by C. D. Gorri
“Thanks,” she smiled.
Things were really looking up for her now. It was Halloween, her favorite holiday, and the sun was shining. Lena had been hired to cater a themed wedding at the Oasis Convention Center in Maccon City, her new hometown, and she was delighted with the menu.
The bride and groom had decided on a very nontraditional dessert table with two hundred champagne flutes filled with Mahalabia, the specialty pudding made of rosewater and milk she once told Keeton about.
Dammit. Don’t think about him. She refocused on her task at hand, admiring the finished pudding. She’d dyed it a blood-red color per the bride’s request, and it was the centerpiece of the dessert table. Decadent dark and white chocolate Petit fours sat on either side on two three-tiered trays, and she’d written the happy couple’s names with the white on an extra-long bar of the dark chocolate. Lena had even molded a bride and groom with little skeleton faces for them.
She used dried roses and pistachios as garnish on the bar and all three desserts, along with edible gold and silver flakes appropriate for the celebration. The results were beyond her expectations, and she felt pride in a job well done. Looking down at her soiled chef coat, she made a mental note to change before the evening began.
She was not serving, but she would stay in the kitchen to direct the proper heating and serving of the food. There would, of course, be a cocktail hour, followed by a pasta course, then four carving stations and a buffet of sides would be set up in the main room.
She’d prepared a rosemary and garlic infused prime rib roast, a Cajun-style deep-fried turkey, a smoked ham, and two-hundred lump-crab cakes with a spicy remoulade on the side. It was hard work, but she loved it, and hoped her clients would be happy.
If only the rest of her life was falling in line as smoothly as this dinner, she thought with a sad sigh. Whatever. She had no reason to complain. After she’d returned to the hotel on well-salted New jersey roads, she sank into a depression she wasn’t sure she could shake. But a visit from her mother the very next day had woken her up.
“Mom! What are you doing here? And you brought Cary with you?” She stomped her foot angrily at the two of them standing in her doorway.
“Good God, child! Where on earth have you been?”
“Yes, Marilena, we were so worried.”
Cary attempted to reach out, but the thought of him touching her made her skin crawl. She stepped back, shaking her head angrily.
“Cary? Get out of my room!”
“Lena! You have no call to be rude to him. Especially not after I begged him to give you another chance-”
“Me? Mom, he cheated on me! With his secretary! I do not need or want a chance with him-”
“Lena! Be reasonable, who else will take you with your weight issue.”
“Oh my God, Mom, you know what, I am so done with this conversation. I need both of you to leave. Now!”
“You will not speak to me this way. I am your mother.”
“Are you? Cause you treat me like a goddamned burden, Mom. I never felt your approval or love once in my whole life. Do you know that? Do you even see how you hurt me time and again with your cruel and thoughtless words?”
“Oh, Lena. No, I just,” her mother stumbled over her words, narrowing her hazel eyes at Cary, the older woman did something that shocked the hell out of her daughter.
“Cary, get the hell out of here, you sniveling little wretch! You never deserved my daughter. Shame on you for being so predictable! Shtupping the secretary? Really? Oh, leave already,” she said, and pushed him out the door.
“Mom! Did you really just do that?” Lena snorted, covering her mouth.
“Marilena, I’m sorry if I have been hard on you. I just want the best for you. I might be a hard person, lord knows your father thought so, but he loved you and so do I. Very much. I’d like you to come home, Lena.”
“Thank you, Mom. I love you too. But I think I am fine right where I am.”
“Are you sure? Alright then. Call me when you are settled. I’d like to see you. When you have time, of course.”
“Okay,” she said, hugging her mother for the first time since she was a child.
It was the first time in a long while that she felt close to her only living parent. Seeing Cary had been a shock, but her total lack of feeling for the man was evident. She should have thanked him for cheating on her, she thought with a giggle.
The sound of shouting reached her all the way in the kitchen, and for just a second, Lena swore she recognized the person’s voice. But it couldn’t be him. Keeton wouldn’t come after her. Not after all this time. The yelling increased, followed by a long animalistic snarl.
Uh oh. She ran towards the front of the building where a security guard was currently locked in full nelson by the man who’d just broken her heart.
“Keeton, for fuck’s sake, they’re normals here!” The guard, whom she knew as Alex, had glowing gold eyes.
“You’re a Shifter too?” Lena asked, surprised.
“Fuck! Tell your mate to get a grip,” the guard said, and something about him reminded her of a dog, or Wolf.
“Lena,” Keeton said, tossing the man to the floor like he was nothing more than a rag doll.
He stepped into her space, not touching, but the way his eyes roamed over her from head to toe was just as intimate. She swallowed audibly, choking on the sob that threatened to reveal itself. What was he doing here? Why was he looking at her like she was a drink of water and he’d been stranded in the desert, dying for a sip?
“Cause I have been,” he whispered, reaching out with long-fingered hands to pull her into his hard body. “I’m dying without you, Lena. Love you, mate, missed you.”
Keeton wrapped her in the warmth of his steel embrace, choking on emotion he kissed her hair, her head, finally, her lips. She sighed, tasting the tears as they rolled down her cheeks and into their kiss. But it didn’t matter. Nothing did except him.
“You’re here? You came down from your mountain. Why?”
“Because I love you. I was wrong to let you go. Please don’t get married. Not to anyone but me. I can’t live without you, Marilena.”
“Good, because I don’t want to live without you. But Keeton, I’m not getting married.”
“What?” He turned abruptly, and she followed his line of sight to find Niels standing there grinning from ear to ear.
“I told you.” He turned to face Lena with a goofy grin on his face. “I’m smarter than the average Bear.”
He winked and left before Keeton could go after him. Lena laughed aloud, hugging her ornery Mountain Lion tight. He growled, lifting her off the ground and spinning her in a circle.
“So,” she said as he lowered her to her feet, raining kisses on her face and mouth. “Do you mean it? Are you staying here, in the real world, with me?”
“Yes, I mean it.”
“But what about your mountain?”
“I suppose it will keep. We can go there on weekends when we need a little quiet.”
“I think I’d like that,” she whispered, sealing her lips to his.
“Let’s get out of here,” he growled and flexed his hips, allowing her to feel the evidence of his fierce arousal.
“I’d like that, but, you see, I’m working,” she said, gnawing her lower lip worriedly.
The last thing she wanted was for Keeton to think she did not want him. But she had been hired to do a job, and this was her business. Surely the mountain man would understand. She waited for him to speak.
“I don’t suppose you could use a sous chef?”
Lena gasped, delighting in his green eyes that sparkled with love as he placed a hand on her waist and guided her back to the kitchen. A sous chef? What a wonderful idea!
“I would love it,” she replied.
Together they worked side by side, a precursor of their lives together, she realized with wonder and pure joy filling her with each passing moment. Keeton was already an excellent cook. He
listened to her instructions and surprised her with some innovative methods of his own. He wasn’t classically trained, but as he explained, Shifters had very acute senses. His senses, mainly taste and smell, could decipher far more complex flavors than a human’s. Made him a natural born chef.
“I just might hire you full time,” she said, only half-joking after tasting his homemade remoulade.
“I think I’d love working with you permanently, Chef Sorelli.”
The deep purr in his throat held promises she could hardly wait for.
“Later, mate,” he said, catching her lips in a hard, quick kiss before turning his attention back to the croquettes.
“Show me once more how to pack them so they don’t break.”
“Okay,” she smiled, going back to work.
Keeton closed the door to the house His sweet mate had been renting for the past few weeks. It was a nice and tidy little Victorian on a cul-de-sac that afforded them some privacy, though not as much as his cabin.
That was alright with him, though. He didn’t need to run and hide from the world. Not anymore. The past few hours had been sweet torture working next to his unclaimed mate while she smiled and greeted those wedding guests who wanted to meet the head chef at the event.
Shifters did not particularly like sharing. And yet, because he knew she was his, his Mountain Lion did not object. At least, not out loud. The drive to her house was fast, but even seconds were too long. He wanted her. His cat did too. The need to claim the sweet woman who’d haunted every single moment since he’d first seen her on the mountain was growing stronger by the minute.
“Come on.” She tugged on his hand, and he went with her as docile as a kitten.
“This is why I chose to rent this house. You know, I have an option to buy from the owner,” she said, biting her lip as she turned the shower on.
Keeton was tongue-tied, watching his gorgeous mate as she stripped off her clothes and walked backwards into the stall. The three showerheads that lined the walls all sprayed simultaneously, drenching her hair, and sluicing down her beautiful and oh-so-tempting body.
“Well?” She summoned him with a curl of her finger, and he almost walked in with his clothes still on.
“Fuck,” he growled, getting tangled in his jeans as he tried unsuccessfully to unbutton the fly.
Fuck it. Keeton unleashed his claws, shredding the thick denim and doing the same to his shirt. Lucky for his boots, they slid off with no problem. Lena watched him, mouth open, but he saw no trace of fear or disgust. His idiotic, animalistic display actually heightened her arousal.
The sweet, honey-rose scent infiltrated his nostrils, going straight to his ever-hardening dick. Keeton was through waiting. He stepped onto the wet tiles, closing the sliding shower door behind him.
“Finally,” she murmured, pulling him to her deliciously wet skin. Her taught nipples dug into his chest, and he purred deep in his throat.
“Lena,” he whispered. Burying his hands in her wet hair, he angled her head and lowered his own until his mouth was crushing hers beneath his kiss, so full of unbridled passion, he damn near shook with the force of it.
His mate nestled in closer to him with a deep sigh of longing, one he felt all the way to his toes. Fuck, she was gorgeous. So beautiful, so trusting, he thought, amazed, as he lifted her up in his arms and backed her up against the tiled wall.
Lena’s hands clutched at his shoulders as she wrapped her legs around his waist, bringing her heated core into direct contact with his hard-as-fuck cock. Keeton growled in response to the helpless flex of her hips. The tiny movements, so soft and slow, tortured them both.
“Want you. Want to claim you, mate,” he growled into her mouth, swallowing her responding moan.
The constant sensual brushing of her hot, wet pussy against his shaft was making him lose control. But instead of running from it, he embraced it. Keeton understood better than ever that his beast was part of him, as surely as Lena was. The animal would never harm her, or him, for that matter. He simply needed to be present for this.
Mine. Mate.
Yes, he told the cat, soothing the creature with a promise that tonight he was going to claim her.
“Please, Keeton,” she murmured, flexing her hips against him once more.
“Need you to tell me you want this.”
“I want this. I want you. Make me yours,” she begged.
Keeton’s heart thudded roughly inside his chest, so hard it thought it beat right out of him. She was a treasure. His one and only, and he was going to do right by her or die trying.
“Mine,” he growled with all the fierceness of his beast.
Flexing his hips, he entered her in one swift motion, dragging a moan from her sweet lips. One after the other, growls and tension built as he moved within her heat. His Lena tested his control like no other. She bucked against him in time with his thrusts, trusting him to hold her safe and secure in the wet shower.
He could do that. And so much more. He shifted his position, angling her so that her back was on the wall and her hips thrust forward. Keeton felt himself slide deeper inside her heated slit. His fingers tightened on her ass as he lifted her and slammed her back down on his cock. Loving the moans and pants that escaped her lips as she fought for her pleasure, the same way he fought to give it to her.
Her smooth, silky skin glistened like opals under the spray of water. So tempting, so soft. He couldn’t wait to sink his teeth there, just above her breast. To mark her with his bite, bind her to him, and finally stake his claim.
His Mountain Lion was riding him hard, demanding he strike now. But not yet. He needed her to come first.
“Keeton,” she moaned his name.
Her breath was coming in quick, hard gusts, and he knew she was close. Could feel it in the way her walls tightened on his cock. Fuck, she was squeezing him so damn hard. Felt so good. Incredible.
“Mine,” he snarled, increasing his pace.
Bolts of pleasure shot through his body, lighting his nervous system on fire. Lena moaned, a deep and guttural sound, and he struck just as her pussy squeezed him. His Lion roared loudly as he swallowed her life’s force, the honey taste of her blood coating his throat. He swallowed a mouthful as she came around his cock, taking her with him into the height of ecstasy.
Even as he came, spilling his semen deep within her womb, Keeton kept pistoning his hips. Her sex began to ripple and tighten once more, urging her into her second orgasm as he licked her wounds closed with his healing saliva.
This was only the beginning of what would be a raucous night of lovemaking and claiming. He couldn’t wait, he thought with a satisfied growl as he lifted his well-sexed and fully claimed mate out of the shower stall. Grabbing two fluffy towels from the shelf, he carried her to the bed.
“Love you,” she whispered with a small smile teasing the corner of her kiss-swollen lips.
“I love you too, mate,” he said, and proceeded to show her.
Keeton made love to Lena throughout the night. Taking her again, and again, and again, and still, he was insatiable as he collapsed onto her body after their fourth round.
“Oh wow,” she gasped, struggling to breathe.
“Did I hurt you?” he lifted his head, concern glowing in his green haze.
“No, of course not. But Keeton,” she said as he rolled onto his side, rearranging her exhausted limbs so she would be comfortable.
“What, sweet?”
“I think we should buy this house.”
He started laughing then. Holding her face between his hands, he kissed her nose.
“I had that same exact thought the second I watched you step into that shower.”
“And you mean it about working with me? At Happy Ever After Events & Catering LLC?”
“If you are willing to hire me, yes, I’d love it.”
“Of course.”
“There’s just one thing,” he said, kissing her head and pulling her on top of him.
Lena’s eyes widened when she wiggled her hips and his cock rose to attention, hardening beneath her silky sex. The scent of her arousal now carried with it notes of his Lion. He growled with pleasure, loving that she would wear his mark and carry his scent with her always.
“What thing?” she asked. Lena sat up. Rotating her hips slowly, she slid her dripping pussy up and down, over his shaft so that his eyes rolled to the back of his head.
“Marry me, Lena? Be mine in the human world as well as the Shifter one?”
“Yes, my love, oh yes,” she said, lifting her hips up so she could take him inside once more.
This time, their lovemaking was slow and thorough. A body-long slide of skin against skin, souls against souls. He could feel it, could feel her through their matebond and it shook him to the marrow.
“Keeton, I feel you,” she whispered, eyes closed, and lips open as she made love to him with everything she had inside.
“I know, mate,” he purred, rolling them over, so he was on top, in control, guiding their lovemaking through unknown territory.
“I feel you too, Lena. You’re in my blood, in my soul, in my heart.”
“Oh Keeton.”
“I love you, Marilena.”
He increased the speed, the power behind his thrusts until he felt her squeezing him exactly right. His balls tightened, cock aching with the need to come, then he did. Simultaneously, they reached new heights, bodies arching, jerking in their passion.
“I love you, my mountain man. I am gonna try so hard to make this place a home for you,” she said, exhaling as she clutched him tight to her breast.
“You’re my home, Lena, no matter where we are. It’s always been you,” he replied and felt the truth of that statement as the last bit of that stone wall he once had erected around his heart shattered.
Stone was no match for the strength of his love for her. She was his everything. His only thing. His fated mate. And he would spend the rest of his life loving her. That was a promise he intended to keep.
Epilogue
Keeton and Marilena were married just before Thanksgiving, having closed on that mid-size Victorian house only days before. They chose to honeymoon up at the cabin since they needed to close it up before the winter months hit the Garden state.