Page 113 of Kingdom of Aramis

His own breathing gets harsher, and his strokes falter a bit as I swirl my hand up and down his length, his precum hot against my palm.

“Your hand feels so good around my dick, and all I can think about is how you looked kneeling before me with my cock in your mouth. Such a good boy, pleasing me like that. I lovedfucking your throat and seeing your eyes water. The only thing that would have been better was having Colbie at my feet as well, taking turns having me fuck her throat. If she was, I would have made you hold my cum in your mouth and feed it to her when I was spent.”

Gryffin is dirty as fuck, and his words and the images now planted in my brain have me moaning, my balls tightening. I can’t hold back my orgasm any longer. I gasp, and cum erupts from the tip as Gryffin pumps my cock through my release. I feel my own hand get coated in his sticky, hot fluid as he growls in my ear. “Such a perfect fucking boy.”

He pulls his hand from my boxer briefs and grabs my chin, his cum-covered grip like steel as he turns my head and kisses my mouth.

“Now hopefully we can both get some sleep,” he says as he releases my chin and brings his hand to his mouth, licking my cum from his fingers. My cock kicks again as I groan at the filthy sight. He grins, rolls off the bed, and disappears into the bathroom. I hear the sink running, and I contemplate getting up and washing off my hand, but he returns with a washcloth and tosses it to me. He then goes to the drawers and pulls out two pairs of underwear, stripping off his own before replacing them. He brings the other pair over to me, and I do the same. He takes both pairs and the washcloth back to the bathroom to throw them in the laundry basket.

When he returns to the bed, he switches off the lamp and plunges us into darkness. Our rooms have black out blinds because we often work night shift, and no light gets through. I feel him climb into the bed, and he rolls me over and scoots me back into him again, the little spoon to his big spoon. The room is silent except for my and Gryffin’s breathing, and it doesn’t take long for my eyelids to grow heavy as he gently strokes mystomach in a soothing pattern. “Sleep, my pretty firestorm,” he whispers as I drift off to sleep, comfortable and sated.

The alarm on my phone rings, and I reach out to turn it off, but I realize I can’t move because my body is trapped beneath a giant, hairy white tiger. Gryffin must have shifted in his sleep. Sometimes our animals take over when our subconscious is asleep, and he rumbles with annoyance when I try to extract myself from his grip. He places a large paw on my chest, pinning me on my back, as he licks my face, and I grimace as he leaves slobber behind.

“Not cool, dude,” I complain, trying to push him off me, but I can’t budge him. He moves his grooming to my neck, and I feel a tooth scrape the skin and freeze. The tiger’s actions are very territorial and mimic how he would treat his mate. Does his tiger want to claim me as well as Colbie? My phoenix screams inside me with part defiance, part want. It’s all we’ve ever dreamed of, Gryff’s teeth marks beside our mate’s. Hopefully one day, it will become a reality, but right now, I need the big hairy fur ball to get off me so we can get ready for the mission. Instead of fighting him, I use my brain to manipulate him into wanting to get off.

“Hey, fluffy kitty, how about you get off me so we can get our mate some food? She’s going to need to keep her strength up for the mission,” I coax him, and he freezes and tips his head to the side. The same ocean blue eyes he has in his human form stare at me, his elongated pupils shifting as I see him think over my words. I guess he likes what I have to say, because with onemore lick across my face, he leaps off the bed, heading for the bathroom. Gryffin must grab control, because I hear the shower turn on not five minutes later as I drag myself out of bed and look at the time. It’s midnight, and the neutral zone curfew goes into effect in an hour. We have just enough time to order some food before we need to be on our way. I place a large order with a food app and contemplate joining Gryffin in the shower, but that would probably be a bad decision. I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands or mouth off him, and that would make us late, so instead, I grab my clothes and head back to my own room to shower.

When I emerge dressed in a clean watch uniform that will shift with me if I need it and a pack of essentials, I find everyone in the living area passing around boxes of Chinese. I placed a huge order, so there’s enough for everyone, and I feel happy when I see Colbie has a big plate of food in front of her.

“Good call on the food.” Hunter lifts the box he has in his hand in thanks. “I was just going to place an order when the front desk called and said there was a delivery for us.”

“I figured we want to keep a low profile in the human zone, and going through a drive-through probably isn’t the way to do that,” I reply as I grab a plate from the kitchen counter and start serving myself. “I’m sorry, I probably should have asked what you two like, but I was trying to be efficient,” I say to Micah and Colbie.

Colbie shakes her head, but her mouth is full, so she can’t say anything, but Micah just waves a hand.

“I’m not fussy. Hell, I eat raw fish and sea life when I’m in the ocean. Honestly, one thing I love most about being in the military is the variety of food. Although we don’t live in the ocean, we source most of our food from it, and it becomes boring after a while. There are only so many ways you can cook fish or shellfish.”

Colbie finishes her mouthful and looks at Micah. “You don’t live in the ocean?”

He shrugs. “We have a couple of underwater colonies, and the majority of the mer live there. My family has two residences, one underwater and one on the coastal village that is the mers’ life blood. We survive on supplying seafood to the rest of the kingdoms. Although the fae, witches, and vampires all have their own coastal villages, none of them are as efficient with sea life as we are.” He stops for a moment. “Actually, some of the fae are, but they tend to keep all their produce for their own people, so despite the indifference from shifters, we’re the reason they get seafood.”

“I just don’t understand the prejudice. Who cares what you shift into? It’s stupid,” Colbie mutters aggressively, and I smile. She’s exactly what the shifters need. Lucas tried to integrate the three shunned breeds, but he wasn’t successful. I’m sure our queen will have more success, especially since she has three mates of those exact species, and she won’t stand for them being treated badly.

“Come on, eat up,” Hunter announces, standing and putting his plate in the dishwasher. “We need to get going soon. Curfew came into effect ten minutes ago, and the streets should be clear. I want to get to the human zone and the pegasus’s house while it’s still dark. The less humans who see us around, the better.”

“The human zone will probably still be busy, since they don’t have a curfew,” Brodie points out.

“My grandparents’ village is out of the city a ways. I wouldn’t worry too much. Nox’s place is secluded, and there are no houses around. We should be able to get in without being detected.”

“Okay, good. We’ll leave in half an hour,” Hunter warns us, and the rest of us finish eating as he disappears, probably to brief his dad on our departure.

Chapter

Twenty-Three

Colbie

We move quickly through the neutral zone, keeping to the back alleys and arriving at the checkpoint without too many hassles. A human man is waiting for us there. He hands us the keys to a car and an access pass to open the gate to the parking structure. He nods his head at me and wishes us a safe trip to visit my grandparents, though I can see by the speculation in his gaze that he knows we are doing something completely different.

Of course he does. There would be a record of my grandparents entering the neutral zone and staying, but it seems like General Bryson’s counterpart is going to look the other way. Hopefully that means he isn’t in on the plan to take me out before I can accept the crown. He disappears into the checkpoint office as we climb into a large black car that fits all seven of us. Hunter takes the wheel, and Micah is in the passenger seat. Brodie, Gem, and Gryffin are in the middle row, then Liam andI are in the back. Liam looks a little squashed, and I wrinkle my nose.

“Maybe we should take two cars. Nox isn’t going to be able to fit in here with us if we find him,” I reason as Hunter pulls the car out of the parking structure and onto the road. It’s clear, with no other traffic coming and going from the neutral zone.

“Hunter or I can fly if we find him, but probably me because I can cloak myself from human view.”

“Gem’s right. I’d rather us all stick together than worry about being separated if we are attacked,” Gryffin says, and the car falls silent. Only the quiet sound of music playing over the radio can be heard above the sound of the tires on the road as we make our way to the city. The roads stay relatively empty, and it takes a lot less time to get to my grandparents’ village than it did on the bus. There’s no constant stopping and starting to let people on and off.

When we get to the village, I give him directions to Nox’s off-road track to get to his cottage. When Hunter pulls in behind it, there are no lights shining through any of the windows, but then again, he wouldn’t expect company at almost three in the morning. We pile out of the car, but I hold up my hand as the others head toward the house.