Mating Instinct (The COMPLETE Ridgeville Series)

by Kyle, Celia

  Harding sucked on her clit, tongue dancing over the nub as he tormented her.

  Pleasure grew inside her, sliding through her muscles, forcing them to tighten and release with each suckle. Shudders morphed into great undulating waves of sensation. There was no beginning or end when it came to his attentions.

  He teased her hole, her clenching opening where he’d soon invade her with his cock. Nothing had slipped past that barrier, not even her fingers, and she tensed when he played there.

  “Easy, sweet. I won’t hurt you.” He spoke the words against her clit, the vibrations demanding that pleasure overcome her reticence.

  Tess forced herself to relax. He wouldn’t hurt her, she knew that, but old fears died hard.

  In slow increments, a single finger slid into her depths, the penetration odd but not uncomfortable. He pulled out and then pushed in again, slipping through her abundant cream with ease.

  Harding returned his mouth to her clit, lapping at the bundle of nerves while continuing his decadent penetration. He replaced one finger with two, adding a slight burn to the pleasurable torment. But then… But then it got better. He did something with his fingers and his tongue, flicking and sucking while pressing against her inner walls, and Tess arched off the bed with a shout.

  “Harding. God. Good. There.” She babbled and didn’t give a damn.

  “That’s my pretty mate.” With those words, he returned to his dedicated ministrations.

  And drove her batshit crazy in the process.

  Each touch, shift of muscle and stroke of her skin sent her nerves flying. Pleasure gathered and swam in her blood, pumping through her body with every heartbeat. The tormenting fingers pressed, twisted, and thrust into her sheath with an increasing pace, driving her wild.

  That tongue… That tongue should be cast in bronze and commemorated for eternity. He licked and flicked and circled…

  All of it together made her crazy.

  Another burn surrounded her pussy, but she didn’t care, not when he was rubbing that sweet spot while teasing her clit.

  Tess cupped her breasts, kneading them as he’d done. She stroked, squeezed, and pinched her aroused flesh, her touches adding to her fiery pleasure. And it was growing with each passing second. She ached to come on his tongue, his fingers, and she prayed it’d be soon.

  She rocked her hips, searching for deeper penetration. It was there… So close… The ecstasy burned her, set her alight in desire-painted flames, and she relaxed into the feelings. Her body was living and breathing the sensations, and she didn’t want it to end.

  “Harding. Close. Gonna. Good.” She could barely speak, the pleasure overriding every other thought in her mind.

  Harding’s answer was a vibrating growl, a sound that only spurred her desire.

  She raced toward the precipice, completion and fulfillment nearing with every flex of his tongue against her. Her movements became jerky, her body’s instincts overriding her control. She writhed, screamed and babbled through the pleasure.

  The edge was right there, so very, very close. Another hint of burn, another finger spreading her wide for his penetration. That was what she needed: a hint of pain to dance along with her pleasure, and then she was roaring and growling and snarling.

  Tess was thrown off the edge of release, the ecstasy enveloping her in a massive hug as the bliss flowed like molten lava through her veins. Her pussy milked his digits, sliding and caressing them as she was overcome with the joy of her climax.

  Muscles clenched and twitched, toes truly curling with the elation he caused within her. This was heaven personified.

  And still Harding continued. He rubbed that elusive spot inside her sheath while nipping her clit, his ministrations slowing, but not ceasing. Her body screamed for him, that bit of animal inside her demanding that she accept his possession, his mating.

  Tess was in total, one hundred percent agreement.

  In small increments, her pleasure eased, the ebb and flow slowing until it was like low waves lapping at her consciousness. Before long, he slipped his fingers free of her pussy and sat up. He brought his glistening, cream-coated digits to his mouth and lapped at them, tongue tracing each one.

  “Now, this is delicious. So sweet like honey. My sweet, sweet mate.”

  Love shined in his gaze, fierce attraction in every carved line of his expression, and pure need pulsed behind the fabric of his jeans.

  Without hesitation, Tess reached for him, holding out her arms as she begged for what they both craved. “Mate with me. Make me yours.”

  * * *

  The lion rushed forward with Tess’s words, and it took everything in Harding to keep the beast at bay. It wanted to sink its fangs into her now. Right now. No more waiting.

  He reasoned with the cat, reminding it that their mate was human and not as strong as them. It needed to recall that she deserved tender care after what she’d been through, and that pleasure had to come before any hint of pain.

  Grumbling, the cat eased back, granting him more control of his body.

  “You’re sure? Last chance to say—”

  Tess reared up and poked him in the chest. “No more second guessing. I said yes. Ask me again and someone is getting kicked out of bed, and it ain’t gonna be me.”

  Her snarling brought a wide grin to his lips. “Yes ma’am.”

  He rolled from the bed and quickly threw off his clothes, more and more of his skin bared to his mate by the second. His enhanced hearing picked up the steady increase of her heartbeat, and part of him was buoyed by the idea that his mate was as excited about what was to come as him. The other half prayed the rapid pulse wasn’t because she was afraid. The minute his shirt flew free of his head, he looked to her and was relieved to find pure desire on every inch of her features.

  There was no revulsion at the pale, puckered lines of scars that crisscrossed his body. His family had done a number on him all those years ago, but rage at their presence no longer lingered. Not with his mate at his side, healing him by merely existing.

  Harding’s heart stuttered. Damn, she was his mate. This lush, curvaceous, beautiful creature would be beside him until the end of time.

  Without hesitation, he rejoined her, sliding between her widened thighs. Her glistening, pink pussy beckoned him, called to him and urged him to slide deep inside her. Yes, his cat purred, inside. Claim. Mine.

  He definitely agreed with the beast.

  His cock settled along her cleft, sliding through her heated juices. He flexed his hips, gliding over her pussy as he kept his gaze on his mate. Expressions of pleasure, want, and need flitted over her features. She gasped when the head of his dick nudged her clit and whined when he retreated.

  “Harding,” she whimpered and wiggled beneath him.

  “I’ll give you what you need, sweet.” He shifted his hips again, reveling in her mewling sounds. “You know it’ll hurt a little the first time.”

  She nodded. “Want it, though.” Tess brought her knees up and wrapped her legs around his waist, squeezing him with her thighs. “You’ll be my first and last.”

  He purred at the thought, his cat pushing forward and forcing the rumbling vibrations to travel through his body. Which caused his mate to tremble and whine. Her nipples hardened to tiny, pebbled nubs, and the scent of her juices increased. More of her cream coated his cock. He decided right then that he’d purr as often as possible.

  Balancing his weight on one hand, he reached between them and grasped his cock. An easy shift gave him room and he placed the head of his dick at her slick opening as he got to the business of tormenting her. Or rather, tormenting them both.

  He teased her heat, sliding in a mere inch and then out again. Barely-there thrust and retreat. Her pussy stretched around him, her flesh taut as it encircled his cock. Part of him demanded he retreat. She was too tiny, her sheath too tight, and he worried he’d hurt her. But then she moaned and arched into him, canting her hips to take him a hint deeper with his next thrus
t.

  “Quit teasing.” She repeated the move, and three inches slid into her instead of one, yanking a growl-tinged groan from Harding’s chest.

  Choosing to give her what she demanded, he pressed forward, sliding his thick cock into her waiting heat, eased into her with an agonizing slowness that drove him wild. He wanted to shove into her, slam their hips together and roar as he claimed her.

  Soon.

  Harding slid deeper, watching his mate’s face with every flex and tightening of his muscles. Silken velvet heat surrounded him, squeezing him like a vice, but he held his urges back. They would only ever complete their mating once. It had to be perfect.

  He fed her more of his dick, wincing at the hint of pain that caressed her features, the lessening of desire in her eyes.

  “We should stop.” It pained him to say the words, but he couldn’t ever give anything but pleasure to Tess. Her answer was to lock her legs around his waist. “Damn it, I’m hurting you.”

  “It’d hurt more if you didn’t mate me, Harding.” She tilted her head to the side, exposing the line of her neck and slope of her shoulder. “Take me, mate. Make me yours.”

  Snarling, Harding’s beast snatched control from him. He pressed deeper, sliding past the thin barrier of her virginity. Then he was fully wrapped by her moist pussy, her walls rippling around him. Tess winced at the pain he was sure he caused, and he rocked his hips to rub his pubic bone against her clit in an effort to bring back the need he’d seen moments ago.

  That shift brought desire flaring back into her eyes. “Do that again.”

  Harding was only too happy to comply. This time, he eased his cock from her pussy and then slid back in, making sure he pressed against that bundle of nerves. Her cunt tightened around him, telling him without words that she enjoyed what he’d done.

  Again he slid out and then into her. Nothing was more beautiful than the pleasure that danced across Tess’s face, the way her breasts jiggled with each thrust, and the way her sheath clung to his cock. Nothing.

  With every moan he drew from her, he increased his pace. No hint of pain was evident, but he was careful to watch for the first sign of her joy lessening.

  Tess slid her hands along his arms and clutched his shoulders, pulling him down to her. He didn’t break his pace, continuing in the maddening, easy rhythm he’d created.

  She tangled her fingers in his hair, and he knew without words what she desired. With a deep purr, he captured her lips and slid his tongue into her depths, tasting his delicious mate. Their mouths battled as he fought with the need to conquer and claim.

  Without warning, she tore her lips from his and tightened her hold on his hair. “More. Harder.” She arched and rubbed her stiff nipples against his chest. “Fuck me, Harding. Mate me.”

  “Tess,” he growled.

  “Now.” She yanked his head back and licked his throat, scraping her blunted human teeth against his neck. “Right now.”

  With a snarl, he pushed up and gripped the mattress beneath his hands, digging his nails into the soft surface.

  Then he gave his sexy mate what she demanded.

  Harding withdrew, almost sliding fully from her pussy, and then shoved forward, jarring her and sending the headboard slamming against the bedroom’s wall.

  “Fuck!” Tess dug her nails into his shoulder.

  Seeing the bliss on her face and feeling the scorching tightening of her cunt, he repeated the retreat and thrust. Again the headboard hit the wall. Again she screamed in ecstasy.

  His lion preened and purred. They were giving their mate pleasure, and soon she’d be tied to them.

  But first he wanted her to come on his cock.

  Putting himself to the task, he set a punishing rhythm, one that was bound directly to the ebb and flow of his rumbling purrs. Out and in again, the smack of wood against the wall echoing his thrusts. Her cunt clung to him, tightening and easing, milking him with exquisite torture. Pleasure raced through him, snuck into every inch of his body, and the cat eased closer to the end of its internal leash.

  Fur slid through his pores, and his human nails were quickly replaced by his lion’s claws. The crunch and crack of bone warred with Tess’s moans and Harding’s snarls. Even more, the slap of their hips rose above the rest.

  Every meeting of their bodies sent another bolt of ecstasy through him, the feelings tracing his ever-reshaping frame. The cat wanted to play with its mate. His fangs lengthened in preparation of biting her, and it was as if he could already taste her honeyed blood on his tongue.

  The scent of their sex permeated the air, the flavors of sweat and their conjoined musk creating the most sensual perfume known to man.

  “Harding. God. S’good.” Her words were slurred, her hands clenching and fingers digging deeper into his skin. She’d break through the thin covering soon and the beast rejoiced at the prospect. She couldn’t bite them yet, but she could give them a tiny mark.

  They wanted that. Desperately.

  “Mine, Tess. Mine.” The words were barely discernable.

  “Yours.” She released his hips and planted her feet on the mattress. “Harder. Please.”

  Harding did as she demanded, slamming their bodies together and he shouted with the first forceful meeting. Tess met him halfway, impaling herself as he thrust forward.

  “Fuck!” He couldn’t have stopped, not when her screams echoed his, and the scent of his blood joined that of their combined sex.

  She’d marked him, branded him as hers with those tiny nails.

  Harding moved on instinct, hips flexing without thought, and his fangs fully distended in preparation of sinking into her flesh.

  Tess’s yells grew, her pussy’s rippling contractions rolling from one into the other. His balls pulsed and drew up tight against his body, preparing for his release. God, he couldn’t wait to fill her, claim her with his seed and teeth. Then she’d become the beautiful shifter she was meant to be.

  “Please. Please. Please. So close.” His mate begged so prettily. And he was happy to oblige her. Pushing his own release back, he focused on her, concentrating on every twitch of her body. “Harding…”

  Tess’s muscles spasmed and her body froze. There it was: what he’d been waiting for. His mate gave over to her pleasure, which meant he was now free to do the same.

  Harding released his lion, allowing the beast to rush forth and join him in the pleasure of their mate’s body. More of his fur rippled through his skin to coat him, and he had no doubt that the cat’s eyes had replaced his own.

  His hips continued their rapid pace, his balls slapping against Tess’s ass with every thrust, and he gave in to his desire. His release gathered at the base of his spine and encircled him with ethereal fingers, sliding over his cock and adding to his growing bliss.

  He rushed to the edge of climax, his cat running headlong to the brink, and with Tess’s final gasping scream, he threw himself into the abyss. He roared, the sound bouncing off the walls and shaking the home’s foundation. While their yells mingled, he lowered to press against her body and struck as pure, unadulterated pleasure filled them both.

  Tess’s blood flowed over his tongue, the honey-sweetness soothing his cat, and the beast reveled in his triumph. She was theirs now, irrevocably theirs. With those drops of blood, cum pumped from Harding’s cock in blissful waves, filling her pussy. Each pull on her shoulder resulted in yet another rolling wave of ecstasy overtaking him.

  And still he thrust in and out of her, wringing whatever pleasure he could from their bodies until he couldn’t take any more. His dick throbbed on the verge of pain, and it softened with each thrust until he simply kept their hips sealed together. He wanted to stay there, inside her heated wetness, for as long as he could.

  This was home. This was peace. This was his mate.

  Eventually he released her shoulder, lapping at the wound the moment his teeth slid free of her damaged flesh. Part of him regretted the injury, but his cat reveled in the obvious marks o
f ownership. Theirs. She was theirs.

  When the gentle oozing ceased, Harding cuddled her close and rolled them, switching their positions until Tess half-laid across his body. He sank into the spot, cherishing this moment. He’d claimed his mate, his gorgeous, lush, virgin mate. No other would ever touch his woman. No other had ever enjoyed the heated wetness of her body.

  Tess stroked his sweat-slicked chest, fingers playing over the sprinklings of fur that had push past his skin. “Promise me something.”

  Harding grabbed her hand and brought it to his mouth, pressing a kiss to her palm. “Anything.”

  “If there’s any chance, any hint, that I’m going to be like Alistair… I want you to put me down.” Trembles wracked her body, increasing with every passing moment that he didn’t answer.

  So, he lied.

  “Of course, love.” He pressed a kiss to her temple. “Of course.”

  48

  “Sometimes life gives you the unexpected. Then you say ‘fuck you life’ and kick it in the balls. Because—hello?—life is obviously male.” — Maya O’Connell, Prima of the Ridgeville Pride and woman who has perfected the art of ball kicking.

  The craving for meat hit her first. Drool filled her mouth at the idea of a rare steak sliding down her throat as her teeth tore into another hunk. She’d gorge on one pound after another until her hunger was sated.

  Spread out on the couch, head resting in Harding’s lap, she clutched her stomach. It rumbled and growled, telling her she needed to eat. Now. This second. Minutes ago, even.

  Another hunger pang hit her and her legs jerked, knees curling toward her abdomen.

  “Tess?” Harding’s voice was soaked with concern.

  Fuck, it was starting to hurt. Her gums throbbed, and she felt the massive growth of bones that lurked, pushing and straining against their confines. Her skin prickled, pain rushing into her consciousness as if a million ants tore and feasted on her.