Mating Instinct (The COMPLETE Ridgeville Series)

by Kyle, Celia

  Oh, she really didn’t want to see him naked.

  Okay, she wanted to see him naked, but not while she was naked. Because naked Carly and naked Neal would most likely mean nasty, dirty, make-me-come, naked things. Even if he was still involved with that blonde beyotch.

  Yippee! Damn, her control over the furball was swiftly retreating.

  No, bad bunny.

  With an internal ‘harrumph’, the rabbit retreated.

  Thank goodness.

  When the painful sounds of Neal’s shift quieted, Carly continued to remain motionless. She was really banking on the whole ‘invisible’ thing.

  “God. Damn. You’re beautiful.”

  Okay, the invisible thing didn’t work.

  She opened a single eye and found her to-be-claimed mate looming over her, his long black hair hanging in waves and nearly closing them in, protecting them from the world. Even more, he had the dimple out and in full force while his sparkling blue eyes traveled over her from the ends of her ears to her claw-tipped toes and then back again.

  “Truly, Lucky. You’re the most gorgeous little thing I’ve ever seen. You’re all delicate and cream. Makes me want to pet you until you purr. Would you purr for me?”

  Carly, and her inner-furry-whore, melted at his words. Okay, rabbits didn’t really purr, but whatever. She’d been the girl with the pretty face her entire life. And every girl in the world knows that ‘you’ve got such a pretty face’ is code speak for ‘dayum, you’re a fat ass’.

  For a man, her mate, to compliment her—whether bunny or human—touched her heart the tiniest bit.

  Carly opened her other eye, watched as Neal lifted a hand and traced the slope of her nose, and then down her exposed belly. His touch moved to her ears, trailing over the sensitive fur. Then an arm, a leg, his finger gentle as it glided over her rabbit form.

  Neal withdrew his finger and she growled at the loss. “Shift for me, Lucky. You know what we are to each other. Lemme see you.”

  She stilled. Not a breath. Not a blink. She remained utterly motionless.

  Okay, so he still acknowledged their mating after all this time. That didn’t mean much, though. Not with his love for women and the question of whether a lion-rabbit mating meant the same as a rabbit-rabbit mating. As in, exclusivity and fidelity for all time. She wasn’t sure he was even capable…

  His eyebrows drew together, a plea in his eyes, and his words were barely a whisper. “Please, Carly? We can just talk. You’ve been avoiding me for months. There’s no one around. Let your guard down, just a little.”

  There was something in his expression that made her want to trust him. Of course, then she had to raise her head and look down his body, let her eyes travel over every tight dip of his skin stretched over his muscles and right on to the juncture of his thighs.

  Hello, hard-on. Like, ‘long, thick and ready for a rough ride’ kind of hard-on.

  She snorted. A delicate bunny snort, but still a snort.

  Neal’s gaze followed hers and he chuckled. “Ignore it. You’ve been running from me for six months, Lucky, and I’ve finally got you alone. Gimme five minutes and, as much as it’ll piss off the cat, I’ll leave. You know you’re suffering just as much as I am and I want to fix whatever’s wrong. I can’t do that if I don’t know what’s keeping us apart.”

  She hated that he was right, hated the fact that a little kernel of hope flared to life in her heart. There were so many ‘what ifs’ surrounding her, and maybe now was the time to hash it all out. She’d listen to him try and justify the blonde. Maybe she didn’t really understand. Or maybe she understood all too well.

  Well, she’d hear him out, for better or worse.

  Rolling her eyes, she nudged the rabbit to the back of her mind and embraced the magic that enabled her change. Gentle power traveled through her body and the stinging, throbbing pain of her shift enveloped her from head to toe. Too bad the ‘gentle’ part didn’t last all that long.

  Fuck, but being a shifter wasn’t all werepuppies and roses.

  It hurt.

  As her BFF, Maya, would say, owie, owie, owie…

  Carly groaned, her voice sliding from rabbit to human while her arms and legs lengthened. She lifted one of her lids, not realizing that she’d closed them, and took in the look of concern coating Neal’s features. He’d remained still above her, resting on his hands and knees as she changed beneath him. He didn’t touch her skin, didn’t pet and stroke her as most humans tried to do.

  Nope, shifting hurt enough; ‘soothing’ someone with gentle caresses while the change was in progress hurt like a motherfucker.

  She panted and shifted on the ground, the mix of grass and dried leaves scraping her sensitive flesh with every pop and crack of her joints.

  Did she mention owie?

  Eventually (way eventually) it all ended with a shudder, her bones and muscles settling into her reformed skin.

  “Whew,” she huffed. “I hope you’re worth all that.” She tried to smile, but things weren’t quite working right yet, so she was pretty sure it came out more like a grimace. No way to tell until all of the feeling returned to her face.

  “Oh, Lucky. If I’d known… That looked…”

  Huh, smooth talking Neal seemed all tied in knots. She shook her head. “It’s not as bad as it looks.”

  She thought about it for a second, remembered when she’d first seen one of her friends go from human to rabbit and back again. In some respects, the bigger shifters had it easy, as their change was merely reorganization. Two hundred pounds of man made a generally slightly bigger lion. One hundred and twenty-five (okay, one hundred and sixty) pounds of short chubby chick changing down to eight pounds of hoppy fur—chubby chick equals chubby bunny—was a smidge more challenging. The reverse was just as…interesting.

  She held up a finger. Hey, her finger worked! “Actually, I lied. It sorta is.”

  Concern and worry still marred his features and a part of her she didn’t want to investigate ached to soothe him. She raised her hands from her sides and stroked his arms, petted his biceps. “It’s all good, though. You’re right; we need to talk.”

  She brought her hands to his shoulders and then his neck, stroked the line of his jaw. Neal was all man, all carved lines, and had a fierceness that would make him a good mate and protector for their kits.

  Not that she was going to succumb to his charm.

  Nope.

  Carly needed to take care of her heart because she could really, truly fall in love with the womanizing male.

  As she held him, his attention wavered from her face and then down her body, lingering on her breasts, traveling over her rounded stomach and on to the trimmed curls covering her pussy.

  She removed one palm from his face and snapped her fingers in front of his eyes. “Hey big guy, eyes up here. It’s not polite to stare like you want to gobble me up, and you know it.”

  Shifters had semi-rules about that sort of thing. Being naked after a shift wasn’t an invitation to others.

  Nice and slow, his focus retraced his path until he met her gaze once again, and he flashed a big, completely unrepentant grin. “Aw, Lucky, you don’t mean it.”

  “I think I do.” She glared at him. Overconfident oaf.

  Neal leaned down, closed the distance between their faces, licked his lips as his attention wavered between her eyes and her mouth. Suddenly, changing to talk to him didn’t seem like such a good idea anymore. Not at all.

  Danger, Carly Thompson, Danger!

  “What about talki—“

  “Later.” His voice was a deep growl that reached out to her inner rabbit.

  And then, it was too late.

  Neal’s lips were soft, delicate, and tentative as he kissed her for the first time. His skin was like the silkiest fur, gentle as he brushed his mouth over hers, teasing her with his ghostlike touch.

  Her rabbit, horny bitch that she was, responded. Carly’s body tensed, a wave of need creeping through her, ste
aling into her bloodstream and snatching away her control. With every touch of his lips against hers, her desire grew. Her pussy ached and grew damp, readying for him.

  She shouldn’t. Definitely shouldn’t. Nope. Nu huh.

  But then he deepened their connection, stroked her upper lip with his tongue, and she couldn’t withhold her response. She gasped and he immediately took advantage, slid his tongue into her and stroked. Carly moved her hands to embrace him once again, gripped his shoulders like a life raft and tugged on him, desperate for more.

  Neal. Her Neal. At least for tonight.

  Muscles taught with tension flexed and shifted beneath her palms, his smooth skin beckoning her like an invitation to explore.

  Her mate did as she silently begged. She widened her legs and he lowered his body over hers, aligned them from head to toe. His cock, thick, hard and long, came to rest at the juncture of her thighs, trapped between their bodies and branding her skin with his heat.

  Carly wound her arms around his neck, sifted her hands through his tresses and stroked him, reveled in the textures of his skin and dark strands of his hair. His silken mane drifted through her fingers, danced over her skin.

  All the while, his tongue tangled with hers…

  Neal truly did taste like spring rain and the freshest daffodils known to bunny kind. He, simply, was her bunny crack, and she never wanted to kick the habit.

  Her mate moaned and his hips flexed, sending his cock sliding along her cleft, the shaft rubbing her clit, and an uncontrollable shiver of pleasure raced through her body.

  It wasn’t just his dick that was rigid. No, his entire body was a study in granite carving, hard, yet beautiful lines, and he touched her with a gentleness she hardly believed.

  Carly opened her thighs even farther, gave him more space and welcomed his weight, reveled in the way such a fierce predator could treat her as if she were fine china.

  Then it was her turn to moan. He deepened their kiss, took control, and dominated her with his tongue, teeth, and lips. Neal tasted every inch of her mouth, teased her by mimicking what was soon to come, and nipped her lower lip in a hint of their impending mating.

  Because she’d let him. Let him sink his canines into the vulnerable flesh of her shoulder, and she would do the same to him. It’d been six months. Six months of want and need and denying her instincts.

  What would be would be.

  She just prayed her heart could take the beating.

  But she didn’t have time to worry about the future. Not when his teeth sank into her lip, drew blood, and then that talented tongue laved the stinging hurt.

  Her pussy clenched at that, tightened and begged to be filled by him. She was desperate to be stretched by her mate, taken and forced to submit. She craved his possession like her next breath…or a clearing of daffodils.

  Daffodils being the more important of the two, of course.

  Carly abandoned his hair, fingers sliding through his locks with ease, and stroked his neck, explored the fierce lines of his shoulders. Those delicious hips of his moved again, sent a violent jolt of ecstasy through her. She dug her nails into his flesh, pierced the skin with her partially shifted nails and Neal shuddered, his whole body shaking. She nearly smiled against his lips… Her big, bad lion liked that bit of pain.

  His wickedly talented mouth eased away from hers, but she chased him, tongue and lips trying to tempt him back to her. She craved the very taste of him, his essence.

  “Neal…”

  “Shh… We have all night.”

  With those whispered words, his lips traveled over her heated skin, peppered whisper-light kisses along her jaw and onto her neck. That evil touch, the one that slunk into every part of her and set her afire, moved onward to her shoulder. He tormented her, then scraped his canines over her skin, threatened to pierce the vulnerable flesh with his fangs and she arched into his touch.

  Yes, yes, yes.

  Stupid.

  But still yes.

  “Soon…” His voice was nearly carried away by the gentle breeze.

  He traveled south then, lingered over every inch of her skin as if she were a fine wine. His lips and tongue kissed and licked her until he came to her breasts.

  God, yes.

  Her nipples were rock hard, ready for him to take possession of the pebbled flesh, lave and stroke her. And Neal didn’t disappoint. No, he shifted his weight to one arm and pushed up enough to cup her right breast with his free hand, kneaded and tormented her mound, pinched and rolled her nipple. Carly whimpered and arched into his touch, quietly begging for more.

  “Neal…”

  Okay, not so quietly.

  “Hmm…” He didn’t say a word. Nope. All she got was that enigmatic hum, but in a split second, she didn’t care. No, she couldn’t give a damn. Not when he wrapped his lips around her aching nipple, suckled her, nibbled the pearl.

  “Yes…” She hissed the word, unable to keep the pleasure from her voice.

  He hummed again, the deep vibrations reverberated through her body as he sucked and nipped at the hardened flesh. His hand worked in tandem with his mouth, each pull shooting through her body and encircling her clit, drawing pleasure through her in great gulps.

  Carly twitched and tensed, his every move sending shivers of ecstasy along her spine. Her legs shifted of their own accord and all she could do was enjoy his ministrations, let him have his way with her.

  Her pussy pulsed, cream gathered at her core and made her heat slick and ready for him. More than ready. Arousal stroked her veins, hopped from nerve to nerve, nudging her pleasure to greater heights with every breath.

  She rolled her hips, frantic to have his skin against hers, his cock inside her, caressing her from the inside out. But he’d shifted again.

  With a soft pop, he released her breast. Cool air wafted over her overheated skin, causing goose bumps to arise.

  Carly raised her head and jerked in surprise. There was…something. Something in his gaze that revealed feelings she’d never dreamed of seeing on his face. Not love. No. But it wasn’t too far off.

  “Need you, Neal.”

  In a blink, that look disappeared and was replaced with the self-assured, ‘sex on two legs’ mate she’d come to know. “When I’m ready, Lucky.” He leaned down and scraped a canine over her tortured nipple. “When I’m ready.”

  With a wink, he continued his travels south, lips dancing over her skin and tongue lapping at her wherever he journeyed.

  Carly spread her thighs farther, made room for his wide shoulders as he settled between her legs. She raised her head, watched while he got comfortable. The man was on all fours, elbows propped on the ground, leaving his hands free, and those eyes… Those bright blue eyes that were filled with sex, and that little something else, were trained on her pussy, gaze complete focused on the juncture of her thighs.

  Neal took a single finger and traced her slit and she whimpered, bit her lip, and flopped back to the ground. Okay, watching was overrated. Especially when she was ready to come with a simple touch.

  “Such a pretty pussy, Lucky. Look at what you’ve been hiding from me.” His voice was a deep growl, deeper than she’d ever heard, and she wondered if maybe…

  Okay, maybe another look.

  She propped herself up on her elbows this time, determined to see everything. One glance at his face revealed a partially shifted Neal. Her mate’s features had sharpened, become stronger, cheeks appeared chiseled from granite, and a light dusting of golden fur lined his skin.

  “So hot and wet for me. Going to give me a taste, angel? Want you to come on my tongue, Carly. Damn…” Beneath her gaze, his eyes locked on hers, Neal lowered his face, pressed his cheek against her inner thigh and inhaled. Those blues flashed deep gold, changing to match the lion that lurked beneath the surface.

  “Watch.” His tongue snaked out then, slid easily between her sex lips and teased the sensitive flesh of her pussy.

  Carly moaned with that first touch,
moaned again when his next lick skated over her clit, then again when he repeated the caress.

  “Neal, yes, please.”

  He rumbled and then purred against her flesh, tongue delving deeper with each pass, stroking and petting her. His touch traveled over her secret place, lapped at her weeping hole, tasted her inner lips, and circled her clit.

  The pleasure built, slithered through her from head to toe and gathered around her pussy until she couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer. Carly let her head drop back, eyes closed, while she enjoyed his ministrations. He tempted and teased her, laved every inch of her cunt from top to bottom and back again. That lithe tongue seemed to taste her everywhere at once and she simply allowed the waves of pleasure to sweep her away.

  At some point, his fingers joined his tongue. A thumb circled her clit while his tongue invaded her hole, slid in and out like a cock and he fucked her with his flexible muscle.

  “Yes, god, more, please…” Carly couldn’t remain still, couldn’t resist the urge to rock against him, take more of whatever he was willing to give.

  But then he withdrew, thumb stilled, and she whimpered.

  “Look at me, Carly.” It took every ounce of strength, but she opened her eyes, raised her head, and focused on him. Her cream glistened around his mouth and coated his chin. “Good girl. Keep those eyes on me now. I want to see what you look like when you come.”

  “Oh…” It was more of a gasp than a word, and then it turned into a scream of pleasure.

  Beneath her gaze, he lowered his head to her pussy, mouth open and tongue visible while he captured her clit between his lips, flicked the bundle of nerves. He yanked a curse from her. At the same moment, two of his fingers, his oh so talented fingers, speared into her cunt, filled and stretched her. He stroked and petted nerves that had long been forgotten.

  Oh, they weren’t so forgotten any longer.

  Neal sucked on her clit, pulled and teased it while he slid his fingers in and out of her molten heat. He repeated the motion, tasting and tormenting her in equal measure. He curled those digits, pads slid over her G-spot and she convulsed around him, her pussy tightening and milking his invasion.