by Terra Wolf
It was the connection I had to Josh. The feeling that had started to root itself in my essence. He had awakened something in my panther she’d never felt before, and I knew no amount of scrubbing, waxing, or counting numbers was going to put her back to sleep.
In the two days Josh was gone, I managed to flip flop between my panther duty and my responsibilities as a woman running a business. I sat behind my white desk and made a list of pros and cons.
On one side of the column I thought about what I had been taught as a panther. My mate would arrive before my twenty-second birthday and we would marry. It was supposed to be cataclysmic. It was the moment most girls dreamed of. They waited for their white knight to ride up and sweep them off their feet, giving them a fairytale wedding. Giving them a family. Giving them a bond that would complete their duty as a panther.
I scowled at the fairytale side of the list and started making my notes on the cons of accepting Josh. I’d have to give up my family lands. I’d have to give up the shop. I’d have to give up me. I wasn’t sure that I could be the panther he wanted.
I balled up the lists and tossed them in the trash.
It was pointless. All of this was pointless.
I jumped to my feet when I heard the door creak open. I had closed the shop hours ago. No one should be walking through that door.
And then I saw him. The green, gleaming eyes. The gorgeous smile. The broad shoulders. And he was wearing a tux, the tie draped around his neck. Holy shit. Why was he dressed like that? His top few buttons were open, and I could see the strong muscles of his chest.
“Hey, gorgeous.” He stood in the doorway, and I had to stop myself from leaping over the desk. His was holding flowers.
“H-hey,” I whispered. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
“I told you I’d come here first thing when I got back in town.”
I nodded, agreeing, but the words wouldn’t come. Two days away. He had been gone two full days. Two days I had spent pretending I didn’t care. Two days I used to clean tools and add extra cars to my schedule. Two nights emptying shows off my DVR. Two nights poring over new financial software. Anything I could do to forget that Josh had left Four Corners.
“These are for you.” He lifted the flowers. “I remembered how you like to keep fresh cut flowers in your office.”
“You did? You noticed?”
“I’ve noticed a lot of things about you, Tessa.”
I slowly walked around my desk. “How was your trip?” I asked.
If I kept one hand on the desk, it would keep me planted to this spot.
He grinned. “Wish you could have been with me.”
There was that damn flutter in my ribs. I closed my eyes, telling my panther to shut up.
“Really? And the tux?”
He took one step toward me and I could smell the cologne coming off his neck. It was making me drunk with want. How could one guy smell so intoxicatingly delicious? I was starting to spiral. I held the side of the desk with a death grip.
“Part of why I was in Mill Valley.” He shed the jacket and threw it over the back of one of the chairs I used for customers. “I didn’t want to stop to change. I wanted to get back here and have that conversation you promised me. I drove as fast as I could.”
It was a mistake to stare at his neck. It was a golden bronze, and I could see the pulse quicken under his skin. I remembered kissing it. Rubbing my hands along the back of his neck. My blood thickened in my veins.
There was a chance he was reacting the same way I was to being in the same room together again. If I held on any tighter I might claw through the edge of my desk. Shit.
“Tessa?” I saw the glimmer in his eyes as he rolled the cuffs of his white shirt.
Were guys supposed to look this damn hot in half a tux? My mouth was watering.
“Y-yes?” I was coming undone. I was losing restraint. My eyes followed the lines of his jaw to his mouth. To those edible lips I had sucked.
I realized what two days away had done. It hadn’t silenced my panther, it had starved her lust for him. She was hungry for another taste, and I couldn’t deny it.
9
Josh
The air had changed between us. I had walked through the shop door expecting Tessa to have a new resolve against me. After all, she had two days to build up a new wall. Build her strength against the kiss we had shared on the hood of that car.
The fact was, it was all I could think about. I knew I was in Mill Valley for Drew, but the entire trip I was distracted. Tessa had gotten under my skin and invaded my soul. I wanted her. I wanted her to evoke our bond. But it had to come from her. I couldn’t coerce her into our relationship. I wanted her to want me like I wanted her.
I had decided on the drive back to Four Corners I would wait. I’d give her time. I’d give her space. I’d give her whatever in the hell she wanted until she wanted to be my wife. I didn’t want her any other way. And that was what I had to tell her.
I smiled at her. “Something wrong?” She was visibly shaking.
“No.” She shook her head, but I didn’t believe her. I saw the way she looked at me. I saw her eyes raking over my body.
“Did I miss anything while I was gone?” I took another step, leaving a foot of air between us.
Her breath hitched, and her eyes landed on my lips. It was the only cue I needed.
My lips crashed into hers as I pulled her into my arms. I needed her mouth and her tongue. I needed every inch of skin I could touch. I grasped at her ass, sliding my hands under her shirt. She moaned and fired back wildly, twisting and swirling her tongue in my mouth.
Her hair fell around us as both our mouths moved with hungry force. I growled when I heard the buttons pop from my shirt and scatter on the floor. Her hands shoved the shirt off my arms.
I pressed her backward on her desk, climbing on top, looking down at her like the prey I had finally captured. But it wasn’t a hunt. I looked into my mate’s eyes and felt undeniable devotion to her. I wanted to show her how I felt. The fever blazing in my blood was mine to share with her. I wanted to give her every pleasure she wanted.
I nipped at her lower lip as she purred under me. “Should I leave for another two days?” I teased.
I pinned her wrists to the clean white desk. Her dark hair splayed around her.
“I don’t know,” she admitted.
“For now, I’m not going anywhere.” I reached below her navel and unbuckled her belt before sliding my hand between the denim and her skin.
She arched as my fingers lingered between her legs. I never took my eyes off her as I felt the warmth of her slick skin. She rocked into my fingers, slowly at first, then quickening her rhythm as I pushed inside her.
“Oh, God,” she moaned. I toyed at her entrance, reveling in the wetness. Loving how her hips moved for me. I was so fucking turned on from the purrs coming from her lips.
I watched, my heart pounding out of my chest as my mate came for me. She came hard and fast. Her hands gripping the desk. Her breath erratic. Her eyes glimmering with green sparks.
I leaned down to kiss her as the orgasm slowed through her body.
“You are one fucking sexy panther,” I growled.
There was a look of satisfaction on her face. Her eyes flared. “Take me upstairs.”
I didn’t think I was the man who would take commands from my mate, but this one I couldn’t refuse. I lifted her in my arms and climbed the staircase to her apartment.
I kicked the door open. “Where’s your room?” I asked.
“Through that door,” she answered.
I found my way in the dark. My eyes adjusted to the dim light.
I sat on the edge of the bed, pulling her on top of me. I aligned her legs over my hips. She purred, pressing her palms against my chest.
I looked into her eyes. I didn’t know what changed in two days. And I didn’t give a damn what it was.
10
Tessa
I straddled Josh,
rocking my hips against him. I looked into his eyes, radiating with lust and want. I tugged on the edges of my shirt and pulled it over my head.
He smiled. “Damn, baby.”
He unclasped my bra and let the straps fall over my shoulders. He sat forward, admiring my breasts before laying a kiss on my nipple. It instantly hardened to a tight perk and he pulled it into his mouth, growling with pleasure.
I leaned into him, feeling the heat of his mouth. The flicking of his tongue. I ran my hands through his hair and let the feelings wash through my body. It was electric heat as he sucked and kissed at one breast and then switched to the other. I gasped as he blew a warm breath over the sensitive skin before taking it in his mouth.
My panther wanted to be unleashed. She was awake and alive. I could feel it all the way to my toes. Josh had brought her out of a slumber I had trapped her in for too long.
The two days had done nothing but make me miss him. Make me want him more. Make me want this moment.
“Ohh,” I moaned as his hands dug into my sides, sliding toward my waist.
I wanted to give his body the same kind of pleasure he gave mine. We could talk later about what all of this meant. Right now, I could say more with my touch than with my words.
I slinked to the floor, unbuckling his tux pants and dragging them over his legs. My palms smoothed over his thighs until I had the band of his boxer briefs, then I ripped them in half, freeing his cock. Holy shit. It was built like the rest of him. Perfect, strong, and solid.
I moved over him, licking from the base to the tip.
“Fuck, Tessa,” he growled.
I didn’t hold back. I didn’t play timid or shy. I wanted Josh to know that the kiss he gave me on the hood of that car had done something to me. It had done something to my panther. It had changed everything between us. I was no longer playing games or hiding behind walls. I wanted him.
As he tangled his hands in my hair and I brought him to the brink of ecstasy, I was satisfied. He bucked his hips, growling with animal fierceness as I licked my lips.
He propped up on his elbows, smiling at me. “I had no idea you were so naughty.” He winked.
I crawled toward him, kissing his stomach, kissing the ridges where his muscles met. Taking my time to inhale his body. He was gorgeous and sexy as hell. And all he wanted was me.
“You’re going to kill me, Tessa.” His hands gripped the sides of my face and he brought me down for a crushing kiss.
“I don’t want to kill you,” I whispered. “Anymore.”
“I can see that,” he teased.
I let him thread our fingers together. It felt close and intimate having our palms flatten together this way.
“Should we talk?” he asked.
I shook my head. “No, I think more of this and maybe talk over breakfast.”
He brushed his lips over mine. “I don’t know if I can control myself.”
I sat back to study him. I wanted him, too. All of him. All of us. The bond. It was as if I would crawl out of my skin if I couldn’t have him.
“What do we do?” I traced a line against his washboard stomach. “Give in?”
His eyes darted back and forth. “That’s against our laws.”
“It’s a ridiculous law,” I whispered, kissing his neck, licking behind his ear, biting his lip.
“Agreed, but there’s an order. You know that.” He tried to sit up, but I shoved him back on my bed.
“I know what I want.” I felt sudden power and strength. Sudden control I didn’t realize I had this entire time.
This man was my mate. Betrothed to me at birth. Sent to find me and make me his. But maybe I had been fighting against the wrong law. Maybe I could decide the laws that made me his. Maybe I was the one who could determine our timeline.
Josh rolled me over so he was hovering over top of me. He pinned my wrists over my head and kissed my breasts again. I writhed under him. He knew how easily my body responded to him.
“You want me.” I breathed.
He groaned. “You’re all I want.” He tugged on my nipple, bowing me off the bed and against his hard body.
“Then take me.” I looked into his eyes. “Make me yours. Right now. Right here.”
He sat back, suddenly. I knew I had shocked him, but I also knew he felt what I did. We belonged together.
“I can’t,” he moaned. “It would break all the laws. We have to be married first. There has to be a witness for the council. You know all of this.”
He closed his eyes. “If this is what you want, I’ll marry you tomorrow. I’ll make it happen. Believe me. It wouldn’t be the first time fated mates pulled off a quickie wedding.”
I snaked my hands around his waist. “I want you to make me yours now. No wedding. No ceremony. Only you and me taking what’s ours.”
He growled wildly and his eyes flickered with beautiful green flames. His jaguar was tuned in to everything my panther was. There was no denying what we wanted.
“Say it.” He tugged on the back of my hair, tipping my lips toward his. “Say it again. Evoke the bond,” he ordered.
I swallowed hard. There was no going back. The words came to me effortlessly. I knew exactly what I wanted. I didn’t stumble or hesitate.
“Make me your mate. Take me as yours. Make me your wife.”
The air around us glittered and lit with wisps of smoke before fading quickly from my bed. I looked into my mate’s eyes, knowing we were getting ready to break the law. Rebel against all that we knew to be right. And neither of us gave a damn.
11
Josh
Her eyes lit up as the bond was evoked. I felt an incredible primal need take over. I didn’t know how the other jaguars resisted. I didn’t know how they postponed this moment. How they waited and agonized over planning a wedding. As I looked in Tessa’s eyes, I knew I wouldn’t have that agony.
In the moment she said the words, I didn’t give a damn about the council. I didn’t care about years of tradition. I didn’t care about duty or obligations. All I felt was the need I had for her. The want that ran through my veins when I kissed her.
It was tearing at me every time I saw her. Not being able to make her mine ripped through my heart and my soul.
I didn’t need a fucking council to tell me when I could or couldn’t be with my mate. I was a man and a jaguar who could make his own decisions.
I inhaled her, taking her lips roughly. She sucked and purred, wrapping her legs around my waist.
“You’re mine tonight,” I growled.
She nodded. “Take me.”
I licked a line from her throat to her navel. I wriggled her jeans over her hips, dropping them on the floor, and stared at the slice of heaven in front of me. I had made her come once tonight. I watched it wash over her body. And now I would get to experience it again, as she came while I pulsed inside her.
My teeth gnashed at the lace bordering that slice of heaven. She lifted her hips as I pulled the panties off her legs.
Now there was nothing between us. No clothes. No games. No laws. Finally, no walls. It felt reckless and irresponsible. I felt the rebellion in my chest and it was a damn turn on. I wanted my fucking beautiful mate no matter the cost.
She smiled wickedly. “I want you.”
I nudged my cock between her legs. There was no turning back from this. We were crossing a line we both wanted to cross, but one that had dire consequences.
“I want you, too.” I leaned to kiss her swollen lips.
Her nails dug into my back. “Make me yours,” she whispered.
I lost it. The restraint. The control. The promise I had made to the Tribe. Tessa had me. She could bring me to my knees. Lead me to edge of a cliff and push me into the abyss.
I roared as I plunged into her with the ultimate thrust of claim. She whimpered my name as we tried to possess the other. Our words were gone. Our reason was gone. There was only skin and sweat. Need and want. I pumped harder. She clenched tighter. We climbed
each other’s bodies, desperate to fill each other. Desperate to claw our way out of the pit of desire we had fallen in.
She panted and moaned, begging for more. I kissed her entire body, licking, sucking, exploring skin, tangling our fingers together before I pushed deep inside her again.
Just when I thought she was cresting to her peak, she rolled me under her, grinning with satisfaction. And that’s when I learned the power she had over me. She rocked back and forth, grinding her hips against mine as her hair flowed over her breasts. I’d never seen anything sexier, or more dangerous. She rode with wild abandon until I thought we’d ignite.
I lifted her hips, dragging her back under my chest. I held her steady while I thrust swiftly. “You’re mine, Tessa.”
“Oh God, yes,” she panted. “Yours. Yours…” The words faded as we felt the fire consume us, taking us to another world. Another dimension where our bond was sealed.
I roared out with a last primal claim for my mate, then collapsed on her beautiful breasts, feeling exhausted and satisfied like I’d never been.
Her chest moved with heavy breaths. She was still trying to steady her heartbeat. I kissed the salty sweetness between her breasts.
“Are we still on for that talk over breakfast?” I whispered. I could barely keep my eyes open.
She nodded while her fingertips made circles on my back. “Sleep, baby.”
My eyes closed, while I held my mate in my arms.
12
Tessa
I stroked Josh’s back while he slept. Even his back was sculpted with more muscles than I could count. My entire body felt calm and soothed with him on top of me. The bonding was incredible. It wasn’t what I expected.
Downstairs in my office, I had wanted him. But I thought it would be sex. Hot sex, but sex nonetheless. There was nothing about what we just did that was remotely close to my past experiences. The instant I evoked the bond, everything changed.