A Bleacke Christmas (Bleacke Shifters 5) Read online

  Dewi took a deep breath, held it a moment, then slowly blew it out again. “I really hope I get a handle on this shit before she’s born,” she whispered. “I don’t want to fuck her up with my insecurities.”

  He pulled her into his arms for a long, strong hug. “Sweetie, we met in fricking June, okay? Barely six months ago. Hell, I’m still adjusting. You know that. We’re surrounded by family I trust to help guide us. We’ll be okay. She will be okay.”

  “Please keep reminding me of that,” she mumbled against his shoulder. “I’m going to need it.”

  “I will, baby. I promise.”

  * * * *

  Ken made a mental note to himself to have Badger teach him how to drive a stick-shift so he could drive the Saleen one of these days. He wished they’d be rolling up to the steakhouse’s valet station in it instead of his little SUV. Or even the Hummer, although that vehicle intimidated him, because of its size.

  Dewi waited for him to get out and walk around to help her out, and his cock, which had calmed down during the ride, thickened when he spotted the way the eyes of all three men manning the valet station widened as Dewi stepped out looking like a movie star.

  He smugly smiled as he sensed Dewi’s amusement over his reaction.

  Damn right, she’s all mine.

  He heard more mental laughter as Dewi caught his thought.

  She looked up at him. “Want me to Prime them to drop to their knees and worship you as a god?” she silently asked through their mate bond.

  He snorted but kept his reply silent. “Nah, I’m good.” Although he did reach down and adjust himself, making sure Dewi saw him do it.

  He’d requested a corner booth, and Ken’s smug smile remained in place as he sensed and outright saw people watching Dewi as they followed the maître d’ through the main dining room. Even some heads turned to watch their progress, mostly men but more than a couple of women.

  The walk also gave Ken a gorgeous view of Dewi’s perfectly rounded ass in that dress.

  That’s right, folks. All hail the geek.

  Once they were seated and had their menus, Dewi leaned in, smiling as she looked up at him.

  “You enjoy that far too much.”

  He arched an eyebrow at her. “You have a problem with that?”

  Her smile widened. “Not in the slightest. I love it when you get…proudly growly.”

  Good thing they were sitting down now, with a tablecloth to help hide his lap, because he’d gone from chubbed to full-on erection. “Oh, I’m going to get growly on you when we get home. You just wait.”

  She giggled, leaning into him. Yes, every bit of the trouble they’d been through so far was absolutely worth it, to know he made her giggle, made her happy.

  Made her smile.

  Literally something everyone told Ken she’d never done in her life. Not since the attack when she was six months old, which had severely injured her and killed her parents. It was Ken who returned the smile to her face, the laughter to their lives.

  When their waitress arrived to take their beverage orders and give them the specials, Ken took Dewi’s menu from her. “We’re ready to order,” he told the waitress.

  Next to him, Dewi shivered in that way that told Ken he was about two breaths from being jumped and fucked right there in that restaurant booth.

  Yay!

  “She’ll have the porterhouse for two, rare, with a baked potato, loaded, broccoli, and salad. Ranch dressing. I’ll have the grilled salmon, same sides and salad.” He returned the menus to the waitress. “Thanks.”

  “I’ll be right back with your drinks and some bread.”

  Dewi snuggled against him. He draped his arm around her shoulders as she smiled up at him. “You love doing that, don’t you?”

  “Kinda, yeah.” He nuzzled her forehead. “Never thought I would.”

  “Never thought I’d meet anyone I’d enjoy doing it for me, either.”

  “You can always stop me if I cross a line.”

  “I know. And I would. If I felt you were crossing a line.”

  He brushed a kiss across her lips. “You’ve definitely brought out something in me I never knew was there before,” he said.

  “It always was there,” she said. “You just needed to see it through someone else’s eyes.”

  * * * *

  It was taking every ounce of willpower Dewi had not to climb into Ken’s lap and fuck him right there in the busy dining room. Ever since that morning, when he ran down Tory Donaldson and tackled him, she’d wanted to fuck her mate’s brains out.

  No, if anyone else tried to take control of her like this, she’d get growly in the irritated way at them over it. Or worse. Hell, Beck had never ordered for her while they were dating. He damn well knew better.

  But this was Ken, her perfect mate, the man who held her heart and soul in his gentle hands. Watching him discover little things about himself, whether it was marking her with a bite, or taking control in subtle ways like this, was beautiful.

  Especially when she thought back to their first night together, how he was convinced she was going to kick him out in the morning. How over the next few days it slowly began dawning on him that this was for life, for real.

  Forever.

  Even as they got married, there were still little whispers in his soul that he couldn’t believe she wanted him.

  When the truth was, Dewi didn’t understand why the Goddess had given her such a brilliant, sweet, gentle soul as her mate, but she wasn’t questioning it. Because Ken was absolutely her mate, and absolutely the perfect man for her.

  They had a fantastic dinner, shared a sinfully delicious chocolate cake and ice cream dessert, and he pulled out his wallet to pay for dinner.

  Even in this way, he was finally starting to grow more comfortable. That, as her mate, he no longer had to worry how to pay his bills.

  She still had doubts aplenty about herself, but she had zero doubts about Ken.

  He’s going to be an amazing father.

  She still wasn’t sure how she was going to be rated as a parent, though.

  Once they’d paid the bill and retrieved their car from the valets, Dewi settled back in her seat. She felt comfortably full and held Ken’s hand while he drove.

  “You do realize I could’ve run him down on foot, not shifted, right?” she asked, knowing he’d follow her train of thought.

  He gently squeezed her hand. “I know.”

  “He wasn’t armed. He couldn’t have hurt me.”

  “I know.”

  “Were you genuinely worried about me, or proving a point?”

  “Both.” He glanced over at her, smiling. “I was multi-tasking. I wanted you to see that we will be able to make do while you’re pregnant. That you need to let us take care of some things. That you need to learn to delegate, for a little while. Once you’ve had the baby, while I hope you’ll be careful, I won’t feel I have the right to overrule about work. I don’t like overruling you, either. You understand that, right?”

  “I know.” She sighed. “I don’t like not being up to full-speed. I feel like I’m letting people down.”

  “You’re not letting anyone down, sweetheart. You’re not letting down your brothers, or the pack, and you’re especially not letting me down.”

  “When does feeling like I am letting everyone down go away, though?”

  He sighed. “Honey, if I knew that, I wouldn’t feel so weird and less-than myself.”

  Chapter Five

  Da’von didn’t understand why his heart took off at a gallop when he opened the door and discovered Brianna standing there.

  But he wasn’t going to question it. Or the way he felt when she asked to come in.

  Then, when she grabbed him and kissed him, despite the initial shock of it, his body took over on autopilot and responded.

  He wasn’t exactly the most experienced guy when it came to women, because he’d only had one girlfriend, briefly, last year. He hadn’t even told his siste
rs about her because he’d been worried they’d come down hard on him over it. It’d only lasted about a month, and they’d slept together twice.

  This…

  Already, his cock was howling at him, hard and throbbing and demanding attention as it pressed against Brianna through their clothes, and—

  He shifted his hips away from her and interrupted their kiss. “Um—”

  “You single?” Her intense green gaze bored into his.

  “Yeah, but—”

  “And you’re almost twenty, right?”

  “Yeah, I’m—”

  She kissed him again, plastering her body against his and driving further protests from his skull.

  Damn, she was gorgeous. That floral scent he’d noticed earlier now seemed to be more than just a cologne or body spray. He could taste it on her lips, too, like it was part of her.

  Like she was one sweet, luscious berry.

  He didn’t realize she’d been backing him toward the bed until his knees hit it and he nearly went down. Except he couldn’t bring himself to interrupt their kiss again. His hands roamed her back while it felt like her arms couldn’t be dislodged from where they were wrapped around him.

  Until she released him, reached down, and pulled her shirt up and off.

  His eyes widened, but he found himself removing his, too, while she took off her bra.

  “I—”

  But she kissed him again, and the feel of his hands sliding along her smooth, warm skin, the way she was pressed against him, it shoved conscious thought to the side.

  Damn!

  Before he realized it, while they were kissing, her hands had started fumbling for his belt, and his brain tried to interrupt again. “Um—”

  “Shh,” she said, smiling. “I don’t want to talk.”

  Okay, then. He resumed kissing her, until she sank to her knees and smiled up at him before fishing his cock out of his briefs and going down on him.

  Saying his knees trembled was no understatement.

  At all.

  In fact, she moved with him when he had to sit down on the bed or risk falling over as she eagerly went down on him. He didn’t know what the hell to do with his hands and settled for cupping her head with them, running his fingers through her gorgeous long, black hair.

  She looked up at him with those beautiful green eyes.

  Damned if I’m not in love with her.

  But that was…stupid.

  Because he’d just met her.

  And yet…there she was, on her knees between his thighs and eagerly devouring him.

  It didn’t take her long to get him over, either. Which seemed to absolutely be her goal.

  And…she swallowed!

  No shit, it was the most powerful orgasm he’d ever felt in his life.

  Then she climbed up him, straddling him, and kissed him.

  He went with it, totally, because right now he was so overwhelmed he couldn’t have fought her off even if he’d wanted to.

  He most definitely did not want to.

  Then she stood, kicked off her shoes, and shimmied out of her panties and jeans before she leaned over and helped him out of his shoes and socks and jeans.

  Brianna climbed on top of him again, straddling him, and grabbed his hands, placing them over her breasts.

  “Am I imagining all of this?” he asked.

  She giggled. “Nope. This is really happening.”

  “Okay, then.” Already, he felt his cock stirring for round two. From the way she was sitting on him, he could tell she was wet… Then he realized she was absolutely rubbing herself against him.

  The next thing he knew, she’d reached down and held his cock still so she could impale herself.

  It felt like bombs going off inside his soul, shattering his walls and aching for her. As she slowly started rocking on him, she leaned in and kissed him.

  “That’s it,” she whispered. “Just like that.” She nibbled her way down his pecs and playfully nipped him there before working her way back up to his shoulder.

  He wasn’t going to last long this time, either, at the rate she was going. Her body felt hot and slick around him as she rode him. His hands ended up on her hips and he couldn’t help squeezing, digging in a little, trying to urge her to go harder, faster.

  Brianna kissed her way up to his ear. “That’s it, baby,” she said. “You know you want to take what’s yours.” His heart raced at her words, something ancient and instinctive rearing up inside him and yes, wanting that.

  With her.

  I just met her!

  This had to be a dream. A crazy, whacked-out dream. Maybe he was asleep on the plane or something.

  She kissed her way down his neck again and then her lips lingered on his shoulder.

  He sat up, holding her, cupping her ass as she rode him. She was fricking gorgeous, that was for sure.

  Brianna grazed her teeth along the top of his shoulder. He thought she whispered, “Mine,” before her teeth clamped down on his skin, hard.

  This time, the explosions that went off inside him were from physical causes as his balls tightened and his cock exploded inside her. From the way she cried out, and the feel of her body clamping down in him there, too, he suspected she’d just gotten over, as well.

  He hoped.

  As he sat there gasping and trembling with her in his arms, her teeth eased their hold on his shoulder. He felt her tenderly lick the spot before she sat back and stared into his eyes.

  “Hi,” he said.

  She smiled, draping her arms around his neck. “Hi.”

  He couldn’t help it—he kissed her again. Because in this crazy and unbelievable moment, that’s what felt…right to do.

  Like nothing else had ever felt perfectly right before in his life.

  Ever.

  She felt right.

  Damn!

  * * * *

  Only once Brianna had marked Da’von did her soul finally relax and savor the feel of his warm skin pressed against hers. She wanted to rub herself all over him and smell like him, wanted to spend the rest of the afternoon and all night—and the next couple of weeks—in bed with him.

  Mate!

  If this was even a fraction of what Mateo had felt when he met Carl, then…yeah. She got it now.

  Boy, did she.

  She didn’t know non-shifters could feel such a strong call to mark their mates like that.

  Then again, what she didn’t know about shifters could fill all the encyclopedias. Before being brought to Idaho, the only shifter she knew was Carl. Not having grown up with others had left a gaping void of knowledge about this world.

  Mateo!

  Oh, shit. She’d have to tell him and Carl.

  Then again, they’d had a mate bond. Maybe they wouldn’t get too growly over Da’von when she told them what she’d felt for him.

  At least her first time with her mate had been in a bed behind a locked hotel room door in a perfectly safe location, and not like Carl and Mateo went through while they were both still in the military.

  Even better? She could already hear whispers of Da’von’s voice in her mind.

  Wow!

  She knew Carl and Mateo could talk silently like that, had a mental connection, but she’d never dreamed she’d be able to do it with a human.

  Then again, two of his sisters had fallen for wolves. Maybe there were other unknown shifters in his family tree.

  Within a few minutes, they ended up fully on the bed, finally, with Da’von on top of her and slowly thrusting as she smiled up at him. He looked shell-shocked, but that apparently wasn’t slowing him down any.

  Yay!

  Reaching up, she cupped the back of his head and pulled him in for another long, sweet kiss. This time they took their time with the first frantic burst of energy sated. He was quickly gaining confidence, too, taking control of their kisses, working his way down her neck and back up again, all while slowly making love to her.

  This.

  This w
as the essence of life.

  Before now, she’d never dreamed it’d be possible to feel…connected to another person at a soul level the way she now did with Da’von.

  My mate!

  * * * *

  Nami walked over to Malyah’s room and knocked.

  “Yeah?” Malyah called out.

  “It’s me.”

  The door opened, and Malyah stepped aside so Nami could come in.

  “What’s up, Sis?”

  “Close the door,” Nami whispered. Once Malyah had, Nami turned to her. “Keep a close eye on Bebe while we’re here, all right?”

  Malyah’s eyes widened. “Oh, my gosh! Did you hear the way she howled at the airport? And downstairs?”

  “Yeah. Once I can get Gillian and Asia alone for a few minutes, I need to talk to them. We’ll need to get Peyton involved.”

  “Do you think she’s…”

  Nami knew why Malyah couldn’t finish that thought. “I don’t know what to think anymore, honestly. It could be her being a normal toddler, and it’s a coincidence.”

  “Or she could be a little wolf.”

  “Maybe. Who knows? Maybe Reggie’s got shifters in his family.”

  “Don’t you think Reggie would’ve caught on if there were any shifters in his family line and he knew about it? I mean, seriously, Sis. I think he would’ve spoken up by now.”

  “Yeah, you’re right.” Nami sat on the bed. “Like we need one more thing to worry about on top of everything else.”

  “What do you mean, everything else?”

  “Tamsin.”

  “Yeah, but Joaquin said they’ll catch that crazy motherfucker.”

  “They haven’t caught him yet.” Nami met her gaze. “Beck told me not to be surprised if Peyton sends him and Joaquin and maybe even Carl over there to the UK to help with the hunt.”

  “Well, if that’s what they need to do, they should.”

  Nami’s hands settled on her tummy. Which, with a baby growing inside her was a little rounder than usual. “I’m sorry, but I’m a little selfish. I don’t want my husband running around a foreign country after a psychopath corgi shifter when I’m pregnant with our first child.”