by T. Cobbin
She was so different from Rosie. She didn’t give a shit if something was out of place in the house. One day before she visited he left dirty clothes laying around just to see what she’d do, and she hadn’t even blinked.
His cock was again fully hard and ready to go. He run his fingers up and down her skin while she slept. He also nibbled on her breasts, making her stir. Then a thought came to him suddenly, stopping him from waking her up fully with his tongue wrapped around her clit. Her family. Crap, what would they think of him? He had no doubt they would believe him, because his scent would confirm his honesty. But what if they knew he could end up in prison, leaving her behind, mated and on her own?
He flinched when Belle’s hand touched his face. He’d been so lost in the horrible thoughts of him incarcerated that he hadn’t seen her move.
“What’s put that terrible frown on your face, my tiger?”
He closed his eyes and leaned into her palm, seeking the heat and love it portrayed. “Your family...what will they think of me?” He couldn’t add the thought about jail.
When he received no answer he opened his eyes to look at her. He saw the love she had for him glittering in her eyes.
“They will love you as I do. I have no doubt about that. I have a question though.” A small frown appeared between her eyes. “Where are we going to live? My room at my parents is so small I can barely fit a double bed in there. It’s a tight squeeze, but you would be more than welcome. Although…” She paused for a moment, seeming to contemplate something before continuing. “Sex would have to be a quiet affair. The walls are pretty thin, and of course, with our shifter hearing...” The words trailed off, but he could guess the rest of the sentence.
Shawn snorted, which led to a chuckle, then a full-blown belly laugh as his mate stared up at him with a what-the-fuck look.
“You…we…and… Oh my God.” He couldn’t talk. He was laughing so hard his stomach hurt. When he finally managed to calm down, he cleared his throat and started again. “Here I was wondering about your family and my situation. We have just mated, and I want my cock deep inside of you constantly, and you ask where we’re going to live. I, umm, really do not want to be inside you when a bang from your parents comes through the walls… Oh God, can you imagine that?”
He cringed at the image of him being firmly embedded in his mate, making her scream out, when her parents banged on the wall. Breakfast the next day would be an embarrassing affair for sure. He started laughing again, and this time Belle joined him.
“The flat Harris gave me is mine as long as I pay the rent, right?” he asked her.
“Yep.”
“Then come live with me?” he asked. He’d lost everything he’d worked for, and now it seemed fate was handing it back to him with roses. Did he really deserve this?
“You deserve it and more,” she said.
Did I say that out loud, he wondered, then he shook his head and pushed the thought away. “I’ll race you home,” he challenged.
Shawn stood up, and with a last look at his mate through his human eyes, he allowed his tiger to take the reins and shifted.
“Run, tiger, run.” Belle smiled at him and began her shift.
Even though his tiger wished to see his mate in her form, he didn’t. With a swish of his tail, he took off running.
* * * *
Belle watched the sunrise while she lay in her mate’s arms in what was now their new home. She lay on her side with Shawn firmly curled up behind her, his arms wrapped around her like string on a parcel. They fit together like a jigsaw piece.
She’d contacted Harris and Felix, asking for a couple of days off, and also told them about her mating. After congratulating her, Harris gave her a week off for their honeymoon period, whereas Felix made her promise to see him at least an hour a day to go over beta shit—his words—being he didn’t want to delay his trip for too long. She’d given him the option to give Chris the job instead of her, but he wouldn’t have it. He said under no circumstances would he change his mind about offering her the post. She’d agreed to his terms.
She watched the sun hit their bed and begin its slide over her mate’s skin. Since he’d shifted again, his bronzed skin showed no sign of any burns at all.
Her thoughts suddenly drifted to her mother. This wasn’t the first time she’d not gone home for the night, but it was the first since her mother had become sick. Today she was taking Shawn to meet her family. She was excited, albeit a little worried too. Her mother had been struggling with her health recently. Shifters didn’t often get sick, but for some reason her mother had started losing weight six months ago. First, she’d become house-bound, then bed-bound. Now her muscles had started to waste away.
Doc Ben had done numerous blood tests and examinations. He’d even sent her to the hospital in Yorkshire for scans. He’d come to the conclusion that it wasn’t the human side of her mother that was ill. It was actually her tiger. He assumed it had a virus of some kind and he asked her mother to shift so he could get bloods done and sent them off to another shifter doctor in a big hospital in London. They were waiting for the results.
Guilt racked Belle. She suddenly wanted to be near her parents. Last night only the negative thoughts about living with her parents had come up. Yes, the walls were thin but…
“Shawn.” Belle turned in her mate’s arms to face him.
He looked so peaceful. His bruising was all gone, and his stomach wound had also healed. She ran her hand over his cheek, and as she rubbed it, his scent hit her nostrils. Along with his shaving cream and shower gel his aroma carried the scent of musky pine. Her nipples peaked and hardened, and her lady parts moistened in readiness for his cock to be inside her. This wasn’t the time though.
“My tiger,” she said loud enough for his sleepy eyes to open. His pupils dilated, and the smile on his face said it was the best morning wake-up he could have.
“Good morning, mate,” he said and moved an arm from behind her so he could run a finger over her collarbone where his new mark was. Tilting her head toward his fingers, she relished the feeling of his skin on hers.
“I need to go home. I have an urge to be with my mother.”
Shawn frowned with a silent question. She knew what he was wondering.
“No one has contacted me,” she said. “It’s just a feeling. My mother has been sick for a while. I also feel a little guilty that I didn’t tell them I wasn’t going home last night. I know I could phone them.” She tapped her forehead. “But I want to see her.”
“Shower first, and we can eat on the way,” he suggested.
“That’s it? You aren’t going to ask why or what?”
“Why would I?” he asked, his voice full of wonder.
“Well, I thought you might want some of this,” she teased, getting up on her knees and skimming her hands down her naked body.
His jaw dropped open as he watched her hands travel over her body, and the sheet tented at his groin.
With a smirk on her face, she climbed from the bed and danced her way to the bathroom. “Shower?” she asked, laughing.
A low growl followed her. As she reached out to turn on the water, Shawn’s hands grasped her waist.
“Tease.” His voice rumbled against her neck, followed by a lick over her new mating mark. Tiny shocks crested over her nerve endings straight to her groin.
“Quick shower, remember?” she said, wishing she didn’t feel an urgency to see her mother. She could contact her parents telepathically, but she knew they would just fob her off, saying everything was well even if it wasn’t.
Shawn purred against her neck again, sending more delicious shots through her body. His hands gripped her waist, and he stepped forward, pushing her into the stream of water. “You have to be dirty before you can be clean.”
Skimming his hands up her body, he molded his palms over her breasts and began rolling her hard, peaked nipples between his fingers. She squeezed her thighs tightly together. He licked and nibb
led her neck, and her head dropped back onto his shoulder as she relished the delightful feelings he was sending through her body. Quick shower, she kept telling herself.
Turning around in her mate’s arms, she began kissing him furiously. He took over the kiss, and it became raw, primal, almost as if he was asking her to surrender to him. He plundered her mouth until they were both breathless. After pausing for a second she came out of the lust-filled haze and realized he was leaning her against the shower wall, his hands grasping her backside, and her legs were tightly wrapped around his waist.
“You make me forget myself,” he said with a frown on his face.
“Huh?”
“When I was with Rosie I always had to be aware, always had to know what I was doing. With you I seem to lapse into moments of…just doing.”
She didn’t like being compared to his ex, and jealousy rose high. “I’m not her,” she spat out, pushing against his chest.
“Wait.” He gripped her tighter. His scent became pungent as fear blasted from every pore. “I didn’t mean it like I was comparing. I’m sorry.”
Belle stopped struggling to be free of his arms. Dammit, she had to give him a chance, he’d gone through enough shit. Pleading eyes looked straight into hers.
“What I meant was… When I kiss you or touch you I’m not watching myself, I can just do and not fear any consequence. Do you understand?”
She shook her head. “You just confused me more.”
Shawn sighed deeply and lowered her legs. But his hands rose to touch the top of her shoulders, each of his thumbs caressing one side of her collarbone.
“When I first got together with Rosie I would lose myself in her, but as time progressed, I realized when I was with her I would be watching myself like in a third-party way. If I touched her, I was very aware. If I talked to her, I was careful. Everything was planned. Nothing was spontaneous like I am with you. This here…” He motioned around to the shower. “...would never have happened. When I touch you I don’t have to plan, or watch what I do or say. I’m free.”
Belle’s heart thumped in her chest. To lose precious seconds when kissing someone so deeply was new to her. Shawn was the only one she let close enough to do so. She thought back before meeting Shawn, when she was at work, patrolling around the village. Her mind would sometimes drift off, thinking of her mate-to-be, or dreaming of a new flavored ice cream, only to find she’d strolled a few miles along her route automatically without thinking. For him to be constantly aware of what he did...wouldn’t that be exhausting?
She noticed the tired wrinkles in the corners of his eyes. His lips that dipped lower at the edges as if in a state of constant unhappiness. She ran a finger over his face. Shawn purred and leaned his head into her hand.
“I’m not her, Shawn. You can be as free as you want with me.” She smiled. “There is only one rule you need to remember.”
He looked at her with questioning and worried eyes.
“Put the toilet lid down after you pee. Do you know what it’s like to fall down the frigging toilet because someone left the lid up? Arse down, legs up and flailing. Not fun.” She giggled and was relieved when he joined her. “Now, my tiger, are you going to fuck me quick before we—” She moaned as Shawn’s lips covered hers and his cock penetrated her.
Chapter 13
“Hey, Pop.” Belle kissed her father’s wrinkled cheek. He gave her a tight hug in return.
“Morning, sunshine. A bit of a late night?” he asked with a cheeky smile.
“Yeah, well...” She turned toward Shawn, who was nervously standing behind her. “This is the reason. Pop, meet Shawn Burr, my mate,” she announced proudly.
Her father moved forward and greeted Shawn like he was family. Instead of taking the hand her mate held out, her father wrapped his arms around Shawn and hugged him like there was no tomorrow.
“Welcome to the family, son. If Belle hasn’t already told you, I’m Barry. You treat her right, and we won’t have any problems.” Her father looked sternly at Shawn, his old, weathered face showing his age, but his body was still lean and muscled. He held his head high and stood up to the young man as if he were young himself.
“Sir, you’ll have no problem. In just a short time she has become my world. I swear to you I would never lay a finger on her or treat her anything but right.”
Her father nodded, then turned, walking into the kitchen.
“Pop, is Ma awake?”
“Aye, lass, go see her and take your young man with you.”
Making sure Shawn followed her, Belle led the way through the three-bedroom cottage. Since waking up this morning she wanted to ask Shawn if he wouldn’t mind moving in there, and now that she was back in the house she was certain she couldn’t move out.
Her parents had tried to have kits for many years. When they hit their forties Belle came along. Now in their seventies they were showing their ages, even for shifters. Shifters tended to keep their young looks, their bodies rippling with energy. Although when they hit their late nineties or early hundreds their bodies began to slow down a lot.
That reminded her of an elderly couple in the village who were jaguar shifters—May Turner was a hundred and fourteen and her mate Fred was a hundred and twenty. They were pretty much house-bound now. Not long ago they were being ill-treated by their landlord, a despicable cheetah shifter named Murphy Buzzell. The Alpha had taken him in hand, and now, with the help of the village, the couple were being well looked after in a house with free rent.
Reaching her parents’ room, Belle gently knocked and walked inside. Seeing her mother propped up in bed and smiling made Belle’s day. Rushing over to her, Belle placed a loving kiss on her cheek and hugged her gently.
“You look good today, Ma.”
“It’s a good day, dear.” She tapped Belle’s cheek then looked behind her. “Who’s this then? The reason you stayed out?”
Heat rushed to Belle’s cheeks. She felt like a kid being caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Standing, she pulled Shawn further into the room. Keeping hold of his hand, she introduced him.
“This is Shawn. My mate. Shawn, this is my ma, Constance Grant.” Excitement filled her voice. She couldn’t help it. Ever since fully mating him she felt waves of glee run through her. Just telling her mother made it happen all over again.
Shawn stepped forward and offered his hand, but her mother had other plans.
She tapped her cheek. “Plant one there, boy. It’s been a while since a young man kissed me,” she said, chuckling.
Shawn obliged with a smile on his face. It was so good to see her parents finally interact with her mate. It seemed like forever since she’d met Shawn.
“No other man will be kissing you while I’m around, except me,” her father gruffly said, walking into the room. “Mine!” he growled possessively as he sat on the bed and kissed his mate’s cheek.
Belle shook her head at her parents’ antics. Her mother actually had a rosy tint to her pale cheeks and was smiling from ear to ear. It looked good on her. Belle sighed before asking the question she feared to. “Have you heard anything from Doc Ben?”
The smile that was on her father’s face fell, and he looked down at the floor before lifting his gaze up to look at her. Tears welled in his eyes, making Belle draw a deep breath. Her heart seemed to die in her chest.
“Aye, lass, he came around briefly last night. Your mother’s blood tests came back showing she was anemic, so he gave us a prescription for iron pills.” He stopped as if that was the end and looked toward her mother. Belle knew her father; he was holding something back.
“What about her tiger’s blood?” she asked.
And there it was...her father’s face paled, and grief and pain could be clearly seen on his face. The scent of it began pouring from him as well as her mother.
When he didn’t say anything, just looked over to his wife, Belle asked again. “Pop?”
It was her mother who answered. “He says my tiger has
leukemia. It’s very rare for a shifter animal to get sick. As you know, our combined lives results in us leading more energetic, healthy, and longer lives. But for some reason my tiger is pretty sick, and it’s flowing through to me.”
Belle’s legs turned to jelly, and the world darkened at the edges of her eyesight. It suddenly seemed as if the room didn’t have enough air in it. She felt Shawn’s hands grip her waist, catching her as her legs buckled. It seemed as if every single cell in her body had stopped working except for the ones that created tears. Tears that pooled in her eyes and began falling down her face. She knew her mother had been sick for a while, but to think of her dying… Belle lived for her parents. What would she do without them?
“Tell me he can heal your tiger, Ma. Tell me everything will be okay.” She moved out of Shawn’s arms and knelt beside her mother’s bed to grip her hands.
Her mother’s voice dropped to a whisper. “I’m sorry, baby.”
Belle couldn’t breathe. She felt sick to her stomach. She couldn’t make sense of anything. Her brain felt like it was on fire, boiling with turmoil.
“No, no, no. Ma, no. I can’t be without you. You are my world. What about Pop? He won’t…can’t… He will die along with you. Your souls belong to each other.” Great big racking sobs began and grew in her chest. Tears poured down her cheeks. She gripped her mother’s hands as if they were a lifeline and she could pull her away from the illness she had.
Belle closed her eyes, begging not to see her mother so sick. This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be true. Behind her grief she felt the anger grow at such an injustice, and she wanted to blame someone for it.
* * * *
Shawn watched his mate fall to pieces at her mother’s bedside. He’d been nervous about meeting Belle’s parents, but after they had both greeted him like family he’d relaxed. However, now, after hearing their news and watching his strong woman fall apart, the world suddenly seemed like a darker place. All his problems drifted away; they were nothing compared to this.
