“I’ll say. Riding around in Town Cars, staying in luxury hotels, eating truffles. But just so you know, if anybody gives me a watch worth eight hundred large, I’m hocking it and donating the money to charity.”
Still he didn’t crack a smile. “You’ll have to be alert at all times so you don’t accidentally give away our secret. You can’t tell anyone, not even your mother or your best friend.”
She knew better than to joke about that. “I understand.”
“You could face antagonism from the other Weres, although no one would dare snub you when I’m around. Still, I can’t promise that the Were community will ever accept you.”
“Maybe not, but think of the research possibilities.”
Finally he gave up and grinned. “Is that all I am to you? A research assistant?”
She massaged the back of his neck. “Research assistant, dance partner, cabana boy…love of my life.”
His grin faded and heat flickered in his gaze. “Say that last part again.”
“Love of my life. I love you, Aidan. Whatever this binding process is, I want it.”
The wolf emerged from the golden depths of his eyes. “You could get pregnant.”
“Will our children be Were?”
“We won’t know. Can you…can you live with the uncertainty?”
Her heart beat so fast she grew dizzy. “The only certainty I need is that you love me.”
“I do.”
Stepping away from him, she pulled her sweater over her head. “Then show me, Aidan.” She stripped off her slacks and dispensed with her bra and panties. “Show me how a Were binds his mate.”
And so he did.
She’d expected wild and primitive. Instead he was tender and slow. He guided her down in front of the fire, and as the heat caressed her quivering body, he took her slowly from behind, easing into her with murmured words of praise and gratitude.
The slow rhythm spoke of passion, but also of intense emotion. He took his time loving her, holding her hips steady for each firm thrust. As her orgasm drew near, he seemed to sense it.
With a low growl, he increased the pace. This was more what she’d expected. She’d braced her hands on the floor, and he placed his hands on top of hers. His chest brushed her spine and his thighs slapped hers with ever faster strokes.
She cried out when the first spasm of her climax hit. Lifting his hand from hers, he combed her hair away from her neck. As she rode the waves of the most intense orgasm of her life, he surged forward and raked the back of her neck with his teeth. Then he came, shuddering silently against her and gasping for breath.
“It is done.” He gulped for air. “We are bound.” Gently he pulled her down to the rug and curled his body around hers. “I love you, Emma.” He kissed the spot where his teeth had been.
She took a long, shaky breath. “I love you, too, Aidan. And when I recover sufficiently, I’m biting you back.” She felt his smile against her skin.
“Anytime, my love. Absolutely anytime.”
Epilogue
“Well, big brother, looks like you’ve pulled off the society wedding of the year.” As stirring organ music filled the church, Roarke stood next to Aidan and gazed out at the expectant faces of New York City’s A-list. “If only they knew this is a mere formality.”
“Some of them do,” Aidan said. His father had invited his friends from each of the other packs, so the room was a mix of humans and Weres.
“So far they’ve all been pretty cool about Emma.”
“Yeah. That’s saved me from having to kick some ass.”
“Which I know you’re fully prepared to do. I just about plotzed when you took on the old man that night.”
“And I’ll always remember that you backed me up, Roarke. I owe you one.”
“You owe me several. Let’s not forget making me stand up here in this monkey suit. I wouldn’t be doing that by choice, either.”
“Yeah, you would. You love it. You’ll have your pick of the women at the reception.”
“There’s a pleasant thought.” Roarke smiled. “Will you look at the ’rents sitting out there, proud as punch, both acting like they’ve won the lottery? After all the bitching and moaning about their new daughter-in-law’s lineage, they’re totally on board. Emma’s won them over.”
“I never doubted it.”
“Liar.”
“Okay, there were some dicey moments.” He thought back over the fight with Theo, the disapproval of his parents, the ultimate confrontation with his father.
“Well, you’re about to have the payoff for sticking it out. Here’s a moment for you, bro. Your lady love approacheth.”
Roarke didn’t have to tell him that. Aidan had caught Emma’s scent the moment she’d stepped out of the chamber where she and her mother had finished preparing for the ceremony. She walked arm-in-arm with her mother, who served as her only escort and attendant, just as Roarke was his.
Aidan hadn’t been allowed to see Emma since yesterday, and the night had been long, indeed. Now he drank in the sight of her like a man presented with a feast after starving for days. Everyone else became a blur as he focused all his senses on her.
Her lace dress flowed in a graceful column down her still-slim body, and her veil, also of hand-woven lace, cascaded down her back. She’d chosen not to cover her face, and he applauded that choice. The joy of impending motherhood made her skin glow and her blue eyes sparkle.
He was the only one who knew that she was three months pregnant with the child they’d conceived the night of the binding and he liked knowing they shared the secret. They would tell it when they were ready. Emma was good at keeping secrets.
He hadn’t realized what a great secret-keeper she was until he’d watched her provide partial truths to her inquisitive mother. Thanks to Emma’s talent for fiction, Betty Gavin believed that her daughter was marrying a wealthy bachelor whose parents traveled outside the country frequently, often taking Aidan and Emma with them. That was the story Emma had created to explain why the Wallaces were only occasionally in the city and why they preferred having rooms at the Waldorf to owning a place in Manhattan.
The life that Aidan had feared would become a burden to Emma had proven to be an exciting challenge, instead. Her fascination with the Were community won her more converts every day. Some Weres were already suggesting plots and characters for future projects.
His father still insisted on reading everything she wrote, but she’d taken that with good grace. She said she actually found some of his literary comments helpful in developing her stories. Now instead of resenting him as a censor, she seemed to enjoy him as an editor. Aidan was learning from her that confrontation wasn’t always the best way around his father.
He’d learned much from his mate, in fact, and knew that in the years ahead, he’d become wiser still. Sometimes when he was with her, he even took the subway.
But they would not ride the subway today. A white limo waiting outside the church would take them to the Rainbow Room at the Waldorf. Later tonight it would transport them to a private runway where the corporate jet would fly them in style to St. Barts.
On some things he refused to compromise, and when it came to giving Emma a day to remember and the honeymoon of her dreams, he would shower her with luxury.
Most of all, though, he would shower her with love. When he took her hand and turned to the minister, his heart was so full that he wasn’t sure he’d be able to voice the required responses. But when the time came and the minister asked if he would take this woman, he found the words came easily.
He gazed down at Emma’s smiling face and poured every ounce of his love into his pledge. “I will.”
Also by Vicki Lewis Thompson
The McGavin Brothers
A Cowboy’s Strength
A Cowboy’s Honor
A Cowboy’s Return
A Cowboy’s Heart
A Cowboy’s Courage
A Cowboy’s Christmas
&nbs
p; A Cowboy’s Kiss
A Cowboy’s Luck
Thunder Mountain Brotherhood
Midnight Thunder
Thunderstruck
Rolling Like Thunder
A Cowboy Under the Mistletoe
Cowboy All Night
Cowboy After Dark
Cowboy Untamed
Cowboy Unwrapped
In the Cowboy’s Arms
Say Yes to the Cowboy
Do You Take This Cowboy?
Sons of Chance
Wanted!
Ambushed!
Claimed!
Should've Been a Cowboy
Cowboy Up
Cowboys Like Us
Long Road Home
Lead Me Home
Feels Like Home
I Cross My Heart
Wild at Heart
The Heart Won't Lie
Cowboys and Angels
Riding High
Riding Hard
Riding Home
A Last Chance Christmas
About the Author
New York Times bestselling author Vicki Lewis Thompson has such a great time writing romance novels that she’s published more than a hundred of them and has no intention of throwing in the towel. That’s despite being awarded a Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award by Romance Writers of America. If that was a signal to quit, she’s not paying attention.
Connect with Vicki online!
VickiLewisThompson.com
[email protected]
Werewolf in Manhattan Page 27