Cougar's Luck (Pacific Northwest Cougars Book 2) (12 page)

L
ayla looked
out the window as they drove to Lake Havasu. Everett had let her know that they needed some time together, away from everyone else to really talk. She thought that idea was sweet and she knew that the houseboat could be made secluded enough they could have some seriously fun times.

Her desire for her mate had not waned in the least. She wanted him all the time. She wanted to taste and feel and smell him, twenty-four seven. Layla knew she was addicted and she didn’t ever want to sober up.

She was pretty sure that Everett felt the same way. He was always reaching for her, even if it was just the tip of his finger, brushing along her arm, adjusting her hair behind her ear. Usually it was him picking her up and carrying her wherever he wanted her to go. All the little things that showed his desire for her.

Layla loved it. Really truly down to her little pinkie toe she was so in love with her mate, that she couldn’t even put it into words. The great thing was she didn’t need to. The man next to her totally got it. He would just look at her and her soul flared in response. He got it.

They had been driving for a while, holding hands, listening to music. Although that had been their second ever argument, if you could call it that. She was a top forty kinda gal and he was more of a techno guy. She reminded him that house and techno was all she heard every night and that if he loved it so much he’d have to visit her club. She wanted to hear what else was popular that didn’t leave your stomach rolling from the bass.

He gave in and she was enjoying her trip singing along to sugary sweet teeny-bopper music. Looking out the window and enjoying the view, she felt the air inside the car shift. It got tense and heavy.

Turning to Everett she saw him switching between the rear view mirror and his side mirror.

“Problem?”

“No, just there has been a van behind us for a good long while. Could be we are going the same direction or could be not. Now they seem to be speeding up and slowing down, they’ve gotten pretty close a few times. Car’s set on cruise control, so I shouldn’t be pissing him off. He can go around anytime, but hasn’t. Just makes my cougar a little grouchy.”

Turning in her seat, Layla looked back at the van. It was white, with a tinted front window. Not totally abnormal in Vegas, although it was illegal at the level this guy’s glass was blacked out.

“Maybe he’s just jealous, he’s driving a stupid van and my car is pretty,” she sniffed, righting herself in her seat.

“Hey, when I’m driving your car, it’s sexy and fast. When you are driving it can be pretty. Give me a little bit here, Duchess,” Everett laughed. Although the sound was forced. His eyes still switching between the mirrors and the road in front of them.

Reaching over she grabbed his hand and squeezed. He was just being over protective and she loved that about him.

They drove for another ten minutes, quiet in their separate contemplations. Layla’s eyes were drifting closed, not from the length of the trip just that she was warm and happy and didn’t have to pay attention to the road.

The first bump jolted her awake. The car lurched forward and her seatbelt tightened over her chest.

“Fucking hell,” Everett roared. He sped the car up as he watched the van manage to smash into their bumper again. From the corner of his eye, Everett could see Layla’s head snap forward at the impact. That really pissed him off.

Layla was trying to turn around in her seat when Everett’s hand shot out and pushed her hard into the seat. Layla turned back around, her heart was pounding. Her cougar was furious. Someone hit her car! On purpose it seemed. Rude!

“Look forward, in case he hits again. I don’t want your head twisting sideways.”

Everett put his foot to the floor and sped away from the van. It was no match for her little car, but they were on a winding road and there was a fine line from speeding away and maintaining control of the car. A few times, Everett got the wheels in the gravel on the side of the road and the car fishtailed. He easily got it back under control, but he could see Layla clutching the handle on the door.

The van was in the distance now and they were coming into a more populated area. Pulling off at the first spot he could, Everett released his seatbelt and jumped out of the car before it had barely rolled to a stop.

“Stay inside,” he ordered.

“Yeah, right,” she snorted and got out her side, staying inside the open door of the car.

Everett saw the van coming their way, he was walking towards the road, like he was what, going to confront a vehicle? Layla was trying to decipher what his plan was when the van sped up and screeched past them. Swerving as it went, the driver clearly not used to driving at those speeds in a bulky van.

“We should go after them,” Everett growled, turning back to Layla.

“No, we should call the police and the insurance company, then go to the lake and have a nice few days together. I get you’re pissed, but we are okay. They might have just been an asshole. Road rage is pretty common these days, you know?” She was trying to soothe the beast. His eyes were flashing yellow and his fingers were already clawed out.

“I’ll call the cops, you put those away,” she gestured towards his hands.

Everett looked down and saw what she saw. Taking a deep breath, he told his cougar that they were all okay. But he knew it would have just taken the wrong push and they could have spun off the road, injuring his mate. That was unacceptable.

Layla might think this was random, but Everett and his cougar didn’t like the coincidence. Vincent maybe wasn’t going to give up so easily. This incident might have been him. Or maybe one of his family’s lackeys. Either way it didn’t feel random.

They waited as the police showed up. Luckily, they were dispatched from the town they had stopped in. The car had only minor damage and was still drivable. Layla’s attitude changed a bit when she was on the phone with the insurance company and had actually walked around the back of the car to catch a glimpse of the damage for the first time.

“Fucking hell, goddamn motherfuckers wrecked my baby!” She yelled this while she was on the phone with the insurance adjuster. She quickly apologized but was still irate.

Hanging up the phone, she squatted down to the bumper and rubbed her hand over the chipped and dented bumper.

“We could have been run off the road, injured, dead, and you’re upset about a paint job? Priorities, Duchess,” Everett chided.

“What would you do if someone hit your car?” she challenged. He’d told her about his car. His Chevelle that no one else got to drive.

“That’s different, mine’s a classic. Not as easily repaired as yours. And I’d be pissed either way that someone hit us intentionally with my mate in the goddamn car!”

Coming up to him and sliding a hand along his chest, she felt his heart racing. He was pissed sure, but he was also scared. She could see that.

“I get it, I’m sorry. Can we just head to the boat? I could really use a drink and a swim. Huh?”

Wrapping his arms around her, he kissed the top of her head. “Anything you want, Duchess. Let’s go get you liquored up so I can take advantage of you.”

“Oh, like you need the liquor,” she quipped. This got her a quick slap on the ass and an escort back to her side of the car. Once he had her buckled in and the door closed, he walked back to his side. Hand on the door handle he took a deep breath, his mate was fine. But he was still calling her father and his brothers in on this. No one messed with his mate.

“
H
arder
, baby, harder.”

Everett shifted his hips and pushed Layla farther over the edge of the couch arm. They’d made it to the boat but hadn’t made it outside yet. Her stripping down to slip on her bikini coupled with the anger and rage burning through him, had him jumping her the second they were out of sight. Not that there was anyone to see them now that the pilot boat had dropped them off.

Eying the couch, he’d tossed her over it, dropped to his knees and licked her pussy just to the edge of coming. When she was begging for it, he stripped out of his clothes and slid into her in one long stroke.

The minute he was inside her the tension drained out of him. A new need more important than anger took over. His mate’s sweet hot pussy was wrapped around him. That was the only fucking thing he needed to think about.

Clearly the run-in with the van had her ramped up too. She was purring and scratching at the couch, needing more of him.

“I got you, hold on,” he growled. His need to be closer to her was overwhelming. He wanted her marked from the inside. He wanted his cum to be soaked into her skin so that every shifter, at least, would know who she belonged to.

Reaching around the front of her, Everett found her clit and pinched it between his fingers before rolling it. He heard the high pitched moan as her pussy started to clutch around him.

“Come for me, Duchess,” he ordered.

Layla let out a loud yowl as her body convulsed under him. It was so good. It was hard and sweaty and just rough enough that her fucking cougar was loving it. If only she could get her teeth wrapped around some portion of him, his blood would send her over the moon.

Everett felt her pussy tighten like a vice around his cock and then the first hard jet of cum shot out of him. Spurt after spurt coated her, marking her, and hopefully finding a home in her to make their first cub.

Draping his body over hers, Everett tried to catch his breath. Now that his head was clearing from one of the best orgasms of his life, he was angry again. He’d called his brothers when he got to the boat. Just to give them a heads up. More importantly he’d call Will and got the low down on the Domolo family.

They weren’t normally dangerous. Most of their illegal activities were now shrouded in fairly legitimate enterprises. They were a mob that had evolved. There was often more money in Vegas in legal businesses.

Vincent though, he had always been a loose cannon. A string of minor assault charges along with a few lawsuits for harassment that quietly disappeared. And worst of all an absentee father that had wiped his hands of his son, but had not cut him off from the family resources.

He might not be the brightest bulb, but he was still dangerous.

Everett looked down and saw his limp, satiated mate smiling happily into the couch cushions. Fuck, it made him feel like king of the world when she had that smile on her face. He did that, he was the one that brought that pleasure.

“Baby, wanna go for a swim?” he said placing kisses along her bare spine.

“Mmm hmm,” she said. Although it was muffled by the cushions again.

Laughing, Everett picked her up and walked them towards the swim deck of the houseboat. He didn’t know what he was expecting since he had zero experience with a houseboat. But a three-story, six bedroom yacht was not on his radar.

The thing was huge, it was spacious and decked out to the nines. He’d taken the number from Micah for the florist and had them fill the main living area with yellow roses. The air was thick with the scent from them. Layla, of course, had gone all girly on him and started crying when she saw them. That made him feel good too.

Apparently they had the boat moved to a moored location that was very quiet. They took a small boat out to it when they arrived at the marina. There wasn’t a soul around. The weekends would be packed, but for now they had their little cove all to themselves.

Everett wanted his beautiful bride to relax and have fun. He also liked that out in the middle of the water, his worries about outside intrusions were limited.

“Duchess, you have to wake up. I really would hate to toss you in the water naked.” He’d snatched her bikini bottoms when he’d pulled his own swim trunks off.

“I can’t promise that we won’t be putting on a show for the neighbors. Just think of the scandal, Vegas heiress skinny dipping in Lake Havasu!” He tried teasing her and he all he got was one eye cracking open to look at him like he was a lunatic.

“I’ll stand you up, you just hold still. This sad excuse for a bathing suit just ties on anyway,” he said, trying to sound disapproving. He and his cougar thought the fact that they could just pull one little string and get to heaven was fucking brilliant.

He slid her feet to the floor and leaned her into his body, dressing a fucked out shifter was like nailing jello to a tree. Somehow he managed to get her covered and the ties double knotted.

“All better,” he said, giving her a soft kiss.

“All better,” she mimicked.

Picking her up into his arms, Everett judged the distance and took off at a run, catapulting off the edge of the boat.

The ear piercing scream of Layla was drowned out the moment they hit the water. He could feel her kicking at him trying push away so she could swim back to the surface. Everett was strong enough to do it for both of them and did.

Breaking the surface, she was sputtering and swearing.

“Asshole! I was warm and sleepy. Now I’m wet and angry,” she growled.

“Really? You’re angry at me, Duchess?” He wanted to remark about cats and water, but changed his mind, wisely.

Everett scooped her legs around his waist and rubbed his dick into her clit causing her to gasp.

“Yes. Wet, angry, and horny. You win,” she said, giving him a long deep kiss. She wasn’t really mad, although she was going to have to do her hair now. That was a bitch in the desert.

They swam for a while, splashing and dunking each other like a pair of teenagers. They also kissed, a lot.

Once they made it back to the boat, they both showered and Layla made dinner. Everett claimed he was hopeless in the kitchen. She didn’t think he was bullshitting her. She asked him to peel a carrot and his confusion at being handed the vegetable and the peeler was comical.

For two days, they ate, swam, and made love. They also talked, late into the night. Everett shared his dreams and his fears. Layla gave him back all the trust he’d given her. She shared how long she’d been waiting, but never believing her mate was real. The love of the families, now matter how annoying they could be, was a big topic.

In between talking and kissing, they would stare at each other. It was like a sappy teenage romance movie. Everett didn’t care, he was a man in love. Sappy was okay, sappy was expected.

They continued to talk after a late lunch, as the light outside slid into twilight. They moved into the bedroom just to hold each other. The light lapping of the boat lulling them both into a content stupor. The cabin was warm, but the breeze across the water eased the dryness in the air.

Everett brushed the hair away from her face, marveling at just how beautiful she was. He couldn’t help but think of their little girls growing up to have their mother’s beauty.

“Can I ask you to do something for me?” he asked her quietly.

“Of course, you know I’ll do anything for you,” she replied instantly.

“Can we sleep shifted? I know my cat wants some time and being out on the water makes it hard. I’m sure he’d like this compromise,” he explained.

“Yeah, baby, I like that,” she said, giving him a kiss. She rolled back a bit and told her cat it was her turn. She shifted in a soft shimmering shower of color.

Watching the expression on Everett’s face was lovely.

“Beautiful,” he said, before shifting in a spark of light. His cougar was thrilled to have a chance to rub fur with her cat again.

The two cougars bumped heads, rubbing their fur against each other. Soaking up their mate’s scent. Everett’s cougar stretched out, yawning and spreading his paws wide in a lazy stretch. Layla’s cougar watched, then brushed her head along his belly up to his neck, purring and scenting. They rubbed, licked, and bonded in their fur together.

Lying down, paws intertwined, heads touching, they fell asleep.