by Lia Davis
They came to a stop at his front door, and he faced her, one brow raised. “Are you okay?”
“Yes.” The way he pressed his lips together before opening the door told her he didn’t believe her. Damn wolf senses.
Once inside with the door shut, she whirled around, coming face-to-face with him, she cupped his cheek and kissed him. Like the one in the forest earlier that night, it was hot and threatened to overload her senses.
Hot, raw desire rushed through her veins, heating her everywhere all at once. When he drew her body flush with his, the wildfire sparked to life, consuming her until all she wanted was the male in her arms.
The ache between her legs begged for him as their tongues danced and their mouths glided over each other. She moaned and squeezed her thighs together.
He tore his mouth from hers, his breaths coming in short draws as his wolf peered at her from his golden depths. Damn, he was hot.
“I’m too impatient for foreplay,” she burst out.
His lips twitched. “Good.” It came out on a growl that vibrated through her.
Much too fast for her to track, he jerked her nightgown over her head and tossed it to the floor. On instinct, she covered her curves, only to have him grip her wrists and spread her arms out to her sides. “Don’t hide from me, ever. You are perfect.” He kissed her forehead. “Every beautiful, curvy inch of you.”
Her heart melted. She’d never had a problem with her weight, and his admission melted away the small amount of insecurity she felt. A sense of flirtation rose within her and she crinkled her nose at him. “Then take me.”
Walking her backwards until her knees touched the arm of the sofa, he undid his jeans and freed his cock from its confinement. Good gods, he was beautiful, in a manly kind of way.
“My eyes are up here,” he teased, drawing a laugh from her.
“Yeah?”
Instead of responding, he stepped between her thighs and wrapped one arm around her while lifting one of her legs. Dipping his head, he teased a nipple. She gasped and let her head drop back. Tingles raced over her skin and her pussy throbbed, wanting him inside of her.
As if knowing what she was thinking, or needing, he thrust inside, stretching her. Pleasure slowly built as he pumped his hips, sliding in and out. He felt too good, too right. She scored his back with her nails and rode the wave of raw energy mounting between them. It was unlike anything she’d ever experienced with any of her other lovers. Magick swirled, connecting them in a way that renewed her hope to break the curse.
He increased his thrusts, burying himself deep inside of her. Her moans turned into cries of pleasure until she thought she’d explode from desire. Then he struck. The sting of his fangs piercing her shoulder made her gasp. The pain quickly shifted to pleasure and came in a rush of bliss as an orgasm crashed into her.
Lucian’s body tensed, then convulsed as he met his release, as well. She hugged him and rested her forehead against his shoulder. Nothing had changed. Wasn’t the bite supposed to start the mating? If so, she couldn’t feel him inside her like Olivia had described.
After a moment of awkward silence, Lucian pulled out, then with an index finger lifted her chin. “What is it?”
“The curse didn’t break.” A lump formed in her throat as she spoke the words out loud.
“Are you sure?”
Was she? Gods, she was confused. “Nothing’s changed.”
“Sometimes it takes time for the mating to take hold. It’s different from couple to couple.” His gold eyes told her he believed what he said.
She wasn’t sure she did. Sure, she trusted him. Her witch senses would tell her if he lied. However, there was obviously something she’d missed in the wording of the curse. “I…I have to go.” She grabbed her clothes and pushed past him while tugging her nightgown down as she ran out the door.
Her chest tightened as tears blurred her vision. Never again would she believe she’d ever be happily mated. That was why she needed to get—and stay—far away from Lucian.
Chapter Three
Lucian paced his living room. Not seeing Audrey for the past two weeks had driven him mad. Nothing he did eased the edge his wolf was on. All because he’d promised his sister-in-law he’d wait until the full moon.
The night Audrey walked out of his house, he’d chased her until Sawyer reined him in using his Alpha power. Brother or not, Lucian couldn’t go against a direct order of the Alpha. No amount of arguing had convinced Sawyer or Olivia to allow Lucian to go to his mate.
“Lucian,” Olivia’s soft voice drifted from the open door of her and Sawyer’s home. When he didn’t reply, she stepped out onto the porch and tapped the toe of her shoe. “She’s hurting and has stopped talking to me.”
He glanced over his shoulder and his irritation melted a little. Olivia hugged her middle, and her eyes were red as if she were crying. Damn it. Taking a deep breath, he reined in his wolf before speaking. “She’s hurting because we are mates. The more time we spend apart, the worse it will get.”
“I thought the curse would have kept her from feeling the mating.” Olivia lifted her lashes, a mix of hope and regret in her blue depths. “That makes me wonder if the curse indeed broke when you two…”
Her cheeks colored and she averted her gaze.
Turning to face her, he held out a hand. She stared at it for several moments before she took it. Lucian gave it a gentle squeeze, a sign of trust because he knew of her telepathic ability. “If that is true, then she hasn’t fully accepted me as her mate.”
“She’s scared.”
He nodded and kissed his sister-in-law on the cheek. “I plan to seduce her into believing.”
***
Audrey blew out the candle and rocked back on her heels, her eyes closed and her breathing slow and steady. The lingering magick from the full moon ritual charged the air around her and kissed her skin. Focusing, she gathered the energy to her and directed it into the earth beneath her bare feet, grounding and centering herself at the same time.
Opening her eyes, she smiled at the renewed energy. The last two weeks had been restless. Her skin felt too tight and her heart hurt. It was that wolf’s fault. Damn him for stirring desire in her. When she’d run away, he hadn’t even chased her.
A sign that he wasn’t her fated mate despite what he’d claimed.
Absently, she touched the small bite mark on her shoulder. The mark meant for a mate. Why hadn’t the bond formed? She knew why, but didn’t want to think about it. Lucian had made his choice by not hunting her down like a mate should have.
After cleaning up her ritual items from her outdoor altar, she carried everything into the house. Jazz, her smoke-grey cat meowed at her as she entered the kitchen. “You can’t go out.”
She kicked the door shut with her foot, only it didn’t click closed. Glancing over her shoulder, fear burned in her belly as she dropped the wooden box of ritual items. The top of the box broke off when it hit the ground, and the contents scattered over the tiled kitchen floor. Poor Jazz scattered from the room.
“Damn it, wolf, what the hell?” She bent down to clean up the mess.
“Sorry. I thought you heard me.” He squatted with her and reached out, but she slapped his hands away before he could touch any of the items. The last thing she needed was for his energy to transfer to her ritual tools.
“No.” Annoyance mixed with embarrassment fluttered inside her. “Why are you here?”
“To see you.” He cupped her chin, drawing her attention to his face. Gold eyes watched her so intensely her body warmed.
No, she couldn’t get attached to him. The curse prevented her from mating with anyone except the one, and she was beginning to believe he didn’t exist. However, she was a woman and had needs. She wouldn’t turn the sexy wolf from her bed. A weakness that would break her heart over and over again.
“Why?”
He paused and stared at her. “Why what?”
“Why are you here to see me?”
He
moved closer to her as she set the box on the table beside them. “You’re my mate.”
Oh, no. This was so not fair. “No I’m not. You need to leave.”
There was no way in hell she’d get her hopes up, only to be crushed like a bug hitting a windshield. Again. She stepped forward and pushed him toward the back door. Once her hands touched his skin, wild energy flowed from him up her arm. Suddenly, his primal, sage scent filled her senses.
He snaked an arm around her waist, jerking her body to his. “You feel it. The need is alive; wild, and raw. My wolf calls to you.”
Yes, she felt it. And damn, she wanted it more than the air she breathed. Yet, it hadn’t worked the first time. Why would it be different the second time? “Why didn’t you chase me then?”
He tugged her into a hug and cradled her to him. “Olivia believed that it had to do with the full moon, plus, you needed space. She had Sawyer order me not to go after you until now.”
Lifting her head, she gazed into his face. His features were a combination of worry, hope, and stress. The dark circles under his eyes indicated he hadn’t slept much. Join the club. She hadn’t slept either. Every time she closed her eyes, he was there. Sexy and alluring.
“What if it doesn’t work?”
“Open your heart to me and my wolf and it’ll happen. If not, we’ll keep trying until the Fates give up their games. I know in my soul you are my mate. I can’t rest until I have you by my side.” He cupped her cheek and kissed her softly on the lips.
Breaking the kiss, he drew back to stare at her. “You do want to mate with me, right?”
She slapped at his chest. “Yes. It hurt that you didn’t chase me. I mean, at the time I didn’t want you to. Olivia was right that I wanted some space, but at the same time I kept expecting you to show up. When you didn’t…”
Her chest tightened again. Before she could twist out of his embrace, he hugged her closer. “Never think that I don’t want you. It killed me, and on several occasions I almost disobeyed a direct order from my Alpha.”
The sadness she’d felt over the weeks melted into regret at being angry with him. No matter how much he wanted to, he couldn’t go against a direct order without abandoning his Pack. She knew that much about Pack life from Olivia.
“Hey,” Lucian whispered and lifted her chin. “Even though she wanted me to wait, your sister now thinks the curse might have broken already, just not as obviously as it did with her.”
Frowning, Audrey searched through her thoughts and emotions she’d gone through since meeting Lucian. The flood of intense desire when he was near, his electrifying touch, and the longing when he wasn’t there were all signs of finding a mate. All signs she’d ignored because she was afraid to open her heart.
Hope bloomed in her belly and spread through her. Could Olivia be right about the curse?
Lucian stepped closer and caressed her cheek. “You’re thinking too much. Follow your heart and just let it happen.”
Follow her heart…
Every time she and her sisters discussed the curses in front of their grandmother, the old woman would ramble on about true love and how it conquered all.
“Not even the darkest of curses can stand in the way of true love. Once the heart opens, love spills out and purifies the soul,” Grams rattled off while Audrey and her sisters rolled their eyes and continued to look through the Book of Shadows.
The memory dissolved, replaced by Lucian’s handsomely concerned face. The words Grams had spoken so many times sank in. “Stupid. I knew the answer all along. Grams had told us almost every day of our lives.”
“Told you what?” Lucian’s brows bunched.
Audrey laughed and shook her head. “Sorry. My crazy grandmother had said nothing could stand between us and true love. An open heart is a pure heart. I thought she was just rattling off craziness. Hell, we all did.”
“I’ve met your grandmother. I could see why you would think that.”
She cut him a narrowed-eyed glare, and he laughed and pulled her into his arms. She cupped his face and lowered the walls around her heart. He was her mate. “I’ve been so afraid, confused, and wrapped up in trying to break the curse that I never saw what was in front of me.”
She stood on her toes and pressed her lips to his. Warmth spread from everywhere he touched her, seeping into her skin and making her hypersensitive to him and the wolf within. The magick he possessed in his soul that married him to his animal half called to her. She opened her senses and allowed her own magick free.
Iridescent waves of energy flowed around them and through them as their mouths moved against each other and their tongues tangled. She broke the kiss and stared into his gold eyes. A sudden knowledge snapped into place and her heart swelled. “I want to be with you for the rest of our existence. Curse be damned. I’m falling in love with you already, and have been since first seeing you two weeks ago at the den. We’re Fated to be together and I don’t want to fight it.”
A spark lit up inside her and she gasped as awareness like nothing she’d experienced before spread through her. Lucian’s emotions flowed into her like a lifeline.
Lucian dipped his head and kissed her lips lightly. “It’s the mating bond.”
Glee bubbled up. “I accepted it.” Tears spilled over her eyes. “We’re mated.”
He wiped the tears away with his thumb before he scooped her up and walked toward her bedroom. “I love you, Audrey Kelly, with all of me. Forever.”
“I love you, too.” She kissed him as he laid her on the bed.
A wicked grin formed on Lucian’s lips. “First thing in the morning, we’ll pack up your things and move you to the den.”
“Anything you wish, my mate.”
Epilogue
Two months later
“So, are you going to spill the reason why you are practically glowing joy?” Audrey was ready to burst. If her sister didn’t tell everyone of her news, she wouldn’t be responsible for her actions and would spill everything.
Olivia glanced across the yard to where Terrence, one of Sawyer’s Sentinels, walked toward them, an annoyed gleam in his eye. Behind him was a determined Diana.
Lucian laughed, his chest rumbling into Audrey’s back. “Looks like a witch chasing a wolf.”
“Yes. Diana can be persistent.” Audrey giggled.
Sawyer nodded. “I see that. You two leave her alone. It’d do Terrence some good to be chased.”
When the couple reached them, Diana glanced from Audrey to Olivia. “What’s up?”
“Have a seat.” Olivia gestured to the patio chair next to her.
Sawyer gave Terrence a nod, which Audrey took as a request to stay because the wolf crossed his arms and stood on the opposite side of the group from Diana. Interesting.
Olivia cleared her throat. Once everyone turned to her, she said. “I’m pregnant.”
A rain of congrats and a few howls from the wolves surrounded them. Lucian nipped Audrey on her ear before whispering, “When can we share our news?”
“Later. When I’m past the first trimester.” She was thrilled to be a mother, but didn’t want to share the news just yet. So much could happen in the first few months. However, with the wolves’ sensitive noses, she couldn’t wait much past the third month. She had two more months to keep it between just Lucian and her.
“I suck at secrets, you know.”
“Yeah, but you’ll keep this one.”
He raised a brow. “How are you so sure?”
She kissed him. “Because, you hold on to the same fears I do. Plus, you like keeping this to ourselves.”
“The only thing left to do is get your baby sister mated before her birthday next month.”
Audrey smiled and glanced at Diana. “I think she’s already working on it.”
“Ah, yes. It will be fun to watch Terrence run.”
Yes, it would. Audrey just hoped the wolf didn’t run for long. Lucian hugged her tight. “Don’t worry, we’ll give him a little pu
sh or a kick in the ass if he doesn’t come to his senses soon.”
“I have the best mate.”
He kissed her temple. “So do I.”
The End
Other Books by Lia Davis
Paranormals
Ashwood Falls Series
Winter Eve
A Tiger’s Claim
A Mating Dance
Surrendering to the Alpha
A Rebel’s Heart
Divided Loyalties
Touch of Desire
Ashwood World
An Alpha’s Fate
Bears of Blackrock
Bear Essentials
Sons of War Series
War’s Passion
Ashes of War
Artemis’s Hunt
Vampire Lords
It’s A Vampire Christmas
Contemporaries
Pleasures of the Heart Series
Business Pleasures
Single Titles
His Guarded Heart
About the Author
Lia Davis is a mother to two young adults and three equally special kitties, a wife to her soul mate, and a lover of romance. She and her family live in Northeast Florida battling hurricanes and very humid summers. But it's her home and she loves it!
An accounting major, Lia has always been a dreamer with a very active imagination. The wheels in her head never stop. She ventured into the world of writing and publishing in 2008 and loves it more than she imagined. Writing is stress reliever that allows her to go off in her corner of the house and enter into another world that she created, leaving real life where it belongs.
Her favorite things are spending time with family, traveling, reading, writing, chocolate, coffee, nature and hanging out with her kitties.
Find out more about Lia Davis Here:
Website: http://www.authorliadavis.com
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