The Bride Hunt Box Set: Books 1-3

by Charlene Hartnady

He nodded once.

  “I love cream buns and donuts. My favorites though are the coconut tarts from Sweet Treats.” She glanced Inferno’s way. “That’s my friend’s bakery, the place where I work.” She turned back to Blaze. “I also love chocolate chip cookies, by the way.” She was rattling off but couldn’t seem to help herself. Roxy gave her thighs a tap. “I eat way too much of the wrong things, as you can tell.”

  “You are quite beautiful,” Crimson said.

  “I would have to agree,” Inferno remarked. “Lush and—”

  “Do not talk to my female in that way.” Hearing Blaze refer to her as his made her feel warm and fuzzy inside.

  Inferno leaned forward. “I was merely stating a fact. Setting the record straight.”

  “Well don’t,” Blaze growled.

  “They’re just trying to be nice,” Roxy said under her breath; she could see that this was going in the wrong direction.

  “Nice!” Blaze snorted. “They’re not trying to be nice. These males don’t know the meaning of the word nice. All they can see is a beautiful female. You are a fertile human, highly-prized. You also have a very appealing scent. They’re not being nice; they’re trying to…” he paused. “Don’t buy into their bullshit. I’m not.” He gave Inferno a long, hard stare and then turned his attention to the other three males.

  All three visibly paled and seemed to shrink in their chairs. Roxy wasn’t sure if she liked the caveman bullshit or if it irritated her. Maybe a bit of both.

  “Um…” she put her napkin on the table and pushed her chair back. “I need to go to the little girl’s room.” Roxy was perfectly fine, she just needed a break. She made her way to the restroom. There were communal facilities. The only toilet was separate from the actual restroom, which had a large vanity with a lounge area complete with an antique-looking couch. It looked like something straight out of the French Renaissance. Marble, gold and intricate motifs made the space warm and inviting. Thankfully the toilet was free.

  Roxy put down the toilet lid and sat for a few minutes. Julie had mentioned that shifters were highly territorial. They could be overbearing, overprotective and even a little caveman-like. If memory served, she’d even used the term barbaric. She wondered if this was more of the mating behavior that Blaze had referred to. It had to be.

  It was so peaceful and relaxing in the small stall, but she couldn’t hide out here all night. Roxy flushed the toilet and walked out, almost colliding with Sue.

  “Oh, hi,” she said. It was nice to see a familiar face.

  Sue gave a nod. “Hi. If I didn’t know better, I would say that you were hiding out in here.”

  “Busted.” She pulled a face. “It’s getting a bit hot and heavy in there.” She pointed at the door that led to the dining hall.

  “Yeah, the shifter males are all pretty desperate. They sniff around any unmated women.” She gave a laugh. “They’d have to be seriously hard up to hit on the king’s shag.”

  Roxy didn’t really like the way Sue had worded that. It made her feel a little bit worthless and a lot slutty. “I’m sure they’re just being nice,” she reiterated what she’d said earlier.

  Sue pursed her lips and folded her arms. The other woman looked like she was mulling over something. She finally sucked in a deep breath. “The advice we were given was bullshit!” she shook her head, looking pissed.

  “What advice are you referring to?”

  “The whole, the further you get the more chance you have of snagging a royal is a load of bullshit. That Julie chick is some piece of work.”

  Roxy narrowed her eyes. What was this woman on about? “No one could have predicted how the hunt would go.”

  “No!” she snapped back. “We were told to get as far as we could. The more distance we put between ourselves and the others would almost guarantee a royal shifter. I got the furthest out of all of us.” Sue pointed at herself as she spoke. “How is it that you and that other useless girl pretty much give up on the whole hunt and you both ended up with kings?” So that’s why she looked so unhappy. It was because Roxy and Lily had both been won by kings and she’d missed out. What a piece of work.

  “Well,” Roxy shrugged. “Maybe you shouldn’t have left. Lily was exhausted. She was suffering from a bad stitch. The right thing to do was to stay with her until she was ready to go on.”

  “You said you were tired as well. Don’t pretend you did it for her.”

  What a bitch! Roxy needed to keep her cool. She wasn’t about to let someone like this rattle her. “I was tired, but not too tired to keep going. I only told Lily that so she wouldn’t feel bad about my staying with her. There was no way I was just going to abandon her out in the middle of nowhere. You chose to keep going.” Karma had a hand in how things played out. Roxy kept that line of thinking to herself. “Lava seems like a really nice guy.”

  Sue rolled her eyes. Roxy couldn’t believe that she had found the woman attractive when she had first met her. What a bitch! She puffed out a breath. “I suppose if I had to get stuck with one of the lessers, then I’m thankful it’s with one of the best fire warriors. I didn’t come all the way out here for nothing you know. I want to be pampered. I don’t want to have to work…” she shook her head. “If I have to push out a couple of brats for the privilege, then my life had better be really good.”

  Roxy didn’t know what to say to that. “I need to get back.” She didn’t plan on getting involved in things that had nothing to do with her. Hopefully Lava would see through Sue. She didn’t wait for a reply, she just walked out.

  Halfway through the main course, Julie and Coal swapped places with two of the single guys. Roxy mouthed Thank you to the other woman. Up until then, things had been awkward and heated. The guys kept asking her all sorts of things and subtly hitting on her. Blaze was like a bear with a sore head. He calmed after the seat swap but remained quiet and withdrawn. He announced that they were leaving straight after they finished dessert. The plates hadn’t even been cleared yet.

  He proceeded to march her home where he ripped off the last formal dress she owned and made love to her first against the wall, then on the floor halfway to the bed and then, a third time on the actual bed. Making love was not the right description. Blaze called it rutting and that was far more fitting. All three times were from behind. Hard, fast and mind-blowing, were good descriptions as well. They’d finally fallen asleep, totally exhausted. Blaze was gone when she woke up the next morning.

  This was the pattern for the days that followed. They attended a few formal functions. Blaze was withdrawn and they left as soon as possible. The one really good thing was that he couldn’t keep his hands off of her when they were together. The problem was that their relationship was made up mostly of sex. There wasn’t too much room for talking. Roxy felt herself longing for more.

  Chapter 13

  Five days later…

  “Darcy is mated to one of the earth princes,” Coal flipped through the folder. “She and Rock took the plunge yesterday.”

  “I have no news on Thunder and his human.”

  “I will be surprised if they are not mated already.” Those two had been sickening together.

  “The human, Sue, and Lava are still together. He has said that he is still working on winning her but that it won’t take long.”

  Blaze shook his head. “The male suffers from an oversupply of confidence. The female doesn’t look all that interested in him. I’m sure that she is biding her time, she won’t stick around after the two weeks are up. Mark my words.”

  “So,” Coal put down the folder. “You have been paying attention. Your focus seems to revolve around a certain human lately.” His brother smiled.

  Blaze didn’t feel like having this conversation. He flipped to the final page in his file. “What about the last human?”

  Coal laughed. “Way to change the subject. Emma is mated to one of the water warriors. According to Torrent, the female is in heat and they are trying for a baby. It is another
success story.”

  “That’s excellent news,” Blaze said. “I will finalize the report and send feedback to the vampire kings. I am sure that they will be satisfied with the results thus far.”

  He watched as Coal’s eyes began to glint with mischief. The male sucked in a deep breath.

  Oh no, he didn’t want to talk about his relationship with Roxy, it had nothing to do with any of them. “How is Julie? How is the pregnancy coming along?”

  Just like that, the glint in Coal’s eye went away, it was replaced by a faraway look, filled with tenderness. Blaze almost wished he hadn’t asked. “She’s doing well. My female craves pickles and peanut butter,” his brother pulled a face. “Apparently it is a human thing. Her lower back has begun to ache a little. You saw her yesterday.” The male looked excited, his eyes widened and his voice rose by a few octaves. “Julie is definitely showing. By the size of her rounded belly you can tell that she is with child.” He narrowed his eyes a smidgen and leaned forward. “She’s insatiable at the moment.” Then that damned glint was back. “Talking about insatiable…what’s happening with Roxy?”

  “We’re good.” Blaze left it at that.

  “You both scent of each other. You’re having a ton of sex which is really good, but…”

  Blaze didn’t want to hear it. He sucked in a breath and held it in his lungs.

  “…a word of advice,” Coal added.

  Oh boy, here we go! Blaze felt like rolling his eyes.

  “Females – human females – like for their male to acknowledge them in public.”

  Blaze made a grunting noise, not sure where this was going.

  “It needs to be clear to all that you are together,” Coal went on. “Little things like holding hands or putting your arm around her, showing affection, will go a long way.”

  Hand holding? Cuddling? Kissing? It was all romantic crap. Blaze wasn’t a romantic male. He just wasn’t. What they had was not a romance, it never would be. They were in a relationship but it was one with definite boundaries. He hadn’t actually spoken to Roxy about them yet, however, he had made his stance clear through his actions. “I have made it very clear to all that Roxy is my female.”

  Coal pulled a face that told Blaze that the male thought he was full of shit. “If you say so. Growling at other males, telling them to back off…” he paused, “treating Roxy like she is a possession instead of your potential mate and future partner is not how to go about it. You’ve been with humans before. I think out of all of us, you have the most experience.”

  “I don’t,” Blaze practically snarled. Why did they keep bringing up his past? His only serious experience with a female was a terrible one. It had left a bad taste in his mouth.

  Coal gave Blaze a good-natured slap on the shoulder. “It was merely an observation,” he shrugged. “I like the female. I think she’s good for you and I agree with Inferno,” he snorted out a laugh. “I think you’re smitten.”

  “Bull-fucking-shit!” he growled before he could stop himself.

  Coal laughed and Blaze had to stop himself from punching his asshole brother. He didn’t want to give any more credence to the male’s beliefs, which were utter nonsense. If this was what the others believed though, what did Roxy think? Did she believe him to be in love with her? He hoped not. He also hoped that she wasn’t falling in love with him. Such emotions would ruin things.

  Blaze needed to speak to her right now, before it was too late. The sex was good. It was better than good. Roxy had proven herself as a potential queen. Not just because they were compatible. There was more to it than just that. He liked the idea of her raising his heirs. The last thing he needed or wanted was her misguided love.

  “I have to go.” Blaze felt the sense of urgency grow.

  “I’m sure you do,” Coal snickered.

  “I have a meeting.” Why the fuck had he explained himself to the male?

  “Sure you do.” More snickering. “If you—”

  Blaze ignored Coal. He slammed the door behind him. After a search of her room, he went to Julie’s place. There was no sign of either female. Coal rounded the corner, his brother was grinning from ear to fucking ear.

  Blaze clenched his jaw.

  “I was trying to tell you that Julie and Roxy are visiting with Flame’s mate, Pauline.”

  Blaze nodded once and headed in the direction of Flame’s chamber.

  “You are most welcome!” Coal shouted after him. “Good luck with Roxy. It looks like you’ve come to some conclusion, I only pray that it’s a not an asshole one.”

  Blaze kept walking. Just because he didn’t plan on having a conventional relationship with Roxy did not mean that he planned on hurting her or mistreating her. On the contrary, they could have an honest, open relationship filled with friendship, a relationship where both parties respected one another. It would be better than the over-emotional other option. One where things got messy, where one party had the ability to harm the other. No fucking thank you. He was sure he could make her see it his way. He had to.

  Julie held her belly. It was crazy how quickly it had grown since Roxy had met the other woman. “So, you guys have decided to wait. I’m not sure how you managed to convince Flame of that.”

  Pauline pulled a face. “He wasn’t happy. Going through my first heat was a bit of a challenge but it was also really fun.” She blushed. “You have no idea how many condoms we went through.”

  “I think I can guess,” Julie laughed.

  “I’m going into town tomorrow to see the vampire doctor. She’s a human, her name is Becky. Anyway, we decided it would be better if I went onto the Pill, that way I won’t ovulate. My heat was stressful on Flame. These shifters really do operate on instinct. Their base urges are way more prevalent than any human guy’s, that’s for sure.”

  Roxy could certainly attest to that, even though she hadn’t been here for very long.

  Julie nodded. “Coal wants to do everything for me. I swear that he would carry me around if I let him.”

  Julie and Pauline laughed. “I can only imagine how bad Flame would be. I want to wait for at least a year. I’m still really young. I want to enjoy my mate and our time together as a couple first before we have kids. We have plenty of time for all that.”

  Julie nodded enthusiastically. “I would’ve liked to have waited a bit as well but we don’t always have a say in these things.” She gave her belly another affectionate rub.

  Pauline glanced at Roxy. “The condom broke.”

  Julie laughed. “I had a serious panic session, I wasn’t sure I even wanted to be a mom.” She paused. “I’ve had one or two panic sessions since then, but I’m really excited and truly happy. This baby may not have been planned, but he is definitely loved.”

  “What’s going on with you and Blaze?” Pauline raised her brows.

  Roxy picked up her glass of cranberry juice. It was cold and condensation had begun to form on the outside of the glass.

  “Yeah,” Julie lowered her head and looked at Roxy through narrowed eyes. “Spit it out. All I can say is that he’s certainly possessive of you. I hope he’s not as grumpy when you two are alone together.”

  “Um… he’s just as intense.” As in, the sex was intense. “I wouldn’t call him grumpy though.”

  “So, he still has a stick up his ass?” Julie giggled. “I must say, I’m disappointed. I had hoped that once he got some nookie, that he would calm down, but it hasn’t happened. In fact, I would say that he’s worse.”

  She didn’t like that Julie was putting Blaze down even though she knew that she didn’t mean anything bad by it. “He’s a serious guy. It’s the way that he is, it’s not a bad thing.” Having said that, she’d hardly ever heard him laugh. When he did, his guard seemed to slip just that little bit but never for long. “He told me he’s experiencing mating behavior and that it’s making him a little nuts. It’s probably those base instincts you were talking about earlier.”

  “Mating behavior,” Jul
ie gushed. “That’s so exciting. Have you discussed mating one another?”

  “We haven’t really had a chance.” Roxy took a big sip of her juice, trying not to blush.

  Pauline narrowed her eyes. “You guys have been together for over a week now. You’re living with Blaze. Shifters tend to move quickly. Flame and I had already set the date by then. Lisa was already mated by then. I heard that two of the others who were in the hunt with you are mated already as well. One couple is trying for a baby.”

  “Everyone is different. Coal and I took a little longer.” Julie lifted her eyes in thought. “Has he mentioned it at all? He should’ve said something by now.”

  “Um…” Roxy chewed on her lower lip. “I guess we haven’t talked much about anything.”

  Pauline laughed. “Flame and I talked very little for those first few days as well.”

  Julie laughed. “Okay, I totally get it.”

  “I don’t think he can be near me without ripping my clothes off and I mean literally. Thank god the clothes I ordered came yesterday or I swear I would have to wear a towel or a sheet.”

  Julie picked up her own glass of juice. “Yup, that’s mating behavior for sure. Acting all possessive in public and ripping your clothes off in private. Blaze has it bad for you.”

  “Do you think so?” Roxy hated that she sounded so unsure.

  “Definitely,” Pauline was grinning wildly. “I would be very surprised if he didn’t bring it up soon.”

  Julie nodded. “Yeah, he’s showing all the signs.”

  Roxy put her glass down and clasped her hands in her lap. “I think it might be a bit soon to start talking about mating. Forever is a long time.”

  Julie leaned forward. “I’ve seen the way you look at him. You have feelings for the guy.”

  Roxy shook her head. “It’s too soon to tell.” They hadn’t spoken much at all. She hardly knew Blaze. The sex was fantastic but that was hardly enough to base a relationship on.

  Thankfully they changed the subject. Julie showed them a catalog filled with furniture for the nursery. They looked at all the various options for the layout, as well as the bedding. Julie wasn’t sure whether to go with brown and mint green or brown and baby blue.