A Lady's Heart (Takhini Shifters Book 3)

by Vivian Arend

  “And you want more of the simple life?”

  She nodded. “Definitely. And I want it to be new and fresh, which is why I asked everyone to call me Mandy. I’m reclaiming myself, in a way.”

  Warm fingers wrapped around hers, and he gave a brief squeeze before letting go. “Good for you.”

  He was so easy to talk with when he wasn’t being bossy and growly. Although, she secretly liked that side of him too.

  “And that’s where my list comes in. Living in the pack house gave me a safe place to adjust to my new world, and now I feel as if the time is right for me to start going through the items I’ve noted.”

  “I’d say it was more than time. You deserve to enjoy some common, everyday pleasures.”

  He was being careful. Cautious, which was exactly what she needed to boost her confidence. “Would you like to see it? My list?”

  The muffin in Justin’s hand stuttered to a stop inches from his mouth.

  “I’d be honoured.” He put down the food and reached for the paper she slid across the table, glancing toward the wolf pair who were craning their necks in the hopes of catching a glimpse.

  Justin made a show of holding the paper in the perfect way that they could almost, but not quite, see it.

  Mandy laughed softly. “You’re mean.”

  “Just wait. They’re gonna find themselves a pair of eagle shifters to do their spying next,” Justin whispered.

  “I told you we should’ve made that pair of bird shifters stay in our territory,” Evan grumbled as he got to his feet.

  He and Amy waved goodbye then left. Mandy smiled in return, but Justin gave a dramatic evil-villain chuckle, as if they’d successfully vanquished an opponent.

  “They mean well,” Mandy pointed out.

  “Wolves are the biggest busybodies.”

  Then he focused his attention on the list for real, his smile widening as he went down some of the items. “You wild woman. I don’t know if you can do some of these unsuper—”

  Yes, it was easy to tell the instant he hit the section of her list that ventured into naughty territory. She had the list memorized, she’d read over it so often, and partway down the page, it read…

  take a painting class

  camp in an RV

  go snowmobiling

  give a blowjob

  go fishing for salmon in bear form

  Justin’s smile slowly faded, and his grip on the paper tightened briefly before he took a deep breath then consciously relaxed.

  He folded the paper then put it back on the table as he met her gaze. “Who the hell do you…?”

  She raised a brow, and his words died off, his eyes flashing hot before he dragged himself under control and tried again.

  “I mean, there’s no damn way… Wait…” His mouth opened and closed a few times as he struggled to find the right words.

  She waited patiently. He dragged in a deep breath then let it out as if he were blowing out a candle somewhere on the next table over.

  “Mandy?”

  “Yes?”

  He cleared his throat. “I would like to offer to help you with your list.”

  Which was exactly what she hoped he’d say. “Lovely. On one condition.”

  “Anything,” he swore, his tone ragged and one step from out of control.

  She might want to move on and be independent, but there were items she needed a companion to complete. She’d been watching Justin closely for the last while. “If you want to help me with some things on the list, you have to help me with all the things on the list.”

  His lips twitched before he broke into a massive smile. “You’re trying to scare me away, but it’s not going to work.”

  “On the contrary, I’m really hoping a big, strong, handsome fellow like you isn’t scared off that easily.”

  Justin’s smile widened. “You think I’m handsome?”

  “And strong.” She nodded. “Oh…and sexy.”

  He beamed.

  It was her turn to take a deep breath and hope for the best. Talk about pushing too far, too fast—

  She knew he liked her, but was her next demand going to be too much? There was only one way to be sure, and it was better now than later when she’d just be hurt or disappointed.

  She looked him in the eyes. “Justin, the things I want to do might seem ordinary and silly, but this relationship…”

  Oh boy.

  He smiled encouragingly, catching her hand in his again and carefully squeezing her fingers. “Go on. I won’t think poorly of you if you say it wrong.”

  A warm, happy glow blossomed inside as that tiny seed of hope she’d held tucked away inside was finally allowed to sprout. Uncertainty clouded her future—this new life could vanish in an instant, and she had to take advantage of every moment.

  She spoke softly, trusting him to understand what she meant to say, even if she screwed up the words. “I don’t expect you to follow along behind me like a trained puppy, but I need to warn you I’m going to be selfish and expect you to not take control. I’ve had control out of my hands for so long, it’s time I called the shots.”

  He leaned back in his chair as much as was possible in the tiny space he’d been allotted. “I’ll try my best,” he promised, “as long as you remember I’m a hardheaded bear. When I screw up, you’ll need to kick me pretty hard.”

  “I can do that.”

  He wiggled in his chair uncomfortably. “I should warn you, I might have an issue with giving up control in the bedroom.”

  A delicious shiver raced over as he mentioned bed. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” she promised.

  “When do we start?”

  “How about right now?” She checked her watch. “In about thirty-five minutes.”

  Chapter Three

  Justin had glanced at her sheet of paper, but honestly, he’d been more than a little distracted by the items he discovered toward the bottom of the page.

  The first one that caught his eye and made him do a double take was give a blow job, and after that…

  After that…

  Good grief, was it really reasonable to expect him to remember anything that had come before or after that point on the page?

  Which was why he wasn’t sure what he was in for at the moment, other than she’d told him to bring a swimsuit and meet her at the Canada Games Centre.

  He was smart enough to put two and two together and figure they were going in the pool, but when he strode onto the deck and discovered pumping music and a gaggle of women of all ages, it was only memory of the dirty things on the list that kept his feet moving forward.

  Mandy reached to take his towel. “Right on time.”

  He took an up-and-down glance, appreciating how her one-piece swimsuit hugged her curves. “I’ve never done one of these before,” he admitted.

  “Since that was kind of the point, that makes two of us.” She dropped his towel on top of hers then guided him toward the ladder. “I think if we stand in the back that will help.”

  His warning instincts shot to high. It seemed every eye in the place was on them, which was probably true. The female population vastly outnumbered the men. All the lifeguards but one were women, and the lone male was admiring him more than Mandy, which simultaneously made Justin happy and wary.

  “Everybody ready to shake it up?” The woman on the deck shouted the question, clapping her hands as she bounced enthusiastically.

  A loud response roared back from the women in the pool.

  Justin examined the Aquasize instructor a little closer, positive he’d seen her before—probably a wolf by how high energy she was. Before he could figure it out, Mandy was guiding them through the water to a spot in the back corner.

  The class began, a surging wave of energy.

  This was so not-his-thing, but after a few jumps and twirls, a single peek to his side showed Mandy was grinning from ear to ear as she splashed through the instructions, half a step behind at times, and
he let his amusement rise.

  A sense of rhythm wasn’t her strong suit.

  She twisted to face him, the rosy glow in her cheeks and her satisfied smile all the reward he needed as she wiped water from her eyes. He didn’t even have to ask if she was having fun.

  It was clear, and happy looked good on her.

  “Lift those knees, ladies…” the instructor’s gaze jumped to him, “…and gentleman. Get those hands in the air, and let’s make some noise.”

  Perhaps if he hadn’t lived at the pack house for the past couple months the pandemonium would have been more of a shock, but as it was, Justin found himself moderately amused as he willingly went through the motions.

  He was watching the instructor prance back and forth on the deck, toes rising in the air as she did a series of high kicks that he attempted to copy when a sudden splash hit him on the side of the face.

  Justin snapped his gaze to the left, but Mandy was energetically moving to the beat, eyes fixed forward.

  He got back into the rhythm just in time for another wave to hit, this one perfectly timed with him taking a big breath, which was the equivalent of having his head shoved underwater. He coughed and sputtered as he glanced again to the side.

  Mandy was busy with her high kicks, focused intently on the instructor.

  It was too unlikely of a scenario to be an accident.

  The third time he turned just as the splash hit to discover Mandy grinning widely, her hands cupped together after tossing a load of water his direction.

  Her mouth opened in an O of surprise as he marched closer to tower over her.

  “Really?” he demanded.

  She ducked down just far enough to suck up a mouthful of water before standing on her toes and hitting him full in the face with it.

  She wanted to play it that way? Fine by him. He picked her up, careful to keep his grip light as he lifted her high and sent her flying into the open water to their right.

  Mandy landed with a squeal and a splash, disappearing under the surface to come up sputtering and laughing at the same time.

  They grinned at each other.

  “Hey. No horseplay.”

  Justin and Mandy glanced guiltily at the lifeguard standing in judgment over them.

  “I’m so sorry,” Mandy offered. “I…slipped.”

  Justin bit back a snicker as the guard gave them both dirty looks before walking away.

  They were both on their best behavior as they got back into the class.

  When all the bumping and jumping was over, Mandy slid next to him. “Hot tub?”

  Oh, he could do that. Although, he’d really prefer if they were heading to a private hot tub where clothing would be optional instead of here with all the humans around.

  He consoled himself by letting her climb out of the swimming pool first, enjoying how her hips swayed as she made her way up the ladder. The fabric of her suit clung to her as she turned and waited until he joined her.

  They stepped down into the heated water together, and Justin let out a sigh of happiness.

  “That wasn’t so bad,” he told her.

  “It was fun. And we didn’t even get thrown out of the class.” Mandy batted her lashes.

  He snorted. “Not for a lack of trying. Brat.”

  “Hey, we successfully accomplished one task. Maybe we should put ‘get in trouble’ on my list so we’ve got more incentive to follow through.”

  She pushed him ahead of her to the bench, and Justin settled in place, shoulders rising out of the water as he watched her and wondered what she was going to do next to drive him crazy.

  They sat side-by-side, the force of the bubbling water enough to push her toward the middle of the pool.

  “You don’t have enough weight to keep yourself in one place,” he teased as she threatened to float away completely. She didn’t expect the hand that crept over her back before wrapping around her waist, and Mandy tensed.

  Justin pulled his hands away immediately, holding them at the surface of the water. “Sorry.”

  She shook her head. “You didn’t do anything wrong,” she said firmly. “I’m a little jumpy, that’s all.”

  She put her feet flat on the bottom until her shoulders rose above the surface of the water, increasing her weight so she could make her way back to the sidewall. More people were joining them, and the small, circular pool became crowded.

  A man who’d been swimming lengths joined the crowd, and Justin tensed. Mandy glanced at him, but there seemed to be no reason—

  Oh. He was was fighting to stop from putting himself as a buffer between the stranger and Mandy.

  She moved instinctively to ease him, pressing herself against his side. “Lift your left arm,” she murmured. “I need something to hang on to.”

  He chuckled as he raised his elbow to the surface, and she slipped her arms around it, pressing her torso against his triceps. Her knees bumped against his thigh, and the entire time the motion of the water rubbed her against him…

  A low noise escaped before he choked it off in mid-rumble.

  Mandy glanced down, and that’s when she realized men’s swimsuits were absolutely zero help when it came to hiding erections. Big, bear-sized erections, and if she wasn’t in the pool and all, she’d have had to find an excuse to explain the sudden rush of heat and moisture that hit between her legs.

  He wasn’t getting out of the pool anytime soon, not unless it turned icy cold, which wasn’t likely.

  Distraction was needed.

  She rested her chin on his shoulder to speak. “I made us an appointment this afternoon at the art studio.”

  He leaned toward her. “Sounds fun.”

  “We’ll see. Are you sure you won’t get in trouble with me taking over your schedule like this?”

  He shook his head. “I’m pretty much my own boss unless Tyler is around.”

  Which reminded her all over how confused she’d been to discover Justin had remained in Whitehorse. Glad—but confused. “I thought you were a bodyguard. How come he’s gone, and you’re not guarding?”

  “Because he left on his honeymoon, and I was smart enough to know I wasn’t welcome.” He turned and offered her a secret grin. “He’s safe. I’ve got a surveillance team on him at all times.”

  “That’s sneaky.” And made her a little nervous. “He doesn’t know?”

  “Oh, trust me, he knows I’ve got someone watching him, even though he doesn’t know exactly who, but it’s not the same as having his best friend watching him make goo-goo eyes at his new wife. One of my jobs is to keep him safe, well, him and Caroline now, and he’s not allowed to argue with what it takes to get the job done.”

  She nodded, but it still made her think back to less-than-happy times. “That was my least favourite part of being married to Todd. With all his political aspirations, it always felt as if someone was watching me.” A shiver escaped in spite of the heated water.

  “It’s not always pleasant to think about,” he agreed “but it is the price of being a public figure.”

  He leaned his head back on the pool ledge and closed his eyes, and she got to stare to her heart’s content.

  Justin’s dark good looks were eye-candy to add sweetness to the ordinary, simple pleasure she’d already experienced. The heat of the water buoyed her as she considered his willingness to come jump up and down and basically make a fool of himself.

  She held onto his arm, using him as an anchor.

  People were entering and exiting the pool all the time, but they gave Justin and her a wide berth, especially as a rumble rose from his hairy chest. At first it was low enough to be a tickle in her ears, but as she checked him more carefully, the rumble deepened. Grew more intense, the kind of noise she could imagine him making as he ran his hands over her skin. Petting and caressing her. Pressing his lips to the spot under her ear that drove her wild as he stroked a hand up the inside of her…

  Okay, that was letting her imagination run away a bit too far.
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  He groaned—an intensely sexual noise, as if he was in the middle of a wild fantasy similar to the one she’d been enjoying, and in spite of everything inside her that wanted to keep listening, she wiggled higher until she could lay her hand on his chest.

  “Justin,” she whispered urgently.

  He cracked an eye open. “Had enough?”

  Not nearly enough if her libido had anything to say about it. But she nodded then offered a warning. “You’re making…noises.”

  Dirty noises. Wonderful, panty-wetting, makes-me-want-to-melt noises.

  He shuffled back to a sitting position, blinking when he discovered only one person remained in the hot tub with them. An older woman. Human, but obviously alert to the nuances of the shifter world as she glanced between the two of them, a mischievous smile twisting her lips.

  “Y’all planning on coming to Aquasize on a regular basis?” she asked with a grin. “Because I think my ticker got a better workout watching you two for the last few minutes than it did during the entire workout.”

  Mandy had no idea what to say in response.

  Justin offered the old woman a wink.

  She returned it enthusiastically. “You go getter’, boy. If I were only twenty years younger.”

  “I’d have to be twenty years younger to keep up with you,” Justin returned.

  A smile drifted in unbidden as Mandy exited the tub and waited for Justin to join her.

  “Flirt,” she teased as they walked side by side toward the dressing rooms.

  “My ego likes a little stroking,” he confessed. He picked up her towel and draped it around her shoulders.

  The offer to stroke parts of him other than his ego hovered on her lips. Mandy hurriedly tossed out different words. “Meet you on the other side?”

  “Since that’s my only option, sure.”

  She set the shower as cold as she could stand it, excusing the need to cool off on the hot tub and not a reaction to being around Justin while letting her fantasies run rampant.