Page 29 of No Potions Needed

“You’re not gonna freak out, right? Some guys would freak out. I mean, it makes it all easier and—”

“It’s natural. Your body wants you to enjoy mating. Your biology really wants you to enjoy being in heat. If anyone—”

“Sometimes they thought it was gross,” I said, blushing hard and trying not to think about how embarrassing it was whenever my would-be one nightstand reacted like I peed on him or something.

“Then they are cowards,” Ormund announced.

“I don’t know if they were afraid of it,” I laughed.

“Slick tastes sweet,” Ormund said, and I made up my mind not to ask him how he knew that. I didn’t want to think about him with anyone else. He was mine. My mate. My bird. My guy.

“Mine!” I finally snapped, a growl crawling out of my throat.

“Okay, I won’t taste it,” Ormund laughed, and I twisted around inside the big clawfoot tub to face him.

“No, you’re mine. You keep going on and on saying that I’m yours and I reckon I am. I don’t see too much problem with that because you’ve yet to try to make me do anything I don’t want to do or not do something I really wanted to do but we have to get something straight right now.”

“Okay,” Ormund leaned in closer as if he might kiss me before I got too riled up.

“You can give me those hungry eyes all you want but you better listen up,” I said, pushing his long swooping bangs away from his eyes so I could stare deep into them. “You’re mine too. You’re my guy. My mate and I’m not sharing you and I’m not letting anyone hurt you.”

“No one will ever come between us, mate. I promise you that. If you go before me, I’ll follow you into fire and if I go first, I will stay by your side in whatever form is left of me. No one or nothing will ever part us again. You will be safe even long after neither of us have a body to breathe inside of.”

I kissed him hard, pushing him until his back was against the tub. He let out a startled moan that made me grin against his lips. Reaching under him, I pulled the plug on the tub and jiggled the knobs around until I found the right temperature. I turned on the shower because a bath wasn’t the best way to wash the blood off.

“And don’t worry,” he whispered, pushing himself up to his feet and taking me along with him. “I know I’m yours. It’s always gone both ways and don’t worry no one would want to chance your ire if they saw what you did to Elke.”

“He deserved it,” I smirked.

“He did but it was sort of hot too, mate. It was so fucking hot. You smelled so big and brave and bad ass. It was as if your magic set him on fire from the inside out and not in a good way either. Then you chopped him---”

I kissed him again under the water because I couldn’t stop myself. We scrubbed each other clean, and I made sure neither of us had any bits of Elke stuck in our hair or in his feathers. Though, by the time we made it to the bedroom, it turned out that Ormund was right. Killing my first man and exchanging the claiming vows was too much of a workout for one night. Still, I drifted off to sleep naked in his arms for the first time and it was the best night of sleep that I ever had.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Ormund

Many years ago on Pharenos

Scorching hands trailed up my thighs pushing them apart. I reached out for Dern, but he no longer slept next to me with his head on my chest. He was on his belly between my knees, spreading my legs apart. His warm breath danced over my flesh and my dick stood erect as if begging for his touch.

“Mate,” I cooed to him, my bird vibrating with anticipation as his burning hands stroked our inner fire.

“Ormund, it’s hot. It’s --- I’m slick – I’m gushing,” he muttered.

I ran my fingers through his hair, finding it matted to his head with sweat already. I should’ve offered tohelphim before we fell asleep. Part of me thought executing Elke would put off his heat cycle as big life events sometimes do but if anything, it seemed to have added fuel to the fire raging inside my mate. His warm breath played over my naked thighs again and a second later his tongue found my flesh – moist and hot, it left behind a trail as he licked up toward my groin.

“I’m going to taste you. I dreamt about it. I woke up from a dream where your dick was so far in my mouth, I couldn’t think about anything else. Are these feathers?” he asked, running his fingers over the nest of soft downy feathers at the base of my cock. “They’re so soft. It’s sexy. They’re around your balls too.”

His fist wrapped around me as he continued to narrate the things he learned about my anatomy. I sucked in a sharp breath. The zing of pleasure chased away the remnants of sleep fog as he stroked me, whispering compliments as he went along. Dern pushed my thighs further apart to make room for himself between them. His nimble tongue licked up and down my shaft, teasing me as he learned the terrain of my body. I fought to hold still. He was in heat. That much was obvious. We hadn’t discussed eggs or wolflings or anything else reproductive related. Was it too late now? I kicked myself for not bringing it up before I let him loose on the ex-pack leader.

“What’s wrong, Ormund? You went all stiff and I don’t mean your dick,” he said, his voice breathless from heat.

“Uh… We missed some key conversations.”

“Oh,” he let go of my dick as if it were a hot iron. “Do you not want me to?”

“I do! Oh, fuck, I do!” I nodded, pushing myself up on my elbows for a better look at him. “This is good – fucking great, mate. I meant what comes next. Eggs, pups, babies --- I don’t have any preventatives here unless Kaladar sent you home with some and didn’t tell me.”

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