Like a ballet, a symphony, or a sculpture. Love was the subject and physical claiming the medium they both used to show each other the depth of their feelings. And her feelings went deep for this man. There was no more denying that.
Lydia saw stars when she closed her eyes, and nothing but him when she opened them. His silvery gaze seemed to follow her. His knowing praises and tender endearments made her feel alive and beautiful. Nothing could have prepared her for how it would feel when he reversed their position, allowing her to take control of the glorious love they shared. She felt every solid inch of him beneath her. Holding her up, lifting her higher. His splendid, superb body ready and willing to be there for her and only her. It was almost too much to bear.
Lydia sat up, settling him deeper inside, and they both groaned at the sensation. His hands roamed her hips, belly and breasts with glorious abandon. She flexed and rolled her body, going on instinct rather than skill. Electricity seemed to skate along her skin and nerve-endings, following her wherever she moved. She couldn’t get away from it. Didn’t want to.
Making love with Foster was like standing in a lightning storm with a metal rod in your hand. There was so much to feel, so much to enjoy, and then it happened. Lydia arched her back, rocking harder and faster until she could barely move.
That’s when he took over, lifting her and slamming her down on his hard cock until finally, pleasure struck them both. Foster’s fierce growl rumbled up from his chest into her and she welcomed it. Welcomed the animal as part of the man she’d taken into her home, into her bed, into her heart.
His sharp fangs pierced her shoulder at the exact moment her sex squeezed him, milking him of his cum and sucking it deep into her body. This was the mate mark he’d spoken of. The true claiming bite that would bind them together forever. It was real now. They were mates.
“I love you,” she said quite by accident as tendrils of pleasure still spiraled throughout her body.
“I love you, too,” he replied immediately and she swore she could feel pure unadulterated joy radiating from him as he wrapped his huge arms around her and squeezed her tight.
Together they tumbled sideways on the bed. Foster took her face so carefully, so tenderly between his long artist’s fingers and brought his lips to hers. He kissed her softly at first, slowly, as he began most things she thought with a smile.
Then his pressure increased. He opened her mouth with his, tangling their tongues together and she felt as if he’d swallowed her whole. Whatever magic he was weaving with his touch, she was game, hell she was more than that, she was a damned cheerleader begging for more.
His cock, still nestled inside her, began to harden once more. This time they watched each other, eyes opened and facing one another as Foster flexed his hips in that perfect arch that made everything but breathing difficult.
Lydia couldn’t think, couldn’t talk, she could only feel. He did that to her. Made her senseless with his body like no one else ever could. Even more poignant was the intensity with which he seemed to love her.
Every move seemed determined to bring about her pleasure. Every single thing he did was for her. She knew it and she reveled in it.
“Love you, mate,” he groaned the words as his speed increased.
“I love you, I do,” she said and welcomed the pleasure like a tidal wave that crashed over whole cities washing away everything that stood before. This climax was shorter, but stronger too.
Her body completely lax and sated, too tired for more than simple breathing. He seemed to know and tucked her into the curve of him, holding her close and kissing her head. Whatever Lydia didn’t know about love she would learn with him. Only him.
Mine. It was funny how easily that word popped into her brain as they lay together trying to catch their breaths. It made sense now.
He was hers as much as she was his.
Mine, she thought again and fell asleep smiling.
Chapter Eleven
Foster sat at the coffee table with his laptop plugged in and papers spread out. Damn it. He’d hit a wall again.
He’d called Elias the day after he’d claimed Lydia to let him know what was happening. The man was the Alpha after all and he’d felt obligated to make him aware of what had transpired between the two of them. He had congratulated him, but it was touch and go for a moment or two.
“You have already claimed Skylar’s mother?”
“She is my fated mate, Alpha.”
“Really? Well, then I will offer you my congratulations, but you must know that the child is under my protection.”
“I know. That is why I am also asking to officially join the Dark Moon Falls Pack. You’ve seen my file. You know I am not hiding anything.”
“I know. It’s the only reason I allowed you to come here. Now that I’ve met you, I can see you and your Wolf, Foster Reynolds. I know you have a good heart, but it is my right to tell you that if you hurt them in any way you will suffer at my claws.”
“They are my family, Alpha. I would die first and I would kill anything that threatened them.”
“Good,” said the Alpha and Foster could swear the man was smiling through the phone.
Elias congratulated him once more before hanging up. Foster thought he seemed sincere, but he was disturbed that the Alpha had no news about the mysterious Wolf who was evading the Pack Hunters. Last report said there were two sets of tracks in the forest that were as of yet unaccounted for.
Two. Grrr. Foster’s Wolf snarled in his mind’s eye. The animal had overcome the difficulties he’d had since they’d been released from Fangborn. In fact, the conversion of his feelings occurred almost immediately when he’d recognized Lydia as his mate.
It was like a switch had gone on and whatever had troubled the Wolf was pushed completely out of his mind as the need to claim took over. The mating instinct, he’d heard of it before. Now that he’d claimed his mate, his Wolf was working overtime on the whole protect and provide part of that instinct that came with Shifter mating.
He couldn’t hide his grin. Hell, he didn’t want to. Foster had a mate. And a pup! The two of them had broken the news to Skylar about their relationship and the little girl was thrilled, though not surprised.
“I knew’d you were gonna be mine,” she’d said and dropped a kiss on his nose.
Lydia had laughed to the point of crying. Especially when their pup had asked if she could call him Pop. His chest constricted with emotion just thinking about it.
Imagine that. He was someone’s Pop.
It had only been three days since he’d claimed his sweet mate, but still, he wanted to do things the right way. He’d already petitioned Elias to become a full-fledged member of the Dark Moon Falls Pack.
He had buckets of money now that his assets were unfrozen. He could literally work from anywhere and for the first time since he’d been released, he wanted to work. Already his hands were itching to create having found his muse in his woman.
He wanted to sculpt her in every way. Mostly with a belly swollen with another pup to add to their family. Looked like Lupin, his alter ego, was becoming domesticated. That made him laugh aloud.
He’d even gone on to find a suitable house that fit his little family just fine. His currently sleeping family, he reminded himself and quieted immediately. It was difficult for him to leave their bed so early in the morning, but he needed to get this thing settled. Needed his name cleared so he could be a good mate to her and a father to their sweet pup.
“Morning,” Lydia’s soft voice caressed his ears a second after the scent of apple blossoms had reached his sensitive nostrils.
He turned and smiled at the curly haired vixen as she walked over to him and settled on his lap. Now that she’d overcome her initial uncertainty, he’d found his Lydia was quite fond of cuddling. A fact that pleased him greatly since he couldn’t seem to stop touching her.
“Good morning, sweet mate,” he said and dropped a kiss on her warm mouth.
“I
started packing Skylar’s room last night. Still have some of my other stuff in boxes so our bedroom and the kitchen should be all that’s left.”
“You sure about the house? We only saw pictures,” he began.
“I’m sure. I want to start our life together. Are you sure about moving in with me even though I am technically still married?”
“You kidding? Your lawyer said he’d have it all over in a month, didn’t he?”
She nodded and he kissed her nose.
“Well, then that’s that. You know I want you, Lydia, now, always, forever.”
“Mmm,” she sighed and kissed his cheek.
“That’s my sweet mate,” he growled playfully and nipped her lip between his teeth gently.
“What are you working on so early anyway?”
“It’s nothing,” he said and nuzzled her neck.
“Maybe I can help,” she whispered and tilted her neck, granting him better access.
Foster moaned and nipped the skin beneath her ear, loving the heady scent of her arousal as it filled the air. The short blue nightgown she wore was soft against his fingertips as he lifted the hem to reveal her creamy white thighs.
Lydia cupped his face and pressed her mouth to his, allowing him to arrange her legs so that she was now sitting astride him on the sofa. It was still dark outside, he noted. They had hours before Skylar would wake and Foster had every intention of taking advantage.
He molded his hands to her full breasts and squeezed, lifting them so that they nearly spilled out of the scoop neck top of her nightgown. He licked the creamy mounds and pinched her nipples through the fabric, biting back his moan as her hands found him inside of the pajama bottoms he’d taken to wearing since they had a little one to think about.
“I want you,” she said as she unsnapped the fastening and took hold of him with her soft, warm hand.
“Fuck, yes,” he growled and lifted her slightly by the waist, pulling her panties to the side so that he could enter her smoothly with one deep thrust of his hips.
She was so tight and hot. Her sopping wet sex was slick and ready for his invasion and he didn’t disappoint. He flexed and thrust from beneath her, swallowing her noises with his mouth firmly latched onto hers.
His entire body felt alive, humming with pleasure and buzzing with sensation after sensation as he made love to his mate. She was so beautiful like this. Head thrown back in wild abandon, eyes wide but unseeing, her hands dug into his bare shoulders, scratching him, marking him in her own way.
Fuck, the Wolf loved that. Loved carrying her mark where all could see. It was hard to think, hard to do anything but feel as her walls clenched and released, squeezing his shaft with each shift and movement of skin and muscle.
She wiggled closer to him, spreading her legs wider still so that her hot pussy enveloped him wholly. She moaned deeper as she rubbed and pressed her clit hard against his pubis.
“That’s it, baby, take all of me. Give me all of you. You’re mine,” he said and whispered more things, dirtier things to her as his fingers squeezed the round globes of her ass, teasing around her puckered hole as his dick threatened to burst. But not yet.
He lifted and slammed her down, harder and faster with every flex of his hips. Foster felt his Wolf rise, the animal right there with him as he slowly lost his mind inside of her welcoming body.
Arms wrapped tightly around her, anchoring her to him, Foster ground his body into hers. Together they hurtled towards that spectacular fulfillment that waited at the end of this excursion for them both. The kind of sweet satisfaction they could only ever find in each other.
“You are my home now,” he grunted as he spilled himself inside of her, loving the feel of her own climax egging his on even further.
“Love you, Foster,” she moaned and gasped as she came a second time around his cock.
She was wondrous. She was glorious. She was his.
After they’d cleaned up in the shower together, where they’d proceeded to get dirty, then clean again, Foster kissed Lydia and went to make coffee as she woke Skylar up for school.
“I want pancakes Pop!”
“Pancakes?” He said to the little whirlwind and scooped her up for a quick hug before plopping her back on her feet.
“Uh huh. And bacon!”
“You got it, munchkin,” he said with a wink.
He’d already had the bacon sizzling in the pan and it was nothing to whip up a few pancakes. After breakfast and dropping Skylar off, Lydia started to work on her computer while he went back to what he’d started that morning.
The mugshot of William Bryant stared at him from the screen of his seventeen inch laptop. He stared at the stranger and wanted to scream his head off. After using some of his contacts, plus the private investigator he’d hired a few weeks before he’d come to Dark Moon Falls, he confirmed that Bryant was in the same town as the gallery during the robbery.
“Want some coffee?” Lydia asked from the other room and he smiled despite his frustration.
“Sure. That would be great. Want me to get it?”
“No, I got it,” she said and walked into the living room with a smile on her pretty face. She wore one of those loose fitting, ankle length dresses of hers that drove him nuts thinking about the treasures hidden beneath the soft layers of fabric.
His expression hardened when he saw her face pale and he watched in horror as the hot cup of coffee fell from her hands and hit the floor.
“Lydia!” Foster jumped up from the couch and ran over to her. He checked her legs over for burn marks, but she wasn’t even paying attention.
“Where did you get that picture!” She yelled pointing at the screen.
“What? Are you okay?”
“Foster, I’m fine, but who is that and why do you have his picture on your computer?”
“That? That’s William Bryant. My PI and I think he had something to do with the robbery.”
“I know him. That’s Billy. He’s a friend of Mac’s.”
Shit.
“Are you certain?”
“Absolutely. Tell me what else you found.”
Chapter Twelve
Thunder boomed outside, cradled by the mountain the sound seemed louder than Lydia had ever heard. There was a full-blown storm happening outside. The kind of weather that made headlines and caused power outages.
Foster had already called the school and so far, so good. The school had power and the kids were all fine. Checking the wall clock, she determined they still had three hours left till dismissal.
Unable to sit still, she alternately stood up, sat down, and paced as she and Foster uncovered some remarkable coincidences over the past five years. They’d spent several hours going through all of the documents of his case.
The circumstantial evidence that had convicted him was sloppy at best. It was the other things that disturbed her. The location of the robbery, the day and time it occurred. The probability that Billy was involved.
Too many coincidences as far as Lydia was concerned. She started making a timeline and discovered several things. One, Foster was positively innocent. She’d believed him before, of course, but now there was no doubt about it.
Two, the actual culprit and mastermind behind the gallery heist that had him falsely imprisoned was more than likely her ex-husband, Mac Gregory.
Three, after a phone call to Elias, they all concluded that Mac was a rogue Wolf Shifter who had done something unusual, but not unheard of. He’d partnered with two other rogues and created a little criminal enterprise.
Four, by some freak act of fate or some unknown grudge Foster had been blamed and imprisoned.
And five, Mac was still hunting her and Skylar.
“Oh my God, it all fits. Mac was there at the same time you were arrested. Your arrest and consequent trial took more than two years, you spent two more in jail, and the last few months looking for answers.”
“I am so sorry, Foster,” she cried.
“Don’
t be. This all led me to you, I love you Lydia. I wouldn’t change it. Besides we are only guessing here-”
“No, it all fits. The date we married, and those days after that he’d disappeared. His association with Billy and Patty. He’d been gone committing the crime you went away for and I’d just found out I was pregnant with Skylar,” she moaned and shut her eyes as the two of them laid out the evidence.
“It’s okay. Now we know it was him, I guess we should figure out why he’s still hunting you and what it is he wants.”
“My guess,” said a voice from the door, and they turned to the sound that came from the very man Lydia never wanted to see again.
He was standing right there at the back door, soaked from the storm that was currently raging outside. The thunder must have masked the sound of his approach, but now that he was there Foster stepped in front of her.
“She’s got something of mine that don’t concern you. Get out of here before you become collateral damage, friend. Once Lydia gives me what I want I’ll go, and I promise to leave her in big enough pieces so they can identify the body,” he snarled.
“You won’t be going anywhere near my mate,” Foster snarled.
“She’s still my wife, I’ll go through you to get what’s mine,” Mac returned and extended his claw tipped hand to threaten the taller man.
“I am not your wife,” Lydia said, suddenly furious at the man who’d beaten and hunted her these past few years.
“Lydia, stand back,” Foster held his arms out, ready to defend should Mac strike out.
He would, she knew he would. His eyes glittered crazily in the flickering lights of the kitchen. The power was about to go out and her thoughts immediately went to Skylar.
No. Skylar is okay, she told herself. Her little girl, no, her little pup was safer in the school surrounded by other Shifters who could protect her against this and any other crazed man who might be looking for her.
“I just want what’s mine. You can walk out of here now. I got no quarrel with you,” Mac offered, but he’d been grossly mistaken if he thought Foster was the type of man to give up without a fight.
Dark Moon Falls: Volume 2 Page 107