by Layla Nash
Ethan groaned as her muscles gripped him, pulling him deeper, and he thrust again with a desperate sound. Kira couldn't see or think. She just moved. She rocked her hips to meet his thrusts, trying to breathe, and Ethan grabbed her thighs to help her. Kira cried out every time he filled her, each thrust igniting the aftershocks of more pleasure. Over and over in an unending rhythm until she felt like a ragdoll, bouncing on his hips as she came so hard she couldn't breathe.
Ethan made a savage sound and moved, hands on her waist, and Kira found herself on her hands and knees on the mattress. She moaned, gripping the headboard, as Ethan knelt behind her and captured her waist in a strong grip. Kira wasn't ready when he dragged her hips back and thrust forward, filling her in a long stroke, and she cried out. He moved harder, faster, pounding into her until Kira could only hang on and surrender. He covered her, almost overwhelming, and growled as his arm hooked under her hips to keep her close. Kira moaned, her head hanging down, and she came again when she saw the muscles of his thighs working and the dark line of his cock disappearing into her.
She braced herself against the headboard as his thrusts grew wild and uncontrolled, and her core seized up one last time as Ethan shuddered against her, grunting, and filled her in a heated rush.
The world came back in pieces as they lay down and Ethan pulled the sheets up and over them. Kira rested her head on his chest, her eyes closed. She felt deliciously tired and warm, and with the rain beating on the roof overhead, it felt like the perfect night to stay in and snuggle.
Ethan sighed and played with her hair, leaning to kiss her forehead. "So you want to stay?"
"Of course." Kira curled closer against him, throwing her arm over his chest. "If one of those farm trucks is still for sale, since my piece of crap won't make it up the mountain again, I’d like to get one."
"A new truck," Ethan said, more grumble than words. "We'll get you a brand new truck. Something safe."
Kira didn't mind at all, particularly with that gold nugget sitting in a safety deposit box in the bank a few blocks down from the hotel. The grant money covered her research for the next few months, at least until she graduated and could find a job. Apparently Dr. Reston and Simon had already talked to the park service about hiring a researcher for that part of the Cascades, so it might have already been in the works. She dozed next to Ethan, loving the rumble in his chest, and as he stroked her back, the jaguar started to purr in response. Ethan chuckled as he lifted his head to peer at her. "So jaguars purr?"
"Only when we're very happy," Kira said, and stretched.
Ethan's eyes lit up as he watched her, and his hands grew a little bolder as he pulled her closer. "Really? What other sounds do jaguars make?"
Kira laughed as he tickled her, and gave in as Ethan tried to tease every last sound from her as the thunder and lightning tore the sky apart outside.
Epilogue
Kira frowned as she stood over the picnic table outside the Lodge, trying to sort through the tangle of camera equipment that Dr. Reston shipped to her. She had at least a dozen cameras to set up, and with the weather turning uglier every day, she didn't have much time to get out into the backcountry. She didn't want to go by herself, even though the park rangers insisted they'd gotten all of the miners out and sent them off to jail.
Ethan had offered to go with her, but it would take a couple of weeks and Simon couldn't spare him until a massive group of tourists departed in a week. Kira didn't mind waiting, particularly since that gave her more time to sleep with Ethan in a bed instead of a tent, although she grew antsy after too many nights inside. As kind as Simon and Zoe were, offering the spare room in a cute cabin they'd built away from the Lodge, it wasn't enough to placate the jaguar.
The cat wanted to sleep in a tree, to lounge around in a hammock with the sky around her and a gentle breeze, and none of that was possible at the Lodge. Kira started untangling a mass of cords, shaking her head. It looked like Dr. Reston let his four-year-old daughter pack the equipment.
She jumped as Ethan grabbed her, lifting her up and swinging her around, and Kira laughed. She wormed away, knowing how much Ethan liked to catch her and flex just a little to make sure she couldn't get away, and sighed as he kissed her. Ethan flopped into one of the Adirondack chairs, dragging her into his lap, and nibbled on the side of her neck. "You busy?"
"That depends on when we can leave to set up the rest of the blinds." Kira relaxed against him, content in the early afternoon sunlight. Frost rimed the ground in the mornings, but the afternoon was still a good time to bask in the warmth before the winter set in for good.
"I talked to Simon about that." Ethan wrapped his arms around her and held her tight to his chest, like he didn't ever want to let her go. Kira occasionally woke him up from nightmares, and he said he thought someone tried to take her away. But Ethan's expression was unguarded as he relaxed in the chair. "Two days. That big group is leaving, and we've got a bit of a breather until the hunters show up. We might need to go in two separate trips, just to break it up a little. I'm getting too old to sleep on the ground for three weeks straight."
She snorted and squirmed in his lap, wiggling in just the right place to make him groan and squeeze her waist. Kira patted his knee. "You're not that old. You're just lazy."
"Says the cat," he murmured, and before she could protest, Ethan pressed his lips to hers and kissed her until the rest of the world faded away.
When Kira draped across his chest, unable to move, Ethan played with her hair and nibbled on her neck. "I've got a surprise for you."
Based on the level of interest she could feel in his pants, Kira didn't need to guess what it was. "That isn't much of a surprise," she said, laughing, and wiggled again.
Ethan grumbled a laugh and stood her up, clambering to his feet and wincing as he adjusted his jeans. "Not that. Come on."
He took her hand and led her down one of the small walking trails around the Lodge, past where Simon and Zoe's cabin nestled against a stand of trees, until they reached a cleared area of huge oaks. Kira frowned, looking around. The ground has been cleared, all the underbrush cut away, but there wasn't anything else there. "What is it?"
Ethan smiled and pointed toward the sky. "Look up."
Kira craned her neck and sucked in a breath. A platform had been built between five or six of the great oaks, a massive area large enough for a house. A tree house. She looked at Ethan, still a little confused. "A tree house?"
"Yep." He folded his arms over his chest and rocked back on his heels, that pleased expression on his face as he studied the platform. "Our house. Up in the trees. It won't be as big as I'd like, and if we... Well, if there are kids, it wouldn't be the best place to raise toddlers, but I know how much you like being up in the trees, and how closed in the Lodge can feel, so I thought... Treehouse."
Kira couldn't speak. There weren't words to explain how much she loved it, and him. Even if the thought of toddlers made her suddenly, inexplicably panicked, she loved the idea. A treehouse.
When she didn't speak, just staring up at the platform, Ethan cleared his throat and worry started to creep in around his eyes. "Or we could clear this out and build a cabin like Simon's. That's good, too, if you don't like this."
"I love it," she said, and caught him up in a bear hug of her own. "It's perfect. A treehouse is perfect."
The jaguar was very pleased, and if the noises Ethan made were any indication, so was the bear. Kira exhaled all the worry and stress of the last few months and relaxed, finally, in Ethan's arms. Things were perfect. They might not stay that way, but she knew Ethan would do everything in his power to make sure she was happy. And that was more than enough.
Sneak Preview…
A Lion Shame
Tate sat at the bar and nursed a glass of whiskey, trying his best to ignore the commotion behind him. Rosie's bar had gotten busier and busier as Bear Country Tours took off and more tourists moved through the town, drawing the locals in as well with promises
of additional revenue. And new faces to hit on.
He made a face and focused on the liquor as one of the local girls, only a few years out of high school and facing a lifetime of working on her daddy's farm, sidled up to him and batted her eyes at Rosie behind the bar. She asked for a diet Coke and Tate wanted to slam his face into the bar. It wasn't that the girl wasn't pretty — she was. But that was all she was. She hadn't been anywhere and maybe wanted to change that, so she was eying him like her ticket out of the small town. He'd just be a way to get to the big city for that girl, or maybe a meal ticket if she didn't want to work. Tate wanted more from a relationship, and since he wasn't going to find it there, he wasn't interested in any of it. Not even for a night, since it wouldn't be fair to the girl.
Rosie eyed him as she slid the girl her drink and told her to scamper away home before last call, otherwise Rosie would call her mama, and then the bartender leaned her elbows on the scarred surface of the bar. "Okay, handsome. Spill. You're glummer than a colt in the gelding barn."
He snorted, glancing up only enough to tip more whiskey into his glass. He'd convinced her to get the good stuff, finally. No more of the bullshit rubbing alcohol those cowboys called whiskey. No taste. "Nothing to worry about, Rosie."
"I could put a smile on your face, darlin', but since you've turned everyone else down this week, I don't think I'll put my ego on the line." Rosie took away the bottle, though.
"You sure about that, sugar?" Tate winked at her and Rosie laughed, waggling her eyebrows.
She gave him a good look at her ample cleavage in response, and Tate nearly snorted his drink through his nose as he tried not to laugh. Rosie was a grade-A cougar, in every sense of the word, and if Tate hadn't enjoyed her company so much, he might have taken her home. But he didn't want to ruin their friendship with sex. So he heaved a dramatic sigh and half-stood from his stool to reach over the bar, retrieving the bottle of whiskey she'd tried to hide. He refilled his glass. "Oh, Rosie. You'd love me and leave me. I'm not sure my heart could take it."
"It's not your heart I'm worried about," she said under her breath, moving away to shout at one of the drunks who tried to fish his keys out of the bowl near the register.
Tate chuckled into his drink, pretty damn certain he knew what she was thinking, and shook his head. It had been a long couple of months since he moved to Bear Creek after his half-sister Zoe nearly got killed by her mobster boss. And since Zoe had shacked up with Simon, Tate's battle buddy from too many years in the French Foreign Legion, Tate didn't exactly like hanging around their house. Zoe being pregnant only made it worse, since it left absolutely zero possibility that she hadn't slept with Simon and they only read poetry to each other in bed. Tate really didn't want to think about his little sister getting it on with anyone, even his buddy. Especially his buddy.
Tate made a face and swirled the whiskey in his glass, debating whether he wanted another burger. It was too damn cold and a snowstorm had been blowing for hours. He didn't have to walk far to get to the apartment he rented over the hardware store, but he hated every second of being outside. He was a mountain lion, not built for deep snow. He was the desert kind of mountain lion. He liked sun. Lots and lots of sun. So it would be a long winter in this frozen town. He'd taken over the business side of Simon's tour company, greeting the tourists when they reached town and arranging their transport up the mountain. The roads were too treacherous in winter to send the tourists up the mountain on their own, so Tate did the honors.
Rosie sauntered up, slapping a dish towel against her palm, after sending the drunk off with his son. The snow blew in as soon as the door cracked open, and Tate shivered. He really hated snow. The bartender planted her fists on her hips and leveled a “no messin' around” look at him. "Spill, Tathan."
He shook his head, fighting a smile. He'd never told her what Tate was short for, so she started guessing it was like Nathan and Nate. Tathan and Tate. He rubbed his forehead, suddenly too tired to play games. "Just a bad time of year, Rosie. A couple of rough anniversaries I don't want to think about. Whiskey takes the edge off."
"What kind of anniversaries?" Rosie pulled a few bottles of beer from the cooler and slid them down the bar to a waiting customer, never looking away from him. Despite the joking and flirting, Tate knew she worried about him. He believed she genuinely cared, regardless of whether or not he let her get in his pants. They were both mountain lions in a town run by bears, so he'd always felt a connection with her. If there was anyone he would admit it to, it would be Rosie.
"Well..." He almost spilled the beans on Paris. Just as the whiskey encouraged him to whisper Monique's name, that he'd loved her in the city of lights, the door to the bar blew open once more and a cold blast of air froze him to the stool. He turned in time to see a young woman, bundled up and carrying a small child, tumble into the bar.
Rosie blinked, then said, "Sarah Jane?" in a disbelieving voice as she hustled around the bar to the shivering young woman.
Tate stared, his heart in his throat. The young woman, wild-eyed and red-cheeked from the storm, looked familiar, though he couldn't say from where. The mountain lion sat up to take notice as well, static running through his veins. Maybe she was more than familiar. Either way, Tate didn't trust her. Didn't trust her or himself.
He returned his attention to the whiskey as Rosie and the girl spoke in low voices, and the little one she carried started to cry. A metallic, chemical smell clung to the air around the girl and reminded him of some work he'd done a long time ago for the DEA. She smelled like meth and everything that went into making it, which meant the girl smelled like trouble. He took a deep breath and pushed away the memories, of Paris and the DEA and everything that came before Bear Creek. Some things were best left in the past.
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Layla
Also by Layla Nash
Paranormal Romance
His Bear Hands (with Callista Ball)
Loaded for Bear (with Callista Ball)
A Lion Shame (with Callista Ball)
City Shifters: the Pride
Thrill of the Chase
Chasing Trouble
Storm Chaser
Cut to the Chase
Chasing the Dream
A Chase Christmas
A Valentine’s Chase
City Shifters: the Den
Bearing Burdens
Bearing Hearts
Bearing Scars
Bearing Demons
Bearing Secrets
Also By Callista Ball
Grizzly Guardian (with Julia Leijon)
Paranormal Protector (with Julia Leijon)
Moonlight’s Kiss (with Julia Leijon)
A Hustle of Wings (with Julia Leijon)
