by Desiree Holt
“Asha said you don’t particularly like humans.”
Life would be so much easier if the women in his life would keep their mouths shut. “I don’t like humans who don’t use their brains. Those who seek only the perfect picture with their selfie stick. They don’t care if a bear or bison might be euthanized due to an attack. They just want a post on social media that will get them the most likes.”
“Before me, were there any humans you liked?”
“Quinn.”
Morgan rolled her eyes. “She is your beta and a ranger.”
“I do like the rangers.” When she cast him a wide-eyed look, he shook his head. “I would be perfectly happy if there were no visitors to the park. Before you throw at me all the reasons it should be open to the public, know I understand if people don’t see the beauty and experience the awesomeness of Yellowstone, it won’t be protected. But I can still wish it weren’t that way.”
“Fair enough.” She worked her upper lip between her teeth.
“What is it? There should be no secrets between us.”
“Were you disappointed in the fates’ choice for your mate?”
“What?”
“You don’t like humans, so I can’t imagine you were happy with the prospect of a human—”
“Stop right there. First of all, when I saw you for the first time, I was concerned for both the park and you. I was angry at another of a long line of tourists this summer to go off the beaten path. But, as soon as I glanced into your eyes, I knew. My soul knew you. You will never understand the self-control it took for me to stand there and not follow my soul’s desire.”
“Which was?”
“To throw you over my shoulder like a caveman and claim you as mine.”
Her shoulders relaxed. “I couldn’t understand the need to touch you. My prior relationships were never touchy-feely. But I can’t keep my hands off you.”
“I have no complaints about your hands on my person.” He hissed as she undid a couple of buttons and ran her hands down his cheek. She lowered her lips to his skin, leaving a trail of kisses to the spot under his ear, which drove his cock from hard to solid in seconds. “Hold that thought and those fangs. You can mark me all you want, but not here where someone could come along. This requires a private room where we can take our time.”
“Quickly, please.” She panted.
“Can you walk?”
She could fly if he asked her to. If she didn’t get him inside her soon, she would wither and die. She nodded, placing her hand in his, and he led her up the path to the entrance. He grunted at the woman guarding the door. And, although she was sure by this time everyone knew what was going on, the woman nodded to acknowledge their presence without a word.
When they entered his room, he froze, and she ran smack into his back. He backed up to check the hall then his door, before glancing back inside. Only then did she take her eyes off Grant long enough to notice the room, now draped in whites and creams. Lamps on side tables bathed the space in warm light.
“Who accomplished this amazing transformation?” Morgan. “It’s beautiful! Did you do this?”
“No, do you like it?”
“Like it? I love it.”
“Then we owe Jovie a huge thank you.”
“Can we thank her later?” And then she did something she never thought she would do three days ago. She launched herself into his arms and tore at his clothing. Her blood boiled, and desire flamed within her. To her frustration, he set her away from him…again. Tears pooled in her eyes. “I made my decision. Why are you denying me, us?”
He shredded the rest of his clothing from his giant form, and she grinned. He wasn’t slowing things, but speeding them up. “How do you want this? In the bed, against the wall, or in the chair? I don’t give a damn as long as I’m in you soon.”
She yanked him down onto her. With a growl, he knelt and shifted her into the center of the large bed. He maneuvered between her thighs, weight supported by his strong arms. “Do it. Bite me.”
She sank her fangs into the flesh near his collarbone. He hissed and drove into her in one stroke. He placed a hand on her heart and, as she released her bite, she knew what she needed to do. She reached up and rested her palm on his chest.
“You belong to me,” he said, his voice rough and full of passion.
Lifting her hips to urge him deeper, she replied, “Always and forever.”
He drove into her over and over, and she held out, wanting to enjoy the moment of their first time coming together, and to orgasm together. She wrapped her legs around his hips pulling his down on her. Every inch of him pressed against her brought her body to attention.
“I can’t hold off much longer,” he panted into her ear.
“Don’t,” she said kissing him and reveling in the steady increase in his pace. His strokes became less fluid and more frantic. A guttural groan told her he wouldn’t last much longer. “Breed me,” she whispered, not sure why those words were the right ones. He sucked in air and ground his pelvis against her clit, and she fractured as he shuddered above her.
They remained in each other’s arms, unmoving. Though he lay heavy above her, she relished the ragged breathing brought on by his desire for her. She had never made a man so crazy with lust. Running her fingers through his hair, she waited for him to make the next move.
As if sensing her thought, he rolled to his side and pulled her into his body, spooning her. Once he had her back settled, he tugged a blanket over their cooling bodies. “Are you all right? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
“Hurt me? I bit you, remember?”
He chuckled into her hair. “I am not likely to forget it for a long time, and when I do, you can bite me again.”
“Again?”
“Yes. Every now and then, you will have to bite me again. I think it’s the fates’ way of letting the men know who is really in charge.” He poked the tip of her nose playfully.
“I like that.”
“Tomorrow, we can head out to Cody to get anything you feel you need to make this home. Do you need to call any family or settle accounts outside the park?”
“My brother. He will worry about me. Maybe, in the spring, I can ask him to visit the park. Is that possible?”
He ran his fingers through her hair. “We will make it happen. Get him one of the cabins. Make the plans as soon as possible so we can reserve one or more if you want the rest of your family to come? Perhaps have a wedding?”
She shook her head. They had never cared much about her anyway. “Later, I’ll tell Doug we eloped. If I told him we just met and I moved in, he would be on the first flight out, thinking I had lost my mind.”
“I’ll follow your lead. Whatever you want.”
“I need to give notice to my landlord. I really don’t want to go all the way to Arizona to pack and move, though.”
“We could catch a flight out tomorrow or the next day. We can spend a couple of days there, perhaps meet this brother of yours, pack a rental van up, and be back here in a week or two at the max?”
She sat up to really look at him. “You can leave the park?”
“Of course I can, but this is home, so I don’t go out much. Never saw a reason to until now.” He cupped her face, bringing her lips to his before repositioning her back against him.
“What about your job here? Won’t they need you?”
“As soon as they see my mark, I will be encouraged to get your things and get us both back here as soon as possible.”
“You are going to show everyone?”
He chuckled. “It is a great honor.”
“I’ll never understand the minds of men.” She snuggled closer to him, bumping the growing erection at her back. “Already?”
“You think you can’t understand men? I’m like no normal man you have ever met.” He pulled her over him. “Tomorrow morning, I’ll set everything up to get you moved in here. Brutus has already started pulling strings to get you a job. But, toni
ght, I only want to focus on you and me together.”
They didn’t speak much for the rest of the night. They explored each other and, by morning, she had discovered muscles never before known to her. But she also experienced unconditional love of one mate for another. He had been caring yet insatiable. In the wee hours of morning, they collapsed, exhausted, into each other’s arms.
She had a lot to learn, but a lifetime to do it in. And, having always been an outsider to her family, she now had one both eager to welcome her and quite happy to have her take on their cranky Grant. Smiling, she wondered how she could be thankful that another person had broken a bone. But she was, and while a thank you note to her professor might be a bit strange, she needed to do something. Without this chance at Yellowstone, how would she have met the other part of herself? She turned toward her man. He smiled down at her and kissed her forehead.
“You need to heal, my love. We have the rest of our lives ahead of us, starting today.”
The future never appeared so amazing.
About the Author
Award Winning Author, Dominique Eastwick grew up a US Navy Brat, so if there was a Naval base that was probably home. She currently resides in North Carolina with her husband, two children, crazy lab and lazy cat.
Dominique's love of reading started when she was told to read TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD in high school. A book that opened her eyes to the joys of reading and entering into the world of the author. To this day she ranks this book as her favorite.
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Accidentally Mated
Hazel Boyer
After four continents and six years, Dare’s tired of looking for his mate. The last place he expects to find him is back home.
Features an M/M pairing.
Chapter 1
Dare Williams reached across his mother’s busy hands for more confectionary sugar. You wouldn't think it to see her at that moment, covered in flour, eyes shining bright with contentment like a domestic goddess, but she was the alpha of the White Falls werewolf pack. A very strong alpha, Dare was reminded once again, as she continued pursuing the subject that had sent him on four domestic and two international “diplomatic” tours: Dare’s inability to find his mate. Not that Alice Williams would ever be so harshly direct with such a sensitive subject. She ruled the pack with an iron hand, but it was the satin gloved iron hand of a Georgia southern belle. If the situation called for it, she could easily give you the thrashing you deserved (and Dare had probably deserved more than he had received), but more often than not, she'd talk circles around you until you found yourself agreeing with or doing just about whatever she pleased with little memory of ever having desired differently. After a while though, even the youngest pack members learned to recognize the look in her eyes that meant trouble and got busy elsewhere or ran as fast as they could, discreetly.
Her children, however, had learned that avoiding uncomfortable conversations with her was impossible. While they might be delayed, they would not disappear.
“What do you think of doing a tour along the coast after Cole’s wedding? It's been, what, five years since you've been up in New England? I hear the Albany pack integrated a small Canadian pack from over near Alaska. They lost their alpha to old age and got pushed out by a nearby bear sleuth. Too many of their members had found mates in better climates and chose to remain with them rather than return home. And I'm sure there's been some movement in other packs. We've added six loners in the last two years, not counting the additions through matings. Hand me the vanilla?”
Dare bit back the sigh that would earn him a flour dusted smack over his head and passed her the bottle. “Mom, I've been on the road off and on for six years and home only two months. I'd like to stay put for a bit.”
He recognized the stubborn set of her shoulders, but he had no qualms about laying a behemoth sized guilt trip on her; he had learned from the best. “And I miss having a home. Spending two or three months in any one place is fun…for a while. But just about the time I really feel like I'm settling in, it's time to leave again. What I want right now, more than anything, is to feel like I have a home. I’d rather do that here with my family, but if I can't do that without being reminded and fussed at about my mate every time I turn around, I will find another pack.” At his mother’s horrified look, he added, “Only temporarily. This is my home, and it always will be.”
Her shoulders slumped, and he did feel a tiny twinge of regret.
“I just don't want you to give up on finding him. You're thirty. Most wolves find their mates by their mid-twenties.”
“And some don't find theirs until their forties. You're not telling me anything I don't already know, Mom.” He pulled her into a hug to soften his words. “You've gone above and beyond helping me search, sending me all over the world. If my mate is out there—“ at her glare, he changed his words, “—my mate is out there, and he will find me. Why don't you start harassing Mindy about her mate? Cole’s sold off and you've done your best for me. It's her turn.”
“I do not harass,” his mother sniffed. “And Mindy isn't going to be the alpha.” She paused in her baking preparations and Dare loosened his hug as she turned to face him. “You know we'd never force any of you children into a role you're not suited for or don't desire. Neither Min nor Cole care for the responsibilities or duties. And frankly, neither of them has the strengths necessary to hold a pack together. You, however…you were an alpha from day one. And you're completely capable of taking on the role without a mate—don't think I don't have faith in you, I wouldn't have given you diplomatic authority over the past few years if I didn't—and heaven knows I led alone well enough until I found your father. It’s just…I don't want you to have to. The job is much easier to bear when your mate is there to back you up and help you unwind.”
Dare hugged her tight again. “I know, Mom. But I'm well past nineteen. I’ve had much more time to prepare than you did, and hopefully will have many more years before you step down. Just, please. It will happen when it's meant to happen.” The kitchen timer beeped and Dare broke the hug to pull a batch of cupcakes from the oven. He checked his watch and leaned in to give his mother a peck on the cheek. “I've gotta run some wedding errands for Cole. If you need help finishing the cupcakes, call Garrett, please? Tara’s been fussing about how wound up he’s been since his dad shipped out on his second tour.”
“You're not telling me anything I don't already know,” his mom said with a smile, echoing his earlier words. “But that's a good suggestion. Would you mind calling her for me? See if she wants to drop him off anytime within the next hour.”
“Got it! Love you,” Dare called behind him as he swung out the front door.
He grimaced as he got into his car. He had known this conversation was coming from the moment Cole had told him about Jessica just over two months ago. Had been waiting for it since he’d touched down in Atlanta, the first time he’d been home in fourteen months. Like his mom said, she wouldn’t have given him diplomatic authority if he wasn’t able to do the job, and she would never give anyone a job that wasn’t useful or important, but he wondered if the thought would have entered her mind if she hadn’t been searching for ways to expose Dare to more wolves in the hope of finding his mate sooner rather than later.
While he may have failed in that purpose, he hadn’t failed in his other. The White Falls pack was more connected than it ever had been, and when Cole had called, Dare had been wrapping up the first foreign exchange trip between young White Falls pack members and young members from a large, influential pack in Oslo, Norway.
Two months was a fairly long engagement by the wolves’ standards, but Jessica had wanted her fairy-tale wedding, melding the traditions of the pack with the trends of a modern American wedding. According to Mindy, Cole’s intended was efficient, decisive, and a power house, but no bridezilla. From family dinners, cookou
ts, and Cole’s unending stream of praises, Dare agreed with her, but, except for this week, he stayed as far away from wedding preparations as possible. For himself, he’d rather have a small, private affair. Maybe even just a short ceremony at the courthouse and then an extended honeymoon, enjoying all the benefits that mating and marriage provided. So much of his life was filled with pomp and circumstance and posturing that when he tied the knot, he wanted it simple, small, and real.
Not that it looked to be happening anytime soon. As confidently as Cole spoke to his mother, he was less than content with his current situation. His mother was right: most of his friends and near age pack members had found their mates. Of the few who hadn’t, several close enough that he believed them when they said it, most were content with their single status. Cole wasn’t one of them. He would give anything, had given most of his life for the last six years, in the hope that somewhere along his path, he would find his mate, the missing piece. But he was getting tired. And while he’d told his mom he wasn’t giving up, he kind of was.
Chapter 2
“Turn left. Your destination will be on your right in two hundred feet.” Evan Rogers followed the disinterested voice’s direction.
Cars lined the road in front of the address Mindy had given him. He hadn’t been to this house before, having always visited with the twins during college when they still lived at home with their parents. He passed the house, prompting the GPS to tell him to make a U-turn as soon as possible, and pulled into the first available spot, several doors down. He turned off the GPS and car, preparing himself, the grey sky and slow drizzle reflecting his mood. He'd spent most of the drive wallowing in the mess that was his life. This trip was the highlight of a very dreary year, which hit rock bottom the Friday previous when he had been laid off. He shouldn't have too much trouble finding another job–software development was one area the recession hadn't reached, except when bozos like his former employers thought outsourcing would solve their problems. That didn't make it any easier to handle. But he needed to shake that off. This was his best friend’s wedding. One of his best friends, at least. Cole and Mindy held that spot equally. Thankfully, being twins, they were used to sharing, even when they didn't like it, and equally as thankfully, didn't seem to mind with Evan.