Chapter 23

Lion shifter Lucius walked down the path of the safari tour during the rounds of his security detail shift. He’d taken over the night shift for Jasper, now that his friend was mated and working the safari tour check-in with his soulmate.

Wolves were funny like that, they couldn’t stand to be apart, so they always worked together.

Well, Lucius was certain he’d want to spend as much time with his soulmate as possible once he found her too. After all, he’d been waiting for her for a long time.

He’d thought the VIP tour tickets would be what brought the most soulmates into the park, as the alphas had intended, but while some soulmates had been found that way, many had come through other ways.

Like Jasper and Melody growing up together and being separated for years before reuniting. Or Justus, whose mate Trina had come to work at the park with her best friend Lexy. Or Jenni’s mate Devlin, who was Trina’s brother; they’d met during a party.

He paused at the wolf paddock where Jasper and Melody were going through the pack’s traditional mating ceremony. He could see the large bonfire flickering in the distance.

He was happy for his friend, but he also longed to find his own soulmate.

Someday.

His lion let out a curious, hopeful growl.

Turning from the paddock, he continued his trek past the other paddocks, then scouted the employee lot before returning to the interior of the park to keep on schedule. He loved being out in the park at night.

Once he cleared the parking lot, he walked back into the park, closing the auto-locking gate behind him.

Someday, soon he hoped, his soulmate would come through the gates of the park and he’d get to start the next chapter of his life.

He couldn’t wait.

Melody loved the tent. It had a big blow-up mattress in the center and was covered with blankets and pillows. Twinkle lights were strung across the ceiling to give a soft, starry glow to the space. A portable air conditioner kept the summer heat out of the tent, and also helped keep the background noise of the pack’s party to a minimum.

“Are you sure we shouldn’t be celebrating with them? It’s our party,” she said with a chuckle.

“There will be plenty of food left when we’re finished, and then I’ll shift for you and we can go for a walk around the paddock.”

“Finished…with what?” she asked teasingly.

He growled softly. “You know what, sexy female.” He hauled her close and cupped her face, lowering his head to brush his lips across hers.

He trailed his fingers down her jaw as he deepened the kiss, marking a path with his calloused fingers down her throat and over her shoulder. He slipped his fingers between the elastic edge of the top of the strapless dress and tugged it down over her breasts.

“Sexy, sexy female,” he whispered huskily.

He molded his hand around her breast, his fingers digging lightly into her flesh.

He kissed her again, then dropped his lips to the mating mark and the bruise that he’d left earlier, sucking lightly on her sensitive flesh. She stroked her fingers over his broad shoulders and down his pecs, feeling the flex of his muscles as she touched the ridges of his abdomen.

He was the sexiest guy she’d ever known.

How the heck did she get so lucky?

When she reached for his belt, he chuckled against her neck and said, “Eager, sweetheart?”

“We were apart for hours! Yes!”

He took a step away from her and rested his thumbs along the waistband of his pants. His head tilted, his eyes gleaming with encouragement.

Taking the cue, she hooked her fingers in the top of the dress and slowly lowered it down her stomach and over her hips, while he kicked off his shoes and then stripped from his pants.

When she’d taken off her shoes and dropped the dress to the side, she realized he was fully naked.

And what a dang sight he was!

He growled. “Did you wear those for me, Mellie-mine?” he asked as he joined her and ran his palm over the black lace that covered her bottom.

“Just for you.”

The growl got louder and his eyes flashed to amber.

He lifted her up and dropped her gently to the mattress, spreading her thighs with his broad shoulders. He slipped a finger inside her panties and rubbed her pussy lightly a few times before pulling her panties to the side and letting out an appreciative snarl.

Before she could suggest she could ditch the panties, he lowered his head and licked her pussy with long, languid strokes, delving his tongue into her before circling her clit. She closed her eyes and reveled in the way he knew exactly how to drive her wild, including pulling lightly on the panties so they tugged against her skin and added an element of friction and distraction.

When she neared the edge of pleasure, he backed off and sat up, his lips glistening with her honey and his eyes still amber.

He tugged off her panties and grabbed her wrists, wrapping the material gently around her wrists and pushing them over her head.

“I love how you think,” she said.

When he returned to the apex of her thighs, she clasped her hands together and let herself go into the pleasure he so easily brought her to. After she crested one height of pleasure, he drove her to another, his fingers and lips expertly pushing her from one crashing orgasm to another.

As she cried out her pleasure the second time, he thrust into her with his thick length, making her head kick back and her voice stutter on the cry of ecstasy. He slipped his arms under her shoulders and held her where he wanted her, driving into her over and over. She lifted her knees high onto his hips and met his thrusts.

When he grabbed her wrists with one of his hands and stretched her arms a little higher overhead, she lost herself to another round of heated pleasure, and he followed her, roaring his love for her to the stars.

He groaned and pulled from her, loosening her wrists from the panties and dropping them off the mattress.

“I saw stars,” she whispered, rolling into him. “Honest to goodness stars.”

He kissed her forehead. “Me too.”

“Holy crap, we’re married.” She lifted her hand and looked at the ring in the twinkle lights. Her heart was still pounding and her bones felt like they’d melted with all the pleasure he’d given her, but she wanted to see the ring.

“We are,” he said, laughing lightly. “Imagine that, sweetheart. You’re Mrs. Melody Breslin.”

The ring was so pretty. “I love it, and I love you.” She kissed him.

He lifted his hand and looked at the ring. “I love mine too.”

“I still can’t get over us having the same idea.”

“Great minds, sweetheart.”

They cuddled together, talking in that quiet way that lovers did, and then they dressed and joined the pack at the buffet, finding their friends and reveling in the celebration. Later, when Jasper shifted and she walked alongside him through the paddock as the stars shone above and the pack howled and yipped around them, she thought about the road that had brought her and Jasper back together.

Who would have guessed that a coup to take out the alpha would lead her back to the only male who’d ever held her heart? And that two weeks later, they’d be mated and married and she’d be a member of his pack, living and working in secret in the middle of a safari park?

Life sure was strange sometimes.

But she loved Jasper with every fiber of her being, and she knew he loved her too. Despite the rocky road of their past, they had a new road ahead with a pack that loved and supported them, and their future was wide open.

Every obstacle and trial had brought them to this perfect moment.

No matter what the future brought, they’d handle it together, because that’s what soulmates did.

Thank you so much for reading JASPER !