Before she could come up with an appropriate answer, Silver leaned in and laid a hand on each of their shoulders. Emerald turned her head and glared at him. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Nick had turned his head as well.
“Cousin, before you say another word, you need to go someplace where fewer ears are present.”
She nodded. He was right. There were too many humans around who might hear their secrets. She straightened and eased away from the man whose name she still did not know. She was surprised when he reluctantly released her. She was grateful to the Fates that he did not run screaming into the night and try to swim his way off the island at her announcement. But when she looked up at him next, he looked more curious than terrified.
Now that the news was out there between them, Emerald herself was tempted to run away. But before she could disappear into the crowd, her mate took her hand. His touch melted her desire to flee. He laced their fingers together before he stood up.
He then turned to her grandfather and nodded with a friendly smile. “Mayor Edward, it was a pleasure meeting you. I’m sure we’ll talk again before I leave the island.”
The old man chuckled. “Since you’re staying in my house, I have a feeling we will.”
“Emerald, here’s your dinner,” Silver said, handing her a plastic bag with several containers inside. He then looked at the man beside her. “Make sure she eats, okay?”
Emerald watched as the human nodded. Then he turned and led her at a fast clip through the crowd toward the front door. Once they were outside and away from the bar, he slowed his pace before turning down the main road through the village toward her family home.
“Now could you please explain to me why you said what you said inside?” he asked. He sounded as if he were asking her about the weather and not one of the biggest secrets in her life.
“First, I have a question. Who are you?”
“Nick Christopher.”
His name meant nothing to her, but set her curiosity on fire. Normally she kept her questions to herself, but now, with her mate, she needed answers before they went any further.
“Uh-huh. Why are you visiting Pyrate Island? Why are you staying at our house?” She started with the most non-snoopy questions of the list that was expanding by the second.
Nick stopped walking. They were under one of the few streetlights in the village. He turned to look at her then frowned in what she thought was confusion. A shiver of fear traced down her spine.
“I’m here to meet with you. I asked you to come to my office in New York, but you refused. Your e-mail said that if I wanted to meet you, I had to come here.”
Now Emerald was the one frowning. “Why would you want to meet me?”
“To talk about your books,” he responded looking even more confused than before. “You sent me six children’s books about a month ago asking if I would be interested in representing you.”
Emerald looked over her shoulder back toward the pub. “I’m going to kill him,” she said between gritted teeth.
“Who?”
“Silver. He’s been after me for about a couple of years to do something with my stories. I guess he got tired of nagging and decided to do something about it himself.”
“Ooooookay, so that’s why he didn’t want me to meet you until tomorrow morning,” Nick said, looking only slightly relieved. “But that’s not what we’re supposed to be talking about right now. Business can wait until tomorrow. What happened back there? Why did you say I was your mate?”
Emerald looked around and, since there were a few people in sight, decided to put it off until they had complete privacy. “Come on,” she said.
They walked halfway up the path to the Pyrate family home. Before they reached the front patio, she turned right and started down a barely there path that led through the underbrush around to the side of the house. When they came to a tall wooden fence that butted up against the side of the house and went into the woods, she punched in the code, and a nearly invisible door swung open.
“How very James Bond,” he commented dryly as he followed her through the opening then pulled the gate closed behind them.
“The fence keeps the guests off the family’s private lands,” she explained.
She led the way around to the back of the house. She did not stop until they climbed the three shallow steps that led to another large patio then to a grouping of patio furniture off to one side.
She set the bag of food on the table then turned to her mate-to-be. He looked a little lost and curious as he scanned the area. Finally, he turned back and looked at her.
“You need to eat, and then we’ll talk,” he said as he pulled out one of the chairs and held it patiently.
Emerald’s gaze went from the man to the chair. No one had ever held a chair for her, though she had read about such behavior in some of the romantic e-book novels she consumed like popcorn. Her stomach fluttered with a strange combination of excitement and nerves as she sat down. After scooting her close to the table, he settled in the chair next to her.
As she opened the bag and unpacked her dinner, she glanced at him several times. She found him watching her with an expression that made her wonder if he was feeling attraction or was just trying to figure out whether to call the men in white coats to come and take her away for being delusional.
“Would you like something to drink? A beer? Soda? Iced tea?” she asked as she pushed out her chair.
“A beer if you’ve got one.”
Standing again, Emerald hurried through the back door into the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator, she retrieved a bottle of beer and a can of soda. Then she stood and allowed the cool air to wash over her as she took several deep breaths to try and calm her jittery nerves. Closing the door, she headed across the kitchen. When she reached the back door, she stopped and looked through the glass at the man who was looking across the backyard toward the forest that encompassed this side of the island.
“Silver brought him, so he must be okay. He is your mate. Stop being such a fucking chicken,” she told herself, hoping to bolster the courage she never felt when having to deal with humans.
Taking a deep breath, she returned to the patio, handed Nick his beer, and sat down again. Instead of digging in, she just stared at the food boxes. Her stomach was now cramping painfully.
“Eat your dinner, and then we can talk,” Nick said, a thread of authority running through his tone.
Emerald nodded and opened the largest box. She gasped silently at the amount of food she uncovered. The cook had more than doubled her order. Two burgers sat on top of what had to be a triple order of fries. A bowl held cheese sauce while the other boxes held slices of carrot cake, chocolate cake, and a salad.
“Have you eaten?” she asked.
“No, we were just getting ready to order when you joined us.”
“Please, help yourself,” she encouraged.
She felt vaguely relieved when he took one of the burgers and started to eat. They remained silent as they ignored the invisible big purple elephant dancing a jig out in the backyard.
Pushing aside the salad, Emerald focused on her burger and the fries. She ate slowly, trying to work out the best way to explain that not only was she a shape shifting wolf but the Fates had determined that they were life mates. That led her to wonder how to explain the concept of mates so that a human would understand. Then there was the question of how they would be together since he lived and worked in New York while she could not leave Pyrate Island. Then her thoughts turned to wondering why Silver had submitted her stories to a literary agent and what Nick wanted from her professionally.
With her hunger assuaged and a stress headache starting to throb at her temples, she closed the nearly empty box and pushed it to the center of the table. Leaning back, she drained her soda before setting it aside as well. Nick had stopped eating a few minutes before and seemed content to sit still and silent as he waited for her to finish.
When she sat
back and folded her hands in her lap, he took a deep breath. Pushing his chair back from the table and turning it, he then pulled her chair around so they sat knee to knee.
“So, do you want to begin with the mate thing? Or the news that you are a shape-shifter?”
Shocked at his perceptiveness, her neck cracked as her head whipped around. “You know? How?”
“I’ve read your stories about the adventures of a group of shape-shifting orphans. I know I am a man, but I’m not as thick as my ex-wife thinks I am,” he said with a rueful smile as he leaned forward. “Now please, talk to me.”
Emerald leaned forward and took a deep breath as his scent floated to her on the evening air. The arousal she thought she had gotten under control on the walk back from the pub surged forward again.
“Shape-shifters are not just a figment of some very creative imaginations. I come from a long line of shape-shifting wolves that have lived on this island for nearly a dozen generations. One thing writers do get correct is that we know our mate, the person we are meant to spend our life with, as soon as we meet them,” she explained as simply as she could.
When she could not think of anything further to say, she took a breath. “I know this probably sounds crazy, but you are my mate.”
As she spoke, she found herself easing forward in her seat then leaning toward Nick, needing to get closer to him. If she were braver, she would throw caution to the wind, climb into his lap, and wrap herself around them. But since she had returned to the island, humans terrified her. Even this man with whom she was to spend the rest of her life sent shivers of fear and nerves through her, so instead of moving, she fisted her hands and remained where she was.
Watching his face, she saw emotions flash over his features. Fear, amazement, and curiosity crossed his expression before he smiled confidently at her.
“Is this why I’ve had a hard-on since I saw you? Why all I want is to see what you’re hiding under that sexy skirt of yours?” His voice was low and seductive as he leaned forward, running his hands up her thighs to rest his thumbs just inches from her apex.
Emerald’s eyes went wide when her pussy gushed at just his touch. Her inner wolf whined with the need to claim her mate. She swallowed hard before whispering, “Your body recognizes that we are mates and that we are meant to be together.”
Nick stared deep into her eyes as his expression blanked. She could tell he was thinking very deep thoughts. She held her breath, waiting for him to jump up, run to the water, and start swimming for the mainland.
He remained still and silent for nearly a minute. His hands slowly rubbed down and then up her thighs as if he could not stop touching her. With each upward stroke, her skirt moved higher and higher until he had bared her legs to mid-thigh. Then he blinked and dropped his head forward and seemed to be studying the stone patio between their chairs. Just when she was about to run into the woods and hide until he left the island, he lifted his head to look at her again.
He smiled. “So what happens now?”
“Excuse me?”
“What happens now? Is there a ceremony we have to go through? Paperwork I need to fill out? A gauntlet I have to run before we can be mates?”
Emerald stared at him, shocked that he was so accepting of the news. “Why aren’t you freaking out about this? I figured you’d be halfway to the mainland by now.”
Nick shrugged. “Maybe because I’m from New York City and thought I’d seen it all. Maybe because I have never felt such an attraction to anyone before, not even my ex-wife. Maybe because at this moment my cock, and not my brain, is doing my thinking, but it doesn’t matter. All I know is I cannot wait much longer to get you naked and taste every inch of you. So answer my question, what happens now?”
Amazed by his easy acceptance, Emerald squirmed in her seat, her pussy on fire with her own need. “All we have to do is make love, and I claim you. But don’t you need more time to think about this? Once I claim you, then we will be bonded and together for the rest of our lives. A shape-shifter claiming her mate is even more binding than marriage vows.”
Nick smiled at her, looking more predatory than any wolf on a hunt before leaning in until their lips nearly touched. “I don’t need to think about it. I’ve been waiting to feel this way about a woman my entire adult life. I can’t wait to be claimed by my shape-shifting gypsy woman.”
“But,” she said before he closed the last millimeters that separated them.
After that, she stopped talking. Two seconds later, she ceased thinking. Suddenly nothing mattered except claiming her mate as her own. She returned his kiss, growing more aggressive as her need and arousal skyrocketed with each touch.
Moving forward, she crawled up to straddle Nick’s lap as the kiss spiraled further and further out of control. She reached between them and tried to work the button and zipper at the waistband of his shorts with fingers that did not want to cooperate with her mind’s orders.
Finally, Nick brushed her hands out of his way and worked them himself. She then grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it up and over his head before doing the same with her own. Before she could remove her bra, he wrapped an arm around the middle of her back and pulled her to lie against his chest.
When their skin touched, they both hissed into the kiss. Nick pulled his head back, breaking the seal of their lips.
“What do you have on under that skirt?” he panted.
Emerald smiled as she thought of the appropriate answer. Finally, she said with a wink, “Skin. What about you? Boxers or briefs?”
He groaned in response. Reaching between them, she shoved all the fabric that covered his lap down to his midthighs. His cock popped up and gently slapped against her leg. “Doesn’t matter,” he murmured before leaning in and kissing her again.
She felt his fingers fumble at the clasp in the center of her back, which held her bra together. Arching her back, she reached around and opened the hooks with a flip of her wrist. Once it was loose, she shrugged the straps off her shoulders. A heartbeat later, she tossed the scrap of lace and satin over one shoulder.
Before her breasts could react to the cooling night air, warm hands covered them. Fingers massaged the mounds as the centers of his palms brushed back and forth over the tips of her nipples. Tingling electric shocks raced from her nipples straight to her clit. She sucked a breath through her nose and then moaned into Nick’s mouth as her pussy clenched in response and more juices dripped from her core.
“Need. You. Now.”
He spoke into her mouth as they continued kissing while he ran his hands down her sides and outer thighs to where the hem of her skirt lay. Once he reached bare skin, his palms slid under her skirt. He pushed the fabric out of his way as his hands moved back up her legs to cup her ass cheeks. She shifted forward so her thighs pressed tighter against his hips.
Emerald reached down, grabbed his erect cock, and gently stroked it. The silky skin-covered length and thickness of his erection stunned her, while at the same time making her even more anxious to have him deep inside her.
Nick sucked air and moaned as she stroked the tip of his cock against her centerline from the top of her slit down, over her clit, and past her open pussy. Fire filled her, making her stroke him up and down again, causing them both to start panting. On the second pass down between her legs, she fit the broad head of his cock at her open and dripping pussy.
Not sure how much pain would be involved with what was she was about to do, Emerald reluctantly pulled her lips from Nick’s. Dropping her forehead to his shoulder, she gritted her teeth then forced herself down the long, thick length of his cock. Even that preparation did not keep her from crying out when his cockhead tore through her hymen, taking her virginity as she always dreamt her mate would do.
“What the fuck? You’re a virgin?”
Chapter 4
Shock slammed through Nick when the thin membrane of virginity tore as Emerald slid down his shaft. Once she sheathed him fully and before she could
move again, he grabbed her hips and forced her to keep her still. Her pussy muscles rippled against his cock, massaging it and sending his mind-blanking need higher.
His surprise continued when she lifted her head from his shoulder and smiled at him. “Not any more. My mate just claimed it.”
His cock jerked in response to her peaceful tone. He stared into blue eyes that were now nearly navy in color. His balls tingled and tightened as his orgasm gathered there. His hunger threatened to put a fast end to this coupling, which was the last thing he wanted. She was a virgin and should not be riding him hard and fast. Their loving should be slow, easy, and drawn out.
“Why didn’t you tell me before?”
Emerald looked away, appearing shy, uncertain, and hurt. Then she shrugged. “I didn’t think it would matter.”
When she made a move as if to climb from his lap, Nick tightened his hold on her hips. “You didn’t think it would matter?”
Emerald leaned closer to rub her cheek against his, distracting him. Her nipples dragged across his chest had his cock twitching deep inside her in response. “Honestly, I hadn’t given it any thought,” she whispered.
Pulling one hand from under her skirt, he ran it up her back and shoved his fingers through the wild waves and curls of her hair. Using her hair as a leash, he pulled her head back and met her startled gaze.
“Emmy, my gypsy woman, of course it matters. Everything about you is important to me. How are you feeling?” Unable to help himself, he canted his hips upward. This pressed his cock even deeper into her hot, wet tunnel.
“Horny,” she moaned as she shifted in his lap.
Whatever pain she had felt must have passed. Instead of helping her move on him, Nick bent his head and took a nipple between his lips. Batting at it with his tongue, he worked to keep his arousal under control as he built hers back up to a level somewhere near his own.
It took only a few seconds before she was mewling with need. She began to move despite his attempts to hold her still. Finally, he released her hip and slid his hand back to her ass. He shifted lower in the chair as she began to ride him. As one, they sighed as she began to slide up and down his length. He pressed back into the chair as he fought to keep his own hips still.
Emerald [Pyrate's Treasure 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 3