The Wolf's Mate Book 1: Jason & Cadence Read online

  He pulled her backwards, arching her towards him and she instinctively tilted her head and he sank his teeth into her. The first spasm of her pussy around his cock as she came with his teeth and his cock in her was more satisfying than anything else he’d ever done in his life. He moved down her neck, drawing blood and leaving bruises as he thrust into her. She came again and again as he bit her and took her, bringing her as much pleasure as he could before he could not hold back anymore. He shoved her forward so she collapsed on the countertop and stroked deep into her heat, once, twice, three times, and then he came on a roar, and his fingers bit into the flesh of her hip as she writhed under him while he came.

  He dropped onto her back, sliding his hands to either side of her and pressing his forehead to her back. His lungs felt like they might explode while he drew in deep breaths and tried to will his body to work right again. A tremble shivered through Cadence and her knees went out, and he managed to catch her and spin them to the rug in front of the sink, his back against the cabinet.

  Their legs were tangled together with their jeans but it didn’t matter. All that mattered in the world was panting in his arms, drenched with sweat and carrying his scent on her skin and inside her. She let out a hissing breath and her hand flew to her neck. He could guess that sweat had dripped onto the marks.

  He tilted her head so he could look at what he’d done and realized he’d been a little rougher with her than if he’d been in complete control of his beast. A dozen bleeding marks wove a path down her neck to her shoulder. They were healing, of course, but that didn’t mean they didn’t hurt. Before he could come up with a way to apologize without boxing himself out of ever doing it in the future, she sighed and leaned her head back so it rested on his shoulder.

  “It’s a good thing it feels so good when you’re doing it. Makes up for the aches later.”

  Definitely.

  “Take me to bed, Jas.”

  “Of course, sweetheart.”

  They untangled their legs and freed themselves of their clothes, and later, she showed him just how much she had enjoyed being bitten by biting him in return. He loved that she marked him and claimed him, that she didn’t want anyone to look at him without seeing her marks on his skin or smelling her on him in some way. And he most definitely was thankful that she let that softer side of herself show to him when they made love, arms around each other as the climaxes wove their magic through their bodies and bonded them closer and closer.

  Although other matters pressed, he had two things on his mind on Monday morning when he left Cadence at the shop under Michael’s watchful if not annoying eyes and strict understanding that he was not to touch a hair on her head or he’d rue the day he was born. Truly. He didn’t like leaving her alone and he was still feeling wicked possessive about her, but he couldn’t exactly take her shopping for an engagement ring or plan a romantic dinner for her if she tagged along.

  After stopping at the trailer and packing up the grill from the back patio and hauling it in his truck to her house, he set it up and went shopping.

  The diamonds in the case winked at him. He should have asked Callie what sort of ring Cadence wanted. It never occurred to him that there would be so many of them. Would she want a single stone or one with multiple stones, white gold or yellow gold, or something besides a diamond? Shit. Out of his depths wasn’t even close to the right term.

  The older gentlemen who had come over to help him gave him an encouraging smile. “If I’ve learned anything over the years, son, it’s that most women prefer the gesture of the ring to what it actually looks like. You love her, and you’re putting a ring on her finger to tell the world that. And if she happens to want something different, you can always let her change the ring by letting her choose a band that she wants. For example,” he pulled a single stone ring from the case and dropped it down inside another ring that was full of diamonds. “This is called a basket. You use the main ring, the single stone, as the engagement ring, and then the basket becomes the wedding band. The day before the wedding, you just bring both in and we’ll solder them together in the back so they’ll be one ring that you can give to her during the ceremony.”

  He looked at all those diamonds and ran his finger across his jaw. He was glad she was right handed. If she took a swing at him with that ring on her finger, he’d be bleeding for days.

  “How much for the single one?”

  The man didn’t blink, “$4,500. It’s a three quarter carat, excellent quality.”

  He said a few numbers and letters together that didn’t mean much to him but apparently spoke to the diamond’s qualifications. He made mention that he had others in the case that were of lesser quality and size if the cost was an issue as he put the ring in his hand. It looked so small. But perfect. Just like his mate. He stared into the depths of the ring and pictured it on her finger. “Give me a minute,” he put the ring on the counter and stepped back and pulled his cell from his pocket.

  “Hey, man, what’s up?” Fritz barked happily into the phone. Jason didn’t normally call the young wolf.

  “You remember saying you knew a guy who’d be interested in my car?”

  “Yeah, dude. He just asked me like a week ago if you’d changed your mind yet. Why, you interested?”

  “Well, if he’ll come in for what you said he would, then yes. He can pick it up this afternoon.”

  “He said 5k was all he could afford. Is that what you meant?”

  “Yeah, and I’ll throw in your services as tow truck driver but I need the cash immediately.”

  “I’ll call him right now, J.”

  “And keep it under your hat.”

  “Got it.”

  He pressed the end button and looked at the man at the counter, “I’ll be back, sir. Thanks.”

  “Wait, young man.” Jason turned back. “If you give me $20 now, I will hold this ring for you, and I’ll even give it to you for…$4,000.”

  He felt like his smile was big enough to crack his face in half as he reached for his wallet immediately. “That would be great, sir.”

  “Well,” he smiled and his face warmed with the motion, “any man that is willing to sell a car to buy his girl an engagement ring is a good man in my book. And I’m a sucker for love. It’s why I got into the jewelry business. Plus the discounts for my wife,” he made a gesture with his head to an older woman bent over another counter. Her fingers were covered with rings and a half dozen necklaces dangled against the glass. Jason snorted as he filled out the claim card; it could be lots worse.

  He stopped to have lunch with his sweetheart, and after they ate he enjoyed holding her captive in his lap while he sucked on her neck until she writhed and begged him to either finish what he started or stop completely. He stopped the torture. “No way am I playing with you while everyone with super hearing is in the building.”

  She grunted, “So you just horned me up? Thanks.”

  Good point. “I’ve got another errand to run, now that we’re done eating. And when I get back, when the shop is empty, I’ll make you happy you waited. Deal?”

  “What’s so important you gotta leave your girl hanging?” She pouted, exaggerating the notion with a pulled lower lip.

  “Pack business, my sweetheart.” He lifted her off his lap and groused at himself for his own erection and kissed her goodbye before she could point out that she was part of the pack now. Fortunately, she was still getting used to being included in things she’d spent her whole life being excluded from. It worked well in this case.

  Two phone calls and a trip to the trailer later, he was accepting five grand in cash from Fritz’s friend, a car nut like himself who was more than excited to get his hands on the car Jason had at one time planned to restore.

  Greg looked at the car with barely veiled affection. “Why’re you giving her up? She’s spectacular.”

  Jason slipped the envelope of cash into the inside of his leather jacket and watched Fritz hook it up to the truck. “I don’t
have time to play around with this sort of thing anymore. I thought it was something I wanted, but I realize now that it’s not.”

  Truth. When he’d found the GTO in the classifieds, he’d intended to make it cherry again and use it instead of his pickup. Now, he had no desire to sink money into something that he’d eventually have to give up anyway in favor of a more family friendly car. He’d bought it when Cadence left for college. He had planned to bury his head under the hood for four years, but that hadn’t worked out like he planned. Nothing had.

  He shook Greg’s hand and watched Fritz drive off with the old car on the flatbed and Greg following behind. He could have gotten more for it if he’d put it out on an auction site, but he was tying up the loose ends of his life to start it over fresh with his mate and a lot of that meant getting rid of the things that he’d tried to use to ignore her.

  Barely back before closing with the ring stashed at her house, he waited until everyone was gone and locked the front door. Stalking back to the office, he ate her sweet pussy while she sat on the desk, her legs dangling over his shoulders and everything but the computer swept onto the floor in their mad rush. When she slid down onto his cock, straddling him in the chair, he thanked his lucky stars for the full circle his life had swept into thanks in part to his foolish marking of her when they were kids. He could make her his, not only with the pack but also legally, and then they could start their own family and he could be everything that she needed him to be.

  Chapter 15

  Jason was making Cadence positively twitchy. Granted, she loved the hell out having sex in the office. She’d never look at that chair the same that was for damn sure. But then he had just grinned at her when he said they were having dinner at home, and he drove them in his pickup to her house. No, their house. Yes, that sounded better in her head. Their house. Their life. Their pack.

  To her surprise, he had completely planned dinner. When he carried a tray of steaks out to the back deck, she had no idea what he was doing until she smelled a grill being lit. “That’s not mine.” she said, leaning out the kitchen door.

  “I know. I brought it from my old place. Didn’t I tell you to sit down and relax?”

  She gave him a smirk and went back to sit down. It warred with her to let someone else cook in her kitchen, but she wouldn’t complain. He seemed to have something up his sleeve. His blue eyes promised a good night ahead of them.

  Already slightly familiar with the layout of the kitchen, he set the table for them and pulled dishes from the fridge that hadn’t been there this morning when she made them breakfast. He ignored her watchful gaze, which made her a little nuts, and went about putting out a nice spread.

  When the steaks were done, he put them on a platter on the table, poured a glass of wine for her and opened a beer for himself, and lit two candles. Tipping his bottle to her, he said, “Here’s to the best chapter of my life yet.”

  She clinked his bottle and warmed at the words. He was damn romantic when he wanted to be.

  He could grill a steak, that’s one glaring truth. And another was that he had an excellent poker face. No matter how many times she phrased a question to him about what he was hiding from her, he deflected like an artist and shifted topics easily until she was telling him about the last few years of high school after he had graduated and then college.

  After telling him about how she’d had to go stag to both the junior and senior proms, he looked guilty suddenly and she said, “Did you have something to do with that?”

  His lush mouth pursed for a moment and she already knew the answer. He said, “Sweet, did you think I’d let anyone have their hands on you for prom of all things? A night synonymous with teen sex and alcohol fueled binges?”

  “You went to both your junior and senior proms – with dates,” She said indignantly.

  “That was different.”

  “How do you figure?”

  He opened and closed his mouth and then said, “Well, I knew I could trust me not to have sex on prom night. I didn’t know if I could trust the men who had asked you to keep their hands off, and you picked humans of all things, which meant I couldn’t even claim rank on them and make them keep their cocks in their pants.”

  “So you threatened them?” She’d been asked to her junior prom by two different guys who were both human. One canceled a few weeks in advance citing family problems and the other just didn’t show up. It had been just shy of devastating to her self-esteem, especially once the female wolves found out she’d been stood up. And then for senior prom, even though she’d been out on a few dates, no one even looked at her twice once it was prom season.

  “That was a while ago.” He was hedging. She hated that.

  She snorted, “Doesn’t matter. I felt like hell that night. And then no one asked me to senior prom and Callie canceled her date so I’d go. You could have let Michael take me, or Linus.” She pointed out. “They would have kept me company and kept their hands off me.”

  His eyes flashed at the insinuation, “Never. I would never in a million years have sent another wolf in my place. I felt bad that you were miserable, but I knew if I took you that I would want to have sex with you. Hell Cades, you thought you were confused before – if you and I had slept together when you were in high school, you wouldn’t have known left from right when it came to me and the pack.”

  She had to admit he was right. Even the little mixed signals he sent her the past few years were enough to drive her to the edge of sanity. If she’d actually slept with him, tasted his mouth, felt his skin under her hands, well, she’d have been done for. Standing in the clock tower at noon with a shotgun done for.

  “Come on, sweetheart,” he said when they finished eating. He stood and held out his hand to her.

  She thought he would take her upstairs. She was more than ready to tumble in the sheets, but he went to the hall closet and took out their coats, helping her on with hers first before pulling on his own. He said, “Trust me, love,” and because she did, she took his hand and zipped her lips.

  It was dark, but the still bright new moon lit the area with a blue glow. He led her off the back deck and walked towards his parent's home. She wanted to protest and say she wasn’t much in the mood for visiting right now. The weekend had been hard enough, with all the well-wishers and dealing with Jake and Renee. She wanted just Jason right now. But he asked for her trust, and if she started pestering him then that was saying she didn’t trust him, so she dug her tongue into her tooth until she was distracted enough with the numbness that followed to forget why she was trying to keep her mouth shut in the first place.

  They walked in silence and he shortened his long legged pace to match her short legs. It seemed like an instinctual thing on his part, and she wondered if he was even aware that he was doing it. His parent's home was completely dark, which furthered her confusion.

  He walked her around the side of the house and stopped just underneath the window. She looked at him and then up at the window. It was where his father had watched him mark her before he flew out of the house and made him go inside while he acted too much like an alpha for her to ignore. She looked back at Jason and he was down on one knee in front of her, and her heart stopped for long enough that she wasn’t sure it would ever start again.

  “Cadence, I had to bring you back here to the beginning. We’re already mates in truth. In the pack's eyes, you’re my wife. But that’s not good enough for me. It’s not enough for us to be halfway married; I want you in every way possible. Not only with the pack, but for the part of us that lives in the human world. So where we started as pack mates is where I want to move forward to the next chapter of our life together, where I share my last name with you and make you my legal wife. I love you with every fiber of my heart and soul. The only body I want curled up against mine at night is yours. The only mouth I want on mine is yours. The only heart I cherish, love, it’s yours. Please marry me, Cadence.”

  She wanted to say something profoun
d and heartfelt but every word she’d ever learned in school went sliding out of her brain. All she could say was an emotional, “Yes, Jas,” before the tears struck and her mouth went salty and she dropped down to the grass while he pushed the ring onto her finger and kissed her.

  “I love you, sweetheart,” he said into her ear, hugging her against him with a contented sigh.

  “I love you, too, Jason.”

  They sat in the darkness on the cool grass for a long time, nothing but the sounds of nature around them. When they walked back to the house, he told her that he’d planned it so his parents were gone for the evening so they weren’t accidentally interrupted.

  He held the screen door open for her. “You did good, Jas. I wanted romantic and you really delivered.”

  “You’re worth it, Cades.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed his way down her jaw to her ear. “Sweetheart, I never figured myself for a romantic guy, but I’ll do my best to make you happy.”

  “Don’t worry, my heart,” she patted his cheek, “if you fuck up, I’ll let you know.”

  He snorted and swung her up over his shoulder, caveman style. With a firm slap to her ass he started for the stairs, “I wouldn’t have it any other way, baby, and that’s the damn truth.”

  What woke her up in the morning was the sound of abnormal sounds downstairs. She had lived alone long enough to expect things quiet until she was ready to wake up. Jason wasn’t in bed and so she rolled over, figuring the sounds for him. And then she heard voices other than his, which was unexpected.

  She debated getting up and seeing who was in the kitchen and asking why Jason had thought it was a good idea to have people in the house before 8 a.m. after they’d been up very, very late the night before. When she heard his footsteps coming up the stairs, she tried to pretend to be asleep.

  She felt him stop in front of her next to the bed and she thought she was doing a damn good job feigning sleep when he sighed, “Cades, I know you’re up. Stop fooling around. My family’s downstairs and my mom’s making breakfast for us.”