by Mandy Harbin
“Cat got your tongue, huh?” Lillian huffed at him.
“What?”
“Nothing, Tigger.” So those weren’t tears. She wasn’t sad. Now that he was really studying her, she looked pissed.
Rob laughed. “Well, look, she still has some spirit left in her. My turn, people.” He raised his glass and looked right at Lillian. “I have never insulted anyone with cat names.”
“Hey!” Ariel said. “That’s not fair. I think I’ve done that before.”
Krista shrugged. “I probably have, too. No biggie, sis, one drink won’t hurt us.”
The three women in the room who were not pregnant swallowed their shots.
“I think it’s my turn,” Lillian said. She lifted her glass, and it sloshed to the side a little. She was definitely past the tipsy stage and barreling full steam ahead to drunkenness. “My mate refuses to talk to me.”
Jack slammed his glass down. “I’m not refusing to talk to you, Lillian. I—”
“Well, thuffering thuccotash, Sylvester, you have one hell of a way of showing it.”
The room erupted in laughter. Jack pushed his fists onto the table and stood. He glared at her across the table. “You are insufferable. I haven’t seen you beating down my door either.”
Lillian stood on wobbly legs. “What’d you expect? Me to call you and say, ‘Hello Kitty,’ or, or, or, ‘Heavens to Murgatroyd, Snagglepuss, but are you ever going to acknowledge me again?’”
Jack stormed around the table and grabbed her by her arms. “Acknowledge you? There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of you.”
“Well you have one funny way of showing it, Snowball!”
“That’s it!” Jack roared. He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. She beat against his back as he turned to face his family. They were all grinning like the Cheshire Cat. Fuck! Now he was doing it, too. “I hope you all are happy. We’ll be in my cabin setting some things straight.”
“We’ll see you both at breakfast,” Thomas called out as Jack stormed out of the room.
Mikaela squeaked out, “Don’t forget what I said!” just as the door shut. Whatever the hell that meant.
Yep, his family was evil.
Chapter Twelve
Lillian felt herself being tossed onto the bed in Jack’s cabin. If she weren’t so drunk, she’d make a run back to the main house and kiss Mikaela on the mouth. Her and her favors. Lillian hadn’t planned on pushing Jack to his limit, not yet, but once she got a little liquid courage in her and was presented the opportunity, she couldn’t help it. Her true nature had pushed through. And thanks to Mikaela, she knew if she pushed Jack to the edge, all he’d be able to do was fall over.
And boy, had he fallen. He looked downright viral as he reveled in it.
“You think you can push me around and take what you want?” Oh yeah, he could, but she wasn’t stupid enough to let him know that. “You owe me an apology.”
Jack whipped his shirt over his head and reached for the placket of his jeans. “I’m sorry.” He looked down as he pushed his pants off.
“That’s it? You’re sorry?” She was going to make sure she pushed all his buttons before this night was through.
“No, that’s not it. You’re not naked. You better get that way now if you want to keep those clothes for another day.”
She bounded up to her knees and put her fists at his hips. “You have some nerve, big guy. If this is wooing me, you need to work on your social skills.”
He stalked over to her, grabbed her shirt, and ripped if off her. She gasped.
“I hate you, Jackson Woods!”
“I hate you, too, Lillian Caldwell!”
He crushed his mouth to hers and kissed her with so much force she had to struggle to get her tongue into his mouth. They each fought for control of the kiss while Jack reached down and yanked her pants with enough force that they tore as she was thrust against him. She broke away from the kiss and glared at him.
“Quit ruining my clothes.”
“I warned you.” He reached for her pants again, but she pushed him away and rolled off the bed to the other side.
“Look here, Jackson, we’re doing this on my terms.” She held her hand out in a defensive maneuver.
“You can think whatever you want, Lillian. But you know how this is going to end. I’ll be fucking you, and you’ll be submitting to me. You’ve pushed me too fucking far.”
Oh God, did her pussy just throb? His words shouldn’t have been such a turn-on. But she was more turned on now than she ever remembered being with him. She licked her kiss-swollen lips and slowly pushed her pants down and shrugged off the remnants of her torn shirt and bra. She left her panties on just to tease him a little more.
“Fuck, Lilly, I love your breasts.” He started climbing on the bed toward her, but she backed away.
“If you want me, Jack, you’ll have to do what I say.”
He stopped and growled at her. “Stop fucking pushing me! You don’t understand how bad my lion wants to dominate you.”
Oh, she figured as much. Hell, she was banking on it, but she wanted him completely lost. Only when he let go of all his control would he be able to accept himself. She was doing this for him. For her. For the both of them. She was aware that this might backfire on her, but she was making it up as she went along, and somewhere inside her, she knew she needed to test him.
“Oh please, Tom, you couldn’t dominate Jerry.”
He roared and dove for her. She jumped, but wasn’t fast enough. He pinned her against the wall.
She tried pushing him off her, but then his mouth landed on the sensitive spot where her neck met her shoulder.
And then he bit. Hard.
“You will fucking submit, Lilly.”
“Screw you, big guy. You want it? You’ll have to take it. I ain’t giving you shit.”
“I’ll be taking you all night, showing you who you belong to,” he taunted.
Please, please, please, she chanted to herself, but she said, “Big words for such a scaredy-cat.”
He lifted her easily and whirled them. He pushed the top half of her onto the bed and let her legs dangle off the edge. He held her down with one hand between her shoulder blades and grabbed the scrap of lace that was cocooned between her ass cheeks.
“You may leave these on. For now,” Jack rasped.
And oh Lord, if he wasn’t tracing the line of her panties, making her pussy and her pucker both contract.
“I may do whatever I damn well please, Azrael. You’ll need the help of Gargamel’s wizardry if you think you’re going win this.”
He leaned over her, his lips brushing over her ear. “The Smurfs, really?”
“I told you, I had a ton of them.”
She used his momentary distraction as the opportunity to strike. She bucked beneath him and twisted at the same time, catching his arm at the crook of his elbow, and managed to break free.
Until he pinned her down again, only this time she was facing him. He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her farther up the bed. Now she was fully lying on the mattress, no part of her hanging off it.
“You’re trying my patience, Lilly,” he growled. His head descended, and whatever protest she was about to make died when he sucked her nipple into his mouth.
Her back arched, and she moaned. The feel of Jack’s hot mouth encasing her was too distracting for her to fight back. Besides, she hadn’t been fighting him to stop him from fucking her. She was challenging him as Mikaela had suggested—or with what she hoped was the right interpretation of what she’d suggested.
Jack groaned, and the vibrations against her breast traveled straight to her clit. And she couldn’t wait for him to put his mouth there.
Ugh, but she needed to make sure she kept his need amped up as high as she could get it, not focus on him satisfying her aching body. When he let go of her breast and nibbled his way down her body, she fisted her hands in his hair, stopping his progress.
“Let go, Lill
y. I want to taste what belongs to me.”
“Then roll over.”
“No,” he snapped. He tried lowering his head again, but she held on to his hair. His head popped back. “Lillian, you will do as I say.”
“Jackson, you will have to prove to me that you are worthy of my submission.”
He hissed at her, his fangs descending, eyes narrowing. There. That’s what she wanted. She wanted him feral.
“Come on, baby,” she cooed. “You know you want me.”
He threw his head back and roared, the sound making her shiver. Lillian shifted into her feline form and used her claws to yank herself out from under him. Once she was free, she shifted back, her torn panties falling off her.
He growled at her as he glared into her eyes. “You’re cheating, mate.”
“You have to earn the right to call me that, Jackson.”
He pounced, and she grabbed his shoulders. They grappled, and Lillian found herself wedged between his side and the mattress. She bit him, and he roared. She pushed lower and nipped his hip.
He bolted up and grabbed her thigh. But it was too late. Her target was now in her sights.
She dragged herself the last bit to his cock and sucked him deeply into her mouth. Jack’s growling turned into a deep-rooted groan, his grip on her leg lessening briefly. He thrust up into her mouth.
“Yes, baby, like that. God, Lilly, that’s so good.”
She sucked him harder, but her rhythm faltered when the hands on her legs suddenly tightened, and she moved. She kept sucking his cock, though, so Jack wouldn’t succeed at pulling her off him.
And then she realized his true agenda in making her move. She felt hot breath bathe her exposed thigh and moaned around his cock. He’d managed to pull her completely on top of him, her pussy was now in front of his face. She instinctively rotated her hips, not sure if she was trying to entice him to taste her or because she was so turned on she couldn’t help but move. It didn’t matter. When she felt the first lick of his tongue, her fingernails dug into his thighs and she sucked harder.
He gave as good as he got. Jack licked and sucked every inch of her pussy, the sounds of him eating her out driving her just as mad as the feel of him owning her. She sucked her finger into her mouth alongside his shaft and then traced it down, lining the seam of his sac, swirling along his perineum, and then probing at his pucker. At first he stilled and stiffened, but she sucked him harder as she gently pressed. When he relaxed, the tip of her finger breached his barrier, and she sucked him harder and slid it in.
“Fuck, Lilly,” Jack breathed on her clit before losing that last bit of control he held on to.
He shoved two fingers into her, fucking her with those two as she fucked him with her one. She knew she’d found his prostate when he bucked and moaned. She eased back, not wanting to push him over the edge just yet. She sucked him hard, and he fucked her harder. Then he drew on her clit, and she screamed around his dick as her pussy clenched his fingers.
When the stars faded, she pulled her finger out of his ass and let go of his cock. She turned to face him. He was panting, his cock swollen, wet, filled with blood. And she couldn’t wait for him to take her.
“You think you deserve me now?”
He didn’t answer. Not verbally anyway. He growled as he pushed himself up and grabbed her. He flipped her over onto her hands and knees and shoved her shoulders flat onto the bed, leaving her ass high up in the air. His body encased her. His mouth found her ear.
“I know I do. You belong to me, and I want to hear you say it.”
“Why don’t you make me scream it?” she taunted.
He growled at her. “You will be screaming more than just that, Lilly.”
He pushed into her with no warning, and she did scream. He felt so hard, hot, good. Right. He bit her shoulder as he pounded into her, fucking her harder than he’d ever taken her before, and all she could do was accept it, accept him. Her orgasm built lightning fast, and she was screaming again with the force of it.
“Say it!” Jack ordered.
And then she finally gave him what he wanted. “I’m yours, Jack. Always. God, I love you so much.”
“Lilly,” he yelled as he reached that state of nirvana and joined her in bliss.
She was shaking and panting, but as the clouds lifted from her orgasmic haze, she was finally able to make out the mumbling, the chanting from Jack.
“I love you, Lilly,” he repeated over and over.
He kissed her shoulder and eased out of her, but he didn’t move away. He pulled her into his arms and held her, kissed her hair, stroked her arm, and rocked her against him.
“I’m so sorry I doubted you.” Jack’s voice cracked. “I don’t deserve you, Lilly, but I don’t think I can stay away anymore. I love you so much. Will you please forgive me? I’ll beg, do whatever you want. Please, just say you’ll have me. Don’t leave.”
Lillian lifted up onto one elbow and looked down at him. “I love you, Jackson Woods. Warts and all. I know you can be very opinionated and hard to live with at times, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. You push, but I push back. Do you think you can live with that?”
Jack smiled at her and traced his finger along the column of her throat. “I know I can. As long as you stop with the cat jokes.” He cringed theatrically.
Lillian smirked. “I’ll try.” Then she frowned as she felt her neck. “Did you bite me again?”
He looked chagrined. “Yes, I’m sorry. I got carried away.”
“Hmm . . . I’m not feeling very well.”
“What? Oh shit, what’s wrong?” Jack leaned up and held her to him while his eyes darted back and forth between hers.
“I think I’ve got cat scratch fever.”
She couldn’t help it. She laughed before she got it all the way out, and laughing felt pretty dang good.
She could get used to it.
“Oh, you will, Lilly. You will.”
Epilogue
Thomas Woods sat against the oak tree where his mate was buried. He always came out here when he needed to talk to her or to think about their family. He missed her like crazy. Some days were easier than others, but lately he’d been aching to have her near him, so he’d been making the trip out here more often. He always stopped by Eric’s grave first to visit his youngest son, but it was his visits with his mate that always drained him.
“Hello, beautiful,” he breathed as he caressed the exquisite headstone. “I talked to your brother again today. He still feels awful for what happened to Mikaela and pledged to ensure our safety would be his top priority.
“He sends his love, by the way.” Thomas chuckled as he sat down beside his wife’s grave. “Prick, was always a thorn in my side, but you know that. At least he’s promised to protect our sons’ decision to stay here. Oh, sweetheart, you’d be so proud of them. None of them wishes to return to the plantation in Colorado. They all feel their rightful place is here, the home you created for them.
“You’d be pleased to learn that the women our sons have chosen as mates have taken on a new project. They are trying to build a clinic on part of Caldwell’s land that borders the main road. It’ll be a huge undertaking, but I think it’s a wonderful plan. It was Lillian’s idea.”
Thomas looked up at the midmorning sky and breathed deeply. “She’s good for our Jackson. I was worried about him. He seemed so hard. Still does. But she doesn’t put up with his attitude.” He half smiled, thinking about her feisty little attitude, too. “Yes, she’ll definitely stay toe-to-toe with him.
“One of the great things about doing this clinic is it’ll give Ariel a proper lab for her to conduct her research. Granted, she’ll still have to travel to the university to facilitate her projects, but she will be able to do some work here as well. I know when she’s gone for extended periods of time, Robert goes stir-crazy. And her sister, Krista, worries, too.”
He leaned into the headstone. “Krista is such a character. She seems so shy one m
inute and then fierce the next. Definitely has a mother-hen quality to her. Toby has been talking to me about proposing to her. I think our boys are so focused on the mating aspect that they don’t really think about the women’s need for a ring.” Thomas smirked. “I remember making that mistake. Remember that, sweetheart? You left wedding magazines lying round the house. Guess I need to share that story with our boys, too.
“But Joshua put a ring on Mikaela’s finger at his first opportunity. They are so happy, darling. Well, Joshua has learned very quickly that a pregnant woman is not one to argue with. He’s done very well and is tending to all her needs. He’s only happy when she’s happy, which is how it should be.”
Thomas felt his face light up. “I can’t wait until they have that little baby. Can you believe it? We’re going to be grandparents! I still have to pinch myself when I think about that. They were the first to decide not to return to Colorado, but said they’d revisit the topic if they were having a girl because of the rarity of a female birth in the Lyons bloodline. They drove into town yesterday for Mikaela’s monthly checkup and did an ultrasound to check on the baby’s growth. That little angel is doing just fine. The doctor asked them if they wanted to know the sex. And they said no! Can you believe that? Guess we’ll just have to wait and see if they have a girl or not.”
Thomas looked at his watch. “Well, beautiful, I should probably get back to the house. Jeffery is preparing our lunch. I have breakfast with the boys—because the girls think eating breakfast that early is asinine—and dinner with everybody, but lunchtime is mine and Jeffery’s time to visit. He’s the brother I never had, though he’d never let his sense of duty get in the way of that.” Thomas chuckled. “But I make him at lunch. He’s getting much better at unwinding with me. I’m sure having a baby in the house will frazzle him enough to make him lose some more of his properness.”
Thomas heard a rustling in the bushes and turned to see Jeffery stepping out. “Thought I’d find you here, Tom.”
“Hey, Jeff, just talking about you to Lina.”
Jeffery smiled at Thomas while he stood. “Lunch is ready.”
