I knew what was inside before I untied the thick satin ribbon and removed the lid. The white dress from my vision rested perfectly against the pink tissue paper. I lifted it and caught Misha’s scent.

“The master wanted you to have it.” Liz strolled into the bedroom, filing her nails.

Aric glanced up from packing my toiletries in the bathroom. I angled my chin in Liz’s direction. “Where is he?”

Liz brushed her nails against her tiny plaid skirt. “He’s in Romania.”

I folded the dress back into the box. “Romania? What’s there?”

“Transylvania. He’s gone to find a bride.”

I burst out laughing. I’d never realized Liz had a sense of humor. She stopped filing her nails and glared. Apparently she wasn’t trying to be funny. “Oh, sorry.” I clasped her wrist when she tried to leave. “Hey, Liz? Where did Misha get this dress?”

She threw back her ice blond hair. “From that boutique in Incline Village.”

“What?”

She rolled her eyes. Apparently I was interrupting her very important nail filing time. “You were out shopping there sometime before Christmas. Maria noticed you admiring it in the window and told the master. He had her buy it for you as a gift and then forgot about it until that day you got your ass kicked.”

“I’ve never been shopping with Maria.”

Liz shoved her file in her pocket. “She wasn’t shopping with you, she was following you. The master usually has us guard you.” She’d had her fill of humoring me and left without saying goodbye.

Aric lifted the suitcases we’d packed and kissed the top of my head. “Are you ready, sweetness?”

I drew the box against me and held it close. “Yes. I’m ready.”

I didn’t say much on our ride to Dollar Point and followed Aric quietly into the house. My sisters and their wolves were noticeably absent. They likely realized Aric and I needed time alone. My eyes skimmed around the large open family room that led into the kitchen. Shayna’s black-and-white nature prints hung beside the stairs in new frames, and the wall had a fresh coat of sage paint. It was as if my back had never been hurled against it and the evil known as Anara had never existed.

But I knew better.

Aric paused on the first step. His grip on the suitcases tightened as he focused on my hands. “If I could kill him again, I would.”

I hadn’t realized I was stroking my belly. I paused with my hand over the thin fabric of my sundress and made a decision. My breath released in a small sigh. I kicked off my sandals and walked to meet my mate. “Let’s go upstairs.”

Two dozen fire and ice purple roses sprayed from a crystal vase on my nightstand. I smiled and crossed the suite to take in their inviting aroma. Aric dropped the suitcases behind me and soon I felt his strong arms encircling my waist. “Do you like them? I wanted to give you something to mark our new beginning.”

His body so close to mine strengthened my resolve. I turned and ran my fingers across his chest, letting them slide over the dense muscles straining against his tight gray T-shirt. “I love them, but I want something more.”

Aric shuddered and clasped my hips. “You should rest.”

“I will. After…” I stood on my toes and kissed him. I’d like to say it was a gentle kiss that lasted all day, one preteens would swoon over. But I wasn’t a preteen and I didn’t like to lie. Aric clenched me tighter when my hot mouth left his and my teeth found his neck. He reached for the long silver stick holding up my hair and released my long waves to fall against my back. His hand cupped my neck and his lips smashed against mine.

I fumbled to tug off his jeans then dropped to my knees. Aric fell against the wall from the force of my appetite, grunting my name and digging his fingers into my tresses. He ripped my dress off—literally grasped the edge and tore through the soft cotton in one hard wrench. My bra and panties followed, dropping in shreds around me while I devoured my mate. I wanted more of him but he wouldn’t let me take. He wanted to give.

Aric lifted me, spreading me across the bed before his head dipped between my thighs. My fingers ran through his thick hair as lust burrowed through where his tongue flicked and his lips suckled. My fervor surged, firing upward and releasing my screams.

He entered me before I’d finished, thrusting his hips hard against me and making me cry out once more. “I want you,” he rasped. “I want you so much.” Our bodies became a tangle of flailing limbs as we rolled, changing positions in a sultry dance until we caved in bliss and exhaustion.

Aric covered us with a soft blanket and drew me against him, sweeping his lips over mine. His fingertips stroked my face as he regarded me with an intensity that made my heart pound. “I’m going to make you happy, I swear it.”

His eyes tamed at the sight of my smile and at the sound of my voice. “By being my mate, you already have.”

Epilogue

Aric’s hand skimmed over the small of my back as we strolled along the shore of Lake Tahoe. “We missed Thanksgiving together last year. We never celebrated your birthday, and Christmas downright sucked without you.”

The September sun warmed my face as I leaned closer against him. “We’ll make up for it this year, wolf,” I promised.

Aric bent to meet my lips with a smoldering kiss. I moaned softly as I curled my free arm around his neck. We’d spent so much time in bed since moving back in together. This kiss reminded me why.

He pulled back, his light brown eyes smoky as he spoke. “Celia, I think it’s time we start.”

I thought my werewolf lover would guide us back in the direction of the house. Instead he led me around the bend and removed a folded quilt tucked between two boulders. “What’s this?” I asked when he spread it along the sand.

Instead of answering, Aric pulled out a picnic basket from behind another large rock and placed it on the edge of the quilt. His dark Irish skin brightened to red and perspiration built along his crown. He hauled me to the quilt, causing me to trip over my feet. He barely caught me before I fell, and lowered me to the center. “Sorry—sorry,” he said, stumbling over his words. “There’s some…stuff in there.” He pointed to the basket. “Help yourself—I’ll be right back.”

I didn’t understand what was happening and blinked back at him as he darted away. I tucked my knees against myself and waited, then waited and waited some more. The breeze from the lake pushed back my hair and stirred Tahoe’s magic around me, enlivening my inner tigress and inviting her to frolic.