"Shush. Trust me." He whispered and bit down gently on her shoulder as his fingers found the tiny nub that had been begging for attention. She cried out and bucked again. His fingers danced and her body drew tighter and tighter. Without warning, her body exploded. She screamed out her release and arched her back. Slowly his fingers stilled. Her knees gave out and she found herself being supported by one arm. With his other hand Aiden ripped her panties from her body and used them to clean her up. Gently he pulled her jeans back up and tucked the used fabric in his coat pocket. With both hands now free, he swept her up in his arms and carried her to sit in his lap under the large oak tree.
Meryn snuggled against his chest. No other man had ever been able to give her an orgasm before. It was as if he was the only one who could set her body ablaze. When she felt a hard bulge between them, she realized how selfish she had been. She sat back.
"What about you? I mean you didn't ..." Meryn pointed at his crotch and he smiled and pulled her head back down to his chest.
"I'm fine. This was for you. Your pleasure, your complete abandon was a gift. Thank you." Meryn frowned in confusion. She got a mind blowing orgasm and he said thank you?
"I meant what I said at the café. Life was good before I met you, but it's like every day since I met you it just gets more and more perfect. I feel like I finally have a place where I belong." She looked up at him and saw emotion in his eyes.
"The things you say." He whispered harshly and kissed her again. When they parted, she rested her head on his chest and enjoyed the breeze coming off the water.
"I'll enjoy my visits to the house more now that you're here." He sighed contently. She nodded, then realized what he said.
"What?" She lifted up to look at him.
"What?" He asked.
"What do you mean when you visit?"
"I don't live here Meryn, I live at the Alpha Unit estate."
"When do I move in with you?" She sat back on her knees.
"You don't." His brows knit together.
"What do you mean I don't?"
"I mean, you will live here with my parents and learn how to run a household and I'll live with the Alpha Unit and command the men. I'll visit, of course." Meryn would have thought he was being deliberately cruel except for the absolutely confused expression on his face.
"Okay, you see, that's not going to work for me. Mated, married, dating, whatever you want to call it. I thought we would live together." She stood and he leaned back against the tree.
"That's not how things work Meryn." His condescending tone was sending her blood pressure into the stratosphere.
"With me, that's how it works. You have two choices. Either you move back in with your parents and live with me or I move into the Alpha Unit estate with you. That's it." She put her hands on her hips and scowled down at him.
"Quit acting like a child. We have reasons we do the things we do. I can't lead my men from my parents' estate and you would be a distraction if you moved in with me." Aiden closed his eyes. Meryn's mouth dropped. She fought the urge to kick him in the face, but the small rational part of her brain didn't want to seriously hurt him. So she did what she always did when she got truly angry. She shut down. She could feel her facial muscles relaxing and her body slumped forward. Without saying a word she walked away. She made it all the way back to the house and to the back door before she heard his startled yell. She hurried through the backdoor and flipped the bolt. She looked up to see a surprised Ben frozen in place biting into his sandwich. The door behind her shook in its frame as Aiden pounded.
"Dammit Meryn, unlock the door this instant!"
"Go fuck yourself!" She screeched at the glass window panes. Behind her Ben began to laugh, then slightly choke on his sandwich. When his mouth was clear he gave her a salute.
"You tell him!" He cheered.
"Quit egging her on Ben! Meryn open the door now!"
Meryn shook her head.
"You do know he has a key right?" Ben said nonchalantly.
She looked up at him tears streaming down her face. "I don't want to see him right now." He sighed and put his plate down. He grabbed her hand and they ran. They ran up the stairs and through the halls. Just when she thought they couldn't go any further, he made them run in circles at the end of the hallway. She thought he was out of his mind until he reached up and tapped a tiny panel behind an antique mirror. A small opening appeared and he crouched down low and crawled inside. She followed him and he put the panel back. She was about to ask him how he knew about this when he placed a hand over her mouth. Barely breathing they heard thundering footsteps in the hallway. In the darkness Meryn waited.
"God dammit Ben, this isn't funny!" Aiden roared.
"Aiden, whatever is the matter?" Meryn heard Adelaide ask.
"My stupid baby brother kidnapped my mate!" Aiden's voice was barely human.
"Calm down before I call your father. I'll be in the front drawing room waiting for you with a pot of tea. We'll drink a cup and you can explain why Meryn is upset enough with you to be hiding with Ben." Adelaide said reasonably.
"But!" Aiden roared.
"You have five seconds to get those canines retracted young man before I do it for you." Adelaide's voice was still level but had dropped an octave. It dawned on Meryn that of course her voice could change, Adelaide was a shifter too.
"Sorry Mother." Aiden said sounding much calmer.
"Good. Now come downstairs with me and tell me all about it." Only when the sound of their footsteps disappeared entirely did Ben remove his hand. He groped in the darkness until he found her hand. He guided her through the small tunnel to a hidden room. It had a single, small, round window that let in the fading afternoon sun.
"Man, I haven't heard Mom or Aiden that pissed in a long time. I haven't had to use this hiding place in the past two hundred years." Ben collapsed onto a long chaise lounge and a cloud of dust enveloped him. Meryn coughed and laughed as she tried to wipe of the dust from his clothes.
"Now you tell big brother Ben what Aiden did to make you so sad. Then we can plot a suitable revenge."
"You've done that a lot up here haven't you?" She sat next to him on the lounger.
"You bet. My brothers were always bigger than me, but I was usually faster. I discovered this hidey hole when I was a boy. My speed gave me enough time to run around to disperse my scent and duck in here. You can't move right away or they'll hear. I escaped many a beatings this way."
"They didn't really beat you, did they?" Meryn even though she was extremely pissed at him, couldn't imagine Aiden beating a younger brother.
"Beat may be a harsh word. Pound maybe? Don't get me wrong, most of the time I totally deserved it, but that's just how brothers are. Now what did Aiden do? Maybe I can help." Ben's concerned brown eyes were her undoing. She was used to shouldering her pain and frustration alone. She wasn't used to having people worried about her or willing to anger their family members for her. She buried her face in her hands and cried. Ben wrapped an arm around her and held her close.
"Hey, nothing can be so bad that you and I can't take care of it. I know people who know people." Ben kissed her hair.
"Aiden doesn't want to live with me. Today was so wonderful, we went shopping and he showed me the city. He was perfect and charming and loving and passionate."
"Whoa on the passionate stuff sis, big bro doesn't need to hear that." She smiled timorously.
"Then Aiden says that we aren't to live together, that he has to live with his men and I have to learn how to keep house. That's not how I envisioned being together with someone. I'm anti-social, but even that is too much space for me." She wiped her nose on her sleeve.
"Aiden is in a tough spot. He's right. He can't live here. There's too much training and drills with the units for him to commute. Units live together because we can be called up at any time and have to organize and move out depending on the situation. We already arrive to scenes too late, there's no way Aiden can add twenty
to forty minutes to that process for additional travel time and getting up to speed. You can't live there because living with a unit would be like living in a barracks."
"I don't want to live away from him. I'd miss his dumb ass."
"Sit down with him. Explain why you were upset. He's not like me. He doesn't understand the delicate workings of the female mind. You will literally have to spell it out for him."
"Maybe he doesn't really want me. He's called me a distraction a couple times already."
Ben laughed out loud.
"Of course you're a distraction, you wouldn't be his mate otherwise. Just your scent alone is a distraction to him. When you factor in your complete lack of knowledge about societal norms and general wackiness of course he's distracted. If he weren't then you'd have to worry." Meryn looked at Ben as his words sunk in.
"He doesn't want me around because he wants me?" She asked and somehow that made sense.
"Yup. Now, let's go downstairs and have some tea. I bet mom broke out the good stash to calm Aiden, it's delicious." Ben wagged his eyebrows at her.
"Thank you. Are you ... will you be my friend?" Meryn held her breath.
"No."
Meryn's heart sunk.
"But I will be your brother." Meryn tackled him and they landed on the floor.
"I've never had siblings before. Can I use your hiding spot if I need to escape Aiden again?"
"Of course, I live to drive my brothers crazy." Ben stood and helped her to her feet. They walked over to the wall and crouched back down again.
"Though I remember this being easier when I was younger." Ben squeezed through the small passage.
"Probably because you were smaller." Meryn giggled.
"Probably. One sec." He popped the panel off and helped her out before replacing it.
"Come on." He held out his hand and she took it and they walked downstairs. She never had a brother before, but she liked the idea of someone being on her side for a change.
When they walked into the drawing room Aiden stood, his face full of remorse.
"Come along Benjamin, these two need to talk."
Ben's face fell, "But..."
"I'll make you your own pot in the kitchen." Adelaide winked at Meryn and pulled Ben out of the room before sliding the door shut behind them.
"I'm sorry." Aiden said immediately.
"For what?"
"For talking down to you. For not realizing why you didn't want to be apart." Meryn couldn't forgive him just yet. She wanted to know how he felt.
"Why don't I want us to be apart?" She asked softly. Aiden's eyes filled with tears, but she watched as he fought to keep them from falling.
"Because you care about me." He watched her carefully.
"And how do you think I felt when it seemed like you were okay with being away from me?"
"Probably close to how I felt when you let my brother comfort you instead of me." She couldn't take the pain in his eyes anymore.
"You are such a big, freaking idiot." She threw her hands up. He watched her cautiously.
"But ... you're my big, freaking idiot and I don't want us to be apart." Aiden shoved the ottoman out of the way and pulled her into his arms.
"And you're my tiny menace. I don't want us to be apart either but I'm not sure how we can get this to work." He admitted.
She shrugged. "There's no rush, right? We can figure something out."
"Yeah, we'll definitely work something out, because you're right. I don't think we should be apart either."
"Good. Now, can I have some of this amazing tea Ben told me about?" Aiden laughed.
"Come on, we'll have some fresh in the kitchen." Together they left the drawing room and walked into the kitchen.
"I'll share my tea with Meryn but not you since you've already had some." Ben pouted.
"Little boys forever, I swear." Adelaide rolled her eyes.
"I'll just have a sip, I'm more of a coffee drinker anyway, unless I'm on my laptop then I prefer Earl Grey, its better on my eyes." Meryn picked up Ben's cup and took a small sip. The tea was sweet, but not a heavy sweet.
"This is delicious. He likes his tea sweet like me!"
"Actually, there's no sweetener in it, it's naturally sweet." Adelaide explained.
"I love it! What is it?" Meryn took another healthy swig and passed the cup regretfully back to Ben.
"It's a hybridization of a rare Chinese Oolong and a fae blend. It's called Honeycup." Adelaide pulled out a small canister.
"The boys get it for me every year at Christmas." She smiled at her sons. Meryn turned and gave Aiden puppy dog eyes.
"Looks like we have to add Meryn to the list this year." Meryn danced around happily before she remembered that morning.
"Maybe you should save some for your dad." She suggested.
"Byron? Why?" Adelaide looked interested.
"I may or may not have called the vampire Elder guy a douche bag." Both Ben and Adelaide stared at her.
"It was an accident!" Meryn exclaimed. Adelaide stood.
"Marius! Marius!" She called and began to pull ingredients from the cabinets.
"My lady! Whatever is the matter?" Marius appeared in the doorway a cleaning cloth in one hand.
"Can you reach out to your contact in the city to see if they have any fresh lobster delivered from Maine today? I'm afraid Byron may have had a rough afternoon with the council, and will need a special dinner." She grimaced.
"Of course. How bad?" he asked. Meryn looked anywhere but at Adelaide.
"I'm making a Honey Bun cake." Was Adelaide's response. Marius paled.
"I'll go myself." Marius removed the apron and darted from the room.
"I'm so sorry!" Meryn wailed.
"Don't be sweetheart, you haven't said anything we haven't all thought at one point or another. Plus, you're still so very young and new to our world." Adelaide pulled a dozen eggs from the refrigerator.
"She did earn an invitation from Elder Vi'Ailean to visit his prized gardens." Aiden said grinning from ear to ear. Adelaide paused and this time she looked delighted when she turned to Meryn.
"High praise indeed. Only a handful of people have ever been invited to the heart of a fae garden. I can't wait to drop that pretty little bomb on Daphane Bowers. Wonderful job Meryn." She congratulated.
"But what about the vampire guy?"
"He's only popular with other vampires. It won't hurt your reputation one bit if that story leaks out, it might actually help." Adelaide giggled. "He is a pompous douche bag though." Adelaide said breaking open eggs.
"Mother!" Aiden and Ben sounded shocked. Adelaide ignored them.
"Oh, Aiden, you might want to take Meryn to her apartment to fetch her things before dinner. She might like to put on some new underthings." Adelaide turned to the cabinet.
"How did you know he ripped them off? Are paranormal's psychics?" Meryn demanded. Adelaide dropped the large stainless steel bowl she had pulled out of the cabinet.
"He did? Oh dear, I only assumed that you would like fresh clothes." Adelaide blushed clear to her hairline. Beside her Aiden groaned and buried his face in his hands. Meryn turned to Ben, who was staring at them, his eyes wide.
"Right. Well, on that note, let's go!" Meryn grabbed Aiden's hand and pulled him out of the kitchen.
Just as they cleared the doorway, Ben exploded into laughter.
"I love having a sister!" She heard him shout. Meryn felt her heart swell. She had a feeling she was going to like having a brother too, if she could stop embarrassing herself around her new family.
CHAPTER FIVE
They pulled up to a questionable looking apartment building. When Meryn got out of the car and walked past a drug dealer to check her mail he started having heart palpitations. She lived here?
He quickly got out and growled lowly at the man eyeing his mate. The man glanced up startled and kept moving down the street. The storm door was nothing but a sheet of cracked glass and rusted metal. When he stepped in
to the foyer, he noticed that the entryway light bulb had been removed. How convenient for a mugger. He was grateful that he wasn't able to see the state of the floor, but was concerned about the security risk the dim foyer presented. He followed her up a set of dark stairs, careful not to touch the railing. Meryn fished out her keys and went to unlock her door. The second her hand touched the knob the door moved, swinging inward slightly. She jumped back as if she had been electrocuted. Her eyes were huge when she turned to him. Pushing her behind him, he violently kicked open the door making it crash loudly into the wall. Meryn thumped his back.
"Shush, they may hear you." She whispered.
"Baby, if they're robbing the place, I want them to hear me so they leave." He explained.
"Oh. Good idea." She nodded.
"Stay here."
"Yeah, fuck that. I'm sticking to you like glue. I've seen this horror movie, the person waiting in the hallway dies." Meryn shook her head.
Aiden turned to stare at her.
"Later we're going to talk about your movie choices." He edged through the open doorway and looked around the room.
"How many rooms?" He asked.
"Main room, kitchen and bedroom with attached bath. That's it." Meryn grabbed his belt and he felt her small hand at his back.
He walked into the main room, there were no closets for anyone to be hiding in. He popped his head into the tiny, galley style kitchen. It was empty.
"Baby, stay here while I check the bedroom, okay?" She nodded. She closed the apartment door and her eyes darted around the room. He could tell she was trying to see if anything had been taken.
When he opened the bedroom door, he was immediately overwhelmed with the scent of another male. Someone had marked this room with urine and seed as his territory. Feeling sick, he pulled back the covers of the bed to find that the mattress had been slashed and semen decorated the pillows. His bear rose to the surface roaring. He barely managed to keep from shifting. Breathing through his mouth to stay calm he checked the bathroom and the closet. Both were also marked and empty.