by Elle Thorne
He threw back his head and gave a groan to his own coming undone.
She fell asleep before she knew it, too exhausted to speak.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Circe stretched. She could get used to this. Oh, who was she kidding? She couldn’t live without this. She took a moment while Linc was still asleep—more like spent, from their earlier activities—and studied his features.
Would she ever tire of looking at this face?
Never.
His eyes flew open so quickly it startled her. She flinched while her heartbeat raced.
“You scared me,” she admitted. “I thought you were asleep.”
“I felt eyes on me.” He planted a kiss on her lips, lingering. She tasted herself, their sex on his lips, and blushed at the image of what had happened a couple hours ago.
She’d never thought that the expression riding someone’s face was a “thing.” She’d have thought he’d have suffocated, or perhaps that it wouldn’t have been enjoyable.
Oh, my. How wrong she was. It was so very enjoyable.
“What’s putting the color on your cheeks?” he asked softly, a teasing tone in his voice.
She shook her head. She was no wallflower, but she wasn’t quite ready to outright state what was on her mind.
“Subject change?” Linc asked.
And she loved him even more, for getting her. He simply got that she had weird moments. And he let her have them without stepping on her toes.
“Yes. Subject change,” she concurred.
“How are thing for Albani and Rinalli? How are things between you and Albani? Has any of this changed your… what would you call what you have with Albani… a relationship?”
“That’s what I’d call it. Albani and Rinalli are happy to have each other nearby. Albani and I get along better than ever. I mean, I thought we were good before, but now there’s this definite camaraderie that didn’t exist before.”
“Good. So that means you’re happy.”
She wanted to tell him that having him here with her was what made her happy, but didn’t want to be needy. Plus, it was true, what he said: Albani and Rinalli’s proximity, and the role that Circe played in that had brought about a new level in her closeness to Albani. “Yes, I’m happy. You didn’t ask about Dina—how’s she’s doing, how her relationship with Rinalli is coming along.”
“I don’t need to ask. I can see she’s doing well. And I can see that Rinalli being with her mother has given Rinalli a sense of peace that she’s passed on to Dina. This is the happiest I’ve seen her since… ever.” He paused, then continued. “Are you wanting me to ask because of plans and stuff? Is this your way of asking where this is headed?”
Now it was her turn to pause. She didn’t want to tell him how much he meant to her. She didn’t want to tell him anything that would make her vulnerable.
She cursed herself for being this way. For being so difficult at times.
Linc studied her, his expression unreadable. His jaw muscles were working, but it didn’t seem he was angry, just thinking. Finally, he spoke. “I’m not leaving your life. I’m selling my home and moving here to Colorado. I’ll put a down payment on a home as soon as I find the right one.”
Circe was so stunned her jaw felt like it might have dropped open. She sucked in and chewed on her bottom lip while she absorbed what he’d just said. “You don’t have to do that,” she answered.
Linc’s brows rose in question. “Meaning…”
In for a penny, in for a pound. She’d heard that expression before, but never truly grasped the finality of it, the true meaning behind it. She was all in. She had to be. She’d lived her life without half-measures. She was all about black and white, no room for gray areas. She needed to be the same with this—with Linc. “You can stay here.”
“I don’t take handouts. I don’t live off women.”
“No one is asking you to do that. I don’t do charity cases, anyway. You’re needed here. Someone is needed. I talked to Marco last night. We need more help, more manpower.”
His eyes narrowed “So you want to hire someone—anyone—me?”
Circe took a deep breath. She needed to let him know. “Not anyone. Not someone. You.”
He didn’t move his eyes from her face, and he didn’t say a word.
God, this emotional stuff isn’t easy. This vulnerable stuff is hard as hell.
Then Circe thought of Mae, and how if she’d been a little less hard, things wouldn’t have gone sideways for so long.
“I want you here.”
He nodded slowly, and though it looked like he was agreeing, it also looked like the kind of nod that said, keep talking.
So, she kept talking. About how Dina should be here. How it was good for Dina to be with her own kind during her early years. About how Albani needed her daughter. How they’d been apart for centuries and it would be wrong to separated them again. She couldn’t recount later the things she said, but he remained silent.
Finally, she summarized with, “I want you here.”
A slow smile grew on his lips. “That’s all you really had to say. The rest was icing.”
Circe gave him a dirty look.
“There’s the Circe I know.” He leaned in and touched his lips to hers. “The one I love.”
Chapter Thirty
Circe walked through the maze, letting the sun warm her face. She’d been unable to reach Camden and Eden, as had Marco.
Marco tried to explain it away: they were too busy, they had bad reception in the valley of the Bear Canyon Mountain range. He had all sorts of reasons for Circe not being able to reach the twins.
But still, Circe worried. Why? Why worry? Camden and Eden weren’t babies. They were grownups with elementals and shifters of their own. They could handle whatever came their way.
The crack of a twig snapping made her whirl around.
“Mae.” She hugged her cousin.
“I didn’t mean to sneak up on you.” Mae hugged her back.
“I’m on edge. Can’t reach Camden and Eden.”
“They’re working with Griz. Why don’t I give him a shout? He can give us an update.”
“Who is Griz?”
“Griz.” Mae’s smile was enigmatic. “Griz is… Griz. He’s been around the mountains for a long time. He has worked with the Compliance Units of the Shifter Supreme Council. Not sure if he was an Enforcer. Not sure if I should even be talking about that. So have his nephews—Cross, Lance, and Judge. He’s been a bit of a mystery on the mountain range—rarely seen, keeping things rolling. Not allowing shifters and their lifestyles to go into obscurity.”
Circe was intrigued—not in a romantic way. God knew, she was plenty happy with Linc, but this Griz guy sounded like a mystery that needed solving. “Maybe I’ll get to meet him, when I visit sometime.”
“Oh!” Mae was practically bouncing with excitement. “You’ve got to come visit. Just got to. I would love to show you the valley. Introduce you to the families there. Really, it’s more like one big family, more than it is a series of families. I’m blessed.”
Circe smiled at the flush of excitement that blossomed on Mae’s cheeks. “I’m happy for you.”
Mae took her hand. “But I see a sadness in your eyes when you say that.”
Circe studied the emerald green lawn. “I have wasted so many years. So much time. We could have been together. Albani and Benithe could have been together.”
“Awww.” Mae squeezed Circe’s hand. “You had a road to travel, as did I. We had life lessons to learn.” She shrugged. “What matters is that we are here now—together.”
“True. And we will be together. We’ll make it a point to see each other regularly.”
“Did Astra tell you the name she’s picked out for the baby?”
Circe frowned. “No. Was she supposed to?”
“I wasn’t sure if she had.”
“What’s the name?”
“Circe Albani Mae Evans Ortiz.”
Tears flooded Circe’s eyes, threatening to overflow. “Wow. My goodness. I’m honored.” She was choked up and swallowed hard to be able to speak again.
“She didn’t know what she’d call her. So she’s gone with the first initials. Cameo.” Mae’s face widened with a grin.
“Very nice. I like that. Cameo.” Circe hugged her cousin, who was now her best friend again. “What an appropriate name for her. I love it.”
“You’re coming to visit her when she’s born, aren’t you?”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“And you’ll bring Linc?”
Circe narrowed her eyes at her cousin. “What’s that?”
“As if it’s not obvious that you two are meant for each other. The only thing I don’t understand is why you haven’t couplebonded yet. It doesn’t seem like he’s marked you or claimed you.”
Unfortunately not.
Circe didn’t know what was taking Linc so long either. He hadn’t pressed her for a commitment.
“I wonder if he finds it difficult.”
Circe cocked her head, curiosity piqued. “Why would he?”
Mae laughed. A genuine laugh that seemed to explode from within. “Seriously?”
Circe nodded. “Seriously.”
“Because you’re scary as hell. And no pushover. And wickedly powerful with your electric skills.”
“But…” She heaved a deep breath of exasperation. “I don’t think I scare him.”
“Yeah, but I suspect he knows that as scary as you are, you’re also very scared. He probably doesn’t want to push you.”
“Men.” Circe stomped toward the hedges, ready to get lost from her thoughts, and men, and her thoughts of men.
One man, to be specific.
Linc.
Chapter Thirty-One
Linc found her in her sitting area of her bedroom, overlooking the majestic scenery of Colorado, her legs tucked beneath her, a steaming cup of coffee before her.
“You’re up early,” he said, planting a kiss on her temple, sneaking his arm around her to grab her cup of coffee.
“Thief,” she accused as he raised the cup to his lips.
He smiled just before he took a sip.
Then he grimaced. “Too much sugar.”
She laughed, the sound warming his soul as she plucked the cup from his fingers and drew a drink from it.
“Mmm, perfect,” she argued the point.
He took the cup from her, set it on the table and picked her up and carried her to her bed. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and they stayed that way as he laid her on the rumpled sheet.
He planted himself next to her, and side by side, he graced her lips with his thumb, then let his hand glide lower.
He slid his hand under her shirt, and cupped one breast, teasing the nipple to a stiff peak.
Circe moaned, her body strained closer to his.
Her moan told him about the need building within her. He separated from their kiss, semi reluctant while at the same time need coursed through his body.
Linc rolled Circe onto her back, raising the shirt so he could slide his tongue in a slow circle over one dusky peak, then the other.
Circe ran her fingers through his hair, holding his head close as her back arched, and her hips rose in eagerness.
Linc explored her silky skin, peeling off her night-shorts, and caressing her full, glorious ass before gripping her, digging his fingers into her flesh, pulling her closer to his body.
His lion roared, ready to take her.
Now.
Hard.
Fast.
Linc raised his eyes to meet hers and saw the same desire mirrored within. Her mouth was half-open, breath coming in sharp gasps. “I want you,” she whispered, pulling his hair, digging fingernails into his scalp, running them over his shoulders. “I need you.” Her panther flashed in her eyes.
The air about them sizzled with pent up desire and electricity.
That was all it took. Circe pulled off her T-shirt, and he feasted my eyes on her curvy body. He relished the idea of being able to feast on her again and again.
Slowly, so slowly, he inched her panties down. One tiny bit at a time.
She whimpered. Her hand flew to her mouth, biting her index finger between the first and second knuckle.
Linc grinned at the sexiness of her desire.
She groaned impatiently, wriggling her legs to hasten the process.
He took a deep breath, smelling the need of her. The passion of her yearning.
Damn. He clenched his jaw to control the desire she brought out in him. If he didn’t get some semblance of control, he’d lose his shit and release way too early.
Linc parted her legs and stared at the sight before him. She was so wet, glistening, ready for him to claim her. He lowered himself closer, stroking between her folds, watching her lift her hips in time with his strokes.
She whimpered.
Louder and louder.
Finally, she cried out in relief when his index finger alit on her swollen clit. She closed her eyes, riding out the pleasure from his touch.
“Watch me,” Linc insisted.
She stared at him as he caressed her most sensitive spots. Her eyes flaring different colors, her breathing labored.
The sound of a lightbulb popping shattered the morning silence. Linc damned near jumped out of his skin. A slight giggle erupted from her lips.
Circe semi-grimaced at the side effects that her elemental caused when she was in the heat of passion.
But Linc loved it. He loved every second as much as he enjoyed all the other indicators of her desire. Like the one before him right now—her hips moved, gyrating, making her breasts heave as she breathed harder and harder, each moment coming closer to a climax.
“Fuck, I need you,” he growled, his lion evident in his voice.
And as if he’d issued an invitation—or a demand—her hand gripped his cock, moving up and down.
Linc watched her fingers while she stroked his length. The view and the sensation was almost too much, bringing him close to coming undone, but he gritted his teeth and kept himself reined in while his own fingers pursued their objective with a fervor that only Circe could bring out in him. He moved his hands faster and faster, her own reactions spurring his actions.
She was almost there.
“Yes! Yes!” Her hips jerked upward once again as she grew rigid, exclamations turning into moans while she relaxed and yielded to the orgasm.
“I need to be in you,” he admitted with a groan. “Now.”
She spread her legs wider in an invitation he couldn’t refuse.
The scent of her sex enveloped him, filling his senses, dominating Linc and his lion.
He perched himself over Circe, his shaft pressed against her warm wetness, eager to gain entrance.
And yet he held back, his eyes glued to hers, preparing himself to relish the moment soon to come.
“Yes,” she whispered, nodding. “Please. Now.”
Linc drove forward, making her gasp. Her eyes flew open, gripping his shoulders with a power that had to have come from her panther.
He covered her mouth with his, muffling her cries with his tongue, thrusting it in her mouth in time with his cock, driving into her.
Faster.
Harder.
Over and over.
Her hips jerked up in time with his. He relished the sound their bodies made—a sexy, sloppy, slapping noise as they crashed into each other repeatedly.
Linc sunk into the moment, letting his body and his inner lion take over, slipping into and out of the boundaries between man and feline.
He claimed her, rode her, made her his.
She would belong to no other. His and his alone. Nobody else would have her, but him. She’d be his forever, this was how it was meant to be. He knew this was fated.
She moaned with passion and he groaned into her ear.
“Give it to me,” he urged her.
“Yes! Linc!” She threw her head back, screaming his name as her body shuddered beneath his. She tightened around his hardness, clenching down on his length.
At this point, with that pressure, with Circe climaxing around his cock, he couldn’t keep himself from coming.
Linc stiffened, crying out against Circe’s neck as he released.
Circe was his mate. Forever.
He bit into her neck, marking her as his.
Forever.
Her panther’s snarl was a sign of approval as he let himself come undone while he made her his.
Epilogue
Circe was eating breakfast with Dina, learning all about the intricacies of a young one who was completely enthralled with the butterflies flitting about.
Linc strode up to them, his hair messy, his shirt untucked—God, she loved that look on him—his jeans covered in dust.
“I may need to ask for a raise,” he exclaimed as he leaned in to give her a kiss and at the same time pick up a squealing, joyful Dina.
“I’ll take that to the committee,” Circe said with a smile.
“I thought we took it to the committee this morning.”
“Linc,” Circe hissed a warning for him to behave while the heat of embarrassment rose to her cheeks.
He laughed, a laugh that came from deep within, and twirled Dina in a circle, making her giggle.
“I expected you to be sad, what with Mae and Jake pulling out this morning.” He gave her a knowing look.
Melancholy wove its way in and around Circe’s heart. “I am. But I’m heartened with the knowledge I’ll be seeing her again soon, when Astra has the baby.” More than ever, Circe now understood why Mae had left when she found her mate so long ago. No forgiveness was needed. None at all.
“I get to be her godmother,” Dina interjected. “Astra and Kane told me so!”
“That’s wonderful,” Circe told her with a smile.
She wriggled free of Linc’s arms and began to dance around. “I’ll be Cameo’s godmother. I’ll be Cameo’s godmother.” She chanted over and over.
Suddenly, Dina came to a stop, crossed her arms over her chest, and grew serious. “And I’ll have a cousin soon, too.”