by Moira Rogers
Jarek’s arm tightened around her shoulder. “Yes, Mother.”
Zahra kept her nervous smile in place until Chandis disappeared into the house again. Then she reached for her hair, smoothing it anxiously. “I’ve been traveling for hours. I didn’t even think —”
“Shh.” He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “You’re in for it now.”
She hadn’t given a thought to meeting Jarek’s parents, hadn’t even brought a gift. She knelt and retrieved the fallen tin. “I hope they like cookies. And me.”
“They’ll love you,” he assured her quietly before taking the tin from her hands. “But not a one of them has been more than fifty miles from this farm in their lives, and they certainly haven’t been meeting members of the royal family. You’re not going to get a second’s peace as long as you’re here.”
“I’m used to it.” Though, admittedly, she’d never had future members of her family fussing over her.
Jarek’s chuckle was low and naughty. “Well, I’m not. I wanted to do a lot more than kiss you.”
She blushed, mostly because she’d thought of little else over the last months. “We can’t hide in the barn like a couple of teenagers.”
“How would you like to go for a run tonight?”
The image rose of them entangled in an embrace, out in a clearing with the moon and stars bathing their skin in silver light. Zahra cleared her throat as her arousal spiked again. “I would like that.”
A truck engine rumbled in the distance, and Jarek tilted his head and then groaned. “Rein it in,” he muttered, though it sounded as if he was talking to himself. He straightened and turned them both around to face the long road that led to the farm. At the far end, an ancient truck rattled toward them, the kind that was so out of date not even humans bought them anymore, and no one without mechanical expertise could keep them running.
“That,” Jarek murmured, “is our inevitable doom. My sister, my brother-in-law, a surly fourteen-year-old nephew who will probably fall in love with you, and twin girls who will be trying to play dress up with you within the hour. Are you sure you wouldn’t like to go find a nice, safe orphan to love?”
She could make it through an evening with his family, even if everything he said was true. It would be worth it. “Too late. I already love you.”
———
In the end it was his brother-in-law who saved them.
After two hours with Jarek’s nieces climbing all over her and his mother hovering, Zahra was starting to look a little frayed around the edges. She held her composure with respectable determination, but Jarek had to wonder if she was reconsidering her declaration of love after all.
His sister had taken a strong, steady man as a mate, one who understood the earth and the seasons in a way some of their people had forgotten as they rushed to embrace human technology. When one of the twins suggested Zahra could have a royal slumber party in their room, Rothan gathered up his wife, children and mother-in-law and herded them out the door for a spontaneous visit to a neighboring farm. His parting look said more clearly than words that Jarek had best get them both safely out of sight before the family returned.
Jarek listened to the truck door slam and reached out to smooth a lock of Zahra’s hair back into place. “You look a little wide-eyed.”
“I’m a little dizzy,” she admitted with a laugh. “Your family is very… boisterous.”
“A diplomatic word.” He rose and held out a hand to her. “Come on. If we don’t escape now, we might not get a chance to.”
“Yes.” She took his hand and came gracefully to her feet, then kept rising on her toes until her mouth touched his. “I had a lovely time. But I need you.”
He nipped her lower lip and felt possessive heat rise up inside him. Here on the farm there were no reminders of war, no reminders of anything. He’d been half afraid that the feel of her would bring back the terror of his trauma, but there was nothing but warm need and the urge to claim.
So he lifted his hands to her shoulders and turned her to face the door. “There’s an open stall in the barn. A place to leave your clothes when we change. And I know the perfect place to run…”
Zahra took off through the back door like a shot. She ran across the back yard, laughing, her legs covering the distance to the barn in long strides. He could have overtaken her, could have caught her and tumbled her to the ground, but his wolf was already far too interested. Catching her now could mean giving his family an eyeful when they returned.
So he checked his pace and stayed just behind her until they reached the barn. Then he dragged her through it to the very back, into the tiny room stacked with blankets and spare clothing.
She was already unbuttoning her shirt, the dark silk falling away to reveal skimpy lace the same color as her skin. “I agonized over what to wear under my clothes,” she whispered as she kicked off her shoes.
“Good choice.” His voice sounded low and rough, but he couldn’t help it. He dragged his shirt over his head and tried to tear his gaze from the curve of her breasts, barely encased in fabric. “Damn. Really good choice.”
Zahra’s gaze was soft and hot as she reached for her pants. “That’s what I wanted to see. That look.”
He couldn’t get his fingers to work. “The look that means I’m about to fulfill that fantasy of yours and fuck you against a wall?”
She almost stumbled. “Yes.” Her hands flew as she shuddered out of her underwear and reached for him. “Yes.”
Jarek caught her hair in his hand, fisted his fingers in the silky, tangled mass and dragged her head back. “We’re not in the Temple anymore,” he whispered, no longer caring that need made his voice shake. “Did you like the way I took you, or were you just submitting to help me?”
“I loved every second of it.” She clutched his shoulders, her nails biting into his skin. “I love you.”
The words thrummed inside him. His beast howled. He crowded her back against the wall with two steps and coaxed her arms up until her hands brushed the wooden pegs positioned for hanging blankets. “Hold on.”
She wrapped her hands around two of the pegs, and her nipples tightened as she shivered. Jarek chuckled and dragged his fingers back down her arms as slowly as he could manage.
He cupped her breasts first, teased his thumbs over her nipples and watched her rock her head against the wall and arch her back. “This is what I dreamt about,” she whispered. “You told me you had dreams too.”
The old fantasies were hazy now, replaced with memories of the way she looked, wracked by orgasm. He leaned down and brushed his lips over hers as he pinched her nipples lightly. “You want to hear about my dreams?”
Her sigh feathered over his lips. “Yes. Tell me.”
He dropped one hand, let it skim over the swell of her hip before sliding it between her legs. “Open for me, darling.”
She bit her lip and obeyed with a low moan. “You don’t want to tell me?”
“In good time.” She was wet for him, and she arched and shuddered when he slicked his fingers against her. “Though this is a good dream. Getting to watch your face while I touch you.”
Zahra began to pant, and her voice was husky when she spoke again. “This isn’t a dream.”
“I know.” He shifted his lips to her ear. “Dreams are never this good.”
“No,” she whispered. She rolled her hips against his hand and moaned again. “No, they’re not.”
He found her clit and teased at it, not ready to give her the release she wanted. Not yet. “In my dreams, you beg me to take you.”
Her laugh was soft and deep. “I’m always begging you for something.”
It was true, so he bit her ear and thrust two fingers into her. “In my dreams I beg you to be mine forever.”
Her body went rigid, and her head hit the wall with a thud. “Forever. Yes.”
All his thoughts of a slow seduction fled. Forever would give him plenty of time to tease, to taunt and explore a
nd take in all the ways he’d imagined. Now he needed. Her body, her cries, her pleasure.
He jerked his pants open and took a step back. “You sure you want it like this? Hard, fast. Against the damn wall?”
Zahra looked at him, her pale eyes blazing. “Let me have this. Please.”
Her legs were smooth under his hands as he hefted her up. “Mine.”
“I always have been.” She gripped the wooden pegs even tighter, lifting her body against his. “Always yours, Jarek.”
The words short-circuited something in his brain. His beast rose up, hungry and intent, and it took all the self-control he possessed to press into her slowly.
Still, she arched off the wall to meet his slow entry, an impatient curse falling from her lips. “Now. Please, now —”
A groan ripped free of him and he buried himself in the hot depths of her body. She cried out and bucked into his movement, grinding closer.
She was too perfect. Too tight, too supple under his hands as he tightened his grip on her thighs. Fucking her hard and dirty was less than she deserved —
But she wanted it. There was no room for doubt, not when she dropped her face to his neck, bit him and whispered, “Harder.”
He groaned in protest even as his hips obeyed, slamming into her. “Don’t want to hurt you, damn it.”
“Not hurting.” She gasped and growled, her breath hot on his skin. “You feel good, so good.”
It was enough. Enough to let go, and he did with another desperate groan. He slammed his open hand against the wall next to her head and kissed her as he began to move, quick rough thrusts that ground her into the wall.
Zahra’s cries came faster, louder. She gripped his shoulders, her nails piercing his skin as she shuddered against him. “Yes, Jarek — darling —”
The man wanted to slow down. The beast wanted to howl. She felt like a gift from Luna, hot and close against him, around him. There was magic in the royal line, power that he felt inside him, smoothing over the rough, ragged edges pain had left in its wake.
She gave him everything, and in the end he only had one thing to offer in return. The words came out on a rough, panting moan, but they came from his heart. “Love you.”
“Love —” The word cut off in a scream as she squeezed around his cock. She threw back her head, eyes clenched shut, and choked off another scream by digging her teeth into her full lower lip.
He wanted to watch her come. Watch her face, listen to her whimpers, know that he’d given her the pleasure that bound her to him. Mine.
The thought pushed him past reason. Pleasure tightened like a vise, and he sank into her one final time and came. Zahra pulled him closer, her mouth on his ear, her hands in his hair, as release rode them both.
They hit the floor, his knees slamming into the rough wood and her body still wrapped around his. Jarek clutched her to his chest and panted against her shoulder. “Zahra. Fuck. Are you all right?”
She made a small noise and then another, and it took him a moment to realize she was laughing. “I love you, Jarek. So much.”
Relief welled inside him as he kissed the side of her neck. “Me too, sweetheart.”
After a moment, she raised her head and looked down at him, happiness shining in her eyes. “Where will we live? Here?”
The fact that she’d offer was too overwhelming to think about. He shook his head. “This isn’t —”
The faint roar of an engine cut him off. Jarek groaned and rose, bringing her with him. “I should have known Rothan couldn’t keep them away for long. If we don’t run now, we’ll be trapped until morning.”
“Up to you,” she whispered. “Stay or go?”
He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this much peace. A smile tugged at his lips, and he leaned down to kiss her, brief but hard. “We’re running like hell, because the plans I have for you, my beautiful healer, would be severely hampered by the presence of my family.”
“Then I hope, my beautiful healer, that you can keep up with me.” She shoved at his chest and grinned when he stepped back.
Magic swirled and crashed between them, and it took only moments for her to transform into a sleek white wolf. The same pale green eyes stared up at him, and she lunged playfully and yipped.
It took him longer to change, maybe because he was still a little frightened. The beast inside had taken over to protect his mind, but the lack of control had terrified his rational side. Giving up that control again…
But he didn’t have to. The change rose up, uncomfortable as always, but this time wolf and man shared his body. When the magic faded he stood on four paws, whole in a way he hadn’t been in months. Maybe even years, because the woman he’d always yearned for was finally his.
Now, she leapt past him and out the door, the way she had earlier in the house. There was a freedom to her movements, a sheer joy that allowed him no doubts. She wanted to be here with him.
He didn’t have to know what the future would hold or where he’d go. She’d be with him, and that would be enough, whether he spent his life as one of their people’s top healers or a simple farmer. She’d be with him.
Mine, whispered the beast. For the first time, the man agreed.
———
The smallest sounds echoed in the quiet hallway, and Zahra tapped her foot as she waited for the door across the hall to open. When it finally did, she jumped to her feet. Her husband walked through it, a little rumpled and nervous but also excited.
She couldn’t contain her questions. “How did it go? Do you love it?”
Jarek laughed and dropped an absent kiss on her cheek before taking her hand. “Come on. I’ve finally gotten my office. They gave me the one Therona had when we were here.”
“Jarek.” She tried — and failed — to give him a stern look. “If you hate it, tell me. We can both arrange sabbaticals. Your mother and sister are dying for us to visit again.”
“Mmm.” He tugged her toward the end of the hall. “Less scolding, more walking.”
She walked faster to keep up with his long strides and stopped in front of the familiar office. A plate bearing Jarek’s name had been mounted beside the door, and he pulled her inside.
A solid mahogany desk dominated one side of the room, fully one half of its surface given over to one of the largest built-in computer display screens she’d ever seen. Jarek closed the office door and dragged her against him. “It was terrifying as hell. And wonderful.”
It was the one thing that had worried her, that he wouldn’t be able to adjust to his new position. Not because she wanted him to teach, but because he’d been at such loose ends, looking for a way to use his training. Now, relief left her weak, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him. “I’m glad, honey.”
For a moment he simply stood there, his nose buried in her hair as he held her. The tension in his shoulders slowly relaxed, the tight nervousness fading. “I didn’t know if I could do it,” he said finally, his voice a whisper. “They’re so young. And some of those boys could be on the front lines in a year or two. Was I really that young when I left?”
“Hard to believe, isn’t it?” She found his hand with hers and held it tightly. “They couldn’t ask for a better teacher. You’re going to help so many students here.”
“Ten years. And we’re right back where we started.”
Not quite. This time, they were instructors instead of students, husband and wife instead of two people whose circumstances of birth meant they could never be together. “I’d wait another ten if it meant being with you.”
Jarek lifted their hands and kissed her fingers. “No wonder your cousin rolls his royal eyes at us. As if we have the market cornered on grand, undying romance.”
“Rais still hasn’t forgiven us for depriving him of the chance to play mother hen and throw us together for our own good.”
“He does like to arrange people’s lives, doesn’t he? I suppose kings can’t help themselves.”
Which was Jarek’s way of acknowledging he’d been awarded his position by virtue of being married to the King’s cousin. It may have been partially true, but even Rais’s influence only extended so far. “You’re brilliant, Jarek.” She laid her hand on his cheek. “Come on. We can pick up something special on the way home. Your favorite.”
“Already have that.” His arms tightened around her and her feet left the ground as he spun her, his laughter almost joyous. “I have a beautiful office, access to the finest in werewolf magic and human medicine, unlimited license to study whatever takes my fancy… and the woman of my dreams to go home to every night.”
“Flatterer.” But she knew the words weren’t meant to be pretty or gratifying. She felt the truth of them in his embrace, saw it when he looked at her. He reflected her own happiness, the satisfaction and contentment she’d feared would never be hers.
Except that it was. He was.
Mine.
His cheek was warm under her lips. “Come. Let’s go home.”
Moira Rogers
How do you make a Moira Rogers? Take a former forensic science and nursing student obsessed with paranormal romance and add a computer programmer with a passion for gritty urban fantasy. Toss in a dash of whimsy and a lot of caffeine, and enjoy with a side of chocolate by the light of the full moon.
By day, Bree and Donna are mild-mannered ladies who reside in the Deep South. At night, when their husbands and children are asleep, they combine forces to unleash the product of their fevered imaginations upon the page. To learn more about this romance writing, crime fighting duo, visit their webpage at www.moirarogers.com. (Disclaimer: crime fighting abilities may appear only in the aforementioned fevered imaginations.)
