by Aliyah Burke
Fuck, it was a turn on to know he’d put her in his bed once already. Perhaps this was more than thank you sex.
She scrambled to her feet and began undoing her boots only to have her hands brushed away. He crouched beside her, taking care of that for her. Each time he looked at her, she swore part of her soul went to him.
That doesn’t even make sense. Yet, on the other hand—it did.
He removed her boots, her socks, and rose up to stand before her.
Her fingertips burned to touch him, explore that chest, and lick each defined muscle. He reached for her shirt and she almost moved to stop him but his look halted her.
“Stop thinking you’re not fucking beautiful, Cee Cee. You are. I look at you and my cock gets hard. Hell, I thought about what it will be like to fuck your breasts and I damn near came in my pants.” He undid the first button on her shirt.
She didn’t stop him. Didn’t want to stop him. Wanted him to follow up on his words with action.
He undressed her slow, taking his time and murmuring to himself about how he enjoyed what he was seeing. When she stood naked before him, he smiled as he raked his stare over her.
“What?” She went to cover herself, anger spiking.
He halted her action and drew her to him so her breasts were smashed against his bare chest. “Since I met you, I had wondered if you kept your pussy bare or not. Now I know.” He slid a hand over her neatly trimmed pussy hair.
She shifted, widening her legs, wanting him inside her. Needing his touch.
“All in good time,” he said as if he could read her mind, then he claimed her mouth.
He knew what he wanted and took it. His tongue surged deep between her lips and he rumbled deep in his chest as she sank further into his touch. Callused hands moved along her skin, he cupped and rolled her stiff nipples before breaking off the kiss and claiming her left breast.
“Yes,” she hissed, arching her back, pushing deeper into his magical mouth.
Back and forth, he went between her breasts until she couldn’t stand on her own. His arm around her back was the only thing holding her up. Still, he didn’t relent, not even having to support them both.
She sank her fingers deep into his silken hair and held him close to her. Her pussy clamored for a touch but he hadn’t made a move for it since his initial, all too brief one.
He moved her until the backs of her knees hit the bed. “Sit.”
She listened. He sank to his knees before her, mouth back around one breast while he played with the other, pinching the tip, eliciting more moans from her.
She shifted on the bedding and reached for him.
He pulled away. His eyes were dark with hunger and lust. A heady feeling for sure. He parted her legs, took a deep breath and released another growl.
Goosebumps exploded along her skin at that deep vibrating sound.
Kent moved a finger between her lips and she gasped as he brushed her clit before moving on. Up and down, circle her bundle of nerves, then continue on again.
Sweet merciful heavens this was amazing but damn it, she wanted him inside her. Deep. She gripped his wrist and halted him when he went to move from the entrance to her slit. “Inside.”
He watched her, his eyes this side of feral.
Gazes locked, she couldn’t move if she had to, he lowered his head to where she detained his hand. Her heart slowed as his tongue peeked out from his mouth and touched her. He pushed it inside her and she came instantly, coating his tongue. He licked all he could until she stopped coming then he pushed two thick fingers inside her.
She came once more, her tightness gripping his fingers. She screamed his name as he sucked her clit into his mouth, grazing it with his teeth. Only then, did he look away from her and push his face deeper between her legs as she collapsed back onto the bed. He placed her legs over his shoulders,
Cee Cee gripped the blankets and held on for the ride.
Chapter Six
Kent’s cock was about to punch through the denim restraining it. He knew he should undress, should free it, and stroke it as he continued to enjoy his mate’s taste and screams. But he didn’t want to take his hands off her curvy body. Hands beneath her ass, holding her up to his mouth as she dug her heels into his back. The way her strong thighs clamped around him, keeping him there. Not that he had any intentions of going anywhere.
He loved the sound of his name rolling off her tongue, muffled though it may be.
Her pussy gripped his fingers like they never wanted to let him go and he wanted to have his cock buried deep inside her. A flick of his tongue over her clit and he slipped his hands from her ass, he swiftly undid his pants and shed them, his cock springing free.
Licking his lips to get all he could of her taste, he moved up her body, kissing her belly, each firm breast, and chin before he made it back to her mouth.
She opened beneath him, resting her feet on the mattress.
He placed a hand by her head and rose up over her. Cock in hand, he swiped it up her slick opening, her juices coating him.
She watched him, flecks of amber in her pale green eyes that sparkled with her desire. Her chest rose and fell with her expedited breathing and he
Yes, he felt smug for being the cause. Arrogant as well.
Positioning himself at her entrance, he waited for her to shift against him. Her eyes fluttered closed but he tsked. “Watch me, Cee Cee. Watch me fill you with my cock. Watch me as I claim my pussy.” He lowered closer to her mouth as he pushed deep inside her with a single, smooth stroke.
“Fuck,” she moaned.
One he echoed, wholeheartedly. “Jesus Christ, you’re so fucking tight around my cock.”
Her teeth peeked out as she captured her lower lip and tried unsuccessfully to contain her moan. “Kent.” She reached for his right shoulder and the mark of his beast.
When she curved her fingernails into him, his cat could feel it even more directly and its pleasure amplified his own.
Back and forth, he set a slow, constant pace. While he longed to pound into her, he couldn’t for he wouldn’t last and that wasn’t how this was going to go. She would come again first.
Unfortunately, his cat had other ideas and shredded his control. With a low growl, he pulled out of her, flipped her on her hands and knees, lifted her back to him, and slammed home before she could get a word out.
Cee Cee pushed back into him, taking all he had, and wriggling her ass as if asking for more.
Curving a hand around her, he found her clit and pinched it. Her low keening cry was music to his ears. Fangs descending, he thrust into her with unrelenting strokes. She never once asked for quarter but met him with passionate cries and undulations of her own.
The ripples of her pussy as it milked his cock while she came pushed him over the edge. He sank his teeth into her, the same place he’d bitten her as a cat while a low roar escaped his throat as he filled her with his cum. When he had released it all, he let go of her, swiped his tongue along the wound, and ran his tongue down her spine until he placed a kiss at the base.
She sank to the mattress beneath him, body trembling.
“Are you okay?”
“Don’t ask me to move.”
He smiled. “Wouldn’t dream of it. I still have plans for this body.”
Night had fallen and they lay curled together in his large bed. He was behind her, arms around her, holding her as tight as he could without making it uncomfortable for her. She’d wanted to put her hair up but he didn’t want her to, he loved the feel of it brushing along his skin. It was an extension of her.
A cool breeze blew in from the outside, over his heated skin. On it came the rumble of an engine. He didn’t get many people out here so immediately, he was on alert.
“I h-hope that’s not your wife or g-girlfriend driving that old truck.”
How had she known it was an old truck? He knew because he knew the driver and that man’s vehicle.
Despite the forced humor
in her question, he could pick up on the fear. “Did you already forget what I told you earlier?”
“About what?”
“Making you mine.”
She shivered and he placed another kiss over the healing wound on her shoulder. He had to tell her he was a shifter and now she would be as well.
“Words during sex don’t necessarily m-mean anything.”
“They did in this case. Make no mistake, Cee Cee. You and I belong to each other now. There will be no others for either of us.” He kissed her once more then lifted her from the bed and carried her to the shower. They’d dried off and were dressed as the headlights swung over the front of the house.
She looked nervous and he didn’t like it. He knew she was safe here and the one coming wouldn’t harm her, nor even attempt, but she didn’t know that. He wrapped her in his embrace. “You’re safe. This is a friend.”
Her fingers fidgeted with the hem of her shirt as she began tucking it in her pants.
As he went to the door, he realized the camera was her armor, her confidence.
Outside light on for his guest, he swung the door open and waited.
The man wore a harried look on his face. The general stepped in, stared over his shoulder as his mouth opened, shock all over his expression.
“Crystal?”
“Uncle Reggie? What are you doing here?”
Kent flicked his gaze between the two of them, realization slamming into him as to who he’d claimed as a mate and he swallowed the large lump in his throat. This wasn’t good. They were both wet from the shared shower and General Varitus wasn’t a fool, he would figure it out soon enough.
Sure enough, that sharp assessing gaze swung to him and narrowed, taking in the damp hair and shirtless body. “What the hell are you doing sleeping with my niece?” he thundered, stepping toward him, fists clenched.
While Kent respected the man, he wasn’t anyone’s bitch. As an alpha, he responded by moving closer. “Mind your tone,” he warned.
“This is why you couldn’t come help me? Because you were shacking up with her? She’s the one who was injured? You said a cheetah bite. Tell me you didn’t put it there.”
Chapter Seven
Cee Cee blinked a few times, trying to follow the conversation. Kent knew her uncle? And why the hell was he implying that he would have been the one to bite her?
Then again, how the fuck does Kent know it was a cheetah who bit me? He wasn’t there. Was he?
She and her uncle barely tolerated one another. So, if he was interested in this there was only one reason for it, he thought he could get money for it or some experiment for the military. She avoided him at all costs, especially if he was anywhere she was. She would leave first, knowing the all-important general wouldn’t dare let a mere woman chase him from any place. Especially his fat, stuttering, embarrassing to be seen around niece.
Needing her camera more than ever, she inched back only to freeze when he slammed her with those cold blue eyes. She clenched her jaw, so it wouldn’t chatter. He’d always scared her. Loud. Big. Threatening.
And he’d never liked her. When his brother had been dumb enough to sleep with her mother and gotten someone beneath them pregnant, it had all gone downhill from there. It wasn’t that he gave a damn her father had fucked her mother; it was that her father hadn’t been smart enough to wear protection.
He’d pretty much disowned his own brother, especially when her father refused to leave them and return home. It had all gotten worse from then on.
“Come here,” her uncle demanded.
She couldn’t fight him and stepped toward him only to find Kent in her way.
“She’s not going anywhere with you unless she wants to.” He put his warm gaze on her. “Look at me, Cee Cee.”
“Don’t call her that horrid name. Get out to my truck, Crystal!”
She didn’t know what to do. That wasn’t true. She did know. She had to go with him because Kent wouldn’t want her. Uncle Reggie had a way of making people always come around to his way of thinking which would be that she wasn’t good enough for a man like Kent.
“You don’t have to go.”
“I do,” she mumbled. “You don’t know him like I do. It’s best this way. I don’t want him to hurt you.” Digging deep, she forced a smile. “Thank you for saving me. Say goodbye to the boys for me.”
He reached out for her but she avoided his grasp. Swiping her bag, she shuffled out the door, head down and flushed cheeks with her uncle’s disapproving glare. Loud voices were apparent but as she slid into the passenger seat, she couldn’t hear them any longer.
She fiddled with the strap on her bag, debating if she should just get out of the truck and walk into the wild and let whatever find her out there do with her as it would. It would probably be easier on all. She was just so damn tired of being a disappointment to people.
If I do that, who will speak for the animals? That’s where she drew her strength. She would persevere and return to doing what she loved. It began with wolves and moved on to cheetahs.
The front door slammed and she snuck a peek to see her very large, extremely angry uncle coming in her direction. A low growl emanated from his lips as he sank behind the wheel. “I can’t believe you did this to me.”
“I-I’m sorry.”
“I had a dinner to attend tonight but instead, I’ve been out all damn day looking for you because you never returned to your hotel and got back in touch with that spineless excuse of a brother I have.”
“D-don’t talk about my father like t-that.” She wiped at her eyes, furious how her stutter was getting worse. “He’s a wonderful man.”
“He should have left you and your whore mother in the gutter where he found her.”
The first angry tear splashed on the back on her hand. “Then w-why did you bother coming? Y-y-you could just tell them a cat killed me. Then you c-could wash your hands of me f-forever.”
“Is that what his bite did to you, gave you a spine, a backbone? I mean you’re still a stuttering little bitch but you’ve never had the balls to stand up to me before.”
She hadn’t and while she longed to snap at him, defend herself, she never did. “Why would a bite do that?” This was the second reference to that and she didn’t get it, just like she hadn’t understood why he’d been so angry when he thought Kent had done something to her.
The truck skittered around a corner and she slammed into the door, wincing as she was reminded by more than just words of the wound on her shoulder.
“Never you mind. I’m putting you on the first plane back to the states I can and you will never set foot on this continent again.”
Her heart shattered at the thought of never being able to see the cats running free. “No.”
His laugh was anything but amusing. “I wasn’t asking. I was telling. Sit there, shut up and do as I say.” The man leaned over her and slammed down the lock. “Not that you have a set to jump but on the small chance you do, I don’t want that to happen. I have plans for you. You’ll live the rest of your life in a facility, so we can learn about you and see if that bite is going to turn you into one of his kind. And if so, we will breed you to make our own race of soldiers.”
His kind? She tried once more to unlock the door as fear poured through her. His maniacal laugh was the last thing she heard before he clipped her unconscious.
When she woke, she was strapped down on a gurney with three men in lab coats staring down at her.
Beyond them and the bright lights, she saw her uncle standing there, a deviant expression on his face. Inside her, something fought to get out. It ripped at her but she didn’t understand it and did her best to fight it.
I’m coming for you, Cee Cee. Hang on. For me. Hang on.
Kent’s deep husky voice moved through her, calming the panic and she listened to him. All she had to do was hold on for a bit longer.
Chapter Eight
Kent ran on pure rage. The man he’d respected for s
o long was nothing more than an asshole. And he’d frightened Crystal. For that alone, he should kill him. The only reason he let them go was the man held out a detonator and said his truck was wired, one push and no more Cee Cee.
The second he left, Kent shifted and went out the back. He ran hard, having to rest as cheetahs couldn’t keep up their top speed for long. As a shifter, he could do longer than some but even he couldn’t run down a truck doing eighty on the African savannah. He did have the scent though, so the moment he caught his breath, he was off again.
Dawn was about an hour away when he came upon the old tin building by an airstrip. A plane was warming up and he knew exactly where this was going. It was the plane to take Cee Cee away from him.
A feral snarl ripped from deep in his chest as he scouted the area. They actually had guards on the outside. For him? He wasn’t sure but it didn’t matter. They would die, as would anyone else who got in the way and threatened his woman. His mate.
He paused at the edge of the tall grass. After this, there was no more cover for him to utilize. The guards would see him and sure, a cheetah was wicked fast but bullets were still faster.
His chance came when one of the men decided he needed to piss on a bush. He walked off a bit and seconds after he unzipped his pants, Kent took him down in cat form then shifted. He stripped the man and shrugged into his uniform. Weapon in hand, he tugged the cap low over his eyes and went back to the post he’d been on.
The other guard looked in his direction and gave a nod.
Kent returned it.
The large side doors opened and out poured more men. Ones in lab coats and some in uniform.
He hissed and waited. A bed was wheeled out and he found himself locking eyes with Cee Cee. Recognition flashed before she lowered her lids.
Good girl.
Kent waited until the general exited and he snuck up behind him, snagged him and put the muzzle to his temple. “Let her go.”