Chapter 9
Maxim
Icould stay like this forever, lying in bed, Emory snuggled so sweetly in my arms.
But after a while, I hear her stomach rumble and I remember that I need to keep her fed.
We drive down to the nearby town of Twin Falls.
It feels safer here, so isolated in the mountains, so we go together.
We stop at the town’s small supermarket for groceries.
Usually, I hate food shopping, but it’s fun with Emory.
She gets excited every time she comes across some quirky ingredient.
I’m adding star anise, fenugreek and pak choi to my list of things that are edible.
She’s different since we mated.
No longer a virgin, my beast growls.
That’s true. At the thought, my cock hardens. But it’s not just that. I hang back for a moment and watch her, skipping around the store, pausing to examine this and that.
She’s more confident. More herself.
She turns her head, looking around confusedly. Then her gaze lands on me, and her features relax.
She was looking for me. Warmth pours through me.
This is how things are going to be from now on. We’ll always be together. Connected body and soul.
Because she’s my mate.
She’s mine.
All that’s missing is to give her my mark. I wanted to. Stopping my beast’s canines from sinking into her flesh while I ejaculated into her sweet body cost me all I had.
But… everything happened so fast today. I don’t want to do it until she’s ready for it. Until she understands what it means to bear my mark.
When we’re done shopping we have an early dinner at a burger bar.
“Does Twin Falls have fashion stores?” Emory asks. We’re sitting side by side on high stools, gazing out at Main Street.
“I sure hope so.” I’m mad at myself for not picking up her personal possessions before I snatched her away from Perdue. I should have suggested she pack some stuff in the morning, or told Swede to get into her apartment and grab some things. But I was so focused on keeping her safe.
“I’m sure there’ll be something.” She flashes me a kind look, which quickly turns into mischief. “Or I can just go naked.”
I almost choke on my burger. “That’s a much better idea,” I growl.
My mate, naked all the time. As nature intended.
“Maybe I’ll make it a rule of living in the cabin.”
She turns herself toward me and looks me up and down. She’s still wearing her dark contacts, but I can see the heat burning in her eyes. “I like that idea,” she says.
Fuck. I bite back a groan, my cock swelling against my zipper. That’s why she’s perfect for me. That and many other reasons.
I can hardly wait to get her home again. But first I’m gonna do my best to make sure she gets everything she needs from this little town.
We finish our food and stroll along Main Street.
. We parked up at the end of Main Street, stopped at a burger bar, and now we’re strolling along the sidewalk, side-by-side, looking for a clothing store
Twin Falls is a cute little town, with a café, a couple of restaurants and grocery stores. Different from Perdue. Much more open and friendly-looking.
But as usual, all my senses are on high alert, looking for the first signs of danger. Emory is watchful, too—the poor thing has probably spent her life like that. She’s swinging her slender arms, gaze sweeping from side to side. But a little less than before, I think.
I want to keep her here forever, in this safe little world where she doesn’t have to look out for herself all the time.
Where her fight-or-flight response isn’t constantly activated.
Just the two of us, living here together.
I’ve got enough staff now that I can manage my business remotely.
No one needs to see me in person. And Emory and I can live a simple life out here.
A big guy stares at Emory as we pass. My wolf snarls. A goddamn bear shifter. Even here, shifters are everywhere. I clench my fists and my animal swells inside me, ready to come out.
“Mine,” I growl in an undertone.
“Not marked,” he grunts.
Fury boils in me. Fur pushes up beneath my skin. Fucking prick. I’ll rip him limb from limb.
“What?” Emory has gotten a couple of steps ahead of me, but she turns back. There’s such an innocent, questioning look on her face. My beast retracts. The last thing she needs right now is to see me shift and tear some chunks out of this asshole.
Instead, I grit my teeth, let him pass. Dumb bear has no idea who he’s dealing with.
Gotta mark her, my beast urges. Show the whole world she’s yours.
“Oh, nothing,” I tell her, taking in the soft, bare skin of her neck. The thought of marking her burns through me like fire, turning my cock rock-hard again. I’ll do it soon enough. Make her understand what it means to be a wolf’s mate.
“Oh, a fashion boutique!” Emory exclaims. She hurries across the street, and I go after her.
Not that I’m an expert in such things, but it looks like a cool store. Emory seems to think so too, dashing around collecting shirts and pants and shorts.
The salesclerk is charmed by her, and she pulls out one item of clothing after another, seeking Emory’s approval.
I stand in the middle of the store, arms folded, trying not to look too conspicuous. But it’s a compact place and I feel like a giant. A beast in a china shop. Not only that, but the salesclerk is staring at me in a way I’m sure she thinks is subtle.
It’s not. Her eyes are beady, and I can feel them scanning me from head to toe.
I turn my back on her. Whatever she’s thinking, I’m not interested.
I pretend to be absorbed in a rack of glittery purses.
Most of my attention is taken up by listening to the little sounds of Emory unzipping her pants and pulling her shirt over her head. Damn. I bite back a groan of need.
“How long have you and she been… you know?” comes the clerk’s gossipy voice.
I open my mouth to tell her it’s none of her damn business. Then I think, screw it:
“Forever,” I say. Emory has been in my life forever.
A wave of heat goes through me as I wonder what Emory will make of that word. It seems like a long, long time before I hear the sound of the changing room curtain being dragged back. I turn around, and there she is. She’s wearing her regular clothes, and her cheeks are adorably pink.
“Anything you like?” I ask, trying to sound normal. Heck, I have no idea what normal is right now. All I can think is, this girl is mine. I’m going to live with her in this little cabin, far from the rest of the world, and she’s going to bear my mark on her neck and my young in her belly.
“Yup. There’s a couple of things.” She waves vaguely at the changing room, then swipes at her hair. She’s working hard to sound normal, too, but I can smell her agitation. She’s all stirred up. Because she likes what she heard? I can’t wait to get her home to find out.
The clerk brings everything over to the desk and Emory rustles around under her clothes, before producing a wad of fifty-dollar bills.
“No, no.” I wave it away. “Hold onto your money.”
“Maxim, I have money,” she insists.
I close my hand over hers. “Can you let me do this, and we can discuss it later?”
“O-kay.” She shoots a glance at the clerk and gives in to me.
Good. She’s starting to put her faith in me. To trust that I know what’s best for her.
Later, when we’re back at the cabin, I’ll explain that I’ve already made more money than I’d ever have time to spend, and it would be a pleasure treating her to anything she wants. I’m also pretty darn sure that any bank account she’s had has been frozen already.
When we get back to the parking lot, she spots a garden store, off at the far end.
I look at her questioningly.
“I was thinking it’d be nice to revive the vegetable garden,” she says.
My heart jolts. She wants to stay here long enough to grow a garden together.
This is the best news.
We go in and the cheerful clerk advises us on what we can plant in the heat of summer.
We pick out some seeds and a bunch of little plants.
Emory is like a kid in a candy store, talking about all the salads she’s going to whip up.
We bring everything over to the cash desk.
This time, she’s too quick for me, and she pays with her secret money stash. Then she looks at me, eyes shining.
“Having fun?” I say.
“This is the best,” she replies, looking twice as excited as she was in the fashion boutique. I’m so touched that she’s looking forward to growing our life together.
Long, long minutes pass before we’re back at the cabin again.
We chat about trivial stuff. Like how beautiful the mountains are. They are so goddamn beautiful they make my eyes hurt, but that’s not what I’m thinking about right now, at all.
I’m thinking about her tight little pussy. How it’s gonna feel stretched around my cock again. My beast is pushing up beneath my skin, its canines breaking through my jaws.
I keep busy carrying the seedlings out of the car and setting them out on the porch. The day has lost its fierce heat and it feels nice being outside now. A slight breeze blowing, the sweet scent of grass in the air.
“We home for the night now?” she asks.
“Yup.” I shrug. “We’ve got groceries. Nothing else we need from the outside world.”
“Great,” she says happily. “I’ll be right back.”
She takes a bunch of stuff into the bathroom and I figure she’ll be gone for a while, doing girl stuff. I crack open a beer and take it out onto the porch.
Perfect isolation, I think, staring out at the hazy mountains. There’s not another sign of civilization in sight. We can be free out here. No need for clothes, just like she suggested. I imagine Emory being naked all the time. Ready for me.
Damn. My cock is so hard it hurts. It’s tenting up the front of my pants.
Need to be inside her. Need to fill her womb with my seed again.