by Celia Kyle
"Upstairs. Claim.” Jonathan grunted. She didn't understand what he was talking about. Sure, they were headed upstairs to make love, that wasn't a surprise. But what was this about claiming?
Cody stepped forward until his chest nearly touched her side and her gaze flicked from Cody, to Jonathan and back again. Something was passing between them and she didn't know what.
"You'll tell her first.” Cody ordered and Lisa wanted to know who would be telling what.
Jonathan nodded his agreement and Cody stepped aside, letting them continue their journey to the apartment.
Jonathan managed to get them through the door without hurting her leg for which she was thankful. Even after a week, it still throbbed and hurt occasionally. She sighed when he laid her on the bed. So many memories were wrapped up in its sheets and she hoped to make many more with Jonathan.
Instead of joining her or stripping naked, he kneeled on the floor, pulling her hands into his. His early frantic pulse had slowed and he didn't seem as tense or strung tight. “We need to talk, baby."
Lisa panicked; she knew it was too good to be true. Someone as hot and desirable as Jonathan could never want her. Never.
She pulled her fingers free of his grasp and moved to stand, easing her legs off the bed. “It's okay, I'm a big girl. I wish you wouldn't have drug me up here without my crutches, but I'll make it down by myself. You could have dumped me privately, you know..."
Jonathan eased her back to the bed while she continued to babble and she didn't stop talking until his lips sealed over hers. He swept in like a tornado, without warning he disarmed her and kissed her nearly stupid.
Grasping her wrist, he forced her hand between his legs and her fingers wrapped around his jeans-covered erection. “Baby, I want you more than you know, but I have to tell you something before we go further. I want you, Lisa. But you have to know the truth before you decide if you want me too."
Not want him, was he kidding? She wanted all of him, and more than once. Instead of assuring him that nothing to deter her from taking everything he offered, she kept quiet, allowing him to get whatever he wanted off his chest. She didn't wait long.
"I'm a shifter."
She nodded. She figured as much when he told her about Mick-the-dick. Ro even intimated as much when Lisa had relayed the news to her friend. Beyond blood tests, only paras could snoop out other paras. At least, that's how Ro explained it.
"You know?” He seemed shocked.
"Of course. Okay, not of course, but I figured it out and it doesn't matter to me.” She stroked his cheek, his coarse five o'clock shadow scratching her skin.
He kissed her palm. “You're mine, you know."
She nodded again. Lisa knew. Knew from the moment she walked out his door that walking away was a mistake. She belonged with Jonathan, as incomprehensible as it sounded. She barely knew him, but ached to be near him.
"I want to claim you, Lisa."
Okay, that she didn't know anything about, but he rushed to reassure her. “It doesn't have to be now, but I'm a panther, baby, and my cat recognizes you as its mate."
Mate. The word flitted and bounced through Lisa's mind as she stared at Jonathan. He looked so full of apprehension and uncertainty. Mate. Lisa had never thought to be anyone's mate before. Sure, she hoped for love someday or maybe fondness and affection, but mating went beyond all that. Did she want all that came with being mated? There hadn't exactly been a lot of information available on shifters when she'd been researching, since not many people believed in their existence. Throwing caution to the wind, she smiled and gave Jonathan her answer.
"I've always been a cat person."
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A cat person. She'd always been a cat person. If it hadn't been such a serious situation, Jonathan would have laughed out loud. Instead, he captured her lips with his in a slow, lingering kiss before pulling away and fixing her with a serious stare. “What do you say, baby? Want me to be your cat?"
This time, she leaned forward and brushed a chaste kiss across his lips. “Yes."
Time seemed to have fast-forwarded then. From one moment to the next, Jonathan was conscious of one thing. Skin. He needed it, craved it, wanted to touch every inch of skin he could get his hands and paws on. Within moments, Lisa lay bare before him. The only thing she wore were the bandages around her leg.
After stripping his own body bare, Jonathan took a moment to kiss the skin surrounding her bandages and the bandages themselves. “Don't you ever hurt yourself again, Lisa. I couldn't bear it."
She chuckled. “It wasn't exactly planned, but you won't catch me doing anything so stupid again."
"You ran."
"But I won't again, Jonathan."
He stared at her, trying to see if she told the truth. When she held her hand out to him, he moved up the bed and slipped behind her, nuzzling her neck. His scent was still strong, even after a week, but soon it would infuse her permanently. He wouldn't have it any other way.
Jonathan stroked her arm, following it to where her hand rested on her hip. He slid his fingers through hers and placed her hand behind his neck, out of the way. He hitched her leg over his own, opening her to him.
"What are you doing?” Her voice had dropped to a husky murmur.
"Claiming my mate.” He pressed an open mouthed kiss to her neck, just below her ear. “Do you have a problem with that?"
"No.” She moaned when his fingers found her clit. His cock ached to be buried deep inside her, but he had to make sure she was ready.
"Not at all.” She sighed when he dipped his fingers to the opening of her pussy.
Heated moisture met his questing fingers. He'd barely touched her and she was ready for him. His woman. His woman was so damned responsive. He'd never get enough of her. And after tonight, he wouldn't have to worry about losing her. Sure, they'd have their problems, but after tonight, she was his.
Jonathan continued to stroke her. Just because he could. He didn't want their mating to be frenzied and rushed, but something they would both remember with fondness. He circled her clit, alternating tiny tight circles with small taps. He didn't want her to come, but he wanted her close. Already his cock ached to be buried inside her and he knew he wouldn't last. He'd be damned if he came while she didn't.
When she whimpered and begged for his cock, he knew she was ready for him, but he wanted to hear her say it.
"You ready for me, baby?” She nodded. “Not good enough."
"Yes,” she whispered. So low, he almost didn't hear her.
"A little louder, baby. Tell me what you want. Exactly what you want."
Lisa moaned, the sound traveling straight to his cock where it nestled between the cheeks of her ass. “Fuck me. Claim me. Make me yours, Jonathan. Now!"
His human mind wanted to wait, wanted to give her more pleasure before claiming her fully, but his beast wasn't having any delay. His bestial nature won.
Easing his fingers away from her soaked pussy, he grasped his erection at its base and positioned the tip of his cock at her entrance. Slowly, so fucking slowly, he eased his cock into her heat. He slipped into her easily, her warmth enveloping him, bathing him in her essence.
Seated fully within her, he kissed and licked her shoulder. They both lay silent as she relaxed against him.
Cupping her breast and laving her shoulder, he eased his cock out of her passage before thrusting in again. He wanted this to be a slow and tender loving between them. Lisa seemed just as content with sweet kisses and easy love making.
She pressed her backside against him, arching her back so he could slide deeper into her heat. “So good, Lisa. So good."
Lisa laid her head on the pillow, eyes closed as he made love to her. “Mmm..."
Jonathan laved the spot he wanted to claim. Just where her shoulder and neck met, he'd bite. At the right time, in the middle of her climax and not before, he'd lay claim to Lisa's body and heart.
Abandoning her breast, he reached between her legs. F
inding her swollen, throbbing clit easily, he stroked her in time with his thrusts. In. Out. In. Out. Over and again he slid his cock into her sopping pussy and every time she welcomed him. Glancing at her face, he was happy to see a smile playing on her lips. Their mating was progressing as he'd hoped.
He twirled his fingers around her clit, tightening the tiny circles and pressing harder against the tiny nub of flesh. She gasped and rocked back against him. Careful of her injured leg, he placed his foot on the bed, needing more leverage to thrust into her.
Lisa rocked back, meeting his every thrust as they both approached their peaks. Soon, too damned soon, but soon nonetheless.
Jonathan's orgasm hovered within his awareness. He held it and his beast in check as he waited for the tell-tale convulsions and tightening of Lisa's cunt around his cock. Only one night together and he knew her body so well already.
His beast wanted to be free, wanted to sink its teeth into its mate and hold her steady as he pounded into her, but Jonathan kept it at bay. Right now, his mate needed tenderness and sweet caresses. The frenzied mating and clashing of bodies could come after she healed.
For now, he continued his gentle assault, increasing his pace only slightly to match hers. Lisa's body shuddered slightly and he recognized her impending orgasm. He wanted it. He wanted to be the cause of all her pleasure from this moment forward.
"Come for me, baby. Come on my cock while I claim you."
Jonathan's words must have acted as a catalyst for her climax. She tensed and groaned his name as her pussy tightened around his cock. Her body convulsed as muscles squeezed and spamsed in rapid succession from head to toe.
Taking her orgasm as permission to release his own, he pressed deep into her pussy and released the tenuous hold on his climax. His seed burst from his cock as his canines elongated and extended from his gums.
With a groan, he bit into Lisa's shoulder. He didn't break the skin, but the significance was there. With every thrust of his cock into her channel and release of his seed into her womb, he'd claimed her fully. His heart belonged to her, as did the heart of his beast.
As his tremors died down, he released his bite on her shoulder, laving the abused flesh with his tongue.
Jonathan eased to his back, sliding his cock free of her pussy, pulled her over and into his side. He pulled her close, relaxing only when she used his shoulder as a pillow.
Her soft voice drifted to him as a sated sleep threatened. “So, I'm yours?"
As if there was any question. “You're mine."
Just before he drifted to sleep, he stretched his other arm out to his side. Sliding his hand beneath the pillow, his fingers stroked the silk from their first night together hidden there. Yeah, he had a silk panties girl—smooth and sweet to the core. And now, she was his.
The End
Silk Panties
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We hoped you enjoyed this installment of match-making by Cody Warren at the Del Fantasma bar. Cody has mixed several special drinks for his patrons, available now at Aspen Mountain Press (www.AspenMountainPress.com )
Stop by for:
A Screaming Orgasm by Michelle Hasker: Tara's not looking for love, and will go to great lengths to avoid becoming intimate with a guy. Brandon is tired of taking no for an answer. He loves Tara, and when a mysterious stranger takes a very active interest in her, it's time to stake his claim.
Sea Breeze by Jade Rivers: Serai, a sea siren, has one chance to leave the ocean's depths and walk on land to find a mate. Failure means death.
Texas Tea by Maura Anderson: Photographer Lara Saunders has a lifelong secret—she can see and hear ghosts. When she was rescued from a near drowning by the ghost of a lighthouse keeper, he set her on a mission to document historic lighthouses and the lives of their keepers so they were not forgotten. Now on her third book in the series, Lara has arrived in San Diego to document the Old Point Loma Lighthouse but hasn't counted on becoming the target of Cody Warren, the matchmaking owner of the Del Fantasma bar. Or falling in love with a handsome Park Ranger whose secret is stranger than her own.
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