The Mating Project (21 page)

Maria's father looked at her.

"I'm sorry, Maria, but he can. We
haven't had a duel like that in several lifetimes now, but they’re the stuff of
legends."

"Bullshit, they're barbaric and
outdated, and—"

"Maria,
language.
There are children present in this room." Her mother's cool voice rebuked
his mate, and Malachi had to smile at her hiss in answer, even as he hardened
his heart against her misery.

"Are you sure this is what you
want, son?" Gunnar asked him. "Once a duel has been called it cannot
be revoked. It's a fight to the death."

"I'm aware of that."

Maria whimpered and Silas sighed, and
you could have once again have heard a pin drop in the room. Even the babies
didn't as much as murmur.

"Then so be it. I will make the
arrangements."

A weight lifted off Malachi's shoulders
at the older man's quiet assurance, but there was one more thing he had to ask
of him.

"There's one other thing,
sir."

Something about the formal way he
addressed him must have alerted Gunnar to his intention, because he glanced
toward Maria and smiled at her.

"Yes?"

Malachi took a deep breath and half
turned so that he could see Maria and Silas. Silas seemed to be holding her up
if the white knuckled grip he had round her waist was any indication, and
silent tears ran down Maria's face that tore at his resolve. He held out his
hand, and she grasped it.

"I would like to ask your
permission and your blessing to mark your daughter."

Maria's mum clapped her hands, Silas
smiled and nodded his agreement, and Maria simply stared at him.

He lost himself
in the shimmering haze of emotions in her tearstained gaze, and from far away
he heard her father ask Maria a question.

"Maria, is
that what you want? If you do, I’ll ask him to do it here. A traditional
marking needs to take place in front of witnesses. Ideally at an official
function, but as we can't do that, your family will do as witnesses."

Maria's eyes
widened,
and a blush spread over her as the implications set
in.

"You need
to answer your father, princess."

She blinked
twice and ran her tongue around her lips. Silas groaned under his breath and
moved one hand to adjust himself behind Maria's back. Malachi grinned at him,
because he knew just how the other man felt. Thanks to their bond, Silas would
get Maria's aroused response loud and clear.

"Why … why
do we have to do this here?" she asked. She didn't look at her father when
she mumbled those words, and Malachi cupped her chin and kissed her. Instantly
her anxiety fled, and Silas gave her a gentle push until she was cradled
against him. Silas stepped up behind her, and their eyes met over her head in
quiet understanding.

"Those are
the rules, little cat," Silas said. "Malachi is an original. He wants
to abide by the old rules, so that no one can claim this wasn’t done right in
case…" Silas let his words trail off and a muscle ticked in his jaw, and
Malachi cupped the back of his head and kissed him, too. They stood together,
the three of them, in a silent show of strength.

Maria's father
cleared his throat and broke the moment.

"I still
need your answer, Maria."

"Yes,
the answer is yes, Daddy."

Maria's mother
started crying and then got up to help form a circle around them. Everyone held
hands.

"In that
case, Malachi Luca, I give you my blessing to formally mate with and mark my
daughter, Maria Anderson. In front of all these witnesses let it be heard that
this union took place. May it prove fruitful and long-
lasting.
"

Silas took her
hair and lifted it out of the way, and Maria tilted her head sideways. Her
heartbeat was going crazy, and Malachi allowed his wolf to come to the surface.
His jaws ached and his dick throbbed with the realization that this was it. He
would claim her and she would be his, and Silas, too. He would claim him later,
and in private, but it would be no less of an intense moment than the one he
now faced. Everyone would know that these two precious people were his to
protect and cherish, and he closed his eyes and sent a silent prayer up to his
mother. She would have loved both Silas and Maria.

When he opened
his eyes again it was to find both Maria and Silas watching him, and the love
they projected toward him was an almost tangible presence.

He dipped his
head and ran his fangs along Maria's neck. She whimpered low in her throat, and
he kissed Silas’s hand, which had fisted into her hair and was still holding it
out of his way. Seeking his lover's gaze he murmured the words on his heart.

"I love you
both, so much. Whatever happens, look after each
other.
"

Silas nodded,
and Maria choked back a sob that turned into a scream when he sank his teeth
into her soft flesh.

Arousal, hot and
fierce and all consuming, coursed through his veins, and he tightened his hold
on Maria as her whole body shook with the force of the powerful mating orgasm
ripping through her. His hips jerked forward and his cock stiffened to the
point of pain, but there was no way he was taking his love in front of
everyone. She rode out her pleasure with his fangs still lodged in her throat,
and it was only when her tremors stopped and she went limp that he withdrew and
licked her wound clean. His gaze collided with Silas's, and at his wolf's
insistent urging he grasped hold of Silas and bit him, too.

Silas froze and
groaned, not once breaking his supporting hold on Maria. It was only the glazed
look in his eyes and the wet stain marring his jeans that spoke of his own
reaction to the marking.

Malachi threw
his head back and howled. It was a statement and a warning. These two were his,
as much as he was theirs, and no one was going to take that away from them.

****

Maria
was dimly aware of the sensation of being carried, cradled against Malachi's
chest, and she snuggled in close. His heartbeat thundered under her ear, and
when she blindly grasped for Silas, his hand closed around hers and squeezed.
Her heart leapt for joy at the connection she felt to both of them.

Malachi, can you hear me?

Yes, princess, I can.

I'm here, too, little
cat
.

It worked? We're all mated, together?

She
burst into tears when both men replied in her head, and she didn’t seem able to
stop crying, not even when she was back in her old suite of rooms, cradled
between both men as they took turns kissing her and each other.

"I
don't want you to duel, Malachi. Tell him he can't do this, Silas. Make him see
sense. I've only just found him. I can't lose him. I can't lose either of you,
not now, not ever."

Malachi
jumped off the bed, his agitation showing in his frantic paces up and down her
room, and Silas sighed and framed her face in his hands.

"Don't
make this harder on him than it already is, little cat. He needs to do this.
It's the only way to set us all free and to rid the world of a monster."

"I
don't care, let someone else do it. We could just run away. Yes, let's do
that." Maria warmed to this plan. "We can leave the country. Leave
this miserable little island and go somewhere warm. No one need know where we
go. I've got some money saved, and—"

"And
leave behind your parents, your friends?" Malachi interrupted her.
"Carter, Jake, Anastasia, and the babies?
Are you
prepared to never see them grow up? For any cubs we may be blessed with to
never meet their grandparents? To forever live amongst humans and away from our
kind, lest one of them report back to the council?"

His
voice got louder and deeper the more he talked, and his features flashed from
his wolf back to his human self and back again. It was a measure of his
agitation that he didn't even seem to notice he was shifting in and out of his
animal form.

"Because
let me tell you, princess, I tried that once, and it's not pretty. I don't want
that life for you and Silas, and besides, that maniac needs to be stopped. This
is personal, and I will stop him or die trying."

Maria
burst into tears again, and Malachi took her off Silas and cradled her to him.
She clung to him and comfort turned to bone-shattering need when he kissed the
tears off her face, and licked his barely healed mark on her neck. His groan
trembled through her, and Silas's hands massaged her tense shoulders.

Maria
let her head fall back exposing her neck to Malachi, and he delivered little
bites along her skin, whilst Silas kissed her. Her hands roamed over Malachi's
chest, pulling at the material to get to his skin, and Malachi yanked the tee
over his head and divested himself off his trousers in record time. There was
no finesse to his movements, just stark need, reflected in the harsh lines of
his face and the force of his erection.

Silas
bunched her dress up and pulled it over her head and then undid her bra and
tossed it away. He kissed her spine, murmuring words of endearment, whilst
Malachi grasped her aching breasts and ran his thumbs over her nipples. He
pulled and tugged on the buds, sending messages of lust to her clit and pussy,
and when Silas slid her now soaked thong off and helped her out of it, Maria
whimpered.

"She's
so fucking wet for us, Malachi. It's beautiful. Here, taste."

Maria
mewled when Silas ran his fingers through her wet slit and offered the slippery
digits to Malachi. He sucked them clean, and his wolf's deep rumbles of
appreciation trembled through her.

His
eyes locked with hers, and he flashed a toothy grin at her.

"We
better oblige by fucking her silly then," he said.

Silas
chuckled behind her and urged her on her knees in such a way she straddled a
sitting Malachi, who resumed the sweet torture of her nipples, whilst kissing
her. Silas slapped her ass several times, and Maria buckled.

Malachi
abandoned her breasts and grasped her hips to steady her. The move brought her
slippery labia in direct contact with the slick tip of his cock, and they both
groaned when he ran the swollen crown through her slit repeatedly.

The
movement behind her told her Silas was undressing, and then he was back, his
hot hands soothing the left over burn on her ass cheeks.

"Hmm,
this butt is not red enough for my liking."

Maria
pulled in a shaky breath when Malachi dug his nails into her hips and thrust
into her body once.
Oh, that felt so
good.
He lifted her off him, and Silas spanked her ass again, twice on each
side, adding to the heat flowing through her veins and Malachi impaled her on
his dick again.

Again
and again they repeated this torture until Maria's butt was one hot mass of
sensation, and she was pleading with them to let her come.

"She
pleads so nicely, Silas. What do you say?"

Silas
spanked her one last time, hard enough to drive her all the way forward, so
that she collapsed on Malachi, who was now reclining on the bed. Malachi
wrapped his hands in her hair and kissed her, whilst Silas grasped her hips and
lifting her up again pushed his cock into her body in one forceful thrust.

"I
say it's my turn to fuck that pussy."

Even
wet as she was the thrust hurt, as her tissues screamed at her and her body
tried to adapt to Silas's bigger size, and Maria screamed into Malachi's kiss.

Silas
gave her no time to adjust, just pulled out and
pistoned
back in again in such a way that pain gave way to overwhelming pleasure.
Malachi slipped a hand down her body and stimulated her clit, never once
relenting on the kiss that stole her oxygen and made her lightheaded. Pleasure
built in spiraling waves, and just before she could reach her peak, Silas
pulled out.

Maria
moaned her frustration and hissed when Silas spanked her again, and then
grasped her hips and shoved her down on Malachi's cock.

Instantly
the red hot zing of arousal fizzed through her again, as Silas lifted her on
and off Malachi's shaft, whilst Malachi kneaded her breasts and pinched her
nipples in turn.

Again
they pushed her to the edge, only for everything to stop, when Silas lifted her
off Malachi.

She
screamed when Silas's cock tunneled into her pussy again, and Malachi sucked
her nipples into his mouth. Just like before they pushed her to the edge, and
stopped, and Malachi claimed her cunt.

Helpless
to do anything, Maria shut her eyes, and gave herself over to the myriad of
sensations her men evoked in her body. She lost count of who was inside of her
at any given moment. It really didn't matter. They were hers, and she was
theirs to do with as they pleased, and she floated away to a place where all
sensation merged into one long moment of the most exquisite pleasure as her
orgasm finally hit.