Leif awoke to the sensation of a warm female body wrapped around him. The feel of Jaden’s breasts plastered to his side and her leg thrown over his thigh had his cock starting to harden. He ignored it as memories of the night rose to the surface of his mind.
Lying perfectly still, he shifted his gaze, only to look at Jaden. She appeared to be in a deep sleep. Each breath she took was deep and even. He silently cursed himself with every swear word he knew. He’d taken her in every position imaginable, more than once, during the night, making them well and truly mated. And judging by the throbbing in his now fully erect cock, he was ready to go again.
He really had mixed emotions about being mated to Jaden. On one hand, the old part of him wanted to run away in horror. And on the other, the new part found what had passed between him and Jaden to be something he never wanted to give up. Making love to her had been mind-blowing. Just one night of passion and he was addicted to her touch. And after the closeness they’d shared, he wanted to know everything there was to know about her, too know her better than anyone else ever had.
And it was probably a good thing he felt that way, because now that he’d claimed her as his mate, they wouldn’t be able to stand being apart for any real length of time. Now he had the excruciating task of trying to figure out how the hell to explain that to Jaden as well as the fact that he was a werewolf.
Jaden stretched against him, her knee nudging his erection. She pressed her lips to his chest and kissed him. “Hmm, I see someone is awake before me, and raring to go.”
She trailed her fingers down his body to his cock and took him in her hand. She pumped his shaft. Leif knew what would happen if he let this go much further, but with Jaden stroking him, he had a hard time getting his brain to function. With all the blood in his body rushing to his cock, that was no surprise. “Ah…god, you’re making me horny.
Ah, Jaden, we should have a talk.”
Letting go, she rolled on top of him, straddling his thighs. Jaden shook her head playfully. “Somehow, I really don’t think you’re in the mood for talking right now. I know I would much rather be doing something else.”
Leif sucked in a breath when she bent to his chest and flicked one of his flat nipples with the tip of her tongue. His erection jerked against her stomach when she did it to the other as well. “We really need to talk, Jaden.”
“It can wait. I have more important things to do.”
Obviously, sometime during the night, Jaden had lost her shyness around him. She shifted down lower on his legs as she licked, kissed and nipped a trail down to his abs, moving ever closer to his cock.
His breath punched out of his chest when her lips settled on his lower belly. “Jaden, seriously, we have…oh Christ.”
She’d taken a firm grip on the base of his shaft and circled the tip with her tongue.
She then proceeded to lick him like an ice cream cone. He lifted his head to watch her.
The sight of her laving the length of his cock while she used her other hand to fondle his balls had him lifting his hips off the bed. Leif then just about lost it when she gave the head one last lick before opening her mouth and sucking him deep.
The suction of her mouth had his balls drawing up close to his body. Her head bobbed up and down as she worked him in and out. Having his mate suck him off was the most erotic thing he’d ever seen. He also knew if he let Jaden keep this up he wasn’t going to be able to stop himself from blowing his load.
“Jaden,” he panted with a groan. “Even though this feels so damn good, you have to stop or I’ll come.”
Keeping a tight grip on him, she released his cock and shifted her gaze to his face. “I want you to. I know you’ll still be hard even after you do.” She then sucked him back inside the moist confines of her mouth.
She sucked on him hard, her cheeks hollowing as she worked her hand up and down the part of his shaft she couldn’t take. His cock hardened to bursting point. The pleasure she gave him had him growling, thrusting his hips, pushing more of his length into her mouth. Then, for one suspended moment, he hung on the edge of coming before he crossed over it with a loud moan. Jet after jet of cum pumped out of his cock. Jaden didn’t stop sucking until she’d wrung every last drop out of him.
With a satisfied smile on her face, she climbed up his body and positioned her wet pussy over his still hard cock. “My turn,” she said.
Reaching between them, she took hold of his shaft and slowly lowered herself down on it. They both moaned in pleasure. Jaden put her hands on his chest before she began to ride him. Leif reached up to cover her breasts, squeezing and tugging on her nipples. He looked down at where their bodies were joined, watching her pussy taking his cock over and over again.
She sat up and rocked against him faster. Jaden angled her hips so her clit rubbed against his pubic bone, wringing a breathy moan out of her. Leif felt another climax build. Just when he thought he wouldn’t be able to hold back long enough until Jaden had found her release, she let her head fall back and released a keening moan. Her pussy gripped his cock rhythmically, sending him into an intense orgasm.
When it was over, he put his arms around Jaden and pulled her down to his chest.
His still hard cock kept them joined. He kissed her sweaty forehead, realizing that he was well and truly lost.
Jaden was just getting nice and comfortable sprawled out on top of Leif when he lightly slapped her butt and said, “No more sleeping. We aren’t staying in bed all day.”
She pillowed her chin on top her hands on his chest and met Leif’s gaze. His eyes seemed to be normal again, not that she really believed they had been glowing in the first place. Considering she’d thought she noticed the change only while they were having sex, Jaden had to chalk it up to her mind being fried with pleasure, distorting her sight.
Being nearsighted, her eyesight wasn’t exactly great to begin with. It was plausible that she was only seeing things. And as for the animalistic growls and wolfish sounding howls, her ears must not have been working properly, either.
Cocking her hips so his still hard cock moved deeper inside her, she said, “Are you sure about that?”
Leif slapped her butt again and gave her a grin. “I’m positive, greedy woman. At this rate, you’ll make me weak and feeble.”
She raised a brow. “Yeah, right. I’m sorry, but I can’t see you ever getting in that condition.” Jaden nipped his chin, then sucked on the stubble-roughened skin.
Leif’s body shivered. Instead of going for round two, he rolled her to her back, pulled out of her and pinned her to the mattress. “I can see you aren’t going to take pity on me. To make you behave, I’m going to get up and use your shower.”
She sighed dramatically. “Oh, very well. Since my shower is nothing more than a small corner unit with no tub, we won’t be able to share. You can shower first then I’ll take one.”
“Do you have to work today?”
“No, not until tomorrow. Why?”
He kissed the tip of her nose. “Because once you’re showered and dressed, we’re getting out of here.”
“And where exactly are we going?”
“My place so you can meet my family,” Leif said as he got up and stood beside the bed. “Where is the shower?”
Jaden gave his naked body an appreciative glance as she slipped out of bed to stand next to him. She’d explored every inch of him during the night. Leif’s body was a work of art. She could probably spend an eternity running her hands and lips over all his muscles. And then there was his cock, which was long and thick and still hard, jutting out from his body.
Leif snapped his fingers in front of her face. “Jaden? The shower?”
Meeting his gaze, she could tell from the look in his eyes that she’d been caught staring. Not embarrassed in the least—how could she be with all the things they’d done to each other during the long hours of the night—she said, “I’ll show you.”
Walking past him, Jaden led Leif to her almost closet-sized bathroom. She pushed open the door and went to pull out a clean towel from under the sink. After she put it on top the counter, she turned to find him stepping into the shower stall. He took up all the space inside. There was no way the two of them could fit in there at the same time.
“I’ll leave you to it,” she said as he shut the shower door and turned on the water.
“Just don’t use all the hot water on me. The hot water heater isn’t the best here.”
“Gottcha,” he said as he tipped his head back under the spray, having to bend his knees to do it.
Jaden went back to the bed and stretched out on it. A goofy smile spread across her face. Never in a million years would she have thought she’d spend the night getting screwed silly by a man like Leif. The other guys she’d slept with hadn’t had near Leif’s stamina in bed. It had taken hours, and numerous orgasms, before he’d lost his erection.
And boy did he know how to use his cock. He’d made her come over and over again. If things didn’t work out between her and Leif, she didn’t know if she could go back to a regular guy.
That thought gave Jaden pause. Before Leif had shown up at her door yesterday evening, she’d thought for sure she would never see him again. She’d been shocked to see him standing there. But when he’d pulled her into her arms and started to devour her mouth, she hadn’t wanted to question what had caused him to change his mind.
She listened to the sound of the shower running and shook her head. She wasn’t going to exactly question him now, either. Whatever had caused it, she was quite happy with the way things had turned out. Having Leif say he wanted to take her to meet his family had to mean he wasn’t going to skip out on her again. Didn’t it? She shook her head. She had to stop second guessing everything, something she notoriously did more often than not. It was kind of a byproduct of her not being exactly confident about herself. If she really wanted to have things work out with Leif, it didn’t take much thinking on her part to realize she couldn’t let herself get that way around him. As good-looking as he was, she doubted Leif had self-confidence issues like she did.
Five minutes later, the shower shut off. Jaden lifted her head from the pillow when Leif stepped out of the bathroom with a towel around his hips. He ran a hand through his damp auburn hair and walked to the bed.
“The shower is all yours,” he said. Before she could get up, he added, “How about I take us out for breakfast? I’m starved.”
Jaden scooted off the end of the bed. “I’m hungry too.” She smiled. “I guess we both worked up an appetite.”
Leif grabbed her arm and pulled her to him. He kissed her slowly and thoroughly until she started to breathe quicker. After he released her, he said, “Hurry up in the shower.”
She didn’t waste any time getting into the bathroom or starting the water in the shower. No way was she going to delay Leif’s plans any longer than she had to. For the first time in a very long time, Jaden actually looked forward to what the day would bring.
During breakfast at a diner-type restaurant not too far from Jaden’s place, Leif started to become a little anxious. Having decided not to claim her as his mortal mate, he hadn’t prepared himself for what he would do if he did. He had to tell her the truth about him. There really was no choice in the matter. If he didn’t, Jaden would think it awfully strange that he wanted her with him all the time. Mortals who first entered into relationships didn’t do that. They eased into making that kind of commitment. The mating bond he’d forged with Jaden last night negated that.
He wasn’t exactly scared to tell her he was a werewolf. It was just the thought of Jaden becoming afraid of him didn’t sit well in his gut. He sure as shit didn’t want to scare her away. Leif may not have wanted a mate, but he had one now, and he planned to do right by her. Letting her leave him so she would go through the separation anxiety that would ultimately come was not something he wanted her to experience this early when it really wasn’t necessary. She was his to protect and care for. And the first thing he would do to in regards to that last thing would be to get her out of the tiny basement apartment.
Christ, his room at the Protectors’ mansion was the same size if not bigger than her whole apartment.
“What has you all silent and brooding?” Jaden asked as she put her fork down on her empty plate.
Leif watched her tuck her hair behind her ear. It had been a bit of a battle, but he’d managed to get Jaden to keep it down after her shower. He liked it better that way then pulled back in a ponytail. “I’m not brooding. I just got lost in my thoughts.”
“Well, they must have been pretty intense since you were scowling while you stared off into space.”
“Maybe it was thoughts of you that had me so distracted.”
“Gee, thanks. Am I supposed to be flattered to know thinking about me makes you scowl like that?”
“Actually, yes,” he said with a chuckle. “I was just thinking about how you’ll react when you meet my family. We aren’t exactly like your normal, run-of-the-mill family.”
Jaden waved his concern away. “At least you have a family to introduce me to. I wish I could say I had one to bring you to meet.”
“You have no family at all?”
“No. It has only been me for a while now. I pretty much grew up with just my Mom.
I haven’t a clue who my father is. She never talked about him, and I never really got a chance to push the issue with her, either. When I was sixteen, a car jumped the sidewalk when she was walking home from work and hit her. She was killed instantly. The driver was a twenty-year-old guy who’d had one too many drinks to have any business getting behind the wheel of a car.”
Leif reached across the table and took Jaden’s hand in his. “So what happened to you? Did you have grandparents to stay with?”
“Nope. My mom’s parents had been up there in age when they had her, so by the time of her death, they had already passed away. I was put into foster care for a couple of years. Once I was eighteen, I moved out of my foster parents’ place. I found a job, a place of my own, and I never looked back.”
“Do you still have some contact with them?”
“Not really. In the beginning, they called on my birthday and Christmas, but we’ve basically lost touch. I’ve moved to so many different places over the years it got a little tedious to let them know every time I changed my address and phone number. Enough about me. What’s your family like?”
Leif smiled and shook his head. “I’m not going to say too much, or you’ll back out of meeting them, especially if I tell you about Jager.”
“He’s your brother?”
“Yeah. You may find he’ll take some getting used to. He likes to say whatever he’s thinking. Let’s put it to you this way, subtle Jager is not.”
Jaden laughed. “Is he really that bad?”
“At one time, yes, but now that he’s ma…married, Daylen tries to keep him reined in as much as she can. She used to be a cop, so she knows how to handle Jager.”
“I can’t wait to meet them. Do you have any other siblings?”
“In total, I have five brothers and one sister. Besides Jager, one of my brothers and my sister are married.”
“Wow, you have a large family. What about your parents?”
“No parents, just us.”
“Well, at least you guys have each other.”
Leif let the conversation end there as their waitress came to gather their empty plates and give them their bill. He put enough money on the table to cover it and then waited for Jaden to stand before he took her hand.
Once he had them back in his Cadillac and on the road to Marin County, they talked about trivial things. Much to Leif’s surprise, he found it nice. Now with the mating urge no longer riding him, he actually found he could relax around Jaden and be himself. He would be the first to admit that sometimes his sense of humor could be a little out there, but she seemed to get it. Even though they were mated—and even for that to be possible his feelings for Jaden had to be running along the lines of love—he wasn’t ready to admit that he loved her. He liked her, a lot, but he still had doubts as to whether he was capable of that kind of strong emotion. Yes, he loved his brothers-and sister-in-arms. Those feelings weren’t exactly the same as giving his heart away to a woman, forever.
And it would be pretty darn close to that. He had to somehow convince Jaden to allow Roxie to perform the spell that would turn her into a werewolf. Allowing Jaden to have a regular mortal lifespan was out of the question. They were mated, and there was no going back, so he wanted them to be true mates in every sense of the word.
When they crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, heading toward Marin County, Leif decided he’d have to take his time and slowly ease Jaden into his life without dropping it on her all at once. The first step would be to introduce her to his family and take it from there.