Slip the Skin
Page 17
“I want to sleep with you.”
Done. She was so ready. Three nights spooning in a hotel room and wrecked her hormones. She began to struggle out of her clothes as best as she could one handed.
“No,” Tristan murmured, leaning over the bed until his tricep bulged. He stilled her hand. “I mean, just sleep with you. You aren’t up for more tonight.”
Narrowing her eyes, she thoroughly disagreed. “Tristan Ingram, are you turning me down?”
A frown notched his dark brows, and his chest twitched under his sexy tattoo. “No. I was just—”
“And do you think you know what I’m ready for more than I know my own body?”
He pursed his too sensual lips and eased his hand away, allowing her to unbutton her jeans. “No. Stand up.”
Whoa, he was sexy when he was bossy. She did as she was told and he slid her pants down her legs and pulled the shirt over her head. His gaze slid to her breasts, then lower before he dragged it back to her face. His erection jutted hard between them. There was nothing sexier than a man completely confident in his body.
His approach was slow and he ran his fingertips up her ribcage, trailing fire until he cupped her breast and lowered his lips to the other. Pressing her back, she lay on the bed as he kneaded and suckled. She writhed the longer he spent adoring her skin, and he dragged his lips down her sensitive stomach, making her gasp. Needy sounds wrenched from her throat as he grazed his teeth against the inside of her thigh.
“I’ve wanted to taste you since the day I met you,” he rasped.
She was melting against him, and she ran her hands through his hair and pressed downward against his mouth, desperate to feel his tongue inside of her. Slowly, he lapped her, over and over again until she was falling. Her eyes rolled back in her head as he dragged her closer to the edge of the bed and drove in deeper. His head bobbed against her rhythmically and she was so close. He hummed a contented sound as she panted his name and came against the patient strokes of his tongue. Toes curled, she drew her knees up, spreading them wide for him.
A wicked grin crooked his lips and he slid upward, covering her with his warm body and teasing her wet folds with the head of his cock.
The man seemed to like to make her beg. “Please, Tristan.”
“Say it again.”
Oh, she knew what he wanted to hear. He’d take this piece of her and reward her for putting herself out there. But was she ready to admit how deep her feelings were for him twice before she knew where he stood?
His lips dipped to the sensitive spot just below her ear, and he pressed into her a little deeper. “Tell me again,” he implored.
“I love you.”
Driving into her, she groaned as he filled her. With slow, calculated thrusts, he made her come again. Without giving her a rest, he pulled her onto his lap and pulled her shoulders down until she was rammed against him, tangled as he set a punishing pace. His muscles tensed and he grabbed her hair, forcing her to look at him as he froze and found his release. The raw adoration in his gaze brought another crashing orgasm ripping through her, pulsing to mirror him.
His head dipped to her neck, and against her throat, where the rope had burned her, he murmured, “Me too.”
Hope soared through her as they sat wrapped around each other, connected like she’d never felt with another man. “Cheater. You have to say it all.” Pulling his hair until his neck arched and he was looking her in the eyes, she waited.
He inhaled slowly and cupped her cheeks with his warm hands. “I love you, too.”
Epilogue
Tristan had taken the poison out of the night Meredith had swung from the hanging tree. Her injuries had healed and her scars had silvered with time. Now, when she saw them reflected in the mirror, she smiled and thought of how intense Tristan had been when he’d taken her from the rope. How angry he’d been at Nate for hurting her. How gentle he’d been when he said he loved her for the first time.
The ghost of his father didn’t seem to haunt him anymore, and her falling deeper into love with Tristan didn’t seem to scare him either. He was falling with her.
Tristan’s motorcycle was the last in a row of bikes in the parking lot of Ned’s Bar, and she took his hand as he helped her off the back.
“Are you ready to tell them?” he asked, picking her up and hugging the backs of her legs as she looked down at him.
“I’ve been ready to tell them, you crazy wolf. You’re the one who was too stubborn about Graham’s order to announce it before now.”
“He took it back so we had time to do this right.”
She smiled and brushed a strand of his hair from his face. He’d taken her out on dates often, and now she didn’t go a day without seeing him. She couldn’t. Being separated from Tristan hurt too much. Maybe it was the magic of some unseen bond she wouldn’t ever understand, or perhaps it was that she just loved him so damned much. She was happiest near him, touching him. “Graham forcing the issue never had anything to do with what we mean to each other, and you know it. You were just being hard-headed.”
“Hmm,” he murmured, allowing her to slide down against his erection. “You like me hard-headed.”
She caught his bottom lip between her teeth and he groaned and dragged her waist against his. She reveled in the way his body responded to hers. She felt the same attraction. It used to scare her with its intensity, but not anymore. Now, he was hers, and their chemistry only made her love him more.
“No,” Wayne drawled from the open door. “You two have missed three meetings in the last month. Keep your paws off each other long enough to party with us.”
Meredith giggled as Tristan released her and swatted her ass. He adjusted himself and followed her inside.
Tonight was a special night. The moon hung full in the sky, and for the first time in months, Ned’s Bar was open for business. Barret was reopening the bar, and to celebrate, the Lycans would change in the woods out back like old times. Tonight, life for the pack would get back to normal.
Linden poured shots of whisky behind the counter, and Meredith shook her head in mock sadness. Big burly Lycan bikers and their whiskey.
Tristan led her to the bar and pulled her into his lap. He looked so happy as he smiled at her and handed her a tiny glass of the fragrant amber liquor.
Linden grinned and winked at her as Graham hugged his mate from behind. He murmured something much too low for Meredith’s human ears to decipher, but when he looked up, his eyes were steady blue. The old Graham was coming back. He would never be the same, but Linden’s love had saved him, and now he had earned the pack’s undying fealty.
The others were boisterous as they talked and joked, hugging and shoving shoulders in that affectionate way Meredith had grown used to. They had come for her. Saved her when the Hell Hunters had tried to end her life, and she had grown to adore each and every one of them.
She might not be Lycan, but she was as much a part of this pack as anyone. Such a sense of belonging filled her as she laughed with them.
“I want to propose a toast,” Tristan said over the noise, lifting his shot glass.
“Toast!” Wayne yelled.
The room quieted and Tristan’s gaze found hers again. “I wanted to toast the human among us, who has sacrificed so much to keep our secrets.”
“And,” she said, teasing.
“And who has done me the great honor of accepting me as her mate.”
Wayne whooped and the rest of them broke into cheers. She tossed back the throat scorching whisky with Tristan. His gaze never left hers, and his smile never wavered as the pack, one by one, clapped him roughly on the back.
Graham reached across the bar and pressed a knife blade against Meredith’s wrist. It hurt, but her happiness overshadowed the pain and she’d expected it. This tradition was an honor that would bind her to her mate and to the pack. Red swelled from the cut and he did the same to Tristan, then pressed their wrists together. “Say it,” Graham demanded.
&
nbsp; Tristan swallowed and canted his head. “Blood and bone, together as one, you are mine, and I yours.”
Those were the words she’d been waiting for. He’d needed time to be ready to make this kind of commitment to her, but he’d just declared, in front of the people who meant the most, that she was it for him.
Voice thick with emotion, Meredith repeated, “Blood and bone, together as one, you are mine, and I yours.”
Leaning forward, Tristan kissed her and stood, pulling her up with him.
When she swung her gaze to Linden, her friend’s eyes were rimmed with moisture and her lips trembled with happiness as she dashed the tears away as fast as they fell.
Graham kissed his mate’s forehead and hopped over the bar top, then wrapped Meredith in a hug. “I knew you’d be good for him.”
A warm tear slipped to Meredith’s cheek as he passed her back to Tristan’s embrace. She’d never imagined her life would end up here, but she wouldn’t have it any other way. This pack of foul-mouthed, giant, hairy, affectionate, loyal Lycans was her family now, and until the day she died, she would protect their secrets.
Tristan kissed her gently and rested his forehead against hers. “It’s time,” he whispered, as the others flocked out the back door.
“I’ll be waiting,” she whispered.
He and Graham followed the others, side by side, and Linden draped her arm over Meredith’s shoulders. Leaning her head against hers, she said, “Look at our mates. Our Legacies. They’ve done well together to bring this pack back to its former glory, haven’t they?”
Proudly, Meredith watched her mate laugh at something Graham said. He cast her a glance over his shoulder and winked before he disappeared into the night to change into a wolf.
“They sure have.”
Linden squeezed her shoulder and strode out after them.
Meredith was alive because her friends had cared enough to save her, at the risk to their entire way of living. She’d found friendship with them, and a home she hadn’t known she was missing with Tristan.
Tonight, they would change and run the woods like their ancestors had done for hundreds of years.
And she would wait for her wolves to return to her. Always.
Other Books by Tera Shanley
Dead Rapture series (Dystopian/Zombie Romance)
Love in the Time of the Dead – Available Now
Amazon
Love at the End of Days – Coming October 2014
Love Starts with Z – Coming soon
Silver Wolf Clan series (Paranormal Romance)
Silver Wolf Clan – Available Now
Amazon
Black Wolf’s Revenge – Coming Soon
Brand of the Pack – Coming Soon
Summit of the Wolf – Coming soon
An Unwilling Husband (Historic Western Romance)
Available Now
Amazon
Acknowledgements
A huge thank you to my family for supporting me in my writing career. And a big thanks to my Lyrical Press and Omnific Publishing sisters for always being there to happily answer questions and support their fellow authors. They have provided an incredible support system, and I’m so grateful for them.
And the biggest thanks of all goes to you, lovely readers.
I could pen an entire love letter here, just for you.
You are the reason I write.
You have given me purpose.
I am your biggest fan.
About the Author
Tera Shanley writes in sub-genres that stretch from Paranormal Romance, to Historic Western Romance, to Apocalyptic (zombie) Romance. The common theme? She loves love. A self-proclaimed bookworm, she was raised in small town Texas and could often be found decorating a table at the local library. She currently lives in Dallas with her husband and two young children and when she isn’t busy running around after her family, she’s writing a new story or devouring a good book. Any spare time is dedicated to chocolate licking, rifle slinging, friend hugging, and the great outdoors.
For more information about Tera and her work, visit her website.
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Contents
CURSE – Episode One
Other Books Included in this Bundle
Copyright
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
FATE – Episode Two
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
LEGACY – Episode Three
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Epilogue
Other Books by Tera Shanley
Acknowledgements
About the Author