He had seriously considered killing Darrin for a few short seconds. He hadn’t liked the way Darrin talked to or looked at Ciara at the Watering Hole. And he didn’t like that Darrin attempted to force himself on her. He wouldn’t have liked that fact if he had come upon it with any girl, but it had been Ciara, and Ciara belonged to him. Of that, Nate was certain.
The sound of tires crunching over his shell driveway caught his attention as he sat on the steps of his front porch trying to calm himself. Who the hell is here? It was close to midnight. After the scene at the Watering Hole, he’d hustled back to his house and shifted to human form, slipping on some jeans. When her scent wafted over him, he groaned in pleasure. He’d know that scent anywhere now. His cock immediately sprang to life.
An old white Toyota Corolla pulled next to his truck. He didn’t know the vehicle, but he knew the driver, and his pulse quickened. Popping up from the step, he walked over to her car. Her blonde hair was tangled from the drive with her window down, and her blue eyes lit up at the sight of him. His heart pounded against his chest. Something about this woman put him over the edge and brought him to his knees at the same time.
“You’re home,” Ciara said, sounding relieved. Her gaze raked over his half-clothed body, and her breathing hitched in her chest, clearly demonstrating just how he affected her.
“What’re you doing here?” he asked, leaning in her window and smiling down at her. His impulses wanted him to pull her out of the car and wrap her tight little body all around him, but after what happened to her tonight with Darrin, he didn’t want to frighten her.
“I came to see you,” she said softly, looking up at him through her lashes. She turned her car off and tilted to the side, pressing her lips gently against his. The feel of her lips against his set him afire. He moaned against her mouth.
Pulling back from the soft kiss, she stared at his eyes, looking hard at him with questions in her own eyes. She studied him, and it sent a bit of unease through Nate. No one knew he was a shifter. Panthers tended to be loners as it was, especially the males, so it had been easy to keep the secret. He almost never shifted except at night, and he’d never been spotted, at least to his knowledge. Oh, he’d heard tales from the townsfolk that one person or another had noticed a panther running through the brush or a boar carcass had been found mauled by the mysterious panther on the prowl. He’d chuckle to himself. His mother taught him how to control the shifting and when to do it. She’d made him feel normal when he was anything but.
Nate ducked his head from her window and opened her car door in an effort to avoid her gaze. He’d looked at her long and hard at the Watering Hole before he pounced on Darrin. If she’d had had a single mark on her body, he would have killed him. But his gaze may have given him away if the questions and recognition in her eyes were any indication. Offering her his hand, he helped her out of the car and brought her to him. His arms wrapped around her body and hugged her tight.
“What brings you here, baby?” he whispered against her hair.
“I needed to be near you,” she said, breathing him in. Her heart pounded against her chest, and he could feel it against him.
“I know the feeling. What’s wrong, Ciara?” he asked, tugging on her hair to tilt her head back. Waves of emotion swept through her eyes, and Nate didn’t know what to make of it, only that he felt it, too.
“Make love to me, Nate,” she said. “Please.” He lowered his head, pressing his lips to hers. His body came to life; his heart rate accelerated; his breath became ragged, and his cock hardened even more. He wanted nothing more than to make love to her, but he worried it was too soon after Darrin’s earlier aggression. He didn’t want to scare her.
“Are you sure?” he asked, pulling back and swiping a lock of hair behind her ear.
“I’ve never been surer of anything in my life,” she said, raising up on her toes to kiss him full on the mouth. Her tongue swept out over his bottom lip, and he growled into her. He lifted her off the ground, and her legs wrapped around his hips. He groaned again at the feel of her warm sex grinding over his erection, which strained against his jeans, as he walked toward the front door of his house. Ciara deepened the kiss, slipping her tongue in his mouth, exploring every crevice.
Opening the door, he stepped inside his foyer, kicking the door closed behind him. Though it was difficult with her wrapped around him and kissing him, he made quick time down the hallway to his bedroom. He pushed through the door and tossed her on his bed, climbing over her.
He looked down at her sprawled out over his black comforter, her blonde hair like a halo of gold around her head, her blue eyes sparkling. Her lips parted with each breath. He dipped his mouth to hers, kissing her roughly, his tongue sweeping in to taste her. Her hips lifted in an attempt to make contact with his.
“Ciara, are you sure about this?” he asked, looking down at her. A soft smile spread over her lips, and she nodded her head.
“Why do you keep asking me that, Nate?” She looked at him intensely.
“I just don’t want you to regret anything that happens between us,” he said, sincerely.
“I’ll never regret being with you, Nate,” she said with a sexy smile. Nate grabbed the hem of her Rays t-shirt and pulled it over her head. He groaned at the sight of her lacy white bra. Her rosy, pert nipples poked through the lace, and he couldn’t help but lean forward and envelope one in his mouth. Her back arched into him, and a moan ripped through her.
His hands unbuttoned and unzipped her jean shorts as his mouth covered her other nipple through the lace. Pushing on her shorts, she lifted her hips and helped him get the shorts down her body all the while his mouth drew hard on her nipple. He tossed her shorts on the floor of his room and pulled back from her body.
“You are so fucking beautiful,” he growled, his gaze roaming over her body. The scent of her arousal drifted over him, and for a few seconds he got lightheaded and his body started to tingle, like right before he shifted. Fuck! The idea of claiming her as his own was causing his body to react in more ways than one.
“Nate, I need to feel you inside me,” she whimpered, her hands cupping his erection through his jeans. He groaned at the feel of her hands on him. He quickly worked the fly of his jeans. Jumping off the bed, he pushed his jeans down his legs and stepped out of them. “Holy shit,” she said, propping herself up on her elbows, devouring him with her eyes. He’d had nothing on under his jeans.
“What?” he asked, grabbing a condom from the night stand drawer and tearing it open with his teeth. A smirk settled on his lips as she stared at him.
“You. Are. Amazing,” she said between pants. He chuckled as he sheathed his cock.
“No, baby, that’s you,” he said, separating her legs and burying his face between them. He lapped up her pussy through her lace panties before wrapping two fingers around them and yanking them from her body. What remained of her white lace panties fluttered to the floor, and Nate’s face was immediately between her legs again, drinking up the juices that flowed from her.
“Nate! Now, please,” she said. He hauled himself up on the bed and hovered over her body. His forearms rested on either side of her head, and his hips moved between her legs, rubbing his hard sheathed cock along her slick folds. Her body was more than ready for him. Pulling his hips back, he slammed into her in one hard thrust. She cried out.
“You’re mine, Ciara,” he growled, holding himself deep within her. The sounds that escaped him couldn’t be called anything but animalistic. “Do you feel that? Do you feel me inside you? This is where I belong. This is where you belong.” He allowed her body to adjust to his intrusion. Her inner walls gripped his cock so tight he was sure he wouldn’t last long. The feel of her wrapped around him was incredible.
Once he felt her pussy release somewhat to accommodate him, he pulled his hips back just a bit and then slammed himself home again. She arched her back with each of his thrusts. Rasps from her lacy bra tickled his chest as he drove into h
er repeatedly.
“Oh God,” she cried out. Her mouth hung open letting little pants escape her. Nate pressed his mouth to hers and kissed her deeply.
“You belong to me, Ciara,” he said, slamming into her body, devouring her mouth. “This is it. You. Me. Say it.”
“I’m. Yours,” she cried out against his lips. Satisfaction coursed through him.
“Yes, you are. Come for me, baby,” he said into her. “Come all over my cock.” His hips pistoned into her, nailing her to the bed. His mouth roamed over her neck, licking over her pulse point. His teeth nipped at her skin. Her fingers dug into his lat muscles, and he loved the tinge of pain mixed with the pleasure her body offered him. Her body went rigid right before he noticed her eyes lose their focus, and an almost inhuman sound fled her.
“Fuck,” Nate yowled. His teeth bit into her neck, breaking the skin. The sweet metallic taste of her blood trickled onto his tongue as his body moved of its own volition. His balls tightened, pulling up closer to his body. What felt like electric sparks shot out to every nerve ending. He felt like a live wire as his imminent orgasm reached its breaking point, and he burst into a million pieces, coming hard inside her.
Nate had fucked many times in his life, and he’d enjoyed every time. But nothing compared to this experience with Ciara. He’d never had such a mind-blowing orgasm or connection in his life. He felt as if he had completely come apart. For the first time since his mother passed, Nate felt at home … at peace.
Once their breathing coincided, he rolled over to his side, hopping off the bed and darting into the en suite restroom to discard the condom. He dampened a washcloth and went back to the bed to clean Ciara. A smile stretched across her face as he first wiped the small bite mark on her neck and then intimately wiped her sex clean.
Tossing the washcloth on the floor, he hopped on the bed and wrapped Ciara in his arms, pulling her into him. She snuggled her back into his front and sighed with contentment.
“You belong here, Ciara. You belong with me,” Nate whispered. “I felt it the moment you walked into the Watering Hole, and I feel it even more so now.” Ciara twisted over to face him.
“Something happened at the Watering Hole tonight,” she said, looking at him. Her gaze searched his face for recognition.
“What happened?” he asked, trying to play off what he already knew. He placed little kisses on her neck, over his bite.
“Uncle Jack let me out early, and I was going to head over here to see you. I needed to see you,” she said, a hint of yearning in her voice. “As I was leaving, Darrin cornered me and pinned me against the outside wall of the building. I was scared. I thought he was going to hurt me … or force himself on me. He was so angry that I was interested in you.” Nate’s heart raced as she recounted the events he witnessed from the wooded area. His hands balled into fists as she described her fear.
“Darrin’s family and I have our differences. They want me to sell them my land, and I refuse. Ever since I turned down their last offer, he’s been nothing but a prick to me. But that shouldn’t affect the way he treats you.”
“Well, he was pissed. And he said something that bothered me. He said you aren’t who I think you are. Basically, he said you use women. But then out of nowhere this panther shot out of the woods and attacked Darrin just in time. It was so strange.”
“What was strange?” Nate asked.
“The panther looked at me before it attacked Darrin like it was assessing me, like it knew me. It looked me in the eyes, Nate, and I felt like I recognized those eyes.”
“Recognized the eyes of a panther,” Nate said, with a forced chuckle, but his body tensed around her.
“Yes. They were the same eyes that are looking at me right now,” she said, acknowledging what she knew.
“Ciara,” he said sharply.
“What are you, Nate Thorne?” she asked. He expected her to be repulsed by the idea or scared by the thought that he could transform into an animal. But her eyes were warm and eager and accepting.
“I’m a panther shifter.” He exhaled. His arms slid down her side over her hip to rest on her thigh.
“A shifter? What does that mean?” she asked, moving her hand over his.
“I am part human, Ciara. And I spend most of my time in human form. But I can shift into a panther.”
“This all sounds so unbelievable,” Ciara said, warmly. “I thought this kind of stuff was just something you read in a book or saw in a movie. I didn’t grasp it could be real.”
“It’s real, Ciara. And there are likely many more like me, or at least that’s what my mother told me. I’ve never met another shifter. I used to live in southeast Florida until my father was shot by hunters. My mother and I escaped here and made a life for ourselves. I’ve felt lost since my mother died two years ago. At least I did until you walked into that bar and turned my world upside down.”
“Nate,” she breathed. “I’m so sorry about your parents.” Her hand cupped his jaw, gently caressing his jaw with her thumb.
“Thank you,” he said, kissing the inside of her palm.
“So it was you tonight?” she asked.
“Yes, baby,” he said, his eyes lowering to her mouth before making eye contact with her again. “It was me that attacked Darrin. And I don’t regret it. At all. But I am worried.”
“Worried about what?”
“Worried that you will fear me knowing that I can and do shift into animal form. Worried that it will change the way you feel about me. And I don’t know what I’d do if that happened. My mother taught me how to control it, Ciara. I’ve been controlling it for years.” His hand slid up the side of her body. He waited for the wince or fear in her eyes, but it never came.
“You have nothing to worry about, Nate,” she said softly. Leaning forward, she brushed her lips gently over his. A soft purr rolled up his chest, and she smiled. “You saved me tonight. You saved me the moment I walked into my uncle’s bar and saw you sitting there.” Her lips brushed over his again. “I’m not afraid of you. I know you’d never hurt me.”
“Ciara, I knew the minute you walked into the Watering Hole that you were mine. I felt it right down to my bones. I felt it in my soul.” He leaned over and kissed her softly on the lips. “You’re mine, baby.”
“Yes, Nate, I’m yours.”
The End
www.jessicajayneauthor.com
TATUM’S TIGER
London Saint James
Copyright© 2014
Prologue
Tatum Neill never gave much thought to what the awareness of death would be like, although in retrospect, she supposed she should have. Wandering through the murky middle ground of not quite evening and not quite darkness, surrounded by trees, listening to the twigs snap beneath her feet, Tatum imagined she should have given many things further thought. Especially when she figured out she couldn’t back up any further.
With her shoulder blades hard-pressed up against the trunk of an old tree, she came to the conclusion she had been herded like a lamb to the slaughter. Squinting, she tried to see what she sensed. Her gaze darted from tree to tree to tree. The fine hair on the back of Tatum’s neck stood on end as a beast broke through the brush, stalking toward her. Those things that go bump in the night were true.
The creature, which walked upright, stopped. It dropped to four legs where it stood within the shadow-dappled light, only a few feet away, and stared at her with eyes reflecting the fathomless black of midnight. By the stance alone, she knew an attack was imminent. With no weapon, fear gripping her, and nothing left to do, Tatum wrapped her arms around her stomach. Immediately her thoughts drifted to her mother. She’ll never know what happened to me. Tatum concluded she would become one of the many missing faces amongst the sea of missing people that she herself had read about on all those store flyers which littered the walls in town.
Unable to stop the reaction, Tatum jerked and screamed as a massive tree crashed down in front of her. It shook the ground
in a shockwave and created a partial barrier between her and the beast. Barely holding on to her sanity, Tatum realized a tall, pale silhouette of something not quite human stood on the knotted bark of the fallen tree. When it crouched, dark tangles of hair swished around its features, obscuring the face. One large clawed hand rested upon the ground. However improbable, the scene played out, reminiscent of a twisted horror movie, and when another dark beast formed from out of the shadows to the right of her, she knew her end was near.
Tatum wondered if she had snapped. Her life didn’t flash before her eyes. She didn’t think about all the things she should have done and didn’t get the chance to do. She didn’t even mourn the life she would be leaving behind. What did flash happened to be a snapshot of her mother with a distraught expression wrinkling up Violet Neill’s usually peaceable brow. She clearly pictured her mother as she frantically handed out leaflets to strangers with Tatum’s picture on them. Tatum even imagined the missing person flyer.
Have you seen this woman? Tatum L. Neill. 5’7”. 122 lbs. 25 years of age. Blonde Hair. Green Eyes. Last seen leaving the University of Oregon, wearing a red cardigan sweater and jeans.
Chapter One
Tatum stood at her kitchen sink, absentmindedly rinsing her coffee cup, looking out her window, intrigued by the man named Jericho who lived next door. As she had seen him do many times since moving into her new home, he was sitting on the rooftop of his house, staring out into the forest that encroached upon their neighborhood. She allowed her mind to wander to the first time she’d met him. He’d startled the crap out of her when he swooped in from nowhere and tugged her by the arm out of the woods, saying something puzzling under his breath about staying far away from the forest trails.
“Take the bus into town,” he’d said. His long fingers meandered down her arm, sending a sensation of electric heat across her skin. “It’s safer.”
Alpha's Claim Page 21