I knew the moment my blood slid down my tiger mate's throat. I felt my soul tingling and bursting in excitement. Our tiger mate was going to join us and make us whole again. I felt mine and Jeremy's spirits collide and pure bliss burst through every molecule of my body. I moaned in pleasure and allowed myself to absorb his essence. With each movement and caress of our souls I was filled with Jeremy's life. His hopes, dreams and aspirations. His pain regrets and fears. Even the horrors that he endured during his time with Grier.
I saw everything Jeremy was. I knew everything there was to know about my mate. His best and his worst and didn't shrink away from the things that scared or caused me pain. I embraced everything about him and I knew he was my perfect match. I was moaning in pleasure. My body was aching and I found my hips lifting and bucking against Jeremy's body. I felt him pull away from the place he'd just chosen to bite and mark. He was using his tongue to drive me completely nuts.
Jeremy was licking and touching me everywhere. His touch filled me with need and desire for him. My body was vibrating with pure pleasure. I felt his emotions shift and I knew he needed the same thing I needed. Completion, we needed to join our bodies together. I pulled his shirt and shorts off in two swift fluid motions. I had never before allowed myself to stand naked before a male and not become uncomfortable or self-conscious. I watched as Jeremy's eyes took in the sight of my body and I suddenly felt glorious and beautiful. I knew he felt as if I was the most perfect female he'd ever seen.
Jeremy's thoughts alone were enough to cause me to moan in pleasure yet again. I felt his eyes begin to roam over my naked body. He used his mouth to touch every square inch of my tingling flesh. His mouth finally found the place that was screaming with need and he touched me in ways that I'd never even allowed myself to think of without blushing. It felt so right and brought me such pure bliss. I was shaking with desire as I felt my body growing with pleasure. It built to a crescendo and filling like an active volcano, it burst from me with enough force to cause my body to lift from the ground and shake with absolute pleasure.
While my body was still recovering from the pleasure Jeremy had just given me I felt him push himself between my legs and slowly enter me. I'd been told to expect some pain before pleasure but I never felt pain. Heat and warmth came with each movement of Jeremy's hips. I was filled with joy unlike anything I had ever felt in my life. I allowed my hands to rest on his buttocks and squeeze with each thrust of his hips. I felt myself building in pleasure and knew that again I was going to explode.
Almost in perfect unison Jeremy and I found fulfillment. I felt tears of joy and happiness leak from my eyes. I felt Jeremy gently and softly lick the salty tears from my face. Then he placed his lips on mine and filled my soul with serenity. I was finally home with Jeremy. All our past problems and misunderstandings would stay in the past. Jeremy would dominate me but not smother me. He would look to me as a partner and equal. I somehow knew I would never again have to accept the unacceptable. I wouldn't have to pretend to be weak or simple minded. Jeremy was man enough to accept my strength and my intelligence as an asset.
Unlike the males I had grown up with, Jeremy would treat me with respect and allow me to make my own decisions. Jeremy respected me more like my Uncle Nik than my dad. Knowing that I wouldn't be kept of a shelf or forced to allow Jeremy to dictate my life I felt every single apprehension I had about our relationship slip away. My eyes grew heavy and I slipped into a peaceful and very happy sleep.
I awoke abruptly and found myself being quickly covered by what I assumed was the tent cloth. I could feel strong emotions of concern and even a touch of foreboding coming off of Jeremy in waves. I knew someone or something was headed our way and that my tiger mate considered it as a possible threat. I remained as still as possible and allowed my senses to be filled with our situation. My ears told me a half dozen or more men were headed in our direction. My nose told me they were a combination of species including vampire, wolf and Bastet. My heart and mind told me my family had found us.
I took a deep breath and tried to process the information. If my family was tracking us, they wouldn't give up until they knew I was okay. Right now however was not the best time to have a little family gathering. All I wanted right now was more time and privacy. I wasn’t ready to share with the rest of them. I connected with Jeremy in my mind and said
"It's my family. They will be upon us in less than five minutes at the pace they are moving. I'm thinking it’s probably my mom, uncle Nik and my brother Liam. Not sure of the other scents but maybe we should make a run for it."
Jeremy gave me the equivalent of a negative nod before pushing himself off the ground and saying out loud.
"My regent Chase is with them. He would never be with them if it was urgent that he reached me. Something must be wrong with my Bastet pride."
I didn't say it out loud but I found myself uncomfortable with the idea that Jeremy was standing naked and awaiting their arrival. He must have interpreted my emotions since he quickly knelt to the ground and pulled on a pair of sweatpants. I too grabbed the basketball shorts and tee-shirt I'd been wearing prior to our lovemaking. I had barely secured the shorts when our undesired company arrived. As I expected my family quickly surrounded me and started giving me crap. I watched Jeremy and a male Bastet I assumed was Jeremy's Regent Chase move a little off to the side and slip into a very quiet conversation.
The old Laura would have taken Jeremy's actions as secretive and cause for concern. It's typical of the males in a Bastet pride to keep the important things from the females. The new Laura that was blood bonded understood hey tiger mate and was confident of his behavior. I knew he wasn't trying to leave me out. He was probably even now telling his regent that we bonded and that I was his partner in all things now. I was certain that Jeremy would bring me up to speed either mentally or verbally and was just being private because of the rest of the people that had come.
I was right about my mom, uncle Nik and my brother Liam. Micah and two Bastet enforcers from Rena's Bastet pride were also in tow. I tried to keep myself focused on my family and their verbal assault on me. They were all speaking loudly and at the same time. The words were blending together
"Are you okay?" My mom blurted
"Don't ever do that again" my brother Liam admonished
"Your mother cried for hours every single day!" uncle Nik shouted at me
"We love you. We were scared." My mom cried
"Did he hurt you?" my brother Liam asked
"Oh my god you blood bonded with him" all three of them screeched in perfect harmony. Then mom continued
"Congrats. Oh Laura this is wonderful" as she pulled me into a tight embrace.
I heard my brother and uncle Nik also giving me their congratulations and approvals. I couldn't stop the huge smile from forming on my face as I said back
"Thanks mom. I'm sorry I hurt you. I was selfish and scared. I promise things are going to be okay. Jeremy and I are perfect for each other. Uncle Nik was right when he said it would all work out. I should have listened to all of you."
I found myself glancing over towards Jeremy and Chase. They still appeared to be engrossed in their conversation. Based on the look on Jeremy's face he was not happy with whatever Chase was telling him. My soul seemed to flare out on its own accord for confirmation. I felt Jeremy's emotions slam into me immediately, validating the fact that my tiger mate was nearly overwhelmed with sorrow. Liam noticed their conversation at the same time and started heading in their direction. I watched my tiger mate raise his hand toward Liam in a stop motion then Jeremy said
"Give me just tonight to spend with my mate. It's new for both of us and we need at least a day before we plunge ourselves into the problems of the world. I understand the request comes from the queen and I will honor it. Just give me the night and I will report tomorrow for duty."
I raised my eyebrows in curiosity wondering what Jeremy learned that made him feel so sad and angry at the same time. Then Jeremy looked directly at me and said
"They didn't come just to rescue you Laura. They came because the queen needs to press all the Leo's into service. It seems the healing is both a gift and a curse. Many of the Bastet have begun doing very bad things in the name of love and Rena needs us to help put an end to it.
Couples are blood bonding with mates that are already bonded without care to what will happen to their old partner. Our people are inadvertently and sometimes even on purpose killing each other. Apparently in order to stop the needless deaths, Rena passed a law stating that no blood bond would exist outside of true mates. That any blood bonds created between couples that were not true mates needed to be absolved by her. So she could ensure no Bastet died needlessly."
I watched Jeremy take a deep breath while I considered Rena's new law. To some extent I could understand why so many Bastet felt it was an unfair law. I knew prior to me and Jeremy bonding, he would have thought the same thing. Now that we were bonded, Jeremy had to understand what Rena was trying to accomplish with her new law. Without seeing the truth for themselves it was more than just hard for the Bastet people to understand it was damn near impossible. Their species had forgotten what a torture it was to live with only half a soul.
It would take time and seeing true mate couples again for the reality to sink in. Many felt Rena’s new law was an atrocity that would tear happy couples apart. I knew they were wrong. The moment either one of them felt the soul of their other half, they would never be happy with their current partner regardless of the consequences.
"So anyhow, many blood bonded couples have taken off and have tried to hide from the queen. That's why she has tasked every single Bastet Leo with finding and making sure every couple in our pride was presented to her.
Chase came personally to tell me that we have four couples in our Bastet pride that need to be hunted down and presented to Rena. He also reported that unfortunately we had two deaths already in our pride from forced breaks."
I had mixed feelings from Jeremy's words. I was filled with joy that he words like ‘we’ and ‘our pride’. But I was overwhelmed with his sadness and the loss of the pride members he considered family. It was such a shame that anyone lost their lives.