Bound Guardian Angel (59 page)

“And I’ll swear him to secrecy when he does.
Micah’s tight. He won’t reveal your secret if I tell him not
to.”

She swept her hands down his shoulders and
over his biceps, letting them come to rest at his elbows. “If you
haven’t noticed, Micah doesn’t exactly like me.”

“Yeah, but you and I are mates now.” He took
her hands in his. “He’ll honor that.”

“Well, even if he does, Skeletor might
not.”

“What do you mean? Does he know?”

She bit her lip then nodded. “I don’t know
how, but he knows. And he says if I don’t back off, he’s going to
tell everybody. I can’t let that happen.”

“Fuck him. We’ll get to him before he can do
any damage.”

She nibbled the inside of her bottom lip,
the skin around her eyes tight. “I want to believe you, but he’s
proving to be a worthy opponent. What if we can’t stop him?”

He cradled her face in his hand and rubbed
his thumb reassuringly over her cheek. “We will. He might have an
advantage now, but the tables can turn in a blink. We’ll get
him.”

She nodded tightly then let out an abrupt
sigh as she shifted on his lap and forced a wary smile. “So, you’re
not mad?”

“About what?”

“That I’m Bain’s sister.”

He laughed and let go of her hands so he
could wrap his arms around her hips and draw her closer. “Are you
kidding? I mated a
princess
.” He tilted his head to the
side. “True, you’re not the kind of princess who wears designer
gowns and tiaras and paints her fingernails all day, but if you
were, I’d probably curse God for pairing me up with you. I can’t
stand all that hoity-toity bullshit.”

“Hey, I’ve been known to paint my
fingernails.”

“But I bet you paint them black or purple or
dark blue. You know, some cool color. Something wicked. Just like
you.”

“You think I’m wicked?”

Trace arched one eyebrow. “Does Godzilla
breathe fire?”

Her eyes danced upward as she rocked her
head side to side. “Technically, it’s not fire. It’s nuclear fumes
or some shit. Godzilla’s a biological nuclear reactor.” She leaned
forward and nipped his upper lip. “Kind of like you.”

Always the contrarian, but she was
his
contrarian. His feisty, frisky female. “Quit being cute.
You know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” She pushed
away. “Come on, we should get cleaned up. Mya and Brenna will be in
the kitchen getting ready for breakfast any minute.”

“Not yet.” He pulled her back down. His lips
met hers in a blood-warming caress. He wasn’t ready for the
lust-inducing revelation of being mated to end just yet. “Five more
minutes.”

* * *

Five minutes turned into fifteen, followed by a
shared shower where, for the first time ever, Cordray actually felt
the water rushing over her body as Trace pressed her face-first
against the wall and fucked her from behind, sinking his fangs into
the curve where her neck met her shoulder as he came.

He’d marked her with his bite at least half
a dozen times. Her neck, her shoulder, her breast, even her inner
thigh.

After the venom euphoria wore off, he
shampooed her hair and lathered her body from head to toe, paying
special attention between her legs, where he used his fingers to
coax yet another orgasm from her.

By the time they finished, the water had
begun to run cool.

Time to buy a bigger water heater.

While Trace cleaned up the mess in the
hallway, she joined Mya and Brenna in the kitchen.

“Good morning.” Even with only a couple
hours of sleep, she was wide awake and alert.

Mya looked her up and down, holding a
half-peeled orange, and flashed a knowing smile. “And good morning
to you. What were you up to last night?” Today, Mya wore a
light-blue T-shirt with a cartoon marshmallow, graham cracker, and
slab of chocolate running away from a ball of fire. Where she found
these funny shirts of hers, Cordray had no idea, but she seemed to
have an endless supply of them.

Cordray poured herself a mug of coffee and
leaned against the counter. “Nothing much.” She blew over the hot
liquid then sipped.

Mya leaned closer and sniffed. “Yeah, sure.
That’s why you smell like a sex marathon and have the remnants of a
bite mark on your neck.”

Her hand flew to her throat, and she quickly
adjusted her collar to cover the evidence of what Trace had done to
her.

Brenna glanced up long enough from cutting
biscuits out of homemade dough to give her a wicked grin. “You
wouldn’t be taking advantage of the help now, would you, C?”

Both females giggled as Cordray found
herself in unfamiliar territory. The
I-just-got-fucked-silly-and-found-my-mate kind of territory.

Trace chose that moment to saunter into the
kitchen like the sex god he was.

“Morning, ladies.” He glanced from Mya to
Brenna as he slid behind Cordray and purred, lowering his voice
provocatively as he turned her around and brushed his lips over
hers. “Beast master,” he said in greeting.

Heat flooded her cheeks, as well as other
parts of her body, as his arms slinked around her waist. He nuzzled
her neck, that deep purr stabbing pleasure into the very heart of
her.

After hours of enjoying each other, she
would have thought they could go at least five minutes without
getting hot for one another, but damn, this mated business wasn’t
having any of that. She wanted him now as badly as she’d wanted him
in the hall last night.

“Don’t you have someplace to be?” she said,
gently nudging him, even though all she wanted was to take him back
upstairs to bed. But he needed to go back for the SUV he’d left at
Micah’s house, and then she was planning on meeting him so they
could visit his brother before she had to leave for Grudge Match.
Hopefully, Micah had received his invite and would be there tonight
so they could get started on figuring out the connection between
the fight club and Bishop’s lab.

Trace’s lips brushed over her ear, and he
whispered, “I’m
exactly
where I want to be.” He placed a
chaste kiss that was full of naughty intentions behind her ear.

Mya and Brenna giggled, knocking awareness
back into her. Smiling, she eased out of his grasp and took his
hand. “Um, yeah. Trace and I are sort of . . .
well . . .we’re—”

“We’re mated.” Trace proudly jutted his chin
as his chest puffed out like a cocky rooster’s.

Mya gasped. Brenna’s mouth fell open a split
second before she covered it with her hand.

Heat flooded Cordray’s face as she first met
Brenna’s gaze then Mya’s, who was smugly eyeing her. “Don’t go
looking at me like that, Mya.”

“Like what?” Mya smirked, her eyes twinkling
mischievously.

“Like you want to tell me you told me
so.”

Mya went back to peeling oranges. “Well, I
did. I told you your biological clock was ticking.”

Cordray lifted her abashed gaze to Trace’s,
only to find unadulterated reverence shining back at her. She
nibbled her lip under his heated stare.

“My tough-as-nails mate.” He flashed her a
confident, crooked grin. His thumb rubbed back and forth on her
knuckles. “But I don’t care how tough you think you are, Cordray.
It’s my responsibility to take care of you. It’s my duty from this
day forward to see to your every need and protect you. Your breath
is my breath now. Your blood, my blood. And I don’t intend to take
either for granted.” He closed the short distance between them.
“I’ve searched all my life for you.
You
, Cordray.” He
squeezed her fingers. “You were made expressly for me. You tame my
beast and make me feel free for the first time in my life. Truly
free. And in front of these witnesses”—he glanced toward Mya and
Brenna—“I vow to have, keep, and nurture you for as long as I walk
this earth—whether you like it or not—and rain hell down on anyone
who tries to take you from me.”

Damn. Now that was a declaration of love.
Prince Valiant had nothing on Trace.

Girly shit be damned, if there had been a
tub of pink candy hearts in her kitchen, she would have dived in
and risked sugar shock. Bring this girl a bouquet of roses and a
heart-shaped box filled with truffles, because Valentine’s Day just
became her favorite holiday.

“Um . . .wow?” They were the
only words she could muster.

He smirked. “What’s this? You’re speechless?
I actually rendered you speechless?”

“Don’t get cocky, Trace. You caught me off
guard, that’s all.”

He chuckled, and the sound reminded her of
cherries covered in dark chocolate. Decadent and sweet, with a bit
of tartness to make the tongue sing.

The back door flew open and Null dashed into
the kitchen, little Aiden close behind.

“Twace! Twace! Make me fly!”

Trace leaned down, picked Null up, and spun
him around before tossing him just high enough that he didn’t hit
the ceiling. Then he settled him on his hip and tapped his button
nose with the tip of his index finger. “I’ve got to run into the
city for a while, little man, but I’ll be back later, okay? And
then I’ll really show you how to fly.” He booped his nose again.
“How’s that sound?”

Null flung his arms around Trace’s neck,
squealing and kicking his little legs excitedly.

Trace caught Cordray’s eye as he handed Null
to her. “I’ll see you later.”

“I’ll meet you at Micah’s in an hour or so.”
She would dematerialize there rather than drive. Then they could
take the Denali and ride together to where Brak was staying.

He leaned in, and as naturally as if she’d
been doing it all her life, she lifted her face, meeting his mouth
with hers in a tender kiss.

Null and Aiden giggled and slapped their
hands over their eyes. “Ew, cooties.”

Trace smiled against her mouth then kissed
her again. “I like your cooties.”

“You know, yours are kinda growing on me,
too,” she replied.

He gave her one last kiss then kissed Null
on the cheek and bent to kiss the top of Aiden’s head.

Then he headed out.

“Bye, Twace!” Null flapped his arm as he
waved.

Mya eased up behind her while Null was
distracted. “Hearts are flying out your ass, C,” she whispered.

“Get used to it,” she whispered back with a
playful glare. “Because I’m crazy about that SOB.”

Mya giggled and returned to making fruit
salad.

Cordray bounced Null on her hip, patting his
rump. A moment later, something fell off his back pocket, skidding
across her palm, then flipped to the floor.

She set Null down, crouched, and picked up a
button.

“Turn around, Null. Let me see your
jeans.”

He spun, and she inspected the tiny back
pockets. One had a button and the other didn’t. Great. Another
button to mend.

She stood. “Good thing that fell off in my
hand or we might never have found it, and you would have been all
lopsided, little man.”

He giggled and took off for the living room,
where his coloring books waited for him on the coffee table.

Cordray frowned as a lightbulb flickered on
over her head.

Wait a minute.

She glanced down at the button in her palm
then up in the direction of her bedroom.

The button on her nightstand. That wasn’t
one of hers. It belonged to Skeletor. It must have fallen off his
clothes during the struggle.

She gasped as she realized she had
everything she needed to finally find that little prick.

Turning, she raced out of the kitchen toward
the stairs.

“What’s wrong?” Brenna called after her.

“Nothing. I’ll tell you later,” she called
back.

By the end of the day, Skeletor would be
hers.

Chapter 36

Micah was sitting quietly in the living room when
Trace arrived back at the house. He was reading. Classical music
played softly from the Bluetooth speaker beside him.

“Hey,” Trace said, disturbing the peace.

Micah looked up from his book. Their eyes
met. “Hey.”

“Where’s Sam?”

“Sleeping.”

Trace glanced toward the kitchen, which had
been cleaned up since last night. “Why aren’t you sleeping?”

Micah closed the book and set it on the
table beside him. “I was waiting for you. I knew you’d come back.”
He regarded him for a moment. “Sam wanted to wait up with me, but
she conked out about an hour ago, so I took her to bed.”

Trace absently nodded and shuffled his
feet.

Awkward silence stretched between them then
Trace moved forward and sat down across from him.

How would his mating Cordray affect his
relationship with Micah? He still wanted Micah. Still needed him.
That hadn’t changed. But the dynamic between them had.

“I’m mated.” He worked his teeth over the
inside of his lip.

“I know.” Micah cleared his throat and
crossed his ankle over his knee.

More silence.

“She’s my mate.” There was no need to
explain who
she
was after the conversation they’d had in the
bathtub less than twelve hours ago.

Micah uncrossed his legs and leaned forward,
planting his elbows on his knees. “I know she is, buddy. I’m the
one who told you she was.”

The tension between them wasn’t exactly
thick, but it wasn’t nonexistent, either. Trace drummed his fingers
on his thighs. “I guess what I want to know is how this affects
us.”

Micah leaned back and placed his hands on
the arms of the chair. “That’s up to you, Trace. You tell me. As
far as I’m concerned, I’m still your Dom. If you still need me in
that way, I’m here for you.” He placed his ankle over his knee
again, watching Trace closely. After a bloated hesitation, he said,
“Do you still want that?”

He would have to work out the details with
Cordray, but yes, he did want that. He’d come to enjoy the
submissive lifestyle. And even though he was now mated, he couldn’t
see his life without Micah as his master, especially now that he’d
only just found him.