by Abigail Owen
Seneca, his Seneca, was a white Siberian Tiger.
Chapter Six
“Shit.” Gage leapt back from her in shock. A low, warning growl ripped from his throat.
Her heart constricted. Did he hate her? Find her disgusting? His eyes changed from green to molten gold, a sure sign his cougar was pushing to come out.
Seneca shifted back to her human form, but remained crouched and avoided eye contact. “I’m not a threat.”
A quick check showed her his eyes settled back to their usual color. “But you’re a tiger.” He sounded stunned, but beyond that she was having a hard time gauging his reaction.
“Yes. I’m a tiger.”
“When?” He shook his head. “How?”
“Rick Delaney isn’t my biological father. My mother was on a diplomatic mission to Russia for the Shadowcat Nation.” Against Rick’s wishes actually. “The Nation was forming at the time, and they were looking for allies anywhere.” She shrugged. “Rick wasn’t monogamous. Neither was she.” The nature of most cougar shifters.
“But she claimed you were his?”
Now confident Gage wasn’t going to shift and rip her to shreds, Seneca rose from her crouch. Unashamed of her body, she walked the bathroom and snagged a silk robe she’d seen on the back of the door earlier. She slipped her arms in, wrapped it around her, and belted it before turning back to him.
He’d watched her in silence, but now she caught the desire in his eyes. The air filled with the heady, sweet scent of lust. Shock ricocheted through her at the knowledge that some part of him, even if only the physical needs part, wanted her. Her own body went heavy and hot with an answering need.
But she was still trying to protect him from himself, so rather than give in to her clamoring body, she answered his question. “Mom didn’t know I wasn’t Rick’s until the first time I shifted.”
Gage looked back at her in tense silence. What was he thinking? He closed his eyes and shook his head, then pinned her with his gaze, once more the cool, calm Alpha she knew. “So the pretense of being latent and submissive was to fool Rick?”
“According to Mom, my real father wasn’t an option. We had no other place to go. Rick would have killed me if he’d known the truth.”
Instead he’d just despised her—despised the idea that he’d created a latent, submissive mountain lion. She’d stayed in the background as much as she was able, out of the way of his belittling words, snide comments, and occasionally the back of his hand. If she’d truly been his daughter and a latent submissive, his attitude might have broken her spirit. Instead, her secret knowledge of who and what she truly was had made her pity Rick. And hate him. His obsession with power and strength was pathetic, to make him reject a daughter that way.
“But I can smell you.” Gage inhaled deeply.
She gasped, at first thinking he was talking about her aroused state, before she realized he meant the tiger. She glanced out the window into the inky night highlighted by the moonlight. “I go away for days to shift and have time for the scent to be masked by my human scent before I return. Lemon baths help too.”
Another heavy silence. Gage put his hands on his lean hips and stared at the floor. His chest rose and fell in several deep breaths. She waited in wary anticipation of the next question.
“Any other secrets?” He didn’t look up.
She blinked. “Tons.” Like she’d had a crush on him since she was a teenager. Like she wasn’t what she projected to the world. In fact, she was much, much more, hiding behind the anonymity of being latent and submissive. “But none I intend to share.”
He yanked his gaze up. “Anything that puts my life in danger?”
She slowly shook her head. “Only with Rick. And only if you know.”
His brows puckered. “So your life is in danger.”
“My life has always been in danger.”
His expression darkened to a glower, but instinct told her his anger wasn’t directed at her, but at her situation.
“Anything that will cause more problems in our current situation?”
She grimaced and paused to give the question the appropriate consideration. “Not yet. But if things go that way, I promise to tell you.” The best she could offer.
Another long, uncomfortable silence. “Right, then.” He stalked toward her as he started to unbutton his shirt.
He was going to shift? “You’re not going to try to kill me are you?”
He paused. “No.”
She gave a jerky nod. “Good. Because I know you’re a badass fighter and all, but my tiger has the advantage in that match up.”
If anything, his eyes went even darker. “I’m not going to fight you.”
“Okay.”
He resumed unbuttoning his shirt as he moved toward her. “I’m going to mate you.”
Her eyes flared wide, and she backed up as he came closer, holding up her hands to ward him off. “We can’t. Haven’t you heard what I’ve been saying? Don’t you get it? With a submissive, latent mountain lion as your mate, there’s still a small chance you could be Alpha. With a tiger, you don’t have a witch’s hope on a broomstick in a tornado. They’ll never trust us.”
He dropped his shirt to the ground as her back hit the wall, the sand rough through the thin material of her robe. Confidence came off him in sexy waves as he leaned into her, hands on either side of her face, not touching anywhere else, but close enough the heat of him warmed her skin through the silk of her robe. The powerful scents of lust and earthy male mountain lion and Gage surrounded her. She wanted to bury her face in his neck and breathe him in.
“I won’t do that to you,” she insisted, with a mutinous tilt to her chin.
“I won’t be Alpha with an African lion as a mate either,” he pointed out with a calm she was far from feeling.
“There’s got to be another way.”
“There’s not. And between a lion and a tiger, gorgeous, I’d pick you every time.”
She shivered at the endearment that tumbled so casually from his lips. “You’ve never even looked at me.” She was starting to sound whiney and needy. She hated that.
“I have.”
“Liar.”
He shut her up with a hard kiss that instantly turned to full on sensual, drugging her, whittling away at her defenses. He lifted his head. “I’ve never lied to you. I’ve wanted you for years, but I was supposed to be Alpha, and you were supposed to be a latent submissive. We didn’t make sense.”
“We still don’t,” she pointed out.
He cupped her jaw with his hand, eyes so tender she wanted to cry. “We do.”
She shook her head, but he only smiled, adorable dimples toying with her heart rate. “My determined little tigress. Can’t you tell how much I want you right now?”
She could feel the evidence digging into her belly. “Lust. Sleep with me and get over it.”
He snorted a laugh. “Nope. Not good enough.”
“You don’t even know who I really am.” She bit her lip and the metallic tang of blood burst on her taste buds for the second time that night as her worst fear reared its ugly head. Would he even like the real her?
He tipped his head. “You’re smart, determined, loyal, and protective. We can make this work. I know it.”
She bit her lip.
“Mate me. Marry me.”
She stared back, indecision warring within her. Maybe…
Chapter Seven
Gage gazed deeply into Seneca’s eyes as though he could see her soul, a notion which both heated her blood and terrified her.
“You want me. Want this. I can feel it.” His deep voice skated over her nerves in a caress.
She shook her head, but weakness was seeping into her mind, and especially her body, at the fire in his eyes.
“Let me show you?”
She should say no—push him away and stick to her guns—but she couldn’t. Her body wanted him too much.
“Show me,” she whispered.
/> He didn’t hesitate. That hot gaze trailed a leisurely path from her eyes, to her lips, her neck, and further down. He brushed her robe aside to lightly circle the pink tip of her exposed breast with his finger. Her nipple tightened. With a groan he leaned down and captured the bud in his mouth, lathing it with his tongue before giving a gentle tug with his teeth. Keening sounds she couldn’t stop rose at the back of her throat. In response, he jammed his thigh between her legs. She rubbed against him like a cat in heat as he continued to play with her breast. But then he slowed it down, eventually pulling back.
“Do you agree?” He huffed the words through shuddering breaths. His entire body was rigid over her, muscles straining.
She stared back at him through a lust-filled haze, indecision tightening her features. “Blackmail?”
“No. Honor.”
She snorted.
“We can make this work.” The confidence in his voice, his eyes, had her wanting to say yes. To put her trust in this man whom she’d loved all her life. He was right that her reason for protecting him was moot given their circumstances. Could she take the risk with her heart? She refused to use her power on this, which meant she was flying blind.
“Okay.” The word whispered from her lips before she consciously made the decision.
His eyes lit up. “Is that a yes?”
“Yes. I’ll mate you.”
“And marry me?” he pressed.
“That too. After Rick Delaney, I could never mate an Alpha, but since you won’t be one…”
He grinned and went to kiss her, but she stopped him with a hand to his lips. “But if you find your Fated Mate, or have a chance to be Alpha if it’s without me, promise you’ll leave me.”
He pulled back from her hand. “That’s not going to happen. I make my own fate.”
“Promise, or this stops here and I go mate a lion.”
He searched her eyes and must’ve seen something there that convinced him of her conviction in this point. Jaw tense, he ran a hand through his hair, spiking it up. “I promise. Satisfied?”
She gave him a look from under her lashes. “Not yet, but I’m hoping you can fix that?”
With a low growl, he scooped her up in his arms and headed to the bed. He lowered her feet to the floor and took her mouth in a searing kiss. Then he buried his face in her neck and inhaled. “I want our first time together to be slow, gentle. I want to watch your face as we find pleasure together. But…”
She knew what he was going to say, what he didn’t want to admit. “Your cougar needs to show my big, bad tiger who’s in charge?”
“Yeah. Something like that.” Gage’s laugh rolled over her almost like a caress. She liked his laugh—deep and rumbling—if the urge to rub against him was any indication at least. He didn’t use it often enough, which was, perhaps, a good thing, since she found it a total turn on.
In a move no submissive would ever make, she went up on tiptoe and claimed his lips. She brushed her hands over his arms, his chest, reveling in the hard muscle and rough hairs under her fingertips, such a contrast to her softer femininity.
After a shocked second of hesitation, he took over the kiss. God could the man kiss! And he tasted like heaven—mint toothpaste and Gage. She could spend hours in his arms like this, but they needed to find release. Right now. With a gentle tug, she pulled out of his arms. Before he could protest, she dropped her robe to the ground and, with a smile, scooted back on the bed. Mischief guided her actions, and she flipped over, up on all fours, presenting him with her backside.
A strangled noise choked out of him and she grinned, filled with her own power and sex appeal, knowing that this position had control-freak Gage out of control. When he didn’t move, she looked back over her shoulder to find him staring at her with possession and desire in his eyes so raw that she shuddered with her own responding need.
“Gage. I need you now.”
In a blur of haste, he toed off his shoes, undid his pants and kicked out of both before he joined her on the bed. But he didn’t take her immediately, as she expected. Instead, he ran his hands over her—both possessive and tender. He lingered at the sensitive spots, adding lips and teeth and tongue, but he didn’t go near where she wanted him to be, and the anticipation was torture.
“I can’t wait any longer,” he muttered, almost to himself.
“Then don’t.”
After checking she was ready with teasing fingers that drove her need higher, he entered her in a long, slow slide, stopping once he was buried inside her. He ran a shaking hand down her back. “I’m not going to be able to go slow.” The words came out low and harsh.
“I don’t want you to.”
Her answer must have snapped what little control he had left. Gripping her hips, Gage pumped in and out of her. He grunted when she moved back to meet each wild thrust. Faster than she would have believed, pressure built inside her. She was close.
Gage leaned over, and grazed his teeth over the sensitive spot where her neck and shoulder joined. “I need to…”
She knew what he needed…she needed it too. “Do it.”
He groaned, a tortured sound. She loved that she was making him crazy. Still moving inside her, he kissed that spot at her neck. Reaching around, he used his fingers to heighten her own pleasure. And the pressure built.
He nipped and licked and kissed that spot on her neck, all the while his fingers played her body like a finely tuned instrument, edging her closer and closer to climax. And the pressure built until she could no longer stand it. “Gage. Now.”
He thickened inside her. With a guttural grunt, he sank his teeth into her shoulder in a claiming bite. Pleasure exploded through her, spiraling through her body, radiating through every nerve inside her. Gage released her shoulder to give his own shout of completion. She’d never experienced anything as flawless.
As Seneca collapsed to the bed, she floated down from the high of her orgasm. Gage lay down beside her and pulled her body into his, wrapping his big arms around her stomach. She hummed her enjoyment of the position. Being held like this felt like coming home.
He kissed the spot he’d bit earlier. “I’m sorry.”
She turned to find the regret in his eyes as he gazed at the red welts he’d left on her skin. “I’m not.”
“No?” A smile laced his voice.
She shook her head and snuggled back into him with a satisfied hum. “I’m your woman now. Your mate.”
“Yes you are.”
“At least until you find your Fated Mate.” Seneca wrinkled her nose. She didn’t know where that had come from. She definitely hadn’t wanted to ruin this lovely moment. Now she held her breath for his reaction.
He kissed his claiming bite mark again. “That won’t happen.”
How could he be so naïve? Of course it could. “But you promised,” she reminded him.
“Yes, I did.”
She settled against him. Why was she pushing this right now? Maybe she was reminding herself more than him. This wasn’t meant to last. But she’d enjoy every second she got.
“I believe I also promised to go slow next time.” His voice dropped to a sexy rasp and he hardened behind her.
“Already?” she teased.
He rolled her to her back and settled between her thighs. “You still smell like tiger to me. Not earthy like a mountain lion, more like snowy days in the mountains.”
She frowned her confusion. “Is that a problem?”
“It’s damn sexy—feminine and at the same time crisp. The difference is subtle, but there, and if we want to keep your animal secret from the lions, that could be a problem.”
“Do we?”
He gave a serious nod even as he rubbed his chest across the peaked tips of her breasts. “They may be our new family, but that doesn’t mean I trust them.”
She arched into him, seeking more contact than his teasing caresses. “And how do you propose we rid me of my scent?”
A wicked gleam entered his eye
s. “I’m going to cover you in my scent over and over and over, until all they can smell is me.”
“Oh.” She giggled. “I guess that would do it.”
Chapter Eight
The knock at the door barely penetrated Seneca’s panicked thoughts. Edward poked his head inside. Her anxiety must’ve shown, because, instead of calling her to the ceremony, he came inside. Beno padded in behind him—she guessed the brothers never separated when it could be helped—and Edward closed the door with a soft click.
She tipped her head in question before she turned to face them, kicking the train of the dress behind her.
“You make a beautiful bride.”
She lowered her gaze to the dress, running her fingers over the sensuous organza folds of the skirt. “Thank you.” She glanced back up. “Is everything ready?”
Rather than answer, he gave her a steady, searching look. “Are you?”
A rare moment of honesty with another human being seized her. “I don’t know.”
She shouldn’t have said it. They were supposed to be Fated Mates, according to what Gage had told Zula. That fact was all that stood between them and being mated to total strangers. Edward should be suspicious already, and a Fated Mate unsure of her mating ceremony and marriage was a huge red flag.
But, instead of anger, understanding peered back at her from his deep brown eyes. Kind eyes. “Do you love him?”
She’d known the answer to that one since she was a teenager, though what she’d had then was a crush. What she felt now was… “Yes.”
“Then let everything else sort itself out.”
“What if he doesn’t love me?” There. She’d voiced one of her fears. The worst of many.
“Then fight for him.”
She blinked up at Edward, her mouth an open fly trap. No one had ever told her to fight for anything. Not even her mother, even though she’d arranged for Seneca to be trained in physical combat. One of their many secrets, one never put to the test. Fighting, even tiny battles of will, would have brought attention and made others in her dare question her position as both latent and submissive.