“You’re ready to go again?” she asked. He growled in her ear.
“I didn’t mean to wake you. You just felt so good lying beside me. I wanted to touch you.”
“Oh Tate,” she breathed, snuggling closer to him.
“Oh God, I want to be inside you…”
“I want the same thing,” she said, touching the sensitive skin of his shaft.
“I’m not going to get you pregnant again, not like this.”
She let out a little moan of disappointment, but ultimately he was right.
“Wait a minute,” he said. “I think there’s some condoms in the first-aid kit from the ship.”
He climbed out of the bed and turned on a flashlight. Standing over the pile of supplies in the corner, he opened the first-aid kit and pulled out a packet of condoms.
“Bingo.”
He trotted back over to the bed and got under the covers. Thrill and panic fluttered in Ella’s chest. She took the flashlight and shined it over at the baby. He was sleeping soundly in his car seat. She lay her head on the pillow and smiled. Tate snuggled beside her and ran his cool hand over her stomach.
“I want you so badly,” he said, dipping his face in her neck.
“I do too, Tate.” She ran her hands up his sides and back down over his shoulders.
He growled and ripped the condom package open. A moment later, he was over her, her legs spread as his cock thumped her slit. She caressed his chest and gasped when he pushed the head of his dick against her opening.
“I’m not going to claim you, no matter how much I want to,” he said, pressing forward. Her tight body opened to him, moisture running around his shaft as he pushed deeper. She let out a strangled moan. The sensation of her body stretching around him send sparks of pleasure from her pussy to her nipples. She licked his chest, ready to take him deep.
She moaned his name as he disappeared inside her. Tate kissed her face, holding still to let her breathe into the fullness. Her arms encircled his waist, and her legs wrapped around him.
“Oh baby, you feel so damn good,” he growled in her ear. She moaned when his hot breath hit her skin.
“I want you,” she groaned.
He pulled back and thrust forward again. His mouth found her nipple and licked the damp, taut flesh.
“Ella,” he groaned. “Oh, Ella.” His mouth sucked on her nipple as his hips worked her sex.
Ella was swept away in a sea of desire and the hot swell of love. She ran her hands through Tate’s hair, adoring the feeling of him so close. The pleasure sensations he sent rocking through her core made her call out as a climax crested and broke.
“Yes,” he growled. “Come for me, little mommy.” The contractions stiffened and she clung to him as it throbbed through her.
She cupped his face in her hands. His eyes were wide with love and passion. “I’ve always loved you, Tate,” she said.
“I’ve always loved you, Ella.”
He sank to her neck and gripped her flesh with his teeth. The sharp points of his canines extended and pressed threateningly hard. His thrust his hips harder into her, holding her hip with one hand and holding himself up with the other.
He growled as he took her, holding back only from breaking the skin. The pounding of his hips against her flesh sent her into the heavens. She could barely see or breathe in the haze of pleasure. He bit harder, growling loudly as he tensed and came hard inside her.
Even with the condom on, she could feel it pulse against her womb. Slowly, he let go of her neck. She hadn’t known how she felt as he held her with his teeth, so close to claiming her and changing her into a bear. She hadn’t resisted, hadn’t said no. Yet, Tate had kept himself in control. He hadn’t betrayed her.
Chapter 11
Tate rose to the sound of the baby crying and climbed out of bed. It was dawn beyond the foggy windows. He threw a log in the fire and began to unstrap his son from the baby carrier.
Ella rose and pulled her clothes on against the chill morning air. Tate handed her the baby as she sat in bed under the covers.
“His bear kept him warm,” he said.
“He’s only half shifter.”
“Half shifter is full shifter. He won’t have his first shift for years, though. It’s in there waiting, keeping him warm on cold nights.”
“He’s a happy baby.” Ella laid down with the baby and fed him while Tate got dressed and built up the fires. He made a pot of coffee, had a cup, and left the pot on the stove for Ella.
He watched her on the bed, caring for their son. It was a perfect picture of family love. He sipped his coffee and smiled. He’d never felt so satisfied. The night before, his bear had relented, and Tate was able to make love to Ella without being forced to make decisions he couldn’t take back. He was proud of his self-control. He was a man. He could take care of his woman and child, even if she wasn’t ready to commit to him yet.
“I’m going to check on the boat,” he said, going to the door with the CB radio.
Outside, the storm had cleared. There was still a blanket of snow on the ground but the sky was crystal blue without a single cloud. The temperature had warmed considerably as well.
He went down to the boat and fired up the engine. After hooking up the radio, he tried to turn it on and dial in his family’s channel. With each channel he passed, all he heard was silence. He tried a few outgoing calls, but there was nothing. The power lights wouldn’t even come on.
“Great,” he muttered. There might not be any communication to the outside world, but he was pretty sure the patch to the hull had held. He jumped out of the boat and inspected the tar on the exterior. It was dry and solidly sealed.
He put his hands on his hips and shook his head. He could get everyone back to the mainland now, he just wouldn’t know if the criminals had been dealt with yet. It had been two days, surely Brock and Shaw had convinced the Shifter Council that there was a reasonable cause to bring the Glacier Pack into custody. He hesitated to risk Ella and the baby’s safety, but he had faith in his family. He and Ella were going to run out of supplies soon.
It was time to get back to the mainland. Tate turned from the boat and strode toward the cabin and opened the door.
“The boat is finished. It’s time to leave,” Tate said. Ella and Andrew were sitting on the bed.
“Are you sure it’s going to be safe?” Ella asked, looking at Tate with her big, trusting brown eyes.
“Everything is going to be okay, I promise you.” He kissed her forehead and turned towards the door.
“I trust you, Tate.”
The weight of the responsibility crushed down on his shoulders. But there was something wonderfully pleasant about the feeling of having them depend on him. He wanted more than anything to protect his woman and his child. Being able to do that was the greatest gift that anyone had ever given him. He had been angry that Ella had kept the baby from him, but now, all he felt was grateful for them both.
He hurried back outside into the cold and stripped off his clothes. He’d need to use his bear to get the boat back in the water. After quickly untying the ropes holding the boat up on land, he shifted and pushed the boat with his massive grizzly shoulder. Slowly, the boat inched down the incline and into the water.
Popping back into human from, he grabbed the ropes and tied the boat to the pier. He watched as it floated on the surface of the water. His patch held. With a sigh of relief, he pulled his clothes back on and trotted up to the house. Inside, Ella stood among the bags and boxes, waiting to leave.
“I’ll carry this stuff down and come back to help you take Andrew to the boat.” He grabbed several boxes at once and Ella held the door for him. He smiled down at her as he passed. She closed the door behind him. Helping each other like this, even though it was a small thing, felt like that little piece of his life that he’d been missing since she’d gone.
After a few more trips, everything was packed up in the boat. He helped Ella and Andrew out into the cold,
snowy day and locked the fishing cabin’s door behind them. They trudged through the snow to the pier and climbed into the boat. Ella looked nervous sitting in the small cabin under the deck.
“I won’t let anything happen to you. I swear it.”
She let out a long breath and gave him a weak smile. “I believe you, Tate,” she said in a low voice, bouncing the baby gently in her arms.
He untied the riggings from the pier before jumping back on the deck and turning on the engine. It purred to life and Tate smiled. He maneuvered the little boat out of the island inlet and into the strait between the collection of islands and the mainland.
It would take at least an hour and a half to get back to Juneau. He silently prayed his patch would hold that long. He hadn’t shared it with Ella, but he had his own fears. He’d worked on boats before. He’d even patched a few. But he’d never had to do it in a situation like this one, where he was stranded on an island without all the proper tools to do the job. Tate had used all the skills and knowledge he’d picked up over the years to get it done.
However, Tate was not a shipwright. There was a limitation to his skill and he knew it. He knew Ella knew it, too, but the last thing he wanted was to stress her out any more than she already was. He wanted her to have more confidence in him than he had in himself. He needed her to feel safe.
The night before had been bliss. Tate hadn’t experienced so much pleasure in the year and a half since she’d left. Making love to her opened a whole new door of possibility for him. It opened up a life that wasn’t filled with misery and loneliness. He had hope again for the first time in a long time, and he wasn’t willing to let it go.
He wanted his family, his son and his woman. He wanted her more than he could even verbalize. His bear certainly verbalized it, with his insistent growling and roaring. Tate the man still couldn’t put words to it. He couldn’t make it all straight in his mind.
Visions flitted across his mind of what he would do when he got them back to Juneau. He imagined buying Ella the biggest diamond ring in town and slipping it on her beautiful hand. He imagined the smile on her face when he dropped to one knee and asked for her to be his wife. The vision of her saying “yes” made his heart pump faster. They couldn’t get back to the mainland fast enough.
Tate knew that there was still the little matter of the Glacier Wolf Pack and the Shifter Council. If Shaw and Brock hadn’t dealt with it yet, they could be in a lot of trouble coming back so soon. It couldn’t be helped. He wouldn’t keep his woman and his child out on the island in this weather any longer. They needed to be warm and safe. If the Shifter Council couldn’t see reason, he’d call the human state troopers himself.
Letting Ella and Andrew remain in harm’s way was irresponsible, and he no longer cared what the Shifter Council thought of it. All that mattered was their health and safety. He watched the water from behind the steering wheel of the small fishing vessel. The islands and mainland were dusted with white. He could see the sharp blue of the glacier in the distance as they drew closer to Juneau.
“Tate, the boat is taking on water,” Ella said from behind him. He turned quickly to find her holding the baby, her eyes wide with fear.
“Shit,” he grumbled. “Hold the wheel. I’ll go check on it.”
She moved around him and held the wheel with one hand and the baby with the other. He growled as he hurried down the stairs. At the end of the small cabin, where the patch had been, water was slowly seeping through the cracks. Damn. It was his worst fear. There would be no way to patch it now that they were at sea. They’d have to make a mad dash for town.
He ran back up the stairs and took the wheel from Ella. She slid into a seat beside him, and Andrew burbled quietly.
“I’m going to outrun the leak. Hold on. We’re going to make it.” Tate increased the boat’s speed and they charged over the churning waters of the strait. Ella held Andrew more tightly and looked out at the black water. Weather had moved in and the sky hung low and gray as if it was going to snow again. The last storm had been bad, but it would be even worse if they didn’t make it back to land before it began snowing again.
Worst case scenario, he’d have to pile Ella and the baby into the inflatable emergency raft. He handed her a life vest from under the seat and told her to put it on. Tate had no idea how to protect the baby. They didn’t make infant life vests. Not that he knew of. There certainly wasn’t one on the family’s fishing boat.
Juneau was still five miles off, but growing closer all the time. He could feel the engine bogging down as the boat took on water. It was a slow leak, but fast enough that they could be in serious trouble if they didn’t make it back soon. Ella whimpered as she snuggled closer to Andrew. It was cold up on the deck. It was open to the frigid air. Guilt twisted in his heart. He should have done a better job on the patch and not been so eager to get back to the mainland. Now he was paying for his mistake.
Ella didn’t say anything about it. She didn’t try to make him feel guilty or cut him down. She just sat with the baby and tried to stay calm. He appreciated her strength and integrity. He wouldn’t have known what to do if she’d been angry with him.
The bright blue ice of the Mendenhall Glacier pouring into the sea came into clear view, as did the outlines of the ships in Juneau harbor. He breathed a sigh of relief coming in fast to the harbor where he docked his boat. He’d have to have it pulled up on land or the boat would be below water in no time.
When he came up to his dock, he threw a line over the pier and jumped off the boat. The harbor master came out of his office, and helped Tate tie off the boat.
“We’re taking on water,” Tate said as he helped Ella onto the dock. “We need to have the boat brought up for repairs.”
“What were you doing out there with a damaged boat?” the harbor master said, shaking his head at Tate. The last thing Tate needed was this human judging him for his actions. He’d been trying to protect his woman and child, not put them in danger.
“Long story. Put the cost on my family’s tab,” Tate told him, taking the baby from Ella. He helped her down the dock to where his truck was parked. Just as she climbed inside, her phone rang.
Chapter 12
Ella had strapped Andrew into the truck and gotten into the front passenger seat when her phone rang. She pressed the answer button and said hello.
“Ella, this is Tory Little.”
“Hi Tory. What’s up?”
“I talked to your folks last night over the CB radio. They’re stuck out on the islands for now, but they wanted me to let you into the house.”
“You had a key all this time,” Ella said, angry that Tory hadn’t told her in the first place.
“I did. But I wasn’t going to let you into the house without your parents’ permission.”
“I have a baby with me, Tory. What the hell?”
“You left your parents without a word. I didn’t know if they would want you in the house.”
“Fine. I get it.”
“Anyway, they told me to let you in and tell you how to disarm the alarm system. Come over to the shop and I’ll give you a key.”
Ella hung up the phone, both grateful and irritated that she was finally getting into her house. It had been her childhood home. She’d left the majority of her belongings there when she’d left only a year and a half before. She might have left her parents without a word, but she’d assumed they’d want to see her. Especially now that she had a baby.
“There’s a key to my parents’ house waiting for me at Tory Little’s craft supply store downtown,” Ella said as Tate turned the key in the ignition.
“You’re going to go home?”
“I need to go somewhere.”
“What about the Glacier Wolf Pack?” he asked, looking at her with a pained look on his face.
“I don’t know of anywhere that is safer for me than my parents’ place.”
“You can come stay with me.”
She looked at him, seeing
the hope in his eyes. The night before had been beautiful, magical even. She wanted to be with him, hold him, love him. She wanted it all. She just didn’t know if she was ready to take it all on now. She needed time to think, to be alone with the baby for a while in a warm place, before she made major life decisions like staying with Tate.
“I need some time,” she muttered.
Tate frowned and put the car in gear. “Fine,” he said. His tone betrayed his anger and frustration. She was hurting him again and that was the last thing she wanted to do. She felt like all she ever did was hurt Tate. It wasn’t like she got to choose whether or not she was his fated mate. She had no control of the matter, and she needed time alone to think.
Ella loved Tate. She knew she did. However, the idea of being forced by fate to accept him as her one and only love forever and ever was a lot to expect. Even now.
“I’ll take you to Tory’s to get the keys and drive you to your parents’ place,” he said in a growly voice.
“Tate. I’m sorry.”
“I’m just worried about you. I’m going to call my cousin,” he said, parking in front of the craft store. “I’ll wait here while you go inside.”
She climbed out of the truck and crossed the sidewalk and into the craft store. The strong smell of cinnamon and cloves hit her nose from the scented candles all around the door. Tory was clearly already preparing for the holidays. The smells evoked memories from her childhood, memories of her family and of Tate around a big Sitka pine Christmas tree draped in twinkling lights.
Tory stood behind the counter but came toward her quickly as soon as she saw Ella. “Here are the keys. This is the code to disarm the alarm.”
“How do I set alarm again?”
“I don’t know. They didn’t say.”
“Can you ask them?” She was still as worried about the Glacier wolves as Tate was.
“They’d borrowed a CB from another fishing cabin. I can’t just call them.”
Ella took the keys and the code back to the truck and climbed inside. She needed to just lie down on her bed and rest for a moment in her family’s warm house. It was all she could think about.