Happy Howlidays: Shifters in Love Romance Collection (Shifter in Love Book 1)

by V. Vaughn

  “Do you spend a lot of time up here?”

  “Unfortunately, I don’t.”

  “What do you do, Andru?”

  “I work.”

  “That’s it? You work all the time? What about a hobby, or friends and family?”

  “Dragon shifters don’t really do the pack thing, we’re all typically loners. As for a hobby, I don’t really have time for one. My work requires my constant attention.”

  “That sounds so lonely.”

  He shrugged and took a bite of his steak. Jill wanted to comfort him. She could tell that even though he was shrugging off his lack of connection with other people, he craved it. Jill had plenty of friends and she was close to her parents, but since meeting Andru she was suddenly constantly craving connection to a man. More specifically, him. The realization made her squirm in her seat.

  “Are you cold?”

  “No, just getting comfortable. So, how did you find this rooftop?”

  “I live here. I own the entire top floor.”

  “Of course you do,” she said with a laugh.

  He shot her another one of his heart stopping smirks.

  “What about a girlfriend?” she asked hesitantly.

  “Shifters don’t date.”

  “You don’t date, at all?”

  “I suppose some do date, though it’s not the same as what you humans consider dating. We each have a true mate, and until we find that person there’s no point in getting serious with anyone else. Some have casual flings, though.”

  “If you don’t date, how do you find this true mate?”

  “You’ll know instantly that it’s them. The mate bond will come forward and make it almost physically impossible to not claim them immediately.”

  His eyes bore into hers as if he were trying to convey something else. Was he trying to force the mate bond to appear with her?

  “Oh,” she replied, suddenly feeling like the wind had been taken out of her sails. She obviously wasn’t his true mate or he would have known by now. That thought made her realize how much trouble she was in.

  She dropped her fork and stood up quickly, needing to get away from him.

  10

  Chapter 10 - Andru

  He could feel the panic flow off Jill as she leaped to her feet. Andru stood as well and moved towards her. Did she know that she was his true mate? Was she freaking out? He couldn’t say that he blamed her; he had freaked out himself.

  “Jill, I understand this is a lot, but let me just explain it some more to you,” he said calmly.

  “Why would you need to explain it to me any more than you already have,” she said, confused.

  “If you understood and you’re okay, then why are you panicked?”

  “I’m not panicked. I just realized I need to go. I have to get home,” she rambled, dragging a hand through her hair.

  “Why? I promise we don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. We can take this at your speed.”

  “I’m sorry?” she asked with a confused look.

  “Jill, you’re my true mate,” he said, taking a step toward her.

  Jill took a step back, panic replacing confusion. She opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it again.

  “I thought you understood?”

  “Understood what? How could I possibly be your true mate? I’m not a shifter, and we’ve seen each other several times now and you never reacted strangely.”

  “The first time I walked into your shop and my eyes met yours, the mate bond snapped inside of me like a viper, waiting to strike. I freaked out. If you recall, I ran out of your shop.”

  “After you told me you were going to buy it.”

  “I hadn’t seen your eyes yet.”

  “Andru, this is crazy. I can’t possibly be your mate,” she said with a huff.

  He grabbed her and dragged her against his body, crashing her lips to his. The mate bond exploded between them, coiling around them. All the pretenses dropped and their passion clawed at them. Andru couldn’t bring her close enough to him. Jill wrapped her arms around his neck and moaned into his mouth. The sound was pure ecstasy.

  Andru pulled back briefly, but just as the doubt began to rise up in her eyes, he captured her lips once again. This time he lifted her up and her legs instantly wrapped around his waist. She was as helpless to the mate bond as he was, and their mate bond was strong. His age and dominance more than likely played a role in that. Although he had never claimed his alpha status, he was an alpha of his own right.

  As he feasted on her lips, he cleared the table of its contents in one smooth swoop and laid Jill back on the table. He was desperate to shred her body of her clothes and witness her body’s perfection first hand. She reached out to him, and that was all the encouragement he needed. Andru grabbed the hem of her shirt and tore it from her body, and then he frantically worked to rid her of the rest of her clothes.

  Jill helped when she had to until finally she was naked, spread out on the table reaching for him. He tugged his shirt over his head. She had already seen him naked, but this time as her eyes scoured his body, they were blazing with passion.

  “Jill, once I take you that will be it. You will be mine forever, your life bonded to mine. If I die, you’ll die and vice versa. As much as I want you, the choice is yours. I’ll stop now.”

  “My only comment is I’m a bit cold,” she said with a smile.

  Andru had forgotten that he had a small fire pit brought up and quickly filled with wood to keep her warm. He held up his finger, shifted into his dragon form and breathed fire over the wood until it ignited. Then he shifted back to his human form. Jill let out a throaty laugh when she thanked him.

  “Now, are you sure?” he repeated himself.

  He had tried to keep his voice steady and even but inside he was dying. If she said no, Andru had no idea how he would respond. Jill was life itself, and now with her flesh bared to him all he could think of was ravishing it and claiming her. His dragon was seething inside, anxious to taste her.

  She leaned up and wrapped her hand around the back of his neck and jerked him down so that their noses were almost touching.

  “Take me, Andru. Make me yours,” she whispered seconds before her lips claimed his.

  Andru lost himself in her body then. He feasted on her lips and her neck, desperate to mark every square inch of her body. Once he got to her breasts, he cupped them, letting their weight settle in his hands. His thumbs brushed over her nipples and she cried out. He circled them again and again. Jill pressed them against his touch, her head thrown back in pleasure.

  Then he leaned down and took one nipple into his mouth and sucked. Jill screamed his name, her hand threaded through his hair, pulling it tight. Andru moved to the other breast. Once he released it, Jill fell back on the table.

  Andru took the opportunity to spread her legs. His finger slid up and down her slick folds. Jill moaned and her hips rocked gently against his touch.

  “You’re mine,” he growled.

  Her eyes were hooded with desire and her scent overwhelmed him. He wanted to wait, to bring her more pleasure before he found his own, but the mate bond was dragging him to fulfill his claim. He gripped the base of his erection trying to hold himself back, but as Jill lied there, spread waiting for him, her hips rocking ever so slightly as she anticipated what was to come next, he couldn’t hold back. As he slid himself inside her, they both moaned. Goosebumps broke out all over Jill’s flesh. The mate bond knotted and finally eased. Andru slowly slid out of her, and then sunk back down inside.

  She had been made for him. The way she gripped his cock made it almost impossible for him to prolong their first time.

  “Ah, my mate, you’re perfect,” he purred.

  He tried to draw out the pleasure by moving slowly in and out, but that too just allowed him to feel the way her greedy cunt sucked him back in. He palmed her breasts, rubbing her nipples. Jill arched into his touch, changing their connection, making her tig
hter than he thought was even possible.

  “Jill, I can’t hold back.”

  “Then don’t,” she challenged him.

  Andru pulled out and slammed down inside of her then, over and over again, gripping her hips to keep her rooted in place. He felt the tremors of her orgasm begin and it pushed him over the edge. He slammed down inside of her, pouring his release while she spasmed around him, screaming his name.

  He leaned down and peppered her chest and neck with kisses until finally capturing her lips for one long kiss. He knew sex with his true mate would be different, but he never expected to be given a woman like Jill. Not only was her body perfect, but also her mind was creative and intelligent. Andru realized then that no matter what he would give up everything to make her happy.

  11

  Chapter 11 - Jill

  Andru dropped her off at her home early the following morning. She had spent the evening at his place, discovering each other’s bodies and all the pleasure they could give each other. In the light of the next morning, Jill felt a blush creep up her cheeks as she reminisced. Andru’s thumb brushed over her bottom lip, and then he placed a light kiss on her lips before heading back to his car. She went inside her house and leaned against her door. She didn’t have much time to get ready before she had to be over and open her shop, but she was still reeling over what had happened the night before.

  She was Andru’s true mate. It made sense, even as much as it didn’t make sense. Jill had never spent much time concerned with shifter ways before, so she had never heard of a true mate, but she knew that the connection she had been feeling toward Andru since she had first met him was something she had never experienced before.

  The only problem was that they were on opposite sides of the street when it came to their business outlook. The light of the day had also reminded her that he was trying to shut down her business. Her home phone rang from the living room and she realized that she hadn’t bothered taking her cell phone with her the night before. She had a ton of missed calls and messages.

  Jill gasped as she read through them. Someone had broken into the bakery as well as her shop. Her first thought was that Andru had set it up, but after their night together, she quickly shut that thought down. Surely, after everything he had told her about true mates, he couldn’t have been lying. Jill had felt it too.

  Unsure, Jill had to get over to her shop and access the damage. She didn’t bother changing her clothes as she ran out of the house. Jill practically ran to her shop, which was swarming with police and people. Quick glances down the street, she saw that the bakery was in the same shape. Jill pushed her way forward.

  “I’m sorry, ma’am, I can’t let you pass,” the young police officer said.

  “I’m the owner of the shop,” she explained.

  The police officer lifted the tape and let her through as he yelled for a detective.

  “Hello, I’m Jill, the owner,” she explained.

  “I’m Detective Bennett, we had to tape everything off because of the amount of glass on the ground to keep people out to prevent more theft or loss.”

  “Thank you. I’m sorry I’m just now getting here, I forgot my cell phone last night.”

  “That’s okay. We don’t have much. There are of course thousands of prints on everything, and we’ll need you to go through and let us know what’s missing.”

  “Okay.”

  “Do you know a man by the name of Andru Varcelli?” the detective asked.

  “Yes,” she said, a sick feeling rising up in her stomach.

  “The Alexanders from the bake shop believe he has something to do with this. We haven’t been able to reach him by phone yet either, but we’ll be bringing him in for questioning.”

  “Um,” Jill started to tell the detective that there was no way Andru had done it, but maybe he had set it up.

  Her mind was at war with her heart.

  “Ma’am?” the detective asked when she didn’t respond.

  “Oh, yes, I do know him. He’s trying to buy out all the businesses down here.”

  Jill decided the best thing for her to do was just state the facts as she knew them.

  “Okay, take a look around and let us know what all is missing. You’ll need our report for your insurance claim. Just be careful, there’s glass all through your shop.”

  Jill nodded and gently stepped through what was once her door. Glass crunched underneath her feet as she took in the damage. All of her beautiful trinkets and displays were wrecked. Her Christmas decorations had been shredded, which fueled her minds suspicions towards Andru. Tears filled her eyes as felt the weight of it all settle on her shoulders. Her shop was destroyed. Her dream was ruined.

  Christmas was her favorite time of the year as well as her most successful and there was no way she was going to be able to fix the damage in time. Her artisans would all have to be contacted and they were already overwhelmed with their special orders for the holidays. Her cell phone rang in her pocket and she dragged it out and hit the decline button. She wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone.

  She caught sight of the detective and realized he was probably waiting for her to tell him what had been taken. Most of her items had been damaged but she didn’t notice anything necessarily missing. Jill headed to her cash register and opened it up. All of her money was still there. Her laptop was still in the back as well.

  “I don’t believe anything was taken, it’s all just damage,” she finally told the detective.

  “Okay, ma’am. I’ll get my report over to you as soon as I can. You can go ahead and call your insurance company and they can come out. We’ve got everything we can from here. If we happen to find the person that did it we’ll be in touch. If you hear from Mr. Varcelli, please tell him to contact me,” the detective said, handing her his business card.

  “Thank you,” Jill whispered.

  “You’re welcome. I’ll leave a patrolman here for a few more hours, but you may want to see about getting the place boarded up. We won’t be able to guard it around the clock, unfortunately.”

  Jill nodded. She’d have to call her dad and go down to Mr. Henry’s hardware shop to get some boards. Her phone rang again and she once again silenced it. Just as she saw the detective out, Sue made her way down to Jill.

  “Oh, Jill, I’m so sorry. This is just awful, isn’t it?” Sue said, wrapping her arm around Jill.

  “It is. I’m sorry, too. Is your place as bad as mine?” Jill asked.

  “Not really. We have less glass, but they dumped all of our baking goods and broke a lot of the equipment.” Sue sniffled.

  “Oh, Sue, that’s terrible.”

  “We can’t recover from this. Our equipment was old so the depreciated value won’t be near enough to buy new. We’re going to have to sell. I guess your night out with Mr. Varcelli wasn’t enough to deter him.”

  Jill didn’t say anything as she let Sue’s words sink in. She had to face the facts that Andru was more than likely behind the break ins. He was the only one to gain, and the only two shops that had been broken into had been the ones that he needed to procure. The tears Jill had been holding back finally fell. Sue squeezed her harder.

  “Oh, Jill, did you have feelings for him?” Sue asked, taking in Jill’s uncontrollable sobs.

  Jill shook her head and then nodded, unsure of what she was feeling.

  “I’m sorry, baby. Men can be cruel,” Sue said.

  “Thank you, Sue. Again, I’m so sorry,” Jill said.

  “It’s not your fault, baby,” Sue cooed.

  “I feel responsible. I let him into our world, and maybe it gave him an advantage or something. I don’t know, I just feel responsible.”

  “Well, stop it. It is most certainly not your fault.”

  Jill nodded. Sue gave her one final squeeze and then headed back to her own shop. Jill’s phone rang again so she muted it, not bothering to see who had been calling. She had a feeling she knew exactly who it was, and she definitely didn’t
want to speak with Andru. Instead, she called her dad and explained what had happened and asked for his help in boarding up her shop.

  Ed from the wine shop jogged over since the crowd had dispersed.

  “Hey, Jill. I’m sorry about your shop. Is there anything I can do to help?” Ed asked.

  Jill took in Ed. She wondered why she couldn’t have just fallen for a man like Ed. He was safe and handsome enough. He wouldn’t have trashed her shop in an evil plot to force her into closing down.

  “Thanks, Ed. I’m headed down to Mr. Henry’s to get some boards and large trash bags.”

  “I’ll go with you. I’m pretty handy with tools for a wine guy,” he said with a soft smile.

  Jill just nodded, unable to smile in return. They walked over to Mr. Henry’s in silence and Jill made the purchases she needed, and Mr. Henry promised to deliver her boards to her as soon as he could, and Ed carried the rest of her bags on the walk back.

  Jill moved around in a haze the rest of the day. Ed stayed with her most of the day and her parents joined them. Jill and her mom worked on cleaning while her dad and Ed boarded up the front of her business. Ed and her parents said their goodbyes as dusk draped over the town. Jill lagged behind, sitting in the back of her shop in the office. There was a back entrance she never used that she’d have to start using. If she were going to try and open back up, that was.

  She pulled her phone out of her pocket. Andru had called her all day, but Jill still wasn’t sure she was ready to talk to him yet. Her heart was broken. She had been alone with her thoughts as she had cleaned, and her mind had convinced her heart that Andru was definitely the culprit. Her stomach growled as she hadn’t eaten anything, unless her can of Coke around lunch counted as sustenance.

  Jill gave her disastrous shop one last look before heading out the back door for the evening. As she opened the door, Andru’s tall muscular frame filled the small space.

  “Andru,” she gasped.

  “I’ve been trying to call,” he growled, his eyes dark with anger, which immediately got Jill’s shackles up. He had no right to be mad at her.