Their Unusual Mating [Paranormal Protection Unit 5] (Siren Publishing Classic) (8 page)

Rimi wasn’t going to last, not with the way that he was pounding into her body. She cried out, tugged him tighter with her legs and arms, and held him close. “Now.” It was a demand. She had to come, needed to come, and she needed him to be right there with her. “Please. Come with me.” She begged and stroked the vines on his arms, her mouth brushing against his collarbone as she did so.

Burying his face in her neck, he gave her what she wanted and let loose. Coming hard, he pressed her down into the bedding and held her tight as he yelled her name. Shaking, he collapsed over her and panted for air, holy mother of the Gods.

She was sure that there was a short circuit in her brain from the orgasm that she had. Gasping for air, she simply held onto Laighean and smiled.
That was utterly and completely amazing. I have never, ever before had such pleasure.
Their bonding had been pleasurable beyond measure but so too had this. “Goodness,” the word panted out, breathed more than anything really.

Nuzzling at her throat, he smiled slightly.
You are an extraordinary surprise and pleasure, my little bond-mate. So special and unique, all mine,
he whispered in her mind. Eventually they would have to get up.
You need food and Katherine is likely getting impatient to have time with her friend. Not good pissing off a Queen. They tend to be rather spiteful and vindictive
.

“Katherine would never be either spiteful or vindictive. Besides”—Rimi shrugged—“I’m sure that she likely knows that we are bonding, and since she did it with three men she understands just how demanding that bond-mates can be.” She teased Lee, “Or she’s not made it out of her bed yet because of her bond-mates. Either way I’m perfectly happy to be here with you.”

“I’m sure she’s up already. She tends to get up early to ensure the guests are all looked after and comfortable. She has three here at the moment, and I know her males had a meeting for an upcoming mission to get to early this morning,” he murmured. Stroking his fingers over her arm, he avoided the vines just because he didn’t want her thinking he was insatiable. Even though he was.

“Shoot, I forgot all about her having guests.” This was Katherine’s baby, having this place open to cancer survivors and their families. This was a place to heal. This was a place to say good-bye as well. “All right, love, let’s get up and moving then.” She reached up and touched his cheek as she spoke softly.

“Are you all right?” he asked in concern, now frowning slightly at her. She had been so happy and now she seemed saddened. “What’s wrong, Rimi?” he murmured, catching her hand to press a kiss to her palm.

“Nothing, just thinking of how weird this is. I feel like I have known you all my life. We have shared dreams for as long as I can remember, but I’ve truly only just met you. I honestly normally don’t sleep with men when I first meet them, believe it or not.” Yet she had with him, and she had given him her heart, told him she loved him, and truly did love him.

“We’re bond-mates, little one. It makes things a little different,” he said, watching her carefully. “Are you regretting it?” He had to know the answer to that. He really was hoping that she didn’t, but if she did, they would deal with it however they had to. She was his. He was hers. They were bonded, and mates always took care of each other.

“No, oh God no, I don’t regret anything with you, Lee,” Rimi assured him quickly. “God, I love you so very much that it truly does scare the bejesus out of me. I want you in my life, need you in my life, and never want to give you up,” she admitted to him. “We are meant to be forever, my love, I know that. It’s just so strange to know that we did this with just barely having met.”

“Some are lucky and find each other quickly,” he murmured softly. “Others are not so lucky and meet, but the recognition doesn’t occur instantly, so they end up walking away. Then they meet again later, or not at all. I’m all for instant recognition”—or a kick in the ass—“instead of living without you for the rest of my life.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” Rimi sighed happily. “I dreamed of you for so long that meeting you finally was like lightning,” she admitted. “Now then, we just need to make sure that Katherine knows about the two of us so that she won’t be too bitchy about me moving out of that room and here with you. If you want me, that is.”

“Of course I want you.” He frowned at her. “Not just because you are my bond-mate either, Rimi,” he murmured, stroking a finger over her cheek. “But because you are you.” Laighean smiled slightly. “You are amazing, love, perfect, and more than even I could have dreamed of.” Their shared dreams had been one thing, but having her there in person was a million times better.

Leaning into him, she sighed happily. “Good. I’m glad that you are happy with me, because I’m happy with you.” She winked at him and pulled back. “All right. Let’s go and find us some food and find Katherine so that she knows that I’m moving in here with you.”

Pressing a kiss to her lips, he threw the blankets back and rolled from the bed. Stretching slowly, he eased the sore muscles. Too much training along with an active night of sex had him aching a little. Turning, he looked at her. “Coming?” he asked, holding out his hand to her.

Rimi slipped her hand into his and gave it a squeeze. Goodness gracious, her whole body ached, but it was such a wonderful ache. “Lord, I don’t recall lovemaking ever feeling so good.” It was such a delicious soreness that she had that she wanted to wake that way often.

“We may have gotten a little carried away,” he murmured with a smug grin. He couldn’t help it. He liked the fact she was feeling their session of loving. That she didn’t hurt was a plus and made him want to run around crowing. That wouldn’t go well, so he didn’t, but he still wanted to. “Come on, love, we need to clean up, get dressed, and then go and find Katherine.”

“Yes, I think that’s a good idea.” She frowned then and asked, “Should we maybe shower separately? I don’t know about you, but I’m finding it hard even now to keep my hands off of you. And if we both are naked in a shower…” She nibbled her lower lip. “God, I need you.” Blunt, to the point.

“Good enough for me,” he said, lifting her into his arms, and kissed her as he carried her to the bathroom. Stepping into the shower, he eased her down, never leaving her lips. Fiddling with the knobs, he got the water going so he could run his hands over her body gently.

“This is not nearly as fun as the waterfalls in our dreams, but it’s close.” The showers were huge. The claw tubs in the bathrooms a throwback, but the showers were huge and very, very modern. “I totally have to remember to thank Kat for this room that she has you set up in,” she told him happily, grinning as she looked up at him. “Because I’m so very happy to have room to have you with me in the shower, darling.”

“We have plenty of room to do a great many things,” he murmured. “And waterfalls usually aren’t as fun as they were in our dreams. They are usually cold, there’s always that lungful of water you inhale, and the ever-present danger of sharp rocks. Sorry to disillusion you, but unless we have one custom built, they just aren’t as wonderful.”

“Well, I am sure that we will figure it all out, honey. Somehow and someway we will find ourselves a place like in our dreams so that we can make love outdoors as well.” She had never really thought of herself as one for nature, but she was finding that with her bond-mate, that’s just what she wanted.

Sighing, he nuzzled at her cheek and breathed her in. “That’s the hardest part,” he murmured softly to her. “I was put to sleep and the world was green, lush, and there were so many places you could go and just be in nature. Now everything is owned by someone or something, there are rules about even looking at trees, and to find something truly natural you either have to freeze your bits off or risk some horrific and unnamed disease that will kill you by slow degrees. It’s all so different,” Laighean muttered quietly. “You’re the only reason it’s even bearable for me to try and take it in. Thank you for being here with me, love,” he whispered.

Rimi nodded and hugged him back. “I can’t even imagine the shock that all of you had to go through when you woke. How in the world have you even managed to get this far in such a short amount of time? For someone who’s slept in stasis for so long as you did, you are actually doing remarkably well.”

“Gaia held us contained for a couple of months while we got caught up on history and happenings,” he murmured, lifting his head enough to rest his forehead to hers. Stroking his fingers up and down her arm, Laighean peered down at her. “It gave us all the knowledge and the time to integrate it. But it was still quite shocking to go to where my former home had been, the one I’d shared with my parents when I was young, and find what you call condos.”

“Oh my,” she whispered, “I’m so sorry Laighean.” She felt his hurt and it broke her heart. “I couldn’t even begin to imagine how hard this is for you. For all of you. I can’t help the others, but I will do whatever I possibly can in order to help you, to give you something more to look forward to so that you don’t regret being woken up.”

“I don’t regret waking, Rimi,” he whispered quietly to her. “I have you, and that’s more important to me than anything else.” Brushing his lips over her cheek, he breathed her in slowly. “I love you, my little bond-mate. The house was just a thing, but it still hurts. All the memories I had were around there, part of there.” He let out a slow breath.

“I’m glad that you love me. I want this life with you,” she assured him softly. “And we will create new memories. They won’t replace the ones that you had, but they will instead give you something more to look forward to, darling. This is good, right?”

“Very good,” he agreed quietly with a smile. Kissing her gently, he closed his eyes and breathed her in. “I love you, Rimi. Never think I don’t, little one. I don’t think I could keep moving forward without you in my life.”

“Well the good thing is that you will never have to find out. I plan on being a part of your life for the rest of forever so we will be able to always share each other, laughter and joy, happiness and pain. We will be each other’s rocks, darling.”

Smiling, he nodded. “I like the sound of that.” Leaning back, he stroked his fingers down her arm to catch her hand. Lifting it, Laighean kissed her fingers one at a time before sucking lightly on her thumb. “I think I should thank you for being so wise and gracious and for loving me.”

“Well, I thank you for loving me, too,” she told him happily. “All right. We need to get ourselves done and out of here or else we are so never going to make it out of your bedroom, my love.” Because she would want to have him naked all the time and keep her naked all the time.

Chuckling, he nipped at her thumb lightly. “We should clean up and then we can go and get food,” he told her softly. Stepping back a little, he passed her the soap. “And then you can talk with Katherine.”

“Sounds good,” was all she said before pulling from him and winking.

Holding her hand in his, Laighean led her down the stairs. At the bottom, he looked at her. “Are you all right?” he asked. She looked nervous for some reason, and he couldn’t figure out why. “It’s just Katherine down here,” he murmured. “Her mates are gone for the day, little one.”

“I’m good.” Rimi paused and then tugged on his hand to pull him closer. “I’m not afraid of them,” she whispered urgently to him. “But I am worried that someone will overhear what Katherine and I talk about.” That had her worried, that a
human
would eavesdrop and listen to all she and Kat had to discuss.

“No one will hear you,” he promised quietly to her. “They are out on a nature trek today and won’t be back until just after dark for dinner.” He only knew that because he was a guard and therefore had to know the movements of everyone. Pressing a kiss to her lips, Laighean smiled. “Don’t worry. Katherine is actually fairly good at saying a lot without saying much of anything.”

“Thank you, honey.” Reaching up, she impulsively hugged her bond-mate tightly before pulling back. Taking in a deep breath, she pulled back from him and nodded. “All right. I’m going to go and have a catch-up chat with Kat, and I know you have things to do, darling.”

“If you need me just say the word,” he told her quietly. “I won’t be far. I will be near the house all day, so just call out for me should you have any need.” Lifting her hand, he kissed her fingers gently. “I will see you later.”

“Yes, you will.” She gave his hand one more squeeze before walking from him before she wasn’t able to. Seeing Katherine sitting behind the antique desk in her office, she smiled and dropped into one of the chairs in front of it. “So, I am in love with Lee. I’m taking him as mine.”

Grinning at her words, Laighean shook his head and headed for the kitchen. He knew Katherine would be sitting there with a surprised look that she would school to utter calm quickly. He’d caught a quick glimpse, enough to tell him that Rimi had caught her by surprise. Collecting a cup, he poured some of the coffee that was strictly the “guys’,” in other words strong enough to put hair on your chest, and stuck his head in the fridge as he sipped the brew.

Blinking at her friend, Kat licked her lips and nodded slowly, her mind still trying to process what Rimi had said. “All right.” Not exactly the most intelligent thing she’d likely ever said, but it would do for a start—she hoped.

Rimi grinned. “Good.” She leaned forward and added, “He’s truly amazing. He’s truly my dream man. So I’m moving into his rooms with him, if you are all right with it.”

“All right.” Kat nodded slowly again. She was repeating herself, but it apparently couldn’t be helped. Clearing her throat, she put the pen in hand down and, licking her lips, looked at her friend. “I likely shouldn’t ask since it really isn’t any of my business, but”—she paused—“are you sure you know what you’re doing, Rimi? I mean you just had something horribly traumatic occur in your life, and I’d hate to think you were rushing into something without thinking it all the way through.”