So, why did Ebony keep thinking about Jordan? She didn’t think about jumping him and creaming all over him until she screamed in wild ecstasy. Okay, she did think about those things, too, but all mixed up with those fantasies, she thought about other things: talking to him, sharing his life, building a dream together.
How could this happen? How could the Midnight change so fast? How could a couple of Bruins coming to visit and one of them staying infect the Midnight with this devastating change? The worst part was the Bruins had no idea what they’d done. They wanted to march on Midnight Moraine. They had no idea the Midnight changed at all.
She spotted Rome and Layla disappearing into Rome’s house. Another couple Ebony and Onyx used to play around with came out of another house holding hands. They exchanged a kiss under the eaves before heading off into the dark. More and more people mated for life. If this business kept spreading, all the Midnight would be mated for life in no time flat.
Ebony should be worried about that. It should disturb her as much as it did Onyx. For some reason, though, it only made her calm and happy. She envied those couples. Why couldn’t she have what they had? They didn’t have to worry about pounding some guy into submission. They didn’t have to worry about chasing the next piece of tail to strut down the block. They already knew who and what they were doing for the rest of their lives.
She didn’t want to say anything to Onyx. That would only make her sister more irate than she already was. She didn’t want to screw Hunter anymore, not because she didn’t find him impossibly sexy, but because she wanted Jordan. She wanted Jordan and only Jordan. She would never mate with any other guy as long as she had him. The terrible truth was she really did want to mate for life.
She shook those ideas out of her head. She couldn’t mate with Jordan for life. She’d already bonked him several dozen times. He was a toy to her. He could never be anything more. She could never have real feelings for him.
She paused under the trees. Her nose picked up another scent, a scent she knew. She cocked her head toward it. That smell whispered secret ideas to her fevered brain. That scent meant one thing to her. Her body reacted to it in the old familiar pattern, and she followed it to its source.
She found the shadow leaning against the tree. He put his head on one side. “Hey, baby.”
She couldn’t help but smile. “Hey, Hunter. You’re out late.”
“This? This isn’t late for me. You know I can go all night.”
She blushed. She knew. “So why aren’t you? I think Onyx is looking for you.”
The starlight glowed in his eyes. “Is she? Well, I’m here with you instead.”
She relaxed into his massive presence. She cared about him as much as she ever did. His big warm chest filled her with the same quivery excitement it always did. She knew him to the roots of his hair. She knew every fold of his skin. She inhaled his scent, and that smell fired her blood the way it always did. She was still fluid in her heart.
His rumbly voice caressed her in the dark. “That brother of mine sure caused a sensation this afternoon. The whole Moraine is talking about it.”
Ebony nodded. “He certainly made an impression. I’ve never seen him so fired up.”
“We’ve got some work to do on this mountain, and no mistake. No one knows what’s gonna happen tomorrow.”
“What do you make of all this mating for life stuff? How do you think so many Midnight could change so fast?”
“I don’t understand it. You wouldn’t think it could be possible, but it’s happening right in front of our eyes. No one can deny that.”
Ebony sighed. “Onyx is denying it. She thinks if she shouts at the problem loud enough, she can make it go away.”
Hunter gazed into the distance. “None of us can make it go away. We’ve got a problem. A serious problem.”
“What about you? Do you think you could ever mate for life?”
He swept his arm around her back and clutched her against his chest. “I could never mate for life with you around.”
She melted into his arms. His hand gliding down her back sent ripples of desire into her legs. Her knees sagged, and the blood rushed to her cheeks.
He pressed his lips to her ear. “How about it, baby? You know you like it.”
She liked it, all right. She knew she liked it. She liked it so much she couldn’t think straight. No one knew how to turn her on like Hunter. The way he cupped her ass and pulled her thigh around his waist, the way he breathed into her hair and nuzzled down her neck, the way he craned his chest back from the waist so his round bulge stuck out at her—she couldn’t help but respond.
Before she knew what she was doing, she moaned against his neck. Her crotch ached for release. God, that man was so drop dead sexy, she couldn’t stand it. Just another inch, and his fingers would creep around her ass to the crevice underneath. He would find out how wet he made her, and…
“Yeah, baby. Come to your Papa right now.”
She whined in his ear. Her Papa. Those words shot adrenaline into her guts. They seared her heart so she couldn’t resist. Oh, Papa, please.
His voice changed. A hard edge rasped in his throat. “I’m gonna take you back to my place. I’m gonna make you beg for it, little girl.”
In the excited haze filling her mind, Ebony fought for some clarity. “What about Onyx? We should take her with us.”
He shrugged. “If you want to.
“It’s just she’ll feel left out we go without her. She’s so touchy right now.”
He grabbed her hand and placed it on his bulge. “I’ll make you touchy right now.”
That thick member excited her beyond belief. She couldn’t stop herself from pinching down its length. It lay sideways inside his pants and pulsed against her fingers. She wanted it out and naked in her hand. She wanted it hard and stiff against her skin. She fought her way back from the brink. “I mean it. She’s furious with me.”
He stuck his tongue in her ear and shoved his prick into her hand. “Don’t talk anymore, honey. Just squeeze.”
She squeezed. She prodded. She rubbed it harder than ever when, out of the fabric of the night, an ear-splitting screech set her teeth on edge. She jumped out of Hunter’s arms just as a streak of black lightning hit him in the chest. Hunter bowled sideways with the panther wrapped around him where Ebony once stood.
The two figures rolled over and over in the dirt. Hunter’s skin stood out against the starlight. Ebony could only see the panther where Hunter’s arms clasped it in a death grip.
Hunter and the cat growled back and forth at each other. One gained the advantage and then the other until, with a great effort, Hunter rolled the cat against a tree. He slammed the cat’s spine into the rough bark. The cat screamed, and Hunter jumped clear.
The night ripped apart. The inky panther vanished, and Jordan rose to his feet in front of Hunter. Hunter dusted himself off. “Just exactly what do you think you’re doing?”
Jordan pointed into his brother’s face. “Don’t you touch her again. That’s my mate you’re messing with.”
Hunter snorted. “Your mate? She wasn’t your mate last night, as I remember. She was on her knees on my bed, crying for mercy.”
Jordan bared his teeth. “If I see you touching her again, I’ll rip you to pieces. Don’t think I can’t do it.
Hunter waved his hand and spun around on his heel. “You’re stupid with all this mating for life crap. The disease has gone to your head and it’s making your brain soft. You want her? You can have her. I can get me another woman anywhere.”
He started to stride away into the woods, but Jordan launched himself at Hunter. In mid-air, he shifted again. The panther sailed through the dark and hit his brother in the head. His claws sank into Hunter’s skin, but Hunter held firm. He grunted in pain, but he made no attempt to fight the panther off.
The panther bit his scalp, but when Hunter refused to fight back, the panther dropped to the ground. Hunter surveyed the cat with a
cool eye. “You want to kill me over a woman? Is that your idea of settling this? Go ahead and do it, then. I won’t fight you. If you want to kill me, you’ll have to drag me down and rip out your own brother’s throat. I won’t help you do it. I never wanted any mate, and I won’t fight you for one now.”
The cat fixed his glassy eyes on Hunter’s firm face, but he didn’t move in for the kill. He blinked and glanced sideways.
Hunter nodded. “Huh! That’s what I thought.”
He walked away, and the night swallowed him up.
Chapter 6
Ebony watched Hunter walk away. When she turned around, she found Jordan standing in front of her. “What is the matter with you? Are you crazy? What are you doing, attacking your own brother like that?”
Jordan glared at the spot where his brother disappeared. “I won’t stand by and watch him manhandling you. I won’t tolerate it.”
Ebony set her hand on her hip. “Get this into your head right now. I am not your mate. I’m nobody’s mate. I never was and I never will be. I’m Midnight. I’m fluid. I’ll kiss and I’ll touch and I’ll screw anything I please, and not you nor any other man on the planet can stop me. Do you got that? Do you understand the words coming out of my mouth, or do I have to draw you a map?’
Jordan turned his smoldering eyes on her. “Don’t you dare talk that way to me.”
She took a step closer. She brought her nose inches away from his face. “Apparently I’m the only person on this God-forsaken Moraine that will talk some sense into you. I’m not your mate, and until you hear differently from me, I better not find out you’re telling anybody else I am. Got it? I’m not your mate.”
He drew himself up to his full height. He towered over her and dropped his voice a register lower in his chest. “Are you telling me you don’t have feelings for me? Are you gonna stand there and tell me you don’t feel the same way, that you don’t want to mate with me for life?” He shook his head. “Admit it, Ebony. We’re mated. You want to mate with me as much as I want to mate with you.”
She held up her hand in front of his face. “How many times do I have to say it before you’ll understand? I’m Midnight. I’m fluid. I’m a shadow skipping through the trees. No one can change that, least of all you. I’ll never change, and I’ll never mate for life. I might like you and all, but somethings are too big to change. You better pull your head in quick before you bump it on something hard.”
His anger cooled. His eyes still flashed lightning, but he didn’t rant in her face. His shoulders sank an inch lower. “All right. I shouldn’t have assumed you felt the same way when I didn’t ask you first. I won’t tell anybody until I hear differently from you.”
Ebony let her hand fall at her side, but she didn’t relax. “Are you sure you can handle that? I don’t want you blowing up at everyone I talk to.”
He nodded. Black thunder still darkened his face, but his shoulders softened. “I can handle it if you want me to. I won’t do anything.”
She leaned back. Now that he backed down, she had no choice but to relax, too. She didn’t want to. She wanted to stay mad at him forever, but she couldn’t. “All right.”
He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry about that. I suppose you want to go catch up with Hunter now.”
She shrugged. “Naw.”
His head shot up. “Why not? You looked like you wanted to just now.”
“I did, but I don’t anymore.”
“Why not?”
“You’re here.”
His whole being froze stock still. “What?”
She jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “I’m going home now. How about you walk me to the door?”
She turned away, and he strolled at her side. They walked through the woods in silence until she spotted the first house lights winking between the trees. He laid a hand on her arm. “Listen. I’m sorry about before. I guess I let my feelings get the better of my senses.”
She smiled at him. “Don’t worry about it. It could happen to anybody.”
“I don’t see anybody else losing it like that.”
“I’m glad you stopped me before I went any further with Hunter. I probably would have gone home with him, and that would have been bad news.”
He stared at her. “Why? You said you were fluid.”
She looked away. “I…you know, I guess I want to be more than I am. I sort of feel the same way you do. I mean, mating for life might be a good idea and all. It’s just so opposite to everything we’ve ever done. How can we even do it? That’s what I don’t understand. We’re Midnight. We should be fluid, but that’s all changing now. I don’t know the first thing about mating for life.”
He opened his mouth and closed it again. “You didn’t just say that.”
“What?”
“That you felt the same way.”
“Well, you know I do, but how can I? How can I walk away from everything our people stand for?”
He rounded on her with gritted teeth. “You can’t be fluid, Ebony. I won’t let you.”
“Why not? What’s it to you?”
“Fluid means you banging Hunter and every other guy who walks down the street. I can’t stand that.”
Ebony’s lips curled back from her teeth. “Do you think you can mate with me by force? Do you think you can order me to mate with you when I don’t want to?”
“Of course not, but…”
She help up her hand to cut him off. “Listen to me, Jordan, and listen real good. As long as I’m alive, I’ll bang any guy I please. Not you or anybody else has the right to tell me to do otherwise. Got that? Even if I did mate with you for life—and I never said I would—I’ll do it my way and in my own time, not because you want me to, and certainly not because you told me to. Is that clear?”
He pulled his head down between his shoulders, but his eyes still burned into her soul. “Yes. That is clear.”
Ebony brightened up. “Great!” She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek.
Jordan’s jaw dropped. He couldn’t stop staring at her. “What was that for?”
All her hard determination dropped away. “Just to say thanks. Now that we got that cleared up, we can talk about something else.”
He blinked, but when he opened his mouth, nothing came out.
Ebony took his hand. “It’s all right. I still like you as much as ever.”
His cheeks flushed bright pink. “I guess I have been a prick lately, haven’t I?’
She shrugged. “You’re just following your convictions. I respect you for that, and I have to follow mine.”
“What are your convictions?”
“I don’t disagree with you. I’m starting to think maybe mating for life could be a better way to live. I just don’t know how to get my head around the whole thing.”
He inched closer. “Do you really think you might do it someday?”
“I don’t know if I’ll do it, but it seems like the right way to go. I don’t know. Maybe I’m wrong. I can’t tell.”
He sighed. “I’ll be honest with you. I don’t understand it, either. I see and hear myself doing and saying things I never did or said before. I never would have considered this before. It just sort of happened to me out of nowhere.”
She peered at him in the dark. “Really?”
He breathed low into her face. “I just woke up one morning and felt differently about you. I still wanted you just as much, and I still thought Onyx was super fine and so tempting, but I only wanted you. I wanted to hold you and talk to you. It went so much farther than just hard old sex.”
Ebony held her breath and hung on every word. “Really?”
He hovered there in front of her, so tall, so powerful, glowing with mind-blowing warmth. “I never wanted anything more than I wanted you. I mean, I had you whenever I wanted, but suddenly it wasn’t enough. You body and your tits in my hands and your sweet syrup all over my face could never be enough because I didn’t have you, all of you, your heart and soul and e
very day of your life. That’s what I wanted….I still do.”
She listened to more than the worlds fighting to escape their prison in his heart. She listened to the breath hissing through his teeth. She heard his heart beating behind those words, and she understood. For the first time, she really understood.
She couldn’t speak above a whisper. “I didn’t know…”
His spirit pulsed against her. It filled her being with drunken desire. She wanted all those things in him, too. She never wanted anything more.
“Ebony,” he breathed.
She didn’t realize he stood so close until their lips touched. That surprised kiss in front of her house this morning didn’t scratch the surface. This time, their hearts spoke to each other through their mouths.
She never had to doubt him again. Their lips came together in perfect union. They never fit together before like this. Every puzzle piece slotted into place.
He embraced her in his mighty arms, and she circled his waist to lay her hands on his shoulders. He lifted her onto her toes, and a twitter of excitement shivered through her. All the days of her life? Oh, yes! Let it be! Let it be as he said.
He rubbed one hand up under her hair. His fingers compressed her neck and guided her into his mouth. His tongue lapped her steamy saliva. She could just imagine that tongue delving between her legs to lick her desire to its completion.
Her body undulated against his chest, his rock hard manhood. He hummed into her mouth, and his other hand massaged her ass through her shorts. He prodded her flaming tissues apart until she pressed her breasts against his chest. All the passion she worked up with Hunter flamed against Jordan. She wanted him. She needed him. She had to have him.
Jordan’s crotch swelled against her. He ground his spike into her thighs and lifted her onto his hips. That beast thrilled her as much as Hunter’s—if not more. She settled her saturated crevice on his prick and let him grind her to smithereens.
Bruins Peak Bears Box Set (Volume II) Page 40
