Silence curled around her, a comfort as she watched the world waking up for another day, and the wind that had been playing in her fur dropped, allowing the warmth of the light to reach her and chase some of the cold away.
She savoured the quiet, knowing it would shatter at some point. She couldn’t stay here forever, avoiding her mother and everyone at the creek.
At least the chance of her mother finding her here was slim. She would have the place to herself for as long as she wanted it.
The path to the cave was narrow and treacherous in places, required confidence that her mother would lack, and courage too. There were leaps across fallen sections that needed precision or would end in a tumble down into the valley hundreds of feet below.
It was a path she knew well though, like the back of her paw. She licked that paw, washing away some of the snow that had gotten into her fur when she had been pacing the broad edge of the ledge in front of her. It was fresh, must have fallen last night when she had been tucked inside the cave, nursing her anger and licking her wounds. Emotional ones that hurt more than any physical one could have.
Lashing out at her mother hadn’t only hurt her. It had hurt Ember too. She didn’t like fighting with others, wanted everyone to get along. Maybe that was the crux of her problem. She wanted everyone to get along so much that she bent over backwards to accommodate them, did whatever they wanted regardless of how much it hurt her.
She was done with that now. She still wanted everyone to be happy, but it would no longer come at the expense of her happiness and well-being.
Ember rose onto her paws.
Froze when her senses sparked and ears twitched.
Something was coming.
They were stealthy, and powerful, moving swiftly towards her, their step sure on the narrow path.
She braced herself, hunkering down as her muscles coiled tight in preparation, ready for a fight in case it was a wild animal looking to hurt her, or one of the males come to catch her.
Or worse, her mother.
Shock danced through her, had her muscles loosening their grip on her bones, as a large cougar rounded the rocks that edged the cave, a paler shade of gold than any of the others at the creek.
Cobalt.
She would know him anywhere.
His eyes met hers, the corona of forest green that encircled his pupils bright against the gold as he stared her down, a genetic trait that marked him as one of his bloodline and one she loved about him.
She wished her eyes had a shimmer like that when they changed, rather than being regular gold. Her mother had told her once that her father had had a blue corona to his eyes, and that trait was one of the reasons she had been so attracted to him.
Cobalt’s eyes were only a small part of why Ember loved him.
He dropped a rolled up pack at her paws and shifted right in front of her.
Sweet gods, she had seen him nude before, but he was still impressive as he stood before her in all his glory, every inch of him on show. Her breath caught in her throat, stopping the purr that wanted to roll up it at the delicious sight of all that honed muscle and golden skin.
That ache she felt whenever she was near him started again, stronger this time, rocking her and awakening an itch to shift too. The strength of it overwhelmed her, had her panting with need as she gazed at him, recalling how he had looked as he had touched himself and how she wanted to do that too.
She wanted to brush her fingers over every tempting inch of him, over all that glorious hard muscle and soft skin.
He was slow to reach for the pack, and even slower to use the pale grey sweat shorts he pulled out of it to cover himself. Males of her species weren’t embarrassed about being naked after a shift, but the way he took his time called to her, revealed something about him that made it all the harder to resist her need to touch him.
He was enjoying the feel of her eyes on him.
“Everyone is looking for you,” he husked, voice a low rumble that heated her insides and sparked a need to hear him say wicked things in that tone that carried a hint of desire, of hunger that burned in her too. “Apparently you had one heck of a blowout fight with your mother.”
Ember flashed fangs at him, not wanting him to bring it up, and he arched a pale eyebrow at her.
She knew it wasn’t like her to threaten him, or anyone, but she was tired of everything. She was done with it all. And the fact he had come looking for her and knew what had happened only made her feel worse inside, tied her in knots that tugged too tightly, threatening to pull her apart.
She didn’t want everyone at the creek talking about her.
They could be vicious when they wanted, seized rumours like fiends possessed and loved a little gossip far too much. Her heart sank, awareness that by now, the entire creek would be telling tales to each other, amusing themselves with what had happened, weighing it down.
“I get that,” he whispered, as if he knew the direction of her thoughts.
If anyone could sympathise with her, could understand the fresh hurt blooming inside her at just the idea of everyone talking about her behind her back, it was Cobalt.
He crouched and pulled out a pair of black shorts and a pale grey tank. “I should have brought you something warmer. I forgot how cold it gets up this mountain.”
That touched her and soothed some of her hurt, easing her again as she realised he had known where to find her and had been kind enough to bring her something to wear, giving her a sign that he wasn’t going to make her leave right away.
That he was going to give her all the time she needed and was there to talk if she wanted.
She doubted anyone else at the creek would have brought her clothes, or would have been willing to risk the wrath of her mother in order to give her the space and quiet she needed to gather her thoughts.
Ember focused, and far below them in the distance, she heard the faint calls of the others as they searched for her. She should go down and let them know she was fine, but she didn’t want to go, really didn’t want to now that Cobalt was with her and they were finally alone.
He eased onto his backside and offered her the clothes. “I won’t look.”
She wouldn’t care if he did.
In fact, she was feeling a little bold as she looked at him, the fire he had stoked in her giving her the courage to do something a bit wild and reckless as it birthed a desire to have him look at her.
She wanted his eyes on her.
So she shifted before him, rising onto her legs as their bones lengthened and her spine altered, hips widening to support standing upright. Her golden fur swept away to reveal bare pink skin as her tail shrank and disappeared, and her paws morphed into hands, and her face changed, her ears dropping and rounded cheeks narrowing.
Every second of her shift, Cobalt’s eyes grew darker, the banked heat in them shimmering hotter.
It blazed hotter still as she completed her transformation and stood before him, utterly naked. She had never been nude in front of a male before, hadn’t expected to feel so vulnerable as she stood there, bared to him. That sense of vulnerability began to fade as he raked his eyes over her curves though, the flames he fanned in her rising to burn it away and replace it with confidence as his gaze darkened, hunger igniting in it.
His irises shimmered as golden as the morning light.
His pupils as wide and deep as a chasm.
The corona of green around them blazed brighter.
Her confidence only grew, becoming addictive as it swept through her, when she stooped and took the clothes from him, her fingers brushing his, and he hissed in a breath, his eyes leaping to hers, filled with need that made her bold.
She slowly inched into the shorts, teasing him and catching his focus as she wriggled her hips and slipped them up her thighs.
His throat worked on a hard swallow as the elastic reached the apex of her thighs and his eyes darted there. His lips parted as she stole her dark curls from view and pulled the shorts u
p over her bottom.
Denied the sight of her lower half, his eyes jumped up to her breasts. She felt wicked as she raised her arms and pulled on the tank, as she eased it down and tugged it over her breasts. The soft material hugged them, was so thin it didn’t hide her nipples as they peaked in the cold air.
Cobalt muttered something terse and dragged his eyes away from her.
She felt his pain as he shifted his legs, bending his knees and bracing his bare feet on the rock in front of him. He leaned forwards, a slight twist to his lips as he rested his elbows on his knees.
Gods, the thought that he was hard, that she had aroused him, filled her mind with the image of him on his deck and had her control slipping.
“You want to talk about it?” he muttered gruffly, a dark edge to his voice that sent a thrill through her.
He wanted her, but he was fighting it. Why?
She raked her gaze down the beautiful ink that followed his spine, the symbols etched in black standing out proudly against his skin.
The tribal designs of animals were more stunning than she had imagined and she didn’t care when his shoulders tensed and she felt he was aware of her staring. She had never gotten a good look at his tattoo, had never been close enough to him when they were on show to see every intricate line of the symbols that represented his bloodline.
The orca at the bottom was for his great-great-grandfather, and above it was an otter and then a bighorn sheep. Sitting above that was possibly a bobcat, and then there was a rabbit. That was for his mother. She remembered overhearing him mention it to someone when they had questioned him about it. Which meant the beautiful tribal cougar above it was for his father, and then there were three smaller cougars that formed an inverted triangle, all for his brothers.
And above that, was Cobalt’s symbol.
The eagle inked at the base of his neck held her captivated, her eyes tracing every delicate swirl that filled its form as it spread its wings between his shoulders.
Her eyes drifted up to the nape of his neck.
Hunger flooded her, a wild need that compelled her to sink her fangs into that spot.
To claim him.
“Ember,” he husked, voice strained and tight.
She dragged her eyes away and tamped down that urge. She was pushing him. He was close to his limit and couldn’t take much more of her eyes on him.
If she pushed him over that edge, there was no knowing what he would do. She had power over him, together with his instincts. There was a chance he might lose control around her, that the combination of his urges as her fated male and the mating heat he could feel in her would seize command of him. She had heard tales of males who had lost control in a mating heat and had severely wounded their female.
If that happened, Cobalt would hate himself.
So she sat beside him and pinned her gaze on the sunrise instead, giving him time to rein in his needs and regain control as she did the same.
“Do I want to talk about it?” she murmured, filling the tense silence and hoping that if she talked and gave Cobalt something to focus on, it would make things easier on him. It might make things easier on her too. “About what? The fact that my mother wants to control every aspect of my life and I’m done with it?”
He shrugged stiffly. “That about sums it up… but it’s not like you to run off.”
Ember wished that was true. “It’s just like me to run off. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve come to this spot when I was mad at my family.”
He glanced at her, just that brief feel of his eyes on her enough to have her need rising back up again to swamp her. “Well, it’s not like you to run off these days. You used to do it a lot when you were younger.”
Ember risked looking at him, let her eyes linger a little as they traced his noble profile and she took in the way the sunlight played on his skin, and his eyes. They were bright still, but they were back to closer to grey than gold, and the thread of green around his pupils had faded.
When his lips curled in an easy smile, her heart missed a beat.
A true smile.
She hadn’t seen one of those in a long time. Maybe she wasn’t the only one benefitting from being alone with him up on the mountain. Maybe he was gaining something from it too.
“If you’ve lost count of how many times you’ve come to this place, then I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been out as one of the search party looking for you.” He turned that dazzling smile on her, and gods, it hit her hard.
Right in the heart.
“Mother overreacts,” she muttered and then frowned at him. “And don’t speak like that… as if there’s centuries between us. You’re only thirty-five years older than me.”
His eyebrows shot up. Surprised she knew his age?
“Besides,” she said in a playful tone and couldn’t hold back her smile. “I remember quite a few times where I’ve been the one out hunting for you when you’ve gone and done something reckless… like the time you thought you could scale Mount Robson and got trapped in an avalanche.”
He scowled and huffed, “That was one time.”
The warmth in his voice as he said that made her smile stretch wider. She liked it when he sounded so relaxed, so at ease around her. She turned her cheek to him and heated inside as his eyes came to land on her, studied her intently as she took in the scenery.
As she looked down at the world.
It seemed so small and so far away, and she felt as if anything happening there couldn’t affect her while she was here, in her own little bubble.
With Cobalt.
“Sometimes,” he murmured softly, “I come here to think too. You did pick a beautiful spot.”
Ember liked the way he said that, as if it belonged to her. If it did, it was the first thing in her life that had. Was there a chance she could make Cobalt the second thing in this world that was hers and hers alone?
Her ears twitched and Cobalt’s focus shifted to the valley below. The calls were getting closer. His eyes landed back on her again.
“Let them sweat a little longer. I need this.” She didn’t take her eyes off the horizon.
“What is this?” His gaze lingered on her face, heating her by degrees as she felt his need to know the answer to that question.
“Peace… quiet.” Ember slid her gaze to meet his. “A world where my mother isn’t trying to palm me off onto a male I don’t want.”
He looked away, a flicker of a frown darkening his face. “Is that what you were fighting about?”
“In a way.” She drew her legs up, wrapped her arms around her knees and stared off into the distance as she shrugged. “I took a leaf out of my mother’s book and turned the male down.”
His eyes darted to her.
Ember glanced at him and savoured the shimmer of awareness in his gaze, one that was edged with a hint of satisfaction and relief that echoed in his emotions, and that heat she fought so hard to deny, a deadly mix of need roused by the season and desire for her fated male, began to build again.
“Your mother only wants what’s best for you, Ember.” He looked as if he wanted to glance away from her as he said that, but he remained staring at her, another emotion rising in his eyes.
Hope.
Ember took that tiny seed for him and nourished it, her senses telling her that he needed only a little push now, a sign that there was a male she wanted, and it wasn’t one her mother would choose.
“My mother doesn’t know what’s best for me, Cobalt.” She twisted towards him, planting her left hand on the cold rock between them. “That decision is mine to make… and mine alone.”
His eyes darkened, hunger flooding them that tugged at her and commanded her to do something. It was now or never. He was open, his defences down, stripped from him by her words.
Ember leaned towards him.
He swallowed hard and muttered distractedly, “I have to move away from you… or I’m going to lose it.”
Surprise clai
med her as he shot to his feet, his words echoing in her mind and setting fire to her body as she realised he could feel her need and he wanted to act on it.
A thrill swept through her, electricity that lit her up inside and worsened the fierce ache in her belly and her chest, one born of her maturing and the other a beat that had drummed there since the day she had noticed Cobalt for the first time.
“We should go back down.” His eyes flickered between her and the ledge, and he looked as if he was considering jumping in order to get away from her.
She wasn’t going to let it happen, not this time.
She rose to her feet, claiming his focus again, and her heart raced as she lined the words up on her tongue. “Just a little longer. Give me five more minutes alone up here… with you.”
Something changed in him as those last two words left her lips.
His expression rapidly shifted from a mix of despair and agony, to a striking blend of hunger and need that made him more handsome than ever.
More alluring than ever.
Ember didn’t even have time to register the feelings that poured through her or the instinct that seized her, pushing her to claim him.
One moment she was standing a metre from him.
The next, she was as close to him as she could get, her aching body brushing his as his hand closed tightly around the wrist he now held above his right shoulder and his left arm banded around her waist, crushing her against his chest as he dipped his head.
Claimed her lips in a soul-searing kiss.
CHAPTER 8
Instinct raged inside Cobalt as he slanted his mouth over Ember’s and tasted her intoxicating sweetness for the first time. He growled as he clutched her to him, forced her lips to part and invaded her mouth with his tongue.
She moaned and trembled in his arms, body quaking deliciously against his as he continued his onslaught, too wild to pull on the reins now that she had made it crystal clear that she wanted him.
Needed him.
Her tongue tentatively met his and he groaned as she stroked him, as she fumbled with the kiss and her hands came down on his bare shoulders. Her touch scalded him, sent shock sweeping through him as her fingertips pressed into his flesh to clutch him hard, gripping him as fiercely as he was holding her.
Craved by her Cougar (Cougar Creek Mates Shifter Romance Series Book 4) Page 8
