by Dena Christy
His arms tightened around her and he dipped his head down so that he could kiss her. His lips moved on her as warm water poured over them. When he drew back, he stroked a finger down her cheek and looked into her eyes.
“Titus was the only dissenter to the pack merger. We don’t need to be bound together anymore for the sake of our packs. I can understand if staying in Cold Bay might be too painful for you considering all that has happened. But I want you to stay with me, not for the sake of our packs, but for mine. I love you Grace, and if you don’t want to be bound to me I’ll understand, but I hope you’ll stay and build a life with me.”
Grace’s lower lip trembled for a moment as she looked up at him. There was a vulnerability in his eyes that she’d never seen before, and he was laying himself bare to her in the hopes that there was more between them than the sum of their past and the need of two wolf packs to band together.
“I’m not going anywhere. I’m here to stay because a future with you is all I’ve ever wanted. I love you, Mason and I want to build a life with you.”
A look of relief swept over his face and he pulled her to him. “Thank God. I was ready to be noble and let you go if staying wasn’t your choice, but I think it would have killed me to do it.”
He kissed her again, and held her against him until the water started to cool. He reached behind him without breaking contact with her lips and shut off the water. She took a step back and opened the shower door. They stepped out and she reached for a towel. He could only keep his hands from her long enough to dry himself off. The love she had for him flooded her body as he swept her up in his arms and carried her to their bed.
Even a day ago she would not have thought that a love this deep would be possible between them. She’d been so afraid that he would turn from her when he learned her secret, that once he knew, she would have to spend the rest of her life without him. Tears prickled at the corner of her eyes when she looked up at him as he entered her body.
“What’s wrong?” He held himself still above her, and concern carved a line between his eyebrows. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply.
“Nothing’s wrong. In fact, everything is right. I love you so much.” She moved her hips under him, and soon they were both caught up in the pleasure that they built together. As her release exploded around she heard his fevered exclamations of love as he too found his pleasure in her body.
Once their bodies had calmed, and she nestled against him a feeling of rightness that she had never experienced settled inside her. There were no secrets between them any longer. The past was now behind them where it would no longer hurt them. The future lay ahead of them and she knew that as long as they loved each other there was nothing that they couldn’t handle together.
Epilogue
“Good job, Connor.” Mason gave the young wolf encouragement as he held up the pads covering his hands for Connor to hit. “Pretty soon you’ll be ready to start sparring.”
Connor grinned at him as he hit the pads. “That’s if my mom will let me.”
“True.” Mason was going to let Connor’s father broach the topic of Connor sparring with his mother. Faith was fierce when it came to her son, and he didn’t want to tangle with her over the subject of her son sparring.
Silence enveloped the gym, and Mason looked around to see what was going on. Grace stood just inside the door and like it did every time he saw her, his love for her flooded every cell of his body.
“Connor, I’m going to get Dan to take over.” Mason caught Dan’s eye and the other wolf came over to them and held out his hands for the pads Mason was pulling off his hands.
He turned to walk toward his woman, and looking at her with the sun shone through the door and onto her golden hair took his breath away. There was a lightness to her now, a buoyancy of spirit that had come into her after she’d unburdened herself to him. Looking at her now he saw the woman she’d been fifteen years ago when he’d first fallen in love with her. He didn’t think it was possible but his love for her ran deeper with each moment he was with her, and there seemed to be no end to it.
“Is there somewhere we can go to talk privately?” She gave him a soft smile as he stopped in front of her.
“Yeah, we’ll go to my office.” He tucked her against him as he walked toward his office. She’d just returned from meeting with the Council and had to spend the night away from Cold Bay. He knew that it was necessary for her to go and do this alone, but he hadn’t liked how empty their bed had been without her in it. Hopefully it would be the last night he had to spend without her by his side.
They walked into his office and he leaned his hips back against the edge of his desk as he took her hands. “How did it go?”
“It was fine. The Council accepted my version of events and Logan’s judgment. I think it helped that Titus was well known to them, and that there was no surprise at what he’d done. It’s all over now, and I never have to think about him again.”
“I’m glad, sweetheart.” He raised her hands to his lips. “How was the rest of your trip? Did you get a chance to do any shopping while you were in the big city?”
“No, but I did manage to get in to see my doctor.” A look of quiet stillness came over her face, and Mason’s heart beat sped up. She’d not said a word about going to the doctor to him. “It looks like you’re going to have to get used to having a new name.”
“And what name would that be?” He pulled her to him and he held his breath as he waited for her to tell him what he hoped she was going to say next.
“Daddy. We’re having a baby, Mason.”
Joy soared in his heart as he dipped his head down and kissed her. He was going to be a father and he couldn’t be happier. Just when he thought that his love for Grace couldn’t get any deeper it took on a whole new dimension now that he knew that they were building a family.
“It looks like I’ll be running by myself for the foreseeable future.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth he regretted it when he saw the sober look cross her face. After she’d told him what had happened he’d been very careful not to remind her of the baby they’d lost so long ago. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I said that.”
She reached up and cupped her hands on his cheeks. “It’s okay, Mason. It hurt when I lost our baby, but it was a long time ago. I don’t want you to pretend that it never happened. It did happen and while it is a painful chapter in our lives the best way to move on is to acknowledge it. We lost a baby once and now we’ve been blessed again. We will build our family together and nothing is going to stand in the way of that. Not anymore.”
He pulled her to him and held her for a long time while they stood in the middle of his office. She was right. Nothing stood in the way of building their family together and he would spend the rest of his life doing everything in his power to make sure that she and any children they were blessed with were protected. And he would also show her in every way he could how grateful he was that fate had given them a second chance to love each other.
Author’s Note
I hope you enjoyed Mason and Grace’s story. If you did please consider leaving a review. Reviews let other readers like you know if they would enjoy this book.
Another installment of the Cold Bay Wolf Pack series is coming soon. If you want to be the first to know when, consider signing up for my mailing list using the link below:
Newsletter
or by visiting my website at:
www.denachristy.com
I hate spam, and as part of my no spam pledge to my readers, you will only hear from me when I have a new release.
If you like this book, you may like my other books. There is a list on the next page along with links to buy them if you want something to read while you wait for the next Cold Bay story.
Also by Dena Christy
Paranormal Romance Series
Dark Assassin, Dark Wolf Series Book 1
Dark Curse, Dark Wolf Series Book 2
; Dark Wolf, Dark Wolf Series Book 3
Dark Vengeance, Dark Wolf Series Book 4
Dark Gods, Dark Wolf Series Book 5
Having Faith, Cold Bay Wolf Pack Book 1
Andor, The Dragon’s Mate Series Book 1
Iszak, The Dragon’s Mate Series Book 2
Standalone Paranormal Romance
Going Under
Science Fiction Romance Series
Alien Capture, Latrothian Warrior Series Book 1
Alien Rescue, Latrothian Warrior Series Book 2
Alien Escape, Latrothian Warrior Series Book 3