The Panther King (A Billionaire Shifter Romance)

by Amanda Jones

  Chapter 8

  BETH:

  Oh, God. He was so close and he smelled so good. His eyes were that amber color again, and I could feel my pulse beating in my neck. I wanted to say something, to ask him why he didn’t move his hands from under me, but I wasn’t able to speak.

  Tension zapped between us, more so than I’d ever felt before with another man. It was wonderful and awful at the same time. Wonderful because he was kind and generous and incredibly handsome, but awful because he was Jonathan King and I was Beth Winters. I was a simple woman with a simple life. I played the piano and taught music to schoolchildren. But he was a gazillionaire or something, and no doubt had a new woman every night of the week.

  And now I was moving into his home at a time when I was needy and dependent on help, the exact opposite of my real self. All of this flashed through my mind in the few seconds that we continued to stare at each other until Mike cleared his throat in the front seat.

  I jumped slightly and Jonathan glanced up front. Then he slowly pulled away, and the feeling of his hands dragging across my body through my clothes was enough to make me flush all over.

  “The…the seatbelt,” I stuttered when he had backed out onto the sidewalk. I couldn’t fasten the seatbelt by myself. He leaned back in again and grasped the shoulder belt and pulled it across my body. He was forced to lean in further, almost across my lap, in order to search out the buckle. His silky hair was right in front of my face now and our chests were touching again. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, catching the scent of his shampoo combined with sun-touched skin. I felt light-headed. Fuck, this was a mistake.

  Just then he clicked the buckle into place and leaned back to look at me, and I felt heat rush between my legs at the look in his eyes. It was primal and raw, telling me without words that he wanted me. I let out the tiniest of whimpers, barely heard above the noise of the city. His pupils dilated and I heard a low growl, seemingly emanating from him. Then I dismissed that idea as he pulled his body back out of the car again and the spell was broken.

  He climbed into the front passenger seat and Mike pulled away from the curb. It only took a few minutes to reach the underground garage of Jonathan’s condominium since apparently he lived downtown. No mega-mansion for him, but I suspected his place would be extravagant nonetheless.

  I reached over and unbuckled myself before Jonathan could open my door. I didn’t want a repeat of what had happened earlier. I needed a clear head or else these inexplicable feelings would crush me. This I knew without thinking about it; a man like Jonathan could never care for me in the way I needed. Whoever I was with had to love me so much that he would practically die without me. I know that was hopelessly romantic and probably unrealistic, but I wasn’t going to settle for anything less. And somehow I knew that Jonathan King was never going to love me that way. Stop thinking about him like that; you’re just here to heal your body.

  I was careful not to bump my arm when I dropped down out of the SUV while Jonathan hovered close. He and I walked over to an elevator while Mike parked. When the doors closed behind us, leaving us alone in the tiny lift, I felt my heart start to jackhammer.

  “I think I need to lie down and rest,” I announced in a loud voice, deciding that I needed some time away from Jonathan. Maybe then his staff would take over the ‘patient care’ and I could breathe normally again.

  “Yes, of course,” he said softly, looking at me with his golden eyes again. “I’ve already arranged to have a room waiting for you.” I looked down at the floor, refusing to meet his eyes. Now that I thought about it, I actually was really exhausted.

  The elevator opened and I caught a glimpse of modern furniture and walls full of windows showcasing the Boston skyline, before he whisked me down a hallway with lots of doors off of it. About halfway down he opened a door on the left and once again I was speechless.

  I suppose it could be called a bedroom but it was enormous. It was a corner room and had two full walls of windows with custom drapes that were controlled by a remote. Everything was a pale yellow, the walls, the silk bedding, and the rug covering the dark cherry hardwood floor. There was a sitting area with a couple of couches and coordinating armchairs and a wall of books to the right of the bed. There was even a chandelier in the middle of the ceiling. It was gorgeous and I couldn’t believe I would be staying here.

  “Through that door is your en suite,” Jonathan murmured, guiding my eyes to a doorway that gave me a glimpse into a bathroom that bordered on the obscenely divine.

  “Your clothes have been put away in the dressers and closet,” he added, and I was amazed at everything he had done and continued to do for me.

  “Thank you,” I said softly and smiled at him. His returning smile made him look even more exquisitely handsome and I knew I had to get away from him.

  “About that nap…” I hinted, and he left and pulled the door closed behind him.

  I somehow managed to get myself up on the tall bed and then I simply collapsed into the ridiculously soft mattress and sheets. My last thought before I fell asleep was that I better heal quickly.

  Chapter 9

  JONATHAN:

  I tried not to hang around the condo just waiting for her to wake up, but it was impossible for me to leave. For the first night in years, I didn’t go out and shift. Even though I had told her that I would hire people to help take care of her, I wanted to do it. I still didn’t fully understand why she was the one impacting my life in this way, but I had gotten a pretty solid glimpse of what was happening when I felt our connection in the car.

  I reached my hand into my shirt and felt the skin above my heart. It was smooth and unblemished.

  I hadn’t bonded myself to anyone yet and in truth, I had never expected to. Bonding was purely a panther ritual and I of course, thought I could tamp that down. But since I had met Beth, my panther side had become more aggressive. I knew it was the panther that was pulling me to protect her. But it was the man in me that wanted her. I wanted to feel her body against my own, and taste her skin and her mouth, and make love to her until she was limp with pleasure. I was hard just thinking about having her underneath me. However, she was healing and I needed to keep the panther, and the man, at bay.

  But for the first time in my life I didn’t want to be alone. Something had changed in me since I’d met Beth and I wasn’t going to question it. She was good and honest and smart. She wasn’t impressed with my money or power; she didn’t bat an eyelash at my condo when we first arrived.

  I couldn’t deny that I found her irresistible. She was rounded in all the right places, with lush breasts and full hips that I wanted to grab with my hands. She was incredibly beautiful, and the best part was that she didn’t seem to know it.

  Before my mother died, she had told me that our kind knew when we had met our bonding partner; the connection would just be there and it would be undeniable. Inwardly I had scoffed at the idea, thinking that I could control my panther side and never be in the position I now found myself. But my mother had been right. Beth would be mine, I would protect her for the rest of her life, and I would bond with her in the way of my ancestors. Now I just had to make her want that, too.

  * * *

  Beth slept until mid-morning. I had called my assistant and told her that I would work from home today, but not to send calls my way unless it was an emergency. I had my hand up to knock on Beth’s door when I heard her soft voice muttering curses and I smiled.

  “Beth?” I called out as I knocked. The curses abruptly stopped. “Do you need help?” After about a minute of silence, she opened the door.

  “Good morning,” she mumbled as she turned and walked back into the room. She was wearing the same clothes she had worn home from the hospital and from the look of them she hadn’t changed before she fell asleep. I looked around and saw she had some fresh clothes laid out on the bed but she just went and sat down in an armchair, looking defeated.

  “What’s wrong? Are you in pain?” />
  “No. I just can’t get undressed,” she said softly, her face bright red as she looked down into her lap. “Or dressed for that matter,” she added without looking up.

  “I can help you,” I said, the blood starting to rush through my body. She needed my help, and I wasn’t going to take advantage of that, but I couldn’t stop my body from responding to her words.

  “I thought you were going to hire help.” She looked at me with doubt and confusion on her face.

  “I will, but there’s no one here right now but me. And there’s no reason that you need to stay in those clothes any longer than necessary. I can help you,” I told her, desperately wanting her to feel comfortable with me. “I promise to be a gentleman,” I added softly as I looked directly into her eyes from across the room.

  “Okay,” she said after a few more seconds of thinking about it. She walked over to the bed and I followed her.

  We stood facing each other and I wasn’t sure where to start. I could feel the nervous energy coming from her body, and I could smell her anxiety. She wasn’t afraid, that much I knew, and it was a relief. I never wanted her to be afraid of me.

  “My sweatshirt?” She whispered and I gently put my hands on the cuff of her left arm. I figured we should tackle her right arm last. She was wearing a huge hoodie that said ‘Boston University’ on it, and it swallowed her up. I held the cuff and she pulled her arm back in toward her body until it was completely underneath the sweatshirt.

  I took the tiniest step forward and we were almost touching. The smell of her skin and hair was intoxicating and my panther started stretching. Neither one of us was looking up; I know I didn’t trust myself to look into her eyes at this point. I needed her to trust me, and having her see my desire on my face was probably not the best way to go about that.

  I put my hands on the bottom of the sweatshirt and my fingers rubbed against her stomach, and even through the t-shirt she was wearing underneath, I felt her quiver. My panther was growling now and I was hard as a rock. I tried my hardest to hide it. Her breathing was becoming more rapid as I slowly pulled the sweatshirt up her body, revealing her sexy-as-fuck figure the higher it went. It wasn’t a t-shirt underneath, it was a camisole that molded to her body and I had to bite back a purr. First I saw her wide hips, then her small waist, and then her large breasts came into view as the backs of my fingers traveled up and over her skin. She shuddered and I closed my eyes for a moment, trying desperately to hold back my panther instincts and my human instincts at the same time. She was gorgeous and I wanted her.

  My fingers got to her neck and she popped her head out of the sweatshirt with only her right arm still inside. Our faces were very close now, only a couples of inches apart. Her warm breath reached my lips and I was hit with a strong wave of the pheromones her body was exuding. Fuck, she wanted me too. There was no denying the smell of her body. But I couldn’t, wouldn’t take advantage of her.

  Then we both worked very carefully to pull the sweatshirt over her cast so as not to hurt her. I dropped the sweatshirt on the bed and looked at her in her camisole. She had the sexiest body I had ever seen on a woman, with curves and softness in all the right places. Her camisole clung to her body and showcased her breasts, with lace covering the tops of them until just above her nipples. Even so, I could see every luscious inch of her. It was sexier than if she had been naked. Maybe. She was the exact opposite of my hard muscles, like a woman should be, and I was so turned on I wasn’t sure I could control myself.

  She turned around and presented her back to me. “I need help with the camisole,” she whispered and I dropped my head back to stare at the ceiling. Oh, God. I gripped the hem of the back of her camisole and lifted, the backs of my fingers dragging up her spine now and exposing her soft and creamy skin to my amber eyes. My dick was pulsing in my pants now and I was having an internal dialogue with my panther, trying to get him to back down. She pulled her left arm out, then her head, and then her right arm, and finally she was naked from the waist up. I was breathing very heavily by then, and her pheromones were hitting my nose like bombs going off every second. I was close to losing it.

  She leaned sideways and grabbed a clean camisole from the bed and handed it back to me without turning around. I saw that the side of her face was red, and I felt her trembling. This was madness. I pulled the camisole over her head and helped her push her left arm through. We both gently worked to get her casted arm through, and then I held my breath and pulled the camisole down her body. I was still behind her so I was pulling down blindly with my arms around her body. Her back was skimming my chest and she was trembling hard now.

  I was biting my lip to hold back my growl, when my fingers dragged across the tips of her large breasts and we both froze. She moaned softly and then cut it off abruptly, and I couldn’t contain my growl anymore, although I forced it to sound more like a groan. I pulled hard on the camisole so it was completely on, and then I let go and stepped back quickly, taking deep breaths to calm myself. My cock was aching and I knew I was going to have to take care of myself when this delicious torture was over.

  She turned around and looked at me, and our eyes caught. She wanted me and I wanted her and this was painful. With her eyes still on mine, she reached down with her left hand and untied the drawstring on her loose pants. She glanced at the clean pants on the bed, and for the first time I noticed a tiny pair of lace panties next to them. Oh, shit.

  She used her left hand to try and push down the pants. She was struggling and wiggling her hips. After a few moments of a vicious internal struggle, I walked up to her again and dropped down to a crouch in front of her. I grabbed her waistband and gently yanked down until they were pooled at her feet. She stepped out of them and I tossed them aside.

  We were both silent for a few seconds and then I looked up her body to her face. She stared down at me, not even attempting to hide her desire anymore. But I refused to do anything but help her. I hadn’t brought her to my home with the promise to help her only to seduce her the very next day.

  Without moving my eyes from hers, I reached up and slipped my fingers under the lace tops of her panties and pulled them down. I couldn’t look at her pussy or I would combust and all of my good intentions would fly away. She stepped out of them and the smell of her sex hit me like a punch to the gut.

  Chapter 10

  BETH:

  I stood there in front of Jonathan, naked from the waist down and I had never felt more desirable. It was obvious that he wanted me, and that he was just barely able to control himself. He was a good man, an honest man, and I felt my heart twist at what was happening between us. No matter how hard I tried to tell myself that we were from different worlds, I was falling hard for Jonathan King.

  I was trembling and part of me wanted him to take what was in front of him. But I wasn’t ready no matter how my body was reacting to him, so I was glad when he dropped his eyes to the ground. He was breathing hard and I thought I heard that slight growl again, like yesterday in the car. But then, nothing.

  I grabbed my clean pair of panties and held them out to him. He took them without looking up and stared at them in his hands for a minute, shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe this situation. I smiled to myself because I couldn’t believe it either. He was so handsome and kind, and many men would take advantage of a woman right now, but I knew he wouldn’t no matter how much it pained him. I trusted him.

  He held out my panties so I could slip my feet in them one by one and then slowly dragged them up my legs. He still looked down at the ground but I was so wet I was sure he could feel the moisture between my legs as his fingers moved by. I should have been embarrassed but I wasn’t. I ached for his touch.

  His hands stopped when the panties could go no further and then he hesitated. His hands were spanning my hips now, with his thumbs hooked in the front of my panties and his fingers hooked in the back. He finally pulled his hands away but not before he gently swirled his thumbs and fingers on my skin i
n a small circular motion. My legs threatened to buckle at his sexy gesture, and he shook his hands out as if to shake off the feeling of my skin on his fingers.

  I handed him my clean pants and we went through the same steps, although it seemed the truly difficult part was over. He stood up as he brought the pants up and over my hips and then I looked at his face so close to mine as he concentrated on tying the drawstring into a knot. His dark hair was so thick and looked so silky, that I wanted to run my hands through it. Or my one hand anyway. I imagined his soft, puffy lips against my own.

  Then he stepped back and took a deep, cleansing breath. I could see that he was hard for me, and my desire for him turned into a deep ache that touched my soul. But nothing could happen between us. At least not yet.

  He had his hands on his hips and I knew he was struggling. I almost laughed at the pained expression on his face.

  “My shirt?” I said, realizing it was the first time either of us had spoken in at least ten minutes.

  “Actually, it’s your shirt,” I continued softly as he picked it up from the bed. Someone had put it in my closet and I decided I wanted to wear it. It was a very soft flannel button down, and it was huge.

  “It won’t fit over your cast,” he said in his deep voice, and before I could reply he tore the arm of the shirt off just above the right elbow. I was surprised at his casual strength; he had torn it with as much effort as it would take to tear a piece of paper in half. But then he was helping me get into it, and his movements were fast and clinical. He buttoned me up and made sure his fingers never touched my skin. Then before I knew it, he was leaving my room and closing the door.