Loving Lucius (Werescape) Page 16

  Everywhere. His hot flesh was everywhere. All our bare skin made my heart race. I slid my palms up his bare chest while he wriggled my pants down my hips. "What's the Mating Fever?"

  "The time between the marking and pregnancy." He winked.

  Winks didn't really matter when facing a wall of hot demanding muscle. "You're just like your sire."

  His yellow gaze hid the sparks of humor or shadow of anger one could usually detect in eyes.

  "Oh?" He shoved down his blue jeans.

  Producing the largest jutting erection I think I had ever seen. Even though what I'd seen had only been from pictures or Normals forcing females in Langston's halls, I doubted what he uncovered was the same thing he'd used on me earlier. "You fit that inside me?"

  He growled, moving so closely that all I could do was slide my arms around his neck and hang on as he pressed that iron club against my belly.

  "I'll prove it fits. Give me a second." He leaned closer.

  Down to my lips. Slanting his mouth to mine. Shutting off my ability to gasp for air. Searing me with a velvet kiss. Thrusting his wily tongue inside my mouth.

  My knees wobbled.

  Liquefying. Giving away. Like all of my insides. A molten wave. Rolling downward. Melting everything in its path.

  His arms held me where he wanted me.

  At his ravenous mouth.

  His tongue withdrew, and he backed away an inch to hover closely, surrounding me in a cloud of fiery breath. "So how am I like Augustus?"

  Why does he need to know that now? I can't stand up on my own. I sighed and willed those exceptional tanned lips back to work. "You two wink a lot."

  "Good answer. I thought you were going to say we were both handsome. Or something even more unwise." He growled, grabbed me around the waist, heaving me up, and rammed his stiff member inside me.

  Absolute perfection. Who would have thought sliding along a skewer could feel so divine?

  We both groaned. Him with his gaze but two inches from mine. Watching me like he enjoyed my reaction. Who cared when you could simply feel incredible with a club rammed inside your clenching body?

  "This is the only fever worth catching," he snarled. "Wrap those legs around me, Elise."

  So true. I locked my legs around his waist and closed my eyes to think of nothing but the pulsing pressure deep inside me.

  And everything vanished but him and our united bodies. Touching in the most sensitive places. His groin pumping with the beat of my heart, replacing that organ, oxygenating my cells. Or something. Like without him I couldn't live. Didn't want to live. Only wanted to be with him. Skin to skin. Touching. Gasping for more of the life-giving breath he could fill my body with. My inner channel trying to grab his club. His hips thrusting against my sensitive groin. Rocking my body.

  The invisible wall of suffocating desperation and raw need, rose and forced its way through me. Only to shrink back and tickle me in the most remote place. I clutched his shoulders. Tried to hold onto that incredible skin. To something that would burst the bubble of need inside me. Pop it. Set me free to breathe again.

  A prickling sensation scrubbed at my skin instead.

  Made my nipples iron hard. Sent a chill all over my body. I clawed at the deep muscle of his shoulders.

  Studded with scratchy long hairs. Wolfen hairs. He's shifting.

  Is this a bad thing? Not the way my body wanted more. Needed more. I managed a hold with my fingernails in his stubbled flesh and rubbed my aching nipples against the wiry Wolfen hairs of his chest.

  The loudest growl I'd heard from him ripped toward the ceiling. He slammed his face into my collarbone and pounded his steely length inside me even faster.

  God. And faster. I couldn't breathe. No longer cared if I did. Only wanted to scream from the pressure and friction his hard presence plugged into and out of my body. Realized I was screaming.

  My reality exploded like someone dropped a delicate porcelain tea cup on a concrete floor.

  Everything sped away from the point of impact deep within my soul in one instantaneous burst. The only thing holding me together were the two handfuls of claws gripping my hips and the point where he wedged himself inside me as we melded together at our groins.

  How could anyone survive without touching?

  This Mating Fever infected a person. Kept a person craving for the only thing worth living for...Not water. Not air. Nor food. Touching. The only thing of significance in life.

  The rocking of my aching sex slowed into a gentle rolling motion reminiscent of being in a rocking saddle. Because of him. Pushing. So perfectly.

  Don't stop. Please. Never.

  He groaned a sigh and snuggled his still-human profile into the bend of my neck.

  But his hard presence inside me faded away.

  No. Not yet. I snaked my fingers through the coarse Wolfen hairs up his neck, to the ones covering his scalp, and grabbed them, holding him so I could rub my cheek against his furred cheek. To keep him there. With me. Touching me.

  He moaned.

  Snorted. His body even more huge and powerful. Granting me even more security. How did women choose Normals over Shifters? There's no comparison in what the two offered.

  "Mine," he snarled with one final heave of groin.

  We clung to each other with my back pressed against the wall and legs gripping his narrow waist until I sadly felt nothing of him inside me.

  Alone. I'm alone except for his body wrapped around mine.

  His Wolfen hairs had almost vanished. Or whatever they do. Leaving me to clutch at his back while he quietly shifted back into human form.

  I wanted to merge again. To become one again.

  If he hadn't held me, I'd sob.

  "Do you like this suite?" he chuckled softly against my cheek out of the blue.

  How would I forget this place after what he did to me here? "After our little visit, I think it's more than adequate."

  His chuckle sputtered louder. He lifted his head and hovered those bright blue eyes before my gaze. "I hope so." His fingers curled around my buttocks, gaining a better grip, and he backed away from the wall. "We'd better get dressed now." He winked, then slid me down his thighs.

  Back on my own two feet. The distance between us teased mercilessly simply from the taunting cool air whirling around my nude body. But I can survive. I'm his. He's mine. And we'd unite again.

  Chapter Nine

  "We're moving?" Violet stood inside the door, fear gripping her features. "But I don't want to move. I like Augustus and these people. I like it here."

  My poor little sister. "We aren't moving away. Lucius will be back shortly. Then, he's taking us to a new place you'll love. A place here in the outpost."

  "But you're afraid of Lucius." Her confused voice reflected the truth in how quickly Lucius and I had overcome our issues.

  Yet, we had. Quite thoroughly. And now I have a new understanding of how things are in the world. In The Wild. But how do you explain to someone so young that you've mated? "We've made amends."

  The door squeaked.

  Producing Lucius in his camouflage shirt and pants. "Hello, Violet." He held the edge of the door, studying my little sister with arched eyebrows. "Ready to go?" he asked me enthusiastically.

  Violet smiled. "Yes."

  So we heard all sorts of praise about the mysteries of secret subterranean vaults and tombs, as well as the perks of avoiding extermination rays AEI from Violet on the way down the concrete steps. The points she added about Egyptian pyramids and burial caches impressed Lucius so much he shot me a wink and claimed Violet should be teaching at the school instead of learning. I'm not so certain about that. But the comment made Violet beam with pride. Lucius rolled what he called a rollaway bed, a sturdy cot-like bed on wheels, into Suite 19 and opened the contraption so Violet could see she had a mattress like our bed. And she was thrilled. Who wouldn't be after sleeping on the trail as much as we had riding halfway across the United States Territories?

>   Plopped upon her bed, Violet locked an innocent gaze on me. "Where's Sherry?"

  Mated. I suppose there's no way to skirt the truth. I sat beside her upon her squeaking bed.

  Lucius shot me a covert glance and turned away to load our clothing into one of two wall lockers across the room next to the wide bed covered with all of our bags and baskets.

  Like he feared dealing with the subject. I had to choke down a giggle. I turned to Violet. "Sherry married Tacitus."

  Violet's brow furrowed. "She did? Why wasn't I invited to the wedding?"

  Lucius didn't turn to face us.

  The man probably grinned from ear to ear. But an explanation was unavoidable. "Shifters don't have a ceremony where people are invited."

  Her scowl twisted into curiosity? "What do they do then?"

  Why did Violet have to be so curious? "I suppose you'll need to know living in a Shifter community." I tried to appear absolutely calm. "They bite the woman they mate."

  "Tacitus bit Sherry? You always said biting was unsanitary. Human bites being worse than most animal bites."

  I nodded. "But that's just the way things work among Shifters. When you're older--"

  "Don't say that, Elise. I am older."

  Wrong choice of words. Time to fix the slip by just stating things clinically. "It's called mating. Not marriage. The bite is like poison or something. And the bite makes a permanent bond between the two people. One other Shifters can detect with olfactory nerves. So, they know which Shifter a woman belongs to after she's been bitten. The bite is called the marking."

  Violet's angry mask metamorphosed into awe. "Oh, that's better than those fairytales! But this is real. Do I get to mate a Shifter when I'm old enough? I want to be marked."

  Lucius leaned into the wall locker's upper wide open section used for hanging clothing.

  Probably laughing his ass off in silence. Oh well. Everyone has to learn to survive with Shifters. "If you find a Shifter who loves you and wants to mate with you, yes."

  Contemplation consumed Violet's face. She stared across the room for a minute. Then turned an accusing mask my direction. "Why is Lucius unpacking our things?"

  My heart sank.

  Now for the unavoidable declaration. "We mated."

  Violet's dark eyebrows pinched together. "He bit you! And all the men around here can smell you?" She grimaced. "I don't know if I like that part of the marriage ritual." Her mask of distaste smoothed back into curiosity. "When did you fall in love? When I left this morning, you were worried he'd show up to bother you."

  I never said that. "What do you mean? When did I say that?"

  "You don't have to speak to tell me things."

  "I think you need a hobby or a lot of chores." I shoved off of her creaking the larger traditional bed and strode to the bed to dig through something. Anything to avoid Violet's stare because the point about love was hanging over my head. Ringing loud. Droning like a wailing phantom. Was our mating indicative of love? I'd damned sure felt something. But how would I know what the feeling is? I never loved a man before. And the bite makes the two parties act all frenzied with mating. How can anyone know whether they feel love or not when driven to procreate?

  "Well, I'm glad anyway," Violet blurted.

  Lucius finally looked her direction.

  Not laughing or grinning. He just looked. Past me.

  "Good, then. You can accept that we've mating and begin school tomorrow." I'd need her to go. To leave me alone so I could think about what she'd said.

  ****

  From Elise's silence while mindlessly foraging through a leather backpack at the foot of the bed, I could tell her little sister had said too much. It all began when she asked about us falling in love. About the timing. Although love mattered little with the marking's bite, my mate would need to hear an admission of love from me. How am I going to convince her we're supposed to be together? Wolf chose her. A Shifter can battle his Wolf. But a Wolf knows best. A Wolf can sense things the human part of a Shifter can't.

  That's the equivalent of love.

  Add my attraction to her.

  Also add my need to protect her.

  Both are expressions of feeling. Feeling that mirrored the Normal concept of romantic love.

  And just what is romantic love ultimately in the end? Respect. Always had been respect in any situation. Trust. The reason Normal marriages failed AEI was because they lacked respect between the two mates. Tomorrow, we'd discuss love after leaving Violet in class with the other children.

  Elise slapped the backpack's flap closed and wandered in a half circle that straightened out in the direction of one of the bedside tables.

  The one on the other side of the bed. Far away from me. Tomorrow seemed so Gods-be-damned far away. I slid my gaze to Violet whose gaze flicked between her sister and I.

  Knowingly. That one sensed the rising conflict. Saw her sister's internal battle. Her ability to detect those with pain is truly strong. Maybe that's why the gray of her eyes was so dark. I shot her a wink.

  Her mouth stretched into a broad smile that split into a grin.

  As if she'd purposely mentioned love to affect Elise the way she had.

  The devious rascal. She's destined for long days at school where she can battle with the intelligence of some other Shifter's sons. A place she'd sniff out a Shifter who could match her strategic thought processes move for move so when the time came, she'd know whose bite was right. The man who could beat her at her healing games would win her heart. Keep her happy. And Elise and I could take care of the Mating Fever during school hours.

  ****

  Elise seemed to drift away in deep thought until we'd gone to bed. She fell asleep but immediately carried on with her quiet thoughts after we woke in the morning. I'd see to it that this madness of love ended today. My mate would not be besieged by guilt when we'd done the right thing. When we turned to our subtle subconscious demand of mating. I shoved the door to the enormous school room wide.

  Youths of every age turned to us from where their efforts landed them around the space. The small groups tended to be composed of same-age individuals with an adult teaching at a table or on the floor. The older teens weren't anywhere to be seen. But often the older Shifter males had individualized studies they could manage in their private quarters. That left them time to hunt or help their sires, learning in the process, since everything at a Shifter compound revolved around learning for survival and compound maintenance.

  The strictest of the teachers, the one who kept everything in order and on schedule in the school, Rose, stood up from where she leaned on a palm over a table of children about Violet's age. "Good morning, Lucius. Are you escorting the sanctuary's newest addition to school?"

  What would Violet say to that question? I slid my gaze to the little one.

  Her observant expression split with a smile and she nodded wildly.

  "Well come along then." Rose waved Violet over and looked at both of us. "She'll be home early enough to do her homework before the evening meal."

  Excellent. I pressed my back into the cold glass door and waited for Elise to pass so we could talk in the corridor.

  She stopped a foot beyond the door, staring back into the classroom.

  The door closed with a rush of air. The ventilation system kept the underground habitat's air crisp and dry. Not too cool. It didn't have much to do this time of year except strip all the moisture the living exhaled out of the air.

  "She looks like she'll be fine," Elise noted, staring through the glass.

  "Of course she will. She's about to teach Rose that looks can be deceiving."

  Elise grinned like a proud mother. "Oh yes. They have no idea who they just welcomed into their parlor."

  Yes. The flies will be buzzing erratically today. "Let's go back to our room. I want to discuss something with you."

  "Oh?" Her brow knitted with her pursed lips.

  "Come on. Let's talk in private." I snaked my arm around her sh
oulders and guided her back until she could stand alone behind our closed door.

  "What kind of discussion?" she asked. "Did I do something wrong?" Her tone had pitched from comfortable before the love question arose to alarmed now.

  "No." I wagged my head and waved to the bed.

  "Oh." She stared at the bed. "Is sex a discussion?"

  How could she have phrased what we shared together as a simple act? "Mating, Elise. Sex is between two people who have nothing to share but the act. We share more."