“Yeah, what she said,” Dana agreed and frowned at Quince. “I mean, come on. Ayers had the nerve to ambush you outside your own home while he distracted the rest of us with bullshit. You can’t possibly think he means to play fair?”
“Of course not,” Jace retorted. “He’s not stupid. With us at his back, and impartial elders acting as witnesses, we’ll be able to end the rebels for good.”
“Don’t call them rebels,” Willow complained. “That makes them sound like they’re up against the Empire. And we’re the Empire.”
Ellis blinked. “Dear God, did she just geek out and reference Star Wars? Now I’m really in love.”
Willow blushed. Ellis grinned, and Jace made a sound of disgust Dana and Rain echoed.
Quince groaned and closed his eyes. “You’re all giving me a headache.”
“So are you going to mate him or not, Joy? Because that would help a lot,” Jace said, and the room grew still.
“How would that help?” she wanted to know. She glanced back at Quince and saw him open his eyes wide.
“It won’t,” he barked.
“Dumbass.” Jace’s insult showed the difference between Quince’s rule and Lex’s. Quince tolerated what Lex would have killed upon hearing. “Of course it’s the answer. You mate Joy, the only woman you seem to want anymore, and you’re looking stable as pride leader. So that’s one more step to qualification. Plus, you annex the Bermin name and everyone else settles down about you having a real powerhouse in your corner, even if Miles does still hate your guts.”
Joy stared at Quince, wondering why he hadn’t pushed that agenda. “Makes sense.”
He glared at her, and to her shock, a flush darkened his cheekbones, even under the bruising. “No.”
She couldn’t catch her breath at his flat out rebuff. “Well I didn’t ask you to mate me, so don’t do me any favors,” she snapped. So embarrassing, being rejected in front of everyone.
“That’s not the way I want it to happen,” he snapped back, and she realized no one spoke or moved. The entire gathering sat as quiet as church mice.
“How do you want it to happen then?” she asked and tried to stand, wanting the advantage of looking down on him for once.
But Quince wouldn’t let her. He rolled onto his side on a groan and refused to let go of her hand. “I’ll take you out for a nice evening. Romance you, wine and dine you, we’ll come back, have fantastic sex and annoy everyone with you screaming my name.”
“God.” Embarrassed that he’d admitted all that in front of the others, she also couldn’t stop her joyous need to jump up and down with excitement. He really did want to mate her, not to take over the pride, but because he wanted to.
“Yeah, you’ll be all, ‘God, my God’, and screaming for more.” He grinned around a fat lip. She heard the others laugh but couldn’t look away from Quince, who seemed to have their mating all mapped out for them. “Then I’ll layer you with scent. Your cat and you will accept, and I’ll give you my grandmother’s necklace to seal the deal.” His eyes were so warm, so loving.
She blinked away sudden moisture, totally moved by his declaration of intent in front of his friends.
“And if I say no?”
He shrugged. “Then I’ll keep asking until you say yes. I figure I can wear you down, eventually.” His easy attitude vanished. “But we’re not goddamn mating for the pride. For once, I’m not going to martyr myself and my future for everyone else. Sue me.”
Silence reigned, until Dana whispered, “Oh, that was just beautiful.”
“Yeah,” Willow agreed.
“Dumbass,” Jace disagreed.
Joy knew she’d been handed her future on a platter. Quince wanted her, and he refused to use her to become pride leader. Proof, if she hadn’t known already, that he would never sink to such despicable levels as rape and bullying to achieve his own ends, even to help the pride.
“I don’t get it.” Jace shook his head. “He loves her. She loves him. But they can’t mate to save the pride? Fucking emotions give me a headache.”
“I think I want to throw up,” Ellis added. “Hell, Quince. You’re meeting with him tonight. Why don’t you just hand him the pride and be done with it?” Ellis sounded disgusted. “Quit being such a pussy and just ask her to mate you.”
“Shut up.” Rain shocked them all. “Everyone, out. Let’s give them time to talk.”
While the others scurried out the door, Joy watched Quince, unable to look away from the man she’d come to love against all odds. He glared at her in anger, though why he should be mad at her she couldn’t fathom. She heard the door shut, giving her and Quince the privacy they needed.
“Quince—”
“No.”
“No?” He was so cute when angry. That frown line bisected his smooth forehead, and he had a hank of tangled hair obscuring one bruised eye from view.
She pushed the hair aside and heard his breath catch. A subtle glance at his body showed his nipples hard and his jeans stretched tight across his groin. She had to love a man she could turn on despite him being in abject pain. Joy felt powerful, loved and strong enough to do the right thing. Not the Bermin sister lost in the shuffle, but a woman of independence and fortitude who would claim her mate not if—but when—she was ready. Which was right now.
“No, I will not allow you to sacrifice yourself for the pride. You either mate me because you love me, or we don’t mate, period.” He tried to sit up, but she shoved a hand on his chest and held him down.
“I don’t think that’s your call to make,” Joy said quietly, keeping her face expressionless. Her cat rolled and hummed with pleasure. The woman she wanted to be was in full control. She’d found a man to love, a cat to mate, and she decided she wanted what he had to offer. Truth be told, she loved the big guy and always had.
Wondering about his involvement with Lex had put her off men for months. Even her forays with other relationships, years before, had been a litmus test, to see how her feelings fared for them against what she tried desperately to stifle for Quince.
With gentle fingers, she trailed her hands over his shoulders and chest to toy with his nipples.
He sucked in a breath. “Joy, don’t—”
“Don’t tell me what to do,” she said, infusing her voice with anger. Then she slid her hands lower, down his tightly corded abs to the snap of his jeans. She unbuttoned him and pulled the denim apart. Then she slid her hands inside his boxer briefs and tugged them down, showcasing his thick, hard cock. “Don’t tell me what to feel.”
“Joy,” he choked. “I, oh, baby, fuck. Don’t—”
She lowered her head slowly, teasing him, and then sucked his cockhead with a tight grip. She slowly eased the rest of him into her mouth and to the back of her throat, conscious to breathe through her nose as she took him in.
“Joy,” he moaned and palmed her head.
She bobbed over him, wanting him to lose control.
“Fuck, baby. I love you so much,” he moaned as she cupped his balls and put more pressure on his dick, running her teeth against the underside of his crown. “Shit. Oh man. I’m going to come.”
She sucked harder, moved faster and ran a hand up his chest to pinch his nipple.
He bucked up and cried out, coming down her throat.
She dimly heard the door open then close in a rush while she was swallowing her mate’s seed, laying her scent marker over the male with a surety she felt to her bones. That he returned the affection, his animal spirit completely in tune with hers, told her without a doubt she hadn’t made a mistake.