Chapter Twenty-Four – Stay with Me
When the dishes had been done and the kitchen cleaned until it was sparkling, Margaret's guests began drifting home. Tomorrow was Monday, and most of the shifters and their mates had early starts to their work days on the ranch or at their businesses. They departed with fulsome thanks for the meal and heavy hints that they'd welcome another one of Daniel's dinners next Sunday.
Daniel heaved a silent sigh of relief as the door closed behind the final set of guests. His meeting with the Swanson clan had gone better than he'd expected, despite Mark's totally-understandable objections. That conversation had been hugely uncomfortable, but Daniel and Chris hadn't been ordered to leave the ranch, which had been Daniel's secret worry.
And Margaret's instant defense of Daniel had left a warm glow inside him.
She's a hell of a woman, and better than you deserve, he told himself.
I want her as our mate, his cat reminded him, and Daniel found himself welcoming the idea of coming home to Margaret's bed every night after his job, and waking up next to her every morning.
And after the way she'd defended him, he dared to hope that she felt the same way about him.
Now, he and Margaret stood in the kitchen, companionably putting away the clean pots and pans and emptying the dishwasher. Chris was helping them, chattering about how much fun he'd had at Ash's place last night, and how cool he found it that that both Matt and Ash's son Mitya could turn into bears and that Sophie knew their secret and she that she was okay with it.
"—oh, and they have horses, too! Matt said he'd teach me how to ride next weekend...if we're still here." Chris paused, then asked, his voice suddenly tight with emotion, "Are we still going be here next weekend?"
"That depends," Daniel said, carefully, trying to read Chris's emotions. "Do you want to stay longer?"
Chris nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! This place is awesome!"
Well, that sounded like the perfect opening for the conversation that Daniel been wanting to have with his nephew.
"So, Junior, how would you feel about moving here?" Daniel asked, continuing to pull still-warm plates from the dishwasher and stack them on the island's counter.
He sensed Margaret listening intently, though she didn't stop putting away glassware in the cupboards on the other side of the kitchen.
Chris came to a dead halt, the dishwasher's silverware basket dangling from his hand. "For real, Uncle Dan?"
Daniel nodded. "I had a job interview this morning at the Bearpaw Springs Resort, which isn't too far from here. The owner made me a job offer on the spot, but I told him I had to talk to you before I made a decision."
"You mean, we wouldn't have to go back to Albuquerque? We could just stay here?" Chris asked. He bit his lip and Daniel felt a pang at the sudden anxiety in his nephew's expression. "Far away from those guys who shot you?"
Daniel realized that his nephew had probably been consumed with anxiety about returning home and being attacked again by Messerzahn's thugs. Maybe knowing that he won't have to go back will help ease his nightmares.
That's when he realized that he hadn't been visited by his own nightmares since arriving here. He'd slept like a baby under Margaret's roof, as if her calm, warm presence somehow had the ability to soothe the wounds in his soul.
Yeah, I want this woman in my life, he told his cat, and received its silent purr of approval.
"If we relocate here, I might have to go back for a short time to pack up everything and put my house up for sale," Daniel said, feeling a small pang of regret for his old adobe. He loved that house, and he'd put a lot of work into renovating it on his days off from the restaurant. "But you wouldn't have to go back."
"I don't want you to go back there, either! What if those guys try to shoot you again?" Chris asked, sounding upset. "Can't you just pay someone to move our stuff and send it here?"
Daniel stopped to consider the idea. Would it be stupid of me to return to Albuquerque just to try and save a few dollars?
"That's a good idea," he said, reluctantly. "I'll get some quotes online and see if we can afford it. And I can probably hire a real estate agent online, as well. But I need to know you're really okay with moving here, even though it means changing schools and everything."
Chris scowled. "My school was lame, and I hated having to pretend to be an Ordinary all the time," he replied. "It would be awesome to go to school with Matt and Sophie and everyone else." He looked pleadingly at Daniel. "I want to stay here. Can we? Please?"
Daniel felt like a huge weight had suddenly disappeared from his shoulders. He'd been wrestling with the dilemma of where to go if Chris was opposed to moving here. "I'll phone Mr. Ornelas in the morning, and then I'll see about getting you registered for fifth grade at the local school."
"Yes!" Chris grinned and spun around, punching his fist in the air.
"I can help with that," Margaret offered. "I know a couple of people who work for the school district. You can use the ranch as your official address for as long as you like."
"Cool!" Chris opened the silverware drawer and started emptying the basket he was still holding.
He stood with his back to Daniel and Margaret, so Daniel reached for Margaret's hand, and squeezed. "You're a lifesaver, Margaret. I can't thank you enough."
She laughed, her face turning an attractive shade of pink. "I don't know about that...your dinner tonight was amazing and wonderful, Daniel. You have a gift. A wonderful gift, and I'm grateful that you chose to share it with my family. Even if I wanted to smack Mark for putting you on the spot like that," she finished wryly.
Daniel shrugged. "Well, I'm sure he was only saying what everyone else was thinking. It was good to get all that shi—uh, stuff out in the open."
"It was rude," Margaret countered tartly. "Especially since Mark, Kayla, and Hannah came to see me while you were at your interview, and aired their concerns."
Shit. I just knew that staying here would make trouble for Margaret.
"I don't want my presence here to get between you and your family," Daniel said, though he hated the thought of having to leave just when he'd found the woman he wanted to mate. "And I'd hate to make more trouble than I already have."
"You haven't made any trouble. Besides, Dane likes you," Margaret said. "And I like you. Everyone else will just have to deal."
"Ash likes you, too, Uncle Dan," Chris said. "I could tell while we were all cooking together."
Then he yawned, and rubbed his eyes.
"Just how long did you all stay up playing that video game?" Daniel asked.
Chris shrugged. "Dunno." He grinned around another huge yawn. "It was really fun, though."
He finished putting the silverware away, then yawned again and headed upstairs to bed.
Daniel hoped that his nephew wouldn't suffer from any nightmares tonight.
"How do you feel about bubble baths?" Margaret asked softly, once they'd both heard Chris's bedroom door closing. She opened one of the glass-fronted cupboards and put away the last of the clean wine glasses.
"I think a hot bath sounds like heaven right about now," Daniel said, coming up behind her and slipping his arms around her waist.
Dinner service had gone very smoothly tonight, considering that he'd been working with two novice sous-chefs and a group of untrained and somewhat unruly helpers. He was tired...though not too tired to anticipate another helping of a very special dessert with the sweet, lusciously-curved woman currently standing next to him.
And now that he knew that Chris wanted to stay in Bearpaw Ridge, Daniel was looking forward to the days and nights ahead, getting to know every inch of Margaret's generous, sweetly-scented body.
"I have an antique clawfoot tub upstairs," Margaret said, leaning back against him. "It's huge...and I thought maybe we could share it."
"Darlin', that sounds like a slice of heaven right now." He bent and nipped her ear. She shivered and he heard her heartbeat accelerate.
D
amn, but he loved those reactions of hers! They were as intoxicating as a shot of brandy on an empty stomach. She really did want him as much as he wanted her. He added, "I can't wait until you're naked and wet and sitting in my lap."
Margaret gave a throaty laugh. "You really know how to sweet talk a date." She turned to face him, and kissed his throat.
Her lips were soft and warm...and her teeth pleasantly sharp as she returned his earlier nip. Daniel felt his blood rush south as she nibbled her way down the side of his neck, and he grew achingly hard.
Margaret's breath was coming fast, too, when she licked the hollow of his throat then drew back.
She entwined her fingers with his, and led him out of the kitchen and up the stairs.
* * *
Once the large tub in her bathroom was filled with steaming water and mounds of shining white bubbles, Margaret settled herself on Daniel's lap, her back against his chest. She had seen the unmistakable evidence of his interest as they quickly undressed each other in her bedroom. Now, with both of them partially submerged in the chest-deep water, she felt it pressing against her lower back, hard and eager, the truest and most primal testimony about what he wanted.
Hot water rose and caressed her skin, matching the heat inside her.
Daniel's sinewy, capable hands rose out of the mass of bubbles and glided over her belly and stomach. Margaret sank fully into his embrace, resting her head on his shoulder. They cuddled together for a little while, letting the heat soak away the stress and fatigue of the long day with its many ups and downs.
She wanted to tell him how happy she was that he'd be staying here, with her, for the foreseeable future, but somehow couldn't find the right words.
It was easier just to enjoy the sensation of Daniel naked and pressed against her from his knees to his chest, all lean, hard muscle, and warm breath ticking the stray tendrils of hair escaping from the braid that she'd pinned up.
"I'm so glad Chris wants to stay here in Bearpaw Ridge," she whispered, finally. Because she felt like she had to say something.
"Me, too," Daniel said. He hesitated, as if choosing his words carefully. "And I'm looking forward to spending more time with you."
"I'd like that," she breathed, feeling like she was tiptoeing around the slippery rim of a confession.
Is he feeling the same way I am?
He scooped up hot water and mounds of iridescent bubbles, and let them trickle slowly over her bare breasts before cupping them. She inhaled sharply and arched upwards as he used his thumbs to stroke her nipples to taut points, sending bright sparks of desire along every nerve.
"Do you have any idea of how sexy you are when you do that?" Daniel murmured into her ear. His fingers continued to stroke and pluck at her in deliciously tormenting caresses. "I love that I can drive you crazy just by kissing you—" He paused to do just that to her neck and the top of her shoulder. "—and I swear that those little noises you make are the hottest thing I've ever heard."
"What noises?" Margaret demanded, then remembered that she needed to be quiet because Chris was sleeping in the tower room on the other side of the landing.
Daniel's soft laugh rumbled through her pleasantly. One of his hands left her breast and skimmed down over the curve of her hip before darting between her legs.
His fingertips explored and teased every sensitive fold, fanning flames that the bathwater couldn't extinguish.
Margaret bit back the whimper of pure need that tried to claw its way out of her throat and writhed against him, sending a wave sloshing over the tub's curved rim and onto the tiled floor.
"That noise," Daniel whispered, never stopping the slow, wicked movements of his fingertips against her. "Let me hear that again."
She felt him slide a long finger inside her and couldn't help herself.
"Yeah, darlin', just like that," he coaxed her, adding a second finger and curling them to press against a place that made her feel like white and gold fireworks were shooting through her.
"Daniel, please," she gasped, grinding herself against those maddening, wonderful fingers of his. "I need you."
It was his turn to shudder and gasp as she moved against his erection, sliding the slick skin of her bottom up and down his hard length.
Daniel bit the back of her neck, and gave a low, nearly soundless growl that vibrated against the sensitive skin of her nape.
The magic that was rapidly driving her to the brink of climax abruptly came to an end as he pulled his hand away from the place between her legs. His arms repositioned themselves and tightened around her. That was her only warning before Daniel somehow got his legs under him and rose from the bath, easily lifting Margaret as if she weighed nothing.
God, I love shifter men!
"Bath time's over," he said hoarsely.
He stepped out of the tub and lowered her to her feet, deliberately letting her slick, wet skin slide against him before he turned her in his arms, lowered his head, and captured her mouth in a hard, sensual kiss. His green eyes looked gilded as his beast rose inside him.
Margaret eagerly wound her arms around his neck and pressed herself close to him as she returned his kiss with lips and tongue and all of the hunger that he'd ignited in her.
His hands roved over her back before capturing her bottom and pulling her tight against him and trapping his erection between them.
Without breaking the kiss, Daniel reached out and snagged one of the large bath towels hanging next to the tub, and wrapped it around her. The line-dried terrycloth was a little stiff.
He began to dry her off, very slowly and very thoroughly, stroking the rough towel over her sensitized skin like a cat's tongue, lingering over her breasts and the insides of her thighs as she shook with need.
She returned the favor with a second towel, taking the opportunity to hungrily run her hands over every lithe, hard inch of him...his muscled chest and tattooed arms, his firm, rounded ass, and the long muscles of his legs.
They were both panting with need when she finished and let the towel drop to the hexagonal marble tiles of the bathroom floor.
Then she entwined her fingers with his, and led him into her bedroom. Every part of her pulsed with need as they approached her bed.
"We're going to have to be very quiet," Daniel purred, his green eyes flecked with gold. "Can you do that, darlin'?"
Margaret remembered how easily he'd managed to draw sound out of her just now, and felt her face grow hot. But she wasn't going to surrender to him, not that easily.
"I had a lot of practice doing everything quietly when my kids were younger and Ryan was home on leave," she told him confidently and eyed his impressive erection. "What about you, Mr. Albuquerque's Most Eligible Bachelor?" she continued, teasing.
"That fu—er, fricking article," he groaned, and she was charmed to see his face flush with embarrassment. "You would not believe how much crap my friends and kitchen staff gave me after that thing was published. Sometimes I really hate food bloggers and restaurant reviewers."
"And now I have you in my clutches. I bet the women of New Mexico are crying bitter tears of jealously right now." Margaret grinned up at him. "Well, how quiet can you be?"
Daniel's eyes gleamed with a mixture of desire and mischief. His voice was as smooth and rich as melted butter as he answered, "Well, now, that depends, darlin', on whether we do this sweet and slow, or—" He raked her naked body with his gaze, and she felt his desire burning against bare skin. "Fast and hard."
Her breath caught at the mental image those last words conjured. "Tell me more," she breathed.
His glance slid sideways, to the low brass rail at the foot of her old-fashioned bed. "All day, I've been thinking about bending you over that rail and havin' my way with you." His normally faint drawl had suddenly grown stronger.
A jolt of pure need ran through Margaret's nerves like lightning, making her chest feel suddenly tight. Heat pooled between her thighs, accompanied by a sudden aching throb of arousal. She licked her
lips, and saw Daniel's eyes tracking the movement.
"That doesn't sound very quiet." Her voice sounded raw and breathless.
Daniel's eyes narrowed in a predatory stare.
"Fuck quiet," he said, his tone low and emphatic.
Chapter Twenty-Five – Making a Move
Daniel grabbed her hips and spun her to face the railing in question. Margaret felt his bare feet tap the inside of her ankles, urging her to spread her legs apart. She moved eagerly to accommodate him.
He kissed his way down the length of her spine, his hands cupping and playing with her breasts.
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