by Cecilia Lane
“Let them have this,” Nolan muttered.
Mara held out her hand to stop him, but there wasn’t another blow.
Becca spun on her heel and walked back. “We’re good.”
“Mara?” Hudson called.
“We’re... good,” she echoed, a question in her tone.
His eyes were silver as he scanned her. The growl rumbling in his chest was the only sound in the clearing. “Becca?”
Becca glared them all down. “I don’t know what everyone’s problem is. It’s not like you don’t bleed each other every other day. As it’s been pointed out to me by my one and only who brings me the squalling monsters when they’re hungry in the middle of the night instead of forcing me to my feet—love you, Nolan,” she took a deep breath and continued, “my best friends include the woman who brought her angry ex here and cracked open our secret world, a doctor one bad day away from going all mad scientist on our genes, a writer-slash-actress with some enemies in formerly high places, and my beloved midwife with her own mess of crazytown mail bombers for relatives. Mara fits right in with you lot.”
“You lot?” Rylee snorted, surprising everyone. “This from a woman who delights far too much in shriveling the uteruses around her with detailed descriptions of the diaper contents of already mentioned squalling monsters? You’re right here with us, fox.”
“You call it gross, I call it selfish survival. My built-in cabal of babysitters vanishes the moment more cubs appear.” She tilted her head toward Leah. “She’s already edging in on my territory.”
Becca motioned Mara to the table and took a step aside to show twins kicking their legs in car seats. “I also heard that you put yourself on the line to save a whole bunch of cubs from that shit-awful life you tried to sell me into. I expect you to do the same with Eli and Ellie if they’re ever in danger.”
Mara swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. This was big, what Becca did. There was no forgetting, but she was forgiving. The condition she demanded was an easy one to vow.
Mara did everything in her power to protect Jack and Joy and Kate. She was ready to sell herself back to Ronnie to save other shifter children. She would do her damnedest to make sure the twins were always safe. “You have my word.”
It seemed to be the moment everyone held their breath for and waited to be over. Mara understood. Becca was hurt the most. Becca had the final say.
Then she bumped Mara with her shoulder and offered her a tight smile.
Mara inhaled sharply. It was over, and she’d won her place among Hudson’s clan.
The rest of the clan fell back into action. Conversations sprang up as if someone hit play on a paused video. Then came the drinks, then the food, and soon that watchful cat in the back of her mind faded into buzzed contentment.
Mara poked at another serving of chicken slathered in sauce. Her mouth watered to dig in, even if it was still too hot. Hudson left her alone to bring them new bottles of beer, but had gotten snagged into conversation with Cole and Gray.
“It still stings, doesn’t it?”
Mara looked up and found Kate’s quiet wolf at her side. She didn’t even need to ask what Jacob meant. She knew. Of anyone there, he knew exactly what she’d gone through. “Sometimes I don’t think I’ll ever feel clean again.”
Jacob nodded. “That feeling doesn’t go away. Maybe it’s better for everyone else if you just disappear.”
Mara opened her mouth and gaped at him. No one, not even Becca and Nolan, were so harsh with her.
He crossed his arms over his chest and dipped his chin. He turned from her and watched Jack chase Kate with some bubbles before speaking again. “Those thoughts are wrong, not you. They want to eat everything you’ve ever done, and will do. The bad you were forced into brought some good for others. So don’t listen to those thoughts. And when you find a little peace with it all, hang on like your life depends on it.”
“Is that what Kate is to you? Your peace?”
“She’s what Hudson is to you.” He turned to her with a wolfish smile cracking his face. “She’s not ready to give her first mate up entirely, and I feel the same about mine. But we’ll get there. I’m glad you’ll be around to see.”
“Predicting the future now, are you?”
“Just observing. Your bear hasn’t stopped growling since I sat next to you. You better mark him before he brawls the clan into dust.”
Her lioness stretched in her head. The advice sounded just right. Mara didn’t fight her.
So much support existed everywhere she looked. The mated pairs were at the top level of that focus, like how Callum barely had eyes for anyone but Leah, or Nolan doting on Becca. Under that, though, was even more between individuals. Gray cradled one of the twins. Cole nudged Jacob and received an elbow in his gut. Sawyer leaned near Hudson. Rylee, Meghan, and Everly huddled together and stole food off one another’s plates.
Each of the men and women in that clearing had their own hurdles they needed help climbing over. None of them were ashamed to admit they needed assistance, and they all looked content to know someone had their back. Always.
She would never have gotten through everything without Hudson. He saved her life and forced her to look at the world a different way. She didn’t have to fight alone anymore. She had others to help her limp toward the end of the line when she couldn’t make it on her own.
As the evening faded into night, someone changed the volume on the radio and blasted a slow song. Couples all around found their feet and swayed together with bliss written on their faces.
Hudson held out a hand and she gave him her heart.
He tugged her close, flattening a palm against her lower back and rocking from side to side. “How’s your first compulsory Strathorn gathering?”
“Surprisingly nice. I expected them to shun me.”
“They see the good in you that you don’t see yourself. It’s kind of their thing. With you, it’s easy. There’s far more good than bad.”
For the first time, Mara let herself believe it. She didn’t think she could do enough good to ever make up for the bad, but she would try. The first step was letting herself live a decent life with a man she didn’t deserve.
“Want to get out of here, kitty?” he whispered in her ear.
Full of delicious food and feeling more hopeful than she had in years, Mara slipped her hand into Hudson’s and let him lead her to his home.
Chapter 25
Trees surrounded his cabin, thicker than any of the others. Most were still young, planted only after he moved into the clearing with the others. He liked the extra bit of shade and privacy. His bear liked being surrounded by nature.
Hudson guided Mara up the steps just for the excuse to touch her. Heat flared under his palm and spread through his body. This was it. The final step. Out of order, but they weren’t a typical couple.
He pushed open the door and gestured for her to enter. “My den is yours, if you want it.”
She was so close. He could reach out and touch her. Gather her in his arms and finally taste her on his tongue. She was right where she belonged.
In circumstances completely far from normal, he reminded himself. He stuffed his hands in his pocket to keep hold of the temptation.
Mara stepped inside, eyes bouncing as she browsed through his life. Hudson couldn’t look away and he couldn’t watch. He didn’t want to see judgment on her face.
His bear rumbled away inside him, and he kicked the beast to the back of his head. He had a monster in him, and he’d let it out to play when Mara was in danger. He brushed against a darkness he’d walked away from before, and some small part of him worried it wouldn’t be caged again.
But she was his mate. They were supposed to accept one another, flaws and fucked pasts and all. She brought him out of his lust for hunter blood and the need to kill everyone who posed a threat to her. She was the guidepost to point back to the land of the living and out of memories of death. He wasn’t just a soldier, or a mons
ter, or a firefighter. He could be many things at once because of her. She was his balance.
Her fingers trailed over the back of a threadbare couch. Mismatched pillows were propped on either side. A plain, sturdy coffee table stood between the couch and a TV mounted above the fireplace. A bookcase leaned a little lopsided to one side and held only a handful of books and DVDs. Two pictures took up the top shelves. The Strathorn men all together, taken before their crazy, amazing women started plowing through their lives. Below that was a shot of the entire squad the day he and Axel were assigned to Crewe.
The kitchen was organized. The dishes he used the morning they went on the run still sat by the sink where he’d left them to dry. Orderly, just as he learned in the service. A disordered home was inviting a disordered mind, and he had enough of one as it was.
“It’s emptier than I imagined,” she said finally.
“Never had much use for extra stuff. I lived out of a pack for years and my bear hates clutter. Then I met you, and I decided this would be yours to fill however you wanted.”
She turned to him with wide blue eyes. “You never doubted for a moment we’d wind up here, did you?”
“Even when you ran, it just made me want to chase you.” He closed the distance between them and brushed a flyaway hair behind her ear. Electricity crackled between them. “The others called me crazy, but I like that you don’t roll over and make anything easy. You’re a fighter.”
“Like you,” she said. “I like your clan.”
Hudson’s lips twitched. “Good. They’re good people.”
“Like you.” Her eyes dropped to the floor. “I like that you came after me. I’m not used to someone having my back.”
He dragged his fingers up her arm. “Always, Mara. You’re protective of your people, and you deserve that back.”
He couldn’t stop touching her. He’d kept his hands to himself after pulling a bullet from her skin and patching her up. He’d been a perfect gentleman on the entire journey back to Bearden. Sawyer had been in the truck, after all, and he wasn’t about to get his dick wet with his friend watching. Then the clan insisted on a party. Not unusual, but again, a delay.
Nothing held him back now. She was his and he needed to feel her.
Up and down her arms, then up and up again until he gripped the back of her neck. Her breath caught as he pulled her closer and he grinned right before his lips crashed down on hers. He liked seeing her reaction to him. Loved feeling her melt against him. He didn’t need to be careful with her. She was strong and fierce and could easily stick her claws in him if she wanted.
That danger wasn’t for him, though. He’d tamed his kitty, just as she’d tamed him.
The first sight of her changed him. The first brush of his fingers against her skin had him addicted. And when he finally kissed her? He was ruined forever.
He experienced the same obliteration and reconstruction every single time he kissed her.
She pushed at his shirt and he ripped it off the rest of the way. Hers was gone in a matter of seconds and lost somewhere on the floor. He cupped a breast and dug his fingers into her hip to drag her hard against him. Fuck, he couldn’t stop. He was painfully hard and bucked his hips against her. Her moan nearly had him messing his jeans.
He lifted her easily and wrapped her legs around his waist. He started for the bedroom without breaking their kiss. He knew every step and he couldn’t bear to be parted from her for even a second. Not until he could kiss other parts of her, anyway.
Slow. He settled her against the mattress. Slow. By the Broken, he could hardly hear over her racing heart. Or was that his? Fuck if he knew.
She needed to be treated like a queen, not plowed into by some uncontrollable beast. There was time for that later. A lifetime of quickies with her bent over the closest surface. Taken in the shower before work. Pressed up against the side of a building.
They had plenty of time for lingering, too. Long nights. Cold, snowy days when they needed to keep close for warmth. Teasing touches all throughout dinner until finally, he could stretch her out and hear her beg.
He wanted them to start off right. They’d been backward everywhere else, but she was here, now. Right where she belonged.
Hudson trailed biting, sucking kisses down her neck. Right in the crook, right where he wanted to claim her, he pressed his teeth. Mara rolled her hips into his and let out the sexiest, breathless mewl he’d ever heard.
“That’s it, kitty. Tell me what you like. I’m listening,” he growled.
He licked circles around her breasts, first one, then the other. She panted needy little noises when he edged near her nipples and growled at him when he moved away. Not even his fingers brushed against the hard peaks.
“Hudson.” Her fingers threaded into his hair and pulled. “Tease.”
He chuckled darkly and finally took a nipple between his lips. The other didn’t go untouched, though. His thumb grazed over her skin as he nipped and sucked and swirled his tongue against her until she writhed under him. No amount of biting her lower lip could keep her quiet.
Still licking and teasing her breasts, he trailed fire down her ribs and over her navel. He wanted more. The sweet scent of her arousal called to him.
“No.” She pushed his hand away. from the waist of her jeans “You first.”
“You want a show, kitty?” he smirked.
“Keep talking, pet.” Her tongue darted out and wet her lips. “Strip.”
He shucked out of her jeans so fast, he was surprised they didn’t tear. Before she could object, he knelt in front of her and replaced his fingers on the button. Not so fast, though. He ducked his eyes, then raised them shyly as he popped the button. He bent his head and grabbed the zipper between his teeth, then slowly peeled it down.
“Mmm, can you do that trick with everything?” she asked with a purr. Amber colored her eyes. “And who do I need to kill that you practiced with?”
Hudson chuckled again and dragged jeans and panties down her legs.
Then she was naked. Breathtakingly, heart-stoppingly naked. He knew the strength in those limbs, and of the beast prowling under her skin. Mere men might have been intimidated, but not him. No, he gloried in the fact that she could kick ass as easily as shelter a scared child.
Hudson parted her knees and buried his face between her legs.
Slow. Queens needed to be served.
Mara thought she’d died. Heaven wasn’t pearly gates and flowing robes. It was a dark bedroom, with a man seeking out her pleasure and growling as he enjoyed himself. He wouldn’t accept anything but success, and the thrill he found in it just made him sexier.
He licked in long, wet strokes and slowly slid his fingers inside. That brought another groan from his bear and a rumble that vibrated through her.
Her lioness purred.
Mara watched his head dip and move between her thighs. Her fingers closed around the arm he had draped over her to hold her in place. There was no escaping the torturously slow onslaught of pleasure.
She curled her fingers into his scalp as he continued to lick and suck her clit. His fingers pumped into her, over and over. Heat coiled in her center and spread through her like wildfire.
He pushed deeper, harder. Quicker. He sucked and licked until she couldn’t think. Her legs trembled and her back arched. She teetered right on the edge.
“I’m gonna... So close...” Her hands fluttered somewhere over his head. Hold him closer, or dig into the sheets, she didn’t know which. All she could do was explode around him.
“Come,” he ordered. He slammed his fingers hard into her and her inner muscles tightened around him. “Yes, kitty, yes.”
Then he was on her, riding through her release. He slid into her with one thrust that had them both groaning.
Her eyes closed as he overwhelmed her. She couldn’t process everything and had to shut something down. Eyesight went out the window and she let herself just feel the man stretch her with his big cock.
Another hard thrust, and she shattered around him a second time.
“Fuck yes, kitty. Love watching you come.” His hot breath tickled her. His teeth pressed into her shoulder and she moaned again. “Mine.”
His. Hers. They were just words thrown about by most people. But they weren’t most. They were something else all together.
“Want you to be my mate,” she said in a rush.
Hudson pulled back sharply. Hope and caution played across his face. “Now?”
She nipped at his shoulder and nodded.
There was no one else for her. Hell and back, thick and thin, from one fight to the next. He was hers. He’d proved it over and over again.
“Claim me, mate,” she breathed, and grinned at the pleased growl that rumbled out of him.
She arched into his thrust, hands reaching out and seeking his. Their fingers twined together and he drew her arms up, stretching her out long for him.
He dragged himself out until only the tip of his cock remained notched at her entrance, then surged forward. Fuck. Again. Again.
Too good. He was so big, so damn perfect. He had her on edge as soon as he started bucking into her faster. Mara tightened her fingers around his. Skin slapped against skin, and their groans filled the room.
Mara fought to hold herself together. She wanted to finish with him, share that final binding moment at the exact same time.
“Hudson,” she cried out, the first shudder of ecstasy rolling through her.
“Come with me, kitty. Fuck. Now!”
Then the world stopped and she felt him pierce her skin.
Mara inhaled sharply and sank her teeth into his shoulder. She shattered in his arms as waves of pleasure carried her away. Warmth spilled into her and he throbbed inside her as he sealed their mate bond.
Hudson moved with her until every last aftershock faded for them both. Only then did he pull back from her and lick a slow line over the claiming bite on her skin.