At Elizabeth’s stricken look, he continued. “I don’t believe that. I mean, I did think humans were pretty weak compared to shifters but I certainly don’t think they need to be exterminated or anything like that. I’ve met a lot of humans that I think are great people. And you – you’re so strong, Elizabeth – raising an awesome kid like J.T by yourself, balancing career and home. The way you came out today to face off against me.” He shook his head. “You are incredible. I love you and admire you so much.”
Such a wonderful compliment, and probably the best compliment Elizabeth had ever heard. Her hand spread across her breastbone and tears prickled behind her eyes. She had to swallow down a lump in her throat but her voice still broke as she said, “Thank you.”
“It’s the truth,” he said, taking up her other leg to massage the other calf. This time she let the groan of appreciation out. “My wolf was absolutely right about you.” His hand slid up from her calf to her thigh. He leaned forward, his lips against hers, and said, “You’re perfect, and you’re mine. Always. Wolves mate for life. You’re it for me, Elizabeth.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Her dinner was forgotten as Elizabeth wrapped her arms around Conner and returned his kiss wholeheartedly. She may not be a shifter, and the bond may not trigger inside of her like he had explained, but she definitely felt the rightness of his words. That this – this thing they had between them – this was right, and it was strong, and it was forever.
His lips moved from hers, down her jaw to her neck and Elizabeth tipped her head back to give him better access. A tug of his big hands on the belt of the robe, and the terry cloth was sliding off her shoulders. His face held such a look of appreciation that it made her bold. With a hand to the back of his head, she pulled him to her breast while arching her back toward him. She cried out softly as he took one of her nipples between his teeth and stroked it with his tongue while his fingers played at the other breast.
Between her legs, she was throbbing and wet, ready for him, but Conner was in the mood to play. Pulling his mouth away from her breast, he took her knee in one of his hands and pulled her so that she slid down onto the bed. With both hands he caressed her from the top of her shoulders to her knees and then back again, his eyes moving over every inch of her. When he moved his big body to cover hers, she tried to wrap her arms around him and hold him tight, but he slipped through, lower, and lower still, leaving a trail of wet kisses until his face was between her legs. His eyes held hers for a moment and she nearly screamed in her need for him to kiss her there. His eyes twinkled, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking, before he dipped his head and touched her with his tongue.
Her hips shot off the bed, it felt so good. His large hands gripped her hips to keep her steady for his mouth. Her head was thrashing back and forth on the pillow. She was so close. The heels of her feet dug into the mattress as she tried to brace. She was going to come so hard – she was so close, so close – and then Conner slid a finger inside of her and her world seemed to fracture.
Sparks danced in front of her eyes and for a moment, Elizabeth thought she was going to pass out. Maybe she had, because the next thing she knew, Conner was climbing up her body and he had stripped off all of his clothes. She welcomed his weight as he settled above her, his thickness filling her while she continued to pulse around him. She let out a little mm of appreciation, her fingers gliding over the smooth skin of his back. He thrust, slow and deep as his mouth devoured hers. She lifted her legs to wrap around him but Conner hooked one of his arms beneath her knee to pull it up higher resulting in each thrust burying deeper inside of her. Within a matter of moments, the pleasure was building once again toward its crescendo. She was chanting “yes” in Conner’s ear when he gasped out a breath. He threw back his head, his jaw hard as he grit his teeth, and when he looked at her again, his eyes had lightened to amber. She knew his wolf was close to the surface, but she wasn’t afraid. “Come with me.” He growled, and with one last thrust, she did.
Elizabeth was almost asleep when Conner murmured, “I love you, Elizabeth. I know you may not be sure of us yet and that’s okay. We’ll do this by your schedule. When you’re ready to take the next step, or if you need something from me to help you take it, you just let me know.” He kissed her cheek and then nuzzled his face to hers, “I’m here for you.”
With her eyes closed, she smiled. “I doubt Jeremy will be opposed, but I’ll talk to him in the morning and see if he’s okay with us moving in with you.”
Suddenly Conner’s arms squeezed around her so tight she squealed. His voice gruff with emotion, he exclaimed, “God, sweetheart, you don’t know how happy you’ve just made me.”
He began to rattle off all of the things he wanted to do and Elizabeth lifted a hand and pressed it to his mouth. “Sleep first, talk tomorrow,” she said with a happy smile before she yawned. “Tired.”
Conner kissed her fingers. “Sweet dreams, Elizabeth.” But she didn’t hear that for she was already asleep.
Elizabeth put the matter to Jeremy at breakfast. Her son stopped chewing his cereal and his eyes moved from her to Conner and then back again for a moment before he asked, “For real?”
She nodded, and Jeremy’s eyes grew round as saucers as his spoon clattered back into his bowl. “Holy crap, yes! This is awesome!”
Conner rumpled her son’s hair and laughed. “We’ll take a ride out to the camp after breakfast and pack up your stuff.”
Jeremy could barely contain his excitement as they drove out to Bingo Road in Conner’s truck. He was talking a mile a minute. His new room was so cool. Aside from the fact that it had a TV and an X-Box there was also a keyboard, and a guitar, and an amp, and great posters on the walls… the list went on and on while Elizabeth sat in the passenger seat grinning. This may be too fast by some people’s standards, but it felt so right.
Conner let out a grunt and then said, “Good thing you decided to come stay at my place last night.” He pulled up alongside of the drive instead of into it and Elizabeth gasped. Where her car was normally parked, there was now a very big tree laying across the drive, roots exposed, a huge chunk of earth still holding to it, creating a wall. The camp itself hadn’t been damaged, but she had no doubt her car would have been totaled.
“I’ll get some of the guys out here with chainsaws and they’ll have it cut up and ready to store for firewood in no time.” He reached over and squeezed Elizabeth’s hand. She knew her face looked horrified, as Conner said, “Hey, everything is okay. You and J.T are both safe and your car is fine, sitting at my place waiting for you. We’ll get you packed up, and I’ll take care of this.” He said motioning out the window to the tree. “There’s nothing to worry about.”
Logically, Elizabeth agreed with Conner. Everyone was safe – it was no big deal. But her mind kept thinking of what would have happened if they had been sleeping and that tree had come down on the camp. How close they could have come to dying if Conner hadn’t been there and suggested they stay at his place. She swallowed hard, suddenly eager to get their things packed and get out of there.
Elizabeth may never realize just how closely Conner’s thoughts resembled hers as they worked to pack up and close the camp. If things had gone differently yesterday, if she had rejected him, if that tree had fallen on the camp while his family was in it. He wanted to howl. He had to take a few deep breaths to calm his wolf. His mate was already agitated and he would not add to it.
A change of subject was in order. “I was thinking we could have a dinner to introduce you and J.T properly to my family.” He said as he pulled a sheet over the upright piano.
Elizabeth chuckled, and her amusement was like music to his ears, but then she said, “Your mother hates me. She might poison my food.”
“Why does his mother hate you?” J.T asked, dragging his suitcase out of his room.
Conner laughed and pulled J.T into a one armed hug. “Your mother will be the same way when you start dating girls. No one will
be good enough for you, my man. But don’t worry about my mom. She’ll come around, and in the meantime, I’ll do the cooking for any get-togethers we have.”
“Do you know how to cook a turkey?” J.T asked.
“He loves turkey.” Elizabeth added with a grin as she moved to the refrigerator to pack up the perishables.
Conner scratched his head. “I’ve never cooked a turkey before, but I’m sure I can find a how-to if I Google it.”
J.T nodded and then motioned to the window with the air conditioner. “You should probably take that back with us too.”
“Naa. We’ll take it out of the window and put it in the closet, but we’ll leave it here.” And then to Elizabeth, “This is your dad’s place right? Or your grandmother’s or something. I know you told me you used to come here when you were a kid.”
“Dad’s” He heard Elizabeth shout, her head in the fridge.
“We’ll leave it in case your grandparents come to visit and stay here.” Conner said with a smile at J.T.
J.T suddenly frowned and Conner raised a brow. “What’s wrong?”
J.T looked toward his mother who was still packing up the refrigerator and then whispered to Conner. “Grandma and Grandpa Larkin aren’t going to like this. They’re probably going to yell at Mom and make her cry again.”
Conner growled low. Over their dead body.
Chapter Thirty-Five
They were all packed up and heading back to The Stag when Conner suddenly pulled the truck over on Main Street in Malsum Pass. “I’ll be right back.” He grinned before running over toward the grocery store where Riley Cooper was just getting into his own truck with several packages of diapers.
“Coop!” Conner yelled to keep the man from driving off. “I was hoping you could help me out.”
Riley raised one dark brow. “Help you out how?”
Conner explained about the dinner he wanted to have for Elizabeth and J.T. “My place isn’t big enough, and I’m not ready to trust my mother cooking for my mate. I promise you and Tara won’t have to lift a finger. I’ll do everything. I just need your space.”
Riley looked thoughtful for a moment. “I’ll check with Tara, but knowing how she feels about her baby brothers I’m sure she’ll agree.” He finished with a grin. Then, hopping into his truck he said, “I’ll call you in a bit and let you know.”
Before Riley closed the door, Conner suddenly remembered, “Do you guys have a turkey pan?”
Riley laughed and shook his head. “Sure, but you may want to let the store know you need a turkey or you’ll be settling for chicken.”
Hell. Conner hadn’t thought of that. It was off season for the store to be carrying turkeys. But now that J.T had mentioned it, he was craving a turkey dinner with all of the fixings. Heading back to his truck, he jumped in the driver’s side. “Mind if we do a bit of grocery shopping before we head home?” Home – damn that sounded nice. And with Elizabeth and J.T there, it definitely would be a home.
His mate grinned at him. “You read my mind. I was just thinking we should probably pick up a few things.”
As they walked through the aisles, Conner spotted the box fans on top of the shelving. He picked Elizabeth’s hand up off the cart and kissed the back before motioning toward the boxes. “Where it all began.” Elizabeth smiled softly and then nudged his arm with her shoulder.
“Hey Mom, can I get some Twinkies?” J.T held up the box, so reminiscent of that other time and Elizabeth burst out laughing as she nodded.
The store had to order the turkey, but it was now roasting in the oven at Conner’s sister’s house. Everyone would be arriving shortly, and although Elizabeth had met them each individually, this would be the first time that they were all together and would be told that she was Conner’s mate.
Mate. It was a done deal – for life. Elizabeth glanced at the pictures on the mantle. Pictures of Riley and Tara Cooper at their wedding. The couple looked gorgeous in their formal wear surrounded by fall colors. Elizabeth felt a pang of envy. She had been married, but she hadn’t had a wedding and neither she nor Thomas had looked as happy as the smiling couple in the photograph. And her husband hadn’t stayed. In all honesty, she may have been legally wed, but she had never felt like a wife. She could barely even remember what Thomas looked like anymore, his memory had faded so, over the years. She would always have a piece of him through Jeremy, but Thomas Larkin had been her past. Conner Pierce was her future.
She felt Conner’s arms come around her and she snuggled deeper into his embrace. Before she’d even thought about it, the words just popped out. “Will you marry me?”
There was a puff of air against her hair as Conner exhaled hard. “Are you proposing or are you asking me to propose to you? Because either way, I’m all in.”
Turning in his arms, she wrapped hers around his neck. “I’m pretty sure I just proposed.”
Conner grinned and kissed her. “Yes, Elizabeth Larkin, I will marry you.”
“Awesome!” Jeremy yelled from the doorway, and then he said, “Does that mean I get to call you Dad?”
Elizabeth looked up to see Conner’s reaction, and she was surprised to see his eyes look glassy, like he may be overcome with emotion. He had to clear his throat twice before he managed to say, “I would be honored if you wanted to call me your dad. I already think of you as my son.”
Conner opened one of his arms and Jeremy came in for a hug. Elizabeth could feel happy tears slipping down her cheeks.
A dog barked and then Conner’s brother Zachary said as he came through the door, “Group hug? Hell yeah, I want in!”
Elizabeth laughed and put out an arm for her soon-to-be brother in-law. There was a furious scrabble of toenails on the hardwood floors, and Elizabeth frowned as she looked down to see a dark brown puppy running at them. Zack pulled back with a sheepish look and scratched his head. “Oh, yeah, I ah – I may have brought a present.”
“A puppy!” Jeremy exclaimed, already kneeling down to pet it. “This is the best day ever!”
Dinner was a success. Everyone was exclaiming how much they loved turkey and how they should have it more often than holidays. Conversation flowed easily. Occasionally interspersed with bursts of excitement from the twins, yips from the puppy, and a sporadic woof from Clyde who had chosen to sprawl under the table for clean-up duty.
Elizabeth had prepared for the worst, when it came to Conner’s mother, and when Sherry Pierce had asked what Elizabeth did for a living, she was fully expecting a disparaging remark. Instead, the older woman looked quite intrigued when Elizabeth mentioned the specialties catalog she would be spearheading at their new facility in Rochester.
“And do they have local legal representation?” Conner’s mother asked, a gleam in her eye.
Elizabeth felt her forehead scrunch in confusion until Conner had whispered, “Mom’s a lawyer.”
“I, ah, believe they have a team of lawyers based in Boston.” Elizabeth said.
Sherry slid a business card toward her and tapped it with her finger. “You give them that card and let them know that my firm is ready and able to handle all of their needs.” She sniffed, “Much better than any firm out of state could do. They’re not familiar with the nuances of the area.”
Elizabeth smiled. “I’m pretty sure Walter could be persuaded.”
Sherry nodded and offered up a small smile. Sherry’s husband, Tarvahl, picked up his wife’s hand and kissed it, and then smiled and nodded at Elizabeth. She understood. This was Sherry Pierce’s way of telling her without words, that she had been accepted.
If only everything could be so easy. While her parents and brother had exclaimed how happy and excited they were for her when she had called to update them, the Larkins had not been pleased. They accused her of betraying Thomas’ memory and of trying to keep their grandson from them. They had warned her that she was moving too fast and being reckless, and worse, that she was endangering Jeremy. They called her ungrateful. Then, they had actually tol
d her she was proving to be unfit and threatened to apply for full custody of Jeremy in light of her insanity. Insanity. She’d barely gotten a word in edgewise before she had finally had enough of their vitriol and had hung up the phone.
Conner had held her after and let her cry, then he let her scream, and rant, and vent. When she had finally wound down he reminded her, “If they even think about taking J.T away from us, I’ll sic my mother on their asses. They’ll drop that suit quicker than shit, because when it comes to family – and you and J.T are both her family now – she won’t mess around. She’ll pull out the big guns and leave them crying in a corner.”
Elizabeth nodded, appreciating his words, but her head was pounding. “It’s like they want me to stay married to a memory and never move on with my life. That’s not fair.”
Conner cupped her cheeks and kissed her. “It’s not fair. But if they ever want to see their grandson again, they’ll deal with it. When you’re ready, send them an e-mail inviting them up – not in town, though, please, just in case it goes badly.”
Elizabeth chuckled despite her headache. “I doubt they’ll think the camp is as charming as I do.”
“They can stay at Huntington House in Rochester, they’ll love it. They can see J.T, meet me, see how happy we are as a family and they’ll realize that they were talking out their asses before.”
Elizabeth nodded. “You’re right. But not right now. I’m still too angry right now.”
Conner smoothed his fingertips over her cheek and smiled. “Do you want to go in the bedroom and work off some more agitation?”
As a matter of fact, she did.
Chapter Thirty-Six
They were on the way to Boston. Elizabeth was both nervous and excited at the prospect of Conner meeting her family. She knew, absolutely, that they would love him, simply because she and Jeremy did.
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