For half an hour we just sat together on the mattress with our backs to the truck cab and the picnic basket between our thighs, eating and talking. Cazz was eating like a horse—he’d obviously skipped lunch—yet also peppering me with fruit and nuts and some of their very tasty dried meat, apparently still determined to make me gain weight.
We were just… talking. And even though the air hummed with anticipation—mine as well as his—neither of us hurried. It was the first time, I realized, that we’d ever just… hung out.
“I thought you were taking me to a new den,” I admitted after we’d sat there an hour and weren’t eating anymore. Cazz had put the food basket to the end of the truck bed and we sat, arm to arm, looking at the city lights brigh
~ JESSE ~I wasn’t angry, and I stayed open in the bond so he could tell. But I wanted him to think about it.Cazz’s eyes got wary then, but I hadn’t tried to break his grip. I wasn’t angry. My heart was full of love for him, and I prayed he looked inward, at the bond, and measured me there. I wanted him to answer the question and not get defensive. And I prayed I wasn’t pushing him too hard. I knew this was all new for him. But something deep inside me said if we didn’t look at this right away, we were going to start walking together on a path that was… imbalanced.I needed him to trust me. Not as much as I trusted him, maybe. But some.I needed him to know I was different.His e
~ JESSE ~Cazz’s eyes widened. I would have been nervous I was pushing him too much, but his pupils dilated as well. And I could feel him in the bond… turning it all over. He swallowed and blinked and when he didn’t answer immediately, still holding his hand behind his head, I dropped my chin, sliding my nose under his jaw, then opening my mouth softly on his throat.The bond jangled with a jolt of need and fear. His entire body tensed and his free hand grabbed for me, his fingers clawing into my ass, but he didn’t push me off.I was breathing faster. “Cazz… Do you trust me?” I whispered against his skin, then sucked there for a second, loving the feeling of his rough stubble under my lips and tongue.He groaned. He was t
~ CASIMIR ~When Jesse descended on me, I wanted to howl. She’d never looked more wild, more beautiful—and I could feel her in the bond, wanting me.But my entire body jangled with conflicting needs, my heart pounding with fear even while my skin—and pieces of me—throbbed with lust. Her kiss was deep and intense and delicious. I grabbed the belt and held on, arching back when she started moving down, kissing my jaw, my neck… and my throat. My entire body tensed and I panted as much from startling unease as love and need. But my beautiful mate didn’t stop, her honey-soft lips and tongue dancing on my most vulnerable skin as her fingers clawed into my hair and she leaned over me with such need that the bond began to glow.
~ CASIMIR ~She stroked my hair, my neck, my shoulders, my chest. And she soothed me—sending waves of love in the bond every time my tension peaked and I pulled against the belt, smiling when I eased back, and her eyes glowing when our pace picked up.The truck rocked and jiggled with our movement, which added to the sensation. And all at once, I was overwhelmed, tugging and jerking against the belt, my skin becoming raw from the rough side of the leather.There was a fleeting thought in my head that I needed to teach her how to do this safely for next time—then a screaming protest that there would be no next time.“Cazz… relax. Breathe. Be here with me…” she whispered, then she held my
~ JESSE ~Later, Cazz had pulled out a couple of the blankets, and we curled up under them, sitting again with our backs against the cab of the truck. I was leaning against his shoulder. I had been hugging his bicep, but let my hand trail down his arm intending to take his fingers. But when my palm reached the inside of his wrist, he gave a little flinch.I sat up and pulled his hand up, out of the blankets, to see red bands across his wrist. From the belt“Shit, Cazz! Why didn’t you tell me! I didn’t mean to hurt you!”He shrugged and pulled his hand back under the cover of the blankets. “It’s barely a rub-burn, Jesse. I’ll live.”“I know, but… I wasn’t me
~ JESSE ~I slept so deeply that night—in Cazz’s bed—that I was aware of nothing until he woke me, curling against my back, his arousal pressing against my back.I stretched happily, pressing myself back against him. “Good morning,” I breathed.Cazz gave an answering rumble that sounded so hot it actually made my belly clench. Then he pushed up on his elbow behind me and let his hand drag up the front of my thigh as he leaned in and began to kiss my shoulder and my neck.The tandem brushes of his lips on the sensitive skin below my ear and his fingertip running up and down my leg, then teasing between my legs, lit me on fire. I reached back to hold him agai
~ JESSE ~I hurried away from the dark damp of the tunnel near Maya’s cave, my thoughts spinning.Maya was still very focused on this power she said was growing inside me, insisting that it would manifest. Warning me to watch for it—to pay attention to how it affected me, or others around me. I didn’t doubt that she was right, but I hadn’t seen anything or felt anything, so I wasn’t sure what to do.The truth was, I didn’t want a power like Cazz’s. Maya growled whenever I expressed that, but it was true. I turned the conversation back over in my mind, but I didn’t see what else I could do.“You cannot deny what God has given you,
~ JESSE ~“I’m glad you’re back, albeit unexpectedly,” Cazz said to Rake, though with a question in his tone, and without the same warmth he’d given me. His jaw was tense and the frown lines were there in his forehead—but that was pretty much his norm. Rake didn’t seem uncomfortable, or wary.Rake nodded, his eyes intent on Cazz like he had important news to share. “Me too, but I can’t stay for long—four or five days tops. I just needed them to believe that I was too important to you to be gone too long—and besides, I need the cover of getting called away unexpectedly in case I need to escape at any point.”“So you’re here until…?”“Thursday at the latest. If we can get
~ CASIMIR ~I was pretty sure if I didn’t get inside her, I was going to eat her alive.Scooting with her in my lap, still straddling me, I got her so both my knees and her back were flat against the wall. Then I flipped open the wide, leather cuffs that had been secured directly to the wall and first lifted one of her hands, to strap it in so her hand was levered above her shoulder, but with her arm comfortably bent so she could relax. Then I did the same with her other hand on the other side.So I straddled the banana-seat, while she straddled me and her hands were secured to the wall behind her.Her breasts rose and fell with her heavy breathing, and her eyes were bright with desire.Overwhelmed again with how much thought she’d put into this, for a moment I just took her face in my hands and kissed her. But that drew us together—my cock pressing against her, and I couldn’t resist rolling my hips, teasing
~ CASIMIR ~“I made a new Den,” Jesse whispered, her hands over her mouth, staring up at me—those beautiful eyes wide, but also a little fearful. “I know it’s not the same, but I got Ghere to help me because he remembered what things you’d had before and… I hope you like it.”Like it? Was she serious?My heart was slamming against my ribs, and I was having trouble breathing.The room seemed smaller than I remembered because the walls were painted a dull black. But the tighter space than what I’d had down next to the Den just made it feel more intimate.There were two lamps, one on each end, and a chandelier high above. Candles everywhere, though she hadn’t lit mo
~ JESSE ~It was Cazz’s turn to plan the monthly date. But I was humming about this one. Things were finally ready, and impossibly, Ghere had helped me successfully pull off the surprise. But I still had to figure out how to get Cazz there without ruining it.He’d taken me out to the meadow again—my favorite date. Though we’d enjoyed several others now too—and we’d just finished eating. He was leaning back against the cab of the truck, looking out at the city lights, his brows a little heavy.“What are you thinking about?” I asked him, though I had a hunch.He had his arm around me and I was leaning on his shoulder. His hand trailed up and
~ CASIMIR ~I came out of the bathing room after a long bath rubbing my hair with a towel, to find my mate standing in the middle of the chamber with her arms folded and looking sternly at my daughter, who sat on the floor in nothing but a diaper, with her chubby legs straight out. She, too, had her arms folded and her lips pursed in the perfect reflection of her mother.The two glared at each other and half my heart went cold, while the other half wanted to splutter with laughter.“Abigail, I have told you—”“No!”Our daughter could only get her tongue around a few words so far, but
~ JESSE (a few weeks later) ~I had just finished nursing Abigail and was holding her on my lap while Reeca sat with me on the couch.Her eyes were bright and she was beginning to smile, so I was tickling her cheeks to see if I could get her to do it. But she was sleepy because she’d just eaten and only yawned and cooed.“She’s a very calm baby,” Reeca commented from the other end of the couch, smiling. She loved babies, and had been so helpful when I was tired—and just for reassurance for me.She was a calm presence in any room, and with Abigail, she showed a lot of delight and joy that she seemed to stifle in other areas of her life.“Reeca,” I said carefully, because I’d b
~ JESSE ~I was too tired to do more than lift my hands to his neck, so I just curled my face into his chest and let him settle us into the chair, cradled in his arms with my ass in his lap.When he’d sat, I had my head resting on his shoulder and my body curled in his arms.“Do you hurt?” he asked quickly.“No, just tired, like I said.”I felt him relax a little then and another chill started in my blood.“Cazz… what’s happened?” I asked quietly.He turned his head to meet my eyes and lifted his hand to comb hair back from my face. His throat bobbed, but his touch was g
~ JESSE (Hours later) ~My dreams were disturbing—my body in pain, screams of terror, darkness, the floor shaking, the mountain falling, humans fleeing and wolves…I tried to break free, tried desperately to open my eyes and to speak, because I knew I was asleep. But all I did was fade… in and out. The nightmares, or nothing.And through it all, his voice.“Heal… live.”My heart ached. My body hurt. My chest didn’t want to expand. It was as if my flesh fought his words, and I didn’t understand.But finally, the dreams faded and I could hear a heartbeat. Little, and quick. And feel warm flesh. And the breath of my m
~ CASIMIR ~I felt the moment the power went out of Jesse. The entire mountain felt it.I howled with triumph and shifted, sprinting towards the room, ecstatic when there was no sense of Maya gripping my mind or stealing anything from me. But of course, there was no power left for her to steal.I prayed and pleaded and ran, Rory and the others coming in my wake. And the moment I broke through that door in my wolf—the only power left to me anymore—everything slowed. Though my body whipped and my mind was singularly focused, it was as if everything happened in slow motion.I caught a bare glimpse of Jesse on the bed, and at first my heart leaped. She was moving, awake, aware,
~ JESSE ~Maya had me sitting up in the bed, curled forward, gripping my knees. Reeca on one side, helping prop me up, a guard on the other.My body was nothing but a conduit for pain. Wave after wave, my entire lower body condensing, contracting, pushing to get this baby out. I could barely think.Cazz was there, so quiet, so distant, but there, calling his encouragement and pushing love at me through the bond.There was a moment when I thought I wouldn’t make it, when I thought my body would give and I would just drift away.But then I caught Maya smiling. Leaning forward between my legs, reaching, grasping, for