by S. K. Yule
When he entered the cabin, he didn’t see Rindy anywhere. The house was dark and quiet. “Rindy?”
She didn’t answer, and his heart sank. Had she ran away again? She couldn’t have on that knee of hers. Yet maybe he hadn’t given her enough credit. Rindy was smart and could find a way if she wanted to. He couldn’t rely on his scent because the whole house smelled like her: feminine, sweet, sinful.
Just as despair began to overtake his breaking heart, he cocked his head to the side and heard rustling water. She was in the bathtub. He took a deep breath, and, while whistling, he set everything up for when she got out. The urge to go and jump in the tub with her was nearly too much, but he wanted everything to be perfect. And that meant waiting to make love to her again until he talked to her.
After ten minutes of thinking about her wet and naked in the tub, he had almost said to hell with all his plans and joined her. Thankfully, seconds later, the door to her bedroom opened. She limped down the hall, and he met her as she got to the living room. He’d never seen a woman that could make a pair of sweatpants look sexy as hell.
“Brent. You’re back. I didn’t hear you come in.” She looked tired.
He scooped her up. “I’m quiet that way.” He nuzzled her hair. It was still damp and smelled like lavender. “You shouldn’t be walking on that knee.” He placed her in a chair at the dining room table.
She looked around at the lit candles and plates. “Something smells good. What’s all of this?”
“Something special for a special lady.” He pulled her hand to his mouth and kissed the smooth skin.
He popped the cork in the champagne, poured them each a glass, and put a piece of lasagna from the takeout containers on each of their plates, along with some golden-crusted garlic bread.
“This looks good.” She took the napkin lying beside her plate and laid it across her lap.
“It’s from my favorite Italian restaurant, Cristiano’s. They have the best Italian food I’ve ever eaten.” He cut a huge chunk from his lasagna and popped it in his mouth.
Rindy took a daintier, but healthy bite. “Mmmm. It is very good. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until now.” She picked up her champagne and took a sip. “This is good, too.”
He smiled at her. “I’m glad you like it. Now eat up because I have another surprise for you.”
“There’s more?” Her brows rose in a question.
“Yep.” He loved that she never expected anything from him. And yet, she deserved everything. He’d give her the world if he could.
When they finished eating, he scooped her up again and carried her to the couch, where he sat her down, careful not to bump her knee on anything. He went to the entryway, retrieved the papers from the small table by the door, sat beside Rindy on the couch, and handed them to her. “These are for you.”
She looked down. “What are they?”
“I set up a trust called the Trenton Women’s Fund. It is for women who have been abused, who are on the run, or who have nowhere else to go. It provides assistance and shelter to women who are alone, afraid, and have no one to turn to, no one to help them. I thought it would be a great tribute to you and your mother and sister.”
A tear slid down her cheek—and another and another, until they fell steadily on the papers in her hands. She hiccupped. “You did this for me?”
He took the papers from her, set them on the coffee table, and pulled her to him. He hugged her and sighed at how right she felt pressed against him.
“Of course I did. Who else would I do it for?” He rubbed her back in slow, soothing circles. “Don’t you know by now I’d do anything to make you happy?”
“But where did all of that money come from?” She hiccupped again.
“Rindy, I’ve been around for awhile. I’ve got enough money to last several lifetimes. I wanted to do this for you.” He kissed the top of her head.
She pulled back and looked up at him. “It’s too much, Brent.”
* * * *
He reached into his pocket, pulled out a jeweler’s box, and flipped open the top. She gasped. “Oh!” Twinkling up at her was the most gorgeous ring with a huge ruby in the shape of a heart surrounded by clear, sparkly diamonds.
He got on his knee in front of her. “This is for you, because no matter what happens in the future, I want you to know, you always have my heart. I love you, and I always will. I want to be with you for the rest of my life.” He smiled up at her. “And, nothing, my love, is too much.”
She covered her mouth with a trembling hand. “I don’t know what to say. It’s beautiful.”
“Not close to as beautiful as you. Say yes, love. Please, just say yes.” His eyes glowed as he stared up at her.
She nodded. “Yes. And, Brent, I love you, too.”
He laughed, pulled her to him, and hugged her hard. He took the ring from the box and slid it on her left ring finger. It was a perfect fit.
She looked down at the ring. “How did you know my size?”
“Don’t underestimate what I know about you, Rindy. I am very aware of everything about your body.” His lopsided grin made butterflies dance in her tummy.
He kissed her, and she began to melt. His tongue teased hers, and she tunneled her fingers through his hair and held him to her. For the first time in a long time, she was happy. Against all odds, she loved this man. And she had no doubt that when he said he’d always love her, he meant it.
When his arms came around her, the years of fear and loneliness washed away. She felt cherished, safe. And loved. She shivered at the thought of what might have happened had he never found her. She’d have spent the rest of her life running. She’d never given much thought about finding that special someone to share her dreams with because she had never allowed herself any. Now she could feel her soul calling to Brent. She could feel it healing, and it felt good.
“I want you so bad, Rindy.” He buried his nose against her neck, and his ragged breaths warmed her skin. “I want all of you.” He lifted his head and stared deep into her eyes. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”
She nodded.
“Have you thought about it?”
She nodded again.
“You’re killing me here. What have you decided?”
She lifted her face to kiss him on the cheek and pressed her lips against his ear. “I’m sorry I ever called you a monster, Brent. You are nothing like the ones that tormented me for years. And I know now that my mother or sister would never expect me to walk away from the man that I love.” She kissed his neck. “I want to be with you always.”
His tensed muscles relaxed instantaneously under her, and a sigh escaped him. “Thank God.”
He picked her up, carried her to his bedroom, and sat her on the edge of his huge wooden bed. He kneeled in front of her and put his head in her lap. “I swear I’ll do everything in my power to make you happy.”
She massaged his scalp, and he groaned. “You’ve already made me happy. I can’t remember the last time I was this happy. And I’ll try my best to make you happy. It’s been so long since I’ve had any type of companionship. I won’t ever take what we have for granted.”
He sat up and kissed her gently on the lips. “You’re my dream come true.”
She smiled. “I’m sure I want to do this Brent, but I can’t lie. I’m afraid. Will it hurt?”
He took her hands in his and rubbed his cheek against them, the stubble scraping deliciously against her skin. “It’s only very painful when a lycan turns someone who is not his mate. It will hurt a little, but not much. And I will make sure you are focused on other things.”
She thought of Karen, and how she’d said a rogue had turned her. She felt bad for the pain she must have suffered. She looked down at Brent’s lopsided grin. He was sexy as hell, and she wanted his mouth on her. “Okay, then. I trust you.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him toward her, but he stopped a breadth before their lips met. “I want us to t
ake things slow this time. I want to see, touch, and kiss every single inch of you.”
He sat back, still on his knees, and tugged her shirt over her head. He reached out and cupped one of her breasts that was now bared to his view. “No bra. That’s my girl.”
She tried for a smile, but the heat washing through her was too intense. Instead she gasped when his fingers slid over her nipple and tugged at it gently. She grew wet between her thighs, and she squirmed. He dipped his head and took the nipple he’d been playing with into his mouth, his tongue stroking her until she thought she’d scream. He did the same to the other nipple and dragged his cheek across it, the stubble of his beard deliciously scraping her sensitive skin.
She clutched at his shoulders, the need and urgency building deep in her. He kissed her stomach and navel before hooking his fingers in her sweats and panties, and pulled them down her legs. He ran his palms up her calves over her thighs and back. He kissed her knees, lingering on the injured one as if he could make it better with his kisses, and pushed her back on the bed until she was lying flat. He removed his shirt and unbuttoned the top button of his jeans and straddled her hips.
His lips met hers, and his tongue drove deep into her mouth, mating with her, claiming her, stoking her to a fevered pitch. She gave him everything he asked for, taking her pleasure in return. Her fingernails dug into his back, pleading for more. He stroked her ribcage and cupped her ass, lifting her up further on the bed so her feet were no longer dangling over the side.
As he sat up, he looked down at her with glowing eyes and licked his lips. “I cannot wait to taste you.”
She followed his eyes as they trailed down, down . . . until they rested between her thighs. Her cheeks burned nearly as hot as her body. He shifted so his thighs were between hers, and spread her wide.
“I have never seen a more beautiful sight in my entire life. I will never get enough of you.”
“Brent,” his whispered name left her lips.
He bent and placed his mouth on her where she ached to have him most, and she gasped when he inhaled deeply.
“You smell so fucking good, Rindy.” As if to leave her no doubt that he meant every word he said, he took another deep breath.
His tongue danced along her slit, lapping at the juices he was enticing so easily from her. She squeezed his shoulders, and he gently nipped one of her lips, and tugged it gently before curling his tongue around her clit. The pressure built inside her, and she knew she was almost ready to fall over the edge. She wanted him inside her, needed him inside her, where he belonged.
She pulled at him, but he continued eating at her, plunging his tongue deep and rolling it around her core until her orgasm pulsed through her. She screamed out, and he slipped his jeans off. Before the last waves of her climax were gone, he slipped inside her, and she shattered again, right on the heels of the residing aftershocks of her first release.
He rolled his hips slowly, dipping into her, slipping out, and returning. He kissed her again, and his tongue mimicked the motion of his lower body. Incredibly, she felt the heat building in her for the third time. She wrapped her legs around his lean hips and met each thrust with a tilt of her pelvis. He growled low in his throat between each drive of his cock, and she answered him with sighs and moans.
Right before she tumbled over the edge again, he pulled out of her and flipped her to her stomach. He dragged her hips back, and before she could fully comprehend what had happened, her sheath clutched around him once again as he plunged into her with bolder strokes. He arched over her as he rode her, his chest pressed against her back, his arm wrapped around her waist. He pushed her hair to the side, kissed her neck, and she fell over the edge just as his teeth sank into her shoulder and his body tightened, his seed pulsing inside her.
His bite was a mixture of pain and pleasure. “Brent!”
A low growl sounded next to her ear, and he held her to the mattress. Her breathing came in short pants, and she cried out when sheer ecstasy rushed through her. She would be forever his, and he would be forever hers.
He eased his teeth from her flesh and released his hold on her. His head rested against her shoulder. “I’m sorry I held you down. I had to make sure you didn’t move against my teeth. I didn’t want to rip your skin open.” He kissed the place he’d bitten her. “Are you okay?”
It barely hurt. She was a little surprised by that, and even more surprised that it tingled with pleasure that made her want him all over again. She turned over, so she lay under him. He was propped up on his elbows, careful to keep his weight off her. She was glad for that, because he was a big guy, and she figured all that glorious muscle had to weigh a ton.
She nodded. “I’m fine. It hardly hurts at all.”
He let out a breath as if he were holding it, waiting for her answer. He kissed her, letting his lips linger on hers. “Good. I love you.”
“I love you, too.” She laughed when his cock grew hard again against her leg.
He kissed her. “This is no laughing matter, ma’am.” He nudged against her thigh.
She smiled. “You’re right. It’s no laughing matter at all.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, and held him as he sent her up in flames yet again.
Chapter Eleven
“Brent! Please. I’m scared. Make it stop!” Rindy watched as thousands of blonde hairs erupted through her skin. She itched everywhere, and her body was so hot, her flesh hurt.
“Rindy, look at me.” Brent held Rindy.
She was sitting on his lap pressed against his chest. She looked up into his dark eyes, and even through the pain, she could see the regret and fear burning deep in them. “Brent?”
“It’s okay. The first time is a little painful, but after that, it will be nothing. I promise.” He hugged her to him and rocked slowly back and forth. “I’m so sorry for doing this to you.”
“It’s okay.” She barely got the words out over the wave of nausea that ripped through her.
Suddenly claws shot through her fingertips, and she gasped as every muscle in her body spasmed and tensed. She screamed and thought death might be better than going through this.
“Listen to me.” Brent’s words were laced with desperation. “Just remember after this one time, everything will be better, and we will be together for a long, long time. It won’t hurt anymore. Focus on the life we will have, running in the woods, playing, chasing one another. Making love.”
His words soothed her. She closed her eyes and let his voice take away the pain. Every time she felt a wave of discomfort, she focused on Brent and what he was saying. Suddenly, she was standing on the living room floor staring at Brent in his wolf form. He was gorgeous. His thick, brown fur was the same color as his hair, and his eyes were the same familiar ones she loved. He sniffed at her.
She looked down and saw paws where her hands used to be. Her legs were covered in blonde fur. She felt calm, peaceful. The pain was gone.
Better? Brent’s voice floated through her mind as if he’d spoken out loud.
Brent? Oh my goodness. Are we talking telepathically? She had an overwhelming urge to giggle, but the sound came out as a growl.
We have to be able to communicate some way. You ready to try out your new body?
She took a few tentative steps. This is amazing.
You haven’t seen anything yet. Brent playfully nipped at her and ran out the front door with her hot on his tail.
He’d been right. She hadn’t seen anything. As they ran through the trees in the pitch black, she could see perfectly. Her eyesight was amazing, and she could hear everything. She ran until she was too tired to do so any longer. She and Brent played and chased one another for hours. She was exhausted by the time they made it back home.
Home. She had a home. She couldn’t believe how much her life had changed. They both shifted back to human form, and he immediately took her into his arms and kissed her hungrily.
“You are the m
ost beautiful wolf I’ve ever seen.” He nuzzled her hair.
“You’re pretty gorgeous yourself.” She hugged him to her.
“Is that so?” He grinned.
Now she knew where the phrase wolfish grin came from. “That was astonishing, Brent.” She laughed up at him.
“I know. I never knew it could be that amazing myself, and I’ve done it thousands of times. But that’s because I had never shifted with you. Everything is better now that you are in my life.” He frowned.
She reached out and traced his frown with her fingers. “What’s wrong?”
“I’ve been thinking. I would like to build a shelter here for young lycans to come to. I’d like to show them how a real family can be, teach them the importance of protecting potential mates. And provide them some place they can call home. But I don’t want to do anything you are uncomfortable with.” He watched her from under half-closed lids.
She smiled. “I think that is a wonderful idea.”
“I mean, I have hundreds of acres, and we could build it far away so that—What?”
She laughed and reached out to hug him. “I said, I think it is a wonderful idea. I’m not worried. I love that you want to help others, and I know you will keep me safe. I bet if you ask, Anthony and Karen would like to be involved as well.”
“Damn. I love you. You make me so happy.”
“Same goes for you. I never thought I’d ever be this happy either. I love you.” She kissed his cheek and rubbed her lips over the stubble. “I’m beginning to really like this.”
“My stubble?”
She nodded. “Mmm, hmmm. It is very nice, and I like how it feels on my skin.”
He kissed her again. His tongue dipped into her mouth and tangled with hers. “I like how your skin feels on me.”
Her laughter died when she saw the desire burning in his glowing eyes. His erection pressed against her belly, and she grew wet between her legs. She reached down and stroked him, kneading his sack gently. He growled and arched his hips toward her.
