Wolf (9 page)

His laugh tugged at my desire to share this with him. Color continued to erupt around me. Hues of purple, blue and green spread. Lush furniture draped in pelts and materials formed around me.

“You make this place dreary with darkness.”

“Show me how you wish it to be.”

The challenge consumed my mind. I focused on the beauty of the sunrise and the warmth of the waning sunset. Tapestries of orange, yellow and vibrant red wove with his colors.

I nestled against his arm and wiggled my ass against his cock. My pulse began to beat more strongly, my breathing stabilized. “There.”

“Tell me of our bed.”

I moaned. “Big, hard and all mine. Just like my Stephan.”

A massive bed appeared beneath us. I whimpered at the loss of lush comfort I’d had. Stephan’s hands moved to cup my breasts.

“I wish our bed to be soft, silken and sensual just like you.” Pillows formed beneath me, enveloping me in their warmth.

“Were this our bed, I would ride your cock every night, for not having you each night would pain my soul.”

“As it would mine.”

Silence fell between us as my eyes focused. The buzzing in my mind dissipated.

“But we would need more than a bed to feed our souls, Hannah. Tell me of your every desire.”

No one had ever asked that of me. I chewed on my lips and possibilities ran through my exhausted mind. “A garden for my herbs and roots so that I may be like Nalla and mend the broken. Like me.”

His hands moved down my body, fueling a hunger within me. “What else?”

I sighed and settled against him.

“Tell me.”

“What of your desires?”

“I desire a hearth filled with the crafts of our young.” His hand rested on my belly, which had begun to mend. “You wish to bear my children?”

“Aye, many. And may they all have your fiery golden eyes.” My fingers splayed across his. “I wish to always feel our child within me.”

He groaned. “Were it possible, you would.”

“I wish for no anger to separate us when we slumber. And may we never strike in fury.”

“Never. I vow to you.”

I believed him. The love within me spread, cleaning my soul of the scorn and negativity I’d experienced. The future with him would be different. Filled with laughter, joy and love.

I sighed. A rustling under my skin made me stir. “I feel as if something in me wants to crawl from me, Stephan.”

“Don’t force her. She’ll come to me when she’s ready—when she feels the love my inner wolf offers.”

Confusion and sorrow filled me. “I have no animal. I’m not like you.”

“You do, Hannah. Nalla awakened her for me. Tell me what she needs to feel safe. Tell me what she desires to feel loved.”

I thought of acceptance, and his people. “What of your people, Stephan? My presence troubles them and I don’t wish to wedge myself between you and your pack.”

His hand cupped my chin. Warmth spread through me when his lips feathered mine. “You are the light in my soul. You always have been.”

The truth reflected in his eyes. “But how?”

“You built my soul’s home. You poked and prodded and created it where it should reside when I was at death’s door. You dragged me into my soul’s home and breathed life into me with your kindness and pure heart. Were it not for you, my soul would’ve been eternally darkened by the misery and pain of my journey that day. You brought me life. Hope. Light. Joy. Love.” His lips grazed mine. “Live with me, Hannah. Love me.”

Streams of light filled my mind. Something stirred within me. I held to Stephan and tasted his mouth. He loved me.

My skin glistened with life, and a low growl tumbled from my lips. His responding growl melded with mine and echoed around us.

He drew my body against his, and he groaned. “Your animal moves to welcome mine. I feel her heart beating in time to mine.”

“You do?” I longed to sense it too.

“You will. Give her time to grow and you’ll soon sense me, no matter the distance. It’s how soul mates are within our people, and you are my soul.”

“Soul?”

“Unions within our people are different than they are with yours. Our souls become bound to one another. Our inner animals rejoice in a mutual love and strengthen the home our hearts will share. Nothing will sever our love. You are my soul, Hannah.”

“And you mine.”

Sunlight streamed across the glade when I opened my eyes and observed the gathering of Stephan’s pack. He stirred beside me, and the crowd cheered wildly as he rose and lifted me.

His lips captured mine as he set me down gently to stand at his side. Happiness filled me. Fallon clapped Stephan’s back. “It was a beautiful journey, brother. You have found a worthy soul mate.”

“Aye, I have.”

My heart swelled with his love. I clasped his hand.

“Welcome to our family and our pack, Hannah.” Fallon hugged me. “I can only hope to find a mate such as you.”

The change within everyone startled me and filled me with confusion. Stephan smiled and moved to sequester me from the mass of people vying for my attention.

“Your joy for us overwhelms and fills our hearts. Please, let us celebrate at another time—after my mate has had time to absorb today’s events.”

Nalla moved to my side. “You were remarkable, child. You’ve gained the hearts of our pack with your willingness to die for the king. You proved your soul is that of a queen.”

Queen. I smiled. What I’d done had always been for the man. He knew.

I took a deep breath. “We’re mated?”

“There will be a ceremony, but it’s more for celebration. The upcoming weeks will be filled with you meeting the pack.”

The pack. I’d never envisioned so many wanting to know me. It was all because of Stephan. How could we keep them safe now that so many knew of them?

The Timbrian leader stepped forward and extended his hand. “I’m Rall. Your bravery on this day fills me with pride for my brethren fighter. He is a lucky man to have a woman such as you.”

“Thank you.” The man clasped Stephan’s hand.

“We will tell a mighty tale of a young girl who got lost in the woods and that of a dastardly wolf. It will become the pastime story for our children, to instill their respect for the forest and incite fear in anyone who dare venture here.”

“That’s a fine plan,” Stephan said.

Fallon and Xavier worked to restrain the crush of people as they moved toward their king. My pulse raced and my breathing became labored at the concern pressing in me. How could I think to be a queen to these people?

“Don’t let this all overwhelm you, Hannah, for at the end of the day we are but one man and one woman eternally in love.”

I sighed and wrapped my arms around him. “Show me.”

Had I known the virility of their fairy tale rivaled that of my Stephan, perhaps I would’ve altered a few details. Red never suited me, and Stephan’s luscious, golden eyes deserve their own place within history. Even after all these centuries, his eyes still burn with passionate fiery embers, just as my heart continues to beat in time to his.

I might not have been graced with a Prince Charming on a white steed, or been gifted with a fairy godmother with the power to turn a pumpkin into a golden chariot. But what I, the mighty pirate of Lost Woods, managed to scour from my chest of wares is far more valuable—a love which has strengthened each day and a family so large it defies belief.

I pray if you recall only one thing from this true tale, it is that happily-ever-after does exist.

Know that Stephan and I flourish. Our pack has evolved, and many have left the forest we call home. Some live among you. Others carry on the more traditional lifestyle within the remotest regions possible. We laugh, love and share our knowledge with our brethren shifters—the jaguars.

May we all hold to our happily-ever-after and relish the knowledge that the conventional trappings of the fairy tales which enthrall us as children aren’t the morsels which feed our soul. It’s not the grandness of our life or love that unites us.

It’s that we love.

About the Author

To learn more about Cara Carnes, please visit
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Love can be a force of nature.

Serengeti Lightning

© 2010 Vivi Andrews

Serengeti Shifters, Book 3

Mara Leonard is through hitting the snooze button on her biological clock. The Three Rocks Pride schoolteacher is ready to get serious about starting a family, and she needs a serious man to make that happen.

Regrettably, that means crossing less-than-serious Michael Minor off her list of potential mates. Michael is impulsive and passionate, but his spontaneity leaks into shapeshifting whenever his emotions run high—a tendency he should have outgrown long ago. As a sex buddy, he’s delicious. Daddy material? Disqualified.

Michael is blindsided by Mara’s rejection. Nine years separate them, and his genetic malady means no one in the pride treats him as an adult. But if she thinks he’ll simply slink away to lick his wounds while she steps into the arms of another man, she has seriously underestimated him.

The tricky part will be convincing his over-analytical lover that he’s more than a disposable sex toy. That real bravery means tearing up her damn checklist and following her heart. And doing it without letting their explosive sexual chemistry expose the Pride’s secrets to the outside world.

Warning: This book features break-up sex, make-up sex, a lioness who’s a cougar and a hot young lion who’s grown up in all the right ways. Note: All electrical shocks are purely metaphorical.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Serengeti Lightning:

He’d wanted tonight to be perfect. This date was his chance to prove he deserved her, to show they were more than just hot sex. He knew she didn’t think he was steady enough to be her mate, but he’d hoped to prove her wrong tonight.

Instead, all he’d proven was that he hadn’t changed at all.

His sister, Ava, would remind him it wasn’t his fault. He couldn’t help it. The pride doctor said Michael was missing a neural inhibitor that drew the line between animal and man.

The science was small comfort. He would never be worthy of the woman curled against his side. How long could he expect her to stay with someone who could never give her the stability she craved? One more month? Two? Then who would she run to?

Michael forced the thought of the man who would take his place out of his head. Jealousy was savage—more likely than any other emotion to bring on a shift. He needed to get her back to the ranch, back onto pride lands, where a loss of control wouldn’t expose them all.

He started to set her away from him, preparing to load her into the front seat, but her scent curled around him. Michael froze in place, his hands tight on her. He barely managed to keep his claws from snapping out.

Intermingled with the sweet twist of jasmine was the sinuous spice of lust. He could taste her desire on the air. While he’d been contemplating his sabotage of their relationship, Mara had apparently been thinking more much luscious thoughts.
Naughty girl.

“Michael?” She spoke softly, a whisper on the warm spring breeze, but he felt that sigh of sound like a fist around his cock.

She slipped between him and the SUV, rubbing her body against his front every inch of the way.

Over the last few months, they’d learned one another’s wants and needs. At first, they’d both assumed they would eventually grow tired of each other, but familiarity had only intensified each experience. They’d learned to play to their personal vices. He knew exactly how to touch her to get her wet in a heartbeat. And she knew he went hard at just the idea of pinning her to things—walls, doors, slippery shower tiles. He couldn’t seem to get enough of crowding her against firm surfaces until she had no choice but to yield her softness to him.

Michael leaned into her, looming over her and pressing her back against the door until he heard the telltale catch in her breath. She loved this too. Mara may be dominant, but she almost never wanted to be on top. She wanted the man who would push her until she gave in, trusting her pleasure to his strength. She wanted
him
.

Now if only he could convince her their compatibility didn’t end at the bedroom door.

Heavy-lidded eyes beckoned him. “Your wildness makes me feel wild,” she purred.

Michael hesitated. Mara was never reckless. She reasoned things out and made the good decision, every time. So there was absolutely no explanation for her current behavior.

He had calmed. He was ready to take her home. All she had to do was hop in the car and drive back to the safety of the ranch. So why was she inciting him?

She urged him forward and he followed her lead. He bore her back against the metal wall of the SUV until the vehicle rocked slightly. She seemed to bask in the warmth of his body, drawing him tighter against her, if that was even possible. A small, sinful curve of a smile flashed out around her mouth.

Was she thinking what he was thinking? If he took her here, against the Cherokee, would they tip it? He knew he shouldn’t want to try, but was captivated by the image teasing his thoughts. When she bit her lip, he wanted to bite it for her then suck that plump curve into his mouth.

“We should go.” His voice was as rough as the gravel beneath their feet, but he kept his hands gentle as they stroked down her sides, over the flare of her hips, pausing above the hem of her skirt.

They
should
go. He should back away. He could yank up that little skirt, wrap those long legs around his hips and fuck her senseless just as soon as they were back on pride land. A fucking parking lot, no matter how late it was, no matter how deep the shadows, was no place for this kind of game. He gripped her hips, fully intending to step away, but Mara—never, ever reckless Mara—forced his hand.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, pushed up onto her toes and captured his mouth in a ravenous, open-mouthed kiss. She begged him with her mouth, drawing him into her madness with each longing pull of her lips and strong sweep of her tongue. Or was it his madness she was surrendering to? Right now, he didn’t know or care. Her willing heat fried his last working brain cells and he fell into instinct and need.