by Zoe Chant
Stella made a startled-but-happy noise as he caught her in his arms, carrying her three steps to the canopied fairyland bed. He tasted the sweetness of her lips just for a second, then pulled away and laid them both down. Then he lost himself in another kiss, in the softness of her body and her bed.
She tasted intoxicating, and she felt like heaven. Nate devoured her mouth, then pulled back to brush kisses against her cheek, her temple, the soft skin of her neck. He buried his face in the join between her neck and shoulder and inhaled, then bit lightly.
Stella gasped, her fingers clenching on his shoulders. Nate smiled against her skin and bit again, delighting in the feeling of her full-body writhe, the way her body moved under his.
Her legs parted, and he settled into the space between her thighs, her skirt riding up until his cock, hard in his jeans, was pressed right up against her panties. He rolled his hips and she moaned; he caught the sound with his mouth, tasting it.
Nate had intended to get their clothes off, maybe settle in with his tongue between Stella’s legs for a while, but this felt too impossibly good to let go of. The heat built in the little spaces between them, the air dense and heavy and smelling like sex. Stella was making little noises that caught something deep in Nate’s chest, a fierce and powerful hunger.
He devoured Stella’s mouth as he worked his hips against the soaking fabric of her panties. His cock was leaking in his boxers, throbbing and jerking with every rub against Stella’s sex.
Stella wrapped her legs around his hips, lifting to meet him, and a blinding wave of pleasure overtook him.
Nate had to break the kiss to drag in air. “Hold on,” he said raggedly. “We have to—God—I’m going to come in my pants like a teenager.”
“Okay, then—” Stella gasped, reaching between them. The feeling of her fingers brushing up against the front of his jeans did nothing to help his desperate need, but then she caught the button, undoing it one-handed, squirming down until she had the angle to tug down the zipper and slip her hand into his boxers.
Nate groaned as she took his cock in her hand. She ran her hand down the length and back up once, then said, “Don’t think I can do much good at this angle.”
“You’re doing plenty of good, believe me,” he said, but didn’t protest her taking her hand away. Especially since her fingers retreated back between her own thighs, rubbing her clit over her panties a few times. “Oh,” she said, shuddering at the touch of her own hand. Nate thought he might spontaneously combust at the sight.
Then she bit her lip. “Getting distracted,” she gasped. “Here.”
And she pulled the lace of her panties to the side. They were close enough that once her hand was out of the way, the head of his cock was already kissing the wetness of her opening.
“Come on,” she breathed.
Nate surged forward, burying himself inside her in one long, smooth stroke. They groaned together, and he started up a rhythm, feeling her silken heat tighten, her muscles clench and jerk. He held onto her with all of his strength, grinding them together, losing himself in the blinding pleasure that was making love to Stella.
Lost in sensation, he thrust again, and again. He couldn’t last, and he knew it, not with her inner walls clutching at him like that. A moment later, the wave rose up and tipped him over: climax roared through him, and he spent himself inside her as she shuddered around him.
She was still moving restlessly, though, so the moment Nate had control of his muscles again, he pulled out and slid down, getting two fingers inside her, and then adding a third when she moaned for more. He found that slightly rougher spot inside her and rubbed hard against it as he took her clit in his mouth and sucked.
Stella shrieked as she clenched hard enough to almost hurt his fingers, coming in pulses against his face. Nate drank her down, wishing he was young enough to go again.
When she was sensitive enough that she was twitching away from his tongue, Nate pulled back and crawled up the bed to collapse next to her.
“Mmm,” Stella sighed. “Naptime.”
“Sounds good. Do you work today?”
She nodded, yawning. “Later. Dinner shift. Sleep for now.”
That sounded just fine to Nate. He gathered her sated body close, breathed her in, and closed his eyes to the fairy glen of her bedroom.
***
Nate went with Stella to work, finding a seat at Oliver’s for the second time that day. He surveilled while she waited tables, and proved without a shadow of a doubt that he’d made the right decision calling Carlos in.
Stella was just so...distracting. Her graceful movements, her musical voice, the glint of her silver-blonde hair under the lights. The way she laughed with Pauline over some joke. Once, Nate caught himself admiring how well she memorized the food orders instead of keeping an eye on the perimeter.
He forced himself to pay attention to the building’s vulnerabilities, but he simply wasn’t as effective as he would’ve been with a regular client, and he knew it.
So he spent the last couple of hours outside, walking the perimeter and inspecting the cars in the lot. He ducked inside occasionally, to check on Stella and make sure she was all right, that Todd hadn’t called her—from someone else’s phone, since Stella had said she’d blocked his number long ago—or otherwise managed to insinuate his presence.
All right, he checked on her a bit more often than he should have.
But as it happened, he was out in the parking lot when, just a few minutes before the end of Stella’s shift, a truck pulled up with a screech and parked right by the door. Nate’s eyes narrowed: he recognized that truck.
He was standing casually by the door when Todd got out. There was a moment where the man clearly didn’t notice him; Nate was dressed in dark clothes, and had automatically positioned himself in the shadows.
Todd produced a very satisfying double-take when he finally saw him. Then his eyes narrowed. “You’re that guy who’s hanging around Stella.”
“I’m her mate,” Nate corrected, keeping his tone even.
And regretted it immediately—God, he’d told Stella that the presence of a new romantic interest could cause things to escalate. His judgment was impaired as hell. But there was no way he could’ve faced down this asshole without telling him that Stella wasn’t alone anymore.
Todd’s eyes went wide. Then he snorted. “Bullshit. You’re just saying that because you feel threatened and you want to scare me away. Forget it. You’re not Stella’s mate. She belongs with me.”
Nate took a step forward. “Believe it,” he said softly. “But even if you don’t want to hear that, hear this: I’m not going anywhere. Stay the hell away if you want to stay the hell intact.”
Todd was looking nervous, but he covered it with bravado. “You can’t keep me away from Stella. She loves me.”
“She’s afraid of you,” Nate said. He could feel his voice wanting to get louder, to shout, to roar. He controlled it with an effort.
Todd’s face turned ugly. “You’re making her afraid of me. You’re telling her lies about me—twisting her mind—”
Nate saw red. The way Todd talked like Stella could only dislike him if someone had brainwashed her, like she couldn’t make her own choices or have her own thoughts—it sparked a burning rage inside him.
Enemy, his panther hissed. Wants to hurt our mate.
He stalked towards Todd, who scrambled backwards, fear on his face. As they circled the diner, coming around to where it backed onto the forest, out of sight of the road, the whole area deserted at this time of night, Nate let his panther rise inside him. His fingernails lengthened, his teeth sharpened, and he gave into the shift, falling onto all fours and snarling.
Todd went white as a ghost, shivered, shifted, and hit the ground running. His medium-sized wolf form would be no match for a panther, Nate noted analytically, especially not one his size.
Chase him, his panther yearned. Once we catch him, he won’t be coming back again.
>
No. Nate pulled himself together.
This wasn’t a job for his animal instincts. Attacking Todd wouldn’t actually help the situation—in fact, it might drive him to do something desperate and dangerous. And God forbid Nate actually seriously injure or kill him. If the police got involved...no.
He made himself shift back to human.
This was why he couldn’t bodyguard someone he loved.
***
Stella
Stella clutched the mug of tea, letting it warm her hands as she sat in the kitchen.
Nate was writing up a full report of his encounter with Todd, touching base with his friend who was coming in the morning, and otherwise doing his job. Like he did every day.
Stella couldn’t imagine having things like this happen every day.
She supposed it was different when it wasn’t happening to you.
This was different for Nate, too, she knew. When she’d shivered at the thought of Todd waiting for her to come out alone at night, Nate had pulled her into his arms, and she’d heard the anger in his voice as he’d sworn that she’d be safe with him.
She’d told him to take care of his work, that she’d be fine in the kitchen. She thought that some boring, routine paperwork would probably help him calm down. And she just wanted to...sit, safe in her own kitchen, with a mug of tea.
She heard a noise in the hall and started, slopping chamomile over the side of the mug and burning her hand a little. She hissed and sucked at her knuckles.
“Sorry.” Lynn hovered in the doorway, looking guilty.
Stella relaxed. “No, I’m just jumpy. Come in. Want some tea?”
“Sure.” Lynn took a seat at the table with her. “Couldn’t sleep.”
Lynn usually wasn’t an insomniac like Stella. “Something wrong?”
“Apart from a stalker going after my little sister?” Lynn asked wryly. “Nope, nothing. Ken’s out overnight, is all, and I don’t sleep as well when he’s gone.”
Her voice grew gruffer as she finished the sentence, and she looked away, a little flush rising in her cheek. Lynn hated admitting to weakness, and for most of their lives, Stella would’ve said she’d rather die than be dependent on anything or anyone.
But she’d changed, since being with Ken.
“Nate and I are mates,” Stella blurted, her hands tightening on her mug.
Lynn stared at her.
And despite all of her anxiety about—everything, about Todd and the future and telling her big sister something so profoundly important—Stella felt a little twinge of satisfaction at having blindsided Lynn so thoroughly.
They’d come a long way in their relationship, but Stella was always going to have a tiny bit of the bratty little sister inside her.
“You? And Nate?” Lynn managed.
Stella nodded. “Believe it or not.”
Lynn went to the kettle and poured herself some tea. She stood there for a long minute, then shook her head, and came back to sit down. “And here I was trying so hard not to lecture you on sleeping with your bodyguard.”
Shifter senses meant that Lynn couldn’t have missed what was going on. Stella refused to be embarrassed.
“Nate’s calling in a friend,” she said instead. “So he’ll have some backup that isn’t so...involved. He said that was best.”
“Well, good,” Lynn said stridently, her normal self starting to come back. Then she shook her head, wonderingly, and started to laugh. “What are the odds? Me and Ken, and you and Nate?”
“Maybe we’re all meant to be together,” Stella said, smiling. “A big family.”
Lynn softened at the thought. “That might be nice.”
“Lynn, I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Stella said in a rush. “Nate works in Chicago. And I should be dying to get out of here for good—I always was, before—but somehow it’s different now. Eva wants to stay, and I like—I like living here with you.”
She and Lynn felt more like sisters than they ever had before. Stella had to admit to herself that she really didn’t want to lose that, not when they’d just found it.
Lynn was thinking, her brows coming together in a frown.
“Does he have to be in Chicago all the time?” she asked finally. “Could you spend some time here, and some time there? If Eva wants to stay here all the time, she can stay with us.”
Stella considered that. “I guess...it depends on our jobs,” she said finally. “I couldn’t just flake out on the diner all the time.”
But if you were an artist, you could work anywhere... said an earnest voice in her head that sounded a lot like her daughter.
“And I don’t know what his work would put up with,” she finished firmly.
“Well,” Lynn said, “talk to him about it, I suppose.” She took Stella’s hand in a solid grip. “You should be happy. I want you to be happy.”
Stella smiled helplessly. Yes, she was so grateful for this new relationship with her sister, she could hardly put it into words. “Thanks,” she said quietly. “I am happy. I’ve never met a man like him before.”
“I know the feeling,” Lynn said, heartfelt, and they laughed together.
***
In the morning, Nate’s friend Carlos arrived.
Stella was struck immediately by how he was dressed—nothing like Nate’s habitual casual look of jeans and a T-shirt, nor like Ken’s standard outdoorsman wear. No, Carlos Gonzalez was wearing a slick, expensive-looking suit.
He smiled winningly at her, shook her hand and murmured something about being delighted. Stella couldn’t help but say, “I hope we’re not taking you away from your job, Mr. Gonzalez.”
“Carlos,” he corrected immediately, and then went on with a charming grin, “and I’m welcoming the opportunity to get away. My job’s just moving money around, nothing too interesting. I’m not a professional security specialist like Nate is, but I have the same Marine training and I’ve kept my hand in here and there over the years when he needed an extra body. I’ll keep you safe.”
“Thank you,” she murmured.
“Now.” He actually clapped his hands together in a let’s get going motion. “What’s on the agenda for today?”
What was on the agenda was bowing to her daughter’s whims, in fact.
Eva’s texting had borne fruit: Mavis had left Stella a message this morning, mentioning that she had a free hour after lunch if Stella wanted to stop by her office.
And Stella was off work today, so there was really no excuse.
“I’m so nervous,” she confessed to Nate, as they were in her room ‘getting ready to leave,’ which really translated to, ‘hiding in the hopes that everyone would just forget about it.’
“Why?” he asked, looking honestly curious. “Is Mavis that intimidating?”
“No—yes—ugh.” Stella sat down on the bed and ran her fingers through her hair. “No. She’s a very nice person, very polite. Never has a bad word to say about anybody. She’s just...”
“Just what?”
“Just an incredibly accomplished, intelligent, professional woman, that’s all.” Stella flopped backwards into the pillows. “She went to college. She runs her own business. And she’s—” She waved a hand. “You’ll get it when you see her.”
“I met her briefly, at Cal’s wedding,” Nate said thoughtfully. “I guess she has a lot of...poise.”
Stella sat up and pointed at him. “Yes. That’s it exactly. She’s so poised that whenever I’m around her, I feel like a bit of a mess.”
Nate caught her pointing finger, brought her hand to his mouth, and kissed the knuckles. “You are anything but a mess. You’re one of the strongest people I’ve ever met. And now you’re going to talk to someone about pursuing your incredible talent.”
Stella tried unsuccessfully to tamp down the burst of pleasure in her chest at his praise. “I don’t know if it’ll work at all,” she prevaricated. “I’ve tried to make some money from art before, and it’s never gotten off the grou
nd.”
Nate squeezed her hand, looking serious. “We haven’t talked about this yet,” he said, “and you should do whatever you think is best for you. But if you want to make this your full-time job—dedicate all your efforts to making progress as a professional artist—that would be fine with me. I could—well, you might not have to worry about Eva’s college.” He grinned ruefully. “Assuming I can convince her that accepting money from me is okay.”
Stella blinked, staring at him.
“It’s time for you to go!” Eva hollered from out in the hall, and they both jumped.
“Okay!” Stella called back, suddenly ready to get out, if it meant she didn’t have to give an answer to Nate right away.
Quit her job, that’s what he meant, she thought as they went out to her car together, collecting Carlos along the way.
Work full-time as an artist.
Stella hadn’t let herself really consider quitting her job, even though Nate had hinted around the idea that he had enough money to support both of them without any trouble. Because Stella wasn’t a layabout. She’d bounced around enough relationships to be very sensitive to the potential for freeloading off of any of her boyfriends—just because she found a man who could support her, she wasn’t going to just sit around and do nothing. She could work too.
But this wouldn’t be sitting around doing nothing.
They drove to Mavis’s place, Stella’s head still in the clouds.
When they got to her little office in town, an older, distinguished-looking man was just leaving. Stella blinked as Nate and Carlos both snapped to attention, postures straightening, and murmured, “Sir,” in unison.
The man—Colonel Wilson Hanes, Stella finally recognized him—stopped, a dawning surprise on his face. “Gentlemen,” he said. “What on earth are you both doing in town?”
Nate glanced over at her. “Well, sir...”
He explained the situation more neatly than Stella could have managed, very short and to the point—this is my mate Stella, she’s having some problems with a stalker, and Carlos is here as backup—
Wilson was frowning. “Stella,” he said. “Of course, I remember you. Lynn Davidson’s sister. You’re still having trouble with that man and his crew?”
