Chapter 17
MAX GAVE AVA THE window seat. It was his favorite seat in a jet, probably everybody’s, and that was why he gave it up for his mate, but he couldn’t stop himself from almost sitting in her lap as they were descending. They passed down through thick clouds to large snowy mountains in Washington, some place called Talepeaks, a private city that belonged to Trinity. The place was big. There were large homes with plenty of land, but there were also a lot of buildings that looked like bunkers, military grade stuff. Farther in was a large building, the largest, with so many windows it was shimmering in the evening sun. That was Trinity Headquarters. Maybe it wasn’t one large glass building but a bunch of them combined. It wasn’t just tall, it seemed to span miles.
“Max!” Ava squeaked and giggled as she pressed into his chest. “You’re heavy.”
“Sorry.” Max tried to settle back down into his own seat. They’d be touching down on the landing strip he glimpsed out the window soon enough. Trinity had its own private airport apparently. Other jets were sitting in large hangars near the landing strip.
Gwen and Willow were laughing from a few seats over. Derek was there, too. Max was glad Willow and Derek decided to come to support Ava. Howard and Julie would have come too, but Nick told them to stay and keep things running in Blue Pack while he and his mate were away. Surprisingly, Cedric was the last one Nick had allowed to come with them. He sat by himself and had been deadly silent the whole ride, but whatever. Max didn’t feel threatened. Cedric wasn’t out to cause more trouble, but Max wasn’t sure he wanted to put his faith in him to help the situation either.
In a few more minutes, the jet touched down and they rolled to a stop on the landing strip. Max grabbed his and Ava’s things in two suitcases and followed Isabelle as she led the group off the jet. When they stepped off, they were greeted by a line of shifters wearing military grade armor. They were equipped with weapons sheathed at their sides, guns, knives. Max’s hackles rose, but he reminded his wolf that freaking out here wouldn’t do any good for Ava, so he managed to tame the wildness threatening to break loose. Trinity was about peace, supposedly, but these armored guards didn’t make the place feel very peaceful.
“What’s with all the soldiers?” Nick asked.
“Unfortunately, just being peaceful isn’t enough in this world. Trinity has to protect itself from those who would destroy it. Currently, the Circle.”
Ava shuddered, so Max wrapped his arm around her. She thanked him by leaning into him. Her reaction could have also been partly because of the cold, but he could smell her unease. This Circle thing, this coven of witches, was really bad news.
“What is the Circle, exactly?” Nick inquired.
“A group of Black Witches who would become gods,” Ava replied barely louder than a whisper. “They’ll stop at nothing, and they care about no one.”
“That’s the gist of it, and more or less the most of what anyone knows,” Isabelle agreed. “They are a very private group. We’ve been trying to uncover what they’re planning exactly, but it hasn’t been easy—even with Terros Sight.”
Max scowled and everyone fell silent as Isabelle led them through different checkpoints and clusters of guards. The place had tight security, that was for damn sure. They even got frisked at one point, despite Isabelle escorting them there personally. Max wanted to rip the head off the shifter frisking his Ava. Derek and Nick felt much the same way when it came to their mates. The only reason the boys were able to hold back was because their ladies kept them in their place. Their severe looks seemed to say, “Don’t you dare fuck this up.”
God, but it was uncomfortable. Max wouldn’t let go of Ava’s hand after that.
Finally, they made it to HQ. Max had to crane his neck in an attempt to see the building’s top when they were standing in front of a sliding glass door entryway. A big and burly shifter emerged from the building before they could step foot inside. Max recognized him immediately. The scar on his left eye and the unearthly white of that eye made him hard to forget. Like all the other shifters they saw since arriving, Bruiser was wearing light armor, too.
“He lives!” Nick exclaimed.
Bruiser grinned as he and Nick met halfway, clapping each other on the back.
“Wasn’t sure I’d see you again, bear.”
“Blue Pack Alpha. It’ll take more than that to off me.”
Max watched on in wonder. The two acted like old friends when in reality they had met literally once. Granted, Bruiser had come to help Blue Pack with a shifter collector problem and took command like the dominant he was. He put an Alpha and his pack in their place like it was nothing. Nick was anything but submissive, but Bruiser felt… heavier. Nick seemed to respect that. Obviously, Bruiser respected Nick’s standing as well.
“It seems I have one of your people to thank,” Bruiser said, his voice low and gravelly. He turned to Ava. “From what I’ve been told, I have you to thank for putting an end to my curse.”
Ava blushed and gripped Max’s hand tighter. “I-I want to set everything right. Even if there’s no way to, I want to try.”
Bruiser gave a slight nod of his head. “I’ll show you to your rooms. You’re free to explore after that. Maybe you’ll want to get acquainted with some of the shifters here or maybe you’ll have questions to ask. Whatever you decide to do with your time. The trial is tomorrow so try to get comfortable.”
Bruiser gave them a quick tour of the part of the building they were staying in on the way to their room. There was a large cafeteria that would have made Max hungry with all the mouthwatering smells if he thought he could eat through the uneasiness twisting his gut into knots. There was a gym, an indoor pool, a gallery. One thing was for sure, Trinity didn’t lack for money.
Once the tour was through, and everyone was given keys to their rooms, Bruiser set them free. Derek and Willow ran off to probably cause trouble somewhere. Nick and Gwen stayed with Bruiser and Isabelle. Cedric went to his room.
“What do you want to do?” Max asked Ava.
“I want to be alone with you,” she said.
That sounded perfect. Max pressed his key card to the scanner and the door to their room clicked open. Max shouldn’t have been surprised by this point, but his mouth still dropped open when he saw the place. They had a whole suite to themselves, even a kitchenette. They could order food to their room and prepare it themselves. They wouldn’t have to leave at all until the trial unless they wanted to. The suite was that same slick style as the rest of the building. There were lots of lights and a great view thanks to all the walls that were wide open windows and them being on the fourth floor. Somehow Trinity found a way to look cold and metallic, but warm and country cabin style at the same time. Maybe the cold was simply because the suite had no one living in it at the moment.
Ava’s mouth was hanging wide open, too. “Wow,” she said at last, breaking their stunned silence. “This place is amazing.”
“Agreed,” Max said.
“Trinity Shifters are warm, too.”
Max snorted. “If warm is getting a pat down and being treated like a criminal.” He growled. Remembering another man’s hands on Ava made him angry.
Ava laughed and nuzzled his chest. He couldn’t stay angry when she did that. “Airports are just the same, though,” she said.
“Yeah, and I don’t like those either.”
“Everything’s going to be okay. I know it. Trinity Shifters are warm like your pack.”
“They aren’t technically my pack. I haven’t pledged to Nick,” Max explained.
“But you consider them your pack anyway.”
“Yeah, I kind of want to stay and pledge to Nick so it’s official. I’d buy a house instead of bumming around the motel. I don’t want to go back to Boise, and I don’t have to for my job. What do you want?”
“That. It sounds perfect. I want to be wherever you are.”
Max wrapped his arms around her and pressed his hands into her back. “I need to contact my family. I’ve been avoiding them. They probably think I’m dead in a ditch somewhere.” He shook his head.
“Family?”
“Yeah, Mom, Dad, older brother, and little sister. I know my wolf must have come from somewhere, but I was avoiding telling them about it because no one’s ever told me about being a wolf or having shifter blood or anything like that. I started having all these stupid doubts about them, but it’s like I told you before, Ava. Love, real love, isn’t something that breaks easily. So, it’s time to quit worrying about what they’ll think and just tell them. I also want to tell them about you. I want you to meet them.”
“And tell them you claimed me even though we just met?” she teased.
“Especially that.” He grinned.
“Okay,” she said easily. “If you love them, Max, I’ll be happy to meet them.”
“They’ll be happy to meet you, too—after they get over the initial shock of how fast I moved on after supposedly having a serious girlfriend.”
“Lizbeth?” Ava’s voice hiked up a notch.
“It turned out to be nothing. Less than nothing. She was cheating on me the whole time we were together.” Max cringed. “You’re it, Ava. Only you. From now on and forever.”
“She must have been out of her mind.” Ava reached up and grabbed Max’s face. Suddenly, she felt and smelled sure, confident. “You’re the sexiest man alive.”
Max groaned. If she was going to say things like that and take charge like this, he was going to be so hard. His cock was already beginning to ache for her. Every part of him was aching for her. Perfect woman.
“Max, make love to me tonight,” she whispered. The last light of the sun was quickly fading below mountain peaks, bathing them in a soft light. “Like the night you claimed me. Only you. I want to think only about you tonight.”
“God, yes. Let me make love to you all night long.”
Ava shook slightly as she met his gaze. Her eyes were glossy with tears threatening to show. Her scent soured and the smile on her face was pained. “I’m a little scared of tomorrow after all. Don’t leave me, Max.”
“Never,” he vowed.
Max swept her off her feet and carried her like a queen to the ridiculously large circular-shaped bed covered with pillows. When he laid her down, the bed held her softly. Her eyes fluttered and she let out a moan of pleasure. He went right to her mouth. The sounds she made against his lips drove him harder. He kissed her fervently, teeth, tongue, everything he could do to claim her mouth with his. He angled his head to reach as far as he could into his Ava’s sweet as candy mouth. Tonight, it would be only them. Everything else could wait. Tonight, he would show her again how much he loved her, how much more he was growing to love her all the time. Short and fast, it didn’t matter. This was the truest love he knew, and it was never going to end. Every day he would find new things to love about her. To admire.
Ava choked back a sob. She held his cheeks. “I hope I can have this with you forever,” she said.
The few tears that fled her eyes made him feel like crying, too. He could feel the tears prick at his eyes. “I’m not going anywhere, Ava. I love you. Show and tell. Over and over,” he reminded.
Ava’s fingers trembled against his skin. Her other wounds were remnants of wounds, but her fingers were still sore. Maybe because that was something she needed to overcome herself. Max took one of her hands and gently pressed kisses to her fingers, light and soft. He didn’t have any healing magic of his own, but he hoped this helped.
She fisted her free hand in his sweater. “Take it off,” she said. She kicked off her boots and Max did the same, keeping up with her pace.
His lady wasn’t asking. Max grinned and pulled back. She moved up with him and took the lead in ripping off his sweater. She wanted to undress him, but he wanted to undress her, too. “One for one until there’s nothing left,” he said as he pushed forward and pulled her coat off in one swift motion. Ava had more layers on, but that didn’t matter. He would unwrap her nice and slow, torturing them both in the process.
Ava went for Max’s jeans next. She purposely gripped his hard-on as she did. He was so ready. That touch, although fleeting, made him hungrier. He could feel his wolf below the surface. He was growling, but Ava didn’t mind. It was a contented sound in this moment.
Max pulled off Ava’s sweater and brushed his fingers against her breasts when he did. She hadn’t bothered wearing a bra. She was small enough and her sweater was so large, that no one would have noticed. He drew a moan from her lips as he circled her nipples, drawing them up into hard points. “Max,” she breathed.
“You’re next,” he said as he suddenly drew his hands away.
Ava’s hands were on his briefs. She teased by moving them far enough to barely free his rock-hard cock. She ran her fingers down his shaft, and he shuddered. It took all of his willpower to follow her movements and assist her in bearing him before her, completely naked for her.
“Now you,” she said.
Max pressed her down into the bed with his lips on hers. He worked his fingers around her pants at the same time. He wasn’t going to take the rest slow. He couldn’t wait much longer. He grabbed her underwear at the same time and brushed his fingers along her slit. She yelped as he did and pressed her fingers into his back. He managed to discard the rest of her clothes, and then her hands slid down his chest, his stomach, and to his erection. She wrapped her hands around him. He rolled his eyes closed to let the sensation wash over him.
“I want to see,” Ava said.
Max raised an eyebrow, not entirely sure what she meant by that. He eased back until they were both sitting in front of each other. Her eyes were transfixed on his length in her hands. He couldn’t stop the shivers from breaking out all over his body. God, if she kept touching him like this, he was going to come all over her, but he really didn’t want to do that. He wanted to finish inside of her. Inside of her. He did that when he claimed her. He wasn’t even thinking about condoms or getting her pregnant. He was too worried about making sure she wanted to be with him at all. Shit.
“Ava,” he managed to grit out her name through the distraction of her hands on his cock. Oh, this was bad. He needed to say something now before he couldn’t stop his need for her from manifesting. “I didn’t… Last time, when I claimed you, I didn’t think about the possibility of getting you pregnant.”
Ava shook her head. “Stop. Me and you, nothing else. Me and you.”
“This is kind of important.” She brushed her fingers along his shaft again, feeling up his balls and then down to the swollen head of his cock. “Oh, God,” he moaned.
“Do you like this, too?” she asked as she wrapped both hands around him and rubbed him up.
“Yes,” he whispered.
“Show me what to do to make you feel good.”
“God, Ava, you’re already making me feel beyond good.” He shook his head. “Pregnant.” He panted. “If we do this, I could get you pregnant. I could have already…”
She gave him a hungry look. “You don’t want to?”
Hell yeah, he wanted to, but was that too much too soon? They had already moved so fast. His head was spinning.
Ava let go of his cock. He wanted to beg to have her hands around him again, but her fingers glided across the Lunas Sigil on his right inner thigh. Lunas coursed through him with an unbearable energy. Every time she touched him here, if he had any doubts about her, they would have been washed away with this feeling. This knowledge of how they fit together perfectly. They were made for each other and nothing would change that.
“Please,” he begged. “Too much, Ava. I’m going to spill everything right here and now if you don’t stop.”
“Then come inside of me,” She said with a wicked smile.
She gripped the back of his neck and kissed him. He grabbed her back and eased her down onto the bed, taking his position on top of her. She urged him down so they were touching. He moved so their hips were aligned as he continued to hold himself up with his forearms. He didn’t want to crush her. The moment the tip of his cock brushed her wet and swollen sex, he moved. He rubbed against her, teasing her clit, making sure she’d be good and ready when he moved inside her.
Ava started whimpering and struggling underneath him as he kept up the shallow, teasing motion. Her hands were gripping his back hard.
“Are you ready for me?” he asked.
“Always.” She spread her legs wider and bent her knees, allowing him better access.
Max grinned at that. He moved down her slit and dipped inside of her with a shallow thrust. She was ridiculously tight, so he kept up his shallow thrusts, easing farther inside of her each time. She was moaning in rhythm with his movements.
“Faster, harder,” she pleaded.
She was ready. With his next thrust, Max buried himself to the hilt. Ava gasped, and she pulsed around him. Not yet. Max gritted his teeth against the need to come inside of her. He was holding himself back by sheer willpower alone.
“More!” Ava screamed.
Max pounded into her again and again, harder and faster until finally she came. He froze inside of her and shouted a moment later as his seed shot out hot and filled her. He rode her waves of pleasure as he began to move again, spilling everything he could, filling her until his seed was spilling out of her. His mate. His love.
When both of them were spent, Max stayed still. He continued to hold himself above her, and he didn’t leave her. He wanted to stay joined to her for as long as possible. His arms were shaking from the crazy after-buzz, but he wanted this moment to look into Ava’s beautiful eyes, to watch her mouth partly opened, and hear her exhausted pants. He reached down to capture her lips in his again when her breathing was less labored. This was a soft kiss, a kiss to pour all his love.
“One more time,” she murmured against his lips.
“I don’t know if I have one more time,” he replied with a chuckle. “I’ve got crazy vitality because I’m a wolf shifter, but I dunno.”
She ran her hands down his body, digging her bandaged fingers lightly into his skin and making him shudder. He pulled out of her and held himself a little higher above her. She reached down to his spent cock, touching him with that magical touch of hers. He let out a deep groan. His Lunas Sigil burned at the same time. The combination made his cock slowly spring back to life. He hadn’t had sex since his wolf emerged, but he wasn’t entirely convinced this reaction was because of his wolf alone. Maybe it was a mated thing, maybe it was his body reacting to his mate’s needs. She wanted him again right this moment. So he stopped questioning it.
She smiled as she worked his thick cock in her hands. Then she gripped his lower waist and tentatively bucked against him. “One more time,” she repeated.
“I’m still tired as hell,” Max replied. “So, if you want to do this again, you gotta run the show.” Okay, that was kind of a lie, but he wanted her to ride him. It was her turn for complete control. It turned him on like nothing else when she took command.
“Roll over, sexy wolf,” she whispered.
Max flipped their positions quickly. He laid back on the bed, propped his head up with a few pillows, and Ava settled down on the hard ridges of his stomach. She spent a moment rubbing against him, pleasuring herself by stimulating her clit with the motion. It was hot, erotic. Max couldn’t look away from her half-closed eyes and slightly open mouth. She was the sexiest woman he had ever laid eyes on, and seeing her like this made him proud. It was his honor to be the one to wring this kind of pleasure out of her. Just watching her like this made him harder by the second. Ava rose and positioned herself over his erection. She started rubbing again, holding herself just above him so the tip of his cock was the only thing touching her, torturing them both.
“So wet,” Max said, gritting his teeth. “I don’t know how you do this to me, angel.”
She gave him a sexy smile as she eased down on his cock, burying him deep, deep, deep. He shouted her name as she rode him. She joined him as Lunas sparked through his body. He was sure it was sparking through hers at the same time. His Lunas Sigil burned a tiny bit hotter than the rest of him, but all of the energy went into his cock. Ava was relentless with how she moved, buried so deep that she was rubbing again his stomach each time she lurched forward. Max was through. He came hard, another explosion of heat as he once again gave Ava everything he was. He felt the hot liquid leak out between them. There was only so much Ava could hold, and he had already filled her up twice. He thrust up to meet her because she was still riding him, determined to feel out and enjoy every ounce of pleasure they could get from each other.
Max followed Ava’s pace. When she started to slow, so did he, until they stopped. She stayed in place as she reached up to kiss him. He met her lips, welcoming them. She curled into him, lying on his chest with him still buried deep.
“Don’t move. I want to stay like this as long as possible,” she said. “Stay inside me, Max.”
He liked being inside of her just as much or more than she did, but he didn’t like the desperate tone of her voice. “I’m not going anywhere,” he said as he ran a hand through her shaved hair. “Is something wrong?”
“No!” she exclaimed. “This… I’ve never felt better. Nothing has ever felt so right.” She reached up to kiss him again. “This is love, the abstract concept I never understood before. I love you so much, Max. I hope you put a baby in me. A baby would be another piece of you for me to keep, and I can’t think of anything better.” She bit her lip, nervousness starting to show. “Not that I know anything about being a mom, and I’d probably be really terrible at it.” She blinked hard and fast. “But you’d be there. It would work out.”
Max blinked happy tears away and laughed. “I’d like that too, a baby that looks like you, and you bet we’d make it work. Together we could figure out a baby.” He waggled his eyebrows. “Definitely a two-person job.” He had always wanted kids in the future, but that future always seemed far off. Now it didn’t. “I love you, too,” he said as he brushed his fingers across her cheek. Then he moved his hands down to cup her small ass, kneading her flesh. She arched her back but stayed where she was.
“You’ll be with me tomorrow, right?” she asked him as she traced circles on his chest and around his right nipple.
“Of course. I can’t fight for you if I’m not there.” He moved his hands to her lower back, massaging out the tension in her muscles.
“Hold me.”
Max rolled them onto their sides and Ava snuggled into his chest, her nose brushing between his pecs as she closed her eyes. They stopped their fears for the night, agreeing to get lost in each other, but morning would come too soon. Max held Ava like he would never get the chance to again, and he swore to always treat her that way. She was the most precious thing in the world.