I pressed my back harder into the counter, feeling completely at a loss. I knew what I wanted, but I was confused about what he wanted. When he stared at me with so much fire in his eyes, though, I couldn’t help but imagine that the flames were for me.
He stepped into me, his body just a hair’s width away, and took a deep breath in again. “You’re intoxicating.”
I dropped the candle in my hand and it hit the floor with a loud crashing sound. I knew it’d shattered, but I was frozen there, pinned to the counter our eyes locked and the hint of Tucker’s body brushing against mine.
“What do I smell like to you?” he asked.
The light blue in his eyes was glowing, like he was going to shift. I’d been around enough male shifters to know it meant he was aroused. I swallowed so loudly that he had to hear it and then blinked a few times. I could hardly remember what planet we were on. “You want me to smell you?”
His tongue flicked out and then was gone. “Yes.”
I had no way of stopping it. Not that I wanted to. I wanted Tucker with everything in me. I needed him, for some insane reason. I’d never felt anything like the heat building in me and he wasn’t even touching me.
I adjusted myself just enough so I could move my face closer. I already knew what he smelled like, but I wanted the chance to get closer. I brushed my nose over his neck and then to his ear. My voice came out sounding hoarse and barely above a whisper. “You smell like the ocean. Like a wave hitting the beach. Fresh.”
Tucker shivered under me and it caused his chest to brush against mine. A groan escaped his lips and his hands clasped my hips and yanked me into him completely. “I need you.”
I couldn’t have walked away from him if I wanted to. My body was screaming at me to jump his bones right there on the kitchen floor. “Let’s go.”
CHAPTER 8: Tucker
“Well, you kids seem to have your hands full.” Aunt Carolyn stepped into the kitchen with Mom and grinned. “If you’ll watch out for that glass on the floor, I’ll take care of that. You two should go for a walk… or something.”
Mom’s eyes were practically glowing, she looked so excited. “Yeah, go for a walk or something.”
Having my aunt and my mom walk in on a moment like this should’ve killed my raging hard on that was pressing into Lettie’s stomach, but no. I moved so that she was standing in front of me. “How are the kids?”
“They’re entranced with the movie right now. We’ll keep an eye on them. We’re opening presents as soon as it’s over. Don’t make us send one of the boys out looking for you.”
I had to get out of there. It was too much. A conversation with them was the last thing I wanted to do. “Okay, we’ll be back soon.”
Lettie seemed frozen, so I slid my hand up from her hip and gently squeezed. She wiggled, effectively torturing me. The way she looked at me cemented the fact that I wanted her, and I wanted her now. My brain sizzled, and I gave up trying to be a gentleman.
I scooped her into my arms, praying no one saw my erection, and headed out of the room. “Keep an eye on the kids, please!”
Lettie wrapped her arms around my neck and groaned. “They know. They know exactly what’s going to happen.”
I liked the way she implied that it was still happening, no matter what. It was a big green light and I couldn’t wait to go. “Does it bother you? Because when we come back, you’re going to smell a whole hell of a lot like me and then everyone is going to know.”
She twisted and I thought she wanted down, but instead she wrapped her legs around my waist and pressed her plump lips to my ear again. “Take me wherever we’re going. Fast.”
The front door opened and I took it as my chance. We passed Matt coming back inside and he just raised his eyebrows and held up his hands. “Don’t let me get in your way.”
I carried Lettie to the barn and then set her down next to the ladder that led to the loft. “Up.”
She squealed when I slapped her ass and sent a dark look over her shoulder at me. “Watch it.”
I pushed the barn door shut and grinned. “Don’t worry. I am.”
She’d barely gotten her feet under her when I was hurrying over the ladder and into the loft. It was a pretty modern barn and the entire backside of the loft was a large window that looked out over the farmland. I knew the view was beautiful but I was focused on my mate. For every step I took towards her, she grinned and took one backwards.
“Come here, little Lettie. The big bad bear has something for you.” I called to her softly and watched as shivers rocked her body.
Her nipples pebbled under her sweater and she bit her lip. She didn’t listen, though. “I haven’t seen your bear. What’s he look like?”
He wanted to come out and show her, that was for sure. I couldn’t trust him not to charge at her in an attempt to claim what was ours, though. “Big. Hungry. Dangerous.”
Her butt pressed against the bottom of the window. “Should I be worried?”
I growled low in my throat and pinned her in place with just my hips. “Very.”
She reached out and unbuttoned my shirt before slipping her chilled hands inside and stroking my chest. She pushed it off and then ran her eyes down my body. “Sheriff Long, you’ve been hiding quite a lot in that uniform.”
I caught the hem of her sweater and pulled it over her head. In just her bra, she looked delicious. I took the tiny front hook and made quick work of it. As the material fell away, her perfect breasts tumbled out and into my hands. “So have you, Ms. Jay.”
“Why does this feel so right? Why now? We’ve know each other… forever.”
I pulled her into my arms and kissed her, hard and long. Then, I turned her around and rested my chin in the crook of her neck. “Look at it. A Christmas snowfall. The first white Christmas we’ve had in Landing in years.”
She backed her ass into me and rocked her hips back and forth. “Is that what this is? Just some holiday fun?”
I tilted my face and let my teeth scrape over her vulnerable neck. “No.”
A strong shiver shook her. “What is it?”
“It’s nature, little mate. Slow and somewhat confusing nature.”
A little gasp was the only response I got from her. Her hips didn’t stop moving, though. Steady and strong, she rocked them into me, driving me absolutely insane.
“After all these years of knowing each other, it seems it just took three kids and a mistletoe to get us together.”
She looked back at me and her eyes were bright. “You’re my mate.”
I moaned as her hips continued their torture. “I am. I nearly marked you earlier, but I figured you might prefer to be asked first.”
Lettie groaned. “Yes. Mark me. I want you to claim me as your mate, Tucker.”
I reached around her waist and quickly undid her jeans and yanked them down. I shoved her panties down with them and then stroked her dripping core with my fingers. “You’re mine, Lettie.”
I knew that I should do other things our first time, but I was a desperate man. I needed to be inside her. I pushed my own pants down and lined our bodies up. I eased into her, despite her being so wet.
Lettie grabbed my hand that was on her hip and pressed her other hand against the window. She tipped her head back and moaned. “Tucker…”
I pulled out and slowly pumped back into her, trying to extend both of our pleasures for as long as possible. My heart hammered away in my chest, but that was nothing to the pulsing in my dick. Lettie was trying to squeeze me to death.
I took her like that, slow and hard, over the best view on the ranch. I thrust into her again and again until I was close to losing it. All of my senses were on fire. Her smell surrounded me. The way she looked with her pants around her knees, legs slightly spread, hair completely wrecked had me right on the edge.
“I’m close, Tucker.” Her voice broke and she balled her fist up, her nails scraping against the window as she did.
I wrapped my arm aroun
d her and found her clit with my fingers, while nuzzling my mouth into her neck. “Come for me, Lettie. Come for me, little mate.”
The second her body squeezed my dick, I felt my own release shooting from deep inside. I let my bear’s teeth come out and sank them into her neck, marking her, claiming her as mine for the rest of our lives.
My orgasm seemed to grow stronger and I came so much that I was barely standing by the time it finished. Lettie screamed, her face so close to the window that her breath fogged it up. Her body pulsed around me as she came, hard and long.
I felt the bond grow immediately, felt myself grow warm with the realization that I’d just marked my mate. My mate. Lettie Jay was mine and I was hers. And the kids? The kids were definitely ours.
CHAPTER 9: Lettie
I was barely conscious when Tucker’s hand moved from my side and he used his finger to draw a couple of stick figures in the fog my breath had created. I smiled, but then he kept drawing. Three more, smaller, stick figures appeared and then faded as the fog receded.
Tears filled my eyes and I looked at him over my shoulder. “Say it.”
He pulled out of me and helped me get dressed again. Once we were both wrapped up, he pulled me into his arms. “I want to keep them with us. Fate had to have meant for it to happen this way. You’re my mate and they’re our family.”
I threw my arms around his neck and squeezed. “Tucker, I… This is too perfect. Are you sure?”
He laughed. “Yes, Lettie. You’re my mate. Those kids are our kids now.”
I thought of how lonely I’d felt that morning, how much I’d wished for something more. My house was too big, too cold for me to stay in it, even on Christmas day. Yet, there I stood, at the end of the same day, complete with a mate and three kids who I was overjoyed to take responsibility for. It truly was a Christmas miracle.
“I’ll figure out how to work it out with the system and we’ll figure out how to work it out with three new kids.”
I buried my face in his chest and sighed. “We’ll have to work out some special time for the two of us to do this.”
He grunted. “I’ll always find time for this, little mate.”
I unwrapped myself from him and moved towards the stairs. “Come on. Let’s tell the children.”
He caught my arm and pulled me back into a fierce kiss. “I am so glad that you’re my mate, Lettie. This is the best Christmas gift anyone could’ve ever given me.”
I gave him a wicked smile. “Just wait until later, after we figure out where the kids are staying and get them off to sleep.”
He followed me down the ladder and then chased me back to the house. “You didn’t get enough?”
I laughed and spun around just as he grabbed me. Standing in the snowfall, freezing but happy, I shook my head. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get enough.”
“I’m a lucky man.”
The door opened behind us and Alex stuck his head out. “Oh, thank God. I was terrified I was going to have to interrupt something. Come on in. We’re opening gifts.”
I couldn’t keep the grin off my face when Tucker took my hand and led me in. Everyone looked up at us and the expressions on the adults’ faces said it all.
I blushed, but ignored them as I sat down behind Abby.
She looked up at me and grinned. “We got presents!”
I looked at the big pile in front of her and felt my heart swell in my chest. “You did!”
Joey popped up next to her and pointed to his pile. “How are we even going to get these home?”
Abby suddenly frowned. “We don’t… I don’t know, Joey.”
I scooped her into my arms and pulled her onto the couch between myself and Tucker. “We need to ask you something.”
She looked at the both of us, her eyes still round and sad. “What?”
“Would you like to live with me? I have a big house and a cat named Tony. I promise I will take care of you and your brothers. And…Tucker would be there, too.”
She was instantly in my lap with her arms around me. Giant tears rolled down her cheeks. “You want us?”
I nodded and shed a few of my own tears. “Of course, we do. No matter what happened with your mom, Abby, you and your brothers are the best gift I could’ve ever hoped for. I promise that I’ll do my best to make sure you’re all happy.”
Her little body shook in my arms and she let the tears fall freely. Joey and Bear rushed over to join her in my lap. They hugged their big sister, clearly worried about her. She gathered herself, though, and smiled at them. “We’re going to live with Lettie, guys. She’s going to take care of us. And Sheriff Tucker. They’ll keep us safe.”
Joey tilted his head. “Do you have cartoons?”
I nodded. “All kinds of them.”
Bear gave a pitiful roar. “Can I be bear?”
I nodded. “You can be bear.”
That was all it took. The boys jumped down and went back to their presents. Abby was slower. She hugged me for a long time before hugging Tucker and then crawling back to her gifts.
Tucker pulled me into his chest and kept me there. “They seem happy.”
I looked down at them, opening the piles of gifts, each one seemed to be perfect for them. I didn’t know how Carolyn did it, but she’d made their Christmas. She’d made everyone’s Christmas. I looked around at the beautiful scenery with the snow falling outside and the Christmas carols being played, and I felt almost like a little kid myself. Then, Melissa brought out a big tray of cookies and the scene was complete.
Matt and Leila sat together, holding their two children. Lucas and Sammie were cuddled up, staring at each other with so much love it would’ve made me jealous to see if I hadn’t had Tucker at my back, holding me. Mason was on the floor with Joey, racing their new cars. Michael and Daisy were on the floor with their boy, watching him try to walk. John was sitting behind Bunny, on the couch, rocking their crying baby. Then, there was Alex, pacing as Elizabeth tried to find a comfortable position for her belly while their two boys ran wild around everyone.
Carolyn stood back and watched her family with a twinkle in her eye, Baily at her side taking pictures, making sure the memories lasted.
It couldn’t have been more perfect. I felt like I’d stepped into a framed Thomas Kinkaid painting. My own Christmas miracle.
At least I thought so until Tucker leaned forward and nibbled my ear. “You said you have a cat named Tony?”
“Yes. Why?”
He laughed. “I have a dog named Thunder. This should be interesting.”
I turned to face him and frowned. “Thunder likes cats, right?”
“Hmm… sure.”
“My house is going to be destroyed, isn’t it?”
He pressed a kiss to my lips. “Welcome to motherhood, little mate.”
I looked back down at my three precious gifts surrounded by their new toys. Abby glanced up at me and flashed a big smile before going back to fastening her new charm bracelet.
I settled back against Tucker’s chest and sighed happily. “So, we’ll have a few messes. How bad could it be?”
I had no idea what I’d gotten myself into, but I knew that no matter what, it would be worth it.
THE END
Coming Soon…
Back when large black bear shifters were hunted for their sheer size and strength, the small community of Burden, Texas provided refuge for the shifters who flocked in droves to the little town out in the middle of nowhere.
Best friends since childhood, Hawthorne, Wyatt, Hutch, Sterling, and Sam are living the good life. The last thing these good ol’ bears of Burden, TX are thinking about is settling down with a mate.
Hell, with jobs they love, beer flowing freely, and pretty women in abundance, what do they need mates for?
Life is funny, though.
Sometimes, instead of getting what you want, you get what you need.
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KODIAK ISLAND SHIFTERS:
Sterling Bear Shifters Book 1: COLTON
(This book is a standalone with a Happily Ever After ending. It is the first book in a series you’re going to love about the Sterling Brothers, Grizzly Bear Shifters.)
Colton Sterling- Brilliant business strategist, Ladies man, Adrenaline junky, Self-made billionaire, and a Kodiak grizzly bear shifter.
Colton Never thought he’d settle down. It’s not that he didn’t like the ladies, he LOVED the ladies, and they loved him. In fact, his brothers joked about him having a woman in every port. The thing is, his grizzly had no desire to claim any of them as his mate, none took his breath away.
Until he saw her…
Hannah Cooper- Smart, curvy, bold young doctor way out of her league in the Alaskan wilderness. The thing is, she’s just passing through.
Colton has 24 hours to make her fall in love with him before she’s gone, back to the lower 48.
Can he rise to the challenge?
Rancher Bear Complete Series: PLUS NEW BONUS BOOK: Rancher Bears' Merry Christmas Page 28
