Bear the Burden: McMahon Clan 3 (Fated Mates Book 6) (5 page)

“Hello, Camden. I’m Audra Trevil, high priestess of our coven, mother to Selene, and by the looks of both of you, your mother-in-law and the grandmother to the babies you and my daughter will have.”

“Mom,” Selene sighed before stepping between us, “maybe you can restrain yourself so you don’t scare him away?”

I wrapped my arms around her, pulling until her back hit my chest. “Nothing will scare me away from you, Selene.”

“Not even her witchcraft?” the other woman asked as she watched us, her expression pinched and arms crossed in front of herself. “Or the prospect of the magic that will run through the veins of your children if she’s their mother?”

“Tempest, you're just as bad as my mom,” Selene snapped.

I switched my attention to the other witch, not liking the tone of voice she’d used while questioning my devotion to the mate I’d just claimed as my own. “I’m not familiar with how it works in your world, but a shifter doesn’t turn his back on his mate.”

Her head tilted as she considered Selene and I before turning to Audra. “When you first told me of the prophecy and how you thought Selene would play a part in it, I was skeptical. But I cannot deny what I’ve seen with my own eyes. Nor can I refute the change I sense in Selene’s magic now.”

“Yes, the earthquake certainly made it hard to ignore the reality of Selene’s situation. That was no little ripple in the ground like earth witches cause when their affinity snaps into place. Her magic must have grown tremendously to cause this.”

I turned Selene in my arms, stunned by the possibility that her magic was strong enough to have done what her mom claimed. “Your magic caused the earthquake?”

“Yes,” she admitted softly. “My affinity should have snapped into place a year ago when I turned twenty-one. It’s a rite of passage for natural witches, but it never happened for me. Not until I admitted to myself what you mean to me.”

I felt a surge of pride upon learning I’d been the key to something that sounded important to her as a witch.

“More confirmation that you and Camden are the couple from the prophecy,” her mom said.

“It’s weird, though. With all the wind in my vision and then outside when we first saw each other, I thought for sure I’d be an air witch. I wasn’t expecting earth to be my element.”

“When you think about it, Selene being an earth witch makes sense. She’s not just a witch with a consort—she’s the mate of a shifter. Shifters are very much a part of the land, and her connection to Camden strengthens her magic as it would even if they weren’t the couple from the prophecy,” her mom explained. “As for the wind from earlier, the witch who made the prophecy was an air witch. It could have been part of the spell she’d cast to give her magic to Selene when she found Camden.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if she finds her air and fire magic to be stronger than most earth witches,” Damien added. “With the air witch’s spell giving Selene additional powers, it makes sense.”

“For air, but not fire,” Selene argued.

“Through the air witch, you’re also connected to my great-uncle,” Damien explained, telling her the story he’d told my father and I this morning. The bear in me didn’t like the idea of a kinship of any kind between Selene and the unmated dragon shifter, but as a man, I appreciated the connection giving her more protection—an additional shield in our upcoming battle with the dark practitioners. A fight I wanted her to have no part in, but one I couldn’t fight without her.

“Additional strength with her air and fire magic would come in handy since Tempest and I are both water witches. It would be best if we had all our elemental bases covered when we face the practitioners who have sided with your enemies.”

“Then why didn’t you bring an air and fire witch with you?” my dad asked.

“The situation has changed since we stepped on the plane this morning,” she answered. “I’d intended to offer you information and some protection spells. I didn’t plan on putting any of my witches in a precarious position in order to save your clan.”

“And now?” my dad growled.

“Now, I’ll do what needs to be done to eliminate the threat against your clan because my daughter’s future is tied to your son’s.” Her answer was beautiful in its simplicity, proving what Selene had told me about how quickly her mom would accept my place in her daughter’s life.

“Well, shit,” my dad grumbled. “How the hell can I argue with that?”

“You can’t,” I answered, knowing damn well it was a rhetorical question, but I wanted to drive the point home again for my dad. Selene was my mate and I wouldn’t allow anyone, not even him, to mistreat her or make her feel uncomfortable.

“You’ll quickly learn that arguing with my mom is an effort in futility.” Selene’s statement was directed toward my dad, along with her smile. He’d barely acknowledged her presence in the room, had made his distrust clear when he’d stormed into my room, and had done nothing to welcome her to our family—yet, here she was, extending an olive branch to him. She was amazing, and the glare I sent my dad’s way made it clear he’d damn well better accept her gesture or else.

“It’s good you have experience with a stubborn loved one because I’m sure it will be useful as you deal with Camden throughout the years.” With those words, he gave Selene the acceptance I wanted for her. As the tension eased from her body, I beamed at my dad, grateful he’d listened to what I’d tried to tell him this morning and was willing to look past Selene the witch to see the woman who’d allowed me to take her as my mate without hesitation.

W
e spent the next several hours going over all the details our coven knew about the dark practitioners. Tempest explained the vision she’d had of a circle of witches casting a spell intended to give a wolf shifter enough power to face Carrick in battle and defeat him without any chance of losing. She stumbled a bit over the part where she told them how she recognized one of them—a distant cousin of hers whom she hadn’t seen in years.

I was surprised when Carrick offered her reassurance, stating nobody held her responsible for another’s actions, even if they were family. Then he shared his history with his fated mate, how his daughter had been treated growing up and basically sold to a brutal alpha wolf, the attempted kidnapping, and how Braden’s mate had recently killed the woman Carrick would have mated. He’d been through so much. Carrick going through life without a mate of his own was a tragedy—one I wished I could rectify for the man who had fathered my consort and raised him to be who he was today.

Camden reached for my hand as though he knew where my thoughts had turned. The mark on my wrist tingled and my skin heated. My mom sent me a knowing look. “Since it appears we’ll be in town longer than I initially anticipated, I’d better make arrangements at a local hotel for Tempest and me.”

“I don’t like the idea of the two of you staying separately from the rest of us.” Damien made an excellent point. I didn’t like it any more than he did.

“Maybe they can stay with us?” It didn’t matter how softly I spoke to Camden, my mom knew me well enough to guess what I’d just asked.

“Tempest and I cannot stay here,” she disagreed. “You and Camden need time alone to deepen your bond. It might strengthen your magic further, helping us become better prepared to face the dark practitioners.”

“We can use every advantage we can get,” Tempest agreed.

“I have more than enough room in my home for both of you,” Carrick offered, and his willingness to accept two witches into his home, considering how he’d reacted to the earthquake earlier, floored me. I’d been pleased when he’d made a comment about my future with Camden, but this went well beyond mere acknowledgment to acceptance—of not only me, but my family.

The prophecy had been enough to gain my mom’s approval of Camden as my consort since she’d had to depend on her own visions for protection often in the past, but I couldn’t help but feel that Carrick’s lack of a fated mate played a significant part in his acceptance of me. I hated to think his experiences with the woman who should have been his mate were part of the path that needed to be taken to eliminate resistance to a witch and shifter union, but I felt like it all tied together somehow.

“Tempest and I would be honored to stay in your home, Carrick,” my mom said, accepting his offer.

“I’m glad that’s all settled because I need to head out of town,” Damien said. He nodded in Carrick’s direction before rising from the chair. “Council business calls.”

“You’ll let me know if it’s something requiring my attention?” Carrick asked.

“Of course,” Damien confirmed. “Please do the same if you need any assistance dealing with this matter.”

Everyone seemed to take Damien’s leaving as a sign they should go too, and before I knew it, only Camden and I remained in his home. The privacy was nice, but I suddenly felt a little nervous. “I didn’t even pack a bag when I left this morning.”

“Why don’t you give me a list of anything you’ll need over the next couple days and I’ll run out and get it while you take a bath?”

Although Camden’s offer was sweet, the heated glance he sent my way was anything but. I wasn’t about to pass it up, though. Not after the day I’d had. A nice, long bath sounded heavenly. We exchanged phone numbers and I sent him a text with only the necessities, figuring I could go shopping for myself tomorrow. Then I spent the next hour and a half lounging in the tub, using magic to reheat the water whenever it cooled. I could have done the same for at least another hour, but I stepped out of the bath when I heard Camden moving around in the bedroom. I wrapped myself in a large towel and found him standing by the bed, waiting for me. Drawn to what I found on the bed, my gaze didn’t stay on him long.

“I don’t think this is what my mom had in mind with her advice.” The mere mention of my mom while staring at the items laid out had a blush of color spreading down my face and chest—or it could have just been the items themselves. A black satin blindfold, a pair of Velcro cuffs linked together by a chain, a butt plug, and a black bottle labeled
Gun Oil
with a bullet-shaped cap all rested before me.

“Gun Oil?” There were so many things I could have asked, but this was the question that popped out of my mouth first. It was probably because the bottle was the one item that stood out the most, and I wasn’t ready to ask about the rest, or how it fit into his plan for us to get to know each other better. I really didn’t even need to ask. It was painfully obvious he intended to use sex to bring us closer together. I wasn’t sure whether I was irritated—it was such a guy way to approach the problem—or insanely turned on. Sex with Camden was already hot without the addition of sex toys.

He prowled my way and didn’t stop until he crowded me against the bathroom door. “You’ll thank me later for oiling up my gun.” His whispered promise was followed by a swivel of his hips, which pressed his hard length against my towel-clad body. I let out a startled giggle at the cheesiness of his line. Then he winked at me and the laughter died in my throat while I leaned against him, my knees going a little weak at his flirting. “The guy at the store said this brand lasts the longest and once I manage to squeeze my cock into your tight little hole, the last thing I’m going to want to do is pull out to slick myself up again later. No, I’m going to take my time fucking your ass and this will help me make sure you enjoy it as much as I will.”

My legs clenched in response to the image he painted. “Is your fascination with my ass a shifter thing I need to know about?”

“No, it’s more of an
I want to claim every part of my sexy mate
kind of a thing.”

“Alrighty then,” I breathed. Because really, what could I possibly say to that?

“Has anyone taken your ass before, Selene?”

“No,” I gulped.

“Good,” he grunted, “I like knowing there’s a part of you that will only be mine.”

Anal sex had never interested me in the past, but the dark promise in his words piqued my interest enough that I might consider giving it a try. “You may have your work cut out for you. I’m not convinced I’ll like it.”

“When I take your ass, I’m going to make you scream in pleasure, Selene. Of that, you can be sure.”

With his promise ringing in my ears, Camden lifted me into his arms, my towel dropping to the floor, and carried me to the bed. He positioned me in the middle of the mattress and swiftly snapped the first cuff around my wrist. He ran a finger between my skin and the material to make sure it wasn’t too tight before looping the chain through the headboard and wrapping the second cuff around my free wrist. Our gazes locked as he stared down at me a moment. The fierce look in his eyes sent shivers down my spine, and then, I only saw darkness as he placed the blindfold over my eyes.

I strained against my bonds, listening for any hint of sound that would tell me what Camden was doing. I swore I heard every notch of the zipper come free as he slid the pull-tab down. It was quickly followed by the rustle of material and then a creaking sound when I felt him climb onto the mattress beside me. Although I couldn’t see him, my head turned slightly in his direction while I wondered what he was going to do next. Luckily, he didn’t make me wait long to find out.

“You’re so fucking beautiful, Selene,” he whispered into my ear, his breath hot against my skin as his lips trailed down my neck. His tongue traced over the mating mark on my shoulder and I gasped at the whisper-soft touch when his fingers lingered there while his mouth moved lower.

I moaned when his lips glided across my nipples, teasing me with light kisses against my skin, and arched my back in response, wanting more. “Camden, please.”

“Hold still,” he commanded, pressing me back against the mattress with his hand on my hip and nipping at the skin on my stomach.

When his hand slid down my leg to my knee and lifted, I moved the other and placed it in the same position. Blindfolded and naked, my hands anchored by the headboard and my legs spread wide, I trembled slightly beneath Camden. I was completely open to his gaze and utterly vulnerable. As crazy as it seemed, I wasn’t scared. I knew Camden would treasure the trust I was giving him—just as he treasured me as his fated mate.