Cat's Wolf (A Shifter Romance Novella) (8 page)

His gaze met hers quickly, his face
softening. “Don’t worry about that, Cat. I can take care of myself.”

She had no doubt of that. “But this
is my fault.”

Rhys’ hands moved to her nape and
pulled her closer until their noses touched. “Stop thinking that. This is
no-one’s fault, okay? Not yours; not mine. No-one’s! Right?”

Kaitlin nodded numbly.

His grip loosened and he let out a
weary sigh as he straightened. “I’m sorry, Cat. I just don’t want to lose you.”

Sighing, she wrapped her arms
around his waist and buried her face in his chest. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Long fingers threaded through the
strands of her blonde hair and she sighed at the gentle tug of her scalp with
each pull. Kaitlin loved having her hair played with. Her eyes closed in bliss
and a sound that was half sigh, half purr left her. Kaitlin let herself get
lost in the pleasure of his fingers in her hair, massaging her scalp.

“We have the suite to ourselves,
Cat,” he said huskily.

Her eyelids flickered open and she
moved back so she could see his face. “Is that all you think about?” She
teased.

“Whenever I’m around you, it is.” His
eyes were glowing and heavy lidded.

Her breath caught but then she
remembered the bounty.

“What about security? You gave them
all the night off.”

He smiled and ran the back of his
fingers down her bare arm causing her skin to erupt in goose bumps. “Brent is
here. He’ll sense any trouble headed our way. And I can take care of myself,
Cat, as can you and Brent.”

Kaitlin relaxed into his arms with
a small sigh. He was right. She liked how he believed in her abilities. It was
refreshing.

Twining their fingers together he
led her down the hall to a room she hadn't been in before: the master bedroom.

It was sumptuously decorated with
mushroom coloured walls with chocolate brown accessories. Her eyes were quickly
drawn to the huge four poster bed that took up a lot of the room. The bed posts
were carved with an intricate vine pattern that wound around each and along the
bed base. It was amazing.

“It’s quite something, isn’t it?”

She nodded dumbly.

Rhys stepped up behind her and she
turned her head slightly. His breath warmed her skin as he ran his nose down
her throat, scenting her skin. Kaitlin shivered in awareness. Large palms
gently landed on her waist, “Shall we try it out?”

Nodding, she twined their fingers
together and led him to the bed, where she promptly pushed him onto his back on
the mattress and straddled him.

His eyes glowed amber as he stared
up at her, his eyes running from the tip of her hair to the thighs straddling
him.

Raising her hands to grab the hem
of her top she pulled it up and over her head and dropped it to the floor. Then
she ran her hands from her throat down her chest to the top of her jeans. Rhys’
breath caught as his eyes followed the journey of her palms.

His hands settled on her thighs as
she leant forward and ran her hands down his sculpted chest. A low growl
vibrated in his chest on contact and she smiled slyly. Bending forward some
more she pressed her lips to his jaw and ran her tongue along its length, his
stubble scratching her tender skin and leaving a fiery brand behind.

Rhys’ hands moved up her waist,
stopping just below the curve of her breasts. His thumb lightly brushed the
underside swell before moving higher to her nipples which were hard and pebbled
with desire. Kaitlin moaned softly as she arched her back, pressing her breasts
into better contact with his palms. His hands massaged the twin globes and a
purr left her lips.

Almost involuntarily her hips began
to rock against his and before she knew it, Rhys had rolled them on the bed and
she found herself beneath him, her hands pinned to the bed above her head with
one of his. His eyes were almost glowing in intensity as he stared down at her.

It awakened something inside her
and after that it became a sensual battle for dominance and submission as they
tested each other’s boundaries and responses.

Kaitlin flopped backwards on the
bed, her body aching nicely from Rhys’ ministrations. They’d spent the better
part of the past four hours having sex and she’d learnt some things about
herself she’d not know. Like the fact she liked being tied up or handcuffed.

Rhys collapsed beside her on his
front.

Her eyes were caught by the deep
red welts on his body where she’d dug her finger nails into his back, along
with every other inch of available skin, and bit her lip. She’d never been so
animalistic in bed before. Not during their previous couplings and not with
Tito, either. She’d bit and scratched Rhys at every opportunity and his body
showed every single wound.

It unnerved her.

He turned his head a fraction until
he was looking at her and gave her a sexy smile, his amber eyes smiling
tenderly.

Glancing away from him, she looked
across the room to the lights of the city spread out before them through the
floor to ceiling windows.

His hand covered hers, lightly
stroking the skin on the back of her hand. “What’s up, Kaitlin?”

With a soft exhalation, she
gestured to the marks on his body, “I can't believe I did that to you.”

Rhys’ body shook as he chuckled. “Cat,”
he said softly. “This is the work of a mate. It seems your puma is finally
coming around to the idea of us together.” He grinned devilishly, “Did it never
occur to you that that was what all that rolling around and my domination of
you was about? The puma wanted me to prove that I was worthy. If you’d have
won, well…you’d have been free to walk away; an Alpha female.”

Strangely, it made perfect sense.
There was one thing that surprised her though; the fact that the puma had
channelled through her instead of taking over did. Did it mean that now she was
out from under the control of her father that she and the puma would sync
properly?

“So, it’s perfectly normal?”

He nodded his head against the
pillow, a smile playing about his lips. Rhys’ gaze dropped to her throat, his
eyes heating, “It’s perfectly normal to want to place your mark on something
you consider yours.”

Kaitlin’s pulse raced as she
recognised the look. Tilting her head towards him, she bared her throat and
turned her shoulder towards him, offering him her neck to mark.

Eyes growing heavy lidded, he
pushed up and turned to face her. His hands brushed her hair out of the way and
his index finger traced the column of her throat feather-light. “This will
hurt; are you sure?”

Locking her gaze with his she
nodded.

Rhys pulled her closer and lowered
his lips to her throat. His tongue lightly traced her skin and then she felt
the press of lengthened incisors. A sharp cry left her when they punctured her
skin and she gasped for breath as they sunk deep into her flesh. They were
quickly removed and she felt the gentle press of lips against the wound.

Damn, that hurt but it was worth it
for everyone to know she belonged to Rhys.

Chapter 12

Kaitlin awoke early the next
morning and slid out of bed, trying not to wake Rhys who was spooned around
her. She slipped out of his arms and heard him mutter in his sleep as he
reached out to pull her back against him but she quickly rolled from the bed to
her feet and paused, watching him. He shifted restlessly for a second before
stilling, soft snores leaving him.

She smiled and snatched up the
clothes she’d arrived in yesterday realising she hadn't grabbed anything else
before they’d left her parents’ house.

She’d have to shop. She couldn't
wear the same things all the time. Kaitlin grimaced at the thought as she
pulled the t-shirt over her head before tugging the jeans on too.

Creeping on silent feet across the
room she let herself out into the hallway and headed to the far door. Listening
at the door, she didn’t hear anything and crept inside, her bladder ready to
burst as she hurried to the toilet.

Flushing the toilet she washed her
hands and then headed back out to the corridor, stopping halfway through the
door when she saw Brent heading her way.

A slightly silly grin curved his
lips as he gave her a respectful nod, “Morning.”

“Morning,” she replied.

“I heard you had a good time last
night,” he teased, his grin turning into a full-fledged smile. Kaitlin cheeks
flamed and she pressed one warm cheek to the cool wood of the door. “Both of
you actually, judging from the noises I heard.” She groaned audibly and dropped
her head forward, then heard his light chuckle as he grew closer. “Don’t be
embarrassed, Kaitlin. It’s great to see him happy again; you’re obviously good
for him.”

The bedroom door opened and Rhys
stepped out in nothing but some hastily pulled on jeans that were almost
indecently low on his hips. He relaxed when he saw her, “Breakfast?”

She nodded and followed after him
down the corridor to the kitchen while Brent slipped into the bathroom.

Her gaze swept from side to side as
she tried to take in everything at once in the ultra-modern, state of the art
kitchen. It was huge with a black marble countertop running in a U shape with a
large island in the middle where there was a six ring stove.

Rhys opened cupboards pulling out
two skillets which he placed on the counter top. Then he bent and pulled open
another door and grabbed a carton of eggs and several packets of bacon and
sausages.

Ten minutes later, the three of
them were sat at the breakfast bar, talking as they ate.

“So what’s our next move going to
be?” Brent asked as he forked up a whole sausage and brought it to his mouth.

Kaitlin smiled despite herself as
she glanced at the food piled on their plates. The guys each had eight
sausages, twelve rashers of bacon and five fried eggs. She hadn't wanted so
much food and had the remaining four sausages, six rashers of bacon and two
eggs with a good squirt of brown sauce.

“We should talk to the council
members. See what they all think of their
esteemed
leader. If they seem
derogatory we ask for their help if not we leave them alone. All we really need
is a majority vote.”

“My father likely has something on
each of them,” she cautioned, cutting her bacon in half. Kaitlin felt both of
their gazes on her and glanced up. “What?”

“You have a point,” Rhys said.

She rolled her eyes. Of course she
did.

“So what do we do instead?” Brent
asked.

Tilting her head, she thought about
it. “I imagine my father has pissed off a lot of people over the years. Why
don’t we find them; band together?”

The two men shared a look and then
Brent nodded slightly. Then he turned back to her. They must have been having a
silent conversation; something unique to the wolf shifters. “It’s not a bad
plan. Can you think of anyone in particular?”

Several names ran through her mind
and she dismissed most of them but one in particular stood out.

Malachi.

He was a cat shifter, a jaguar like
her father. They’d been close when she was younger; one of the few boys not
scared of her father. It had been him who had taken her virginity at the age of
seventeen and for that he’d been made an outcast of the clan at the hands of
her dad. It had basically happened overnight and no-one really understood why
but they’d never questioned the ruling. That had been over six years ago and
he’d never caused any trouble since then; or before he’d been exiled if she
remembered correctly.

“Malachi Dawson. My father exiled
him from the clan several years ago.”

“On what grounds?”

Blood rushed to her cheeks and she
dropped her gaze to her plate as she answered to avoid Rhys’ probing gaze.
“Deflowering his daughter.”

A tense silence fell at the table
and she chanced a glance up to see Rhys’ jaw was clenched tight and his hands
were fisted around the knife and fork he was holding, the metal beginning to
bend in his grip. His eyes were glowing fierce amber and she could have sworn
he was growling low in his throat.

Brent was watching him carefully. “Mentioning
your exes might not be such a good idea after last night, Kaitlin.”

She nodded, her gaze intent on
Rhys’ face. It must have been the marking that was bringing out the baser
instinct in him.

Almost without thought she reached
up to the bite mark just visible at the neckline of her t-shirt. Rhys’ gaze
shot to her fingers and the mark he’d left there this morning, almost like
he’d
felt the touch of her fingers. His eyes flared hot, reminding her that she
belonged to him now and she nodded in agreement.

It took a few minutes before his
fingers began to uncurl from the metal cutlery and then the rest of him
followed, deflating like a balloon. He let out a shuddering breath, “I agree.”