First saved message: “Jess, call me as soon as you get this. I have no idea what is wrong with your brother, encouraging you to run off with some stranger, but this is not okay.”
Second saved message: “You don’t even have your cell phone with you. I just called it and your idiot brother answered. Call me.”
Third saved message: “Jess.” It was Jirou this time. “I am sure you’re fine. I am trying to keep your mom calm. Please call her, she’s making me crazy.”
Jess hit the stop button before the forth message could play and turned in Shane’s arms. “I have to call her,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“Yes. You do.” His deep voice was husky as he placed a chaste kiss to her forehead.
Sighing, feeling her blood heat just from that small contact, she was about to say to hell with the call and drag him into her bedroom when the phone rang behind her. Groaning, she leaned her forehead against his chest, drawing strength. On the third ring she finally picked up the handset.
“Hello,” she said, keeping her voice light and singsongy. “Just walked it, I was about to listen ... No, I’m fine, really. … I know it’s not like me. … I’m really sorry I’ve worried you. …”
Withdrawing from Shane’s arms, she opened the back door to the porch. Placing her hand over the mouthpiece, she whispered with an apologetic smile, “I’ll be right back. Make yourself at home.” She stepped outside. “What? … Yeah, he’s here with me. … I am being careful.” Shane’s amused grin when she shut the door behind her made her smile.
It took her fifteen minutes to reassure Ellen that she hadn’t lost her mind. Then another five to convince her Aymee and Eric should be forgiven for being bad influences. Ellen acted like Jess was the good kid, rather than the one who’d spent time in juvie. Hanging up, she silently thanked the powers that be for the wonderful people in her life. She added her new-found family to that number. Topping the list was Shane.
Feeling her tummy flutter just thinking of him, she bounded up from the deck stairs and dashed into the house. Shane was no longer in the kitchen. “Shane.” Stepping into the empty living room, she heard the distant sound of water running and followed it down the hall to the master bedroom.
It had taken her a year after Ellen and Jirou had gotten married and left for Japan before she had moved into the larger room with the attached bath. She had continued to share the small bathroom with Eric when he was home until he threatened to take the master bedroom if she didn’t.
Jess opened the bedroom door and saw a leather overnight bag on the floor outside the bathroom door. Shane must have gone to his place to collect some of his things while she was on the phone.
Peering through the cracked bathroom door, she could see Shane behind the glass panel walls of the shower stall. The partially steamed mirror gave her additional angles of view. He was facing the spray, leaning into the water both hands braced against the wall. His head hung under the water. She’d always thought the showerhead was too high up the wall. Who knew it was the perfect height? The water cascaded against his head, running down the lines of his back, shaping his mouth-watering, firm ass before continuing down his thighs and calves. He was beautiful.
He must have heard her swift intake of breath, or maybe it was her heart trying to pound out of her chest. Hell, it could have been the flood of moisture pooling between her legs, but something caught his attention. His ears pivoted toward her and he captured her gaze through the reflection in the mirror, shifting to give her a frontal view. His deviant smile was slow and sexy as he rubbed his hand down his chest, across his abdomen, and then grasped his erection, giving it a gentle stroke. “You joining me, Beauty?” His dentes slid into his mouth.
Unable to take her eyes from the sight of him stroking himself, she pushed the door the rest of the way open, shedding her cloths with each step, licking her lips in anticipation. He released himself to open the glass door for her, breaking her focus. Meeting the heat in his eyes, she stepped in. Arms around his waist, she grasped the perfect cheeks of his ass, pressing her body to his, and felt the jump of his erection where it was pressed to her stomach. She whispered against one of his nipples, “I want to taste you,” before swirling her tongue over the pebble.
Using her lips and tongue, she followed the path his hand had taken, cupping his sac in one hand as she licked the tip of his head. “Ah, Beauty, you’re killing me.” Shane’s husky voice broke, his breathing labored.
After a long lick from base to tip, she sucked him deep into her mouth. Her mouth stretched over his girth, lashing him mercilessly with her tongue while withdrawing. Using his responses to gauge his sensitivity, she reveled in the power she held.
Shane groaned, throwing his head back. One hand was against the glass for balance; the other was buried in the mass of her hair. She tortured him. His face was taut, his movements jerky. He gripped her hair, pulling her head back, and bent over to bringing his lips to hers, plunging into her mouth like a man starved. Reaching lower, he cupped her bottom with his free hand and straightened, lifting her feet off the surface floor. She locked her legs around his waist as he pressed her back against the glass. Shane posed to enter her. He nibbled across to her ear and down to the pulse of her neck. The sounds of her pleasure echoed. Shane was an amazing lover. It didn’t matter that he was the only one she’d ever had. She knew it. She knew he put everything he had into bringing her pleasure.
“Please, Jess. Tell me what you want.” Trembling, he waited for her response. His expression reflected the restraint he displayed. He was holding on by a thread, letting her call the shots. She knew he felt bad about taking her blood without her consent. In holding back, he was asking her to forgive him. Reaching between them, Jess guided his engorged head to her tight, wet opening and dropped her head to the side. Her other hand cradled the back of Shane’s head to her neck. “Make love to me, Shane. I want you to take all of me.”
The rumble of Shane’s growl sounded in her ear, the rich sound decadent. A shiver of excitement raced through her. She remembered the instant heat she’d felt when he’d punctured her vein earlier for Jorie. She felt another rush of moisture between her legs.
Shane gave a hard thrust, plunging across her sensitive folds to her core and sinking his dentes into her pulse. Jess cried out in pleasure. Her blood flowed into him and everything Shane felt flooded into her, adding to the tide of sensations already ripping through her. Now their combined psychic and sexual energy rose to a higher plane. He pounded into her.
There was nothing gentle in this. She didn’t need gentle. She didn’t want gentle. Jess could feel the bunching of the muscles in Shane’s lower back from the building of his orgasm. Climbing intensely to the pace, her womb tightened, reaching for her own orgasm. Shane’s primal taking of her fed the ferocity of her own passion, a passion she hadn’t known existed within her until he stroked it. He ignited a fire in her blood that matched the fire his thrusts generated in the delicate nerve endings he’d exposed deep within her.
Shane made growls at her throat with each thrust. Her moans and cries of passion drowned out the sound of the shower running. Both reached for their own crest while stoking the explosion impending in the other. Hard and fast, their bodies slapped together. Brilliant bursts of color followed the crash of thunder. Every muscle tightened and her inner walls clenched, pulsing against his shaft. Her release ripped through her and she screamed. Her nails raked against his scalp and shoulders.
Shane gave a final three hard thrusts into the wet, silken vise Jess’s vaginal walls had turned into. Through the bridge created by Shane’s dentes in her throat, she felt his erotic excitement; the sting of her nails turned him on as they dug into his skin. His release rolled up from his toes to his lower back and slammed out of him along with his seed, deep into her.
“Fuck. Yes!” he roared, breaking away from her neck. The connection was immediately lost to her. Now she knew. That was the strength of his connection to her now. If she took his blood too, that was what they would share no matter what. Forever.
****
He’d never seen anything more erotic than Jess in this moment. Her head leaned back against the shower stall, her eyes were half closed, her expression one of complete abandon, and her hair was a veil of wet silk. Blood ran unheeded from the twin punctures at her neck, down her heaving breast and abdomen, and swirled at the spot he was buried within her before disappearing with the water down the drain.
He could feel her sated contentment. Through the psychic bridge she’d just shared with him, Jess now had a clearer idea of what bloodmating with him would feel like. Her dawning realization bloomed in her with anticipation and longing. He still needed to hear her say yes. At least now she would know what she was saying yes too.
The residual tremors receded, and Shane was able to set Jess on her feet. Lathering her curves, he shampooed and conditioned the silken bounty of her hair. He could feel her utter exhaustion. Except for the few hours at his apartment a few days ago, and the time she was unconscious after her iron poisoning, she hadn’t had any rest, nor had she eaten in over twenty-four hours. He was treating her more like a fellow Ranger on a mission than a caring mate.
Holding her against him, he towel dried them both. She was languid, practically dozing off against him. Scooping her into his arms, he laid her gently on the bed. Shane was unable to stop smiling. Jess curled up on her side like a kitten, her eyes falling closed on a sigh. Her hand reached out in search of his warmth. Beautiful, brave … mine.
Compelled to touch her, he swept a lock of her hair from her cheek, lingering his fingers against the softness. Leaning over, he pressed a feather-light kiss to her temple. “Shane.” A soft, breathy whisper escaped her. Joy filled him. His name on her kiss-bruised lips was his undoing. Jess’s hand reached farther across the mattress, searching until he captured it in his.
“Rest, Beauty. I am just going to find us something to eat. Then we can call a cab to take us to the Ryu.” She answered with another sigh, followed within seconds by little purring snores. He thought his heart would burst from his chest simply watching her sleep.
The youngest of four brothers, Shane had historically never allowed himself to become close to anyone outside his family. Especially females. He loved females, all females, in every species. He had never lacked for sexual partners over the centuries. But he’d always avoided even short emotional interludes with any of them. He had even turned down a prior protégé because he didn’t want to mentor a female.
His father had died when he was not much older than Jerika, killed by a pack of male Hulven Morsdentes led by a female Elven. The dynamic had never been duplicated to his knowledge. His father had led the hunt for the pack for decades before finally catching up with them on a small Australian island. The pack was psychically high from killing a school of Aquaties and had pretended to be raping the female leader. His father had fought for the female’s release, carrying her out of harm’s way while his companions continued to battle the remaining pack. Weakened from his injuries sustained fighting for her freedom, he was unprepared when the female had tightened her arms around his neck and struck his vein. He was already losing blood from his wounds, and it had taken the female only minutes to finish off the great warrior.
Shane’s eldest brother, Gregor, was the first of the hunting party to realize what was happening. He removed the Mordent’s head before his father’s body hit the ground, but it was too late. His father was drained.
At the same time, Shane had been teasing his mother while she hung laundry on the line. He had been looking forward to beginning Meshy Hell the following week. He had been telling his mother she was going to get lax not having anyone except Father around to chase after, and she had thrown a clothes pin at him. His brother, Miguel, had appeared, and her eyes had become large and glazed.
“Nippur! Please, Fates, no. Nooooo,” she’d screamed, followed by a long broken wail, before collapsing into Miguel's arms.
“Mother?” Shane knelt beside them, taking his mother’s hand. He felt the bond to his father break and knew his brothers where feeling it too. “Mother!”
“Stay with us,” Miguel had pleaded. The look on his face told the story: She would join their father.
Gregor appeared by their mother’s head, still breathing heavy from the battle, covered in the blood of their father and his killer. Tears streaming down his face, he’d fallen to his knees sobbing. “I failed him, Mother. I am so sorry.” His head hung in grief. Conlon had come next, taking position beside Shane, one hand on Shane’s shoulder and the other clasping his hand over Shane’s and their mother’s.
Still cradled in Miguel’s arms, with Shane and Conlon holding one of her hands, she’d reached out to cup Gregor’s cheek with her other hand, linking them all together. She let her love for them flow freely one last time.
“No, Gregor, you did not fail him. You could never fail him. He loved you, all of you. We both have been honored to have you four as our sons. You boys have been our pride and joy. Promise me.” She met each of their tear-filled gazes with her own, silently eliciting a nod of agreement from each of them, the way only a mother can. “You will take care of each other. Stay close always.” Again each boy nodded to her in turn. Then she released a final breath and her heart ceased to beat. Her energy released to the universe in search of their father’s, doubling the empty spot left in her sons.