by Celia Kyle
Ares captured her lips in a passionate kiss, the connection tender and slowly building their arousal. He licked her lips, lapped at the seam of her mouth, and sought entrance. She granted it immediately, opening for him, and he delved into her mouth. Her flavors exploded across his tongue, a pale mirror of what her blood would taste like. Something he couldn’t wait to sample. His cock throbbed, his tiger anxious and more than ready to claim their mate in full. True, she’d already begun the transition from human to tiger, but the cat wanted the job done and permanent.
Forever.
And like every other kiss since she’d returned, they were interrupted. This time by a nudge from Hawke, his broad head pushing Ares’s leg. When he pulled out of the kiss to look down at the male, he watched Hawke rub his head on Zoe’s thigh… and entirely too close to the one part of her that belonged to him and him alone.
Ares opened his mouth and released a low hiss, following it up with a deep growl. Hawke immediately reacted, jumping back and glaring at Ares. Glaring, but not for long. The cat’s gaze soon dropped to the ground, his head lowered and back curled, exposing himself to harm as he gave his submission.
“It’d probably be easier if you just pissed on me,” Zoe drawled.
“We’re not dogs.”
She snorted.
It was wrong that he found that sexy.
Hell no, it wasn’t wrong. He hadn’t come while they were snuggled in bed. His dick still throbbed, and his tiger whined that they hadn’t claimed their mate when they had the chance. Even through the press conference and sitting across the table from those DoPE assholes, he could think of nothing but sinking into her over and over again.
They talked about land rights. He thought about landing in her pussy.
Fuck, he was thinking dirtier than normal. He just needed some privacy with Zoe, a little naked fun, and then he could think straight again.
The only thing standing in his way was… He looked around the house, counting its occupants. Okay, the only ten things standing in his way were his tigers.
“Hawke,” he tried to push the growl out of his throat. “Get everyone out in the next five minutes and all is forgiven.” The male stared at him from beneath his lowered lashes, golden eyes locked on his and filled with a plea. He sighed. “And I’ll let her pet you whenever she’s willing.” Hawke perked up, eyes wide, and Ares pointed at the tiger. “Not below the shoulders though. No belly rubs.”
The cat huffed and then gave a small shrug before heading to the living room with a series of huffs and growls.
“And why,” Zoe’s amused voice drew him back to her, “do you need everyone out of here? And what’s with bartering my petting skills?”
“I said you had to be willing,” he pointed out. He’d worded it carefully. “And we need privacy because I need you. I have spoken with the ridiculous reporters, I have resisted the urge to eat the males from DoPE, and I have set the guards in place to keep overzealous humans away from the den. The pride knows their rights and will protect themselves. I have done all I can for them, and now I want to finish what we started this morning.”
It seemed like forever since he’d tasted her sweet cream. The sun had already set, dipping behind the mountain, and dark descended once more.
“Really? And what are we finishing?”
He loved it when her eyes sparkled, when she was teasing and happy and not bogged down by stress or fear. That’s all he’d seen from her over the last twenty-four hours, and now he had the mate he remembered back. Worry still lingered around her eyes, and it sure as hell still filled him, but his cat needed her, needed to reconnect and tie them together more firmly. Her tigress characteristics weren’t enough. He wanted her on cat paws running through the forest at his side. Well, after the mess with the public was settled.
The public.
He tilted his head back and stared at the ceiling. “Hawke! Never mind. They can sleep here, and do me a favor and make sure Claire remains indoors.” Claire was impulsive and never thought of the dangers surrounding her. The moon was no longer full and now began to wane, but some of his tigers still had trouble with resisting the shift and needed the safety of the den. The feline gave him an annoyed huff but got to settling his pride once more. He lowered his head and stared at Zoe. “You’re just going to have to be quiet.”
“Quiet while…”
Ares lowered his mouth and pressed a soft kiss beneath her ear before scraping his fangs along her vulnerable flesh. “While I fuck you.” Kiss. “Claim you.” Scrape. “Mate you.”
Chapter Thirteen
Zoe swallowed hard, arousal and desire suddenly thrumming hotly through her veins. “Mate? Quiet?”
She squeaked like a mouse, even though she was transforming into a tiger.
“Mate. Quiet,” he murmured and stepped away from her. He gripped her hand gently and tugged her toward the large staircase.
She ignored the remaining cats, her attention solely on her mate—soon-to-be permanent mate. His movements were loose and sure, even though a thick string of tension stretched between them. One glance at his cock showed her he was hard, his arousal and desire for her obvious.
She licked her lips, remembering the taste of his skin—salty sweet with a hint of musk. She’d taken every advantage to kiss him, nibble him, and suck him.
Now she understood why he got off on her biting him.
Their pace up the stairs remained steady, no rush to the master bedroom that would end in a passionate, rough meeting.
At least, not yet.
Ares walked backward down the hall, his amber eyes meeting hers, and she met his tiger’s gaze through those human orbs. He licked his lips, mouth opening, and she didn’t miss the increased length of his canines. His inner cat had definitely come out to play.
They slowly moved over the plush carpet, its soft surface muffling their steps. A low, rumbling purr escaped his chest, the sound growing louder the longer they traveled.
“Why do I get the feeling I’m being stalked, even though I’m following you?” she said the words quietly, unwilling to shatter the sexual tension with heavy conversation.
“Because you are. I’m leading you into my trap.” He reached behind him and turned the door’s knob. A nudge had the panel swinging inward. “And when the time is right, I’ll pounce.”
The growing cat within her couldn’t wait to be pounced on. It wanted Ares inside her, covering her, consuming her. Now. Later. Forever.
Zoe’s body reacted to his nearness, his desire for her, and heated beneath his stare. Her nipples pebbled, forming hard points within her bra, while her pussy grew heavy and ached with the need for his touch. Her center slickened further, preparing her for his possession, and her clit pulsed with longing.
He nudged the door to the master bedroom open, drawing her into the masculine space. His spicy scent surrounded and covered her in a blanket of aromas that were purely him. Memories of the past—the time before everything went south—pushed forward.
Thoughts of him between her thighs, him in her pussy, in her mouth.
She licked her lips, the desire to sink to her knees nearly overwhelming. His eyes brightened, his focus shifting to her mouth, and he stopped in place. He reached for her with his free hand, his palm cupping her cheek and his thumb went to her lower lip. He rubbed it gently, the pad brushing her delicate skin with soft strokes.
“Is that where you want me first?” A rumble filled his voice, the cat pushing forward even more.
She swallowed hard, unable—unwilling—to tear her attention from him. Her head moved of its own volition, nodding and confirming her desires when her mouth refused to work.
A wicked grin graced his lips, the corners hitching up to form a smile that wavered between cocky and happy.
He slipped his thumb into her mouth. “Show me what you want to do to me.”
Zoe trembled, her body responding to his demand, and her new cat also responded to the domineering words. It ached to comply. I
t wouldn’t submit to anyone… except Ares.
She granted him entrance and circled the pad with her tongue before pulling him deeper. She suckled the digit, coating him in saliva and then made love to his thumb the way she’d like to suck his cock. Slowly, carefully, and with a seductive rhythm that would draw his orgasm forward until he rasped her name.
She knew he liked her to flick her tongue against the underside of the crown and enjoyed it when she explored the small slit in the head of his dick. Then there was the way she traced every ridged vein and moaned when he reached the back of her throat.
She knew it all.
Eyes locked on his, she did as he asked, tasting him exactly how she wished to explore his cock. She pretended she was on her knees, sinking into the plush carpet and cradling him in her palm. One hand would caress his balls, giving additional snippets of pleasure, while the other would wrap around his shaft. She stroked him in time with the movement of her mouth, extending his enjoyment.
Then she’d hum, let the vibrations travel through him and drive him mad with the added sensation. She wondered if she could purr, add even more trembles to his sensitized nerves and push him that much closer to orgasm.
Zoe carefully scraped her teeth over the skin, gently scratching him just how she knew he liked. It was one of the first things she learned about Ares—he sometimes liked a hint of pain with his pleasure, that razor edge between agony and bliss.
“Fuck, baby.” His voice was hoarse and rough and he pulled his thumb from her mouth. “Can’t wait.”
He yanked her close and then spun, encouraging her to shuffle backward to the bed. Now he truly did stalk her, urging her toward the mattress and not stopping until she fell against the soft surface.
“Need to taste you again.” There was no missing the growl.
“Want you in my mouth,” she countered. It’d been no more than a week since she’d had his length against her tongue, and she missed the heaviness, the sweet muskiness, between her lips.
Ares growled, low. “No. Want—”
Zoe moved fast, snatching his shirt in her fist and yanking him toward her with a strength she hadn’t had in the past. Accepting the power as something that came from the cat, she ignored it and focused on Ares. She gave him a quick, fierce kiss. “We can taste each other.”
The soft purr that escaped his chest told her he liked the idea.
Then it became a mixture of kisses and nibbles, of petting hands and rough tugs of cloth. They fought to disrobe each other, Zoe yanking his shirt over his head while Ares unbuttoned her shorts and pulled them past her hips. His fingers went to her panties and she reached for her own shirt. When he grasped her bra, she undid the snap of his jeans. He slipped the straps from her arms, and she shoved his pants down his thighs.
Hands scrambled, palms alternating between stroking skin and remaining on task as they battled to strip bare.
And the moment cloth no longer covered them, Ares repositioned them until she rested astride his face while hers came even with his hardness. He was there for the taking, her quarry finally within reach.
Ares flicked her exposed clit, the cool air bathing her heated flesh and forcing a shiver to race down her spine. Her pussy clenched with that first touch, and it spurred her to give him the same.
She darted her tongue out, lapping at the first droplet of pre-come that appeared, and she moaned as his familiar flavors slipped over her taste buds. When another white drop emerged, she repeated the action, savoring the liquid.
Each time she gave him that gentle, teasing caress, he did the same to her. Flick for flick, lick for lick until she thought she’d go crazy with her desire for more.
“Ares,” she whined and wiggled her ass.
He wrapped his lips around her clit and sucked, teasing the nub with a brush of his tongue, and then he released her just as quickly. “You want more, you have to give more, baby. Suck my cock, and I’ll make you scream.”
Even with her mouth close to his cock, at her mercy, he was still in control.
So when he demanded she take him deep, she did.
Zoe opened her mouth wide and lowered her head, taking his length deep inside. She slid her tongue along his shaft, tracing the veined ridges as she swallowed more and more of him. His dick was heavy, a well-known weight that comforted her emerging tigress. They’d caused him to grow hard. They gave him pleasure that had him moaning against her pussy.
His tongue circled her clit, alternating between maddening caresses and soft nibbles that drove her closer to ecstasy. Each glancing stroke and careful bite lured her higher and higher, until trembles racked her body, spine tingling with the pleasure that gathered where he tormented her intimate flesh.
He cupped her ass, hands kneading the rounded globes, and his fingers teased her crease. Digits taunted that forbidden area, stroking nerves that normally remained void of pleasure. It was a place they’d never explored, a part of her that was untouched by their shared passion.
She didn’t imagine it’d remain that way for long. Not with the way he teased the area, easing closer to her dark entrance. Each glancing stroke sent another tendril of pleasure through her veins, warming her from inside out. Her pussy clenched, silently begging to be filled with his thick cock. She sucked him harder with each soft stroke, attempting to give him as much as she derived from his attentions.
She licked and sucked, his cock regularly leaking and coating her tongue with his spicy flavors. The taste added to her bliss, pushing her as she balanced on the edge of utmost ecstasy. She wrapped her fingers around his length, her hand moving in tandem with her mouth. She attempted to drive him mad with pleasure, to torment him as much as he now tormented her.
Her pleasure swelled, body gathering every drop of joy that lingered in the air, and slowly the joy eased toward painful. She needed to come, right on the cusp of orgasm, and she trembled with the bone-deep need for release.
Zoe whimpered, softly whining for more, trying to convey her needs, and Ares seemed to read her mind. Because he gave her more. He sucked harder, nibbled with an edge of pain that burned her veins, and then one of those fingers teasing her forbidden entrance pressed against those unfamiliar nerves. He tap, tap, tapped and then she was flying through the air, her orgasm rushing forward and destroying the bubble of growing desire.
She screamed around him, body shaking with the strength of her release. Her toes curled, her muscles tensing, and her pussy tightened and squeezed. She wished his cock was buried deep within her, and she’d milk his length, draw his utmost joy from him as well.
For now, she rode that wave of bliss, reveling in the sensations and snatching at every droplet of ecstasy that he gifted her. Her orgasm went on and on, dragged forward by his continued teasing and tormenting.
Just when she thought the pleasure would ebb, giving her a chance to breathe, it grew again. It stretched for the sky, a massive tsunami of bliss that threatened to destroy her in its wake. She pulled from Ares’s cock with a sob, overwhelmed by his attentions, and that’s when he moved.
He flipped her to her back, and then he was settled between her thighs. His fully amber eyes collided with hers, the tiger showing itself.
His massive cock was poised at her entrance, the head taunting her center, and then he moved in one fluid thrust. He pushed into her, his hips not slowing until she took him all.
“Mine.”
Chapter Fourteen
Mine.
Zoe’s pussy enveloped him in her sweet heat, her wetness stroking his length and wrapping around him like a moist fist. Pleasure radiated down his spine, consuming him with a sudden rush of tingling ecstasy that had him stilling his hips. If he moved, he’d come, and he didn’t want to do that until her blood filled his mouth.
Filled his mouth because he sank his fangs into her flesh and claimed her as his own.
His. His. And his again.
“Say it,” he demanded. His gums burned with the need to bare his fangs. The tiger pushed and
shoved, wanting to transform his teeth so they would be prepared to claim her. He withdrew slightly, shuddering with the pleasure that action caused, and then shoved in once more. “Say it.”
She wrapped her legs around his waist and arched into him, rolling her hips. The move caressed his cock, her pussy fluttering against his shaft. “Yours.”
He retreated and then thrust, the power jarring her and causing her breasts to bounce. His gaze fell to the plump globes and his mouth watered with the need to taste those berry-hued nubbins. “Again.”
“Yours,” she gasped.
He repeated the motion. Out and then in, the power between the actions increasing with each move. “Again.”
“Yours.”
“Again.” Their hips slammed together.
“Yours.” She met his thrust.
“Again.” The bed shook.
“Yours.” Their skin slapped.
“Again.” The frame hit the wall.
“Yours.” Her wetness bathed his dick.
Then he no longer demanded the word. She gave it to him freely.
“Yours. Yours. Yours.”
Ares pounded into her pussy, and the wet squelch of their bodies meeting warred with the echoes of the furniture striking the wall. He increased his pace with every breath, dominating her with his passion.
Zoe rhythmically squeezed his dick, milking his length with every deep penetration, and he reveled in her tightness. He’d nearly forgotten the bliss that could be found in her arms, the overwhelming ecstasy that she could gift him without reservation.
She released his hips and planted her feet on the mattress. Then she met him thrust for thrust, increasing the strength of their meetings. Her pants and moans filled the air, joining his as they both fought for what they desired most.
Pleasure. Bliss. Ecstasy.
His balls tightened and hardened, drawing up against his body as the joy of their fucking nearly overcame him.
“So tight.” He rolled his hips, making sure he caressed her clit with each thrust. “So good.”
