She looked at him, uncertain.

"It will help me not to claim you, sweetheart," he explained.

Understanding filled her eyes. Grinning she turned over and raised her ass in the air. Unable to help himself he leaned forward and buried his nose against her slit.

"Gods, baby, you smell like heaven. Later, when we have more time I am going to tongue fuck you until you beg me to stop, but I don't think either of us wants that right now, do we?" He reached forward and lightly traced her opening with two fingers. She moaned and pushed back against his hand.

"So eager." He leaned forward and nipped her right cheek. She yelped but he noticed that the scent of her arousal got muskier. Grinning he did the same to the other cheek.

"Colton," she moaned his name.

"It's gonna be fast and hard, baby." He couldn't wait another second. He reached down, lined up the head of his cock and thrust hard. He placed his hand on her lower back for control and set a merciless pace. Beneath him she gasped for breath and groaned his name over and over again.

With his canines fully extended, every fiber in his being wanted him to lean over her and bury his teeth into the soft flesh of her neck, welding them together for all eternity. But he'd made her a promise, they would take this at her pace, the thought of breaking her trust was the only thing holding him back.

He felt his balls draw up and knew that he was close. Leaning forward slightly he reached around her hip and snaked his hand down to dip between her folds. He found her clit and fingered it roughly. She went wild and he felt her body clench around him. It was enough to send him over the edge, crying out he emptied himself deep inside of her.

Colton shook his head to focus; he had never come so hard in his life. Slowly, he pulled out of her and she slumped down onto the bed, she was gulping air. He slid off the bed and headed to the bathroom.

When he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, he was shocked. His eyes remained yellow and his canines dangerously low. He ran the water in the sink until it was warm and splashed some on his face. He took several deep breaths and looked back up. His eyes were back to their normal color. He washed himself off and rinsed out the washcloth.

He chuckled when he saw that Rheia hadn't moved an inch from where he'd left her. Walking to the foot of the bed, he started to get hard again watching his seed drip down the back of her legs. Gently he cleaned between her legs before placing a soft kiss over his two bite marks on her delectable ass.

He walked back to the bathroom, tossed the washcloth in the sink and returned to his mate. She was still on her stomach facedown in the covers. He pulled her onto her side and into the curve of his body.

"That was amazing. I've never come like that before. Claiming me can't get better than that." Rheia said turning her head slightly to look back at him.

He leaned down and whispered into her ear. "Challenge accepted."

*****

When Colton and Rheia ended up being a no-show for lunch and dinner, Meryn and Beth sat the little girl between them during meal times. Meryn was afraid at first that Penny would be nervous without her mother, but she was soaking up the attention that Aiden and the rest of Alpha Unit heaped on her. It looked like she was used to being the center of attention when it came to her uncles. Aiden had even taken her upstairs to introduce her to his fish, Jaws.

After dinner, they all retired to the family room to wind down before bed. Noah and Jaxon were absorbed in their X-Box game. Normally Meryn would be right there with them, but she wanted to work on the personnel list before tomorrow.

"I can't believe ya'll are teaching a four year old to play poker," Beth said in disbelief.

Meryn looked up from her laptop to see what shenanigans the men were up to. They'd set up a table in the family room and were currently explaining different hands to Penny. The men decided to play for candy and snacks instead of money, for Penny's sake.

Meryn watched the girl's eyes go from the cards to each of the men, before nodding. When she neatly stacked her 'money' into piles Meryn had to hide her smile.

"So we'll play one hand to practice okay?" Keelan asked. Penny nodded.

Meryn shook her head; they'd figure it out eventually.

"Wow, look guys Penny won that hand. Way to go, baby girl!" Aiden announced proudly.

Meryn looked up and saw Penny was on her knees raking the candy pile over to her.

Meryn smiled and reviewed the short list of Vanguard warriors Aiden and Gavriel and compiled from memory. She'd have to get with Radek soon to get a more complete list.

"Look at that, she won again. She's too cute," Keelan said as Penny arranged her winnings in order from hard candy to chocolate.

Beth walked over holding the novel she'd been reading. Frowning, she sat next to Meryn.

She nodded her head in Penny's direction. "She..."

"Probably, yeah." Meryn nodded.

"Do they realize..."

"Nope."

"Are you going to tell them?" Beth asked her eyes now filled with amusement.

Meryn turned to her and just stared blankly.

Beth sat back in her chair and brought her book up. "Yeah, me either."

"Okay that's the eighth hand in a row, that can't be beginner's luck," Darian grumbled as Penny packed half her winnings away in her backpack, making room for more candy on the table.

The men stared at Penny who expertly shuffled the deck before dealing.

Aiden cleared his throat. "Penny, darlin, do you know how to play poker?"