Tearing his lips away, he stared down at his female, continuing to plunge into her deep and fast. Her pupils dilated as he watched her, leaving nothing more than a ring of brown. He altered his position slightly so that he held her buttock in one hand and the headboard in the other, leveraging his body to maintain friction against her clit. The shift accomplished what he wanted. She wrapped her hands around his arms, moaning when he rolled his hips.
“You’re so fucking perfect, Mary. Come hard. I want to feel you shatter.”
After three hard thrusts she put her face in the crook of his shoulder, digging her fingers into his arms. Her sultry cry carried through the room as her pussy rippled around his cock, her hot, weeping flesh shredding his self-control. He let himself go, no longer holding back, fucking her as forcefully as the wolf demanded. She didn’t fight, biting her lip as her cunt continued clasping his dick, sending him over the precipice.
He snarled as he came, the fist on the headboard cracking the wood, his hand on her ass forming claws. Mary shuddered with each jerk of his cock, his semen exiting his sac and jetting into his mate. He continued moving, drawing it out, until the prickly feeling in his spine vanished and Mary relaxed beneath him. Due to the damage he’d caused to the headboard, he had to shake his hand free of slivers of wood before he eased over her, bringing them chest to chest.
“That was incredible,” she said with a sigh, snaking her arms around his waist.
“Just wait,” he murmured against her neck, awash in the feeling of her skin against his, of the pounding of her pulse.
Peace surrounded them. The house was remarkably silent as they rested against each other.
Every day for the rest of their lives should be started exactly like this.
The slamming of a door downstairs made them both jump. It was immediately followed by a guttural roar, one that sent electric needles of alarm shooting up the back of Emory’s neck.
“Ava!”
Emory waited, listening for Ava’s response. When one didn’t come he moved away from Mary, driven by the panic in Diskant’s voice. The Omega and his mate shared an extremely close connection, one that allowed them to communicate in a way the pack didn’t fully understand but respected. Knowing that, it didn’t make sense that Diskant would be searching for Ava when he could use their special link to find her.
Where the hell had Ava gone? Had something happened to her?
Mary sat up, watching as Emory rotated in a circle, cursing when he saw his pants were unsalvageable.
“What’s wrong?”
He shook his head, trying to think. “I don’t know, but it’s not good.”
Diskant continued yelling, and Emory could tell the Alpha was running from room to room calling Ava’s name. The yells became louder, meaning Diskant was steadily approaching. Worry quickly turned to dread. Diskant was searching the house like Ava was a human, not his bloodbonded mate.
Fuck.
“Don’t be alarmed, sweetheart.” Emory gave up on trying to dress, striding toward the door. “Diskant’s about to make an appearance.”
“He’s coming in here? Right now?” She shriveled beneath the covers until Emory could only see her face, the edge of the comforter and sheet yanked firmly to her chin.
He didn’t answer, stopping between the door and the bed, standing between Mary and their oncoming visitor. D’s strange behavior had to be due to Ava but Emory wasn’t taking any chances with a shifter who had apparently just lost the bonded connection with his female. Pounding footsteps raced up the stairs and stormed down the hall. Then the bedroom door crashed open.
Diskant rushed into the room, eyes wild, hair tangled around his shoulders and face. His right side was bloody, his leather pants missing in places. Judging by the way the cloth fell—revealing skinned and oozing pieces of raw flesh—Diskant had probably wrecked his motorcycle, suffering road rash as a result.
“Calm down, D,” Emory said smoothly, keeping his composure. “Tell me what happened.”
Diskant’s eyes changed colors, his face a mixture of pain and disbelief. “She was there and then she wasn’t.”
“What do you mean she was there then she wasn’t?”
“She was there and then she wasn’t!” Diskant thundered, hands clenched, breathing hard.
“You need to calm—”
“If you tell me to calm down again, I’ll rip out your goddamn throat.” Diskant’s teeth lengthened, his fists unraveling so the tips of his claws could drop from his fingers.
Fucking shit.
Emory maintained a distance but allowed the Alpha wolf in him to rise. The calm, determined animal reached out to Diskant—an invisible thread extending outward, seeking correlation, attempting to bring the bestial halves of the men together. Although Emory couldn’t appeal to the other beasts inside Diskant—who, as an Omega, could change into any of the shifter races—he could communicate with the wolf inside the man. Since Diskant had been born inside of Trey’s pack centuries ago, there was a chance Emory could use their link to get Diskant to listen to reason. Wolves were united by history and ancestry, but the relationships created in childhood—when young males grew up together—were the hardest to break.
Remember who you are.
Diskant’s eyes changed colors—going from silver to green to gold—informing Emory the wolf was responding, rising above the others to heed Emory’s call.
Thank God.
“Did Ava have anywhere to go today?” he asked softly. “Do you know?”
“No.” The hard edge to Diskant’s voice was absent. “She should be here.”
“Here’s what we’re going to do.” Emory made sure it wasn’t an order, knowing he had to walk a tight fucking line as he moved toward Diskant and rested a hand on his shoulder. “You’re going to phone the guards posted around your building. If Ava went anywhere they’d have to have seen her, right?”
To Emory’s relief Diskant’s eyes became coherent, meaning the man was finally taking control from the feral creatures who attacked first and asked questions later. “Yes,” he said, pulling out his phone, “they would.” He glanced at the screen and cursed. “The fucking thing is off! I forgot to turn it on before I left the house. Son of a bitch!”
“While you call, I’m going to get dressed.” Emory hiked his chin in Mary’s direction. “Why don’t we leave the room and give my mate a bit of privacy?”
Diskant glanced at Mary, frowning as he realized where he was and what he’d done. He started to say something but must have decided against it, spinning on his heel to leave. Emory didn’t immediately follow, waiting until the Omega disappeared around the corner to look at his mate.
Emory walked to the nearby dresser to retrieve the clothing he’d stored inside. He yanked out a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, pulled them on and retrieved a matching pair of socks.
“Why don’t you get a bath and relax?” he suggested as he sat at the edge of the bed and yanked on his boots. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Why don’t you tell me what’s going on first?” She moved close, touching his back.
“I’m not sure.” He sighed, closing his eyes as her fingers breezed over his neck. “But something must have happened to Ava.”
“I kind of figured that.” She rested her hand on his shoulder. “Where do you think she went? Do you think she’s been hurt?”
“For Diskant’s sake I hope not. If something happens to her, there’s no telling what he’ll do.”
She glanced at the door. “He does seem to be a few sandwiches short of a picnic.”