Chapter Seven
She woke to hands caressing her naked skin, firm, long strokes along her legs and thighs. She knew it was his touch, for her cat wanted to reach up to meet his hand and relish in the pleasure of it.
Disloyal feline. Bella had decided to sleep in her cat’s form to make certain that her enhanced hearing would warn her of any guests. How in the hell had she slept through Laird breaking into the cabin? She’d been having the best dream, reliving the one night they’d spent together, so it wasn’t really a surprise that she’d shifted back to her human skin in her sleep, but for her cat to not alert her once those phantom touches had become real was insanity. She was pissed at her animal half. Bella could feel the smugness of the damned cougar in her mind, happy as a clam because their mate was here. But she wasn’t going to go down without a fight … even if her cat had abandoned her. She tried to shift her position to move away from his touch—and her arms wouldn’t budge.
Motherfucker. How dare he tie me down!
“How in the hell did you do this without waking me up?” Her eyes raged as she took in the rugged beauty of the male before her. He was just as naked as she was, and her traitorous body warmed at the sight of all that glorious golden skin.
“Because I own you.” His raspy voice sent shivers down her skin as he leaned forward to whisper in her ear before he trailed his tongue along her neck. “Every inch of your luscious body is mine to command, and your cougar knows it. She doesn’t want to fight me, so why do you fight so hard, Sybella?”
She didn’t have to feign the fury in her eyes at his question, but he just pulled back and shook his head as if she’d disappointed him.
“Always so quick to think the worst of me, aren’t you, little cat?” His hands continued to move along her legs, and as her blood heated beyond her control, she could feel her desire rise as well. “Your claim on me is just as strong as mine is on you. This mating is true. Can you not trust in that, even if you don’t trust in me?”
Her defenses all but crumbled at his resigned tone. There was no denying the bond between them, but she had responsibilities.
“It’s not that I don’t want you, Laird,” she sighed. “You know that I do. But I’ve fought my entire life to get to this point. These are my people to take care of, and I won’t have any male think that they can mate me and take over my pard. I’m sorry, but they trusted me to take care of them, and I will, until I take my last breath.”
She waited for his outrage at her denial, but instead was surprised when he gently brought his hand to her cheek and caressed it.
“Why does it have to be one or the other for you? My fierce, brave, little cat. I have no intention of taking over your job as Alpha to this pard. From what I can see here, you do a fine job of taking care of these people, and that’s not easy with a mixed pack. Not to mention the fact that I have more than a full-time job on my plate as the Ruling Alpha for this province—as a matter of fact, I could probably use your help with a few things if you have the time.”
“You—you mean you don’t want to take me away from here if we mate?”
“First of all—there’s no if. We are mated, Sybella. Secondly, there’s no reason to. This is your home,” he answered matter-of-factly. “I can do my job from here just as effectively. It’s quite lovely here, and I think I will enjoy making this place my home as well.”
Could it be possible that he was offering her everything she didn’t think she could have? Her body relaxed under him slowly, as she looked closely at his face. Bella’s instincts were telling her that she could trust Laird. Her cat was now irritated that she hadn’t already pounced and marked their mate … so maybe it was time to take a leap of faith and let him into her heart?
Laird’s eyes heated, and a low rumble left his chest, sending a tidal wave of goosebumps down her body.
“I like that look on your face right now, little cat.” His gravelly voice sent a flutter through her stomach.
“What—what look?” she whispered back.
“A combination of lust and anxiety … though you truly have nothing to fear from me. You know that, right?”
“I know. It’s just this is a big change for me. I’m unsure of how it's going to work.”
“We will take it one step at a time mate. That’s all we ever have to do.” He smiled down at her, his hands moving lower to settle over her breasts, the warmth of his skin feeling amazing with the chill still in the air around them. “But I’d like to get on with the step where I take my mate again so that she can mark me properly in return, as I did on our first night together.”
Bella couldn’t deny that she wanted to sink her teeth into this male so that no other female would think to take him from her, but she had her own ideas on how that scene would play out.
“Ahem, don’t you think you’re forgetting something here?” She waved her tied wrists around.
He seemed pensive for a moment, his eyes narrowing, but she could see the small quirk of his lips. “Are you sure you won’t hit me with another lamp and then run away, mate?”
“I’ve run out of reasons to flee you, Laird,” she winked at him, “but there’s no guarantee I won’t hit you with a lamp again in the future if you piss me off.”
“Fair enough,” he agreed as he quickly sliced through the material holding her wrists and then pushed her back into the mattress as his mouth hungrily found hers.