A Lady's Heart (Takhini Shifters Book 3)

by Vivian Arend

  She looked again, and this time a touch of fear rose as she realized the new sleds were on a path that would lead them straight to where she and Justin stood.

  Communication while in bear form was a lot more basic, but Justin made it plain something was wrong as he turned to her, crowding her in a move that was clearly protective. He pushed her toward the new tracks left by the wolves—ignoring their earlier meanderings, Caden and Cole had taken a beeline path back to the snowmobiles, the route sending them sliding down a steep hill for the last part of the journey.

  Mandy paused at the edge and looked down, caution stilling her feet. At the bottom of the hill, the wolves had shifted, leaping on the sleds, engines roaring as they spun to pursue the intruders without bothering to get dressed.

  That was all she had time to see before Justin caught her from behind, looping his arms around her then launching into the air. Her breath stuck in her throat.

  He twisted in mid-air to land on his back with her paws resting on his shoulders, using him like a giant furry sled. Faster and faster they went, snow flying up in wide waves on either side of them.

  Something was wrong—that was clear—but she wasn’t worried. She should have been, but the trip was far too exhilarating and exciting, and she trusted implicitly that Justin would get them back to safety.

  They hadn’t even slid to a stop at the bottom of the hill when Justin shifted. She followed his lead, changing to human as he spoke.

  “We’re taking my sled. Pull on your things then stay with me. We’ll let Caden and Cole take care of our visitors.”

  They sprinted across the short distance to where her things rested on the ground. Cole must have shoved them off the seat where she’d left them before he’d raced off. Mandy jerked on her clothes as quickly as possible, but she was still the last one ready, swinging a leg over the back of the sled and wrapping her hands around Justin’s waist. The buzz of the wolves’ engines was already fading, the sleds disappearing over a distant rise as they moved in hot pursuit of the intruders.

  “Hold on tight,” Justin ordered a split second before they were off in a cloud of snow.

  Stupid. Stupid bloody idiot.

  It was completely and totally stupid for him to have dropped his guard like that, and Justin mentally kicked his own ass the entire trip back into town.

  Even though the wolves were chasing their mysterious followers into the wilderness, Justin wasn’t going to take any more chances. Instead of returning directly to the shop yard, he took a different route, roaring down back alleys in a twisted path until he reached the underground parking for the safe house. He triggered the master switch on his keychain, and the door opened instantly, allowing him to drive straight in. A moment later he had everything shut down, Mandy hurrying at his side toward the stairs.

  Not until they were back in the apartment with the security system armed did he begin to relax. Their little adventure had not turned out like he’d expected. So much for a relaxing snow day.

  “We’re safe now.” Justin guided her down the hallway to the bathroom. “Strip,” he ordered. “I’ll be right back.

  He raced to the kitchen and filled the kettle, plugging it in and setting it to turn off automatically once it was heated. He hurried back to make sure Mandy had crawled into a steaming-hot shower.

  He rounded the corner to discover her standing there, fingers trembling as she held her wet shirt away from her body.

  She glanced up, dark eyes like deep wells as she met his gaze. “I’m sorry, it appears I must’ve gotten the zipper on my pants stuck. We were in such a hurry, and now I can’t make it budge, and…”

  Her teeth chattered so hard he couldn’t understand the next part of what she said.

  Justin dropped to his knees, jiggling the zipper to try and free it from where the fabric was caught between the metal teeth, but it was no use. “You’ve jammed this beyond repair. Congratulations.”

  “G-g-go me,” Mandy chattered.

  Justin lifted the edge of her shirt, carrying it over her head so she was naked from the waist up. “Give me a second, and I’ll get you free.”

  He caught hold of either side of her zipper. One hard jerk broke it completely, then he pulled the wet fabric away from her, peeling it down to leave her standing naked before him.

  Tempting, tasty skin that he wanted nothing more than to experience all over again.

  He was still on his knees before her, and she took a two-handed grip on the front of his shirt. “Oh, look. It seems I’m naked, and you’re going to be too,” Mandy warned him.

  She didn’t give him time to protest. As if he would have—he wasn’t a stupid bear about everything.

  Mandy jerked her hands apart and his buttons flew. She ripped the fabric down his shoulders and off his arms before the little plastic pieces had finished rattling on the floor.

  They stood at the same moment. Mandy was already working his pants, and it didn’t matter that her hands were cold, they were heaven against his skin.

  But when she wrapped her fingers around his rising erection, Justin swore.

  “Your hands are like ice,” he complained.

  She pulled another rush of pleasure/pain from him as she stroked firmly a couple of times. “I know they’re cold. That’s why I need to warm them on the hottest thing around.” Mandy hummed happily, staring down at her fingers with a sultry smile curling her lips. “I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a two-handed warmer before.”

  Justin was still laughing when he picked her up and brought them together under the shower, the hot water insanely good after the intense cold on the sled. It made his skin tingle everywhere, but it was Mandy’s touch that flashed the hottest as her soapy hands worked up a lather over him.

  “This isn’t right,” he complained. “You don’t need to do all the work.”

  Mandy twisted in front of him, full curves drawing him like a sexual beacon.

  She grabbed another bar of soap and opened it for him, pressing it into his hands. “Here. I don’t want you to feel left out.”

  Justin was in heaven. Soft curves dipped and rose under his touch. He ran his hands over her, the sweet-scented soap making friction disappear, but the heat and erotic sensations remained.

  She kept on touching him as well. And as fast as his heart had been pumping that afternoon, it had nothing on the race in his chest right now. She curled her fingertips around his erection again, stroking for a moment before her hands slid away, over his hipbones and along the muscles of his torso.

  “I think Chicken is a very nice town, but if we need to move again, I propose a tropical island, please.”

  Justin laughed, even as he let his hands continue to play over her curves. “Strange change of topic. Are you tired of the cold?”

  She shook her head. “Oh, it’s plenty warm here, but if we go somewhere tropical, maybe we can find a clothing optional location. I could handle looking at you all day long.”

  So picky, but unless it was a private beach, that meant others would be able to see her too, and he really wasn’t very fond of that idea. “Tropical island. You need to add that to your list.”

  Her eyes lit up. “Oh yes. Speaking of my list…”

  Justin held back a shout as she fell to her knees. He attempted to catch her, but she slipped through his fingers. She hadn’t fallen. It’d been deliberate, and a second later, understanding hit. What she intended to do. Staring up at him as she planted her hands on his thighs and offered him a sweet smile.

  “You don’t need to do that.”

  Mandy offered him a mock pout. “My choice,” she reminded him.

  Well, if she put it that way. Who was he to deny her heart’s desire?

  He was torn between offering a brisk nod or making some smart-ass comment. Something to lighten the mood and keep from making this into something big and momentous.

  He opened his mouth, but all that came out was a gurgled moan.

  Mandy had skipped any kind of foreplay,
going straight to a one-two-punch move. One, grasping him at the base of his cock and tilting him downward before two, opening her mouth and surrounding him.

  He’d been in the shower, so he’d been hot and wet, but this—?

  Not the same. Not remotely the same.

  “Holy fuck—”

  Mandy pulled back, a slight pop accompanying the motion. “Yes? Am I doing it right?”

  “There is no way to do this wrong,” he told her. “Trust me.”

  Mandy grinned. “Okay, let me rephrase that. Is there a way to do this better?”

  He brushed his knuckles over her cheek. “Want to be a star pupil, do you?”

  “Anything worth doing is worth doing right.”

  He grinned. Placing his hand over hers, he adjusted the angle. “Squeeze with this hand if you want, up and down. Your fist will give you a way to stop my cock from going too deep. And here.” He took her other hand and brushed her finger over the most sensitive part. “Remember this spot. If you use your fingers or your tongue on there, trust me, you’ll get the response you’re looking for.”

  “I’ll remember that,” she promised. “Just do me a favour, and make a lot of noise when I do something you like.”

  Which is why Justin found himself feeling all sorts of foolish as he willingly followed instructions.

  She licked delicately, and he hummed.

  She closed her lips around him and sucked, and the hum became a low growl. But when she got her fist going, trying to time each pump with a combination suck and tongue swirl, Justin lost his ever-loving mind and broke out into a full growl.

  He slammed his palms against the tiles opposite him, tilting his hips on every move as he offered encouragement.

  “Right there. Hard, Mandy, right there…”

  It was like having a front-row seat at the most spectacular porn show ever, especially considering he wasn’t just watching, but experiencing a Technicolor and sensory overload, with all of the Disney special effects thrown in. If they made a ride like this at one of the theme parks, the developers would be multibillionaires before the end of the first month.

  She was looking up at him, lashes fluttering to knock the water off that was lightly misting over her, and he shifted his shoulders to guard her more. The position made her clutch at his butt with one hand, working him with the other, and he could have sworn the decorations in the bathroom changed from blues and whites into swirling doodads and purple comets shooting into the sky.

  “Coming,” he warned, but she just made a sound of affirmation and then stilled her hand while she did that tongue/sucking thing again.

  The comets exploded. Rockets took off, and the entire space program and Fourth of July shot through the end of his cock.

  Mandy swallowed hard a couple of times before pulling back, her hand moving over him too gently to help him finish. He covered her fingers with his to jerk out the rest of his response, his seed flying onto her cheek and down her breasts.

  Which set him off all over again.

  Head spinning, the only thing he was fully aware of was they weren’t nearly done. Justin reached for her and prepared to blow her mind.

  Chapter Eight

  Mandy sat back on her heels to take a deep breath and…well, honestly? Gloat.

  Forget that she’d knocked off an item on her list, she’d thoroughly enjoyed his response. And to top it off, it seemed in spite of her best efforts, Justin was nowhere near done.

  Which, hello, lovely side effect of being shifters.

  She didn’t mind at all when he tucked his hands around her and brought her to her feet. He paused for only a second before lifting her higher and draping her over his body. The shower spray struck her skin with teeny dancing needles of fine, warm mist, the prickles contrasting deliciously with the smooth heat of his tongue as he licked and teased and kissed.

  “Can’t stop.”

  The words were growled desperately, and she hurried to reassure him there was no place she’d rather be.

  “I’m good right here,” she promised.

  He seemed pleased with her answer. He nipped at the edge of her breast before following it with a tender kiss. “So beautiful. So damn brave.”

  Mandy let her happiness escape in a long, contented sigh.

  “I’ve been called beautiful before, but honestly, it means so much more when it’s not only about something that’s skin deep.” She let go of his shoulders, trusting him to hold her in place as she pressed her palms to his face and allowed her contentment to shine through. “Thank you for saying I’m brave.”

  “Not just words,” he offered, rubbing their noses together affectionately. “Everything you do screams how brave you are.”

  “It hasn’t always been that way,” she said.

  He held her against him, their frantic, passionate rush transforming into something different. “It’s always been there for people who knew how to see. You’re not just being brave for others anymore. Now you’re being brave for you.”

  Mandy’s heart swelled. If she wasn’t careful she was going to admit she was falling…

  No. She wasn’t ready to admit it. “Again, thank you.”

  She pressed their lips together and kissed him, softly at first then with growing intensity until he was back to making some of those intoxicating noises she’d pulled from him earlier.

  Her thought was that he would slow down and take them back into the bedroom, but that idea quickly vanished as he pressed her shoulders against the wall of the shower, their lips connected, her legs wrapped around his sturdy body.

  His fingers drifted over her belly and between her legs, and she made a noise of her own as he stroked her sex. Over and over, fingers barely slipping in, then out, then over her clit until she was desperate to be filled.

  He adjusted position until the thick head of his cock pressed into her, and they both made noises as he slid home, satisfaction and delight echoing from the walls of the shower. Her higher tone and his deep accompaniment blended together and swirled in the enclosure. She moaned, and their noises of pleasure mixed together into musical tones that echoed back over her skin in an auditory seduction.

  Staccato beats joined the chorus as he withdrew then thrust forward. Over and over, their bodies impacted against each other as the rapid pulse reverberated off the walls.

  “Oh, Justin—”

  Her breathing sped up, fingertips digging into his shoulders as he pulsed his hips against hers, cock driving into her passage and sending her senses reeling. They were both panting. Gasping for air as he rested his forehead on the tiles beside her. His breath hot on her skin.

  Somewhere in her past she’d lived a life full of pain and uncertainty. She’d been captive in a way that her shifter soul should never have had to experience, but here and now, all that vanished. Faded into a misty haze that was no longer a part of her life. Or at least, no longer a part of her future.

  This was her new life. Pleasure was being bestowed upon her until she was ready to explode with it. No retreat—no escape, but she didn’t want a way out.

  She needed.

  With every fiber of her being, she needed—not just the sex, but the caring that was implicit in his every touch.

  As if sensing she’d vanished down a rabbit hole of memories and introspection, Justin slowed. His hands on her hips cradled her carefully. He switched from pounding into her as if welding them together to silent, long slow strokes that nearly drew him from her body before connecting them an inch at a time. Finishing with pure, complete one-ness.

  Over.

  And over.

  Pleasure creeping over her like molasses on a winter’s day.

  Senses tingling.

  Her breath caught in her chest as he lifted his gaze to hers and slipped…in…all…the…way.

  And stopped.

  He pressed their foreheads together. “I have been dreaming about this for fucking ever, excuse the language.”

  Inside a bubble expanded, reach
ing up and twisting her lips. Happiness taking her by storm until, in spite of the edge of urgency pulsing between them, in spite of the need she had to finish this together, in spite of his cock buried in her body—

  Laughter escaped between one breath and the next.

  His eyes widened in the second she was watching him before she caught his face in her hands and pulled their mouths back together. Lips meshing as she tightened her legs, digging her heels into his ass. Squeezing her core around his shaft. Loving the sensation of fullness as he growled into her mouth and shifted position, pressing even deeper.

  A half-dozen strokes followed, and another six after that. Each one deliberate, as if he were stroking a bow over the strings of a Stradivarius. Her body reacted, rising rapidly toward completion. Hovering for one second before teetering over the edge and flashing a bright, white ecstasy over her.

  Their breaths mingled as he swore, capturing her lips a second later to swallow her moan. The fingers caressing her ass gentled as her sex grabbed his shaft in a final desperate pulse.

  Time slipped past as they returned to their senses. The water was still hot as it cascaded over them, but a delicious sense of relaxation and satisfaction had replaced any worry.

  And cold?

  Vanquished seemingly forever.

  Mandy slid her fingers into his hair and tugged lightly to get him to look at her. “So. We had visitors?”

  Guilt and dismay arrived far too quickly, furling a line between his brows. “I’m a shitty bodyguard.”

  She shook her head. “That’s not what my body is currently saying. It’s singing your praises pretty damn hard.”

  A grin escaped before his expression turned serious again. “We had visitors.”

  “But we’re safe? Here, in the apartment?”

  He nodded, although he still looked embarrassed.

  She raised a brow. “Then as far as I’m concerned, you were doing your job, although I certainly hope I wasn’t just a job to you.”

  “Hell, no.” He spat out the words so fast she had to dip her head to hide her smile.