The Mating Project (18 page)

"Wherever
she's going for God's sake, shut up and let me fuck you. This is so fucking
good." Silas's strained words turned into a long drawn out groan, and
together they found a haphazard rhythm that almost brought Maria to climax. It
was only when Silas swore and Malachi grew even bigger inside her, as he, too,
reached his pinnacle, and reached round to pinch her clit, that Maria flew head
first into nirvana. The men collapsed on top of her, but Malachi had the
foresight to fling
himself
sideways. The move sent
Silas over the edge of the bed, and all three of them burst out laughing.

"Dammit,
we need to get a bigger bed, if we're
gonna
make this
work."

Maria
was still grinning to herself when she fell asleep again.

Chapter Thirteen

Rain
pelted against the windows the next time Maria woke up, and she sighed. So much
for the heat-wave they'd been predicted. Her mum's shifter gathering was
scheduled for a week’s time, and Maria knew her mother was hoping for great
weather, so that guests could mingle in the gardens. Hell, she intended on
spending most of her time out in the open. More places to hide away from the
likes of Anton, who would no doubt try to use the occasion to stake his
official claim.

Maria
punched the cushion in frustration. Dammit, after the most fantastic night with
her men, the first thought that had to crop into her coffee deprived brain was
that scum-bag of a cougar shifter.

She
took a deep sniff and let the scents of her men soothe her agitated beast.
Where were they? They wouldn't have just upped and left, would they? Besides,
she was in Malachi's bed, and that thought made her grin.

Now
that she was capable of taking in her surroundings, curiosity got the better of
her. Whereas Silas's room was ordered chaos, mainly due to his many books,
Malachi's was just chaos. Clothes were thrown into corners, a sock dangled from
the light fitting, and the old scarred desk in front of his window was
overtaken by what looked like ancient text. She padded closer to it, but she
couldn't make out the writing at all. It was all written in an ancient language
she'd never seen before, bar the markings on the official council buildings.

To
her knowledge no one knew what they meant anymore. Well, someone must know, but
her father certainly didn't.

Then
again Malachi was an original, so maybe being able to read that gobbledygook
came with that. She stubbed her toe on something hard and bit back a curse.

A
pair of seemingly ancient biker boots was stashed under the desk, next to a
battered helmet. The matching leather jacket hung on the back of the door, and
Maria's heart beat faster. Yes, she could see Malachi on the back of a motor
bike, seeking out his revenge on those that wronged him.

Her
ears pricked up when raised voices filtered through the closed door. Her men
weren't arguing exactly, but they sure weren't in agreement about something.
She looked round for something to wear and winced at her shredded clothing on
the floor. At this rate those two would owe her a whole new wardrobe soon.

Silas's
scent just outside her door spurred her into action in the end. She pulled one
of Malachi's t-shirts over her head, wrinkled her nose at the smell of grease
and oil, and yanked the door open. Silas with his hand on the front door handle
turned round and smiled at her.

"Where
are you going?” Maria asked.

"I've
got a meeting." Silas's grin deepened at her immediate frown. "Yes, I
know
it's
Saturday, but this is urgent. Don't worry.
I'll be back as soon as I can. Keep Malachi
company
,
and keep him out of trouble. It's been a long time since I've seen him this
agitated."

"Yes,
but where—" Silas cut the rest of her question off with a kiss, which completely
scrambled her brain, and had her curling her hands into his button down shirt
and yanking him toward her. He responded with a groan, and they crashed into
the wall behind her. Maria shamelessly ground her belly into his erection, and
Silas broke the kiss. Hands either side of her
head,
he shook his, and gave her a wry grin.

"I've
got to go, my little grease monkey."

"Grease
monkey?
What the hell?" Maria gave him a playful shove that sent him several steps
back, and Silas winked at her.

"Have
you seen what you're wearing? Malachi will have you working on that old bike of
his at that rate."

Maria
stuck her nose up in the air and waved her hands about.

"With
these nails?
I don't think so. I don't do dirty bikes, well, not unless I ride them,
and…"

Malachi's
snort of laughter coming from the kitchen made her cat grin and Silas just
laughed and shook his head.

"Don't
make me feel jealous of a motorbike. Look after each other. I'll sort this and
be back as soon as I can."

Warning
bells clanged in Maria's head, and she looked from Malachi to Silas with a
frown. Malachi looked furious, and Silas's features, too, hardened.

"You're
not the only one who gets to be the hero, Malachi. It won't work
otherwise."

"What
won't?" Maria asked. "Dammit, what's going on here?" She stamped
her foot for good measure, which earned her a raised eyebrow from Malachi, and
another quick kiss from Silas, and then the front door shut behind him.

Maria
would have run after him, but she couldn't really. Not wearing nothing but a
grease-stained old tee of Malachi's that barely covered the essentials. Silas had
a reputation to uphold, after all, and this was a building full of humans. The
last thing she wanted was to cause more problems for Silas.

So
instead she turned her fury on Malachi. His eyes bled to his
wolf's
as she let her cat out, and he flashed his canines at her when he grinned.

"Don’t
go there, princess. I don't like this any more than you do, but Silas is a
stubborn ass when he wants to be, and I could never get him to see sense. If
you shift in here, you ruin his décor, and then he'll be pissed at you.
Which is fine by me.
I shall look forward to seeing him
spank that ass of yours raw."

Maria
growled and hissed, and Malachi growled right back at her. It brought with it
such a hefty dose of his pheromones that Maria felt dizzy with desire. She closed
her eyes and inhaled his utterly delicious scent, and in the next instant she
was in Malachi's arms and he was kissing her. Not the angry possession she'd
been expecting, but a kiss so tender and heartfelt that it brought tears to her
eyes. He kissed them off her face with murmured endearments that made her feel
cherished, and loved. Yes, definitely loved. There was no point in even denying
the force of her feelings. She had fallen for Malachi a long time ago, when she
had just been an impressionable and foolish teenager. Even though she’d tried
to extinguish those feelings, had told herself that she hated him for
abandoning her, those feelings had just blossomed.

Maybe
it was just their bond intensifying everything, but he hadn't claimed her back
yet, so this whirlwind of emotions had nothing to do with that. Silas's grin
popped in her head, and she heard him loud and clear.

That's my little cat. Stop fighting it.
I love you both, and the sooner you admit to each other that you do, the sooner
we can move on.

A
shiver went through her, and Malachi immediately pulled her tighter into his
embrace. Maria tried to reach out to Silas, but he was gone. How he had the
ability to block her out so successfully she would never understand.

****

Malachi
didn't need any mind connection to sense the conflicting emotions that swirled
through Maria right now, and he cursed Silas in his head for leaving him to
deal with all this. Silas was the smooth talker, the one who could talk about
his feelings, and forced Malachi to open up about his.

Whereas
Malachi's plan had been to simply end this now and to take out the bastard once
and for all, consequences be damned, Silas had been the voice of reason.

"You
do
that,
you'll break her heart—again. I will not let
you do that. Let's do this my way. Either one of us might still up end up dead
when this is all over, but at least she'll know. We'll have fought for her.
That's what you want, isn’t it? All of us together?"

Malachi
had growled and paced, but Silas had paid him no heed.

"Yes,
dammit, that's what I want, and there's about as much chance of that happening
as Atlantis rising from the fucking sea."

Silas
had punched him then with enough force to swing his head round. The kiss that
followed that punch had been equally hard and bruising and had left Malachi
painfully aroused.

"Then
stop talking
nonsense,
and stop giving up on
us.
This is our chance to finally work.
Maria completes us, you know that. None of us was happy with just us, were we?
You were always pining for her, and I took whatever pussy came my way. Well,
newsflash, I haven't as much as looked at another woman since she walked into
my office, and before you say I only feel that way because she bit me, you know
damn well that isn't true. She is our mate, our true mate, and Lord knows what
this really means, but I, for one, can't wait to find out, and no stubborn
wolf, no goddamn shifter council, and certainly not that scum-bag De Souza
is
going to take that away from me."

Silas
had pinned him with his amazing amber eyes, and his next words had cinched the
deal.

"I
fucking love you, man, and I love her, so deal with it."

Maria's
silent tremors told him that she was crying again, and Malachi's wolf bared his
teeth. Great that's all he needed. A pissed off inner animal as well as a
pissed off, risking his neck, Silas.

"Come
on, princess. Silas will have my hide for upsetting you. The man is quite
smitten with you."

Maria
tensed even more, and her misery wrapped itself around his heart and made him
blurt out the next words with no finesse whatsoever.

"He's
not the only one, baby. Please don't cry." She pulled away from him and
gave him a watery smile that made him feel even more like a heel. "Look,
I've never been good at this sort of thing. Fuck it, I was going to do the whole
breakfast in bed thing for you, for both of you actually, but then Silas came
up with this crazy plan, and —"

"What
plan?" Maria asked, anxiety once again pouring out of every cell of her
body. "If he's gone to do something stupid, then we have to stop him."

 
She thumped his chest, and he grinned.

"We?"
he asked.

"Yes,
of course we.
We both love him, don't we?"

Hands
on hips she glared at him. The action raised the hem of his old tee enough for
him to see her pussy lips, and his just deflated cock surged up with
predictable efficiency. The fact that she seemed oblivious to the inadvertent
peep show she was giving him, made this whole situation even more of a prick
tease.

Another
punch to his midriff brought his gaze up to her face. The woman sure knew how to
throw her punches, but what else had he expected. She was his true mate after
all. He was just getting mighty fed up by the people he loved using him as a
punch bag this morning, even if he did deserve it.

"I
asked you a question, mutt boy. Do me the courtesy of answering me."

He
grinned at her, and she growled. That sound shot straight to his balls, and
this time she noticed and groaned.

"Oh,
for fuck’s sake, men.
Can you, for once, not think with your dick?"

"I
didn't hear you complain about my dick last night, princess." He smirked
at her, and she rolled her eyes. She couldn't hide the way her nipples firmed
or the fact that she grew wet for him though. He could smell her arousal, and
he could see the moisture slicking her pussy lips.

"Well,
that was then, and this is now. I'm trying to have a serious conversation here.
You're not distracting me with sex."

She
tried to sidestep him when he made a lunge for her. She was quick, his cat, but
he was faster. For every retreat she made he matched her, and it was only when
the front door stopped her, that their amusing dance finished.

Her
eyes fluttered shut, and her mouth opened when he leant down, and
a mewl
escaped her when he didn't kiss her. Lips a hairsbreadth
away from her, he waited until she opened her eyes. Slightly unfocused, those
brilliant blue orbs pulled him in, and his chest tightened as a surge of love
and protectiveness filled him.

"Yes,"
he whispered, and she blinked several times to get her eyes to focus.

"Yes,
what?"

 
"Yes, we both love him, and yes, I can
think without involving my dick in it, but I don't want to. Not when I've got
the woman I love to myself."