by M. L. Briers
She went to take a step towards him and stopped … unsure … the beast twisted his head on his neck and made another, mournful sound …
“Careful, Lorelai, the bear’s injured…” Kiel warned from a safe distance away, but not too far that he couldn’t get to her if he needed to, and Lorelai wanted to turn towards the vampire, but she just couldn’t take her eyes from the bear … her mate … Jack.
“No…” she shook her head and started towards him. “Jack won’t hurt me…” she bit out, sure of her words, and Kiel grinned to himself.
“Fast learner, your mate…” the vampire whispered and the bear sung a tune that didn’t sound so sorrowful anymore…
Jack didn’t move an inch. He warned his bear … demanded that the beast wait for her to come to them.
She needed this.
She needed to know that his bear would die before hurting her…
Lorelai didn’t falter in her step, didn’t slow down for a moment as she headed towards him. Her eyes were locked on the bear’s. Her heart was hammering against her ribcage…
“Jack…” she repeated his name over and over, and then she ground to a halt in front of him …
Jack’s bear craned its neck forwards and gave a small, gentle grunt…
Lorelai slowly lifted her hand and reached towards the beast – she jumped just a little when her fingertips touched the fur on his face, and the bear leaned into her touch, brushing his cheek against her hand…
“Whoa … Jack … you are so damn cool right now…” she gave a small chuckle of disbelief.
Jack pushed forward. His bear was happy, grateful for her reaction to him, and now the man needed his mate.
“Hey, I liked the bear…” she said on a smile, but her grin faded the moment that she saw the wound that had been ripped into Jack’s side… “No!” she rushed towards him, but he reached out and wrapped an arm around her, wrenching her against him and burying his head against her neck, taking her scent, and drinking her in…
“Its fine,” he growled, trying to put her fears to rest as he rejoiced in the feel of her within his arms.
“You’re hurt…” She tried to wriggle out of his hold, push him away, but the man had a vice grip around her, locking her body to his.
“It’s healing. The bullet went clean through,” Jack assured her, but he didn’t take into account the fact that she was a human female…
“Right through!” her voice was a high pitched shrewish squeal that hurt his ears…
“I’m going to be deaf from that squeal for a while though,” he growled. His beast was still just under the surface.
“Jack…” she twisted her body and tried to break free.
“You liked my bear,” Jack said.
“What? Yes,” she replied, a little absently, “but you’re hurt…”
“It’s healing,” Jack said again.
“Stop saying that and let me see…!” she bit out, getting frustrated and angry.
“Stop twisting and wriggling and it’ll heal faster,” he chuckled back.
“I’m hurting you?” She froze in place, her body as stiff as a board.
“You should play up the injury,” Kiel offered, still a safe distance away. “Females like that.”
“Shut up,” Jack growled back.
“Gratitude … I’m overwhelmed.” Kiel snorted in contempt. “I got shot too…” he held up his blood covered hand … there was no sight of a wound…
“What?” Lorelai panicked.
“He’s healed already,” Jack growled out. “Jog on, vampire.”
“I understand … only room for one sympathy vote here tonight,” Kiel shrugged. “You want me to clean up the mess?” He nodded towards the body. “There’s the car too.”
“You take the car and get rid of it. I’ll deal with the body.” Jack grumbled. He’d rather be mating…
“What?” Lorelai frowned. “Deal …? It was self-defence…”
“No wounds to prove that point,” Kiel offered back. “The law tends to be jaded towards the human side.”
“That’s not right…” Lorelai scowled.
“That’s life, or … death in his case.” Kiel offered back with a snort of contempt for the man who had thought that he could come onto their territory and hurt one of their own.
“He’ll disappear.” Jack assured her. “If anyone comes looking for him the car will be miles away and the community won’t say a damn word.”
“What about you, Lorelai? Will you have a sudden attack of conscience? Because I can help with that…” Kiel offered.
“What does that mean?” She asked.
“He’s being a vampire,” Jack growled at the man.
“Well, der!” Kiel offered back. “But really,” he smiled at her. “I can make you forget … everything here tonight.”
“No!” Lorelai scowled back at him. “I’m not going to lose any more sleep over that…” She had the urge to kick the body, maybe if her mate wasn’t holding onto her so damn tightly then she might have.
The man was garbage, a waste of air. He’d killed someone and had made her have to leave everything behind her. Her home, her life, and everything that she had known.
The only thing that she had to thank him for was that he’d sent her running to Jack. In her mind, her neighbourhood, the world was a better place without him in it.
“Then it’s settled.” Kiel said to Jack and the man growled at him again. “Oh, pipe down, Yogi. I’m leaving.”
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
~
Lorelai let sleep slowly drift away from her as she came back to the feel of Jack all around her. She’d never felt safer in her life before. Never felt more loved.
“Good morning,” Jack growled a little, and when she wiggled her backside against his hard length, he growled a lot more.
“There’s no light out, it’s not morning,” she chuckled.
“Dawn’s breaking, it’s morning,” Jack assured her as he ran his fingertips down over her naked thigh.
“I like mornings that look like mornings,” she grumbled.
“Then go back to sleep. You don’t have anything to get up for,” Jack’s hot breath fanned out against her neck and made her womb dance and a shiver run through her.
Excitement raised its head on little jolts of goodness, and she felt that desire, that need for him again.
“But you do,” she rubbed her backside against his length and liked the sound of his hungry growl.
“I told you, sweetheart. The next time we mate I don’t think I can control the urge to mark you,” he warned her.
“I’ve met your bear – did he not approve of me?” She teased, turning her head to eye him over her shoulder.
Mine…
“Oh, I think he approves,” Jack chuckled. “In fact, he’s kind of doing backflips right now.”
“Now that I’d like to see.” She chuckled. “But do you really think that we should we disappoint him?” She teased.
Jack’s heart skipped a beat and his bear roared in approval of her words. Jack held in place, waiting to see if the other shoe might drop.
“I think I can handle a little pain along with my pleasure,” she went to move her hips again, but Jack’s hand came down on her hip and held her in place…
“It’s for life, Lorelai. It’s not something I can walk away from…” he wanted to make sure that she understood…
“I’m not walking away, Jack, and I hope to hell you’re not going to either…”
Lorelai found herself on her back a moment later starring up into his eyes as he held over her. His eyes searched hers…
“I need you to be sure…” Jack growled…
Mine… His bear demanded.
“I’m not sure if you need me to spell it out for you…” Lorelai’s hand palmed his cheek and she felt the rub of stubble against her palm, and it felt good … sexy …
Then his lips came down on hers, and he was demanding … finding out everything tha
t he needed to know and more by the way that her body responded to him…
Jack growled long and hard. He wanted her to pull away now, not later, not when it was too late and she’d changed her mind.
He needed her to remember that he was a shifter. That this was a one way street…
He wanted it all. He’d told her that during their talk.
He wanted her and a family. Cubs.
He needed her to be all in.
He felt her legs come up and wrap around his hips. Could scent her arousal in the air as she moved her hips and brought her sex up to meet his cock…
His mate urged him on. His beast urged him on, and Jack almost lost his damn mind right then and there.
He wanted her. The fire of desire raged inside of him.
He needed her. Needed to be so damn deep inside of her that he didn’t know where he ended and she began.
He crave her like a crazy bear … like a ravenous beast.
He wanted to bury his cock deep inside of her from behind and claim her for his own.
It was almost too damn sweet a thought to even try to ignore…
“I’m all in, Jack…” she breathed out against his lips the moment he that pulled back a little. “Claim me as yours.”
He needed nothing more than those words from her lips to send him into a frenzy of longing. He wanted it to be done, to know that she was truly his, and yet he never wanted those moments to end…
Jack slowly climbed down her body. His jet black eyes were locked with hers and he was waiting … waiting for her to change her mind.
His large hands locked against her inner thighs and he opened her wide. Her scent was enticing, and he dipped his head and buried his face against her sex, frenzied in his need to taste her sweet feminine essence on his tongue, and determined that he wouldn’t have to wait long to do it…
Lorelai’s hands slapped down against the mattress and she fisted the sheet … Jack was ravenous against her, inside of her, taking her up so high and so fast that she felt lightheaded … to try to stop the orgasm that was building inside of her would have been like trying to hold back the torrent of water from a dam that had burst…
Lorelai held on for the ride and let it wash over her, through her, as wave after wave battered her body, but it wasn’t just once – once was amazing, but the second time she’d almost lost her mind between needing him to stop and never wanting it to end…
She managed to pry her eyes open at the moment that Jack was climbing back up over her body. His thick muscled arms were caging her in as he got closer and closer – the predator under the skin was showing in those black eyes of his …
He looked so damn sexy with his muscles moving under the skin and those eyes eating her up that she gave a little growl of her own deep within her throat…
Jack hesitated as the sound greeted his ears … he twisted his head on his neck and growled back, hungrier than hers … Then he reached out and tore the tee that she was wearing from hemline to the neck, opening her body to his gaze and feeling the thrill of his beastly side on show…
“You’ve gotta get a lot wilder than that,” she teased, and he reached for her, wrapping his arm around her and bringing her up off the bed…
“Oh, I will,” he promised with the sound of his bear right there in his voice…
Lorelai could have squealed with delight when he turned her within his arms and put her down onto her knees. His hands fisted what was now a rag of a tee and pulled it down her arms to freedom…
Then she felt the hard press of his cock against her channel and she almost begged him to get inside of her…
She didn’t have to beg – his hot, hard length pushed into her, opening her wide, wider, around his girth until his hips nudged her backside…
Jack was growling again, fighting the urgency of the bear within to make sure that she ready for what was to come. He knew he could lose himself inside of her now – let his wild side out, and claim his mate for his own.
His hips moved – slowly at first – getting her used to the hard length of him, and then faster as his cock devoured her, taking her back up towards another release.
The sounds that she made spurred him on. He wrapped an arm around her waist and brought her back up against his chest – his hips never faltering as they slapped against her backside.
He felt his bear push forward once more and he set the beast free. His fangs pushed down and his eyes locked onto the curve of her neck, tracing the line down over her shoulder where they fixed upon the place that he was going to mark, to claim her.
Lorelai was lost in those moments. Her body was climbing from the friction that they made together. She was climbing higher and higher, and there was a nervous excitement inside of her for what came next…
Jack felt her body tightening around his. He fisted her hair and dragged her head to one side with a long, hard, hungry growl.
He wanted to taste her blood on his tongue. Share the bond with her…
The moment that he felt her body lock up; he dipped his head and opened his jaws above her shoulder… waiting … longing … needing …
Lorelai cried out against the intensity of the orgasm that shook her to her very soul … a heartbeat later and she felt the pain that coursed through her body from the feel of his fangs ripping into her skin, and it swept her even further into insanity…
Jack’s bear roared at the claim. Their mark in her flesh, and the taste of her blood upon his tongue as he truly knew her, as they became truly one.
He licked over the wound. Fever rising inside of him for what he needed most in the world now – the completion of the bond.
He needed to find his own release. His body craved it and it clawed within him like his bear.
He pushed her shoulders down towards the mattress and his hands clamped against her hips. He fevered inside of her, that heady friction taking her closer and closer to release.
His thrusts became erratic as he neared the end, and when she cried out once more, her inner muscles suckling his cock, he buried himself deep inside of her and roared with the first burst of his seed against her womb.
Over and over until Jack thought he might go crazy from the pleasure, he thrust into her and gave her everything that he had to give.
His love.
His life.
His forever mate.
Mine…
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
~
“Coffee?” Judy asked on a knowing grin the moment that Lorelai walked into the bar and headed for the nearest stool.
“Love one,” Lorelai sighed as she planted her backside down.
“Coffee,” the barman snorted from the other end of the counter and the sound of Jack’s growl from the back room made him roll his eyes in his head. “It’s a bar not a Starbucks.”
“It’s three in the afternoon, not happy hour.” Lorelai shot back and he snorted.
The sound of the door opening took Lorelai’s attention away from Mr Happy and she gave a half grin to the vampire as he strolled in and brushed past her towards one of the middle stools.
“Scotch,” Kiel said and the barman snorted again, as if proving his point to Lorelai.
“Hallelujah,” he muttered, turning to go about his business.
When the door opened again Lorelai shot a look back over her shoulder and groaned inwardly. Elmore Crane almost hesitated at the sight of her…
“Oh, I wouldn’t,” Kiel bit out.
“Well, look who’s back,” Elmore growled, just a little, just enough to get Jack’s attention.
“You better keep walking, wolf,” Jack bit out and Lorelai jumped in place – her head snapped around to find Jack standing right there beside her, arms down at his sides and his fists clenched, ready and more than willing to take the man down…
“Again?” Lorelai sighed and rolled her eyes.
“You have a problem, Jack?” Elmore growled.
“Crane, save yourself a beating,” Kiel offered, �
��and check out her left shoulder, you moron.”
Jack almost felt robbed when the man’s eyes sought the mark that Jack had placed there. He really wanted to put his fist into Elmore’s face – repeatedly, and with as much force as he could muster.
Crane frowned. Then he grumbled a growl…
“I … overstepped,” Elmore offered, holding his hands up to his chest to signal that he was standing down.
“Damn right you did,” Lorelai muttered.
“What she said,” Jack growled.
“Fast learner,” Kiel chuckled.
“I wish you many healthy male cubs,” Elmore offered and Lorelai snorted.
“Something wrong with female cubs?” She muttered again. “And I’m a mate not a breeding machine.”
“Someone found their voice,” Elmore grumbled and Jack growled a warning.
“I’m just saying,” the wolf shifter offered.
“Really digging a hole,” Kiel chuckled and the man grunted in annoyance.
“Can I still get a drink?” Elmore asked.
“Coffee’s good,” Lorelai said, as she turned on her stool towards him and the man scowled.
“Coffee…?”
“I-s g-o-o-d,” Kiel offered back.
“I’ll have a … coffee,” Elmore nodded slowly and the barman grumbled and groaned.
“Judy!” he yelled, “another damn coffee.”
“I’ll have a coffee too,” Kiel said on a smirk.
“Me too,” Jack eyed Elmore for a long moment and then physically stepped down.
“Maybe we should change our name to Starbucks.” The bartender grumbled.
“Maybe you should go work in one,” Jack shot him a glare.
“I’m good, boss.”
“Coffee for everyone!” Kiel chuckled.
Jack didn’t relax until Elmore had strolled down the length of the bar, giving the mates a wide berth, and then he turned to his mate and wrapped his arms around her, nuzzling against her neck…
“Valentine’s Day coffee’s for everyone,” Judy called as she strolled into the room carrying a tray of mugs and a jug of the black stuff.