Pursuing Paige Read online

  “Wow, he’s all sacrifice.”

  “Torrent would give up anything for his people, including his own life. He may not be able to sacrifice the life of his mate, however, which is why he will never take one.”

  She played with the edge of the blanket that wrapped her. “That’s really too bad. He seems like a great guy. And what about you? What was it like growing up here? Are your parents still alive?”

  “They are. My parents are incredible. My mother is mostly human, pulled over just like you were. She and my father were both in governance when they were younger, as I am now. I had no siblings. Life was good as a child. They gave me a wonderful education, love, freedom to make my own choices. I grew up very differently from Kaiden. He was largely alone, but I had friends, family, and support.”

  “Do they live in the village?”

  “My parents moved away a few years ago. There is another Lycaon village about two hundred miles from here, closer to the border of our territory. They went to help against the Magica. I see them as often as I can. I hope one day you’ll get to meet them.”

  “If they raised a man like you, they must be pretty great. So I guess Kaiden grew up without parents from the way you speak.”

  “Yes. He was raised by my uncle, but because he was destined to become a hunter, he spend most of his childhood secluded in the woods.”

  “That sounds rough.”

  “I don’t think Kaiden would have had it any other way. It suits his personality.”

  “How did his parents die?”

  “His mother was Lycaon born, a hawk, and was captured when Kaiden was a baby. His father went to free her. It was a suicide mission and he knew it. He should have stayed with his newborn son.”

  Her blood ran chilly. “Are hawks easier to catch than dire wolves for some reason?”

  “Are you worried for your sister?”

  “Of course.”

  “She’s an excellent scout and flies better than most full blood Lycaon. Don’t worry about her.”

  “Not possible.”

  “You two must have been very close when you were growing up.”

  She smiled. “Us three, you mean, and, yes, we were. We’re only about a year apart in age. Our parents got divorced when we were young and we had to endure the untender mercies of a self-absorbed stepmother for our entire lives.”

  “What happened to your mother?”

  “She was out of the picture early on. Parenting wasn’t a strong skill of hers.”

  His lips twisted as he rested his arm on top of the couch, clearly delineating the incredible muscle of his upper body. “That’s odd. That never happens here. Parents are so grateful to have their children that they would never just walk away from them like that.”

  “It gave us a few mommy issues to be sure. Our stepmother tried, I’ll give her that, but mothering wasn’t really her thing either. In any case, it made me and my sisters very close.” Her throat closed up for a moment and she cleared it. “That’s why I’m so worried about Caroline right now.”

  “The youngest sister, the one who will be wondering where you’ve gone.”

  “She’ll be frantic. First Kaitlyn, now me.”

  “Yet Caroline also carries the seed of the Lycaon in her DNA. You and Kaitlyn have been called over; I think it’s likely she will be too.”

  “Maybe, and that’s a maybe, and when? In a year? Two, three years? How can she go that long wondering where we’ve gone?” Caroline was the youngest, and the strongest, of all of them. Still, it was agonizing knowing what hell she was going through.

  “I’m sorry this is happening to her.”

  “It’s not your fault.”

  “If there was something I could do to ease your mind, I would do it.”

  She grinned at him. “Are you thinking you might get lucky again?”

  He grinned back. “A man can hope. One taste of you is not enough.”

  She studied him, thinking of how she’d felt with him back at the theatre. It hadn’t been purely a physical thing—although that had been indescribably awesome—it had gone deeper than that. Being intimate with Jarek had made her feel safe, protected. She didn’t understand the how or the why of that; she only knew it was true.

  Setting her plate aside, she slid into his lap. “I could say the same about you.”

  He pulled her close and kissed her forehead. Her body trembled with need for his touch, whether it was sexual or simply caring. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. “I know you worry for your remaining sister, but I’m selfishly happy you were pulled over.”

  She’d be happier too, if it wasn’t for Caroline.

  Sighing heavily, she dropped her head to his chest. “I’ve said more than one prayer for both Kaiden and Caroline.”

  “As have I.”

  She wondered for a moment who he prayed for, being originally a genetically engineered being as he was. Then she remembered that she, too, was part Lycaon and therefore also genetically engineered. “What god do you pray to?” she murmured against his warm skin.

  “The one who gave the Lycaon souls, will and spirit. The one who gave us the power to procreate. It wasn’t the Magica who did those miraculous things.”

  Smiling, she looked up into his face. He lowered his mouth and kissed her slowly and thoroughly, then lifted her to the thick, soft rug in front of the fire. His mouth worked on hers as he sought to rid her clothing.

  She found the button and zipper of his pants, but he batted her hands away and gave a tiny, sexy little bite on her lower lip. “Kaiden is a much different lover than I am, Paige. I think you should have a taste of what he’s like before he gets back.”

  “What do you mean?” her voice came out breathless, since he’d yanked her leggings off and was aggressively stroking her clit to exquisite sensitivity.

  “His tastes are a little rougher than mine. He’s more animal than I am.” His mouth came down on hers and his tongue snaked between her lips, stealing her thought for a moment.

  “Rougher in what way?” she finally asked.

  He had her completely naked now. He dropped his head to her nipples and tongued each of them until she moaned. He raised his head. His eyes were dark with lust. “I’ll show you just how. Go sit on that table over there and spread your legs.” He jerked his head at a small table just left of the fireplace.

  She hesitated but the look in his eyes promised intense pleasure and she was curious about what he had in mind.

  “Go on. Trust me.” He stood and backed away from her.

  She rose and walked to the table. Locking gazes with him, she hopped onto it. The surface was chilly on her bare bottom despite the warm fire. Her breathing growing heavier with excitement, she scooted back until the table edge fit right behind her knees, and then slowly spread her thighs as far as they could go.

  His gaze was hooded as he walked toward her slowly, focused on her completely exposed cunt. She responded to his gaze as though he stroked her with his hand, her heart rate climbing upward and her pussy growing warm and sensitive.

  "Put your hands behind you, palms flat. Arch your back. I want your breasts just as exposed to me as your sweet cunt." His voice sounded harsh and heavy with lust.

  She placed her hands behind her, forcing her spine to arch and her breasts to thrust forward.

  "Kaiden will want to take you in ways like this. He will give you sexual commands and want to be in control. He’ll want to tie you down so you can't move then take you from behind.”

  Her breath shuddered out of her at the thought of Kaiden taking her from behind, her wrists tied, while Jarek watched. It excited her beyond belief. She’d never known she had a kinky side, but apparently it was alive and well.

  He took a long, cylindrical object from a nearby drawer and held it up so she could see it as he approached. “He’ll want to use things like this on you, inside you.” He stroked between her thighs, sliding one broad finger, and then adding a second, deep within. “And not
always just in your pretty little pussy.”

  She moaned and squirmed on the table as he thrust his fingers in and out of her. “Okay,” she said breathlessly. “Fair warning.”

  He withdrew his hand, grasped her hips and pulled her toward him so her buttocks rested just on the edge of the table and her heated, aroused sex was flush up against the coarse material of his pants. He leaned over her and put his lips just against hers. Pressing the chilled object against her skin, he whispered, “He’ll put this in your ass to make you ready to take us both. Have you considered that yet, sweet Paige?”

  Her breath shuddered out of her. She was about to explode just from the thought. “Not really.”

  “I’ll have my cock in your cunt.” He rubbed her until she moaned. “And he’ll be in your ass. You will be completely possessed by both of us as we share you.” Repositioning his hand, he slid the end of the smooth, wide object into her and pushed it slowly and steadily deep within as he spoke.

  Paige’s eyes rolled back in her head as he drew it out and thrust it back inside. The object had ridges and bumps that stimulated every intimate inch of her.

  He backed away a bit and stared down hungrily as it slid in and out of her. “Don’t move,” he growled when she squirmed on the table. “Arms back and hold them there. I want to watch.”

  Pleasure spiralled uncontrollably through her. She was just on the edge of an orgasm and he held her there, with a climax just out of reach. If he so much as brushed her clit, she would dissolve into convulsions of pure sexual ecstasy.

  Her fingers curled around the back of the table and she held on as he worked the object in and out of her faster and faster, rocking her body back and forth. “Please, Jarek,” she begged.

  “This what Kaiden will do to you, Paige.” His voice sounded strained. “He will dominate you and he will torture you with pleasure.” He placed his thumb on her clit and rubbed it back and forth, while he fucked her with the object even harder.

  Paige’s body arched as an incredible burst of pleasure exploded through her. It ruled her body and stole her thought as it went on and on. Just at the tail end of her climax, Jarek withdrew the object, put it aside, knelt, and covered her pussy with his mouth.

  She jerked as though a current of electricity went through her as his lips massaged her post-climax sensitive clit. He pushed through that sensitivity and back into pleasure in no time. The sight of his head between her thighs, mouth working over her most intimate area was enough to thrust her straight into another orgasm. He groaned as she came against his tongue and lips, seeming satisfied he’d been able to make her climax again.

  When he finally backed away, she slid bonelessly to the floor in an intensely satisfied heap. She throbbed sweetly between her thighs and her breathing came fast and hard. “I’m supposed to handle to two of you? At once?”

  Jarek sank down on the couch. “I’m not sure we can handle you, either. You’re so fucking sexy when you’re aroused; I had to fight not come in my pants.”

  She got on her hands and knees and crawled slowly over to him, hips swinging provocatively. “What was that thing? A sex toy?”

  “You trusted me enough not to ask before?”

  She paused for a moment and blinked. “Yes, I guess so.”

  He smiled. “It was made especially for you. We have more than one instrument like that. They’re made to excite you and prepare you for us.”

  “Nothing can prepare me for you.” She reached him at the couch and crawled into his lap, straddling his groin. His cock was rock hard and pressed through the material of his pants. She pushed down, rubbing herself along his length. “Let’s arrange that coming in your pants thing, shall we?”

  He groaned and tipped his head back. “You’re going to kill me, Paige.”

  She kissed him, nipping at his lower lip. “Baby, I haven’t even gotten started. I am very physical woman and today you opened a door I’d long since closed. I want more.”

  Paige kissed her way down his throat, and then slid off his lap to kneel between his legs and freed his gorgeous cock from his pants. She swirled her tongue around the tip, making him shudder, and then pushed his shaft into the hot, wet recesses of her mouth. He groaned her name.

  She spent the next few minutes finding out where he liked to be stroked and licked, which places made him craziest. She loved making him groan and whisper her name.

  Pushing her down onto the carpet, he pushed her thighs apart and pushed his cock deep inside her with one long, slow thrust. He stopped moving when he was seated deep inside her and closed his eyes, as though searching for control.

  Then he began to thrust.

  He grabbed her hips and pulled her back and forth on his cock while he fucked her, faster and harder. Pleasure radiated through her as his thick, wide cock acted like a piston, their heated skin slapping together with every inward stroke.

  She climaxed again, the muscles of her cunt rippling and pulsing around his thrusting shaft. He finally lost it. He groaned deep as his cock jumped inside her. When it was over, he collapsed over her, gently rolling her into his arms. They lay together on the rug, warmed by the fire, wrapped in each other’s arms.

  * * * * *

  Kaiden followed Torrent through the woods, headed in the direction of the commotion in the distance. They’d been alerted by Kaitlyn of a disturbance nearby. From the distinctive hawk cry she’d given, it appeared someone was in trouble this time, perhaps a Lycaon. So he and Torrent ran flat-out for the spot and hoped like hell it wasn’t some kind of trap.

  They’d been chasing off Magica hunters from the edges of their territory for the last three days and they were both covered in mud and leaves and were badly lacking sleep. This was one of the worst Magica outbreaks that he could remember.

  The sound of a woman’s high pitched scream rent the air and Kaiden pushed himself harder. It seemed Kaitlyn was right, someone was in trouble. It wasn’t a voice he or Torrent recognized, however, so they slowed their pace as they approached and snuck up near the area where the sounds were coming from.

  A woman knelt in the leaves with a ring of four Magica hunters surrounding her. Her head was bowed, her long dark hair shadowing her face. “Please, I don’t know where they are. I’m telling you the truth.”

  One of the hunters stepped forward and gripped the back of her hair, yanking her head back and exposing her face. She didn’t look familiar. “You’re lying. You’re an animal just like them.” He gave her a push forward that sent her into the leaves. “Of course you know where the villages are.”

  She pushed to her hands and feet and shook her head, sobbing. “I’ve been away too long. I don’t know. I don’t!”

  Another of the hunters backhanded her and Kaiden’s body tensed. He wanted to rush into the clearing right now, but he knew that wasn’t wise. His gaze met Torrent’s and they communicated silently. Each of them took off in opposite directions. They would check the perimeter and ensure there were no more hunters lying in wait with bows, arrows, or magickical staffs.

  Raised voices from the clearing accompanied them as they made a fast, but careful, sweep and met on the other side. This didn’t appear to be a trap.

  Another slap rang through the air, followed by a female yelp of pain. Torrent and Kaiden sprang into the clearing.

  The woman screamed as the dire wolves went for the jugulars of her captors. While Kaiden had one man in the grip of his powerful mouth, another was raising his staff toward him, ready to unleash a bolt of the energy they used as a weapon.

  He gave the Magica hunter in his mouth one quick, hard shake and let him fall to the ground. Then he whirled and launched toward the other. Too late. An energy bolt hit him in the chest, knocking him back and sending a jolt of white-hot pain through him. It should knocked him out but his anger was too great. It overpowered everything. He shook off the injury and lunged again. This time the hunter had no chance. It was over in a flash.

  Kaiden wavered on his feet, scenting his own si
nged fur. Torrent stood on the opposite end of the clearing, Magica blood adding to the mud already smearing his fur. In a moment Torrent was in human form and walking toward him. The woman was kneeling in the clearing, looking between them with a confused expression on her face.

  Torrent knelt at Kaiden’s side. “You’re injured.” He examined the wound, then looked into his eyes. “You’ll live.”

  That meant he could shift. Kaiden concentrated on making the transition, bracing himself for the pain, which would be greater in human form. It brought him to his knees with a groan.

  The woman was there immediately, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Are you all right?”

  He looked down and saw the burn mark on his chest. “I’ll be fine,” he ground out. Even now the pain was easing.

  “Thank you so much for what you both did. You saved my life.” The woman had an angry bruise on one cheek, but otherwise seemed unhurt.

  High above them a hawk screamed. Torrent looked up and waved an arm. All clear. The hawk screamed again and winged off into the distance. He looked at the woman. “Who are you? What are you doing way out here...with them?”

  Kaiden sat down in the grass to better manage the pain of his wound and studied her. She was a young woman, dressed in the clothing of a lower class Mage citizen. The woman sighed and pushed a hand through her tangled hair. “My name is Alisa. I’ve lived among the Magica since I was a small child.”

  “Raised by Magica? How?”

  “I believe I came with my Lycaon parents. They were spies, I think. They were killed in an accident when I was a baby. I was left to be raised by adoptive Magica parents.”

  “They must have discovered what you were eventually,” Kaiden said.

  “They did, but they loved me anyway and hid me. I grew up as a mage. Then one day, I was discovered by an official as I shifted in the woods.” Lycaon couldn’t go more than a month without shifting or the pressure to change grew unbearable. “I was turned in as a spy.”

  “Except you weren’t one.”

  She bowed her head. “I’ve failed everyone.”