by M. L. Briers
Foot … Move!
Oh geez, he’s going to think I’m a bat-poop crazy witch.
I’m starting to think I’m a bat-poop crazy witch.
It’s not as if that one step means I’m agreeing to mate with him … it just means I’m going to go to sleep in his … our … his bed.
“Maybe if I throw some those little chocolate sweeties in wrappers in a line towards the bed you might have an incentive to move forward, what’d you think?” Paul teased.
“I can’t seem to move my feet,” she grumbled.
“Is this a re-occurring problem for you?” He chuckled.
“Not that I’ve noticed, no.”
“So the problem isn’t physical?” He was still chuckling, more like sniggering like a damn schoolgirl, and she rolled her eyes to the ceiling and let out a sigh.
“No.”
“Then the problem would be mental…”
“Oh geez,” Sarah rolled her eyes to the ceiling again, and sighed once more “just make me sound like a mental person, why don’t you?”
“I think it’s fear.” Paul said.
“I’m not a virgin!” There was a low, deep, rumbled growl that was so close to her ear that she was sure her teeth vibrated within her gums.
“Firstly, it’s never a good idea to bring up the subject of another man to your mate. It kind of makes me want to go and rip someone’s head off … That’s just a heads up…”
“Good to know.”
“And secondly, I wasn’t thinking about sex until you brought up the virgin remark…”
“Yes you were! You’re male, you’re a shifter, and you’re looking at that bed. Don’t tell me the idea of sex isn’t pinging in your brain every five seconds!” She tossed a frown back at him over her shoulder, and he offered her a drop dead gorgeous grin.
“Well, when you put it like that…” Paul’s deep chuckle rumbled through his chest, and filled her with a tingly goodness.
How the heck am I ever going to resist him?
The man is eye candy.
He’s got such a sexy chuckle.
He’s my mate … My mate…
Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!
I’m toast!
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~
Luke opened the door and showed Abi into his cabin. He reached out and flicked the light switch on and the living room was bathed in a warm glow.
Abi didn’t realise just how eager she’d been to see where he lived. It may have seemed a little silly, but she felt that you could tell a lot about a man by where he lived. How he lived.
The furniture wasn’t old, but it wasn’t new either. Beautiful carved wood pieces were placed carefully around the living room. One large comfortable sofa faced the open fireplace, and in the corner; sat his man things… A large screen television, and a whole host of other electronics that held pride of place.
“Go on in, make yourself comfortable, there’s nothing to bite you in there … But me.”
“Is that supposed to put me at ease?” Abi chuckled as nervousness rose within her once more.
“Well that would depend on your point of view.”
When the front door closed behind her with a clunk, she gave a small jump in place, and his teasing chuckle greeted her ears once more.
“I think it’s a little late in the day to play the big, bad Wolf,” she said.
“Maybe I’m not playing.”
When she turned to look at him, he did that damn cute wiggly eyebrow thing that made her stomach flip-flop, and she couldn’t help but laugh.
“For an enforcer you’re very playful.”
“For my mate … I’m very playful.” He corrected her.
“Ah, I see,” Abi said, taking a small step back from him as he took a small step towards her.
“Would you prefer it if I was mean, growly, and dogmatic?” Luke took another step towards her, and Abi took another step back away.
“When you say dog … matic…?” Abi has a mischievous grin on her lips, and the glint of amusement in her eyes.
“Oh, is this the time we get into the dog jokes?” Luke said taking another step as she backed up once more, but she‘d run out of room, and she found the wall to her back, and her mate right there in front of her.
Luke reached out and palmed the walls on either side of her body. His arms caged her in, and she felt a rush of nervous anticipation sweep through her.
He’d kissed her once. And it was a damn fine kiss that had only ended because of a damn howl.
He wanted to do it again. Now that he had her alone in his cabin, no interruptions, no family, no drama, just her and him, he had a mind to kiss her slow, hard, soft, maybe even ravish her – until neither of them could see straight – until he was satisfied … But then he’d never be satisfied.
She was his mate. He was going to want her morning, noon, and night.
He was going to love her hard.
He was going to love her as gently as a man could, would, and should.
He was going to love her well.
He was going to make sure that she knew she was loved. Every second, of every minute, of every hour, of every day … Until they were old and ran out of days together.
Luke already loved her. Not the idea of her, but her.
She had already found a place within his heart, and he’d willingly opened it up to accept her inside. He’d been waiting for what felt like forever for her to walk into his life, and he considered himself too old to even try and play it cool.
She was his and he was hers and nothing … not a damned thing … mattered more than that.
“You agreed to come home with me. I’m guessing you know what happens when you’re alone with the big, bad, Wolf?”
Right then he gave her a wolfish grin, letting the reins of his beast loose just a little, just enough to show that side of himself, and she was sure she could see that wolf just under the surface.
“I get eaten?” She grinned back at him.
“Oh, now there you go again, putting images in my mind and ideas in my head.”
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
~
“Don’t blame me for your wicked ways,” Abi chuckled.
“I can be very, very, very wicked.” Luke assured her.
More of that beast sat right there in his voice, in the underlying growl that just rumbled within his chest like thunder.
“I’m sure you can.”
“In fact, I’m feeling a little wicked coming on right now.”
That deep rumble of a growl in his chest mixed with the chuckle on his lips, and when he wiggled those damn eyebrows at her once more, pure, unadulterated, excitement shot through her body straight to her womb.
Who knew a womb could do a happy dance?
It’s a good happy dance.
I like the happy dance.
I want more of the happy dance.
Damn sexy Wolf.
Abi wanted to ask him what he was waiting for, but she was done being coy, she was done being shy, and she was done worrying about anything other than what she wanted, what he wanted, and what they wanted.
It felt good.
It felt right.
It felt like forever.
Abi lifted her hands and palmed his chest. The urge to touch, to feel, to know him clawed inside of her every bit as much as she was sure it clawed inside of him.
Luke’s eyes flicked down to her hands for just a moment. A deep, gentle growl went through his chest, and she felt it vibrate beneath her fingertips.
She gave into the urge and ran her hands over the hard muscles of his chest.
It felt good.
He felt good.
“If this is teasing…” Luke’s voice sounded hungry, as hungry as she felt.
Abi didn’t answer him with words. Instead she ran her hands back up his chest, over his broad shoulders, and laced them behind his neck.
Her fingers got lost in his wayward mane of hair, and she urged him forward a
s she raised up on tiptoes to meet his lips.
Abi felt free.
For the first time in her life she truly felt free.
He’d done that.
He’d given her that.
He was that…
Freedom to be herself.
Freedom to take charge of her life.
She knew he was an enforcer, and she knew the type of personality that it took to do the job that he did. It wouldn’t be long before his dominant personality took charge of him, of her, but for now … right now in that moment … she was calling the shots.
Luke was happy, happier than he’d ever been. She’d come to him. She wanted him, and both man and beast could have done cartwheels across pack land.
He didn’t give a damn if that would raise some eyebrows, because she was his. All his. His mate, and that was all he cared about … her, making her happy, and he would, even if he had to cut off his right paw to do it.
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~
Dane knew that he should be moving. He should pick up his mate within his arms and carry her back down to their bedroom.
They’d mated in a room with a damn sofa and not much else. Although, they hadn’t much used the sofa…
Now he was lying on his back on the floor with his mate draped over his body, and only the blanket that he’d snagged from the sofa covering her as she slept.
That wasn’t how he’d pictured taking his mate, bonding with her, and making her his.
He knew he should move. That thought niggled inside of his brain and made him grumble out a gentle growl. The sound made Rory stir…
“I didn’t mean to wake you,” Dane offered in a gentle tone that lulled her fully awake.
Memories of their mating, of their bonding were playing within her mind like an X-Rated flashback of the very best kind.
“I’m kicking you in the balls one minute, and like half an hour later we … bonded … how’d that happen?” she gave a sleep filled chuckle, and Dane felt another ping of guilt.
“You regret it…” He growled again.
He hated that thought.
He hated the fact that he didn’t have the damn discipline, the control to hold back his need, his wants, and his desires long enough to bond with his mate right.
“I think my knees might regret that whole floor thing, but regret … like regret bonding with you … no,” Rory offered back.
“But you said …” Dane looked confused, and when she craned her head back on her neck to look up at him, she couldn’t help but chuckle.
“It’s a female thing …” she lifted her hand and patted his chest. “Don’t worry yourself.”
“I should have taken you to our bed…” he grumbled, as he cursed to himself once more.
“You mean like old people do?” Rory challenged him with her eyes and then a gentle chuckle that rolled out towards him, baiting him in.
“Like a mate does,” he offered back.
He wasn’t even beta enough to show some damned restraint where she was concerned…
“Does what?” She frowned.
“Does the … whole … mating … thing,” he lifted his hand and absently waved it around in the air.
“You’ve lost me,” she patted his chest again, before she snuggled right against him, and closed her eyes once more.
“I think I lost me too,” Dane admitted.
He didn’t think that was entirely his fault. His mate was lying against his body, and his body was signalling that it was ready to love her once more … know every inch of her … and that kind of put his brain at a disadvantage.
“Geez, how long was I asleep?” Rory asked, feeling his hard length sandwiched between them as it twitched…
“Not long, about ten … fifteen minutes…”
“You’ve already got a woody…” she chuckled.
“A woody …?” he asked and she moved her hips, rubbing her satin soft skin over the length of him, and he couldn’t contain the growl that rumbled beneath her head on his chest, any more than he could stop his cock from twitching… “That happened about a minute after we…”
“Seriously?” her head shot up and she stared down at him with wide eyes.
“I’m a shifter…” he said it as though that should have explained everything to her…
“O-k-a-y…” she gave a small shrug.
“That’s how it goes…” Dane raised his eyebrows and stared back at her in disbelief. He would have thought all witches would have known about shifters and their insatiable appetites for … well, everything.
“Oh – ohhh!” She brightened then, “I’m really going to like being a mate.” She chuckled, and that sound was the dirtiest, sexiest thing that he’d ever heard.
A heartbeat later and she was on her back on the blanket with him above her…
“Me too,” he growled with the kind of grin that would have knocked her panties clean off … if she’d been wearing any. If she recalled, he’d pretty much ripped those to shreds…
Dane went to take her lips, then stopped, and pulled back on a deep frown…
“Do I have morning breath?” She scowled back at him. She’d only been asleep a few minutes and it wasn’t normally a problem that she was aware of…
“I should carry you to our bed…” Dane growled. He palmed the floor beside her head and went to push up…
“What’s your hurry, we’ve still got bit of the floor, Oooo, the window seat, the sofa…” she rolled her eyes and considered it, “and several feet of wall space that we haven’t explored or christened yet.” She grinned to the sound of another, deep, hungry growl.
“You …” he gave a small shake of his head, “are … amazing.” He grinned.
“Yep, that’s me. Super, awesome, amazeballs, witch of the witchiness!” She chuckled back.
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“If you need anything…” Scott said as he stood in the doorway to his bedroom and watched his mate eyeing the room about her.
He wasn’t sure why it is also important to him to have her approval of his surroundings, and yet he guessed that it was all to do with the fact that she was his mate and that this would be her room to. He knew that she wasn’t going to mate with him just because she liked the decor, but still it felt important somehow.
“I don’t think I will,” Jessica tossed a look at him over her shoulder as he stood in the doorway like he was ready to bar her exit should she decide to run for the hills.
What with Rory already mating Dane ... her mother being more than likely to mate with Luke, and sooner rather than later … She couldn’t help but feel a little guilty about the alpha.
“Thanks.”
“Jessica, I know you don’t want to hear this…”
“Then don’t say it,” she tossed back at him, and felt guilty again.
Scott nodded his head. He was resigned to the fact that she was still hostile against him, against them, and against the thought of mating.
That didn’t mean that he’d given up on the idea of wooing her… He just needed to find a way to get through to her.
“Wait,” she said. “What is it?”
“I’m not your enemy. I was more than a little blindsided myself to find my mate,” he paused for a moment on a small shrug off his broad shoulders, and she jumped right into the silence.
“I get that … I do, but see, you guys are used to the thought of having a mate. Where as humans… Witches … Kind of get used to the idea of dating, engagements, and eventually, if you haven’t killed each other by that stage, marriage.”
“Sounds… brutal.” He leaned his head downwards and looked up at her from beneath his dark brows, and that look right there shot a bolt of nervous excitement straight to her womb.
“Oh it is,” she couldn’t help but smile.
Maybe the rest of the world was nuts.
Maybe normal people were insane.
Maybe Fate had the right idea, but then why did it on
ly use it on the supernatural?
Maybe Fate didn’t. Maybe that was what love first sight was, but regular people were just too blind or too scared to act on it.
“Well then, if you think about it, Fate has done you a favour by bringing you to me.”
“You would like to think that wouldn’t you?” There was knowing in her smile when she offered it back to him.
“I would like you to think that.”
“Uh–huh, give me another few years and that might just happen.”
“I’ll be right outside the door if you need anything,” he said as his hand reached for the door handle and he backed out of the room closing the door behind him, leaving her standing alone in the middle of his bedroom.
Scott rested his forehead against the hardwood of the door. He kind of wished that he had that time to give her.
The longer that she resisted becoming a mate, the more that his wolf would push forward under his skin and try to take control. It went without saying that wouldn’t be good for either of them.
To never know her.
To never mate with her - bond with her.
That would be the tragedy of his life, not going Rogue. Just never being able to share the love that he had inside of him for her…
“Right outside the door because you don’t trust me not to run off,” she muttered from inside.
“Right outside the door, because that’s how close you will allow me to get.” He murmured to himself.
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
~
“I’m still not happy about this,” Celine announced as she walked into the darkened cabin, and half expected to trip over the mounds of dirt and rubble on the floor to end up face down on some grimy floorboards.
“Oh, you don’t say, there's one I didn't expect," Richard’s gruff, grumbled voice came back at her through the darkness, and then he snapped on the light and she blinked twice before taking it all in.
She didn’t know if she was shocked, pleasantly surprised by her surroundings or both. She certainly never expected the old goat to keep such a clean and tidy house.
“Oh, well, this is… Charming!”
“You sound surprised,” Richard unceremoniously booted the door closed behind him, making her jump in place, and giving her yet another reason to scowl at him.