“Mine.”
She curled her fingers into his hair, digging in as he hungrily licked her. Her legs shook around him, her hips bucked under his mouth, but he didn’t relent. Slow, teasing tastes turned to hard-pressed pleasure until he brought her back down again. He kept her right on the edge, teetering close to plunging over the other side, denying her that final aching release.
“Wyatt,” she begged, voice hoarse.
“Alanna,” he groaned, licking her deep.
Harsh, brutal. He sucked her clit between his lips, flicking her with his tongue. He drove her hard and fast until her nails darkened with sharp claws and tore into the blankets at her sides. Hips bucking under the onslaught, Alanna broke apart with a savage cry only partly hidden under her fist.
Two seconds, maybe three. That was all Wyatt gave her before he crawled up her body, licking and biting wherever he felt needed the attention. His forearms pinned her shoulders to the bed and his mouth grazed over the hollow of her throat.
“I need to be inside you,” he growled with possessive need.
Alanna twisted her hips and flipped them around. Wyatt’s eyes rolled closed and his jaw set in a hard line as she lowered herself over him. She let off a hiss of pleasure as she took him inside, stretching to fit him within her.
“Look at me,” Wyatt ordered.
Her eyes snapped open. His abs flexed as he sat up. He threaded his fingers through her hair, holding her head back. He bent to kiss her neck and slowly rocked himself inside her. “Fuck, kitten. You feel so good. You like that? You want that every night for the rest of your life?”
“Always,” she groaned with the next slide of his length. Nerves burst inside her, strobing pleasure through her body. She dug her nails into his shoulders and sealed her word with a kiss.
Holy hell. He sent her head spinning, switching from slow, simmering touches to an unstoppable force bent on bringing her to pleasure. She loved never knowing what to expect with him in the next minute, second, breath. He was wild. Uncontrollable.
Hers.
He drove his hips up and into her, strong hands on her hips guiding her movements. Alanna threw her head back and braced a hand behind her, meeting him stroke for stroke, thrust for thrust. Wyatt bent his head, capturing a nipple between his lips, teeth grazing her skin until she cried out.
Hands. Lips. She gave herself over to him, accepting his touch and giving her own. They were one with each other even before his mouth settled over her shoulder. Alanna moaned and throbbed around him.
“Yes,” she hissed. “Do it.”
“Come,” he commanded. He slid his tongue over her collarbone. “Come for me, kitten. Come while I make you mine.”
The words sank through her, sparking her release. Pleasure exploded inside her, throbbed around his cock, billowed up and out.
And then his fangs slid into her skin.
Alanna cried out, vision darkening at the edges. Wyatt groaned against her skin, sealing their bodies together with a hard yank. He jerked and twitched inside her, filling her with warmth.
Her tigress roared. Her gums ached with the press of fangs that needed to find a home, needed to mark her mate.
Alanna struck and shattered around him again.
She fluttered back down to earth to the delicious snaking pleasure of Wyatt running his tongue over her fresh mate mark.
Neither said a word. She wasn’t even sure if they breathed.
Alanna pressed her fingers to her mark on his skin and traced the evidence of her happiness. Thirteen years sat between where everything had gone wrong and where they got back on track.
Her wild wolf had come home.
Epilogue
“Mom is throwing me a party, ain’t she?” Atticus grumbled.
“Isn’t,” Wyatt corrected, then frowned. Damn Noelle. She ruined the best mistakes in language with all her rules about encouraging better habits for schoolwork and tests. “Hand me that new kickstand.”
Atticus fetched the piece and laid it next to where Wyatt worked. “I’m too old for baby parties.”
“Listen, kid, sometimes these things aren’t about just you.” Wyatt winced at Atticus’s scowl. Shit, that wasn’t right. He tried again. “She’s not trying to baby you. She just wants to celebrate you. Hell, you made it out of middle school. Surviving that torture is worth some cake and ice cream.”
“Did you have a party?”
“No,” he answered honestly. “My folks weren’t into celebrating anything. But your mom had one, and I wish I’d been invited.”
Also truth, though his teenage self would rather have had all his teeth pulled than admit it. His adult self, too, but only Atticus was around to hear his confession. Showing a soft side to the cub felt right.
Atticus weighed his words, tossing a wrench he picked up from a workbench from one hand to the other. “I’ll go,” he said reluctantly. “But only because there’s going to be cake.”
“That’s the spirit.” As if the boy had a choice. But Alanna said he needed to pick his battles. Letting Atticus take the win wasn’t such a big deal.
Wyatt tested out the newly installed kickstand on the motorcycle he worked on, then rolled to his feet. He plucked the wrench from Atticus’s hands and deposited all the tools back where they belonged. “Go on, get cleaned up. I’ll close up shop.”
Atticus disappeared upstairs and Wyatt turned to the garage. He rolled down the metal doors and secured the locks. His own bike rested in the lot outside, but he didn’t worry about it. The short time they’d stay, plus the size of Redwater meant he didn’t expect anyone to make off with his ride.
The place had come far in just a couple months. Business was slow, but he liked taking his time making his projects shine rather than needing to rush jobs. He also liked Atticus swinging by after school or for a few minutes on the weekends. The boy put up a good front about not wanting to learn, but he absorbed everything Wyatt said or did. He’d even helped with a couple projects.
Who the hell could have predicted a roving, raving wolf would find a sense of pride in teaching his cub how to get elbow deep in grease and engine parts?
Wyatt grinned like a damned fool. He already had his eye out for an old clunker he could buy cheap and fix up with the boy before handing him the keys when he earned his license years down the road.
“Who’s this for?”
Wyatt glanced up. Atticus stood halfway down the stairs, running his hands over the smooth surface of a new helmet. Wiry brush strands raced down the middle to make a road-ready mohawk.
Alanna had brought the idea to him to order for Atticus’s start in high school. It’d arrived far earlier than expected, so he stashed it at the shop until they were ready to give it to him.
Wyatt folded his arms over his chest. “That is for cubs that don’t go snooping where they don’t belong.”
Atticus managed a sheepish expression for all of three seconds before he stroked his hands over the helmet again. His eyes brightened with excitement. “Can I wear it now? Please?”
It was the polite request that did him in. That, and seeing his cub smile. The little punk impressed him more every damn day.
He was one lucky bastard to have found Atticus and Alanna waiting for him in the place he thought he’d never return.
“Go on,” Wyatt agreed.
Atticus bolted down the stairs and threw his arms around him for a quick second before backing away a respectable, tough kid distance. “Thanks, Dad.”
Holy shit.
His heart swelled at the word. Most fathers got the feeling when their kids first learned to talk. He wasn’t most fathers. He’d spent the boy’s first thirteen years without knowing he existed.
His wolf howled and Wyatt about died of happiness.
“You’re welcome, punk.” He cleared his throat. “Get your stuff ready. We’ll head out as soon as I wash up.”
* * *
Alanna looped the last edge of the banner around the nail and glanced over he
r shoulder. “More slack? Less?”
Noelle lifted her thumb of approval. “That’s pretty even where it’s at. Tie it off and check it for yourself.”
Alanna backed down the ladder and slowly spun in place. HAPPY GRADUATION hung over the front door of the bar with no sign of drooping too much on one end or the other.
Dark Horse’s parking lot had been transformed—temporarily—into a kid-friendly zone for an end-of-the-year party. Food had been purchased and laid out under a tent off to one side. The adults had a station for their drinks indoors, far from the typical kid fare of juices and sodas. Ellis guarded the door to make sure no one underage made it to the adults-only interior.
Even the front door had been added to for the occasion. Underneath the Adults Only sign was a special message: That means KEEP OUT, Atticus!
Just in time, too. She cocked her head at the roar of a motorcycle turning into the parking lot.
Atticus dismounted first with Wyatt right behind him. Alanna felt a grin spread over her face. She couldn’t help herself, even if Atticus hastily took off the helmet he wasn’t supposed to receive until the start of the next school year. The sight of her boys together melted her heart.
Wyatt tucked sunglasses into the front of his shirt and started straight for her. Her tigress stretched lazily through her head under his attention and purred when his arms wrapped around her.
“Missed you,” he rumbled in her ear.
“Good,” Alanna teased.
Ginny and Charles were the first outside of the pack to arrive. They’d offered to help supply the party, but Alanna hadn’t wanted to put them to work for an event they all needed to enjoy. With her father gone, they could breathe a sigh of relief and not worry about finding a new location for the bakery.
More of Atticus’s classmates soon followed, pouring out of cars that found space on the street. The young teens gathered together while the adults did their best to separate themselves from the shenanigans.
Younger siblings, and older, too, joined the crowd. Noelle dumped her and Jensen’s young pup into the middle of the knee-high group and took over shepherding duties for several grateful parents.
High spirits carried Alanna from one conversation to another before she finally broke away to get a refill of her own drink.
She couldn’t believe the turn her life had taken. The natural progression of time was enough to make her eyes water. Her baby boy would be off to high school at the end of the summer, which blew her mind.
That he’d do it with both his parents at home filled her chest with warmth. Luck and second chances and fate and all the blessings of pennies found heads up had given her everything she wanted.
Strong arms wrapped around her middle as Wyatt pressed his weight against her backside and pinned her to the table. A shiver worked down her spine when he shifted her hair to the side and planted a kiss in the crook of her neck.
“We need to talk,” he rumbled.
Alanna twisted in his arms, already suspecting what caused the wary tinges in her mate’s scent. “I saw he found the helmet.”
Wyatt cursed. “He’s like a bloodhound for things he shouldn’t be getting into.”
“Well, he is part dog.”
“Part wolf, you mean.” Wyatt narrowed his eyes. “Do I look domesticated to you?”
She caught her lip between her teeth and pinched her fingers together. “Maybe a little. But only just a little.”
Wyatt caught her around her waist and pulled her closer. “I’ll show you domesticated.”
Atticus walked by, rolling his eyes. “Gross. No one wants to see old people kissing.”
Wyatt shot an arm out and dragged the boy into their midst. He pecked Alanna on her cheeks and forehead obnoxiously loud, even over the howling protests and fake retching noises of their cub.
Then water broke over her head.
Wyatt and Atticus both pulled away at that exact moment.
Alanna stood frozen in place as water dripped to the ground. A plastic bit of broken balloon hung off her nose. She sputtered and blew it off her face.
“Which one of you did that?” she growled.
Atticus held up his hand and Wyatt slapped him a high five.
Balloons suddenly appeared in the hands of kids all around the lot. But the parents weren’t unarmed. Water guns were drawn on the little mischief-makers.
Wyatt leaned in quick and kissed her cheek. “Jensen and Noelle’s idea. Don’t get mad at us.”
And he shot her in the middle with a squirt gun pistol pulled from the back of his jeans.
Chaos erupted as kids bombed adults and adults shot back. Screams zipped by as feet pounded in all directions.
Alanna planted her hands on her hips, schooled her smile to a false frown, and shouted after her punks. “I swear to all that’s holy, I’ll murder you both!”
Skies above, she loved them.
* * *
Ellis cocked a booted foot up on the wall. Even in the middle of the water fight, he kept his post, though he did have to draw on Atticus and one of his friends attempting to sneak into the bar during the commotion.
Better that way. Most of the young ones—and even some of the older crowd—kept their distance from him. He understood why. He was big, and not just toward the sky. The bulky muscles were intimidating to people. He’d learned early to be careful of his size and always keep his cool.
He was happy for Jensen and Wyatt. They deserved all the happiness fate would provide them.
Him, though? He was reasonably sure no former one-night stand waited around the corner to drop a surprise in his lap. Second chances with an old lover wouldn’t exist unless she could turn back time and erase her cheating ways.
No, Jensen and Wyatt were the poor souls with the pups to mind. He was content staying a permanent bachelor and cool uncle.
His wolf growled, giving voice to his lies.
Next in Series
Bourbon and Bears: Shifters and Sins Book Three
A woman with a baby and a whole lot of trouble, a bad boy shifter trying to pull his life together, and enemies that will do anything to keep them apart.
Maylee Henderson’s got a busted car, a fussing baby, and an angry bear hot on her heels. She’s at the end of her rope until she stumbles into Ellis’s bar and learns that there’s a difference between brute force and dominance. Ellis is clearly trouble, and he knows how to throw a punch, but his strength is a tool of protection, not fear, and he’s nothing like the violent men in her old clan.
Semi-reformed big bad wolf Ellis Hays has been burned before, but one look at Maylee has him pushing aside his own rules at the same time he’s throwing the bear shifter chasing her out on his ass.
Ellis isn’t looking for a mate, but he’s entranced by the curve of Maylee’s hips and the challenge in her eyes. Problem is, she’s got secrets of her own, and Ellis isn’t sure he’s ready to trust a stranger.
A hunted woman can’t have a mate, and Maylee is still convinced that mating isn’t for her. It doesn’t matter that Ellis makes her shiver with want and dream of a possible future she’s seen fall to ruin too many times to count.
When the past comes calling, Maylee will need to make a choice. Can she really ask her newfound pack to stand beside her against her family? Or is running again the only option to protect Ellis’s pack… and herself?
Bourbon and Bears is part of the steamy paranormal romance BAD Alpha Dads collection, third in the gritty Shifters and Sins series. Download now for a semi-reformed bad boy who will fight off his mate’s enemies and change the baby’s diapers, a couple who learn to trust despite vicious pasts, and discover that family is so much more than blood.
Bourbon and Bears is available on Amazon!
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About the Author
Cecilia Lane grew up in a what most call paradise, but she insists is humid hell. She escaped the heat with weekly journeys to the library, where she learned the basics of slaying dragons, magical abilities, and grand adventures.
When it became apparent she wouldn’t be able to travel the high seas with princes or party with rock star vampires, Cecilia hunkered down to create her own worlds filled with sexy people in complicated situations. She now writes with the support of her own sexy man and many interruptions from her goofy dog.
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Also by Cecilia Lane
Shifters and Sins (BAD Alpha Dads)
Whiskey and Wolves
Tequila and Tigers
Bourbon and Bears
Black Claw Ranch
Wrangled Fate
Spurred Fate
Breaking Fate
Wild Fate
Bucking Fate
Shifters of Bear’s Den
Forbidden Mate
Dangerous Mate
Hunted Mate
Runaway Mate
Stolen Mate
Tequila and Tigers: Book Two: Shifters and Sins Page 12
