by R. E. Butler
He captured her hands and pressed them into the bed, driving into her hard and fast. Her legs fell to the side, her feet pressing into the bed as she lifted herself to meet him. Their bodies sang together as he fucked her hard, desperate to hold off until she came one more time. She arched under him with a gasp and lifted one leg high against his side. He released her hand and grabbed her knee, pulling it up higher and spreading her apart.
“Yes, right there, yes,” she groaned.
“Come for me, wanna feel you,” he said with a growl.
Her pussy began to clutch him, and he knew she was close. Pushing her knee a little higher, he drove into her as fast as he could, the bed slamming against the wall. He snarled, his cat riding close to his skin. With a wail, she came, her pussy gripping him like a fist and dragging him into a wave of pleasure that swept over him like the tide. His dick throbbed as he came with her, his spine tingling and his fingertips aching as his claws pushed free.
Panting for breath, he released his hold on her and kissed her, nipping her lips with a purr. He pushed her gently to her stomach, and she rose onto her knees as he helped her upright, running his hand down the center of her sweat-slicked belly. Her skin was flushed dark pink, and her nipples were tight.
“Are you ready, sweet soulmate?” he murmured into her ear.
“Yes,” she said, hissing the word.
Pushing back her hair, he wrapped his arm around her upper body and let loose his hold on his cat. His fangs lengthened and he lifted his other wrist to his mouth and scored it deeply. Setting it against her mouth, he waited until she placed her lips over the wound and sucked gently on it before he pressed his fangs into the place where her neck and shoulder met and bit down. She jerked at the pain, but didn’t release her hold on his wrist. Her blood crested his tongue and his cat roared in bliss as their bond became permanent.
He pulled his fangs from her as slowly as he could to minimize the pain, and tugged his wrist free from her mouth. She sighed deeply and leaned against him. She joined him in stretching out on the bed, laying her head over his heart. He loved the feel of her against him. His bed had been empty for such a long time, and now it was filled with his beautiful soulmate, the one woman on earth meant to be his.
“I wish I’d met you years ago,” he murmured, stroking her back.
“Me, too. I feel like I’ve known you forever, but we haven’t even been together for an entire day.”
“It’s our bond as soulmates. We’re meant to recognize each other immediately.”
She lifted her head and propped it on her hand. “So if we’d met in some random place, we would have been drawn to each other?”
“Yes.”
“I never asked where we are.”
“We’re in a small town in northwestern Pennsylvania called Littlewood.”
She glanced around the room. “How did you come to be here? Shouldn’t you be living in a jungle somewhere so your cat is happy?” She gave him a soft smile, and it made everything inside him tingle in happiness.
He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and said, “Funny. This was my parents’ home. I was raised here. I considered moving out and making my own way, but my cat likes to be with a pride, and my pride was my parents. My dad helped me build a small house at the back of their property so I could have privacy. When they died, I turned that house into a workshop and moved back into this one.”
“I’m sorry your parents died. What happened to them?”
“My mom was gravely injured by a buck while they were hunting. She succumbed to her injuries and my dad died a few days later.”
“He was hurt too?”
Charisma shook his head. “Soulmates can’t exist apart. Once we’ve mated with our soulmate, our lives are twined together forever.”
“That’s so sweet and sad at the same time.”
Resting her head back on his chest, she nuzzled him with a soft rumbling sound and then giggled. “I purred!”
He joined in her laughter. “You’re already becoming like me, sweetheart. Soon we’ll be hunting together and raising our children.”
“I’m looking forward to it. Just so you know, I lost a bet with my best friend, so I have to name our first girl Bethany.”
He chuckled. “What was the bet?”
“Who would get married first. I had just come back from her wedding when I found your necklace.”
“I hope you’re not disappointed that you lost.”
“It turns out that waiting for you was one of the best things that ever happened to me. I didn’t know I needed you, and I sure as heck didn’t believe in magic, but here we are.”
“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
Chapter 6
“So there are pureblood shifters, like me, and changed shifters, which is what you’ll be when your transformation is complete,” Charisma said as he laid steaks in a sizzling hot cast-iron skillet. Valerie was wearing one of his t-shirts that was long enough to cover her bits, and sipping on a glass of ice-cold lemonade. He’d made a sandwich for her while she was passed out, but by the time they got around to eating it the bread was dried out. He’d offered to cook for her, and she’d been happy to put his skills to the test.
“Do purebloods dislike changed shifters?”
“Why would they not like them?” He glanced at her over his shoulder with a frown. “A shifter is a shifter.”
She shrugged. “I read a book–”
“Fiction, sweetheart,” he said with a sigh.
“I know they’re fiction, but my brain is filled with useless trivia about fictional shifters, so I’m trying to figure out what’s real and what’s not.”
He sprinkled seasoned salt over the steaks and then turned around to face her. He was wearing worn jeans that were frayed at the cuffs, and no shirt. It gave her a lovely view of his happy trail, which she adored. “Tell me about the book.”
She set her glass down. “It had born shifters and made shifters. Born shifters were considered high-class, and made ones were like the trailer trash of the supernatural world. The first book was about a born shifter female and a made shifter male and how her family hated him and disowned her. It was pretty neat.”
“Being disowned by your family is neat?”
“No, I mean fighting for love. She walked away from her family for him, and his so-called lowlife family members welcomed them with open arms.”
His brow rose and he shook his head. “The only way that a human can be changed is if they’re the soulmate of a pureblood. It’s not like I can go around biting humans and changing them whenever I please. It’s meant to be special.”
“I like that you don’t go around biting random people.”
He winked. “Just you.”
“Okay, so no ‘pure versus changed’ angst. What other kinds of shifters are there?”
“Pretty much all your predator animals: lions, pumas, wolves, bears, and birds like owls and falcons.”
She rubbed her finger around the lip of the glass in thought. “Do all shifters live apart from humans? You live in a town, but you’re at the edge of it in a very private area.”
He turned around long enough to flip the steaks and then faced her again. “Some of the groups are larger, like wolves. They’ll live in close proximity to each other. The larger the group, the more private they have to be so that they don’t draw unwanted attention to themselves. There’s a wolf pack on the other side of town. The alpha is a good male, with a loyal pack.”
“How many pack members are there?”
“Twelve.”
She looked past him to the kitchen window and the woods that stretched beyond. “Do you ever see them when you go out hunting?”
“This is my side of town, and they have their own woods to hunt in.”
He turned back to the stove, and she took another drink of lemonade. It surprised her how comfortable she was with him. Just days earlier she’d been semi-jealous of her bestie getting married, and now she was te
chnically married to a tiger shifter.
Charisma set a plate in front of her with a thick, steaming steak. Her stomach growled, and she picked up the knife and fork and cut a piece. As her teeth sank into the tender steak, she could hardly contain her moan of appreciation. She was certain she’d never tasted anything so good.
“This is like heaven on a plate!”
He smiled at her as he cut a piece of his own steak. “I’m glad you like it. In case you couldn’t tell, it’s pretty much the only thing I can cook. I eat a lot of meat.”
She’d seen inside his refrigerator. Aside from a gallon of lemonade and bottled water, the shelves were stocked with containers of meat.
“Is it because you’re a shifter? Are you just inclined to like only meat?”
“It’s easier for me. I often eat while I’m hunting, but I don’t go hunting every day, so I keep a variety of meat in the refrigerator and the chest freezer. There’s a butcher in town, and also a grocery. What kinds of things do you like?”
“I’m pretty sure I could live on these steaks forever and be perfectly happy.”
“You’re giving me quite an ego boost, sweetheart.”
“I like a man who can cook, in and out of the kitchen,” she said, winking. “But I do like fruit and vegetables, and I have a sweet tooth, too.”
“You can have whatever you want.”
She finished her steak and carried both of their dishes to the sink. “I can do the dishes,” he said, joining her.
“It’s okay. You cooked, I can clean.” It only took a few minutes to clean the dishes. After he insisted on drying and putting them away, they moved to the couch and he stoked the fire until the room was toasty warm.
“I’m worried about my mom and my best friend,” she said as he settled next to her and slipped his arm around her shoulders. She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. “When can you take me home?”
“No,” he snarled as his eyes flashed.
She pressed her palm to his cheek to soothe him and murmured, “I have to tie up loose ends. I need to quit my job, close my accounts, pack up my apartment, and oh yeah – figure out what I’m going to tell my mom and best friend so they don’t think I’ve been brainwashed by a cult!”
He chuffed softly and kissed the center of her palm. “I’m sorry I reacted like that. Your question caught me off-guard.”
“It’s okay, I should have phrased it better. I don’t want to leave you, I just have a lot to do.” She leaned against his shoulder with a sigh and closed her eyes.
“I’ll take you to your apartment Tuesday morning, and we’ll figure everything else out together.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re my soulmate. I’d do anything for you.”
* * *
Charisma could have sat on the couch and held his mate forever and been as content as a kitten with a bowl of cream. But her worries for her family, friends, and life back home wouldn’t allow him to relax. He wanted her to be happy. Being a good mate meant he needed to put her needs first. While she dozed against him, his mind spun with the desire to help her in every way.
When she woke an hour later, stretching and smiling at him in an entirely too sexy way, she said, “Did you rest or was it just me?”
“I was too busy thinking to really rest.”
“About what?”
“What we can tell your mom and your friend so they don’t worry.”
She hummed. Turning to face him, she leaned across his legs and said, “I don’t want to lie, but I don’t know how we’ll be able to tell them anything without them thinking something is terribly wrong. But, I was considering telling them that I’ve decided to take a vacation for a few weeks and figure my life out. I can quit my job and pack up my place, and in the meantime, I can tell my mom and Bethany that I’ve met you. In a few weeks, they won’t be surprised that I want to be with you.”
He rubbed his thumb along her jaw. Her skin was so soft and a perfect ivory that contrasted with the rich golden-brown shade of her hair. He was the luckiest male on the planet, and he knew that for a fact. She wanted to stay with him, was willing to come up with a ruse so her family wasn’t hurt by her leaving. They meant a great deal to her, and as a result they meant a great deal to him too.
“Whatever you think is best.” He paused and stared at her, drinking in her lovely features. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For giving up everything to stay with me.”
She rubbed her fingers over her heart. “I don’t think I could bear to be apart from you. If things were different and you needed to stay with me so we could be together, would you give up everything?”
“In a heartbeat.”
She leaned forward and kissed him, pressing her mouth to his gently. He parted his lips as he drew her closer, their matching purrs filling the air. Their first night together had ended beautifully, with her acceptance as his mate and her lush curves against his. He couldn’t ask for anything more.
* * *
Valerie touched the medallion as she stared up at the ceiling of the cabin. The rough woodwork was interesting, and gave a homey touch to the interior. The décor was very masculine, but Charisma had already offered to let her decorate it any way she pleased. She envisioned her grandma’s blue afghan over the couch, and her mom’s rocking chair in the corner.
“Are you hungry, sweetheart?”
She wiggled around to face him and kissed his chin and then his lips. He purred, wrapping his arms around her. “Not at the moment. Do I get to keep my medallion?”
“Yes, of course. Why wouldn’t you?”
“I couldn’t take it off before. I thought maybe it would disappear after the moon rises tonight.”
“It will become unlocked after moonrise, so you can take it off if you want to, but it’s yours to keep. It belonged to my mom.”
“I’m glad I get to keep it. I really like it.”
“You can pass it on to our children to use someday.”
Whenever he mentioned having kids, her insides turned warm. She’d always wanted to have kids, and now she was going to have them with her soulmate. She’d never have to worry that she’d chosen the wrong guy for herself. Charisma would never cheat on her or lie to her. Their bond was for the length of their lives. And one day, weeks from now, she’d wake up and be able to turn into a tiger.
She couldn’t wait.
* * *
“I can feel the moon,” Valerie said as she walked to the window and pushed back the curtain. It was still light outside, but twilight was edging into the daylight and slowly pushing it away.
Charisma joined her, sliding his hands around her waist. “It’s part of the change. You’ll become more aware of nature. All of your senses will be heightened, even in your human form.”
She leaned her head back against his shoulder and rested her hands on top of his. “Aside from the moon rising, what else will I feel?”
“You’ll be able to sense the weather, like when a storm is coming. You’ll be able to see and smell better. When it comes to people, you’ll have a sense of their intentions.”
“Like telling when someone is lying?”
“Yes.”
“I kind of feel like I’ve got a test coming up that I didn’t know anything about.”
“How so?”
“I’ll be changing. The core of what I am won’t be me anymore. I didn’t grow up knowing that this was real and understanding what to expect.”
“We’ve got many weeks ahead of us to prepare you for it, sweetheart,” he said, turning her gently away from the window to face him. She cuddled into his embrace, resting her ear over his heart to hear the steady, calming beat. “You’re not alone in this. I’m here, and I’ll always be here to help you.”
The little part of her that was already changing knew that he was telling the truth. She had no doubt that he would be at her side through everything.
“You’re not alone anymore either,” she said.
A purr rumbled in his chest. “I’m the luckiest tiger in existence.”
“You’re the only one,” she said, lifting her head and smiling.
“Just for now.” He kissed her and moved away with a soft groan. “I’m going to bring in another load of wood for the fireplace. The temperature is supposed to drop tonight and I don’t want my sweet kitten to get cold.”
“I’m never cold in your arms.”
“Me either.”
He stared at her, his gaze filled with indecision, and she laughed, giving him a light shove on his broad shoulder. “Go bring in some wood and I’ll refill our drinks.”
“Yes dear,” he said, giving her a wink and a devastating smile.
While he tugged on his work boots, she picked up their glasses from the coffee table and carried them into the kitchen. The back door, which led to a small porch where he kept wood stacked high against the cabin, opened and closed. After refilling their glasses with lemonade, she set them on the coffee table, walked to the front door and pulled it open. She strode onto the porch and rested her hands on the railing, leaning forward slightly and closing her eyes. As she inhaled deeply, she focused on the very small part of her that felt different. In her mind’s eye she could see the beast, a smaller version of Charisma’s cat.
A branch cracked. Valerie’s eyes popped open, and a warning snarl rumbled from her. A woman, dressed all in black, stepped from the woods. Piercings glinted from her nose and eyebrow, and her hair was artificially red, a shocking magenta color that looked garish against her pale skin.
“Who are you?” Valerie demanded.
“My name is Louise. I’ve come to warn you that your life is in danger.”
Valerie could feel deep inside that something was off about Louise. She appeared harmless enough, but there was a strange odor coming from her. It smelled like burnt spices and something foul mixed together.
“I’m not in danger, but you’re in our territory and should leave immediately.”
