by Sophie Stern
“You never said anything.”
“I always thought I was no good for you.”
“Carter Blair, you’re the best fucking thing that’s ever happened to me.”
I let the words hang in the air and wrap around my heart.
No one has ever made me feel the way Savannah Bertrand is making me feel right now. We sit there, touching quietly, softly, gently in the back of her shop. I hold Savannah on the couch long past the time I should have gone home, long past the time she should have opened the store, long past the time we should have returned to reality.
When we can’t put it off any longer, I reluctantly stand and bring her up next to me. Her body fits perfectly against mine and I take her mouth once more, kissing her.
“Tonight,” I murmur.
It’s a promise.
It’s a question.
It’s a need.
“Tonight,” she agrees.
Then I leave.
***
Reluctantly, I return home, my heart full and my head spinning. In the past 24 hours, my life has completely changed, and all for the better.
At least, that’s what I think until I get back to the house and find Hope in tears because Colby called her a “fat bitch.” What could have possibly inspired such strong language? Apparently, she wouldn’t let him eat an entire jar of cookies.
Colby is sitting in my room in a time-out and Wyatt is comforting Hope when I walk in.
“I know it shouldn’t bother me,” Hope is whispering, and I know what she’s going to say next. Hope has been through a lot and she’s struggled with her weight for a long time. Adding her new pregnancy to all of that, it’s no wonder she reacted poorly when Colby called her a name.
I apologize to Hope and thank her for watching him for me, hoping this won’t taint her opinion of my son, then climb the stairs to find him sitting in the middle of my bed in tears.
“What’s going on, little guy?” I ask, but Colby doesn’t say anything. He just buries his head in my pillow instead.
“Colby?” I ask again, coming over to the bed. I take a seat. The bed dips beneath my weight, but if Colby notices, he doesn’t react. Instead, he keeps crying quietly, almost silently.
I reach for him, but he flinches, and I pull my hand back.
“What happened today, Colby?”
He looks up at me with big, puppy-dog eyes and asks me a question that breaks my heart.
“Are you going to send me away?”
“What? Why would I send you away, pumpkin?” There’s no way in hell I’d send this kid away. I just got him back. I’ll do anything to keep him by my side for the rest of his damn life.
“Because I was mean to Aunt Hope,” he whispers.
And that’s when it hits me.
Parenting Colby isn’t going to be easy. Parenting a kid you’ve had since birth isn’t easy, but parenting one that’s just lost his mother? Parenting one who has crazy abandonment issues? Parenting one who is afraid any mistake will get him tossed in foster care?
This is going to be a million times tougher.
“Colby, I love you. I’m never going to let you go, okay?” I feel like it sounds creepy, so I try to rephrase. “I’m not going to send you away. No matter what happens, I’m always going to be here for you. So is Aunt Hope, Uncle Wyatt, and Uncle Micah.”
“And Banana?”
I smile, thinking that Banana might start coming around even more, and I nod.
“Even Banana, but listen, that behavior you displayed earlier isn’t okay. You aren’t allowed to yell at people and you aren’t allowed to call names. We don’t do that in our house, okay?”
Colby nods.
“It really hurt Aunt Hope’s feelings that you called her a mean name. What should we do if we hurt someone’s feelings?”
Colby sits up straight and nods like he’s got this, and I’m struck by how much he resembles me and my brothers at that age. I can’t wait to see him shift into a beautiful little brown bear. Most shifters don’t actually develop the ability to change forms until they’re teenagers or even young adults, so I’ve got a few years to wait. Still, the thought excites me.
“We apologize,” he says.
“That’s right. Want me to come with you?”
“Yes.”
Colby hops off the bed, takes my hand, and together we find Hope. She’s more than willing to forgive little Colby, gives him a hug, and takes him to play in the yard. I peek out the window and smile when I see they’re back to being best friends.
“Everything okay with Savannah?” Wyatt asks casually, looking out the window beside me.
“Yeah. The problem wasn’t as urgent as Selena led me to believe.” Or maybe it was much, much more urgent.
“Congrats, Carter.” He slaps me on the shoulder and grins. “It’s about time you two got together.”
“What are you talking about?” I keep a straight face, but he just shakes his head.
“You’ve got love written all over your face, brother. Besides,” he winks and walks away, shaking his head. “Red has always been your color.”
Realizing I must have lipstick on my face, I rub my hand over my chin and pull it away. Sure enough, there’s lipstick all over my chin from her sweet kisses. I don’t even care. I’m much too happy to be concerned over something so little.
My son is safe in my arms and Savannah loves me back. I’ve wanted her forever and now, we’re finally together. I open the fridge to make myself a turkey sandwich as a mid-afternoon snack and send her a text message to let her know I’m thinking of her.
I can hardly wait ‘til she comes for dinner tonight.
Chapter 10
Carter
We don’t often have full family sit-down dinners, but tonight is an exception. Even Micah makes an appearance from his cabin and Alex decides to join us, too. I think Alex is just curious about Colby, but I don’t care. Colby has never been around shifters before, so the more people he’s exposed to, the better off he’s going to be. Honeypot is weird enough even when you do know everyone. It’s got to be even stranger when you don’t.
Colby sits sandwiched between Savannah and me. Wyatt, Hope, and Micah are on the opposite side of the table and Alex sits at the head of the table. We eat an amazing roast that Hope spent the afternoon preparing, along with baked potatoes, green beans, salad, and chocolate chip cookies for dessert.
“Dang, kid, you can eat,” Alex says admiringly when Colby asks for seconds.
“Murmf,” he says through a mouthful of food.
“Try not to talk with your mouth full, okay?” Savannah whispers to him. He nods solemnly.
“What was that, buddy?” Alex grins.
“It’s the best dinner I ever had,” Colby tells him.
“Yes, Hope, thank you for supper,” Savannah smiles at her. “It’s delicious.”
“It’s Wyatt’s mom’s recipe,” Hope says, blushing. “I’m practicing making it before they get back from their trip.”
“Oh yeah? When do your parents come back?” Savannah asks, turning to me.
“In about a month, last I heard,” I tell her, grabbing some more green beans. Hope added all sorts of stuff, like bacon and onions, and they’re delicious.
“Are you and Wyatt still planning on having an engagement party the night they get back?” Savannah asks. Wyatt and Hope exchange knowing glances, though, and Hope pats her belly.
“Actually, we were thinking of eloping,” she squeaks out.
“Is that so?” I lean back in my chair and smile.
“Yeah,” Wyatt grips her hand on the table and smiles.
“You don’t want a big wedding?” Savannah asks.
“It’s never really been a big deal to me,” Hope tells her, reaching for the salad. “I don’t have anyone from back home who would come.” She shrugs. “The important thing is that I get to marry this hottie over here,” she jerks her head toward Wyatt.
“Mom’s going to kill you both,” Micah
says, but I don’t get the feeling that anyone really cares what mom thinks right now. Hope and Wyatt don’t want to wait to get married, and I don’t blame them. They don’t want to wait another second to express their love to the world.
That’s how I feel about Savannah. I reach around the back of Colby’s chair and rub her shoulder gently. She flashes me that beautiful smile and my heart melts.
“If you two could stop devouring each other with their eyes,” Alex says. “That would be great.”
Savannah sticks her tongue out at him.
“You know, Wyatt, there’s no waiting period to get a marriage license in Colorado.”
“Oh yeah?” His eyes light up, and I wonder what my little minx is playing at. She wouldn’t have brought that up without having something to say about it.
“Yeah, and cat-boy over here is an ordained minister.”
We all turn to stare at Alex, who is suddenly poised with his glass of milk halfway to his mouth.
Yes, he’s drinking milk with his supper.
Typical cat.
“How did I not know about this?” Wyatt’s eyes blaze into Alex’s, and for a brief second, I feel sorry for the poor guy. Alex doesn’t deserve to be ganged up on at dinner. He’s certainly been grumpy enough lately, but that doesn’t mean much. Maybe he’s just been having a bad week.
Or a bad couple of months.
“Thanks a lot,” he mumbles to Savannah. “I thought it was going to be our little secret.”
“Nope, that went out the door when your friends needed you,” she tells him, and I wonder what the hell is going on with Alex. It’s not the time to ask him, but I hope he’ll feel comfortable opening up at sometime.
Not that I expect us to have a heart-to-heart or anything, but sometimes it’s nice to know you aren’t alone in the world.
“Yeah, it’s true,” he says with a grumble as he glares at her.
“Hey baby,” Wyatt looks at Hope and kisses her forehead. “What do you think about getting married tomorrow night?”
“Here?” She grins.
“Here.”
“Alex, are you available on short notice? I’ll give you some chocolate milk.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
Only Hope and Wyatt are kissing and I don’t think they even hear his response.
After awhile, they excuse themselves and head back to their room.
“Wonder where they’re going,” Micah says with a shit-eating smirk on his face.
“Where are they going, daddy?” Colby asks. “It’s still light outside.” He points out the window where the sun is only just beginning to set. “Are they already sleepy?”
Alex starts to snicker and I shoot daggers at him with my eyes until Savannah clears her throat and catches my attention.
“I think they just want some alone time, honey. It’s been a long day. Hey, why don’t you help me clear the table? I bet you’ll be really good at it.”
Savannah and Colby get up and begin clearing dishes. She shows him how to wrap up the leftovers and where to place them in the fridge. Micah and Alex hop up and while I get the dishes, they sweep the floor and wipe down the table.
By the time we’re finished, the sun has set, and Colby is yawning. It’s been a long couple of days. It’s no wonder my little guy is pooped.
“Hey,” Micah says. “I was thinking of watching a movie. Mind if Colby comes out and watches with me?”
“I want to watch a movie! I want to watch a movie!” Colby starts jumping up and down and I nod.
“That sounds like a good idea. I think Savannah and I might go for a walk.” She raises an eyebrow at the suggestion but just nods in agreement. Colby and Micah head out of the kitchen talking about their favorite cartoons. Soon they’re having a heated discussion about which Yo-Kai is the best.
“I’m sorry I told Wyatt about you,” Savannah says to Alex.
“It’s not a big deal.”
“You know Hope and Wyatt both really love you, right?”
“I don’t think anyone loves me, doll, but I appreciate the sentiment,” Alex hugs Savannah, but it doesn’t bother me. Despite the fact that Alex can be a huge pain in my ass, he’s a good guy and we’ve known each other forever.
He can hug my girl anytime he wants.
After a minute, he pulls away and kisses her on the cheek. He whispers something to her and she blushes, but shakes her head.
“Tonight,” she says, and Alex chuckles and leaves.
“Hey, don’t I get a kiss?” I call after him.
“Fuck off,” he laughs.
“What was that all about?” I ask her.
“He wanted to know if we’ve…”
“Are you serious?”
“Alex and I are friends,” she shrugs. “We tell each other stuff like that.”
“Alex and I are friends, too,” I protest. “And we don’t tell each other stuff like that.”
“Are you upset?” She asks, placing her hands on my chest.
I’m not, so I shake my head, but she kisses me softly, soothing me.
“You’re the only one for me. I won’t tell Alex anything you don’t want me to,” she promises, then kisses me on the mouth.
Immediately, I feel the need to throw her down on the table and fuck her hard and fast. I want to strip her tiny tank top from her body and throw it on the floor. That will free her nipples and I can suck on Savannah’s soft body until I’m ready to take her jeans off. My dick will slide right between her tender thighs until I’m deep inside her, then all bets are off.
Then she’s marked.
Then she’s mine.
I’ve loved her for years and now, finally knowing how she feels, I can’t believe we’ve waited this long to be together.
It’s because we’ve waited so long that I know I can’t rush this. We need to take things slow, Savannah and me. We need to take our time building up to things. If we’re going to build something together that’s going to be permanent, we can’t just rush into sleeping together.
As much as I want to throw her down and sink into her, I know I need to do this right.
I need to make this special.
And first, we need to burn some energy.
I take one look at the darkness outside, and I grab her hand.
“Come on, darling. Let’s go for a run.”
Chapter 11
Savannah
Carter takes me out to the part of his property where the forest and the fields meet. We can go running through the woods or running through the grass. From the yard, we can see the flicker of the television screen in Micah’s cabin.
Alex’s cabin is dark.
What the hell is going on with him lately? He and Micah both have been so withdrawn. I make a mental note to give him crap about it tomorrow, but tonight is about us.
Tonight’s about me and Carter and everything we’ve been waiting for. There’s no doubt in my mind now that he wants me. I can smell his arousal. Something tells me it’s not a new scent for him, that he’s fell aroused by me before, but I was so nervous about masking my own scent that I didn’t even notice his.
This makes me wonder how many shifters in Honeypot have known for years how Carter and I felt about each other.
This makes me wonder why we’ve spent so long doing this dance of decadence without just going for it.
A run sounds good to me, though. I’m not quite ready to just go upstairs to his bedroom. I know Micah has Colby, so we don’t need to worry about being interrupted. It’s not that.
I’ve been in Carter Blair’s bedroom plenty of times. I’ve crashed in his room before, I’ve showered in his bathroom, and I’ve seen him in the nude. We are shifters, after all. But I’ve never gone into Carter Blair’s room with the intention of having sex and the next time I go into his room, that’s exactly what’s going to happen.
I feel his hands on my shoulders and I immediately relax.
“Which way do you want to run, little bear?”
&nbs
p; “I’m not much smaller than you,” I protest, but he just giggles. Carter’s a brown bear and I’m a cinnamon bear, but he always calls me his little one.
Before now, I always thought he was teasing me about my size.
Now I just think he was being endearing.
Slowly, I reach my hands to my hem and pull off my shirt. His eyes go wide, but Carter doesn’t say anything as I reach behind me and unclasp my bra. I let it fall to the ground.
If I wanted to be modest, I could have shifted and just started running, but I happen to like my clothes and don’t feel like shredding them tonight.
No, I’m just going to have to give Carter a little bit of a show as I get ready for us to run together tonight.
Shifters aren’t usually modest. We don’t usually have a sense of uncertainty or awkwardness when we’re naked. It’s one of the reasons we like to live in shifter communities. When you’re around other shifters and you lose control and shift accidentally, it’s not a huge deal to be naked on Main Street.
In the human world, that is not the case.
Even now, as I take my clothes off for Carter, I don’t feel embarrassed or ashamed of my body.
I feel fucking fantastic.
He eyes my breasts as I stand before him wearing only jeans and shoes. I kick off the shoes and shimmy out of my pants. He sucks in a breath when he sees that I’m not wearing panties, and I smirk a little. It’s good to know he’s not unaffected by me. I know that when he’s the one taking his clothes off, I’m going to feel the same way he does right now.
I’m going to feel excited.
Aroused.
Needy.
I’m going to want to climb on top of Carter and ride him until we’re both gasping with pleasure, but that’s not the way things are going to go tonight.
We both know we’re taking this slow, but Carter has no idea just how slow we’re going to be going. I still haven’t figured out how I’m going to tell him I’m a virgin. To me, it’s not a huge deal. To him, it might be. I’m not sure. I don’t know if Carter has ever slept with a virgin, but I know he’s certainly not still one himself.
