Hunter Reborn (25 page)

Larissa shook her head. “While I appreciate the offer, I can tell you no right now. I don't even want to hear the details. I've just woken from a decades-long coma. I have much adjusting to do and I fear I would be more of a hindrance to you than anything else.” When Juhani started to speak, she cut him off. “My
mate and I have been separated for a long time and we never truly got to bond in the way mates are supposed to. He is my number one priority and I'm guessing that whatever you're asking me to do will require a lot of time and energy I do not want to give right now. I'm selfish so I must bluntly but respectfully say no.”

Next to her Aiden immediately relaxed, but he didn't say anything through their link.

Both males looked at each other again and she guessed they were having a telepathic conversation. A moment later, they nodded and stood. “Don't make a hasty decision now. We will speak again in six months,” Juhani said.

She already knew her answer, but didn't think it wise to argue when they were offering something so big. Everyone stood with them, though Aiden wrapped his arm around her in a possessive gesture no one could miss. She returned his embrace as she nodded at the two males. “Thank you for coming to see me. I really do appreciate the offer.”

Everyone walked the males outside and as they were watching the vampires drive away a large semitruck rounded one of the bends, slowly coming down the drive. She looked at Aiden and frowned, worried about what it might be, but he had the biggest smile on his face. A pure burst of elation shot through their link. “Stay here with the others, okay?” he said.

Before she could answer he took off toward the gate and reopened it. Standing back, he was practically jumping up and down like a child as he waved the driver inside. The joy she felt through their bond was
infectious. Behind her and all around them she saw and sensed everyone coming out of their homes, including Jayce's brother, who was walking hand in hand with Natalia. With all the pack information Aiden had given her over the past couple of days she found that interesting—but not as much as whatever was making Aiden so happy.

The truck pulled all the way through the gate and considering Connor looked amused, Larissa could only guess that he knew what was going on since he was clearly okay with everything.

As the driver got out of the truck, Aiden gave her a look and held up his hands at her as if to make sure she stayed put. She nodded at him and a smile tugged at her lips as he turned around and said something to the driver that was too low for her to hear. With the hum of conversations all around them it was hard to distinguish anything.

The driver nodded and hurried around to the back. From her position she couldn't see him when he rounded the back of the truck. A moment later a long metal ramp slowly rolled out with Aiden walking along next to it. When it finally tilted down and touched the ground, she felt another burst of elation emanate from him.

Seconds later she saw the back of a red car start to
slowly descend. Blinking as the entire thing came into view, she could swear her heart skipped a beat.

Her cherry red 1953 Ferrari Berlinetta.

Tears blurred her vision as her throat tightened. She was going to have a breakdown in front of everyone and she didn't care. Batting them away, she raced to Aiden, barely able to make him out through the blurriness.

“You kept it?” she asked as she flung herself into his arms. It was as if the old Larissa had stayed in stasis. She didn't care if she made a big spectacle in front of everyone.

“It was the only piece of you I had left,” he rasped out, his eyes suspiciously bright. “It's been in storage up north. This was the soonest they could get it here.”

I love you so much, Aiden. With or without this beautiful car. I . . . I can't believe you kept this.
Choking back a sob, she buried her face against his neck.

The last one like this sold for over ten million dollars. You can sell it and invest the profit and have enough money to live off the rest of your very long time. I'm not saying you need to or should, but I know you've been worrying about finances. This is your nest egg.

Stunned by his words, she raised her head to meet his gaze.
How did you know?

He just shook his head.
Because I know you.

Thank you for this and thank you for loving me.

His expression went dark for a moment.
Just don't ever leave me again.

Try to get rid of me.

Smiling, he kissed her, soft and sweet. Around them
she was vaguely aware of everyone praising the car, but all she could focus on was Aiden. Screw waiting for tonight. As soon as they could find a moment of privacy, they were getting naked and she wasn't letting him come up for air for a long time.

A
iden started to slow Larissa's car as they reached the end of the long driveway and stopped in front of the two-story brick home. He'd made sure the car had regular maintenance and it purred beautifully.

“What is this place?” Larissa asked quietly, eyeing the house.

They hadn't driven very far, barely half an hour down the main highway.

“The pack just bought it.” Even with everything going on, Liam had been diligent about buying up good real estate deals all over the place.

“I think someone's in there,” she whispered, tensing.

He could see a flickering of light from one of the windows, but he shook his head. “No, Liam and December got the place ready for us. He just texted me. That truck we passed on the turnoff was them.”

She shot him a curious look, but the lust and hunger rolling off her told him all he needed to know. She was just as ready as he was for this. For the past couple of hours he'd wanted nothing more than to bury himself deep inside her, but he'd wanted to do this right.

After she'd spent sixty years in stasis, Larissa
deserved it. Aiden had also wanted privacy since there was a full moon tonight. It didn't matter that he and Larissa had already bonded. Once that link broke, the mark he'd carried for her had disappeared from his shoulder. Even when the bonding link had clicked back into place, nearly giving him a heart attack, the tattoo-like symbol hadn't reappeared on him. He wasn't sure if it would ever return and truthfully he didn't care. Larissa's scent was on him and under his skin and wasn't going away. But he still wanted to do the bonding ritual again. For himself, for her, for all the time they'd lost.

He grabbed their bag, then hurried up to the front door. Next to him Larissa was practically dancing with anticipation.

“You're very impatient.”

“I'm very turned on,” she murmured.

When she'd started rubbing his cock through his pants on the way here, he'd about driven off the road and had to beg for her patience. “Yeah, I got that.” And he loved her impatience.

She glanced at him as he opened the front door. “And you're not?”

He laughed. “You know I am.” He'd been rock hard since . . . well, for four fucking days. Or at least it felt like it.

As they entered the house he could smell the subtle scent of lavender and something else he didn't recognize, but it was fresh and crisp.

Larissa's eyes widened slightly as he shut the door behind them. Turning, he followed her gaze to the
living room that was directly off to the left from the entryway. The wood-burning fireplace was already blazing and there were a few dozen candles lit all over the room.

What drew his attention was the giant pile of blankets and pillows directly in front of the fireplace. Much better than a bed.

Grabbing the bag from his hand, Larissa tossed it to the side and jumped him, wrapping her legs around him. He stumbled once before his arms wrapped around her petite body and he crushed his mouth to hers.

Feeling like a male possessed, he kissed his mate, flicking and teasing his tongue against hers in a raw, hungry dance.

Larissa clawed at his shirt as he blindly walked them into the living room. Luckily it was a straight shot to the blankets because Aiden didn't have much finesse right now. He lifted his arms to let her pull the shirt over his head.

Her legs tightened around his waist as she held herself up against his body. They had too many damn clothes in the way. Before his shirt had hit the floor, he'd tugged her sweater off and had her flat on her back against the blankets. She wore a lacy blue bra that she removed before he could blink. Her perfect pink nipples hardened under his gaze and his entire body tightened.

Sitting back on his heels he held up a hand when she made a move to go for the button on his pants. “Let me undress you, enjoy you. Just for a few seconds I want to see all of you,” he rasped out. He wanted more than
a few seconds but he knew neither of them would last that long without being fully joined.

It had been a long time and he wanted to savor the visual of his mate completely bared to him.

Moving efficiently, he tugged her knee-high boots, socks, and jeans off. As he removed them he realized she wasn't wearing anything else underneath and his cock pulsed. Stretched out on the blankets, Larissa placed her hands behind her head in a casual pose as she watched him with a heavy-lidded gaze. Her dark hair fanned out along the blankets and pillows. Her knees were bent slightly and she spread her legs, giving him a perfect view of her bare mound. Under the candle and firelight, her skin seemed to glow. His throat tightened as he drank in the sight of her completely naked and all his.

“I've thought of this so many times.” His voice was a whisper as he remembered all the lonely nights he'd spent without her. Of all the years without his mate.

“You don't have to imagine it anymore,” she said, pushing up to a sitting position. Not giving him any more time, Larissa grabbed the button of his pants and ripped it free.

Smiling at how her hands actually shook, he shoved his pants off and had her pinned beneath him in seconds. She arched her back, her full breasts rubbing against his chest. The sensation of her already hard nipples moving against him had him moaning into her mouth.

He gently squeezed one of her breasts as he slid a hand between their bodies and cupped her mound. Using one finger he stroked against her slit and found her
soaking wet already. He'd scented her desire the entire ride over, but to feel it made his brain short-circuit.

Dipping two fingers into her, he shuddered at the feel of her slick sheath tightening around him. Her legs wrapped around his waist as she slid her hands down the length of his back and squeezed his ass. Her nails dug into him as she tried to urge him on faster.

That, he could oblige. Part of him wanted to tease her, to drag this out forever, but the hungriest, most primal part of him wouldn't allow it.

He'd been denied his female for too long. As he pulled his fingers out of her, one of her hands reached between them and she wrapped her fingers around his cock. Wordlessly, she arched her back and shifted their bodies so that his cock was aligned perfectly at her entrance. Her breathing was ragged as she waited for him to move.

In one quick thrust he plunged deep into her. Her fangs descended as he buried himself fully inside her. An uncontrollable shudder rolled through him. The feel of being inside her after so long was almost too much. He'd never thought this would happen again, never imagined it as a possibility. His whole body pulled taut as he restrained himself from losing it.

Continuing to caress one of her breasts, he began thrusting into her in an unsteady rhythm. Each time he drove into her tight body, her inner walls squeezed tighter and tighter around him. She feathered kisses along his jaw before she raked her teeth over his neck. The sensation was sending his body into overload.

His own canines descended at the feel of her erotic little nips and kisses. It didn't matter that tradition demanded he take her from behind while sinking his canines into her neck. Tonight he was doing what felt natural.

“Bite me while you come,” he ordered roughly.

“You too.” A harsh demand from the female he loved.

She was already so slick he knew it wouldn't take long to push her over the edge. He was right there too, about to embarrass himself like a randy cub. He needed her to come first.

Reaching between them again, he tweaked her clit with his thumb and forefinger. As he started rubbing her sensitive bundle of nerves, she moaned before sinking her teeth into his neck.

There was no pain. Only pleasure. As her inner walls clenched around him and she cried out, finding her release, he let go and sank his canines into her neck.

His climax ripped through him, wave after wave seemingly never ending as the orgasm built and then crested into a free fall of pure pleasure. He had no idea how much time passed as they shuddered against each other, as he emptied himself inside her sweet body.

As he came down from his high, he gently licked the wounds on her neck at the same time she licked his, murmuring the sweetest endearments. Nuzzling her neck, he wrapped his arms around her and rolled to the side, but kept their bodies interlocked.

There was no way he was letting her go. As he pulled his head back from her neck, his eyes widened when he realized that all around them a faint blue fire burned. It wasn't burning anything, just flickering around them like a protective shield.

“I couldn't hold the fire back,” she murmured as she ran a hand down the length of his spine. Before he could respond, she dragged her body away from him.

His body immediately mourned the loss, until she rolled him over, practically shoving him face-first into the blankets. That was when he realized what she was doing. Her fingers skimmed over both his shoulders before her soft lips pressed against the spot that had once held his bondmate symbol.

He was almost too afraid to ask, but he found his voice. “Is it . . . there?”

She nodded against his back and when he felt wetness, he realized she was crying. Turning over, he pulled her on top of him as he rolled onto his back. He cupped her cheek with one hand as she stared down at him.

The love and joy in her gaze nearly overwhelmed him. “It's a small blue flame.”

The first symbol had been Celtic knot work symbolizing unity, but this meant more to him. It was a symbol of her.

“I love you,” he rasped out.

“I love you too. Always and forever.” As a few stray tears fell down her cheeks, she brushed her lips over his.

There were some unknowns about their future, but nothing would ever separate them again. He wouldn't allow it and he knew she wouldn't either.