Buying a Mate (BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance) (Quick & Furry Book 8) (4 page)

“It’s not a sham.”

It so was a sham.

“I have reports from a private detective that assure me you only met him two days ago.” Theresa dug in her purse, tugged out a folder and then tossed it onto the table. “You didn’t seriously think you wouldn’t be watched, did you? Ever since father died, we’ve tracked you.”

“We?” River reached for the pictures that’d spilled out across the smooth surface. She flicked through them one-by-one. The grocery store. The gym downstairs—a girl had to stay healthy, curves or not. The salon… the restaurant with Taron.

“Your existence threatens the status quo, River.”

She tossed the pictures down. So what if they’d had her followed? It didn’t change the fact that she’d marry Taron. She hoped. What if he changed his mind after being faced with her sister? God, was the rest of the clan coming, too?

“I’ve always existed, Theresa.” Even if they all hated she was born. “I’m over thirty and I’ve always been in Browning’s life.” Browning, not daddy. Never daddy. “So the family’s sudden interest is touching, though greatly delayed.”

Her sister’s eyes were suddenly filled with fury. “We don’t give a damn about you, only the money. It’s ours and you’re some upstart bitch trying to take it from us by associating with this
person
.”

“Upstart?” River jumped to her feet. She was a lot of things, but an upstart? Someone trying to get over on the family? “I worked for Browning from the moment I turned sixteen until the day he died. I ran the company while he was sick and I will run this company until I die.”

On bad days she hated it. On good days she despised it. But above all, good or bad, it was
hers
. Blood, sweat, and more tears than she ever wanted to count. It was hers.

“That,” Theresa glared, “can be arranged.”

River ignored the implicit threat. It wasn’t the first. She doubted it’d be the last. Even after she married Taron, she was sure they’d continue to give her shit. “Taron isn’t only a person, he’s not human, he’s a shifter. Watch what you say around him.”

“Or. What?”

“Or,” Taron drawled and slowly rose until he towered over both of them, his presence imposing. While River was comforted by his obvious strength, it seemed to frighten Theresa based on the sudden trembling of her sister’s body. “I can take you to the top of the nearest mountain and leave you there.”

“You can’t,” Theresa’s eyes were wide. “You can’t do that.”

“I can do whatever the hell I want and no one can stop me.”

“I’m a Boston Browning. You can’t just take one of us and—”

“Lady, I don’t have this stripe of white in my hair because I’m a fucking boy scout. I got it because my dragon and I have a certain affinity for the dark side.”

That had River swallowing hard right along with Theresa.

Affinity for the dark side? Shit, she really should have asked Maddox or Mari about the bit of pale hair.

A small tremble shook Theresa’s form and River had no doubt her sister was terrified. Good, right? Right. Maybe she’d believe that if she repeated it a time or one hundred.

“Keep the pictures. I have copies.” Her sister placed the strap of her purse on her shoulder. “You need to forget this little arrangement you have with this person, River. That company belongs to the Brownings—the true Brownings. Not in the hands of some bastard throwaway kid who only exists because a condom broke.”

“Enough!”
Taron’s bellow bounced off the walls. “You have two seconds to get the fuck away from my true mate or I’ll eat you for fucking dinner.”

The words were scary, but the blast of fire that left his lips…yeah, that was even scarier.

Then Theresa ran, Taron chased her, and River was left wheezing in the living room, mind spinning.

True mate?

Her heart thundered and threatened to burst from her chest.

True mate?

No way. No. Way.

That was taking things too far, as far as River was concerned. She wanted a faux fiancé and pretend husband. She hadn’t mentioned true mates and…

Her throat burned. And she didn’t expect the emotions that came with his words. Parts of her wanted his declaration to be true. The parts that cradled feelings for him and held them close. Not her desire—though she had that in spades—but beyond that. Beyond sex and into... Into something very close to deep emotion. Like, mate-ly emotions. Or at least, boyfriend-ish with a leaning toward forever feelings.

But… but she was paying him to be hers, right? So it wasn’t real. It was a game taken a step too far and now her heart clenched with the memory of those words.

“You have two seconds to get the fuck away from my true mate or I’ll eat you for fucking dinner.”

She wouldn’t mind him eating her half-sister for dinner, but the true mate claim…

River retreated to her bedroom and snatched the home phone from the cradle. She dialed her friend’s number from memory.

The phone rang once, then twice, and then a panting Mari answered the phone.

“He—”
Gasp.
“—llo?”

Any other time, River would tease her, but now wasn’t the time for jokes. "How much did you pay him to say he's my true mate and why would you fuck with me that way?"

Taron knew human women were bitchy, but he’d never seen it up close and personal. He hadn’t appreciated how lethally directed that bitchiness could be, and what sort of devastation it could cause. Not until he’d seen how River’s sister wielded words to hurt her. He’d scented his mate’s distress on the air and seen red. The disrespect toward him didn’t bother him, centuries of scorn left him immune, but to treat River that way… To threaten her life then say she should never have been born.

No fucking way was he letting that stand. Neither him nor his dragon.

For a human, Theresa sure could run when she needed to. Over two hundred pounds of pissed of male dragon had that effect, and he hadn’t even changed form yet. She made it out the front door before he could grab her, so he shifted his throat just enough to send a burst of flame after her and then slammed the door shut.

Anger and resentment of the Boston Brownings rolled through him as he stormed back into the living room to find…

Nothing.

The room was empty.

“Son of a fucking bitch,” he hissed, stomping through the room as he followed River’s scent. Her distress was a taste that coated the back of his throat, the scent leaving a trail through the apartment a mile wide for him to follow. A curl of smoke escaped his lips as he snarled. Pity the bitch was fast, he’d have happily roasted her and hauled her crispy carcass back inside to show his mate.

"How much did you pay him to say he's my true mate and why would you fuck with me that way?"

The anguish in River’s voice stopped him cold. The words halted him in his tracks. Shit, had he said that? That she was his true mate? Oh hell, he had. And of all he’d said, she had to latch onto that detail. The one little thing he hadn’t wanted her to discover yet. Not until he’d gotten under her guard and claimed the treasure of her heart for his own.

Sure, she might be his true mate but she was human. Which meant she could walk away anytime she chose, leaving him bound to her eternally but unable to do jackshit about it. Once a dragon found his mate that was it. One woman, for eternity.

And his only wanted him for a year.

Running a hand through his hair, he thought fast. He needed a plan. Something. Anything.

His dragon took over and shoved him through the door to meet her spear-like gaze. Plans were for pussies.

“True mate?” she whispered.

He gave her a long and hard look, daring her to argue with him. “Yeah. And? You got a problem with that?”

She pressed a button on the phone and slid from the bed, dropping the device as she padded toward him. She stood in front of him, all pretty curves and softness. That alone took courage, especially with the smoke of his dragon’s anger swirling around him.

“Careful, River,” he warned as she reached for him, his voice low with the beast inside. The beast who ached to claim her as his own. And he wasn’t only talking about his dragon. His human side was just as dangerous, perhaps more so. “You need to give me time to calm down, or we play this my way.”

Her hand stopped mid-way to his chest, her eyes wide and dark. With fear or excitement, he couldn’t tell, not with his senses all keyed into anger and darkness. Their gazes locked, and for a moment, he couldn’t speak, the need to tumble her to the bed and take what he wanted almost overwhelming him. But he couldn’t—wouldn’t. She was his true mate but she wasn’t
his
yet. Only an asshole just took, and while Taron knew he could be a dick, he wasn’t an asshole.

“True mate?” Her hand moved. Brushed his chest.

He felt the burn of her touch right through his clothing and into his soul. Heat flared out from within and his tank top was history, burnt to a cinder as his scales rippled over his skin. An accident, honestly...nothing to do with the fact he wanted nothing between her touch and his skin.

“Yes,” he snarled. Confirming his words once more. “Mine. Forever.”

She jumped, but didn’t move her hand. Drawn by a force greater than himself, he edged closer. This near, he realized how tiny she was. Her head barely reached his shoulder. Reaching out a finger, he tucked it under her chin and made her look up at him.

“You want to play this my way, River?” He couldn’t help the deepness of his dragon in his voice or the smoke that curled around them. The stuff seeped off his pores to wrap around her, his feral nature trying to ensnare her any way it could.

“Because if you don’t stop touching me right now, I’m going to lay you down on this bed until not just your neighbors but this entire block knows my name. Are we clear?”

Her eyes widened even farther and she swallowed. Her hand trembled and her dark eyes filled with a shy heat that almost brought him to his knees. “Yes. Just—”

“No ‘justs’...” he couldn’t help the small snarl as he grabbed her hand and held it captive as he lifted it from his chest. How was a man supposed to focus with her touching him like that? “Whether we end up on that bed now or later, we
will
get there. You’re mine, River. Deal with it.”

It was a douche-bag comment and he knew it, but right now he didn’t care. Couldn’t care. All he thought about was tumbling her back on the soft surface behind her and finishing what they’d started in the hall.

She tugged on his hand and he thought she was trying to get away from him. With a snarl he yanked her closer, letting go of her hand to drive his into her hair. His lips crashed down over hers and he kissed her like there was no tomorrow. He’d put everything he had into it to sway her into accepting him before she could think and push him away. Need and passion rode him hard and he swept his tongue against the closed seams of her lips. A demand for her submission...before he lost his mind.

Her hands spread over his chest and he sucked in a breath. She didn’t push him away, though. Instead, she touched him. Stroked those soft little hands over his shoulders in exploration. Her lips parted and he sank between them with a groan. She tasted of sin and seduction—every wet dream he’d ever had combined with a happily ever after he’d never thought would be his.

Her whimper was lost under his lips. His hands smoothed down her lush figure, worshipping her curves as he slid his tongue deep to tangle with hers. Her little moans and wriggles would drive him insane. He needed more. Much more.

Lips still on hers, he walked her backward until her legs hit the side of the bed. Holding her close, he tumbled them both to the soft surface. A twist controlled the fall and ensured she sprawled over his body.

“Fuck...you feel fantastic,” he groaned, spreading his hands over her luscious hips as she straddled him. As if sensing the heat of her pussy so close, his hips thrust upward, grinding his hard cock against her mound. “Feel that, baby girl? Feel what you do to me?”

He lay back on the bed and looked up at her. How the fuck had he gotten so lucky? She was absolutely gorgeous. Dark hair tumbled over her shoulders and her lips were full and pouty, swollen from his kisses. His attention headed down and his cock jerked savagely.

He was a dragon, not the gentlest of creatures, and he’d never been into skinny women. Curves...a little cushion for the pushin’... that’s what got him hot. And River’s body? Supernova, baby.

He smoothed his hands upward, over the wide hips, the nipped in waist and up to her full breasts, barely contained in her blouse. Already he could see the buttons gaping, allowing him a glimpse of her body. Clever little things. Her skirt was tatters, leaving her itty bitty little panties in his way. He wanted to tear them off. With his teeth.

“Undress,” he ordered, rubbing his thumbs over the outline of her nipples under the fabric. “I want to see what’s mine.”

Her breath caught, a delightful little sound of arousal he decided he’d never get tired of hearing. River began to undo the buttons. Slowly. He spied the little quirk of her lips and hid his grin. Little witch wanted to play, did she? He’d play. But like he said—his way.

Watching each button give, he slid his hands up her thighs. And around. The fine tremble in her hands as she undid the last button gave away how aware she was of his touch.

“Take it off.” His orders were little more than barks but she didn’t seem to mind.

Not when he slid his hand between her thighs to cup her mound. The heat of her core was damp against his fingers, her panties soaked. As she slid the shirt from her shoulders, he pushed the satin aside. A slide of his fingers through slick pussy lips drew another gasp from her and she swayed.

“The bra.” His gaze was riveted on the sensual delights about to be revealed to him, but that didn’t mean his hand was idle. Stroking back and forth, he gathered the evidence of her arousal and slid it upward to smooth over her clit.

Teeth mangling her lower lip, she tried to undo the bra, but the catch wouldn’t give. He rubbed more, circling her clit, then stroking over it. He distracted her enough that her hands fumbled again and her hips rocked against him. It wasn’t fair but he didn’t care. She was his, and he intended to make sure she never looked at another man again.