Happy Howlidays: Shifters in Love Romance Collection (Shifter in Love Book 1)

by V. Vaughn

  She released her lip and sucked in a breath as she dipped her fingers beneath the band and unfastened the snap. The muscles in his lower abdomen bunched at her touch. Only the sound of their breathing interrupted the soft rasp as she slid the zipper down.

  His cock was already painfully hard, but when she reached into his jeans and cupped him through his boxers, his good intentions disappeared. He wanted to let her take the lead— to give her whatever time she needed—but he’d been without his mate for far too long. His wolf rode him too hard—demanded too much—and he was powerless to resist.

  He tugged the pretty blue shirt that displayed all her gorgeous curves up her back and over her head. She’d had to remove her hand from his shaft to do it, but that was okay. They’d have plenty of time for that later. He needed to feel her—taste her. His hands were at her jeans even before the soft fabric he’d peeled from her body hit the floor. When he pushed the denim from her hips, she wiggled, helping him along. Jenna tried reaching for him again, but he stepped back.

  “I can’t have you touch me right now, love. I’m so fucking hard it hurts.”

  A wicked glint shone in her eyes, and a sultry grin transformed her luscious mouth into that smile that had haunted his wet dreams as a teen. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

  “It’s fucking heaven, but I promised you all night, and I wasn’t kidding.” He needed more than a quick sating of the body, he—and his wolf—needed their mate.

  She licked her lips, making him groan. “You’re wearing too many clothes for that.”

  Her breasts, still hidden behind a sexy-as-hell pink lace bra, rose and fell with her quick breaths. Her nipples poked at the fabric, begging for attention. He wanted to lose himself in her softly rounded belly and full hips—not to mention the prize that was his under the matching panties she wore. “So are you.”

  Rather than close the remaining inches between them, Jenna took a big step back. “I’ll race you,” she said, reaching behind her to unhook her bra, then letting it glide down her arms to drop onto the floor at her feet.

  His cock jerked, and his mouth watered. “Jesus. You’re stunning,” he growled, stalking her as she retreated from him.

  Jenna’s smile grew. When he lifted his hands toward her, she danced out of his reach and laughed before hooking her fingers into the material at her hips and slipping them down her legs and off. “I win,” she said, her voice more breathless than victorious.

  Dereck snorted and prowled closer. “If that’s what you winning feels like, I’ll lose the battle every damned time.”

  His clothes were irrelevant. He needed her. Now. With the speed of his beast, he leapt forward, not giving her the chance to back away, and captured her in his arms. Her eyes widened, and she let out the cutest little giggle, but he took her lips, stealing the sweet sound. Jenna’s body melted into him, pressing all those soft, naked curves against him.

  Picking her up again, he lowered her to the bed, not breaking their kiss. He’d take his time and get his fill of her beautiful body later. The need to touch and taste was too strong.

  Dereck kissed along her jaw, then barely grazed her neck as he explored lower. He couldn’t pause there. It was too dangerous. As quiet as the wolf was, Dereck didn’t, for one second, believe it had retreated. If anything, it was poised and ready to pounce. The proof was in his aching gums where his canines would descend.

  Jenna’s small hands scrabbled at his back, pulling and tugging at his shirt until he drew himself from the heaven of her body, giving her the tiniest bit of space so she could yank it up and over his head.

  Jenna couldn’t get enough. His hands on her body. The hunger blazing in his eyes. If she’d been worried about those extra pounds she’d put on over the last year, Dereck’s look in that moment would have obliterated it. The truth was, she liked her curves. The sharp contrast between her softness and the hardness of his body intensified the throbbing pulse between her legs.

  A soft growl rumbled up his throat as he licked a hot trail between her breasts, meeting her gaze and pausing there. The brown of his eyes had all but disappeared, taking on the amber color that belonged to his wolf. Her heart pounded at the sight. Not in fear, but excitement.

  “Please, Dereck,” she begged. It didn’t matter if he went left, right, or kept moving down, she needed more.

  He didn’t blink, didn’t break eye contact as he kissed her breast, slowly making his way to the hard tip. He flicked his tongue over it once, then drew it between his lips. His body trembled against her, and his mouth stilled, keeping her nipple hostage for a second before he closed his eyes and moaned, then sucked hard.

  Arching her back, Jenna fisted her hands in his hair, tugging him closer. The deep pulls on her nipple throbbed in time with the waves of pleasure between her thighs. Spreading her legs, she wrapped them around his hips, her aching flesh meeting the rough denim still covering him. Keeping one hand fisted in his hair, she reached for the offending material with the other, then groaned when she couldn’t get it to budge.

  “I need you inside me,” she begged. The words, so soft and breathy that she wasn’t sure he’d heard her, came out on an exhale as he swirled his tongue around her nipple. Then he braced himself on one elbow and lifted his pelvis from the cradle of her legs long enough for her to shove down on one side of his pants while he did the same on the other. The jeans didn’t make it past his knees, but she didn’t care.

  When he lowered himself to her again, the heat of his flesh against hers tore a whimper from her lips. He released her nipple with a pop, but she didn’t have time to miss the exquisite torture before he crossed over. “Fucking perfect,” he murmured, his voice rough and gravelly as he seized the other.

  Releasing his hair, she scored the hard planes of his back with her nails as she stroked her way down to his ass. As soon as she had him in her palms, she thrust her hips. Both of their moans filled the room at the hot slide of his cock between her folds.

  With the pleasure zinging through her from that one touch, she knew she wasn’t going to last if she kept going. She tried to break the contact, but Dereck pinned her with his hips, a rough growl rumbling out of him, sending more heated sensation into her where he sucked on her nipple. He pulled back, but only for a second before he rubbed his hard length over her again.

  He sucked harder, skirting the line between pleasure and pain, making her eyes cross until she closed them and lost herself to the sensation. Two sharp points pressed into the soft flesh of her breast, but he didn’t bite.

  “Please, please, please,” she begged, not caring at how desperate it made her sound. Tipping her hips up, she met his thrusts, powerless to do anything else as the need to come overwhelmed every part of her.

  Dereck grunted, and with the next pull of his lips on her nipple, he pressed his teeth deeper into the soft tissue of her breast. The sting only added to the desire already racing through her toward her throbbing clit. His cock scraped against it with every stroke. Her legs shook, and she couldn’t catch her breath.

  “Dereck,” she screamed as the pleasure crested, sending her spiralling into sweet ecstasy as her body exploded into a million pieces before being put back together again. Dereck made a satisfied sound, then finally released her nipple with a sexy growl that had her pussy clenching around nothing.

  She gulped air into her lungs, her body quivering with aftershocks, but he wasn’t done. Dereck nipped at the skin along the bottom of her ribs, making her jump. He licked and bit his way down her belly. Each time his teeth pinched her skin, her breath hitched. Poised at the juncture of her thighs, he looked up at her, his eyes the full-on amber gold of his wolf. In their depths shone his wants and needs, but more than that, his love was there for her to see.

  Before she could examine it or think too much about it, Dereck lowered his lips onto her, licking from the bottom all the way up to her clit, and she was lost. He flicked the tip of his tongue over the throbbing flesh until she was panting, then
started all over again.

  She wound her fingers in his hair, not pulling but holding him there, needing what he was giving more than she needed her next breath. Nothing existed but him and the sensations rushing through her.

  Just when she didn’t think she could take anything more, he circled her entrance with the tip of one finger before sliding in deep. She jerked under the new onslaught, then moaned as he added a second, curling them up, hitting that sweet spot inside that made her see stars.

  “Come for me again,” he demanded as he speared his fingers in and out, fanning her pleasure to uncontrollable heights. With his tongue lashing at her and his growls sending vibrations into her sensitive flesh, she crashed into another orgasm.

  Dereck slowed his movements but didn’t leave her body. His fingers, slick with her juices, slid in and out in a lazy way that eased her back into her own body. Her breathing labored, Jenna opened her eyes, blinking the haze from her vision as she came back to earth.

  When she met his gaze, the satisfied grin on his face had her smiling right along with him.

  “Ready for me, mate?” he asked as he crawled up her body and rested his weight on her.

  She’d had two of the most powerful orgasms of her life, but she wanted him inside her—and not just his fingers. “So ready,” she said as she wrapped her legs around his hips, leaving no room for confusion.

  11

  Dereck’s jaw ached with the need to bite deep for the hundredth time since he’d gotten his mate naked. He’d barely kept his teeth from puncturing the soft skin of her breast as he’d used his cock to make her come. Then again when he’d sent her soaring with his mouth on her pussy. Even now, he wasn’t sure how he’d managed it. It would have been so easy to turn his head and bind her to him with one hard bite to her inner thigh. She wouldn’t have seen it coming. Wouldn’t have been able to stop him. But neither would she have ever forgiven him for it.

  Now he was climbing over her—getting ready to claim her with his body—and it would test him on a whole new level. The scent of her surrounded them, pleasing both him and his wolf. Soon, his essence would be mixed with hers. Any shifter with a nose would know to keep a wide berth for days. And that was only if this time with her was the only one they’d share. Jenna’s skin glistened with the fine sheen of sweat they’d worked up. This, too, pleased his wolf.

  “I need you,” she whispered, her voice husky and dreamy after the orgasms he’d given her. Her fingers pressed into his back hard enough that he felt the rounded edges of each of her fingernails digging into his flesh. With that little bite of pain and the need pounding through him, he was powerless to do anything but give in.

  With a tilt of his pelvis, the head of his cock nudged against her opening. Short of Jenna putting a halt to it, nothing would stop him from taking what she offered. She might not be his—yet—but this was one huge step closer.

  Holding his breath, he slid into her, slow and steady. He was bigger than most, and although he’d done a good job at getting her ready, he wouldn’t chance hurting her. With the first inch squeezed into her tight pussy, he paused, needing a moment to catch his breath and get himself under control. Otherwise, he’d end up shooting off within seconds, and he didn’t want to leave the haven that was her body yet.

  Jenna moaned at his invasion, tipping her head back, and her eyes fluttered shut. “More,” she begged as she dug her heels into his ass and pulled him an inch deeper.

  His whole body trembled—not with fatigue, but with the effort it took to keep from slamming into her and taking her as his wolf demanded.

  When he didn’t move fast enough, her nails dug deeper, and the pressure on his ass increased.

  Sexy. Strong. Perfect. That’s our mate. With a moan that rumbled from the depths of his soul, Dereck plunged deep, burying himself to the hilt. He froze as he bottomed out and her gasp filled the silence, fearing he’d done exactly what he had wanted to avoid. But only bliss showed on her face—not fear, not uncertainty, and definitely not pain.

  When he pulled most of the way out and shoved his way back in, her lips formed an O and her breathy sigh slipped through. “So good,” she murmured, the tiny muscles inside her clenching around him, strangling his cock. The next time he thrust inside, she snapped her hips up, taking him at the same time.

  A growl vibrated in his chest. He tried to contain it, muffle it with a moan, but Jenna’s eyes widened. The wolf demanded more. It wanted forever. It tore at Dereck’s resolve, one desperate lunge closer to the surface at a time until Dereck couldn’t breathe.

  “Don’t stop,” she begged when he tried to pull back and put a bit of distance between them.

  “I don’t want him to take what you aren’t ready to give,” Dereck said, hoping she’d understand.

  Rather than release him or allow any space between them, she reached for him, dragging him closer until they were nose to nose. Her hot breath mingled with his. She shifted her hips, pulling them back, then took him in once more. “He won’t. You won’t let him,” she said before she claimed his lips, stroking her tongue between them.

  Pleasure streaked through him. Her faith in him added to the fire already blazing inside him. He set a smooth rhythm, retreating and diving into her as he loved her in the only way he could, showing her with his body how much she already meant to him. Even that was a poor illustration. She was everything.

  Taking his cues from the soft sounds that grew louder and more insistent with each of his thrusts, sounds that he stole from her lips with his own, he plunged deeper—harder. Her body moved up and down a couple of inches with each push and pull of his hips, rubbing all that soft skin against him.

  The throb in his cock and in his balls intensified. Reaching between them, Dereck found her swollen clit and stroked a finger around it, slowly at first, but then circling closer and faster until she broke the kiss. Her panting breaths feathered against his cheek, then his neck as she buried her face there.

  The scrape of her teeth against him sent white hot pleasure rushing through him. A second later, she bit him. Hard. It would leave a bruise for all to see. Unable to do anything else, he pulled back and pounded into her again and again. His finger at her clit didn’t slow, didn’t falter. He rubbed across it, adding more pressure with each pass.

  “Yes,” she screamed as the hard spasms of her body squeezed and released him, catapulting him over the edge and into his own orgasm.

  Jenna lay there, her legs tangled with Dereck’s as air sawed in and out of her lungs. She’d had orgasms before—mostly on her own, but sometimes with Kevin, too—but not once had she felt like she was flying apart from the soul out.

  In the heat of the moment, she’d thrown caution to the wind and bitten him. She’d be lying if she said she’d been too overwhelmed with passion to know what she’d been doing, but she had. And damn if that hadn’t been a shocker. Even now, she couldn’t bring herself to be upset over it. No, she couldn’t bind him to her in the same way he could her, but she’d known she was pushing his wolf hard with that show of possessive aggression. She had realized the wolf could have wrested control from Dereck in that moment and claimed her. Had it happened, she wasn’t so sure she’d be upset about it.

  “You bit me,” he said, lifting his head to look at her, wonder and a good dose of fear shining in his eyes.

  Jenna took a deep breath and nodded. She glanced down at the reddened skin, feeling a tiny bit guilty for the bruise that was already forming. “I did. Is it sore? Are you mad?” She brought a finger to the mark and stroked the tip gently over the injury.

  His eyebrows rose almost to his hairline. One second, his eyes were round with shock, and the next, his whole body was shaking with his laughter.

  “What?” she asked, a little worried by his reaction. She’d all but dared the wolf to do it. Those were legit questions.

  Dereck kissed her collarbone, then up the side of her neck before taking her lips, making her toes curl. “I’m not mad. Not at all. And it�
��s sore, but it’s an ache I’d gladly keep for the rest of my life if you put it there.”

  “Only me?” she asked, unable to keep the question from spilling past her lips. She wasn’t insecure, but after what had happened with Kevin and Paula, her foundation wasn’t as sturdy as it normally was.

  “Forever. Even if we never take the plunge and mate fully, you are the only one for me. No other woman could touch me. My wolf wouldn’t allow it. I wouldn’t, either.”

  She nibbled on her bottom lip as she stared into his eyes. The honesty she found there stole her breath. He meant it. Every word. Her heart hammered so hard against her ribs that she was sure he’d be able to hear it.

  It was too soon for a true and final mating, but every second she passed in his presence drew her closer.

  12

  Dereck sat at the Blaine kitchen table eating fluffy pancakes and bacon, staring at the woman who had turned his world upside down. Three days of bliss. He’d only left her for a few hours the day before to deal with a pack dispute before coming straight back to his mate. The wolf inside him hadn’t been this settled in—ever. The thing was as madly in love with Jenna as he was. As soon as she was near, it all but rolled over inside him, exposing his belly for a rub.

  “So, mom took all the silverware and tossed it out into the yard. Every fork, every single spoon. All of it gone. Looking back, I don’t blame her for being pissed. She’d worked hard on that meal, and for us to turn it into a food fight was horrible, but at the time, watching the cutlery disappear into the snow only made us laugh harder.”

  Dereck shook his head. “What did your dad think of all that?”

  Jenna snorted. “He was the one who started it with a huge glob of mashed potatoes flung into Kate’s hair.”