Taming Her Mate

by Kathy Lyon

  Oh shit. He’d heard that part. She looked down at her food, feeling guilt push aside lust. Truth was she’d wanted to apologize to him for a long time now. She could hardly duck the situation now that the opportunity had arisen.

  “Um, yeah. About that…” She looked up to face him eye to eye. To her relief, she didn’t see anger in his expression. Not even wariness. Just a patient curiosity as he waited for her answer. And since he was being so calm, she found the strength to explain. The apology would come afterward. “My father started complaining about you years ago. He didn’t like that a bear was in the PD when there weren’t any wolves.”

  He lifted his hand in a welcoming gesture. “I’d love some wolves in the PD.”

  She nodded. She already knew he wasn’t territorial about his job, and there was room on the force for more than one type of shifter. “I started looking into you because my father never does his own research.” Actually, her father had ordered her to find some dirt on the detective, but she never found any. “I learned that you’d gotten your detective badge young, there were no outbursts typical of young shifters in a violent job, and everyone generally thought you were smart, capable, and had a level head. You were the shifter poster boy, and so I told everyone I could.” She felt her cheeks heat as she confessed her rookie mistake. “I thought if I talked you up, then people would look to you as an example. I even suggested some of our guys ask you for help in getting on the force.”

  “No one ever approached me.”

  “Yeah,” she said slowly. “I might have been too enthusiastic in singing your praises.”

  He arched a brow, silently urging her to continue.

  “Remember that string of burglaries in wolf territory? You were the lead detective on most of the cases.” He nodded. Truthfully, she doubted he could forget them as they’d ended his career in that department. “Um, a rumor started going around that you were turning a blind eye to any crimes against wolves.”

  “I know,” he said, his voice low. “Did you start it?”

  “Not me. Raoul, I think.”

  “For the record, I was close to solving them.”

  She knew that. In fact the officer in charge said as much during the trial of the burglary ring that was shut down not long afterward. But the damage had already been done. People’s first impression of Kennedy was that he was the bear who encouraged crimes against wolves. The rumor was loud enough that he couldn’t do his job. Eventually, Kennedy transferred to the gang task force.

  Her gaze dropped to the floor. “I should have known that Raoul would turn people against you as a way to discredit me.” She swallowed. “I tried to stop it, but the more I spoke out, the worse it got.” She forced herself to look into his eyes. “I’ve wanted to apologize for a really long time.”

  He kept his expression blank while her insides twisted. Would he be one of those people who never forgave? Would he explode into anger because she’d cost him his place in robbery? The longer he stayed silent, the more she wanted to apologize—again—over and over until he heard her.

  “I’m really sorry,” she began, but he shook his head.

  “That was a hard time for me. I hadn’t done anything wrong, and yet I was tossed out of robbery like a bad seed.”

  She winced. The things she’d heard people say about him were awful. And the more she tried to defend him, the worse it got for them both. “I was trying to help.”

  “No one trusted me,” he said calmly. “It didn’t matter what I did, the people I was trying to help assumed I was crooked.” His gaze canted away as he stood up, taking his dirty dish with him. But when he reached for hers, she touched his arm.

  “It wasn’t your fault.”

  His lips twisted into a rueful smile. “Are you so sure? If I had made an effort to have better relationships with the victims, to explain what was going on and what I was doing to help, then your brother’s lies wouldn’t have gotten so loud so fast. That’s what I learned from the whole thing. That if I don’t work on establishing trust with the community, then I can’t do my job.”

  The openness in his expression shocked her. What had happened to him was her fault, and yet he’d just acknowledged his part in the problem. It left her gaping at him as if he’d just stripped naked in front of her. No man was that forgiving or self-aware. At least no one she’d ever met before.

  Meanwhile, her momentary freeze had him pulling her dirty plate out of her slack hand. And he just kept talking.

  “Bad rumors happen all the time. It’s part of my job to show them who the PD really is. Who I really am.” He flashed her a quick smile. “I took that lesson into my work with the gangs and that’s the only reason I’m so effective there. Because I let them know the real me, I let them see that they can come to me with their grievances. I’ll fight for justice no matter who comes to me with what.”

  She knew he’d done well in the gang task force. Because of her guilt, she’d followed his career and been relieved when he’d gotten not one, but two separate commendations for his work there. “I still hate that I’m the reason you had to leave robbery.”

  “I love that you’re the reason I learned my most valuable lesson in police work.”

  What could she say to that? “So…I’m forgiven?”

  “You don’t have anything to apologize for. You may have been the catalyst for that career change, but it wasn’t your fault.”

  “It was Raoul’s.”

  “And mine. For not showing people that the rumors were false.”

  She exhaled, feeling a huge weight roll off her shoulders. He didn’t blame her for what had happened to him. And though she still felt guilty, his acceptance of what she’d done made her load so much lighter. Light enough that she crossed to him where he stood by the counter. He looked up, dishes in hand as she came close, and the openness in his blue eyes went straight to her heart.

  “I’m still sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean for that to happen, and I’ve tried to fix it ever since.”

  “Thank you for telling me,” he said. Then he set the plates on the counter.

  She wanted to say something else, but the way he looked at her tied her tongue and emptied her mind of words. He held her gaze. Then he touched her arm, sending a shockwave of heat through her body. When she didn’t move away, he came in closer. Tighter. Until their breath mingled together.

  He waited a moment longer. Was there a question in his eyes? She couldn’t tell. She was too busy trying to think. Did she want the kiss that was coming? Of course, she did. But was it smart? Hell, no. Didn’t matter. She wanted it too much to pull away.

  He pressed in tight and she didn’t pull away. And when he finally connected their mouths together, she melted into him. Then he angled his head, and she opened up for everything he wanted to give her.

  Chapter 12

  No kiss had ever felt more perfect. Her expression before he touched her was earnest and warm. Her skin when he cupped her chin was flushed with heat. And her mouth was responsive, open, and so sweet as he tasted her.

  This wasn’t the near mindless hunger from earlier. Then his animal had been dominant, and it had wanted her in the way of a creature who scented a good mate. This moment was held by the man who saw kindness in the woman. Even more, he saw honesty and that felt like water to a man lost in the desert.

  “Stop me,” he said against her lips. “If you don’t want this.”

  He was kissing her jaw, running his teeth along the curve while he stroked down her sides to her hips. If she said no, he would force himself to pull away. He would, but God, he prayed she wanted this as much as he did.

  “I do,” she said.

  The two most beautiful words in the English language. He ground his erection against her groin. Heat and pleasure shot upward from his organ, flooding his senses. He groaned as he did it and then let his mouth drop from her jaw to her neck. He tried to slow himself down. He wanted this to be good for her, so he distracted himself by analyzing the scents
on her skin.

  Lemon from the kids’ soap. Salt from her body. And then there was arousal. He knew it as surely as he knew he would take her to bed and taste every single inch of her.

  “This is a one-time thing, okay?” she asked, her words breathless. “No strings.”

  He lifted his head off her neck. It was hard, but he wanted to see her eyes when she answered.

  “Isn’t that usually the guy’s line?”

  She chuckled, but the sound was weak and not very funny. She cupped his jaw, stroking the edges of her fingernails across his five-o’clock shadow. “You’re a bear. I’m a wolf—”

  “So?”

  “So a relationship could be challenging.”

  He frowned. “You don’t seem like somebody who backs down from a challenge.”

  This time her laugh was stronger. “I’m not. But I pick my battles and I don’t want to carefully consider anything right now. The twins are asleep, Noelle’s got condoms in her bedside table, and I like how you feel. Do you really want me thinking deeper than that?”

  No. Maybe. Yes. He frowned at her. “I liked seeing you cook dinner. I loved watching you play in the bath with the boys. And I want to suck on your breasts and be inside you when you scream out my name.”

  She smiled. “You want to play house with me.” She grinned as she curled her leg behind his and drew him hard against her pelvis. “So do I.” She rocked against him, sending bursts of pleasure flooding his system. While he was reeling from the surge of hunger in his blood, she nipped at his jaw. “I loved watching you play cars with the boys. And when you toweled them off and made them laugh? I wanted to jump you right then.”

  His hands slid under her shirt, spanning her trim waist, before pulling it and her bra off her. “I don’t like one-night stands,” he said, his rational mind losing ground as he stared at the glory of her breasts. “They’re too empty.”

  She stilled at his statement. “Wow. That’s a really evolved statement.”

  He forced his eyes back up to her face. “I’m a full-grown man. You want a boy toy? Look elsewhere.” Despite his meaning, the words came out as a growl. Her scent was bringing out the animal in him.

  “I want you,” she said as her hands skated across his shoulders, creating flash fires of hunger in their wake. “But I can’t promise anything more than one night.”

  He could tell how serious she was about that. She didn’t believe they had a future and frankly, neither did he. He still intended to arrest her father, brother, and anyone else in the pack who had a hand in poisoning the city. Even if he wanted a relationship, she’d never forgive him. Which meant he could do the honorable thing and walk away, or he could give in to what they both wanted.

  He wasn’t that good a person. Especially as she arched back and shook out her hair. God the beauty of her body was enough to silence any doubts, though he did manage one last question.

  “When you said ‘one-time,’ do you mean once?” He flashed her a grin. “Or just one night?”

  She arched her brow, then flashed him a coy smile. “Convince me.”

  A challenge. That was the way to get both man and beast to rise to the occasion. So when her upper body was gloriously bare, he grabbed her by the hips and flipped her over his shoulder. She cried out in surprise but wasted no time in slipping her hands underneath the waistband of his sweatpants so she could squeeze his cheeks. It made him smile, though the extra pull on his waistband made it difficult to maneuver. Fortunately, they didn’t have to go far.

  Noelle’s bed was three steps away. He got them there in a split second. It took longer to gently flip her onto the pile of pillows and comforter. But while she was laughing at the feel of bouncing on the bed, he curled his hands under her leggings and pulled them off in a single motion.

  Naked. So gloriously naked. He let his gaze rove over all of her, seeing her pert breasts as they moved with her breath and her muscular abdominals, sleek and golden with her tan. He hadn’t realized how long her legs were until now. He wanted to run his hands down the entire stretch of thigh, knee, and calf. But then his attention was caught and held by the glistening between her thighs. That was where he wanted to be. That was the scent that drew him.

  “You look like you want to eat me,” she said, and his gaze hopped to hers.

  “I do.”

  She blinked and opened her mouth, but no words came out. Instead, he watched her pupils dilate as she bit her lip. Then she slowly bent a knee, drawing her leg up but not dropping it open yet.

  “Is that a problem?” he asked.

  She grinned. “What if that’s your one shot? What if I say no afterwards to the whole deal?”

  He arched a brow. “Then I’d say I didn’t do a very good job.” He dropped his hands down on her thighs, feeling the heat and the strength in her. “And I’d say, I’m up for the challenge.”

  “Prove it.” Then she let her knee drop open.

  He grinned. She was bold in bed, and he loved it. But instead of going straight in for his feast, he leaned forward and grabbed her wrists. Then he pulled her arms upright so she flopped back on the bed.

  “Wha—?”

  Her question cut off with a gasp as he put her hands on her own breasts. He massaged her, molding her fingers to pinch her nipples. When she arched with a murmur of pleasure, he grinned at her.

  “Show me what you like.”

  She did, lifting her breasts in a way to show them off to him, and then rolling her nipples. He heard her breath speed up and her scent grew stronger. Heady enough to make his body throb with need.

  His gaze held hers, though he kept watching her hands with his peripheral vision. The sight made him harder than concrete, but he also loved seeing the way her nostrils flared and her eyes held challenge. She wasn’t giving herself over to him as a passive participant. She was taking ownership of her own pleasure, and that shot his to the moon.

  So he held her gaze as he gently pressed her knee to the side, exposing her inner lips. They were plump and glistening, and he slid his hand up her inner thigh to start exploring her there. And all the while, he watched her play with her breasts. He heard her murmurs of delight, and he memorized every time he got her to react. The gasps were nice, but when she arched her back and offered herself to him, he nearly exploded. What he did instead was push fingers inside her, roll his thumb over her clit, and dream of the moment he could plunge into her.

  But first things first. He dropped down onto his elbows and went in for a feast.

  The scent of her blew his mind. Rich and fragrant, he began licking wherever the mood struck him, which meant he went everywhere. She tried to direct him, and at first he complied. As she lifted and lowered, he let her tell him silently where she wanted his attention. But as the pitch of her whimpers climbed higher, he began to tease her. A nip here, a lick there. Never enough to take her over the edge. And all the while, his fingers thrust inside her, pressed where she wanted him, and then withdrew.

  Glorious.

  He was just about to let her finish. A man could take only so much begging. When she abruptly grabbed hold of his hair and tugged his face up. He looked and loved what he saw. Her body flushed and open, her breasts pointed, and her lips thick and lush.

  “Condom. Now.”

  “You sure?” he asked as he rolled his thumb over her clit.

  Her inside muscles gripped his fingers like a vice, and she tugged harder on his hair.

  “Don’t want fingers,” she said, and he liked the way she was reduced to the simplest of words. “Condom!”

  Music to his ears. He stood up and shoved off his sweats. She stretched up to pull the condom out of the bedside table and ripped it open while he walked around the bed. But when he held his hand out for the latex, she shook her head.

  “I’ll do it,” she said. Then she gripped his penis. Her hand was startling but incredibly welcome, especially when she rolled the pressure of her fingers down the shaft. The heat from just that had his balls tighte
ning as need exploded at the base of his spine.

  “Keep that up, and we’ll both be disappointed,” he said.

  She grinned at him and leaned forward. “Just getting you ready.” Then she sucked him into her mouth.

  He thrust. He couldn’t help it, and what she did with her tongue made him grab her shoulders to keep from toppling over. And then she was gone as she rolled the latex down.

  “I’ll get back to that later,” she said with a grin.

  Please, God, let that be true!

  “Now—”

  Whatever she meant to say was lost as he grabbed hold of her legs and dragged her to him on the bed. Her knees were up, her legs open, and he settled himself right at her entrance. Then he looked into her eyes.

  She was grinning. She was fierce. And he’d never seen a woman look more beautiful as she wrapped her legs around him and pulled him straight inside.

  Pleasure shot through his system. Heat and wet. Surrounded. And hungry for more.

  But he didn’t move. Not yet.

  He leaned down over her. He nipped at her shoulder and then nuzzled straight beneath her ear. Then he whispered. “Hold on tight, baby. This is going to be a ride.”

  She gripped his shoulders, her inside muscles tightening around him. He began to thrust.

  Hard slams, in and out.

  His rhythm started fast, and his tempo increased. His whole body contracted as he drove into her. She writhed beneath him, but he held her tight. And when she orgasmed, he kept going.

  The burn was hot down his spine as he exploded inside her. And he still kept going.

  He drilled her with every pulse. And she milked him with every thrust.

  And he kept going.

  Until he couldn’t.

  His arms gave out, his body collapsed, and still the pump kept going. He was pouring himself into her even after his strength was gone. He was so deeply embedded within her that the eruptions felt like a continuation. Like he was pushing everything he had straight into her heart.