by T. S. Joyce
“I don’t bring a razor on tours. You don’t like it?”
“It’s sexy as frick, but it’ll rub me raw.”
“Sexy as frick,” he repeated, his eyes on her lips. “Someday you’ll say what you mean.”
“You want my mouth filthy like yours,” she accused.
His smile looked downright predatory as he nodded.
He turned away, but she grabbed his hand. “Dalton?”
“Hmm?”
She dipped her voice to a whisper. “You look sexy as fuck.”
His lips were on her in a blur, rough teeth grazing her lips. He gripped her hair tightly and dragged in a ragged breath as he pressed his hips between her legs.
“Dalton!” Vera barked out, closer this time. “I said cease humping, not hump more!”
He growled and released Kate reluctantly. His eyes couldn’t pass for human at all right now as he adjusted his erection and gave her one last naughty look before he turned and strode away.
Feeling utterly drunk on Dalton, she pressed her fingertips across her throbbing lips.
And as she watched him walk away with those sexy, confident strides, she couldn’t remember a single reason why she hadn’t liked cursing before.
Chapter Sixteen
“Do you like them?” Dalton asked, trying to keep his voice nonchalant, like her answer didn’t mean the whole entire world to him.
“The Silvers? I love them all. They’re funny and loud, and they made sure to include me in everything tonight, just like the pack did. I’m glad everyone stayed to cut loose. And I’m double glad Vera brought booze because we are fresh out of everything here.” Kate relaxed against his chest and stared at the full moon outside the giant window behind their bed. She sat between his legs, her soft red hair draped over his shoulder. With a sigh, she hugged his arms around her chest tighter. He wished they could stay just like this forever.
He kissed her temple and inhaled her scent, closing his eyes to revel in it. He’d imagined it a million times this past week, but nothing could touch the real thing. “Tell me about growing up a Hawke.”
Kate brushed her soft cheek against his forearm, and there was a smile in her voice when she said, “Every day was the same. Wake up, feed the dogs, then get myself ready. Always the dogs first. I got jealous for a couple of years because the dogs were my parents’ entire life. Their entire focus. But then they let me keep one of the puppies. She was red and white and a submissive runt that never strengthened for dog sledding. She couldn’t hear out of one of her ears, so they let me have her. She was the first dog we had inside. The others were work dogs that needed to stay used to the weather, but Sasha slept with me every night. Followed me around when I rode our four-wheeler, tried to steal fish anytime I was feeding the others. She was a little terror as a puppy, but I trained her myself. Even half deaf, she was smart. And little by little, I got it. I understood how my parents felt about their dogs. I started noticing their faces when they sold a dog. Sadness mixed with pride because that dog was bred and trained to make a good sled dog. They were driven to make Hawke Huskies the premier name in Iditarod dogs, and they did. It was admirable.” She angled her head. “At least later I admired them when I was done sulking about losing attention to the barkers. My sister is two years older, and she purchased her first dogs from my parents’ line as soon as she moved out. And they were so proud of her. She married young, built on the family name, and they had that same look in their eyes when Avril would leave from family dinners or holiday get-togethers. Sadness that she was leaving. Pride that she’d made something of herself.”
“And you?”
“They didn’t understand me. I wanted to go to college in Anchorage and work toward a career. I wanted to be a nurse, but they were upset that I was taking out school loans when they’d practically handed me a profession that I could make a living at. I resented them. I saw the way they looked at Avril, and with each year I was in school, there was less and less pride in me and more and more sadness for my decisions. I felt like they didn’t value what I was doing, the hard work I was putting in. It hurt being the least favorite, and eventually my sister and her husband began spending a lot of time with my parents where I wasn’t invited. I felt forgotten.”
Dalton hugged her closer. The smile had gone from her voice, and now it was raw and quiet.
“Is that why you take care of other people?”
“I don’t do that much,” she murmured. “Not enough.”
“The first time I met you, you were in that bar facing down that asshole in pool to win back a neighbor’s rent money. You were wearing scrubs in that bar, sticking out like a sore thumb, and you smelled tired. Tired and scared. I thought you were some shark. Pretending to be submissive maybe. A con artist. And I followed to see you return the money and give your neighbor whiskey for her aches, at the expense of Darren hurting you. You were fearless for the people you cared about. That’s when I knew.”
Kate turned in his arms, her eyes so big and green in the moonlight. “When you knew what?”
“That I wanted you. Needed you. I tried to push it off as desperation to escape April First, but it wasn’t. It was just you.” He sipped her small lips and brushed her mussed hair off her cheek. Damn he loved the way she looked after they slept together. Flushed and disheveled. So beautiful. “Why are you wanting to start breeding sled dogs now?” He wanted to make sure it was for the right reasons, and not as some desperate move to make her parents proud. They should’ve been proud of what she’d accomplished already, and he hated the thought of her grasping at approval for the rest of her life.
“I’ve done nursing for several years now, and I’m good at it. I’m confident with my job, and I like helping people. But for the last couple of years, I keep thinking of Sasha. I keep thinking how good I felt when I turned her from an unmanageable puppy to a well-behaved dog. She would get so proud of herself, you know? I could see it. I don’t want to have a huge operation like my parents or my sister. I’m not interested in the family business. I’m interested in the dogs. Even more so now that I’ve met you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Pack dynamics. I understand them better because of the time I spent with dog teams. Their hierarchy, the posturing, picking the personalities that would work best for a team. I’m more interested now than ever.”
“Have you told your parents yet?”
“No. I know it sounds strange, but I don’t want them knowing until they have to. I don’t want them crowing about how they were right all along, or bringing up the time I wasted in school, or the money I wasted paying back all those student loans. I don’t want to quit nursing completely, not for a while, and I wouldn’t change anything about my journey here. They wouldn’t understand though, you know?”
He rasped his beard against her cheek and rested his chin on her shoulder. “Yeah. I get that.”
“And I know they would expect me to use the family name and the same bloodlines, but I don’t think I want to do that either. I want to build up my own name. A different one.”
Awed, Dalton rocked her gently and watched the swaying evergreen trees outside. She wasn’t even going to use her parents’ name in an effort to build from the ground up. Maybe her parents had picked a favorite kid, but that hadn’t bowed Kate. It had made her lock her legs and stand strong instead. It gave her motivation to live her own life outside of the shadow her parents had created. She didn’t see it, but Dalton did. Avril would always be a branch of her parents’ business, never the main trunk. Kate was growing her own tree, and someday, it would have the potential to eclipse them all.
“We could call it Dawson Huskies,” he murmured, testing the waters. Because if he was honest, he wanted his ring on her finger now. He wanted her to be a wolf bride. He wanted his last name on her as soon as she was ready to say yes, but Link had advised him to take things at her pace.
She clamped her teeth gently on his forearm. “Don’t tease me.”
�
�I’m not. I wouldn’t tease about that.”
“What are you saying?”
Dalton took a long steadying breath and used his words from the first time he’d admitted he loved her. “You know what I’m about to ask you, don’t you?”
“I hope so,” she answered on a breath.
“Wait here.” He climbed off the bed, his heart hammering against his ribs as he dug through his pack he brought back with him. The velvet pouch was soft against his calloused fingertips as he pulled it from the front pocket. The gold strings were worn where he’d opened it a hundred times over the last week, just to look at the ring and imagine how this moment would go. Please say yes.
When he upended the pouch, the single diamond on the ring glinted in the blue moonlight. He turned and approached her slowly, but she was on the edge of the bed now, hands clasped over her mouth, her eyes full as she looked at the ring he held up.
Dropping down to his knees in front of her, he leaned his forearms against the mattress, between her knees. “Kate, I love you. I know what I want, and it’s you. Coming back to you was the best feeling in the world.” He rolled his gaze over the rafters above them. “Coming back to this place, knowing it’ll be ours, was such a huge deal for me. But this place wasn’t a home until you decided to make it one with me. I want it all. I didn’t know I could have this life, didn’t know if I could be any good at it, but you make me feel like I can be better. Like if I work hard enough, maybe I can make you as happy as you make me. I want a life with you—dogs, babies, sunshine cookies for the neighbors, warm summers, cold winters, and cabin fever right along with you. I want everything. With you. But this is your decision. This is where you tell me what you want, and either way, I’ll still be here, I’ll still love you.” He let off a shaky, nervous breath. “Kate, do you want to be my wife?”
Her face crumbled, and she leaned forward with a soft sob as her shoulders shook with emotion. So gently, she rested her forehead on his shoulder and nodded.
“Yes?” he asked, chest feeling like it would implode with the weight of uncertainty.
“Yes,” she squeaked out.
The warmth of her tears spilled on and on as he held her, rocking her slowly.
His beautiful mate, so sensitive and soft and perfect.
It was minutes before her shoulders stopped shaking completely, but at last, she eased back just enough to hold her hand out for him to slip the ring on. She looked at the glinting diamond for a moment, then melted against him again, arms tight around his neck as she whispered, “I want all of that, too, Dalton. I want you.”
“You’re sure?” he asked, too afraid to hope she was really saying yes to everything.
She smiled, her pretty green eyes so full of emotion. “In all my life, I’ve never been so sure of anything.” Wiping her damp cheeks with the back of her hand, Kate whispered, “Dalton Dawson, you and I just fit.”
She drew his palm to her lips and kissed him just on the curve that connected his thumb to his wrist. She bit down gently, and Dalton let off a long breath. Sexy mate was going to get herself covered again if she wasn’t careful.
“Remember when you told me the next time I bite you, I better mean it?”
Dalton froze as she turned and pulled her sleep shirt over her head, revealing that hot little evergreen tattoo on her ribs. She turned slowly until the light glinted off the shiny pink claiming mark Miller had given her.
Kate smelled like fear now, but she held his gaze bravely over her shoulder. “Mean it,” she whispered.
This was happening. Dalton ran a light touch over the mark, put there without her consent, without her knowing what it meant. Now she knew exactly what it meant. She knew how it would bind them, and she wanted it. Wanted him. She wore his ring and called herself his mate, and it would’ve been enough for him. But she was gifting him more. Kate was giving him all of herself.
“It’ll hurt,” he warned as she settled on her hands and knees, perfect ass pointed at him.
“I remember.”
Swallowing a growl for Miller, he climbed over her and rocked her forward gently, testing her arm strength. Testing how much of his weight she could bear without buckling. The curve of her back was soft and sloping under his light touch, and she arched her back, presenting for him. His mouth watered at the thought of tasting her blood. He was a monster with beastly thoughts, and she should know what she was binding herself to.
“I want to do this. My teeth are getting sharper just thinking about sinking them into your skin. You should see the beast in me before we do this. It’s big. Bigger than marriage. My wolf will be yours for always if I do this, Kate.”
She rocked back against him and pulled her hair aside, down one shoulder so he could see all of her back. “You aren’t a beast,” she said in a husky voice. “You’re a wolf, and you don’t scare me.”
“You smell like fear.”
“And what else?”
He inhaled deeply as he pushed his dick into her slowly. So tight. Fuck, he loved the feel of her around him. “Excitement.” Running his hand up her back, he reveled in the softness of her muscles there. No tension. “You feel relaxed.”
“Because I’m ready.”
She swayed with him as he eased out and then pushed into her again. God, he loved her. Loved this. So wet. Wet for him because she loved him. Loved him touching her. He’d felt unlovable, untouchable, repulsive after Shelby. He’d been so scared of letting someone else hurt him like that, but Kate had thawed his frozen heart and brought him back to life. His beautiful mate deserved his bite, the protection of his body, his devotion, his pledge to be her partner in all things.
He reached around and cupped her sex, pressed gently on her clit as he slid into her again. A sexy little gasp left her lips as she arched her back for him again. His hips jerked. Losing control. Needed to stay gentle. Take care with our mate. Squeezing his eyes closed, he pressed into her again. Couldn’t slow down now. Almost there. Too much pressure, too fast. Bucking. So tight. He slammed into her harder, and she was panting his name now. God, he loved the word on her lips. She yelled as the first pulse of her orgasm squeezed him. Now. He pressed his lips against Miller’s mark. Not his anymore. Not after tonight. Bite her! Make her ours!
Dalton snarled and sank his teeth into her. He thrust into her and froze, dick throbbing as he spilled into her. She didn’t make a sound as the taste of iron touched his tongue. He didn’t want to hurt her. Didn’t want it, but if he didn’t bite deep enough it wouldn’t cover Miller’s mark. Fucking Miller. He wished he could kill him twice for hurting Kate. For hurting his. Ours.
Kate was rigid under him as he emptied into her. Releasing her torn skin, he ran his tongue over her new claiming mark, reveling in the taste of her skin, her flesh, her blood. Mine.
His chest heaved as he eased back, rocking gently to match her aftershocks. He’d cleaned it well, but his bite was a ring of red, and a trickle of crimson dripped down her ribs. Pain. Blood. This was the cost of mating with a man like him.
Not a beast, though. A wolf. She absolved us. She sees us. Loves us.
Guilt mingled with relief as he ran his tongue up her ribs and cleaned her again. Her arms shook under her, and she lurched forward onto her elbows. She didn’t smell like fear anymore, but still, he was afraid to look in her eyes when she cast him a glance over her shoulder. He kept his gaze on the bite he’d given. Shame. Fuck. He was so damned happy to see her cut from his teeth, but there was shame there, too. If she’d met a normal guy, she wouldn’t hurt like this. She wouldn’t bleed for tradition. She wouldn’t be in pain to settle his possessive instincts.
With a long sigh, Kate turned, breaking their connection, then straddled his lap. She cupped his cheeks and lifted his gaze.
Her smile faltered, and she looked so damned proud. He didn’t understand as she ran her fingertip under his eye. “My wolf. My man,” she whispered. “Are you ready?”
“Ready for what?”
“It’s your tur
n.”
He caught what she meant an instant before she lowered her lips to his chest. Hugging her tight, encouraging her, he gritted his teeth. “Mean it.”
Pain. Biting pain burning through him like fire in his veins. Tendrils of ache spread from her bite, reaching his limbs and burning through his fingertips. He wrapped his arm around her back and pulled her tighter against him as a long growl rattled his chest.
She didn’t clean him like he’d done for her, but he understood. She was human. Good. Blood wasn’t her taste, but when she eased back, her lips were red, and she was crying again. Warmth ran down his chest, and he anchored himself in this moment. This was a time he would and should always remember. His human had claimed him. She was crying and smiling, lips trembling as if the emotions she endured were too much to hold in anymore.
He kissed her, cleaned her lips with his, and held her gently as she deserved. She sobbed softly against him, cutting his heart in tiny slashes until she looked up at him and whispered, “Now you’re mine for always.”
And he was. From this moment on, he was all in. Whatever she needed to be happy, he would move mountains to give it to her. He breathed for her smile and would always do his best to earn it.
For always.
Kate was now his to protect.
Inside, his wolf howled because they were now bound in ways he hadn’t been able to imagine.
Claimed as family, pack, lover, best friend, mate, sanctuary…home. Now, his Kate was everything.
Chapter Seventeen
A soft rattle woke Dalton up from a deep sleep. He angled his ear toward the sound, confused as he struggled to escape the final folds of a dream he couldn’t quite remember. Kate was sound asleep against his chest, and he tightened his arms around her fractionally.
The vibration sounded again.
His cell phone glowed from the small bedside table. With a grunt, he loosened himself from under Kate’s cheek, settled her gently on the pillow, and scrubbed his hand down his face as he reached for the phone. It was a miracle the danged thing was getting reception. They were on the outskirts of Galena, and some places in the cabin got zero bars. With a glare at the time—1:10 a.m.—he accepted the call on a blocked number.