Every Night Forever (23 page)

“Mom and Dads,” Dante said with a smile in his voice.  “This is Alyssa, our mate.  Lys, these are our parents.  Stella, Markus, Anthony, and Colin.”

There was a long moment where no one moved or said anything, and then their mom smiled and crossed the kitchen and hugged Alyssa.  She was just barely taller than her, a full-figured woman whose heart was as big as the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Cupping Alyssa’s face with her hands, she smiled and a tear escaped down her cheek.  “You’re just as beautiful as my boys said you were, honey.  Welcome to the family.”

As their fathers joined them and their mother kissed and hugged all of them, Mason noticed that while Alyssa hadn’t given up her death-grip on Dante’s hand, she did seem to lose some of her nervousness.  The smile he loved appeared on her face and the worry she’d harbored eased away gradually.  They sat down at the table across from their parents, their eldest father, Markus, at the head as always and their mom on his left.

The table had been set for lunch, and they ate and talked about the renovations and changes to the gym, the new members and staff, and their plans for the summer.  Alyssa participated in the conversation, but she was quieter than usual, and he could see that his mother was worried about her.

Dante and Cairo took her upstairs with their bags after lunch and Mason helped his mom clear the table.

“She’s wonderful, honey.”  She smiled at him as he handed her a stack of plates.  “She seems terribly nervous.  Is she okay?”

He leaned his hip against the counter.  “The first thing she said to us about meeting you, last fall when we first were together with her, was that she was worried that you wouldn’t like her because she’s not a hyena.  But I think it goes deeper than that.  I think her self-esteem is just so fragile that even though she knows we love her, she worries about being accepted.”

“Your cousins’ mate Kelli is rogue wolf.  I’m sure she and Alyssa will be good friends when they get to know each other.  Even though a mate is accepted by her family, son, it doesn’t mean that they suddenly feel like they belong.  She most likely just needs time to find herself.”

“Thanks, Mom.”  He kissed her cheek and smiled as she shooed him out of the kitchen.

As he made his way upstairs and down the long hallway, he heard voices coming from Dante’s old bedroom.  Inside, he found Alyssa, Dante, and Cairo, appearing to be in the middle of an argument.

“What’s up?” he asked, flopping down on the big bed.

“Lys said she wouldn’t make love to us because the bed creaks.”  Cairo rolled his eyes, but there was nothing but affection in his words.

Her cheeks pinked but she said nothing.

“So?”  He smoothed his hand across the quilt that his grandmother Irene had made.

Dante looked at him in confusion.  “What do you mean, ‘so’?  Do you want to be celibate for the next two weeks?”

He looked at his brothers and saw that they were actually a little worried that she was going to keep her legs closed for the whole trip.  Well, that wasn’t going to happen.  Not by a long shot.

Rolling off the bed, he stalked to Alyssa and caught her up in his arms.  She squeaked in surprise and then gasped as he pressed her back into the wall.  Automatically, her legs wrapped around his waist and he pressed her hands against the wall.  “You guys aren’t very creative.”  He tossed a glance over his shoulder to his brothers who were grinning with amusement.

Dante and Cairo joined them, and Alyssa’s eyes, which had been wide with surprise, were now heavy-lidded with desire.  He loved that look.  He tilted his pelvis and ground his erection against the apex of her thighs.  A moan caught in her throat.

Just as his brothers began to tug on the ribbon that tied up the front of her dress, their father Anthony called up the stairs.

“Dante, Cairo?  Can you help us move some things from the basement?”

Cairo’s eye ticked and he sighed before calling, “Yeah, we’ll be right down.”

“Damn it.”  Dante grinned, turning her head gently and kissing her.

Cairo kissed her, too, and they left, leaving the room empty save for the two of them.  He released her arms and pulled her close, moving away from the wall and sitting down on the bed.  Kissing her neck, he hugged her close and said, “Want to go for a walk?”

Her brow furrowed slightly and she said, “Sure.”

He found her tennis shoes in one of their suitcases and, after saying goodbye to their mother, he took her hand and they stepped off the back deck and out into the neatly landscaped backyard.  Each home in the
baro
had a small backyard which overlooked the wild woods in the center of their large territory.

Alyssa’s fair skin and light purple dress made her stand out in the woods as they moved deeper and the sun became obscured.  As they picked their way through paths and moved further into the trees, she asked him questions about his childhood and growing up with his extended family so close.  He realized, as he told her about how close he and his cousins, his grandparents, and aunts and uncles were that she had really missed out on a lot.

“It wasn’t even the pack, you know,” she said somberly.  “It wasn’t as if they were the ones who rejected me or forced me to behave the way I did.  It was my mom and the steady string of men that paraded through the house when I was growing up.  I just wanted someone to love me, but they had to do it on my terms.  I was so terrified of being hurt that I wouldn’t let anyone get close.”

They stopped in front of the lake and looked across the glassy surface.  “It scares me to think I might not have ever known you, if I hadn’t been so unhappy and decided to leave.”

He pulled her close with one arm and kissed the top of her head.  “It scares me, too, love.”

He tugged her around to a golden willow tree, ducking under the long limbs and sitting down on the soft moss that covered the ground.  He pulled her down into his lap and she wrapped her arms around his neck.  “Did you know I was your mate right away?”  She kissed his ear, tugging gently on the lobe.

“Yeah.”  He pressed a kiss to her shoulder as he pulled the ribbon holding the front of her dress closed.  “I wanted to grab hold of you and never let go, the minute I met you.”  He nipped at her pulse as he worked the ribbon loose and opened the front of her dress.  “Did you?”

She wiggled in his arms when he freed her breasts and cupped one firm globe in his hand.  “I was really attracted to you all, but I was afraid to come between you, even though I didn’t think I’d be able to choose anyway.  It was getting harder and harder for me to stay away from you, though.  My wolf knew, but I was trying to ignore her.”

He chuckled, kissing one nipple and then slowly drawing it into his mouth.  Her hands squeezed his shoulders and she made a soft, pleased humming noise in her throat.  He felt like he hadn’t been alone with her in ages.  Even though there were plenty of times when just the two of them made love, one or both of his brothers were often around somewhere.  This time, in his favorite place, with just her in his arms and no one else nearby, was a little slice of heaven in his already charmed life.

He urged her to stand and he stretched out on his back, undoing his slacks until his cock sprang free.  She stood over him, breasts bared, skin flushed, and eyes bright with passion.  He sat up and ran his hands up under the full skirt of her dress until he reached her panties.  Drawing them down, she balanced on one foot at a time with her hands on his shoulders for support and he tossed them aside.

She gathered her skirt up and he kissed her thighs before she went to her knees.  Grasping his cock, he closed his eyes and let out a long sigh as her moist heat enclosed him and her slight weight settled on him.

“Oh, baby.”  He held her hips and pulled her in tighter. “You feel so good.”

Her hands clutched his shoulders as she began to lift herself off him before lowering slowly back down.  She rested her forehead against his.  “So do you, Mase.”

She moved on him, slowly, leisurely, putting pressure on his shoulders until he laid flat on the ground.  Leaning forward, she pushed his shirt up and kissed his chest, swirling her tongue across his nipples and biting them gently.  Her body moved on his like a dream, drawing him closer to completion.

With a swipe of her tongue across his sensitive nipples, she gave him a devilish look and sat up, grinding her body down against his.  He groaned as she lifted her skirt slowly, gathering the soft cotton material up to her waist and pushing it behind her.  One hand grasped her breast and thumbed across the tight nipple and the other slipped between her swollen lower lips and then touched her clit.

Nothing turned him on more than watching her touch herself.  As her fingers rubbed circles around her plump clit, he squeezed her hips and thrust up into her.  Her body began to clench around his cock as she drove herself towards climax.  Her head dropped forward and she began to grind into him as her fingers flew across her clit and her body trembled.  Panting whimpers of pleasure slipped past her parted lips as her body squeezed him tight and she lifted her head, crying out to the treetops as pleasure rolled over her.  Grasping her hips, he pumped into her as her pussy milked his cock and he came, deep inside her.

With a contented groan, she eased down into his arms, her body sprawled on top of his.  “I love you, baby.”  He smoothed the hair from her shoulder and kissed her.

“I love you,” she said softly, a small smile touching the corner of her mouth.  Sunlight broke through the leaves as they rustled with the spring wind, and danced across her fair skin, and he hugged his arms around her tightly and thanked his lucky stars that she’d left the wolf pack and found her home with them.

* * * * *

Several days after they had arrived at their parents’ home, Dante was glad to see that Alyssa was becoming more comfortable with his family.  Their mated cousins had a she-wolf for their bride named Kelli, and she was bubbly and sweet and friendly, and seemed determined to bring Alyssa out of her shell.

Kelli had apparently come from a similar situation, where she had grown tired of the males always pawing at her on the full moon but not wanting anything to do with her at other times.  The blonde pixie-sized young woman had an infectious smile and a tender heart, and Alyssa took to her right away.

That Friday evening, they drove with their mated cousins to a new mall complex that boasted several restaurants, bars, and a twenty-five screen movie theater.  They’d been out with Alyssa many times, but it was interesting to double-date, especially when that meant eight of them.  They squeezed into the Escalade, Mason in the passenger seat, Alyssa sitting on Cairo’s lap in the second row with Kelli sitting on Paul’s lap next to them, with Dante in the middle, and Manny and Luke in the back.  The SUV was filled with conversation, as they talked to their cousins about their family construction business, and Alyssa and Kelli made plans to make brunch for everyone on Sunday.

The girls chose a restaurant called Auggie’s,
a steak and seafood place.  He was aware that people were looking at them curiously and he tensed, growing wary.  Humans tended to ignore things they didn’t understand, like shifters, but seeing a group like theirs could push the boundaries of the things they could overlook.  He suddenly wondered if coming out like they had now, with another clan, was a mistake.

Manny, the eldest of their clan, clapped his hand on Dante’s shoulder.  “If you choose to live among the humans, you have to learn to deal with their prejudices.  In Gorge, the humans accept us, and from what I heard about the town you live in, the people accept your lifestyle there as well.  But this is the “big city” compared to Gorge or Dalton, and safety in numbers like this gives humans the idea that they can be loudly obnoxious about their opinions.  I doubt they’ll say anything, but if they do, then we’ll handle it.”

Dante glanced at his cousin.  “I just don’t like seeing her hurt.”

“Of course you don’t.  It’s like a stab through my heart when something bothers my Kelli, but I have a feeling that Alyssa is stronger than you’re giving her credit for.  And just wait until she has your cub.  I’ve never seen anyone as ferocious as a she-wolf with her cubs, and that’s just judging from Kelli’s mom, who threatened to skin us alive if we ever hurt Kelli.”

“Ouch.”  Dante laughed.  “Thanks, Manny.  She suffered a lot with her pack; I hate to think about her ever being upset or unhappy now.”

Dante watched as Cairo pulled out Alyssa’s chair and tucked her in close to the table, and then stroked his finger down her jaw with a tender look.  Mason snagged the seat next to her, and kissed the top of her hand.  If Alyssa had noticed that the humans in the restaurant were watching their interaction, she didn’t let on.  Manny was right, though.  Alyssa was strong.  But that didn’t mean that Dante wouldn’t smash in someone’s face for upsetting her.