Daddy’s Mail Order Mate (Twilight Meadows Wolves #3)

Chapter 23 - Thorn

“How’s work?”

I glance up from my laptop to see Gwen leaning in towards me as she tops off my coffee. We’ve been home for most of the day now after we spent a few more days at Elm Wood getting things wrapped up and the house resecured. It’s been such a comfort to be back, particularly with our new dynamic in place. I’ve definitely had my work cut out for me with rooting out the little coup in the making. The most bothersome part at this point has honestly been the paperwork.

“Fine. How’s Rowan?”

“Doing well. I think he’s very happy to be home.”

“Good.”

She starts to step away, but I take hold of her wrist in a gentle capture. It’s not done out of desperation like I’ve had to before—I don’t have to chase what I already have. Gwen smiles softly as I stand and lean in and peck her on the cheek.

“Thank you.”

I hear her set the coffee pot down before she slinks both arms around me

“I can’t help but feel a bit grateful for that whole failed abduction business,” she remarks.

I look at her, boggling in confusion.

“How?”

She flashes a cheeky smirk at me and all that expression makes me want to do is kiss her.

“I mean, do you think you’d have gotten around to telling me the truth if I hadn’t almost died?”

“I was planning on having that conversation when I got back even before all that,” I insist.

“Well then. I guess I’ll just have to be grateful that it helps me match you.”

“What do you mean?”

She giggles and taps at the pale scar on her neck.

“Now I have a big badass scar to match the collection you’ve got.”

I stare at her for a second before my love and amusement wells up enough that I can only laugh. That makes her grin and beam with pride, and she reaches out to brush her hand across my cheek.

“You’re so cute when you laugh.”

“Cute? God. I don’t think anyone’s called me cute since—”

“Me during our first go around, I’m guessing?”

“Yeah.”

“Good,” she declares smugly before leaning in to peck me on the cheek.

I swing my arms around her in an ambushing embrace and that gets her giggling just like when we were young. Her smile mingles with mine in a kiss of ease and adoration. But when we part from it, there’s a warm magnetism that keeps our faces close.

“So…”

Her hands stroke down my back in a soft, teasing way.

“Want to maybe pick this up after dinner and Rowan’s down for the night?”

I hum in pleasant hunger and steal a little flash of tongue along her lower lip; the way she gasps has me ready to go now, but she is right that we still have to take care of Rowan for the night.

“Sounds like a plan, doe,” I reply before setting her down.

Gwen lingers against me for a moment more, but both of us are far too practical to get carried away quite yet. The lovely expectation of enjoying each other later certainly makes the mundane humdrum pass by with a bit of extra enthusiasm. We share loving looks and brief affectionate touches all throughout; I suppose I finally know what people mean by being in a honeymoon phase. It takes a great deal of effort to think of anything but her, and every moment she’s in my vicinity, I just want to take her in my arms and enjoy every aspect of our bond for as long as possible.

Dinner is made by both of us working as a team, rotating between tasks and making sure Rowan is content all throughout. And when we sit together, joking and doting over my son together as we eat the meal we made together, it truly does feel like I finally have a family of my own. As much as I appreciate the atmosphere when I’m visiting Paige, I’d always felt like a guest in that atmosphere no matter how much she urges me that I’m part of the fold. Now I have a little unit all of my own to cherish and look after.

When we finish, she stands and starts to gather plates, but I stop her with a rub on her back.

“No; you go relax. I’ll handle the clean up and putting Rowan to bed.”

“What’ll I do?”

“Relax,” I repeat plainly.

She gives me a softly cross look.

“Let me help.”

“No. You go rest.”

“I can help!”

“You could,” I answer, leaning in closer to finish with a whisper in her ear. “Or you could rest up for when I take you to bed.”

I hear her breath stutter and savor her piqued desire with a lingering brush of my lips against her jaw before I pull back.

“So, what are you doing?”

“I’m, uh… I’m going to go rest for a bit.”

“Good.”

I give her forehead one last kiss before I take over gathering dishes, smirking as I see a little unsteadiness in her stride as she heads out of the kitchen. This gives me plenty of time to just comfortably coast through the domestic upkeep. As much as I’ve appreciated the help from Gwen, I’ve grown quite accustomed to managing my own home and looking after Rowan. The last thing I want is for her to think that she’s just going to be my maid just because she agreed to be my mate. All the tasks are actually made so much sweeter, knowing that I’m not just taking care of my son, I’m also taking care of her.

Once Rowan is settled down and the house attended, I feel a switch gently flip in the back of my skull. My lips twitch as I go on the prowl, stalking through the house to look for my mate. I find her sat outside on the porch, the swing rocking with an idle ease.

“Came out here to get in the mood?”

She turns towards me with a blushing smirk.

“Not at first, but it’s definitely been on my mind after I got out here.”

“Looking for an encore, or do you want to head inside?”

“Inside sounds good. I might need a drink if we want to go doing that on the porch again,” Gwen answers with teasing sarcasm.

“You’d barely touched it the first time.”

“I was drunk on the sexual tension.”

I chuckle and lean the door open for her as she stands and saunters towards me. She at first just attempts to walk by me, but I use the opportunity to wrap my arm around her and pull her in for a kiss. Her smile softens into tender yet seeking kisses while I run my hand along her body to savor her every line and curve. We explore each other’s mouths with an easy passion up until she parts with a laughing sigh.

“Okay. If you don’t want to have to carry me upstairs, we’d better get moving.”

There’s a half-second before genius strikes me and I sweep her into my arms, and the sound of her surprise shifts into bright laughter.

“Woah! Ahaha, alright, that was pretty good.”

I hum in proud satisfaction at that; how could I not feel like preening with my woman praising my charms? The trip to my bed is punctuated with lovely little touches and a kiss or two, unable to even hold off on our affections for a trek up the stairs. We mutually strip one another, clothes discarded happily to give us free access to one another. When both of us get completely stripped down, I can’t help but notice Gwen blushing and squirming a bit more than before as we caress and kiss one another.

“What is it, little doe?”

“Aha, well, if you go calling me that it’s just going to make it worse,” she breathes out.

“Make what worse?”

“It’s pretty silly, but I feel a bit… Embarrassed.”

I spin one of her curls on my finger and use my other hand to slide along the dip of her waist.

“Why?”

“We’re… Together. And naked.”

I huff fondly and lean in to kiss at her neck, being particularly tender near her new scar.

“That was the whole point.”

“Yeah, I know, but—the last time we did this, we were both a bit… Carried away?”

“Mmn. We were.”

“So it almost feels like doing it for the first time together, in a way. If that makes sense? That doesn’t make sense. God I’m stupid.”

“Shhh,” I murmur while moving back up to kiss her on the lips. Only when she melts and moans into my mouth do I take the time to pull away. “Don’t talk about my mate like that.”

That sets her off giggling, and I use the brightened mood to roll on top of her and commence another solid round of kissing. Gwen contentedly softens beneath me and soon enough, both sets of her limbs wind their way around me in cherishing welcome. The adoring contact brews hotter with each passing exchange, and it doesn’t take long for her to start timidly rocking her hips up into me in silent want.

“Gwen,” I whisper between kisses.

“Thorn?”

Just hearing her call my name so tenderly is enough to make me know that I’ve made the right choice.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

We both drift our lips along each other’s before meeting once more, and as our tongues mingle, I start to slip myself inside of her. Gwen shudders and gasps into my mouth, and I ease the first stroke into her with care. The silken heat of her wrapped around me definitely stirs my appetite, but I know now that I have all the time in the world to get around to my more intense passions. What I want most now is to properly make love to her and make her feel truly cherished.

As such, I focus my attention not on my own interest, but tracking all the subtle signs and reactions her beautiful body has to offer. I feel for every twitch and slackening, I listen for every breath and moan. It feels like worship to admire her to the last intimate detail, and every indication of her bliss just drives me to perfect my lovemaking just for her. Soon enough I’ll know her every inclination, but for now I relish getting to experiment with what patterns seem to please her best.

But I do know enough from our first set of trysts to be able to tell when she’s close to climax. Her walls start to pulse and pound so invitingly, and her breathing gets adorably shallow. That and she tends to grab onto me for dear life. Currently, her heels ram their way into my flank, driving me deeper with each grind.

“Th-Thorn,” she whimpers as she grips into my hair.

“Mhm, I know, doe… You’re almost there…”

A delicate cry chokes out of her at that and she tucks her face into me. I can feel how hot her face is and it’s so sweet how overcome she is. I press a kiss to the top of her head before I push the issue with a few good rolls to stretch and stimulate her just right.

Gwen gasps against my skin and I feel her start to to unfurl, and the knowledge that I brought her there suddenly hurries my own heat along. I take the time to do a few deep plunges to drive myself over the edge; it’s even more enjoyable seeing how the uptick of intensity during her release shocks her into a deeper level, if her sudden moans are any indication.

Those gorgeous throaty sounds are met with my own grunting sigh as I drain myself into her. She’d assured me that she’s on birth control when we got around to discussing things, but as we collapse into a contented cuddle, I wonder if I’d like for that to remain the case.