Jackson’s lips pressed to her ear, his breath hot against her skin. Instead of speaking, he bit her again, drawing the delicate lobe between his teeth. He let go of her wrists and wrapped his fingers around her hips, pulling her into his slow, forceful thrusts.
Release started somewhere deep inside her, a frantic urgency for something just out of reach. Her moans turned to gasping whimpers as she curled her hands in the bedspread again and writhed beneath him. His fingers dug into her hips harder, lifting her a tiny bit. His next thrust gave her what she needed, scraped every hungry nerve inside her and she threw her head back against his shoulder with a low cry.
Hot, heavy pleasure burst through her, spiraling out in waves that grew stronger as he slammed into her. She cried out again, her voice loud and ragged as she felt her body tighten around him, spasming with the force of her climax.
His own cry was hoarse and strained, loud but still lost in the blood pounding in her ears. His hips snapped against her ass once more, and he shuddered, his cock swelling and throbbing inside her.
Fabric gave way under her clutching hands, and she slumped against the bed and panted for breath as the shuddering pleasure cascading through her slowly began to fade.
Jackson leaned over her, his chest to her back, his arms curled under her shoulders. “I’ll move in a minute,” he panted. “I just…need a minute.”
A laugh bubbled out of her, low and warm. “Baby, you can stay there as long as you want.”
He snorted. “People are going to make themselves scarce tonight, but they’ll come busting in here tomorrow morning.”
“Mmm…” She was sure she was supposed to care about that. She arched and rubbed her back against his chest. “You mean they won’t be expecting to find us like this?”
He bit her again, this time on the back of the shoulder. “Nick might. Alec? He wouldn’t dare come in.”
Mackenzie turned her head and kissed the side of his jaw. “So we separate eventually,” she murmured. “Sometime before dawn.”
He stood, trailing a hand down her side. “Crawl under the covers, and I’ll be right back.”
Mackenzie listened to him moving about in the bathroom as she crawled under the bedspread. Her knees felt weak, but the instincts that had been screaming so loudly ten minutes ago were silent.
The bedding had seen better days, though. She snuggled down and tried to ignore the fact that she’d torn a foot-long hole in it. Just be glad you weren’t clutching at anything breakable—or irreplaceable.
When Jackson came padding out of the bathroom, completely at ease with his nakedness, he eyed the ripped fabric in bemusement. “We did a number on this thing, didn’t we?”
“We?” She raised an eyebrow and tugged down the other side of the bedspread in invitation. “We might need to watch what I’m holding on to during sex in the near future. At least until I get used to the fact that I can break headboards with my bare hands.”
“I’m sure there’s advice to be found out there.” He climbed up beside her. “Mostly for new werewolves, but that’s not much different from your situation now.”
Mackenzie traced idle patterns over his chest as she listened to his heart rate slowly return to normal. “That guy I met at the bar. Derek? You said he was changed, right?”
“Yeah, a couple of years ago. Alec helped him out a lot. He could probably get you two talking.” His eyes drifted shut, and he laughed. “Or you could be sneaky and get Nick to do it.”
“Yeah, that’d be smooth.” She settled her head on his shoulder. “‘Hey, Nick…I was hoping I could talk to your hot crush about sex and how not to break one’s partner by mistake.’ That should go over well.”
Another laugh rumbled through his chest. “Might get things moving with those two.” His expression turned serious. “I could ask Alec. His wife was human.”
That brought Mackenzie up short. She propped her head up and frowned at Jackson. “Alec had a wife? A human wife?”
“Yeah.” He ran a hand through her hair. “She was murdered.”
That explained a lot about Alec’s demeanor. “Jesus. What happened?”
It took Jackson a minute to answer. When he did, he spoke quietly. “Someone shot her. Alec went to Mahalia for help finding out who did it, and she sent him to me. We tracked down the killer, and we’ve been working together ever since.”
Which sounded simple and pat and well rehearsed…and like a bunch of bullshit. “Jackson.” She didn’t say anything else, just his name, but she watched his face and waited for the truth.
Jackson opened his eyes and met her stare. “The shooter was one of his cousins, Kenzie. Is that the part you wanted to know?”
“Why?”
He rubbed his face. “I told you why. You’ve seen why. It’s the reason Nick’s never done anything but stare at Gabriel when she thinks he’s not looking. The reason Charles fucking Talbot killed people to get to you. Why he’ll keep doing it unless we find him and stop him.” He eased out from under her and sat. “They have to keep the lines pure. For some, all they want are shifter babies. But in Nick’s case—and Alec’s—it means old blood.”
Mackenzie stared at his back and fought a shiver. “People would kill you for being with me.”
“Maybe,” he admitted. “There aren’t a lot of cougars left. Even if we stop Talbot, I can’t tell you another cougar won’t show up, trying to convince you to have a couple of babies with him.” He turned and fixed her with a serious look. “It’s about survival, and that’s one hell of a motivator.”
The thought made her queasy. She closed her eyes and tried to breathe normally. Tried not to panic. “Is that what the rest of my life is going to be? People who only care about how many babies they can get out of me? People who would kill for it?”
Jackson leaned over her, laying his hand on her cheek. “What happened to Alec and his wife isn’t commonplace. The rest of his family may not have approved of her, but they were horrified by what his cousin did.” He rubbed his thumb over her lips. “But I’d be lying if I said it couldn’t happen.”
She studied his face. The strong jaw, the lips that smiled so readily, the impossibly blue eyes that made her heart beat too fast. She swallowed and turned her face to his hand to kiss his palm. “I don’t think I could handle it if someone tried to hurt you just because you’re with me.”
“Don’t I get to decide if I can handle the risk?”
“Can you? I don’t mean—I’m not asking if you’re willing to. I mean, can you handle it if someone comes after you? Can you keep yourself safe? You’re not human, but…” She thought of the torn bedspread and how easily the fabric had ripped under her hands. What could she do to a human if she tried? What couldn’t she do?
“You don’t have to worry about me, baby.” The corner of his mouth curled up. “I can hold my own. My interesting tricks, remember?”
“Is it worth it?” Hesitation uncurled inside her. “Is that a risk you want to handle?”
His smile widened, and her heart stuttered when he tilted up her chin and kissed her softly. “Not much could make me happier right now.”
It felt wrong to be so happy with the world falling apart around her, but she slid her hands into Jackson’s hair and kissed him, hard. She traced her tongue along his lips and pushed inside, moaning softly as she urged him to reciprocate, as she begged him to show her that it was enough, she was enough—that they were enough, together.
Jackson groaned deep in his chest and curled his tongue around hers. His hand, solid and warm, drifted down her body, coming to rest on her hip. Otherwise, he did nothing but touch his mouth to hers, exploring with excruciating slowness.
With the cat sated, Mackenzie was free to melt into the pleasure of being so skillfully kissed. Arousal unfurled inside her again, slow and patient as the heat between them built. She made another noise as his tongue caressed hers, something that sounded more like a whimper than a moan.