by Elle Thorne
Chapter Seventeen
Judge, Lani, Lars, Pepper, Lance, Mac, Griz, and Ciara piled into the Suburban. They were heading straight to Bear Canyon Valley.
Except they had to make one little detour.
Mac and Lani insisted they stop at a store and pick up a few necessities.
“Seems little Lars has needs,” Griz said, with a wink.
Judge wondered if he did it just so he could say his great-nephew’s name—his own name.
He wondered if Griz never found anyone because of his brothers and himself. Was that why he had no kids of his own?
Always watching after us?
A pang of sadness traveled through Judge. He understood so much now that he had his own son.
“Let’s get on the road. This is no place for my son or my mate.”
Would she agree to be his mate? He glanced at Lani’s profile, across the Suburban, a sleeping Lars between them. She couldn’t leave him. She couldn’t take Lars away.
Judge had no memories of a father, he was too young when his own was killed.
I’ll be damned if Lars will grow up without a father.
His phone buzzed in his pocket. Taking it out, he couldn’t help the smile that came to his face. He pressed to accept the call.
“Aunt Mae. Hi.”
“Judge, Griz caught me up, said that you were headed to Denver, but I haven’t heard from him in a while now. Is everything okay? Have you found Lani?”
“Yup. We’re heading home. Well, all of us but Cross and Ariadne. They went with Range and his guys to the Denver satellite office of the Compliance Unit.”
Lani shot him a smile and put her fingers over her lips, pointing to the sleeping baby.
“Sorry,” Judge mouthed to her and shifted the phone to the other ear. “Oh, and Aunt Mae, the baby’s name is Larsen.”
Mae squealed into the phone.
Judge pulled the phone away for a second until she settled down.
“Another shifter in the valley.” Mae’s tone was sentimental.
He knew how much it meant to her to repopulate the valley with shifters.
“See you after a bit, Aunt Mae. And yeah, we’re bringing the baby by to see Doc. And a friend.” He glanced at Pepper in the back seat with Ciara and Griz. “She’s injured. Could use some patching up.”
“Oh, my. We have some catching up to do.”
“Yeah, we sure do.”
Judge had kept his gaze on Lani the whole time he talked to his aunt. He had no idea what he’d say if Mae asked him any questions about Lani.
* * *
Lani watched Judge in the window’s reflection. She could see him watching her. She’d seen the tender looks he gave Lars. She got it. She felt the same way. The question was, how did Judge feel about her?
I did abandon him, after all.
Did he mean the words he’d said? Or were those words driven by the situation and adrenaline?
She felt his gaze on her.
“We need to talk.” Judge’s voice was low.
God. He’s changed his mind.
Her fears were not unfounded.
She chewed on her bottom lip, fighting back the tears, and turned his way.
His lips were almost curved into a smile. Did that bode well? Was what he wanted to talk about good?
She fought to push her fears aside.
Maybe he wasn’t conditional, the way her family had been, the way the Intuitive community had been.
With them, if she wasn’t what they wanted her to be, how they wanted her to be, she wasn’t accepted and the love was conditional.
“About what?” she finally asked, curiosity and nerves getting the best of her.
He glanced toward the back surreptitiously, then leaned closer until he was right above Lars.
Lani leaned in.
“Pepper,” he said.
She frowned. God please tell me I wasn’t wrong about Judge. That he wouldn’t criticize her and find fault with Pepper for what she did.
“She risked her life for me,” Lani whispered. “She’s probably lost her eye.”
“I’m sure she has,” Judge said. “I caught a glimpse when Mac took a look at her before we left.” He paused. “That’s why I thought we should talk. I don’t know a lot about your community, but I have a feeling things won’t be easy for her after this.”
“They won’t. She has no family. Her grandparents raised her, and they passed a couple years ago. That’s what made it so easy for Reno to fool her.”
“I’m guessing the Intuitive community won’t take her back.”
“Not after word of this comes out. Which it will—sooner or later.”
“Yeah. What I thought. So I had this idea…”
She leaned in. “What?”
“Build her a cabin next to ours.”
“Ours?”
Did he just say… ours? He did!
Her heart did a happy dance.
I shouldn’t have doubted him.
“I’m not deaf, you two,” Pepper said from the back.
Busted.
Lani’s face got hot as the blush rose. “Sorry.” She put her hand between the seats, reaching for Pepper’s. “We’re just worried about you.”
“You don’t need to be,” Pepper said. “I have plans. While you were asleep, Ciara and I talked.”
“That’s right.” Ciara leaned forward. “Pepper’s going to stay with me.”
Lani looked at Judge, then at Pepper. “You wouldn’t be imposing.”
“True,” Judge agreed. “We’d want you with us.”
“I’ll visit.” Pepper gave Lani’s hand a pat. “But I think it would be good for me to spend time with Ciara. There are things she could teach me about being in exile.”
“Maybe we’ll both visit,” Ciara added. “But for now, you’ll have your hands full with that little shifter of yours. Lars’s instinct to shift is strong. He’ll need lots of training.”
Judge glanced at Griz. “Will you be taking part in his training?”
“I don’t think I’ll be needed as much, now that you, Lance, and Cross…” He paused, turned away briefly. “There’s a lady out there, hopefully waiting for me.”
Epilogue
A week later…
Judge tangled his fingers in Lani’s hair, pulling her head back, studying her expression. She was sending carnal signals, lighting a fire that the bear in Judge couldn’t help but respond to.
These were the most treasured moments. Just as dawn came on, bathing their cabin bedroom in soft orange hues, making her flesh glow in the light.
“I need you.” Lani’s voice was colored with longing.
He could tell from her scent that she wanted him. He caressed her cheek, running the backs of his fingers along her smooth skin, filling his chest with her aroma.
He wanted to spend his days learning her curves, worshiping the body he’d barely had a chance to explore, and reassuring her the past would stay there. He was over her walking out that morning.
He feasted on the curve of her cheeks, the way her lips turned upward when she was thinking pleasant thoughts. Judge wrapped his hands around her waist, pressing against her. He inhaled the scent of vanilla in her hair. It merged with the scent of her desire, spurring him to an ache.
Lani arched her back, pushing her full ass into the manifestation of his desire, coaching him with the promise of the sleekness she offered.
Pressing hard against her ass, his insistent cock swelled. Judge took her by the hips and pulled her closer, grinding his hardness into her body.
“Think Lars will give us a few moments of privacy this morning?” he whispered in her ear.
The baby was sleeping in his cradle across the hallway.
And hopefully will be for a while longer.
“Mmmm. I hope.” She kissed his neck, her breath tickling.
Judge pulled her T-shirt off, marveling at her full curves, ready to take her.
Lani tugged on his briefs, undress
ing him in record time. “Ready?” Excitement glittered in her eyes, gleaming her exhilaration.
He nodded.
Judge ran his thumbs over her luscious hard nipples, taking each one between his thumb and fingers, rolling, pulling, and pinching them.
Lani moaned, arching her breasts forward, her body begging for more.
He took a nipple into his mouth and lavished it with attention from his tongue, flicking it, sucking it in deep, then scraping his teeth over it while his hand tugged and pulled on her other nipple.
“Fuck.” The scent of her sex was too much. There was no way he could resist it. He slipped a finger between the wet folds of her nether lips, caressing her swollen clit, making deliberate, firm circles. Lani’s hips angled upward.
Her nails dug into his shoulders as he picked up the tempo. He shoved two fingers in, sucked in by her moisture.
Lani moaned, spreading her legs more.
He thumbed her clit while his other hand pulled and pinched on her nipple.
She let out a long moan, and her muscles tightened around his fingers, making him move faster and faster.
“Judge.” Half-moan, half-whimper.
That made him want to take her, to make her his forever, bonded and marked by his love with the bite of the couplebond. He wanted her to be sure, and he wasn’t willing to rush her into anything she didn’t tell him she wanted.
Her pants grew louder.
Christ. Her moans weren’t helping his self-control. His cock throbbed to be in her, the pulse beating a primitive cadence in his body.
His thrusting finger plunged into her. He added another digit, stretching her around his fingers, her moisture gliding down his hand.
She threw her head back, her mouth wide in a primitive yell, dug her fingers into his shoulder, as she climaxed fiercely, crying out, arching into it, tightening around his fingers.
“I love you.” Lani’s words were such a low whisper.
Even with his supernatural shifter hearing, he wondered if he heard her correctly.
He kissed her lips tenderly, swallowing her gasps as she climaxed.
* * *
Lani trembled from her orgasm. She tried to control her breathing while her muscles were still clenching Judge’s fingers buried deeply within her.
Did he hear me say I love him? He didn’t say anything.
Doubt—the same doubt that always crept in, threatening to destroy her.
He leaned forward, kissing, his lips remaining on hers.
She looked away from the intensity in his gaze.
Judge put his finger under her chin, tilting her face toward him, then he pulled back. “Look at me.” His tone was low, as low as her words had been.
She raised her gaze to his.
His pupils swirled with his bear’s gold flecks. “I love you, too. Always have. Always will.”
“I want this. Us.” Her voice was husky, enjoying the look that passed over his face. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled his head down, taking his lips captive, her tongue boldly claiming them.
Judge’s hands wound around her, his fingers pressing his erection against her body.
“I need you.” The words burst from her mind and her mouth.
“Fuck.” Judge’s voice was low and hoarse.
Lani lowered her hand, her fingers skimming over his wide chest, the abs that rippled as she traveled across his skin.
She was almost there, almost at her objective, his springy curls touching her fingertips. She bit her lip. Boldly, she took his length in her hands, grasping him tightly, her fingers coursing up the hardness until she reached the thick mushroom head.
Running her thumb over the drop gathered there, she spread it around the head of his cock, then under the rim of it, making slow, leisurely circles. She traced a fingernail gently along the underside.
His sharp intake of breath made another pool flourish between her legs. She lowered herself and put the tip of her tongue on his slit, tasting him, then put her lips around the tip, sealing his head in her mouth, her lips wrapped around the ring of it.
Judge released out a loud hiss. “You’re killing me.”
Lani looked up at him. His face lit with desire, his jaws tightened with lust.
“Lani.” He sucked air in, his chest filling, the muscles expanding. “Now.”
Judge pushed her forward, bending her over, spreading her legs with his knees and a rocking of his hips.
His hardness pressed against her entrance and his hand pressed on her back, pushing her downward, making her ass rear up. He entered her swiftly and mercilessly.
A whoosh of air escaped Lani’s lips at the fullness.
“God, I need you,” he muttered, groaning with every stroke as he plunged in and out. Seizing her hips, he pounded into her, punishing and pleasing at the same time.
“I want to be yours. Forever.” The words came from her, unbidden, surprising, and yet so very truthful.
There was nothing she wanted more than this man. This Enforcer. The father of her son. The mate she’d always wanted.
He stopped thrusting, leaned close to her ear. “Be sure, Lani.”
“Yes!” Lani screeched, pushing back against him, taking him deeper.
The sudden burst of pain from Judge’s bite on her shoulder was swept away by the pleasure of his tongue licking at it, making her his.
Forever.
Behind her, Judge’s body shuddered as he held her close. His heat filled her body, throbbing inside her.
“I love you.” He kissed the spot where he’d bitten her.
A few moments later, she nuzzled his neck, resting her head against that wide chest, the sweat of their joining drying, when a thought occurred to her.
“I like Griz. Can we visit him?”
“Sure as soon as he tells us where he settles.” Judge caressed her shoulders, his fingers skimming over the spot where he’d bonded her. He began to knead her muscles.
“You’re spoiling me.”
“Get used to it. I have a lot of time to make up for.”
Guilt washed over her—she had abandoned him.
He caught the remorse in her eyes. “Hey, now.”
He leaned in, placed his lips on her forehead with a feather light kiss. His breath was a warm cinnamon woodsy scent. She felt his emotions, strong, vital, full of love, and closed her eyes to savor the impressions washing over her Intuitive senses.
“Don’t feel that way. It’s all in the past. We have so much to look forward to.”
As if to punctuate that statement from across the hallway, a baby’s wail of hunger interrupted Judge.
“So demanding,” Lani murmured.
“Nothing wrong with a man who knows what he wants.” Judge leapt from the bed. “I’ll get him.”
Moments later, Judge walked in, a cooing Lars in his arms.
Lani stared at her man—her mate’s—wide chest, broad shoulders, a strikingly handsome face in a wide grin as he looked down at their son.
More than I ever thought I’d have. More than I deserve.
“Someone’s hungry,” Judge beamed, handing her the baby. “I’ll get breakfast. Hope you’ll still be here when I get back.”
“Always.” Lani placed her lips against Lars’s downy head, inhaling his baby scent. “Always.”
“I’m counting on that.” Judge stepped into the hallway.
You can count on it.
Forever.
Stonebound
Born out of wedlock, Cristiano Ricoletti is the son of a millionaire lion shifter and a one-night stand. He was kept a secret until the he learned who his father was and decided to claim his heritage.
Big mistake.
Capriana Valenti—Ana—is Isabel Tiero’s sister. A stunning orange tigress shifter she’s trapped in a situation she can’t escape. Until she learns her prison is nothing compared to Cristiano’s.
She turns to a legend for help. The legend provides her with one irreversible solution.
&n
bsp; Yeah, you know who Cristiano is… Theo’s half-brother!
Part I
Chapter One
Tino—born Cristiano—son of Ella Carrera, Italy’s most famous opera singer, took long strides down the streets of Rome. He was oblivious to the admiring glances of others, this handsome, chiseled-faced man with a strapping chest and muscular arms.
He was a man on a mission, and not the most pleasant of ones. If Tino could have had his way, he’d have stayed sunk into a state of solitude and avoided people.
Not that he minded people. Not at all.
But he was grieving, and grief was something he preferred to handle privately.
He took a deep breath, his chest expanding, the fabric of his shirt straining, then he released the air with a long whoosh.
Might as well get it over with.
Then what?
Then back home. Back to his studio, back to sculpting.
He pulled on the heavy door, stepped inside the plush office building, where dimness and the scent of cinnamon greeted him.
The lady at the front desk, hair pulled back in a severe bun offset by stark red lipstick on a pale face nodded to him, and reached for a button.
Tino knew the button would send a signal and that seconds later he would find himself in the company of one of his mother’s lawyers.
Sure enough, a door opened less than a moment later and an elegantly dressed, black-suited, pinstriped, white-haired man stepped out. A man Tino knew well enough, considering he was a regular attendee at Tino’s mother’s performances.
“Cristiano.” The law firm’s partner approached Tino. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
He indicated the door he’d just come out of. Tino stepped into the office of his mother’s lawyers.
He was here for the reading of the will.
What’s the purpose of that? I’m her only child.
It was a formality he could have done without. He’d have preferred to stay at his mother’s other villa in Florence and worked, or moped. He’d rather not have come to Rome.
