OmegaMine (23 page)

Diskant studied his mate’s pensive face. Meeting with the
Villati would cause an unavoidable shit storm. For the most part shifters had
managed to fly below the radar and keep their secrets secret. It was too
dangerous to have mortals sniffing around, especially when they liked to record
things to pass down through the generations. That could very well change
depending on what Craig Newlander wanted.

“It’s okay.” She finally broke the awkward silence. “We
don’t have to meet him.”

He brought his hands to her hips and tugged her into his
arms, keeping her close. Concern for her safety overrode everything else. If
the bastard knew something important concerning his mate, he had to know what
it was. Ava wasn’t a shifter and could be easily harmed. Since vampires were
involved it was likely he would need to be on the offensive, keeping one step
ahead.

“As soon as this thing with Emory is done I’ll make all of
the arrangements. I don’t want you to worry about anything. From now on I take
care of you.”

“I don’t want to be any trouble.”

“Never.” He cupped her chin and held her gaze. “It’s my
right and privilege to see to your needs.”

She smiled wistfully. “Privilege, huh?”

“Damn straight.”

She wrapped her arms around his waist, pressed her face into
his chest and sagged in his embrace. Then he sensed her exhaustion. She was
hungry, she was tired and she needed a good night’s rest. The bloodbonding was
in full swing now. Soon she’d notice the changes that indicated she was bonded
to a shifter. Sex was just the icing on the cake when you had enhanced
strength, reflexes and longevity to look forward to.

“I’m going to go downstairs to get you something to eat.
Dougan keeps the kitchen stocked so I’m sure I can find you something you’ll
like.”

“I’ll go with you,” she murmured into his shirt, nuzzling
him affectionately. The cat in him reciprocated the amorous display, rising to
the surface as he brushed his chin over the top of her head and inhaled deeply,
drawing her sweet, feminine fragrance into his nose.

Shifting his arms around her midsection, he turned her in
his arms and started walking to the door. They traveled down the stairs like a
couple of infatuated teenagers, sneaking kisses at each floor. When they made
it to the final hallway he kept her exactly as she was—her back to his chest,
her head beneath his chin—and grinned at the amused expressions of the pack
members as they moved aside, giddy from Ava’s giggling as she wriggled back
against his ever-growing hard-on.

Glancing to the left, he noted that Trey, Emory and Nathan
were seated in the booth with an empty pizza pan between them. Another pizza
was placed alongside the cleared tray, the steam rising from the cheesy surface
indicting the kitchen was hard at work.

They came to the large double doors behind the bar and went
through. As Diskant expected, several females were busy preparing meals for the
pack. Most had traveled from their nearby homes to see to the needs of their
brethren, including those who were still too young to mate. The moment they saw
him and Ava, all activity stopped.

The women with prepared food brought the trays forward,
bowed their heads and lowered their gazes. He waited for Ava to choose what she
wanted but realized she had no idea how profound the gesture was.

Bending at the waist, Diskant put his mouth to his mate’s
ear. “They’re showing their respect, Ava. Now that we are mated you command the
same power within the pack that I do. They won’t eat or serve anyone else until
we’ve chosen our meal.” Releasing her, he lowered his arms and stepped back.
“Choose what you’d like.”

It wasn’t a normal introduction and for a moment he thought
she’d hesitate, which wouldn’t have been a good thing. Respect in a pack was
garnered from power, control and confidence. Without those traits you went
directly to the bottom of the food chain. As his mate, and a human, it was
understandable that she would be confused. However, at some point she had to
proclaim her place in the pack.

“Take what you want,” he ordered. It was a tone he’d never
used with her before, and he hoped she’d use her talent to understand his
motive. At that moment he was an Omega giving his mate a direct command.

It was difficult to mask his pride when she stepped forward
with her head held high and took a plate from the female to her left and helped
herself to another tray from the female to her right. It was too much food for
her but that was precisely the point. Right then she’d managed to convey her
importance by making one very important choice. As the mate to an Omega, it was
her right to lay claim to every single morsel she desired, even if she only
intended to throw it in the trash on the way out the door.

Turning to him, she extended a tray. “What would you like to
drink?”

Damn if she didn’t captivate him. Even now—out of her
element amidst a kitchen full of shifters—she continued to show him just how
complex and intelligent she was.

“Bring a pitcher of Killian’s and some bottled water to our
room.” Diskant spoke over Ava’s shoulder to Katie, the bloodbonded human female
on the left who was now empty-handed, as he accepted the tray from Ava. When he
returned his full attention to his mate she was smiled and stepped past him,
leading the way back upstairs.

This time she guided the way through the bar. He allowed her
to take the lead, staying close enough that he could grab her if he was so
inclined but far enough away that her independence made a statement to the
pack. Whether she knew it or not she was assuming her role in their ranks,
showing them that she was capable of standing on her own. They recognized that,
appreciated and respected it.

They made it through the crowd and entered the empty hall.
As her ass swayed on the journey up the stairs he imagined sinking his teeth
into the creamy swells one at a time. He wanted to bend her over the bed and
force her to take him in the most primitive way of his kind. There was nothing
sexier than fucking a woman in the ass. The trust it required was absolute, the
ultimate act of submission.

His blood ran hot at the thought, cock swelling in
anticipation. It would eventually happen. One more mark and the blood bond
would be cemented. If she could face the beasts within him, claim them as her
mates and accept their hold on her they would become tied for the duration of
her life—or until the end of his. At that point she’d be just as wild and eager
to try new things as he was to introduce them to her.

He closed the door after they entered the apartment and
tried to staunch his need. Ava needed to eat, rest and recover from everything
that had occurred in the last few days. She didn’t need him rutting on her like
a fucking sex fiend. Placing the tray on the counter, he stopped short when he
turned and found Ava on her knees before him.

Her large blue eyes were cloudy, her cheeks flushed a
beautiful shade of red. Her tray of food was resting on the end table in the
living room, left behind as she’d followed him into the kitchen.

So much for food, rest and recovery.

She unbuttoned his pants, yanked them down and wrapped her
lips around his cock. He groaned and buried his fingers in her hair, tugging on
the short strands, bringing her forward until the glans bumped the back of her
throat. The mental connection they shared opened and he was able to feel her
gratification at satisfying him like this. She loved his taste, his scent. It
was a bestial tendency, something she’d never experienced before. The prominent
entities within him—the cat, wolf and grizzly—also longed to reside in her. She
would be the female who would sate them in ways no other ever could, completing
them in a manner that would unite them as one.

Her fingers traveled along his inner thigh before she gently
cupped his sac. She massaged the heavy weight with careful fingers, rolling the
sensitive balls in her hand. He let his head fall back as she took control,
taking more and more of his length into her mouth with each pass. The hot, wet
cavern provided a dizzying suction, her lips and tongue bringing him closer to
the pinnacle. When he started to pull away, she released his testicles, cupped
his ass and sucked harder.

I want to swallow you whole
, she whispered in his
mind.
I’m so hungry for you.

He came the instant he slid to the back of her mouth and she
swallowed. His semen shot down her throat and she didn’t choke or gag, swallowing
each wave, drinking him down until his semi-hard cock slid from her glistening
lips.

Gasping for breath, he lifted and carried her into the
bedroom, making sure to close the door behind them so they wouldn’t be
interrupted. Once there he lowered her to the bed and slowly undressed her,
taking his time, licking and lapping at every delectable curve of her body.
Peeling off her bra and panties, he moved between her legs and inhaled her
scent. Her cunt was shimmering, the dewy folds puffy and pink.

She arched her back and cried out as he palmed her ass,
brought her to his mouth and tasted her sweetness, coating his tongue in her
honey. He alternated between fucking her with his tongue and lapping at her
clit, using fast, measured strokes.

She panted, writhed and ground against his face. “Diskant.”

“All mine, Ava,” he whispered as he feasted on her.

“All yours,” she murmured breathlessly.

She shattered in his arms as he focused on her clit,
flicking his tongue over the distended bead that had pushed its way from the
fleshy hood. Up and down, back and forth, each lap sensuous and teasing. She
grasped at his head, her legs stiffening around his shoulders. Parting her
cheeks, he lowered his head and gazed at the rosette he wanted to claim before
he tasted her there, running his tongue over the surface of the puckered skin
as she gasped and squirmed.

“Do you like that?” He pulled away and looked at her.

The red stain on her cheeks answered his unspoken question.
He would be the first and only man to claim her dark passage, the only one to
know the heaven that existed in ramming his cock deep inside her ass.

“One day soon,” he rotated his finger along the sensitive
tissue that was still wet from his tongue, “I’m going to take you here.”

Her eyes darkened and her breath caught, her silence
indicating she was more than willing to try. He released her ass and moved up
her body, sliding up her sweat-slicked frame, licking at the shimmering, salty
beads along the way. She was entirely open to him—arms wide, legs spread, mind
unlocked—and a quick shift of his hips was all it took to be buried inside of
her.

Cock to cunt, skin to skin and heart to heart.

So close that he could have sworn he could feel her very
soul.

Her fingers raked the skin on his back as she worked herself
against him, straining for that one, last mind-numbing climax. He rolled his
hips until his cock was nudging her clit with each downward stroke, so that
with each thrust he slid his length against her. The feral portions of him
raged for him to take the final step, to allow them to surround Ava in their
strength, their power, their essence and mark her in their scent. It would be
so easy to do, bringing them wholly together.

“Yes,” she rasped against his throat, clinging to him. “God,
please.”

“Soon,” he promised and increased the pace, plunging harder
when he felt her quicken. Denying his urges came at a price, making him wild in
his motions as he plowed into her delicate body. Each retreat was met by a
harsher, less forgiving, return. He had to spend himself inside her, satiate
himself and allow her to rest and recover. The third mark would be the most
important one, requiring all her strength.

When she came, he immediately followed. Her pussy spasmed,
clenched and vibrated around him, shrouding his cock in heat, squeezing him
until he thought he’d die from the agony of it. He roared, his hoarse bellow
echoing off the walls as ripples of white-hot pleasure ricocheted through his
body.

As he settled over her, blanketing her small body while
pulling her in the shelter of his arms, he knew that next time he would finally
do what he longed to do.

Ava was his other half, his bloodbonded mate.

There was no going back.

Chapter Fifteen

Mary pressed her ear against her door, straining to hear
what John was saying through the thin wood. The sounds of his footsteps in the
kitchen were muted, as was his voice.

“I’ve requested a prayer vigil from the congregations, of
course.” John’s muffled words carried down the hallway. “It is the most giving
sacrifice. They are to be commended. Yes, she’ll be ready when you arrive.
She’s atoned and is ready to take her vows.” An extended silence and John said,
“Yes, everything will be ready by the time you arrive tomorrow.”

It felt as if spiders crawled over her skin, making her cringe.
Her stomach churned in panic and a bitter-tasting bile rose to the back of her
throat. She moved away from the door, wanting to vomit, run and scream at the
top of her lungs.

Yesterday she’d learned that prayer wasn’t the only thing
her demented kinfolk had decided would keep her on the straight and narrow. In
this
Children of the Corn
fucked-up version of hell she had to prove her
worth the good old-fashioned way.

By killing a shifter.

Pretending to pray was one thing. Agreeing to kill someone
was another. When Mary was taken to the girl who was her own age and told what
she’d be expected to do—degrade, torture, and mutilate the poor thing until she
broke—it had taken all of her willpower not to break down and show the sick
freaks how disgusted, repulsed and horrified she truly felt.

“Donna and Nathaniel went into town,” John continued and she
heard the sound of a cabinet being closed. “She wanted to prepare something
special for your return.”