ROMANCE: Mason (Bad Boy Alpha Male Stepbrother Romance Boxset) (New Adult Contemporary Stepbrother Romance Collection) (8 page)

-x-x-x-

“When you said breakfast on the lake, after the carriage ride at least, I was expecting an actual lake.”

“I’m full of surprises,” Chris said, grabbing her hand and leading her inside the restaurant titled The Lakeview.

“It is nice though,” Sasha grinned, smiling as the waitress led them over to the only table in the restaurant. “You did not?” Sasha asked in astonishment, looking around at the empty dining hall.

“What, rent out the entire restaurant for just the two of us? Yeah,” Chris shrugged, “no big deal.”

“Well, at least you’re humble. Even if it’s sarcastically so,” Sasha teased, taking the seat that Chris had pulled out for her.

“I do have to keep up appearances dear,” he laughed, “but, to be honest, yeah, I’m kind of a big deal.”

“And that is why I have no qualms about ordering every expensive thing on the menu. So, I thank you.”

Chris’ arrogant smile wavered a little bit as Sasha quirked a challenging eyebrow up at him over the menu. “A problem, Mr. Big Deal?”

“No, no of course not. Order whatever you like.”

-x-x-x-

The day was going surprisingly well. It had not been at all what Sasha would have expected. They had taken their coffee and muffins from the coffee shop and went people-watching in the town square. The picnic that Sasha had expected to be on a nicely cut patch of grass somewhere, happened to be on the highest balcony at the hotel.

And now, they were well on their way on a moonlit walk around town, midnight fast approaching.

“So, am I going to get that midnight kiss you talked about?” Chris asked, wrapping one arm around Sasha’s waist and taking her hand in his free one.

“Depends, how happy of an ending can you give me?”

Chris laughed, making Sasha roll her eyes.

“Really?” she challenged, “you got a dirty joke out of that. What are we, five?”

“Only occasionally,” Chris reassured her. “And yes, I feel very confident in my ability to give you a happy ending, whichever way you chose to define it.”

“Well thank you,” Sasha smiled, “I’m glad; very comforting.”

“It should be,” Chris smiled, pausing under a street light and twirling Sasha for a moment.

“And now I really am a princess,” Sasha grinned, curtseying after she had come to a stop.

“You always have been. I just hope that, well, if you’ll have me, that I get to be your prince.”

Sasha stopped, smile sobering into a cautious look as she realized that Chris was serious, and their previous joking mood had essentially evaporated.

“Way to get all serious on me,” Sasha said, attempting a smile but failing.

“Sorry,” Chris said, moving so that he was facing her directly. “I just, it’s been a week and a half; I know all of this is happening ridiculously fast, and they’re expecting a hell of a lot from us. But, I, well, I think that I could see myself with you. That being with you for the rest of my life wouldn’t be so terrible.”

“Oh, thanks. I’m glad to know that you don’t think being with me would be terrible.”

Chris chuckled, ducking his head. “I’m sorry, I’m not good with words when they actually mean something. I guess, what I’m saying is, I’m willing, I mean, more than willing, I’d like to go through with the mating as planned.”

“Oh,” Sasha said, unable to come up with anything else to say. She didn’t know why she was so surprised by the conversation, it had to be coming any day now. But, still, she wasn’t ready for it.

“Oh?” Chris asked, words equally as hollow as Sasha’s had been.

“I don’t know,” Sasha said, struggling. “I’m not good with this either. I mean, if it’s anything, it’s a consideration. Prior to meeting you, I couldn’t have said that. I was originally against the idea of an arranged mating with every fiber of my being. Now, I’m less against it because it’s you. Still, it’s a bit early to be confessing my undying love for you.”

“That’s not what I’m doing,” Chris said, “I’m just, trying to get things out in the open. This isn’t a moment like in the movies where we ride off into the sunset, but, I am developing feelings for you. Real feelings-”

“As opposed to fake ones.”

“Thank you for the interruption,” Chris said sarcastically, “but yes, genuine feelings. And I could even see myself falling in love with you one day. I just want to know if you could see the same.”

Sasha was quiet for a long while, unable to meet Chris’ penetrating gaze as she tried to gather her thoughts.

“Look Chris-”

“Oh boy, that doesn’t sound good-”

“Let me finish.” Sasha smiled, holding up a hand for him to wait. “Like you said, this is a really short amount of time to be formulating or trying to formulate such potentially serious feelings. This is a very serious thing we’re talking about. I don’t really know what to tell you.”

“I just want the truth.”

“Well I don’t really know the truth,” Sasha snapped, looking away. “I don’t like being . . .  vulnerable like this okay? It’s hard for me, so, I’m trying here.”

Chris was silent, something Sasha was surprised to see that felt even more uncomfortable than the conversation itself.

“Look Chris, if I’m going to be honest and just put it all out there, yes, I like you. You are attractive, funny, smart, which I didn’t expect. Especially that last quality.”

“Hey!”

“But,” Sasha said, smiling again, “I like you, you are a great guy and yes, because I know you’re dying to ask, I think I could see myself mating with you and not finding it terrible. Satisfied?”

Chris smirked, wrapping an arm around Sasha and pulling her closer to him. “For now” he said, leaning down and placing a soft kiss on her lips.

Sasha sighed into the contact, eyes fluttering shut as Chris tightened his grip around her waist. She brought a hand up to tangle in his hair, pulling him in closer. Much sooner than Sasha would have liked, Chris pulled back, smiling at her.

“Well,” he began, “I’m glad to know that we don’t find one another terrible. Now, shall we go back to the hotel?”

Sasha smiled, shaking her head at Chris’ joke as she grabbed his hand. “Yes, let’s. Besides, I could really use a drink.”

Chris laughed, leading Sasha back to the waiting carriage. All in all, if asked, the two of them would agree that it had been a good day. They just had to see how the next few went.

-x-x-x-

“So, what’s the plan for the day?” Chris asked tiredly, rolling over to look at Sasha.

After much haggling, Sasha had finally agreed to allow Chris under the covers, and as loathe as she was to admit it, he was a great pillow. It was the big day. The day they were meant to head back to Sasha’s pack house where both of their packs would be joined to await their decision on whether or not they would mate.

While it was phrased as a command, at the end of the day, as pack Betas, the choice of whether or not to mate was still their decision.

“What do you mean?” Sasha said around a yawn, stretching. “We have to be back by eight.”

“Yes well, that’s nearly twelve hours from now. So, in the interim, what would you like to do?”

“I’d like to get a few more minutes of sleep and be first in the shower so I can get some hot water.”

“Well, no problem; after waking up next to you I will almost certainly be needing a cold shower anyways, so, take your time.”

Sasha smiled, giving him a brief kiss on the lips before hopping out of the bed, heading for the shower. “Thank you, I will. And get ready, if I’m up this early I’m going to be needing coffee.”

“Ma’am yes ma’am,” Chris yawned.

-x-x-x-

The ride back home was a long and quiet one. Chris had said since they had exhausted all of the attractions in town that they would leave early and take the scenic route. Thankfully, Chris had agreed to drive slowly, which allowed Sasha to sip her coffee with ease.

The day was pleasantly filled with coffee trips, diner stops, fights over the radio and playful banter. And, as much fun as they were having, they both knew it was all a distraction to get their minds off of the imminent decision they had to make.

As the hours ticked by on the road, the playful nature of the car ride was becoming more and more tense. The closer they got, the larger the decision seemed to get. And it was already a massive one.

Chris was humming to himself, they had turned the radio off and the sun was quickly setting. He reached out, wordlessly taking Sasha’s hand and running his thumb along the back.

“So?”

“So,” Sasha said, just as blankly.

“I think you know my feelings on the matter,” Chris said, and I would love to hear yours given that we’ll be there in about thirty minutes.”

“Do I know your feelings on the matter?” Sasha asked, stalling.

Chris smiled, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. “Of course you do. I like you Sasha, a lot, and, I want to go forward with the mating.”

Sasha hummed; he had been very straightforward, not what Sasha had been hoping. She’d wanted time to stall.

“Your turn.”

Sasha laughed, squeezing his hand just a bit tighter for a moment before looking down at her lap.

“Well, I guess, I don’t object.”

“Nu-uh,” Chris said, squeezing back. “You’ll have to do better than that. You’re not just going to walk into this thing with the only reason being that you don’t object. If you want me to do the talking and call this thing off, I will. You just say the word. But if you really don’t object, and actually
want
to go forward with this, I’m going to need to hear you say it.”

Sasha sighed, looking out the window pensively. She doesn’t like giving up control, and if she agreed to the arranged mating, then that would be just what she would be doing. But, she thought, as she looked over at Chris, she didn’t think that she’d mind it quite as much if Chris was the one sharing it with her.

“Well,” she finally said, taking his hand and placing it between both of her own. “I guess, all things considered, I like you too. Let’s do this thing. Let’s mate.”

Chris grinned, chuckling at her blunt wording. “Really?”

Sasha smiled, feeling oddly free with the utterance of her words. She brought his hand up and kissed the back of it. “Really.”

-x-x-x-

Two days after they had been back, and it was finally the day. Sasha had never been the type of girl when she was little to dream about her wedding day, but had she ever taken it into consideration; she didn’t think it would have been like this.

She and Chris stood facing one another on the lawn of her pack house, both of their packs lined up on either side of the walkway to watch the ceremony. Chris’ pack leader, a big, burly man with graying hair named Cramer, officiated the ceremony.

Sasha was dressed simply in a blue summer dress, and Chris wore khaki slacks and a lilac button-up. He had brought her a bunch of flowers from the surrounding fields as a bouquet. There were no bridesmaids or groomsmen, just their packs, their agreement, and the small gap between them that would soon be nonexistent.

Sasha heard everything as if listening with a cup to her ear through a wooden door. All she could do was concentrate on the man before her and wonder if she was making the right decision. She repeated the words when asked, vows a bit different than at a typical wedding given that it was more of a werewolf life-mating ceremony, and smiled when Chris tried to offer her reassurance with the squeeze of his hand.

Finally, it came time to say the only thing that mattered.

“I do,” she said, waiting for Cramer to untie their wrapped hands and grant their bond.

“I now pronounce you bonded,” Cramer said, stepping back and clapping with the rest of the pack as Chris wrapped his hands around her and brought her in for a deep kiss.

Sasha went through a dazed state as she listened to the cheers and congratulations, the well wishes and the support, as she and Chris walked hand-in-hand through their packs to his waiting car that had ‘Just married’ on the back. Chris opened the door for her, giving her a hand as she sat in the passenger seat and buckled up, while Chris ran around to the front door. With one last wave to their packs, they took off to a hotel Cramer had kindly paid for ten minutes away.

-x-x-x-

Chris hadn’t been so nervous in a long time, especially not over a woman. He waited on the bed, clothed in his wedding outfit waiting for Sasha to come out of the bathroom. She had said that she was going in to freshen up, whatever that meant, and had been there for over ten minutes. He hoped she hadn’t changed her mind and snuck out a window. If it even had a window.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t even hear the bathroom door when it opened.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Sasha asked, startling him out of his reverie.

Chris turned around, eyes widening at the woman before him.

Sasha had her usual sassy smirk on, but her eyes betrayed a bit of her insecurity from being so exposed. She wore simple lingerie; the bra was white lace while the bodice was a transparent material that revealed her stomach. She wore matching white lace panties, and a ruffled garter on her right thigh that she had had on under her dress. Her hair was curled, falling gracefully on her shoulders and down her back, and her lips were painted a vibrant red.

Chris licked his lips, mouth suddenly dry. “Wondering what you were doing. I had no idea. . . ” he trailed off.

“No idea what?”

Chris shook his hand, standing up and walking over to her slowly, “No idea you could get any more beautiful than you already are.”

Sasha smiled, placing her hands on his shoulders and bringing him closer. “I had no idea that you could be such a sweet talker.”

“You’d be surprised,” Chris said, winking at her before picking her up.

Sasha let out a small scream of surprise; she was a curvaceous woman of decent size, and no one had ever tried to pick her up before. She should have realized that Chris was no ordinary man.

She wrapped her legs around him to stay balanced, letting him gently set her down on the bed.

He sat back on his knees, resting between her thighs as he took her in, eyes raking slowly over her body. Sasha smiled, leaning up on her elbows and tilting her eyes, silently asking if all he planned to do was watch.

Chris smirked, teasingly unbuttoning his shirt and pulling it over and off his biceps. Sasha loved the way his muscles rippled under his tan skin. She reached out to pull him closer, but he gently took her hands, kissing the wrists before moving her arms to rest back down on the bed.

He lowered himself onto his stomach, pulling her in closer by her legs as he began trailing hot kisses from her ankle up to her inner thigh tantalizingly slowly. Her breath hitched as he finally reached his destination, licking the outside of her already wet panties before pulling them down and off.

Sasha groaned, hands tangling in his hair and guiding his movement, arching her back in response. Her eyes fluttered shut; he was quite skilled with his tongue. She let out a small whimper when he stopped, and he started kissing his way up to her breasts.

She grinned, using her hands to work his belt loose and undo the fly of his pants. He quickly divested himself of his pants and underwear. Sasha brought him close, capturing his lips in a heated kiss as he parted her thighs further to give him room.

She gasped, nails digging into his back as he entered her. Everything passed in a blur for her as she rode on a tidal wave of sensation. Neither of them knew if it was a process of the mating bond taking effect, or simply who they were with, but it was surreal. The sensations coursed through their veins as they clung to one another. Lips were bitten, thighs bruised and backs scratched as they writhed together.

When they finally reached their peak and tipped over the edge, the taste of the other on their lips, they couldn’t help thinking that yes, they’d made the right decision.