First Beast (2 page)

Lightning split the sky, and she dared to glance back. Her breath froze and cold terror sliced through her limbs.

While she'd slept, the panther had returned and spread his bulk against her.

She opened her mouth to scream, every instinct driving her to get away from him. To run. But he purred, his paw brushing gently against her shoulder before traveling down to settle over her grazed knee.

Her gaze locked with his, and in his gleaming eyes, Talia saw something tender and…kind. She managed to breathe again, the fear that had tightened her body dissipating beneath the big cat's watchful stare. He shifted a little, as if attempting to shelter her from the elements as best he could, and reassuring her that he meant only to help.

After several moments, during which they simply stared at each other, she turned and settled back against him. She felt his heartbeat—the reassuring
thump…thump…thump
—and tried to slow hers to match. Soon, her eyelids fluttered closed and she pushed back, trying to get closer, searching for more of the panther's warmth. She snuggled, comforted by its presence and knowing that he would remain with her through the night.

She was safe. The big cat would guard her. Shelter her. Protect her.

Until morning came and her father found her.

Until then, she was completely safe.

Chapter One

Cornwall, England. Present Day

Talia pushed back hard against the mattress, her fingers clutching desperately for purchase and grasping the sheet beside her. Her legs were splayed open, her knees bent and her heels digging into the springy foam beneath.

The mouth working between her legs was hot and determined. The tongue pushing inside her was hard, wet and relentless.

Oh, damn it to hell and back, but her husband was so bloody good at this.

With his next determined prod, Talia came, bucking her hips, pushing down hard on her heels, her breasts thrusting up toward the ceiling. She arched from the bed as the orgasm went on…and on…and on.

Oh yes, her husband was so very good at oral sex.

He was pretty good at penetrative sex too, she thought, watching him prowl up her body, a feral smile on his face and an equally wild gleam in his eyes.

She smiled lazily up at him. “I told you, I didn't have time for this. I've got work to do.”

“So have I,” he said and slid two fingers inside her. When she gasped, he laughed. “And I happen to like my work.”

“So I noticed.” She closed her eyes against his gently thrusting fingers. “And being leader of the pack doesn't keep you occupied enough?”

He slipped a third finger inside her. “A man who's only been married four weeks has needs.”

Another orgasm slowly built. “Since we've rarely been out of bed in those four weeks, I can attest to that.”

Levering himself above her, he nudged the tip of his bulging erection into her heat. “I hear no complaints from my wife.” He pushed in an inch, his large girth shocking her for an instant as it always did. “Unless it's to the effect that I tease her too much.” He pushed in another inch, making her gasp. “Or when I withhold my very considerable length from her very responsive and eager little pussy.”

Talia couldn't argue with that. Joshua certainly had an impressive cock and he knew what to do with it. She was a very lucky woman, and had been told as much by several women on various occasions since her betrothal to the man who had by default become pack leader.

“Finish it,” she demanded when he continued to hover over her.

“So impatient.” He gyrated his hips so that his barely penetrating cock circled around inside her. “What do you want, my love? My cock?”

“Yes,” she moaned. “That's what I want.”

He grinned, but despite his control, a small glimmer of sweat formed across his forehead and along his pectorals. When he pushed hard and deep, she squeezed her eyes shut and matched his thrusts as he moved inside her.

He reached down with one hand and worked her clit. The old bed labored under their frenzied activity, squeaking so badly Talia feared that half the surrounding houses would hear them and know they were indulging in yet another middle-of-the-day sex fest. She had lost count of the number of times Joshua had made her come since he'd walked into the newspaper office just after lunch and
persuaded
her to return home with him.

Not that she was complaining.

With his own orgasm, Joshua let out a yell loud enough to mask the squeaking of the bed. Seconds later, as the last burst of his semen pumped inside her, Talia joined him.

Through a sexually-sated haze, she wished, like she always did when Josh's seed filled her, that he would wear a condom. Not that she didn't enjoy the sensation—it was just that she wasn't ready to become pregnant. Okay, she was taking care of things herself, but being doubly prepared didn't hurt. As leader, her husband was not required to take precautions. Indeed, it was his duty to provide an heir at the first opportunity and so protect the future of the pack.

Talia had dreams of becoming an ace reporter and building a career before starting a family. If she became pregnant, her role as pack leader's wife, and mother to his offspring, would undoubtedly prevent her from pursuing such a career. The shifter community hadn't taken too kindly to her profession as it was, or to her marriage to their leader. As a mere human, she was considered a potential threat to their existence; as a reporter, she was met with suspicion and outright distrust.

Josh rolled off her, and Talia was about to get up and go to the bathroom when he pulled her back down. “You're always in too much of a hurry,” he complained, wrapping an arm around her and drawing her to his side.

“You'll get me fired. I've been gone almost three hours and they'll never believe I was on an assignment this long, especially as you stormed in and all but hauled me over your shoulder like some caveman.”

Josh's eyebrows drew together. “I've got no problem with you working, but I do have a problem when you put your job before me.”

“I don't do that. Anyway, weren't you the one who fought the Pack Council to let me keep my job?”

“They don't get to tell me what my wife can and can't do,” he said gruffly as his body tightened beside hers. “Any more than they get to tell me who I can and can't marry.”

Since he now lay with his head on his folded arms, Talia rolled off the bed and walked toward the bathroom. “I'm not in the mood for another argument. I have to get back to work.”

“Just make sure you get home early tonight.” His terse command bounced off the walls. “No damn socializing with every fucking prick who wants your company.”

At the door, she froze.
Don't get mad,
she thought.
Get mad and you'll lose the argument.

Slowly, she turned. “You seem to be under the impression that this ring on my finger is some sort of noose.” Pleased her voice sounded even, she rolled back her shoulders. “Maybe I should remind you that I'm your wife, not your possession.”

In the bathroom she slid the lock on the door, not trusting that he wouldn't chance his luck and come looking for make-up sex. Right then, she wasn't in the mood for it.

Stepping beneath the shower, she closed her eyes as the water rained down, and thought about what had just taken place. It was an old argument. While Joshua didn't mind her working, he did object to her hooking up with colleagues after work. He seemed to think he was her absolute priority. First, last and always.

She poured foaming oil into the palm of her hand and slowly rubbed it over her body. When her fingers brushed the small scar across her knee, memories came swimming back to haunt her and make her more fully aware of that tiny hole inside that never seemed to heal. Memories of the big cat that had licked the wound on her knee so gently, so tenderly during the night. The warmth of his fur pressing against her to comfort and protect. The soft gleam of his eyes as they stared into hers.

For years, she'd wondered if it had been the fevered imaginings of a frightened young girl. If she'd actually dreamed the whole thing. Her father said she had. Her brother too. They had brushed it aside, rolling their eyes as if it were merely one more silly attempt to waste their time and test their patience. Only her grandmother had listened to her story, and had seemed to understand. It was her grandmother who had persuaded her to seek out the truth. To come back to Bodmin Moor and find the answers to the questions she sought.

So, thirteen years later, she had.

There had always been rumors of big cats who roamed the moor, but with no real proof. Photos some people claimed were digitally enhanced. Eye-witness testimonies labeled as crank. Sightings brushed off as wishful thinking.

Only after her grandmother's prompting had Talia decided to carry out her own investigations. Investigations that had led her to Joshua.

And to the truth.

She managed to leave the house without seeing Josh again. Like her, he'd probably gone back to work. His venture into property development was a bit hit and miss right then. While he'd had some success, and had redeveloped and sold half a dozen properties, the profit he made never seemed to translate into more funds for the business. When she'd said as much, he'd explained that his duties as leader required that he sink most of his profits into the pack's coffers to cover things like helping their community, delivering aid to other shifter communities in need, helping raise funds for overseas conflicts where packs didn't fare as well as they did here in Europe.

It was one of these conflicts that had claimed the life of Joshua's half-brother, Caleb, who had gone to South America to help a local pack fight a rival clan who wanted to take over the area. Some said it was the anguish of losing his oldest son that had contributed to the death of the pack's leader twelve months earlier.

When Talia had first met Joshua, the shifter community had been deep in grief for both the loss of their leader and concern for the son he had groomed to take over from him. Talia had heard rumblings within the pack that Joshua, as second in line, had not been a popular successor to the position.

“Hey, Talia. That must have been some hot story that claimed your attention this afternoon.”

Talia looked up from her computer to find Debbie grinning down at her. The two had become friends since Talia had taken the job with the
Moor Herald
.

Since Debbie wasn't a shifter, she didn't know about the pack's existence, and Talia planned on keeping it that way. For hundreds of years the pack had successfully integrated with the local community here on the edge of Bodmin Moor. If outsiders got wind of the truth, the whole pack would be hunted down until it was forced to disintegrate in the face of what she knew would be curiosity founded on fear.

“You're just jealous,” Talia countered, tapping at her keyboard. “Because your current squeeze is in London for the next month, you have to live vicariously through my exquisitely hot sex life.”

Debbie pursed her lips. “True. Although I do have my BFF to help me through.”

Glancing up from the keyboard, Talia grinned. “Now why do I know you're not referring to me?”

“You're too happily married to see to my prurient needs, even if you were that way inclined. No. I'll have to fall back on my best
fuck
-friend to do the necessary, also known as Mr. Cock-A-Plenty. He's red, plastic and very accommodating. Always up for it and can go on forever. My kind of BFF.”

Talia laughed so much her eyes watered. After a quick glance around, checking to make sure nobody had slipped back into the office and overheard their conversation, she wiped her eyes. “You're disgusting.”

Debbie sighed theatrically. “I try.” She grabbed her bag. “Well, I'm heading off home. I'd ask if you want to grab a drink, but I suspect you want to get home for round two…or maybe it's more like round six considering how long you were gone this afternoon.”

Talia thought of Joshua and their disagreement. She grabbed her own bag. It wouldn't do to let him think she'd jump to his tune when he'd been such an absolute asshole. She intended to start this marriage the way she meant to go on. “A drink sounds great. Lead the way.”

A little after seven thirty, Talia walked into the kitchen and found Joshua lying on his back on the floor, his head underneath the sink unit. From the loud bangs and curses, the plumbing work he was in the process of completing didn't seem to be going so well.

He banged and prodded, his muscles flexing with the effort. Since he obviously hadn't heard her come in, she took the opportunity to simply look at him.

There was so much to love about Joshua. He was kind, thoughtful and, apart from his obsession with her being there for him whenever he wanted her, sensitive to her needs. He was also possessive, demanding and driven. But she knew he loved her.

And she loved him. She trusted him.

When she'd come to Bodmin as a rookie reporter, her intention had been to investigate the fresh rumors of sightings of large cats roaming the moor. Then she'd met Joshua and they'd been instantly attracted to each other.

It was several weeks before she felt able to tell him about her experience on the moor. Expecting him to persuade her that she'd imagined it—or, worse, laugh it off—he had surprised her by being sympathetic and understanding, asking her if she believed that some things were stranger than fiction.

They'd skirted around it some more, until he'd asked her if she could ever accept that the beast who had come to her that night might actually have been a man, a shapeshifter. Joshua had gone on to confess that it was him. That he had wanted to protect her and keep her safe.

Talia had looked at him wide-eyed, her mind rejecting the idea, but her heart sensing the truth.

Shortly before she had left London, her grandmother had told her that sometimes a person had to suspend disbelief in order to discover the truth that would lead them to their destiny. She stated that a triangle formed the basis of Talia's future, a triangle that had to be willingly accepted before Talia would know true happiness.

When Joshua admitted it was him out there that night on the moor, Talia knew that they were meant to be together. That the triangle her grandmother had referred to had been Talia, Joshua and his beast. The knowledge had gone a long way toward helping her accept Joshua's incredible secret.

Believing she had found her soul mate, Talia had accepted his proposal of marriage. Despite the disapproval, and in some cases outright hostility, of members of the pack's council, Joshua managed to get them to accede to his demands and after a very short engagement they had married.

She was happy, but there always seemed to be something missing. That hole that couldn't be filled. Surely it wasn't natural for a newlywed to feel this way? Shouldn't she be on top of the world?

Joshua satisfied her in the bedroom—that was without question. Their sex life was amazing. But there was still this emptiness inside her.

Maybe she wanted too much. Expected too much. She had most things a woman could want. Maybe she should just buckle down and accept that life wasn't perfect.