34. Caspian

W e stayed up late talking, plotting, and getting to know each other. We didn't do anything other than fall asleep snuggling. I felt Benji get up, but he did that sometimes. Since we found our center, I could feel he wasn't upset. He was going to sit outside with his cats and then come inside and drink an entire pot of coffee.

I slept a little later than I intended, but I checked my bonds. Everyone was content and in the process of waking up. Something smelled fantastic. Dionysus groaned.

"Fuck me. Medusa made Tiganites. You're in for a treat."

"She cooked?"

My bear was in overdrive, needing to feed her because of what the Coalition did. I was barely reining him in from putting her on our lap and hand feeding her because even I knew that was too much. Dionysus chuckled.

"You aren't going to be able to stop her. She's like you in that regard. She stress bakes and she's an amazing little cook. You can see and feel she's skinny and isn't okay sometimes, so you're trying to feed her and comfort her. But she notices we're doing all that and she can feel we're all stressing about the Coalition and worried about her.

Medusa might be really thin and traumatized right now, but she's going to be worried about who's taking care of us while we're caring for her. Just let her. It makes her feel just as good as it makes you feel to care for your mates."

"Quick question, do we make a big deal about this?"

"She's not going to react like Benji. Tell her it's good if you like it, but don't go overboard. This is going to be a regular thing."

Yeah, I could deal with that. I even understood it. Based on the scent coming from the front of the house, my mate knew her way around the kitchen. Even if she didn't, I would have eaten every bite and told her it was the best thing I'd ever eaten.

I didn't usually have an original vampire, her mates, the furies, and three gods in my house and I was still getting used to that, so I walked in the kitchen in my boxers. The only reason I didn't turn right back around and put some sweatpants on when I saw all of them was that Medusa blatantly checked me out and seemed to like the view.

I was pretty sure Dionysus would have gone out stark naked knowing they were out there and Kat would have started a brawl if Calamity so much as blushed. Jezebel would have said something inappropriate and Hades might have started a fight, too, if Persephone peeked. Something told me my mate's best friend would have had something scathing to say about Dionysus's junk.

All of these people were pure chaos, and I was glad to have them in my life.

Medusa had been busy while we were sleeping. She'd cooked a massive feast and had been to the garden to pick figs off the tree. Benji was at the coffee pot starting another. If I knew Benji, he'd probably already drunk a pot. Benji could drink an entire pot of coffee ten minutes before bed and sleep like a baby. He often did.

It looked like she'd brewed tea, too. I liked tea, but I really fell in love with it when I took Pax in. It didn't matter what kind of witch someone was, they usually had a tea for everything. Some were medicinal, and some were just refreshing. Benji drank the medicinal ones when needed, but he tended to do better with a lot more caffeine, so we kept the coffee stocked.

"This smells delicious," Pax said.

"It is," Kat moaned. "I was around when these were invented."

"I'd say it was weird we never met, but I was wrapped up being a priestess then I could have turned you to stone."

"That definitely would have sucked, but I think we met when we were supposed to. Oh, my goddess, this is just like back then when the she dragon I was dating learned how to make these and perfected her recipe."

"She dragon, huh? And she cooks?" Calamity growled.

Yeah, I didn't take the young demon for being that possessive.

"Relax. I dumped her because she was weirdly monogamous and jealous and we think it's adorable you burned microwave mac and cheese."

"Imps and microwaves aren't a good mix. Someone needs to do something about that," Calamity sulked.

Fuck me. We all dug in and the food was fantastic. Medusa didn't have Benji's praise kink, but she seemed so content knowing we were enjoying her food. I knew the feeling. I felt like that every time I provided for my mates.

I didn't know if we were going to sit around plotting again, but we really couldn't pull anything off without Benji's mystery woman. All we had were suspicions and we couldn't confirm them with her social media accounts. She wasn't using her real name or photo and she never posted anything. Everything appeared to be a personal account she used to comment and follow people that she didn't want linked to her real identity.

We were all pretty certain she was a politician or working for one, but we wouldn't know unless she revealed herself. She might not even want to go there. She'd been helping us in the shadows, but in public was another story.

I wasn't expecting Medusa to ask me to take her on a tour of the village. We hadn't really had time to take her, nor had we discussed where we'd all live. I'd spent a lot of time making my house a home for my family, but there wasn't anything of Medusa and Dionysus yet because I hadn't had time. And I was betting Dionysus had big fancy mansions all over the world. He might not want to live here.

I was a little worried when it looked like Dionysus didn't want to come, but he threaded his arm through Pax and Benji's and told them to take him on a tour. Ah. He wanted us to have alone time.

Medusa snuggled into my side as we walked out the front door. I lived a little way away from the main town, so I pointed out my neighbors. When we got to the town, she squealed.

"Oh, I love everything about it! You even have a movie theater!"

"We don't get the latest releases on release day because it's not going to be a huge audience and mostly only the young'uns want to see those. A lot of us saw cinema during its heyday."

"Speaking of, did you know Benji has big opinions about The Wizard of Oz?"

I started laughing.

"Yes, he does. We showed him the movie after we found him and it was the one thing that got him out of his shell. He ranted about Glinda for weeks. This is the town square. Every Saturday, we have a farmers' market. People come out to sell their wares. Most of them sell online, too. A lot of the kids leave for college and come back after they've graduated, but we have schools here, too."

"This is amazing. Benji told me about the sheep farmers. Their feta was something else."

"That's the Ash family. They're like Kat in that they've changed their name a few times so they don't come to the Coalition's attention. They decided on Ash after the internet came about and their brand became famous."

"Ooh, is that a park?" she said, zooming away from me.

Green witches. Even if they were malnourished and getting their strength back from magical god food, they couldn't resist a good park. Fuck, she was fast. When I caught up with her, she was starfishing in a field of clover.

I smiled down at her because that's what she needed as a green witch. She made grabby hands at me.

"Come snuggle with me," she pleaded.

Yeah, she didn't even need to ask that. I laid down with her and pulled her to my chest. She snuggled into me and the scent of wildflowers was overwhelming. I loved it.

"This is the perfect spot for green witches and succubae."

I chuckled. Yeah, we built it for the green witches, but the succubae and incubi came out here all the time to have sex under the full moon. Fuck, the shifters did, too. I'd had sex out here more than once. It was a beautiful place for the green witches to hang out and grow flowers, but it was also very private if you wanted to have a little romp.

The witches fucked out here, too. An incubus with a sense of humor and a talent with clay made this really ugly garden gnome giving the middle finger and showing his ass crack and put it at the entrance of the park. Benji named the gnome Ulrich. If Ulrich was to the right, the park was safe to visit. If Ulrich was mooning people and flipping them off on the left, then someone was fucking in here.

Aaaannd, apparently, I needed to get up and move that statue because Medusa had ideas. Her hand went straight to my dick, and she started kissing my neck. Green witches, man. A good garden tended to get them going. They either got excited about how to make it better or they got horny. My mate got horny.

Noted.

I grabbed her hand before I had no intention of getting up.

"We've got a system for the park so people know if this is just a park or someone's carnal den of delights. Most of the people in this village were all about equal rights for women before it became a thing and we know you can handle yourself, but instincts kinda kick in when people see our mates naked and vulnerable. The system is because not everyone likes being watched, not everyone wants to walk in on that, and friendships were getting ruined because people were getting their asses kicked after walking into something by accident."

Medusa pinched my butt when I got up to move Ulrich. When this was over, I was taking her to this garden all the time because I was loving this side of her. Plus, her connection to nature would be stronger out here, so it would refresh her magic.

Fuck me. I was only gone long enough to move Ulrich, and I moved pretty quickly for a bear. By the time I got back, she was already naked and sunning her breasts among the wildflowers. Her long, black curls were fanned out underneath her. She was stunning.

She sat up when she saw me and got to her knees.

"Come here," she demanded.

I did exactly what she asked.

She looked up at me with those beautiful green eyes and then yanked my sweats down. Medusa bit her bottom lip, then licked the pre cum off my cock.

"I know your thing is taking care of your people. I like being taken care of and so does Dionysus. But I also need to take care of people so I'm going to cook sometimes and if I think you're tired, I'm going to get bossy until you take a break. I'm going to want to rub your back sometimes. You okay with that?"

She was licking my cock the entire time she was giving me her list of demands. Pax and Benji tried to do that sometimes, and I got stubborn about it. I always needed to be the strong one because I wasn't the one who had been taken by the Coalition. Would I be able to just relax if we got rid of the Coalition? I didn't know who I was if I wasn't fighting them, but I knew what she needed me to be.

"I'll try."

"Good. I'm going to suck your cock now."

Fucking green witches. She was much more aggressive than when we claimed her because she was in her element surrounded by nature. I just held on for dear life and tried not to lose my mind while she deep throated me.

I wasn't threatened by Dionysus because he was a god and had known her longer. None of us were. Benji and I listened when he tried to help us. Especially when he told us Medusa had tried to fight Poseidon, and he had beaten the shit out of her. We never wanted to do anything to bring those memories back.

Dionysus was thorough and gave us his thousands of years' experience with her so we didn't. I fucked her mouth, but nowhere near like I would have done with Benji, who liked it rough.

"Let me watch you finger yourself," I growled.

Those beautiful hands went between her legs and she started fingering her clit. She hummed with pleasure and worked me harder with her hand and mouth. She was stunning, and I wasn't going last much longer.

Fuck me. She dipped her fingers in her pussy to wet them and then reached around to plunge them in my ass. I lost it. I threw back my head and roared. If anyone was thinking of coming to the park, they didn't need to check Ulrich. They definitely knew something kinky was going on here.

Medusa sat back on her heels and looked immensely pleased with herself while my knees felt like they were about to buckle.

"I think we're really going to like living here. Dionysus and I always wanted to live in a supernatural city, but there aren't many that are completely supernatural anymore and there was always the issue of my glasses getting knocked off or broken. This is literally a dream."

Oh, we weren't talking right now. I was glad to know they wanted to stay here, but my bear was clawing at the surface. Our mate was on her knees before us and her pussy was wet, but she hadn't cum yet and we had.

I intended to do something about that. I let out a little growl.

"Your eyes just flashed amber. What does Bepo want?"

It used to be if anyone but Benji called my bear that, he'd come out and gut them with his claws. But apparently when Medusa did it, he preened just as much as when Benji did it.

"You. You haven't cum yet."

This beautiful blush rose on her breasts and she broke into goosebumps. But she raised her chin at me.

"What if I just want to please you right now?"

"I'd say you were being stubborn to make a point and punishing yourself for no reason, little monster. Is this what you really want?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow at her and reaching for my sweats.

We just stared at each other for a bit and had a good old-fashioned standoff before she dissolved into giggles.

"No, I do not. I just wanted to see what you would do."

Dionysus said she was okay with a little wrestling, so I playfully tackled her and tickled her. Yeah, she was ticklish. Medusa shrieked and pretended to try to shove me away, but she was into it. She pretended like she wanted to shove me away, but then she licked my nipple.

I stilled and groaned her name.

"Kiss me."

I held myself above her on my elbow so she didn't think I was pinning herself. I intended on taking my time. I explored her mouth and made slow circles on her clit with my thumb. She was squirming and panting.

"One thing about this park, little monster. Everyone knows if it's occupied for this to not come back for a while. I hope you're prepared to finish what you started."

Medusa let out a little whimper, but she pulled me down for another kiss. I dragged my fingers to my mouth to taste her. She tasted divine. I needed more and the longer we were out here, the stronger she was going to get. I was going to take my time.

I crawled between her legs and lapped at her clit. She tangled her hands in my hair and pulled. I knew her triggers, but I also knew what she liked. She was dripping wet, so I made a V with my fingers and slid two fingers into her pussy and two in her ass.

My tongue never stopped flicking her clit. Medusa was swearing and cursing. Yeah, my girl had a filthy mouth, but she was also enjoying herself. She also shattered when she came on my fingers and tongue. She tasted divine.

But I wasn't done yet unless she wanted to stop. Dionysus and his ambrosia would give her a boost and help fix what the Coalition had done to her body, but being in a field of grass and wildflowers and surrounded by beautiful plants was one of her baser needs. It was like me and shifting and swimming.

The Coalition had kept her from it in that basement and she'd been ignoring it because we were trying to bring them down. Yeah, I was kind of tricking her into staying out here longer, but I was doing it in a way that she'd enjoy.

"Oh, my goddess, you've got tongue and finger skills," she panted.

"Still not done with you."

"You're going to have to carry me back if you've still got plans."

"I'm okay with that. You haven't met everyone yet and if they see me carrying you and scent me all over you, then they know you're mine and I don't have to hit anyone for making that mistake."

"Persephone taught me all the ways the dead warriors taught her to kick ass. I could hit them myself."

"Oh, I'm totally aware you could kick their ass. I'd just have to come behind you and kick it again. It's the principle and I can't help my instincts."

"What are your instincts saying right this minute?"

Oh, being in the park with my naked horny mate was also screaming to my base nature as a bear shifter. Problem was, even with everything Dionysus told us, I wasn't sure she could handle what I wanted to do right now and I didn't know why she was smirking at me.

"You want to rut. Say it."

Oh, my goddess. She was perfect.

" Present, " I growled.

Yeah, we were both feeling fucking outside. Medusa just gave me a smartass grin, crawled on all fours, and waved that perfect ass at me. Minx. I gave her a little love spank because I knew she was into the occasional spank. Clearly, as she arched her back and leaned into it a little.

"You tell me to stop if you need it. Don't let it get to a point where you can't tell me that you aren't enjoying it."

Because Dionysus warned us if you were trying something new, you had to watch her because sometimes, she couldn't decide if it was too much until it was. She just laughed at me.

"For the longest time, it was just Dionysus and me. We wouldn't have been mated to each other if we didn't get each other. We shared a bear shifter before. He rutted both of us. I can handle it."

"Who was it? I'll kill him."

"Excuse me, mister, but we aren't talking about someone I fucked fifteen hundred years ago when we're both naked."

"Good point."

I slid into her and it was divine. Rutting was guaranteed when your mate was fertile or having her heat if she was a shifter, but it could also happen if a shifter could tell how turned on their mate was. Some shifters used it as an excuse to get rough, but they were dicks. It was intense, but it didn't have to be brutal.

All I was focused on right now was pleasing her and filling her up with my cum. Deep down, I knew her birth control spell was active and she wouldn't carry my cub after this, but my instincts didn't care.

If I shifted my hips and she cried out like I hit her G spot, I kept doing that. I leaned forward to flick at her clit. The rut was this primal thing, but nature added her own twist for the idiots who tried to abuse this.

If you were stuck in the rut, you couldn't cum unless she did. After everything Dionysus told me, I was pretty sure shifter women self-actualized that and most of us were okay with that because it was the most rewarding part of the rut. The ones that weren't had to suck it up and learn.

I'd never experienced this with the bond fully in place. It was even better. I'd been worried about taking it too far, but I could feel everything she was feeling again. I could feel her the night we claimed her.

I could feel if she wanted it a little faster, or she needed me to back off a little. I felt little jolts of pleasure in my spine if I did something she really liked and I kept doing it. It was this beautiful, wordless dance and I could feel she was getting close.

I flicked her clit a little harder. Medusa clamped down on my cock and slammed back into me. I would have waited for her even if I wasn't in the rut and dependent on her pleasure for mine. I wasn't that kind of lover.

But when it hit me, I nearly blacked out. The rut was always intense, but out in nature with our mate bond complete? I could die happy.

I mean, I wouldn't because I definitely wanted to do this again.