was wide open to him. Using his mouth and fingers, he pushed me up fast until my entire body clenched as my orgasm crashed over me.
He ate me through it but didn’t give me much of a chance to recover before he shoved his shorts down, wrapped his palm around his hard length, and nudged at my entrance. With his eyes locked with mine and a flash of his tiger visible in his dark orbs, he thrust deep and buried himself inside me until his balls slapped against my butt. Only his hands and cock were touching me, but I still felt surrounded by him. It was almost as though now that we were mated, I could feel his pleasure as much as my own. Our combined need burned through my veins as he moved in and out, over and over again.
His cock swelled inside me, and I knew he was close to the edge. Keeping my gaze on his face, I watched the pleasure build as I surrendered my body to his touch and refused to look away as the tidal wave ripped through us at the same time. When it was over, Tane collapsed on top of me, pressing his lips to the mark on my neck. Our coupling had been fast, intense, and quiet. And I felt as though it had somehow cemented our bond even further.
8
Tane
Another day passed without a return call from Calliope’s parents. Each time they didn’t return a message—she’d left three so far—she grew more disappointed and I got more pissed off. My parents would’ve walked halfway across the country to get to me if that was what it took, but hers couldn’t be bothered to pick up the phone and speak with their daughter. It killed me that she had to put up with shit like this from the people who should’ve always been there for her.
I’d decided to give it one more day before I hunted them down, but that plan was shot to shit when Kace got a call from his father-in-law. He used his alpha gift and sent me a telepathic message to get to his house stat. Calliope was busy drawing some dress designs, so I gave her a quick kiss before running down the street.
“What’s going on?” I asked after flinging open the door and swiftly crossing the living room to stand beside Kace.
He switched the call to speaker and barked, “I’m going to need you to repeat that for Tane.”
“Why? Aren’t you in charge down there?” Link asked.
Kace got along with Larissa’s dad, but from the stories I’d heard while I was out of town, it sounded as though he wasn’t the kind of man who was going to cut his son-in-law much slack, even if he had the ability to shift into a fiercely dominant wolf. I enjoyed listening to him give my friend a hard time...until I heard the reason Kace has asked Link to repeat himself. “Tane isn’t just my third in command, he’s also Calliope’s mate. Her safety is his priority the same way Larissa’s is for me.”
“This is about Calliope?” I growled, my muscles bunching with tension.
“Yeah, word on the street up here is that some bad shit is going down with her parents,” Link explained. “They got mixed up in a deal with an importer whose business isn’t always on the up and up. One of his clients is pissed off they’ve lost container space to Calliope’s parents, and he’s been pressuring them to drop their contract with the importer.”
“Maybe that’s why they’ve been avoiding Calliope,” I muttered.
“If so, it’s the only smart decision they’ve made with this situation,” Link grumbled. “This guy doesn’t fuck around when it comes to getting what he wants, and he has a reputation for playing dirty and going after family members if that’s what it takes to get the job done.”
“Do you think trouble is headed our way?” Kace asked.
“If I had to guess? Yeah, that’s what my gut’s saying,” Link sighed. “We’ve got a handle on things up here, and I’m making sure Calliope’s parents are covered.”
“Calliope is safe in Timber Ridge,” Kace replied.
“Anyone who dares to try to hurt my mate will be dead before they have the chance to lay a finger on her,” I guaranteed.
“Just make sure nobody ever finds the bodies,” Link warned. “I don’t think the authorities will look very hard if he and his underlings turn up missing, and he’s not the kind of guy who shares