“She's got nothing to be ashamed of,” Aidan said hotly. “She's perfect!”
“Yes she is.” Ne-ma canted her head at him. “And...she's yours, isn't she?”
Aidan took a deep breath and squared his shoulders under Gramma and Ne-ma's intense, scrutinizing gazes. His bear and his heart knew that he had found his mate. “Yes. She's mine.”
Gramma and Ne-ma nodded, looking pleased. They already knew the answer, but they just wanted to hear him say it.
“She made the wish,” Gramma said, sipping her tea. “The Happily-ever-after wish.”
Aidan's brows shot up.
“Yeah. She triggered the spell. Our Happily-ever-after spell is triggered only when your true mate makes a wish to find her true love. Events will happen to bring the two of you together.”
“In this case, it was a series of unfortunate events,” Gramma said, shaking her head. “She came to this town to get away from her ex-husband, but her ex tracked her down and attacked her in her bakery. You happened to be on patrol, and you helped her.”
“Our spell doesn't interfere with your free will. Your paths have crossed and the magic is spent. It's up to the both of you now, Aidan,” Ne-ma said, putting her hand on his shoulder.
“It may be a Happily-ever-after spell, but...happily-ever-afters don't just fall into your lap. You have to work for it.”
Aidan nodded. “I know.”
Gramma and Ne-ma smiled at him and stood up. They each gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek as they left.
Mason and Jackson got hugs and kisses as well, plus a tweak on the ear.
“Don't think we don't know that we're standing on wrappers and banana peels,” Gramma scolded, tapping the carpet with her foot. “Sweep them out from under the carpet, you lazy bears!”
Mason and Jackson grimaced. “Yes, Gramma.”
“And there was a dirty sock under the kitchen table,” Ne-ma sniffed. “You have a lady in the house now. Don't be such slobs. Mason, Jackson, I want you boys to clean up the whole house tonight.”
“What about Aidan?” Mason protested. “Shouldn't he help...”
“Aidan's busy,” Gramma and Ne-ma snapped together.
“Busy?” Mason and Jackson chorused, then started chuckling and waggling their brows. “Oh! We know what he's busy with! Ooh yeah! Aidan's gonna be real busy the whole night.”
Gramma and Ne-ma spanked them on their butts. Aidan bit the inside of his cheek and tried his best not to laugh out loud.
It didn't matter how old they were. Gramma and Ne-ma wouldn't hesitate to give them a good spanking if they misbehaved.
“All right,” Gramma huffed. “Let's go, Neveah. We have to get back to the inn.”
“Is Alisa still at the inn?” Aidan asked.
“Yes. We told Alisa to hold the fort for us. Tristan's with her but we should let them get home.”
“So they can make you some great-grandcubs?” Mason teased.
“Are you asking for another spanking?”
“No Gramma!”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Elle stepped out of the shower and slipped into Aidan's comfortable large t-shirt. It reached down to her knees and the sleeves covered her elbows, but she liked wearing his shirt. She liked having his scent on her. It made her feel safe and...loved.
She padded to the bed and gingerly pulled the covers back. She was going to be sleeping in Aidan's bed tonight. But there was that invisible line between them right?
Elle sucked in a deep breath and scrambled under the covers. Aidan wouldn't cross the line. Unless she wanted him to, of course.
Of course.
Of course she wanted him to.
Elle threw the covers over her head and growled into the pillow, “No I don't!”
“Don't what?”
Startled, she jerked upright and stared at Aidan who was standing at the foot of the bed and staring at her.
“I didn't hear you come in.”
“You were too busy growling and snarling under the covers,” he answered with a lopsided smile.
“I...” She folded her arms. “I was just trying to get comfortable.”
Aidan nodded and turned to the bathroom. “I'll go shower, then I'll join you in bed.”
Elle gulped. Why was her heart beating so fast? And why was she feeling so hot and bothered? She was only wearing his t-shirt and nothing else, but even that felt like too much fabric on her skin.
Did she want to get naked with him?
The vivid image of her naked and moaning beneath him made her press her thighs together as her core ached and pulsed with maddening hunger and need.
Aidan was in the shower, and she was getting aroused in his bed. How was she going to survive the night with him lying beside her?
He's not going to be lying beside you. He's going to be on top of you, that snarky all-knowing voice in her head said smugly.
Elle gasped at the moisture trickling between her legs. Her body and brain were in cahoots. They were ganging up on her, riling her up, turning her on with all sorts of naughty images and suggestions.
Elle covered her face with the pillow and squeezed her eyes shut. She had to control her runaway libido and imagination. Sure, Aidan was a very attractive man, but she had never reacted to any male like this before. This was more than just pure physical attraction. She felt drawn to him, and she instinctively felt safe with him. And she liked his family a lot. His family was warm and fun and loving, and it felt like they fit right into the puzzle of her life. It felt as though they were the missing pieces that she had been searching for all her life.
Aidan and his family didn't see her scars. They didn't see her imperfections and insecurities. They simply accepted her and did their best to make her feel welcome.
This is what it feels like to belong to a family. Not that she had much experience with family life. Her mother hadn't been around much, and they were always moving from place to place. She never had the chance to put down roots and have any lasting friendships. Her own marriage had been disastrous. Whenever she saw a happy family playing in the park, or having a meal together in a restaurant, she would stop and look on with envy and longing. She wished she had a family like that, accepting and loving and supportive.
Elle didn't notice the tears soaking into the pillow until Aidan gently pried the pillow off her face and pulled her to him.
“Hey,” he said softly. “Come here.”
He had a towel wrapped around his hips and water was dripping from his wet hair but he pulled her into his lap and held her while she cried. He simply embraced her and rocked her gently. He didn't say anything, didn't try to soothe her or utter meaningless, comforting words in her ear. He was just there for her.
Elle wiped her eyes with the heel of her palm and sniffed. “I'm so sorry. I...I don't know what came over me,” she said. “I'm sorry...”
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Aidan said, pushing her curls away from her face. “Cry if you want to. Laugh if you want to. Love if you want to,” he finished huskily.
Elle clung to Aidan's powerful shoulders and held his gaze for a long time. She could see her own swirling emotions mirrored in his deep green eyes.
She was done crying. She was done cowering, sniveling and feeling sorry for herself. She wanted to laugh and love. And she very much wanted to love him.
Slowly, tentatively, she leaned forward and kissed him.
CHAPTER NINE
Aidan's entire body jerked at her kiss. Her kiss was shy and soft, but it ignited an inferno in his body. Every nerve ending sizzled, and his bear reared up under his skin and clawed at him. Aidan fought his beast back as best he could, keeping his bear and lust in check.
His muscles throbbed and flexed as he held Elle to him, holding her possessively, hungrily. It took everything he had not to throw her on her back and ravish her like a crazed animal.
Elle felt the shudder coursing through his body, and her eyes widened slightly. There was no fear, just heat and
desire in her eyes. She was his mate, and her blood and body called to him, hungered for him. Her own consuming desire and need may be bewildering and even frightening to her, but there was no way to fight it.
Elle pressed her hand to his bare chest, feeling his heart thunder against her palm. His hand pushed under her t-shirt and she arched into his touch. He felt her erect nipples rub against his fingertips as she moaned her desire. She tugged him to her and they tumbled onto the bed together.
Elle lifted her arms and let him pull the t-shirt up over her head. She wasn't fighting the mating call at all. She was surrendering to it, submitting to him willingly.
Aidan bowed his head. Her trust in him was humbling. He would take her, pleasure her, and honor and cherish her forever.
With trembling fingers, Elle undid his towel and gasped at the sight of his huge erection. His head of his cock was glistening, and Elle pushed herself to her knees and stared up at him.
When she wrapped her sweet, hot lips around his cock, Aidan let out a growl. His eyes almost crossed and it felt like a firework had gone off in his brain.
Elle licked him slowly, thoroughly, moving her lips and tongue down the length of his cock. Aidan clenched his teeth as he speared his fingers into her lush, red curls and cupped the back of her head as she took him deep.
She was a hot little thing, beautiful and sexy as hell. And she was his. Aidan almost couldn't believe how lucky he was. No wonder his brothers had called him a lucky bastard just now.
Aidan gritted out her name as he pulled out of her mouth. With one arm, he flipped her onto her belly and gripped her wide, ample hips. Kneeling behind her, he fed his hard cock inch by inch into her quivering body.
Elle moaned and wiggled her hips, tempting him, urging him to go deeper, faster. But Aidan stroked his hands down her luscious curves and let himself sink slowly into her slick, tight heat.
When he was buried to the hilt in her pussy, Aidan leaned forward and kissed her hard on the mouth. He held her swaying, heavy breasts in his hands and groaned at the immense pleasure. His mate felt so amazing, all soft, womanly curves and wet, feminine heat.
The scent of her arousal was exciting and intoxicating. She didn't hide her desire for him. She couldn't even if she wanted to. Every curvy inch of her burned him, seared him and branded him. He was hers, now and forever.
Elle stretched her arms in front of her, her luscious body undulating as he began to thrust. He loved how she moved and moaned, how her body felt beneath his. They were so perfect together, and he knew that he would never ever get enough of her.
“Elle...” he rasped as he drove deep into her clenching pussy.
Elle rocked her hips in time to his thrusts and she began to pant. He could feel her walls rippling and pulsing, gripping his cock tightly as he surged into her.
Aidan felt his claws and fangs lengthen as his beast rose to claim its mate. He dug his claws into the mattress as he bent down and gripped her shoulder with his teeth. A deep growl rumbled from his throat as his fangs punctured her soft skin.
Elle cried out as she climaxed suddenly and violently. Aidan clamped his teeth down on her shoulder, holding her down as he took her hard.
Elle's body quaked at the force of her orgasm and she threw her head back and screamed.
Aidan plunged deep into her and shot his seed into his mate's hot, lush body. He roared his claim and kept moving inside her, even after he was spent.
Finally, they fell in a heap on the tangled sheets, their limbs entwined and their bodies still pressed together.
Aidan held Elle in his arms and kissed her flushed skin. “Mine,” he growled. “You are mine, Elle.”
Her eyelids fluttered open and she touched his face. “Oh, Aidan, I do want you and I want to be yours. But...how can you want me?” she whispered. “I...I'm scarred and broken...”
“How can you say that? How can I not want you, Elle?” Aidan snarled, gripping her arms. “You are not broken, Elle. Your scars show your strength. Everyone breaks at some point. But we heal. And the parts that were broken mend and grow stronger. You are whole and beautiful, complete and perfect.”
Elle stared at him for a long while. Her throat moved repeatedly but she didn't speak. Her eyes glimmered but she didn't let her tears fall.
Overwhelmed, she reached for him and burrowed her face into his chest.
Finally, she lifted her eyes to him and said shakily, “Nobody has ever accepted me and loved me like this before. I can't believe that I've found you...”
Aidan tilted her face up with a finger under her chin and said, “Yes, you've found me. But it's up to you what you want to do with me now. Do you...accept my love, Elle? Will you let me love you, protect you and cherish you?”
She bent her head and it sounded like she was fighting back a sob. “Yes, Aidan. I accept your love,” she whispered at last.
She took his face in both her hands and said, “I...I've never felt so sure about anything, anyone before. But I feel as if we...belong to each other. Like I am yours...”
“You are mine, Elle. My mate. And I am yours. Forever,” Aidan said, hugging her fiercely.
Elle smiled and hugged him back. “I do feel stronger. With you, I feel positive and powerful, like I can do anything!”
Aidan grinned. “Now that's my girl.”
CHAPTER TEN
Aidan finished up his breakfast and gulped down his coffee. Mason and Jackson were still wolfing down pancakes and didn't look like they wanted to leave the kitchen anytime soon.
Elle was cooking up another batch of pancakes for his brothers, and she smiled as they held up their empty plates and waited expectantly.
“Stop eating, you gluttons,” Aidan said. “Don't you guys have to get to work? You don't want to keep Tristan waiting.”
Mason and Jackson helped their eldest brother in his construction business, Gray's Domain. Like him, Mason thrived on action and danger. While Aidan joined the Sheriff's department, Mason decided to go help their big brother in his business. But building houses was probably a little too tame for Mason, so he went to sign up as a volunteer firefighter as well.
As Elle placed a stack of fresh pancakes on the table, Mason grabbed two hot pancakes, wrapped them around two thick sausages and stuffed them into his mouth. “Don't be such a nag, Aidan. We're leaving. I'm just having my last two pancakes,” Mason mumbled with his mouth full.
Jackson held up a finger. “One more.” He polished off a pancake and moaned. “Ooh, this is so good.” He held up his finger again. “Maybe one more.”
Aidan huffed and hauled his brothers to their feet. “Okay, that's enough. Get your asses down to the construction site now. Elle has other things to do, beside feeding your bottomless tummies, you know.”
“Yeah, yeah,” they grumbled. “We're leaving. Stop nagging, Aidan. You're beginning to sound just like Gramma and Ne-ma!”
As they headed out the door, Aidan saw Gramma's car screeching down the street towards their house. Gramma honked as she drove up their driveway.
“Heading off to work, boys?” Ne-ma grinned as she bounded out of the car and dragged a big trunk out of the backseat.
“What have you got in there?” Jackson asked as Ne-ma thumped the big black trunk up the front steps to the house.
“Oh, it's our little bag of tricks,” Gramma said, coming round to kiss her grandsons.
“Tricks?” The three brothers gulped audibly.
“Yep. Run along now. We have a lot to do today.” Gramma waved them off.
“What will you be doing?” Mason asked suspiciously.
“Oh, you know. Witchy things. We're going to start Elle's training today. She'll be just like us in no time!” Gramma said excitedly.
Mason and Jackson began to chortle as they walked to their car. “Three witches! Ah, good luck, Aidan! You'll need it.”
Aidan scowled at them as they drove away, still laughing gleefully. He tried to concentrate on his police duties as he drove to the station,
but he couldn't help wondering how Elle was doing back home with Gramma and Ne-ma. He knew Gramma and Ne-ma were doing what they thought was best for Elle, but he just didn't want Elle to face any disappointment.
Gramma and Ne-ma had grown up with magic. Casting spells was like breathing to them. But Elle didn't have someone to guide her and train her when she was growing up. This was all going to be new and perplexing to her.
He didn't want her to feel disheartened and demoralized if she couldn't master the complex spells. She'd had enough disappointment in her life. So what if she couldn't cast spells and brew potions? She was a talented baker. She didn't need magic and glamour in her life. She was fine just the way she was.
Aidan was still frowning when he pushed into the Sheriff's Station and went to his desk. The Sheriff was already in his office, and he could hear Winston typing away at his computer. Winston Knight was a lion shifter, and a very good Sheriff. He was a good boss and a good friend to all his deputies.
The door to Winston's office was open at all times. Aidan knocked once and leaned against the door jamb.
Winston glanced up. “Morning,” Winston said gruffly, his fingers still flying over the keyboard.
“Morning.” After a pause, Aidan said, “A woman was attacked last night in her bakery.”
Winston looked up immediately. “A robbery? Was she hurt?”
“No, it wasn't a robbery. Her ex-husband just got out of jail and tracked her down. He was going to hurt her bad, pay her back for putting him in jail.”
Winston narrowed his eyes. “He was thrown in jail for hurting her.”
“Yes.”
“Scum,” Winston muttered.
“I went into her shop and searched the premises, but he'd escaped. He's still in town. He's hiding here somewhere. I have to hunt him down before he hurts her again,” Aidan snarled.
“Is he a shifter, a vamp or...”
“Half wolf, half human.”
Winston leaned back in his chair and stared at Aidan with astute, appraising eyes. “This woman...”
Skyfire Dragon (Dragons In Shadow Point Book 1) Page 18