Roar For More (Online Shifter Dating Agency Romance) (11 page)

Jesse drew his head back a second later and stared up at Aubrey, his eyes seemingly boring right into her soul, and then he leaned back down. Once again his tongue raked across her most sensitive spot, making her writhe and whimper as she thrust her body into his face. His swirling tongue was relentless as it lapped over her, and seconds later he carefully slid a thick finger inside her, letting out a deep groan of approval as he felt just how slick and ready she was for him.

A distinct pressure was building in Aubrey’s belly now, and her chest heaved with quick, short breaths as she watched Jesse play between her legs. Suddenly the pressure exploded out of her, flooding her with sensual heat as the waves of pleasure crashed over her.

Her mouth fell open in a soundless gasp. God, it was so much better than any orgasm she’d ever had before. Every inch of her skin was on fire with lust as pleasure sizzled in her core, and as the final spasms began to fade away, Jesse shifted his weight on top of her. Her eyes began to focus again, and she ran her hands over his tightly-muscled back, aching for him to be inside her as soon as possible.

“Please,” she begged. “I want you…now!”

His jaw clenched as she spoke, as if her words had sparked a deep sense of primal lust in him, and she couldn’t help but let out a soft groan of anticipation as he reached down and guided his thick, rock-hard shaft to her entrance. With that, he thrust all the way inside in one hard movement, and Aubrey gasped with delight as she felt the initial stretch of his manhood plunging into her.

Her hips soon found a rhythm with his, and she moved them up and down, stroking the hard muscles of Jesse’s back and arms as she did so. Letting out a series of loud moans, she threw her head back and squeezed her eyes shut, enjoying every stroke as he moved in and out of her, thrusting from tip to base each time. His groin rubbed up against hers with each movement, stimulating the still-throbbing nub between her legs even more, and as her head began to spin with pleasure, her back arched, and she felt another warm wave of pleasure crashing over her, dragging her towards another invisible peak.

“You’re all I need for the rest of my life,” Jesse murmured into her ear, and Aubrey tried to forget that the rest of his life might not be too long as bliss soared through her.
Not now. Don’t think about that now.

Goose bumps erupted all over the side of her neck where his lips had brushed over her skin, and his mouth slid over hers again, greedily exploring her with his tongue as he plunged in and out of me.

Aubrey arched to meet his hard thrusts, hands tightening into fists beside her as she recovered from her climax, and she gasped and whimpered with each movement. Almost immediately, another desperate tension began to grow inside of her, and she panted for breath as she thrust her hips against Jesse, trying to draw him even deeper inside of her as the sharp-edged pleasure swept through her body. He responded by thrusting more forcefully, punctuating each gliding stroke with a deep growl, and each movement sent electrified thrills through her system.

Sweat beaded on Jesse’s forehead, and finally he made one more thrust into her before groaning and shuddering.

Finally, they were finished, and they laid back in each other’s arms. Numb from passion and ecstasy, neither of them slept with a dark or gloomy thought when unconsciousness came; they were as content and at home as two lovers could possibly be. And when dreams came to guide them through sleep, for some reason they were not dreams of fear and apprehension, taunting them of the horrible fate that waited upon waking. Instead they were dreams of hope and belonging; of a long and bright future together they might have in spite of the world’s evils.

If Jesse was going to die then someone had not told his soul, which soared and wandered free as his wild spirit had through the woodland of his youth. Somehow when love was realized and allowed to overflow into the world, nothing else seemed to matter.

Chapter 12

Was it morning when they woke?

There was no way of knowing without looking at a clock. Aubrey could have checked her phone, of course, but couldn’t really care less. It was likely their body clocks had maintained some semblance of normal routine.

Once no longer sleeping—or making love—Aubrey felt like she should cover up some of her nakedness and used her shirt to partially hide. For Jesse, this proved to be too tempting, however. Hiding nakedness that might be so easily revealed once more was a huge tease to him, and a huge turn-on to boot. He began nuzzling her playfully and she could only laugh with glee every time his nose or lips made contact with skin. She pretended to resist a little but knew she was only teasing him more before allowing him to have her again.

Afterwards, nudity was no longer something to be shy of, and they lay in each other’s arms again. Their minds were alive now, no longer giving way for sleep.

When they finally spoke there was melancholy in their voices, because deep down they did not think this wonderful feeling would last, but there was also happiness and comfort.

“I was worried about you and the bear,” Aubrey began. “Wish I’d known that was the least of our worries.”

“It was only because the adrenaline of the fight distracted me that when I reached the reservoir he was able to sneak up on me,” Jesse explained. “Otherwise I’d have smelt the son-of-a-bitch a mile off—and I knew there was something wrong just by the smell of him, I can tell you. Unlucky I guess; overcome one foe to become the victim of another.”

“How did you beat the bear? Did you hurt it badly?”

“No, I doubt I could. A big male like that. His face and shoulders will be sore from where I clawed him, but his only problem is the bad leg,” Jesse reflected.

“You sound sympathetic,” Aubrey said.

“He’s just another creature like us,” Jesse replied. “Just trying to survive.”

“You don’t dislike bears?”

“Not at all. Poor thing can hardly be blamed—besides, they keep us cats on our toes. Or claws.”

“Strikes me as a very generous way of looking at things, for a predator like you. Thank you for putting your life on the line again.”

“Again?”

“Yes, you could have drowned when I nearly did as well.”

“Oh, tigers are pretty strong swimmers.”

“I know, but you’ve been in the dark about how bad your condition has been. If your strength left you it might have been the end of us both… and the bear for that matter. One little thing puzzles me though,” she said, looking to change the subject.

“What’s that?”

She blushed and averted her eyes, and Jesse grinned, sensing an embarrassing question coming his way.

“After I fell in and then kissed you after you saved me, I was just wondering…I thought we might...erm…well, might have had sex then. But you held back.”

“What a crime!”

“I thought it was because you were tired, but now I know you went on to fight a bear I’m not so certain I’m allowing you to get away with that excuse.”

“You got me there, Aubrey. Truth is, before I met you I was thinking about this girl I met online. I’ve never met her—I don’t know if that sounds silly but we were getting close, and I felt bad about also getting close to you. I knew I had to end the online flirtation with her before going any further with you.”

“Not silly, no! That’s very sweet.”

“Anyway, after you planted your gorgeous face on mine there was a lot to think about. Yesterday morning, before we met up in the diner, I texted her and called it off.”

“Yesterday morning?”

“That’s right, so if you were worried I’ve just been after you for your body in here, you can stop. You’ve had quite an effect on me, Aubrey. Since that moment you walked in the store.”

“Wait…where did you meet this other woman?”

“You’ll think it’s stupid. But there’s this dating website for big cat shifters. Roar4More.com. The…’

He was going to tell her more, but her reaction completely cut him off, sitting bolt upright as if his words meant something revelatory.

“Roar4More? Are you serious?” she asked, eyes wide.

“What?”

There was a pause. Aubrey stared at him open-mouthed as he waited to hear what strange thoughts were going on in her mind. Then she said something that would cause a mirrored expression on his own face: “J2Oh?”

“Wha…how do you know that?”

“That’s
you
?” she asked, astounded.

“Yerbua?” he said in disbelief, before a thought occurred to him and he turned over the medallion that lay resting upside down between her breasts. “A wolf and a crescent moon,” he confirmed. “Christ, I should really be more observant.”

“Yes, I’m Yerbua. How could you not guess? It’s my name backwards!”

“I don’t believe it,” he replied; it was still too much of a coincidence to take on board. “What do you mean? How could I guess? Even if I realized it was ‘Aubrey’ backwards, there’s gotta be plenty of other women out there with that name.”

“You must at least have had a clue,” she insisted, pulling a bossy face as if admonishing him. At another time he would have to break it to her that sitting above him with her bare breasts in his face was not the most effective pose for telling someone off…

She was completely in the wrong anyway, he realized.
She
should have figured it out; not him.

“Aubrey, you chat online with a rare tiger shifter then meet one and don’t ask if they are one and the same?”

“Well, it just seemed unlikely to run into you of all people in the whole wide world. There are a few other tiger shifters, after all,” she replied, as if her inability to get a clue made perfect sense. “Besides, I thought you were winding me up. I didn’t think a tiger hunk like you would need to meet women online.”

“But why would you expect me to figure it out? All I knew was that you had dark hair, and there’s plenty of brunettes in the wide world. Enough for me to overlook it as a coincidence when I met you, right?”

“Okay, fine, that’s true. But really, didn’t the name at least give you a clue?”

“I don’t usually read things backwards. I’m not the dwarf in Twin Peaks.”

Appearing about to reply again, Aubrey stopped in her tracks, and eventually something like clarity sunk in and she let out an embarrassed sigh, giving in to his wisdom.

“Okay, you’re right. You didn’t have much of a way of guessing, unless you noticed my necklace, but I’ve been wearing it tucked under my shirts.”

Disbelief still lingered, but they relaxed somewhat, laughing at how silly it all seemed.

“All that time it was us!” Aubrey reflected, after nestling back into his arms.

“I wonder if anything like it has ever happened before,” he replied. “Can’t have been often but I guess it’s possible.”

“So why did you need to meet women online?” Aubrey asked him. “I got the impression you did quite well for yourself out here.”

“Because I was looking for that special person and I hadn’t met her yet. I didn’t know you were going to come walking right into the store.”

“Feels like fate,” she added, but that thought led to more disbelief. “That’s just it,” she said, sitting up again. “It does feel like fate; like we’re meant to be together.”

“Maybe you’re right.”

“Yes, but…can’t you see? If I’m right then, we haven’t been brought together to end here. The cat might be out of the bag, but you’re still locked in this office, tiger.”

“If I had any more ideas on getting out, I’d tell you.”

“I just don’t believe it,” Aubrey insisted. “It’s too much of a coincidence to not be fate and why would fate want this? Maybe…”

But just then a noise distracted them. Had it come from the door? It was so deathly silent in the office, even the sound of bird calls didn’t make it inside… but there had been something.

It sounded again, clearer this time.

“Shit, you’re right. Something’s out there,” Jesse said. “Or someone…”

At first this was not necessarily a comforting thought. It could be the bear having tracked their scent, or even worse, Marshall coming back to finish the job. Perhaps letting them starve was too risky after all.

But then the door swung open and a much friendlier sight than they could have hoped for greeted them.

In the doorway stood Claire, a set of keys in her hand.

“
Claire
!” Jesse exclaimed. “You life saver! As soon as I get home I’m gonna tell that cousin of mine to marry you immediately!”

“Oh my god!” was the response from Claire because although they had stood up and grabbed an item or two of clothing to cover their modesty, it was clear they were both naked. “No need to ask what’s been going on here, I guess. Would you to like me to come back later?”

“No no, just give us two minutes,” they both said before getting dressed and joining Claire outside in the open air.

Jesse knew it had never felt so good to feel the sun on his face, or the breeze touching his skin—regardless of the fabulous lovemaking he had experienced when locked in the office. Above them was the clear blue sky of another glorious day, seeming all the more glorious in that they were able to witness it.

“Claire, I really didn’t overstate that, you know,” Jesse told her after a few sighs of relief. “You really did save our lives.”

“Don’t be so dramatic. I’m sure someone would have come eventually—
someone
works here. How did you get locked in anyway?”

“Ha! That’s just it, my friend. We didn’t lock ourselves in by accident, we were locked in at gunpoint.”

“Gunpoint? What’s all this?” asked Claire, hardly believing what she could hear.

“It’s true, Claire,” Aubrey told her. “We thought we were done for.”

“That’s funny…you both looked happy enough when I opened the door,” Claire replied, eyes sparkling with humor.

“I’ll let you off with the mocking on this occasion, Claire,” Jesse replied. “What on earth made you come to our rescue if you didn’t know what was going on, though?”

“When you didn’t come back yesterday I got worried and decided to come and check on you, considering that the bear is supposedly still roaming the forests.”

“The bear, oh yes we met him—and how are you protecting yourself?’

‘With that over there,” Claire said, pointing. On turning they noticed a tranquilizer gun that had been left leaning against one of the rocks.

“If I were you, I’d keep that close by,” Jesse advised her. “This expedition has been far too eventful to take anything for granted from here on.”

“Are you serious? So someone actually locked you in by gunpoint? Is there some psycho killer on the loose?”

Jesse and Aubrey then proceeded to tell Claire about all that had happened since they reached the reservoir. Briefly they dwelt on the fight with the bear but mostly the discussion was of Marshall Collins and his dirty tricks.

“This man is a murderer; he should fry!” Claire concluded. “Not only did he try to leave you for dead but he’s probably been behind the deaths of hundreds of shifters. What’s the poison, anyway?”

“Oh, good point,” Aubrey replied and disappeared back into the office building. Only with good reason would she go back in there again, Jesse knew, but he was left with Claire who then aimed a few smirks and raised eyebrows in his direction.

“So,” she said. “It’s getting pretty physical between you, huh? Was it just pure lust or is there a bit more going on?”

“Rest assured you’ll be the first person we tell anything, Claire.”

Thankfully Aubrey was not long. Much as he loved Claire for rescuing them and wouldn’t change her for the world, his gratitude for her help meant he was unable to respond with his usual wit and just had to stand and take it.

“Whatever it was is gone now,” Aubrey told them when she returned. “I’m sure Marshall has been keeping something toxic in one of the cupboards and just been dumping it into the water. Whatever it was is gone now—he’s taken the evidence. Silly me for not checking first thing, but I thought there was something more sophisticated or accidental going on.”

“There must be some way to prove it,” Jesse said.

“There are security tapes inside that I checked too, but they’re all deleted,” Aubrey added. “For sure though, whatever happens, we can’t let him get away with this.”

“You’re damn right. Wait till I catch up with the bastard.”

“Maybe I should get on the Internet and start dirtying his name already,” Aubrey said.

Just then something else occurred to Jesse.

“Hang on a minute, Claire,” he said. “How on earth did you get those keys from miserable old Simpson? We stole his main set of keys!”

“I asked for a copy. How did you steal them?” she asked, eyebrows quirked up.

“I shifted and jumped through his window,” he replied, recalling their surreptitious theft. “What are you, his secret lover? Why would he acquiesce to you?”