Primal Claim (8 page)

Her hands flew from his now loosened grip, and she wrapped them around his broad shoulders and buried her face in neck.

“Are you all right?” he hesitantly asked, cradling her and supporting her weight as she clung to him.

Nodding, she moved a bit so she could look at him, strangely comfortable with how close they were, given the fact that she’d kicked off her covers sometime during her slumber. When his head lowered to determine whether she was indeed all right, Dani couldn’t resist anymore. She had to know. Would his lips feel as good as they looked?

She met him the rest of the way, claiming his lips with her own. He stiffened, she felt the shock quickly dissipate as he hugged her closer, his knees sliding out so he was stretched out over her, his body a welcome balm for the terror she woke up from.

He was so warm, so solid, and so
real
. She gave her hands free range over his body. When his tongue swept across her lips, she gladly opened them and met it with her own. He explored her mouth like it was the new eighth wonder of the world. The restless feeling between her legs started to throb, wanting to be as close to him as possible, moisture started to pool anticipating his entrance, wanting to also be invaded by his body, like her mouth was.

She spread her knees to cradle him between her thighs, he rocked into her. His impressive size stroking her intimately, but relieving nothing. There were too many clothes in the way and he appeared to be in no rush, like he was fascinated with her lips and her tongue, his hands exploring her curves. Once one hand reached her butt, it never left while he used his other hand to slide up her shirt.

A low groan rumbled against her chest as soon as his fingers met her flesh.

“So soft,” he muttered, against her lips.

Almost desperately pulling up Mercury’s black shirt, Dani slid her hands up and down his chest. Up, gently circling his nipples, smiling when she felt his body shudder over hers, back down, rimming the top of his sweats. His massive size pushed the fabric out of the way, but out of her reach, pinned between their bodies, slowly rocking into her. The thrumming between her legs was almost unbearable, the male above her irresistible, the adrenaline from her nightmare like kerosene. Heat was building, desperately needing to be released.

Mercury’s hand found her breast and cupped it gently, careful but firm. Then his fingers began to massage the nipple.

Heat. Unbearable.

Frustrated, she grabbed his hand from her ass and, thanks to the extra big, extra loose shorts, effortlessly slid it in between them and her body to touch her center.

Abruptly, he stopped their kiss, his forehead on hers in complete awe as he touched her.

“
So
.
Soft
,” he growled. “So wet.”

Rolling her hips into his hand, his fingers threaded between her folds, and she exhaled into him.

It was like she’d gone from zero to one-twenty two seconds after she woke up. His scent, his heat, his emotion, stoked her desire to unheard of levels.

So fast, she should be ashamed if she didn’t need it so bad, her body peaked and went soaring. Mercury didn’t even have to move his hand, she took care of it all with her shudders and spasms as she cried out her orgasm.

The first thing Dani noticed after coming down off the tumultuous waves was that his hand still hadn’t moved and she was already moving against it again. The second thing was his heart-wrenching gaze of utter adoration at her, like watching her climax was the most astounding thing he’d ever seen.

The anxiety of when, not if, he found out her secrets threatened to interfere so she grabbed him up in another kiss to make it go away.

A quick learner, Mercury circled her sensitive bud and tunneled a finger down. Slowly he slide it inside.

“Even wetter,” he moaned into her mouth.

Her body clamped down onto him, barely letting him move to slide in and out. She hoped instinct told him to prep her well before trying to fit his massive size into her.

Pounding on the door made them both freeze.

“Mercury! Get some food and meet in the lodge in an hour.” Dani recognized Bennett’s voice.

To say irritation flashed in Mercury’s eyes would be an understatement. Was he growling?

“Merc!”

“Yeah! Fine!” Mercury hollered back.

“Well next time answer your damn texts,” Bennett shouted through the door. “Or I’ll think the little woman slit your throat in your sleep.”

Dani stiffened then forced herself to relax, but Mercury caught the movement and withdrew his finger from inside of her. Her body instantly mourned the loss.

“Leave, Bennett.”

“You’d better not be doing her. Dude, you know we can’t trust her.”

Mercury was helping Dani up.

“Fuck off, Bennett.”

Loud stomps could be heard as Bennett stormed off the porch.

“Sorry. He’s, ah-”

“Protective?” Dani finished. Bennett had to know everything about Mercury, and although she had no intention to hurt Mercury – only pleasure came to her mind when she thought of him – she couldn’t blame Bennett for looking out for him.

“Yeah. That’s it.”

“You guys text each other? I thought you all were telepathic or something?”

Mercury’s guarded look and considered pause meant he was figuring out what was okay to tell her and just how much. She wasn’t fishing for information to use against them, just surprised that paranormal creatures equipped with a variety of mental gifts would be thumbing iPhones to communicate.

“We can be,” he finally said. “But it’s not working like it should.”

Looking at him expectantly, Dani waited for a follow up to his cryptic tidbit.

Instead, he said, “We’d better get ready,” and ruffled through the drawers, the huge tenting in front of his sweats had be uncomfortable. Dani shifted, suddenly self-conscious. She was relieved temporarily of the terrible pressure that had been mounting since he popped up naked in front of her last night. It was getting stroked, literally, again when the door pounding scared the ever-loving shit out of her. Mercury took no relief for himself, back to business as usual, but he had to be aching.

When he straightened, his eyes swept her from head to toe, flaring hot. In that instant, her pressure was back, starting to thrum like it was trying to get closer to the giant male in the room. His gaze traveled her body slowly, like he was remembering how she felt and the sounds she made when his hands worked her.

“I’ll change in the other room. You can have the bathroom.” Adjusting his sweats, he headed out the door.

Dani briefly recalled another bedroom in the cabin; it was empty. On her way to the bathroom, she stopped to read some of the titles of books on his shelves. She wouldn’t have pegged him for a reader. But interestingly, there was quite a variety: classics, contemporary, mysteries, textbooks. The wear and tear on them meant they weren’t just for show, he probably even moved around with them.

That thought led her to wonder how old he was. Shifters lived so much longer than humans. As his mate, if she bound herself to him, she would share his life span. Even acquire his self-healing abilities. Maybe she should bind herself to him before the stretch marks started.

Holy shit! The hot mess that greeted Dani in the bathroom mirror startled her musings away. The bar soap and lack of conditioner, not to mention the thrashing from the nightmare, gave her long, chocolate hair all kinds of free reign to get tangled up. But under the rat’s nest, her dark eyes sparkled and her cheeks retained their flush from being with Mercury. The memory caused her to flush even more and her already taut nipples to poke further through the t-shirt material, so now she looked like a thoroughly sexed-up woman.

Frantically trying to finger comb her hair without ripping it out, Dani got it manageable and tied it back on itself into a loose ponytail. Mercury owned soap, a razor, toothpaste, and a toothbrush. That was it. Those four things, along with the towels, were all the items in the small bathroom.

Sighing, as she felt her clothes to see if they were at all dry, Dani thought it just wasn’t fair he could look as good as he did without an arsenal of supplies. Humidity wasn’t bad in West Creek and they were deep in the woods surrounding the town, so at least her underwear was dry. The rest would need more time. Throwing the panties on, she folded and tied the shorts and tied the bottom of the t-shirt so it wouldn’t hang so badly on her breasts, showcasing how Mercury made her feel.

Waiting patiently at the door, absorbing the sight of her, all he said was, “Ready?”

“I don’t have shoes,” she said, pointing to her boots from last night sitting by the bed. She could wear them, this wasn’t the time to be concerned about fashion, but seriously, boots with her outfit would look atrocious and that bothered her when it shouldn’t.

He quirked an eyebrow at the boots, obviously wondering why she wouldn’t wear them.

“The path to the lodge isn’t too bad and we’ll be down there for awhile. I’m sure the commander wants to talk with you some more. If you don’t plan on running, you won’t need them.” The last sentence was said with a growl underlying the words.

“Let’s go then,” she said, almost a bit defiantly. She wanted to run from Mercury and the feelings he stirred in her, and the memory of his touch. But mothers had to protect their young and as long as she was pregnant with a baby who Sigma desperately wanted, she would cling to any protection the Guardians offered.

As long as she was pregnant. It was
so
early yet. What if she didn’t carry to term? She had just graduated college when she joined Sigma. One of her older friends had gotten married and became pregnant. Dani recalled her excitedly spilling the news in a hushed tone because it was so early and she didn’t want to officially announce anything until after the first trimester.

Concerns and questions, so many questions, were flying around in her head as she followed Mercury down the path to the lodge, picking her way carefully with her bare feet.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, abruptly rounding on her. “I can smell your worry.”

Damn shifters and their senses. Could he smell her desire, too? Could the others? Would they smell Mercury on her, or figure it was from their close proximity the last twelve hours? She blinked up at him, suddenly aware of the bright sun shining in her face. It was a beautiful summer day and she had no idea what time it was.

“Are you worried about the commander? Meeting the others?” he asked.

“No, actually. I really don’t care about spilling on Sigma and any secrets of theirs I might know. I’m just wondering...” It felt suddenly too intimate to talk baby with this man, who was the father. “Nine months is a long time, and it’s so early. What if...”

Caught by how painful it was to voice the thought of losing the life forming inside of her, Dani found she couldn’t really say it out loud.

Mercury’s brows drew together. “What if what?”

Reformulating her words to almost think hypothetically. “Well, you know, some women miscarry.”

“Do you feel like something’s wrong?”

“What do you mean?”

Mercury shrugged. “Our people are very intuitive, in touch with nature and our bodies. You’re human, but our baby,” he paused on those words, an unreadable look flitting across his face, “will be a shifter. Look in on yourself and see if you can feel something wrong.”

How was she supposed to do that? Closing her eyes, letting the warm sun’s rays melt into her, she concentrated on the area in her abdomen where the little one grew.

It was a breathtaking sight. Dani, with her face turned up into the sun, eyes closed, a half smile almost overtaking the worry he’d scented from her just a moment ago. Her messy ponytail hung down her neck, caressing her delicate skin in place of his tongue.

He’d had a taste of her and wanted more. She’d let him into her body and he wanted deeper. He wanted to explore every inch of her skin, inside and out with his hands, his tongue. He wanted to feel her heat and moisture wrapped around him. Instinctively, he knew he hadn’t been missing anything. Kissing and touching wouldn’t have felt the same with anyone else. He couldn’t stand the thought of other women touching him any more than they had to. He just knew it was something to be saved for his mate. As a Guardian, mates aren’t found very easily and his rocky start in life, and difficulty tolerating people, didn’t give him much hope of finding his.

Before he started sporting another massive, painful erection he decided he’d better do something. She was worried about their baby. Their baby. Would he ever get used to that? He wasn’t allowed consent or the pleasure of her body, neither was she, to make this baby. Regardless, a baby was made from them and she was scared.

He concentrated on her lower belly, zeroing in like he had x-ray vision. As she went inward, he went outward.

A warmth spread through his mind, lighting up dark corners he’d given up hope on. A soft gasp came from Dani as if she felt him too, like he was feeling her. Tied to her presence was the tiny kernel of awareness he’d come to associate with his young. A thrill went through him, then a dawning comprehension of dismay.

“Did you feel that?” she asked breathlessly, her eyes glittering excitedly in the sun. “I didn’t think it would work, but then I felt you and it was like a booster pack and I swear I could feel it.”

Shoving this new information to the back of mind so he could talk with Commander Fitzsimmons later, he gave her a forced smile.

“We’d better get you some food before we meet the others.”

The excitement drained from her face and made him want to growl at himself. She must not have felt what he did. Fucking Sigma.

They entered through the back door of the lodge and wove their way to kitchen. Another Guardian, Mason, was sitting at the table, scrolling through his tablet, chewing on some bacon. The males glared at each other since Mercury could feel the man’s distaste of his mate. Sitting Dani at the far end so she didn’t have to be next to the infuriating male, Mercury started rummaging through the cabinets for food. Grabbing the rest of the bacon and some toast he sat across from Dani and dished out their food.