03 - You Only Live Nine Times

by E A Price

  They were making it as romantic as possible, to cover up the nervousness they both felt, but Isis would die before admitting that. Hey, she’d never done anything so intimate with a lover before. Hell, she’d never really had a lover before. Previous fuck buddies so did not count.

  Candles dotted the room, sexy music floated in the background, and the cats had been locked out for the night and her mother ordered to remain AWOL, under pain of exorcism.

  Isis kneeled between his legs and took his manhood into her mouth, laving him with her tongue. She spent a few minutes pleasuring him, readying him for their bonding. As she felt his hips start to buck, felt him reaching towards his climax, she released him. Chuckling at his murmurs of disappointment, she climbed up his body.

  “Another night, honey. Tonight you’re going to need all your energy for the bond.”

  Raf smiled, a crooked and nervous smile that made her inner tiger melt. He wasn’t pretending that bonding and getting bitten was no big deal – he was anxious about it, plain and simple, and she didn’t blame him. She was glad that he wasn’t trying to hide that.

  He scooted up the bed, making her follow him until he was leaning against the headboard.

  “I want us to be face to face,” he explained.

  He dragged her mouth to his for a lingering kiss. She settled on his lap as he licked at the seam of her mouth and nibbled her lower lip. Isis gripped his rock-hard member with her slender hand and positioned him against her sex. Impatient to feel him inside her, she slid down his length, and immediately ground herself down against his hips. He moaned against her lips as she whimpered at the sudden yet pleasurable intrusion.

  Partly due to the excitement of her tiger and her own lust, she was already inflamed and eager to get to the biting. Screw romance; she needed him now! Her gums ached as her fangs pushed forward, her teeth lengthening for that all-important bite. She rocked and rolled her hips against him, her clit grazing against his body sending sharp, tingles of pleasure to every nerve ending.

  Raf thrust up inside her, more than matching her greedy, hurried rhythm. His hand ran up her thighs until they reached her buttocks. He grasped them, kneading the soft, peachy flesh and slamming her down on him every time he pushed up inside her. He pulled away from her mouth, barely able to breath, and instead enjoyed the exquisite moans she emitted every time drove himself into her.

  His mouth found her breasts, sucking and nibbling on her puckered buds. She breathed his name, urging him on. They were so sensitive; his ministrations always sent her wild, quickening her to completion. She felt the familiar stirrings of her imminent orgasm and her movements became frenzied.

  “I’m going to bite you,” she hissed, her tiger roaring and pushing her complete the bond.

  “Yes,” he groaned, muffled around her flesh.

  Her hands clutched his shoulders as he swelled and throbbed deep in her body. “It’s going to hurt.”

  “Do it.”

  “Yes, my mate. Mine!” she screamed as lightning-like pleasure hit her. She sank her teeth into his shoulder as he clamped his mouth onto her breast. Her tiger howled as the bond took hold, the invisible connection between the two of them darted through their bodies, swirling its hold onto their hearts. The pleasure and pain of both their bites raced between the newly formed bond. Raf flexed his hips and exploded inside her. She released him and let out a stuttering wail as his orgasm resonated through her.

  After a few minutes, they both wound down their movements, stopping and just holding one another as their bodies continued to tremble. Every muscle they owned ached with exhaustion.

  Isis glistened with sweat, her hair was mussed, drops of blood peppered her lips and she looked like she’d run a marathon. Raf thought she’d never looked more beautiful.

  She eyed the bite mark on his neck and actually winced in apology. “It’s going to scar.” Her fingers traced the raw wound, and he flinched.

  “I already knew that,” he chuckled as he pulled her fingers away and kissed the tips. “Reminds me where I’ve been.”

  “Reminds everyone else who you belong to.” She lapped at the trickles of blood, sealing the wound. Ms. Kitty lazily stretched out and purred. Yep, he was all hers. There was no escape now. “Mmmm, mine.”

  *

  Considering the pink monstrosity that was Raf’s apartment, out of pity, Isis casually invited him to come live with her, and he said yes – out of the interest of getting away from the pink. Then she said ‘no backsies’ and that was how they started living together.

  Raf’s family wasn’t altogether welcoming of his new shifter mate, finding her a little scary and harsh. Isis could give two hoots what they thought. Yeah, she had some respect for them – they produced her gorgeous mate, didn’t they? But other people’s opinions were totally worthless in her eyes. They weren’t her opinions, so she had no time for them. Of course, Raf was the exception to that rule. What he thought was important. When she asked him how she looked in a certain outfit, she listened and cared what he had to say – she always looked stunning according to him. When she asked him what he wanted to do, whether they should catch a movie or go to the shooting range, she wanted to know what he thought – he always let her decide so it was a moot point. The point is she listened to him.

  As for his family, they’d probably warm up to her eventually. And if they didn’t, she could get through a couple of holidays a year with them. Hey, if she could put up with the ghost of her mother, she could put up with anything.

  Speaking of, Cleo was delighted to have Raf come live with them. While Raf couldn’t see or hear her, he made the effort actually to speak to her, which titillated her no end. Naturally, Isis found it funny to lie to him about her mother’s whereabouts so that he ended up talking to an empty room – but that was par for the course. Cleo got into the habit of walking through Raf to let him know she was there. The cold shiver he felt announced her presence. Raf was surprised at how easy it was to adapt to living with a ghost – welcomed it even. Cleo actually started getting good at moving objects, and Raf heaped praise on her abilities. Isis just sneered and muttered threats about exorcisms.

  Adapting to living with cats was also easy. Although, he did note there was always a fight to see who slept next to him at night. Isis always won that, as anyone would expect, but then it was a fight to see who would have his head, then who would have his feet and who would get his chest. The winners of those positions varied.

  Their nights were filled with games of strip chess, all of which ended early because Isis was a terrible chess player. Either Raf couldn’t hold back because of the expanse of naked flesh on display and virtually jumped on her. Or Isis became frustrated and threw the chess set out the window, before jumping on Raf.

  Then there were the special treats where she dressed up as Lt. Uhura from Star Trek. But that was only if he had been a very good boy.

  Mmmm, mine.

  Epilogue

  A few weeks after all the craziness with Leslie and Igor

  Gerry groaned and slipped out of bed to answer his phone. “Hello,” he mumbled.

  “Did I wake you?” asked the crisp but amused voice of his boss, vampire and uber bitch, Juliet.

  He snapped to attention, ignoring the loathing rumbles of his snake. “Not at all.”

  “I’ve reviewed your recommendation about Dr. Uggams and Igor Kazinsky.”

  “And?” he demanded impatiently after a few minutes. It was just like a vampire to leave people hanging; they delighted in playing with their food.

  “And I agree,” she said in a musical voice.

  “Really?” His eyebrows almost shot off his head, and even his python stopped writhing long enough to pay attention. He had submitted his recommendation based on the pleading of Isis, then Erin when she found out about the situation, then Gunner, who would support Erin no matter what, then Lucie and finally Jessie. He didn’t really think that Juliet would agree – she was more of the shoot them first, ask questions nev
er type – but he had made his recommendation nonetheless. Based on Dr. Uggams progress, he recommended that no charges be brought against her and she be permitted to return to her home but on the basis that she hire and pay for a full-time nurse and bodyguard to protect her, making sure that she kept taking her medication and ensuring that she wasn’t a danger to anyone else. She would also submit to weekly visits from SEA agents to make sure she was complying. As for Igor, given his devotion to Dr. Uggams, and given that he hadn’t hurt anyone, Gerry thought the best place for him was in her care, again on the proviso that she find the means to control him. The last thing they wanted was a resurrected bear shifter psycho wreaking havoc in downtown.

  “Don’t sound so shocked, Gerald. There were a number of factors to take into consideration. For one, the Uggams foundation donates money to us every year, and Dr. Uggams’ lawyer is threatening to cut that off. For another, it’s very fashionable to issue these lenient, creative punishments. The bleeding heart liberals love it. I would think they would have something very different to say if they had any idea what Mr. Kazinsky got up to while he was alive, but that’s beside the point.”

  Gerry rolled his eyes. It always came down to money and politics.

  “I can hear your eye roll from here, Gerald,” she told him sternly. “Anyway, I’ve also approved the application of Rafael Silva; he’s yours to do with as you wish. But tell the tigress to keep the office humping to a minimum. Hormones run high enough in the building as it is.”

  “Thank you, I’m sure he’ll make a good agent.”

  “Well, having a full human certainly looks good for us. We’ve been criticized for not having many human employees. Which is ridiculous! How can we have humans working for us when no of them apply?” Juliet sniffed disdainfully. “Anyway, this application couldn’t have come at a better time.”

  “You’re all heart, Juliet,” he commented, wryly.

  She snorted loudly and hung up. Gerry tossed his phone aside and slipped on his boxers. His snake hissed at the emptiness of the bed and went in search of his pretty bedmate. He found her in the kitchen, wearing a t-shirt with the slogan snake charmer – which she found hilarious - that barely covered her sumptuous round behind and dancing around as she cooked; the mouthwatering smell of croque-monsieur was only second to her peony blossom scent.

  “Hey, did I fall asleep?”

  Jessie flashed him a smile. “Yeah, you looked so peaceful, didn’t want to wake you. Who was that on the phone?”

  “Juliet.” He sauntered over and wrapped his arms around her body as he gently nipped her neck. His snake sighed in bliss. “Always wake me.”

  Pleasure blossomed over her face and… she froze at the sound of a familiar ring tone. Her face creased, and she pushed away from him, retreating as she always did. His snake snarled at him to do something. “Ignore it,” he commanded while tightening his grip on her curves.

  “But it’s your wife…”

  “Who knows I’m here, and who is undoubtedly spending her evening with the current love of her life.”

  “But she’s…”

  “She’s nothing!” Gerry pushed away from her as anger coursed through him, and his snake grumbled. Not anger at Jessie – never. No, anger at himself for entering into an arranged marriage of convenience, anger for not ending it right away when he caught her cheating on him, and anger for agreeing to prolong the damn charade because his wife was afraid of letting down her father. Not that he blamed her for that – ruthless bastard.

  Jessie started to turn away from him, and his heart clenched. He took her hand and brought her palm to his lips. “I agreed to give her two years before I divorced her. That’s almost up. Just a couple more months and we can get married.”

  She bit her plump lip, and his snake groaned, wanting to do it for her. “Why is she calling you then?”

  “To piss me off, to get a rise out of me!” he spat.

  “Thank heavens it’s not working,” she murmured.

  He grinned at the playful smile dawning on her heart-shaped face. Whatever he had done to deserve such a sweet, patient creature as his mate, it must have been in a past life. Nothing he had done in his current life could account for his fortune in having this adorable squirrel shifter by his side.

  “The only thing that pisses me off is the thought of losing you.”

  She nuzzled her head against his chin, and his python finally relaxed. It was an argument they’d had many times, and each time it scared the hell out of him. She could so easily leave him and find someone less complicated, and he desperately didn’t want that to happen.

  Jessie opened her mouth to speak and was cut off by a different ring tone. She frowned. “Who’s that?”

  “Ugh, Juliet.”

  “The other ball-busting woman in your life,” she commented saucily.

  “You’re the only ball-busting woman in my life,” he told her seriously.

  “I don’t bust them; I massage them,” she laughed, slipping out of his arms and wiggling her butt.

  “Tease,” he grumbled as his animal drooled.

  “You better get that. If you don’t, she might just hunt you down.”

  Gerry shook his head and walked back into the bedroom. Yep, it was true – Juliet really would track him down if he didn’t take her call. She was that kind of hands-on boss. Or should that be, control freak?

  Before the word hello could even pass his lips, she snarled at him. “What took you so damn long?”

  “Juliet, I…”

  “Not important,” she said in a more composed voice. “I have some bad news. One of the Council of Supernaturals has been murdered.”

  “Shit,” exclaimed Gerry, sinking onto the bed.

  “It gets worse. Your brother-in-law has been arrested for it…”

  To be continued…

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