Mating Dance

by Bianca D'Arc

  As the laughter died down again, Ashley turned to hug Tom. “I was so worried the guy might’ve had a gun. I know you’re fierce and all, but what if he’d shot you?”

  “Oh, honey,” Tom crooned to her, stroking her hair. “It takes more than one or two conventional bullets to stop one of us. And we’re all ex-military. We’ve faced guns before. Many times. We know what we’re doing. Even if he had been armed, he wouldn’t have been given a chance to get even one shot off at any of us.”

  “As it is, we confiscated his weapons as well as his personal belongings,” Brody put in.

  Ashley whirled to face the deputy who was now part of the family. “He was armed?”

  “Was being the operational word there, Ash,” Brody reminded her. “When he saw us bearing down on him, he ran. The little arsenal he had in his tent was useless to him, but it’ll provide further ammunition—if you’ll pardon the pun—against him. Most of those firearms aren’t quite legal for him to be carrying here. I’ve got them locked up in the back of my truck, and he’s not getting them back.”

  Ashley couldn’t believe how casually they were all taking this news, but then again, they were vets. Maybe weapons weren’t that big a deal to them, like they were to civilians.

  “Regardless, I’m glad you guys are whole, and I’m really incredibly touched that you’d help me this way. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.” Words were inadequate to express the wealth of feeling, but they would have to suffice for now. She’d find a way to thank everyone for standing by her. Somehow. Someday. She’d return the favor, with interest.

  “Think nothing of it, Ashley. Welcome to the community and just know that you are under the protection of our Clan, such as it is. You may not be a bear, but you have the heart of one,” John said, looking from Ash to Tom and back again. “I’m out of here. Gotta get some sleep to be properly mayoral tomorrow. I’m hoping the reporter will call.” He grinned as he walked out, leaving the two couples and Tina.

  Tina was the next to leave. “I’m going upstairs. I’m glad everybody is okay.” She yawned as she headed for the stairs, leaving the two couples behind.

  “We’re outta here too,” Brody said next, ushering Nell toward the door. His truck was still parked at the curb. “See you guys tomorrow.”

  “Thanks, Brody,” Ashley called after them. “See ya tomorrow, sis.”

  “At last, we’re alone,” Tom mused as the door shut behind the other couple.

  Ashley laughed, despite the worry that had come before. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” she said, running her fingers through his hair. “I was so worried.”

  Chapter Twelve

  “Wanna go to my place?” Tom asked, but Ashley shook her head.

  “I don’t want to leave Tina here alone, just in case that reporter comes back.” Tom looked resigned, but he nodded. He seemed about to pull away from her when she placed one hand on his shoulder. “But my room has a queen size bed, and the walls are pretty thick. Why don’t you come upstairs?”

  Tom grinned, and it was as if the sun had come out in her soul. “I thought you’d never ask.”

  Ashley paused to lock up, Tom at her side. When all was secure, they went up the stairs together, eager steps taking them quickly through the apartment to her room, which was at the front of the building. She had one of the two bedrooms that had the great view of the cove.

  Nell had claimed the other front room but had been spending most of her nights at Brody’s since they’d gotten engaged. Poor Tina had been stuck with the bedroom at the back of the building, but that worked in Ashley’s favor now, since it was doubtful Tina would hear anything, even if Tom made Ashley scream with pleasure. Which, after last night, she realized, was a very real possibility.

  But Tom didn’t pounce on her the moment the door was shut. Instead, he sat with her on the edge of the bed, taking her hands in his. The moment felt serious, and Ashley frowned, feeling doubt creep in. Was he going to ask to slow things down? Was he going to dump her?

  “Ashley,” Tom began, his tone so serious she began to fret. “There are a few things I want to discuss with you.”

  He seemed to be waiting for her to respond. “Yes?” She was proud that her voice sounded much steadier than her nerves.

  “I hope you know by now that I will protect you to my dying breath.”

  Whoa. Heavy. But was there a silent but on the end of that amazing sentence? When he didn’t continue right away, she felt the need to make another response. Was he waiting for her to acknowledge every sentence, or maybe… Was he nervous too? Her fears started to recede a little.

  “I hope it never comes to that,” she said with a nervous laugh. “But I’m grateful that you feel so protective of me. I can use all the help I can get with my past coming back to haunt me like this.”

  “Honey, you’ll never have to worry about that again, as far as I’m concerned. In fact…” He paused, turning a little more toward her, rubbing his thumbs over her knuckles as he held her hands in his. “I don’t want to rush this, but, Ash, you should know that when a shifter meets his mate, he often knows almost right away. Like how quickly Brody and your sister got together. That was pretty quick, right?”

  “Yeah, sort of a whirlwind romance, you might say,” she agreed, wondering where he was going with this. Could he possibly mean…?

  “Well, that’s normal for us. Some species know on first scenting their mate. Some—the big cats—know they’ve met their mate when they purr in human form, which is something only their true mate can bring about. We believe that the Mother of All has a hand in helping us find that one special person meant just for us. Ashley…” he moved closer to her, his voice very serious, “…I knew last night, when we made love, that you are my mate. I want to be with you for the rest of our lives, and your happiness and safety is at the center of my world.”

  Ashley was speechless for a moment as an incredulous sort of joy filled her being.

  “Really?” She could hardly believe what he was saying. This wasn’t a whirlwind romance. This was a tornado. A benevolent but still shocking tornado. “You know that fast?”

  “I do,” he answered solemnly. “But the question is, can you return my feelings? Will you be my mate? My wife, in human terms, though you should know, mating is forever. There will never be another woman for me. Just you, Ashley Baker, ‘til the day I leave this world. And even then, I’ll await you on the other side, until we can be together again. I love you. And I will always love you.”

  Ashley felt tears gathering behind her eyes. They spilled down her cheeks at his profession of love. It was the most beautiful thing any man had ever said to her, made all the more poignant because it was Tom who was saying such wonderful things.

  She launched herself into his arms, talking next to his ear, though her words were garbled with happy tears.

  “I love you too, Tom. So much. I can’t imagine how this happened so fast, but I can’t imagine my life without you in it.” She kissed him, little kisses wherever she could reach—the side of his face, his ear, his neck. “Yes,” she whispered, her heart in her throat. “Yes, I’ll be your mate. I don’t want anyone else. After you, I could never be with anybody else. You’re it for me, mister.”

  He moved her head so he could claim her lips, cradling her face in his warm, strong palms.

  They wound up on the bed long minutes later, having undressed each other with careless abandon. Ashley had taken charge, coming down over Tom while he smiled up at her, his hands on her hips, guiding her motion as she rode him. She liked the feeling of power, the hard ridges of his muscles under her thighs and against her palms.

  Tom liked it too. She could see the indulgent smile and lazy enjoyment in his half-lidded eyes. He was such a handsome man, in every way. When he’d been tough, ready to take on the world earlier this evening before he went out with the other guys, she had seen the warrior side of his personality. Now she was seeing the lover, once again. She liked everything she’d seen of h
im and still couldn’t quite believe she’d get to watch him grow old with her for the rest of their lives. She would enjoy learning everything about him—especially how best to please him.

  She tried different rhythms, different motions, until she found one that he seemed to particularly enjoy. She rode him hard and kept increasing the pace until, at the last, he had to guide her hips as she lost control. She spasmed around him, and he came soon after, jerking his body upward, sealing them together for long moments as he came deep within her.

  They lazed in the aftermath, before round two, side by side in her bed. It was just barely big enough for both of them, but neither one was complaining. Ashley drew little patterns on his chest with one finger as she lay on her side, his arm tucked around her.

  “You know, after you marry me, you could practice law again, if you want. I could use some help. I get a little too adversarial, sometimes, when a tenacious human lawyer gets combative. You could run interference so I don’t accidentally, on purpose, rip some jerk’s head off.” He chuckled as she stilled. “Plus, you’re a great lawyer. Nothing that happened to you was your fault. And when you marry me, you can take my last name and begin again with a new identity. Nobody needs to know about your past. You’d be a great help to the town as it grows, and to the Clan. It’d be a shame to let all your education and hard work go to waste. That is, if you want to. No pressure. You can do whatever you like. I’m just offering up the possibility.”

  “I hadn’t even considered every practicing again, but you’re right. I went to law school because I really wanted to help people. I’ve enjoyed the bakery, but that was my sisters’ dream. Not mine. Not really. I’ve liked helping them, but I would like to at least look into the idea of reclaiming my profession, if you really think it’s possible.” She reached up to kiss him. “You’re amazing for even thinking of it. I love you, Tom. You’re a heck of a great guy.”

  He grinned at her. “I love you too, my mate. I never thought I’d find you, and you’ve been here for months. I should’ve come into the bakery a lot sooner. I’m sorry it took me so long to get here.”

  “All that matters is that you’re here now, and I’m not ever letting you go.”

  “Amen to that.”

  # # #

  Thanks for reading Mating Dance (Grizzly Cove #2). If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review.

  The next Grizzly Cove story is called Night Shift. Scroll down for a sneak peek…

  A complete list of all of Bianca’s books, separated by series, follows the excerpt. You can also check out Bianca’s website at WWW.BIANCADARC.COM. Or you can sign up for Bianca’s Newsletter to be alerted when new books are released.

  Excerpt from Night Shift

  © 2015 Bianca D’Arc. All Rights Reserved.

  Chapter One

  Zak really liked the new duty Sheriff Brody Chambers had him working. Every night since a reporter had come to town to try to make trouble for Ashley, the middle of the three Baker sisters, the sheriff, who was now mated to the eldest sister, Nell, had sent Zak to watch over the youngest sister, Tina. Tina worked the night shift at the bakery the three sisters owned, and since it was the only place that served food in their new town so far, a lot of people frequented it.

  The baked goods were downright delicious. The sisters used natural ingredients, including a lot of honey, which was a favorite of Zak’s and most of the town, for that matter. It was true that bears really did like the sweet stuff.

  Zak had been admiring Tina from afar since she’d moved to town, but hadn’t really had much chance to get close to her since they both worked the night shift. He hadn’t had much reason to stop in at the bakery while on duty until now, and he was taking full advantage of the sheriff’s request that he keep an eye on the one remaining, unmated sister.

  Brody had claimed the eldest sister, and about two weeks later, Tom Masdan, the town lawyer had announced his relationship with the middle sister, Ashley. Turns out, they were both lawyers, though Ashley had given up a high-powered career when a rat in her New York firm had made her look bad and inadvertently caused grief for her client. Unfortunately the client had been very high profile and tragedy had resulted from the poorly handled court case. Ashley had needed to go into hiding from the press, which she had, right here in Grizzly Cove, working at her sisters’ bakery.

  In this tiny town, there were only two lawmen at the moment. Brody worked days and Zak overlapped in the afternoon, then worked the evenings alone, unless there was trouble. Both of them were always on call, but then again, since all of the men who formed the nucleus of the new community had served together in the military, just about everyone in town could act as backup, if needed. It was just that Brody and Zak had been handed the roles of sheriff and deputy when the Alpha, Big John, had been assigning tasks according to each man’s abilities and desires.

  They’d all retired from the military now, though none of them were old by human standards. They were, to a man, bear shifters of one kind or another. The majority, including the Alpha, were grizzlies, but there was at least one polar bear, a couple of Kodiaks, a big-assed Russian bear and a few black bears. Zak Flambeau was one of the latter. Smaller than his grizzly friends, Zak was no less deadly. And though he’d taken his share of guff from his buddies over the years, he knew they respected his skills as a marksman and as a shifter. He was smaller, but that also meant he was a lot quicker and more agile than some of his larger buddies. He’d used that to his advantage many times in the field. But now all that was over. He was retired from that life. It was a bit of an adjustment.

  Big John had come up with the insane idea to build their own town from scratch. He’d been quietly buying up land over the years and when the time came, he’d laid out his idea for the rest of his men. They’d balked a bit at first. After all, Big John wanted them masquerade as an artists’ colony, for cripes sake. They weren’t artists. Although, most of the guys had given it the old college try and come up with some passable objet d’art, Zak had to admit.

  He couldn’t draw his way out of a paper bag. He couldn’t even do self-portraits of his bear half, using a chainsaw and a stump of wood. He left that to Brody. Zak didn’t have a talent like that. Nothing in the visual arts, anyway. If he had any talent at all, he’d have said it was for cooking, but he couldn’t see a way to turn his Cajun heritage of spicy, down home dishes into an art form that could contribute to the town’s artists’ colony status.

  So he contented himself with being the deputy. Good ol’ Barney Pfife to Brody’s Andy Taylor. That he could handle. Blindfolded. And with one hand tied behind his back.

  Running security was second nature to him. Zak had left home at eighteen, leaving the bayou and his bastard father behind, striking out to join the Army. He’d never looked back. Not even once.

  When his mate had died of illness, Zak’s father had turned mean. Or maybe he’d always been mean, and losing his mate just made him worse. Zak didn’t know for sure. His mother had died when he was still a boy. He missed her to this very day, but he felt like maybe sometimes she was watching over him from above—or wherever spirits went when they left this realm.

  “You know, deputy, I’m going to have to start charging you rent if you keep coming in here every night.” Tina brought over the carafe of coffee, pouring him a fresh cup without even asking. She knew by now that he would never say no to good coffee.

  “Just following orders, ma’am. Though to be honest, I’m enjoying these orders way more than any other I’ve been given to date in this town. It’s nice to have an excuse to sit here, drink coffee and eat your marvelous pastries.” He popped a slice of the danish he’d been eating into his mouth to emphasize his point.

  “But you ran the reporter off. Nobody’s seen him since. I don’t think he’s coming back, and even if he did, I could handle him. I’d tell him to go straight to hell, like I did the first time he came sniffing around.”

  Tina was a little more outspoken than her older s
isters, and Zak liked that about her. She had spirit. But that sort of spirit could sometimes get a person into trouble.

  “I won’t argue the point, but Brody asked me to keep an eye on the place and I’m just as happy to do so. Come on, ma chere, don’t tell me you don’t enjoy my company, at least a little.”

  The little bell above the door tinkled out its merry tune as the door opened, and every hackle on Zak’s body rose in alarm. He spun to face the newcomer, taking in the dark, wet clothing, the blood-red eyes and the hesitant gait.

  “Holy shit.” Zak grabbed for his radio as the newcomer eyed him.

  “Call your Alpha little cub. I am hanging on here by a thread.”

  Zak’s sensitive nose smelled the blood—new and old—on the creature in the doorway. That he was probably outgunned and outclassed entered his mind briefly, but he dismissed the idea. All that mattered was protecting Tina. And hopefully getting them both out of this confrontation alive.

  “I beg your pardon, miss, but do you happen to have any wine on the menu? I am greatly in need,” the newcomer asked politely, though Zak could see that every word cost him.

  Then he remembered what he’d heard about vampires and wine. The creature was seeking something that would help him, not attacking. That was a good sign. Zak keyed the mic, calling for Brody in low, urgent tones. Then he palmed his cell phone, hitting the speed dial that would bring the Alpha on the run.

  “I’m sorry, sir, we don’t serve alcohol. Our liquor license hasn’t come through yet,” Tina answered politely, though Zak could hear the confusion in her tone. Bless her little human heart, she didn’t recognize the danger standing in her doorway.