A Cat For All

by Crymsyn Hart

  “I’m sorry, Orianna. Will you please come into my house? You’re welcomed here.”

  She seemed visibly relieved when he invited her. Pierce held her close and kissed the top of her head. Pierce seemed more relaxed and comfortable with her being around him. Ryker showed them into the living room. They sat on the couch. Orianna stayed on the edge of the cushion while Pierce rested his fingers on her back and ran them down her spine. She glanced at him and smiled. Ryker wondered if she returned his feelings or not. Time would tell to see if she was genuine or if she was using him for refuge.

  “Thank you for the invitation. I appreciate it.”

  “So, what exactly happened to you?” Dallas asked.

  “You really shouldn’t ask her that. It’s her business.”

  Orianna squeezed Pierce’s knee. “It’s okay. They have every right to ask about me. If I’m going to be a part of your life, they want to be sure I’m not dangerous and you wind up dead.”

  “So, you can read our minds?” Ryker sat next to Dallas.

  “No. Well, I can sense emotions, but it’s harder with shape-shifters because there are two minds.”

  Ryker saw a faraway twinkle to her eye. Whatever she was going to say, it was taking her back. “When I first woke up after the accident, my mind was open. Mason had thought that I was dead. He had fought off two of the vampires who had jumped us. There was a pack of five of them. The leader was a cocky son of a bitch. He knocked Mason unconscious and came to me next. They thought it’d be fun to play with me. They wanted to have my mate watch what they did to me. The vampires forced themselves on me, fed on me, and then gave me their blood. I fought back with everything I had. It should have killed me. I felt my heart stop beating. Mason broke loose and killed the ones who held him. I could feel myself dying. It was surreal and light. I wanted nothing more than to move on, but at the last beat of my heart, I was locked in my broken body. Mason brought me back to my mother. My mother had already known something had happened to me. She was always connected to me that way.” Orianna ran her fingers over her arms as if warding off a chill. “My mother cleaned my wounds. No one heard my screams. The next night, I woke up. My cat had died with me. My mother rejoiced I had risen. When I went to Mason, he flipped out. Called me a monster, a fucked-up freak of nature. My mother wanted me to stay. She thought I was going to make a great pack leader, but Mason called a meeting of the pride elders. They had all seen my body.

  “They banished me from the pride, and I couldn’t claim refuge with another pride. From there I had a little time to gather what little I could. My mother didn’t want to let me go, but even with her being the queen, the others fanged up on her and we parted ways. I left pride land, and I’ve been running ever since.”

  “How did you end up back here?”

  “My sister called me. Said that my mother was dying and that she wanted to see me before she passed. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it. She was already dead when I got there. They were having the wake when I arrived. The pride allowed me to see her the one final time. After the graveside service, Mason confronted me. He drew me aside and told me to get off pride land and never return or he’d kill me. He was already the leader of the pride. There was nothing of the man who I loved and with whom I’d originally mated. All that was in his eyes was disgust and hatred. The things that I see in your eyes when you look at me.”

  Ryker’s mouth fell open. Dallas remained silent and looked between the both of them. Pierce growled low. “I never said that I hated you or that you disgusted me.”

  Orianna flashed him a small smile. “You didn’t have to. You’re only putting up with this because you want Pierce to be happy.”

  “Orianna, just because we may not like what you are doesn’t mean that we don’t want you around. Pierce loves you the way that he loves us. We just have to acclimate to you being around. Stay in the house tonight, and we’ll work on getting you set up in the guesthouse.” Dallas got up from the couch. He glanced down at Ryker. “Pierce, why don’t you take Orianna up to your room? I’m sure you can make her comfortable for the day so no daylight gets in.”

  Pierce nodded and then took her upstairs. Ryker watched them disappear. “What are you thinking?” he snarled at Dallas.

  The other man sighed. “Come on, Ryker. You heard her story. She deserves some consideration. Her pride has thrown her out. She has no family. The vampire and shifter communities don’t want her. She’s an outcast like us. Give her a break. You know what it’s like to be alone.”

  “So, you’re getting soft on her now?” Ryker asked.

  Dallas rested his hands on Ryker’s shoulders. Jealousy ate him up knowing that Pierce was upstairs with Orianna. I can’t be doing this. I just want Pierce to be happy. But there was a wrongness about her, and having her stay with them would bring them trouble. He could feel it in his bones. They were close to pride land, and he had to interact with them every day in his business dealings. They all did.

  “I’m sympathetic toward her. She could’ve convinced Pierce to not come back. She lost everything she had. She needs some support. We can at least give her that,” Dallas said.

  Ryker glanced at the floor. Everything he was saying was true. Her circumstances were similar to his in that they shared being thrown out of the pride. He gritted his teeth and growled. It wasn’t something he wanted, but he was conflicted about Pierce and Orianna. To do right by him, they needed to keep her close. “Yeah. You’re right. Come on, let’s start cleaning out the studio. We’ll have to keep the sun out of it somehow.”

  Dallas guided Ryker’s lips to his. Those sweet, full lips melted his fears and worries. They kissed and pressed their bodies into one another until Ryker’s cock stirred from the closeness of his mate’s warm, hard muscles. Dallas traced his tongue along Ryker’s bottom lip while he trailed his hands down Ryker’s back and gripped the mounds of his ass. Ryker closed his eyes and moaned. His mate presented a temptation to take him right there on the couch, but he wanted to make a place for Orianna and get her out of the house so he wouldn’t feel so claustrophobic with her near. All that fell away being in Dallas’s embrace. The strong arms grounded him. The musky, feline scent calmed his cat. Dallas pulled away and cupped his cheek.

  “We can have some alone time later tonight. I’m sure Pierce and Orianna are getting along. Let’s go clean up that studio of yours. It’s covered in stone dust, and if we want a woman to live there, then we have to make it presentable.”

  “She’s hardly a woman.”

  Dallas eyed him. “If we’re going to make this work with her, you have to change your attitude. She might be a vampire, but she’s still a woman. Her kind and ours might not get along, but we can be civil for Pierce’s sake. Don’t get crazy jealous the way you did when I brought Pierce home. You were ready to throw him out until you clicked with him and realized that he was your mate. Maybe it’s the opposing sides of your cat, the lion and the tiger fighting with one another. You even fought the idea that I was your mate. Come on, give her a chance. She’s easy on the eyes. I give her that, but it’s your ass that I want to fuck right here.”

  Ryker grumbled and thought about the first time he had seen Dallas and smelled his scent, triggering the mating instinct within him. Dallas had chased after him because he couldn’t believe that someone desired to spend the rest of their days with him. Why would they if he was a hybrid? Once he had accepted Dallas’s love, his heart opened. Maybe there was a chance he could warm to this new addition to their family.

  “Come on. Entice me again. I’ll spread your ass cheeks and ram my cock into your asshole.” Ryker went outside and headed toward the studio knowing there was a lot of work ahead of then. Dallas would help. In the end, she would be out of the house to make their living situation a bit more harmonious.

  Chapter Seven

  Orianna stood by the window and watched Dallas and Ryker hauling things out of the guesthouse. It was several hundred feet from the house, nestled under a large canop
y of trees where the sun wouldn’t beat through the windows too much. Knowing she would have a secure place to sleep was a godsend. However, she could feel the animosity radiating off Ryker about her disrupting how they lived. He was happy about Pierce returning. And Pierce was more relaxed now he was back in the house. His love for her radiated around her like the sun she missed. It was something she thought she’d never feel again. After Mason, she had shut her heart off and assumed no one would ever love her again. Pierce was there supporting her, loving her no matter what. He didn’t care that she was a vampire. When she told the others her story, Dallas seemed moved by it. She hoped he had started to accept her. Ryker, on the other hand, was complex, and she couldn’t completely discern his emotions. Having her outside of the house made him more comfortable. He was jealous that she’d take Pierce away from him and the other emotions were gray. There was a dark side of him that reminded her of Mason in a way.

  “Are you going to watch them all night?” Pierce asked.

  She turned toward him and took in the room. The plush carpet was burgundy, and the walls were a plum color. The bedroom was inviting, with a king-size bed with a blanket and pillows the shades of purple that matched the walls and the carpet. There was some kind of sculpture in the corner that reminded her of a cat, with sharp edges and teeth, but the shape wasn’t completely realized. It was more subjective, like looking at an optical illusion. A chest of drawers leaned against the wall near the door. There was a desk with a laptop on it. Pierce sat on the edge of the bed.

  His mind was open to her. Maybe it was because he had shared his blood. Along with his cat, all she felt was love from him and concern about her well-being. The most important thing was that she sensed that he would do anything to keep her safe. He had such an innocence to him that drew her and made her feel human again. Besides that she couldn’t help feel the attraction that loomed between them. He saw her as a beautiful woman and not some beast that had crawled out of the coffin.

  The instincts he had awoken inside of her screamed for her to take advantage of the situation and stake her claim to him, marking him as hers. Plus she hungered for the taste of his blood once more to be flowing down her throat. It was stronger than anything she had taken in before. Relying on Pierce to quench her hunger wasn’t something she wanted to do. If the others found out, then she assumed they would throw her off the property or revoke their invitation and she wouldn’t be able to get back into the house. Many of the old wives’ tales she hadn’t thought about before associated with vampires were true, which was one reason she had to be invited into the house. At least she didn’t have to be invited into Pierce’s room.

  “No, I’m not going to watch them all night. I’m content to watch you.” Orianna sat beside him on the bed.

  He chuckled and pushed a strand of her hair back behind her ear. The small gesture stirred the lust inside of her. He trailed his fingers down the expanse of her neck. Pierce’s soft caress brought her back to earlier when they had been in the hotel room. It was so easy with him to forget about that she had said she didn’t want to jump into a relationship. It had been almost six years since she had been with someone. The last time she’d had sex with Mason they were in a hurry and hadn’t enjoyed one another. Orianna missed the intimacy that she had shared with her mate. Now she would have to become accustomed to that familiarity again.

  “What are you thinking about?” Pierce asked.

  “About staying here. About the last time I was with someone. Being with you has made me realize how lonely I’ve been. Even being around Dallas and Ryker will take some getting used to. They may not be potential mates, but at least they talk to me. Once people figure out what I am, then they want nothing to do with me. Thank you for finding me.” Orianna wanted to cry, but that was taken away from her. The growing warmth and lump of emotion that was in her heart was something she wasn’t sure she could express fully. Pierce didn’t understand how much this meant to her to be with someone again.

  “I didn’t find you. Your wonderful scent was what led me to you. It wasn’t by chance that you happened across this land.” He ran his nose along the line of her throat and inhaled. His hand settled on her knee lightly, but his touch made her hot for him.

  “How do I smell to you? Others think I just dug myself out of the grave.”

  Pierce gazed at her. She saw the longing in his eyes. “Like jasmine and fresh earth. The musk of your cat is heady and mixed with the lavender of your soap. It makes me want to lick you all over. Have our bodies sliding against one another until you beg me to stop making love to you. It’s getting harder to constrain myself.” He squeezed her knee and pulled away. “I’m trying to control the urge to throw you down on the bed and make passionate love to you.”

  Orianna watched his lips move and heard the words, but she was hypnotized by the way they formed around the syllables. At certain points a small dimple formed at the left corner of his mouth. She nodded absently and inched a little closer to him on the bed. She ran her fingers over the tops of his thighs, feeling the strong muscles enclosed in the jeans. Pierce trailed his fingertips along her cheekbones, almost afraid to touch her. She couldn’t watch him any longer; she had to feel those lips. Once their mouths connected, she was in heaven. Her whole body relaxed, and it felt like she had come home. Pierce’s arms slipped around her, drawing her closer until her breasts pressed against his chest. She ran her finger over his torso and along his sides, until she wrapped her arms around his neck. She tucked her knees under her and straddled him. Orianna feathered her fingers along his neck settling over his pulse point, and then slid her fingers through his hair. Pierce dragged his nails along her back until the points bit into her skin. She broke the kiss and cried out.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, then rested his forehead against hers.

  “I’m not. It’s wonderful to feel something again. To have someone make me feel again.” She sucked in his bottom lip. Her nipples pushed against her bra and shirt, which made the extra garments uncomfortable. The clothing was constricting between them when it would be so much better to have their naked bodies entwined together. Her inner cat stretched and kneaded at the confines of her mind. It was the first time she’d felt it so active in a long time. It hadn’t even roused when her mother had passed. Orianna thought it had died, but with the idea of having another man for a mate it was slowly coming back to life. She couldn’t ignore it any longer. It wanted out even though she wasn’t sure how to unchain it from the cage it had been thrust into.

  Pierce took in another breath. She realized then how much he was hanging by a thread. His body shook. His muscles were tensed. A vein throbbed across his forehead. The tempo of his heart thundered in her ears. Orianna inhaled hearing the rattle of her lungs from the air that wasn’t needed, but it allowed her to taste his desire and smell it. The heaviness settled on her tongue and tasted like cinnamon. With a small movement, she slid herself along his erection. Pierce’s eyes widened, and he shifted in an attempt to put a little room between them. The skin rolled on his face from the fight of keeping his cat under control. His eyes had taken on a golden hue from the beast being so close to the surface.

  “I never thought I could feel this way about a woman. Even before I was attacked, I was into men. It didn’t impact me when I found Dallas and Ryker attractive. But I desire you the same. With you being this close, I can’t hold on—”

  Their combined longing was what drove Orianna over the edge, along with the craving to feel loved once more. She claimed his lips in a slow, hungry kiss claiming him for her own. Her inner lion yowled with agreement that it wanted Pierce as its own. He answered that kiss with a fervor that she hadn’t felt in him before. He clutched her breasts and swept his thumbs over her pert nipples. He thrust his tongue between her lips until their tongues touched and entwined. She grabbed the sides of his shirt and yanked it from his jeans. Once her hands touched his chest, Pierce pulled away from her and grabbed her wrists in an iron grip. A devilish sm
ile appeared on his lips.

  “Teasing me now?” Orianna asked.

  “No. I just want to be sure this is what you want.”

  “No more talking. I want you. All of you.”

  Pierce released her. Orianna shimmied off him enough to reach his zipper. He fumbled with her shirt until he got it over her head and threw it to the floor. He cupped her breasts and feathered his fingertips over her nipples. A bolt of pleasure hit her from the soft caress. She slid her hands under his shirt to feel his flat stomach underneath. The warmth of his skin blasted against her and made her remember what it felt to be warm. She pulled his shirt off too and nipped his throat, licking one of his scars. Claw marks adorned his stomach that were raised but already smooth. She traced one of them to the waistband of his jeans.

  “Leftover from being attacked. Ryker said they should’ve healed when I turned. Dallas thinks it was because the one who attacked me was insane and that maybe something went wrong.”

  Orianna touched the scars again. “I’ve heard of it happening. There are exceptions to all rules. Look at me.”

  “All I see is a night beauty who is my mate.” Pierce pressed his lips to the place above her heart and dragged his mouth over the top of her left breast before taking the nipple into his mouth through the lace of her bra. She held his head there for a few seconds. Her nerve endings were coming alive with the raw excitement he enticed in her. His free hand wandered down her stomach, undid the button of her jeans, and then slipped over the fabric of her panties. When he found her buried nub, she cried out. He pushed the thin material aside and began to fondle her. Orianna pressed herself into him to encourage Pierce to take her.

  Orianna worked on the zipper of his jeans, but it was stuck. The more he touched her clit, running his other fingers along her moist folds, the more she found it hard to concentrate. All she wanted was him inside of her. Pierce sucked on her nipple, and that sent bolts of ecstasy through her, combining with his caresses. She was ready for him. More ready than she had been in a long while. She drew in a breath automatically and found she was surprised at the gesture. She pushed it aside and focused on Pierce. Her head was light and swimming with the awareness of his body. Her instincts were kicking in to feed on him. His heart echoed in her ears, but she pushed all that aside and just wanted to feel the bliss of being with a man who cared for her. Finally she was able to get the zipper down on his jeans and caress his hard cock through his boxer-briefs. If only he wasn’t wearing anything, then this would be so much simpler. I’d fuck him right now, but no. Her whole body ached for him to sink inside of her wet depths to claim her as his. She hadn’t wished for something so much since the last time she had been with Mason. Orianna realized in that moment that she was Pierce’s mate. It wasn’t because he had staked a claim to her, but she could feel their connection, too. His scent enticed her more than any man’s had. Even more than Mason’s. They had married because she had fallen in love with him. But now she was experiencing the same thing that her mother had always talked about. With her being able to sense his emotions, his hope was that he could treat her right. There was concern too that he wouldn’t please her.