“No chance.” She stroked her forefinger over the mark between her neck and shoulder. “You’re the one.”
“Love you, sweetheart. From the moment you plonked me in the gut and soared away. Always have. Always will.”
He wrapped her in his arms again and she basked in the scent of him. Neither of them would ever be alone again.
“Forever and always.”
Epilogue
Summer sang softly as she dusted the mantel in the mountain cabin she and her mate had made their home. She’d brought some of her favorite items from her tree house, including the mischievous wolf carving Brick had made for her so many years ago, before they’d become lovers.
She picked it up, turning it over in her hands, stroking her index finger over the whorls of furry coat, petting the top of the head as if her own very large, very warm, very live, very sexy wolf stood beside her, before returning the miniature to its place. Well, not quite to its place.
Next, she turned her attention to the raven he’d whittled after they’d mated and she’d first moved into the cabin. She grinned as she nudged the figurine out of its proper location, knowing the new position would drive her male nuts. He’d gotten better with his obsessive-compulsive tendencies since their mating and his acceptance in his pack, but he still liked the things around him commodiously ordered. A world of complete and utter chaos would soon disrupt their homey comfort. She couldn’t wait to surprise him.
Normally, the wolf and the raven sat side by side on the mantel. She edged them farther apart.
“What are you doing?” He came up behind her, circling his arms around her middle, nuzzling her neck.
“Oh, just dusting.” She leaned against him, her back grazing his muscled chest, arching into him until her backside rubbed his groin. Reaction: Hard, predictable and instant.
“Love the taste of you. The scent of you,” he growled. “Don’t need you dusting. Need you in bed.”
She nodded, tilting her head slightly, exposing the side of her neck. He gave her a long, wet, slurpy lick.
“I’ll be done in a second, Brick.” Wiggling out of his embrace, she turned so she could see his expression and laid the dust cloth aside. “How do you think this looks?”
“What?” His seductive eyes remained on her, hot and sexy, reflecting every erotic thing he wanted to do to her.
“The mantel.”
“Don’t care about the freakin’ mantel.”
She reached up and caressed the side of his jaw, her fingers beneath his chin as she turned him toward the fireplace. “I really need your opinion, wolf.”
“Looks fi—” He caught himself and shook his head. “Wrong. Looks wrong.” He pushed the two figurines closer together again.
She nearly howled with laughter at his reaction. “We need the space.” She shoved the wolf and raven apart again.
“We do?”
“Yes, we do.” From her pocket, she withdrew a small, tissue-wrapped parcel. She’d conspired with her friend Brynna, who ran the Shady Heart boutique and craft shop, to commission a special order of miniatures from the wolf who held her heart and soul. Unwrapping the package, she placed a tiny kit and little cub on the mantel between the larger figures. “How do you think it looks now?” she murmured.
Brick stared at his carvings, back at her, back at the mantel. He swayed on his feet, the color draining from his stunned face. Not quite the joyous reaction she’d been hoping for. Alarm gripped her heart.
“Brick?”
“Does this mean what I think it means?” His words emerged low and raspy, as if he’d been overcome by his inner beast and it took all his human energy and will to force them from his mouth.
“Afraid so, Papa. Lone wolf no more.”
His wolf’s howl and human whoop shook the rafters of the cabin and threatened to shatter her eardrums. He seized her around the waist, lifting her off her feet and whirling her around. Her head spun. His arms closed around her again, and he held her so tightly against his chest she felt and heard the thunder of his pounding pulse.
“My heart, my soul, my beautiful mate,” he murmured. “I love you, my raven, my sweet Aura Lee. I never thought I’d have a mate. And now I have one. I never thought I’d have a family. And now…I have one. I’d be broken without you, Summer. And now…I’m whole.”
Tears streamed down her eyes and she swallowed past the enormous lump in her throat. He seemed pleased, proud, elated even. But her male remained jumpy and disquieted in large groups. And she wasn’t quite sure how he’d take to young disrupting his home.
“So…the mantel,” she said again. “You think it looks okay then?”
“Okay?” he repeated, shaking his head. “I’m not a wolf of words, but ‘okay’s’ not exactly the one I’d pick.”
“No?” she prompted. “And yours would be?”
An enormous wolfy smile split his lips, giving her a glimpse of gleaming teeth. “Amazing.” His grin broadened. “Totally, completely amazing.”
~ABOUT THE AUTHOR~
At a young age, Taryn Kincaid was groomed to be the next Disney princess. When it was discovered that she couldn’t really carry a tune, preferred flip-flops to glass slippers, and had a head shape unsuited to bejeweled tiaras, she explored new career opportunities. One day she hopes to terraform her own private island, bring about world peace and discover cures for whatever ails everyone else. In the meantime, she can be found hanging on line or delving into scenic, historical, mystical Sleepy Hollow.
Visit Taryn Kincaid at:
http://tarynkincaid.com
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Claiming His Mate by M. Limoges
Chapter One
Jace Matthews’ eyes followed the rhythmic sway of his mate’s heart-shaped ass as she walked up the aisle to the sales counter. Damn, he couldn’t wait to strip her bare and sink his teeth into that tender flesh. Suddenly, those tempting globes stopped. He blinked and his gaze shot up to find Michelle frowning over her shoulder at him.
Shit.
Embarrassed she’d caught him staring, he snatched the closest book on the shelf beside him, waving it in the air like a kid who’d won a life-sized stuffed animal at the county fair. “Got it. Thought it might be out of stock.”
Real smooth, jackass.
She arched a delicate brow over the rim of her glasses. “Are you ready to check out, Jace?”
“Yep, I think this’ll do it.” He soaked up the sound of her sweet voice and followed her to the register.
Two months ago, when he’d come to check out the new owner of a large parcel of land adjoining his pack’s hunting territory, he damn sure hadn’t expected to find Michelle Sanders. Once he’d stepped inside the small, quaint bookstore she’d owned in Collins, he’d caught a scent that had eluded him for thirty-two years.
His mate.
The first time he laid eyes on her, his wolf had fought tooth and nail, urging Jace to stake his claim in the primitive way of his people. Hunt her down, mark her, and claim her as his own. That wouldn’t have worked with Michelle. He had to proceed with caution. She was human after all.
Of course, he had no idea how to court a human, or whatever the hell it was they did. In his world, it was hard, fast lust. No relationships, just quick flings that were over as soon as they started. With his own kind. But, he didn’t want a quick anything with Michelle, he wanted forever.
His prim little mate waited patiently for him to slide his purchase across the wooden surface between them. She reached for the book and his hand purposefully settled over hers. In the weeks he’d come in, it was the first time he’d purchased anything. The first time he’d touched her. He stared at her face, ignoring the tiny currents racing up his arm. Her startled, bespectacled blue gaze darted to his, and she pulled her hand away. Fuck yeah. She felt it, too.
The scent of her lust drifted up his nose, and he almost dragged her over the counter right then and there to sink his teeth in her s
houlder. His control teetered on a dangerously fine line in her company.
Michelle blinked away her confusion and nodded toward the book under his hand. “Find something you like?”
More than you could ever know. He moved his hand and she picked up the book. “Yeah, I’ve been waiting on that one for a while,” he lied. “Can’t get enough of that author.”
Jace couldn’t give a rat’s ass about the book. It was just an excuse to linger in her store. Slow, his pack kept telling him, go slow with her. Well, he had, damn it. Since his shy little mate appeared skittish, he’d come in, browsed the shelves of her store twice a week, making friendly conversation, forming an easy friendship, and biding his time until he had her in his bed and life permanently. But, the time for waiting was over.
Recently, he’d caught another scent when he ran on her property.
Hunters.
The bastards had been sniffing around his pack’s borders and camping on Michelle’s land. No doubt without her knowledge. That gave Jace all the more reason to speed up their odd courtship. Her protection was at stake, and he’d be damned if he left his mate in danger. She was his future.
Michelle’s head popped up, humor sparkling in her pretty eyes. She held up his purchase. “I love the abs on this one.”
He gawked at the semi-naked male torso covering the matte-finished paperback he’d snatched from the shelves without looking.
What. The. Fuck.
***
Michelle bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing out loud at the shock written on Jace’s face, though it came as no surprise to her. The hot specimen of male virility that she’d lusted over since he’d sauntered through the double doors of her bookstore was gay.
She winked in an attempt to ease his visible distress. “It’s really a great read. Good choice.”
“It’s not for me,” he choked out.
Bless his little baby heart. “Sure.” She moved to the register and rang up the romance novel.
“Seriously, it’s for my sister, Kate.” His downcast, grimacing face tugged at her sympathy.
Michelle had discovered the surprising revelation of his sexuality a month ago on one of her nature walks through the wooded property behind the house she’d inherited from her Aunt Cecelia. She’d stumbled upon him there. With another man. Both in various states of undress. Then his equally hot friend had chucked his damned pants. She hadn’t stuck around to witness any man dangle action. Instead, she’d gotten the hell out of Dodge before she could technically be arrested as a voyeur.
Discovering Jace’s sexual orientation had somewhat depressed her. An entire week after she’d seen him in the forest, she hadn’t been able to meet his gaze out of embarrassment. To learn something so intimate and personal about him without his knowledge, it shamed her to feel the way she did about him. She’d foolishly imagined he’d made the twenty minute drive over from Los Lobos each week to her store in Collins, South Dakota because he might’ve been interested in her. At last, she’d found the man of her dreams, and he turned out to be gay.
She’d shrugged off her disappointment. It wasn’t his fault, and she wasn’t about to lose the only friend she’d made since moving here. But that hadn’t stopped her from lusting after the hottest guy on this plane of existence. The fact he was gay hadn’t affected her late night fantasies one iota.
Michelle deposited his money in the register and slid the drawer closed with a soft click. She placed his book in one of her pretty paper bags with the polka dots and set it on the counter in front of him. “Hope your sister enjoys your purchase, Jace.”
He rolled his eyes and shook his head. His lips curved with a sensual smile she’d be sure to dream about tonight. “What are you doing Friday night?”
“Let me think.” Michelle scrunched her nose and tapped her chin with her finger. Then she snapped her fingers. “Oh, that’s right. Not a thing.”
He released a deep, throaty laugh that did funny things to her insides. Shit, she had to get laid soon. She could practically feel her damn eggs dropping. If she didn’t watch it, she’d tackle her sexy, gay friend without a tad of remorse. She repressed a shiver and waited for him to continue.
Amusement reflected in his dark brown eyes. “Perhaps you could help me out. I have this date night coming up with my sister….”
Huh? Her eyebrows rose. She knew it was a small, country town, but—
“No, wait.” He held up his hand in a halting motion. “I mean, it’s a double date. With her and her boyfriend. I’m supposed to bring someone. Would you go with me?”
Well, she hadn’t expected that. “I’m not so sure, Jace.”
“I’m sorry.” He fidgeted with the handle on his paper bag. “I should’ve asked if you were seeing someone.”
Michelle bit her tongue to keep from blurting out no, but you are. “I’m not, but wouldn’t you rather ask someone else?”
“Why?” He frowned and appeared genuinely perplexed.
Hmm, what’s a polite way to say this? “I just thought…I might not be your type.”
A scowl formed on his handsome face. “Why wouldn’t you be? You’re perfect.”
His reason for asking smacked her in the face as if he’d flung his bag at her. He needed a cover in front of his sister, who probably had no idea he was gay.
Michelle noticed her fingers thrummed the wood countertop. She laid her palm flat to still the nervous action.
Oh, what the hell? It wasn’t as if she had a social life to speak of. Jace had been nothing but kind to her, bringing her cherry Danishes and coffee from the diner down the road each week when he stopped in. He was the only person in her new small town who’d taken the time to get to know her somewhat. Apparently, everyone else thought she had the cooties or something.
Michelle huffed out a breath. “All right. Sure, why not? Where? And what time?”
“How’s seven p.m. sound? I thought we might grab some dinner in Los Lobos. Is that all right?” When she nodded, his face brightened and he smiled a sinful grin that hit her below the belly.
“Excellent. Jot down your number and address, and I’ll stop by your place at six-thirty to pick you up.”
She did as he asked, printing her phone number and directions on a piece of receipt paper. He leaned forward, laid his hand over hers, and squeezed, sending a strange burst of energy through her arm once more. As he extricated the slip of paper from her grasp, she almost reconsidered. This increasing attraction she felt toward him couldn’t be good.
With a parting devilish grin, he turned and sauntered to the exit, calling back over his shoulder. “I’m looking forward to it, Michelle.”
“Me, too,” she croaked.
Sweet little baby Jesus in a manger, what had she gotten herself into now?
Wolf's Song Page 7
