Bound to Change: A Limited Edition Spring Shifter Romance Collection

by Margo Bond Collins

  Still lax with pleasure, she traced her fingertips over the brand on his bicep, feeling hard muscle and heated flesh shift beneath her touch.

  “Yours,” Eri said, low in his throat, and Rani’s heart thudded in her chest.

  “Mine,” she agreed, even if it made little sense—even if she’d met him less than twenty-four hours ago. The bond between them didn’t lie; their souls were woven together. And she’d spent last night with him curled around her, after all. He was kind, caring, and protective, and Rani liked him. A lot.

  Mine, her soul agreed as she kissed him, their kiss a different beast to hers and Tom’s—slower, less frantic, but just as shiver-inducing. Eri’s hands framed her waist, his fingers pressing into her skin as if he loved the feel of it beneath his hands, but instead of nudging her legs open and thrusting inside, Eri tightened his hold and rolled them over until she was on top.

  “Ride me, my goddess,” he said, husky with need, his eyes—one baby blue, one deep indigo—fixed on her face even as his restless hands roamed from her heavy, aching breasts to her round stomach, to her thighs, worshipping every part of her.

  “Aren’t you worried I’ll ... flatten you?” she asked, biting her lip. Some of her exes had been hesitant to have a big girl ride them. Most of them, actually.

  “Not even a little bit,” Eri answered, gazing adoringly at her. “I wouldn’t care if you did. Take your pleasure from me, treasured mate.”

  Rani didn’t need telling twice. Even after one orgasm, she was worked up enough to need more. Heat had faded from the paw print on her thigh—instead it radiated a sleepy affection—but the ones on her bicep and chest still blazed with lusy, and she wanted her mates as badly as they wanted her.

  She pumped Eri’s cock—just slightly longer than Tom’s with a subtle curve to his shaft—and watched hunger fill his expression as she rose above him, positioned his cock at her entrance, and slowly sank down.

  Eri’s fingers curled into her hips, gripping tight as the veins in his neck stood out, tight lines creasing around his eyes. “Heaven,” he groaned. “You’re heaven.”

  Rani flushed with pleasure, both seeing and feeling how good it felt for Eri as she rose up over him and plunged back down on his cock, gripping the headboard above his head. She might have held onto her worry about being too heavy for Eri if his hands didn’t keep her exactly where she was, and if he didn’t look like he was—as he’d said—in utter heaven.

  She was so focussed on how it felt to have him filling her, her pussy fluttering around his cock as she rode him, the curve of his length hitting spots she’d barely known existed on her inner walls, that she jumped at the feel of a hot mouth on her shoulder.

  “It’s me,” Nigh growled, his rough hand sliding around her side to palm her aching breast, squeezing and adding another layer of sensation as his teeth grazed her shoulder, closely followed by the flat sweep of his tongue.

  “Oh Goddess,” Rani groaned, throwing her head back and slamming down harder on Eri’s cock, desperate and wild at the feeling of both their hands on her body at once. When Eri’s left hand rose to cup her breast, Nigh still squeezing her right, Rani’s toes curled, her eyes rolling back. “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” she babbled, clutching Eri with one hand and frantically reaching back to touch Nigh with her other as orgasm took her again, her body frozen and taut.

  “Rani,” Eri choked out as her pussy milked his cock hard, her orgasm so forceful that she lost control of her body, only Nigh’s arm around her waist holding her up. Her inner walls contracted so strongly that she practically dragged Eri’s release from him.

  “Shit,” he exhaled, his body going loose and the tension he’d been carrying all morning seeping from him.

  When Rani finally came down from her climax—which took a damn long time—her heart softened at the gentle smile on Eri’s face as he gazed up at her, stroking her waist instead of gripping hard now. His short white hair was a mess, his chest sweaty, but he looked relaxed and boneless, and a sense of pride and rightness filled Rani.

  His cock slipped out of her as she bent over to kiss him, and Rani couldn’t hold back her whimper at the loss. But Nigh was there instantly, a long, rolling growl shaking his chest as he took hold of her hip with one hand, positioned himself with the other, and sank into her heat with one long thrust.

  “I’m too sensitive,” Rani gasped, tearing her mouth from Eri to look back at Nigh. Her pussy clenched at the darkness in his eyes, the utter need fixated on her, and her heart sped.

  Dangerous, a part of her warned. Why did that make her quiver with want?

  “If you seriously want to stop,” Nigh said through gritted teeth, his tattooed chest rising and falling fast as he resisted the urge to move inside her, “tell me now.”

  Rani could have. Instead, she shook her head. “But ... go slow, will you?”

  “Can’t,” Nigh bit out, his chin-length hair falling into his eyes as he bent to kiss her shoulder again. “Need you fast and hard.”

  Rani shivered, her pussy dripping around him. She met his eyes and nodded, and Nigh didn’t waste a second, pulling his hips back and slamming into her hard enough for her to jerk forward on the bed, still suspended over Eri who seemed content to stay exactly where he was. Her hair fell around her face, her breasts bouncing as Nigh set a brutal pace, pounding into her with a relentless need, as if he wanted to meld them into one person.

  How had Rani ever thought he didn’t like her? Was that really only a few hours ago?

  Now she could feel exactly how much he liked her, craved her, with every wild thrust. She heard it in every grunting breath that fell from his lips. And she matched his craving with her own every time the head of his cock raked over the explosive spot inside her pussy.

  “Fuck, Rani, you feel so good,” Nigh rasped. “That’s it, squeeze me tight just like that. Just like that, Rani, that’s my girl.”

  Rani shuddered and fell apart, her fingers clawing at the headboard, clawing at Eri beneath her ... and Nigh didn’t stop for a second. He just bent his body over her, his chest flush to her back, and thrust fast and frantic, groans pouring from him. Most of them were some form of her name.

  Rani grabbed fistfuls of the sheets as her body overloaded with sensation, too much too soon, and she shook. But Eri cupped her face and brought her mouth to his as Nigh fucked her desperately, chasing his release with relentless focus. Comfort and affection rushed through her as Eri kissed her, mixing with the wild need she could feel from Nigh, as if he’d die if he didn’t keep filling her.

  “Rani,” Nigh gasped, her name scraping up his throat. He wrapped himself around her, a feverishly hot weight, and Rani grabbed his forearm braced beside her head, holding on tight, instinct telling her he needed her to touch him. “Fuck, Rani,” he groaned, and came hard. He clung to her until he stopped jerking and grunting, stilling inside her with a kiss dropped on her shoulder.

  Rani shook, somewhere between utterly satisfied and needy, close to the edge again after his frantic fucking.

  “I’ve got you, love,” Tom said with a flash of a smile, reaching between her and Eri. And while Nigh was still sheathed fully inside her, Tom circled her clit until she climaxed one last time.

  Lax and exhausted, Rani collapsed to the bed beside Eri, sighing with contentment as he pulled her close until her head rested on his shoulder, Tom curling up against her from behind, and Nigh throwing an arm over Eri to touch her.

  Rani planned to ask what this meant, if it was a one-time thing or an every night thing, but she fell asleep before a single word formed on her lips, all three of her brands radiating satisfaction and sweet affection.

  Options

  Rani woke groggily, a heavy weight around her middle and warmth all around her. She groaned, rubbing her eyes, and all at once remembered the wild, intense sex. Burying her face in the pillow as a blush heated her face, she recalled all the things they’d done to her, and all the things she’d done to them.

  The memories w
ere delicious and sexy as sin, but in the light of day—or rather the bright orange glow of sunset—she was filled with worry and questions.

  The arm around her waist tightened, a hiss fanning the hair on her nape. “Shut up, woman.”

  Well. At least that answered the question of who was holding her.

  “I didn’t say anything,” Rani muttered to Nigh, turning her head to scowl at him.

  His eyes were still closed, his rugged face relaxed and blue veins standing out on his eyelids. Blonde strands of hair fell into his face and Rani was filled with the sudden urge to tuck them behind his ear. She resisted, uncertainty staying her fingers.

  “I can feel you fretting,” he muttered, his hand sliding along her back and raising goosebumps because of course she was still naked. “So I’ll give you two options: you can talk about whatever’s bothering you, or open your legs so I can turn your brain to mush.”

  Rani barked a surprised laugh. “Those are my only options?”

  “Those are good options,” he replied gruffly, opening an eye to glare at her, his iris such a vivid indigo, the same colour as his eyes in cat form. “I don’t put up with many people talking to me, and I don’t remember the last time I went down on a woman.”

  Rani couldn’t help but smirk, a soft laugh escaping. “You really do like me.”

  “That’s what I said.” He rolled Rani onto her back, looming over her braced on his elbows, their naked bodies sliding against each other with tantalising friction. Goddess he was sexy, all gruff charm and tattooed muscle. “What’s your choice?”

  “Um,” Rani said, swallowing and meeting his eyes. “Can I have both? The second one now, and then the first later, with all of you.”

  Nigh shrugged his big shoulders, a sharp grin curling one side of his lips. “Works for me.”

  Rani squirmed as he moved down her body, making sure he touched every part of her as he slid between her legs. His hands caught her behind her knees and spread her, a barely audible growl in the back of his throat.

  “Mine,” he hissed and dove his tongue into her pussy, feasting like a starved man.

  Rani’s head fell back against the pillow, a gasp torn from her as he flicked her clit with his tongue before thrusting it inside her, swirling in a way that made a moan catch in her throat.

  “Fuck, you taste good,” he said in a low voice, his eyes darting up to meet hers. He held that eye contact as he licked from her dripping entrance, through her sensitive labia, to the bundle of explosive nerve endings, sucking it into his mouth so hard that Rani’s body jerked at the spike of pleasure-pain. “I could get addicted to your taste,” he rumbled, squeezing her thighs with rough hands as he licked at her, fast and feverish, sending her spiralling towards release within a scant few minutes.

  “I could get—used to this, too,” she gasped, her toes curling as euphoria built and built. “Don’t stop,” she pleaded, grabbing the back of his head and twisting her fingers in his pale hair.

  “You coming for me?” Nigh asked, his voice so low and thick with dark desire that her body broke out in cold shivers.

  She nodded fast.

  Nigh growled, his fingers leaving imprints in her skin as he flicked his rigid tongue against her clit, over and over. “My name,” he demanded, guttural. “I want to hear my name when you come, Rani.”

  “Fuck,” she breathed, mostly whimpering now as her toes curled tight. “Nigh,” she gasped, and then her mouth flew open, her eyes rolled back, and her pussy clenched quivered.

  The long growl he let out vibrated through her clit and sent her orgasm into another stratosphere, and her thighs clenched around his head as she shook hard.

  Rani wasn’t sure how long she trembled with aftershocks, her mind blurred with the pleasure as Nigh had promised, before she fell back against the mattress. “Sorry,” she rasped, letting her legs fall to the bed.

  Nigh chuckled, long and slow. “Nothing to apologise for, Rani.” He rose over her, kissing her sweetly, a total surprise after the ferocity with which he’d just brought her to orgasm. “I’m happy to die suffocated by my woman’s thighs.” He squeezed her knee, sliding a slow, tantalising touch upward. “Your legs are to die for.”

  Rani laughed weakly. She’d always thought they were a bit wide at the top, her ass too big.

  “Not joking,” he added, bending to suck her pulse point into his mouth.

  Her inner walls fluttered at the feel of his mouth on her neck and she groaned, shoving at his shoulders. “I can’t take any more, you insatiable caveman.”

  Nigh snorted, sitting up but still running his hands over her thighs as if he really did think they were to die for. Rani flushed, but her stomach fluttered with a different, softer sort of pleasure. “We’ll see how long that lasts. I give you an hour. Tops.”

  He placed a kiss on the curve of her belly and sighed. “Do we have to talk now? Emotional stuff?”

  “Yep,” she agreed, smiling at his surly expression. “I need to ... to know where I stand with ... all of this. And I want to talk to all of you about it.”

  Nigh shrugged, laying another kiss on her stomach. “There’s not much to talk about, Rani. We’re yours for life. Do you want to shower first?”

  Rani blinked at the abrupt subject change, but she noticed the slight pink flush on his cheeks as he shoved off the bed. “Yes, please.”

  Nigh nodded, his hands catching her waist as she climbed out of bed even though she wasn’t wobbly on her feet. Rani liked how tactile he was; it made her feel all warm and wanted. The opposite of how she’d felt standing on the doorstep of her home as her mum rolled a pink suitcase full of her things down the hallway.

  “I’ll get Tom to help you,” Nigh said, but he looked kind of sulky about the offer. “I’ve monopolised your time long enough.”

  “Nigh,” Rani said with a smile as he headed for the door. “Thank you.”

  His glare softened, and for the first time she saw a genuine smile cross his face. Not a smirk or a grin—a smile. It made her heart go impossibly soft. “You’re welcome, Rani.”

  He vanished into the kitchen/living room and Rani sagged against the end of the bed, a big smile on her face.

  She had a lot of reasons to be worried and sad—and quite frankly terrified—but all she felt in that moment was gratitude that she had her mates.

  Bombshell

  Tom helped her shower but kept his hands to himself—mostly. Every time they began to wander—usually over her ass, which he seemed to be enthralled by—she raised an eyebrow or gave him a stern look, and he shrugged with a dazzling grin.

  “You can’t blame me for trying, love. What man wouldn’t want your gorgeous body under his hands?”

  Rani rolled her eyes, blushing to her roots. Damn these men and making her blush all the time. “You’re incorrigible.”

  “Yep,” Tom agreed with a shameless grin, getting out of the cubicle and offering Rani a hand to help her over the lip of the shower. That was another thing she’d noticed: these men would take any opportunity to touch her. She ought to have felt embarrassed or at least uncomfortable with their attention—they’d only met yesterday after all—but she loved it. She felt like she’d been waiting for this all her life. “Sure I can’t tempt you?” Tom asked, putting his hands on his hips to draw her attention to his bobbing cock.

  Rani glanced up quickly, laughing. “We can’t just have sex all the time.”

  “I don’t see why not,” Tom replied, baffled. “Sex is amazing.”

  “Well...” Rani said, drying herself with a towel Tom hurried to pass to her when she went to reach for it herself. “Yeah. Definitely,” she agreed with a laugh as she thought of all four of them in the bed earlier. “But I want to talk to the three of you about this. It’s all so new and ... overwhelming. And, um, your father—I want to know if I’m in danger.”

  “Never,” Tom replied emphatically, his icy eyes flashing as he rushed closer, wrapping his arms around her over the towel. “We won’t let
anything happen to you.” His voice was little more than a low growl. “You don’t have to worry about Orion, I promise you.”

  Rani froze.

  She took a quick step back, and then with that name echoing in her ears, she turned and fled through the bedroom next door and out into the communal area. Orion. Their father was called Orion. And he had midnight magic. And he seemed intent on her.

  Because he wanted to absorb her magic for the ritual to raise his wife from the dead.

  Exactly as Orion Child had fifteen years ago.

  That man ... that monster who’d almost compelled her to leave with him in Richmond had been the terror that cat society still didn’t talk about. He’d killed twelve people!

  And Rani’s mates were ... his sons.

  “Rani?” Eri asked, concerned as she burst into the living room. He rose from the sofa where he’d been sat reading, but he froze halfway as Rani narrowed her eyes on him.

  “Your father, Dark Star,” she breathed, fear making her hands shake. “Is he Orion Child? The Orion Child who kidnapped felines, drained all their power, and murdered them fifteen years ago?”

  Eri sighed, his shoulders sinking and his mismatched eyes full of sadness and pain. “Yes.”

  “You didn’t tell me,” she accused.

  “We didn’t want to scare you,” Tom said from behind her, though he kept his distance, a black towel slung low on his narrow hips. “You were already hurting because of your exile, and scared because of Dark Star’s magic. If you knew he was Orion Child...”

  “I’d what? Run a mile?” Rani barked a laugh, her breathing spiralling. “Of course I would! He’s ... he’s a maniac. A psychopath and a serial killer.”

  “But we’re not,” Tom replied, and hurt flashed through the brand on her thigh.

  Rani shook her head, not sure what to think. She knew they weren’t a danger to her—they literally couldn’t hurt her thanks to their bonds. But they were strangers, men she’d met less than twenty-four hours ago, and no amount of orgasms could change that. Did she trust them? She wasn’t sure she could answer yes or no, not decisively. “You lied to me.”