by Bianca D’Arc
As the kiss deepened, worries took a back seat to passion. She felt the sensation of movement and found herself deposited on the other end of the long kitchen table, sitting on the edge with her legs splayed and John between them. She mentally cursed the layers of cloth that separated them.
Her desire was an instant burn when it came to John. She’d never responded to any man the way she did to him. Was that because she was his mate? Was he hers? She thought so. If mages could have such beliefs.
But she had a little bit of bear blood in her too. Was it enough to form the bond they’d need if this mating thing was going to work?
Goddess, she hoped so, because John was everything she’d ever wanted in a man…and then some. She hadn’t ever considered the idea that she might end up married to a shifter, but John had a way of making her want to try all sorts of new things.
Such as making love on the kitchen table.
It might not be very hygienic, but she’d make sure to clean up after…if only he could be convinced. She had a feeling it wasn’t going to take all that much convincing. Already she could feel the ridge of his erection pressing against her cloth-covered pussy. Oh, yeah. He wanted it too.
She pushed at his clothing, wanting it gone. John obliged by removing his shirt, then hers. Sweet Goddess, he felt good against her. His chest rubbed her nipples in just the right way as their kiss resumed, and went on and on.
She lifted up off the table as best she could while he pulled her pants down and tossed them away. She didn’t care where they ended up, or that her ass was bare against the butcher block. She’d clean it later, she promised herself again.
What mattered now was getting John to be as naked as she. Or at least, that very important part of him that she wanted inside her. Now.
John’s hands caressed her body, sliding along the insides of her thighs and making her squirm. One hand went around to cup her butt while the other slid closer and closer to her wet folds. He pushed one long, thick finger inside of her.
She couldn’t help herself. She moaned.
And then, he added another finger and began a slow rhythm that made her want more. She didn’t need any more stimulation, she needed him. Now.
Urse clawed at his shoulders, hoping he would understand. She couldn’t form words, even if he’d stopped kissing her long enough for her to utter them.
His finger left her, and she whimpered for its loss. Then she heard the rasp of his zipper and seconds later…
Oh, yeah.
Just what she wanted. He pushed inside her quickly, giving her everything. Giving her himself.
He began to move almost at once, their pace hard and urgent. She was with him, wanting what he wanted, craving more of him until she had it all. She needed him more in that moment than she needed her next breath.
He pushed into her, driving her passion higher as their pace increased. He slammed into her, and she wanted it hard and fast—exactly what he gave her. She squirmed against him, her balance precarious on the end of the table, but she was beyond caring.
At the very last, she came with a shout. And the words she shouted in her delirium echoed through the room.
She’d said…
Oh, Goddess. She’d said she loved him.
Chapter Fourteen
John was stunned both by the power of his orgasm and the shocking words Ursula cried out as her passion peaked. If his mind wasn’t playing tricks and his ears hadn’t misheard, she’d said she loved him.
Sweet Mother of All. She loved him.
And he loved her. Goddess, how he loved her.
He buried his face in her neck as they rode out the aftershocks. His knees were weak, but he wasn’t about to leave the warm haven of her body. Not until he had to.
“I love you too,” he whispered near her ear. “I love you so much, babe. You’re my world.”
She stiffened a bit, but he wasn’t letting go.
“You do?” Her tone was filled with unmistakable wonder, and it gave him hope.
“I really do. Did you mean what you said before? Or was it just the heat of the moment?”
He was giving her an out and praying at the same time that she didn’t take it. She paused for a moment before answering, and his whole life flashed before his eyes in that short space of time. The course of the rest of his existence would be set by her reply. It was a significant moment.
“It was, and I did.”
“What?” His brain was a little too scrambled from pleasure to be certain he had the right answers in the correct order.
“It was rather heated passion, and yes, I did mean it.” She kissed his jaw as his world started turning again. “I didn’t fully realize the depth of my feelings until just now. We’ve condensed a lot into a few short days. Are you sure…” She took a deep breath, then continued, “Are you sure it’s real?”
“It’s real,” he assured her. “It happens fast for shifters. I’ve known for a while that you’re my perfect mate. I was just hoping you’d feel the same. Or at least that you’d be willing to give us a chance and see where this was leading us.”
She smiled, and he could feel it against his throat. “I’m willing. Or hadn’t you noticed?”
He chuckled. “I noticed. And I already thanked the Goddess for sending me a mate as perfect for me as you.” He nibbled on her ear. “I love you, Ursula.”
He lifted her off the table, his hands under her butt and walked her down the hallway, his cock coming back to life, still inside her, as he moved. She gasped at every sensation. There John went again, getting her to try something new. She’d never been with a man strong enough to carry her while they were joined together.
He walked them straight through his bedroom and into the master bath. By the time he had them inside the massive shower, she was ready to come again. Each step he’d taken had rubbed the head of his hard cock up against something inside her that made her want to explode in ecstasy.
John pressed her up against the tiled wall, and she didn’t even feel the chill of the marble against her back. Nothing could penetrate the haze of pleasure he’d built up again so quickly. Only a few more thrusts and she was singing his name as she came again, her body convulsing around his as he joined her.
After long moments of shared bliss, he reached over and turned on the shower. When he finally parted their bodies, she was glad he’d thought to bring them directly in here. She was dripping with his come.
What had been incredibly naughty during the encounter was now sticky and somewhat uncomfortable. But John seemed to understand. He bathed her with a soft sponge and gentle herbal soap that had a fresh scent that wasn’t overpowering. He reached up into places that made her squirm and spent time tickling other places on her body that made her giggle.
She splashed him with water, and he directed the showerheads to tease her into a renewed interest. After he’d cleaned her and dried her off with a fluffy, heated towel, he carried her back into his bedroom and lay her down on the freshly made bed.
They made love long into the night, and when the sun rose, she stayed in bed, too tired to move, while he rose. Between the sex and the magic expenditure of the night before—and what was to come when the moon rose—she needed her sleep.
*
When she finally woke from an exhausted sleep, Urse was groggy. She could hear voices coming from the main part of the house. She roused herself enough to take a quick shower, put on fresh clothes, and make her way into the main part of the house.
Cam was there. She wasn’t surprised to see him. She figured the fey knight would want to go over the plans for the evening’s magical work—the grandest to date. Urse rolled her shoulders, trying to ease the tension that crept in when she allowed herself to think about what was coming.
This would be the biggest challenge of her magical life.
She just had to keep believing that her grandmother would never set a task before her that she couldn’t handle. Urse had no doubt that it would be difficult, but s
he had to have faith that she could do it. She had to proceed as if success was inevitable. That was going to be her inner mantra for the rest of the evening.
She padded into the living room in only her socks, but she knew darn well that John was aware of every step she took. She was learning that shifter hearing was even more acute than she had thought. When he turned and smiled at her, her breath caught. The man was temptation and sin, all rolled up into a hunky package that she wanted to open again and again.
Like they had last night.
That naughty thought sent a flush of heat to her cheeks. John winked at her, making her blush even hotter. The devil somehow knew exactly what she’d been thinking—or if not her exact thoughts, then something darn close.
“Ah, Lady Ursula, it’s good to see you looking so well rested.” Cam spoke as if he didn’t see a byplay between herself and John.
“It’s just Urse, please,” she invited as she took a seat near John. They were gathered in the living room, a pot of coffee on the low table in front of the couch and several empty mugs. “Are you expecting more company?” She looked significantly at the empty, clean coffee cups and the full pot.
“Some of the lads are outside checking the perimeter. They’ll be along shortly,” Cam told her. “I just wanted a few words with the Alpha, and now that we’ve done that, and you’re awake, we can get on with tonight’s business.”
Urse was intrigued by the idea that the fey knight had wanted a private word with John. What could they have been talking about? And why would it be necessary to keep whatever was a secret from the rest of John’s men?
Urse had seen the group in action and quickly realized that John didn’t hold many secrets from his men—at least not for long. The biggest thing he’d ever not told them about was his idea for the town itself. From all accounts, he’d bided his time, quietly preparing until they were ready to retire. That’s when he’d finally revealed his plans to the guys.
But she was certain he would never have concealed something harmful. If one of the men had found out, somehow, that he’d been buying up land in the Pacific Northwest and asked him why, John would have told them all about his idea much sooner. He would never have lied to them. It simply wasn’t the way he led. And she would bet her bottom dollar, his guys wouldn’t tolerate subterfuge or dishonesty in anyone they worked with—especially not someone they had honored with the title of Alpha.
So it couldn’t be anything bad. John simply wouldn’t allow key information to be withheld from his team. That only deepened the mystery as far as Urse was concerned.
What could Cam possibly have to say to John that fit that criteria?
One thing was perfectly clear. She wouldn’t be hearing about it today from either of them.
Sighing, she let it go, reaching forward to pour herself a cup of coffee. Almost at the exact moment she sat back to take a sip, the front door opened and the Chambers brothers came in.
Brody, the sheriff, and Jack, who acted as Game Warden, were cut very much of the same cloth. Both tall. Both rugged. Both handsome and polite. But where Brody was more talkative and friendly—and much better with people, in general—Jack was more reserved.
From what Urse had seen in her weeks in town, Jack almost never socialized or spent much time on Main Street, where all the businesses were located. She’d seen his official vehicle drive through many times, but he never really got out and walked around. She supposed his work kept him busy in the great outdoors, and he was probably more comfortable with silence than with conversation.
Even as they sat down on the couch, it was Brody who leaned forward, making small talk and giving John his report, while Jack leaned back, simply observing. He was a quiet one. Nothing wrong with that, Urse thought. But she wondered if the old adage was true about still waters running deep.
The door opened again, and the three visiting shifters came in, followed by Deputy Zak. Each acknowledged her with a nod or a brief hello, then grabbed whatever space was available around the coffee table. Some sat on the floor. Joe Nightwing perched on an armrest, somewhat predictably, she thought, seeing as how he was a bird shifter.
Before long, they had a cozy group, all drinking coffee like it was going out of style and looking to John to start the briefing. She wondered what he was going to say too. She’d been asleep all day while he’d been up, doing things and learning what effect her work of the night before had had on the cove.
John started by giving everyone a clear picture of what had happened during the day. He’d been collecting all the intel, as he called it—the various reports from everyone who was noticing changes and reporting them to him. It occurred to her then that he was acting as the information collection point. He was sorting through the various streams of data from everyone out in the field and putting together the big picture. From that, he was designing strategy tailor made to deal with various problems that had cropped up.
For example, the few fishing boats that called the cove home had come back with observations that might have meant nothing individually, but in aggregate created a picture of a calm zone in the ocean extending from the northern tip of the cove, where they’d been last night, for about a mile in all directions. Urse was seriously impressed. She hadn’t really thought she’d have that much reach with her spell, but then again, she’d never really been in tune with someone the way she was now with John.
Because of their new harmony, her ability to draw on his magic—and that of those he was connected to—had been a lot easier than even just the day before. Perhaps that new ease between them had allowed her to push the boundaries of her spell much farther than she’d never expected.
Then there was Cam. The fey knight’s contribution couldn’t really be calculated. At least not by Urse. Only Cam really knew what effect he was having on her spellwork.
It seemed the fey liked being a mystery. She supposed it was in the nature of the beast. Fey hadn’t been known as tricksters and magicians the world over for centuries for no reason. He’d acted as a distraction to the leviathan last night, when she’d needed one most, but she really had no idea if he had contributed his own brand of magic to somehow bolster her work.
Whatever the cause, Urse was damn impressed, if she did say so herself. Oh, she wasn’t going to get the big head over this. She also knew full well that she could never have done anything even remotely that big alone. It was the combination of magics, and the willingness of the bear shifters to lend her their strength through their Alpha, that had made it possible.
That was a rare convergence of events. After tonight, it would probably never be repeated in her lifetime. At least she was hoping that would be the case, because wielding such magics was both exhausting and dangerous—and she would only do it in the most dire of circumstances.
She prayed they would never face another situation so extreme that she would have to call upon John and his men to lend her their power. If they could do that, they might just have a shot at a peaceful life here in the cove.
As the briefing went on, John painted a picture of success tempered by the need for more action. The leviathan was on the move. The lone, brave fisherman who’d dared to take his boat out beyond the safe zone had described a roiling sea, filled with evil creatures like the one that had attacked Zak’s mate in the cove not too long ago.
While the new wards seemed to be keeping the creatures off shore in the three areas that had already been warded, they could, and were, still gathering in deeper waters and the non-warded area. So the water was still off limits to everyone, and would be for some time to come. Urse wasn’t too concerned about that. The water was going to be Mellie’s problem. Urse was concentrating on the land. Though, of course, she would offer her sister all the support and help she needed when the time came.
The important thing for right now was to protect everyone on land as best as she could. That was her mission, and that’s what she would finish—to the very best of her abilities—tonight. Goddess willing.
No, Urse had to focus on her part in all of this. She was going to be the one on stage, as it were, though every man who was backing them up played an important part. She couldn’t do what had to be done without them, but by the same token, she didn’t want to flub her part and screw everything up at the last minute.
So she needed some alone time to think and prepare quietly.
Currently, that was the kitchen. She reloaded the coffee maker with fresh ground coffee and simply stood there, watching it perk. The steam rose from the back of the machine in little whispers that were almost hypnotic. Perfect. Just what she needed to take the stress off her shoulders for a couple of minutes.
She watched the steam and blanked her mind, looking within to settle her stretched nerves. She was peripherally aware of someone walking into the kitchen a few minutes later, and she blinked, breaking the mini-meditative session. She breathed deeply, enjoying the aroma of fresh coffee as it wafted through the kitchen. Even just those few minutes away from the stress in the other room had refreshed her.
She turned her head to face the newcomer into her private space and was unsurprised to find Cam leaning sideways against the kitchen counter, his arms folded in front of him as he watched her. He smiled, and something in the twinkle of his eye said he knew exactly what she’d been doing.
“Welcome back,” he said, nodding toward her in a playful way. “Smart of you to take a little break from the testosterone convention out there.”
She sniffed at him, playing along. “As if you’re not part of it. You’re as bad as the rest of them.”
