“Oh, kitty likes to take charge,” Rollo growled, pressing up under her.

Zoe ran her hand down his chest, moving in slow waves over Rollo’s powerful thrusts. He was so fucking gorgeous at that moment. His tanned skin glistened with a thick sheen of sweat from holding back his lust so long. His hips thrust harder as he held her under his control.

She threw her head back, reveling in the overwhelming thrill of his cock inside her. Each thrust brushed over every pleasure point inside her core as her clit bumped his pelvis.

Rollo grabbed her ass, bouncing her on his thick rod, her breasts weightless as she rode him. Zoe looked up at the ceiling of the cabin, lost in the sensation. Feeling Rollo so near, allowing herself to let go like this. It all came together in a warm crash of pleasure. She felt the rush of climax coming as she looked down at him.

She leaned in to kiss him, feeling his soul spiraling toward her. She smelled the scent of his grizzly in the nape of his neck.

She whispered, “I love you,” and sat back up on his lap, her orgasm throbbing around his thrusting shaft.

She extended her long, sharp claws and slashed Rollo across the chest. His eyes shot wide, the gashes weeping blood. He caught her hand, knowing exactly what the wound meant for a cat shifter. She’d marked him. He belonged to her now. She bent down and ran her tongue across the wound, lapping up his blood.

“That hurt, little kitty,” he growled, moving out from under her.

He used his brute strength to move her body so that she was leaned over the bed with her ass in the air. Rollo ran his hands over her body, and Zoe giggled, knowing exactly what he had planned. His hand slapped down across her ass, sending a sharp sting through her flesh.

She moaned, wanting more. Her pussy longed to be filled with him again. She wanted him to take her in every way possible. She wanted him to claim her, and she knew he would do it.

“Say you’re sorry,” he said, slapping her again.

“I’m not sorry,” she groaned as his hand fell over her ass, sending pleasure through her pussy.

“Not sorry for hurting me? Why not?”

“Because, I marked you. If that’s hurting you, I want you to hurt me too.”

He growled and spanked her again. Rollo made her feel like she’d finally found someone to give her the deepest thrills of her life. At the same time, he was the one who would keep her safe and love her forever.

He rubbed his cock over her wetness and thrust inside. She groaned, gripping the bedsheets. His strong hands held her hips, thrusting deeper and harder each time. The rhythm of his hips, drove her into an endless orgasm as she felt Rollo’s pleasure building inside her. The mark she’d put on him brought him deeper, closer to her body, mind, and soul.

His hands ran over her curves, cupping her breasts as he leaned over her. He brushed her hair to the side, moving in long slow thrusts behind her. Her chest pressed against the bed, and he whispered in her ear.

“I don’t want you to ever be sorry for marking me,” he said, his breath tingling over her skin.

His sharp teeth sank deep into her neck as his seed shot deep inside her. Zoe’s body sang with a quivering release and she cried in a silent scream. The pain of his bite mingled with the pleasure of his love. And all she wanted was more. She could feel him, his heart and soul, mingling with her own. Before he’d even retracted his teeth, their mutual bond beamed between them with a powerful force.

After he pulled away and they climbed into the bed together, he held her in his arms under the warmth of the blanket. They belonged together now, and it was the only place she wanted to be. Forever.

“This is how it was meant to be,” he said, kissing the top of her head.

“I wish it could stay this way forever,” Zoe said, running her finger through the curly hair on his chest.

“Me too, kitty. We can stay awhile longer.”

Zoe let out a deep sigh and relaxed into Rollo’s chest. Making love to him had been amazing. They hadn’t even used protection, and she could have gotten pregnant if not for the birth control stick in her arm.

Just as she was thinking about her birth control methods, the piercing scream of a bullet sliced through the air. Zoe and Rollo sprang to their feet and then dropped to the floor.

“It must be Ivanov,” Rollo said.

“I thought we’d have more time,” Zoe whimpered.

Rollo moved across the cabin floor, keeping low to the ground until he came to the shotgun and pistol he’d brought in from the SUV.

“So did I,” Rollo said.

“You knew he was in town?” Zoe asked.

“I saw him at the lodge, kitty,” Rollo said. Another shot rang through the cabin, slicing right above their heads. “Your ex is a piece of work.”

Zoe growled at him as he crawled over to the front window. The ancient glass already had several bullet holes through it, and Zoe thought it was about to shatter. Rollo smashed out the glass with the butt of his rifle, most of the glass falling outside. He crouched below the window, taking aim. Zoe crawled up beside him as he took a shot.

There was a sharp cry of pain in the distance.

“Got one,” Rollo said.

“Let me help,” Zoe said.

He looked down at her, the afternoon sunlight in his eyes.

“Fine,” he said, handing her the pistol.

She took aim beside him and a bullet flew over her head.

“Give us the jewels and the girl and we might let you live,” he heard a thickly accented voice say from outside.

“You’ve got some really big balls,” Rollo shouted. “But I hear you lack in other departments.”

“Rollo,” Zoe hissed.

She was terrified. This was her worst nightmare. Somehow Dima had found her and Rollo out in the middle of nowhere. Had he been tailing her the whole time or had he researched Rollo to figure out where he’d taken her?

Either way, it was terrifying to think about. She took aim at a dark figure silhouetted by the sunlight at the edge of the forest and pulled the trigger. The person screamed, but didn’t fall down. He just scampered away into the cover of the trees.

Bullets riddled the cabin as Dimitri’s henchmen sprayed them with semi-automatic gunfire. She and Rollo crawled back across the floor, taking cover behind the table.

“The walkie-talkie is in the car and there’s no cell service up here. We’ll have to make a run for the SUV.”

They hurried across the floor, crouching below the level of the window. Rollo cracked open the door and looked outside.

“They’ve shot out the tires,” he said.

“We have to get out of here. Maybe we can shift. We’re pretty fast.”

“I want to call for backup.”

Another spray of bullets ran across the yard between the door and the car.

“Let’s go out the back window,” Rollo said.

He shut the door and they hurried towards the back of the cabin. He busted out the window, and they quickly jumped outside. Within a matter of seconds, they were shifting in the warm afternoon air. Zoe sprang towards the forest first and Rollo followed behind her.

Bullets followed their every footstep until they were well under the cover of the forest. She could feel Rollo simmering inside her. He was not the kind of bear who ran away. But they were outnumbered. Probably a dozen men to just the two of them. Shifter healing ability or not, neither of them could take that kind of gunfire and survive.

The jaguar and the grizzly scurried through the underbrush, dry leaves smacking against their hides as they ran. Zoe was faster than Rollo in animal form, but she ran alongside him as they made their way through the forest.

Though she could feel his strong animal body running beside her, she could feel him within her as well. The bond between two mated shifters was stronger than anything that could be described in human language. A warm tingling flow of love cycled between their hearts as their lungs worked and their legs turned under them, driving them deeper into the forest.

Even though they were running for their lives, Zoe could feel Rollo’s contentment and joy that they were together now. All that mattered was that they had overcome their obstacles and finally marked each other. They were forever bonded now, and the joy of that knowledge radiated between them both.