Treasured Find (Royal Pride Book 1) (26 page)

He stood naked before her and allowed the change to overtake him, slowing the rapid flip in images as much as he could so she could see the process. Rafe caught sight of himself in the mirror behind her. The fuzzy image of his jaguar stepped from his chest. The tether connecting their souls shimmered, first stretching to allow their forms to separate then constricting to pull Rafe’s body inside. His human shape grew opaque before disappearing.

In the next heartbeat, Rafe looked upon his mate as his jaguar saw her. She was as beautiful and strong in his animal’s eyes as she was in Rafe’s, but his cat saw more than just her physical form. Strength emanated from her. So did kindness. Both traits gave her aura a slightly different feel to it. It was an instinctual knowledge, more than a physical one. It also explained why his animals had been drawn to her.

Peace and happiness merged, leaving him…content. He padded to her on silent paws, then rubbed against her legs, showing her the only way he could while in his jaguar’s body how much she meant to him.

She giggled. “That tickles.”

He circled her, brushing against her, and was rewarded with another happy sound. She knelt, and he lowered his head, silently urging her closer. She rested her fingertips against his flank. A long moment passed before she petted him.

“You’re much bigger than I thought you’d be,” she mumbled.

He let her familiarize herself with his animal form for a few minutes before he shifted. He couldn’t love her the way he wanted while in his jaguar’s shape. She’d stirred too many emotions within him over the past few hours. He needed to lose himself in her, knowing he was the only male she’d ever again welcome inside her body.

With fevered hands, he undressed her. She helped, tugging at her clothes and popping the button on her shorts when it wouldn’t easily come undone. He ran his hands over her body, caressing and stimulating her. She treated him to the same crazed exploration, squeezing his ass and stroking his muscles. By the time they tumbled to the bed, they were both panting.

Jasmine fisted his cock and stroked him. He dropped his head onto the pillow and enjoyed her attention. Her steady tugs, the slide of her hand on his shaft and her nipping bites on his chest drew his balls up.

He grabbed her wrist before he exploded. “Enough.”

“But I want to make you feel good.”

“You will.” He gave her hip a small smack. “Roll over.”

She raised a brow but didn’t comment on the order or deny him, even though he almost wished she would’ve. He’d enjoyed the punishment he’d given her the night before.

She moved to her hands and knees and wiggled her lush ass. “Is this what you want?”

He laid a palm on one rounded cheek and massaged the flesh. She squirmed and the scent of her arousal filled the room.

“It is. I love your ass.” He bent close and pressed his lips to her rounded cheek.

“Are you kissing my ass, Rafe Alexander?”

He chuckled. “I suppose I am.”

“Hmm, you better watch out. I might get used to it.”

“I want you to.”

He kissed his way up her back, pushing the strands of hair out of his way as he mapped a path to where her mate mark would be displayed.

“I want you to be my mate, Jasmine.” He lined up the bodies so the head of his cock breached her, but he didn’t thrust. He licked the spot at the base of her neck. “I will bite you here, searing my claim onto your body and soul.”

“With your fangs, right? You’re going to leave a scar on me?”

“A beautiful mate mark, not a scar. All mated women bear a bite.” He nipped the spot with his fangs and enjoyed the way her inner muscles tightened around him in response to the small sting. “And you will enjoy wearing it. It’ll be sensitive. Arousing.”

“I don’t know. Everything I wear will touch it and drive me crazy.”

“Only when you’re horny. It won’t feel any different than when your nipples rub against your bra.”

“But it will feel just as good when you suck on it as it does when you have your mouth on my breast, right?”

“Yes, but only my mouth. No other male’s touch will have the same effect. It’ll be
my
bite, just as you are
my
female.”

“That’s sounds a little possessive.”

He caught her earlobe between his teeth and tugged on it. She shivered, and his cock slid deeper into her body. He released a strained breath. The effort it took not to plunge into her grew by the second, but she needed to know the details of mating, at least some of them. The worst he’d save for another day.

“Yes, but the mate bond we will form goes both ways. I will be yours as much as you are mine.”

“But a mate bond for breeding isn’t. It’s for sex only.”

The certainty in her voice surprised him, but if she’d been talking to Mira, it wasn’t much of a stretch to believe Jasmine knew more about mating than he’d assumed. He wouldn’t count on it, though. He doubted Mira would want to discuss the darker details any more than Rafe did.

“The one-way bond between shifters links the female to the male so only he can impregnate her. Love doesn’t necessarily come into play. Neither does fidelity.”

“But I have yours?”

“Yes.” He breathed the answer against her ear and joined them on a steady thrust that threatened to steal his sanity. “You have mine.”

“Rafe.”

Just his name, but he heard the unspoken words, the ones he didn’t dare ask for, not yet. He didn’t want to pressure her into saying anything she wasn’t ready to give. For a human, the few days they’d known each other wasn’t long enough to claim unending devotion or love. For a shifter, such a decision could be made in seconds, even if it took the shifter years to understand love was what had driven them to commit to their partner in the first place.

“I’ve waited incredibly long for you. I won’t lose you. Not to death or another man.”

“I don’t want to lose you either. Not to the past or your hatred for—”

He drove forward, burying his cock deep within her body, and the words she’d begun to utter turned into a long, low moan. That was a better sound. He refused to allow her to say Jon’s name while Rafe was intimately connected to her. No way did he want the male to ruin any moment with Jasmine.

He turned his attention to loving Jasmine and fucked her, alternating between fast and slow strokes to build the lust. Every thrust left him hovering on the point where he wanted to stay locked inside her body, yet the desire to feel her gripping muscles stroke his dick was too great to ignore. He gave himself over to the primitive drive and took her to the point where her muscles trembled, the release imminent, then stopped.

With his shaft buried to the hilt, he licked her shoulder. “You are mine to love. Mine to protect. Mine to pleasure. Tell me you want that—to be my mate.”

“Yes.” She glanced over her shoulder and caught his gaze. “I’m yours. Now, fuck me, Rafe. Take me to heaven. You’re the only one who can.”

He clamped his mouth over her shoulder and gave her what she asked for. A rough, hard fuck that took her to the edge and kept her there, not allowing her to tumble over. His balls smacked against her body, and her arousal coated their thighs. Still, he fucked her. He couldn’t get enough of her.

Wet, warm and tight—she fit him so damn well. Soon he’d have her forever. His perfect mate. His Jasmine.

Her sweet bottom cushioned him each time he entered her. She accepted the pounding drives, widening her legs to take him in as far as their position would allow. With a tilt of his hips, he shortened the entry and quickened the pace. Not as deep but the strokes ran over and over the most sensitive part of her core.

She sucked in a rough gasp, and he changed the depth so his cock rubbed her G-spot. Her whimpers and moans wrapped around him, encouraging him to stretch their loving longer. Too soon, her orgasm hit, ending their time together.

A vise grip clamped down on his cock, and Jasmine buried her face in her arm to muffle a cry. The bare spot on her shoulder taunted him. He wanted his bite there. He didn’t want to wait. She’d said she was his. She’d meant it. His cats pushed an image of Jasmine into his mind. She stood in a flowing white dress, her hair in some elaborate twist with flowers decorating it. The veil and rings on her finger completed the beautiful picture, but it was the mate bite on her shoulder that made their point.

Jasmine was the one who’d brought them peace. They wanted the world to know she belonged to him.

So do I. My mate. My wife. My partner. Everything—make her my everything.

He closed his mouth over the delicate spot before he could think better of it and bit. The taste of blood teased his senses, yanking him back to reality. He couldn’t mate her. Not yet. She didn’t know everything.

He licked the wound, healing the cuts, then focused on the waves rippling over his shaft to distract him from how it had felt to have his female’s tender flesh in his mouth.

Finally, the pleasure eased, and he collapsed on top of Jasmine, before quickly rolling off. With her tucked into his side, he let the truth settle over him.

They needed to talk, sooner than he’d like. His cats had made their decision known. She would be his, and if he didn’t agree, they might just take the choice out of his hands.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Jazz stood at her bedroom window and surveyed the landscape. Gray clouds hung over them, and fogged had rolled in, giving the woods surrounding her home a sinister feel. It matched the dark mood that had settled over her household.

For two days, they’d been inundated with drenching downpours. It was great for the dry spell the area suffered from. The weatherman claimed they were no longer under a drought warning. He’d delivered the week’s weather forecast with a smile while every single person staying under her roof—shifter and human alike—grumbled.

Her place was too small for the number of people in it. Josh’s parents were sleeping on an air mattress in the dining room because Josh’s mother couldn’t climb the steps. Mira and Megan were bunking with the boys. Josh and surprisingly, Devin, had the spare bedroom Megan had used on the first night. And the tiny room smack-dab in the middle was shared between Kade and Xander when they weren’t out in the rain patrolling the grounds.

Zach and Evan had the worst sleeping conditions—the chair in Mr. Wilkins’ hospital room. They’d decided not to take any chances with his life and had pulled strings to guarantee twenty-four hour surveillance. Well, they’d lied. She wasn’t about to sugarcoat their actions. They’d provided some documentation claiming they were related to him, then gifted the hospital with a large donation as long as they could stay with him.

Jazz was certain it was the sorely needed money for the funds-strapped hospital, along with the phone call from some colonel, that swayed them to break their rules more than the lame story they’d come up with. No matter, the end result was the same.

All the people Jazz loved were safe. Sure, there were friends in town and some distant cousins scattered throughout the state but her seclusion had cut most of them out of her life. A few phone calls, here and there, were the extent of her interactions with them. Rafe didn’t believe Jon would target them. Jazz agreed.

Everyone in danger was here. Safe. That was a good thing, but going into the third day since Jon had last struck—killing Cindy—nothing had happened. The waiting was driving her nuts. She wanted the threat to them eliminated, once and for all. Any more catastrophes, and she’d scream.

The place was constantly messy, and tempers were flying. So many fistfights had broken out that even Josh’s mom didn’t bat an eye anymore.

Everyone was miserable—except for her and Rafe. Their days were spent talking and playing with the kids, while their nights were filled with passionate, hot and sweaty sex. Throw in a good dose of oral sex and a little “punishment” and she was sated and happier than she’d thought possible.

She loved him. No doubt. No questions. After only a few days, she shouldn’t feel so sure, so confident in her choice, but she was. Rafe was the man she wanted to spend her life with…her immortal life.

Her decision was made. She was mating Rafe, but the conversation she’d overheard earlier in the day had made her doubts flare. Rafe was hiding something from her. Not about his love for her. He hadn’t come out and said the words,
I love you
. Neither had she, though. It was something else. Something big. She just didn’t know what.

Xander had asked Rafe if he thought she was strong enough to be a shifter’s mate, and Rafe had only grunted. Not the enthusiastic response she’d expected. He’d only ever told her how grateful he was to have found her. It had annoyed Jazz that Rafe wouldn’t proclaim the same to his friend, but she could understand not wanting to talk about emotional things with another guy. It was Xander’s parting words that sent Jazz running to her room and left her questioning Rafe.

“Well, I hope she makes it through the mating. You look good together.”

Just what was Rafe hiding about the mating? And if he were keeping details from her that involved tying her soul to his, what else was he failing to tell her about?

The bedroom door clicked, announcing Rafe’s presence, but she didn’t hear his approach. He shared many of the same traits his animal spirits did. Stealth and stubbornness being the biggest ones. Both had helped him capture her. He hadn’t given up until he’d gotten exactly what he wanted. Not that she minded. It was his evasiveness she didn’t like.

He linked his arms around her waist and nuzzled her neck, pressing kisses to her skin. She relaxed into his arms, a reaction she couldn’t stop. It felt right being in his arms, despite the uneasiness of her thoughts. She let her head rest against his chest.

“I missed you.”

She laughed softly. “How did you ever survive? You haven’t seen me for what…ten minutes?”

“Fifteen. That’s too long.” He nipped her shoulder, then licked the sting away. “My cats were beginning to whine. They don’t like going so long without hearing your voice. They worry because they’re not close enough to protect you.”

She stroked the arms holding her and savored his words, but they didn’t snuff out the doubt that had taken root within her. “The minute I met you, I knew you were a sweet-talker. You always know exactly what to say to make me feel special.”

“You are special. No other female can take your place, and no one will ever take you from me.”

He’d said the same thing many times, but the growl to his words suggested there was another reason behind them beyond his possessiveness.

“What has Jon done?” She’d bet money that was the source of his anger.

“Devin found evidence of where we think Jon has been staying.”

She turned in his arms and took in the careful mask he wore. “That’s good. Isn’t it?”

“Yes. This might be our best chance to grab him. I’ve called Zach back to help watch the house, and I’m going to meet Devin. We’ll wait for Jon to return, then I’ll take him out once and for all.”

“But why do you have to go? Send Kade or let Devin handle it.”

Rafe leaned closer until his full feline eyes filled her vision. “I wasn’t there to save you from those bear shifters. I didn’t rescue you from Jon when he had his damn filthy hands on you. And I wasn’t the one who chased off Jon’s lion form. Three times I failed you. It won’t happen again.”

She sighed. It was the response she’d expected. It didn’t ease her disappointment. Rafe was using those instances as an excuse for revenge. Yes, she understood that Jon needed to be taken out. Everything that had happened since he’d groped her had proven that. She just couldn’t see why
Rafe
had to do it.

“You didn’t even know me five years ago. That doesn’t count and—”

“Yes. It does.” He snapped his teeth together. “You are my true mate, and you were mine five years ago. Hell, you were mine the minute you took your first breath. Every bad thing that has ever happened to you is ultimately my fault. I wasn’t there to protect you.”

Rafe kicked off his shoes and tossed his shirt. He picked up the syringe from the nightstand, the one filled with the chemical to mask his scent, and jabbed it into his arm, depressing the plunger. He put the cap back on and tossed it in the wastebasket.

“And you’re not going to be now!”

He stopped with his hand on the button of his jeans and glanced at her.

She rushed forward. “You’re leaving your brothers and your friend to guard me while you go off hunting Jon. How is that protecting me?”

He cupped her face in his hands and brushed his lips over hers. “It is protecting you. I know you don’t understand. You’re only human.”

“Only human.” She snorted and shoved away from him. “Seriously, Rafe. Is that the crap you’re going to drop on me? Only human? I thought I was strong, beautiful, brave. I did manage to protect your nephews for five years on my own. Even Kade respects me for that.”

“And so do I. You are the best female a male could ask for.”

“But I’m only human. Not quite strong enough to make it as your mate.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but what I meant is that you aren’t driven by your instincts. Do you remember when Devin attacked Josh?”

“Yes.”

“His cats urged him to do that. They viewed him as a threat to Mira. And do you know how animals deal with people who they think will hurt their loved ones?” He crouched so he was eye-level with her. “They kill them. If their enemies stop breathing, they won’t hurt anyone.”

He tapped his head. “That’s what I’ve been dealing with since the night Jon and I argued. My cats were wary of him, but I let him go. I fucking let him walk away. You know what he did then?” He narrowed his eyes, but continued before she could answer. “He cut off my dad’s head, and my mom died too since they were soul-bonded.”

She reached for him, but he jumped back and shoved roughly at the strands of his hair that had fallen into his face. “Jon destroyed my family because I let him walk away. I won’t let him take our family, Jasmine. That’s what this comes down to.”

“No matter how you choose to rationalize it, you’re still acting on your need for revenge. Stay here and—”

“You will be protected. My brothers and Xander would give their lives for you.” He kicked off his jeans and walked naked to their bedroom door.

She wasn’t going to win the argument. In his mind—a shifter’s mind that was influenced by his cats—he was doing the right thing. She even understood where he was coming from. It didn’t mean she agreed with him. He was still placing his misconstrued beliefs before her.

Time for a different approach. “What if it’s a trap?”

He shrugged. “It probably is, but if he wants to play, I’m game.”

“I know you’re immortal, but—”

He glanced over his shoulder and leveled her with a hard look. “This is not up for discussion, Jasmine. I’m going, and you will stay here where Kade and Xander can keep an eye on you.”

She stared at him wide-eyed. “Excuse me?”

He parted his mouth slightly on an inhale.

She stormed closer to him. “You don’t need to scent my emotions, Rafe. I’m pissed. That shouldn’t be too hard to figure out.”

“Why? Because Jon is likely baiting me?” He nodded as if he’d pinpointed the trigger for her bad mood. “I told you—”

“Exactly. You told me.” Her skin warmed, and her pulse sped. She fisted her hands to hide the slight tremble in them. “Don’t my concerns matter? I thought you said nothing was more important than me? Well,
I
have a problem with
you
running off on a vigilante hunt!”

“Of course your opinion matters.” He opened his arms to her. “I’m sorry.”

She stepped into his embrace. “Then listen to me when I tell you that you’re letting your cats’ primitive drives influence you.”

“Now you’re telling me?” He raised a brow. “Are you sure you’re not the one looking for reasons to get what you want?”

She glanced away. That was exactly what she was doing, but she had a good reason.

Didn’t she?

She worried her lip. Maybe Rafe had a point, but it didn’t change anything. He was being stubborn. He too was safer staying at the house. What if something horrible happened? What if he lost his head?

“Mate me now,” she blurted.

He blinked at her but didn’t say anything.

“Do you think Jazz is strong enough to be a shifter’s mate?”
Xander’s question echoed within her.

She grasped Rafe’s hand. “Or did you change your mind?”

“I didn’t change my mind. You are my true mate. I want to spend my eternity with you. This world and the next.”

“And that’s how I feel, Rafe. If the unthinkable happens and you’re killed, I don’t want to lose my chance to be with you, even if it means I have to spend it with you in heaven.”

He kissed her hard, and they explored each other—give and take. She poured her feelings into the raw kiss, showing him how much she loved him. He finally pulled back, leaving her panting and hungry for more.

“You are amazing, my Jasmine, but you’re worrying over nothing. I am a Royal. Strong. Jon is nothing to me. He can’t hurt me.”

“And I’m strong too. Strong enough to be a shifter’s mate. And I will make it through the mating. I can handle a little pain if it means getting to love you for eternity, even if you are the most stubborn man I’ve ever known.” She tugged at her shirt, exposing her shoulder. “Just do it quick. Bite me, then go after Jon.”

He studied her for a long moment, then sighed. “I can’t. I won’t be able to leave your side while your body recovers from death. You’ll need my strength and my comfort to deal with the pain. It’ll be days until the bond is complete and you’re healthy again.”

Her chest squeezed tight. “Death? What are you talking about?”

“I had planned to sit you down after this situation with Jon was over and explain everything to you.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “But it’s obvious that was the wrong choice. You overheard Xander talking to me, didn’t you?”

“Yes.” The word came out as a squeak.

“I didn’t think you were close enough.”

“Well, I was.” She raised her chin. “Now explain it to me.”

“In order for me to share my immortality with you, we must soul-bond. That means after I tie
our
souls, I’ll need to tie my cats’ souls to you. The only way to do that is to join us while your body is at its weakest so you are less likely to fight me.”