Colton's Kitty

by Lynn Howard

  “Colton. Chill out, brother,” Carter said, laying a hand on her mate’s shoulder.

  Colton’s hand was tight on her thigh. She did the only thing she could think of; she unbuckled and scooted across the bench seat until she was wedged up against him, then pulled the lap belt on and tightened it. His hand released her thigh as she moved and wrapped around her shoulders and hugged her tight.

  “I’m not going anywhere,” she whispered, tilting her head back to look into his glowing amber eyes.

  With a quick glance down at her, he nodded his head and she felt his body relax around her. The scent of fur still filled the cab of the truck, but it wasn’t as pungent as before. Her touch had calmed her mate. She understood. Just being near Colton made everything feel better for her.

  The Big River guys honked as they turned down their road and Colton kept driving. It was only another six minutes to their cabins from Big River territory. She loved that they were so close. She loved that they were able to just run down the highway to spend the day with their friends.

  Carter and Luke climbed from the backseat and lingered around the truck as Colton helped Shawnee down from the front seat.

  “I’m fine. You can go,” Colton said. But his voice was too growly and his eyes were still glowing.

  “Do you need to Shift? We can run with you,” Carter offered.

  Colton shook his head and led Shawnee into the house with his hand wrapped around hers. “I want to be alone with my mate.”

  Carter locked eyes with Shawnee, but she had no idea what he was trying to tell her. With a dip of his head, he turned and walked toward his own cabin, telling Luke to leave them alone.

  Why did Luke look worried? Why did Carter look worried? Of all the people in the world, Colton was the one who made her feel safest.

  Maybe they weren’t worried for her but worried about her. She still couldn’t believe her family showed up to Moe’s. And they actually tried to make her return to Horine. For what? They sure as hell didn’t seem to want her there when she was a part of the Pride. Her mother was probably just mad she no longer had any control over her grown daughter.

  Not just grown. Shawnee was a mated woman now. Her mother had never bothered her when she’d been mated to Rhett or Kyle. Then again, when she’d been mated to those two Alpha lions, she’d been a good girl, played the part she was trained to play. She dressed perfectly, acted the way she’d been taught, kept her mouth shut and did as she was told.

  Now? Now she was a completely different woman. When she looked back on that life, back when she’d been sold to two men as if she were freaking livestock, it felt as if she was watching a different person in her place. There was still anxiety at times, still a remnant of fear that she’d do or say the wrong thing. But if she’d learned anything from Colton and the rest of Blackwater, she had an army of Shifters behind her to defend her against anything or anyone who thought she was still worthless.

  “I have some cool news,” she said, trying to break the funk he’d sunk into at her family’s appearance.

  “Yeah?” he replied, his hand still clinging to hers as he unlocked the door and pulled her in behind him.

  “I think my lion is waking up.”

  “Waking up?” he asked, glancing down at her with a slight frown.

  “Yeah. She’s been talking more. I mean, not much but at least she’s still in there. And…I growled. Well, she growled, but it came out of my mouth. Maybe she’ll actually come out soon. You said you wanted to Shift with me, right?”

  “I did,” he said, his voice still growly, his eyes still glowing.

  Shawnee opened her mouth to say something else, but when his mouth crashed down on hers, all thought fled her mind.

  When a slow growl trickled up her throat, she realized…tonight was the night Colton would mark her. And she couldn’t wait to feel his teeth in her flesh.

  Chapter Ten

  Colton felt like he was spiraling and only one thing could stop him from losing his ever-loving shit. He needed to be with his mate. He needed to feel her and touch her. And mark her.

  I’m not going anywhere. That was what she’d said. He’d never force her to stay, but he sure as fuck wouldn’t let anyone drag her away from him, either. He’d kill any mother fucker who tried.

  Shawnee was telling him about her lioness, telling him how her animal was waking up and speaking to her. And all he could think about was her lips.

  Pulling her against his body, he crashed his mouth down on hers, silencing whatever else she was about to say. She gasped in surprise. He took advantage of her parted lips and swept his tongue into her mouth, teasing and stroking her own. He felt insane. He felt desperate.

  He felt terrified.

  He was terrified of losing her, but he was more terrified of her family Pride finding her when she was alone, getting to her when Colton couldn’t protect her. Noah would never stand aside while someone tried to do anything to Colton’s mate, but it was just him at the bar. It was doubtful many of the other Shifters would risk putting their own Packs, Prides, or Clans in the line of fire by going to war with Horine on Colton’s behalf.

  Shawnee kissed him back with the same ferocity he was going for her. Her hands smoothed up his chest and wrapped around his neck, her breasts were smashed against his hard chest. Maybe he should’ve Shifted before making love to his mate. It would’ve released a lot of the pent-up anxiety burning through his veins. But, honestly, he was worried his bear would go after anyone it felt was a threat to their mate.

  His mate was damn near climbing his big body. He reached down and grabbed two handfuls of her ass, dragging her up until she wrapped her legs around his waist. Whether she felt the same desperation he did or she was just turned on, it didn’t matter. Either way, his mate wanted him as badly as he did.

  Colton carried Shawnee to the couch. That was the furthest he could go. He needed her naked. He didn’t worry about his Clan brothers hearing them; their homes were well enough insulated and far enough apart they had a lot more privacy than the wolves. And he didn’t worry about his brothers seeing him making love to his mate on their couch. They’d seen the emotions burning bright in his eyes, had smelled the fur. They’d stay far away from his house unless they were needed.

  Sitting down with Shawnee still wrapped around him and straddling his lap, he pulled his lips from her just long enough to peel her tank top off. She threw her head back when he yanked one of her bra cups down and took a nipple into his mouth, licking and sucking it to a hard peak. There was no way he could ever get enough of Shawnee. Every inch of her body was soft and supple and so damn tempting.

  Shawnee’s fingers tangled in Colton’s hair, the grip tight enough to pull a growl from his mouth. Not his bear. No. That growl was all Colton and full of fucking desire. He could smell her arousal, feel it in the thundering of her heart as he buried his face in the valley of her full tits.

  “Colton,” she whispered. So much need in the one word.

  Rolling her onto her back, he licked, nipped, and kissed a path down her body as he removed the rest of her clothes, his hands shaking as he struggled with the button and zipper of her shorts, hooking her panties beneath and dragging them both over her hips and down her legs. He tossed them over his shoulder and dove face first into her sex, trailing his tongue through her folds.

  Her fingers tightened in his hair again and she writhed against him, her breathing coming in pants as she moaned out his name again. Within minutes, her hips raised and she cried out as her first release rushed through her. And it would be only the first. Because he planned on hearing that sound more than once tonight.

  Dragging a hand across his mouth, he kissed a path up her thighs, undid his pants, and shoved his jeans down to his knees. With one push, he buried himself deep inside her and paused when she gasped and her eyes went wide. She was still sensitive from her orgasm and he didn’t want to hurt her.

  Shawnee opened her eyes; the amber glow there no doubt matched hi
s own. Her lips were pink and kiss swollen, the skin around her mouth red from his whiskers. Raising her arms, she beckoned him down. He lowered and pulled from her, pushing in slowly as he took her mouth in a bruising kiss. She gave as well as she took, raising her hips to meet his thrusts.

  Colton pulled from her lips and buried his face in her hair, nipping at her neck, breathing her in as her walls tightened around him, signaling she was close again. He might not have been able to hold out if her sex squeezed him any tighter.

  He wanted to mark her. He needed to mark her. He needed to fully make her his. He needed to feel her teeth in his skin as she left her own claiming mark. He knew lionesses in Prides didn’t mark their mates, but she was mated to a bear. He’d claim her in the way of her people, and he’d beg her to mark him like a bear if he had to.

  Pulling from Shawnee, he swore she sighed with relief when he turned her onto her stomach and buried himself balls deep from behind. As his balls tightened and his own release was near, he pushed her hair from her neck, Shifted his teeth into fangs, and gently slid them into her neck, scarring her for life.

  Shawnee’s walls shuddered and pulsed around him as she screamed out. That was all he had left of his control. Colton jerked back and trapped his cock between his stomach and her back and spilled on her soft skin.

  They were both slick with sweat. Shawnee’s trembling hand reached back; her fingertips gingerly touched the seeping wound on her neck. Even seeing only half her face with her head turned to the side on the couch, Colton could see the soft smile on his mate’s face.

  Pushing off the back of the couch, he tugged his jeans up and headed to the bathroom. He returned with a dampened towel and cleaned first the punctures on her neck, then the mess he’d left on the small of her back.

  “Finally,” she breathed out. When Colton was done cleaning her, she turned onto her side and revealed those glorious tits and his dick twitched at the sight. Nope. He’d never get his fill of either looking at her or touching her.

  “What?” he said, failing to hide the grin that stretched wide.

  “You finally marked me. I never thought I’d be happy about that.”

  He tried not to show the anger he’d felt at seeing the faint scars left behind by her two first mates. But his bite covered them and was the only one that mattered. He wanted to erase any and all memories of those two pricks from her memory.

  “Did I hurt you?” he asked, sitting on the floor beside her and resting his chin on the cushion.

  Shawnee thread her fingers through his hair as she shook her head. “Nah. It burned for a second but I’m pretty sure that’s what caused my orgasm.” A pink dusted her cheeks but faded as quickly as it’d come on. Good. He wanted her to feel like she could talk to him about anything and everything without judgment. Speaking of…

  “Your lioness is chatty?”

  “I wouldn’t say chatty. She recognized you as her mate. But, check this out – she decided the Big River Pack and all of you guys were her Pride. I don’t know if she doesn’t understand that we’re no longer in a Pride or if that was her way of claiming all of you, but whatever. And she seemed to bristle at my parents’ appearance.”

  “Did she try to force her way out?” he asked, turning his head to kiss her palm when she trailed her fingers down his cheek.

  “No. I think it’ll be a little harder to coax her out. I mean, she went through just as much as I did. I had to teach her to stay back when…” Her eyes dropped for a second. “It’ll just take her time just like for me.”

  “Oh, and you were right. You were a little bad ass earlier.”

  He’d wanted to tell her that earlier. He’d wanted to play with her in the truck when she’d gotten excited about actually standing up for herself. But his bear had been far too close to taking his body. He’d been scared to open his mouth.

  “I was, wasn’t I? To be honest, I was scared. But I didn’t want them to know that. Especially Brendan. He uses any weakness against you. I’m surprised he didn’t bring up Rhett or Kyle.”

  Colton raised his brows for a second then realized Kyle must’ve been the first bastard. “Why would he bring them up?”

  “Both failures. At least in their eyes. I had nothing to do with Kyle running off and trying to add to his harem. And Rhett….” Her eyes darted to the side. “I have to tell you something.”

  She was having a hard time making eye contact and that actually made him more nervous than it probably should. There was nothing she could say that would make him feel any differently about her.

  “I was there when Tammen and Deathport attacked Big River.”

  Or maybe there was. His heart stuttered and then raced. His mouth popped open and he stared in disbelief. He didn’t remember seeing or scenting her. He might not have known her then, but he’d remember someone like Shawnee.

  “You fought against Big River?” Shit. He could never let his friends know that. They were good people and forgave easily, but the lions and Deathport wolves attacked when Nova and Emory had been home alone with tiny Rieka being only a few days old.

  “No!” she blurted out, pushing to a sitting position with her hands held out to him. “I didn’t. I was supposed to, but I didn’t. I was…”

  “You were what, Shawnee?” he asked, struggling to keep his voice even and keep the growl out of his throat.

  “I cowered in the trees while he went to fight. I didn’t want to go. I didn’t even know anyone from Big River. Why the hell would I want to fight them? And it was all over yet another asshole thinking he had the right to a woman who didn’t want him.” Anger made her nostrils flare and a glow flash in her eyes. “I don’t want to hurt anyone. But…my family thinks I failed my mate by not protecting him. They said I should’ve died protecting him.”

  Her own family would sacrifice Shawnee. What the fuck kind of people thought like that? How could her own father justify something like that? No wonder Colton’s family Clan had despised lions when he was growing up.

  That wasn’t true. They hadn’t despised all lions. They’d despised male lions. They’d felt sorry for the lionesses who’d lived…well, like Shawnee and Callie had lived.

  Heart rate slowing, Colton straightened and took Shawnee’s face into his hands. “You did nothing wrong.”

  “Depends on who you ask, Colton. Think about it: I abandoned my mate to die in battle and I was at the battle against the people I now care about more than I’ve ever cared in my life.”

  “I can promise you no one on this side of the fence will think any differently of you. They won’t fault you for not wanting to fight a stupid war over shit that shouldn’t have been going on to begin with, and they won’t fault you for following Alpha’s orders.” He leaned forward and feathered a kiss across her lips. It wasn’t a kiss of heat or lust. It was a kiss of peace and comfort.

  “Who’s my Alpha now?” she asked after a few quiet minutes.

  “You don’t have one.”

  “But who’s your Alpha?” she asked.

  Colton shook his head. “I don’t have one, either, Shawnee. Bears don’t have Alphas. We govern ourselves.”

  “So…who am I supposed to take orders from?” she asked, her coppery brows pulled together as she chewed on the inside of her cheek.

  “No one, Shawnee,” he huffed out on a laugh. “When we fought with the wolves, we each made the choice. The Ravenwood panthers were there, too. They fought because they believe women are royalty. Women are held higher than any Alpha.”

  “I remember seeing them, but I don’t think I’ve ever met any of them.”

  “They used to come into Moe’s, but no one’s seen them lately. Carter had contact with their Alpha, Aron, but that’s been a few months ago.”

  “They’re your friends?”

  “Yep. I promise you’ll like them when you meet them. They won’t talk to you much because you’re mated, but that’s out of respect,” he explained as he remembered Nova’s irritation when she thought they were
, more or less, ignoring her.

  Shawnee stared at Colton for a few seconds, tilting her head as her eyes roamed his face as if she were memorizing every line and whisker. “I love you, Colton. I really do. I’m not going anywhere. I’m not a Horine lioness anymore. I’m a freaking Blackwater kitty now.”

  “Kitty?” he asked with a surprised chuckle.

  “Colton’s kitty,” she almost purred as she leaned forward to press her lips to his. “Now. It’s my turn to mark my mate.”

  ****

  Shawnee laid on her side, staring at the healing puncture marks on Colton’s chest right over his heart. He’d said bears mark each other where everyone could see, but she wasn’t a bear. He’d marked her the way her people did. Since lionesses didn’t mark their mates normally, she wanted to do her own thing, make up her own rule. For the rest of his life, every heartbeat would be a reminder of her mark.

  They’d made love again after she’d bitten him. The moment her teeth had sunk into his skin, his shaft had hardened immediately.

  Now, they laid on the soft rug situated in front of the couch. They still hadn’t made it to the bedroom. She was tired, but not as much as she probably should have been after working so many hours two days in a row. There was a new energy flowing through her veins and she had a feeling it was from several rushes of endorphins.

  It was more than that. She was lying with someone she truly loved, something she never thought would happen in her lifetime. She’d been content to just find someone who would be nice to her. And like Colton had said in the beginning, she’d wanted to at least be friends with her new mate. But he’d turned into more than just her mate. He’d become her best friend and her biggest cheerleader.

  “What are you smiling about?” he asked, his head on his bicep.

  “Just thinking about you,” she admitted.

  “What about me?” he asked, narrowing his eyes in a mock glare.