To Find a Mate: Somewhere, TX Saga (VonBrandt Family Book 4)

by Krystal Shannan

  When he came back into her cozy little living room, Paige was curled up on the couch with a blanket, staring off into space. She looked up when he said her name, but she still didn’t really register him.

  “So, tell me again. You’re a…werewolf? Like. A real werewolf?”

  “I am.” He softened his voice and approached the couch. “I’m sorry again for taking you so fast, but my family is pretty psychotic about humans seeing us shift.”

  She nodded, but her eyes still weren’t registering him. She was in shock, probably.

  He didn’t blame her. It was shocking.

  “You shift, like those people back there?”

  “I do.” He took another step toward her. She didn’t seem to be exhibiting fear when he approached her.

  Her eyes widened. “Ah, I see. That’s why you took me to the feed store.”

  Shit. Couldn’t get anything past this girl. Adam allowed himself a little smile. “It was one of the reasons.”

  “You thought I was going to tell people your secret that I didn’t know I knew.”

  Adam slid onto the couch, staying well away from her. Every cell in his body was pushing him closer to her, but he didn’t want to spook her. He couldn’t afford to confuse chemistry with magick in this moment. He needed a clear head.

  He should go sit across the room. With a look around, he spotted another chair and made to get up. But before he could, Paige’s hand was on his arm.

  “You can stay.” Her voice was calm, small, soft. He wanted to crush her against him and hold her, but he didn’t know if he could do that without blurring the line between his sex needs and whatever was going on with Fate between them.

  He wasn’t going to force his Fate on her.

  “I don’t want to freak you out,” he said. “I’m not dangerous.”

  Her blink was languid, like a cat in the sun. “I know you’re not.”

  Adam moved to the very edge of the couch and her hand dropped from his arm. He pulled one leg up and sat on it, facing her. “I really am sorry about all of this.”

  “I won’t lie,” she said slowly, “I don’t really understand how all of this is possible, let alone how I got caught up in it.”

  It’s Fate, that same something pushed up inside him. Was it his wolf? He was always so buzzy this close to a run, he wasn’t sure what way was up anymore. He only knew that he wanted to protect Paige, as she was. He couldn’t afford to let Lee and Miles take her to the witches to take her memories. They would take too much.

  “It’s a very old, very complicated story about witches and protectors. I don’t want to bore you.”

  With a little shake of her head, she said, “You’re not going to bore me.”

  He stayed a good distance away, keeping an eye on his internals, on his wolf. He could feel the pressure of something, some cord of energy, pulsing in and around him, but he didn’t want to overwhelm her. Adam told her as much of the legend of the moon-binding as he could remember. “It’s all magick,” he finished.

  “So a bunch of witches, centuries ago, made up a curse, and you’re living under that curse, and now that I know about it, I’m a danger to magick?” One eyebrow went up.

  He almost laughed with the absurdity of it all. To humans, it would sound like he belonged in a loony bin. But to him, who had lived with the wolf all his life, it was as natural as breathing. “That’s the gist of it, yeah.”

  She pushed out a big gust of air and her head went back onto the couch. Without warning, Paige started to laugh. It started low and quiet, and before long, she was bursting.

  “We’re not evil, and we’re not predatory, and we don’t hurt humans,” he said, as though he was trying to convince her to think the best of him, but her chuckles continued and she glanced at him with tears in her eyes.

  “I don’t…” She put one hand over her mouth and stilled her laughter. “I don’t think you’re dangerous. That was the farthest thought from...” Her eyes lost focus again and she looked at the ceiling.

  “Then what are you thinking?” Adam leaned forward.

  She pulled at the blanket and sank down farther into the plush couch. “I have some questions, I guess.”

  “Ask away.” He slipped one arm onto the back of the furniture, trying for nonchalant.

  “You said your security guys will find me and erase my memory?”

  A pang sliced through his chest. In all the humor, he’d been trying not to think about this thing that hovered out there, just waiting until they figured out who she was and came after her.

  “Yes.”

  “Is there any way to convince them not to?” She looked at her fingers, like she couldn’t bear to look at him.

  “Well…” He couldn’t bring himself to say it. Mate me. Bond. He could stop them, but could he really bond with someone the magick hadn’t clubbed him over the head with?

  “You see, here’s the thing. I really like knowing this about you. It’s like we share something important, and I like that.” Her eyes flickered up to meet his, but went right back to her fingers when she caught him staring. “If you’re just trying to figure out if I’ll tell everyone, then you don’t have to worry. I’m not going to tell. You can go back and tell your security dudes that your secret is safe with me.”

  Adam smiled and scooted a little closer, moving his leg out from underneath the soon-to-fall-asleep position. “I know you won’t tell anyone.”

  “And I get that you’re just trying to protect your family. But you don’t have to worry about me. I’ll just stay out of your business.” Her lips tightened into a line. “I get that you’re worried about your secret and you’re checking out if I’m going to freak out and call the tabloids, but I promise I’m not.”

  She turned to him and offered her hand. “So, thanks for telling me the truth. And thanks for the great kiss. But you obviously have other things to do, so I should let you go.” Paige stood and the blanket dropped from around her shoulders. “I’ll give you a ride back to the ranch, and you can tell your security guys that I’m not a risk.”

  Adam sat back in shock, not certain how the conversation had gotten all turned around like it had. His mouth flapped open as she stepped away from the couch. What the hell had just happened? “Paige…I think you’re misunderstanding what I’m trying to say.”

  She stopped with her back to him and crossed her arms. Without being able to see her face, he couldn’t tell what she was feeling, and he didn’t like that.

  “I don’t think I’m misunderstanding.” She raised a hand to her face. “You have to protect your family. I get it. It’s a secret and you want it to stay that way. I’m saying, I promise I won’t tell anyone, so you can go back to your family and tell them you did it. You protected your family secret.”

  Adam shook his head. He jumped off the couch and strode across the room to her, grabbing her arm and spinning her to face him. “I’m not worried about my family, Paige. They can take care of themselves.”

  There were tears on her cheek and he wiped at them with his thumb. They stabbed at his insides. He’d never meant to make her cry. That was the last thing he wanted.

  “I can’t forget you,” she whispered, her voice urgent. “Please don’t make me forget you. I don’t think I can live without knowing you.”

  His heart twisted and he took her face in both hands. He wanted to say the same back to her, that he couldn’t live without knowing her, but that was a capitulation.

  That was deciding that they were mates.

  She’s already decided, something said inside him.

  He searched her gaze, teary as it was, looking for some signal from Fate. Was Paige his mate?

  “Can I just tell you something?” she asked, closing her eyes. “I need to say this, so please just let me…” She swallowed. “I don’t think I’d be who I am anymore if I didn’t know you. If you, if your family…if they took that away from me, I don’t think I would know myself. I’ve loved you since I first saw you. I don’t wa
nt there to be a world where I can’t know you.”

  Adam’s eyes burned. Love. His heart thundered inside him. “I don’t want that world either.”

  She leaned almost imperceptibly toward him. “Please. I just need them not to take you away.” Tears streamed down her cheeks. “You can keep coming in to the bakery and not talking to me forever. I don’t want you to pretend that you like me back, like you did yesterday. I just need to know who you are and that you’re there.”

  “Pretend?” He shook his head. “What… pretend?”

  She blinked more tears away. “You…when you took me to the feed store and all that. Trying to get information out of me.”

  “I didn’t—”

  Paige’s finger went to his lips. “I don’t care. I promise, I don’t care. It was a great kiss, and I liked just being around you. You don’t have to be sorry.”

  “Woman,” Adam growled, grabbing her finger. “If you would stop rambling for two seconds and let me get a word in…” He sighed. “I wasn’t pretending.”

  He lowered his mouth to hers and her surprised gasp against him was intoxicating. He pressed his tongue between her lips and tasted more of that enthralling elixir that he couldn’t get enough of.

  Paige.

  He couldn’t get enough of Paige.

  * * *

  Not pretending? Her tears stopped and she threw her arms around Adam’s neck. His tongue swept through her mouth and then he was kissing along her jawline and down her neck and… Oh!

  His hand cupped her breast and squeezed, sending a shower of sparks straight to her girly bits. Then his mouth captured her lips again and he lifted her right off the floor.

  He moved swiftly through the house, finding her bedroom in a few seconds. Paige’s feet touched the carpet and he pulled away from her just long enough for her to gasp for a breath.

  “Before this happens. You understand, I want you. All of you. There is no pretending.”

  Paige nodded vigorously. “Yes.” This was what she’d dreamed of for six years—Adam noticing her, liking her, and more. She’d had sex all of twice in her life and both of those experiences had been with a high school boyfriend. Once in the back of his car and the second time in his bed when his parents had been out of town. Both experiences had been lackluster. Sex with Adam was not going to be lackluster.

  She reached for the hem of her shirt and he shook his head, clucking his tongue inside his mouth.

  “You just stand there. I want to enjoy unwrapping you until you come apart in my hands.”

  A tremor rushed through Paige’s body. That sounded quite all right with her.

  The air around her had that vibrating quality she’d grown to expect when she was near Adam, but now it was different. More intense. And warmer. Almost like she was wrapped in an invisible electric blanket.

  Heaven is what it was.

  Adam knelt on the floor in front of her and removed her tennis shoes, one at a time. She placed a hand on his shoulder to steady herself as she switched from one foot to the other. Touching him sent a feeling of hunger racing through her already aroused body.

  “Please don’t unwrap me too slowly.”

  A soft chuckle rolled up from his body. He trailed his hands up her calves, over her thighs, tracing her hip bones as he moved to unfasten her jeans. Once they were undone, he grabbed two of the belt loops and tugged them down, exposing her legs to his warm breath.

  She struggled to drag air into her lungs and moaned from the throbbing that pulsed in her sex. Paige stepped out of the denim and gasped as he put his lips against the fabric of her panties. His mouth was right there. His breath was hot and she was melting from the inside out.

  “You smell so damn good.”

  Paige gulped and her eyes widened as he looped his fingers into her panties and pulled them down agonizingly slowly, putting her in almost direct contact with his mouth.

  She couldn’t drag her eyes away from him.

  Adam glanced up at her, meeting her gaze. His blue eyes were dark with lust and flickering with…gold? Then his tongue darted out and delved between her slick folds, caressing her swollen clit.

  A gasp slipped from between her lips and her heart slammed against her ribs. She’d never had a man’s mouth on her before and it was amazing. Blissful was probably a better word for it. Most importantly, she needed to remember to breathe so she didn’t pass out and collapse on top of him.

  A wicked smile spread across Adam’s face. “No one has tasted you here before, have they? Tell me I’m the first.”

  “Yes,” she whispered, not sure where she’d found the ability to make an intelligent sound. Her legs trembled and the warmth swirling around made it seem as though she might float up into the air and fly away.

  He licked her again, pressing his tongue hard against her sex.

  She shouted and her hands went to his head, digging her fingers into his thick hair. The urge to hold him tighter or pull his head away warred in her mind. The sensation of his tongue was overwhelming.

  Then he trailed kisses up along her hipbone and abdomen. He raised the hem of her shirt, rose from the floor and kept kisses and licking and…

  She closed her eyes, wanting only to focus on his touch.

  “Lift your arms.”

  She did and he pulled off her shirt, leaving her naked except for her bra that he quickly divested from her breasts and tossed to the floor.

  “Beautiful.” He stood back and caressed her body with a languid glance that heated her all way to her core.

  She watched, entranced as he removed his shirt and pants, baring his impressive erection to her curious eyes—long and hard and ready to do everything Paige could dream up and probably some things she couldn’t.

  He stepped closer again, slipped one hand up to the base of her skull, taking hold of her hair and pulling her head to the side. Starting with her shoulder, Adam worked his way along her collarbone and up the side of her bared neck. Kissing and licking his way up to her earlobe, taking pleasure in her mouth from time to time before returning to the sensitive skin above her collarbone.

  His fingers tightened in her hair, pulling just hard enough to remind Paige how strong the man in front of her really was. He was a wall of muscle. His chest. Arms. Everything about him shouted powerful, yet he was tender and soft. Her fantasies hadn’t done him justice. The real Adam far exceeded the one who’d lived in her dreams.

  His cock pressed hot and hard against her belly and he nudged her backward until the back of her legs touched the foot of her bed. He pushed again and she had no choice but to sit.

  Adam released her hair and put a palm flat between her breasts, pushing her down to the mattress. He raised her legs and set a thigh over each of his shoulders, putting his mouth once again within reach of her wet folds. “I’m going to make you fly.”

  She moaned softly, her heels digging into the muscles of his back. His mouth latched to her clit and she bit back a shout.

  “Don’t hold back,” he growled against her sex, sending vibrations ricocheting throughout her body. “I want to hear you.”

  Paige moaned again, this time louder.

  His tongue circled her clit and thrust into her core several times before returning to the throbbing nub. Just a little more. Her orgasm tightened inside and coiled, waiting to spring forth and envelope her completely.

  His lips closed over her clit once more and sent her careening off the edge. Her hips bucked against his hands and she dug her heels into his back even harder. A shout tore from her lips and echoed through her bedroom.

  “Oh. My. God.” Paige panted, still floating in that blissful space where everything is weightless and wavy and peaceful. She had a vague sensation of Adam moving her up further onto the bed.

  When she opened her eyes, he was crouched above her with that same self-satisfied wicked smile she’d seen earlier. He was proud of himself and she couldn’t argue. He certainly knew what he was doing.

  He slanted his mouth ove
r hers and the taste of herself on his lips woke her from the daze of her orgasm. She needed more. Her body had found release, but it craved something else.

  “Please,” she begged, against his lips. She ran her fingers along the lines of his sides, taking in his magnificent body. His weight settled on top of her and he prodded her entrance with his erection.

  She trembled, anticipation making her shiver and pant for breath. Paige wrapped her legs around his hips and rocked toward him.

  “I’m going to make you come again, but this time when I’m deep inside you.” Adam nuzzled a breast, taking the nipple into his mouth and sucking until it hardened into a peak that could’ve cut glass.

  The other breast was not neglected either. As he took it into his mouth, he surged forward filling her with one fluid thrust. They both groaned as their bodies joined.

  This was what she wanted to feel for the rest of her life. To be near him. Next to him. To have him become part of her.

  He nipped at her beaded nipple, withdrew slowly, then propelled forward again, filling her completely. A perfect fit.

  She rocked her hips in rhythm with his movements, gasping for breath as another orgasm coiled and wound itself around her body. Sweat slicked every inch of their skin and Adam slipped a hand between them as he pushed her harder, closer to release.

  One more thrust and his finger on her clit sent them both careening over the crest of release together.

  Paige clenched down on his cock and dug her fingers into his arms as her body imploded from the inside out. Fireworks sparkled behind her closed eyelids and her shout of pleasure mixed with his. The warmth of his seed filled her, sealing her heart.

  They hadn’t used protection, but she didn’t care. Sex with Adam was the start of something wonderful.

  It was their beginning and she couldn’t wait to spend every free moment she had with him, wrapped in his arms, tasting his lips against hers.

  Just being with him seemed to calm the overwhelming desire that had culminated within her over the last six years.