Epilogue
River
The sheriff was only too happy to lock up Lance Edgware. He’d been found in the forest, face down by the bike’s tire tracks with his belt off. He had some injuries to his back, but they weren’t severe.
He raved about being attacked by a mountain lion, but nobody had seen any such creature, there were no tracks to follow, and it looked to everyone that a man trying to punish his ex-girlfriend had taken a spill off her bike on icy roads.
He was locked up in the sheriff’s jail until cops from the city could come and collect him and send him back to prison with a whole new set of pending charges against him.
James’ head injury was fairly minor, his shifter powers helping him to heal more quickly. Daniel had ordered him to take the day off and rest, but insisted he join the New Year’s Eve celebrations.
The party was in full swing as River and Betty came down to the town square. Grant and Alice were dancing to one side of the stage that Mrs. Thompson had set up. A series of heaters had been erected around the square so the outdoor party didn’t have to be held with everyone in their coats.
Betty had taken River out to buy her a new dress for the occasion and she’d chosen a black tulle dress with gold sequins studding it.
She had new make-up, a new bag, and even new underwear—just in case things went where she hoped they might with the doctor.
There was never a more suitable evening for her to be wearing everything new and feeling like a new beginning lay in front of her.
Daniel was standing on the stage in his Father Time costume.
Even in a fake beard and toga, that man is irresistible, River thought to herself. Betty introduced her niece to lots of people, and James asked her to dance a few times.
“Don’t worry, I’m only trying to make him jealous,” James had winked at her and River had laughed. As Father Time, Daniel was the party host and would have to wait until midnight had passed before he could really join the fun.
The band played such a range of music all night, but with a minute to go before the stroke of twelve, Daniel took centerstage and quieted the crowd.
“This year is old, its time has come to pass away,” Daniel called.
“We say goodbye and thank it for all that it has brought. Whether bad or good, here we stand, hopeful for the new dawn. So raise a glass and toast with me the passing of this year, and welcome in a brand new one with an almighty cheer—in ten, nine, eight, seven…”
The crowd took up the chant with him, River beaming as she joined in.
“Six, five, four, three, two, one!”
Cries of ‘happy new year’ broke out all around them, and the band struck up and began to play Auld Lang Syne as Daniel jumped down from the stage. The singer took up the microphone to lead the crowd in song. River pushed through to where Daniel was wishing some other people a happy new year.
She tapped him on the shoulder, but he turned like he already knew she was there.
“Happy New Year,” she whispered.
“Happy New Year,” Daniel replied. “Do you want to get out of here?”
“You read my mind,” River replied and let Daniel take her by the hand and lead her out of the town square. She was surprised by how they seemed to manage to slip away unnoticed by most of the party.
They walked down the quiet streets away from the noise of the party and back to the doctor’s home. He unlocked the door and led her silently inside. There was a line of rose petals that led from the door, up the stairs and River couldn’t help but feel swept off her feet by the gesture.
They followed the line of rose petals up to the kitchen, through the kitchen and living room to the bedroom door. Daniel paused at the door and looked at her.
“If this isn’t what you want...” he started, but she put her fingers to his lips to stop him talking.
“Take me to bed,” River said, and he pushed open the door. The king-sized bed was surrounded by roses and let go of her hand as he walked through the door.
“So, is it normal for shifters to take girls they just met to bed, or am I a special case?” River asked as she leaned on the door frame.
“We’re like all normal men, we have drives and desires,” Daniel said, a glint in his eye. “But we have one mate, one true mate, that most of us spend our lives waiting for.”
“And that’s me for you, isn’t?” River asked in wonder, her eyes searching his face, but she knew the answer, she could feel it inside—had felt it the first time she’d met him.
“Yes, it is. You are the other half of me, the missing part of my soul. I would die to protect you, I would kill just to see you smile.”
“And as your mate, do I get a say?” River asked coyly as she stepped into the room.
“You do. I will never be whole without you, but you do have a choice, and if it’s not what you want, I won’t force you to be with me,” Daniel said firmly.
“And what if I want to be with you, be yours and no others?” River asked as she unzipped her dress and let the tulle fall to the floor.
“Then I can claim you, right here, right now,” Daniel said. She sauntered over to him and pushed him down on the bed, her hair falling over one shoulder, her hips pressed against him.
“Then claim me,” she whispered. Daniel smiled and slowly ran his fingertips down the curve of her neck before he kissed slowly down the same path. He nipped her lightly, not breaking the skin.
“Soon,” he whispered.
There was no holding back as Daniel rolled her onto her back and knelt over her.
He pulled off his ridiculous and yet somehow weirdly hot costume, yanking it over his head and tossing it aside, and then she forgot all about it, her eyes snagging on the masterpiece that was his chest and abs.
River reached out to grab his underwear, her fingers slipping down inside the elastic to stroke his hard cock.
“Not yet,” Daniel whispered as he pulled back from her and sank to his knees, his eyes teasing but full of hunger. “What kind of mate would I be if I didn’t take care of you first?”
She said nothing, her breath catching in her throat at the need in his eyes, and the hoarseness of his voice.
“I think,” he said softly, his hand tracing a feather-light touch across her shirt, “that you’re overdressed, Ms. Harper.”
“Oh, is that so, doctor?” she asked, arching a brow. “And what are you going to do about it?”
“I’m going to give you five seconds to remove it before I do it for you,” he said, his voice low and demanding. “And I’m not going to be worrying about buttons.”
Heat pooled between her legs and she wiggled quickly, shedding the shirt and tossing it aside—and for good measure, sent her bra flying after it.
Daniel stared down at her, his face a mask of hunger and awe.
“Beautiful,” he murmured before leaning down over her, closing his mouth over one of her nipples.
She gasped in delight as his tongue flicked across the nub, sending sparks of pleasure through her.
His lips and tongue worshipped her with their gentle wet heat before he released the nipple, trailing kisses across her until he captured her other breast, lavishing it with the same attention.
She mewled softly, already impossibly wet, and so, so desperate for him.
She reached for him, but he captured her hands in one of his, pinning them above her head.
“Tut, tut,” he said, his dark eyes gleaming mischievously. “Not a very patient patient, are you, Ms. Harper?”
She shook her head, and his free hand slid across the flat of her stomach to the waistband of her pants. He popped the button easily, and his hand slid inside, stroking his fingers across her panties and sending flutters of delight to her core. She mewled again.
“I’m going to make you feel better,” he promised. “Are you going to be a good patient for me?”
She nodded frantically, wiggling her hips against him.
He chuckled hoarsely and then shifted aside, releasing her wrists to pull her pants free.
Her arms, boneless, stayed where he left them, and she could only watch him in helpless need as he drew her panties slowly, oh so slowly, down and discarded them.
His eyes fixed on the triangle between her legs, and his breathing grew ragged to match her own.
He bent his head, placing a gentle kiss first atop one thigh, and then the other. She squirmed beneath his touch, and he laughed that throaty chuckle again, the feel of it so close to her core sending shiver through her.
“Daniel, please,” she gasped, and he obliged, swiping his tongue across her clit.
Her back arched off the bed, needing more of him, but his hands captured her hips, holding her steady as he continued to kiss and suck until she was a frenzied mess of need and desire beneath him.
He drove her closer and closer to her climax, each time pulling back to nip or kiss her thighs just as she was about to hit her high until she was certain she couldn’t take another moment.
“Please, Daniel, I need you inside me, please!”
He sat back on his knees, freeing his cock from her pants and River could only stare in greed and wonder at the magnificent sight. He pumped his hand along its length, the beautiful cock twitching in his hand.
“Do you see how much I want you, River?” he asked hoarsely. “Need you?”
She nodded and reached for him, running her hand across his velvety cock, flicking her thumb over its tip, and he gasped a shuddering breath.
“I was made for you,” he whispered, as she guided him towards her entrance. And she felt it, too. They had been made for each other, each perfect for the other in every way.
Daniel thrust into her slowly, so that she could feel every inch of him. She grabbed hold of his ass, her fingernails digging hard into him as she thrust her hips against him, urging him to thrust harder, deeper, faster.
He seemed to know her rhythm, her wants, as though they were his own, each twitch, each touch, each thrust driving her to new heights until all she could think of was him, was the way their bodies joined in perfect harmony.
“Are you ready?” he asked, holding her eye, and she didn’t have to ask what he meant.
“Yes,” she gasped. “Please, claim me. Make me yours.”
River moaned as his lips found her shoulder, and he bit down, hard. She gasped in pain and then pleasure as she felt a rush of all his emotions, his love for her, his desire, his need, and hers pouring back into him as the mate bond flared to life, joining them irrevocably.
She threw her head back with a scream of pleasure as she felt her orgasm crash down over her, and she clung to Daniel as he found his own release, and they rode out their joy together.
For the longest time they lay in each other’s arms, just basking in the closeness to one another. River thought she had never found a more perfect moment.
“What happens now?” River asked softly.
“What do you want to happen now?” Daniel asked.
“This. Forever.”
“It’s yours,” Daniel vowed.
She looked at him with a dreamy sigh.
“What?” he asked.
“It can’t be that easy, can it? Your life is here, and mine is…”
A mess. Scattered. She shrugged helplessly.
“My place is by your side, whether you go,” he said, holding her close.
“But if you like it here, I happen to know there’s a herd of dairy cows not far from here who’d love a more local vet.
Not to mention all the pets in town. And I happen to know of an abandoned building that would make a great veterinary surgery with just a little work. ”
River grinned and looked at Daniel with delight.
“Sounds like my idea of heaven.”
The End