Spring

by Viola Rivard

  Hale’s response was an affirmative purr. Knowing she wouldn’t want to have him in the passageway, he put his arms around her and began hauling her to his room. Her arms around his shoulders, she began kissing and sucking at his neck, setting Hale’s body on fire.

  By the time they reached his room, he felt hot, dizzy, and painfully hard. He practically stumbled onto his pallet of furs, and had to roll so as to break Taylor’s fall. She laughed as they came down onto the bed, and then scooted up his chest to place a sweet kiss on his lips.

  Pushing her back, Hale said, “One way or another, I need to be inside of you. Now.”

  It was dark in his room, but Hale could feel the curve of her smile as she kissed him again. Then, she began her meandering descent down his body, her lips leaving a trail of heat in their wake. As she pressed slow, nibbling kisses down his neck and chest, Hale contemplated flipping her over and taking her from behind. The primitive part of his brain had no interest in delaying gratification and wanted only to bury himself inside of her and thrust until he climaxed.

  Hale laced his hands behind his head, as if the action could stop him from grabbing his mate and turning into a savage. It worked, for a moment, and then Taylor reached his pelvis, her lips brushing against the springy hairs that led down to his turgid erection. A growl rumbled through his chest as she bypassed his cock and began planting kisses along his inner thighs.

  “Taylor,” he rasped. “What the fuck are you doing?”

  She drew her tongue along his hot skin. “Building anticipation.”

  Is that what she thought he needed? Anticipation? Didn’t she realize that he spent every hour of every day anticipating her? Yearning to be inside of her?

  Hale let out a shuddering breath as she finally gripped the base of his cock. She must have licked her hand, because her palm was wet and slippery. Her hold was tight, and it caused the blood that was pounding into his cock to pool at his swollen head. When her hot mouth closed over him, he let out a feral sound, his hips giving an involuntary jerk.

  The next few moments were a torturous sort of pleasure. Sweat broke out across Hale’s body as Taylor began working his cock, gently stroking his shaft while her lips and her tongue teased and sucked at his sensitive head. His feet moved restlessly as he struggled to keep from thrusting up into her mouth.

  He tried his best to keep from coming, more out of pride than anything else. But when her other hand moved from massaging his inner thigh to cradling his balls, Hale reached the limit of what he could handle. The assault of pleasure was too much, and his back bowed as liquid heat surged through his cock. Rather than moving out of the way, Taylor took everything he had to give her, and more. As she sucked the seed from his cock, Hale shot up with a moan, his hands going to the back of her head. He fisted her hair, but managed to keep from forcing her down farther onto his cock.

  By the time the last ebbs of his climax were passing over him, Hale was stroking her hair and the side of her face. When she finally released him, he pulled her up against his chest and then slumped on his side. He tried kissing her lips, but she protested, baring her neck for him instead. It was a fine compromise.

  “Ten minutes,” he muttered against her neck. “And then I’m going to fuck you so hard.”

  He felt her neck vibrate with her laughter.

  “Fine by me, big guy.”

  “I want my surprise now.”

  “Later.”

  Hale growled and nipped her neck hard enough to draw a pinprick of blood.

  “Jerk,” she said, smacking him.

  “You like it,” he said dismissively.

  He swiped her blood up with his tongue. It had always struck him as strange, how delicious her blood was. It tasted better than anything else he could think of, but by rights it should have been repellent to him. He certainly didn’t like to see her bleed, but there was something uniquely erotic about drawing her blood for himself. If it weren’t for the fact that she was human and scarred easily, Hale would have drank from her every night.

  “You smell incredible,” he muttered, nuzzling the inside of her neck. He could already feel himself beginning to grow hard again.

  “Do you notice anything different about my scent?”

  Hale buried his nose in her hair. “Different, how?”

  Running a finger down his arm, Taylor stopped at his hand, which was resting on her hip. She gently lifted it, and then placed it over her belly.

  Hale was so absorbed in his lust that he didn’t immediately understand. He started running his hand along her belly, intent on making his way up to her breasts. His hand froze, first because he remembered the last time he’d fondled her breasts and had ended up with milk on his hands. Then, her words and her implication finally set in.

  “Taylor…” He moved his hand back to her belly, his mind clearing in an instant. “You’re…”

  She covered his hand with her own. “I’m not one hundred percent sure, but close enough. Holly told me this morning, and she was the first to notice when I was pregnant with the twins. I’ve also been feeling sick lately, and maybe a bit more emotional than usual.” She hesitated, and then asked, “Are you disappointed?”

  Hale lifted his head from her neck. He glared down at her, more for his own benefit than for hers, given that she couldn’t see him in the dark.

  “Disappointed?” he repeated.

  Taylor ran a hand through his hair. “I know you were looking forward to having a pup that was just your own.”

  Hale felt his throat tighten as the news truly began to sink in. He leaned down to brush his nose against his mate’s.

  “Taylor, I already have two of my own. This one will be my own, too.”

  He gave her a slow, deep kiss. His body now thrummed with a new sort of pleasure, one that was equally primitive as his lust. He was going to become a father again.

  “I’m so fucking happy right now,” he said when they broke apart.

  “Really?” she breathed.

  “Yeah. I thought for sure that you were going to renege on your agreement to have another pup. Now, you can’t.”

  Taylor smacked his arm. “You’re terrible.”

  “And you’re fickle,” he said, leaning down to sniff her again.

  “I am not!”

  Hale thought he could smell it now. It was such a subtle change that he never would have noticed it if she hadn’t said anything.

  “Maybe we’ll have two again,” he said, rubbing her belly. He couldn’t wait until it got bigger and he could feel his pup moving inside of her.

  “Don’t say that,” she whined. “I want a normal pregnancy. No problems and nothing to complicate things.”

  She took his face in her hands. “I also want to keep working on this agriculture project. It’s very important to me, and being pregnant doesn’t change that.”

  Hale briefly considered her words, and then said, “Fine.”

  Taylor’s tone was decidedly skeptical. “Really? Just like that? You aren’t going to try to stop me?”

  “I don’t need to,” he told her. “You can do whatever the hell you want this year, because I’m not leaving your side for a minute until our pup is born.”

  Taylor laughed, as he was making some sort of joke.

  “Laugh all you want, but consider yourself warned,” he said.

  “You’re serious?”

  Hale rolled onto his back and pulled a fur up over himself and Taylor.

  “The last time you were pregnant, I wasn’t there for you,” he said “Not like I should have been. If I’d taken better care of you, then maybe…”

  Taylor placed a hand on his chest. “No, Hale. I don’t think that there’s anything that either of us could have done. It was just a difficult pregnancy.”

  Hale squeezed her hand. “This one won’t be. I’m going to take care of you. Nothing bad will happen.”

  He heard her sniffle, and when he brushed his thumb across her cheek it was wet.

  “What�
�s wrong?” he asked.

  Taylor shook her head. “Nothing. I just love you. That’s all.”

  She said that to him often. More often than Hale thought he deserved. Alder was the one who was kind and tender towards her. The one who could hold deep conversations with her. The one who could make her feel secure. The one who could tell her a thousand times each day that he loved her.

  Hale didn’t know what the fuck he’d done to deserve her love, but he wasn’t going to question it. So long as she willing to give it to him, he was going to keep taking it.

  Chapter Ten

  Sleep kept trying to sink its claws into Taylor as she laid in bed with her family. Nestled in the crook of Alder’s arm, she was cozy and secure. Her gaze was fixed on the window nearest to the bed, where the sky outside was beginning to lighten.

  “Has Lark heard anything yet?” Alder asked.

  He was rubbing her belly, something he’d taken every opportunity to do over the past week.

  Taylor had missed out on the chance to surprise him with the news of the new pup. The morning after she and Hale’s private night, her scent had changed enough that Alder had noticed immediately when she’d returned to the cabin. Taylor had seen tears in his eyes as he’d embraced her, nuzzled her neck, and kissed her.

  In that moment, she decided that no matter what came next, having another pup was worth it. Both of her mates were ecstatic, and now that she knew that it wouldn’t interfere with her plans, Taylor was happy as well. She’d begun spending large chunks of the day imagining what the new pup would look like and what sort of personality it would have. She’d even begun proposing names, although they were inevitably shot down by her pack mates.

  It had been difficult not to think about the pup. Just like the last time she’d been pregnant, she was now sick more often than not. Fortunately, it was a general sort of nausea that could be briefly dispelled by throwing up. She also suffered from random bouts of fatigue throughout the day, which was what had led her to be in bed now, sandwiched between her mates and her children.

  “You should sleep more,” Alder said, kissing her forehead.

  “I can’t,” Taylor told him. “They’re breaking ground today. I should be there.”

  After a week of deliberations, they had finally decided on where to grow corn. At first light, Shan and the team of Whiteriver wolves would be gathering to tear up a large field to the west of the lake, and then they would spend the afternoon planting. It would be Taylor’s first time meeting with the Whiteriver team, and she felt a mix of nervousness and excitement.

  “They don’t need you,” Hale grunted. “You’re probably just going to be in the way.”

  Taylor was startled, as she’d been certain that Hale had passed out twenty minutes ago. He was laying on his back, his eyes closed and his arms spread wide to accommodate the pups, Fawn and Belle in one arm, Shadow in the other, and Henry stretched out over his broad chest.

  True to his word, Hale had not left her side all week. Rather than being annoyed, Taylor had found it to be very amusing. Hale had been trying all week to adopt her diurnal schedule, and to zero success. At the moment, he’d gone nearly two nights without sleeping and she doubted he would make it to the field with her without passing out.

  “I’m sure there isn’t much I’ll be able to do, but I should at least go introduce myself,” Taylor said.

  Alder squeezed her hip. “Well, if you’re set on it, we’d better go now. It’s almost sunrise.”

  “I’m taking her,” Hale said.

  “Can you even stand?” Alder asked.

  “Fuck you,” Hale muttered, turning his head away. “Go find someone to watch the pups and go on ahead of us. Taylor and I will meet you there.”

  Alder glanced at Taylor and lifted a brow. She smiled and gave him a shrug. “I guess we’ll meet you there.”

  “Okay,” Alder said, lowering himself to kiss her. It had been a few days since he’d shaved, and his beard hairs tickled her face. “See you soon.”

  Once Alder was up from the bed, Taylor rolled onto her side and scooted closer to Hale. She was secretly glad for the extra time because her stomach was churning ominously and she knew she’d probably have to throw up before she went for a ride on anyone’s back.

  Belle was nearest to her. Taylor gently extracted her from Hale’s arm and settled the baby into her own. Usually, when put near a breast, Belle could rouse from the deepest coma in order to feed, but as Taylor’s scent had changed that week, Belle’s interest in nursing had waned. She’d begun spending more time in her wolf form, particularly during meals where she would usually share whatever Henry was eating.

  Taylor spent a few minutes combing her fingers through the knots in Belle’s curly hair. She kissed each one of her pudgy cheeks, causing the pup to rouse long enough to cuddle closer to Taylor’s chest.

  “I really don’t want to go,” she admitted to Hale. “But we should.”

  Taylor waited for a response, but all she heard was the sound of Hale snoring. She reached out and brushed the hair from his forehead. His skin was cool to the touch.

  “My poor mate. Get some rest.”

  After placing Belle back into Hale’s arm, Taylor forced herself up onto her knees. She took a deep breath, trying to dispel the bout of nausea, and it worked to an extent.

  She continued to watch for the sun as she got up, dressed herself, and made tea from her stash of mint. Movement outside caught her attention, and she went to the window in time to see Beka emerging from the woods. Her stomach twisted again, but for a different reason.

  Ever since their fight by the river, she’d yet to work things out with Beka. Quinn had come to Taylor several days ago, apologizing profusely and begging to be able to see the pups again. She’d been crying and the whole thing had made Taylor so uncomfortable that Taylor had started crying, too. In the end, Quinn had gotten full pup privileges back, with the caveat that she had to intervene anytime it seemed like one of the pups might get hurt. Beka had yet to approach her, though Taylor assumed it was out of fear for her pride.

  Grabbing an extra fur to throw over her shoulders, Taylor went to the door and opened it quietly. She stepped out onto the porch and closed the door behind her. The morning air was thick and soupy with fog from the lake and the river.

  Beka was fully dressed, her blonde hair tied up in a high bun atop her head. She didn’t like shifting as much as the other wolves, and her clothes—jeans and a plain t-shirt, indicated this. Most shifters wouldn’t have bothered with such a constrictive outfit.

  Taylor held a finger to her lips as Beka approached the porch. She whispered, “Hale and the pups are sleeping.”

  Beka nodded her acknowledgment. Softly, she said, “Fenix just got back from Shaderunner. There was a letter for you.”

  “Oh!” Taylor said, breaking her own rule with the exclamation.

  In all of the hustle of the last week, she’d nearly forgotten about the letter that she’d sent to Sarah. In the letter, she’d explained the situation in the valley and described the tension between Alder and Silas. She’d mentioned Holly’s suggestion that Silas take a mate, and then asked for Sarah’s opinion, and if she knew of any women that might be interested in the young alpha.

  Only after sending the letter did it occur to Taylor that it might not be well-received. After all, Snow was as much Sarah and Cain’s daughter as she was Alder’s. She wasn’t sure that Sarah would take kindly to being asked to find a mate for the man who’d kidnapped her daughter. It was for that reason that Taylor accepted the letter with a measure of hesitation and anxiety.

  The letter was sealed in a white envelope, something that would have been a rare luxury in Halcyon. Taylor opened it and collected the letter from within, which was handwritten on two pieces of stationary. The fact that it was lengthy seemed to be a good sign, and she began reading.

  As her eyes scanned the first page, Beka fidgeted in front of her. After an awkward moment, she began to talk, each word so
unding as if she had to force it from a too-tight hole.

  “I want you to know that I’m sorry. The way that I behaved last week, it was disrespectful. I only wanted you to see things from my perspective. I don’t think you understand how much the pups mean to me. The truth is… Your pups are the closest things I’ll ever have to ones of my own. I spend so much time with them. I know they’re not mine, but sometimes my instincts take over and it feels like they are. But I’m not trying to come between you and your pups. If anything, you should want me to take care of them, because I will always nurture them and protect them as if they were my own. I—fuck, are you okay?”

  Grabbing her by the shoulders, Beka caught Taylor in time to keep her from falling. She helped Taylor to ease down onto the step, where she slumped against the wooden porch railing.

  Her head was spinning. She tried to read the last few sentences of Sarah’s letter, but her hands were shaking too much and her vision was blurred with tears.

  Beka shook Taylor’s shoulder. “What is it? What’s going on?”

  Taylor passed the letter to her, and then put her head in her hands and began to cry.

  “What the fuck is this?” Beka said, making no effort to lower her voice.

  Taylor tried to explain through her tears. “I… Last week, I wrote to Sarah, asking if she could help find a m-mate for Silas.”

  “But this is…” Beka crumpled the letter in her fist. “No. Fuck that. How could she possibly think we’d be okay with that? Henry is ours.”

  Taylor reclaimed the letter, but didn’t try to uncrumple it. She would need it later, to show it to her mates, because there was no way she’d be able to explain things without crying again.