by Vivian Arend
He licked her bottom lip and moaned in approval. “Shaun Stevens. What’s yours, princess?”
Shaun. Nice name. Gem found herself having difficulty speaking as he’d resumed kissing her jaw and the tender spot right under her ear. “Gemmita Ellen…Louise May…oh my, that feels wonderful…Jacobs.”
He paused. Snorted lightly. “That’s a bit of a mouthful, love. You have a shorter handle?”
“Gem. My friends call me—oh!”
A sharp pain struck, smearing into a wave of pleasure. The dangling earlobe where he’d nipped her throbbed in time with the ache between her legs.
“Pretty. Gem. Almost as pretty as you.”
She smiled. Sweet-talking on top of the incredible rush of hormones dancing in her cells? This was going to be one extraordinary evening. A couple wiggles later, she was able to prop herself up on her elbows and stare at him. “Shaun?”
He twirled a fingertip around her right nipple as he rested on his other elbow, gaze fixed on hers. “Ah-huh?”
“Are we going to talk some more?”
Shaun leaned closer, his hand cupping the side of her breast, supporting her nipple skyward. He licked the tip. Once. Again.
“Later.”
He closed his mouth around her and sucked. Electric impulses sparkled through her system, nerves going off standby and into highly sensitized and ready-to-explode mode.
Maybe talking was overrated. She relaxed back onto the pillow, her wolf rumbling its content as she smoothed a hand over Shaun’s broad shoulders. His muscles shifted under her fingers as he played with her breasts, driving her with deliberate slowness to the brink of undeniable need.
All her earlier confusion faded. Making love with Shaun was right. Being with him was not only right, their meeting was the first thing in her life that had the potential to be perfect. Her mate, coming to claim her. She would claim him. Together, they’d be able to do anything.
All the stories of how much happiness there was found in having a partner were going to be true for her, starting this moment. Predestined mates might not be the human way, but her wolf inside basked in the attention, the total correctness of the situation.
Shaun licked her ribs. “I’ve dreamed about you.”
She shivered.
“I never imagined you’d show up today. And now I can’t stop touching you. Wanting you. Needing to bury myself in you.” He dropped his forehead to her belly and she squirmed.
“Keep going,” she begged.
Shaun looked her in the eye. “You’d have to kill me to make me stop.”
That made them even. She’d kill him if he stopped.
His wolf wasn’t far away—the beast was still visible in Shaun’s eyes, in the way he went rigid at moments, as if fighting for control. Gem let a touch of her power escape to soothe him.
For one second the mystical connection worked. He relaxed, eased back into her arms. Then it was as if a totally impenetrable wall rose between them. Shaun’s wolf vanished in that moment, and all that was left was the man who stared at her with extreme hunger in his eyes.
“It’s not the wolves’ turn, love. We’ll let them out to play later. Right now, it’s just you and me.”
He lowered himself between her legs and touched her intimately with his lips. A soft caress to the inside of her leg. Another at the top of her curls.
When he slipped a finger along her slit, she realized something important.
“Shaun, you haven’t kissed me yet. My lips, I mean—oh…”
One thick finger slid into her core as she spoke, and her question ended on a breathless sigh.
“Soon. Trust me.” Shaun stroked in deep, the heel of his palm rubbing the apex of her sex, his finger stretching her. “You’re very tight. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t.” Gem spoke with utter conviction. He was her mate. There was nothing a mate wanted more than to make their partner happy. Even as she wondered how they would be able to juggle their lives, and locations, her momentary concerns faded.
He was touching her. How could she concentrate on anything but enjoying this moment?
The steady thrust of his hand into her core notched the tingling up to overdrive as he made additional contact—his mouth. He tongued the aching nub at the apex of her mound, lapping and licking in unending sweeps until she couldn’t take it anymore. An orgasm ripped through her, shaking her, squeezing around the two fingers he’d carefully worked into her.
Gem pulled her knees farther to the side in expectation of him rising over her. He didn’t shift position, but he kept moving all right—that talented tongue of his. She gasped for air as he stroked gentler now, forcing her to accept his touch until stars floated before her eyes. Moisture pooled around his fingers, her body loosening and wanting more.
“That’s it, love. You’re beautiful. Really and truly. The way you taste—hmm.”
Shaun lapped again, sucking on her clit, and a long, slow pulse broke through. Gem quivered on the bed, wondering if she’d be able to walk when they were done. He hadn’t stopped, but he hadn’t given her what she needed yet.
She reached down and grabbed his hair, tugging harder as urgent desire rose. “Please. Take me, now. I need you inside.”
His laughter rang out, a low rumble of amusement. “I need you too. But my wolf said to go slow.”
Really stupid, bad idea. She tightened her grip and hauled him up to her level. She might be smaller than him, but she was still a wolf, and that made her strong enough to force even his bulk to change position.
“You said to leave our wolves out of this. If I want slow, I’ll tell you.”
There was a pause—only a second—as they stared into each other’s eyes. Then the world exploded as they both moved.
He hadn’t kissed her before. Now he consumed her, feasting at her mouth as if he was starving. She returned as good as he gave, nipping and licking, her tongue tangling with his. The exhilarating flavour of her mate burst onto her taste buds, adding to the richness of her pleasure.
They rolled together, the heat of his body pressed against her, the rigid length of his shaft nudging her thigh. Gem snuck down a hand and wrapped her fingers around him. Wide and solid and warm in all the right ways. She stroked in time with the thrusts of their tongues together, and he groaned into her mouth.
“Gem. Oh yeah, like that. Harder. Fuck—”
A shiver at the naughty word made her tighten her grip, and he threw back his head with a loud shout. She froze, fearful she’d hurt him, until reassured by his continuing enthusiastic thrusts forward.
Shaun broke free, brought her on top, clasping her so hard her muscles protested. She couldn’t complain, not when he rearranged her and began a rocking motion, grinding against her ready sex.
“Now, please, please, please…” Gem tilted her hips, attempting to line them up properly. He refused to let go, maintaining the steady torment, driving her back up to the pinnacle. Each brush of his erection priming her body.
She pressed on his chest as she lifted her torso to vertical, catching his gaze. Her movement caused the tip of his shaft to slip through her folds. They hung together motionless—the place between worlds. Now they were two individuals—one step away from joining their lives forever.
The only sound was the song on the radio. Soulful, yearning.
He smiled up at her as he stroked her jaw with the back of his finger. “My mate.”
My. Mine. The word thrilled her and scared her silly. Predestiny was the norm amongst wolves, but no one had told her how heart-stoppingly fragile facing this moment would make her feel.
One heartbeat passed.
Another.
Gem moved forward, Shaun thrust up, and the two of them connected forcibly. Mating heat danced around them like an exotic pied piper.
Instantly, she froze. The width of his erection stretched her, changed the ache of need into something midway between pleasure and pain. Similar to the nips and the bites he’d given, and
she wasn’t sure if she could survive if tonight got any better.
“Oh, Shaun.” She leaned forward to kiss him. He lifted his head eagerly to allow his mouth to meet hers. The controlling grip on her hips loosened as he stroked her gently, fingertips soothing her. He tasted wild. There was raw energy in his kiss, the hint of a sweet aftertaste that made her smile against his lips.
The measured exploration of his hands continued as he slipped them farther up her torso to cup her breasts. Pulling in a breath of air from his mouth seemed the only way to get any oxygen. His palms were hot against her skin, the tender touch helping her relax. Slow smooth circles, teasing flicks over her nipples. The distraction on her breasts let her almost forget there was an extremely large section of his body currently in residence inside her.
Almost, but not possible.
Any pain she’d experienced was gone, replaced with the urgent desire to use him like a pogo stick. Gem tightened her thighs, lifted herself and moaned at how incredible it felt, the consuming rub that started deep and rose to the sensitive edge of her sex in line with the crown of his shaft.
“Sweet Gem. That’s so good.” Shaun’s head thumped back on the pillow, his one arm thrown over his eyes, the other hand caressing her body. “I’m dying. I’m really and truly dying.”
She rode him another time, the smooth stroke sparking energies inside her that wanted to break free. “You’d better not die. Other than your name, Shaun Stevens, I don’t know anything about you.”
His arm fell away, and the brilliant white of his smile hit her full force as she drove herself down harder. “I’m a wolf, you’re a wolf. We’re mates. That’s all we need to know.”
Mates. Another plunge. Mates. Together. This was really happening.
“She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
Gem froze—sex forgotten. Well, kind of forgotten. It was difficult to completely ignore the fully erect penis in her passage, and that all manner of incredible hormonal things were happening because of that fact. And when Shaun took over and lifted his hips, increasing the pace between them again, Gem was the one to moan her approval in spite of having something to say.
“I heard you…in my head… Oh, Shaun…”
He didn’t acknowledge her, the sheer bliss on his face enough to make her put the discussion aside and come back to what she was doing.
What they were doing.
Shaun smoothed his hands up her thighs, dipping his fingers between her legs to find the sensitive tip of her clitoris. He rubbed, and that was game over. Like pressing an ignition switch, the explosion was immediate and full body. Waves crashed upward, skimming her skin like a flash fire. Gem cried out and savoured the sensation.
Then he rolled her again, rising over her and taking total control. Thrusting into her, forcefully, madly. Each piston of his hips pressed her back to the bed. Gem wrapped her legs around him and canted her pelvis, a little scream escaping as he went deeper on the next motion. The climax that had started earlier went on and on, peaking higher and higher on each breath like consecutive firework bursts, each one more spectacular than the one before.
“Holy hell, Gem.” Shaun slammed in once more and stilled. She felt every jerk intimately. Each hard pulse within her as her sheath squeezed him tight, wringing another cry from his lips.
Shaun lowered himself to lie skin to skin on top of her. The slow weight increase made her smile, a tender moment of complete satisfaction and delight all tangled up in the sated sexual bliss cocooning her body.
She had a mate. Incredible. Not just the sex, although that had been fairly spectacular to start with, but the realization she now had someone else in her life to love and care for. Gem traced her fingers over his back, the heat of having him close so right and proper.
A soft kiss landed on her lips, then he nuzzled her cheek. He dropped his full weight beside her and rolled them just enough that when he snored a moment later, Gem giggled then curled up tight to his side, joining him in sleep.
Chapter Five
Caroline parked in her usual slot, right next to Evan’s shiny red Hummer. She wasn’t scheduled to work today, but this would be one of her only chances to catch the Alpha alone. The morning sunshine seemed to taunt her as she pulled her courage in and forced herself out the door toward the entrance to his suite.
Even knowing Evan Stone wasn’t likely to hurt her, butterflies of fear still insisted on tangoing in her belly. What she was about to propose was extremely unusual—she knew that—but desperate measures were occasionally needed.
She squared her shoulders and knocked.
His footsteps sounded on the hardwood floor, and she pictured his approach with ease. She was the one who’d arranged for the renovations to the suite after he took over from their old Alpha. He was turning the corner, just about there…
“Caroline?” Evan opened the door and she caught an eyeful of rather spectacular masculinity. The jeans covering his lower body were nice, but it was the wolf genes he wore up top that made her libido jolt—his naked chest was oh-so-distracting.
It took a lot of self-control to concentrate enough to offer a smile. “Hey.”
He looked her up and down slowly. Glanced over her shoulder. “Something wrong at the hotel I need to know about?”
She shook her head. “No, nothing. Everything’s fine. I mean, things were fine when I left last night, and I didn’t stop in yet this morning. I’m not on shift until tomorrow, to be honest, but I’m sure everything is going great.”
Evan waited. Caroline bit her lip. She’d been rambling. That wasn’t good. Wolves didn’t like rambling. Straightforward, no nonsense. That had been her plan, but she always turned into a babbling fool when she got nervous.
Nervous. Shit—he could probably smell her anxiety. Damn wolf senses.
He stepped back, gesturing her forward. “You want to come in.”
She was past him before she realized what he’d said. Caroline twirled to spot him sporting an ear-to-ear grin. “You already know why I’m here.”
Evan closed the door behind them and laughed. “Caro, trust me. Of all the surprises thrown my way since becoming Alpha for the Takhini pack, you are the most interesting.”
She followed him into the kitchen where she took a deep appreciative breath of the scent of coffee filling the room. Without thinking, she grabbed the coffeepot and two mugs, and prepped them both drinks. “What makes you say that?”
Evan tilted his head toward her. “Honey, you’re the only human I know who would knock on my door at six a.m., walk in and make herself at home.”
She paused. “Oh. Sorry.”
He gestured for her to carry on. “I don’t mind. Come on, let me know what’s got you in such a tizzy this early.”
She finished her task, passing him his mug. He’d found a T-shirt while she’d been working, and had covered up.
Damn it anyway.
The main living space was decorated with dark cushions scattered on thick log furniture. She’d had a blast putting the place together for him. The extra-wide windows faced the Yukon River, the curve to the left leading to the dry-docked SS Klondike. Only a few remaining pieces of ice clung to the edges of the river, and spring was well on its way.
Caroline turned from the view and grabbed a seat in one of the single chairs. Straight out with it—after all those years around her stepfather, you’d think she had this talking-to-wolves business down pat. “I have a proposition.”
He sprawled on the couch, a contented smile breaking across his face as he took a large gulp of his coffee. “God, that is so good. How do you consistently make a perfect cup? Half the time my coffee tastes like dirt.”
“You pour to the dregs and get all the excess grounds. You need to stop and leave a little in the pot.” She watched his throat as he swallowed. “I want to move in with you.”
Evan jolted upright, choking on his mouthful. She sat patiently, waiting until he calmed down. Except, every time he looked her dir
ection, the coughing began again until she got pissed off. Placing her mug on the table, she stood, fists landing on her hips. “Fine. You don’t have to spell it out. That’s a no.”
Before she’d reached the door he was there, blocking her path, his breathing still shaky. “You want to back this train up a few stations? I’m not saying no. I’m not saying yes. I’m saying what the hell kind of question is that?”
Caroline stared at the wall. “Was that too blunt? Johnny always told me to simply spit it out, that wolves liked the straightforward approach.”
“Johnny. That’s your stepdad, right?”
She nodded.
Evan wrapped an arm around her shoulder and led her back to the living room, sitting next to her. This time he handed over her cup, motioning for her to drink. “Go on. Take a sip. We’re not going anywhere until we get this figured out.”
Caffeine was an utter necessity at this point, to get through the rest of the conversation. Evan reached past her and nabbed his own mug, his thigh pressing tight to hers. There was no way to hide her instant physical response, but she knew from their history he would simply ignore the way she heated up whenever he was near.
He was used to it, and frankly, she planned on making the undeniable attraction work in both their favours. She wasn’t in love with him. Had no ideas of forever and all that kind of thing where Evan was concerned. The fact her secret agenda would be served nicely by getting a taste or five of his wolfish charms was a bonus in the scheme.
Guilt-free offers that helped both sides were always the best way to go.
They sat quietly and drank for a moment before Caroline deemed herself ready to try again. She placed her cup down and laughed when he copied her.
“Sorry, protective measures.” Evan turned to face her. “Now. Seriously. Are you getting kicked out of your apartment and need a place to crash for a while?”
“No. I need to move in to stop the local women from tearing the town apart trying to get your attention.”
His brow rose in the air. “You want to shack up for my sake?”
She nodded.
“But…you’re not a wolf.”
