by T. Cobbin
“Your father sounds like a very charming man. I would love to meet him myself,” the doc said in a sarcastic manner and looked at Melinda with a soft smile.
We would love to meet him too, Harris’s leopard agreed.
“I suggest plenty of rest and a little chocolate for twenty-four hours. I’ll pop back if I’m needed tomorrow.”
Harris nodded to the old man and thanked him as he walked out of their bedroom.
Terrie bustled into the bedroom, full of questions. “She’s awake? Are you hungry? Are you okay? Do you know how worried we were?”
Would he not get five fucking minutes with his woman to ask his own questions, he wondered, grumbling in his head.
Chapter 14
Harris wouldn’t let Melinda out of bed, but this time it wasn’t because he wanted her naked and under him. After Terrie had fawn, fussed, and found out she was okay, Harris had his sister go off to get them something to eat. He didn’t want to leave his chick’s side. She was sitting up in bed, looking at him with a worried face, as if she was unsure what to tell him she’d remembered.
“I can’t read your mind...yet...so if you want to tell me something, it means opening your mouth.” He mimicked a gold fish opening and shutting its mouth.
“Yet?” she asked, her luscious lips curving up at the ends.
“Yes, yet. I mean, once somebody has been mated with another for a long time, don’t they start to read each other’s minds?”
“Do you mean literally or figuratively?”
“Figuratively in our case.” He chuckled. “I have never known or been told about a shifter that can interact with his or her human mate telepathically. Of course, it would be mighty handy to know when you’re all hot and bothered and in need of a good fu—”
“Shush.” She leaned forward, placing her hand over his mouth. “Don’t you dare with your brother and sister being so close, they might hear.” He licked at her palm, tasting the salt on her skin, causing her to pull it away from his mouth. “Eww.”
“You don’t think that either when I go down—”
“Oh my God, stop.” She sat back, leaning against the headboard behind her, gently laughing.
“So tell me what you want to tell me, but you’re worried about telling me.”
She stopped smiling and looked down to where her good hand was pulling tiny bits of plaster from her cast. “I don’t remember a time when my parents were happy. But my mother told me they were once. She died shortly after I turned thirteen. My father was ranting he had run out of booze and wanted more. He woke my mother up sometime after midnight to go get him some. The next day her car was found wrapped around a tree. At first the police thought she had been drinking because of the amount of booze in the car. It wasn’t until after her autopsy...” Her words trailed off.
The scent of pain wafted from his chick.
“In the end, the police said that with the lack of skid marks it looked like she’d fallen asleep at the wheel. My parents had no other family, so I was left with him until I was old enough to move out. But even then he still ruled my life. He would turn up at my work or home at all hours, and if he didn’t do that he would constantly be ringing me. I knew my job was on the line. They had been sending me warning emails for a few weeks. I was also pulling as much overtime as I could, trying to make my time up to them as well as knowing I would need the money.” A silent tear coursed its way down her sweet face, and she swiped it away.
“Do you remember where you live?” he asked hesitantly.
“At the moment I live in a one-bedroom place in Hexham in Northumberland, close to where I worked. I don’t see me being able to keep the place if I don’t find work soon.”
Panic hit him for a moment. She remembered where she lived. Would she want to return? No, she had mated him... Before he could speak his thoughts his sister bounded into the room, holding a tray of food.
“You are staying though, right? You promised. You said you would stay ’til after Christmas at least. Didn’t you mate with Harris? It means—”
“Terrie!” he said loud enough to pause his sister from her ramblings.
“Sorry.” Terrie froze, the tray quivering in her shaky hands.
“Forever.” Melinda turned her head to look at Harris after finishing his sister’s sentence.
He didn’t need to scent the air to know exactly how she was feeling. He could see it shimmering in her eyes. It hit him like an electric bolt straight to his heart. Love. She loved him.
“You said it was forever, right? That what was yours is now mine? I don’t want to go back. I don’t have any friends that I remember, and my father is nothing but trouble and doesn’t love or want me unless it’s for money or booze. My flat isn’t a home like this place is.”
He sat there looking into his mate’s light green eyes, and for the first time in his life he was speechless. His heart swelled with love. His mate wanted to stay, to live, love, and to lie with him forever more. She’s staying! She’s actually going to stay. His brain kept repeating the phrase in his mind.
“The only thing I really want from the place I used to call home are my mother’s pictures and my clothes.” She chuckled, looking and smiling at him, oblivious to the fact he was still stuck on her staying. “I know you like me naked, but a girl has to have something nice to wear.”
Naked? Yes, please. Staying.
The amused smile on her face disappeared. She leaned in and whispered in his ear. “Harris?”
He could hear worry in her voice. How much time had passed since he’d replied to her? She pulled back, and he could see the concern written over her face. He wanted to answer her, he wanted to see her laugh again. But the words she had said had him stunned into silence.
Say something, you fucking idiot. She looks worried. His leopard growled from deep inside of him.
A smile was the first thing he did. A huge ear-to-ear grin. Then, using his shifter side, he moved fast across the bed. His hands cupped her sweet face and he kissed her, pouring every ounce of love he felt into it. He heard the click of the door as his sister left discreetly.
“Forever,” he finally said. “I have the strongest urge to be inside you. But I think you’d better eat first, because once I’m inside you I’m not leaving your luscious body until I’ve had my fill.”
He looked intently into her bright eyes. They were shining with emotions he didn’t think he would ever see someone having about him. He and his cat had been hearing their ticking clock for so long. Now that they had her, he would do anything necessary to keep her.
“What if I’m hungry for something else?” she smirked back at him.
His cock was rock hard and pushing against the inside of his jeans. His woman was looking up at him with lust-filled eyes. What was he supposed to do?
“Old Saint Nick won’t bring you any presents if you’re bad. You need to eat first.”
“Ask me if I care.”
He paused. He could smell her arousal sweetening the air. He licked up the side of her neck and asked, “Bad or good little girl?”
“Bad, oh so bad.”
He wiped the grin off her face by planting his mouth over hers and thrusting his tongue through her lips. He poured all his passion into that one kiss. “Bad girls only get coal for Christmas.”
“If it’s hard and heats up my body, I don’t give a shit. Want to show me how hot it can get?”
God damn if his minx wasn’t going to drive him wild. Looking over at the tray, he saw a plate loaded with various slices of fruit alongside a bowl of beef stew. An idea washed over him—there was one way to eat and play.
Chapter 15
First Harris stripped both himself and his woman, then he pulled back the top half of the bedding and grabbed the plate of fruit.
“Lay down, Chick,” he ordered, his voice a few octaves lower with his own arousal.
She followed his instructions and laid flat in the center of the bed. Sitting down beside her, he picked up a slice
of strawberry and placed it on her right nipple. She giggled, making it slide a little.
“Hey now, lay still or this will take longer.”
“But it’s cold.”
“All the better to get a rise out of these stiff, little buds.” He bent down and ran his tongue around her left nipple, feeling it tighten and perk. Grabbing another slice, he placed it over the aroused tip. Once he was happy they were going to stay still he picked a slice of kiwi fruit and ran it across her slightly parted lips. “Open, my chick.”
She did as he asked, and he dipped the fruit into her mouth and watched her chew it. His cock swelled even more. He wanted to see his cock slide in her mouth. He grabbed a grape and bit it in half. He chewed on his bite while running the other down her neck where her pulse pounded under her skin.
He then picked up several pieces of orange and squirted it down her torso, watching her breathing picking up as he left a juice trail all the way down between her breasts and to her bellybutton. Throwing the peels onto the tray, he picked up several pieces of pear and fisted his hand around them, squeezing their juices over her mound. He sat back and watched the juice run between her swollen lower lips.
Picking up half of a banana, he grinned. “Now what am I going to do with this?” he asked with amusement. He watched her face turn into shock.
“No, you wouldn’t...” Melinda shook her head, and he didn’t miss the fact that her thighs squeezed together slightly.
“I’ll tie you down, sweetness. Open wide.” He ran his tongue around his lips and closed his eyes briefly, thinking of the feast before him.
He saw indecision on her face and decided to give her a helping hand. He slid his hand, albeit a little sticky, up her leg, and reaching her inner thigh, he tugged at it. She opened her leg. Moving quickly, he knelt between them, not giving her a chance to close them on him again. He ran the tip of the banana down from her collarbone, over her stomach, through the juices that lay on top of her skin, and down over her hips and between her legs. He entered her pussy with a finger and watched her head roll back. She was sopping wet.
“Oh baby, you’re so ready for this.” He replaced his finger with the tip of the banana, then slowly pushed it a little way inside of her channel. He gently fucked her with it for a few strokes then left it half inside her. “Don’t clench now, or else it will go mushy.” He chuckled and headed back up to her lips with another slice of strawberry.
“I can’t believe you did that.” She whimpered below him. “If you don’t take it out soon, it’s going to end up a smoothy.”
“I’ll just suck it up.” He lowered his head and ravished her lips. “So fine,” he whispered in her ear. “Oh dear, I seemed to have made a mess of your wonderful, luscious body. It looks like it needs a little cleaning up.”
His iron rod of an erection settled on her stomach when he leaned over her and placed the slice of strawberry on her lips. She opened and swallowed it. They both moaned together, be it for different reasons. He dived in, more than ready to eat the meal laid out before him. He sucked at her lips, delving his tongue inside her mouth, tasting the remains of the fruit. He groaned then moved down, licking over her chin and down her neck, tasting the juice of the grape. Down her torso he went, licking between her breasts and sucking at the orange juice. She began writhing underneath him, small whimpers and groans flowed from her mouth. He reached her belly button and sucked the small pool of juice out.
“Harris...That banana will be all mushy before you get there. Please...” she begged.
He could almost smell an essence of pain coming from her. With an evil grin he moved back up and sucked the slice of strawberry off her right breast then the left. Tugging at each stiff nipple after he did. Her right hand clutched at his arm, her nails digging into his skin. He reveled in it. He could feel a drop of pre-cum drip from the tip of his cock. Moving back down her body, he sucked at the pear juice that had gathered over her trimmed pubic hair. He made sure to lick and torture the little stiff nub as he did.
“Enough please, Harris. I can’t take any more.”
He placed both of his hands on top of her bucking hips to hold her down. Briefly, he looked up and over her juicy body. Her eyes were closed, and she had her teeth clenched. He moved lower still and licked up the length of her inner thigh until he reached the banana between her legs. Opening his mouth, he engulfed it and sucked it in, greedily eating it down before delving into the bigger prize. She tasted even sweeter. He sank his tongue inside her pussy as far as he could. The walls of her vagina clenched around it. She let out a blood-curdling scream as an orgasm rocketed through her. Still he lapped and sucked until finally she calmed and lay on the bed like jelly. Satisfaction thrummed through his veins.
“You know, two can play at that game.” Her voice came out virtually in song, she was so relaxed.
“Yes, Chick, but not today.”
He crawled up over his woman’s body. Lifting her hips slightly, he held his cock and placed it at her entrance. Shifting forward, he watched and felt it slide halfway into her channel. His eyes rolled back into his head now as the feeling rocked his world.
“I will never get enough of being inside you,” he said in a hoarse whisper.
Lifting her hips, he pushed the rest of the way in. He gritted his teeth. It was torture to hold still while she adjusted to him. The taste of her still filled his mouth
Fuck her! Bite! his cat urged him. Make her fully ours!
He pulled out with a long sigh. She gave a small whimper as he withdrew totally. He quickly flipped his chick over onto her hands and knees. With a hand between her shoulder blades he pushed the top half of her body down so she was settled on her elbows. Once she was in the position he wanted he thrust all the way inside her. He didn’t wait this time; he pulled out and drove into her hard and fast. Setting a pattern, he continued over and over, his fingers slightly digging into her hips as he pounded his cock deep inside her. He could feel the tingle grow from his spine. He grunted to her moans along to the sound of sex.
“Oh God, I’m com...” Again his chick screamed out as her orgasm rocked her. Her vagina walls gripped him so tightly.
He lowered his head, his fangs growing. Placing his mouth over her shoulder close to her neck, he bit down. Her blood filled his mouth and he came. Releasing her, he threw back his head and roared. “Mine!”
Ours!
Chapter 16
Melinda stood in Harris’s usual spot—beside the back door, looking over the moors— which was also becoming her favorite spot. Harris was currently prowling around doing his stuff. Every now and again she would catch a glimpse of her man in his leopard form as he roamed over the grass and rocks, but with his coloring and being an expert in camouflage she lost sight of him often.
She had been there for two weeks, and although she knew where she had lived before she had no desire to go back. Here she felt safe, loved, and very comfortable. Her feet were all better, just a few scars to show she had been through something. The bruising on her ankles and wrists were all gone. If it wasn’t for the cast on her arm, she wouldn’t know anything had happened to her. It was just ten days until Christmas eve, and the house was all decorated up. The village looked wonderful, and there was even a light dusting of snow outside. It created a magnificent picture.
Terrie came bouncing into the kitchen. “Morning.”
“Morning.” Melinda smiled at the girl. She always seemed to have a bounce in her step. Melinda had fast taken to the young girl and often felt the joy at having a best friend or a sister.
“Hey, you want to do some shopping with me today?” Terrie asked with a mischievous smile on her face.
“In the village?”
“Oh no. Our shops don’t have what we want.” The young girl chuckled. “Nope, we’re going to the city.”
Melinda knew she had blanched. Leaving the village? She didn’t think she was ready for that yet. “Umm...I’d... I’m not sure...” Her heart started pounding in her chest
, and her palms grew sweaty.
Terrie looked at her with concern, then rolled her eyes. “You think, although I have just turned sixteen, that my over-bearing brothers would let me go to into a city to do some shopping on my own at this time of year? Pfft, no way!” Terrie walked over and stood beside her. “All the males seem to have this possessive streak in them, that’s why we women get together and gang up on them.” Terrie’s eyes shone with mirth as she explained. “A couple of times a year a group of us women get together and decide who wants to go and who doesn’t. Those who don’t give us their shopping lists. We then get some of the males to escort us on a day out to the city in our mini-bus.”
“Don’t any of you go shopping on your own using your own cars or something?”
“Of course we do, we aren’t prisoners.” Terrie chuckled. “It’s just some of us don’t like the big cities, and some of the families are running from conflict with other cats, so decide either a group of us together is safer or they stay here while others go for them.”
“Oh, okay. What if I decide I’m not ready to go with you today?” Fear over leaving the village still lay strong inside of Melinda. She felt safe there, she definitely wasn’t ready to leave yet.
“Then I’ll go shopping for you.”
Relief flowed through Melinda. “I have another problem though. I know I have money, but getting to it could be complicated.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. Harris will just give me his card.” Terrie chuckled. She quickly stopped, probably seeing the worry on her face. “If you’re thinking about paying him back, then stop. See that mark on your neck? That means you’re his mate, and I think he has already told you what’s his is yours, am I right? So take advantage and spend a little money, even if it’s for some kinky underwear.”
