BirthMark (32 page)

Jasmine chuckled as he patted her hip and left the room. David started crying and she went to check on him, visions of a rough ride from her sexy mate going up in smoke. When she walked into the room, David looked at her, his small lips quivering as he rolled to his side.

Unsure why he moved that way, she touched his thigh and then checked his diaper. He whimpered and then yawned. He was damp, not wet, but she changed him anyway. When she lifted him to place the diaper beneath him she stopped, leaned down and then stood straight again.

“Silas?”

“Hold on.”

She traced the pattern of the birthmark on David’s outer right thigh. Right now it looked like a purplish mark, but as she watched, it faded to his skin’s natural complexion leaving just the outline. It was strange.

“Yeah?” Silas said, placing his palm on her neck.

“Look at that.” She pointed to the new mark on David’s thigh. That wasn’t there before.”

He leaned closer and then straightened. “You’re right.”

“Have you ever seen anything like that before?” she asked, perturbed. He was a little too blasé about this for her.

David had fallen asleep. Silas finished changing the diaper. He then took her hand and led her into their bedroom. “Yes, I’ve seen that before.”

He walked into the bathroom.

She remained in the bedroom waiting for an answer. The man had had a long day, she understood that, but something strange had just happened to her baby and she was not going to play twenty questions. She crossed her arms and stopped her feet from tapping.

He re-entered the room. “I just saw it for the first time, on Tyrese.”

Her arms fell and her mouth opened. “Whaaat?”

“That’s what he wanted to show me, there was a burning on his right thigh, same place as David, and when it stopped, the mark was there. “I don’t know that it’s a birthmark, because it just happened.”

Jasmine moved forward, “David’s was changing into an outline,” she said. “You think this is what Julie was talking about?”

“Tyrese’s is not an outline, it’s completely filled in. As far as Julie and her predictions, David is my seed. As much as I wish it, Rese is not. They both received these marks at the same time. I think whoever is supplying Julie and her companions with information have a lot of it wrong.” He placed his fingertip on her lip when she started to speak. “I will seek the Goddess’ help, but not now. We are constantly interrupted and I want to spend some time with you, away from everything.” He ushered her forward.

“Yeah.” She realized he was right, they kept getting interrupted.

When they stepped through the gold inlaid Spanish tile to the rawness of the grotto, she stopped and breathed deeply, and pivoted in slow motion with a wicked grin.

“It’s always so fresh and alive smelling in here.” She spun and gazed at him. “I love how wild and untamed this room is…like a certain somebody I know.”

He watched her intently. A slow seductive smile crossed his handsome face.

She backed away from him as he advanced.

Silas’s brow rose. “Yeah?” he mocked as he caught her around the waist and pulled her snug against him. He slid his mouth over hers and tasted the inner sweetness between her soft lips.

“Yeah,” she said against his lips before wrapping her arms around his neck and taking his lips again. His fingers slid beneath the straps on her dress and pushed it from her shoulders. The cool fabric brushed against his legs on the way down. She was naked. His cock rose in acceptance of her questing hip movements and returned them with a few of his own.

“Off, take them off now,” she insisted, her hands were everywhere pulling on his pants.

“Slow down, I’m not going anywhere, you’ve got me for the rest of the night,” he whispered, placing kisses on her face. He loved the soft texture of her skin, and the sweet lilac fragrance wafting from strategic points on her flesh drove him mad with desire.

It had been a long, life-changing day, and she had been his solace. Throughout the entire ordeal with the mine, the honor guard, Cameron, she had been there for him, close but not too close. Ready to offer encouragement, to soothe his bruised ego and bring a much needed smile to his face. All he thought of was this moment when he’d be able to hold her tight and never let her go.

Her fingertips brushed against the tip of his erection, canceling his thoughts. His mate was hungry for him and wasn’t willing to wait.

“You want it right now? Like this, raw? No build-up?” he asked in a gravelly tone as he pushed his pants from his hips and slipped out of them. Pulling her close, he rubbed his long length against her.

She pushed back, jumped and wrapped her legs around him. “Yes, you’ve kept me waiting all day while you took care of everyone else, now take care of me,” she demanded as she rolled her hips against his hardness while holding his eyes.

The heat and juices from her core seared him. He held her ass, leaned back slightly as she gripped his thickness.

“Ahhh, don’t play with me, put it in.”

She placed the tip at her entrance and moved toward him as he thrust forward. “Yes,” she said on a long sigh. “I need this.”

Remaining still, he looked around at the natural stone walls. That would never do for what he had in mind. He headed for the inner bathroom’s smoother walls. This coupling was going to be hard and fast.

“Ooooh, somebody’s up for a challenge” she said, rolling her hips on his pulsing rod.

He smacked her hips and then rubbed the sting. “Be still, I don’t want to drop you.”

She snickered at the hollow threat and continued driving him crazy. Once inside, he backed her against the cool marble on the walls and pushed into her as far as he could.

“You want me?” he asked huskily, needing to hear it. On one level he knew she was his. But right now, in this moment he was a man who’d been hit with uncertainties over the past forty eight hours that burned in his gut. He didn’t know when this need materialized; maybe it was seeing her with Davian and listening to the intimacy of their conversation. Davian and Jasmine had kids and history, something he was just now building with her. He could never compete with her past but he needed to hear they were on the same page for their future. Or maybe the scrolling message on the laptop had screwed with him on a visceral level, he wasn’t sure. He just needed her reaffirmation that he was it for her.

“Yes.”

“Look at me, say my name and tell me. Do you want me?” There was an underlying sense of urgency in his voice. Being vulnerable like this was alien to him and he hated not being able to change it or shrug it off.

Her eyelids fluttered open and she searched his eyes.

Hopefully she found whatever she needed because he had laid it all on the line for her. And now he needed her to tell him that he was the one, the only one she wanted.

“Silas, I want you. I need you, baby. Only you.”

He closed his eyes and dropped his forehead to hers as her words filled and warmed him. “I love you,” he whispered as he slid back and then surged forward.

“I need you to give it to me hard and fast…no chase.”

His heart slammed in his chest. His beast howled as he held her hips steady while he pistoned into her.

Jasmine growled as he took her in such a primal fashion. She couldn’t catch her breath. It felt divine as his cock slid deep inside her. She grabbed his hair, pulling his mouth to hers as he thrust repeatedly into her body, sending her spiraling towards her release. She felt him thickening inside her and urged him to come with her, to meet her at the cliff. His thickness pulsed.

Her body shuddered as she tumbled over the precipice into a shattering climax. Her heart thrummed so loud she could barely breathe due to the intensity of the moment.

He pumped into her over and over again, and then froze as he came with a harsh cry and shot his seed, coating her walls with his essence. She felt his reclaiming bite near her neck and stroked his hair. His grip on her tightened.

His body shook beneath the force of his release.

She placed gentle kisses on his face. This week had been one for the books, their relationship had been tested through fire. And yet, here they were, more solid now than before. Her heart clenched. “You chose us.”

“Hmmm?” He didn’t move.

Tears filled her eyes as her heart nearly burst with hidden emotion. “Today, you…you chose me, the babies.”

He leaned back, his brow furrowed. “What?” He carried her to warm spring.

Leaning against his chest, she gloried in the solid beat of his heart as he walked them down into the bubbling waters. Once submerged to their chests, he separated them.

“Mmmm,” she moaned as her woman’s parts were soothed by the waters.

He tapped her nose. “What were you talking about?”

Moving closer, she sat on his lap facing him. “You chose us today. I felt your struggle. You’re the top man, the leader. For you not to be in the midst of the fight and wondering how things would’ve turned out if you were there?...I know that was hard for you.” Her eyes watered again.

“Jasmine, it was no choice, not really. I’d give my life for you, my pups.” He lifted her chin. “For your pups as well. I count the twins as my own.”

Her heart expanded and she couldn’t stop the tears if she tried. “I know.” She stopped to catch her breath. “I have wanted someone to love me… for me, for so long.” She shook her head and looked away. “What you did with Davian.”

He tensed and she patted his chest. “No, hear me out. That was hard. You knew I would flip, be hurt and you could’ve have taken the easy way and kept the truth from me. But you told me the truth, dealt with the fallout and waited for me to forgive you.” She stared up at him. “Don’t get me wrong, I was hurt and upset, but you told me the truth. Even when it caused us problems. I can trust you to be honest with me and I’ve…I’ve never had that before.”

He pulled her close and they rested in each other. “I am wolf. I see things in black and white, at least I used to. You are pulling me into shades of gray. I don’t know family like you’re showing me. I have a pack mentality, but with so many half-breeds being raised human I need to change. It’s difficult, and damn inconvenient. There’s no way I could have made it this far, with the current political challenges in my world, without you.”

He kissed her forehead. “This week…bombs, fancy equipment, viruses, the mine, now those marks, could be the birthmarks delayed and I have to wonder if they have anything to do with Julie’s predictions…” He shook his head. "Can I tell you something?”

She nodded and gazed up at him.

“I thought I was going to lose it a couple of times. There was too damn much happening at once. There were a few moments, like when the bomb exploded, and then to find out the human breeder carried one with my name on it. Worse, the bitch had been in lockup all this time? My heart stopped when I thought what could’ve happened to you, my pups…I almost lost it,” he whispered.

Hearing the despair and seeing the anguish in his eyes caused a deep ache in her belly. She touched his face and waited until glassy eyes met hers. “It was a shitty week, hands down. Folks tried to kill my mate, me, my kids. It was bad…but guess what, baby. I’m still here. You’re still here. All our kids are still here and one of them is now healed.”

The corner of his lips inched up. She had more work to do to convince him it would be okay.

“That means they failed. They threw a bunch of shit at you and failed. You’re still La Patron. When it was just you, the risks you took kept things interesting, kept you from boredom. But now you have a family and that’s what we are. Get used to saying it because in a few weeks, mama and Renee will be here. Family. More people to use as a bargaining chip, more people to have safety concerns over, more people to take care of, but you know what?”

He shook his head. Smart ass.

“Family is also more to share the heavy loads or burdens at the end of your day, more people to come to your aid that you trust, more people to have your back, more people you can count on to help keep those you love safe, more people who love you. Family may be inconvenient at times, but when we work together, we rock, Wolfie.”

He laughed, the shadows from his eyes lessened. She understood he’d always have concerns for the wolves he presided over, and change had stormed into his life, but he was handling it. Tomorrow would present a new set of problems but she was confident that they were strong enough to work through each and every one.