by Kym Grosso
Gillian turned her back toward the mirror, and lifted her hair. As she’d suspected, a light pink pattern had appeared on her shoulder where he’d bitten her. Like a fine tattoo, its intricate design colored her skin. Exhilaration mixed with trepidation filled her heart. She could hardly believe she’d chosen Dimitri, that he was hers.
She considered that after it was all said and done, neither of them might be able to shift. Despite it all, the happiness in her chest refused to be thwarted. Though she’d detected his injured wolf when they’d made love, she hadn’t thought about the consequences of her actions or the taint on his beast. Her only focus had been on the strong man holding her in his arms. She knew that today serious conversations needed to be had. As she traced the contours of the lines on her skin, pride in his mark superseded every other emotion.
After freshening up, using the bathroom, she tied the robe around her waist. Making her way to Dimitri, she heard classical music. It grew louder and more intense, and she found it interesting that he liked the genre. She’d expected him to listen to zydeco or rock n’ roll, with his bad boy good looks, but this was a surprise, reminding her that she still didn’t know him very well.
Quietly, she padded down the hallway, taking note of the colorful modern paintings on the wall. Holding tight to the banister, she descended into a bright, airy great room. She smiled at the sight of Dimitri sitting at a grand piano. Shirtless, the corded muscles of his back curved down into his shorts. Even though she was certain he’d heard her enter the room, he continued to play. His body rocked in rhythm, his fingers moving up and down the keys with the fluidity and ease of a concert pianist.
She came up behind him, placing her palms on his shoulders. His muscles tensed as he continued, lost in the piece. Energy flowed through him to her hands, and it was as if he were creating power via his connection to his instrument. As his fingers came to a rest, she pressed her lips to his back.
“That was beautiful,” she said.
Dimitri quickly reached around to his mate. Before she knew what had happened, he’d lifted her off her feet and had her cradled in his lap.
“Good morning…or good afternoon, should I say?” Dimitri kissed her shoulder with small pecks until he reached the sensitive area behind her ear.
“You play the piano?” She giggled from the sensation.
“Hmm…yes but I’m more interested in playing with you,” he replied. Tugging on her loosely tied belt, he slipped his hand over her skin, laying it on her belly.
“You were amazing.” She smiled.
“Why thank you, cher. You were quite the little minx yourself. You ready to go for round two or is that round three? The courtyard counts, right?”
“Stop it.” She slapped him softly on the chest.
“What? Is my count off?” Smiling ear to ear, he cupped her breast.
“Is sex all you think of?” she asked.
“That’s a loaded question that I refuse to answer. Besides, your nipples don’t lie.” He gently pinched her pebbled peak. “I’m not the only one thinking of sex.”
“Maybe, but that’s only because of you. Now come on. Tell me about this.” She gestured to the keys.
“This,” he leaned forward and took her rosy tip into his mouth, sucking until she moaned, “this is soft and delicious.”
She rolled her eyes and laughed. Crossing her legs together, she tried to thwart the ache that throbbed between them.
“I smell you, darlin’ and it ain’t the bacon that has my mouth waterin’.” Dimitri pressed his face into the hollow between her breasts and kissed her skin.
“The….the piano,” she stuttered, attempting to focus.
“You are tenacious.”
“I am. Please, tell me.”
“Mama insisted I learn how to play. ‘The classics’, she’d say. So the classics I’d play. Bach. Chopin. Beethoven. Once I shifted, well, I took up the squeezebox. Mama wasn’t crazy ‘bout it but she got used to it. Bought my first les tit noirs after the turn of the century…1910, it was. I’ve got a small band I play with sometimes. But at the end of the day, I always return to the eighty-eight.”
“It’s beautiful,” she remarked, stroking her fingers over the ivories.
“Oui, ma chérie.”
“French?”
“Ah, we’re a bit French here, all right, but I’m afraid I’ve been hangin’ out with Leo too much.”
“And your parents?”
“Are in Philadelphia. Mama and Papa joined Tristan after he became Alpha up there. They come down from time to time.”
“And how do you think they’re going to respond to having their son mate with a tiger?”
“After a century, cher, they’re happy to see me mate with anyone who makes me happy. Ya’ll don’t know how fast a rumor spreads ‘round here. I’m sure the entire city of brotherly love was ablaze with the news after my announcement last night. I already got a call from my mama this mornin’ wanting to know everything about you. I promised we’d come up there next month.”
Gillian laughed. “I can’t wait to meet them.”
“How do you think your mama’s gonna react to you matin’ with a wolf?” Dimitri asked.
“Not fair. She can’t shift. Not to mention that my father was an Alpha who’s no longer alive.” She averted her gaze and sighed. Raising her eyes to meet his, she continued. “Truth?”
“Truth.”
“She’s not going to be too happy. She didn’t exactly encourage me to get to know Jax, and he was my own brother. I love my mom dearly, but I’m thinking it may be best we break it to her after we mate. You know the saying about asking for forgiveness? Let’s go with that plan.”
“Are you upset with your mom? About Jax?”
“I don’t blame my mom for not wanting me to see my brother. At the time, I was the one who made the decision to cut off contact. She had me so scared about what could happen. She’s worried I won’t be able to shift. But at the same time, I want to be with you. No one’s going to stop me from doing what I need to do.”
“All that Alpha in ya…oh my.” He laughed.
“What?” she asked with a grin.
“Submitting’s not gonna be easy.” He shook his head.
“Are we back talking about sex again?”
“Let’s just put it this way.” Dimitri paused, considering how she’d get along with everyone. She’d have to fall into the natural cadence of life within a pack. “When we mate, I think you’re gonna still shift, but you may be wolf. Even if you’re not wolf, you’re gonna have to learn how to integrate into the pack. In the end, all wolves must learn to submit, to have discipline. We do it to ensure order. Order keeps peace. Peace keeps us safe, well organized.”
“Last night with you was great and all. But I’m not that experienced with submission in any part of my life. I’m feline. I don’t think I can do it,” she confessed.
“Last night was beautiful.” He winked and took her hands in his. “You need to look at it this way, cher. Submission is about trust. In bed. In life. Take Logan for example. I trust him to do what’s best for us. Now that doesn’t mean I don’t advise him or disagree at times. But when push comes to shove, his word goes. I support him in the same way the rest of the pack submits to me.”
“I guess it’s hard for me to understand. It’s not like I don’t know that my DNA has wolf in it. Technically, I was born into a pack. But my life with my mom…we were isolated. It’s not just about having anyone to submit to. It’s so much more. I’ve never had anyone, period. No one to trust. No one to rely on. Sure I have friends, but the kind of thing you’re talking about…it’s not the same.”
“Which is why we’ll go slow with the pack. You felt it with Logan, though…the power. I saw it on your face when you met him. Humans can’t feel it, they just have a sense that he’s dominant. Leo, on the other hand, he acknowledges Logan’s power but damn if that old ass vamp isn’t putting out some serious high volt wattage of his own. What you
felt with Logan is the natural order calling you.”
“I felt it…he was strong, but I wasn’t afraid.”
“It isn’t about being afraid. It’s about trust, respect and knowing without a doubt that he’s in charge. That he’ll keep you safe.”
“And you?”
“Look, Gilly, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that you not submitting is an option. I think you know that being in the pack…it’s a team…a family. My family. And I hope someday yours, too,” he said, brushing her hair from her eyes.
“And what if we can’t shift? What if we mate and I lose my ability? What if we can’t get rid of this thing…whatever it is inside you?”
“We’ll face it together, that’s what. But I’m a fighter. You don’t get to be in my position without battlin’ it out every now and then.”
Gillian didn’t want to know what he meant by that. She wasn’t sure she could handle watching him in a challenge.
“We’ll get through this,” he reassured her. “Besides, I have a feelin’ you’re going to come through stronger than ever.”
“Why hasn’t the witch healed you? Last night…when we were together, I could feel it…that evil. But when I concentrate, letting my energy out, I know I can heal you. Why can’t we just do that? I’ll be there for you…every single day if that’s what it takes.”
“I wish.” Dimitri kissed her forehead and took a deep breath. He hadn’t wanted to admit that his wolf had grown weaker. Their recent interludes had done little to help. “Ilsbeth needs to purge this. It can’t be done without magic.”
“But maybe I can…” Gillian knew of her gifts. She wasn’t certain that like her father, he’d be given them when they mated. Her mother had told her stories about how her father had shifted into a tiger. Like a childhood fairytale, she found it difficult to believe. She’d never seen it with her own eyes and didn’t want to raise his hopes. But in the back of her mind, it remained a last resort.
“Ilsbeth is bringing in a sorcerer. We’ll have to go to them…see what he recommends. She thought he’d have to meet me in person for it to work.”
“What’s the deal with you and her?” Gillian hated asking but she’d seen how close they’d been, the beautiful woman’s hands on her wolf.
“She’s a friend.”
“No…she’s more,” she challenged.
“It’s not what you think.”
“I saw it in her eyes last night. Are you dating?” Gillian held her breath, waiting on his answer.
“She’s a friend,” he sighed. “Was she more than a friend at one time? Yes. But I’d always told her that we couldn’t be more. I’m not goin’ to lie to you. I’ve lived a long time, and I’m not exactly celibate.”
“Okay,” she said, pensively balling up her hands. The admission punched her in the gut. She knew she shouldn’t be jealous. Of course he’d dated, but hearing him say the words pained her.
“Every wolf knows that he or she is going to meet their mate. And when it happens, the chemistry…the call of it…it can’t be ignored. It’s not fair to lead another person to think that they can be your partner, your spouse or whatever, when you know at any moment you could be walking down the street and bam, it’s over. I told her…” Dimitri went quiet, scrubbing his hand over his brow, uncomfortable with the conversation. He didn’t want to hurt Gillian but if she was going to meet Ilsbeth, there was no knowing what the witch would tell her. “I told her that we couldn’t date. She’s been around a long time, too. It’s not as if she didn’t know. She, uh, isn’t my biggest fan right now.”
“That’s not what it looked like last night,” Gillian responded.
“She doesn’t know what she wants. Believe me, Ilsbeth is all about Ilsbeth,” he mused.
“Are you sure she’s the right witch? Maybe she’s not helping you on purpose.”
“I don’t think so. Don’t get me wrong, she was pissed at me big time, but she didn’t even know about you until last night.”
“She didn’t know when she did the spell?”
“No…she didn’t.” But she asked me to move in with her and tried to kiss me. Guilt tore at him but disclosing those facts didn’t seem in either of their best interests. Ilsbeth knew he had a mate and that was all that mattered.
“We’re meeting her tonight?”
“Yeah. So, uh, what about you? No boyfriends?” He smiled, changing the focus.
“Me? Not really. I dated humans. I’ve only met a few tigers, none were my mates. Avoided wolves.”
“Not anymore.”
“And look where that got me.” She shook her head, lifting her eyes to his. Her lips couldn’t help but curl upward despite the unpleasant conversation they’d just had about the witch.
“On my lap, that’s where.” He laughed. “And the problem is?”
“Are you always so…I don’t know…funny? Optimistic?” she asked.
“Is there any way else to be? I may be immortal but I’m not wastin’ this life in misery or fear.”
“Hence driving your motorcycle cross-country? Single-handedly almost killing an Alpha? Jumping into hell pits with dangerous vampires? What else do you do for fun?”
“Tiger taming…it may be the scariest gig I’ve taken on.”
“Tiger taming, huh?” She laughed, rolling her eyes. “I didn’t realize you worked for a circus.”
“Oh, no, no. I don’t believe in caging animals, darlin’. Wild animals should be free,” he proposed, spreading open her robe.
“No ringmaster?”
“I may be a master but only in the bedroom. No circus here.”
“I’m impressed with your bravery,” she said, tracing a small circle on his chest, “but if you’re in the tiger taming business, what makes you think you’ll come out unscathed? Tigers are deadly, you know…ferocious.”
“Indeed.”
“You may get scratched…we like it rough.”
“Aw cher, I plan on earnin’ a few scratch marks along the way, but my cat, she’s going to be purrin’ like a kitten when I’m done with her.”
“You may get bitten, then what?”
“A few bites never hurt anybody.” He glided his hand down her forearm, teasing her inner wrist. “I can take care of myself.”
“So you plan on using a whip?”
“Only if she likes it. But you’ve gotta be gentle when taming tigers…coercing them only makes them more aggressive.” Without warning Dimitri lifted her up onto the piano, her bottom hitting the keys. The ping of the notes sang into the air. “Careful, calculated attention…now that’s what trains a tiger. You must get close to her…earn her trust.”
“Sounds dangerous,” she gasped as his palms glided up her inner thighs. Off balance, she held onto the rim of the fall board.
“Lethal,” he agreed. Locking his eyes on hers, he skimmed his hands over her knees until they fell wide, exposing her sex.
“You’re very confident.” The heat grew between them as Dimitri’s sensuous mouth approached her abdomen.
“I can be commanding when I need to…my tiger knows she can trust me to take care of her,” he said. Pressing his lips to the soft skin below her breasts, Dimitri smiled.
“Yes,” she breathed. Her pussy ached as it brushed against his chest. She began to pant as he placed small kisses on her skin, dipping underneath her belly button but never going any further.
Dimitri lay his cheek flat against her stomach, letting her cradle his head with her hands. His fingers glided beneath her robe, caressing the small of her back
“Have I successfully demonstrated my technique?” he asked softly.
“You scare me,” Gillian admitted, her lips brushing the top of his head. Dimitri’s erotic touch seared her senses, eliciting arousal through every cell of her body. But it was his flirtatious banter, laced with a hint of truth, that had touched her heart. The more she got to know him, the man behind the wolf, the more she realized she’d never be the same. It wasn’t just about her no
t shifting; it was about caring for someone so much that she could barely breathe. She was falling for him.
“You terrify me,” he replied, hiding his expression from her.
“This thing between us…it feels so…”
“Yes it does.”
“How do you know what I was going to say?” She laughed.
“I care about you, Gilly,” he said, not quite answering her question. “I’m not a fool. I know there’s this physical thing that draws us together. Whatever that magic is that give us our mates.”
“Chemistry.”
“I never thought I’d find someone…it’s been a long time.”
“I haven’t lived as long as you, but I know what it feels like to be alone.” Gillian rubbed her cheek into his hair.
“No more.” Dimitri lifted his head to look deep within her eyes.
“No more.” Gillian’s heart raced. It wasn’t as if they’d declared their love for each other, but the intimacy around their fears and optimism allowed them to share the vulnerable nature of their feelings. A new beginning for them both.
As Dimitri leaned forward, Gillian took his face into her hands, cupping his cheeks. His eyes fell to her lips and then caught her gaze again. Slowly, he leaned into her embrace until his mouth claimed hers. Gently his tongue slipped between her trembling lips. Gillian’s fingers tunneled up into his wavy brown hair. Fisting his locks, she hungrily kissed him back.
Gillian’s hands fell to Dimitri’s waistband, tugging down his shorts, freeing his erection. Her smooth pussy grazed his belly, and she struggled to get leverage, to alleviate the ache. Dimitri sensed her need and bent his knees so that his hardness pressed against her entrance. Using a hand to guide himself, he eased himself into her, inch by inch, gingerly joining their bodies as one. Never breaking contact, Dimitri built a slow rhythm.
Gillian absorbed the way he moved inside her and moaned in pleasure. It was only a matter of time before her beast submitted completely, marking him in return. By doing so, she’d fully accept her fate. Like an all-consuming force of nature, Dimitri destroyed every last preconception she’d held about wolves mating. His intoxicating presence in her life had become a delicious necessity.