by Alana Hart
“Merrie, where are you going?” he asked, not moving away from the door.
“Home,” I whispered, unable to tear my eyes away. If this was the last time I would see him, then I was going to brand his image into my memory, so I could take it out, every now and then, just to remember.
A confused look crossed his face.
“This is your home. You love this shop.”
I love you, I thought but didn’t say.
“I’m going back home with my sister.” Signaling that was the end of the conversation, I turned back to my boxes, hands shaking.
Please don’t push for more…I can’t give you it…
“Merrie, just look at me, please!” Craig’s voice was a growling plea. “I don’t want you to go. I know I’ve acted like a fool, treated you…”
“Stop! Just stop. I…I can’t do this.”
“You can, we can. We just need to…”
“You don’t understand!”
“What don’t I understand? Talk to me, I swear I won’t ‘bear’ out on you,” he added with a forced sounding chuckle.
I sunk to the floor in an ungraceful heap, leaning back against the boxes and eyeing him thoughtfully. Maybe I had to tell him. Maybe this would drive him away. The Mother knew, I deserved it.
“Just tell me, we can work…”
“I’m Meridith,” I blurted out.
He just looked even more confused.
“The Meridith. Your Meridith,” I continued. “The original one,” I added weakly.
He crouched down against the door, eye level with me.
“Exactly what do you mean?”
He was going to really hate me now. I steeled myself.
“I’m the one who cursed you…”
He looked like I had hit him with a sledgehammer, his face blank with shock.
“You don’t…”
“I…I remember now. Because of Cassie, she lifted the magic that held my memories back. You see, witches live several, no, many lives, being reborn each time as the same person — their memories intact. I’m on my sixth life it turns out, not that I knew that when I met you…” I babbled, helplessly trying to explain.
“Let me see if I’ve got this straight. You’re her. You cursed me. But in your fifth life? Am I getting this right?”
I nodded, watching him warily. He was changing colors like a chameleon - white, then pink, then gray.
“And now you’re my mate. In your sixth life?”
I nodded again, clamping my mouth shut.
He stared at his hands, rubbing them on his denim-clad knees.
“Okay. Got it.” He chuckled again. “The Mother of All sure is sneaky when she wants to be. Explains a few things, though…”
“What?” I couldn’t help myself, I had to know. “What does it explain?”
“Why I thought you might be my mate the first time around. Why you not only look the same, you act the same, talk the same…damn well near smell the same. Kind of freaked me out at first, to be perfectly honest.”
“You thought I was your mate? Back then?”
“Yeah. That’s why I hung around for so long. My bear was confused, too. It was like the bond was nearly there…there was just something…”
“Missing?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“There was. Every time I am reborn my soul changes slightly. A little more of the Mother’s essence is added.” Would he understand what I was saying? That it could never be?
“So, that’s why my bear accepts you now,” he said, looking relieved. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, back then.”
“I know that now. My soul had been trying to bond with yours, too, and when…”
Craig looked devastated, guilt clear on his face.
“You bonded with me? Sweet Mother. Merrie, I am so sorry. To have bonded and then have it rejected, taken away…”
“And that is why it won’t work, Craig,” I said, the words hollow but firm. “I barely survived. Cassie says I went a little mad, that’s why she and Mom decided to repress my memories this time around…”
“But you found me. And I’m not rejecting you, I want you to be my mate, I want to be yours,” he pleaded hopefully, edging across the floor toward me.
A chunk of the barricade around my heart fell as I gazed into his pleading eyes. I swallowed, my throat dry.
Seeing my hesitation, Craig swiftly continued, “I love you, my Merrie. Both Merrie’s. I’ve always loved you and I always will.” He reached out and plucked my hand from my lap, pressing it against his chest, against his heart.
Always will, the words echoed in my mind. I shoved the barricade back up, pinning it in place.
“Not always. Not forever. When I’m next reborn, I won’t be your mate. And I can’t put you, or me, through that. I won’t.” There. It was done.
He froze, his brow furrowed in thought, while he stroked his thumb over my hand, sending shivers of pleasure dancing through me. I tugged at my hand, but he held it pinned to his chest, not relinquishing it. How could this man affect me so much, by doing so little?
“Got it,” he declared, his voice triumphant. “You know that shifters have very long lives?” He didn’t wait for an answer, instead plowing ahead, an eager smile on his face.
“Well, when we take a human as our mate, the Mother blesses them with an extended lifespan to match ours. So, we would live for the same length of time, me in my first life, you in your sixth—”
“I’m not a regular human…”
“You’re not a shifter, either. Still counts,” he added triumphantly.
“But what about when you’re gone? When I’m reborn?” I struggled to find the right words.
“How would you survive? Go on? The Mother of All has a plan for each of us, Merrie. We could have hundreds of years together before you would have to face that. And even then, you could choose not to remember me,” he said, his voice gentle.
“We would have had a long, loving life together. Grief is natural, a way of remembering, if you wanted to. That’s if you choose to be reborn…”
“Choose?”
“We each have a path, and yours is linked with mine. I do not think that She is cruel. I think She would give you the choice, like you gave me back mine.” He pressed my hand to his mouth, kissing each knuckle, one by one.
“Say yes, Merrie. Be mine, and I’ll be yours.”
I searched for the flaw in his argument, hope soaring in my chest. We could be together. Finally. But…
“You hate witches,” I whispered. He’d already proved that, and now he asked that I trust him. Be his mate? When he despised my kind?
***
Craig
Curled up on the floor, her hair a tangled mess and eyes swollen from crying, Merrie stared up at me resentfully. I desperately wanted to sweep her in my arms and kiss away all the signs of sadness. Use my body to convince her that I loved her, only her. Man, how I wanted to convince her. She was so beautiful, long limbed and with ripe curves. I knew what heaven felt like — damn it, I knew what it tasted like, too — and I was starving for more. I surreptitiously rearranged my jeans, now an uncomfortably tight fit. She thought I hated her. Hated witches. Well, if that was the last hurdle.
I stood up, stepping back.
Get ready, I warned my bear.
About time you fixed this. Now get on with it — I want our mate, he growled inside my head.
“Actions speak louder than words, my mate, my love. I do this for you, to show you that I accept you — witch and all.” I took a deep breath, gathering my courage. I couldn’t believe I was about to do this…I raised my arms, holding them out.
“Craig, what are you?”
I muttered the curse under my breath, careful to recite it exactly as Cassie had instructed me. This was the point of no return. On the last word, I pressed my hands to my heart, bracing myself.
“Craig, no!”
“For you, Merrie…” I growled, the pain burning through
me, rooting deep within and finding a home. Falling to my knees with a bone-jarring thud, I gritted my teeth, the pain fading.
“I don’t want to be with anyone else. Only you. I choose you as my mate, my only one. I trust you, admire you and respect you for who and what you are.”
“Why did you do this?” she demanded, her eyes wide with shock. Racing to my side, she knelt beside me.
“To show you. Cassie showed me how. She didn’t think I’d go through with it, said if I did, then she supposed I was good enough for her sister,” I said, fighting off the residue of pain and trying for a lighthearted chuckle.
“You wouldn’t believe me any other way.”
“And if I don’t believe you? If I don’t accept this and be your mate?”
“Then, I would still rather be alone. There is no one else for me, ever.”
She paused, then pressed her hands to my chest, smoothing the fabric gently.
“I love you, Craig Everson. And I always have, you fool,” she added.
“And always will?” I asked, daring to hope.
She nodded. “And always will. Now kiss me, love me. And this time — make sure you remember to bite!”
Happiness exploded inside me, she was mine.
“I love you,” I growled, pulling her into my arms and kissing the tip of her nose.
“No problem at all with the biting — you’re edible, like sweet, sweet honey…” I murmured, pressing my lips to hers.
CHAPTER TEN
Merrie
Craig’s lips came down on mine, our breath joining and tongues dancing as we licked and kissed in desperate abandon. With hungry hands we stroked each other, touching and caressing, trying to make up for lost time. We stripped each other urgently, flinging clothes in every direction, our lips breaking away for only the barest moments, before rejoining in a kind of passion I had never known before.
I pulled him to me, wanting to feel his body covering mine, to join with him in the ultimate act, but he paused, a frown on his handsome face.
“What’s wrong?” I gasped, my chest heaving. I circled my arms around his neck, nibbling the length of his throat, nipping and kissing.
He groaned, the sound low and feral. “The floor,” he growled.
“Yeah?” I finished kissing my way down his neck, and loosening my arms, started working on his chest. I bit lightly into the thick pad of pectoral muscle, laving the sting with my tongue.
“Fuck, Merrie…”
I circled the nub of his nipple with my tongue, flicking the tip gently. His hands gripped my back as he arched into my touch.
“You were saying?” I asked saucily.
He shuddered as I blew softly on his moist nipple, the peak hardening even more. “Damn. The floor — it’s too hard…messy…not good enough for you.”
“I don’t have to be taken like a lady, you know — on my back and staring at the ceiling. I’m sure you could think of more…inventive ways…”
I let out a shriek of surprise as he scooped me up and threw me over his shoulder, my head dangling at just the right angle to admire the crease and flex of his ass as he strode across the room.
“Enjoying the view?” he called over his shoulder.
“Sure am,” I threw back, stroking his buttocks with both of my hands. I trailed a finger down the crease in the middle…
A sharp sting on my behind halted my finger on it’s wandering journey, a tap swiftly followed by a firm caress, massaging and stroking, dipping lower, and lower. I moaned out loud as his finger dipped in between my legs, pressing between my moist folds and gaining entry in one smooth thrust.
“It’s not that I disagreed with what you were doing…”
Groaning, I spread my legs wider to receive his fingers, my head lolling down and resting on his back.
“I just couldn’t resist giving this sexy ass a love tap. That, and your honey smells so damn good. You’ve given me ideas though…” We’d stopped moving by now, but he still held me effortlessly — pressing and stroking. I jolted with shock as I felt his thumb pressing between my cheeks, his fingers still buried deep inside me. Wet and slippery, the digit pressed against my rear opening, pushing through the barrier and burrowing deep inside. An involuntary shudder rippled through me at the overwhelming feeling of fullness, the naughtiness of what he was doing — the position I was in — he must have quite an eyeful.
“You like that?” he murmured, as I wriggled against his pressing fingers, willing him to continue. Finally giving me what I wanted, he thrust slowly, waiting for my reaction, before repeating the movement a little faster, then faster still.
A low keening sound spilled from me, echoing around the room as the tell tale pressure started to build within.
“Not so fast.”
In swift, economical movements he gripped me, lifting me down off his shoulder and arranging me, draped face down, over what was left of the cashier desk. On trembling legs, I glanced over my shoulder, anticipation of what he was going to do churning in my stomach. He towered over me, his face blanketed with lust, body strained and eager.
Catching my eye, he bore his teeth in a feral parody of a grin.
“This time, I’m going to take you as my mate — and I can’t fucking wait.”
I watched as his eyes dropped, imagining what he must be seeing. My legs spread wide, open for him. His cock, thick and ready. I dropped my head back onto the scarred, wooden counter. He gripped my hips, his fingers digging lightly into my soft flesh, and slowly pushed himself deep inside.
“Yesss…” he hissed through his teeth, and I echoed the word, arching back into his grip, pressing myself back into him. The angle, his thickness — I had never felt so full. And I loved it.
“More,” I demanded, my hips pressing against his hands. I wanted to feel him moving, sliding in and out, stroking every nerve. Next time I would ride him, I decided. Tease him into oblivion. And there would be a next time — I was sure of it.
“Anything for you,” he whispered, sharply pulling back and thrusting back in.
My hands grappled for a tighter grip on the counter edge, to brace myself, as his weight thrust me forward. I wanted to feel every delicious inch of him. The rhythmic friction, flesh sliding against flesh, became my world, my only focus. The roughness of the wood under my curled fingertips, the scorched surface dragging and scratching against my breasts, the throbbing sensation between my legs as he plunged in and out of me, pushed me higher. I gasped with pleasure with each full stroke, moaning as he withdrew.
With a growl, he paused, seated fully inside me.
“I need to see your face when I take you, when we join as one.”
He pulled out, the loss nearly bringing me to my knees.
“Turn over, Merrie, my mate. Scoot closer to the edge, like that,” he directed, rearranging me deftly with his big hands.
Perched on the edge of the counter, my mind flashed back to the other day in the kitchen, when he had licked and kissed me all over. A spasm of remembered pleasure shot through me, coaxed into a bright flame as he thrust deep inside me.
Catching my groan on his lips, he swallowed the sound, his eyes burning into mine — never breaking the connection, as he kissed me with desperation.
Gripping his shoulders, feeling the muscles bunching under my hands, I tilted my hips, wanting him even deeper. I wanted to feel him inside me, feel all of him.
“More, more please!” I begged, my toes curling, as my thighs clenched and strained in anticipation, my pussy fluttering around his thrusting cock, clenching and pulsing.
“More?” he growled, holding me tight, the only space between us that of his hips rotating in tight circles.
“I give you everything,” he said, a promise, a vow.
“I take you to be my true mate, Meridith Havencroft. Always and forever. I love you.” Kissing the side of my throat, he nudged my head to one side.
He was going to do it, the thought weaved through the fog of pleasure clouding my min
d. Focus, Merrie! I bit off a moan, carefully sliding my hand between our bodies, feeling my way up his chest to his heart.
“And I take you, Craig Everson, to be my true mate. Always and forever. I release you from your curse,” I said, whispering the magic under my breath. “And I love you, too.” I felt him tense as the magic hit him, unbinding and evaporating from his soul.
“I choose you. We will always choose each other.”
A rumbling growl grew, thundering through his chest, the vibration spilling through me, and jolting me over the edge on which I had been teetering, balanced upon. With a cry I fell, blood rushing in my ears, my spine arching as the orgasm swept through me like lightning.
A roar swept through the room as Craig bit down into the soft indent just above my collarbone, piercing the skin, as he thrust wildly, spasming as he came, the hot liquid of his seed filling me, marking me, too. He clutched me to him, slowing until he came to a stop, still lodged deep inside. Pulling away from my shoulder, he leaned back, a proprietary look on his face.
“That looks damn good,” he said, leaning forward and gently kissing the spot.
“Do I get to bite you next time?” I asked, not sure if I liked the idea. It kinda squicked me out, come to think of it.
“You can, if you want to. No need, though - you’re not a shifter so my mating mark binds us both,” he explained, wiggling his eyebrows.
I leaned back on my elbows, eyeing him thoughtfully.
“About that,” I started, watching the way his gaze flicked down, locking on my breasts, which were right there, on display. “Hey! Don’t go getting any ideas. We’ve only just…”
“I could go another five times…at least,” he said, smirking. “One of the pluses of being mated to a shifter…”
“Anyway, as I was saying,” I continued, waiting for his gaze to lift. I gave up. I kinda liked the way he was ogling me.
“The being bound bit, what does that actually mean?”
“Now, she asks! Bit late, don’t you think?”
“I was a little preoccupied being worried about you hating…”
“Okay, okay,” he broke in hastily, finally looking me in the eyes. “This is the mating bond.”
I felt a twinge, a tugging deep inside my chest, a tingling that echoed through my mind. A flood of admiration and love washed over me, filling me.
