Chapter Three
Luna
There must be something in the air, Luna decided as she snuck out to the parking lot after hours of dancing. In all of her twenty-five years, no one had ever fought over her, for her, or even so much as insulted a friend.
She reminded herself that she was a modern woman and should be over thinking such antics were attractive, but whatever. Her inner sex kitten thought it was hot as hell.
The last of the wine she’d drunk wore off, leaving her a little tired but very sober. And confused. Although Luna had come to Silver Fells to help with the Shifter Marriage Equality Act, she had an ulterior motive. One she wasn’t quite ready to divulge at the moment.
She pulled a travel-sized spritzer out of her purse and paused to reapply. Her grandmother assured her that the shifters could find her scent beneath the perfume. Luna knew it wouldn’t mask her familial scent forever, but she hoped she could stay under the nose radar of the shifters, especially Cree James.
Luna walked around the bar, taking in the location of the office to the rest of the building. She was proud of the fact she only lost her balance once. Okay. Maybe twice but she definitely caught herself the second time.
“There it is,” she decided, seeing the notebooks and papers identifying the room as an office. If there were clues Luna needed to find, they would probably be in there. There had to be something. Old pictures, a forwarding address, or even a tax return. The business was obviously making money. There had to be tax returns.
“I told you we weren’t done.”
Luna spun, instantly aware of her location and vulnerability. “Jason! I. Um. Hi. How did you find me?”
Jason shrugged. “I saw you leave.” He held up a pair of beat up Chuck Taylors she recognized from her back seat. “Size six, huh?”
“I can’t wear sneakers with a cocktail dress,” she complained.
Brown eyes steady, Jason approached her. “Watch,” he said. Bending slightly, he wrapped his left arm beneath her buttock and lifted her.
“Hey! Stop! I’m too heavy.” Luna protested but felt a warm rush of heat between her legs at the sheer masculinity of his strength. She fought against the lust assaulting her. She made a mental note to bring this up with her grandmother. Someone should have warned her how overwhelming shifters were on the prowl.
Jason paused, obviously caught off guard by her unexpected arousal. He shook his head. “Shoes. Then dance with me.”
“I can walk you know,” Luna returned with a sniff. “I’m hardly a child who need to be picked up and carried places.”
Pointing at her dainty high heels, Jason said, “You were heading towards a broken ankle in those things.”
Luna fumed. He was right, but that didn’t mean she wanted to admit it.
Jason put her down on one of the benches just outside the entrance to the Lusty Leopard. He knelt at her feet, and Luna had to stifle back a giggle.
“What?” he asked, eyebrows raised in question.
“This reminds me of that scene in Cinderella where the Grand Duke is looking for the girl who will fit the glass slipper.”
A hint of a grin played around Jason’s mouth as he lifted her worn canvas and rubber sneaker up so the moon illuminated it. The soles were worn thin in places, the shoelaces were patched, and the canvas was full of holes. “This is a far cry from Cinderella’s shoes.”
Luna giggled, ducking her chin to hide behind a curtain of platinum blonde hair. “It’s the thought that counts,” she argued.
Jason’s hands paused as he slipped off one pump. He placed it next to Luna on the bench. “Your toes look sore,” he commented.
Once more, the unexpected arousal crashed into Luna. Her foot looked small and delicate in his paw of a hand. She would be small and delicate in his hands, too. A darker thought rushed through her slim frame. And his bed.
Oh, Lord, what kind of bed did Jason sleep in? Did he stretch out across the whole thing or would there be a Luna-sized place reserved just for her?
No, no, no, she reminded herself, feeling her insides continue to soften and pulse with need. She had a job to do, a secret to uncover, and then her home was back in Maine. There was no room in the plan for losing her V-card to a bear shifter dude. Even if he was the sexiest man, she had ever met.
He began massaging the soles of her feet, loosening muscles she didn’t even know were tense. “Ohhhh,” she whispered, eyes drifting shut with the sensuality of his touch. She was going to orgasm if he kept that up and Luna couldn’t decide if that was a very bad idea or the best idea in the history of ever.
Heat rose from her sole, toes, and arches. There was the sharp, initial bite of pain as Jason found a tense muscle or tendon. His massage was firm until finally, the pain faded away as though it had never existed in the first place.
“You’re very good at that.” Luna’s voice grew husky with desire. She felt her head grow heavy on her neck. “Good lord, you’d make an amazing massage therapist.”
Except that wasn’t where she wanted his hands.
Jason made a face that made her giggle. “Massage therapists have to touch everyone. Bartenders get to touch only the feet they want.”
Luna’s voice caught in her throat. “Do you want to touch me?” She looked at him through her bangs and smiled coyly.
Instead of answering, Jason secured the front of her heel in his battle-scarred hands. He ran a finger between the sole of her foot and her toes. Hard enough to not tickle, firm enough to cause an involuntary shiver to run down her spine.
Luna watched with bated breath as Jason took ahold of her foot and gently pulled her forward. Panting, feeling her body yield before his, Luna placed her other foot in his lap.
“I don’t remember the Grand Duke doing this, do you?” Jason asked, his voice a low, baritone rumble.
“If he had, Cinderella would have been a fool to pick the prince.”
Jason chuckled warmly before running a finger between the delicate bones and tendons of her foot. He didn’t say anything, but his eyes communicated his needs and desires perfectly.
Luna felt vulnerable in his hands, and yet, he was only touching her feet. How much sensation did two feet contain? Apparently, quite a bit.
Jason’s attention was inexorable. He continued running his finger from her heel down to the arch of her foot. The other hand squeezed the heel gently. His breath hitched slightly as she responded to his touch.
Luna watched him with heavy-lidded eyes, lost in the sensation of what he was doing. She licked her lips, wanting to tell him to stop. It was madness. Insanity. Fully dressed foreplay.
Using both hands, Jason kneaded her foot. He was huge, his palms seeming to swallow her foot whole. “Beautiful,” he murmured, making Luna feel both pliant and responsive to his touch. She was deeply aware of both the softness in her arch and the hardness of his palms. She wriggled her other foot a little as the unbearable arousal smoldered through her body.
“Oh, my,” she murmured as her left heel scraped lightly over his very sizeable erection.
Jason
“My little Cinderella likes that,” he whispered. He pressed her foot tightly to him and pumped his hips once. Twice. Luna whimpered, head thrown back, body shivering slightly. If they kept this up, he wasn’t going to stop until he was ten inches deep inside her.
“I do,” Luna said, licking her lips as though they were parched.
Jason kissed her toes, his tongue teasing the tops of her toes before biting her the tip of her big toe. She pulled it back with a breathy giggle. He rose and sat on the bench beside her. They sat like that for a moment before he lifted her, so she straddled his lap.
“I’m not. Ready. You know, for all of it,” she protested, grey eyes opening wide in the early stages of panic.
“Shh,” Jason crooned. He nibbled the arch of her neck. “We’re just getting to know each other, Cinderella.”
“Ohmigod, not the neck.” Despite her words, she bent her head and offered the milky white skin to his mouth. “Why didn’t Nana warn me?”
“What?” Jason asked, surprised at her words.
“My grandmother. Didn’t warn me how freaking amazing this would feel.”
Jason snorted. “You talk to your grandmother about men?”
Luna pulled the pin out of her hair, and it cascaded down around her shoulders in a sensual waterfall. “Nana is an earthy woman.” She wrinkled her nose, trying to be cute about it.
“Did she raise you?” He traced his tongue down the long tendon before giving her a gentle nibble on the knot of nerve endings at the base.
“Oooh. Don’t. Oh, it’s too much,” Luna said, her body rolling into his, her hips pressing against the ridge of his cock.
“I know. You can feel it in me, too.” He rocked his hips gently, and she moaned again as pleasure pulsed through her responsive body. His dick leaped and twitched, eager to find the warm home Luna promised him.
She laughed a little helplessly, burying her head in the crook of his neck. “What’s happening here?” she asked, her hips circling while her breathing grew more ragged.
Jason struggled to remember his words. Any words. Because right now the only one pulsing through his mind began with F and ended with -uck. “If I’m not mistaken,” he growled, hands gripping her hips and increasing the pressure between them. “I believe you’re about to have an orgasm.”
The low keening sound was like heaven to his ears. He felt the moment her silk panties slipped, allowing her tight wet center to come into direct contact with the wool of his slacks.
Arching her back, desperately chasing her pleasure, Luna was beautiful. Her stunning blonde hair cascaded down her back, her throat was arched, just waiting for his lips.
With a deep, low grunt, she shook in his arms. Collapsing against him, she shuddered over and over as her orgasm took her away from the everyday world.
Jason wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly to him. “That was beautiful,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “You’re beautiful.”
Luna turned to look at him with dazed, unguarded grey eyes. “That was crazy.”
“Crazy perfect.”
“I’ve never done anything like that.” She frowned slightly. “What did you do to my body?”
“Not nearly enough,” Jason said, rubbing his cheeks against her petal-soft shoulders. His need was primal. Core-deep. Devastating.
“I thought you weren’t good with delicate things.”
“I’m not. You saw what happened to the wine glass.”
“I’m a little thing. Barely five feet.”
“Maybe you’re the exception that makes the rule.” His voice dropped an octave with his need.
“Oh. That growly thing is so hot.”
Jason made a mental note to growl more often. Luna lay warm and willing in his arms. Their eyes met, glittering in the shadows and lights from the bar. Using a single finger, he tilted her chin up. “You have the most beautiful lips.”
She exhaled. A tiny puff of air that was both simple and deeply erotic. “I do?”
His head tilted towards hers. Open. Inviting. An involuntary growl came from his throat as he touched his lips to hers.
“Oh, my,” Luna whispered after the petal-light touch. “You have beautiful lips, too.”
He grinned. “Come taste them,” he invited.
It was a soft exploratory kiss. Testing limits with timid but curious strokes of her tongue. Jason buried his fingers in Luna’s hair, massaging her scalp while bringing her close.
He couldn’t have sworn under oath how long they sat there. They’d come up for air only to have one or the other initiate the kiss. They were pure, almost virginal in their sweetness but with a deep, hot desire for more.
Suddenly, Luna stiffened as though something occurred to her. It took Jason’s willpower not to let her separate and not push for more. She would come to him when she was ready.
The mating heat pulled at Jason with primal need. He never thought he’d marry. Never thought he’d find a mate, let alone such a tiny one. And yet, here she was in his arms.
“I’m only here for a job,” Luna said, panic edging her voice. She was trying to find control again, but Jason didn’t want her to go professional. Not now when he could still scent her on his body.
Jason smiled. His little Cinderella had a penchant for panic. “It’s okay.” He pulled back and looked into her eyes. “Don’t over think this one. Just allow it to happen.”
“My home is in Maine. My family is there.”
“So?”
“What.” Her eyes closed and Jason found he missed the gentle depths of her grey eyes. “What if I catch feelings for you?”
For a moment, Jason was relieved Luna’s eyes were closed. Catch feelings? He was falling head over fucking heels in love with the woman in his arms. He tightened his grip. His little mate. She sure as fuck better catch feelings back!
Instead, he said. “We can take it day by day. Okay?”
She nodded and snuggled into him. “I should go home.”
“You staying with Lacey, right? Up in Little Yellow.”
Luna nodded, yawning. “I was going to follow Lacey and Quinn up the mountain. I’m not sure I can find it on my own.”
“Shh,” Jason said. He handed her both sets of shoes before standing up.
He expected a little “eep” of alarm, but instead, Luna only tightened her arms and legs around him. “That’s a good girl. I’ll get you up to the cabin.”
She lifted her head and blinked at him sleepily. “I should go say goodnight to the bride and groom.”
Jason chuckled warmly. “I think they’ve already left the building.”
“Oh.” Luna blinked again before falling asleep in a warm, responsive puddle in his arms.
Pulling up every ounce of honor he possessed, Jason got Luna into the cab of his truck. He secured her with a seatbelt before getting in to drive her up the mountain.
He wanted her with him, in the house, he rented on the outskirts of Silver Fells. But, Jason knew he needed to go slowly with his petite mate. He sensed she had a secret. Something to do with the Lusty Leopard from the way she was looking around the outside.
Whatever it was, Jason knew he had to gain her trust and help her. Only when she was happy could he be happy.
It should worry him, this power she wielded so unknowingly over him. After all, he was a bear shifter. Huge. Scary as fuck in his bear form. He’d served time in the Special Forces and saw action wherever Uncle Sam sent him.
Luna was another mission, he decided. One that would take all the delicate skills he managed to pick up.
He parked in the driveway of Maxwell Mountain Resort while Luna still slept. “How cute. My mate snores.” Holding back a grin, Jason picked her up and carried her into the cottage.
The small home only had one bedroom. Finding it in the moonlight wasn’t difficult. “Sleep well, Cinderella,” he whispered before pressing a kiss to her cheek. She looked uncomfortable in her cocktail dress, but he left her and only tossed a quilt over her prone form.
“Don’t go,” Luna muttered in her sleep.
Jason wished he could stay. “Soon,” he promised her. “Soon, I will be by your side for always.” With a heavy heart, he left his mate, walked to his truck, and headed home.