When he let go, and his voice softened, she tried to breathe through the raging pissed off that was pounding in her chest. She had to calm down or leave, because shifting here and attacking his ass was not smart. “Just so that you know, it never occurred to me to leave you fucked over. You don’t know me. I get it. But that isn’t me.” She pulled another beer from the bucket and wished to hell it was something stronger as she made herself sit back down. “It’s some scary shit for me too. I don’t want you or anyone else at my mercy. I also don’t want any male thinking that they own my ass. So you’re not the only one scared shitless. Okay? We screwed. It happened. I’m not sorry, but I didn’t expect this either.”
Jared drank his beer and looked at her. “Okay, my bad.” He couldn’t think of anything else to say that wasn’t ignorant.
Pulling the hair back from her face, she looked down at the table and cursed the gods for this shit storm. “No, I get it. If you’ve been through this before and more than once, some nasty shit must have happened. Try not to judge me by them, and I’ll try not to hold every shitty thing that a male has done to me, against you. Deal?” Dropping her hair, she popped the top of the bottle in her hand and drank. “We have to decide what to do about it, and I don’t want your balls removed.” She smirked and glanced up at him through her hair. “I like them attached.”
Jared nodded. “Deal, but it’s your call and if we’re going to be...” He shuddered and almost choked on the word. “Mated, we need to finish it. Soon. Clock’s ticking.”
She nodded her agreement. “I’m not going to leave you hanging, Jared. And I don’t have any delusions of love and romantic bullshit. No pressure.” She sipped her beer and took a deep breath, mourning the loss of her last shred of hope at a little happiness. “I’m in.”
He laughed. “Well so am I.” He shook his head and drank his beer.
Hearing his laugh, she smiled and dropped her head to her arm on the table. Okay so he was taking this better now, but she was still in holy shit land. Lifting her head just enough to see his face, she shook her head. “So when do you want to do this?” Because scheduling sex was hot. Not.
“Here and now. On the table.” He grinned and teased her.
Serra laughed for real, for the first time since her eyes had changed. “Well, if you don’t think the owners will mind...” She shook her head and was amazed that he was able to find humor in their situation. Thank the gods for that. “If you don’t think it breaks any rules...”
Jared roared with laughter.
She watched him and wondered if he’d snapped, but the more she thought about it, the funnier it was. Imagining the shifters pulling them off the table and the humans gasping in shock. Yeah, they would become one of those stories. Laughing hard, she wiped at the tears that were trying to fuck up her eyeliner. “Might be worth it.” She shook her head. “But seriously, we don’t have a lot of time.” Shit, that was a sobering thought.
“Maybe and yes, the time is flying by on this.” Jared nodded, sobering and draining his beer.
“It is. We should probably err on the side of making sure we’re safe, rather than putting it off too long.” Why was it that when it was her idea, she couldn’t wait to jump on that ride, but now that they HAD to, she was nervous as shit?
Jared got another beer. “When and where?” He smirked.
“Hey, I was down with the here and now idea.” She snickered and turned her beer in a tight circle with the tips of her fingers. “My place is available whenever you are.” Closing her eyes, she shook her head. All of this was too fucking weird.
“What no dinner?” He laughed.
Smiling, she shook her head and sipped her beer. “Yeah I could feed you first if you’re going to be like that. You just eat salad, and I’ll kick your ass, though.”
“But my thighs, Honey!” He died laughing.
She threw a bottle cap at him, bouncing it off his chest. “You keep this up, and I’m going to like you or something.” Shaking her head, she slid her palm against his.
Jared purred and laughed.
Arching a brow at the purr, Serra smiled and felt some of the tension drain away. Now that she was calm, and laughing she was remembering exactly how damn badly she’d wanted him, how good it was and her body was reacting to the mere feel of his palm against hers. Yeah, she could do this.
Jared took her hand and kissed her palm.
She purred at the soft whisper of his lips on her skin and tried to remember why crawling over the table between them was a bad idea. There was a reason, but she sure as hell couldn’t think of what it was. Still, she scooted to the edge of the bench seat, stepped around the table and slid onto his lap. “Can we get your salad to go?” She smiled and pulled his lips down to hers, slowly sliding her tongue against his and shuddering as every muscle remembered how good it felt to have him inside her.
He purred and kissed her, sucking her tongue. His hands ran over her legs.
Moaning against his lips, she ran her hand over his chest, the other pulling him closer. “Too many clothes,” she whispered, her breath coming in soft pants. His hands were setting her skin on fire, and that ache for him was back and drenching her panties. If this went on much longer, she was going to have him right here, to hell with who was watching.
“Really?” Jared kissed her neck and nipped it, rubbing her thigh slowly.
Nodding, she growled. Jared was a damned tease, and it was killing her. Lifting his hand in hers, she closed her lips over his index finger, swirling her tongue around it lazily, smiling as she pulled it out slowly. “Really.” She nipped at his jaw. “Naked. Now. Please.”
Jared shook his head no and continued to mess with her, enjoying himself.
Glaring at him, she growled louder and bit his shoulder hard. “You’re a tease. Are you trying to make me beg for it, panther?” She purred against his ear, pinching his earlobe between her teeth a little harder than was nice before running her tongue over the grooves left by her bite.
“Yes.” He purred softly in her ear.
“Really?” She snickered and ground her ass against the hardness behind his zipper, her hand sliding under his shirt to skim over his skin. “All you had to do was say so. Please, Baby please, get naked. Now would be good.” She nipped at his lower lip.
Jared nodded, giving in, not because she begged, but because not having her was beginning to hurt physically. “Okay.” He kissed her.
“Yesssssss.” She purred against his lips, pulling him out of the booth. “We can go now, and you can raid the fridge after.” She winked over her shoulder. “If you can stand.”
“Deal!” He followed her out.
“Finally!” She laughed and picked up the pace to a jog into the shadows to ghost home.
Ghosting back to her house, Serra felt the nervousness creeping back. Holy shit, she was really going to do this. She’d never met a male that made her body react the way it did to his, and his scent alone brought her to her knees. It may not be playing out like her young, stupid and romantic self, had imagined, but she knew for a fact that the sex would always rock and that he made her laugh. That was enough because there was no way she’d let the gods fuck him again. Chewing the inside of her lip she waited.
Jared looked at her, sensing her panic, he stroked her face. She was going to back out of this, and he was going to be screwed. He knew it. “You okay?”
Nodding she leaned her face into his touch, surprised at the concern in his voice “I’m good now that you’re here.” Smiling, she pulled his lips down to hers, tracing his bottom lip with the tip of her tongue before dipping inside to slide over his. “But thanks for asking.” Smiling, she purred against his lips as her nerve endings lit up like a Christmas tree and she melted against him. “How far do you want to take this Jared? I mean, you have Cubs to think about. I don’t want to bond if it’s not what you want.”
He kissed her softly, touched and shocked that in a situation where she had all of the power, she was leaving
it up to him. Neither of his previous mates had bothered to ask. Yet a Mangus, of all fucking people, did. Maybe she wasn’t the spoiled brat that he’d thought she was. Serra was getting under his skin whether he liked it or not, and he didn’t believe that she was even trying. “I’m making this my last and only mating. I’m all in.” He ran his hands over her body purring. “I’m not worried about it.”
Smiling with a nod, she stepped back and started for the bedroom, tugging his hand for him to follow. “Good, because Pops won’t take this well. Nothing personal, just how he is. He won’t kill you. Not if it kills me too.” She laughed and glanced back over her shoulder. She was joking. Mostly.
Jared followed her not worrying about Damion. He’d have to understand or stay angry forever. Once in the bedroom, he closed the door for her. “Well, all this is up to you.”
Running her hands over his chest, she smiled up at him and ghosted away their clothes. Seeing him bare again did not live up to the memory. It was better. Purring, she took a moment to appreciate the male standing before her and the way just being near him made her body buzz with anticipation. Stretching up to nip at his lips, she pressed her nakedness against him and walked him backward to the bed. Pushing him back, she smiled as he fell onto the comforter. “Last chance to change your mind, Panther.” She arched a brow as she crawled over him, licking and scraping her teeth over his skin.
He purred loudly as her mouth and teeth tasted and marked his body. “Do it,” he growled out, the lust that punched through him was almost too much. His length was rock hard and throbbing. Closing his eyes for a moment, Jared tried to collect himself.
Lifting her head to see his face, his scent hit her like a freight train, and her body shuddered. Biting her lip and nuzzling his ear as she slid her body back, his hard cock butted against her and pulled a growl over her tongue. Gods, she had never wanted someone as much as she needed to have him now.
Sliding back slowly, Serra watched his face as he filled her core and a moan rolled up her throat. Placing her palms against his, she threaded her fingers between his and whispered the words that claimed him as her mate, “I give to you all that I was, all that I am and all that I will be.” Her throat was tight, and her chest ached as she made the vow, wishing that it meant everything that it was supposed to, but he’d made his feelings crystal clear.
He growled when she began to move on him and looked into her eyes, repeating the words back to her. Kissing her and pulling her down to him, he smiled as she tilted her head and offered him her throat without hesitation. He bit into her neck.
Growling as her teeth lengthened, Serra hissed at his bite and returned it. Sinking her fangs into his neck and all but came undone as the coppery sweetness of him slid down the back of her throat at the same time his hips arched and pushed deeper inside her.
As they mated, blending their life forces to into one that was stronger, but it also tied them together in death. If one died, they both died. Jared held her, not wanting this moment to end. Something about her felt so right and unique that his heart finally felt whole. He could feel her pounding heart slow, to sync with his and as the blood flowed over his tongue, he felt her intentions. She didn’t want to hurt, control or use him. She didn’t want anything but to be given a chance at a life. With him. He almost choked as his throat tightened. This hadn’t happened before. He’d found his true mate. He felt it and knew that it was soul deep. Holding her against him, he said a silent prayer of thanks to the gods for her.
Licking at the wound that tied them together, she let what they had done wash over her as their bodies moved together as though they had always been like this. Something powerful and soul altering had happened, and she was rocked by how deeply she felt it. His arms, wrapped tightly around her gave her no doubt that he felt it too. Nipping at his throat she purred against his skin.
As their souls bonded, he held her tight and purred back as she nipped him. Kissing her hard and knowing that he didn’t have to fear hurting her, he fisted her hair, growling as they kissed with passion and lust.
Serra loved the way he didn’t treat her like she was going to break, she kissed him back, matching the heat and need that his tongue took from flame to raging fire. Slamming herself over him, she picked up the pace and behaved like the animal that she was. Every hard thrust made her shudder and moaned his name.
Jared wanted to flip her but decided to wait when she cried his name and instead let his mouth wander over her body. Purring loudly, he wanted her to release. He whispered in her ear all the things he wanted to do to her.
She was spiraling as wave after wave of body shattering pleasure rolled through her. His mouth on her skin and the vibration of his purr made her core tighten around him and the air to freeze in her lungs. But it was his words, and the images he built that sent her crashing over his body one last time, coming hard and sinking her claws into the comforter, shredding it and gasping his name.
Jared smirked and then joined her. Growling loudly, he bit her shoulder.
Serra smiled through a moan when she felt his teeth in her skin and licked at his bitten shoulder again. She couldn’t remember ever feeling this alive and grounded. It felt amazing and right. Pulling her nails out of the ruined comforter she stroked his skin. “You okay with this, Baby?”
“Yes.” He said with a kiss. “Are you?” Purring, he was still hard and his body was sweating like mad.
Serra licked the sweat from his upper lip as it beaded and dripped, purring. “I am.” Pulling back to smile down at him, she stroked his face with her fingers and her eyes. She was floored by how right this felt. “Perfect is the word that comes to mind.”
Jared nuzzled her hand. “Yes. You are.”
Smiling, Serra kissed him softly. “Look at the bad ass panther being all sweet and shit,” she teased.
“I know. What’s wrong with you?”
She laughed and bit his shoulder. “Smart ass, you know I meant you.”
Jared laughed and smirked at her. “Sure you did.”
She nuzzled his ear, purring. “I’m only sweet to you, Jared. Still a raving bitch to almost everyone else.”
He laughed. “That makes two of us.”
Serra grinned down at him. “Does that mean you’re not gonna get all growly with me anymore, Panther? I might miss that.”
“Of course I am. I’m always an asshole!”
Serra shook her head and smiled. “I doubt that. But the growling is sexy as hell.” She laughed and dropped her head to his shoulder at the look he gave her.
Jared rubbed her back and laughed.
Tucking her head under his chin, she trailed her fingers over his chest in small circles. “So what now?” She cursed herself for pulling reality into the room with them. “Not that I’m not happy to stay here like this.”
“Honestly I don’t know. I guess that’s up to you.”
Pressing her lips to his chest, she couldn’t help being a little confused by that. “How’s that?
“I thought you were the brains here.” He chuckled.
She laughed hard. “If you expect me to think after that, we are screwed.” She nipped his chin with a teasing grin.
“Well, I guess we’re both hosed.” He purred.
“Looks like.” She nodded her agreement, propping her head up on her hand, her eyes caressing his face. Gods, she could look at him forever. “As long as I get to do whatever it is, with you. I’m a happy panther.” Yeah, that sounded corny as shit, and she was good with it.
“Ditto.” Pushing her hair back from her face, he sighed, but it came out as a yawn.
Closing her eyes, she leaned into his hand brushing back her hair. “Can you stay or do you need to get back to the Cubs?” She glanced at the ripped to shreds comforter and laughed. “I have other blankets.”
“Stay.” He mumbled and drifted off.
Serra smiled as he turned panther, his cock still hard inside her. That was another first for her. Untangling her body from his, she p
ulled free and smiled when the panther rolled to his side. His paw reached out, splaying its toes and claws extending as he reached for her. Purring, Serra padded to the closet, pulled down another blanket and curled up beside him. Stroking his face after she spread the blanket over them, she tucked her head under his chin and shifted as she fell asleep with her mate.
CHAPTER 8
Damion had been patient and more than a couple of days, as his daughter put it, had passed and still he’d heard nothing from her. The words the panther had said still played on a loop in his head. To have insinuated that his Munchkin was nothing more than a common whore? Damion growled, his hands balled into fists and the muscles in his jaw ticked. That had been the straw that broke the camel’s back, and he’d snapped like a cheap plastic toy. He knew it was a mistake, but he couldn’t control his rage at the panther’s audacity and knowing that he was to be her mate and thought so lowly of her? Control and his temper hadn’t been in the same zip code when he’d fire blasted the son of a bitch. Damion didn’t regret doing it, but he did regret the look on his daughter’s face just before he’d ghosted out. She was pissed, and his little girl was a pro when it came to holding a grudge.
He ghosted to the front porch of the house she’d bought in New Orleans, looking around at the street lined with Louisiana cypress trees casting shadows and providing welcome shade to the kids playing under them. It was pretty here, he’d give her that, but she belonged back home with her family, not traipsing around the world with disrespectful Panthers doing god knows what. Another growl rolled through his lips. Why the fuck had he listened to Brian about getting that son of a bitch out of prison? If he’d just kept his damned muzzle out of it, Jared would still be rotting in a cell and not have his paws all over Damion’s cub!
Swallowing the raging pissed off that was about to erupt again, he knocked on the door and waited. His molars ground to dust as he was left to wait, ignored by his child. Arching a brow, he pulled his phone from the leather jacket’s interior pocket and brought up the contacts, scrolling down to Serra’s name and typed using his magic to hit the keys on the virtual touch keyboard. [I’m at your front door. Come down and let me in, NOW.] He hit the send button and rolled his head on his shoulders to release some of the tension. It didn’t work.
The Mating (Black on Black, #1) Page 14
