Chapter Sixteen

Drake

She is our mate.

Or as my serpent said: Mate .

He was saying it repeatedly and with emphasis, more often now and demanding that we close the deal. We'd had one night of lovemaking, and it was not nearly enough. Even over breakfast, we were teasing about doing it again, but once the dishes were empty, we did not take the time to wash them or even clear them away before reaching for her again.

Her scent had changed already, becoming closer to ours, spicier and less floral in nature. Could it be that mating was taking place without our even marking her? Serpent shifters were rare, and we didn't know many others beyond our immediate families who had been conservative in the extreme when talking about things of an intimate nature. We did know about how young were born and so were able to explain that, but most of our information on the mating aspect, unfortunately, had come from other species who didn't necessarily match how things worked for us 100 percent.

For example, the fact that we shifted immediately after birth, and not just once like some others. Baby serpents kept that ability all through their growing up and into adulthood. It made things interesting in a world where not all humans knew of or chose to acknowledge that there were other kind of people passing through their daily lives.

Plus, even if we did know how things of this nature, the bonding, the mating, worked for others like us, what did injecting a human into the mix do?

Breathing in her warm scent, stroking the soft skin of her arms, a small part of me tried to remind the rest that we probably shouldn't make love again until we were sure what we were doing here. Found out her secret because she was holding something back. But the small part of me lost out to the rest when Naga nipped her throat and a soft moan came from her lips.

She weighed nothing, although her curves insisted it should be more, and I scooped her up in my arms and kissed her thoroughly, taking my time and enjoying her taste and scent, tongue stroking hers until Naga tapped me on the arm.

"Your room or mine?" he asked.

"Not hers?"

"You want to take that long?"

No. I did not. Without another word, I carried her into the family room and sat down on the couch with Jasmine standing between my knees. I smoothed my hands up her sides, taking her shirt with me and exposing her beautiful, full breasts. Braless. How she always should be, not that I'd boss her that way. However she was comfortable was the best for us. Her shirt landed on the floor as Naga eased her shorts over her hips and down her legs, leaving her in cherry-patterned boy-cut underwear. But I didn't have long to appreciate them before they tore away at the sides. Hopefully, she didn't love them, but we'd buy her a dozen more, with pleasure. But her soft smile and half-closed eyes showed not a bit of anger at my friend's eagerness.

I lifted my hips and pulled off my own pants before easing our mate onto my lap. Even if the marking wasn't done, I had admitted the fact to myself. I settled her over my cock and bent to take one of her nipples into my mouth, plunging deep into her hot wetness, her body closing around me as if meant for me. For us. Naga sat next to us and watched, his eyes hot, hand stroking his own length while he waited his turn. She would take us together, but not until the time was right.

Jasmine's breathing grew faster, and I grasped her hips, raising and lowering her while watching her climb toward her orgasm, holding back until the ripples of her climax milked me dry and held her close against me, kissing her lips again, their sweetness dissolving the walls I tried to keep up.

Naga took her then and bent her over the arm of the sofa, entering her from behind, bringing her twice more before he spent and hung over her, panting. Then he lifted her gently and set her beside me, sat down on her other side, and we rested for a while, quietly, in a mind space I'd never been before. How could we have bonded this way without the marking?

If things didn't work out, if she did have a dealbreaker of a secret, we could still go back, right? We had held out enough to leave an escape hatch. But if she was going to be here for ninety days, it was going to be very difficult to guard our hearts from this winsome female who seemed so perfect for us.

Jasmine's eyes closed, her head on my shoulder, and Naga rested next to her, breathing soft. The two of them drifted off while I stayed awake, the thoughts running through my head keeping me from a nap. We had to gain her trust before we could trust her entirely. Maybe I'd been wrong in thinking that it was up to her to open herself to us first.

But we couldn't exactly show her our client files, government or otherwise. She'd need a bigger background check than we'd done at minimum and a security clearance for a lot of it. If she was committed to staying forever, if we knew what she was hiding…I'd get started on all that immediately. But there had to be a way to get her to share her secrets so we knew what we were dealing with.

I just had no idea what they were.