Chapter 13: Marked
An image of young woman’s lips, chin and shoulders.
Brooke laid back on the bed, watching as Joseph and Sebastian hung light green, plastic-lined blackout curtains across the wall of windows in the bedroom she and Avery would now share. They had to stand on each other’s shoulders to reach the top of the frame. Their balance and strength were incredible. Brooke kept thinking that Seb would fall, but he never did. And when he finally got the curtain rod in the right place, he did a backflip off Joseph’s shoulders. Because why not.
Avery had recruited several members of the pack to help move all of Brooke and Alex’s things over to the pack house earlier that day. It had given Brooke an opportunity to see inside Rachel’s room for the first time. It was dark, cave-like even with the curtains open, wildly untidy, full of plush surfaces barely visible under a thick layer of chestnut fur. It almost mirrored Avery’s room across the landing but with the closet and bathroom where the veranda was in Avery’s. Brooke’s now, too. The newly refurbished dresser and desk along the left wall, the only clean surfaces in the room, gradually filled with Alex’s things.
Brooke still had a good amount of energy, as Avery had refused to let her carry a single box. After the meeting the previous weekend, they’d had several more conversations about it, and Avery had reluctantly agreed that she needed to be focused in order to hold her pack strong against the lycans. And therefore, she needed to mark Brooke soon. Her one condition had been that they wait until Brooke moved in. According to Avery, and Brooke’s own experience with Rachel and Alex, recently marked mates wouldn’t want to spend any time apart for the first few days. That night was the night. Brooke’s pale skin tingled in anticipation.
“All done,” Sebastian called from across the room. “You need anything else, Brooke?”
“Nope, thanks, guys,” Brooke replied.
“All right then, we’ll leave you to it,” Sebastian said, wiggling his white eyebrows, purple eyes flashing.
“Gross, dude, that’s my sister!” Joseph punched Sebastian playfully on the arm and the two of them left the room, taking armloads of empty boxes with them. Brooke heard Avery’s voice as she passed them on the stairs.
Brooke threw her arms out dramatically across the pillows, her head back, eyes closed. She heard Avery’s footsteps approach, getting gradually louder as she approached the bed, and Brooke smiled. She felt the warmth of Avery’s skin an instant before their lips met. She moaned into the kiss softly. Eventually Avery pulled back and Brooke opened her eyes to see her girlfriend, hair plastered to her forehead with sweat, looking as beautiful as ever.
“Hello gorgeous,” Avery crooned. “Welcome home.” She quirked her lips in a crooked smile and Brooke giggled gaily.
“Mmm, it’s nice to be home,” she responded, leaning up for another kiss. “You know, we have already been going out for almost a month. We’re moving slow by stereotypical lesbian standards.”
“And positively glacial by werewolf ones,” Avery replied, laughing. “I need a shower. I’ll be right back.”
“I’ll be here,” Brooke replied, green eyes sparkling. Avery turned and walked into the ensuite bathroom, and a minute later Brooke heard the white noise of the shower running. Knowing that Avery took very short showers, Brooke hurried to get herself ready, pulling off her clothes to reveal the lacy lingerie she’d bought special for the occasion. On top ahe wore a thin, almost translucent teddy, green to match her eyes. It laced up the front like a corset, drawing the eye to her cleavage, which was on full display, seeing as the neckline of the garment barely covered her areolas. She’d paired it with a darker blue pair of lace underwear that contrasted nicely with Brooke’s pale skin where it peeked through the pattern.
Brooke was feeling slightly nervous, despite the fact that they’d seen each other naked before. This time felt different. It was different. Less than five minutes later, Avery emerged from the bathroom, completely naked. Her tan skin glowed in the dim light of the bedroom as she rubbed her thick ropes of midnight hair with a red towel. Avery caught sight of Brooke, lying on the bed, and she froze, golden eyes shining brightly from the sharp planes of her perfect face. Brooke smiled cheekily at the look on her faceBrooke heard a low rumble as Avery flashed across the room so quickly it seemed like she had teleported. Avery had dropped her towel on the floor, forgotten.
“You like?” Brooke asked, smoothing the silky fabric down over her curves.
“Is that a real question?” She leaned down over Brooke, their skin less than a centimeter apart, but Avery held herself up, abs clenched solid.
“Are you sure?” she whispered, glowing eyes boring into Brooke’s, her voice husky. Brooke arched her back, bringing their bodies flush and eliciting a low groan from Avery.
“Positive.” No sooner had the word left Brooke’s lips than she felt a warm weight press down into the length of her body as Avery’s lips captured hers in a fierce kiss.
“you remember the safe word? In case anyt of it gets too much or causes triggers?”
“Mango.” Brooke nodded. It was her least favorite fruit and not something she often casually spoke about.
“And you promise you’ll use it if you need to?” Avery’s eyes bored into Brooke’s.
“I promise.” Brooke traced a cross over her heart, then smiled, pulling Avery back down for another heated kiss. Avery’s hands explored greedily down the length of Brooke’s body, caressing her every curve. When the green lingerie blocked her from Brooke’s skin, she froze. Brooke could almost hear the gears grinding in her brain, replaying the incident with Brooke’s t-shirt the previous Weekend.
“It’s okay,” she said, slightly breathless. “That’s why I chose this one.” Brooke watched Avery’s eyes follow her hand up to the center of her chest and fixate on the laced-up front of the lingerie. Brooke pulled one of the strings, undoing the loose bow that tied it shut at the top. Avery gasped lightly, one hand sliding along the thick laces from hem to neckline She recaptured Brooke’s lips in a hot kiss that consumed her attention. One hand braced Avery’s weight while the other pulled out each level of the laces so unnaturally fast that the ribbon was hot by the time she had Brooke’s top open. Her warm hand almost felt cool by comparison as it caressed its way up Brooke’s side to cup one of her full breasts, the pale flesh overfilling her hand.
“Your skin is so fucking soft.” Brooke was beyond words. The racing of her heart had nothing to do with her POTS and everything to do with how close Avery was.
Avery’s every action spoke of ravenous hunger, and Brooke surrendered herself to it eagerly, her trust in Avery implicit.
Her lips trailed small, wet kisses across Brooke’s cheek, down her jaw, to the skin beneath her left ear; then down her neck, pausing to latch forcefully onto the base of her neck, where it met her shoulder. Then, to Brooke’s surprise, her lips moved on, following the hollow beneath her collarbone to her sternum, down the center of her chest and slowly, ever so slowly, making their way across her left breast to her hard nipple, ready and waiting. Brooke gasped as Avery sucked it into her mouth, her tongue circling it, sending shivers down the length of her spine.
Mouth still at work on Brooke’s breasts, Avery’s hand snaked down between her thighs to find them already slick with arousal. Her fingers glided down along her outer lips, teasing. Brooke whined, impatient, and in response, Avery thrust one long finger into her. Brooke gasped in a shock of pleasure. Avery was relentless. Her fingers continued to dance across her most sensitive spots, her thumb rubbing small circles around Brooke’s clit, her middle finger joining the first. Brooke arched her back, her mouth opening in a silent scream. She was very close.
Right as Brooke reached her peak, Avery’s mouth abandoned her breasts and leapt to her throat. Brooke bared it, ready. As Avery’s elongated, half-shifted teeth sunk into the pale flesh where Brooke’s neck met her shoulder, her entire body convulsed with waves of pleasure like she’d never felt before. She lost all track of time and space, floating in a sea of psychedelic haze that shifted colors behind her closed eyelids. She could feel every inch of her skin where it pressed into Avery’s, only a thin sheen of sweat separating them.
Avery’s fingers continued their motions, drawing out the moment. When Brooke eventually started to come down off of her peak, Avery slowly withdrew her teeth, fangs retreating back into her gums, and gently licked the bite marks, which healed over instantly. Brooke was too overwhelmed by the rush of sensations to notice at first, but once her head cleared slightly, she could feel a presence in her mind’s eye.
It was like a blurry image of another person, seen through a thick, fogged window. Brooke could feel her own emotions, euphoria chief among them, but she could also feel something else. Emotions that weren’t her own, that she could perceive like the halo of light from a streetlamp nearby the bright window of her own consciousness. She realized with a start that they were Avery’s. This was the strange, empathic mate bond that Alex had tried to describe to her. But his description had not come close to the reality.
Brooke closed her eyes, delighting in the intimacy, the closeness of the bond. She focused on the feelings that were not her own, and found, overwhelmingly, love. It was bleeding from every pore of Avery’s consciousness. Brooke opened her eyes and stared into Avery’s, liquid gold melting and swirling brightly.
“I love you too,” Brooke said, and kissed her deeply. “Now let me take care of you, for once.” She stroked one hand down Avery’s cheek, along the curve of her neck, across her collarbones, and down further, to cup one of her breasts. Brooke massaged the smooth flesh with one hand while the other trailed down, roving over her flushed skin, tingles spreading from the contact.
Brooke could feel Avery’s response to her touch through their new bond. She could feel it when she found a particularly sensitive spot and she lingered there; the curve of Avery’s waist, the small of her back, the center of her chest, her inner thighs. Brooke could feel it all. It was almost like touching her own skin. She knew where to go because she could feel the response. It was like Avery was guiding her hands with her mind.
Brooke started to kiss her way down Avery’s neck. When she got down to the spot where her neck met her shoulder, Brooke nipped at it playfully with her dull human teeth. That elicited a deep rumble from Avery. Gripping Brooke’s waist tightly, she flipped them over so that Brooke was laying on top of her. Brooke could feel her desire suffusing her mind and made her way ever lower.
Brooke kissed her way down Avery’s sternum, hovering to give special attention to a particularly sensitive spot. Brooke trailed her lips down the center of Avery’s abdomen, following the lines of her firm muscles, until she reached her ultimate goal. Just as before, she could sense exactly where Avery wanted to be touched, stroked, licked, sucked. And Brooke was happy to oblige…