Once Upon A Valentine

by Emma Roman

  “Why the smile?”

  “I was just thinking you’re a fantastic dancer and wondered if I owed Sera thanks for this.”

  He surprised her, because he threw his head back and laughed. “Christopher didn’t tell you?”

  Intrigued, she followed along gracefully with every step he made and shook her head. “I’m afraid not. All your brother ever mentioned about you was how great you were for the pack, how intensely loyal, what a strong Hound you were, and how you seem to be thriving on your latest assignment, and that there’s not anything you wouldn’t do to protect us all.”

  “He’s a good kid. Always has been. Unfortunately, there is a big age gap between us. I was seventeen by the time he was born. He has always thought of me more like an uncle than a brother. But, yes, I had dance lessons.”

  Intrigued even further, she raised her eyebrows. “What kind?”

  “All kinds. My mother wanted me to be graceful. When I was a child, I didn’t corner well, refusing to slow down, so I often crashed right into the wall and whatever was on it.” He made the statement without artifice or pretense. “I was quite literally… a wolf in a china shop.”

  Recalling his blunder on the veranda, she chuckled. “I would say your lessons paid off rather handsomely.”

  “Why thank you, ma’am. I do try.” He dipped her again, and they were both laughing. When he finally pulled her up, she found herself resting against this chest as his motions halted. With his gaze on her lips, she found it difficult to suck in much needed oxygen. “I’m going to kiss you now.”

  “Is that a threat or a promise?” Her earlier reservations fled against the onslaught of her simple joy from playing with him.

  “What turns you on more?” Real challenge inhabited that question, but Lesley-Anne didn’t want to concede to quickly. No matter what her wolf might think, she wouldn’t mind a mate who was more than a match for her. Someone who was a friend, a companion, and for the terms of their long lives, a genuine partner.

  “Hard to say, really. Both have their merits.”

  Hugo nodded slowly then bent his head until his lips hovered above hers and said, “Then let’s call this an exploration…” When his mouth touched hers, everything in her went soft.

  Emotion cascaded through her as he massaged her lips with his kiss. Both delicate and daring, he teased the seam of her lips with his tongue, seeking access, and she opened to him.

  Sparks electrified her nerve endings. What began tentative flamed into a super nova. Clinging to him, she reveled in the taste and texture of his mouth as he claimed hers. Nothing hesitant marked his kiss and, when she thrust her hands into his hair, she stroked the silken length.

  “Lesley-Anne,” he murmured, barely withdrawing from the kiss so his breath teased her mouth. “I want you, for you. Not for what you can do or how talented you are at it. I wanted you before I met you. I wanted you in the ballroom, on the veranda, on the stairs, and here in the library.”

  Her body was one long, torturous, and needy ache. “We can’t have sex here.” It came out on a gasp, and she blinked. Meeting the question flaring in his eyes, she grinned. “I really can’t have sex in the library. The books might see.”

  “So, it’s the location…not the partner?”

  Courage had never seemed so vital and necessary. If she said yes, she knew herself well enough to know she would plunge over the cliff without care or concern for the rocks below. If she didn’t, regret would consume her. “Earlier,” she admitted softly. “I was afraid.”

  His arms tightened around her, twin bands of steel offering shelter and security. Something intensely feminine stroked across her senses at the display/ In his arms, she would be safe. “Of what, sweetheart?”

  “Of losing myself.” The confession, once released, would not be stuffed back into a bottle. “Of falling and to hell with the consequences. Like on the stairs, when I demanded you let me go.”

  “And I let you fall.” He winced.

  Eager to absolve him, she cupped his face in her hands. The stubble on his cheeks scraped her palms and sent another tingle of awareness to join the maelstrom consuming her. “I wanted you to let me go. I needed it. You gave me what I asked for, and I fell.”

  “I should have set you on your feet,” he grumbled, but turned to press a kiss into her palm.

  She smiled. “Then you would have made a choice for me rather than doing as I asked. Being partners means trusting your other half to hear you and to heed your wishes even when you would rather something else altogether. It means commitment to listen, to protect, and to nurture what makes your partner, themselves. I will never ask you to not be who you are, even if that means you must go on the missions Sera gives. I only ask that you remember I’m here.”

  “I guarantee I can’t forget you, and I wouldn’t want to. I can’t promise to be an easy mate. I can be selfish, stubborn, headstrong, and determined. I never give up on a fight, and the only thing that would ever keep me from finding you is death.”

  In their world, death had become all too real. “I don’t want to think about loss anymore.”

  “Okay,” he agreed swiftly. “But, tell me, what scared you so badly you wanted to run away from the possibility of me?” His need raced with the shadows in his eyes, and her heart squeezed.

  “Because I’m scared of falling. I’m scared that I’ll tumble right over into the murk of the bayou without checking to see if there are gators waiting for me.”

  Instead of laughing at her, he seemed to consider her worried confession with all due gravity. “If you tumble, I’m right behind you and I’m exceptional gator hunter. If you fall, I’ll catch you or pick you up, if you prefer. I didn’t come here tonight for more than a party and a good time. But that was BLA.”

  “BLA?” Surprise kicked her.

  “Before Lesley-Anne.”

  If he hadn’t already begun to steal his way into her heart, the admission would have broken through the gates. “Then I guess only one question remains.”

  “Name it.” A growl punched through those two syllables, and her wolf surged upward. Between one blink and the next, she knew her eyes had changed. Her wolf stretched through her to him. He blinked then his wolf gazed at her steadily.

  Yes. He’s ready…and so am I.

  Some relationships needed time—time to be nurtured and shepherded. Others burst into being, seeds exploding with the ferocity of their nature. “Who lives closer and how fast can we get there?”

  “Not a problem.” He lifted her, gathering her and her dress easily, before pivoting and striding toward the doors.

  “My shoes…” she said, belatedly recalling the damaged heels.

  “Don’t worry, Cinderella. I don’t need those to find you. You’re not escaping me at midnight.” He couldn’t have timed his line better, as the bells on the great grandfather clock began to chime.

  They made it all the way to the front door by the twelfth gong. He paused at the top step, and she met his gaze. “Still here.”

  “Yes,” he told her, then kissed her again, long and slow. When he finally let her up for air, she stared at him, almost drunk from the taste.

  “What was that for?”

  “I hadn’t kissed you since yesterday.” He grinned, mirth dancing in every syllable. “I promise you, I will not let a day go by without at least one kiss from you. If I’m away, I’ll make sure to collect every IOU when I return.”

  Laughter ripped through her. Laughter and effervescent joy. “Are we there yet?”

  “Very soon,” he said, then nuzzled a kiss to her lips. “I promise.”

  6

  Being one of the last to arrive to the party had its perks. He had her at his SUV in seconds, then stowed safely in the passenger seat. When he buckled her seatbelt, she’d stroked his cheek and laughed at him. Her amusement elevated his need for her higher, if possible. No, he hadn’t come home to do more than catch up, celebrate and maybe get laid.

  The last seemed so insignifi
cant when compared to the wealth of emotion swirling around the very idea of her. Stealing a kiss to fortify himself for the drive, he closed her door then circled to the driver’s side. As caught up in the reality of her as he was, he didn’t miss a nuance of the night around them. A Hound stepped out of the shadows—Jerome—and Hugo lifted a hand.

  “I’m going to be busy for the next few days.” He didn’t bother to explain why. Jerome had a nose, he’d figure it out.

  “So, I see—good fortune to you and yours. I’ll delay your next trip.”

  Opening the driver’s side door, he glanced in to find Lesley-Anne grinning at him. When he raised his eyebrows in silent question about whether he should accept Jerome’s very generous offer, she murmured, “I trust you.”

  The boon made him feel ten feet tall. With a wink at her, he glanced toward the shadows where Jerome had vanished. “Only if we can afford the delay.”

  “We can,” Jerome’s voice chuckled at him. “Now go claim your mate before you both lose your minds.”

  The senior Hound didn’t have to tell him twice. Somewhere else in the darkness, Jerome’s twin laughed. “That’s three.”

  “We’re lucky number three,” he said with a grin as he got the SUV started, then turned around.

  “Parties like this provide huge opportunities for couples to meet.” The light trail of her nails along his nape settled he and his wolf. They wanted her, badly, but they wanted her where they wouldn’t be interrupted. Where they could take their time and mark her. Where she would be surrounded in his scent and no other male’s.

  In that moment, his reality coalesced. He’d found his mate in the most unexpected place with the most unexpected, and remarkable wolf. “Did you match the two couples?” Settling a hand on her leg, he marveled at his good fortune. If someone had told him on the drive home that he would be rushing from the party with his mate, he would have laughed his ass off then told them to go home and sleep it off.

  Now, he couldn’t imagine leaving Sera’s grand pack plantation home with anyone else. Nor did he want to.

  “I don’t matchmake everyone, and I went out of my way to avoid pairing folks tonight. It’s better when it’s natural.” She toyed with his hair. “It’s better when it bowls you over with the force of passion and leaves you enraptured.”

  “Enraptured. I like that word. I plan to enrapture you a great deal. In fact, I will so enrapture you, that rapture will be all you experience.”

  Her laughter filled the interior of the vehicle and his heart. It took no time and forever to reach his place in the Garden District. Lesley-Anne leaned forward as he navigated the narrow drive to park in the garage tucked in behind the house. “It’s beautiful…”

  “It’s a house.” Currently, the best part of it was that it was all his and private. Inside, he hit the garage door to close then slid out of the driver’s seat. His nostrils flared, and he detected no scents which shouldn’t be present, the need to check so ingrained it had become automatic. Not slowing, he swung around the vehicle to greet her with another kiss as she stepped out. Then he had her in his arms again.

  “I can walk.” Despite her protest, she wrapped her arms around his neck.

  “Frankly, my dear,” he murmured before nipping her earlobe with a light graze of his teeth. “I don’t give a damn.”

  Another round of laughter escaped her, and she feigned a fainting with the back of her hand to her forehead. “Oh, Rhett…”

  “Pfft. Screw Rhett Butler. He was cool till he walked out on her at the end. Any man who can’t handle a strong woman doesn’t deserve her.” He was halfway through the foyer and on the way to the stairs when the weight of her stare slowed him. “What? I wasn’t hatched and my mother loved that movie.”

  “My lips are sealed.” She mimed zipping them closed and throwing away the key.

  “Not for long,” he promised. He’d grown extraordinarily fond of her mouth.

  “Are you planning to give me a tour?” Playful passion was a new one for him, but he could grow quickly addicted.

  “You saw the garage, that’s the foyer, these are the stairs,” he detailed as he took the steps two at a time. Urgency consumed him with the desire to secure her away in his room. “This is my bedroom, where we will be for the foreseeable future.” Inside, he kicked the door closed then fell on the bed with her, capturing her mouth in the same instant.

  Hot, demanding and greedy, she met him tongue stroke for tongue stroke. The suit strangled him, but he settled for devouring her mouth. The zipper of his slacks threatened to leave an imprint on his cock, but even his wolf shut up now that he had her home.

  His home.

  His mate.

  When she eased from the kiss then nuzzled the corner of his mouth, he sighed. “Mine.”

  “Hmm.” She didn’t disagree, but the challenge in the low sound stroked him. Gliding his fingers over the back of her dress, he hunted for the catches or zipper. No way was he destroying that beautiful garment. It suited her so perfectly. “You have on far too many clothes.”

  Yet, she’d already managed to loosen his vest and unbuttoned his shirt. Her teeth grazed over his pec to a nipple, and he grunted at the latch of her lips to his skin. She sucked against the flat disc and a bolt arced through him, amping his hunger until he throbbed with need.

  “I’m not the only one…” But he sat, shifting their positions so he could tug down the front of her gown—thankfully it cupped the globes of her breasts beautifully. Freeing one breast, he marveled at the softness. Her nipples were a deeper brown than her richly colored skin, and they pebbled under his inspection.

  “Hugo—?”

  “A moment please, my darling.” He buried his face between her breasts, filling his lungs with her scent before moving to lave at the nipple. Her sudden inhalation, accompanied by the spice of her arousal, snapped his restraints. Tormenting her nipple only increased his already rampant desire. “I wanted to take time with you,” he panted, but his body was having none of it. “I wanted to play…”

  Her fingers curled in his hair and jerked his head back. The move exposed his throat to her and her head was higher than his. A vulnerable position for any wolf, and if she had been anyone else, he would have responded with violence. But she wasn’t just anyone else.

  She was Lesley-Anne.

  She’s mine.

  “We have the rest of our lives for that. Reach beneath my skirt.” The order left him throbbing, but he obeyed it. Lifting her skirt until his hands could glide over her bare thighs all the way to her—sweet, round and extraordinarily soft, bare ass.

  “You don’t have any panties on.” His tongue might never work right again.

  “No.” She grinned. “I slid them off in the car.”

  When? His surprise must have shown because she laughed.

  “When you were chatting it up with Jerome…they were soaking wet anyway, and I didn’t want anymore barriers than necessary.”

  “I love you,” he admitted, the words slipping free even as he traced a path along her damp labia. Her groan echoed his as he circled her clit. “I’m going to have you in this dress.”

  He emphasized the point by squeezing that bundle of nerves between his thumb and forefinger. Her eyes dilated and glowed pure gold. His night vision detailed her reactions perfectly.

  “Hugo.” She exhaled his name, and the last of his control evaporated.

  “Open my pants, sweetheart.”

  She had to release his hair, but her nimble fingers worked him free then wrapped around the length of his erection. Another hiss of air escaped him as she stroked him.

  “Don’t make me come before I’m inside you.” The order came out a snarl, and she flexed her grip on him. Not painfully, but more than asserting her own demands.

  “Mine,” she reminded him.

  He circled her clit, increasing the pressure. “Mine.”

  Her teeth flashed as she bit her lower lip. So basic in his need, so primitive in his desire, and
so fucking lucky in life. “Yours.”

  The concession was all he needed as he adjusted his grip to her ass then moved her to straddle his lap. The glory of her skirt piled around and between them. Elegant and primal, exactly like Lesley-Anne. She guided him to her entrance, soaking his cock in the sweetness of her damp heat.

  “Hugo?” A thousand questions peppered her voice as she spoke his name.

  “I’m sure,” he promised her. “I’m sure we’ll love, we’ll fight, we’ll dance, and we’ll make up. I’m sure I want you, and I want the time to know you. I have a hundred questions, and I’m sure I’ll have a hundred more. I’ve been running alone for a long time, sweet Lesley-Anne, but I am yours.”

  Then he waited, because it wasn’t only about him. “I ran.”

  “I know.”

  “You chased me.”

  He hadn’t realized it at the time, but… “I couldn’t let you go. I’d say it was because I insulted you, and that was part of it, but I didn’t want you to go before then.”

  “I feel like I ambushed you.” The hesitation, the sweetness of her concern for him deepened his own resolve. He could taste her need on his tongue, feel it in the tension of her body, and mirrored it in his own soul, yet she worried for him.

  “Oh, sweet lady, haven’t you figured it out yet?” His wolf agreed. In this, they needed to make themselves clear. “I stalked you at the party. I hunted you. I want you…If anyone was ambushed, it was quite clearly you.”

  “I see,” but even as she spoke, her relief rushed in to twine with her passion. “So, I am to be your prize.”

  “Only if you agree. Go ahead and run from me again, though, if it makes you happy.”

  “Run from a Hound?” She lifted a skeptical eyebrow then leaned forward so that they were nose to nose before she sank down, taking his length. When he was balls deep inside her, he remembered to breath. “Never,” she whispered against his lips.

  She rose again and he gripped her hips, seizing control. Guiding her, he thrust to meet her downward glide, and they found their rhythm so naturally. Head back, her breasts seemed to rise to meet him with her every motion and he lipped at her nipples with every opportunity even as he guided his thrusts to increase her pleasure.