Chapter 9

Sebastian

We were on the move again. I'd stayed awake the entire time my mate slept, and the sense of pride and accomplishment I felt in knowing I watched over her was insurmountable. And as soon as the sun had once more set, I'd woken her up with soft kisses down the bridge of her freckled nose, along her lips, and finally ran my tongue over her lips.

She'd moaned for me and arched her back like a satisfied cat. And when she'd opened her eyes and locked them on mine, she'd tensed and become closed off.

And now she was avoiding me. I could sense her hesitation of me coming off her in waves. And I was confident it was because she was embarrassed about what we'd shared the night before.

I knew that was her first orgasm. It was my first time giving pleasure to anyone, hell… desiring a female at all. That was and would forever be reserved for Ada.

She would be the only one I ever pleased, the only female who would ever make me feel… anything.

I'd give her eternity to get used to that idea, to come to terms with the fact that I wasn't going anywhere. She was mine and I was hers and that was just how it was. But I meant every single word I said.

I fucking meant it when I told her we'd be doing that every night, that I'd get her off before she fell asleep, because if we didn't, I wouldn't be able to function. Her orgasms gave me so much fucking pleasure.

I reached down and adjusted my stiff cock, the fucker so hard it ached.

I'd been ashamed to admit I'd come in my pants like a damn adolescent while getting her off. I'd just gone and come all over the place as I stared into her face and saw the flush cover her cheeks, heard her cry out my name in pleasure, and then came some more when I tasted her pussy juice soaking my fingers.

I gritted my teeth and held in my groan as I vividly remembered her flavor… how I wanted to survive off it.

Fuck, I wanted to drink deeply from her vein that ran along the length of her inner thigh. Jesus, I wanted to get so drunk from her I couldn't stand up straight.

And although I would gladly give her my entire life span to come to terms with this, I couldn't lie and say that it didn't frustrate me to no end. I was used to getting what I wanted, when I wanted. And although my perfect little Fae mate had given me the sweetest pleasure last night, she was fighting this too hard.

As if she read my thoughts, Ada looked over her shoulder at me, her dark reddish arched eyebrows pulled down low from her own self-confusion.

I smirked and a deeper furrow formed between her eyes before she huffed out and faced forward. I chuckled deeply and picked up my pace, continuously scanning our surroundings. We were still headed in the same direction of where we assumed the portal was, but we had no idea how far we'd been blasted from it initially, and for all we knew this was nothing but a dead end.

"You know, my sweet girl, pretending like last night didn't happen doesn't make it any less real."

Her shoulders tensed but she didn't respond, which only had me grinning even more.

I could smell the fact that her pussy was wet right now, her need for me stronger than anything else, even her need to keep her independence and distance from our mating.

"I'm not pretending anything."

We didn't speak for several more moments before she finally stopped and turned to face me, her hands on her tucked-in waist.

"Really?" I crossed my arms over my chest and cocked an eyebrow. For the first time in my life, and ever since finding my mate, I felt amusement. Living life being stoic and void of any kind of emotion was my default. This was… this was different but good.

She was just so tiny compared to me, yet she had this fiery disposition that turned me on so fucking much it was almost infuriating.

"So you're not trying to pretend that I didn't have my hand shoved between your thighs as I stroked your pussy until you came for me?"

Her mouth dropped open before she snapped it shut, and the fact that her cheeks instantly turned even redder had my cock jerking and thickening even more.

Ada's embarrassment was an aphrodisiac, and I found myself taking a step closer. But when she lifted a hand, palm toward me, I stopped.

"I can't do this with you. Not right now."

I ground my molars. "Do what exactly?"

She was silent for a moment, and I lowered my head but kept my focus on her.

"You're mine and I'm yours. And I'll keep reminding you of that fact until you understand, Ada. There's no way around that. Fate gave us each other, and if you think you can escape destiny, if you think I will even let you deny being mine, you'll find out soon enough, sweetheart, that I always get what I want."

Her little nose twitched, and I could hear her clenching her jaw tightly, her teeth scraping together. "I'm not denying anything, Sebastian."

Holy shit, it sounded good hearing my name fall from her lips… especially when she was coming.

She rubbed her forehead, and as much as I wanted to go to her, to comfort her, I held still. I could already tell I was going to be an overbearing bastard when it came to my mate.

"I'm not denying or fighting anything," she whispered and dropped her hand to grip the side of her pant leg, her gaze never wavering from mine. "I guess I just want to focus on one life-changing event at a time." She held her arms out as if gesturing to the dark forest all around us. "And getting out of this hellhole is my main priority, even if every single part of me is saying accepting that I now have a mate and"—she glanced away before saying—"completing the mating should come first."

A deep rumble of pleasure left me at hearing her say that, and knowing that she was fighting this for self-preservation and not because she saw me as an incompatible mate fate had given her.

"Ah, my female, you please me to no end." The only thing that mattered anymore in my life was her. And the longer I went without claiming her, without piercing her neck and giving her my mark, the more unbearable I'd be.

The more angry and desperate I'd become.

The more possessive and obsessed I'd become where she was concerned.

Hell, I'd break a fucker's neck just for looking at her, and I hadn't even claimed my female yet.

"So you admit you want me," I said smugly and grinned, then chuckled when she rolled her eyes.

I felt a warmth spread throughout the center of my chest as her perfect, pink bow-like lips curved up slightly.

"I'm not gonna stroke your ego even more by admitting anything." She cast me a sly glance. "You know I want you."

That one phrase was whispered so low I almost didn't hear it, but I found myself right in front of her a second later, my hand loosely wrapped around her throat as I crowded around her small body. I added a little pressure, seeing her pupils dilate and getting harder at the fact that my tiny female was into the darker desires I so desperately wanted to give her.

The longer I stared into her green eyes, the more I felt myself get lost. "So perfect," I whispered and slid my hand up the column of her neck so I could smooth my thumb along her bottom lip.

She parted her mouth as she took in a sharp breath.

"So perfect I can't believe you're real…" I leaned in, inhaling deeply and making a pleasurable sound deep within my chest. "Or that you're mine." I was just about to kiss her, to press her to the ground and bury my face in her sweet pussy when a faint chittering sound that was far too close for comfort echoed all around us.

"Sebastian…" she whispered, wariness and uncertainty in her voice.

"I heard it, sweetheart," I said just as softly.

I turned and kept my back to Ada, my body being used as a shield.

"I can fight, too." The strength in her voice had pride filling me.

Although we stayed close enough to the mountain that we would be able to find a cave easily and fast when the sun rose, we were closer to the tree line of the forest tonight, so that we'd be able to spot anything that would give us answers.

I heard the chittering sound again and looked up into the treetops. I could see clearly in the darkness, but the thick shadows and heavy foliage still made it difficult to spot things with precision.

And although the sound seemed like it came from above, it echoed all around us, bouncing off in every other direction so it made pinpointing its location almost impossible.

"Maybe we should go find a cave?"

I reached behind me and tightened my hand around her waist, pulling her closer to my back as I kept turning us around and looking in all directions.

"I'm not a weakling, but I also have no idea what we're up against, and retreating might be the best idea, Sebastian." The chittering sounded louder, closer. She reached out and gripped my shirt, pressing her chest closer to my back.

"As much as I'd love to keep you secluded in a cave and protected, I have a feeling that whatever is out there will just follow us. I need to handle it now. Take it out so it's not a threat to you."

There was the sound again, followed by the very distinct noise of something big and heavy dropping to the ground. I felt the vibrations under my feet and kept Ada behind me as I turned in the direction the creature was coming from.

"Stay behind me and let me do the heavy lifting," I said in a hushed tone. "But be ready, Ada."

"For what?" Her voice was whisper-thin.

"For anything, baby."

I felt my body tense as whatever had dropped to the ground moved toward us. The thump-thump-slide, thump-thump-slideof it moving across the forest ground became louder and more ominous. Fear wasn't an emotion I'd ever experienced, but right now I felt something suffocating me at the thought of Ada getting hurt.

But that fear faded as my anger, as the vampiric side of me rose up and took control. I saw red, the ruby glow from my eyes washing the area in front of us and finally showing what was coming for us.

I bared my fangs, bending my knees and thrusting my upper body forward.

"Holy shit," Ada breathed in a terrified tone.

"Yeah, sounds about right, sweetheart. Stay back."

"What is that?"

I had no fucking clue, but I was going to destroy it.

The big blob of whatever the fuck this thing was came closer. Its body looked gelatinous, and it had eight tentacles attached to the sides, four on either side, claws tipped on each one. Its mouth was formed in a sharp beak, and its black, beady eyes held an intelligence that told me this thing would put up one hell of a fight.

More chittering came from it as it slapped its tentacles on the ground and pulled itself forward.

"I'll distract it and you attack."

"W-wait. W-what?" I was so taken off guard by Ada's words that I was momentarily frozen and didn't stop her from darting off to the side. "Fuck. My mate is crazier than I am."

She darted to the side and behind the closest tree. The creature turned its head toward her and screeched out, but I was charging forward, my nails now claws, the bloodthirst filling my body so all I could think about was killing.

"Hey, asshole, over here," Ada shouted at the creature.

A screeching roar sounded from the beast, and he slithered toward my mate. But I was in front of it a second later, and grabbed each side of it.

My hands slid off its slimy body, and the fucker turned and lunged at me, the snap of its beak coming together just inches from my face pulling a growl of aggression from me.

I fell back, landing on my ass, and the piece of shit wasted no time racing along the ground toward me. I was up and reaching for it, prepared to snap its thick neck, when a stone flew out from the side and connected with its beak.

I heard Ada's war cry and roared myself, shouting at her to stay back.

"Damn it, female. Stay the fuck back and let your mate protect you."

She kicked out and slammed her little booted foot into the side of its body, but the creature wrapped a tentacle around her shoe and pulled her to the ground.

I heard her scream in pain, saw her head crack back and connect hard with the ground.

And I felt anger so potent, so intense I tasted it coating my tongue. "I'm going to fucking tear you apart," I hissed at the creature and gripped the piece of shit, yanking it away from Ada. She kicked out, loosening her foot from its hold, and scrambled backward.

I had a tentacle in each hand, feeling the slimy creature fight me harder. Its beak-like jaw lunged toward my face, and I jerked backward as it snapped at me, the chittering sound growing louder.

"I'm going to give your mangled body to my mate as a prize," I seethed.

Ada gave what could only be called a war cry and charged forward, a large branch in her hand as she swung.

"Fucking hell, Ada," I gritted the words out when the stick hit the side of the creature, barely missing taking off my arm in the process.

"Sorry," she yelled out. "You looked like you needed help."

The creature turned its broad, flattened head toward Ada and snapped, and she screamed and jumped back, swinging the stick again and connecting with its skull this time.

It made a gods-awful screech and thrashed around even harder, two of its tentacles wrapping around my legs as it tried to take me down so I was on my back and it would have a better advantage.

My body grew bigger, my muscles thickening. With a deafening roar, I felt my body change into that of a lethal predator. The only thing I could think about was protecting my female.

With every single ounce of strength I possessed, I roared again as I ripped the creature in half, its body splitting in two, death sounds coming from it.

I was staring at the ground as I tossed both halves of the creature aside, my chest rising and falling as I felt all the adrenaline rushing through my veins. I wanted to kill something else. I wanted to offer up body parts to Ada so she'd know I'd be able to protect her.

When I felt myself start to calm to a more sane level—for me, anyway—I looked up at Ada only to see her staring at me with wide eyes and… creature gunk all over her.

Dark goo covered her from head to toe, the slime dripping down her dark red locks, over her face, and down her chest before making a slopping sound as it hit the forest ground.

For long moments we stood still, and all I could do was stare at my poor little mate who was covered in disgusting parallel-dimension-creature innards, knowing I shouldn't do what was happening right now but unable to stop the smile that formed into a huge grin on my face.

"Even dirty as fuck," I said, stifling a laugh, "you look hot, baby."

She shook her hands out, flinging slime off her body, but it made a little dent in how much covered her.

I reached out and ran a finger over her brow, taking off a large chunk of the slop before shaking my head. "No fixing this, baby; you need a bath."

She narrowed her eyes and I braced for that fiery tongue my mate liked to use on me, but I was left blinking in shock when she tipped her head back and started laughing.

Ada placed a hand on her belly, her eyes squeezed shut tightly as she laughed almost hysterically. I started to get worried she'd gone and lost her mind after being stuck in this shithole, but after a second she sobered and shook her head, still laughing softly as she stared up at me.

"All I can do is laugh at all of this." She held her hands out and grinned.

Fuck, she was the prettiest thing I'd ever set eyes on.

And she was all mine.