by Tessa Clarke
“Depends on what you plan on doing,” she said.
He traced the curve of her breast with his forefinger and she felt that unmistakable surge in her groin. He leaned in and kissed her long and hard, his tongue searching her mouth and caressing her lips. She felt his hardness against her leg, the acceleration of his breathing.
“Take me to your bed,” she said.
“Are you ready for that?” he asked. “Do you forgive me for taking off, and not telling you about Jackson? Can you trust me? I know I haven’t exactly earned it.”
“I’m ready,” she said. “I forgive you, and I trust you, Leif Peirce.”
Leif pulled her back into him. “You don’t want to talk first?”
They should talk, she knew. But she just wanted to feel him inside her again. To connect deeply with him in that spell-binding, earth-shattering way. To know that he was hers. She reached down and drew her finger along the length of his rock-hard cock, enjoying his sudden inhalation of breath. “Do you want to talk? We have our whole lives to talk.”
He almost growled and he nipped at her earlobe as he spoke. “No. I don’t want to talk. I want to fuck.”
His words made Delany even wetter, and Leif swept her easily into his arms and carried her to the back door of the farmhouse.
Once inside, he continued up the stairs to the bedroom where he placed her gently on the bed, his giant shaft fully erect. Delany gave a small moan of anticipation as Leif began unbuttoning her shirt, and then flicked the clasp on her bra. He bent and licked and sucked each nipple, while his hand snaked down to the fly of her jeans. She thrust her groin up at him, and he obliged her by cupping her mound and letting her buck against his hand for a second. She grasped his shaft and felt the slickness of his arousal as she stroked it.
He unbuttoned her jeans and started to ease them down, his fingers and then lips pausing delightfully over her pussy and clit before he removed her thong. His rigid cock was now completely slippery and Delany bit her lip, her cunt nearly shaking with need. She wanted him so badly. Leif stared at her naked body, his eyes hooded. “Babe, you are so stunning. I won’t share you. I hope you’re okay with that.”
“I want you…now,” she managed to utter. “Only you.”
His lips creased in a smile. He quickly put on a condom and then he pressed his body to hers, the tip of his cock brushing her pussy, which sent a jolt through her entire body. Then he rolled over, pulling her with him so she was on top of him. “I’ve been waiting for this. It seems like forever. Come and ride me. Make me come.”
She slid on to him inch by inch until he filled her completely and she moaned in pleasure. Then she started riding him slowly, marveling at how good his shaft felt inside of her. She was almost coming already. She sat up while his fingers traced the outside of her nipples and started to fuck him more aggressively.
He watched her. “Yeah baby, that’s it. Ride that cock. I want to feel you come.” He lifted his groin to meet hers and thrust even deeper inside of her. Delany threw her head back and ground herself into him, feeling her clit rubbing against his rod as her orgasm built. Then her pussy was clenching, and she cried out as her cunt rhythmically jerked against his cock.
“I think you can do that again,” he whispered while she was still aloft on a wave of bliss. He started tweaking her nipples with one hand, while the other rubbed her clit in lazy circles, as he lifted his hips again and again, driving her over the edge into a second orgasm. Her body felt so good; she might not remember her own name after Leif was finished with her.
“Your turn,” she said when she could speak again. She flipped around so her ass was to his face and started bouncing on his cock, while he slapped her buttock.
His voice was hoarse. “I love watching that ass. That feels so good. So good.” She reached down and started to massage his balls and he jerked at her touch. “You’re going to make me come,” he murmured.
“That’s the idea,” she replied.
He groaned and grabbed her hips, slamming her hard onto his cock and holding her there. “Grab the bed post,” he instructed.
She grabbed it, and he sat up, pushing her onto her knees and rising to his own. Then he slid in and out of her with tantalizing, agonizing slowness, while his hands found her nipples and his lips brushed the back of his neck. “We need to slow that down a bit, my love, so I can fuck you for longer.”
It was like torture. Slow, sinful torture. She couldn’t stand it anymore. “Harder,” she cried.
“Really?” he murmured into her ear. “How badly do you want it harder?” He pulled almost all the way out of her, and her wet pussy ached for him.
“Really badly.”
“Like this?” He grabbed her hip bones and plunged into her, while his fingers slid to her clit. She spread her knees further and pushed back into him, gasping and writhing, on the verge of coming again. Never mind dancing under the stars. She was so euphoric, she was starting to see stars in her mind.
“Yes. Don’t stop, please.”
He slammed into her again, and then picked up speed. It was unbelievable how good he felt inside her. She could tell by the focus in his movements that he was getting close too.
“I love fucking you,” he whispered in her ear.
Then with one more thrust, he grunted and came hard, shoving his cock deep into her pussy, and sending her off on another climax.
When she’d stopped bucking against him, he pushed her long hair aside and dropped his lips to the back of her neck.
He pulled out of her, and even though she was fully satiated, the loss was visceral and she gasped. She turned to face him and he drew her into his arms, placing gentle kisses down the bridge of her nose, his green eyes serious.
“I love you, Doctor Vet.”
“I love you too, Mr. Cowboy Pilot Shifter.”
“Even if I am a lone wolf?”
“I’ll love you enough for two,” she said. This was a risk, and she hoped he understood what he meant. That she could feel the ghost of Jackson with them, and that she would have loved him too.
He snaked his hands into her hair and pulled her lips to him, and it was all okay. At least for that moment.
They spent the rest of the evening alternately making love, and lying in each other’s arms talking. A bag of take-out food appeared mysteriously at the front door. They weren’t sure who their benefactor was, but they were grateful not to have to leave the farmhouse or even get dressed. The dogs, including Buddy, lay on their beds on the porch, fed and watered.
“I have the best farm hands in the world. I’m going to have to give them both a week off,” Leif said as he came back in from checking on the dogs, his ripped body glowing in the setting sun. How had she been so lucky to land this man? Her whole body seemed to pulse with need every time she looked at him.
And yet there were times when she could feel his sorrow regarding the loss of his brother ripple off of him, an etch of sadness in his desire when he looked at her, and times when they were deep in lovemaking that he seemed to be expecting someone else to be there. She thought about what Wyatt said about being a pack animal.
“What are you going to tell Wyatt?” she ventured as the shadows of night descended, and they lay nestled in each other’s arms, damp with sweat.
“Wyatt means well. He’s trying to protect me. He’s the oldest. He can’t help it. James understands. We tried a couple of times with a woman when I was nose-deep in grief. But it wasn’t right. They were together as a pack enjoying her, and I was separate, looking for my brother. Deep down, Wyatt knows that. He just doesn’t trust me to be able to pull out of my spiral on my own.” He gave a wan smile. “But I’m a helicopter pilot. I’m trained in pulling out of death spirals.”
She pressed her lips against the smooth hair on his jaw. “Are you going to take off on me again?” She didn’t want to ask, but it was important.
Leif drew back, and for a second, she was worried that she�
��d pushed too far. But his green eyes when they regarded her were earnest and full of love.
“I might. But I’ll tell you first, and I’ll always come back, and never doubt that I love you and need you like you’re my other half. Can you live with that?”
Delany nodded and ran her hand over his hard chest. The touch of his skin was like magic. Her shifter. Her cowboy pilot shifter.
For this man, she could live with that.
Chapter Twelve: Leif
He watched Delany sleep, her red hair spilling across the pillow just as he’d imagined the first time he saw her. She completed him in a way that no woman ever had. Being with her was almost like having Jackson back again. He closed his eyes against the wave of grief that thinking about his brother always brought, but found that it had lessened somehow.
He tested this, reaching out with his heart into recesses that he seldom allowed himself to venture, lest they fell him completely, and found that he could think about life and the future in a way that he hadn’t been able to just a few weeks ago. Life and the future with Delany.
He brushed a tangle of hair away from her face, and her eyes fluttered open.
“Good morning, my love,” he said.
Her mouth shifted into a smile. “No note?”
“No,” he said. “Never a note again, if I can help it. Unless a cow is giving birth or there’s some other emergency, I’ll always be here to see your sweet face in the morning.”
She gave him a wicked grin and her hand snaked down through the bedclothes to find his cock, already hard. She pulled the covers down, and pushed him against the sheets. Then she climbed on top of him, her gorgeous round breasts grazing his abs, and applied her perfect, plump lips to his shaft.
Leif groaned in pleasure. Her tongue felt amazing and he pressed his cock up further into her mouth as her hand stroked the base of his shaft and balls.
She took him deep into her throat, her tongue dancing delicately along the sensitive tip of his cock as she sucked greedily. He was going to explode. His fingers found her wet slit and he shoved them into her as he thrust his hips against her lips.
She increased the intensity of her movements, and her hair fell over her face. He brushed it aside. He wanted to watch her suck his cock. She paused and opened her mouth so she could lick his shaft from base to tip, a sultry smile on her face. Her pussy was soaked, and he could tell she was trying not to get distracted by her own pleasure. She ran her tongue over the opening in his rod, already slick with pre-come. Then she opened her mouth wide and took him all the way inside of her, her hands aggressively stroking his balls. Leif jerked and groaned, and then he was filling her mouth with come, which she swallowed as she continued to milk his cock with her hand.
Then she wiped her lips with the back of her hand and grinned at him. “For the record, you taste delicious,” she said.
“That is definitely better than a note,” he managed to croak.
They rose and dressed for the first time since the previous afternoon. Leif freed the delighted dogs and retrieved some eggs from the chicken coop. Andy and Ryan, already up and about, shot him wry grins as he headed across the farmyard with his shirt half buttoned. He thanked them for taking over on the ranch while he was gone and promised them each a week off starting the next day.
Wyatt’s truck drove up in a cloud of dust as they finished their eggs, and both Wyatt and James got out of the pickup.
Leif’s stomach clenched. He loved his brothers. But he needed them to understand.
He went out to greet them as the dogs clamored around the two men. Delany trailed behind him and then retreated to sit on the porch stairs.
“You’re back,” Wyatt said.
“Yep. How did you know?”
“I call Delany every night to check on her. She didn’t pick up last night. I figured.”
Leif nodded. It was clear that Wyatt had grown attached to Delany. His mate. He almost growled at his brother.
“You okay?” James said.
“I’m okay,” Leif said. He turned and looked at Delany sitting on the stoop with her halo of fiery hair and his heart felt suddenly full. “In fact, I’m better than okay. I’m pretty good.”
“We love her too,” Wyatt said.
“I know, but she’s mine.” He did growl this time. “You don’t love her that way. You’ll find someone else.”
“You’re meant to be with us,” Wyatt said. “It will be better for you.”
Leif shook his head. “No. I appreciate what you’re trying to do, Wy. But I’m not. I’m meant to be with Jackson. And if I can’t, then being alone, with Delany, is the next best thing.”
James flicked his eyes over Leif’s shoulder at Delany and then grasped Leif’s hand, a broad smile on his face. “Congratulations, bro. She’s amazing, and I know you’ll be very happy together. Just promise me you’ll bring her for dinner every Saturday and we’ll leave you alone. We want you to be part of our lives. We lost a brother too, and we want to know that you’re okay.”
Leif looked over his shoulder as well, choking back the slight catch in his throat that the mention of Jackson always generated. Wig had gone to sit next to Delany and she had her arm around the dog. God, he loved that woman. “I think we can probably handle that,” he said.
“And if she has any friends or sisters, they’re welcome to come along too,” James added with a wink.
“I’ll see what I can do,” Leif replied.
James gave Delany a wave and then turned to head back to the truck. Wyatt still hadn’t moved.
“Wy, let’s go,” James said, his voice firm. “Leif’s okay.”
Wyatt pursed his lips and rocked back in his cowboy boots, regarding Leif for a long moment. Then he nodded and turned to follow James. “See you Saturday,” he said.
Then he got into his black truck, and as quickly as it had come, it disappeared down the drive in a spray of gravel.
Chapter Thirteen: Delany
“You’re sure he’s ready?” Leif asked for the third time as they stood out behind the barn.
Delany smiled and stood on her tiptoes to kiss Leif’s clean-shaven jaw. “I’m sure,” she said. “He’s been flying perfectly fine in the barn for a week now.”
Leif nodded. Aquila moved impatiently from foot to foot in the large dog kennel that sat just outside the barn, his yellow eyes regarding them intently as if to ask if they ever planned to release him.
Morning sun streamed over Raven Ridge. The ravens had already left their roost, heading into town in a black swarm. It was Saturday. The fourth Saturday since Leif had come back and she had moved into the farmhouse forever—the farmhouse where Leif brought her shatteringly to her knees with ecstasy every night. They would head to his brothers’ house for dinner tonight. Delany still had to make a pie. She and Silas were in a competition with regard to who could make the best pastry.
“Okay, well here we go then.” Leif bent, unlatched the cage door, and opened it before returning to Delany and slipping his arm around her waist.
Aquila inched his way out of the kennel and onto the dirt, watching them sharply. Delany could hear the dogs in the farmhouse, baying their displeasure at being locked away. Then, jutting his beak up into the air as if to sniff the wind, Aquila took a couple of skips and spread his wings, launching up into the air in a smooth arc.
They watched him soar up and circle around the barn, as if to say thank you, before beginning to pump his powerful wings and setting off over the fields.
“I’m going to miss you, old buddy,” Leif said.
Delany smiled at him. “I have a feeling we might see Aquila again,” she said.
“I hope so,” he said. “Cause without him we might never have met.”
Delany shivered at the prospect. “We would have met,” she said. “I have no doubt.”
Leif squeezed her hand. “Do you have to get started on that pie right away?” he said. “Or do you have time for a
little flight.”
She raised her eyebrow. “What kind of flight?”
Leif grinned. “Both kinds. The temperature is just right for investigating one of those swimming holes at Emerald Lake. I thought we could go for a little skinny dip.”
Delany felt an answering surge in her groin and she lifted her lips to his. “I absolutely have time for that. We can let Silas win the pastry competition this week.”
Other Books by Tessa Clarke
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***These are all standalone shorts with no cliffhangers***
The Cat Shifters of White Peaks
Book One Freefall: Alissa and Cade’s story – Out now. Get it here.
Book Two Starfall: Jolene and Leif’s story – Out now. Get it here.
Book Three Sweetfall: Zoey and Flynn’s story – Out now. Get it here.
Book Four Nightfall: Astrid and Chance’s story – Out now. Get it here.
White Peaks Books One to Four Boxed Set (including bonus Alissa and Cade short story) – Out now. Get it here.
The Wolf Shifters of Raven Ridge
Book One Lone Wolf: Delany and Leif’s story – Out now.
Book Two: Sasha and Sam’s story – Coming soon.
Book Three: Bryn, Wyatt, Silas, James and Brett’s story – Coming in January.
From the Author
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