Page 10 of Claimed for Eternity

From the gateway, Xenos had hired a horse drawn carriage to take us the last twenty or so miles of the journey. Twenty miles wasn’t that far for us. At least for me. I usually ran more than that on the treadmill on the days I actually got to squeeze in a workout in the gym. I preferred to run in the wild, but the gym was a lot closer to the carriers who loved to experience complications, emergencies, or false contractions any time I went for a run in the woods.

“Show off,” Xenos teased, picking up on my thoughts. “Twenty miles?”

“You knew that already,” I teased him.

“I didn’t say it was a bad thing. Maybe I like when you show off,” Xenos grinned.

“I don’t think the carriage ride includes the perk of being able to show off,” I said, meeting his gaze. “Twenty miles will take the horses a few hours. You’d run it faster, but I was afraid someone would go into labor on the way and you’d stop in the middle of the woods to deliver a baby or a litter of wild wolf pups or something.”

“So, perks? Yay? Nay? We need to be quiet while perking?”

“I’m not sure. I didn’t ask. I figured we waited all this time and that a few more hours…” his words trailed off as I kissed his neck. I licked up toward his earlobe and back down to the collar of his shirt. I could smell my claiming bite, placed all those years ago, through the cotton. I breathed in his scent as I slid my hand over his muscular thigh. He might not run twenty miles every chance he got but bear genetics didn’t do him dirty. I kissed up and down his neck, savoring his taste and the scent of whatever vanilla sugar cookie cologne he wore.

“That’s Wild Woods Vanilla,” Xenos giggled. “Not some sugar cookie…”

“Really? You taste sweet,” I said and licked up his neck again. “And come on, you think I don’t know that bears always want to smell food. I’ve lived with you all long enough to know better. I swear, I could wear a cologne that smelled like pot roast and…”

The carriage came to a stop, and I bit the inside of my cheek. Had the driver overheard our conversation? Had we gone too far for his comfort?

“Is it an ambush?”my wolf asked.

Some habits die hard, and instincts make you live forever. My wolf grew up surrounded by assholes, constantly fighting and warring against each other.

“Is everything okay?” Xenos called out to the driver. “We’re not there yet, are we?”

“This is a deer crossing,” the driver called back in accented wolf.

Xenos had picked up plenty of wolfish words and communication styles but his elvish was still a bit wonky. He often said things like he was going to sail the pot roast and asked me to sink the potatoes. It was good fun if we were the only ones around.

I stuck my head out of the carriage window and sure enough a long line of grey and brown deer crossed gingerly in front of the carriage.

“Dinner time!”I teased Xenos over our mating link and he slapped my thigh.

“Ouch!” I laughed and he shot me a dirty look. I’d seen enough deer, cow, chicken, and pig spirits to know if I was ever going to go even partially vegetarian by now and I was not. I was a wolf. We weren’t obligate carnivores like cats and snakes, but we loved our meat, and I loved the hunt. There was something about running with the pack, the take down, and the taste of copper flooding over my tongue that was heaven. Hell, besides loving Xenos and delivering babies, it was probably the only reason I was put on Earthside.

“You’ve hunted before,” I pointed out.

“I know I have but sheesh! What mental imagery!”

“Nothing wrong with enjoying the hunt and you eat what I bring home.”

“And sometimes what you bring home asks me why I’m eating it!” he said and slapped my thigh again.

“Do you plan to beat me up the whole trip, mate?” I arched a brow as the last deer passed by and the elven steeds continued on their journey to SLEEP.

“Sorry,” Xenos said and bit his lip. “I think I’m a little wound up too. This morning a chicken spirit asked why I was consuming the unborn.”

“I told you. Tell them the same reason they eat bugs. Food is food. I’m all for everyone being vegan or vegetarian if they want to or have to for medical reasons but if a shifter wants to hunt his dinner, he should be able to. You should be able to eat a damn egg without a chicken asking that and unfertilized eggs aren’t the unborn. They’re missed opportunities for the birds and breakfast for us. Now, do you want to beat me up or do you want me to beat you off? Eh, that sounded better in my head,” I laughed and rubbed the back of my neck.

“It didn’t sound too bad aloud. Not to me anyway. Though, it has been a while. Wouldn’t know by this,” he pointed down to his baby bump barely visible through his shirt. “But it has.”

“You’re slick, huh?” I asked, leaning in to lick his earlobe.

“Always am when I’m locked in small spaces with you,” Xenos chuckled, it was low and throaty.

I ran my hand over his muscular thigh again, but this time didn’t stop until I reached his dick. He was hard too. Hard, thick, and pulsating through his pants. I stroked him with a single fingertip, teasing his shaft with just a preview of what I could give him. A low, throaty growl escaped him, and I smiled to myself. After all these years, I still knew how to drive him crazy and it just might’ve been my favorite thing in the world to do.

“Even more than hunting?” he asked, glancing at me as I took hold of his dick through his pants.

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