by Nalini Singh
When Noor offered to share her cupcake, the boy smiled an unexpectedly sweet smile and said, “It’s okay, Princess. That one’s yours.”
Dorian caught Clay’s gaze. “Good to see you.”
The green-eyed sentinel returned his fist bump.
“I tried to bake a cake for the party,” Talin was saying to Ashaya, “but it collapsed in the middle. It was so bad, I was going to throw it out—”
Kit made strangled sounds.
“—but Jon ran off with it.” A laughing glance at the teenage boy the couple had adopted into their family.
As Ashaya turned to look at Jon, Clay stole two cupcakes with feline stealth and threw one over to the teenager. Pretending innocence when Ashaya turned back, the dark-skinned sentinel stared at the cupcake sitting in front of him as if he had no idea how it had appeared.
Dorian stifled a laugh. Clay had always been too serious, too close to his leopard in a dangerous way, until they’d all worried he wouldn’t come out of the darkness—to see him play made Dorian’s own leopard drop its jaw in a grin full of gleaming white teeth.
Ashaya’s lips twitched and then she threw up her hands. “If you’re all going to demolish my cupcakes and cookies, you have to help me ice the spare set.”
Noor and Keenan, having been chatting to each other in their own language, which was all but incomprehensible to adults, clapped at the idea, and pretty soon, the kitchen was filled with laughter and color and sugar. Jon and Kit sat down good-naturedly at the kitchen table to help Keenan and Noor with their creations—though half the baked items ended up in the young males’ bottomless stomachs, while Ashaya offered to help Talin mix up a cake she assured the other woman wouldn’t collapse.
“I’ve experimented with it multiple times,” she was saying as she brought out the recipe.
Talin rolled her shoulders, her tawny hair pulled back with the same color ribbon as Noor’s—though Talin’s bow was wobbly, as if tied by little hands. “Okay,” she said. “Show me what to do.”
As Ashaya and Talin continued to talk, Dorian grabbed some coffee for himself and Clay, and walked around the counter to slide onto the stool next to the other sentinel. “Couple of years ago,” he murmured in a sub-vocal tone that would reach Clay alone, “could you have predicted this?”
The sentinel’s eyes lingered on the woman who was his mate. “I don’t think I even knew to dream this big.”
“Yeah.” In his wildest dreams, Dorian couldn’t have imagined that he’d be loved until it was a quiet, intense pulse inside him, his Shaya’s heart locked with his own. And Keenan—how could he have ever known what it would mean to him to be a father, to hold the trust of an innocent in his hand? It still rocked him at times, the gifts he’d been given.
“Did Tamsyn ring you up about the tree?” Clay asked into the companionable silence between them.
Dorian grinned. “She said her twins chewed through the wires last year, so she asked me to pick up a new batch of lights.” The pack’s healer had begun the tradition of a giant pack Christmas tree two decades ago, and that tradition had held through pain and loss and time.
As Clay shook his head in affectionate amusement, Dorian nodded subtly at Jon. “How’s he doing?” The boy had been through things that would’ve broken grown men.
“He’s settled in, made some rock-solid friendships.” Clay’s tone held a quiet, deep pride. “And he’s great with Noor—as far as she’s concerned, he’s her big brother and that’s that. He even sits through tea parties with her dolls in the miniature tree house I built for her, even though he has to squeeze inside.”
Dorian chuckled, as proud of the boy as Clay was. After what Jon had survived, no one would’ve blamed him for being too scarred to take care with the vulnerable heart of a child. That he’d overcome the ugliness of what had happened to him, learned to laugh again, it spoke of a strength that would hold him in good stead in the years to come.
“Kylie used to make me do the same thing,” he said, able at last to speak of his lost sister without being overwhelmed by rage at her stolen life. Her loss still hurt, but he tried to remember the good times now, tried to think about how much she would’ve adored being an aunt to Keenan and sister-in-law to Shaya. “Then she'd let me choose the game and I'd send her dolls into the jungles with my action figures.” His sister’s poor dolls had always met terrible fates at the hands of alligators and anacondas, only to arise anew for the next adventure.
“Know something?” Clay’s expression held surprise. “I’d forgotten until now, but I used to drink tiny cups of tea with Tally when we were kids. She had this rag doll and she used to be so strict about my not sipping my tea until the doll had hers.”
It made Dorian laugh, the thought of big, often silent Clay waiting patiently for a doll to have her tea. “Women—the things we do for them.”
“Talking about women”—Clay lowered his voice even further—“I meant to talk to you about Jon. He has a thing for Rina, so he might turn up while you’re training with her. Don’t be too hard on him.”
Dorian winced. Rina was Kit’s older sister, and one of the strongest, most headstrong female soldiers in the pack. “Even if he was a grown man, and not a juvenile, she’d eat him alive.”
“I think he’d die happy.” Clay’s cat prowled in his eyes, huffing with laughter. “Truth is, she’s being gentle with him.”
“Rina? Gentle?” Dorian was Rina’s trainer and supervisor, the task falling to him after the young woman wrapped her previous trainer around her finger. He liked her, and was dead certain she’d become one of the backbone pieces of the pack as she grew further into her strength, but gentleness was not Rina’s style. Like all adult leopard females who were dominant, she was more apt to challenge a suitor than to pet him. “You think she knows he’s into her?”
Clay nodded. “I figure she’s trying to let him down easy, since he’s just a kid—but my money’s on Jon. Give him a few more years and age difference or not, I bet you he goes after her.”
“Big call, man.” Dorian whistled softly. “But I tell you what—if you’re right, I will bake you a cake, complete with frilly pink icing.”
“You’re on.”
Ashaya came around the counter to lean against Dorian, the hair he’d messed up once more neatly in its bun. “What are you two talking about?” she asked as he resisted the wicked urge to undo her work all over again, his cat rubbing against his skin at having her so close, the feel of fur sliding underneath his skin no longer painful now that he could shift into his leopard form.
“You’re hatching something,” his mate added in a distinctly suspicious tone.
Grinning, Dorian did what he’d wanted to earlier and hauled her into him for a long, luscious kiss that had her fingers fisting in his T-shirt, the sound of the children’s delight swirling around them.
“We’re talking,” he murmured afterward, “about baking cakes.”
Ashaya, her lips swollen from the nips he’d taken during the kiss, and her voice a little husky, said, “Didn’t you tell me you could make the best banana cake? I have some ripe bananas.”
“In fact,” Talin said from the other side of the counter, reaching out to tap Clay on the nose with her mixing spoon, “how about a contest? Dorian versus Clay.”
Kit and Jon, having turned to listen, gave the thumbs up. “We volunteer to judge,” they said magnanimously.
“You think I can’t bake a cake?” Clay said to his mate, a glint in his eye.
Talin’s cheeks creased, the freckles on the golden skin of her face adding to the mischief in her expression. “I think you’ll kick Dorian’s pretty butt.” She blew Clay a kiss that had the other sentinel’s lips curving.
“While I agree with your assessment of Dorian’s body,” Ashaya said mock-solemnly as she played her fingers through Dorian’s hair in a way that made a purr vibrate in his chest, “I must disagree with the rest of your statement.” His scientist leaned in close, all soft curves and warm
femininity. “My mate will leave yours in his baking dust.”
“I think that’s a challenge,” Kit said, a little bit of the hellion he’d been back in his voice.
“Way I hear it,” Jon added, “sentinels never back down from a challenge.”
~
Three hours later, Dorian clinked beer bottles with Clay as they stood outside the house, and said, “It wasn’t too rubbery. Truly.”
“And yours didn’t have too much salt,” Clay replied, loyal to the bone.
Looking at one another, they started to laugh, the sound carrying through the air to where the children played and their mates sat talking. Kit and Jon were gone—Kit had taken the boy with him as he continued on to his watch position, the teenager looking up to the young soldier, but they’d promised to return for dinner.
“I think,” Dorian said when he could breathe again, “we should give the judges big slices for dessert.”
“Serve the smartasses right for egging us on.” Clay took a drink of his beer. “That was a cruel and unusual death for those bananas.”
“You’re one to talk—what the hell did you do to the chocolate? I think Shaya and Talin are still in mourning.”
That sat them off again, until they ended up sitting on the ground, beers hanging from their fingertips.
When Ashaya turned to smile at him over her shoulder, the mating bond a wild brilliance inside him, Dorian knew that while baking and plumbing might not be on his resume, in one thing he was and would always be an expert: Loving Shaya.
Copyright © 2012 by Nalini Singh
Movie Night
Author’s Note: A glimpse into Judd and Brenna’s life when they have a night to themselves, no Pack business to handle and no enemies at the door. This story slots in a few months after Caressed By Ice (not long before Branded By Fire).
Movie Night
By Nalini Singh
“Do you want to go out for dinner?”
Brenna hid a smile at the question she knew Judd had asked only because he was trying to be a good mate. He hated eating in restaurants. Regardless of the fact that he was a master of subtle disguise, he spent the whole time tensed up, on alert for threats. “No,” she said, “let’s stay in and watch a movie. I have a couple of frozen pizzas I can throw in the oven, and the salad won’t take long.”
His smile was slow, quiet, wonderful. “Which movie do you want to watch?”
It made her heart ache that he hid nothing from her, though he was a man who’d been taught never to trust anyone. “You pick.”
“You like the dramatic romances that make you cry.” The last words were slightly puzzled.
Pulling out the pizzas and setting them on the counter, she shook her head. “No, I want you to choose something you like.” A small, many would say inconsequential thing, but those people didn’t understand that her mate had lived his life in the shadows, been forced to submerge his personality under a layer of ice—that ice had melted for her, but that didn’t mean it hadn’t left scars. Fun was still a new concept for Judd.
Now, not saying a word, he went to the comm panel and pulled up a list of recent releases. He was so serious, she wanted to reach out and kiss him stupid. Which would get her naked very quickly. Because in one arena, Judd definitely had the idea of fun down to an art—though he still refused to divulge his research sources.
“Here.” He input a choice on the large comm screen he’d moved so it hung on the wall in front of the couch.
Walking over, she put her hands on her hips. “Really? You want to watch a tearjerker romance set in the time of the Territorial Wars?”
“Yes.”
“Liar.” He’d just chosen something he thought she would enjoy. “It has to be your choice.”
“How do you know I don’t like the same movies as you?”
He was digging his heels in. She knew him in this mood. If she pushed him wrong, he would flat-out refuse to change his mind—that was the thing with Judd. He was sexy, strong, loved her until she felt the power of it in every cell of her body, but the man had a core of intractable stubborn.
“Sweetheart, come here.” Cupping his face in her hands, she met the bitter chocolate of his gaze, the flecks of gold pieces of sunlight. “I want you to enjoy this.”
A softening in his expression, his hand coming to settle on her waist. “I enjoy being with you.”
“I know.” Woman and wolf, both parts of her adored being cuddled up next to him, too. “I guess I want to see what you like as well.” Discover another hidden facet of the beautiful, complex man who was hers.
Judd paused. “I don’t know what I like.”
“That’s okay.” Sliding her hands down to his chest, she stole a small kiss before she went to the screen and pulled up a sub-menu. “These are considered boy movies. As you are a boy, choose one you think looks interesting.”
A glint in his eye, he went to the screen, went carefully through the choices. “This one.”
The promotional image was of a guy in a rainforest, with a machete, and a snake coiled around his arm like some kind of macho armband.
Brenna laughed. “Right, that’s the one.”
The movie was terrible. Awful. Everything that could go wrong did in terms of the direction, the production, the setting, the acting—though the leads weren’t helped by atrocious lines such as, “I’ve got to suck out the venom from the bite on your breast, doll. It’s your only chance of survival, so just lie back and let the expert get to work.”
Even the snakes couldn’t save it. According to Judd, and she didn’t know how he knew this, the reptiles being used as the super scary monsters weren’t the least bit poisonous. She had a stitch in her side by the time the movie was over. “At least he had beautiful abs,” she said, wiping away her tears as the credits rolled.
A slight raising of eyebrows from the man who sprawled on the sofa next to her—a sofa that had somehow survived his Tk. She knew that look, too. It said: Why are you admiring another man’s body?
“Oh come on,” she teased. “Don’t tell me you didn’t notice the rack on his co-star?” A co-star whose primary job had been to fall out of her indecent bikini—why she was wearing a bikini in the Amazon was another thing—and scream like a banshee. “Especially when he had to ‘save’ her by heroically sucking on her boobs.”
“I noticed her rack never moved,” Judd said in a cool tone. “There’s no excuse for that with the low-cost cosmetic procedures currently available.”
She choked on the wine she’d just sipped. Her mate, eyes laughing, though his lips were only faintly curved, patted her gently on the back until she could breathe again. Pointing at him, she said, “That was a funny, Judd Lauren.” And some people thought he had no sense of humor. Hah!
Reaching for the remote, he tugged her to his side so she could snuggle close, and began to go through the menu again. “This one.”
“Oh God,” Brenna muttered in mock-horror when she saw the same guy they’d just watched fend off “deadly” mutant snakes, this time baring his teeth against—improbably—a saber-tooth tiger. “I’ve created a monster.”
Judd kissed her hot and hard. “You know you want to.”
She shamelessly arched her neck for another kiss. “Yes, I do.” Snagging the remote, she started the movie and settled in, one hand spread over his heart. There was no place she’d rather be, and no one else she’d rather be with.
Copyright © 2012 by Nalini Singh
Dancing with Cooper
Spoiler Alert: If you haven’t yet read the novella Declaration of Courtship, you might want to save this to read later.
Author’s Note: Declaration of Courtship didn’t originally have an epilogue. However, when the stand-alone ebook was released, the epilogue for the novella Texture of Intimacy was accidentally inserted into the back. So if you bought the ebook, please don’t worry that you missed anything—you did get the entire story.
However, to make up for the error, I decided to write
a free bonus epilogue as a gift to readers. It’s set during Tangle of Need. I hope you enjoy!
Dancing with Cooper
By Nalini Singh
“Grace.”
Her toes curled at that deep, familiar voice. She and Cooper had been mated for several months now, and she still couldn’t believe it half the time. Turning in the passenger seat to face him, she just admired her mate for a second—big and strong and gorgeous and wonderful. “Yes?”
“Put on some music, baby,” he said, reaching out to brush his thumb over her lower lip before returning his attention to the road.
Her wolf rubbing against the insides of her skin at the contact, she located his favorite band on the playlist. The sexy, throaty sound of a sax filled the SUV a second later. “I’m excited to visit the main den,” she said, tracing his profile with her gaze, the scenery that had momentarily caught her attention no longer of interest.
“Yeah, me too.” One hand confidently on the steering wheel, he grinned. “I’m so damn happy for Hawke.”
“Yes, I can’t wait to celebrate with him.” Their alpha, a man who’d put his life on the line countless times in order to protect his pack, deserved happiness. “I’m curious to see Sienna, too.” Grace had met their alpha’s mate before, but that had been over two years ago. The slender girl she’d known had grown into a woman strong enough to take on an alpha wolf.
Grace could barely wrap her mind around the idea of any woman being able to handle a male of Hawke’s overwhelming dominance, much less someone so young...but then again, Grace had ended up with a lieutenant who should’ve sent her running in the opposite direction. Instead, he’d coaxed and petted her until she not only trusted him with his teeth at her throat—because Cooper did love to bite—but with her heart.
Her lips curved, her mind filling with memories of the way he’d nipped at her neck to wake her this morning, his big body hot and muscled at her back as he ran his hand down her front. Cooper could be demanding, but Grace liked him that way, liked that he never subdued his natural personality for her.