Mountain Lion (13 page)

“Are you okay?” Wyatt asked tenderly.

“I’m fine. Finally done taking out the trash from my past,” she replied, sounding satisfied. “I couldn’t have done it without you,” she said. “You gave me a place to get strong.”

“You’re the strongest person I know,” he said, staying close.

While they nuzzled, Jace walked calmly over to Lyle and covered him with the blanket from the bed. A second later, the unconscious cougar shifted back into his human form, and Jace cuffed him with a very sturdy-looking pair of handcuffs.

Wyatt was pretty sure Lyle wasn’t going to be moving for quite some time after that, though.

“Sorry, shoulda done this earlier,” Jace said as he finished zip-tying and cuffing the remaining men strewn about the room. “Nice hit, by the way,” he said with a nod in Val’s direction.

For a moment, Wyatt and Valerie appraised the situation. The cabin was wrecked, and there were a large number of men motionless or barely moving strewn all around.

“You guys go. I’ll take care of explaining everything to the police, and I’ll call this in to the dragons over this area,” he said with a wave. Then he kicked Lyle in the side once for good measure. 

Wyatt shifted back into his human form, then looked in a nearby dresser for a spare pair of jeans. He found one and threw them on, and even though they fit quite ill, they’d do for a minute.

He waved Val into the bathroom and closed the door while she shifted back and then handed her a spare blanket from a cupboard into the room, wanting very badly to see her soft figure again but knowing it would be better to wait. 

She came out of the bathroom, wrapped several times in the oversized blanket, and Wyatt scooped her up into his arms and walked out, putting her into his truck and driving back to the central courtyard of his property and his place in the main lodge.

There was a lot of explaining to do. 

W
yatt was
glad the grounds were mostly abandoned as he walked back over the main lawn after parking his truck.

Valerie felt like no weight in his arms at all, and it was nice to feel her warmth against him, hear her breathing.

“I’m so glad you’re back, sweetheart,” he said, kissing the top of her head.

“Did you miss me?”

“Of course,” he said. “How does it feel being a cat?” They reached the front door and he opened it, still keeping her in his arms.

“Powerful,” she said. “Awesome. Like a part of me that’s been hiding forever is finally free.”

“I want to hear more of how it happened,” he said. “But first we need to clean up from this fight.”

“Yeah,” she said. “I’ve got Lyle fur all over me. Blech.”

Wyatt laughed at that as he carried her up the stairs to his master suite. He kicked open the door with his foot and walked in, looking around to make sure the bed was made and things were in order. Since they were, he set her down on the bed.

“You want me to run a shower or a bath for you?” he asked.

“Either is fine as long as it’s with you,” she said.

He grinned. “Still after it, aren’t you?”

She nodded, winking. Her blond hair was in disarray around her face, and her skin was smudged from running through the woods and the fight, but she looked glowing and happy and alive. The best he’d ever seen her.

He probably shouldn’t have left her behind after all. But he was glad he had if it had given her the space to come to this conclusion.

He just had a question about one thing.

“You called me your mate,” he said, folding his arms and staring down at her as she held the blanket against her. “What did you mean by that? That you’re finally ready?”

She smirked. “Not so much.” She showed him her claws, then let them retreat. “I think I marked you the other night, so as far as I’m concerned, it’s a done deal.”

He gave her a mock frown. “You do know with cats, it has to go both ways, right?” he asked, showing her short claws of his own. “I think you’ll have to convince me if that’s what you really want.”

“I can do that,” she said, dropping her blanket, baring her perfect, pink-tipped breasts.

His jaw dropped and he had to take a minute to compose himself. “I’m going to get the bath running.”

She laughed. “You do that.”

Wyatt tried to keep his heart from rushing as he started the water. He grabbed bath salts from under the cabinet and poured them in, letting a relaxing lavender scent fill the room. As much as he couldn’t wait to make things official with Valerie, more than anything, he wanted to know what had changed things for her and how she’d figured out she was a cat.

When the water was a silky purple color, he walked over to the bed and picked her up in his arms. Her skin was soft and smooth and felt wonderful in his hands.

He set her down in the tub, and she sighed as the water engulfed her, leaning her head back until her hair was soaked and glistening as she rubbed her hands over her chest in a way that made him ache.

“You should get in here with me,” she said, looking over at him.

Wyatt shook his head. “I want to talk first.”

“We can talk in here,” she teased, but he shook his head again.

“No, I can’t think already, with you naked there. If you were against me and I was naked too, I’d lose my mind. You’re all I think about, Valerie. Ever since you got here. Even when I was determined to only be your friend. You’re the only thing on my mind. I didn’t know what I was going to do if you didn’t come back.”

“I came back,” she said.

“What I’m wanting to know is why,” he said. “Last time we talked, you acted like it was good I was leaving you there.”

She bit her lip. “I was hurt. And confused. The last few weeks have been the most amazing of my life. I think I was worried if I accepted it, it would all come crashing down on me. I haven’t even been loved by the people closest to me, the ones that should have loved me. I guess deep down, I wondered if I was even worthy of love after being treated so badly.”

Wyatt felt his throat tighten up but just kept listening.

“And it’s like, if I don’t believe I’m lovable in general, how can I believe you love me? Wouldn’t that make me a fool? I didn’t want to be a fool again. Lyle said he loved me too, and I was a fool for believing that. Even if I never loved him.”

“But you love me,” Wyatt couldn’t help saying.

She eyed him warily. “You’re my mate. And when I thought of you in danger, when I thought of wanting to be with you, a part of me that had long been sleeping woke up so I could run to your side. I couldn’t imagine life without you. If that’s love, then I guess I do love you, Wyatt.”

He grinned and put his arms around her, holding her close. “And I love you, Valerie.” He pulled back and stroked a hand through her wet hair. “Man, who would ever believe this could happen? I wouldn’t have called it in a million years.”

“Why?” she asked. “Some Podunk country hick like me getting to be with a man like you?”

“No, some lonely country cowboy having the perfect mate walk into his life and turn it upside down and give him a reason to live.”

“You’re the one who gave me everything. A safe place to stay, belief in myself…” she protested.

“I guess we’re both lucky. Sometimes fate just works out that way,” he said. “Not that I really believed in fate that much before, but I do now.”

“Me too,” she said. “Coming here to apply for a job was the best thing I’ve ever done.”

“I’m glad,” he said.

“Now get in this tub with me right now,” she said, jerking on his collar.

He stood, laughing, and pulled his shirt over his head.

He’d never get bored of his little wildcat.

V
alerie watched
Wyatt get all the way naked, her mouth watering at the sight of his gorgeous, rippling abs, his lean hips, his huge arms.

His handsome face was tightened in focus on her, his golden eyes feral as he stepped into the tub. She got up on her knees so he could get in behind her, and then he pulled her against him.

For a moment, they just stayed like that, the steam rising around them hypnotically, and Valerie let her aching body feel the pleasure of the sweet-smelling air, the hot water over every bit of her skin, and Wyatt’s hard muscles behind her.

He’d been with her every step of the way, and it was good to know they were on the same page now.

With Lyle out of the way, they were both truly free to see where this adventure took them.

She rolled over to lie against him, chest to chest, and her blue eyes met his.

His arms wrapped around her, and it was nice to just hold each other like that, suspended in a frozen moment, one that was peaceful and sacred, where the world around them didn’t matter at all for just that time.

Then he put a hand up and in her hair, stroking it back as a drop of water rolled down her cheek.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Horny,” she said in a deadpan tone. He laughed, and she nuzzled against him. “I’m not kidding, you know.”

“I know,” he said. “You’re a cat.” He ground his hips against her, and she responded by purring and moving back. “You’re going to be a handful, aren’t you, wildcat?”

She nodded.

“Fine by me,” he said, sitting up a bit and cupping her breasts in his hands. “I like a wildcat in bed.”

“You aren’t going to be all mushy in bed, are you?” she asked, pouting. “I mean, I like that you’re gentle and kind, but I’d kind of like to… see your wild side as well.”

Wyatt stared at her, his hair dripping as he cocked his head to one side. His perfect lips were damp from steam, and she wanted to lick them.

“I mean, if that’s not what you are, if you’re a tame kitty…”

She barely had time to trail off before he let out a growl and stood with her in his arms, stalking toward the bedroom.

“I’m no damn tamed housecat,” he said. “I’m a mountain lion, and I do whatever my mate wants.”

“Sounds pretty tame to me,” she joked.

He grinned at her and tossed her on the bed with superhuman strength. It made her think of how he’d handled all the baddies in the cabin. He’d been stronger than she’d ever guessed, and she just wanted to see some of that in bed.

She was getting even more than she asked for, she realized, as he pinned her hands above her head in one of his and kissed her hard, biting her lower lip and making her gasp in pleasure.

“Oh, Wyatt,” she said.

“Damn straight,” he said, shoving his tongue deep inside, making her legs tighten and press together. “Mine,” he said against her lips.

She opened for him, her hands stroking his bare, wet back as his legs parted hers. She was already wet and ready for him. As relaxing as lying in the tub with him had been, it had also been arousing. The feel of his muscles, the rough callouses on his hands, the width of his shoulders and arms encircling her.

And it wasn’t just that he was hot, but that she loved him. Loved riding with him, loved fighting alongside him, loved just being with him. Just talking to him.

She could barely understand a world where he was all hers, but she wanted it more than she’d ever allowed herself to want anything.

“Take me,” she murmured against his lips. “Now.”

He spread her legs wide with his knees, and she looked down to see him huge and ready at her entrance. His gold eyes flickered and his tongue moved over his bottom lip. “After this, it’s forever.”

“Good,” she said, opening even wider and scooting toward him.

“I’ll try not to hurt you,” he said. “I’ll do my very best.”

Then, still holding her hands in a way that felt deliciously dominant, he slid into her, inch by decadent inch.

He needn’t have worried about hurting her. Almost from the second he was inside, a part of her stopped screaming from emptiness. She was whole. She was happy. She was amazingly turned on.

It felt like a spot inside her was practically on fire, and she needed him to move. She pulled her hands free and he let her, focused on the joining between them.

She brought her hands up to cup his face. “Harder,” she said.

“I haven’t even moved,” he said.

“Then do it.”

He pulled out swiftly and came back in, filling her to the hilt, and she gasped. He was huge, and when he moved like that, it was almost too overwhelming. But not. She wanted it again, but before she could ask, he had her hands again, pinning them as he stroked into her, again and again, over and over, heightening her awareness of him with each steady stroke.

He was filling her, completing her, pleasuring her with each move, and as he did, he pressed harsh kisses over her neck, her breasts, overwhelming her completely.

He was feral, fast, a storm of pleasure. None of the softness he usually gave.

But she loved him like this too. Loved seeing the cat in him unleashed. She saw his pupils flicker into black slits, his mountain lion exposed, and wondered if hers were doing the same.

She twisted against his hand as she felt her release get closer, her entire body squirming with an unbearable tension as everything started to come together inside her.

His kisses, his stroking, all of their moments together.

He pulled out of her, and in the next second, he flipped her around and pulled her against him, entering her from behind as he held her back to his chest.

It was a wonderful feeling, so full, and as his arms wrapped around her, she felt completely contained, completely pleasured and protected.

She felt her orgasm ripple through her as he continued to thrust and was only vaguely aware of a sharp sensation at her hips on either side, where his hands gripped.

White light moved through her, making her feel as though she were swirling in a vortex, and she cried out and dug her hands into Wyatt’s, screaming at the sensation of it as he groaned and jerked against her, finally finding release inside her as he held her tightly to him.

For a moment, they just breathed, pulsing through the pleasure together, barely able to understand what was happening.

But Valerie knew. They were mated, and whatever they’d just done had completed it. She’d seen all their moments together, each important one, from meeting him to being saved by him to finding herself so she could save him too.

Each one more precious than the last as she held him and felt him surrounding her from behind, still inside her, pulsing against her.

When he finally fell back on the bed, rolling to keep her with him and coming out of her, she laughed and cuddled in against him.

He grabbed a nearby towel and quickly cleaned them up, and Valerie let out a huge breath, still shaking from the tremendous pleasure rushing through her and the release she’d had.

She felt afire, glowing with warm satisfaction, and slowly became aware of a vague humming sound from inside her.

She was purring, and Wyatt was grinning over at her, completely cocky.

Completely naked.

“Let’s do that again,” she said.

He laughed and got up, reaching out for her to stand. “Let me show you something,” he said. Her legs felt like Jell-O, but she took his hand and stood, walking on shaky legs over to the mirror with him so she could look in it.

When they got there, he put her in front of him, and she felt small and plump in comparison to his big, hard body. Not that it mattered, since he was hers now.

He drew his hands lightly over her hips, drawing her attention down there in the mirror. “What do you think?”

She cocked her head, staring at her own naked body, until she saw two little pink marks, one on each side of her body. Two little hearts.

“I made them small, just our little secret,” he said, wrapping one arm over her breasts and the other over her stomach. “Do you like?”

Her eyes flew open. “Oh my gosh, I have no idea what I did to you. The other day, I mean, when I didn’t even know I was claiming you.”

“Should we look?” he asked, amused.

“Me first,” she said, turning him around and looking at his back. She gasped. “No, you don’t want to see.”