Live It Up (8 page)

He couldn’t stop himself. He padded to her and nudged her knee with his muzzle. She giggled a little, the sound increasing in intensity when he started licking her leg with small playful swipes of his raspy tongue.

“That tickles!” She drew her legs up, but he was as tall as the bed and could still reach her. She surprised him when she grabbed his head with both hands, effectively stopping his teasing. “Your fur is so soft,” she murmured as she started petting him.

He closed his eyes and rumbled his pleasure. They stayed like that for long minutes, the interlude quiet yet charged with sensations. His head was tucked against her chest, and he might be in lion form but he still wanted her.

These past few days had gone by so fast he knew it was only a matter of time before she realized he’d driven them in circles. He’d wanted to spend time with her, learn to know her. What she liked, what made her tick.

No, it was more than that. He wanted to know everything about her.

She was his. That’s what he’d told his father, yet he knew they couldn’t remain together like this. He was the Enforcer, and she was human.

His lion growled, clearly unhappy with his maudlin thoughts.

Yesterday, he’d finally bitten the bullet and asked her where she wanted to go. She’d avoided the question, peppering him with kisses until he’d had no choice but to stop the car and finish what she’d started.

He could understand her reasoning. Hell, he’d have done the same. By the end of the day however, he’d managed to get her to confess the name of her hometown.

Ironically enough, it wasn’t far at all. After all his aimless driving, they should be stuck in the back of beyond and instead they were closer than ever.

“Andy?”

He looked up to find her staring down at him quizzically.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

He shook his head, sending his mane flying all around him. It brushed her thighs, and she giggled again, the sound echoing inside him until he knew he had no choice but to shift back to his human form.

He needed to lose himself in her and forget about the next day. Yes, tomorrow would be there soon enough, but in the meantime he could show her, with his hands and his mouth and his body, how much she meant to him.

This time when he shifted back and found himself on his knees bare-ass naked, she was waiting for him with open arms. She’d lain down on the bed, the sheet shoved to the carpeted floor, and was grinning by the time he’d pushed himself to his feet. “Your lion is so handsome.”

He felt a smile pop onto his face. “As handsome as my human form?”

“Oh yeah. Maybe even more.”

He grabbed her legs with both hands and parted them, stepping between them so she could feel the roughness of his skin brush against the softness of her inner thighs. She shivered in reaction, and he automatically leaned forward, putting his palms on either side of her head.

The mattress gave a little at his weight, but he didn’t pay it any mind, his focus entirely on the woman beneath him.

“You’re telling me you like my lion better?” he asked, his voice gravelly. “You do realize that he can’t do this…” He lowered his head and bit her bottom lip.

She gasped.

“Or this…” He slid down a little and pressed a soft kiss on her collarbone. Before she could guess his intention, he palmed a soft breast and pinched the tip for a long second.

She reared up. “Andy!”

He was far from finished. “Or this…” he added as he took her other nipple in his mouth and tugged on it with his teeth.

She grabbed his biceps and dug her nails in. He didn’t move a single inch. In fact, he paid the same attention to her other nipple, leaving both looking like small red berries.

When he slid a hand down her softly rounded stomach and let his fingers dip between her thighs, he found her soaking wet. He groaned deep in his chest. “God, I need to taste you.” In an instant, he was on his knees, his thumbs parting her inner lips for his greedy tongue.

He lapped at her, enjoying the way she writhed under his touch. Something was missing however. He needed more.

He wanted to push her to her limits. He wanted to make her scream until she was hoarse. He wanted to fuck her until she went limp, exhausted from too much sex and too many orgasms.

He stood back up, an idea forming in his head. “Sit up, baby.”

She frowned. “Why did you stop?

“Sit up. I want to do something different.” He grabbed her hands and pulled. Her breasts swayed at the movement, and he nearly lost focus thanks to that lovely sight. His cock pulsed, reminding him he really needed to thrust inside her and make her his. “Move onto your hands and knees.”

He saw her eyes widen, but she didn’t object, and as he watched her ass stop right in front of him, he knew he’d made the right decision. This was going to be so fucking good…

“Right there,” he said as he positioned her exactly where he wanted her, his palms on her hips. “Perfect.” He bent down and dropped a soft kiss on her right shoulder.

She moaned a little and pressed back against him. His dick found the cleft of her ass and homed in on where it was hot and ready for him.

He licked his lips and exhaled.

He couldn’t wait any longer. Even though he wanted this to be good for her, he also knew once he was so deep inside her he didn’t know where he ended and she began, he was going to lose it and take her like he really yearned to.

She had that kind of effect on him, something he actually cherished, him who was supposed to be in control at all times.
How fucking ironic is that?

The thought left his head as soon as he found her entrance and slid inside her. Her inner walls enclosed him in a tight vise, so tight he could barely breathe. “Fuck, kitten.”

“Take me, Andy.”

And he did.

He fucked her like the animal he was, showing her that side of him she’d said she liked. Maybe at first he’d wanted to test her, but she responded with so much enthusiasm, he soon lost all semblance of control.

His fingers digging into her hips, he pistoned his cock in and out of her with powerful thrusts, cherishing every time she moaned her pleasure. She was so fucking wet around him, so fucking perfect he couldn’t stop. Didn’t stop.

His heart beating a wild tattoo inside his chest, he gave her everything he had, and she took it all, transforming what could have been just a simple case of lust into something more.

When her orgasm hit and his quickly followed, he threw his head back and roared, reminding everyone around she was his.

Only his.

Chapter Nine

“That looks disgusting.”

Sunny made a face then decided what the heck and stuck her tongue out at him.

Andy laughed, more relaxed than she’d ever seen him as he leaned back against the fake leather booth. He’d changed clothes and was wearing a chambray shirt open over a white wife-beater T-shirt. Muscles bulged as he straightened and grabbed his sweating glass of Coke.

She watched him drink, riveted by the sight of his strong throat, wanting nothing more than to lean forward and kiss him there.

His gaze locked on hers. He put his glass back down and tilted his head to the side. He sniffed a little then lifted an eyebrow. “Again?”

She felt herself blush. She knew without even looking at the mirrored wall opposite that she was tomato red. “Damn. How fair is that?”

“What is?”

“You always know what I’m thinking!”

“Well, some things are easier to guess than others.” He smirked. “You smell so good right now, kitten. I could eat you up.”

“Again?” It was her turn to say. They’d already made a pit stop in their motel room before going out for dinner. He’d said he needed an appetizer. Considering she’d just come out of the bathroom wearing only a towel, it hadn’t taken much to convince her.

Just thinking how good his tongue had felt licking all around her pussy, sliding over her clit then slipping inside her, made goose bumps appear all over her body.

“God.” She blinked and rubbed her arms. “Stop it!”

“I haven’t done anything,” he replied, looking back at her steadily.

And she realized he was right. She was turning herself on all on her own. “Ignore me,” she finally said, focusing once more on her meal. There weren’t many veggie options in the middle of nowhere. Her meal consisted of some forlorn-looking lettuce leaves and half a dozen cherry tomatoes with some cheddar cheese sprinkled on top.

She’d love nothing more than a hearty pasta dish right now, something to replenish all the energy she’d used today trying to keep up with the new man in her life. The one who was currently eating his second burger, third plate of fries and third glass of Coke. “That is a lot of food,” she remarked as she speared a tomato with her fork.

“And you’re not eating enough. Remember what my brother said. You need to take care of yourself if you want to recover quickly.”

“I’m fine.”

“Have some of my fries at least.”

She eyed the plate of fries for a second then stole one. Before he could say anything, and it’d been his idea after all, she grabbed the ketchup bottle and dumped half of its contents on the side of the plate.

It made a satisfying slump as it hit the cheap porcelain. She smiled and dunked the fry in it. Two seconds later, she popped it in her mouth and groaned at the salty taste. “Yum. These are good!”

Andy looked on, amused, as his kitten, the one who’d made a face at his choice of food, quickly demolished his plate of fries. He motioned the waitress to bring them another one. He was a fully-grown shifter and ate more than the usual human. Heck, he ate more than most people he knew.

She’ll get used to it
, he thought then stilled.

It was as if he’d already decided he wouldn’t let her go once they’d reached her hometown. Or was it his lion thinking for him? It happened sometimes, especially when his animal wanted him to do something he considered important.

He’d spent so much time in his lion form right after the mating, a critical time of his life, and now his two halves were closer than in most shifters. That was why he made a good Enforcer. Between his partial shift, his Alpha strength and the familiarity he shared with his animal, he was a force to be reckoned with.

He knew that. It just didn’t mean he liked it.

Oh, he understood why his role in the Pride was important. On most days, he was okay with it. But when something happened like when Jane had hurt Kellie and Nate had needed him, Andy really resented how killing had become his way of life.

He’d seen how it had nearly destroyed his brother and even though he knew he was different than Nate, it had hurt to know his reaction would have been completely opposite. He was used to killing, and what did that say about him?

He stared at Sunny across the table and wondered what the fuck he was doing sitting here with her. Laughing with her. Making love to her.

He would never be good enough for her, after all. He was nothing more than a gun for hire, someone with claws sharp enough to maim and…yes, kill. He was an animal—literally—while she saw the world in bright colors.

“Andy?” He heard her call out after him as he slid out of the booth, but he didn’t stop.

He made his way toward a nearby field and shed his clothes, dropping them behind him one after the other. When he was finally naked, he crouched and called for his lion.

And then…he ran.

* * * *

Sunny paced inside the motel room. It was small enough she kept turning around every thirty seconds, and by the time she’d done it half a dozen times, her head was whirling.

The door rattled. She spun around, grabbing hold of a nearby chair before she fell flat on her face.

It opened. A man shrouded in darkness stepped in. Her greeting lodged itself inside her throat, cut off by a sudden sense of wrongness. Fear threatened to engulf her.

“Andy?” she finally squeaked out.

“Yes.” He closed the door behind him but didn’t say anything more. He just stopped there, almost as if he wasn’t too sure what to do or where to go.

“Where were you? Are you all right?”

“I went running.”

“In the dark?” she asked, taking a few steps forward.

He didn’t move. “I’m a shifter. I don’t need lights.”

“You shifted?”

“Yes. So what?” He threw the words back at her.

She frowned and wrapped her arms around herself. For the first time ever, she felt ill at ease with him. “I… Nothing. Are you hungry?”

“No. I ate a rabbit.”

She froze. “I see.”

“I’m an animal. You should remember that.” With those cryptic words, he strode to the bathroom and disappeared inside. Moments later, she heard the shower turn on.

Sunny sat down on the edge of the bed and relived what had just happened. What the hell was going on? He’d been perfectly fine earlier. Hell, they’d spent an amazing week on the road, taking their time, laughing a lot, making love several times a day just because they could. And now this?