Snowbound With Her Christmas Bear: Wylde Den #4 (Alaskan Den Men Book 16)

by Talina Perkins

  He gripped her hips and moved down to the sofa to better allow her free movement.

  She set the rhythm and before long they were both breathing, the key to his heart nestled between her breasts.

  She pressed her hands to his shoulders, and as she sank down on him he met her halfway, the force building the pressure within her core.

  Intense and overwhelming, every nerve in her body lit with a renewed energy, everything in her wanted everything in him, and she as she toed the edge, he pushed them over with a final thrust, their orgasm hitting at the same time. Her lips parted and she joined him in a cry of release. Long seconds passed while they caught their breath.

  Finally, he said, “Earth shattering and so damn good.”

  She raked a hand through his hair and raised his gaze to meet hers. “Merry Christmas, husband.”

  Merry Christmas, my angel.”

  Fact: nothing was stronger than fate, not even her stubbornness. Except for love. Love healed. And another fact she knew, love existed if you opened your eyes to the gift of a Christmas miracle.

  Epilogue

  Rone paced outside the swinging doors as his nerves bounced all over the place. Was she all right? How was she? Did she need him? Damn it, he couldn’t tell anything through the connection they shared. What good was the damn thing if it didn’t work?

  “Dude, you need to chill. Your nerves are probably making it worse.”

  “If this goes on much longer I’m busting these damn doors down and I don’t care who the fuck hears me and who I interrupt.”

  “Wait—here she comes.” Pepper pushed to her feet and joined him by the doors that had the tiniest damn window to look through. Who the hell made these damn things anyway?

  “Well?” he burst out before she could make it through the door all the way. He grabbed her hand and hauled her into his arms.

  “Come on, spill the beans, don’t leave us waiting.” Pepper chanted beside him as his brothers made a semi-circle around the newest member of their family. They all traveled to Houston the day before so Sabine could take the final exam that would close out over four years of medical school.

  “I passed.” Sabine threw her hands up and the relief that filled him poured out with a huge sigh. A large grin spread over her lips and his eat nearly freaking burst from the happiness that radiated out of her.

  “Thank god. I didn’t want to have to send my brothers in there to kick some teacher’s ass.”

  “Rone Wylde you wouldn’t.”

  “Don’t push him. He’s fucking crazy wrapped in an ungodly amount of plaid.”

  “You’re one to speak.” Sabine chastised Adam as he held the door for them.

  He loved seeing how easily his new mate fit so perfectly in with her new family. His brothers and their mates welcomed her so openly. In three months she had turned his miserably gray life into the brightest, happiest times. The loss of his sister and the failed mating still weighed on him, but the unexpected gift of Sabine in his life overshadowed any of the darkness that wanted to cling to his heart and soul. His bear pawed and reared, happy as he was. The balance between him and his beast something he never thought would happen.

  “Can we go home now? I need to tell Cherry all about it and I need to see my new nephews.” Sabine yawned, and he pulled her into his embrace.

  Barely two months, old the little tikes drove his brother crazy and it sort of scared him of what the future held for him.

  He rested his hand over the softness of Sabine’s belly and whispered in her ear, “Is everything okay. Do you feel all right?”

  “Yes,” she answered. I just want to go home now. We have a lot of planning to do.”

  Sabine crawled into the cab and scooted over for him. “Do you think Everett is up to planning another nursery?”

  “Probably. But this time Cherry can strip and do the rum run for you.”

  “Now that’s a plan I can’t wait to put into action.”

  THE END

  ***

  Don’t miss a Wylde Den installment from Talina!

  Wylde Den Book 1: Bear His Mark – Out Now

  Wylde Den Book 2: Bear His Bond – Out Now

  Wylde Den Book 3: Bear Their Secret – Pre-order Now!

  A Note From Talina

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you for reading Snowbound With Her Christmas Bear!

  I hope Sabine and Rone’s story brought some enjoyment to your holidays and maybe a little Christmas magic. Sabine’s, with her love of ugly holiday sweaters and Rone’s popular Wylde Fire bar will show up in future titles, especially now that they are both about to embark on a whole new adventure with a little one on the way. Of course, Everett and Pepper will be back in coming stories as will Adam and Aurora as well!

  Up next, we have Bear Their Secret out on January 25. Due to a family emergency Lorne, Cherry and Kohl’s story had to be rescheduled but is now up for pre-order on all outlets.

  Also, keep reading the first chapter of Adam Wylde’s story, Bear His Mark, and the first chapter of Everett’s story, Bear His Bond.

  Thank you for joining the adventure!

  Xoxo,

  Talina

  Want more smokin’ hot

  bear shifters?

  Read on for a sneak peek

  at the first book that kicked

  off the Wylde Den Series

  CHAPTER ONE

  Aurora Starr stared at her father’s name. The chiseled strokes of his epitaph on the polished granite blurred and the once healed cracks in her heart splintered into tiny pieces. White light filled the mausoleum and complete silence reigned over her father’s service as the priest gave the final rights over the empty crypt.

  Empty because her father refused to do anything the easy way in life, so why should he in death?

  Thunder rumbled in the distance as if the heavens felt her pain. Tears welled along the rims of her eyes to wet her lashes, but she willed them away. Tiny nails pierced the tender flesh of her palms. Slowly, cautiously, she slid her eyes closed and focused on the pain. That she could handle.

  She sniffled and dug into every last ounce of strength in her body, straightened her back as the final prayer for her father drew to an end. For the past hour dozens of eyes had been glued to her every move. Only now did she feel a small reprieve as everyone bowed their heads.

  Tears never helped anyone. We can learn a lot from the diamonds we pull from the earth. Cold and hard. Take a lesson and life will be easier.

  That was her father all right. Cold-hearted and razor sharp.

  But not always. Tears fell for that father. The one that loved the outdoors and loved life. Not the jaded and torn man he became.

  Her father’s words ran chills up the length of her spine as though he stood over her shoulder, ready with one quip or another the second she showed signs of actually feeling something. They’d grown apart over the last couple of years. His bitterness toward her working for the other kind bled into her life until she had no choice but to sever ties. She’d asked for his understanding yet all she got in return was a note on corporate stationary each Christmas with a few crisp Benjamins tucked inside. As if his money would solve everything between them. But still, with him gone now, nothing would be the same.

  As long as she could remember he always wielded a high hand over her life. He’d ruined it once five years ago on the cusp of her mother’s gruesome death. Maybe if she would have played the passive, obedient daughter they could have been happier. It all seemed moot now anyway.

  “Will you be all right, darling? Why don’t you come home with us and stay a while? I’ll make up the spare bedroom.” Her aunt eyed the two trench coats flanking her, their grim faces half hidden behind black tinted glasses despite there not actually being any sunshine to speak of. The raised collars didn’t do much to conceal the earpieces and holsters.

  She narrowed her eyes at them and mentally tacked on another thing to her massive to-do list.

  “I know you love s
pending the spring there. It’ll help take your mind off of everything.” A soft, weathered hand to her arm brought her head around and the second Father Gracing slid his Bible closed, her unassuming aunt pulled her into a heartwarming bear hug. All five-foot, one hundred pounds worth of little old lady made everything better with her Aunt Bea worthy apple pies and kind soul. Don’t forget the chicken soup. A nice big bowl of that would be ten times better than what she had to do now.

  Beyond the doors, limos lined the gravel road that led to the private Starr mausoleum. Another reminder of her arranged fate as the assessor of her father’s company.

  Three generations of her family rested here. Uncles, aunts, her mother, and now her father. If only in spirit. All had a hand in building Starr Gem Global, the diamond empire that would be hers within a week whether she wanted it or not. From diamond princess to ice queen. Or, as her father would say, from the gutter with the animals to the leaders of the modern world.

  Jaded and bitter didn’t begin to describe her father.

  Butterflies brushed against the soft interior of her stomach. Her breath quickened.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a tall, stocky man who towered over several grievers, his eyes glued on her. News crews waited along the gate, their cameras at the ready.

  It all came at her at once. He was gone. She’d take anything over the silence eating at her insides.

  She scanned over the room. Not one person beyond her aunt and uncle looked familiar, but everyone knew her. Maybe she wasn’t cut out for this.

  With a gentle squeeze, Aurora pulled back from her aunt and looked down on the icy blue eyes of the woman that helped raise her after the passing of her mother. How long before she’d leave her too?

  “I... I have to go. I’m sorry. I can’t right now.” No matter how tempting hiding out from the ugly world appealed to her, she had a promise to keep before... before whatever happened after losing her father and gaining an empire in the expanse of a week.

  “Are you sure, darling? Your father would be so disappointed.”

  Aurora dragged out a smile and slipped it on for her aunt’s sake. “I have to do something for him.” And herself, depending on how you looked at it. Either way, it would take her away from here if only for a little bit. “You know how Father is—was—with a promise.” She swallowed hard. The time away would help clear her head.

  “Child, you’re too hard on yourself. Is it something I can help with?” The understanding and kind heart her father lacked, her aunt made up for in spades.

  Something warm and wet hit her hand where her aunt clasped her close. Oh! One more teary-eyed plea and she’d have no more willpower to say no or leave her aunt to grieve the passing of her brother alone.

  Rumbling split the skies once again, this time promising to make good on its threat.

  “I won’t be gone long. A day or two, tops. Promise.”

  “Things are about to change, Aurora. You have to be ready.”

  Her aunt’s eyebrows shot up and her eyes turned a shade of blue that denoted determination. All the Starr women had it. Her father called it the Starr-pointed look.

  Aurora crossed her heart and tucked away the invisible key in her pocket like they used to do when she was a little girl. That seemed to do the trick. Her aunt graced her with a smile and patted her hand.

  “Go, child. I’ll cover for you.”

  Bless her sweet heart.

  A familiar, deep, level voice carried over the crowd. Angling her body toward the parked cars, Aurora took a step back one last time. Shit. Her uncle was headed their way, most likely to take her aunt home and with him came another set of stiff, by-the-book trench coats.

  “I’ll call you when I land.” Her aunt shoved a set of keys into her hands. With a quick peck on the cheek, Aurora waved at her approaching uncle and ducked around a few distant relatives huddled under several black umbrellas on the steps. From the few words she caught, someone thought the tainted past of the late Starr and his troubled daughter served as a hot topic to whisper about. The chilled wind carried faint notes of one of them and words like untrustworthy and tainted.

  Anger bubbled in the pit of her stomach until a bitter taste entered her mouth. Not that she wanted to give any excuses, but at least her father had a reason for hating otherworldlies—humans born of both shifter blood and human.

  She might only have human hearing, but even the dead could pick up on the shameful tone tossed at her for being a shifter lover. Once tainted in the eyes of the high and mighty of her father’s inner circles there was no going back. Money didn’t make you a decent human being. These people were more savage than the shifters they held prejudice against.

  Trying not to catch the tip of her heel on jagged bricks of the walkway, she didn’t bother to acknowledge any of the old hens mixed up with a few well-creased suits. No one had time for that crap or the fake sentiments. She risked a glance at her watch as she reached the graveled road.

  With a double click, the doors to the Town Car flicked open and she slid in and not a moment too soon. Several trench coats were already weaving through the crowd to catch up. “Sorry.” She hit the lock switch and turned over the motor. “Not this time, boys.”

  Having Starr as a surname and being a top executive assistant for the second highest precious gem mining company made bodyguards, one more thing she had to deal with on a regular basis.

  But not today. Aurora hit the little green button on her cell phone before the first full ring finished. “Ms. Donavan’s—” she quickly caught her slip. “Excuse me. I apologize. Ms. Starr speaking.” Breaking the habit of answering the phone as an elite Donovan assistant for one of her father’s competitors would take a little bit. A long pause carried over the speakerphone. “Hello? Can I help you?”

  “Yes, Ms. Aurora Starr, I’m calling about your travel arrangements.” Curt and to the point. Her father’s secretary never cracked a smile or, God forbid, exchanged pleasantries.

  “Yes, Ms. Chadwell.” With the phone tossed to the passenger side, Aurora craned her neck around to check for passing cars, not that there would be many on a single lane cemetery road, but hey, one tended to be a little more careful when the view out the windshield was acres of stone slabs in a variety of sizes.

  “I’m calling to confirm your flight times. I have you for an eleven-thirty departure.”

  How could she forget? “I’ll be there. Thank you for the reminder, Ms. Chadwell.” With a flick across the smooth glass, she ended the call and stuffed the phone back into her coat pocket, mentally adding a note to pick up something on her trip to smooth the rough edges of her soon-to-be assistant.

  Just the thought of dealing with Chadwell on a daily basis made her pulse plummet.

  She had one more stop and then she could be on her way. Executing her father’s last wishes in secrecy took some finagling, but the end was in sight.

  The drive passed in a blur and within minutes of stowing her single carry-on, the skies opened up and drowned out the shrinking skyline of New York City.

  (End of sneak peek)

  To continue reading make sure to pick up Bear His Mark

  Want more smokin’ hot

  bear shifters?

  Read on for a sneak peek

  at the second book of the

  Wylde Den Series

  CHAPTER ONE

  Everett Wylde played a dangerous game. Flirting with fate would leave him backed into a corner and facing a mate he didn’t want. How could he consign himself to such a fate? Shackle his bear to something neither of them could ever have?

  He took another look at the beauty beneath him and the mark of his den on his shoulder flared with threads of powerful heat.

  As the snow melted, the mating season slammed into his hometown of Claw Ridge with a vengeance. Summer, the peak of mating season, was still a month away. By the time fall rolled around again, there was no telling if anyone would be left standing.

  Buzzing in his mind grew loud
er and threatened to drown out everything but the woman tempting the boundaries of his control.

  Damn her. Why did she have to be so alluring to his bear? To push him so close to the edge with a simple smile?

  Hadn’t he promised himself he’d never let anyone close to him?

  Whatever had his guts tied into matted knots made it hard to breathe the second her delicate body slid beneath him.

  God help him, three days in the backwoods of Alaska with her would either leave him drained or dead.

  He trailed a single finger over the blackened ink swirls of vines and flowers that decorated the smooth skin from her right thigh all the way up to grace the soft skin of her waist. Sparks shimmered and crackled where his skin met her supple curves. The mark on his right shoulder tingled and spoke to a deeper connection. One he had not felt since the death of his twin.

  Damn her.

  He flinched and pulled back as if the inked tethers of her tattoo twined around him. Every half hour, like a playlist on repeat in his head, he reminded himself it was nothing more than a fling.

  Three more torturous, heavenly days and they parted ways. How many times could he make her peak in seventy-two hours? Would she forget him? Not likely. She returned to her world and he stayed in his. Playboy Everett didn’t pine, dammit. But he would make damn sure she did.

  Darkness played at the contours of her heart-shaped face pressed into the pillows, and long shadows stretched across the room, barely brushing her golden skin.

  The scent of fresh sea air and warm sunshine played with his senses. Some would argue sunshine didn’t smell. That was a lie. It smelled like happiness, hope, and a helluva a lot of trouble.