Page 36 of Mated to the Pride

Either I’d forgotten how to be subtle or they were highly receptive to my suggestive tone. Whichever it was, it was immediately obvious that the North men understood exactly what I meant by that. They were already scrambling up from the couch, smoothing down the cushions and practically tripping over themselves to do what they could for me. Stone’s hand was already extended to try and help me up on one side, and Hale’s on the other.

“Jeez,” I said, grinning. “Anyone would think I’d said something exciting.” They hovered at my heels all the way to my bedroom door, stopping right at the threshold as though some forcefield held them back. When I looked over my shoulder at them, the ardent hunger in their eyes sent a flush of lust over my whole body.

Just imagining their desperate hands on me, all at one time, had my heart pounding.

“Well, go on,” I said, sounding shyer than I intended. “Clean up. I won’t be long.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Blake, turning on his heel. Hale had already taken off down the hallway, and Preston wasn’t far behind. Only Stone remained behind, eyes trailing a soft and eager line over my still-clothed body as though there wasn’t a stitch of clothing on me. My toes tightened in my socks, and I felt heat throbbing inside me.

“Sure you’re okay?” he asked, voice both solid and soft like candlelight. “I know this is a lot to take in. We wouldn’t want to rush you into it.”

That warmth crept up the back of my neck, and I had to fight myself not to close the gap between us. I wanted to kiss all that hope and sweetness off his lips until there was only something dark and animal left — but right now we had to wait. All five of us did.

“You think you four pussycats could pressure me into anything I didn’t want?” I teased, shedding my sweater as I sloped into the bathroom. Looking back at him one more time, I was pleased to see desire painted all over his face. “Fifteen minutes. We’ll see who’s feeling rushed.”

By the time I closed the bathroom door behind me, my face was flushing pure red. I wasn’t sure who this woman was — this cool, confident person who was taking this entire ‘One Mate’ thing in stride. In the moment, it all felt so natural. The way it felt to have their hands and their eyes on me made it impossible to question. Only now that I was out of the spotlight could I begin to question myself.

This couldn’t really be happening. And even if it was, why had they all chosenme?

The hot water beat down over my aching body, washing away the stress and uncertainty of the past 24 hours. In truth, I figured I should probably sleep off the stress and fear, but I couldn’t have closed my eyes and rested right now for all the money in the world. I knew that my four North men were out there waiting for me with bated breath and eager kisses for many different parts of my body.

Once I hopped out of the shower and the roar of the water left my ears, there was only deceptive silence in the cabin around me. Feeling my nerves begin to riot, I took my time lathering on moisturizing lotion and spritzing myself with perfume — teasing my hair away from my face, twisted and fastened back in the hopes that it would dry into loose waves.

When I looked back at myself in the mirror, I was stunned to see the woman standing there. What they said about pregnancy really must be true. There was a glow to my skin, so golden and light that I almost looked unfamiliar, or even magical. I saw the rise and fall of my chest, gentle and smooth as though I wasn’t panicking inside. I feltgoodin a way I hadn’t in a long time — empowered by the life inside me and the effect I had on the North men, and anticipating all the pleasure to come.

I took one last deep breath to steady myself, and slipped on my dark satin robe from the back of the bathroom door. Hair still damp, I made my way through my room and the corridor to the comfort of the communal space.

There, before a softly-crackling fire, the North men — my pride — had built a soft-sheeted paradise of pillows and blankets. With the couches pushed slightly aside, the space was enough to fit all of us comfortably. They stood as I approached, half-dressed and hardening just at the sight of me. I swallowed, tongue darting out to wet my lips.

“This is perfect, what you’ve done,” I said. “It’s so beautiful.”

And it was. It felt like an altar to true romance, without the rose petals and the lacy underwear that Hollywood always sold us. There was only the soft cotton of the sheets that would lie beneath us — the smoothness of our skin, and the heat from our bodies intermingling with the fire. If there was a more appealing sight, I’d never seen it.

Preston was closest to me, and held out a hand for me to take. As I took it, stepping into the security and energy of this private space, I felt Blake close in behind me, his lips pressing down softly against the back of my neck — Stone smoothing my hair away with a soft touch, and Hale’s fingertips skimming the simple tie of my robe.

“Can I…?”

“Yes.” I tipped my head back into Blake’s kiss and let Hale do what he wanted — to unpick the knot and let the satin of my robe fall apart. I heard him inhale at the sight of my bare skin beneath, and shuddered as he drew a line from my stomach to the tip of my chin. Stone was less restrained; his arm snaked around my waist, dipping underneath the robe to touch me directly.

My heart was fluttering already. My toes curled in the soft fabric of the blanket beneath us.

I felt like a goddess, brought back to my power by their hands.

Preston’s hands traced a figure of eight over the inside of my leg. I sighed, parting my legs by bare instinct, and my lip trembled as I felt him climb to his knees. His hot breath fluttered against my thigh, painfully close to my sex; I spared a hand to tangle in his hair, eyes squeezed tight shut and managing to stay upright only by the grace of Blake’s presence behind me — and the pressure of his hard cock.

He and Hale worked together to slip the robe down away from my body. It pooled at my feet, no longer required in the glowing heat of the room. I felt more naked than I’d ever been, but at the same time completely invulnerable. There was no safer or better place for me to be in the world. No eyes I wanted on me more than the North pride.

Preston pressed a chaste kiss to the front of my sex as he moved his attention to my other leg, drawing a moan from somewhere deep within me. Stone’s hand massaged at my hip, almost kneading the pleasure out of me with his gentle but well-aimed touch. My eyes fluttered closed again, and it was now that I began to lose track of whose hands were which — of anything tethering me to the solid and serious world outside.

There was a hand between my legs, from behind — a gentle, stroking motion that explored how wet I already was, and set the fire in my stomach that Preston’s quick kiss had promised. Before long those lips were back on my front, this time pointed and purposeful. Preston’s tongue — at least, I assumed it was Preston — rubbed soft and careful life into my sex, flicking slowly over my clit. In time, I felt those fingers press inside me, beginning to explore the tight warmth of my body just as Blake began to rub his cock against the curve of my ass.

I may never know what exactly drew me here to live and work with these men, or why it had to be now. All Ididknow was that things were exactly as they were supposed to be.

I gave a choked cry as that mouth pressed closer to suck at my clit, back arching and leaning back into Blake’s waiting arms behind me as I submitted to the wave of fast-mounting pleasure. I wasn’t sure when I moved, but when I opened my eyes it seemed I had been carefully carried down to the floor — that my legs were now wrapped over Preston’s shoulders as he continued to worship my pussy, and Blake’s cock against the small of my back.

When I looked to the side, I found Stone’s hard cock waiting for me. I looked up to meet his eyes as I took him into my mouth, relishing in the groan it teased out of him. Hale’s tongue traced a circle around my nipple, spreading the shuddering pleasure I felt to entirely new parts of my body — and just as intense. It wasn’t long before I came for them for the first time, toes tensing and clenching over Preston’s shoulders and still rubbing eagerly at Stone with a spare hand.

Preston looked up at me once I’d bleated out my pleasure, eyes intense with desire.

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