Freedom in the Smokies (21 page)

Thomas had considered himself the luckiest man on earth the way the arrangement had panned out. Margaret had contacted him herself when Kaitlyn arrived at age ten and begged him to come back to work for her. He’d known immediately she had to be his own child.

It still made Kaitlyn sad that her mother had fled the farm and never told a soul where she was, especially Thomas. The man hadn’t known she existed for ten years. But she also understood her mother’s point of view. Hell, Kaitlyn had lived in the woman’s shoes after her death. And Kaitlyn herself had fled the moment she graduated from college. Escaping her grandmother had been her only thought. And she’d have scrambled away even faster, harder and farther if she’d been pregnant.

She shivered at the thought.

“You okay, baby?” Micah hugged her tighter against him and ran his free hand over her huge belly.

“Better than.” She tipped her head up to gaze into his eyes. All the love in the world existed there.

“How’s my son doing this morning?”

“He’s kicking the hell out of my bladder at the moment.” But she loved the feeling. Knowing the little guy was squirming around in there gave her peace of mind.

“Let’s go back inside.” Micah angled his head toward the house and tugged her shoulders. “It’s cold out here.”

She gave him a playful shove. “You can’t fool me, buddy. You don’t care a hoot about the temperature. You just want to get me back in bed.”

“True. I do like it when you’re in bed.” He kissed her neck and continued to whisper in her ear. “On your side…one leg bent forward…your hot, needy pussy open for me…”

“Stop it, Micah.” She wiggled against his grip. Her pussy grew wet anyway. She never could stop herself from getting aroused by his damn words. The man had a tongue that worked wonders, both in and out of his mouth. Even hugely pregnant she couldn’t resist him.

She’d assumed he’d simmer down and give her some space as she got bigger, but no. The man doted on her pregnant more than he had before. The look in his eyes when she climbed into bed naked or stepped out of the shower told her everything.

He didn’t miss an opportunity to run his hands over her distended belly or wrap them around her growing breasts. And her nipples were so sensitive he could make her come from stimulation to them alone.

Micah tugged her into the house. The kitchen was bustling with activity.

Juliana was the farthest along with only a few weeks left. She leaned over the sink, peeling potatoes as Kaitlyn stepped inside.

“You can barely get your arms far enough away from your body to hit the sink, Jules,” she teased.

Juliana laughed. “You wait. A few weeks and you’ll be in the same predicament.”

“Ugh.” The grunt came from the other side of the island. Brianna waddled across the tile floor with a scowl on her face. “I’m not looking forward to either stage. I already feel like a whale.” She held her belly with both hands. Hers was the smallest. She still had a full trimester left.

Between the three women there would be two baby boys and a girl in the house in the next few months. It felt like a commune.

Kaitlyn smiled. It was family. And now that her dad had built a home on the property only a half a mile away, she had almost everyone she loved in one place. Not her grandfather, of course. George was busy running the farm in California—and, from what she’d heard, chasing around a new love interest.

She missed the man dearly, but he visited often. She’d even gone to California a few times before she’d gotten pregnant, a trip she never thought she’d make again after she left the first time.

But time had a way of tamping down the bad memories and filling in the holes with all the good things that happened. In retrospect the majority of her days and evenings had been spent with family—the two men who had been the most important people in her life, her father and her grandfather.

Kaitlyn could only hope she’d be half as good a mother as they had been at raising her. She closed her eyes and tried to grasp the few memories she had of her own mother nurturing her before she died.

Warm hands wrapped around her middle and Micah pulled her into his embrace again. His palms covered her belly and she laid her head against his chest. “I love you,” she whispered into his neck.

“I love you too, baby.”

The world was a perfect place.

About the Author

Becca Jameson lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband and two kids. When she isn’t writing, she can be found reading, editing, scrapbooking, running, swimming, biking, or taxiing kids all over creation. She doesn’t sleep much…or sit down often…but she loves to be busy! Unlike many other authors, Becca had never written a single word until a few years ago. After enjoying several years on the editing side of the business, Becca decided to give writing a try. Now she can’t stop! And the voices in her head are clamoring to get out faster than she can get them onto “paper”! Still experimenting with both contemporary and paranormal genres, there is no telling what she may come up with next. To learn more about Becca Jameson, visit her blog at
www.beccajameson.com
, email her at
[email protected]
, or tweet her
@beccajameson
.

Look for these titles by Becca Jameson

Now Available:

Durham Wolves

Rescue in the Smokies

Fire in the Smokies

Coming Soon:

Emergence

Bound to be Taken

His commands ignite flames in her that rival any forest fire…

Fire in the Smokies

© 2013 Becca Jameson

Durham Wolves, Book 2

When Jaxon Durham isn’t raising thoroughbreds with his brothers, he’s using his heightened senses to search for missing hikers in the Smokies. This time the call is for a firefighter gone missing on the front lines.

In his wolf form, he’s the first to track the firefighter to a cave, but he’s stopped cold by a stunning realization—it’s his mate. To his relief, the body covered in fireproof gear is female.

Brianna White can’t decide if she’s died and gone to heaven, or unconscious and having a delicious dream, when the wolf standing before her shifts into a naked man. Either way, she can’t resist the urge to go along for the ride. She never expected to fall so instantly, and so hard, for the sexy hunk.

But an old enemy is lurking beyond the walls of their refuge. The clock is ticking while Jaxon races to evade the deadly threat, even deadlier flames, and overcome the stubborn will of a woman who’s not sure she’s ready to give up life as she knew it.

Warning: Dark, sexy wolves in the Appalachians evoke steaming sex in a cave, light bondage and dominance, various plugs and vibrators, and an interesting masturbation chamber…

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Fire in the Smokies:

Locking his gaze and attention on the opening between the rocks, Jaxon jumped over a few downed trees and bounded into the first cave.

Darkness consumed him, but it would be momentary. His eyes would adjust to the lack of light. In no time he’d see almost as well as outside. One of the perks of being lupine. He saw fantastically in the night.

Dropping the pouch from his mouth, Jaxon lifted his head and took a deep breath. Immediately he dropped his gaze and blinked. His eyes burned from the smoke he’d run through. His vision had not yet cleared.

He panted, letting his tongue hang out. One thing was clear. There was most assuredly a human in this cave.

And…that human was his mate.

Jaxon couldn’t move. He couldn’t see yet either. And that aggravated him more than anything. His ears were ringing, keeping him from concentrating.

Was his mate the missing firefighter? A man?

He backed up a step. Took several short breaths. His head twitched back and forth as though in denial. He couldn’t stop it. He’d never once considered himself attracted to men. Maybe there was a woman in the cave also? Another deep inhale.

Nope, one scent. Faint, but just the one. Not particularly identifiable.

God, let there be someone else hiding in a cave today besides a fireman.

A missing hiker? What were the chances?

His vision began to clear. He blinked back the smoky film causing him to squint and stepped farther into the cave.

Do I have some latent subconscious tendencies toward men I was unaware of? Why on earth would my mate be a man?

A gasp made him jerk his gaze to the left. Movement. Shuffling. Deep wheezing breaths. A flash of yellow. More movement. Scampering.

Jaxon approached gingerly. His paws made almost no sound as he inched forward. He stopped.

The fireman sat, hunkered really, against the wall. His boots scraped the hard-packed ground in front of him in desperation as if he could perhaps push himself through the solid rock behind his back if he could get enough purchase.

Jaxon tipped his head to one side. His brain scrambled. The fireman was covered from head to toe with flame-retardant clothing. Soot covered the yellow, almost completely obscuring any evidence of color. Even his face was covered—goggles, a mask, helmet.

No wonder Jaxon could barely scent the man.

He hesitated. Considered running from his destiny. What the hell was he going to tell his brothers? His mate was a fireman? Could he be mistaken?

Crap
. Jaxon suddenly focused on his error. He was in wolf form. The guy was freaking petrified because a wolf had entered his hideout. Jaxon had been so focused on finding evidence of a human in the area, he hadn’t thought further. Adrenaline pumping, he’d concentrated only on the remote hope someone was alive in this cave.

And here he was, standing on four paws, staring down a fireman as though he intended to eat him.

Jaxon shivered, shook his entire body as he would after being caught in the rain.

He had to shift before the man had a heart attack. This wasn’t the way he ever planned to reveal himself to anyone. Hell, he’d never shifted in front of another human in his life, with the exception of Sergius’s mate, Juliana.

It couldn’t be helped. And besides, whatever weirdness fate had in store for him right now, he might as well get the whole I’m-a-wolf-shifter-and-you’ll-have-to-get-over-it thing out of the way now.

Jaxon didn’t take his eyes off the frightened firefighter. Bones popped, limbs lengthened, hair receded. In moments Jaxon stood before the man, naked…and human.

The fireman didn’t move a muscle. He appeared to not even be breathing.

Jaxon cleared his throat. “Sorry. There was no other way.” He knelt in front of the man and held his hands out, palms up. What difference did it make that he was naked? It wasn’t as though the guy hadn’t seen a c*ck before…

“I think you can breathe in here right now. The air isn’t too bad.” Jaxon reached for the man’s protective helmet with slow calculated movements. He didn’t want to scare the guy to death, but he did want to see what was under the hardhat.

Jaxon’s hand shook more than he would have liked as he tugged the helmet off. “I didn’t mean to…reveal myself like that. I wasn’t thinking when I came barreling in here looking for you. I—”

Jaxon froze with the helmet held in midair.
Holy mother of God
.

Suddenly the firefighter wasn’t the only one not breathing. Jaxon could feel his heart beating, but he didn’t think he’d ever be able to inhale again in this lifetime.

Long blond curls fell from the helmet seemingly in slow motion. They cascaded down until they sprang back, bouncing as though they belonged in a photo shoot for some feminine shampoo. Emphasis on the word feminine.

The helmet slipped from Jaxon’s fingers and landed on the hard ground with a loud clatter. He swallowed. His mouth opened and closed, but no words came out.

Synapses fired from one side of his head to the other as he made sense of the picture in front of him.

This was no fire
man
. This was a woman.

And she still wasn’t breathing. And his d*ck thanked God
she
was a
she
and sprang to life. And, oh…he was naked.

Jaxon licked his lips and reached for her protective goggles. His hands shook considerably more than they had moments ago as he lifted the eyewear off her face and stared into her deep blue eyes. Huge eyes. Frightened eyes.

“Oh, God. I thought…” Jaxon let the goggles fall from his hand. A lock of silky hair caught in his fingers and he let the tresses dangle between them as they cascaded to her shoulders.

He let go with a start, as though she’d shocked him. “Wow, umm…” He abruptly stood and turned away.

Hastily he retraced his steps back to the entrance to the cave. Hands trembling, he grabbed his pack and yanked it open. His fingers quickly found his jeans. He shook the denim free of the pouch and stepped into them with more haste than he’d ever donned clothing in his life. In fact, he hobbled a bit on each leg as he tried to maintain his balance on one foot and then the other. His c*ck grew larger by the second, knowing his mate sat behind him. Jaxon didn’t bother with the button. The partially raised zipper would have to suffice for now.