Jaguar's Joy

by Zoe Chant

  They’d have to see how it all went, going forward. Meanwhile...”Now I’m going to sleep for about ten years.”

  “Me, too,” Ty said fervently.

  Misty had work tomorrow, but after tonight, she was letting herself show up late. For now—“You haven’t been back to the Davidsons’,” she realized suddenly. “You don’t have any clothes here.”

  “I’ll figure something out,” Ty yawned. “Don’t want to leave your side. Can’t wait to crawl into bed with you and sleep forever.”

  “Mmm,” Misty said, relaxing into his embrace. “Let’s do that.”

  Slowly, they undressed, leaving their clothes where they lay. Misty had enough presence of mind to close her heavy curtains before they both collapsed on her bed. Ty wrapped her up in his arms, warm and close after the bite of the winter air outside, and Misty relaxed into sleep.

  ***

  She woke to a feeling of absolute warmth and comfort. Misty wasn’t the sort of person who had a fuzzy brain when she woke up; she always opened her eyes and got up right away, ready to go about her day.

  But it was turning out that with Ty around, she felt the temptation to linger a bit longer.

  They were still wrapped up in each other, pressed together—although not in the same position they’d been in last night, with Ty behind her, holding her close. Now they were facing each other, which must mean that they’d moved around in the night, but even unconscious, had wanted to stay close.

  Misty was glad of that. It seemed like her conscious and her subconscious were on the same page.

  Then she felt Ty slowly stretch against her, his whole long body moving in place as he woke up. She smiled to herself.

  Then Ty said, “Mmm.” His mouth brushed her neck, with a rasp of stubble.

  Heat flashed through her. Misty turned into the touch, feeling warm and liquid, like any tension or stress had totally drained out of her overnight.

  Ty’s hand drifted down her side, palming her hip, and Misty blinked her eyes open and smiled at him. “Morning.”

  “Morning,” he rumbled, and leaned in for a kiss.

  How anyone could taste good immediately after waking up was a mystery to her, but Ty managed it somehow. She leaned forward, drinking him in, as his hand drifted around to her front, exploring the curls between her legs. She parted her knees, letting him in.

  “Oh,” he said softly, as he found her clit. “You’re already wet.”

  “I woke up with you,” she murmured, smiling against his mouth. “Besides, you’re a little interested yourself, I see.” She nudged her hip against his cock, which was half-hard and growing.

  “Guilty,” he said. His fingers traced over her clit, rubbing softly, and Misty moaned, pushing her hips forward.

  “Come on,” she said, wanting him inside her.

  “I don’t know.” Ty grinned. “Maybe I should take a little more time to be sure that you’re ready—”

  He cut off, laughing, as Misty pushed him over onto his back.

  “Or now,” he said, grinning up at her. “Now works.”

  “Glad to hear it,” she said, already reaching down to guide him inside her. “Oh—oh, yes—”

  This angle, Misty quickly discovered, was a different kind of intense. As she sank down onto him, she could swear that she was taking him in deeper than she ever had before. His cock pressed against different spots, and when she shifted her hips, she saw stars.

  Ty groaned, reaching up to grab her hips. “I love seeing you above me like this,” he said breathlessly. “With the light behind you—you look like a goddess.” Then he grinned. “A really sexy goddess.”

  Misty half-laughed, half gasped, and started to move.

  Being in control of everything was another new experience with Ty, and she found she loved it just as much as the other way around—she got to watch Ty’s chest heave with his indrawn breaths, feel his hips surge beneath her, his hands clench, as she moved over him.

  And the way she felt, with his eyes devouring her, moving exactly as she pleased to get as much pleasure as she could—

  Misty had never thought of herself as a sensual person, much less a sexual one. But right now, she felt earthy and sexy and hot, and it was as wonderful as it was astonishing.

  She shifted her hips, getting his cock right up against the best spots inside, her, and picked up the pace as the pleasure built. Ty was thrusting up to meet her, now, and he moved one of his hands to touch where they were joined, finding her clit again and pressing hard against it.

  Misty came in a wrenching rush of pleasure, a shriek escaping her as she climaxed around Ty’s cock, her hips jerking wildly. Ty’s eyes fell shut as she clamped down on him, the waves of orgasm clenching her so tight around him she thought she might pass out from how intense it felt.

  He pulled her hips down to him as his own climax hit, pulsing inside her. Misty shuddered softly, loving how he felt as he came.

  She held herself up with great effort until he relaxed, and then let herself collapsed on top of him, panting. “Wow,” she sighed.

  “Wow,” he agreed. “We’re doing that again.”

  “I think I’m a little tired for it right now.”

  She couldn’t see his grin, but she could feel it against her temple. “I’ll let you have a snack and a rest, how about that.”

  Her own grin threatened to take over her face. “I guess if you’re going to be that generous.”

  “Mmm, here,” and he rolled them so he could get out from under her. He kissed her softly and disengaged. “Right back.”

  Misty couldn’t quite summon the energy to ask him where on earth he could be going, when obviously the best place to be was right here in bed, catching a quick post-wakeup nap.

  She dozed for a few minutes, or maybe a little longer than a few minutes, and then woke up again to the most delicious smells she could remember.

  Her stomach growled, reminding her that she’d had some serious exercise this morning, but no sustenance so far.

  She sat up in bed just as Ty came in, carrying a tray.

  Misty stared. “I didn’t know I had that.”

  “It was buried in the back of a cupboard. Here, scoot back.”

  She did, putting her back against the headboard, and he set the tray in her lap. Pancakes, scrambled eggs with all sorts of stuff in them, coffee—

  Misty guessed she did have all of the ingredients for this in her kitchen—milk, eggs, flour, sugar, cheese, ham—but she almost never took the time to put them all together. The ham and cheese were for sandwiches, the flour and sugar were wistfully optimistic for a time when she might actually bake something, the milk was for cereal.

  This was better.

  She took a long drink of coffee. “Mmm,” she sighed.

  Ty shook his head, getting into bed next to her. “That noise you make when you drink coffee should be illegal.”

  “But then you’d never get to hear it,” she objected, smiling. “I am the sheriff. I’d have to keep quiet or arrest myself.”

  He laughed. “Okay. Illegal to do in public, how about that? Then I’m the only one who ever gets to hear it.”

  “That sounds fair. I’ll see if I can get a new statute put in the books.” She took a bite of pancake. “Oh, wow, this is delicious.”

  Ty had brought two forks, and he dug in with her. “Mmm. If I do say so myself, you’re right.”

  “You’re going to spoil me,” Misty said, trying the eggs. They were fantastic, light and fluffy and perfect. “You keep bringing me coffee in bed, and now breakfast, too. I’m going to start getting used to it.”

  Ty reached over and tilted her chin up for a syrup-flavored kiss. “Well,” he said quietly as they separated, “good. You deserve some spoiling. I hope you get so used to it that you expect it every morning for the rest of your life.”

  Misty looked up at him, suddenly aware of a catch in her throat. “The rest of my life,” she repeated quietly.

  “Because that’s ho
w long I’m going to be here with you,” he murmured. “Bringing you coffee in bed, and loving you more than I’ve ever loved anything in my life.”

  “Not fair,” Misty managed. “When do I get to bring you coffee in bed and love you more than anything I’ve ever loved in my life?”

  He laughed that big laugh that she loved. “We’ll take turns,” he promised.

  Misty kissed him again. “Deal.”

  Epilogue: Misty

  “I’m nervous,” Misty confessed.

  “I promise, there’s no need to be nervous,” Ty said.

  Misty frowned up at him. “I always spend Christmas working. I don’t know how to do Christmas.”

  “Trust me, with Iris and the kids, you’re not going to have to do anything,” Ty said dryly. “They do Christmas enough for everyone.”

  Ty’s whole family had decided, apparently as one, that they absolutely had to come up to Montana for Christmas to meet Ty’s new mate. They were on their way from the airport now, en masse.

  “Why are they all showing up at once?” Misty wondered for the first time. “Aren’t most of the kids in college all over the place?”

  “They coordinated their flights,” Ty said with a shrug. “They’re a force to be reckoned with, strategically.”

  Thanks, no doubt in part, to ex-Marine Uncle Ty. Uncle Ty, whom they all adored, and whom Misty had stolen away to the frozen north. Her nervousness increased.

  “Here they come!” Ty said, sounding delighted. He went to the door, where a big van was pulling into the drive. Misty took a deep breath and followed.

  The crowd that piled out of the van seemed, at first, to be impossibly large, like Ty’s family was its own football team or something. Eventually, they resolved into eight distinct people, but it took some careful attention on Misty’s part.

  “Misty, this is my sister, Iris.” Ty had his hand on her shoulder and was moving forward to hug a tall, beautiful woman with her hair in a million tiny braids.

  Iris returned the hug with interest, and then came forward to take Misty’s hand in both of hers. “Misty, I’m so happy to finally meet you. Sorry to descend on you in force like this.” She smiled. “The kids are probably going to want to spend most of the time shifting and exploring, so hopefully you and I can get to know each other in peace.”

  “After the big party,” Ty put in.

  “After the big party,” Iris agreed. She let Misty’s hand go, but it was taken up again almost immediately by her husband.

  “Can’t say how impressed I am by what Ty’s told us about you,” he said sincerely. “Sounds like you’re doing a great job of keeping the peace up here.”

  “Thanks,” Misty said, feeling a little overwhelmed.

  Not by the need to impress Ty’s family, like she’d thought she would be, but by how nice they were being.

  Ty, meanwhile, was being swarmed by a gaggle of young adults, all wanting to tell him about their final exams or their new jobs or whatever else had been going on in their lives. He was hugging everyone and looking happy as a clam.

  Misty thought about watching Ty be that happy, about getting to know the smiling couple who seemed to already think Misty hung the moon. About really doing Christmas, for maybe the first time in her life—her father had mostly worked on Christmas, talking grimly about family gatherings and the potential for violence.

  Looking around at the delighted faces surrounding her, Misty thought maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

  ***

  Ty

  The grand opening of the community center went off without a hitch.

  After a month and a half of repairs, restorations, painting, furniture installment, and decoration, they’d decided to officially open it to the public for a big community holiday party.

  Not that the public hadn’t been the ones doing all the work on it already—Ty didn’t think there was a single person in town who hadn’t been inside already at least once—but this was the first time everyone would be there simply to have fun.

  Iris’ mouth dropped open as they pulled up in front of the building. “Ty, it’s beautiful.”

  It really was. With its new cheerful red-trimmed paint job, covered in snow, the rambling structure looked almost like something out of a fairy tale. It was all lit up with Christmas lights, and the windows were glowing golden in the twilight.

  “Come on, I can’t wait to meet everyone,” Iris was saying, and they all piled out of the van and went on inside.

  There was a whole flurry of activity the second they came inside. Iris and Steve wanted to meet all of Ty’s old friends, and he wanted to introduce them to all of his new ones, and the kids were making a beeline for the tables piled with food. Ty saw Rayanne introducing herself to Zeke while piling a plate high with little sandwiches, and smiled to himself.

  Zeke and Ryder had really come through with this place. They’d worked hard on restoring it, first out of guilt, Ty knew.

  But Ty also knew that working on a place like this was the perfect way to get a kid to start feeling some ownership and responsibility for his efforts. It wasn’t long before the boys had been excited to show off the work they’d done, and now they were as invested in this place as anybody.

  Misty called him a genius. Ty called himself someone who’d once been a teenaged boy himself. For him, the Marines had been the thing that really showed him what it meant to invest yourself in something. He was glad Ryder and Zeke had something closer to home.

  And he had a private hope that one or both of them would think of joining up as a deputy after they graduated. Their perspectives on the sheriff’s office had certainly changed since Misty had been instrumental in saving Zeke’s life, and Ty had already had a couple of serious talks with each of them about what a man should be and do—something their dads hadn’t ever bothered with. He’d really hammered home the point of what Misty was trying to accomplish around here, and it seemed like they were starting to get it.

  Speaking of Misty—he looked around and found her deep in conversation with Lynn, Stella, Mavis, and Pauline. As he watched, Iris came over to say hello, and was immediately drawn in.

  “Well?” Steve said next to him. “How’re you settling in, up here?”

  Ty smiled. “I have to tell you, completely honestly: it’s like I never lived anywhere else.”

  “That good, huh,” Steve said, smiling back.

  Ty nodded. “I wouldn’t give up those years with you guys and the kids. I’ll always be Uncle Ty, and Great-Uncle Ty, eventually. But living up here in the wild, and being with Misty...it’s going to be home forever.”

  Misty looked up, as though she’d sensed him talking about her, and met his eyes. “‘Scuse me,” Ty told Steve, who gestured him away with a grin.

  He went over to the women, just as Misty detached herself. “Hi,” she said, her eyes warm with love and happiness.

  “Hi,” Ty said back. He bent down and kissed her softly.

  “Mm,” she sighed. “What’s up?”

  “I just had to come over here and tell you that I love you,” Ty said seriously. “It’s important, so I didn’t want you to have to wait.”

  Misty laughed. “I waited long enough to hear it,” she said, her eyes sparkling. “My whole life. Glad the waiting’s over.”

  “Over forever,” Ty promised. “How’s the nervousness?”

  Misty sighed happily. “Gone completely. Your family’s lovely.”

  “I have to agree,” Ty said. “Though I’m biased.”

  “With good reason.” Misty looked around at the slowly-growing crowd, the tables piled with food, the kids running around. “This is a good thing we’re doing here, isn’t it.”

  “It is.” Ty kissed her again. “I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life doing exactly this, with you.”

  “Me, neither.” Misty leaned into him. “I love you.”

  He held her close, breathed in her scent, and thought that he’d never been this happy.

  En
d

  A note from Zoe Chant

  Thank you for reading Jaguar’s Joy! I hope you enjoyed it. If you’d like to start the series from the beginning with Mavis and Wilson, go read Snow Leopard’s Lady (or here on my website). For Lynn and Ken’s story, check out Lion’s Lynx (or here). For Stella and Nate, try Panther’s Passion (or here), and for Pauline and Carlos, look for Tiger’s Triumph (or here).

  Or there’s a new Veteran Shifters box set, bundling the first three books together! Check it out here.

  If you’d like to start getting to know the Glacier Park snow leopard rangers, check out The Snow Leopard’s Mate (or here). There are also convenient box sets if you’d rather catch up all at once: Glacier Leopards Box Set 1, and Glacier Leopards Box Set 2.

  Please review Jaguar’s Joy, even if it’s only a line or two. I love to hear what my readers think.

  If you’d like to be emailed when I release my next book, please click here to be added to my mailing list. You can also visit my webpage, or follow me on Facebook or Twitter.

  Page down to read a special sneak preview of Snow Leopard’s Lady.

  The cover of Jaguar’s Joy was designed by Belle Arden.

  More Paranormal Romance by Zoe Chant

  The Snow Leopard’s Mate. (Glacier Leopards #1) A curvy waitress longing for a better life + a lonely lumberjack snow leopard shifter + a wild night that will change their lives = one sweet and steamy romance!

  The Snow Leopard’s Baby. (Glacier Leopards #2) A curvy single mom + a snow leopard shifter in need of a family + the blizzard that brings them together = a sweet and steamy romance!

  The Snow Leopard’s Home. (Glacier Leopards #3) A curvy outdoorswoman who’s been forced inside + a snow leopard shifter who wants to help her roam free + a forbidden connection = one thrilling romance!