Page 61 of Fated Exile

Catching her eyes, I ask, "What's worrying you? And don't tell menothing.I can see it on your face, even if I couldn't feel it inside me."

Biting her lower lip, she admits, "It's Bastian."

"I thought you drove the dark presence from his mind?"

"I did. That part I'm confident in," she reassures me, soothing the knot starting in my stomach. "But his past is... complicated. I'm not sure if he's ready for sex."

I raise my brows at her, barely able to stifle the chuckle that wants to burst from my lips. "Oh, I'msurehe's ready."

"How can you be? Unless—have you talked about it?"

"We didn't need to talk about it." I grin at her. "While you and Finn were going at it, I was at the edge of the circle, and I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy listening in. So I walked out into the woods for a bit—and Bastian was out there already. He had his pants around his ankles and was jerking itprettyhard. Saying your name over and over again."

"Oh." She blushes, frowning. "But that's not the same as beingready.It may not be what he's expecting when he imagines it."

My heart swells at how careful and considerate she is. Pushing her hair back behind her shoulder, I kiss her cheek and tell her, "Just let him take control, and tell him to ask questions. Based on the way he was acting, I'm pretty sure he's not going to last long, so don't worry too much. He'll be excited just to feel a warm woman on him."

She blushes. "I hope you're right."

"I know I am." I slide her off my lap regretfully, enjoying the way her legs tremble as we both stand. "You have nothing to worry about, Delilah. Other than keeping up with all five of us."

Delilah groans at this, then shifts into her wolf form. The white fur of her body shines in the moonlight, and I take a moment to appreciate her. Then I shift as well—the ease of it shocking and relieving after so many years of torment and difficulty.

Together, we raise our heads and sing to the moon.

Then, a few minutes later, I find myself standing naked at the edge of the Mating Circle. Finn gives me a look, and I ignore him, watching Roarke stride to the center. He managed to save his pants somehow, so he's clothed, unlike the rest of us. I swallow at the sight of his muscular upper body, wondering when he got so ripped—and when I started noticing.

Maybe I'm only thinking about it because I just saw and heard him have sex with my girl.Ourgirl. And buddies like to share. All I know is, I have to figure out whatever I'm feeling before Finn notices and decides to tie our dicks together with string.

Roarke says the sacred words, distracting me from my own emotions. The Mating Circle begins to glow black, the sight of it disturbing. I look around for Bastian, and don't find him beside me.

Lance catches my gaze and frowns. "Have you seen him?"

"Not for a bit," I confess, wondering if he had to go into the woods to jerk it a second time. Wouldn't be the first young guy with a short refractory period who got it up multiple times at the thought of his first pussy. "He'll turn up though, right? The threads will pull him back to the circle."

Finn frowns, his brows drawing together and his expression serious, possibly for the first time in his life. "Something is wrong. I don't like what I smell... I think that's blood."

This is, of course, the moment when the wind shifts, and I catch the scent of a vampire in the air.

Twenty-Four

Bastian

My wolf roars to life the moment I smell it:the enemy.A vampire, just outside the border of my new home and threatening all I hold dear. It's cloaked in odd magic and smellsoffsomehow.

No one else notices it. The vampire stretches a leg across the border, the brush of its presence against the edge of the territory making my new runic tattoo itch. I look around wildly to see if anyone is going to react, but no one does.

It's like they're unable to sense its presence. That, or they're focused on what's going on in the Mating Circle—but nothing is happening at the moment, especially in comparison to the howls of pleasure just a minute ago.

If I sound the alarm, I may come off completely insane, and get myself thrown back into that barren, cold compound.

If I don't sound the alarm, but it turns out the vampire is real, I'll loseeverything.Delilah will look at me with betrayal in her eyes. I don't think I could take that.

The decision made, I slip away from the thin crowd around the Mating Circle and stride off into the woods. A flush heats my skin as I pass the spot where I hid just a while ago, when my arousal got the better of me and I had to take care of myself.

I've never seen sex before—never watched a man enter a woman like that. It was more overwhelming than I expected. Even now, my body is making it clear that it wants to dothat.

And I'm going to get to. I don't know what to think about that yet. I've certainly had the urges, and have seen plenty of things while I was in captivity with the vampires. They touched me, filled me with venom, paralyzed me, and used my body. But it was almost always Demetri who did it, sometimes Marcus, with a side of draining my blood until I was weak.

---