by T. S. Joyce
Audrey pointed to the picture on the right. “That right there is the only picture I have of my mom.”
Harrison jerked his gaze to her. “Seriously? You can’t even see her face.”
“She didn’t like pictures. Dad said it was because she was like me, a tiger, and she liked to stay hidden. He snuck this one and gave it to me when I was seven and wouldn’t quit asking about her.”
“Why did she leave?”
“I think that some people are meant to be parents, and some are not. She had trouble staying in one place. Trouble staying sober. My dad said he was afraid to leave me alone with her when I was a baby, and when she left, it broke his heart, but he knew it was probably best for me. He wanted me to have stability, and she wasn’t capable of giving it.”
“Yeah, but your entire shifter heritage left with your mom.”
Audrey shrugged helplessly. “That was the bad part, but the good part was that my dad knew exactly what I was from day one, and he moved us out to Buffalo Gap, bought some land, and raised me as well as he could. He kept everything as normal as possible. I went to school with other kids and had a parent who was completely devoted to being mom and dad. I had a good childhood. It was just missing her.”
Harrison turned the page. There was a picture of her at Kindergarten graduation with a big, gap-toothed grin and pigtails. “You have freckles,” he murmured, gripping the book.
“Yeah, under my make-up, I’m freckled. Polka dots and stripes,” she said with a nervous laugh.
This spread was on a purple background with cartoon diplomas and graduation caps glued in the top left corner. A picture at the bottom showed her dressed in her tiny cap and gown, up on Dad’s shoulders, arms wrapped around his face while he cheesed through his giant mustache at the camera.
“He’s a good man,” Harrison said.
“He’s the best. He was the one who encouraged me to sign up on Bangaboarlander. Not to actually bang a Boarlander, but to hopefully meet people like me. He didn’t like that I felt so alone.”
Harrison sighed and wrapped his arm around her shoulders as she flipped to the next page. It was a picture taken at her eighth birthday party. Dad had invited her entire second-grade class out to their trailer and set up rope swings in the tree out front and a slip-n-slide on the lawn, and he’d done a big barbecue cookout for all the kids’ parents so they could watch their kids playing. In the picture, all the kids were standing in front of her house with pointy party hats and grins and peace signs, while Audrey stood on the very outskirt, her lips barely lifted in a smile and her eyes looking hollow.
“You lived in a trailer?” Harrison asked, pointing to the old singlewide she’d grown up in. Dad lived there still.
“Yeah, it was the only way dad could afford the land for me to Change safely. It was hard for me to connect with other kids. I was always afraid they would figure out I was a monster, so it was hard keeping friends and fitting in.”
“You look sad.”
“I had fun, but I felt sick as all get-out. I hadn’t Changed in a long time, and I fought my cat hard that entire party. I was so scared she would come out in front of everyone. I Changed on accident about an hour after everyone left. That was the last birthday party we did with my classmates. Too risky. I think my dad was just desperately trying to integrate me into my class and the town.”
She flipped through more pages, explaining as she went. Some were of school events, cheerleader tryouts, a birthday card Mom sent her one year, a letter from her dad on the day of her high school graduation telling her how proud he was. Her diploma, a copy of her first paycheck from Donna’s Diner, an employee-of-the-month award, a receipt with a nice note from a regular customer. There was a spread with pictures she hadn’t known her dad had taken of her over the years. There was one a year since, from ages five to eighteen, swinging on the same tree swing. He gifted them to her for her twentieth birthday. “For the scrapbook,” he’d declared. In each one, she’d grown, but one thing was always the same—her smile.
“You were happy there,” Harrison said, pointing to the last picture of her, mid-laugh, hair flying behind her as she kicked her legs to go higher.
“Yeah. It was my little paradise. Dad made it a happy place.”
“Happy but lonely.”
Her voice would tremble if she said anything, so instead, she nodded and turned the page. This was the second to last spread of the book. It was green, her favorite color. She fingered the picture of January, her ex-boyfriend’s three-year-old girl. “I was lonely until this page,” she said, her eyes burning.
Harrison hugged her closer. “Who is this?”
“I started dating someone I’d grown up with. A human. His name was Rhett, and he shared custody of his kid. This is January. I loved her. Love her still. She felt like mine for the year Rhett and I were together.”
Harrison fingered the piece of tape with a torn picture still attached. She’d ripped out of her book the photo of her and Rhett grinning for the camera the day he’d let her down. January still deserved to be in it, though.
“Why did you stop dating him?”
“It wasn’t my choice.” She flipped to the next page. Across the top was the date she’d Changed in the car and been outed as a tiger shifter. The rest of the spread was covered in layers of newspaper clippings, all about her, and all with that awful picture of her tranquilized and semiconscious on the pavement. “Less than a thousand people live there, so this was huge news. I was forced to register, and Rhett came over right after it happened and said he didn’t want January around someone like me. He said it was wrong for us to be together, and he didn’t want me anymore. He asked for his ring back.” She swallowed hard and closed the book on Harrison’s lap. “And that was that. The tiger took everything.” A long snarl vibrated in her chest, but she didn’t stifle it. Both she and her animal had been devastated in the aftermath.
Harrison set the book aside and wrapped her up in a hug, pulling her tight against his chest as he rocked them back and forth slowly. “The town would’ve gotten used to you eventually, Audrey. Humans aren’t bad. They’re just scared of what they don’t understand.”
“You don’t understand. It’s not the same out there in the world for people like us. If there is only one shifter, people don’t get used to them. It only works if there are big groups and humans willing to accept them or move away. I saved all year to move to Breckenridge, Colorado because the Breck Crew have paved the way for a really accepting community. I thought I could be safe and happy there. Like people wouldn’t stare at me, whisper, and shield their kids when I passed them on the street. I thought maybe if I was part of a pro-shifter community, I could feel normal. When you responded to my message on the matchmaking site, I thought it was a sign that my life was moving in a different direction. Maybe a better direction than I imagined.”
“So you spent your savings to come here and meet me.”
“Yeah. Pretty pathetic, huh?”
Harrison rested his cheek against her hair and murmured, “Hell no. It’s brave. You wanted a different life, and you went after it. There’s nothing pathetic about that, Audrey. What you’ve done is admirable.”
He felt so good, so strong, holding her like this. Like everything hadn’t gotten messed up. She inhaled his scent—shaving cream and crisp, masculine soap—and closed her eyes just to get lost in this moment. She might never get another like this, where she felt utterly safe.
Harrison eased back by inches, and his lips were so close. She could hear the hitch in his breathing as he froze there, hesitating. Kiss me.
He lifted his lightened gaze from her lips to her eyes, then closed the last bit of space between them. His mouth turned soft, kneading against her, drinking her in. Audrey gripped his T-shirt and parted her lips slightly. Harrison slipped his tongue inside and brushed against hers, just barely, then withdrew with a sexy smack. It had ended too soon, so she waited a moment too long to open her eyes.
Harrison w
as looking at her with the strangest expression. Confusion mixed with wonder.
“Did I do it wrong?”
He barked a laugh and pulled her hand against his crotch. His boner was back and bigger than ever. “Woman, you did nothing wrong. I just don’t want to push too hard too fast.”
“Too hard, too fast,” she repeated in a dreamy voice as she brushed her hand up the hard length of his dick.
Harrison let off a tiny moan and relaxed back on locked arms, pushing his hips up to meet her touch. “You’re purring.”
Startled, Audrey stifled the sound in her throat and jerked her hand away from him. “I’m not some housecat and technically, big cats don’t purr,” she rushed out. “We snarl, and sometimes it just sounds happier than other times.” She winced at how lame she was being right now.
“That sounded like a purr to me.” Harrison caught her fingertips and brushed his lips against them with a wicked smile. “I love that sound,” he growled out, eyes locked on hers.
She relaxed and let off a soft, happy, vibrating noise, just for him, because she trusted him. Because he had seen her scrapbook, seen the parts of her life she kept hidden, and had somehow made her feel better…and stronger. He made her feel like a tigress instead of a kitten.
She would reward him for empowering her instead of putting her down.
Carefully, she knelt between his legs and popped the button of his jeans. Her fingers shook, and she winced. Be the tiger. When she looked up at him, his eyes were bright and hungry. Warmth pooled between her legs as he leaned back on one locked arm and brushed her hair from her face with the other.
The corner of his lips lifted in a sexy smile. “Are you going to go and change everything between us?”
“Do you want that?” she asked tentatively as she unzipped his jeans.
“I wanted to take this as slowly as you need.” He let off a sigh and rocked his hips forward as she pulled his pants down, unsheathing his erection. “I wanted to do this right.”
“This feels right to me,” she whispered.
“One rule,” he gritted out as she ran her fingertips up the length of his hard shaft. “Don’t give me your back.”
Frowning up at him, she asked, “What do you mean?”
“I mean, if you don’t want a claiming mark from me, don’t let me have your back. This feels different. It feels big with you.” His voice was completely inhuman now. Rough and deep. She loved it.
She didn’t know rules about claiming marks, as he called them, but she would ask him about that later. Right now, she would be careful not to give him her back, and enjoy this intimacy. She’d fallen twice for him—the first time in the messages on the website, and now, as she got to know the real man behind Harrison’s stoic mask, she fell even deeper.
Another purr rattled her throat as she gripped him at his base and slid her lips over him. Harrison went rigid under her and let off another soft moan. His hand tightened in her hair, but he stayed gentle enough as he guided her deeper. His dick throbbed in her mouth, and she traced his head with her tongue, then released him slowly. Harrison positioned himself closer to the edge of the bed, tugged her cover-up over her head, and then pulled the hair band from her ponytail, releasing her tresses. With a sexy smile, he drew her closer and spread his legs wider for her as his hips rolled forward.
He wanted her to go faster, she could tell, but what fun would that be? He was twitching under her, growling, breath ragged already. She could have him in a minute if she let him lead, but then it would be over, and she wanted to play for their first time. She dragged her nails down the inside of his thighs and reveled in the gooseflesh she conjured with her touch.
She took him again, deeply, careful to keep her teeth off his skin. She couldn’t stop purring if she wanted to. The head of his cock tasted salty, and she smiled. Harrison rocked against her every time she took him, and when she pushed his shirt up to expose his abs, they were flexing with his graceful movement. He was the sexiest man she’d ever seen, and he was here with her, moaning her name, flexing under her because she made him feel good.
Teasing him, she bit his inner thigh, then took him in her mouth again. Every muscle in his body was rigid now as he grunted out a helpless sound.
She could feel it. The hormone surge caused by whatever animal magnetism Harrison possessed was drawing her tiger out. She arched her back and pulled her lips off him.
“Fuck, woman, you smell so good,” Harrison rasped out.
She could smell herself too—pheromones and arousal.
Audrey offered him a feline smile as she stood and shoved the suitcase off the bed. She crawled onto the mattress and broke his rule by getting on her hands and knees and presenting her back. She swayed backward, toward him, her bathing suit soaking between her thighs.
She watched him over her shoulder as she bowed her back and lifted her ass in the air. She wanted to claw the sheets and beg him to cover her. Everything was fuzzy and warm, and her blood buzzed like she’d had too much to drink. She was drunk on Harrison. This hadn’t ever happened, but she was helpless to take it back. She was his.
She rocked back toward him again, pleading, the purr in her throat growing louder as his calloused hand gripped her waist. He’d shucked his pants and pulled his shirt off, and his eyes looked just as hazy with lust as she felt.
“Naughty little renegade, breaking my rules,” he murmured, eyes on the bottom half of her swimsuit. He plucked at the tie on one side, then the other, then pulled the strip of fabric away from her and let it drop onto the floor.
His long, thick shaft jutted out from his powerful body. She’d had to be gentle with Rhett, but she would never have that problem with Harrison. Scarred up, dominant alpha grizzly. She couldn’t hurt him.
He shoved her knees wider with his own, then gripped her waist in both hands as he rocked forward and teased her wet entrance with the head of his cock.
“Ooooh,” she moaned as she arched her spine and rocked backward, chasing him.
His lips were soft on her shoulder blade, and he whispered against her skin, “You want me in you?”
“Yes,” she pleaded, rocking back again.
He flexed his abs and slid into her, slowly until he was fully immersed inside her. His fingers dug into her waist as he let off a low growl. He blew out a shaky breath as he eased out of her, then rammed back into her again.
She rested on her elbows to give him better access and clutched at the comforter. He was huge and stretched her, but the pleasure outweighed the burn. High on endorphins, she slid her hand between her legs and touched her clit. Harrison’s hand slid over hers, pressing her own touch against herself as his teeth grazed her shoulder blade. He moved within her in a slow rhythm, but a few strokes more, and his control slipped. His body was tensing now as he rammed into her faster, and there was his gentle bite again, right against her shoulder blade. God, she loved this.
The pressure built between her legs, and now he was going so deep she could feel his balls hitting her hand. He bit down hard, but reared back just before he pierced her skin. He pulled her upward, and a dizzying moment later, she was off the bed and against the door. Rough, sexy bear. He slipped his hand into the top of her bathing suit and cupped her aching breast as he kissed her, tongue against hers in a desperate rhythm.
“Finish me,” she whispered against his lips.
Harrison snarled and lifted her off the ground, then slid into her. His kiss was rough as he rammed into her hard and fast, and with a cry of ecstasy, Audrey threw her head back against the door, blinded by how good he felt inside of her.
Orgasm exploded through her, and she gripped his hair, closing her eyes to the world. Her body gripped him in throbbing pulses as she murmured his name. He bucked into her faster and gritted out a feral snarl as he went rigid against her. His dick swelled and throbbed, matching her own release as he shot warmth into her.
His movement slowed and turned graceful again. Oh, clever bear. He knew how to draw ev
ery aftershock from her body. Gently, he lowered her to her feet and cupped her neck. There was no teasing smile now as he trapped her in his bright blue gaze. Chest heaving, he lowered his lips to hers and kissed her softly. Relaxing against him, she gripped his wrists to keep his touch there and sucked on his bottom lip.
“Let me clean you,” he whispered against her ear.
Surprised by how caring he was and at a loss for words, she nodded and kissed him one last time as he pulled out of her. Warmth trickled down her thighs. She swayed without the support of his strong arms, so she locked her legs and leaned her back against the door in an attempt to stay upright.
Before he turned away from her, he gave her a crooked, naughty smile. “You should’ve run while you had the chance, kitty.”
“Mmm,” she hummed, glowing under that nickname murmured in his deep, sexy timbre. “And why’s that?”
Harrison lifted his chin and locked his possessive gaze on her. “Because you’re mine now.”
Chapter Six
“Okay, change of plans,” Harrison said as he spiked up his hair in the mirror. “You drained me, woman, and now I’m starving.”
Audrey giggled as she shoved a beach towel into her black, sparkly tote bag. “Me, too. I heard a rumor about how much bear shifters eat.”
Harrison straightened his tight forest green T-shirt with a beer logo on the front onto his torso. “It’s true. Whatever you heard, it’s true.”
Harrison opened the door and took the tote bag from her as she passed.
Pleased as punch, she smiled her thanks. “So you do like copious amounts of salads then?”
“Ha, no. I need meat.”
“But not raw meat.”
“Do you like raw meat?”
“Ew!” she exclaimed. “No. I was lonely growing up, but I never once got the craving for a friendly tapeworm.”
Harrison snorted and opened the passenger’s side door of a jacked-up red Chevy Silverado. She angled her face at the expensive looking black-out rims and matching step-ups. “This is a nice truck.”
