by Camryn Rhys
Love. He loved her.
The sensation of his affection filtered through every thread of his consciousness and into hers. His very being pulsated with the repeating emotional circle of desire, then affection, then desire again.
“I—you are so much to me.” Did she love him? Citlani missed him when he wasn’t present. The lack of his touch made her anxious and uncertain.
Tomás caressed her face as happiness spread through him into her.
Even though she had to leave the mountain and everyone she knew, facing a new life with him would be surmountable. He’d help her learn what she needed to know.
About the world.
About life.
About love.
She could learn. He could teach her. He loved with such ease and abandon. She wanted that. Wanted to be able to feel without fear of what might come slamming down on top of her.
Tomás made her feel complete and no matter where she ended up, as long as she was with him. She would find her peace.
Lani slid her hand from his palm and traced the line of his arm up to his shoulder. “I need you.” She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his mouth.
He wrapped his arms around her body and laid her gently back on the mat. His tongue danced with hers for a moment before he began trailing kisses along her jaw line and tracing circles over a nipple with the tip of a finger.
She sighed, and let her doubts and fears slip away. They were replaced by the yearning need to care for this man who’d accepted her for who she was and pain she carried and would carry with her forever.
Crawling into that sex tent two days ago had been the best decision Fate had ever pushed her into.
Epilogue
Four years later
* * *
Tomás slid his hand into his wife’s, wrapping fingers around hers, and squeezing just enough to remind her of his presence. They walked through the straw-covered huts that lined either side of the wide path that had first brought him up the mountain, all those years ago.
“Does he know we’re coming?” he asked, waving at a little boy hugging onto his mother’s strong legs in the door of one of the huts.
Lani inhaled, one sharp gust, then another. “He can feel me.”
A few more Huichol came out of their tents and huddled in groups, whispering. The last time they’d seen their princess, Citlani, she had been half-naked with long, flowing hair, and bare feet.
She only wore sandals now, but she was not the same woman who had been raised here. Her long, white maxi dress hid the hint of her pregnancy, and gave Tomás nightmares about the top slipping down and revealing her breasts. He still didn’t like the idea of her breastfeeding in public, although little Zed was too old to need feeding anywhere but at night, in the privacy of their home. Or hotel room. Or hut, apparently.
The biggest change, apart from her swelling belly, was her short hair. Looking at his smiling beauty of a wife, holding the hand of their three-year-old son, it was almost hard for Tomás to remember what she’d been like when he first saw her. He loved the asymmetric fall of the cut she’d been wearing for years.
New moms needed easy care, she’d said. She was right. Zed would have made a mess of the long tresses she used to have.
But the women of the village whispered, confused by the outsiders. If anyone recognized Lani, no one approached her.
They came up to the last rise before the fire circle and stopped beside the fork in the path. To the left, the fire and the sex tent. To the right, the springs, the chief’s hut, and the way to the volcano.
“Can you feel him?” Tomás asked, trying to sense his wife’s emotions. She wasn’t overwhelmed with nostalgia, but she didn’t have her walls up.
“I know he’s here. I don’t know—” A lump of emotion caught in her throat and he could feel the physical straining, burning behind her eyes. Tears.
Normally, he would close out her physical responses, but he was doubly on the lookout.
Zed couldn’t close off his connection to his mother, and Tomás didn’t want him to be cranky when he met his grandfather, for Lani’s sake as much as the chief’s.
He was a warm man, even if he used as few words as he could manage, and it would mean something to him to meet a smiling, happy grandson.
Tomás wanted this to be a good meeting. If he could have figured out a way to skip the winding eight-hour hike, he would have, but it was enough that they’d camped halfway and carried Zed most of the time.
Off to their right, Tomás heard a grunt and then something thudded to the ground. He looked around and finally saw the source of the noise. Up the hill, past the springs, stood the chief. Like Lani, he was barely breathing, and his mouth hung slack, wordless.
She dropped Tomás’ hand, picked up the edge of her white dress, and ran up the hill. On the way, she lost both sandals, and picked the dress up so high, Tomás could see her calves flashing. She launched into the chief’s arms and the smile on the old man’s face was enough to make Tomás let go of his vigilance over Lani’s feelings. Whatever he had been afraid of, she was experiencing her joy.
Tomás picked up Zed as he wandered off toward the fire circle. “No, no, no, let’s not go down there.” He swung his son up onto his shoulders and grabbed the little boy’s legs to hold him steady. “You’ll get a better view from up there.”
Zed squealed with childish delight as the trees seemed close enough to touch, and he swiped at them. Poor kid didn’t realize they were still ten feet above his head, but Tomás’s heart flipped a little at the fearless curiosity his son continued to show as he grew up.
Being the proud dad was a look he could get used to.
“That’s the fire pit,” he said to his son. “They do ceremonies there, and dancing. Maybe tonight, we’ll see some dancing.”
A fond warmth settled in his stomach when he saw the round, squat tent sitting down the hill, just waiting for the next wolf to claim his mate inside. “And that’s the s-e-x tent. Daddy will tell you all about that. When you’re much, much older.”
He walked up the path a little farther, pointing at the springs where he remembered bathing with Zolin looking on.
Zolin.
It had been awhile since Tomás had thought of that name, and each time he did, he now thought of Zed. His little boy had the deep, intrepid heart that the big Huichol warrior had. The namesake could not have been more appropriate.
Lani called down to him in her native tongue and he shook his head. Sometimes she still forgot that he couldn’t understand her, although he was picking up some words. He could say sex tent, for instance. That phrase was growing on him, too.
“We’re coming,” he answered her in Spanish. “Zed wanted to see the fire pit.”
She reached for his hand, a big smile on her face. She said a few words to the chief and squeezed Tomás’s fingers in her own.
The chief gripped his shoulder and Tomás couldn’t suppress a choppy laugh. “He’s a strong guy, Lan.”
The chief spoke, catching his eye, and something about the timbre of his words caught Tomás’ breath.
“He says that you have brought his daughter back to him,” Lani translated. “And he is grateful.”
Tomás pulled Zed off his shoulders. “We’ve brought your grandson, as well.” He held his boy in his arms and pointed at the big chief. “See, Zed, this is your grandpa. He is a very important man.”
Zed’s little eyes went round as he looked up at his grandfather. He put on finger on his lips and looked at his mother.
Lani smiled and nodded, and Tomás swooped his son toward his grandfather.
Lani said a few words in Huichol and the chief opened his arms.
Zed’s little lips landed on the chief’s and the old man laughed and took his grandson, settling him on one side of his big, naked chest.
He dipped his head toward Zed and spoke a few low sentences.
Lani’s eyes watered and Tomás could feel a tightness spread through her chest.
The chief turned up the mountain and pointed.
“He says we should go and see my mother and Zolin.” She licked her bottom lip, then chewed it, as a tear slipped down her cheek. “My people believe that the volcano will take life and regenerate life. He wants to show Zed the source of all our power.”
Tomás smiled, taking her hand. “That’s what we came for, isn’t it?”
Lani took in a long breath and then released it. “I know.”
“I’ll be right beside you, the whole time.”
“That’s the only way I could do it.” She leaned into his shoulder and they followed the chief up the path toward the volcano.
Zed swung at the lower-hanging leaves as the chief pointed and spoke in Huichol. Behind them, the village was almost silent.
Tomás could imagine everyone swooping their hands and spitting to honor the gods, all across the mountainside.
“I went by the sex tent,” he mused, squeezing his wife’s hand. “I guess I should check with your father and see if it’s occupied later.”
That made her laugh—a golden cascade that rippled through him and landed in his heart. He lived to make her laugh. To make her happy.
“He won’t let you go in.” The corners of her mouth turned up and lit her face all the way to her eyes. “You already have a mate.”
“But we could pretend…” Tomás pushed at her shoulder and kicked a rock along the path. “I mean, for old time’s sake.”
“You can’t pretend in the sex tent.” Lani pulled on his arm. “Fate knows what it’s doing.”
Tomás chuckled and slid his arm around his wife’s waist. He felt the swell of the underside of her pregnant belly on her left side, and hugged her to him. Zed had been a miracle baby, cementing the bond they had and giving them a little light of Zolin and Lani’s mother to carry toward the future. And this baby would bring even more joy to their little family.
Living in Las Vegas may have changed Lani, as it would change anyone, but it hadn’t changed his love for her. Nothing could.
“So… if we can’t be in the sex tent…” Tomás tickled her belly and Lani let out another loud burst of laughter.
“Yes,” she giggled and pointed toward the chief, who lifted Zed high up in the air to pick one of the big red flowers that hung from the heavy branches of the trees. “And we even have a babysitter.”
Tomás stopped and pulled Lani into his arms.
“I’m glad we did this. Came here. Brought Zed to see your father.”
The words didn’t produce a sting inside her any longer, and Tomás said a quick prayer of thanks for that.
She could see the chief and not think of the other people she had lost. Lani could feel the love she had for Tomás and her son, and even her father, and not be haunted by regrets.
“I’m glad, too.” She leaned in and pressed her lips to his, holding him tight for a long beat. Lani settled against his chest, her eyes cast down toward the village. “I was afraid it would be too much.”
“I knew you could do it.” He stroked the back of her head and tightened his arms around her. “You are the strongest woman I’ve ever known.”
The warm feeling of love that overtook her was so overwhelming, even his years of practice of separating their bond couldn’t keep it out of him. It washed over him and threatened to drown him.
“I love you, Tomás Rivera.”
He traced a line down the side of her face and kissed the tip of her nose. “I know.”
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- Camryn Rhys & Krystal Shannan
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Turn the page to read the first chapter of the Moonbound Series, Book Five, SEDUCING A WOLF!
Chapter One
Choaca, Mexico
* * *
Alejandro Sureda hated dance clubs. Damn stupid suit he had to wear on top of annoying ass music, and it was too dark to see anything, except for the pulsing lights that were working on his headache. He kept clenching and unclenching his fists, every time he thought he saw her.
He was there for only one reason.
“What can I get you?” one of the skinny, white-clad bartenders asked him, fluttering big eyelashes up and down his body. A slow smile painted its way across her face. “You are a tall drink of water, aren’t you?”
Was it possible to roll his eyes any farther back into his head? Would the bartender notice and back off?
“Get me a…” Alex glanced around the intermittently-lit rows of alcohol bottles. He had never been in a bar in Mexico. Did they have the same stuff as they did in Miami? “Shit. I don’t know. What’s good?”
“What are you in the mood for?” She purred at him. Like. An actual cat sound. What the fuck.
“The harder the better.”
“That’s my poison, too.” Cat sound again. Deep in her throat.
“If you have something hard enough to clean rust off a blade, it’s probably right up my alley.” He reached in his pocket for some cash and froze.
A pulse that wasn’t part of the thrumming music made its way through his body. It hit highs where the music hit lows, and had a slow, languid wave.
Magick. Unmistakeable. Only, this was a kind of magick he hadn’t felt before. He knew what his parents felt like, and his siblings, his alpha. This was something different.
Alex put up a hand and stopped the bartender pouring. “Hold on.”
“Querido, for you, I will wait all night.” She leaned forward and flashed the tops of her breasts.
“No need to wait. I won’t be back.” He moved in the direction of the pulse, like something drew him, leaving her with her jaw down almost to her cleavage.
Hell no, he wouldn’t be back. Not ever if he could help it. The monkey suit and the alcohol and the loud music. It was all too much.
But he’d been the one who wanted to do something. Tomás had taken Lani to the alpha council for protection, but Alex hadn’t wanted to wait for another summit. He needed to do something.
As he walked through the crowd, he flexed his hands. This wasn’t what he’d had in mind when he told Maggie he wanted to help.
He should have seen Adrian shift.
Should have shifted.
Should have stopped him.
One of his knuckles cracked under the pressure of his own grip and he stopped his progress, waiting for a group of screaming blonde girls in cowboy hats and bikini tops to pass him, shot glasses raised, wooting like football fans.
There.
When the group cleared away, the magick wave felt more substantial, like it finally had a source. Julianna.
Only it wasn’t the Julianna he had seen in pictures. He’d expected staid and stoic, with a tight bun and a long-sleeved business suit. This woman was…a sex bomb.
His first instinct was to reach for his phone and text Maggie, but the downside of wolf magick was that it went two ways. Julianna absolutely felt his presence, and the way her pupils dilated told him that she hadn’t been expecting to feel it.
He reached out with his wolf to calm hers—a way his father had taught him of submitting to other wolves on their own territory… Only he didn’t receive any touch in response.
Just in case, he reached out again. He felt magick. She had to be.
A thick lump caught in his throat. No. If she had been a wolf, he would have sensed it.
Her eyes locked onto his and her mouth dropped open just enough that he could tell she was panting, though she may not have realized it. Beneath the silky, purple material of her dress, two points of her nippl
es stood out.
She was aroused.
Hell, he was aroused.
Alex stalked around the perimeter of the low, round table and grabbed the back of the empty chair. She leaned forward just enough that the low dip of her dress revealed ample and lickable cleavage. All of it, nearly to her rib cage.
“I’m sorry,” she said in a low voice. “That seat is taken.”
“I know.” He pulled the chair out. “I’m taking it.”
“No, I mean, I’m meeting someone.” Julianna’s eyes traveled down his thick tie and stopped at his crotch. She bit the side of her tongue inside her mouth, in the sweetest, most unconscious way she possibly could have.
“You’re meeting me.” He dipped his chin and waited for her gaze to return to his. Blood rushed through his chest at a thundering speed when she kept chewing and staring. “I’m Alex.”
When she finally brought her eyes up, a deep flush swathed her cheeks and went down her neck.
She was all conundrum, this woman. For hours, he’d studied everything about her, and he thought he knew her—thought Maggie knew her. They’d even found her secret digital hookup profile, but even that had been the stoic businesswoman on the outside. All aggression, all alpha.
But this. This woman wasn’t wearing a bra, and her luscious breasts strained against the thin fabric of her dress. She blushed and shuttered her eyes like a neophyte, even though her profile had been aggressive. Curves that wouldn’t stop and cleavage that made him forget about everyone in the club, all the music and the noise, all the gyrating idiots…but he couldn’t let her distract him from his mission.
“I’m Julianna.” She offered her hand and he took it. When their skin touched, he felt the pulse of that magick again. He’d never felt anything like it—drawing him forward, over the table if he could have, and right into her arms.
“I know.” He pulled on her hand until she leaned forward more and he pressed his lips to the top of her hand, dipping his eyes obviously to her cleavage.
