more. I want to watch you try on lingerie that you’ll only wear for me, so I’ll know exactly what’s under the sexy dresses you’ll put on when I take you out. I want to feed you, first dinner and then my cock. And only once you’re full will I begin to feast on your sweet pussy…”

I gasped, aching with need. Maybe he was right about wearing more skirts. I was tired of these obstacles between us, even temporarily. I wanted to be able to fuck my pack whenever, wherever.

Running my fingers through his dark blonde hair, I rocked my hips across his lap needily. “Are you sure you want me in lingerie? I’d much rather be wearing nothing at all.”

He grunted, drawing my bottom lip between his teeth. “I like to work for my rewards, nothing good in life comes easy.”

My panting grew heavier as I ground against him harder. “But I’m about to come right now…”

At that he grabbed my ass, halting my movement against him. “Who told you you could come?”

he asked. “Only good girls get orgasms, and you’ve been an insufferable brat today.”

“Holy shit, guys,”

Julian groaned from the front. “I’m trying to drive here.”

Elias’s grip on my ass tightened until I squeaked. “See? You’re distracting the pup. Another infraction for the list.”

“Hey,”

I countered. “That one’s on you…”

He snarled as his teeth bit into my neck, not hard enough to draw blood but enough to halt my movements. I let out a breathy whine, acknowledging my submission, but he held firm.

“I’m sorry,”

I finally whimpered.

Satisfied, he let go, licking the spot where his teeth had been. “Good girl.”

My underwear was soaking through to my jeans, and Elias began rubbing his neck along mine, now slowly resuming his grinding. “No offense to the pup, but you don’t smell enough like me and I hate it.”

Julian chuffed at being called a “pup”

again, but I had a feeling that was likely going to catch on with the rest of the pack, seeing as how he was the youngest and newest member.

We finally returned to the house and Elias pulled me out of the car, throwing me over his shoulder.

“Whoa, how’d it go?”

Nolan asked from the table where he sat with his laptop. Cam was sitting on the floor in the middle of my nest, watching TV, and Archer was taking a nap on the couch, a book left open on his chest.

Elias ignored them and brought me upstairs into one of the bedrooms, locking the door behind him after setting me down. “Marlowe,”

he said, his voice husky with need as he paced around me. “I know you love all of us, and last night was amazing. But sharing is still difficult for me, and sometimes I will need you all to myself, without any mention of the others. I want to feel like I’m the only alpha in your life. Is that doable for you? It’s fine if it isn’t, I just need to know.”

I nodded enthusiastically. Elias was the most independent of the pack, followed by Archer. He had moved the farthest away, he had visited the least over the years. It was understandable he preferred space in every sense of the word.

He also required the most assurance from me. He had disobeyed his pack leader to bond with me first, his need to have me claimed overriding Cam’s order.

And honestly, it sounded nice. This relationship dynamic was new to me as well, and getting to appreciate my males one-on-one in a bubble would be a reprieve back to the normalcy I’d grown up in, and from constantly worrying I might be leaving someone out in a group setting.

“Yes, I would love that.”

Elias released a sigh of relief, his tense muscles relaxing as he flopped down on a chair. He gestured for me to join him, and I curled up on his lap, resting my head on his shoulder. “Are you doing okay? You seem so stressed.”

He began stroking my hair. “What’s there to be stressed about besides almost getting killed by vamps who tried to take away the love of my life, and now learning I have to fight her long-lost twin brother who can burn me from the inside out with the snap of his fingers?”

I winced. The guilt of being the cause of all his anxiety was a heavy weight on my chest. I had turned all of these males’ lives completely upside down—not only their jobs, but their health, their homes, and their lives.

It was hard not to imagine they may have been better off never meeting me. I was a magnet for chaos here.

Elias must have felt my shame through the bond, and his tone softened.

“I’m sorry, Mar,”

he said, his fingers now massaging my scalp. “I didn’t mean to put all this onto you. I don’t regret for one second that you’ve come into my life, and I don’t blame you for any of this. I blame myself for being too weak to properly protect you. I feel like I’ve been bestowed this amazing honor, a beautiful treasure, my wildest dreams come true, and now I’m being told I had never been worthy of you to begin with.”

I sat up straight. “You think I don’t feel the same way?”

I replied. “When you first took me out to breakfast and mildly flirted with me, I couldn’t believe I was getting to eat pancakes with Adonis himself. I still don’t know how you’re mine, and I worry any day now you’re going to wake up and decide I’m not worth the trouble.”

“Never,”

he hissed. “Marlowe, don’t you ever think that about yourself. In fact,”

he tilted my chin up to look at me, an impish smirk growing on his beautiful face. His eyes, green as moss, narrowed as they focused on my lips. He claimed my mouth fiercely, his teeth biting my lip. “I believe that may be another infraction for the list.”

My thighs clenched and I batted my eyelashes. “How many is that now?”

He chuckled darkly, “Oh, I’m going to spank the brat right out of you. Pants off, “he barked.

I stood up immediately, peeling the soaked jeans down my hips and stepping out of them. Elias sat back, rubbing his chin with his thumb, his thighs spreading as he slowly appraised me.

“Show me how wet you are,”

he commanded.

I hesitated for a moment, and he barked again. “Now.”

Jumping to comply, I put two fingers inside me and then pulled them back out. Elias grabbed my wrist and brought them to his mouth, sucking my taste right off them. Watching his tongue deftly twirl and wind around my fingers made me even wetter, and he smiled. “Do you want my mouth straight at the source of your sweetness?”

I nodded mutely.

“Use your words,”

he growled. “Yes!” I yelped.

His teeth bit down on the tip of my finger and I yelped again. “You will call me ‘alpha’”

“Yes, alpha!”

He dropped my wrist. “Good omega. But that won’t get you out of your punishment. It’s about time you learn the consequences of your actions.”

He patted his knee, maintaining eye contact. “Bottoms up.”

I took a tentative step back towards him, but as soon as I was in reach, he grabbed me, forcing me down right where he wanted

me, my legs and arms dangling in the air as he slowly rubbed my ass.

He hummed to himself, and I braced for the sting, but when it didn’t come, I twisted my neck to the side to take a peek at his face, his gaze focused on my backside. “I’m just imagining how good this perfect skin is going to look with my red hand prints all over it.”

Sighing, he finally pulled back his hand. “I need you to count, Marlowe. First infraction—making me wait over an hour to leave for the police station.”

The resounding smack that hit my ass made me bite my tongue in pain, and I cried out a pathetic “One!”

in response.

His palm sat over the inflicted skin, soothing me back to pleasure before pulling away again. “Next, for mouthing off to the detective.”

“Two!”

I yelled as he slapped my ass once more, grabbing onto whatever I could to brace myself. I was certainly a fan of rough sex, but I hadn’t thought I’d be the type who was into anything more than a little light spanking, so I was surprised at how much it was turning me on.

With Elias, at least. Somehow, I couldn’t imagine doing this with any of my other alphas.

Well, maybe during role play with Archer.

I focused on the present, trying to push my other alphas from my thoughts as Elias had requested. I wanted this to just be about us.

Elias tutted as his fingers dipped between my legs, feeling how wet he was making me.

“Look at you, enjoying your punishment. I wonder if this will just encourage you to act out more in the future. Are you learning your lesson, Marlowe?”

When I didn’t answer right away, he spanked me again and I yelled out “Yes, alpha!”

“Hm,”

he replied, once again comforting my stinging skin. “We’ll continue for now. Where was I? Oh yes. Next—for allowing those officers to lead you away with food. Do you have any idea how worried I was?”

SMACK

“Three! No, alpha!”

“No,”

he chided. “Such a spoiled little brat, you didn’t think for one second how worried I would be.”

A knock came at the door and Elias growled, holding me in place.

“Sugar, everything okay?”

Nolan called. “There’s a lot of screaming.”

“What do you say, sugar?”

Elias asked me in a mocking tone. “Are you okay?”

My ass hurt like crazy, but I was also so insanely turned on I could hardly wait for Elias’s knot to be inside me. This was our time, and as much as I loved Nolan, he was inadvertently bursting our bubble, and he needed to leave.

“I’m fine!”

I shouted. “Don’t worry about it!”

I heard an annoyed scoff, and then Nolan responded. “Well fine, then, but scream ‘banana’ if you need help.”

Elias waited until he heard Nolan’s footsteps retreat, my heart pounding. “Good omega,”

Elias soothed. “And by all means, scream ‘banana’ if you need me to stop…”

“No, alpha,”

I replied. I was having way too much fun. “Please continue.”

I felt his cock harden beneath me and he sucked in a quick breath. “Very well. Let’s see… oh yes, this is for teasing us at the restaurant.”

SMACK

Slick poured out of me as the pain dissolved into pure pleasure, “Four,”

I counted quietly.

SMACK

“I didn’t quite hear you, omega, care to try again?”

“Four!”

I yelled. The warmth of his calloused palm sat on my aching skin, and I took in a shaky breath, preparing myself for the next one.

“Next,”

he started. I clenched in preparation as he raised his hand high. “For mouthing off in the car.”

SMACK

“Five!”

I cried. “That’s five, alpha.”

Slick was practically pouring out of me, my body begging to be fucked. Elias knew it as well as I did, and pushed his fingers between my legs before groaning.

“So wet and we’re not even done…”

SMACK

“That’s for saying I was only mildly flirting with you at breakfast. I’ll have you know that I had pulled out all the stops on my charisma that day, and considering the position you’re in right now, I believe I was successful.”

I bit back my laugh and cried out, “Six!”

His hand rubbed against my skin again, and his cock was practically bursting from his pants, pushing into my stomach. “Finally,”

he sighed. “This is for ever thinking you’re not worthy of me.”

I braced myself for impact but instead his hands clasped around my waist, picking me up with ease. He maneuvered me around so I was on his lap again, straddling and facing him. Elias reached forward and wiped away a few tears that had pooled in the corners of my eyes. My ass stung but I still sat back on it, the beauty in his features left me feeling like putty, completely at his mercy. It was thrilling.

“If you think your tears will save you, I’m afraid they’re having the opposite effect. You look entirely too pretty when you cry.”

He grabbed the bottom hem of my t-shirt and pulled it over my head, unfastening my bra next. He breathed deeply at the sight of my naked breasts, then gripped my chin and pulled me towards him. “You are my goddess, Marlowe,”

he whispered. “And every day, for the rest of my life, I will strive to make sure you never forget it.”

A wicked grin grew on his face, his pupils dilating. “Now, that being said, I’m afraid I’ll need you to get on your knees.”

He helped me slide backward towards the floor, and I bit my lip in anticipation as he stood over me, slowly undressing himself. He took off his shirt first, my pussy drenched in the sight of his muscles, hoping desperately he’d let me lick every hard ridge and crevice. Once he hung it up carefully on the back of the chair, he began unbuckling his belt and unbuttoning his pants, my eyes following the corded muscles of his forearms until he finally released his hard cock, a drop of precum glistening on the tip.

He sat back down and beckoned me back between his legs. “Are you hungry?”

My eyes lit up and I nodded. “Yes, alpha.”

I wanted nothing more than to run my tongue along the shaft, tasting his musky, bergamot and pepper scent, twirling it around his head before sucking it down as far as it would go down my throat. With one hand wrapped around his knot and the other on the back of my head, Elias guided my mouth towards him and I got to work, gripping his thighs for support.

“That’s it,”

he cooed, his eyelids hooded with lust as he watched my lips circle his cock. He thrust up slightly. “You take me so well, don’t you?”

I hummed my response, fitting as much of him as I could inside and causing him to groan, his fingers tightening their grip in my hair.

“Just like that,”

he sighed, a purr starting in his chest as he closed his eyes and laid his head back in bliss. Knowing I could relieve his stress, stress caused by me whether he blamed me or not, and bring him pleasure and happiness made all the pain from the spanking disappear.

I knew Elias, and the rest of my pack for that matter, didn’t need me to show gratitude through sex. What we had wasn’t some reciprocal, tit-for-tat exchange where I was expected to put out every time they did something nice for me.

But sex was something we all enjoyed—it was simple and fun, strengthening the bonds and intimacy I had with each of my males. With five of them now, it was going to be harder to carve out enough time to make sure we could have these kinds of moments together, and there might be occasions when someone ended up a bit neglected.

That had been Elias for the past week, and now I relished getting to show him how much he meant to me, how much I cared about him. How I wanted him to feel as good as he made me feel just through being here.

The pace of his thrusting increased, his climax building. I grabbed his cock, sliding up and down his shaft with my hands as my tongue concentrated on what I could fit in my mouth. With one final jerk he held my head still, spilling himself down my throat as he cried out his release.

It wasn’t just lust in his expression when he looked down at me, catching my eye. He pulled himself out of my mouth and helped me up as I swallowed. “Your turn,”

he whispered in my ear, guiding me towards the bed. His hands slid down my back, gently caressing the affected skin. “Does it hurt? Can you lay down?”

“I feel amazing,”

I replied. He cupped my face and kissed me, slowly and deeply, his tongue claiming every inch of my mouth. Elias didn’t need to ask me to focus solely on him when we were alone, because in this moment there was no question there was only him.

He moved us forward until the back of my legs hit the edge of the bed and then lowered me down, adjusting my hips until they were in the perfect position.

“It may seem selfish to ask you to take care of me first, and it is, but not for the reason you think.”

He picked up my thighs and placed them over his shoulders. “I’m a bit of a masochist too, you see, and I enjoy denying myself what I want the most until the end.”

His tongue flicked my clit, sending a jolt of electricity through my body and I gasped, my fingers digging into the bed spread. Then he licked me again, slower and with greater pleasure, watching my face carefully as my eyelids fluttered and lips opened to silent invocations of ecstasy.

“Beautiful,”

he sighed, resuming his deliberate feasting. His fingers pushed inside me and my back arched, and I let out a short whimper. “So tight, how you even fit my knot inside you I’ll never know.”

His fingers matched the rhythm of his tongue, drawing out my orgasm with expert precision. He was in no rush, taking frequent breaks to skate small kisses along my thigh and look at my body. “You’re absolutely exquisite, Marlowe. And you’re all mine.”

He drove his tongue inside me and my hands went straight to his hair, grabbing his thick locks as my hips rocked up, desperate for more. “Elias,” I sighed.

The sound of me calling his name spurred him on, now resuming his steady assault on my clit, his fingers deftly hitting my G-spot inside. My orgasm built, the wave cresting and ready to break.

When he sucked my clit between his teeth I finally crashed, writhing in pleasure, my panting vocalized in small whines.

“Good omega,”

he praised, pushing me up further on the bed. He kissed his way up my stomach, his mouth finding my nipples. His tongue and teeth scraped and licked, and his hands grabbed mine, interlacing our fingers as he raised them over my head. He stretched himself out on top of me, nestling himself between my legs.

When his cock nudged at my entrance he stopped, raising his head to look me in the eyes. “I love you, Marlowe,”

My breath hitched, my chest full and happy. “I love you too, Elias.”

His first thrust was careful, stretching me to accommodate his substantial girth.

“That’s it,”

he said, “Make room for me, I know you can. We were made for each other.”

They were more than words—my body did feel like it was made for him. By his third thrust he fit with ease, gliding all the way to the hilt. Then his tempo increased, and my hips met with his in sync.

His green eyes never left mine, his feelings for me and the feeling of the mutual pleasure we found and made in each others’ bodies spoken through every blink.

He let go of my hands and dug his arms under my back, bringing me flush to his chest as his climax built. “Come with me,”

he commanded, and my body obeyed.

Every nerve burst like fireworks and I cried out when my next orgasm hit, my pussy clenching around his cock as he pushed his knot inside me, locking me onto him while he came. His dick throbbed, emptying fully as his breathing stopped, and his body shook from the force of it.

Our orgasms had intensified since bonding, reaffirming our connection and bringing us closer together. We were mirrors for each other’s pleasure, reflecting every emotion and feeling back to each other. It was beautiful, getting to feel him and the way he felt me. I didn’t even need a physical stimulation, his love and the thought of him was enough to bring me to climax again, and we continued coming as we laid there.

“Fuck, Marlowe,”

he sighed, rolling over so we were on our sides facing each other. “I don’t even have words for this.”

I placed my palm on his cheek. “Me neither. You may call me a goddess, but Elias… you’re my god.”

His chest puffed out and he pulled me in closely, purring loudly as he stroked my hair. We rested in silence, soaking in our alone time. I put away any worries I had about who needed my attention next, focusing solely on Elias.

My fingers traced the hard outlines of his muscles, and he kissed the top of my head. My eyelids felt heavy, and I yawned, looking forward to a much-needed nap with my alpha.

“I need to head back to Chicago for a few days,”

he said, breaking the silence. “I didn’t think I’d be up here so long, and I have to check in at the office and my house. I want you to come with me.”

I pulled away slightly and he spoke before I could. “I know it’s a selfish request and that you have other obligations here. But I think it could do you some good, too. Wouldn’t you like to be back in a big city, where no one knows who or what you are, even just for a few days?”

That did sound appealing. I was tired of being on edge every time I walked out the door. Being around humans, who didn’t know what I was and ignored me like I was a regular person, sounded amazing after having to navigate unwanted attention from pushy alphas. But aside from my pack obligations, there was something else

I needed to take care of first. “On one condition,”

I started.

Elias looked at me expectantly, and I gave him a reassuring smile. “I need someone to help me get my stuff from San Francisco, and I’d like to do it soon before I possibly run into Mike’s family. Would you go out there with me before we go to Chicago?”

His pride and joy at being asked to help me was screaming down the bond. “Of course, we can leave as soon as you’re ready.”

“Absolutely not.”

Cam slammed his fist down on the table. “Elias, you have no right to take her away like this. She needs the entire pack’s protection now more than ever.”

Julian flinched, Nolan seethed, and Archer observed cooly. Elias, however, was unshakable. “I happen to think getting out of town is the best thing for her right now.”

Cam snarled. “Oh, do you? Well, I’m pulling rank—as pack leader, I forbid it.”

Elias chuckled, looking towards his bonding mark on my shoulder. “Yeah, that’s not going to stop me and you know it.”

Before Cam could leap clear across the table I stood up, shooting Elias a dirty look. He didn’t need to antagonize Cam like that.

“Alright, that’s enough!”

I didn’t have a commanding bark like my alphas, but they still listened and obeyed me like I did. Once I was sure I had everyone’s full attention, I continued. “I need to go to San Francisco, full stop. Mike’s family may have already been contacted about his death, and could go out at any moment to clear out his things. I want to get in there first, and it shouldn’t take me longer than a couple of days.”

“Babe,”

Cam entreated. He reached over and placed his hand on top of mine. “I understand that, but any one of us could go with you. Hell, we could all go with you. Why do you only want to go with Elias?”

It broke my heart for him to feel like I was playing favorites, because that wasn’t what this was. “It just makes the most sense logistically. Besides, our pack is going to attract way too much attention if we go out together. Do you have any idea how insanely hot you all are? Half the women and the men in that city are going to lose their minds when they see you all walking down the street, and I’m not strong enough to fend them all off.”

Cam’s mouth twitched into a smirk at the compliment, and I bit my lip to keep from smiling myself. I had a feeling appealing to his ego would help soothe the sting. “I would love to go on trips one-on-one with each of you, and doing this with Elias right now just happens to work out the best. It’s not about liking him more than anyone else…”

Elias winked. “It absolutely could be, California.”

“You’re not helping!”

I snapped at him, trying to nip the chorus of growls that had erupted from the rest of the pack in the bud. “Anyway, as I was saying—I need to go to SF, Elias needs to go to Chicago, so we might as well make one big trip out of it. And then we’ll be back before the Wolfcrest holiday party. You wanted me to go, right Cam?”

Cam grunted, crossing his arms and looking away from me. “Maybe.”

It was so hard not to laugh, he really was such a baby sometimes. I walked around the table and crawled onto his lap, scratching his beard with my fingernails. “I’m going to buy the hottest little dress I can find for you. What’s your favorite color?”

I felt him soften—well, everything aside from his cock soften—and he sighed, mumbling under his breath.

“What was that?”

I asked sweetly.

“Green,”

he said louder. “Dark green.”

I nibbled on his earlobe and then giggled. “You got it, babe.”

As Cam started to calm down, the outrage in the bonds settled and the rest of the pack responded in kind.

Nolan sucked in a sharp breath. “I guess I wouldn’t really be able to go anyway, I’m still putting out fires from last night.”

“Last night”

being when Nolan shifted during a Town Council meeting. It had barely been twenty-four hours since the attack, and my mind felt fried. I was already looking forward to getting to zone out and sleep on the flight that was leaving tomorrow morning.

“The newspaper released a short article today about the vamp attack, and I’ve been on the phone almost nonstop today,”

he sighed, rubbing his hand down his face. “The city manager would kill me if I told him I needed another couple days off right now.”

Archer nodded in agreement. “I have to get grades in the system before Wednesday myself, so I can’t really go at the moment, either.”

He shot Elias a look and then continued. “However, I hope you haven’t forgotten that I planned on staying at your home while I was doing some research over the break at the University of Chicago. We may overlap.”

Elias shrugged. “I didn’t forget, that’s fine by me.”

Cam’s growl rumbled through me. “Sure it is, you’ll have had days of Marlowe to yourself by that point.”

Pack dynamics were only going to get trickier as our lives and schedules made it harder for me to divide my attention equally with each alpha. Elias may have required the most reassurance and one-on-one time, but Cam was the most tactile of the bunch, and days of not being able to hold or cuddle me were going to be hard on him.

Not that Archer or Nolan wouldn’t miss me too, but they were better at handling their disappointment. I needed to make sure I didn’t take their lack of protest for granted, neglecting our relationships in favor of my louder mates.

Julian especially needed me to take the wheel given his ranking and age, since he was going to defer to the older alphas. At least until he felt more comfortable and could advocate for himself. I yawned, giving Cam a kiss on the cheek before I stood up and stretched. I was exhausted, and still needed to pack and prepare myself emotionally for going back to Mike’s condo. I’d once considered the place a happy home with my loving fiancé, but then it turned out my loving fiancé was a cheating vampyr who tried to murder my pack and kidnap me. So I stabbed a knife through his back.

I had work to do tonight, I didn’t want to leave on a bad note with anyone.

“Nolan, can you help me make a playlist for the trip?”

I asked, leading him back up the stairs.

His eyes lit up and he smiled. “Of course, sugar.”