by Lynn Howard
She shrugged. “Penny.”
She had been taking care of Penny for so long she never really had the time or desire to date. Not many men understood the idea that she couldn’t leave her sister with a baby sister so she could go out clubbing.
He nodded but didn’t relax.
“I’m not mated because my kind believe women have a choice in everything. I would never force a woman into a pairing. And, until now, I have never met a woman who intrigued me or my panther enough to consider it.”
He was feeling the same things she was. She was pretty sure he was her mate, the one her animal had chosen, but didn’t want to rush into anything. Sidling with a woman who had a child was more than a lot of men wanted to take on.
Daxon took a step closer to her. “I cannot make the first move. With anything, Ryanne. I have wanted to kiss you since the first day we met. But…I can’t. Anything we do, you have to tell me what you want. I need to hear you say the words.”
Ryanne stared up into his handsome face and swallowed hard. He needed to hear the words. She had to tell him what she wanted. She had to be the one to decide how fast and how far they went.
But could she stop at simply kissing? She was pretty sure the second his hands were on her she would lose her mind. Everything about Daxon made her feel drunk. Lust drunk. Like she knew she would never get enough.
With a deep breath, Ryanne stepped close enough to feel the heat pouring from Daxon.
“Kiss me,” she whispered.
Daxon didn’t need any more encouragement.
His hand grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her to him as his lips slammed down on hers. It was rough at first, the way he held her to him.
And then his hold softened as did his lips. He pecked at her with sexy smacks until she opened her mouth and tentatively touched his lips with her tongue.
The kiss turned erotic and slow and so fucking sexy.
Ryanne wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body as close to his as she could get it. Her full breasts were against his hard chest and her hips were against the bulge in his pants.
Oh yeah. Daxon was as into the kiss as she was.
One of his hands snaked around her back and rested at the small of her back while the other moved up her neck to tunnel into the hair wrapped in a ponytail.
Daxon tilted his head and deepened the kiss and Ryanne was pretty sure her toes curled. Her blood heated in her veins and everything south of her belt was warm.
Ryanne lifted her leg and hooked a knee over Daxon’s hip. She needed to be closer. She wished they were naked. But if they were naked, they would end up having sex.
Would that be so bad, though?
“Ryyy?” Penny called from her bedroom.
It was like someone dumped ice water over their heads.
Both Daxon and Ryanne disengaged from the other so fast she almost fell over. Daxon’s hand shot out and steadied her, a smile on his face.
At least Penny hadn’t come out and caught them sucking face.
With an apologetic smile, Ryanne left Daxon standing there with bright eyes and a major erection. It was one of those times she was glad she’d been born female; other than her glowing eyes, there would be no way for anyone to tell she was turned on.
Okay. So Daxon could probably smell her arousal, but she had a feeling he was too distracted to focus on that little fact at the moment.
“Be right back,” she told him.
If anything would scare him off, this might be it. What guy wanted to have an interruption when he was getting hot and heavy with a woman?
“What’s wrong?” she asked Penny when she walked in and found her sitting up in bed.
“I’m not wearing my ‘jamas,” she said, yanking the blanket down and looking at her big sister as if it was the biggest atrocity known to man.
With a sigh, Ryanne tried to keep the irritation off her face and retrieved a pair of pajamas she’d purchased at a thrift store from one of Penny’s dresser drawers.
Forcing a smile, she helped Penny remove her clothes and handed her the pink, frilly tank top and shorts. “There. Better?”
Penny nodded and yawned as she laid back down. “Is Daxon still here?” she whispered. She still didn’t understand the concept of heightened Shifter hearing.
“Yep.”
“Can he stay the night?”
Ryanne’s heart thundered behind her ribs. “What would make you think of that?”
“Because,” she said, raising her hand to cover another yawn. “If he’s here, then you’ll sleep tonight.”
Ryanne frowned down at her sister and wanted to ask how she knew Ryanne hadn’t been getting much sleep, but her eyes were already closed and her breathing was slow and even. How in the world did this child fall asleep so easily?
Pulling the door closed behind her, Ryanne tiptoed out of the bedroom.
She half expected Daxon to be closer to the door, maybe even waiting on the porch. She expected excuses as to why he needed to leave.
But he was sitting on her couch, one ankle crossed over the other knee when she entered the living room.
“I didn’t think I should take her clothes off,” Daxon explained.
She appreciated the fact he hadn’t. She wasn’t sure how she would have felt if he had. He didn’t know either of them well enough to help the five-year-old change clothes yet.
But he could definitely help Ryanne out of her clothes if he wanted.
“She didn’t see us, did she?” he asked in that deep voice of his. The sound did things to her insides.
“No. She was still in her bed when I went in there.”
Ryanne lowered onto the couch beside Daxon, leaving a little space between them when all she wanted to do was throw a leg over his lap, straddle his hips, and go back to kissing him.
“Why did she say you’re not sleeping?” he asked. He threw an arm over the back of the couch again and toyed with a curl that had come loose.
Shrugging her shoulders up, Ryanne tried to focus on the conversation instead of how hot her body was burning.
“I don’t know. That was the closest we’ve ever come to being hurt. I’ve always kept her shielded from that side of our world. She’s human. She shouldn’t have to worry about psycho Shifters coming for her.”
“Humans are no better,” he said. “They hurt their own, too.”
She knew he was trying to make her feel like less of a failure, but it didn’t work.
All she knew was that was the last camping trip until Penny was an adult. Even then, they would go to a camping resort where there were tons of witnesses in case anyone decided to get froggy.
“So,” she said.
“So?”
“Did you want to watch TV? Or…”
“Or?”
He kept repeating her. He wanted her to say how she felt. He needed her to say what she wanted. She had already told him she wanted him to kiss her. Wasn’t that enough? Wasn’t that a bright enough green light?
“I kind of thought Penny calling out when we were…you know…”
“Making out,” he offered with a sexy smirk.
“Yeah. That. I thought you would have realized this was too much and taken off.”
“You thought that would scare me off?” he asked, jerking his head toward the hallway. Ryanne nodded. “I told you; I want you. All of you. And that includes that sweet little girl. I have all the time in the world, Ry. We don’t have to do anything else tonight. We can watch TV or I can go home or whatever. I’m just glad I finally got to taste those sexy lips of yours.”
Yep. That was all it took to renew Ryanne’s passion.
Doing as she’d wanted the second she sat down, she turned and threw a leg over his lap, her core pressing directly against the hard length being restrained under his jeans.
“You sure?” he asked, cupping the back of her head.
Ryanne leaned down and pressed her mouth to his. She didn’t wait for him to deepen it. She licked
the seam of his lips and slid her tongue inside when he opened for her. His hands were rough as they smoothed down her back to cup both cheeks of her ass.
Daxon pulled her closer, which made her sex push against his hardness. The sensation tore a gasp from her lips, but he swallowed it.
And then she began to rock against him, every move sending her closer and closer to the edge. Or maybe he was rocking against her. She wasn’t sure anymore. All she knew was if they were naked, he would be deep inside of her.
As much as she wanted to make love with Daxon, she wasn’t sure now was the right time. Not only was Penny in the next room, but they hadn’t really been seeing each other very long. Wasn’t there some kind of three date rule? And this was technically only date two.
They could always go to second base.
Even as she thought it, she felt a tad silly in her own head. What were they? Teenagers?
Deciding to take matters into her own hands and push this a little further, Ryanne pulled one of Daxon’s hands from her ass and placed it on her breast.
That was all the encouragement he needed.
Daxon broke the kiss, grabbed the bottom hem of her t-shirt, and yanked it over her head. She sat there in nothing but shorts and a bikini. Wasn’t exactly lingerie, but it was close enough.
A growl worked up his throat as he stared at her chest and his eyes blazed brighter.
Bending forward, he kissed a path between her breasts, then pressed his lips to each swell. “Damn,” he breathed.
Ryanne continued grinding her hips, rubbing her sensitive core to his length. He was not only beyond ready but sported quite an impressive size.
There wasn’t much separating them, especially since her shorts were so short they exposed some of her panties, just enough to where she could feel the roughness of the denim covering his cock.
Wow. She was so close. And they hadn’t done much more than some dry humping. She hadn’t spent so much time fooling around with her clothes on since she was somewhere around eighteen or nineteen. Never had she been so turned on by a man. Never had she been so close to release without helping herself during sex.
Daxon’s fingers shook as he reached up and pulled one of the shoulders of her bikini down, exposing a breast. He did the same with the other side and now she was fully revealed to him.
As he pushed his hips against hers, he dipped his head and lapped his tongue against one pebbled nipple, then took it between his lips and sucked.
“Daxon. I’m –”
She couldn’t get anything else out as an orgasm careened through her with so much intensity she slapped a hand over her mouth to keep from shouting and waking up her sister.
His hips continued moving until he wrapped his arms around her back, buried his face in her cleavage, and grunted.
Holy crap. They had both just come and they were still fully clothed. Well, he was fully clothed. She was half-naked.
Their breaths came in pants and she trembled as aftershocks continued to ripple through her.
“Sorry,” he whispered, his breath warming her chest.
“For what?” Oh man. Did he regret it now?
“I only meant to make you feel good. I didn’t mean to…” He pulled back and waved a hand at his pants.
He hadn’t meant to orgasm. He had wanted to make her orgasm, but was going to deprive himself of the same release?
Like she would have let that happen.
Gently, he pulled the straps of her bikini back up and made sure she was covered. He looked around until he found her shirt sitting on the couch beside them and pulled it over her head.
“You’re fucking amazing,” he said, a smile gracing his flushed cheeks. She would bet she had the same glow right about now.
“You’re amazing,” she said, bending down to press her lips to his.
This time, the kiss was slow and romantic and full of so many emotions Ryanne didn’t have the energy to decipher.
Her body felt like jelly. When was the last time she’d felt so content, so safe, so revered?
Never. She had never felt any of those things, even as a child.
“So,” he said like she had earlier.
“So?” she said, repeating his earlier response.
“Want to watch TV?”
Chapter Six
Daxon couldn’t stop smiling the entire ride home. It was well after midnight and he probably should have left Ryanne’s hours ago, but he was enjoying himself too much.
She was so fucking sexy. Even the way she tried to hold back the sound when she’d gotten off was sexy.
That was by far the hottest moment of his life and they had never taken off their pants.
Memories of her tits made his dick thumb against his zipper. They were perfect. Everything about her was perfect, but her tits made him reconsider the fact he’d always considered himself a butt man.
As he drove his truck home, he could smell Ryanne. Her scent was all over him. And as much as he’d wanted to Shift his fangs and latch onto her shoulder, he had been able to control himself, even when he’d come in his boxers.
The lights were all still on in the trailer when he pulled in. He was mildly surprised Charlie and Campbell didn’t run out to the porch like they had done the first time he’d hung out with Ryanne.
Doing his best to wipe the dopey look from his face, he pushed from the truck and made his way to the porch, his feet crunching on the gravel with each step.
A bird squawked somewhere in the distance and Daxon stopped with his hand on the knob. No way was one of the crows in their territory. They had stayed under the radar since the panthers and all their friends destroyed Talonwood’s hang out and set all those women free.
The Black Feather Crew hadn’t said a word to anyone about their involvement with the abductions and sales of all those women. They were too smart to implicate themselves.
There were no answering squawks, no movement nearby.
He was being paranoid.
Events over the past few years gave him every reason to be paranoid, though.
The Pride sat at the old wooden table, a deck of cards divvied out amongst the five of them, with Mason being the fifth wheel. The grin on his face indicated he didn’t care about that, though.
“I take it you’re winning?” Daxon asked him as he toed his shoes off at the door.
That was something new to the Pride. Since Charlie had been staying with Aron so much lately, she’d convinced them all to pick up after themselves, and that included removing their shoes before clodding through the living room and tracking dirt and leaves across the carpet.
“Up six dollars,” Mason said with a nod.
“In pennies,” Campbell said. She rolled her eyes and shook her head, but she couldn’t hide the smile on her face.
“You look happy,” Charlie said.
She didn’t say it the way the guys would have. She was genuinely interested in every member of the Pride and their happiness.
He shrugged and started to make his way to his bedroom. He really should take a shower and wash his release off, but that would mean washing off Ryanne’s scent, something he wasn’t ready for just yet.
A few sniffs of the air followed him. He’d hoped to get behind closed doors without the third degree.
No such luck.
“Did you finally hook up with Ryanne?” Mason asked.
With a sigh, Daxon turned. “No.”
Brax looked from Mason, to Campbell, then back to Daxon. “Then why do I smell a woman’s –” He was silenced by Campbell’s hand over his mouth.
“Don’t be gross,” his mate said.
“I’m only saying I can smell Ryanne on him. They obviously –”
His mumbled words were silenced again by his mate. “I’m pretty sure if he wanted to talk about it, he would. Right?” she said to Daxon.
Daxon narrowed his eyes at the human. Since when didn’t she fish for information. He was literally thinking not five minutes ago how it was odd
the two women weren’t waiting on the front porch for all the gory details.
“What are you up to?” he asked Campbell.
“Nothing,” she said a little too quickly as her eyes darted to the side.
“She’s hoping you’ll mate with Ryanne and have cubs so she won’t have to,” Daxon’s twin, Brax, answered.
“What? I thought you wanted cubs,” Daxon said.
He and Brax had talked about that not too long ago. Brax was gung-ho about starting a family, but Campbell was keeping the brakes locked in place for a while. She wasn’t ready to give up hunting just yet.
“I do. Someday. But I want to play with a baby.”
“Why don’t you ask them?” he said, pointing to Aron and Charlie.
Sadness flooded Charlie’s eyes as she ducked her head and studied the cards in her hands.
Shit. They’d been trying for a few months. And he’d just pointed out to her that they were having fertility issues. No woman wanted to consider the chance she wouldn’t be able to have a baby someday.
“Sorry,” he said to Charlie. Aron was glaring at him so hard his eyes held a hint of that golden green glow all the panthers had with heightened emotions.
Fuck. He needed to leave the room before he stuck his foot even further in his mouth. The last person he’d ever want to upset was Charlie. The woman was the sweetest, most caring person he had ever met in his life. He knew she would be an awesome mom someday.
With one more muttered apology, Daxon left his Pride to their poker game. He stripped down to his boxers, still damp from their little make out session, and dropped onto his bed.
Was Ryanne already in bed? Was she thinking about him, too?
This must have been what his brother and Alpha felt like when they’d met Charlie and Campbell. He could not get the woman out of his head.
What kind of animal was she? Had she told him? He couldn’t remember ever having heard her mention it.
Whatever species she was, he bet her animal was as beautiful as she was. He couldn’t wait to see it. He couldn’t wait to Shift and run with her through the woods. He’d simply have Penny climb onto his panther’s back and give her the best piggyback ride of her life.