“That would be difficult, being that you didn’t leave much for the council to clean up last time, other than body parts.” Kate’s unexpected reply, laced as it was with grim humor, made him tear his gaze away from that mark, and the silent compassion he saw in her brown eyes took the wind out of his sails. Where were the terrified woman and the disgust he was so sure she felt for him?
His panther purred, and Zeb could do nothing but stare when Kate brought her hand up to his face and after a moment’s hesitation traced the stubble on his face. He hadn’t bothered with shaving, so it wasn’t so much designer scruff as downright furry going on there, yet Kate didn’t seem to mind. Her pupils dilated, and the sweet scent of her arousal increased as she raised herself on her tiptoes and sniffed him.
The action proved the undoing of what tenuous control he had on himself, and with a growl to shake the room, he grasped her and pulled her into his frame. His panther calmed instantly when Kate relaxed into his embrace, the softness of her slight curves the perfect counterfoil to the hard planes of his body, and Zeb closed his eyes and filled his lungs with the sweet scent of his woman.
How long they simply clung to each other, he couldn’t have said, but eventually Kate fidgeted and he reluctantly let her go. She turned slightly to take the covers off the tray of food she brought, and then grinned up at him.
“This looks good. You need to eat something.”
Zeb only glanced at the food. Some hearty stew that did smell delicious, come to think of it, but he shook his head, and let his gaze run over her instead.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he said. “If they find you here, then—”
“Poppycock, they won’t. We’ll have hours before the next shift change, according to Cole, and besides, I told you. I’m not leaving until you’ve eaten something, even if I have to force feed you it.”
She’d placed a generous amount into a bowl, stuck the spoon in it, and then lifted the laden utensil up to his mouth. When he growled at her, she rolled her eyes, and offered the spoon again.
“Come on, eat, pussy cat.”
His panther roared at that insult, tempered though it was with a coy smile, and Zeb swiped the bowl out of her hand. It sailed through the air, and smashed against the wall, the contents of it leaving a trail along the cream wall, as they slowly slid to the floor.
“Well, that’s just wasteful. If you want to eat off the floor, then just say so. No need to break perfectly nice crockery.”
Kate picked up another bowl to fill it with yet more food, and she jumped when he grabbed her hair and spun her around by it.
“My, we are tetchy, aren’t we?” His panther snarled and itched to get out, and her eyes grew wider but she held her ground. It was only her rapid heartbeat and the trembles in her hands as she put them on his chest that gave her away. She wasn’t frightened of him, though she bloody well ought to be, but she was definitely wary.
“I don’t want you here.” He growled the words, and she flinched when his claws ran out and pierced her skull where he held her hair bunched in his fists, but instead of screaming like any sensible woman would have done, she gave a good attempt at shrugging her shoulders.
“Tough. I am here, and besides, I can’t leave until Cole comes back to let me out, so what are we going to do with our time, I wonder?”
Zeb froze when she slid one of her hands slowly down his torso, until she could cup his dick through his denims. Pleasure surged through him at the contact, and despite that damn body part of his having jerked to attention the minute he’d realized it was her under those stinking rags, he hardened further. His cock jerked against his confines, and Kate gasped, and licked her lips.
Zeb released her, pushed her away from him, and resumed his pacing. Anything to keep control and to stop himself from mauling her, because that was exactly what his beast wanted to do right now. Pin her down, spank that insolent ass of hers until it was red raw, feast on the wetness between her thighs, and then sink balls deep into her, and claim her as his, and he couldn’t do that.
Every pace around the room he glanced at her, and it wasn’t helping. Kate simply stood there, arms pushed into the back pocket of her jeans, watching him. The rapid pulse at the base of her neck called him, as did the way she was worrying her bottom lip with her teeth, and the cute little crease that appeared between her eyes as she frowned.
At what must have been the hundredth pace around the room he couldn’t stand the heavy silence any more, and giving his animal full rein, he let the shift consume him. Fire raced over his skin, as fur erupted, and clothing tore, bones cracked and re-arranged, until he stood on all fours in his panther form. The animal leapt toward Kate, and still she didn’t move, not even when he reared up on his hind legs and brought his massive paws down on her shoulder.
She staggered somewhat under his weight, but she brought her hands into his fur right next to his mouth, and whispered the words.
“I’m not frightened. I know you won’t hurt me.”
Zeb roared and, leaping away from her, shifted back to his human form. Her gasp when he did so made his balls draw tight, and he kicked his ruined clothes on the floor out of the way, stalked over to the bed and yanked the bed spread off it. Once he’d managed to wrap the thing around himself toga style, he turned round and glared at her.
“Damn it, woman, you have no idea what my panther can do. Why aren’t you running?”
“Why are you not defending yourself against these charges that damn council is throwing at you?” Kate countered his question with one of her own, and Zeb slammed his mouth shut, and sat down heavily on the bed, when she started walking toward him.
“I won’t let you take the blame for this. They’ll kill you.” The wobble in her voice made him look up, and the tears shimmering on her eyelashes proved his undoing. He shouldn’t let her anywhere near him. She was better off without him in her life, but for the life of him he couldn’t move a muscle when she sat down next to him. Kate tugged at his makeshift cover until it slid off his shoulders, and ran her hands over his chest.
His panther purred, and Zeb balled his hands into fists to stop himself from touching her. If he did, he would lose the plot.
“Don’t.” He murmured the words under his breath, but the damn infuriating woman took no notice of him. Instead she ran her fingers through his chest hair, circled his nipples, and smiled at his involuntary groan, as she continued her exploration south. His mouth went dry, and all of his remaining blood supply shot to his dick, when she slid onto her knees in front of him, and tugged that bedspread off his groin. His cock bounced up, and before he could stop her, she had grasped the base of his shaft, and started to stroke him.
“Fuck, you don’t…”
His words failed him when she blew across his slit already wet with pre-cum and then licked that drop away. Zeb’s claws ran out and sliced through the bed covers he was clutching in a death knuckle grip to stop himself from either pushing her off or taking over and forcing her down on his cock.
She smiled up at him, and he gave up the fight when she ran her tongue around his foreskin, up and down the thick vein underneath his dick, fondled his balls, and then took him into her mouth as far as she could. She gagged when he hit the back of her throat, and she swallowed around his head. The rhythmic pressure was too much, and Zeb flexed his hips, lodging himself even deeper into the warm haven of her mouth.
Kate gagged again, pulled back slightly, swallowed several times, and then hummed around his prick, while pumping the bottom of his shaft with both hands now. The vibrations traveled up his length, and Zeb swore, as pleasure erupted along every one of his sensitive nerve endings.
“Fuck, yes, little wildcat, just like that.” Zeb buried his hands in her hair, and took charge of the up and downward glide of her hot little mouth on his junk. Kate mumbled something and smiled up at him in such a way that he lost all control. Her moans trembled along his shaft as he forced her to take him deep, and the sight of her lips stretche
d around his cock, slick with her saliva, was so damn erotic, that his orgasm burst from him with such intensity that his vision dimmed.
He held her down on his cock, as he shot jet after jet down her throat, and his little mate did her best to swallow it all. Drops escaped her mouth and ran down her throat onto her neck, and his panther roared his pleasure at seeing her thus marked. It was only when his dick finally stopped twitching, and she’d milked the last drop of cum out of him, that Zeb released his hold on her hair, and he collapsed back on his bed. His breathing as erratic as hers, he dropped his arm over his eyes to shut out the world, and let the pleasure seep through every one of his wary muscles. He was dimly aware of the soft kiss Kate bestowed on the head of his now far too sensitive cock head, and then the bed dipped and his little wildcat snuggled in next to him. He pulled her into his side with his free hand, and once he was sure he could raise his head without the room spinning around him, he propped himself up on one elbow to study her. Kate grinned up at him, but her eyes were wary, as well they ought to be, yet her smart mouth was still very much in evidence now that it wasn’t full of his cock.
“Now, that you’re more relaxed, Sir, perhaps you can explain to me what you’re playing at.”
****
Kate regretted the words almost the minute she said them, because Zeb grew tense again. She was half expecting him to shove her away, but instead he collapsed back on the bed, and a rumble escaped his big chest when she draped herself over him. His cock hardened anew under her ass when she sat up straddling him, and she marveled at his recovery time. Another thing shifters did better then. She grinned at her thought processes and wriggled her butt, until a sharp swat to her outer thigh stopped her.
Zeb grasped her by the hips and lifting her off his groin, sat her down on his abdomen instead, and Kate couldn’t help her little whimper of feminine appreciation at the prime specimen of male between her thighs. What had she ever done to deserve not one but two hunks like this? Not that Zeb was hers yet, and until he claimed her, they hadn’t really achieved anything, and it was imperative that he did. Cole Jackson had reiterated that fact to her, before he’d opened the door to let her through.
It was the only defense open to him, because the CCTV footage the council had obtained, had not captured Kate’s attack, just his panther tearing through the gang of males. Something about the angle of the cameras and one not working or something. She didn’t really care about the particulars. She just wanted Zeb to be all right, and she would not be allowed to give evidence on his behalf as a mere human, unless she was mated to him.
It smacked of elitism to her, but, hey, who was she to argue? Besides, folks that shifted into animals at will, were immune from diseases, and lived much longer than your average human were allowed to have some form of superiority complex, she supposed.
Not that she got that vibe of Tash, or Arran, or even Cole. Zeb … she drank in his clenched jaw, the tightness of his shoulders, and the sheer virile masculinity of him, and tried to think back to all the interactions she’d ever had with him.
He was intimidating, overbearing, and slightly scary … okay, make that a lot scary, when he chose to be … but he’d never given her the impression that he looked down on humans either.
Maybe it was just the old guard at the council then, as Cole had called them. Unfortunately that old guard literally held Zeb’s life in their furry hands, and the blasted man wasn’t doing anything to help himself.
“Please, Sir, talk to me.”
Zeb’s hold on her hips grew painful, and when he opened his eyes to look at her, she wasn’t at all surprised to look into the eyes of his volatile beast. Zeb’s panther was definitely far closer to the surface than Arran’s ever was, but that didn’t scare her anymore. She knew with absolute conviction that neither Zeb, nor his animal, would ever hurt her. How she could be so sure, she couldn’t even begin to explain to herself. Being with Zeb just felt right, just like being with Arran had felt right, and the only way this could be better was if Arran was here, too.
Her insides clenched in delicious anticipation at the thought of being with both her men at the same time, and her already damp panties grew even wetter at the erotic images that conjured up in her mind.
The deep rumble erupting from Zeb’s chest sent more tingles of awareness to her core and she squirmed against the hard ridges of his six pack. It created rather interesting pressure against her clit, and Kate moaned.
“I would love to know what you’re thinking right now, little wildcat, though I dare say I have a fairly good idea.” His claws pricked her skin through the denim covering her hips, and his voice carried the distinctive growl of his panther. “And for the love of God, stop moving, woman. You have no idea how much I want to fuck you senseless right now.”
Heat rose in Kate’s cheeks, and her breathing hitched at the rumbled promise, threat, she wasn’t quite sure what it was, and dropping her gaze to his hair roughened chest, she fumbled with the buttons of her blouse.
“I wish you would,” she whispered, and finally managed to undo one of the buttons.
“Kate.” That one word sliced through the air like a whip, and she flinched, but undid another button and then another, until her lacy bra was exposed.
Zeb drew in a sharp breath, and Kate screeched when he flipped them over in a quick move, until it was him straddling her. Grasping her wrists he pinned her arms high above her head, and with his body holding her down, she couldn’t move, couldn’t even breathe. He lifted off her slightly, and the intensity of his gaze took her breath away anew. Passion, fury, and above all desperate longing chased each other across his expressive eyes, and his face hardened when he let his gaze drop to her throat.
“It’s okay. It doesn’t hurt that much anymore,” she said in an effort to reassure him, and Zeb mumbled something she didn’t quite catch.
“I don’t regret killing that scum, and I won’t stand up in court tomorrow and pretend that I do.” He wrenched his gaze back up to her eyes, and Kate smiled at him.
“Good, I don’t regret you killing them either, just the fact that it placed you here.”
Zeb’s head snapped back as though she had slapped him, and he released her hand and sat up. It gave her more breathing space, but she still couldn’t move her legs, and he groaned when she brought her hands down and cupped his face.
“You can’t mean that,” he said, and she tugged on his ears to bring his head lower. He could have easily resisted, his strength so superior to hers, and the fact that he didn’t meant the world to her right now.
Kate placed a soft kiss on his lips, and Zeb groaned and kissed her back. When Kate opened to the demanding sweeps of his tongue along her lips, the bed shook with the deep purr of his beast, and Kate smiled into the kiss, before Zeb grasped her wrists again, and took charge of the kiss. He explored her mouth with breathtaking intensity as their tongues danced together and by the time he finally released her with gentle bite to her non-injured lip, they were both breathing heavily, and Kate was so aroused that she was sure she must be leaving a wet spot on her jeans. Her soaked through panties would offer no protection at all by now, and she whimpered and tried to close the distance when he licked the cut on her lip.
“No, little wildcat.” Zeb lifted off her slightly, and she squirmed under the heated intensity of his gaze, as his canines lengthened and she instinctively tilted her head to one side.
Zeb grinned and shook his head.
“My way, or not at all. I won’t claim you, until you’re absolutely certain that’s what you want. I want you begging for it, girl.”
The harsh edge to his voice tipped her arousal even higher, and she clenched her thighs together to relieve the ache in her pussy. He noticed, of course, and in the next instant, he’d flipped her over again, until she was on her tummy, and his hand came crashing down on her ass with so much force that the bed shook.
“Ow.” Kate couldn’t stop her yelp of pain, even as he massaged that sting awa
y, and heat traveled up from her abused butt.
“Oh, that was nothing yet. We’ll see how much you still want me once I’m done with pummeling this ass, shall we?”
He slapped her other butt cheek this time, and Kate bit into the covers to stop herself from crying out again. Shit, he hit hard, and she shook her head, as he massaged that hurt away, too.
“I thought so. Want me to stop already? I won’t though, not unless you use your safe word, which is red, got that?”
He yanked her head up by her hair, and Kate whispered her reply.
“Yes, Sir, but I won’t need it. I won’t want you to stop.”
A grim smile played around Zeb’s lips, and he shook his head.
“Oh, you will. I know you will, and then you’ll see that I’m no good for you.”
Chapter Eight
Fuck, this was not working to plan. Every hard swat he delivered to her backside made him grow harder, and while Kate whimpered and bit into the covers, she didn’t safe word either. What’s more the scent of her arousal grew stronger with every swat.
Damn woman was getting as turned on by this as he was, which shouldn’t have surprised him. He’d read up on her after all. Arran and he both had done their research, and their mate was an experienced submissive. What’s more she liked a bite of pain with her pleasure, and judging by the way she now lifted her bottom into every strike she liked more than just a bite.
Zeb wished he had his toy bag with him to really give her ass a good pounding, but that would have to wait for another time. That thought stopped him mid-swing. His heart contracted painfully at that thought. They would likely not have another time, would they? He knew the penalty for killing humans, and with the odds stacked against him, he had no hope. It was far better to not get her involved and spare them all further heartache, wasn’t it?
Panther Magic Page 7