Boarlander Beast Boar (Boarlander Bears #4)(27)

Beck pursed her lips to hide her shocked laugh. Apparently Mason wasn’t fully awake. She could tell by the fact that he dragged her body closer to his chest, big-spooned her like a pro, and told her, “I’ll keep you safe, babe.”

From the alarm clock?

Beck turned in his arms and buried her face against his chest, then inhaled his scent. He smelled different when he slept, more like Mason and less like the manly sexpot body spray he used in the mornings. And she freaking loved that she was the one who got to experience this. Mine, mine, mine, her owl hooted possessively.

Mason lifted his powerful leg over her hips and trapped her in his embrace completely, and this right here was her favorite place in the world. Partly because she was pretty sure it was impossible to feel safer than in his big, muscly arms, and two, he had some serious morning wood that conjured all the fun memories of last night.

Beck wished she could stay in bed with him longer. It was summer, but nights were still cool in the mountains, and he was like a big sexy furnace. She had to get ready for the long day ahead though. The more she fell for Mason, the more determined she was to help the shifters—not just for her and Ryder’s future, but for the future of Damon’s mountains and the incredible people here, too. She’d been here almost a week and had managed to meet with all the crews here thanks to Bash being happy to drive her after Mason had quit. She loved them all—the Ashe Crew, the Gray Backs, the Boarlanders, Damon and his beautiful family. She’d even met Kong’s Lowlander family group in Saratoga when she’d done a grocery run with Audrey. Her heart was throwing out lifelines to each crew, each member, tethering her here to this place. How silly that she’d thought she could leave, like her time here had meant nothing. She was changed. She was stronger somehow, which was insane because she’d always been proud of her toughness, but these people here made her want to get battle-ready. They made her career more than just a job. They made it fulfilling, but only if she succeeded in helping them.

Everyone had a role to play here. The mates that had been brought into the Boarlanders didn’t sit idly by and watch their men defend themselves alone. Audrey was in town every chance she got, being friendly, signing autographs, because the white tiger she hid inside was also rare. And Bash’s mate, Emerson, was writing pro-shifter first-person articles full-time for the Saratoga Hometown News. And on top of that, she hadn’t balked an inch when Beck had asked her to write blogs for Cora’s website and open a forum on the bangaboarlander page. Already they were getting a great response from the public who were curious about life in Damon’s mountains. And Kirk’s mate, Alison, who had asked Beck to call her Ally, had made ballsy moves with a video interview that made international news. She had silenced IESA completely after they tried to kill her a couple months ago. Her outspoken and public vitriol for the rogue government group had civilians picketing and raging against the injustices done to the shifters.

It was time Beck stepped up and pulled her weight, too.

Beck laid a kiss on her mate’s chest, hugged him tighter, then wiggled out from under his heavy arm and leg. His hand clamped on hers the second her feet hit the cold floorboard.

“Nooo,” he drawled softly. “It’s too early.”

She giggled and pulled her hair into a high messy bun. “The early bird gets the worm.”

“Mmm. That statement right there would break Willa’s heart.”

Beck laughed. Oh, she’d met the worm-lovin’ Almost Alpha of the Gray Backs. “The photographer for the calendar will be here soon, and I need to get ready.”

“How soon?”

“Forty-five minutes.”

A naughty smile stretched Mason’s lips. He pulled her back into bed and over him until she straddled his hips. His lightened gaze dipped to her bare breasts, and he ran his hands up her ribs, then lifted his shoulders up off the bed and drew one of her nipples into his mouth. As he laved his tongue against her sensitive skin, Beck closed her eyes and arched her back, encouraging him.

Mason relaxed back and rolled his hips under her. “You’re sensitive, woman. You come easy for me.”

“Your point?”

Mason sat up again and cupped the back of her neck, laid a nipping kiss at the base of her throat. “I could have you in five,” he murmured.

Beck gave a private grin at the headboard behind him because, damn, she should really be getting ready, but that was one helluva pretty offer from her man. Teasingly, she lowered her lips to his ear and whispered, “Or I’ll have you in five.” Slowly, she lifted off his hips and positioned herself right over the head of his hard cock.

She slid over him slow and easy, then pulled off him quick. Down slow, up quick, and Mason’s hips jerked as a soft rumble vibrated in his chest. Big, powerful man, allowing her the dominant position in their bed. Mason’s arms wrapped around her back, and he pulled her closer, buried his face at her neck as she gripped the back of his hair and lost herself in the erotic friction they were creating in the first rays of dawn light that filtered in through the window blinds.

When her skin chilled from the sensations taking over her body, Mason pulled the blanket to her back as if his instincts had told him exactly what she needed. Beck rolled her hips faster as the pressure built between her legs, and Mason drew his knees up, cradling her as their bodies crashed against each other. Her insides tingled, and the pressure was too much. She threw her head back and cried out as she came. By the second pulse of her orgasm, Mason clutched her hard and went rigid, growled out her name. His shaft throbbed as he shot warmth into her. God, she loved this. Loved him filling her. Loved this connection. Loved his instant reaction to her body. Loved him.