by M. L. Briers
“Well, look at you — someone thinks they’re the bee’s knees.”
“I’m Santa,” Malachi grinned from ear to ear.
“Yes — yes, you are,” Donna chuckled as she started off after her daughter. She wasn’t going to miss that for the world. The cabin was full of a giant Christmas tree — how many times did that happen in a child’s life?
~
~
~
“She’s finally asleep,” Donna announced as she closed Stacey’s bedroom door behind her and sighed inwardly.
It had taken several stories to calm her daughter down enough to get her to close her eyes. Then it had taken a few more stories to finally put her off to sleep.
She guessed that she couldn’t blame Stacey for being so excited. The house looked like fairyland, and there was a giant tree in one corner of the living room.
Christmas had certainly arrived early.
“For such a little thing she sure can eat a lot,” Malachi chuckled.
“You mean a lot of ice cream?” Donna nodded her head. “I don’t believe you sent the vampire to get ice cream!”
“Well, I couldn’t very well go myself, could I?” Malachi frowned at the thought of leaving them alone in the cabin.
They were his to protect — and he didn’t care how many more favors he owed Brook — it was worth it.
“That old protection chestnut again?” Donna chuckled to herself.
“I take it very seriously,” Malachi informed her.
“I can see that,” Donna tossed a grin back over her shoulder and Malachi growled. That grin was as sexy as hell.
At this rate; it wasn’t just the baubles on the tree that were going to be blue.
Donna didn’t know why, exactly, but she found that rumbling growl comforting. It was strange — the man had a bear within him that could possibly burst out any second, and yet, she didn’t feel threatened.
She certainly wasn’t worried for Stacey’s safety. Somewhere deep within her, she knew that Malachi would never hurt either of them.
The sound of her mobile going off with another text sent a different growl through Malachi. Donna tossed a quick look at the phone and then one at him.
His eyes had darkened like his mood. But even that didn’t worry her. She knew that it wasn’t aimed at her.
Malachi bit down on a curse as he put one foot in front of the other and started toward the phone.
“Leave it,” Donna gave a small shake of her head. “It’s not worth it — he’s not worth it,” she added, bringing Malachi to a sudden halt.
The man was caught between wanting to know what her father was saying to her now, and not wanting to upset his mate. He should never have brought the phone back to her.
Donna was right. The phone belonged in the bin. Her father belonged in her past.
Malachi was her future. Her family. Her mate.
“Why don’t I speak to him and tell him to leave you alone?” Malachi offered.
“That would just throw gas onto the fire,” Donna said. “You don’t strike me as the very diplomatic type.”
“Maybe that’s what he needs, someone who speaks his language.”
“I’d rather you didn’t get on my father’s radar,” Donna said.
She would hate to think how dear old dad would play that one out. He might not have been able to muscle him in the business world, but she was sure that her father could find some way to get inside Malachi’s backyard to dig holes in his financial affairs and poop on his lawn.
Leverage was apparently a wonderful thing in the business world, and what her father relied on to get people to see things his way. The man had built his businesses up on the back of it. She was sure that he could find some underhanded way to get to Malachi.
“Better me than you.”
“Really? Because I don’t think that I’m going to burst into a bear and eat him.”
Malachi was taken aback by what she’d said. For one long moment, he stood there and stared, open-mouthed, at her.
It was only the teasing look in her eye, followed by the slight upturn of her lips into a smile that allowed Malachi to breathe again. For one horrifying moment, he’d thought that she’d actually meant it.
“I’m not going to eat your father,” Malachi offered with a deep frown and a gravelly tone of voice that rolled over her skin. “But, I might chew on him a little and spit him out.” He teased back.
“That’s probably the way to go because I doubt he’s very tasty,” she offered back, keeping the moment light between them.
“Mean-spirited people tend to taste…” He grinned.
“Bitter? Sour? So how would I taste?” She chuckled.
She stopped the moment that a hungry growl rolled through Malachi’s broad chest. His eyes had darkened, and she noted how they did that when he seemed to be tapped into his emotions.
“Wow, that’s a question that I don’t think you want an answer to right now.”
Malachi gave a slow shake of his head in disbelief. He had images running through his mind — none that he wanted to share with her.
He snatched a look at her and saw that her cheeks and turned a cute bright red. She was staring off into the flames of the fire, and she looked like she didn’t want to meet his gaze.
Malachi really wanted to adjust his cock in his jeans. It was twitching and being strangled by the fabric and boy, did it have a mind of its own?
“Awkward.”
Donna felt the heat in her cheeks, and she knew that it wasn’t from the fire. She was an idiot of epic proportions — she needed to engage her brain before she engaged her mouth.
The gentle rumble of Malachi’s chuckle reached her ears and soothed her nerves. She was nervous — as nervous as a schoolgirl on her first date.
It felt stupid to her that she was so damn nervous around him — the man was her soul mate, so she knew that they were compatible — she knew they were supposed to be together — and yet it was that thought that scared the hell out of her more than anything else.
Technically, she couldn’t screw this up. In reality, she was a big old mess, with a kid to boot, and so much baggage that she needed a separate room for it all.
There he was — Mr. Uncomplicated — kind of.
She guessed that in real life nobody came without a certain amount of baggage. She just hadn’t stumbled across his yet.
And there she was talking about something as innocent as being eaten by his bear, and there he was imagining something a hell of a lot more appealing than that.
Now those thoughts were within her mind as well, and they were playing ping-pong inside of her brain, warming her from the inside out, and making her body buzz with excitement. She guessed she didn’t need to ask herself if she was attracted to him.
What wasn’t there to be attracted to? The man was a sexy as sin, and she could think of many sinful things that she’d like to do with him.
Life must have been one big day in the park for him. He must have had women queuing around the corner to be in his bed.
Lucky him — fate decided to land him with her.
She noted how long the awkward silence had dragged on for. When it had gone on for that long, it was kind of hard to think of something to restart the conversation. Especially, when the damn conversation had ended the way it had.
Lucky then that the sound of knuckles on the front door had rescued her from trying to salvage the remnants of her racing mind. Donna pushed up and stroll towards the door, but as she pulled it open, her heart it her ribs, and her eyes took in the last person that she’d expected to see on her doorstep.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
~
“Why the hell would you want your house to look like fairyland?” James Travis stood on her doorstep with a face like thunder and an attitude to match.
His brown eyes were locked and loaded on hers like a challenge, and his age scored face was twisted up with disdain.
Donna felt the jolt of realiza
tion that her father was actually there in front of her. Then she felt the rush of annoyance at the fact that he was actually there on her doorstep in front of her.
“Donna?” Malachi’s deep voice jolted her again. This time there was a mix of emotion between kind of soothing, and kind of not.
“Who the hell is that?” Her father demanded as he looked over her shoulder into the cabin and offered that challenging look to Malachi.
“Why are you here?” Donna couldn’t believe that she’d actually managed to get the words out.
Her mind racing, spinning, with just how badly this whole thing might go.
“I told you in the text — get your stuff, you’re coming back with me,” James demanded.
That was one of her father’s biggest problems — he demanded – he expected everyone to follow his rules, his ways, and to hell with freedom of choice. But the biggest problem that her father had now was that she was no longer under his control.
Donna wasn’t a child anymore. Hell, she had a child of her own, and a business to run. She could make her own damn decisions in life, and he had better get used to it.
Her father was a control freak. He liked to control everyone and everything around him.
Unfortunately, for him, she was done with that.
“Goodbye, Dad.” Donna wasn’t about to stand there and listen to any more of her father’s demands.
She heard Malachi repeat her father’s moniker from close behind her, but she was already tossing the door closed in the man’s face.
Wood hit the toe of his boot, and the door abruptly halted in its travels. Donna sighed inwardly, even as she heard Malachi’s low growl rumble through the room toward her.
“I don’t think you understand your situation,” James warned her. He was used to dealing with his daughter’s wayward ways, but this time it was getting to the point of ridiculous.
He hated to leave the city as it was. He hated that he’d had to drive to the middle of nowhere even more.
“I don’t think you understand the situation,” Malachi said as he closed the distance toward his mate, and reached out to put one large hand on her shoulder.
He felt her tense for a long moment, and he considered removing his hand. Then the tension eased within her.
“Who the hell are you…?” James demanded.
“He’s my friend,” Donna put in before Malachi could say a word.
He felt her words like a kick in the stomach.
Mine…
Malachi agreed with his beast. The problem was that their mate didn’t seem to want to claim them as much as they wanted to claim her.
“Well, it’s none of your business,” James sneered at Malachi and challenged him with a glare that made the shifter’s beast rise up within him and demand to burst free.
“I think I changed my mind about the chewing and spitting out bit,” Malachi but whispered against her ear. He felt her body jolt a little as she bit down on a nervous chuckle.
“Tempting,” Donna tossed back over her shoulder.
“I’m not playing here, young lady — get your things, and Stacey, and get in the car,” James demanded.
“Oh, you remembered your granddaughter at last.” Donna folded her arms across her chest and eyed her father with disgust.
“My granddaughter is the reason that I’m here. You’ve already tried to throw your life away once; I’m not having you do the same thing to Stacey’s life chances. ”
“Excuse me?” Donna almost choked on a portion of her tongue.
Malachi could feel the anger rising within his mate. That didn’t help his beast settle any within him.
He knew that the man was her father, and yet, he still felt the need to put his fist right in the man’s smug face. He just didn’t think that his mate would appreciate the gesture.
“I see you’ve already taken up with the local wildlife…”
“Get off my damn porch,” Donna spat out in disgust, at the same time as she stomped down on the toe of his boot, making him pull his foot away, and then she slammed the door in her father’s face.
Damn, that felt good.
The rumble of Malachi’s low, deep, angry growl rumbled through the air behind her, and she turned toward him. His eyes were black, his hands were fisted at his sides, and he looked fit to kill.
“This isn’t the end of it,” James called through the door.
The sound of his angry words did nothing to alleviate the fact that she was seething inside.
“I’m so sorry…” Donna started to apologize, but Malachi didn’t want to hear it.
“You have nothing to be sorry for. We can’t choose our kin, and if we could, then I wouldn’t be a part of my clan either.” Malachi assured her.
“You look fit to kill,” Donna said, and then she grimaced. It hadn’t come out the way that she’d meant it. “Not in an angry bear shifter kind of a way, but in a — my father really miffed you off — kind of a way.” She grimaced again.
“I’m not angry for me. I’m used to dealing with people like that. I’m angry for you, and for Stacey,” Malachi’s words only seemed to reach into her heart and touch her even more than he already had with his kindness and generosity.
“So, you’re big butt bear isn’t about to burst free and wreck my cabin?”
She teased him and got a slow to boil smile back in the process. She waited for it to bloom into a full-blown sexy-as-hell grin that lightened his eyes, and made her stomach flip over in the process.
“My bear takes exception to the fact that you say he has a big backside,” Malachi lied. But he liked the teasing between them it seemed to lighten the tension within him.
“Well, I apologize to your bear. But given the information that I have to hand — namely the size of your backside — I could only assume that the bear’s is…”
“Does my backside look big in these jeans?” He teased her once more and watched as the sun came out with her smile.
Malachi knew one thing — after meeting her father — the man was going to be a bigger problem than he’d given him credit for.
One way or the other, he just might need to take care of that problem if he was to keep his mate.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
~
Malachi wanted to ignore the ringing of his mobile phone. He was enjoying daydreaming about his mate. Although, his balls were surely blue and there wasn’t a damn thing that he could do about that as he sat in his truck outside her cabin.
“I’d say talk to me — but…” Malachi growled into the handset.
He’d caught sight of the name just before he’d taken the call. The vampire was becoming too friendly by half.
“You have a problem,” Brook offered right off the bat.
“No, hello — how are you?” Malachi grumbled.
He considered that he had a lot of problems at the moment — anything added to those would just be dressing.
“Your mate’s father is in my bar…” Brook broke off at the sound of Sissy’s interruption.
“My bar!”
“Of course,” Brook offered to the woman before turning his attention back to the matter at hand. “The man is rallying up the natives and looking for juicy titbits about you.”
“How is that a problem?” Malachi knew the truth of it. There were plenty of humans in that bar that would like to stir the pot.
“Because he might find something,” Brook offered back.
“Let him look. While he’s wasting his time, I’m wooing my mate.”
“As you wish…” The vampire gave a low hum, and Malachi rolled his eyes. “Unless, you want me to make a certain person disappear, or have a sudden change of heart?”
“No,” Malachi growled at the thought of it.
He wasn’t sure if the vampire meant that he was going to kill him — alter the man’s thinking using his compulsion — or threaten him within an inch of his life. None of those things were acceptable to Malachi, and none of those things were going to
happen.
“Sure?” Brook’s voice said teasing, but Malachi knew that if he gave the go-ahead, then Brook would oblige him.
“Yes.”
“And we’re back to one-word answers,” the vampire gave a dramatic sigh. “Speak to you later.”
“Hopefully not.” Malachi cut off the phone call and tossed his phone into the passenger seat beside him.
He’d spent the night there outside his mate’s cabin, watching, keeping an eye on her and Stacy just in case. He wasn’t sure what he was watching for, but he had a deep, ingrained need to protect her.
Malachi tapped his index finger against the steering wheel as he considered his options. If Donna’s father was looking for dirt on him, then he should return the favor.
He reached for his mobile, took a deep breath against the sour taste that he had on his tongue for what he was about to do, and told himself to get over it.
He might just need leverage — and his old clan might just be able to find some.
~
~
~
It wasn’t exactly hard to spot Malachi the moment that Donna opened the front door. There he was, standing with his backside against the truck, his arms folded across his chest, and his legs crossed at the ankles. He looked as sexy as hell.
Stacey shrieked with delight when she saw him. Donna didn’t even bother to try to hold her daughter back as she started off on fast feet towards the man and shrieking his name as she went.
Malachi was somewhat surprised to see Stacey’s reaction to him. His bear practically flipped over on its back with its paws up in the damn air inside of him — the beast was already attached and imprinted with the need to protect their new daughter from any danger.
Malachi didn’t think that the child was going to slow down. He took a large step forward and reached for her, swinging her up and sitting her on one big, muscled arm as she shrieked again — this time with delight — and his ears might have been ringing from her shrill tones, but his heart was full so he didn’t care.
