To Mate an Assassin: The Lost Alphars Series, Book 1 (25 page)

She was pounding on the table with her fists so hard it cracked and he just barely wrapped his arms around her waist to save her from falling with it. He spun her around so they were on the floor. She knelt on all fours like a Wolf. He came over her, taking her pussy from behind, claiming her. He bit her again. This time on a muscled spot above her shoulder blade he knew would hurt, just as her scratches had hurt. Different marks, but ones that were no less possessive.

She cried out at the feel of his teeth, he knew it would push her further, make her want him more. The woman was insatiable. He’d never get enough of her. He loved her. And he proved his love for her in the way he took her, like the animals they held within them.

“Yes. Yes. Yes,” she panted. “Fuck me, love me.”

He couldn’t take it anymore. He wrapped his arm around her waist and used his fingers to play with her clit. She came instantly, his cock lubing more with the force of her juices leaking from her body. It was sinful. He hammered her so hard he knew she’d have bruises afterward. But that was what they both wanted. Their marks in all shapes and forms painting one another’s bodies.

A Were claiming wasn’t sweet and it wasn’t gentle, but it was love. Their love in its base and natural form. He thrust once more, feeling his balls tighten and roared to his people, the call traveling for miles as he came. He’d claimed his mate. The Alphar’s mate. His people would feel it settle within their bones, that intangible, magical connection he had with all of them that came with his position.

As his climax ended, he collapsed on top of her. She groaned, his cock still pulsing hard within her. He would take her again and again as the night rolled on but he knew she needed a break. He moved off her, lying on his back and tugging her close to lay her head on his chest.

He could feel the blood on his back staining the wood floor. The blood on his neck and mouth drying. He loved how she’d marked him, brutally and without fear or doubt. He loved that she knew he was unequivocally hers.

“You’re mine,” she mumbled, speaking his mind and nuzzling into his chest, licking up the sweat and dried blood.

“Mine,” he echoed, holding her close.

“Kerrick we have to get going,” she moaned. Hours, it had been hours since they had started fucking.

“I’m more concerned with coming rather than going,” he mumbled from between her legs.

He was bent over her pussy, his cock waving in her face. She couldn’t help but lick the tip and delight in his shudder. She took his length in her mouth and sucked with all her might.

“Ah!” he groaned and picked up the pace of his tongue lashing along her pussy.

“There, right there! Right there!” she howled around his shaft, his fingers doing something wicked near his tongue as she swallowed his cock down to the base. The taste of him on her tongue only made her want him more, the cycle of their lust never ending.

“Again,” he grunted from behind her, his cock plunging deep into her once more. She was exhausted, but she didn’t want him to let her go. She needed him to take her over and over again, sealing his scent and his magic into her skin. Not that she would make it easy for him.

“You bastard.” She kicked his shin, dislodging him from within her. She pushed him onto his back and mounted his cock, writhing and moaning on top of him, taking control and showing just how dominant she could be. He gripped her hips, grinning up at her. She loved it. She loved him.

“Yes, love.” He thrust up into her, meeting her ferocity with equal fervor. They came together, his claws digging into her hips and marking her once more.

“No more,” she moaned, flicking his hands away from her sore pussy.

“Yes. More, always more.” They lay on their sides together, having finally made it to the bed, his chest rubbing against her back. He lifted her leg and pushed his cock inside her. She was perpetually wet for him.

“Ah, fuck,” she cried, gripping the metal headboard. His hand wrapped around her breast, tugging and twisting her nipple. His tongue lapped at the wound on her neck, his mating mark. It would turn into something different, something beautiful. But for now it was just a brutal, animalistic marking. She wished it would stay that way. She loved the savagery of his need for her.

“Like that,” he growled against her skin. “Your pussy is so eager for my cock, my beautiful Incendiary.”

“Yes,” she hissed, not enough energy to meet his thrusts. She let him take her, do what he wanted with her body, which was exactly what she wanted.

He wasn’t rough that time, something she appreciated as her exhaustion was beginning to claim her. But she still needed his body, needed to know he was hers. The loving was tender, with just a small hint of their wild nature peeking through. It was beautiful. At the end, after their slow orgasms subsided, he finally fell asleep, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist, his cock astoundingly still hard within her.

“I love you,” he murmured in his exhaustion. With that she fell asleep in his arms. Safe and warm. Claimed. Loved.

Chapter Eighteen

A barrage of incoming text messages woke Kerrick. He slipped naked out of bed, careful not to wake Cimby who was passed out on her side facing the wall. He paused as he reached for his jeans to pull the phone out, enjoying how the sheet rested just below his mate’s butt, the sun shining in through the window highlighting the curves and muscles of her warrior body. Her curls were strewn about the pillow haphazardly and he could see a knot forming where he’d gripped the strands repeatedly. He’d help her brush that out when she woke.

The phone buzzed insistently once more. He tore his gaze away from his mate and opened the messages. According to Aaron his people had completed the reconnaissance on Mara. The presiding alphas and their soldiers had the information they needed to mount an attack that would wipe Mara’s clan off the face of the earth. He’d been trying to compromise and negotiate with Mara’s inane terms for too long. The land was his and yet she continuously refused to acknowledge the inevitable and move. The attack on his people was the final straw. Kerrick would try his best to save the Vryks and humans under her rule that weren’t completely brainwashed, but the others would follow her into death. He abhorred war.

“Ker?” Cimby mumbled, reaching back for him, her face still buried in the pillow.

Even with the threat of a hated war with the Vrykolakas weighing on his shoulders, his joy could not be repressed. His mate—
his mate
—lay naked in a bed they’d truly sullied the day before. He’d kept her up nearly the entire night, taking her in every way, and when he thought to give her a break, she did the same to him. They belonged to one another and it was their right to enjoy their mate’s body.

Kerrick climbed back into bed and collapsed on top of her. She grunted, the air rushing out of her lungs. “Hey!”

“Oh sorry, didn’t see you there.” He squirmed on top of her, she growled in annoyance.

“Menace.” Cimby elbowed him in the gut and flipped him on his back, straddling his waist. She was gloriously naked. Her small breasts on full display, the power and strength in her muscles defined by her body’s tensing, and the way she bit her bottom lip as her eyes forged their own path over his body made him hard. All of it was just added ingredients to whatever love potion he’d taken to fall so completely head over heels in love with this violent woman.

Kerrick grinned and wiggled his eyebrows, enjoying the attention she was giving his bare chest. “Mmm, baby, don’t tempt me.”

“Why not?” She ground her hips into his hardening cock, using her position to her advantage, much to Kerrick’s delight. “Seems like you’re good for another go-round.”

“We have to go home.” He sighed, lifting the cell phone and hating himself for popping the fantasy bubble they’d been living in the past few hours.

“It is Iri?” Cimby asked, the playful morning disintegrating with her worry.

“No. No, she’s fine.” He held her on his waist, stroking her bare thighs, wanting to keep her to himself just a little longer. “The text is from Aaron. We have all the information we need to attack Mara’s facility. We move out tomorrow morning. I need to have another teleconference finalizing details with the alphas of the surrounding packs before attacking.”

“All right,” she said with a nod, all business. “Let’s head back.”

He continued to stroke her hips, guilt at leaving South Carolina so soon constricting his chest. “I’m sorry we can’t spend more time investigating who’s sending the assignments. I promise once Mara is finished we’ll come back and I will spare no expense to make sure the bastard doing this is stopped.”

She tilted her head and smiled indulgently at him, the knot in her hair flopping to the right side of her forehead. “We can take care of it later, right now we need to kick some Vryk ass.” She went to move but he gripped her tighter.

“No morning kiss?” He pouted playfully, marveling at her selflessness.

“No.” Her face was blank.

“Wait…really?”

“Nope. No morning kisses. I only give morning blowjobs.” With that she ducked her head and proceeded to give him the best morning blowjob he ever received. Mated life seemed to suit him just fine. Once she was done and he had recovered from his crazy-powerful orgasm, he made sure to give Cimby his version of a morning kiss in return. It gave him an endless amount of pleasure to see her sweating and gasping for breath when he was through.

Rhiannon already had their plane scheduled for departure and they were ready to go after loading the SUV up with some belongings that Cimby hadn’t had time to pack with Irisi.

“We’ll come back for the rest of it after everything is settled,” Kerrick said with a kiss to her forehead. He couldn’t stop touching and kissing her. He wanted her in his arms at all times.

“Sounds efficient. I do not really care about most of it, but there are some military-grade weapons in my stash I would worry about just sitting here for too long.”

“Military-grade weapons? You’re a shifter, woman! Use your damn claws to fight!”

“I do! I just like to play with the weapons.” He stared at her, dumbfounded. “What do you think I spend all my money on?”

“Psychotic,” Kerrick said with a shake of his head.

“You’re stuck with me.”

“Damn right.”

On the plane Cimby decided to look at the latest package, confirming her thoughts that not all the recent slew of assignments targeted guilty shifters. The face and name staring back at her made her want to vomit—brought to focus how many innocents she’d probably killed over the past few years. It was sickening.

Seeing her stricken expression, Kerrick took the package from her to look over the info. His face reddened as she watched him read the details. Once finished, he threw the package to the floor and tugged her close, kissing the top of her forehead. She burrowed her face into his chest and took comfort from his scent and his warmth. She’d never had that before.

If she hadn’t met Kerrick, she would have faced this realization alone. The thought was almost as sickening as all the murders she’d most likely committed since Riddan’s demise. She needed to divert all her attention to finding the person sending these packages and gutting them. But she could not. Kerrick needed her more than she needed her vengeance. No, it wasn’t vengeance, it was justice for all the wrongly slaughtered men and women. She really had been a mindless tool these past few years. Just a robot.

She tilted her face to the side and stared down at the picture that had fallen from the folder. The handsome, smiling face and shining eyes of Aaron, Kerrick’s Captain, his cousin, stared back at her.

“We’ll find them,” Kerrick whispered, kissing the shell of her ear.

“I know. Then I will kill them.”

After a flight far less lust filled than their first, Kerrick and Cimby arrived home in California. Kerrick met with Aaron, Jeremiah and Zack to begin prepping for the final teleconference with the local alphas. The meeting would be scheduled via satellite as it was imperative he keep in contact with them on a daily basis and up to date on possible Vryk movements within the surrounding territories. If Mara had allies she planned to utilize in other states, Kerrick needed to know.

The Were alphas were still adjusting to Kerrick’s thorough methods as their new Alphar. They had grown complacent during the final years of Riddan’s command, fighting with each other for territory instead of joining and focusing their strength outwards on enemies trying to breach the inner circles and use shifter secrets against them. Something that had apparently already happened as Cymbeline’s Incendiary assignments had continuously been sent to her after Riddan’s death. What if Cymbeline had never come to Kerrick with her suspicions? Would she have mindlessly killed Aaron as her instructions expressed her to do? She was a capable fighter, a capable assassin. She may have been successful in her mission. Then Kerrick would have had to kill her for murdering his cousin. The thought was enough to rile the Beast within, the powerful magic connected to his dominance struggled to break free and defend its mate, his family. The ones responsible for his mate’s recent assignments would very much regret their choices over the past few years. He would be sure to make them.

Kerrick took a deep breath to clear his mind of the violent thoughts and eased into the comfortable leather armchair at the end of the table, the projection screen already filling with the faces of his alphas as they signed on to the video-chat program. Zach took his place at the control console in the corner, his face thoughtful and the overwhelming magic in his body vibrating with tension. Moments before Kerrick had sat down, Zach had pulled him aside to confirm what Kerrick had thought regarding Irisi’s weakened state and the tattoo on her hip. Clearly, the disgusting information had affected Zach, a dangerous thing as his magic was more lethal than anyone’s in The Mansion, and if released without check, would do more than harm the inhabitants.

Jeremiah sat with Zach, not wanting to be in the line of the camera but needing to participate as Kerrick’s top soldier. He placed his hand on the young man’s shoulder, grounding him, reassuring him that they wouldn’t let him drown in his power. Jeremiah was quiet and sometimes came off as severe, but as he did with Lottie and her children, his plain and calm logic had the capacity to center a person. Kerrick always thought his quiet cousin would make a good leader, but Jeremiah had always been content to remain a soldier. With Jeremiah’s reassuring touch, Zach shuddered a sigh and nodded in thanks, returning his focus to the technological console.

Aaron sat to Kerrick’s right and Rhiannon settled on his left, her nose still in the Blackberry, receiving updates from soldiers near the border of Mara’s facility. Cimby had gone immediately to check on Irisi upon their arrival, he didn’t think she would be able to pull herself away from the girl for the meeting but before he could motion to Jeremiah to shut the door, she strode in, looking pissed as hell.

He tilted his head in question but seeing the camera was already projecting his image, she shook her head and took a seat off video to observe the proceedings. It took less than ten seconds for all the shifters in the room to smell his mating mark on her. Rhiannon lifted her head and stared at Cimby, looking somewhat perplexed. Cimby raised her eyebrows in response and motioned for them to pay attention to the screen. Aaron clapped him on his shoulder, a knowing grin on that mischievous face. Instead of appreciating Aaron’s support and basking in the joy of his mating, Aaron’s happiness for him only infuriated Kerrick further. Why would someone target Aaron? They had studied the list of victims from her kills, and while the majority had been legitimate the latest had been questionable. But there was no clear-cut link between any of them.

Once settled, and after Zach successfully activated all the electronic components that went with the satellite uplink, Kerrick checked once more to make sure his mate was comfortable and wondered if she was ready to virtually meet a small portion of his ruling alphas. These types of meetings would be a part of her life now that they were officially mated. Kerrick needed her to acclimate to the politics as quickly as possible, no matter how much of a challenge he was sure that would be for someone of such a solitary nature.

Earlier, Cimby had hesitantly admitted to a varying degree of knowledge concerning Vryk battle strategies and culture. She told him she was friendly with the Vryks in her area and even knew some who resided near The Mansion. They must have been in Mara’s clan, but she claimed to be ignorant of what clans they belonged to. The hesitance in her voice made him think she was hiding something from him, it made her tense and he hadn’t wanted to press her on the matter when she was already so edgy. He trusted she would tell him when the time was right.

Kerrick couldn’t help but glance at her once more before the last alpha completed his connection. She sat right leg crossed over left, an almost regal air about her. He knew better, saw through the façade and recognized the tight, upright posture as worry. Her arms were folded under her breasts and for once she voluntarily wore something other than a black T-shirt and black jeans. Red T-shirt and black jeans were the chosen style of the day. His mate. So original. She caught him staring and narrowed her eyes at him. Kerrick winked at her in return before giving his alphas his full attention.

“We’re a go, Alphar,” Zach said. “They’re all connected.”

“Alphas,” Kerrick said with a nod at the multitude of screens with faces in them.

“Alphar,” Cristoff spoke first, a golden-skinned Fox shifter with a Southern accent so thick it could be used to make molasses. “One of my spies has breached the Vryk facility walls. They have no news to report as of yet.” Cimby uncrossed her legs hearing this knowledge. She had been more than doubtful that any spies could infiltrate the Vryk walls, Kerrick had to admit he felt slightly relieved that her adamancy on the impenetrability of the facility was unfounded.

“Thank you.” Kerrick nodded and turned his attention to Michael, Aaron’s older brother and reluctant alpha of a large Bear pack in Northern Oregon. “Michael, report.”

“We discovered a Vryk safe house owned by Mara in northern Oregon. I have sent men to scout the area and report back with details on security.” Cimby shifted in her seat again and if Kerrick was not mistaken, rolled her eyes. She was itching to participate. How much did she really know about the Vryks anyway?

Soon,
he felt the Beast send to her through their bond. She nearly jumped out of her chair, glaring at him in shock and annoyance. Maybe he should have discussed that new facet of their relationship before allowing his Beast to use it.

What the hell was that?
she mouthed, looking a little disturbed and crossing her arms.

“We are stable here at The Mansion. I am, however, considering moving the submissives, families and children who reside in The Mansion to our neighbors in Canada for the time being. Zach will accompany them during the journey and Michael, you will oversee them throughout the residency until we deem it safe for them to return.”