To Protect His Mate (10 page)

Pulling back from that kiss was one of the hardest things he had done in a while, but he needed to see her, to touch her, or he’d lose control. Her skin was like warm velvet, and her hair felt like silk as it ran through his fingers. She gazed up at him, and he sensed her growing need, could see her body responding to his.

Through the sheer fabric of her tiny gown, he saw how her nipples had grown darker, now puckered. They were no doubt becoming more sensitive with every shift of the material covering them. Abraham slid his hands from her hair to her shoulders before easing the straps down her arms and letting the ghost of a garment drift to the floor.

With one arm around her waist, his other hand found one round breast and kneaded the sensitive mound of flesh as he backed her up. Once he had her against the wall, Abraham replaced his hand with his mouth, gently suckling the tender peak and savoring the whimpering moans from his mate. With his hands now free, he moved them down and over her lush backside while hooking his thumbs in the waistband of her lacy white thong.

When she stood naked before him, he pulled back. The sight was breathtaking! Her breasts were supple and round, heaving with her labored breaths. Her flat belly was smooth, with only the faintest marks that told of her past child. The scar, however, drew him. He knew the scar would always remind her of that terrible day. So he kissed it.

Stephanie sucked in a startled breath. How could she have forgotten about her scar and the stretch marks that marred her lower stomach? God, how she hoped the sight of them didn’t deter him. She was so far past the point of no return she thought she might die if he stopped now.

As if sensing her thoughts—which he probably had—Abe whispered, “You’re amazing.”

She felt it then, his awe and love, but it was his lust that merged with her own and left her panting. He was just as affected by the situation as she was and not the least bit put off by her body.

His head dipped, and he placed a soft kiss to her hip as his hands guided her legs into a wider stance.

“Hold on to me,” he growled before ducking his head again. He dragged his tongue over her core, stroking, plunging before gently suckling the tiny bundle of nerves at her clit.

Stephanie cried out, her back arching, as her orgasm quickly approached. It was, oh, so good, but she wanted Abraham to be there with her, needed him to be a part of her. When he kissed a trail back up her body, stopping again to pay attention to each breast, her knees weakened.

Lord, what this man was capable of!

“Lift your leg to my hip,” he growled at her neck, still kissing and nibbling at the sensitive flesh and causing tiny shudders to run through her body. When she complied, Abraham quickly lifted her other leg, snarled, “Mine!” and plunged inside her body to the hilt.

Stephanie’s body stiffened with her next cry, but Abraham knew it was a cry of pleasure and not pain. He thanked the heavens above because he was so far gone now his beast was more in control than he was.

His wolf was finally claiming its mate and would not allow Abraham the control to temper his loving. Their mating wasn’t in the least gentle. She was against the wall, her legs around his waist as he continuously thrust, hard and fast, into her tiny body.

When the first flutters of her inner muscles began, her orgasm building, Abraham knew it was time.

“Stephanie, I love you,” he whispered before sinking his teeth into her tender flesh, just where her neck and shoulder met, and began pounding into her with a ferocity that terrified even him.

“Oh, God, Abe, yes!” she shouted. He sensed no pain, only pleasure, and so he let his beast have control.

She was dying. Surely, one couldn’t survive pleasure this intense.

The tight, heated knot in her womb exploded on his next thrust, and still, he kept riding her, throwing her higher still into a release beyond anything she’d ever known.

A moment later, she felt love, lust, pleasure, relief, contentment, awe, and realized she was feeling what Abraham was. It was unbelievable. She sensed all his insecurities, though she’d thought he had none. She knew the depth of his love for her, and that nothing would ever separate them from one another. She also saw a flash in her mind’s eye of a dark wolf and felt the contentment of Abe’s inner beast as it seemed to look right at her.

Stephanie made sure Abraham felt her love, as well, as a tear dropped from her eye. “This is so amazing,” she whispered, afraid to ruin the peaceful moment. “I love you, Abraham, so much.”

“I love you, too, Stephanie.” Kissing her neck where he’d marked her as his own, he carried her to the shower, not separating their bodies until he stepped beneath the warm spray with her. “Let’s get cleaned up then we’ll grab a quick bite. You’re going to need your energy because I am nowhere near done with you.”

Cocking an eyebrow, she purred, “Really?”

“Really.”

“Well, then maybe, I’ll get a chance to take you against the wall later on.” The way his eyes flared and his hands clenched at her hips told her he liked that idea as much as she did. “That whole couch thing sounded pretty fun, too. Tell me, though, isn’t it a little ironic that a werewolf enjoys doggy-style?”

He laughed, hugging her to him and whispering all of the things he wished to do to her. By the time he finished, Stephanie was pretty sure she was running hotter than the water and anxious to fulfill every one of the fantasies that had tortured her over the last week.

Chapter Twelve

The next several days were spent in a sexual haze. It seemed as if they couldn’t look at each other without ending up in a sweaty heap.

Floors, walls, sofas, chairs, bathtubs, showers, beds, countertops, it seemed as if they’d made love on every available surface in the house, and
still,
they couldn’t keep their hands off one another.

The bond they shared simply amazed her. Now, she knew what he’d talked about when he’d spoken of
feeling
her emotions. It was as if you felt them yourself, like they became your own.

She noted his amusement when she squealed at his tickling, the comfort they shared while in each other’s arms, and the amazing depth of his love for her. She was humbled by the sheer intensity of it all. Never had she dreamed a man would care this deeply for her or share such an intimate bond.

The feeling was mutual on every level. Stephanie was so happy she bordered on euphoric because she knew this man loved her unconditionally. This man was hers forever. He’d see to her happiness as she would to his and be the father to their future children…

Her hand went to her lower stomach, and she rested her palm over the scar. Abraham was right. She’d never gained closure with her daughter’s death. She needed to work on that.

“What’s wrong, Steph?” His deep voice never failed to send a shiver down her spine.

“Just thinking about closure,” she replied. “I need to mourn her properly, or I’ll never get over this guilt or the feeling of loss that’s always there.” Stephanie looked into his beautiful eyes and was lost. “I want kids, Abe. I want beautiful babies with silvery eyes and chubby cheeks. I want to be a mother and see you become a father.”

His warm smile, as well as the tenderness in his eyes, had hers welling with tears.

“I would love to have a family with you, and I’m working on a surprise for you, as well. It should be completed in a few days. Just in time for Christmas, actually.”

“Oh! I need to call Sarah, and we still need to have our wrapping party.” She’d nearly forgotten. Sarah was holding several gifts for her while a few were due to be delivered to Abe’s house.

She couldn’t very well have Sarah and Erik’s gifts sent to their home.

“A wrapping party?”

“Yeah. We’ll get together and wrap all of the presents while we drink eggnog and swap funny Christmas stories.” She shrugged before picking up the phone. “I guess it’s not exactly something guys would do, but we enjoy it.”

“So does that mean guys aren’t invited? I can help you wrap if you’d like.”

Stephanie glanced at the tree and laughed softly. Abraham, for all of his gruff persona and his attention to details, had absolutely no talent for wrapping gifts.

Underneath the Christmas tree, there were dozens of gifts in an assortment of colored wrapping. The styles of those wrap jobs, however, differed greatly.

While many were neatly wrapped, their corners tucked and taped just so, the others resembled giant candies. It appeared that he’d rolled the gifts in wrapping paper then twisted the ends instead of folding and taping. It was actually really cute, and she easily pictured him teaching their children to wrap the same way.

“Okay, so it’s not fancy, but you still can’t see what the present is,” he grumbled, hanging his head a little.

“Abe, I know your feelings aren’t hurt because I can feel you trying not to laugh,” Stephanie scolded, laughing herself when he looked up and winked. “I do love this playful side you have.”

“Only with you, babe. I’ve got a reputation to uphold,” he growled as he pulled her into his lap.

“You’re just a big ol’ teddy bear.”

“No, I’m just a bear. There’s no
teddy
to it.”

“Then how about I wear the teddy?”

His low rumbling growl and the surge of lust that she felt had Stephanie ducking out of his arms and sprinting down the hall. Abraham was hard on her heels.

She’d just call Sarah in a few hours.

Chapter Thirteen

“Good lord, Stephanie, how many gifts did you buy?” Sarah whined as she wrapped yet another package.

“I’ll admit I enjoy Christmas shopping a little too much, but I just can’t help it. I had most of my shopping done already, but since I was cooped up here for a week after the accident, with Abe avoiding me, I ended up doing some more online shopping.” Stephanie just shrugged and grabbed another gift.

“So,” Angela began, “what did you decide to get for Abraham?”

“I can’t say. It’s a surprise.” Stephanie blushed. “We decided to have our own little celebration on Christmas Eve. He already gave me one of my gifts,” she announced, unable to hide her excitement. “He got me another Ruger, exactly like my first one, but this gun has a hot pink grip.”

“I thought I heard gunshots,” Sarah remarked. She placed a bow on her last gift and sighed. “Is it time for eggnog and cookies yet? I’m starving.”

“Sure. I put a chicken casserole in the oven earlier, so we can have some of that, as well.” Stephanie rose and started for the kitchen, only to whirl back around. “Sarah, I wanted to give you one of your gifts early, since it’s sort of, um, not really a Christmas type of gift.”

Sarah looked puzzled, yet curious, and Angela merely rolled her eyes. “You two go on ahead, and I’ll set the food out while you do that,” she offered.

“I still have a few gifts that are supposed to be delivered today, but with the snow starting to come down again, I’m not sure if they’ll come out this far.” Since the gift in question was an integral part of her gift for Abraham, Stephanie had been fretting over its delay for two days now. “Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, so I don’t know if they will even be doing any deliveries.”

“Everything will work out just fine. Now, you girls go, and I’ll get dinner together. Just keep an ear out, and I’ll call for you.”

“Thank you.” Stephanie grabbed Sarah and pulled her down the hall. “You’re going to love this! Erik will probably skin me alive, but you’ll like it.”

“All right, I’m definitely curious now.”

Stephanie rushed across the bedroom to the closet and ducked inside. She’d been shopping for a new gun when Abraham had decided to give her that gift early, so she’d just ended up browsing the site for a while and found several things she thought Sarah might enjoy. “Here you go.”

Sarah accepted the bright red bag and settled herself on the foot of the bed. “You know, this is the first Christmas gift I’ve received since I was seventeen,” she whispered. “Thank you.”

Stephanie had suspected as much since Sarah had been on the run for six years before she came to Erik’s, but it still broke Stephanie’s heart to hear it. “Open it!”

Sarah grinned and flung the tissue paper to the side to gaze down into the bag. “Brass knuckles? Throwing knives? A belt holster and targets?” Sarah burst out laughing. “You’re right. Erik’s going to freak out, but I
love
it.”

“Oh! Let me show you the gun Abraham gave me.” Stephanie moved to the side of the bed and reached under the mattress to retrieve her new Ruger. “His guns were all too heavy,” she explained, “so he ordered this for me and gave it to me early when he caught me shopping online.”

“Well, I hope you can use it because I’m pretty sure we have a problem.” Angela came into the room speaking softly. “There’s a deliveryman here who has a package, addressed to you, but claims only
you
can sign for it.”

“Okay, it’s probably the rings I ordered.” Stephanie beamed a smile at the two women frowning at her. Unable to keep her secret a moment longer, she announced, “I’m going to ask Abraham to marry me tomorrow. They’re wedding bands!”

“Sweetheart, while that news thrills me to no end, this delivery man may be carrying a gun. I can smell the oil from where he’s cleaned one recently, but I can’t pick up any gunpowder. Now, please tell me you’re loaded and ready, because I’m not about to lose either of you girls to this asshole,” she growled.

Stephanie was stunned speechless. They’d found her. They were at the house, and Abraham was gone.

Fear had her breaking out in a cold sweat before a wave of burning rage took over.

Abraham
.

“Abe’s coming,” she whispered. “And he’s
pissed
.”

“He feels your fear. The scent is strong, so the emotion is strong, too” Sarah explained. A smile of pure anticipation split her face then. “Erik’s not too happy right now, either.”

“Why not?” Angela asked, peeking out the bedroom door.

“Because I’m ready to play with my new toys,” she replied, laying her knives and brass knuckles on the bed. “No doubt he’s with Abe and knows something’s up.”