by Marie Mason
He thought himself destined to be alone, unworthy of a mate. Watching the Barringer brothers find their mates gave him a glimmer of hope that he might one day find his. He never expected his mate to knock him off his feet. Or be so damn deliciously curvy. His perfect woman.
Of course, he never expected to receive the help of a previously absentee fairy godmother and two wolves who decided to play cupid instead of Santa.
Daphne was tired. Tired of school, tired of barely making ends meet. Tired of serving drinks and foods to the skinny, pretentious pixies who thought they were the bomb. Of course, she could never hope to compete with women attending the Holiday Ball even if she’d been an invited guest instead of part of the wait staff. She was curvy, plain and…human. Everyone knew wolves mated with witches. Or the pixies.
All Daphne had going for her was a pair of shiny black shoes…
EXCERPT:
Daphne blinked up at him, unsure where this conversation was leading. She knew she wasn’t really his mate. How could she be? Wolves mated with witches, everyone knew that. That realization didn’t stop the heat from flashing over every inch of her body. She felt herself swaying toward him. The feelings he evoked in her were beyond description. He had the power to make her forget all about propriety, her sister, her future. Had she ever simply did anything because it felt right? Good? No, her life these last years had been filled with responsibility and just trying to survive from day to day.
He made her want to reach out and take what she wanted. For how ever long it lasted. “I know.”
“Good,” he nodded once. “Just so we’re clear.”
Kade tugged her body to his. The hardness of his erection touched her belly. He bent his head and kissed her lightly on her lips. They softened and excitement flashed inside him, begging for release. Joining his mouth to hers, he took deeply from her this time. Her mouth opened for him. He dipped his tongue inside and caught hers in a tangle of need. There was a passion in her and he knew he’d only scratched the surface with the teasing and flirting he’d done so far tonight. He wanted to explore every inch of her with his lips, his tongue, his hands. His damn cock.
THE BLACKWOOD BROTHERS, BOOK 1
BLIND DATE WITH A BEAR
When Quinn Blackwood thought it was time to go hunting for his mate, he couldn’t believe fate handed her to him on his very first blind date. His family thought it was a hilarious turn of events since the big bear shifter had been looking forward to sowing a few more wild oats before settling down with his one true mate. No one was laughing when Paige got the wrong idea and believed Quinn was just looking for a good time.
Paige Matthews had finally given into the cajoling of her co-worker and agreed to a blind date with the woman’s brother. Paige admired the family of bear shifters and had nursed a secret crush on the oldest Blackwood brother, Quinn, since moving to town. Even though she’d known the odds were against it, she was terribly disappointed that she wasn’t his true mate. She did however, decide to take him up on his offer of a good time, cause this good-girl craved the bear’s sweet loving.
EXCERPT:
Quinn did more than give her a casual look. He turned on the padded barstool, giving her his full attention. He tried not to let his mouth hang open or show her his bear panting with need. She was cock-hardening tempting even if she was dressed ultra conservative in that white button-up blouse and black slacks. Nothing form fitting or eye-catching about her outfit. The only concession she’d made to dressing for a date were the earrings dangling from her shell-like earlobes. They were black and sparkled with each movement of her head and enticed him to look at the sweet curve where her neck and shoulder met. The place most shifters marked their mates. He wondered if she would taste as sweet and satisfying as he imagined.
Okay, slow down, buddy, he told himself. That was two overly possessive type thoughts he’d had about this woman in less than ten minutes. Yes, he’d felt the instant attraction, the instant awareness that this woman was his. His bear was closer to the surface than it had ever been in his life. Inside, he heard the animal whisper to the man.
Mine. Take. Mate.
He stood up and faced her. Like he said, his size intimidated most women. One good look might be enough to scare her away. His bear didn’t like the thought of that.
The man knew she might take one look and run. Yeah, he liked larger women—make that freaking loved women of size—and Paige fit the bill with big boobs and a big butt. Besides the attraction, though, he needed a woman who could go toe-to-toe with him, giving as good as she got. While bears might appear laid back and easygoing, they could be, well, a bear to live with. He didn’t want a shy, mousy woman who’d let him run roughshod all over her. Dominate her—hell yeah.
What were his sisters and mother always telling him and the twins? There was a fine line between being dominating and domineering. Sometimes shifter males learned that difference the hard way.
Before he could say anything, he saw her head turn, her green eyes watching his every movement as he rose. Her gaze raked him from top to bottom and back up again before she spoke.
“You’re very big.”
Oh, baby, he thought, you don’t know the half of it.
THE BLACKWOOD BROTHERS, BOOK 2.5
PAIGE’S BOSSY BEAR
They said the road to true love could be rocky. Quinn’s courtship of Paige was covered with huge freaking boulders!
Paige Matthews had finally found her one true love, bear shifter named Quinn Blackwood. Raised by an elderly aunt, she has never relied on anyone for anything. Adjusting to a big bear shifter—a big, bossy, bear shifter—was taking some getting used to. Especially, when he insisted they move in together. She didn’t know why she was hesitating. Fate had given her everything she’d ever desired. What it hadn’t done was provide an instruction manual on her to handle her alpha male bear.
One blind date had revealed Paige was indeed Quinn Blackwood’s true mate and he couldn’t be happier with the curvy beauty. Circumstances had placed her in danger and his bear on the edge. Now that the danger had passed, the man—and the bear—was having a difficult time giving her the space she needed.
EXCERPT:
Boy, would the twins give him hell if they knew he had a beautiful woman in his house and all he wanted to do was gather her in his arms and take a nap. If this was what being mated did to a bear…he was all for it. He wanted to pick her up and settle her across his lap. Or across his knee until she agreed to move in with him. That thought had his cock stirring to life and he clenched his fists, resisting the urge to scoop her up in his arms and carry her upstairs. Two things prevented him from doing just that. He smelled like the devil himself and she looked tired as hell.
A small measure of guilt crept up inside him. He knew why she looked so damn tired. She hadn’t had a full night’s sleep since they’d mated. He loved her well into the night, reaching for her time after time until dawn streaked across the sky. She never said no, as eager for his touch as he was for hers.
His instincts were telling him he needed to pull back. But he couldn’t. Other, more formidable instincts, were telling him to take her. Fuck her. Mate her.
He knew why. And he knew the hunger wouldn’t be slated until he’d planted his seed inside her belly. Then, his bear could rest.
Turning sharply on his heel, he took the stairs two out at a time, away from temptation.
Perhaps it was time to toss her over his shoulder and show her just how bossy this bear could be.
THE BLACKWOOD BROTHERS ARE BACK… BOOK 3
BEAR AND BEAR ALIKE
Ryland and Ryker Blackwood were twins. Identical, thigh clenching bear shifter twins who had no trouble getting women into their beds. Or bed. They’d shared just about everything in life—even their women.
The scent of the cat shifter they found on their construction site was driving both Blackwood brothers crazy with lust. Or was it? Every time they thought they were getting closer to finding the woman wh
o would be their mate, one of their bears backed away. The hot and cold feeling they were getting from their animals was confusing the shit out of them.
Was the cat shifter meant for one of them or both of them?
This is a longer story at 70,000 - because Ryker and Ryland are up to some nice naughtiness!!
EXCERPT:
“You mean a list of rules, don’t you?”
“You betcha. Got a problem with that?”
“Yeah, I do.”
Oh, how he loved the stubborn set of her jaw. But first things first. He yanked his shirt over his head to give to her. A small laugh escaped him as he helped her dress.
“What the hell do find funny at this particular moment, bear boy?” She managed to push her arms through the sleeves and yanked the shirt down as far as it would go.
“I was remembering your comment about not being my Barbie doll.” He eased her hair from the collar of the shirt, smoothing it behind her ears. “And now I’m dressing you.”
“Well, don’t get used to it.”
SEASON OF THE WOLF
A BBW HOLIDAY ROMANCE
The curvy woman stepping off the red, two-engine plane wasn't just a Christmas guest, she was his fated mate...
Wolf shifter, Jason Dupree had returned to his hometown of Winter, Montana, to take the position as head enforcer of his pack and sheriff for the small mountain town. Snow was not his favorite thing. When his sister asks him to pick up her Christmas visitor while the white stuff is falling, he is not a happy wolf. The woman is working on her Ph.D., in of all things, the sexual habits of wolf shifters. In ordinary circumstances, Jason would have been delighted to help her with her research. But, he's suffered injuries that almost proved fatal, even for a wolf.
Priscilla Johnson had never had a satisfying sexual encounter and didn't believe in the instant attraction wolf shifters purported to feel for their chosen mate. Ever since an unexplained encounter with a pack of wolves when she was younger, she'd felt drawn to the beautiful animal. When she discovered that shifters do exist, and that they, too, mated for life, she had the perfect subject for her doctoral thesis.
Caught in a snowstorm, Jason must use all his shifter strength to keep them both alive. While taking refuge in a small cabin, he must convince the disbelieving woman that fated mates do exist and that she now belongs to him-heart, body, and soul.
What better way convince her than to let her experience the sexual appetite of a wolf shifter when he finds his true mate?
EXCERPT:
“Look, I’m sorry I got upset. This wasn’t how I was planning on spending my Friday night.” He wasn’t about to tell her the truth—that the thought of being snowed in with her was about to drive his wolf insane. He glanced at her, afraid to take his eyes off the road for very long. She sat very still, gripping the edges of her seat.
“I, umm.”
She licked her lips and he just about forgot everything. The snow. The treacherous road. His own damn name. His mind filled with the image of her on her knees, the tip of his cock nudging its way inside of her mouth.
“Are there really such things as wizards?”
“What?”
“Do wizards exist?”
Jason snorted. He didn’t want to get into an explanation of the supernatural world with his mate. He had a feeling the things he would soon be revealing would be mind-boggling enough. “I’ve never met one, so I can’t really say for sure.”
“That’s a very politically correct statement.”
His mind was racing with the options he had for getting her to safety. He knew the highway patrol was probably erring on the side of caution by closing the road. The road back to the airport would be getting as impassable as the one before him. Plus he couldn’t see them spending a comfortable night in the rundown metal building. Or a couple of nights. Really, did he have any other choice but to ‘power through’ as she’d so innocently pointed out until he could go no further?
His eyes swept over the landscape, determining their exact location. The closest shelter, besides some abandoned caves, was a small cabin on the edge of pack land. If he could make it a couple of more miles in the SUV, they should be able to reach it.
“We’re in trouble aren’t we?” The fear in her voice tore at him. It was a wolf’s number one objective to keep his mate safe, free of fear.
MATE OF THE ALPHA
Ethan Scott was reluctant to claim his mate, Lily Reynolds. He was afraid his carnal needs would be too much for the curvy innocent. His wolf was of another mind, pushing the man relentlessly to mate. But Ethan knew once he had the brown-haired beauty there would no turning back. He’d claim her, mate her, and bred her. When a group of rogue wolves attacks her, Ethan fears he has left his claiming too late and will lose his mate forever. When he comes to her rescue, he discovers the spirited Lily is more than ready to be the mate of an alpha.
Lily Reynolds has been crushing on her boss since she started work at Wolfe Enterprises six months ago. She knew the chances of attracting the wolf into a long-term relationship were slim to none–slim being a state she hadn’t achieved since childhood. She loved her curves and knew there was someone out there who would love every soft, luscious inch of her voluptuous body. Heartbroken, she knew Ethan Scott wasn’t that man despite the hot and cold signals the wolf shifter had been given her for months.
EXCERPT:
“Come in, Lily.”
“Do you have those contracts ready for me to finish, sir?” She stood by the door, her hands clasped in front of her.
While he had every intention of making her call him sir in the bedroom–mainly when he had her tied to his bed or spanking her luscious ass–he didn’t want her to do so in the office.
Oh, really? If his wolf had had eyebrows, they would have risen in disbelief. They both knew one of the first things they planned to do after they claimed her was bend her over his desk and fuck her while she screamed, harder, sir; faster sir.
His cock, which had been half-hard since she’d walked through the door, sprung to life so fast, he actually felt faint for a moment as all the blood in his body rushed south. His wolf snickered.
“Ethan,” he said with firm determination, wanting to hear his name on her lips. “I told you to call me Ethan.”
She drew in a deep breath, which lifted her breasts into prominence, and both the man and the wolf whimpered.
“Ethan.” Her voice was shy and breathless and he almost came in his pants.
He reached to the side of his desk and handed her a folder. “Here are the contracts. If you could have them done before you set up for the meeting, I’d appreciate it.”
A departmental lunch meeting had been scheduled in the large conference room next to his office suite. What he really wanted to do was call the meeting off, claim Lily and take her again and again until they were both raw from fucking.
Then he wanted to do it all over again.
The only thing standing in his way? Lily Reynolds. In his mate, he sensed a reserve. There was a wariness within the depths of her pretty, brown eyes that spoke of something, he suspected, that had to do with a man. It made him angry to think anyone had ever hurt his mate. But knowing he’d have to overcome her natural resistance and some asshole’s past behavior was a challenge.
A challenge he was closer and closer to taking on.
