Jennifer Ashley: Primal Bonds

Sean and Andrea didn’t make it upstairs before their clothes came off, pieces scattered down the stairs like a breadcrumb trail. Then Andrea was under Sean on her bed, right where she wanted to be.

The lovemaking was intense, Sean sliding into her while she opened to take him deep. Andrea knew in her heart a cub had already begun forming inside her, knew it with the tingle of warmth that was an extension of the mate bond.

She’d tell Sean later. Right now, he was pressing into her, his eyes flickering from blue to white and back again, the Collar gleaming on his bare throat. She arched against him, loving the feel of his strong chest on her breasts, stirring more and more fires.

He was hard, he was big, and he was driving Andrea into the bed for all he was worth. Sean’s hands turned to claws as the frenzy drove them on, and so did hers, both of them growling as they suppressed the change to keep on doing this.

As the night moved on, Sean and Andrea kept loving each other, the mating frenzy claiming them, the mate bond winding them tightly together. Their bodies were drenched in sweat, their lips raw with kissing, their bodies twined so close that Andrea didn’t care whether they ever came loose.

Eventually, as cold night warmed to day, their raw, frantic sex wound down into tender, gentle sex. That in turn wound down, more slowly, into sleep. They drifted off, cuddled against each other.

When Andrea woke again, the sun was high, and Sean and she lay together in a tangle of warm limbs.

It was quiet outside now, all of Shiftertown sleeping off a collective hangover. Mate blessings were few and far between, and Shifters didn’t have much to celebrate in this world of captivity. Last night they’d celebrated both the mate blessing and the conclusion of a damn good fight, so they’d gone at it double force.

The sun warmed the window as Andrea watched Sean sleep, her heart full of love. Sean was a hot, hard-bodied male, and he belonged to her.

Sean opened his eyes, which were deep blue and clear of sleep. He gave her a smile. “I didn’t have time to give you your gift last night, love.”

“Gift?” Andrea grinned back. “You mean all that sex wasn’t a gift?”

“Oh, aren’t you the amusing one?” Sean kissed the tip of her nose, rolled away, and took a tissue-wrapped package from the nightstand drawer. “For you.”

Andrea took it, feeling something soft beneath the paper. “I didn’t get you anything.”

Sean’s eyes warmed. “Yes, you did.”

Andrea paused to give him a long, satisfying kiss, then she tore off the tissue and lifted a pair of lovely black silk panties between her fingers. On the back of the panties, bright red script spelled out Smart Ass.

“Goddess, Sean, these are great. Where did you find them?”

“Same place you found mine. The girl there was happy to help me out.”

Andrea remembered the young clerk in the store, the one friendly to Shifters and interested in Connor. She’d probably had a blast helping Sean pick them out.

Andrea swung the panties around one finger. “I’ll have to wear them. But not, I’m thinking, just now.”

Sean’s look was wicked. “No, we definitely aren’t needing any panties right now.” He took them from her and dropped them to the nightstand as he pushed her back down into the mattress. His kiss was warm and languid but held an edge that said more wild lovemaking was to come.

They were deep into the kiss when Andrea heard a car door slam, and Sean raised his head again.

“My second gift has arrived,” he said.

Much as she liked gifts, Andrea wasn’t sure she relished the interruption. Gifts could wait. “How many did you get me?”

“Only as many as I know you need.” Sean’s eyes held a mysterious glint. “Don’t you want to see what it is?”

With Sean lying on top of her all naked and fine? Andrea wet her lips. “They can leave the package on the porch.”

Sean lifted away from her, removing his delicious warmth. “No, love. This is something you have to get yourself.”

“Right now?”

“Right now.”

Andrea gave him an impatient look. Why would a mate-frenzied male insist his mate get up and answer the door? He had to be insane.

Andrea rolled out of bed, groaning a little as she realized how sore she was. “All right, if it makes you happy.”

She pulled on a T-shirt and the new panties and slid jeans over those. Stretching, she went to the window, looked down, and uttered a strangled cry.

Her stepfather stood on the driveway below, he and Dylan having just stepped out of Dylan’s pickup. Terry Gray saw Andrea in the window and stopped.

“Andrea,” he said. “My daughter.”

“Father,” Andrea choked out the word. “What are you doing here? No, wait, don’t move, I’m coming down.”

She spun from the window to find Sean behind her, dressed in jeans and nothing else, his Collar gleaming at his throat. Her libido took in what a delectable picture he made while she pointed at him with a shaking finger. “You did this. You brought him here.”

“That I did.” Sean gave her a quiet nod, a Shifter who didn’t need to shout for everyone to understand how powerful he was. “It’s all very well that you found Fionn, but I knew you’d be still be missing your dad.”

Andrea felt the tears coming, but she smiled at Sean with all her heart. “I love you, Sean Morrissey.”

He drew her into his arms and gave her a kiss that was at once gentle and full of fire. “I love you too, Fae-girl. Go on now.”

Andrea kissed him one more time, then she dashed out of the room, nearly flew down the stairs, and burst out the door to be swept into the arms of her stepfather.

Sean watched out of the window as Andrea hugged her stepfather, his heart at peace. He caught the gaze of his own father, who leaned against his truck. Sean and Dylan shared a look that was full of understanding. Damn, it was good to be a Shifter today.

Across the room, the Sword of the Guardian gleamed in the sunshine, softly singing its happiness.