She snorted and ignored his hand as she sat on the floor closest to the fireplace. “You know it’s summer and a little warm for a fire.”
His puma flashed in his eyes as he eased down beside her with all the grace of the cat he was and leaned into her. “It’s for visual effects. Just go with it and enjoy yourself.”
She pressed her lips together to hide the smile from him, but the way he chuckled as he sat back told her he knew she was already enjoying the play. Probably a little more than she should. It’d been too long since she’d played with another cat. Five long years since she’d desired another male like she did Damian in this setting.
Sarah wasn’t sure what had changed. Was it his admission that he believed she was his mate? Or had all the time she’d spent alone finally driven her insane?
Whichever it was, she’d play along. For now.
Damian was the type of male females found hard to deny. He was funny, compassionate, a loyal friend, and able to charm the socks off a pissed-off tiger. If her family wanted to persuade her to move, then Damian was the puma to do it.
She looked at him, studying him for a long moment before asking, “Which one of my sons called you?”
He peered at her with a blank stare then raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Whatever,” she teased and turned to her food. A perfectly cooked steak covered in a mushroom sauce sat beautifully in front of her. She inhaled the savory aromas and nearly moaned. It’d been way too long since someone had cooked for her.
She fell silent, not sure what to say to him. There were so many questions and so much she wanted to lash out him for. Yet, her heart couldn’t stay angry with him. She knew it wasn’t his fault, any more than it was hers, but the piece of her that still clung to memories of Walt wanted someone to pay for taking her mate away.
“Sarah?”
She raised her gaze to his. “I’m fine. Just thinking.”
He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, making her close her eyes at the too-brief brush of his fingertips. “Why are you willing yourself to age?”
She opened her mouth to reply then closed it. She was over two hundred and fifty years old. Sure, that wasn’t considered old among shifters, but neither was it young. Even though shifters lived to be thousands of years old, there were the rare cases in which they could will themselves to age.
Sarah had started the process about a year after Walt died. She stopped shifting into her puma form and wasn’t surprised when the cat didn’t resist. In fact, they were both tired and wanted to go into the afterworld to be with their mate.
“We’re tired,” she finally said.
Damian scooted closer to her, his body heat wrapping around her. He placed a finger under her chin and lifted so her eyes met his. “I miss him too. The only thing that has kept me going was the fact that I’m fighting back. Bringing down the hate groups so the shifter races can live in secret and peace once again.”
She looked away, breaking his hold on her. “I’m not sure there is any more fight left in me.”
He growled, snapping her attention back to him. “That is a load of crap. You killed a man to protect yourself and me.”
There was that. “It was instinct.”
“Exactly.”
She was so done with this…whatever it was. She went to stand, but he grabbed her arm, halting her. “Sarah, I’m sorry. I meant it when I said you’re my mate. Can you try to heal with me? Trust me?”
Her heart shuddered, and the tension left her body. “I do trust you and care for you a great deal, but I’m not sure if I have it in me to mate again. I’ve done it twice. If you haven’t noticed, my mates seem to die on me.”
She meant the words to sound light, but it was an ugly truth that she’d lived with for far too long.
Damian pulled her into his lap with inhuman speed and buried his nose into her neck. She let out a small sigh and melted into him, taking in his scent. His all-too-familiar scent. It felt too good to be close to someone, touching them. It was something she’d get within a Pack if she’d stop being pigheaded. But this was Damian. He’d always been a part of her life…and Walt’s.
He could help her heal. A thin string of hope formed, making her want to try to move on.
Then suddenly she felt it—the buried need to be desired and claimed by this male as his. Her arms warmed where they touched his, and the feel of his hard body under her woke both her cat and the need she’d denied herself for far too long. Her puma nudged her from under her skin where it was closest to Damian. The cat wanted him, and so did the woman.
Damian lifted his head, his hazel eyes transforming into the green of his cat’s. “I’ll take my chances. I want you, Sarah. I’ve always wanted you.”
She swallowed and couldn’t believe that she was going to cave. But the truth was she needed this. She needed to move on and try to live. Only she wasn’t sure what the future held for her and Damian.
“Fate sure has an interesting game plan,” she said softly and tried to smile. “I love Walt and can’t forget him.”
Damian cupped her face in his hands. “Neither can I. He was my best friend, my brother in all things that mattered. We will love him together. He wouldn’t want you to give up.”
She shook her head. “I’m not giving up…” Her sentence faded when she realized that was what she’d been doing. She was giving up on life.
Before she could say another word, Damian pressed his lips to hers. Her senses fired to life, as if she’d been shocked with electricity. Desire pooled in her abdomen and lower until she ached for his touch.
When Damian’s tongue swiped across the seam of her lips, she opened, allowing him entry and meeting his tongue with her own. He tightened his hold on her and deepened the kiss.
She twisted so she could wrap her legs around him, drawing their bodies even closer together. Yet it wasn’t close enough. Need built inside her, driving her mad. She broke the kiss and said between breaths, “Clothes. Off. I need…skin…”
Damian didn’t say a word, just pulled her shirt over her head and unfastened her bra. His own desire darkened his eyes to a blue-green as he held her gaze and cupped her breast. She closed her eyes and moaned as he rolled her tight nipple between his fingers. Pinpricks covered her skin, and her pussy throbbed, begging for his touch, his caress.
She felt Damian wrap an arm around her back and move so he could lay her on the floor. She gasped as the cool wood touched her bare back but didn’t take her eyes off the gorgeous male hovering over her.
He undid her jeans and slid them, along with her panties, over her hips and down her legs. Discarding the last of her clothes, Damian stared down at her. She had the childish urge to cover herself, but that was a human reaction. Shifters didn’t have modesty issues. They grew up with nudity being a natural part of their lives since shifting into their animals' forms dissolved their clothes anyway.
A low growl drew her attention back to Damian. He smiled, and damn if he wasn’t the sexiest thing she’d ever seen.
“You are so beautiful.” His voice came out husky.
He dipped his head and pressed a kiss to one nipple then the other before he nipped his way down her stomach to the inside of her right thigh. He bit down gently, drawing a half-growl, half-moan from her.
When he slid a finger inside her, she nearly came right then. He chuckled and held her gaze as he lowered his head and licked her from her entrance to her clit in a slow, lazy stroke. Pleasure overtook her as Damian closed his mouth over her, sucking her lips as he slid another finger inside and pumped them in and out until she was drunk with pleasure.
She fisted her hands in his hair and moved against him with each lick and thrust until a wave of an orgasm crashed over her.
Chapter Four
Damian withdrew his finger and trailed his tongue up her flat stomach. She shuddered and let out a soft moan as he made his way up her body. She was beautiful and perfect to him. His cat agreed. The puma rubbed u
p against him from within, trying to get closer to Sarah.
The damn animal wanted out so his fur could touch Sarah.
When Damian reached her breast, he gave one nipple a slow lick before rising above her to peer into her heavy-lidded eyes. He smiled, and she reached up to cup his face. Her brow dipped, making his heartache. Lowering his head, he whispered. “It’s just me and you, right?”
Sarah took a deep breath and nodded. “I was thinking that I might still be mad at you.”
He felt his lips twitch. “Yeah?”
“Yep. You should have come to me years ago.”
He pressed his forehead to hers. “I know, but I thought I was keeping you safe by staying away.”
“I will always love Walt.”
He lay down beside her and wrapped his arms around her, drawing her into his chest. “I know. I miss him too.”
“Is it wrong for us to be together? I mean is it wrong to want this?”
He kissed her temple and thought about it for a moment. “No, I don’t think so. We can’t fight fate. I’ve always known you were my mate.”
“And I didn’t because I was mated to another.”
“What about now?”
She snuggled into him. “I felt the tug when I saw you in the woods.” She rolled in his arms so she faced him. “Just when I stop searching for a future, you show up with trouble on your heels.”
He grinned his best wicked grin. “You know me. Trouble is my real name. I go by Damian as a disguise.”
She laughed. “Well then, Trouble, make love to me. Show me how it is to be wanted, loved again.”
He rolled her to her back and nipped at her chin, making her laugh again. God, he’d missed her laugh. He’d never imagined the day would come that he’d get his mate. No, he’d given her up to his best friend all those years ago.
Now, he had a second chance to make her his. He was going to do just that. The rogues and rebels be damned.
He captured her mouth with his and thrust his tongue inside to seek out hers. Sarah laced her fingers in his hair and tugged. His cat purred, and his dick pressed painfully behind the zipper of his jeans.
He broke her hold and stood to remove his clothes. All the while Sarah watched with hunger in her gaze. Damn. The female was going to kill him slowly and seductively, and he was going to enjoy every moment of it.
He settled down between her legs and drank in the sight of her. She wasn’t super thin, but neither was she too curvy. She was just right and physically fit, as shifters generally were. He lowered his head and kissed her on the forehead then her nose. He didn’t get to finish his teasing trail down her face to her breast because Sarah fisted a hand in his hair and tugged his mouth to hers for a kiss.
She bit his lower lip, making him groan and open his mouth so she could sweep her tongue inside. She tasted of berries and the wine. She bit him again, this time a little hard, and made him jerk back.
When he did, she flipped him on his back and straddled him, her core hovering above his cock. With a wicked grin, she scooted down his body, placing kisses and nips along the way. His blood rushed through his veins, and his cock filled even more.
“Sarah,” he growled in warning. He wasn’t sure how long he’d be able to control the urge to take her rough and hard against the floor.
She raised her brows and held his gaze as she lowered her head to his cock and took him inside her mouth. He jerked as she palmed his sac and sucked him. Fisting his hands into her hair, he closed his eyes and rode the wave of ecstasy.
She pulled up, releasing his cock. She palmed the base of his shaft and took him inside her mouth again, raising and lowering her head. Each stroke pushed him further over the edge. He thrust his hips, fucking her mouth as her nails lightly scored his dick.
His balls tightened, and his cock throbbed. “Sarah…”
His plea only made her work him faster until an orgasm tore through him.
He gripped her arms and pulled her up to kiss her hard. She smiled into the kiss and crawled forward to position herself over him. He thrust up, entering her in one swift movement. She gasped then started rocking against him.
He took hold of her hips as she rode him to the edge of another orgasm. When she cried out in release, he followed with his own.
Sarah collapsed across his chest. “You turned me into jelly.”
Laughing, Damian reached up and pulled the small blanket from the sofa and covered them. His kissed her forehead and shifted her so she lay tucked into his side. “You’re very welcome.”
Sarah slapped at his chest and yawned. “What are we going to do about the rebels?”
“I wanted to talk to Graham since it seems he’s mated to the Alpha of Ashwood. I want to see if he can arrange a meeting with both the leopard and wolf Alphas.”
She smoothed her palm on his chest. “Why?”
“Their names have come up a few times. I want to see how much they know and if they are willing to share intel.”
She yawned again but said, “I’ll call him in the morning. It’s late, and I don’t want to wake the babies.”
Damian nodded. There wasn’t much he could do tonight anyway.
“Night, Sarah.”
“Night,” she muttered as she drifted off to sleep.
Chapter Five
Damian felt as though he was floating, or the room was spinning. He tried to open his eyes, but for some reason, his vision was off. Then the smell of smoke reached his hazy mind. Where the hell was he? A soft groan followed by a cough brought reality crashing in hard.
He flung his eyes open to a smoke-filled room. Sarah was curled on her side next to him.
What the…
He scanned the room and realized he was in Sarah’s bedroom. Yes, he’d moved them there shortly after she fell asleep in his arms on the living room floor. He moved his gaze over the room again and spied a gray smoke can on the floor. Cursing, he sniffed the air. Fuck. He turned to Sarah and shook her. “Sarah. Get up.”
She rolled over and said something he couldn’t understand.
“Sarah.” He patted her face with little result.
He climbed out of bed, rushed to the bathroom, and grabbed a cup of water. Returning to the bed, he splashed the water on Sarah’s face, shocking her awake.
“What the hell is wrong?” She gasped and stumbled out of bed. “What’s wrong with me, and why is my house on fire?”
The panic in her voice pissed him off. And so did the fact that someone wanted them dead. He picked up the can and showed it to her. “Someone wanted to make sure we didn’t wake until it was too late.”
“What is that?”
“Some kind of sleepy gas.” He threw down the can in disgust and took her hand. “Come on. We need to get out of here.”
When he reached the door, he hovered his hand over the knob. “Fuck. The hallway is on fire.”
Sarah turned toward the window and tugged him to it. Damian tried to lift the window and found that it was screwed shut from the outside. “How often do you open your windows?”
Sarah shrugged. “I haven’t opened this one in a month or so. Damn bastards. They thought of everything.”
Damian growled and snatched up the pillow from the bed. After taking the pillowcase off it, he handed the cotton case to Sarah and wrapped the pillow around his hand. Sarah understood instantly and tied the case around the pillow to secure in pace. “Stand back,” he ordered.
Sarah did as he said, and he slammed his fist through the window. Glass shattered, most of it falling outside, but some fell to the floor under the window. With the pillow still around his hand, he knocked away to small pieces of glass around the frame.
“Careful.” He indicated to the glass on the floor and helped her crawl out of the window. As soon as she was through the window, she jumped down, landing on her feet. Damian followed, landing beside her.
“Shit. I don’t have a phone to call Graham.”
Damian looked at Sarah and then down at himsel
f. He ran a hand through his hair. They were naked. In the panic and rush to get out of the house, neither of them considered clothes. It wasn’t a big deal since shifters didn’t have issue with nudity.
“How far is Ashwood from here?”
“Um, about fifteen miles to the west.”
“Great. We’ll have to go in animal form and try to get back here in time to keep the forest from burning down.”
Sarah nodded. “Blaine’s a teleporter, and Graham has mentioned someone in the den could control fire or something.”
He stepped into her and kissed her, hard. “Let’s go then.”
They shifted into their pumas and ran as fast as they could through the forest and onto Ashwood territory. As soon as they crossed over the first set of wards, two sentries, guns in their hands, greeted them. Damian’s heart pounded in his ears, and when Sarah stepped forward, he growled.
She looked back at him and snapped her teeth. He grinned, thinking that he’d have to teach her a lesson about teeth later. Much later, when the fire was out and he’d killed the bastard that tried to burn down the house with them inside.
Sarah bowed her head in front of one of the sentries and waited. The auburn-haired male ran a hand over her fur and knelt down to be at eye level with her. “Sarah?”
Sarah shifted but didn’t stand. “Tanner. My house was set on fire.”
“Fuck,” Tanner said as his holstered his gun and straightened. “I’m going to call Blaine. Go ahead into the den.”
Sarah nodded and shifted back into her puma. With a glance back to Damian, she took off toward the den. Damian ran after her.
****
Sarah sat on the sofa next to Damian in the leopard Alpha’s home. Nevan and Dani came over within seconds of them arriving. No doubt Blaine had called Dani, the leopard Healer. Sarah was glad that Cameron, Blaine and Graham’s mate, had clothes that fit her. Damian was about the same size as Graham.
So here they sat in borrowed clothes waiting for Blaine and Travis, a wolf shifter and former Alpha of Hunter Ridge, to get back from her house. Travis was a pryokinetic and would be able to put out the fire.
Ever After Page 19