A Mate's Sacrifice: (Hot Paranormal Romance) (Ozark Mountain Shifters Book 2) (14 page)

Braeh carried her bags into her house and dropped them by the door before going back out to lock the car.

Things sucked a whole lot. Like, she’d packed her bags and moved to Sucktown. But all she could do was try to make the best out of a bad situation. She’d throw herself into opening the restaurant to help keep her mind off things. Eventually—hopefully—she would feel better about what happened in Missouri.

Yeah, and hopefully this optimism would hold over for tomorrow.

Her heart ached at the idea of spending another night alone in bed. She hadn’t even realized how much it meant to her until it was gone. Wasn’t that how things worked?

Braeh crunched through the snow, back to her door, ready to lock herself away from the world for a while.

A whistle stopped her dead in her tracks. Two short notes.

“Vesh.”

She spun, almost slipping on the ice, but he stalked forward and steadied her. He looked so different. Had it only been a few days since she last saw him? Her eyes ate him up. She couldn’t believe he was here, that he wasn’t an apparition. Or, more likely, a jet lag induced vision.

“How did you get here?”

“I drove some of the way. To an airport where I could get a same-day flight out. I’ve been here two days.”

Wait. So… he’d left the camp and immediately come to Alaska. For her?

“I knew you needed time,” he explained. “And I did too. I needed to think about how I was going to fix things. When you didn’t show up, I went to talk to your dad. He wouldn’t tell me anything until I told him I was from the restaurant. Your dad’s a bastard.”

“He’s a bit over-protective is all,” she murmured. Her mind was still reeling with shock.

Vesh reached for her hand and she let him take it. He pulled her close, placing their linked hands to his chest.

“I need you, Braeh. I know this, have always known this. But you didn’t. Now I’m telling you. I need you. Don’t you fucking dare reject me.” His words were a command but his tone was a desperate plea.

“Vesh—” He stopped her with a finger to her lips. The feel of his skin against hers was almost her undoing.

“I would take you, make you mine, and mark you right here and now, but I’m trying—
trying
—to do things right. I want to make you understand why I’m like this. I need you to
see
me. The real me. But I don’t know how.” His voice broke like the crack of a baseball against a window pane. “I’ve buried that shit so deep, and for so long. Dredging it up… I just don’t even know where to begin.”

Her sad wolf. She wanted to comfort him, but this was something he had to do on his own. He had to make the decision to be with her all the way… or not at all. Halfway was no way to do a love affair.

“I already see the real you. You’re broken. I get that.”

His face fell.

“And you don’t like it. Don’t like feeling broken. Don’t like me thinking, knowing, you’re broken. But too bad. I know. And I don’t care. I still love you. I still think you’re strong and brave and fierce. And I think you can do and have and be anything you want.”

The emotions flickering on his face were too many to be named.

“But what
do
you want?”

“Damn it, don’t you know?” He clenched his fist in her hair. “You. I want you. Everything else can go to hell. Just be mine. Give me forever. Give me everything.”

“But can you do the same? Can you give me everything?

His mouth fished open and closed before he finally answered, “I would try.”

Braeh’s heart crashed, landing in a heap at the bottom of a mountain called Hope. She shook her head. “I’m sorry, Vesh. That’s not good enough.”

His face was stricken. “I would try harder than I’ve ever tried at anything. How can you say that’s not good enough?”

His arms tightened around her, and she futilely beat against his chest with her closed fist. She didn’t want out of his arms, she just wanted to get through to him.

“You have to break through, Vesh. You can’t keep on like this. I know your wolf is paying the price. You fight it because of what has happened to you. You don’t want this, us, but you
do
. And until both parts of you want me, we can’t do this.”

“No, Brae. You’re wrong. I want you. I want us. Why else would I come for you? God, baby. Please. Listen to me. Me and the wolf, we are the same. He’s always needed you, but I… I’ve
wanted
you. Since the very first day, when my shitty memories and circumstances wouldn’t let me. Still, I wanted you. There will never be a time when I won’t want you.”

“Then why can’t you promise me everything, Vesh? What is it about us that you can’t commit?”

He was silent for so long, staring into her eyes with that gaze she’d come to know as being unique to him. Almost blank, but enough going on behind the eyes to know his emotions were sky high.

“I don’t want you to know what happened to me as a wolfling. I don’t want to share those things with you. It’s part of me, but it doesn’t have to be part of you. You’re… too good to hear the horror stories that formed me. Too pure. Too happy. I can’t promise you everything because of that.”

Braeh sighed heavily. He was going to be so angry, but she had to tell him. She rested her forehead against his so she wouldn’t have to meet his eyes.

“I already know,” she whispered. “I know what was done to you.”

He went utterly still. No movement, not even to breathe. She counted off the seconds before he finally said something.

“What do you mean?”

She pulled back to look into his eyes, and immediately wished she hadn’t. They were a rainbow of emotions, with red burning brightest. His anger was barely in check.

“Cael told me. When we were back at camp. He told me what your mother did to you and Besh.”

Vesh’s body turned to stone, his grip no longer gentle. His jaw set and harsh. “He had
no
right
.”

“You’re angry, I know. But don’t you see what this means? I already know about your past. That means there’s nothing standing between us except you.”

He stared at her, but his mind was already elsewhere. Probably mentally bashing Cael’s head in.

Releasing her, he stepped back. “I have to go.”

“Where?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. Away.”

“Vesh, no.”

“I… This was a mistake. I’m sorry. I’ve got to go.”

He turned, and she felt another dip in their love rollercoaster. This one might be the last one. He’d come here to find her, and now he was leaving. Giving up. The end, sayonara, goodbye.

Like hell
. Not again.

Without thinking it through, she took a running leap and jumped on his back, wrapping her legs around his waist.

It didn’t bring him to the ground like she’d hoped, but he did grunt and stumble a little at the surprise.

“What are you doing?” he ground out.

“Stopping you.”

He sighed, and it felt like air deflating from a balloon. “Get off me, Brae.”

“No.”

“Get down, right now.”

“No, damn it.” She laid her cheek against the back of his neck. This had to work. If he walked out again, they wouldn’t survive it. “You said I was yours. Well guess what. You’re
mine
, and you don’t get to walk away every time you feel a little uncomfortable. You don’t get to make that choice. You either give me my mate or give me freedom.”

He stood still for so long, she began to feel like a hopeless spider monkey.

“Is that from Braveheart?” he asked, his voice incredulous. “Are you really quoting Braveheart right now?”

“It’s not Braveheart. It’s just me fighting for us, you asshole.”

He let out a long sigh. “Baby, get down.”

“Are you going to walk away?”

He was silent, and she tightened her legs around his waist.

“No,” he said quietly. “But… I am going to mark you.” There was a hesitation. “If you’ll have me.”

Braeh slid down his back. “Mark me? Like Kerrigan?” Kerri had explained the bite-mark on her neck that meant she belonged to Trager forever. Braeh’s belly flopped at the idea that Vesh would want that with her. She’d heard what he’d said, but marking… that was the real deal.

The commitment.

He turned to face her. His eyes were thunderous, but this time, she saw it for what it really was. He wasn’t mad or annoyed or frustrated with her. He was… emotional. He was feeling too much and it manifested as a raging storm on his face.

He took her face in both hands. “I’m going to make you mine,” he purred. Then he lifted her into his arms and carried her into the house.

“Where’s your bed?”

“That way.” She pointed down the hall.

Vesh kicked open the door and laid her out on the queen size bed. Bending, he kissed her mouth, softly demanding a reply. When her bones were limp from his efforts, he sat back, pulling his shirt over his head.

He was so beautiful. Like the finest piece of art. A sculpture by a master’s hand. Each piece of him was etched and carved to perfection. Even the flaws.

“Your eyes on me… look what it does.”

He gestured to the significant bulge in his pants. Braeh went for the zipper and he let her pull it down, releasing his throbbing erection. His pants landed on the floor.

“Touch it.”

Her eyes went to his. “Are you sure?”

He nodded.

She wrapped her hands around his hardness. The heat from it felt scalding.

He hissed in pleasure, gritting his teeth. “More.”

Braeh tightened her grip, moving along his length.

Vesh lifted her shirt over her head and had her bra off in the next second. She let go while he shimmied her jeans down her legs. Her panties came off last, and when they were both completely naked, he sat back, his eyes sweeping up and down the length of her body.

“My mate is gorgeous,” he whispered, lowering himself on top of her. “But not only your body. Your heart. It’s the most beautiful heart, Braeh.” His brow furrowed. “I don’t deserve your love, but I’m going to spend the rest of my life trying to deserve it. I can promise you that.”

She cradled his cheek. Kissed his lips softly. “Love doesn’t happen because people deserve it. It happens because people need it. Every one of us needs it, Vesh. Now, make me yours.”

“I need to tell you something.”

She took a steadying breath. “Go ahead.”

“I… I have flashbacks sometimes. When we’re in the middle of… I don’t know why it happens with you and nobody else. But I’ve thought about it a lot, and I think it has something to do with our bond. I think… I think it’s my wolf trying to heal. Mentally. You know?”

She nodded, encouraging him to continue.

“I think those memories surface when I’m intimate with you, because the wolf thinks you can help me. I don’t know. It’s just a theory.”

“Okay. What can I do?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know.”

She kissed him, running her hands in his hair, and within seconds the conversation was forgotten.

Vesh spread her legs and settle between them, his hard rod pressing against her entrance. He reached between them and slid his erection up and down between her folds, eliciting a moan from her.

“You’re so wet, mate. You’re ready for me.”

“Yes.
Please
.”

But then his hand moved to her clit, rubbing and pressing. “Not yet,” he said. “I need you right on the edge.

Kissing her neck and working her mound, he brought her there quickly. Braeh broke out in a cold sweat just anticipating his hardness deep inside her.

Suddenly he stopped his efforts. “Now, you’re ready.” His husky tone sent a shiver through her entire body.

Slowly, leisurely, he pushed into her. The fit was tight. It had been too long since she’d done this.

“You okay?” His restraint was causing him to sweat.

She nodded.

“You’re so tight, Brae. Tell me if you need to stop.”

No
. “No stopping,” she commanded.

Finally, he pushed all the way in and held very still. He felt glorious. Hard and big and hot. She felt full. The connection was enough to make her cry tears of joy.

“You feel
fucking
amazing
,” he ground out. “I need to move.”

“Yes,” she moaned. “
Move
.”

He pulled back ever so slowly, and then rushed forward. She didn’t remember sex every feeling this good. Maybe because they weren’t just having sex. They were making love, and it was so, so sweet. Pure sugar.

Vesh closed his eyes as he settled into a thrusting rhythm. Braeh got lost in his attention.

But then he stopped. “No,” he whispered, miserably.