STORY EXCERPT 

“It’s okay, Alexi,” I said gently as my mate came back around. “You’re safe. You passed out for a moment there.”

He blinked his eyes at me several times, trying to shake off the fog of sleep. The deep, deep brown eyes made me want to purr every time I looked at them. They were so dark that most people would have thought they were black if they hadn’t been paying attention. I was though. They were beautiful and so was my mate. And his eyes expressed everything he was feeling. I’d learned that in the few short days I knew him.

And he was afraid right now.

“Because none of you are human,” he whimpered and pulled away from me. I let him put a little space between us on the bed, but he wasn’t getting any further than that until he heard me out.

“Well, technically that’s not true,” I replied gently as I leaned over his tall, toned body and placed my hand outside his hip. He’d gotten far enough away. “Otis is human, along with five other mates who live here. Bren, the policeman, is human. We can’t be bad if there’s a cop mated to one of us, right? The only ones that aren’t human are us Smith brothers. And that’s not really our names. Would you like to know what we are?”

“Mate?” he whispered, but I chose to ignore that right then. I knew if I explained everything, Alexi would see that there was nothing to fear.

“We can get back to us being mates later.” I waved it off and closed my hazel eyes, wondering where to begin. I tended to ramble whenever I opened my mouth, especially when nervous. Which was normally when I was around people…ever.

I couldn’t help it. I was so different from my family growing up and even my brothers now. I was closer to them than anyone else on the planet, but still, I always felt I didn’t fit in. I didn’t always get their jokes, or know what to say, and I was so much younger than most of them. A baby in elf standards, so I always felt like odd man out.

I snapped out of my thoughts and started explaining to Alexi that we were elves. We were from the North Pole, and we weren’t fans of Christmas or Santa. And I in particular hated those stupid pine trees people decorated. All the sap, and sharp needles, and then you had to make sure they had water. Even the fake ones were…

“Shit.” I sighed with feeling. I’d rambled my mate right back into passing out. Dumb. Ass.

I stared at my gorgeous mate, pushing a lock of his thick, black hair off his forehead. Alexi. I wondered if that was Slavic with a last name like Domitrivich. But then he had the soft, full, curly hair of someone with Greek descent. I think. I’d never been good at placing people or figuring out nationalities.

Maybe because it didn’t matter to me ever. I only cared what was inside a person. I was seeing some guy once, over a decade ago, and he was always making sure people knew he was Austrian. When we met, I remember him asking me what I was.

“Human, of course,” I had answered, shocked he might doubt I was otherwise.

“Well, of course you are, hot stuff,” he said in an accent. It was heavy but not as if he was just learning to speak English. “Where are you from?”

“Chicago.”

“No, no, no. Where is your family from?”

“Chicago,” I answered again with a raised brow and nodded as if that would help him understand. Maybe I needed to speak slower?

“Yes, but what is your descent?”

“Ohhh,” I drawled. “I’m an American.”

“Yes, but where did your family come from before America.” He looked as if he was getting frustrated, and the feeling was mutual.

“I don’t know,” I lied, knowing full well but not planning to tell him the truth about being an elf.

“Have you no pride?” he asked, his eyes going wide. “How can you not know your descent?”

“I have pride,” I huffed and started to get really annoyed at the audacity of this conversation. “I have pride that I’m an American. I am a born and bred Chicagoan. Nothing else matters to me.”

“See, this is the problem with Americans. Back in Austria—”

“How long have you lived in America?” I asked, raising an eyebrow with a frown on my face, too.

“Twelve years, but—” he answered, but I cut him off again.

“Then maybe you should have realized after living here this long that Americans don’t like to be told what’s wrong with Americans from guests in our country. If your country is so great, then why the fuck are you here? I am an American, and if you don’t like that answer, too bad. I didn’t fucking ask you. And get over yourself or leave our country.”

“Why you—” he started.

“Amen, brother,” someone said from behind us. We both turned to see several sailors from Great Lakes Naval Base standing behind me. They all gave up a cheer and started singing the National Anthem in front of my date. He shook his head in disgust and stormed out of the bar.

“I hate guys like that,” one of the sailors said after introducing himself to me. I nodded and started subtly flirting with the hottie in front of me, my date already forgotten. Yeah, I totally went home with two of the sailors that night and never heard from my Austrian date again. Fine by me.

“What are you thinking about?” Alexi asked me softly, snapping me out of the memory. I glanced down into his big brown eyes. This time he didn’t even attempt to move away from me. 

ADULT EXCERPT 

“Elves take mating very seriously. We see mates as a gift to make us complete. If I ever betrayed you, I’d instantly be stripped of my magic by the gods, which is a part of my very essence and would kill me. You’d keep your immortality and be free of our bond. If you ever strayed or betrayed me, it could kill me as well. I’m not sure. I do know that we can’t be apart more than a week at a time without it affecting me, maybe permanently.”

I glanced over at him then and was a complete bastard as I listened in to his thoughts. He was shocked there were such frightful consequences but not worried. He never wanted to be with anyone else or anywhere that wasn’t near me. I felt tears gather in my eyes.

“You were listening,” he said with a soft smile.

“I’m sorry. I’m not good at reading people and I had to know,” I whispered, ashamed with myself.

“I understand, Chiquita.” My eyes went wide at that. “You’re doing the asking here. You’re telling me what you want, saved my life, and already said you loved me from the moment you realized I was your mate. You’re going out on a limb here and anyone would want to be sure if they could. I’m not mad.”

“Thank you,” I whispered and wiped my eyes. “I’ll do my best to control myself at people touching you. When Dr. James did that echo on you and touched your naked chest, I wanted to rip his throat out. Other people’s scent on you will drive me crazy.”

“I’m not a touchy-feely person with anyone but you, so that shouldn’t be a problem.”

“I can control it, but you need to understand how jealous we can be. And you know you’ll become immortal, but you won’t gain any magic from me other than being able to teleport to me at any time if you want. Elves are very sexual creatures. Under the circumstances when we met it’s been no big thing because obviously your heart getting better was priority.”

“And now?” Alexi purred as he laid his head on my shoulder.

“I’ve been so fucking hard from the moment you woke up and smiled at me,” I answered with a groan. “I want to sink my cock in your firm ass, take you to places you’ve never been sexually, and bite you to start the claiming process.”

“Sounds good.” He chuckled and placed his hand on my thigh. “Tell me what the claiming process is.”

“We have to have witnesses,” I said hesitantly. “We have sex while exchanging blood and ceremonial words that bind us. Our souls and bodies will mate and from that moment on we become one.”

“Sounds nice.” He ran his fingers over the bulge in my jeans, and I whimpered as I spread my legs for him. “I have one request before we go home and do that.”

“Anything.”

“I don’t want our first time to be in front of your family. Will you take me here? Now? At your favorite place.”

“Oh, sweet fuck.” I was on his lap in a flash, my fingers curled in his thick hair as I slanted my mouth over his. I used my magic to wave away our clothes as my tongue plundered his mouth. “I can’t go slow this time, but I promise lots of foreplay in our future.”

“Good, because I’ve been dying to taste that cock I’ve seen tenting your jeans.” I groaned and mashed my lips against his. We finally were able to act on the passion that had been growing inside of us for each other. I stretched him magically, growling in approval at his gasp and cock twitching against me. I stood and pulled him with me, turning us and bending him over the top of the dugout on the first base line.

“Oh, fuck, this is so hot,” he moaned and spread his legs wide for me. “I’ve never felt so desired.”

“How’s your heart?” I asked hesitantly as I ran my hands over the firm mounds of his ass.

“Racing and beating better than it ever has in my life.” I could hear the sheer joy in his tone at his words. That worked for me. “Give me the fucking I could never have before,” he begged and pushed his ass back against my hands. “Please, Chiquita!”

“Anything my mate wants.” I lined up my cock with his hole and pushed inside of him in one long thrust. He cried out in pleasure as my eyes just about rolled back into my head. I grabbed his hips and gave a couple of soft jabs to make sure he had adjusted to my nine-inch-plus cock.

“I feel whole for the first time in my life,” he whispered in awe.

“Because of your heart?” I asked, not sure what he meant.

Alexi glanced at me over his shoulder. “Because the man who saved me loves me and is inside of me. I’ve never felt this peace and desire so strongly and at the same time.”

“And we’re just getting started,” I purred. He nodded and braced his hands better on the dugout as I slammed back into him.

“Oh, fuck. I’d forgotten how good sex is, and it was never even remotely like this,” he declared as I fucked him with everything I had. I grunted in reply and picked up the pace, taking him as no human could have. “Yes! Yes! Gonna come without even touching my dick.”

“Let me bite you,” I whimpered, realizing I’d not asked yet if I could. Alexi arched his back so I could reach his neck and tilted his head submissively. My fangs slid out and I didn’t hesitate. I bit him and drank down his life essence.