Unexpectedly Mated (BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance): An Alpha male. A curvy but sassy BBW. A trip to Sin City neither will ever forget. (Sassy Mates) (13 page)

“Jake, don’t—”

“I do. I love you.” He took a step toward her. “Not because you’re beautiful, which you are.” Another step. “Not because you’re sexy as hell, which you also are.” He was a handful of feet of away now. “I love you…the person you try to hide from the world.”

She shook her head, her heart aching for everything she wanted but didn’t believe she could have.
“Jake...”

“I love the caring teacher.” He grabbed her hand in his and pulled her close. She met his gaze. Her throat constricted from fear and hope trying to take flight. “I love the funny silly wonderful friend.” He lifted his other hand to cup the nape of her neck and tug her forward.
“I love the woman that risked her life for her baby sister, even after I told her I’d take care of it.” He stared deep into her eyes. “I love all those yous. Because all of them together make my mate. My wife. The woman I love.”

“Jake your club—”
she started, hoping to apologize over calling him a womanizer for so long. Just because he owned that kind of business didn’t make him a liar or a cheater. She needed to apologize.

“I’ll sell it if it makes you happy
,” he offered without batting an eye.

“No!” She
shook her head. She had to explain. “I was scared of my feelings. I didn’t want to care for someone who didn’t love me back. I didn’t want to worry about you going to someone else after I was emotionally invested in you. In us.” She glanced at his lips and then back up at his eyes. “I’m sorry for calling you a womanizer. And I’m sorry I let my fear of loving you push us in separate ways.”

“I’ve never loved or wanted any other woman,” he said. “No one but you.
”

“Jake, you don’t have to
say all these things.”

“I do. I want you to know how I feel. You and only you make my life complete. Until I met you that day at my house, I had been missing a piece of me. The moment you entered my room, I knew you were it for me. I didn’t mind waiting. But I knew there would be nobody else.”

She gasped when he dropped down to one knee in front of the group. ‘Aw’ sounded from the people gathered around.

“What are you doing? We’re already married!” She tried to tug him back to his feet.

“Yes, but I never got a chance to ask you.” He pulled a velvet box out of his pocket and opened it to an engagement ring in canary yellow. “You wore that gold dress the night we got married and I will never forget how beautiful you looked in it. Will you take a chance on life with me? It might not be easy, but it will sure be worth it.”

Happiness flooded her heart and body. She nodded and watched him add the ring to sit next to her wedding band. The one she hadn’t had the heart to take off. Then she flung herself into his arms and the entire airport broke into applause.

“And that’s how you propose!” a woman passing by told the young girl next to her.

Jake got back to his feet and pulled her into his arms. “Let’s go back to the hotel. I can think of some fun things we can do in that tub.”

She kissed him hard, allowing him to feel how much she loved him through that single kiss. All the fear and worry about knowing how to love were gone. While she’d been trying to figure out if she could love him, she’d fallen in love with her wolf. There was no turning back.

She leaned back and finally said the words. “I love you.”

A sexy grin flirted over his lips. “I love you too, beautiful. Let’s go make some babies.”

She laughed. “You’re insane.”

He winked. “For you? Absolutely.” He leaned down to whisper by her ear, “come on, I want to watch you riding me, your tits bouncing while wearing those nipple clamps. It’s fucking hot as hell.”

He was incorrigible. But she no longer cared. She loved his dirty mouth and sexy ass.

Three Days later

The group was
ready for the actual bachelorette party to happen. Nic had talked Jake into being at the room later so she could have her wild way with him. According to Jake her body was going into heat and he sounded incredibly happy about it. All she knew was that she wanted him every hour of the day.

“Are you ready for your night of fun?”
she asked Jordan, who sat quietly by a window.

Jordan glanced up, her eyes filled with panic. “I don’t know if I can do this.”
She rushed into the closest bathroom and locked herself in.

Nic turned to Ellie, whose jaw was hanging open. “What the hell just happened?”

Barbara didn’t seem fazed. “They’re getting married. I have no doubt about that.”

“I think we need to ask Mason to distract Emma so we can plan something quick for Jordan and Aric
,” Ellie suggested.

“Like a wedding? But they’re already getting married
,” Shaari said, sounding as confused as Nic felt.

“Jordan doesn’t do lots of people or big groups.” Ellie shrugged. “It’s probably best if we try to get them hitched here, before she has a panic attack and cancels the entire thing.”

“But what about the wedding back home?” Nic asked.

Barbara smiled serenely. “We’ll renew their vows. It’s easy once she’s already done it. She won’t feel the same pressure anymore. Besides, we’ll all take over with Emma so she doesn’t have anything to do with it.”

“I guess we have a wedding to plan,” Shaari stated softly.

“A Vegas wedding
.” Barbara chuckled. “This is going to be awesome!”

READ ON FOR A SNEAK PEEK OF THE BOOK THAT STARTED IT ALL IN THE SASSY MATES SERIES . . .

“P
lease?” Jordan leaned
forward on the sofa and gave her best imitation of what Ellie called “puppy eyes.” A soft squeaking protested Jordan’s wiggling on the leather. She knew her enthusiasm probably rivaled that of a four year old at Christmas, but she was so close to cracking Ellie, she didn’t care.

“No.” Ellie’s voice didn’t sound as sure as it had the first five times Jordan had asked the same question.

“I thought you wanted me to write this book on shifter mating rituals? Don’t you think I need to watch it? I mean, I can’t just write a book on your history, for your family’s records, based solely on what you tell me. I have to see it.” Not really, but she was not telling Ellie that and messing up her chance of watching something so cool.

Ellie frowned. “Well—”

“Come on.” Jordan huddled closer to the edge of her seat, almost falling off in the process, once again rubbing the leather and making it whine. “Look, I swear to you, I will be on my best behavior. I won’t do anything to call attention to myself. I will just observe from the sidelines. Heck, I’ll observe from the distance with binoculars.”

Ellie rolled her gorgeous blue eyes and ran her fingers through her short blonde bob, making the strands glimmer under the light of her sitting room’s lamp. “I don’t remember a single time you have ever been on your best behavior.”

That was true. Jordan’s mouth always got her into some kind of trouble, especially with the other faculty at the school where she taught.

“Okay. I pinky promise.” She lifted her hand, curling all her fingers until only her wiggling pinky stood.

Ellie bit her lip and groaned, still unsure.

“I know shifters are not exactly common knowledge with most of the world. But you have to admit that with more human-shifter interaction, it’s only a matter of time before you guys lose a lot of your history. I promise to write a specific detailed account. Nothing but the history behind this event.” Her heart pounded so hard. She wanted to shake Ellie and order her to agree already.

“Jorda-a-an!” With the way Ellie said her name, in that soft sigh of defeat, Jordan knew she had her. “If I agree to this insanity, you have to swear not to do anything to let anyone know you guys are there! You will get me in so much trouble.”

Jordan struggled and failed to stop the smile from splitting her lips. “I promise! I promise! You know I am dying to see this whole scenting ritual.” She rushed to say. “Now why is it such a big deal to keep this all quiet?”

“Because,” Ellie leaned back on her sofa and stared at the ceiling, “this is an old tradition. Males and females from all over will come together to meet each other, some for the first time. Kelly and Marco are going to see if they are compatible.”

“But they’ve met once, right?”

“Yes, at a family gathering some months back. They didn’t even get a chance to talk. From what Mom said, their eyes did the talking for them. Apparently, it was instant. It’s why we’re having this ceremony. Tradition dictates we have it yearly, and the family is hoping it works out for Kelly and Marco.”

Jordan frowned remembering Ellie’s cousin Kelly and the guy they’d kept referring to as her potential mate. She tucked a long strand of dark hair behind her ear. “I still don’t understand. How can you guys just allow some tradition to tell you who your mate is?”

Shit. Jordan had a hard time with anyone telling her what to do to begin with. It was why she loved being an independent woman.

Ellie’s smile was weak. “We are part of a pack, and my father is Alpha. As such, I need to follow rules like everyone else. You’re lucky you’re human and don’t have to worry about any of this. And we don’t allow the tradition to tell us who our mate is. This is like a first date.”

“In front of a whole bunch of people.”

“Right.”

“Who happen to watch to see if you hit it off?”

“Yes.”

“And who’ll know who she has sex with at the end of the night.”

“Correct. Wait. What?”

“Sounds like the perfect date.” She snickered and almost choked on her wine.

“This is why I didn’t want you there. You, Emma, Nicole, and Karla are so going to get caught.”

“We won’t! We won’t. We’ll be super–spy, research ninjas. Quiet, but sexy smart.” She grinned.

“Oh brother,” Ellie groaned.

“Speaking of brothers. Are, um, your brothers going to be there?” What she really wanted to ask was if one particular brother was going to be there. God, she hoped not. The first time she’d seen Aric Wolfe, she’d been a thirteen-year-old with a crush the size of Alaska. One look was all it took, and her poor teenage heart had been in puppy-love for years. And though it’d been a crush for a long time, it had never gone away. In fact, with years, it had grown. She’d tried to date other men and rid herself of the idea that he’d ever look at a non-shifter for more than a friendship, but it was useless. With time, her attraction for him had grown deeper, into something she didn’t want to think too much about or it would make her hyperventilate.

Blue sparkles lit in Ellie’s eyes. “Yes,
all
my brothers will be there.”

Oh hell. “Then, yeah, I will hide off somewhere and never move a muscle. I promise.”

Ellie’s laughter, filled with unabashed delight, made her smile. “I still don’t understand why you’re so afraid of being around them.”

Yeah well, Jordan knew all about that super smelling-power shifters had. The last thing she wanted was for Aric to know how one glance at his body and those damn sexy muscles got her so turned on she’d likely start a fire. She could probably melt butter on her skin. “I think it’s best to keep my distance. I know your parents weren’t fond of their only daughter hanging with so many humans.”

Ellie shrugged. “It was either send me to regular school, or deal with packs of horny wolves hitting on their baby girl.” She grinned, grabbed her glass of wine, and sipped. “They knew humans don’t have our scenting or go into heat, so they decided to take the chance.”

Jordan drank her own wine, letting the fruity flavor slip and slide over her tongue. “Yeah, but I bet they didn’t think you’d end up bringing home an annoying, fat Latina for your new pet.”

Ellie rolled her eyes. “Who’s the wolf here, you or me?”

Good point. Ellie’s parents had cared for Jordan. A lot more than Jordan herself could ever understand. Even after all those years being so close to them and Ellie, she still couldn’t make any sense of why they done so much when her parents hadn’t cared at all. What was it about them that made them different? And there had to be some resentment in there. They’d practically adopted her.

“Alright. I’ve become like a second daughter since we became friends. That has to be annoying for them. I mean if they wanted more kids, they’d have had more the old fashioned way.”

Jordan found the whole shifter community absolutely fascinating. If it were up to her, she’d be all in their business trying to figure out how the whole animal-human thing worked.

“Why would you say they’d be annoyed by you?” Ellie’s face creased in a frown. “They like you. Heck, they love you more than any of their sons’ previous girlfriends. In fact, they like you more than most family we have. You’ve grown on them.”

Jordan snorted. “Yeah like fungus or a rash.”

“No, not like that. Like an unusual but lovely woman who needs a mate.”

“What?” She spit out the wine she’d had in her mouth. “Who said I needed a mate?”

Ellie laughed, put her glass down on the coffee table, and settled into the sofa with her feet under her. “My mother. She thinks you just need a strong man to help you realize what you are missing out on.”

“And that’s a mate?” Jordan coughed, trying to stop the choking. Her tummy churned with anxiety. She held Barbara Wolfe, Ellie’s mother, in high regard. But Jordan would never think a long-term relationship would fix her. Thinking of any kind of dependence on anyone made her feel slightly sick. She didn’t really trust most people enough for that.

“Yes. She was highly upset when I told her you broke up with your last boyfriend. She thinks you just haven’t been chased by the right one.”

Jordan continued to cough while Ellie giggled. “Mrs. Wolfe thinks I need to be chased?”

Well hell, maybe she was on to something. Chasing sounded fun. Usually Jordan was too prickly for men to make a move, unless they were sure of themselves. But even then, most of them turned out to be full of shit.

Ellie nodded, flipped on her back and stretched, rubbing her bare feet on the leather. “Of course, dad thinks you’re too independent and need a man to rein you in.”

Rein her in? What the hell was she, cattle? Tristan, Ellie’s dad, was so old school. “Yeah, that sounds like your dad.”

“Although, Aric—”

Jordan’s gaze jerked to Ellie’s face. The bemused smile on her was one Jordan had often seen when Ellie was up to no good. “Aric was present during these conversations?”

Ellie knew Jordan liked Aric to some degree. It’s not like she could hide it from her. The woman was a wolf. She could smell Jordan getting all kinds of turned on when Aric’s name popped up. But what she never told Ellie was how deep her feelings ran. That was something Jordan had trouble even thinking about.

Ellie’s eyes widened, filled with innocence. “Oh, yes.”

Fuck. Sweat gathered in her palms. Now her nerves were getting the best of her. Her stomach did all kinds of acrobatic flips. She’d have to ask or die wondering. And she was too curious not to know. “And what did he say?”

“It doesn’t matter. We both know you’re not looking for long term anyway. You like your independence.” She shut her eyes and sighed.

“Ellie!”

Ellie jerked her eyes open with a chuckle. “Fine, if you want to know, Aric thinks you are fine just the way you are.”

“Which means what?” She asked before she could stop herself. She’d always tried to control her interest in Ellie’s older brother, but sometimes Jordan’s hormones just ran away from her.

Aric. With his piercing dark eyes, eyes she swore begged her to strip every time he glanced her way. And that tall slightly tanned hard body filled with boundless muscles. So many muscles.

She cleared her throat. Visuals of running her nails down his six packs and nibbling on his belly button made her reach for her wine again. But it was the strong jaw and “I’ll eat your pussy really good” smile she couldn’t stop thinking about.

Ellie’s smile dimmed. “Aric said, in time, you’d find your mate and for everyone to leave you alone to decide your life yourself.”

Her hope deflated. It was what she’d always told everyone. Somehow, hearing that he’d said the same made her want to run to the liquor store and buy a barrel of wine.

A sharp pain pierced her heart, deeper and deeper until she wanted to cry. Though Jordan would rather dance around naked in public than admit her feelings for Aric, she had secretly continued to hope. Now, that hope was dead.

“That’s true. I can decide my life myself.”

She remembered thinking the same thing the night of her senior prom, until Aric had seen her. Memories flooded her mind. She’d walked down the hall in her sapphire blue dress to find him in the living room with Ellie. He’d given her a look she’d never forget. It was the kind of look she’d always wanted to see from him. And he’d lifted a hand to her face, caressed her cheek, and told her she looked beautiful. She’d almost melted into a blue spot on the floor. Her previous concern at going to the prom dateless with only Ellie as her companion had flown out the window. He’d been the only thing on her mind the rest of that night.

She cleared her throat, unwilling to think about Aric any longer. “So, back to this scenting ceremony, what exactly happens?”

“Well…” Ellie’s pale features turned a dark crimson with embarrassment.

Jordan started to worry about what went on. Would it be some rated R stuff? “Well what?”

“First, they start out as wolves and sniff each other.” She glanced at Jordan and bit her lip. “To see if the animals feel any kind of attraction.”

That made sense. Considering they were going to be mated forever, they needed to know if they were both compatible as humans and wolves, so nothing strange there. She stared at Ellie expectantly.

“They shift into their human bodies and scent each other that way too.”