A Wolf's Claim (A BBW Paranormal Christmas Romance): The Holiday Ball (6 page)

Stars—or lights—exploded behind Hayden’s eyes as he emptied himself into Amber. His wolf had claimed its mate in a final act of submission that the animal—and man—craved on a primal level. He sought the mark he’d placed on her earlier and bit into her again, drinking her blood. It was done. She was his.

He collapsed on the bed, rolling to the side so as not to crush her beneath his weight. He kept their bodies joined. When she groaned, he asked. “Too much?”

She reached behind her and grabbed his buttocks before he could pull away. “No. Stay. It feels wonderful.”

He thought so too as aftershocks rocked his body. That and the continuing clenching of her ass muscles around his cock made it impossible for him to withdraw.

He pulled her close, spooning her against him, his arms wrapped around her. Unable to resist, he found her breasts and pinched lightly at the nipples. He nuzzled her hair aside. A mate’s mark became an erogenous zone. He sucked the still tender skin into his mouth, flicking it with his tongue.

Amber lay in exhausted bliss, caught in a tangle of sheets. The room was washed in the sweet and spicy scent of sex. The fire in the fireplace burned low, just like the fire inside her. For now.

It took Hayden and Amber another hour to find their way out of his bedroom and back to the ballroom. Trepidation filled her. A few couples still swayed back and forth on the dance floor, but most had already left or partnered up with a potential mate and dancing was the furthest thing on their minds. She realized the lights in the ballroom had dimmed even though the night was still midnight black outside. As she looked around, she gasped, watching the shadows on the edges of the room sway and dip. Some couples weren’t just dancing.

Hayden grinned and squeezed her hand. Each remembering the sway and dipping they’d done all night long. She ached in places she’d hardly ever noticed before and was decidedly—wickedly—aware of the tenderness between her legs. She knew each and every wolf in the room was aware that she’d been claimed. Taken.

You are mine. Always.

Hayden’s voice in her head now reassured her, instead of startling her.

When they’d walked across the length of the room, he guided her up a staircase tucked away in the corner. It led to a wide balcony overlooking the dance floor. It reminded her of a balcony on a castle where nobility would wave to the common people.

As they neared, she caught sight of her mother and grandmother. A great big wolf stood beside them. This one was older, but just as fierce as the one by her side. Oh, shit. Had they done something wrong? There was no welcoming expression on any of their faces.

Do not worry, little witch.

Easy for you to say. You’ve not met my grandmother yet.

She knew her mother and grandmother would be happy that she’d found her mate. But she also knew they hadn’t expected him to carry her away for a night of debauchery.

Hayden couldn’t contain his laugh at his mate’s over-the-top thoughts.

They stopped in front of the gathered group and Amber waited for the sparks to fly. Instead, she was floored when her grandmother came forward and hugged Hayden. “Welcome to the family.”

Hayden laughed at Amber’s affronted expression and returned the hug. “Thank you, ma’am. My I call you grandmother?”

“Now wait a minute.” Amber finally found her voice.

The older man stepped forward and before she knew it, he’d dipped her over his arm and looked as if he was about to give her the kiss of her life. Her eyes widened. Then he winked and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

Before she was steady on her feet, Hayden pulled her roughly to his side. “Will you stop being turned on by the males in my family, damn it.”

“Umm…umm.” She had no idea what to say. She certainly couldn’t deny that the thought of this wolf, who she instinctively knew now was his father—hadn’t started a little tingle down below. If anyone questioned her, she was blaming it on the mating heat.

Hayden snorted in her head.

As she struggled to say something—anything—the two men who had interrupted them in the bedroom strolled down the hallway.

Her mother gave the wolf that had pretended to kiss her a sharp slap on his arm and stepped forward. The interaction immediately set of Amber’s witchy radar.

“I’m so happy for you, darling.” She bent and kissed her cheek as their arms tightened around each other. Amber returned the kiss and hug but was still puzzled. Something else was going on here.

All in good time, mate. The night is still young.

Continue enjoying The Holiday Ball as two more wolves find their mates…and discover claiming them isn’t as easy as it appears.
Wolf’s Desire and Wolf’s Fate

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

Marie Mason has always known, somewhere deep in her soul, that being a writer was what she was born to be. Thanks to the new and exciting world of self-publishing, Marie was finally able to make her dream come true. Part two of the dream is to be a full-time writer, spending the wee hours of morning creating new and exciting characters for her readers. That part might take a little longer. If you’d like to contact her with a comment or suggestion, her email is
[email protected]
or you can find her on Facebook.

THE BLACKWOOD BROTHERS, BOOK 1

When Quinn Blackwood thought it was time to go hunting for his mate, he couldn’t believe fate handed her to him on his very first blind date. His family thought it was a hilarious turn of events since the big bear shifter had been looking forward to sowing a few more wild oats before settling down with his one true mate. No one was laughing when Paige got the wrong idea and believed Quinn was just looking for a good time.

Paige Matthews had finally given into the cajoling of her co-worker and agreed to a blind date with the woman’s brother. Paige admired the family of bear shifters and had nursed a secret crush on the oldest Blackwood brother, Quinn, since moving to town. Even though she’d known the odds were against it, she was terribly disappointed that she wasn’t his true mate. She did however, decide to take him up on his offer of a good time, cause this good-girl craved the bear’s sweet loving.

EXCERPT:

Quinn did more than give her a casual look. He turned on the padded barstool, giving her his full attention. He tried not to let his mouth hang open or show her his bear panting with need. She was cock-hardening tempting even if she was dressed ultra conservative in that white button-up blouse and black slacks. Nothing form fitting or eye-catching about her outfit. The only concession she’d made to dressing for a date were the earrings dangling from her shell-like earlobes. They were black and sparkled with each movement of her head and enticed him to look at the sweet curve where her neck and shoulder met. The place most shifters marked their mates. He wondered if she would taste as sweet and satisfying as he imagined.

Okay, slow down, buddy
, he told himself. That was two overly possessive type thoughts he’d had about this woman in less than ten minutes. Yes, he’d felt the instant attraction, the instant awareness that this woman was his. His bear was closer to the surface than it had ever been in his life. Inside, he heard the animal whisper to the man.

Mine. Take. Mate.

He stood up and faced her. Like he said, his size intimidated most women. One good look might be enough to scare her away. His bear didn’t like the thought of that.

The man knew she might take one look and run. Yeah, he liked larger women—make that freaking loved women of size—and Paige fit the bill with big boobs and a big butt. Besides the attraction, though, he needed a woman who could go toe-to-toe with him, giving as good as she got. While bears might appear laid back and easygoing, they could be, well, a bear to live with. He didn’t want a shy, mousy woman who’d let him run roughshod all over her. Dominate her—hell yeah.

What were his sisters and mother always telling him and the twins? There was a fine line between being dominating and domineering. Sometimes shifter males learned that difference the hard way.

Before he could say anything, he saw her head turn, her green eyes watching his every movement as he rose. Her gaze raked him from top to bottom and back up again before she spoke.

“You’re very big.”

Oh, baby,
he thought
, you don’t know the half of it.

THE BLACKWOOD BROTHERS, BOOK 2.5

PAIGE’S BOSSY BEAR

They said the road to true love could be rocky. Quinn’s courtship of Paige was covered with huge freaking boulders!

Paige Matthews had finally found her one true love, bear shifter named Quinn Blackwood. Raised by an elderly aunt, she has never relied on anyone for anything. Adjusting to a big bear shifter—a big, bossy, bear shifter—was taking some getting used to. Especially, when he insisted they move in together. She didn’t know why she was hesitating. Fate had given her everything she’d ever desired. What it hadn’t done was provide an instruction manual on her to handle her alpha male bear.

One blind date had revealed Paige was indeed Quinn Blackwood’s true mate and he couldn’t be happier with the curvy beauty. Circumstances had placed her in danger and his bear on the edge. Now that the danger had passed, the man—and the bear—was having a difficult time giving her the space she needed.

EXCERPT:

Boy, would the twins give him hell if they knew he had a beautiful woman in his house and all he wanted to do was gather her in his arms and take a nap. If this was what being mated did to a bear…he was all for it. He wanted to pick her up and settle her across his lap. Or across his knee until she agreed to move in with him. That thought had his cock stirring to life and he clenched his fists, resisting the urge to scoop her up in his arms and carry her upstairs. Two things prevented him from doing just that. He smelled like the devil himself and she looked tired as hell.

A small measure of guilt crept up inside him. He knew why she looked so damn tired. She hadn’t had a full night’s sleep since they’d mated. He loved her well into the night, reaching for her time after time until dawn streaked across the sky. She never said no, as eager for his touch as he was for hers.

His instincts were telling him he needed to pull back. But he couldn’t. Other, more formidable instincts, were telling him to take her. Fuck her. Mate her.

He knew why. And he knew the hunger wouldn’t be slated until he’d planted his seed inside her belly. Then, his bear could rest.

Turning sharply on his heel, he took the stairs two out at a time, away from temptation.

Perhaps it
was
time to toss her over his shoulder and show her just how bossy this bear could be.

THE BLACKWOOD BROTHERS ARE BACK… BOOK 3

Ryland and Ryker Blackwood were twins. Identical, thigh clenching bear shifter twins who had no trouble getting women into their beds. Or bed. They’d shared just about everything in life—even their women.

The scent of the cat shifter they found on their construction site was driving both Blackwood brothers crazy with lust. Or was it? Every time they thought they were getting closer to finding the woman who would be their mate, one of their bears backed away. The hot and cold feeling they were getting from their animals was confusing the shit out of them.

Was the cat shifter meant for one of them or both of them?

This is a longer story at 70,000 - cause Ryker and Ryland are up to some nice naughtiness!!

EXCERPT:

“You mean a list of rules, don’t you?”

“You betcha. Got a problem with that?”

“Yeah, I do.”

Oh, how he loved the stubborn set of her jaw. But first things first. He yanked his shirt over his head to give to her. A small laugh escaped him as he helped her dress.

“What the hell do find funny at this particular moment, bear boy?” She managed to push her arms through the sleeves and yanked the shirt down as far as it would go.

“I was remembering your comment about not being my Barbie doll.” He eased her hair from the collar of the shirt, smoothing it behind her ears. “And now I’m dressing you.”

“Well, don’t get used to it.”

The curvy woman stepping off the red, two-engine plane wasn't just a Christmas guest, she was his fated mate...

Wolf shifter, Jason Dupree had returned to his hometown of Winter, Montana, to take the position as head enforcer of his pack and sheriff for the small mountain town. Snow was not his favorite thing. When his sister asks him to pick up her Christmas visitor while the white stuff is falling, he is not a happy wolf. The woman is working on her Ph.D., in of all things, the sexual habits of wolf shifters. In ordinary circumstances, Jason would have been delighted to help her with her research. But, he's suffered injuries that almost proved fatal, even for a wolf.

Priscilla Johnson had never had a satisfying sexual encounter and didn't believe in the instant attraction wolf shifters purported to feel for their chosen mate. Ever since an unexplained encounter with a pack of wolves when she was younger, she'd felt drawn to the beautiful animal. When she discovered that shifters do exist, and that they, too, mated for life, she had the perfect subject for her doctoral thesis.

Caught in a snowstorm, Jason must use all his shifter strength to keep them both alive. While taking refuge in a small cabin, he must convince the disbelieving woman that fated mates do exist and that she now belongs to him-heart, body, and soul.

What better way convince her than to let her experience the sexual appetite of a wolf shifter when he finds his true mate.

EXCERPT:

“Look, I’m sorry I got upset. This wasn’t how I was planning on spending my Friday night.” He wasn’t about to tell her the truth—that the thought of being snowed in with her was about to drive his wolf insane. He glanced at her, afraid to take his eyes off the road for very long. She sat very still, gripping the edges of her seat.

“I, umm.”

She licked her lips and he just about forgot everything. The snow. The treacherous road. His own damn name. His mind filled with the image of her on her knees, the tip of his cock nudging its way inside of her mouth.

“Are there really such things as wizards?”

“What?”

“Do wizards exist?”

Jason snorted. He didn’t want to get into an explanation of the supernatural world with his mate. He had a feeling the things he would soon be revealing would be mind-boggling enough. “I’ve never met one, so I can’t really say for sure.”

“That’s a very politically correct statement.”

His mind was racing with the options he had for getting her to safety. He knew the highway patrol was probably erring on the side of caution by closing the road. The road back to the airport would be getting as impassable as the one before him.
Plus he couldn’t see them spending a comfortable night in the rundown metal building. Or a couple of nights. Really, did he have any other choice but to ‘power through’ as she’d so innocently pointed out until he could go no further?

His eyes swept over the landscape, determining their exact location. The closest shelter, besides some abandoned caves, was a small cabin on the edge of pack land. If he could make it a couple of more miles in the SUV, they should be able to reach it.

“We’re in trouble aren’t we?” The fear in her voice tore at him. It was a wolf’s number one objective to keep his mate safe, free of fear.