With that, he starts looking over the others’ hands and then studies his own again. He looks up at me, and before he can put a voice to the question in his gaze, I cut him off.
“I have no idea what this means or why it happened, so don’t even ask,” I tell him, and he chuckles.
“Maybe it doesn’t have anything to do with him being a shifter and more to do with the fact that you marked him on purpose. Maybe the process is different when that happens as opposed to what happened with us?” Ryker queries, and I run my gaze over the runes on all of their ring fingers.
“Maybe. Marking him was not thefun timesI was experiencing when all of you got your runes,” I admit, and everyone but Torrez laughs.
I bring my eyes to Valen’s hazel gaze, and I like the heat that I find there.
“What do you mean?” Torrez asks, his dark brown stare jumping from one guy in the group to the next, looking for answers.
I laugh at his needy expression. “I was mid-orgasm when my magic did its thing with them. With you, it was mid-battle, and I thought you were dying.”
“So you’re saying I need to give you an orgasm in order to solidify the connection?” Torrez asks, his eyes banking with want as he licks his lips.
“Whoa, that’s not what I meant,” I squeak out as Torrez takes a step toward me.
“Well, hold on there, Squeaks, maybe he’s onto something with that. You and Valen were intimate, and then we all got our runes. When you have sex with us now, it completes the bond and we inherit your full arsenal. Maybe he does need to be intimate with you in order to kickstart things,” Ryker hypothesizes.
Torrez takes another step toward me, and I get the distinct feeling that he’s hunting me right now, and I’m not sure how I feel about it. I look to the other guys withhelpin my eyes as Torrez stalks even closer, but they all seem to be either lost in thought or amused by this development.
“Um, well, this escalated to a place I didnotsee coming,” I admit and take an involuntary step back from the prowling shifter that’s closing in on me with his heated stare and the promises of orgasms in that blazing gaze.
Wait, why am I against this idea?I pause, taking another step back. A satisfied rumble starts in Torrez’s chest.
“Oh please run, Witch. My wolf loves the chase, and it will take this to a whole other level of fun.”
His words and gravelly tone shoot right between my thighs, and I squirm.
“So you guys are just okay with this?” I ask as I take another slow step back. “We’re just going to go fuck in the other room, and you guys will just be here shooting the shit until we’re done, and that’s not weird at all?”
They all laugh and seem to be extremely amused over my obvious discomfort.
“We’ll all watch each other have sex with you when we do our Bonding Ceremony, so no, this isn’t really a big deal,” Sabin waves off casually.
“Wait! What?” I shout out in panic.
I momentarily forget about the big bad wolf that’s currently stalking me and take a step toward Sabin so I can shake him and demand he explain what the hell he’s talking about.
Valen laughs even harder. “We told you about the Bonding Ceremony, didn’t we?”
“No, you fucking didn’t!”
“Huh, I could have sworn we did that day at the lake,” he says absently.
“Squeaks, why do you look so panicked? It’s not like group sex was an issue when Knox and I…you know, became Sentinels,” Ryker tells me, and Knox barks out a laugh.
I glare at them. “Yeah, I’m not waving my prude flag here, but that’s a big thing to just throw out at a girl without a little warning”—I look at Torrez who’s about two steps away from me now—“and whensaidgirl is potential prey.”
I don’t hear what Sabin says next, because I grab his shoulder and shove him toward Torrez as I turn around and run. I sprint for the front door, and Sabin’s protest at being used as an obstacle is joined by whoops of encouragement and shouts to run. I fling the door open and bolt out of the house into the cool dark day, or maybe it’s night; I still have no idea what time it is. I push magic into my legs and pump harder, not even bothering to look behind me, because I know Torrez is close. Excitement and adrenaline flash through me, and I can’t tell if I want to best him or get caught.
I push harder to gain more of a lead and round the corner of the house. I slam into something hard, and it goes flying away from me as I stumble forward, moving too fast to get my feet underneath me. I’m plucked from the air like a dainty little feather and pulled back into a strong muscled chest.
“Gotchya,” Torrez growls into my ear and then nips at the top of my left shoulder.
His teeth graze over the runes there, and it sends a heated flash throughout my entire body.
“No way, I was fouled,” I argue as Torrez’s strong arms wrap around me.
