Dallas’s heart surged with happy emotion at hearing that.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you about my family even when I brought you here for the interviews. I wanted to tell you, especially when I knew you were my mate. And then the Blackhearts showed up, the last people in the world I thought I’d have to face again, and the basilisk appeared too, and everything turned upside down.”
Mel surprised him by getting up off the bed and turning around to straddle his lap. It was sweet and intimate. And her hand as it cupped his cheek healed his soul in some deep way.
“You don’t need to blame yourself for anything, Dallas. Not for what you are. Not for protecting the people you love. Not for how you’ve handled any of this.” Her brown eyes sparkled with understanding, and Dallas was nearly bowled over by her beauty as she looked at him without fear or apprehension.
The way her hips pressed into his right now wasn’t bad either.
“I ran earlier because it was all too much to handle. But never again, Dallas. I want you. Forever,” she said.
“Only you for me too. You’re my mate. But what about your job, your search?”
She grinned, wrapping her arms around his neck. “As I see it, I found exactly what I came here to find. And a whole lot more, frankly. More than I deserved.”
He growled, nuzzling her neck as the sound of her sigh made his nerves awaken instantly. “You deserve everything, mate.”
“So what is a mate, exactly? Harrison and the others threw the word around when they thought I couldn’t hear them. Or on the recording, it came up a bunch.”
“Mate means a shifter’s partner. Like marriage but much stronger. Unbreakable. It means we’re bonded to each other, and wherever you go, I go too.”
“That pretty much sounds like the most awesome thing ever.” She giggled. “Where do I sign?”
“Actually… we just need to have unprotected sex. Well, and one other thing. I’m going to mark you.” He could feel himself blush at just the mention of them being together like that, even though they’d had amazing nights and mornings this past week already.
But mating was different.
“Hm?” The red hue on her cheeks was evidence he wasn’t the only one thinking about the bed beneath them right now.
He’d heard about the practice from other cat shifters, how when they mated, they left a mark on their mates, something their animal decided in the moment.
“It’s a cat shifter thing. It’s small usually, like a tattoo, but harder to see.”
“I’ll admit I’m extremely curious. But you could mark my whole back and front, and I’d still do it just to be with you, sexy.”
He laughed nervously. His tiger had something much more subtle in mind. “I guess this is your last chance to say no, then. Otherwise, I can’t hold back from wanting you any longer, Mel.”
“Then don’t, tiger… if it’s okay if I call you that?” Her voice was husky, full of want he felt thrumming like a drum in his heart at the same moment.
“You can call me anything you want as long as it’s my name on your lips when you’re coming,” he whispered harshly into her ear, making Mel gasp as he picked her up in his arms and made for the bathroom.
She didn’t object, just hummed as he kissed her neck and her ear, teasing his mate while he made for the shower and turned it on.
It wasn’t big, but it was just enough for the two of them. And in seconds, they were both naked, hot water streaming over their bodies as mist filled the air.
He wanted this moment to be perfect. Wanted the scent of earth and cougars and basilisks and trouble washed away before they started their journey into forever together.
“Fuck, so gorgeous,” Dallas said, filling his hands with soap and stroking over her curves. Mel leaned against the tiled wall, squirming with pleasure as he washed down her arms, his fingers entwining with hers for a moment before running his hands over her shoulders and down her breasts, their tips hardening immediately beneath his palms.
“You don’t go easy on anyone, do you—” Her last word was cut off by a soft mewl as he reached down to cup her sex. And when her legs buckled, he moved his thigh in between her legs to support her, his other hand on her hip, keeping her steady.
“No, I don’t. But especially not my mate when it comes to pleasuring her senseless.” At that, he leaned down to claim her mouth in a rough, possessive kiss, her lips parting immediately. His tongue thrust in to meet Mel’s, twisting and sliding and making her arch against the wall, even as his hand at the apex of her thighs began to stroke upward along her soaked slit.
Her screams of pleasure were muffled by Dallas’s lips while his other hand came up to squeeze her breast.
Everything inside him was focused completely on his mate. On her sounds of relief and excitement. On the way her body twitched with arousal as he touched her. On her scent.
When he broke the kiss, Mel took in a long breath of air, hands grasping the wall behind her desperately.
But Dallas just leaned deeper to suck on her shoulder while his hand moved to her other breast to tease the small peak of her nipple relentlessly.
He had her trapped, nowhere to go except into the pleasure he gave, as the need to see her come grew to a fever pitch in his mind.
The steam in the room became thicker as Dallas’s finger moved faster over Mel’s clit. And in moments, she was coming hard, screaming his name and making it echo off the bathroom walls as she fell forward into his supportive arms.
“Dallas, Dallas,” she exclaimed, body tensing and quivering from head to toe while he just held her, and he marveled at her beauty and strength.
After seeing how she’d handled even trained shifter assassins and gigantic basilisks, he didn’t think he’d find a more badass woman even if he tried.
Mel was all he could ever want.
Once she’d recovered, her gaze was full of even more want as her hands felt along his muscles, going down his abs.
He’d been so uncomfortable with touch, even friendly touch, before Mel.
But there was something different perhaps in how his tiger responded to his mate’s embrace. Something his tiger had recognized before even he had.
“There’s that saying about catching a tiger by the tail. What about catching a tiger by his…?” Her words drifted off as her hands stroked up his hard shaft, making the muscles in his back tense from the sudden contact.
Dallas growled, and he picked Mel up by her ass, palms squeezing into her soft flesh as she squeaked in sudden surprise. Then he pinned her against the wall, their bodies pressed against each other, slick and sheened with moisture.
“I’d say you were looking for trouble, doing something like that.” He grinned against her skin and bit down lightly on her shoulder as he thrust his hips upward to make his cock stroke over Mel’s clit. She moaned loudly, eyes rolling back from the motion, and her hands clutched onto his shoulders immediately while her legs wrapped around his midsection.
“Sounds like the kind of trouble I could go for,” she replied before her words were cut off by another moan.
Dallas just held her tightly, loving the way their bodies meshed together as he stimulated her clit with long motions over and over. And by the way her nails started to dig into his skin and the way her breaths were racing, she was already close to another release in no time at all.
He just increased the speed a little, making sure her clit felt his entire length in one long motion, and she came immediately, screaming into his shoulder with unintelligible words.
So beautiful. So perfect.
His mate.
Dallas gave Mel all the time she needed, supporting her and letting her feel everything until the orgasm had completely abated. Then she looked up at him, then down between them, then toward the bedroom expectantly.
“Let’s get you over to the bed, huh?” Dallas said, kissing her lips once more before turning off the shower and exiting. The second he opened the door, steam poured out of t
he bathroom, but he didn’t care.
There was only one thing on his mind right now.
Making Mel his.
He grabbed a towel and set Mel down for a moment, drying both of them haphazardly even as the already warm air in the room seemed to heat with pure anticipation and want. And when Mel lay back on the bed, reaching her arms up to him, he nearly broke with happiness as he came down onto the mattress with her, just reveling in how her skin seemed to glow and her eyes lit up whenever he was near.
He wouldn’t let a day go by without telling her just how much she meant to him and how wonderful and beautiful she was.
The air was silent as he leaned down to kiss her bare breasts again, his hands cupping her hips as she arched slightly, giving him even better access. The air seemed to pulse with something mystical, something unfathomable, as he kissed lower down her belly, stroking her belly button with his tongue before coming back up to look into Mel’s eyes.
He cupped her cheek with his hand, and she leaned into it, eyes watching him as he positioned himself at her entrance. The silence in the room and on the ranch around them only intensified the heavy, expectant feeling of what was happening between them.
A week ago, he thought he’d never have a mate.
Now, she was all he could possibly think about.
Mel’s mouth fell open as he thrust inside her, the sensation of nothing between them even more intense than he’d pictured. Just the way their bodies melded like this, connected in some soul-deep way, made Dallas’s whole body tense in arousal.
At first, he went slow, filling his mate over and over with just the right speed to make her gasp and tense beneath him. While he did, he continued to feel her, to taste her body with his mouth along her neck and shoulders, while his thumb and forefinger lightly tweaked her nipple.
He could do this forever. And he looked forward to having the rest of their lives together to share moments of bliss like this.
It wasn’t long before he reached between them, finger sliding over her clit even while he pumped into her with quickening motions. And when she came, body writhing and tight sheath clenching around him, Dallas nearly came right there.
Not yet.
When Mel had relaxed again, their bodies still connected at the hips, she looked up at him with a sultry look. “Taking your time, aren’t you? I love it.”
“Want to make the moment memorable with you.”
Her hands were on his arms, pulling him down toward her so they were both horizontal, his face hovering over hers. “Every moment with you is memorable.”
Heart nearly bursting, Dallas claimed her mouth once more in a kiss, holding them together while the last of his inhibitions broke.
The beast inside him surged, and he broke the kiss as he started to thrust quickly into Mel, pushing them both toward the finish. She let out a high-pitched moan, just holding on to him while he moved for both of them.
His entire body was locking up, muscles tightening with built-up arousal that was about to explode at any moment. And even as the sound of Mel’s pleasure filled the air, along with the sound of their bodies colliding, Dallas reached a hand down along her hip to the side of her thigh.
Almost without thinking (thoughts were difficult to muster when mind-blowing pleasure seared his nerve endings), Dallas felt a claw extend from his hand, and it connected along the surface of her skin at the midway point between her knee and hip. With some sort of unknown magic, he traced his talon in a small, horizontal figure eight, all the while keeping his focus on Mel beneath him.
She didn’t even seem to notice as she threw her head back, air caught in her lungs as they reached the peak of pleasure.
His talon retracted, he held himself up with one hand while the other held her hips, and he pushed all the way inside. Sparks of want went down his arms and back, and seeing her right at the edge like this nearly made him come.
But the last thrust was all that was needed for Mel to slip past the edge, and she screamed as she orgasmed, pulling Dallas with her into unimaginable, blinding pleasure.
His cock jerked inside, pulsing with rhythmic waves of pleasure as Mel’s release made his stronger than any he’d ever had before. All he could focus on was holding her, wrapping his arms around her, feeling everything she felt against him while the throbbing inside him slowly abated.
And deep within, his tiger roared in satisfaction now that Mel was fully his mate.
Our mate.
Dallas continued to keep her close, listening to her breathing as it slowed, hearing the beat of her heart as it raced, then evened out.
They both let out a gasp of satisfaction, and Dallas took a moment to just memorize the sight of her beautiful face beneath him.
There would be many, many moments like this in the future. And each one he wanted to remember for the rest of his life.
“Wait, so are we mated now?” Mel asked, looking around. “The air feels different. I… feel different, though it’s hard to say exactly how.”
“Yes, we are. Now you’re stuck with me,” he said with a grin.
“And I couldn’t be more excited about it,” she replied, and he kissed her once more before slowly pulling out to clean up in the bathroom.
When he came back in, she was already looking down at the small mark on her thigh.
“An infinity symbol? That’s so romantic,” she squeaked in surprise. And before he could come back to the bed, she jumped up and into his arms, and her hands ran through his thick hair while he supported her so they were nose to nose.
“The only forever I could imagine wanting was one with you, mate.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
He held her another moment, then took her back to the bed, spooning her closely as the afternoon air began to cool and evening started to fall over Dragonclaw. As they relaxed, he told her more about shifters, about Dragonclaw’s history, and answered all her questions.
Every minute with her was bliss. Every moment beside her a treasure he never thought possible for an outlaw tiger who’d broken the rules just by existing.
In trusting himself and his tiger, and in trusting and loving Mel, he’d found something much better than even freedom or absolution.
Right here, nestled in his arms, he’d found home.
Epilogue
The afternoon sunlight was warm against Mel’s face as she and Dallas came over the last hill overlooking Dragonclaw Ranch.
They paused for a second to enjoy the view.
It was a beautiful Texas day. Puffy white clouds that looked like they could be used as pillows floated lazily in the perfect blue sky.
At that moment, Dallas’s fingers weaved their way through hers, and he brought her hand up to his mouth, kissing it gently.
She turned, admiring him as well as the beautiful orange sapphire inlaid in gold that positively glowed on her finger.
He had just asked her to marry him, and she had said yes.
Goodness, she loved this man.
As they made their way down the gentle decline, she cuddled a little closer to him, and he put one muscular arm around her.
“I’m glad you said yes,” he said.
She laughed. “How could I not? I love you.”
Dallas nodded. “I love you too.”
They were quiet as they made their way down the rest of the hill to Dragonclaw, both enjoying the moment, which was just as blissful as the last little while had been.
It had been a week since everything had happened, and they had barely spent a moment apart since then. Dallas had taken to showing her all of the different parts of Dragonclaw Ranch as well as what life was like there.
Unsurprisingly, Mel found that she loved every aspect.
They had also made plans to build a house on the property, close enough to help but far away enough to be private.
Just for them.
In fact, Dallas had already picked out a plot of land not too far from the main spread and was planning on beginning
construction soon.
Despite the events that occurred a week ago, Mel had felt fully welcomed by everyone at Dragonclaw, and the place was peaceful and beginning to feel a little more like home every day.
When they got back to the ranch, a large canvas overhang was set up, shading the main area where everyone was together, talking next to a table that was covered in different kinds of tasty food.
It looked like there was some commotion centered around the basilisk, who was currently in human form and looking perturbed by all the attention.
“What’s going on?” Mel asked Billie when they reached the group.
Billie laughed. “They’re still trying to think of a name for our new friend.”
“It’s plain and simple,” Reno was insisting. “We have to name him Rocky.”
The basilisk frowned, confused.
“No,” Sierra replied, shaking her head. “What about Bass? It’s nice and simple, short for basilisk.”
“Maybe, but he’s not the only basilisk,” Marian pointed out. “That could get confusing.”
Their basilisk friend nodded slowly, eyes flickering between Sierra and Marian and then away.
While everyone was deliberating, Mel and Dallas snuck their way over to Harrison, who was watching with a vague air of amusement.
“How is he doing?” Mel asked as Dallas watched curiously.
Harrison shrugged, folding his arms over his chest. “It’s been crazy busy around here with everything that’s happened in the last little while, but he seems to be doing okay. And he don’t talk much, but he does seem to listen.” He frowned. “Almost started a fight the other day, though, when he was eyeing Billie, Clancy’s mate, and Clancy took it the wrong way.”
“Ah, yeah, that would be a problem,” Mel said, turning back to watch as the contention of names intensified.
Suddenly, she got an idea, so she stepped up. “What exactly does the basilisk like to do?” she asked loudly over the rest of the group.
Everyone was quiet as they thought about it for a second.
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