Her Panther Protector [The Protectors 5] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Doris O'Connor

  Macey shrieked and fought him, but with one arm round her waist he lifted her clean off the ground while holding her wrists behind her back. She still kicked her legs and the contact with his shins hurt, but eventually she stopped struggling and sagged against him.

  “Damn you, let me go. You have no right to treat me like that. I don’t want this, any of this. Let me go, please.”

  It was the tear-stained “please” that made him release her slowly, and her eyes widened when she seemed to notice his erection. He grinned at her and thrust his aching cock against her belly just once before he stepped away to put much-needed breathing space between them. It was that or flip the skirt of her loose-fitting dress up, pull down her panties, bend her over the kitchen table and fuck her silly. That she would be wet for him he had no doubt. Her mind might be rebelling, but her body knew what it needed, and his taking charge of her like this had turned her on no end.

  Her pert little breasts quivered with the force of her breathing and her nipples poked through the thin fabric covering them. The most delightful flush covered her flawless skin, and she hastily crossed her arms over her breasts when he followed that blush down into the V of her dress. His beast damn near salivated at the wetness he sensed between her legs, and he knew his voice held the growl of his animal when he spoke.

  “You can keep telling yourself that, but your body tells me otherwise, darling.”

  She gasped at his words, and he winked at her and pushed his hands into the back pocket of his jeans to stop himself from reaching out and touching her.

  “We both know there is something between us, and we both know that I have every right to see that boy. He’s mine, just as much as you are. Now, you can protest that until you’re blue in the face, and I realize that you don’t know me and you have no reason to believe me, but I’m here to stay.”

  He let the words sink in and the myriad of expressions that crossed her face were truly something to behold. Denial, anger, hurt, fear, but in the end, honesty won out.

  “I won’t let you take him.” She whispered the words, and Sasha sighed and ran a hand over his face.

  “And I wouldn’t dream of taking him away from you. I realize that he doesn’t know me either, and I sense there is more going on here than you are willing to tell me right now, but Kenny is my son.” He nodded at her sharp intake of breath.

  “How can you be so sure?” she asked.

  “I just am, so you best get used to seeing me around.” He stopped to sniff the air and grinned at her. “I’m going to fit that new door, and you best see to those cookies. I smell burning.”

  “Damn it.” Sasha grinned to himself as she swung round and yanked the oven door open while he left the kitchen. A look in on his boy showed him to have fallen asleep, and giving in to instinct, he walked up to him and stroked Kenny’s hair.

  A quiet rumble rose from the small chest in front of him and his panther purred in answer. He wasn’t at all surprised to see Macey stood by the entrance, wringing her hands in agitation as she observed his interaction with her sleeping nephew.

  Waves of protectiveness poured off of her right now, and he smiled up at her as he straightened. The tentative smile she offered him in return made him feel ten feet tall.

  “We’ll work this out,” he said, and she nodded and blinked away tears, took a deep breath in, and went back in the direction of the kitchen. With her hand on the door handle, she turned back round to look at him.

  “If you’re intent on staying, I guess I best get to start cooking something more substantial then cookies. And you have a door to fix. Might as well put you to work and let you do your manly thing, but don’t get any ideas.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it, darling.”

  Chapter Six

  The ball hit the kitchen window for the umpteenth time, and Macey smiled as she pulled the homemade pizzas out of the oven. Who’d have thought that man would be such a natural when it came to dealing with Kenny? It soothed the insistent ball of worry knotting her insides. When Sasha had confirmed her suspicion that he was indeed Kenny’s father, Macey had felt as though the rug had been pulled out from under her feet.

  It was one thing to suspect, quite another to have this man tower over her and tell her in no uncertain terms that both Kenny and she were his. If he thought for one minute that she would just roll over and let him take over, either in Kenny’s life or hers, he had another think coming.

  “And he scores…Wooooo!”

  All sensible thought fled Macey’s befuddled brain when she looked out of the window to see both Kenny and Sasha pull off their T-shirts and swing them over their heads as though they had just scored in the World Cup and weren’t just kicking a ball around her garden. Kenny wore the biggest grin ever, and she laughed when he wrapped his little arms around Sasha’s legs and sent the man flying. Macey held her breath, half expecting Sasha to be angry, but instead, he, too, burst out laughing and proceeded to dangle Kenny high above him. When he lowered the toddler and blew several raspberries on Kenny’s tummy, the little boy’s infectious giggles made Macey giggle, too, while every feminine cell in her body sighed in appreciation of the way Sasha’s muscles rippled as he repeated the action time and time again.

  There wasn’t an ounce of fat on Sasha’s frame. He was all hard muscles and inked skin, and Macey’s fingers itched to trace the swirling designs covering his shoulders, forearms and chest. Oh, who was she kidding? She might be able to keep that man at arm’s length for now, and certainly would have to for Kenny’s sake until she could be sure that he wouldn’t take off again in a hurry.

  After all, he’d got her sister pregnant and left her to fend for herself. Even as she thought that, Macey knew she wasn’t entirely fair here. In truth, her wayward sister had slept with anyone back then, and no doubt hadn’t even tried to get in touch with Sasha. Try as she might, she couldn’t hide from the truth staring her in the face.

  Sasha had shown nothing but infinite patience with Kenny so far. The little fellow had woken up from his nap full of questions, and Sasha had answered every one in terms Kenny could understand. He’d let Kenny help with hanging the new door even though it must have added to his workload tenfold, and then had offered to take Kenny outside for a kick around when the little fellow had insisted on helping Macey.

  Lost in her thoughts Macey jumped when Kenny ran into the kitchen.

  “Yeah, pizza. Wash my hands.”

  His little stool scraped across the stone floor with teeth-grinding results, and it was Macey’s turn to shriek when he turned the water on full blast. Ice-cold water sprayed all over the front of her dress, soaking her in seconds.

  “Oooh, sorry.”

  Macey made a blind grab for the roll of kitchen towel to help dry off a bit, and froze when her questing fingers made contact with hard muscle instead. Heat rolled over her skin, seeing Sasha stood right in front of her. With one hand, he adjusted the tap to help Kenny wash his hands without flooding the kitchen, and the other held a tea towel just out of her reach.

  “Looking for this, Macey?” he asked, and the most sinful smile played on his full lips. She tried to make a grab for it, but he held it up and out of her way and shook his head.

  “And what’s the magic word, darling?”

  Macey glared at him, and crossed her arms over her chest. She didn’t even want to contemplate the free peepshow she must be giving him right now.

  Kenny’s giggle brought her attention back to her nephew.

  “Say pwease,” he said. The way he put his hands on his hips and gave her the stare proved too much for Macey, and her sense of humor at the ridiculousness they found themselves in won out. She smiled at Kenny, shook her head, and addressed a still-smirking Sasha.

  “Can I please have that tea towel to stem the drowned-rat look, kind Sir?” Macey had meant that to come out flippantly, but her stomach somersaulted at Sasha’s reaction. His eyes flashed fire and his jaw tightened, all previous amusement gone, and she squeezed h
er thighs together to soothe the pulse between her legs. Jeez, the way he looked at her, as though he wanted to eat her alive, had to be the biggest turn-on ever.

  “As you ask me so nicely, kitten.” His voice dropped an octave as he murmured those words, and she gasped when he handed her the towel and their fingers touched. The room faded away until it was just the two of them, with her helplessly trapped in the intensity of his gaze.

  The shrill scrape of wood being dragged across stone broke the spell between them, and Macey snatched the towel up to her chest and backed away from Sasha. In a move so fast she’d have missed it had she blinked, he lifted Kenny off the work top he had just managed to climb on in his efforts to get to the pizza, and held the wriggling toddler under one arm.

  “Manners, little man. We sit down to eat, do we not?” He winked at Macey and she nodded her head, not at all sure she could get her voice to work at all.

  “Yes, we do. I’m just gonna go and change, and—”

  “No need to change on my account, darling. I’m rather enjoying the view.” Just like that, cocky Sasha was back, and Macey groaned under her breath and ran away. That was really the only explanation for it. Sasha’s amused laughter followed her up the stairs, and she banged the door to her bedroom shut and swore when she caught sight of herself in the mirror.

  Just like she’d feared, the water had made the thin fabric of her dress completely see-through. No wonder he’d gone all caveman on her. She might as well have stood there naked, for fuck’s sake. Her nipples and even her areolae were clearly visible through the delicate lace of her bra, and she proceeded to strip out of her dress and bra in record time. The knickers, too, hit the floor. They weren’t wet due to the water spill but soaked through with her Sasha-ogling-induced arousal, and Macey shook her head at her wayward hormones.

  Really, she was acting no better than her sister, the way she was lusting after the man. This whole thing was insane, but no man had ever made her feel as hot and bothered with just one look like Sasha had done. Heaven help her if he ever set out to actively seduce her. She’d be putty in the damn man’s hands. It was a most disconcerting notion, and as far as Macey was concerned, this kind of nonsense belonged between the pages of a romance novel. This just didn’t happen in real life, and if it did, it would never end well.

  Having changed into another lacy bra-and-knickers set—the one extravagance she liked to splash out on—and having pulled on jeans and a light, high-necked jumper, Macey hurried back down the stairs and promptly froze. Sasha had set the table in the not-often-used dining room, and he’d even unearthed the candles she kept in case of power cuts. With the curtains drawn and the candles lit, the simple pizza meal she’d made for them all had been transformed into an almost romantic setting—if you ignored Kenny bouncing up and down on his chair and looking at the pizza with big, brown puppy dog eyes, that was.

  Despite being all covered up, Macey felt naked under Sasha’s quiet perusal of her body, and she wordlessly slid into the chair he held out for her. He let his fingers linger on her shoulder as he pushed the chair in, and a shiver of anticipation went down her spine.

  “You needn’t have gone through all that trouble,” she said and winced at the breathy quality of her voice. “We normally eat in the kitchen, and this is only pizza.”

  Kenny giggled and some sort of unspoken communication seemed to be going on between these two, because Sasha winked at Kenny.

  “Yes, well, we thought the least we could do is make this nice. I have it under good authority that Mama Macey makes the best pizza ever.”

  Kenny nodded so fast his black curls bounced around his head, and Macey laughed and shook her head.

  “Flattery will get you nowhere.” She handed Kenny a piece and the little fellow tucked in with his usual enthusiasm.

  “It’s only flattery if it’s not the truth.” Sasha’s quiet words delivered around a mouthful of pizza gave her a warm glow inside, and to hide her reaction to his words, Macey made herself busy dishing out the salad she’d also prepared.

  Kenny pulled a face when she put some on his plate.

  “It’s only a little bit, and you’ll never grow big and strong if you don’t eat your greens. You know that, Kenny.”

  She tensed when Kenny looked toward Sasha and shook his head.

  “Sasha won’t make me eat my greens.”

  “On the contrary, little man. How do you think I got these muscles?” Sasha replied, and Kenny’s eyes grew wide when Sasha made a big display of flexing his biceps.

  Macey was glad she was sitting already, or she might have just slid to the floor. Yes, pathetic and ridiculous, that’s what she was. She didn’t hear what Sasha said next, but Kenny’s annoyed “Oh, maaaan” had to mean that Sasha had backed her up.

  With a frown in her direction and a complete and utter look of disgust on his face, Kenny used his fingers to grasp the lettuce and chewed on it.

  “Not fair,” he mumbled, and Sasha winked at her when Macey dared to risk a glance in his direction. The rest of the meal passed quickly with Sasha once again showing his patience with the exuberant Kenny.

  By the time Macey brought out the ice cream to go with the cookies for dessert, and that, too, had been demolished by Kenny, the little boy’s eyes were drooping.

  “Time for bed, Kenny. It’s been a long day,” Macey said and he shook his head.

  “Not tired, my not.” Macey had to smile at his lapse into baby language. He didn’t do it often now, and she’d miss those little quirks when they disappeared for good.

  “Of course, you’re not, but it’s still bedtime.”

  Kenny crossed his arms over his chest and sulked.

  “Want Sasha to take me to bed.”

  * * * *

  Sasha didn’t need his enhanced shifter senses to notice how tense Macey became at those innocent words. There seemed to be an internal war going on inside his girl. On the one hand, she seemed genuinely pleased with his interactions with Kenny, and in truth, Sasha had surprised himself with how much fun he’d had with the little mite. Sasha usually stayed well away from kids, but this wasn’t just any snotty-nosed kid. No, Kenny was his son, and as trite as that sounded, that fact had changed everything.

  The boy was great company, in fact, and it didn’t hurt one bit that being with him also placed Sasha in close proximity to his aunt. If he’d had any doubts that Macey was his mate, having spent the last few hours with her had just cemented the certainty.

  It made for an uncomfortable time in the groin department, but at least it kept his volatile panther happy—for now.

  “No, Kenny, that’s your mama’s job. I’ll just stay here and clean up.”

  Kenny sulked more and tried to hide a yawn, and Macey’s mouth fell open in surprise. She’d clearly not been expecting that answer, and Sasha got rather a kick out of her reaction. Keeping her flustered was fast becoming a favorite pastime of his.

  “You don’t have to do that, and I’m sure you’ve got somewhere to be. It’s Saturday night, after all…” Macey let her words trail off, and the assumption that he had somewhere else to be hung heavy between them.

  Sasha shifted in his chair, uncomfortably aware that just two nights ago, that would have been true. He would be halfway to Carlisle already to pick up a conquest or two for the night, or stop off with Jennifer. The female panther had become a favorite fuck-buddy of his, though she was getting too clingy for his liking.

  Now, with his mate’s expressive eyes narrowing at the shrug of his shoulders, he realized with a start that he didn’t want to be anywhere but here.

  “I have nowhere else to be right now,” he said, and Macey shook her head.

  “Really? I find that hard to believe. No willing woman waiting for her pound of Sasha?” Macey frowned when he smiled and raised an eyebrow.

  “None that I’d want to meet up with. I’m afraid you’re stuck with me, kitten.”

  Just like the last time he’d called her that, heat flared in M
acey’s cheeks and her pupils dilated in need. Oh yes, his prickly nurse rather liked it when he called her that, which was an interesting development, for sure, not least because Sasha usually didn’t adopt pet names for the women he was with. Then again, Macey wasn’t just any woman. She was his mate.

  His panther growled low in his throat, and Sasha took a deep breath to help him contain his inner beast. Even so, Macey blanched and, grasping Kenny’s hand, backed out of the room.

  “Fine, have it your way. Say goodnight to Sasha, Kenny.”

  “Nite, Sasha.”

  “Goodnight, little man, and, Macey?” Sasha dropped his voice to the one he reserved for unruly subs, and much to his amusement, it stopped his girl dead. She glanced back at him, her whole body language showing her wariness, and she couldn’t quite bring herself to look him in the eye this time.

  “Yes?” she whispered, and he didn’t miss the way she grasped his son tighter.

  “Don’t take too long upstairs, or I’ll be forced to come get you. We have things to discuss.”

  That brought her head up, and the brief flash of anger in her brown eyes was quickly replaced by cautious acceptance.

  “I guess we do.” She picked Kenny up and disappeared upstairs, and Sasha busied himself with clearing away the leftover debris. Little boys sure made a great big mess when eating.

  By the time he’d loaded the last plate into Macey’s dishwasher, he couldn’t hear anything from upstairs. Macey had stopped reading some time ago, and she didn’t seem to have moved from Kenny’s room, so, taking the stairs three at a time, Sasha went in search of her.

  His chest tightened and his panther whined when he spotted her. Sat on the side of Kenny’s bed, Macey cried silent tears as she watched his son sleep, and she hastily wiped away the evidence of her emotions when she noticed him.

  Sasha walked up to her and handed her a tissue from the box kept on Kenny’s nightstand, and Macey took it with a watery smile and blew her nose. She wouldn’t look at him. Instead, she kept her gaze on a peacefully sleeping Kenny, and she jumped when Sasha gently grasped her chin to make her look at him.