Prancer's Fated Mate (Arctic Shifters Book 3) Read online

  “I didn’t want to take you from your family.”

  “You’re sweet, but…I thought you wanted to be with me.”

  “I do.”

  “Then why wouldn’t you be trying to claim all my time before you have to go? You were acting like a caveman earlier and making all these mine statements. Where’s that guy right now?”

  He took a step toward her, letting his beasts go enough that he knew his eyes had changed from blue to gold. “My beasts can be vocal. You’re not used to it, and I don’t want to scare you away.”

  She stepped close, her breasts pressing against his chest as she peered up at him.

  “I’m not scared. Well, I am a little, because you have to leave and a part of me worries that you won’t come back and I’m going to be this devastated shell of a woman for the rest of my life.”

  He curled his fingers around her upper arms and stared down at her. “Then come with me now.”

  She chewed on her bottom lip. “If I come with you, what happens to my life here? My apartment, my car, my accounts? Don’t you have to leave soon?”

  “Less than three hours.”

  “That’s not enough time for me to pack up my life. I want to come with you, but I have a few of my mom’s and aunt’s things that I couldn’t bear to leave behind. Does that make me a bad person? Are you mad at me?”

  “Mad? Because you’re sentimental? Of course not. Does this mean that you’ll come with me?”

  “I’m your fated mate, right?” she asked.

  “Damn straight.”

  She glanced at the bed, and his brain spun with a lot of dirty thoughts. “When will you be back?”

  He had to mentally shove his lustful thoughts to the side to concentrate, which was a difficult feat because she smelled so good.

  “I can be back here at four a.m. As soon as we return from the run, I’ll transport back with a couple of the guys so we can bring your things with us, and bring you too.”

  “Why do they have to come back?”

  “I can’t transport you by myself. Our individual magic isn’t strong enough. It takes three of us to transport one human. You can only bring two bags. Is that enough? I could send some elves to help you pack up.”

  She grinned. “Two is fine, and I don’t need help. I promise to be back here before four a.m. so you can take me to NPC. But I have a request first. Or, rather, a demand.”

  “Demand away, candy cane. Whatever you want is yours.”

  She glanced at the door and then at the bed. “I don’t want our first time to be within earshot of my family, but can we touch? I want to know what you sound like when you fall apart.”

  “I might roar,” he said, his blood heating as he took a slow step toward the bed, pushing her with him.

  “Maybe your mouth will be too busy,” she said slyly.

  She reached under the hem of her skirt and started to tug, and he knew she was pulling down her nylons. Dropping to his knees with a growl, he pushed her hands away.

  “Mine.”

  “Just my pussy?” she murmured.

  “All of you. Fucking all of you.”

  She sank her hands into his hair and tilted his head, bending over and pressing her lips to his. He immediately opened his mouth to her questing tongue, sliding his alongside hers, sucking and tasting and twirling. He felt drunk on her taste, surrounded entirely by her addictive scent. He loved kissing her so much that he almost forgot where his hands were.

  Curling his fingers into the top of her nylons, he slid them down her legs as she stepped from her heels and then from the silky material. He tossed them aside, never breaking the kiss. He slid his hands up the outside of her thighs, torn between wanting to touch her quickly and wanting to savor it.

  His hands slid around her perfect butt, squeezing it through the barrier of fabric. He envisioned her panties to be black, or maybe red, and curiosity made him hum, which sounded like a purr.

  She nipped his lower lip. “Yes?” She drawled out the word as she kissed his chin and his jaw, nibbling on his flesh.

  “I’m wondering what color your panties are.”

  She paused near his ear and then laughed. “I’m surprised I’m still wearing them. What are you waiting for?”

  She nipped his ear, and he took her invitation literally. In a heartbeat, she was on her back on the bed and he was beside her, nuzzling her throat as he cupped her sex through her panties and pressed his heel into the apex of her thighs.

  She laughed in surprise but then moaned, biting her bottom lip as she swiveled her hips and sought more of his touch. It was tempting to tear her panties, but instead he slipped his hand to the waistband and underneath. She pressed her face into his throat and groaned as he slid his fingers over her pussy. She was wet and hot, her honey coating the smooth lips of her sex.

  He teased her, rubbing his fingers up and down her pussy, barely spreading her and grazing her clit. She pushed her hand down the front of his body, tugging on his belt to loosen it before jerking on the waistband of his pants. He loved how eager she was to touch him, and when her hand slid inside his pants and wrapped around his dick, he almost came on the spot. She cradled him perfectly, and he arched his back and pressed more of himself into her hand.

  It felt so good; he pushed two fingers into her pussy at the same time, imaging it was his dick filling her instead. She worked his dick, sliding her hand up and down him in time to his movements. He pressed his thumb to her clit, the little bud swollen under his touch. She kissed him, groaning into his mouth, and he increased the tempo of his fingers to match his thumb and her perfect hand squeezing him in the most amazing way.

  Her pussy clenched his fingers. He curled them up and rubbed against her walls until he found the place that made her whole body buck. His climax blazed at the base of his spine, and he held on by a thread, wanting her to come first so he could follow her into bliss and fall apart with her name on his lips.

  Quickening his touch on her clit, he rode her pussy with his fingers until her free arm flailed on the bed, striking the surface hard as her body locked down on his fingers and she moved from his lips to sink her teeth into his neck, muffling the sound of her pleasure with his flesh. He couldn’t stop from thrusting himself into her hand and coming. His fangs throbbed in his gums as he leaned over her and pressed his lips to her neck in the same way as she’d done to him. He bit her, but didn’t break the skin, not wanting to mark her until they made love for the first time. He groaned hard as his dick spasmed and throbbed. She cradled his shaft and pressed her free hand to his, pushing his fingers a little deeper into her.

  He chanted her name, kissing the bruise he’d left on her throat and loving how her pussy gripped him as her climax ebbed.

  She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his throat. “That was so good,” she said with a rough whisper.

  “It was perfect.”

  Lifting from her throat, he pulled his wet fingers from her pussy and sucked them into his mouth. She tasted even better than she smelled, a deep sweet and spicy taste, all heat and woman.

  “That’s so sexy,” she said.

  He brushed her flushed cheek and kissed her. “How did I sound when I fell apart?”

  “Like you were in heaven.” Her eyes were bright, and her lips were swollen from their kisses. “I’m sorry I bit you.”

  “Don’t be. I loved the hell out of it. I wanted to really bite you.”

  Her brow arched. “You did.”

  “Not with my fangs. That’s a permanent kind of mate marking, and I want to be inside you when I do it.”

  She exhaled a sigh and rubbed her cheek against his bicep. “Don’t let this go to your head, but you can do whatever you want to me. I feel that connected to you.”

  It was hard not to grin like an idiot when his beasts were dancing around in his head. “I’ll try.”

  She snuggled against him, unbuttoning his dress shirt and tracing his chest with her fingertips. “Does it hurt when
you shift?”

  “It did when I first started shifting, but eventually my body got used to it, and it doesn’t hurt anymore.”

  “Do you have a favorite animal of the four?”

  “I like them all for different reasons. The polar bear is my preferred shift. I like how big he is. But the fox is fast, which is cool, and without the reindeer I wouldn’t be a quad.”

  “What about the owl?”

  “It’s awesome to fly. And my eyesight and hearing as an owl are incredible. It’s good for hunting. Considering that NPC is in the dark for half the year, being able to hear prey is a great thing.”

  “So if I ever get lost in the snow, I should just yell for you?”

  “Don’t get lost.”

  “I’m just saying,” she said.

  He kissed her with a laugh. “Yes, I could find you, but I’m pretty sure that my beasts are so in tune with you right now that I could find you regardless of the shift I was in. Even in my human form.”

  “That’s cool. I promise to not get lost.”

  Snorting, he shook his head. “You’re going to keep me on my toes.”

  The time wound down so quickly, and before he knew it, she’d changed into jeans and a warm sweater, and he was unlocking the bedroom door and holding her hand as they walked into the family room. Rhys was still there, with Merri and her parents. Sullivan lifted his wrist, and Rhys nodded. “I was just telling Merri’s parents that it was time for us to take off.”

  They all stood for their goodbyes, but Sullivan tugged on Kerri’s hand and led her back to the laundry room. Roi and Jack were standing on the back porch talking quietly when they walked out of the cabin. Arian and Charli were bundling up the kids inside.

  “I want to watch you go even though I wish you didn’t have to.”

  He opened his mouth to say he could just stay with her and not go on the flight that night, but she seemed to know what he was thinking and put her finger on his lips.

  “Don’t you dare say what you were thinking. This is your job and your life, and it’s important. I’ll be here at four a.m. with my bags packed.”

  She’d explained that her apartment was a six-hour roundtrip from the cabin, and that gave her plenty of time to pack her bags.

  “It’s worth it,” Charli said, hugging Kerri tightly. “Leaving all this behind for NPC is freaking worth it. I’m so happy for you and Sullivan.”

  “Thanks,” Kerri said. “I’m pretty happy too.”

  “See you soon,” Charli said, blowing a kiss to Kerri and stepping out into the backyard with Arian, their children, Roi, and Jack.

  Sullivan heard a car start, the engine revving for a moment and then slowly disappearing, and knew that their time was gone.

  “I’ll be back at four a.m. on the dot, candy cane,” he said as he cupped her face and kissed her.

  “I’ll be waiting.”

  After another long, lingering kiss, he said goodbye to his fated mate and joined the group in the yard, standing between Rhys and Arian, their shoulders pressed together. He didn’t want to leave her behind, but it was for only twelve hours. Then he’d get her forever.

  “Be careful, candy cane,” he said.

  She blew him a kiss and then he was gone, rushing to NPC to get ready for the flight. Immediately, he wished he hadn’t left, but he knew the time would pass quickly, and then he’d be back at the cabin with his arms around her and everything right in his world.

  He’d found his fated mate, and that was all that really mattered.

  Chapter 6

  There was a brilliant flash, a rushing sound, and a blast of cold air, and then the yard was empty. Kerri had seen it with her own eyes, but she still couldn’t really believe that the group was there one moment and gone the next. Walking out to the spot, she saw the shoeprints, but that was the only evidence that anyone had been there at all. Looking up at the sky, she wondered how quick the journey was to the North Pole.

  She walked back into the cabin and grabbed her bags from the bedroom and set them in the backseat. Then she returned to the kitchen and grabbed two boxes of food that she, Charli, and Sullivan had packed up. It would rot and go to waste if left in the cabin, so she decided to take it to the homeless shelter she would pass by on the way home.

  Turning on the engine, she glanced at the dashboard clock and saw she’d wasted thirty minutes already. She knew she technically had plenty of time to get home, pack, and return to the cabin, but she didn’t want to be away too long.

  The familiar route between the cabin and her apartment was a pretty drive. She’d thought that Charli was a little nuts to buy a cabin in the middle of nowhere so she could focus on her romance writing career. Before that, they’d shared the apartment. It had felt empty in the apartment after Charli left, but Kerri had buried herself in culinary school, taking a heavy course load to finish the program early. After graduating in the fall, she’d sat down with the school’s career counselor and been given a handful of jobs to apply for, but none of the places had appealed to her. She wanted to work somewhere she could be creative. She didn’t want to be a cog in the wheel of a big restaurant, making someone else’s dishes.

  When she and Sullivan had been cuddled up on the bed, he’d told her about the commissary at NPC and how he believed that she’d fit right in, making her own creations. The idea had appealed to her on a number of levels, and she especially liked that he was thinking of her future in NPC. Unlike some of the romance heroes who Charli used to write about, Sullivan wasn’t just looking for a mate to cook and clean for him and pop out a few babies. He wanted her to be happy in NPC and to make a life with him. And that’s just what she wanted to do.

  When she stopped at the shelter, the director gladly took the boxes of food from her and thanked her for thinking of them. It filled her with joy as she hustled back to the car and continued her journey. By the time she reached her apartment, she was exhausted, but she knew she could rest as soon as she returned to the cabin.

  After unpacking her two bags, she set them on her bed and went to find her favorite mementos from her mom and aunt. She took a framed photo of her parents on their wedding day, her mom’s wedding ring, and her aunt’s string of pearls and cookbook. Kerri was sure that she’d inherited her cooking skills from her aunt, who loved to experiment in the kitchen. The cookbook was from the fifties, and her aunt had written on every page where she improved the recipe. It was worn out and smelled like a kitchen – meat and flour and sugar – and it was one of Kerri’s favorite possessions.

  Deciding to make the most of the space in one bag, she wrapped each item in a sweater, guessing it was super cold in NPC. She packed her favorite robe, jeans and slacks, two skirts, and her warmest tops. She tucked her favorite pair of tennis shoes against one side of the bigger of the two bags and straightened with a sigh.

  It had taken almost two hours to pack, but as she surveyed the contents, she was happy with all she’d chosen. Glancing at the clock as she finished her second cup of coffee, she decided she needed to take a shower and then pack her toiletries.

  It seemed strange to just disappear, but aside from her two culinary school friends, she didn’t have anyone but Charli to talk to. She’d worked so hard to get through school and to do well, so she rarely ever took time for her personal life.

  Picking up her cell, she called Rita first, and got her voice mail, so she left her a message to say goodbye and wish her well. Then she called Penny, explaining that she was moving north to live with her sister.

  “I was going to call you after you got back from visiting her,” Penny said. “The restaurant where I work is looking for a sous chef.”

  “That’s sweet, but I’ve got something lined up near where my sister lives.”

  “How cool it worked out for you!” Penny said.

  “Merry Christmas,” she said and ended the call. She felt better after being able to say goodbye.

  Leaving her cell on the counter, she headed for the bathroom, stopping at t
he hall closet to grab two fresh razors. Sullivan had liked that she shaved, and she wanted to make sure she didn’t have any stubble.

  The hot water felt heavenly, and it perked her up far more than the coffee had. Not having slept well the night before, she knew she needed to start the return drive as soon as possible so she could grab a nap at the cabin. It would have been easier if he’d come to her apartment to pick her up, but he said that although supernatural activity was hidden from the human eye, it was always possible that someone might see something, so the NPC residents stayed to remote areas.

  After putting on makeup and packing her toiletries, she dressed in her favorite dark blue cable knit sweater, layering it over her sexiest red bra. The matching red thong would be a surprise for her…mate.

  It was a strange word, but she liked it. It sounded more permanent than boyfriend.

  She donned her comfiest pair of jeans, her favorite pair of ankle boots, and pulled her hair into a high ponytail. After carrying her two bags out to the car, she returned to the apartment to make sure she hadn’t left anything special behind, and then she turned off all the lights and locked the door, leaving the key under the mat along with a check for two months’ rent, which was all she had left in her account. Sullivan had explained that they didn’t use money in NPC. Charli had kept her bank account open so her book royalties could be deposited, and someday if her kids wanted to explore the world, they would have the funds to do so.

  She hustled to her car and drove out of the apartment complex. The only stop she made was to get gas and another cup of coffee, and then she headed straight for the cabin. It was eleven p.m. The packing had taken longer than she expected, but she still had five hours until Sullivan would arrive at the cabin.

  She couldn’t wait.

  * * *

  It had been snowing since she left her apartment, so she’d had to drive slower than normal, but she’d had no trouble. Until she passed through the town where Charli’s cabin was, and the snow fell faster. Just a few miles from Charli’s cabin, Kerri slowed to less than five miles per hour because the road ahead of her was virtually gone. There was only snow, and a lot of it.