The afternoon sun kissed the western horizon as Jackie walked from the sheriff’s station to the motel. It had taken her a lot longer than she’d expected to tell Brooker her story and answer his questions, and now she was horny and hungry. She could have asked for a ride, but nothing was far in Kotoyeesinay, she needed time to think about what she wanted to say to Trevor. Her fiancé. Her goddess-gifted true mate. The man she loved.
They were both strong, independent personalities, so their marriage would founder if it wasn’t an equal partnership. She’d immediately regretted sending him away after the fight with Roehm, and missed him every moment while he was gone, but she didn’t want him sacrificing his business for her. It would have been a poor start to what she hoped was a long and successful union.
She’d ruthlessly quizzed Shiloh and Matteo about all things shifter. To her vast relief, they told her that once she and Trevor mated, her scent would change, so she’d no longer be a sex magnet to horny shifters. As Matteo described it, the mate bond would be plain as daylight to any shifter, and they’d both smell boringly off-limits. They’d also assured her shifters could easily form a mate bond with a human, especially one like her with her own magic.
With mating in mind, and her body totally on board for the thrill ride, she let herself into the motel room, only to find Trevor not there. No brown and gold big rig in the parking lot, either, or on a nearby street. Princess kicked, just like Jackie wanted to. She rubbed her belly. “You and me both, baby.”
To kill time, she changed into a T-shirt with a picture of the death star over her round belly and stretch maternity pants with a wide, soft waistband, then hung up the outfit she’d worn to the hearing.
During the week, she’d been astonished at how many townspeople had gone out of their way to welcome her, convinced she’d be granted sanctuary. Trevor had left her all the cash he had, but hardly anyone would take her money. The motel room was free because of a called-in favor from Shiloh and Matteo. The diners and restaurants said her meals were on the house. The owner of a clothing store outright gave her some fun maternity clothes, including the business suit she wore for the hearing. Not even Shepherd, Trevor’s seven-foot-tall ogre mechanic friend, would let her pay for the motorcycle repairs.
At first, she’d been perturbed. When she was coming up, she and her mother had sometimes made do with bread soup, but they weren’t charity cases. It had taken her several days to realize that the town’s generosity had no strings—no return obligation, no sneering condescension. It was the kind of community she’d always dreamed of but had never found. She really wanted to stay, but that was on the long list of things to discuss with Trevor. He had a say in that, too.
No sense sitting around, waiting for a man who’d apparently gone all the way to Laramie to shop for food, so she spread out her wardrobe on the bed.
Outside of the business outfit, her clothes were highly inappropriate for a wedding. Cheap maternity pants and tops in dreadful colors, second-hand work shirts, a pair of slip-on canvas shoes, two of Trevor’s T-shirts for sleeping in, and her motorcycle riding gear. If Trevor wouldn’t go for a quick visit to the Justice of the Peace, maybe she could talk him into a sky clad wedding, like her Wiccan friends had in Houston. She’d rather be naked than look like a something the cat dragged in. She folded and rolled up her clothes and returned them to her backpack in the closet. The drawers in the motel room’s dresser smelled like spilled perfume, which her newly sensitive nose couldn’t abide.
She flung herself into the stuffed chair. Her empty stomach suggested pizza. She couldn’t go anywhere, because that would guarantee he’d come back to find her gone and go out looking. She realized it wasn’t fair to have expected him to sit around waiting for her, either.
A sudden swell of doubt washed over her. Was he having second thoughts about marrying a human? Did he hate the idea of living in a house instead of his truck? Did he think she was too emotional or too clingy? Did it bother him that she was nine years younger? She stood up and gave herself a mental shake while arching her back in a stretch. It was likely the pregnancy hormones, magnifying her feelings and warping her rational brain.
Princess elbowed her, reminding her not to mope. She had a feeling her daughter was going to be more interested in martial arts than ballet.
Which meant she needed a job, because martial arts clothes—and shifter obstetricians—weren’t free, and she damn sure wasn’t going to make Trevor pay for everything. Besides, she wasn’t cut out to be idle.
She had debts to pay and food to buy, soon for two. A wedding dress to buy. Now that she had transportation again, she could apply for any position in town, but she needed a job she could do from home for a while. Too bad she didn’t have something like Brooker’s cassette recorder with its magical ability to transmit to Chicago from wherever he was. Maybe she could figure out how to do it with computerized spreadsheets.
Inspired, she called Matteo’s office, and the receptionist put her right through. “Does the Shifter Tribunal need an accountant?”
8
Trevor was pretty sure his mate was going to kill him for being so late. He’d wanted everything to be perfect, and time had gotten away from him.
Just as he approached the motel room door, he heard her asking about a job with the Shifter Tribunal.
He awkwardly unlocked the door and opened it, then sidestepped in with his bags.
Jackie turned, her eyes growing wide. “Good. I’ll bring you a résumé on Monday. Gotta go.” She hung up the phone. “What did you do, buy out the store?” She smiled, and he relaxed a bit. “Oh, never mind. I’m glad you’re back.” She crossed to the dresser that held a TV, a coffee maker, and a hot plate. “Here, put them in the kitchen.”
He set them all down, then arranged them so they wouldn’t spill. “I’ve got another load.”
“I’ll help, because we need to talk.”
As they brought in the rest of the bags and his large cooler, he admitted he might have gone overboard with the supplies. He tried not to let her words worry him, but he didn’t do a very good job.
He sat on the corner of the bed and braced himself for bad news. “You wanted to talk.”
She crossed to stand in front of him. “I’m on the pregnancy roller coaster right now, and all I can think about is the Moon pies you brought and jumping your bones.” She put a hand on his shoulder. “Are you sure you want to mate with me? I know it’s for life, and I want that, but you have to be sure, too.” She slid her other hand over her stomach.
Relief flooded him. “Damn sure. I want you forever. Mating means your daughter becomes the daughter of my heart, and I want that, too.” He placed a gentle hand over hers on her stomach. “Some shifters never get the chance to meet their true mate, and not all matings are blessed with children. I hit the jackpot with you.”
She gave him a radiant smile, so he didn’t mind the tears. He patted the bed next to him. “I have a question for you.”
She sat, and he put an arm around her to snuggle her close.
“Do you want to move to Chicago?” It would throw half his arrangements out the window, but he’d do it in a heartbeat if that’s where her job was. His job was mobile, but his home base would always be with her.
“No. I’d like to live here.” Her eyes filled with more tears. “I’ve made more friends here in a week than I did in four years living in Houston.” She captured his hand and kissed his palm. “How does claiming work? Shiloh and Matteo said it creates the bond, but they got all coy about the details, so I assume it’s sex.” She used her sleeve to wipe the tears from her face. “Goddess, I hope it’s sex.”
“Oh, yeah.” Trevor pulled her in for a kiss, licking at the seam of her lips until she opened for him. The feel and taste of her set him on fire. “Hot, raunchy sex with enthusiastic intent.”
She stood up to strip the T-shirt off over her head and threw it on the stuffed chair. She started on her bra. “Well then, get undressed, cowboy,” she d
rawled. “I’ve been wanting you real bad for a whole week.”
He flared his magic to do the one trick he knew, vanishing his clothes until he called for them again. He watched, mesmerized as she pushed off her pants and underwear. Yellow light from the bedside lamp lit her large, beautiful breasts and swelling stomach, like she’d been painted by a master artist. He wasted no time in pulling her to him, so he could latch onto one proud, taut nipple. She moaned as he swirled his tongue around it and sucked gently, then repeated the cycle. He did the same for her other breast, reveling in her pleasure.
“Bed,” she whispered.
He scooped her up and stood, kissing her wetly before laying her on her back on top of the covers of the king-size bed. Her smile widened when her eyes drifted down and centered on his erection. Her anticipation flowed through the nascent mate bond, causing him to pulse with need.
He knelt on the bed and stalked her on his hands and knees until he got to her splayed thighs. The scent of her arousal drew him like the finest honey. He lowered his head to the center of her curls for a taste.
“Oh, goddess, yes, do that again.” She clutched the sheets. “More.”
He ran his hands up her thighs and slid them under her generous ass, then gave his mate what she asked for. He licked his way through her folds until he found her swollen clit, which he flicked several times with his tongue until he found the angle that had her thrusting her hips and gasping his name.
He swirled down into her well for more of her honey, curling his tongue into her to get it all. Her muscles tightened around him, so he inserted a finger instead while his tongue went back to her clit.
Her knees spread wider as he flicked with his tongue and added a second finger to thrust several times, until they were both drenched in juices. Her throaty moans and pumping hips sped up, so he did, too. He latched his lips over her and flicked her clit as fast as he could go.
She gave several short screams as she came, clutching her breasts and pushing against his thrusting fingers. He rode the slow descent with her, keeping her warm with his mouth and hand.
She sat up enough to pull on his shoulders. “Come inside me,” she breathed. “I need you to claim me before I die and go to heaven again.”
“How do we do this, so I don’t hurt you?” He ran his hands over her round stomach, shiny with perspiration.
She pulled a pillow from above her head and shoved it under her hips. “Try that.” She smiled. “Trust me, I’ll let you know if we need to do it another way.”
He oozed up her, kissing her stomach and breasts as he aligned himself with her entrance. He lifted her knees, then slowly pushed into her, moaning in pleasure as her tight muscles gave just enough to fit him like a glove.
“Yes,” she crooned, her eyes closed and her hips pumping. “All the way.”
He pushed until he couldn’t go any further, then backed out a little and thrust again. He watched her anxiously, even though it was killing him not to fully slide in and out of her wetness.
She opened her eyes and smiled. “That, only a lot harder and faster.”
He thrust in and out of her like a piston, picking up speed. Every nerve ending in his body sparked with every stroke. He rounded his back above her, so he could stay off her stomach but capture one of her distended nipples with his mouth and work it with his tongue. Pleasure swamped the mate bond, and he lost track of which sensations were his and which were hers. Her magic caressed him, magnifying every sensation.
Tingling began at the base of his spine. He fought to hold off his impending orgasm as he licked his finger, then slid his hand between them to find her clit. He slid back and forth across it, reaching through the mate bond to help her find another release. Her magic flared, her core spasmed around him as she screamed, and he was gone.
He thrust hard into her and held himself there as his orgasm blew apart any semblance of thought. The bond solidified and grabbed hold of his soul. His bear rose to the surface to finish the claiming, creating a new, shared scent for both of them. Now everyone would know he belonged to her, and she to him.
After long moments, she reached up with a shaky hand to caress his face. “That was amazing. I love you.”
He slid his arms under her, then, still inside her, rolled them both so she was half on top of him. “I love you.” He nuzzled her neck and savored her new scent that combined her, him, and his bear.
“I can feel the bond now. It’s like a glow in my head and heart.” She rolled onto her back, parting them, leaving a trail of moisture. “I think we’re going to need some extra pillows. This one’s wet.”
He laughed and climbed over her—with a side trip for a long kiss—to the side of the bed next to the bedside table. “I’ll call for some.”
“May as well ask for some extra bath towels, too.” She sat up and slid to the edge of the bed. “Not to be indelicate or anything, but we both need showers.” She wiped a sheen of sweat off her chest. “And I didn’t eat dinner, so those damn banana Moon pies are callin’ to me.”
“Why don’t you take a shower while I call the front desk and make some sandwiches?” He waved toward the big cooler and the bags crowded on the dresser. “Turkey? Roast beef? Ham? I didn’t know what you like, so I bought one of everything. Chocolate milk, too.”
“Surprise me. I like anything.” She chuckled. “Well, almost anything. Our kid better be damn grateful I’m drinking milk for her.” She disappeared into the bathroom.
Trevor laughed, delighted by her humor, and the fact she’d said, “our kid.” He really had hit the jackpot.
After deliveries, showers, and consuming of meals and Moon pies, they made love again, more leisurely this time. He loved her confident, practical approach to pleasure, both getting and giving.
Sated, he sprawled on the big bed. The bedside clock said it was nearly midnight. She turned out the last light and crawled across the mattress toward him. The moonlight through the curtains gave him plenty of light to see by.
She rested her head on his shoulder. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Anything.”
“Would you be willing to change me into a bear, after I give birth?”
He almost bolted upright in surprise. A flurry of conflicting emotions ran through him. His bear woke up and chuffed its displeasure at whatever had threatened his human half.
She sat up to look at him. Magic flared, and the bedside lamp snapped on. “Talk to me, darlin’.”
He stalled for time. “Why do you want to be changed?”
“As a human, I can’t protect my daughter, or even help her understand and control her dual nature. Your job takes you away a lot, so I want to be the second-biggest bear in her life.” She sighed and put her hand on his chest. “Shifters live a lot longer than humans. Did you know that Shiloh’s mate, Matteo, was mated once before? His human mate refused the change and died, and Matteo mourned for centuries. I don’t want that for you.”
Trevor shuddered at the thought of losing her. “You could become something besides my type of bear.”
“Why would I want to? I love your wooly bear.”
“No one else does, except my aunt. My bear isn’t normal.” He took her hand in his. “I’m bigger than any bear I’ve ever seen, and I’m the uber-alpha. No ordinary shifter can beat me in a dominance fight.”
“Those all sound like pluses to me.” A puzzled look settled on her face.
He caressed her hand with his thumb. “In the human world, you know how some folks are always noticing anyone with brown skin, like we might jump them or steal the silver? Double that for what most shifters, especially alphas, will think of you. All you want is to do your job, or have a cup of coffee, but they act like it’s a challenge. Some of them want you out of their territory, and some, like Roehm, would want you dead.” He blew out a heavy breath. “Multiply that times ten for what other bear clans will think of you. My mother and my aunt are brown bears, and my dad is a black bear. I’m a throwback of some sort. Wh
en I was fourteen, my parents sent me off to live with my aunt because I was ruining their chances for moving up in the ranks.”
She tilted her head. “I haven’t noticed anyone in Kotoyeesinay giving you the hairy eyeball.”
“Give it time.” He shook his head. “I haven’t been here that long.”
“To quote the really sexy man I’m madly in love with, ‘Bullshit.’”
He frowned at her.
“I bet most shifters, even alphas, don’t care that you’re different. Especially here in Kotoyeesinay. They’d care if you caused trouble, or wanted their clan, but you don’t like fighting, and you don’t want to take over anything.” She brushed his jaw with her fingers. “I feel your longing to be part of something. You already are. You’re my mate, and the heart-father of our princess. We’re a family.” Through their mate bond, she sent him an image of two huge bears and a leopard cub together, surrounded by love. “That’s how I see us.”
Her love flooded his heart and washed away the last lonely part of him that had been expecting another rejection. He pulled her back into his arms, her thigh draped across his, her head on his chest. “Yes. To that. To everything.”
She kissed his chest. “I love you.”
“Want to get married tomorrow?”
She sat up again, consternation on her face. “Tomorrow, as in tomorrow tomorrow?”
He chuckled. “Yes, Sunday. When I asked Shiloh about a good place for a wedding, he said the heart of the glade was already booked for our commitment ceremony at four in the afternoon. He said an oracle works in the scheduling office.”
He felt a hint of sadness from her. “We can wait. Oracles aren’t always right.”
“No, I want to, it’s just that…” She slid a hand across her stomach. “My old life is gone forever, and I’m looking forward to a new life with you, but I’d always hoped my mother would be at my wedding.”
“Where there’s a will, there’s a way, in this town.” He sat up.
Shifter Mate Magic Page 9