by Thorne, Elle
Her legs began to shake. She felt them giving out and she began to sink. When he removed his fingers and slipped his tongue into her, pulling out her moisture, licking her and sucking her lips in then letting them out with a loud, smacking pop, she bit down on her lip to keep from screaming. His whole face, that beard scratching and tickling, rubbed on her folds.
Her fingers were unstoppable, digging into his hair, pulling at it, pushing him closer. His fingers quickened their pace, matched by her panting.
“Oh, god. Tanner! Oh. God.” The muscles in her channel clenched, contracted, and with one more spasm, she fell apart, against the wall, all over his face.
His groan pushed her further and another spasm began as she came undone again, wave after wave. She rode to a new place, one she’d never been before.
He stood, his lips slick with her juices, his beard glistening with her essence. Tanner kissed her lips, letting her savor what he’d given her, then he pulled her to the sofa and let her sit on the back of it.
He licked his lips, his eyes almost gold in color, his face intense.
“You’re mine.” He dropped his pants, losing them completely.
She almost gasped at the size of him. He was huge. She reached out, touching the hotness, the hardness. Holding him in her grip, she squeezed him gently, then increased the pressure.
He raised a hand to her breasts, pushing them close together, watching her while his tongue traveled from one nipple to the other, spanning the short distance quickly. Then he lowered his head, letting her breasts caress his cheeks, the beard scratching her tender flesh.
“You know what I’m going to do with these one day, don’t you?”
She held her breath, knowing but wanting to hear all the wonderful filthy ways he was going to share his love with her.
“I’m going to house my cock right there, and I’m going to fuck them while I watch that beautiful face of yours. What will you do if my cock comes close to your mouth while I’m doing that?”
Marti almost closed her eyes from the sheer pleasure of the thought of it. “I’m going to lick it.” She tugged on his cock while she said that. “I’m going to suck on it too.” She moved her hand forward and backward.
“Ah, fuck,” Tanner growled. Shoving her hand aside, he lined himself up in front of her entrance.
With one swift plunge, he drove into her, her pussy stretching to take him in, gripping him with her tightness.
He pulled back, and pressed deeper still. She gasped when he hit what felt like her spine. She arched her back forward, trying to get even more of him, finding pleasure in the pain of having a man so large inside her.
He leaned forward to kiss her, his tongue driving into her with the same rhythm that his hips drove him deeper and deeper. In, then out, over and over.
Her slickness took him in, and skin slapped on skin, their wetness making the slaps even louder. She closed her eyes and relished every thrust, ever plunge, every drive.
When he stopped suddenly, her eyes flew open. The golden amber glow was intense. She was looking right into his bear’s heart.
“Thank you for not giving up on me,” she told his bear.
With a roar in her ear, Tanner drove deeper, pulling her close, driving his mouth into her neck, baring his teeth.
She felt the sensation of his teeth breaking skin for a brief moment before the euphoria of their couple bonding overtook her. She bit into the heel of her palm to keep from screaming his name as a climax ripped through her body. She contracted around him, milking him, pulling his own orgasm from him as he filled her with his hot, spurting lust.
She was still rocking, her channel spasming as he pulled her close to him and held her, his face buried in her hair.
“You’re mine now,” Tanner said.
“I know.”
“You pushed the bear a little bit further than I could control him.”
“I love him. He’s the father that Dominic needs and the part of you that makes us complete.”
Epilogue
Tanner hoisted Dominic in his arms. It was the big unveiling. The big reveal. He hadn’t told anyone about Marti’s son.
He and Marti had spent a week together enjoying each other and the toddler shifter. Marti swore that Dominic was a completely different kid, that Dominic hadn’t ever been as outgoing and happy-go-lucky as he’d been in the last week.
Tanner didn’t know about that, but he knew he’d never seen Marti happier than she’d been while he was staying at her place with them.
They’d spent one very emotional evening discussing what had happened to her. She told him about her career as a trainer for paint horses. He didn’t understand the whole thing, but evidently she’d been one of the top trainers—she told him Joe had even known of her. Tanner knew Joe had been involved in rodeos for a while.
Then one night, when she was alone, brushing down a horse, a man had attacked her. She’d known the man wasn’t just a man when he shifted after raping her.
At first she’d thought she was seeing things, but then when Dominic was an infant, she did some research. She’d gone to a Native American tribe in the Northwest and talked to someone there about what had happened to her. They’d told her it was a shifter.
She’d realized that Dominic was a shifter when she noticed his eye color changing when he was extremely angry or happy, just as the Native American seer had told her. He’d also told her that other shifters could be a danger to her son and to keep them away if possible, and that she could use block to eradicate the scent.
Marti hadn’t realized that she was around shifters at first when she’d taken the job with Mae, but after she did, she’d decided to stick around in order to learn more about Dominic.
“I hadn’t planned on getting so attached to everyone. They’re like family now.”
“Your family?”
“I’ve been more or less an orphan since I was a kid. My mom died, and my dad hadn’t been in the picture since before I was born.” She shrugged. “Good thing I saved up a lot of money while I was training. That allowed me to settle down and pick a career that would allow me some flexibility.”
“Why interior decorating?”
“I had a friend who taught me a little when I was younger. It was all I had to go with, other than working with horses.”
Tanner had fallen more and more for her during the week, even though he’d never have thought it was possible to love her more than he already did.
Now they were going to have dinner at the diner. Grant and Chelsea were on their honeymoon, but Tanner had called Teague and asked if they could get together in the private dining room. Teague said he’d talk to Kane, Joe, and Doc.
He shifted Dominic to the other side.
Little shit isn’t light.
Dominic had decided that he couldn’t be apart from Tanner’s bear, so that’s how things went now.
In truth, Tanner found that Dominic completed a part of him he hadn’t thought needed anything.
Teague was outside waiting for him. He didn’t seem surprised to see Marti, but it was clear that Dominic threw him for a loop.
“Who’s this little fella?” Teague patted Dominic on the back. Then Teague’s nostrils flared. “He’s…”
“He’s Marti’s son.”
Teague nodded slowly, looked from Marti to Tanner, then to Dominic.
“Polar bear,” Tanner said.
Marti nodded.
“Awesome.” Teague smiled. “Looks like I have a nephew. You’ll love the family…”
Tanner realized he hadn’t told Teague his name. “Dominic.”
The little bear shifter snuggled up, tucking his head under Tanner’s beard.
“Let’s go.” Teague said. “I’m famished. So hungry I could eat a horse.”
“Do bears eat horses?” Dominic asked Marti in his cute little boy’s voice.
Teague laughed a deep belly laugh. “No. Well… Not normally, little bear.” He tweaked Dominic’s cheek.
>
***
Marti looked at Dominic in Tanner’s strong arms. Her son was thriving. She sat back, her tummy full. They hadn’t made plans, but Tanner had said he was thinking of moving to Bear Canyon Valley, and he wanted to know if Marti and Dominic would join him.
“I’m not just gonna live with you.”
He reached into his pocket, fished around and pulled out something. She caught a glimpse of white and blue. He opened his fisted hand.
The garter.
She pressed her hand to her mouth. “Are you…”
Dominic was in Teague’s arms, playing with the toys Marti had brought to keep him busy. “Momma,” he whispered, except his whisper wasn’t much of one.
Teague and Kelsey smiled. Kelsey’s smile was melancholy, and Marti knew it was because she’d lost a baby a while back. She hoped they’d be blessed with one soon.
“Yes, baby.” She gave Dominic her undivided attention.
“Tanner asked me if he could be your husband.”
She looked up at Tanner. “Oh, he did?”
Tanner’s black eyes glinted with merriment. An amber glow began from the edges of his irises and moved inward. The bear was close to the surface.
“And you said?” she prompted Dominic.
“He has to ask you,” Dominic giggled.
“That’s not exactly what you said, is it?”
Dominic shook his head, a guilty look on his face. He turned red and chewed on his lip.
It occurred to Marti how much he was just like her, from the kinds of things that embarrassed him, to his independence, to the way he thought. She knew he’d talked a lot to Tanner about being a bear and keeping bear secrets, and about fathers and sons.
Tanner had been very honest with him, holding nothing back, but at the same time not telling him anything that would hurt him.
“When are Grant and Chelsea due back?”
“You anxious to get to work?” Mae laughed.
“No, but I felt bad for leaving so early.”
Mae looked at Tanner, then at Marti. “They understand. We all understand. Passions run deep sometimes.”
Marti blushed and bit down on her lip.
* * *
Dominic slept in Tanner’s arms, his heartbeat synced to Tanner’s. His cheeks were a nice tan color from going outside and playing in the woods with Tanner.
The first time Tanner had told Marti he wanted to take Dominic out for a run in the forest, he’d thought she was going to have a heart attack. She’d sputtered and stammered and tried to make excuses for him not to go.
Tanner had stopped her and told her that this was important to Dominic and he needed it.
She’d accompanied them and watched wide-eyed while Dominic shifted and then ran through the forest with Tanner. The next day, when Dominic asked to go, Tanner asked her to stay at home and let him take Dominic alone. Marti agreed, though she was extremely nervous. The next day it didn’t seem to bother her as much. She’d just kissed them goodbye and let them go.
The day after that, when Dominic had asked to go, he’d had to tell the boy no. Tanner didn’t discuss it with Dominic, and he didn’t tell Marti much about it, but he found a scent in the forest that gave him pause. There was a dual purpose to the lunch today, and it was to talk to the others.
“Grant’s not here, but I still needed to bring this up.”
“What’s that?” Teague asked.
“When I took Dominic out the other day, I caught a scent. Another shifter.”
He studied their faces. He didn’t find surprise on Joe’s or Teague’s. Doc raised a brow.
“No shit,” Kane said.
“So how is it that Joe and Teague don’t seem fazed by this?”
Joe pushed his chair back and leaned away, his body deceptively casual. “I don’t think she’ll hurt anyone. Seems she just needs a place to stay for a bit.”
“I scented a young one with her.”
Joe nodded. “Yeah, I saw his tracks too. I don’t think they’re hurting anyone.”
“Teague?” Tanner turned to his brother.
Teague looked at Joe, then he turned his glance toward Kelsey.
Tanner had known Teague all his life. There was guilt on his face. For sure. Oh, shit.
Teague cleared his throat. “I’m thinking that’s the one that scared Kelsey.”
Kelsey’s head snapped in their direction. “I asked you if that was a shifter. That’s the one that had the baby.” Her face became splotchy red with anger. “You said no.”
“I didn’t.” Teague took her hand. “I didn’t answer at all, babe.”
“But you knew,” she accused him.
“I thought you’d been through enough. I wanted to spare you some pain.”
She snatched her hand away from his. “You… you…” She took a deep breath, then let it out slowly as if to calm herself. “You had no right.”
“I know. I know. You’re right.” Teague shook his head slowly. “I’m sorry.” He turned toward Tanner. “I thought she’d left, though. I didn’t see a reason to ever bring it back up.”
“She didn’t.”
“She’s raising her baby in the forest? In the wild?” She sounded horrified.
“It’s not impossible,” Doc said. “Though I don’t think that’s the best of circumstances to raise a shifter child in.”
“I take her food,” Joe said.
“There’s more to this than you’re telling us, isn’t there?” Mae finally spoke.
“Does she have allegiances that will be unfriendly toward us?” Astra’s green eyes were large with concern.
Tanner had told Marti that shifters had killed Astra’s mother, and that the Anya that Astra had mentioned at the rehearsal dinner was a white tiger shifter who used to be her best friend when she was a kid. Anya had saved Astra during the attack when her mother was killed, but been wounded in the process. That was why Astra had mentioned a trip to Europe. They thought she might be staying with a shifter called Rafe. Astra wanted to see her childhood best friend and savior again.
“I don’t think she’s a danger,” Joe said. “Why don’t you let me look into it?”
“Let me know, Joe.” Mae took a bite of her apple pie. “If there’s another shifter in Bear Canyon Valley, we need to know more about her.”
“Will do.”
Marti looked at Tanner, concern in her eyes, then glanced at Dominic.
“He’s fine. You’re fine.” Tanner reached over and placed a kiss on her lip to stop her from biting it. “Leave some of that for me, woman. You don’t need to worry about yourself or Dominic. That’s for me to do.”
His voice was husky, his bear obviously close to the surface, ready to rise to whatever needed to be done.
Keep reading for an excerpt from another Shifter Forever Worlds story!
Temptation
Joe’s got a problem. There’s a curvy bear shifter trespassing in Bear Canyon Valley. And he’s been charged with taking care of the matter.
Looks like he’s got two problems, because he didn’t count on wanting her.
She’s a curvy bear shifter that wants to be left alone. Tell that to Joe.
Chapter One
Joe knew shifters. He knew their ways. He’d been around shifters all his life. He trusted shifters and they trusted him back. His best friend Grant was a shifter. Joe’s grandfather’s best friend was Grant’s grandfather, also a bear shifter. Joe wasn’t a shifter, but he felt like his family was, especially here in Bear Canyon Valley, where the shifters were a tight bunch.
Nothing about shifters surprised Joe much. He’d not seen many female shifters. Most of them were male, at least the ones that Joe knew.
As much as Joe trusted shifters, one thing he didn’t yield to was temptation. The temptation to be mated to a shifter. He kept his distance emotionally when it came to shifter females. They loved hard. Passionately. That kind of emotion made Joe nervous.
Joseph Dark—originally, Joseph Dark Eagle Ri
ses After Winter Storm—who now went by Joe Dark, held his breath, fighting to keep his pulse under control. He kept the fragrant, familiar air he’d sucked in locked tight in his lungs. He knew the air and the terrain here as well as he knew every scar and every broken bone on his body.
A tiny rivulet of sweat made its way down his back, creeping toward the waistband on the jeans he filled out, front and back. He itched to scratch the tickling trickle.
He’d used hunter’s block today. He’d never used it when he was looking for her before. He hadn’t wanted to deceive her, but now that he’d been assigned by the clan to the task of reconnoitering and discovering more about her, he felt a bit of stealth would serve the cause better. The Bear Canyon Valley clan wanted to be sure she wasn’t a threat.
She.
The female bear shifter.
Joe had agreed to look into the female bear shifter who roamed Bear Canyon Valley because he’d brought her food a couple of times. He knew she’d scented him, but as long as he kept his distance, she’d never given more than a snort to acknowledge his presence.
The female had a shifter cub with her. If she’d thought he was a threat, he was certain he wouldn’t be alive anymore. Female bears were extremely protective.
Today, his visit to the forest she frequented was different. Now he had a different purpose.
Joe hadn’t been completely honest with the clan when they’d brought her up to him. He’d hinted that he knew of her existence in a cursory way. This wasn’t exactly true. Joe didn’t regret his deception, because he knew the moment he yielded the truth he’d be subjected to an assortment of questions and then ribbing about her.
He sat in the tree, as high up as he could get, and watched the forest floor below. He’d brought her food, as he’d done a couple of times before.
Food for her and the cub. The little tyke would scramble out of the cover of the trees and head for the decadent aroma the food put out. Usually Joe would bring pot roast or ham, or even a turkey.
