9781618854704HolidayGemBeckNC Read online

  Seamus balanced on his elbows above Gemma so he wouldn’t crush her tiny body. He watched her pretty, cinnamon eyes, now nearly red, flutter open and stare back at him as a smile lit up her face. Her cheeks were flushed and never before had she been more beautiful.

  “Keep watching me while I move inside you. I want to see your every reaction,” Seamus leaned down to whisper into her ear. Then he used one hand at her center, lightly brushing the soft red curls before finding her wet folds. His finger eased inside and Gemma let out a gasp. He brushed kisses on her damp forehead to allow her a few moments to become acclimated to his touch. He planned to see to her pleasure without hurting her. Her first time would need to be perfect and Seamus was certain he was capable of the calling.

  While still moving his single finger gently in and out of her, Seamus lowered his mouth to her breasts, greedy for a taste of the sweet pink nipples pointing toward him. His tongue licked while his teeth nipped softly. Seamus grinned when Gemma pushed up against him to seek greater sensation.

  As he kissed below the under swell of her breast, Seamus saw her sign of the Magdalena Circle. This sign marked her as one of their members. Mindful of its sensitivity, he suckled on the spot that bore her sign, pulling the warm skin into his mouth and licking it with his tongue. Goddess, he wanted to savor his mate. Without realizing it, he had been starving for this connection and Gemma was his treasure.

  Seamus pulled his finger out and stroked her curls. He skimmed her core to determine that her body was ready for him to enter her. Valendite Breeds were large and his mate was as tiny as a pixie. Gemma seemed so fragile to him. Everything about her was tiny and he was certain it would be a snug fit. She was wet and as he continued stroking her, she moaned louder.

  “Tell me what you’re feeling, beautiful,” Seamus asked her. “Do you feel ready? I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “Oh, Seamus, I can feel your desire. Not only my desire but yours too,” Gemma fought for the breath to finish her words. “I am so ready for this.”

  “Me too.Goddess, me too. This connection is incredible.” Seamus returned her smile before issuing a warning, “But you have to tell me if I hurt you. I promise to slow down or even stop if you need me to.” He was serious but the grin she gave him said she did not intend to stop him. His Snow White was going to see this through so it was his job to make sure she felt amazing.

  Seamus shook all thoughts of hurting her away. He let his need to claim Gemma cascade over him and fill all his senses until all he could hear, see and smell was Gemma. She was perfect for him and he would be sure he was perfect in return. There could be nothing less. He stroked her with a firmer touch and added another finger as he entered her again. Her body bowed but the sigh she gave assured him.

  Gemma gazed up at him with curious eyes. Small bursts of colored light released from her body. Just as his father had once told him, their womens’ powers were like lightning bugs in the night sky. It was Gemma’s magic and it was striking in its powerful intent. Seamus recognized it as her body calling to him, her mate. Gemma needed him.

  Seamus spread her legs a bit wider, stroked her calves and slid himself down ever so slowly as his cock entered her channel for the first time. When the head of his shaft pressed against her barrier, Seamus leaned down to press his lips against hers. Soon their tongues were dancing and he felt Gemma relax right before he tilted his hips forward to press fully inside of her.

  Gemma gasped into his mouth, a slight breath against his teeth, before she kissed him again with more fervor this time. Gemma nipped at his lip until he felt the sting of her bite and tasted his own blood. She lapped at his lip and sucked it into her mouth. A moan escaped him at the sensation of her drawing from him.

  Out of his mind, Seamus acted instinctually. His restraint for which he was famous was now gone. With Gemma’s body fully open to him, Seamus pulled out and ran his rigid shaft along the outside of her folds, drawing the moisture, and then he pushed himself in again.

  “You ready for a ride?” Seamus smirked as he sought Gemma’s reassurance she was okay.

  “Just waiting on you, big guy,” Gemma answered back. Then before she could do any more, Seamus pushed himself in until his sack rested against her ass. Their eyes remained connected to one another, watching all the emotion swirling inside them and around them through her powers, and Seamus watched carefully for signs for when her body became fully accustomed to him before he began to move.

  “I hate to keep a lady waiting,” Seamus warned. His jaw, which was tight with the force of holding himself back, now relaxed into a grin as Seamus pulled out and pushed his way back in again.

  “Oh, Goddess,” Gemma shrieked as he watched a barrage of sensations bombard her. She looked beautiful with her red hair surrounding her, and her flawless body spread out below him. Small droplets of sweat had formed just above her top lip and he leaned down to lick it off her. Gemma radiated beauty as her eyes gleamed with lust. Thank you, Goddess, for my mate.

  Seamus built into a rhythm more forceful than he could ever remember using with a human woman. Forgotten was his concern for hurting her. This felt too perfect to worry about something being wrong with it. And his need was so great that he couldn’t stop himself from indulging his power if he tried at this point. Everything was beyond the stopping point.

  Gemma’s breathing sped up and she fought for breath as her back arched with each of Seamus’ thrusts. She latched onto his neck and sucked at his salty skin. The sensation sent a rush of need pulsing through his veins. He wanted to bite into her-to take her at her life’s vein-but he’d take that part slowly. While he’d taken blood his entire life, this would be new for Gemma. He wouldn’t frighten her. Goddess, he wouldn’t want to cause a panic attack!

  He was forced from his stray thoughts as he felt her push back against him, affirming she felt good with the tempo he’d set. He placed his hands under her buttocks to raise her hips off the bed now. With each globe of her ass held in his large hands, Seamus found the spot that would blow her mind. It wasn’t long before he felt her shudder. Gemma was close. He was close himself.

  Seamus moved his thumb around to her clit and pressed it. Gemma’s scream pierced the room and vibrated inside Seamus as her inner muscles squeezed his cock and took him over the edge with her. He shook but continued to hold her and pump. He slipped his arms under her back, drew her up to him and sucked on her lip again. This time, he used one of his sharp teeth to bite her lower lip and instantly drew blood. The scent alone raised his arousal again but the taste was even better. The life-sustaining blood he took from his brothers as an unmated Breed didn’t have such a rich essence. Now that he tasted of his mate, nothing else-no one else-would ever sustain him again.

  “Seamus?” Gemma pulled her mouth from his and looked up at him quizzically.

  “Yes?” Seamus was confused when she broke the rhythm of their lovemaking and seemed to pull away. What had he done?

  “I want you to drink from my vein while we make love.” Gemma implored him with not only her husky voice but also the half-lidded eyes. “I want it all. Now. I’m greedy, remember?” Gemma stuck out her bottom lip and pouted. Goddess, she was irresistible like that as she asked him to claim her. This was something Seamus thought he’d never be lucky enough to find.

  “Shit. This goes against my better judgment, but I get the sense I might do that a lot with you,” Seamus grinned as he brought his mouth down along her neck to find the pulsing of her life vein.

  A few licks to her salty skin and then Seamus sunk his teeth into her vein and felt the burst of her blood on his tongue. He moaned in pleasure and allowed himself to dream of the many wonders that were his mate. Moving his shaft again inside her channel while he pulled the blood from her neck was exquisite. Seamus felt each tendon as Gemma’s cunt grabbed him to hold him inside her. His mate met him thrust for thrust.

  Gemma pushed her hips against him as he penetrated her with both cock and teeth. She screamed again as she
came for a second time. For a tiny woman, she had extraordinary strength as her inner walls locked onto him and drew out every ounce of life it had to give. Seamus never remembered a time he had come harder. His rigid shaft refused to soften which he now remembered mated males bragging about. Seamus was pleased because it meant he couldn’t separate from his mate until they were assured a complete joining. And as mates, this had the possibility of allowing for off-spring. The thought pleased him.

  As Gemma came down from her orgasm, her tongue tangled with his in a lazy, contented kiss. Her blood mixed with the slight residual flavor of his semen on her tongue. It was an intoxicating blend. Seamus would remember this moment for always, as their bodies remained connected. For the rest of their time on earth, he and Gemma would take their sustenance from one another. As a woman in the Magdalena Circle, she was a destined mate of a Valendite Breed. While she provided him strength and life through her blood, his blood would bring her lengthened life. They would live and die together.

  Seamus rolled them to a comfortable position on the bed but remained inside of Gemma. They held one other and waited for sleep to claim them. She needed her rest after such a stressful day, and he needed to hold her.

  Chapter Four

  The phone ringing woke Seamus and Gemma from their sleep. Realizing that sunlight was pouring in through the blinds, Gemma knew they had slept soundly through the night. This wasn’t something she was accustomed to. Gemma would often wake throughout the night with the feeling of needing to accomplish something. She tried to sit up and find the phone, but she didn’t have enough time to react before Seamus was out of bed and on full alert.

  Gemma listened as he spoke to whoever had called. She was now torn and honestly, still a bit fuzzy on the events of yesterday. She took a few deep breaths, feeling nearly overwhelmed until Seamus rested his hand on her leg and she felt herself calm. Despite how he reassured her, Seamus seemed stressed.

  “We’ll check in as soon as Gage and Nicolaus arrive.” After not even a goodbye, Seamus ended the call and sought her out with his eyes. Gemma felt a twinge in her stomach. Goddess, how had this all happened so quickly?

  “Give me a minute,” Seamus said before slipping out of bed and heading to the bathroom. When he returned-in literally that single minute he’d asked for-he kneeled at her side. “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m not sure. I just got this terrible pain in my stomach. It’s as if something has upset me but I have no idea what. Honestly,” Gemma breathed through the pain, not wanting to upset Seamus since she already saw him grow concerned. Then she realized what it was and laughed. “Oh Goddess. It’s our bond. Something on that call got you upset.”

  “How do you know?”

  “When one of us feels an intense emotion, it can cause the other to actually feel physically ill. And now that I’m touching you, I can more easily read your emotions and I’m pretty sure I can feel my emotion reflected back at me,” Gemma explained. She was fascinated by experiencing this first-hand after reading so much about the mating bond.

  “Is there anything you don’t know?” Seamus teased, now relaxed to know nothing was wrong with Gemma.

  “There’s plenty I’m expecting you to teach me,” Gemma raised her eyebrows and grinned as Seamus pulled her against him. Heat instantly pooled at her core. Taking a deep breath and allowing his nostrils to flare, Seamus shivered in desire but Gemma pushed him away. “But not now.”

  “We only have a short time before more TEU agents join us.”

  “Exactly. And I want to use that time for you to tell me what’s wrong. Maybe it will help ease us both?”

  “Do you remember anything from the airstrip before you had your panic attack?” Seamus asked.

  “I know our plans needed to change because the mission didn’t go as planned.”

  “Right. I was forced to leave behind another TEU agent. Donovan isn’t just a TEU agent though. He’s my best friend,” Seamus paused and seemed to be lost in his memories. “We’ve done everything together since we were children. I don’t even remember life without him,” Seamus’s throat tightened. “I have to get him back.”

  “How will you do that?”

  “The other agents are coming with more details. Since we believed it to be an easy extraction, we hadn’t brought all our equipment and tools of the trade. Now we go in blazing.”

  “Blazing?” Gemma was afraid she knew what he meant.

  “We can’t let one of our own be captured. I doubled-back just to get reinforcements. Now we’ll return for him. Since there’s no real way to kill Van, especially since it isn’t likely they know his Breed, we have to assume he’s being tortured. I just don’t know for what,” Seamus explained everything so openly with Gemma. The trust he had in her felt good.

  “Thank you, Seamus.”

  “For what?”

  “For telling me everything, for sharing it all with me. I didn’t know if this would be a secret part of your life…” Gemma’s words were cut off when Seamus pressed his lips to hers.

  The kiss was soft, gentler than the night before. The tenderness of Seamus’s touch caused something to bloom inside Gemma as she realized she’d not been overwhelmed by these events. She’d not begun to panic once. It just might be that the Claiming released the panic attacks since they were so much a part of her soul sin. It left her also wondering about her greed for knowledge. Would she still be interested in research? Turning her thoughts back to Seamus, Gemma decided only time would tell. Right now, in this moment, she simply wanted to enjoy her mate.

  * * * *

  Seamus greeted Gage and Nicolaus at the front door of the Sinster’s home. Standing aside, he let them pass into the foyer before he closed the door again. There was a long silence. The two men simply stood looking at him, at his neck specifically.

  “What the hell, Seam?” Gage asked.

  “What?”

  “Look at your neck,” Gage jerked his head to the side towards the mirror.

  When Seamus moved to look at himself, he sighed. There would be no hiding what he’d been up to. Clearing his throat, Seamus squared his shoulders, drew up to his full height and said, “I found my mate.”

  “Holy hell,” Nicolaus laughed before attempting to cover it as a cough.

  “Nice,” Gage said with a grin splitting his face. “The free-loving bachelor falls. Glad I’m here to see this.”

  “This’ll be a shocker to Donovan,” Nicolaus continued to laugh.

  “Oh, shit yea. Your days of playing wingman to each other are over.” Gage shook his head.

  “Let’s focus on getting Van back. Neither of you need to worry about any of that shit. Now, Gemma will be down soon so let’s get ourselves set up. She said to use the dining room.” Seamus led the men who each carried large metal cases towards the dining room.

  Despite the room being quite large since the Sinsters had such a big family, the three of them filled the space as each of them took residence in front of a computer screen. The Valendite Breed lineage meant they were large men, purposely built as machines of destruction during the Italian Wars centuries ago. At one time hidden from the world, the TEU now worked closely with the CIA heads to eliminate the world’s most heinous criminals. They were brought in for their stealth in eliminating potential world disasters. In Seamus’ opinion, it was genius of the US government to strike a partnership with the Valendite Breed, but it was equally smart for the government to keep the alliance a highly confidential one.

  Caedon’s voice came out from the speaker in the center of the table. “I’ve got a secure connection. All three of you there? Alone?”

  “Alone for now. Gemma is going to join us in a few minutes.”

  “We’re reading her in?” Caedon asked. Though Seamus suspected he didn’t like the idea, his voice maintained an air of neutrality.

  “Yes. What I know, she knows.”

  “Okay. She’s your mate so it’s your call.” Caedon then turned his focus onto this mission. �
�Donovan isn’t in the compound he entered. In fact, surveillance from satellites show him exiting not long after he was to meet you. The question is why he hasn’t been in contact. That we can’t answer.”

  “So we go in and find out,” Gage spoke up. “I reviewed every piece of documentation we were given on this family. Intel says there should’ve been nothing out of the ordinary. What could’ve compromised the mission?”

  “We’ve got nothing to answer that. I’ve made contact with our CIA connection and he’s looking into it to see what they have but the original intel came from them so I’m not sure they’ll get anything else useful for us.”

  “We go in blind?” Seamus questioned.

  “’We’ is relative.” Madden’s voice chimed in. “Seamus, you’ll stay there with Gemma while we send Nicolaus with Gage. They’ll drive in since it’s likely an air evacuation will be suspected.”

  “No,” Seamus stated emphatically. “He’s the closest thing I have to a brother. I can’t just sit here.”

  “You have a mate now, Seamus, a mate that is going to help sustain our race. You cannot be away from her.” Madden’s voice was firm but Seamus wasn’t prepared to let this go.

  Just as Seamus was prepared with his response-an ultimatum-he felt a soft hand at his back and smelled the lavender scent of his mate surround him. Taking a breath, Seamus centered himself and then heard Gemma speak.