“I love the way you touch me,” she gasped as his fingers began to stroke her, wash her. Suds rolled down her thighs, mixed with the heady scent of her feminine need.
Callan laid his head against her abdomen, one arm wrapping around her upper thighs as he held her steady, the other parting her legs further. He had to taste her. He could wait no longer. His tongue swiped through the satiny folds, then curled around her swollen clit.
She shuddered in his grasp. Her hands dug into his hair, holding onto him as he teased the little bud with soft strokes, careful to keep the rougher portion of his tongue well away from it. With only the tip he stroked around her clit, feeling her shudder, her stomach contract. He sucked it into his mouth then, applying just enough pressure to have her grinding her hips against him, her needy moans filling the shower stall as he teased her.
“Callan, please.” She bucked against his mouth as he pressed her against the wall, then lifted her thigh to his shoulder.
She screamed out as his tongue speared into her. Deep, hard, spreading the muscles of her vagina as he sought the addicting taste of her desire. The fingers of one hand continued the teasing strokes against her clit as he ignored her demand for instant gratification. He didn’t want to rush this, he wanted to savor the taste and the touch of her.
He licked at her gently then, moaning as her juices coated his tongue and his lips. So ready for him. She wept for him, pleaded with him, her muscles clenching on his invading tongue as she reached for the release she would only ever attain with him.
“Mine,” he groaned against the folds of flesh, licking in swifter, firmer strokes.
“Mine,” she cried out, her hands clenching in his hair, her voice wild with her need to climax. “Always mine.”
And he was. Hers. She was his. He came to his feet, lifting her to him, pushing between her thighs, his cock plunging inside her in one quick stroke that took him to the hilt. Callan gritted his teeth at the fiery pleasure that washed over his body. She was tight, gripping him in a silken fist so damned hot it took his breath.
A wail of pleasure sounded from her lips. She tightened, rocked against him. He pulled back and thrust hard again. She climaxed instantly, her release raining over his erection, destroying his self-control. He held her close in his arms, his hips powering into her then as he fought to get deeper, closer. God help him, she was all that mattered to him now. Being inside her, heart, soul, body. This was all he dreamed of and more than he had ever believed possible.
Stroking desperately inside her, he heard her building moans of renewed need, felt the emergence of the barb and knew ecstasy was only seconds away. He held her tighter, thrust harder, faster. Merinus tightened in his arms once again and as his cock lodged deep, his seed spurted into her, he heard her scream and felt her climax rush over her for the second time. And in her arms, for those few endless seconds, he found peace.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
They stayed buried in the house for two days while Callan paced the floors and checked the hidden email account he had. Everyone had checked in. They were secure but two of the messages had his instincts raring in self-defense. The first from Dayan, swearing Kane and the Tyler men were seen meeting with the soldiers, coordinating a search for Callan that covered every inch of the mountains. The other from Sherra, informing him that she and a relative were desperately searching for them to relay information. He cursed violently when that email came through. He told her to stay put, to put off the meeting with Kane Tyler. Why had she taken this into her own hands? And who was lying? Sherra or Dayan? For the first time since their births Callan began to question the loyalty of the Pride.
“Is everything okay?” Merinus stood between the kitchen and the living room, watching him in concern.
Her hair was tangled around her face, drowsiness still flushed her skin. He had left her sleeping in the bed hours before after another bout of sex that damned near left him drained.
She was dressed in one of his T-shirts. The hem of the blue cotton covered her thighs and hung on her slender shoulders. The intimacy of her wearing his clothing left a gut punch of desire that he couldn’t deny. Possession, raw and hot flared in him. His woman.
“Everything’s fine,” he assured her quietly, unwilling to worry her further.
He saw the concern in her eyes though, and knew he hadn’t fooled her. Their lives were hanging by a thread now, the dangers inherent in the situation terrified him. Merinus had no scope of the evil that inhabited the Council and he prayed she never learned.
“We need to contact Kane, Callan,” she broached the one subject he wasn’t willing to discuss yet. “He’s going to be worried out of his mind. That’s not a good thing, either.”
He could see her absolute belief in her brother reflected in her expression. She thought of her family before she thought of herself. She trusted them when she could trust no one else, especially that damned soldier brother of hers.
“I have to be certain he didn’t betray us first, Merinus.” He shook his head, staring back at Sherra’s email.
He could assume the betrayal came from Kane, or from one of his own. Which was more likely to want to see him and Merinus captured or dead?
“Kane wouldn’t betray me, Callan,” she told him quietly.
There was no anger in her tone, no doubt. She trusted her brother implicitly.
“How can you be so certain, Merinus?” He sighed roughly. “The attack came hours after your call to him.”
“I know because I know Kane.” She shook her head, moving further into the room.
She went to the couch near him, sat down and regarded him solemnly.
“Kane went ape shit when Dad showed him the box your mother had sent to him on her death,” she revealed. “I don’t know why, but I know he was hurt. Hurt and angry, but not at you. He spent months gathering evidence, working to reveal the Council members. He has a list from your shoulder to your elbow and a stack of proof against them that would terrify you.”
Callan narrowed his eyes on her.
“Why didn’t you tell me this before?” he asked her.
“I tried to tell you, but you never wanted to hear it.” She rolled her eyes at his abrupt question. “I told you we had everything taken care of. Did you think I would lie to you?”
“The hell if I knew what to think then, or now,” he grunted, shutting down the email program and pacing the floor. “I know we’ve been betrayed by someone close to us, and accusing your brother is a hell of a lot easier than the alternative.” Better than believing that one of his own would do it.
He couldn’t get the thought out of his head that one of his own had betrayed him, or the memory of that scent in the caves, lingering on the flesh of the soldier.
“Who is the alternative?” Merinus asked him carefully. “Callan, Kane didn’t know we had mated, or whatever this is. He wasn’t even certain we were having sex. He suspected it, but he didn’t know it was anything deeper.”
“He would have known.” Callan frowned. He knew Kane had at least suspected that his sister was too emotionally involved with her lover to leave. The Council would have suspected the rest based on that.
Merinus sighed. “Maybe he would have, but he wouldn’t have betrayed me or you. He’s put too much into this, taken too many risks himself.”
“Why?” Callan snapped. “Why would he do this, just for a story? He didn’t need anything more than the proof Maria had to run it.”