Joy came around Sean. The pressure of his thumb against her clit drove her over the edge. She gripped onto Sean’s back, digging her nails into his back, moaning his name directly in his ear.
The feeling of his mate climaxing around his thick, throbbing shaft was enough to push Sean to the brink. With one final thrust, he melted into Joy, letting loose his cum into her waiting and wanting honeypot.
All of a sudden, the room filled with a golden light. Sean’s eyes flashed bright amber.
“Is that it?” asked Joy. “Is that really your…your mate mark? Did it really change?”
“In the flesh,” said Sean, looking down at it proudly as he pulled out of Joy. “Now, do you understand?”
“Yes,” said Joy with a smile, a tear coming to her eye.
On Sean’s chest was a mark. It was the same shape as before, but now, it had been colored in. On the mark was a bear, in dark brown, same shade as Sean’s grizzly, every detail right from proportions to color. On top of the bear was no log or sack, but instead, a woman. It was a woman Joy knew well, a woman Joy saw every morning and every evening in her bathroom mirror before she went to bed. It was Joy.
“I was there, the whole time, on your mark, and we didn’t even know,” said Joy.
“Fate has a strange way of bringing us together, doesn’t she?” asked Sean.
“What’s next for us?” asked Joy, laying back in the bed.
“You want to stay around The Wreath?” asked Sean.
“No,” said Joy. “I’ve served my time here. So have you. I have good memories, but, I think this chapter of my life has closed. I’m ready to start the next one. I just wonder where that first sentence will be written.”
“I have a crazy idea,” said Sean.
“Shoot,” said Joy.
“I may have helped you believe in Christmas magic, but you taught me the real meaning of Christmas is home,” said Sean. “I think you should come with me, Joy, to my home. I’m from Nuthusk, a small rural town, much like Port Jameson. We’re not on the water, exactly, but there’s a big lake. If you like baking, there’s a Bear Claw Bakery in town you could work at. Heck, I could see about helping you get funding to start your own bakery. Of course, you could always stay at home.”
“Stay at home? And do what?” asked Joy.
“Stay with me and raise our children,” said Sean. “I make enough to support a family. I saved all my money. Had a financial advisor I listened to. Had to, given how much I was paying him. Only thing I spent money on when I was on the road was sports drinks. I’m ready to turn my house in Nuthusk into a home.”
“Why would you stay home with me?” asked Joy.
“I don’t want to miss any part of them growing up,” said Sean. “I’m getting older, by athlete standards. I can’t do this job forever. But I also can’t go back in time and un-miss the memories I’d be sure to miss if I was on the road when the kids were growing up. And I want a lot of kids.”
“Fine,” said Joy. “I’ll visit Nuthusk with you…but only because we never exchanged phone numbers, and I need to know where the heck you live if I’m your fated frikkin’ mate.”
“Great,” said Sean. “I needed a ride home anyway.”
“You got anything we need to pick up at Camp Kringle?” asked Joy.
“No frikkin’ way,” said Sean. “Krampus can keep my stinky old clothes. I would’ve burned them once I got home anyway.”
“Then get ready for one heck of a road trip,” said Joy with a smile.
Epilogue
Thanksgiving, 2008
Sean woke up to a warm, wet feeling. At first, he expected the worst. He looked down. There was a lump in the sheets and a set of curves missing from the spot next to him. Sean ripped off the sheet.
“Joy?” asked Sean, rubbing his eyes.
“Surprise,” said Joy. “Happy Turkey Day. Gobble-gobble.”
“Gobble-gobble indeed,” said Sean, putting his hands behind his head. “You know, I’m next in line to be Alpha, but I’m not the Alpha yet, so you don’t have to give me the royal treatment.”
“Oh, okay, I’ll stop,” said Joy, pulling her mouth off of Sean’s cock and looking up at him with eyes that were pleading innocent, even though they were damn guilty.
“N-n-n-no, no, no,” said Sean, putting his hand on the back of Joy’s head. “I’m just saying you don’t have to.”
“Don’t ‘have’ to? I’ll never have to,” said Joy, arms crossed. “You know what? Why don’t we pretend you never opened your mouth, and I’ll open mine? You just sit there and do what you do best: look real pretty.”
Joy went back to sucking on Sean’s shaft. She felt Sean take a sharp breath of air. She knew that he was already close. She knew how to work him like a jack-in-the-box. Helped that his shaft was always ready to get cranked. This time, she didn’t want his surprise to pop out at her and hit her in the eye. They were running out of eyedrops.
Soon, Joy had a mouthful of creamer, sans coffee.
“Spitting? Really?” asked Sean, as Joy spit into a napkin.
“I’m saving my appetite,” teased Joy. “This potluck’s gonna be huge.”
“Guess we should get ready to head over to the lodge,” said Sean.
“Not so fast,” said Joy. “I need mine.”
“Give me ten minutes, and I’ll be right on it,” said Sean.
“No,” said Joy, pulling her hands out from between her legs, where she’d been rubbing herself while sucking off Sean.
Joy pushed her hand towards Sean’s face and put two fingers in Sean’s mouth. Sean licked Joy’s juices off his fingers.
“Your hand’s not broken, is it?” asked Joy.
“No, but I have a feeling your tight pussy might break it,” said Sean.
“What about that tongue?” asked Joy. “You need to warm up and have something nutritious to eat before you spend all day eating. You’re the one who always goes on about the importance of stretching and warm-ups. So…want a warm up?”
Joy leaned back and spread her legs, revealing her wetness to Sean.
“Hot damn,” cursed Sean. “That oven’s hot.”
Sean got down on his stomach and buried his head between Joy’s legs. Just as Joy knew what made Sean tick, he knew what could make her pussy go ‘boom.’ He pressed two fingers into her canal while licking her clit, encouraging it to come out and play.
“This’d be a lot easier if your clit got morning wood,” said Sean.
“Less talking, more eating,” said Joy, shoving Sean’s head back down between her legs.
Sean’s bad boy ways hadn’t entirely been tamed away. Sean’s bad boy Naughtiness had rubbed off on Joy, who was becoming a downright bad bitch. She wasn’t afraid to get what she wanted, and if that meant she wanted to ride Sean’s head with her hips, pressing his whole face into the space between her thighs, well, she was gonna do it.
Joy came around Sean’s fingers, leaning back and barely catching herself with one hand against the mattress.
“Fuck,” moaned Joy, crawling back to her space next to Sean. “Just woke up and I already feel like I need some more sleep.”
“I could just stay in bed with you all day,” said Sean. “Nothing at that potluck will taste as good as that pussy. I could eat that thing all day.”
“Come on,” said Joy with a grin. “You know why we can’t do that.”
“Fine, fine,” said Sean. “Speaking of things we have to do…I have something to give you.”
“A present?” asked Joy.
“Consider it an early Christmas present,” said Sean.
Sean reached into his nightstand and pulled out a jewelry box. The jewelry box held a necklace. The necklace was on a medium weight gold chain. The necklace had a large pendant in the shape of a tree. The tree was hammered out of green gold for the leaves and pinkish gold for the trunk. Nestled in the tree was a small bird made of yellow gold. The bird was easy to miss, as the tree’s boughs had small golden fruits.
“I know, but I thought it was fitting,” said Sean. “I had it custom made for you, out of Black Hills gold. I sent a custom order to a jeweler there. Their jewelry is famous for its nature motifs and the usage of those three colors: green, gold, pink. I thought the color scheme was fitting, given the upcoming season.”
“What kind of a bird is in the tree?” asked Joy.
“It’s a partridge in a pear tree,” said Sean. “On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me…”
“…A partridge in a pear tree,” sang Joy, completing the song.
“I fell in love with you the first day I met you,” said Sean. “Whenever I’m with you, it’s like I’m living that first day all over again.”
* * *
“Are you sure this is enough food?” asked Joy from the middle backseat, where she was making sure the big trays of food they’d just cooked up wouldn’t slide around. “At first, I thought we’d made too much, and now I’m worried we made too little…”
“It’s just right, Goldilocks,” joked Sean. “We’ll be bringing home enough leftovers to keep us fed ‘til Christmas.”
“Christmas, huh?” asked Joy. “Really makes you think about the time we spent at The Wreath. You’re the best gift I’d ever gotten for Christmas.”
“Does that mean I don’t have to get you anything ever again?” joked Sean.
“Say that one more time, and you’re getting a face of candied yams,” said Joy. “Last year really was special, though.”
“This year will be special too,” said Sean. “Christmas with Clan Marron is an event.”
“Bigger than Thanksgiving?” asked Joy.
“Oh, no way,” said Sean. “But any holiday’s big when it involves the Clan getting together. Even Arbor Day.”
“Are you sure they’re going to like me?” asked Joy.
“My parents love you,” said Sean. “The rest have to as well. And if they don’t? I dare’m to say a word about the Alpha’s daughter-in-law.”
“Future daughter-in-law,” corrected Joy.
“It’s nearly May,” said Sean. “You’ll be getting a new ring soon enough, honeybun. Then, you’ll be the future Alpha’s wife. Word of the woman who got the bad boy that was always running away from things, to run back home, to run down the path of Fate and into his Fated role of Alpha of Clan Marron, will become a legend in Clan Marron. They’ll sing songs about the woman who taught the prodigal son of the Alpha of Clan Marron that the true meaning of Christmas, and the true meaning of being a shifter, was spreading joy.”
“Ugh, you’re so sentimental,” said Joy as Sean pulled into the lot. “You’re going to make me cry. I don’t think anyone would like to give a hug to a gal with mascara running down her face.”
“Don’t move,” said Sean, opening his door. “I’ll get the first loads in on my own.”
“No you won’t,” said a familiar voice, coming from a very pregnant looking woman.
“Emily?” asked Sean. “Is that you?”
“In the flesh,” said Emily, rubbing her belly. “When I heard you’d found your fated mate, I could hardly believe it, but…there’s no denying it now. You gonna open the door and introduce her to me or what?”
“Sorry,” said Sean, opening the door to the car. “Joy, this is one of my friends in the Clan, Emily. I’ve told you about how Emily is the one responsible for our meeting. Emily, meet Joy. She just finished moving up to Nuthusk last month. Can you believe we had to do an LDR for almost a year? Nearly killed me. You’ll make sure to introduce her to everyone, won’t you?”
“I absolutely will,” said Emily. “It’s great to meet you, Joy. I can’t believe Sean finally found someone not only willing to put up with his shizz but capable of taming his wild bad boy side.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Emily. I owe you so much for helping bring Sean into my life. But, introducing me to people…I thought Sean would do that,” said Joy, furrowing a brow.
“Sean…has a quick job he’s gonna have to do,” said Emily. “Let me help you with those trays.”
“But you’re pregnant,” blurted out Joy. “Oops. Sorry. I mean…”
“I’m not just pregnant, hon. I’m very pregnant,” said Emily. “They’re thinking triplets.”
“Triplets? Wow,” said Joy, helping unload the trays into Sean and Emily’s arms.
“It’s a small litter,” said Emily. “All four of my mates’ll be fighting over who gets to do diaper duty. It’s gonna be quite the show.”
Emily, Joy, and Sean carried the various dishes into the Clan lodge, where they placed them on buffet tables, and Emily started to introduce Joy to everyone in the Clan, while Sean talked to his father.
“Joy, Emily and I will be right back,” said Sean.
“Where are you going?” asked Joy.
“Remember how we met?” asked Sean, careful to choose his words as they were in mixed company. “There’re seven more Naughty boys in Clan Marron, and they’re all going to need to spend some time at The Wreath. The Council needs me there to ‘soften the blow’ when I take this year’s bad boy in for orientation.”
Sean gave Joy a kiss on the cheek and headed out of the room, taking a turn down a hallway rather than out to the parking lot.
“And I have to work my magic,” said Emily. “You see that car over there? The shifter who’s about to get out?”
“Yeah?” asked Joy.
Joy looked at the tall buff man with disheveled hair. That didn’t seem very special, but the fact the back of his car was filled with pieces of clothing covered in sequins and glitters definitely made Joy raise an eyebrow.
“That’s Ryan Rex,” said Emily. “He’s a ‘male entertainer,’ an ‘exotic dancer,’ a stripper at Bear Buns Seattle. None of that’s scandalous. What’s scandalous is that he’s still single! He’s not that different than Sean is…or rather, was, before he was sent up North. This year, Ryan’s going to have to learn the meaning of Christmas…the hard way.”
“Do you think he’ll find his fated mate?” asked Joy, looking at Sean as he left. She couldn’t believe her luck. In the end…Goldilocks got her bear. The third time was the charm. She’d fallen into the romance that was meant for her, the one that was just right.
“There’s only one way to find out, and that starts with me doing what I do best,” said Emily, shooting Joy a smile before Emily went outside to change the stripper’s life forever.
The Twelve Mates of Christmas — A Sable Sylvan Christmas Spectacular
Dear reader,
In December 2018, I’m releasing twelve — that’s right, twelve — novella length romances in a brand new series called The Twelve Mates of Christmas.
This series features BBWs, werebears and other types of shifters, and of course, lots and lots of Christmas magic!
Follow Clan Marron as eight of their bad boys lose their shifts and learn the true meaning of Christmas. Then, follow the romances of Christmas demon Krampus, Santana ‘Santa’ Claus, and the ice elementals Boreas ‘Old Man’ Winter and Jack Frost.
Trust me — you’ve never read a Christmas series like this one.
Make sure to visit my Amazon author page often…that is, if you want to read my Naughtiest books yet!
Release schedule:
December 1st — Dasher Claws
December 3rd — Dancer Claws
December 5th — Prancer Claws
December 7th — Vixen Claws
December 9th — Comet Claws
December 11th — Cupid Claws
December 13th — Donner Claws
December 15th — Blitzen Claws
December 17th — Demon Claws
December 19th — Daddy Claws
December 21st — Frosty Claws
December 23rd — Miss Claws
December 25th — The Twelve Mates of Christmas: The Complete Collection
There’s a sneak peek of Dancer Cl
aws coming up after this message! Are those sleigh bells I hear ringing…or is it the sound of a very naughty Bear Buns dancer’s pasties?
xoxo,
Sneak Peek: Dancer Claws
His shiny bells need jingling...
Bear Buns stripper and grizzly shifter Ryan Rex never took the search for a fated mate seriously.
In Fate's opinion, that makes him more than just bad.
That makes him Naughty.
If this bad boy werebear doesn't claim his mate by Christmas, he's going to lose his shift forever.
But, to claim his mate, he's going to need to earn back his mate mark by getting off of The Naughty List.
Sounds easy. After all, he's going to have the help of Dancer -- one of Santa Claus' magical flying reindeer.
The only problem his, he already wrote the beginning to his own fairytale romance...and it ain't as pretty as his fated mate. In the town of The Wreath, Montana, the only thing more complicated than Fate is Fate mixed up with Christmas magic. Fate's curveballs are even curvier than Ryan's mate.
Will Angelica be Ryan's Christmas angel?
Angelica Smith has never believed in Christmas magic. The curvy baker sees her seasonal job at Bear Claw Bakery as just that -- temp work. A native of Nuthusk, Washington, the BBW's surprised to come face to face with bad boy Ryan rowing across the lake to the bakery. What the heck is the bad boy pie thief doing at The Wreath, Montana? Angelica knows she should hide her pies from the big, bad bear...but does that include her cherry pie?
Can Little Red Riding Hood forgive the big, bad boy bear?
Every year, since they were kids, Ryan stole something from Angelica, something precious.
Every year, since they were kids, Ryan had a reason.
Will Angelica and Ryan find their fairytale happily-ever-after? And when Angelica sees Ryan dance...will Christmas magic spark between them? There's only one way to find out -- and it's by reading 'Dancer Claws.'
This story, featuring a bad boy werebear and a BBW baker, is loosely based on Little Red Riding Hood.
Dasher Claws: The Twelve Mates Of Christmas, Book 1 Page 11