"Do you know how close you came to dying today?" he demanded.
She reached out and covered the hand holding the spoon. "Yes, and I'm sorry," she told him. "I was going to stay outside, really I was, but when I saw Ebbe lying there…"
"I should have protected you."
"You did," she assured him. "I’m alive and talking, aren't I?"
Brett only shook his head. She squeezed his hand, feeling as weak as a day-old kitten.
"If you're going to worry about something, my love, worry about WSS. Colonel Perry now has solid intelligence not only about Liam and Shannon but also the bear shifters here in Elysia. God only knows what he's going to do next."
"I'll let Hal worry about that part, for now at least," Brett said. Then he looked at her, his eyes widening a little. "…my love?" he repeated, sounding hopeful.
Catrina smiled weakly up at him. "I don't know about WSS, but I know what I want to do as soon as I've had some sleep and a chance to finish healing."
"Oh?" Brett said, looking like a man who wanted something with all his heart but didn't dare hope for it.
"I wanted to let you know that I've completed my reconnaissance mission." She didn't let go of his hand.
He mimed a disappointed expression. "So does that mean you’ll stop coming to my room and spending the night with me?" he asked.
He put the bowl of soup aside and tenderly cupped her cheek as if he couldn't get enough of touching her.
"Not a chance in hell," she said firmly and saw relief and comprehension dawn in his eyes. "There's something I didn't have the chance to tell you—"
"Then, will you be my mate?" he interrupted.
Yes and yes and yes.
"Of course," she said. "That's what I was going to tell you before Jaguar Team so rudely interrupted us with explosions and gunfire. I'm already yours, Cowboy. And now you're mine too."
"I've been yours from the day we met," he confessed.
"So you're telling me you have a road kill fetish?" she teased and was rewarded by a rumble of laughter.
"It was an interesting first meeting, to be sure. I don't think Dave will ever forgive you for denting his brand-new station wagon."
She winced at the memory, and Brett laughed again.
"Eat your soup and let me tuck you to our bed upstairs," he said."And when you're all healed up, I'll take you on a date…a real shapeshifter date."
She smiled at him with all her heart. "It's a deal. I'll try to heal fast."
Chapter 14 – Mated
It snowed overnight, the first real snow of winter.
Catrina awoke slowly, aware that she was alone in bed…and that the house was filled with the delicious scents of coffee and—she inhaled deeply—waffles?
Waffles with melted butter and chokecherry syrup had become her favorite breakfast in the whole world, and she loved Brett with all her heart and soul for making them for her every morning since she’d gotten shot.
Moving cautiously, she swung her legs over the edge of the mattress and sat up.
Not even the faintest twinge of pain in her midsection this morning. She was completely healed.
Catrina had spent most of the last two days sleeping, awakened at intervals by intense hunger pangs, and falling asleep again as soon as she had finished eating.
Brett had fussed over her in a completely overprotective way, which should have irritated her, but ended up feeling…nice. Really nice. She liked that he made her feel like she was the most important thing in the world to him.
Grinning, she hopped to her feet and headed for the shower, already planning what she wanted to do today.
Brett wanted to take her on a date. A shifter date, whatever that meant. As long as she was with him, she was sure she'd enjoy it.
But first, a shower.
* * *
After breakfast, when she and Brett were clearing away the dishes, he asked, for the tenth time, "Are you sure you're feeling completely back to normal?"
She dumped the plate she held in the sink, spun around, and grabbing his shirt collar, pulled him close for a long kiss.
"Absolutely, positively, one hundred percent normal," she told him when she was done having her way with him. "And if you ask me again, I swear I'll bite you."
"And where exactly will you bite me?" he asked, waggling his brows.
That made her laugh. "Somewhere you won't like," she threatened but couldn't summon any real menace between chuckles.
He drew her close for a quick kiss.
"So," she said conversationally, "what does a shifter date involve?"
Brett grinned. "Well, first we get naked," he began, and she slapped his arm playfully.
"—and then we shapeshift and go for a run in the snow. I bet you're dying for some fresh air."
"I am," she said, looking out the dining room window at the expanse of glittering white covering the meadow in back of the house. The sky was a deep blue, with scattered clouds after last night's snowstorm. "But it looks kind of cold. And a jaguar is a tropical cat."
He shook his head pityingly. "Los Angeles girl, you're going to have to get used to it if you want to live here. C'mon, let's strip."
"Best offer I've heard all day," she said and followed him to the mudroom.
* * *
Their romp in the snow turned out be the most fun that Catrina had had in ages. They chased each other around the meadow for a while, Catrina sneezing whenever snow clung to her whiskers and got up her nose.
Then Brett led the way through the ranch's pastures—Catrina leaping easily over the fences, while Brett was able to open and close the gates even in bear-shape—and up a nearby ridge to the pine forest where they had first met.
He moved swiftly despite his seeming amble, but Catrina was able to keep pace with him easily.
Once, she ran ahead of him and climbed a tree to lay in wait. His broad, shaggy back was too tempting a target not to leap on, and his roar of surprised outrage as he charged after her retreating form was music to her ears.
She stretched out into a run calculated to keep her just in sight of her pursuer, and she finally let him catch her in a clearing. There, they tumbled over and over in the fresh, fluffy snow, Brett scooping it up in his great paws and flinging it at her as she dodged nimbly.
Finally, her stomach began growling with hunger as noon came and went.
Brett huffed the ursine equivalent of a laugh and led the way back to the house.
* * *
After a satisfying lunch of grilled steak, salad, and beer, eaten while still naked after their shapeshift, Brett led her into the living room, where a wood fire burned in the large fireplace, the flames snapping and crackling.
"So what do you say we move on to the next part of our date?" he asked, his voice low and his eyes hungry.
He cupped her face between his hard, callused hands and gazed down at Catrina with intense want. He slid his fingers into her hair, cupping her head.
"I think that sounds like a great idea," she managed, her body already stirring in response to his proximity.
Then his mouth was on hers, and Catrina couldn't think clearly anymore as his kiss stirred all of her senses, hard and demanding.
She wound her arms around his neck and pressed herself against his hard chest, wanting more. He answered her need by plunging his tongue into her mouth and boldly exploring every sensitive surface.
He let his mouth trail down her throat, using his teeth to nip and bite.
Catrina moaned as jolts of sensation shot down like lightning to the tips of her breasts and to the already throbbing place between her legs.
Panting, she wound her fingers through his long hair and freed it from its ponytail. She offered her throat to him, craving more of the delicious caresses that hovered on the knife's edge between pleasure and pain.
His hands dropped to her hips, and he pulled her against him. Without the usual layers of clothing separating them, she felt the length of his erection pushing boldly ag
ainst her belly.
She made a protesting noise when Brett finally ended his onslaught and drew back. She tried to hold on to him, wanting more.
He laughed, sounding breathless. "Gods, what I wouldn't give to sheathe myself in you right now. I'd ride you hard while you made those sounds and pulled my hair!"
She wanted him to do that too. "Well, what are you waiting for?" she challenged.
He grabbed her and spun her in his arms, his breath hot on the back of her neck.
His hands clamped around her biceps. She gasped as he bit the side of her neck, following the sharp caress with a lingering swipe of his hot tongue, and her knees went weak. "Soon. I have a few other things I want to do first."
The sensations—and his words—sent a shiver of pure pleasure down her spine.
As did his mouth as he nibbled and licked her nape, the sides of her neck, her ear lobes, and her shoulders, each caress fanning the flames within her higher and higher, until she needed to be fucked so badly that it actually hurt.
She had been waiting days for this moment, her jaguar growing more and more restless at the delay in their mating ritual.
Catrina squirmed in his unyielding hold and pushed her hips back against him, hoping to encourage him to take the next step.
He only chuckled, his breath tickling the side of her neck. Then he bit her shoulder and released his hold on her arms to cup her breasts.
His thumbs slowly stroked her nipples, sending jolts of pleasure straight down to the pit of her belly. The tips of her breasts stiffened under his caresses, and she arched into his touch.
He teased her at first, cupping her breasts and brushing lightly against her sensitive nipples until they were hard as pebbles and aching for something more.
Catrina moaned under his skilled touch, feeling pleasure so intense that she thought she might actually come on the spot.
"Please," she panted. "Please, Brett. I want you. I need you!"
"Good," he said, sounding breathless himself.
His teeth closed on the back of her neck in a quick, gentle bite, then he guided her gently forward to the nearest couch and urged her down.
Brett dropped to his knees before her.
Brett grinned at her and knelt before her. "Now, I'm going to taste you, sweetheart. And I want to hear how much you like it."
"You don't have to—" Catrina began. "Why don't you just—"
"Because I love doing this, and because I want to hear you come apart while I'm licking up every drop of your sweet honey," he said firmly, as he put his big hands on her knees and urged them apart, exposing her swollen, needy pussy to his bright gaze. "I'm going to make you scream, Catrina."
"Please—" she begged but didn't know whether it was a plea to make him stop talking and just get on with the fucking she desperately needed…or whether she wanted him to hurry up and fulfill his delicious promise.
She tried vainly to wriggle off the couch and take charge of getting her needs met, but his hold on her was like iron, and she succeeded only in squirming around.
Brett's breathing hitched at the sight of her, and his fingers tightened on her knees.
"Do that again," he encouraged her. "You're beautiful when you're desperate."
That made her laugh. "I hate you. You know that, right?"
He bent and kissed her belly, then blew a teasing puff of air against her pussy, which made her arch up off the couch.
"Yep, I can see exactly how much you hate me right now," he agreed. "Now, let me make you hate me some more."
Brett pushed her legs apart even further, then lowered himself to kiss the soft skin on the inside of her left knee. His mouth was soft and gentle now, and she drew in a shuddering breath as he kissed his way slowly up the inside of her thighs.
He took his time, making her squirm with desperate need before he finally reached the hot, swollen place at the top of her legs.
Catrina whimpered as Brett blew once more across her aching, sensitized pussy, caught in an overwhelming vortex of sensations.
"You want me to touch you there, don't you? Lick you? Kiss you? Maybe even use my teeth?" Brett asked huskily.
"Yes!" Catrina cried. "Yes, damn it! Just do something!"
"There's nothing better than the taste of a woman who's desperate for your touch."
Now he was sounding smug again, but Catrina didn't care.
She looked down at his face between her legs and shivered at his predatory expression. Up until now, she hadn't really considered what it would be like to be a bear shifter’s mate.
He was bigger than she was, and much, much stronger. And he had demonstrated that he was definitely in control right now.
What surprised her was how much she liked it.
She was used to taking charge in bed, to directing the action. But right now, he was calling all the shots, and she was so turned on by his caveman act that she felt like she was going to come, and come hard, as soon as he actually touched her.
She inhaled sharply as he dipped his head between her thighs. The tip of his tongue, wet and warm, circled her throbbing clit in a torturous tease, then slid lower. He pushed his tongue inside her, and she squirmed.
Being penetrated by his tongue felt both wonderful and maddening.
Not enough! I need more!
Brett went on to explore each fold of her pussy with sensuous care. Her aching need mounted until it was the only thing she was aware of.
She panted and shook in his iron hold as he continued to torment her, keeping her on the edge of an orgasm but never letting her fall over the edge.
"You taste sweeter than honeyed apples," Brett told her, and his breath was hot against her inner thighs. "And those sounds you're making—they're better music than a skald's harp. What sweet sound will you make if I pluck this lovely bud?"
Catrina didn't have a chance to ask him what he meant before his tongue darted out and lightly touched her clit. Lightning raced along every nerve.
She stiffened with a loud gasp, and Brett chuckled.
He returned to her clit, teasing it with the tip of his tongue until she was shaking and trembling. She had never needed to come so badly.
"Please," she begged him. "Please, Brett."
In reply, he gave her a long, deliberate lick. She felt the slick scrape of every bump on his tongue and thought she might die of pleasure.
"Oh, God," Catrina said fervently.
Brett chuckled, the vibrations against her heated flesh making her squirm, and continued torturing her with his tongue and lips, licking, nibbling, and sucking at her.
"Will you marry me?" Brett's voice was deep and very low, and his lips brushed against her, feather-light, with every syllable.
Catrina moaned. "Not if you don't let me come…right now!"
She couldn't think clearly. She could barely talk. Consumed by the fire he had kindled in her body, all she could do right now was feel.
"Your wish is my command, sweetheart," Brett said, still purring.
Then he closed his lips around the exquisitely sensitive bud of her clit, drawing it into his mouth and tormenting it with his tongue.
A sweet, almost unbearable wave swept her over the edge of a cliff and plunged her into the maelstrom of a powerful climax.
Catrina's breath came in sobbing gasps as intense shudders wracked her for long moments.
Brett's caresses gradually became lighter and lingering, and Catrina began to ascend from the storm of pleasure that had nearly drowned her.
He moved up against her, his hands braced on her shoulders, and kissed her long and deeply. She returned the kiss eagerly, her body tingling with the aftermath of her climax.
She felt relaxed and suffused with a golden glow like warm sunlight. And was hungry for more.
"Now it's my turn," Brett murmured, his lips brushing her neck.
"God, yes," she said, her fingers digging into his shoulders. "I can't wait."
He cradled her face between his hands, and his mouth covered
hers in another of his demanding kisses. The sensation dizzied her, and the hot throb between her legs sprang back to life.
Everything about him excited her—his touch, his scent, his taste. The way he looked at her…the way he held her. The way he was kissing her now, devouring her as if he were starving and only she could feed him.
Brett plundered her mouth with his tongue until she was clutching at his broad shoulders, then kissed his way down her throat, the touch of his hot, wet mouth against her soft skin highlighted by the rasp of his beard.
His hands closed around her upper arms, and he stopped kissing her. Catrina made a soft whimper of protest as he pulled back and then held her ruthlessly at bay when she tried to recapture his mouth.
Then Brett bent his head and kissed the top of one breast.
Catrina arched her back, offering herself wordlessly to him. He glanced up at her with hot blue eyes and gave her a slow smile that was both sweet and hungry.
Slowly, oh so slowly, he circled her nipple with his tongue and drew it into his mouth.
Catrina whimpered in response, unable to control herself. She thought she might climax again just from the intense sensations rushing down her spine and gathering between her legs with every flick of his tongue and press of his lips.
She gasped as he teased her sensitive nipples to hard, aching points, alternating his caresses between her breasts. She was squirming with intense, frustrated desire when he finally lifted his head, her thighs clamped around his hips.
Her nipples were stiff and wet from his attentions, and the sensation of cool air touching them was almost unbearable.
"Mmm," Brett breathed, reaching up to brush a light kiss over her lips. "So soft. So sweet."
An urgent hardness pressed into her belly with his movement, and she smelled the sharp musk of his arousal. God, she wanted him! Wanted to feel him take her with the same savage lust that had informed his kiss.
She rubbed herself shamelessly against him, a slow, sensual slide against the ridge of his erection, and he growled again.
Hunter: A Werebear + BBW Paranormal Romance (Beast Warriors Book 2) Page 16
