Therian Promise(60)

She pulled his head down to hers and kissed him with all the passion surging within her. Their lips clung and their tongues tangled as their hips rolled and ground.

His breath filled her mouth and their psychic link pulsed with energy. She opened to him, taking him deeper into her mind as he steadily filled her body. Emotions flowed across the connection, a mesmerizing blending of his and hers. It was impossible to sort them out, they were so perfectly blended. Longing and tenderness, protectiveness and joy. Even the hint of possessiveness no longer upset her. She understood the emotion was part of his Therian nature, part of what made him so attractive and strong.

He tore his mouth away from hers as his strokes grew more demanding. Each forceful thrust pushed her arousal higher, keeping pace with his cresting desire. His hands clasped her hips, pulling her up as he buried his entire length in her snug heat. He threw his head back and cried out as his body shuddered and pulsed. She clung to his arms, riding out her own orgasm as he spilled deep inside her.

It was perfect, beyond anything she’d dare to dream. Her heartbeat gradually slowed and she blinked until her eyes focused. He looked just as dazed as she felt and she couldn’t help but smile.

Bracing with his forearms and his knees, he kept the majority of his weight off her as he drifted back to reality. She brushed his hair back from his damp face and smiled into his eyes. “We’re both covered in sweat. It’s a good thing we waited to shower.”

He slipped his arm beneath her neck then rolled to his side, taking her with him. “Let me catch my breath.” He laughed. “I’m not sure I could stand right now.”

The golden light was starting to recede from his eyes. She stroked her hand down his arm and searched his gaze. It felt wonderful to be held, to be sheltered from the dangers all around them, but a question had been nagging in the back of her mind all afternoon, and despite the warm security of his embrace, it shoved its way back to the surface.

“Bruce Fitzroy wasn’t much of a threat, but what if he had been as badass as he thought he was?” She sighed then shivered, unable to meet his gaze. “He still had us at gunpoint.”

He stroked the back of her hair and pressed his pelvis closer, maintaining the intimate joining of their bodies. “You were never in any real danger. If Natasha had thought differently, she never would have let him near you and I was standing in the kitchen long before you knew I was there.”

She understood the concept, but she couldn’t rid her mind of Bruce’s semi-crazed expression or the gun pointed at her sister’s head. “What if you’d both been wrong? Even cowards can snap. Can either of you outrun a bullet?”

“Ava…” He paused until she looked back into his eyes. “I could smell his fear and sense his anxiety. I have a sneaking suspicion that Nate set him up.”

“Isn’t Nate his father?”

“He is, but Bruce has been unpredictable for a long time.” Kyle gently separated their bodies as the topic grew grim. “He’s created more problems for Nate than anyone else in his pack. And unlike cats, wolves don’t wait around for their alphas to step down or die off. Many, if not most, of their alphas are ‘retired’ by their sons as soon as the son realizes he’s strong enough to pull it off.”

“Nate sent his son here expecting you to kill him?”

“It’s likely.”

Anxiety crept through the afterglow. She wiggled away from him and sat up, dragging the sheet with her. So many Therian customs were truly savage. She’d almost adjust to all the changes and something like this would make her feel like an outsider all over again.

“As truly horrific as that is, it doesn’t change the basic fact that I’m in danger.”

He heaved a frustrated sigh and shoved a couple of pillows behind him so he could recline against the headboard. “There’s no way to undo the danger. You are unique and highly desirable. We can be aware of the risks and surround you with people willing and able to protect you.”

“Is this why Carissa agreed to the blood ritual so quickly? Was she trying to avert the danger?”

“I’m sure it contributed to her decision, but Carissa doesn’t strike me as the type of a person who would bow to external pressures.”

It was Ava’s turn to sigh. He was right. External pressure tended to make Carissa contrary, not compliant. “Is there any way to release my abilities other than definition?”

“No, and definition can only be done once.”

She’d suspected that’s what he would say, but she’d needed to hear it. “Then teach me how to fight or at least let me practice with a gun. Mom made us both take firearm safety classes because we always had a loaded gun in the house, but it’s been years since I fired one. There has to be some way for me to be less useless.”