by R. E. Butler
Curling her fingers around the steering wheel, she glanced at the GPS and then returned her gaze swiftly to the windshield. The snow was falling faster than her wipers could keep up. Her heart pounded and her mouth was dry. Her fear of sliding off the road skyrocketed.
As the minutes ticked by, the time drew closer and closer to four a.m. She’d had no choice but to put on her hazard lights and stop completely. The snow created a whiteout, making it impossible to see, and the temperature had dropped into the single digits.
She opened her car door and stepped out into ankle-deep snow. She looked ahead of her car, past the shallow light the headlights carved in the darkness. There was just no way in hell she could walk in the dark. Closing the door, she shook off the snow and rested her forehead on the steering wheel. Sullivan would show up at the cabin, and she wouldn’t be there. Would he think she’d changed her mind?
It was three forty-five. She looked at the GPS screen, staring at the red line that indicated the remainder of the trip to the cabin. It seemed so close, but in reality, she knew that trying to walk two miles in single digits, in the dark, would possibly be the stupidest thing she could do. Then she remembered that Sullivan had said his beasts had strong senses, including better sight and hearing than a human. In his human form, he’d explained, he had those same enhanced abilities.
A glimmer of hope flared to life in her. She climbed out of the car and cupped her mouth with both hands. With as much power as she could put into her voice, she screamed, “Sullivan!”
She would keep screaming his name until she couldn’t do it any longer. She could only hope that he would be able to hear her and that he could find her. When it got close to six a.m. and he was forced to make a decision, would he stay behind and wait for her or would he leave her?
As tears slipped from her eyes and froze on her cheeks, she kept screaming his name. Sullivan finding her in the snowstorm was her only hope for them to be together.
Chapter 7
As soon as the sleigh team landed in the barn, Sullivan shifted in spite of still being in his harness.
“Get this damn thing off me! I have to get back to my mate!”
“Hold your damn horses,” Oliver, one of the stable elves, muttered as he helped Sullivan remove the harness.
“Come on! Let’s go!” he yelled at Mire and Declan, who had planned to go with him to bring Kerri to NPC.
“Are you seriously going there naked?” Declan asked. “You don’t want to freeze off parts of yourself she might find useful.”
Glancing down at his body, he huffed and grabbed his clothes from where he kept them in one of the stalls and dressed as quickly as he could.
“Why are you in such a hurry? It’s not even four yet,” Mire said.
He rubbed the space over his heart. “I don’t know. I just feel like I need to get there as soon as possible.”
“Do you think she’s hurt or something?” Declan asked as he dressed in another stall.
Sullivan didn’t want to think about that. He’d worried about her the entire flight. Normally, he spent the Christmas Eve runs enjoying the scenery that flashed below as they traveled faster than the human eye could see. But he’d thought of nothing but Kerri the entire time. As the flight drew to a finish, he’d started to feel nervous, and it wasn’t an emotion he was used to feeling. He didn’t get freaked out by much, considering he had a badass polar bear at his disposal.
But right now, he was worried, and that really worried him.
SC climbed out of the sleigh and handed his heavy red cloak to one of the elves. “You should go. Now.”
His heart leaped into his throat. “Is something wrong with Kerri?”
“I can only feel that something’s not right. Don’t delay.”
At SC’s words, Mire and Declan finished dressing swiftly and joined Sullivan as they headed out of the stable and into the cold, dark morning.
“Whatever you need, we’re here for you,” Declan said as the three males pressed into a tight circle facing each other.
“Thanks, guys,” Sullivan said.
He closed his eyes and imagined the cabin, and in an instant, they were traveling. They landed in the snow-covered yard at the back of the cabin, and immediately he knew that something was wrong. It was snowing so hard that even with his enhanced vision he couldn’t see much except white. The cabin was entirely dark, and Kerri’s car wasn’t where it had been before.
“Where is she?” Mire asked, shielding his eyes with his hand.
The wind whipped up, swirling the snowflakes like a tornado, and making the branches in the trees creak as icicles cracked and shattered. Then he heard something.
“Do you guys hear that?” Sullivan asked, closing his eyes and focusing his hearing.
Mire and Declan went still next to him, and he knew they were listening.
On the wind, he heard his name. It was a desperate, terrified sound, and it was coming from his fated mate.
“Where is she?” Declan asked.
“I’m going to shift.”
“Into what?” Mire asked.
Sullivan glanced around, thinking. The fox was fast, but the owl had better vision.
“The owl.”
“We’re with you,” Declan said.
All three stripped from their clothes and took on their shifts. Sullivan launched into the air, flapping his mighty wings and curling his claws. As soon as he rose above the cabin, he could see the road that led from the home down into the woods and toward the town several miles away. The path of the road had disappeared beneath the snow; the only indication of where it lay was the trees that lined each side.
Somewhere on that road, Kerri was screaming his name. With a screech, he dove lower, using her voice to guide him. Each time she yelled his name, he adjusted his flight, moving as swiftly through the air as he could. He was worried she was hurt, and each time she called to him, he heard the fright in her voice.
He flew faster than he ever had before, flapping his wings and cutting through the air. The wind pushed against them, but it didn’t stop him from moving swiftly.
“Sullivan!”
A break in the storm showed the flashing yellow lights of a vehicle; the illuminated interior filled with snow as it blew into it from the open window where Kerri sat. Screeching in happiness, he tucked his wings and dove, heading for the woods just to the side of the car. He couldn’t chance changing out in the open, even in a blizzard. As soon as he was near the ground, he let go of his shift and took on his human form. Rushing from the woods, with Declan and Mire on his heels, he heard Kerri’s gasp and then a choked sob.
He rounded the vehicle and reached into the window, cupping her cheek. She was shivering, but the heat in the car had been cranked high to combat the open window.
“Hey, candy cane. Did you get stuck?”
“S-S-Sullivan?”
He kissed her forehead. “Yeah, baby, it’s me. I’ve got you.”
Her teeth chattered, and he was afraid she was going to bite her tongue.
“Do you want to try to get this vehicle up to the cabin?” Mire asked.
“I don’t think it’s going to make it up the hill,” Declan said, putting his hands on his hips and looking in the cabin’s direction.
“I c-c-c-couldn’t s-s-s-see,” she whispered.
It took only one hard shiver and a hiccupped sob from his mate for him to make a decision. “Let’s push it off the road, grab her bags, and head into the woods.” To Kerri he said, “Put it into drive.”
She did as he said, and he reached through the window and grabbed the steering wheel, pushing on the car and directing it toward the woods as Declan and Mire pushed on the back bumper. The car moved slowly as it crunched through the thick snow. When it was off the road and as close to the woods as they could get it, he told her to put up the window and turn off the engine while he opened the back door and pulled her bags from the seat.
Mire grabbed the bags from him. Then Sullivan open
ed her door and helped her out. She was shivering, but at least she’d been smart enough not to stand out in the cold. The temperature had dropped into single digits, and with the strong winds, the wind chill probably lowered the temperature into negative degrees.
“Let’s get home,” he said, lifting her trembling body into his arms and carrying her into the woods.
They walked for several minutes, ensuring they were far enough away from the road. Although it was still dark and the snowstorm would make visibility hard for humans, they didn’t want to take any chances. He set her on her feet, and the three males pressed around her. In a heartbeat, they were on their way to NPC.
Landing outside the barracks, he lifted her into his arms and headed for the door. Mire grabbed her bags, and Declan pulled open the door for them. He raced up the stairs to the third floor where the unmated quads lived.
Mire dropped her bags in Sullivan’s bedroom.
“Thank you for helping me get my mate,” Sullivan said.
“Let us know if you need anything,” Mire said.
“Just so you know, pushing a car in a snowstorm, butt naked, is going to add a couple extra favors to the list of what you owe me,” Declan said.
Sullivan snorted. “You got it.”
His friends disappeared down the hall, and Sullivan turned toward the shared bathroom. “How’s a hot shower sound, candy cane?”
“H-h-heavenly,” she said.
In the bathroom, he set her down and turned on one of the showers, and then he slowly undressed her. As he pulled her clothes from her body, he checked her limbs for frostbite, knowing how fragile humans were. Her skin was red, but she could move her fingers and toes, and he was thankful she hadn’t been seriously hurt.
He held open the curtain that covered the tiled shower and stepped in, guiding her with him. He tested the water, ensuring it wasn’t too hot to burn her, and then he lifted her hand and began to massage her fingers. She squeaked as her feet hit the water on the floor, shuddering as she slowly moved under the spray.
She tilted her head with a sigh after pulling out her ponytail and letting the water soak her hair.
“Do you want to see a doctor? Do you feel okay?”
She wiggled her fingers and toes more and then she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. “I’m okay now.”
He kissed her, sliding his hands up her wet sides and drawing her close. She pulled away from the kiss and buried her face in his neck with a sob.
“Hey, it’s going to be fine. You’re home now, with me.”
“I was afraid you’d think I didn’t want to come with you.”
“I would have tracked you down no matter what,” he said, stroking her back. “As soon as we got back to NPC, I felt like something was wrong. SC told me to get to you, and shit, baby, I was so worried you were hurt. I never for a second thought you didn’t want to come with me.”
She cried a little harder. “I thought I might have to live without you.”
“No chance of that. You are well and truly stuck with me. If I hadn’t been able to find you, I would have stayed until I found you. It wouldn’t be a hardship to be in your world for a year. I’m glad I found you, and I’m glad you’re safe, but wherever you are is home for me, Kerri. Here or there. You’re the only thing that matters to me.”
She lifted her head from his neck and took in a shaky breath. “Thank you for saving me.”
“You saved me from a lonely life. It’s only right I returned the favor.”
She gave him a watery smile. “I stood outside of the car for a couple minutes, but it was so cold I could hardly breathe, so I sat in the car with the window down and the heat on high. I was still cold, but I remembered you saying that you had better hearing, so I just hoped you would hear me.”
Her voice was a little rough, and he suspected that was from screaming his name.
“How long were you out there?”
“Ten minutes maybe. I thought I heard an owl screech, and then I thought I was going crazy.”
“You’re not crazy. That was me.”
“Can you do me a favor?” she asked.
“Name it.”
“Warm me up.”
His bear growled, and it rumbled in his chest. He shut off the water and tugged back the curtain, making sure they were alone in the bathroom. He hurried to the linen closet and grabbed several towels. She patted her body dry and then wrapped a towel around herself, using a second one to rub her hair. He tucked one around his waist and then took her hand, leading her out of the bathroom and into his bedroom. He turned on the overhead light, and then he closed the door and locked it, not wanting anything to interrupt their time together.
“Can I tell you something?” she asked, dropping the towel she’d been rubbing against her hair to the floor.
“Anything.”
“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. As soon as you left, I wished I’d gone with you. It’s not that I think it was a bad idea for me to go get my things, but I just had this feeling like something wouldn’t go right. You were on my mind the whole time.”
“You were on my mind, too.”
“It’s because we’re really meant to be together, right? We’re connected already. It’s like being a soulmate.”
“It’s exactly like that.”
She smiled, and it made everything inside him go all warm and melty. And then she dropped the towel covering her body, and all thought fled his mind except one: mine.
Chapter 8
Kerri was not really a bold person. She’d never just stood naked in front of someone like this, but something about Sullivan put her at ease and made her feel wanton at the same time. She knew that she was already falling fast for the sexy shifter. She wasn’t scared of the feelings because she knew that he was falling for her, too. She could see it his eyes.
He gazed at her for a long moment, and she took the time to appreciate him. He was so sexy. His body was thick with muscles, and a tattoo made of black swirls and sharp points stretched across his right bicep. The delicious V at his waist was like an arrow to his thick cock, which jutted from his hips straight and hard, with a drop of arousal glistening from the tip.
He snarled softly and moved to a tall dresser against the wall. The drawer creaked as he tugged it open, and he rummaged in it, the contents banging against the sides of the drawer. Shoving the drawer shut, he turned, holding a large pale blue candle in his hand. He set the candle on the nightstand and lit a match from a small book. When the candle was glowing, he blew out the match and then turned off the overhead light.
He was in front of her a moment later, moving so swiftly she hadn’t even seen him. “I don’t have any wine. Do you want me to get some?”
His large hands cupped her face, and he gazed down at her earnestly.
“What for?”
“Humans woo. Arian told me Charli said humans dated when they were wooing, and it involved candlelight and wine.”
“Damn you’re so sweet, Sullivan.” She rose on her toes and kissed him. “You’re talking about a date where a couple goes to eat somewhere that has candlelight, like a restaurant. I don’t need wine right now; I want to be entirely sober for when we rock each other’s worlds.”
He chased her lips with his own, tilting her head and holding her close. “I want to treat you right. I want to do everything right to show you how much you mean to me.”
She felt emotional, but she didn’t want to cry because he was being so adorable. She gripped his wrists. “You came for me, in the dark and in the cold when I couldn’t see a foot in front of me. You wooed me completely, I promise. I walked away from my life in the human world to be with you because I already know you’re the right guy for me. You can prove it by seeing how many times you can make me scream your name.”
The concerned look slid from his gaze and was replaced with an expression of desire that made her flush with heat. He lifted her into his arms and carried her to the bed and climbed on it
, laying her down on the soft blanket. He knelt next to her, his fists pressed into the mattress on either side of her head as he leaned over and gazed at her. His expression was sexy, so full of heat and wonder, his lips curled up at one corner, and his eyes swirled from blue to gold and back again.
He leaned down farther and kissed her. His lips caressed hers gently, and she parted her lips with a happy murmur as their tongues touched and slid together. She wrapped her arms around his neck and scraped her fingernails gently against his scalp. He sucked on her tongue with a growl and then kissed down her jaw to her ear.
“Last time I didn’t get to taste you properly,” he whispered, his breath hot against her ear, making her skin prickle.
She curled her fingers, and her nails dug into his neck as heat swirled through her. He bit her earlobe gently and tugged, and then he kissed down her neck and sucked her flesh into his mouth. She felt his teeth, but he didn’t bite down hard enough to break the skin. He kissed her shoulder and her collarbone, and then he fit one hand around her breast and licked the nipple. She watched as he sucked it into his mouth, tugging lightly and nibbling on it as if it were his favorite piece of candy. Lifting from her breast, he inhaled with a snarl and tended to her other nipple, drawing it slowly into his mouth and driving her wild with his tongue and teeth. Her stomach twisted in anticipation as he began to kiss down the center of her body. His big hands moved slowly down her sides and cupped her hips, his thumbs rubbing on the sensitive skin.
He pushed her thighs apart with his palms, settling between her spread legs and gazing down at her center.
He kissed her clit, his lips lingering on her bud for a moment before he curled his tongue around it. She groaned as heat spiraled through her as he licked and sucked on her clit. Her stomach started to clench, and he eased off, flicking his tongue so lightly on her bud that she could barely feel it. As the pleasure ebbed, he probed her pussy with one finger and licked her clit faster. She felt herself tumbling toward pleasure, and he eased away again, holding his finger just slightly inside her as he leisurely tongued her clit.