by M. L. Briers
The deep rumble of the growl within his chest made her hard nipples beg to be touched, and when he ran his hand down her spine, her hips decided to push forwards of their own volition, and she was rewarded with an even deeper, hungrier growl that started the cycle all over again.
June was caught in the sexual equivalent of a wash cycle. She couldn’t go on to complete it – to get to the rinse and spin part – because, as she was painfully aware, they were in the damn greenhouse.
In the grand scheme of things she had known him for five minutes – What was she thinking? That thought led to more thinking as rational intruded on what felt good and right, and he felt her mood change.
Mine…
Curtis knew his bear, and his bear didn’t want to set their mate away from them. It didn’t want to release her and give her time to think some more – possibly reject them. No, his bear wanted to mate and to bond with her, but Curtis knew better.
The moment that he pulled back a little from her, he had the urge to slam his head into the nearest tree trunk, but still, it was the right thing to do.
“Ok, that was…” June stopped and leaned her head to the right as she tried to get her brain to work. “I didn’t…” she stopped again and huffed at the fact that she didn’t appear to be able to finish a sentence.
“I know, right?” Curtis growled, and she huffed again. The man was little to no help.
“Food,” she said, plucking that thought out of thin air.
“I don’t think food is going to help what I’m feeling,” Curtis grumbled.
He was ready to reach for her again and wipe out the mistake of letting her out of his arms.
“Food!” she exclaimed, practically elbowing him out of the way en route to the exit.
“Food,” he shrugged.
~
~
~
“I saved it. Luckily, it didn’t need resuscitating because that’s not my thing,” Justin announced from the seat that he had commandeered at one end of the table. Then he took a sip of the red wine that he’d poured for himself.
“Make yourself at home, why don’t ya?” June said, as she practically flew over towards the lasagne that the vampire had saved from a crispy death – she caught the smell of garlic on the air and ducked to look in the oven.
“I started the garlic bread ball things cooking, but, if that’s a subtle way to kill me off, it won’t work – the garlic thing is a myth,” he said, and she eyed him for a moment on a frown as she considered his words.
“I knew that,” she lied.
She hadn’t even considered it when she’d prepared dinner. It was something akin to a fubar like not asking dinner guests if they could eat pork, or were vegetarian.
“No you didn’t,” Justin tossed back to the sound of a low growl that came from Curtis, warning him to behave.
“Yes I did,” she frowned harder, almost a scowl. She didn’t want to back down and admit that he was right.
“No, you didn’t,” he said, lifting his hand and tapping his index finger against his temple.
June snapped her body upright and huffed once more.
“Fine. I didn’t, and I’m sorry,” she rushed out. “It’s a myth?” she shot him a sideways glance full of contrition.
“It’s a myth,” he assured her.
“Good, because I need to get out of these clothes before dinner,” she said.
“You get naked to eat?” Justin announced. “This should be an entertaining meal.”
“I do not get naked,” she snapped back.
June could feel the heat of embarrassment flood her cheeks as she eyed the man, but it was the hungry growl from her mate that ultimately snagged her attention.
“Ever?” Justin stirred the pot once more with a big beaming smile that went unnoticed as the mates stood there eyeing each other.
“What?” June snapped out of it and managed to drag her eyes away from her mate. “Stupid is as stupid does.” She bit out.
“I don’t get what that means,” Curtis said with a frown.
“Exactly, point proven,” Justin grinned.
“Don’t you have a blood bag to suck on?” Curtis grumbled.
“You drink blood?” June’s eyes widened at the thought.
“Me? No!” Curtis raised his hands to his chest and shook his head.
“Only during the bonding ritual,” Justin offered.
“Shut up,” Curtis growled. He hadn’t explained that part of mating to her yet, well, any part.
“I read that,” June gave a thoughtful nod.
“Does it freak you out?” Justin asked before Curtis could say a word.
“What? Maybe – no – yes, I…” she became flustered at being put on the spot.
“Let’s just stick to maybe,” Justin chuckled.
“Maybe I should throw your backside out of the house like an unwanted cat,” Curtis growled.
“I don’t have a tail,” Justin shot back.
“Poor cat,” June was frowning again.
“What about poor me?” Justin stirred the pot faster and got another growl from the shifter for his trouble.
“It’s just a saying. I would never hurt an animal,” Curtis offered back.
“Not true,” Justin said, and Curtis shot the vampire a death glare.
“Unless the animal was big, with claws and fangs and was attacking me or mine,” Curtis growled back. Then he got caught up in that one word as his beast echoed it inside of him.
Mine…
Curtis shot a look back at June, and she looked a little amused, a little distracted, and a little confused all in one.
“Right, well,” she turned one way and then the other as if she wasn’t entirely sure what she wanted to do next. “Clothes!” she announced as if she’d had an epiphany.
“I can take them or leave them myself,” Justin grinned and the shifter growled.
“I’ll be right back,” she said and took off on fast feet toward the kitchen door. Curtis took a step.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Justin asked, eyeing the man from his lowly position.
Curtis stopped in his tracks and considered the vampire’s question. Then he grunted in annoyance.
“I need a drink,” he growled.
“Me three,” Justin tossed back.
“Too,” Curtis said absently as his mind, and his ears, were on his mate.
“No, I need three drinks because watching you woo is painful.”
“Then go home, damn it,” Curtis growled.
“And miss all the fun?” Justin snorted his contempt for that.
“I meant what I said about the cat,” Curtis warned him, and Justin couldn’t help but chuckle.
“I’m wounded.”
“Oh, you will be if you keep on.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
~
“Behave,” Justin said. He’d lost count of how many times the bear shifter had growled at him over the dinner table.
“Be gone,” Curtis muttered back.
“Be quiet,” June chastised the pair of them. “For two, big, mean, deadly, fangs and claws, the stuff of nightmares, fables, and legends, supernatural monsters – you snipe at each other like a couple of teenage girls at the wrong time of the month, and without an adequate supply of chocolate.”
“Harsh,” Justin rallied, but Curtis grumbled something to himself that she couldn’t hear. “How is this my fault?” he said, turning to look at the shifter.
“This is my dinner, not your dinner. This is my wooing, not your wooing…”
“And still it continues,” June said, but she couldn’t keep the smile from touching her lips.
“Well,” Justin pushed up to his feet. “I was just trying to keep the conversation lively.”
“Are you saying; I can’t keep my mate entertained?” Curtis asked on the kind of scowl that didn’t leave much of his eyes visible.
“Well, she did almost nod off a few times there,” Justin replied, heading
for the back door. “But, I bid you adieu, and thank the lady of the house for a perfect home cooked meal.”
“Leaving so soon?” Curtis grumbled, and June couldn’t help but chuckle behind her hand.
“Thank you for rescuing dinner when I was – otherwise entertained,” June said.
She made sure that her eyes didn’t flick towards Curtis, even when a deep rumble of a growl rolled through the air towards her.
“Hmm, makes me wonder what it was you were getting up to in that greenhouse,” Justin thought that he’d leave them with that parting shot, and was satisfied when both of them recalled that memory.
By the time that June had cleared her throat, tried to put thoughts of Curtis’ hot kisses aside, and had a mind to answer the vampire; the man was already gone. Then she realized that she was alone with her mate once more, and thoughts of those hot kisses slammed right back into her head again.
“I should clear the dishes,” June said, pushing up to her feet to make her escape; in the hopes that she could shake the burning heat that had filled her cheeks, and clear her mind of the sexy man across the table from her.
“I should help you,” Curtis offered, pushing up to his full height and reaching for the center dish at the same time that she did.
June’s hand was already locked on the dish, but then so was his. When she snatched a look at him across the table all she could see was him.
The way that he was leaning in toward her like that, with those broad shoulders and thick muscled arms, the man obliterated everything else around him from view.
June felt the rush of excitement go through her body once more. The same thing had been happening all through dinner. Every time that she’d looked at him and found him looking back at her, she’d felt the rush of adrenaline, of excitement, of – lust, and she wasn’t entirely sure what to do about it.
It wasn’t as if she’d had a flurry of men in and out of her life over the years. She wasn’t one of those women who should probably have put a turnstile on the bedroom door. Sadly, she’d paid more attention towards her plants than her love life, and now she didn’t know what came next.
It didn’t help that she was a mate to a shifter. Apparently, things moved fast in the wooing, mating world, and his bear wouldn’t be happy until it had bonded with the mate in question – that mate being her and that bear being in him.
June knew just what bonding meant – sex – and that thought warmed her mind and body at the same time that it scared the heck out of her.
“We could stand here all night, or you could just hand it over,” Curtis said and watched as she blinked once.
“Huh?” June was confused. She’d zoned out there for a moment with thoughts of mating, bonding, and him, and she didn’t have a clue what she’d missed in the conversation.
“The plate,” Curtis grinned. It was a smile that told her that he knew exactly what she’d been thinking about.
“Dish,” she said, but she snatched her hand back and rushed to scoop up a few plates instead.
“Pretty,” Curtis said, and she frowned.
“It’s just a dish,” she offered back, turning to make her escape. Not that there was any hopes of escaping him in what felt like the smallest space she had ever occupied.
“I meant you,” Curtis practically muttered the words, and saw her almost trip over her own feet.
He mentally kicked himself as her back straightened and her shoulders locked up. He wasn’t good at expressing himself with fancy words, and he’d obviously hit a bum note.
“Thank you,” June muttered, rushing towards the kitchen sink as if it held a lifeline for her.
She felt the flush to her face get hotter, and had an irrational need to open up the freezer and shove her head into it. Now that she was getting personal compliments she had no idea what to do with that – it wasn’t like she was the flirty kind – and she sort of wished that the vampire was still there so that Curtis could be distracted by bickering once more.
June wasn’t sure how long she’d been standing at the kitchen sink, still clutching the dirty plates in her hands. But when he reached around her body to place the large, empty dish down onto the drainer, she almost jumped out of her skin at the feel of his hot breath against her cheek.
“Something wrong?” Curtis asked, and couldn’t resist the urge to take her scent at the source. He didn’t nuzzle her the way that he wanted to, or rub his cheek against hers as a sign of affection, but he did have to pull his head back sharply when she snapped her head around to eye him with surprise.
“Just – thinking,” she rushed out. It wasn’t a lie; she had been thinking, and, oh boy, what she’d been thinking about would have made a bad girl blush.
I want to kiss him.
I want him to kiss me, but that’s just lust, right?
I want those big, muscled arms back around my body and his hands roaming, touching… damn, what’s wrong with me?
How wrong is it that I want to rip his shirt off and run my fingertips over his muscles?
That’s not me – I prefer my plants to men, anyone, and everything.
I guess it’s that mating thing.
God, how I hate that mating thing and want to kiss fate at the same time for it.
I think I’m losing the plot – what plot? Oh yeah, the one where we end up as life-long mates having lots of sex and babies – babies! Cubs. Cubs!
I need to check to see if they come out with damn claws and fangs.
“You’ve got that look,” Curtis said.
“What look?” June snapped to attention once more. She’d zoned out again, and she felt the heat pulsing in her cheeks.
“Sort of like a scared rabbit that’s found an escape route,” Curtis offered back, and she pulled her head back on her neck and gave him a curious stare.
“I’m not sure I want that look, whatever it maybe, or the thought of that rabbit in my mind.”
“You’re not one of those – no hunting – type people, are you? Shifters get a lot of flack from those people until we tell them to tell it to our beasts and shift right in front of them.” He practically held his breath for the answer.
“No-no, but the thought that you equate me with prey is a little… worrying,” she shot back without thinking.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
~
“I wasn’t.” Curtis frowned and mentally kicked himself once more.
He wondered if he should just keep his mouth shut around his mate in the hopes that he wouldn’t upset her.
“I’m teasing,” she said. Sort of. She thought.
“You know that I would never hurt you,” Curtis asked, deadly serious.
“I heard that somewhere,” June offered him a smile that made him want to growl.
She had a way of looking at him with those big, wide eyes that made his heart smack his ribs and his length search for a way out of the confines of his jeans. She was a temptress in the guise of a librarian, and he had to wonder how wild her wild side would be when he finally got to experience it fully.
She kissed like a wildling, and he more than liked that, it sent the beast wild within him. That thought led him right back to the need to kiss her once more.
“I just want to…” Curtis let the words slide away on a low growl that caught in his throat and made her swallow down hard.
What he wanted right then was to be buried deep inside of her, bringing the both of them pleasure, and starting their life together.
“I know what you want,” she rushed out on a small chuckle of embarrassment. The thing was – she wanted that as well.
“That too, but I was going to say that I just want to protect you,” Curtis offered.
He was fighting the urge to touch her, to kiss her, to take her down to the kitchen floor and make her his.
“It’s getting late,” she rushed out.
It took a little willpower, but she managed to drag her eyes away from him and concentrate on putting the plates down on the side before sh
e risked snapping them in two within the death grip of her hands.
“Bed time,” Curtis growled at the thought.
“That’s… I was…” she cleared her throat and swallowed hard.
If he wasn’t standing right there beside her, she might have reached up and slapped the side of her head to wake her brain up.
“I should go,” Curtis offered.
Deep within his very soul, he hoped against hope that she would tell him to stay, but she needed time. He knew that. He respected that.
June felt a rush of relief with a big dollop of disappointment. It was damn confusing.
While, on the one hand, she wanted him as far away from her as she could get him, in the hope that she could start to think rationally again, and not about his brawn, his biceps, his body, and kissing, lots of kissing. On the other hand, she wanted it all, everything that he had to offer, and right then and there.
Everything on the internet says that I’ve found my Mr. Right – so what’s the problem?
Shouldn’t I be rushing into his arms and not trying to hold him at bay? Not that I could hold the man at bay. It would be like trying to push a mountain out of the damn way.
Mr. Right, it sounds so strange.
My Mr. Right. Not my Mr. Right now. Not my Mr maybe him – maybe not – maybe someday. But a one hundred percent match – according to the internet.
“You know where the door is, you were quick enough to walk through it,” June replied without a thought to how that sounded.
“Did I offend you?” Curtis asked on another frown that made his eyebrows try to meet up over his nose.
“What? No!” June rushed to guilt.
“If you want me to stay…” Curtis left it there. So many emotions shot across her face that he couldn’t keep up, but the one that settled there said she wasn’t entirely sure what she wanted. “But, I should go.”
June knew one thing for sure, and that was the man was playing ping-pong with her brain. She wasn’t sure about him, but she certainly didn’t know if she was coming or going.