Nikki breathed a big sigh of relief when the stable came into view. “Finally,” she said under her breath as the horses came to a stop. Although she loved every moment that she and Aaron had shared, her backside was screaming to get off that saddle. He had offered to let her ride back with him, but she didn’t want to be a burden. She was used to doing things on her own, and didn’t like to appear weak or vulnerable.
Thankfully the trip back was taken at a much faster pace in an attempt to beat the setting sun. As hot as the days were, it was nothing for the nighttime temperatures to drop into the low to mid-forties. It had already dropped several degrees, and the temperature would continue to fall as the sun set.
Aaron dismounted his horse and handed the reins to the man standing at the gate, then he turned and smiled up at her. “You sound relieved to be here.”
She felt the heat rise to her cheeks. “You weren’t supposed to hear me complaining. I’m not generally such a whiner.” When his smile grew, she rolled her eyes. He would have heard her even if she hadn’t said it out loud. She didn’t know the man at the gate and wasn’t about to comment on her thoughts about him being able to read her mind. Nikki leaned toward him from the saddle and whispered, “I think my saddle sores have saddle sores.”
Aaron laughed softly. “Sorry, that’s my fault, and fortunately, you don’t have to ride any more today. In the future we won’t ride that far until you’re more accustomed to the saddle.”
“Thank God.”
“Now, about those saddle sores….” He grazed his fingers lightly over her thigh, his eyes burning bright in the waning light. “I’ll be happy to take a look at them when we get back to your room.”
When the man at the gate chuckled, Nikki knew he was listening to every word and felt her cheeks burn hotter. “We’ll talk about that later…when we’re alone.”
“Nikki, I’d like you to meet our enforcer and right hand man, Hok’ee.”
Nikki grabbed the horn of the saddle and shifted her weight, then nodded to the man at the gate. “Hi.”
Hok’ee turned a questioning look to Aaron. “Our?” When Aaron didn’t answer him, he turned back to Nikki. “Pardon my manners, ma’am. This is an unexpected surprise. I would shake your hand, but….” He looked at Aaron again. “When did you take a mate?”
“Aaron, how does he know?”
“You carry his scent,” Hok’ee said as he accepted the reins to her horse from Aaron.
“Oh,” she said absently. “And why can’t you shake my hand?”
Aaron reached up for her. “Another male isn’t permitted to touch the alpha’s mate,” he answered for him. “Let me help you down.
To avoid any further embarrassment, she ignored Aaron’s outstretched hands. “I can do this,” she said, and attempted a graceful dismount. Unfortunately, she found mounting and dismounting these tall creatures wasn’t as easy as it looked, and when the laces of her tennis shoe caught on the stirrup, she was in a pickle. The horse took that moment to sidestep and Nikki’s fingers lost their grip on the saddle. “Nooooo!” she screeched as she fell backwards into Aaron’s waiting arms.
“Stubborn woman,” Aaron said under his breath as the horse danced further away, tugging Nikki’s leg with him. Nikki clutched her arms around Aaron’s neck and held on for dear life.
“Woah, Paint! Easy, boy!” Hok’ee said, attempting to calm the nervous animal as he pulled back on the reins.
As the horse slowed his movements, Aaron untangled her shoe from the stirrup, then set her down on her feet. She could see that he was angry as he looked her over from head to toe. “Are you all right?”
“Thank you for coming to my rescue…again.”
“Are you hurt?!”
Nikki reached down, dusting off her jeans. “My ego just took a major hit.” She placed her hands on her hips, a little irritated now herself, and she couldn’t keep the tone out of her voice. “Does that count?”
When they made eye contact, Aaron answered her. No.
My answer is “no” too. I’m not hurt…at least physically. I don’t understand this sudden pissy attitude.
You could have broken your neck.
Is it really because I could have broken my neck? Or is it because I nearly did it in front of one of your pack members?
He quirked an eyebrow. Our pack members, he corrected. But no. It is my job to protect you…even from yourself.
Nikki rolled her eyes. I’m not generally that clumsy.
Good, because if you had been hurt, I would have blamed myself. I’m not angry with you, Nikki.
Well, you could have fooled me.
I’m angry with myself for not insisting on helping you down.
I wouldn’t have let you, and I warned you earlier that I do or say stupid things when I’m nervous. And I distinctly remember you saying it would be entertaining.
That was not entertaining.
Nikki snorted.
It wasn’t. I’m all for you being independent if that makes you happy. But…I draw the line at allowing things to happen that can cause you harm.
Whatever…. Just don’t attitude me, okay?
He flashed her a brilliant smile. I will make it up to you.
Hok’ee shook his head, mumbling something about a city slicker under his breath—inadvertently sparking Aaron’s anger—as he gathered the reins of both horses in his beefy fist. As Hok’ee led the animals into the barn, Aaron spoke to him.
“Don’t mention that I now have a mate to the rest of the pack.”
Hok’ee stopped in his tracks. “Is she some big secret?”
“No, not entirely,” Aaron said. “By our laws, she’s my mate and I’ve claimed her. As the alpha, I don’t need anyone’s permission to claim a mate. However, the elders have been pressuring me to take a mate, and I wish to approach them first with the news.”
Nikki noticed that Hok’ee was clearly disturbed over their current circumstance.
“Alpha, you and I both know that the elders won’t be happy with your choice, and I’ll bet Ajei will have a lot to say about that too.”
The men were talking all around her as if she wasn’t even there. And from the way Aaron’s eyes narrowed and his fists were clenched, he wasn’t happy with his enforcer. “The elders really have no say in who I take for a mate. And as for Ajei…my mother already knows about Nikki, as does Dibe.
“And you will refrain from using any demeaning terminology in describing my mate. Her commands fall second only to mine, and you will grant her the respect that she is due. You, and all the others, will abide by that. Am I clear?”
Hok’ee dropped to one knee, lowering his head. “Yes, Alpha, perfectly. I overstepped my authority. My apologies, ma’am, I never meant to offend you.”
That was something Nikki would have preferred not to witness. It was suddenly clear that she might not be accepted by Aaron’s people. He was their leader and the pack might not consider her worthy even if Aaron did. That thought hadn’t really crossed her mind until now.
“No offense taken,” she said absently.
Aaron pulled his truck to a stop in front of her hotel room and put it in park. He reached over and squeezed Nikki’s hand. “You’ve been quiet.”
Nikki shrugged, then looked away. “I know.”
“Are you still upset about what happened back there?”
She sighed heavily. “No, not really.”
“Did I do something else to upset you?” When she shook her head no, he continued. “I can’t fix it if I don’t know what it is.”
Her gaze met his. “That’s the point, Aaron. You can’t fix everything.”
He frowned. “I don’t understand. What can’t I fix?”
“You can’t just order people to like me and make it so. It just doesn’t work that way.”
“You think that because Hok’ee was upset with me, that he doesn’t like you.”
“It was obvious…he doesn’t. I’m afraid none of your pack will.”
“The pack isn’t just mine, it’s ours. And for the record, it’s not you he doesn’t like. It’s change. It wouldn’t matter who I chose as a mate.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“That’s exactly my point. I’ve only been alpha since my father died a couple of years ago. For the most part, my pack is loyal and they generally don’t question my decisions or orders.
“We live a very long time, Nikki. Human diseases don’t affect us, and we age very slowly, so unless an outside force such as a bullet to the head or heart ends our life, we don’t die. My father was over two hundred years old when he happened to be on the wrong end of a bullet to the head.
“The pack is still accustomed to the old ways when my father was alpha, and some still question my ability to make decisions. Some, like my mother, think I make up my own rules as I go. That’s why Hok’ee was acting the way he was. It was about you, but it wasn’t at the same time.”
“Do you? Change the rules to suit you?”
He gave her a half smile and shook his head. “The elders are in place to keep the alphas more or less in line, and to guide our decisions if it becomes necessary, but I don’t have to follow their orders. They follow mine unless I’m breaking a sacred rule. And taking a mate of my choosing is my decision, no one else’s. The alphas have always had that right, and I’m not about to let anyone take that right away from me or us. So, in answer to your question, no, I haven’t broken any rules or made any new ones to suit my own needs over the needs of the pack. No one in our pack has any right to question me on that one, least of all Hok’ee.”
“Why, what has he done?”
“Hok’ee was my father’s enforcer and now he’s mine. He’s supposed to have my back no matter what, but lately he’s been testing my patience. I guess, in his head, he believed that he should have been named alpha when my father died because he was second in command, but that wasn’t the way of it. Being named alpha isn’t just a direct inheritance…like royalty, it’s in the blood. A true alpha is a strong dominant male that the others naturally follow. It’s not only our strength, but it’s chemical, as I said before. It’s in the blood, and taking a mate will only make me stronger. That’s another reason why Hok’ee isn’t too thrilled that I’ve taken a mate. Hok’ee doesn’t have that, and I think he resents me for it. That’s why I had to be firm with him, or it would show me as being weak, and he would take advantage of my weakness.”
“He sounds like he could be a dangerous adversary.”
Aaron shrugged. “I’ve been dealing with all this long before now, and you’re right, it can get complicated. But trust me, you are not a complication, so I don’t want you to worry about not being accepted.”
Nikki sighed heavily. “If you say so.”
Aaron smiled again and placed a quick kiss on her cheek. “Trust me.” He reached behind the seat and retrieved a small duffle. “Are you ready to go inside?”
Nikki followed his movements. “What’s with the bag?”
He patted the bag. “I packed this this morning before I left my place. I wanted to be prepared in case you agreed to go out with me.”
Nikki laughed as she eased the passenger door open. “That’s very presumptuous of you.” She slid out of the truck, then turned back to him, her hand resting on the edge of the door. “And what were your plans had I said no?”
His smile grew. “I really didn’t allow myself to think on those lines; we are mates.” He exited his side of the truck. “But if you had said no I would have respected that answer.”
Nikki opened the door to her hotel room, then he held it open for her to enter first. After tossing the key on top of the dresser, she turned to him and put her arms around his neck. “As if I could tell you no.” She felt his arms draw her closer to his body and laid her cheek upon his chest. Her eyes closed as a deep sense of contentment washed over her. It felt good to be there. It felt safe, and that was a feeling she hadn’t felt in a very long time. Her stomach took that moment to rumble loudly.
He laughed softly. “I’ve neglected to feed you.”
“I haven’t really thought much about food in the last few hours, but now that you mention it, I could eat.”
Aaron kissed the top of her head and released her. “It’s still early enough to reserve a table for dinner. I’ll call and make the reservations while you’re in the shower.”
“Okay,” Nikki said as she gathered the things she’d need. “Where are we going?” She went into the bathroom before getting an answer.
“We’re going into Santa Fe. The final destination is a secret.”
Nikki stuck her head back out of the bathroom doorway and grinned. “As long as the evening doesn’t follow the theme of The Final Destination movie, I’m good with that.” She stepped back into the bathroom and turned on the shower.
“I can promise you, it won’t.”
“We’re good then,” she said over the noise of the shower.
She could hear Aaron on his cell phone, but couldn’t make out what he was saying as she stepped under the hot spray. Slowly she let her body relax under the massaging pulses; the hot water felt wonderful. Her thoughts were now focused on Aaron, and her mind was spinning with everything that had happened to her since she had arrived.
Being born into a coven, her life was never anything that could be considered as normal. She had grown up in the supernatural realm and taught to believe in the impossible, but until five years ago she would have scoffed at the reality of werewolves. But Nikki now knew firsthand they existed. The introduction into that part of the supernatural world had made a permanent impact on her life, so why had she doubted Aaron when he said he was a shapeshifter? Was it because he was a wolf? She shook her head and grabbed the shampoo, massaging her hair into a rich lather. So far he had been upfront and honest about everything with her. Stepping back under the spray, she rinsed her hair.
Aaron seemed positive she was his life mate. She couldn’t deny the attraction, and wasn’t unhappy about it, but she was still in a state of disbelief. How could he be so positive that she was “the one?” Nikki wasn’t quite sure what he saw in her, or in better terms if he was seeing clearly. She didn’t personally think she was anything special, so what did he see that she couldn’t? Sure, she was a good catch, too, she supposed, but good things like this just didn’t happen to her. In the love department, she’d always managed to come out on the short end and left alone and lonely…and he was almost too good to be true. That last thought was what scared her most—she was waiting for the other shoe to drop—but in the meantime, she was willing to savor the moment and pray that her heart survived this encounter unscathed.
Reaching for the bath sponge, she poured a liberal amount of her favorite body wash onto it. The scents of lavender and twilight jasmine surrounded her as her thoughts wandered back to the river. Suddenly, somehow she was back on the river bank, and he was there in his natural glory, waiting for her—her dark warrior—his hand slowly stroking his cock. The image had just popped into her mind in vivid clarity, waking up all her senses. Her own need coiled and settled in her loins as she continued to watch him in morbid fascination. He was beckoning her to join him. She knew she was still standing in the shower, but this, too, felt so real. Nikki placed a hand on the cold tile wall to steady herself. Her knees had gone weak with her raging desires. Taking a quivering breath, she shook her head, attempting to shake the vision. She had to finish this shower before she embarrassed herself. As the shower stall slowly came back into focus, she took the bath sponge and ran it over the sensitive areas of her body. If she could get just a little relief, she’d be able to make it through this evening without jumping him…maybe. To relieve the intensifying ache building between her legs, she slipped her soapy fingers into her heat.
To her surprise, the glass door opened and Aaron stepped into the shower behind her. Nikki was too needy to protest when he took the sponge from her grasp and pulled her back up against his hard body. “I could feel your arousal through our bond,” he said as his teeth scraped against her neck. “It mirrors my own….” The sponge and his fingers were everywhere, but only long enough to fuel her need.
Throwing her head back in abandon, she moaned as his lips grazed over her neck again, and her fingers picked up the pace, plunging in and out of her heat. He rocked into her as his fingers and lips continued to explore. Her nipples, now pebbled and hard, ached nearly as much as her pussy for his touch. “Mmmm, that feels good.”
She felt Aaron’s hands slide up to fondle her breasts and roll the sensitive peaks between his fingers. Nikki writhed against his body—she was on fire and so needy for him—and her own fingers weren’t nearly enough to ease the ache.
“Come.” Aaron’s command was low and sexy. His breath against her skin sent shivers through her and triggered the small climax her fingers had so desperately sought.
But it wasn’t nearly enough. It hadn’t even tapped the need coiled tight in her loins. “Please, Aaron, I need—”
She caught her breath as his fingers grazed over her sensitive clit. He slipped one finger inside her as his thumb continued to work against her. Nikki felt her knees go weak as he strummed her desire into molten lava. She clutched his shoulders to steady herself as she rode his hand to ecstasy.
“So hot and wet,” he growled fiercely as his mouth covered hers.
Nikki felt the animal in him as he refused to give her quarter. Her legs quivered as her orgasm sprung open the gates of desire. She wanted nothing more than to slide his hot cock into her aching pussy, but Aaron was not inclined to give in to her needs.
“Please….” Her whisper echoed through the hot steam of the shower, but Aaron ignored it as his hand continued to pump into her flesh. Nikki was not sure she could handle much more. Stars exploded behind her eyes when she came against him again.
“Oh god!” she shouted. A wild frenzy filled her and her nails sliced against his flesh. She felt an awakening inside her that she could not ignore. Nikki wanted to ride him harder than a stallion, but did not know the words that would set her free.
“Please, Aaron, take me….” She could not slow the fire boiling in her veins.
“Not yet.” His smile did nothing to still the rush of heat inside her.
Nikki’s eyes flashed and she wanted to push him away. She was caught somewhere between love and hate in that moment in time. She loved the way he made her feel, but hated the longing that ripped through her body. Nikki wanted more and Aaron was denying her. When she thought she could stand no more, Aaron pulled her tight against his rock hard body.
He pushed her up against the tiled wall and covered her mouth in a heated kiss. When he slid his tongue into her mouth, she bit it fiercely. Her actions only seemed to drive him further. Nikki wrapped her legs around his waist as Aaron slid into her wet sheath and pumped into her slowly as his tongue worked over hers. Nikki clenched around his hard cock and pulled him in as far as he could go. She wrapped her fingers in his long hair as he took every inch of her with his shaft. Trapped between ecstasy and the brink of something dangerous, Nikki wondered what it would feel like to be in his arms like this every day.
That can be arranged, love.
His words sent her over the edge and she collapsed against him as another fierce orgasm shattered her senses. Aaron groaned as he pumped into her quivering sheath. “Yes, that’s it, Nikki. Oh god, yes.” He came against her, hard and fast, as her finish continued to ripple through her.
When he finally let her unwrap her legs, Nikki was afraid she would not be able to stand. She put a hand on his chest to steady herself. Her eyes met his and she licked her lips. “That was—”
“Perfection,” Aaron answered for her. He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it softly. “And as much as I would like for this to continue, we do have reservations.”
“Right. Just give me a few minutes.” Nikki gave him a soft smile.
“Of course.” He gave her a roguish grin. “I’ll be right out there if you need any more assistance.”
“Uh-huh. I see where that got me the last time. If we do any more of this, I really won’t be able to walk tomorrow.” She smirked at him and batted him playfully with her hand.
Aaron winked at her and stepped out of the shower. She watched his tight ass move through the room, knowing he was walking slower just so she could check him out. Nikki breathed a sigh of relief when he shut the door behind him. She needed to come to terms with the emotions ripping through her. Moments ago, she had felt like some carnivorous beast, wanting to tear into Aaron with a ferocity she could not explain. Was this what Aaron felt like when his wolf was just beneath the surface?
Nikki closed her eyes and tried to calm the hot blood that flowed through her veins. Never in a million years had she dreamt of having a man as fierce as Aaron. She knew he would protect her with the last breath in his body. Hopefully, it would never come to that.