Bitten (Black Mountain Bears Book 2) Read online

  Her gait faltered when she remembered that it was Aidan who’d made all this possible. He’d given himself up so she could stay with these two males, let them love her.

  She’d finally found them, and her heart soared, yet still reached out to Aidan, who had given up his own heart’s desire for hers. She couldn’t remember the vision she’d had for him, but she hoped it had been a good one. When they reached their goal, she’d spare another thought for him, but for now she needed to keep up with her mates, who seemed intent on having a race, using trees as their obstacles.

  They’d reached a grove of old oaks, the stolid trunks standing as sentinels between them and their goals. The heavy branches had blocked out the sun beneath so nothing grew but spindly pines and dogwoods.

  Gunnar roared as Jasper charged forward, rounding the trees with expert sureness. Autumn wanted to sit back and watch, but decided some energy output would be good for her and charged forward, too, letting out her own roar of challenge.

  The sound made the males falter just enough for her to overtake them. After rounding several trees, she saw the target of Jasper’s charge. The huge cabin rested in a solitary valley below them, a trail of smoke rising from one of its three chimneys.

  Autumn plowed forward, giddy from the chase and ecstatic about seeing Jasper’s home up close.

  She made it halfway down the hill before she felt paws on her backside and she was suddenly bowled over into a snowbank beside a shed, meters from the house. Her back crashed into the side of the shed, snow flying around them. Jasper’s black-furred face hovered over hers.

  He’d done this. Tripped her. She growled at him and he growled back. He pressed his furry snout against her neck and opened his mouth. The pressure of his teeth startled her.

  She shifted back to human form out of panic, but he didn’t let go.

  “Jasper, the magic has you. Don’t let it keep you. Please.”

  His teeth sank into her shoulder, hot pain engulfing her.

  In that second she realized he hadn’t been out of control, he’d known precisely what to do. The chase had been part of it and she’d led them inadvertently to their goal.

  Gunnar’s white-furred shape brushed against her naked flesh, teasing. His nose sniffed at Jasper’s marks and licked them.

  Autumn shivered. The pain was endurable, and she wanted more.

  Gunnar’s snout pressed against her ear, his breath puffing out. It tickled a little, but she couldn’t help but read his desire into it. His question. His claws dug into her back where he anchored himself against her, so gentle, not breaking skin unless he meant to.

  “Do it,” she breathed. “Mark me.”

  She closed her eyes when his mouth opened, lips peeled back baring sharp teeth. They pierced her skin and Autumn cried out. Nothing but the pair of them existed, their mouths latched onto her skin for what seemed an eternity.

  It didn’t matter that she hadn’t voiced her decision before Jasper had bitten her. They knew as well as she did what she would have said. And she loved them more for that.

  Their mouths relaxed, releasing her pierced flesh just as their bodies changed. Thick fur became warm, bare skin. Giant claws became deft fingers, squeezing her flesh, caressing, teasing, kneading her breasts, spreading her thighs. The pain of their bites left her dazed, the wounds’ bond making her unable to determine which of them was where—only that they were both making love to her.

  The rest of the world faded away when one of them plunged deep into her aching core. The chill of the air and the cold snow beneath her ceased to exist. All she knew was that she needed them both inside her, but didn’t possess the presence of mind to say so.

  She felt herself being turned, protesting softly when the cock inside her disappeared. A hot, sweet mouth pressed against hers, tongue penetrating with as much thoroughness as the cock that had left her. A hand gripped her thigh, holding her leg up while another tongue found her swollen slit and lapped along the entire length, from her clit down, spreading her swollen lips apart and delving in, then slipping further until it swirled around the sensitive flesh of her ass.

  The sturdy body moved back up behind her, cock plunging swiftly into her aching depths once more and then out again. Then its slick tip pressed against her tighter opening, pushing gently.

  Oh, Gaia, yes.

  Autumn pushed back, moaning harshly into the mouth that covered hers as the thick column slid slowly into her, stretching almost painfully but keeping her right at the edge of pure, white-hot pleasure. When the other cock found her empty pussy and slid home, she cried out in ecstasy.

  Love this love you feel fuck yes amazing. The jumble of voices in her mind reflected every sensation, every rough, dual thrust of them into her, pulling out and leaving her empty, then back in, filling her more than she could even comprehend. Soon enough she realized that it wasn’t just her body they had filled, but her heart, her mind, and her very soul.

  She had to see them, look into their eyes to see if she could understand what was happening. She twisted her torso and struggled for lucidity amid the glorious pleasure of their pounding flesh. A dark-haired head bent to her breast, sucking a nipple in between soft lips.

  Jasper, she thought, and as if answering, he lifted his face and gazed into her eyes.

  It’s me, baby, she heard in his clear, deep voice.

  Without speaking, she turned to look into the face that hovered at her shoulder, taut with concentration, lips parted and breath gusting out in clouds.

  Gunnar? She kept the question in her mind, but when his red eyes met hers, she heard in her head as clearly as though he’d spoken: Who else, love?

  The laughter that erupted from her throat surprised her more than the sudden burst of her orgasm. The rush of pleasure consumed her like a wildfire, her core clenching around them both with quick, hot spasms. Both men laughed and moaned as they spilled their seed inside her simultaneously.

  In the aftermath, Autumn’s body shook from mirth at the realization of what the communion of their flesh had done to them. She could hear their thoughts, and they hers.

  She was so amazed by the very idea that she wasn’t even surprised at the slow applause that reached her ears from nearby. The three of them turned their heads to look toward the corner of the shed at the two flannel and jeans-clad men who stood clapping and grinning at them.

  “Bravo!” Julian said. “Haven’t seen a show like that since, well, ever. What a way to liven up the winter.”

  Beside him, August shook his head. “I doubt we could top it, but next time, be careful you don’t set the woods on fire. I think you three might have channeled some dragon magic by accident.”

  Now that Autumn had regained all her senses, she sniffed the air and noted the smoky scent that lingered. She glanced around and discovered that the snow they’d fucked on had entirely melted, and the dead leaves of their makeshift bed were singed and smoldering.

  “I had no idea sex could be that fucking hot,” Jasper said, and they all collapsed into giddy laughter once again.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Please tell Jade and my parents that I’m sorry I couldn’t say goodbye,” Jasper said. “I had to find Autumn. I just hope they understand.” He turned to look at Autumn, who sat on a barstool at his kitchen counter, half-wrapped in a blanket while Gunnar dabbed ointment on her wounded shoulders. Jasper and Gunnar both wore jeans and a t-shirt from Jasper’s closet.

  Julian and August both nodded solemnly in response to his missive.

  “All ursa understand that need at some point in their lives,” August said. “When you are chosen by a female, the drive to protect her is undeniable. Thank you for giving us the freedom to return to Emma. Do you know who is servicing her while we’re away?”

  Jasper had no answer for them. “What do you mean? Why would she need servicing?”

  “It’s eit
her Sten or Orrick,” Autumn said. “Likely both of them, if the baby’s as strong as its mother.”

  Julian laughed. “Poor fools must have their hands full with her. She gets bossy in bed.”

  “Hang on,” Jasper said. “Are you saying someone else has been sleeping with my cousin while you guys are here?”

  “I hope so,” Julian said. “She’d be far too dangerous if her magic wasn’t grounded by a male.”

  The entire concept stunned him, but even more shocking was the idea that he hadn’t even known. So much had changed between him and the two females he’d grown up with in only the last few weeks. Jade and Emma used to share just about everything with him. Emma to a lesser degree, because she had a more independent streak, but he knew almost all their secrets and they knew his. He knew that Jade rarely dated and that, like him, she’d remained a virgin. He also knew that Emma had as well, until she went to college and had a string of disastrous flings. Nothing seemed to damage her too badly, though. At least, not the way his one disastrous fling had damaged him.

  They’d lived in the same house together most of their lives, and Emma had always come home for holidays or summer vacation, spilling all the stories. More recently, the stories had been focused on her research work, which Jasper believed he knew as well as she did by this stage. But to discover that everything had changed after living in the Sanctuary, under the same roof with her, for only a couple weeks, he was struck speechless.

  Autumn’s hand came up to rest on his cheek. He realized he’d been gaping at his cousin’s mates and shut his mouth sharply.

  “This is how we work, baby,” Autumn said. “It’s why most ursa females take two mates, too. The magic flowing into us when we’re fertile or pregnant is too much to contain. Sometimes one male isn’t enough, or isn’t available. When August and Julian came here, Emma needed surrogates to take their place, temporarily. And she isn’t sleeping with them. Sten and Orrick are young Stonetree males, a little younger than you. They’ve worked in the lodge for years, and this is their first year as a bachelor pair. Emma’s their first female, so no doubt her bossiness will be good for them.”

  “So, servicing a female is like a coming-of-age thing for you guys? More importantly, why the fuck did I have to grow up here? That sounds like a dream come true.”

  “We live good lives inside,” August said, his tone tinged with amusement. “But there are sacrifices. There will be even more sacrifices in the future. I’m glad you three will be on the outside, though.” He eyed Autumn’s bite marks with subtle awe. “Especially now that you’re triple-bound. May your child be blessed, but be careful with the power you hold now.”

  Jasper looked at Autumn and at the marks he and Gunnar had given her earlier. A fresh surge of love and desire overtook him strongly enough that he had to touch her, hold her. She seemed to sense it immediately and smiled up at him, holding her hand out to invite him into her embrace.

  “We have some time to practice,” Jasper said as he moved between Autumn’s thighs and bent to kiss her.

  “That we do,” Gunnar said, pausing in his ministrations to their mate. When Jasper raised his face from Autumn, Gunnar bent and accepted Jasper’s mouth eagerly.

  The room seemed to glow and warm around them. A shimmering halo of heat surrounded them and Jasper gasped, pulling away from them both in surprise. Once his desire diminished, so did the heat.

  “It’s a nice house, after all,” Julian said. “It’d be a shame if you accidentally burned it down. I’d recommend fucking in the snow until you figure it out. I’m actually a little glad you three are out here now, to be honest.”

  Gunnar turned and grinned at the other male. “You and I could’ve set the forest on fire a hundred times when we were younger,” he said.

  “Good thing we only fucked in the water.”

  August just shook his head and tugged Julian toward the door. “Be well, friends. We’ll take your messages home.”

  A sharp sadness swept over Jasper as the pair stripped down to nothing and headed out the door, shifted, and ran off into the icy, pink-tinged sunset beyond the back deck. Back to Emma, where they belonged. The three of them would keep each other whole, as it should be. But Jasper’s distance from everything he’d known was what weighed on him now.

  Memories of growing up with Emma and Jade tumbled through his mind. They had been best friends for their entire lives. He had trouble imagining a life without the two, and he felt supremely guilty about not even saying farewell before leaving on a quest there was no return from.

  “Baby, what is it?” Autumn said, brushing an errant tear from his cheek.

  Gunnar looked at him, his gaze full of love and understanding.

  Jasper took a deep breath, looking into their eyes in turn. For as much as he’d lost, he’d gained eternity in the pair of them. That was when he realized that he and Emma and Jade had only been three stones, cast out together and trying to find their place. The lovers he’d found, that Emma had found, would be the roots that kept them together when they broke.

  Emma and her mates would keep each other whole. He and his mates would provide a binding influence to each other.

  “Nothing,” Jasper said, bending to kiss her softly. “I just realized how happy I am.”

  He just hoped his sister would be able to find the same happiness.

  Want More?

  The Hunt isn’t over, not by a long shot. The next book in Ophelia Bell’s Black Mountain Bears is Nailed. It’s the story of Jade, Aidan, and two young Stonetree males, and their journey to find happily ever after…

  Jade Stonetree has spent her entire life in the shadows of her family. Now that they’ve found their true loves and true callings, Jade is left behind, wondering where she really belongs.

  All the other young ursa who are born inside the Sanctuary take a pilgrimage into the human world when they come of age, but Jade grew up Outside. She’s seen the human world. Lived in it for her entire life. So instead she recruits a pair of young ursa males to give her a tour of her new home, under the pretense of a camping trip.

  In truth, she’s taking her own personal pilgrimage to try to find herself. If only she could find a moment alone without her pair of attractive, solicitous traveling companions distracting her at every turn.

  But the solitude she craves is interrupted by magical and hormonal urges she isn’t prepared for, and which only a male of her own race can remedy. Without her companions she is beyond hope, until a pair of strong arms drags her from mortal peril and coaxes her through the ordeal.

  When she regains her senses, she is faced with a question. Accept an infertile ursa male who’s stolen her heart with his selflessness, or give him up for the pair who can give her what every ursa female wishes for: a child?

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  Check out the entire Amelie Hunt Collection!

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  Also By Amelie Hunt’s Authors

  Ophelia Bell’s Sleeping Dragons Series

  Can You Handle Six at Once?

  What if dragons were intelligent shapeshifters who thrived on the sexual energy of humans? Erika Rosencrans and her team of anthropologists are just adventurous enough to uncover the dark secrets of the ancient dragon temple.

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  Vivian Wood’s Alpha Guardians Series

  Evil Abounds: Bear Rising

  What would you sacrifice to save what you love most? Three rugged, dominant bear shifters are about to find out...

  Dark powers stir the shadows in New Orleans’ paranormal underworld. A sociopathic Voodoo king launches a quest for power that may bring the world to its knees. Rather than watch her proud city crumble, ancient priestess Mere Marie forms a plan.

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  This book is the prequel to the Alpha Guardians series; it is not intended as a standalone work. These books feature big, brawny werebears and the mouthy, curvy ladies who capture their hearts. We suggest reading these books in order for the greatest enjoyment.