Chapter 16

Chapter

Sixteen

T hey walked up the steps of the beautiful, vintage cottage where Robyn's family had resided for more than two hundred years. The cottage had been modernized and remodeled, but those who lived here had chosen to respect and revere their past.

A woman about Skylar's mother's age answered the door. The woman looked like an older version of Robyn. There was no mistaking her for anyone else. She smiled brightly. "You must be Detective Gautier. Robyn has spoken about you and your young man. Please come inside, my mother has been waiting for the she-wolf daughter of the Alpha of New Orleans."

So, she knew not only who they were, but what they were. Neither Skylar nor Travis must have hidden their surprise well.

"Our family has served the Gautiers for as long as we've been here. It was pack money that helped found the original Tremé neighborhood. And your mama and papa have always been here to help. Much of the money people donated to help after Hurricane Katrina disappeared down a dark hole or into someone's pockets. But your pack didn't just donate money or goods, no. They showed up to help rebuild."

They were led to a high-ceilinged room where Chantal held court. There were numerous grandchildren—and great-grandchildren, Skylar suspected—gathered round her. She appeared frail, but there was a vibrancy to her spirit that was hard to deny.

"You are the granddaughter of Calista Gautier," she said, peering up at them. "You look nothing like her."

"No," replied Skylar. "Many say I am my mother's daughter."

"What do you say?" challenged Chantal.

"I am who I was always meant to be—the best of both of my parents and the fated mate to the son of the Alpha of Galveston."

"He has given up much to be your mate."

"He has, but New Orleans is my city, and I took a vow to protect it. Travis understands that. Besides, he makes the best jambalaya. But don't tell the chef at Rivière Du Loup."

Chantal laughed. "You have your grandmother's spirit. She was madly in love with the Alpha's father. She gave up her humanity for him."

"I didn't know my paternal grandmother was human."

Chantal nodded. "She was one of my closest friends in an era when such friendships were frowned upon. Once she met your grandpapa she would have no other, even though she was courted by many." Suddenly the look of remembered youth and friendship vanished and a shadow passed over her face. "It has returned."

"I know," said Skylar. "I've seen it for years. It's using the killer."

"Yes. The Darkness has enslaved and enthralled a weakling to do its bidding. It has tried before, but only recently has it found a foothold back into this world."

Skylar knelt down in front of Chantal, taking the old woman's hand in her own. "If we catch the killer, will it destroy the Darkness?"

Chantal shook her head. "No. It will take more than destroying one of its acolytes to defeat it."

"How much danger is Skylar in?" asked Travis.

"Grave danger. But removing her from the city will do little to lessen it. The Darkness has hunted the Gautiers for centuries. They say Jean Lafitte was the one who entombed it, and it was trapped for more than two centuries It seems to have found its way back to the light it seeks to snuff out."

"Were the murders just a way to draw me in?"

Chantal nodded. "Yes. You need to be careful. Keep your mate close to your side. The Darkness feared you when you were the one warrior. Partnered with the one who now stands by your side, the Darkness' fear is compounded. You must defeat its servant before he completes his panorama of death."

"The Omicidio Cerchio paintings," whispered Skylar.

"Yes. If you can defeat the servant, the Master will be forced to retreat, but it will rise again. The Darkness can only be defeated if it has been compelled to take a solidified form. Take care, Skylar Gautier, granddaughter to my old friend. I would not want to see the New Orleans pack crippled by your death."

Skylar could tell Chantal was tired. She reached out and squeezed the old woman's hand. "I won't let that happen. Thank you for speaking with us."

Chantal kept her from drawing away by holding tightly to Skylar's hand. "I laid out the tarot today and drew death as your fate. But do not fear, death is always at hand, and only signals the end of something. I pray it is the Darkness' end that the cards see, or at least the end to its acolyte. The card that showed your power was that of the moon, which depicts two wolves."

"I will see the acolyte ended one way or another, Chantal," said Travis from over Skylar's shoulder. "He won't be allowed to live."

She smiled up at him. "The Darkness has no idea who it has challenged. I didn't realize who your mother is, boy. The blood of many Irish warrior kings runs through your veins." She closed her eyes, nodded, and smiled. "I can rest easy now. The descendants of those who have banished it before will defeat it in the end."

Travis helped Skylar to her feet and ushered her back outside to the truck.

"What did you mean he won't be allowed to live? I know Hollings told the team that if we couldn't arrest him, we should kill him. But he meant only to keep him from escaping."

"I don't care what you or the law says. If you catch him, he won't live to see the filing of his first appeal," growled Travis.

When he slipped into the truck next to her, Skylar smiled. "I never realized how much like my father you are."

He leaned over and kissed her. "That bodes well for us. Few fated mates have shared the kind of passion and love your parents have."

They drove back to the loft, using the remote for the new automated gate that allowed them access to the lot underneath the building. When the gate descended and had locked into place, Travis turned on the remote cameras and scanned for any kind of signature other than their own.

"Infrared?"

"I wanted to make sure we could see with or without lights," he said.

They got out of the car and walked to the vintage freight elevator. The thumbprint scanner had been concealed behind an ornate keypad cover. Travis explained how the scanner worked.

"And anytime I'm not with you in the loft, I expect you to engage the system, understood?"

"You do remember I'm a cop, right?" she snarked.

"You do remember I have no problem turning your ass bright red, right?" he responded, arching his eyebrow at her.

As they waited for the elevator to descend, Skylar nuzzled Travis, and he pressed her back against the wall. He pinned her as he fused his mouth to hers, kissing her until she was breathless and coherent thought was fleeting.

He rucked her summer skirt up above her hips and used the brick wall for leverage to lift her up so her feet no longer touched the floor. He opened the fly of his jeans and gave his cock the freedom it had needed ever since they'd left Chantal's home. Travis slowly lowered her back down, impaling her pussy on his cock. Skylar moaned as her wet heat enveloped him.

"Travis," she sighed as she settled at the base of his cock, clinging to him with desperation.

"Wrap your legs around my waist, Sky," he growled.

"Travis, you can't fuck me here in the loading bay."

"Want to bet?" he rumbled seductively.

He took her buttocks in his hands and began to raise and lower her along his staff, groaning and growling with immense pleasure as he did so. Continuing to move her up and down, he added to the intensity and began to thrust upward each time he lowered her. Skylar arched her back as she climaxed, lost to everything but the feeling of his cock inside her.

Harder and harder, Travis drove up into her, holding her body in place as he pounded her pussy. Skylar writhed on his cock, glorying in the power he had over her and the way he made her remember to whom she belonged. With or without a claiming mark, Skylar had surrendered herself to the wolf who now fucked her with raw abandon. He barely allowed her to recover from one climax before another started to ratchet up in response to his lovemaking.

Travis had the ability to make her orgasm repeatedly with little to no respite. Her pussy contracted all along his length and he growled in pure, unadulterated pleasure. The speed and tempo at which he jackhammered her was a sure sign that he would soon come. She arched backward again, reveling in the way he made her feel. She felt a sharp nip just to the inside of her collarbone.

It had just been a nip, hadn't even broken the skin, but she was past caring what anyone, including Travis, thought about not marking her before their bonding ceremony. She knew, in that moment, she no longer wanted to wait. She wanted to bear his mark. Skylar took his face in her hands and fastened her mouth to his, her tongue darting in to dance and play with his. When they came up for air and he continued to drive into her, she directed his mouth back to the place he had nipped.

"That little love bite won't get the job done," she purred.

As he looked up into her eyes, she dropped the last vestiges of anything that would keep her separate from him.

"You're sure?" he growled, and she loved him more in that moment than she thought possible.

In wolfen society, once a she-wolf was marked, especially by an alpha, she was off limits to anyone else until that alpha died. She was considered his and his alone. An alpha waited until his mate was sure, giving her consent and capitulating to his will. This act meant everything to her mate.

"More sure of this than anything else in my life."

Skylar hadn't thought it possible that he could fuck her any harder, but he proved her wrong. His cock slammed into her pussy again and again, faster and faster until she could barely breathe. He drove into her, growling for her to give him what he needed, to come a final time with him. Skylar's entire body began to shudder with the power of the orgasm washing over her, engulfing her in its dizzying array of sensuality.

Just as she reached the zenith of that feeling—both physically and emotionally—Travis kissed the spot he had nipped earlier, then sank his teeth into her flesh in a savage bite. He surged into her a final time, as she called his name, holding her hard against him as his cock pumped his essence into her depths. Her pussy spasmed all around his cock, milking it dry as he leaned into her, crushing her between his body and the brick wall.

T ravis waited until he caught his breath and Skylar's cunt released its death grip on his cock to withdraw. Without letting her feet touch the ground, he swung her up into his arms, cradled her to his chest, and took her up to the loft.

When he set her down inside the door, they both withdrew their guns and made sure the loft's security system had done its job. He led her into the bath and used a warm washcloth to gently clean the bloody bite.

"I would have waited," he said.

"I know. That's part of the reason I didn't want you to. Not so long ago, you told me I'd ask for your mark and wear it proudly. You were right. I meant what I said to Chantal. I know what you've given up to be with me."

Travis shrugged and kissed her nose. "I had no choice. You are my fated mate; there is no life for me without you. I'll leave you to take a shower."

"What if I'm too weak from your claiming bite? I might swoon and fall down," she teased. "Best if you join me to make sure I don't get hurt."

Travis chuckled as his cock began to harden. They took their time undressing each other, kissing each other's bare skin as it became revealed. He turned on the water and drew her under its warmth. He didn't waste any time; he turned her around, running his hand up her spine so that she bent over, and placed her hands on the built-in bench.

With his other hand, he reached between her legs and parted the petals of her sex before kicking her feet wide enough apart that he could take her hips in both hands and shove his hard length into her. She gasped as he sank his hard rod as deep as it would go. It took up all the space her pussy had. She could feel every inch of him filling every inch of her.

He ground the cradle of his pelvis against her backside and began to thrust in and out of her. He surged forward and then pulled back, only to drive into her again. She would have liked to move with his rhythm, but Travis liked to exert control in all matters sexual and given how incredibly satisfied he always left her, Skylar knew she had little to complain about. The water pounded down on them like a combination of warm rain shower and waterfall.

"You're mine Skylar. Mine," he growled.

"Yes," she cried out as he continued to slam into her.

Over and over his cock hit that magical place inside her—the one that made her scream and writhe beneath him. Her pussy clamped down, threatening to strangle his poor cock once and for all. But his dick wasn't complaining. He could feel her orgasm spreading throughout her body like a wildfire, leaving nothing but pleasure and satisfaction in its wake. He rammed into her a final time, his cock swelling before he filled her again with his cum. When he was done, he withdrew and turned her around, letting the water wash the excesses of their lovemaking away.

Turning off the water, he lifted her out of the shower and gently dried her off before seeing to his own needs. He wrapped a clean, dry towel around her and lifted her in his arms. She snuggled into his embrace, her head resting on his shoulder as she purred contentedly.

He carried her into the kitchen and set her upon the counter. While she watched, he made a quick omelet and then took it and her to their bed. He sat with his back against the headboard and Skylar snuggled on his lap. She reached over and took the plate, offering him the first bite as he often did to her.

When they were done with the omelet, he set the plate aside and lay down next to her, grinning. They fought about which side of the bed she would sleep on. His only requirement was that he slept between her and the door. He spooned against her back, holding her close as she nestled against him.

"I love you, Skylar," he whispered.

"I know," she said softly. "I love you too."

God, he couldn't wait until they were free of this malevolence that seemed, if Chantal was to be believed, to be specifically stalking her. Whoever or whatever this Darkness and its acolyte wanted from her, they could not have. She was his and he would storm the gates of hell to keep her at his side.