by Terra Wolf
The air didn’t just glitter, our souls connected. My body raged with desire for him. I was glad we didn’t wait. I didn’t give a damn about years of council law. He was my mate. He came here for me. We should decide when we wanted to bond.
I let my fingers linger at the small of his back, then round over his firm ass. He was the sexiest man that had ever been under these sheets, and I knew what we had experienced would stay with us the rest of our lives.
For the first time, I had completely lost myself in someone else. And it felt delicious.
My hands couldn’t stop exploring his body, touching every ounce of skin. He was mine now. We belonged together. There couldn’t be anything wrong in that.
For a shifter, Josh was a heavy sleeper. Once the sun was up, I slipped out of the sheets and padded off to the kitchen to start breakfast. I poured water into the coffee pot and scooped the grounds into the filter. I hit the brew button and grabbed two mugs from the cabinet.
I had lived in the apartment alone for so long, it was strange to think of sharing it, but when I remembered it was Josh I was sharing it with, it changed. What was mine was now his.
I waited for the angry feelings of resentment to surface, but they didn’t. I picked up the carton of eggs and a package of bacon and began whipping together a couple of omelets. If I knew one thing about men, it was that the smell of bacon would draw them out of sleep, no matter how deep it was.
I turned on the radio and whisked the eggs while the coffee brewed.
A few minutes later, Josh appeared in his tux pants. I looked at his shirtless body. Holy hell, he was just as sexy.
“Pants?” I questioned.
“Someone shredded my boxer briefs.” He rubbed the back of his head.
I bit my lower lip. “Sorry about that.” But I wasn’t sorry. It was one of the hottest experiences of my life. I’d done things with my mouth I didn’t know I could do.
He shuffled toward me. He was not a morning person. But the sleepy look on his face was adorable and somehow even sexier than his night face.
“You can shred my clothes any time.” He pulled the robe off my shoulder and nipped gently. “Good morning.”
I looked up, feeling my heart almost stop beating. So this was what it meant to have a fated mate?
“Good morning.” I almost forgot what I was doing, but I jumped from my spot to flip the first omelet over. “I’m making breakfast and the coffee is ready.”
His hands circled around my waist and his lips slid along my neck. “I know what I want for breakfast.”
“Omelet?”
He growled, breathing into my hair. “Maybe as a second course.”
My legs wobbled under me, but I immediately turned off the stove, knowing this was out of my hands now. Josh picked me up and carried me back to bed.
Two hours later, we emerged for cold omelets and hot coffee.
“Maybe I should make something else?” I suggested when we looked at the mess on the stove.
“What if we go out?” he asked.
“In town?”
He laughed. “Yeah, in town. Technically our first date.”
“You need some clothes.” I looked down at his naked body.
“Yeah, you’re going to have to run to the Jeep for me. My overnight bag is in there.”
I giggled. “And if I don’t?” I scratched my nails over his chest.
“Oh, I think you know what’s going to happen.” He winked, crushing me against his solid frame.
I was fast and incredibly strong, but I couldn’t match jaguar strength. He held me pinned to his hard, naked body.
“Then, I refuse to get your clothes.” I bit my lower lip.
“You have been warned.” He lifted me up and threw me over his shoulder.
I screamed and kicked, trying to pry myself out of his clutches. “Josh, put me down.”
“Oh no. You had your chance.”
I giggled uncontrollably until my feet landed on the floor and his mouth took mine. I was glad it was Sunday and I didn’t have any work to do, because there was no way we were leaving this apartment.
13
Josh
“Gorgeous, I think we need to talk.” I sat at the kitchen table, drinking coffee Tessa had made this morning. It was dark again outside. We had spent the entire day in her bed. Every time we tried to leave, one of us pulled the other back under the sheets.
“Talk? Isn’t all of that done now?” She shoved two frozen pizzas in the oven for dinner.
“I’d say we’re kind of at the beginning.”
She turned to face me and set the timer for the pizzas. “Beginning?”
The only reason we had made it to the kitchen was because we were starving. If we were going to keep going at this rate, we both needed to eat something. The omelets went in the trash and Tessa raided what she had in the freezer.
“We haven’t had a conversation about us.”
“I think we’ve done lots of talking.” She smiled.
I snagged my hand around her waist and pulled her into my lap. “I’m serious.” I looked at her sternly. More sternly than she was expecting.
She rolled her eyes. “What? What is it? I evoked the bond. We’re together. What do you need to say?”
“We have to face the consequences of last night.”
“Consequences?”
I nodded. “I don’t know what they are. But it’s not like we can break laws and not expect to face some sort of punishment.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“I wish I were.” I wanted to protect her. Shield her from anything that was coming our way. But hell, I didn’t know what it was.
She unraveled herself from my arms and stood next to the oven. “I would say to hell with the laws. The laws might have brought us together, but they also were keeping us apart.”
“What do you mean?”
“I wasn’t going to marry you, Josh.”
It was like a knife being twisted in between my ribs. How could she say that?
“What?”
Her eyes softened. “I thought you were trying to make me change who I was. I thought you were doing what any jaguar would do.”
I wasn’t following. So far what she was saying was true. This was how things worked in our world. I did do all the things I was supposed to do to catch my mate. I tracked her, I hunted her, and I claimed every ounce of her.
She continued. “I belong to you now in every way. All of me belongs to all of you. I didn’t need a wedding for that. I didn’t need a council witness for that. You and I know what we did. We know what we share and how deep it runs.”
“Yes, but, we deal in a magical world where there are rules.”
“Are you saying you regret it?”
“God no.” I stood from the table, almost turning it over. “I would sacrifice anything for you. I don’t need a wedding either. I agree with you, or I wouldn’t have gone through with it. You’re right. You’re absolutely right, but it doesn’t mean we don’t have trouble headed in our direction.”
She chewed on her bottom lip. “What are we going to do?”
My protective instincts kicked in. “I swear I won’t let anything happen to you.” I kissed the top of her head.
“Is that the kind of promise you can make?”
Truth was, I didn’t know. But I was going to make it, and if I had to risk my life to make sure she stayed safe, I knew I would.
14
Tessa
Things had gone from mundane to complicated the instant Josh drove back to town. Monday morning was supposed to be a regular day, but I had customers waiting outside the garage door. For the first time, I opened the shop fifteen minutes late. There was a hot jaguar who needed my attention in bed this morning.
I made my apologies and ushered everyone into my office in order. Their cars were parked all over the lot. Maybe Josh would move them for me. I felt the blush rise on my cheeks. Just thinking about him and our Sunday made my temper
ature rise.
We were officially a mated couple. I doubted the people in my office could tell my status had changed, but I could feel it with every fiber of my being. He had taken me somewhere I didn’t know existed.
I saw him duck his head in the office.
“Excuse me one second, Mr. Miller.” I stopped one of my favorite customers from telling me about the squeaking sound his steering wheel made when he turned right.
“What is it?” I walked over to Josh.
“Thought I’d head to my hotel and check out. I’ll be back in about twenty minutes.”
I smiled. “Okay, sounds perfect. Want to help me in the shop today?”
He kissed me on the neck, and I pushed the purr down my throat. “Whatever you need, gorgeous.” He darted out of the door and started the Jeep.
I watched him pull out of the parking lot.
“Tessa?”
“Oh sorry, Mr. Miller.” I was lost. Completely gone. I was in love with that jaguar.
Josh and I worked side by side. But it wasn’t like last week. Last week he was trying to seduce me. Trap me. At least that’s what I thought, but now I saw the partnership we had. And I also noticed how good a little grease looked on a strong bicep.
“When do we get to close this place down?” he asked, wiping the sweat from his brow.
“Five,” I answered. “Why? Do we have plans?”
“Dinner at seven.”
“Like a date?”
He laughed. “Yeah, we’re doing everything backward, but I can at least take my mate out for a nice dinner.”
I liked the idea. He had already swept me off my feet, but this proved his intentions had been true from the beginning. He wasn’t done wooing me. He wasn’t finished with romance. Somewhere in my heart, I knew Josh and I were at the beginning of a lot of things. I wanted it to always feel like this.
Once the door was locked, we raced up the stairs to get ready for dinner. He tugged on my clothes, stripping me naked and shoving me in the shower, while I fumbled for the handle. Cold water sputtered over us at first, but we barely felt it.
Josh hoisted me up against the wall and I wrapped my legs around him while the water fell over his shoulders.
I held his neck while he pushed inside me. I growled at his sudden thrusts, but all day we had walked around each other. Helped each other. Smiled and laughed and assisted customers. But this was all we could think about.
I saw the green glow of his eyes brighten as he pumped harder. He was on fire. Fire from my body. Fire from what I could give him. I gripped his wet shoulders, grinding harder, knowing he was coming undone in front of me.
He squeezed my ass with one hand as the other slammed the shower wall. “Fuck,” he growled.
Our lips met with a fiery crash, knowing we were both too far gone to slow things down. I wanted to hold him there. Keep him buried inside me. Feel the bond that we shared, but he lowered me to the tub floor and kissed my forehead.
“I swear you’re worth every sacrifice.”
I pressed up on my toes to reach his lips. “And you’re going to get extra dessert tonight.” I smiled wickedly.
He laughed loudly, his deep voice echoing off the shower walls.
“I guess once a smartass, always a smartass?”
I nodded. “But I’m your smartass.”
“Yes you are. Mine. All mine.” He slapped me on my bottom.
15
Josh
I looked at Tessa over the flickering candle in the center of our table. She handed the menu to the waitress and we waited for our wine.
“Our first date,” she mused.
It was crazy how backwards we had done this whole thing. “Yep, first date. Do you like the restaurant?”
“It’s the nicest place in Four Corners. I love it. It’s where my mom and I go for birthday dinners. And she brought me here for my graduation celebration.”
“You two are very close, aren’t you?”
She nodded. “Yes, and probably more since the accident.”
I had wanted to ask, but never knew when was the right time. “What happened?”
Tessa’s eyes softened with sadness. “It’s hard to talk about.”
“You don’t have to.” I reached for her hand, squeezing it gently.
“I want to tell you. I want you to know about my life. My family.” She paused while the waitress poured our wine and walked away from the table.
“So, it was raining and I was on my way home from the shop. I had closed up and left later than I was supposed to. I still lived at the house with my mom then. And I guess since you’ve been there, you know how windy the roads are.”
“Right, I’ve seen them.”
She continued, “And it was so strange, but on the way home my lights started flickering and then the radio turned off and the car completely stalled out. I was stuck on the side of the road with no tools. Nothing.” She took a sip of wine. “So, I called Mom. I thought she could drop me off at the shop and then I’d tow the car back.”
I was following along, feeling apprehensive the further she got into the story.
“I guess Mom was worried about me being alone. We still don’t know if it was speed or all the rain, but she hydroplaned into a tree. It cracked her back in three places. She survived, but she probably won’t walk again.”
Tessa looked up at me. “She hasn’t given up though. She does physical therapy. She does everything on her own.”
“You feel responsible, don’t you?” I asked softly. Things made sense now. The way Tessa threw herself into her work. The way she saved every extra penny to help her mother have new technology or access to treatment.
“I know it’s not logical, but yes. Of course I do. I think I always will, no matter how many times she tells me it wasn’t my fault.”
“She’s right. It wasn’t. It could have happened if she was going out for milk, or on her way home from a friend’s house. This isn’t your burden, sweetheart.”
She looked at me with innocent eyes. I could see the pain and the overwhelming guilt brimming behind tears.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you for saying that.”
“I mean it.” I picked up my glass of wine.
Tessa sat back in her chair. “Let’s talk about something a little lighter. I don’t want our first date to be about the past.”
I ran my thumb over the inside of hers and smiled when she shivered. I loved how I could affect her body. She was right. Our first date should be special.
“Today was fun.”
“You like working in the shop?” she asked.
“I do. It’s great. And you are amazing. I don’t know if I’ll ever get as fast as you.”
She laughed. “It’s not a competition.”
“It’s not. But since you brought up work, there is something I think we need to talk about.”
I saw the glow in her eyes dim. “What is there to talk about?”
“I don’t know how this works exactly, because we haven’t exactly followed the laws properly, but I’m going to need to register your business with the Tribe.”
Her eyes flared. “It’s ours. Yours and mine. Not theirs.”
“You know how it’s supposed to work. Your territory becomes my territory.”
She interrupted me. “And I understand that now. I don’t have a problem sharing with you.”
“Let me finish, Tessa.” I held up my hand. “But I’m part of the Tribe. Case is my king. He’s your king. And I have to register the territory which is mine so that he knows what part of his kingdom has expanded. He will be a part of all business decisions regarding the garage.”
She folded her arms. “I am your mate. We’ve established that. And I would do anything for you, but don’t ask for this.”
I lowered my eyes, studying the flame. “It’s not my decree. It’s Case’s.”
“Then defy his damn decree. We defied the council’s, didn’t we?”
“And there will be
a price. I keep reminding you. They aren’t going to be okay with this, Tessa.”
She stood, throwing her napkin in the chair.
I looked up at her. “Where are you going?”
“I’m not hungry anymore.”
“Tessa, wait.” I tried to pull her back into her seat without causing a scene.
“I thought there was something different,” she said through clenched teeth. “I thought we were in this together.”
I still had a strong hold on her wrist. “We are.”
“Then why are you insisting on this?”
“I’m trying to figure it out. We can’t break every fucking law in the world.”
She wrangled herself free. “Maybe you can’t. But I can.”
She marched out of the restaurant. I smiled meekly at the waitress when she returned with our dinner.
“Can you make these to go?”
I closed the apartment door behind me. Tessa was sitting on the couch flipping through channels.
“Hey.” I dropped the carry out bag on the kitchen table.
“Hey,” she muttered over her shoulder.
“I brought dinner home with me.”
“Thanks.”
I sighed. “We need to talk.”
“I know.”
I sat next to her on the couch. “Then why did you storm out of the restaurant? You know we have things to decide. Things to plan.”
“Because I wanted this to be different from the fairy tales.”
“It’s not a fairy tale?” I let my fingers glide over her shoulder.
“No. I wanted it to be better.” She turned off the TV. “In all those stories I heard growing up, the ones about the beautiful she-panthers who waited for their jaguars to show up, I never once heard about the jaguar who stayed and stuck it out with his mate. The stories always ended before that part.”
I was confused. I didn’t know what in the hell she was talking about.