by A. Vers
White hot pleasure slams into my gut.
Oh. Fuck. Me.
Her eyes go wide. “Tanner …” She starts to move and then whimpers. “What the hell?”
I try to lick my lips, but every damn move she makes leaves me lightheaded. “So … May have forgotten to mention something,” I grit out between my teeth.
“Tanner, so help me …” She shifts again and my knees buckle.
“Gods-damn it, woman. Stop moving.”
She snarls. “I can’t.”
With her body still tight around me, the barb can’t dislodge. And the only thing that has probably kept it from dropping the last few days is the haze of Caine’s magick.
But with Chuck’s impromptu visit and the fucking scent he was putting off, the beast wants to mark its territory.
Only one problem … Nisha isn’t mine to mark.
I smooth my hand into her thick hair and then grip her cheek. She stops writhing finally and looks at me. I try not to sag, but it’s a near fucking thing. “I have a barb and it is currently very happy to be inside you.”
Her jaw goes slack. “Like a domestic cat?”
I snort. “Think like a lion or yes, a panther. But bigger.”
The scalding flush of her cheeks brightens. “I noticed.”
“You’re too tight from your orgasm for me to pull out yet,” I tell her. “But just give it a minute, okay?”
“Why does it hurt?”
I stroke her cheek. “The barb has two purposes,” I say honestly. “One, to hold you in place—”
“Well that part works.”
My lips curve at her haughty tone. “The other is to remove any trace of another male’s seed from your body.” Her eyes widen. “And with your heat and Chuck’s wonderful appearance, my body is trying to mark you.”
She remains quiet, the rapid beat of her heart the only sound in the forest around us. “Mark me?”
I wince.
Oh great. Now she’s pissed.
“Yeah. To warn off other males.”
Her lips open and close. Then she slaps my shoulder hard enough that we stagger a bit.
“I’m sorry,” I snap, as my damn arm twinges. Better it than my face though.
She glowers at me. “You damn chauvinistic … cat,” she finally says. “I’m not a fucking wall for you to mark.”
I bare my teeth and lean down. “Do you think I don’t know that?” I demand, voice hardening. “I didn’t plan for this shit to fucking happen, believe me.”
Her arms cross and even half naked and pressed to a fucking tree, she is fierce. Hot.
She stares at me, her chest heaving and that flush of anger filling the smooth curve of her cheeks. Those sea green eyes pulse with gold light, and I know her beast is just below the surface. My hand tightens in her hair. She starts to shove at me but then her hands turn, scratching at my shirt and ripping the thin fabric.
With her anger, her body has loosened finally and I pull from her channel. She cries out. I drop her to her feet and wrench my ruined shirt overhead.
She stares at my chest and her scent spikes.
“Why do I still fucking want you?” she demands, her voice edged. Angry.
I slip my shoes off and step from my jeans. “Do you?” I say coldly. Her eyes glint. I grab my cock in my hand and pump. Her gaze drops and she makes a sound of need. My smile is all teeth. “Take off the shirt, Nisha.”
Though her motions are stiff, she pulls her tank off, baring her beautiful breasts to my hungry gaze.
Fuck.
We stare at each other as the trees sway around us, bringing a breeze that pulls at her thick hair.
I don’t know who moves first, her or me.
Her hands find my face, wrenching my mouth to hers with a growl that is all beast. I snarl back and hold her chin in a vise grip as I taste and lick at her mouth. Every damn sound she makes I swallow it down.
And my cat prowls closer and closer under my skin.
I grab a handful of her hair and turn her, pressing her slim body up against the tree again. My other hand grips my cock and I wedge it between her full cheeks and into the soaked core of her body.
She grunts and wraps her arms around the tree as I fuck her from behind.
“Is this what you wanted?” I ask in her ear.
Her eyes flash over her shoulder. “Fuck … you.”
I pull almost all the way out and slam back inside her hard enough that she rises up on her tiptoes with a shout. “This is what you’ve wanted for days, isn’t it?” I ask harshly. “Not Caine’s magick or the heat. But me fucking you like only I can.”
She snarls and bucks in my hold. “This?” she seethes. “I bet I can get this from Callus anytime.”
My eyes turn the clearing silver. “Really?”
I rip her from the tree and force her to the little patch of grass on the forest floor. Her ass is all bubbly tawny flesh. Thick.
I slap her tail and she cries out. I haul her up on her knees until her back touches my chest. “Admit it, Nisha,” I say against the shell of her ear. “No one can do this for you. No one but me.”
“Fuck you, Tanner,” she snaps, voice cracking. “Fuck you and everything you are doing to me.”
I grip the smooth column of her throat. “Say it.” She gasps. “Tell me you want me as much as I fucking want you.”
She lets loose a growl that reverberates deep into the very center of my being and her eyes turn gold. “Yes, I fucking want you. Even pissed I want you. Happy?”
I stare at the side of her face as her heartbeat pounds in my ears.
“I want you inside of me every fucking minute. I want your fucking scent in me. On me.” She shivers and her eyes close. “It scares the hell out of me but it’s the most erotic fucking thing I have ever heard.”
My hold loosens and my thumb scrubs over the smooth skin of her jaw. “Why does it scare you?”
She tries to turn her head away, but I won’t let her. “Because this shit never works out, don’t you get that?” she demands. “My parents, Chuck. You.”
I let go of her face and turn her in my arms. “What are you talking about?”
Her gold eyes glint and she looks away. “There is nothing to keep you here after I change. So yeah, the sex is fucking amazing and I fucking want you more than I want to breathe right now, but when I shift … You’ll leave.”
I stare down at her. “Do you think I’m going to fucking mark you and walk away?”
She bites her lip. “Aren’t you?” My jaw goes slack. “Daisy said that’s what you do. You break hearts and leave a broken string of women in your path, Tanner. What am I supposed to be? Just another one on the list?”
My hands grip her face, forcing her to look at me as I growl. “I have never marked a single fucking woman in my life, do you hear me?” Her irises pulse and her scent laces with confusion. “I sleep around because I’m a fucking shifter and I need sex like a vamp needs blood. We need touch, Nisha. If we don’t get it, we get sick. Do I like being a whore to my beast? Not really. But I also haven’t found a woman that makes me want only her either.”
I trail my thumb over her jaw before stroking her face with my knuckles. “Until you.”
Her lips part.
“I have not lost control with anyone but you since I was a fucking teenager,” I whisper. “I haven’t felt my barb drop since then either.” I bend down and nuzzle her face. “I fucking crave you, woman. Your damn scent, the fucking heat of your body. Your smile. I want you so fucking bad, I’m a damn walking commercial for Viagra.”
Her lips tremor.
“I’m not saying forever, Nish, because I can go back to Lock Lake and get shot as soon as we return. But I’m not going to never call. To never come see you. Hells, you can come to the coven house and fucking visit. I’ll pull fucking doubles so I can spend however long you stay with you.”
That full bottom lip of hers trembles. “But—” Her voice is so confused. So soft.
I dip my head and capture her mouth. “No buts,” I say when I come up for air. “Do you fucking want me, Nisha?”
Her eyes are almost too wide as she stares up at me. My pulse thrums wildly, and my gut knots over and over with nerves. With an odd twinge of fucking hope.
She gives a small nod.
My body sags, and I slide my hands into her hair before fastening my mouth back to hers.
Chapter 41
Nisha
Tanner lays out his shirt and mine before easing me back on the fabric and the surprisingly cool grass. His body blankets mine, and his weight presses into me. Every stroke of his hands are calloused, rough but hot. I shiver.
His smile has faded to something almost reverent. Focused. His silver eyes are bright, like small moons as they track over my face and body.
He takes his time teasing and caressing my skin. The hurried ferocity from earlier has been tamed now, and I know this is worse.
Every damn touch does things to my stomach as much as my body. It pulls at my heart and my head, tying me to him.
I know enough about chemistry to know sex with Tanner releases chemicals in my body. Feel good waves of hormones that make me crave him. Want him.
But it’s more than just chemistry.
He moves his lips over my collarbone and down my chest. The silken press tickles and leaves me shifting beneath him. He laves at my nipples and gently takes them into the cavern of his mouth before moving onto my belly.
The slight shadow of hair on his jaw scrubs my skin, creating delicious arcs of heat inside me. My thighs clench and he makes a low sound of approval.
When he tugs my legs apart and presses his mouth to my heat, stars dance across my vision. As his fingers gently ready my core, the world around us grows sharper. And as he climbs to his knees and slides into me, cool mist flows over my body.
Tanner does not pound between my thighs like before. The almost languid roll of his hips uses muscles I didn’t know men had. It’s teasing, sensual. Erotic.
My body grows slicker and he slides deeper. He kneads my breast as he moves, heightening my pleasure until my head thrashes and I arch and grind over him.
“Easy, beautiful,” he rumbles. “I want to take my time.”
I stare up at him through the haze of my vision and he is so damn sexy it hurts. I slide my hands over his chest, his arms, his back. The pumping swells of his ass. Every touch leaves his scent mingling with mine, and I realize as the combination clouds my head, that this is what he always smells.
It’s wondrous. Spice, fur, and me. I want to roll in it. Bathe in it.
My nostrils flare and I take in more of the heady mix.
He lowers his head, scrubbing his mouth over mine in a teasing caress of my bottom lip. “That’s me and you, baby,” he breathes as he kisses me again.
“I want to roll in it,” I whisper back.
His lips curve against mine and more spice fills the air. He rolls his hips, dragging his body through my folds again and again.
He glistens in the soft rays of the sun through the trees. The golden bars take his tan skin and make it damn near glow above me. And I let my hands roam over him in wonder. The languid rhythm of his body leaves him slick under my hands.
And I want to lick him clean.
I grip the back of his neck and draw him down to me. He starts to kiss me but I turn his head and lick up the side of his neck. His spicy and salty flavor explodes on my tongue and his rhythm falters as he growls.
“Woman ...”
“You taste so fucking good, Tanner,” I say back.
He quickens his pace and something jabs deep into my channel. Warmth tingles through my core and my vision washes with pleasure. My hands dig into his back and he goes still. “Tanner—”
“My barb, baby. I’m sorry. I couldn’t—”
“Don’t stop,” I pant as my body begins to ripple around him.
“I’ll hurt you—”
I grab his ass and he arches into me.
The stiff rod of his cock seems to bear down on the bottom wall of my body, stretching me wider. My head falls back and I lift and drop my hips, working him in and out of my center until he moans.
He props himself on his arms and rolls his body in one long undulation. My eyelids flutter.
Oh god.
Every damn glide makes him feel thicker. Bigger. It borders on pain how much he stretches me, but as he continues to move, my core goes from rippling to clenching.
“Tanner—” I gasp.
My orgasm breaks over me in a long, hot wave that starts in my toes and ends in my belly. All the muscles in my body stiffen. I jerk and cry out as my core clamps over him life a vise, squeezing and milking. Squeezing and milking.
He grunts and his rhythm falters, speeding. His hand finds my face. “Look at me, Nisha.”
My eyes fly wide, locking in the wild silver glow of his gaze.
His neck cords and his teeth shift as heat fills my center in a scalding wash. I cry out again and again as he fills me.
Every damn drop seems to make me ripple more as it heats my too sensitive sheath.
He sags over me, his mouth seeking mine.
I kiss him back hard, winding my tongue through his deadly teeth as he makes a sound like a purr deep in his throat.
The wash of spice is everywhere. On my skin. In my nose.
It’s everywhere and I know he did exactly what he said he would.
He marked me.
And it was the best thing I have ever felt.
Chapter 42
Nisha
Tanner’s hand rubs up my bare arm and I smile. The breeze is cool over my feverish skin. Nice. And with his naked body still pressed to mine, there isn’t much that can bother me.
His seed has long since dried between my legs, leaving me sticky and stiff. But I have no urge to get up. To wash it off.
I imagine it’s why animals roll in certain scents. I am effectively covered in Tanner, and the calm that notion brings is heady.
There is a human part of me that wants to wrinkle my nose, but the rest of me is more than okay with it.
At peace.
I prop my head on his chest and gaze up at him. His smile is warm as he watches me, and my stomach gives a girly flip.
“We planning on staying here all day?” I ask, smirking.
His hand roams down my back before patting my ass. I tingle all over. “I could be persuaded,” he says, smile broadening.
“What about Caine?”
He snorts. “He can find his own patch of grass.”
I roll my eyes. “Eventually we have to rejoin the world.”
With a swift move, he rolls me under him. “You sure about that?” His silver irises gleam.
God, the man is hot.
“Tanner …”
He tracks his gaze over my face and down over my body. “I was thinking we see just how far the woods go. Maybe find a snack.”
“I doubt there is a convenient store in the trees.”
He sits back and then stands, towering over me in a masculine display of muscle, tattoos, and a body that I still want inside mine.
Again.
His eyes spark. “I was thinking something fresher.” Cool mist spirals up his frame, and then he is effectively gone inside the dark cloud.
I sit up.
A dark snout presses from the mist and hot breath washes over my face.
Tanner pushes free, his panther form so very slick and dark, like oil. The highlights in his fur are like blue and purple fire. I reach without fear and stroke his neck, his head. His flanks.
I shift to my knees. “You are fucking hot as a man, but you are beautiful as a cat. It’s so unfair.”
He nuzzles my bare breasts in answer, and his fur tickles my skin.
“Not in beast form,” I warn, pulling him away despite my nipples peaking.
His silver eyes flash and I have the oddest sensation he is laughing at me.
Climbing to my feet,
I glance around for my clothes. “Fine, fine. I’m going.”
He leaps past me and lands on my shorts, blocking me from grabbing them with his long body.
I plant my hands on my hips. “Then how the hell do you expect me to come with you?”
He rolls over, my shorts tight in his paws as he bats them around like a damn overgrown housecat with a toy.
Something inside me fucking melts. I quickly school my expression into one of fierce disgruntlement. “Tanner.”
Those massive paws still and he looks at me, one short’s leg between his teeth. He lets the material fall to the ground beside him. But his point is made.
I raise a brow and walk closer. “You are worse than a damn dog.”
He huffs and more hot air ghosts over my skin as I snatch up my clothes and his. Rolling them up, I set them beneath a tree for safe keeping.
“Okay wise alpha, how do I shift then?”
His head cocks.
Rolling over, he comes up to his feet and stalks toward me. He sniffles along my skin and then rubs his furry cheeks along my legs and hips. I giggle but push him off. “Stop that, furball. You’re the one that wanted to run. You want sex again, change back to human.”
He sits on his haunches and yawns widely, flashing those long white teeth.
“So impressive,” I tease. “Now how do I shift?”
He opens his mouth wide and roars.
My eyes widen and I still as the almost too deep sound seems to ripple through my body. There is a crash of trees to one side and Caine speeds into the space, his eyes glowing and his hands wreathed in hellfire.
He takes in my nude form and Tanner’s already changed shape with an arched brow. “Never pegged either of you for this kind of thing, but sure.”
My face heats. “He wants to run, but I don’t know how to shift.”
Caine snuffs out the fire on his hands. “Oh. Is that all?” he asks mildly.
I give him a look. “It’s a bit more complicated than that, Caine. But yeah. Sure.”
He walks toward us. “It’s not though, is it?”
“What do you mean?”
One pale hand gestures at Tanner. “The cat gives himself over to his beast. He allows that baser instinct to take control every time he shifts.” His gaze rakes over me. “I believe you are still fighting it. That is why your change has not completed.”
