ACougarsDesire

by Marisa Chenery

  “Come on. Let’s go see the snow leopards, then we can go get something to eat if you’re hungry.”

  He turned them away from the tiger’s enclosure and got them walking toward the walkway that would take them to the snow leopards. “The question is, when am I not hungry? You put food in front of me, I’ll eat it.”

  “If I ate like that I’d be the size of a house. It’s already bad enough I’m so short.”

  Jase pulled slightly away from Katarina and looked her up and down. “I can honestly say you’re perfect the way you are. If we weren’t in such a public place, I would show you exactly what the sight of you does to me.”

  He dragged in a deep breath, detecting Katarina’s arousal in her scent. He’d first smelled it while he’d kissed her. He was getting to her, which was fine with him. She did the same to him. His cock was semi-hard and it wouldn’t take much for it to become a full-blown erection. That one little taste of her had him longing for more. Jase had no idea what else was on the agenda for their date, but he hoped at some point he could get her alone somewhere so he could continue where their kiss had abruptly ended.

  At the snow leopard’s enclosure, one of the large cats came up to the fence to investigate them. Jase knew full well it had to do with his scent. He didn’t smell like a human. The snow leopard, as well as the tiger, could detect the cougar in him. At least this large cat wasn’t trying to intimidate him. It was a female, whereas the tiger had been male, which would have had him trying to stake his territory.

  They finished looking at the rest of the animals, which took an hour, then headed out to the parking lot. Jase had never been to the zoo before. He found he didn’t mind it as much as he’d thought he would. Being a cougar shifter, he hated to see animals that were meant to be out in the wild locked up. The enclosures, though, had been made specifically for each species, trying to mimic as much of their natural territory as possible. So they weren’t as terrible as he’d thought they’d be.

  Once Jase and Katarina reached the cars, he asked, “Where to now?”

  “Time to eat. You can follow me.”

  “You’re not going to tell me where we’re going beforehand?”

  “No. That way if you don’t like it, you won’t have the chance to try to change my mind about going there.”

  Jase shook his head. “I wouldn’t since I said you could plan our date, but lead on.”

  They both got into their cars. Katarina backed up, then waited for Jase to pull behind her before she drove to the lot’s exit.

  On their way to their next destination, he had no problem following her. He saw her checking her rearview mirror every once in a while to make sure he was still there.

  So far Jase had no complaints about the date. If Katarina thought the zoo would be enough to scare him off, she was mistaken. It would take a lot more than that. He had to laugh when he saw her pull into the parking lot of a place that from the outside looked like a dive. He couldn’t help thinking she’d picked that restaurant as a test to see if he would say something about her choices. If he did, he was more than sure she would use that as an opportunity to get rid of him. For some reason, he didn’t think she trusted him.

  After parking, Jase met up with Katarina at her car. She looked at him as they headed toward the entrance. “Have you ever been here before?”

  “No, but I’m always willing to try new things.”

  They stepped through the door and Jase’s assumption of it being a dive was proven correct by the interior. It was kind of dark and dingy. The bar took up a lot of the open space. All the seats there were taken. The TV hanging on the wall above it played the sports channel. No hostess or host came to greet them, and there was no sign saying for them to wait to be seated.

  Katarina had obviously been there before. She headed for one of the tables near the back. Once she selected the one she wanted, she took a seat. Jase sat across from her. She seemed to be watching him closely, as if judging his reaction.

  He looked around. “I bet this is one of those places that doesn’t look like much but the food is really good.”

  Katarina nodded. “That about sums it up. I’ve been coming here for a while now.” She shrugged out of her jacket, and Jase did the same with his.

  A waitress came and gave them menus. Before she left she took their drink order. Jase was mildly surprised when Katarina ordered a beer just like him. In his experience, women generally stuck with wine.

  Jase looked over the menu, liking a lot of what he saw. For a dive, it had quite a few main dishes he wouldn’t have expected. He’d finally decided on what he wanted to eat when a heavy hand landed on top his shoulder. He looked up to find the last person he expected to see there.

  “Draven,” Jase said. “What a surprise.”

  The large cougar shifter smiled as he pulled out one of the empty chairs between Jase and Katarina, then sat. “Jase. I’ve never seen you here before.”

  “That’s because this is my first time. Katarina,” Jase glanced toward her, “brought me to try out the food.”

  Draven nodded at her. “Nice to meet you, Katarina. You don’t mind if I join you two. I hate eating alone in a restaurant. I’d planned to get some takeout, but since you’re here I can stay.” He slid Jase’s menu toward him, then looked it over.

  “Sure, go right ahead,” Jase said dryly.

  He looked over at Katarina to see what her reaction was to Draven inviting himself to eat with them. She looked at him and nodded. Obviously, she didn’t mind. Jase sighed inwardly. He wasn’t too thrilled with it, but he couldn’t very well be rude and tell the other cougar shifter to get lost. For one thing, Jase wasn’t sure Draven wouldn’t pound the crap out of him if he did. And that wasn’t something he wanted Katarina to be witness to on their first date. It wouldn’t go over well. It was bad enough she’d already seen him kick in Caleb’s apartment door.

  The waitress returned with Jase’s and Katarina’s drinks. She brought another table setting for Draven, then finished taking all their orders. She returned only long enough to bring Draven his beer before leaving them alone once more.

  All three of them sat in silence, sipping their drinks. If Draven noticed he was the third wheel, he showed no sign of it. Especially when he started up a conversation that Jase would have preferred Katarina didn’t hear.

  “So, Jase, did you manage to track down that asshole Caleb?”

  Jase glanced over at Katarina to see her closely watching him and Draven. “Ah, yeah, I did. He gave me the slip, though.”

  “That’s a start. If you do need any help capturing him, let me know. I consider Blaise one of my good friends. I wouldn’t mind getting my claws into Caleb for what he tried to do to Blaise’s father.”

  “Thanks for the offer. I’ll be sure to give you a call if I can’t handle it on my own.”

  Draven nodded. “Good.” He turned his gaze toward Katarina. “So where did you and Katarina meet? Was it at one of the bars where you go to check out all the women? You said you’d take me with you and Grady the next time you went. I guess you forgot to give me a call. If the ladies were as pretty as Katarina, I missed out on something good.”

  Jase couldn’t hold back the warning growl that rumbled out of him. He thought he was bad for saying what was on his mind, but Draven was worse. And from the way Katarina now scowled at Jase, he had a feeling his new friend hadn’t done him any favors.

  “No,” Jase said in a tight voice. “I didn’t meet Katarina at a bar.”

  “He met me when he tracked Caleb down at the apartment building I’m superintendent at and kicked in his door,” she said, her expression guarded.

  Draven laughed. “I guess that’s one way to pick up a woman.”

  “Let’s change the subject,” Jase said, wondering how much damage control he’d have to do once he and Katarina found a way to lose Draven.

  Katarina looked from Jase to Draven and back to him again. “You both have the same cougar head pendants.”

/>   Now that was a bit awkward. Jase had no idea how he’d explain that one, but soon had that chance taken away when Draven did it for him.

  “It’s a popular item among the circle of people we know. The men wear it with the hopes that one day a woman, who ends up being his to keep, will take it from him and put it around her own neck. Think of it as her showing him how much she loves him and is willing to commit to him.” Draven winked. “Would you like to try mine on and see what happens?”

  Katarina looked at Draven as if she didn’t know if she should take him seriously or not. “No, that’s quite okay. If it came down to whose necklace I would take, sorry, I’d choose Jase’s over yours. You’re not exactly my type.”

  Jase had to hold back a smile. Katarina had quickly put Draven in his place. The other cougar shifter took it in stride.

  Draven shook his head and chuckled. “It would seem I’ve been told. And it would stand to reason you’d pick Jase over me since you went out with him, after all.”

  Their food showed up at that point and everyone focused on that for a short while. Draven started the conversation rolling again, talking about some of the computer projects he was working on. Luckily, he didn’t say anything more that would put Jase in an awkward situation with Katarina.

  Jase was surprised to learn Draven actually ran his own business of repairing computers and building new ones out of his house. He’d thought the other man mostly worked on programs that could be questionable at best.

  Once they finished eating, Draven reached into his pocket then threw some money onto the table. “Thanks for letting me eat with you. I’ll leave the two of you alone.” He stood before he continued. “Jase, I hope to hear from you soon about the Caleb situation. And tell your brother Grady that I’m free whenever he is to go to the bar. I have a feeling you won’t be joining us any time soon.”

  With that, Draven gave Katarina a smile and walked away. Jase watched him go through the restaurant’s door then faced the other way to find Katarina staring at him.

  “Thanks for putting up with Draven,” Jase said. “I really don’t know him all that well. We just met yesterday.”

  “I find that hard to believe. Didn’t Draven say the men in the circle you’re both a part of wear those cougar head pendants? That gave me the impression you knew him quite well.”

  “I knew of him, but hadn’t had any interaction with him until now.”

  “Oh.”

  “So what’s next on the agenda?”

  “I’m not so sure if I want to suggest it.”

  Jase cursed to himself. Obviously, Draven had done some damage. “Why? Is it because of something Draven said?”

  Katarina met his gaze. “Partially.”

  “Was it his comment about me going to bars to check out women? If that’s what’s bugging you, I wouldn’t do that as long as you and I continue to see each other. You have my word on it.”

  She swirled the last of her beer in her glass. “Okay, I guess I believe that. The entire time we’ve been out you haven’t had a wandering eye.”

  Jase reached across the table and captured Katarina’s free hand in his, then smiled. “I don’t need to look at other women when I have one I’m very attracted to right here with me. How about you get all your concerns out on the table and I’ll do my best to lay them to rest.”

  Katarina smiled back. “I think you’re a bit of a sweet talker. All right. I’ll be blunt with you. I don’t have a good track record with men. I usually attract the bad boys and losers. They take advantage of me, get whatever they can, then dump me for someone else. To be honest, I’ve pretty much given up looking for someone I want to settle down with.”

  Now Jase understood why Katarina hadn’t wanted to go out with him at first. She sounded an awful lot like him, but in his case it was females of his kind who had lost their appeal. The last one he’d dated for a month had only been with him because she was going through all the single males she knew to find her mate. She really hadn’t had any true feelings for him. All she’d cared about was whether or not the magic had been set off in his pendant.

  “I can understand where you’re coming from,” he said. “I’ve had my fair share of women who have used me, then turned to another when I didn’t turn out to be what they’d hoped. So are you willing to give me a chance?”

  She looked to think over what he’d said, then nodded. “Okay. Why don’t you come to my apartment for a drink?” Katarina smiled. “Plus, that way you can reimburse me for the repairs done to Caleb’s door.”

  “I’d love to have a drink with you, and I’ll gladly pay up.”

  Jase took care of the rest of the bill, then walked outside to the parking lot with Katarina. He followed her to her apartment building. Same as the last time he was there, he found the neighborhood not so nice. He would have loved to tell Katarina to move, but at this stage in their relationship it wasn’t his place.

  This time he parked in the visitors parking instead of on the street. Jase doubted Caleb was back. It was too soon. He met Katarina at her car as she got out, then they both walked to the building’s entrance.

  Inside her apartment, Katarina motioned for Jase to go into her living room. “Take a seat and I’ll bring us each a beer.”

  He did as instructed. As he sat on the couch, Jase noticed the bill for the door’s repairs sitting on the coffee table. He took some money out of his pocket to cover it, then placed it on the piece of paper.

  Katarina returned and handed Jase a bottle of beer before she sat next to him. “You didn’t have to give the money now.”

  “I don’t mind. That way I won’t forget.” He took a sip of his beer. “Since you didn’t say anything, I take it Caleb hasn’t come back.”

  “No, he hasn’t. You never said exactly how he tried to kill your uncle.”

  “He poisoned him. My uncle had been sick for over half a year before we found out it wasn’t an illness causing it. His sons confronted Caleb about it, but he managed to run by using my cousin’s wife as a shield. I’ve been trying to locate him ever since.”

  “I still think you should be leaving that to the police. It’s their job, after all.”

  Jase needed something to distract Katarina from the topic of having the police involved in Caleb’s capture. He leaned toward her and took her lips in a kiss. Remembering how good the other one they’d shared at the zoo had been, he slanted his mouth more firmly over hers and pushed his tongue inside. Hers twined with his, stroking and tasting. A surge of intense desire shot through him. His cock grew hard. Purrs rose out of him he couldn’t hold back. As if someone had set a match to gasoline, he burned for her.

  Katarina hungrily kissed Jase back. All it took to bring her to almost full arousal was his lips against hers. She wanted him. Her pussy grew wet as desire flooded her. A year was a very long time to go without sex, and her body craved it, especially now that he held her in his arms. The hours she’d spent with him, she’d caught herself more than once imagining what he’d look like naked. How his skin would feel under her hands, and all those hard muscles under her lips.

  Jase purred as he’d done back at the zoo. That just ramped Katarina’s desire up even more. With her eyes closed to better experience the sensations shooting through her body, she blindly reached out with her beer bottle to put it on the coffee table. He took it from her. Without letting her go, he accomplished what she’d tried to do. His soon followed.

  Now that she had both hands free, Katarina reached up and wrapped her arms around Jase’s neck. He held her along her waist, then lifted her and settled her on his lap facing him. The meeting of her pussy and his cock through their clothes had both of them moaning. She sucked on his tongue as she buried her fingers into his hair to hold him exactly where she wanted him.

  Jase ran his hands up and down her back before he shoved one under her shirt and deftly undid the hooks on her bra. He reached around to her front and pushed the garment out of the way. He cupped one breast and brushed a
thumb back and forth across her taut nipple. Katarina pushed closer, needing more of his touch. No longer able to remain still, she rocked against his erection.

  Jase broke contact with her mouth and held her gaze as he slowly lifted her shirt, giving her the chance to stop him. She didn’t. She wouldn’t. He’d more than passed her tests. It was time she took another chance on a man. And right now he was the one she wanted to do that with.

  Katarina took hold of her shirt and finished pulling it over her head, taking her bra with it. After tossing them to the floor, she reached for Jase’s shirt and stripped him of it.

  She ran her gaze along his broad, muscular shoulders, then his defined chest and abs. From what she’d bared of his body so far, she definitely liked what she saw. Katarina trailed a finger from the hollow of Jase’s throat, down the center of his pecs to his pendant. She brushed a finger against the cougar head. It felt warm to the touch from the heat of his body, though it seemed a little warmer.

  With her bottom lip caught between her teeth, Katarina continued her downward journey. Jase’s abs tightened, showing off more of his six-pack once she reached it. At the waistband of his jeans, she ran her finger under it before she traced the outline of his hard cock. It jerked beneath her touch.

  Jase grabbed her finger and brought it to his mouth. He kissed the very tip before he released it and leaned forward. He ran his cheek over her nipple as he purred like a big cat. He did it twice more before he circled it with his tongue. Katarina held on to his shoulders and arched her back in invitation.

  “You smell so damn good,” Jase said in a husky voice. “I’m going to make love to you.” He looked up and met her gaze. “Unless you want to stop.”

  “Hell no.”

  Katarina ground her pussy against the very large bulge in Jase’s jeans. She sucked in a sharp breath as he leaned forward again and this time took her nipple into his mouth. She couldn’t hold back the loud moan of pleasure that pushed out of her. Wetness leaked into her panties and her heart beat faster in anticipation of what was to come.