Fighting for Keeps

by Grace Brennan

  When she was standing in nothing except her pale blue panties, he stood back up and ran his eyes over her. “Fuck, you’re beautiful.”

  She opened her mouth to respond, but the words died on her tongue as he popped the button on his jeans and slowly eased his zipper down, breath hissing out of his body. Flashing her a look filled with heat, he pulled his jeans and boxers off, and just like that, he was standing naked in front of her.

  Not breathing at all, she ran her eyes over him and stalled her perusal when she got to his cock. He was long and thick, standing proud and straining upward. Swallowing, she boldly reached out to touch him. She ran her fingers softly over him, watching as his abs contracted with her touch, before gripping him in her palm. The skin was incredibly soft, and the shaft hard, and she was fascinated by the contrast as she experimentally made a pumping motion with her hand.

  Either the last man she was with was exceptionally small, or Seth was exceptionally large. And she never touched the other man, not like she was touching Seth. Her chest started burning and she sucked in a breath, only realizing then that she’d stopped breathing.

  Her eyes flew when he put a hand over hers, halting her movements. “Enough, sweetheart. I can’t handle that right now. Maybe one day I’ll be able to, but right now, I want you too much. I feel like I’ve been waiting forever for you to show up in my life, and I’m on the edge, about to fall over already. I don’t want to go without you.”

  Heart jumping at his words, she removed her hand, and keeping her eyes locked with his, she bent over and pulled her panties off. Suddenly shy, she glanced away as she moved to the bed, but once there, she paused and looked over her shoulder.

  “You joining me?”

  Not waiting on a reply, she turned back around and climbed on the bed, laying on her back and getting comfortable. As comfortable as she could get when her skin was tight and on fire, and her core was painfully tightened with desire for him, that is.

  By the time she gathered her courage to look back up, the bed was dipping with his weight. Stopping at her feet, he looked up and locked gazes with her as he lifted her foot, placing a soft kiss on the sole. Stifling a giggle at the unexpected tickle, she watched as he put his lips on her ankle, and then worked his way up her leg, placing kisses in increments.

  Her blood felt like it was boiling underneath her skin by the time he reached her center. She held her breath, nervous at the thought of his mouth so close to the most secret part of her, but he veered off to her hip, continuing his journey of kisses. By the time he kissed her mouth, having paused to lavish attention on her nipples, she was a writhing mess of pent up desire, and the flames were burning her alive.

  “I’m having a hard time going slow,” he said as he pulled back, voice gravelly. “Having a hard time giving your body the attention it deserves right now. But I will, if you need more, even if it kills me.”

  “I don’t need more,” she replied breathlessly, letting her legs fall open. He settled between them, his hardness brushing her center, and her breath caught, chest tight at the sensation. “The only thing I need right now is you, Seth. I want to feel you inside me.”

  Eyes lightening to a blazing light gold, he slammed his mouth to hers, thrusting his tongue inside. Reaching between them, he took himself in hand, rubbing his hardness through her folds, coating himself in the wetness she could feel leaking from her center.

  He broke the kiss and stared deeply into her eyes as he positioned himself at her entrance and slowly began easing inside. She wanted to close her eyes at the overwhelming sensations coursing through her, but she fought to keep them open and locked with his. She could feel her body stretching to accommodate his girth as he inched inside, and it felt glorious.

  It felt better than anything she’d ever experienced before. Better than solving the most complex scientific equation. Better than being the one to find the next great discovery, better than being the best in a largely male dominated field. It was even better than a Manchester tart, her favorite dessert, and something she’d eat for every meal, if she could.

  Wrapping her legs around his waist, she closed them in a tight grip, moving her hips and urging him on. With a muttered curse, he thrust his hips in a move she was almost positive was involuntary, surging forward and burying himself inside her.

  Pleasure streaked through her, sparking off her every nerve ending, and her eyes slid closed.

  “Bloody hell, you feel incredible,” she breathed out, panting heavily as she forced her eyes back open. He wore a pained grimace on his face, and she undulated her hips, causing both of them to suck in a breath. “Move, Seth. Make love to me. I’m not delicate, and I won’t break. Fuck me until I feel it in my bones, fuck me until I can’t breathe through the pleasure.”

  His eyes brightened even further, and he growled deep in his chest. He pulled out slowly, and she feared that was the pace he would set. She appreciated the thought, and maybe at another time she’d be grateful to go slow. But right now, she needed him to take her fiercely, like she knew he wanted to. Like she was craving him to. She was burning up for him, and she knew he felt the same way.

  But then, with one surge of his hips, he thrust into her hard and fast. With every thrust inside her, he lost a little more of the tight control he was trying desperately to keep hold of. Soon, he was wild, his hips pistoning, slamming into her with enough force to slide her up the mattress.

  Moaning loudly, she tried to match his movements and meet him in the middle, but she was no match for him. And all she could do was hold on as he fucked her senseless. She thought it wasn’t possible to become more pleasurable, but then he shifted, changing the angle of his thrusts, and he began hitting a spot inside her that had her eyes rolling back in her head.

  It only took a few strokes after that before she splintered apart, feeling like every molecule separated from her body and shot to the sky. Screaming out his name, her body convulsed, sucking him in as he continued pounding into her. She was flying so high she wasn’t sure she’d ever come back down, riding a wave of pleasure she never wanted to end, despite its almost painful intensity.

  She was beginning to float back down when, with a gritted curse, Seth slammed into her once, twice, three times, and let go, head thrown back, an expression of ecstasy on his face. She could feel him pulsing inside her, feel his warmth coating her insides, and it sent her flying back up, a new round of pleasure making her see stars.

  She wasn’t sure how long she floated in bliss, but when she came back down and became aware of her surroundings again, her muscles were weak, her arms loosely hooked around his shoulders, and her legs were flopped down on the bed. His face was buried in her neck, and every so often, fine tremors wracked his frame.

  Huffing a breath, he gently pulled out of her and collapsed on the bed beside her. He held open his arms, and she immediately moved into them, contentment like she’d never known filling her as she snuggled deeper into him.

  When their breathing finally evened out, he spoke, rubbing his hand up and down her arm in a caress she felt to her toes.

  “Did you enjoy that?” he asked, his voice saying he already knew the answer.

  “Of course,” she breathed. Clearing her throat, she willed her voice to have more substance. “It was amazing, and it probably wouldn’t be a stretch to say that it was the single greatest and best experience of my life.”

  “Good. I’m glad, and hearing that is probably every man’s dream. Now take everything you’re feeling and multiply it by about a thousand, and you’ll come sort of close to knowing how I feel. That was incredible, Amelia, and never once did it feel like you weren’t good, or like you didn’t know what you were doing. It only felt like I was holding in my arms everything important and necessary to my life.”

  Tears stung her eyes, and with her heart feeling near bursting, she turned her head and placed a lingering kiss on his pec. When she first started this, she never imagined they’d end up here, even with her not so bright pl
an to seduce him. Seth was such a surprise, and so much more than she thought she would ever find. Now she just had to figure out a way to keep him.

  A soft snore hit her ears, and she looked up at him with a smile. His eyes were closed, mouth slightly open, and he had a relaxed and peaceful expression on his face. Laying her head down on his chest, her eyes started to close, but a new noise stopped her. It sounded like… was that purring? Twitching her eyebrows in a frown, she started to get up to check it out, wondering how on Earth a cat got in there.

  Freezing, she realized Seth’s chest was vibrating underneath her cheek, and it was vibrating in time with the purr. Eyes wide, she looked up and studied his face. Eyes that turned a light gold when he was worked up about something, remarks about declawing, a purr rattling from his chest.

  A cat. Seth’s animal was a cat. She wondered what he shifted to, quickly sifting through different breeds in her mind. The thought of him turning into a housecat felt a little absurd, so she quickly dismissed it. A big cat then, but there were so many possibilities, and she had no way of narrowing it down.

  Relaxing back down on top of him, contentment washed over her. While she was curious, of course, it didn’t matter what he was. She would love him just the same, even if he were nothing more than a human.

  Eyes popping back open, she froze for a second, fear sparking in her chest. But then a slow smile curled the corners of her lips. She knew, even a few days ago, that her heart would be lost to him if she slept with him. No, her heart would have been lost to him regardless. Sleeping with him just made it happen faster.

  This happened so fast. Maybe too fast. They only got to know each other in the last week, and here she was, already falling in love with him. That alone would be enough to worry any woman, but add in the fact that she knew nothing of how to love someone, and it turned downright terrifying.

  Almost like he could sense the turmoil inside her, his arms tightened around her and pulled her in closer. Warmth suffused her chest, spreading throughout her body. If she was going to fall in love, she couldn’t imagine a better man to do it with than the one with his arms wrapped around her, purring in her ear.

  Seth walked out of the barn to grab more lumber, casting a glance at the house. The last place he wanted to be was out here working while Amelia was inside. He wanted to be where she was, but he didn’t want to smother her. Besides, he was close to finishing up her barn, and he wanted to get it done.

  He’d worried about finishing it before things between them were settled. Finishing the work he was doing would just be getting her one step closer to leaving. But then he thought he could probably talk her into letting him work on the house. Anderson let it get rundown, and he was sure she’d see the value in letting him fix it up.

  Based on his estimates, that would add another month or so of time while he worked on it. Especially if he dragged the repairs out, which he had every intention of doing. And it had the added benefit of working so close to where she spent her days. It was a win-win in his eyes. He just had to convince her it was something she needed.

  The other fighters had the day off, so it was just him working today. All the boards had been replaced, and all that was left inside was to fix the bleachers. Tomorrow they’d start on the roof. Walking back inside with an arm full of lumber, he stopped to gaze at the ring. Yesterday he had his best and most satisfying victory right there in the hard packed dirt of the ring.

  When the fight began, he was sure it would end in either disaster or defeat. After the vile shit Zane said, Seth’s leopard wanted to take control and end Zane. He thought he’d be fighting to keep his human skin the whole time, unable to give the fight the attention it needed, but he managed it with ease once he got his cat calmed down. And that made him wonder if he could have ignored his cat that easily all these years. True, his cat didn’t taunt him last night as he did most times, but maybe he could have ignored him better in the past.

  You wish. I let you win last night. I faded to the background because I wanted to. You couldn’t ignore me if you tried.

  Shut up, he told his leopard mildly. As much as he wanted to be annoyed, he only felt a small amount of annoyance with his cat. And he wasn’t sure if it was because of the high he was riding from his win and night in Amelia’s bed, or because he really was getting better at handling his cat. In the end, it didn’t matter. He wasn’t letting anything bring down his mood.

  Defeating Zane had made his day yesterday, but it was nothing compared to being with Amelia last night. That was the single most amazing experience of his life, even though she basically tried to unman him. He shook his head, a smile quirking his lips. He could laugh about it now, but at the time, it felt like his sexual life was passing before his eyes.

  She could be so amusing, with the things she said and did. He had a feeling she didn’t often blunder, and was embarrassed by it, but he found it endearing. Doing what she did for a living, being as smart as she was, was intimidating, especially to someone like him. But all that made her feel normal to him, more accessible.

  Finishing up with the last set of bleachers, he decided to double check the roof so he could make sure they had everything they needed to fix it tomorrow. Anxious to get this done so he could get back to Amelia, he walked quickly to the ladder and began scaling it. He was just finishing up his inspection when he noticed Amelia coming out of the house, hips swaying gently, hair blowing in the breeze as she walked.

  Heart clenching and breath hitching at the sight of her, he carefully made his way down the ladder and met her at the bottom. Immediately pulling her into his arms, he kissed her gently, fighting to keep it slow and easy. He wanted to devour her, but he couldn’t stay much longer today, so he regretfully pulled back.

  “I could get used to a greeting like that,” she said breathlessly, a gorgeous pink flush to her cheeks.

  “I’ll always have one ready for you,” he replied, pulling her hips tighter into his.

  Breath hitching, she paused for a moment and cleared her throat before speaking. “Yes, well. How’s it looking?”

  Taking a moment to switch gears, he said, “It’s not in bad shape. Shouldn’t take long to get it fixed once the guys are here.”

  Disappointment flashed briefly in her hazel eyes. “Oh, well, that’s good.”

  Lips quirking at the blatant lie, he threw his arm around her shoulder and squeezed as he turned them toward the house. “Could I get a glass of water?”

  “Oh, of course! I should have thought to bring you something. It’s getting warm and you’ve been working out here all morning.”

  She picked up her speed as they walked to the house, and when they got to the kitchen, she bustled around, getting him a glass of water. She was so beautiful, just doing this simple task, and he felt his heart warming as he watched her.

  Tell her what you are. Tell her about me.

  It’s too soon. She’ll run.

  No, the cat said imperiously. She will love me. How could she not?

  Seth nearly snorted, grateful Amelia was busy and wouldn’t catch onto this little quirk in his personality.

  You’re as pompous as Zane. Superiority complex much?

  His leopard hissed, and Seth smirked even as he rubbed a hand over his chest where the cat was shredding him over the comparison. But it was worth it to shut the animal up for once. Amelia turned and headed toward him with the glass of water, and he dropped the hand from his chest, fighting to look normal.

  Accepting the glass, he chugged the cool water down quickly, realizing he really had been thirsty. When he was done, he set it on the counter and pulled her close, placing a soft kiss on her lips. But it quickly turned to more, and when fire was racing up and down his skin, he pulled back, panting.

  “I’d love nothing more than to spend all day here with you, but I need to get back home. I have some custom orders I need to work on.”

  “Oh, yes, of course,” she said with a bright smile that couldn’t hide the flash of disappoin
tment in her hazel eyes. “Let me get my shoes on and grab my purse and keys, and I’ll take you home.”

  There was nothing less he wanted to do than leave Amelia. He’d love nothing more than to spend a lazy Sunday with her cuddling on the couch and making love with her all evening. But now more than ever, he had something to prove. He had something to work for. He had to show Amelia that he was worthy of her, that he could provide for her. That he might not be really smart, might not be accomplished like she was, but that he had his own set of skills. Confidence filled him for the first time. He could do this.

  After a lingering goodbye kiss, Seth watched Amelia drive away from Rocky River and back to the Anderson ranch. He was just starting to shut the door when the rumble of another vehicle hit his sensitive ears, and he stepped back out on the porch. He watched as a truck came up the drive and stiffened when he saw that it was Kian.

  A hand touched his shoulder, and he looked behind him to see Ian and Jax on either side. He’d been so focused on the truck, he hadn’t heard them come out.

  “Stay calm when they get here,” Ian ordered. “I know you and Zane are at each other’s throats right now. But you beat him last night. That has to be enough. The last thing we need is a shifter war in Eagle Creek, especially with the War Cats. That’s not their name for nothing.”

  Mouth tightening, Seth nodded. He didn’t like it, but Ian spoke nothing but the truth. He wouldn’t risk bringing war to his brothers, especially with Shelby in the crossfire. Looking back to the truck, he stilled and narrowed his eyes when he saw that Kian was alone. He’d never seen him without Zane, and his body hummed with energy as his leopard sat up, alert to any danger.

  Kian got out of the truck with a wave, his long legs eating up the distance to the porch. “Hey, guys. I hope everything is well. Seth, congratulations on your win last night.”