Instead, my saliva soaked venom created a burn in my mouth—and around his cock, if his whimpers were anything to go by. He was right, it didn’t take much, his cries growing louder, harsher, more desperate as I swirled my poisoned tongue. He didn’t get a chance to warn me, the swelling of his shaft was my only clue before his cum pulsed down my throat.
He pulled me to my feet, his kisses stealing my much-needed breath as his tongue went some of the way his cock did. “Get on the stack. I’m gonna pull down your jeans and stick my —”
Brandon didn’t get to finish that damn fine suggestion, as a heavy thump came from the door. “Unless you just mated him, Brandon doesn’t qualify for conjugal visits. You’ve had the last six weeks off. Time to get back to work.”
“Later?” he asked ruefully.
“Of course,” I said, wrapping my arms around him and laying my head on his chest. He stroked my hair with one hand, leaving a kiss on my crown. “And thank you. I needed this.”
“Well, take some advice from the ‘doc’ and treat Slade the way he treats you. Don’t be rude or blunt, but tell him how you’re feeling. He needs that.”
When I walked out of the room, a man-lined corridor had been formed. Back before I’d come to Sanctuary, I’d have been turned-on, intimidated, and wondering how I’d gotten backstage at a male strip show if I’d seen something like this. Now I just sauntered out, Buddy yipping when he found me, watching the men’s nostrils flare as I passed.
6
“Hey,” I said to Slade.
The preparations were in full swing. There were people bustling about everywhere, setting up, cooking, prepping, and decorating. If I thought about it too hard, I’d have a meltdown or start ripping off faces, so I pretended this was someone else’s house, and I was here to help set up their party.
“Hey,” he replied.
I hated the shuttered look on his face. All that wide-eyed joy had been packed up tight behind that very nice manly facade again, and I wondered if it was ever going to come out again. I had fully intended to follow Brandon’s advice. He might not be the ‘doctor’, but he did have a good handle on the group dynamic. But instead, I felt that same aching-chest feeling I’d felt when Brandon was quizzing me, so I reached out and touched his arm.
Watching his face transform as he felt what I did down the link of our bond was like watching the sunrise. It was gradual, beautiful, and heart-stopping. “Hey,” he said again, and he pulled me close, burying his head in my hair and breathing me in. For a moment, it was just us, reconnecting. “How’d it go with Brandon?”
“We talked, it helped me process what happened. I’m sorry, Slade. I’m trying to catch up, really. I haven’t spent my whole life building towards this. I didn’t even know what I was doing.”
“But you don’t regret it, right?”
The fact he could say that, while sending a stab of fear down our bond, said a lot about what was simmering below the surface with Slade. I was realising there was more to him than I’d imagined.
You are pack, my Tirian said, implacable as stone.
He nodded, looking away abruptly, his eyes suspiciously shiny before he grabbed his beer and took a long swig.
“I nearly added Brandon, as well. My beast is a bit out of control.”
He stopped mid swallow, eyeing me over the bottom of the bottle.
“He said no, that this was your day.”
“Fucking Doc,” he replied, shaking his head. “He’s got everyone’s numbers. You’re going to have problem
s with him. He tops from bottom.”
“What?”
“He’s all nice and reading you romance novels and stroking your hair, but all the while, that brain of his is ticking away, manoeuvring you into the right position.”
“You mean like us talking about him on the eve of your big party?”
Slade shook his head. “The little fucker. C’mon, let’s get you some food and somewhere to relax. These things are often long, drawn-out affairs. There’s speeches and ceremonies...”
“Ceremonies?!”
“It’ll be fine, princess. I won’t let it be anything else.”
So there I was, standing in the backyard of a house I’d barely even looked at but could now apparently call home, dressed in a pretty purple frock Slade’s mum had produced, watching what looked like every bloody person in Sanctuary come out through the door.