by Eve Langlais
It had been almost a week since they’d arrived at Winter’s den. Caitlin had anticipated that there would be other shifters there, but aside from Cole, Winter lived alone.
Sophia had made a speedy recovery. Most of the bruises on her back had faded and the wound she’d received from the wolf was almost fully healed.
Cole’s head popped up from between her breasts, signaling the arrival of his father. Caitlin directed her attention to the pine trees that fringed the area around the cave. Seconds later, Winter appeared, carrying a bundle of firewood under one arm.
Around his cave, Winter dressed more casually than he had during the journey. He had several pairs of jeans and T–shirts, but Caitlin’s favorite was the buckskin outfit that he was currently wearing. It was well fitted to his body and a slit in the shirt showed off a generous portion of his hard chest.
When he laid eyes on them, Winter smiled, a look of contentment spreading over his face. She’d seen that look often this week, and she wondered how he could be so damn serene when her own mind had been swarming with chaos.
Winter approached them, not slowing down as he bent to scoop Caitlin up in his free arm. She gasped in surprised and then laughed and began squirming to free herself from his grasp.
“Keep an eye on Sophia,” he called back to his son. “No wandering off.”
“Yes, father,” was Cole’s obedient reply.
Winter hauled her into cave, taking her to the small cavern when she had slept the night before. He placed her down on the furs and added a few pieces of wood to the fire pit. There were still warm embers from earlier and it only took him a moment to bring the wood to a crackling blaze.
When he was finished, Winter climbed into the furs, casually throwing an arm around her waist. Despite the innocence of the touch, desire coiled tightly in Caitlin’s abdomen.
“We should be able to remove Sophia’s stitches tonight,” he said.
“You don’t think it’s too soon?” she asked, trying not to sound as hopeful as she felt.
Winter shook his head. “Have you given any thought about what you want to do next?”
Only every second of every day.
With a sigh, Caitlin decided to be honest. “I guess I’ve sort of been taking your hospitality for granted. I know it can’t be like this forever.”
“Why do you think that?”
Her brows rose. “Sophia’s my responsibility. I can’t just dump all of my problems on you.”
“She’s not a problem,” he said, giving her a chiding look. “She’s a child, and she deserves a family.”
“What are you proposing?”
“Become my mate.”
Geez, if that wasn’t blunt.
A blush crept over Caitlin’s face. “You said before that you didn’t want a mate.”
Winter leaned down to run his firm lips over the sensitive skin of her neck. A shiver ran down her spine.
“I was young,” he said in a husky voice. “Besides. Cole could use a mother and Sophia needs stability.”
“And she’s going to get stability out here in the wilderness?”
As she spoke, Caitlin arched her head to the side, affording him better access. In response, he flicked his tongue out to brush it against her skin. He must have liked what he tasted, because he proceeded to drag his tongue up the length of her neck.
He stopped at her ear. “Far more than she had in your so–called ‘civilization’.”
He shifted his hips, until his hard erection was pressing against her rear. The feel of it made anticipation flutter in her stomach.
“What about the wolves?” she asked. “Will we really be safe here?”
His hand began a slow perusal of her torso. “You let me worry about that. I won’t let anything happen to you or the children.”
Winter made it sound a bit too simple for her liking, but Caitlin accepted his answer for now. She’d had the week from hell, and for now, all she wanted was to stop thinking, just for a little bit.
She placed her hand on the back of his head, drawing him in for a kiss. As his warm lips moved over hers, his hand cupped the swell of her breast. As his large hand squeezed the soft mound, she took in a sharp breath, affording him the opportunity to slip his tongue past her lips. She moaned, hardly believing that such a big, brutish male could be such a skilled kisser.
Winter’s breathing accelerated as his fingers began working at the buttons of her blouse. His pace was maddeningly slow. She could feel the region between her thighs growing slick with arousal and she was aching to have him inside of her.
When he came up against the barrier of her bra, Winter groaned his displeasure. With a shy laugh, she reached between their bodies to unsnap the front clip. With a soft pop, her breasts sprang free. Winter was quick to grasp one, his large hand making her breast look small by comparison. His calloused thumb rubbed circles around her dusky nipple and she couldn’t help but whimper.
He continued to kiss and massage her for a while, as if savoring her body. Becoming impatient, she started to tug at the ties of his shirt. With a low, rumbling chuckle, Winter laid her back on the furs and lifted his shirt over his head.
She bit down on her lip at the sight of him. The firelight played against rows of hard muscles, highlighting their sharp contours. Just below his naval was a trail of dark, springy hairs that disappeared into his buckskin pants. Between his thighs, there was a large, solid bulge that her fingers itched to touch.
As if sensing her desire, Winter pulled at the string that held his pants in place. Without its support, the heavy buckskin fell to pool at his knees, revealing an engorged manhood that was proportionate to the rest of his massive body. Caitlin found herself licking her lips, even as she wondered how he was going to fit inside of her.
Kicking his pants off, Winter bent to reclaim her lips. As his hands worked to remove her jeans, she began an exploration of his body, her hands roaming over the hills and valleys of his muscular form.
When Winter freed her from her pants, she grew bold. Her hand reached down to grip his hardness. She pulled him closer and Winter hissed, a sound that rapidly dissolved into a groan as she rubbed the head of his cock along her slick folds.
As she used him to caress her clit, she marveled at his size. She’d always considered her fingers to be fairly long, but they couldn’t even fit all the way around his thick girth.
Now, it was Winter who was becoming impatient. With a low growl, he snatched her wrist, his tight grip forcing her to release his cock. Pinning her hand above her head, he gave her a look that she may have called smug, if not for the lines of strain etched into his face.
He needed her.
Without warning he thrust inside of her. Despite how wet she was, his considerable size made her whimper with a strange combination of pleasure and pain.
Fully sheathed in her warm passage, Winter shuddered with pleasure. Rather than immediately thrusting, he held himself still within her and leaned down to nuzzle the top of her head, the only part of her he would reach due to their vast difference in size.
She heard him take a long drag of her scent and she found herself wondering how long it had been since the last time he’d had a woman.
Then, he began to move and her thoughts abandoned her as she surrendered to his desires.
They came at the same time. It was a level of intimacy she’d never felt with another man. When it was over, he held her in his arms and lavished her with kisses. As she started to doze off, he left briefly to check on the children. When he came back, he took her again, just as fervently as before.
Could she really make a future for herself and Sophia with Winter and Cole? Perhaps it was greedy of her, but Caitlin wanted to believe that she could.
In the weeks that followed, every laugh and smile from Sophia acted as validation. Caitlin had run away in hopes of finding a better life for her niece, but thanks to Winter, she had found a better life for the both of them.
Epilogue
&n
bsp; Summer, 2005
Winter returned to his cave in a foul mood. He had no less than fourteen bee stings and had had plenty of time to count them during the hour–long trek back to his cave.
As he entered the main cavern, Cole and Sophia immediately latched onto his legs. Cole had never been the ‘touchy–feely’ type, as his mate called it, but after a few weeks of watching Sophia monopolize Winter, the bear cub gotten tired of sitting on the sidelines. The two children got along well enough, but when it came to his attention, they were always in stiff competition with one another.
“Did you get it?” his mate asked.
She was staring at him expectantly from her pallet. Although the summer was particularly hot, Winter’s cave remained cool and as such, she wore her favorite doeskin over her shoulders. Her hair was a tangled mess and Winter could tell from the way she rubbed at her eyes that she had just been napping.
“Hello to you too, mate,” he said, suppressing a grin.
The children released their hold on him as he stalked over to where his mate was sitting. Caitlin began to pout.
“Stop messing with me,” she said, pushing him lightly on the shoulder. “I’m seriously going to die if I don’t have it.”
He cocked a brow. “How so?”
She jabbed a finger at her swollen belly. “Your cub is going to eat its way out of my stomach.”
Cole appeared at her side, looking terrified. “Can that happen?”
Winter scowled at the both of them, but it was Sophia who rested a hand on Cole’s shoulder and said, “Cait’s just being melodramatic.”
His mate huffed. “Who taught you that–”
Whatever Caitlin was going to say was abruptly lost when Winter pulled a jar from the folds of his bag. He placed the jar into her eager hands and she wasted no time in unscrewing the cap and dipping her fingers into its golden contents.
“Don’t you want something to eat with it?” Winter asked.
His mate was already dipping her finger in for seconds. “No time. Must feed the baby.”
Winter was no longer able to hold back his smile as he reached out to run a hand over her belly. He had been smiling a lot ever since Caitlin and Sophia had stumbled into his life. It was strange that he had existed for so long with just himself and Cole. Now, he couldn’t imagine life without the two humans.
Brushing a hand over his mate’s face, he swiped a drop of honey from the side of her mouth. Caitlin paused in her binging to beam up at him.
“I love you,” she whispered.
“I love you, too.”
About the Author
Viola Rivard is a national bestselling paranormal romance author. Her books feature sexy alpha males, as well as themes of family life and living in the wilderness. You can escape into her books, starting with Claimed by the Alphas, available everywhere ebooks are sold.
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Lost in Winter © Copyright 2014, Viola Rivard
Kissed by Temptation
Deanna Chase
From New York Times bestselling author Deanna Chase, Kissed by Temptation, a holiday story set in the Coven Pointe universe.
The last place sex–witch Mati Ballintine wants to be is at a holiday sorority party. But when the high angel from the council orders her to protect a new angel recruit, she has no choice but to go and grit her teeth through the frat boys’ advances.
The night turns from bad to worse when a demon appears and is hell–bent on taking the angel to Hell. Mati and her incubus boyfriend Vaughn will need to combine forces to not only save the angel, but everyone else the demon leaves in his wake.
Chapter One
Going to school full time while keeping an eye on some newbie angel sucked ass. Especially when the new recruit was raiding my closet for a dress that wouldn’t make her look like she was fresh off the buggy from Amish country.
“Oh, my,” Janie said, a blush creeping up her pale flesh. “This one, um… looks like it’s missing a couple of yards of fabric.”
I glanced at the silk spaghetti–strap dress and sent her a sly smile. “It gets the job done.”
“Only if you’re looking to…” She bit her lip as heat nearly radiated off her bright red cheeks.
I held back a snarky remark. Damn my sister Chessandra for foisting the newbie angel on me. Chessandra was the high angel of the angel council, and lucky me, every time she had a pet project, she tapped me to do it. And I wasn’t even an angel–I was a witch. A sex witch, at that. Not exactly the most respectable of witches in the eyes of the public. But that was their problem, not mine. I found it empowering, and, let’s face it, fun.
But it also meant most of my wardrobe had been purchased specifically for seduction. If Janie was going to shop in my closet, she was going to look hot by the time I was done with her. “Try this one,” I said, handing her a silk dress with a plunging halter–top neckline.
“I don’t–”
“If you wear that dress you’ve got on”–I swept my skeptical gaze down the length of her body–”you’re going to stick out like a church lady at a wet–T–shirt contest.”
“Mati!” She grabbed the halter and pressed it against her chest. “If I wear this, I might as well head straight for the strip bar. There’s no way this… handkerchief is going to cover all this.” Arching her back, she waved a hand in front of her ample chest.
I refrained from rolling my eyes. “Just try it on.”
She ran a hand through her perfectly coiled curls, unintentionally turning her look from too perfect to casually mussed. It was a start. She bit her lower lip. “I’m not sure about this.”
“Janie…” I gave her a stern look.
She swallowed, closed her eyes, and disappeared into my bathroom.
I let out a long sigh. Janie was a sweet girl, and I genuinely liked her. I just wasn’t a big fan of the night’s planned activity. We were headed to a holiday party put on by her sorority at the university, an elite Greek house only for those with magical gifts. It was hard to imagine she’d even want to be a part of the group considering she seemed happier in the book club and the drama department. That is until I met her mother–a socialite witch from Memphis whose life revolved around people of a certain social status and their connections. Janie was a legacy recruit, and if she hadn’t joined, her mom would’ve made her life hell.
Which was ironic, considering Janie was a low–level angel who would spend her life protecting souls from demons. She’d literally have her fair share of run–ins with Hell. In fact, it had already started. A week ago, Janie had accidently crossed paths with a couple of demons and barely escaped. It was now my job to keep her safe while the other resident New Orleans angel, Lailah, tracked the demons down.
I stared at my closet, contemplating the night’s outfit. If Vaughn were in town, I’d wear the silver–beaded number with the slit up to my hip just to torture him until we could get somewhere private. Oh, why not? It’d been weeks since I’d felt sexy. I pulled the dress out and slipped it on. The bodice showed just enough cleavage to be enticing but was still tasteful, while the skirt hit mid–thigh, showing off ample leg. It was that slit that put the dress into the danger zone. And I loved it.
The door to the bathroom swung open slowly. Janie’s blond head poked around the corner, a grimace on her face. “This isn’t going to work.”
“Get your skinny ass out here,” I said as I slipped into my matching silver heels.
Her eyes widened as she took in my transformation.
“Janie.” I stood with my hands on my hips. “You’re going to be late.”
She glanced at my wall clock, and then with a pained expression, she shuffled out of the bathroom. Her arms were crossed over her chest, hiding the deep plunge showing off her magnificent breasts. Damn, what I wouldn’t have given for a pair of those double Ds.
I grinned at her. “It’s perfect. Classy with just a little bit of sin.”
“A little?” She patted at her c
urls. “I messed up my hair.”
“No you didn’t.” I reached over and mussed them just a little more. “Perfect. Now slip on those shoes and we’ll get out of here.”
She strapped her feet into the black kitten heels I’d put out for her. Her scowl vanished as she admired them and seemed to relax a tiny bit. They were a far cry from my four–inch stilettos. Still, she couldn’t seem to keep from wrapping her arms around herself in an attempt to keep her cleavage covered.
“Here.” I handed her a loosely knitted sweater that would give her a layer of fabric but not really cover anything. “Stand up straight and stop fidgeting. There’s nothing more attractive than a girl with confidence. Got it?”
Her arms fell to her sides as she forced a smile and trailed after me as if she were on a death march.
“Janie?”
“Yeah.” Her fists clenched, but at least she didn’t cover her chest again.
“Do you want me to get you out of this? I can come up with something.”
She pressed her lips together, clearly in thought, and then shook her head. “No. Thank you, but I’m supposed to be meeting someone there. I don’t want to disappoint him. Otherwise, I might take you up on the offer. This sort of thing just isn’t my scene, you know?”
I nodded. I did know. It used to be my kind of scene, but only because hot, horny college guys would be there and they were easy pickings. These days, I steered clear. Who needed frat guys when I had Vaughn, the hottest incubus demon hunter in town? “Who are you meeting? Anyone I need to check out first?”
A tinge of blush crept up her cheeks again. “No. He’s just an athlete I tutored last semester. His aunt is a witch, so he knows about our world but doesn’t have any power. He’s not a threat in any way. We were supposed to bring dates, and well, he’s a friend.”
“Okay. Well then.” I winked, determined to hook her up with jock boy. If anyone needed a night with a hot–blooded male, it was her. Grabbing my clutch purse, I said, “Let’s go get ‘em.”