by Zoe Chant
As much as she wanted to feel him move, to feel him pound into her like there was no tomorrow, Sasha gloried in the feeling of him lying still inside her, the union between them perfect. If he moved, she honestly thought she might explode.
She wriggled slightly, not sure what she wanted, but knowing that if Joe didn’t do something, and soon, she didn’t know what she’d do.
But clearly, Joe was in no mood to extend her mercy. Without moving his hips, he lowered his head to catch her ear gently between his teeth, sending a thrill of pleasure through her and making her yelp.
“You’re going to drive me insane,” she managed to gasp, trembling. “I swear, if you don’t move soon…”
Joe’s only response was a low, rumbling laugh, so full of promise it sent a shiver down her spine.
He drew back the slightest amount, his hand curling around her to find her breast, catching her nipple between two fingers. Sasha groaned, pleasure arcing through her – but then Joe moved his hips, thrusting into her, and the sound was truncated into a short, sharp gasp.
His cock within her sent waves of pleasure through her body – every movement, every thrust sent her higher and higher along a spiral of ecstasy. She could feel every muscle in her body drawing taut, clenching around him as he moved inside her.
Sasha clenched her fists around the bedhead, bracing herself against it as he pounded into her, pushing herself back to meet his every thrust. Above her, Joe groaned, her name on his lips.
“Oh God, Sasha…”
She could feel the slide of his sweat against her back, his hot breath raining down on the back of her neck. His body was quivering, every muscle put to work to drive himself – and her – harder and harder.
Sasha could feel the wave of her orgasm building within her, flaring like heat in her belly. She cried out every time Joe pushed into her, unable to stop herself. Her body felt alight with pleasure, every thrust sending her closer and closer to the edge.
“Please, Joe, please…”
She didn’t even know what she was asking him for, except that he never stop what he was doing, that he keep taking her, just like this, forever and ever, or until they both collapsed from exhaustion. Whichever came first.
The next time he thrust into her Sasha threw back her head, a soundless cry on her lips as pleasure suddenly surged through her, taking over her body, whiting out her vision, and blotting out her thoughts. There was nothing except this – nothing except this explosion of light and heat surging within her, making her forget everything but the way Joe made her feel, the way their bodies interlocked so perfectly together.
She wasn’t sure how long it took her to descend from the height of her pleasure, but when she did, her breath was still heavy in her chest, her fingers still curled tightly around the iron bars of the bedhead. Joe was easing his softening cock from her body, dropping kisses along the length of her spine as he moved away.
Slowly, Sasha rolled over onto her side to face him. Every muscle felt relaxed, even as she still tingled with pleasure.
“That was… that was…” she started to say, before Joe cut her off with a deep, slow kiss.
Wordlessly, Joe wrapped his arm over her shoulders, pulling her close to him. She could hear his heartbeat in his chest, and she closed her eyes drowsily, comforted by the sound.
“We should build a fire,” she murmured sleepily, snuggling in close against him.
“Mmmm.”
Joe didn’t sound like he was about to get up and do it, but Sasha felt too warm, cozy and safe against him to move either. And she was so, so sleepy…
Sasha yawned, letting herself give in to it. Joe was here. And that meant nothing else could be wrong.
Mate. He’s my mate. Strong, fierce, protective... and gentle.
Sasha shivered as Joe’s fingers stroked over the back of her head, soft and tender. For all his size and protective instincts, Joe was gentler than any man she had ever known. And she knew that above all else, this was what she valued in him. Big strong men were a dime a dozen where she came from. But ones who would use that strength only to protect…
… That was something rare and precious.
With the sound of Joe’s deep, slow breaths in her ear and his heartbeat against her cheek, Sasha slept.
Chapter Eleven
Joe
Joe felt sluggish the next day when he woke up, his limbs heavy with fatigue.
Groaning, he supposed he really should have expected it – the long run, the fight, his injuries… and then, after he’d come back here to the cabin with Sasha…
Joe swallowed. Well, that might not have been the most responsible thing he’d ever done in his life, considering that he should’ve been conserving his energy to heal.
But by God, had it been worth it.
Joe pulled in a quick breath as he remembered how warm Sasha’s body had been beneath his, how desperately he had wanted her – and how desperately he had wanted her to feel that she was safe now. He’d wanted her to forget about Colfax and Larssen and the rest of the Blackwood Pack, as well as anything else that had ever cast a cloud over her mind. She was with him, now. And he’d never let anything hurt her ever again.
Maybe he had wanted to reassure himself, too, Joe realized. To feel her and touch her and taste and smell her, and assure himself that Sasha was here by his side again, and that she wouldn’t be going anywhere – at least, not for now. She accepted him for who he was. What he was.
Moving over on the bed, Joe reached out a hand, seeking Sasha’s warm body… and then sat up abruptly when his hand closed around nothing but empty air.
The panic subsided as soon as it began, however – Sasha was standing only a few feet away from him, loading a small log into the stove. The cabin was already toasty warm. She must’ve been awake for a little while, building the fire up.
“Good morning, sleepy head,” she said, turning to smile at him as he sat up. “Or it might be afternoon, I’m not sure. But you’ve been sleeping for a while.”
Joe nodded, scratching his fingers through his hair a little sheepishly. Moving his arm a little as an experiment, Joe found that he could move it relatively free from pain – it wasn’t completely healed, but it was certainly on its way.
“That’ll be the healing,” he said, sitting up a little straighter on the bed. “It takes a lot of energy. Along with everything else that happened last night.”
Joe caught the tail end of Sasha’s heated glance before she leaned down to pick up a fire poker. She licked her lips, and Joe was pretty sure the flush in her cheeks was from more than just the heat of the fire.
With her cheeks and lips flushed pink against her pale skin and her dark hair falling in soft tendrils over her face, Joe honestly thought she had never looked more beautiful. And perhaps now because he knew she understood him fully – that she knew that they were mates and fully embraced their mated bond – he was able to see her properly now too. A mated bond went far beyond the physical, after all: they were linked in their minds – in their souls.
Joe didn’t know if anyone had ever really explained why or how shifters bonded to their mates, but he did know that he’d never felt anything like it before in his life. Sasha was his, just as surely as he was hers. Every cell in his body, every fiber of his being told him it was true. They belonged together.
“Should we start to head back?” Sasha asked, as she closed the stove. “I don’t want Mason and Charity to worry about us. We’ve been gone all night, after all.”
Joe nodded. “We should. Maybe I should’ve gone straight home last night.”
“You were exhausted,” Sasha said. “You needed to rest.” A small, wicked smile crossed her face. “Though you ended up having more energy than I thought you’d have.”
Joe couldn’t help but laugh a little. “Probably not the best idea I’ve ever had.”
“I don’t know – I thought it was all right.”
Joe laughed as he swung his legs over the side of th
e bed. Sasha walked to him, standing between his knees, looking down at his face. All hint of humor had left her expression now – her dark eyes were serious as she ran her fingers through his hair, her thumb tracing light circles over his temple.
“I was so frightened that I’d lost you,” she whispered after a short time. “I thought that… I don’t know. I thought that Colfax and Larssen were going to kill you.”
Joe swallowed as he looked up at her. “They might have – if you hadn’t been there to save me.”
Blinking, Sasha licked her lips, her breath a little shaky. “If it hadn’t been for me, Colfax and Larssen never would have even come here. I was the reason you had to fight them in the first place. If not for me – ”
“Stop with that,” Joe interrupted her, raising his hand and cupping her jaw. “I mean it. You’re my mate, Sasha. We were meant to find each other. And I’d fight ten thousand more Colfaxes and Larssens and whoever else too, if it meant you were at the end of it. Don’t ever doubt that.”
Sasha looked down into his eyes as if she was studying them, trying to memorize every detail. “Will you explain more about… what being a mate means?” she asked him, after a long pause. “Because… I know you’re right. I can feel it in my bones. Every time I look at you, it’s like… I don’t know. Like everything in me is telling me it’s right. But I feel like I have a lot to learn. About shifters. About everything.”
Brushing her cheekbone with the pad of his thumb, Joe nodded. “Of course I will. I’ll teach you everything I know. And you can talk to Charity, too – she’ll have experienced the same thing as you. She’s a human, mated to a shifter. My other cousin, Heath, has a human mate too. I’m sure they’ll both have things to share with you.” A small smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “But no gossiping, okay?”
He could see a laugh welling up inside Sasha, and she shook her head. “No promises on that score.”
“I suppose I’ll just have to accept that.”
Standing, Joe leaned down and kissed her. Her lips molded perfectly to his – her mouth, when she opened it, was warm and eager, drawing his tongue inside.
She truly was perfect, Joe thought as he drew her into his arms. In his chest, his lion closed its eyes, content, relaxed, and happy – the first time it had been anything less than agitated for the past few days. The rumble it made as it purred was the sound of a lion who was truly at peace with the world.
Reluctantly, Joe pulled back, groaning slightly as he did so. He already missed the feel of Sasha’s lips against his.
“We should head back,” he said. “Like you said, I don’t want my dad and the others to worry.”
He might have continued, but he was interrupted by the sound of a truly vicious rumble from his empty belly.
Sasha laughed – a sound of pure happiness. When she looked at him, her face was clear, and totally free of worry. She looked as if some massive weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
“Well, and I suppose we should do something about that,” she said, grinning.
Joe laughed. “Well, it’s like I said – healing is hungry work.”
“Do you have clothes here?” Sasha asked. “Or would it be better for you to shift?”
Joe frowned, moving his arm again. He’d taken several deep bites from the bear’s teeth in his shoulder – which Colfax had taken full advantage of, sinking his wolf’s fangs into the same place, over and over again. The flesh was knitting, there was no doubt about that. But shifting in the middle of a heal was never a great idea – and Joe had already shifted twice. It would slow them down, but he didn’t want to risk doing it again. Even shifter bodies had their limits.
“I keep some clothes in a trunk out here,” he said, moving away from Sasha and heading over to the cupboard along the side wall of the cabin. “Just in case I ever get caught short, and I need to shift in a hurry.”
Sasha laughed lightly. “Yeah. I can imagine a lion in the middle of nowhere out here might be a little hard to explain. Do you think anyone would believe it? Somehow, I doubt it.”
Joe grinned as he pulled a shirt on over his head. “Not a theory I want to test.” He reached into the trunk. “Here – there’s a spare pair of boots you can wear, too. Not ideal, but they’ll do.”
He dressed quickly, shrugging on a light jacket over his shirt, before tugging on some jeans and boots. His stomach rumbled again, more insistently this time. Joe felt like he could eat a horse. He hoped there’d be enough food in the house to sate him.
Watching as Sasha bent over to check that the fire had burned down to embers, Joe felt another, perhaps even more urgent desire rise in his belly. Perhaps it had been the fight, or perhaps it was the knowledge that Sasha truly was his mate now. Either way, it had re-awoken his smoldering desire for her – not that it had ever truly gone away.
But now… by God he wanted her. Her luscious curves and full breasts, the sensuous arch of her hips – none of it could be hidden beneath the big t-shirt, man’s jacket and old sweats she was wearing. Joe knew he’d find her unbearably hot in anything.
“Ready to go?” he asked her, forcing himself to focus on the task at hand.
Perhaps she detected the undercurrent of heat in his voice, because she glanced at him, her tongue running lightly over her lips in an unconscious movement of desire. “Whenever you are.”
Soon, Joe promised himself – and Sasha. Soon they’d be together, without anything else to make demands on their time. Soon they’d simply be able to be in each other’s company, without any thought of danger or fear or misunderstandings crowding their minds. Soon they could take their time just to be together, and to truly explore the full extent of their mated bond.
The air outside was cold, and the snow was still falling when they opened the door of the cabin and stepped outside. Sasha shivered a little, and Joe put his arm around her, drawing her into his warmth.
“Will you be okay?” he asked her as they trudged out into the snow, their boots crunching against the newly fallen flakes.
“Of course,” Sasha said, looking up at him, as the wind swirled around them, weaving white crystals through her dark hair. Her smile was brilliant, and Joe felt his heart pounding in his chest. “As long as you’re with me, I’ll always be okay.”
***
They made good time back to the main house.
Mason was flipping tortillas in a pan as if they were pancakes when they walked through the door, piling them up in a towel on the counter.
“Smelled you coming,” he said with a grin, by way of explanation. “And I figured you’d be hungry. But I’m afraid I’m your chef for today, so don’t go expecting great things.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Charity said from the living room, where she had her feet up, her hands clasped over her belly. “He does fine. He could already make a decent breakfast burrito when I met him. I’ve just refined his technique.” She winced as Mason threw a tortilla up in the air again, before catching it in the pan. “Though I wish you’d stop doing that.”
“Hey, you do it your way, I’ll do it mine,” Mason said. “Anyway, it’s easy to make good food when I’m working from leftovers.”
Joe breathed in deeply, inhaling the scent of potatoes, eggs, beans, red onion, green chilies, chicken, and hot, fresh coffee… in short, everything to keep a hungry lion happy.
“There’s plenty of carbs and protein there, Joe,” Mason said, speaking carefully. “I thought you might need it. If you’re healing.”
Joe glanced over to where Mason stood behind the counter, the pan still in his hand. In between his hunger and the gentle teasing between his cousin and his mate, Joe hadn’t even been thinking about the fact that neither of them knew what had happened last night.
A little guiltily, Joe finally caught the scent of tension in the air – tension, and overwhelming, burning curiosity.
“I’ll tell you everything, I promise,” he said, just as his stomach let out another low rumble. “But… over brea
kfast. Deal?”
Mason laughed. “It’s a deal.”
“Let me give you a hand with that,” Sasha said, leaving Joe’s side to come into the kitchen. “Joe, you take a seat. It’s like Mason says – you have healing to do.”
Joe opened his mouth to argue, but seeing the look in Sasha’s eye, he quickly shut it again. She wasn’t taking no for an answer on this.
“Charity, you wanna come join me at the poor unfortunate souls table?” he asked, extending his hand to her.
“I may as well,” Charity laughed, easing herself up carefully, supporting her back as she walked.
The plates of food covered the table by the time Mason and Sasha had carried them all out of the kitchen – but they disappeared just as fast. Joe could honestly say he’d never felt so hungry before in his entire life. No matter how much he ate, his body kept asking for more, more, more. But as he ate, he felt his strength returning, the sluggish feeling in his limbs sliding away. With fuel in his belly, he could feel his body healing faster – there’d be a bit of damage left when the day was done, but he’d be good as new by tomorrow morning.
“So Joe,” Mason said once they’d eaten for a while. “Are you gonna keep up your end of the bargain?”
Swallowing, Joe nodded. “Yeah. I guess I’d better.”
Before he could say more, he was interrupted by the sound of the front door of the house opening. Joe turned to see his father standing there, one hand resting on the handle, the other leaning heavily against the doorframe.
For a moment, the two of them simply looked at each other. His father’s face had never betrayed much emotion, but Joe swore he saw something flash in his dark gray eyes, before he leaned down to unlace his boots.
“All figured out then, son?”
Joe swallowed heavily. “All figured out.”
Lincoln came to join them at the table, pouring himself a huge mug of black coffee, listening as Joe related the tale of the fight. He wasn’t sure how much he should tell – he’d never been a good storyteller, and didn’t especially enjoy having all eyes at the table on him. But he figured the barest details should just about do it – there was no need to get into all the nitty-gritty, or get theatrical about anything.