by Lauren Dane
The shock of skin on skin, the rush of pleasure as they connected physically as well as emotionally, knocked him over. “You feel so good,” he murmured as he licked down the side of her neck.
The energy between them swirled thick, her magic, his magic, bound together as they were. Each new time he had her, this was the case, more and more connection, a deeper bond. There was no doubt inside him, not with man or cat, that he had imprinted on her and she him.
In his world that was enough. They were married and mated and she was a member of the jamboree via her connection to him. She was family. She referred to herself as his wife and that’s most certainly how he considered her too. He’d asked her to marry him all human style as well and she’d agreed. The problem was, she really wanted all his siblings to accept her and wanted to have a closer relationship with her father and stepmother so everyone would be at the ceremony. He was pretty sure that would never happen. Her father was disinterested and his wife too interested in herself. She didn’t care about Renee’s happiness and barely tolerated Galen. They’d consistently refused to meet his family or even speak of what he was out loud. Both the jaguar-shifter part and the fact that he was biracial. They liked the lawyer part and he took care of her well, so her father never quite put into words what it was clear he thought.
None of that shit mattered. He’d taken to a new line of argument lately, that they needed to just do it because she’d never be close to her stepmother and father and he’d never get his sister to stop being a bitch and to accept Renee.
She wore his teeth on her skin, bore his mark proudly. She opened herself to him in a way he knew she never did with anyone else. They were united.
But there was something. He didn’t know what. He only knew she felt it too. The air held expectation. Something was about to happen, something that would change them. There was no fear. He knew what he felt, knew it was genuine and he knew without a doubt Renee returned those feelings.
Still, as she was fond of saying with that smirk/smile she so often wore, you know what they say about cats and curiosity.
Her scent drew him in, made the other thoughts fall from his head. His lips knew her, his hands, fingers, cock. On his knees, he looked down at her, at those lush lips, at the sleepy, half-mast eyes banking a fire just for him, her curly hair in disarray around her face. Her body, petite but lush, was the most perfect thing he’d ever seen. Curves, dips, valleys, the puckered tips of her nipples, the scar on her hip, the birthmark on her left wrist.
She began to speak, hesitated and smiled instead. He knew. Knew how she felt because he felt it too.
Her palms slid down his back, urging him closer. She leaned up enough to kiss his thigh, licking closer and closer until that mouth, hot and wet, reached his cock, just a wisp of her touch but enough to bring a moan to his lips.
Renee still couldn’t quite believe the man in her bed was hers. That someone who looked like Galen would even take a second glance at her, much less treat her as if she were the most precious thing he’d ever seen.
Acres of taut, caramel skin beckoned as she slid her palms against him. Over the flat belly, across hard thighs and toned shoulders. He was so incredibly gorgeous she never quite knew which part of him to look at first.
His muscles flexed against her touch. She knew they were bound, the brilliant strands of the ribbons of emotion held them, drew them together. Not stifling, but assuring. Being with Galen, thinking about him gave her comfort even as it titillated her with the need to taste, to touch, to pleasure and take pleasure from. Just as he’d imprinted on her, she had with him. Their magic, so very different, had reacted, melded and they’d bound themselves together. She belonged to him, body and heart.
His cock, fully erect, lay in her line of sight and she leaned up a bit to lick the head, tasting the sweet/salt of his body. He groaned her name, the sound wrapping around her, pulling her closer.
The power in this, the way she knew with her hands and mouth, with her body, she could bring him to his knees, bring him pleasure like no one else, filled her, heady and sticky-sweet.
Rolling to her knees, she locked her gaze with his, falling into those brown/black eyes. One hand on his chest, over his heart, over the spot where her name lay inked into his flesh, she pushed until he gave in and fell back to the bed.
Inky-dark hair, just a bit longer than it should be, spread around his face as she leaned down to kiss him. His lips, as always, brought a shiver to her. So very good, that mouth. Kissing mouth, body, pussy, it didn’t matter what part of her he touched with his mouth, he did it always with an intensity of purpose. Now was no different as he kissed her with slow sensuality.
Galen knew her body, knew her heart like no one else ever had.
With some regret, she left his mouth and kissed down his neck, across his chest, down his very sensitive side, across his lower belly until the hands gently cradling her head tightened, urging ever so gently downward.
She looked up, into his face, met his eyes and smiled. “Did you have a request?”
“My cock does and I’m its spokesperson.”
She laughed. “I suppose it wants to go to Target to get some socks.”
Her laughter died when he caught his bottom lip between his teeth. “Um, no.” He swore in three languages when she licked up the line of his cock.
Sexy bastard. “You taste very good. I think I’m addicted.” Wrapping her hand around the base of his cock, she angled it to take him into her mouth.
“Good God,” he mumbled as he arched into her.
Over and over she licked and swallowed, kissed and sucked. Over the years she’d come to learn what he liked and what he didn’t but it didn’t feel boring or repetitive. Each time she was with him this way she learned something new about him and herself as well.
She knew he was getting closer, he hardened impossibly more, the electricity of his climax charged his skin, arced between them, stealing her breath.
He moved his hands to her shoulder, squeezing gently. “Stop, stop. I want to be in you. I’ve been thinking about it all day.”
She sighed, sad to part with his cock that way, but pleased to scramble atop him.
“Impatient!” He rolled her to her back. “Let’s be sure you’re ready.”
“Ready? I’m ready, believe me. Put your cock inside me already!” She writhed as he licked over her nipples, left to right, over and over until she nearly panted.
“I’ll be the judge of that,” he said as he continued south.
Well. Okay, then.
He nudged her thighs wider and settled in before delivering a devastating lick from her gate to her clit. A secret benefit to having a man who was a cat shifter? The tongue. Whatever cat thing he had, which thankfully did not include a barbed penis—ouch—meant the broad, nubbed surface of his tongue was like a sex toy or something.
She laughed and he paused. “You thinking about my tongue again?”
“Yes, now get back to work!” He didn’t just give marvelous oral sex, she’d never, ever had a man go down on her and bring her as much pleasure as Galen did. What was there to complain about? Oral by a man who wanted to eat her alive with a super sex toy tongue. Bonus.
He pushed her hard, his mouth insistent, demanding. He took her from aroused to arching, begging and gasping out in climax in what felt like seconds. Her muscles still trembled, spasmed as he reared up and the head of his cock nudged against her, pressing inside her body.
“More. Ohgod, more. Deeper.” Digging her heels into the mattress, she pushed against him, taking him deeper inside.
Caught between amusement and desire, Galen stared down at her as he thrust deep and pulled nearly all the way out. “Greedy.” And she was. She may have looked like a sweet little pixie but in truth, his woman liked it hard and fast. Not that he’d complain. She also liked it all the ti
me, which made her a rather perfect match for him in that department.
“And you love me anyway.”
“Yes. Yes I do.” He sped up, enjoying the jaunty bounce of her breasts as he plunged deep, fast and hard.
Orgasm rode him, urged him on. White-hot pleasure spread through him, outward like a blast as he guided her hand to her clit and she gasped, her pussy contracting around his cock. It didn’t take very long for her to start coming again, thank goodness, because at the first, hard squeeze she tipped him right over with her.
“It’s always this way with you.” He pressed a kiss to her temple as he collapsed next to her on the bed.
She stretched, more like a cat than she ever knew. “How’s that?”
“I can’t get enough. One touch is never enough. A thousand touches aren’t enough.”
“Is that a bad thing? Do you resent not knowing if what you feel is real or the result of the chemicals between us? Between me and your cat?”
He rolled to face her. “My cat is hotter for you than the human part is. My cat doesn’t care about whatever human conventions demand. My cat just wants to love you and fuck you and keep you safe, what anyone else wants be damned. My human agrees but realizes it’s important you’re along for the ride willingly. Don’t doubt any part of me. I’ve never given you cause to, have I?”
She shook her head. “No. I don’t doubt what we have. I just... I’ve just seen some of your family seem upset by it. By you and me together when you have females within the jamboree who they think you should be with.”
Anger coursed through him. “What happened?” He saw her hesitation and it was his turn to shake his head at her. “Tell me. Please, babe.”
“Beth. She came by the shop today, in the morning. She’s pregnant.”
He only barely resisted the urge to grab the phone and call his sister to kick her ass. The only thing preventing that was the knowledge of how much he’d hurt Renee that way. He’d deal with Beth later.
“I know. She told me earlier today.” He paused. “You know what she’s like. I’ll talk to her. She knows better than to hassle you. Anyway, so what? You know she’s damaged. You and I will have children when we’re ready and she has nothing to do with us.”
“Mentally damaged. She’s a humanphobe, or whatever you want to call it. Your genes are too precious to waste on my weak human ovaries.”
He was going to kill his sister.
“My mother dropped her on her head a lot when she was a baby. I told you long ago not to listen to her because she’s an idiot. Did something happen today other than that?”
He smoothed his hands over her skin, needing the contact. She sighed and snuggled closer.
“No. Not really. I guess it’s just...it feels like the air right before it rains. Something will happen. Soon. It’s making me impatient I suppose.”
“I feel it too, sweet witch. You and I though? Nothing wrong there. The only thing I’d love more is if you married me all human-like.” He nipped her shoulder playfully, but left a mark.
A mark she loved and would look at again and again. Renee couldn’t really explain why to anyone but him, but that he’d mark her, make sure everyone knew she was his, it turned her on and made her feel safe.
“We already said we’d get married next year. As for everything else? Of all the things I know in the world, I know you and I are okay and will be. You are my cornerstone, my foundation. I just wish I knew what it was. This thing we’re waiting on.” She knew that to be true more than anything else she’d ever known. Galen was hers and she his. They would be together when they were old and gray. She’d have his children and yes, they would get married though she’d prefer to just go to city hall and do it quietly than have some big event. Susan didn’t really care about Renee, but she’d want to take over and spend lots of money, Galen’s money, on some swank affair with eleventy million guests she didn’t even know. That wasn’t who she was and it wasn’t who Galen was either.
“Soon enough. Now, let’s finish dinner. I’ll make you a lemon drop and we can catch a few episodes of Buffy before bed? Oh and more sex later.”
She rolled off the mattress, padding toward the door without bothering to put clothes back on.
“Of course more sex. You think I’m with you just for how smart you are?” She winked at him, loving the rich sound of his laughter as he jumped up to follow her back out to the table.
Chapter Three
Jack looked around the shop as he entered. Wall to wall woo woo. He wondered if Renee was one of those new-agey types, wondered if she would put crystals in the windowsills and refused to make decisions if Mercury was in retrograde.
But none of that mattered. None of it mattered because he’d accept her quirks much the same way he knew she’d accept his. Excitement warmed him. He’d not been this interested in pursuing a woman ever.
Which was as it should be, of course. She was the one after all. Getting to know her would be fun.
He didn’t even have to search to find her. He felt her before he laid eyes on her. Spice? What was that? Following his senses led him around an aisle of shelving and there she was, a huge smile on her face, cat-eye glasses perched on her nose, a tight T-shirt with some sort of sweater over it. She wore little or no makeup and her hair curled around her face in no real pattern. And yet she was the most breathtaking woman he’d ever seen. She was...unexpected.
The citrus and cinnamon of her scent mixed with the pungency of mango, the sweetness of strawberries. He shook his head, trying to free himself from the siren song of her existence but then let go, let himself fall into it because it was hers and that was how it was supposed to be.
“That looks really good. What would you recommend?” He leaned one elbow on the counter and sent her his very best charming grin.
“Well, look here! It’s Jack. Hello, Jack.” Her smile in return caught him in its artlessness and lack of guile. Not that she was naïve or innocent, there was definite mischief there dancing in her eyes, but she wasn’t trying to sell him anything, not trying to get him to have babies with her. Though, holy shit, did he want to have babies with her.
That rocked him. He liked kids, other people’s kids though. Cade hadn’t been kidding about the impact of a mate bond. He wanted to bury himself inside her, wanted to take care of her, to build a whole lifetime. For a man like him, the depth of that need took him by surprise. What he’d had, had always seemed like it was enough, until he stood there looking into Renee’s face and came home.
How did a male process all this stuff and keep his shit together? His estimation of Cade went up a few thousand percent knowing he’d dealt with this intensity of feeling and had managed to deal with a fermenting war at the same time.
Still, Jack realized that despite the challenges he faced, the biggest, most important thing was that he had met her. He knew this woman before him would be tucked next to him at night, every night for the rest of his life. How he’d work it all out wasn’t clear just then, but he would. There was no reason for him to believe fate would put Renee into his path and not provide a way to work things out.
He took a deep breath and kept his composure. Barely. “You do have me at a disadvantage. You know my name and yet, here I am not knowing yours.”
She laughed, not beautiful, lyrical laughter, but a full-on, throaty laugh. He bit back a groan at the raw sensuality of the sound.
“Are we pretending you didn’t come in here after I left last night to ask where I was?”
Busted. Here he was, an Enforcer, supposedly the biggest badass in the country, and he’d been busted by a smidgen of a woman. Good thing he’d been best friends with a woman this size who could scare any smart man twice his size. Grace Warden would like Renee a lot. Once they got over their initial hatred of the other. The stories about the first meetings between Grace and
Nina Warden after Grace and Cade had mated were legendary.
Getting ahead of himself. He needed to focus again. “It’s my turn to blush.”
“Blush?” She cocked her head and looked him up and down. “Why do I get the feeling blushing isn’t something you do very often?”
“Given the right circumstances I totally blush.” He bet she could get him to blush all the time.
“Like when you get caught checking up on a girl who tells you she’s with someone?” Her smile faded into something else. She froze, blinking her eyes rapidly, cocking her head as she looked at him.
“Are you all right?” He didn’t smell fear or anger, but clearly something was going on with her. His wolf pressed against the human skin, alert, needing to protect and comfort.
“Well now, this is interesting. You’re a wolf. The wolf Galen scented yesterday.”
He looked around. Someone approached and she shifted her attention, smiling brightly at the newcomer. “Hey, Pete. The usual?”
“With a shot of wheatgrass too, please.” The guy leaned against the counter and sent moony eyes at Jack’s woman.
Effortlessly, Renee put a bunch of stuff together and used the blender to mix it. Pungent and sweet scents married, carried along with her essential spice. She slid it to the other guy with a smile.
He thanked her, dropped some money on the counter and toddled off, oblivious to Jack’s glare. And that’s when he saw it, the bite on her shoulder. She’d been marked by this cat, which meant way more than a simple dating relationship.
“Now, for you?” Renee looked him up and down, her shirt falling back into place and hiding the bite mark once again. “Obviously you need something with protein in it.” She turned and began to fiddle with stuff.
“How about a coffee? I’m not one for health food.” He hoped he didn’t sound grumpy, but he felt it anyway. And then he let it go. She was his and this cat, whoever he was, wasn’t going to keep him away.
Renee wanted to roll her eyes at his tone, but stopped herself. He was a freaking werewolf and he wasn’t one for health food? Something inside her bolted. No, he was going to take care of himself.