by T. S. Joyce
“What’s happening?” Skyler asked, heart still lodged somewhere between her throat and her brain. “Is someone hurt?”
“No,” Kellen said in an inhuman snarl. The rustle of fabric sounded from somewhere to her left, and she squinted at the darker figure. He seemed to be struggling into a pair of jeans. “The boys like to go night muddin’ when the weather is like this.”
“Right. Night muddin’. Are you going with them?”
“You want to come, too?”
It was the middle of the night, and by all accounts, she should be exhausted after the emotional roller coaster of yesterday, but Bruiser banging on the echoing trailer walls had frightened her wide awake. “I want to be with you.”
The mattress sank in around her and Kellen’s lips landed on hers, as if he could see her just fine in the darkness of his den. “Good.”
“I need to get some fresh clothes and get ready, though. It’ll take me five minutes.”
He gripped her ass as he pulled her up, then nibbled on her neck. She bathed in his attention, smiling into the darkness as he worked his lips downward to the base of her throat.
“Kellen, hurry up!” Drew yelled through the wall.
Kellen’s growl was nothing shy of feral. With a sigh, he helped her dress in her discarded clothes that he seemed to find just fine in the pitch black, then led her to the front door.
With a triumphant swat on her ass, he winked and said, “I’ll see you in five…mate.”
A giggle peeled from her throat as heat crept into her cheeks. Mate. Just that word from his lips sent riotous flutters into her middle.
He gripped the railing of his porch as she walked across the street. Twice she looked back at him, and both times he watched her with hunger and pride evident in his gaze.
The trailer park was lit by strands of holiday lights that zigzagged this way and that between and around the trailers. There weren’t any streetlights, but the tiny firefly-looking lights made up for it with quantity. The Ashe crew was busy piling out of their trailers and loading into trucks.
“Holy shit, rookie,” Denison said as he sauntered toward Tagan’s trailer. “What happened to your neck?” He shoved a strand of her hair to the side and made a hissing sound behind his teeth.
Well, now that he mentioned it, Kellen’s mark hurt like a mother trucker, throbbing and burning like it had been waiting for someone to notice to spring up and pain-attack her.
“It looks like someone…” Denison’s eyes went wide. “Bit you,” he finished quietly.
His narrowed eyes lifted to hers, and she couldn’t help the big, dumb grin that cracked open her face.
“Are you shitting me?” he asked. “Kellen! Is she shitting me?”
Kellen cocked his head to the side and gave Denison a proud smile. “She’s mine,” he confirmed.
“Two in one night. Two in one night! Brooke!” Denison was running around in circles now, as if he didn’t know what to do with himself.
“What are you squawking about, man?” Bruiser asked, sliding from behind the wheel of Denison’s old, beat-up Bronco.
Brighton, Haydan, and Drew jogged over, followed by Tagan and Brooke.
“What’s happened?” Brooke asked.
So happy she thought she’d burst from it, Skyler lifted up her hair and showed them Kellen’s mark. “I’m claimed.” Tears stung her eyes as the Ashe crew surged forward.
Suddenly, Kellen was there, shaking under the claps on his back and rough hugs, and she was swept up in Brighton’s arms, feet completely off the ground. Brooke pulled her down just as Tagan wrapped Kellen in a hug and slapped him on the back. The alpha said something too low for her to hear in Kellen’s ear, and her mate answered with an emotional smile.
Tears streaked Brooke’s face as she shook Skyler’s shoulders gently. “We’re Ashe crew now.”
Skyler frowned, uncertain what Brooke meant. “What?”
Brooke turned and pulled her shirt down over her shoulder. On the muscle just above her shoulder blade was a claiming mark as dark and angry-looking as her own felt.
“Brooke,” she breathed. “Tagan claimed you?”
Brooke’s face crumpled, and a soft sob left her throat as she nodded. Skyler wrapped her arms around her friend’s neck and rocked slowly from side to side, burying her face against Brooke’s uninjured shoulder.
Voice thick, Brooke said, “I always wanted a sister, and now it feels like I have one.”
God, this feeling inside of Skyler…it was almost too much happiness. She looked down at her arm, surprised she wasn’t aglow with it. Rough arms wrapped around her and Brooke, then another set, and another, until the entirety of the Ashe crew was squeezing the breath out of her.
Skyler laughed breathlessly. “No more all boys club.”
“Thank God,” Denison crowed. “Too many dicks made it super boring around here.”
“All right, all right,” Tagan said, voice growly. “The girls are both hurt and need time to heal before you ruffians squish the life out of them like this. Let ’em loose.”
The anaconda death grip loosened, and she grinned at Brooke as she wiped her damp cheeks with the back of her hand. “Congratulations.”
Brooke’s delicate nostrils flared, and it looked like the second round of waterworks were on their way. “You, too. You got yourself a good man now, Skyler Drake.”
“Okay, enough with the mushy shit. We doing this or what?” Bruiser called over his shoulder. He was already jogging back toward the Bronco.
Tagan tossed Brighton a set of keys and said, “You and Denny take my truck. Brooke and I will ride with them.” He jerked his head toward Skyler and Kellen.
“Why?” Denison asked.
“Because Kellen is the best mudder out of all of us, and you’re a front seat driver. We’ll lead.”
Kellen scooped Skyler up and carried her toward his white monster truck. He looked relieved and so satisfied he was practically seeping happiness. She cupped his cheeks, his short scruff rough against her hands. She lived to see him like this. He wasn’t confused or overthinking everything like he’d been doing. He was just open. Free.
“Oh!” Skyler exclaimed, remembering. “I was supposed to change clothes.”
Kellen leaned down until his nose touched her throat. “These clothes are fine. You smell like me.”
Which was great and all, but she was about to share a small space with Tagan and Brooke.
“I haven’t changed my clothes yet either,” Brooke said low.
Well, all right then. Nobody here seemed to care about this stuff, so why should Skyler stress herself out over it?
Kellen settled her behind the wheel, then she scooted over to make room for him. Tagan lifted Brooke onto his lap, and his mate rested her palms against the roof of the cab as if she knew rough roads were coming.
Skyler had never been mudding before, and a sense of overwhelming excitement took her. Utterly beside herself, she clenched her hands and squealed.
“Excited?” Kellen asked, eyes glued to her smile.
“Yes!” This was the best day of her life. How could she not be excited? Her future with Kellen stretched on and on now. There was no more questioning her place beside him, and after that giant sexyman-woodcutter-werebear group hug back there, she was feeling like this was exactly the place she’d always meant to end up, among the Ashe crew with the man who could protect her heart.
Tagan nuzzled Brooke’s neck, and she giggled as Kellen turned the key. The engine roared to life, and he rested his hand on Skyler’s thigh as he twisted in his seat and backed the giant truck out of its parking spot.
He took the main road out of the trailer park, the one he’d brought her in on when he’d kidnapped her. She laughed at the memory of how scared she’d been of Roger’s reaction when he found her gone. It was a relief how gloriously little she’d thought about him this past week and a half. Who cared about her name and bloodline? No one here. And someday, she’d bear Kellen little cubs
and raise them with a man she knew would be an amazing father. But for now, she was happy just being with him. Of making his den her home and making him as happy as he made her. If this truck had a sunroof, she’d thrust herself out into the open air and spread her arms wide to catch the air.
She couldn’t wipe the grin off her face as Kellen jerked the truck into the woods and over the first skid of mud. The truck whipped this way and that as he maneuvered a hole-riddled road these trailer park bears had probably used many times before. The truck bounced and spun out, splashing rooster tails of the brown goop whenever Kellen made a sharp turn. The other two trucks and Bronco raced beside them, then rushed ahead as the back of Kellen’s ride got bogged down in a marshy area. Headlights flashed this way and that over the piney woods as the bear shifters skidded circles over a meadow.
Drew was hanging out of one of the trucks, yelling in pure joy, hands out above his head as Haydan grinned from the driver’s side. Skyler hadn’t stopped laughing since they left, and even when Kellen’s truck got hopelessly stuck and Tagan convinced her and Brooke to get out and help push them out, she still had a muddy grin on after they were done with the messy work.
A quick glance in the rearview showed her happy reflection, mud streaked across her face where she’d scratched an itch. Kellen hooked his arm around her shoulders and brought her in close, then kissed her like he meant it. His lips spoke the words he’d told her earlier. He loved her. Adored her, just like she did him.
And when they finally drove home and said goodnight to the crew, he tugged her hand and led her to 1010. In the light of the bathroom, he peeled her filthy clothes off her. The bathtub was ancient, a baby-puke brown color, and definitely lacked the stopper to run a bath, but Kellen plugged up the drain with a shaving cream cap, filled it with hot water, and bathed her slowly from her hair to her toes.
He didn’t say anything as he worked, but he didn’t have to. His gaze cherished her body and warmed her from her belly to her fingertips. When her skin shone like an eggshell in sunlight, he checked the mark he’d made on the back of her neck, turned off the lights, and fell asleep beside her, tucked up tight and warm under the comforter.
And that was a gift in itself. Tonight, Kellen had given up his den for her.
As she watched him sleep beside her, breathing deeply, his heavy arm slung over her waist, she marveled at how much her life had changed—at how much he’d changed it.
She brushed her fingers over his cheek and inhaled his scent.
He would protect her as long as she lived.
And as long as he lived, she would do the same for him.
Chapter Twelve
“Do you miss my giant flannel shirt?” Skyler teased.
Kellen laughed and shook his head, then opened his mouth for another bite of frozen yogurt Skyler offered him from her cup.
He swallowed and draped his arm across her shoulders. “I prefer you in this outfit.” He raked his gaze down her tank top and borrowed dark-wash skinny jeans tucked into her black hiking boots. And finally, he took in the gold songbird necklace she proudly wore around her throat.
“Now, if you were comfortable wearing that flannel potato sack,” he continued, “you know I’d still love you in it, but you dress more confidently now. I like you strong.”
“It’s all my new lumberjack muscles. I have to show them off.” She flexed her arm, and he arched his eyebrows appropriately.
He hadn’t stopped smiling on their entire date to the Snowy Mountain Pub and to the ice cream shop after lunch. Kellen had laughed more today than she’d ever seen him do, and it lightened her step with every booming sound of amusement he gifted her with.
Saratoga was busy for a Tuesday afternoon, but she didn’t mind the crowded sidewalk. Nothing could bust up her mood. She was newly mated to a man she hadn’t dreamed of wishing for. He acted honored that she was with him, touching her constantly in affectionate ways.
“I like your hair up like this,” he said, cupping the casual messy bun she’d pulled back and away from her face with a hair band. “I can see your eyes better.”
“You like it because it shows off my mark,” she accused happily.
“That, too.” He leaned down and kissed her earlobe. “I think you like showin’ it off.”
“Hell yeah, I do.”
“What about this one,” he said, pulling her to a stop in front of another clothing boutique.
His hand was already full of shopping bags, but he seemed determined she get whatever she wanted. Her new paycheck was already half-spent on new clothes and personal items she needed for her new home, but she’d lived simply for so long that more than a couple weeks’ worth of outfits seemed frivolous.
“Nah, I think I’m good. Do you need to get anything while we’re in town? I think you’ve paid your dues shopping with me today. I owe you.”
“I like shopping with you,” he said, confusion drawing his eyebrows into a frown. “I like when you show me your clothes and want to know what I think. No one has ever cared about my opinion like that before.”
“I want to look pretty for you,” she admitted, lacing her fingers with his and bumping his shoulder. “It makes me feel good when you look at me like you are right now. Like I’m the prettiest thing you’ve ever seen.”
“You are.”
She shrugged her shoulders up near her ears with giddiness and sighed at the butterflies he conjured in her belly.
He kissed her knuckles and steered her toward the grocery store. “Tagan gave me a list of stuff he and the boys need from town. That was the deal. If he synced up our days off, I had to take care of groceries again this week for the crew. We have a big number to hit by Saturday.”
“Yeah, I heard the log buyer is coming, and the big boss has almost doubled the lumber order.”
“Are your muscles still sore?” Kellen asked, massaging her neck gently.
She glanced across the street before they crossed at the light and skidded to a stop. Roger stood there, staring at her with vitriol in his cold eyes. A truck pulling a trailer stacked five rows deep with stripped logs drove between them, and when it passed, Roger was nowhere to be seen.
“Skyler?” Kellen asked, worry thickening his tone. “What’s wrong?”
“I…I thought I saw…” She swallowed hard and tried to steady her galloping heartbeat.
Kellen searched the other side of the street and pulled her closer. “Hey,” he said low. “Even if he’s here, you’re safe. Skyler.” He hooked a finger under her chin and drew her attention upward to his eyes. “He won’t hurt you. I won’t let him.” Kellen’s eyes churned an odd color. Silver gray in the saturated sunlight.
Shaking her head to rid herself of the chills that had taken her, she touched where Kellen’s smile lines had disappeared. “I know. I was just startled is all. I’m not even sure he was really there or if I imagined him.”
Slowly, Kellen leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. She relaxed instantly, her muscles losing their tension as she clutched his black, cotton T-shirt. Damn, but her man looked good today. His V-neck shirt stretched tight over his defined chest, and his jeans hung just right on that sexy waist of his. His boots were big and clunky, just the way she liked them, and his hair was perfectly mussed, begging her to run her fingernails across his scalp. And those silvery inhuman eyes? Her knees were knocking by the time he brushed his tongue against hers.
His fingers gripped her hair as he angled her face and deepened the kiss. His other hand found the curve of her backside.
“Get a room,” a passerby muttered.
Skyler giggled and eased back, but Kellen only cocked his head in confusion at the irritated man.
“What does that mean?”
“It means he doesn’t appreciate our PDA.”
“What’s PDA?”
“Public display of affection. ‘Get a room’ is a saying that means we should do what we’re doing in a bedroom, in private, not out in the open where people can see u
s.”
“Oh. But I like kissing you.”
She couldn’t help her grin any more than she could help the rain. “I like you kissing me, too. It’s probably the ass grabbing that has him grumpy.”
“Oh.” Kellen removed his kneading hand from her derriere, then picked up the bags he’d dropped. “Fine. Later we’ll get a room. In our den.”
“It’s a date.”
“It is? I thought we just went on a date. Brooke specifically said a date is when you go into town and go out to eat or watch a movie.”
Skyler giggled and tugged his hand as the walk sign on the pedestrian light flashed. They crossed the street and meandered into the grocery store to start in on the giant list Kellen had tucked in his pocket.
As they passed the floral section, Kellen asked, “What is your favorite flower?”
“Pink roses.” She said it without thinking. Her favorite used to be tulips, but now, she adored the rose she’d pressed dry in the center of a phone book in 1010, the flower Kellen had given her the day he decided to take her home with him.
Kellen picked out a bouquet of pink roses and another of yellow. Skyler didn’t mind that he picked out flowers for Brooke, too. It was just his way. He cared about women and liked for them to feel special. His kind heart made her adore him even more.
When they had the groceries piled high in the cart and were standing in line at the checkout counter, Kellen patted her butt and muttered, “I forgot Brooke’s bacon. I’ll be right back. Don’t pay,” he said over his shoulder, “I got this.”
He’d been trying to pay for everything all day. It was clear he liked to take care of her. His bear had a distinct need to feel like a protector and provider, but she’d won by arguing her need to be independent, which he agreed was good for her. She didn’t think he’d let her get away with sneaky-paying for the crew’s groceries, though, so she began to load everything on the conveyer belt more slowly than necessary.
“You look different.” That deep, emotionless voice shot fear straight into her gut. Roger leaned against the stand of plastic bags, arms crossed and head cocked, as if he’d been there the entire time, watching her. His blond hair looked unkempt, as always, and the blue in his eyes was particularly icy.