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“Not a chance, flava. I’ve been waiting weeks to get a hold of you and I’m not letting you out of my sight until we settle a few things,” the deep timbre of his voice sent shivers down her spine and she cursed herself for how easily he was able to arouse her.

  Dammit. She hoped his super shifter senses didn’t get wind of it, but it was too late judging by the smoldering gaze in his silver eyes.

  “Fine. My place isn’t far actually,” she muttered as she got in on the driver’s side and motioned for him to take a seat.

  The black Mercedes was small, but comfy as she whizzed in and out of traffic until she reached the Station where she worked.

  “That’s my headquarters where I report. This entire community is shifter based and has ties to the Wardens.”

  “Yes, I was given a run down by the Heralds. So the Wardens are no longer strictly Zodiacs then?”

  “Um, no. Given the rarity of true Zodiac Shifters, we have branched out to other supernaturals. Hence the Witch here,” she said.

  Phoebe continued making small talk as she pulled into the closed garage attached to her two-story home. It was nothing much from the outside. In fact, it greatly resembled the other homes in the community. The inside, however, was different.

  Using magic to create pockets of space where none seemed to exist on the outside, Phoebe’s home was quite large. Decorated to be homey and comfortable with bright blues, whites, and yellows throughout, she smiled nervously as she led Nathan inside.

  “Your home is beautiful, Phoebe,” he said as if he sensed her nervousness. She stumbled over the rug when she thought she heard a whispered just like you following his sentence. Must have imagined it.

  “Would you like some tea?”

  “No, I just want to talk with you,” he said.

  “Um, okay. Please sit,” she gestured towards a plush navy-blue sofa with yellow pinstripes and sat down in the chair across from him.

  “Nathan-”

  “Phoebe-”

  They chuckled and he leaned forward taking her hand. Oh damn. He was so good-looking and after weeks of ignoring him, he was there in her home! She cared so much for the big, SeaDragon, but she didn’t know if she could do this.

  He wanted no part of her world. Had said so a million times. But there he was, in her living room, holding her hands, and her stupid heart was doing cartwheels.

  “You first, flava meus, as it should be,” he grinned, and her heart fluttered once more.

  “Oh Nathan, I am so sorry you traded your freedom for my life,” tears spilled down her cheeks, but she was unable to wipe them as he held her hands.

  His silver eyes glowed as she tripped up her apology to him. How could she ever make him understand how she felt? She loved him too much to see him miserable forever.

  “I swear I will find a way to free you of this obligation, Nathan, I-”

  “Shhh, no more. I will not hear you speak like this for the whole world, flava,” he tugged her off the chair and into his willing arms. That’s when she really lost it. Great, gut-wrenching sobs racked her body as he held her.

  She couldn’t make out his words over her own sobs, but she felt his lips as he pressed them sweetly to her hair and face, wiping her tears and rubbing her back. Soothing her, tempting her.

  “Have I behaved so badly you would not believe I chose you freely?”

  “But you don’t want this, Nathan-”

  “You are what I want, Phoebe. I will always choose you. No matter where or when or how.”

  “Your what? What are you saying?” Hope welled within her. Could he still want her after all she’d put him through?

  “I said you are my fated mate, Phoebe Bright.”

  “But I am a Junior Station Master and you don’t want to be affiliated with the Wardens-”

  “Calm yourself, flava, I was foolish and allowed my pride to speak for me before,” he pressed his lips to hers briefly then continued with his eyes on hers.

  “I am a Warden of Terra. Perhaps the oldest of all the Wardens. It is my true calling, as you are my one true mate. The idea of working with you is something I am anticipating, flava, but the Heralds have agreed to allow us time to settle in our life together first.”

  Phoebe couldn’t believe her ears. Nathan wanted to remain a Warden. But what did he mean their life together? Confusion and hope rose within her. His strong thighs flexed under her buttocks. He squeezed her in his arms tightly before taking her face in his hands.

  “These past three weeks without you have been unbearable, flava, please do not separate us longer.”

  “Nathan, I mean, I want you too, but are you sure? You aren’t angry?”

  “Of course I am not angry with you. And yes, I have never been surer of anything, my sassy little Witch. You are everything and more than I have ever wanted. Now, I ask you, and the Parcae above us to bear witness, will you accept my claim, flava? Will you take my bite, be my mate, fight side by side with me as Warden and Junior Station Master? Will you be mine forever Phoebe Bright?”

  “Yes, oh yes,” she said as his lips claimed hers in an all-consuming kiss.

  “I vow to honor you, to love you and protect you with my mind, body, fire and soul. To cherish you and our young for all eternity under the watchful eye of the Gods and the Parcae. To exist for you, my sweet Phoebe,” he said.

  “Oh Nathan, I love you.”

  “I love you so much. It’s been too long,” he growled into her mouth. Lips and tongues tangled as his hands sought to remove her clothes.

  “Yes. Too long,” she agreed struggling to straddle his hips as she tugged on the hem of his shirt.

  All her good intentions to send her SeaDragon away meted under that kiss. She simply had no willpower to resist him. And why should she? He was her mate. Chosen by the Parcae, fated to be together, they were a pair for better or worse.

  Somehow, they ended up on the floor. In nothing but her silk panties, she felt no trepidation as his silver gaze raked her from head to toe.

  “So beautiful,” he growled as he grazed her skin with his rough fingertips. He parted her thighs and settled between them, using his long tongue to lick and taste the skin between her breasts.

  “Oh Nathan,” she murmured, loving the hint of pain as he nibbled on one pert nipple, rolling it between his teeth and tugging on the sensitive flesh.

  He lavished attention on both her breasts, hands roaming over her soft flesh, leaving his mark everywhere. Her pulse fluttered wildly as he moved lower, his heated breath leaving her breathless as he sucked and licked a trail to her sex.

  “You smell so good, flava, did I ever tell you? Like sunshine and oranges, and woman, my woman,” he growled again and blew hot air through her damp panties.

  He lifted her thick thighs, placing them on his shoulders as he met her eyes.

  “Watch me, flava, I’m going to taste you now.”

  His eyes glowed with desire as he pressed his tongue against her undies and licked her through the thin material. Fuuckkk. She groaned, long and hard. Her body so wound up with missing him and the anxiety of the meeting earlier that day.

  Yesss. She needed him, needed this. Phoebe moaned again when he sucked her through the silk, the friction of his tongue through the fabric felt so damn good. But it was not quite enough.

  “More,” he growled, reading her body expertly.

  The ripping of fabric sounded loud in the room, but it was nothing compared to her moan of ecstasy when he sank his thick tongue deep inside of her. Moisture pooled beneath her as she frantically clutched at his hair, but Nathan was relentless.

  He fucked her with his tongue, holding her still with his enormous hands as she tried to buck wildly against him. With his enormous shoulders holding her legs wide open, Phoebe was totally at his mercy. But she felt nothing other than love and trust for him and in him well up inside of her.

  She felt his canines brush against her clit, and she lost control. Like a tsunami her orgasm crested, the wave of bliss going on and on
until she felt as if she would break. But he didn’t let her, no, not her Dragon. Nathan brought her back down again with tender licks and kisses.

  “Please,” she whimpered. Phoebe needed him inside of her. Now.

  “Anything for you. Es meus,” he growled the words as he moved up her body.

  Phoebe moaned, locking her legs around his waist as his cock glided along her slick folds. Fuck, that felt good. He did it again, and again, teasing her with his thick velvety shaft.

  “Nathan, inside me, now,” she squeezed his ass and slapped the flesh there, earning her a growl from her soon-to-be mate.

  She stroked his skin where she spanked him and bit her lip as she felt his huge head nudging her opening. Her cleft was soaked and ready for him. Desperate to have him.

  “Please,” she begged again, unashamed of her need for this one man. Her mate, her SeaDragon.

  “Es meus,” he growled the phrase and pushed himself, inch by inch, stretching her, until he was seated fully within her flesh.

  Phoebe trembled at his slow, hard penetration. His salty smoky scent mingled with hers, creating something new and beautiful. Something her magic recognized as theirs.

  She could feel the tendrils of their bond thickening as he began to move, stroking her from the inside out. He pumped harder, the slap of their skin echoing in the room.

  “Flava,” he growled, “so good, so perfect. Mine.”

  Their lips met and he plundered her mouth in time with his thrusts. Phoebe moaned, her skin humming with pleasure. Magic thick in the air, she welcomed their connection. Called it to her.

  Her hands gripped his ass, squeezing the smooth tanned cheeks as he flexed and swirled his hips, grinding his pubis against her clit and creating the most delicious sparks of pleasure. Letting go of his mouth, she tilted her head, exposing her neck to him.

  “Nathan, now,” she moaned as her sex clenched. She wanted him to mark her during her next orgasm. Needed it like she needed air.

  “Es meus,” he growled and thrust his hips harder. Arms wrapped around her he pressed deeper and deeper until she thought she’d be crushed by his delicious weight, but she wouldn’t let him go, not for anything. And then it happened.

  Just as her pussy tightened around him with the first throes of ecstasy, he leaned his head closer. She felt his Dragon fangs break through her skin, reveled in his strength as he sucked on her flesh, cementing the bond between them.

  Phoebe cried out as his cock jerked and he moaned as his hot seed spilled inside her, sending another wave of passion flowing through her veins. Tighter she milked his flesh, greedy for every single drop of him. Her orgasm lasted longer than she’d ever experienced. The incredible pleasure of belonging to him, of sharing in his heart’s fire pulsed throughout her entire body.

  Finally, mine forever, she swore it was his voice inside her head as he licked her wounds closed. She echoed the sentiment. Wholeheartedly.

  “Mmm. That was incredible,” she said pressing a kiss to his neck and smiling with pure joy as he lifted his face to look at her.

  “Yes, flava,” he agreed and kissed her sweetly.

  “Nathan?”

  “What is it, my love?”

  “You never told me what it means. All those things you say in Dracan?”

  “Ah. I call you flava because of your beautiful flaxen hair. Like spun gold, so beautiful, my love. Es meus is something I can’t help but say where you are concerned, roughly translated it simply means mine.”

  “Yours? That’s kind of caveman-ish don’t you think?”

  “A caveman, am I? Perhaps I should show you that you are mine alone, flava, in case you have any doubts,” he nipped her ear and she shivered in anticipation.

  “Yes,” she whimpered.

  She felt his desire flare to life, echoing her own. One thing was sure, she would never tire of her making love to her SeaDragon.

  “I love you, mate,” he said and kissed her lips.

  “I love you too,” she wrapped her arms around his neck and yelped when he stood and lifted her clean off the floor.

  “This time, I want a bed to properly love my mate on.”

  EPILOGUE

  Months later…

  “That was a long five hours,” Nathan groaned as he stretched outside of his mate’s Mercedes. He didn’t mind that she insisted on driving all the time, but he sometimes wondered why they couldn’t just fly where they needed to go. He did so enjoy flying. Especially with his little mate tucked against him. Grrr.

  “We can’t fly because someone might see you,” she laughed and smoothed her hands over her hair.

  She was so beautiful. Nathan smiled as she looked over her generous curves in the short blue sundress she wore for their day on the beach. He narrowed his eyes as he thought about the yellow two piece she wore underneath. That bathing suit was the reason they were two hours late to his first meeting with the Falk Clan Dragons of Maccon City, New Jersey.

  What could he say? His flava was something to see in that high-waisted two-piece. Hmm. Something he did not want anyone else to see.

  “Oh, can it with the caveman stuff already! These guys are all mated.”

  His mate had to remind him occasionally that it was an inappropriate use of his newly increased powers to send twenty-foot waves crashing down on anyone who happened to look upon his luscious mate with anything other than respect in their gaze. Not that he agreed, but he did try and please her these days, Especially since she was expecting their first young.

  It was months too soon for her to show, but he’d insisted on taking her shopping to buy her choice of maternity clothes and things for the baby. A baby. Their baby. Nathan was over the moon. And fiercely protective.

  The Heralds had agreed to put him to work training other Wardens at their Virginia station while Phoebe could manage her Charges from her desk for the time being. They were both so happy with the news nothing else mattered!

  He’d long since acknowledged that Phoebe who was right about most things, okay, all things, was probably right about there being other Dragons in the world. After a few phone calls, she set up today’s little beach party as a way of introducing them.

  Nathan walked around to the trunk of the car and lifted their bags and cooler before walking around to help his mate. She positively glowed as she smiled at him before lifting her sunglasses to sit atop her head.

  “There,” she said and smiled as she waved to a huge man with black hair and a small child high on his shoulders.

  The man waved back, and a tall, blonde woman joined him and beckoned them forward. Nathan could see three other couples and an assortment of children frolicking in the waves and he sent a command to the waters to keep them safe for the young.

  “Can you sense them?”

  “Yes, Dragons. They are real Dragons,” tears stung his eyes as he walked closer to the family. The Dragons all looked at him curiously before smiling and nodding.

  “Welcome, I am Callius, the eldest Falk brother. This is my mate Winifred. Here are my brothers and their mates, Edric and Joselyn, Alexsander and Noelle, and Nikolai and his mate Melody.”

  Nathan nodded and shook his hand before turning to his own mate.

  “Thank you. This is my mate, Phoebe, we are both pleased to meet you.”

  “Someone get little Ed before he goes too far,” yelled Joselyn, but before she could step towards the water Nathan fixed the issue. He sent a gentle wave of water to lift the toddler and carry him back to the shore just as Edric reached him and scooped him up.

  “That is a neat trick, friend, come tell us about it,” said Callius motioning to the chairs they had set up.

  “Sure, one moment,” Nathan said and turned to Phoebe. His excitement at meeting other Dragons was nothing compared to the love he felt for her. A love that grew every single day.

  “Thank you, for making this possible, and for choosing me as your mate,” he said pressing his forehead to hers.

  “Nathan, I love you. Come on, l
et’s go talk to the other Dragons,” she smiled and kissed his lips.

  “I love you too, flava meus,” he growled and nipped her lip. With her hand in his they walked to sit with the others and Nathan sent a prayer of thanks to the Parcae. Guess he wasn’t forgotten after all. Not at all, he thought as he looked at his mate.

  Es meus.

  The end.

  Thank you for reading this Zodiac Shifters romance.

  A shifter’s mate is in the stars… Welcome to Zodiac Shifters, a collection of books with an astrological spin on love. From Aries to Virgo… discover all-new tales of paranormal romance and urban fantasy. Zodiac Shifters features New York Times, USA Today, and other bestselling authors. Each month expect new releases based upon the twelve astrology signs. Happily Ever After… it’s our promise to you.

  Learn more at http://zodiacshifters.com/

  About the Author

  Hi! I’m C.D. Gorri, Paranormal Fiction Author and Creator of the Grazi Kelly Universe. I am proud to be a Smashwords USA Today Happy Ever After Hot List Indie Author! I’ve always been an avid reader, and I have a profound love for books and literature. When I’m not writing or taking care of my family I can usually be found with a book or tablet in my hand. I live in my home state of New Jersey with my husband, our children, and our dogs, Dash and Chewie.

  I’m a busy mom of three and finding time for leisurely reading was never easy, so I write stories that are fast-paced, yet detailed with satisfying conclusions. If I thought making time to read was difficult, I was in for a huge surprise when I started writing, but now that I started, I can’t picture myself doing anything else! I love writing powerful women and strong heroes who face relatable problems in supernatural settings! I plan on increasing the GK Universe with each and every story I publish. You can follow me on social media to keep up to date on all my new releases and events!

  Want to know how it all began? Enter the Grazi Kelly Universe with Wolf Moon: A Grazi Kelly Novel #1 or how about a little PNR with the Macconwood Pack? Pick up Charley's Christmas Wolf today! I have series for young adult and young at heart audiences who enjoy paranormal fiction, and I also have paranormal romance books available now! If you like sassy heroines and sexy heroes, then you might want to try my PNR books!