THOMAS: Le Beau Brothers - New Orleans Billionaire Wolf Shifters with plus sized BBW for mates (Le Beau Series Book 4) (8 page)

‘I will complete the mating ritual with you.’

“Then we make love as I make my vow to you:

‘I claim you as my mate.

‘I belong to you as you belong to me.

‘I give you my heart and my body.

‘I will protect you even with my life.

‘I give you all I am.

‘I share my half of our soul to complete you.

‘I share my magic with you.’ Here is where I bite your neck, then say,

‘I beseech the great Luna Goddess to bless you and your wolf guardian.

‘You are my mate to cherish today and for all time.

‘I claim you as my mate.’

“Then you say those same words to me and bite me in the same manner. Do you have any questions?”

Thomas shook his head as he furiously wrote the last few words.

Looking closely at Thomas’s hair, she slowly ran her fingers through it and watched the multitude of colors and highlights flash in the table lamp’s glow. “I’m guessing you will be more of a brownish or tan wolf.”

Julia’s wolf voiced its approval at her assessment.

“I can hear you rumbling, babe.” Thomas chuckled.

“Around you, I can’t seem to help myself.” She shrugged.

“I’m guessing since I’m in my mid–twenties; I won’t have any physical changes like Mom and Rose had. I will just get my wolf soul, my wolf, and special gift. Right?”

“Yes. By the way, do you have any special abilities now as a human?”

Thomas told Julia all about his super sensor for violence and trouble. They both agreed that his sense would more than likely be enhanced by the conversion. It was a little scary to think of it getting stronger than it already was.

“Don’t forget,
you’ll also have a longer life. Shifters live to be around fourteen hundred years old. I’m one hundred ninety myself.”

“That makes you a cougar, doesn’t it?” Thomas teased.

Julia gaped at him and swatted him a good one for that remark. Her flabbergasted expression made him laugh even harder.

“Hey, I just thought of something,” Thomas said with a frown. “If you’re one hundred sixty-five years older than me, are you going to start aging again at nine hundred and leave me behind? I don’t think I like that idea.”

“From what I’ve heard, the mates somehow sync their aging process. I will ask around to see if you will age sooner or if my aging will take longer while I wait for you to catch up.”

“I don’t care which way it goes as long as we do it together,” Thomas said with a happy smile.

“That’s my man,” Julia said as she snuggled closer to him again.

“Since you’re over one hundred, did you ever have to change your identity to cover up your age?”

“Only once so far. I was born with the name Emily.”

“That’s a pretty name. But I like Julia better.”

“Thanks,” Julia blushed at his compliment. “I liked being able to choose my own name verses being stuck with the one my mother chose.”

Thomas was in heaven holding Julia close and watching an action movie. He couldn’t imagine a better first date.

The last couple days had passed quickly, and today Jack and Michael were scheduled to arrive at the Le Beau plantation after sundown. Thomas knew once the guys came to the plantation, he would be very busy, so he made a plan.

He couldn’t wait another minute to see Julia again. The past two days had been agonizing, and the foreseeable future looked even less promising.

Women like surprises, right?

He thought his plan to show up unannounced was perfect. He would surprise her for a lunch date and maybe get a kiss or two.

What he hadn’t expected was a hot tub...and certainly not the bikini.

Pulling his boat up to the pier at The Backwater, Thomas was hot and sweaty. March in the mountains of Colorado was cold, and snow followed by more cold and snow. In the bayou of Louisiana, the average temperature was in the seventies, and the humidity was ninety percent.

Good Lord, with this much moisture in the air, shouldn’t it just rain?

As he approached her front door, he heard music on the other side of the house. He rounded the corner and daaammn! She was in a hot tub he hadn’t remembered seeing the other night.

Sheeee-it! What was that song about an itsy bitsy, teeny weeny, polka dot bikini? Whatever it was, he was living it. In Technicolor, no less.

S
on–of–a–bitch
, now his tongue was numb. Had it fallen out? He glanced around his feet as if he would find it lying there.

The weather wasn’t the only thing making Thomas hot.

And sweaty, and more than a little bit bothered.

Julia was relaxing with her head leaning back over the padded edge of the hot tub, eyes shut. He wasn’t sure if she was napping or awake.

Apparently that distinction didn’t matter to his mouth; it was watering like an out of control sprinkler over her display of enticing cleavage and curves.

It didn’t seem to matter to his lower extremities either; his body had exploded to life. All he had to do was stand there and gawk for his libido to rev into overdrive.

That’s when his heart started pounding, and he panicked. Should he acknowledge he was here? Or back off and pretend he’d just arrived?

Crud. What was the best way to handle this?  He didn’t want to be a peeping tom pervert, and yet he didn’t want to lie to her either.

Holy cow. I am one lucky bastard,
was all he could formulate in his mind as his eyes traveled over every bit of flesh he could see.

She was incredible.

He recalled the old pinup posters his father had on the walls in the garage. If he was right, they were the sex symbols of the forties. Julia would give any one of them a run for their money.

Suddenly the hair on the back of her neck stood up, and a prickle of awareness slammed through her body. Thomas was near. She slowly turned around to see if he was really there.

Aw, shit! He must have made a sound.

Julia squeaked in alarm when she saw the silhouette of a man standing at the edge of the house. With the sun at his back, she couldn’t see who it was. On reflex, the items on the table beside the hot tub rose in the air, ready to do battle.

“It’s me, Thomas,” he quickly shouted. “Please, don’t whack me with those.”

“Oh.” The items settled back to the tabletop as if they had never moved. Exhaling her alarm away, she watched him place his hands on his hips, as his shoulders rose and fell with the deep breaths he took. She must have startled him as badly as he had her.

He only half heard her response, thanks to the blood pounding in his ears. With her turned the way she was, he could see all of her. And he meant ALL of her from the waist up.

Holy fright!

She was in a microscopic red bikini that barely covered her nipples. A blessedly, barely there scrap of material only he would be seeing on her from this second forward. An itsy, bitsy, swimsuit he would be fantasizing about pulling off with his teeth for weeks to come. Hell, maybe months.

Damn. This was the best moment of his life.  And he would be sporting wood every time he pictured her in that hot tub just like this.

Finding his brain cells, he was finally able to string words together. “Good Lord, babe,” Thomas growled as he walked to the edge of the tub. “You look amazing. Those classic pin up girls from the forties have nothing on you.”

Julia made an unladylike sound. “Yeah, right,” she scoffed.

Thomas frowned. “I mean it. You’re smoking hot.” Then he quickly looked around as if to verify they were alone. “You don’t let other guys see you in that bathing suit, do you?”

“Hell no! If I had known you were coming over, you wouldn’t be seeing it either.”

He chuckled at her disgruntled expression. “Then I’m damn glad I didn’t call ahead. There’s no way I would miss this view.”

Thomas cupped her face and gave her a proper hello kiss.

“If my embarrassment comes with a dozen of those, I will gladly suffer the humiliation.”

“You have dibs on all my kisses from now on.”

“The last time a man saw me in a bikini, well, let’s just say, he had some very derogatory comments. But if you like it, I’m happy to oblige.”

“Who’s the ass? I’ll beat the crap out of him.”

“One of the men my mother tried to pair me up with,” she replied. “I’m pretty sure you’re the only man who thinks these extra pounds are sexy.”

He stiffened, his gut clenched at her attitude of little to no self–esteem.

“You couldn’t be more wrong,” he growled.

“The past six guys I was presented to by her said, and I quote, ‘You’re kidding, right? Where is your actual daughter? There’s no way this fat chick is your pup.’”

Shock and anger coursed through Thomas. His fist clenched and unclenched, itching to strangle his not yet mother–in–law. Lucinda was a mean hearted, selfish bitch who didn’t deserve her daughter. Hell, she didn’t deserve oxygen.

“Your mother has a lot to answer for. I can’t honestly say I’ll be polite the next time I see her. There are a few things I need to straighten her out about.”

“Don’t waste your breath. She’s too stupid or too bullheaded to hear a word that contradicts her beliefs.”

“At least tell me you don’t believe those bastards. You’re so smoking hot I’m about to split my jeans.”

“Really?” Julia said, her eyes growing hot. “Maybe I should investigate that claim?”

He nodded with a sexy grin. And it was time he made his attraction to her perfectly clear. Without the slightest hesitation, he pulled his shirt over his head and dropped his jeans.

Julia gasped as he joined her, naked as the day he was born, in the tub.

Thomas was determined to remove all doubt from her mind about just how sexy he found her. If his words wouldn’t convince her, his ridged erection should go a long way to prove his point. Well, that and he planned to show her several times today through actions and words just how much a real man loved a woman with soft curves.

“You seem to be rather happy to see me,” Julia giggled as he snuggled her close.

“Damn straight. And don’t you forget it.”

Julia had never been a forward woman, but, dang it, her smoking hot, totally ripped mate, made her sweat under the water of the hot tub. Was that even physically possible?  His thumb rubbing languidly up and down her arm had her body quivering in anticipation of more intimate contact. Ah, heck. Now her mouth was getting in on the action, watering like a spigot on high over his muscled chest and abs.

“This I could get used to,” Thomas said as he pulled her onto his very naked lap. No imagination needed there.

Thomas’s gaze was smoldering and burned with his unspoken lust.

Holy smokes! He really is turned on by my body.

Yes. I am. And don’t you ever forget it, woman.

“This sure is pretty, what are you drinking?” Thomas asked, examining her pink and blue cocktail.

She passed her glass to him so he could taste it as she answered. “A Kinky Hook Up.”

Mid–swallow and he was choking and sputtering like a blue haired old lady at the porno movie.

“A what?” he asked as he caught his breath.

Julia laughed as his reaction. “A Kinky Hook Up. It’s Kinky pink, Kinky blue, with lemon–lime soda. They’re really yummy. Most of the guys at the bar would never admit it, but they order them all the time.”

“It is tasty, not that I would admit that in public, mind you,” he grinned and then teased her. “Men require macho drinks, like whiskey in a shot glass.”

“Oh, they do?”

“Heck, yeah. We have reputations to uphold. Otherwise someone might try to kick our ass. Oh, yeah. That already happened.”

Julia blushed and wiggled off his lap. “Sorry about that.”

Before he could stop her, she was out of the hot tub and wrapped in a towel.

“I’m going to get some clothes on.” Silently she walked to the house.

When she came down the hall from her bedroom, Thomas was waiting in the living room. Fully dressed, thank Goddess.

“What just happened here?” he asked with confusion etched across his features.

“I’m pretty sure the attack on you was my fault. Or, should I say, my mother’s.”

“If that was orchestrated by Lucinda, it wasn’t your fault.”

“Maybe so, but she did it to keep me from dating a human. So, essentially it was kind of my fault.”

“Babe, look at me.” He lifted her chin with one gentle finger. “Her actions are not your fault or responsibility. She will have to answer for that if she is found responsible. Do you understand me?”

Julia nodded.

“Good.” Taking her by the hand, he led her to the loveseat. “If you have a few minutes, I wanted to talk to you about a few things.”

“All right.” His sexy, deep voice sent goosebumps over her arms, not to mention raised her blood pressure to a dangerous level. “What about?”

“Well, for one thing, that incredible sexy bikini is officially for my eyes only,” he stated, a smile evident in his tone. “As manly and strong as I am, I can’t spend my time beating men off you twenty–four seven.”

His dimples dazzled her as he smiled wide. Dimples she hadn’t seen before, mainly because he’d never really smiled like this before. That smile was something she planned on seeing a lot. It made her heart stutter and stomach flutter.

“You sure are beautiful when you look at me like that.”

Julia just grinned at him and snuggled into his side.
Goddess, I love those dimples, but no need to give him a big head over it.

You like my dimples, huh.

Shit.

Thomas laughed at her bright pink cheeks as he tucked a stray hair behind her ear.

“You keep looking at me like that, and I’ll never get around to telling you why I came over.”

Heat flashed down her neck and lower as she tried to hide her embarrassment.

As if he could see through her clothing he said, “I love it when you blush. But, I wonder if the pretty color goes all the way down to more – interesting places?”

She smacked him on the arm, and he chuckled again.

“I wanted to see you today before Jack and Michael arrive at the plantation. Etienne says they are ready to join the security team, and I need to have a meeting with them and Isaac before we can move forward.”

“So why did you need to see me first?” Julia frowned.

“Based on what Etienne was telling me, his training crew is in Las Vegas. He feels we will be much more effective as a team if we train and practice together with his crew for a few weeks. That way I can learn the vampires’ abilities and how best to blend them with the shifters.”

Julia became very quiet. “I see.”

“I hate to leave you right now, but it can’t be helped. How about we plan a date night for the day I come home?”

His suggestion lightened the weight on her chest a bit. “Okay. What did you have in mind?”

“I have an early flight back three Mondays from now, so how about dinner in the Quarter? You pick the restaurant, and I’ll make reservations.”

“How about Irene’s?”

“Great! I love Italian food. Before I leave, can I get your work schedule? I’d like to call you or Skype when you have free time. I’d hate to bother you at work.”

Julia wrote out her schedule for the next three weeks with a sad heart. Being away from him that long was going to kill her. Not that she would tell him that. He had a job to do, and she wouldn’t cause him any guilt doing it.

“Here you go,” she said as cheerfully as she could.

“Thanks, babe.” Thomas pulled her in for a long toe– curling kiss before he leaned his forehead against hers. “Damn, I hate the thought of not seeing you for so long. Will you be okay? This isn’t going to cause you pain, is it?”

Julia knew she had to lie; otherwise he would refuse to go. “No, of course not. I’ll be fine.”

All he had to do was ask any shifter, and he would know the truth. Her mate being that far away without the ritual completed would be excruciating.