Page 55 of Death Warden
“Yes,” Spectre growled. “Mine…” He leaned over me, his fingers finding my clit and circling while he continued to fuck me. “Come for me.”
I came hard, releasing sweet pheromones into the air.
“Fuck.” His tone dropped to a beastly timbre and he drove deeper, the slap of flesh on flesh throwing me over the edge. We came together, his guttural grunt mingling with my cries.
There was so much I needed to learn about my mate, including what being mated meant, but our bodies had other ideas, wanting to be close, to explore, to feel.
Afterward, Spectre held me tight, his jaw rubbing against the top of my head. Although the motion was soothing, my gut twinged in warning. Something was wrong.
“Spectre, what is it? Something’s bothering you.”
He exhaled. “Dax will be back soon.”
“So?”
His expression sobered. “There are hierarchies in our hellhound world. And I’m at the bottom of the pyramid when it comes to bloodlines. Dax is elite, and you, as his pup, deserve better than me.”
“Wait, is that why you were avoiding me? Because you were worried what Dax would think?”
It sounded ridiculous to me. “This is a mate bond, right?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“And that means what?”
“That we’re a mystical and physical match, meant to be together.”
“Then this is none of Dax’s business.” I hadn’t planned on finding a mate. I’d been waiting on my conduit, but I wasn’t arrogant enough to fight this connection Spectre and I shared. I…I didn’t want to fight it.
“It’s more complicated than that,” Spectre said. His throat bobbed. “Bloodlines matter and I’m not worthy of Dax’s.”
“But he adopted you.”
“Unofficially, yes.” He made a sound of exasperation. “He took me in, loved me, and I’ve betrayed that trust by staking claim to the bloodline he never officially offered to me.”
He wasn’t making sense. “This isn’t his choice. It’s mine.”
He stroked my cheek with his calloused fingertips, sending a pleasant shiver through me. “It’s not that simple, Adi.”
I set my jaw. “Yeah, Spectre. It really is. If Dax has a problem with my choices, he’s gonna have to take it up with me.”
“No, Adi.” He slid his fingers into my hair. “We’re mated now. If he has a problem, he’ll have to take it up with us.”
CHAPTERSEVENTEEN
CURO
Ithrow back my fourth whiskey and lean back in my chair. The common room is filled with the hum of voices and the scent of pheromones. The waxing moon makes hellhounds horny. No wonder Spectre’s power juiced Adi up tonight.
They’re mating upstairs right now, and I can’t deal with the ball of anger and jealousy in my chest.
Riley, Toni, and Jessie stride in. I catch Riley’s eye and she shakes her head.
“No sign of the fuckers,” Toni confirms. “We think they left the city but can’t be sure. Patrol hounds are on it. If the fangs are still in the borders they’ll sniff ’em out.” Her attention flies to the office where Logan stands chatting to Bobby.
“It’s done, Toni.” I raise my glass. “Rafe is out. Off to the cull house.”
She swallows hard and nods. “Bobby told you…”
