Marisa Chenery: Love Everlasting

She gave him a sexy smile. “That would be my pleasure, as well as yours.”

Elsa lay naked under the covers on her bed as she watched Brand walk back into the room, equally naked. He’d gone to use the loo. She ran her gaze over his body. She’d licked, tasted, and explored every inch of him over the last couple of hours. They’d also made love four times. The man seemed insatiable. Not that she minded. She couldn’t get enough of him. He touched her, and her body instantly reacted, growing wet and aching.

Then she thought about what happened each and every time Brand came. His cock swelled to the point that they were locked together, and he came a hell of a lot longer than any guy she’d slept with before. He didn’t seem worried about it, so neither did she. It wasn’t exactly “normal,” but it didn’t make the sex bad, by any means.

Brand collected his clothes and then sat on the bed next to her. She trailed a hand up and down his hard, muscular thigh. “You really have to go?”

“Yes, but I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“So I can’t talk you out of it?” She sat up, the covers falling away from her breasts as she leaned against him and nipped his earlobe. “And there’s nothing I can do to change your mind?”

“No,” he said, his voice sounding a little strained.

“Damn. Well, I tried.” Elsa put some space between them. “I guess I’ll admit defeat. When will you come over tomorrow?”

“In the morning, however early you’ll let me.”

“If that’s the case…” She slid off the bed and walked over to her dresser. She picked up the two keys that sat on top of it and then turned and went back to Brand. Elsa held them out. “Then take these. They were Teddy’s set to the flat. This way you can come as early as you want, even if I’m still sleeping.”

He met her gaze with his. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. I trust you.” She placed the keys in his hand and closed his fingers over them.

And Elsa did trust Brand. She felt as if she’d known him longer than a day. He was comfortable to be around. Though he wasn’t much of a conversationalist, that didn’t bother her in the least. She tended to be on the talkative side and more than made up for his reticence. When Brand held her in his strong arms, she wanted to melt into him. He’d also done a great job of erasing all the intimate moments she’d had with her ex. Teddy was only a bad, vague memory now.

Brand tugged her down onto his lap and kissed her until her toes curled, and his cock was hard and pressing against her bottom. Once he let her up for air, Elsa wiggled a bit, hoping it would encourage him to stay a little longer.

He kissed her again before he shifted her onto the bed. “Nice try, but I really do have to go.”

“Fine,” she said.

Elsa watched Brand stand to tug his jeans on. The man had the nicest ass she’d ever seen. Actually, he had the nicest everything she’d ever seen. He flipped his long hair over his shoulders before he donned his T-shirt, covering his muscular chest and the tattoo on his left arm. She’d already gotten to inspect it with great detail, as well as the rest of his body.

Once he was completely dressed, Elsa went to her closet and pulled out her bathrobe before she put it on. She then followed Brand out of the room. As he headed for the door, she remembered something.

“Oh, I almost forgot. You don’t have my phone number. I should give it to you just in case you need to call me.”

He reached into the front pocket of his jeans and took out his mobile phone. “I’ll put it in my contacts.”

She rattled off the number as Brand pushed the buttons on his mobile. When he suggested she take his, Elsa went to the kitchen and got her purse and entered it into her phone.

With one last kiss, Brand walked out of the flat. Elsa locked the door after him and then leaned back on it and sighed. A wide smile spread across her lips. Teddy’s dumping her had turned out to be a blessing in disguise. If Teddy hadn’t, she never would have met Brand, who was three times better than her ex. Instead of waking up the next morning feeling pissed off, she now had something infinitely better to look forward to.

Brand stepped into the manor house knowing he didn’t have much time left before he and his fellow warriors were to leave for a night of hunting. The others had yet to gather in the foyer, which they did before leaving. That was when Raed, their leader, gave them any last-minute instructions. As a mortal Raed had been known as Raedwald, the king of East Anglia. They all still considered him their king, even though Raed no longer thought of himself as such.

He looked toward the stairs to the upper level at the sound of light footsteps going down them. Maggie smiled as she met his gaze with her own. In the months since she’d come to live here with her mate, Dolf, she’d settled right into their “family.” Gone was the woman who’d been terrified of them after being abducted by the former pack leader of Fenris’s get, Stephen. For a while there they’d all been worried she’d never get over her fear of Dolf. Brand had taken Maggie in hand, though, and had shown her she had nothing to fear from any of them, even though they were werewolves as well.

“Hi, Brand,” Maggie said when she reached the foyer and walked over to him. “Did you just get back in?”

He nodded. “Yeah.” He returned the smile she gave him.

“All ready to go out for a night of hunting?”

“Yes.” Maggie seemed to peer at him closely, studying him almost. “What?” he asked.

“You look … happy. Not that I think you’re always in a bad mood, but you tend to look, well, not in a good one. Plus, today you stayed out longer than you normally do.”

Figuring he’d have to tell everyone about Elsa now that he was on his way to making them true mates, he said, “I was with my mate.”

A huge smile spread across Maggie’s lips before she threw her arms around him and hugged him. “I’m so happy for you, Brand. I thought she was lost to you.”

He returned her embrace. “So did I.”

“Oi, stop manhandling my mate,” Dolf said as he came down the stairs.

Maggie pulled away and turned to face Dolf as he joined them. “Brand was hardly manhandling me, and for your information, I started it.”

Dolf tugged Maggie over to his side and draped his arm around her shoulders. “In that case, you’re only supposed to manhandle me like that.” He leaned toward Brand and sniffed. “Well, fuck me. You’ve been with a woman, and you even had sex.” Dolf grunted when Maggie smacked him on the stomach.

“Dolf, you shouldn’t make comments like that.”

“But it’s true, and it’s kind of hard for me not to pick it up, having a sensitive werewolf sense of smell. You don’t understand how big a deal this is. Brand hasn’t had sex in seven years. We all know that.”

Maggie’s gaze shot to Brand. “Seven years? Is that when you first met your mate?”

He nodded.

“Whoa, back up a bit,” Dolf said. “You have a mate, Brand? And what does Maggie mean you met your mate seven years ago? You never said anything about it to any of us. Ever.”

“Wait until the others come, and then I’ll explain,” Brand said.

“Everyone get down here,” Dolf bellowed, which earned him another smack from Maggie.

“What’s going on?” Raed asked as he, his mate, Lexi, and the rest of the occupants of the house arrived in the foyer.

“Apparently, Brand has been holding out on us,” Dolf said. “He found his mate. Seven years ago.”

“Is that true, Brand?” Algar asked.

“Yes.”

“Why have you kept her hidden?”