10

Larissa

Kace growled in frustration when there was a knock on the door. He stopped nibbling on my neck at the spot where he’d marked me as his, causing a small mewl to escape my mouth. His eyes had already been smoldering with desire, but when he heard the sound, they flared into burning embers. “Don’t tempt me, baby. I’m a heartbeat away from ignoring my responsibilities, ripping o your clothes, and fucking you right here on the couch.”

I held my tongue since the only thing I wanted to say was, “Yes, please.”

He groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. “It’s Tane, baby. He’s back from his trip, and he’s here to meet you and show his support over our mating. If we don’t talk to him now, we’ll have to do it later. And I have plans for you that require days of uninterrupted time.”

I felt my cheeks heat, even as a wide smile spread across my face. He held out his hand, and I immediately placed mine in his waiting palm. When he pulled me to my feet, he gently tucked me into his side and kissed my temple. He was so sweet. A word I was sure no one else in his pack would use to describe him. Over the past few weeks, I’d seen the beast inside him nearly unleashed to protect me, watched him deal with disputes among his pack, and had my world constantly rocked by his insatiable appetite for my body. Kace was a freaking badass. But with me, he was nothing but gentle and loving. And it was all for me. Only me. Which made me feel cherished and...loved. He hadn’t said it yet, but he constantly showed me.

Not that I’d worked up the courage to say it either. I mean, jeez, we’d only known each other for a few weeks. It was a flimsy excuse, though, because I knew I was madly and hopelessly in love with Kace.

Kace called out for Tane to enter, and the door opened, revealing a tall, blond man with brown eyes. He stepped in and smiled warmly at me until my man growled. The smile disappeared—mostly—from Tane’s face, and he immediately dropped his eyes and bent his head to expose his neck.

“Welcome home, Tane,” Kace finally grunted. “Glad you’re back.”

When Tane lifted his head again, the smile had become a slight smirk, and I noticed that he avoided looking in my direction. “I guess what they say about the power of the mating in the beginning is true.” He chuckled and though his eyes sparkled with humor, I caught a flash of longing.

Hmmm...I’d been bummed when Calliope came to visit and none of the males in the pack had been her fated mate. But there was one shifter she hadn’t met.

Kace glanced down at me, and I wiggled my eyebrows with a conspiratorial smile. He chuckled and shrugged, before turning back to his packmate.

“Tane, this is my mate, Larissa,” Kace introduced us. “Larissa, Tane, my third.”

“I’m happy for you both,” he replied. “I’ll leave you to...whatever I interrupted.” He smirked again, and Kace rolled his eyes.

“Everything good in New York?”

Tane nodded. “Yeah, my dad fell and broke his hip. He shattered it so badly that they needed to do surgery to reset it immediately. Which was probably for the best anyway, if his shifter healing had already kicked in, the bone might have healed wrong. Even though my sisters were there, I wanted to be at the hospital. He came through it like a champ.”

“Happy to hear it. Now get the fuck out of here so I can be alone with my mate.” Tane laughed and spun around, quickly exiting and shutting the door behind him.

Kace maneuvered me around until I was cradled in his arms with my hands on his very impressive chest and his even more impressive hard on digging into my belly. “Now,” he murmured as his head lowered, “where were we?”

I raised my lips to accept his kiss, but my mind was a little distracted. I pulled back and grinned up at Kace. “Calliope is still staying with Allegra for a couple of more days. We should get her and Tane together. Maybe she’ll be his fated mate!”

Kace kept right on kissing, his lips sliding down my neck, but he mumbled what sounded like an agreement. Then he grabbed my butt and lifted me, wrapping my legs around his waist. As he headed toward our bedroom, I asked, “You really don’t mind that I’ve been trotting out your pack like a meat market to see if they are fated with my friend?”

Kace snickered, and I shivered when I felt his canines scrape gently along my throat. We reached our room, and he walked to the bed and took a seat, keeping me straddled over his lap. His hands came up to cup my cheeks, and his eyes roamed my face hungrily, making me feel sexy. When our eyes met, though, there was a serious note to them. “I’ve told you, baby. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you. Besides that, why would I take away an opportunity for someone in my family to find the love of their life? Now that I’ve found mine, I understand their acute desire to have what we have.”

I sucked in a harsh breath and froze. A couple of heartbeats later, I blew out the air that had been stuck in my lungs and gasped, “Love of your life?”

Kace’s expression softened, and I felt warm and fuzzy all over. “Yeah, baby. How could you possibly think anything else? You’re the center of my world, and I love you more than my own life.”

The smile that stretched across my face was almost painful, and my heart was bursting with joy and love. “I love you, too,” I breathed.

“Damn straight,” he growled before kissing the heck out of me. To my surprise, he released my lips after a few minutes and didn’t make a move to remove my clothing. Instead, when his hands slid under my shirt, they rested on my belly. “And I already love our little cub.”

My jaw practically dropped into my lap. “What?” I shrieked. “I’m not—um—how could I possibly be?”

Kace raised an eyebrow and looked at me knowingly. I hu ed in annoyance because he had a point. Okay, so we hadn’t exactly been careful, but it had only been a few weeks! Besides… “How could you know before me?” I asked indignantly.

He laughed and put his hand on my hips to urge me up onto my knees. Then he raised my shirt and pressed his lips against my belly, setting o a storm of butterflies. He inhaled deeply, and a grin split his face when he dropped his head back to look up at me. “I can smell it. You have a di erent, but no less delicious, smell now that you’re pregnant.”

I was still getting used to the heightened senses thing, so his explanation threw me for a bit of a loop. Still, I had trusted Kace from the moment I met him, and that hadn’t changed. If he said I was preggers, I had no reason to doubt him. Other than freaking out because my dad was going to kill him for knocking me up before he married me.

“Don’t worry, baby. You’ll have my last name before our cub arrives.”

I eyed him suspiciously. “I thought you couldn't read my mind.”

He smirked and drawled, “I don’t need telepathy to read your mind, baby. You wear your thoughts on your face.” Then he nuzzled my stomach before adding, “I love that you're only that way with me.”

Sighing, I melted into him. He really did say the sweetest things.

“That’s how I know you’re also excited about our little one.”

I smiled happily and hugged him close. “I can’t deny that. I love you, and I’m ecstatic to be starting our own little family.”

“Love you too, baby.” In a split second, I found myself flat on my back on the center of the bed with Kace looming over me. “Now,” he growled playfully, “let's practice making the next one.”