by Bianca D'Arc
“Come into me now, Seamus,” she pleaded, not really recognizing her own voice. She was panting with need, brought on by the combination of Seamus and his talented, knowing tongue.
That seemed to be all the encouragement he needed as he positioned himself behind her and thrust home. She moaned his name as he filled her, loving the feel of him inside her…where he belonged. Two hearts beat as one as he began a slow, steady rhythm that soon escalated into something more savage. More primal. More exciting than anything she’d ever experienced before.
They were communicating on two levels. While their human bodies made love, their animal spirits found common ground in the passion they shared. Somehow. It was a tingling of magic she first equated with the residual effects of Seamus’s kisses, but as their ardor escalated, Moira thought she recognized the electric zaps of her shifter soul rubbing against Seamus’s.
She knew, from the lore of her Clan, that such things could, and often did, happen when mates joined body and soul. Particularly mates whose animal halves were not of the same species like the lions and selkies in her Clan…or the koala shifter currently teaching her things about her body and capacity for pleasure she never would have guessed.
Moira screamed as she came, then came again. On the third climax, Seamus mercifully came with her, stretching out the bliss that overtook her limbs, and caused her to nearly collapse in a heap. A happy little satisfied smiling heap. But Seamus was there to catch her. He supported her with his muscular arms, eventually lifting her up and taking her to the bed.
He placed her gently on the soft sheets, climbing in beside her and wrapping his arms around her. She dozed, secure in the knowledge that she had just made love with her mate. Her one true love, whom she would be proud to claim in front of her Clan and the world.
When she woke a short time later, snuggled side by side in the big bed, they talked. The mood was mellow and the words spoken in quiet tones, as if they were the only two awake at this time of night. Perhaps, they were, or perhaps, other lovers, in other places, were enjoying the same blissful interlude of peace between matched souls.
“I was truly afraid I’d lost my beast forever,” Seamus admitted in the dim light of the cabin, where the setting was intimate and honest. “I thought the menagerie had broken him and that he might never heal, but I think you had a lot to do with helping me find him again, Moira.”
“Me? But it was Lyn who gave you the sapling,” she tried to protest, but he stilled her words with a kiss. When he let her up for air long moments later, he was smiling in that way that melted her bones.
“Lyn might’ve triggered something with the plant,” he told her, “but it was you who healed my soul, Moira. You’re my mate. Only you could’ve made me whole again.”
“Mates, eh?” she repeated the word, savoring the feel of it. Something slid into place inside her heart, never to be dislodged. She felt happier than she ever had, all because of Seamus.
“If you’ll have me,” he said, turning to look deep into her eyes. “I love you, Moira.”
“Oh, Seamus. I love you too.” Her admission was whispered, heartfelt and final. She would never say those words to another man. Only Seamus. Her mate. The perfect partner to her soul.
“So, does that mean you’ll be mine?” He seemed in doubt, so she rushed to clarify.
“Yes, Seamus. I acknowledge that you’re my mate too, and that I want to spend the rest of my days with you.” She kissed him joyfully, then pulled back. “I want you to meet my family, though, and they can be somewhat intimidating. We can wait until we’re more settled to do that, if you want.”
The last thing she wanted to do was scare him off by overwhelming him with Kinkaids. While her immediate family were selkies, there were more than a few lions in her lineage, including Samson, the king of lions himself. She knew he could be scary to the uninitiated, but he was also a bit of a pussy cat to those he loved and had sworn to protect. Seamus would learn that…eventually, but she’d give him all the time he needed to come to terms with the Clan he was about to marry into.
“I want you to meet my people too, but it’ll require a rather long airplane ride. Have you ever been to Australia before?” His smile lit her world.
“No, I haven’t, but I’d like to see it. With you.” She kissed him gently then, lingering over the non-verbal communication that said I love you with every stroke of lips and tongue.
A long time later, Seamus picked up the thread of their conversation.
“You know, I wasn’t sure I’d ever want to go back to Oz. If my furry side hadn’t come back, I wouldn’t have even considered it, but he’s at home there, and I have family there and responsibilities, though they’ve made do without me now for some time.”
She had a sudden thought. “Does your family know what happened to you?”
“Yes. That was one of the first things John helped me with, getting in touch with my sister and her mate. She wanted to come, but she’s expecting her first child, and I told her not to travel, that I was fine. She should be having the little one any day now, in fact.” He stroked Moira’s hair with tender affection. “I call her every week. She and the rest of the family know where I am, but that I have a few things to settle here before I can go home. And now that I’ve found you…well, we’re going to have to talk about where we want to settle and how we can make this work logistically. You live in Texas, don’t you?”
She nodded. “I do, but I want to be wherever you are, Seamus. I’m not sure about Australia, but I’ll give it a try, if you want.”
“I’d like to visit and meet my new niece or nephew, but I’m not sure I can retake the place I left. What would you say if we stayed here, in Grizzly Cove, at least for a little while?” He seemed to really want to stay with the bears, and she could be of use here too, at least for the foreseeable future.
“It’s a good place to start,” she agreed. “I’d like to get to know the mer better, and I bet Sam will be happy to have me continue to act as Kinkaid ambassador to Nansee’s pod.”
“And I still have an interest in helping find those who captured me and Eamon and his sister. I feel like I need to stay here until that situation is resolved, at least. And I’d like to help more in the search,” Seamus added. “We can travel to Texas so I can meet your people any time you like.”
“Are you sure?” She looked up at him. “They can be a little intimidating—even to me.”
“Nothing intimidates me as long as you’re by my side. With you, Moira, I feel invincible.”
He kissed her and they didn’t speak again for a long, long time. They had much more pleasurable pursuits in mind.
*
Thanks for reading The Luck of the Shifters (Grizzly Cove #8). If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review.
The next Grizzly Cove story is called Badass Bear.
A complete list of all of my books, separated by series, follows the excerpt. You can also check out my website at BIANCADARC.COM. Or you can sign up for my new release list to be alerted when new books are released.
EXCERPT FROM BADASS BEAR
©2017 Bianca D’Arc. All Rights Reserved.
Beth hated it here. Ever since they’d come to Grizzly Cove, her whole life had been turned upside down. She’d loved being part of the hunting party, but that was all over now. Three of the other girls had mated with bears and the hunting party had just been dissolved.
Besides, the ocean wasn’t safe for hunting right now anyway. Nobody was going out beyond the magical barrier that kept the leviathan and its minions out of the cove. The mer were settling in and making a new home here in the cove and Beth truly felt like a fish out of water. She didn’t like it here. She didn’t like change and she especially didn’t like the bears. They were scary and her friends—or the women she’d thought were her friends—were turning their backs on her to be with their bear shifter mates.
Nansee, the leader of their pod, had just given Beth the news. Her hunting party was n
o more and, in fact, nobody was going out hunting in the sea until the leviathan was dealt with once and for all. If she still wanted to serve, she could do so by patrolling the mouth of the cove, just on this side of the magical ward that kept the evil creature out.
But that was boring. Beth would do it, but it wasn’t like hunting with the others, where she’d been learning new skills—and especially how to protect herself. She’d been the newest member of the team, with the most to learn, but she hadn’t minded. She liked learning about how to use the weapons of their trade. Especially the knives. Those skills would work on land or in the water and it had helped her feel more confident about her personal safety.
The other girls wouldn’t teach her now. Not the mated ones, anyway. Maybe Janice and Marla might still be persuaded to show her a few things while they patrolled the ward, but the others were living on land with their new mates and only swam for fun, not for work.
The simple fact was…she missed them. She felt too vulnerable on land and didn’t want to be here, but the ocean wasn’t safe anymore. Her safe place had been overrun by evil creatures. Kind of like life on land, to her way of thinking.
She heard the crunch of footsteps on the rocky sand and then a shadow fell over her. Adrenaline poured through her system as she palmed one of the knives she was never without nowadays and looked up at the man who had snuck up on her.
“Mind if I join you?”
His voice was deep and melodic. It soothed her raw nerves just the tiniest bit, but she knew to be wary of men on land. The sun was behind him, so all she really got was the impression of massive shoulders on a tall, muscular frame. He must be one of the bears, then. Why couldn’t they just leave her alone?
She couldn’t speak, her heart still in her throat, so she couldn’t tell him to go away. He seemed to take her silence as agreement and lowered himself to the rocky beach a few feet away. He looked relaxed and comfortable, sitting facing the water with his elbows resting on his raised knees. He didn’t look directly at her again, which lowered her heart rate a bit more. Instead, he stared out at the waters of the cove and the ocean beyond.
“I’m sorry if I startled you,” he went on as if they were having a conversation. His voice was gentle, and her taut nerves quieted a bit more.
She was ashamed to admit she’d frozen in place when he startled her. At least she’d armed herself, but if she couldn’t move due to fright, what good would her little knife do? Misery mixed with the fear still coursing through her blood.
“My name is Trevor. I’m new in town, but I’ve known the guys who run this place a while. We served around the same time, though I’m a slightly younger vintage than Big John and the others,” he went on.
Why was he talking to her? She wasn’t responding—that simple feat was still beyond her at the moment, overrun with nerves as she was. So why did he continue speaking?
“I didn’t mean to frighten you,” he said and she cringed. Of course. He was a bear with a sensitive nose. He could probably smell her fear. Great. “I just wanted to see if there was anything I could do to help. I heard you sniffle and a fellow can’t just walk past when a beautiful girl is so upset, that she’s staring out at the ocean, crying.” His voice dipped even lower. “Do you miss being out at sea that much?”
His words made her turn her head to look at him. He really was a handsome man, if you weren’t afraid of big, muscular guys with combat skills and a ferocious animal side.
“I don’t miss the ocean as much as I miss my hunting party,” she admitted, surprising herself by speaking the words. What had come over her? She didn’t want to get chummy with a bear.
“Ah. You’re a huntress. I think I understand. You want to be out there, fighting the leviathan instead of cowering behind the ward.” He was nodding as if he had uncovered some secret of the universe.
“You couldn’t be more wrong,” she told him, wanting to bring him down a peg. “I miss my old life. The girls were teaching me so much and now my hunting party is gone because three of my so-called friends mated your kind.” She must be feeling stronger because that time, even she heard the disdain in her words. Good. Let the bear know he wasn’t welcome. Maybe then he’d go away.
“So it seems everything isn’t as rosy as they paint it here in Grizzly Cove,” he said unexpectedly, making her look at him with suspicion. “I’d been told everyone was happy with the new arrangement.” He nodded toward the water. “The mer in the cove and the bears on the shore. I thought maybe it was all too good to be true.”
She eyed his work clothes and the sawdust that clung to his jeans. “But you’re one of them. You’ve obviously been building things.”
His eyebrows rose and he looked down at his legs, brushing at the clinging bits of wood shavings. “Observant as well as pretty,” he said offhandedly, and somehow, his words made her blush. Silly human skin, showing every little emotion, no matter how out of place. “I’m not really one of them, as you put it. I’m based out of Wyoming at the moment and I’m under contract to the Kinkaid Alpha to act as liaison with the folks here for a bit.”
“Kinkaid? But that Clan is full of lions and selkies,” she blurted, not censoring her thoughts at all. “I thought you were a bear. Are you a lion?” She hated the way her voice trembled with fear as she stared at him. The nerves were coming back in full force. Bears were bad enough, but lions? She didn’t think she could handle meeting a lion shifter.
“No, sweetheart. You were right. I’m a bear, not a cat. I’m just working on behalf of the lion Alpha because my commander thought I’d fit in better with the folks here. We have the beast in common, plus, like I said, I worked with most of the core group in the past.”
“Commander? Are you still in the military?” she asked, despite her desire to end this conversation as quickly as possible.
“No. I’ve gone private. I work for a group that helps other shifters—for a price—when they need specialists.” His explanation seemed harmless enough until she remembered…
“The wraiths?” Her voice rose in pitch as alarm filled her. “You’re one of the wraiths?”
To read more, get your copy of Badass Bear by Bianca D’Arc.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bianca D’Arc has run a laboratory, climbed the corporate ladder in the shark-infested streets of lower Manhattan, studied and taught martial arts, and earned the right to put a whole bunch of letters after her name, but she’s always enjoyed writing more than any of her other pursuits. She grew up and still lives on Long Island, where she keeps busy with an extensive garden, several aquariums full of very demanding fish, and writing her favorite genres of paranormal, fantasy and sci-fi romance.
Bianca loves to hear from readers and can be reached through Twitter (@BiancaDArc), Facebook (BiancaDArcAuthor) or through the various links on her website.
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OTHER BOOKS BY BIANCA D’ARC
Paranormal Romance
Brotherhood of Blood
One & Only
Rare Vintage
Phantom Desires
Sweeter Than Wine
Forever Valentine
Wolf Hills*
Wolf Quest
Tales of the Were
Lords of the Were
Inferno
Tales of the Were ~ The Others
Rocky
Slade
Tales of the Were ~ Redstone Clan
The Purrfect Stranger
Grif
Red
Magnus
Bobcat
Matt
Tales of the Were ~ String of Fate
Cat’s Cradle
King’s Throne
Jacob’s Ladder
Her Warriors
Tales of the Were ~ Grizzly Cove
All About the Bear
Mating Dance
Night Shift
Alpha Bear
Saving Grace
Bearliest Catch
<
br /> The Bear’s Healing Touch
The Luck of the Shifters
Badass Bear
Guardians of the Dark
Half Past Dead
Once Bitten, Twice Dead
A Darker Shade of Dead
The Beast Within
Dead Alert
Gifts of the Ancients: Warrior’s Heart
Epic Fantasy Erotic Romance
Dragon Knights
Maiden Flight*
The Dragon Healer
Border Lair
Master at Arms
The Ice Dragon**
Prince of Spies***
Wings of Change
FireDrake
Dragon Storm
Keeper of the Flame
Hidden Dragons
The Sea Captain’s Daughter Trilogy
Book 1: Sea Dragon
Book 2: Dragon Fire
Book 3: Dragon Mates
Science Fiction Romance
StarLords
Hidden Talent
Talent For Trouble
Shy Talent
Jit’Suku Chronicles ~ Arcana
End of the Line
King of Swords
King of Cups
King of Clubs
King of Stars
Diva
Jit’Suku Chronicles ~ Sons of Amber
Angel in the Badlands
Master of Her Heart
Futuristic Erotic Romance
Resonance Mates
Hara’s Legacy**
Davin’s Quest
Jaci’s Experiment
Grady’s Awakening
Harry’s Sacrifice
