Page 36 of Toadstools and Vampire Kisses

“No! Report nothing.” I bite out the words. “I am not a part of your plan. I am only here to assist you. Fran has nothing to do with this and I want her left out of whatever business you have going with Queen Isadora.”

“But, Reynard, we must! You are the only one of us who has managed to mate. There have been many pleasurable nights for Jace, Connor and I to be sure—and who knows what is going on in Ulrek’s bedroom? We actually have a wager on that—but there have been no signs of mating.” He makes a face. “And the one female I might get somewhere with—Paige—seems determined to ignore me.”

“I said no. Do not attempt to ease your own failures through me. Perhaps your mistake is bedding every woman at this affair who accepts you,” I reply dryly as we walk along the forest edge. A cacophony of nighttime sounds fills the air, letting me know that all is exactly as it should be. “I doubt that has softened your witch’s feelings toward you if she is so easily replaceable.”

Jack looks at me in disbelief and laughs. “Clearly you know nothing about women, Reynard. Women like a strong, virile man who can demonstrate their ability to please them. While any of those women would have been an acceptable mate if she triggered my nesting, I know that Paige is the one. It is just a matter of time before she chooses to recognize my suitability.”

“So you say,” I murmur, striking out ahead. “Just keep in mind what I have said and try not to get yourself murdered by an irate witch. Now, I am going to take the northern perimeter. We shall meet back here in an hour’s time.”

“In an hour,” Jack replies as he peels off in the opposite direction.

Despite the trace scents that I can only assume are from an overly brave wraith circling around the property, the night is uneventful. Neither Jack nor I have anything worth reporting each time we meet, which should relieve me but instead leaves an unsettling feeling sinking its claws into my mind. I make a note to mention the faint presence to Katherine. There is the off chance that it is something with which she is familiar, and if not, I will feel better if she is forewarned.

With a brief farewell to the other males with the change of guard, I take wing across the remaining distance that separates me from the house. At this late an hour, I stroll into the house with my wings out, taking the stairs two at a time until I finally arrive at Fran’s room. I don’t knock since I don’t wish to wake her, but since the door has been left unlocked for me, I slip inside silently.

The soft sound of Fran’s breathing fills the room as her small, lush body shifts in her sleep to sprawl across the bed despite being wrapped thoroughly in the blankets. She is easily taking up most of the bed, but the sight calls a smile to my face as much as her simple presence there calls to the instinct within me to nest with her. As I slip toward the bed, however, Beast releases a small bark that makes me spin around toward the door with my wings flaring wide until I realize the damned creature is asleep.

“Some guard you are,” I whisper disapprovingly at him. “You ought not give the alert when there is nothing there except you chasing rodents in your dreams.”

Giving him an amused look, I stalk over to the bed and bend down to gently shift my mate over to give me room to climb in beside her. I slide in and chuckle when she immediately turns toward me, throwing her leg over my thigh.

I stroke my fingers through her curls and smile down at her. “Did you miss me?”

She sighs and settles in closer, warning my heart as I wrap both arm and wing around her. “I have missed you too. Hated every moment we were apart, in fact,” I murmur as I drag her closer, relishing the press of her body against mine. “There is no better feeling having my mate in my arms, right where you belong.”

She mutters something under her breath, but I imagine that she is speaking her heart to me too and I smile as I wrap my wing more thoroughly around us and settle into a welcome slumber.

ChapterTwenty-Two

FRAN

Ismile sleepily as an intense warm sensation teases the inside of my leg. Shifting, I allow my legs to fall apart and sigh with pleasure when that hot touch brushes against my sex. A purr rumbles in my ear as thick fingers stroke through my folds to pluck at my clit, sending a warmth flooding through my belly.

“Good, you are awake,” Reynard rasps.

His large frame immediately covers me, his nose nuzzling the crook of my neck as he draws in a deep breath. “You smell so good, Fran.”

“Mmm,” I sigh, a smile stretching across my face as his nose drags lower over my body, his lips caressing my skin sweetly following every tiny nip of his fangs and brush of his tongue.

He is tasting me thoroughly, his tongue sweeping over my nipples before tugging each one into the hot well of his mouth and then dropping lower and lower. His wings rustle all around us, and I open my eyes to admire the gleam of sunlight through the webbing making the thin gray skin come alive with a subtle sheen like a labradorite with its tiny hints of blue. The wing flexes subtly with Reynard’s every breath so that they almost appear to respire themselves rather than a sympathetic instinctual motion.

Craning my head upward, I see the long dark hook of his wing-claw imbedded in the wall. My mouth parts in surprise because my mother would freak if she saw the damage he’s doing to the wall, and I make a mental note to install leather strips above my bed for his claw to hook into if this is going to be a habit. Wiggling as his tongue slides over my belly, I turn my head to glance over at his other wing-claw to note its similar position.Yep, definitely going to need something there.Because I really want to do this again.

I moan as his mouth teases along my pelvis, the press of his fangs scraping erotically. My clit pulses, my pussy slicking further at the sensation. The need for more crawls through my skin. I want a deeper scrape of his fangs. I want him to bite. I arch into his mouth, and he sucks hungrily on my pelvic bone.

“Bite me,” I whimper as the need takes on an excruciating heat lacing through my blood.

I feel his hesitation, and I look down my body to meet his hungry eyes as they flick up to me. I know he has never bitten a woman before, but I can feel his desire to do so as he sucks harder against my pelvis, flooding my pussy with need as his purr rumbles louder.

“Reynard, do it. We both want it. Please.”

The press of his fangs sends a hot pain slicing deep into me that turns to euphoria—pleasure unlike what I’ve ever known swims through me as I cry out. It’s incredible! Every tug of his mouth feels attached to my clit, dragging my pleasure higher as he draws my blood into him. Too soon it is over, and I make a sound of dismay, but then his hot mouth brushes over my pussy and it sends every thought out of my head.

His mouth could win awards the way it plays with the sensitive flesh. It may be a predator thing, but he leaves nothing untasted while exploring, sucking, and nibbling on all his long tongue runs over. When he sucks my clit into his mouth, however, the inhuman heat of it and the strong suction of his lips sends me spiraling into my first orgasm as heat continues to wash over me. This heat is unnatural as it blooms, extending each orgasm and making me hungry for more. It’s a hunger I don’t understand, but it drives my need for something inexplicable as I writhe beneath him, his own ravenous sounds coming from his mouth spurring me on.

Without effort, he drags me up to the pinnacle a second time and sends me over in a glory of needy flames consuming me. I shriek and thrash against his mouth, but he holds my legs in an iron grip until he’s satisfied. I drag in a gulping breath as his head finally rises from between my legs and nearly choke when he meets my eyes and runs his tongue sinuously over his lips and fangs. His eyes burn inhumanly in the low light of my bedroom, but it doesn’t scare me. It makes my pussy throb to be filled with what’s to come. That little hussy has already developed an addiction for what Reynard is packing.

His wings flex, and I hear a deep scratching sound when his wings close tighter around us as he climbs back up my body. I’m sure I would be wincing at what that is doing to the wall if I cared enough to look. Right at this moment, however? Right as I feel the slide of his cock against my wet sex as he pins my wrists above my head so that my breasts brush fully against his chest? Fuck the wall.

---