by Vella Day
Ella loved when she brought him to the brink. This first-time mating was like a human’s wedding day. It was special. Wonderful. Epic. She wanted everything to be perfect. Bringing him close to a climax and then pulling away was her goal.
When Ella took hold of his cock and sucked hard on him, he grabbed her shoulders. His heat nearly seared her. As if all of his energy had entered her, she pumped her fist faster and faster as she swirled her tongue around his hard shaft. When a shot of cum erupted from the tip, Ella found herself on her back once more.
“I can’t control myself,” he said. “I want you worse than anything.”
Before Ella could respond with a smile or with words, he nudged her legs open with his knees and slipped downward. He palmed her breasts and brought them together. When he planted his face between them and inhaled, she chuckled. His moans implied he never wanted to leave, and she couldn’t be more thrilled that her animal musk turned him on.
Tanner released his grip and nabbed her nipple. The first tug had her grabbing his head, but the slight pain morphed quickly into erotic pleasure. As he alternated from side to side, ripples of lust cascaded up and down her back. Just when she thought she’d come, he slid lower. Ella had never been able to resist Tanner when he began coaxing her clit toward a climax.
The first lick crippled her, but she was determined to stay strong. Ella inhaled and worked hard not to let out a scream. To her surprise, controlling her moans and groans actually heightened the danger, adding to the excitement. When he licked her opening, she stiffened. “Now!”
She hadn’t meant for that to come out as a shout.
Tanner must have been feeling the same draw, because he stopped. With his gaze on her face, he crawled up the bed until their lips touched. He demanded entrance, and she obliged.
Just as the kiss intensified, his cock found her entrance. He thrust his hips forward, driving into her hard, and the euphoria nearly broke her in two. Nothing compared to the love, desire, and need flowing through her right now.
Ella lifted her hips to match his thrusts. Their speed increased as did the frenzy of their kissing.
He finally broke the contact and dragged his lips to the soft spot between her neck and shoulder blade. Ella had only briefly been told what to expect when two people mated, but it wasn’t anything like the elation she was experiencing. Good thing no thought was required on her part. The magical connection between them guided her lips to the same spot on his body. Tanner cupped her face and then stroked a knuckle down her cheek. It was almost as if he was trying to let her know that the moment was near. When Tanner hammered into her once more, her universe exploded. She bit down on him at the exact moment he sunk his teeth into her tender skin. Ella expected a wave of pain, but instead, a glorious bliss surrounded her as an orgasm overtook her body.
While she couldn’t be certain, it sure felt that the moment he came, part of his soul entered her. Light, power, and love filled her. She hugged him hard, wanting to never let go. Tanner McCarson was hers—all hers—and nothing or no one could change that.
Something gentle nudged Tanner’s shoulder. When he opened his eyes, sunlight was streaming in the window, and his beautiful mate was smiling down at him. It took a moment for him to realize they’d spent the night snuggled against each other—as mates.
“Good morning,” he said as he pulled her closer to kiss her.
“We should get back to my parents’ house before they suspect something.”
“Ugh. They’ll see us come in,” he said.
“I’ll tell them we went out for an early morning walk. Or an early morning run. At least I would run. I’m not sure if you can yet.”
“We’ll have to see. I don’t want to make a bad impression already. Let’s go.”
They quickly cleaned up and dressed. Once they checked out, Tanner flew them back to her house. Since Ella had an overnight bag with her, she shifted, raced to her car to place it inside before returning. Wow. He’d never seen her in her leopard form. She was the most beautiful animal he’d ever seen. Her chest was white while the rest was cream colored with brown spots that were occasionally highlighted in black. Since all he could see at the moment was the swishing of her tail, he couldn’t check out the color of her eyes.
A moment later, Ella returned, but she was in her human form. “All set. Ready?”
“Totally.” Tanner still couldn’t believe the joy and thrill still racing through his body. It was as if today was the first day he was really alive.
When they entered the house, they were met with the delicious aroma of breakfast.
“This has to be a first. We never eat breakfast together,” she said. Ella looked over at him. “Do you think they’ll be able to tell what we did last night?”
“You mean make me the happiest man in the world?”
She giggled. “Yes.”
“Do you care if they know?”
Ella grinned. “Not in the least. Oh, and after breakfast, I want to do something special.”
“What would that be?”
“It’s a surprise.”
When they stepped into the dining room, her sisters and Ella’s mom were at the table, but her dad was missing.
As far as he could tell, no one had started eating, which implied they were waiting for them. Tanner and Ella sat next to each other at the table, and he probably failed to look as casual as he wanted.
“Did you both sleep well?” her mother asked.
“Yes. The bed was so comfortable. It was hard to get out of it.” It had been comfortable for the first few minutes he was in it.
“Where’s Dad?” Ella asked.
“He is speaking with the Blackwoods.”
While Tanner had no sympathy for the family, it would be hard on Ella’s dad to tell the family that liars would not be tolerated.
Her mother sipped on her coffee. “How long will you two be staying?” she asked.
Tanner couldn’t tell if she couldn’t wait to get rid of them, or if she wanted to spend more time with her daughter.
Ella answered. “I’m going to take Tanner to the slopes today. After that, we’ll head home.”
That was news to him, but he thought it best to smile and go along with her. Spending time with Ella was always wonderful.
When they finished with breakfast, she hugged her sisters and then escorted him outside. Out of earshot of the family, Tanner asked her what was going on. “I did mention that I don’t ski, right?”
“Not to worry. I thought this would be the perfect place to see about shifting into our other animals.”
Amid the worry of trying to find Ella, and then making love with her, Tanner hadn’t considered what it would be like to be able to shift into a snow leopard. “That sounds amazing.”
“I’m not ready to try shifting into a dragon in the driveway, so how about you fly us to a place on the mountains where we’ll have some privacy?”
“Once I’m in the air, you can tell me where to head,” he telepathed, hoping they were able to communicate this way.
The moment her eyes widened and her mouth slightly parted, he smiled. Clearly, they were officially mated, as her mother would say.
“I guess I’m supposed to mentally say something, and you can understand me?”
It was quite remarkable and perhaps daunting to know someone else was in his head. “Yes.”
She grinned. “Then let’s go.”
The fact that Ella was excited about being able to communicate telepathically and shift into a different animal, thrilled him even more. Tanner shifted, picked her up, and headed to another peak in the mountain range—different from where they had stayed last night.
In less than three minutes, Ella told him to set down on the other side of a copse of trees. He landed and was mesmerized by the view of the rugged snowcapped mountains. Grindale Province had mountains but none this tall.
Tanner then stepped back and shifted. He inhaled the clear, cold air. “I can see why people live here. It is gor
geous.”
“Plux has many benefits too,” she said and then smiled.
The fact that Ella enjoyed his home town was too good to be true. “Where do we start this transformation?”
“While I love to ski, I thought it would be fun to run down the hill in our snow leopard form.” She pointed to a leveled off area. “Once we reach that ridge, maybe you can give me some pointers on being a dragon, and we can fly back up here!”
“It would be my pleasure, but first you have to give me some guidance.” It wasn’t as if Tanner hadn’t shifted thousands of times into a dragon, but then again, shifting into a leopard might be different.
“Guidance? I just tell myself to shift, and I do.”
“You aren’t any help.”
“Okay. How’s this? I’ll shift into my leopard form and take off down the mountain. Seeing my form, your body should just change.”
He was willing to give it a try. Worse case, he’d become a dragon and follow her down. “Go.”
Ella shifted and took off at top speed. Before she raced too far ahead, he focused on her shape and started running after her. He slipped and fell, face first. Before he ate snow though, he’d miraculously transformed. Holy goddess, he’d shifted! Being this low to the ground was a bit disconcerting until he moved his legs—all four of them—faster and faster. His speed was incredible. He’d been told that leopards were fast for short bursts, but his stamina didn’t seem to be waning. That was either because he was going downhill or because his dragon strength added to the leopard’s speed.
Snow flew in his face. Had his feet not sunk so far into the powered snow, he could have run faster. The thrill of it all was unlike anything he’d experienced.
Ella reached the plateau before he did. Not wanting to propel off the side of the mountain, Tanner slowed. “That was incredible,” he telepathed.
Ella shifted into her human form and grinned. “I’m glad you liked it. Now we’ll fly to the top and come down again.”
“Sounds good.” He moved back and focused on his dragon form. Don’t fail me now, he told his dragon.
Never. I’m jealous enough of your other form.
One minute, snow was tickling his chest, and the next he was fifteen feet tall. Ella clapped.
“That was impressive,” she said with joy in her eyes.
“You try it. Focus on my form,” he telepathed.
“Okay. Here goes.”
Chapter Thirteen
Ella closed her eyes and pictured Tanner’s beautiful green scales with the intermittent gold ones, in the hopes of waking up the dragon inside her. She shifted, but it was into her snow leopard.
Really? she asked her animal.
I’m stronger than that new thing inside me, her snow leopard shot back.
Ella shifted into her human form. Please don’t fight me on this.
Tanner shifted and jogged over to her. “What happened?”
She explained the best she could. “My leopard is jealous.”
He laughed. “Sorry, it’s not funny, but at least we know the dragon is in there.”
A sudden blast of heat filled her stomach. “I think someone is letting me know they are ready.”
Tanner cupped her cheeks. “What do you feel?”
His worried tone was a bit disheartening. “Heat?”
He grinned. “It’s clear your dragon needs a bit of coaxing.”
She liked where he was headed with that thought. “And how do you plan to do that? And don’t ask me to get naked and have sex with you.”
He frowned. “You would deny your mate?”
She punched him in the chest. “I may be a snow leopard, but that doesn’t mean I want to roll naked in the snow.”
“Fine. Then how about I coax your dragon out another way?”
Before she could ask what that was, he leaned over and kissed her. They’d kissed many times before, but now that they were mates, every touch and taste was heightened. He delved into her mouth and dominated the dance. It was as if his dragon had come out to play, coaxing and urging the animal inside of her to demand to be seen. More heat built inside her, and all she wanted to do was grab his crotch. To hell with the cold. Grab it she did.
Tanner broke the kiss. “If I don’t stop, you will be naked.”
“I’d love nothing more, but how about we save it until we’re in front of a roaring fire.”
“Deal, but only if you shift for me. Otherwise, I’ll have to mate with you all over again.”
He was only kidding, or so she believed. She was happy to mate with him again and again, but almost anywhere other than a field of snow.
Ella stepped back. “Okay. Here goes nothing.”
She’d seen dragons fly many, many times, so the mechanics of it all should be easy to duplicate. Come on, dragon.
Ella stretched out her arms and waved them up and down. She even started running, hoping that would help, but still no dragon appeared. This was unacceptable. Ella could almost hear her leopard taunting her dragon. There was only one thing to do.
Ella opened her eyes and faced Tanner. “It’s not working, but I want to try one more thing.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m going to shift into my leopard and then run right off that cliff. That should prompt my dragon to step up to the plate.”
Tanner was on her in a flash. “Are you crazy?”
She smiled sweetly. “Maybe, but I thought you might want to be next to me when I jump, just in case it doesn’t work.”
He said nothing for a few seconds. “You are something else. I will be happy to catch a falling leopard if need be, but are you sure you want to do this?”
“If you can shift into a leopard, then I should be able to shift into a dragon. I might be reckless and crazy, but when I ski off of ramps, I’m basically flying through the air. This shouldn’t be much different.”
“Okay, if you insist.”
“I do. Ready?” she asked him.
Without responding, Tanner shifted into his dragon form and took off. He flew over the gorge and dove in preparation to catch her. Somehow, Ella was confident she wouldn’t need his help.
“Come on, dragon.”
Ella inhaled and then focused. She shifted into her leopard form and ran as fast as she could toward the cliff. Right before the ground fell out from under her, she took a huge leap, because she needed to be far enough away from the edge in order to fly.
Ella soared, just like when she was ski jumping. All of a sudden, her vision blurred, and her body creaked and cracked. A wave of panic shot through her, but only for a moment. Ella Snowden wasn’t called the woman of steel nerves for nothing.
Her arms shot outward, but when she looked, they weren’t arms at all but rather wings. Her excitement was short-lived when she realized she was still descending.
“Flap your wings,” Tanner telepathed.
“Oh, right.”
When she raised her arms, or rather her wings, she stopped her descent. As soon as she figured out how to position her body and how to move her wings fully, she soared. Tanner shot upward and flew next to her.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Never better. I might never shift back.”
While she couldn’t hear him laugh, she could feel the rush of excitement coming off of him.
For the next half hour or so, Ella dove, soared, and maneuvered. And here she thought skiing was freeing. “This is unbelievable,” she telepathed.
“I thought the same thing when I was in my leopard form.”
Ella wanted to fly forever, but they had to drive her car back to Plux. Since they’d spent so much time flying around, they would have to spend the night at a hotel. Oh, darn. Already ideas were popping into her head regarding what she wanted to do to her man.
7 months later
Ella was actually nervous, despite these last six months having been amazing. While she might have been hired to be Tanner’s secretary, she ended up being a lot more than th
at, and she wasn’t talking about being his mate.
When Tanner went to dinner with a supplier, he took her with him. After a while, Ella was able to add valuable input about each person’s strength and weakness that helped Tanner figure out how to deal with him. While she’d always been able to run the staff at her house in Thedia, it was her ability to understand the needs of those workers, and to address any issues, that made for a well-oiled household. Working at LaMont, Sanders, and McCarson was no different.
There were times when neither Tanner nor Clint could meet with a client, and she went alone. Was there some resistance from the male clients at first? Sure, but eventually, the client understood that she wanted to find the best solution for all.
Tanner cupped her shoulder. “You okay?”
Ella faced him. “I’m good. I just don’t want any angry stares when they see how huge I am.” They were on their way to visit her parents—who they hadn’t seen since they’d first met Tanner. She had spoken with her sisters and her dad quite often, but her mom seemed to be unavailable most of the time.
Tanner patted her distended belly. Ella was only six months pregnant, but she was quite large. This new addition was going to be a surprise. She’d told her family how happy she was but wanted to make sure the pregnancy was solid before telling them about the baby.
Ella put on her coat and slipped on her backpack. “Ready.”
They would be spending one night only, because Tanner had to be back at work the next day.
Once he was dressed, they stepped outside his house and both shifted. Even after seven months, the thrill of flying never waned. Because Tanner had flown to Thedia many times, she let him lead. It wasn’t until her family’s estate came into view that her nerves flared once more.
“Don’t worry,” Tanner telepathed. “Everyone will be happy.”
Even after all this time, she kept forgetting that he could sense changes in her mood. “I hope so.”
“If not, we’ll turn around and head home.”
That was what she loved about this man. He understood all of her needs.
They landed on the front lawn and shifted. Her parents knew they were coming for a visit, just not that she was pregnant.