by Jenika Snow
The words played in his mind over and over again, ringing in his head like a mantra.
Air sawed in and out of him. He curled his fingers around her waist even harder, knew he’d leave bruises and claw marks. Roake stared at where their bodies were joined. The sight of his shaft moving in and out of her was the most erotic thing he had ever seen. Her pussy lips surrounded him, and her wetness coated his length. “Mine, Emma. You. Are. Mine.” Their gazes clashed together, and hers widened slightly. He was not letting her go, he was not walking away, and God help them both because of that.
The feeling of her inner walls quaking around him told of her imminent orgasm. He started pushing and pulling in and out of her even harder and faster. And then she cried out and came around him. Roake had been holding off his orgasm, but after seeing her come undone again he let it rise to the surface. “Look at me.” He wasn’t a human right now, but an animal that was going to mark his mate.
She stared at him with wide eyes, lips parted, and cheeks red. “Your animals, Roake,” she said, but the words were broken and soft from her pleasure. “They are staring right at me, Roake.” She wasn’t afraid, that he could smell.
“I feel so full, so stretched,” she said again and closed her eyes.
His lion and tiger had pushed his human aside, and although they were here right now, he still had enough control not to shift fully. As it was his claws were unsheathed, his canines were out, and he was purring like a motherfucker. He started pumping his hips faster, bottoming out inside of her, and feeling like the fire inside of him was about to burn him alive. He threw his head back, roared out as he came and filled her with his cum, and saw flashes of lights behind his closed lids. With the pleasure still coursing through him, he snapped open his eyes, felt his body start to grow and become thicker with muscle mass, and knew that this situation was intense enough that he could shift without any control.
“Roake…” There was shock in her voice, and no doubt she could see the change come over him. He growled low, a fair warning that he was going to mark her up good. Her animal was purring loud enough that it filled his head with the sweet sound. He looked at the long, slender arch of her throat, and his mouth watered.
“I need to do this.” He didn’t elaborate, but the scent that came from her told him she was ready, eager for it even. She tilted her head to the side, and Roake didn’t waste another minute. He dipped his head and pierced the soft spot where her shoulder met her neck. The sweet, tangy flavor of her bathed his tongue, and he growled out. He held onto her harder, pumped more cum into her sweet body until he felt it slip out of her, and let his saliva slip into her bloodstream.
Her long, drawn out cry had him lifting his head and watching her orgasm again. He slowed his pace and then pulled out of her. Roake still felt like he was on edge, and his animals were still right at the surface, refusing to go back. The selfish fuckers wanted a front seat to watch their mate come down from her high. He pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Roake couldn’t help but keep her close, especially not after what they had just done. He inhaled deeply, and let out a rough sound at the fact she smelled like him.
“You okay?” He felt her nod against his chest and kissed her atop the head. He felt so damn possessive of her, and it wasn’t because he had finally claimed his mate. It may have only been two days since he had met her, but for being a mated male that was a long fucking time.
“Do you feel any different?” she asked and leaned back to look at him. Her eyes had gone back to normal, and he scented her animal was sated and content.
“Different.” He didn’t phrase it like a question, because he knew what she meant.
“Yeah.” She glanced down, and he lifted her head once more with his finger under her chin. “You were adamant on leaving, and now I just want to know if anything changed in the … ten minutes.” She grinned, and for the first time in over a year Roake felt himself smile genuinely.
He searched her face, feeling himself pulled to her irrevocably, and already knew what his answer was before she even asked.
“Yeah, Emma, I feel differently.” And then he kissed her, telling her without saying the rest of the words that he had been fucking insane to think he could have walked away from her.
Chapter Nine
Emma stood in the archway of the living room, and stared at Jason and Annabelle. They were watching Toy Story, both of them eating bowls of Lucky Charms. God, they looked so easy in each other’s company, and although they were mates, it was clear Jason was trying to build a friendship first. How hard that had to be … for him to refrain from being with his mate.
“Oh shit, this is the best part,” Jason said around a mouthful of cereal.
Tubs was sitting next to Annabelle, and whatever part Jason was talking about came on. Both of them started laughing. It was cute, but then she saw Jason glance at Annabelle and Emma saw the deep-rooted need inside of him.
“We are sorry to interrupt the program, but we have an update on the explosion that rocked Sweet Water.”
Emma straightened, and she noticed both Annabelle and Jason did the same as the news report came on.
“We have just had confirmation that the underground building was actually used for the SIL in the eighties. We have been told that since its closure in the early nineties a radical group of shifters had been trying to purchase the bunker with no luck.”
The scent of fresh water and soap filled her head, and she glanced to see Roake stepping out of his room freshly showered. Maybe it was the look on her face, or the fact he had heard the television, but this dangerous expression covered his face. He had a white t-shirt in his hand and a pair of jeans that fit him to a T. She had just gone out yesterday and gotten him some clothes, because even if he could kind of fit into Jason’s, the man needed his own. He walked toward her, this deadly air around him. She shouldn’t have noticed how good he looked without a shirt on. God, these last few days had been very, very good. His tiger stripes stood out after his shower, and she had this image of her on her knees, her hands on his hips, and her tongue on those hybrid stripes. But she pushed all of that aside, because right now was about what in the hell was going on with them.
He stopped beside her, looked down, and she saw the way his pupils flashed. The scent of his need for her was always there now that he’d decided to forgo leaving her alone. They hadn’t talked about what exactly would happen between them, but she knew they needed to eventually. When the news anchor started speaking again he turned his focus onto the television.
“The SIL has commented that although they no longer used the bunker, and haven’t in over twenty years, they are working diligently in trying to find out the parties responsible for the bombing. No suspects have been named, and the bodies that have been found have been identified.”
The anchorwoman started speaking off several shifter names, none of which Emma knew. The scent of Roake’s anger intensified with each name that was said.
“Roake?” She lifted a hand and placed it on his forearm. It was so tense and hard it felt like stone. A muscle ticked under his stubble-covered jaw.
“I’m fine, Emma.”
She could tell in his voice and in the way he stood, that he was far from fine. She could tell that he was reliving his time in that underground hell, and when Annabelle glanced over her shoulder at him, Emma could see on her face that she was, too. He turned from her, but before he took a step away he faced her once more. They stared at each other, and despite the air being frigid because of Roake’s turbulent emotions, he still reached out and cupped her cheek in his hand. “Right now I just need to be alone, because if I stay here I’m liable to damage something.” He sounded hoarse from his emotions, and she didn’t answer, just nodded. This man was so different from other shifter males, and she knew it was partly because of his genes, but also because of his experience that had made him a male that had blood and violence on his mind. He leaned down and kissed her hard, but it was cold
, almost detached. As she watched him stalk out of the house, throwing the t-shirt to the side in the process, she honestly didn’t know if he would get the revenge he sought, and if he did how would it impact their lives? Would they ever be able to have a normal relationship, or were they doomed from the very beginning?
****
Roake stepped into the woods that were about a mile from the farmhouse. He stopped and turned to stare at it, and knew his little mate was right on the other side of those walls. Over the last few days he had grown stronger as his body healed, and now he was fully healed and ready to shift. He needed to fucking give into his animals or he was going to crawl out of his skin. Since taking her in the barn a few days ago, Roake had felt connected to Emma in a way he had never felt with another person. His life had been shitty, and until he had become an adult and could make his own way, he had been subjected to tormenting from not only the people around him, but the ones that had been called his family by blood. But Emma gave him this purpose, this desire to want to be a better person. He wanted to be that for her, but he didn’t know if he could change who he was on the inside.
What would she think if she knew that her mate had been this royally fucked up asshole before he was captured? What would she think if she knew the way he had been, the man that he had acted like? Roake had had a giant fucking chip on his shoulder, not only because his hybrid kind was looked at like they were another species altogether by some, but because maybe he thought he was owed something. Truth be told, he had been a motherfucker, using women because he could, getting into fights because he had thought getting his rage out with his fists was what he needed to do.
And now he had a fucking mate, one that was so damn gorgeous, kind, and took care of him when she sure as shit didn’t have to.
He had lived a very selfish and violent life, but what was really having his blood pumping right now was the fact that he wanted to tear apart those fuckers that were dead and rotting away all over again. It was his animals that wanted free, wanted to get this wild and aggressive side out to be free and be in his natural form. Instead of doing something he regretted, like going out and leaving his mate until he could find O and take the motherfucker down, Roake had gone into these woods to shift. He needed to run free.
The air had a nice breeze to it, and the sun was barely peeking through the trees. He inhaled deeply and took in the scent of the animals and wilderness. He went for the button and zipper of his jeans, undid it and slid the fucker down. Once he was fully nude he tilted his head back and closed his eyes. His animals became frantic at the knowledge that they would soon run free.
Even thinking he should just run free, and then go back to Emma, he knew he couldn’t do that. Just thinking about her being alone, and God forbid her moving on with another male, Roake knew he couldn’t just leave her. She was his, wore his mark on her pretty little neck, and he was going to make damn sure that she knew how much he wanted her. And then the image of another male moving in on what was his, trying to ease her pain over the fact that he had just left, pissed him the fuck off.
His muscles swelled from the increased blood flow, his bones popped as his body grew exponentially, and the change came over him like a fucking tsunami. He no longer stood as a man, but as of his massive lion and tiger mixed breed. Because of the dual animals he housed, he was double the size of a lion and tiger combined. He took on the stripes of the tiger, ones that were along his sides and didn’t disappear once in his human form. He had the massive mane from his lion and a temper that rivaled all other shifter males’. Roake dug his claws into the ground, felt the dirt move along his paws, and didn’t stop himself from tilting his head back and roaring out. Although his animals purely controlled his thoughts right now the human side of Roake was still conscious, still able to understand what was going on.
He shook his big body, felt his flesh move over his muscles and bones, and excitement moved through him. He needed this run like he needed to breathe. A year was an eternity not to go into an animal form, especially since he was drugged and too weak to do it. He just hoped he was stronger than his animals when it came to shifting back to his human side. He took off, going deeper and deeper into the forest. He climbed the steep incline, going higher and higher, and sensing the air thin from the altitude. He didn’t stop, not even when he huffed for oxygen. His body burned from the adrenaline that pushed through his blood stream. The trees thinned out the higher he went, and when the softer ground turned rocky he stopped and faced the farmhouse. From this height he could see all of Emma’s property.
Roake turned and scanned the rest of Sweet Water. He was pretty high up, and the timberline was visible from his vantage point. A low rumble left him, and the sound of a twig snapping to the side had him turning around quickly and scanning his surroundings. His senses were attuned and heightened to everything when he was in this form, and it had been forever since he had felt this free. A ground squirrel scurried across the rocky floor, far too fast for him to go after. He huffed out again, wanting to pounce on the fucker and tear it apart. The scent of a deer close by filled his nose, and he tracked the animal. His animals were hungry, starved even. He hated just turning away from Emma like he had, but right now he needed to hunt and get rid of that fucking aggression.
He started to track the animal, smelling and following it through the thick brush that surrounded them. And then he saw it, saw the little bastard standing there grazing. The deer lifted his head, knowing he wasn’t alone, but not able to locate where Roake was. If he didn’t attack now the animal would hightail it. Roake crouched low, dug his claws into the ground again, and then attacked. He was fast, felt stronger than he had in a long time, and tackled the buck before it could even contemplate that he was about to die. Roake sank his canines into the side of the deer, felt the rush of warm blood that spilled from it, and roared out around the flesh in his mouth. He wrapped his front legs around the animal’s body, took it down, and killed it swiftly. When he had his fill, he moved away, looked down at the lifeless body, and roared out in triumph. He felt good, better than good in fact. And then he ran.
He pumped his legs faster and harder, moving through the trees easily, and feeling the blood on his fur dry as the wind moved across his body. He ran for another hour until there was nothing left inside of him and he collapsed on the ground by a brook. He huffed out and closed his eyes. He was exhausted, but even that didn’t completely dim how he felt inside. He needed to get his shit together or he’d never be any good to Emma.
****
Emma moved through the forest silently, stealthily, and felt her clouded leopard purr in pleasure at being here in the wilderness. Roake had been gone for hours, and although she knew he needed this time to himself, she also wanted to be with him and make sure he was okay. He had been disconnected after he watched the news announcement, and she couldn’t help but be there for her mate, in any way he needed. She had been scenting him out, and finally found him lying on the ground beside a brook. Although she had been silent in her approach, he lifted his massive head and swung it in her direction. Emma stepped into the clearing and stopped when Roake stood to this massively huge height and dropped his head low to the ground. He stared at her with eyes that were still the same color as when he was human. She was in her animal form, the same as he was, but right now they were just two predatory animals sizing each other up.
He let out this deep growl, yet it wasn’t one of warning, but of curiosity, of familiarity. He padded over to her, his body huge. But for a feline breed, he was easily the size of a smaller horse, big and muscular, and like nothing she had ever seen. The black stripes he wore as a human on his side were in the same spot on his animal body. His lion heritage came through in his mane and facial features, but it was Roake that looked back at her. Her animal started purring and took a step closer. They were nearly nose-to-nose right now. They stared at each other in the eyes, but she didn’t need to lower herself to the ground to show him her submission. She let out
the pheromones that showed Roake was her dominant. That she was his, and that being his mate meant she would not fight him. Emma didn’t want to fight him. He started to purr, too, this deep, low rumble that filled her entire body. He lowered his body to the ground, and she felt so tiny compared to him. And then he butted her head with his, and dragged his huge, sandpapery tongue along the side of the face. It was at that moment that she truly knew what it meant to have a mate, and it was a truly wonderful thing.
Chapter Ten
Two days later
Emma stood next to Annabelle as they stared at Maverick and Declan. Maverick, a lion shifter and former hit man, was standing against the wall, his arms crossed, and a toothpick hanging out between his lips. Declan, the former SIL grizzly shifter, sat behind his desk in the small private investigator’s office he ran in the town of Sweet Water. Jason had come into town the day after Emma had brought Roake and Annabelle to their farmhouse. He had talked to the two males to see about getting some information on the whereabouts of Annabelle’s mother, and of getting the information Roake had needed on the whereabouts of the man that had hurt them.
Declan leaned back in his chair, and the leather creaked from his massive weight. Male shifters in general were big, but even being a grizzly bear and a lion shifter, respectively, Declan and Maverick had nothing on Roake. Emma glanced at her mate and felt her body heat. The sound of someone sighing heavily had her looking at Jason. Her brother had this annoyed scowl on his face as he stared at her. He couldn’t really say much in regards to her having these emotions and feelings for Roake. She was mated, and it was impossible to stop them. Besides, he was mated himself, and she had a feeling that his leopard was being a snappy bastard because he was forcing himself to stay away from Annabelle. She glanced at the little hybrid female, and felt her sadness over not being able to reach out to her mother. Over the last few days, and after they had contacted Declan and Maverick, all they could do was wait for the trained males to do what they did best.