Skylar’s Devotion

Chapter Six

After getting buzzed through the gated entrance to Roxie and Beowulf’s mansion, Skylar drove up the long drive. When he arrived at the house, he saw Kye waiting outside for him. He parked his car in front of the large garage and headed for his brother-in-arms.

“Itching to leave?” he asked Kye.

“The boredom is what’s killing me. And the inactivity. I’ll be glad when Roxie has her baby and we can relax a bit.”

Skylar shook his head. Out of all of them, Kye was the one who hated having nothing to do. He always had to be doing something, be it sword practice or running errands. The man didn’t like to sit still. That being the case, Skylar couldn’t understand why Kye had insisted he watch over Roxie during the day. As a web designer, Roxie spent a lot of time sitting behind a computer working. Kye usually ended up falling asleep.

“Dirk still inside?” Skylar asked.

Dirk, who was into computers as much as Roxie, usually took on a lot of the shifts, mostly because he and Roxie got along so well. The two computer nerds did a lot of brainstorming, not that any of them dared called Roxie nerd to her face. Being the only werewolf who could shift into a half human/half wolf form, making her bigger than even he, she could pretty much whip their butts if she had a mind to.

“Yeah. He’s with Roxie. They started talking all things computer and then went up to her office so she could show him some type of code, not that I understood anything of what they’d said. Beowulf is at Wulf’s Den and should be home in an hour or so.”

Wulf’s Den was the nightclub Beowulf owned. He’d cut way back on the number of hours he spent at the club to be closer to Roxie. Carl, the onetime bouncer, had shifted into the position of managing the place when Beowulf wasn’t there. The very large werewolf had the distinction of being mated to Candice, Roxie’s best friend. Once mortal like her friend, Candice had finally allowed Roxie to turn her six months before.

“Sounds as if everything is under control,” Skylar said.

“I don’t expect you’ll run into any problems, so I’m out of here.” Kye gave him a wave and headed to where he’d parked his car.

Skylar went inside the mansion and shut the door behind him in time to watch Roxie and Dirk walk down the stairs from the upper floor, deep in conversation. From the sound of it, they were still on the topic of computers and the internet. Dirk had been working on some kind of web design project for a few months, keeping the particulars to himself, though Skylar had a feeling Roxie knew all about it.

“Don’t the two of you ever get sick of talking about computers?” he asked when they reached the bottom of the stairs.

“Of course not,” Roxie replied. “Do you ever get sick of playing with your sword?”

He rolled his eyes. “It’s not the same thing. Being a warrior is a part of who I am.”

“Yes, it is. I can’t ever see myself not wanting to work with computers or the internet in some way.”

“That’s because you’re an internet junkie.” Skylar nodded toward Dirk. “And it doesn’t help when you have someone just as addicted as you hanging around all the time.”

Dirk shrugged. “What can I say? It keeps me out of trouble.”

Roxie stepped closer to Skylar. “So? How did your date with your mate go? Are you still being a good boy and holding off claiming her?”

“Yes, though I’m not sure how long that is going to last. It’s not exactly a walk in the park to resist what my mating urge is screaming at me to do. If I’m not careful, I’ll end up in the same condition as Leif just before he claimed Jaden.”

Leif had fought to the bitter end before he finally took Jaden as his mate. On the last day, he basically had agitatedly paced the entire day up in his room, driving the rest of them nuts. Roan, Jager and he had been forced to put Leif in his car and send him on his way. With his mating urge riding him hard, Leif hadn’t been able to stop himself from going to Jaden.

Roxie snorted. “That was just Leif being a dumbass. The man had delusions of grandeur thinking he could cheat fate by ignoring his mating urge, hoping it would go away.”

“That might be true, but not claiming a mate as soon as she’s found makes a mess of us males,” Skylar said.

“Then I suggest you don’t wait too long to explain what you are to Braelyn and give her a chance to decide whether or not she’ll accept you as her mate.”

Needing to change the subject of Braelyn and what she meant to him, he said, “I’m going to get a beer. I have a feeling I’m going to be in store for a long, hard, sleepless night.”

Skylar left Roxie and Dirk and went to the kitchen. He opened the fridge and took out a bottle of beer. He twisted off the cap and took a long swallow. When Braelyn had said her last kiss goodbye had been to make sure he dreamed of her that night, it hadn’t been necessary. Well into the throes of the mating urge, she’d dominate his dreams if he managed to get any sleep. Having her shatter in his arms made him ache to complete the mating bond. And the release she’d given him wouldn’t help much to take the edge off, either. Until he made love to her, he pretty much wouldn’t be good for anything else. If it took more than a few days for him to explain everything to Braelyn and get her to accept him, he could easily see himself having to take himself out of the rotation of watching over Roxie. God forbid if anything happened to her because his mating urge wouldn’t let him think straight.

It was close to three in the morning before Skylar finally fell into bed. Being alone in the room he used when he stayed over at Roxie’s hadn’t helped him keep his thoughts from Braelyn. If she could have seen them, she’d think he was some kind of obsessed stalker.

He rolled over onto his side and punched the pillow a few times to get it into the shape he wanted. Skylar closed his eyes and forced himself to relax. He tried to clear his mind. Slowly, by degrees, sleep reached up to claim him.

The dream took him shortly thereafter. Skylar found himself sitting in a chair facing a long runway, like the kind models walked down during a fashion show. There were other chairs on either side of him, but he was the only one sitting in the audience.

The lights dimmed, and music played in the background. He turned his attention to the entrance of the runway when a bright spotlight focused on it. From one side, Braelyn walked out. Flashes of light, like those from a camera, went off. Skylar looked around, but couldn’t see where the photographers were. When Braelyn headed down the runway, using the same walk she’d used when he’d watched her on TV, he gave up on his search and focused entirely on her.

She wore one of the Victoria’s Secret bra and panty sets she’d worn in the show, as well as the wings on her back. Braelyn strutted down toward the end, not once looking his way. When she reached it, she put her hand on her hip and held a pose for a few seconds before she turned back the way she’d come.

Skylar thought she’d keep going on her return trip since Braelyn hadn’t noticed him before, but that wasn’t the case. When she drew even with where he sat, she stopped and turned on the runway to face him. A set of stairs magically appeared, and she stepped down them. With a sultry look, she walked to him.

His cock grew painfully hard when she stopped directly in front of his chair and reached up to the middle of her chest. She undid the front clasp of her bra and cupped her breasts, lifting them in offering. He took hold of her hips and guided Braelyn to sit on his lap, straddling his thighs. Burying his face between her breasts, he dragged in her scent, taking it deep into his lungs, before he took what she offered.

Braelyn’s head fell back as he sucked a taut nipple into his mouth. She moaned and sank her fingers into his hair, holding him to her. He released her breast when she gently pushed him away. She cupped his face and bent her head to kiss him, nipping at his bottom lip before she sucked on his tongue. Not breaking contact with his lips, she dropped her hands to the waistband of his jeans, going even lower. She caressed him through them, wringing a growl of pleasure from him.

In the next second, they were both naked. Skylar remained seated on the hard straight backed chair with Braelyn straddling his lap. Still wearing her high heels, her feet were able to reach the floor. Her gaze locked with his, and he saw his eyes mutedly glowing in the reflection of hers. Braelyn didn’t react in any way. Using her feet, she pushed herself slightly off his lap and positioned her pussy over his cock, which stuck out straight from his body. With her bottom lip between her teeth, she slowly lowered herself onto his shaft until she’d taken every bit of his length inside. When she started to ride him, Skylar held onto her hips and thrust up to meet each of her strokes. The feel of her body taking his was the best feeling in the world.

Her pace becoming faster, Braelyn moaned then said, “Skylar, wake up, damn you.”

The incongruity of her words to the atmosphere of the erotic dream jerked Skylar awake. He opened his eyes to find Roxie standing over him, shaking his shoulder. It had been her voice he’d heard in the dream instead of Braelyn’s. “Rox? What’s the matter?”

She straightened. “The problem is you.”

“Me?” Since he slept naked, Skylar checked to make sure the sheet still covered him. It was also then he noticed the raging hard-on he had. He quickly sat up and put his hands in his lap to cover it.

“Yes, you. Being a very pregnant woman who now finds it hard to get comfortable enough to sleep, the sound of you moaning in pleasure isn’t conductive to sleep. God, I heard you through the whole house. In this instance, I wish werewolf hearing wasn’t quite so sensitive.”

Hearing that Roxie, and more than likely Beowulf and Dirk as well, had heard him moaning while he’d had dream sex with Braelyn, caused Skylar to do something he probably hadn’t done since he was an untried youth—he blushed. His face grew warm with the heat of it. He shook his head, letting his loose hair hang down a bit in an attempt to hide his reaction. He wasn’t an exhibitionist and didn’t like the idea of anyone overhearing what his mating urge caused him to go through.

Roxie sighed and took his chin in her hand to force him to look up at her. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of. I’m just a bit on the touchy side when I can’t sleep. I know you don’t have any control over your dreams, especially now. If it makes you feel any better, I’m the only one who heard you. Both Beowulf and Dirk are out like lights. I checked.”

Or they had just ignored him and gone back to sleep. Dirk in particular would have awakened. All of the Protectors could come fully awake at the slightest noise like all well-trained warriors.

“I’m sorry if I woke you up,” he said.

“You didn’t. I was already awake. I’d gone down to the kitchen for some water.” Roxie stared at him closely for a few seconds. “I think you need to be pulled off the rotation until you’ve claimed Braelyn.”

“I haven’t gotten that bad yet. I can still do my duty.”

“I never said you were or that you couldn’t. When the others went through this, they were pulled off rotation as well. Saskia might not be here to make the final decision, but I want you to do it anyway. It’ll also give you more time to be with Braelyn.”

Skylar had to agree with that last part. If he didn’t have to worry about taking his shift watching over Roxie, he could use the extra free time to get to know Braelyn better, and her him.

“All right, I’ll do it. But only if you promise to help me break what I am to Braelyn. You apparently had a calming effect on Ansley when Roan told her and she freaked.”

Roxie smiled. “It’s a deal. Why don’t you get up and go home? I’m sure you want to get a fresh set of clothes before you see your mate again. It’s almost five now. I’ll be fine with just Beowulf and Dirk to watch over me before Jager and Daylen arrive later this morning.”

He obviously wouldn’t be getting any more sleep, not when he knew Roxie would more than likely be awake to hear him have another erotic dream. “Fine, I’ll go home.”

“I’ll leave you to get dressed then. And whenever you’re ready to have me talk to Braelyn, just give me a call.”

Skylar watched Roxie leave the room and blew out a breath. He hoped today would bring him one step closer to making Braelyn his.

After Skylar arrived back at the Protectors’ mansion, he went directly to his room and took a long shower. It did nothing for his semi-aroused state, but it helped to loosen some of the tension he had in his shoulders and back.

He turned off the taps with the thought of leaving the other people in the house some hot water and stepped out of the glass surround shower stall. Skylar dried himself and then used his hand to clear some of the steam fogging up the mirror over the sink. He combed out his hair and decided to let it dry naturally.

Naked, he walked back into his room and pulled on a clean pair of blue jeans along with a black t-shirt. After donning those, he sat on his bed and turned on the TV. It was still a bit early for anyone else to be up and around. If he stayed in his room long enough and was lucky, one of the others would have started cooking some breakfast once he went downstairs.

At around eight, he heard the sound of a phone ringing and then multiple sets of footsteps heading down to the lower level. Skylar waited another fifteen minutes before he too left his room.

Thinking he’d timed it perfectly, he walked into the kitchen expecting to see one of his family members slaving over a hot stove. That wasn’t exactly what he saw. Not only did the stove sit cold from lack of use, but all the members of the household, minus Dirk, sat at the table with grim looks on their faces.

“Did someone die?” he asked when he reached the group.

Saskia spoke first. “No, but the news could be just as bad. Miles phoned me on my cell this morning. He wants to see Jaden, tomorrow.”

“Are you going to let him?” Skylar easily read the concern Saskia had for her niece when she glanced over at Jaden.

“Jaden will have the final decision.”

“Do you think that’s wise?”

“That’s what we were discussing before you came down. I think it should be Jaden’s decision. As long as Miles still thinks she is the foretold one, I don’t see him being much of a threat. He might have turned to the wrong side, but he wouldn’t harm his own child.”

“I don’t know,” Leif said. “I don’t like the idea of Jaden around the bastard.”

Jaden gave her mate an exasperated stare. “He’s still my father. I think Aunt Saskia is right. I don’t think my dad would harm me. You didn’t see the look on his face when he first saw me and called me by my mom’s name. He might be a bastard, but he truly cared for my mother. And since I’m the last living connection to her, he won’t do something stupid like try to attack me.”

“And,” Saskia said, “it isn’t as if we’d let you see him alone. Since you are supposed to be the foretold one, we have to act the role of your Protectors. Most, if not all, of us should be there.”

“What about Roxie?” Roan asked. “We can’t leave her totally unprotected. She is the real foretold one, after all.”

“I’ll watch her,” Skylar quickly said. “Roxie pulled me off rotation this morning, but I don’t think she’ll mind spending some time with me and my mate.”

Saskia nodded. “Then it’s settled.” She looked at Jaden. “That is if you still want to see Miles.”

“I do,” Jaden said. “If anything I want to learn how he and my mom met and what caused them to break up before I was born.”

Saskia stood. “All right. I’ll call Miles back and arrange a time and place of my choosing. Once I get off the phone with him we can make further plans.”

Skylar wasn’t sure if this was a good idea or not, but it wasn’t his place to deny Jaden the chance of getting to know her father. He just hoped it wouldn’t blow up in their faces.