Shifter Marriage Pact (Midlife Shifters Book 6) Page 3

  "Yep. I'll meet you at the bar. Everything will be set up and ready to go."

  "Thanks for doing that. I wouldn't have known where to start with planning a wedding."

  "A fake wedding."

  "Technically, it's real. We have a license and an officiant. It will be legal on paper.”

  "Technically, but still a sham."

  "See you Saturday," I told her before returning to the front drive to hop into the older minivan we'd loaned her. I didn't even bother going back out to the main road, instead heading across the empty field between our places, using the old dirt road around its perimeter from when both farms had seen a lot more activity.

  The days seemed to go by quickly between then and Saturday. I woke up feeling nervous. It wasn't so much about getting married as it was about whether we were going to be able to pull this off. What if someone got wind of it or she changed her mind? What if she got loose lipped and told a friend? There were so many ways it could fail, and things were going to be a lot worse for me with the Alpha if I got caught trying to pull one over on him. I'd be in a lot more bother than just not having a shot at taking his place. I could be exiled completely.

  It was early, and I still had a way to go before things kicked off. We had kept things fairly simple, but not so much that it came across as being a complete farce. There was a large barbecue for friends and family, the latter of which neither of us really had any, but our larger family, our pack, made up for the missing close kin. Alpha was invited, of course, as were several other members of our pack.

  I got up and dressed, heading over to the large pavilion we usually used for pack gatherings. TJ was already there, working on the decorations and such, along with one of the other wives. They chatted happily as they hung streamers and placed flowers. I began pulling the contents from the back of my truck to get the fire pit going, then I went to pick up the meat that would go on it, slow roasting over the course of the morning.

  "Good morning," TJ said with a broad smile, leaning in and kissing me softly on the cheek for the benefit of our onlookers. I ignored the tingle it sent rippling through me.

  "Good morning," I replied with a smile of my own. "You look beautiful already."

  It was the truth. Her long hair was the same shade of chestnut brown it had been since we were kids, but it faded down into pale blond tips, what I think women called ombre. The sun had already climbed up far enough to brighten her face, picking up gold flecks of light in her deep green eyes. She wasn't yet wearing the wedding dress she had refused to let me see, but I could only imagine how it would look on the dangerous curves that inhabited her current t-shirt and jeans.

  "Oh, hi. I feel like a third wheel now," the woman with her chuckled, making her way toward us.

  She was familiar. I knew she was one of my pack brother's wives, but couldn't remember which one. It was no surprise, as she was one of those women who just wasn't really memorable in any significant way, which wasn't to say she was unattractive. She just didn't stand out among the many mousy housewives that were content to stand in the shadows of their husbands. TJ seemed to pick up on my memory lapse right away and stepped in to save me from my awkwardness.

  "Carson, you remember Kevin's wife, Marty. Right?"

  "Yes, of course. Marty Caulder. I haven't seen you for a while," I replied.

  "I'll be out of your hair in a bit. I just told TJ that I would help her hang the decorations before Kevin goes to work. He's home with the kids right now."

  "That was kind of you. I'm sure she appreciates it."

  "Do you need some help?" TJ asked.

  "No. I've got this. I'll let you ladies get on with your decorating. I'm just going to get this fire going and then run by the butchers to pick up the meat."

  "Sounds good. We won't hold you up," TJ replied.

  "Good to see you again, Carson," Marty added before following TJ back toward the pavilion.

  I made quick work of getting the pit started and then returned to the truck to fetch the meat. When I returned, TJ was there alone, placing tablecloths on the picnic tables and weighing them down with candles in glass jars and placing small chalkboards with names on them along each side. The decorations were up, and it looked pretty decent for a wedding luncheon that had been tossed together and done on a shoestring budget.

  It seemed like time flew after that. The luncheon, the wedding, the after-party seemed to be all just one rolling event, which I guess we should credit ourselves for it appearing and feeling so seamless. The only moment that really stood out in all of it was the moment TJ had appeared at the end of the aisle, walking toward me.

  The dress she had chosen was just as simple as she said, but it clung to her every curve in absolute perfection. It took me back to some incredibly old memories where I had sometimes thought about having a day like this with her. None of those fantasies did this moment justice. She was so stunning that it made me wonder why we weren't doing this for real, why I had ever let her slip away from me in the first place.

  Sure, she had been young when I’d left for War Camp, but I’d ignored her when I returned. I’d wanted to be free, not tied down to a young wife and raising a bunch of pups, the one thing I knew she wanted more than anything. So, I’d avoided her and focused on other women who wanted nothing from me but an enjoyable time. Perhaps some wanted more, but it had been the kiss of death to them to let me know that.

  Even back then, I’d known I was running away from the one woman who I had loved since we were children. We’d met when she was four and I was eight and become partners in crime. We were both only children, a novelty in a wolf pack where women commonly had multiples. TJ had lost her siblings, and I had never had any. She filled the hole in me left from living so far out without other children to play with. My mom had taken me to play with the other wolf cubs here and there, but TJ had been my only real and constant friend.

  We were opposites in mostly every way. A girl and a boy. I was big for my age and she was small for hers. As we grew older, our friendship grew into attraction, then turned into sex and what felt like love. She had scared me with her need for a family, and I had run as far away as I could by joining the War Camp and avoiding her on my trips home. Eventually, she was gone, and it was only then that I realized how much I missed her. She belonged to someone else, and I had to accept it was me who drove her into his arms.

  Now, here she was, walking down the aisle toward me, and it felt a lot more natural than I could have imagined. There was a part of me that was sad that I had taken something that should be so beautiful between us and shit all over it. I should have married her years ago, and now, I could only do it as a farce. Shame on me. I guess we all reap what we sow, after all.

  I pushed it aside, and we exchanged our vows and rings that had belonged to my parents. Then, we were married, and I looked out across our guests to see our Alpha, Graham, applauding loudly as we were introduced to them as Mr. And Mrs. Carson McNabb. We ran, hand in hand, down the aisle between them and hopped into the small carriage I had arranged as a surprise to her. It might be a sham marriage, but it needed to look real, and a part of me knew she'd enjoy the carriage ride to the bar where our after-party was to be held.

  "This is lovely," she remarked as I helped her up into her seat.

  "I had a friend who did me a favor," I said, blowing off the effort I had made to get it.

  She smiled up at me as I climbed in from the other side, both of us waving to everyone as we traveled the half-mile that remained to the bar. We chatted lightly as we went.

  "I think this sham wedding was a lot more enjoyable than my first actual wedding," she laughed.

  "Less pressure, I'm sure," I replied.

  "Infinitely. What about you? Why did you never get married before now?"

  "I was just waiting on the right woman to come along," I told her.

  "Maybe she will someday."

  "Nah. I think I'm just not marriage material."

  "You are today," she laughed.


  "I suppose I am."

  We returned to the whirlwind as we entered the bar and joined our friends, some who had attended the wedding, some who just turned up for the party, and a good many who just happened to be at the bar when a wedding reception broke out. We were quickly sharing toast after toast with friends until the night grew blurry with a sort of booze bliss. We were followed out of the bar at the end of the night with cheers and catcalls applauding our impending honeymoon action. "If only they knew," I thought.

  As it turns out, it was me who didn't know. We had barely gotten into my house, where we'd agreed we would spend the next few nights for appearance's sake, when TJ turned toward me and pulled me close to her, kissing me in a way that was somehow familiar but also as exciting as a first kiss. I had drunk just enough not to feel the need to pull away, returning her kiss eagerly.

  "Take me to bed," she purred.

  "TJ, we agreed that there would be no sex."

  "Yes, after today. Today there will be sex," she giggled.

  "I don't want you to be upset with me tomorrow."

  "I won't be unless you are denying me my honeymoon."

  "This is really what you want?"

  Rather than responding, she stood back and began trying to wiggle out of her dress. It was the most unsexy thing I'd ever seen and yet somehow completely arousing. Frustrated, she turned around for me to unzip it in the back, and I forgot all about any concerns I might have. We were adults. If we wanted this, then why deny it?

  Chapter Four

  TJ

  I felt like I was on fire, a long-burning ember that had been burning in my belly for years now fully ignited. We’d made a deal, and I was totally about to blow it off on our first night in the same house, but I didn’t care. All I could think about was how much I wanted him. I knew he wanted me too, despite his objections. He was just trying to hold up the bargain we had made.

  I’d been trying to push down fantasies I’d been having about him for years, even during my marriage. When sex seemed monotonous or uninspired, my mind had always drifted back to him, to what we had once been. I’d never forgotten the time we’d spent together. Carson had been my first everything—my first friend, my first lover, my first heartache. It was that first fact that had brought me to agree to this little scheme of his and that last thing that had told me to protect myself by insisting on no sex in the deal.

  I knew that the moment he touched me, I would lose control. He’d have the upper hand, and he would hurt me again when things were done, just like it had ended the first time. Alcohol had a way of making you forget your intentions and replacing them with what felt right at the moment, and, at this moment, all of the potential pain faded into the background. It had been replaced with my underlying passion for the one man who I had ever really loved without reservation.

  All thought went out the window as he took me at my word and helped me out of my dress. I spun around on wobbly legs as it fell to the floor and he reached out to steady me, pulling me to him in a heated kiss. It felt like our last kiss was only yesterday, his familiar smell and taste filling my nostrils and dancing about my head to add fuel to our fire.

  I clumsily began unbuttoning his shirt as he pulled off his jacket and let it drop to the floor atop my dress. We staggered toward the bed as we continued to undress one another. I pushed him back onto the bed as he bumped up against it and hurriedly stripped off his shoes and socks before grabbing his underwear and trying to rip them off with a single movement. He laughed as they snapped back into place and pulled me over on top of him.

  “You’re a lot naughtier than you used to be,” he teased me.

  “You ain’t seen nothing yet, cowboy,” I joked.

  “Oh, I’m a cowboy now?”

  “Of course not. You’re a full-on stud bull,” I replied, not capable of making a coherent thought in my current state. “I’m about to ride you for a new world record.”

  “You realize that the world record for bull riding is only about two minutes, right?”

  “We’re going to blow that right out of the water,” I giggled.

  “You’re so drunk right now. Are you sure you want to do this?” he laughed.

  “I may be drunk, but I’m also not leaving this room until you give me what I want. It’s my honeymoon,” I told him.

  “Well, who am I to say no to a new bride?”

  “No one,” I replied.

  He chuckled and pulled me upward, struggling to pull the covers down beneath us and shift out of his underwear before slipping us both beneath them. Laying to one side, he pulled me closed to him, taming me in that way he had about him. I moaned as his lips met mine, drinking me in, slowly and deliberately exploring my mouth as his fingers tangled in my hair. I was quickly lost in him, feeling like I had the first time he had touched me. It all came back at once, overwhelming my senses until I existed as a part of him rather than a separate entity.

  “I’ve missed you,” he breathed as he kissed his way down my neck, the palm of his hand cupping my cheek as he took his time, almost inhaling me as he explored my heated skin. I felt his touch to my very core as he took his time to roam.

  The heat of the moment was quickly replaced with the slow-burning embers from far below, our need giving way to deep desire. Everything felt like it was moving in slow motion as he continued his deliberate teasing of my every nerve ending with his hands, his mouth, his tongue. He paused for a moment, looking into my eyes as he undid the clasp of my bra, setting my breasts free to press against his powerful chest as he pulled the garment away and tossed it off the bed.

  I could feel the friction of my nipples brushing against the coarse hairs on his chest while he continued to kiss me deeply, bringing me damn near to orgasm from just our embrace. His hand slipped into my panties, stroking my clit as we continued to explore one another’s mouths. I could hardly hold back. It had been so long since anyone had touched me, and now I was with the one man I’d wanted since I was old enough to know sex existed.

  I felt free to be myself with him, not hold back anything. The room was filled with the sounds of us, my moans shattering the dimly lit room around us as the moon filtered in through the blinds, casting sultry shadows across our semi-naked forms. I gasped as his mouth moved away from mine, his hands cupping my breasts to kiss them, his tongue slowly swirling around my nipples as he caressed them. I lay back, content to just enjoy what he was doing, loving every moment of just being with him again.

  I could feel his cock pressing into my thigh as he moved downward, planting butterfly kisses along my belly and firmer kisses across my pubic mound before wrapping a single hand in my low-cut panties and yanking them upward with a little chuckle, no doubt at the fact that he was far more successful than I had been at removing his underwear. The sound of the delicate lace ripping filled the air as he tossed them off the side of the bed and spread my legs apart, kissing his way down my thighs as I squirmed beneath him.

  I watched as he repositioned himself, moving downward in the bed and realigning himself between my open legs. His hands slipped beneath my ass cheeks, pulling me upward toward him as he parted my wet, heated folds with his talented tongue, lapping up my juices as if they were the sweetest nectar. I moaned loudly and put my hand on his head, loving the way he was taking his time with me instead of just fucking me senseless as I’d been content for him to do.

  I was glad he hadn’t. This was so much better than a hard fuck that ended far too quickly. I was savoring every single second of the torment he was content to dish out. Pushing my legs further apart and pulling my hips up closer, he devoured my pussy with his mouth, lips, and tongue, occasionally stopping to pull lightly at my clit with his teeth and suckle at its hardening bud. I cried out from the sensations he was creating.

  “That feels amazing,” I moaned.

  “You taste amazing,” he replied, his words vibrating off my sensitive pink folds.

  As his efforts became much more intense, I struggled to s
ay still. My body jerked and pulsed in response to his explorations. I felt like I would explode any minute and he was deliberately easing off each time I got close.

  “Please. I’m so close,” I begged.

  “In time,” was all he said, continuing the slow-motion torture of my soaked center.

  My nails dug into his back as he tongue fucked me, bringing his fingers up to massage my sweet spot slowly and finally giving me the release I was so desperate for. My entire body quaked with the force of a long-overdue orgasm that seemed to roll out into smaller ones as he continued to milk me for every ounce I was willing to give up to him.

  “That’s a good girl,” he said, finally pulling upward and moving to the side of the bed.

  I watched as he stood to one side and stripped off the underwear I’d been so desperate to remove earlier before grabbing my ankles and pulling me sideways so that my lower legs hung off the side of the bed. Our eyes met as he entered me in one fluid move, reminding me of just how well-endowed he was. His girth filled my already aching pussy as he began to slowly pump in and out of my center, never taking his eyes off of me.

  He was in no hurry, despite how incredibly turned on he obviously was. He felt like granite, hard and unforgiving as he fucked me with slow abandon. I moaned as he reached out for me, pulling me upward and wrapping my legs around him so that I was looking slightly downward with my breasts in his face. He latched onto one of them and began sucking at the nipple as he fucked me, giving me the most incredible sensations.

  Pulling away again, he raised his face toward mine, watching me as he made love to me. I leaned forward and kissed him, my moans of pleasure filling his mouth as he brought me to orgasm once again. He pulled away and moved his hands away from where he’d been holding me in place by clutching my ass, to holding my waist, bouncing me up and down the length of his cock as he moaned more and more frequently.

  “God, I’m going to come,” he said, attempting to pull free of me.

  “No. Please. Come inside me. I want you to fill me,” I said, not caring about the consequences.