Page 12

Chapter Eleven

Vivienne

My nerves are shot by the time I walk out of the bathroom. I spent my whole shower trying to figure out the nuts and bolts of what was about to happen. It goes without saying that I’m beyond attracted to him. One, because he’s my mate, of course, but the other reason is, he’s a beautiful man. He might have a side to him that’s not gentle and more hardcore, only I’ve never seen that aspect of his personality.

“Fox, I know the basics about how this will go, but outside of that, I have no clue,” I admit once I’m in bed. His scent surrounds me which has my wolf panting and my core throbbing. Having never felt this way before, I don’t know how to behave.

Reaching out, he tucks a stray curl behind my ear. “We’ll figure it out, Vivi. I’ve never done this before either,” he replies.

My eyes feel like they’re going to pop out of my head at his admission. “Wait… you’ve never had sex before?” Surely that’s not possible and I heard him wrong.

The tension that’s built up completely dissipates when he throws his head back and laughs. Seeing the strength in his neck and watching his throat move as he lets loose settles something inside of me. He finishes laughing then cups my jaw in his hand and says, “Babe.”

“What?” I mean, I know bikers often use that one word to denote stuff, but I’m not hip on what Fox’s tones mean yet.

“I’ve had sex before, sweetheart. But I’ve never had a mate, so I don’t know how that works either. I suspect a lot of it’s instinctive, though,” he says. “It’ll be fine, Vivi, I promise.”

At his admission my wolf is snarling at the prospect of him touching another female in such an intimate manner, but the human half of me is at ease that both of us won’t be going into this blind and at least one of us will know what they’re doing. Another thought bounces into my head and I blurt it out. “Does everyone know what we’re doing?”

Part of me is mortified that his brothers and even Tressa and Nini might know what we’re going to be doing. Another part, likely led by my hussy wolf, is cheering that everyone knows.

“Most likely, but no one is going to give you any shit about it. The brothers are happy that I found my mate, Vivi, make no mistake about that fact. Plus, you getting along with Tressa and Nini means it’ll be more like a family than it was before.”

“Well, that’s equal parts alarming and comforting,” I tell him, stroking his jaw. “I know most wolves aren’t monogamous before they find their mate, Fox, but I have to say I could easily eviscerate a bitch for ever having her hands on you.”

He chuckles then leans in and kisses me. “It’s okay, Vivi. There’s been nobody for a very long time, since I had grown weary of that particular chase. My wolf and I had just about resigned ourselves to finding someone we could tolerate so we could build the family we both desperately want. Then, I walked into your store.”

“We’d have found each other, Fox. I had scented you around town, but it was so subtle I couldn’t get a solid fix on where you were,” I reply. “Now, kiss me like you mean it, mate, and let’s see what all the fuss is about.”

“Holy goddesses,” I murmur as Fox moves down my body to settle between the apex of my thighs. Right now, both breasts are heavy and swollen, with turgid nipples that are reddened from the attention he’s been giving them. I know I’ve read about women who can orgasm through nipple play alone and suspect I might be in that category if the pulses between my legs is any indication.

When his tongue swipes through my sodden folds, I nearly come off the bed from the shot of electricity that circulates through my system. The sensation is so strange yet familiar, I find myself clutching his head between my thighs.

“Fucking ambrosia,” he murmurs, the vibration of his mouth on my midsection sends a tingle through my sensitized clit.

I give myself over to the sensuous onslaught his lips and tongue are giving me, and when he slides one of his long, thick fingers inside, I nearly lose my mind. “Fox,” I mewl out.

“Stick with me, Vivi, the best is yet to come.”

Oh, we’ll be cumming, my wolf wickedly whispers.

I don’t even have the energy to tell my hypersexual wolf to shut up as Fox continues to ramp me higher and higher until I shatter into a million pieces, calling out his name. He slows down slightly as I ride out my orgasm then while I’m still in the afterglow of ecstasy, he slides up my body, the head of his cock notched at my entrance.

“You ready, Vivi?” he asks, looking into my eyes, his blazing back at me with an intensity that has my entire being shaking with anticipation.

“Yeah, Fox,” I softly reply. He slowly enters me, one agonizing inch at a time, his gaze never leaving mine until I’m so full I worry that he’s going to split me in half. “Oh, my goddess,” I whisper. “I never expected it to feel like this.”

His next promise nearly has my eyes crossing in ecstasy at the potent, rumbly guarantee. “Not to repeat myself, mate, but it’s gonna get better.”

He begins to move, long, slow, thrusts that ramp up the fire he already had blazing as my hands roam his shoulders and arms, craving the closeness. Every sound is amplified; the slap of our skin, the soft sighs from me, the slight groans from him. It all combines to create a heady, erotic melody that has my soul singing.

“Fox… I… I want to mark you,” I tell him, my canines already protruding and lengthening from my gums. The stretch has sweat forming on my temples as I fight the temptation, unsure if now is the right time to act on my urge or not. I can feel another orgasm just out of reach and realize that’s probably where this desire to make him mine is coming from.

“Same, Vivi,” he pants out, his own canines peeking through his lips. When he reaches between us and strokes my clit, I detonate beneath him, turning my head as he strikes, embedding his teeth into the crevice of my neck where it meets the clavicle of my shoulder. After he licks the area, he turns his own head and I feel his body jerk then stop as warmth coats my sheath. I strike then, feeling bold and empowered as our mate bond clicks into place.

As we ride out the aftershocks of both our claiming and lovemaking, neither looking away from the other, I realize that this is what my life was missing.

Him.

Fox.

My mate.

When he goes to move off me, I clutch him close while shaking my head. “I like feeling you on me, Fox,” I admit.

“Too heavy for you, Vivi,” he replies, shifting so he’s now on his back and I’m sprawled directly on top of him. Like two peas sharing a pod. Unsurprisingly, we’re still connected. He peers at my neck and a self-satisfied smirk crosses his face. “No doubt about it now, you’re mine.”

I glance at the mate mark I gave him and grin back. “And you’re mine.”

“So, we have a mutual admiration society going on, huh?” he teases.

“Something like that,” I reply, suddenly feeling sassy.

Over and over that night, we reach for each other until dawn starts coming over the horizon. As I lay there, sated and replete, I reach over and stroke his jaw. “Best thing that ever happened to me was Angie telling me about Zephyr Hills,” I whisper.

“She did?” he asks, his voice just as low as mine. I know I already told him this when we first encountered each other, but with us in a daze after several bouts of sheet romps, we’re pillow talking and it seems to be our confession time. We’re reiterating our blessings when it comes to one another. So, in my mind, it bears repeating.

“Yeah, when we realized stuff was going bad in the pack and I had to leave, she told me about your town. She said that all shifters were welcome who needed a place, so I set my GPS to Texas and here I am.”

He opens his mouth to reply when there’s a pounding on his door which has us both looking at each other. “What the fuck?” he snarls. “I told those fuckers not to bother us unless the clubhouse is on fire, so let’s get dressed really quick just in case, okay?”

Yeah, he doesn’t have to say that twice since there’s no way I want to lose my mate when I’ve finally found him. We’re both quick to throw some clothes on and I follow behind him, worried about what’s on the other side of the door.

“Where is she? Where’s my mate?” Popeye roars. “I know she’s been here, so which one of you fuckers has her hidden from me?”

“What’s going on, Brother?” Fox asks, moving closer to Popeye.

“I can smell my mate,” Popeye growls out, his eyes wild and slightly crazed. “She’s here and y’all are hiding her from me.” His accusation has my head rearing back. Nobody would hide someone’s mate from them, especially when they’ve scented them for the first time. That’s when our beasts are the most volatile.

I look at Fox and he glances at me, both of us completely confused by Popeye’s erratic statement. He wasn’t really around much during the cookout because he got called out by one of their customers. I mentally go through everyone I met last night and when the lightbulb goes off, I murmur, “Angie.” As far as I know, outside of me, she’s the only female that attended that isn’t a regular at the Phantom’s clubhouse.

Because other than the brothers who live at the clubhouse, the club girls themselves, and Nonna, the only new people who were here were me, Angie, and my father from what Fox explained. Well, hell, looks like life might get interesting around here when these two finally cross paths.

“Brother, no one would ever hide another’s mate from them and if you’d take a few deep breaths, you’d realize that the scent you're sniffing has faded and what you’re saying is sheer lunacy,” Fox says. “I suspect I know who you’re scenting and if I’m correct, she was here for the cookout, but she left hours ago.”

“I need to find her,” Popeye insists, his chest expanding as if he’s gearing up for an argument; one he won’t find from anyone standing in this corridor.

“Not at fucking four in the morning. Or is it five?” Fox retorts. “Later today is soon enough, Brother. I promise, none of us are hiding her, and we’ll get her back to the clubhouse so you two can meet.”

Popeye seems to deflate, and I feel bad for him, because he has a dejected look on his face as if he lost out on something magical. What he doesn’t realize is Angie is at most ten to fifteen minutes away, and if they’re truly mates, he’s in for the ride of his life.

“Sorry, Pres, I guess I got carried away,” Popeye mumbles. “Sorry, y’all,” he says to the rest of us now standing in the hallway.

“Get some sleep, Brother,” Fox instructs. “We’ll get it all sorted out later, okay?”