Daeton's Journey (Wiccan-Were-Bear Book 10) (3 page)

He stretched out on his back as Perseus eased his fingers from her.  She rolled to her stomach and went onto her hands and knees, climbing up Ekho’s body slowly.  She kissed his soft, furred flesh as she moved, admiring the way their bodies were so different.  His skin was velvet over steel, warm and firm.  Her bear growled in happiness as she reached his cock, the thick, erect length beckoning her.  Nuzzling him, she kissed the top and licked the bead of liquid, tasting the sweet and salty flavor of him.

She kissed his navel and then straddled him as she sat up.  He caught her hips, his clawed fingers gently digging into her flesh.  She reached between her legs and grasped his cock, holding it as she slowly lowered herself onto him.  The thick head stretched her for a moment and she closed her eyes, loving the way he filled her completely as she settled on him.  She flexed her hips, her toes curling as his cock twitched inside her, and she opened her eyes to look down at her sweet mate.

“I love you,” she said, leaning forward and planting her hands on his chest.  His hands caressed her sides as he blinked passion-filled eyes at her.

“I love you, too, honey kitten.”

Perseus moved behind her and she looked over her shoulder, watching as he scooped more clear liquid from the broken leaf and covered his cock with it.  His dark blue eyes simmered with heat as he stroked himself and watched her.

“Are you ready for us, sweet bear?”  Perseus’s voice was husky and low, and it made everything deep in her belly clench in anticipation.

“Yes,” she sighed as Ekho moved his thumb to her clit and began to rub the sensitive bud.

Perseus pressed the head of his cock to her anus, the slick heat of him making her shiver in anticipation.  Grasping her hips, he pressed forward.  She groaned and closed her eyes, trying to relax.  Ekho began to rub her clit faster and the pleasure that tingled through her with his swift strokes made her forget the burn as Perseus’s cock breached the tight ring of muscles and pushed in. With a deep exhale, she opened her eyes and looked over her shoulder as Perseus’s body met hers, his cock buried deeply in her tightest place.

“I love you, Perseus.”  She laid one hand over top of his on her hip, and Ekho captured her other hand and stretched it over his head, lacing their fingers together.  She leaned into Ekho and kissed him as he worked her clit.

“I love you, too, Daeton,” Perseus said roughly.

Her skin tingled as her stomach twisted pleasantly at the attention to her clit.  Ekho grinned at her, his fangs gleaming.

Perseus pulled out of her body slowly and she gasped.  Ekho tilted his hips, driving deeper into her body before pulling away as Perseus surged into her.  She closed her eyes and focused on the feelings cascading through her.  The slight burn eased into a sweet heat as her mates worked in tandem, one filling her as the other slid away, taking turns as they loved her.  Ekho’s thumb worked her clit and she felt herself spiral toward another climax.

She screamed as her body locked down on theirs, pleasure pouring over her hot and hard.  Perseus and Ekho began to thrust into her wildly as they rode her to their own pleasure.  She couldn’t do anything but hold on as her own orgasm twisted and rolled inside her from one great height of pleasure to another.  She could feel their cocks thicken and she closed her eyes as they both came, shouting her name.  She rested her head on Ekho’s chest, listening to the sound of his racing heart as she came down from the heavens.

Perseus pulled from her body slowly and she hissed at the burn.  He kissed her shoulder and left, returning a moment later with a warm, wet cloth. He cleaned her body as Ekho stroked her arms and back gently and kissed her forehead.

Perseus tossed the wet cloth into their clothes hamper and settled onto the bed next to them, resting his hand on the small of her back.

He exhaled and it slipped into a yawn.  “We weren’t too rough, sweet bear?”

She looked at him and found him to be even sexier when he was thoroughly worn out from great sex.  “I loved every second.”

Ekho chuckled softly and squeezed her hips.  “We did, too.”

Perseus leaned over and kissed her, and then she tipped her face up to kiss Ekho.  As they basked in the silence of the bedroom, she knew how lucky she was to have them in her life.  She was sad to be so far away from her family, but Perseus and Ekho were her family now, too, and she knew she’d never be lonely with two husbands and the Centaurs as her extended family.  She was one lucky bear.

Chapter 2

Perseus glanced over to where his wife sat in the shade underneath a large tree and stitched an intricate design onto a vest.  She’d been working on it for quite a while, and he was amazed at the beauty of it.  Other wives had asked her to embroider things for them when she was done, and he was glad that she had seemed to find her niche within the Centaur community.  Everyone had a job that benefited not only their own family but also the community as a whole.  Some farmed, some created clothing, some created household goods, and then there were those, like himself and his brothers and father, who built things, like the home he was building for his wife and Ekho.

Ekho was very good at woodworking, and had taken to spending most of his days lately in the large building that housed the woodworkers and their supplies.  He was building a bed and other furniture for their house.  Perseus was glad that Ekho was talented and that their two talents together meant that Daeton would have not only a roof over her head, but also furniture, all crafted by her mates.

“You’re making that face again,” Abrax, Perseus’s brother, said.

“What face?”  Perseus lifted the hammer in his hand and struck the iron nail so it embedded deeply into the doorframe, holding the hinge for the front door in place.

“The face that’s all moony and goofy.  Whenever you look at your bride you get a ridiculous look on your face.”

Perseus glanced at his brother and then shook his head with a laugh.  “You wait until you find your bride, little brother.  You’ll look moony, too.”

Abrax made a sound of disbelief, and then laughed.  “Probably.  But I’m not having any mating dreams, so it’s a moot point.”

Perseus understood the longing that he saw in his brother’s eyes.  It was difficult knowing that the only way to find a Centaur’s mate was to wait for the mate-dreams.  Some males went decades before they had their dreams, as had happened with Perseus.  He was forty-nine, although, due to their slow aging he looked only twenty.  The mate-dreams he had shared with Daeton had nearly driven him insane with longing.  He’d had no idea where to even start looking for her, but knew that the dreams would eventually lead them to each other.  And then one day he’d felt her presence at the market and known the moment their eyes met that she was the one he’d been dreaming about.  That moment had been the most significant in his life.  He’d gone from being a bachelor with responsibility only to the herd to being a husband in the brief span of a day.  Then he’d almost lost her when she was poisoned by a young leoneman male named Bartholomew, but it had brought Ekho into their lives.  And then he’d almost lost her again when she was betrayed by the were-bear prince Aedan, who had promised she would be safe within his walls but had instead been the bait in a trap by the white-haired wizard, Urijah, who wanted Daeton’s blood to make himself powerful.  Fortunately, the wizard had been killed and Daeton was now safe.  But it haunted Perseus that he’d come so close to losing her.  He didn’t know what he’d do if something happened to her.

He realized that while he’d been lost in his thoughts, he’d ignored Abrax, who had continued talking.  “I’m sorry brother, what were you saying?”

“I said that when you take Daeton to the Mortal Realm to see her family, I would like to go with you as one of the guards.”

“Of course.”

“Pers?” Daeton called and Perseus dropped the hammer to move quickly to her side.

“Are you unwell?”  He went to his knees to get closer to her, his half-form preventing him from closing the distance completely.

She smiled and her dark eyes danced.  “You always assume the worst.  No, I’m just hungry.  Are you ready for a break?”

He edged forward on his knees and pulled her into his arms with a fast motion, standing quickly.  She squealed in surprise and quickly looped her arms around his neck.  “Break time is now, then.  I would be a bad mate if I let you go hungry.”

She nuzzled under his ear with a soft, growling sound.  “I’m not just hungry.”

He grinned.  First he would feed her, and then they would play.  He called over his shoulder to Abrax that he would be back after the noon-meal.  He heard Abrax mutter under his breath that he thought it was “unlikely.”

Daeton laughed.  “He’s right.  I want you to play hooky.”

“Hooky?”

“Hmm.”  She wiggled closer in his arms as he cantered toward the home they were sharing with his family.  “Skip work and stay with me.  In bed.”

“For you my heart, anything.”

The house was empty, so he made her a quick meal and then took her back to the bedroom, where they made love and she fell asleep in his arms.  He and Ekho had an understanding about their shared wife.  If she wanted one of them, then the other promised not to interfere, but if she wanted both, then they shared her.  Perseus didn’t mind sharing his bride with the leoneman, but he reveled in the times when it was just the two of them.  When he could give her all the pleasure she wanted, when it was only his fingers and his tongue and his cock that made her scream her passion to the sky.

Stroking his fingers down the silky skin of her shoulder, he inhaled her sweet scent and hoped that someday soon she would carry his son.

* * * * *

The alarm bell rang as the moon hung high in the sky and Perseus was out of bed in a heartbeat.  “Stay with Daeton,” he shouted to Ekho over the din as he grabbed the sheath containing his sword and slung it over his back.  He shifted into his half-form as he raced through the house, meeting his father outside.

A home nearby was on fire.

Centaurs hauled buckets of water from the lake to throw onto the house, but the blaze was so great that the water seemed to evaporate before it did any good.  He and his father joined Abrax and Casper as they carried buckets to help.

He saw Perri cradling her newborn in her arms nearby and realized that it was Dally’s home that was on fire.  Behind Perri and her child, something slinked through the shadows toward them.  He suddenly recognized creatures he thought would never dare to come back into Cholas again; the Vehsi!

The creatures, who had once shared Cholas with the Centaurs and taken great pleasure in attacking them before they were driven out, melted from the shadows as if they were cloaked with some sort of dark magic.  They drew closer to Perri who was watching the fire ravage her home and paying no heed to her surroundings.  Her husband Dally was battling the fire with the others.

“Perri!” Perseus yelled as he galloped toward her, sword held high.

She shrieked in alarm and held her baby closer as Perseus leapt over her and swung the sword, lopping off the head of one of the Vehsi.  In a heartbeat, the Vehsi attacked in force and Perseus was no longer alone as his family and fellow Centaurs joined in the fight.

It was a fast battle.  The Vehsi fell swiftly, more given to brute strength than real fighting skills, and they succumbed quickly to the Centaurs’ superior sword and battle training.  His thoughts were on Daeton as he fought, longing to ensure that she was safe.  Just as she passed through his mind again, he knew he needed to go back to the house to see for himself that she was okay.  The Centaurs had overwhelmed the small army of Vehsi, so he felt safe in leaving the dwindling battle.  He swung his sword and cleaved off the head of the nearest Vehsi, then called to his father that he was checking on his bride.

He galloped toward the house.

Lanterns blazed inside the home, the golden glow spilling onto the ground in front of the open door, where two dead Vehsi lay.  Ekho stood in the doorway, short swords in his hands, as he guarded the house where Daeton, Perseus’s mother, Draya, and Fontaine were.  The front door, broken, hung at an odd angle from the hinges.

“What in Hades happened?” Perseus asked, skidding to a halt in front of Ekho.

Ekho didn’t relax his stance.  “They attacked.  One at the front of the house and one around the back.”

“Is everyone well?”  He stepped over the dead bodies as Ekho moved aside to let him in.  Perseus shifted to his fully human form and found the four women sitting on the sofa, worry on their faces.

Daeton jumped up from the couch and raced to him.  He embraced her tightly, kissing the top of her head and then hugging her tighter.  “I don’t know what made me suddenly worry about you, but I was fighting the Vehsi and then I knew I needed to get to you.”

She rubbed her cheek on his chest.  “Ekho had Moman, the girls, and I get up and sit on the couch.  He said it was safer for us to be together.  I think one came in through our bedroom window, Pers.”  She shivered slightly and he rubbed one hand up and down her back.

“Did they say anything?” Perseus asked.  The Vehsi were not known to be great talkers.

Ekho sat down on a kitchen chair and used a rag to clean the blood from the swords.  “The one who came through the front door said nothing.  He used his body like a battering ram and broke right through it.  The second one came in through the back of the house and tried to take Daeton while I was fighting.  Your moman hit him with a frying pan and Daeton used her knife to protect the girls.  I dispatched the first one and went to the second one.”  He paused and glanced at Daeton, who was starting to tremble.  “He said, ‘I saw the broken bodies of the silver bear’s mates and her flesh for sale in the market,’ and then he ripped out his own throat and bled out.”

Perseus glanced at the two dead bodies in the doorway, his thoughts spinning wildly.  The Vehsi had never attacked within the Centaur settlement.  Before Daeton had come into his life, the Vehsi had lived on the outskirts of Cholas and caused trouble for the Centaurs, attacking them within the city market, scarring the Centaur bodies with acid-tainted whips.  But while he and Ekho had been on the road with Daeton, the Centaurs had banded together with the other townspeople within Cholas to drive them away.  They had never expected the Vehsi to retaliate with such a personal attack as setting fire to a Centaur home.

He pushed Daeton away gently and walked to the door.  He called for a young male, who cantered over quickly.  “Yes, Perseus?”

“Do they still battle the Vehsi?”

“No, those that were alive fled and a contingent of our males followed them.”

“Go fetch my papan.”

Nodding, the male kicked off and dashed away.  Ekho said, “What is it you’re thinking?”

“I don’t know.”  Perseus’s mind replayed the short battle over and over.  Something eluded him.  Something important.

Within minutes, his papan appeared, bloody but pleased.  The blood, it appeared, was not his own.  Elektra sprinted to him and hugged him fiercely.  “Did the Vehsi attack any other homes besides Dally’s and ours?” Perseus asked.

His papan’s brows rose.  “I’ll find out.”  He raced away into the darkness.

“What is it?” his moman asked.

Shaking his head, he kept his tumultuous thoughts to himself.

“Little bear, run and fetch the medicine bag hanging on the back of Moman’s door, please.  Ekho’s shoulder is bleeding.”

She nodded and left quickly, but not without a suspicious look so she had probably guessed that he wanted to speak with Ekho.  When she was out of the room, he turned to Ekho and kept his voice very low so she couldn’t overhear with her sensitive shifter hearing.  “I think the fire was a ruse.”

“I agree,” Ekho said with a snarl, his tail whipping back and forth in agitation.  “If I had gone with you to help, Daeton and your moman would have been vulnerable.  Our mate is fierce, but the Vehsi are determined.”

“Why would they want me?”Daeton asked, having returned and now standing near, her hands clutching the medicine bag to her chest, her pretty brown eyes wide with worry.

Ekho immediately pulled her close and Perseus pressed close to her back so she was surrounded.  “It doesn’t matter, sweet bear,” Perseus murmured in her ear.  “They will not get you.”

Although worry ran rampant through him, Perseus shoved those worries away and concentrated on calming his wife.  When his papan came back, Perseus would speak to him about what the Vehsi had said to Ekho, but he would die before he let them harm a hair on Daeton’s head.

* * * * *

By dawn, the bodies of the dead Vehsi had been set ablaze and the settlement and town of Cholas thoroughly scouted with no more Vehsi in sight.  Perseus and Ekho stood with his papan, brothers, and several others, watching the bodies disintegrate.

Abrax said, “The Vehsi were coordinated in their attack.  When they lived in Cholas, they never acted in concert like that.  They would just randomly start a fight and the others would join in.  Someone told them what to do.”

“Or commanded them,” his papan suggested.  “If someone offered them money and gave them a plan, then they would have worked together for their reward.”

Ekho’s face shadowed darkly.  “He said he saw us dead and Daeton for sale in the slave market.  Whoever sent the Vehsi wants us dead and her punished.  But for what?”

“She’s harmed no one.  Everyone in the settlement loves her,” Perseus said.

Odin, one of the males who had journeyed with them, said, “But she
did
harm someone.  She killed the white-haired wizard and screwed up his plans for world domination.”