by Elle Thorne
“I’ll accept the council’s decision on the grounds that this matter be revisited.”
“Agreed,” Ky said before anyone else could respond.
The council members snapped their head in his direction, then slowly nodded their heads in unison.
“You tell us when you’d like the matter readdressed,” Ky added. “I’m sure we could do this remotely, even. There’s no need for another road trip.”
This time the council members really agreed, heads bobbing in extremes.
Clearly, this isn’t to their liking as much as their homes in New York. Camden bit back the smile of amusement. She’d become rather fond of this place. Not to mention the shifter that lived here.
“Another thing,” Camden said. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to take the girls from the only home they’ve known in some time. I’d like to stay in the area.”
When Tyler’s eyes lit up, she knew they were on the same track. She’d done exactly what he’d been thinking.
Would have been a lot easier if he’d said something to me so I could have known his game plan, for Pete’s sake.
True enough, she could have messed that one up badly.
Thank you, she said to Avala and her panther. I couldn’t have come to this without you.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The council members had left.
Tyler had breathed a huge sigh of relief.
They were sitting in lawn chairs outside Grant and Chelsea’s home with a large fire pit fully loaded and crackling in the middle of the area.
There was Mikhail and Miriam Romanoff.
Sean had returned from the trip and neither of the twins could get enough of him, so every few moments in between playing, they’d come back and give Sean a hug.
Then as though wanting to be fair, they’d give Tyler a hug. Then they’d pass by Camden and Eden and drop a quick kiss on their cheeks.
Then back to roasting marshmallows, and chasing bugs, and picking up sticks, and whatever caught their attention at that moment.
Also in attendance were Braden, Dakota, and little Larsen, sitting on his momma’s lap, creating his little sparks.
Tyler prayed he wouldn’t start a forest fire before they could figure out how to get his elemental under control.
Man, this elemental shit was complicated.
But he didn’t say that out loud. How could he? He was in love with a woman who had an elemental in her. And he’d become friendly with that entity.
Also, there were Camden and Eden. Eden, sitting quietly next to Camden as though she had a lot on her mind.
Ky and Laken were there with their little one, debating nicknames that could be derived from the name Mikhail.
Of course, Mikhail had told them, “There’s no such thing as a good nickname, Ky.” Reminding them that Ky was his nephew’s nickname, and one that Mikhail didn’t necessarily prefer.
Luckily, he’d been smiling when he made that pronouncement, because Tyler could see how the man could be pretty scary—to some people.
Mae and Doc were sitting next to Mikhail and Miriam. It was clear from their chatter that Miriam and Mae were close.
Naturally, Griz was there, the firelight enhancing the flames of his bear in his eyes.
Tyler wondered if the man would ever find someone. Now that he had, it was his wish that everyone could have the same happiness.
Mikhail tapped on the handle of his chair to get their attention. “The girls will need a surname that doesn’t raise eyebrows or garner unwanted attention. Romanoff, Roman, or even their mother’s surname O’Reardon, just won’t do. They all link back to a dangerous past.”
“True,” Tyler acquiesced.
“Suggestions?” Sean asked.
“Nobody knows the surname of the girls, as it is. How about Forester?” Mae suggested.
Tyler looked at Sean.
Sean shrugged.
They were on the same page.
“Sounds good to me.”
“Tessa and Trista Forester,” Camden said.
Shivers ran over Tyler at the sound of her voice.
With the entire situation all blown over, it stunned him how much this woman touched a part of him that had never been warmed.
Her dark eyes glittered as she watched him across the fire.
He wished she were sitting right next to him, but man-oh-man, the way he reacted to her would be way to obvious.
He owed her. He owed her his life, his heart, his soul, and the safety of the two little girls.
And they’d keep those little ones safe from other elementals and enemy witches, he promised himself.
Mikhail raised his glass. “To Zachariah Romanoff, which is what his name was when I knew him, who was a distant cousin of mine. For reasons that do not need to be delved into today, he became Zach Roman and stepped away from the shifter community, but he never stepped away from his commitments and his love.”
“Hear, hear.” Sean and Tyler clinked glasses.
To their father. Who had not known they existed when they were young, and who died protecting his daughters.
“A hero.”
Tyler hoped he could be as heroic as his father had.
Across the fire, Camden smiled at him with pride.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Later, when they were alone, Tyler put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her against him. He slid his hands down her bare arms and lowered his head, locking his lips to hers and let her see the passion, the hunger, the eternity of him.
The foreverness of them.
His mouth demanded the same of her.
Camden moaned. His breath mingled with hers, his tongue danced around hers, pulling her deeper into a place where there was only her—and Tyler.
Tongues tangling, she kept her eyes focused on his, reaching deep into the essence of his very soul.
He groaned, moving against her, and his sound was captured by their kiss, but still, it took her to a place she wanted to go, a place for them, and only them.
She and her panther wanted Tyler with a passion she’d never imagined existed. Neither of them could be submissive, and waiting wasn’t on the agenda. Not now. Now was the time Camden wanted to be claimed by him.
She unbuttoned his shirt while her lips stayed locked on his, their tongues dancing that eternal tango of love. She fisted his shirt and tugged on the fabric, uncaring if it ripped.
Understanding what she wanted, Tyler moved his arms and she helped him out of the sleeves. The shift fell to the floor.
Next, the pants.
She reached for them, and with an inexperienced, yet quick twist, she had the button released and the zipper down. She tugged them off his hips. His pants fell to the floor, and he stepped out of them.
Her body trembled with desire for him. Heat burned in her core. Only he could quench the thirst she had for him.
How had this man reached into her and captured her heart in such brief time?
Had it been brief?
It seemed as though she’d known him for an eternity. Was that because of Avala? What resonated with Camden the most was how ferociously her panther was in love with his bear, and yet she’d managed to let Camden set the pace.
Camden had no idea—had never thought this was possible—to feel for him, and to have her panther love his bear so deeply.
Tyler’s hands slid down her arms, lowering and cupping her derrière, pulling her tightly against his muscular body. She put her hands on his stomach, his abs flexing under her fingers.
She ran her fingernails over his chest, the broadness of his body, up to the wide set of his shoulders.
Tyler groaned. He pulled away from their kiss. His hands lowered, cupping her full breasts just beneath the mounds. His thumbs resting on her nipples, and he rubbed circles on the pebbled tips.
The wetness deep within her body began to make its journey downward. It would only be a matter of seconds before the proof of her desire for him was a pool between her thi
ghs.
She scented his desire, and licked her lips with anticipation.
“Ah, damn, Camden,” he growled. He squeezed her breasts with his hands, then pinched her nipples between his fingers and rolled them, then pinched them flat. The pain was perfectly exquisite, and rolled through her body like a storm.
Camden couldn’t tear her eyes from his. “I want you. I’ve never wanted a man. I’ve never known this could happen.” How could she possibly explain to him that she’d never so much as gotten this worked up over a man?
And now?
She wanted him. All of him. Every inch of him. He occupied her mind, her body. She wanted him in her with a wildness that was frightening and uncontrollable.
“Touch me.” His words were a cross between a groan and a growl.
She lowered her hand and touched the hardness of him, felt the heat of his flesh. She held him, then moved her fingers up and down his shaft. At the base, she wrapped her hand around it tightly.
Her reward was a groan.
She ran her fingertips up his length, then rubbed the engorged head, making his breath catch with a light sound, followed by a low growl coming from deeply within him.
She lowered to her knees.
His eyes were glued to hers, then moved to her lips, his gaze not wavering. His pupils dilated, showing her his passion, in their depths, his bear flared gold flames in the irises.
She licked her lips and wrapped her hand around him, letting her instinct be her guide. Her body shook, her ache for him rocked her, twisting her inside out.
Camden took in a deep breath then opened her mouth wide, laying the underside of his length on her tongue. She marveled at the heaviness, the thickness, the rigidity. She closed her lips, feeling the velvety texture of him against the roof of her mouth and tongue. Pushing her head forward, she let him slide farther in, wanting as much as she could take of the smooth length.
Her panther roared in her head, urging her on. As if Camden needed more encouragement, as if Camden’s passion wasn’t roaring in her ears like the surf on a stormy beach.
Tyler’s eyes narrowed, and a mask of pure lust flashed over his features, making her need for him greater. Her inner muscles flexed, and her body arched in response. She flicked her tongue side to side, licking him while he stretched her mouth.
“Ah, Camden. Fuck.” Tyler’s words were an aphrodisiac, the tone a sexy growl, the need for her so evident, as if he’d been waiting for this for an eternity.
His fingers gripped her hair, pulling and pushing her head, turning them both on even more.
His growls, the way his head was flung back, and the tensing and flexing muscles on his stomach were the inspiration she needed. She moved her head back and forth, his hardness slick with her saliva.
Tyler leaned forward, hooked his hands around her arms and pulled her up, to a passionate kiss while she still worked him, pulling on him, tugging on him, wanting him.
Her back was against the wall, her chest against Tyler, her legs wrapped around him and hooked on his hips.
“I need you. Now.”
“Same.” That’s all she could say because her head was jumbled with desire. She pulled him closer with her legs.
With one swift drive, he drove deeply into her.
Camden gasped.
Tyler pressed his lips to hers, swallowing her gasp.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself closer, latching onto his lips, driving her tongue into his mouth the way he was plunging into her. Her body tightened around him, her muscles contracting with pleasure.
Tyler froze.
He grabbed her ass tighter, pulling her onto him until their joining was seamless.
They were unmoving.
Completely still, he breathed her in.
She relished the feel of his thickness and the sensation of him against every part of her.
He moved slightly, and she moaned in response.
Tyler groaned and began to pump, diving in and out.
She scratched at his shoulders, raked her nails down his arms, scored his flesh as she flailed, unable to control the shudders taking over her body.
“Stop,” he growled.
“I can’t—”
“Be still, Camden, or you’re going to make me—” Tyler pulled away, but Camden’s panther and Camden both reacted, holding him, ramming her back onto him, fully, totally, completely speared by him.
He pulled away, just enough to partially come out of her, and turned toward the large, padded window seat.
Camden grasped his shoulders, pulling herself up, and sliding back down on him. The friction between them, the adrenaline, the emotions were too much.
Her mind was scrambled. Her world felt topsy-turvy. Her breath came out in bursts and gusts. She tore at his shoulders, searching for a grip while her body began to come undone, falling further and further into an abyss that was exploding with tiny points of light.
“You’re mine.”
His words moved her, gripped her, and tossed her over an orgasmic apex. She opened her mouth to cry out for him, and he swooped in, catching her cries, taking them into his body.
Camden moaned,
One quick thrust, he plowed deeper.
She shoved her hips back, taking him in as deep as she could, and rolled her body.
Tyler groaned, pumping hard, intensifying her level of excitement, pushing her closer and closer to that place.
His powerful strokes sped up.
All she could hear was the sound of her breathing, her low groans, and the smacking of his skin against hers.
“Damn.” He froze.
“Don’t stop.” The words were ripped from her essence.
“If I don’t—”
“Don’t fucking stop,” she hissed.
With that, Tyler’s self-control seemed to vanish. It felt like he grew more engorged, filling her while a part of her snapped. She felt his climax, hot and fluid, deep within her.
“I want to be yours forever.” She felt certain he’d know what she meant.
He did. His teeth sank into her, just where her shoulders met her neck. He bonded her and marked her his, for life, and forever.
* * *
Camden sighed. Who’d have thought she could find so much happiness, and have a new best friend.
She rolled over in the bed to find Tyler’s side empty.
She didn’t wonder for long where he’d gone to.
He stepped in their bedroom with a tray loaded with breakfast.
“Sean’s got the girls this morning.”
There were perks to living in a cabin that was more like a duplex.
“Got bacon on that tray?” she asked.
“And chocolate covered strawberries.” He smiled.
This man knew the way to her heart.
Oh, that he did.
“Put the tray aside for a while.” She beckoned him forward.
“It’ll get cold,” he warned her with a wicked smile.
“Something else will get cold if you don’t get over here, mister.”
He set the tray down and dove toward the bed.
Camden squealed and moved over just in time.
“Camden O’Reardon,” he said.
“What?” She put a mock frown on. “Is that supposed to be a proposal?”
“The ring’s on the tray,” he confessed. “It was supposed to be more elaborate, but you ruined that.”
“Ruined?” She locked her lips to his. “I don’t think so.”
His laughter filled the room, just as his love filled her heart.
Delicious
Twin bear shifters Tyler and Sean O’Reardon need a little help. They’ve got guardianship of a set of twin toddler girls who are hybrid elemental shifters.
Tyler got his happily ever after with Camden Brazos, but things aren’t looking so hot for Sean.
Actually, they’re looking too hot. Eden’s fire elemental has her sights set on Sean and she wants to make him spo
ntaneously combust into flames—the wrong kinds of flames, by damn.
Sean and Eden are going to need a little bit of supernatural help to get past this. And Circe’s just the one to overnight it.
Except, Eden’s got a conscience, and she wants nothing to do with deceiving her elemental.
Throw in Griz, a couple of wicked witches, a couple of a couple of hot sorcerers, and man-oh-man, have you got some trouble brewing in Bear Canyon Valley.
Chapter One
The Order of Elementals had put the Brazos siblings in charge of the order’s business, a business that was highly secretive, but crucial to shifters who found themselves host to an elemental. Based out of Denver, Colorado, the Brazos family also traveled to their assignments, when necessity dictated.
The siblings, and the Order of Elementals in general, were critical because elementals often killed their shifter hosts, and then they would move on, finding another host.
The problem was that with the longevity and power of shifters, the relationship was tenuous at best, unless the shifter and the elemental could sort matters out. No easy task. This was the point where the Order of Elementals came in.
Circe, Marco, Camden, and Eden were specialists in the Order of Elementals, resolving issues between elemental-shifter hybrids.
Of course, Eden had to keep her distance from about every shifter because of bears. Her elemental didn’t do well with bears. And it seemed this valley had a preponderance of them.
A fact that her panther sarcastically reminded Eden that it was called Bear Canyon Valley, after all.
Tell that to Piria.
Piria, Eden’s elemental.
On second thought, don’t tell her.
Eden couldn’t take her gaze from Tyler’s twin brother Sean. How odd they were identical twins, and yet instantly, she could tell the difference between the two.
Even odder? She was inexplicably drawn to him. As was her panther to his bear. Eden had always been close to her panther, as close as she was to her own twin, Camden. No, truth be told, she was probably closer to her panther, though it wasn’t a conscious choice. They shared the same skin.