Midnight Wolf (Shifters Unbound #11)(56)

CHAPTER SIXTEEN


Angus’s body turned inside out as the cage spun around and around.

But no, the ride was slowing, the cages flipping right side up and remaining so. Two minutes, Tamsin had promised. Two minutes of perfect terror.

Tamsin held his gaze, her tawny eyes full of sudden excitement but also worry about what impact her words would have on him.

She’d just said she’d be his mate.

A shrill keening cut through the air, obliterating all thought. It was Ciaran, yelling in joy.

“Dad—did you hear what she said? She accepted the mate-claim!”

Tamsin swallowed. She clutched the bar in front of her, though the cage had ceased its rocking. “I’ll have to say it again, when Dante’s around. Need more than one Shifter witness, right?”

Angus couldn’t remember at the moment. Did a cub, and his own, count as a witness?

And who cared? The mate-claim was a personal thing. The witnessing had begun in the days when Shifters were first free of the Fae, and males grabbed any female they could. If a mate-claim was witnessed, then all Shifters would know that female was no longer fair game.

“I heard her.” Angus’s voice was guttural, sounding wrong. “I heard, son.”

“Well?” Tamsin’s lips shook once. “Do you accept my acceptance of your mate-claim?”

A big lump lodged in Angus’s throat. “Yes,” he croaked out.

Ciaran cheered again. The woman operating the ride unlocked the cage, opening it wide so they could step out.

“Sounds like you liked it,” she said to Ciaran.

“Sure did. Can we go again?”

“No!” Angus hauled Ciaran down and away. He heard both Tamsin and the woman laugh.

That is, Angus tried to lead Ciaran away. Angus’s legs wobbled, and walking was suddenly impossible.

Tamsin staggered into him. “You know the ride was great when you forget which way is up.”

“I’m thinking I’m sorry I ate breakfast.” What the hell had made Angus want to devour all those pancakes?

Tamsin steadied Angus with one hand, recovering her equilibrium quickly. “Let’s find Dante. We have a lot to tell him.”

Angus couldn’t remember what. He only knew that when he clasped Tamsin’s hand, it felt right, that his heart warmed and his stomach ceased roiling.

To hell with Dante. Angus wanted a soft, private place to be alone with Tamsin.

The carnival was in full swing by now. Crowds filled the space, people yelled at one another, laughed, squealed, shouted. More screams came from the Zipper as a new set of victims went aloft. The octopus ride sent its arms careening toward the barricades between it and the crowd, to abruptly pull them back at the last second.

Angus knew only the lightness of Tamsin’s hand in his, the connection that came from their touch.

He had a mate. After all the years of loneliness, of Shifter women avoiding him because of the taint of his brother’s perfidy, Tamsin had smiled and said she would stay. Hell, he’d mostly avoided the Shifter women, to be honest. Hard to be with women who knew his mate had walked away from him.

Tamsin didn’t care. She sympathized but didn’t blame him for April’s faithlessness. She looked at Angus, and wanted to be with him.

Angus knew it was impossible. They faced huge obstacles, such as his Collar, the Bureau wanting to capture Tamsin, Dylan trying to use her, and them having nowhere to live, nowhere to be safe. The carnival was fine for today, maybe even for tomorrow, but what about after that?

The practical thoughts dove to the back of Angus’s mind. None of it was important at the moment.

The front of his mind told him Tamsin was his mate. A beautiful woman to bury himself inside and maybe risk losing his heart to.

Tamsin halted next to him, stepped against the startled Angus, and kissed him.

The crowd faded. Angus wrapped his arms around Tamsin, pulling her to him, burying his fingers in the warmth of her shirt. Her silly hat, which she’d resumed, fell from her head, but Ciaran caught it before it thumped to the dust.

Angus slid a hand under her hair, burying his fingers in the silken strands. He pulled her up to him, opening her mouth, tasting her laughter, her excitement.

Her lips parted his, her tongue a point of spice, her mouth moving on his. Tamsin curved against him, her breasts in the thin tie-dyed shirt she’d borrowed from Dante’s mate squeezing against his chest. He could feel the tight points of her nipples, a sign of how much she wanted him.

Angus resisted lowering his hand to cup her backside, something in him remembering they stood among thousands, including his son. His cock didn’t want to listen to caution, however, hardening in desire, the like of which he hadn’t felt for a very long time.

Fine with him. The world had stopped, letting him deepen the kiss, no rush. Her skin was smooth, a joy to touch, a contrast to his bristles and roughness.

Their lips and teeth bumped, the kiss a little clumsy, but for the first time in many years, Angus felt strain fall away and lightness take its place. Nothing mattered but Tamsin in his arms and her kiss, the touch of his son’s body against his calves telling him Ciaran was still with him, and safe.

A human boy whooped. A woman yelled jovially, “Get a room!”

The real world swirled back with all its colors and sounds, but somehow the harshness had gone, the colors had brightened, and the sounds had become music.