by M. L. Briers
Evan had seen the color that burned in Deborah’s cheeks, and he’d wanted to take that conversation further. Now that Marcus was back; he didn’t have the chance.
“I need to get to Anita’s place before she loses her bear and tries killing me when I walk through the door,” Marcus offered back.
“I’ll come with you,” Evan said, and his eyes flicked toward Deborah. He wasn’t sure that his mate would be there when he got back, but he hoped that she would. “I’ll just grab some clothes.”
The moment that Evan disappeared down the hallway Marcus sidestepped closer to Deborah. He leaned in and whispered.
“He’s a really good guy.”
“I know,” Deborah whispered back.
The size of the grin on Marcus’ face was good enough for her. She felt a sense of achievement that the boy seemed happier now.
“You’re not going anywhere, are you?” Marcus asked.
“Do you want me to?”
“No.”
“Good. Because I’m not going anywhere,” she offered back.
That cheeky grin on Marcus’ face was worth its weight in gold.
Deborah swallowed hard at the thought that she’d just offered her word to Marcus.
What if she couldn’t keep it?
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
~
“You’re still here,” Evan said as his gaze fell upon his mate; who was snuggled up in front of the roaring open fire, with a cup of something that smelled like hot chocolate in her hand.
“I am. It shocks the hell out of me too,” Deborah offered back with a small smile that graced her lips and brightened his mood.
“I didn’t see the Christmas fairy outside.”
“Well, maybe the man felt that he’d done what he’d set out to do, and brought us both together.” Deborah offered a small shrug.
“Are we — together?” Evan asked as he took just one step and then froze in place. He was holding his breath, and he kind of hoped that she’d get to the answer sooner rather than later.
“Well, I’m here, you’re here,” she teased, but the low grumble of his growl made the snigger that she was trying to hold back escape from her lips.
“You’re just a whole heap of trouble, aren’t you?” Evan growled. But he managed to take another step toward her.
“You’d better believe your fat butt I am,” she offered back, and Evan hesitated in step as a slow to boil smile started on her face. He was held spellbound until it was in full bloom.
“Yeah, about that fat backside thing,” Evan grumbled.
“You might want to park it here.” Deborah chuckled as she patted the rug beside her.
Evan didn’t need to be told twice. He went from a snail’s pace to rocketman in a matter of seconds. He did exactly as she’d told him to do and parked his backside beside her in front of the fire.
“That smells good,” Evan gently sniffed the air and nodded toward her cup.
“Let’s get one thing straight between us — chocolate is mine, and I don’t share my chocolate — but, I do share your chocolate – which is also mine,” she offered.
“Got it. I think,” Evan chuckled back.
“You can have hard sweets, marshmallows, ice cream, unless it’s chocolate, cake unless it’s chocolate…”
“I got it,” Evan said, cutting her off with his words, and then he reached for her cup, and she gave a small gasp. “Trust me.” He took it out of her hand and placed it on the table next to him.
As he turned back toward her, one arm wrapped around her waist, and he pulled her in for a kiss. His other hand palmed her cheek, and he brought his lips down to hers.
Deborah didn’t know what hit her, not that he’d hit her, but he could have knocked her down with a steamroller — it would have had the same effect.
His kisses were moreish — like that first little cube of chocolate from the big bar — the one that you rushed to chew just, so you get to the next bit, and the next bit, and the bit after that — until it was all gone.
The best thing about Evan’s kisses was that they were never going to be gone. He was her mate, and he couldn’t walk away if he tried.
That took the uncertainty out of it for her. She didn’t need to think if he’d be there tomorrow — because he’d be there for all of her tomorrows.
Deborah knew that Evan would never deliberately hurt her. He’d run himself ragged trying to give her everything that she wanted — but, she was a simple witch, and she thought that all that she wanted out of life she would find in Evan’s arms.
But a mate? It had never been something that had crossed her mind for her to consider before.
But now it was there right in front of her, and she’d seen just what a good man Evan was. When he’d left the cabin to walk Marcus home, she had considered leaving, but that thought was only fleeting.
How could she run out on her soul mate?
The man was a natural protector — check.
The man was a natural provider — check.
The man was good with children — check.
The man was good.
Check — check.
Now that Evan was kissing her, Deborah knew that she’d made the right decision.
It felt like all her Christmases had come at once.
~
~
~
‘George, how long are we going to sit in this Christmas tree?’ Jessica whispered, and he looked something close to dreamy-eyed at the mates sitting in front of the fire, doing what mates did naturally.
‘From the way those two are kissing — not much longer,’ George offered back.
Then it would be over. Then he wouldn’t be the Christmas fairy anymore — unless the fairy godmother sprang another surprise on him.
George sighed inwardly. Now that his time as the Christmas fairy was over, he was kind of going to miss it.
He wasn’t going to miss the growly bears.
He wasn’t going to miss the growly wolves.
He certainly wasn’t going to miss being zapped by witches.
But, he might just miss that warm feeling that he had inside of him when the mates finally mated.
‘George, is that a tear in your eye?’ Jessica asked.
‘Yes, it’s called pain — unless you didn’t notice; I was hit by a bloody big bear tonight,’ George lied. He wasn’t in pain. He was happy — sad — happy.
‘Yes, George, that was rather careless of you, wasn’t it?’
‘Yes, Jessica, that was rather careless of me, wasn’t it?’ George sneered back.
‘Well, there they go — off to do what mates do. Can we go now?’
‘Fine. If you can squeeze your backside through the keyhole in the front door — we’ll be out of here in the blink of an eye.’
‘I was actually thinking the same thing about your fluffy head.’
‘That’s it. I’m getting my hair cut.’
‘Well, I didn’t want to say anything…’
‘At least I can get my hair cut — what are you going to do about the size of your backside?’ George shot up into the air and out through the branches of the tree before Jessica could zap him.
George was fast, and he’d used the element of surprise to get away from her. He headed straight for the keyhole in the front door — clean through — and out the other side into the night.
It was the perfect escape.
Then a hailstone like a heat-seeking missile smacked him on the back of the head, spun him in the air, and sent him hurtling down headfirst into a snow bank.
The sound might have been muffled, but he could hear Jessica’s laughter even through the frozen crash helmet that enclosed his head.
Payback was a bitch — but she was enjoying it a little too much for his liking.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
~
Deborah’s legs were tightly wrapped around her mate’s hips, and her sex was pressed against the hard length of his manhood as he walked her into the bedroom, and every step was
a special kind of torture as it rubbed against her sensitive nub and sent a damn good feeling to her womb.
Evan was still kissing her, still claiming her lips on each and every torturous step. His cock was desperate to be set free, and he could feel the heat of her sex against it, even through the layers of clothing that he wished weren’t there between them.
Evan wanted to feel her naked body wrapped around his. He wanted to bury his cock so deep inside of her that they felt like one.
The deep, long rumble of his hungry growl was answered by a guttural sound that lodged in her throat. He liked that sound a lot.
His knee found the wooden frame of the bed, and he took her down with him to the mattress, climbing into the middle of the big bed, and picturing her naked and spread out for his tongue to taste every inch of her.
He could scent her arousal in the air as it mixed with his own. He wanted a taste.
Evan dragged his lips from hers and nuzzled against her neck, finally taking her scent, and growling like a man possessed as his beast roared, and clawed within him to be set free.
Mine…
“Mine…” Evan echoed his bear’s sentiment, as he tore his body back from hers and reached for her sweatshirt.
“About that…” Deborah said, and her words slammed into his brain like a freight train hitting him at full speed.
He stopped dead. Didn’t move a muscle as he stared down at her. Fear pierced his heart.
“Huh?” He was ready to hear her rejection.
“Why do you get to say it?”
“Say it, say what?”
“Mine…”
Evan’s beast roared at the sound if her claim on him.
“Oh, crap – that’s why – you just sent my bear nuts,” Evan growled, trying with everything that he had to keep that beast locked up tightly within him.
“Sounds good to me,” She chuckled. “Mine…” Her eyes were wide and teasing, and the mischief was written on the smile that spread her lips.
“You’d better be damned sure about…”
“Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, and, oh yeah – mine!” she stopped chuckling the second that Evan ripped her sweatshirt right down the middle and exposed her breasts with something of a hungry mini roar.
Then he dipped his head and devoured each one like it was harvest time and there was a feast to be had. His hands worked her sweatpants down her legs, and his tongue worked down her body at the same time.
“Mine…” She even put the smallest of growls behind that one, and Evan snapped his body upright back on his knees and wrenched her sweatpants off with a hard tug that brought her body down the bed towards him.
He tossed the material over his shoulder and reached for her inner thighs, opening her sex to him, as he dipped his head towards the scent of her arousal and growled like a hungry bear. Then he devoured her sex with a feverish need to taste the prize that was waiting for him.
Deborah had one fist gripping the covers and another gripping his hair. She rose up towards the heady heights of an orgasm so fast that when he took her over the edge, her head spun.
She came back to the sight of him ripping his clothes from his body and exposing his hard muscles to her gaze. She was practically drooling by the time that he was done.
“Definitely mine…” she growled again, and Evan growled right back at her as he climbed up over her body.
His thick cock hung low, and she grabbed for it, wanted to feel his heat in her hand, but he snatched her wrists up and pushed them down against the mattress on either side of her head.
“But – mine,” she teased, and Evan growled again.
“Are you trying to be the death of me?”
“I’m just trying to hurry things along a little. I mean you have the whole biting-bonding thing to…”
He claimed her lips and silenced her.
Any more of her teasing and he was going to lose his mind, his hold on his beast, and he had so much more to do first.
Evan pressed his cock inside her channel and growled with the pleasure of her tight walls accepting him in and gripping his cock like she never wanted it to leave.
With a long, slow push; he was buried to the hilt. He couldn’t resist doing that again, and again. His hips met hers as she rose to take every inch of him until he was moving too fast for her to keep up.
“Mine…” she rushed out on a breath and Evan’s beast pushed forward while he was so damn preoccupied that he couldn’t keep his fangs from elongating.
Evan wrenched his body away from hers and turned her on the bed. He growled at the sight of her on her hands and knees, her backside was pushed up, waiting for his cock in her channel once more, and he thrust to the hilt as she arched her back.
The sight of her back was so damn inviting. His hips slapped against her backside as his gaze locked onto the place where he needed to place his mark.
Evan reached for her when he felt her inner muscles start to clamp down on his cock. He brought her back to his chest and locked her in place with one arm.
“Mine…” she demanded, and Evan obliged, sending her over the edge and lost in another orgasm as his fangs entered her skin and he dragged them down her flesh.
His bear roared and reached for her soul as her blood spilled over Evan’s tongue, and he savored the taste as he sealed the wound into her skin.
Marked.
Claimed.
“Mine…” Evan growled as the fever reached his blood.
He needed to place his seed within her womb to complete the bond, and he was a man on a mission to do just that.
He released her body back against the mattress, slapped his hands against her thighs, and took her like a wildling, bringing her body right back up with his to the very edge of reason.
Every muscle in his body was on fire as he grunted and strained with every thrust. He sought release, sought relief from the madness that claimed him, mind, body, and soul.
The moment that she cried out in pleasure he let himself go. The hard clenching of her inner muscles sucked at his cock, and as he strained his head back on his neck, he buried his cock to the hilt and roared as he spilled his seed, over and over inside of her.
Mine…
Bonded.
Deborah was his, for now, forever.
Evan used every last ounce of strength that he had to collect her against him and take her down to the bed, wrapping her within the safety of his arms, and offering silent thanks for the damn Christmas fairy, and the miracle he had brought into his life.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
~
“George!”
George grumbled in his sleep. It felt as if he’d only just closed his eyes — the hell if he was going to wake up again so soon.
“George!”
George didn’t want to hear it. His sister — Jessica — even the fairy godmother, could go and take a running jump. He was asleep.
“George!”
George pulled on his magic, snapped his fingers, and zapped her.
“Oh really?” She zapped him right back. The hard sting of her magic flipped him over on the bed, and he ended up face down on the floorboards with a grunt of annoyance.
“I swear I’m going to rip off your arm…” George pushed up fast. He turned toward the bed, slapped his hand down on the mattress, and glared at — the fairy godmother.
George snapped a bright smile on his face, and a half grimace escaped him.
“Yes, George, you did zap me,” Miriam’s unimpressed tones rang so many bells in his ears that he could have been a church.
“In my defense…” George held up his hand and pointed his finger toward the ceiling.
“It’s fine, George,” Miriam said.
“Somehow it doesn’t feel fine,” George grimaced.
“George, if I say it’s fine then it’s fine,” Miriam snapped out.
“Okay,” George grimaced again.
It still didn’t sound like it was fine. It still didn’t feel like it was
fine. But, he wasn’t going to argue with her.
He’d zapped the fairy godmother — who did that?
“George, I came to you to speak about tonight…”
“About that. Not really my fault — okay, you’re right. It was my fault — kind of — but…”
“George, stop rambling. It’s fine. The mates mated. Job done,” she said as she expanded her hands and offered him a sweet smile.
George was suspicious. He knew sweet smiles; they were normally followed by harsh words and zapping. Or maybe that was just his love life or lack of it.
“Okay…” George narrowed his eyes on her waiting for the hammer to drop.
“And you will no longer be the Christmas fairy,” she offered with something that sounded a little like relief to him.
“But…”
“Well done, George. I knew you could do it.”
“But…”
“Three mates mated. You must feel proud.”
“Yes. But…”
“And don’t worry, George. Next year — you don’t have to be the Christmas fairy if you don’t want to.” Miriam announced before she turned on her heels and started for the bedroom door.
“But…” She turned back toward him, and he pressed his lips together. She looked like she had something else to say.
“And tomorrow, your life gets back to normal,” Miriam smiled.
“But,” he waited for her to interrupt him again, and when she didn’t, he felt a little bit stupid that he’d waited. Now it was just plain awkward.
“Yes, George? Was there something you wanted?” Miriam urged him on. She did have a life to get back to.
“You’re sacking me?” George asked.
“George,” Miriam opened her mouth, took a breath, and sighed. Even her shoulders lifted and dropped.
“It’s just…” George didn’t quite know what it was at all. He said no more.
“George.”
“Yes, fairy godmother?”
“You’re not sacked, George. It’s the day before Christmas Eve — mates are mating — tomorrow’s Christmas Eve. Job done. Merry Christmas, George.” She said with a big beaming smile that reached her eyes.