When he goggled at her, she hissed and stepped forward so she could smack him on the chest. “Of course you don’t. You just want another fuck. Couldn’t get Stacey or my sisters, so you chose me. I mean, I have the Bermin fortune at my back. That will surely help with the pride’s resources.”
“Hell no. Don’t even think of accusing me of using—”
“Miles hates you. You think dating me might soften him up? I hate to break it to you, but it won’t. And for you to think fucking me while you’re doing every other woman in heat is going to work, no matter how big that cock is, you’re out of your—”
He dragged her into his arms and kissed the mad right out of her. Anger transformed to desire in a heartbeat, and she couldn’t think as he sucked the breath from her.
The kiss turned hotter. His hands were everywhere. Over her breasts, pinching her nipples. Down her belly and between her legs. Rough and fierce and hot. Then he was backing her against the wall, lifting her up and over him. He speared her in one deep thrust, and she screamed her pleasure as he fucked her. His kiss returned, and as he hammered into her, he stabbed into her mouth with his tongue.
She didn’t need any more stimulation than his huge cock and pelvis grazing her clit with every push. She stiffened as her body seized in an earth-shattering climax, more than satisfied when he pulled his mouth away and shouted while he slammed home one final time and came hard.
After several moments of embarrassing panting, she squeezed around him and had the gratification of hearing him moan her name. He moved again, sliding easily in their shared passion.
Shit. He’d come inside her again. Just what she’d been trying to avoid. But when he started to layer his scent over her, to renew that blasted mating call, she pulled her animal spirit back. Her cat hissed and spat its displeasure, but she wasn’t ready for anything more from the big fat liar, no matter how good he felt inside her.
“Not again,” she complained as she tried to move away from him. Oh God, he’s still hard. She bit her lip, not wanting to move and stir her body into another ripple of pleasure.
“Yeah, and again and again. What are you going to do to stop me? I want you, I’ll have you.” Quince had the audacity to grip her ass and squeeze as he rocked into her again. “You’re so easy.”
Like that, he tripped her rage switch. But before she could do him serious harm, he withdrew, danced back from her, and shifted into his panther form. “You want a piece of me? Try and catch me.” He snorted. “Lightweight.” Then he darted out of the room with a scornful laugh.
“Lightweight? Lightweight?” She shifted into her cat without thinking and yowled her fury. Time to hunt down a man needing gelding.
She spotted the restraints he’d used on her and scooped them into her mouth. It was so on.
Chapter Five
Quince ran like hell into the woods, skirting a flock of egrets and an unhappy alligator. He’d finally had Joy again, and like before, she took him to heaven and back. Not an exaggeration that she’d lit up like a firecracker while he rode her hard. Fuck, but the woman fit him like a glove. He wanted her all over again. In any and every way.
How the hell could the idiotic cat not sense how much he wanted her? He’d been infatuated in his youth and lost, head-over-heels in love, for years. He hadn’t had the time to pursue her seriously while helping stabilize the pride for Michael. And when he’d wanted to date her, she’d been with some other douche bags. First Colin, then Riley. The relationships never lasted, thankfully, or he’d have killed some cats despite the rules not to.
Then she’d gone out with human guys, and he figured he’d let her sow her oats. But this nonsense about him wanting her sisters? How could she be so glaringly oblivious to the truth? Hell, he’d just fucked her silly against the wall in like two seconds. He obviously desired her. Stubborn female.
He startled a bear and made a wide detour around him. He needed to slow down and think. But he couldn’t get over the woman’s pique. Was she really mad that he hadn’t declared himself years ago? That question about where he’d been thirteen years ago… Hell, she’d been all of sixteen and his best friend’s little sister. Of course he’d ignored her.
But she wasn’t too young now. Not at all. Twenty-nine to his thirty-three. He purred, wanting inside her again. Twice now he’d filled her up. But he hadn’t smelled a change in her body chemistry since the first time. Not pregnant yet. His cat might be disappointed, but Quince was relieved. Honestly, he wanted to mate her without the complication of young. Hell yeah he wanted cubs with her. But he needed her to be comfortable with him before welcoming children into their lives.
He heard a screech not far off and grinned as he raced across a bed of sawgrass and back into the woods. The full moon didn’t help him go incognito, but being black definitely helped blend into the shadows.
After losing his mind earlier, unable to keep himself from touching the hot, spitting-mad woman, he’d known she’d be upset about the unprotected sex. Hell, he wasn’t that happy about it either. He didn’t want to see her withdraw again, but truly his cat was to blame about the desire to impregnate his mate. Especially since the hard-headed female kept rejecting the mate scent.
So he’d decided to use her weakness against her. The woman couldn’t resist a challenge. Daring to call her a lightweight—as if she could ever be less than Quince—had nailed it. She would want payback. Now how to turn that into another roll in the hay?
He crisscrossed his tracks, listening and watching. Panthers had amazing eyesight. He could track anything that moved, though he did his best work during dawn and dusk. He wasn’t a normal cougar shifter, though. Mountain lions couldn’t roar, but he could. And he had better stamina. While cougars could sprint with those powerful hind legs, great distances drained them.
Not Quince. Not usually one to boast, he agreed with his animal spirit that they were no doubt genetically superior to the typical feline Ac-taw. Hell, his sister was one of the best hunters he knew. But like their mother, her cat was golden, not black.
He stopped for a breather under a large tree providing a nice shadow over soft grass, rejecting the moonlight. As his cat reminded him of their supremacy again, he thought of his sister and wondered when she planned to come back. Would their mother be far behind—
He hissed as a solid weight hit him hard in the side, shoving him down. “Shit.”
He would have struggled when he caught her scent, ripe with rage, lust and challenge. Giving a feigned fight, he let her clamp her sharp teeth over his throat, then stilled. Actually she’d moved a lot quicker than he’d thought she might, nearly overwhelming him on her own.
“Don’t move, asshole, you got that?” To emphasize her point, she dug a sharp-clawed foot perilously near his precious family jewels.
He didn’t breathe. She’d scored the perfect threat. “I’m still as a stone.”
“A blockhead, more like,” she muttered. “Now shift back, slowly.”
He did and soon found himself lying under an irritated feline. She had to be close to a hundred and forty pounds, a large female, but all muscle.
She squeezed her jaw and he choked.
He heard her laugh. Then she shifted to human and flipped him onto his belly. Before he knew it, she’d tied his wrists together, then shoved him onto his bound hands on his back.
“Ow. Shit.” Fortunately, the uncomfortable position did nothing to stem his arousal.