Mate Claimed su-4

by Jennifer Ashley

  When he released her, Misty struggled for breath. “What was that for?”

  “You look interesting,” he said, his face straight. “And in pain. And lonely.”

  “I am. The last two.”

  “Then sit here with me awhile,” Graham said.

  She shouldn’t. Misty needed to get back to the shop and help her employees fill orders, talk to the wedding party for Saturday, make sure they were stocked with emergency bridal bouquets—this was Las Vegas, after all.

  “Yes, all right,” she said.

  Misty gazed across the yards to where the woman danced, twirled by another Shifter, while the man laughed. Yes, she was surrounded by crazed animals and naked people, but they didn’t take away from how the man and woman gazed at each other. That was what happiness looked like.

  Graham’s body was warm beside her, his hand strong over hers. Misty wasn’t sure where this would go, but for now, she’d enjoy it. Snatch happiness where it’s found, she’d learned. Happiness dissolved all too soon.

  “I thought the mating ceremony would make my mating frenzy go away,” Iona said as the music slowed. “But I’m still hungry.”

  Eric wrapped his arms around her and swayed into her warmth. “The mating ceremony increases it, love. There’s only one way to conquer the frenzy.”

  He read the heat in her eyes. “Too bad all these people are here.”

  “They’re busy.” Eric scooped Iona up into his arms, her loose skirt fluttering.

  “Eric, wait…”

  Iona trailed off as the Shifters started to cheer. They knew exactly where Eric was taking her and what they’d do when they got there.

  The cheer grew as Eric carried Iona from the circle and back to his house. The Shifters broke into laughter, applause, louder music, and more raucous shouting as Eric and Iona disappeared inside.

  Eric took Iona to Jace’s bedroom, laid her on the bed, and closed the blind against the bright afternoon and the crowd outside.

  “I’m barely keeping it in, love,” he said, ripping off his boots.

  Iona lay back, so sweetly waiting for him, his dark-haired beauty, her clothes mussed and hair tousled. The garland of daisies and roses had fallen halfway over one blue eye.

  Eric fumbled with the buttons of his shirt, fingers shaking. To hell with it. He ripped the shirt open, buttons pinging to the floor, while Iona laughed at him. He peeled off the shirt and T-shirt underneath, then got out of his jeans.

  He liked how Iona’s gaze went to him as the underwear came off, her eyes taking in his cock standing straight out, dark and hard. Her eyes changed to her Shifter’s as she got to her knees, reaching across the bed for him.

  Oh, yes. Iona’s hot hands closed around his cock, tugging him closer. Eric lifted the garland gently from her head and tossed it to the nightstand, then he ran his hand through her silken black hair. He tugged open the catches of her shirt, spreading it apart.

  She wore a bra underneath, a white slash of lace. Eric sprang the hook, and Iona heaved a sigh of relief.

  “I hate wearing bras anymore,” she said. “They chafe. They never used to.”

  Iona had to release Eric’s cock so he could pull the lace from her warm breasts. He didn’t mind, because he could catch the weight of her breasts in his hands. Her skin was so smooth, like the finest satin.

  “Your panther doesn’t want to be fettered,” he said.

  “I suppose in the wild, you always went naked?”

  “No way in hell. Scottish winters were cold.”

  “Winters here are warm,” she pointed out.

  “Doesn’t mean we can’t cuddle up.”

  Eric undid the button on Iona’s skirt as he pushed her backward to the mattress. He tugged off the skirt, then the panties, and then she was bare for him.

  He wanted to pause to look at her, taking in Iona’s beautiful nudity against the sheets, her full breasts, flat belly, her twist of hair between her thighs. He wanted to look his fill of her half-closed blue eyes, her sultry smile, the black hair spread across his pillow.

  But his need called to him. He craved her, needed to fill his mouth with her taste. Eric hooked her knees over his arms, spread her legs, and lowered himself to drink of her.

  Iona groaned with pleasure as he licked and drank the honey between her thighs. The scent and heat and taste of her stirred the frenzy higher, and Eric let the madness come.

  He filled his himself with her goodness, teasing her tight berry until she was squirming, lifting her hips from the bed. He licked some more, washing the sensitive skin with his tongue, then Eric lifted himself up, slid up the length of her, and entered her in one stroke.

  Wildness spiraled through him as he thrust once, twice, and again, and again. Iona’s hot sheath squeezed him, wet and tight, the sensation erotic as hell.

  This time, at least, he was loving her in a soft bed, not on the back of a couch, the floor, or a mat of pine needles. The leopard in him remembered the satisfaction of being with her panther in the stark cold of the woods. The clouded memory sent excitement through him, and he thrust that excitement into her.

  “Eric.”

  The moaned word made him crazy. Eric increased his speed, holding her down, loving how her legs twined his and urged him on.

  Forever, my Iona. Forever.

  He heard snarls come from his throat and her answering cries. He saw the feral beast in her eyes and felt his in himself. Collars couldn’t tame him, and would never tame her. They’d go wild together.

  Iona’s claws were in his back, tearing his skin. He growled at her, and she made a snarling noise in return. She was losing control, and right now, Eric didn’t care.

  Being inside her erased every worry he had, every empty space, every fear, every doubt. There was only Iona, and this room, and the heat between them. He would love her until they couldn’t move, and then they’d sleep, then they’d love again.

  The afternoon sun had reached its highest point by the time Eric hit his climax, spilling his seed in her while Iona bit and licked his shoulder. His back would be a mess, but so what? Shifters healed quickly.

  Eric rolled over, pulling Iona on top of him, and they slept for a short time. They woke when the sun started to sink, and Iona smiled down at Eric before she wriggled herself onto his cock.

  He held her there while she rode him, the lovemaking less frenzied this time. Iona’s eyes closed to slits, her smile sexy as hell. Sweat slid between them, and the round of her breasts moved sweetly against his hands.

  Iona lay down on him when they finished and fell asleep with him still inside her.

  When they woke again, it was fully dark. The party outside still raged—Shifters loved a good party.

  Eric and Iona pulled on a few clothes and crept out to the kitchen, where they raided the refrigerator and carried the food back to the bedroom to satisfy their hunger.

  Energy restored, the frenzy returned. Eric shoved the plates and boxes off the bed, flipped Iona facedown on it, and pulled her hips back toward him. The leopard in him liked this—the natural way—as he entered her from behind. Eric the human only felt Iona around him, heard her cries of delight, felt her move on him as she squirmed against the bed.

  They ended up with Iona flat on the mattress, Eric on her back, his whole body covering her.

  They loved like that until they fell asleep again. When they woke the next time, Eric rolled over with her, and started loving her once more.

  The mating frenzy, a cool voice said in the back of his brain. Nature’s way of ensuring the continuance of the species.

  Shut up, Eric responded, then heard nothing but Iona’s cries and his own, as their loving went on into the night.

  In the first light of morning, Iona peeled open her eyes to find Eric facedown next to her. He lay on top of the covers, his face relaxed in sleep.

  Eric was a beautiful man. Liquid bronze skin covered a body of sculpted muscle, his waist tapering to a tight, bare backside. The tattoo that covered
his shoulder and trailed down his arm invited her tongue, the scratches on his back testimony to her frenzy last night.

  She moved to stretch and stifled a groan. Every muscle was sore, her mouth raw from Eric’s wild kisses.

  Life with a Shifter. Exhausting.

  And yet, something within Iona had relaxed, a tightness dissolving. She’d spent her life up to this point knowing she was different and would never fit in, no matter what she did. She’d learned to pretend, to act human enough that she made it through school and college, enough so she didn’t concern her mother and sister.

  Then Eric had come into her life. He’d told her bluntly that she was denying her Shifter side, and he’d been right.

  This man wanted her to explore that forbidden part of her—all of it. Iona had been terrified at first, but she knew that she was perfectly safe learning about her Shifter self, because Eric was with her to guide and protect her.

  She could do any Shifter thing she wanted, while Eric watched, ready to catch her if she started to fall.

  Iona ran her hand down Eric’s back to his firm buttocks, his skin smooth. If learning to be Shifter involved touching his naked body, she’d just have to live with that.

  She snuggled down a little closer to him as he went on sleeping. Her fingers drifted over his fine ass and back to his tattoo, lightly tracing the lines. She let her eyes close, as close to contentment as she’d ever been in her life.

  Iona jumped awake to someone pounding on the bedroom door. The sun was high now, hours having gone by. Eric was up and on his feet.

  “What?” he called irritably.

  “Dad, it’s Cass.” Jace’s voice was agitated and breathless. “The cub is coming, and Cass wants Iona.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  The cub is coming.

  Iona dressed in record time, Eric right behind her. Iona charged out to find Cass in the kitchen in sweatpants and T-shirt, hanging on to the breakfast bar while she leaned over it, her breath coming in slow gasps.

  Diego wasn’t there, having already departed for his office, Jace said, but he was on his way back.

  “Iona,” Cassidy panted.

  “I’m here.” Iona put her hands on Cassidy’s shoulders and nearly jerked away. Cassidy’s skin was roasting hot through the shirt. “You okay?”

  “Except for being about to drop a cub in the kitchen? Fine.”

  “You’re hot.”

  “Supposed to be.” She looked up, her eyes full of both fear and excitement. “Say you’ll come, Iona. I need someone with me besides a bunch of males.”

  “Hear the gratitude,” Jace said.

  Eric was already out of the house, starting up Iona’s pickup.

  “Time to go,” Jace said. “Diego will have to meet you at the clinic.”

  “Probably a good idea,” Cassidy said, her voice nearly a whisper. “Iona?”

  Iona thought about how Nicole had looked both glad and apprehensive when she’d confirmed that Iona had been right about her pregnancy. Cassidy’s scent conveyed the same kind of happy worry—and that this cub was on its way.

  Iona kissed Cassidy’s burning cheek. “Of course I’ll come. I’ve got you.”

  Cassidy looked relieved that Iona walked out with her, though Iona was uncertain how effective her help would be. Iona had been very young when Nicole had come along, and she was certainly no expert on children—let alone Shifter cubs.

  But she could be a friendly face and a hand to hold. Iona slid into the middle of the truck’s cab next to Eric, and Jace helped Cassidy wedge herself into the seat. Jace leapt gracefully into the truck bed behind them, and Eric gunned the pickup into the street.

  “Where are we going?” Iona asked.

  “Clinic,” Eric said, as they shot down the road. Other Shifters seemed to figure out what was up, because they came out of houses, waving and looking excited. Eric acknowledged them with a return wave as they raced through Shiftertown and out the gates.

  “A clinic?” Iona prompted.

  “One that will help Shifters,” Eric said. “Not state-of-the-art, but better than nothing. We’ll have doctors and nurses standing by in case anything goes wrong.”

  “I hate doctors,” Cassidy muttered.

  “So do I,” Eric said, “but they can help if we need them to, and they have antibiotics and things.”

  “And epidurals,” Iona said.

  “It doesn’t hurt that much,” Cassidy said. “Except I want to shift, so bad.”

  “Don’t,” Eric said. “Your cub will come out human, so stay human.”

  “Why will her cub come out human?” Iona asked.

  Cassidy answered, her words breathy. “Pure Shifters are born animal and learn to shift later. Half-human Shifters are born human. Mixed species come out whichever species happens to have the dominant gene.”

  “What will my cubs come out as?” Iona asked. “He or she will be three-quarters Shifter.”

  “Hell if I know,” Eric said. “But I guess we’ll find out.” He sounded smug.

  “You won’t have long to wait,” Cassidy said with a laugh, “the way you two were going at it last night.”

  Iona’s face went hot. “It’s too soon to tell, isn’t it?”

  Cassidy glanced at her with the same knowledge in her eyes Iona knew she’d had when she’d sensed Nicole’s baby. “It’s not. This time next year, we’ll have two cubs in the house.”

  Iona realized she was right. Too many distractions—and maybe a little denial—had prevented her from acknowledging what her panther knew to be true. “Crap,” Iona whispered.

  Eric laughed. “Yes!” he shouted. He stomped on the accelerator, and they shot through the streets to his whoops of joy.

  The clinic, only a few miles away, was so ordinary that Iona had to ask if they were in the right place. Jace grabbed someone with a wheelchair in the front, and he wheeled Cassidy inside a fairly generic clinic full of staff in scrubs or neat uniforms.

  Shane and Brody walked in, followed closely by a wild-eyed Diego and his brother, as well as Neal the Guardian with his broadsword strapped to his back. Iona understood why Cassidy had begged her to be there. A Shifter birth was an Event, apparently, and everyone attending was male.

  The staff of the clinic seemed to be used to the entourage that accompanied a Shifter mother about to bring in a cub, because they let the group into a large room upstairs in the back without question.

  This was a delivery room, Iona saw when Jace wheeled Cassidy in. A delivery table waited in the exact center of the room, leaving plenty of space for family and friends to surround the mother. The walls were lined with counters and cabinets, one with a large sink. A sagging vinyl sofa had been shoved under the one window, the only seat.

  Iona started for the delivery bed to make sure Cassidy would be comfortable, but Eric’s hand on her shoulder stopped her. The Shifters hung back, waiting for Neal to approach the bed first.

  Neal drew the Sword of the Guardian, touched it to the mattress, and said, “Goddess, mother of all, attend our sister as she brings strength to her pride.”

  The other Shifters responded: “We give our sister into the hands of the Goddess.”

  Not the most reassuring of prayers. But Iona thought about Eric’s and Cassidy’s tales of how Shifter women often didn’t survive childbirth. In the past, they must have believed that all they could do was let the Goddess decide whether she lived or died.

  Eric squeezed Iona’s shoulder. Iona would be in this room herself sooner or later, if Cassidy was right. Next year, they’d be saying the prayer for her.

  Iona went to Cassidy’s side as Diego lifted her onto the bed. “If the pain gets too bad,” Iona said, “swear at all the men. My mother said that helps.”

  Cassidy laughed weakly. “Sure thing.”

  Diego held Cassidy’s hand after he settled her, not looking happy at all the Shifters around them. He didn’t argue, but he obviously didn’t like it.

  Iona understood further why
when the males, including Xavier, formed a ring around Cassidy, then, as one, turned their backs to her, standing like sentinels around her.

  “What are they doing?” Iona asked.

  “Guarding me.” Cassidy winced and touched her abdomen. “All the males of the clan form a ring around the female when she’s giving birth, to keep predators away, which includes other Shifters who might try to steal the woman and the cub. These days the pride plus friends of the family guard the female.”

  “You expect predators in the clinic?” Iona asked Eric’s back.

  “It’s tradition,” he said without turning around.

  “Or Cassidy might want to be alone with her husband. I mean, her mate.”

  Cassidy gave Iona a wan smile. “Give up. The ritual has been going on for centuries. They’ll stand there until this cub comes, whether I like it or not.”

  “Or I could always tase them,” Diego growled.

  Iona left Cassidy to walk around Eric. She looked up at the stubborn light in his green eyes and understood that he participated in the ritual from instinctive fear, his need to protect his sister.

  “Eric, how much power do I have in Shiftertown now, as your mate?”

  His gaze shifted slightly. “A lot.”

  “Enough to speak for all the females in Shiftertown?”

  “The ones who want you to, sure,” he said guardedly.

  “Then on their behalf…” She rose on tiptoe and kissed Eric lightly on the lips. “Stand the guards outside the doors and let Cassidy have a little peace.”

  “Hmm,” Eric said. “Not have my trackers in the room?”

  “Diego’s here, and he’s pretty good at guarding. I’ll stay, if Cass wants me to, and she might concede to have you here too. There are two doors into this room, both of which can be defended from the outside, can’t they?”

  Eric relaxed his stance and looked almost amused. “It will be a scandal, love. The old-guard Shifters will pass out when they learn my sister didn’t have a ring of protectors two feet away when she dropped her cub.”

  “We can throw cold water on them,” Iona said. “Please, Eric?”