S.A. Price (34 page)

She grinned and arched under his fingers, her body thrumming with energy. She felt his searing thickness, hard pulsing as it was hugged between her thighs. She moved on him slowly, her wetness coating his length as she did, putting her further into a state of arousal and pure need. Mating was always powerful; to have one’s male under you trembling with as much need as you were was magnificent. They were both so ready, and all she had to do was accept him, take him into her body.

She shuddered as she reared up and then sunk down on the thickness that was twitching between her warm thighs only moments before. Her body hugged his, and she exhaled as she enveloped him with her heat like it was the first time. In a weird kind of way, it was. She sunk home slowly, their bodies joined moments later, John seated inside her to the hilt. She sobbed and rocked back slowly, her body humming with energy.

His body arched up with her as his large hands gripped her thighs. "Mmm only you Elise. Only ever you could make me feel this way."

"Damn right... goddamn Merrick I missed this."

Taking her hips he rocked her back and forth more purposefully on him, enjoying every motion.

"We'd have been fools not to have, my love."

She let go, her body on edge. She arched for him her body still as limber as she was when she was in her twenties. He felt amazing as he touched her, moved her hips as he rolled his own up into her. It was just too much sensation, and he was carefully bringing her to the edge. This was the moment when a woman decided her power, decided what her mate would be in her life. She wasn’t going to ruin this moment, and there was something she always wanted to share with him. She bent down and kissed him, lacing her fingers behind his neck, and reared up, bringing him with her to a sitting position. She rode him harder now and kissed him. "Not my lover, my equal." she whispered to him, watching his eyes change over to mirror hers with his mossy depths.

"Equals," he agreed their bodies moving together as one, "You'll always come first with me, my love, always."

She chuckled and smiled. "Yeah you’re about to prove that..." she threw her head back and bit her lip as she came for him, moaning.

~138~

He growled the low sound rumbling through them both, "That’s not what I meant but I love that feeling as well." He murmured into her and kissed down her exposed throat pausing to nibble teasingly on her.

Elise giggled and let go of his shoulders and arched back again, giving him access to her body, which was just getting dewy with sweat.

He worked down her taking a nipple into his mouth rolling it around with his tongue. The gentle scraping of teeth drew a moan from her throat causing Merrick to chuckle. "I love those sounds."

"And I love making them for you, only you my love..." she came back up slowly, his mouth making tracks back up to her throat. She looked at him, feeling her body tighten once again. This was it.

She struck, her snake and her human side becoming one as she bit his shoulder, her teeth sinking into his flesh sweetly. She felt a sharp pain in her shoulder followed by Merrick's warmth as his essence filled her.

The world swam, everything went hazy, and she moaned as she exploded, her body surrendering to her lover and partner, accepting his claim on her as he was accepting hers. It was epic, earth shattering and perfect.

Merrick cried out his body spilling into hers as wave after wave moved through them both. They lay there for several minutes in each other’s arms joined together in both flesh and in spirit.

It was long minutes before either of them spoke. "Wow, Shit I hate to say it, but that was worth the wait." She giggled and looked at him watching his eyes. They hadn’t changed back and a little thrill ran through her.

"The wait was hell, but this must be what heaven feels like. My angel," he laid a gentle kiss over his mark on her with each word. "My mate, my equal."

She purred for him, and sighed. "My mate, my equal. This was so perfect John. I feel so good."

She nibbled her own mark on him. It was beautiful, an intricate scroll taking shape in his skin.

"Mmm I know, I feel it too. We'll never be apart again, not truly. Always together."

"Damn right baby." Grinning she moved her hair from her shoulder. "So about that coil..."

"There’s a small wooded area out the back, if that would interest you?" He grinned knowing it would.

"Umm it would, there’s still enough sunshine too." The idea seduced her snake from its contentment of the warmth of the bed.

Rolling off the bed he held his hand out to her, "just this way, my love."

They walked out to the grounds again, out a side door that lead to the deck. She again barely registered the décor or the house as she walked through, which was unheard of for her, but as she stepped into the world beyond, her senses were alive with the wonder of it all. The foliage was lush and inviting, the flora beyond dense, though the sunshine was filtering through. It reminded her of Knossos, even if the trees and plants weren’t the same. The feeling was still there. A place of safety and contentment awaited her and her mate.

He walked a little in front of her and she admired her mark on him. It was beautiful, the scroll neat and sexy. Her hand shot up and touched hers, not surprised to feel that while hers was contained and refined, Merrick’s was swooping, a scroll of one line, its loops making large swirls over her shoulder and down her back partially. It was perfect, wild, unhinged and dominant, just like her mate.

It said ‘this is mine, this woman is mine alone’ in the best of ways. It had taken a long time to get that last bite, the claiming bite, but they had it and there was no going back now.

He turned to her and she went to him, kissing him sweetly and rubbed against him. It felt like Eden, except instead of a snake tempting them, they were the snakes. She moved away, the prickle of her change coming to her and she sighed in relief. The impulse to hunt wasn’t on her, and she knew that her snake was as content to be with Merrick’s as she was to be with the man of her dreams.

She stretched and closed her eyes, Feeling her change take hold. It was fluid, as if her snake was overly anxious to emerge. The tingles started at her toes and she sighed. They moved up her legs quickly and she surrendered her human form for her snake one.

~139~

She became her other, a six and a half foot anaconda, gleaming with auburn and plum scales in the bright sunshine. She lifted her head and scented the air, knowing immediately that Merrick had joined her in her change, and his snake was near.

Elise turned her head to the left to see her mate, a very large reticulated python moving slowly toward her. He was apprehensive; as if he wasn’t sure she would accept him after so long. It was silly, Elise’s snake had been waiting for the chance since she saw him that morning in the meeting room, but it was safer for him to be cautious.

He was bigger then she remembered, thicker, his coloring more vibrant and bright. Merrick was always beautiful in snake form, the golden and copper tones of his scales mingling with the black and silver were beautiful, and spoke of high birth among his kind. He was unique, beautiful, and hers.

Over eight feel long, wide around as a young elm, Merrick was all snake, and the best candidate for mating and raising young with.

Elise felt the life beyond the lawn, felt the heartbeats and scented the smaller creatures that had just realized there was a predator in the vicinity. They scampered away, fearing for their lives. They wouldn’t have to worry; she wasn’t in the mood to hunt, not now that she was reunited with her love.

The snake moved toward him and hissed, curling her body around him, accepting him and his claim on her. It was his move now, to do the same and when he did, her heart sang out with joy. They were one again, on every level they needed to be.

“You age very well.” She chuckled mentally to him. “So much bigger then I remember.”

He chuckled back to her, "Just my snake?" He coiled around her moving his head against her scales, "I forgot just how beautiful your scales were, I bet they still look as good in the morning light."

"Well you will know soon enough my love." she sighed mentally and coiled closer, enjoying his heat and the combined heat of them and the sunshine. This was truly paradise. "This is like a dream, and you feel so good, silken water. I can’t wait to have you coil around my naked body."

"I'm sure it’s something we can arrange soon."

"Ummm, we better, we have a lot of catching up to do. So what’s next for us?" She was content, and comfortable, but she wasn’t leaving anything up to chance.

"Next? Anything you like, although children of our own would be nice. We have a future archon to make."

She coiled closer at the thought. To actually have a clutch of her own was the dearest wish of her heart, but it would be dangerous, even more so now that they were older. "Do you think we can still? I know I screamed about it earlier, but we have to face that it might not be possible."

"And it also might be possible. It’s our mating night so I'll lean towards it being possible and if it isn't then it isn’t. Then we’ll deal with that when it comes."

His optimism bolstered hers. He was always her grounding force, always the one to bring her back from the melancholy that sometimes gripped her. He was truly her other half and he had proved it time and time again during their entire reunion. When she was manic, he was levelheaded; when he was pissed off she was the voice of reason. They complimented each other perfectly.

"Well then we should make sure we keep at it till we do. You think you can keep it up long enough to knock me up mate?" she asked cheekily and nuzzled his face, feeling the warmth between them.

He flicked his tongue out lazily, tasting her. "Well I'm not as young as I used to be, but then I've been storing it up for a long time." he chuckled, "I think I'm up for the challenge."

"You will be later. For now though, I love feeling your scales against mine."

He tightened his grip coiling his free parts over her creating the feeling of running water as his scales slid over hers. "There's no better feeling."

She shivered and luxuriated in the feel of him. "Naughty mate." she sighed and was quiet a while, thinking of how to broach her next subject. Finally she lifted her head and scented the air then nuzzled him again. "Merrick I meant it when I said long ago that I have to come first with you. If not

~140~

I can’t do this. Me, our family, has to come first, always. Not your businesses, not your other responsibilities, Me. Us." She knew she was being selfish but after so long alone she felt quite strongly that she deserved it.

"Of course, I made that decision when we got on the plane. Family always comes first. I've given a lot of myself to other people and other people’s kids. It's time I took some of that for myself. You will always come first, my love, and our kids will be the most important thing to me."

She wasn’t sure if she could trust him in that respect. Time would tell, and she would really only know when she became pregnant. Till then she would enjoy the time they had been given back. If he didn’t hold up his end of the bargain she was resolved to make sure he did, probably by breaking his legs or something else he needed. There was nothing as volatile as a mate that had been lied to.

Leaving the topic at that, she moved against him, wrapping around his body more. "You know, you’re brighter then I remember. It’s very sexy, much prettier than mine."

Merrick chuckled and didn’t say a word. Elise shut her eyes to the sunshine, both her and her snake happy to be with the man she loved. The road ahead was indeed a rocky one, and she realized that with Merrick it always was going to be. Nothing was ever easy; nothing that was worth it anyway.

When they left this paradise it would be as mates, and partners for the good of the nest they would be running. This would be their refuge, their secret place. Merrick had done well with bringing her here, giving her the fairytale all young snakes dreamed of. To mate with no threat after, able to have a coil to cement their partnership, and the accepted symbiosis between snakes… it really was a fantasy.

Truly happy for the first time in longer than she could remember, and safer than she ever would be, she dozed, knowing that her mate would watch over her, and keep her from all harm. The sunshine was warm, the company was excellent, and for once, all was right with the world.

~141~

Elise stood on the deck of her suite, her hands gripping the railing. The midmorning sun warmed her face as she stood there, the soft breeze making the hem of her kerchief skirt flutter. She closed her eyes and tiled her face to the welcomed warmth, spinning the ring Merrick gave her long ago on her ring finger. It was back where it belonged, and so was he, and she couldn’t be happier about either.

They had spent a week at the island house, reconnecting, rediscovering each other and becoming more of the couple she had always hoped them to be. After that final mating, Merrick seemed to calm down a bit, enjoying their time in an unhurried manner, taking his time to get to know the woman he had bound himself to all over again. He was romantic, and sweet and wonderful, and more than made up for all the time he had been away. Things progressed slowly that week, but they progressed.

It was only a month since then, but it felt like a lifetime for her. Since their return, Knossos was in an uproar. Members of Merrick’s wayward nest were stopping in to meet her, some were staying, and some were just passing through, but the house had a steady stream of visitors to it. She once thought that Knossos was a lively nest on its own, but that only started ringing true recently.