by DJ Bryce
I walked passed him up the stairs and opened my door.
I looked down to see him waiting at the bottom, not following without my consent, which I appreciated, so I said, “Come on in.”
I walked into the kitchen area and busied myself putting my groceries away while Bane came inside, closed the door, and walked over to join me.
I was aware of his every move, my pulse pounding as he got closer.
“How’s Sloane?” I asked, putting a couple more feet between us.
“She’s great,” Bane said with a small smile, shoving his hands in his pockets.
Maybe it made me a bad person, but the fact that he was nervous made me feel better.
“What did you want to talk about?”
I leaned against the counter and faced him, my arms crossed over my chest.
“Can we sit?” he asked, gesturing toward the love seat and chair that made up my living room area.
I nodded and indicated that he should go first.
When he sat on the love seat, I took the chair.
“First, I want to say that I’m so sorry for the way I treated you that night. I was cruel to you, after I promised I wouldn’t be… I’m sorry.” I nodded, indicating I heard him, and he continued, “I did a lot of thinking that night, and the days that followed, and realized that I needed to talk to someone, a professional, about Sarah’s death and how I was dealing with it.”
He paused, and I wanted to reach out to him, instead, I clasped my hands together and placed them on my lap.
“I panicked when I said Sarah’s name, then I felt guilty.”
“Bane,” I said, hating that he’d felt guilt over what we’d had. I didn’t want that… no matter how much he’d hurt me.
“No, it’s okay. I’ve talked it all out and realized that even though I knew rationally that Sarah was dead, I was living as if she were coming back. I’d surrounded Sloane and I in the world we’d known and hadn’t allowed myself to move forward.”
“I’m glad you’ve found help, but what does this have to do with me?” I asked.
“I didn’t give our trial a fair shot. Not by having you there in Sarah’s house and not by making love to you in her bed. I couldn’t admit that I was falling for you because my heart was still committed to my deceased wife, and although there will always be a place for her in my heart, I’m ready to move on and be happy.”
“Bane…” I began, panic hitting me.
“Please, Katja, here me out.”
When I gave a slight nod, he said, “I love you. I’m in love with you. I think I knew it from the first second I saw you, which was why I was so adamant about us not being a love match. The feelings I had for you scared the shit out of me. Our chemistry was immediate and so potent, unlike anything I’d ever felt before. I felt guilty for feeling things for you that I’d never felt for Sarah. I was supposed to be her mate, and love her ‘til I died, yet here I was being pulled toward you as if you were my true north.”
My breath caught painfully in my throat as I listened to his declaration.
“When I entered you, when I claimed you, it was as if the world was right again. I knew that you were more than a mom for Sloane, you’re my fate, my mate, and it terrified me. When you said you loved me, my response was automated. I was in my head and freaked and didn’t even realize what I was saying until it was too late.”
Bane stood up, then dropped to his knees in front of my chair and took my hands in his.
“I love you, Katja. I want to buy a home with you, raise a family with you, spend the rest of my days making you happy. We’ll find a place with some land, so we can get Sloane some chickens and goats, and you can decorate it however you want. If you want to work, then work and if you don’t, I’ll take care of us. Anything and everything you want, just please, say you’ll come back with me. Marry me. Let me cherish you for the rest of our lives.”
I looked into his dark eyes, saw the sincerity there as the words he spoke played through my head like a Frank Sinatra song.
He was so beautiful, so strong and capable. A great father and amazing lover. But, he’d hurt me and I was afraid. Afraid to say yes, afraid to say no. Afraid to make the wrong choice and ruin my chance at happiness.
“I know you’re afraid to trust me, and you have every right to be, but please, come back with me, finish out our trial. Then, if you decide it’s not what you want, you can come back and I’ll leave you alone for good.”
I searched my mind, then my heart, and I knew without a doubt that I’d be happier with Bane and Sloane than I could ever be without them.
So, I took a leap of faith and said, “Yes. Okay, Bane, I’ll come back with you.”
Bane let out a loud, excited laugh, the stood and lifted me to my feet. He pulled me in, wrapping his arms around me and lowering his head to mine.
He brushed the length of my nose with the tip of his as he looked into my eyes and grinned broadly.
“I love you so much, Katja,” Bane said, then his lips met mine.
I tilted my head and parted my lips, eager for his kiss, and he did not disappoint. Bane deepened the kiss and made love to my mouth until my knees were weak and there were tears of joy falling from my eyes.
When he pulled back and wiped my cheeks with his thumbs, I said softly, “I love you too, Bane.”
His answering smile was beautiful, as were his words.
“Let’s go home.”
Epilogue
Katja
My stomach was a jumble of nerves.
The drive had been peaceful, quiet with bursts of laughter, with Sloane falling asleep the last half hour and Bane singing softly along with the radio.
They were the loves of my life. My family.
We’d had our claiming ceremony a few days prior.
After I’d returned to Bane’s home in Indiana, he’d insisted we finish out the final days of our trial before he’d let me agree to move forward and say yes to his proposal. It was just a technicality, because I’d already told him what I wanted, but I played along for his and Sloane’s sake. A month later, we’d sold his house and moved into our own sweet little farmhouse on three acres outside of town. Not far from his old house.
We got Sloane her chickens, but so far, only one goat, and I’d decorated it lovingly, buying mostly used items and refurbishing them with Bane.
Two months after that, we’d finally had a small ceremony with only our friends in attendance. Now, we were on our way up to Grayson’s, and I was about to meet Bane’s brother for the first time.
“He’s going to love you,” Bane said for at least the third time on this trip alone.
I tried to give him a smile, but I knew it ended up coming off like a grimace.
Bane chuckled.
“He’s really not as scary as you’re making him out to be in your mind,” he assured me, but it was no use.
I was freaked.
Bane turned onto a gravel road, and my heart leapt into my throat.
It was like driving to my execution, that’s how badly my hands were shaking.
I saw the house in the distance and thought briefly that it was almost as sweet as ours, when I saw the man himself coming down the steps and walking toward our car.
He was tall. Taller than Bane, with jet black hair cut in a military style cut. He was also huge. Broad. With thick, muscular arms that looked like they could chop down trees on their own, without any tools.
Wearing dark work pants and a red plaid shirt, he looked like a lumberjack, missing only his burly beard.
As Bane pulled to a stop, Grayson stepped up to the jeep and I got a good look at his face up close.
He was handsome.
Like, movie star handsome with a strong jaw and striking features. And, when his gaze fell on Sloane who was just waking, he let loose a smile that had my ovaries quaking.
“Easy,” Bane said wryly, and I looked to see him watching me with a scowl.
I grinned sheepishly, then looked back
at my new brother-in-law.
Wow. No wonder Shonda was smitten.
Once she was unbuckled, Sloane reached out for Grayson to lift her out of the seat.
“Hiya, princess,” he said, his voice deep and rough.
“Uncle Gray,” Sloane said happily, wrapping her little arms around his neck.
I hopped out of the Jeep and rounded it to introduce myself, but Bane beat me to it.
His arm came around my waist and he said proudly, “Gray, this is Katja. My wife and mate.”
“Nice to meet you, Katja,” Grayson said, not quite as cheerfully as he’d greeted Sloane, but pleasant all the same.
“You, too, Grayson. Thanks for having us for a visit.”
“Call me Gray.”
We got our bags, and all of Sloane’s must have items, out of the Jeep and followed Gray and Sloane, who’d already gone inside the house.
“See, not scary,” Bane whispered as we went up the steps.
“You were right,” I muttered, taking everything in as we walked into Gray’s living room.
It had a rustic charm. Definitely a bachelor pad with the warmth and hominess of a farm house.
I liked it.
“I love your home,” I told Gray, who was coming back into the room with three beers in his hand.
“Thanks,” he said, although I could tell from his tone he didn’t really care whether I liked his house or not.
We sat around and enjoyed our drinks as Bane and I told Grayson about the ceremony.
When it was time to put Sloane to bed, I said I’d read her a story and then meet Bane in our room. I wanted to give the brothers some time alone, plus I was exhausted and wanted to wash up.
As I was leaving the room, I heard Gray say, “Why don’t you tell me more about that app you used to meet Katja. The one your friend Mal told you about.”
“Really?” Bane asked. “You thinking about signing up?”
“Maybe,” Gray replied.
“How would that work? You going to let a stranger come stay on your land, or are you planning to finally venture off of it?”
“No, I’d need a woman willing to come to me,” Bane’s brother said. “If I end up doing it at all. I don’t know. But, I’d like to look into it and see if it’s something that could work for me.”
“Okay, I think that’s great. Why don’t we get an account set up for you and I can explain things as we go through it?”
I kept walking and didn’t hear anything else, but felt hopeful for Gray.
I figured he must be lonely, being out here by himself, and only seeing other people when Bane and Sloane came out to visit.
Maybe it was the fact that I was happy and in love that made me want that same love and happiness for others. Or maybe it was the fact that Gray was hot, built, and mysterious, and had been abstinent for over a decade.
But I really wanted this for him.
After Sloane had fallen asleep and I was showered and ready for bed, I was laying in our room reading when Bane walked in.
“Hey, babe,” I said, lowering my tablet to grin at my handsome man.
“You’re not going to believe what Gray and I just did,” he said as he began to take off his clothes.
“I heard some of it actually,” I admitted. “Did you end up setting him up with a profile?”
“Yup. Got him to let me post a picture and everything.”
I pulled back the covers and he slid in, naked as a jaybird.
“You think he’ll actually go through with it?” I asked.
Bane took my tablet and placed it on the nightstand, then moved over me and settled himself between my legs.
I opened them happily and shuddered slightly when the velvet steel of his cock moved against my clit.
“I hope so,” Bane replied, moving once more. “It’ll be good for him to have a woman… I know it’s done wonders for me.”
I lifted my hips as he moved, my eyes fluttering shut.
“Mmmm,” I managed getting caught up in the sensations he provoked.
Bane shifted and slid inside of me, pausing when he was fully seated to run his fingers lovingly over my face.
“If he could meet someone and find a fraction of the happiness that I’ve found with you, he’ll be a lucky man.”
My heart melted.
“I love you,” I told him softly.
“I love you more,” Bane said as he began to move.
And as my mate made love to me, I knew I had everything I’d ever wanted, and more.
Swipe Right for Passion
Paranormal Mating, book 3
Shonda
I hurried down the stairs of my apartment building, buttoning up my uniform top and cursing under my breath.
I’d overslept.
I hated to be late more than anything, and I really hated that sick to your stomach, panicky feeling you got when you woke up late and realized your alarm never went off, and it was already eight fifteen when you were supposed to clock in at eight.
I was currently a waitress who longed to be more. Of course, there wouldn’t be any promotions in my future if I couldn’t even make it to work on time.
Being a waitress hadn’t been my dream job, it just sort of happened.
I meant to go to college, but I’d fallen in love and decided to stay home, hoping that the man I loved would love me too, would claim me as his mate, and I’d spend my life giving him a family and living a life of happiness.
That hadn’t happened.
No, instead he left, never to return, and I’d taken a job waitressing, ending up stuck in this rut.
I had friends, my family, the pack… but I’d never found another man that made me feel the way Grayson had made me feel. Obviously, he hadn’t felt the same way about me, but I just couldn’t get my heart to move on.
“You’re late,” my boss yelled when I hurried in the back door and punched in.
“Sorry, overslept,” I muttered, grabbing my apron and tying it around my waist.
“Get to station four,” he said, but that was it.
I sighed in relief that he wasn’t going to yell at me or worse, fire me.
“Hi, Shonda,” Ricky, our cook, called as I passed through the kitchen.
I shot out my hand in a wave and continued on to my station.
“Here, this is from table 14. I already got their drinks,” my co-worker Karen said, handing me an order slip.
“Thanks, Karen, you’re a lifesaver,” I told her with a smile.
“You cover me, I cover you, right?”
“Always,” I agreed with a smile, then went to check my station.
When I saw my friend Katja and her stepdaughter Sloane sitting at a booth, the last of my funky feelings evaporated, and I felt the first genuine smile of the day cross my face.
“How are my two favorite ladies doing this morning?” I asked as I approached their table.
“Shonda, imma get pancakes,” Sloane said excitedly, her dark pigtails swinging as she bounced on her bottom.
“Mmmm, that sounds yummy,” I told her, kissing the top of her head briefly before turning to Katja, “How are you doing?”
“Great,” Katja said sunnily.
She had recently been claimed by Bane, a member of the pack and my unrequited love’s brother. They were still in that sickeningly happy, touchy-feely, always kissing phase. I was thrilled for them.
“Were you going to eat as well, or do you just want coffee?” I asked, wanting to talk, but aware that another couple had just been seated in my station.
“Can I get the veggie omelet with wheat toast?”
“You got it,” I said, shooting them a smile before I moved to welcome my new table.
When I delivered their food, Katja caught my eye and said, “There’s something I wanted to tell you.”
“What’s that?” I asked, wondering if she was already pregnant or something.
“Well,” she began with a giddy grin. “You know how I met Bane because of tha
t mating app I signed up for, and he only signed up for it because it worked for Mal, Kai and Tori?”
“Yeah,” I said, a little distracted as I mentally calculated my next steps.
Check on table fifteen, refill waters on twelve, and see if sixteen is ready to order yet.
“Gray asked Bane about it…”
“What?” I asked, my head popping up at Grayson’s name. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, Gray had Bane help him set up an account. He’s interested in finding a woman to come out and do a trial with him,” Katja said, eyes twinkling.
“Like to stay and mate with him? There? Permanently?” I asked, my heart pounding at this new, and frankly unexpected, information.
“Yeah, someone to settle down on his land with him and be his mate.”
“Oh my God,” I whispered, my hand coming to my mouth.
“And I think you should set up a profile to try and set it up,” Katja said, dropping another bomb on me.
“But Katja, he could have had me years ago. If he wanted me, or anyone from the pack, all he’d have to do is call… Women would be driving up there in droves.”
“Hmmmm,” Katja muttered, then snapped her fingers and said, “You just need to set up a fake account. We’ll make up a name and put up a fake picture… he won’t know it’s you until you get out there, then he’ll have to give you a shot.”
“He’d just tell me to leave,” I said dryly, my heart clenching painfully at the thought of him rejecting me again.
“Not if Bane drops you off and says he won’t come back to pick you up until the end of the trial,” Katja said. “Grayson won’t leave his land, so he won’t be driving you back himself. You’ll be stuck there for the duration. He’ll have to hear you out and give you a chance.”
“Catfishing? I don’t know. It seems pretty sneaky and would probably really piss him off,” I replied, but I couldn’t help but feel all tingly at the thought of seeing him again.
“Look, I know it’s risky, but this might be your only chance,” my friend said softly, and I knew she was right.
If he was ready to settle down and was willing to allow a strange woman into his life, this might be my only chance to find happiness with the man who already owned my heard.
