BOYD
My mother used to say plan for the outcome you wanted to achieve—even if it seemed unlikely to happen at the time.
When I hit puberty and was pissed off that I hadn’t had my first shift yet, she would pull me down to sit beside her and say, “Let’s plan the party we’re going to have to celebrate your first shift.
” And then I started making a list of all the things I wanted to do at my party, which was mostly about food because I was a growing pup and could eat the entire refrigerator’s contents in one sitting.
We made a list of all the food I wanted at the party: pizza and hamburgers and chocolate cupcakes.
We talked about who I wanted to invite: just family and the ranchers, not the rest of the pack.
By the time we were done, my mood had changed from resistance to anticipation.
It had been wise then, and I tried it now.
Audrey hadn’t taken me back, but I was planning for when she did.
I’d told Rob I was claiming one of the ranch’s private cabins as my own.
No way would I claim my mate in my childhood bedroom in the main house.
He’d nodded in agreement, and that was that.
I’d gone up there, to the one our grandparents used to live in before they died and began to clean it out.
Besides a good scrubbing, it needed some upgrades—granite countertops in the kitchen, some nice Italian marble in the bathroom.
The floors were a beautiful tongue and groove oak plank.
All they needed was to be sanded and refinished.
The walls—hmm. I’d have to wait for Audrey to take me back to make decisions about the walls.
I didn’t know if she’d like them to remain rustic, with the logs showing the way they were now, or if I should cover them in plaster and let her pick paint colors.
I would do all the work, of course.
She worked hard enough.
So far, I’d spotlessly cleaned the place and had a new king-sized bed delivered, complete with the best mattress and real linen sheets. I’d yet to have her in a bed and fantasized about what I’d do to her first.
Like planning my first shift party, getting in the mode of imagining how I would trick this cabin out until it met every last one of Audrey’s dreams lightened my mood.
Hope started to bleed in.
Enthusiasm for the future I imagined for us. Together. Mated.
This cabin was for us, for the family I would give her. Hell, it was the first place that was really mine. I’d left home and pretty much lived in hotel rooms ever since. It felt good to stand here, to know this was where I’d live with Audrey for the rest of our lives.
First, she had to take me back. Second, I had to mate her.
I’d had a long talk with Rob about the mating bite, and he thought I could fight the instinct to tear her flesh and keep my human consciousness enough to choose a safe enough place on her body where I didn’t bite too deep.
Audrey was a doctor, and I’d get her thoughts on it…
assuming she’d be okay with it. I had to hope that since she didn’t seem bothered by the fact that I was a shifter that she’d be okay with this, too.
She’d know muscle density and shit. The bite would hurt her—and I fucking hated that part because she wouldn’t heal quick like a wolf—but it wouldn’t kill her.
I was getting too far ahead of myself, and I closed my eyes, took a breath. Calmed myself and my wolf. I’d get her back, I just had to have patience. For a guy whose job lasted eight seconds at a time, it was fucking hard.
I heard the crunch of gravel and stepped out to see who it was.
The cabin was built on a bluff over the first rise from the main house.
It had views of the mountains to the south and practically all of Montana to the north.
The road that led to it dead ended at the cabin, so no one ever drove out this way.
I recognized Rob’s truck and—oh fates—Audrey sat beside him.
My wolf stood up and practically howled at the sight of her. I couldn’t help the grin that split my face, the way my heart skipped a beat then pounded. It was as if seeing her brought me back to life. Yeah, I loved Audrey, and that was never going to change.
I wanted to race to the truck and throw the door open, scoop her into my arms and carry her across the threshold like a groom carrying his bride. But no. She wasn’t mine yet.
The last thing she told me was not to call her.
I had to stand here and wait. Wait for her to show me a sign first.
A shiver of recognition, of anticipation, ran through me as I stood rooted to the porch, watching her. Her peach scent tickled my nose the moment she stepped out of the truck. Rob didn’t get out. Hell, he didn’t even turn off the engine, only tipped his hat and drove off, leaving her here with me.
Alone. Together. If she was done with me, it was a mile back to the ranch house.
Audrey fumbled with her purse and then dropped it like she was nervous. She bent, as if to pick it up, then seemed to change her mind. Stood. I caught my breath as I realized she was running.
Toward me.
Into my arms, which I stretched wide to catch her. She flung herself at me and wrapped her legs around my waist, her arms around my neck. I hooked my forearm under her ass and buried my face in her neck. Breathed her in. If she thought I was ever letting her go now, she was sorely mistaken.
My wolf sighed, and I exhaled a deep breath. She felt warm and soft, fragrant and sweet.
“Boyd,” she choked, her warm breath fanning my neck. It sent goosebumps along my skin. “Thank you for the letters.”
I took care not to squeeze her as tightly as I wanted to.
“Did you just now read them?” Fuck, I sounded a little choked up myself.
I’d had a feeling she hadn’t read them. Maybe just because I didn’t want to believe she could’ve read them and still refused to see me.
I’d poured my heart and soul into them… the words just for her.
“Yes.” Her arms wound tight around my neck, and she trembled a little, but I didn’t scent her tears.
I spun around and carried her inside—yes, across the threshold—then shut the door and pushed her back up against it. She was so close I could see her pale eyes dilate. Her scent changed with hints of her musky arousal.
“Do you believe that you’re mine now?” My gaze dropped to her lips. I remembered how she tasted and wanted my fill, but I needed her answer first. “That you’re my mate?”
“I might,” she whispered against my temple.
I ground the bulge of my cock between her legs. “Then I’ll just have to convince you,” I rumbled.
“Oh yeah?” Her voice was pure honey. Seductive and sweet. There was a confidence to it she didn’t usually have when we were sexual. She hadn’t held back with me before, but it seemed like she’d finally realized her power over me. “How are you going to do that, champ?”
“First, I’m going to lay you down on our mating bed.” I recaptured her full weight again and carried her toward the large bedroom.
A little V formed in her brow. “Our what?”
“Oh, I guess I’m gettin’ ahead of myself, aren’t I?
See, I was renovating this cabin, thinking I might talk you into living here with me.
Making this ours, where we’ll raise our pups.
There’s a big tree out front for that tire swing we talked about.
That hill you rode up is the perfect sledding hill.
Of course, if you want to live in town to be closer to the hospital, I’ll buy you a house there, too. ”
She gave a watery laugh and kissed my neck. “I think you’re still ahead of yourself with the tire swing, but I’d like to know more about this mating bed.”
“Mmm. Well, it’s this one right here.” I laid her down on it, her dark hair fanning out on the white blanket.
“A brand-new king-sized love pad just for you.” I unbuttoned her shorts and dragged them down her thighs with her panties.
Got rid of her sandals. “And right now, I’m going to use it to show you the treatment I want you to get used to. ”
“Shouldn’t we… talk?”
I stilled, my gaze shifting from her pussy to her face. “Are you leaving me?”
“No.”
“Do you love me?”
She licked her lips. “Yes.”
“Say it,” I all but growled. My wolf wanted to hear the words from her lips.
“Boyd Wolf, I love you.”
I’d never felt better in my life than right now. My mate loved me. She was in our bed, her pussy bare and ready to be claimed.
“Audrey Ames, I didn’t say it in the letters. I wanted to look you in the eye, just as I am now, so you could hear the truth. See it on my face. I love you.”
Tears slipped from her eyes, and she smiled.
Fuck yes.
“Talking’s over,” I said, tossing my hat to the floor. Using my shoulders, I pushed her knees wide and licked into her, one long lap with a flat tongue, then another.
“Boyd!”
I growled as her taste coated my tongue. Her scent filled my head. Her soft skin was beneath my palms. My dick was uncomfortable in my jeans, but it could wait. I had to please my mate first. I settled in and used the pointy tip of my tongue to trace inside her labia, around her clit.
She squeaked and moaned and shifted around, her belly shuddering with each breath, her fingers finding my hair. Tangling. Tugging.
“You see, a wolf can’t ever leave his mate,” I told her when I lifted my head to look at her beautiful face.
Her essence coated my mouth and chin. Her cheeks had flushed pink, and her eyes were closed, but they flew open when I spoke.
“It’s biologically impossible. But she can leave him.
So that means his one job in life is to make sure she stays happy. ”
Color feathered across Audrey’s chest, her blue eyes shone bright. “This is how you’re going to do that?”
I fucking loved the breathy way she spoke.
I flicked my tongue over her clit again. “That’s right. I’m going to lick your pussy every damned day. Among other things.”
“Show me,” she commanded, gripping my head and pushing my face into her wet folds.