Page 7 of Saved By Her Guardian (Yuletide Shifters #4)

Maverick and Santa hit the door of the security office and skidded to a halt.

“What’s going on?” Santa demanded. “Who’s come through the Portal?”

“A female,” Hunter, one of the polar bears, said. “And she’s asking for you.”

He looked pointedly at Maverick and his brows rose. “Is it Aralyn? She came here for me?”

“Yep,” he said. “Griffin and Willow were out on patrol and they’re bringing her here. You might let her know that she should definitely tell you she’s coming here.”

“Yeah, I will.” He looked at Santa.

Santa smiled. “Well, I guess you don’t have to wait to talk to her. But do be sure to let her know our protocols and that we need to ensure her safety and the safety of everyone up here before she goes opening portals willy-nilly.”

It was strange to hear the most powerful warlock in the world say the phrase willy-nilly , but Maverick ignored the urge to point it out and instead nodded. He walked out into the hall and could feel that Aralyn was close.

Had something happened?

Why hadn’t she reached out to him?

He pulled his phone from his pocket and looked at the screen, which was dark. Shit, his phone was dead. If she’d tried to contact him, he wouldn’t have gotten the message.

She appeared walking behind the security team members, and her face lit up when their gazes met. She rushed between Willow and Griffin, and Maverick caught her in his arms.

“Hey, beautiful, what are you doing here? Are you okay?”

She squeezed him tightly and shuddered. “I couldn’t stay away. I needed to see you.”

Santa cleared his throat from the doorway of the security office.

Maverick lowered Aralyn and said, “Aralyn, this is Santa. Santa, this is Aralyn Lethe, my truemate.”

“Welcome to Northernmost. Your mate will let you know what our protocols are for future reference, and our team will work out a way for you to safely visit this month.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, lowering her head and not making eye contact with Santa.

“It’s quite all right. I remember being young and in love. When you’re ready to return her to the church, let the team know and take plenty of security officers.”

“I will, thanks,” Maverick said, giving her hand a squeeze. “Let’s go to my place so we can talk.”

“I’d like that. And again, I’m sorry. I sent you a text, but when you didn’t answer, I thought I’d come up here to see you. I didn’t realize it was such a big deal until the security team was very surprised to see me.”

“It’s all good,” Willow said with a smile.

Maverick looked through the doorway to Hunter and said, “We’ll be back around sunset to head to Saint Morrigan’s Church in Eldermoor.”

“I’ll make sure the team on staff then knows. We’ve got your back.”

With a nod to the security members and Santa, Maverick gave a gentle tug on Aralyn’s hand and they headed down the hall.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

He chuckled. “It’s fine, I promise. I felt a tug on my heart when the Portal activated.”

“I felt a tug on my heart when I stepped through,” she said. “It must be because we’re truemates?”

“That would be my guess. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I just really wanted to see you. I couldn’t sleep, and even though we spent hours together, it wasn’t enough.”

“I feel the same way. I hated having to come back here and leave you.”

They moved through the underground halls toward the Guardians’ living quarters, and she told him that she was going to ask her uncle to give her a different assignment.

“What if he doesn’t?” Maverick asked.

“I don’t know.”

He stopped as they reached the gathering area of the snow leopards’ living quarters.

“I know you don’t want to ferry children’s souls, Aralyn, but you can do it.

Did you think that maybe it wasn’t a punishment or the worst assignment, but one that was given to you because you’re clearly compassionate and the right reaper for the job? ”

She stared at him unblinking for a long moment and then she said, “I still don’t want to do it. It’s too sad. It’s too… heartbreaking.” Her eyes shimmered with emotion. “I’m not sure I’m strong enough to do it.”

He wanted to tell her that he thought she was strong enough for it because he believed it.

He could feel her determination, but it was pointed at getting out of her assignment, and maybe she just needed to give in and change her mindset about things.

But before he could, something in her demeanor changed.

Her eyes got darker and he could smell the sweet scent of her arousal in the air between them.

“I don’t want to think about anything right now but you and me,” she said, her voice tipping to a huskier tone. “The day will pass fast enough and I do have to be back to the church by sunset.”

His leopard growled out a purr and he drew her close to him, their bodies pressed together, the air electric between them.

“Then let’s just be together, Aralyn. You and me. No jobs, no worries. Just us.”

She nodded and bit her bottom lip, and then she rose onto her toes and kissed him, and the whole world dropped away.

He lifted her into his arms and she snuggled into him as he carried her into his apartment and kicked the door shut.

He strode into the bedroom and laid her gently on the bed.

She grabbed his shirt and pulled him down, their lips connecting once more.

He eased from the addictive kiss and straightened his arms to look down at her.

He traced the curve of her lips with his fingertip, then down her jaw to her throat, where he felt the thrum of her pulse.

Her hands splayed over his back, her fingertips digging lightly into his skin as he kissed her lips and then followed the path his fingers made down her throat, pulling aside her collar and kissing her shoulder.

She shivered under him, her scent deepening.

He rose once more to capture her lips with his, delving his tongue against hers in a wicked dance that made his senses run wild.

He traced her curves and then parted from the kiss so they could strip each other, slowly revealing every inch of each other’s bodies, stealing kisses and whispering to each other about the passionate, sweet things that new lovers did.

He ran his hands over her breasts, kissing her nipples and sucking on them lightly, listening to her heart pounding with his sensitive hearing as he played with her breasts until she was writhing under him.

He made his way between her thighs and she moaned as he pushed her legs roughly apart so he could see her fully, her beautiful body on display for him. He kissed her calf and the side of her knee, then licked a path to her heat where he swore he could get drunk off the sweet taste of her.

As he drove her wild with his tongue, finding that she loved when he growled against her clit, he fingered her to a rough, fast climax that made him want to come right then like he had no self control.

It took all his willpower to hold himself in check as she shouted his name and writhed on the bed, scratching his back with her nails and tilting her hips in invitation.

He licked his lips to taste her again and then prowled up her body, sliding his cock against her tight heat.

She cupped his face as he rose over her and pushed in slowly, holding her gaze, his cock deep inside her and her pussy clutching him as her climax pulsed within her.

She whispered his name like a sigh and a plea combined and he grinned down at her. Was any male on the planet luckier than him?

He’d found his beautiful truemate in the most unlikely of places.

She hooked her legs around his waist and he snarled, pressing his lips to hers for a moment before he began to move within her. The bed creaked as he thrust forward and pulled back, their bodies moving together as one, their arms around each other, breaths mingling, moans overlapping.

He took her harder, faster, until the headboard was slamming into the wall and he felt like his whole body was going to combust. She slipped her hand between them and he growled in appreciation as she rubbed her clit in time to his thrusts.

As he felt her tumble over the edge into oblivion, he joined her, barely stifling his roar of pleasure so he didn’t deafen her, his cock spasming as he thrust a few more times and then stilled, buried deep in her heat, his ears ringing and his cat purring in happiness.

She sank her blunt teeth into his neck and he swore his body sprang to life again. She didn’t break the skin, but he knew what she did and what she wanted when she tilted her head to expose her throat.

He nuzzled her dewy skin and licked the sweat from her before he called for his beast and let his fangs descend. He struck quickly so he didn’t make the pain worse, and she gasped and held tightly to him as he slowly extracted his fangs from her throat and tended to her wound.

Something clicked inside him now that she wore his mark.

They hadn’t just had sex, they’d fully mated. She was his and he was hers.

She sighed deeply when he pulled from her body and settled next to her. Turning into him, she settled her head on his biceps and wiggled close.

“I’m so glad I came here,” she said. “I feel like everything’s going to be okay now.”

“Me too, sweetheart.”

He held her close and closed his eyes, settling down in a deep sleep, his mate securely in his arms.