Redemption (15 page)

Of course, they’d also started with the areas Mira was pretty sure were the simplest since they hadn’t involved chopping down dead trees and replacing them. The trowel she now used with skill made her palms blister and bleed, but she wasn’t about to share that with Bessa.

The woman’s voice was stronger, her mind awakened as she regaled stories of her mate and the various packs. Most of the tales featured Adrik in some form or fashion. Bessa was a shrewd matchmaker for sure.

Pride swelled within Mira with each scrap of Adrik’s past she heard. The man was a true hero, a virile warrior and a wonderful person. The adventurous sprite who got lost and traveled ten miles in the wrong direction when he was ten became one of the best trackers in all the Paraspecies.

“I can’t imagine how he’ll handle all the other packs when he takes Jarvis’s place,” Bessa commented.

“I’m sure he’ll do well. He’s a people person from what I’ve seen.” Mira settled the tomato plant into its hole and filled with topsoil. “Do you think they’ll resent his promotion?”

“Oh heavens no. He’s the only one everyone would accept without question.” Bessa smiled. “It’s the females who will be the problem.”

“Females?” she growled.

“All females of our kind desire strong, virile warriors as mates and there’s none stronger than the Alpha Commander. Poor Adrik already had problems with the women when he accompanied Jarvis as his protector shortly after the treaty was signed. They’d follow him around, practically adhering themselves to him like barnacles. I can’t tell you how many fights Jarvis had to break up when the women would vie for his attention.”

What the hell?

She couldn’t compete with so many women—not that she’d have the opportunity. She’d have to carve out a new future for herself once the dust from the Deimos rescue settled. Adrik had said there wasn’t a rush, but he intended to have a sit down with The Alliance and make sure the bounty on her head was a distant memory.

Then she could track down Eron. Adrik hadn’t seen him the past year—apparently her brother had risen within the ranks and been relocated to a different location. Finding him was imperative though, not only for her peace of mind. The NAH captured her because of her DNA, which meant he could be in danger as well. She shuddered in revulsion. No way would she let them hurt him like they had her.

“I’m sure he’ll handle all those women just fine,” she ground out as she shoved the trowel into the earth and rooted out her anger and jealousy.

Adrik was hers.

Okay, he wasn’t, but a part of her had held on with all her might to the waning hope he was. Mira didn’t know all there was to know about Alpha males, but she realized one huge thing—male wolves went after what they wanted quickly and ruthlessly. No fear, no remorse.

Adrik had made her comfortable, made love to her whenever she initiated it and held her every night. But for all the closeness they were miles away from one another. She couldn’t traverse whatever wasteland he’d set between them since their return to Redemption. Each night the fear grew within her.

“Can I ask you something personal, Bessa?”

“Of course, my dear.” The woman set down the trimming shears and massaged her hand. “It gives me an excuse to rest.”

“Warriors are territorial with their women, right?”

“Oh yes, most definitely. All shifters are, really.”

“So if he says you’re his but isn’t all growly and edgy possessive in the public displays and stuff, what does that mean?” God, did the question even make sense? How could she explain when she didn’t understand it herself?

Maybe it was her overreacting.

“Well, if we’re talking about Adrik specifically, I’d say it was fear.”

“Adrik isn’t afraid of anything.”

“Oh, that’s not true. He’s afraid of many things. He simply hides it better than most because he’s used to having to be strong for his packs. He commands more warriors and wolves than any other Alpha. That level of responsibility tends to leave a man hardened and unable to express emotions easily.”

“He’s demonstrative, just not…”

“Like some you see around Redemption?”

Mira nodded. “He’s always so gentle.”

Bessa reached down and took her hand. Sadness filled her eyes when she looked at Mira. “You’ve been through a lot, dear. Gentle is good.”

“Yes, but I won’t break,” Mira whispered. “I don’t like his self-restraint.”

“Then I suggest you make sure he can’t.” She grinned as she whispered, “And here’s your first chance.”

He prowled toward her like a man on a mission. His exposed chest glistened with a light sheen of sweat she longed to lick off with her tongue. The cargo pants he wore were snug across his powerful thighs. Her pussy clenched as she imagined his magnificent body powering into her, fucking her so hard and deep she collapsed in exhaustion afterward.

Make sure he can’t hold back?

Mission accepted.

* * *

The little minx he’d been searching for the past couple of hours was a filthy, disheveled mess. A flare of arousal struck his nostrils when he approached. Smiling at Bessa, he reined in his wolf and kissed Mira on the lips softly.

She growled and grabbed his head, deepening the kiss with an abrupt foray of her tongue into his mouth. His dick stirred in response. He loved the sauciness in her kisses, the open wantonness in her touch.

Careful, don’t push her too hard.

She nipped his earlobe as her hands ran down his chest. “You know what I’ve been thinking about, wolf?”

He shook his head as blood surged south to his wayward dick.

“The alley.”

Two small words had never undone him so quickly. How many times had he wandered down the alley behind Medical since returning and thought about fucking her against the wall? Hundreds.

“Careful what you ask for, sweetheart. I’m hanging on by a thread.”

“First off, I’m not asking—I’m demanding. Secondly, consider the thread cut.”

As sexy of a diversion as his woman offered, Jarvis and the flyers were waiting on him at Headquarters. Mira deepened the kiss and dug her nails into his biceps until his wolf growled for release. Fuck the flyers. They could wait.

“Hold on,” he growled as he lifted her.

Bessa’s tumbling laughter filled his ears. “Well played, my dear. Well played.”

Adrik sprinted through the garden. Mira’s amusement trickled into his blood and pumped adrenaline through his veins. Anticipation threaded through him and squeezed his hard cock. Jesus. “What are you doing, Mira?”

“Holding on,” she whispered in his ear. Her fingers traced the length of his shaft through his pants. “I always do what I’m told, you know.”

“You keep taunting me and we aren’t making it to the alley, sweetheart.”

“Mmm, I’ll take you wherever I can get you, Adrik.”

Finally. He’d never been as thankful to see the dreary alley behind Medical. He claimed her mouth as he settled her against the wall. Her long-as-fuck legs wound around his waist. Mira thrust her sweet pussy forward until it ground against his raging dick.

“Fuck, sweetheart. I’m gonna lose it if we don’t slow this down.”

“Good,” she growled against his throat. Her hands ripped at his shirt, her teeth nipped his skin. “Fuck me, Adrik. Slam me against the wall and fuck me. I want everyone in this pack to know you’re mine.”

They already did. Adrik’s wolf prowled close to the surface. Pleasure streamed through his blood, firing his feral side. She wanted to mark him. “I’m all yours, Mira.”

Although he didn’t want to take her here, where anyone could see, something in his woman had snapped. She needed this, the primal element the location offered. He kissed behind her ear as her legs slithered to the ground. Making quick work of shedding the clothing between them, he bit her softly.

“Why now? Why here, Mira?”

“I’m sick of waiting for the real Adrik. I won’t break. I need him. Here. Now.” She undid his pants. “Fuck me. Hard.”

The naughty plea shattered his control. Confident fingers ran down his pants and wrapped around his shaft. He groaned and thrust against her palm.

“Mmm, my wolf is ready for me.”

“You have no idea,” he growled. He shoved her pants down. “Step out of them.”

He lifted her up the moment she obeyed and ran a finger lightly across the seam of her pussy. “God, you’re so wet for me, Mira.”

She wrapped her hands around his shoulders and claimed his mouth. The kiss was feral, primal as hell. Her tongue delved, plunged and explored his mouth in a sensuous rhythm his dick memorized. No way would he pass up the chance to mimic the commanding tempo when he slid into her slick heat.

“Now. Don’t make me wait,” Mira demanded.

He growled and thrust balls deep into Nirvana. Her warmth enveloped him, squeezing him like a tight sheath as he fucked her with years of anguish, rage and primal need. “My soul begins and ends with you.”

Pain mingled with pleasure when she bit his neck. His wolf growled to mimic her actions, but he wouldn’t lay claim to her here—in an alley where anyone could see them. When he sank his teeth into her and made the mating official it’d be something more than a visceral fuck.

Adrik inhaled the sweet vanilla scent mingling with the scent of her arousal. The slap of flesh-on-flesh filled his ears as he tightened his hands on her waist and sank deeper, pounding into her. Each thrust mimicked the foray her tongue had taken in his mouth earlier. Thoughts of her sweet little tongue made him claim her lips.

She softened beneath the onslaught, following his tongue’s every maneuver. The sensuous dance slowed the rigorous, primal plunge into her tight pussy. Nails dug into his shoulders and she hissed against his lips. “Harder.”

The frenzied agitation expressed in her movements gave him pause. He wound his hand in her hair and tugged until her passion-laden eyes widened slightly. “You with me, Mira?”

Her sexy tongue slithered across her lips. “Don’t stop, Adrik. Please. I’m so close.”

“I know, sweetheart.”

“Then fuck me,” she growled. “I won’t break.”

“I know, sweetheart.” He moved slowly within her as he feathered a kiss against her lips. “Let me love you the way you deserve. Don’t be afraid to fall apart. I’ll always catch you.”

The fingernails digging into his shoulders relaxed. Her lips glided along his in a gentle sweep as her hips rocked against his slowly. She gasped as he took control. Her lust-filled eyes met his when he ended the kiss to take a deep breath. He wanted to inhale the scent of her surrender, her trust.

“Harder, Adrik. Please. I can take it. I want to be the female your wolf deserves. I can be strong.”

Adrik growled in her ear as she shivered against him. “I want all of you, Mira—the strong female who survived in that hellhole for two years, the hungry wanton one who wanted to get fucked in the alley and most especially the determined, frightened one who held on to return to me. My wolf exists to pleasure every single one of you. Let me love all of you.”

She softened within his embrace and melded against him. The soft moans became frantic gasps of delight tumbling in his ears as her body tensed and her pussy gripped his dick. Pleasure ignited in her gaze when she looked up at him.

Fuck. He could spend an eternity staring into her eyes as she came around his cock. He growled and burrowed his face into her neck, inhaling her scent, as he tumbled into rapture. Awareness trickled to life around him, but he held her close, guarding this moment.

“Wow,” she whispered against him, looking up at him as pink stained her cheeks.

“Yeah. Wow.” He chuckled. “I’m thinking we need to do this often, maybe try out every alley and hallway in Redemption.”

“Mmm, not sure your sentinels would appreciate that. I’m thinking we do this too much and we’ll get caught.” She kissed and nibbled along his jaw. “Take me to our bed and I’ll make it worth your while.”

“Damn, sweetheart, you have a way of undoing my control. I’ve got the flyers waiting in a meeting room for me right now. I’m already late.”

“Too bad.” Mira sighed as she settled on her legs and rocked against him. “Guess we’ll have to wait on round two until you’re done handling your Alpha duties.”

“I’m looking forward to it, unlike this meeting.”

“Things okay?”

“I’m out of ways to put off the inevitable. Trent wants me at Command Central taking Jarvis’s place, after I promote three of my sentinels to Alphas to take over my packs here.” His cock stirred as Mira shimmied into her pants before turning to face him again. “You going to be okay with relocating to Command if I do this?”

Shock registered in her face a moment as she stammered. “You want me to go with you?”

Seriously? “What do you think we’ve been doing the past few weeks, Mira? You do realize I’m going to mate claim you, right?”

“You are?” She looked around as though lost. “I’m not a wolf.”

“I don’t care. I wasn’t fucking around when I said I wanted all of you, Mira. I didn’t mean for the short term. I meant forever.” He took her face into his hands and kissed her softly on the lips. “Think about it, sweetheart. I’m a patient man, but this is going to happen. You’re mine.”

Three weeks later…

No. This couldn’t be happening. Denial pressed hard against her chest as tears burned her eyes. She swiped at the offending weakness and charged into the barracks, not really giving a bloody damn if she was allowed entry or not.

Try to stop her.

Almost four weeks had passed since she’d first met Bessa and become garden buddies. They’d become inseparable and the sense of loss Mira felt now was tantamount to a year of torture in the facility. She couldn’t have imagined growing so close to someone so soon, but she had.

Thanks to Bessa she’d been embraced fully by the pack. And Mira now had the relationship with Adrik she’d always dreamed of. He no longer held himself in check when with her.

Then again, he’d become somewhat obnoxious about wanting an answer to his emphatic statement about her being his mate. It’s what she wanted, yet she wasn’t entirely certain she was good for him or the pack yet. Would she make a good mate for the Alphas’ Alpha? Talk about pressure.