by Black, Tasha
“Bill,” he called, still gazing into Delilah’s dark eyes. “Any chance you can babysit today? We don’t have a big backlog at the shop.”
“Oh, sure,” Bill said, sounding genuinely thrilled. “I’ll take him to the park.”
“We’re going back to the house,” Axel told him.
Bill’s eyebrows went straight up, and he looked like he wanted to laugh. But he only nodded and placed Noah in his stroller.
Axel turned to Delilah and swept her up in his arms.
She let out a surprised giggle that made him feel like a superhero.
He couldn’t wait to hear the noises she would make when he claimed her at last.
22
Axel
Axel placed Delilah down gently at the foot of his bed.
They were both already breathless at the thought of what was about to happen.
Delilah was excruciatingly lovely, her eyes soft with need.
“Delilah,” he whispered, trying to remember the words he needed to say.
She smiled up at him patiently.
“Delilah, I’m a shifter,” he told her.
“I know,” she said, her eyes twinkling. “I saw. You were incredible.”
God, she was beautiful.
“There’s something you need to know,” he told her. “About being with a shifter.”
“Are you going to turn into a bear, during...?” she asked.
He might have laughed at her troubled expression, except that he realized she really thought this might be a possibility. And she was still standing here.
“You’re very brave,” he told her. “But, no, that’s not going to happen.”
“Oh, good,” she said, relieved. “I mean not that you aren’t an attractive bear, it’s just…”
“Please don’t explain,” he told her, smiling. “You don’t want to hurt his feelings.”
“Can he hear me?” she asked, fascinated.
“Sure,” he said. “The bear is always with me, but on the inside, except when I let him out.”
“Which is during the full moon?” she asked.
“Sometimes,” he said. “I can do it anytime though, any time I need to.”
“To protect Noah,” she said instantly.
The bear’s approving growl echoed in his head.
“Yes,” he said. “Or to protect you.”
“I’m glad,” she said. “I feel safe knowing he’s always there.”
Claim her now, the bear demanded.
“The thing about the bear is complicated though,” Axel said. “Or maybe it’s very simple.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“When he chooses a mate, it’s for life,” he told her.
“Oh,” Delilah said.
“I already know I’m dead serious about you, Delilah,” Axel said carefully. “I want to share my life with you forever. But if you don’t feel the same, then we should probably just take it slowly and get to know—”
But she cut him off with a gentle kiss that sent white-hot sparks down his spine.
“Are you sure?” he murmured against her mouth.
“Very, very sure,” she said, pressing her small, soft form against him.
There was something else he had wanted to say, but it was forgotten.
He meant to take it slowly anyway. He wanted to seduce her carefully, deliberately.
Instead, he found himself tearing off his own clothing and nearly ripping hers in his eagerness to feel her against him.
She laughed and the sweet tinkling sound further incited his lust. He was wild for her, desperate to be inside her, to make his mark on his mate.
When she was naked at last, he nudged her toward the bed.
She crawled in and lay on her back, arms out for him.
The bear groaned with need, responding as much to her submissive posture as to her deliriously inviting scent.
He crawled into the bed and spread her thighs impatiently.
She let her legs fall apart and he buried his face in her fragrant sex, feeding on her sweet juices until she cried out and lifted her hips to meet his mouth.
He pulled back and licked his lips, hands on her trembling thighs.
Delilah was gasping for breath, her lips swollen from his kisses, hair splayed on the pillow, tangled and beautiful.
“Please,” she whispered, holding her arms out to him again.
23
Delilah
Delilah waited in an agony of need as Axel crawled up to her and covered her body with his.
She had never felt this way before, frantic with lust, wholly lost to her desire. But it was more than that. More than just a physical need.
I trust him, she realized. I trust him implicitly.
“Are you ready?” he growled, eyes hooded with lust.
“Yes,” she said.
Then he was between her thighs, the iron-hard heat of him pressing against her, stretching her slowly, sweetly, until she saw stars.
“Delilah,” he groaned into the tender place where her neck met her collarbone.
“Please,” she murmured, lifting her hips, knowing she could take him, craving the sensation of him moving inside her.
He growled in surrender and the sensation of the thirst was indescribable - a pain-tinged pleasure that made her toes curl.
She moaned and sank her nails into his shoulders, clinging to him for fear that she might actually disintegrate from the pleasure.
Axel thrust into her again, each time sending her further and further toward the edge of an abyss of pleasure.
She lifted herself to meet him, lost in a storm of frenzied need.
“Oh, God, Delilah,” he groaned.
When she felt his mouth against her neck, she closed her eyes and tried to be still.
There was a moment of pain as his teeth closed on her neck, then nothing but the most exquisite pleasure as he slid a hand between them to circle her most sensitive place.
Delilah lost track of her own sounds as her whole body exploded with an ecstasy so intense she thought she would faint, just as she felt Axel explode inside her, crying out her name.
For a long time, she floated in the throes of unspeakable pleasure, each throb like waves pounding the shoreline.
When the tide finally slowed, she closed her eyes and listened to the rhythm of Axel’s rough breath, and the sound of his heartbeat which seemed to reverberate in her very blood.
“Mine,” he murmured to her.
She swore it was the voice of the bear she heard. But it didn’t matter, they were one and the same, two sides of her incredible mate.
“Yours,” she agreed as sleep overtook her.
24
Axel
On Monday morning, Axel sat beside Delilah on the blanket at playgroup with Noah cuddled in his arms.
He and Delilah had opened up early and set everything up together. They had even brought coffee for the whole “single dads” gang.
It was amazing how having Delilah around made everything more fun. Noah had squealed and laughed at her as she played with all the toys they laid out.
But as soon as they sat down to wait for everyone, Delilah seemed to wilt a little.
He glanced over at her now.
She was holding her coffee cup between her palms and biting her plump lower lip.
“Don’t be nervous,” he told her gently. “The guys already love you. They’ll be happy for us.”
“Isn’t it kind of a cliché?” she asked. “Sleeping with the babysitter?”
“Imposter babysitter,” he teased. “Although I told the service we won’t be needing the real one after all. And I’m not just sleeping with you.”
She smiled and he felt his heart leap in his chest. Would he ever get used to this happiness?
Noah yelped joyfully and smacked the top of Axel’s head.
Bane was headed up the stairs with Oliver.
“Hey, guys,” Bane said. “What’s new?”
“Not too much,” Axel r
eplied, unable to hide his wide grin.
Bane grinned back.
He knew.
“Well, I’m glad you’re both here,” Bane said. “How’s it going, Delilah?”
“It’s going well,” she replied smiling at Axel. “It’s going really, really well.”
Bane laughed and clapped Axel on the back.
“Yeah, yeah, I know I’m grinning like an idiot,” Axel laughed. “But I’m happy. I don’t care who knows it.”
He unwrapped one of Delilah’s hands from her coffee cup and squeezed it.
“That’s fantastic, man,” Bane said genuinely. “I’m really happy for you guys.”
“Thank you,” Delilah told him. “You look happy today yourself.”
“I’ve decided to do some free-lancing writing gigs,” Bane said. “I’ll still have a ton of time with Ollie, and it means I won’t have to go looking for work.”
“Hey, that’s great,” Axel said, raising his coffee cup in a toasting gesture. “Looks like we all have something to celebrate.”
The morning went along as it always did, parents and caregivers arriving, the light streaming in the windows, burnishing the wooden floors and illuminating the happy faces.
Axel’s heart threatened to burst as he watched Delilah relax and laugh with his friends. They happily passed baby Noah back and forth between them.
Axel had been struggling to understand the transformation he had seen in his son over the last few days as he enjoyed the undivided attention of twice as many adults as he was accustomed to.
But it came to him now.
Noah was content.
Delilah’s inexperience had given Axel greater confidence in his own abilities. And having an extra set of arms around made the whole experience of taking care of a baby more relaxing and enjoyable.
Noah was a perceptive little fellow.
He was happy because his daddy was happy.
Which meant what Axel was about to do much, much easier.
He fingered the edges of the box that was in his pocket, and prayed that Rachel Delgado at the jewelry store hadn’t steered him wrong when it came to a choice Delilah would like.
“Hey guys, can you excuse us a minute?” he said.
Everyone looked up.
Delilah looked a little alarmed.
“It’s nothing,” he said quickly. “Well, it’s something. But it’s good. I think. Come on.”
He cursed himself inwardly - he was as awkward as a teenager around this woman.
She stood with baby Noah in the crook of her arm, and they headed down the stairs together.
The air was fresh and crisp. Dry leaves skidded across the parking lot, making a whispering sound, as if in anticipation.
The breeze blew Delilah’s curls and she laughed, which made Noah chuckle and whack her cheek with uncharacteristic gentleness before leaning his little forehead against her neck.
“I love you so much,” Axel heard himself say.
She looked up, surprised, and then looked down at Noah, as if realizing Axel must be talking to the baby.
“Of course I love him,” Axel said. “But I was talking to you. I love you, Delilah.”
“I love you too,” she told him, her lower lip trembling.
He let the words soak in, felt them in his heart, his mind, his very soul.
She smiled at him, exploding the butterflies in his chest and he could bear no more.
He knelt before her, pulling the box from his pocket.
She gasped, her mouth forming a tiny O.
“Delilah, you came into our lives just a few days ago,” he said. “But Noah and I… well… we just can’t live without you. Will you have us as your family?”
She gazed down at him, her eyes brimming with tears.
“Please, Delilah,” he said. “Please marry me.”
“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, yes, yes. Except…”
“Except what?” he asked, terrible scenarios popping into his head. Was she unsure about him? Was she already married?
“I, um, I can’t cook,” she muttered.
“What?” he asked.
“I just, I can’t cook,” she said. “I can learn. Or at least, I can try, but I don’t want to marry you without you knowing the truth.”
Axel roared with relieved laughter.
“Is that… funny?” she asked nervously.
“I knew you couldn’t cook,” he told her. “I recognized the meatloaf right away. But you found out what I liked, and you got it for me. You probably spent all the money I gave you for clothing on meatloaf, didn’t you?”
“Most of it,” she admitted.
“That was very nice of you,” he told her. “And I can’t cook either. Maybe we can take a class together?”
Together.
He was starting to really like the sound of that word.
She nodded, smiling back at him again at last.
“Is there anything else I need to know?” he asked her.
“I don’t really have any marketable skills,” she said miserably. “Unless you wanted to pull a con. And I won’t do that anymore. But I don’t want to be a burden.”
His heart ached. But her words made sense coming from the perspective of a woman whose own mother had pushed her into grifting from the time she was a child.
“I have a successful business, Delilah,” he told her gently. “I can’t give you luxury, but I can support us. Maybe one day you’ll want to take some classes, learn a skill that interests you. I can help you with that too. But only if you want. Noah and I just want you around. You are enough. Just you. Exactly as you are. Do you understand?”
His heart broke as he watched her sob. He stood and put his arms around her, the ring still in his hand.
She rested her head against his chest, and he could feel her tears wet his t-shirt.
Noah nuzzled her neck and grabbed Axel’s shirt in a chubby fist.
“Thank you,” she whispered at last.
“It’s my pleasure,” he told her. “But if I can’t put this ring on your finger right now, I’m afraid I’m going to combust.”
She laughed and pulled back enough for him to slide the ring onto her finger.
The little diamond winked in the morning sun and Delilah gazed at it rapturously.
“You like it?” he asked.
“I love it,” she said. “But mostly I love you. Both of you.”
“We are all so lucky,” he told her.
He bent to kiss her, and she pressed her lips to his so sweetly it made him feel half-dizzy.
“Come on,” he whispered to her. “Let’s go tell our friends.”
She grinned up at him and nodded.
He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and the three of them headed back into the community center to share their joy with their friends, and to begin the rest of their lives.
Together.
Thanks for reading Axel!
Want to see what happens when Kelly, the curvy cafe owner falls for single daddy shifter Bane, literally?
When an unlucky tumble takes her off her feet, Bane, and his adorable toddler, Ollie, step in to help with the cafe. But while Kelly is on the mend, she starts to have her suspicions about some shady activity across the street. Can she resist the call of Bane’s animal magnetism long enough to solve the mystery, or is it just her imagination getting the best of her?
Find out in Bane: Single Daddy Shifters #2.
Keep reading for a sample, or grab your copy now:
https://www.tashablack.com/singledaddyshifters.html
Bane - SAMPLE
1
Kelly
Kelly McDermott gazed out the window at her approaching quarry.
Minna Randolf was practically trotting toward the shop. The older woman was wearing a sweatshirt with kittens on it today. Her ample bosoms made the friendly felines seem to nod emphatically with each step.
Kelly glanced down her wares one last time.
Everything was in order
. The muffins in the baskets were lined up like soldiers, juicy blueberries and coffeecake toppings proudly on display. The bagels leaned on each other in long rows, showing off, swirls of rye, seas of sesame seeds and crinkly onion bits. Stainless steel urns of fragrant flavored coffee lined the counter top.
And under the glass case, in the center of a circle of bear claws was the pièce de résistance - a mountain of fragrant cinnamon buns, their glaze glistening in the morning light.
Kelly sighed with satisfaction.
She had to be up before five every day to make it happen, but Mornings at McDermott’s was ready for business.
Kelly had always dreamed of having a book and bake shop. When this space had opened up just after her grandmother left her a tidy sum of inheritance money, she figured it was meant to be.
For now, the books on the built-in shelves Jack Harkness had installed for her were all Kelly’s own - free for any customer to borrow.
But one day she hoped to make the place a real bookshop, where local authors could come in to do readings and sell their work.
Outside, Minna had almost reached the shop.
Kelly couldn’t help noticing the worried look on her favorite customer’s face. Minna was glancing at her watch, almost as if she were late.
Kelly wasn’t sure how you could be late to grab a cinnamon bun and curl up with a good book, but it was the only way to explain Minna’s expression.
Then it happened.
Minna turned and went into the storefront across the street.
Kelly’s mouth dropped open in horror.
Et tu, Minna?
But she had seen it with her own eyes.
Minna was going straight in the door of Yoga Valhalla.
Kelly sighed and looked around her café.
It was empty.
And it looked like it was going to stay that way a little while longer.
Ever since Whitney Ogden had opened Yoga Valhalla right across the street, no one seemed to want to buy artisanal baked goods and chocolates anymore.
