Shifters in the Snow: Bundle of Joy: Seventeen Paranormal Romances of Winter Wolves, Merry Bears, and Holiday Spirits

by J. K Harper

  His tongue.

  There.

  Fabric crushed under my fingers, large hands held me in place.

  Oh! A moan escaped, chased by his wicked tongue.

  His shoulders held me wide open, no escape.

  Not that I wanted to.

  He swirled deeper, probing incessantly, a greedy growl spilling from his lips and vibrating through me.

  Swirling heat gathered, churning and growing with every lick, every suck. Sweat beaded on my skin, my palms sliding over the bed to rest on his head.

  My hips bucked again, this time not in retreat. To him. Entreating him.

  Hands slid under my buttocks, lifting me up and tilting me higher.

  My head rolled to the side, thrashing aimlessly as I arched into his hands.

  Teeth grazed, a twinge of pain, then pleasure. Rolling through me, hurtling me toward…something.

  Silky hair slid through my fingers. I dug my nails in.

  He narrowed his focus, lashing at a particular spot. The secret spot.

  Not a secret anymore.

  A shuddering rippled through me, my thighs clenching around his head. The heat grew, blistering hot.

  He latched onto the secret nub, sucking and flicking it with his skillful tongue, fingers digging into my buttocks. Making me feel everything. Take everything.

  Air burned in my lungs as I gulped in breath after breath. Too much! Too intense!

  The sharp edge of teeth.

  I shattered, heat curling through me, thighs clamping down, nails digging in. Lips parted, a low, feral groan erupted from my mouth as I shuddered.

  Before I had caught my breath, he was on me, mouth moving over mine like a man starved of oxygen.

  My legs twined around his waist, the neediness already building again. His jeans rubbed against my core, tearing a muffled cry from my lips. Digging my nails into his waistband, I yanked hand.

  “Impatient?” he breathed against my mouth.

  I gave them another yank. “Very.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t want to disappoint you.” Rolling to the side, he yanked the buttons open, shoving the denim off with an impatience that belied his cocky tone.

  Oh…my… I didn’t blink, my eyes watering with the effort to not look away as his cock sprung free, reaching up to his hard abs and swaying as he kicked his jeans free from the bed.

  Big.

  Way, way bigger than I’d imagined.

  And thick. Maybe too much.

  “You’ll give a guy a complex if you carry on like that,” he mused.

  Maybe bear shifters are bigger than wolves?

  His hand drifted down his stomach to curl around the hard shaft.

  My mouth watered as he rolled his hand down, his stomach rippling and hips thrusting as he groaned.

  I wanted my hand there. I wanted to be the one dragging that sound from him. My hand was hovering in mid-air before the thought had barely formed, sliding around his as he worked himself. My thumb grazed the head, already slippery with his arousal, rubbing the wetness around in sweeping circles.

  “Fuck. You’re going to kill me,” he groaned, moving his hand away to give me room.

  It felt different than I’d thought it would. Softer, the skin thin and velvety as it slid over hard steel. Warmer, almost hot. Alive. Throbbing in my hand. Squeezing my fingers together as far as they would go, I mimicked his slow slide, running my hand the length of his shaft.

  His hips bucked, reaching for me, breath shooting out of him.

  I sped up, sliding back and forth, testing his reactions, squeezing a little tighter.

  A strangled moan echoed around the room, his eyes wide and more than a little wild. “Sweetheart, if I don’t get inside you—”

  “Just one more thing.” It fascinated me, the contrasts. Hard and soft. Smooth and slippery. Leaning forward, I swiped my tongue over the thick head, the need to know his taste overpowering every other thought. Salty. Bitter. Intriguing. But more than anything, Jack. My tongue darted out again, but he stayed me with a firm hand.

  “If you touch me again with your mouth I can promise you we won’t be sitting down to Christmas dinner anytime soon.”

  I looked up at him. “But…I want to.”

  Something like pain passed over his handsome face, tension etched into his jaw and neck. “I can’t believe I’m actually about to turn you down…” he muttered. Reaching across, he dragged me up and over his body, until my hips aligned with his.

  His cock pressed against my opening, strain etched in the lines of his body, biceps bulging as he held me poised above him. “Next time you can do anything you want to me.” He nodded to the place where we were nearly joined, squeezing my hips in his large hands. “You’re in charge,” he instructed through gritted teeth.

  Oh. Wedging my knees into the bed, I swayed back and forth, taking him inside millimeter by millimeter.

  “For now,” he gasped out, “you’re in charge for now.”

  His fingers dug into my hips, his chest straining with every breath, but he didn’t move. Didn’t push me to go faster, or take control.

  Thickness filled me, the slow slide of flesh against flesh deliciously torturous. I rocked back.

  He grunted, teeth biting into his bottom lip.

  I pressed down again, taking more of him. Yes. Heat coiled inside of me, rolling out through my legs and up through my chest. My nails trailed across his chest, tracing a bumpy path across every indent, skipping across muscle to find the next valley.

  Another inch. Sweet burning in my thighs, in my core.

  Another.

  My eyelids fluttered, my breath coming out in short puffs.

  All of him.

  A low growl vibrated through his chest, traveling down his stomach and acting like a tuning fork between my thighs. “I’m hanging on by a thread here, sweetheart.”

  A slow smile spread across my face at the power I held over him. Deliberately leaning forward, I watched as his eyes zeroed in on my swaying breasts, a ravenous glint lighting his eyes.

  Lurching up to half-sitting, he latched on to an aching nipple, sucking and swirling the peak with his tongue.

  I slid up his shaft, rocking back down.

  He sucked harder, his hands gently urging my hips on, easing me up and down his straining cock, working up to a punishing rhythm that had my core clenching around him. Flesh slapped against flesh, my ass bouncing with every thrust, every squeeze, my nails digging into his shoulders and clinging on for dear life.

  “More!” I moaned, slamming down onto him.

  Switching to my neglected breast, he tongued the rosy bud, latching on with his teeth and sucking hard as he thrust up inside me.

  Pleasure rocked me, nerves firing and muscles trembling.

  He thrust again, and again, his grunts echoing with my low moans. Skin flushed and slick, he strained, his hips jerking back and forth, his fingers digging in hard enough to leave marks.

  But I didn’t care. I wanted more.

  I wanted to feel him driving inside me, heavy and full and potent. I wanted to let go of control, throw it out of the damn window. I wanted him trembling on the brink.

  Rolling off him, I knelt up, hands on the bed and planted my ass in the air. I was beyond shyness, beyond lingering fear, instinct driving me to urge my mate on.

  With a roar, he was behind me, large hands molding my ass and spreading the cheeks. He slid inside in one smooth thrust, seating himself to the hilt and stretching me wider, filling me fuller, than ever before. Hot skin blanketed my back, his hand coming to rest on my shoulder, fingers curling around the side of my neck.

  I pushed back, arching my spine.

  He retreated, then thrust hard, rocking me forward on the bed.

  I dug my fingers into the mattress, clinging on. Fullness thickened in my stomach, pleasure sparking and swirling with every thrust, every dig of his cock deep inside me.

  His low growl echoed around the room, punctuated by each slap of his pounding hips
hitting my ass, sending shockwaves rippling through me, the swirling heart gathering at my core.

  My core pulsed around him, squeezing him tight, my inner walls rippling and spasming as I drifted higher and higher. My head lolled forward, a low moan escaping. My hips danced under his hand, meeting him thrust for thrust, urging him on, begging him for more.

  Squeezing my eyes tight, I reached. Nearly there. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t suck in a single breath, but I was nearly there.

  Then he was gone.

  No!

  Hands flipped me onto my back.

  He thrust back inside, crouched up above me on his knees, eyes glowing silver and burning straight through me.

  He slowed.

  “No…” This time my denial was a soft shout. My head thrashed from side to side, my hips reaching for him.

  Curling over me, he planted a hand on either side of my head.

  He thrust once more, arms trembling and spine arching. “I choose you, Gina, to be my true mate, the other half of my soul. I will love you, cherish you, and share everything with you. Always.”

  I knew what came next, but I wasn’t scared. Not this time. I tilted my head, offering my throat.

  A sharp sting dug into my collarbone, where the flesh dipped in a soft hollow, then his lips were kissing the hurt away.

  He stiffened, his spine bowing, a shudder running the length of his body. “The soul bond,” he gasped out in a hoarse voice.

  Soul bond. There was a whimsical beauty to the phrase.

  He shifted on his elbows, his cock straining inside of me. “I’m sorry about the bite, if there had been any other way…”

  Cupping his cheek, I pulled him down into me, silencing him with my lips, teasing him with my tongue, telling him with my body that it was okay. More than okay.

  His hips rocked back and forth, his thickness stroking inside of me, shooting me toward something bigger than I’d ever thought possible. Pushing me higher with every thrust.

  “I choose you, Jack, as my true mate. I am so very thankful that I met you, that you decided I was worth the effort. That I wasn’t too broken and damaged. I don’t know what the hell I did to deserve you, but I’m going to make sure I treasure every single moment of this second chance. I love you.” The words weren’t right, they weren’t poetic or pretty, but I meant every single one of them. That had to count, right?

  The thought had barely formed when a surge of heat hit me square in the chest, burrowing beneath my skin and settling there. I gasped, emotions spiraling through me that were not my own; love, affection, worry, respect…they were— “Jack?”

  “Soulmates, remember?”

  “Soulmates,” I echoed, wonder filling me as the love grew, swelling until it was impossible to think of anything else. He loved me. Truly loved me. “Jack?”

  “Yes, sweetheart?”

  I held his gaze for a long moment, as I searched for exactly the right words. “Fuck me. Please.”

  His answer was a low growl. His hips surged forward and slammed into me, sending pleasure rippling out through my arms and legs, making my toes curl and my thighs tremble.

  I sighed.

  A smirk played on his lips. “Again?”

  I reached down and dug my nails into his ass with a mock growl.

  The smirk faded to be replaced with a look that was pure lust. Pulling his hips back, he dragged his thick shaft out to the tip, then thrust back inside, knocking the breath clean out of me. Then again. And again, his movements speeding up, shoulders bunching and stomach flexing. Mouth twisting and teeth gritted hard, he stroked my body, teasing it higher, friction grinding, heat building.

  I arched beneath him, my hips rising off the bed, my hands grappling with the sheets as white heat erupted inside of me, shooting out from my core to engulf my body in a tsunami of pleasure. My muscles spasmed, short firing and clenching.

  A throaty roar deafened me. He slammed into me again, sealing us together, his cock jerking inside me as he spilled his seed, head thrown back, mouth open, tendons bulging.

  Our erratic breaths were the only sound in the room as we stared at each other.

  “When can we do that again?” I huffed out.

  He blinked at me, a smug grin spreading across his face. “Anytime you like, sweetheart. But I’d prefer as soon as possible.” Extracting himself with a wince, he collapsed next to me, pulling me onto his chest with a contented sigh. “Five minutes and we need to be getting downstairs.” He didn’t sound too thrilled.

  Swirling a finger across his chest, I played with the short, black hairs, threading them through my fingers and giving them a tug.

  ‘Hey!”

  “Sorry.”

  He winked at me. “You’ll pay for that.”

  I beamed at him. I couldn’t help the sappy smile on my face, I was so damn happy. “I hope so. Anyway, you still owe me a dare.”

  His hand drifted between us to smooth over my stomach. “Is the baby okay, and what exactly do you have in mind?”

  “Sex doesn’t hurt a baby.” I gave him my best you’d-better-be-scared look. “Hmmm, I’m not sure yet. I’ll let you know.”

  “I can’t wait.” He didn’t look scared one bit. “And I know it doesn’t, I’m a doctor.”

  I could have sworn he puffed out his chest just a fraction. “So, Mr. Big-know-it-all-doctor, why are you asking me.”

  “Because I’m a daddy-to-be, and we worry.”

  Melting inside, I closed my hand over his. “Maybe, after this baby is born, we could try and make one of our own?”

  Silence met my proposal.

  I looked up, searching his face.

  “This baby is enough for me. Lizzie, too. Sure, if we have more, I’ll be happy. Ecstatic, even. But I don’t need to be the biological father to be Lizzie’s, or this baby’s, daddy. We have the perfect family already.”

  If my walls had still been standing, he would have demolished them in seconds with that speech. Acceptance and contentment flowed to me through the bond, sealing his words into my heart.

  Hugging me tight, he continued, “As my brother would say, I’m a lucky son-of-a-bitch.”

  My eyebrows shot up, “Which brother?”

  He grinned. “Ralph. You’ll like him, as long as you ignore the fact that he’s a grumpy old man.”

  “Old?”

  A look of sheepish dismay passed over his face, followed by a decidedly wicked look. “Did anyone happen to mention how old I am?”

  He reminded me of a little boy, caught with his hand in the cookie jar. I gave him my best stern mom look. “No…”

  Leaning forward, he whispered in my ear.

  My voice was a screech, “One hundred and eight?”

  Epilogue

  Jack

  Around five months later…

  Another loud groan echoed around the room, bouncing off the sterile white walls and vibrating in my skull. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep doing this. It was pure torture!

  “Get your ass back here!”

  I turned around real slow, eyeing the woman on the bed. Yup, that was my mate. But it didn’t sound like her. “You asked for water.”

  “Send someone else,” she grunted, her face going white as another scream tore from her.

  Two steps and I was back by her side, her hand threatening to crush bones as she clamped down.

  “Breathe…”

  “If you tell me to…ahhhhh…Jack!” she panted, blowing air out of her mouth in quick bursts.

  I’d delivered hundreds of babies. Hundreds. But what in the hell had made me think I could deliver my own? “Let me take some of the pain—”

  Her head swiveled—reminding me of that old horror flick—what was its name again? With the woman whose head—

  “Jack. Concentrate. You can do that?”

  “Remember, I mentioned it and you said you didn’t—”

  The floodgates opened and I fell to my knees with a bone crunching jolt. Sweet motherfucking he
ll! What kind of pain is this? My nails dug into my thighs, my bear running and hiding like the flea-bitten coward he really was.

  “Ahhhh…much better.”

  Swallowing back the nausea, I dragged myself back to my feet.

  She offered me a weak smile, the shadows under her eyes betraying her exhaustion. “I know I’m going to have to deal with it when we deliver, but—”

  “I’ve got it for now.” Gritting my teeth, I destroyed the best part of a back molar, grinding it against a wave of pain. I counted. Double checked the clock on the wall. “Not long.”

  “Good,” she breathed out, her eyelids fluttering shut.

  My gaze settled on her rounded stomach, the stomach I had rubbed and stroked, whispered secrets and words of love to.

  Not long until we meet you, little guy.

  * * *

  “It’s a girl?”

  Gina giggled, the sound a strange mixture of exhaustion and pure elation. “You sound unsure, Doctor, shall I check?”

  I stared down at the tiny little person nestled in my arms, little hands stretching for the ceiling and lungs bellowing fit to burst. Pink and healthy…and pink. I double checked. Definitely a girl. “She’s a girl!”

  “I’m glad we sorted that out,” was my mate’s reply, dripping with a good dose of sarcasm. “Now, gimme.” She wiggled her fingers in the air, making grabby motions.

  Snatching a blanket from the warmer, I laid it on her chest, then gently handed our daughter over.

  Our daughter!

  Gina glanced at me, hand soothing the baby and holding her close. “You’re as white as a sheet, Jack.”

  “I’m never doing that again,” I declared. The pain! And I wasn’t talking about when I’d taken some of it, that part was fine, but what my mate had gone through…

  “I’ve already forgotten,” she whispered, eyes glowing with love as she stared down at the bundle snuggled in her arms. “Mae.”

  Careful not to jostle them, I perched on the side of the bed, sliding my arm behind her. “You’re sure?” She’d already changed her mind a hundred times over the last few months.