Page 30 of Hunted Ink by Trisha Linde

As the night wore on, the wolves started to get louder. They’d turned on Mario Kart, and nobody was left out of their smack talk. Sierra jumped off the couch as she won first place and jammed a finger in Oliver’s face. “Take that! Bend over and—”

“Ahem,” North said, gesturing to the toddler in his lap who was absorbing every word like a greedy little sponge.

“Um… Bend over and pet the puppy,” she corrected, before sitting back down, and the two of them got to elbowing each other.

Joel, who was sitting on the other couch beside me, stared down into his cup, frowning. “I swear I’ve had like five of these margaritas, and I’m not even buzzed yet.”

“Huh, that’s weird,” his mate said. North and I shared a look behind Joel’s back, and I smothered a laugh.

Human senses were nowhere near as attuned as shifters. Joel hadn’t even noticed how his mate had swapped out his drinks…

The thought trailed off as a little bell jingled in the back of my mind. Swapping… My smile slipped straight off my face. Swapping, like when Kedi had painted runes on my skin with mud and moss. Pater hadn’t even noticed it wasn’t wolfsbane. Maybe they wouldn’t notice if I changed out all the wolfsbane at the compound… What would happen if none of the hunters were being drugged? If they all heard the voice of their beast in their head like I did, maybe it would be enough to help them slip their leash.

Chapter 19

Kedi

Apollo had been distracted for the past hour, but every time I asked him what was wrong, he played it off like it was nothing. “It’s not important. I’ll tell you tomorrow. Right now, we’re celebrating. You’re the only thing that matters. You and our baby.”

I couldn’t even argue with him when he was being so sweet. He was so sweet, in fact, that he deserved a special celebration, just the two of us. I eased off his lap, and using our laced fingers, I pulled him off the couch.

“Where are we going?” he asked, though there was no doubt in either of our minds what kind of party we were in the mood for.

Multiple sets of eyes followed us as we made our way toward my bedroom, and even before I closed the door, I heard them all making their excuses. “Wow, look at the time. I have to be up early…”

“Please don’t leave me here alone with them,” Norman whined drunkenly.

“Come on, then, bunny,” Oliver slurred. “You can come stay at my place tonight.” Aw, that was nice of him to offer.

Apollo and I really needed to find our own place. We couldn’t keep displacing my poor roommate. As guilty as I felt, though, there was no chance I was going to be able to keep quiet tonight. My motor was already revving pretty high.

“Get on the bed,” I said in a stern, no-nonsense voice, and he stripped off his clothes in record time and launched himself onto my bed, practically vibrating as he eagerly awaited my next command. I opened the bedside drawer and pulled out a little treat.

Apollo’s eyes brightened as he chuckled. “A little cliché, don’t you think?”

“I prefer the term classic.” I spun the fuzzy pink handcuffs around my finger before crawling seductively onto the bed beside him. “Arms up.”

He obeyed without question, already hard and glistening with precum, cock bobbing as the handcuffs clicked shut. “How’s that?” I asked.

He gave them an experimental tug, metal rattling against the wood frame. “A little tighter."

I wasn’t sure that was necessary but did as he asked. I was nothing if not accommodating.

With him restrained, I slid back off the bed and took my time getting undressed. His eyes ate up every inch of skin as it was bared, and the slower I went, the more agitated he became. “Please tell me you won’t be teasing me mercilessly all night. I need you to touch me.” He wiggled his hips, his swaying cock stealing my attention.

“I’ll touch you when I’m good and ready,” I said roughly, though in truth, I was way beyond ready. These pregnancy hormones were no joke. It was the worst kind of torture for me to be away from my mate—there was never a good time for it, but especially after finding out we were expecting a pup of our own. I’d been craving his taste on my tongue, dreaming of him every night and waking up dripping with slick.

I prowled along the side of the bed, admiring my mate, arms above his head, stretched taut for me. There was no doubt that this was a body that had been trained for violence, yet there was nothing but compliant obedience now. He stared at me with those green eyes full of love and desperate yearning.

His body was packed with muscle, with broad shoulders and a tapered waist, but he didn’t have the kind of cut build guys got from time spent in the gym. This was a more natural shape of a man who worked hard but still appreciated good food as much as I did, with a bit of padding around the middle.

As I reached out and traced a finger up his abs, a shiver ran through him, muscles flexing as he strained against the cuffs, and his eyes drifted shut as if to savor the feeling. “You’re killing me,” he said on a groan.

“Not yet I’m not,” I teased. “Not until after I’ve had my way with you.”

I paused briefly at the Order’s mark tattooed on his pec, but I refused to linger on the negative. We were supposed to be celebrating. So instead, I moved a little south and tweaked his nipple lightly.

He jolted in surprise, then laughed, his eyelids cracking open to peek at me. “Such a tease.”