by Bianca D'Arc
She deepened the kiss, and he followed where she led. She’d never really led them anywhere before, so this was new and exciting to her. Ray’s encouraging caresses made her even bolder.
She tugged at the fabric separating their bodies. She wanted it gone. She wanted to feel Ray’s skin against hers. She wanted to stroke him all over and rub herself against her mate.
He complied, getting them both naked in record time while she kissed and explored him. He hadn’t changed much from her memories. He was a bit skinnier, of course. Being held prisoner could do that to a person. But he was still her Ray. Her lover. Her mate.
She pushed the blankets away and didn’t really care that they landed on the floor. The only thing that mattered right now was Ray. Kissing him. Loving him.
She ran her lips over his skin, noting the spots where he had bruises. She kissed them gently.
“When did this happen?” she asked in a hushed whisper, pausing at a purplish bruise over his ribs.
Ray sighed. “My jailor would occasionally toss me around a bit,” he explained, breaking her heart all over again for what he’d been through. “But don’t worry. I’m pretty tough. Nothing’s broken. Just bruised.”
“Oh, Ray…” She felt tears threatening.
Ray took command of the situation, rolling them so that he was leaning over her. Their eyes met and held.
“I’m all right, Evie. All that is over with now, thanks to you and our son…and his mate.” He shook his head a little, a soft smile blossoming. “Have I told you how incredible I feel when I think of us having a child? But he’s grown into a man without my ever seeing it. He’s mated.” Ray looked away, strong emotion on his chiseled features. “I’m more grateful than I can say that they were able to liberate me, but I missed a lot.”
Evie cupped his cheek, drawing his gaze back to hers. “Josh missed having a father, but I know our son. He’s going to be so glad to know you, Ray. You can both make up for lost time. I’m sure of it.”
“Maybe so,” he agreed after a long pause. He looked deep into her eyes. “Are you as forgiving, Evie? Are we going to be able to make up for lost time, as you put it? Can we pick up where we left off?”
His words gave her hope and allowed that little demon of daring to rise up again. “Do you mean from twenty years ago? Or from, like, two minutes ago?” She smiled at him, licking her lips provocatively. “Because I’m all in favor of the two-minutes-ago thing. I didn’t mean to get sidetracked into sad territory. Right now, I’d like to get back to the pleasure zone…if you’re willing.” She lowered her eyelids, peeking at him from beneath the fringe of her eyelashes like the timid wolf that lived inside her.
Her heart filled with joy when he smiled. She remembered that expression on his face. It was the one he wore before he pounced.
And pounce he did. Ray dove in for hot kisses that nearly melted her bones. Within seconds, they were back to the sexy place they’d been before she had allowed herself to be distracted by his bruises. Maybe it was better to let him lead the way, this time. She could let her inner bad girl out some other time, but for now, she just wanted him. Any way she could get him.
Ray didn’t disappoint her. Not in the least. He guided her body into the rhythm she remembered so well. The feelings she’d missed for so long. The mate she had mourned had been returned to her, and that miracle fueled a hard and fast orgasm that took her by surprise. They hadn’t even really gotten started yet.
Embarrassed, she looked at his face, but Ray was smiling with satisfaction. “I see you’ve got a hair trigger after so long apart. That’s good, sweetheart, because so do I. Once I get inside you, I doubt I’m going to last, but I promise I’ll make it up to you.” He kissed her, and she could feel the slight quiver of his muscles, as if he was holding himself in check, barely restrained.
He moved over her fully, and she made space for him between her legs.
“There’s nothing to make up,” she whispered to him. “I’m already way ahead of you.”
She giggled, warmed by his answering chuckle. They’d always been able to laugh and play. Both her human and wolf sides liked that about their mate. He brought such joy to them, on every level.
He joined them together, and it was magic in the purest sense of the word. Not the magic that came to Ray so easily as part of his fey heritage, but the more intimate magic that had always flared between them from the first. The magic of two souls perfectly matched. The magic of love.
When he slid home for the first time in years, she felt complete. It was such a perfect moment, they both stilled, just breathing for a moment, looking deep into each other’s eyes as the sparks of their union danced around them, bathing the little cabin in golden light. It had been so long. She’d forgotten about the fireworks.
“Who needs a nightlight?” Ray scoffed with that delectable humor he had always brought to their moments together.
She remembered all over again that his night vision wasn’t nearly as acute as hers. Wolves—and most other shifters—could see well in the dark, when their predator halves made up for more human weaknesses. She had to giggle, and that slight motion set off a round of joyous sparks in her body—and in the room.
“Oh, honey,” he whispered, his face smiling, but his eyes intense. “Do that again.”
His almost teasing tone made her laugh harder, and then, neither of them had the breath to laugh as he began to move within her.
The rhythm was a bit more hectic than she remembered, but it was appropriate to the moment. She had missed him so much, and it was pretty clear he’d missed her, too, if his enthusiasm was anything to go by. She felt like a goddess. A femme fatale who had power over men and their desires.
Truth was, she didn’t want power over any man. Not seductive power. But knowing that she could affect her mate this way reassured her inner wolf and her human heart at the same time. Some things didn’t need words to prove. Some things could only be understood by actions, and this encounter was proving to her beyond the shadow of a doubt that not only was Ray still her mate in every sense of the word, but that he believed it too.
She’d been so worried that their time apart had made his fey heart grow distant, but she’d been wrong. Making love to her mate was as explosive as it had ever been, and the care he took with her—even in his frenzy—made her realize that he felt the same.
It was wonderful. Truly fantastic. Mates reunited in the best possible way. As it should be.
She came, screaming his name, only a split second before he totally lost it, burying himself in her and letting out a guttural groan of extreme pleasure near her ear. Her climax went on and on, tearing through her, stimulating senses that had been dormant way too long.
The light in the cabin grew to an intense explosion of golden sparks, swirling around them, with their union as the focal point. The eye of the storm. The center of the whirlwind. Evie watched it in wonder as pleasure splashed over her in a wave, breaking and sweeping her along in the maelstrom. It grew and grew, so intense that she had to close her eyes against the bright flare of magical sparks in the room…and in her body…and her heart.
Ray collapsed on top of her long moments later, but she didn’t mind in the least. His weight was a reassuring presence. A warm blanket of security for her mate-starved senses.
Stars! How she’d missed him!
“I’m not even going to ask if that was all right,” Ray said, many minutes later, after rolling most of his weight off her. He wrapped his arms around her and cuddled her into his embrace, holding her as if he’d never again let her go.
“That confident, are you?” she asked with a languid sort of pleasure still running through her body. Ray had definitely put a smile on her face that might never leave.
He shrugged, lifting her up slightly where her head rested against his shoulder. “Maybe optimistic is a better word?”
“You always were a glass-half-full kind of guy,” she teased him, stroking his chest with her fingers, glad to
be able to touch him at will. “But in this case, your optimism is definitely well placed.” She leaned in to kiss his neck, biting gently. “I may not be able to move for a week.”
He chuckled, a satisfied sound. “That good, eh?”
Evie swatted him gently, nipping his shoulder. “Don’t get overconfident. There’s always room for improvement.” She looked around the cabin where the light show had finally dissipated, only small motes of golden sparks floating here and there around the walls. “Of course, if we get any better, we might just blow the roof off this old place.”
Ray laughed then rolled, tackling her and placing her under him again. His gaze met hers, and she could see a renewed interest flaring there. Her own body began to heat in response. She was always ready to play with her mate, it seemed.
“I don’t know. I used to be pretty good at carpentry.” He angled his gaze upward then back down at her. “And this cabin could probably use a new roof.”
She was laughing as he kissed her, and the fireworks began anew…
CHAPTER FIVE
The morning was glorious. Evie opened her eyes to find that the night before hadn’t been a dream. Ray was in bed with her, breathing deeply, still fast asleep. In the bright morning sunshine coming through the windows, she could see the harsh crags in his skin, the dark circles under his eyes. If he’d been human, she would have said he looked really rough.
For an eternally young, near-immortal fey warrior, he looked just plain awful. At death’s door. So magically drained that he barely even registered on her senses as having any magic at all. She could’ve wept for how close he’d come to dying in that fey prison, drained of magic and life. At the same time, she wanted to hug her son and new daughter-in-law close and thank them over and over for bringing Ray back to the mortal realm.
Realizing the best thing for him right now was probably sleep, Evie left the bed as quietly as she could and started preparing for the day. She checked the status of the battery on her cell phone and headed out into the crisp morning air to give Josh a call.
“Mom! How are you guys doing out there?” Josh sounded happy this morning. As well he should be. He was newly mated, and his father was back in the mortal realm.
“Ray’s still sleeping. Honey, I think you got to him just in time. He’s at a low ebb of energy, and I think resting is going to be his first order of business for a while yet.” Evie walked around the cabin, checking on things while she spoke to her son. Everything looked in order, but the air smelled of snow. Lots of snow.
“Do you think you’ll be able to make it back here before the holidays?” Josh asked.
The original plan had been to spend the Solstice celebrating Josh and Deena’s mating. Deena’s grandmother was coming in to officiate over their wedding ceremony, and then, there was going to be a big party on the farm. Deena’s family was scheduled to start arriving in the next few days.
They’d been kind enough to give Evie a few days alone with the couple to get to know her new daughter-in-law, but the rest of the next few weeks was supposed to have been spent on the farm, among Deena’s extended family. Evie had committed to staying through New Year’s Day with her son and his new mate. She wasn’t sure what was going to happen now. Ray’s recovery had to be a priority, though she didn’t want to miss her only son’s wedding.
“I’m not sure,” she told him, pausing to look off into the distance, observing the storm clouds heading their way. She still had a few days to work things out. Better to get through the coming storm and see how Ray was doing after that before making any plans. “It’s going to snow here. We have plenty of firewood and provisions. You stocked the cabin well. And when Ray’s got some of his energy back, he can probably just magically transport us to wherever we want to go. For now, though, we’re safe and sound. We should probably just stay here while he recovers.” Her voice dropped lower. “Your father’s been through a lot.”
“Yeah,” Josh agreed, his tone also growing solemn. “Judging by the fiery monstrosity that came through on his tail, he wasn’t in a good place, Mom.”
She had to swallow hard to contain the emotion welling up inside her. She’d suffered without Ray here, but he’d been suffering too. The creature had been sucking his magic, which equated to torture.
“We’ll take care of him now, sweetheart. That’s what matters. Our love will help him recover. I know you never got a chance to know him…” Evie said, hoping to say the right thing to make her son understand her feelings. Talking about such things hadn’t ever been easy for her. “But I think that you’ll love him as much as I do once you get a chance—now that you have a chance. So much was stolen from all of us when he was trapped in faerie.”
“At least we have a chance to recoup some of the time we should have had together now, right, Mom?” Josh’s words meant a lot to her. That he wasn’t rejecting his father out of hand was a good thing. She knew many others might resent a man who had fathered them and then disappeared. Knowing it hadn’t been Ray’s fault was a good starting place for all of them to forgive.
But she would never forgive the Venifucus—or whoever it was who had laid the trap for her mate. She would find them and rip them to shreds given half a chance, submissive wolf or not. Nobody messed with her mate!
“You’re a good man, Joshua.” She held back the tears by force of will.
“Do you have enough clothes? I left a lot of my old stuff in the closet, and there should be some winter coats that will fit you both.” Her son, the caretaker, was at it again. He’d always been there to help her, and look after her, since he was a little boy. It was the Alpha wolf in him, wanting to keep his Pack safe.
“It’ll be okay, Josh. The only thing we might run out of is electricity. I haven’t gotten the generator started yet, but I’m not too worried. Even if it doesn’t turn over, we have plenty of firewood, and there will be fresh snow soon that I can melt for water if need be.” She was already thinking of the things she’d need to do if they couldn’t get the old genny going.
“Do me a favor. Go out and try to get it started right now, okay? I’ll hold on while you do it.”
“Worrywart. I’m already outside and around the back of the house. Looks like nothing has been disturbed since I was last here. I was going to wait for a bit in case the noise of the engine woke Ray, but I guess you’re right. I need to see if it works sooner or later, and it’s not that loud. Not the way you insulated everything.” Wolves had sensitive ears, and the noise from the generator had been annoying until Josh got to work soundproofing that wall of the cabin and the small shed that housed the machine.
She opened the door to the shed slowly, scraping away the layer of snow that was already high enough to meet the bottom step leading up into the elevated machine shed. They’d have to shovel a bit if they got a lot of snow. It was important to keep the door to the generator shed clear.
Evie let her eyes adjust to the dark interior and realized everything was as pristine as Josh had left it. In the old days, all kinds of rodents would have made their homes in here, but Josh had sealed up the cracks that used to allow access and put in screened vents to allow for plenty of air circulation without letting every insect and snake for miles around inside.
“The fuel gauge is reading full,” she told Josh as she inspected everything before trying to start the generator.
“I had the underground tank topped off about four months ago when I tuned up the engine,” he told her. “You should have no problems, but give it a whirl, just to make sure.”
“Okay. I’m hitting the button now.” She did so, pleased with the immediate response as the machine roared to life. Her son took good care of the things that were important. A little glow of pride filled her heart. “Can you hear that?” she shouted into the phone over the engine noise.
“I hear it,” Josh shouted back. “Glad it works.”
Evie watched the gauges for a moment before satisfying herself that everything was as it should be. Then, she turned
and left the shed, closing the door behind her. She looked up at the sky again. It definitely smelled like snow…and something else.
“I’m going to hang up now, sweetie,” she told her son. “I think company from the res is approaching.”
“If it’s Lone Eagle, tell him I said hello. If it’s anyone else, tell them to take a hike. The shotgun is right beside the front door, and the shells are on the little shelf above it. Do me a favor and load it, just to be safe, okay?”
She rounded the corner of the cabin and saw her visitor sitting patiently by the front door. “No worries, Josh. It’s just Fred. I’ll call you later.”
She cut the connection as she walked toward the grizzly bear sitting on his haunches in front of her cabin. She held no fear. This grizzly was a friend. More than that, he was a shifter.
“Hiya, Fred,” she said in a happy tone. “I’ve got a robe you can wear, if you want. My mate is back, and I wouldn’t want to scandalize him.” She winked at the bear, who seemed to grin back at her.
Evie went into the cabin and grabbed the heavy fleece robe that was one of Josh’s from the closet. She glanced over at Ray, who was still asleep in the bed, before going back out to deliver the robe. The grizzly stood on his hind legs and shifted before her eyes, becoming a very tall, very muscular bear of a man—no pun intended—that she’d known for many years.
Fred Lone Eagle was the local shaman from the nearby reservation. That he was a bear was something known only to privileged members of his tribe and a few others. She was one of the lucky few. As a lone wolf in his territory, the shaman bear had come out to meet her when Joshua had been very small. He’d helped her a lot in those early days, just after losing Ray. Fred had been a rock of support for her and her son throughout it all and he was a close and trusted friend.
“I saw your smoke signals last night and thought I’d come out to see who was here,” Fred said, his smile reaching his eyes as he glanced pointedly at the chimney that was emitting smoke from her fireplace.
