His Purrfect Mate

by Aliyah Burke

  “What the hell do you call it? Tell me something, does this Lady Nahia have powers?”

  Dane could hear the stress in her voice. “Yes. She’s an Elemental.”

  “I bet she’s beautiful, too,” Aida murmured.

  He shrugged. “I suppose.” Dane frowned when she rolled away from him, and it deepened the moment she pulled the blanket up over her head.

  “What are you doing, Aida?” He touched her shoulder and scowled when she resisted him, turning her back. She didn’t answer either. Aida, you have to talk to me. Still nothing. Dane knew she could hear him, for the link was open, but she didn’t respond. He physically rotated her so he could see her face.

  Prying the blanket away, he tried to get eye contact. It didn’t happen. She sighed and pushed back, getting out of bed. Dane stood and walked to her, dressing himself along the way. Standing behind her, he pressed a kiss to her smooth bare shoulder.

  “Stop it, Dane,” she said in a disheartened voice.

  “Aida, look at me.”

  She turned her head, sighed and faced him completely. “What?”

  “I don’t understand. Why are you upset?” He ignored her lush naked body. Not easy, but he did.

  “Never mind. I need to shower.” She ducked by him and walked out without a look back.

  Dane wavered between going after her and leaving her alone. Shaking his head, he sat on the bed. After he heard the water start, he stood and made the bed before going to the kitchen to reheat the meal they had yet to get around to. While he waited for her, Dane sent a heartfelt thank you message to Aren for him protecting his woman.

  Aida stood under the spray and let it work out the soreness in her muscles. Who knew making love could be such an experience. Never in her life had she come close to encountering what she had with Dane. Her belly tightened at the memory of feeling his thickness filling her beyond anyone ever had before. Shaking away the thought, she cleared her mind. Aida hung her head and let the water rinse off the soap.

  Are you almost finished? Or would you like some help? Dane’s seductive tone teased her mind.

  With a sigh, Aida turned off the water and got out. She stared at her reflection in the foggy mirror. Another wave of doubt and uncertainty swamped her.

  Other women he deals with are more than you. Beautiful and can handle themselves, her mind said.

  What can I offer a man like him?

  Good point. Why don’t you tell him to leave?

  Aida turned her back on the mirror and dressed. Buttoning her pants, she risked another look at herself. Nothing spectacular there.

  The door seemed to materialize into Dane. And he looked furious. His eyes snapped tawny fire. “Enough, Aida,” he rumbled, his tone low and fierce.

  “I’m sorry?” Aida faced the mirror.

  She reached behind her and gathered her hair to put it up. Dane moved faster than a blink. Granted her bathroom may not be that big…but still. His large hands covered hers, and he put them by her side.

  “Leave it down.” It wasn’t anything other than a command.

  Aida’s hands clenched briefly before she relaxed. “And you are in here, why?”

  “Because I’m tired of you doubting yourself and your importance to me.”

  Meeting his gaze in the mirror, she bit off, “Then, stay out of my head!”

  “No.”

  She spun around to stare directly at him. “No?!”

  “No.” Dane’s expression softened.

  Grinding her jaw, she rubbed a temple. “Why not?”

  “I like feeling you with me every moment.”

  “Privacy mean anything to you?”

  “What do you need to keep private from your mate?” Dane cocked his head and regarded her thoughtfully. The man seriously seemed completely befuddled.

  “You don’t tell your family everything,” she pointed out. “And you said we weren’t mated.”

  Dane crossed his muscled arms over his rippled chest frowning at her. “Of course I don’t. I may not have claimed you yet, but you damn well better believe we are mates. The mating bond is alive and well between us.”

  So alpha, so determined. So fucking hot! Sweet goddess, that man could seriously get it again. I can barely keep my mind off sex. “So why them but not me?”

  One hand reached for her face and Aida shivered at the light touch. “Because, solnyshko moyo, you are my mate.”

  Frustration raced up within her. “Which means shit to me. I get you needed me to get some balance back but why do I have to give everything up? I like my privacy. I get it, you needed me. Fine. Can you leave me alone now? Like you said, we may be mates but you’ve not claimed me yet, so you can leave.” She slid to the side and began to leave.

  Aida was backed against the wall in the space of a heartbeat.

  “No, Aida,” he whispered, his voice low and potent. “You are not a means to an end. You are everything to me. And I’m not leaving you. I don’t know how to explain this well. Think of a butterfly.”

  A butterfly?

  Yes, solnyshko moyo, a butterfly. Work with me here.

  She bit back a smile. Continue.

  “It needs both sets of wings in order to fly. Without you, Aida, I’m missing a set. I was limping through existence. With you, I can soar through life.”

  Aida smiled slightly. “That’s very sweet, Dane. But I still like my privacy. Aren’t there some things you prefer to keep to yourself?”

  “Yes, but not from you. I have no secrets from you.”

  He held her gaze while he spoke and she was at a loss for words. “But you have the right to have your own thoughts.”

  Dane skimmed her cheekbone with the pad of his thumb and sighed. “If I don’t read your thoughts without permission, can we leave the link open?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then, I will respect your desire for privacy. But, Aida, no more doubting what you mean to me. You are the only one for me. No other woman can compare to your beauty to me, no other but you can make me think of shredding clothes and taking you against the nearest thing. I only want you.”

  Her insides melted. “I think I’m finally getting the picture.”

  His eyes became molten. “I hope so. I love you, Aida Kumani Roberts.”

  Wrapping her arms around his neck, she kissed him. Stop trying to make me cry.

  Dane lifted her off the ground and carried her out of the bathroom. You need food, solnyshko moyo, so stop that purring.

  Aida nipped his tongue and broke the kiss. “Fine.”

  “You are trying to provoke me, solnyshko moyo.” He set her down in the kitchen.

  Reaching for two plates, Aida didn’t even try to hide her smile. “Perhaps. What are you calling me? Is it Russian?”

  “Yes, it’s Russian.”

  Glancing over her shoulder at him, she arched a brow. Dane just stood there watching her. She stuck her tongue out at him.

  “There are much better uses for your mouth than that, Aida.”

  Lust slammed into her when she got his very vivid, erotic image in her mind. She was kneeling before him, his hands fisted in her hair and his cock thrusting in her mouth. Her pussy creamed, and Aida dropped her eyes to his crotch, staring at the obvious ridge.

  “I agree,” she murmured seductively. “Too bad you said I needed food, because I’d love to be doing that.” The tip of her tongue snuck out to wet her lips, and she released a deep throated moan.

  Aida! Dane rubbed his cock, and she turned her back on him, forcing down her desire.

  “Get some drinks, Dane.”

  His rumble of displeasure filled the room, but he did as she’d said, and before long, they were eating. All through the dinner, Dane stared at her, like she was his next meal.

  “Aida,” he said.

  “Yes?” Whatever he’d been about to say was drowned out by the sound of an approaching vehicle. With a slight frown, Aida wiped her mouth and headed for the door. “Ahh, hell,” she grumbled when she opened it.


  Lord Devon Smythe was getting out of his white Mercedes. He adjusted his hat and walked toward her, cane in hand.

  Aida leaned against the doorframe. “What do you want?”

  “Why do you insist on being unpleasant, Aida? I want us to get along.” He pulled off his gloves, tugging on a finger at a time. “The two of us, we could do such things together, Aida.”

  You haven’t begun to see unpleasant. “Like what?” she questioned when he stopped beneath the awning.

  “Yes. Like what?” Dane’s voice, angry and hard, broke in.

  Aida could feel his body pressing intimately against hers. And it was rigid with fury. Calm down, Dane.

  Why is he here? The question more of a primal snarl than anything.

  “What are you doing here?” Devon snapped, glaring at Dane.

  Aida rolled her eyes. Men.

  “We were eating,” Dane bit off in return. He stepped around her, putting himself in front of her.

  Hellfire and damnation. He’d removed his shirt. Would you get back? I don’t need you to protect me from him.

  This man wants you, Aida. I will kill him if he touches you.

  Somehow, she didn’t doubt that. “What do you want, Smythe?” she asked, stepping alongside Dane.

  “I need a word with you.” He looked in Dane’s direction and sniffed. “Alone.”

  “Fine.”

  No!

  Back off, tiger-mine. Let me deal with him. Aida took another step toward Devon Smythe. “Let’s go. I’ll walk with you out to your car, so talk fast.”

  Aida.

  Privacy, Dane. We just talked about it. She could feel his displeasure but she ignored it. “Well, what did you want, Smythe?”

  “Why is he here? And in that state of dress?”

  “Oohhkay, this conversation is over. You have no right trying to get in my business.”

  “I’m worried about you, Aida.”

  Opening the door for him, Aida scoffed. “Bullshit. We both know what you’re after. Trust me when I say you’re not getting my land or me, Lord Devon Smythe. That I vow.”

  He sat on the leather seat, and an ugly sneer filled his expression. “I always get what I want.”

  “Not in this case.”

  “Aida, don’t be—”

  She slammed the door on his sentence and walked back to the house. Dane remained by the door, a scowl on his face. “Don’t start with me, Dane.” He stretched an arm across the doorway, halting her. Inhaling sharply, Aida stared at him. “What?”

  “Why are you so stubborn?”

  “Look. Devon is my problem and will be even after you leave. I can fight my own battles.”

  “My job, mate, is to protect you,” he rumbled in her ear.

  She shivered at the decadent sensuality his voice contained. Ducking beneath his arm, she went back to the table and sat, willing iron back into her limbs. She looked up when Dane strode into the room. His presence near overwhelming. Masculine predatory power rolled off him in waves.

  Her body responded immediately. Clamping her legs together, Aida tried to stem the flow of wetness he created within her. It didn’t work. He pinned her with his gaze, and she whimpered. Feral fire smoldered in his eyes. His chiseled torso rose and fell with every breath he took. Aida refused to retreat; she rose to her feet and met his unwavering gaze head on. Dane hauled her in close, and it felt like he consumed her. His mouth engulfed hers ravenously. Pressing against him, she dragged her nails down his upper arms, responding to him. He shifted, and the sound of dishes hitting the floor and breaking filled the air.

  “Dane,” she mewled into his mouth.

  He bore her back onto the table, his body wedged between her legs. Dane used his hands and ripped her shirt in two. Seconds later, another rip, and she knew he’d destroyed her pants. He lifted his head and met her eyes while his fingers lightly caressed her through her panties. His eyes were animalistic, dominant, alpha male, and they made her body want more. Such dark sexuality poured from them to land on her; she thought she may go crazy.

  “Mine!” he snarled furiously.

  Her heart pounded out of control; her hips rose to meet his light touch. Every muscle in his body tensed. He held on by a thread. And she wanted it to break.

  “Yours,” she whispered, reaching between them and guiding his fingers home into her wet slit. Aida closed her eyes in pleasure, only to throw them open frustration when he withdrew them. “Dane,” she begged shamelessly.

  He snapped her underwear, his eyes no less primal. She shivered when she felt the large head of his erection against her pussy. Aida lay there on her table, shirt ripped down the middle, exposing her bra. No clothes on her lower body and the man between her legs staring at her like a hungry animal.

  Dane didn’t move, just sat there, the tip of his cock teasing her slit. His eyes moved possessively over her, and before she could take another breath, he’d slammed home into her. His head lowered by hers.

  “Ohhh,” she moaned, her lower lip caught between her teeth.

  “You will listen to me, solnyshko moyo, when I tell you something which is to protect you,” he demanded in a low tone.

  “Stop ordering me around, Dane,” she snapped back, locking her legs around his waist.

  He stroked within her, and electric impulses shot through her. In the back of her mind, she could hear the fierce cry of a tiger. All the way in and back out, he moved until just his large head remained in her.

  She whimpered in frustration. “Damn you, Dane. Stop torturing me.” She stared at him and found his eyes yellow-gold before they changed back.

  “Aida,” he grunted.

  Tightening her legs, she lifted and impaled herself back on his shaft. Need rippled through his eyes. Reaching for his hands which rested along her hips, she covered them. “Let go, tiger-mine. I don’t want gentle. Please, Dane, I need you.”

  She saw his thread of control snap, and Aida screamed in ecstasy as he pounded into her. Demanding, forceful, and she loved every second of it. Beyond her cries, she could hear the roar of a tiger.

  “More!” she begged, undulating against him. He complied, and the room was full of moans and the squeaking of wood. “Uh, uh, uh, uh.”

  No more disobedience, mate.

  Even that voice was graveled with passion.

  Clamping down on his thrusting cock, Aida grinned at the answering purr he gave. Will you spank me if I do?

  His eyes darkened. Aida. It was a warning.

  She closed her eyes and gave herself over to the mastery of his touch. Every cell within her body responded. Dane tormented her, keeping her right at the edge but not allowing her to go over.

  “I…need…oh sweet goddess…Dane!” She arched into him, feeling his thickness deeper than she believed possible.

  Come for me, Aida! He bit her shoulder. Milk my cock.

  The sharp pain of his bite combined with the enigmatically sexual command, she disintegrated, fragmenting around him.

  Mine, Aida. I claim you for eternity. I will always protect you and our children.

  His words touched her soul, and she knew he meant each and every word he had just spoken. And yet, she still held part of herself back, keeping it from him.

  He powered into her over and over before shooting his seed as deep as he could within her. The power of his eruption triggered another round within her, and she whimpered as her body reached its limit. His sweaty body covered hers, and she groaned contentedly. Aida lay there, utterly exhausted. Dane began to pull out of her when a low crack filled the air. Her scream never really had a chance to form, and she found herself lying on top of Dane, the table broken beneath him.

  Aida blinked a few times. What the hell happened?

  “We broke the table,” he said, his timbre laced with more than enough arrogance for her to punch him in the shoulder.

  “I see that. I meant, how in the hell did our positions get reversed? What am I doing on top of you?”

  Dane kiss
ed her and winked lewdly. “Tempting me all over again.”

  She moved to get up but was held hostage by his steel like arms. “I need to get dressed.” He smacked her ass but let her go.

  Aida went to her room and grabbed some more clothes. Her body was exhausted, and she kept looking at the bed. He’s supposed to be the tired one. She wanted to love him as completely as he did her but she was scared. So scared. Aida slid a baggy shirt on over her head and reached for another pair of pants. Once again fully dressed, she went back out to the kitchen. She walked in on Dane standing over the busted table, dressed in a tight pair of jeans, a torso-molding white t-shirt and boots. Cowboy boots.

  “You seem mighty proud of yourself,” she remarked, picking up her torn pants and panties.

  “I am.”

  “Figures,” she muttered. “Damn.”

  “What’s the matter? I can fix the table or I’ll make you a new one. A sturdier one.”

  “No, that’s not it. It’s just...I really liked these pants.” Balling up the torn clothing, she tossed them in the trash. Leaning against the counter, she took in the condition of her kitchen. Broken dishes, food everywhere, and a busted table. “Make a new one. There’s no way I could ever serve my parents on this one.”

  He laughed. A deep, decadent sound that made her mind go down a road she needed to stay away from.

  “I’ll go get started on it right now.” Dane raked a hand through his shaggy hair. “Unless you’d like me to stay and help you here.”

  “No, I’ll get this.” She needed some distance from his intoxicating presence. “A table would be wonderful.”

  Dane bent and gathered the busted pieces, headed for the door and slipped through it. I’m not letting you run, solnyshko moyo.

  Who’s running? I just don’t want to eat off the floor.

  Don’t lie to your mate.

  Stop ordering me around.

  Tell me something, solnyshko moyo.

  Sure. If you tell me what you’re calling me. She swept up the broken dishes.

  Do you have the handcuffs I wore here?

  She burst out laughing. Want me to tie you up?

  Wasn’t quite where I was going with that.

  Build me a table, tiger-mine.

  Aida smiled at his laugh and concentrated on cleaning up her kitchen.