by Ally Summers
“You want me.” I breathed.
He groaned. “You’re all I want.” He tugged on my nipple, bowing me off the bed and against his hard body.
“Then take me.” I looked into his eyes. “Make me yours. Right now. Right here.”
He sat back, suddenly. I knew I had shocked him, but I also knew he felt what I did. We belonged together.
“I can’t,” he moaned. “It would break all the laws. We have to be married first. There has to be a witness for the council. You know all of this.”
He closed his eyes. “If this is what you want, I’ll marry you tomorrow. I’ll make it happen. Believe me. It wouldn’t be the first time fated mates pulled off a quickie wedding.”
I snaked my hands around his waist. “I want you to make me yours now. No wedding. No ceremony. Only you and me taking what is ours.”
He growled wildly and his eyes flickered with beautiful green flames. His jaguar was tuned in to everything my panther was. There was no denying what we wanted.
“Say it,” he tugged on the back of my hair, tipping my lips toward his. “Say it again. Evoke the bond,” he ordered.
I swallowed hard. There was no going back. The words came to me effortlessly. I knew exactly what I wanted. I didn’t stumble or hesitate.
“Make me your mate. Take me as yours. Make me your wife.”
The air around us glittered and lit with wisps of smoke before fading quickly from my bed. I looked into my mate’s eyes, knowing we were getting ready to break the law. Rebel against all that we knew to be right. And neither of us gave a damn.
11
Josh
Her eyes lit up as the bond was evoked. I felt an incredible primal need take over. I didn’t know how the other jaguars resisted. I don’t know how they postponed this moment. How they waited and agonized over planning a wedding. As I looked in Tessa’s eyes, I knew I wouldn’t have that agony.
In the moment she said the words I didn’t give a damn about the council. I didn’t care about years of tradition. I didn’t care about duty or obligations. All I felt was the need I had for her. The want that ran through my veins when I kissed her.
It was tearing at me every time I saw her. It ripped through my heart and my soul not being able to make her mine.
I didn’t need a fucking council to tell me when I could or couldn’t be with my mate. I was a man and a jaguar who could make his own decisions.
I inhaled her, taking her lips roughly. She sucked and purred, wrapping her legs around my waist.
“You’re mine tonight,” I growled.
She nodded. “Take me.”
I licked a line from her throat to her navel. I wriggled her jeans over her hips, dropping them on the floor and stared at the slice of heaven in front of me. I had made her come once tonight. I watched it wash over her body. And now I would get to experience it as she came while I pulsed inside her.
My teeth gnashed at the lace bordering that slice of heaven. She lifted her hips as my teeth pulled the panties off her legs.
Now there was nothing between us. No clothes. No games. No laws. Finally, no walls. It felt reckless and irresponsible. I felt the rebellion in my chest and it was damn turn on. I wanted my fucking beautiful mate no matter the cost.
She smiled wickedly. “I want you.”
I nudged my cock between her legs. There was no turning back from this. We were crossing a line we both wanted to cross, but one that had dire consequences.
“I want you, too.” I leaned to kiss her swollen lips.
Her nails dug into my back. “Make me yours,” she whispered.
I lost it. The restraint. The control. The promise I had made to the Tribe. Tessa had me. She could bring me to my knees. Lead me to edge of a cliff and push me into the abyss.
I roared as I plunged into her with the ultimate thrust of claim. She whimpered my name as we tried to possess the other. Our words were gone. Our reason was gone. There was only skin and sweat. Need and want. I pumped harder. She clenched tighter. We climbed each other’s bodies, desperate to fill each other. Desperate to claw our way out of the pit of desire we had fallen in.
She panted and moaned, begging for more. I kissed her entire body, licking, sucking, exploring skin tangling our fingers together before I pushed deep inside her again.
Just when I thought she was cresting to her peak she rolled me under her, grinning with satisfaction. And that’s when I learned the power she had over me. She rocked back and forth, grinding her hips against mine as her hair flowed over her breasts. I’d never seen anything sexier, or more dangerous. She rode with wild abandon until I thought we’d ignite.
I lifted her hips, dragging her back under my chest. I held her steady while I thrust swiftly. “You’re mine, Tessa.”
“Oh God, yes,” she panted. “Yours. Yours…” The words faded as we felt the fire consume us, taking us to another world. Another dimension where our bond was sealed.
I roared out with a last primal claim for my mate, then collapsed on her beautiful breasts, feeling exhausted and satisfied like I’d never been.
Her chest moved with heavy breaths. She was still trying to steady her heartbeat. I kissed the salty sweetness between her breasts.
“Are we still on for that talk over breakfast?” I whispered. I could barely keep my eyes open.
She nodded while her fingertips made circles on my back. “Sleep, baby.”
My eyes closed, while I held my mate in my arms.
12
Tessa
I stroked Josh’s back while he slept. Even his back was sculpted with more muscles than I could count. My entire body felt calm and soothed with him on top of me. The bonding was incredible. It wasn’t what I expected.
Downstairs in my office I wanted him. But I thought it would be sex. Hot sex, but sex nonetheless. There was nothing about what we just did that was remotely close to my past experiences. The instant I evoked the bond everything changed.
The air didn’t just glitter, our souls connected. My body raged with desire for him. I was glad we didn’t wait. I didn’t give a damn about years of council law. He was my mate. He came here for me. We should decide when we wanted to bond.
I let my fingers linger at the small of his back then round over his firm ass. He was the sexiest man that had ever been under these sheets and I knew what we had experienced would stay with us the rest of our lives.
For the first time I had completely lost myself in someone else. And it felt delicious.
My hands couldn’t stop exploring his body, touching every ounce of skin. He was mine now. We belonged together. There couldn’t be anything wrong in that.
For a shifter, Josh was a heavy sleeper. Once the sun was up, I slipped out of the sheets and padded off to the kitchen to start breakfast. I poured water into the coffee pot and scooped the grounds into the filter. I hit the brew button and grabbed two mugs from the cabinet.
I had lived in the apartment alone for so long, it was strange to think of sharing it, but when I remembered it was Josh I was sharing it with, it changed. What was mine, was now his.
I waited for the angry feelings of resentment to surface, but they didn’t. I picked up the carton of eggs and a package of bacon and began whipping together a couple of omelets. If I knew one thing about men, it was that the smell of bacon would draw them out of sleep, no matter how deep it was.
I turned on the radio and whisked the eggs, while the coffee brewed.
A few minutes later Josh appeared in his tux pants. I looked at his shirtless body. Holy hell, he was just as sexy.
“Pants?” I questioned.
“Someone shredded my boxer briefs.” He rubbed the back of his head.
I bit my lower lip. “Sorry about that.” But I wasn’t sorry. It was one of the hottest experiences of my life. I’d done things with my mouth I didn’t know I could do.
He shuffled toward me. He was not a morning person. But the sleepy look on his face was adorable and somehow even sexier than
his night face.
“You can shred my clothes any time.” He pulled the robe off my shoulder and nipped gently. “Good morning.”
I looked up, feeling my heart almost stop beating. So this is what it meant to have a fated mate?
“Good morning.” I almost forgot what I was doing, but I jumped from my spot to flip the first omelet over. “I’m making breakfast and the coffee is ready.”
His hands circled around my waist and his lips slid along my neck. “I know what I want for breakfast.”
“Omelet?”
He growled, breathing into my hair. “Maybe as a second course.”
My legs wobbled under me, but I immediately turned off the stove, knowing this was out of my hands now. Josh picked me up and carried me back to bed.
Two hours later we emerged for cold omelets and hot coffee.
“Maybe I should make something else?” I suggested when we looked at the mess on the stove.
“What if we go out?” he asked.
“In town?”
He laughed. “Yeah, in town. Technically our first date.”
“You need some clothes.” I looked down at his naked body.
“Yeah, you’re going to have to run to the Jeep for me. My overnight bag is in there.”
I giggled. “And if I don’t?” I scratched my nails over his chest.
“Oh, I think you know what’s going to happen.” He winked, crushing me against his solid frame.
I was fast and incredibly strong, but I couldn’t match jaguar strength. He held me pinned to his hard naked body.
“Then, I refuse to get your clothes.” I bit my lower lip.
“You have been warned.” He lifted me up and threw me over his shoulder.
I screamed and kicked, trying to pry myself out of his clutches. “Josh, put me down.”
“Oh no. You had your chance.”
I giggled uncontrollably until my feet landed on the floor and his mouth took mine. I was glad it was Sunday and I didn’t have any work to do, because there was no way we were leaving this apartment.
13
Josh
“Gorgeous, I think we need to talk.” I sat at the kitchen table, drinking coffee Tessa had made this morning. It was dark again outside. We had spent the entire day in her bed. Every time we tried to leave one of us pulled the other back under the sheets.
“Talk? Isn’t all of that done now?” She shoved two frozen pizzas in the oven for dinner.
“I’d say we’re kind of at the beginning.”
She turned to face me and set the timer for the pizzas. “Beginning?”
The only reason we had made it to the kitchen was because we were starving. If we were going to keep going at this rate, we both needed to eat something. The omelets went in the trash and Tessa raided what she had in the freezer.
“We haven’t had a conversation about us.”
“I think we’ve done lots of talking.” She smiled.
I snagged my hand around her waist and pulled her into my lap. “I’m serious.” I looked at her sternly. More sternly than she was expecting.
She rolled her eyes. “What? What is it? I evoked the bond. We’re together. What do you need to say?”
“We have to face the consequences of last night.”
“Consequences?”
I nodded. “I don’t know what they are. But it’s not like we can break laws and not expect to face some sort of punishment.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“I wish I were.” I wanted to protect her. Shield her from anything that was coming our way. But hell, I didn’t know what it was.
She unraveled herself from my arms and stood next to the oven. “I would say to hell with the laws. The laws might have brought us together, but they also were keeping us apart.”
“What do you mean?”
“I wasn’t going to marry you, Josh.”
It was like a knife being twisted in between my ribs. How could she say that?
“What?”
Her eyes softened. “I thought you were trying to make me change who I was. I thought you were doing what any jaguar would do.”
I wasn’t following. So far what she was saying was true. This was how things worked in our world. I did do all the things I was supposed to do to catch my mate. I tracked her. I hunted her, and I claimed every ounce of her.
She continued. “I belong to you now in every way. All of me belongs to all of you. I didn’t need a wedding for that. I didn’t need a council witness for that. You and I know what we did. We know what we share and how deep it runs.”
“Yes, but, we deal in a magical world where there are rules.”
“Are you saying you regret it?”
“God no.” I stood from the table, almost turning it over. “I would sacrifice anything for you. I don’t need a wedding either. I agree with you, or I wouldn’t have gone through with it. You’re right. You’re absolutely right, but it doesn’t mean we don’t have trouble headed in our direction.”
She chewed on her bottom lip. “What are we going to do?”
My protective instincts kicked in. “I swear I won’t let anything happen to you.” I kissed the top of her head.
“Is that the kind of promise you can make?”
Truth was, I didn’t know. But I was going to make it, and if I had to risk my life to make sure she stayed safe I knew I would.
14
Tessa
Things had gone from mundane to complicated the instant Josh drove back to town. Monday morning was supposed to be a regular day, but I had customers waiting outside the garage door. For the first time I opened the shop fifteen minutes late. There was a hot jaguar who needed my attention in bed this morning.
I made my apologies and ushered everyone into my office in order. Their cars were parked all over the lot. Maybe Josh would move them for me. I felt the blush rise on my cheeks. Just thinking about him and our Sunday made my temperature rise.
We were officially a mated couple. I doubted the people in my office could tell my status had changed, but I could feel it with every fiber of my being. He had taken me somewhere I didn’t know existed.
I saw him duck his head in the office.
“Excuse me one second, Mr. Miller.” I stopped one of my favorite customers from telling me about the squeaking sound his steering wheel made when he turned right.
“What is it?” I walked over to Josh.
“Thought I’d head to my hotel and check out. I’ll be back in about twenty minutes.”
I smiled. “Okay, sounds perfect. Want to help me in the shop today?”
He kissed me on the neck, I pushed the purr down my throat. “Whatever you need, gorgeous.” He darted out of the door and started the Jeep.
I watched him pull out of the parking lot.
“Tessa?”
“Oh sorry, Mr. Miller.” I was lost. Completely gone. I was in love with that jaguar.
Josh and I worked side by side. But it wasn’t like last week. Last week he was trying to seduce me. Trap me. At least that’s what I thought, but now I saw the partnership we had. And I also noticed how good a little grease looked on a strong bicep.
“When do we get to close this place down?” he asked, wiping the sweat from his brow.
“Five,” I answered. “Why? Do we have plans?”
“Dinner at seven.”
“Like a date?”
He laughed. “Yeah, we’re doing everything backward, but I can at least take my mate out for a nice dinner.”
I liked the idea. He had already swept me off my feet, but this proved his intentions had been true from the beginning. He wasn’t done wooing me. He wasn’t finished with romance. Somewhere in my heart I knew Josh and I were at the beginning of a lot of things. I wanted it to always feel like this.
Once the door was locked we raced up the stairs to get ready for dinner. He tugged on my clothes, stripping me naked, shoving me in the shower, while I fumbled for the handle. Cold water sputtered
over us at first, but we barely felt it.
Josh hoisted me up against the wall and I wrapped my legs around him while the water fell over his shoulders.
I held his neck while he pushed inside me. I growled at his sudden thrusts, but all day we had walked around each other. Helped each other. Smiled and laughed and helped customers. But this was all we could think about.
I saw the green glow of his eyes brighten as he pumped harder. He was on fire. Fire from my body. Fire from what I could give him. I gripped his wet shoulders, grinding harder, knowing he was coming undone in front of me.
He squeezed my ass with one hand as the other slammed the shower wall. “Fuck,” he growled.
Our lips met with a fiery crash, knowing we were both too far gone to slow things down. I wanted to hold him there. Keep him buried inside me. Feel the bond that we shared, but he lowered me to the tub floor and kissed my forehead.
“I swear you’re worth every sacrifice.”
I pressed up on my toes to reach his lips. “And you’re going to get extra dessert tonight.” I smiled wickedly.
He laughed loudly, his deep voice echoing off the shower walls.
“I guess once a smartass, always a smartass?”
I nodded. “But I’m your smartass.”
“Yes you are. Mine. All mine.” He slapped me on my bottom.
15
Josh
I looked at Tessa over the flickering candle in the center of our table. She handed the menu to the waitress and we waited for our wine.
“Our first date,” she mused.
It was crazy how backwards we had done this whole thing. “Yep, first date. Do you like the restaurant?”
“It’s the nicest place in Four Corners. I love it. It’s where my mom and I go for birthday dinners. And she brought me here for my graduation celebration.”
