“Shh, baby. I don’t want them to realize you’re under there if they make it up here,” he whispered.
That answered my question—yes, someone was out there. And it wasn’t a member of the Timber Ridge pack if Tane was worried about them coming into the house. With Tane’s heightened hearing, I knew he’d still be able to hear me when nobody else would as I barely mouthed, “Please be careful.”
“As long as you stay hidden, I’ll be fine,” he reassured me. “There are only three of them, and they’ll be surrounded soon. Kace is coming in from the east and Zeke from the west.”
I’d adjusted to the shifter world without many issues—taking in stride that Tane could change into a tiger that was about three times bigger than his human form without much thought—but I still hadn’t gotten used to the idea of Kace having telepathic capabilities. But I was going to be super accepting of them after this because being able to communicate with his alpha gave my mate an advantage against the bad guys. I was a big fan of anything that kept him safe, especially since I brought this trouble to his door.
I heard a sound at the window, and my head jerked in that direction as Tane circled the bed to stand flat against the wall out of sight through the glass. I scooted over a little so I could see up to his knees, and slapped my hand over my mouth when I saw a leg descend from the window, a dark boot silently pressing against the floor. The guy didn’t even get all the way into the room before Tane raced forward and slammed him to the ground. Startled eyes widened further when he spotted me under the bed, but then Tane’s hands fisted the front of his coat, and he lifted the guy up as though he weighed almost nothing. “You fucked up big time, coming after my woman.”
“Shit, man. Relax. I haven’t even laid eyes on the girl yet. I haven’t so much as touched a hair on her head. We can work something out here,” an unfamiliar male voice muttered.
“Oh, we’ll work something out alright,” Tane agreed on a low growl. The man’s relieved sigh was quickly followed up by several thuds and a grunt. His feet were dangling in the air directly in front of Tane’s shins. “The only thing that’ll make me happy is knowing any possible threat to Calliope has been eliminated. You’re not going to like my solution to the problem, but that’s okay. The second you entered Timber Ridge, the outcome was already decided. We’re going to work this out to my satisfaction, not yours. But that won’t be a problem since you won’t be around to complain after we’re done.”
“You don’t know who you’re messing with,” the guy warned.
“I think you’re operating under a mistaken belief, Stan Michaels. I know exactly who you are. I have a full report on you from the Silver Saints MC. I just don’t give a damn because to me you’re the guy who thought he could fuck with my woman.” Tane stomped closer to the window.
I heard a sliding sound that made me think he opened it farther, followed by a loud but distant thump. My eyes widened when I realized what those noises meant; Tane just threw that dude out the second-floor window. “Is it safe for me to come out now?”
“Yeah, baby.” He came close and bent low to reach a hand under the bed and help me. “He isn’t going to try to hurt anyone ever again, and Kace and Zeke took care of the other two guys.”
I gripped his hand and slid across the floor with ease as he tugged. “Thanks, I was worried you might have to pick up the entire bed in order to get me out of there.”
Sliding his hands under my armpits, he lifted me and set me on the mattress. “Are you okay?”
“Me? I’m fine.” I got on my knees and looked out the window, but I couldn’t see anything at this angle. “I was perfectly safe under the bed while you did all the heavy lifting.”
“As it should be, baby.” He leaned down and claimed my mouth in a deep kiss. “Wait here. I’m going to go down and help Kace and Zeke with cleaning up.”
“Holy crap!” I pressed my hand against my chest, my heart beating so hard it felt as though it would burst through my rib cage after he walked out of the room. I was pretty sure the clean up the guys would be doing involved some dead bodies. A month ago—heck, even a few days ago—I would’ve been horrified. But when you were surrounded by men who shifted into ferocious beasts and bad guys came to town to hurt you—or worse—a little bit of mayhem and death didn’t bother you so much. At least one of them was the sheriff and the other was the mayor. Nobody would come after Tane for the events of tonight.
10
Calliope
Even though I was on an adrenaline high unlike any I’d ever felt before, I didn’t move until Tane came back. Considering odds were darn close to one hundred percent that he’d just killed someone to keep me safe—and made sure I couldn’t see anything before, during, or after—I figured it was the least I could do. He wasn’t gone long, maybe fifteen minutes, but he headed straight for the bathroom to wash his face and hands—probably because cleaning up dead bodies was messy—before joining me on the bed. “I’m glad that’s over with.”
“There’s still one last thing to take care of,” Tane corrected, handing me his cell phone with a number I didn’t recognize pulled up. “When we called Link to let him know things were handled, he let me know that your parents want to talk to you. I was right about their phones, but Link was going to give them a burner so you could call.”
“Okay.” I climbed on his lap, wrapping his arms around me because I wanted him close for this, and hit the button to place the call.
It rang twice before my dad answered, “Calliope? Hold on a second so I can put this on speaker. Your mom wants to talk to you, too.”
There was a brief pause, and then my mom asked, “Are you okay?”
My eyes filled with tears at hearing their voices. I had to clear my throat before I could answer. “Yes, there was a little bit of an issue tonight, but Tane kept me safe.”
“And he’s the young man Larissa’s father told us about? The one you’re dating?” my mom asked.
I pressed my lips together to stifle my snort at her description of my mate. “Yes, Mom. I tried calling to tell you guys about Tane, but you didn’t answer any of my calls.”
“Yes, well, all things considered, we thought it was best not to draw any unnecessary attention to you since we thought you’d be safe at college,” my dad explained.
Since I’d put them on speaker right away, Tane was the one who replied, “Hello, Mr. Taft. This is Tane. Going forward, if anything comes up that might impact Calliope, I’m going to need you to call me. Link will make sure you have my number and email when you get your phones back.”
“Look, Tane. We appreciate what you’ve done for our daughter, but your relationship is new and—”
Tane cut my dad off. “This isn’t up for debate. She’s my responsibility now, and I can’t keep her safe—emotionally and physically—unless I know what’s going on.”
“I get that things have been intense this week, and you were a huge help in resolving our issue, but that doesn’t mean you get to take over our daughter’s life,” my mom argued.
“Very soon, your daughter is going to be my wife”—my eyes widened since he hadn’t proposed, although we were fated mates so it shouldn’t be a surprise—“so you need to get used to me being around because I’m not going anywhere.”
“Not without a prenup,” my dad muttered.
“And that’s the end of this call. I love you guys, but Tane is right. He’s going to be my husband, and nothing you say is going to change that. After everything that just happened, you should be thanking him instead of giving him a hard time. So after you’ve gotten your phones back from Link and you’re ready to do that, give me a call.” I stabbed my finger against the screen and tossed the phone to the side.
Tane brushed his lips over mine. “I’m sorry that didn’t go how you hoped.”
At some point, we’d explain shifters and fated mates to my parents, and they’d understand why things moved so quickly for Tane and me. Until then, they’d just have to deal. “Meh,
today could’ve gone a whole lot worse, so I’m not going to complain too much. They’ll pull their heads out of their butts and get over it eventually. And if not, it’s not as though they’ve ever been super involved in my life anyway.”
“I hate seeing you sad. Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?” he asked as his hand stroked up my belly to cup my breast, leaving me with a really good guess at what he was suggesting. But I had an idea of my own.
“There’s something you should know about the mates of tigers,” I teased as I tugged his shirt over his head and kissed my way down his chest.
“What’s that, baby?” he asked, returning the favor with my sweatshirt.
I slid my hand inside his shorts and wrapped my hand around his hard length. After blowing on the tip, I murmured, “We tend to pick up on the whole oral fixation thing.”
“Fuck, yeah.” He shoved his shorts all the way down and pulled off my bra, pants, and panties before wrapping my hair around his fist. “I’m dying to know how it feels to have those pretty lips of yours wrapped around my dick.”
I wanted to have him in my mouth. To make him lose control. Leaning forward, I darted my tongue out to lick away the drop of pre-come beaded on the tip. Savoring his taste, I moaned, “Mmm.”
“Keep it up, baby. There’ll be a hell of a lot more where that came from,” he urged.
I opened my mouth wide, and he slowly sank inside, giving me time to adjust as he went deeper. I sucked him back as far as I could manage and then licked the ridges of his hard length as I pulled back. As my mouth glided down again, he let out a low moan of pleasure. My gaze jerked up to his face, and if I’d had panties on, they would’ve combusted at the look of satisfaction on his face. His eyes were riveted on his cock with my lips stretched around it, and a muscle jumped in his jaw. “Fuck, baby. I don’t think I can take much more, and I want to blow in your pussy while it’s still safe.”
I wanted that too, so I gave his dick one last lick and smiled when he flipped me onto my back. His hand stroked down my chest and belly to my pussy, and he groaned when he sank two fingers inside me. “Did sucking me off turn you on?”
“Uh-huh,” I panted as he lined his cock at my opening and filled me in one powerful thrust.
“That’s a damn good thing because this is going to be hard and fast,” he warned.
He hadn’t been kidding, but I didn’t mind. I met him thrust for thrust with my knees clenched at his sides and my heels digging into his butt cheeks. My nails dug into his shoulders, and the sting just seemed to egg him on, making him move harder and faster. “So close,” he grunted.
His dick felt bigger as it dragged against my walls, making me shudder. “Me, too.”
“Good, ’cause no way in hell am I going without you.” He slid his hand between us and flicked my clit with his thumb. That was all it took to throw me over the edge. My orgasm crashed over me with so much force I lost my breath, and it was all I could do to cling to him as he pumped into me a few more times before his groans of satisfaction rang in my ears. My body felt as though it melted into the mattress when he finally pulled out and rolled to the side, pulling me against his chest. “Damn, that was perfect.”
“Mm-hmm,” I purred in agreement.
“Today was a hell of a day, baby. What do you want to do tomorrow?” Tane asked as he glided his palm down my back.
“Let’s go to New York,” I suggested, tilting my head to smile at him. “I think it would be good to be close to your family for a little bit, and maybe I can talk to your mom and sisters about the small fashion show they want to help me do.”
His brow wrinkled. “I thought you had your heart set on doing something during Fashion Week?”
“That was before I fell in love with you and dreamed about having babies with blond hair and dark eyes just like their daddy.” I pressed my lips against his and added, “I still want to see my designs on the runway in New York, but it doesn’t have to be a big thing anymore.”
He cupped my cheeks with my palms and stared into my eyes. “Are you trying to tell me that you love me, baby?”
“Yeah,” I answered with a shy smile.
“I love you, too.”
It was great to hear the words, but I already knew because everything Tane had done since the moment we met had shown me how he felt. And I had no doubt that he’d do the same for the rest of our lives.
Epilogue
Tane
2 months later
“Calliope, my love! You were spectacular!”
A growl rumbled in my throat, and I yanked my mate into my side just as Salazar Humphries reached for her. I didn’t give a flying fuck that the man didn’t go for women; I was territorial over mine.
My mate threw me a glare, but it lacked any real anger since she loved it when I got territorial over her. I grinned in response, making her roll her eyes before she turned back to Salazar with a beaming smile. “I hope I made you proud.”
Salazar was Calliope’s investor and besides me and my family, her biggest cheerleader. He was a legend in the fashion world. Tabara was a costume designer for Broadway, and she’d known him for years. When my mother and sisters found out about Calliope’s dream, they made it their mission in life to make it happen. The goal had been to find an investor to sponsor a show at a small-scale fashion house. However, when Trinity saw Calliope’s designs, she’d demanded that Tabara take them straight to Salazar. He’d been blown away, and the next thing we knew, he’d managed to snag her a coveted spot in New York Fashion Week. With the tight timeline, he’d hired an army to help her get ready, and her night had finally arrived.
It had gone off without a hitch, and the smile on her face made all the time I’d had to give up in the past couple of months completely worth it. She was incredible, and I couldn’t have been prouder to be her man.
“You more than delivered, little one! My office phone is already ringing off the hook with potential buyers!” Salazar bounced on his feet and clapped his hands. His boyish excitement made a stark contrast with the older man’s distinguished looks and five-thousand-dollar tailored suit. I turned my head into Calliope’s sunshine hair to muffle my chuckle and earned myself a pinch in the ribs. “We should get started planning for September. You’re going to have to move here of course. I’ll get my assistant to start looking for a house—”
“Salazar,” Calliope cut him off with a tinkling laugh. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Besides, this was a dream come true. For a long time, it was my only dream. Well, the only dream I thought I had any chance of making come true.”
Salazar’s expression fell, clearly sensing by Calliope’s tone that he wouldn’t be happy with what she had to say next.
“But now I want so many other things, and while I intend to keep designing, I think we’ll table another fashion show for long into the future.”
“How long?” Salazar asked with a suspicious gleam in his ice-blue eyes.
Calliope giggled and shook her head, wagging her finger at him. “Stop whatever shenanigans you’re planning right now. I’ll let you know when, or if, I’m ever ready again, okay? Right now, I want to focus on”—she paused and looked up at me through her lashes, pink spots blooming on her cheeks—“having a family.”
I was immediately in pain...from the grin stretching impossibly wide across my face and the steel pipe that instantly formed in my pants. Fuck yeah! Slazar glared at me, to which I gave him a wink before kissing my mate on her temple.
“This isn’t over, my brilliant girl,” he sighed. “I’ll win eventually.” I suppressed a snort, reminding myself that he didn’t understand my Calliope like I did, or how important family was to us.
He gave her an air-kiss on each cheek from a foot away since I wouldn’t let him get any closer. Then he promised to call and spun on his heel to stroll across the room to another one of his pet projects.
I curled my arm around Calliope and steered her into the nearest dark corner before bringing her fr
ont flush against mine. I smirked as I stared down into her beautiful, happy face. “You want to get knocked up, huh?”
She blushed and dropped her eyes to my chest. “I could probably be convinced to let you put a little cub in my belly,” she quipped lightly, followed by an adorable giggle.
I let her go so that I could grab her hand and drag her toward the exit to the back lot. But I only got as far as a few steps before she was tugging on my arm to halt me. “We can’t go yet,” she laughed. “For one thing, your family is waiting for us out in the audience!”
Sighing, I altered our direction and headed for the door that led out to the seating area around the runway. “Let’s get this over with,” I muttered. Calliope laughed again, and I felt the sound reverberate through me, sending a tingle straight to my dick. I loved nothing more than seeing my mate happy, especially when that happiness was due to an earth-shattering orgasm. Fuck. I really needed to focus on something besides getting inside my woman. Otherwise, it would only take one look at the bulge in my pants for everyone to know exactly where my mind was at.
“Oh, my sweet girl!” my mother cried joyfully as she pulled Calliope into her arms. “Congratulations! I’m so proud of you!”
My sisters stepped in next, gushing over my mate’s designs and the success of the show. “I knew it would be spectacular!” Trinity claimed, beaming with pride.
After the girls calmed down, my father stepped up and gathered Calliope into a giant bear hug, making her glow with happiness. Knowing what her childhood had been like, I was so grateful for how my family had embraced her. When he let her go, she practically floated back into my arms.
“So! Which after-party should we hit first?” Tabara asked, practically jumping up and down with eagerness.
I inwardly groaned. Son of a bitch. I’d forgotten about all that shit. My first instinct was to throw Calliope over my shoulder and run back to our hotel room, but I wasn’t going to take away any of this experience from her.
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