Page 34 of Stolen Mate

“He says we’re fated mates.”

“That’s not something my brother would say unless he was certain it was true.”

“What if I don’t want to be—mind you, I’m not saying that, but you know, what if?”

Annie laughed. “Girl, you are gonzo over my baby brother.” Her expression turned serious. “You know what he says is the truth, and I can tell you from experience those feelings won’t go away, and neither will Derek. He will follow you to the ends of the earth to keep you safe and by his side. I ran from Deke. I put both of us through hell. If you truly believe this is not for you and that you cannot make a life with my brother, then leave. I’ll help you get away, and the Shadow Sisters will keep you safe…”

“They didn’t help my mother,” Tess said softly with a trace of bitterness.

“No, because my murdering bastard of a sire killed the woman they sent and buried her somewhere on Akiak. By the time the Sisters knew she hadn’t made it to help your mother, Teresa was gone. We learned from that experience and a couple of others. Hard-learned lessons to be sure, but ones we took to heart. We can get you out and set you, and your sister if you like, up with new identities.”

Tess shook her head. “No. I don’t think so. Like Derek says, so much has happened so fast, but I feel so drawn to him, in a way I never have to anyone before.”

Annie nodded. “I know the feeling, and so does Sienna, so don’t think you’re alone. You aren’t.”

“I want to go to Akiak.”

“That’s not happening.”

“There have to be people there who knew my birth mother…”

“But there are also people there who were directly or indirectly involved with her abduction, being turned without her consent, and the murder of the woman who was trying to get her out. I know Deke said Desmond was out on a fishing trip, but he’ll be back. One thing you have to know is that Zak expects Derek to keep you safe and that means keeping you in line. Polar bears aren’t fond of having their authority thwarted.”

“What about cave lions?” Tess quipped.

“Even less so, but then I like to live dangerously, and usually when I appeal to his baser instincts, Deke forgets why he was mad at me in the first place. Just think about what I said. All I ask is that you don’t break Derek’s heart deliberately.”

“I won’t.”

They walked back up to the cottage. At the front deck, Tess turned and looked toward the south. She so wanted Lara to see this and be a part of it. Derek said it would put her in danger, and Tess believed him, but if Lara couldn’t come here, Tess needed to see her. She couldn’t make any decisions without seeing her sister first, but she knew what her heart, soul, and inner bear wanted.

Tess could feel the familiar buzz as Derek pulled his boat up to the dock in the compound. She stood and walked down the pathway to greet him. His hand stretched out and cupped her neck as he drew her gently forward and into his body. He lowered his head, brushing his lips across hers. The tingle every time he touched her to hold her hand or to guide her somewhere was magnified by a thousand times as all the lives they’d shared before were unleashed and flashed through her memory.

She reached up, clutching his shirt in her hands and hauling him close as the flame of desire sparked into a full-blown wildfire. His fingers tangled in her hair as he tilted her head back, his tongue surging in to dominate and dance with hers. His free hand traced her spine until it found the curve of her buttocks and squeezed.

“I missed you, too,” he murmured as he broke the kiss, wrapped his arm around her shoulders and headed up to the house.

Dinner that night was a lively, noisy affair that Tess had come to cherish. She never remembered a dinner with her family in Seattle where there’d been this much love and laughter. After cleaning up the dishes, Tess headed into her room, undressing and slipping into bed. The woman who had suffered from bouts of insomnia all her life was asleep in an instant. It was as if being back where she belonged allowed her to push away any and all worry and just indulge.

As it had before she even made plans to visit Alaska and every night since she’d been here, Derek walked into her dreams as if he was the only man she’d ever wanted or needed.

He drew back the covers that shielded her nudity from him. “See how beautiful you are? Why do you want to hide yourself from me?”

“I don’t. I don’t want to hide anything from you,” she all but purred at him.

His clothes vanished in an instant—the way they often did in dreams—and he stretched out on top of her, making a home for himself at the apex of her thighs, rubbing the stubble of his beard along the soft skin of her breasts, leaving the barest trail of bristled flesh and making her nipples bead into hard diamond shards.

Tess wound her fingers into his hair, pulling him closer as she wrapped her legs around him. Something was different this time. It wasn’t just about sex or arousal or need. No, this went much deeper than that. It was as if the veil between all their lives—past, present, and future—dropped to reveal their fate. This wasn’t lovemaking or possession. This was a sacred reconciliation of all that had come before and would be again. Things were perfect in the dream world, but not so much in the real one. She wanted to resolve some things in her own mind and really, really wanted to talk to Lara.

Derek wasted no time as his cock poised at the entrance to her core and pushed in—no hard strokes, no shorter and then ever deepening thrusts—just a single long penetration. Derek was claiming what was his, what she could no longer deny him.

He drew back and thrust into her, burying himself up to his balls, giving her his weight, as he drew back and stroked in again. He set up a relentless pace as he pounded into her, his cock never breaking speed or rhythm. His hands slipped under her, holding her steady while he gave himself up to their mutual rapture. His body slid along hers, she could feel every muscle, every patch of hair, every piece of scar tissue as it rasped along her body.

Twisting his hips in just the right way, he managed not only to hit her clit but the sweet spot inside her pussy with every surge forward and back. The tension built with every single stroke. Tess felt as if her whole body had become a time bomb just waiting to go off. He drove deep with a final, brutal push, causing their mutual orgasm to crash all around them like the stormy seas outside. He ground himself against her as he gave up his cum to fill her with its warmth and promise.

Tess woke to find herself alone. She knew it was only in the physical sense, and that if she wanted, she could go out by the bonfire. There was always someone milling around. But she didn’t want to. She wanted to hug her pillow close and dream that it was Derek and realized that someday it would be.

Knowing what she wanted dovetailed perfectly with what fate seemed to be offering her, Tess curled up, snuggled into her pillow, closed her eyes, and hoped for a repeat of the dream.

---