What a Werewolf Wants (San Francisco Wolf Pack) (18 page)

“No offense,” Jeff said, “but what you’re expecting in a partner is the equivalent of a lightning strike. Your expectations are way too high. It’s no wonder you’re still single.”

A shocked gasp escaped her lips as Ryder tapped the head of the microphone and leaped onto the stage next to the head table. “Excuse me? Can I have your attention please?”

He
always
managed to hold her attention.

All eyes turned toward him as mumbles and hushes spread across the room.

“This will only take a minute,” he said, glancing at Mitch and Carrie, who were about to dig into their dinner. “I hope my best friend and his beautiful bride forgive me, but I’m about to become the psycho who stands up at a wedding and shouts a bunch of personal stuff that only a handful of guests will understand.” He paused, looking to Mitch and Carrie for approval before continuing on. Mitch shot him two thumbs up, and Carrie winked. “All right then. Never thought I’d be this guy, but here I am.” He sighed, slapping his hands against his sides. “Love makes you lose your mind, doesn’t it?”

Curious, Josie turned so she faced him completely.

“This should be good,” Jeff whispered into her ear as he slid an arm around her waist. “And by good, I mean terribly embarrassing for that poor schmuck.”

She shot him a glare meant to kill—had she really thought they would be perfect together?—and shut him out as Ryder started his speech.

“Today started off as the worst day of my life. I spent my morning playing golf—having the ugliest swing in the history of the game—and tried to drown myself in self-pity.” He lowered his gaze to the white-glossed dance floor. “And in my line of work, it’s easy to assume all marriages end in disaster.”

Questions moved over the crowd as dark whispers.

Where was he going with this?

“It’s the hazard of the job,” he went on, sweat beading on his brow. “Surround yourself with cheaters all day, and you’ll eventually assume everyone cheats. Divorce is a typical outcome.”

“Divorce talk at a wedding?” Jeff scoffed. “Perfect.”

Jerking out of his hold and away from his touch, she listened, heart in her throat.

Ryder was baring his soul in front of a roomful of strangers. It was so out of character.

“And then I spent my afternoon at a couple’s fortieth anniversary party, and it became one of the most pivotal points in my life,” he said, as the sun dropped below the city’s skyline behind him. “I realized I was so focused on the pain I’d feel if I lost the woman I love, that I dismissed the pain I’d feel if she was never mine at all.”

The crowd erupted in soft moans of delight. And everything else disappeared. Ryder met her gaze across the room, stunning her completely. He looked completely torn apart and spoke as if the words were tearing from his soul.

She shook her head. “I can’t believe he’s doing this.”

“Doing what?” Jeff said.

“Shh!”

Clutching the mic, Ryder spoke directly to her. As if the rest of the guests weren’t there, staring up at him, judging every word that came out of his mouth.

“I thought I knew what it’d be like to watch you with someone else, but when I saw you with
him
, the reality hit home. No one will be able to love you the way I do,” he said, voice full of pain. “By the way, it’s taking every ounce of my willpower not to snap his neck.” Pausing, he pointed at Jeff.

In the silence, Jeff looked up. “Who?” He searched behind him. “There’s gonna be a fight? Who’s he talking about?”

But she couldn’t answer. Ryder had erased the words from her brain.

“You’re mine, sweet angel,” he purred over the microphone. “I still don’t think I deserve you, but if you let me, I’ll work every single day on being the kind of man who is worthy of your love.”

Oh God.

“I’m going to love you with every breath in my lungs,” he said. “Every beat of my heart, and I’m never going to take a single day for granted. I’m not turning away from this. Not anymore.”

She could’ve combusted, right then and there.

Instead, a tear rolled down her cheek, and she shook her head. “If I’m yours,” she whispered, knowing he could hear her with his sensitive hearing, “then come and get me.”

Dropping the mic, Ryder jumped off the stage and charged around the tables toward her.

“Wait,” Jeff said. “He’s talking to you?”

She nodded, waiting for Ryder to sweep her into his arms and take her away from there.

When he approached her side, he roped his arm around her waist. It was a possessive move. And she danced inside. “If you don’t mind,” he said to Jeff, “I’m going to take care of her for the rest of the night.”

Jeff scoffed, standing back, folding his arms over his chest. “If that’s what she wants. Ask her.”

This was the moment she could turn Ryder away for good or let him back into her life. But there was no choice. Not really. One glance at those gorgeous blue eyes and she glimpsed his soul. He meant everything he’d said up there on that stage.

“I just might let him take care of me for the rest of my life,” she said, looking up at him. “That was the most romantic thing I’ve ever seen.”

Grinning wide, he tugged her against him. “So far.”

As Jeff’s mouth dropped open, he said, “You’re ditching me on our first date? At a wedding?”

“I’m sorry, Jeff, but it’s not going to happen.” Josie held Ryder tight. “I hope you meet someone who makes you feel this way, too.”

“You know what? That’s all right.” His gaze skipped to the bar near the back of the boat. “I had my eye on that camerawoman over there. Any idea if she’s taken?”

Liza?

Josie bit back a smile. “No idea, but go get her.”

As the guests applauded and Dr. Dumpster made his move on Liza, Ryder guided her onto the outer deck. With his arm around her waist, she felt illuminated, radiating happiness and tingling with delight. Under any other circumstance, she might’ve been offended by the way Ryder swooped in while she was on a date with someone else, but nothing about Jeff felt right. Well, he was right on paper…everything she’d always wanted. Only she didn’t. Not anymore. She wanted the man holding her close, the one who was guarding her against the cool sea breeze as they strode toward the open bow of the boat.

It struck her as strange. The “right one” on paper didn’t feel like it. And the one who felt right, perfectly sublime, hadn’t wanted to be tied down in a relationship.

“Do you know how hard that was for me?” he said, squeezing her against him. “Watching you talk to him from across the room?”

“I thought you meant talking in front of everyone.”

“That, too.” He sighed against her. “I was afraid you wouldn’t listen to me any other way. And please know I’m sincere, Josie. I meant every word I said up there.”

“I know you did.” She could feel it as if they were words spoken from his heart to hers. As if his soul had reached out for hers. She fought the urge to twist against him and plant a kiss on his mouth. “And so you know, even without the speech, nothing was going to happen between me and Jeff.”

“No?”

“No.”

When they reached the bow, Ryder guided her toward the rail and hugged her against him. His arms wrapped around her waist so that her back was against his chest, his head over her right shoulder. Couldn’t they stay this way forever?

“I thought he was the perfect guy for you,” Ryder said as they gazed out over the city, “the one who had every quality you wanted.”

She sighed against him, feeling more at home than ever in his arms. “Every quality I
thought
I wanted.”

His strong hands held her tight as he rested his head on her shoulder.

“I want you,” he whispered. “Only you.”

Doubt trickled into her heart. “For how long this time?”

He spun her around in his arms. She looked up into his crystal-blue eyes and lost herself all over again. “How about the next thousand years.” He stroked his hands down her hair. “You’re my fated mate—my Luminary. I was afraid to acknowledge what that meant. I thought I wouldn’t be able to handle the pain when things got hard and you left me.”

“Your fated mate?” She could hardly say the words. Air wouldn’t fill her lungs. “Like Mitch and Carrie?”

“You’re mine, and I’m yours, if you’ll have me after behaving so badly.”

“Oh, Ryder.” Her heart leaped as she coiled her arms around his neck. “Yes. Of course.”

“As long as you’re sure that you’re okay to handle this,” he said, hesitation making his voice shake. “The werewolf part of me and all?”

“I’m not afraid,” she said. “Not of the wolf inside you, or the future with you. I’m not sure yet if I want to be bitten and turned the way you were, but can we take that one step at a time?”

“Absolutely.” He nuzzled against her and kissed her cheek. “I love you with everything I am, Josie Cole.”

She melted, right then and there. “I love you, too.”

Arms wrapped around her back, he lifted her off her feet. She could hear his heartbeat, could feel the rise and fall of his lungs as he pressed against her. They were as close as they could be without melting into one. And that would come later.

As they passed beneath the amber lights of the Golden Gate Bridge, Ryder cupped her face in his hands and brushed his thumbs over her cheeks.

“What now?” he asked, gazing deep into her eyes. “This is uncharted territory for me.”

“We trust this.” She reached up on tiptoe and kissed him, putting all of the adoration she felt for him behind it. “It hasn’t fooled me yet.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

As he gazed deep into her eyes, there were no shadows or secrets. No deception or lies. No broken promises or hurt from the past.

There was only love.

And the perfect matching of two imperfect hearts.

Epilogue

Six months later

“Ryder, get in here,” Josie called, bouncing up and down on the couch in her apartment. “It’s showtime.”

Rushing from the kitchen, Ryder handed her a bowl of popcorn and jumped onto the couch beside her. The whole thing rocked as his weight hit. He wrapped his legs and arms around her and gently pressed her back against him.

Perfection.

After raising the volume, Josie chucked the remote on to the coffee table. “There she is. Martha Silverstone.” Nerves pinballed through her stomach as the special highlighting her company began. “I can’t believe today’s the day.”

“I’m proud of you, babe,” he said, kissing her cheek. “Thanks for letting me share your special day.”

There was nowhere she’d rather be while watching her special than with the love of her life. Shoving her hand into the popcorn bowl, she grabbed a handful and reached behind her, finding his mouth. Raking his teeth against her hand, he took the snack from her and then sucked her fingers into his mouth. Tingles of desire flowed from her arm, down her chest, straight to the juncture between her legs.

“Stop it,” she said, though she didn’t really mean it. “We’ll miss the show.”

He kissed her fingers and then rested his head on her shoulder to watch.

“Look.” She pointed, heart beating fast. “Who’s that handsome guy?”

“Mitch?”

Chuckling, she leaned back and kissed him. “You, my dear.”

She’d never loved him more.

Before delving into Cole Matchmaking Services, the show quickly painted a picture of the wedding week six months ago where she and Ryder had fallen in love. Then, once things picked up, Martha Silverstone skimmed over a few of the other couples she’d matched.

“They’re werewolves,” Ryder said offhandedly.

She spun in his arms. “What?”

“The couples you matched. Most of them are my packmates.”

The thought struck her as funny. “I wonder how many fated mates I matched in the record-setting hundred.”

He squeezed her tightly against him. “Maybe that’s why you’ve had such a huge success rate. You must have a special talent for sensing the Luminary bond.”

“Could that really be possible?” she wondered aloud. “I mean, how could I have known they were werewolves, or fated mates?”

“I don’t know.” He kissed the top of her head as she focused on the show once more. “But I bet it has something to do with the fact that you were destined to be a werewolf and live your life with me.”

God, nothing sounded sweeter.

“Look.” He whispered into her ear. “Isn’t that the guy you incorrectly matched when I was in your office? What was his name?”

A familiar face flashed over the television screen.

She leaned forward. “David Ransfield.”

“That’s right.” Ryder laughed. “You were going to hook him up with his ex-wife.”

“I felt they had a connection,” she said. “I still do.”

As the screen flickered to an image of the front of an elementary school and then a dark hallway lined with lockers, Ryder’s laugh died off. Josie watched, heart in her throat, as David Ransfield put a finger to his lips to quiet the camera crew.

“This is it,” David whispered, holding up a small velvet ring box. “The moment I admit how much of an idiot I’ve been the last few years.” His dark eyes glossed with tears. “I only hope she’ll be my wife…again.”

Ryder tightened his grip around Josie’s shoulders. “Your first instinct was right.”

Josie smiled, warming from the inside out as she watched David propose—again—in front of a classroom of children. His ex-wife cried, covered her mouth with her hands, and then jubilantly agreed to become his wife once more.

“Damn you’re good,” Ryder said. “Still not a single blemish on your record.”

“I didn’t set them up, though. After you left, I thought better of it and didn’t arrange a meeting. This can’t be accredited to me, or Cole Matchmaking Services at all.” Leaning back, Josie kissed her fated mate, so thankful, so incandescently happy. “David did this on his own.”

“Well, not
entirely
on his own.”

She spun, and met Ryder’s eyes. “What do you mean?”

“When I held David’s application in my hand, I made a note of his phone number and called after I walked out. I lied and told him I worked for your company—sorry about the deception, love.” He grinned, and the apology was instantly accepted. “I said the company had reason to believe there was still a connection there. I told him to call up his ex and beg for another chance.” Ryder kissed Josie on the tip of her nose. “A few weeks later, he called me back, saying they’d rekindled their love, and it was stronger than it’d been before.”

She could hardly believe it. “You did this?”

He brushed the back of his hand down her cheek. “I gave you such a hard time about their incompatibility that day…I didn’t want my attitude to be the reason a fated couple didn’t work out. And look what happened.” He sighed as he wrapped her up and squeezed tight. “They’re not werewolves, but they certainly have an undeniable connection.”

“Ryder,” she breathed, her heart beating fast as she relaxed into his embrace. “You never cease to amaze me.”

Beaming as if he were filled with light, David lifted his fiancée into his arms and spun her around. She buried her face against his neck and cried happy tears as the camera faded out to begin the love story of the next featured couple.

“I wonder what’ll happen when you transition,” Ryder said. “Your senses will heighten, as they always do, but I wonder if you’ll be able to sense fated mates by sight?”

“Wouldn’t that be a kick?”

As the special went on, Ryder said, “Have you given it much more thought?”

He didn’t need to explain what “it” was.

Turning into a werewolf, he meant.

It was all she could think about. He hadn’t rushed her. He’d stood by her side, a silent support, as she made up her own mind. Carrie had decided to have Mitch bite and turn her on their first-year wedding anniversary. She’d said it would be special that way.

But Josie wasn’t sure when she wanted it to happen.

Why wait?

“I have,” she whispered, craning her neck around to kiss his lips. “And I think I want to do it now.”

“Now?”

She nodded, feeling his heartbeat drum against her back. “Why not? My love for you has grown each day we’ve been together. I can’t imagine ever wanting to be apart from you.”

He caught her mouth with the softest of kisses, unraveling any tension that might’ve been balling in her middle. “I’ll never get enough of you. Not in a thousand years.”

“Then let’s prove you right.”

As the television special played in the background, he slowly stripped the shirt from her body, exposing her black lace bra. On a low groan that vibrated deep down in her core, he kneaded her breast with one hand and unhooked her bra with the other. Guiding it off, he kissed her neck, sending chills scattering over her skin.

She laid her head back on him, lost in a maelstrom of sensation.

Popping the buttons on her pants, he unzipped. Pushing off the ground, she lifted her hips off the couch and shimmied out of her pants, dragging her underwear with them.

“You’re so soft.” His words were nearly a growl as his hands explored her body with a heated urgency. “Your breasts…” He stroked his thumb over her nipples, tightening the tender flesh to buds. “Your lips…” He claimed her mouth, stroked his tongue over her lips, and then plunged it deep into her mouth. “And this…” He slid his hand to the juncture between her legs and parted her slick folds.

“Oh, Ryder…”

She was lost. Sinking into him. Bursting with want and raging need.

She tried to spin in his arms, but he held her still, pleasing her with his fingers and tongue, pressing her back against him. He swirled his fingers along her most sensitive flesh, and the pressure in her middle tightened. As if he could sense her rising pleasure, he flicked his tongue against her lower lip and then sucked it into his mouth. The orgasm ripped from her core as she cried out his name. She bucked against his hand as the luscious sensations overcame her again and again.

Orgasm waning, Josie stood to turn and face him. In the two seconds it took to readjust over him, he’d stripped naked, flinging his shirt behind him and kicking off his pants.

“You must be eager,” she said, a wicked grin curling her lips.

“For you?” He guided her over the top of him. “Always.”

One leg on either side of his hips, she lowered herself over him. He filled her completely. Fully. Stretching her to the max. She groaned, throwing her head back as their hips met.

“Josie…” Laying his head back so he could gaze up into her eyes, Ryder guided her hips in a slow rhythm over him. “How am I ever supposed to hold back with you?”

Taking the challenge, she rocked her hips, rolled over his shaft, and relished the pleasure rippling through her. He tightened, jaw to hip, as the rhythm sped and he buried himself to the hilt inside her.

“You’re going to make me come so hard,” he said on a low groan. “Tell me you love me.”

She slowed her pace, planting a hand on his chest. “I love you more than you’ll ever know.”

His blue eyes charged with something intense. “Tell me…say you’re mine.”

“I’m yours.” She meant it with every fiber of her being. “Always.”

But he hadn’t turned her yet. Had he been so caught up in the moment that he’d forgotten?

As the thought struck her, Ryder wrapped his arms around her back and flipped her over onto the cushions. She squealed in delight and clutched his shoulders as he smudged a line of wet kisses down her neck and thrust himself inside her. Her skin tingled head to toe. Bloomed with delicious warmth. His teeth grazed her neck as his cock massaged her from the inside out. There wasn’t a hint of pain. Not in the least. It was so damn erotic, watching his body move and flex over her.

And then he withdrew from her core, making her feel empty.

“No, no, don’t go,” she begged, clawing at his shoulders. “Come back.”

“Oh, I will. Believe me, love.”

He moved down her body, to her breasts, and then lower still.

Hot damn.

She shuddered from the sight of his head diving between her thighs. He didn’t kiss her core, though. Instead, he kissed the inside of her leg. Bit and nipped at her flesh. She trembled. Shook with desire.

“Please.” She writhed beneath him. “I need you inside me.”

“Then I won’t deny you.”

With one smooth move up her body, he snaked an arm around her back, arched her up, and drove deep inside her. His breath fanned over her face as he thrust harder, faster, and then so tantalizingly slow.

He gripped her tight. “God, Josie, you’re so hot.”

“I’m yours,” she panted. She took the whole length of him, drawing him closer to the edge. “Everything I have to give belongs to you.”

“Are you sure you want—” he began.

But she silenced him with a kiss. He moaned, relaxed into her, and entwined his fingers with hers.

“Then say the words after me.” Thrusting slowly, he gazed deep into her eyes. “Palm to palm, heart to heart, from this moment on, we shall never part.”

Pleasure washed over her, body and soul. “Palm to palm, heart to heart, from this moment on, we shall never part.”

On the final words, he cried out, plunged deep, and stilled inside her. Crackles of energy speared through her, engulfing her with brilliant white light.

No, it wasn’t light. It was
love
unlike anything she’d ever known.

It wound around her heart, radiated from her soul, and burst outward, consuming Ryder, too. Tendrils of energy, hot and sizzling like electric rods, snaked from her body to his, entwining their bodies together. When she reached out for one, it melted away, though the feeling of being joined to him remained.

It was the strangest and most glorious thing she’d ever experienced.

She didn’t need to ask if they were joined. She knew it, could feel it, body, mind, and soul.

“It worked,” he said, as his eyes glossed with what looked like tears. “You’re mine.”

“I’m yours, Ryder.” Holding on to his back, she lifted her hips and rolled against him, savoring every heightened sensation. She could feel every nerve, every twinge of ecstasy as it budded within her. “Your Luminary. Forever.”

On the words, he erupted inside her and called out her name. It was glorious. The movement, their perfect rhythm, his seed filling her. And when he brought her down over the top of him, exhaling into her hair, a tear rolled down her cheek.

“Are you crying?” he asked, pulling back to wipe the next tear. “What’s the matter?”

Could she tell him? Given what had just happened between them, it should’ve been enough. She
was
elated, but there was more. Something that was still missing.

“I thought you were going to turn me first,” she whispered, lowering her gaze to his kiss-plump lips. “So I could be like you.”

He grinned. “You are going to be like me. I’ve already started the transition.”

“What?” She pushed back against his chest. “What do you mean? When?”

“While we were making love. The endorphins released during sex camouflage the pain. I wasn’t sure it would work, but that’s what a few of the guys from the wolf pack talked about.” He pushed a few tendrils of hair out of her face. “I bit you on your neck, and then on a second pulse point on your thigh.”

“Oh.” She reached down and touched the tender spot on her leg. “I thought it was going to hurt, but that felt…
good
.”

“I’m glad.” He kissed her long and deep. “Now you’re going to be insatiably hungry for a while. Your temperature is going to run hot and then cold, and you’re not going to be able to control it. You’re also going to crave sex like never before. And then, during the next full moon, I’ll take you into the forest with me so you can shift for the first time.”

She heard every part of what he’d said—and was surprisingly not afraid of any of it—but one thing in particular stood out from the rest.

“I’m going to crave sex, huh?” she asked, fully aware he was still inside her.