It was late, well after one o'clock in the morning if she had to guess, and the alcove dark. Sam lay on her back, one arm across the pillow above her head, the other idly playing with the blanket while she watched her mate pace back and forth. His long legs took him four steps across the room before he turned with a little jiggle and retraced his steps. There was something incredibly sexy about such a powerful male doing something as domestic as walking the room with his young. Of course, after weeks of no sex just about anything Nafarius did caused her body to tighen and warm with desire.
Bare chested, a pair of low slung jeans hanging off his hips, Nafarius cooed quietly to his infant daughter. The small young wiggled in his arms, staring up into his face and knawing on a fist. If he didn't know any better Nafarius would have sworn that there was a look of accusation in those too knowing eyes.
"I'm well aware that I don't have what you want," he whispered, a touch of humor edging his voice. "But I think we both agree it's best to let mommy sleep, unlike you she's not much of a morning person." A sqwack followed by more furious sucking was the only indication he got that his daughter disagreed.
Sam chuckled and pushed herself up. "I'm awake." A quick peak into the bassinet beside their bed confirmed that Zane slept peacefully, dead to the world while his sister shifted restlessly in their father's arms.
"She's hungry," Nafarius said, coming to stand beside the bed.
"What's new?" Sam asked with a smile and reached for her daughter.
"I thought to let you sleep," Nafarius said, "but it's not me she wants."
Sam laughed softly as Nafarius handed the young to her. Sensing her mother, Kaysen grew eager, rooting around until she found what she was looking for.
Sam's labor had been fast and furious with Kaysen arriving several minutes before her brother. The running joke was that Kaysen had grown impatient, pushed her brother aside and forced her way into the world with Zane following only to stave off loneliness.
The two couldn't be more different. Kaysen was constantly in motion, rarely slept and ate like a piglet while Zane seemed content to watch the world go by. Opposite even in coloring, Zane had his mother's black hair while Kaysen was all red fire like her father. The only thing they shared was their mother's green eyes.
In the weeks since the twins were born life had taken on a dream like quality, the days and nights moving with the flow and needs of the new babies. Sam had easily adjusted to the twins' schedule, sleeping when they slept and catching meals between their feedings. Nafarius was shouldering most of the responsibilities as leader, allowing Sam to spend her days with the twins and the other mothers within the pack. Eventually she would start to hand off some of the duties for the twins' care to one or two carefully chosen pack members and return to Nafarius' side as leader. But until then she was content to spend her days driven by the needs of her young.
"Nervous?" Nafarius asked. He stood leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest and his bare feet crossed at the ankles.
"No," Sam said. Looking up from where Kaysen nursed, she couldn't help but admire her mate. He was all tall, long and lethal grace. Just looking at him made her pulse race and her mouth water.
Nafarius caught his mate watching him, saw the want and the invitation in her eyes and felt his body harden in response. Flush from sleep, her skin pink and hair mussed, Sam looked warm and inviting. She had always been beautiful but her recent pregnancy seemed to have added a lushness to her curves that made her down right edible.
"Sam," Nafarius growled warningly.
"What?" she purred, not even bothering to try for innocent.
"Stop looking at me like that before I toss you on your back and part your pretty thighs," he said, his voice low with the onset of desire. His body was hard and tense, every instinct in him urging him to lunge, to take down his mate and remind her who she belonged to.
"Promises, promises," she asked, feeling her body warm and start to go soft.
Nafarius bit back a reply. She was baiting him and they both knew it. Sam had tried to entice him back into their bed and into her body for the past few weeks. Only his committment to see her fully healed had prevented him from taking what she so readily offered. Pushing images of his mate spread out naked and open before him aside, he said, "You'll have to wait. I want to talk about tomorrow."
Sam frowned. "I don't."
"Too bad," Nafarius said and sighed. "Tomorrow is a big day and we need to talk about it."
"You're right," Sam said. "It is a big day but I don't want to talk about it - not tonight. I want to enjoy one last carefree night with my mate and our young before tomorrow changes everything."
He frowned and watched as Sam slipped Kaysen back into the bassinet beside her brother. Zane instantly shifted until he was snuggled up close to his sister. Nafarius had never thought about it like that, never once thought that Sam might have doubts or fears. She was always so strong, so certain of herself and everyone around her that it was hard to believe she might be worried. "It doesn't have to change anything," he said.
"No," Sam agreed, "but we both know that it will."
"Nothing important," he said. "Besides, you might not be able to shift."
Sam gave him a look, it was the same look she gave him when there were others around and she wanted him to stop being an ass.
Sam had decided to wait after the twins' birth before attempting to shift for the first time. Most werewolves changed within hours of giving birth. After months in human form it was necessary, it also helped in the healing process. But Sam had healed well on her own and decided that she didn't want to try changing until she was ready to try shifting into a new form for the first time.
Over the past several weeks they had talked, often times late into the night, with the sound of the twins sleeping softly beside them. Sam was certain she could shift. It was a certainty she hadn't shared yet with Nafarius. Not because she didn't trust him but because she knew that once she shifted, once it was a certainty, things would change.
"Will it matter to you?" she asked quietly. "Will it matter to you if I'm not a werewolf? If I'm something...else?"
Nafarius heard the worry in Sam's voice and felt his heart clench. "If there is one thing you never have to worry about it's how I feel about you. Nothing can change my love for you."
Pushing away from the wall Nafarius pealed off his jeans and slipped back into bed. She came willingly into his arms, the heat of her pressed up against his side as they lay quietly in the dark. After a while he said, "The only thing that matters to me is that you're safe and happy. I don't care about the rest."
"But what if...?" she started.
Nafarius cut her off. "It doesn't matter, no matter what happens we'll deal with it."
Sam sighed; she knew it wasn't that simple but let the matter drop. She had meant it when she said that she didn't want to spend this last night talking about tomorrow.
Turning towards Nafarius, Sam slid her thigh up his leg until she was able to press herself against his hip. At the same time she brushed her fingertips across the hard planes of his abdomen. "I spoke with Lillian yesterday."
Nafarius growled low in his throat as the heat of her seared his skin. "And?"
Sam nuzzled her nose under the curve of Nafarius' jaw, nudging him slightly. "She said I've had plenty of time to heal."
Nafarius tipped his head to the side giving his mate access to his neck. It was a position he offered no others. "Is that the official 'all clear' from a Healer?" Nafarius hadn't made love to his mate in so long that the need to do so was quickly becoming a living, breathing being beneath his skin.
Sam licked at the pulse point in Nafarius' neck before sinking her teeth into his skin. It was all the confirmation Nafarius needed. Rolling quickly, he pinned her beneath him. Using his knees he spread her thighs wide and positioned himself at her entrance.
"This time is for me," he said. Panting, he struggled to hold himself still. "Next time will be for you," he promised and thrust home.
Nafarius threw his head back and howled as tight, wet heat surrounded him. Somewhere in the back of his mind he recognized that she was wet and ready for him and silently thanked the gods. He didn't think he could stop himself from thrusting again and again had her body not been ready.
Sam arched her back; pressing her heels into the blankets she lifted her hips and welcomed Nafarius home. She felt herself stretch, working to accommodate his cock and thrilled at the feeling of being full for the first time in weeks.
It was hard and fast, the slap of flesh against flesh echoing wet and loud throughout their alcove. With their faces close their breath mingled as they panted their way towards climax.
Nafarius stared down into the face of his mate, watching her as pleasure softened her features and brought a flush to her skin. "Kiss me," he said and bent his head.
Sam met him halfway. Slanting her mouth across his lips, she sealed their lips together and plunged into his mouth. Like their love making, the kiss was hard and desperate, as if they would devour each other rather than part.
Breaking the kiss, Nafarius pushed his upper body away from Sam and stared down to where they were joined. He watched as his cock slammed into her again and again, the sight bringing him close to completion. Wanting her to join him, Nafarius reached between their bodies and rubbed at her clit.
Sam withered beneath her mate. Pressing her pussy more firmly into his hand she met each of his thrust and encouraged him to work her clit harder. "Oh, god, don't stop."
"Never," Nafarius assured her before shifting the angle of his hips. Wrapping his hand around her leg, he pulled her knee up passed his hip and held it to his chest. The new position granted him greater access to her pussy, driving the head of his cock up against her cervix. Nafarius groaned and slowed the thrust of his strokes letting them both feel every inch of his cock as he pressed between the swollen walls of her pussy. Beneath him Sam shifted, rolling her pelvis up to meet each of his downward strokes.
The walls of her pussy continued to swell, gripping him tighter as she drew closer to completion. Gritting his teeth, Nafarius struggled to hold on to his climax, to give them a few more delicious strokes of his cock before emptying himself deep within her body.
"Nafarius," Sam whimpered, release no more then a single stroke away. "Please."
"You're mine," Nafarius growled. "No matter what happens."
"Yes!"
"Let me hear you say it," he demanded. "Tell me you're mine."
