Promised to the Pride: A Shifter Romance Read online

  “That was my first time,” she said, “being on top. I don’t think Jonas would ever let me, and Nikolas…”

  I couldn’t see Nik letting her ride him, either. Both he and Jonas were alike in that way, needing the control, needing the dominance. Maybe I just wasn’t like them. I’d say maybe it was because I was a virgin prior to this, but now…when I thought about riding her, with her under me, I didn’t know. For some reason, I think I liked being under her better. Having her in control. Surrendering to my mate and whatever thoughts came to that pretty, blonde head.

  “Was it good?” Holly asked, eager to hear about her performance.

  I couldn’t help but smile. I ran a hand through her hair, tucking some of it behind her ear. “It was amazing,” I said, meaning it. I never said things I didn’t mean. Every word I spoke was the truth, and I would never lie to Holly, not when she was everything to me.

  We lay for a while, content to be with each other naked. The TV was on, and Holly had found some rerun of a sitcom. She seemed to like those, even though she claimed to have seen it half a dozen other times before. It was one of those things, she said, that never got old. Sometimes shenanigans were as funny the fifth time as they were the first.

  I dozed off a bit, but I jerked awake when I heard the front door open. I knew it was too early for Nik to be off—it was the one man I didn’t particularly want to see, let alone share Holly with. Jonas didn’t deserve her. She was far too good for him.

  Or maybe that was just my opinion.

  Chapter Twenty-Two – Jonas

  I gave them enough time. I wanted to have my mate to myself, especially after getting her that fucking TV and cable. Internet would come soon, too. I was fucking thoughtful, and I wanted her to look me in the eyes and thank me while on her knees. Was that too much to ask?

  Apparently so, since she spent the afternoon with Aster. And because she’d spent the morning with Nikolas at his place, it was my fucking turn to have her.

  So I barged in. What else was I supposed to do? Wait until Aster left? The crushing fool would probably sleep near her feet if she let him. He was lovestruck, completely idiotic. Our mate was a beauty, but she wasn’t worth so much devotion. Of course, I said that after bending to her wants and getting her her own fucking TV.

  I didn’t want to think about what that said about me: that I was weak. That she made me weak. That she, somehow, had me wrapped around her finger.

  Fuck that.

  I trudged to her cabin, the wind howling behind me. The moon had started to rise, and I wondered if she’d finally let Aster have her. No, rather, if Aster finally grew bigger balls and took her. He seemed to be a fumbling idiot, so it didn’t come as a surprise that he’d waited so long to have her. Even though he and Nikolas couldn’t claim her until she learned to shift, they could still fuck her pretty brains out.

  That’s what I planned on doing, once I got in there. Whether or not Aster stayed or hightailed it, I didn’t give a flying fuck. I wanted what was mine, what was owed to me—and that was her.

  When I barged into the cabin, I found my mate curled on top of Aster. They were both naked, and from the look of it—and the smell—they’d been together not that long ago. Neither one of them moved when I came in, and I slammed the door shut behind me. The TV, I noticed, was on.

  “Jonas,” my mate’s voice sounded softer than it normally did. She did not get off Aster, but she did move her blue gaze to me. “You did this.” She meant the TV, the cable. She sounded…impressed, like she didn’t know I was capable of giving. I’d admit, it wasn’t something I was accustomed to. It was not something I wanted to do again.

  “I did,” I said, glancing at the TV and then back at her. “Aren’t you going to thank me?”

  My mate was smart enough to know what I meant by it, and she was slow to glance at Aster, who’s loving stare turned into a glare when he brought his amber eyes to me. Still, like a meek little girl, she crawled off Aster, totally exposing his nakedness, and moved to stand before me. Her blonde hair was ruffled, messy and tangled. Her skin grew flushed as she stood before me, as if knowing what I wanted from her.

  Hell, maybe she did. She should know the drill by now.

  She tilted her face up, and for a split-second, I was lost. Her eyes were clear, a warm, vibrant blue. My mate stood level with my lower chest, so small compared to me, and yet as I stared down at her, I couldn’t help but feel like I was the smaller one, that she had me right where she wanted me.

  Fuck that.

  Fuck that so hard.

  I reached for her face, running a hand down her cheek, along her jawline. “Get down,” I ordered, and though she threw a look over her shoulder at Aster, she played the good mate and dropped down. To Aster, I said, “You can either leave or stay, I don’t care which one.” Truthfully, I didn’t give two shits what the shifter did. I was going to force our mate to be grateful to me, one way or another, with an audience or without.

  Aster looked like he was going to get up, gather his clothes and leave, but our mate must’ve sent him a pleading look, for his body stilled, and his amber eyes met mine, a challenge of sorts. “I’m going to stay. This is my time you’re encroaching on.”

  “And that’s my TV you’re watching,” I reminded him. He knew I was right, so he shut up.

  I glared at him as I worked to undo my belt, and then my pants. Once they were near my feet, my cock stood, its tip a few inches from my mate’s mouth. That mouth, I knew, worked wonders. And those lips…I dreamt of those fucking lips—not that I would ever admit that out loud. No, even though she was inching her way under my skin, trying to tug at a heart that had long since grown icy, I was fighting her. I didn’t want her in my dreams, or my heart, or my thoughts. The only place I wanted her was my bed.

  My mate opened her mouth, and I let out a deep exhalation when I watched her head swallow the tip of my cock. Into her throat, pleasing me with the way she sucked on the tip with every bob of her neck. She’d gotten better at it; soon enough I hoped to be able to deep-throat her without her gagging reflex taking hold.

  I laced my fingers in her hair, tugging more than gently. I wasn’t a gentle man, and I sure as shit wasn’t a gentle shifter. I was wild, fierce, and angry. I’d been tossed aside like trash, and it was hard to not let something like that affect you. The world didn’t care for me, so why the hell should I care about the world or anyone in it?

  It was as I thought to myself I don’t care that my hips started to buck. I drove my cock deeper into her throat, and I ignored the muffled whimpers she let out. I was being too rough, but I didn’t care. I didn’t care about anything—save for Aster remaining on that couch and not trying to butt-in where he didn’t belong.

  I let out a growl when I came, and I rammed my length into her mouth the moment my seed spewed. She swallowed me up, every last fucking drop, as she should. There would be no wasting of my cum.

  When I released her head, I saw her mouth was swollen a bit, pinker than it was before she’d gotten to her knees. I was about to say something, to glare at Aster, to…do something to get my mind off how pretty my mate was when she was on her knees, but when I turned my head to the other shifter in the room, I saw that he was sporting a hard-on.

  Aster got turned on by watching our mate please me. It wasn’t surprising. She was something else, especially when she was free of any restrictive clothing.

  I moved behind her. Our mate was still on her knees, and once I stood behind her, I bent to grab her throat, forcing her to look at Aster. I could’ve held onto her harder, could’ve choked her a bit, but I didn’t. Instead, I whispered, “I think the pup wants another go at you. Go please him.” A demand, an order from one of her mates—something she knew better than to go against.

  She got to her feet once I released her neck, and her feet drew her to Aster on the couch. Aster’s cheeks were flushed, and he was too turned on to stop her from crawling right on top of him, straddling him. She pushed him down on the cou
ch, reaching to position his cock at her entrance.

  Aster was a bottom, huh? That…was a little more surprising.

  My body heat flared when I watched her start to rock along him, and before I knew what I was doing—before I could stop and tell myself what a bad idea it was—I was reaching to yank off my shirt, dropping it to the floor. As their moans filled the room, I stepped out of my shoes, leaving my clothes in a pile near the TV.

  I moved to the end of the couch, my eyes watching my mate’s back arch as she rocked along Aster’s cock. Soon, she’d be filled with two cocks, milking us both. I reached a hand toward her, laying it flat along her lower back. Her grinding stopped, and she tossed a hazy glance over her shoulder me. She might not be able to shift yet, but her chest still let out a purr, a sound that made me want to both fuck her and protect her.

  I growled as I pushed her down, laying her chest flat against Aster’s. My cock hadn’t lost a bit of its hardness, and it glistened from its time in her mouth. I hadn’t taken her other hole yet, but now was as good of a time as any.

  As I positioned myself above her, and therefore above Aster, I bit her shoulder—not too hard, but enough to leave a mark. “You’ll take me in too, Mate,” I murmured against her skin, feeling her shiver between us.

  Aster’s gaze was lust-filled, and he said nothing as I reached for our mate’s ass, spreading her cheeks apart. With his cock filling her pussy, mine would fill her other hole. Together we would fuck her, make her lose all sense of self with our cocks. She wouldn’t have a single logical thought in her body when I filled up that ass.

  I placed the tip of my cock at her entrance, and I felt her tense up. “I would relax, if I were you,” I suggested, knowing that if she fought this, it wouldn’t be pleasurable to her. Her ass would still feel great to me, but for some stupid fucking reason, I wanted her to feel good, too.

  I…I fucking cared about her, even though I didn’t want to.

  She breathed out, relaxing as she laid on Aster’s chest, and I pushed in. Slowly, so slowly it damn well nearly killed me, but if I didn’t go slow, I might hurt her too much. Might overload her body. I couldn’t have that. I wanted her to go numb with pleasure, but I didn’t want her to shut down completely.

  Inch by inch, I pushed myself inside that tight hole, having some resistance at first, but once I was in, I was in. My mate let out a fluttery sigh as I filled her up, to the brink of her pleasure. I bet, before this, she never imagined something like this was even possible. Well, I was more than eager to prove my little mate wrong.

  My chest heaved above her back, and I sandwiched her between Aster and I, hilt-deep inside of her. She wouldn’t be able to move, so we had to do all the work. Judging from the glazed-over expression on Aster’s face, though, it’d be me having to do all the work.

  I was fine with that, too.

  I was measured in moving my hips back, feeling her ass clench around my length. Her body didn’t want mine to leave it, and I wasn’t going to, not fully. I’d pull out just enough to push myself back in, over and over, fucking her asshole like it was her sweet, wet cunt. I heard her sigh against Aster’s chest when I filled her up, and I knew she was like jelly under me. Goo. A body being used, lost in its own pleasure.

  “Let me hear you,” I growled out, balls-deep inside of her. I whispered it directly into her ear, my fingers digging into the cushions beneath Aster. The next time I rammed myself into her, she cried out loudly, not bothering to try to muffle the sound. Good—hearing her cry out was half the fun. Those sounds…I enjoyed hearing them, and I enjoyed forcing her to make them as I fucked her.

  Her ass made me tremble, my orgasm building far too soon. The hole was tighter than her cunt, and the pressure on my cock was too much. The only way, I think, I was able to stave it off for a few moments, was because Aster was busy was coming under me. His eyes shut, and he let out a thunderous groan, which only furthered the purring our mate was doing. His body tensed under hers, and she moaned a low sound, coming deep from her throat.

  I grunted, my cock as deep into her ass as it would go. Hot cum shot from me, filling her up, marking her ass as mine. The muscles in my arms clenched as I came, and it took some work from me not to collapse on top of both bodies under me. Short, quick thrusts into her backside, I let her ass milk all it could from me, sighing against her shoulder before pulling out.

  “You did well,” I whispered, nuzzling against her neck. I got up, withdrawing from her completely, and made my way into the bathroom to wash off. Her ass would feel strange for a while, hurt the same way I was certain I’d made her hurt after the night of her claiming, but she would get used to it.

  That ass was mine, forevermore.

  I walked out, unashamed at my nakedness, leaning on the wall as I crossed my arms. My mate still lay on top of Aster, breathing hard. Aster had pulled out of her, and he kept blinking, as if trying to wake himself up. Like this was all some twisted dream, that we hadn’t double-teamed our mate and both enjoyed the hell out of it.

  “You can stay,” I said, “but I don’t think the three of us will fit in her bed easily.” The offer was enough to scare Aster away, for his cheeks flushed, and he sat up, moving our mate off him before gathering his clothes.

  “You…” It seemed Aster was at a loss, which was a first. He always seemed ever-talkative, the kind of person that never shut up, even when it would behoove him. Even after sharing her, together, the shifter didn’t trust me. I couldn’t blame him, because I didn’t trust myself, either. Our mate made me want to lose control.

  She made me want to lose it…and she also made me want to reel in my inner beast. I didn’t care if I hurt her, if I overdid it, and simultaneously I did. It was a maddening feeling, being so conflicted—and having not expected it at all. She wasn’t supposed to mean anything to me. She wasn’t supposed to matter beyond her body, her womb.

  Holly was supposed to be my mate and nothing more. With my past, I should’ve known that things wouldn’t be how I thought they would.

  Chapter Twenty-Three – Holly

  I was…tired. Tired and oddly content. My body felt worn-out, and yet it wasn’t a bad feeling. No, if I was honest, I sort of liked it. Okay, more than sort of. I really liked it, and that was perhaps the most shocking thing. I had both Aster and Jonas at once—a combination I never thought I’d have—and even as Aster put on his clothes, I remained on the couch, not wanting to get up. If I got up, I feared my pleasure-filled high would come crashing down and I’d come face to face with reality, which wasn’t so fun.

  Jonas made no moves to leave, which meant, I knew, I wasn’t done thanking him for the TV yet. He’d milk it for as long as he could, and he had every right to, as my mate.

  Still: couldn’t a girl just lay around and catch up on some television? Was that too much to ask?

  Aster, now dressed, tossed a pleading look to me, as if begging me to ask him to stay. When I said nothing, only reclined back on the couch, he turned his head toward Jonas, who stood near the hall with his arms crossed. With his arms like that, Jonas looked like a burly weightlifter. A coat of blonde stubble lined his chin, and he was every ounce the man he strutted around to be, dick and all.

  “Don’t worry,” Jonas spoke with a frown, his usual expression. “I’ll take good care of her.” A smirk grew on his lips, just a quick one—one that made my gut clench even though the smirk wasn’t for me. “Unless you want to stay and have me take good care of you, too?”

  That got Aster to turn to me, place a chaste kiss upon my cheek and mutter, “If you need me, call me.” He hurried out of the door like Jonas had just mentioned bedbugs or something equally as disturbing.

  I watched him go, slowly turning my gaze to Jonas.

  Jonas’s emerald stare was already on me, though he made no moves to leave the wall he clung to. “I knew that would get him out of here. He’s finicky, that one.”

  I moved to rest my head on one of the couch’s pillows. “I don’t think finicky
is the right word.” After all, he’d lost his virginity and had a threesome in the same day. At least those things were more spread out for me. To have Jonas insinuate some swords crossing was definitely stepping over the line.

  It was a line that I might like to see, but I’d keep that tidbit of information to myself for now.

  Jonas watched me for a bit, finally leaving his spot on the wall to come to the couch. He heaved himself over me, tucking himself between my body and the couch cushions, and he set an arm around my stomach, holding my back against him. My gaze was on the TV, though it was impossible to focus on the TV when my mountain of a mate was so close and the memory of being filled with his cock so recent.

  Both him and Aster…I still didn’t know how my body handled it. It barely did, granted. If either of them had asked me to do something when their cocks were in me, there was no way I could’ve complied. I was as useful as a bucket of goo when filled with both. It was…it felt good, clearly.

  “I didn’t know my mate liked being on top,” Jonas’s low, scratchy voice entered my ears, and I fought the warmth flooding through me at the sound of it. It was ridiculous, how easily I responded to him—to them all, really. No willpower when it came to my mates. None whatsoever.

  “I never had the chance before today,” I said, feeling his breath on the top of my head. The arm around my stomach moved, and its hand snaked its way between my breasts until it wrapped around my throat. My breathing hitched, but it wasn’t because I was afraid of him.

  At one point, maybe. Now? Now things were complicated. Now I had feelings for the man behind me, even though I knew I was only a mate to him, a body and nothing more.

  Aster and Nikolas had me spoiled, really, acting like I was a living person with my own freewill. When it came to Jonas…he didn’t give a shit about my likes and dislikes, how he made me feel when we were together. At least, I didn’t think he did. If he did, he certainly held his true feelings close to that big, hulking, scarred chest of his.