Bound to Change: A Limited Edition Spring Shifter Romance Collection

by Margo Bond Collins

  The Great Mother doesn’t believe in accidents...

  Bracken’s mother’s voice echoed in his head and he rubbed a hand over his beard. What the hell was he supposed to do with any of this?

  “Are you talking to yourself out there?” Danika’s voice floated to him through the bathroom door.

  “No,” he called out.

  “So, just looking through my drawers, then?”

  Bracken chuckled and looked down at his hands. “No, not that either.”

  “Better not be.”

  The bathroom door opened and Bracken closed his eyes immediately.

  “Are your eyes still closed?”

  “Yes.”

  He could hear her walking across the carpet and then pause in front of the TV. She was moving a bunch of paper, and it crinkled loudly in her hands. “Did you open them while I was gone?”

  Bracken snorted. “Obviously.”

  “Cheater.”

  “Did you really expect me to just sit here with my eyes closed?” he asked.

  She sighed and he heard a drawer open. “I guess not.”

  He smiled at the mock exasperation in her voice. “Can I open them now?”

  The drawer closed and he felt the opposite edge of the bed sink down as she sat on it. “You may.”

  He opened his eyes and turned toward her, and had to stop himself from bursting out laughing.

  “You promised,” she growled.

  Bracken pressed the back of his hand over his mouth and fought to get control of himself. “Are those...”

  “Penguins,” she snapped. “Yes.”

  “Okay.”

  She sat on the edge of the bed with her arms crossed, swathed in pale blue fleece pajamas that were printed with cartoon penguins wearing scarves and sledding over a snow-covered background. Her dark hair fell loosely over her shoulders and he could smell her skin cream and a hint of vanilla beneath it. She was gorgeous and he couldn’t stop staring at her.

  “Now. What did you want to talk about?”

  It was clear that she was going to try to be nonchalant about the whole thing, so he tried to figure out how he was going to keep the same kind of control.

  “Can I take off my jacket? It’s really fucking hot in here.”

  Danika shrugged and he got up off the bed and shrugged out of his jacket. That might be one of their first stumbling blocks. He liked the cold—she, very obviously, didn’t.

  “I guess I should do the talking,” he said as he laid his jacket over the back of a chair.

  “Be my guest,” she said.

  “So... On the bench. When we— Well... When we... I mean. Did you feel—”

  Danika sighed. “This is going to take forever,” she said. “I kissed you. I wanted to kiss you. It was just a spur of the moment thing. Just a bit of fun. It was just a kiss.”

  He shook his head and sat down on the bed again. “But it wasn’t just a kiss,” he said. “You felt it, too.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I’ve been hearing about the Call since I was a cub,” he said. “No one seemed to be able to really decide how to describe it. Sometimes it was a physical reaction, sometimes a... voice in your head—”

  Danika raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest. “A voice in your head?”

  “I know it sounds nuts,” he said.

  “No, no,” she said, but he could hear the sarcasm in her voice. “I’ve heard it all. How all-consuming it’s supposed to be. Yeah, sure. I felt something. I won’t say I didn’t. But maybe it was just the beer. Maybe it was just the fact that I’m lonely and horny—”

  Bracken snorted.

  “Shut up,” she snapped. “It could be any number of things that are not related to some invisible deity who has supposedly chosen the perfect match for you. I am not your perfect match. I am no one’s perfect match. It’s stupid. It was just a kiss.”

  “And you’re sure about that?” He had no idea what she was thinking, but maybe if she were impulsive again, he could prove it to her. If she felt the same thing—

  Danika narrowed her eyes at him. “An experiment?”

  “For science?”

  She laughed. “Okay, smart guy. For science. I’m sober. There’s no beer. No sunset. And I’m wearing fleece penguin pajamas. I’d apologize in advance for the disappointment, but I don’t really care.”

  Bracken laughed and then rested his hand against his mouth to hide his smile. “I’m sorry. I’m not laughing at you.”

  “Smart bear.”

  She uncrossed her legs and pushed herself off the bed.

  Bracken blinked at her as she walked toward him. The sway of her hips was subtle, but also purposeful and he dared to smile just a little.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Making a move,” she said casually.

  She stopped in front of him and laid her hands on his shoulders. Her clear blue eyes stared into his and he felt his throat tighten just a little. She smelled like vanilla and citrus and it filled his senses. Whatever she was thinking, she had no idea what this little display was doing to him.

  He closed his eyes as she leaned closer. “Ready?” she murmured.

  “How do I prepare for this experiment?” he asked as she lifted her leg and braced her knee on the bed beside him, almost straddling his legs.

  “You close your eyes and stop talking,” she said with a smile. He only had time to close his eyes and nod briefly before she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his.

  Danika’s lips were warm and soft, and Bracken tried to focus on something that wasn’t her—but it was impossible. Utterly impossible. The more he tried to think of something else, the more he wanted to wrap his arms around her and pull her into his lap. She was so close. Too close.

  And then it hit him.

  The Call.

  As strong as it had been the very first time, the Great Mother reminded him of what she had done and that same heat flooded through his body and lit his veins on fire. Whatever control he might have had was forgotten and his arms snaked around Danika’s torso and pulled her against his chest.

  She barely protested, and her chest slammed against his. Her hips ground down against him and he could feel the heat of her through their clothes. It seemed impossible, but there was no denying what was happening between them. Danika’s fingers came up and twined into his hair, pulling him closer, and her mouth opened against his.

  Regardless of the stories he’d been told about what the Call had been for others, nothing would ever compare to what he actually felt. The Great Mother had come down personally to light his blood on fire and he was more than willing to burn to a crisp if that was what it meant to be mated to this woman.

  She melted against him and moaned against his mouth. Her body fit perfectly against his, but there was too much between them. Too many clothes. Except he wouldn’t do anything without her permission. She had to lead this—and he could feel her fighting against it. He could feel her fighting her instincts.

  Humans were different. They didn’t feel things the same way as shifters. But Danika was feeling things she didn’t understand, and he could sense her confusion. She wanted him—that much was obvious.

  Bracken summoned all of his will power and dragged his mouth away from Danika’s. “Please tell me you felt that,” he said thickly.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said breathlessly. He stared at her for a moment, and then she laughed and he dragged her down for another kiss that surged through his body like wildfire.

  Danika pulled away and took a gasping breath. “Fuck,” she muttered and then looked back into his eyes. “What happens now?”

  Bracken looked at her meaningfully and then raised an eyebrow. “You’re still in your PJ’s,” he said.

  Danika laughed shortly. “Too many—”

  “Yeah.”

  She reached down to tug at the buttons and flung the printed pajama top away. She still wore a merino c
amisole and Bracken frowned.

  “Let me touch you,” he said softly.

  Danika let out a frustrated breath and ripped the camisole up over her head and tossed it to the floor.“Happy?” she asked tartly.

  Bracken took a sharp breath as her breasts were revealed to his hungry gaze. He didn’t want to admit how many times he had imagined what she had looked like naked, but nothing would have prepared him for the real thing. “Oh yeah,” he said thickly as he pulled her closer. He pressed his lips to her heated skin and relished in her gasp of surprised pleasure as his mouth sought one pert nipple and sucked it into his mouth.

  His tongue traced around the tight flesh and teased around it until she moaned deep in her throat, before he moved to the other breast and did the same. Danika wasn’t complacent while he suckled at her breasts, and he could barely contain his own groans of frustrated pleasure as she ground her pussy against his steadily hardening cock.

  When he finally lifted his head from her breasts, Danika was already tugging on his shirt.

  “What—” he barely managed to say as her hands roamed over his chest and pushed his shirt up over his head. Her mouth was hot as it pressed against his collarbone and he gasped as she bit down on his bare shoulder and moved against him.

  “I want you to fuck me,” she said. “I want to know what it feels like—no lies. I want to know what it’s supposed to be.”

  “I—”

  If he did what she wanted, they would be bonded. It wasn’t some casual fuck... this was real, whether she wanted to believe in it or not.

  “Let me feel you,” she gasped and then pressed her lips to his once more.

  Bracken groaned as his arms wrapped around her. He had never felt anything as exquisitely painful as the touch of her skin against his, and he never wanted to feel anything else for the rest of his life.

  He had never imagined that Danika would be on top of him. He'd hoped that they would be able to really talk. Maybe kiss. But this was almost too much, and his bear raged in his head. He struggled to keep his thoughts in order as she moved her hips and moaned against his lips.

  “Bracken, please,” she begged. He growled deep in his throat as he fought against his baser instincts.

  “Are you sure,” he gasped as she pulled her mouth away from his to take a breath.

  “Yes. Yes...”

  With a barely contained snarl of possession, he turned and swept her beneath him. She giggled happily and wound her arms around his neck, and he decided that she was pleased at how far she had pushed him.

  “Danika...”

  “Bracken,” she replied and looked up into his eyes. “I’m serious. I want this... Show me what it’s supposed to feel like.”

  He kissed her gently and slid his hands down her body, pulling the fleece pajamas down her legs and her underwear with it. He knelt at the corner of the bed and pulled her toward him with her clothing. She barely moved as he threw her clothing to the side and lay bare in front of him.

  “There... there are condoms. In the drawer behind you,” she said haltingly.

  Bracken shook his head, and then pushed away his bear’s roar of outrage. There would be time. Tonight wasn’t about him, or his bear... or what they wanted. Tonight was about her.

  She had to make the decision.

  He reached back for the drawer and pulled it open. The condoms were where she had said they would be, and he set one on the floor beside his knee. He would be needing it soon enough.

  He kept his jeans on, so that control was still possible, as he knelt between her legs and inhaled the heady scent of her body. Danika sighed and laughed, teasing him, and he wanted to devour her on the spot. He wanted to taste every inch of her skin, and touch every part of her. He wanted to learn her curves and ticklish spots and the places that made her sigh, stretch, and moan his name.

  He ran his hands up her thighs and watched the muscles in her stomach contract as he nudged her thighs a little farther apart so he could see all of her. The pink folds glistened, almost begging for his attention. He leaned forward to breathe against her and Danika twitched. She lifted her head to look at him and Bracken bit back a grin before he leaned closer and sealed his mouth over her pussy. He traced shapes over her clit with the tip of his tongue and repeated them over and over until Danika was shuddering and panting. Bracken retreated briefly, wanting to drag it out as long as possible, and stroked his finger around her opening.

  Danika gasped, her thighs closing against him, and she moaned eagerly. “Bracken.”

  He loved the way she said his name. He wanted more of it. More of her. He pushed a finger inside her, stroking deeper before adding another as her thighs opened wider to encourage his motions. A second finger teased another surprised cry from her lips, and he moved his hand to inflame her more as his mouth closed over her sensitive flesh. The motions of his lips and tongue coaxed more moans from her until sweat glistened between her breasts and she said his name, over and over.

  He watched a flush climb her chest and throat and felt her velvet channel start to drag at his fingers, and knew she was close. He backed off, wanting to chuckle as Danika glared at him. “What are you doing?”

  “Anticipation makes everything better.”

  Bracken waited until she looked a half second from saying something else, then he increased the speed of his thrusting, teasing fingers and dragged his tongue up over her slit.

  Danika went rigid as he drove her to the edge over and over, until she trembled and begged him for more, and he savored the taste of her coating his tongue. It was only his own need that eventually convinced him to drive her into a climax, reveling in the feeling of her muscles seizing around him, and how her body flexed against the bed as he tormented her until she cried out and her body went rigid. If only half of what he felt was singing through her veins the way it was through his...

  Danika collapsed in a sweaty heap on the bed and struggled to breathe as Bracken reached up to stroke her stomach. He could have watched her all night.

  Her blue eyes found his, lazy with passion, and he felt himself being devoured by them.

  “Is that all?” she purred.

  “Not by a long shot,” he said. He plucked the condom package from the carpet and flicked open the button of his jeans as he rose up over the edge of the bed and hovered over her body.

  One of Danika’s arms looped around his neck and drew his mouth down to hers as she sighed and closed her eyes. Her back arched until her breasts pressed against his chest, and Bracken could barely control himself as she whispered, “What else do you have for me?”

  The bear inside him wanted to mark her—wanted to plunge into her wet heat and fuck her until she smelled like him and every shifter in the whole state of Alaska would know who protected her. Bracken groaned and kissed her again, trying to kick off his jeans and Danika reached down to help him push the denim down over his hips.

  “So many,” she breathed.

  He was about to ask what she meant when she pressed her lips against his chest. “Maybe you’ll tell me what they all mean one day,” she whispered.

  “Maybe,” he replied as he tore the foil packaging on the condom with his teeth and slipped the sheath over his cock.

  Danika bit her lower lip, color climbing slowly into her cheeks, as the blunt head of his cock pressed against the slick pink lips he longed to conquer.

  His breath caught at the feeling of her exquisite heat, but he paused once again, worried that she didn’t know what she was asking him to do.

  But Danika answered his unspoken question for him by moaning and pressing her hips forward to encourage him onward. “Please... I need to know,” she whispered. “I need to feel it.”

  She tilted her pelvis and hooked one leg up over his hip to pull him forward. Bracken held his breath as their gazes locked and the bear nearly took control, wanting to see their mate's eyes the first time they claimed her.

  She writhed as he thrust, and he groaned as he felt her sweet h
eat envelop his hard length. Even through the thin barrier of the condom he could feel the strength of the Call. It was real—it was oh, so real, and he knew instinctively that Danika could feel it, too.

  She cried out in surprise and arched up to meet his thrust. Again, and again, her velvet walls tightened around him and he fought for control over the animal in his mind that wanted nothing more than to throw control aside and take her for his own.

  Bracken groaned and moved faster, retreating and thrusting in a steady rhythm that pushed through Danika's ecstasy as he tried to find his own. Her legs wrapped around his waist as she lifted to meet him, her nails digging into his shoulders.

  She cried out sharply as her climax crashed over her with unexpected force, and Bracken’s bear took over.

  He growled, kissing her savagely, lips bruising, and withdrew. Danika looked up at him, desperate and wanting, and he grabbed her hips to turn her over on the bed. On her hands and knees now, she moaned again, head hanging down and ass in the air. Bracken held on to her waist as he moved behind her. One thrust had her gripping the coverlet as Bracken drove home. His thighs slapped against her ass, and Danika groaned.

  He paused, worried he might have gotten too rough with his bear egging him on, but as he leaned over her and his chest pressed against her back, Danika reached back to squeeze his thigh.

  “Don't stop,” she begged him.

  Permission given, Bracken snarled and hooked his arm under her hips, holding her in place as he started to move. He lost himself in the ecstasy of her body, her slick heat and the way the Call rocketed through his body with every thrust.

  Danika moaned and pushed back into him, deepening the penetration, and Bracken growled. He leaned over her until he could feel all of her under him. He rubbed his free hand over her breasts, making her moan and cry out in a different way.

  All at once, Danika froze under him as her hands tightened on the coverlet, and Bracken swore as her body grabbed him, squeezed him. Then the lightning that had been rocketing through his body gathered low in his back and let out a roar as his own climax crashed down on him and he couldn't think of anything but where their bodies joined.