by Anna Lowe
Ty seemed more interested in nibbling on her ear. “Cookies?”
She shook her head and sighed deeply as his hands traveled along her ribs, sneaking higher each time. “Babysitting. All afternoon tomorrow.”
He raised an eyebrow, going from weary daddy to smoking-hot wolf with one tiny move. “Both kids?”
She gave a slow, exaggerated nod. “Yep. Both kids.”
“I love Christmas,” he rumbled, tugging her backward, enveloping her in his embrace.
“Me, too.”
“How about a pre-Christmas present?” he whispered, sliding his hands higher.
Her inner Geiger counter started hopping up and down, and she pushed her shoulders against the cliff of his chest. “I like the sound of that.”
“Good.” He spun her stool around, lifted her off, and slid her onto the table. “Really good.” He stepped between her legs and scooted her closer.
“Good,” she murmured, inhaling his musky scent.
Chapter Five
“Shh!” Cody whispered right in Heather’s ear. “You’ll wake the kids.”
She giggled, so he did it again. “Shh!”
She twisted from her belly-down position on the bed and watched his eyes sparkle.
“How can I not make noise when you touch me that way?” She did her best to look stern, but teacher-voice didn’t work on her mate.
A volley of fireworks went off in his eyes. “Believe me, I like your noise. Love your noise.” His grin zipped from mischievous to downright dirty. “I plan to make you say all kinds of good things pretty soon. But I don’t want to wake the kids up. Or the dog. So be quiet, already.”
He caught her lips with his, and she melted right back into the mattress. What Cody could do with one kiss, other men couldn’t achieve in an entire night of their best tricks.
Mate. My mate, her wolf purred.
She really ought to at least pretend to resist his charm, but what was the point in fighting destiny? Especially when destiny had given her sweet, studly, and sensual, all mixed into one?
“Now…” Cody murmured, shifting his weight.
Just that one word set her blood rushing to her core.
He reared back and went right back to teasing her. “Where was I?”
“You were about to make your mate very, very happy,” she mumbled into the pillow. He was straddling her hips from behind, with the unmistakable prod of his erection touching down in just the right place.
“No, I think I was about to tease my mate some more.”
“Torture,” she groaned.
“Torture,” Cody agreed, sounding awfully pleased with himself.
His warm hands worked their way up her shirt and unclipped her bra. Smoothed over her shoulder blades, then dipped down along her ribs to tickle the sides of her breasts.
“Torture,” he murmured, leaning close to her ear.
Just his voice got her heated up. God, she was a goner. A happy, happy goner.
She worked up just enough energy to reach back and hook her fingers inside his jeans. “Torture is all these layers of clothing between me and my mate.”
His wolf growled, and she nodded along. The beast was her best ally when it came to sex. When it came to anything, actually, but especially in sex, because Cody’s wolf had about as much patience as she did when it came to getting what they both wanted.
But, drat him, Cody managed to hold the beast in check. He scraped his whole body up along her back then back down, lighting every nerve.
“All in good time, honey.” His fingers combed her hair aside, exposing her neck. “All in good time.”
The lazy, licking flames inside her flared into a bonfire as he kissed his way toward her neck, honing in on her favorite spot, where he’d once bitten deep to claim her forever.
She squirmed under him, moaning under his magic touch. “Cody, please.”
He broke his kiss with a sharp inhale. Maybe he wasn’t as in control as he seemed. Heather went on the offensive, twisting under his weight so they were chest-to-chest.
“I need my mate,” she growled, tugging his shirt over his head, then pulling her own top off.
Much better, her wolf sighed inside, watching his eyes spark. Next, please.
She dove for his jeans while she still had the element of surprise. Popped open the button, slid down the fly. Then she scooped around the back and worked the jeans down.
Cody flashed a thousand-watt smile. “Hungry, much?”
“Always hungry for you.” She reached into his boxers and finally—finally!—had the satisfaction of closing one greedy hand over her prize. Her thick, throbbing prize. She wrapped her fingers around him and slowly slid down.
His eyes went to half-mast as if following her hand. Down, down, down, then up…
He blinked, and for a split second, she was afraid he’d go back to Cody the tease. But his eyes darkened and fell to her chest. She could practically see his wolf licking its lips.
She dragged her hand along his shaft, teased the head, and pushed her shoulders back into the mattress, lifting her chest. Let him try to resist that.
He tried for all of half a second then dove for his prize. She nearly let out a triumphant woot, but it turned into a throaty moan as his lips closed over a nipple.
“Cody!”
He didn’t try to shush her this time. Just kept his head down and did all kinds of delicious things. Licked in tiny circles with the tip of his tongue. Sucked with a wide open mouth. Nibbled the sensitive flesh, then her peaked nipple.
She moaned, mumbled, arched into his touch. Soared into temperatures they hadn’t seen since midsummer as his hands worked frantically at her pants. She reached down to help and kicked them quickly aside, ready to wrap her legs around her mate. But Cody shifted his weight and pinned her again, so there was nothing to do but lie back and enjoy the twin stimulation of his mouth and fingers on her nipple plus the hot trail of his left hand, sliding down her body like the wind over the landscape. It left the curve of her breasts for the hollow of her belly, dipped over her navel like a pothole in the road, then whispered into the valley between her legs.
Heather’s head rolled back on the pillow and she threaded her fingers into his hair.
Cody pushed her legs apart with his knee, and part of her wished he’d drive straight in. Who needed foreplay when her inner wolf was screaming for the hot, hard slide of his cock?
She clawed at his back. “Need you inside, cowboy. Need you now.”
He tilted his head up at her, barely an inch from a glistening nipple he hastened back to a split second later.
“Cody,” she moaned as he circled her entrance with a finger. Two fingers. He hovered there like a hawk, waiting for just the right moment to dive.
“Cody…” She writhed.
He popped up from her breast and locked eyes with her. A sure sign he was about to finally give her what she wanted, because Cody loved watching when she came completely undone.
His eyes glimmered. She held her breath, because he was sure to—
She gasped as he drove his fingers deep.
“Yes!” Her inner muscles immediately clamped down.
His eyes went darker still. “Good, huh?” His voice was husky and deep.
“Good,” she mumbled. Her arms flopped around until they found the headboard. She hung on there as he worked her from the inside, spreading her slick heat.
“Shh,” he whispered into her skin.
“How…can…I…not…make…oh!” So much for not making noise. There was no holding that moan of pleasure back. “Cody…”
She could barely see, but the sense of a ticking clock was still there. With the kids taking shorter and shorter naps these days, who knew how much time they had left?
“Cody…” She pulled herself together just long enough to push her mate back and lock eyes with him.
I need this. I need this right now, her wolf yowled.
Cody’s mischievous Huck Finn look vanished, an
d his wolf glowed in his eyes. He nodded once, and she rolled onto her stomach, absolutely, positively ready for more.
So, so ready, her wolf agreed.
She raised her hips and he slid over her body, hands at her sides. The hard prod of his cock found her entrance, warm and wet, and she nearly lost it right there.
“Cod—” she started.
He slid in with one firm push.
“Better?” He tried to hit a lighthearted note, but the sunny side had lost out to the wolf. She could feel it in the hard grip of his hands on her hips, hear it in his unsteady breath.
“More. More.” It became a chant as he slid in and out, in and out, ever harder and more urgently. “Yes…”
Doggy style had never been her thing until she met Cody, who’d made it into her favorite position. Well, any position with Cody was great, but belly-down with the sheer power of him wrapped around her from the back… That ranked at the very top of her list. She stretched her arms overhead to the bedpost and pushed back in time with his thrusts, ratcheting her pleasure higher and higher. His, too.
“Heather…” he groaned.
I really should tell you to shush, she scolded his wolf.
He growled, making every cell in her body vibrate from the need in that sound. The sheer, animal desire.
Heather…
She pushed back harder, clamping down around him.
Cody panted into her neck. Pushed her hair aside. His teeth raked over her mating bite, setting her on fire.
Yes! Yes! her wolf screamed to his. Take me!
The points of his teeth pressed into her flesh as his hips kept up the steady pump.
“Cody, yes,” she whispered, spiraling higher and higher.
His canines extended. His tongue moistened the scar, and his teeth scraped along her skin.
Take me! her wolf howled.
Mine! Mate! Fierce words punctuated the hot slide of his teeth into her flesh.
There was no pain, only a flash of searing white heat. A wave of pleasure pulsed through her like a drug. His cock drove harder while his teeth held her. She shuddered, then let go of every strand of tension as Cody hammered on. Veins and muscles stood out all over his arms—the only part of his body in her field of vision—when he finally groaned and went stiff, driving one last time.
Her pulse pumped against the pressure of his bite, and she lay perfectly still, clinging to the sheer pleasure of it all.
Heat and energy swirled all around, but inside, all that registered was peace, as if she were anchored in the calm center of a raging tropical storm. A high-energy, insistent kind of peace, as if she’d jumped into a pool of pleasure or stepped in a fogbank of ecstasy. Satisfaction oozed into every joint as her wolf mumbled incoherently.
Cody’s hips stopped pumping, but his teeth were still buried deep, and he hung on for a glorious eternity before slowly, gently, sliding out. Her flesh sealed under his careful lick, as it did every time he renewed their mating bite. He lowered his weight over her, and they both sank into the mattress, wrapped together in one tight package. His broad chest warmed her back; his cheek nestled beside hers. His arms circled her shoulders, and their panting breath gradually evened out.
“Mine,” he mumbled in a voice that was both tired and proud. “My mate.”
Still awash in a sea of bliss, Heather didn’t say anything. She stroked his arms with the little bit of movement their tight cocoon afforded and nuzzled her cheek against his.
There’d been a time in her life when she’d been on the run, and all she could think about was survival. Now, all she could think about was how good her life was. How rich. She had her mate, her kids, her pack. She had peace—deep, inner peace.
She sighed when the bedside clock blinked over from 4:59 to 5:00. “Party starts in an hour.”
Cody chuckled. “I think the party’s already happening right here in this bed.”
She laughed as he curled around her and they lay spooned side by side. “You throw a good party, cowboy.”
“Mmm,” he hummed. “You, too, my love. You, too.”
Chapter Six
“Party time! Party time!” Little Tana jumped up and down, intercepting Rae and Zack as they came down the path from their outlying cabin, heading to the dining hall.
“Party time!” Rae echoed, taking Tana’s outstretched hand. “You think Santa has already brought my favorite goddaughter something?”
Tana skipped and turned and pulled harder. “I think so! I hope so!”
Rae couldn’t hold back a smile. “God, where do you get the energy?” She glanced at Lana, who wasn’t far behind, holding baby Tyler in her arms, and Ty, carrying a platter of cookies in one hand and a bowl of salad in the other.
Tana didn’t answer, but Lana did. “And this is after a day building snowmen.”
“Teensy tiny snowmen,” Ty added, holding two fingers an inch apart.
“Well, that’s tiring, too,” Rae replied.
“Yeah,” Ty commented. “For me!”
Everyone laughed, and Rae took Zack’s warm hand. Squeezed it, because there’d been no snowmen in her mate’s day. No overexcited kids, pouring joy and energy into his life. Much as they’d tried and hoped and waited, it looked like fate didn’t have that gift in store for them.
Either Zack was reading her mind or he was thinking the same thing, because he pulled her hand to his lips and brushed a kiss over her knuckles. We have a lot of other things to be happy for, right?
Right. She nodded firmly. Like my mate.
He grinned. Like my mate.
Well, my mate is the best, she insisted.
No, my mate is the best.
They grinned at each other, because that silly game was better than thinking about things they couldn’t have, like a child of their own.
“Want a ride, miss?” Zack called to Tana. When she nodded, he swung her onto his shoulders and started galloping down the path.
“Whee! Faster!” Tana cried.
Rae glanced over at little Tyler. “I don’t suppose you want a ride, little man?”
Tyler promptly buried his face in his mother’s shoulder.
Rae chuckled. “Yeah, I thought not.”
Lana tousled her son’s hair and smiled. “Still a mama’s boy.”
Rae let her gaze swing between little Tyler and his six-foot-two dad. Hard to imagine a man that big ever being such a tiny, helpless thing, just as it was hard to imagine her own mate as anything but a solid block of steel. “Not for long, Lana.” She made sure to keep her voice from getting too wistful. “Not for long.”
They walked on and exchanged more greetings as their packmates converged on the dining hall for the ranch’s traditional Christmas Eve feast. Christmas morning would be a private, family affair, but the evening before was one of the few events the entire pack gathered together for.
Well, almost the entire pack.
“No sign of Roy?” Ty murmured when they caught up to Zack.
Zack gave a curt shake of the head, and Rae glanced at the hills. Where was the lonely wolf right now? Over the past year, Roy had made fewer and fewer appearances on the ranch, preferring to roam the hills alone.
“Haven’t seen him in ages,” Lana murmured sadly.
The few times Rae remembered Roy stopping by, he’d remained in wolf form the entire time. A shifter slowly going feral, losing himself to his wild side.
Ty and Zack exchanged hard looks.
“Hurry, Daddy!” Tana called. She tugged at the heavy dining hall door with all her might. “The party’s starting!”
Which of course it wouldn’t, not without the pack’s ruling alpha, but Ty hurried along to humor his daughter.
The second Rae entered the hall, the juicy scent of roast turkey filled her nose, along with a whole host of other smells. The fragrance of a fruity red wine. Of pineapple and brown sugar, oozing over honey-baked ham. Melting butter and garlic spread over freshly baked bread. Her nose twitched, taking in the sugary flavors waf
ting from the dessert table. A fire crackled in the stone fireplace at one end of the hall, and candles winked from every red-decked table.
“Beautiful,” she murmured, taking it all in.
“Delicious.” Zack nodded, closing his eyes and sniffing the feast.
“Delicious,” Rae agreed an hour later, when they’d pushed away from the table and leaned back, taking in the scene.
Kids tugged on their parents’ sleeves, pointing toward the presents under the tree. Old Tyrone, the former alpha, scowled in conversation with the older generation at his usual table. Aunt Jean and Ruth bustled around the hall, clucking over every guest. A cluster of young men hung back at the far end of the hall. Some chowed down third or fourth helpings of food while others eyed the single young women shooting sidelong glances their way.
Two tables garnered the most attention: the one at the back right, where the new hires from Seymour Ranch were gathered, and the one to the left of the fireplace, where Axel, the javelina shifter, sat lost in the gaze of the brunette seated beside him. Both of them seemed blissfully unaware of the dozen jealous glances shooting their way.
“Looks like Audrey’s given up on Axel and moved on to a new target,” Zack murmured, shaking his head.
Rae followed his gaze to the dessert table, where the bleached blonde leaned deep over a shortcake, treating one of the new wranglers to a view of her meaty cleavage. After a few years away from Twin Moon Ranch, the man-eater was back.
“Think she’ll get anywhere with him?” Rae mused.
Zack sighed. “She’ll find someone to hook up with, that’s for sure.”
Rae extended her legs toward the fireplace and hooked her feet over Zack’s. What did it matter what the singles were up to? She had her mate.
A shadow fell over her legs as Tana led Ty past, tugging him toward her grandfather’s table. The former alpha wore a softer version of his usual scowl, and Tana looked earnestly from her father to her grandfather as she presented what appeared to be a plea to fast-forward to the gifts wrapped so enticingly under the tree.
Three generations of Hawthornes, huddled together. Rae could practically see the power pulsing around them. Tana had all the makings of a strong alpha, maybe even enough to take charge of the pack someday. Maybe she’d do it alone; maybe she’d share duties with her brother once they were both grown up. Either way, the children would inherit a great legacy. Privilege, too, albeit counterbalanced by the heavy burden of duty. Rae sighed a little, knowing how that felt. A good thing the children had Ty and Lana to guide them on the long road ahead.