CHRIS Read online

  “It is right. It’s perfect,” she whispered, stepping closer still, not stopping until their torsos brushed, until his scent was in her nostrils and his essence made her blood boil with need.

  They both shuddered as their bodies connected, and she reached up, using her fingers to tilt his chin so she could let their mouths touch.

  Another shudder wracked them when their lips brushed, and the delicate touch blocked everything out, even the rattle of the doorknob. The sound didn’t rupture her awareness when every part of her was focused on Chris.

  Only when the door opened and another one of those growls that makes the air hum and buzz with tension erupted did she realize they weren’t alone.

  And that her daddy was there. Watching her with another male.

  The growl woke him up. He didn’t know what spell she’d cast on him, didn’t know what she’d done to make him forget himself, he just knew that Mars, his Clan leader, was there, watching him kiss Ava.

  The crazy thing was, he’d spent so long fearing such a moment as this one, that now it happened, he couldn’t find it in him to be scared.

  That kiss... so simple, so pure. It changed everything.

  She was his mate.

  The Goddesses had gifted her to him early, and he’d sacrificed so much to do right by her. To let her grow up without his Claim, to try to give her some freedom at school even though that freedom was limited thanks to their bond.

  He sucked in a shuddery breath and rather than pull away from her, he wrapped his arms tighter around her. She froze in surprise, obviously expecting him to reject her, then in the next split second, nuzzled into him, tucking her head under his chin.

  Another growl came in reaction to her cuddling into him, but he hardened his stance and said, “She’s my mate.”

  The growl immediately desisted. Mars’ Bear stopped ruling the man for countless seconds as the Prez just stood there in the doorway. Watching them. Looming over them even though it was from a distance.

  “Mate?”

  One word. Said with such passion that it could either have been a threat or a promise.

  He nodded.

  “Today?”

  “No. We’ve known for nearly a decade,” Chris confessed, stunned by how wonderfully liberating it was to be able to make the admission. He felt the tension in his body disappear, unknown stress that he’d been enduring all these years past and without really knowing it.

  Mars tilted his head to the side, took a step into the room, then closed the door behind him. He strode past them, ignoring the way they stiffened at his proximity, and took the desk chair she’d left to let him in.

  Jesus, had that only been what? Ten minutes ago?

  He blinked in astonishment at how things could change so quickly.

  He wanted to ask her why the hell she hadn’t locked the fucking door after him, but at the same time, the way he felt, the relief that cascaded through him at no longer having to live a lie, was too much. He couldn’t fault her, not when it brought them to this moment. When it brought their untenable situation to a head.

  Mars sank heavily down on the chair, and it squeaked in response to his weight. He wasn’t a small man by an means, and had at least a hundred and fifty pounds on his daughter. Against the Moroccan backdrop, he looked as out of place as Chris felt.

  The MC had long ceased trudging around in skanky wear, settling on smart jeans with Oxford shirts underneath their cuts. Some, like Chris who worked in the human business scene, wore their cuts like a waistcoat under a sports jacket.

  But, neither male fit into this wholly female domain with its delicate perfume in the atmosphere and the tiny tchotchke she had dotted around.

  When the chair had ceased squawking at his weight, he rested his elbows on his knees and let his head hang. More silence fell until Ava pulled away from him a little and said, “Chris has been protecting me.”

  Mars frowned at that, but he didn’t look up. “By not Claiming you?”

  “She was fifteen when I first scented the truth,” Chris confessed hoarsely. “You know the bond settles through sex. What would you have had me do?”

  A heavy sigh escaped the Prez. “Come to me?”

  “You’d have thrown me out of the MC, sir,” Chris replied softly, not wanting to jar Mars out of this not-so-violent mood. He shot Ava a glance, saw she was as stunned by her father’s quiet reaction to news of their relationship as he was.

  “Maybe you’re right, maybe you’re wrong. We’ll never know now, will we?” Mars finally looked up, studied the pair of them clinging to each other like a koala clung to a tree. His lips twitched, just once, before a stony expression took over his features. “Aggression is mounting in the MC, Chris. Over Ava and Jessie. You need to Claim her before blood is spilled.”

  Shock had him freezing in place. “But she’s so young, Prez!”

  “You don’t have to tell me,” Mars snarled, then, he took a deep breath and released it in a way Chris knew was supposed to be calming. “She’s far too young to be mated, and yet, the Goddesses let you find each other when she was fifteen. Who am I, who are you, to judge Their actions?” His breath was shaky when he released it. “I don’t like it. I fucking hate it. And I wish to fuck I hadn’t walked in and seen this because I could carry on like nothing had happened, and the wool would keep on being pulled over my eyes, but it isn’t. And I can’t. So I won’t. This is too important.”

  In his arms, he could feel the tension strumming down Ava’s nerve endings. That she was surprised at her father’s reaction was an understatement. Hell, he was, but she was the one who had to endure years of Mars’ overprotectiveness. It was no wonder she was stunned into silence.

  “We have your blessing then?” he asked, feeling like he needed confirmation before he took this a step further.

  The look Mars flashed his way was both irritated and rueful. “No, not my blessing. But I understand. And I won’t Challenge you, so that has to give you some degree of comfort.” He grimaced, swiped a hand across his jaw. “My baby girl has a mate.” Air whooshed from him as he released a heavy breath. “Goddess, this is going to take some getting used to.”

  He got to his feet, clenched his jaw, then strode over to them both. Chris let his arms drop from around Ava’s waist as he approached. She clung a little but stepped back, and warily watched her father.

  Mars shocked them both by pressing a gentle kiss to her temple. “Be happy, sweetheart.” He held out his hand for Chris to shake. “You hurt one hair on her head, I’ll fucking Challenge you faster than you can say your name.”

  Chris grimaced. “I have no intention of hurting her, sir.”

  “We never do, but we always do.” He grunted. “Sadly for you, I’ll be watching so be careful with her.” He gritted his teeth. “I’ll tell your mother not to expect any reports from you for a little while.” He stared back at the desk with the three screens that were running spreadsheets. “She’ll have to learn to cope without you for a bit.”

  He said the words absentmindedly, then placed his hand on Ava’s shoulder, squeezed, then strode off.

  The door closed behind him, shutting them in together. But now he was gone, there was added strain to the atmosphere.

  “Should I lock the door?” Ava asked softly, biting her lip as she waited for him to reply.

  He shook his head as contradictory emotions plagued him. He wanted to Claim her now. Right this instant. Wanted it so badly that he felt like his Bear was going to burst from his skin in reaction. At the same time, paternal ‘blessing’ or not, he still felt like a creep. Like he was doing her no kindness by binding her to him now.

  “Let’s go somewhere together,” he told her instead, watching her shoulders deflate. As Mars had done, he reached over to squeeze her arm. “Hey, this isn’t a rejection. I just need time to process what happened. That’s all.”

  “You’ll change your mind,” she grumbled, stepping away and turning her back on him. “I know you will. The longer we
delay, the sooner you’ll reject the bond.”

  He let out a sigh. “It isn’t like that. Not this time.”

  “Getting my father’s blessing just means he won’t kill you when you Claim me. It doesn’t take away the fact you still feel I’m too young,” she retorted, hitting the nail square on the head. “What can I do to prove to you I’m ready? Mischa was my age when Kiko claimed her. My mom was only a few years older. You want me to be fifty when we bind? How can you even believe we could wait that long? Don’t you miss me? Don’t you long to be close to me in the middle of the night?” She firmed her lips. “Or is that just me? Am I the only one who feels so incredibly alone?”

  The pain in her voice hit him like nothing else could. A stuttering breath escaped him. “Of course you’re not alone,” he confessed, closing his eyes and pressing his palms to the alcoves of the sockets.

  “Then why are you putting us through this?” she cried. “Why make us suffer when we don’t have to? I get why you waited when we first realized what we were to each other. I get why you carried on waiting until I hit twenty-one... but to keep on? To endure this? And to think we could endure it for decades more? I’d go insane first,” she told him bluntly. “I couldn’t. I can’t. These past few weeks have been hell. I know I can’t take any more, Chris. We have to do something or I’m going to go out of my mind.”

  There was a sense of desperation that laced her words that jerked him to attention. He strode forward, shrugging off his own needs to maintain a distance from her, and grabbed her by the arms. He didn’t stop until she was against his torso, until they were hugging so fiercely his biceps ached with the pressure.

  He’d only ever fucked humans, and he’d always had to be careful. They were frail, after all. Sensitive creatures that broke.

  Ava was a Shifter. He’d never seen her She Bear because the girl kids in the Clan only shifted alone and out of sight of the males. His Bear let out a mournful roar at that; he wanted his mate too. The Boar wanted to know the Sow more than he wanted to go tearing through the nearest grasslands on the rampage for his next meal.

  She was strong, she was fierce. More than that, she was his.

  “I-I’m not going anywhere,” he told her shakily. “I swear it.”

  “Then why won’t you Claim me now?”

  Her pout had his lips twitching. “Because I can’t just...” He closed his eyes. “I need to just shift gears. That’s all. I want you, Ava. Can’t you feel how much?” He dropped his hands and pressed them to her butt. Dragging her hips close to his, he made sure she could feel his rock hard erection. “I need you as badly as you need me. Probably more. I haven’t had sex in so fucking long, I’ve probably forgotten what to do.” He let out a shaky laugh. “Just let me acclimate to this new reality, okay?”

  She fell silent, then after a few seconds, nodded, her forehead rubbing against his shirt as she agreed to his wishes.

  “That isn’t to say we’re not going to be together,” he told her, making her tilt her head back to look at him.

  “It doesn’t?”

  “Hell no.” He smiled softly. “It seems you’ve been given a pardon from work.” He tilted his head in the direction of her computers. “Switch them off. Let’s go on a ride.”

  Her eyes widened. “On your hog?”

  He chuckled. “Where else?”

  Excitement made those grass green orbs of hers sparkle and twinkle. Rosy red patches blossomed on her cheeks as she clapped her hands in excitement and pulled away to do as bid.

  He watched her bend over the desk, saw the curve of her ass in those shorts that made him want to run his hands up and over her butt. Jesus, his cock was wondering why the fuck he was delaying the inevitable, but his brain knew this was the right thing to do.

  He needed to know that he was in control. He needed to know that she was mature enough to handle what the bond meant.

  He’d spent so much time apart from her, he’d stopped knowing her inside out. As a kid, he’d always been drawn to her.

  She’d been funny, amusing. The way she saw the world had charmed him, and he’d always felt sorry for her considering how hard her parents were on her.

  They hadn’t hung around that much. He’d been an adult and she a kid, for Christ’s sake. But on the occasions when there been a party or she’d sat in on a Council meeting while she colored or did her homework or some shit like that, they’d always ended up chitchatting.

  Her maturity had always astonished him. He was praying to the Goddesses that after a couple of conversations with her, he’d feel equally as astonished by the so-called adult version of her.

  “You’ll need to wear something hardier.” His words were gruff, because though he loved the idea of her getting on the back of his hog with nothing more than those thin clothes, her safety was paramount.

  He knew riding on the hog was a novelty to her. She was only allowed to ride with Mars, after all. And even then, that was rare as he took her mother. So, this was more than a treat.

  But no way was he going to let her ride with him without wearing some protective gear.

  She pouted but nodded, and once the computers sounded a notification that they were closing down, and she switched off her TV, he watched as she scurried away to a door beside her bed.

  The devil rode him into following her steps, tracing her path. He cleared his throat to let her know he was there when he hit the doorway, and she turned to look at him, a wicked glint in her eye but a modest blush on her cheeks as she rifled through the racks on the wall in search of something appropriate to wear.

  Resting his shoulder on the doorjamb, he stood there in silence as she looked on. Seeing a pair of jeans, he said, “They’ll do fine.”

  “It’s too hot for them,” she groused, but did as bid, and dragged them off the hanger.

  “It won’t be when you’re on the bike. We can buy whatever you need when we’re on the road.”

  Her eyes rounded again as she stared at him. “We’re going on a road trip?”

  He nodded. “We’re going to do this right.”

  She gawked at him for a handful of seconds, then grinned. Widely. “Seriously?

  “Deadly.”

  She let out a hoot then began her rummaging all the more. She found a long sleeve shirt and a bomber jacket. “These do?” At his nod, she grabbed them from the hangers and shoved them on top of a chest of drawers opposite the wall of clothes.

  He watched as she grabbed the hem of her camisole and rolled it over her torso. Each inch she revealed made his heart stop beating. When her tits bounced into view, no bra to hinder the exploration of his gaze, he felt pre-cum bead on the tip of his shaft.

  She must have sensed the sudden charge in the atmosphere because when the camisole was promptly tossed on the floor, Ava shot him a look. It was a combination of coy and naiveté. She knew what she was doing to him, but at the same time, her innocence was quite visible too. Though she knew he was aroused by the sight of her nakedness, she didn’t really know where to go from there.

  How could she?

  She was pure, because she was his.

  She’d learn his wants and his needs, and only through him would she learn what hers were in return. He’d have to help her discover the sexual creature that lay beneath the veneer she presented to society. And Jesus wept, wasn’t he dying for those lessons to begin?

  With a groan, he watched her put on a bra, then shove on the shirt. She pulled down her shorts, baring hot pink panties with a lip stick kiss embossed on the front. She was as long and lissome as he’d known, and it was a goddamn shame to watch her hide those fucking gorgeous legs behind jeans. The only compensation was, when she turned around, the denim covering her ass was framed to perfection.

  She dragged on the bomber jacket, then asked, “You sure I shouldn’t pack a few things?”

  He shrugged. “If you want. A nice outfit, something fancy, change of panties. That kind of thing. We’re packing light though,” he warned. Jesus, he�
�d seen Christie when she and Mundo went off on the hog. The damn bike nearly toppled over with all the shit she just had to take with her.

  Only Mundo had the patience to put up with that shit.

  She bit her lip as she looked over at him, then murmured, “Do you mind stepping outside? I don’t want you to see the fancy outfit I’ll take.”

  Charmed, he smiled. “Of course.” Doing as asked, he headed over to the bed and sat at the foot, deciding to wait for her there.

  He let himself fall back, unsure as to when she’d be ready—women always took a goddamn age in scenarios such as these, didn’t they?—and stared up at the drapes on the ceiling.

  From his vantage point, he couldn’t see all that much of the room, but knew these would be his quarters until Mars agreed to let them move.

  The bedroom was bigger than his, and the only room in the clubhouse now was smaller bedrooms for prospects. The MC had an estate about two miles away with houses for some of the lower ranks who had families. Over the years, the MC had been blessed with more mate bonds, and dens had been required to house the cubs.

  They could go there if there was an empty property. Or, if there wasn’t, they could have something built. He sure as hell could afford it and he knew Mars would help out to make sure his baby had only the best.

  Maybe Ava even had some money of her own, but he didn’t hold much hope on it. Mars had never mentioned her earning a wage—something that had never sat right with him considering how much fucking work she did. He could easily imagine Mars just giving her pin money or some such shit.

  It didn’t matter that that pin money was probably more than a decent salary in corporate America. It was the principle of it.

  Now she was his mate, and that knowledge was out in the open, things would change with the way the MC dealt with Ava.

  He should have stepped in long ago, but he’d been fearful of being tossed out of the MC, never mind being Challenged. Doing without Ava, being held at a distance from her, was something he’d never been able to countenance.

  Suddenly being able to speak his mind about her was going to be infinitely liberating.