Avet, Danica - Ain't No Bull [The Veil 4] (Siren Publishing Classic) (40 page)

“Gods, Grant!”

“Mm,” he hummed against nipple, giving it one last tug with his lips. “You’re awful wet here, sweetheart. Maybe I should examine you.”

Izzy chuckled a little breathlessly.

That’s when she saw BOB still in his hand as Grant slipped down her body where he gently eased her legs apart. The muscles in his face went tight with need, his lips pressing together as sexual tension racked his body.

“Gods, woman, you’re gorgeous,” he whispered hoarsely as he lowered himself between her widespread thighs.

Long fingers stroked and parted her folds as he did exactly as he said he would—examine her. It was like no other examination she’d ever had and thank gods for that. He learned her with his fingers, his lips, his tongue. Izzy could only lay there and quiver as he lapped at her. She could only gasp and moan as his lips and tongue tortured her clit to painful hardness.

“Please, Grant, oh, please,” she cried as she felt her orgasm coil like a tiger ready to spring. “Please.”

Something blunt pressed at the mouth of her pussy and her eyes popped open to see Grant easing BOB into her, a look of intense concentration on his face. Her body stretched to accommodate the toy and she moaned. It felt good, but not great.

“Grant, I want you inside me.”

His eyes flickered up to her face and his nostrils gave that telltale flare before he shook his head. “You’re too hurt.”

She shivered at the rough sound of his voice. “You’ll be gentle with me. Please?”

He studied her for several seconds as the vibrator buzzed at the entrance of her pussy. It sent pulses of arousal through her and her body responded with eager moisture. But it wasn’t enough. Brilliant white teeth sank into his bottom lip as though he was undecided.

“Please?”

BOB went sailing across the room and Izzy wanted to cheer. Instead, she watched with hungry eyes as Grant slipped off the bed and started undressing. Would she ever get enough of seeing his gorgeous body? Probably not. It still made her breath hitch in her chest, her heart pound, and her body ready itself for his touch. His skin gleamed like antique gold in the weak light from the window, the bulges of his muscular form casting intriguing shadows she wanted to investigate. When his pants fell to the ground she thought her heart might explode. He was fully aroused, his flesh thick and ready. More moisture pooled between her legs.

“Come to me, minotaur,” she demanded in a husky voice that sounded completely unlike her.

He moved to the bed, his muscles flexing and relaxing with his every step. As smooth as water, he flowed over her, covering her from head to toes, yet not giving her any of his weight. Tears burned in the back of her eyes. He was so worried for her. Idiot bull.

“I love you, you stupid man,” she mumbled as she lifted her mouth to his.

His laugh was soft and intimate. “That’s good, otherwise I might have felt insulted.”

Their lips met in a gentle, searching kiss that quickly grew out of control. Izzy couldn’t help herself. She always needed more where he was concerned. Maybe in a few centuries she might be able to live on little doses of Grant, but for now, she planned to overindulge.

His erection pressed against her thigh like a brand and she needed it inside her. Now. Squirming as much as she could, Izzy tried to tell Grant what she wanted without words. He was a fucking genius, she decided with a sigh of relief, because he shifted his hips. The head of his cock nudged at the mouth of her pussy. But he didn’t enter her. In fact, he pulled back, lifting himself to his arms to hover over her.

“Grant,” she growled.

“You can’t move a muscle, baby. I don’t want to hurt you.”

The seriousness in his face told her he would stop if he thought for one moment she was in pain. “I’m a fucking Amazon, bull boy, pain is for pussies. Now give me my cock!”

A spark of amusement flamed to life in his black eyes, but quickly died. “You only get it if you promise to keep still.”

“Fine, but get to work already!”

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied with a mock salute.

And boy did he! With exaggerated gentleness, he positioned her body the way he wanted, spreading her thighs wide before he settled between them. Braced above her, his eyes met hers as he guided his cock to the tight entrance of her body.

She sucked in a deep breath as she felt herself stretch around him. Inch by slow, tortuous inch, he slid into her, gently forcing his way past the tight muscles of her channel. Her eyes rolled back in her head when he nudged the mouth of her womb. He was balls deep and nothing had ever felt so perfect.

Then he leaned over until his mouth touched the shell of her ear. “I love you.”

Just like that, her body went up in flames as her orgasm roared to life. Her pussy clenched around his unmoving cock. She tried to rock her hips on him for more, but he held her fast, keeping her immobile. He ground his pubic bone against her clit, prolonging her orgasm until she nearly fainted from the pleasure.

When she came to herself again, he was poised above her, his muscles trembling with the effort of holding himself still. Blurry-eyed, she blinked several times until she focused on his face.

“Now that that’s out of the way, I can pleasure you.”

“P–Pleasure me?” she stammered. “But—”

He shook his head, flinging his hair out of his eyes. “That was just the appetizer, baby.”

She only had a moment to think
oh fuck
before he started moving. Slow and easy, he shuttled his cock along her sensitized passage. Her nerve endings sparked back to life and the tension built again. She bit her lip to hold back her moans and pleas for mercy until Grant withdrew completely.

Her eyes flew open. She hadn’t even realized she’d closed them. “What—”

“Just wanted to make sure you were still with me, baby,” Grant assured her as he sank into her again.

Her eyes crossed, her toes curled as pleasure swept through her. Her mate was relentless, teasing her to the peak over and over again until she was soaked with sweat and begging him for release. Just when she couldn’t take it anymore, one of his hands slipped between them, his thumb strumming her clit.

“I love you,” she screamed at her hovering mate as the most powerful, crippling orgasm of her life slammed into her with all of the tenderness of a freight train.

Grant shouted, his body convulsing as her inner muscles massaged his cock with tight, relentless pulls. He bucked against her, again nudging her womb a split second before his seed jetted out of him and into her. The scalding hot splash of his release sent Izzy off into another mini-orgasm that caused tears to pour down her face.

For long minutes they ceased to exist, floating in the satisfaction they’d give each other. It was with regret that Izzy came back to herself, but she looked up to see Grant had returned as well.

His blue eyes glowed with love, desire, and contentment. “My mate,” he purred as he kissed her.

Humming with happiness, Izzy returned her mate’s kiss, immersing herself in his taste. One day, hopefully soon, she’d totally rock his world in return. She had a feeling their lives would be spent trying to one-up each other in bed and damn, what a way to go!

Grant pulled back to look at her again. “I just realized something.”

“Mm, what’s that?” she asked, not really interested. She felt so perfectly content, she wasn’t sure anything could fuck up her roll.

“You lost our bet.”

Her eyes snapped open. “No I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did. I seduced you.”

“You did not. If you remember right, I seduced you first and
then
you seduced me. So I won the bet.”

He frowned down at her, but a smile lurked in his eyes. “I think we both won, what do you think?”

Izzy sniffed. “I’ll concede that it was a draw. So we’ll have to make another bet.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Epilogue

Three months later…

It looked like a battle was about to break out. The opposing sides stood far apart with a wide expanse of rich, green grass between them. It was completely silent as not a single being moved.

Izzy’s heart pounded as adrenaline rushed through her veins. This was fucking it! The moment she’d been anticipating for months! It was finally going to happen. Eventually.

She frowned at the cloudless sky and shrugged, trying to ease the tension from her shoulders. Her sisters held their heads high as they stared at the people across the field. Izzy followed their gazes and swallowed against the tightness in her throat.

There were hundreds of shifters staring back at her, their animal eyes assessing. Her heart fluttered before she forcibly calmed it down again. She was not a coward. She could do this.

Right?

Sudden movement from the direction of the Black Dog Camp interrupted her moment of self-doubt and she turned to watch. Grant, his hair shining like gold in the bright sunlight, marched behind Queen Albreda and her elite guards. His arms were at his sides, his face grim. He should’ve looked vulnerable striding behind the Amazons without his shirt, but to Izzy, he looked like a pagan god. She was mesmerized by the bunching of his muscles and the gleam of his sun-kissed skin.

Someone elbowed her, dragging her attention back to what was happening. Rosetta frowned and shook her head. Reading the disapproval in her friend’s face, Izzy composed her face and stared back at the shifters across the field. They had glanced at Grant as well, and their faces were just as grim and unwelcoming as his.

Her palms started to sweat. She wasn’t sure she could do this. Gods, she had shitty timing! She should’ve spoken up weeks ago, but she’d been too focused on Grant and how he made her feel to actually think like a rational person. And now it was too late. Or was it? Her eyes searched for an escape route and she encountered Fallon’s steady gaze.

He winked slightly before he arranged his face into solemn lines. Okay, she could do this. Her friends had faith in her.

She sucked in a deep breath as Grant approached the center of the neutral ground between both groups. Without looking in either direction, he knelt on the grass and lifted his head to Izzy’s queen.

Queen Albreda stared at him for a moment before she swept her eyes over both groups focused on her. She held her hand out to Saga. A sharp tool was slapped in her palm. Her other hand went to Ocean, who placed a small pot in it.

The queen sought out Izzy and nodded. This was it. She stepped forward and marched to meet the group. She stared straight ahead, not sure she could keep her shit together if she happened to see doubt in any of her sisters’ or friends’ eyes.

She passed Fallon, Malachi and Lani, Ruby and Lucian, Connor and Piper, Shikoba, Tia, and several of her other close friends without meeting their eyes. Her throat was dry and threatened to tighten on her by the time she reached the queen, but she followed protocol and bowed her head.

“Isola Malone, you have requested that this minotaur be accepted as member of the Blood Maiden Tribe by right of mating.” Queen Albreda’s voice carried over the silent field. “Is it still your wish to bond with this male for the rest of your days?”

It took every ounce of willpower she had not to look at Grant. It wasn’t allowed, not yet. Instead, she met her queen’s calm blue eyes. She licked her lips, or tried to because her fucking mouth was still dry! Gah! Izzy cleared her throat. “Yes, my queen, I humbly request that Grant Strickland is accepted as my mate and welcomed to my sisters’ tribe.”

Albreda’s eyes went behind Izzy to the group behind her. “Do the Blood Maidens accept this request?”

There was a heartbeat of silence, and Izzy thought she was going to die. Then the field was crashed by the sound of hundreds of fists thumping on shields. The thumps were in absolute unison as every Amazon marked their acceptance of Grant into their lives.

Tears burned her eyes. Gods, she loved her sisters. She peeked down at Grant’s upturned face. And she loved this male with all of her being. If they hadn’t accepted him, she would have gone loner again to stay with him. Now, that wasn’t necessary. They would both be welcome in the Blood Maiden Tribe.

Albreda’s gaze swept over Grant. “Minotaur, you accept this Amazon’s claim?”

“I do.” His voice was steady and confident. The bastard. He could’ve at least sounded as freaked out as she felt!

“Then let the marking begin,” the queen announced.

* * * *

Grant held completely still as his mate’s symbol was tattooed on his chest. He’d thought his heart was going to stop when he’d seen how scared Isola looked. She’d looked like she was on the verge of bolting and only knowing he had to act docile had kept him from tackling her.

The Amazon mating ceremony was bizarre to his way of thinking, but considering the Amazons didn’t really have mating instincts, he supposed he could understand it. Unlike shifters, who had bonds that could be felt and seen upon a mating, the Amazons could only pray their hearts led them in the right direction.

He heard a woman sniffle and bit back his smile. His mother hadn’t been happy about the location or style of the mating ceremony, but she’d come around when she realized she had free rein over the food. None of the Amazons cared what they ate and would’ve gone hunting if it hadn’t been for his family’s vegetarian tendencies. Bella had rallied Paul’s former harem and all of Grant’s sisters for cooking duties.