He heard the front door slam, shaking the walls of his room. “Great, it must be time for the changing of the guards,” he grumbled. He wished they would just let him be. He was in too much pain now to move beyond the walls of the condo. Surely they could see it etched on his face.
To avoid whoever it was from coming into his room and disrupting his morose mood, he called out, hoping to stop them. “I haven’t moved since this morning. I’m not hungry and I don’t want company. Just go away.” He shoved a pillow over his face to block out the light in case they didn’t listen, which they usually didn’t. They claimed they needed to see for themselves that he was still okay.
Okay. He would never be okay again. Not unless MJ came home to him. If that didn’t happen soon, he would have to seek his own death. There was no way he was going to be able to handle the pain of being away from his true mate much longer.
There was a muffled knock on the door. Since it wasn’t the thud of one of the guys, he assumed it was Corrine. The door slowly opened, the bottom scraping over the carpet, sounding like nails on a chalkboard to him. “I said I’m good,” the words obscured by the pillow. He was sure she would understand him though. This was the same routine they danced to whenever someone felt it was time to check on him.
Instead of sweeping in the room at full speed, Corrine must have stood in the doorway. She was usually sitting next to him on the bed trying to get him to talk. He lifted the pillow an inch off his face and gasped as recognition assaulted his senses. Sweet vanilla musk. Tossing the pillow to the side, he bolted off the bed, only to be stopped short by the vision in the door.
MJ stood in the doorway; light glowing from behind, her face was shrouded in darkness. But was it really MJ? Or had he finally gone off the deep end and was imagining his deepest wish? “MJ?” he croaked out.
“Hi.” Her whisper soft, sweet voice rang out in the room. “Corrine told me I would find you here. I needed to see you, I hope that’s okay?” He saw a flash of white and knew she was nibbling on her bottom lip.
“Of course it’s okay.” Sam swallowed the lump in his throat and forced his feet to move. His need to touch her outweighing his need to know if she was returning to put him out of his misery one way or the other. If she were coming to tell him she was going back to Devon, he would die on the spot. Sure it was dramatic, but this pain and need had gone on too long unanswered.
His Tiger bumped and made his presence known. Hold on buddy, I see her. With each step that propelled him forward, the unending pain that ran through him slowly abated. Halfway across the room, though, he ground to a halt. His Tiger nudged him from within, urging him to keep moving. Wait! He demanded to the feline. There was something he needed. He needed her to make the move toward him.
Her head tilted to the side. He could imagine her forehead crinkled in worry. “Sam, are you okay?”
“I don’t know, MJ. Are you here to tell me you’re going back to Devon?”
She bit her lip and looked away.
Fuck! He wanted to scream and hit something. He wouldn’t do it though. He wouldn’t let her see the pain she inflicted on him. “I see,” he said dully, clenching his jaw so he didn’t say more.
She straightened her head. “What do you see?”
“You’ve come to tell me you’re going back to him. You still don’t believe we’re mates, or in me, or in my love for you. You still don’t think I’m good enough.”
MJ couldn’t stop from flinching. He saw it too. Sam’s jaw clenched and knuckles popped when he curled his hands into fists. She hated that she ever made him questions his worth. She was the unworthy one.
She took the steps needed to meet him in the middle of the room. The second she was in his personal space, the rest of the missing pieces clicked into place. She wanted to lean in and bury her face in his neck. Nibble on him and taste him. Let it all flow into her system. She did none of those things. What she did do was reach out and grab his fists. Rubbing her thumbs across his skin, trying to coax them to open. She kept her eyes glued to their hands.
“I have never said you weren’t good enough for me, Sam. I’ve always thought you were too good for the likes of me. I didn’t feel adequate enough, woman enough, or shifter enough to be worthy of your love.” She lifted her head and stared into his eyes. “How could you want to settle for a hybrid that got her family shunned from her father’s pride?”
Sam’s face screwed up in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
MJ tugged him toward the bed. “Sit down, please. There’s something I need to tell you.”
Sam obliged, the bed dipping with his weight as he sat. She debated whether or not to sit as well. It would be better if she did this standing. The slight distance from him would, hopefully, be enough so she didn’t get distracted.
Besides, when she opened the door and Sam’s musk whooshed out, she wanted to run over to him and climb on top. She had the craziest urge to rub all over him. At this point, she was barely able to resist. She would give anything to sink down on his lap and kiss him senseless. But there were things she needed to say to him before she told him her decision. One, she hoped, he would be happy with.
She threaded her fingers together to keep from reaching out. “Did you know my family used to live in my father’s pride before moving next door to you?”
Sam shook his head.
“We did. For fourteen, almost fifteen, years we lived in a little town in Ohio. The first eleven weren’t too bad. People generally left us alone. I didn’t look too different from the rest of the population. When the kids in school or in the neighborhood teased me, I just assumed it was because I was a little bigger than them; I didn’t fit the standard Lion shifter mold.
When I turned twelve, I went through my first shift. My parents took me to doctors and that was when they discovered I was a Liger. They knew it was a possibility because of the felines they were, but they hoped there would be a dominant gene and I would be able to pass myself off as either a Lion or Tiger.
They started keeping me home from school, my mother telling her friends I would do better being home-schooled. That I was slow and needed individual attention I just couldn’t get in school.
When I hit fourteen the real trouble started. There was a community picnic and we had to go. People would get suspicious otherwise. Anyway, it was in the late afternoon when a group of older boys, maybe sixteen or seventeen, decided to tease me. I got upset and I shifted. I didn’t mean to hurt anyone but one of them grabbed my tail, distracting me while another boy shifted and came at me from behind. He tried to mount me, but my Liger was bigger and I was able to shake him off. When I whipped around, I lunged and swiped at him, I just wanted him and his cronies to go away. I ended up catching him in the neck and doing some decent damage. The boy that grabbed my tail dropped to his knees to help his friend while the others ran off screaming and calling for help. My father came along with other male members, and they were able to get the boy the medical attention he needed.
Later, when the boys were asked what happened, they all claimed I started it, that I tried to entice this older boy and when he rejected me, I retaliated. I tried to tell them it was a lie, but there were too many against me. The Pride Elders held a special council and gave my father an ultimatum. Either he denounced his marriage, sending his wife and daughter away, or we would all be shunned. As you can guess, he picked us over them. There was never anything he wouldn’t do for his wife.”
Sam grabbed her hands, pulling her toward him and between his open thighs. His scent rushed up and she thought she would pass out. Hot licks of excitement raced out from where their legs touched. Her heart sped up and her lungs refused to fill with air.
“Breathe, MJ.”
Taking a couple of shallow breaths, she forced her body to calm down. “Thank you.”
The corner of Sam’s lip curved up into a small, lopsided smile. “No problem. What does all of that have to do with you being good enough? You were a child trying t
o protect yourself. If I were your dad, I would have ripped them apart. What that story tells me is that you have strength. You’re a fighter.”
“Yes, but that isn’t how my parents saw it. What they saw was the mistake they made. They realized that by bringing me into this world, they were setting me up for a harsh life full of rejection. The only way they could think to combat that was to toughen me up.
When we moved to Garden, I was repeatedly reminded that there was nowhere else we could go. While Garden is more progressive than most shifter towns, there was always the fear that The Guild would turn on us one day without notice. The Andersen family did us a favor by supporting us and, in a way, championing our living in the town. Apparently, my mother and Devon’s father were an item at one point and, please do not say anything about if they had hooked up, Devon could have been my brother. My cousin said it enough to last a lifetime and it weird’s me out.”
Sam’s hands that had been running up and down her legs…stopped. “Your cousin?”
“More on that in a second. My life from then on out was a constant reminder that I was different, that we owed the Andersen’s. Who by the way, I didn’t know. My parents liked to keep me away from them just in case other Guild members were around. I didn’t care that I wasn’t invited when they went out either.
I think without knowing it, my parents were reinforcing the idea that who I was, wasn’t good enough. They wanted me to pretend to feel things that I didn’t feel, they wanted me to act a certain way, talk a certain way, basically suppress who I was inside just so I didn’t look out of place. Not going with them meant I didn’t have to pretend and I didn’t have to think about what I felt. I didn’t have to analyze the inner workings of my mind.
The older I got, the more lost I became when I was around other people, except your sister. I was always more myself around Corrine. She made me comfortable with who I was. She didn’t see me as different, she just saw me as her friend. The longer I was around her, the more I was me.”
Sam pulled her down onto his lap and started stroking her back. “What about when you were around me? Did I get the real you that Corrine got?”
MJ smiled. “Oh no.” A bit of shock and sadness passed through Sam’s eyes. She wasn’t going to make him suffer more than she already had. “When I was around you, I was a hormone-filled, tongue-tied mess. You made my heart speed up and you sucked all of the air from the room. What you got was a girl who could barely say anything to you and when I did, it was mean and sarcastic. The ultimate shield for the feelings churning inside that I didn’t understand.”
Sam chuckled; pushing her hair aside, he put his face in her neck. She heard him sniff loudly and she barely suppressed the moan trying to escape.
Covering up the sound that almost got out, she cleared her throat. “Anyway, back to these feelings I had.” Sam nipped her neck and she nearly jumped off his lap. “Sam, you’re going to have to stop. There are things I need to tell you.”
He wrapped his hands around her waist, anchoring her to him. His fingers dug into her skin and she loved the possessive feel of the act. When he lifted his head from her shoulder, she was staggered at the depth of emotion hidden in his eyes. The outer ring glowed and the longer she stared into them, the brighter they got. Without warning, MJ found herself on her back in the middle of Sam’s bed with him on top of her. His body pressed into her from hips to feet as he balanced on his elbows. She felt his erection grow and she resisted the compulsion to squirm.
“Sam,” she gasped.
“Mary Jane,” he drawled. “Sugar, if you came here to tell me you were going back to Devon, you would have done so already.”
“But I wasn’t done talking, Sam. You need to understand,” she pleaded.
“I’m listening, sugar. I’m just a lot more comfortable now.”
Embarrassed that she had lost her train of thought so easily, she closed her eyes and whispered, “I don’t remember where I was.”
Sam chuckled. “Feelings, you were talking about feelings.”
“Oh, feelings.” Yeah, she was feeling a lot right now. Sam rolled his hips and she didn’t think he realized it. “Um.” Yeah, he just made her stupid. She had no clue what the hell she was talking about before.
The bastard apparently knew exactly what he was doing. “Why don’t you tell me where you’ve been the past two weeks?”
“Hmm…I can do that,” she mumbled. “I was in Steamboat. My cousin works out there and he got me a room. It’s very pretty. We should go there sometime.” She felt his hot breath on her lips and she couldn’t resist anymore. Lifting her head she kissed him. Damn, she missed those lips. He groaned as she slid her tongue over them, pulling back before they got too carried away.
“What were you doing there, MJ? You’re killing me right now. I want to know everything, but at the same time, I just want to get you naked and fuck you until you can’t move from this bed. I’m not letting you go this time. We’re mates. End of story.”
“I know.” She opened her eyes and it was his turn to gasp.
“MJ, your eyes. They’re glowing,” he said in amazement. He couldn’t believe it. Her beautiful blue eyes were brighter. The crystal blue changing to a deep blue and glowing around the edges. Just like his brown ones did when she was near.
It took him another beat to register what she said. “You know?” He pushed up onto his hands and stared down at her.
She giggled beneath him. “Yes, I know. That’s what I was doing these past two weeks. I found myself, Sam. I shoved away thoughts of my parents thinking they needed to repay the Andersen’s for their kindness. I refused to keep thinking that I had to do what they expected, what they needed. I concentrated only on me—what I wanted and what I felt. I ran through the woods with my cousin and got back in touch with my Liger. Sam, she missed me so much. She helped me see what my human side couldn’t. She helped me see that you are my mate.”
Sam almost couldn’t believe the words coming out of her mouth. Couldn’t believe she was actually here beneath him and not some figment of his imagination. He reached down and pinched her in the side.
“Ouch.” She slapped his hand away. “What did you do that for?”
“Just making sure you’re real.”
“Of course I’m real. And I’m sorry I put you through all of that, Sam. I couldn’t let you settle for someone not fully there. That’s why I decided to accept Devon’s proposal all those weeks ago. I thought I was doing the best thing for you by setting you free. Also, I would be making my parents happy and Devon and his kids happy. But I wouldn’t have been happy. I know that now.”
“And now?” He had to know. She still hadn’t said the words he needed to hear. The ones his Tiger and his human side were both craving.
MJ bit her bottom lip. He leaned down and licked the spot she was torturing. She tried to follow him when he pulled back.
“And now, the only way I’ll be happy is if I’m with you. If you’ll be my mate and the love of my life. If you’ll claim me, keep me forever and never let me go. Because I love you so damn much it hurts, Sam. I won’t survive without you. You are my world.” Her mouth kicked up into a cheeky grin and Sam wanted to attack. “Plus, my Liger needs your Tiger like her next breath depends on it, and I won’t have her unhappy ever again.”
The Tiger within wanted to roar almost as much as Sam wanted to stand up and whoop with joy, but that would mean getting off her in both circumstances. He settled for a long lingering kiss. “Well, we wouldn’t want your Liger to be unhappy.”
The front door slammed and his bedroom walls shook again. Sam looked to his open bedroom door and yelled out. “Go away. We’re gonna be a while.”
A female shrieked and deep male voices grumbled. Seconds later the front door slammed again. Sam stared down at his mate. His mate.
“We’re going to be busy for a very long time.”
MJ giggled again, throwing her arms around his neck, digging her fingers into his hair. Fuck, he’
d missed that. “I love you. Sampson Edward Hart.”
“I love you too, Mary Jane Poppy. You know we’re going to get married as soon as possible. There’s no way in hell I’m waiting until the next Gathering to make you mine forever.”
“Sounds like a stellar idea.”
Sam spent the rest of the day and night getting reacquainted with her body. Over and over and over again.
THE END
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
As a teenager Brandy would spend time at her Nana and Papa’s writing angst filled stories of unrequited love. All revolving around whatever cute boy she had a crush on at the time. The stories, which no longer exist, were a way to get out the emotions bottled up inside. After a time her interests changed and writing got left behind.
After rediscovering her love of reading, romance to be specific, story ideas starting popping up in her head. With some prodding from her friends she decided to try her hand at writing romance and has written around ten stories in various states of completion. With a plan in place she’s hoping to bring more of her stories to life.
Brandy is a Navy brat, prior enlisted Army, current Army wife, and mom. She lives in Washington State with her husband of 18 years, three kids and one dog.
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Or email her at: [email protected]
Now Available:
Craving More, Book 1
Claiming More, Book 2
Freefall:
Caught in the Moment, Book 1
Future Releases:
Tiger Nip:
Finding More, Book 3
Giving More, Book 4
Seeing More, Book 5
Freefall:
Too Much Trouble, Book 2
Preview
Claiming More (Tiger Nip) Page 17