“Thank you, for coming out there,” she started.
“Take a seat.” He patted the chair next to his.
She pulled her eyes from the blinking red zeroes and planted herself on the wooden chair. She tilted her head down, trying to think of what to say, where to begin.
“Why did you come to my rescue?” She opted to start with a question, because it was too damned hard to say the things she knew she had to.
“You have to ask that?” His smile was wry, on the crooked side. The smile she’d always love and not seen enough of the last few years.
He put his finger on her leg. Her pulse skipped a merry little beat in her body, finding a new rhythm, a quicker pace. His finger traced the seam of his shorts.
“You’re distracting me,” she told him. “I can’t tell you want I need to.”
“You can tell me anytime. It doesn’t have to be now. It won’t change the way I feel about you, the way my bear feels about your falcon.”
The mirrored reflection of her love in his eyes made a part of her melt. Correction. It made all of her melt.
She pushed the chair aside, just a moment. Maybe a few moments. “I want you to know the whole story before you make statements like that. I need you to know it.”
I need to know you will still want me before I sink any deeper into you.
Jonah sat back, his face chiseled, the features she’d called hers since she’d first gone for a drive with him. The old Jonah, with his motorcycle and daredevil ways, who used to take curves at a speed that made her breath catch in her throat.
I miss you.
She wanted to say the words, but first she had to clear the air.
Would he hate her when he found out about the baby? He didn’t seem to hate her for being part witch.
She took a deep breath. “So you know Mae Forester raised me. I took her name, she adopted me officially, though I was not exactly a little kid anymore.”
“I remember.” He steepled his fingers in front of his lips.
“She wanted to tell me about my past. I didn’t want to hear it. My falcon didn’t want to hear it. I learned later that my falcon’s objection was because of the witch and shifter relationship.” She shrugged one shoulder. “Seems things don’t go very well.”
“Yeah, I know.”
His parents had fallen prey to shifters colluding with witches. She got that. She knew he hated witches.
“Well, I didn’t listen to Mae when she was trying to tell me that I was born of witch blood. At least, I didn’t listen at that time.”
He cocked his head. “When did you listen?”
“After I lost our baby.”
He leaned forward, his gaze piercing straight to her soul. “Our baby?” He shook his head, seeming not to have processed her declaration. “We had a baby?”
A tear wound its way down her cheek. She hadn’t realized tears had formed in her eyes until she felt that one solitary drop making its way across the planes of her face.
“I lost it. A witch can’t carry a shifter’s baby. Not without magic being involved. When I called Mae to tell her about you, me, and the baby, she brought me up to speed.”
“I knew how much having children and a family mattered to you. I felt like I’d betrayed you. I couldn’t stay. How could I?”
Fiona watched him carefully, chewing on her bottom lip.
“Wait. You…” He blew out a breath, a panorama of emotions crossing his face. “You left because of that?”
“I had to. Because of the baby. I didn’t want to go through that again. And I didn’t want to tell you that I couldn’t carry our child to full term.”
“My little Fiona. My little fool. How could you think we wouldn’t work through it?”
Shame burned her cheeks. “How could I?”
He leaned forward, pulled her chair closer to his, his lips grazed her chin. “We could have worked through it. We will work through it. If you want to.”
Want to? I want nothing more.
Her hands cupped his cheeks, holding his face captive.
She leaned closer, her lips touched his. She ran the tip of her tongue over the full line of his bottom lip.
“More than anything,” she whispered into his mouth.
He leaned back until his lips hovered next to hers. His hands snaked up, twisted into her hair, held her prisoner in his grasp. “You never really had a choice in this. My bear, your falcon, me—none of us are going to let you walk away again.” A growl came from deep within his wide chest, making it ripple. “Ever, Fi. Not ever again.”
As if I’d ever want to.
She leaned into his embrace relishing the sensation and security of his strong arms around her.
“I want you.”
His words reverberated in her head, bouncing and ricocheting into her heart.
She opened her mouth to respond, but he stopped her with a kiss, and reached for the hem of her shirt. His hands were on the material, tugging, as he pulled away from her lips.
She raised her hands over her head, letting him slide the fabric off her body.
“I want you. I want you more than I’ve ever wanted you. I need to be in you. I need your wet pussy around me and not a booty call, like last time.”
She started to protest, parting her lips to give argument, because it was never just a booty call for her.
His lips sealed her protest. His tongue claimed hers, making her moan, making her body flood with emotions and desire. She squirmed in her seat, pressed forward, and climbed into his lap while he pushed the oversize shorts she’d borrowed off her hips.
Fiona straddled his legs. He pushed his hand against her mound. She arched back, her core pressed against his hardness. The pulse in his cock beat against her flesh. She pressed her hips forward, her body still arching back, pushing her clit against his cock.
Jonah groaned, his hands on her waist, jamming her closer to him, grinding her body into his crotch.
With a grunt that seemed to be torn from his soul, he adjusted her backward and released his wonderful thickness from his pants.
Fiona licked her lip, imagining his taste. She raised and leaned forward, sliding onto his thickness, relishing the sensation of his cock spreading her wide. The pain of it merged with the pleasure as he filled her body, stretching her to sheath him.
Fiona moaned from sheer pleasure. She rocked back and forth, resting her hand on his muscular, rippling chest as he raised his body and at the same time guided her with his hands, driving himself deeper and deeper, striking at the very heart of her core, while she dove into an abyss of no return.
Wave after wave of orgasm crashed into Fiona. She went to scream his name when a bite into her neck sent her over the edge. His canines pierced her skin with a slicing pain that turned to pleasure when he licked that spot, right between her shoulder and neck.
Deep inside her, he sent his heated explosion crashing into hers, sealing their fate, driving deeper as he pulsed his release into her body.
She gasped at the delicious agony as the couple bonding welded them together for an eternity, making them the mates she’d always known they were.
“You’re mine.” His voice was husky with desire, hoarse with an overwhelming emotion.
“Always,” she affirmed.
Epilogue
“Happy New Year!” Miriam’s face glowed as she opened the door for Fiona and Jonah. “This will be my favorite New Year’s Eve party of all time.”
“Why’s that, Aunt Miriam.” Jonah planted a kiss on Miriam’s rounded cheek.
“Happy New Year.” Fiona hugged Miriam. Next to Mae Forester, Miriam was the closest thing she’d had to a mother. And now, in shifter terms, since she and Jonah had couple bonded, making them mates for life, Miriam was the shifter equivalent of a mother-in-law.
“Because,” Miriam answered, “I have all of you together.” She took Fiona’s hand. “And happy. You’re exactly where you need to be.” She studied Fiona. “Seems you’ve made it of
ficial and bonded.”
The coupling bond was visible to other shifters.
Jonah nodded. “I wasn’t giving her a chance to get away a second time.”
Alannah stepped in from the other room. “Welcome, cousin.” She hugged Fiona. “Mrs. Romanoff has been kind enough to give me a place to stay for the time being.”
“It’s Miriam, and it’s not for the time being. You’re family now,” Miriam corrected her.
Jonah looked around his aunt’s back. “Is that Bain Kozlov?”
Miriam nodded. “His father disowned him.” She smiled. “So we’ve made him an honorary member of the family.”
Fiona smiled. Miriam’s heart had no bounds.
“It looks like he’s interested in Carina…” Jonah hinted.
Ky and Laken came into the foyer, holding hands.
“Why’s the party out here,” Laken asked.
“We were just coming back,” Miriam said. “Jonah and Fi were sharing their news.”
“News?” Ky gave them the once-over, his gaze zeroed in on Fiona’s neck, exactly where the couple bond mark was. “Ah, I see. Congratulations.”
Bain turned to pick up champagne flute. Fiona spied a bruise on his face. “What happened to him?”
“Said it was an accident,” Ky explained.
“What? He accidentally ran into a fist?” Jonah frowned.
“He won’t talk about it.” Miriam’s voice was low. “And until he asks for help, we don’t want to pry.”
“Fair enough.” Fiona valued privacy herself; she could relate to Bain Kozlov’s wishes to keep his business to himself.
Mikhail Romanoff approached. “So I made some calls.”
Jonah gave his uncle a dirty look.
“What? I wanted to be sure.”
“Calls?” Fiona looked between her mate and his uncle.
“It was nothing, really.” Mikhail adjusted his collar as if he were uncomfortable.
“To Mae. Letting her know what happened. She asked if we would like to see Bear Canyon Valley. I’ve never been, nor has Miriam. We were thinking of taking a trip. Interested?”
Fiona smiled. She missed her foster mother. “I look forward to seeing her again.”
“We will have to stop by Dallas and visit my daughter,” Mikhail growled. “Make sure she’s taking care of my grandchild.”
“Layla’s expecting?” Fiona looked at Jonah. She’d missed so much. “I didn’t even know she had a mate.”
“One of the Tiero security team. Gavin. Good man.” Mikhail beamed.
“I’m up for a vacation,” Fiona said. “I’m still technically on a leave of absence.”
“I just got back from one,” Jonah said.
“I’m sure Eric and your new AIC can find something for you to do in Dallas and Bear Canyon Valley.” Fiona winked at him. “I’m still your boss you know.”
“I’ll show you who’s boss,” he whispered in her ear.
A warmth flooded Fiona and heat rose to her cheeks. “I look forward to that lesson.”
The End
Take a trip with Elle Thorne and the Shifters Forever After group!
Shifters Forever After follows a group of polar bears in New York. Russian and rumored to be mobbed up, they are a powerhouse of shifters, determining the fate of many on the East Coast. Mikhail Romanoff, Layla’s father, runs this outfit with an iron fist.
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A Dragon’s Gift…By Emerald Wright
A lonesome widower, Clay Emmerick III no longer allows his homes to be decorated for the Holidays. It brings back too many painful memories of his recently deceased wife. An immortal dragon shapeshifter, he has had to learn to exist within the limitations of his kind.
A decorator, Tess is excited to have landed a holiday decorating project for a billionaire’s home in Beverly Hills. It will provide a boost to her decorating business’s reputation.
Clay hasn’t encountered a human with such powerful fae blood flowing in her veins for a long time. Tess finds herself in the midst of an eons-old magic and in the process, discovers her true nature as a koiaa; a human mate to a dragon shapeshifter.
A Dragon’s Gift
Emerald Wright
***
Tess felt his potent gaze pass over her body, again. She was standing on a ladder, her body stretched out, her arms extended above her head, so she could reach the ceiling. As a holiday decorator, she was used to being found by her clients and their staff, in all sorts of crazy compromising positions while she decorated her clients’ homes for the holidays.
She often sensed her clients’ presences, curious to see how the decorating was coming along, but she’d never felt a gaze as intense as this one. Granted, she’d only met him briefly as his assistant had made all the plans with her directly. Just a quick meet and greet, in passing, when the maid had ushered her inside the large mansion.
Tess was grateful to have landed a client as noteworthy as Clay Emmerick, III. Adding his estate to her portfolio would open up some doors to other large-scaled projects in the future and she was determined to leave a lasting impression in the hopes of his repeat business.
Her assistant, Jay, was dutifully standing by, handing her decorations with a metal, extended hook so that she didn’t have to keep climbing down the ladder to retrieve them. She’d be lost without him. Not to mention, his eagle-eye assessment of people. He was part employee, part gay best-friend-forever and part matchmaker, always attempting to spark up Tess’s sad dating life.
She noticed Jay, noticing Clay – watching and observing her.
God the man was attractive… Sexy…
He shimmered with an intensity she had never come across before. Almost an ethereal energy that permeated him, the space surrounding him and in the room. As if the room couldn’t contain his full presence. Which was saying something as the room was enormous. With eighteen foot ceilings to start, it was the great room of the mansion and could easily accommodate fifty or so mingling guests. Tess had been inside many a mansion, so she knew what to expect.
From what she could tell, Clay was tall. At least six foot three or four. His hair was dark brown, curly and a bit messy. He had a European look about him. Tall, dark and handsome. She couldn’t tell though, about his eyes. Maybe grey or light green? Hard to say, from up here. She would have to wait until another time to meet him at eye level, to be sure.
For now, she needed to quit drooling quietly over him and get back to work. When he left the room, she felt it more than saw him leave. Almost a physical sensation. Which was curious to her.
What was that about?
***
The holidays were not a good time of year for Clay. Ever since the passing of his last wife over a hundred years ago on Christmas Day, he’d refused to have his homes decorated ever since. It brought up too many painful memories as the Holidays had always been her favorite time of year. So, despite a century’s worth of time – for Clay, it still felt like her death was just last year. Being an ancient, paranormal being – time moved at a much different pace for him, than it did for most – especially for humans.
This year, his assistant had somehow managed to convince him that decorating his home for the company holiday party would make the event more festive and welcoming. So, he’d relented despite the bittersweet feeling it set off in his heart.
His old, ancient, and often lonesome heart.
He’d watched the decorator momentarily as she dutifully set about working on installing the holiday decorations. He’d noticed her curvy and attractive figure, naturally – but there was something else about her. A flicker of intense light within her that he hadn’t seen in a human, in a very long time. Something rare.
Mesmerized, he caught himself staring at her in curiosity just as she’d looked down to see him peering up and in her direction, w
atching her.
She’d nodded the briefest of nods, politely acknowledging his presence. He’d felt the connection immediately, when her gaze had locked on his for a second. That energy that radiated between them was something that hadn’t happened to him in a long time.
Was she fae?
Fae blood in humans was very rare in this era. The fairy lineage having disappeared from much of humankinds’ heritage for centuries now.
She certainly had a fae luminance about her. He skin, her hair, the way her aura glowed and shimmered. Being a dragon shifter, he could see human auras. Their energy fields. It made perfect sense that she would be a holiday decorator. Dealing with objects of shimmer, shine and luminescence. That which showcased and enhanced the effects of light.
He was headed back to his private office when he heard the decorator cry out in fear, startled. In a flash, he was back in the room to find her assistant desperately attempting to keep the ladder she was perched on, from falling over. Quick as lightning, he was there just as she fell from it and right into his arms.
Stunned by his own quick response, he carefully set her on her feet.
“You okay?”
She seemed completely amazed and stared at him as if a space alien had just saved her. Her emerald green eyes were darting back and forth, a look of entrancement hidden beneath her astonishment.
“Yes – yes,” she stammered. “I believe I am, thanks to you… Just a bit shaken up.”
He smiled and held out a hand, steadying her by the shoulder. She was still a bit wobbly on her feet. This time, he felt the contact, when he touched her. A spark of intense energy passed from her to him and back, as if it was igniting something within her.
Clay squinted his own light green eyes at her, witnessing her reaction. She seemed hypnotized…
Shifter Wonderland: Twelve BBW Paranormal Holiday Shape Shifter Romances Page 64