Perfect Mate (Book Two: A Werewolf BBW Shifter Romance)

by Aubrey Rose

  “You’re going soft in your old age,” Jordan said.

  “Yeah, well, what could I do? The kid saved my life and Dee’s.”

  “Is she coming into the pack, too?” Jordan asked.

  “Why? You don’t think she’ll want to join?”

  “Join?” Jordan laughed. “I think she’ll challenge you for alpha status.”

  Julia came into the room, her perfume wafting through the air ahead of her. Damien inhaled her scent, calming down as she came to sit next to him.

  “How’s he doing, doctor?” she asked.

  “I’m afraid I have bad news,” Jordan said. “I was able to fix the cracked rib, but he’s still blind.”

  Julia’s worry vanished into good humor.

  “Oh, no!” She squeezed Damien’s arm in mock horror.

  “Don’t worry,” Damien said. “The rest of me is in perfect health. And I do mean perfect.” He slid his hand around Julia’s waist, and she leaned over to kiss him.

  “Well, I’ll just take my leave then,” Jordan said.

  “Thank you,” Julia said, a smile in her voice.

  “Just doing my duty,” Jordan said, clicking his heels together and closing the door behind him.

  Damien kissed Julia again, pulling her in more closely.

  “Thank you for letting Kyle stay,” Julia said, her breath warm on his cheek. “He and Katherine are off celebrating. They’re adorable together.”

  “Good. I was worried what you would think. He did sell you into slavery, after all.”

  “And then rescued me.”

  “I would think you’d be more upset.”

  Damien felt a mix of emotions flowing from Julia. He caressed her cheek and she kissed his hand softly.

  “Truth be told,” she said, “I’m happy that I learned about my past.”

  “Well of course you are. You didn’t crack any ribs.” Damien grinned.

  “I’ll crack another one if you keep sassing me,” Julia said.

  Damien pressed his hand on hers, turning serious. “What did your grandmother tell you? About, you know…”

  “About shifting? She says she doesn’t know if I’ll ever be able to shift again,” Julia said. “It didn’t work, you know, when I tried it during the fight. Dee says it’s the procedure they did.”

  “She doesn’t know how to reverse the process?”

  “No,” Julia said. “But she thinks we will be able to have children. Shifter children.”

  “Children? Isn’t that a little presumptuous?” Damien teased, arching his eyebrow.

  “Hey, I said no sass!”

  “What if I want you to break another one of my ribs?” Damien said, pulling Julia completely down onto the bed next to him.

  She laughed and ran one hand down his chest.

  “Don’t worry,” she said. “I can be gentle.”

  Damien breathed in as Julia’s hand moved down to unzip his pants. Her fingers slid under the fabric of his underwear and wrapped around his already growing member.

  “Julia—”

  “Shh,” she whispered, moving herself down to where his pants were bulging. His heart beat faster as she pulled down his pants and exposed him. Her breath felt deliciously hot against his head, and he twitched in anticipation. Softly at first, her tongue darted out and licked the tip of his head. Immediately he became entirely stiff.

  He could feel her so well now that she was touching him. He could sense every emotion that flickered through her mind, and what he found there made him breathless.

  Love, and so much there that he wanted to take her in his arms and hold her and tell her that yes, he loved her too, he would always love her. But more than that now, was the pulsing, insistent desire. She wanted him, she wanted to make him happy, wanted to be with him in every conceivable way. And again, now, he heard words floating through the ether and into his thoughts, like a whisper on the wind that he could barely make out.

  You. You’re the one. My prince. You’re mine.

  Thoughts turned into blank explosions of sensation as Julia took him into her mouth, her tongue pressing up at the underside of his shaft. She slid herself down, then up along his cock. He regretted not being able to see just then. He wanted to watch her take him inside of her mouth. He wanted to see her beautiful eyes, meet them with his. Then she swirled her tongue around the tip of his head and he leaned back into the pillow, groaning. Well, at least blindness enhanced his other sensations.

  Her hands began to stroke his balls, softly at first, then cupping them. One hand gripped his shaft at the base. He bucked against the pressure, aching to have her take him again entirely, to feel her lips stroking the sensitive skin of his head. A shock of pain jolted through him from his rib, and he yelped softly. She pulled back and he moaned.

  “Please,” he said.

  “Hold still,” she said. “You’re going to mess up all of Jordan’s hard work.”

  “That’s nothing,” Damien said. “He can always sew me back up again.”

  “You are irredeemably naughty.”

  Damien had a retort in his mind, but he somehow lost the words when Julia’s mouth returned to his cock with a light lick.

  “Tell me what you want,” Julia said. “I don’t…I don’t quite know how to do this.”

  “Could have fooled me,” Damien said. He sensed her anxiousness and reached down, caressing her hair. If she wanted him to guide her, he would do it gladly.

  “Take me in your mouth,” he said. He guided her with his hand gently, arching his back slightly. Her tongue swirled over the tip of his head and when she sucked there, it sent thrills of delight through him.

  “Harder,” he whispered. The pressure increased and he moaned.

  “I wish you could feel what this does to me,” he said. “Oh, Julia—”

  The twisting ache of his desire built and built until he was ready to burst. He felt her lust rising along with his, and the emotion echoed through his body, building with each reverberation until every nerve of his was vibrating with unreleased pressure.

  “Wait,” he said. “I want to be inside of you.”

  “Damien, I have a broken arm and you have a broken rib. Do you really think that’s a good idea?”

  Damien grinned.

  “You said you could be gentle.”

  Julia laughed and threw her leg across him, easing her body down onto his. He held her waist with both hands, guiding himself toward her.

  Her smell was delicious, her soft perfume mixing with the scent of her juices. He knew that she was wet with desire for him, and it made him glad to know that she wanted him as much as he wanted her. Groaning, he thrust himself upward into her hot slick center.

  “Ohh!” she cried. He felt what she felt—the terrible hot longing, the sensation of being filled, of being completed. So that was what it was like for her.

  She began to rock slowly, working his hard cock deeper and deeper into her core. The pressure inside of him rose and rose, and still he held back, biting his lip to keep himself from letting go. He wanted to be with her when she found her pleasure, wanted to experience the feeling along with her. He could sense it already, the clenching of her body around him, and it drove him wild.

  Rocking with her, he thrust his hips slightly upward to meet her, and she moaned with each thrust. The pain in his rib did not matter, nothing else mattered but the seal between the two of them, this connection that made the rest of the world disappear. He slid one hand up her thigh and grabbed her hip tightly, guiding her in circles against his muscle, and tight unwindings of pleasure shot away from her, rolled over his body and met with his pleasure.

  “Damien, I’m going to—I’m going to—”

  “Yes,” Damien whispered, and thrust upwards again, hard, keeping the rhythm until he felt her pent-up tension explode outward, rolling over him in waves and waves of ecstasy.

  “Ohhhh!” She tightened around him and cried out softly, her moan stifled with her hand.

  With one m
ore thrust he was there, and he groaned in pleasure as he shot his seed into her hot accepting core.

  “Julia! Julia!”

  The waves of her bliss continued to roll through his body, making him twitch with each shudder. The waves ebbed into ripples, and then into a calm peace, a desire quenched. Julia rolled off of him and lay her body down next to him on the bed. He turned his head and leaned to kiss her, her lips still hot with exertion.

  “So, children?” he asked. She laughed in delight.

  “We’ll see what happens,” she said, cuddling up with her injured arm resting softly on his chest.

  He had more questions than answers about what would happen next, but he did not want to break the moment with words. There was plenty of time to figure out their future.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  *** Three months later...***

  Julia walked through the forest at night with just a single candle to light her way. The trail of her white dress glided along the forest floor. The ceremony had been planned quickly, but Granny Dee had taken her aside at the start of it. She'd opened the trunk in her room and pulled out her dress from when she'd bonded with Charles.

  "You don't need to wear the same one," Dee had said, uncharacteristically hesitant. "If you'd rather get another dress..."

  "No!" Julia had cried. "I love it!"

  She did. After a few alterations, the dress had fit her perfectly, and now as she stepped through the forest alone towards the gathering she looked down to admire it. Gossamer fabric clung to her curves and fluttered as she moved. The dress had faux sleeves that left her shoulders bare, and the silky white fabric bustled together at the small of her back and hung down to the trailing hem. It was a simple dress, but the beauty of it was in the simplicity, and as she walked in soft slippers across the trail towards the ceremony she thought that perhaps these were the dresses that angels wore. It was like wearing air.

  The trail led through a dense forest, and although it was dark, Julia was careful not to let the skirt hem snag as she made her way through the brush. The trail opened up, and she knew that she was close. She could hear the low hum of chanting just ahead.

  She paused just then, looking up at the sky. The stars shone brilliantly here, so far away from the city. She could make out Cassiopeia on the western horizon, the bright twinkles of light linked together indelibly by their closeness in the vast universe, at least from their perspective. A tingling sensation ran through her body. She was so small, just a tiny, insignificant part of the immense fabric of space, and her very insignificance gave her courage. She turned her attention back to the trail and smiled, taking a step forward toward the place where she would bond with Damien. Time was endless, but she would not make him wait.

  As she neared the clearing, the chanting grew clearer. Low bass notes mingled with high melody, and she could make out the Lycarin words that Damien had taught her.

  Elthier'a le tan riel ayale,

  E kine amelia, te karian marale.

  We come today to bond together,

  A family grows, two hearts become one.

  She stepped through the entryway and gasped at the sight. Each person held a candle above their white robes, the flames flickering softly and lighting their faces. The clearing opened out to a ridge line that dropped down into a steep canyon.

  Julia and Damien had picked out the spot themselves, but Julia had only ever seen it in the daylight. At night, under the light of the full moon, the canyon seemed to stretch out forever in the distance. The soft blue light flooded the canyon, filling it with a calm, ethereal beauty. Stars twinkled overhead and the band of the galaxy stretched across the canyon like a rainbow of light in the sky. The warm flames of the candles lit the faces of all the guests there as they sang the last verse and the voices disappeared into silence.

  Damien stood at the ridge line next to Granny Dee, the guests in two arcs around them both. He wore a suit, and Dee, like all of the other guests, was dressed in white robes. The effect was stunning. Dee had explained to her that for the bonding ceremony every person other than the two mates would be dressed alike, in white to represent the purity of the occasion and to show the tie between family members of the pack. Julia's heart swelled as she saw Jordan standing next to Kyle and Katherine, their faces bright with joy. This was the happiest moment of her life yet, and soon she would be bonded forever, joined to the pack as much as she was joined to Damien.

  Julia walked through the center of the clearing towards the man who she would spend the rest of her days with. She knew that he could read her heart, and she sent all of her love towards him. He smiled.

  Dee raised her hands, and the murmuring of the crowd ebbed into silence. Julia took her place in front of Dee, just across from Damien, and smiled nervously at her grandmother. Dee smiled back, lowered her hands, and spoke.

  "We gather here in moonlight to mark the bonding of one heart to another," she said. "Let us hear first the story of bonding, as it has been told since the first day of the first year of the world.

  "It is said every animal is born in the sky first. We travel here to earth to seek out our bodies, and live our days before returning to the sky. In the early world, before Time was broken into pieces, there was only one of each creature. We came to earth whole and lived our lives separately. But the gods saw that although there was peace, we were lonely creatures. They did not know how to solve this problem and Araken, god of living creatures, was sent to find a solution.

  "But Araken was lazy, and did not love the creatures that had been given to his care. He came up with an idea to break apart the animals in the sky before they came to earth, to solve the problem by getting rid of the animal souls. He reared back to deliver the blow with his paw. But he did not realize his strength, and with that one blow he shattered all of the matter in the universe. Stars broke apart into chunks of rock and fire, and souls broke apart into hundreds of shards.

  "Knowing what he had done, Araken hid from the Lord of the universe, Kar. Kar looked down and saw her creation smashed to pieces. She wept for the destruction that Araken had caused, and then she set to fixing it. At first she tried to gather the pieces of the stars and souls with her hands and weave them back together, but she soon realized that it would take her longer to mend than even creating the universe had taken. There must be another way.

  "Gathering all of her energy, she sent out a pulse of thought that rippled through space from one end of the universe to the other and set all of the particles in the sky to vibrating. In them, the vibrations created a hunger."

  Dee paused and looked up at the sky. The stars overhead seemed to twinkle and glow with the truth of her words. Goosebumps rose on Julia's skin, though she was not cold. She clutched the candle in front of her, looking at the light from Damien's own candle playing over his features. He was more handsome than ever, she thought, and she ached to throw her arms around him right then. Dee continued her story.

  "This hunger guides all of us, from the highest of creatures to the lowest of atoms. There is in all of us a need to draw together with our soulmates. And when we find them, we bond and hold fast, for we know that without them we are lost forever.

  "Kar looked down on her creations and saw that though there was still loneliness among them, the hunger she had brought into their beings gave them meaning. And every time two pieces of a soul or star bonded, a burst of loving, joyful energy was released. And this was good. She sought out Araken and told him that as punishment for his laziness, he would spend the rest of eternity finding out soulmates and guiding them towards each other. In this way, he would speed the progress of unity. And when he was done and all beings were united, he would have to break apart the universe again and again, and again reassemble it. This, she said, would be both his punishment and his reward, for wherever he went and brought two pieces of soul together, he was bathed in happiness and love. And so the universe is broken and repaired in an eternal cycle. Araken guides us toward the other being that houses the part
of our soul that had previously been lost to us."

  Dee looked from Julia to Damien and back again.

  "By Kar's light and goodness, we come together tonight to see these two pieces of soul united. Our pack embraces their bonding and wishes them well on their paths, now united. And when they return to the sky, they will come together as one soul. We begin with two flames of light coming as one."

  Dee held out her unlit candle, and Damien and Julia held out theirs. Julia guided Damien's hand, trembling, and they both lit the candle in the middle. They blew out their own candles and Dee put them aside, keeping the middle one lit between them.

  "No longer two separate beings, you are bonded for life. You must hold each other tightly, and protect each other, from now until you return to the earth. Have you your vows written?"

  Julia nodded and pulled out a piece of paper. Damien tapped the side of his temple with his finger, and Dee laughed in apology.

  "Damien," Julia began, taking his hand with hers. She had written ten different drafts of her vows, and thrown them all away. Last night, though, they had slept apart and she had realized what she wanted most to say.

  "When we first met, I knew that you were the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. You treated me with kindness and love. Now that I've come to know you in a deeper way, I want to be with you more than ever. I promise to be faithful to you, to support you when you need support and to lean on you when I am weak.”

  Julia swallowed hard. Choking back her tears, she continued reading. Damien squeezed her fingers in support, and she looked up into his tender expression. She spoke the last part of her vow without looking at the paper she was holding.

  "How can I express my love? How can I tell you the feeling in my heart when you take my hand? This is a feeling that I can't even understand myself. It takes me up and lifts me into a sacred place, it makes me realize that I am not a whole person without you. It hurts me. It heals me. It is a feeling that binds me so tightly that sometimes I can't breathe. And when you kiss me, I know that I am yours forever and for always, and the whole world lights up with my love. Damien, you are special to me and I promise that nothing will ever come between us. I vow from this moment on to keep you in my heart, just as I hope you will keep me in yours."