Bound to Change: A Limited Edition Spring Shifter Romance Collection

by Margo Bond Collins

  He seemed like someone I could develop a real crush on. I wanted to have sex with him tonight, but I had to remind myself that was where it ended. There was no happily-ever-after waiting for me with a man that wasn’t a shifter too.

  “You’re not my usual type,” I blurted out, because I apparently have no capacity for inside thoughts.

  He raised his eyebrows. “No one’s ever told me that before. Usually, tall-dark-and-handsome and rich ticks at least one box on everyone’s list.”

  “Cocky too.”

  “You’re right, most women like that as well. Would you like a drink?” he asked, and when I nodded, he gently moved my feet off his lap and went to the bar in the corner, next to the floor-to-ceiling windows. The moonlight and city lights outside silhouetted his broad shoulders, and I bit my lip as I watched him. “So what is your type?”

  “I like nice guys.” I teased.

  “Maybe I’m a nice guy,” he said. “I swept you gallantly off your feet—”

  “Unasked,” I cut in.

  “—to rescue you when you were injured.” He came back to me, carrying another ‘Spoiled Brat’ in one hand and a crystal glass of Scotch in the other, and handed me my drink.

  “Out of the goodness of your heart. Not because you wanted anything from me.” I pulled my feet up so there was room for him to sit again, and when he took his seat, I rested my bare feet in his lap again.

  His green eyes sharpened. “I don’t have any expectations tonight. I’ll drive you home right now. I’ll call you a cab. I don’t want you to think...”

  “Maybe I have expectations for you,” I said, then added archly, “That is, if I’m not too much of a brat.”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know you very well yet.”

  “It didn’t seem to stop you from judging me earlier.”

  “If you’re going to talk about someone where they can hear you, I don’t think you should be too surprised they form an opinion,” he said. Absently, he began to rub my feet, his strong thumbs caressing the arches of my aching feet until I almost groaned. He could call me a brat all he wanted if he kept rubbing my feet. “But fine. Tell me three things about you.”

  I hesitated, debating what I could safely tell him about my past. Since I’d grown up sheltered on pack lands, I’d had a strange upbringing by human standards. Besides, this was my one-night stand. I didn’t want him to leave him clues he could use to track me down in the morning. I wasn’t Cinderella, chucking glass shoes at the man in hopes I’d become his queen.

  I raised three fingers to tick things off. “One. I found out this morning that the restaurant where I waitressed is closing and I probably shouldn’t hold my breath waiting for my final paycheck. Two. I’m an English major—the only thing that makes me happier than reading is being here, reading by the ocean.”

  “You’re not from around here,” he said.

  I shook my head. “No. Three. I stayed home in North Carolina after high school to help my dad. He had cancer and he needed me...until he didn’t.” My voice faltered, but I cleared my throat. “Now I’m finally living my dream—not the part where I got fired—the part where I get to go to college and live on my own and, I guess, get a bit stupid. But I’m pretty sure the stupid part’s not chronic.”

  His lips twitched into a smile. “That’s good to hear.”

  “Tell me three things about you,” I said.

  “I’m a pretty boring person. All I do is work. My life is the club.”

  “You seem like a boring person,” I agreed, before taking another sip from my drink, just to watch his lips twitch in a faint smile.

  “And you seem like a girl who needs a spanking.”

  I almost choked on my drink. He patted my back as I coughed, and then I managed to say, “That’s one down. You still owe me two things.”

  He could just pretend along with me that the word spanking didn’t cause my brain to short circuit.

  “I think you can guess a second thing about me.” He raised his glass as if to toast. Then he went on, “Let’s see. I also lost my dad—and my mom—a long time ago. I’ve been on my own for what feels like an eternity.”

  “How old were you?”

  “I was seventeen. They were both murdered.” He said the words easily, then threw his head back with his drink, draining it. He reached to set the glass on the coffee table, and the movement brought his arm accidentally brushed over my thigh. The casual touch ignited sparks across my skin.

  “I’m so sorry.”

  He waved his hand. “Long time ago.”

  “I didn’t mean to make things so serious,” I said.

  “I don’t mind serious,” he said, and I had a sudden feeling that for once, I was talking to someone who understood what it was like to be young and an orphan. I had good friends and a brother who loved me. There was just a particular ache in being without anyone left in the generations above me, as if I had to figure all of life out on my own.

  I wondered if this self-assured man in front of me ever felt that way, or at least, remembered feeling that way once.

  “How old are you?” I asked.

  “Older than you.” He smiled faintly. “I don’t want to scare you off.”

  “You’re an old man.” He didn’t look more than mid-twenties, so it was a joke. I wondered how he’d come to own a business so young. Maybe he had inherited money from his parents. I’d better save that question for a second date, though.

  Not that I intended to have one of those.

  “Quite.”

  “That explains why you’re so grumpy.”

  “Mm, it might be part of it.”

  He was strangely comfortable to talk to. My lips parted to tease him more, and he leaned in and kissed me.

  It was a tentative brush of his lips across mine. His lips were soft above that hard-angled jaw, and the faint, spicy scent of his cologne was intoxicating. Then he pulled back, his gaze gauging mine, checking to see how I felt.

  I wasn’t entirely sure that Kingston Luck was nice at all, but all my instincts told me I could trust him.

  I straddled his lap in one quick motion. His eyes widened in surprise faintly, but then he grinned. His hands wrapped around my hips.

  I leaned forward, my thighs grinding down across his lap and the hard press of his cock through that fancy suit.

  He was still smiling faintly when my lips met his as if my boldness amused him, but once I kissed him, he responded. His hand glided through my hair, cupping the back of my head, as his lips parted against mine.

  His kiss was confident, sure, and delicious. He pulled away slightly first, our breath mingling as he studied me. Those piercing green eyes in his handsome, tanned face were mesmerizing. My body responded to his, my breath hitching. As of by their own volition, my hands slipped up the hard planes of his chest, sliding beneath his suit jacket and across his crisp shirt.

  “Well?” I asked. “Am I too much of a—”

  He covered my mouth with his, cutting me off before I could say the word brat. He slid one arm behind my back and one under my legs, and this time when he scooped me up and carried me, I didn’t protest at all.

  I was too busy kissing him.

  Chapter Four

  Luck

  When I laid Mel down on the bed in my room, she looked up at me with heavy-lidded eyes and a faint smile across her perfectly-shaped lips. She seemed to know just what she wanted; that was sexy as hell. I hadn’t expected that from the way she blended in with her friends.

  I was always quick to help anyone who got hurt at the club, but I had never brought anyone up to my place for first aid before. I was still bemused by the spell she seemed to have woven for me. I didn’t know what it was about the cute little shifter.

  I should be careful around her. My kind tend to be guarded, but when we mate—truly mate—we mate for life.

  But she made me feel a bit reckless.

  I kissed her again, slowly, savoring the way her lips parted against mine. She push
ed my jacket back off my shoulders, and I straightened so I could slide it off and fold it in half before I slung it over the back of the chair.

  “I’ve never had a one night stand before,” she said, sitting up on the bed. A faint frown creased her brows. “How do I get you to take your clothes off?”

  I laughed out loud.

  “I guess you’ve figured out thing four about me,” she said. “I don’t really have inside thoughts.”

  “I like it.” As I unbuttoned my cuffs, she looked up at me with desire sparking in her eyes. The way she bit her lower lip was so damn cute, it made me want to bite her lip too.

  Then she bounded off the bed and began to undo my buttons. I couldn’t resist a grin as she unbuttoned my shirt with deft fingers. There was something refreshing about her.

  She reached my belt buckle and began to fumble with it, and my fingers briefly overlapped hers as I helped her get it unbuckled.

  I took a step back from her so I could grab the hem of my white t-shirt and yank it over my head.

  Her eyes widened at the sight of my pecs and abs, and she reached out her hand to trace the lines of the dragon tattoo that spread across my chest. “I didn’t expect the ink from how buttoned-up you look on the outside.”

  “I’m full of surprises,” I promised her. “Was a one night stand on your bucket list? When you were planning for when you made it to college?”

  She reached over her shoulder, trying to undo the straps of her halter top. I grabbed her hips in my hands and turned her; when my fingers traced the fine line of her spine to the hanging strap, she bit her lip. As I drew the strings loose, her halter top fell away from her tanned shoulders.

  “Not until tonight,” she admitted, turning. My heart almost stopped at the sight of her small, perfect breasts above her narrow waist as she leaned forward, peeling off her tight jeans.

  “Why just one night?” I asked, knowing that I shouldn’t.

  She just smiled, a faint, mysterious smile. Then she pressed her breasts against my chest as she took me in her arms. Her lips brushed over my cheek first in a soft, sweet kiss, and then I buried my face in her shoulder, kissing her skin, and I felt her breath give before her fingers tangled in my hair.

  I kissed my way down to her breasts, knowing from the faint changes in her breathing and the way her body shifted that she enjoyed my attentions. When I lifted my head, she met my lips with a full, intense kiss. Her hands ran across my shoulders, then her fingers dug into the back of my neck.

  I grabbed her thighs and lifted her easily onto the edge of the bed, then dropped to my knees between her thighs. Her bright eyes were beautiful, especially when they crinkled at the corners as she smiled, and those lines at the corners deepened as I kissed the inside of her knee, then worked my way slowly up her thigh.

  She inhaled sharply as my mouth brushed the skin just before the line of her underwear. I peeled the black fabric away down her thighs, then began again, and the muscles in her thighs tensed. She bit her lower lip as she watched me expectantly, and when I finally turned my head and kissed the center of her mound, she huffed a quick breath.

  As I began to suck and lick her, her hips heaved up, her head falling back.

  I looped my arms around her thighs, holding her still so I could keep toying with her. She let out a moan that was as delicious as her taste.

  She moaned suddenly. “Luck... I’m going to come if you don’t stop.”

  I didn’t answer, just flicked my tongue inside her until her hips rolled toward me. Her fingers twisted the sheets. I almost smiled against her mound, but instead, I worked my mouth against her clit even more intensely, savoring her sweet smokiness.

  I hoped maybe I’d have more than one night with this girl. For some reason, I felt a pull toward her that was so strong—a growly mine deep inside me—that it made me recall the myths about the mating bond. At least, I’d thought they were myths.

  I wanted more than one night with her, but I’d make the most of what we had if this was it.

  The thought urged me to even greater efforts, working my mouth steadily on her clit, as her hands fisted in the sheets and her hips tried to buck. My cock twitched, so hard and swollen that it hurt but god, there was nothing I wanted as much as to give her this pleasure right now.

  “Kingston,” she groaned when she came, writhing across the bed, her arms flung above her head, and I smiled as I ducked my head between her lean, tanned thighs.

  No one called me Kingston. Everyone called me Luck.

  But I didn’t mind the way my name sounded on her lips.

  Chapter Five

  Mel

  “Do you want me to return the favor?” I asked Luck teasingly.

  I’d never given a blowjob—it wasn’t something I was going to do for my high school boyfriend, and he’d been the only guy—but I was willing to learn.

  Maybe.

  I wasn’t necessarily enthused.

  He threw himself alongside me on the bed. “I’d rather have your body against mine, Melanie.”

  I resisted the temptation to remind him that we were definitely friends now, after that. My thighs were still trembling from the power of that orgasm, my clit sensitive and aching. His hand stroked tenderly across my leg as he kissed me.

  The two of us traded kisses until desire overcame the sweet ache between my thighs. Slowly, I opened to him again, letting my knees fall open, and his hand stroked all the way up my thigh. When his fingers brushed against my clit, I moaned into his mouth.

  “You’re beautiful,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to my forehead.

  “Of course you think that right in this moment,” I teased him. “But how will you feel in the morning?”

  He smiled, a faint, mysterious smile that made me feel as if I might never know what he was really thinking. He grabbed my hips and pulled me on top of him as he rolled onto his back, and I leaned forward, kissing his lips.

  His hands stroked over the curve of my back and along my ass, raising sparks over every inch of skin he caressed, and I ground against him. He teased his tongue along the seam between my lips, and when I didn’t take the hint, he nipped at my lower lip. My lips parted in surprise, and he claimed me with an intense, demanding kiss, his tongue sweeping inside my mouth. Desire tingled through my veins. Kingston Luck’s very touch was addictive.

  His hands cupped my hips, his fingertips resting on my ass. I ground against his cock, feeling how hard and long he was as he pressed against my thigh.

  “Condom?” I murmured into his ear.

  “Yes. But... in a rush?” He turned his head to nip my earlobe, and an unexpected fresh throb of desire ran through my body. His hands slid down my ass, down my thighs, and when two of his fingers pressed confidently against my mound, my hips jerked forward in desire.

  “Yep,” I murmured, sliding my hands over the hard planes of his chest, the defined ridges of his chiseled abs. “Right now I am. But we have the rest of the night...”

  He grinned, a sudden grin that crinkled the corners of his eyes and revealed a flash of white teeth in that tanned face, and my heart melted. He was so gorgeous.

  He wrapped his arm around my waist and suddenly rolled, switching our positions. Once he was on top, he moved to one side, reaching for the nightstand. He pulled a condom out of a drawer and I watched him roll it on his considerable length. He had a nice cock, but it was even better because it was framed by his taut lower abs and chiseled Adonis belt.

  He looked up at me once the condom was on, still on his knees, and I could tell he was gauging what I wanted. He was so confident, but so attentive. It made me feel confident too in a way I never had before, like I was far more adult and seductive and together than I ever saw myself.

  I let myself fall back on the pillows, raising one finger to beckon him toward me.

  He braced himself over me, his hard thighs to either side of my hips, and as his lips brushed mine again, his cock brushed between my thighs. He tasted like whiskey and peppermint,
and I savored his mouth on mine even as my desire built to an ache between my thighs. His cock brushing against my thigh over and over as he kissed me drove me wild.

  I ran my hand over the lean muscle of his back to cup my hand at the back of his neck, my fingers drifting into his short dark hair that felt good between my fingers. As his cock brushed against my core, I tilted my hips up, seeking more of him.

  He gripped himself with one hand and brushed over my clit, gliding through my slick heat until I made a moaning gasp.

  His gaze held mine as he pressed slowly inside me. He inhaled hard, suddenly stilling with his cock halfway in. “Christ, you feel good.”

  His words made me smile. He looked at me feel like the most beautiful thing to ever walk the face of the earth.

  Then he pushed the rest of the way inside me, and my legs wrapped around his waist, wanting more of him, wanting all of him. I gasped at the sense of him stretching me.

  The two of us began to move in time. The tip of his cock hit my g-spot with every thrust, and my channel seemed to turn to liquid heat, all sparks and something molten as he filled me over and over again. I squeezed my thighs around his waist, unable to help myself, as he plunged into me over and over. Sparks burst in front of my eyes as the heat at my core seemed to wash through every limb. My toes curled against his rock-hard calves.

  “Kingston,” I whispered, and his gaze locked on mine, those beautiful green eyes beneath heavy, dark lashes.

  He didn’t look away as he kept going, his body moving rhythmically as my legs tightened around his waist, as I grabbed the sheets and twisted them between my fingers as my orgasm built, until I pulled them loose from the bed.

  “Kingston,” I cried, a lot more loudly this time, and a smile crossed his lips as he kept going. His headboard hammered against the wall with the force of our two bodies moving, creating a rhythmic banging sound that echoed through the room like the sound of my panting.

  The sparks dancing in front of my eyes burst into full-on fireworks as my voice rose in a moan that surprised even me.