Chapter 17
“Hey, Vaughn, we intended to see Douglas earlier when we had all the problems chasing down Brutus. Why don’t we run over there to see him now?” Jillian asked. “We still have about three hours before the others arrive and we go out to dinner.”
“Sounds like a good plan to me. And now that we’ve had this discussion with your parents about us, we’re going to have to decide when we’re going to do this.”
She smiled. “You mean a mating? Don’t you think it’s a little soon?”
“No way. You stole my heart at the Kitty Cat Club.”
“And then shot you here. Are you sure about this?”
“Absolutely.”
She loved a man who knew what he wanted and went for it. “We can discuss it tonight after dinner.” Should she insist on weeks of dating? Months? She would never last that long.
As soon as they went over to the clinic and walked into the room, the nurse smiled at them. “Douglas has had company all day, which can only be good for him. Our pack has taken him in as an honorary member,” Sally said to Vaughn. “Some of the children came in and read stories to him today. Everyone’s rooting for him.”
“That’s great. Any change?” Vaughn asked.
“Not that we’ve seen. He’s been taken off the medicine that induced the coma. As long as he didn’t have any brain injury from the loss of blood initially, he should be fine now. All his vital signs are excellent. Oh, the kids were sure he moved his fingers a couple of times, and one said his eyes opened and he smiled. The boy was persistent about it. The staff hasn’t seen any change. I have to tell you, that jaguar sure gave us all a real scare. Dr. Wilders ran all kinds of blood tests on Douglas to make sure the cat hadn’t injected anything into his IV. He hadn’t. You must have scared him off before he could do anything.”
Vaughn sat down next to the bed and squeezed Douglas’s hand. “Hey, Douglas, Miles said to tell you hi. And we’ve got some news.”
“I’ll leave you to speak with him and check in a little later,” Sally said.
“Thanks,” Jillian said, then sat next to the bed and took Douglas’s other hand, wondering what news Vaughn was going to tell him. Shouldn’t it be only good news?
“You know me. You probably didn’t think I’d ever settle down.”
She couldn’t believe Vaughn was going to talk about that!
“But Jillian—she’s the wolf holding your other hand—I think she just might be considering mating me. Not sure though.” Vaughn winked at her.
She was glad Douglas couldn’t see her blushing. “I thought it was a done deal.” She wasn’t being serious. “I mean, my parents are practically planning the wedding, the move to get near us, the prospect of having grandbabies even.”
Vaughn laughed. “I’m all for it, Jillian. Every bit of it.” And he sounded really serious.
“What about the trip to Hawaii?”
“We’re going to Hawaii?”
“I was thinking I could scuba dive there without having a bunch of training.” She swore Douglas squeezed her hand. “Oh, oh, Douglas, can you hear us? I’m Miles’s sister. He was shot before you got here, but recovered. We captured…” She paused. She hadn’t meant to tell him anything bad. She glanced at Vaughn. He was waiting for her to speak.
She swore Douglas’s fingers moved again, as if prompting her to finish what she was about to say. “We took Brutus into custody. He’s not Kira’s brother. And she has three dead husbands, all accidental deaths, two with insurance policies that paid out. Thankfully, we learned all this before Miles got in too deep with her.”
“We all were at the Kitty Cat Club. Kira, her pretend brother, and their friend. We assume they overheard you talking with Miles about your plans to treasure hunt in Belize. Then guess who shows up on your boat?” Vaughn said. “You become friends, then guess who shows up here? Kira and her brother…well, lover. Only she’s pretending he’s still her brother, but she’s seeing Miles at his cabin when his sister isn’t around. You’re attacked, and a male jaguar is searching for something in your cabin and knocks Jillian down, giving her a mild concussion.”
Douglas’s lips parted.
“Ohmigod.” Jillian rose from her seat, not letting go of Douglas’s hand, and brushed his forehead with her other hand. “Can you hear us?”
Douglas’s eyes fluttered open, and he stared at her with groggy eyes. “Mate,” he said hoarsely.
She couldn’t believe after what they’d told him, all he was interested in was the mention of her and Vaughn mating.
“She’s beautiful, isn’t she? Never thought I’d manage to capture such a treasure, did you?” Vaughn said smiling. “Hell, it’s good to hear you speak.”
Jillian got some water for him, and Vaughn called the nurse to let her know Douglas had come to.
“Mate?” Douglas asked again.
“If she’ll have me. She did shoot me already.”
A corner of Douglas’s mouth lifted.
Vaughn laughed. “Douglas always did have a dark sense of humor.”
Douglas turned his attention to Jillian. “Accept?”
She smiled. “No. He hasn’t even asked!” Though she was going to say they needed more time to get to know each other. But wolves recognized how well suited they were from the beginning. The longer courtship was more for their human halves. Their wolf halves knew when they’d found their mate.
“Ask,” Douglas said to Vaughn.
Vaughn folded his arms. “You know, this is something that needs to be done in private.”
“Afraid of rejection?” Douglas arched a brow.
Vaughn smiled. Jillian sat next to Douglas again. “You’re putting him on the spot.”
Douglas let out his breath in a tired sigh and closed his eyes.
“Jillian, I love you. I could never find anyone else who rocks my world like you do. Will you be my one and only? My mate for life?”
She laughed. Then she glanced at Douglas to see if he would open his eyes and rejoin the party. Maybe he’d gone back to sleep. She knew how to shake that up, if he was just trying to manipulate them into agreeing to a mating.
“He’s gone to sleep. I’ll give you my answer in a couple of weeks,” she said to Vaughn.
Vaughn frowned, and at the same time he said, “Why?” Douglas echoed his question.
She smiled. “Oh, all right.” She turned to Vaughn. “My parents always said they mated in record time. Four days from the time she came on base and he met her to when he asked her and she said yes. He was always proud of the fact he could convince her he loved her in that short a time and that they were truly the ones for each other, as their happy mating attests.”
“We’d beat them by a day. Think your dad will mind?”
“Probably. He’ll say we acted rashly, or were just trying to beat his record, knowing my dad.”
“That’s a yes,” Douglas said.
Jillian and Vaughn laughed as he pulled her from her chair to wait for her real response. She really liked Douglas and could see why her brother and Vaughn did too.
“To be on the safe side…” she said, looking up into Vaughn’s warm, brown eyes, eager to hear her say yes.
“You should agree,” Vaughn said, finishing her statement.
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I never knew shooting a potential partner would result in a mating, but you are one hot wolf. Vaughn Greystoke, I love you, and I would never give you up for anything.”
They kissed to seal the deal, their bodies pressed tight together, their tongues teasing and the kiss deepening.
Two people clapped from the doorway, and Jillian and Vaughn broke free of the kiss to see Sally and Dr. Wilders standing there, smiling.
And Douglas was smiling too.
“Go,” Douglas said to Vaughn and Jillian. “We’ll talk later.”
“We’ll see to him and make sure someone stays with him,” the doc said.
“Sure.” Jillian was certain her cheeks were flushed, as hot as she felt getting caught. She wondered how long the doctor and nurse had been there. She returned to the bed and kissed Douglas on the forehead, squeezing his hand. “Get better. We’ll be back before you know it.”
“Take time. Important business.”
The mating. The doctor and nurse were all smiles. Vaughn patted Douglas’s shoulder. “Be back in a bit, old man.”
Then he took hold of Jillian’s hand and escorted her out of the clinic. “How is your head feeling?”
“Good as new. What about your shoulder?”
“Like I can do a hundred push-ups.” Vaughn could do anything and everything now that Jillian had agreed to be his mate. When they reached the parking lot, he opened the car door for her. “You didn’t feel pressured into making this happen too quickly, did you?”
“Would it matter?”
“Hell yeah. But you once told me when you make up your mind about something—”
“I don’t hesitate. You’re right.” She pulled him in for another kiss, and he loved her. Really, truly, and deeply loved her.
“Back to the guest house, right?” His voice was already husky with desire.
“Unless you had something else in mind.”
“My cabin or yours, but I’d rather just go someplace a lot closer.”
She climbed into the car. “Let’s go before you change your mind.”
He laughed. “No way am I changing my mind. Douglas would never let me hear the end of it.”
“That’s the only reason?”
“Hell, no.” Vaughn sped off to the guest house.
“You’re not in any rush, are you?”
“Yeah, if you must know, I am.”
* * *
Vaughn wanted to do something more. Dinner or something before they were mated so that he didn’t seem desperate. But he was. Desperate.
He fully intended to carry Jillian over the threshold as soon as they reached the house, but she tugged him inside and closed the door. When they were certain they were alone, she hurried him down the hall to her bedroom.
Then, as if she couldn’t wait that long, she turned and began tugging off his jacket while she continued to slowly back down the hall. As soon as she had the sleeves down to his elbows, he was pulling her jacket down her arms too. In the middle of the hallway, her hands on his arms and his on hers, they began to kiss. Tongues, lips, their breaths mingling, their heartbeats escalating, eyes darkening with desire.
“I feel like a cave woman who clubbed her mate and dragged him into her cave, claiming him,” she said between kisses.
“Oh yeah?” His voice was drenched with lust. He dragged her jacket off the rest of the way and ditched his on the hallway floor, then scooped her, hands under her buttocks, and settled her over his good shoulder before stalking toward his bedroom.
She laughed. “I love you.”
He patted her behind. “The feeling I have for you is mutual.”
She half expected him to toss her on the bed, caveman style, but he was careful with her, cognizant of her recent head injury, and she loved him all the more for it, even though she felt fine now.
He gently swept her off his shoulder and onto the bed. “Are you okay? I probably shouldn’t have tossed you over my shoulder like that.”
“I’m fine, but what about your injured shoulder?” She sat up as he straddled her lap, and she lifted the bottom edge of his shirt, pulling it upward, her hands sliding underneath against his glorious hard muscles and soft skin.
He quickly yanked his shirt off the rest of the way. “I’m good.” He began kissing her again while she ran her fingers through his silky hair, kissing him back with just as much fervor.
With finesse, he massaged her breasts through the denim fabric first, but then seemed eager to bare her breasts to him. Stopping to unbutton her shirt, he pulled it off her shoulders, forgetting about the buttons on the sleeves. She laughed and he smiled in a wicked way, pushing her gently back against the mattress. He peeled back her purple polka-dot bra until she was exposed to him, the cool air and his touches making her nipples erect and sensitive.
Smiling, she watched him as he found the snap in front and unfastened it, pushing the bra aside. He kissed her mouth again as her hands skimmed over his warm, smooth skin. When he kissed a path down to a breast and suckled a taut nipple, her breath suspended. She nearly came undone when he suckled the sensitive tip, then licked and suckled again.
So wet and ready for him, she ran her hands over his bare back and tried to slide her fingers under his belt.
“Too many clothes,” he breathed out against her breast, and helped her sit up so he could unbutton her shirtsleeves. Then he pulled off her shirt and her bra.
She tackled his belt, but he slipped his hand between her legs and rubbed her jeans-covered mound in a sensual caress, making her arch against his touch.
Loving his fondling, she caressed his steel erection, making him groan out loud. Exquisite torture? She smiled.
He unbuttoned her jeans and slid the zipper down slowly. Then he ran his hand down between her panties and jeans and rubbed. She was so wet, eager for fulfillment. Wolf and human need was all mixed into one rampant craving. She unbuckled his belt, unbuttoned his jeans, and unzipped his pants in the same slow way. Then she tugged his pants down his hips, and instead of caressing his cock like he’d caressed her clit, she pulled his boxer briefs down and set his cock free.
Vaughn’s eyes darkened with need, and he looked as though he would burst if they didn’t get on with this. “Hell, shoes.”
She laughed.
He quickly moved down to tug off her boots, then untied his own and kicked them off. He yanked off his socks, but after he pulled hers off, he massaged one of her feet. Which had her moaning in pure, unadulterated ecstasy. This was how she wanted to end every day.
He did the same with her other foot, before reaching up and removing her jeans.
His jeans hit the floor, and then he pulled her purple-and-white polka-dot panties off. She slid his boxer briefs down and tossed them.
Nudging her legs apart, he settled on top of her, grinding his cock against her mound as they kissed and touched and licked and rubbed.
This felt so right, the physical mating between two wolves, the emotional bonding. She breathed in his masculine, wild wolf scent and fell under his spell as he began to stroke her, still rubbing his erection against her thigh. Hot, hot wolf. She’d known from the first moment she’d seen him standing naked—all growly, muscular, and beautiful—that he’d make one hell of a lover. If she’d been in the market.
Boy, had she ever been.
He slid a finger inside her, prodding and circling her deep. She was so close to coming that she could barely hold on.
His kisses bordered on desperate, and hers matched his desperation as she clung to him, and she felt her body elevating to that higher plane of existence. The climax hit, taking her over the precipice. She cried out in exaltation, her world exploding in a million brilliant pieces. Right before he asked her if she was ready.
All her life, she’d been preparing for this. The mating with her wolf. So yes. She was beyond ready.
“Do it.”
Vaughn kissed her deeply again and settled between her legs, then nudged into the center of her being, pushing until he was all the way into her slick, wet heat, just where he’d wanted to be all along.
He began to thrust, thinking of how good this felt, how lucky he was despite the way they had first met. Yet he remembered what his brother had once said to him. It would take one extraordinary wolf to make his world stand still. Jillian was that wolf.
She wrapped her legs high around his hips and he paused, pulling one of her legs over his shoulder and then the other, penetrating her to the max. He kissed her neck, her throat, and thrust between her legs, unable to slow the pace. Unable to stop the inevitable even if he’d wanted to. He moved his hips while she lifted her pelvis to match him. Deeper, surging inside her, gathering her heat, sharing his own with her. The friction made her come as she cried out with pleasure again. He felt the end coming, yet reminded himself it was only the beginning.
With a deep, guttural growl, he let loose, enjoying the intimacy only he could share with his mate from now on.
In the afterglow, he settled beside her and pulled her into his arms. “I love you.” He meant it with all his heart. “From the moment I saw you on my front deck with that kitchen towel imprinted with a wine bottle, the furious look on your face, the smell of you—all she-wolf—and then your announcement that you were the one who had shot me, well, hell, I knew I was hooked.”
She laughed. “I love you right back. I needed to make it up to you. I never imagined in a million years that shooting a wolf who had intended to make mincemeat of my brother would lead to this.”
“Which goes to prove you really only meant to get my attention.”
She smiled. “I got it, didn’t I?”
“Hell yeah. Now and forever. Let’s take a nap before everyone arrives so we can dance the night away at the club.”
“That sounds nice.”
He pulled the covers over them, turned off the light, and they snuggled together, glad for this and for Douglas finally coming to. Which reminded Vaughn that they needed to let the rest of the team know. Before he could get out of bed and retrieve his phone, Jillian began to climb off him.
“We have to let everyone on the team know Douglas is awake.” She switched on the light, grabbed her phone, and climbed in bed as Vaughn pulled her back into his arms and nuzzled her neck.
“Hey, putting this on three-way call,” she said. “Douglas came out of his coma. We’ll update you on his condition and what he has to say when you get in.”
“And not to take away from that good news, but we’re mated wolves.”
The cheers blasted through the phone, and all Demetria’s questions began. When were they getting married? Where were they honeymooning?
Vaughn pulled Jillian snug against his body as the ladies hashed it out.
Until they heard the front door open.
“We’ve got company we hadn’t planned on,” Jillian said softly. “Got to go.”