by Unknown
Rafe tore off his sweater and kicked off his shoes, loosening his belt before reached for my legs. He knelt on the bed, his hands making dents in the mattress next to my shoulders. Rafe nuzzled his nose to mine and kissed my cheek. I reached for him, tried to run my hands into his hair, but Rafe nibbled and kissed his way down my throat. I sat long enough to pull of the sweater and undershirt and my bra, and he grinned. He caught my breasts and made that hungry noise again, and I fell back against the bed.
He dragged my jeans off and began a careful exploration of my un-casted calf and ankle. I watched as he worked his way up to my knees, then my thighs, and my breath caught. He eased my knee up and out, careful of the cast, and settled between my legs. His chin rested on my hip as he watched me, teasing my center over the thin cotton of my panties. I sighed and arched away from the bed. Rafe kissed the inside of my thigh and snuck a finger under the cotton to nudge and stroke until I moaned. It wasn't enough contact.
Desire built slowly in an inevitable wave, each glancing touch and delicate kiss driving me closer and closer to the edge. When he finally ripped the panties away and sucked on the bead of nerves at my center, I came straight off the bed. Sensation overwhelmed me and sparks cascaded across every inch of me. My muscles tensed, seized, and I cried out. He hummed against me and I shivered, fingers working into his hair to keep him close. Rafe chuckled and broke away long enough to murmur, "There's a lot more yelling to do, baby," before his mouth latched to me once more.
I was a sweaty mess by the time Rafe finished unbuckling his belt and slid off his jeans. He grumbled, gently rubbing my thigh, and I jumped as frayed nerves sparked to life. I managed to open my eyes and lift my head, sighing his name.
Rafe knelt between my legs again and laced his fingers with mine, lifting my arms to pin my hands above my head. He gazed at me, searching my face for something, as he fitted his body to mine. The gentle shove and the warm pressure of his cock threw me into ecstasy again and I bucked against him, desperate for more. He grumbled but held himself back, keeping my arms captive, and his teeth dragged down my throat. "You're all mine now, Meadow."
The climax rolled through me as I gasped and begged him for more, trying to tug my hands free, and after a moment Rafe thrust again. My hips rolled, lifted. Desperate for movement. But he managed a tortuously slow pace until I writhed and lifted my knees to try and drag him closer. He groaned, forehead dropping against my shoulder, and began to move with more urgency. I begged him, calling his name, and Rafe thrust harder. He released my hands and I grabbed his shoulders, dug my nails in to keep him close, and he filled me over and over until he moved wildly. I hung on and tried to meet his thrusts as my channel seized up and my vision faded into darkness.
Rafe collapsed on top of me, his hips pumping a few more times, and he groaned. I couldn't open my eyes, could barely move, but managed to stroke the back of his neck. Sweat dripped from his chest to mine, and Rafe kissed a fiery line across my collarbone. I sighed and adjusted my legs, and he sank deeper. I cried out and shivered, clutching at him, and Rafe grumbled. "You're trying to kill me."
I sighed and stretched, felt his body react in a sudden surge. "I can't help it."
Rafe pushed up on his elbows to look down between us, then slid his arm between my back and the mattress. He rolled suddenly and pulled me with him, so I sprawled across his chest. Rafe helped me sit back until I straddled him, sitting up so he could squeeze my breasts. He gripped my hips and smacked my thigh, lifting his hips to impale me before he spanked me again. "I can't do all the work, darlin."
I laughed and started to move, caught up in the long slow slide of him into me, the gentle friction as he rose to meet me, and the explosion of sensation when he teased my clit as I rode him. My head fell back and I raked my nails down his sides, bouncing harder. He was right, though. We both did an awful lot of yelling.
Epilogue
Despite the heavy robes I wore and the scarf wrapped tightly around my throat, the cold winter air cut right through me. It could have been nerves. Smith stood next to me, tall and regal and carrying a giant staff of gnarled oak. I held my breath as the clouds parted and the full moon became visible. All around us in the silent woods, figures great and small coalesced around Smith and his staff. I shifted my feet and tried to look more confident, pulling the hood of my robes forward to hide my expression. I considered making a run for it, though the bulky cast didn't let me move very fast, but as I took a step back, something warm bumped my hand.
A wolf nosed my palm and I smiled. I couldn't help myself. Rafe in his wolf form nearly took my breath away. His shoulder easily reached my waist, and he leaned gently against my hip when uncertainty overtook me. He was my rock, in more ways than one. Even the magic cane didn't give me the same strength that a glance from Rafe provided. It had been Smith's idea. Apparently the shifters used to run with the Wild Hunt, but things had gotten out of hand a couple of times and the fae and the shifters grew apart. Smith invited Rafe as a favor to me, because I felt stronger with my mate by my side.
And because BadCreek still roamed the world, and these woods, on occasion. I took a deep breath and pushed away any thoughts of those sons of bitches. Someone else could deal with them. I glanced over as Smith held out a hand, and I eased closer through the snow as everything grew slow and distorted and hazy. The woods faded in and out of focus, and my breath caught. "What's happening?"
"The Hunt is afoot," he murmured, and winked at me.
I took a deep breath and tried to smile back, despite the gravity of the event — my first Hunt. Magic dwelled deep in the night and I felt a dream-like haze settle over everything. But still Rafe nosed my hand, and I felt anchored. Dreamy but firmly rooted in the earth.
Smith raised the staff and someone blew a horn, a surreal, tinny sound that went straight to my bones like nails on a chalkboard. The hairs stood up on my arms as the horn echoed and bounced through the woods, shaking snow from the trees and swirling the clouds in panicked eddies. Another horn joined the first, deeper, and cried out in warning to whoever dared occupy the woods that night. I shivered as a third and fourth horn sounded. I looked for the players, but all of the figures with us remained still and silent as the unearthly horns sounded.
An invisible signal came as the horns faded and a heavy silence settled over the forest once more. Smith dropped the staff and everyone lurched forward as one. The magic caught me up, dragged me along in breathless exhilaration, until I didn't realize I was running beside Rafe and Smith as if I had wings. I laughed and threw my arms wide as the Hunt careened through the trees, bouncing and jostling and then leaping, until we nearly left earth behind.
Through it all, I kept my fingers firmly twined in Rafe's fur. He kept pace easily, and as we caught sight of the full moon once more, he threw his head back and howled. I wanted to sing, to scream, to shout my joy to the world. Finally. Finally, I felt like I belonged. Like I'd found my people and my place.
The last few weeks had been a huge learning curve, trying to figure out how to be a muse and how to trust myself again, but through it all, Rafe remained my rock. If I doubted that magic existed and I wondered if it had all been a dream, inevitably the cane would show up and trip me, just to remind me of its presence. Usually on my way to the bathroom, or when I was trying to get dressed, or when Rafe wanted to do something sexy. But even when I threatened to turn the cane into kindling and threw it into the coat closet, Rafe just laughed and said it was good to have magic in the house.
On the darkest days, I didn't always agree. On the darkest days, I believed what I'd been told my whole life — that I was making things up. That none of it was real and life really wasn't that perfect.
But when I doubted myself, Rafe believed. When I forgot who I was and who I wanted to be, he remembered. He reminded me, every morning and every night and every time he saw me, who I wanted to be. When I felt like I wasn't enough, that I would never be enough — he showed me that I completed him, and that he complet
ed me, and together we were stronger than we were apart. We were mates, and that was stronger magic than anything else in the world.
Connect with the Author
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed A Valentine’s Chase. If you'd like to be notified when the next City Shifters book is released, please join my mailing list by clicking here.
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Layla
Also by Layla Nash
City Shifters: the Pride Thrill of the Chase
Chasing Trouble
Storm Chaser
Cut to the Chase
Chasing the Dream
A Chase Christmas
A Valentine’s Chase
City Shifters: the Den Bearing Burdens
Bearing Winter (Coming in February!) Bearing Demons (Coming in March!)
Bearing Secrets (Coming in April!)
Bearing Scars (Coming in May!)
Other Paranormal Romance
His Bear Hands (with Callista Ball)