Releasing one of her breasts, she drew her hand down over her small curve of belly and straight for the spot that ached for her touch.
Or his.
Her fingers circled her clit slowly, drawing in the warm wetness. God, she wanted him inside of her. Over her, behind her, on his knees before her...
A groan escaped her lips.
The sound floated out, into the woodland.
And within the heavy brush, the cat froze, turned its massive head and saw her.
Valli inhaled sharply. Move. Get back to bed. Don’t let him see you!
But she didn’t listen to her inner voice. Not this time. Boldly, brashly, she remained.
The cat drew closer, eyes narrowed, nostrils flared, and she stared at it, her fingers now moving again.
For a moment, the cat stilled, drew up on his hind legs, tipped his head back and scented the air. In seconds, a growl unlike anything Valli had ever heard before rent the air. It was a feral, hungry, possessive sound.
And it nearly made her come.
Her eyes locked to his, to the puma, she whispered the words, “Blade, please.”
No doubt the male didn’t hear it, couldn’t. But his cat did. The massive creature started for her, paws pounding the earth, running with elegant, predatory grace, stopping only when it was a few feet away.
To shift.
It was like something out of a dream: man emerging from beast, stripping naked, coming at her highly aroused. Nearly flying to the window, his eyes closing and his voice rough as he said those four little words that made her breath catch and her heart sore.
“Can I come in?”
Chapter 7
Blade wanted her on the bed. Her back to the mattress. Her legs open. Her pussy glistening. And her clit pink and swollen.
But it was too damn far away.
The scent of her was crying out to him, begging for his mouth, his tongue, his teeth...
He eased her back against the wall and spread her legs with his thigh. Then he dropped to his knees before her. When his cat had seen her through the window, and when the scent of her self-pleasure had reached its nostrils, the puma had gone insane.
Mine, it growled.
Ours, Blade had corrected.
But there was no talking to the feline or trying to reason with it. Not from the male part of him, the part that wanted the very same thing.
“Did you hear me say your name?” she whispered breathlessly.
He glanced up, struck once again by her beauty. So tall, with long, exquisite legs, rounded hips, a curve of belly that housed his cub, breasts that made his mouth water, and eyes that humbled him.
“We both did,” he said with a hint of a snarl.
She smiled secretively. Sensually.
Desire raged through him and his hands went around her to squeeze her very fine ass. But his eyes stayed on hers. “What are you thinking, female?” he demanded.
She sucked air between her teeth and her nipples hardened. “I like it. Your cat.”
“Well, it likes you, too. More than you can ever imagine.” A growl rumbled in his throat, and he leaned in and kissed the top of her shaved pussy. “Valli,” he whispered against the warm, wet flesh. “If you don’t want me to devour you right now, make you tremble and cry out, tell me to get the fuck out of here and never come back.”
He waited. Dying of thirst, nearly going mad, he waited.
But she didn’t say a word. Instead, she reached for him, her fingers threading in his short blond hair, her palms finding the back of his head. And with a soft sigh, she eased him closer to her sex.
It was all Blade needed. He snarled with hunger, then ran his tongue up the seam of her pussy, just to get a hint of her on his taste buds. Goddess, he wanted to remember, he wanted to savor, his first time with Valli, with his ma—
Her groan of satisfaction drowned out his thought. That wild thought. That rogue thought.
That fucking delicious thought.
With one hand cupping her ass, he slid the other one down and slipped two fingers deep inside of her.
A soft groan escaped her and she gripped his head even tighter, her nails slightly scraping his scalp. The reaction made him crazy with lust and he buried his face in her, flattening his tongue on her clit, covering it completely. And with slow, methodical jerks upward, he urged her into heavy pants of desire and jerky thrusts of her hips.
Mine. All mine.
“Blade,” she rasped. “Oh, God.”
His marble-hard cock pressed against his belly as he ate her, his seed leaking at the tip. It was as it should be. He was a Pantera male. Taking his female. Feeding from her. Nourishing his body and soul as he pleasured his…
A strange shock of emotion washed over him and he released her, drew back from her drenched pussy.
His eyes lifted and once again he took in her beauty. Her eyes were wild, her lips were parted and her face was flushed. She was watching him, her brows furrowed, her breathing labored.
“What’s wrong?” she uttered. “Did I do something—”
“No, ma chère,” he said quickly, fiercely. “Goddess, no. You are the sweetest, most incredible gift.” His nostrils flared. “You have no idea...what this means to me. What you mean...”
His words faltered as his chest went tight with an emotion he’d never believed he’d ever possess.
Valli bent down then, crouched before him, her face close to his, her eyes searching his for answers.
“Talk to me,” she urged. “Please.”
For a moment, Blade wanted to rebuke himself. Pantera males suppressed emotion, especially ones that contained any sentimentality. But he feared if he didn’t allow this one, it would come out in ways that weren’t conducive to holding on to a female and a cub.
He reached up and brushed a stray strand of hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear. “This is the first time in many, many years,” he began, “that my hard cock spills its seed from true hunger and desire, not a medical procedure or drug.”
She gasped. “Oh, God, Blade.” She reached out and took his face in her hands. “I’m so horribly sorry. I should’ve never—”
“Valli,” he cut her off. “No. No, ma chère. You misunderstand my reaction. I’m not upset and I sure as hell don’t want to stop. I’m grateful. I want more. I want this to never fucking end. I want to touch you, kiss you, lick you, make love to you every day of my life.” His eyes met hers. “Don’t you see, female? Freedom is all the more beautiful because you’re in it with me.”
Tears filled her eyes. Wide, stunned, beautiful eyes. “Blade.”
He leaned in and claimed her mouth, as he wanted to claim her. As his mate. As the mother of his cub. Slow, drugging, passion-filled kisses that had his heart slamming against his ribs and his fingers finding her swollen clit once again.
As he stroked her, he took each moan into his mouth and played it with his tongue. The sounds she made and the scent that filled the air between them called out to his cat, and once again he was the predator, all softness gone. His one goal was to hear her scream with pleasure, and when it happened—when he took her there, his fingers playing her swollen bud until she cried out over and over, until sweet, wet cream soaked his hand, he finally knew true happiness.
And the truest hunger.
He stood up and swept her into his arms. “I’m taking you to bed, Valli.”
* * * *
Heart beating frantically, eyes pinned to the male poised above her, Valli felt a shocking sense of possessiveness. And who could blame her? Blade was truly a sight to behold.
Powerful, hard body...every lean inch of it...with wide imposing shoulders and a ruggedly beautiful face that spoke of ageless strength.
Her male.
And her child’s father.
The truth of both of those thoughts sent her hands to his chest, raking upward to his shoulders and around to his back, which was all ropes of sinewy muscle.
With one thick thigh, Blade eased h
er legs apart, and as Valli watched with breath-stealing excitement, he brought his massive cock to her pussy and entered her so slowly, inch by glorious inch, until she sucked in air. Until she was so was deliriously full she had no words, no thoughts.
Only hunger.
And need.
“Goddess, you feel like heaven,” Blade said, his eyes never leaving hers as he remained buried deep inside of her. “My heaven.”
Wrapping her legs around his waist, Valli pulled him even closer with a quick thrust. The movement made her gasp, then smile. She wanted to feel his weight on her, his mouth on her. She wanted everything. It was the strangest sensation. Almost manic.
And she loved it.
Blade’s expression was dark as he loomed over her. “I don’t want to hurt the cub.”
Her smile widened. “You won’t.”
He dropped his head and kissed her, soft and hungry. “Or you.”
She lapped at his lower lip with her tongue. “You never could. You promised, remember?”
“Always, Valli.” His eyes were deadly serious now. “Always.”
As he started to move inside her, every stroke, every deep thrust, a blissful surprise to her system, it was as though they were one—it was as though they were creating their child—their cub—in the real way. The way it should’ve been.
Eyes pinned to his, heat raged through Valli. Never had she felt like this, so taken, so filled. And yet so free. Blade wanted nothing from her but her pleasure, and he made her heart squeeze and her mind soften until all that was left of her were nerve endings and tight muscles and the groans of his pleasure in her ear.
Was this what women talked about in groups, bragged about to their less fortunate friends, searched for every damn day of their lives?
To be taken so completely?
Where every inch of themselves, inside and out, was hovering on the brink of utter and complete satisfaction?
The question died as Blade drove deep into her, then held there, As his mouth took hers, consuming her with slow, drugging kisses, he thrust up, settling his pelvis snug against her sensitive clit. In quick, small movements, he fucked both her pussy and her swollen bud. Over and over and over until...
Valli cried out against his mouth. It was too much. And yet not enough. Never enough. Blade. Her man. She gripped onto his back, her nails digging into his thickly muscled skin as wave upon wave of climax assaulted her.
Blade growled into her ear and nipped at her lobe. “Goddess, Valli, you’re so tight. The way you hold my cock… And yet, I need to stretch you further.”
“Yes,” she whispered, again and again as the last crashes of orgasm slashed through her.
Blade snarled and groaned as he thrust in and out, deep, so deep… “You’re mine, Valli! Mine... Don’t ever forget that.”
Never.
Eyes open now, Valli watched him, her magnificent beast, as she held on tight. His climax was so feral, his seed so deliciously hot she wished it was going down her dry throat. Filling her. Filling her in ways she could only have dreamt about before this night.
How had she thought life existed before now?
Before him.
Them.
And then he was rolling to the side and taking her with him. Still deep, still hard, still attached. Growling softly as he pulled her close.
Instantly, wonderfully, Valli curled into him, feeling—for the first time in her life—warm and safe. She never wanted to let go. She never wanted this feeling to end.
But as their bodies started to cool, a strange sensation crept over her, like a cool, damp blanket. Thoughts snaked into her mind...fears...of trusting this wonderful male. Any male, after what she’d seen and experienced as a child... Fears of not being able to give herself to Blade any more than she already had. With her heart and soul. No matter how much she wanted to. Fear that she was too damaged...to love him, her child...the way they deserved...
Stop. Just stop.
With a growl of her own, she pushed the dark negativity away, then shoved Blade to his back. She knew what she felt. Knew this was different and special. And she would not allow the devils of her past to steal her light, her rainbows...
Her glorious time with this man.
A slow smile on her lips, she crawled on top of him. He remained hard as stone, his cock standing up, glistening and ready for her again. Fire raged in his eyes as he watched her mount him.
Enjoy what’s being given to you, Valli. For however long it lasts.
But as she sank down on his marble length, took him fully, saw the puma flash in his eyes, everything inside of her whispered…
Mine.
Forever.
Chapter 8
Except for the daily medical checkup, they’d hardly left the bed in the last three days, and even now he wanted back in. Hell, he never wanted to leave her again. Not even for a second. But Blade had been called to Headquarters to report on Valli’s progress with Raphael. He’d had a brief, crazy desire to decline the invitation.
Thankfully, he wasn’t suicidal.
No one said no to the leader of the Suits. Not if they wanted to keep their manly parts intact. Besides, he understood Raphael’s need to be assured that the Healers had declared Valli healthy and untainted by the time she’d spent in Benson’s clinic. Not to mention to make sure the cub was growing well.
Done and done.
Now, as he stepped out of the sprawling Headquarters and shifted into his puma form, gliding through the cypress trees, he felt wonderfully alive and happy for the first time in as far back as he could remember. His large paws padded on the mossy ground with lethal silence, his tail twitching, while around him the wetland was stirring to life as the morning sun crested the horizon to spill a golden warmth through the thick canopy of leaves.
It felt glorious to release his cat, absorbing the magic that surrounded him. But as much as he enjoyed spending the morning running through the bayou, nostrils flared and on the hunt for prey, he had someone waiting for him at home.
Home.
For the first time in his life, his small cottage wasn’t just a place to sleep when he wasn’t traveling around the world.
Now it was filled with his female and soon-to-be cub.
He was already considering how he could build on a new kitchen and playroom, not to mention filling it with new furniture and frilly curtains.
Bypassing the communal center, he loped down the narrow trail, pausing to resume his human form before he was in sight of his cottage. Valli was starting to get used to being surrounded by people who turned into pumas, but he tried not to do it without warning her first.
The shift complete, he was about to walk through the thick foliage that surrounded his private garden when a male appeared from the shadows. One that always seemed to be spying on his ass as of late.
“You have a shit-eating grin on your face,” Hiss drawled. “I’m assuming that your female has decided you’re not the enemy?”
Blade arched a brow. Did he have a shit-eating grin? Probably.
It’d been attached to his lips since he’d claimed Valli.
“Let’s just say that I’m enjoying the process of convincing her that I’m one of the good guys.”
Hiss nodded. “And the cub?”
Warmth filled his heart. It happened each time he thought of the child growing in Valli’s belly. How could he be this lucky?
“Healthy, thank the Goddess.”
Hiss reached out to grasp his shoulder. “I’m happy for you, Blade. I truly am,” he said, sincerity glowing in his eyes. “You’ll discover a mate can soothe wounds you thought would never heal.”
Mate. The word whispered through Blade’s mind, touching a raw nerve that he’d been trying hard to pretend didn’t exist. His smile faded.
“Thanks.”
Hiss stilled, his grip tightening on Blade’s shoulder. “What’s wrong, mon ami?”
“Nothing.”
Hiss snorted. “Blade, I’m the one
person in the Wildlands who will never judge you,” he said in wry tones. “Lesson. Fucking. Learned.”
Blade hesitated. He didn’t want to talk about his inner fears. It was as if speaking them out loud would make them true.
Then he gave a small shake of his head. Maybe talking with Hiss would help alleviate the unease that felt like a lead ball in the pit of his stomach.
“I know that I can stir Valli’s passions,” he said.
Hiss studied him with an unwavering gaze. “A good start.”
“A great start,” Blade corrected. Just the memory of Valli’s lips skimming down his body last night was enough to send jolts of white-hot pleasure through him. “And I know that she’s devoted to our child,” he continued. More than once he’d watched as Valli had touched her swelling stomach, her face soft with an expression that belonged solely to a mother.
Hiss hesitated, as if wondering why Blade wasn’t dancing with joy. Then his gaze flickered toward the nearby cottage before returning to Blade.
“But you’re not certain she’s devoted to you?” he at last surmised.
Blade clenched his jaw. He was right. Speaking the words out loud did make them worse.
“How can you be sure with a human?” he demanded. “Our people are driven by a mating instinct. We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we belong together.”
He didn’t add that he’d been desperately waiting for some sign that Valli had committed herself fully to him. Even he knew he was being idiotic.
After all, what sign could she show him?
Writing him a sappy love song? Tattooing his name on her ass?
Still, it was just so…frustrating.
If she was a Pantera, he’d be able to sense if she’d given herself to the mating. But with a human there was nothing tangible to hold onto. And worse, he sensed that she was keeping a distance between them.
Not physically. She was as passionate as he could ever desire. But there was a part of her that remained elusively out of reach.
It was why he’d never used the word “mate” to her. Even though every time she kissed him, touched him...every time he was inside of her or fuck, just holding her hand as they watched the sunset on the porch, he’d wanted to.
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