by Milly Taiden
Bastien met Carly’s gaze. She thought she might die from the fire he started in her veins. Lust roared to life in her belly at the hungry way he looked at her followed by a lick of his lips. Her mind took a nosedive to the gutter.
Bastien’s lips were to drag that thing up her leg. Oh, thank fuck she’d shaved her legs. The last thing she needed was for him to feel hair long enough to braid on her legs. And she wasn’t even a shifter!
If she could get herself to stop imagining every dirty scenario of him licking his way up her leg, they might be able to get through this without her soaking her panties much more. He let out a soft groan. “No hands? You got it.”
He took his time, lifting the hem of her long dress to show off her sparkly gold-heeled sandals. She’d had a mani and pedi to match her dress and tried not to think about the bikini wax she’d decided to add to her pampering session in case she got roaring drunk and laid.
Oh, boy. Laid sounded so good when Bastien’s eye glowed a powerful gold. Laid by him in every clothes-tearing animalistic way possible. Yes. That sounded fucking perfect.
Bastien placed the edge of the lacy garter between his teeth and proceeded to slide under the skirt, out of her view and that of the other guests. The men cat-called for Bastien to “make it worth Carly’s while” and the women gave her some serious death glares.
She gripped the side of the chair, feeling his hair brush against her leg. The soft material of the garter grazed her ankle as he tugged it up. She tried to hold still, knowing he was under her dress and her brain chose that moment to remind her of the dirty dreams she’d had every night with Bastien. A low rumble sounded from under her dress. The guys laughed and more champagne was passed around.
Suddenly, something wet trailed up her knee. She squeaked and squirmed in her seat.
“Are you done?” she asked breathless. Her heartbeat pounded in her ear.
She held her breath when he caressed from her ankle to her calf and higher. She tried to smile at the people watching, silently biting her tongue and holding back the moan threatening to come out. His hand continued up to her inner thigh and instead of pressing her legs closed and shutting him out like she should, she widened and gave him full view of her damp crotch.
“All right, Bastien, you can’t be under there all night,” Luke joked. “Not while everyone is waiting to get to dancing. Let’s see your handy work.”
She lifted her skirt high enough to show off the garter at the top of her knee and a grinning Bastien. The sexy bastard winked at her and stood, bowing to the hollering masses.
He offered her a hand to help her stand. Damn shaky legs. She knew better than to let him get to her. He was too cute for his own good.
“Want to ditch this place and go somewhere quiet?” he asked, pulling her into his arms just as the band started to play a new song. The soft, sultry sounds of the music meant he held her close. They swayed to the romantic beats, her arms around his neck and his hand on her lower back, running circles on the curve of her ass.
“I’m supposed to help Kira until they leave,” she sighed, already lightheaded from the all the champagne, the lack of food and exhaustion. Had she not been so tired, she wouldn’t be so tempted to go off wherever he wanted.
“I can wait,” he murmured, pressing his lips to the side of her face.
He smelled so good. Like soap and spring and felt warm to the touch.
“Thanks but I think by the time this is over I’m going to need a very long nap,” she said, hating herself for her common sense. Her father would have a heart attack if he knew she was hanging around shifters. One of the things he’d tried to get her to promise was to stay away from them. Here she was, letting a big bear feel on her like she was a honey bun fresh out of the oven.
The moment the song ended, she strolled towards Luna with Bastien by her side. She didn’t get a chance to do anything when she noticed Kira motioning for her.
“Time to go be maid of honor,” she sighed. “I hope this night ends with a bottle of champagne in my room and cake.”
THREE
Bastien licked his lips, imagining he was still licking Carly’s inner thigh. She tasted better than he’d imagined. And when he put a hand on her knee, she’d spread her legs to show him her see-through undies and that big wet spot calling his name. She smelled so good. Her honey wet her thighs.
She marched to the other side of the ballroom, her hips swayed with every step, making her curves call more attention. He watched a few of the other men eye her ass. He frowned at the immediate anger that flooded his system.
Mine.
The bear wanted to tear through his skin and go after anyone looking his mate.
She might not realize it, but Carly was his mate. He’d tried everything he knew to get her to go out with him. He knew she wanted him. That much was clear from the scent of her arousal and damp panties he’d seen moments before.
“Are you okay, little bear?” Luna asked. She’d called him little bear since he was a kid and never stopped. Not even after he’d grown to over six feet tall and towered over her.
“I’m good, Luna. You having fun?” he sat at the table and kept her company. He took a beer from the passing waiter and gulped half of it down, letting the chill cool some of the heat in his blood.
“I’m having a lovely time.” She raised a brow and grinned. “Are you finally going to go after Carly?”
“Finally?” He laughed.
“You know,” she shook her head and sipped on her champagne. She’d probably had that single glass all night. Luna wasn’t a drinker. “I haven’t seen you this focused on something or someone since you were a little boy. Are you sure you want to pursue her?” She glanced to her left and he followed her gaze. Carly spoke to Kira and both left the ballroom. “She’s a good girl. You’re a good boy. But I know you shifters. You can be horny little devils. And I get the impression she’s been hurt enough.”
He choked on his beer and put it on the table. “Luna. It’s not like that.”
She blinked innocently. “It’s not?”
Who was he kidding? It was like that. He wanted Carly naked more than he wanted to build the new extension to his house. And he had been planning that side of his house for a year. He was damn excited to build it now that the snow was gone.
“Okay, yes. I want her, but not just for her body,” he admitted. He glanced at his drink, watching the napkin around it soak up the perspiration from the bottle. “She’s the one.”
“She is?” Luna asked, her eyes wide, excitement sounded in her voice. “This is wonderful! You’ve finally found your mate.”
He nodded absently. “If only she’d give me the time of day.”
“Oh, please,” Luna smacked his arm. “You clearly haven’t been listening to her body language.
“Of course, I listened. She said she was busy and tired.”
She leaned forward. “Then make sure she is in the mood when she gets to her room.”
“And when she gets there, she’ll be angry I interrupted her alone time.”
“Son, let me explain something to you. That girl wants you. She might be fighting it. She might be trying to talk herself out of doing anything crazy, but believe me when I tell you, she’s going to end up in your arms.” She shrugged. “Now the question is, how long do you want to wait for that to happen?”
“She’s tired. I should leave her alone.”
She nodded. “You can. It won’t change the fact you both want to be together. I’m guessing you’ve got masochist tendencies to want to stay away from her this long.”
“Hardly,” he groaned and gulped the rest of his beer.
“So what are you doing thinking so hard?” She patted his forearm then lifted her hand to his cheek. “You don’t know how hard it will be to convince your mate she’s the one. Sometimes, love means losing more than we expect.”
He couldn’t believe Luna was giving him female advice. Not that his mother could. She and his father had died d
uring a severe blizzard almost ten years ago. He was glad he had Luna. She’d been a second mother to him all the years he’d been friends with Luke.
“You are too sweet, Luna.” Bastien lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it. “I love you.”
She grinned. “I love you, too.” Her eyes grew distant. “I lost someone very dear when I mated Luke’s father. Love brings change, little bear.”
He watched sadness flash through her eyes. “Who did you lose?”
Luna had been a very private woman, never referring to her life before Luke’s father, no matter how much he and Luke asked.
“My baby.”
Bastien gasped. He hadn’t expected that. He didn’t know Luna had children before mating Luke’s dad. She’d shown up alone and he’d always assumed she must have been single. “I’m sorry.”
She shook her head, wiping the tears that rushed down her cheeks. “Ignore me. I’m a bit melancholic tonight. Watching Luke marry Kira and wondering if my baby would have ever gotten married.” She licked her lips and met Bastien’s gaze. “Go. Get your girl.”
He planned to do just that. Carly didn’t know it, but she was going to have a big surprise waiting in her bedroom.
FOUR
Carly lifted her head from the elevator and wall and blinked at the moving lights. She was tipsy. Tired, drunk, and horny. Not a good combination. She’d done her duty as maid of honor and sent off Kira and Luke on their honeymoon to Tahiti with big smiles and many well wishes.
She glanced at the heels in her hands and wiggled her aching toes on the carpet. It was so soft and plush. She could stay there all night just feeling her feet curl on the material. The last thing she wanted was shoes. Her feet were swollen. She mumbled about not wanting to attend another wedding for at least ten years. Unless she got to see Bastien in a tux again. That alone was worth every swollen foot and aching back.
She slipped her keycard into the door and groaned her way into the giant suite. She stopped when the door closed and frowned. Was she in the right room?
Red rose petals made a walkway towards the bedroom. She padded into the living area, threw her shoes on the ground and slid the French doors open to the adjacent bedroom.
“Oh, wow!”
The trail of petals continued to the door leading to the bathroom. There was a heart made out of the flower petals on her king size bed. A bottle of champagne on ice and a cart with strawberries and cake sat to the side. She opened the bathroom door and groaned at the sigh. The Jacuzzi was going, steam rising from the bubbly water. Large red pillar candles had been lit all around the bathroom. It was so romantic and thoughtful after the day she’d had.
She had no idea who did it, but she was going to enjoy it. It had to be Luna. That woman had the heart of an angel. Once she’d slipped out of her dress and underwear, she wiped off her makeup. Then she put her hair up in a knot on top of her head and dropped lavender scented oil into the Jacuzzi.
Normally, she’d worry about falling asleep in the hot tub if she put lavender in the water, but not tonight. She’d lay there all night if it helped her feet and back. She rushed back to the bedroom, unconcerned over her jiggly naked state and popped the cork on the champagne, filling a glass and downing it in two gulps.
She thought about taking the bottle to the bathroom, but instead picked up the way too cold ice bucket and her cell phone and placed them next to the Jacuzzi. She ran back to the bedroom and grabbed the strawberries. That cake was going to wait until she was done with her bath. She’d been a huge fan of the tasty guava filling Kira had chosen. Something she shared in common with Luna.
Watching Kira with Luna had brought a nostalgic feeling into her heart. Like Kira, Carly didn’t have a mom. Hers had died when she’d been a baby, according to her dad. Juan Ardan had never wanted to speak of his late wife, claiming it hurt too much to remember, which left Carly with very little information on her mother.
Carly’s life had always centered around what her father wanted, until she was old enough to leave home. Then she chose to move away from her dad. He’d always been too controlling and demanding, something Carly couldn’t stand in people.
She sipped the champagne, thinking of how he’d freak out if he knew she was spending time with shifters.
“They’re animals!” he’d exclaimed when she’d once mentioned meeting a shifter girl in college. “Don’t waste your time with them.”
But Carly didn’t take orders well. Hell, she barely took orders period. It’s why she and Kira got along so well. Kira let her do her job and never bossed her around.
Back in the bathroom, she moved the champagne and strawberries closer to her on the hot tub. The flat surface allowed for her to be able to put her flute on it and lean her head back on the towel. When she was ready, she could reach over and get another drink.
She lay back in the hot, bubbly water and let the scent of lavender soak through her pores. Second by second, every one of her aching muscles started to loosen and relax.
She closed her eyes, wondering if she should give Bastien a chance. Her father never came into the equation as to why she kept denying herself. Bastien was so good looking but a big time flirt. At least with her. She hadn’t seen him flirting with anyone else during the wedding.
Even when he’d been surrounded by females from Kira’s company looking for attention, or the women from the multiple shifter groups in the area, he’d never let his gaze stray from Carly.
Life used to be less complicated when Carly didn’t have strange emotions fluttering to life every time Bastien grinned at her. Something buzzed. It wasn’t the bubbles in the Jacuzzi. She blinked around, squinting against the haze of the fog floating up from the water.
She reached behind her for the champagne flute. The hard case of her cell phone sat next to her glass. She didn’t remember bringing her cell phone into the bathroom. Then again, she was exhausted so she’d probably done it without realizing.
The protective case on the phone allowed her to pick it up with wet fingers and not have to worry about damaging the smart device. She took the champagne in her other hand and lay back, scrolling through numerous messages from her father, her exes, and a good friend she hadn’t spoken to in a while. The missed call was what got her to gulp on the bubbly liquor.
Bastien. Desire flared to life at the pit of her core. The thought of him alone sent her hormones into a frenzy. She pressed the call back button and glanced at the ceiling light. The antique round fixture with chrome scrolls was unlike any she’d seen in other hotels. It was both modern and old.
“Carly.” His voice had that rough quality she adored. It was his animal. Dangerous. Shifter. She shouldn’t be talking to him, but she wanted him.
“Hi,” she breathed, her husky voice sounded aroused even to her own ears.
“Did you like the champagne?” There was a distinct sound of shuffling from his side of the line. She wondered what he was doing.
“It’s delicious. Thank you,” she said. It was probably the champagne, okay, no probably, it was definitely the champagne that made her feel nice and relaxed and loose at the tongue. “It would have been nice to have someone to share it with.”
There was a pause and a low grumble. “You’re tired. I saw it in your face. You’ve been on the go from early this morning.”
He was right. She was exhausted. Still, she wanted him. Another sound of shuffling and words flew out of her mouth before she had a chance to stop them. “What are you doing? Stripping?”
She bit her lip, wishing she could take the words back, but at the same time dying to know what he’d say.
“As a matter of fact, I am.”
She heard herself start to breathe heavy. The image of him out of his tux and naked fueled the flames of her need. “Naked?”
“If you want to know, why don’t you come find out?”
Oh, she wanted to know. In fact, she could barely stand, but she would make the trip for him. “I would if I wasn’t naked myself in the
hot tub.”
Another bout of silence followed by a groan. “Carly, you can’t do this to me.”
FIVE
She grinned. This was fun. He was probably just as turned on as she was. “Do what?” she asked innocently.
“Are you really naked in the tub?”
She licked her lips a sudden idea lit in her brain. With the champagne glass back on the tiled surface, she cupped her breast in her hand, tweaking her tight nipple and moaning. “I’m more than naked in the tub.”
It was never a good idea to drink and talk to a man, especially when you were dying to climb said man like a tree. Inhibition had gone out the window, and now all she wanted was to get off while listening to Bastien’s heavy breathing on the phone.
“Carly,” he warned. “This isn’t a joke.”
She grinned. He sounded angry and frustrated. “I’m not joking.” She tugged on her nipple, yelping and groaning at the sparks shooting to her pussy. “Ah, Bastien. Do you know what I’m doing?” She crawled her hand down her belly, spreading her legs wide. She rubbed her clit and continued down, gliding two fingers into her channel. “I’m feeling my pussy suck on my little fingers,” she moaned. “I want to come so bad.”
He cleared his throat, a low groan followed by more heavy breathing. “Babe, you’re drunk.”
“A little. It doesn’t stop the fact I’m dying for it to be your fingers inside me, fucking me.” She closed her eyes, the image taking full control of her mind. “Or is it your tongue, licking and curling around my clit until I come?”
“Sweetheart,”
“No.” She cut him off. “Unless you plan to come down here and fuck me until morning, shut up.”
Carly wasn’t aggressive, not really. But she’d been denying herself and Bastien for months. Right at that moment, her body stopped listening to common sense.
