To Mate an Assassin: The Lost Alphars Series, Book 1 (23 page)

After one more final push into her warmth, he began truly to fuck her. Cimby clawed at the grass and tugged at her hair, the sensations too much to bear especially after two orgasms. His length rhythmically stroking in and out, in and out. The slap of their flesh meeting was so loud she was sure the occupants of The Mansion would think someone was being beaten. She loved every second of it.

He started to moan and grunt with his thrusts. The animalistic sounds speaking to her wolf turned her on even more. Soon they were both moaning as he left her body completely one last time and dove back in for the final release. He dropped his grip on her legs and she entwined her ankles for the support they needed. As they came together, he grabbed her hands and lifted her so that she was sitting astride him, looking into his eyes.

Cimby wanted to prolong the amazing orgasm as much as possible. She started to writhe over him as they held on to each other. She milked every last drop from his body, wanting all of him, her Wolf needing every last bit of him as much as she did. She clenched herself around his cock, making his body shudder and moan like nothing she’d ever heard before. The sound of his pleasure made her squirm against him more, spiraling them into a cycle of passion she wished would never end. The more he moaned the more she moved until without warning they came together once more.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, they collapsed against the grass together. Slick with sweat, they clutched each other like the last anchors tying them to the earth. Cimby felt him looking at her, still panting from their fucking and he smiled.

“I expect that every night before bed.” He pushed a sweaty strand of hair from her face and she snorted.

“With your magical tongue always close at hand, I’ll fuck you morning, noon and night.” Her hand brushed a small dent over his heart. She’d never noticed that scar before.

“Can I have that in writing?” They laughed and enjoyed the peace of the open air, just lying on the grass, stroking each other’s slick bodies. After a while Kerrick picked her up in his arms.

“I’m taking you to bed. Then I’m going to fuck you for the rest of the night.”

“I think I can handle that.”

Chapter Seventeen

Kerrick nuzzled his face into Cimby’s chest. Her breasts were bare and her nipples pebbled in the morning air. He nibbled and licked at them as she slept, unable to keep from lavishing attention on her while they had a moment to themselves. She was beautiful. Even the burn on her face couldn’t diminish her beauty. In fact, in a way it enhanced it, highlighting her bravery, wearing the scar like a medal or talisman. The ferocious and yet tender way in which she disregarded her vanity for the sake of caring for Irisi made him love her more. She’d told him after departing South Carolina she’d only stopped driving for a numbing agent or to get food and go to the bathroom. Her sole goal for the past two days had been getting Irisi to safety and she thought she was unfit to be the mate of an Alphar. The very nature of her being, no matter what way she expressed herself, was focused on protecting. What else could the people of his territory want?

He needed a strong mate and his people needed that as well. One who wouldn’t faint under the pressure and exposure of his position. And while yes, the role of the Incendiary was a necessary one, the general population didn’t need to know what she was. They only needed to respect her, and Cimby gained respect without even asking for it. Jeremiah had come to him with multiple requests from his soldiers for her to give another training session. One class and they looked to her for guidance, she’d not only shown them their weaknesses but she’d taught them how to improve, gave them hints of the warriors they had the potential to be. Kerrick’s army was regrettably still in its infancy, learning and growing with every new recruit and experience, but with Cimby’s tutelage, they could be the finest in the world. He not only wanted it for his soldiers, he wanted if for her.

Kerrick had seen how she’d taken to teaching with grace and attention, perhaps one day she would tire of the hunt and instructing soldiers could be an alternate path. She couldn’t stay immobile, wasting the days away as just the Alphar’s mate. She was more than that, she had a greater purpose in life, and Kerrick was honored he was allowed to be a part of it. Gods, did he love her. He wanted countless mornings exactly like this with her, waking to the sun shining on her pale and muscular body. Her skin smelled like the grass they’d made love on and that sly hint of lavender, a scent hidden under layers of complexity and strength. She was pure warrior woman, and the tightening of his heart was one of the many signs of how proud he was of her and how much he admired her.

His teeth nipped the plush side of her breast as he felt her body wake from sleep. Cimby’s legs wrapped around his, her heels rubbing his calves as she moaned and grumbled her way into the waking world.

“Morning,” she said with a raspy voice, sinking her fingers into his hair and pulling him closer to her skin. He basked in her shameless need, loving the way she took what she wanted.

“Insatiable,” he growled, sliding his hand between her thighs and playing with the wetness there. She moaned, tightening her legs around his hand to hold him there. Her hips writhed and she dug her heels farther into his calves to pull her hips off the bed and greet his fingers as they plunged deep inside her. He watched the exquisite expressions on her face, torn between anguish and pleasure, her teeth biting her lip and her eyes focused on him and only him. He smiled, gripping her hip with one hand and thrusting inside her with another. He could do this all day, and he would have if an unfamiliar phone hadn’t begun to ring. It wasn’t his.

Cimby froze, staring at the ceiling as she’d thrown her head back the second before the phone rang. Her legs loosened and she stoked his cheek in an uncharacteristic display of affection before pushing him away and sliding out from underneath his body. In other circumstances he wouldn’t have let her go, too wrapped up in her need and lust to allow the real world back into their lives, but he smelled the change in her scent. She’d gone from complete passion to cold anxiety in half a second. Whatever message had come in on her phone, it was important. So he let her go and watched as she climbed out of the bed.

Her hair was a wild, curly mess and she was still completely naked. As Kerrick had explored her body on the grass-covered roof, he’d discovered a scar stretching from the base of her neck to the bottom of her spine. It was shiny in the morning light, as if it had been touched by magic. Each new imperfection and scar he found painting her skin taught him something new about his mate and made him want to know her more. She’d lived a solitary life, but it hadn’t been a life without adventure.

Cimby bent by her pants and pulled a slim smartphone from the pocket. After a few digital clicks she read whatever message had come through. Her shoulders tensed further and a steady growl pulsed from her throat, her fingers shifting subtly into claws.

“Is something wrong with Iri?” He sat up, wondering what was so infuriating to his usually cool and collected mate.

“No,” she said shortly. “I only get texts when I have an assignment.” She looked at him, a heavy weight behind her eyes looking almost like nerves. “The information packet is waiting for me at the P.O. Box near my cabin.” She began gathering her clothes and dressing.

“You get texts about it?”

“Didn’t used to,” she said methodically, the passionate woman from moments ago all but vanished. “Ten years ago they sent me a phone to carry so I would know when a job was upcoming. Later they sent me all the info I needed if I wanted to upgrade to a more modern phone. I’ve had the account ever since.”

“I think it’s time we figured out who has been sending you these assignments.” Kerrick stepped out of bed and stroked her arm briefly before reaching for a pair of jeans. They’d left his room in a state of chaos the night before, their need for one another too insistent to fold and put away any clothes.

“You have too much to deal with here.” She turned away from him but not before he saw a frown marring her face and her lips tighten, making the scar twist and stiffen. “I’ll take a flight back to South Carolina today and retrieve the package.”

“I’m coming with you,” Kerrick said, picking up a T-shirt to wear.

She stopped moving and turned to face him. Her voice was monotone, much like their earlier conversations when they’d first met. It was her assassin façade, the face she wore when she knew she’d need to kill someone. Only this time, it wouldn’t be the person detailed for her in that information packet. “Don’t you have a Vryk threat to handle?”

“I have the alphas and soldiers who have flown in working on that. Aaron and Rhiannon can handle things while I’m gone. That’s what having a Captain and Lieutenant are for.” He cupped her face, needing her to see how he would always be there for her. “I need to be with you right now.”

“Kerrick—”

“I’m going. That’s it.”

She stared at him for a moment before asking, “Is this another ‘I speak, you listen’ moment? Because I was not really fond of that first one.”

“Yes it is, so listen.” He pulled her close and pushed back the unruly chocolate curls to look into her eyes. “I was an ass before. I know who you are, and I will never cage or chain you ever again. But you’re my mate and I’m going.”

“Not your mate yet,” she mumbled sourly, but the humor in her eyes gave him hope.

“Only because you’re the most stubborn woman on the damn planet.”

“Sure you want to be stuck with that for centuries?” She made it sound like a joke, but he answered the question with every ounce of determination he felt regarding their mating.

“I’ve never been so sure of anything,” he said before kissing her. A soft but determined mating of lips. His tongue licked its way into her mouth and she responded, stroking his tongue back and holding on to him with fingers digging into his skin. He pulled away and rested his forehead against hers for just a moment. He just needed that one moment.

“Hmm,” was all she said in response. He left it at that, thinking the exchange fragile and not wanting to break it. They dressed and Kerrick texted Rhiannon to arrange the flight. Before leaving they checked in on Irisi in the Med Center who was sound asleep. Lottie assured them she’d keep an eye out for changes and would notify them if she found anything. As Cimby whispered soft goodbyes to Irisi in her sleep, Kerrick snapped a picture of the Osiris symbol on the girl’s hip with his phone and sent it to Zach along with a message to discover everything he could about the members of the cult and their main goals. Any cult that would steal a child away and brand her wasn’t anything he wanted existing in his territory.

“What airline are we taking?” Cimby asked as Kerrick opened the car door for her.

“Don’t insult me. Airline? Please.”

“What, are you too prissy for us bottom dwellers who take commercial flights?” she asked, but the chuckle gave away her enjoyment of their banter and his highhanded attitude. He climbed in the driver’s side of the car, a devilish grin lighting his face. He enjoyed teasing his mate.

“Not prissy, just too good for it. I am the Alphar after all. All must bow before me.” He put the car in gear and drove away from The Mansion to the raspy sounds of her laughter. A sound Kerrick promised himself he would never take for granted.

Cimby stepped out of the jet and into the warm South Carolina air. After a relatively smooth six-hour flight they landed in a small airfield she’d never used before, but had always been aware of. It was much closer to her cabin than the commercial airlines and she enjoyed not having to battle her way through a security check. She could undoubtedly get used to flying with Kerrick especially the part when halfway through the flight he provided his own version of in-flight entertainment.

As they coasted some thirty thousand feet above the ground, and her breath returned to normal, Kerrick nipping and sucking at her neck as he removed his fingers from under her jeans, Cimby’s hand found its way to his forearm and began to stroke, her mind as light and airy as the clouds streaming past them.

“What’s it like to fly?” she asked, knowing as the Alphar he had the power to shift into any animal he chose.

His lips traced the bumps and ridges on her face, making her heart tremble from embarrassment and warmth from his care for her at the same time.

“Flying is the avian shifters form of running. When you run, you feel complete. It’s a symbol of your wild freedom. The same is for the avians.”

“Did you ever just have one animal inside you before taking on the Alphar power?”

He hesitated, his body language changing from satisfied male wariness. “Yes.” After a long pause she thought he would leave it at that, the subject apparently a sore one. She knew what it was like to have secrets and it would be hypocritical of her to chastise him for it. But at the same time, a new and foreboding voice inside her heart told her to press him, pursue him. Whether she fully accepted him or not, this man was her mate and it was her right to know him and take care of his heart.

She was about to ask him another question when he continued, his voice soft and wistful in memory. “I was a Bear, like Aaron. When a potential becomes the Alphar, the soul of every shifter creature that ever walked your territory, even the extinct ones, pushes your original animal aside and shares the space within you with him.”

“Kerrick…” She didn’t know what to say, the thought of not being connected to her Wolf too terrible to contemplate.

“I felt like I’d been ripped apart and new pieces of me were added to fit all those souls inside my mind and body. The first few days were hard. They fought and raged, fighting for space, for dominance. I had to rein them in, convince them to share me with each other for the security and protection of our people. It took a while, but they accepted.”

“Do you miss having just your Bear?”

He kissed her forehead and tugged her close. “He’s always close to the front of my mind, but he knew what would happen when we decided to take the power.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

He squeezed her tighter. “Every day.”

His voice was contemplative and his gaze far away, watching some unseen force through the plane window. Looking at him now with only the sound of the engines for company, Cimby could see the weight of his position in his eyes and all the lives he carried gripping his back, depending on him to carry them to safety. The youngest potential to ever gain the Alphar authority, and the youngest Alphar to mate if she agreed to the mating. If she didn’t, he would flounder and possibly succumb to the maddening depths of power. She knew that feeling, when the thing inside took control of her mind and she was no longer herself. Cimby wouldn’t wish that on anyone, and the thought of losing the great man Kerrick was and all the things he could possibly accomplish as Alphar was a travesty. But she couldn’t agree to the mating to save him. It would be a lie and the bond itself wouldn’t be as strong if made under false pretenses. She needed to want it for herself, to go against everything she’d ever learned and be selfish.

“Come,” Kerrick said, gently taking her hand to guide her off the plane like the proper Alphar he was, and gesturing to the rental car Rhiannon arranged for them.

The touch of his hand grounded her, but so did the feel of the land around her. She was back on familiar ground, her home turf. It was time to put her emotions away and focus on the mission at hand. It may be of a different nature than her usual assignments, but it was probably more important than any mission she’d engaged in previously. Someone had used her to kill innocents, a thought that made her stomach twist into a knot of hardened acid. She was so angry. At the beginning of her training, one of her earliest memories, she could remember one of her many trainers promising her life would be fulfilling and she would be cared for if she followed the rules and protected the Alphar’s people. She did that. She dedicated her life to them, sacrificing a normal existence for the safety of innocents and now someone was using that promise against her and making a mockery of everything she’d ever worked toward.

“Cimby,” Kerrick said, holding the car door open. His eyes were on her hands. She looked down to see blood dripping from her palms where her claws had unsheathed and punctured her flesh.