Undone (The Amoveo Legend) (11 page)

“No way, buddy,” he said between heavy breaths.

“What are you going to do?” Marianna whispered as she rained kisses along his chest. “Throw the poor dog in the snow?” She flicked his nipple with her tongue wickedly and ran her hands over his ass.

“Nope.” He slid his hands over Marianna’s hips and kissed her shoulder as she ran her nails lightly along his engorged cock. He reached around and slipped two fingers into her hot, wet channel. Her lips parted, and she gasped as he slid them in and out slowly, teasingly. “You’re so wet, but I want you wet all over.”

“Yes,” she breathed. Marianna bit her lip and nodded as she clung to his shoulders and pressed herself against his hand.

Pete picked her up and brought her into the bathroom, leaving Tramp alone on the couch. He kicked the door closed and carried her into the shower. Placing her down, she stood behind him as he turned on the water, assuring it wasn’t too hot or too cold. Marianna kissed his back and grabbed him with both hands. One hand brushed up and down his cock in slow, deliberate strokes as the other massaged his balls.

The hot water sprayed over them as Pete braced himself on the tiled wall, and he sank into the erotic effect of her touch. She whispered words of seduction as she took him to the edge of sanity.

No way. Not yet. He wanted this to last.

Pete pushed himself away from the wall, turned, and took her in his arms again. He wanted to taste every bit of her. He spun her around and took both breasts in his hands as she arched back, pushing herself deeper into his grasp. Marianna reached up and ran her fingers through his hair as he rained kisses along her throat. She groaned and writhed against him.

“Please,” she gasped. “I want you inside of me.”

“Not yet,” Pete ground out. “I have to taste you.”

He dropped to his knees and kissed the bruise on her round backside, the one she got from jumping from the car. Pete smiled, grasped her hips, and turned her to face him. She looked at him through a heavy-lidded gaze and leaned against the wall, preparing herself for what was coming.

He slid his hands up the slippery skin of her legs and brushed kisses along her inner thigh as she quivered in tense anticipation. He parted her lips, revealing the treasure hidden beneath, and took one long, loving taste.

Marianna’s entire body jolted when he put his mouth on her. She grabbed his hair as he dove deep and tasted the most intimate part of her, writhing and moaning as he held her prisoner. Pete licked, suckled, and massaged her to the edge of orgasm.

He stopped short of taking her over the brink and kissed his way up her flat belly, over her breasts, and finally to that succulent mouth.

“If you don’t fuck me soon,” she growled against his lips, “I’m going to scream.”

“That’s what I want, Marianna.” Pete lifted one of her legs and wrapped it around his waist as he positioned the head of his cock at her swollen entrance. “I want you to scream for me.”

In one sure stroke, he speared into her hard and fast. Tight, hot, and wet, she covered him perfectly. Pete moaned as he withdrew and dove in deep again. She clung to him as he pumped into her with smooth, swift strokes. Marianna’s cries of pleasure filled the room. She took his head in her hands, brought his mouth to hers, and kissed him deeply as he drove into her at a maddening pace.

She broke the kiss and looked him into his eyes as he sank into her harder—faster.

“
Nos
es
unus. Materia pro totus vicis. Ago intertwined. Forever
,” she whispered against his lips. Marianna cried out as he plunged deeply and sent them over the edge with one last thrust.

As the water beat down on them, breathing like they’d just run a marathon, they stayed locked in each other’s embrace. He was buried deep inside, but neither moved until they realized the water was getting cold. Tramp was whining and scratching at the door.

“At least his timing is getting better.” Pete kissed the top of her head and slowly disengaged from the warmth of her body. He shut off the water as she stepped out of the shower. “What was that you said right before…” he trailed off. He snagged two towels, handed her one, and dried off before wrapping it around his waist.

“Nothing.” Marianna looked away and used the towel Pete gave her. She shrugged and ran her hands through her long, wet hair. “I don’t think it really means anything right now.”

“Hey.” Pete took her hands and pulled them against his chest, forcing her to look him in the eye. “No more secrets. Remember? What did you say?”

“It was the bonding rite,” she said quietly. “It basically means, ‘We are one. Mates for all time. Lives intertwined. Forever.’ But I’m not sure if it worked,” she added quickly.

“So that’s it?” Pete asked warily. “You said that phrase while we… y’know… and we’re mated?”

“Yes, we’re supposed to be, but with the binding powder in place… I’m not sure.” Marianna looked at him nervously. “Are you mad?”

“Depends.” He narrowed his eyes and tilted her chin with one finger. “Does this mean that we’re married?”

“Yes,” she said tentatively. “As far as the Amoveo are concerned, we’re married.” Marianna studied him through watchful eyes. “What is it?”

“I like it.” Pete winked and smacked her ass. “You just saved me a bundle on a ring.”

Before she could tell him what a jackass he was, he kissed her, opened the door, and tossed her over his shoulder as she wiggled and laughed, trying to escape. Tramp barked playfully and followed them into the bedroom.

“You know what I’m thinking?” Pete said as he tossed a giggling Marianna onto the bed.

“I haven’t the foggiest notion.” She sat up and removed her towel slowly, baring those magnificent breasts. “You forget that I can’t read your energy.” She sighed and yanked Pete’s towel off his waist and tossed it into the corner with hers. She glanced at his growing erection. “But there are certain things that I can… sense.”

Neither noticed when Tramp made quick work of turning the towels into his bed.

“I think we better try it again.” He covered her body with his and kissed the corner of her mouth. “I want to make sure that bonding rite worked.”

The first few weeks at the cabin went by surprisingly fast. Marianna had never played so many board games, read so many books, or had so much sex in her life—and for all intents and purposes—she did it all as a human.

There had been a few moments when she attempted telepathy or used her visualization abilities, but it never worked. She wasn’t doing it to try and get away from Pete; she just wanted to see if she could do it, but to no avail.

Eventually, she stopped trying and accepted her human life for what it was. She knew that with Pete as her mate, eventually, a human life is what she would have permanently. If being mated to Pete meant eventually giving up her Amoveo gifts forever, then that’s what she would do.

The best gift was having him as her mate.

Pete delighted in showing her the joys of snowmobiling, although she thought that her whole body was going to vibrate for days afterwards. They explored various parts of the property, and it was evident that Pete took pure joy in sharing his home. Tramp came and went as he pleased, but Marianna missed having him around when he went off on his excursions.

Pete had been promising her a night in town, and since he had to check in with Dante again, she finally got him to agree to go to Flannagan’s Bar for something to eat other than their cooking. The only catch was that because so much snow had fallen, they would be going into town on his snowmobile.

“My ass is going to vibrate forever. In fact, I think it’s still humming from the ride we took yesterday.” Marianna stood next to Pete and stared at the buzzing contraption with a look of contempt. She reluctantly put on the helmet he handed her. “Why can’t we take the truck?”

“Well, we could, but this is more fun.” Pete smacked her butt playfully and hopped on. “Come on. It’s got a headlight and everything, and I think your skin is humming from the other ride we took.” He wiggled his eyebrows, and she couldn’t help but laugh. When she didn’t move to get on with him, he lowered his voice to a challenging tone. “I thought you were a badass.”

“Didn’t anyone tell you that peer pressure isn’t nice?” She climbed on behind him and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist.

“It’s not peer pressure,” he shouted over the buzz of the engine. “It’s good, old-fashioned teasing.”

He took off down the snow-covered driveway, and Marianna hung on for dear life. He knew this area like the back of his hand, so she knew she was safe, but that didn’t squash the twinge of fear. It reminded her of a roller coaster ride. You were safe, but there was always that small voice in the back of your mind that told you it could go flying off the rails at any second. As she clung to him and watched the trees whizz by, she realized that’s what life with Pete was like—an exhilarating ride into the unknown and something new at every turn.

When they pulled up in front of Flannagan’s, Marianna smirked when she saw the line of snowmobiles parked outside the bar.

“See, everybody’s doing it,” Pete teased.

“Very funny.” Marianna got off the snowmobile, removed the helmet, and shook out her hair. “My ass is buzzing.”

“Let me check.” Smiling, Pete looped one arm around her and grabbed her backside. “It’s hot, but it’s not buzzing.”

Marianna laughed and elbowed him playfully as they walked hand in hand into Flannagan’s.

The pub was exactly what she expected. The small dark space had a bar at the center with tables scattered around. A deer head with two ladies’ bras dangling from the antlers hung above the bar, with a dartboard to the right and an old-fashioned jukebox to the left that rounded the place out.

The pub had several customers, many of whom probably belonged to the snowmobiles outside. The bartender, a big blond, bearded fellow, smiled broadly and waved at Pete.

“Well, I’ll be damned. Pete Castro. I heard you were back in town.” He shook Pete’s hand over the bar, smacked him on the shoulder, and glanced at Marianna. “I’d ask what you’ve been doing with yourself, but that’s probably none of my business.”

“Patrick,” Pete began with a broad grin, “this… is my fiancée Marianna.”

Marianna, too surprised to say anything, simply smiled sheepishly and shook Patrick’s outstretched hand. She glanced at Pete, who looked prouder than a peacock and totally comfortable with the fact that he’d introduced her as his fiancée.

“Your fiancée?” Patrick bellowed. He reached over the bar and pulled Marianna into an unexpected hug. “Congratulations,” he said, releasing her. “Drinks on the house tonight for both of you. What’ll it be?”

“I’d love an Amstel.” Pete settled himself on the bar stool. “And for my lovely bride-to-be?”

“Oh, I’d love a gin and tonic, thank you.” Marianna sat next to Pete and looked at him through narrowed eyes as she removed her coat and gloves. Patrick moved down the bar to gather her drink. “I have to admit that I wasn’t prepared for that,” she said quietly, not wanting Patrick to overhear.

“What?” he asked innocently, while keeping one eye on Patrick. “You mean the ‘fiancée’ thing?”

“Yes.” She laughed. “That.”

“Well, I wanted to ease you into it. I’m not gonna wait much longer to make it official and marry you for real.” He trained his bright blue eyes on her, and they twinkled at her suggestively. “You better get used to it because I don’t think I can introduce you to my friends as my mate.” He shrugged. “Not that I have many friends—human ones, anyway. My former partner, Doug, wouldn’t exactly get the whole mate thing. So wife will have to do.”

“You never did tell me why you left the police force.”

Pete tensed and grabbed a handful of bar mix from the bowl in front of them. Boy, she wished she could still read energy signatures, but she was getting better at understanding Pete. She’d hit a nerve, and that only piqued her curiosity to know more.

“I worked homicide, as you know.” He offered her the snack in his hand but didn’t look at her. “A woman and her baby had been hacked up by her ex-husband and stuffed in garbage bags. She had a restraining order and all that crap, but in the end… he still got to her.”

Silence hung in the air as she waited for him to continue. He popped the rest of the peanuts in his mouth and brushed his hands off.

“We cornered the son of a bitch in a crack house, and he opened fire on us, but I’m a better shot.” He flicked his eyes toward her. “I quit the next day. The guy had a rap sheet longer than my arm. He was a career criminal, a drug addict with a history of violence. That woman tried everything she could to keep him away, but the system failed her and her baby. I’d met Dante on another case, and he’d told me that if I ever wanted a job, it was mine. So I took him up on his offer.”

“Didn’t you go into law enforcement so that you could get the bad guys and protect people? Why would you quit?”

“I didn’t quit.” His eyes flashed. “I just switched teams. Working with Dante in the private sector, I’m able to get to these dirtbags before they hurt someone. I decided to focus on prevention, instead of cleanup.”

Marianna nodded. Finally, she understood. Pete was a protector. He wanted to keep people safe, keep her safe. That’s all he ever wanted.

“Here you go.” Patrick placed their drinks in front of them, breaking up their private conversation. “Pete’s getting married?” He shook his head, and his words were edged with obvious disbelief. “Brittany is gonna be disappointed.”

“Patrick, why do you seem so surprised that I managed to rope Pete into marriage?” Marianna asked, trying to lighten the mood. “Does he have that much of a reputation as a playboy?”

“Not at all.” Patrick chuckled and folded his arms over his large belly. “For a while there, I wasn’t even sure if he liked girls.”

“Hey,” Pete said, feigning injury. “I’m merely selective.”

“Well, it certainly looks like it paid off.” Patrick winked at Marianna. “If you ever get tired of old blue eyes over here, you give me a call.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Marianna said through a laugh, before taking a sip of her drink.

“Hey, quit flirting with my fiancée, you big jerk.” Pete winked at Marianna as Patrick laughed heartily and made his way down the bar. “Go help your customers.”

“Did you come in here with your mom and grandparents a lot?” Marianna surveyed the bar and noticed as several people nodded and smiled at Pete. “You may not be one of the locals, but it seems like you’re an adopted son.”

“My grandparents used to take me here for burgers and stuff.” He peeled the label off his beer and worried it into a ball between his fingers. “Grandpa died before I was old enough to come have a beer with him though.”

“What about your father?” She watched him through serious eyes and saw anger flicker beneath the surface. She’d gotten him to open up about part of his past; maybe she could get more. “You never mention him.”

“I never knew him,” he said flatly. Pete turned his piercing gaze to hers. “He took off before I was born, and it just about killed my mother. By all accounts, before she met him, she was bright, happy, and loved life. Grandpa said that she fell head over heels in love with my father, but then when she told him she was pregnant, he split.”

He looked back at the beer in his hands, and anger was replaced by the unmistakable weight of sadness. Marianna’s heart broke for him and for the woman she never met. It seemed clear that neither human nor Amoveo were immune to betrayal and heartbreak.

“I never knew the woman that they described. They said she was never the same after my father left, and no matter what I did or said… it was never enough to make her happy.” He took a long pull from his beer and shrugged. “She was just broken, I guess. For all intents and purposes, my grandparents raised me. My mother was physically there, but she wasn’t…
there
. It took me a long time to realize that it wasn’t my fault.”

“I’m sorry.” Marianna placed her hand over his and brushed her thumb along his fingers reassuringly. “I wish I could’ve met them, especially your grandparents.”

“Me too.” He squeezed her hand briefly before releasing it. “I’d better give Dante a call and see if there are any new developments. Grab us that little booth in the corner, the one with the green and yellow tablecloth, will you?”

He placed a warm kiss on her cheek as he stood from his seat, and Marianna watched as he strode to the pay phone. His broad-shouldered frame cut an imposing figure, and the man looked as good going as he did coming. Her thoughts wandered to what he’d been telling her, and a smile played at her lips.

He shared his past, opened up in a way that he never had before, and then hopped up to make a phone call. Typical man, she thought with a shake of her head. Men were incredibly good at simplifying their feelings and acting like past experiences didn’t shape who they were. She wished she could’ve met his grandparents so that she could thank them for raising such a good man.

Marianna grabbed their things and settled into the small curved booth.

“Looks like Pete finally got saddled.” The feminine voice, edged with clear disdain, immediately set Marianna on edge.

She looked up and locked eyes with a freckle-faced brunette, who she could only assume was the infamous Brittany. Dressed in a Flannagan’s T-shirt and jeans, notepad and pen in hand, she looked Marianna up and down with the critical eye of a woman scorned. Chewing on a wad of gum, her pale blue eyes were lined with too much makeup and years of unhappiness.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t believe we’ve met.” Marianna extended her hand to the woman who shook it weakly before dropping it like a hot potato. “I’m Marianna, Pete’s fiancée.”

“Yeah,” she said tightly. “That’s what I heard. Pat was blathering on about it to the guys in the kitchen, but I had to see it for myself.”

“And you are?” Marianna asked, trying to be friendly, but knowing that this woman had little interest in being friends.

“I’m Brittany. Pete and I used to… hang out.” A wicked smile slithered across her face. “You’re a lucky woman.” She looked over her shoulder at Pete, who was on the pay phone. “That’s one big hunk of man, and if memory serves, he really knows his way around a woman’s body.”

Marianna hadn’t missed her Amoveo abilities over the last week or two. However, right now, she’d give just about anything to shift her eyes into their clan form and scare the shit out of this woman. She wasn’t stupid or naive. She knew Pete had other lovers. Hell, she’d had a few of her own. But she didn’t need it rubbed in her face, especially by this woman.

She may not have her ability to shift, but she could still play head games with the best of them. The only way to win with a woman like Brittany was to make sure she didn’t get to you—at least don’t let her see it.

“He sure does. I can assure you that his skill set is second to none.” Marianna tilted her chin and smiled sweetly as she surveyed the table before turning her attention back to Brittany. “Do you think we could get some menus?”

“Fine.” Brittany’s jaw set, and she hissed under her breath as she slapped two greasy menus on the table. “Hurry up. Kitchen’s closing early tonight.”

“Hello, Brittany.” Pete slid into the seat next to Marianna and draped his arm behind her on the back of the booth. Brittany jumped at the sound his voice, and her face flushed. He picked up the menu and had a look. “What’s good tonight?”

“Menu hasn’t changed here in close to twenty years, Pete, but I’ll get you some water while you have a look.” She smiled, but the smile vanished when she looked in Marianna’s direction. “Be right back.”

“You must’ve done quite a number on her,” Marianna said under her breath. “That is one angry woman.”

“We dated one summer after high school.” He lay the menu down and leaned back in the booth, which creaked in protest. A smile cracked his handsome face. “Jealous?”

“Hardly.” Marianna rolled her eyes and pretended to be interested in her menu. “I don’t need to read her energy signature to tell that she was obviously holding a candle for you and meeting your
fiancée
snuffed it out in one fell swoop.”

“I never made her any promises.” He sighed. “We were just kids, Marianna.” His eyebrows knit together, and confusion covered his face. “Are you upset about something?”