“I’d have come looking for you.” Blaze’s lips were warm on his. “You can bet on that.” He ended the kiss. “I’ll need to introduce you to my pack in both their wolf and human forms.”
“You must meet my grandfather, but, first, will you fly to DC with me for the big reception at the Smithsonian? I don’t like that kind of thing, and I need you with me.”
“As long as it isn’t during a full moon.”
“Don’t worry. It isn’t. I checked.”
Joy shimmered in their shared laughter.
“Seriously, what are we going to do about us?”
“I can paint anywhere. I’m not confined to Encinitas.”
Blaze spoke of how he’d thought of moving there to be with Logan because the pull of the wild here was so strong. “But now that I’m alpha in every sense of the word, I’m stuck here.”
“Only for three or four days a month. We can work that out. Have to, if there’s a future for us.”
“Winters are deadly here.”
“Yet all kinds of people live here year ‘round.” Logan squeezed his hand, unsure how long they could remain a couple but knowing it was worth a try. “Let’s take it one day at a time.” I will tell Bernie it’s over. What I once felt for him is gone.
Blaze grinned. “One full moon at a time.” He pressed his lips to the tip of Logan’s nose. “Get dressed. Bring my shotgun. You were pretty pathetic when I was fighting for our lives. We’re going to the range.”
“Pathetic?” Logan sat up and glared at him.
“Toward the end of the fight, you couldn’t even hold the damned gun up. We have a lot of work to do.”
“It’s a deal. Maybe you can teach me how to shoot prone and kneeling. Just in case—”
Blaze threw his head back and mimicked a howl before doubling down with laughter. “Trust me, there isn’t going to be an ‘in case,’ but I’m going to make an expert marksman out of you anyway.”
Logan stopped them at the front door. “I can’t believe you’re mine.”
Blaze pulled him into his arms. “Now and always…even when the moon is full.”
THE END
ABOUT CAROLINA VALDEZ
For Carolina Valdez, books and writing have been a major pleasure in her life. She composed her first stories at the age of eight, and since books were almost nonexistent in her parents’ home, she read everything in the elementary school library. Her mother took her to the nearest county branch, and the librarian selected appropriate adult books for her to read. A major treat was to scout used bookstores searching for her favorite authors.
Multi-published and winning awards in nonfiction and fiction, Valdez decided to begin a novel. She had it in her head that if you were a real writer, you wrote a book. She had no idea what she was writing until a member of her critique group mentioned her “romance.” Enthralled by that genre, she has focused on it ever since.
She is a member of RWA-PAN (the Published Author Network of Romance Writers of America) and RWA's Orange County, California, and Pasic chapters. Suspense and murder crop up in her romances because she's also a member of the Los Angeles chapter of Sisters in Crime.
She and her husband reside in southern California, only minutes away from mountains, desert, or beach.
For more information, visit carolinavaldez.com.
ABOUT JMS BOOKS LLC
JMS Books LLC is a small queer press with competitive royalty rates publishing LGBT romance, erotic romance, and young adult fiction. Visit jms-books.com for our latest releases and submission guidelines!
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