Authors: Eve Langlais

Mated To The Devil (21 page)

BOOK: Mated To The Devil

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“When did you get so wise?” he asked.

“Not wise, just realistic.”

Remy sighed. “You know I’m still going to blame myself.”

“I know. Just like I’ll blame myself, too. But . . . ” She twined her arms around his neck. “I can think of ways we can apologize to each other.”

“You can, can you?” His hands slipped around her waist.

“Most definitely,” she said, her lips brushing his.

This time their embrace moved with a soft sensuality. Mouths sliding across each other, they explored each other with a sweet tenderness that continued as he placed her upon his bed. With sweet reverence, his hands caressed her, igniting the nerve endings in her skin. His body nestled between her spread legs, the head of him probing at the moist entrance to her sex, nudging and penetrating while she silently urged him on, their tongues too busy dancing for her to speak.

Oh, how she loved the feel of him inside her. The connection of their two bodies. The intimacy. Faster he pumped her, while her nails dug at his shoulders. He winced as her fingers brushed his wound.

“I’m so sorry,” she gasped.

“Don’t be. Here, grab the pillow instead.”

She didn’t understand his instructions until he withdrew and flipped her onto her stomach. Face buried in the pillow, she clawed at it as he entered her from behind, the position somehow more carnal and exciting. Up he pulled her hips, spreading her thighs wide, exposing her. “So beautiful,” he murmured. “Pink, wet, and delicious.”

The old Mina would have blushed at his words, but she was too busy enjoying herself to feel any embarrassment, especially given how deep he could slide into her. Together they moved, a sexual rhythm that increased in tempo, until with a scream muffled by her pillow, she climaxed, her pussy milking him hard. Remy grunted and plunged harder, deeper, drawing out her climax. The hot spill of his own orgasm bathed her channel a moment before he draped his body over hers. Together they panted, coming down from their blissful high.

After slipping out of her, he lay beside her and rolled her to her side, then drew her into his arms to spoon. The question that plagued her from earlier returned to haunt her, and despite the peace of the moment she had to voice it. “Is it always going to be like this?” she asked Remy.

“Well, I’m sure in a dozen or so years the sex will tame down a bit to, say, oh, maybe only once or twice a day.”

“Remy!”

“Okay, once a day.”

“Be serious.”

“I thought I was.”

“You know that’s not what I meant. I meant are we always going to have to watch our backs? Dr. Moireau implied others knew. What if this is just the beginning of the attempts to kidnap Jacques? What if—”

“Shhh, baby.” He hushed her with a finger on her lips. “It’s my turn to say things will be all right.”

“So you know for sure it’s over?” She looked for reassurance.

And found none.

“Nope. No one can guarantee that. Danger could lurk and strike in the next five minutes. Or a week. Or a year. Or twenty. The pack is always in danger of discovery. Our secret will always place us in jeopardy. We will always have to remain vigilant.”

“How can you live like that?”

“Because we’re survivors. Just like our ancestors were. Just like you are.”

True. Hadn’t she made it through everything the world threw at her? And won. When would life finally get easier? Something of her dejection must have shown, because Remy hugged her for a long, silent moment before tilting her chin to stare intently in her eyes.

“I realize shit got pretty bad for a moment there. We hit a bump in that road to happiness I promised.”

“A big one.”

“A big one,” he admitted. “However, life goes on and it won’t be the only bump we drive over. But we can’t always avoid those. We can, however, choose to not let them frighten us. This is our life, and we can make of it what we will. We could live it in fear or live to the fullest, grasping every chance of happiness we can.”

“How?”

He shrugged. “There’s no one answer to that, but it starts with not jumping at every shadow, but remaining vigilant. In teaching our son how to stay safe. Avoiding things that might expose us.”

Like crazy doctors with messed-up stories about daughters in cults.

“So I’m going to be like those people who leave the mob and go into witness protection. Never able to trust anyone.”

“Not everyone. You can trust me. I’ll be with you every step of the way, if you’ll have me.”

“Because you have to. I know your secret. Your pack would never let me go.”

“But I would never force you to stay. I want you, Mina. I want you and Jacques. I want to love you and cherish you for the rest of our lives. I can only hope you want it, too.”

Looking into his eyes, those golden glowing eyes, how could she say
no
. Despite the danger, she needed Remy. Jacques needed his father. And dammit, they were happy. They could be happy.
We will be happy.
In that she trusted. In Remy she put her faith and love.

“I love you, too. And I choose to be with you.”

“Forever?” he asked.

“Forever.”

Epilogue

The birth of her daughter made Mina cry. Not because of the pain—epidurals took care of that—but because unlike her first pregnancy, she didn’t go through it alone. Remy held her hand the entire time and when she pushed Annette out into the world, he was there to catch her, his face creased in a grin so wide, Mina burst into tears.

She sobbed as he cut the cord. Wailed as he hugged her and kissed her while telling her how much he loved her. She sniffled when he handed her the swaddled baby. Moisture continued to flow as Jacques, who’d come in with Pierre, huddled with her and Remy to
ooh
and
aah
the newest addition to the family.

Remy didn’t order her to stop the waterworks, he just patiently mopped her cheeks, just like he’d tended her the whole pregnancy. Only the most wonderful of men would hunt down a Dunkin’ Donuts to bring her back a caramel-filled treat. Only the most dedicated of mates would rub her dirty feet every night when they got too swollen for shoes. Only a man who loved her would have put up with her during nine months of emotional seesawing as she coped with all the changes life dealt—and learned to harness the nightmares of the kidnapping until they finally stopped plaguing her.

Pronouncing Mina and the baby healthy, the hospital—and not the animal clinic as Mina had once feared—released her to go home by the next morning. She kind of missed the quiet pace of the medical center as she had to bear a hectic day of people dropping in to see the newest addition. And in some odd practice she couldn’t fathom, these same visitors dropped off food and more food. Enough food so she wouldn’t have to cook for weeks. The whole thing exhausted her, and she fell asleep while eating one of the neighborly casseroles, too weary to even finish it.

She woke in the wee hours to the sound of soft murmurs. Concentrating, she made out words and smiled as tears brimmed.

“My little princess,” she heard Remy whisper. “I am going to treat you like royalty. You are going to be so spoiled, but that’s all right because you’re going to be daddy’s little girl. I’m going to be there when you take your first step. When you throw your first snowball. I am going to teach you to ride a bike and sock a boy in the nose. I am going to treasure you along with your brother. I will be there for every important moment in your lives. I promise. I love you so much. And your nosy mother, too.”

Mina smiled and rolled onto her back as Remy strolled toward her with the baby cradled in his wide palms. She held out her hands and grasped her daughter, guiding the pursed lips to her breast, letting her daughter latch on with a hungry grip.

Remy eased down beside her, watching with a tenderness she’d grown to cherish. Oh, how he loved her even though her reappearance in his life turned his whole world upside down.

The guilt she’d felt when the whole town had to pack up and move had mostly dissipated. God, she’d been so horrified when she’d discovered that the doctor’s actions meant most of the Lycan community needed to get up and go.

Unsure of how much the doctor knew and suspected, no one wanted to take a chance. Family by family, the Lycans disappeared, most without a goodbye. Lifelong friends separated, childhood homes were abandoned, jobs and careers ditched.

“I’m so sorry,” she’d whispered when she found out. As if those trite words could make it all go away.

Tender hands cupped her cheeks, and Remy had stared deep into her eyes. “Don’t be. It happens to all the Lycan packs eventually. You can only live somewhere so long before someone begins to suspect things aren’t normal. It’s okay. We have protocols in place for this type of situation. Everything will be fine.”

For a long time, though, she’d feared they wouldn’t. The move went well enough, the truck arriving and departing in the middle of the night, their things sent off into the yonder, never to be seen again. It was safest that way. The only items they kept were what they could pack in their first gently used minivan.

Oh, the face poor Remy wore—part sick dread, part mirth—when he’d climbed into the driver’s seat for the first time.

“I can’t believe I’m driving a minivan.” The disgust in his tone made her giggle.

“I’m sorry?”

“No, you’re not,” but he didn’t say it with anger. Remy thrived on being a family man. And a marvelous one at that. With Pierre in tow, they went in the opposite direction of the truck with all their belongings, swapping plates along the way, along with minivans, so as to avoid getting traced via the VIN. When they ended up in their final destination, a little town nestled in a New Brunswick forest with a small pack in need of an alpha, Mina breathed a sigh of relief.

We’re home.
Now they truly started over.
But this time I’m doing it with my head held high.
No longer did she duck when people gave her and her blended family a sidelong look. She met their gaze head-on and dared them to say something. Dared them to insult. Oddly enough, in the face of her defiance, no one did.

As for her mistaken belief all those years ago that she’d mated herself to the devil? Yes, yes, she had, a devil with a sense of humor, a wicked tongue, and an even more decadent body. If waking up smiling with the man she loved was a sin, then so be it. She’d take an eternity in the fires of Remy’s love over anything else any day.
Because I refuse to live in the shadows and fear forever.
She would take each moment of happiness God granted and cherish it because she couldn’t predict what tomorrow would bring, but she could plan for today. And today she planned to smile and love.

The End

About the Author

Hello and thanks for taking the time to read something I wrote. I do hope I managed to entertain you—and make you giggle a time or two. Since you’re actually checking out this note, I guess it means you’re curious about me, so here’s the scoop.

I am a mom of three, who is just shy of forty. I am married (over thirteen years now) to a man whom I adore—when he’s not driving me insane. A true romantic, I totally believe in love at first sight. But then again, I also think there is life ‘out’ there—hopefully as sexy as the aliens I’ve created in my mind. Lol.

I am Canadian, but being a military brat, I’ve been coast to coast. Right now, I’m living in the Ottawa area—hockey, poutine, and beavertails, yay—and enjoying the chaos of family life.

If you want to know more about me, then I guess I should mention you can visit me at http://www.EveLanglais.com
.

Covers, excerpts, my blog, and other items that might interest you, await. Be sure to sign up for my new release mailing list if you’d like to know when my next story will be available for your reading enjoyment.

Until we meet in the pages of a book again, wishing you tons of great reading and smiles,

Eve

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