by C. D. Gorri
“Yes, Mrs. Devlin?” Her father’s brittle smile nearly cracked under the weight of her disapproving glare.
“I believe my husband and Clan have graciously invited you to run for the winter solstice on our lands near Lake Ursa, correct?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Good. Then I suggest you head out there now before my Enforcers have you removed from this bakery and from the town entirely.”
“But you can’t-”
“My mate asked you to leave, Alpha Winters. If it was not for the arrangements Roxanne has already made with me, I would kick the whole lot of you out right now, but as a mate to one of my most loyal and fiercest Enforcers, she will be extended the same courtesies as any Clan member. Now, go, before I change my mind,” Marcus added with his own threatening growl.
“Yes, um, okay then. Roxanne?”
“You better go, Dad. I am staying right here. With my mate.”
“Fine, but don’t you come crawling back when he’s done with you.”
“Go home, Dad,” she did not raise her voice as she said it. She didn’t have to. Behind the words Roxanne wielded the power of an Alpha.
She may not want to rule the Skulk, but that didn’t mean she was weak. Oh no. Not weak at all. She had oodles of strength. Particularly in one six and a half-foot tall almost three hundred pounds of pure muscle standing behind her.
As if to prove the point, her mountainous mate opened his mouth and loosed the loudest roar she’d ever heard. So loud that her father whimpered and rushed out the door with the young Mr. Currin on his heels. The implied threat more than enough to set his ass moving.
Her brother mouthed a small sorry, but she didn’t know if she could forgive him. Not yet anyway. Sensing her unease, Bowie pushed against her back, but she steadied him with a hand on his arm.
“Holy shit! Polar Bears are fucking loud,” Krissy said in awe and Taylor clasped a hand over her mouth and hoisted her off her feet.
“No cursing where that cub in your belly can hear, young lady,” he said and nibbled her ear.
“Alright then, let’s go to the parade. Bowie, you lock up and meet us there,” Daniel tossed a set of keys in their direction and her Bear caught them before they could make contact.
“And Bowie,” Marcus added, “You better claim that little Fox sooner than later.”
Before either of them could answer, Roxanne found herself alone with Bowie. She could feel his nerves as if they were her own. He breathed heavily against her ear. Almost like he’d just run a marathon.
She understood. Her own heart was thundering in her chest. She had just stood up to her own father for the first time in her life. And she’d announced Bowie was her mate without even asking him. Did the fact that his arms were still wrapped tightly around her body mean he accepted her claim?
Gulp. Should she ask him? Roxanne had never felt such uncertainty.
“Did you mean that?” His whispered voice was rough like he’d swallowed a mouthful of gravel.
Was that fear that thickened her mate’s words? The sour smell of his anxiety mixed with a much sweeter one. A scent she thought smelled a lot like hope.
Love blossomed inside her chest as she turned around to look at Bowie. Some things required a direct approach. She knew that from her years working for the Skulk.
Thank goodness she could apply some of what she’d learned here and now when faced with the most important decision of her life. She saw his Bear in his eyes as she took his handsome face in her hands. Both man and beast wanted an answer.
“Hell yes, I meant it!”
What else could she say? His eyes widened with shock and laughter as she nodded and launched herself at him.
“Thank fuck,” he growled, catching her easily and mashing his lips to hers.
Epilogue
The Holiday Lights Parade went off without a hitch. Daniel noting the importance of the night and what had occurred, relieved Bowie of his duties for the night while floats decorated with all matter of holiday decorations went by the bakery window.
Huge displays of white and red poinsettias, dozens of lighted wreathes with red bows, silver and gold tinsel and glitter, and of course more lights than he’d ever seen danced down the main stretch of road through Barvale to the huge tree that would be lit with thousands of twinkle lights once all the floats were finished. Carolers sang, the crowds cheered, hot cocoa was served, and cookies devoured.
It was, all of it, festive and fun, but for all Bowie cared it could have happened a million miles away. His mate, his mate, had announced her claim on him in front of an entire room full of people and he wanted to shout it to the whole world.
“Roxanne. Mine. My mate,” he said over and over again as he devoured her mouth.
“Bowie, let’s go home,” she murmured in his ear.
He was one hundred percent down with that plan. Hoisting her up in his arms he darted through the parking lot to the woods behind.
“What are you-”
“It’s faster,” he growled, voice thick with his Bear.
Through the frost-covered forest he sped with his sweet mate in his arms. His cabin was a little over a mile from the bakery, where it would have taken over an hour to get through the crowds and traffic the festival caused. Pushing his Bear harder than ever, he bounded over patches of ice and snow with ease.
Within minutes he was at the front door, almost breaking it in his haste, but she got to the doorknob before he could. Clever mate.
“I like this door,” she said with a grin and he promised himself to always give her everything she wanted. So long as she smiled at him like that.
When he got to the bedroom, their bedroom, he laid her down reverently. The need to rush gone. He had her now. In his den. And he wasn’t letting her go until she was well and truly claimed.
Her small hands moved to the buttons of her blouse, but he gently eased them away.
“I want to undress you, mate.”
“Yes,” she agreed lying back for him to have better access.
She looked incredible in her green sweater with the bow across her waist and a pair of black jeggings hugging her curves. She looked like a gift. The best damn Christmas present he could ever ask for.
“Mine,” he growled as her body was slowly revealed to him.
“Yours,” she readily agreed.
Her Vixen flashed in the green pools of her eyes and his Bear answered with a soft chuff. He loved the way her eyes glazed over with passion. The scent of her heat coming to its fruition filled the room. He would give her what she needed. Vowed to always be there to please and pleasure her.
“Mate,” she sighed as he removed his own clothing, going to her open arms and taking her with his body and soul.
Later he would love her slowly, thoroughly. Now he needed to claim. The waiting had taken its toll on his Polar Bear and the animal would not be held back.
His fangs pierced his gums, the primal need to bite her taking hold as he pressed his cock into her hot velvet sheath. Fuck, entering her was like coming home. Something he’d never had in his entire life.
“Yes, you feel so good, Bowie.”
“You feel like paradise, love, sweet mate,” Bowie pumped his hips, vowing without words to love and cherish his mate for all his life.
Every thrust of his hips sent spirals of pleasure through his frame. Her echoing moans told him she enjoyed his ministrations as well. Thank fuck. He knew he was going to lose it sooner than later. She was that fucking good.
His nerve endings were on fire with need. The scratch of her fingernails down his back made him work faster. Flex, swivel, grind. And again. She gasped and writhed in time with his every move the two of them pressing closer and closer, racing towards that divine finish that they could only reach in one another’s arms.
“Bowie!”
“Mate,” he growled as her pussy clenched tight around him and struck, piercing her sweet flesh and swallowing her life’s force. The bond of matehoo
d pulsed between them as Bowie coated her insides with his seed.
The sound of three Polar Bears roaring outside his cabin reached his ears and he smiled into his mate’s embrace.
“Is that your cousins?”
“Yes,” he laughed and kissed her lips and neck, “They honor us by standing guard over our den. It is a tradition from ancient times. The newly mated couples family creates a perimeter around the pair, keeping all away. They must have figured with the run going on that we could use the security.”
“Or they just love you Bowie. I’ve seen them with you. Your cousins care about you. And so does your Clan. Did you hear what Marcus said in the bakery?”
Bowie looked into his mates eyes as the words his Alpha spoke rushed through his head. Marcus had called him Clan. One of his most loyal Enforcers. Shit that must mean his probationary period was over!
“That’s right. He called you Clan, Bowie. You’re not without a home any longer,” she smiled, her green eyes grew watery, but he could scent her happiness.
“Don’t get me wrong, Roxie, I am thrilled he said that. Happy that my cousins care too. But no one else matters as much as you. You are my love, my home, my mate.”
At his soft confession, his sweet mate sighed and drew his head down for another long kiss. This time she was the aggressor, pushing him down on his back and straddling his waist with her sexy as hell thighs. Fuck, he loved her legs.
She lifted and sank onto his more than ready cock and all cohesive thoughts left his brain. He wanted her, needed her, loved her more than his own life. She swerved her hips, grinding against his pelvis as she sought paradise and completely rocked his world in the process.
Her red hair flowed in the dim light coming from the window. The moon was full and bright, snow still falling, and the faint sounds of her old Skulk running in the forest echoed briefly in the night. But Bowie couldn’t hear or see anything but his mate.
He shifted his hips, working hard to meet every swirl and grind with a hard thrust. Fuck she was a velvet vice, squeezing his dick with her sheath, bringing him closer and closer to heaven with each minute. Grabbing her hips, Bowie sat up and mashed his mouth to hers. Lifting and dropping her faster and faster on his steel hard cock.
Never like this. Her heartbeat thundered against his, the sounds of their breathing loud in the otherwise quiet night. He felt his orgasm gather speed, but he wouldn’t blow, not until she did.
Tossing her head back, Roxanne moaned, and he felt the first spasms of her pleasure squeezing him tight. Her eyes glowed in the darkening room, making her look sexy and feral as she grabbed his face and tipped his head.
His stomach tensed. Was she going to? Oh fuck yes she was. His little Vixen struck, slicing her canines through the skin of his neck and Bowie was lost. His dick throbbed in ecstasy as he came deep inside her silken heat, the aftershocks of her own orgasm still milking him as she moaned and sucked his blood down her throat.
“Mate,” she growled and licked the wounds, closing them effectively.
Bowie Atiqtalaaq had just been claimed. He was not an orphan any longer. Any fears he had of going rogue gone in that one act. He was wanted, loved, mated to the most gorgeous Fox he’d ever seen.
“Mine,” she said holding his face and bringing her sweet lips to his. Their matebond pulsed around them, sealing them even tighter together.
He’d never felt so content in his life. His Polar Bear chuffed inside of him, the great white animal laying on the floor with his lovely little Fox by his side. As it should be.
Hours later they lay in a tangle of sheets, arms and legs, her red hair spilled across his chest like a fiery river he couldn’t help but dip his hands into.
“Does it bother you that people call me the Ice Queen?”
“You’re all fire and heat, baby, but if they want to call you a queen, I suppose it is true.”
“What?” She looked up at him, annoyance and something else in her gaze.
“They can call you that, baby,” he said in a rush eager to put her mind at ease, “because you are the queen of my heart, Roxanne Winters. My mate, my lover, my home. For the first time in my life, I have a home and it all starts and ends with you. I love you, mate.”
“I love you, Bowie. Forever.”
“Mine,” he said and pressed a kiss to his mate’s sweet lips. It was a promise, a sacred vow from him to her and he would honor it for as long as he lived.
They might have started out as polar opposites, but everyone knew opposites attracted. And damn but she attracted him like nothing else.
He knew without fail that he would always want her, would always need her like he needed air to breathe. Throw him in a crowd and he’d find her in a heartbeat. She was imprinted on his heart, ingrained in his mind, and tattooed on his soul.
His mate to love and protect, to cherish and worship, for all their days together. Her Alpha nature turned him on. Tamed his Bear like nothing else ever had. The beast loved her spunk and pizazz, their chemistry lit fires in the bedroom and out of it.
He should know. The claw marks she’d raked down his chest when they’d showered together still burned, but in a good way.
It was just another one of her claiming marks on him. Along with the half dozen bitemarks across his neck and shoulder. Mostly healed by his Shifter abilities, the scars they’d leave behind were a thing of fucking beauty. His Beast roared, the man sighed, happy and proud to be mated to such a fierce little Vixen.
His fingertips grazed the similar bitemark he’d left under her right ear. The remaining pink scar was as small as he could make it with his Bear fangs being so large. Of course, the Bear had no problem releasing the entire force of his bite on her left breast. He wanted everyone to know her mated status.
Mine. Grrr.
She snuggled against him now, her happiness and contentment filling the room with love. They’d spent the entire evening wrapped around each other and the succession of orgasms had rocked them both into silent oblivion. The intensity of that much pleasure was simply too much for sound.
Instead they clung to each other in the heat of the moment, giving in to the pure bliss that rocked every single one of their cells until Bowie thought he would die from it.
What a way to go!
No. Mine, his Bear grunted.
Bowie soothed the beast with another swallow of his mate’s scent. He breathed her in and kissed her head, enjoying the way she snuggled even deeper into his chest. She was so small and curvy. The perfect fit for him. And he loved her with every fiber of his being.
“Bowie,” she murmured sleepily, her warm breath tickling his skin, “I love you, mate. So tired.”
“Love you too, sweet. Go to sleep, I got you. Always.”
The end.
About the Author
Hi! I’m C.D. Gorri, Paranormal Fiction Author and Creator of the Grazi Kelly Universe. I’m proud to have made the SW USA Today HEA Hotlist twice and to be a national and international Bestselling author! ??
I’ve always been an avid reader, and I have a profound love for books and literature. When I’m not writing or taking care of my family I can usually be found with a book or tablet in my hand. I live in my home state of New Jersey with my husband, our children, and our dogs, Dash and Chewie.
I’m a busy mom of three and finding time for leisurely reading was never easy, so I write stories that are fast paced, yet detailed with satisfying conclusions. If I thought making time to read was difficult, I was in for a huge surprise when I started writing, but now that I started, I can’t picture myself doing anything else! I love writing powerful women and strong heroes who face relatable problems in supernatural settings! I plan on increasing the GK Universe with each and every story I publish. You can follow me on social media to keep up to date on all my new releases and events!
Want to know how it all began? Enter the Grazi Kelly Universe with Wolf Moon: A Grazi Kelly Novel #1 or how about a little PNR with the Macconwood Pack? Pick up Charley's C
hristmas Wolf today! I have series for young adult and young at heart audiences who enjoy paranormal fiction, and I also have paranormal romance books available now! If you like sassy heroines and sexy heroes, then you might want to try my PNR books!
Thanks for reading!
Del mare alla stella,
C.D. Gorri
*Bestselling Author
P.S.
Thank you for choosing to read one of my stories!
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Have you met my Dragons?
The Falk Clan Tales are my stories surrounding four Dragon Shifter brothers and how they find their one true mates!
Each brother's chest is marked with his rose, the magical link to his heart and his magic. They each have a matching gemstone to go with it.
In The Dragon's Valentine we meet the eldest Falk brother, Callius. He is on a mission to find a Castle and his one true mate, one he can trust with his diamond rose....
“She’s given up on love, but he’s just begun…”
In The Dragon’s Christmas Gift our attention shifts to Alexsander, the youngest brother of the four. He has resigned himself to a life alone, until he meets her…
“His heart is frozen; can she change his mind about love?”
The Dragon’s Heart is the story of Edric Falk who has vowed never to love again, but that changes when he meets his feisty mate, Joselyn Curacao.
“Some wounds run deep, can a Dragon’s heart be unbroken?”
We finally meet Nikolai Falk and his sexy Shifter mate in The Dragon’s Secret.
“She just wants a little fun, he’s looking for a lifetime.”
*Look for these works and more by C.D. Gorri where ebooks are sold. Now available in a boxed set.
*This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, places, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either part of the author’s imagination and/or used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to person, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental. All rights are reserved. No part of this book is to be reproduced, scanned, downloaded, printed, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of any materials in violation of the author’s rights.