Chapter 4
She was only vaguely aware of the walk to the house. Of the way Dare’s hand felt in hers. Of the fire that swirled in her belly and made every part of her tingle.
She couldn’t believe such a sexy guy thought she was beautiful.
All through dinner, she’d felt like the most important person in the world to him, and that had been a heady feeling. And that kiss on the deck, that went on and on and made her knees weak?
She hadn’t wanted it to stop.
Dare’s home was one of three behind the tavern, nestled in the woods and tucked away.
He opened the door and she walked in, and then he slammed the door shut and pressed her against it with a growl, kissing her like the walk to the house had taken hours and not minutes.
She gripped his shirt and let herself go into the kiss.
He kissed across her jaw and she could feel the rumble of his wolf in his chest. She pulled on his shirt and tunneled her fingers underneath the fabric, feeling the hard ridges of his abdomen. She grazed the top of his jeans and he growled, giving her neck a nip with his teeth.
She curled her leg over his hip, and he grabbed the back of her knee, pushing his hand under her dress and sliding it along the underside of her thigh.
Holy hell.
She shivered as he slid his hand over her bottom and the soft silk of her panties. Her toes curled in her strappy sandals, and her head tilted back and pressed against the door as he pushed his hips forward and she felt the ridge of his erection against the apex of her thighs.
He stared down at her in the darkness, and she could see a faint glow in his eyes, like the amber color of a banked fire, simmering. Waiting.
He slid his hand down to tease her through her panties, the light touch making her skin riot with sensation and her chest heave.
He lifted her and she wrapped her legs around his hips, then he turned and carried her to the couch, easing her onto her back as he let out another growl and pushed her dress up.
He put one knee on the couch and tucked his fingers into her panties, then slid them down her legs and dropped them to the floor. He lifted her ankle and kissed just above the sandal strap. “You’re so fucking sexy.”
She exhaled, her eyes going half-mast as he held her gaze and lowered himself to the floor, pushing her thighs apart to make room for his broad shoulders.
She wanted to tell him to take off his shirt. And everything else.
Because she was positive he was built like a tank in every possible way.
But then he licked a slow line up her pussy and flicked his tongue over her clit in a way that made every word slip out of her mind except for one.
“Ohhhhhhhh.”
He growled, softer this time, and licked her again, his fingers digging into her thighs as he tongued her core and circled her clit, until she was writhing on the couch and gripping his shoulders.
She cried out when she came, his tongue buried in her heat, his fingers rubbing her clit. He pressed a kiss to her clit and gave it a gentle lick which made her gasp, and then he grinned up at her.
He moved onto the couch, prowling over her, and she reached for his jeans, undoing the button and zipper, and pushing them down his hips. He kissed her, then pushed his jeans down farther until his cock slipped free.
He rose over her, his eyes glowing faintly with his wolf, and then he nudged her pussy with his cock. She hooked her legs over his hips and drew him to her.
He pushed inside, his thick length slowly stretching her, filling her, until their bodies were pressed together and she felt something – something – snap into place between them.
She didn’t know what, but it felt like she was connected to him in a serious way. Like they’d been meant to meet.
He pulled out and she moaned his name.
And when he thrust in again, he said her name.
She loved how he said her name, slow and easy.
And it was the very last thing he did slow.
He snarled, the sound half-feral, and fucked her hard and fast. She grabbed his shoulders and held on, letting go into the feeling of being filled over and over.
She lifted her hips and met his thrusts, her body still spiraling from her first climax.
He grabbed the arm of the couch over her head and shouted her name, his cock thickening as he came inside her. He lowered his head, panting for breath, his wolf rumbling in his chest, and then he kissed her.
“Just a sec,” he said, giving her bottom lip a gentle nip.
“What?” she asked breathlessly.
“I wanted you to come while I was inside you.” He reached a hand between their bodies and she gasped as his fingers connected with her clit.
“Yes, I want that too,” she said. “I want all of it, Dare.”
“I’ll give you anything, everything, sweet mate.”
Audrey had woken in Dare’s arms before the sun came up. She’d always been an early riser, but she and Dare had been up late, tumbling into bed after he’d made her see stars on the couch, and made her feel more wanted than any man ever had.
While they’d pillow talked before drifting off to sleep, there was one word that kept flashing in her mind.
Dare had called her mate.
As she’d fallen asleep, she’d had the distinct thought that they were meant to meet and him calling her mate meant he felt the same way.
Which was wild. It was a fluke, wasn’t it? They’d both swiped right on pics and mini bios and crossed their fingers.
How could an app created by humans bring shifters and humans together who were actually mates?
His hand flexed on her belly and he inhaled with a soft, growling hum. “Morning, sweetheart.”
She smiled. Then rolled over in his arms and kissed him. Burrowing into his warmth, she said, “Morning.”
“What time do you need to get going? I’m not the cook in the family, that’s Sigh, but I can make you coffee before you go.”
She tilted her face to look at him. Geez, he was even better looking with some stubble on his cheeks.
He reached for his phone on the side table and told her the time.
“I’ve got time for coffee,” she said.
“Good. I’m not ready to say goodbye to you.”
She smiled, and then he kissed her and everything went fuzzy and hot inside her, and she chuckled and put her hand on his chest with a gentle push. “I don’t have that much time.”
He grinned. “Sorry, you’re irresistible.”
“Don’t apologize for thinking that. You’re irresistible too.”
Tension simmered between them, then he grinned like a rogue and sat up. He pulled on his jeans and walked out to the kitchen barefoot while she got dressed. She had to go to the family room to find her panties.
When the coffee was done, they sat on the back patio to drink it while the sun came up and the woods teemed with insects and twittering birds.
“This is really nice,” she said. “Have you lived here long?”
“A few years. My brothers and I left our old pack and came to King Lake. The town was mostly empty except for the dragons on the ridge and the bears who run a construction company. The original shifter groups had moved on and left the town deserted for a long time.”
“So, you guys fixed up The Howl?”
“With help from the bears.”
“Why did you leave your pack?”
“Our old alpha was an asshole.”
Her brows lifted.
He chuckled quietly. “That’s the condensed version.”
“Do I get the original version?”
“Another time, when you don’t need to leave for work soon.”
“Fair enough. So, if you left the pack, is he still your alpha?”
Dare took another drink of coffee and set his mug down. “No.”
“Who’s your new alpha?”
He cleared his throat and looked at her. “Me.”
She hummed. “Oh.”
“What does ‘oh’ mean?”
“I just slept with the alpha. I’m kind of not sure how to process that.”
He smiled in an easy way, his eyes dancing. “I’m just a guy.”
“You’re hardly a guy.”
His brow arched. “What?”
She pressed her lips together to stifle the laugh bubbling up. “I mean, you’re not just a guy. You’re freaking… amazing.”
He reached for her hand, linking their fingers. “I think you’re freaking amazing too.”
They talked for a little while longer, then he walked her to her car and gave her his number. “I’d like to see you again, maybe tonight? Somewhere that’s not here.”
“I could cook for you. I might not be able to make a burger like your brother, but I can put on a pretty good meal.”
“Now that would be amazing.”
She sent him a text with her address and he agreed to be at her place around six.
He leaned over and kissed her, his lips lingering against hers in a way that made her brain short out and her body wail against the unfairness of walking away from the best thing that had ever happened to her.
“See you tonight, sweetheart.”
“Bye.”
He shut the door and she pulled out of the spot, pointing her car toward the bridge and home. She looked in the rearview and saw him standing in the lot, no shirt and jeans unbuttoned, and nearly turned around.
She’d see him soon, though.
But not soon enough.
“Stop that,” Lena said at lunch as Audrey put her phone down and picked up her turkey and swiss sandwich.
“Stop what?”
“Smiling like a doof.”
“I can’t help it. Dare is adorable.” And sexy. But she kept that part to herself. They’d been texting since she’d gone on lunch break, and she thought he was too sweet.
Lena made a face and then grinned. “The date went well?”
“Incredibly well.” She paused, then lowered her voice. “I stayed over.”
Lena made a curious hum and opened her juice. “How do you feel about that?”
“Good. Happy. Nervous. Overwhelmed.”
“What’s overwhelming?”
“He’s a wolf, you know?”
“Sure.”
“And from the beginning I just felt very connected to him. Super-fast. Then he called me his mate. I didn’t ask him about it, but it’s been bouncing in my mind.”
“Wolves don’t toss that word around lightly. If he said it, he meant it. What’s overwhelming? That you had to leave the bed?”
She laughed. “No, just how fast it hit. I walked into the tavern thinking I’d be on the business end of another crappy date, and I looked at him and it was all over for me. It feels fast. Too fast. But right, too. How does that even make sense?”
Lena ate a few bites of her salad, then said, “It’s different for shifters from what I understand.
They know on sight when they meet their other half.
But if their other half is a human, it can be a rough transition from just meeting to feeling like you’re in love in a short span of time. Did it feel right to be with him?”
“Heck yes.”
Lena grinned. “Then maybe you don’t have to understand it, you just need to know that it’s okay to feel how you feel. Fast feelings aren’t necessarily bad.”
She liked that.
It made her feel like she could breathe a little bit easier.
After work, Audrey drove to Willow & 2nd Books to pick up a fantasy book she’d ordered from the manager, Emery. The bell over the door jingled when she walked in, and the familiar scent of paper and old books wrapped around her.
“Hi Emery,” she said when she walked up to the counter. “I’m here for my book. Gimme, gimme.”
Emery smiled broadly. “Hey Audrey, you’ll have to tell me how you like it.”
It was third in a series about a woman who inherited a magical tea shop that had a romantic subplot. She’d enjoyed the author’s dry humor and the in-house cat who knocked over teacups when she was trying to alert the woman to trouble.
“I’m really excited about this one, the others were great.”
Emery reached under the counter and lifted a book wrapped in brown paper and handed it over. “I saw the cover when I ordered it. I love the silver foil edges, too.”
Audrey stepped to the side and unwrapped it to check it out. “Oh, it’s lovely! Thank you for ordering it for me. It was my reward for a crappy week.”
“You’re welcome, anytime. I hope this makes your week perk up.”
“It’s already looking up. I had a great first date last night and he’s coming over tonight for dinner.”
“Well, woohoo girl!”
“Hey, are you the Audrey who was at The Howl last night?”
A woman Audrey had seen at the bookstore before but not interacted with came to the counter.
“I am. Who are you?”
“I’m Juliette. My mate Sigh made your date night burgers.”
“Sigh came out to bring the burgers to us. It was great. I’ve never had steak sauce on a burger before.”
“Me either, but it just works.”
Juliette walked Audrey out after she said goodbye to Emery, the book clutched to her chest and thoughts of Dare in little to no clothes flitting through her mind.
“Dare has been looking for his happily ever after for a while. Sigh was the first of the brothers to find a mate. Trick is mated to my best friend Cassidy. Dare was going to give up the dating app, but we told him to go on one more date. And that was you!”
She stopped at her car and looked at the pretty blonde. “He said we were mates. I didn’t ask him about it because it was the night we met and I was… busy with other things. But it’s been on my mind.”
Juliette smiled softly. “He wouldn’t say that word lightly.”
“I’m his mate then? Just like that?”
“With wolves? Absolutely. Sigh told me he knew when I walked into the tavern while he was in the kitchen. He said he felt like his wolf was dragging him out to the main room to find me. I didn’t understand it at first. In fact, I panicked and ran off.
But he came for me the next day and I never panicked again. ”
“Why did you panic?”
“It felt too fast.”
“I thought the same thing. Fast but right.” She pursed her lips, then said, “But how do I know Dare is feeling the same thing?”
“Ask him. But if he called you mate, then he means it. They don’t say that word unless it’s true.
” She put her hand on Audrey’s arm. “You don’t have to understand his world right away, you just have to decide how you feel when you’re with him, and whether – even after one day – you feel like you could go on about your life without him in it. ”
She thought about how it felt to be with him. The dinner, the pillow talk, the easy way he touched her and how familiar it all felt. And, of course, the incredible sex. But she knew that a relationship couldn’t be built on sex alone. It was a damn good start, though.
“I like him.”
“That’s a great place to start.”
They exchanged numbers, and Audrey got in the car and headed home to get ready for her second date with Dare.