Avet, Danica - Ain't No Bull [The Veil 4] (Siren Publishing Classic) (41 page)

He’d wanted to kiss his new in-laws’ feet for giving his female relatives something to do besides bother the hell out of him. The last three months had been spent trying to organize security for the Veilerian Ball, help his mate settle into the Black Dog Camp, fuck her blind every night, and deal with his family.

The tapping of the needle into his chest finally stopped and Grant blinked. It was over so soon? The thought had no sooner crossed his mind than dyed salt water was poured onto the marking. They’d told him the dye would sink into his skin while the salt water would keep his body from healing the wound. Sharp pain radiated from the spot, but he held his groan back. Damn!

Just when he thought he might pass out from the burn, something soft and smelling of roses tackled him. Automatically wrapping his arms around his mate, Grant let himself fall, landing on his back with Isola perched on him.

Their lips met and all pain was forgotten as she seemed determined to devour him in front of their friends and families. Grant was strangely okay with that idea and matched her tongue stroke for stroke.

A roar caught his attention and he pulled back to see that they were surrounded by Amazons, cow-swans, bear shifters, and other races. Family had interfered again. Dammit. He glanced at Isola to see her pupils blown wide with desire. Unable to help himself, he kissed her again before he allowed her to be pulled away by her sisters.

Someone gripped his hand and yanked him to his feet. It was his father, who slapped his back with a broad smile. “That was a fine ceremony, boy. You did good pickin’ her.”

Bella frowned at her mate before she dabbed at Grant’s tattoo. “It was barbaric,” she muttered in a soft tone to avoid being heard by the Amazons celebrating a few feet away. “Look at your chest!”

“That’s some tattoo, cuz,” Ricky drawled as he slapped Grant’s back. “And that was some kiss.”

But his cousin wasn’t paying attention to him, his eyes sweeping the crowd of guests for one Amazon in particular. Grant had told his cousin that Saga was not going to be receptive to him, but the bear was determined to get at her. He and Isola suspected the two would end up mating before the year was out.

Isola had been granted permission to reopen the Black Dog Camp as a training facility which meant Eustis was about to become a mecca for nomadic Amazons. The VPA, High Council, and Council of Amazons had all agreed that a camp run by a third party would aid the Amazons as well as others who wanted specialized skills. With Saga, Isola, Rosetta, and Ravanna as instructors, the camp already had over two hundred trainees. It meant a revival of the tithe laws, which had every Veilerian male within two hundred miles of the camp sweating with anticipation and fear.

Ricky had already told Grant that he planned to offer to pay his tithe to Saga at the first quarter. He only hoped his cousin realized what he was asking for. Grant had a feeling Saga would twist the bear inside out and sideways without a thought. Problem was, Ricky would love every minute of it.

He glanced at his mate, who was surrounded by her friends and sisters. She glowed with health and love. She was so beautiful to him, so utterly perfect, he’d spent the last three months thinking how lucky he was to have her as a mate.

She must’ve sensed his gaze because she looked over at him. The love and trust shining in her dark eyes left him breathless. Gods, he loved this woman!

Someone slapped his shoulder. He turned to see Fallon, Lucian, Connor, and Malachi standing next to him. They were all grinning like idiots, and that was when he realized he was as well.

“Great ceremony,” Lucian said with a hungry look at his mate. He was slightly sunburned, but it seemed that the potion one of his vampire friends had concocted was working.

“
Ma fouine
looks very happy,
taureau
,” Fallon told him with a solemn nod. “As long as you keep her that way, we will not have problems, yes?”

He would’ve scoffed at the thought of fighting the incubus again, but realized it was Fallon’s way of saying he approved of their mating and wished the best for them. “Thanks, and yeah, you can kick my ass if I make her unhappy.”

“Unless she kicks it first,” Malachi inserted with a wicked smile. “That girl has some serious skills of the kick-ass variety.”

“Mm, man candy,” a deep voice purred.

They all whirled around to see Rosetta eyeing them like a hungry wolf. She was on the arm of a much shorter man with a round belly and glasses, but there was obvious affection between the two of them.

The round man cleared his throat and Rosetta blinked. “Sorry, baby. Y’all, this is my date, Bruce. Bruce, these gorgeous slabs of man meat are mates of my friends.”

Bruce nodded, but didn’t look in the least bit put out by Rosetta’s words. In fact, he looked downright indulgent as though he had a secret. From the smile on Rosetta’s face, it was a secret she shared.

Grant cleared his throat. “Thanks for coming, Bruce.”

Rosetta snickered and he felt a blush burn his face. That’s when he noticed that Rosetta’s lipstick was smeared, her hair was disheveled, and Bruce’s glasses were lopsided. Yeah, uncomfortable much?

“Are you tormenting my mate, Rosetta?” Isola growled as she appeared next to him. “Oh, hey Bruce.” She turned to Rosetta, her body tense. “You gonna make me kick your ass on my mating day, slut?”

The drag queen rolled her eyes. “Don’t make me windmill your ass like the dirty whore you are.”

Just when it looked as though the friends would scuffle, there was a loud crack that caught everyone’s attention. Heads swiveled as they searched for the origin of the noise until they noticed Ricky’s broad grin.

Saga was walking away from the bear, her body stiff with anger. The handprint on Ricky’s face was all the evidence anyone needed that the bear had pissed the Amazon off.

Isola and Rosetta looked at each other with wide eyes. “They’re so going to fuck,” Isola whispered to her friend.

“Girl, did you
see
Saga’s face?”

The two tittered and bent their heads together to talk about what they’d witnessed. Grant stared at them, not sure how they could go from fighting to giggling. He met Bruce’s understanding gaze and shrugged.

“Wanna grab a beer?” he asked the bull moose.

“Sure.”

Together, they walked towards Ricky who was still staring after Saga with what Grant could only describe as a bovine lovesick look on his face. Grabbing his cousin’s arm, he led the bear towards the coolers holding the beer. Yup, looked like he and Bruce were going to have to teach Ricky how to love an Amazon.

* * * *

Izzy screamed as Grant slammed into her one last time, his seed spilling into her like a hot tide. Thanks to her mate’s efforts, she couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, could barely even think. Scratch that, she couldn’t think at all.

He’d fucked her good and hard and left her wanting more. She finally caught her breath and lifted her limp arms to stroke his quivering body. The scent of their lovemaking hovered in the air, citrus and rose and wild sex. If she could move her legs, she’d wrap them around her mate, but she was done for.

“Love you,” he growled against her neck. His voice vibrated through her body, lighting along all of her pulse points. “Love you so fucking much.”

“Love you, too.”

He moved slightly making her hiss as his cock dragged along her inner walls. This time, her legs obeyed her commands and snapped around his hips to hold him in place. He looked at her questioningly.

“I don’t want you to leave me.” Dammit, she sounded pathetic! “I mean, right now, like this instant. You can, you know, go places and um, stuff.”

He grinned at her. “I wasn’t planning to any time soon.”

Was it stupid to feel relieved? She didn’t care if it was, she had her mate right where she wanted him. He turned on his side, still clasped by her pussy, and arranged their limbs so they were both more comfortable.

They were quiet for a long time, just holding each other and listening to the sound of the party in the distance. They’d left at sundown because neither of them could take the anticipation any longer, and they’d spent that entire time teasing and torturing each other to orgasm. Izzy sighed gustily, contentedly. She’d never expected to be so satisfied. Ever.

But there was one thing niggling at her, and she knew she had to break this quiet peace. She cleared her throat, the sound unnaturally loud in the silence of their bedroom.

“Baby?” Grant murmured as he shifted his hold on her.

“I have to tell you something.”

Maybe she should’ve picked a different time to do this because he tensed against her. Shit, how to tell him? She wasn’t even sure how she felt about it, wasn’t sure if it was even true. But she had a suspicion and she had to share it with him. They were mates. They were supposed to share everything about each other.

“Isola, what is it?” His voice was so calm and steady, but she could feel the escalating tension in him.

Fuck. Better to just say it and get it over with. Right?

“I’m pregnant. I think. I’m not sure. I’ve never been pregnant before, so I don’t know what it’s supposed to feel like and it’s not like I can ask my sisters without them saying something to piss me off and then I’d want to fight them and then you’d wonder what was going on and think I didn’t want to tell you and then we’d fight and—”

His hard lips stopped the torrent of words she couldn’t seem to halt. He teased her lips with his tongue until she opened to him. Then he conquered her mouth, sweeping in and throwing every single scared, senseless thought out of her head.

She clutched at his shoulders, pulling him to her until their bodies were molded from chest to hip. Gods, she loved this man so much, she sometimes thought she would burst from it. Tangling her fingers in his hair, Izzy enjoyed the taste of him until her body was so fired up with need, she moaned.

That’s when he pulled away. His eyes had gone completely black with need and his nostrils flared. Her arms were looped around his neck and she couldn’t help but touch the ring that had once been his piercing. He’d had it melted down to create a wedding ring for her even though neither of their people wore them.

“Woman, you make me so crazy,” he growled at her smile. “How do you feel about it?”

It? She loved his ring…Oh, right, the baby. “I don’t know. I’m um, nervous and a little scared. I don’t know how to be a mom or anything, and I have a feeling I’m going to want to kill you during the labor.” She tried to shrug, which was impossible in her position. Instead, she made a “meh” face. “I never really thought of myself as having kids, but if I have you at my side, I think I can do it.”

His smile was slow in forming, but once it crossed his face, her breath caught in her throat. “I bet you can.”

Her competitive side reared its head at the words. “You’re betting we can raise a kid and not fuck it up too much?”

Grant laughed and kissed her hard. “Baby, I bet we can do that and make a dozen more who come out somewhat normal. What do you think?”

Izzy thought about it a moment. Dozens of kids, huh? Some would be Amazons, some would be minotaurs. Some would look like her, some would look like Grant, and they’d all be pains in the asses because of their parents. She couldn’t help but grin.

“I’ll take that bet as long as we can rope your mom into babysitting.”

THE END

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