Chapter Fourteen

Terrick

Scott and I didn’t bother to explore the matingmoon house Liam walked us to. It was green on the outside with a wraparound porch, but inside we just plopped down on the sofa as if we took a pilgrimage instead of walking a few blocks. With the door locked behind us neither of us said anything for a long time. I pulled the grey shirt off over my head. It was too hot in here.

“Magi, turn on the AC,” Scott said, entwining his fingers through mine.

Magi didn’t answer him but the air kicked on and we both let out a long, slow breath. I wasn’t sure I wanted to tell Scott about the conversation I overheard between Dara and Sam. I didn’t want him to worry. I’d figure a way out of this. I’d figure a way to stay with him. If I was an asshole like everyone assumed that meant I’d made it through some shit before. Assholes are made, after all.

“How much of Liam’s story do you believe?” I asked him.

“I think he’s probably right,” Scott said, twisting to sit sideways on the sofa so that he was looking at me.

“Probably,” I nodded.

“It doesn’t change anything. I don’t care what you did. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere,” Scott said. “We’re in this together. Where you go, I go.”

I stared into his eyes for a long moment. I’d have to talk to Sam later if I could. If we lost this fight, Scott couldn’t follow me. I couldn’t imagine him dead because of me. I couldn’t imagine cutting off his life because I was a shitty person. Though, to be fair, that part hadn’t been proven. Not yet anyway.

“Not that I believe you’d do anything bad. Maybe Frost had another reason,” Scott said.

I took his hand in mine and brought it up for a kiss. His skin was soft and smelled like cookies. He talked a lot about baking. Maybe he always smelled like dessert. Maybe he only smelled like that to me. The hound inside me wagged his tail. He was new to me, but everything inside him wanted to meet Scott’s wolf. Maybe we were already becoming one.

Scott grinned at me and scooted closer before straddling my lap. I rested my hands on his thighs, soft and plump in all the right ways. His hands rested on my shoulders and for a long time we gazed at each other. I wanted to know what he saw when he looked at me. What was he thinking? What was he searching for inside me? Was he looking for the hound? Was he searching for whatever asshole part of me landed us in this situation? Was he just as lost in thought about me as I was about him?

His hands slid from my shoulders to cradle my face. I leaned into the warmth of his palms and my eyelids drifted half-closed. Maybe he was right and none of that mattered. Maybe who I was before wasn’t important now. People got the chance to start over all the time, right? Maybe Scott was my second chance.

He shifted his weight forward until his forehead rested against mine. For a second, a kitchen danced through my mind’s eye.

“Was that your kitchen?” I asked, blinking.

“It works sometimes. The forehead thing. My carrier told me about it. Sometimes even before the claiming vows it works for true-mates. I was trying to find out what the dog ate, but instead it showed you my kitchen. Are you hungry?”

“No,” I shook my head.

He pressed his head back against mine and I let out a long, slow breath. This close to him it was hard to think of anything else. I probably wouldn’t have remembered much about my life before meeting him even if Frost hadn’t cursed me.

“I’m not a curse,” the hound sounded off in my thoughts.

“I know,” Scott muttered aloud.

“Tell him that,” my hound said, and Scott laughed.

“He’s not a curse, Terrick,” he said a second later.

“Then tell him to tell me what he is,” I laughed, because my mate’s laughter was contagious.

He sank down to properly sit on my lap and wrapped his legs around me. My breath hitched as my dick came to life under him. Scott flashed me a sheepish smile.

“You did that on purpose.”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “I plan to do a lot of things on purpose if you let me.”

I swallowed hard. The urge to rip off all his clothes caused me to curl my fingers into fists. Urge or no urge, it seemed like the sort of thing you should ask permission to do, but there it was playing at my fingertips.

“He’s a Pit hound,” Scott whispered leaning forward, “and the way I see it he’s the mate to my wolf. So, he’s not a curse, because you’re not a curse. You’re mine.”

“Did you seriously just lay claim to a pit hound?” I arched a brow.

“I grew up with my family almost constantly at war. There were shades in my house from my carrier’s trauma. We probably carry some of that stress from genetics if all the research they do is to be believed. I’m not afraid of a little ol’ pit hound.”

“Little, huh?” I smirked, bucking my hips up.

“Not afraid of that either,” he leaned forward, crushing his lips into mine.

His warmth flooded into me. He still tasted like the bloodshakes we had at the other house before we left. Coppery and fruity, warm and soft. I gripped his ass, holding on as he shifted his weight forward to press our bodies together. I was never letting go of this man. I was never leaving him. If we discovered I was the biggest asshole in the world and the man who would bring about the end of Earthside itself, I wasn’t going anywhere. I was staying right here with Scott in my lap forever.

I kissed him hard, my tongue darting into his mouth for another taste of him. His pulse thrummed against me. He’d taste delicious, but I wasn’t here to drink him. His hands slid up and down my throat, his fingers playing at the points where my pulse throbbed for him. He was hard too now and the aroma of his sweet, slick arousal filled the room.

“At least you didn’t forget how to kiss,” my hound sounded off in my thoughts and I shoved him away.

He let out a bark that sounded somewhere between amused and offended, but it didn’t matter. If he really was the mate to Scott’s wolf he’d have his turn later. Once we exchanged the claiming vows, he and Scott’s wolf could do whatever they liked, they’d have a soul connection that would span lifetimes – all the lifetimes.

My fingers left his ass to play at the hem of his shirt. When he didn’t stop me, I broke the kiss just long enough to pull it off over his head. I slung it over the back of the sofa next to us and pulled him back in to keep kissing. His tongue battled mine, swooping and sweeping, over my flesh. He was fucking perfect, and he was all mine.

“Mine,” I growled the word.

“Mine,” he growled back, and the faintest trace of fur played over my hands where they met his flesh.

He tried to slip away, but I held him tight. I didn’t know what he had in mind, but I wasn’t done kissing him yet. He ground down against me, both of us moaning into the kiss, but it still wasn’t enough. We kissed until our lips were swollen and nicked up from four fangs coming out to play.

“Bloodshake?” he asked this time as he pulled away.

“You can drink me,” I whispered.

He blushed. He knew I meant blood, but the closeness gave it a double meaning.

I kissed him again, slower, more careful this time. He could drink me all he wanted, but I wasn’t out for his blood. It’d be exchanged during the claiming vows and maybe other play, but I’d never take from him without giving back. I wouldn’t be the sort my mother hunted down to prune the vampyric family tree. I wouldn’t be the sort who took so much from their omega mate that he was left a shell of who he was before.

“Huh,” I muttered into the kiss and Scott pulled back.

“Huh what?” he laughed, his arms back around my neck.

“I think my mother is a vampire hunter,” I said before I had time to organize my thoughts.

“High Priestess Arrakia is a vampire hunter?” he arched a brow and that made me want to kiss it.

“Well, maybe. She’s supposedly my mother. If my flash of memory serves correctly, apparently she has high standards for Alphas.”

“She is an Alpha and a leader. That sorta makes sense,” Scott nodded, playing with my five o’clock shadow. “What about this,” he paused to point between us, “made you think of her?”

“You smell so good. Your blood calls to me. It sings out to me. It makes me want to do things – somewhere between tasting it and ripping your clothes off, and it just made me think of her, I guess. At least it made me think of her rules or guidance or whatever.”

“Oh, that. Yeah. I’m supposed to eat you and not the other way around,” Scott said, laughing and rolling his eyes. “Believe me. If the magic I do has taught me anything, it’s that I can withstand a little blood loss. Don’t trick yourself into thinking I’m fragile, because I’m not, Terrick. I’m asboultely-fucking-not.”

He kissed me again, hard this time. One of his fangs scraped against my bottom lip. I moaned into the kiss, grinding up hard against the firm round globes of his ass.

“But,” he said in between kisses, “if you’re hungry,” his tongue swept around my mouth again, “we can make,” another kiss, “some bloodshakes. They left us plenty in the fridge.”

“We probably should. Maybe I’ll drink it off you.”

“That sounds cold,” he laughed and stole another kiss.

“I’ll warm you back up,” I whispered.