Mating Dance (9 page)

“I can’t thank you enough for this,” she
said finally.

“No problem, sweetheart,” John answered, his
smile returning. “I haven’t had this much fun in a long time. You
should’ve seen that guy run.” John and the others dissolved into
guffaws and laughing comments about the way the reporter had
screamed and scampered away when confronted by a half dozen big,
angry bears.

“I don’t know what he made of the polar
bear,” Brody mumbled, setting the men off laughing again. “I didn’t
expect Sven to come on the raid, but it was good to have him along.
Confused the hell out of that reporter.”

“Maybe he thought he was seeing a ghost. All
that white fur in the pitch black forest,” John added,
chuckling.

As the laughter died down again, Ashley
turned to hug Tom. “I was so worried the guy might’ve had a gun. I
know you’re fierce and all, but what if he’d shot you?”

“Oh, honey,” Tom crooned to her, stroking
her hair. “It takes more than one or two conventional bullets to
stop one of us. And we’re all ex-military. We’ve faced guns before.
Many times. We know what we’re doing. Even if he had been armed, he
wouldn’t have been given a chance to get even one shot off at any
of us.”

“As it is, we confiscated his weapons as
well as his personal belongings,” Brody put in.

Ashley whirled to face the deputy who was
now part of the family. “He
was
armed?”

“
Was
being the operational word
there, Ash,” Brody reminded her. “When he saw us bearing down on
him, he ran. The little arsenal he had in his tent was useless to
him, but it’ll provide further ammunition—if you’ll pardon the
pun—against him. Most of those firearms aren’t quite legal for him
to be carrying here. I’ve got them locked up in the back of my
truck, and he’s not getting them back.”

Ashley couldn’t believe how casually they
were all taking this news, but then again, they were vets. Maybe
weapons weren’t that big a deal to them, like they were to
civilians.

“Regardless, I’m glad you guys are whole,
and I’m really incredibly touched that you’d help me this way.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.” Words were inadequate to
express the wealth of feeling, but they would have to suffice for
now. She’d find a way to thank everyone for standing by her.
Somehow. Someday. She’d return the favor, with interest.

“Think nothing of it, Ashley. Welcome to the
community and just know that you are under the protection of our
Clan, such as it is. You may not be a bear, but you have the heart
of one,” John said, looking from Ash to Tom and back again. “I’m
out of here. Gotta get some sleep to be properly mayoral tomorrow.
I’m hoping the reporter will call.” He grinned as he walked out,
leaving the two couples and Tina.

Tina was the next to leave. “I’m going
upstairs. I’m glad everybody is okay.” She yawned as she headed for
the stairs, leaving the two couples behind.

“We’re outta here too,” Brody said next,
ushering Nell toward the door. His truck was still parked at the
curb. “See you guys tomorrow.”

“Thanks, Brody,” Ashley called after them.
“See ya tomorrow, sis.”

“At last, we’re alone,” Tom mused as the
door shut behind the other couple.

Ashley laughed, despite the worry that had
come before. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” she said, running her
fingers through his hair. “I was so worried.”

Chapter
Twelve

“Wanna go to my place?” Tom asked, but
Ashley shook her head.

“I don’t want to leave Tina here alone, just
in case that reporter comes back.” Tom looked resigned, but he
nodded. He seemed about to pull away from her when she placed one
hand on his shoulder. “But my room has a queen size bed, and the
walls are pretty thick. Why don’t you come upstairs?”

Tom grinned, and it was as if the sun had
come out in her soul. “I thought you’d never ask.”

Ashley paused to lock up, Tom at her side.
When all was secure, they went up the stairs together, eager steps
taking them quickly through the apartment to her room, which was at
the front of the building. She had one of the two bedrooms that had
the great view of the cove.

Nell had claimed the other front room but
had been spending most of her nights at Brody’s since they’d gotten
engaged. Poor Tina had been stuck with the bedroom at the back of
the building, but that worked in Ashley’s favor now, since it was
doubtful Tina would hear anything, even if Tom made Ashley scream
with pleasure. Which, after last night, she realized, was a very
real possibility.

But Tom didn’t pounce on her the moment the
door was shut. Instead, he sat with her on the edge of the bed,
taking her hands in his. The moment felt serious, and Ashley
frowned, feeling doubt creep in. Was he going to ask to slow things
down? Was he going to dump her?

“Ashley,” Tom began, his tone so serious she
began to fret. “There are a few things I want to discuss with
you.”

He seemed to be waiting for her to respond.
“Yes?” She was proud that her voice sounded much steadier than her
nerves.

“I hope you know by now that I will protect
you to my dying breath.”

Whoa. Heavy.
But was there a silent
but
on the end of that amazing sentence? When he didn’t
continue right away, she felt the need to make another response.
Was he waiting for her to acknowledge every sentence, or maybe… Was
he nervous too? Her fears started to recede a little.

“I hope it never comes to that,” she said
with a nervous laugh. “But I’m grateful that you feel so protective
of me. I can use all the help I can get with my past coming back to
haunt me like this.”

“Honey, you’ll never have to worry about
that again, as far as I’m concerned. In fact…” He paused, turning a
little more toward her, rubbing his thumbs over her knuckles as he
held her hands in his. “I don’t want to rush this, but, Ash, you
should know that when a shifter meets his mate, he often knows
almost right away. Like how quickly Brody and your sister got
together. That was pretty quick, right?”

“Yeah, sort of a whirlwind romance, you
might say,” she agreed, wondering where he was going with this.
Could he possibly mean…?

“Well, that’s normal for us. Some species
know on first scenting their mate. Some—the big cats—know they’ve
met their mate when they purr in human form, which is something
only their true mate can bring about. We believe that the Mother of
All has a hand in helping us find that one special person meant
just for us. Ashley…” he moved closer to her, his voice very
serious, “…I knew last night, when we made love, that you are my
mate. I want to be with you for the rest of our lives, and your
happiness and safety is at the center of my world.”

Ashley was speechless for a moment as an
incredulous sort of joy filled her being.

“Really?” She could hardly believe what he
was saying. This wasn’t a whirlwind romance. This was a tornado. A
benevolent but still shocking tornado. “You know that fast?”

“I do,” he answered solemnly. “But the
question is, can you return my feelings? Will you be my mate? My
wife, in human terms, though you should know, mating is forever.
There will never be another woman for me. Just you, Ashley Baker,
‘til the day I leave this world. And even then, I’ll await you on
the other side, until we can be together again. I love you. And I
will always love you.”

Ashley felt tears gathering behind her eyes.
They spilled down her cheeks at his profession of love. It was the
most beautiful thing any man had ever said to her, made all the
more poignant because it was Tom who was saying such wonderful
things.

She launched herself into his arms, talking
next to his ear, though her words were garbled with happy
tears.

“I love you too, Tom. So much. I can’t
imagine how this happened so fast, but I can’t imagine my life
without you in it.” She kissed him, little kisses wherever she
could reach—the side of his face, his ear, his neck. “Yes,” she
whispered, her heart in her throat. “Yes, I’ll be your mate. I
don’t want anyone else. After you, I could never be with anybody
else. You’re it for me, mister.”

He moved her head so he could claim her
lips, cradling her face in his warm, strong palms.

They wound up on the bed long minutes later,
having undressed each other with careless abandon. Ashley had taken
charge, coming down over Tom while he smiled up at her, his hands
on her hips, guiding her motion as she rode him. She liked the
feeling of power, the hard ridges of his muscles under her thighs
and against her palms.

Tom liked it too. She could see the
indulgent smile and lazy enjoyment in his half-lidded eyes. He was
such a handsome man, in every way. When he’d been tough, ready to
take on the world earlier this evening before he went out with the
other guys, she had seen the warrior side of his personality. Now
she was seeing the lover, once again. She liked everything she’d
seen of him and still couldn’t quite believe she’d get to watch him
grow old with her for the rest of their lives. She would enjoy
learning everything about him—especially how best to please
him.

She tried different rhythms, different
motions, until she found one that he seemed to particularly enjoy.
She rode him hard and kept increasing the pace until, at the last,
he had to guide her hips as she lost control. She spasmed around
him, and he came soon after, jerking his body upward, sealing them
together for long moments as he came deep within her.

They lazed in the aftermath, before round
two, side by side in her bed. It was just barely big enough for
both of them, but neither one was complaining. Ashley drew little
patterns on his chest with one finger as she lay on her side, his
arm tucked around her.

“You know, after you marry me, you could
practice law again, if you want. I could use some help. I get a
little too adversarial, sometimes, when a tenacious human lawyer
gets combative. You could run interference so I don’t accidentally,
on purpose, rip some jerk’s head off.” He chuckled as she stilled.
“Plus, you’re a great lawyer. Nothing that happened to you was your
fault. And when you marry me, you can take my last name and begin
again with a new identity. Nobody needs to know about your past.
You’d be a great help to the town as it grows, and to the Clan.
It’d be a shame to let all your education and hard work go to
waste. That is, if you want to. No pressure. You can do whatever
you like. I’m just offering up the possibility.”

“I hadn’t even considered every practicing
again, but you’re right. I went to law school because I really
wanted to help people. I’ve enjoyed the bakery, but that was my
sisters’ dream. Not mine. Not really. I’ve liked helping them, but
I would like to at least look into the idea of reclaiming my
profession, if you really think it’s possible.” She reached up to
kiss him. “You’re amazing for even thinking of it. I love you, Tom.
You’re a heck of a great guy.”

He grinned at her. “I love you too, my mate.
I never thought I’d find you, and you’ve been here for months. I
should’ve come into the bakery a lot sooner. I’m sorry it took me
so long to get here.”

“All that matters is that you’re here now,
and I’m not ever letting you go.”

“Amen to that.”

# # #

Thanks for reading
Mating Dance
(Grizzly Cove #2)
. If you enjoyed this book, please consider
leaving a review.

The next
Grizzly Cove
story is
called
Night Shift
. Scroll down for a sneak
peek…

A complete list of all of Bianca’s books, separated
by series, follows the excerpt. You can also check out Bianca’s
website at
WWW.BIANCADARC.COM
. Or you
can sign up for
Bianca’s Newsletter
to be
alerted when new books are released.

Excerpt from Night
Shift

© 2015 Bianca
D’Arc. All Rights Reserved.

Chapter One

Zak really liked the new duty Sheriff Brody
Chambers had him working. Every night since a reporter had come to
town to try to make trouble for Ashley, the middle of the three
Baker sisters, the sheriff, who was now mated to the eldest sister,
Nell, had sent Zak to watch over the youngest sister, Tina. Tina
worked the night shift at the bakery the three sisters owned, and
since it was the only place that served food in their new town so
far, a lot of people frequented it.

The baked goods were downright delicious.
The sisters used natural ingredients, including a lot of honey,
which was a favorite of Zak’s and most of the town, for that
matter. It was true that bears really did like the sweet stuff.

Zak had been admiring Tina from afar since
she’d moved to town, but hadn’t really had much chance to get close
to her since they both worked the night shift. He hadn’t had much
reason to stop in at the bakery while on duty until now, and he was
taking full advantage of the sheriff’s request that he keep an eye
on the one remaining, unmated sister.

Brody had claimed the eldest sister, and
about two weeks later, Tom Masdan, the town lawyer had announced
his relationship with the middle sister, Ashley. Turns out, they
were both lawyers, though Ashley had given up a high-powered career
when a rat in her New York firm had made her look bad and
inadvertently caused grief for her client. Unfortunately the client
had been very high profile and tragedy had resulted from the poorly
handled court case. Ashley had needed to go into hiding from the
press, which she had, right here in Grizzly Cove, working at her
sisters’ bakery.

In this tiny town, there were only two
lawmen at the moment. Brody worked days and Zak overlapped in the
afternoon, then worked the evenings alone, unless there was
trouble. Both of them were always on call, but then again, since
all of the men who formed the nucleus of the new community had
served together in the military, just about everyone in town could
act as backup, if needed. It was just that Brody and Zak had been
handed the roles of sheriff and deputy when the Alpha, Big John,
had been assigning tasks according to each man’s abilities and
desires.