Chapter 39 - Hunter

My sweet mate writhes beneath me, her throaty moans erotic music to my ears. She loves it when I press my knot inside her, as do I.

Her pussy tightens around me as her orgasm crests and breaks. The breathy scream she emits sends waves of ecstasy through me. Now that she's been practicing her siren abilities with Fynn, she unintentionally infuses it during sex. I don't mind since the emotions she's infusing tend to be ones I'm already feeling myself. Arousal, desire, pleasure, joy, love. It's particularly strong when she does it during her orgasm, though.

My knot swells and locks into place as her pleasure forces mine out of me, my balls tightening and my shaft pulsing out my release inside her. I can't get enough of my Nightingale mate.

I growl and press my face into the crook of her neck, Lottie's back arching off our bed and pressing us closer, sliding me deeper as she wiggles.

"You know what that does to me, Lottie."

She only giggles and does it again. My heart thumps with the love and affection and unhindered joy in the sound.

It's been six months since the blood moon and our bonding, and I still marvel at my mate and the love we've found in each other.

Lottie seems to be happy here. After choosing to stay in Snowberry, I was worried she wouldn't be. After a life lived in a large city like LA, a town like Snowberry is a big change. But it seems to be a change she likes.

I've already started work on her recording studio, a spacious shed in the backyard she helped design. Since I had no knowledge of what was needed for a recording studio, she was heavily involved in the decision-making process.

Lottie decided to leave the large studio and release herself from the responsibilities of Alexandria that her mother forced upon her. Something she said she was more than happy to do, the likes of which we aren't done dealing with yet. Which is why we leave tomorrow for California. Needing to settle legalities in person.

I knew the trip was stressing out my mate, and I was more than happy to assuage her anxiety. If she keeps gyrating her hips, I'll be doing it again very soon.

Laying cradled between her legs, I allow a bit of my weight to rest atop her. She likes feeling me close; I like feeling her close. But I keep the majority of my weight suspended on my elbows, my hips pressed flush to hers. However, my muscles shake with reignited passion, and I fear they may give out from beneath me. Rolling to my side, I pull Lottie with me, keeping her close so as not to hurt either of us, with my knot still keeping us together. She slings her leg over my hip and settles against my chest, sighing contently.

I let her do what she wishes, knowing my little Nightingale likes to tease. She doesn't, though. Instead, her body relaxes, and I can feel the unease and tension melt away as I cradle her close in my arms.

We lay naked with my cock still securely inside her in our bed, sated and deliriously content.

Lottie's hand rests next to her lips, pressing sleepy kisses to my chest, and I reach to twine her fingers with mine. The ring I gave her one month after our bonding on the second full moon we spent together, resting perfectly against her tanned skin. Lottie said she didn't need a big traditional human wedding or even a party, but I insisted on a ring. We may not be married in the traditional sense, but we are in our eyes. Nothing can be more permanent than a mate bond.

The ring is simple, with delicate engravings of blooming snowberry flowers encircling the band and, at its center, a nightingale. She told me she didn't want blingy diamonds and jewels but something simple and personal. So, I hand carved her ring from the wood of the trees in our forest. From one in the meadow where we first met. It's color, a deep brown polished to a shine, the engravings filled with yellow gold making them stand out against the wood.

Lottie had cried when I gave it to her, and I vowed she would only ever cry tears of joy from that day forward. So far, I've accomplished that, but we have many more years ahead of us that I plan on filling with happy memories.

My mate stirs in my arms and opens her eyes to look up at me, a tender smile on her lips.

"How do you feel, little Nightingale?" I ask.

"Perfect," she replies.

"Good. And how do you feel about tomorrow?" I ready myself for her tension to return, but it doesn't.

"I think I'm ready. It needs to be done. I need to settle everything so I can move on and not ever worry about it again. I also have a few choice words I'd like to speak to my mother."

A wicked grin spreads across my mate's lips, and I suspect that her hours of practice and training with her siren voice may have something to do with what she wants to say to her mother.

"Is everything set with the lawyer?" she asks. "Does he have everything he needs?"

"Yes. I checked in with him earlier. He'll be meeting us at the office we've secured for the meeting."

We figured it best to meet on neutral ground and not in one of the studios' offices, her mother's office, or even her old home. We will also be going to collect her personal belongings, including her father's guitar and record collection, which I know she is anxious to get her hands on.

The plan is to go over everything, sign new contracts, and settle all the royalty issues, rights to merchandise, and whatnot. Most of which Lottie doesn't want, which should make the label and her mother happy, enticing them to sign and agree to our terms. All she wants is her portion of the royalties for the music she created, nothing more. We hired a well-known non-human lawyer to assist with all the legalities, one referred by Luna who will also be there.

We invited Luna to visit whenever she wanted. It's the least I can do for the female who inadvertently found me my mate. She accepted our invitation and plans to visit soon once her current assignment ends guarding some dignitary's son from overseas.

"Well, then, there's nothing for me to worry about. I have you, I have my music, and soon, I'll have my father's guitar and my mother out of my hair for good. There's nothing more I could ever need."

"What about the music shop in town?" I ask sardonically.

"Okay, well, maybe that, too."

The music shop was an idea she threw out one night as we sat curled together outside by the fire, one that I grabbed onto and ran with. As mayor, I have a bit of pull in town, and getting a good deal on the empty storefront next to Tall Tails was easy since I technically own it. Well, the town owns it, but as Mayor, I have control over it. Not that any of the businesses in town pay much in rent anyway. Just enough to cover any costs the town might encounter, which thankfully isn't much.

Lottie has all kinds of plans for it, and with her substantial wealth, she can easily make it whatever she pleases. She wants to call it Pickle- Lo Music as a way of honoring her father. Offering music lessons, both singing and instrumental, selling instruments, and starting a lending program for those who want to learn but can't afford to purchase. She's even mentioned working at the school on their musicals.

I'm in full support of anything she wants to do. Whatever my Nightingale wants, I will strive to give her.

Right now, my Nightingale is rolling me over and straddling my hips, sinking back down on my cock and knot that had softened enough to slip free but is now hardening again.

"Enough talk of tomorrow," she scolds with a seductive little smirk. "Right now, all I want to hear is you cursing my tight pussy and the pounding of the bed frame against the wall."

I've discovered Lottie likes to be noisy, unfortunately for my brother, who has taken to staying at the cabin, especially now that he has a female of his own. He requires his own space and privacy. They have plans to build a larger house on another parcel of our land, but they're not in any hurry.

On the other hand, we will need that extra space sooner than expected since Lottie informed me last month that she is pregnant. What can I say? Knotting will do that, and my mate is insatiable.

She hasn't begun showing yet since she's not even three months along. Even so, everyone in town already knows. If there's one thing that spreads faster through the gossip tree than new people in town, it's a pregnancy.

Needless to say, we have been very busy and have no intentions of slowing down any time soon.

My hands span across Lottie's stomach as she rocks against me, my cock already fully erect again and my knot swelling. Lottie takes her pleasure giving as much as she receives, and I try to focus on what she will look like when our baby grows large inside her belly to help slow my climax. It always comes faster the second time around, especially when she's on top.

It works to a degree, but I end up holding her by her hips and pounding up into her until she screams my name and squeezes my cock with her orgasm wringing mine from me with practiced expertise.

Lottie collapses on top of me, and I stroke down her back and short hair. Her skin is damp with sweat, and I love the smell of our sex lingering in the air. It's my new favorite scent, one that I'm glad I get to smell often.

"I love you," Lottie whispers before leaning up to press a kiss to my lips. "Thank you for being my mate."

I chuckle. "It wasn't my doing, but if I had to choose a mate, I couldn't have chosen better than you," I reply.

Lottie's body goes soft, and she finds her preferred spot tucked under my chin and splayed across my chest one leg flung over my hips. Falling asleep within minutes.

I press a soft kiss to her temple.

"Sleep well, my sweet Nightingale. I promise to be here when you wake. Always."