by Maddy Barone
Exercising strict control over himself, Kit lifted the veil away from Olivia’s face. Her smile trembled for a moment before it firmed into blinding joy. At first, it was hard to form a kiss because they were both smiling, but after a moment, their lips relaxed and heat built. He wanted to get closer to her, but her stupid dress was too big. Her father had probably designed it that way to keep them apart. Sliding his tongue along the seam of her lips, he decided it didn’t matter. In a few hours she wouldn’t be wearing that dress. She wouldn’t be wearing anything but him.
*
Victoria removed the pins holding the veil to Olivia’s hair with a shudder. “I am not going through a nightmare like that when I get married,” she declared.
Olivia could definitely agree. It had been a long, tiring day. They were alone in the one room apartment in the basement of the Plane Women’s House. Years ago, it had been an efficiency apartment where Uncle Stag lived before he married Aunt Sherry, but now it was the most private apartment in the house. Her father had said grimly that he didn’t need to hear their wedding night. The single room had been cleaned and decorated as a honeymoon suite. There was a plain dresser against the wall and a four poster bed with a beautiful gold comforter under the narrow window. Olivia caressed one of the puffy white bows that were tied to the bedposts and smiled with affection for her aunts and cousins who had gone to the trouble to make this little room special.
She slanted a teasing look at Victoria. “I thought you wanted to marry Marty.”
“I do, but heck, he can just give my dad a few horses and I’ll pack my bag and move in with him like they did in the old days. I’m not wearing all that frou-frou and sitting at a table for two hours while my cousins make fun of me. Newlyweds have better things to do with their time.”
Olivia followed her cousin’s gaze to the bed. Sitting beside Kit without touching him during that endless supper had been hard. She’d kept thinking about how he’d looked naked, back in his cave. From the expression on his face when he looked at her, Olivia knew he was impatient for the meal to end, too. “Yeah,” she murmured.
Victoria glanced at the door. “Well, you can get to the better things any minute now. I think I hear him coming down the stairs. Darn, I’m your attendant. I was supposed to help you get undressed and ready for bed before the bridegroom came. I guess…” She paused delicately and continued with teasing sarcasm. “I suppose he’s not in the mood to wait in the hall while I disrobe you.”
Olivia gave her a swat on the arm but couldn’t help smiling. “Kit can help me get undressed.”
Moving to the door, Victoria tossed a grin over her shoulder. “Tell him to be careful. Kendra won’t be able to wear that monstrosity of a dress at her wedding if it’s shredded.”
The mental image of Kit tearing the dress off her made Olivia’s mouth go dry.
“Good grief,” Victoria said with a snort. “If the dictionary had a picture to show what lustful anticipation looked like, it would be the expression on your face right now.”
A knock on the door saved Olivia from having to answer that, but she was sure her blush was as bright as her smile.
“Just wait a second,” Victoria snapped at the still-closed door before turning back to Olivia. “I’m almost envious of what you’ll do tonight, but I wish you the best. I hope you two will be really happy together forever.”
“Thanks.”
Victoria turned the door knob but paused. She arched a brow at Olivia. “Oh, I was wondering… When you start your family, will you have puppies or kitties?”
“Oh, lord,” Olivia squealed, feeling her eyes open wide.
Laughing, Victoria opened the door and Olivia’s brothers and a dozen male cousins trooped in, carrying Kit on their shoulders. One of them cried, “Not on the bed!” They dumped him on the rug beside the four-poster, and Olivia was sure only his feline reflexes kept him on his feet.
“Aw,” said Colby, standing with his thumbs hooked in his belt loops, gaze on the bed. “Isn’t that a pretty bed? Taylor, have you ever seen a prettier bed?”
Taylor shook his head. “Nope. Those bows are precious.”
Olivia ground her teeth. She was positive the word precious had never before passed Taylor’s lips. He wasn’t done.
“And see how the comforter’s turned down just so?” Her brother gestured at the bed. “You can see all the pretty embroidery on the sheet. Looks real tidy. Inviting, even.” He cast a sly glance at Olivia. “I bet it won’t stay that way for long.”
“I bet not.” Parker sauntered over to Olivia and pinched her cheek before nodding at Kit. “There you go, baby sister: one bridegroom, mostly undamaged.”
Mostly undamaged? Olivia quickly looked Kit over. He didn’t look hurt. Her cousins were swatting him on the shoulders and back as if dusting him off, using far more force than necessary. Kit seemed to be taking it with good humor.
“Thanks for showing me where I’ll be sleeping tonight,” he said with a grin. “But if you don’t mind, I think it’s time for you to leave so I can spend some time alone with my mate.”
“Hold on.” Parker held up one finger. “Just one sec.” He reached into the back pocket of his pants and came out with a pack of playing cards. He set them on the dresser with finicky precision. The smile he aimed at Olivia was so innocent she almost choked. “For you,” he said in dulcet tones. “In case you get bored tonight and need something to do.”
Olivia’s jaw dropped. “What?” she managed to squawk. “Are you crazy?”
Amidst the snickers from her cousins, Kit’s laugh was joyous. “She won’t be bored, I promise.” He moved toward the door with arms outstretched, herding her brothers and cousins toward the hall. “Thank you. Have a nice night.”
She heard one of her cousins mumble, “It won’t be as nice as yours.”
The door closed and finally she was alone with her husband.
Chapter Fifteen
Olivia waited with her breath stuck in her throat for Kit to come to her. Would he immediately take her clothes off? Or would he kiss her with gentle passion first? Or rough passion? Which did she want him to do? But he only stood by the door, staring at her with intense eyes. At last she gasped in a breath and said, “Kit?”
“I don’t want to scare you.”
“I’m not scared.”
“You’re not?” His smile bloomed. “Good. Your uncle Taye told me you would be, and I would have to be careful.”
“Uncle Taye?” She barely kept herself from rolling her eyes. “He gave you his speech, didn’t he? The one about how to make your mate happy in bed?”
“Yes. Most of it I already knew, but there were a few things I didn’t.”
Memories of the women at the caves flashed into Olivia’s mind. She got stuck on the memory of one woman baring herself and demanding that Kit service her. “You’ve done this before.”
His smile died. “Yes and no.” He looked directly into her eyes. “I’ve had sex. The queens wanted to be serviced when they were in heat. I liked doing it, but it didn’t mean anything. I didn’t love them. It wasn’t making love. I’ve never made love before.”
Somehow that answer soothed her jealousy and uncertainty. “So what did Uncle Taye tell you to do?”
Kit crossed the few yards between them in a saunter of smooth feline grace. He put a hand on either side of her face and tilted it to look down at her. “First, I need to make you relaxed.”
His hands were warm. She smiled up at him. “How are you supposed to do that?”
“I think I’m supposed to pet you and kiss you.”
Her heart thudded. “Yes, please.”
He moved close to her, his legs crowding the stiffened skirt of her dress into a distorted oval. His mouth was light and tender against hers. “Are you relaxed yet?” he whispered against her lips.
“No. You might want to kiss me harder.”
He did. She found it very satisfying. What wasn’t satisfying were the layers of clothing he wore. S
he wanted to feel his warm firm flesh against her hands. Without breaking the kiss, she tried to shove his coat down his arms.
He lifted his head to groan. “Too many clothes,” he said in agreement.
His coat hit the floor a second later, followed rapidly by his shirt and pants. His shoes and socks ended up on opposite sides of the room. Olivia looked at his bare, lithe body with pleasure. Even back in his cave, when she’d been angry and frightened, she had thought him beautiful. Naked male bodies weren’t unknown to her. Her brothers and cousins didn’t hide to strip when they let out their wolves. Colby had a fine looking physique, but Olivia had never ogled him. She could look at Kit for hours.
Well, she could if he’d stand still for hours. He came toward her with that same feline grace undisguised now by garments. “You are the one wearing too many clothes now,” he murmured, smoothing his hands down her bare shoulders and into the neckline of the dress. He tried to slide the dress down.
“It’s too tight,” she told him. “You have to unlace it.”
He grunted. “That interrupted the mood. I bet that was your dad’s idea.”
“No.” She laughed, turning around and grabbing the edge of the dresser. The cards Parker had left made her roll her eyes. “The dress was Aunt Marissa’s idea.” She could feel him fumbling with the laces. A sharp jerk lifted her to her toes. “Be careful with it. Don’t rip it, okay?”
“Okay.”
He worked in silence behind her for several minutes. She could feel his breath hot on her neck as he fumbled and pulled at the lacing. “Kit? How’s it going?”
He bent and kissed the bare slope of her shoulder. “It’s a trick. I thought your brothers were being too nice. Now I know why. They knew I wouldn’t be able to get you naked.”
She gasped when she felt his tongue run hot and wet over the sliver of flesh left bare in the gap between the laces. “Oh, Kit,” she breathed, gripping the dresser more tightly to keep from falling. “Oh, Kit. Hurry.”
He snarled something behind her, and all at once the laces parted. Without thinking, she caught the dress and pressed it to her breasts to keep it from dropping. He tried to shove the dress down, but her grip was too strong.
“Move back, Kit,” she told him. “I’ll do it.”
After a moment, while she could almost feel his reluctance to separate from her, he took a step back, and she turned to face him. His gaze was fixed on her hands pressing the bodice of the dress to her breasts. Watching him, she lifted her hands away and let the dress fall. It caught on the hooped petticoat beneath it, but her breasts were bared to his gaze. His eyes shimmered green gold. Maybe it was that shimmering that made her melt inside. Or maybe it was the almost feral expression on his face that woke a river of fire in her body. He reached out and touched his forefinger to her nipple.
“Mine,” he said in a low rasp. “Mine.”
Pleasure juddered through her when he pinched her nipple, playing with her breast before bending to suck it into his mouth. She clutched at his shoulders to keep her balance. Vaguely she remembered her mother’s advice. “Kit, that feels wonderful!”
With a final light nip of his teeth he raised his head to smile at her. “It feels good to me, too.”
She looked at him, all sleek muscle under warm skin, and touched her finger to his nipple. “Mine,” she said.
“Yeah,” he growled, taking her hand and drawing it down his body to his penis. “And so is this.”
She had never seen an erect penis, much less touched one. She took her time learning the feel of him, noting which touches made him quiver. He stood with his hands rubbing circles over her shoulders, eyes closed and teeth clenched.
“Does it hurt when I squeeze you like this?” she asked.
He opened his eyes. “No. It feels good. I want to touch more of you.”
Obligingly, she reached for the knot in the drawstring of the hooped petticoat and shimmied to let it loose. It fell in perfect concentric circles around her feet, leaving her in only her panties and shoes. The thick noise that Kit made was appreciative. Any embarrassment she might have felt evaporated. She kicked her shoes off and stepped over the petticoat to press herself against him.
“Touch me,” she said.
It might have been an invitation, but it sounded like an order. Kit didn’t seem to mind. He stroked his thumbs over her eyebrows, skimmed his fingertips along the curves behind her ears, to her neck, and down along the outsides of her breasts. He stopped there to kiss her with long, hot, drugging kisses that made her pant, while his fingers teased her breasts. After a very pleasurable pause, he sent his hands smoothing down her sides, following the indent of her waist to the slight flare of her hips. His hands spread over her butt to pull her hard against him. The feel of his penis pressed into her belly did interesting things to her breathing. It literally stopped for a moment when he tugged her panties down and smoothed through the hair between her legs.
She kicked and wiggled to get rid of the panties. “Touch me,” she demanded.
“So soft,” he muttered, petting the hair between her legs before one of his fingers slipped up and inside her. “And this, so warm, so tight.”
Olivia found herself lost in sensations she had never felt before. Such wonderful sensations weakened her knees and made her almost dizzy. “Oh, Kit,” she moaned. “I can’t keep standing. I think I need to lie down.”
“Yes,” he hissed in a guttural tone. “Bed.”
His finger slid out of her in a rush of liquid heat. She missed it immediately. “Hurry.”
She took his hand and pulled him to the bed. She reached to throw the covers back and stopped, confused. She tried again. They were stuck? They were…
“Those idiots!” she raged. “They sewed the sheets together.”
Some of the passion glazing Kit’s eyes cleared. He bent to peer at sheets. “I think they’re sewed to the mattress,” he clarified. “Big stitches spaced about two inches apart.”
“I’m going to kill Parker and Taylor.” It wasn’t a threat. It was a promise. “I don’t have my knife.”
“It’s okay.”
He raised his forefinger and a claw, sharp and curving, sprang out. With a few deft flicks, he sliced through each stitch and then carefully folded the bedding open. He turned back to her and kissed her with tender promise.
“Your uncle said I must go slowly with you. Virgins need a lot of foreplay to be ready to make love. Are you ready?”
She wound her arms around his neck. “Oh, yes.”
His smile was devilish. “Good. So am I.”
Holding her close, he toppled them onto the bed.
It collapsed in a crash of splinters to the floor.
“Taylor! Parker!” she roared. “I’m going to kill you!
*
Kit laughed. He knew his mate’s brothers and cousins had been too nice to him. “Are you hurt?”
“No, just angry. Are you okay?”
“Yes.” He cradled his mate’s naked body close for a minute, just savoring her warmth and the rich, heady scent of her arousal. He stood up with her in his arms and carried her a few feet away, where her bare feet would be safe from splinters. “Wait here.”
He pulled the mattress free of the wreckage and dragged it to a clear spot by Olivia. He retrieved the pillows and sheets and blankets, and spread them over the mattress. Rising to his feet, he turned to look at her. How beautiful she was! Her skin was pale and soft, exquisitely punctuated by pink nipples and blond hair between her legs. The flush on her face was pink too, but he could see her passion waning under the outrage at her brothers.
“Come here,” he invited, kneeling down to lift the bedding. “You can kill your brothers later. We’re busy right now.”
Her gaze settled on him, and slowly the outrage was replaced by passion. She knelt beside him and took his face in her hands. “We’re not done yet,” she agreed, and kissed him.
He loved the taste of her tongue in his mouth, and rejoiced
in the heat of her hand circling his cock. He remembered what her uncle had told him: a mate’s pleasure always came first. That was so obvious that Kit couldn’t imagine why Taye had said it. In the pride, the queens’ pleasure was the most important thing. A male who couldn’t make the queen come wouldn’t be allowed to service her again. But the other thing that Taye had said was new to him. A woman could climax just from the touch of his hands and mouth. He was anxious to experiment with that.
“Lie down,” he urged Olivia, pushing at her shoulders gently.
She was a feast laid out for him, her legs slightly parted and the uncertain expression not quite hidden by anticipation. “Should I turn off the lamp?” he asked.
“No,” she said instantly. “I want to see you when we make love.”
“Okay.”
He moved slowly and gently, ignoring his own body’s roaring need to part her legs and sink deep inside her. He made love to her with his fingers and his mouth, paying attention to her body’s reactions to see what she liked most. He could tell when she was nearing climax by the way her body tightened and her breathing became moaning gasps. The sight of her cresting was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. When she had finished writhing beneath him, he kissed her.
“You are so beautiful,” he murmured. He looked down at her with an unspoken question.
“Yes!” she cried. “Come into me now.”
Go slow, he reminded himself. Taye said a woman’s first time could be painful, and he didn’t want to cause his mate any pain. He entered her very carefully, and nudged deeper with every controlled stroke, waiting for pain to blossom on her face. She twitched very slightly and he stopped, sweat blooming on his upper lip.
“Olivia? Are you okay?”
“Yes.” She threaded her hands through his hair. “This is incredible. I feel full. Stretched. It doesn’t hurt, though. Keep going.”
Control was hard to maintain with her body clamped around him like a hot, wet vice. He rocked gently into her over and over. When she arched against him and screamed his name, his control broke. He lifted himself on stiff arms and pounded into her.
