I took a deep breath and pushed on. “I want to stay here. I want to be with you here, in Helen’s Corner. I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I’m here to stay.”
Her eyes clouded. “For now. You’re here for now. You’ll just leave when you’re tired of it.”
I crossed the room and wrapped my arms around her, amazed she let me. Holding her again felt like coming home. “I’m never leaving. Helen’s Corner is my permanent home now. I want to mark you and claim you as mine. I want to raise our little girl together. Get tired of that? Not a chance.”
Tears filled her eyes, but I could still see doubt there.
“This is so romantic.” Mom dabbed at her eyes and slapped Daniel on the back of his head. “Stop recording!”
“What? For my YouTube channel.” Daniel rubbed the back of his head. “Viewers eat this shit up.”
Aunt Barbara wagged her finger at Daniel. “Take note, boy! That could be you, if you ever found a mate. At this point, I think you should just settle for anyone who comes your way.”
“I met my mate when I was just seventeen years old.” Aunt Joy sing-songed dreamily. We’d all heard the story. Far too many times.
“Oh, zip it, Joy.”
I palmed my forehead. “Yeah, we’re going to have to go somewhere else. This isn’t working.”
They all voiced protests, all but Sonnie who looked relieved. I took her hand and led her out of the kitchen and straight out to my truck. I hoisted her onto the passenger seat and then hesitated.
“I’m sorry.”
She sighed. “How am I supposed to believe all this?”
“Because I’m miserable without you. I thought I could leave, but I realize now I never would’ve gotten very far.”
“Why didn’t you say anything? And, why did you want to leave me?”
I saw her shiver and rub her bare arms. “I’m going to turn the heat on for you.”
Her hand caught the collar of my shirt and she shook her head. “Tell me why.”
My stomach clenched because the reason still existed. It was risky to admit it when I was trying to convince her to trust me, but I knew I owed her the truth. “I didn’t plan on staying, but it wasn’t because I wanted to leave you. It was because…I’ve never been anything other than a soldier.”
“So, you were just going to stick with what you knew?”
“Yes.”
“Yes. I mean, no. Well, yes.” I blew out a long breath and started again. “Look at you. Smart, successful, put-together. You’re an amazing woman. What do I have to offer you out here? I don’t know how to be a civilian. My skills are all combat skills that don’t translate to normal life, Sonnie. I have no fucking idea what to do with this life. Should I go get a job at a local hardware store? Should I work in the grocery store stocking shelves? I don’t even know what I’m good at. In the military, I’m well respected. I’m good at being a soldier.”
She blinked a few times and her small hand reached out and cupped the side of my neck. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“I didn’t want to let you down.” I ran my hands down my face. “I couldn’t support us. I mean, I have a savings, and I’ll have a military pension, but I want to be able to provide for us. It’s my duty.”
“I wish you would’ve told me.”
“I should’ve. I was just out of my element. I still am. I’m trying, though.”
25
Sonnie
He was trying. It was evident. I’d been kind of a bitch to him for several days, but he just took it. I was still nervous and a little skeptical. “What if you decide to leave again?”
“Never.” His voice held steady with conviction. “I am yours, Sonnie. Just like you’re mine.”
“How do I trust that? It’s so hard to trust that.”
Holt held my face in his hands and stared into my eyes. “Maybe we can both work on our issues together? Try together. There’s no getting rid of me. I’m not the kind of man who can let go of my conviction that it’s my duty to protect and provide for you and our child. I’ll find a way. I’m a soldier, I’ll come up with a battle plan.”
I blinked away unexpected tears and tried to calm down. “We should probably talk more. Maybe after the dinner?”
“Don’t make me sit through that dinner, Sonnie. Please. For the love of all things good.” He stroked his thumbs over my face. “We could go back to your place now and continue this discussion.”
His idea was tempting, but I would feel guilty. “Charlie’s been cooking all day. We can’t run out on her.”
I glanced back at the house. Fifteen faces were pressed up against the glass staring out at us. Mama Jean wore a huge grin, but not as big as Charlie’s. Aunt Joy waved and gave us a thumbs up. Daniel was still recording through the glass. “Yes. Yes, we can.”
His hand ran up my thigh and around my waist. He leaned closer and his breath tickled my ear. “Is there anything else I can do to tempt you?”
His sexy whisper, along with my pregnancy hormones, tipped my horny meter to the maximum overdrive. Shivers ran up my spine and my nipples hardened. “We should talk more first, Holt. That seems like the sensible thing to do, right?”
He ran his fingers up and down my back rubbing gently. “Let’s go somewhere else and talk.”
I looked back at the house and tried to make myself stay firm. It wasn’t working, though. “Fuck. Let’s just talk really fast. Do—”
“I want to be with you. I find you to be the sexiest woman I’ve ever seen.” He leaned closer. “I’ve missed you more than you could possibly imagine. My wolf missed you. There’s nothing in this world I want more than to spend the rest of my life with you. Except, to bend you over and take you from behind before biting the soft skin of your neck and marking you as my own.”
I swallowed. “Let’s get out of here.”
Holt gripped the back of my head and leaned in closer until his lips were inches from mine. His eyes locked on my mouth and I felt a warmth pool in my belly. He pulled me in for a kiss, a slow, unhurried kiss. He touched his mouth to mine, then gently parted my lips with his tongue. He deepened the kiss, exploring my mouth slowly. When he broke away, he kissed my cheekbones, forehead, then, back to my lips. Holy moly, my entire body buzzed.
He rested his forehead against mine. “Buckle up.” Then, he closed my door and walked around the truck, sending a silly, two-fingered salute to his nosey family. “Your house?”
I licked my lips and fumbled with the seatbelt. “Anywhere.”
My hands trembled and my body ached with longing for him. I hadn’t even been able to process everything yet. I couldn’t get past the idea of being with him. As mates.
Holt sped way too fast to my house, but I didn’t say anything. I was too eager to get there. There was a flutter of nerves in my stomach and I felt silly because I’d been with Holt before. Never as mates, though. It was real, finally. I was worried.
What if it was bad, or there wasn’t as much excitement as the first time? What if he thought that it’d been so good because it was slightly taboo, before? What if he was wrong about us being mates?
“Sonnie. I can feel your brain overheating, it’s going so fast. What’s wrong?”
I looked over at him as he parked in front of my house and frowned. “Are you sure we’re mates? How do you know?”
He smiled and gently took my hand. “My soul tells me, that’s how. It recognizes you as its other half.”
I waited for him to go around the truck and open my door. “What does that mean?”
“It means from the second I saw you, no other women existed for me. You’re the one and only. I know you’re my mate and my wolf knows you’re his mate.”
“Your wolf? He doesn’t want to…you know…with me, does he?”
He threw his head back and laughed. “Did the women around here really not tell you anything?”
I unbuckled my seatbelt and raised my eyebrows. “You didn’t answer the question.”
“You do?”
“Yes, Sonnie. I want to fuck you. I want to sit outside and watch the sunrise with you. I want to stay up all night and talk to you. I want to watch movies and fall asleep in front of the TV with you. I want to I want to do everything with you forever, because you make me feel that way. That’s how mates make each other feel. I know, without a doubt, that you’re my mate.”
“What if the sex isn’t as good? I’m going to have a beach ball for a stomach soon.”
“And you’ll be just as sexy. I’m never going to get tired of you. There’s never going to be a time when you and I together aren’t good.” He gently lifted me out of the truck and lowered me to the ground. “Let me prove it to you.” He took me by the hand and led me inside. “Go to your bedroom and wait for me.”
“Does being mates mean you think you can boss me around?”
“Oh, yeah. Big time.” He winked, gently nudged me towards the bedroom, and patted my ass. “I’ll be there soon.”
I stuck my tongue out at him, but I went. I sat on the edge of my bed and crossed my legs, but then I decided I should try to be sexier. I stood up and crossed to the other side of the bed. I was contemplating slipping out of my dress when Holt walked back into the room.
In his hand, he held one of the long stem roses from the dozen he’d sent me. “Come here.”
My stomach clenched and my core throbbed. I moved towards him, a little clumsily. “What’s that for?”
He pulled me into his chest and wrapped his arm around my waist. Looking down at me, he grinned as he trailed the rose down the side of my face. “It’s for me.”
The rose stroked down my neck and over my shoulders. I sucked in a big breath of air and shivered. “For you?”
He turned me around, unzipped my dress, and slid it down my arms. With my dress pooled at my waist, he pressed his lips to my shoulder and sighed. “Fuck, I’ve missed you.”
I let my head fall back. “I missed you.”
He undid the hook of my bra and removed it. The cool air touched my nipples, followed by the silky caress of the rose. His lips danced across my neck and to my other shoulder. His teeth grazed the sensitive skin under my ear.
The rose blazed a path down my stomach, dipping into my navel, and over the fabric of my bunched dress until it moved over my thighs. Then up, under my dress. My legs quivered from the feather light sensation of the flower stroking the insides of my thighs.
“How did that story go again, Sonnie.”
I gasped when his tongue stroked the shell of my ear. “W-What?”
“Tell me the flower story again.”
26
Holt
“He made love to her with a rose.” Sonnie’s husky voice shook as she spoke, her body trembled against mine. The overwhelming scent of her arousal urged me to hurry and take her, but I needed her to know how much I wanted her.
“H-He ran the silky petals over the sensitive skin of her body until she was writhing in ecstasy.” I scraped my teeth down her throat and hooked my thumbs into the dress that was scrunched at her waist. I slid the dress and her panties down at the same time. “He continued to stroke her with the petals of the flower until she came.”
“Tell me how she felt, Sonnie.”
I knelt behind her and kissed her lower back. Her soft little moans with every exhale were music to my ears. With her plump, beautiful ass in front of me, I couldn’t help but nip it with my teeth. When she yelped, I flattened my tongue and stroked the tender skin.
As I trailed the rose along her spine, from her neck to the top of her ass, she shivered. “Um…She felt sexy. And alive. Having a man she desired so deeply take his time to attentively love her body like that… She felt adored.”
I ran the rose along the curve of her ass, I stroked my hand around to her stomach. Her slightly rounded abdomen sent a jolt of pride and joy through me. “Fuck, you’re perfect.”
I stroked the flower lightly all over the sensitive areas of her body until Sonnie was panting and I could see her juices trailing down her inner thighs. Her hands pressed against her hips, her fingers flexing, fingertips digging into her soft flesh. I could see she was nearing the limit of her endurance.
Standing in front of her, I kissed her, sucking her bottom lip into my mouth. I abandoned the rose, and softly, gently, retraced its path with my mouth, making love to her body in a slow series of kisses and strokes of my tongue. When I got to her core, I lifted one of her legs over my shoulder and blew a soft breath over her lips. “You are adored, Sonnie.”
I tickled the outside of her lips with my tongue and then captured the left side in my mouth and sucked. Then, I moved to the other side and did the same. Her fingers grasped my head, hanging on as best she could as I slid my tongue between her wet folds. Up to her circle her clit, then take it into my mouth and teased her with light tongue flicks. She was right at the edge of falling apart, but I wanted to torment her with pleasure a little longer.
When I slipped two fingers into her and curled them, her body tensed and her fingers tightened on my head. I sucked hard on her clit as I dipped another finger into her wetness and then used it to ease the passage into her ass. That was it. Sonnie screamed, bucking her hips, and held on to me as her lower body spasmed, coming apart in my mouth.
I held her up and didn’t stop until her breathing slowed. When I pulled my mouth away, she swayed. “Come here, baby.”
Sonnie exhaled a moan as I slid my fingers out of her and picked her up. Her body was limp in my arms. I carried her to the bed and laid her down in the middle of it. She was so perfect. Her pale skin was flushed pink, her eyes dark and heavy-lidded. The most beautiful sight I’d ever seen.
I shed my clothes and laid down next to her. “I want to mark you, Sonnie. I want you to be mine.”
She wrapped her arms around my neck. “Will it hurt?”
“I won’t hurt you. Not anymore.”
She bit her lip, but still welcomed me between her thighs. I’d missed being there. I spread her thighs apart and rested my dick against her folds. Her hot moisture begged me to come closer, but I waited.
“You’re the only woman I’ll ever desire, Sonnie. That’s how it works for shifters.”
She stroked her fingers down my chest and took my shaft in her hand. Lining our bodies up, she squeezed. “Don’t let this ruin the moment, but I think I love you.”
I thrusted into her, filling her completely in two strokes. I swore, she whimpered, and little stars flashed in the corners of my vision. Had she said love? “You love me?”
Her nails scraped down my back and she dug her fingers into my ass. “I said I think.”
My head suddenly felt light and airy, like it would fucking float away if it wasn’t attached to my neck. Everything felt right. Everything felt perfect. This was where I was supposed to be. “I love you, Sonnie.”
She kissed me, deep and strong. “Mark me, Holt. I want to be yours.”
I couldn’t resist her plea. I slid out and thrust back into her before tilting her head to the side and sinking my teeth into the crook of her neck. I grunted and froze as Sonnie screamed and pulsed around me, milking me as she came. My own orgasm couldn’t be helped. I came hard. Both of our climaxes stretched on and on, my teeth still sunk in her neck. I felt everything between us connecting. I felt my old world crumble and then rise back up into something new.
When we were both spent, we stayed where we were until I was afraid I was going to crush her. I rolled onto my side and pulled her with me.
“Holy shit.”
I smirked. “Yeah. Holy shit.”
“So, that’s what being claimed feels like.” She giggled and tossed her leg over mine.
“This mate thing isn’t so bad, huh?”
“I meant what I said, Holt.”
I met her sincere stare. “That you think you love me?”
She grinned. “I do love you.”
“I do love you, too, Sonnie. You’re mine and I’m all yours.”
“You never told me how you feel about the baby.”
I leaned up on my elbow and kissed her forehead before caressing her stomach and cupping it. I could hear a faint heartbeat and definitely smell a little girl there. Our little girl. “I feel good about it.”
“Good?”
“I hope she’s the first of many. I need to get a job. Shifter kids go through shoes like crazy.”
She cupped my face. “She’ll be a shifter?”
“She is a shifter. Is that okay?”
Sonnie nodded and blinked away tears. “Sorry. These pregnancy hormones are no joke. I’m just happy. I just want her to know how much she’s loved.”
I pulled Sonnie onto my chest and held her there. “She will. We’ll make sure of it.”
“I’ve never even seen your wolf.” She pressed a kiss to my chest and sighed. “Will you shift and show me?”
I nuzzled her newly marked neck, the skin there raw and ragged. “Later. We’ve got other plans right now.”
“I need to tell you something, Holt.” She looked so serious, that I actually got worried.
I stroked her hair. “Anything.”
Her eyes lit up and she bit her lip before leaning in and whispering in my ear. “I really liked that thing you did with your finger.”
I growled and rolled onto her. That was all I needed to hear. My little human mate was freaky and I was ready for the next round.
27
Sonnie
“Now, be careful to support her head.” Jellybean sat in the chair beside my hospital bed trying to look all grown up as Holt gently placed the baby in her waiting arms.
Jellybean carefully cradled the newborn. “Aww, she looks like ET.”
Carter gasped, horrified that her daughter just called my baby an alien. Muddy and Charlie both tried to muffle their snickers behind their hands. Holt roared with laughter.
Wolf Soldier Page 10
