The Fairy Tales Collection (30 page)

Have you lost your mind?  You can’t
claim her!

His wolf howled angrily.  It wanted to
claim its mate and it snarled and howled again when Rafe retracted his fangs
and licked the faint indents in Rowan’s skin.  He buried his face in the curve
of her neck and inhaled deeply as she rubbed his back in slow, smooth strokes.

“Too heavy?”  He mumbled.

She shook her head. “No, don’t move.”

He tried to soothe his wolf as Rowan
continued to rub his back.  After a while, his wolf retreated, growling softly,
and he rolled off of her.  She curled up next to him and wrapped her body
around his, squeezing him tightly before resting her head on his shoulder.  He
needed to leave, staying in her bed all night was not a good idea.  But he was
tired of fighting with his own goddamn wolf and if he left, it would start up
its incessant clamoring for Rowan again.

Just the wolf?

He stared blankly at the ceiling.  No, not
just his wolf.  He didn’t want to leave her bed tonight – ever if he was really
being honest with himself – and he decided he would allow himself to stay with
her tonight.  Tomorrow he would end it.  He had to, for both their sakes.

And when your wolf demands to see his
mate?

He sighed inwardly.  Rowan wasn’t his mate
and just because his wolf thought she was, didn’t make it true.  He just had to
be strong, ignore his wolf and eventually the damn thing would forget about the
redhead.

“Rafe?  Will you stay with me tonight?” 
Rowan asked sleepily.

“Yes.”  He pulled her even closer before
reaching down and tugging the quilt over their naked bodies.

“Good,” she mumbled.  She kissed the hickey
on his neck before squeezing his waist.  She was asleep within minutes and when
her breathing was deep and even, he kissed her affectionately on the forehead
and stroked her soft red hair.  He was growing tired and, as he drifted toward
sleep, he didn’t argue when his wolf growled softly at him.

Bring our mate to our den.  We need to
keep her safe.

“My mate,” he murmured, his arm tightening
around Rowan as he began to snore softly.

Rowan squirmed against the sharp pressure
on her ribs before opening her eyes and squinting blearily at Rafe.  “Too
tight, honey.”

He didn’t reply and she poked him in the
ribs.  “Rafe, stop squeezing me so hard.”

A frown flickered across his face before he
relaxed his grip on her.  Without opening his eyes, he muttered, “I’m sorry, my
mate.”

Rowan’s eyes widened and she half-sat up. 
Rafe immediately pulled her back down, flipping her to her back and slinging
one heavily-muscled thigh across hers before cupping her breast.

“You’re mine.  Sleep, my mate,” he sighed
into her hair before lapsing into snoring again.

Rowan stared up at the ceiling, her heart
pounding too fast, and her limbs vibrating.  Rafe wanted her for more than just
fucking.  He wanted a relationship with her.  Calling her his mate was a bit –
okay, a lot – weird but she didn’t care what the fuck he called her.  She had
fallen head over heels for Rafe Taggert and while she wasn’t entirely certain
it was love, she did know she wanted to be with him and only him. 

He would try and push her away in the
morning, she had no doubt of it, and she decided she wouldn’t fight him on it. 
A small grin crossed her face.  She didn’t need to fight him on it – he’d come
back to her.  He couldn’t resist her any more than she could resist him and
after what happened at the bar tonight, he wouldn’t stay away from her for more
than a day or two.

Hey, Ro?  You wanna really think this
through for a minute?  The guy is fifteen years older than you and you know
nothing about him.  Just because you’re really good at fucking each other
doesn’t mean you’re destined to be together forever.  He could kick puppies or
love those wretched rom-coms for all you know.  Plus, he growls when you’re
having sex.  Oh and the fangs?  Did you forget about the fangs?

She rubbed his arm again before closing her
eyes.  Rafe didn’t have fangs.  She had just imagined them the night they had
sex in the woods.  And the growling – was it really actually growling?  Guys
made lots of weird noises during sex, hell, she probably did too.

Rowan, you’re being deliberately obtuse
about –

She shut down her inner voice and shifted
closer to Rafe’s warm body.  She was tired and she wanted to enjoy having Rafe
in her bed.  She didn’t need to worry about that other shit right now.

“Morning, Rafe,” Rowan said cheerfully when
he joined her in her tiny kitchen early the next morning.

He was fully dressed and she studied his
jean-covered ass.  “I guess morning sex is off the table, huh?”

He flushed and edged for the door.  “I need
to go, Rowan.”

“I know,” she replied before turning back
to the stove.  She opened the oven door and bent and his wolf growled happily. 
Unlike him, she hadn’t dressed and he studied the curve of her ass in her tiny
sleep shorts.  Jesus, her ass was practically hanging out of them and he had to
stop from stalking over, yanking down her shorts and fucking her doggy style
against the counter.

His wolf made another growl of happiness
both at the thought of fucking his mate and at the delicious smell that was
permeating the kitchen.  He lifted his head and inhaled deeply as Rowan
straightened.  Her face was flushed and he watched as she shut off the oven
before moving to the fridge.

“What’s that smell?”  He asked.  His
stomach growled loudly and Rowan laughed as she pulled out some eggs from the
fridge and set them on the counter.

“Breakfast.  Steak and eggs today.”

His jaw dropped.  “You eat steak and eggs
for breakfast?”

“I am this morning.  I’m always starving
after sex and it sounds like you are too,” she said with another low laugh.

His mouth watered as she cracked the eggs
into the pan on the stove.  “Can you make yourself useful and set the table? 
Plates are to the right of the stove and the silverware is in the farthest
drawer.  There’s juice or water in the fridge and coffee.  I’ll have water and
a coffee, please.”

His stomach growled again as Rowan took the
two steaks from the oven and set them on a hot pad on the counter. 

“Rafe,” she prompted and he moved into the
kitchen and set the table as his wolf howled with delight.

Fifteen minutes later he was sitting across
from her and eating the most delicious steak he’d ever tasted.  She had cooked
them rare and he cocked his head at her as she ate a bite of steak before
taking a sip of coffee.

“How did you know I liked it rare?”  He
asked.

“Lucky guess.”  She finished off her egg
before cutting another piece of steak.  “Enjoying it?”

“It’s delicious,” he said.

“Good,” she replied before cutting one more
piece and then placing the remainder of her steak on his plate.  “Eat more.”

He frowned at her.  “You only ate a few
bites.”

“I’m getting pretty full,” she said before
grabbing an apple from the bowl on the table and biting into it.  “Stop looking
at me like I’m going to starve.  I eat smaller and more frequent meals.”

He studied her as he chewed.  His mate was
on the small side - female wolf shifters tended to be larger - but he loved
everything about her body from her small, pert breasts to her tiny, firm ass.

“Did I hurt you last night?”  He asked
suddenly.

“Of course not,” she said.  “Why would you
think that?”

“I’m a lot bigger than you.”

She laughed.  “I’m tough, Rafe.  Don’t
worry about it.”

Yes, for how small she was his mate was
rather tough.  It was part of his attraction to her.  Watching her take on the
three assholes in the parking lot of the Woodsmen Pub had made him so horny,
he’d had to deliberately stop from shifting to his human form or he would have
fucked her in the parking lot.  He had scared her by approaching her in his
wolf form but he had needed to touch her, needed to reassure himself that she
was fine.  Surprisingly, she had not freaked out nearly as much as she should
have.

He finished his steak and helped her clear
the table, placing the dishes in the dishwasher as she scrubbed the pan.  It
was surprising how much he was enjoying the domesticity of the moment and he
ignored his wolf when it growled at him to take Rowan to their den.

He couldn’t take Rowan to his cabin.  If he
did, there was the strong possibility that he’d never let her leave.  Although,
he thought with a small grin, he was pretty sure if she wanted to leave, he
wouldn’t be able to stop her.  He had a feeling that what Rowan wanted, Rowan
got.

“What’s funny?”  She asked as she dried her
hands with the dishtowel and leaned against the counter.

He studied the way her thin tank top clung
to her breasts and licked his lips as his fangs threatened to pop out.

“Rafe?”

He tore his gaze from her chest and blushed
slightly at the look on her face.

“Uh, nothing.  Listen, I’d better go.  I’m
cutting Marjorie Wilkins’ lawn this morning and if I’m late, she’ll give me
hell.”

She nodded and he shuddered with pleasure
when she pressed her slender body against his and kissed him lightly on the
mouth.  “Bye, Rafe.  Thanks for last night – it was fun.”

His wolf made an indignant whine and he
tried not to scowl at his mate’s flippant remark.  He was about to tell her
they couldn’t do this again - it was better if she wasn’t attached to him.

“Um, yes, it really was,” he said before
plunging forward.  “But, Rowan, we can’t keep doing this, okay?  It’s all kinds
of wrong and if people found out that we were sleeping together…”

He trailed off and gave her an anxious
look.  “Listen, I get that I’m being an asshole and I’m sorry for giving you
all sorts of mixed messages but I really mean it this time.  We can’t - we
can’t have sex again.  Okay?”

“Okay,” Rowan said.  “I’ll see you around,
Rafe.”

He gaped at her as his wolf snarled in
horror.  “I – what?”

“I said okay,” she replied.  “I want you
but I’m not going to keep begging.  I’m not that pathetic.  Besides, there are
plenty of other guys in this town and I – “

He growled angrily and pushed her up
against the counter, one hand cupping the back of her neck and the other
squeezing her narrow hip.  “You are not to go near another male.  No one
touches you but me.  Say it, Rowan.”

She shook her head.  “No.  You won’t sleep
with me but I’m not allowed to sleep with other men?  That isn’t how it works,
Mr. Taggert.  You don’t get to tell me who I can and can’t have sex with.”

He growled again and twitched wildly when
she stood on her tiptoes and kissed his chin.  “Let me go, please.  I need to
have a shower and run some errands.”

He released her and said, “You told me you
didn’t want anyone else but me.  You said that I belonged to you and that you
wouldn’t fuck anyone but me, remember?”

She cocked her head before nodding.  “I did
say that, didn’t I?”

“Yes,” he said anxiously.  “You did.”

She grinned at him before patting his broad
chest.  “Thanks again, Rafe.  Lock the door on your way out, would you?”

“Rowan,” he said as she left the kitchen,
“are you going to fuck someone else?”

“Not today,” she called out cheerfully. 
“Bye, Rafe.”

* * *

“So you really let Rafe believe you’re
going to sleep with other men?”  Ella asked as she sank down onto the couch
next to Belle.

Rowan grinned at her from the armchair. 
“Sort of, but in my defense, I told him I wouldn’t sleep with anyone
yesterday.”

Belle laughed and sipped at her glass of
wine.  “Did he show up at Gaston’s last night?”

“No,” Rowan replied.  “I thought maybe he
would be waiting for me here when I was finished work but he wasn’t.”

“Are you worried that he really is going to
stay away from now on?”  Belle asked.

“I’m not,” Rowan said.  “He can’t resist me
any more than I can resist him.  You saw how he reacted at Gaston’s on Friday
and you heard what he said.  He wants more than just sex, I know it.  He called
me his mate for God’s sake.”

She gave her friends a hesitant look. 
“Calling me his mate is weird, right?”

“I’ve heard weirder,” Ella said cheerfully.

“It’s not that I mind, but who calls someone
their mate?”  Rowan said.  She stared at the beer in her hand before taking a
swig from the bottle.  “I like Rafe, hell, I like him way more than I should,
but there’s some weird shit about him.”

“What do you mean?”  Belle asked before
giving Ella a nervous look.

“He growls in bed, like an honest-to-God
growl, and I swear sometimes his eyes change colour.  Then there’s the whole
mate thing and the strolling through the forest nude, and I think his stubble thickens
when we’re having sex.”

“How strange,” Ella said.

“Are you sure you’re not just imagining
it?”  Belle said.  “Like, maybe he’s so good at sex that you hallucinate.”

“Those are weird things to hallucinate,
Belle,” Ella said.

Belle gave her a pointed look.  “No,
they’re not, Ella.”

“I think they are,” Ella replied.

As Rowan finished her beer and stood, Belle
stomped lightly on Ella’s foot and glared at her.  Ella grinned cheekily at her
before turning to Rowan.  “So, Rafe growls, his eyes change colour and he grows
a beard… what could that mean?”

“Ella,” Belle hissed under her breath as
Rowan started toward the kitchen. 

“I don’t know,” Rowan replied.  “Like I
said – it’s weird.  I’m going to grab another beer.  Do you want more wine?”

“No, thanks,” Belle said.  She waited until
Rowan had left the room before grabbing Ella’s arm.  “What are you doing? 
Duncan and Bennett will kill you if you say anything.”

“I haven’t said anything,” Ella replied. 
“I’m just trying to help my friend figure out the mystery that is her new
boyfriend.”

Belle snorted soft laughter as Ella grinned
at her.  “C’mon, Belle, you know it would be so much easier if Rowan knew about
our men.”

“It would,” Belle admitted.  “But we
promised them we wouldn’t say anything.”

“And we’re not,” Ella said.  She checked
the doorway before saying in a low voice, “Neither of us have told Rowan that
Rafe is a wolf shifter.  And it’s not our fault that he can’t keep his wolf
side under control when they’re having sex.”

“True,” Belle said.

Ella grinned at her.  “So, are you going to
help me to help Rowan figure out what’s going on with Rafe?”

Belle hesitated before nodding.  “Yup.”

“That’s my girl!”  Ella said cheerfully.

* * *

Rafe stood outside the door of his mate’s
apartment.  It was Sunday night and he could no longer stand the ceaseless
whining of his wolf.  He hadn’t slept at all Saturday night, and he had spent
most of today pacing restlessly back and forth in his cabin as his wolf growled
and whimpered incessantly for his mate.  He didn’t think she would sleep with
another, he
hoped
she wouldn’t, but she wasn’t a shifter and she
wouldn’t feel the same pull for him as he felt for her. 

Bite her, claim her, and we won’t need
to worry about other males taking our mate
, his
wolf demanded.

He cocked his head, his eyes glowing bright
green, as he heard his mate’s soft footsteps.  He could smell her scent and he
sniffed the air, growling under his breath, before knocking lightly on the
door.  His cock was a stiff spike in his jeans and his heart was pounding
wildly.  His wolf whined in delight when the door opened.

“Rafe?”  His mate said in surprise.  “I
didn’t expect to see you – “

He growled loudly and reached for her.  He
kissed her violently, shoving his tongue into her mouth as he propelled her
backwards into the kitchen.  She made a muffled noise and he boosted her up on
the counter, wrapping one hand in her thick red hair to hold her steady and
sliding his other hand under her shirt.  He grunted impatiently at the feel of
her bra and lengthened one nail into a razor-sharp point, slicing through the
shoulder strap before yanking the cup down.  He squeezed her breast, pinching
the nipple and kissing her more deeply when she tried to pull her mouth from
his.

His mate was saying something, her small
hands were pushing at his chest, but he was frantic with need for her and he
pushed his body between her narrow thighs, grinding his erection against her
pussy.

“Rafe, stop!”

“Please, my mate,” he muttered against her
mouth. “I need you.  Don’t push me away.”

He tried to yank her shirt over her head
and she punched him firmly in the side.  He winced, the pain cutting through
his haze of desire, and gave her a hurt look.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “but you need to
listen to me.”

“I need you, my mate,” he whispered.  “I
need you so badly and I can’t – “

He stopped, his body stiffening as he
tasted two new scents in the air.  He began to growl and his mate tightened her
thighs around his waist as he bared his teeth in an angry snarl and looked over
his shoulder.

“Hello, Rafe,” Belle said as Ella grinned
like a maniac at him.