Hook, Line, and Mated

by Jenika Snow

  “Fuck me, mate.”

  He couldn’t take it anymore, especially not when she uttered those words. Gone was the resistance he’d had when he first met her, when he’d found out he had a mate. She was his world now. He needed to be inside of her.

  Standing, he took himself in hand and placed it at her entrance, feeling her pussy clench from the contact.

  The look on her face told him she was right there with him.

  “Claim me,” she said, and her eyes flashed from her serval coming forth.

  “I won’t go slow, won’t be easy, mate,” he said as he pushed the head of his cock into her, holding her gaze with his. “I can’t go slow and easy, not with my mate here and willing, ready for me.”

  “I don’t want slow, don’t want easy. I want all that you have, all that you can give me, Easton. Now that I’m here with you it feels like it’s what I’ve been waiting for my whole life.” She dug her nails further into his skin, and he bared his teeth, showing her his animal.

  “I want it hard and fast so I know you’re right here with me.” He gripped her waist and sank all the way into her in one slow move. He was so far inside of her that his balls slapped against her ass, and her cunt clenched down on him.

  The cry that left her and the feel of her claws breaking the skin of his back had a rumble of ecstasy leaving him.

  Wet, hot, tightness engulfed him, made him almost come right then and there.

  “Yes.” The way she said that word, all breathy, had him rearing his hips back and slamming into her again.

  His balls slapped against her ass, and the sound of their bodies coming together filled his head, had his animal roaring out, needing her. It was purely instinct that consumed Easton now.

  He started to really fuck her now. In and out, faster and harder, and soon she had to hold onto him tightly while he claimed her. The harder he fucked her, the more sweat built up on his face and back. He needed more of her. He always needed more.

  “That’s it, mate.”

  Ours. She is ours. His moose said those words, made it a fact.

  “Squeeze your pussy around my cock.”

  Claim her harder. Make our mate know who she belongs to.

  Air sawed in and out of him, and he curled his fingers around her waist even harder. Easton knew he’d leave bruises and nail marks, but he wanted those on her body. Pulling back enough he could look at where their bodies were joined, he groaned. The sight of his dick moving in and out of her was the most erotic thing he’d ever seen. Her pussy lips surrounded him, stretched around his girth, and her wetness coated his length. He got a prime shot of that glistening arousal every time he pulled out.

  “You’re mine, baby. All mine.” Their gazes clashed together, and her eyes widened slightly. He was not letting her go. He was not walking away from this.

  The feeling of her pussy muscles clenching around him told of her imminent orgasm. He started pushing and pulling in and out of her even harder and faster. And then she cried out and came around him, and the scent of her getting off was so damn intoxicating.

  Easton didn’t want to come just yet, but he couldn’t hold off. “Look at me, Jessie.” He wasn’t a human right now, but an animal that was going to mark his mate.

  She stared at him with wide eyes, lips parted, and cheeks red.

  “You’re shifting,” she gasped out, the words barely audible.

  “I want you, Jessie.” Easton’s words were so distorted they were almost unintelligible. It was his animal that was speaking to his mate right now.

  “Say you’re mine,” his moose asked its mate.

  “I’m yours, Easton,” she said without hesitation.

  “Yeah, you are.”

  She closed her eyes and moaned. “I feel so full, so stretched.”

  He felt his body start to shift, but he was still strong enough in human form to control whether he fully changed or not. As it was his muscles were stretching, growing, and his bones were starting to crack with the need to realign into his animal. Although he wouldn’t have canines when he was fully changed into his animal, when he was partially shifted his whole body started to change, and that included having his canines elongate before they flattened out in his moose form.

  He started pumping his hips faster, bottoming out inside of her, and feeling like the fire inside of him was about to burn him alive. He threw his head back, and roared out as he came and filled her with his cum. He needed her soaked in it. He needed it coming out of her, soaking her skin. With the pleasure still coursing through him, he snapped open his eyes, felt his body start to grow and become even thicker with muscle mass, and knew that this situation was intense enough that he could shift without any control.

  “I’m coming again,” she said, the shock of another orgasm claiming her in her voice. No doubt she could see and sense the change come over him, could see exactly what she was mated to.

  He growled low. “I have to mark you.”

  Her serval was purring loud enough that it filled his head with the sweet sound. He looked at the long, slender arch of her throat as she bared it for him, and his mouth watered even more.

  “I need to do this.” He didn’t elaborate, but the scent that came from her told him she was ready, eager for it even. She tilted her head to the side, and Easton didn’t waste another minute to fully mark his mate.

  He lowered his head and ran his tongue along her throat. And then he pierced her supple flesh, right where her shoulder met her neck. The sweet, tangy flavor of her blood bathed his tongue, and he growled out. He held onto her waist harder, dug his nails into her flesh even more, pumped more cum into her sweet body, and felt it start to slip out of her. His saliva moved into her bloodstream, forever making her smell like him, letting any other shifter know she was mated.

  Her long, drawn out cry had him lifting his head from where he’d marked her, and watching her orgasm cover her face. He slowed his pumping and then pulled out of her. Easton was still very much of an animal right now, but he was thinking more clearly now that he’d claimed her. But his moose was still right there, watching, waiting.

  He pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, holding her close, not wanting to let her go. After what they’d done he couldn’t help but want her as close as two people could get. He inhaled deeply, and let out a rough sound at the fact she smelled like him, that she was, in all senses of the word, his.

  “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

  He felt her shake her head against his chest.

  “You’re okay?”

  “Yes,” she said, and he scented her pleasure in the air.

  He felt so damn possessive of her already, and he knew with each passing day that proprietary sensation, and the need to keep her close, would only increase. He pulled back, looked into her sweet face, and then leaned down and kissed her softly, telling her without saying the words that he had been fucking insane to think he could have turned his back on this, on her.

  “You’re my world now.” And he meant that with every part of himself.

  ****

  The house was incredible. Jessie reached out and grabbed Easton’s hand. The weather had changed drastically, and although the Wylde brothers had completed the construction in record time, the house was immaculate. The cabin style home had a wraparound porch, a wide two door front entrance, and they’d just come from the inside. It had been gorgeous, rustic but modern, and smelling of Easton. She’d helped him move his things into the house, and she’d felt even closer with him as she’d helped unpack the boxes, looking through his memories.

  “This is too much house for you,” she said and smiled up at him.

  He squeezed her hand, pulled her in close to his body, and leaned down to kiss the top of her head.

  “Maybe you should help fill it,” he said in a soft voice, and turned her in his arms.

  He’d asked her to move in, but she was still going through Brenna’s things, boxes she’d found tucked away in the base
ment and a few in the attic. She thought she’d gone through it all, but she was dragging her feet. Besides, they’d only been mated for a short time, and she knew he needed his space, at least to get comfortable in his home.

  But Jessie wouldn’t lie and say she didn’t want to move in with him, because she did. She liked the thought of waking up next to him, of being by his side.

  They were mated, and there wasn’t anything or anyone that would change that.

  “One day at a time, baby,” he said, maybe thinking she didn’t want to because she had gone silent. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too.” She rose on her toes and kissed him just as she heard people approaching.

  The Wylde brothers came up and started talking with Easton, and Jessie just stared up at her man. I care about him so much.

  Loving someone and being loved was one hell of a feeling, and she was glad she was able to experience it. Jessie was glad that her grief hadn’t pushed her away from Sweet Water, that she’d been able to find that missing piece of herself in the small shifter town. Loneliness had been the future she saw for herself, but the power of love was a strange and wondrous thing, and she was happy she could experience it with Easton.

  Epilogue

  Several months later

  Jessie was really going through with this, really going to announce to people that she’d just recently become friends with that she was going through a major change in her life. But in these last several months she’d become closer with the females and males that made up Sweet Water. They weren’t just mated shifters, but people that made this town run smoothly, that stuck together, worked with each other, and tried to make their homes a better place.

  They were mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, and for the first time since Brenna had passed away, and since she mated with Easton, Jessie felt like she belonged in a family. After her aunt had passed away and before she’d accepted Easton as her mate she’d felt lost, drifting. It had been one of the loneliest experiences of her life.

  Jessie finished cleaning the dishes. Dinner was being served later this evening at the home she shared with Easton. She was nervous, but excited. As she let her mind drift and stared out the big window above the sink, took in the trees around their home, and the serenity that filled her, she couldn’t help but smile.

  She stood there for several moments, the silence her companion. Easton wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back against his chest. This little tingle moved through her. Jessie let the rest of the dishes sink back into the water and leaned her head against Easton’s chest, closing her eyes.

  “You know the dishwasher can clean those, baby,” he said and chuckled.

  She smiled. “I like doing them by hand. It helps me think, and I get relaxed, believe it or not.”

  He placed his hand on her thigh and gripped her skirt, slowly bringing the material up her legs, the tips of his fingers skimming along her flesh.

  “You’re nervous.” He stated it without forming it as a question.

  “I’m nervous. I’ve never had anyone, besides Brenna, to share this kind of news with.”

  “It’ll be okay, baby. They are all here for us, you know that.”

  She nodded and moaned softly when he kissed the side of her neck. She felt her body start to heat, as it always did when Easton touched her.

  “Honestly, I’m kind of nervous, as well. I don’t open up generally, so telling anyone news about myself makes me feel a little off-balanced.”

  She smiled, loving that he was admitting that to her.

  Slipping his hand toward her inner thigh, Jessie let out another moan when the very tips of his fingers brushed along the bare folds of her pussy.

  “Fuck, baby.” He breathed out against the side of her throat. “No panties?”

  She shook her head and felt her pulse jump.

  He made this low, deep sound when she thrust her ass back against his hardening cock.

  “You were just waiting for me to fuck you, weren’t you, Mrs. Pope?”

  Although they weren’t technically married yet, she was sporting a big rock on her finger from when Easton had proposed to her last month. They didn’t need to get married to make this official, or just because she was pregnant. They were mates, and that went far beyond any legal piece of paper. But she still wanted to be married in the legal sense, and she knew he did, as well.

  A gasp of delight left her when Easton spun her around and pressed her against the counter. She was dizzy from the sudden movement, excited and aroused as his erection pressed against her belly. He was so big, towering over her five-foot-five frame, and his cock—his dick was monstrous.

  “Baby, you have no fucking idea how much it turn me on to know that you didn’t wear any panties.” He thrust his erection against her again and again until she was leaning into him, wanting that pressure.

  A lot had happened in these past months, so much so that Jessie had a new life, felt comfortable, and was healing. She missed Brenna like crazy, and not a day went by that she didn’t think of the only person that had ever given a shit about her while growing up. She still had Brenna’s house and went over there once a week to make sure things were cleaned, that the yard was presentable. She couldn’t sell the property, wasn’t even contemplating it. That place held a lot of memories, and she wanted to be able to know that if she wanted to just feel like Brenna was with her she could go there and just be surrounded by her aunt.

  Easton had been the one to help her heal, had given her space when she needed it, held her when she felt lost, and told her things would be okay. They were a family now, and she never had to be alone again.

  “I love you, Jessie. I love you so much that I’m nothing without you in my life.”

  Right there was sigh moment for her, something she never thought she’d hear until she met Easton. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rose up to kiss him.

  “I love you so much, too. You made me feel like things would be okay.”

  “Everything will be okay, baby.” He smoothed his hand up and down her back, and cupped her cheek with his other one. For a moment they just stared at each other, the heat surrounding them, the arousal still pumping through her veins.

  She closed her eyes and rested her head on his chest, right over his heart. She let the sound of his strong, steady heartbeat fill her, consume her. “How do you think they will react when we tell them?” Looking up again she watched as he smiled down at her.

  “You know before you I didn’t care about being social. In fact I wanted people to stay away.”

  She’d known that, sensed it from him. He’d been the strong, silent type.

  “But you’ve opened up something in me, made me feel like having these connections with others, males and females I’ve known for years, is what makes a person more than just … being here.” He smoothed his thumb over her cheek. “They’ll be excited for us, but not nearly as excited as I am.” He slid his hand from her face down to her belly. “My baby grows in here, Jessie.” He kissed her softly. “Our baby,” he said softly against her mouth.

  She was only a couple of months pregnant, and didn’t know if the baby was a boy or girl, or what animal genetics they would take after. As it was if it was a boy he’d take after Easton’s moose genetics. If it was a girl it would be a little serval shifter. And then there were the ultra rare hybrid shifters, a mixture of the two parents’ animals that the child carried. It didn’t matter to her though. As long as their child was healthy she was happy.

  “You know, if this is a little girl there won’t be any assholes coming near her.”

  She chuckled. “I think just knowing her dad is this big bad moose shifter will keep them back.”

  He grunted. “Good,” he said in a hard voice, but then smirked. He pulled her close, and Jessie rested her head on his chest again.

  This pregnancy had been a surprise, a shock to both of them seeing as they hadn’t been trying, and hadn’t been taking any precautions
, but she was happy, so damn happy about it.

  “If it’s a little girl I’d like to name her Breanna, in kind of a memory of Brenna.”

  He smoothed his hand over the back of her head. “I think that would be beautiful, baby.”

  Just thinking of all the shifters coming to dinner tonight had her nerves in knots. She’d never entertained before, and certainly not because she was going to announce she was expecting a little one.

  She thought about the Wylde brothers, Charlie, Ford, and Bram, and their mates, Ary, Talia, and Kenzie. They’d all been nothing but sweet to her, and their children had Jessie excited to become a mother.

  Over these last few months Jessie and the Wylde brothers’ mates had spent some time together, going shopping, just sitting around and talking. It was nice, really nice in fact.

  And then there were Jason and Annabelle, and her pain for the clouded leopard male and his mate, one he still hadn’t claimed yet because of the horror she’d been in, filled her. Jessie knew a few others were showing up. A lion shifter named Maverick and his mate, a Pallas cat shifter, There was also a bear shifter, Declan, and his wolf mate, Melissa. She knew a few others were coming by, ones that Jessie had never spent much time with, but whom she had heard Easton talk about knowing for years.

  The only person coming that knew about the pregnancy was Luke, the cougar shifting town physician. He’d been the one she’d called when she first found out. She’d wanted to make sure everything was okay, and wanted to get the pregnancy officially confirmed even though she already knew she had a little person growing inside of her.

  Easton cupped her cheek again, smiling down at her. “You’re thinking pretty hard there, baby.”

  “I’m just thinking about tonight, is all.”

  He leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips. The kiss started off slow, sensual, but the longer their mouths were fused together, the more the heat in the room grew, and the electricity bouncing between them escalated.