He moaned her name repeatedly and stroked her hair while she finished swallowing him and licking him clean. Then she raised her head to smile down at him with tears in her eyes that she saw reflected in his own.
“I’ve been dreaming about this for years,” he admitted. Then he laughed. “But I never would have imagined I’d be the one on the bottom while my mate stole my sense with a killer blowjob. I thought I’d be the one proving my worth.”
She grinned. “There’s plenty of time for that, Quince.”
“God, I hope so.” He drew her down on top of him and kissed her. “I know it’s probably weird to hear, but tasting myself on your lips is a huge turn on.”
“Yeah, like after you go down on me then kiss me. I like it too.”
He and she stared at each other. “We’re gross,” they said at the same time and laughed.
Quince sobered. “You heard me admit I love you.”
“I did.” She said nothing more until he glared up at her. “Oh fine. I love you too. Happy now?”
He smiled, and the pleasure in his entire body, animal and man, took her breath away. “Yeah, I am. I’ve been waiting for you forever.” He sighed. “I’d prove it to you, but I had to give it to Miles.”
She blinked. “Huh? You gave what to Miles?”
“Remember that ugly little bracelet you gave me years ago? When you went through that jewelry phase?”
She frowned then stared at him in amazement. “Oh my gosh. You kept that?”
“I did. You gave it to me. Honey, I loved you back then. But you were my best friend’s younger sister. If I’d looked at you the way I wanted to, your brother would have kicked my ass. Besides, you were too young for me then. I was twenty and you were still a teenager.”
“But I’m not now.”
He grinned and ran a hand down her front to snake under her shorts and panties.
“No, you aren’t.” He found her wet and swollen and played with her, stroking her to the edge of a killer climax in no time. “You’re so fucking pretty,” he said on a sigh. “Nothing I like better than to watch you while you come. Come for me, baby. All over my hand.”
His animal spirit stroked her as well, settling into her bones and rubbing all over her feline. The dual pleasure rushed her past enjoyment into cathartic rapture, the physical and emotional needs so long denied now satisfied. Together.
Loving her mate made all the difference in the world, and it made her strong and proud and delighted at the same time.
When she came down off her high, Quince pulled his hand away and cuddled her into his side.
“Easy,” she whispered, not wanting to hurt him any more than he’d been.
“Nothing easy about you. Just the way I like you,” he teased. “I love you so much. I don’t want anything but you.”
“You really don’t want to be pride leader.”
He hugged her tighter and groaned. “No. But no one else worthy wants the job, and I refuse to leave it to someone as bad as Lex. There’s really only one guy I can think of that would do a stellar job, and he hates my guts.”
“Miles.” She dragged her hand over his side, petting him, and heard him purr. “He thinks you raped and killed Belinda Roberto.”
His purring ceased and he rolled over her, staring down with shock. “What?”
She repeated what Miles had told her, about how Alissa and Belinda had painted Quince as the villain.
“That’s not how it happened at all.”
“I know.”
He searched her expression, then seemed to ease. “I found her dying, Joy. In the days when everything was going to hell and Lex’s regime on a rampage, I found Belinda lying in the middle of the estate. She’d been abused by a half dozen of Lex’s men. And one of them had tried to end her. But she had enough anger in her to curse me for it all. Said if I’d just accepted her or Alissa as mate, none of it would have happened.”
“I’m so sorry.” She rubbed his arms, hating the grief she saw in his face.
“I wanted to stay with her, but the guys had returned. She told me to go after them, so I did.” He paused, and anger brightened his gaze. “I finished them. But I returned to see Miles with her, and there were others to help. I left Belinda to his care. As to Alissa’s claim, I never told Lex about Stacey. As soon as he saw her, he kicked Alissa to the curb, and I don’t think she ever forgot it.”
“You think?”
He frowned. “What did Miles say after you told him he was dead wrong?”
“Called him an ass too,” she added. “Nothing. He changed the subject to my designs, which he actually likes.”
“Don’t sound so surprised. You’re good.”
“Yeah, but not great.” She pulled him next to her and rolled onto her side to see him. They entwined hands, and she confessed her burdens, feeling lighter and freer because of it. “I’ve been the other Bermin sister for so long. Not one of the talented, beautiful twins or the sexy, blonde diva. I’m not the amazing financial wizard Miles is either. I’m just Joy.”
“Nothing ‘just’ about you, baby.”
She smiled at him. “You see the real me.”
“I always have.”
“Yeah, but now I’m seeing it too. I’m the best hunter in the family. I know that. But my cat is only half of who I am. It’s taken me a long time to see that I have more to offer than crappy design ideas.”
“Crappy?” He lifted a hand to stroke her cheek. “Honey, you’re amazing. In and out of bed. Joy is great, remember?”
She chuckled and melted under his sincere affection. “Yeah, I am. I have a mate I love. And I’m sneaky enough to guess what you put in that note to Miles.”
“Now now. Let’s not change the subject.”
“You’re going to trick him into challenging you for the pride, aren’t you?” She had to hand it to him. Quince had devious down to a science. “If that’s what this is really all about, I’m in.”
He blinked. “You are?”
“I’m going with you to this fight. You’re going to kick Ayers’s ass. I’ll make sure his cronies don’t jump in and try to kill you while you’re maiming Greg. Then we’ll let Miles do his thing. I assume you gave him a time and place to meet you?”
Quince smirked. “Maybe I did.”
“Yeah, if that punch to the face didn’t annoy him all over again, the note probably will. I assume you wrote something offensive to get him to meet you tonight?”
“Don’t worry. He’ll be there.”
“So that part’s done. Now we just have to make sure he doesn’t kill you.”
“Thanks for your confidence, mate.” The twinkle in his eyes distracted her.
“Well, you two are so evenly matched. And that’s not counting injuries. You’re going to have to handle Ayers, his bunch, and Miles.”
Quince kissed her. “That’s why I’ve got you and my guys. To help me out. I’m not wanting to run anything solo. I trust you, the way I trust them.”
And that meant the world to her. “Then don’t get dead, or I won’t be responsible for what I do to your corpse.”
“Right.” He snuggled with her again, but Joy had other ideas.
“You know, we have a little time. How about I lock that door, and then you can prove to me what a great decision I made, accepting you and all.”
His wide grin was all the answer she needed.
Miles sat inside the warehouse and did his best to calm down. He’d never been so fucking angry, not since learning of Michael’s murder and Quince’s betrayal.
Joy had almost had him convinced that he’d been wrong about Quince. Of course he’d questioned how a man he’d known for three decades could turn a one-eighty. Quince used to laugh, joke and pal around. They had fun together going after the girls and hunting in the Glades. They’d gone to school, graduated in the same class, played the same sports. It had been a natural separation when Miles attended college and business school while Quince worked closely with the pride, with Michael, their surrogate father.