A Mate for the Sheriff (Shifter-Match.com Book 4)

by April Zyon

  Jessica looked back at him and licked her lips. “I can’t wait for this.” She clenched the bedding under her. “I love the way you’re staring at me right now. I hope you never lose that look you have for me.” Pure, unadulterated need.

  His large hand pressed to her lower back and slid up between her shoulder blades, exerting light pressure. She knew what he wanted. Jess dropped her chest to the bed, her ass lifting higher into the air. Novak let out another one of those low growls that had her pussy throbbing with need. She didn’t have to wait long to feel the head of his cock pressing between her slick folds and sliding into her sheath.

  She knew he needed her total submission and leaned her cheek to the mattress along with her shoulders. “I’m yours, Novak,” she told him and his inner animal. “Love me.” Take her, fuck her, whatever it took, she just needed him.

  With a firm grip on her hips, Novak pushed in deep. Jess barely had time to take a breath before he began to move. Each thrust was rough, jostling her and the bed, and absolutely what she needed. He wasn’t going easy on her and she appreciated it, taking everything he had and demanding more.

  She was screaming with every single thrust of his body into hers. “Harder. Novak!” She wanted everything from him, and she knew that he wanted, too. If this was how a dire mated, then she was more than happy to be the witch to take him.

  His pace accelerated, the sound of their damp flesh slapping together loud in the space. Novak moved a hand to cup her breast and pinch the hard nipple. Rolling it between thumb and forefinger, he gave it sharp tugs in time with his thrusting. His growl was nearly constant now, falling low occasionally before building up again to make her shiver. He pulled her hair to the side and bared her shoulder and neck to him.

  She squeezed his cock again. “Novak, please. More.” She was still submitting to him, baring her shoulder and neck to him for that moment when his dire took over and claimed its mate. She’d known what to do the moment he’d moved her hair. She didn’t know how she knew. She simply knew somewhere deep in her bones to submit to him. It was like a primal instinct kicking in and she loved it.

  Suddenly she was pulled up into his body, his arm like a steel band around her waist. Against her neck his breath was hot and humid. The first scrape from teeth no longer human nearly made her come around his cock. He was furiously pumping in and out of her. When her body began to tighten, Jess let out a noise of warning to him, but the man already knew how close she was. Her shoulder burned when he punctured it with the vicious teeth of the dire wolf, but it didn’t matter because she wasn’t alone, would never be alone again. She was connected forever to the man meant to be hers.

  She experienced the oddest thing and came a second time when she felt as if his cock bulged deep inside of her pussy to lock inside of her. She closed her eyes and rode out the pure pleasure that came from the bite. Jesus that bite took her to heaven and beyond.

  His arms tightened impossibly around her, and that growl. Hell, that growl made her pussy spasm uncontrollably. Then he stilled and she felt his dick pulsate as it released his seed in long, hot streams.

  Jessica’s whole body was covered in gooseflesh with another orgasm. She went limp in his arms. “You are amazing,” she finally told him when he released her neck. He was still seemingly locked inside of her. “Novak, that feels fucking amazing, but I don’t understand. You’re so thick and … are you locked inside of me?” And holy fuck he was still coming. She had to gasp again and fought every urge she had to squeeze his cock in fear of hurting him.

  “Insurance that you take every drop,” he rumbled against her ear. His voice was still edged by the dire wolf’s presence. “I can’t pull out until it loosens. It’ll not only hurt you but me as well.”

  Novak slid a hand down to cup her mound and moved them until they were lying on their sides. He began to slowly pet her pussy while they cuddled on the bed. “Better?” he asked softly. His lips brushed over her neck and shoulder.

  “Oh God yes. Especially with you stroking my pussy like that. Keep it up and I’m going to start to move again, and you’ll be hard again, and we’ll be making love all over again. Not that I’m complaining.” She could feel that bulge getting slightly smaller but not by much.

  “Well, here’s an idea, stay still instead. I’ll keep touching you as long as you don’t move. Not that I mind having you moving. But as an experiment, let’s see how long you can remain still.”

  “Oh lordy, okay.” She nodded and stilled. He lifted her leg and put it over his. She wanted to reach up and caress her breasts, wanted to squeeze her nipples and have him squeeze her clit at the same time.

  “One hand on my wrist and the other up over your head. I don’t want you getting any ideas about speeding this process up any.” Novak gave her neck a nip when she hesitated, the hand between her legs stilling entirely until she complied. Then and only then did he take up his movement again. A finger dragged up one fold before brushing down the other, then in reverse. Slowly, continuously, and with the same light pressure.

  She was torn because she so desperately wanted to move. Her eyes were closed and she was squeezing his wrist tightly while her other hand was fisted above her head. “I never imagined something like this would feel so good but it does. I can’t wait to learn all the tricks you know.” She looked over her shoulder at him. “I’m assuming that you know a lot of them and they will play into our lives perfectly.”

  “I know several and I’m sure you’ll enjoy them all. Might even learn a few more to keep you on your toes. For now close your eyes, steady your breathing, and concentrate on only the sensation of my fingers touching you. Nothing else. Trust me, Jess.”

  “I do. I trust you with all that I am.” Which was a bit odd for her, that she trusted him completely. Her eyes were closed, her breathing coming in small, concentrated bursts while he teased her pussy while still buried deep inside of it.

  “Good girl,” he whispered. His fingers continued their path, nice and slow. She had no concept of time or how long he kept it up. After a while, she felt him flex inside her and she had to fight her instinct to push back. It wasn’t easy. Jess had never had anyone control her like this, but she was willing to submit to him fully. She was naturally submissive to him, and she found herself wanting him to be more dominant with her. She wanted him to control her fully.

  “That’s it, Jess. Nice deep, slow breaths. In through the nose and back out through the mouth.” He flexed again and he gave a lazy thrust before stilling. Not once had his fingers stopped moving or sped up. He was keeping in perfect control of the moment and her.

  Jess’s breathing was slow. She was calm and her whole body was in harmony with his. The feelings she had for this man seemed never ending and boundless. She had only been talking to him for a matter of days, but she knew the truth of her heart. “Please, more?” she begged, tightening her hand in the bedding she was holding on to.

  “Shh, keep breathing.” Novak was thrusting in shallow pushes. His lips brushed over the shell of her ear until reaching the lobe, which he suckled. Then everything changed. His free hand moved to cup a breast, squeezing her nipple roughly while his other fingers rubbed her clit, sending her body from zero to sixty in an instant. He’d primed her and now she was barely a breath from exploding.

  “Novak!” She clenched her pussy against him again. “More, please. I want you all over again. Is that normal?” Fucking hell, she didn’t know if she could ever be without him in her pussy again.

  “Who cares about normal? Normal is boring.” In a sudden move he rolled to his back, putting her on top in a slightly awkward position. His knees pushed up between her legs, forcing them apart. “Pet your clit for me.” He’d already moved the hand from between her legs to cup her other, neglected breast, treating it to the same pleasure.

  She did what he told her. She began to rub her clit and rested her head back so that their cheeks were touching, her back against his front. “Holy fuck, this feels so good. I’ve
never done anything like this before.”

  “We’ll be doing a lot of things you’ve never done before.” Novak was nuzzling her cheek, intermingled with nips at her jaw. “But one thing at a time, sweetheart.” He thrust harder, keeping her from sliding up his body.

  She was smiling now. “One thing at a time is good for me.” She would sit at her desk and think about what new sweet torture he had lined up for her next, but she could survive that. “As long as you never leave me hanging.” She gasped when he flicked her nipples harder. Moaning, she squeezed his cock again.

  “Demanding, aren’t you? But I don’t mind. You can be as demanding as you like, Jessica Morris. But remember that is a two-way street.” Another scrape of his teeth along her jaw and she arched her back, which ended up pushing him in deeper on his next thrust.

  “I can’t help it. I want to come,” she admitted. “I need you to come again. Are you going to lock inside me again, because that felt so good.” She was breathless and shivering with just how good it felt.

  “Come for me. Let me feel your sweet, slick pussy squeezing my cock for everything I have. Scream for me, Jessica.” Then he gave her a growl that sent vibrations to every part of her body.

  Her back arched off of his chest and she came. She screamed, shuddering with her orgasm. “Novak, please!”

  He was right there with her. One final push was all it took to seat him deep as he began to swell and spill inside her. His growl took on a feral edge as his arms wound around her tight to hold her close, and he moved them back to their side to curl in around her.

  She had her eyes closed, and nothing but pure pleasure was found when he bulged inside of her again. “I love this part.” She could practically feel every beat of his heart along with every jet of his seed that spilled from his cock and into her womb.

  “Sleep, sweetheart. We’ll get around to dessert later, I think. For now, I plan to hold you for as long as I can.” Novak lifted up to drop a kiss at the corner of her mouth. “Rest well, my little mate, and sweet dreams only.”

  “Always in your arms.” Jessica yawned, and she drifted off to sleep with him still locked deep inside of her body.

  Chapter Seven

  Hanging up the phone, Novak stared out his window toward the bullpen. Jessica was talking to a deputy about something to do with paperwork, if he had to guess. Given the harangued look on the deputy’s face, he’d place money on it being bad paperwork. He’d hired her to get it all in line, and she had the same views about getting it right that he did.

  A deep breath and he pushed up from his chair. Pausing in the doorway, he waited until she looked his way. Novak could have called out, but she had some pretty amazing radar when it came to him. Meeting her gaze, he tipped his head toward his office, then headed back in himself. When she joined him a couple minutes later, he told her to close the door.

  “I had a call from the local coven. Apparently, they’ve heard rumors there’s a null in town from an external source. Naturally they are going straight into full-blown panic and paranoia. The coven mistress gave me a courtesy call to let me know they would be hunting for this null and when they found the individual all bets were off. After several unsuccessful attempts to talk the woman down, she hung up on me.” For a second after hanging up he’d debated telling Jess about the call, but since it was her the coven would be actively searching for he needed her to be aware of what might be coming their way.

  He watched her face pale and practically sat her into the chair in front of his desk. “Oh,” was all she said. “I knew this would happen eventually. I just hoped I would have had more time. What do we do now?” It was no longer just her alone, and he could see that she realized that now. He couldn’t say how happy that made both him and his dire wolf, that she recognized it as well. “If they begin to search and pull in the elder powers of the compass, I’m not sure how long I can hide.”

  This was where things could get tricky fast. “I have an idea and it’s definitely out of left field, but I think it could work. Hear me out and if you think it’s the dumbest idea around, then we’ll shelf it and come up with something else.” Taking a deep breath, he blurted it out. “We take the offensive and say yeah, here you are and I’ve been here all this time. You’re now mated, with a mark that proves that to the entire supernatural world, which means they can’t do anything against you without calling in my pack. Since I don’t have one, and I’m the alpha anyway, they are shit out of luck there, too. Not saying there aren’t going to be problems that arise, but you’ve been here living peacefully, and honestly if they couldn’t figure it out in all this time, then they obviously are no match for you. Period.”

  “That would cause you issues, wouldn’t it? And without a pack to back you up, Novak, that just scares me for you. They’ve decimated towns for hiding nulls before. They are seriously crazy when it comes to witches like me. I’m terrified they’ll go after you just because you’re my mate. But,” she said with a pause, “I will do whatever you feel is the right thing to do. I trust you, Novak, completely, and if you feel that outing me is the solution, then I am down for it. I just worry about us having a child and if he or she is a witch how the coven will react if they are a null as well.”

  “Not having the pack here would be the plus in this, but you are right about one thing—we don’t know what they’ll do. Let me put out some feelers. I have friends who can dig up anything on anyone anywhere. Once we know exactly who and what we are dealing with, and I’ve made contact with the other dires to see who is available on the fly, we can talk again to figure out where to go next. For now, you need to remember I love you. I won’t let anyone hurt you. We are going to get through this together. We’ll be fine.”

  She nodded and he could see her desire to be held. He knew that he shouldn’t—they were, after all, at work. She took a deep breath. “I believe in you, Novak. I know if anyone can whip the covens into shape it’s you. Just realize that they’ll use everything they can against you if they must. Don’t do anything that will put you into their crosshairs?”

  “I promise you, sweetheart. I have zero plans to be nuked by a bunch of witches when I have my whole life before me with you.” Reaching out, he took her hand in his and squeezed. “Come on, let’s get your face washed up before you go back to work.” It would also give him a moment to hug her and further assure her that she would be fine.

  She rose to her feet and allowed him to lead her. He could all but feel the pain radiating off of her. Once they were alone, Jessica turned into Novak’s arms and he felt the hot tears against the side of his neck, which made his gut wrench for her.

  He wrapped her up tight, rubbing her back slowly while rocking her back and forth. “I’m right here, Jessica. No one is going to come between us, and no one is going to tear us apart. Let it all out.” Pressing a kiss to her temple, Novak held her while she wept. He didn’t know what was coming next. Not a man who liked having unknown threats lurking in the shadows, he would be using every resource he had to ferret out what the coven had been told, who had told them, and what their plans were. He knew the only reason the coven mistress had called him was because she knew he was a shifter, not what kind, obviously, and that with his position he needed to be aware should anyone report anything unusual in regards to the coven and their actions in coming days.

  After a short time, Jessica finally looked up at him. She nodded, then gave him a wan smile, one he knew she was mustering up just for him. “We’ll do it your way. I’m not certain if a face-to-face would be better or a phone call, but I trust you.”

  “For now, we’re going to go along like business as usual. I’ll dig around and figure out what everyone knows. When we have some more information, we’ll make the decision on the face-to-face or whatever.” His personal favorite was sending the witches packing, preferably in a rocket to Mars. “You and I are in this together. We’re stronger together, remember that. Mates always have each other’s back.”

  “Always,” she
agreed, and he felt her relaxing in his arms. “Nothing else matters, just our happily ever after. We both damn well deserve it, don’t you think?”

  “Damn right we do, Jessica.” When her pulse slowed down enough, he loosened his hold and gave her one more kiss. “Wash up your face and let’s get back to work. We need some normal for the rest of today. I’ll start making calls to see what I can do to find out information about what’s going on and we can talk over dinner.”

  “Oh, don’t forget that I have to stop in and check on Phi and the cub. His birthday is coming up soon and she’s going crazy with birthday plans. I’ll be home about an hour after you are?” He could see she was going to cut it short because of her fears. That was fine with him, though.

  Novak kept a hand on her back while she splashed water on her face. “That woman does nothing half-assed, I’ll give her that much. How Jagger is still sane is beyond me, though.” Had to be something in the mating bond that kept the man mellow no matter what shenanigans Phi got up to.

  “She really does go overboard, doesn’t she? I don’t think that Phi knows the meaning of half-assed. In fact, neither does their cub. He’s climbing all over everything. Poor Piran nearly had a heart attack when he saw what the cub did to the custom entertainment center he built for them. I keep telling the man he needs to build a climbing house for the cub, but he won’t listen to me. I think the cub would be happier if he had something to climb on that was all his, don’t you?”

  “They usually are happier when they have things to climb on. And don’t you pick on Piran too much. I know for a fact he’s got a plan to do something for that little fur ball. Don’t go telling that to Phi, though. He wants it to be a surprise for everyone in the family. I don’t know all the details or I’d tell you more.”

  “Well, good. Although with all the new cubs coming into the world, he’s going to have to design a new line just for the little ones that climb. Thank goodness wolves don’t climb, do they?” She was grinning again. What he would give to be able to read her mind.