by V. Vaughn
She'd felt almost smothered, and the only thing she could do was run away.
“I just pulled away and ran from you. I'm so sorry I did that,” she whispered, meaning it with every part of her.
Wyatt nodded. "I know. I think I knew back then, too. But I couldn't handle it, either. So I didn't go after you, Brynna. And I should have. Because you're my home, and I'm yours."
Brynna shivered as his words rolled over her. Yes. Just being here with Wyatt, it did feel as if she had truly come home.
Before she could say anything, he added in a low voice that was almost rough with its certainty, “I know one thing is true, Bryn.”
Feeling weirdly breathless, she looked back at him. The zap of electric tension sizzled between them, making her skin tingle.
“You're my mate. I know that in my bones.” His eyes bored into hers. Branding her already, claiming her already, although she still barely knew what it really meant. “There's one more thing I know for sure."
She swallowed at the sudden, sweet hunger on his face. “What's that?” she whispered, her voice rattling in her throat with a building excitement.
He took a short step toward her. Close enough that she could almost feel the heat radiating off his body. His hungry expression almost took her breath away.
“That you, my beautiful little deer,” he closed the last bit of distance between them, “really do want me to bite you and claim you as mine. Don't you?” he whispered, the heat of his body right on hers, making her skin hum with desire. “That's the gift I have for you. My Christmas gift to you.”
He waited, face open and vulnerable, for her answer.
Her knees shook as she nodded. “Yes, Wyatt,” she whispered. “Yes. Claim me as yours.”
He caught her chin in his big hand, tipped her head back, and kissed her like a drowning man who'd just found salvation.
7
Everything in Brynna's body hummed with a deep knowing that this was right. That this was what she wanted. Oh, this man. This sexy, hot, strong bear shifter. And this kiss. He pulled back, looking at her hard, a question in his eyes.
Still mesmerized by his brilliant gaze, dazed by the kiss she could feel all throughout her body, she silently nodded. Without another word, Wyatt growled, reached forward, and scooped her up in his strong arms. She couldn't stop the girlish squeal of at first startlement, then appreciation at how incredibly strong he was. Geez, what a girl she was being.
Geez, how she didn't care about that right now.
Holding her tightly to his chest, he took swift steps toward his large bed. Gently setting her down, he stepped back to look down at her in sheer worship. "You're the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life, Brynna.” He said the words with such truthful devotion that all girlish squeals died in her throat as she stared up at him with wide eyes. Without even a moment's hesitation, he added into the hush, "I'm going to show you right now how beautiful you are. Every single inch of you. I've been dying to do this ever since our last kiss."
Brynna gaped at him, feeling the warm hum of anticipation skitter through her entire body. In her head, she flashed right on the images of exactly what he probably was going to do to her. Do with her. And what she would do with him. The decadent thoughts made her blush so hard in mingled excitement and awe that Wyatt's sensual mouth curved into a grin. “Really? You think it'll be that good? Excellent,” he murmured.
Brynna managed to nod. “Yes,” she whispered, looking back at him with the same amount of hunger.
Yes, this was exactly what she wanted right now. Just this. With Wyatt, right now.
“Come here to me.” She reached her arms up to him as excitement shivered through her.
“As you wish, my sweet little sexpot.” His grin now edged with a feral arousal, her wild, sexy Wyatt obeyed her so quickly she breathed laughter.
The bed creaked slightly as he settled onto it, his weight a welcome feeling against her every nerve ending. “Too many clothes. Off now.” His voice was a focused mutter as he reached down to tug off her shirt, then help her shimmy out of her jeans.
She helped him as much as she could, wiggling and shifting and lifting her butt off the bed. When he momentarily lost his concentration as she thrust her hips up off the bed, it was so flat out sexy her breath caught in her throat.
Wyatt was her man.
Her mate.
Or not quite yet. For that to happen, he had to officially claim her. Just the thought of that, of what it meant, sent pleasure skittering up and down her spine, radiating out through her limbs in a tingling shot of excitement.
Pleasure, and another frisson of concern. Was it what she really wanted? What would it really mean?
Right now, she decided as she looked into the smoked depth of his eyes, that didn't matter. She didn't want to think about tomorrow, but right now, the word mate just felt right. All that did matter was that she wanted to connect with him. Right now, in every way possible.
She'd thought about this moment off and on for years, subconsciously using Wyatt as the perfect fantasy man to whom no others could hold a candle. She could admit it now. Especially now. The breathless reality of the moment was even more thrilling than she'd ever imagined possible.
"I've pictured this for a long time." Wyatt's voice crackled with desire. "It's shaping up to be even better than I ever dreamed."
Brynna huffed out a laugh, her entire body feeling alive as she watched the edgy, gorgeous man above her quickly stripping off his clothes. "I was literally just thinking the same thing. I guess that means it was fated to be." She said the last part somewhat teasingly, lips curved into a smile. But Wyatt's expression turned serious, although it didn't lose any of the hunger.
"Yes." His voice was slightly hoarse. "I never thought it could be, but yes."
She felt a ripple of something deep and powerful inside her as he said that. It was like every cell in her body yearned toward him, urging her to get close to him. "Come here." Her voice also edged into a low hoarseness as she lifted her arms to him, urging him to join her.
He wasted no time, kicking off his pants and surging toward her.
"Wait. Wow." She eyed him in all his naked glory, stunned once again. It was like looking at the most perfect male specimen ever. Every muscle in his body was chiseled, from washboard abs to muscular thighs. But the most important, most exciting thing to her, was that he was Wyatt. Her Wyatt. Knowing she was with him turned her on more than she ever had been in her life.
He stood still for her inspection for mere moments before shaking his head. "Enough. If I don't touch you right now I might explode." With that, he closed the last distance to her on the bed, half nestling with her and half hovering over her, supporting his upper body on his forearms.
"I need to kiss you," he said so softly it felt like butterfly wings across her skin.
He did exactly that, his mouth claiming hers with a strength that was as tender as it was fierce, as wondering and exploring as it was also oddly knowing and familiar. It was as if they'd been doing this their whole lives, yet it was also so stunningly new that Brynna's body broke into a deep shiver. Wyatt abruptly broke off the kiss, pulling back to study her.
"Is this okay? Am I being too rough?" He sounded genuinely concerned, but she sensed the longing as well.
She shook her head, lifting a hand to rub his face, reveling in the feel of his beard. “No," she whispered. "I love it. Kiss me again, harder. I want to feel your beard scratching on my face."
With a groan, he complied. His long, hard body stretched out on top of hers, sinking onto her more. He fisted one hand in her hair, gently holding her head on the pillow. His other hand cupped the side of her face and neck. He kissed her so long, so deep, it seemed as if she could feel their souls joining already.
"Damn, you taste incredible," he murmured against her face, turning his head to kiss his way down her cheekbone.
She pushed her head into the pillow, running one hand along his back and pushing
into him as his lips traveled to her collarbone, then down one breast. He caught the nipple between his lips, sucking and gently biting, then moved to the other one. She cried out, pushing her breasts into his mouth and shamelessly shoving her pelvis against his. Lightly moving his mouth on her softness, his tongue came out to swirl around the rock hard nipples, back and forth from one to the other.
"Wyatt," she gasped, the sound of it bouncing around the little room.
In answer, he gently disentangled his other hand from her hair and let it travel down her side, stroking down her ribs, curving over her breast. Then he spread his fingers across her soft belly, stroking her. Slowly, he curved his hand down, then let a finger travel to explore her soft, wet center. Brynna cried out as he gently pushed one thick, broad digit inside, gently swirling around in her wetness.
"I've been dreaming about this nonstop for the past week. Hell, for the past five years." His voice vibrated through her body.
Feeling half dazed by the building ecstasy, she just nodded. Driven by some deep, primal urging she didn't understand but felt was right, she leaned forward to kiss him, hard, at the spot where his neck met his shoulder. He sharply inhaled, the vibration from it seeming to rattle down his spine beneath her fingertips.
"Inside," she commanded in a low gasp, more sure of this than anything in her life. "I want you inside me, Wyatt. Now."
8
I want you inside me, Wyatt. Now. The words seemed to hang in the room, their sweet invitation wrapping around Wyatt's brain and making it stop working. All he was right now was pure sensation, pure joy and rightness with Brynna.
His Brynna. His.
“Whatever you want,” he managed to say, his voice ragged. His cock throbbed, eager to be inside her. He'd been almost painfully hard for the last fifteen minutes.
His fingers told him she was ready. The soft moan deep in her throat, the way her eyes fixed on his with an intensity that seemed to connect them together, told him she wanted this just as much. He shoved away the tiny, lingering doubt that this was real, and went with the moment.
She rolled her thighs apart, tipping her hips up at him again. He groaned, feeling the fire roar through him. Feeling his wolf push at him to claim his mate, to bite her slender neck, to make her his. Her beautiful breasts, bare and soft and still glistening from where his mouth had feasted, moved up and down from the tempo of her breathing. Reaching up, he pulled her arms over her head and clasped her wrists in his hands, gently holding them to the pillow.
Brynna smiled up at him, her pulse banging in her neck as her spicy-sweet scent rose in waves, almost overpowering him with lust. “Now,” she reminded him, her voice half-command, half-laugh, all strong, sweet, sexy woman. Then, “Fucking right now, Wyatt,” she whispered in a ragged cry, all play gone from her face. Her voice shook, her body shook.
He thought his soul shook, too.
“Now,” he whispered back, spreading his weight on his knees between her open legs, and pushed inside her.
He almost howled with the stunning explosion of tight heat and the way Brynna's mouth fell open as she panted. She tilted her hips up more, to accommodate him. He slid inside, eliciting a small gasp from her as he pushed against the tightness.
“I'm sorry.” Her voice bumped as his thrust slid her over the sheets. “It's been a while.”
Wyatt stopped, making her cry out a soft, “No, don't stop!”
“I don't want to hear about anyone else,” he growled, tipping his head down to lightly nip at her ear, then her shoulder. “Just me.”
“Same back to you,” she retorted, though a moan underscored her voice.
Wyatt pulled his head back to look at her. Brynna's gaze was clear, even though her face was soft with her need. He nodded. “Deal,” he said in a low voice, before he abruptly thrust all the way inside her.
She gasped and arched her head back, meeting his stroke by pushing up toward him. Letting him fill her completely, the sweet moans coming from her lips telling him how much she liked having him there. He increased the rate, changed the angle, and never stopped the delicious slip and slide and thrust of this most ancient dance.
Fucking hell, but doing this with Brynna was the singular most amazing experience of Wyatt's life.
“Wyatt,” she gasped, low and throaty, her eyes wide on his as her hands pressed hard onto his back. “More. Don't stop. I'm close,” she said in a ragged warble. “I want to be looking at you when I come.”
He just nodded, keeping his eyes on hers, diving again and again into her soft heat. He felt his own orgasm spiraling up through him as hers began to rise as well, judging by how her pupils got bigger and her moans got faster and her hands clutched him tighter, fingers digging deep into his flesh as she hung on to him.
“Wyatt,” she moaned again, her head bucking and her mouth staying open, though her eyes never left his. Then something shifted in her gaze, her eyes unfocusing for a split second before coming back. “Yes,” she whispered suddenly, tilting her head to the side. “Do it. I know you will. I want you to,” she said softly, her words jolting between his thrusts. “I want you to claim me.” Her ragged voice trembled with the force of her need.
“Bryn,” he moaned out, knowing what she meant. Her neck was there, exposed for him.
As blinding hot lightning seemed to fill his every cell, he reached forward and plunged his teeth into the sweet spot between her shoulder and collarbone. His teeth pierced her, tasting the sweet ambrosia that was Brynna, as an orgasm so intense gripped him he wondered if he'd black out.
Brynna screamed, her face blazing with ecstasy. Joy exploded out from her, surrounding them both as Wyatt was held inside her, her walls pulsing around his shaft as he spilled his seed into her, spilled his own scream into the room to mingle with hers. They rose in ecstasy together, billowing waves of pleasure holding them together, the feeling so stunning that Wyatt thought his head might blow off from the joy of it. Bit by bit, the head-banging sensations lessened, gradually ebbing away. Very slowly, very gently, they eventually collapsed into a tangle of sated bodies onto the soft bed. Wyatt carefully lowered himself on top of her, half off to the side, holding her close to him as their gasps overlapped. Her sweaty skin beneath his, her intoxicating scent filling him, were his entire world as every other thought still stayed far away.
“Wyatt,” she said in soft, lazy voice, the sound already edging toward sleepy.
He chuckled, masculine pride rearing up in him even as he fought his own satisfied yawn. He meant to say, “So it was good, huh?” but instead he somehow whispered, “I love you, babe. Always have.”
He froze, shocked that the words had fallen out of his mouth without his permission. But he relaxed when she murmured back a sleepy “Mm,” snuggling into him and letting him hold her tight. Then she pulled back a bit, looking him in the eyes, and quietly said, “I love you too, Wyatt. Always have.”
They held one another for long moments, Brynna with a sappy expression on her face that Wyatt was pretty sure matched his own.
He broke the silence by saying, “My tiny little deer. As always.”
“You—you—” she sputtered, though her smile was still huge.
“Big cave bear,” he suggested, grinning back at her.
She threw her head back and laughed, a pure, joyous sound that echoed through him, scattering even more happiness. That, and something else. Wyatt sensed something different about her. Yes, she was glowing with excitement, with her own brand of fearlessness that he'd always known about her. Yet something else shimmered beneath all of it. Something real and true he hadn't seen in her before. Until now.
Something about her seemed like—
“Home.” She breathed the word. “I'm home, Wyatt." Her voice was soft but the words rang through the quiet room. “Home." She sounded startled and wondrous at the same time.
She sounded sure.
Hardly daring to ask what that meant but knowing he had to, Wyatt cautiously repeated, "Home?"
> An enormous smile blazed over her face. "Yes." She laughed, sounding delighted. "I've never thought of Deep Hollow as my true home, but I can tell it is. It finally feels right to be here. Wyatt," she abruptly got serious, now looking filled with wonder, "You are my home. Everything else, we can figure out.”
Fierce joy swept him again as he caught her up tight in his arms, kissed her gorgeous lips until they both gasped for breath, laughing and together.
Together with his mate, right where they both belonged.
Her firm tone was almost obliterated by another yawn. Wyatt grinned into her hair, taking a deep inhale to smell her and sighing back with contentment. “Yeah. I know. My Bryn,” he said in wonder, gently stroking her back. “You're my home, too.”
“Mm-hmm. Sleep now,” she murmured against his chin, her entire body relaxed as she drifted off in his arms.
Holding his mate close, feeling everything right in his world, Wyatt did just that.
Epilogue
Brynna drifted up from a deep sleep when her phone went off with a text notification. Funnily enough, it sounded like sleigh bells jingling, which was not the tone she'd set her phone to. Fumbling for it, smiling sleepily as she heard Wyatt exhale and turn over on the other side of the bed, she blinked until her eyes came into focus so she could look at her phone. Who the heck was texting her at eleven pm? On Christmas Eve?
Then she saw the name on her phone and all the air whooshed out of her.
Kris K., it read.
No. No way. She'd taken old Kris' number out of her phone years ago, when she'd left Deep Hollow. But apparently Christmas magic worked like this. His number was right back in her phone, with the same jingle bell ringtone it used to have.