by Zoe Chant
God, she wanted him so badly. Her desire was like a drum inside her, so loud she could barely hear.
But the water was so cold.
Toni stared at the gorgeous man in front of her. She imagined his toned body under hers, his strong hands claiming her body for his own, his hard cock thrusting into her slick centre.
Cold water be damned.
She closed her eyes, held her breath, and dived in. Icy water closed over her head like a knife. Her skin tingled with the shock. Then warm hands were pulling her upwards, pulling her legs to wrap around his waist. Her head broke the surface and she laughed.
“Oh – I think – I think you’re going to have to help warm me up,” she gasped, catching her breath. Her hands slid over Jack’s broad shoulders and down his back as she leaned in to him. The water was cold, yes, bitterly cold – but he was hot under her. She pressed herself against him, luxuriating in the feeling of his skin against hers, his body heating her body.
They were so close that Toni could see every bead of water that clung to Jack’s face, making him look as though his brow and lashes were dripping with diamonds. He lay back in the water so that Toni was on top of him, and she worried briefly before realizing he was keeping them both afloat with slow kicks of his long, powerful legs. She ran her arms down his back, feeling the muscles shift under his skin.
“You’re not going to get distracted and dunk us?” she murmured, trailing kisses along his jaw.
She felt, rather than heard, him moan in response.
Seconds later she felt water rush over her as he twisted sideways. They drifted together in the water until she felt smooth riverstones against her back.
The bank of the swimming hole was so steep that even with her torso and hips resting on the rocks, her legs were still floating free in the water. She stroked Jack’s legs with her own, drawing him closer.
Jack swam up to the bank and slowly raised himself up on top of Toni. She looked into his eyes and even though she was settled on the riverbank it was like she was drowning in those two golden pools. Her own eyes were half-shut, lids heavy with a desire that thrummed through her whole body. She felt her heart hammering in her chest, so hard she thought she might fly apart. “Please,” she whispered, “I need you inside me.”
Jack leant down and kissed her, long and gentle. His tongue brushed over her lips, teasing them open, and she surrendered, letting him enjoy her.
She felt a touch between her thighs and parted her legs, wrapping them around Jack’s waist. The tip of his cock brushed against her entrance, teasingly slow. “Are you ready?” Jack murmured into her mouth.
“Yes!”
She was slick, and willing, and his cock slid inside her like it was meant to be there. Toni moaned and arched her back as he pushed his full length inside her at once, filling her completely. She had never been with someone this big before, and the feeling was almost overwhelming. He pinned her to the bank, pumping in and out of her with exquisite slowness. Lost in sensation, Toni closed her eyes, letting the waves of pleasure build up inside her, higher, higher, until she couldn’t hold them back any more.
Toni’s first orgasm had burst out of her like a flooding dam, but this one was like a tidal wave. It grew inside her, wave after wave, filling her with pleasure. When she finally came it was with a sensation of being utterly grounded, not of falling apart but of finding herself, safely gathered in this man’s arms. She clung to Jack and kissed him deeply, trying to hold on to the sensation for as long as possible as her body shuddered and clenched.
“Oh god – Toni—” Jack gasped, and she felt his cock twitch inside her as he came. He bore down on her, cradling her head in one hand and clutching her waist with the other. Finally they lay still together, cool water lapping over their heated bodies.
“Oh, my darling,” Jack said, his voice muffled by Toni’s hair. “I wish we could stay here forever.”
Toni shifted. He was still inside her, and even the thought of that sent a thrill of excitement down her spine. “Mmm,” she agreed, rolling her hips against his.
In the end they didn’t stay there forever; but it was quite some time before they moved again.
CHAPTER SIX
JACK
Jack was happier than he had ever been in his life. He was almost purring – in fact, he wasn’t sure that he wasn’t purring. He wanted to stretch and yawn, extend his claws and settle down in the sun in ear-twitching, tail-flicking pleasure.
No, he thought firmly. Human. Human pleasure.
He decided he could still lie down and stretch, but no sooner had he done that than he jumped to his feet again. Toni, who had been lying beside him, eyes shut as she basked in the sun, raised herself up on her elbows and looked at him quizzically.
“You must be starving,” he exclaimed, just as his stomach growled and gave away the more selfish side of his plan.
Toni laughed and lay back down. He quickly gathered together an armful of the scattered containers of food, and the small bottle of champagne.
He held out a flaky pain au chocolat under Toni’s nose and she inhaled happily. “Mmm – yes, please,” she said, opening her mouth wide. He paused for a moment – only slightly distracted by the sight of her plump red lips parted for him – and placed the corner of the pastry between them. Toni chewed and sighed appreciatively. “Oh, that is delicious.”
“Can I interest you in another? And a pillow, perhaps?” Jack offered, lying down behind her head. She grinned and shuffled backwards so her head was resting on his chest. He fed her the rest of the chocolatey treat, taking care to ensure lots of crumbs fell on her neck and breast for him to clean away. His hand lingered on her breast, feeling its soft weight, the gentle movement as she breathed.
“Jack,” Toni murmured, her voice muzzy with sleep and happiness. “Jack, this is possibly the best day I have ever had.”
“I was about to say the same thing,” he replied, looking down at her. She looked the very picture of contented peace: eyes closed, breathing slow, a gentle smile curving her lips. He was just wondering whether to give in to the impulse to swoop in and plant a kiss on those lips when Toni’s eyes shot open, sparkling with playfulness. She rolled over, resting her forearms on either side of Jack’s broad chest and smiling down at him.
“So,” she said, a teasing glint in her eye, “I’m pretty sure someone promised me a terrible, embarrassing story about being Jack Silver of Silver Forest, house, and … did you say there was a mine, as well?”
Jack groaned theatrically and let his head fall back with a thump. “Yes. And … it’s a silver mine.”
Toni chortled disbelievingly. “Oh, you have got to be joking. That is just too much to believe.”
Jack spread his arms wide. “What can I say? I’m very suggestible.” He was about to make another joke, but stopped. He could laugh about it all day, entertain Toni with anecdotes and stories, but why not tell her the truth?
After all, he thought, guilt twisting in his stomach, he was going to be telling her enough lies in this relationship.
“Actually,” he began, and had to stop to clear his throat. “Actually, the whole Silver thing isn’t a coincidence. My family used to live here – generations of us, until the mine failed when my father was a kid and they had to sell up to keep bread on the table. As soon as I had the money, buying this place back was the first thing I did.”
“So this isn’t the conservation trust’s land, it’s yours. Your dad must have been so proud, to see you get the family land back,” Toni said warmly.
Jack had to look away from her.
“My parents died when I was in high school.”
“Oh, Jack, I’m so sorry,” Toni gasped, her voice full of concern. She reached out one hand and cradled his cheek. “That was thoughtless of me, I shouldn’t have…”
“You couldn’t have known,” Jack interrupted, putting his arms around her. She was so warm, and soft, the perfect weight against his body. He sighed. If his parents hadn’t
died when he was still so young, might they have been able to help him figure out how to deal with his mate being human, not a shifter? His parents had told him a little about shifter abilities, and the mate bond – a child-friendly version of it at least.
But not enough. Jack could only imagine that his parents had meant to tell him more once he was older, but that had never happened. His mother and father had been killed in a car crash when he was fourteen. Jack had been sent to live with his mother’s family, who didn’t want to hear anything about shifters, despite the fact that his mother had been one.
As an adult, he’d met many other shifters, but had been embarrassed to ask questions about knowledge they seemed to take for granted. How a non-shifting family could produce a shifter like his mother. How his tiger was a part of him, but it sometimes felt stronger, more powerful, and other times was quiet.
How the mate bond worked.
How having a mate bond with a human worked. If it could work at all.
“I didn’t mean to bring back any bad memories,” Toni was saying, concern in her voice. Jack held her tightly and kissed the top of her head. He could feel her heartbeat against his chest, and her concern for him wasn’t only evident in her voice. He felt her love in that warm glow in his own chest, growing to enfold Jack like an embrace.
Maybe he would never know more about being a shifter. Maybe he would have to hide that side of himself, ignore it, put it away. But if things worked out today, he would have Toni. And that would be worth it.
Wouldn’t it?
He kissed her again. “It was a long time ago. And not really the sort of thing I’d usually bring up on a first, um.”
She raised her eyebrows. “A first um? Is that what this is?”
Jack knew Toni was deliberately steering the conversation back to lighter topics, and he was thankful for it. “Er … picnic? Is that the word I’m looking for?”
Toni rolled her eyes and flopped back down on Jack’s chest.
“Today has been … I mean, I normally wouldn’t do anything like this, but it’s been wonderful,” she mumbled into his chest. “Thank you. Seriously, at this point you could probably straight-up tell me that you secretly arranged the whole de Jager creepiness just to get me on this um picnic, and I’d be happy. Even without him freaking me out yesterday, the last few months have been … well, not great. It’s nice to have a break.”
Jack stroked her back, and felt her sigh again.
“Really? You’d forgive me for tricking you?” he asked. But even as he said it, he knew he was venturing onto thin ice.
“Well … no, that was more what some people call ‘exaggeration for comic effect,’” Toni teased. “You lying to me would make all the um a bit awkward, wouldn’t it?”
“Right,” Jack replied, trying to smile back at her. Inside, he was cursing himself. He knew that any relationship he had with Toni would mean lying to her about his true nature, so why punish himself further by proving how cruel a betrayal that would be?
Lost in his own guilty thoughts, Jack barely noticed Toni roll over. She lay with her head and shoulder on his chest, staring up at the clear blue sky.
“I just…” she began softly, and Jack felt the sharp pang of self-doubt come through his connection to her. “I wish I knew what it was about him that got me so freaked out. I’ve been thinking about it, and he didn’t actually do anything that … bad?”
“I saw how much he scared you,” Jack said simply. “That’s bad enough for me.”
“And if you hadn’t been there? How would it have sounded if I’d only told you about it afterward? Oh, there was this guy, and he terrified me more than anyone else has in my life, because he … what, came up and introduced himself? Stood a little too close, like every garden-variety letch?” She threw up her hands. “And just to add the cherry on top of the crazy cake, I could then tell you about how his tablet – thing – bit me, only, oh, yeah, there’s no proof of that anymore either.” Toni flexed her unblemished fingers in the sunlight.
“Well, I was there. I saw what he was like. And if saying his tablet bit you is crazy, then I’m crazy too. I saw your fingers after you picked it up. It looked as though you’d tried to pick up a red-hot poker.” Jack caught Toni’s hand and drew it to his lips, gently kissing her fingertips. “I guess you’re a fast healer.”
“Hmm. Maybe. What a way to find it out, though.”
“You didn’t know?”
Toni shrugged, her shoulders rolling enjoyably over the planes of Jack’s chest. “My – my folks have always been, well, fast healers. My plan has always been to just never get injured in the first place.” Her voice was growing drowsy. “I guess … I guess I was scared. I didn’t want to find out that I couldn’t heal as fast as Ellie, or Mom and Dad. Didn’t want it to be something else that made me different…”
Her voice trailed off.
Jack’s heart was racing. Fast healing? He might not know much about shifters, but he knew that fast healing was something all shifters shared. Even before he’d first shifted into his tiger form, he’d healed quickly, scrapes and bruises disappearing within a day, if not hours. So if Toni – if her family—
“Toni,” he said quietly, then stopped, tongue-tied. How could he even start to phrase the question?
Then he realized the choice had been taken out of his hands. Toni’s eyes were closed, her chest rising and falling. She had fallen asleep.
Jack shook his head. This was probably for the best. His mind was connecting dots that weren’t there.
With a sigh, he closed his eyes and fell asleep, cradling her in his arms.
CHAPTER SEVEN
TONI
Toni couldn’t keep the smile off her face. She had woken from an incredible dream – and into an even better one. She and Jack spent the afternoon in lazy, intimate happiness, sharing the picnic and the champagne, and slipping in and out of the pool with its shimmering waterfall.
Not to mention all the … exercise. They had made love again and again, slowly, as though they had all the time in the world. But with the sun falling over the treetops, both of them had realized it was time to leave. Jack had ‘helped’ Toni back into her clothes, kissing every inch of her skin before he covered it up.
Even now, Toni felt as though she was floating a foot above the path rather than pacing along it. Golden shafts of light pierced the green canopy above them, lending a warm glow to the path and the ferns and flowers at its sides. The whole forest seemed to be under a spell of beauty and calmness.
Even now, even just walking together along the gravel path, Toni could barely keep her hands off Jack. They were walking with a little space between them, a teasing gap that just begged to be crossed. Toni reached out and, without looking, her questing fingers met Jack’s. He lifted her hand and nuzzled the underside of her wrist.
They had just reached the end of the track when she heard it. Not a word, nothing said aloud – only a scream that echoed through her mind, and was suddenly cut off.
Toni’s breath caught in her throat.
“I—” Toni stammered, words failing her. Neither of the children responded to her silent cry, though she was positive it was their scream she had heard. She felt herself go pale, skin prickly and cold. She pulled her hand out of Jack’s grasp and dropped the bike. “I’ve – I’ve got to go.”
Toni broke into a run. She barely knew what direction she was running in, but her legs pushed on, leaves and gravel crunching under her feet. She burst through the trees into open ground and just had time to recognise the clearing with the bike ramps and jumps before she collided with Karen.
The blonde woman’s face was wracked with worry. “Toni, I—”
“Where are they?” Toni gasped. Inside she was still calling out,
Karen’s ey
es flickered from Toni’s to a point behind her and she felt, rather than heard, Jack run up to stand at her shoulder.
Karen ran a hand through her hair and grimaced. “Toni, there you are. I don’t want to worry you, but I’m not sure where Felix and Lexi have gotten to…”
Jack put one hand on Toni’s shoulder and she shrugged it off, mind racing. God, she was so stupid. How had she ever thought she could spend a day apart from the kids and they would stay safe? She should have known that no human babysitters would be a match for the two shifter children. And now—
She called out to the twins again, desperately hoping to hear an answer, any answer.
Nothing.
Something had happened to them. She didn’t want to think what. She couldn’t.
“I have to go,” she stammered. “I have to – have to call—”
“Toni, calm down. Listen to me.” Jack had both hands on her shoulders and was looking down into her eyes.
Toni realized she was hyperventilating, her pulse racing. She tried to control her breathing.
If Lexi and Felix couldn’t even mindspeak to her…
Toni felt herself crumble as the evidence lined up in front of her. If Lexi and Felix were ever in real danger, no matter what the risk of revealing their shifter identities, they would transform. There were few places they couldn’t escape from in cat form. And, human or cat, they would still be able to call out to her.
Unless someone already knew they might shift, and took precautions to prevent their escape that way.
Toni clenched her fists until her fingers stung. Stung like they’d been burnt.
De Jager. And that thing, whatever it was, that he’d been so intent on when she first saw him. He had to have something to do with this.
With growing horror, Toni looked back on the events of the previous evening in a new light. De Jager must have been in the campground the whole time. But he’d only approached her after he’d seen her with the twins.
After Felix had been mindspeaking with her.