by V. Vaughn
“Still cooking.” She snuggled closer. “Missed you.”
I turned away to give them some privacy, snagging my bedding off the couch and retreating to the hallway. After quickly folding the blankets, I set them on a chair, grabbed my bag, then headed upstairs to wash up.
Fifteen minutes later, I was rubbing my hair dry when the bathroom door flew open and Julie walked in, her nose stuck in an e-reader and hair pulled up into a messy top-knot. Her nostrils flared, then her head shot up as she skidded to a stop.
“Morning,” I said, draping the towel around my neck and leaning back against the sink.
Everything happened at once. Her heel hit a wet patch, her e-reader going flying as her arms grabbed at air. I lurched forward and grabbed her. She, in turn, grabbed the towel around my neck, yanking me forward. Lots of grabbing. Then my foot slipped, sending me into a half-lunge. And then my other towel was yanked apart.
I ended up with Julie hanging between my legs, using my towel like a trapeze artist, a dent in the side of my head from her e-reader, and my dick swinging in the wind. The only thing that could possibly make this even more—
And, yep. She had to go and smile at me. Blood flow diverting, heading south in T-minus thirty seconds. I gritted my teeth, trying to will myself not to pop a boner like a pre-pubescent boy at the sight of a pretty girl.
Willpower? With my mate in my arms, not a chance in hell.
She was still smiling, that little extra tilt at one side of her mouth informing me that she found this situation highly amusing. “Morning. Sorry, I heard Mac and Ester downstairs and didn’t even think…” Her voice trailed off and her eyes widened.
Yeah, I didn’t miss that sneaky look.
And neither did my dick, dammit. Screw it. Act casual. Shifters are used to nudity. No big deal. Making a fuss about nothing.
“You’re naked,” she squeaked, then immediately coughed, clearing her throat. “I mean, you’re…” She snuck another look. “Really, really, really naked.”
And I was still bent over her. Adjusting my stance, I returned us slowly back to vertical. “Yeah, sorry. I had a bit of a towel malfunction.” I hadn’t let go and she hadn’t pulled away. I didn’t want to. She felt so goddamned good in my arms.
“This towel?” She crouched down and I froze.
She froze, fingers twitching against the cotton as she ever so slowly closed her eyes. Then she breathed out.
And my dick jumped.
Right in front of her face.
I grabbed the sides of the sink. “Sweetheart, you might want to stand up?” She had me boxed in.
She swallowed and I groaned. I couldn’t help it. It was an involuntary reaction to the visual in front of me, which was sending my imagination into overdrive. Fuck. Then she blinked and, when she raised her eyes to meet mine, they were liquid silver.
“Julie…” My plea was a hoarse growl as I fought with my wolf. He was demanding that we taste our mate, but I refused to scare her. I was going to woo her slowly, take my time to get to know her. I’d spent last night compiling a list of everything I wanted to know, from her favorite food to the last time she cried. All I really knew about her was her name and that she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever met, but I would be happy to spend the rest of my life discovering every wonderful thing about her. When Fate got involved, there were no mistakes. We would make each other laugh and cry and fight sometimes, but we would fall in love and it would be the best kind. The forever kind.
So, patience.
And she was still at groin level. No, wait … she dragged in a deep breath, nostrils flaring, and her lips parted.
Holy fuck.
The sweet scent of her arousal rolled over me, tugging me under and my wolf surged forward, snapping the reins of my control. I dropped to my knees and slid my hands into her hair. Silent communication passed between us and then we crashed together, my mouth sliding over hers as she grabbed my shoulders, opening to me like we already knew this dance, knew exactly what the other person wanted. Needed. Frantic, we pressed closer, my tongue sliding around hers, chasing her unique taste.
She moaned, pressing even closer still, nails digging into my biceps as she pushed onto my lap, straddling me.
I immediately cupped her ass, trying to get closer still as she rubbed against me, rocking her softness against my hard shaft. I nipped her jaw, kissing down her throat. “Fuck, sweetheart…” I groaned, my hips punching up to meet her.
“I think I might be beginning to understand,” she gasped, eyes still lit with silver.
A tremor rippled through me as I fought the urge to push aside her skirt and thrust into her heat. Nobody had ever warned me how intense the mating urge was. Why the fuck hadn’t we all been warned? “What do you need, Julie?”
Her hips jerked and she slid a hand into my hair, her other hand curving around my jaw. “I need… Oh, God, Tom. I need…” She shuddered, arching into me.
Yanking control back from my wolf, I slid my hand around her hip, pushing past her skirt. Hooking my fingers, I slid past the last barrier of lace and traced a path around her opening. “Is this okay?”
“Yessss,” she hissed, tilting her hips in encouragement as I slid first one, then two inside her. Her head fell forward to rest on my shoulder as I thrust into her. “Hell, yes.” Then I felt her hand slide around my shaft. “Together,” she whispered against my ear, her teeth nipping at the edge.
I thrust up into her tight grip and nearly howled at how good it felt. Her mouth hovered over my ear as I thrust again, her hips rocking back and forth. “How can you taste so good?” she muttered before slanting her lips over mine in a kiss slick and warm, escalating into sharing of air as we drove each other higher, groans muffled by skin and tongues, nails biting into flesh.
She crested first and I forced my eyes open so I could watch her come apart in my arms, searing the image into my brain of our first time together. The first time I got to see her drift on a wave of lust, her cheeks spotted with pink and lips parted. Silver eyes regarded me through a fog as I hurtled into my own finish, snarling as I spilled between us, hips jerking and thighs twitching.
When I finally managed to open my eyes again, she was using my lost towel to clean up and I gently slid my hand back around to cradle her hip. Instinct warned me to be cautious. I wanted nothing more than to gather her in my arms and hold her close, but she wasn’t mine yet. So, I had an easy smile fixed in place when she eventually turned her gaze to meet mine.
Her eyes swerved away, before returning. Tugging on her bottom lip with her teeth, she looked like she was searching for something to say. “I hadn’t planned on that happening.”
“I know. Me either.” And I hoped she could hear the truth in my voice, because I hadn’t.
She nodded, still chewing on her lip, her expression taking on the look of someone having an argument with themselves, then it cleared. “I don’t regret it.” She placed a hand on my chest, smoothing over the faint dusting of hair. “I believe you now, about the fated mates thing. Not gonna lie, it’s still kinda scary.”
“I know. Don’t worry, the whole thing took me by surprise, too.” At her quizzical expression, I added, “Fated mates are a rarity, so we don’t grow up expecting it to happen.”
She smoothed back some loose hair, tucking the icy blonde strands behind her ear. “That makes sense.” She shrugged. “Obviously I don’t know anything about anything, but the way I feel drawn to you…” She trailed off, her fingers curling against my skin. “It’s like I can feel you.” She patted her chest. “Here. It’s like being warmed from the inside out.”
An answering heat swelled inside my chest. “That’s the soulbond. As fated mates, our souls want to join and form a bond between us. It’s not complete yet, but I feel it too.”
“But I don’t know you.” She chuckled, looking me up and down. “And I don’t usually do this, at least not without a couple of dates under my belt.” She gave my low growl a smirk and slapped my c
hest. “What I’m trying to say, before you go all big, bad alpha wolf on me, is that I think I’d like to get to know you. Properly. With clothes on and everything.”
I chuckled, smoothing my hand up her back and rubbing soothing circles. “You’d like to go steady for a while?”
“Slow down there, Casanova. We haven’t even had our first date.” But she was smiling. And when I gave her hip a little tug, she melted into me, her cheek pressing against my shoulder and arms sliding around my back. “Okay, so this doesn’t feel too bad,” she murmured.
The pressure inside my chest finally started to unwind. “Nope, doesn’t feel bad at all.”
6
Julie
Once Mac had been filled in on everything that had happened, which he had been surprisingly calm about, we decided the only thing to do on a snowy, sub-zero day was to snuggle up on the couches, eat junk food, and watch Christmas movies. Ester had immediately curled up against Mac, snuggling against him.
After passing my friends their bowl of popcorn, I made my way back over to mine and Tom’s couch, where he sat sprawled out, wearing black cargo pants that appeared glued to his thighs and a tight black t-shirt stretched across his broad chest. Arm stretched across the back of the couch, he regarded me with an easy smile, as if it would be perfectly normal for me to curl up on the couch next to him. Sinking down into the cushions, I compromised by keeping my feet on the floor, but leaning my shoulder against his. I tapped his pant leg with my foot. “Is black your favorite color?” I whispered, keeping my voice down in deference to the smorgasbord of cheesy holiday cheer that was Ester’s pick for a movie.
“Nope, it’s all that was in my go-bag, though. Work clothes.”
I eyed him in my peripheral vision. He wasn’t even bothering to feign interest in the film, his attention fixed on me. “So, what is then?” It would be something I should know about my possible future mate, I reasoned. An easy question to start off with.
“Yellow, gold, orange, sienna, ochre, amber, vermillion, lilac, mauve, purple, blue.” At my astonished look, he shrugged. “The sky at sunset is my favorite color.”
“That’s…” I sighed, turning my face to his. “That’s a beautiful answer.”
“What’s yours?”
I rolled my eyes. “How am I supposed to follow that?” He jostled me with his arm until I relented, giving him a shove. “Okay, it’s yellow because it’s happy.”
“I didn’t know colors could be happy.”
I kept a straight face. “And now you do. You’ve been educated, buster.”
“Movie?”
“Has to be Philadelphia. Love the soundtrack, too.”
“Secret Springsteen fan?”
“Don’t judge, Phil can sing.” I nudged him. “You?”
He hummed under his breath. “I feel like I should say something like classy like Hitchcock’s The Birds or The Godfather.”
“But…”
“Jaws. I used to hide behind the couch and watch from between my fingers.” He faked a sheepish expression, but the tips of his ears turned pink.
Adorable. “Music?”
“Anything really. Different stuff for different moods, as long as there’s actual singing involved.”
“Yeah, I can’t stand the stuff that’s just noise.”
He winked at me. “Look at us, two old farts together.”
“Hey! Less of the old!”
Which led to a discussion on birthdays, then family—only child for both of us, both sets of parents passed on—and then childhood reminiscing. Turns out, growing up as a human hadn’t been that much different to growing up as part of a pack, especially back when shifters had still been in hiding. The pack meals sounded like a lot of fun, and I could see the appeal in having people around to share the housework.
“So,” I began, “What exactly is an enforcer for a wolf pack?” All I’d picked up on earlier was the word ‘security’ and that was about it.
His hand had drifted to my hair and was sifting through the strands. “Enforcers make up the Alpha’s inner circle. We were selected by Owen, but we hold the position because we’re dominant wolves. Within the pack, we enforce the Alpha’s word and help settle disputes. Packmembers can come to us with their problems. Outside of the pack, we’re the management level for the security business that keeps Heartsridge safe.”
“Dominant, huh?”
His eyes flashed silver and he gave with a wicked grin. “Very, when it’s called for.”
“But if all of the enforcers are dominant wolves,” and, yes, I made quotation marks in the air, because I couldn’t imagine cats worrying about that kind of thing. We were creatures of comfort, with an inclination that ran toward enjoying life rather than growling and posturing, “Does that make Owen super dominant?”
“Someone doesn’t become the Alpha of a pack because he can kick everyone’s ass, though he can, of course.” Tom’s hand moved to the nape of my neck, distracting me as he drew swirly patterns on my skin. “An Alpha requires a certain mindset that few naturally possess. Leadership skills, fairness, and unwavering determination are more important. And, of course, empathy, though it must be tempered by a vein of ruthlessness. The protection of the pack is everything to its Alpha.”
“And Owen has these qualities?” It was a fair question, since if I mated with Tom, Owen would be my Alpha.
“He does. Owen is a good man.” I could hear the approval in the low rumble of his voice as he talked about his friend.
“And he’s okay with us? Me?”
“Over the moon. Heartsridge has been built on equality and freedom. Our lives are our own to live as we please, so long as we follow the basic rules.”
“Stay within the boundaries.”
Another shrug. “And the usual; don’t kill, be nice, wear pants every day but Sunday.”
“And now I’ve got an image stuck in my head of a town full of shifters walking around naked once a week. Thanks.”
He leaned into me, nuzzling my neck. “The only shifter I want you to think about naked is me.”
His stubble scraped across my neck, sending a shiver rippling through me. I could appreciate a man who suggested rather than demanded, especially coming from a self-proclaimed dominant wolf. “Okay, now I’m thinking about you naked.” His nuzzling had gotten me worked up, so I decided to turn the tables a little. Lowering my voice even more, I whispered, “You’re all hot and hard and ready to—” Whatever I’d been about to say next was cut off when his mouth pressed against mine, moving with a searching fervor that had me reaching out and pulling him closer. What he’d probably meant as a quick shut her up kiss had exploded into something a whole lot more.
“Okay, guys. A little too much PDA for my liking.” Ester’s grumble had me freezing, Tom too.
Then I burst out laughing, untangling myself from where I’d somehow managed to nearly straddle my gorgeous man, my hand already up his shirt and my other hand gripping his hair. Holy cow. This mating thing was a trip.
Chuckling himself, Tom tugging me back into his side, his hand settling possessively on my hip. “Sorry. Newly mated couples can be a bit of a nightmare.”
Ester narrowed her eyes at him, then me. “You’re not mated yet. Are you?”
“No,” I assured her.
My friend whistled “So it gets worse?”
Tom grinned and it was a little bit wicked. “Definitely. And I’m talking about mates who chose their partners. I haven’t been around a newly fated mate pair before.”
Mac looked like he couldn’t decide whether he wanted to melt into the floor or ask Tom for some pointers. Meanwhile, Ester’s expression had taken on a devious air. “You’re going to want to stock up on panties then before you visit your new town.”
Tom rubbed the back of his neck. “All of the major online stores deliver to Heartsridge,” he mumbled.
Ester nodded, crossing her arms over her bump. “Good thing too. What with claws and super strength and overinflated…”
she glanced at Tom’s crotch, “…egos getting involved.”
With that matter sorted, which inspired me to have a good, long think about what the heck was going on with my life, by unanimous decision we turned our attention back to the movie.
The next day did not involve a repeat of the shower incident. It did involve a coffee date, followed by a lazy walk around the park. Tom continued to sleep on the couch, which meant I spent way too many hours lying awake, missing a man that I’d not even slept with yet.
Weird didn’t even begin to describe my life, I’d decided.
The pattern continued for the next week. Mutual avoidance of getting hot and heavy. Snuggles on the couch. Various dates around town. Nights in with Ester and Mac, who’d completed another set of shifts without his wife giving birth.
We were now presently waiting in the hospital corridor, making faces at each other while we tried to suck back some of the cafeteria coffee.
Tom winced, eyeing his cup like it contained arsenic. “And I thought Grant’s coffee was bad.”
Ester and Mac were on the other side of the door, getting an update on their baby’s progress. We were here as moral support and we were going Christmas shopping and then for lunch with them after, so Ester and I could blow our budgets, then coo at scan pics and the guys could pretend to be interested. That and the fact that I was becoming increasingly aware that time was running out. As soon as she popped little Rain Dearing out, I would be cashing in my one way ticket to a town I’d never set foot in before.
And I still hadn’t made my mind up about Tom. I’d spent so much time lately thinking about everything, that my brain had decided to shut down. I just couldn’t seem to reconcile my shifter side with my human side. The shifter part of me recognized Tom as my mate, wanted him, craved him, was maybe even starting to love him. My human upbringing screamed at me that I’d only known the guy for a week.
