The fallout from weeks before had been spectacular in both good ways and bad. When Maggie had left the diner to chase after Frances, she’d left the stove on. And before they’d managed to get home, Sylvan City Firehouse Six and Two had answered the alarm. The diner had been gutted, and Maggie’s apartment was a loss. The walls on three sides were still standing, but pretty much everything else was ash or ruined by the smoke.

A quick trip to the local discount store got Maggie enough shirts, pants, and underwear to make it through to laundry day, but when she’d realized that she’d forgotten stuff to sleep in at night, Cage proved it wasn’t a problem. He kept her warm at night, wrapped up in his arms.

And it didn’t shock anyone how easily three people fit into the two person apartment. Frances seemed to enjoy it the most. On fight nights, Cage couldn’t wait to get upstairs after the events. He’d let himself in as quietly as possible just so he wouldn’t disturb them. He’d stop in the doorway and see the two most important women in his life cuddled up on the couch.

Sometimes they’d be watching a random movie from the Silver Screen Net App, with Frances gobbling down handfuls of whatever snacks they had in the kitchen. But some nights he’d come in and the two ladies would be sound asleep with Frances’ head pillowed on Maggie’s lap, Maggie’s fingers combed through Frances’ emerald green hair.

Those were the nights that he’d stand just inside the doorway and watch them sleep. He’d come so close to losing them that every moment was precious.

Oh, he’d taken a good ribbing from the guys at the gym and at the fights, but he didn’t care. It felt good. Once a solitary man, a shifter ready to live out the rest of his life working with his old friends, somehow, he’d ended up with a daughter and a mate, and a home that made him feel satisfied.

Whole.

Content.

* * *

The second time that Maggie entered the home of Devlin and Paige Kerr, she was more than ready for this whole ordeal to be over. As the head of the SCPD’s Preternatural Squad, he had received official word from Scotland Yard about Frances’ relatives and he wanted to give them all the news face to face.

As they walked in, Maggie noticed that the back curtains were closed. It was a little disappointing to her as she loved the expanse of green that was just outside of their door.

Paige seemed to understand her thoughts. “Perhaps we can go outside later?”

Maggie blushed at being so transparent.

Colonel Fordice sat down on one of the straight back chairs they had set up near the sofa and Frances flopped down beside Maggie, and took her hand.

Dom came out of the kitchen with a longneck beer in his hand. “Cage,” he nodded at him, “good to see you and your brood.”

Maggie touched Cage’s arm and felt him relax at her touch.

Devlin cleared his throat. “In the interest of avoiding bloodshed in my home, let’s get this taken care of.” Turning to Frances, he gave her a smile. “You don’t have to worry about your family coming after you again. The court has decided to sever any rights that Charles or Frances have in connection to you. What they did allowed the judge to accept the reasonable argument that they pose you a threat more than anything else.

“And Maggie,” Devlin lifted his head to look at her. “They’ve also been ordered to pay for any and all costs in rebuilding your diner. Your medical care. And all of the legal fees for the custody case will be paid for or returned to you both. The English Courts may have a long and staid past but they take exception to the attack on a young woman by her own family.

“Their greed will be their downfall and they will both be required to spend some time in jail.”

Frances squeezed Maggie’s hand and Maggie felt like her heart might explode at any time.

“So, this is over?”

Frances’ voice was soft, almost hesitant and that had Maggie tugging her closer against her side.

Devlin nodded. “It’s over, Frances. When you want to go back to England, they’ll make sure that neither one of them bother you.”

The teen shrugged. “I don’t have any reason to go back.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” This from the Colonel. “Frannie, you know the reason why they were trying to take you back was because there was actually a bunch of property that your parents left to you.”

“To me?”

He nodded and gave her a wink. “That’s why I hightailed it out of here and went to England. I did a little digging around,” he pointed his thumb at Dom, “bumped into this bad wolf over there and between the two of us we covered a lot of ground.”

Dom gestured for the Colonel to finish the tale.

“Your mother’s family might not have been impressed with her bringing a shifter into the family, but your parents were good with what they did have. They took money and made money, all trying to take care of your future. You even have a house back in England if you want it.”

Dom nodded. “It’s a couple thousand square feet of stuck up architecture.”

Frances laughed. “Sounds about right.”

Devlin grinned at her. “You don’t have to decide anything now. You should probably go and take a look at it during your next holiday, but until then, we have all the information in a folder for you. And we’re all here to answer any questions you have.”

“Any questions?”

Maggie gave the young woman a cautious look. She’d heard that tone before.

Paige was the one that answered. “Sure. What would you like to know?”

Frances had already slid to the edge of the seat, pulling Maggie with her. “Can we go and look outside… in your backyard?” Frances didn’t even wait for an answer, she had Maggie up on her feet and two steps forward before Maggie dug in her heels.

“What are you doing?”

Frances shrugged. “Answering a question.”

Maggie drew back a little. “What?”

Paige took Maggie’s other hand. “No harm in taking a look, right?”

“It’s your backyard, I just didn’t want to impose,” but they were already walking across the room and when Maggie looked back over her shoulder her father was walking toward the stairs with Devlin and Cage was watching her with a smirk on his lips.

Dom was already at the windows and pulled the cord.

The backyard had been transformed. Two festive bunches of balloons marked the overhang of the porch leading to the grass. Hanging from the bottom edge of the gutter was a banner that looked every bit Frances’ work, and Maggie found herself rooted to the ground as she read out the words.

CONGRATULATIONS CAGE & MAGGIE

Blue birds with streamers in their beaks marked the corners of the banner and the Gs in Maggie’s name looked like wedding rings.

Turning her head to the side, Maggie looked at Cage. “Did you know about this?”

His sly smile made her shiver in all the best places.

“I’ve waited for you, Maggie. Will you make me wait any longer to claim you?”

She felt his breath on her shoulder, felt his hand in hers. And when he turned, he blocked out the room with his broad back and looked down into her eyes. “I need you, Maggie. Need to fill you as deep as you’ve filled me. Give me this chance to show you how much you mean to me in both your world and mine.”

“Our world,” she insisted and then smiled. “And yes, I don’t want to wait any longer.”

Maggie leaned against him, her palm flat against his chest, her cheek against the hard wall of skin and muscle.

“Maggie?”

She turned with a smile on her face. Paige looked every inch the pleasant hostess and friend.

“I hope you don’t mind having the wedding here. We had a yard big enough to fit everyone. Otherwise, we might have had some issues with noise.”

Maggie nodded. The noise from the fights didn’t turn up any problems since the area was mostly business rather than residential. “No, no worries, this is all… great.”

Paige held out her arms for an embrace and Maggie wrapped her arms around the other woman. “Thanks for everything, I’ve never had so many friends before.”

Pulling Maggie in even tighter, Paige pressed a gentle kiss on Maggie’s cheek.

Maggie was now a full card-carrying member of the small community of women she’d been introduced to since her arrival in Sylvan City. They brought her a dress. They brought her flowers.

And yet, she drew the line at make-up. She’d used it a long time ago and had lost the taste for it on her skin. She wanted nothing between her and Cage when he kissed her. She loved his lips too much to taste lipstick on him or have it smudge over his skin.

When it was time for her to walk downstairs and join Cage in the yard for the ceremony, Frances preceded her across the grass, a soft mossy green dress complimented her coloring, but her feet were bare. While Maggie watched, Frances passed the section of guests closest to the side gate where the Waylands and Kerrs made their way back and forth to each other’s yards, Maggie heard Cage’s soft warning growl. Frances moved her gaze away from Cobb, but the boy didn’t look away from the young lioness.

Maggie knew the two were good friends, but she knew that with Boone’s influence and Cage’s watchful eye, there wasn’t much to worry about with Cobb and Frances.

“Ready, sweetheart?”

Turning her head, she saw her father’s watchful gaze search her face. “Absolutely.” Slipping her hand through his arm, Maggie leaned slightly against her father’s shoulder and then pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I love you, Dad.”

“And I love you, Maggie Mine.” Tears glittered in her eyes at the sound of her childhood nickname. “I always knew that you fancied Cage with a crush, I guess it makes sense that you’d end up with him.”

She blushed as they continued to walk. “You knew we were meant to be?”

“Maybe,” he shrugged, “but you were always too stubborn for your own good. And so was he. Now you two can be stubborn about each other.” He smiled at Paige and Devlin near the head of the line before leaning back into his daughter. “Your mom and I weren’t the best examples of being happy, Maggie, but here, between the Kerrs and the Waylands, I think you’ve got some really good examples to follow.”

They were near enough to the end of the lawn and Maggie managed a glance in Cage’s direction. It wasn’t easy. There was a reason she hadn’t managed it up until that point.

One look into his midnight dark eyes and she blushed from head to toe. She just hoped with the near dark surrounding them, that no one else could see what she was sure was written plainly on her features. She wasn’t just in love with Cage, she wanted him with everything she was. And tonight, she was finally going to know exactly what it felt like to be his forever.

The vows they exchanged were lovely, she was sure of it, but the moment they were said they seemed to fade from her memory. What mattered was the moment that Cage put a ring on her finger. The simple gold band reminded her of the color of his jaguar and the look in his eyes when the ring settled on her finger, promised her so much more than just vows and simple kisses.

Cage Gamble was going to make her his in every way possible.

Just as soon as they could get out of this party.

When the judge pronounced them man and wife, the first thing that Maggie did was grab a hold of Cage’s hand and started back down the long walk in the yard, stopping only when Cage tugged her right back into his arms.

“Just where do you think you’re going?”

She looked up at him with a naked plea in her eyes. “Cage, let’s go.” Again, she tried to tug on him, her hands tightened into the front of his shirt. “Now.”

It wasn’t just the smile on his face that got through her stubborn head, it was the polite and not-so-polite laughter surrounding them under the strings of lights that brought her back to the present.

Looking from side to side she saw Willa and Boone leaning into each other’s embrace and even Dom, the somewhat surly wolf shifter at the back of the crowd. So many witnesses. Would she ever live it down? “It seems,” she began, finding a smile for the assembled crowd, “that I forgot something.”

“Too eager to get onto the real fun of the evening, eh, Missus Gamble?”

Truck smacked the back of Brass’ head hard enough that the smack was heard clear throughout the gathering.

Maggie hung her head. “Just great.”

Cage’s laughter didn’t sting like the others, especially when he smoothed a lock of her hair behind her ear. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know how I’m ever going to live this down, Cage. Trying to escape my own wedding?”

He grinned back at her. “Well you were trying to escape with the groom, so I don’t feel insulted. And the fact that you just wanted to be alone with me? No complaints there, but I think we ought to give the folks a little going away present since I don’t think either of us wants to stick around for the party.”

She looked up at him, biting into her bottom lip to keep her focus on the pain instead of the building need between them. “Just what kind of a gift are you thinking of-”

He pulled her closer, one hand on her lower back, the other around the back of her neck messing up the curls Willa had spent so much time on. She didn’t argue or try to move away. She reached up a hand to grab the back of his neck, enjoying the rough scratch of his short-clipped hair.

“Cage Gamble,” she whispered to him, a hair away from his lips, “you better hurry up and kiss your bride.”

He didn’t wait another second.

* * *

The hotel at the center of the business district had been purchased and renamed the Orsino Grand a few months after Devlin had married Paige and brought shifters into the public eye. The revelation had been a benefit to the town, because it took more than proving something existed to make it acceptable. The Grand was the first hotel to be openly accessible to shifters. Floor by floor they’d done a complete overhaul of the rooms, making privacy the hotel’s top concern.

Maggie walked into the hotel on the arm of her husband, her whole body tingling with anticipation. She slowed down as they neared the front desk and turned to look at Cage when he kept right on walking. She almost stumbled over her feet, but she caught up and walked beside him straight toward the elevator.

“What’s going on?” She looked up at him as he jammed the call button half a dozen times in his haste.

“I picked up the key earlier. Checked in. Put your bag in the room.”

The elevator doors opened and she preceded him inside with a smile. “What about your bag?”

Cage stood silently against the back of the car, watching the doors slide closed. When the heavy metal doors bumped together, she could see Cage’s smudgy reflection on the interior of the doors. They turned to look at each other, and the smile that spread across his lips was full of promise, and she was again reminded that inside of his incredible body was a sleek jaguar begging to mark her as theirs. “I didn’t bring a bag, Maggie.” She could only stare at him, nearly breathless with anticipation. “I don’t plan on letting you out of the room until we check out.”

She felt her heart slam against the inside of her ribs as if it was a wild thing itself, begging for freedom. And she was done trying to hold it back.

Maggie turned to face her mate and with her palms flat against his chest she pushed him back against the elevator wall.

A kiss on tiptoe was all Maggie got to give him before he turned her around and had her perched on the narrow handrail, pushing between her thighs. The wide skirt around her legs had some stretch to it, but it didn’t allow Cage to get as tight against her as she wanted.

As she needed.

Looking at the digital readout there was only a couple of floors left before it was their stop.

“Key,” she panted, against his lips, “room key.”

He didn’t take his hands off of her and she honestly didn’t want him to, so she searched the pockets of his pants and found the card key in his hip pocket. And darn if it wasn’t so hard to get her hand on the key, there was something seemingly in the way.

Maggie dug deeper and knew by the gasp of breath from his lips that he liked her hand on him.

The elevator door slid open and Cage picked her up, pulling her flush against his front. She wrapped her arms around him and slanted her lips across his, hungrily feasting on him as he returned the favor. It was only when they’d reached the door that she turned away from him to pass the key over the lock.

When the light turned green she gave an audible sigh of relief. She felt the shift of his arm against her back and then they were moving over the threshold and into the hotel room.

Cage’s laughter tickled her ear before his lips fastened to the tender flesh along the side of her neck as he shut the door.

“Don’t tease,” she ground out the demand as her fingers dug into his back, the room key falling from her fingers to the marbled flooring.

“I’m not teasing,” he answered back, sliding her body down the length of his and then it was his turn to groan.

Maggie felt every inch of his hard body and pulled him closer.

He stilled against her, his hands tracing her curves until he filled his hands with her. “I’ll never get used to this,” his voice melted over her, his eyes snapping with fire.

“My big fat-”

He swallowed her words with a kiss, sweeping her mouth clean of the insult with his tongue. By the time he lifted her up against him, rocking his rigid length against her, she matched him stroke for stroke and the delicious friction had her shivering and burning at the same time.

Maggie pulled back and ignored the way he was glaring his frustration at her. “Take off your clothes, Cage. I want to take a good long look at my husband.”

The corners of her mouth twitched up at the way he nearly tore his shirt at the seams trying to pull it off of his body. By the time he reached for his pants she found herself infinitely glad he didn’t wear a belt, since he would have broken the buckle as he tore at his waistband as he pulled it open.

Pushing his pants down over his hips, she felt her mouth water. She did love everything about him, including how much he filled her each and every time he buried himself inside of her body.

When he looked up and found her staring, he smiled and stared right back. “Now you, Maggie.” His eyes moved over her in a long caress. “Show me.”

She could barely manage to speak with her heart in her throat and the pulse of her need centered deep within her core. “Show you what?”

His smile was sinful.

So was the look in his eyes.

And she felt her nipples tighten against the lace of her bra.

“Show me what’s mine, Maggie. Every perfect inch that I’m planning to taste with my tongue,” he moved an inch closer, his eyes bleeding black, “hold in my hands…”

She swallowed and reached her hands up and managed to get her fingers on the zipper at the back of her neck. That’s when she remembered she’d needed help getting into the dress. “Could you-” Maggie saw the look in his eyes as he moved closer, “don’t you dare rip my dress.”

He shook his head as he walked around behind her. “And have Paige and Willa on my bad side too?” He moved her hand away and pulled the zipper down to the small of her back. His hands took hold of both sides of the dress and pushed them down over her shoulders and then all the way down off of her arms, dropping the whole thing at her feet.

Cage pressed a kiss to the back of her neck and she shivered from the intimate touch.

He kissed a line across her back to her shoulder. “Look up, Maggie.”

She lifted her head and saw the mirror on the wall.

Maggie met his eyes in the mirror and her skin felt like it had been warmed by the sun. Yes, he had his hands on her, but she could feel the heat of his gaze. She rolled her shoulders back and saw his gaze narrowed on her breasts.

She drew in a deep breath and felt his reaction as his fingertips bit into her flesh.

“Maggie?”

Her tongue swept over her lips, trying to ease the tightness of the tender flesh, and felt his groan as if it was her own, so much of their skin was touching that it could have been. “Yes?”

His eyes focused on her, he leaned closer and pressed his open mouth over the soft skin of her shoulder at the base of her neck. She felt the barest prick of his fangs into her skin and felt herself melting against the heat of his mouth and the desperate need between her legs. When he drew his tongue over the pin pricks he’d left, and she wondered if he tasted her blood. “Are you ready?”

She felt his fingers at her back and the sudden rush of her lace bra pulling away from her skin. The cool brush of the air against her breasts. And then there were his hands, feathering over her ribs as the lace dropped to the floor.

When his hands covered her, cupping her in his warm palms, she arched into his touch which pressed her against his rigid length.

Her head dropped forward, spilling her hair over her face with a loud sigh. “Yes. I’m ready, so damn ready I feel like I’m about to fall apart if you don’t fill me.”

She swore when he moved his hands down her body and glared at him when he laughed. “What’s so damn funny, Cage?”

“You make me smile, Maggie. You make me laugh. And there hasn’t been too much of that in my life. You said I couldn’t tear your dress. And I got that bra off you pretty easy, even though I’m sure I’ll enjoy seeing you in it later, but this?” He hooked his finger into the side of her panties. “Are you going to take it off,” he bit into the lobe of her ear, hard enough to make her gasp, “or am I?”

She made her decision in a moment, her spine straightening with a single-minded determination. “Well, since you left it up to me.” She took a step away from him and he swore. It only made her smile. She moved closer to the mirror, managing what she hoped was a sexy, hip-swaying walk, stopping only when she had one hand braced on the table under the mirror.

Turning her head toward her shoulder she slipped her thumb in between her hip and waistband of her panties. She knew he had his eyes on her, but she wanted to see him, and lifted her eyes to draw his attention.

When she saw the darkness of his gaze on her, she did the same with the other side and started to roll it down. Over her hips and her thighs, when she got to her knees she heard his jaguar growl. She felt it all over her body and deep inside of her as well.

She left them on the ground under her bare feet and stood up. Before she managed to take a breath, he was behind her, against her, his mouth on her skin.

Startled, she stumbled and braced her hands on the top of the table and found his hands beside hers. She looked up into the mirror and knew things would never be the same.

His leg pressed between hers, widening her stance. His chest pushed her forward until she felt his heat against her, rocking against her folds.

“Oh,” she gasped, “yes.”

* * *

He’d tried to remember that Maggie wasn’t like him. That he needed to give her the romance that a woman like her deserved.

But when she was pressed back against his cock, her breath panting from those amazing lips, his hands locked around her luscious curves, all he felt was need.

The need to claim her as his own.

His jaguar wisely stayed silent, hunkered down in the shadows, waiting for the inevitable.

And so was she.

He felt her hand reach back, felt her fingertips move over his stomach, searching for him. Cage grabbed her wrist and held it captive, pulling it back to the table. “Don’t.”

She stiffened against him, her eyes searching his in the mirror. “Why?”

Cage heard the hurt in her voice and swore under his breath. “If you touch me,” he ground the words between his teeth, “if I feel your hand on me, I’ll lose my mind.”

He saw the understanding in her eyes. “Then I want you inside me now, Cage. Please. Lose yourself in me.”

There was nothing more he wanted at that very second. With his hands on her hips, he canted her forward, and his eyes fell on the sweet curve of her spine. He tilted his hips back and watched his erection slide against her silken skin.

When he removed his hand from her hip she groaned, missing his touch, but when he pressed the tip of his cock between her folds, her groan turned into a sigh.

His hand back in place, his gazed joined hers in the mirror. He saw the rosy flush on her cheeks, the way her eyes shined in anticipation, and as he leaned into her, Maggie’s mouth opened on a silent gasp.

He didn’t stop until he had every hard inch inside of her.

He felt caressed by her body. He felt sheltered inside of her. And if that wasn’t enough to have him question his sanity, he knew that he felt like he was home.

That was all it took.

Home. Maggie was home, his every breath, the very heart in his chest.

Pulling free of her body was a necessary evil, one that he saw in her face as well, but the first thrust back into her body was enough to make him see stars.

Maggie’s head dropped forward as he found the rhythm of their desire. Over and over, he felt her body tighten around him by degrees. Her hands pressed against the flat surface of the table, while her knuckles turned white from her efforts to keep them in place.

He bent his knees and plunged into her folds with a grunt, getting in as deep as he could.

Her head tipped back, spilling her waves over her pale skin, and he saw her mouth in the mirror, lips parted, flushed red with need. He remembered the feel of those lips on him, surrounding him.

“I love you.”

He saw her lift her head and the lazy smile that blossomed on her lips as he thrust into her over and over.

She wiggled a little against him making him hiss.

“I love you right back,” she panted as he sped up, his thrusts pushing the table against the wall. “And I’m sure anyone in the hallway probably knows it too.”

He leaned closer and placed a kiss against her spine. “Then let’s give them the whole story, huh?”

“What are you-”

There wasn’t a need for words after that. Maggie pushed back against his every stroke, her fingers digging into the top of the table as if she needed it to hold her to the ground.

More and more, he drove into her body, felt her squeeze him back as if her life depended on it. He knew his did.

Never before had he felt this kind of connection to anyone in the world, hadn’t thought himself even capable of such a warmth in his heart. Knowing that she was willing to lose everything to help him, to help Frances, he’d never felt so humbled before.

All that was left was to keep this woman safe and in his arms for the rest of their lives; longer if he could help it.

“Oh yes,” Maggie leaned forward, down to her forearms on the table before her, deepening the angle of his strokes.

He felt his eyes grow dark, knew the animal lay just beneath his skin, felt the fire ignite in his veins as his body tightened, his muscles tensing as if they were about to take a leap through the air.

“So close,” he heard her breathy moan and knew what she needed to push her over.

He slid his hand from her hip around toward her belly, slipping his fingers through her silken curls until the tip of his finger found her clit. Her gasp split the air around them as he pressed two fingers against her sensitive nub.

And there it was.

Her body clamped down around him, bathed him in her need, and he returned the favor, filling her with his warmth.

Cage opened his mouth to tell her to look at him, to beg her if he had to, but she met his eyes in the mirror, her eyes glittering with the electricity that he’d felt pass between them and while she looked at him with those amazing eyes, he leaned over her shoulder.

He knew the instant she saw his fangs, saw the way her eyes widened just a bit, but she didn’t try to move away or ask him to stop. Cage felt her body tighten even more as her muscles caressed him in long strokes that reminded him so well of her hands, tearing away any resistance he might have had left.

Closing his mouth over her shoulder, he bit, and felt her blood burst into his mouth. It was heaven. It was hell. Everything in between. He’d never be just himself ever again and he was glad of it, so damn glad.

He wrapped his arms around her as he pulled his mouth away, sweeping his tongue over her flesh to help heal the bite and finish the mark that joined her to him in every possible way.

Lifting her hand, she touched the bite on her shoulder, tracing the healing ridges with a gentle sweep of her fingertip.

“Maggie? You okay?”

“Never better.” She winced slightly as he withdrew from her body, but her smile never left her lips. “I miss you already.”

He stepped to her side and lifted her up into his arms. “I know how to fix that.”

She leaned her head against his shoulder and looked up into his eyes. “What does that mean?”

He pressed a kiss to her lips and smiled. “I’m taking you to bed, Maggie, unless you don’t want me to.”

“I never said that.” She shook her head and the brush of her hair against his bare chest made him ache. “If you want me, Cage, the last thing I’m going to do is fight.”

His deep growl shivered through both of them. “That’s my job.”