“I love you,” Lynn said back, feeling herself tensing with the beginning shudders of climax. “I love you, I—oh God—”
Orgasm flooded her, leaving her clinging to Ken as she cried out and clenched down, shoving herself up to feel him as deep as possible while she spasmed around him. He held her tight, gasping with each of her tremors until the last one tipped him over the edge too.
It took a long time before either of them wanted to move.
Finally, Ken lifted his head, resting his chin on her chest and looking up at her with those tawny eyes. “Hey,” he said.
Lynn smiled down at him. “What?”
“I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with you.” He grinned.
Lynn felt her own smile growing, until she wasn’t sure it was ever going to leave. “Me, either.”
Epilogue
Only a week ago, Lynn thought, she wouldn’t have recognized the woman she was today.
This morning, she’d woken up to her mate kissing her softly on the forehead. She’d wished Stella well in heading off to get Eva registered at the local high school, and then gone to work with a studied unconcern.
Last time Stella had moved back home, Lynn had been convinced that she wouldn’t be able to keep track of all the meetings and paperwork the school would require, and so had insisted on coming along and supervising the whole thing. Stella had been resentful and irritated the entire time—and had actually forgotten a couple of things, so Lynn had felt completely justified in interfering.
Now, she had to wonder if Stella had forgotten those things in part because she’d been distracted by being annoyed with Lynn. But also, really, she had to remind herself that it wouldn’t have been the end of the world. Stella could’ve come back to get them or set up another appointment. And that’s what she’d do if she forgot anything today.
Fortunately, Ken had borrowed Stella’s keys and gone back to Todd’s house while he was at work to get Stella and Eva’s things. So they had all of their possessions back, including Eva’s birth certificate and so on.
Stella had thanked Ken profusely, and he’d waved it off. Later, he’d confided to Lynn that every time he did something for any of them, it cemented the feeling of belonging he’d discovered.
“Keep asking me to do stuff,” he’d said seriously. “It’s like—you know, I never thought I’d want to be tied down, but every time I do something for you or Stella or Eva, it’s like I’m anchoring myself further to all of you, and it’s amazing.”
For Lynn, it was a little different—she’d always been anchored to this place. It ha
d been her home for her entire life. But now it was like the house was just a foundation, and there was a family building up on top of it.
But she definitely agreed that it was amazing.
Now she was back at the office after a day of leading clients around Glacier Park, and she was filled with a strange sensation—the desire to finish work already.
Normally, her job was her favorite part of the day, and leaving work to go home was just…movement from something interesting to something boring. A house with half the rooms shut up, a microwaved dinner, and eight hours’ sleep before getting up to come back out to what she really cared about.
Now, she was hurrying through the office tasks so she could get out quickly. It was strange.
The office door opened, and Nina came in. They’d only had time for the barest of greetings today, both busy with clients. Now, Nina was grinning.
“So,” she said. “My mom told me she had a really interesting time with you and Ken Turner the other day.”
Lynn rolled her eyes up to the ceiling. “All right, all right,” she said. “Get all the teasing out. Who knew this old crusty woman would ever settle down, et cetera.”
Nina’s expression softened. “I’m not going to tease,” she said. “I just wanted to say how happy I am for you. If you’re happy.”
Lynn frowned. “What do you mean, if I’m happy?”
“Well,” Nina said slowly, “you always said that you never wanted a mate. And I—well, when Joel and I got together—it was a little rough at first. Neither of us knew what we were doing, and it was….it was hard to work out what we wanted. We were both scared.”
This was something Lynn hadn’t known at all. She’d always thought Nina and Joel had been blissfully happy from the outset. “But it worked out okay,” she said, testing.
Nina brightened immediately. “Oh, yes. We figured it out—with some help from the rest of the pack. Don’t worry about us. I just wanted to make sure that you and Ken were happy together.”
Most shifters that Lynn knew would never have doubted that someone would be happy with their mate. She had to admit, she was a little touched that Nina wanted to make absolutely sure.