Chapter 9
Angel couldn’t sleep a wink as she waited for Ian and Brin to return. Even though Quill had tried to sex her into a coma to keep her mind off the fights, she still hadn’t been able to rest easily. It seemed wrong to be sleeping while he was fighting. It certainly didn’t seem like the fight owner was the sort of guy who let people tell him what to do. She was worried on a hundred different levels for her mates.
When she heard the truck stop in front of the house, she jumped up from the couch and raced to the front door. Twisting the deadbolt, she threw open the door and rushed down the stairs. She wanted to throw herself into Ian’s arms, but as he got out of the truck, she saw that he was pretty beat up. Tears sprang to her eyes as she skidded to a stop in front of him.
“Oh, Ian.”
He reached for her, drawing her close even as he winced with the motion. “I’m okay, love. I won, I’m done.”
“I knew you’d win,” she promised.
She helped him into the house. “Bed or shower?” she asked.
“Shower, only if you’ll help.”
“You know I will,” she said.
Brin followed behind, closing and locking the front door. “You want a steak?”
“Yeah, make it two. I’m freaking starving,” Ian said. To Angel he said, “I always get hungry after fighting. It’s draining.”
“Then we’ll get you something delicious.”
“You?”
She laughed as she maneuvered him into the bathroom. “Even when you’re beat all to hell, you still want to have sex?”
“Sex? No. Make love? Yes.”
Her body heated at the thought, but one look at his bleeding knuckles and battered face, and she knew the last thing he needed was her pawing at him. She turned on the shower and helped him strip out of his clothes. Every inch of flesh she bared was marred – bruised or cut or torn – but she could see that he was healing. It pained her all over that he was injured, but she was thankful he was done.
“It feels better than it looks,” he said.
“Well, that’s a little comforting.”
When the water was hot, she stripped and got into the shower with him, washing him gently from head to toe. He yawned several times, winced when deeper wounds were cleaned, but kept up a steady chatter of how much he was looking forward to Saturday night. Once he was out of the shower, dried, and wearing shorts, she bandaged some of the wounds and helped him settle in bed.
“You’re treating me like an invalid,” he groused as she fussed over him.
“I’m not. I know you’re a strong, capable male. You defeated how many tonight to set yourself free and keep us safe?”
He yawned. “A lot.”
She smiled indulgently. “Okay. So let me take care of you. Are you sure you shouldn’t shift? My friends always said healing came faster in the shift.”
Brin came into the room with a plate containing two steaks, which he handed to Angel, along with several bottles of sports drink he had tucked under his arm. He’d already cut the steaks into pieces, and passed her a fork from his pocket.
“I don’t want to shift,” Ian said. “I just want to eat and have my sweetheart cuddled up next to me.”
She glanced at Brin, and he shrugged. “He knows what his body needs. Do you want anything to eat, love?”
“I’m good. Thank you.”
Quill came into the room and told them, “I’m going to crash on the couch. I have to get up early for some errands for our ceremony.” He kissed Angel goodnight and walked out of the room.
Brin kissed her cheek and said something similar about errands.
She scooched closer to Ian and stabbed a piece of steak with the fork. “I guess it’s just you and me in the big bed.”
“Sure I can’t convince you to take me for a ride?” he asked after swallowing the bite.
“I’m sure. You’re very tempting, though.”
They talked while he ate, and she listened with rapt attention as he shared about the fights. Things could’ve gone a lot worse for him. That he was injured, but not in a life-threatening way, made her thankful. She didn’t know what she would’ve done if he’d been seriously injured. When the plate was empty and the sports drinks drained, she slipped under the covers and settled her head on his chest, careful of his injuries. “Thank you,” she murmured.
He rested an arm over her shoulder and drew her a little closer. “For what?”
“Fighting for us.”
“It was your idea, and it was a good one. Now we can concentrate on the future.”
“What do you see for our future?”
He hummed. “Lots of kids. Tons of happiness. A lifetime full of love.”
She fell a little bit harder for him right then. “Me, too.”
* * *
Angel woke snuggled against Ian, and the first thing on her mind was whether he was entirely healed. She sat up and turned to face him. He was awake, smiling curiously at her.
“Morning, sweetness,” he said, his voice a rough purr that warmed her whole body.
She pulled back the blanket and said, “Hi. How are you feeling?”
“No complaints. I had my sexy female pressed against me all night.”
She rolled her eyes at the compliment, even as she smiled. “I’m serious.”
She glanced up at him, and he gave her a look of utter devotion that made her heart clench. “I’m healed, Angel, I promise. A good night’s rest and your presence was all I needed.”
She checked the bandages, and found that he was indeed healed. Breathing out a sigh of relief, she kissed the space over his heart and smiled. “I’m glad.”
“Breakfast?” he asked. “I haven’t gotten a chance to show you my mad cooking skills yet.”
“How about a shower first?”
A barely audible growl was stifled quickly. “Part of the preparation for the ceremony tonight is that you don’t take a shower until later, and then only with a special soap. And even though I’d love to get you wet and naked, we can’t make love until after the ceremony and marking.”
She blinked in surprise. Since meeting her mates, they hadn’t gone a day without making love.
“Waiting will make it better,” he said.
“You don’t sound so sure.”
He barked out a laugh. “I’m not, frankly, but it’s important to our beasts that we do this ceremony right. Then later, sweetness, we’re going to love you so hard and so good. None of us will ever be the same.”
She and Ian dressed, and then he made ham and cheese omelets for breakfast. They sat on the wooden swing on the front porch and talked while they ate. The day passed quickly, as her mates left for their mysterious errands, always ensuring that one of them was with her. When they came back, they were each wearing black leather gloves. She was curious, but she didn’t ask, assuming that it was something special for the ceremony.
Brin cooked an amazing meal for them: thick steaks, baked potatoes with all the fixings, and one of her favorite desserts, peach cobbler. When the meal was over, Quill stood and offered her his hand. “Come with me, sweetheart.”
She followed him into the master bedroom. On the bed was a stack of black fabric and a bar of white-and-green swirled soap. He lifted the stack and handed it to her. “Take a shower and use only this soap, on your hair, too. Then put on only this outfit and nothing else. We’ll be waiting for you out on the back patio.”
She took the things from him, accepted a lingering kiss on her cheek, and then walked into the bathroom. While the water heated, she checked out the clothing – a short skirt and corset made of stretchy material, and a hooded cape. She’d talked to Ally about the ceremony earlier in the week, and she’d filled her in on what would happen. Although she was looking forward to the ceremony, she was a little nervous about the marking, since all three of them would be biting her at the same time.
Under the hot water, she sniffed the soap and found it smelled faintly of rosemary. She washed her hair and body and then dried off. After blow-drying her hair, she turned her attention to the clothing. The corset was made of a shiny, stretchy material and laced up the front with ribbon. She put it on, along with a mini-skirt made of the same material. Fixing the cloak at her throat, she lifted the hood up and looked at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were bright with excitement, and her cheeks were flushed.
Opening the door, she walked out of the bedroom and down the hall to the open back door. As she stepped down onto the small concrete patio, she smiled at her mates. They stood a few steps past the bottom of the stairs, wearing cloaks similar to hers, black dress pants, and black gloves. Beyond them, flickering torches led to a circle where a small fire glowed.
Quill extended his right hand to her.
“Do you come tonight, Angel Marie Cooper, to join this clan as our treasured bride and mate, of your own free will? Answer carefully, knowing this bond can’t be broken, carried even into the afterlife.”
She let the weight of the moment settle on her for just a short time. This was really it. For shifters, mating was even more serious than marriage. Even though they’d talked about marrying her legally, what mattered to them and their beasts was the mating ceremony.
“I do.”
She took Quill’s gloved hand, feeling the soft glide of the leather against her skin, and walked with them down the torch-lit path until they reached the circle and the fire. The waist-high iron platform held a small, square charcoal brick that burned brightly. Quill moved to stand across from her with the platform between them, with Ian on her left and Brin on her right. They took their hoods off, and she did the same.
Quill lifted a small bowl from the ground and handed it to Brin, who held it near the fire, and then raised a sprig of rosemary which he held a few inches from the flames. Meeting her gaze, Quill said, “Rosemary is sacred to our people. The legend of our people says that the first hyena clan covered their mate in rosemary so she would remember the strength of their love. Rosemary preserves, the way a clan’s love for their mate lasts forever.”
Ian lifted a knife and cut off a lock of his hair, which he handed to Quill, who wrapped it around the rosemary. Ian turned the handle of the knife toward her, and she took it, grasping a thin section of hair at the nap of her neck and cutting it. She gave the lock and knife to Ian.
Quill took her hair and wrapped it around the rosemary, then touched the sprig to the flames until it caught fire. He put the flaming sprig in the bowl that Brin held, and the three began to chant in a language she didn’t know. When they finished chanting, her mates joined her, with Quill standing before her. He undid the ribbon that held the corset closed, his eyes holding hers with an intensity and possessiveness that made every feminine instinct within her cheer.
Quill took off the corset and handed it to Ian, who tucked it into his pocket. Then Quill took off one glove and dipped his fingers into the bowl that Brin held. He stroked his ash-covered fingers on the flesh over her heart and said, “I, Quill Anthony Mercer, vow myself to you, Angel Marie, for the rest of my days on Earth and for the remainder of eternity. I vow to cherish, honor, and protect you forever.”
He stepped back and put the glove back on. Ian took his place, following Quill’s example and removing his glove, marking her chest with ash, and vowing to be with her forever. Brin finished, his voice cracking with emotion as he recited his vow, and her eyes stung at how sweet he was.
Quill took the bowl and dumped the contents on top of the burning brick. They watched as the flames devoured the remaining bits of rosemary, and then Brin put a domed lid over the brick, extinguishing the fire.
Ian and Quill extinguished the torches, and then joined her and Brin. Quill looked at his brothers and then at her. “What we vowed today, no creature can undo. You’re ours forever, Angel. Mas karda enai liro. Our heart is complete.”
Howls erupted from their parted lips as they lifted their heads to the sky. She could hear their beasts celebrating the mating, the sweet song of commitment to her and warning to others. She wished she were a shifter so she could offer her beast’s voice to theirs. As the last of the echoes faded away, Quill lifted her into his arms and carried her into the house.
The family room had been transformed into a den. The furniture was pushed against the walls, leaving the center of the room empty. Wide panels of dark fabric hung from the ceiling, surrounding two mattresses that had been laid next to each other. The effect was that of an intimate space within the larger room.
Quill held a section of fabric for her and she ducked inside, walking across the mattresses to stand in the center. “Welcome to the den, sweetheart,” he said.
Brin and Ian followed, and all three took off their cloaks and dropped them outside of the faux walls. She undid hers, and Brin took it, putting it with theirs.
Quill said, “In the den, it’s just the four of us. We’ll finish our mating ceremony by marking and sharing blood with you, and then we’ll make love together, as a true clan.”
Ian took off his pants and dropped to his knees, hooking his fingers inside her skirt and sliding it slowly down her legs. She stepped out of the material, watching as Quill and Brin took off their pants. They joined Ian, dropping to their knees, and she followed suit, facing her mates. They took off the gloves on their left hands, and she saw that they each had a black band tattooed on their ring finger. The top and bottom of the tattooed ring was a lock and key design, with a thin, straight line under it. In the center were symbols she didn’t recognize.
“What do they mean?”
Brin said, “The ring is a declaration that you’re our mate. The tattoo contains your name and our vow to you.”
They took off the gloves on their right hands, revealing another matching tattoo on that ring finger. It was also black, but had two thin lines top and bottom, with symbols filling the center. Quill explained that it was their clan ring, which contained the vow they made to each other that they would do everything they could to keep her and their future children safe. Tears stung her eyes as she stared at the permanent symbols of their mating – their vows to her and their vows to each other.
“Are you ready to be ours?” Quill asked.
“Yes,” she said, even though she was still nervous.
Brin cupped her cheek and kissed her gently. “You’re going to be really happy first, sweetheart. Trust us to make it good for you.”
She wrapped her hand around his wrist, anchoring herself to him. “I do trust you.”
Pushing her nervous feelings away, she closed her eyes as Brin kissed her again, moving to her side. His brothers maneuvered her around until she was leaning against Ian as Quill pushed her legs apart.
“Fucking love your tits, sweetness,” Ian said as he cupped her breasts and growled in her ear.
She grinned against Brin’s lips and sucked on his tongue for a moment before breaking the kiss. Leaning back further against Ian, she curled her toes and pulled her knees up higher, giving Quill more room. Quill pressed his lips to her knees, and then slowly pressed kisses up the inside of both thighs. As Ian rubbed her nipples, grazing the buds with his fingers, Brin grasped her knee, pressing his warm hand to the inside of her thigh where Quill had just blazed a trail of fire upward.
Quill settled between her thighs, and her heart kicked up as anticipation spread through her. Brin’s fingers flexed on her thigh. He kissed her, giving her small, lingering swipes of his tongue as Quill flicked his tongue lightly over her clit. The feather-light touch sent goosebumps over her flesh. His pushed his finger into her pussy, increasing the pressure of his tongue as he lapped and licked at her. She wiggled in Ian’s embrace, unable to move much with the way he had caged her with his legs. She loved being held by her mates, all of them touching her, giving her pleasure unlike anything she’d ever known.
As Quill added a second finger, he sealed his lips over her clit and sucked gently, flicking his tongue over the bundle of nerves and sending waves of pleasure over her. Her muscles clenched as he drove her toward pleasure, adding a third finger and stretching her pussy. She could hear the slick sounds of his fingers in her, moving swiftly, his tongue sliding around her in fast circles.
Brin lifted her leg and rested it on Quill’s shoulder, raising part of her lower body off the mattress. She leaned against Ian, moaning as his teeth grazed her throat while his fingers plucked at her nipples. Just as she thought she’d never been so turned on in her life, a finger coated with something cool and slick touched her anus. She gasped, arching under Quill. Ian pressed his hands into her stomach, anchoring her in place. She met Brin’s gaze as he rubbed her tightest place, realizing that he’d put lube on his finger. She reached for him, grasping his free hand and tilting her hips to the side to give him better access.
“Fucking sexy as hell,” Ian said gruffly. Quill fingered her faster, distracting her from the sting of pain as Brin breeched her, pushing into her a little and withdrawing. With each pass, he pushed in deeper. When his finger was buried deeply, he let out a soft growl of pleasure and she fell over the edge into climax, her body clenching around Quill’s and Brin’s fingers. She writhed in their holds as Brin took the opportunity of her pleasure to add a second finger. She moaned and cried out wordlessly as her mates worked her body like a finely tuned instrument. Quill kept his tongue on her clit, growling enough to make it vibrate against her, sending shockwaves through her body. Ian rubbed her nipples between his fingers and thumbs, making them tingle and ache, and Brin groaned every time he buried his fingers into her.
“Never like this before,” she said, letting out a long moan as Brin bent and kissed her hip, slamming his fingers into her.
“Just for us,” Brin said, his breath skirting over her heated flesh. “You’re only for us.”
Pleasure raced through her, catching her so swiftly in its throes that she could only scream. All at once she heard their growls and felt their fangs in her – Quill on her inner thigh, Brin on one side of her neck, and Ian on the other. Her vision dimmed as warmth and pleasure pulsed through her like a living thing. She felt them suck on her flesh and heard them swallow some of her blood, and then they extracted their fangs and licked her wounds with satisfied growls.
Entirely boneless, she sagged against Ian. Quill slid his fingers from her pussy and sucked them into his mouth with a rapturous groan. Brin smiled sweetly at her, as if he didn’t have his fingers in her ass.
Ian kissed her shoulder. “How beautiful is our mate when she’s all flushed and pink?”
“Gorgeous,” Quill said.
“Snug, too,” Brin said, winking at her.
“Turn over, sweetheart,” Ian said.
She twisted in his arms and groaned as she rose onto her knees and Brin’s fingers angled up inside her. “Fuck, that shouldn’t feel so good,” she said.
Brin kissed her shoulder blade and wrapped his free arm around her waist. He fingered her, spreading his fingers wider with each pass inside. Ian closed his legs and grasped his cock, stroking himself as he watched the effect Brin was having on her.
Ian settled back on one elbow and crooked his finger at her. Brin slipped his fingers from her for a moment, leaving her feeling entirely too empty, and she straddled Ian and settled over his cock, grasping the base and lowering herself onto him. The moment their bodies touched, the backs of her thighs to the tops of his legs, she groaned and leaned forward, pressing her hands onto his chest.
“You feel fucking incredible,” Ian said as he slid his hands up and down her arms.
She opened her mouth to tell him how right he felt inside her, too, when Brin’s fingers, freshly coated with lube, returned to her tightest place and slid right back in. Two, stretching and preparing her, and then a third, which made her wince and let out a sharp breath.
Brin made a soft, worried sound and slowed his motions, giving her more time to get used to the intrusion. She turned her head to the side and reached for him, pulling him against her back as he played with her. She kissed him as she rocked slowly on Ian, taking more of Brin’s fingers into her.
Breaking the kiss, she found Quill on his feet, stroking his thick length. “Take us all, love,” he said. “We’ll all come together.”
She looked down at Ian and saw the heated concentration on his face. His hands gripped her hips and moved her on him, as Brin took his fingers from her once more. He moved behind her and fit the head of his cock against her hole as she opened her mouth for Quill’s cock. As she slid her lips down Quill’s shaft, Brin pushed inside her, and Ian lifted her off him. Brin surged forward and she moaned around Quill’s length. Ian pulled her down as Brin pulled out. Quill fisted her hair lightly and guided her on him. She was overwhelmed. Her skin tingled, the marks ached, and her body was still humming from her climaxes. Relaxing into their holds, she gave herself over to them, trusting that they would take care of her.
“So fucking good,” Brin chanted as he moved in her, setting up a fast rhythm with Ian, until they were both filling her as Quill moved in her mouth. She sucked his length, moving her tongue and humming, and then she slid her hand to his balls and began to rub the sensitive skin just behind them. He groaned, his hand twisting in her hair, and she grinned despite the mouthful.
“Minx,” he said with a chuckle.
Ian latched his thumb onto her clit and rubbed swiftly, just to one side, the way she loved the most. Her pussy flooded with heat and her body locked down on the two cocks that fought for possession. She cried out as she shattered, pleasure pouring over her like a hot wave and branding every inch of her body. Brin came, chanting her name, and then Quill. She swallowed him, sucking down his come and then kissing the glossy head. Ian roared, her name on his lips as he emptied inside her.
Brin pulled from her body and disappeared outside of the den. She slumped down onto Ian with a gusty sigh as Quill dropped to the mattress.
“How do you feel, love?” Quill asked, resting a hand on her back.
“So good.”
“Not ‘good,’” Ian murmured. “The best.”
Brin returned and cleaned the lubricant from her body with a warm, wet towel. She watched him drop it into a basket outside of one of the panels. He lifted a cooler and set it on the mattress, flipping the lid open.
He handed his brothers sports drinks, and cracked one open for her. She sat up, Ian’s cock slipping from her and making both of them groan. Taking a long drink, she looked at her three mates and felt her heart swell.
“I love you,” she said. “I love you, Brin. I love you, Ian. I love you, Quill. You’re mine, I’m yours, and I’ve never been happier.”
Her mates cheered, each kissing her and telling her that they loved her, too.
“I think we can make you happier,” Ian said.
“I’m not sure that’s possible,” she said.
“Challenge accepted,” Quill said.