Together, they moaned and writhed and touched, but he took it no further than that. Right then, he just wanted to introduce her to pleasure. Something that she’d had far too little experience with, sexual or not. Melody’s life had been stark and full of pain, and Trent wanted to address the imbalance.
“Oh, Trent, it’s so … Oh Goddess, how can it ...? Ooh!”
On that last gasp, Melody’s body tensed hard before she began trembling, wide blue eyes staring at him in surprise while her breath caught in her throat and the hand on his arm clawed at him. The one around his cock just about strangled it in her passion, and it was the final straw for him.
Goddess, she was so beautiful like this, he wanted to remember it for the rest of his life. He wanted to see it too.
His balls drew up, tensing, and with the next pulsing squeeze of her hand, he came. Hard. His whole body tensed up, pulses of pleasure arcing around his body like electrical shocks.
Inside his head, Trent’s fox yowled and pushed forward to seize control. He could feel his teeth lengthening and his eyes change, but before his fox could mate mark her without her permission, he wrenched the beast out of the way.
They would not hurt her. They would not betray her.
Mate, mate, mate, mate, chanted his fox.
In the living area, Trent could hear the others also finding release. What had just happened was a huge thing for them all.
Shifters were touch oriented, it was part of their beastly nature, the most intimate form of communication, whether it was sexual or not. In a good bonding, the shifter beast would usually push to mate with their witch, although it was frowned upon in witching society.
It was a reality they all faced, especially with the strength of Melody’s magic. No matter what coven she was in, she would be pressured to breed for the witching line, not for her bonded shifters.
All that wasn’t even taking into consideration her background. From what she’d just described, she would have been exposed to more of their shifting society than most witches. They had no issue sharing their bodies with one another, not only for sexual release, but comfort and even warmth. He suspected that many of the shifters would have been more discreet in their liaisons with her there. She didn’t have their senses, so she would probably have been oblivious to most of it anyway, but given that her aunt had a breeding program for shifters, she had to have seen some fucked up shit.
It was something they were all going to have to be aware of. Even now, when he should have been lying beside her in bliss, his mind was churning a thousand miles an hour with worry for her. Fear for them all. Trent knew they’d all bond her regardless if she permitted it, but was this all they had to look forward to? Stolen moments, if she allowed anything at all?
Trent’s fox growled at the prospect. He’d chosen her, and he expected Trent to do everything he could to convince her to form the mating bond between them.
He agreed. He might be hers, but she was just as much his.
23. Justin
It was getting harder and harder to hold his dragon in check. They’d finally gotten her away from that fucking coven, leaving her free to bond them all, and she’d pushed them away. Justin had barely held his shit together.
The fact that she’d already bonded the fox only added insult to injury. That should have been him, or at the most Nick. They’d been waiting the longest, had the most difficulty controlling the urges of their beasts and would frankly offer her more protection than any of the other shifters lining up to challenge her.
Instead, she’d bonded a fucking fox, okay, he was a massive shit, but he also wasn’t part of their group. Not an original member of the Apex. That came with time. Trent had only been at Adolphus for …. Well, fuck. However long it was, it wasn’t long enough. They’d accepted Dean from day one because he was an alpha, that was different. There was no hope for him, but Trent had other options. Foxes didn’t have alphas, so he should have waited his fucking turn.
He should have fucking challenged her on that first day, the very first time his dragon had caught a hint of her scent and been intrigued. Instead, he’d used her in a stupid game which had ended up getting her bonded to Dean.
His dragon rumbled grumpily. He’d tried to tell Justin to pay attention, but his human had been too stubborn to listen.
Then there was Asher. Now that there was no threat to her, they could actually get the bond broken and kick him out on his ass where he belonged.
Only Asher had confessed to him that Melody was his mate. Justin wasn’t sure whether he believed that or not, but it was a moot point. To break another bond, even without the geasen, would hurt Melody, and no matter how much Justin and his dragon wanted to claim her for themselves, they wouldn’t hurt her to do it.
It didn’t mean that it was easier for him.
Quite the opposite. He was now forced to walk the fine line between his raging beast and his need to protect her even from himself. If only she’d do the right thing and bond them. To be this close to freedom, so tantalisingly near to a witch that he could finally respect, and to almost have the opportunity to formally join his brothers in a pack; was sheer torture.
His dragon rumbled in agreement.
He’d had enough. The sun was up, and no matter what else had happened, Melody should be
