Brianna smiled. “Several things. Part-time firefighters in the Appalachians don’t make enough money to pay the bills. I also teach wildfire classes at the center for Southern Area Wildland Fire Training. And I’m finishing my degree in forestry. Online,” she added. “I figure the next best thing to fighting fires is learning how to prevent them in the first place.”
Jaxon grabbed his mate and tugged her against him for a giant hug. What more could he ask for right now?
His mate was safe. She intended to spend her days hovering over a computer inside the protection of his home. And the best part? She’d always be available when he wanted…needed…her sexy body.
“Just so we’re clear,” Brianna began, “don’t think you can walk all over me when it comes to my life. I’m strong-willed. You won’t win. Ever.” She narrowed her gaze.
Jaxon tried to breathe normally. His mate was not in any immediate danger. If she got called on to fight a fire, he’d just have to shift and follow her. In the meantime, he’d pray for rain. Lots of it.
“I’ll try to be reasonable when it comes to your feelings about safety, but I’m not a china doll you can keep hidden away. If I was, you wouldn’t even like me.”
The woman had a point.
Liking her wasn’t really an issue right now. Jaxon was quickly falling head over heels in love with her. The only thing that would make his life perfect would be if she felt the same.
“Oh, but I do, Jax.” She tipped her head to one side. “I’m as in love with you as you are with me.”
When he froze, she continued, “What? You thought you had all your personal thoughts completely contained from me?” She giggled. “Hate to burst your bubble, but when you think as hard as you sometimes do, you slip up too. I can read you like a book.”
Still stunned, he leaned back.
“Oh, stop it. Don’t worry,” she mimicked, “you’ll learn to block me better soon.”
Epilogue
Brianna stared at her computer screen, not seeing a word. Her mind wandered to the last few weeks. She had settled into a routine. Jaxon hadn’t wasted any time moving her into his wing of the house. She didn’t really have much in her meager apartment to begin with. Between teaching wildfire classes and taking her own online courses, she’d been stretched thin financially. Without the responsibility of rent, she could worry less and concentrate more on her goals.
She didn’t like it at first, Jaxon helping her out so much, but she’d had to relax and focus on more important issues.
Juliana was an angel. The woman made her feel more welcome than Brianna could have imagined. Juliana was fighting her own battle against Sergius to gain more freedom. She wanted to lead more group hikes and work more hours than he was willing to consent to. “Safety” was a word both women cringed over several times a day. It gave them a camaraderie and something to talk about as they got to know each other.
It wasn’t that the men were being unreasonable. There was, after all, an unknown entity in the way of a very angry vampire out there somewhere. Both women were leery about his presence. However, they were also strong-willed individuals who wanted to lead their lives. The push and shove between the men and women followed a very fine line.
“You okay, Bri?”
Brianna startled at the sound of Jaxon’s voice behind her. She twisted from her spot in front of her computer and found Jaxon sauntering toward her. Every time she laid eyes on him, he still made her squirm. She must have been truly lost in thought to have not sensed his presence.
“Just thinking.” She reached for him and wrapped her arms around his waist when he got close enough. His warmth comforted her.
“Good thoughts, I hope?” Jaxon gripped her shoulders from above and massaged.
Brianna moaned. She hadn’t realized she’d been so tense. “Piecing together the last few weeks. I can’t believe it’s been only fourteen days since we met. Seems like forever. My life is completely transformed.” She angled her face up toward him.
“Mine too, baby.”
She inhaled long and slow and released her breath on a sigh. “How long did you say this mating frenzy thing would last? I can’t concentrate.” She gripped him around the waist tighter, pressing her cheek into his stomach and inhaling his scent. She had the urge to pop the button of his jeans with her teeth and tug the zipper down. “I can’t study when you are around,” she mumbled into his shirt.
“And I’m not helping matters, am I?”
“Nope.”
“Maybe if we…”
“Don’t even say the words out loud, Jax.” Brianna released her hold on him and pushed his body away from her. “I need to study.”
“It didn’t look like you were studying when I came in.”
“Yeah, well, I should have been. I’m behind.”
Jaxon’s fingers still lingered on her neck.
“Give me half an hour and then I’m all yours.”
His eyebrows rose along with the smile that spread across his face. “Promise?”
“Would it matter?”
“Not really, but I love it when you’re eager and willing. I always feel a bit guilty when I lure you away from your work with only carnal intentions.”
“Sure you do.” She peeled his hands from her neck and leaned back. “Thirty minutes and then I’m yours.”
Jaxon took her cheeks in both hands and leaned in for a kiss. “I’ll be back,” he mumbled against her mouth. “Half an hour.” His promise lingered in the air as he padded from the room.
Brianna stared at his back. There was no way she was going to be able to study, but she just smiled. Perhaps instead she could use the time to dream up a way to make him burn as much as she was right now…
Keeton McKinney awoke in his apartment with a start and bolted upright before immediately collapsing back onto his bed.
“Motherfucker that hurts.” He gripped his chest where it still ached from the worst wound he’d ever experienced.
He glanced at the clock. It was the middle of the night. How long had he been lying here? Thirteen? Fourteen days? He needed to feed. Every time he awoke he relived that day in his mind.
Once he’d managed to unpin himself from that goddamn iron stake, he’d hobbled deep into the forest and gotten as far away from the cave as possible before slumping onto the ground and resting when he couldn’t go another step.
Then the rain had fallen, large welcome drops drenching him, rinsing away the blood and dirt that had accumulated all over his body. The other benefit of the downpour was to mask his scent. He was much harder to track in a deluge. Of course the wolves were too, but he didn’t have the energy to track a flea after the beating he’d taken.
If he hadn’t been so pissed and sore, he’d have laughed.
The audacity of that wolf to think he could kill Keeton with a rusty metal stake? Ha.
But, damnit, the pain had been intense.
Keeton was even angrier with himself than Jaxon. Why had Keeton been such an easy target? It had seemed so cut and dry when he’d planned and executed this murder. He hadn’t been thinking clearly. It should have occurred to him that Jaxon could shift and escape. You can’t just tie a large wolf up with a knot and expect him to stare at it when all he had to do was shift and untie himself. Even two weeks later he was still kicking himself in the ass for his own stupidity.
It seemed the effort to mask the wolf’s ability to communicate for an extended time at long distances had rendered Keeton’s judgment a bit lax. His focus on his prey had kept him from thinking things through clearly. He would have to work on that before he struck again.
It was wonderful he was able to block telepathy. Perhaps there were other abilities he could tap into of which he was as yet unaware. In which case, he really needed to be able to make sound decisions simultaneously. Unlike that day. The blocking must have drained him and left him vulnerable.