Rage & Killian (16 page)

He sniffed. “I’m most definitely different. I have to figure out where I belong now.
If
I belong anywhere.”

“Don’t talk like that,” she said passionately.

“After what’s happened today, how can I not?”

She cut him off, stood in front of him. Moonlight washed over his handsome face. “If you wanted to stay here, you could. I know Raphael would allow it.”

He cursed, looked anywhere but at her. When he spotted a massive cypress down near the bayou, he left her and headed straight for it. Rosalie watched as he went over and sat down, pressed his back to the thick trunk.

She didn’t want him to leave. This male she’d tried to push away, hate, hurt... She wanted him to stay in the Wildlands. With her. See what happened. Maybe heal from their respective pasts together.

But she wasn’t going to ask him or push him.

Rubbing the chill from her skin, she went over to the tree and sat down beside him. She was quiet. Watched the bayou dance against the bank in the moonlight as she breathed in his scent and felt the warmth of him against her side.

“I don’t want to be somewhere because I’m allowed to be there,” Killian said after a few minutes had passed.

“I know,” Rosalie said.

“I want to feel wanted. I want a home. After losing my family, my military career, I just want a home.”

Her heart squeezed painfully, because, Goddess, so did she. A home. And all that it meant. So much more than just four walls and a roof. She’d wanted it for so long, she’d refused to admit it—or even acknowledge its possibility. “I understand,” she said softly.

“But it sounds pathetic, right? Weak?”

“No!” She turned to him, scrambling to her knees. “No way.” She shook her head, eyes imploring him. “When I said I understood about wanting a home, I do.” She closed her eyes for a second and sighed. “I’m really sorry, Killian. For the way I treated you. What you saw…how I acted...that’s not who I am.”
Or who I want to be
. “Except for maybe—” She cut herself off, bit her lip.

“Except for what?” he asked, his expression intent.

Last night.

Kissing you.

Feeling happy for the first time in a long time.

Not needing the puma to breathe.

His eyes were blazing down into hers, trying to read her mind, her heart, and her soul. She wanted him to see it—all of it. And she nearly did. But something happened...inside of her—and it wasn’t the cat. A fear of rejection? Of losing someone she cared for—again? Whatever it was crept in, took hold, and stole her vulnerability.

She turned away, back to the tree. “Look up, Killian,” she said as her heart threatened to break out of her chest. “Look at those stars.”

His eyes were on her for the longest time. Or it felt that way. The weight of those blue orbs... How long could she last before she gave in...and just—broke?

Then he turned.

Slipped his arm around her.

And as she exhaled weightily, he pulled her close and gave his attention to the sky.

Chapter 10

The dreams that came at him now were nothing like they’d been. There was no death. No pain. No one to rescue. In fact, it was him who was being rescued. By green eyes and healing hands. Urgent whispers and a wild mouth.

The Hunter.

Kitten.

Rosalie.

Bright warmth soothed the backs of his eyelids and a breeze blew crisp over his skin. He groaned at the fucking wonder of it all.

And the wonder groaned back.

What the hell...? Eyes rocketing open, Killian looked around sharply. It was habit. Enemy could be anywhere. But there was no enemy here. Only grass and trees, wide bayou, and a very naked female kissing her way down his torso. Along with his cock, every inch of him hardened. It was the very female who’d ripped him from the water, then from his nightmares. The female who’d made him smile and hope, despair, then hope again. The female who made him want to…stay…

He groaned as she lapped at his navel with her tongue.

What was his name again?

“Morning,” she whispered, her eyes flipping up to meet his as her fingers eased down his sweats.

Seriously? They were going to do this—

Fuck!
His cock popped right out, hard as the trunk of the cypress above him. “Tell me this isn’t a dream,” he said gruffly, taking in her soft, tanned curves. She was the most incredible sight. Perfection. Seduction. Bathed in soft yellow, the sun coming up behind her…

She smiled at him, then wrapped her hand around his erection and kissed the tip. “Does that feel like a dream?”

He groaned, his ass tightening. “Fuck yeah.”

She laughed, then started to stroke him. Up. Down. Soft palm, warm fingers. “I’ve been thinking about this since dawn.”

Shit
. It was like the perfect pressure. He sucked air through his teeth and jacked up his hips. “Next time, don’t think,” he growled. “Or wait.”

“Next time?” she purred.

Teeth gritted, body rigid, his eyes captured hers and held. Was that hope he saw there? She wanted a next time? More? Him? This? Or his own hope mirrored back? He needed to know. Had to know…

But the question died as his brain started to spin. After stroking him, up and over, then down to the base, Rosalie guided his cock to her lips. Her eyes still clinging to his, she very slowly drew him in.

Instantly, Killian started to move. Thrust. Shit, he couldn’t help himself. Her mouth was so hot, her eyes, too—and her tongue was pressing against the base of his shaft. Christ, what was that? He felt like his dick was drowning in pure pleasure.

She made sounds too. Soft growls, hisses, moans of hunger. And as she took him all the way to the back of her throat, over and over, Killian tried like hell to tamp down his need to either come or get her on her back and fuck her until they both exploded. But it was impossible. As she continued to blow the living hell out of him, drawing him in and out of her sexy mouth, she lifted her ass up in the air and was wiggling it, back and forth. Like it had a fucking tail on it.

Mind gone.

Balls tight and ready.

He. Was. So. Going. To. Have. Her.

And not alone. The thing inside him. The puma—
his puma
—wanted her, too.

She released him for a moment, to yank his sweats down to his knees. It was the opportunity both Killian and his cat had been waiting for. He was up and pressing her back to the ground in seconds. As he loomed over her, a snarl exited his throat. The cat was with him, inside him, wanting, needing, hungry…
Was this normal?
he wondered, grabbing her legs. Did the cat and the male coexist? Feed together? Fuck together?

Well, he was going to find out.

He pressed her knees to her chest, then stared down at what he’d created. A perfect feast. Rosalie gazed up at him, looking feral and excited and ready. Her eyes were wide and bright; her mouth wet and curved up into a challenging smile.

Yes, Kitten, you’ll get as good as you give.

It was the last thing Killian thought for a full minute as he dove between her legs and fed off her hot, juicy pussy. She was shaved bare and her scent... Christ, her scent. It was a drug he would never quit. A welcome addiction.

She was his. His and the puma’s.

Now he just had to make her see it too.

Her fingers were threading in his hair, fisting, then scraping his scalp as he flicked her swollen clitoris with his tongue. She liked it fast and light. Every time he changed the rhythm, her hold on him slackened, so he kept it up, just right, perfect—until her nails dug into his scalp.

That’s right, Hunter, make me bleed.

As she fucked his mouth, thrusting and grinding, he watched her. She was unbearably beautiful. She was watching him too. Her skin pink, her mouth parted, panting, her eyes at half-mast, her brow furrowed as she neared orgasm.

The puma was whispering something to him. It was the only way Killian could describe the sensation.
Suck. Suck her like she sucked you…

Without question, he wrapped his lips around her clit and drew her in. Rosalie went wild. Crying out, writhing, releasing his head and grabbing her perfect breasts, pinching her nipples as he continued to suckle her. Come leaked from the tip of Killian’s dick, but he only sought her climax. And with one deep pull, she broke open. Her body tensed and as her clit swelled against his tongue, he sucked her, taking each beat, each moan of orgasm into his mind and heart and skin, and offering it to the being that had given him this.

This female’s pleasure.

Their female’s pleasure.

Rosalie barely gave her climax time to ease before she groaned the words, “Inside me. You. Inside me. Now.”

As insane and hungry as Killian felt, he couldn’t help but grin. He loved this. This female who said what she wanted, was tough and strong, but sensual and female at the same time.

He pulled away and rose over her. She was ready for him, wrapping her legs around his hips the very second he had his cock at her entrance—and pulling him down for a kiss the second he pushed inside of her.

No. Killian was no longer a man. He’d felt the switch. Last night. This morning. It all ran together. He was a male. A shifter.

Hers…

Hot desire flooded him and he could do nothing else but move. Deep, possessive thrusts as he slipped his hands beneath her ass and kissed her. Around them, the sun was streaking through the treetops, illuminating their bond.

Something stunning was happening inside Killian. The pain that had once landed and taken root within him was trying to break free. Fear and guilt couldn’t survive where there was this…him and Rosalie. There wasn’t room to house it.

Pulling his mouth from hers, he eased back so he could see her. The stunning female that was his. All that yellow hair, spread out around her gorgeous face. Lips wet and pink from his kiss. Cheeks flushed. Neck strained as another orgasm built inside her. Heavy breasts bouncing with each hard thrust.

He shook his head. “The perfect rose. I understand your name now.” He sucked air between his teeth as her hot walls tightened around his cock. “Beautiful, soft, proud and a scent so intoxicating, I want to get drunk every fucking night.”

That elicited a wide grin and a soft laugh interspersed with gasps as he gave her three punishing thrusts.

He pulled one hand from her backside and reached between them, brushed his thumb over her still-swollen clit. Instantly, she cried out.

“Like that, Kitten?”

She nodded, her breath labored. “Goddess, yes.”

As he gazed into her eyes, he brought the pad of his thumb to his mouth and licked her cream.
Perfection.
“This is what I like.”

Before she could say another word, or even make a sound, his thumb was back on her clit, and he was pumping inside her brutally fast. Her eyes closed and her nostrils flared. The combination was too much. Once again, she broke, flying over the edge of happiness and pleasure. Bucking wildly, squeezing against his dick.

And Killian wasn’t about to be left behind. Sweat on his brow, every muscle straining, he moved, driving into her, over and over, until…

“Oh, fuck!” he snarled, thrusting deep and holding as he released a wash of come inside her.

“Rose,” he uttered, then pulled her into his arms, rolling them to one side. Still connected, he held her both possessively and protectively.
I’m never letting you go. You’re mine. Mine.

For long moments, they lay there on the cool ground, under the dappled morning sun and fragrant flora, touching and tasting, stroking and kissing. Rosalie’s leg was tossed over Killian’s hip and his hand was cupping her ass.

“What is this?” she asked, running her nails over the black barren tree with the words “
There is no secret here
”
interwoven in branches
tattooed on his shoulder.

“A reminder,” he uttered between kisses to her neck.

“Of what?” Her voice carried the delectable strains of jealousy.

He eased back, looked at her, smiled gently. “To never leave things unsaid. If you care about someone, love someone, make sure they know it.”

A soft growl rumbled in her chest. “Was it for a female?” she asked, yanking him closer with her leg. “In your past?”

His cock pulsed, started to harden inside her once again. Oh, they were going to have fun together. Painful sometimes, pleasure always. He grinned at her. “A female inspired it.”

Her eyes narrowed, and that growl became a snarl.

“Easy, Kitten,” he said, then gave her one deep kiss. “She wasn’t my female,” he whispered against her lips. “She was the wife of a Ranger I wasn’t able to save. A guy who hadn’t been able to say good-bye or I love you.”

Her entire being changed. “Oh.” And her eyes softened.

He didn’t know which Rosalie he adored more. The possessive she-cat or the soft, supple female. He leaned in and kissed her gently on the mouth. “Come on, baby. You’re the only female I—”

Killian froze. Rosalie too, as the sound of movement in the undergrowth caught their ears. It wasn’t a random skunk or possum. It was predatory. It was Pantera.

Hunter
.

Rosalie was the first to scramble away and leap to her feet. Naked and flushed from sex, she crouched into a fighting stance. His cock hard against his abdomen, Killian moved in front of her. But something was happening. To him. To the world around him. Eyes growing sharper, scent intensifying... No! But before he could stop it, his mind receded and he was no longer the Ranger, the man—or the male.

He was puma.

The puma who would kill anything or anyone who even looked at his female.

Chapter 11

 “Just say what you have to say.” Rosalie stood near the border of the Wildlands. It was midday and warm for winter, and she was about to be kicked out on her ass. Had to be. Killian was still breathing, but shit, she’d broken every rule in the Pantera book, and now she was going to have to live with the consequences.