by Eliza Gayle
He was barely doing anything to her and already the pleasure built to an impossible level. More. More.
“Cheyenne.” His voice came out fractured and she felt the claws pressing into her skin.
“Don’t do it. Don’t you dare hold back on me, Malcolm.” This time she’d kill him for it. Temporary or not, she wanted her mate.
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
She wrenched from his grasp and turned to face him. Her hands pressed to his face and brought him so close his harsh breaths melded with hers. “You can’t hurt me. Not this time.”
He winced. “I’m so sorry.” The plea in his voice cracked the barrier around her heart.
Chey nipped at his jaw, stroking down his chin with her incisors. No matter what she couldn’t stop touching him.
Malcolm felt the heat burning under her skin and it tore through his senses. The sweet rush of feminine need ripped away logic and left him without a sense of anything but her. Hunger clawed at his insides. The cat roared in his head. He wanted release and Malcolm feared this was it. He was about to lose his very long battle.
His lips covered hers and he pushed his tongue inside. Nothing else mattered. Just Chey. Mate.
There were so many regrets between them thanks to his carelessness with the once precious thing in his life. By rights, she should run far away from him and never return. Instead, he held her tightly and pumped his tongue between her lips relishing the sweet, sweet taste of the one woman he craved for all these years. All the things he’d tried to forget never worked. Only this eased the pain. Only her.
Unfortunately for him, the animal inside only wanted one thing. He wanted to finally possess the woman who belonged to him. To mark her. His teeth ached at the thought and when her tongue stroked over one of the tips his cock swelled and the beast roared.
He pulled back from her and stared down into her glowing eyes. He needed to show restraint but her hunger made it impossible. He curled his fingers over her breast, claws and all. He couldn’t seem to control their appearance. Still, he managed to be mindful of her soft flesh. He couldn’t hurt her now if he tried. She meant everything to him. She was his salvation.
He pulled her between his legs until the soft skin of her stomach cushioned his painful erection. Her resulting moan was music to his ears. With her legs parted and almost straddling his thighs, she remained open and ready for him. The sweet scent of her desire haunted him with every breath. Malcolm lifted his eyes and stared into the now midnight blue of hers and willed his racing mind to slow. To go through with this he had to ensure her pleasure. Nothing meant more. He’d rather cut off his own arm than hurt her again.
“I promise I won’t leave you again,” he whispered against her lips moments before he stroked their softness with his much rougher tongue. A hard shudder racked through her, making him cradle her closer. “You’ll always be safe with me.”
Goddess knew he’d do anything to keep these promises to her. As long as he survived. The cold reality of his situation slammed into him like a wall of ice. A shifter who couldn’t shift wasn’t much use to a woman like her.
She holds the key.
The dark whisper slithered through his mind. It couldn’t be that simple? He shook his head. All these years of pain. He’d managed to blame everyone and everything he could think of, but not once did he think of her. Or that his own stupidity and false pride had led him here.
Take her.
He couldn’t stop touching her beautiful skin. The perfection in front of him felt like a treat he didn’t actually deserve but knew he’d take anyway. It was his way. It always had been. He closed his eyes and lowered his head to her neck once more. His teeth gripped the tendon, providing what he knew were tremors of uncontrollable need. For a shifter, there wasn’t a more sensitive spot on their body. In return, Chey followed suit and grazed her tiny incisors back and forth across his neck a few times. With his solid grip on her, she didn’t have much room to move.
So she tried something different. She wriggled her bottom on his legs and canted her hips until the head of his cock lay lodged at the wet, heated entrance of her sex. He locked his jaw and gritted his teeth against the juices spilling across the head of his shaft.
Malcolm fought to hold back. He began to question if he had the strength not to overwhelm her. His hands tightened on her waist, holding her still. He gulped deep breaths, knowing nothing would help him now.
“Malcolm.” Her legs shook almost as hard as her voice.
“Oh Goddess, I know baby.” He gasped at the heat burning him. “Can’t think clearly.”
“Screw thinking, Malcolm. I can’t stand it. Just fuck me.”
Hell yes! The pleasure burning at the base of his spine grew hot—unbearable. His nerve endings cried for relief. Malcolm’s head fell back and the sucking wet grip of her body slid down his flesh. She moved in such exquisite slow motion he thought he would die before she took all of him inside. He snarled. Control slipped from his grasp.
“You need to know…”
On a hard stroke, Chey’s tight muscles parted and sucked him inside to the base of his dick. Wet, hungry and so damn tight he couldn’t breathe. She leaned forward, her mouth rubbing his shoulder again. Seeking. Before he could stop her, she sank her teeth into the sweet spot, slicing into his flesh in the most incredible sensation of pain and pleasure. A roar slipped from his mouth seconds before he latched onto the tender spot he had no business ever touching. Rational thought deserted him as his teeth sank deep. The taste and scent of her blood sent him into a frenzy.
He pushed her onto her back and pounded into her. The bed shook, and the lamp on the side table crashed to the floor. Her mouth popped free and a scream tore from her throat. The cat inside roared in response. Wild to get free. Without restrain he took and gave, thrusting in and out of the tight flesh he’d so desperately needed, all while his teeth held her in place.
Her nails dug into his arms while her body bucked ruthlessly underneath him. With the animal in charge the reality of their lives slid away. The only thing that mattered to him was his mate’s pleasure, the keening cries she used to direct him and the frantic desperation for even more.
When her muscles bunched and turned vise-like around his shaft, he pumped harder. Liquid heat from his mate scorched through him, pulling at the fire of pleasure burning in his balls. A rough wave of sensation raced along his spine and exploded over his skin. He groaned into his bite on her delicate flesh and frantically licked at her skin. Mate. Mate. Mate.
His release whipped through him until she’d milked him dry. Still, shudders racked his body in aftershocks that rocked the bed. Primal pleasure beyond belief swamped his brain, building, burning until he jerked his mouth from her shoulder, and lifted his head back and the cat roared to the surface. His.
He’d been such a fool for so long. He’d only needed his mate to feel whole again. Bones popped and skin ripped. He’d known. The minute she’d entered his house he’d felt the difference, and everything leading to this moment he’d planned. He’d warned her to never come to him. If only she’d listened. He was shifting and couldn’t stop it. Now she’d know. Betrayed again…
Chapter Eleven
Malcolm sprang from the bed and Chey recoiled in shock. What the hell? Fur sprouted along his skin and he screamed in an agony that burned her sensitive ears. His shrieks of pain scared her. “Malcolm, what’s happening?”
He turned and stared at her, but the eyes of the man were gone and the cat stared back. His lips peeled back from his teeth. Warning her.
This was like no shift she’d ever seen before. The sound of a bone breaking caught her attention when his leg jerked underneath him. He toppled onto his face. The cry of pain coming from him scared the shit out of her. Her fear clogged her throat and the animal rose to protect her. Not her cat though. Like it or not, the wolf was stronger. In an instant, her skin disappeared and gave way to the fur. Her bones popped and stretched and the wolf arrived.
The instant she turned, Malcolm turned and hissed, still writhing on the floor. She whined. The pain etched on his face tore at her insides. The scent of his agony filled the room. Another bone popped and his arm shifted. More fur as his body gave way to the change. His mouth opened wide on a long, loud yowl and the rest of the cat emerged. Black, sleek and even larger than she remembered.
He turned to face her. His back arched and the fur on his body stood on end. He growled low and bared his teeth. Damn cat. He still hated the wolf. Pain lanced through her heart. Even now he wouldn’t accept the two sides of her. For two seconds, she had half a mind to attack and give him the ass kicking he so deserved. All this mate bullshit he’d been feeding her… She’d begun to believe. Maybe even a small part of her had hoped he’d help her and they’d… She paused. What? Live happily ever after? She growled in return and shifted back to the woman.
“I thought you couldn’t shift?” She jumped off the bed and stalked to the chest of drawers in the corner. Time to get dressed and get as far away from him as possible. She found a pair of black sweat pants and an old T-shirt in the bottom drawer and yanked them out. Her first stop would have to be for some real clothes. Something that actually fit her. She shoved her legs into the sweats and mentally cursed herself up one side and down the author. Stupid fool.
“You need to let me explain.” She tripped at the sound of his voice. Still more animal than man. With reluctance she turned and faced him after she swiped the shirt over her head. Sweat covered his body and his chest heaved with the effort to breathe.
“Why? So you can lie to me some more?”
“I didn’t lie. My ability to shift has been diminishing for years and only a handful of times in the last few months have I managed it.” His hands swiped the hair from his eyes. Emotions swam in the green pools of his gaze but damned if she could decipher them. Much like the cat, he was an enigma. Supposedly he shouldn’t even exist.
“So what? Now you’re cured?”
“I don’t know what I am. Other than hot, exhausted and edgier than I’ve ever been in my life. If you were a smart woman you’d run out of here right now.” The resignation in his voice alarmed her.
She glanced over him from head to toe. There were no signs of the cougar other than the shredded sound of his voice and the faint glow around the rim of his eyes. The muscles in his body still twitched, drawing her gaze to the thick cock lying heavy between his thighs. Despite the mind blowing orgasm mere minutes ago, the shift had aroused him again. She sniffed the air, searching beyond the obvious desire. Nothing. Dammit!
“What aren’t you telling me?” She pressed her hand to her head. “Something isn’t right. I can sense it. Something other than your cat being repelled by my wolf.”
“I wasn’t repelled.”
There! The pungent odor of a lie. “Don’t fuck with me, Malcolm.”
He sighed and bent over and grabbed his jeans. He’d barely pulled them up before he continued. “You caught me off guard is all. It’s still something I have to get used to.”
“You’ve had years to get used to it,” she accused.
He pushed his fingers into his hair and blew out a hard breath. “You know what I mean.”
“What else? There’s more, I can feel it. Just spit it out already.” The look of agony on his face gave him away. Her stomach flipped and clenched.
“Ever since I picked up your scent, something changed. I changed.”
She crinkled her forehead, not understanding.
“In the forest this morning. With your scent in my head, the cat crawled under my skin demanding freedom. Despite the agonizing pain I was so close… ”
“What do I have to do with that?” Her head began to spin. She had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach where he was going with this.
“All these years. Do you have any idea how close to feral I’d become? I’ve done things. Things I can never be forgiven for. And then there you were. Practically an offering on a platter, the missing piece to the puzzle. I simply needed my mate.”
Chey shook her head. Took a few steps back. This wasn’t happening. “No.”
“Apparently yes.”
She whipped around to face away from him. Run, Chey. Run. He’d known from the moment she’d stepped in his house. That’s why he’d been so frantic to claim her. He only wanted her for what she did for his body chemistry. He wanted a fucking chemical reaction, not a mate. It had nothing to do with her. Tears threatened and she swiped them away. He wasn’t worth it. He’d called it from the beginning. They were too different. She didn’t fit in his world and he certainly didn’t fit in hers. Apparently no one did.
“Say something.”
Chey choked back a sob. He’d used mating heat against her. The moment they were alone he’d pounced. And she’d let him. No, she wasn’t about to deny her part in all of this. Mating had been in the back of her mind since she’d gotten the call from Kane. Along with Malcolm’s warning all those years ago.
Don’t ever let me see you again. You won’t like it.
Truer words have never been spoken.
Mate.
She wanted to kick herself. No, she wanted to kick him and run away. It would be so easy. Just walk out the door and disappear. She’d never have to see him again. Hesitantly, she took another step in the direction of the door.
“Don’t even try it. I’ll find you. That’s if you can get away.”
She whirled back at him, rage filling her. “Don’t you dare tell me what I can and can’t do. You bastard.”
“That’s your bastard now.” The arrogance stamped on his features infuriated her.
“Why you—” Chey breathed in slowly. Even with the rage boiling through her blood, fighting wasn’t going to get them anywhere. She had her own agenda by coming here and if this is what it took, so be it.
“Cheyenne, I didn’t know anything for sure.”
“But you were willing to gamble with the rest of my life for yours.” It wasn’t a question and she prayed he stayed silent. Her lips trembled. The situation had definitely spun out of her control and she needed to find a way to get it back. She still had a traitor to find.
“Chey.” He whispered her name and she flinched. For a few crazy moments, he’d given and she’d taken the greatest pleasure of her life. Now she ached. To her embarrassment part of that ache was centered in her sex. She’d want him for the rest of her life. They were now tied together. If and when she walked away this time it would be to no one else. There would be no John to pick up the pieces to save her from a broken heart.
She jerked in surprise at her own thoughts. Her heart already ached. She might have to live with unrequited feelings for a man who didn’t deserve her, but that didn’t mean she had to let him control her body or her emotions. He could kiss her ass if that’s what he thought.
“You’re even crazier than they say you are.”
Malcolm shrugged. “Whatever works. That’s been my motto for years.”
His obvious indifference ate at her resolve. It would be so much easier if she could just walk out that door and never return. Although she didn’t doubt he would hunt her relentlessly. If his body burned even half as much as hers there would be no stopping him. He was a black cougar after all. The most savage of them all. And he thought wolves were bad. She scoffed.
“What about the people after us? Do you have a plan for getting out of that mess?”
“Actually I do. I’m going home.”
“What?” she sputtered. “So you can be tossed in a cell and then tried by the council?” He moved close. Too close. His hand touched her jaw.
“You keep forgetting that they’re not sure which one of us is guilty.”
“Then it wouldn’t be that difficult for them to hang us both. I can’t believe you’re going to be this naïve. Can’t you see what’s been going on practically under your own nose?”
Malcolm eased back on the bed but not before snagging her around the waist and b
ringing her down with him. He rubbed his nose in her neck and inhaled deeply. She struggled to get out of his arms and he tightened his hold. His arm banded around her in an unbreakable bond. Tired of her fruitless efforts, Chey stilled under his hand. The more she rubbed on him the more she became aroused. As did he if the hard erection poking at her hip was anything to judge by.
“Let me up.”
“No.”
She sighed. “You’re a pain in the ass.”
He chuckled, a deep sound she felt in his chest. “Are you really just figuring that out?”
For months, Chey had been hunting, with every clue leading her closer to Malcolm. Or at least his family. Someone close to them had to be responsible, but she hadn’t figured out who or why.
“Are you going to tell me what’s got your brain in such a twist?”
“I didn’t murder John.” She spoke quietly waiting for his reaction. Other than the slight tension she felt in his muscles, he remained silent. “But someone definitely did.”
“I’m not sure you want to talk about this with me. Me thinking about another man with you is a very bad image at the moment.”
Chey rolled her eyes. The poor alpha male always had to beat his hands on his chest. Me man. You woman. Do what I say and shut the fuck up.
She bit her lip to keep from laughing out loud at that image. Oh boy this was not going to be easy but maybe it would be fun after all. She could sure take him down a peg or two.
“Anyways, as I was saying… I’ve spent the past year quietly trying to find the killer.”
Malcolm sat up and lifted her from his lap. She settled at the opposite end of the bed from him and waited for him to say something. Anything.
“And?” His eyebrows quirked. She definitely had his attention now.
