Panther Magic (8 page)

“
Now, that you’re more relaxed, Sir, perhaps you can
explain to me what you’re playing at.”

****

Kate regretted the words almost
the minute she said them, because Zeb grew tense again. She was half expecting
him to shove her away, but instead he collapsed back on the bed, and a rumble
escaped his big chest when she draped herself over him. His cock hardened anew
under her ass when she sat up straddling him, and she marveled at his recovery
time.
Another
thing shifters did better then. She
grinned at her thought processes and wriggled her butt, until a sharp swat to
her outer thigh stopped her.

Zeb grasped her by the hips and
lifting her off his groin, sat her down on his abdomen instead, and Kate couldn’t
help her little whimper of feminine appreciation at the prime specimen of male
between her thighs. What had she ever done to deserve not one but two hunks
like this? Not that Zeb was hers yet, and until he claimed her, they hadn’t
really achieved anything, and it was imperative that he did. Cole Jackson had
reiterated that fact to her, before he’d opened the door to let her through.

It was the only defense open to
him, because the CCTV footage the council had obtained, had not captured Kate’s
attack, just his panther tearing through the gang of males.
Something
about the angle of the cameras and one not working or something.
She
didn’t really care about the particulars. She just wanted Zeb to be all right,
and she would not be allowed to give evidence on his behalf as a mere human,
unless she was mated to him.

It smacked of elitism to her,
but, hey, who was she to argue? Besides, folks that shifted into animals at
will, were immune from diseases, and lived much longer than your average human
were allowed to have some form of superiority complex, she supposed.

Not that she got that vibe of
Tash, or Arran, or even Cole. Zeb … she drank in his clenched jaw, the
tightness of his shoulders, and the sheer virile masculinity of him, and tried
to think back to all the interactions she’d ever had with him.

He was intimidating, overbearing,
and slightly scary … okay, make that a lot scary, when he chose to be … but
he’d never given her the impression that he looked down on humans either.

Maybe it was just the old guard
at the council then, as Cole had called them. Unfortunately that old guard
literally held Zeb’s life in their furry hands, and the blasted man wasn’t
doing anything to help himself.

“
Please, Sir, talk to me.”

Zeb’s hold on her hips grew
painful, and when he opened his eyes to look at her, she wasn’t at all
surprised to look into the eyes of his volatile beast. Zeb’s panther was
definitely far closer to the surface than Arran’s ever was, but that didn’t
scare her anymore. She knew with absolute conviction that neither Zeb, nor his
animal, would ever hurt her. How she could be so sure, she couldn’t even begin
to explain to herself. Being with Zeb just felt right, just like being with
Arran had felt right, and the only way this could be better was if Arran was
here, too.

Her insides clenched in delicious
anticipation at the thought of being with both her men at the same time, and
her already damp panties grew even wetter at the erotic images that conjured up
in her mind.

The deep rumble erupting from
Zeb’s chest sent more tingles of awareness to her core and she squirmed against
the hard ridges of his six
pack
. It created rather
interesting pressure against her clit, and Kate moaned.

“
I would love to know what you’re thinking right now,
little wildcat, though I dare say I have a fairly good idea.” His claws pricked
her skin through the denim covering her hips, and his voice carried the
distinctive growl of his panther.
“And for the love of God,
stop moving, woman.
You have no idea how much I want to fuck you senseless
right now.”

Heat rose in Kate’s cheeks, and
her breathing hitched at the rumbled promise, threat, she wasn’t quite sure
what it was, and dropping her gaze to his hair roughened chest, she fumbled
with the buttons of her blouse.

“
I wish you would,” she whispered, and finally
managed to undo one of the buttons.

“
Kate.” That one word sliced through the air like a
whip, and she flinched, but undid another button and then another, until her
lacy bra was exposed.

Zeb drew in a sharp breath, and
Kate screeched when he flipped them over in a quick move, until it was him
straddling her. Grasping her wrists he pinned her arms high above her head, and
with his body holding her down, she couldn’t move, couldn’t even breathe. He
lifted off her slightly, and the intensity of his gaze took her breath away
anew. Passion, fury, and above all desperate longing chased each other across
his expressive eyes, and his face hardened when he let his gaze drop to her
throat.

“
It’s okay. It doesn’t hurt that much anymore,” she said
in an effort to reassure him, and Zeb mumbled something she didn’t quite catch.

“
I don’t regret killing that scum, and I won’t stand
up in court tomorrow and pretend that I do.” He wrenched his gaze back up to
her eyes, and Kate smiled at him.

“
Good, I don’t regret you killing them either, just
the fact that it placed you here.”

Zeb’s head snapped back as though
she had slapped him, and he released her hand and sat up. It gave her more
breathing space, but she still couldn’t move her legs, and he groaned when she
brought her hands down and cupped his face.

“
You can’t mean that,” he said, and she tugged on his
ears to bring his head lower. He could have easily resisted, his strength so
superior to hers, and the fact that he didn’t meant the world to her right now.

Kate placed a soft kiss on his
lips, and Zeb groaned and kissed her back. When Kate opened to the demanding
sweeps of his tongue along her lips, the bed shook with the deep purr of his
beast, and Kate smiled into the kiss, before Zeb grasped her wrists again, and
took charge of the kiss. He explored her mouth with breathtaking intensity as
their tongues danced together and by the time he finally released her with
gentle bite to her non-injured lip, they were both breathing heavily, and Kate
was so aroused that she was sure she must be leaving a wet spot on her jeans.
Her soaked through panties would offer no protection at all by now, and she
whimpered and tried to close the distance when he licked the cut on her lip.

“
No, little wildcat.”
Zeb lifted off her slightly, and she squirmed under the heated intensity of his
gaze, as his canines lengthened and she instinctively tilted her head to one
side.

Zeb grinned and shook his head.

“
My
way,
or not at all. I
won’t claim you, until you’re absolutely certain that’s what you want. I want
you begging for it, girl.”

The harsh edge to his voice
tipped her arousal even higher, and she clenched her thighs together to relieve
the ache in her pussy. He noticed, of course, and in the next instant, he’d
flipped her over again, until she was on her tummy, and his hand came crashing
down on her ass with so much force that the bed shook.

“
Ow
.” Kate couldn’t stop
her yelp of pain, even as he massaged that sting away, and heat traveled up
from her abused butt.

“
Oh, that was nothing yet. We’ll see how much you
still want me once I’m done with pummeling this ass, shall we?”

He slapped her other butt cheek
this
time,
and Kate bit into the covers to stop
herself from crying out again. Shit, he hit hard, and she shook her head, as he
massaged that hurt away, t
oo
.

“
I thought so. Want me to stop already? I won’t
though, not unless you use your safe word, which is red, got that?”

He yanked her head up by her
hair, and Kate whispered her reply.

“
Yes, Sir, but I won’t need it. I won’t want you to
stop.”

A grim smile played around Zeb’s
lips, and he shook his head.

“
Oh, you will. I know you will, and then you’ll see
that I’m no good for you.”

Chapter
Eight

Fuck, this was not working to
plan. Every hard swat he delivered to her backside made him grow harder, and
while Kate whimpered and bit into the covers, she didn’t safe word either.
What’s more the scent of her arousal grew stronger with every swat.

Damn woman was getting as turned
on by this as he was, which shouldn’t have surprised him. He’d read up on her
after all. Arran and he both had done their research, and their mate was an
experienced submissive. What’s more she liked a bite of pain with her pleasure,
and judging by the way she now lifted her bottom into every strike she liked
more than just a bite.

Zeb wished he had his toy bag
with him to really give her ass a good pounding, but that would have to wait
for another time. That thought stopped him mid-swing. His heart contracted
painfully at that thought. They would likely not have another time, would they?
He knew the penalty for killing humans, and with the odds stacked against him,
he had no hope. It was far better to not get her involved and spare them all
further heartache, wasn’t it?

His panther growled, and paced to
and from, for once not itching to come out and do damage but concerned about
his mate. Kate stirred and lifted her head up, and Zeb rubbed his hand over her
still denim clad ass in an absentminded manner.

“
Sir?”
Her
hesitant question shook him out of his internal musings, and he focused his
attention back on her. “Are you finished?” she asked, and his eyebrows rose at
her question. “’Cause I
gotta
tell you,
Sir,
if that’s the best you can do, then you hit like a pussy cat.”

She stuck her tongue out at him as
she said that, and his panther snarled at her. She swallowed hard when he shook
his head and dropped his voice.

“
Is that so, girl? Well, we’ll have to see about that
then, won’t we?” He knew, of course that she was goading him in to a reaction,
to see how far he would go, and sure enough she gasped when he ran his hands
under her hips, until he found the button of her jeans, and tugged it loose.
Another whimper escaped her when he slid the zipper down and pulled, and she
lifted off the bed to help him take her jeans off. He smiled at the eager way
she kicked off her trainers, and jumped when he divested her of her socks, and
let his claws trail up the underside of her foot.

A groan escaped her when he dug
them in, and slowly traced them up the inside of her legs until he reached her
lacy panties. The pale blue material covering her crotch had darkened to a much
deeper color, soaked through as it was with her arousal, and he could feel the
heat radiating off her abused ass cheeks. Acting on instinct he used his claws
to slice the pretty underwear off her, and it was his turn to groan when he saw
the red hot globes of her ass. They carried his handprints, and he ran his
claws through the marks.

A deep throated moan escaped his
girl at that action, and when he sheathed his claws and ran them through her
soaking wet pussy, she surprised him by tumbling into an orgasm.

Zeb swore and tunneled two of his
fingers into her clenching pussy hole, while he lifted her ass up with the
other hand and sucked her clit in his mouth. The sweet aroma of aroused woman
was his reward, and Kate gushed around his fingers, as she panted through her
release, and Zeb wished like fuck it was his cock her internal muscles were
squeezing to death instead of his fingers.

When Kate stopped trembling, he
pulled his fingers away from her far too tempting pussy, and licked them clean
with an appreciative murmur.

“
So fucking wet for me, but I think you can do even
better than that.”

Without warning he brought his
hand back down on her ass in a series of open handed swats that echoed around
the stillness of the room. Every few swats he stopped to run his fingers
through her slit and flicked her little nub. The deep throated moans Kate made
in response, and the way her muscles tensed as she tried to rub herself against
his digits, told him how close she was. When she was about to tumble over he
withdrew his fingers, and resumed paddling her behind.

Kate moaned and cried, her
fingers held in a white knuckled grip in the bedcovers, but she didn’t safe word
on him.

After the umpteenth time of
revving her up and keeping her hanging, Kate murmured something that he
couldn’t quite catch and he leaned down better to hear her.

“
What’s that, girl?” he asked, and his stomach
hollowed out when she struggled to push herself up on her elbows. He took pity
on her and pulled her up and across his lap, and Kate winced as her red hot ass
made contact with his legs. She yanked on her blouse and bra and taking the
hint, Zeb helped her out of them, until she sat on his lap naked as the day she
was born. His breath stalled seeing the myriad of bruises that covered her
abdomen, and his panther whined as he ran his fingers over them.

Kate burst into tears, and Zeb
could have kicked himself. He should have checked first. This right here proved
he was no good for her.

“
Fuck it, baby, you ought to have told me. I never
would have hit your ass so hard had I known. Why didn’t you safe word?”

Kate shook her head and snuggled
into his chest, even as her tears soaked him, and Zeb settled for simply
holding her. When the worst of her tears had stopped, he grasped her chin to
make her look at him, and the love shining back at him from her tearstained
eyes brought him to his emotional knees.

“
I told you, I won’t. I’m not afraid of you, and I
want to be yours. Please claim me. It’s the only way to save you.”

****

Kate held her breath as Zeb
studied her. She couldn’t breathe, daren’t breathe under his intense scrutiny,
and despite the pain in her ass, which seemed multiplied by the myriad of aches
and pains left over from yesterday’s attack, she wanted nothing more than to
shift slightly until the hot, hard length of him slid into her body.

She positively ached with the
need to feel him inside of her, so turned on that she would combust if he
didn’t let her come, yet still he kept her at bay, and it was driving her
insane.

“
Please, Sir … I need you.”

The most curious smile played
around Zeb’s lips, and she gasped when he slid his hands down between her
thighs and flicked her clit. The bundle of nerves jumped and pleasure surged
through her so intense she saw stars, and she screamed when he took his fingers
away again.

“
No, please … no.” She was aware she was begging, but
she didn’t even care, and a hiss of relief escaped her, when he lifted her up
until she faced him, and then lowered her slowly onto his cock.

“
God, yes …
yeeeessss
….”
Kate shut her eyes, and let the incredible feeling of fullness consume her.
Nerve endings sprang to life as her internal muscles clenched around his cock.
She groped blindly until she could hold onto his bulging biceps, and tried to
move, but Zeb grasped her hips and dug his nails into her abused ass to hold
her still. The sharp pain dulled her arousal somewhat.

“
Look at me, girl.”

She forced her eyes open at his growled
command, and he nodded.
 

“
Tell me, are you doing this just to save me? Or…”

Kate shook her head and clenched
around his cock, making them both
groan,
and he slid
the last inch or so into the tight clasp of her body as he relaxed his hold on
her.

“
Is that what you think?” she gasped the words as his
dick twitched inside of her, and he lifted her up and brought her back down,
seemingly unable to resist moving. Teeth clenched, muscles bulging, sweat
dotted on his forehead with the effort required to hold back, and he gave her a
tight nod.

Kate wanted to strangle him, but
she didn’t have the energy for that, so instead she growled at him. His panther
growled right back at her, and she swallowed down tears of frustration.

“
Then you’re a fucking fool, Sir,” she finally said,
and Zeb gave a short humorless laugh and then thrust up into her.

Kate screamed and slumped over
him as her long denied orgasm burst from her, and before she knew it, she was
back face down on the bed with Zeb fucking her from behind like a madman. Every
thrust into her body sent waves of heat across her abused ass, and meant her
orgasm went on and on, and when he finally pulled out of her, ran his fingers
through her slit and then used them to coat her asshole, Kate could only whimper.

“
Did my brother have you here, little wildcat?” Zeb
growled the question, his voice more animal than human, and with her body still
shaking in the grips of her orgasm she barely managed a croaked, “No.”

“
Good, because this
ass is mine.
You.
Are.
Mine.” Zeb accentuated every word with a thrust of his slick fingers past her
ring of muscle, and when he finally lined up his cock with her anus and pushed
in the brief pain of his entry soon morphed into all-consuming pleasure, and
Kate pushed back against him.

It seemed to be what Zeb had been
waiting for, because he drew her hair back and then bit down on the shoulder
Arran hadn’t marked, and Kate screamed and shook as waves of ecstasy pulled her
under. Everything seemed heightened at that moment. Fire raced over her skin,
stars exploded behind her closed eyelids in a myriad of colors, and blood
rushed in her ear with the frantic beats of her heart, before she fell into the
oblivion of darkness, and everything stopped.

****

Pleasure surged through
every part of Zeb’s being, and the deep connection he felt to his little wildcat
at this moment in time made his panther growl. His claws ran out and sliced
through the covers, as the rhythmic clenches of her orgasm tightened her
muscles around the base of his shaft and squeezed every last drop of cum out of
his dick.

Zeb
 
frowned when Kate grew still and unresponsive
under him, but he couldn’t do anything but hold her, and let the waves of
pleasure consume them, so intense that his limbs refused to cooperate with the
demands of his brain, and he collapsed onto the bed. He had the foresight to
roll slightly so as not to squash his precious girl, and when his dick finally
stopped twitching and softened slightly he pulled out of the tight confines of
her butt.

A pang of unease made
his gut churn, when he saw his cum trickle out of her. He hadn’t even thought
about using protection, not that it was a huge problem. He could smell that she
wasn’t fertile right now, and as a shifter he was immune from passing on any
possible diseases, but still. He always used protection. Then again, Kate was
his mate, which changed things somewhat. Zeb let that thought sink in, and he
knew he was grinning like a fool. Come what may she was his now, his and
Arran’s, and if they did take his head off tomorrow, he would die a happy man,
knowing that he had at least shared these few precious moments with her.

Zeb inhaled deeply, and
his grin deepened. She didn’t smell human anymore, even though he knew she
still was. His little wildcat smelled of him and Arran, mixed in with her
unique sweet musk that meant she was theirs.
Addictive and
alluring, and his.

Kate moaned, and he
gently rolled her over to reassure himself she was coming round. She was too
still for his liking, even though he sensed that she was okay, and his beast
roared at the bruises left over from the attack on her. No one would ever touch
her again. Another moan escaped from Kate’s kiss swollen lips, and he watched
in fascination as the gash on her collarbone disappeared, followed by the
bruises on her throat. The fingermarks faded away as though they had never
been, as did the purple boot prints on her abdomen. The marks their scene had
made on her silken skin also disappeared, but he couldn’t bring himself to care
about that, too fascinated by witnessing the changes in her, brought about by
the mating bond.

If he’d had any doubts
that he’d done the right thing by claiming her they disappeared along with the
fast fading blemishes on her body.

When Kate’s eyes
fluttered open, and she struggled to focus on him, he smiled.

“
Welcome back, sweetheart. How are you feeling?”

Kate stretched like the wildcat
he called
her,
and his dick hardened anew at the
inherent sensuality in that act. Her little nipples firmed under his silent
perusal, and she offered him a shy grin, and then frowned.

“
I feel amazing, nothing hurts anymore, but why are
you blurry? Oh. My.
God.
Nothing hurts, but why? And
damn it, there’s something wrong with my eyes.”

Her heartbeat sped up in
her agitation, and his panther whined in answer, while Zeb pulled her closer so
that he could kiss her. It was meant to be no more than a brush of his lips
over hers, but when she moaned into the kiss and immediately opened to the soft
sweeps of his tongue along the seam of her mouth he had to take the kiss
deeper. Hands buried in her hair he angled her head to his satisfaction, as he
drank in the scent of his woman. Breaking the kiss he nibbled along her jaw,
inhaled into her neck and licked his mark on her shoulder. A shiver went
through Kate, and she locked her hands behind his neck and rubbed her breasts
against his chest, her nipples hard little points of need that he couldn’t
ignore. Abandoning his mark on her, he licked and nibbled his way down her
chest, until he reached the small handful of her tits and sucked first one and
then other tight nipple into his mouth.