Page 60 of Fae Devoted
Johnnie untangled her unclasped hand from the covers and clung to his shoulder, his skin hard and hot beneath her graspingpalm. He pushed her knee to her chest, sinking to the hilt. He stroked, rocked, and withdrew. Stroked, rocked, and withdrew, steering her toward a climax that might tear her apart. Johnnie held on for the ride, blunt fingernails digging into his flesh, heel pressing into his thigh as she climbed ever higher—on the verge of slipping over the precipice once again.
“Let go,” he ordered on a broken growl, grinding hard against her clit.
Johnnie clamped down and obeyed his command, falling into shattering ecstasy. She convulsed around him, and Jacob’s pace turned frenzied, the cords of his neck straining with effort, chasing his own release. The veins in the side of his neck pounded a fierce rhythm, his gaze turning to molten wolf-gold. His muscles tensed, hips bucking as he threw back his head and roared, canines gleaming white in the shadowed darkness.
Johnnie’s throat closed, his primal beauty taking her breath away.
Jacob released her leg, but not her hand. He collapsed to his elbows and pressed his lips to her forehead.
“Mine,” he murmured, nuzzling her temple.
“Yours,” Johnnie agreed, sighing in total contentment. She turned to lick the thudding pulse on the side of his throat, his skin tasted of evergreens and sea salt. She butted his chin up with her nose and nipped at his stubbled jawline.
“Behave.” Jacob raised his head, flashing pointed canines. The bond hummed with amusement.
“You bit me first. Who knew kittens had such big teeth? Or should I say…” She grinned, loving the intimacy of their linked bodies and the stronger connection of a second Mating Mark. Loving him. “Who knew myBunny—”
Johnnie hissed as Jacob used those teeth to graze the older Mark on her shoulder. He traced the lines of the bruise-coloredstain above her clavicle with his tongue, and it buzzed like a live wire.
“You were saying?” he asked, palming her breast and brushing the tender nipple with his thumb.
“Ummm…” Her mind blanked, electricity zinging straight to her core, her sex clenching around his swiftly swelling cock. Jacob’s mouth crashed on hers, hips rolling then driving home, obliterating all thoughts of things soft and fluffy.
His heart feltlike it was being torn from his body, the membranes holding it in place ripping in concert with Jo’s screams. Blood soaked the ground, the stain spreading as he looked on…powerless to stop his brother from hurting his female. So fucking helpless.
Tucker jerked awake, eyes opening to the blunted colors of his wolf-vision. Instinctively, he tightened his arms around Jo, and the light weight draped across his torso shifted. He blinked, and the dull yellow haze cleared.
His she-wolf—his truemate—was safe.
“Another nightmare about Jeremiah?” Her drowsy voice calmed his galloping pulse, and he loosened his grip.
“Yeah.”
“Want to talk about it?” Jo propped her chin on his breastbone, her fingers tracing soothing circles on his chest. “You’ve never told me what happened between the two of you all those years ago. Why did you leave the Grayson Pack?”
“It was either break ties or challenge Jeremiah for the role of Alpha.” Tucker sighed and ran his hand from the crown of her head to the wild tips of her sleep tousled hair, wrapping a thicklock around his fist then resting it on the graceful curve of her spine. “I didn’t have much choice. He was convinced I wanted the Texas pack for myself.”
“You would never consider usurping your brother.” Jo’s delicate brows pinched, her voice rising in volume. “That’s ridiculous.”
Shit, this female. Her trust in him was absolute.
“He wasn’t…himself. And hadn’t been for a while.” The day Jeremiah attacked Fitzgerald was the final straw, but the camel’s back had been bent long before then.
“The Fae?” Her sadness, understanding, and…love strummed the bond like a guitar string playing a series of dulcet notes.
Tucker nodded, his chest clenching as he brushed the back of his hand over her cheekbone, then mapped the smattering of freckles on her nose with his fingertip. How had he ever considered giving her up?
“He attacked an inexperienced warrior during a training session and almost killed him.” His lids closed, reliving the events leading to his decision to choose exile as if they happened yesterday. “I stopped him in time, but Jeremiah saw my interference as a betrayal. When I went to see him later that night, he said my actions would sow dissension within the pack.” Opening his eyes, he trailed the lone digit to her mouth, caressing the fullness of her lower lip. “Accused me of undermining his authority.”
“I’m sorry.” Jo sighed, her breath brushing his skin.
“I asked him why his wolf reacted to a young clanmate’s momentary rashness as if it were an assassination attempt.”
“What did he say?”
“Nothing.” Tucker had never told anyone this part of the story. Not even Samuel. “Jeremiah went into a rage and sliced the side of my face open.”
Jo gasped, and her hand on his chest stilled.
