Chapter One
July
Little bunny foo foo…hopping through the forest…
Carly wished there were some field mice around…or any kind of rodent, for that matter. They’d at least give her someone to play with and chase around while she hopped the night away.
She wove through the trees, dashing from bush to bush. She paused near her favored tree, tilted her little furry head back, poked up the tiny pink lump that passed for her bunny nose, and scented the air. No other shifters around, thank goodness.
On the night of the semi-annual Gaian Moon, she couldn’t ever be too careful. Furballs all over the place were driven to fuck like, er, bunnies, in order produce offspring, and she didn’t want to get caught in that trap.
No sirree, Bob.
Carly hopped a few lengths closer to her favorite clearing and peeked over a fallen log, eyes straining against the darkness to see if predators lurked. Her ears weren’t picking up anything, but a wererabbit couldn’t ever forget that they looked tasty to just about every inhabitant of the forest, were or not.
Sensing no one near, she let the fur fly and raced into the clearing, dancing through the high grasses and dodging rocks. As a human, the area wasn’t all that large, but to her rabbit, it might as well have been an ocean.
An ocean that held the tastiest, freshest, bestest dandelions ever. Seriously. It was bunny crack.
Carly ran, soft dew clinging to her fur while she sprinted across the glade and toward her destination. She was the only one of a few in her warren who knew of this place, and she’d worked hard to keep it that way. With so many other wererabbits in the warren, the clearing would have been decimated in no time.
Within moments, the patch of dandelions was in sight and she could feel the saliva gather in her mouth. She couldn’t wait to munch on the green stalks and fluffy heads. Two last hops and she pounced like a cat, opened her mouth, and chomped on the nearest weed, sharp teeth sinking through the shoot with ease.
Nom, nom, nom.
First one disappeared, and then another, and another… Four down and she flopped onto her back, belly full and blood singing with the warm and fuzzies that came with eating the greenery.
Bunny crack. Really.
The full moon hung over her, pale light casting shadows around the small meadow. Her ears remained alert, her rabbit constantly on watch for those that would see her as easy prey. The forest remained quiet, the soft song of crickets and the rustle of leaves producing a lulling song.
She sighed.
Her bunny was horny.
Hardcore.
Carly had managed to sate one hunger, but the other was happily rearing its ugly ‘let’s bang’ head.
She hated the damned moon. The whole making babies thing was overrated. She couldn’t even begin to count the number of kits born as a result of the Gaian Moon. Sure, she was all for increasing the numbers in the warren. Woo-hoo, bunny power! She just didn’t want to help their numbers along until she had a man shackled to her forever and ever, amen.
She sighed. Sorta. Her rabbit wasn’t much of a sigher. Didn’t really know how.
Anyway. Thoughts of kits always managed to bring her mind—both rabbit and human—back to one man…lion…whatever.
Neal, her very own Texan, tall, long drink of water. Dayum.
The man was six and a half feet of blue eyed, black haired, tanned skin, wide smiling hotness. And the dimple… A shudder of desire raced down her furball spine. That damned dimple made her melt inside, and then she’d get a little horny, and then his nostrils would do the flarey thing that meant he could smell her need and then… He’d be all ‘Need me to take care of somethin’, darlin’?’.
In that split second, that single word, she’d feel like a bucket of cold water had flowed over and through her and her arousal would disappear.
Darlin’.
Oh, yeah, she’d be all about ‘darlin’’. If only she’d be the only one. But that’d be kinda hard, considering every woman in the world was treated with the same endearment, the same heavy lidded gaze and slow, sensual smile. Including the blonde, Naomi, who was still in his life. Just about every time she’d seen him in the last six months, the other woman had at his side.
Right. There.
And, supposedly, Carly was his mate.
Yeah. She had it bad. As in, ‘mate me now gimme your babies’, bad.
But not bad enough to share him.
Sure, mates were supposed to be all ‘forever and no one else’, but Carly wasn’t sure she wanted to test the theory between a rabbit and a lion. Her heart couldn’t take being broken into a bajillion pieces.
Of course, all of these downer thoughts hadn’t done a thing for her immediate need for a man.
Argh.
She half-rolled over and yanked at another dandelion, tugged it from the earth, and settled on her back, the shaft firmly between her paws. With a happy hum, she nibbled and gnawed, took what little pleasure she could.
The moon, bright and full of promise, teased and taunted her. There was so much she could have… If only…
Growling, she tossed aside the last of the stalk and hissed at the great big ball in the sky, ignoring the feeling of loneliness in her heart. Her BFF had mated the lion’s alpha—their Prime— six months ago and was happily (and largely) pregnant with twins. What did she have?
Nada…
Okay. Enough.
She sounded like a pansy-assed pussy and she needed to leave that behavior to the cats. She wasn’t going to feel sorry for herself any longer, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to shy away from the next Gaian Moon.
She was sure that after a lot of coaxing, her rabbit would let her get down and dirty with another male. Maybe.
Resolved and determined to do something different, she closed her eyes with a sigh. She could force her rabbit to accept another’s touch…she hoped.
Carly wouldn’t risk her heart, not on Neal and his wandering eyes, no matter what her bunny wanted. But she would at least have a go at kits. She hadn’t been a fan of not having a Papa Rabbit around as a kid, but maybe it’d be different for her little ones…
Carly opened herself to the night, embraced the gentle rustle of leaves, the trill of birds—which, thankfully, weren’t shifters since they didn’t have any in Ridgeville—and the soft pad of…
Wait.
Pad?
She laid still, played dead in the night and opened her senses to the forest, scented the wind.
Fuck.
The all too familiar scents of musk, spring rain, and daffodils wafted toward her and those smells only clung to…Neal. Her mate. Her lion.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Did I mention fuck?
As a human, she had pretty damned good control over her body. Hell, she hadn’t launched herself at him and climbed him like a tree yet, had she?
But now…
The soft crunch of leaves beneath his monstrous paws grew closer with every beat of her heart. Nearer and nearer he came, until the snap and muffled steps surrounded her, his scent enveloped her in a protective bubble.
She’d been well and truly caught.
Carly scrunched her eyes shut. She could play the ‘You can’t see me!’ game. Maybe if she kept her eyes closed, she’d be invisible.
Hey, it worked for her nieces and nephews.
A tingling swirl of magic blanketed her body and the pop and crunch of a shifter’s change echoed through the clearing.
Oh, she really didn’t want to see him naked.
Okay, she wanted to see him naked, but not while she was naked. Because naked Carly and naked Neal would most likely mean nasty, dirty, make-me-come, naked things. Even if he was still involved with that blonde beyotch.
Yippe! Damn, her control over the furball was swiftly retreating.
No, bad bunny.
With an internal ‘harrumph’, the rabbit retreated.
Thank goodness.
When the painful sounds of Neal’s shift quieted, Carly continued to remain motionless. She was really banking on the whole ‘invisible’ thing.
“God. Damn. You’re beautiful.”
Okay, the invisible thing didn’t work.
She opened a single eye and found her to-be-claimed mate looming over her, his long black hair hanging in waves and nearly closing them in, protecting them from the world. Even more, he had the dimple out and in full force while his sparkling blue eyes traveled over her from the ends of her ears to her claw-tipped toes and then back again.
“Truly, Lucky. You’re the most gorgeous little thing I’ve ever seen. You’re all delicate and cream. Makes me want to pet you until you purr. Would you purr for me?”
Carly, and her inner-furry-whore, melted at his words. Okay, rabbits didn’t really purr, but whatever. She’d been the girl with the pretty face her entire life. And every girl in the world knows that ‘you’ve got such a pretty face’ is code speak for ‘dayum, you’re a fat ass’.
For a man, her mate, to compliment her—whether bunny or human—touched her heart the tiniest bit.
Carly opened her other eye, watched as Neal lifted a hand and traced the slope of her nose, and then down her exposed belly. His touch moved to her ears, trailing over the sensitive fur. Then an arm, a leg, his finger gentle as it glided over her rabbit form.
Neal withdrew his finger and she growled at the loss. “Shift for me, Lucky. You know what we are to each other. Lemme see you.”
She stilled. Not a breath. Not a blink. She remained utterly motionless.
Okay, so he still acknowledged their mating after all this time. That didn’t mean much, though. Not with his love for women and the question of whether a lion-rabbit mating meant the same as a rabbit-rabbit mating. As in, exclusivity and fidelity for all time. She wasn’t sure he was even capable…
His eyebrows drew together, a plea in his eyes, and his words were barely a whisper. “Please, Carly? We can just talk. You’ve been avoiding me for months. There’s no one around. Let your guard down, just a little.”
There was something in his expression that made her want to trust him. Of course, then she had to raise her head and look down his body, let her eyes travel over every tight dip of his skin stretched over his muscles and right on to the juncture of his thighs.
Hello, hard-on. Like, ‘long, thick and ready for a rough ride’ kind of hard-on.
She snorted. A delicate bunny snort, but still a snort.
Neal’s gaze followed hers and he chuckled. “Ignore it. You’ve been running from me for six months, Lucky, and I’ve finally got you alone. Gimme five minutes and, as much as it’ll piss off the cat, I’ll leave. You know you’re suffering just as much as I am and I want to fix whatever’s wrong. I can’t do that if I don’t know what’s keeping us apart.”
She hated that he was right, hated the fact that a little kernel of hope flared to life in her heart. There were so many ‘what ifs’ surrounding her, and maybe now was the time to hash it all out. She’d listen to him try and justify the blonde. Maybe she didn’t really understand. Or maybe she understood all too well.
Well, she’d hear him out, for better or worse.
Rolling her eyes, she nudged the rabbit to the back of her mind and embraced the magic that enabled her change. Gentle power traveled through her body and the stinging, throbbing pain of her shift enveloped her from head to toe. Too bad the ‘gentle’ part didn’t last all that long.
Fuck, but being a shifter wasn’t all werepuppies and roses.
It hurt.
As her BFF, Maya, would say, owie, owie, owie…
Carly groaned, her voice sliding from rabbit to human while her arms and legs lengthened. She lifted one of her lids, not realizing that she’d closed them, and took in the look of concern coating Neal’s features. He’d remained still above her, resting on his hands and knees as she changed beneath him. He didn’t touch her skin, didn’t pet and stroke her as most humans tried to do.
Nope, shifting hurt enough; ‘soothing’ someone with gentle caresses while the change was in progress hurt like a motherfucker.
She panted and shifted on the ground, the mix of grass and dried leaves scraping her sensitive flesh with every pop and crack of her joints.
Did she mention owie?
Eventually (way eventually) it all ended with a shudder, her bones and muscles settling into her reformed skin.
“Whew,” she huffed. “I hope you’re worth all that.” She tried to smile, but things weren’t quite working right yet, so she was pretty sure it came out more like a grimace. No way to tell until all of the feeling returned to her face.
“Oh, Lucky. If I’d known… That looked…”
Huh, smooth talking Neal seemed all tied in knots. She shook her head. “It’s not as bad as it looks.”
She thought about it for a second, remembered when she’d first seen one of her friends go from human to rabbit and back again. In some respects, the bigger shifters had it easy, as their change was merely reorganization. Two hundred pounds of man made a generally slightly bigger lion. One hundred and twenty-five (okay, one hundred and sixty) pounds of short chubby chick changing down to eight pounds of hoppy fur—chubby chick equals chubby bunny—was a smidge more challenging. The reverse was just as…interesting.
She held up a finger. Hey, her finger worked! “Actually, I lied. It sorta is.”
Concern and worry still marred his features and a part of her she didn’t want to investigate ached to soothe him. She raised her hands from her sides and stroked his arms, petted his biceps. “It’s all good, though. You’re right; we need to talk.”
She brought her hands to his shoulders and then his neck, stroked the line of his jaw. Neal was all man, all carved lines, and had a fierceness that would make him a good mate and protector for their kits.
Not that she was going to succumb to his charm.
Nope.
Carly needed to take care of her heart because she could really, truly fall in love with the womanizing male.
As she held him, his attention wavered from her face and then down her body, lingering on her breasts, traveling over her rounded stomach and on to the trimmed curls covering her pussy.
She removed one palm from his face and snapped her fingers in front of his eyes. “Hey big guy, eyes up here. It’s not polite to stare like you want to gobble me up, and you know it.”
Shifters had semi-rules about that sort of thing. Being naked after a shift wasn’t an invitation to others.
Nice and slow, his focus retraced his path until he met her gaze once again, and he flashed a big, completely unrepentant grin. “Aw, Lucky, you don’t mean it.”
“I think I do.” She glared at him. Overconfident oaf.
Neal leaned down, closed the distance between their faces, licked his lips as his attention wavered between her eyes and her mouth. Suddenly, changing to talk to him didn’t seem like such a good idea anymore. Not at all.
Danger, Carly Thompson, Danger!
“What about talki—“
“Later.” His voice was a deep growl that reached out to her inner rabbit.
And then, it was too late.
Neal’s lips were soft, delicate, and tentative as he kissed her for the first time. His skin was like the silkiest fur, gentle as he brushed his mouth over hers, teasing her with his ghostlike touch.
Her rabbit, horny bitch that she was, responded. Carly’s body tensed, a wave of need creeping through her, stealing into her bloodstream and snatching away her control. With every touch of his lips against hers, her desire grew. Her pussy ached and grew damp, readying for him.
She shouldn’t. Definitely shouldn’t. Nope. Nu huh.
But then he deepened their connection, stroked her upper lip with his tongue, and she couldn’t withhold her response. She gasped and he immediately took advantage, slid his tongue into her and stroked. Carly moved her hands to embrace him once again, gripped his shoulders like a life raft and tugged on him, desperate for more.
Neal. Her Neal. At least for tonight.
Muscles taught with tension flexed and shifted beneath her palms, his smooth skin beckoning her like an invitation to explore.
Her mate did as she silently begged. She widened her legs and he lowered his body over hers, aligned them from head to toe. His cock, thick, hard and long, came to rest at the juncture of her thighs, trapped between their bodies and branding her skin with his heat.
Carly wound her arms around his neck, sifted her hands through his tresses and stroked him, reveled in the textures of his skin and dark strands of his hair. His silken mane drifted through her fingers, danced over her skin.
All the while, his tongue tangled with hers…
Neal truly did taste like spring rain and the freshest daffodils known to bunny kind. He, simply, was her bunny crack, and she never wanted to kick the habit.
Her mate moaned and his hips flexed, sending his cock sliding along her cleft, the shaft rubbing her clit, and an uncontrollable shiver of pleasure raced through her body.
It wasn’t just his dick that was rigid. No, his entire body was a study in granite carving, hard, yet beautiful lines, and he touched her with a gentleness she hardly believed.
Carly opened her thighs even farther, gave him more space and welcomed his weight, reveled in the way such a fierce predator could treat her as if she were fine china.
Then it was her turn to moan. He deepened their kiss, took control, and dominated her with his tongue, teeth, and lips. Neal tasted every inch of her mouth, teased her by mimicking what was soon to come, and nipped her lower lip in a hint of their impending mating.
Because she’d let him. Let him sink his canines into the vulnerable flesh of her shoulder, and she would do the same to him. It’d been six months. Six months of want and need and denying her instincts.
What would be would be.
She just prayed her heart could take the beating.
But she didn’t have time to worry about the future. Not when his teeth sank into her lip, drew blood, and then that talented tongue laved the stinging hurt.
Her pussy clenched at that, tightened and begged to be filled by him. She was desperate to be stretched by her mate, taken and forced to submit. She craved his possession like her next breath…or a clearing of daffodils.
Daffodils being the more important of the two, of course.
Carly abandoned his hair, fingers sliding through his locks with ease, and stroked his neck, explored the fierce lines of his shoulders. Those delicious hips of his moved again, sent a violent jolt of ecstasy through her. She dug her nails into his flesh, pierced the skin with her partially shifted nails and Neal shuddered, his whole body shaking. She nearly smiled against his lips… Her big, bad lion liked that bit of pain.
His wickedly talented mouth eased away from hers, but she chased him, tongue and lips trying to tempt him back to her. She craved the very taste of him, his essence.
“Neal…”
“Shh… We have all night.”
With those whispered words, his lips traveled over her heated skin, peppered whisper-light kisses along her jaw and onto her neck. That evil touch, the one that slunk into every part of her and set her afire, moved onward to her shoulder. He tormented her, then scraped his canines over her skin, threatened to pierce the vulnerable flesh with his fangs and she arched into his touch.
Yes, yes, yes.
Stupid.
But still yes.
“Soon…” His voice was nearly carried away by the gentle breeze.
He traveled south then, lingered over every inch of her skin as if she were a fine wine. His lips and tongue kissed and licked her until he came to her breasts.
God, yes.
Her nipples were rock hard, ready for him to take possession of the pebbled flesh, lave and stroke her. And Neal didn’t disappoint. No, he shifted his weight to one arm and pushed up enough to cup her right breast with his free hand, kneaded and tormented her mound, pinched and rolled her nipple. Carly whimpered and arched into his touch, quietly begging for more.
“Neal…”
Okay, not so quietly.
“Hmm…” He didn’t say a word. Nope. All she got was that enigmatic hum, but in a split second, she didn’t care. No, she couldn’t give a damn. Not when he wrapped his lips around her aching nipple, suckled her, nibbled the pearl.
“Yes…” She hissed the word, unable to keep the pleasure from her voice.
He hummed again, the deep vibrations reverberated through her body as he sucked and nipped at the hardened flesh. His hand worked in tandem with his mouth, each pull shooting through her body and encircling her clit, drawing pleasure through her in great gulps.
Carly twitched and tensed, his every move sending shivers of ecstasy along her spine. Her legs shifted of their own accord and all she could do was enjoy his ministrations, let him have his way with her.
Her pussy pulsed, cream gathered at her core and made her heat slick and ready for him. More than ready. Arousal stroked her veins, hopped from nerve to nerve, nudging her pleasure to greater heights with every breath.
She rolled her hips, frantic to have his skin against hers, his cock inside her, caressing her from the inside out. But he’d shifted again.
With a soft pop, he released her breast. Cool air wafted over her overheated skin, causing goose bumps to arise.
Carly raised her head and jerked in surprise. There was…something. Something in his gaze that revealed feelings she’d never dreamed of seeing on his face. Not love. No. But it wasn’t too far off.
“Need you, Neal.”
In a blink, that look disappeared and was replaced with the self-assured, ‘sex on two legs’ mate she’d come to know. “When I’m ready, Lucky.” He leaned down and scraped a canine over her tortured nipple. “When I’m ready.”
With a wink, he continued his travels south, lips dancing over her skin and tongue lapping at her wherever he journeyed.
Carly spread her thighs farther, made room for his wide shoulders as he settled between her legs. She raised her head, watched while he got comfortable. The man was on all fours, elbows propped on the ground, leaving his hands free, and those eyes… Those bright blue eyes that were filled with sex, and that little something else, were trained on her pussy, gaze complete focused on the juncture of her thighs.
Neal took a single finger and traced her slit and she whimpered, bit her lip, and flopped back to the ground. Okay, watching was overrated. Especially when she was ready to come with a simple touch.
“Such a pretty pussy, Lucky. Look at what you’ve been hiding from me.” His voice was a deep growl, deeper than she’d ever heard, and she wondered if maybe…
Okay, maybe another look.
She propped herself up on her elbows this time, determined to see everything. One glance at his face revealed a partially shifted Neal. Her mate’s features had sharpened, become stronger, cheeks appeared chiseled from granite, and a light dusting of golden fur lined his skin.
“So hot and wet for me. Going to give me a taste, angel? Want you to come on my tongue, Carly. Damn…” Beneath her gaze, his eyes locked on hers, Neal lowered his face, pressed his cheek against her inner thigh and inhaled. Those blues flashed deep gold, changing to match the lion that lurked beneath the surface.
“Watch.” His tongue snaked out then, slid easily between her sex lips and teased the sensitive flesh of her pussy.
Carly moaned with that first touch, moaned again when his next lick skated over her clit, then again when he repeated the caress.
“Neal, yes, please.”
He rumbled and then purred against her flesh, tongue delving deeper with each pass, stroking and petting her. His touch traveled over her secret place, lapped at her weeping hole, tasted her inner lips, and circled her clit.
The pleasure built, slithered through her from head to toe and gathered around her pussy until she couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer. Carly let her head drop back, eyes closed, while she enjoyed his ministrations. He tempted and teased her, laved every inch of her cunt from top to bottom and back again. That lithe tongue seemed to taste her everywhere at once and she simply allowed the waves of pleasure to sweep her away.
At some point, his fingers joined his tongue. A thumb circled her clit while his tongue invaded her hole, slid in and out like a cock and he fucked her with his flexible muscle.
“Yes, god, more, please…” Carly couldn’t remain still, couldn’t resist the urge to rock against him, take more of whatever he was willing to give.
But then he withdrew, thumb stilled, and she whimpered.
“Look at me, Carly.” It took every ounce of strength, but she opened her eyes, raised her head, and focused on him. Her cream glistened around his mouth and coated his chin. “Good girl. Keep those eyes on me now. I want to see what you look like when you come.”
“Oh…” It was more of a gasp than a word, and then it turned into a scream of pleasure.
Beneath her gaze, he lowered his head to her pussy, mouth open and tongue visible while he captured her clit between his lips, flicked the bundle of nerves. He yanked a curse from her. At the same moment, two of his fingers, his oh so talented fingers, speared into her cunt, filled and stretched her. He stroked and petted nerves that had long been forgotten.
Oh, they weren’t so forgotten any longer.
Neal sucked on her clit, pulled and teased it while he slid his fingers in and out of her molten heat. He repeated the motion, tasting and tormenting her in equal measure. He curled those digits, pads slid over her G-spot and she convulsed around him, her pussy tightening and milking his invasion.
More and more he gave her, each push and pull timed to match her breathing, fingers sliding in and out with ease, her juices easing the way. Her pussy pulsed, a quick squeeze and release, while his mouth never ceased.
“Yes, more, please…”
Neal released her clit with one last lick, but his thumb quickly resumed its place, circled her bundle of nerves in time with his penetration. “Everything you want, Carly… Keep those eyes one me… Good girl… Want you to come on my hand and then I’ll fuck you. You want that, don’t you?”
As if he needed to ask.
He pulled his fingers free and replaced the two with three, pushing into her without finesse and stretching her almost to the point of pain. “Don’t you?”
Okay, apparently he did need to ask.
“Yes, fuck yes.”
Pleasure built then, grew within her with every thrust and retreat, with every rotation of his thumb. She worked with him, rocked her hips in time with his hand, fucked herself on his fingers as if it were his cock.
“God, you’re so beautiful.”
She moaned, the truth behind his words increasing her pleasure tenfold. Shifting her weight, she cupped her breast, kneaded the fleshy mound, mimicked what he’d done to her only moments ago. Her arousal rose higher with her soft touch.
Carly’s climax drew closer, the promised bliss increasing with every passing second, intensifying with her every breath. She was panting now, hips rocking furiously while his fingers pistoned in and out of her hole, the wet squelching sounds of his movements filling the clearing.
“My mate.”
She gasped, the truth shoving her closer to climax. Her passion was raising higher and higher still until she felt sure she’d die from it. The molten sensations of bliss inched closer, the fiery pleasure pulsed through her body, crawling into every inch of her soul and grabbing hold with both hands.
God, she was going to come. Cream his hand, scream his name, and embrace the pleasure of his touch.
She increased her pace and Neal followed her, matched her thrust for thrust as she chased her orgasm. It was so close she could nearly taste the pleasure, relish the flavor on her tongue.
His lion’s eyes bore into hers, watched her from behind his human skin, stalked her from within, and the cat’s presence sent another shudder of ecstasy down her spine. The feline, so fierce and strong, watched her as she neared completion.
Spasms of animalistic need coursed through her veins, the rabbit within reaching eagerly for her lion mate, and Carly went along for the ride. She let the furry bunny out to play, let it show herself through her eyes and meet her mate for the first time.
Neal’s eyes flared in recognition and it seemed to spur him on, shoving pleasure at her in waves as he growled and purred. “Mine.”
An uncontrollable tremor coursed through pussy.
“Mine.”
Her heat clenched on his fingers.
“Mine.”
She arched, hips stilled, and he didn’t falter, tempo continuing. Her orgasm was there, in sight, and so close she could nearly touch the unknown pleasure. It had never been this good, this overwhelming. Then again, it had never been Neal.
“Mine.”
More and more he gave, shoved at her and poured into her body until every breath was accompanied by a shudder that stole her control.
She gasped and writhed yet kept her gaze trained on him. Always on him.
Carly rose higher and higher, closer to the edge, the precipice, the very brink of unadulterated pleasure, and then…
Neal flashed his fangs, his fully distended canines. “Mine.”
She came, the ultimate release overtook her in a great sweep, a fierce tornado that she couldn’t outrun and his name escaped her lips. She shuddered and moaned, the rhythmic spasms of delicious bliss poured through her like molten lava, burning her from the inside out and branding her as his.
Because she was.
Each swell of rapture was followed by another and then another and then…
She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think past the next beat of her heart while he continued his ministrations, his pace never faltering.
“Mine.” His single word sent another wave of ecstasy along her spine and he followed with a rough push of his fingers, an increase of pressure on her clit, and she screamed the first word that formed in her mind.
“Yours!”
*
Neal couldn’t hold back any longer. Not with the cat on the edge and her little rabbit so close that his lion could sense her just beneath Carly’s skin.
With her scream, he didn’t hesitate. He left his place between her thighs, crawled up her body, and pushed into her welcoming heat. She surrounded him with her silken wetness, her tight pussy fitting him like a custom made glove.
His.
Pleasure, unknown and untold, embraced him with this first possession, wrapped around his body and sent his eyes rolling into the back of his head.
Oh, god, his mate. His.
She was it for him, the woman made for him and the only one who’d be in his life.
His.
Carly scratched him, hissed at him like a bunny in she-cat clothing and bared her little teeth as if he should be worried about her bite.
Neal flexed his hips, reveled in the pleasure, but also watched the waves of emotion cross his mate’s features…the twinges of bliss, the overwhelming arousal…the moment that his cock stroked that perfect spot within her…
“Neal!”
And there it was.
He repeated the move, his body undulating in a gentle wave while he moved in and out of her sleek heat. His cat wanted to stay deep within her, fill her, and never leave the sanctuary of her body.
Neal had to agree.
He plunged in and out, his cock stroking her walls while she clenched around him, milked his shaft with the tremors of her impending orgasm. Oh, she’d come again…and again…and… Well, he had some high hopes for the night.
With any luck, she’d be a fully satisfied and deliriously happy mate come morning.
Neal withdrew and pushed forward, body braced as he hovered above his mate, careful not to crush her. Carly was all wanton curves, lush and seductive in her own way, and now she was his. Well, she would be in the next few minutes, anyway.
Pleasure built in him, his cock throbbed, each retreat and thrust causing another swell of ecstasy to surround him, his cock, his balls. The pressure was growing, breath-by-breath it increased, and he dug his claws into the soft dirt beneath him. He couldn’t come. Not yet. They’d come together or he’d die trying.
Just a little longer…
Carly’s pussy clenched around him, tightened until he wasn’t sure if she’d crush him or not, and he groaned. “Carly…”
She gasped, her cunt tightening around him once again. “Mine.” She repeated the word, followed by another spasm. “Mine.” Then again. “Mine.”
“Yes, Carly. Yours.”
Neal’s orgasm was nearing, growing with every pulse of her pussy around him. His balls became high and tight, snug against his body while the pleasure of being inside her swelled.
His dick throbbed, pounded, and twitched in time with his heartbeat until he couldn’t distinguish one from the other. In and out, over and again.
His breath came in great pants, his lungs heaving while he continued making love to his mate…his mate.
God, he wanted to come. Pour himself into her and sink his teeth into her flesh. She’d be his then. Well and truly his.
Carly shifted beneath him and then her hips were rising to meet his every thrust, their bodies working in tandem to bring them the most pleasure. “Neal… So close.”
Thank god.
He lowered his body, rhythm never failing, and scraped the line of her neck, drew his fang along the vulnerable column until he found the spot he’d mark. His place and no one else’s.
Her pussy fluttered around him, milked him in vicious waves, and then…
And then her teeth were on his skin, slicing through it like butter and settling deep into the flesh of his shoulder.
Fuck, fuck, fuck…
His orgasm slammed into him then. Shoved him over the edge and the building pleasure of his release poured from him, freed his cum, and he filled his mate. His mate.
With each wave of ecstasy, each shattering ounce of bliss coursing through his veins, Neal pierced Carly’s vulnerable flesh, slid his teeth beneath the skin, and claimed her as his.
His.
God, he was a possessive ass. But he didn’t really care.
The lion inside roared its approval. They’d chosen a good mate, the perfect mother for their cubs.
Neal’s hips continued to shift, his orgasm unending as he nipped and sucked his mark, while Carly did the same to him. Their bodies didn’t seem to want to relinquish the tides of pleasure and he rode it, savored every sensation that throbbed through him.
It was Carly who withdrew first, her tiny, razor sharp teeth easing from his shoulder, and a final shuddering wave of pleasure zipped through him as her tongue slid over the wound. With equal care, he released her, treated her battered skin to the same treatment.
Neal slumped, exhausted, sated, and, for once, his damned cat wasn’t trying to rip him apart from the inside out. Nope. Not when he’d finally gotten his teeth into Carly and claimed her as his mate.
Damn, but he’d been driving himself crazy over her. He’d practically stalked the rabbit and craved any little tidbits about her life that he could pry from his woman’s best friend and the pride’s prima, Maya.
It’d been Maya who’d told him about Carly’s plan to stay furry for the Gaian Moon and hide in the forest.
Now he had her.
With a deep, heaving breath, he held Carly as he rolled to his back, tugging her with him and tucking her into his side. From shoulder to knee (damn, she was short) he was molded to curve upon curve of her luscious body. He knew she was self-conscious about her weight, but he loved every rounded inch of her. He imagined her swollen with his cubs, maybe a nice little girl kit now and again, and his cock twitched.
He couldn’t wait.
Carly’s breathing was deep and even; her eyes were closed and her plump lower lip called to him, but he resisted. He’d exhausted her, no doubt.
Instead, he brushed a delicate kiss across her brow and settled in for a nice nap in the glade, his lion ever at the ready in the back of his mind. Nothing would separate him from his mate ever again. Not even Carly.
With a last huff of breath, he let gentle sleep overtake him, his last few words coming out as a sigh. “Thank you, darlin’.”