Pride Mates

by Jennifer Ashley

  “You put a refrigerator and a TV in here, and you’d never have to leave,” Liam said.

  “Funny. Get your shirt off.”

  Liam skimmed his T-shirt over his head faster than she could blink. His chest rose with his quick breath, strong bone and muscle under tight, smooth skin. Dark hair curled across his chest to his abdomen. His Collar gleamed, the black and silver links moving with his skin. It might be a symbol of his captivity, but Liam standing with bare torso, jeans riding low on his hips, and the chain around his neck was sexier than any male model could ever hope to be.

  Kim wanted to touch every one of his muscles, trace them from shoulders to spine, pausing at his backside to spend a little time there.

  The stripes Fergus had laid on Liam’s back had already closed, though the bruises remained. In a couple of days, Kim guessed, no one would be able to tell he’d been beaten.

  She gently touched the closing wounds. “How is this possible?”

  “I told you, we heal fast.” Liam gave her a smile. “That’s not what’s hurting me, love.”

  “What is?”

  His pants came off a little slower than his shirt but only because he had to unzip them. His underwear followed in a flash, and then Kim found six feet, six inches of aroused male Shifter in her arms.

  “You hurt me,” Liam whispered. His skin was hot and satin smooth under her touch, glistening with sweat. “I need you, Kim. It’s killing me.”

  “What’s the matter with you?” she asked, worried.

  “Mating instinct. It makes me want to fuck or die.”

  “You smooth-talker, you.”

  “I can’t help it. I claimed you as mate, and my body wants to complete the process.”

  No kidding. Kim curved into his embrace, not unhappy to flow against his body. He might call it “mating instinct,” but Kim called it desire, one so strong there wasn’t a cure but to give in to it.

  Liam kissed her forehead and dropped kisses in her hair. Kim let her hands rove his shoulders and then his back, down to his fine, firm buttocks.

  “You feel good,” she murmured.

  “You feel good touching me. Your hands are so cool.”

  She went on stroking his buttocks, the muscles as strong as she thought they’d be. “You have a nice ass.”

  “So do you.” Large hands clasped it.

  “I shouldn’t be doing this.”

  “Most natural thing in the world, mating. The Earth goddess and Earth father joining to make the seasons continue. We’re a part of that.”

  She couldn’t help laughing. “You know, I think that’s the best pick-up line I’ve ever heard.”

  Liam licked the side of her neck. “Is it working?”

  “Conflict of interest. I could compromise the case.”

  Liam kissed her, fingers loosening her blouse. He didn’t answer, and she remembered Fergus’s parting words, that Kim was to drop Brian’s defense and leave the poor guy to take the fall.

  The fall for what?

  Kim had expected Liam to tell Fergus to stuff his terms, but Liam hadn’t protested. Did Liam join Fergus in wanting to throw Brian to the wolves?

  “Liam, we need to talk about this.”

  Talk was obviously not on Liam’s agenda. He kept up the scalding kisses, hands stroking. Her body became pliant, the space between her legs moist and needy.

  His hardness pressed her abdomen, the feel of it making her nipples tight. She slid her hand down before she could stop herself and closed it around his penis.

  Damn. He was frigging enormous. The shaft pressed her palm, moving a little with his pulse. His skin was hot, and she’d never felt a man’s need so obviously before.

  Not a man. A Shifter.

  What women speculated about Shifter men was obviously true. They were bigger. And stiffer and hotter. Kim rubbed her thumb over his tip, feeling it slick and needy.

  “Why are you doing this to me?” she asked.

  Liam didn’t appear to hear her. His eyes flicked to slits, cat’s eyes, and he growled low in his throat.

  “Don’t you dare turn into something while I’m holding you.” Kim squeezed his shaft, and Liam let out a soft groan. “That would be just too weird.”

  “Humans.” Liam nipped her ear. “Teach me more about kissing.” His tongue moved to her mouth, slid briefly between her lips.

  Liam might not know how to kiss with finesse, but he did it with fervor. He licked her mouth from corner to corner, hands roving her back. Downstairs, Sean and Connor gave another whoop of victory, and Kim wanted to echo it up here. Liam’s teeth scraped her mouth, his kiss clumsy, but his hands were skilled.

  He loosened her blouse and brushed the tops of her breasts with callused fingers. Her lacy bra parted.

  “Let me see you.”

  Kim let go of Liam long enough to pull her blouse open, to let her bra fall to the floor. Liam’s gaze roved her, his cheeks flushed, eyes dark.

  Abel had never looked at Kim like this, as though she were some Greek goddess. Liam cupped her breast almost reverently and slid his thumb across the areola. The nipple rose and tightened, and Liam leaned down and tugged it lightly with his teeth.

  “You are so beautiful,” he whispered into her skin.

  Abel had never said that, either. “For a human?”

  “For an anything.”

  “I don’t disgust you, then?”

  Liam laughed softly. “Stand still and take a compliment, love. Your body is made for loving.” He moved his hand down her abdomen and unbuttoned her jeans. “I like that your hips are so curved.” The zipper went down, the jeans slid past her butt, cool air touched her thighs.

  “Fat-assed, you mean.”

  “I’m not meaning that, and you know it.” Liam’s hands eased her jeans to her ankles. “So you wore the thong, then.”

  His big hand found her bare butt cheek, betraying the truth of the statement. He softly kneaded, and Kim shivered. Here she was, in nothing but a thong in the middle of her bathroom, pressed against the hottest man she’d ever seen in her life.

  Liam kissed his way down her neck and licked up between her breasts, and Kim’s thoughts ceased being coherent. Liam bit her lip, then her cheek, strong hand moving to her nape and holding her there.

  The thought tapped on her brain that even with the Collar, Liam was three times as strong as any man she’d ever been with. He could toss Abel across a room without working up a sweat. He could rip away her clothes in a heartbeat.

  As though he read her thoughts, Liam hooked his fingers around the elastic of the thong and twisted it until it broke. His fingers found the moisture between her thighs, and she gasped, arching into his hand.

  Liam eased back from the long kiss, both of them breathing faster. He softened his grip on her neck, caressing a little as though in apology.

  “I don’t want to hurt you.” His eyes were still the cat’s, narrow, slitted, light blue.

  “I’m pretty tough.”

  “You’re such a little bit of a thing.” Liam’s voice went soft with wonder. “You’re so small, so fragile.” The caresses on her neck changed to a light touch. “Goddess, what if I hurt you?”

  Kim smiled a hot smile. “I’ve never heard a guy call me ‘a little bit of a thing.’ Usually it’s, ‘Are you sure you want to eat that, Kim? You know you’re watching your weight.’ ”

  “Screw them.”

  Kim touched her forehead to Liam’s, looking into his scary eyes without flinching. “I’d rather screw you.”

  Another growl came from his throat. “I don’t know if I can hold back. I’ve never done this before.”

  “A virgin Shifter? What do you know?”

  “I meant not with a human woman.” Liam furrowed her hair with strong fingers. “Especially one so soft.”

  Kim wriggled against his body. “We have to do this,” she said. “I predict that we’ll implode if we don’t.”

  Another cheer erupted from downstairs, followed by prolonged sh
outing. Kim had to wonder which room was more charged, her living room or this one.

  Liam’s growl changed to an animalistic snarl, and he pulled Kim down with him to the bathroom floor. She found herself on top of him, straddling him, her fluffy white rug cushioning her knees.

  Liam held her hips. “Do this, Kim. I don’t trust myself.”

  Kim hardly trusted herself. She leaned forward and kissed his lips, at the same time shifting her hips so that his tip rested against her opening. “You’re a hell of a man, Liam Morrissey. I only met you yesterday, and today you’re sexing me on my bathroom rug.”

  Liam didn’t answer, his face tight. Kim leaned forward a little more, then slid back onto him.

  Oh, dear God in heaven. She closed her eyes, her head going back as a groan left her mouth. Liam was big, but she was so wet that she slid smoothly onto him, her body happy to accommodate him. But the feeling…She groaned again, she who never made noise when she had sex. She prided herself on being discreet, even delicate. She realized now she’d never wanted to make noise, never had reason to.

  Liam’s hard face softened, his eyes changing back to the deep blue she’d already come to love. He made a raw noise as his warm hands moved to her breasts, rough fingertips catching on her nipples.

  “I never knew humans could be so beautiful,” he said.

  Kim smiled, her heart warming as it beat faster. He was the beautiful one. And skilled. She’d teased him about being a “virgin,” but Liam obviously knew exactly what he was doing.

  Kim felt the loops of her white rug on her knees, the fiery heat where they joined, Liam’s soothing hands. He smelled of sweat and sex and himself. His chest shone with perspiration, the black curls damp across hard pectorals. His jaw was dark with unshaved whiskers, which glistened as he rocked his head back, eyes closing in ecstasy.

  Kim leaned down and kissed him, tasting male musk and the cold soft drink he’d drunk in the car. He slid his hands to her waist, letting his hips rise and rise again, pressing himself ever deeper inside her. Kim’s head lolled back, and she let sound come out unchecked, drowned out by the television and shouting downstairs.

  Liam half sat up, helping her ride him. Their lips met, parted. His eyes remained dark blue, although once or twice they flickered to the cat’s until he forced them dark again. He was holding back with effort, Kim sensed through her haze of pleasure. She wondered what Liam not holding back would be like. Delightful thought.

  Sweat trickled down her skin. Liam gripped her waist and rose into her with strong thrusts, sending rivers of pleasure through her body.

  “Liam.”

  Liam growled. His eyes moved to white, then snapped back to human blue. He pulled her down to kiss him. Their mouths locked together, and he rolled with her, putting her on her back on the sweat-soaked rug.

  Could anything be better than this? Lying naked on the bathroom floor with a gorgeous, hard-bodied Shifter on top of her?

  Kim lifted her hips to meet his thrusts. They were both panting, both groaning, Liam’s face flushed, eyes half closed. The muscles in his arms and shoulders played as he made love to her, and the mirror across the room showed his fine buttocks tightening.

  Kim’s orgasm, when it came, was nothing like she’d ever experienced. The world went away except for the incredible feeling that pierced her where they joined. Nothing mattered, nothing existed, only the two of them, their sweating bodies sealed together and the madness ripping through them.

  Kim’s throat ached, but Liam was quiet as he thrust the final few times.

  “Feel my seed, Kim,” he whispered. “Take it, love.”

  Liquid scalded into her, the semen of a Shifter. Liam’s mouth covered hers as his hips worked.

  It occurred to Kim that it had gone pretty quiet downstairs when Liam finally collapsed on top of her, panting as though he’d never find his breath again.

  Chapter Thirteen

  So this was happiness.

  Big-smile-on-his-face, heart-swelling happiness.

  Liam rolled over on the rug again, gathering Kim on top of him. Kim kissed him, her lips soft and warm. Liam had never known such happiness was possible. This was his lady, his mate, the female he’d protect with his life.

  Way down at the bottom of his mind lay fear—he’d seen what had happened to his father and then his brother when they’d lost their mates. Dylan had gone off on his own for a year. Kenny had folded up into himself, not speaking to or looking at anyone for weeks.

  Liam understood their pain now. He’d hurt like hell if he lost Kim. And he’d only known her since yesterday. Right now their happiness was fresh, fragile. Imagine the hurt after years of being together, of learning each other, body and mind. To lose that…

  Liam held her close. She was lush and curvaceous, her sweet breasts pressing his chest. Any man who’d told her she wasn’t perfect as she was deserved to be shredded.

  Kim looked down at him with a smile. “That was…Wow.”

  “Wow? This is the articulate lawyer talking?”

  “Wow about sums it up.”

  He stroked Kim’s hair and kissed her lips. “I’m catching on to this kissing.”

  “I think you need more practice.”

  “You keep on teaching me, love.”

  Kim licked his mouth. When she did it again, he caught her tongue with his. He pulled her down for the kiss, lacing his fingers through her hair. He could enjoy these lessons, even when their mouths were raw from lovemaking. He’d make sure he kissed her—real kisses—for the rest of his life.

  Something burbled on the other side of the room.

  “Oh, hell.” Kim jerked up.

  Liam let her go with reluctance. His reward was watching her crawl to her pants, her backside enticing him as she went. Kim yanked her cell phone out of her pocket and sat up, and now he got to watch her firm, creamy breasts tipped with dark nipples. Liam propped himself on his elbow and enjoyed himself.

  “Yeah?” she said into the phone.

  A man answered, loud enough for Liam to hear him across the room. “Hi, honey. How are you?”

  Kim squeezed her eyes shut. “Abel.”

  “Did you want something?” he asked.

  Her eyes popped open again. “What are you talking about? You called me.”

  The voice changed to one of tired patience. “Last night, when you called, you sounded like you wanted something. What was it?”

  “It’s not important now.”

  “Well, I’m going to be tied up all day, all this week, actually, but maybe next Friday I can come over.”

  Maybe? With this woman waiting for him? The man was a thrice-damned idiot.

  “Abel.” Kim gazed into the distance, folding her legs under her. “I won’t be free Friday. In fact…Abel, we need to break up.”

  “Fine.” The line hummed quietly while her words processed. “What did you say?”

  “I said I’m breaking up with you.”

  “Why?” Abel sounded baffled. Not hurt, not angry, just puzzled.

  Kim made an impatient noise. “If you have to ask why, then that’s why.”

  “Kim, honey, you’re not making sense.”

  “Don’t Kim, honey me. I met someone. I didn’t mean to, but it happened. You and I weren’t going anywhere, so I figured, what the hell?”

  “Oh.” Again, puzzlement instead of anger. “Is it someone in the firm?”

  “No. Like I said, someone I just met.”

  “Right. Well. I guess I’ll see you around.”

  “Yeah, I guess so.”

  Abel clicked off. Kim sat staring, every muscle tense, and then she flung the phone across the room. It landed on the tiles and spun until it hit the big bathtub.

  “Two years of my life I wasted on him, and all he can say is ‘See you around’?”

  Liam rolled over and braced himself on both elbows. “He sounds a bit of a fool.”

  “More than a bit.” Kim pressed her hand to her forehead. “Do you know why I
went out with him? I just now realized it. Because he would go out with me. No other reason. No compatibility. Convenience, for both of us. I’m pathetic.”

  Liam held out his hand. “You weren’t pathetic, love. Lonely. There’s a difference.” He wriggled his fingers. “Come here.”

  Kim walked to him, no more crawling, until she stood over him. This was the best view of all. Liam roamed his gaze up her tight, petite legs to the slick tuft of hair between them, over her cute navel, her round breasts and bare neck, ending at her beautiful face.

  “You’re mated now,” he said, as Kim knelt on the floor next to him. “You’ve no more need to be lonely. You have me.”

  “You and your ego.”

  “You make me laugh, love. You have me and my father and Sean and Connor. Ellison and Glory. All the Shifters.”

  “Even Fergus?”

  Liam grimaced. “Him too. He’s bent out of shape about Brian, and I don’t know why, but usually he’s a fair leader. Mostly.”

  “Fair? He tried to whip Connor for talking back to him!”

  “I know, and it might be hard to understand, but Connor did wrong. He’s a cub. He doesn’t have a place yet, and attacking the clan leader needs punishment. Connor knew that. Any other time, he might have been let off with a warning, but in the middle of a moot, when our family was already in disgrace—Fergus couldn’t let it go.”

  “So he whipped you and your father instead.”

  “Any member of a pride has the right to take a punishment for any other, but it has to be voluntary. Dad and I could take the lash; Connor never has. And I wasn’t wrong about Fergus wanting to punish me instead. Connor gave him the excuse.”

  “This is one of those Shifter things I don’t understand, isn’t it?”

  Liam let himself grin. “You’ll get used to it. You’ll get used to all things Shifter.”

  “No, I won’t.” Kim pulled her knees to her chin, shaping her body into delectable curves and shadows. “We can’t date right now, Liam. Not until after the case is over and Brian is free. Then, I won’t lie, I wouldn’t mind getting to know you—much better. What we did today will have to be a one-off.”

  Liam laced his fingers through hers. “We’re not dating, love. We’re bonded for life.”