She squeezed his hands, and he gave back equal pressure. There was nothing she could say to him, nothing he didn’t already know about him, and her, and what they were going to be together.
And it was everything she could ever have wanted.
* * *
The moon was rising by the time they picked their way in the dark to the cabin. Neither of them felt the need to get dressed, and the soft night air chilled Harley’s skin. But Jericho kept touching her, his hand brushing against her arm, sliding down to her hip, behind to her ass. They jostled each other on the narrowest part of the path, reluctant to move apart to walk single file. She laughed, and then in the next moment he scooped her up in his arms. The sudden change in position in the dark disoriented her, but she closed her eyes, and gave in to the dizziness, to the swirl of heat that washed through her, as she rested her head on his shoulder.
“I could get used to this, you know, being carried around.”
“The only way I’d agree to that is if you were naked.” His voice rumbled in the dark.
“Oh, well…maybe just on special occasions then.”
“Agreed. I’m pretty sure we can come up with enough special occasions between us.”
The path widened into the clearing by the cabin, but Jericho didn’t put her down. His feet were silent on the pine needles, as he crossed the open space, then she heard the creak of the bottom stair, as he walked up on the porch.
“You can put me down now…”
“Not on your life.”
He hesitated, then shifted her slightly, as he reached for the handle on the door. It swung open, and the smell of the cabin came to meet her, the scent of wood smoke, tobacco, the slightly musty smell small spaces that were closed up got, that would be gone as soon as a breeze blew through.
But her world right now was Jericho, the warmth of his body against her, the strength of his arms holding her. He stopped in the middle of the cabin, or at least she thought he did. It was darker here, not even the moonlight to cast silvery shadows. But she knew his shifter eyes could see everything. And she knew that his shifter senses could smell her desire, could sense every nuance in her body.
He lowered the arm holding her legs, slowly, letting her get her feet under her. She kept her arms wrapped around his neck, letting her body slide against him, slowly, not wanting to lose contact with him. Her breasts, still damp from the lake, slid against his chest, her nipple rising up hard and tight at the contact with the damp hair that curled on his torso. She pressed against him, eagerly seeking contact, pushing against him, his cock moving over the soft skin of her stomach. He was hard; she knew he would be, but it still made her smile.
“You’ve got something on your mind, Jericho?” She wiggled against him, teasing herself more than him. He still only held her loosely, one arm around her waist, even though she was practically standing on his feet.
“I wouldn’t exactly say it’s on my mind.” Those words came with slow roll of his hips, his body moving against hers, his cock sliding oh-so-slowly over her skin. The feel of him was intoxicating, and she couldn’t hold back the little whimper that escaped her lips. Jericho made a sound in return, nothing like a whimper, more like a growl, a sound of deep masculine—and shifter—pleasure.
“But I think it’s the same thing you want Harley? Am I right?” He took a step forward, and she took a step back, and he slowly, gracefully guided her toward the bed in the corner. Somewhere along the line, his hand had come around, cupping her ass, and now his fingers dug in, kneading her flesh, moving over her with each step she took.
“You’re right. You’ll always be right, when it comes to this, to whatever this is we have between us.”
“What do we have?” His lips were close to her ear, his breath hot on her skin. “Tell me what it is.”
“Well…” His words took her off guard. “We have the beginning of something pretty amazing, I think.”
“I’d agree. But…” His lips came along her cheek, and she turned to find them with hers. He kissed her, his mouth mobile, lips already parted. But he moved away, taking that kiss with him, before she’d had nearly enough of him.
“But? Is there a but in this, Jericho?” On its own accord, her head fell back, and she let him lick a trail down to the hollow at the base of her throat. Not that she minded: if he’d tried to stop, she’d have probably grabbed him, and pulled him right back down, making him start that trail of kisses all over again.
“Doesn’t have to be. But you know they say you can’t build a relationship on just fucking awesome sex alone.”
“Well, hell, I’m willing to try, if you are.”
That made him laugh, softly, and he lifted his head to look at her. She could see him, in the faint light coming through the door, her eyes slowly adjusted to the dark.
“Harley, for you—with you—I’m willing to try just about anything.” By now he was nuzzling the tops of her breasts, the scruff on his chin rough in contrast with the hard warmth of his lips. With her fingers tensed against the back of his neck, she debated over how to answer him, and whether pulling him up for another kiss was preferable to leaving him to his own devices. The debate was a nice little one, and in the end she decided to let him wander around for a bit. After all, he seemed to be at home where he was.
And where he was now was heaven. He’d reached up to cradle one breast, squeezing, tensing his fingers against her skin, moving his hand over her, until her hard nipples ached for his kiss. She arched into his touch, his other hand between her shoulders, holding her easily. She felt weightless, grounded only by the hand behind her. By his lips and tongue, and oh, my God, by his teeth, grazing her flushed skin. He was close, so damned close to where she wanted him, to licking, or kissing, or doing anything to bring her out of this glorious torture.
“God, Jericho, like one more inch, please.”
His lips curved into a smile against her skin, and to her frustration he lifted his head.
“One more inch? This way…” He moved his head to the side, licking a slow circle between her breasts. “Or this way…” He shifted away, the stubble on his chin scraping over her skin, sending a delicious shudder through her.
“Yes. Please…you know what I want, right? Or do I have to spell it out?” But she was laughing, as he raised his head and met her gaze.
“No, ma’am. I read you loud and clear.” In the gray dark of the cabin his eyes glinted silver, and before she really figured out what he was doing, she was on her back on the little bed, head bumping against the wall, feet hanging off the edge. Jericho landed on top of her. The bed protested with a crack of splintering wood, and a shriek of metal, and for a minute they both froze.
Harley’s giggles broke the silence. “Well, I’m pretty sure this is the first time this bed has had more than one person in it.”
“You think it’ll last through the night? I seem to remember you’re something of a hellcat in bed.”
“Speak for yourself, Jericho. You’re no docile little kitten.”
“Touché.”
He did what she wanted then, lowered his head, and found one of her aching nipples, pulling it into his mouth, sucking slowly at first. But it was pretty clear he was only getting started.
Harley wiggled around on the bed, working to find a way for them to fit on the narrow cot. Her wiggling sent off a shudder in Jericho, so she did it again, wigging her hips and ass, and was rewarded with another slow roll of Jericho’s hips against hers. He lifted his head to regard her in the dark.
“You want this…” His hand came up, fingers tensing around her breast, squeezing until she cried out in pleasure, mixed with just a hint of pain. Just enough pain to make it impossible not to cry out again.
“Or do you want that?”
His knee came up roughly between her legs, pushing one off the edge of the bed. The suddenness, the forcefulness of his move made her breath go all shallow and short, not with fear, but with a sudden overwhelming wave of arousal.
She came alive beneath him then, her body working on adrenaline, and full on arousal. Her lips parted—truth be told, she just opened her mouth, and practically swallowed him whole. His tongue traced her lips, and then thrust into her mouth. She met him full on, tongue slick against his, mouth and lips moving against his, over and over, the kiss deepening, taking on a life of its own. For a minute that kiss was all-consuming, taking her breath away, making her heart thunder in her chest.
But even that wasn’t enough. She wanted him, all of him. One last wiggle, one last shimmy of her hips, and he was there, his hard cock thrusting into her, taking control, taking over every emotion and thought she had.
This wasn’t just sex. That little three letter word was far too small, too…weak…to describe what was happening between them. This was more, way more, than she ever thought it could be. He consumed her, took from her, took her body, and her heart, and her soul. And her love.
And he gave. He gave her, in every movement, every thrust into her, gave her his power, his strength. His love.
When it was over she lay beneath him, sweaty and hot, lush and sticky with sex. And completely, utterly, beyond all hope and dreams, in love with this man.
“We didn’t use a condom this time.”
His words were muffled against her neck. She thought about that, her breathing matching his, their bodies falling into perfect rhythm, as the ebbs and flows in her slowly subsided.
“Yeah. About that.”
He lifted his head just a little, enough to rest it beside her on the flattened pillow. “Is that going to be a problem?”
She thought about problems, and how before yesterday, that word seemed so big, so hard to overcome. Now, she was homeless, living in a one room cabin, with no business to speak of. But she had friends, and she had a roof over her, and some tuna in a can. If they were lucky, maybe a beer or three.
Now, in this little bed that threatened to collapse at any second, she had her man. Not the man she would have dreamed of, not in a million years. But the man who was perfect for her. She wiggled again, and he laughed, but she wanted to touch his face, managing to free one arm.
“Not in the least.”
Reading the contours of his face, she felt his lips move into a smile, and then her fingers felt what was either sweat, or tears, on his cheek. She knew better than to ask, so she let that just stay there between them.
“I need to check on the bike, make sure…you know…” There was an edge to his voice that hadn’t been there before. He got off the bed with a minimal banging of knees and elbows, and walked to the doorway. There he stopped, and without turning, he spoke.
“It’s not a problem for me either. Not a problem whatsoever.” Then his feet whispered across the porch floor, and he was gone. She sniffed back a few tears of her own, and got out of the bed, trying to make sense of the blankets, and lone pillow, and then finally giving up.
* * *
Lying in the dark on the narrow bed, waiting for Jericho to come back, she hoped she’d never get used to him, to the surprise of him. The man who could take her breath away when his animal rose to the surface, so close she could feel that big cat moving around, just under his skin. She wanted this man who could be so wild and untamable, so damn headstrong, and then turn around and bring tears to her eyes with his sweetness, with the depth of his emotions.
She heard his step on the porch, and then the dark shadow of his body filled the door. For just an instant her heart sped up, the rush of adrenaline telling her that everything that had happened was still inside her, still too close to the surface for comfort. Jericho started to pull the door shut.
“Leave it open.”
He stopped, and she sensed he was looking down at her. “Any reason why?” If he thought her request was odd, his voice didn’t give anything away.
She thought for a minute. “I guess I don’t want to be surprised. Or feel trapped.”
He’d come back to the bed now, sitting down on the little edge that she’d left him.
“Makes sense. Besides, we can see the moon from here.”
She pushed up on her elbows, looking past him out the door. The cabin was dark, the dense shadows fuzzing toward gray closer to the door. Outside…well, outside was alive, and magical, and full of life. The moon hung like a big old pearl in the sky, luminescent, and so gosh darn big it looked like it took up half the sky. For a minute she thought, if she wished hard enough, she would see a dragon fly past. She blinked, and then lay back, knowing dragons were just fantasy.
Besides, she had her own version of magic: She had Jericho.
Shifting on the little bed she made room for him. He lay down beside her, wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Fitting her curves into his, she made herself right at home.
For a long time, she listened to his deep breathing, watching the moon. Then an owl hooted somewhere close, and she listened for its mate to call back. When she heard that, somewhere down by the lake, she smiled, closed her eyes, and went to sleep.
About Catherine Vale
Catherine Vale, a Canadian romance author, has been writing fiction for as long as she can remember, but it wasn't until she wrote her very first paranormal romance story that she found herself hooked on the wild side of powerful shifters and dominant alpha men (of the furry kind!).
Catherine writes sci-fi, and paranormal romance for readers who are willing to take a walk on the wild side of love. Her stories always include powerful alpha males, curvy gals, and a happily-ever-after. Girls with curves and guys with growl. What more could you want?
Do you want to know when there's a new release? Special offers, giveaways, free books and more! Find out more at http://www.CatherineVale.com, and subscribe to her newsletter to receive notifications whenever a new book is released!
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Other Books by Catherine Vale
Broken Moon (Were-wolf shifter romance)
Darkest Days series (sci-fi alien romance)
Tigers Tango (ménage were-tiger romance)
The Wolves Next Door (ménage were-wolves romance)
On The Prowl (series)
Kiss of Fire (dragon shifter romance)
To Catch a Cheetah (Cheetah romance)
Burn, Baby, Burn (dragon shifter romance)
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Run Fur Love (BBW Tiger Shifter Romance) Page 15
