Shifter's Delight

by Lacey Thorn

  “Because I am your mate?” she asked.

  “Because you are my life,” he replied and she felt humbled by that answer. It was a further glimpse into the Danuja culture.

  “I will leave the two of you to talk,” Micah said and headed to the door.

  “Don’t leave,” she implored.

  “I will not leave the grounds,” he said but he refused to look at her, appearing to stare at a spot just over her shoulder. “But for now, this moment, it is best that you two speak alone.”

  There was pain in his eyes and she wanted to make it go away but there was still so much that she didn’t understand. So for now she could only nod as he turned and left the room shutting the door softly behind him.

  “What do I do?” she asked Merced, leaning into him. For better or worse she was mated to Merced, a commitment that he obviously took seriously and would honour. But then Micah’s words said that he would as well. How could she be the one to tear these two brothers apart? And yet how could she walk away from either one of them?

  “I cannot answer that for you,” Merced spoke softly. “I would tell you to follow the path your heart leads you on.”

  “Is that what you plan to do?” she asked already knowing the answer.

  “I will follow the path before me,” Merced stated and she wanted to smack him.

  “You will go on and yet not go on,” she said. “In your mind we are mated already and you will not break that vow.” When he started to say something she cut him off. “Yes, I know that you will not hold me accountable for my actions since I didn’t know. I wish you would,” she muttered but he heard her.

  “Why would you wish that?” he asked with curiosity.

  “Because it would be the coward’s way of taking it out of my hands,” she whispered shaking her hands. “I’ve never felt anything like this before, never experienced a pull in two directions. I feel like I am failing miserably and hurting you both in the process.”

  “We are all accountable for our emotions, our reactions,” Merced replied. “The only hurt you feel at the moment is your own.”

  “Why does it feel like you always answer with a riddle?” she exclaimed. “If I turned to you and asked what you wanted, what would bring you the most joy at this moment, what would you say?”

  “Your happiness,” he stated softly.

  “And that is not acceptable,” she almost yelled. “You! I want to know what you would want, Merced. You and Micah both refuse to speak of your needs, desires, or wants.”

  “It is not our way,” he started to say but she cut him off.

  “Stop! Just look at me and tell me what you want from me,” she pleaded. “I’m so confused right now. I don’t know your customs, ways, beliefs. I only know that I did something that mated us. I know that you will let me walk away but you never will. So look me in the eyes and tell me what you would want from me at this moment if you could have anything.”

  “Let me love you,” Merced whispered and once again he managed to put her first. It wasn’t “make love to me” or “be with me”. It was “let me love you”. There was so much conveyed in those words. Need. Desire. Pain. Hope. Feelings rolled off of him and without thought she lifted to him using her hand to pull his head down to her. They were mated so how could it be wrong?

  Their lips met and it was so much more than a mere kiss. She’d been kissed before but nothing like this. He was warm and soft and yet the pressure was firm. She could feel her nipples harden where she pressed against him. Even better she could feel the rise of his cock beneath the long robes that both he and Micah wore. She wondered if they wore anything beneath those robes and knew she would find out soon.

  The scrape of his teeth against her bottom lip brought her out of her thoughts and had her focussing on his touch. She couldn’t feel his breath on her lips and she wanted to ask if he was holding it but she became lost in the other things he was doing. His hands were at her waist and he stroked his palms up under the loose shirt that she wore, inching the material up as his hands climbed. Her hands clenched on his shoulders holding him bent to her. His lips left hers and she arched back exposing her neck for the blazing trail he was taking.

  Lips, teeth and tongue worked her flesh and she could hear her breath as she panted with desire. He moved down her throat to the hollow at the base and sucked gently at the skin there. He moved over to the shoulder and bit down on the muscle there, gently but hard enough to send tingles coursing through her.

  She cried out, could not contain it, no past experience had prepared her for this moment, for this man. She was suddenly grateful that she had a mother who never left her alone long enough to be with another shifter. It was right for her to share this with Merced. Whether she had meant to or not she had mated him and that made the gift of her first time his by rights. And yet a part of her heart yearned for Micah to be sharing in this moment as well. Even though they had not made love, they had shared an amazing evening.

  Merced pulled back and her shirt disappeared over her head. He tossed it to the ground and reached out to cup her breasts in his hands. She had the body of a shifter, long and lean and her breast disappeared in his hands but she could tell by the reverence in his eyes that he liked what he saw. His thumbs rubbed across her aching nipples and she moaned again letting her head fall back on her shoulders.

  One hand slipped around to her shoulders and he urged her to follow him across so that he could sit on the side of the bed. She stood between his sprawled thighs with her hands braced on his shoulders. He leaned into her and his mouth closed over one nipple. Warmth surrounded her flesh and she could feel the rub of his tongue. Then he began to suck greedily on her breast and her hands rose to fist in his hair. Streaks of pleasure seemed to flow from her nipple through her breast and down to her pussy which flexed and creamed in anticipation.

  He moved to her other nipple and she felt his hands at the waist of her leathers undoing the ties there. He slipped his hands inside and pushed them down over her hips. She helped him by shimmying until they puddled at her feet. She used her feet to slip out of her shoes and then left her pants on top of them. She was completely naked and Merced was still completely clothed.

  One of Merced’s hands slipped down between her thighs and she heard his sigh as he encountered the wetness there. She was more than ready for him. His fingers moved through her folds until one finger brushed over her clit. She shuddered with desire. His mouth still worked between her breasts and the sensations rioting through her body were making her knees weak. She closed her eyes and then cried out as she felt herself lifted, moving through the air.

  Her back made contact with the bed and her eyes flew open. She was sprawled out having flailed as he moved her, her hands wide, palms down, her heels digging into the mattress. Merced looked down at her and moved his hands to the front of the robe he wore. It was a dark brown and fell all the way to his feet, only his arms were bare and even after six weeks of Wilhelm she could still see the muscles bulging there.

  His robe fell to the ground. She wasn’t sure how it latched as she saw no laces but Merced easily released it so that it fell, revealing every inch of the heaven beneath. His abs were flat and yet still rippled with muscle. His shoulders were broad, his chest a wide plane of muscle spattered with a dusting of dark golden hair. She could see the length and width of his cock defined behind the dark brown clothing he wore. She had never seen anything like the short pants he was wearing.

  They were made of the same material as his robe only a shade or two darker. They sat on his hips like her leathers did but only went to the tops of his thighs. They were tight enough that she could easily tell that his cock was proportional to his size and she wanted to lick the wet spot that she knew was his cum. His cock lay at an angle across his hips and she wanted to reach out and lift it up knowing that the head would pop out of the top just ready for her mouth.

  But she only made it up onto her elbows before he buried his face between her thighs and wit
h no build up thrust his tongue inside her pussy. With a cry she fell back to the bed gasping. His tongue thrust and licked, fucking her pussy the way she anticipated his cock doing. She lifted her legs so that her heels were outside his shoulders, her legs wide for his touch.

  “Yes, little cat,” he murmured into her flesh. “Open for me.”

  He tortured her with pleasure, tormented her with sensation and had her on the edge of ecstasy in moments. His teeth, lips, tongue and fingers were everywhere, working her into a frenzy. She could feel her release within reach.

  “Merced,” she moaned his name, a whisper, a plea.

  His eyes moved up her body to lock with hers and it was as if a bolt of lightning fired between them. Molten gold. That was what his eyes looked like, reminding her of the blinding ball of sun midday. The brown flecks were almost completely gone in this moment and she tried not to think of how similar he looked to Micah. But there was no denying that fact.

  She had no idea what he saw in her face, prayed her brief thoughts of Micah were not reflected. But there was no time to be sure as he broke the connection and went back to her pussy, bringing her to an immediate orgasm. It screamed through every cell of her body and she swore she was glowing. It was as if the orgasm shot through every part of her body. Her toes, fingers, nipples, clit, even the hair on her head. It was magic.

  Merced groaned as he realised that he had not been able to contain his magic. He had never had that happen before. And the shot that had coursed from him to her had her screaming his name, her body aglow. He could feel his cock begging for release and wanted to feel the firm grip of her pussy hugging his dick, sucking it in as she had his tongue.

  But he couldn’t. To take her would be to compromise her. And that he would not do. It was bad enough that she knew he could not mate another now. He had Micah to thank for that. Micah. Yet another reason why he could not love her fully. There was something between his brother and his mate and no matter how much Merced wished otherwise there was no changing what was.

  One thing was true though. There was no woman more worthy than Lynx. He was already falling in love with his little cat. It would destroy him when the time came to walk away from her. But he would have to respect her enough to do just that. And that meant that he could not take her with his body, with his kiss.

  The kiss. That had been torture. It took everything he had to keep his lips firmly closed and not thrust his tongue into her mouth as he had her pussy. He longed for the taste of her kiss, the flicker of her tongue against his own. But they had already shared breath and these other things would only bind them stronger, merge their souls closer. It was okay to fuck, to enjoy the pleasures of the flesh. But never after sharing breath, and it was against their ways to share the intimacy of a soul kiss with any but your mate.

  When she lay still and silent he moved up to relax on the bed beside her. At least he could give her pleasure. At least he could love her body the way he wished he could love her. He closed his eyes and sighed. This was a torture far worse than any Wilhelm had come up with, one he might not survive.

  Chapter Five

  Lynx slowly came back to herself and realised that Merced wasn’t taking her, wasn’t over her ready to thrust deep inside and bring them both to that pleasure again. She turned her head and saw him reclined on the bed beside her, one knee up, one arm thrown over his face, teeth gritted. She could see the proof of his desire and decided to take matters into her hands. He deserved no less.

  She rolled easily and swiftly, figuring that if she didn’t move quickly he would try to stop her. So there was no time for teasing, no time to explore as thoroughly as she wanted to. Instead she slipped him quickly free of the cloth and took him in her hand with a firm grip. When he moaned and tried to move away she leaned in and wrapped her lips around the bulbous head of his cock and sucked him as deep as she could.

  He stopped moving and she let her eyes move up over his body until they locked with his. Holding his gaze she moved back up his shaft until only the head remained in the confines of her mouth. She worked her tongue up, over and around him, loving the taste that spilled from him. His cock was delicious, like nothing she had ever tasted before. There was no comparison to the salty, sweet flavour that hit her tongue and sent her taste buds to ecstasy. She wanted more and she sucked greedily for it working up and down his shaft.

  Merced seemed to lose his control. One big hand reached out to touch her. It was a gentle caress and when she met his gaze again it was to see softness and awe in his eyes. Was it possible to love someone you didn’t really know? Was it possible to fall as quickly as it seemed Merced had? There was so much that she was unfamiliar with when it came to this kind of stuff.

  She watched as his lashes fluttered and finally closed. She could feel the tension in his hand, the flex of his fingers but his touch remained a caress. It was so good, the taste, the feel, the eroticism of having him in her mouth. She licked and sucked and when she couldn’t hold back she nipped at his cock with her teeth. And she hungered for more. She wanted his cock buried in her pussy. She wanted to ride him.

  She wanted his kiss, the scrape of his tongue against hers. She wanted to run her tongue over his lips, to thrust her tongue between them and taste the flavour of his breath. Merced was slowly relaxing further beneath her so she kept sucking and working her hand up and down the shaft in rhythm with her mouth.

  She slipped her free hand back between her thighs to play with her pussy. She stroked her finger back and forth over her clit and sucked his cock and the combination of the two had her quickly close to another orgasm. She just couldn’t wait any longer, didn’t care that he still wore the cloth on his hips. It didn’t matter because the long thick stalk of his cock was free for her to take. That was just what she was going to do.

  With a quick shift she pulled her mouth free and lifted to her knees over him. Luckily she had shifted while using her mouth so that she was astride him. That made it so much easier to lift and keeping him in her hand. She held him in place while she lowered onto him. The head nudged her opening and his eyes flared open wide. She thought he said no but she didn’t give him time to stop her. With a hard downward thrust of her hips she buried half of his length inside her.

  “Lynx,” Merced groaned her name. She lifted her hips and slid down again taking more of him but still not managing to take every hard inch.

  She let her eyes hold his and rose once more until just the head remained. She let her hands grip his chest and thrust down once more, harder and faster and took every inch inside her. Once more she felt like she was glowing, like every inch of her vibrated.

  “Merced,” she whispered and leaned into him. Her fingers gripped his shoulders and she let her nails dig deep as pleasure screamed through her. Leaning forward she found the corded muscle on one side of his neck and let her teeth grip him there, biting down. It was instinct for her. Her cat spirit was so close to the surface.

  She heard his deep gasp for breath and immediately lifted from his neck to his mouth. Before he could stop her she locked her mouth to his open mouth and plunged her tongue deep. He was still, so still, and then with a shudder his breath slipped from his mouth to hers.

  Her eyes flared. Her fingers clenched tight into his flesh and one part of her mind prayed she didn’t break his skin. But the rest of her was locked into his gaze. As his breath filled her so did something else, everything else. Vaguely she could feel her pussy clenching and milking his cock, felt the spurt of his release as it filled her. But that was not what she focussed on. She was focussed on what filled her mind and when it finally eased she collapsed against Merced and wept.

  Merced held his mate while she cried and wanted to die. He had let his guard down, let sensation overrule reason and now there would be little choice for his Lynx. They were completely linked now. The bond was formed between them. He had no idea how she would be though as he knew no Danuja that mated outside of their race. He was unsure how a shifter would deal with
the bond that was formed, the link they would share.

  “I’m so sorry, little cat,” he told her as she continued to cry. “I should have stopped you.”

  She pulled away from him and though the tears still trailed down her cheeks her hand came out and smacked him hard on the chest. “If I had not done this then no one would probably have ever known all you suffered at his hands. You would have kept this from us all.”

  Merced didn’t lie, it would do him no good anyway. So he just nodded his head. She smacked him again and then hugged him close. She shuddered against him and he held her close stroking his hand up and down her spine until she quieted. When she pulled away he didn’t stop her but it was only to sit up beside him and talk.

  “Is that what happened to you when I breathed into you?” she asked.

  “Yes and no,” he replied but continued before she could ask him to explain. “We were not intimately linked at the time so it was not as sharp for me.”

  “So because we were having sex it made it more intense for me?” she queried.

  “Making love,” he corrected. “And yes.”

  She smiled. “Making love,” she agreed. “So you saw the same things about me?”

  He smiled now. “Yes, I did. I saw everything from the moment you were born until the moment you breathed into me. You are a wild cat,” he laughed.

  “As you saw the things that I did with others then I will not comment on what I saw of you with others,” she stated with a twinkle in her eyes and Merced could feel his skin flush red as he realised that she had indeed seen everything. “But seeing that and knowing that you saw the same in me explains a lot.”

  “Such as?” he asked.

  “Why I was not kissed or made love to,” she started to say but stopped.

  “By my brother?” he finished for her and he couldn’t stop the sadness that filled her, even though he knew she would feel it.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”