Jupiter (Were Zoo Book 2) (5 page)

She clicked her teeth. “What was the
point of the tickets?”

“
It was the hope of the
group leaders that if we sent out tour tickets to eligible people
in the area, some of our people might find their
soulmates.”

“
Are there other parks like
this in the world?”

He nodded. “I’m originally from
California. My dad, brothers, and our small pride came here twelve
years ago. My mother is at another zoo in California.”

“
Your parents are
divorced?”

“
They weren’t officially
mated. They lived together for several years, but they weren’t
soulmates. She opted to mate with another male and left me and my
brothers with my father. I was eighteen when we came
here.”

“
Are there girl
lions?”

“
Just one here. Her name is
Jenni.”

“
Why only one?”

“
There aren’t as many
females born as males to shifters, so our numbers are always
uneven.”

She exhaled slowly, and it sounded a
little bit like a growl. “I’d like to see you shift now. Unless
this is just a big trick you’re playing on me, trying to get in my
pants.”

He made a face. “I’m not trying to do
that.”

Her brow arched so high that he was
surprised it remained on her head. “Liar.”

It was his turn to blush, something he
couldn’t ever remember doing before he met her. “Okay, I am trying
to do that, but only because my cat is clawing in my head to mate
with you. I’m the luckiest fucking cat on the planet to have found
you.” He pulled her in, drawing her flush against him. “You’re
gorgeous. When I look at you I picture our children, with your
pretty hair and lovely eyes.”

She huffed. “You haven’t even bought
me dinner yet and you’re talking about kids? Geez.”

He wiggled his brows. “There’ll be
time for dinner later. Now you wanted to see me shift, so I’m going
to do it.”

Stepping backward, he kept her close
as he moved them toward his home. When he stopped moving, he cupped
her face and gazed down at her, absorbing everything about her in
that moment – the flecks of gold in her blue eyes, the soft curve
of her upper lip, the feel of her lush curves pressed against him –
and then he kissed her. Stepping away, he unbuttoned his
shirt.

“
Will you…regret that I’m
not a lion?” she asked. Her gaze latched onto his chest as he
shrugged out of the shirt.

“
I know this is weird for
you, but you’re meant to be mine. I’ll prove it to you.” Although
he had no idea how to do that. He undid his utility belt, placed it
gently on the ground, and then unlaced his work boots. He stepped
out of them and undid the button on his trousers. Her gaze slid
down his torso and was now glued to his waist. As soon as he
dropped his pants, she’d see his raging hard-on.

She was suddenly in front of him, her
hands resting on his as she looked up at him. Her fingers slid
inside the waistband, moving around his hips to his lower back, her
nails scraping lightly against his spine as her lips parted and she
panted softly for breath. With a nudge, she encouraged him to lower
his pants, and he did, stepping free of them. He forgot everything
else as her body connected with his and she rose on her toes to
kiss him.

She whispered against his lips, “I
can’t.”

He wrapped his arms around her. “Can’t
what?”

“
Can’t keep my hands off
you. Why?”

“
Because you’re mine and
I’m yours.”

“
This is nuts.”

He chuckled against her lips, nipping
the lower swell. “The best things usually are.”

“
Are you still you when
you’re a lion?”

He kissed her once more.
“I’m still me. I know that I’m not doing a particularly good job of
controlling my cat around you because all
he
can think about is mating with
you, but I’m still
me,
even in my shift. You don’t have to be afraid.”

“
I’m not afraid. Part of me
feels like I should be, but the rest of me is certain that this is
where I’m supposed to be.”

“
Whatever happens, you’re
safe with me, Celeste. I swear on my life.”

Taking a few steps back, he let go of
his hold on his cat and shifted. His cat was anxious to check out
their mate, its eagerness forcing the shift to happen far faster
than it usually did. Between one heartbeat and the next, he was on
four paws, his tail whipping back and forth as a growl rumbled in
his chest.

Celeste gasped, and the acrid scent of
her fear was so strong that his cat chuffed in worry, concerned she
would pass out. But then, just as swiftly, her scent changed. She
dropped to her knees and cupped his head with her hands. Their
gazes locked, and he was in awe of the courage he saw in those blue
depths. She was as fiercely unafraid as any lioness he’d ever met.
He sat on his haunches as she stared at him, her eyes wide with
wonder and a tiny smile curving the corner of her mouth.

“
Damn, you’re gorgeous.
When I saw you in the paddock, I knew there was something special
about you. Big and golden and…all mine.” She pressed her forehead
to his, sliding her fingers through his mane and fisting the thick
strands.

He lifted one enormous paw and rested
it lightly on her back. She released her hold on his mane and
settled against him, her face buried in his neck and her arms
around him. With a loud purr, he closed his eyes and absorbed the
feeling of rightness that settled over him. This was his soulmate,
and he would never be the same.

As quickly as his shift had come on
him, he released it, the cat content that Celeste had embraced the
essence of what they were. She didn’t release her hold on him as he
shifted, but watched the change as if it were something she’d seen
a hundred times before.

“
Does it hurt?”

“
When I was younger it did.
But I slowly got used to it, and now it doesn’t really bother
me.”

“
Can you just go back and
forth whenever you feel like it?”

He stood, lifting her into his arms.
Heading for his home, he said, “Within reason. We have rules about
shifting above ground, of course. But I can shift whenever I feel
like it, although if I had to shift back and forth too often I
might get stuck in my shifted form and have to wait for my strength
to return before I could shift back.”

He opened the front door, stepped
inside, and kicked it shut. Although he wanted to rush her right to
the bedroom, instead he put her on the floor and said, “Everything
that’s mine is yours now, Celeste, including this house. We can
figure out what to tell your family about this situation, but no
one can know the truth about shifters. Do you understand how
serious things would get if word got out that we were
real?”

She turned in a slow
circle, looking around the family room. It was simply furnished
with a couch, a coffee table, and a TV. Then she faced him and
planted her hands on her hips. “I understand that the public would
freak out if they knew shifters were real, and I have no plans to
reveal that to anyone ever. But what am I supposed to do about my
parents? It’s one thing for me to show up with you as my guy. It’s
another thing altogether for me to say I’ve quit my job and moved
into the zoo, and they can
never
come visit.”

He frowned. “They absolutely can’t
come here. It would be devastating to our people if the truth came
out.”

She folded her arms over her chest,
the corners of her mouth pulling down into a severe frown. “I can’t
just disappear, Jupiter. It won’t work. I’m very close to my
parents, and they will not be accepting of things if I just shut
them out of my life.”

He growled softly, his mind spinning.
It hadn’t occurred to him what might happen to a mate’s family with
the abrupt change in living and working arrangements. He scrubbed a
hand over his face, his cat snarling at him to move forward with
their mating and deal with the consequences later.

Pushing the cat firmly away, he took
her hands and kissed the tops. “I don’t know what we’ll do, but I
swear that you won’t need to shut your family out of your life or
disappear. Give me some time to figure it out, please.”

She peered up at him, the bit of
wariness and worry he’d seen in her gaze slowly disappearing.
“Thank you.”

He tucked a lock of hair behind her
ear. “I’d do anything for you, Celeste, my sweet little love.
Anything.”

She hummed, her cheeks pinking. “Can I
point out that you haven’t actually asked me to be your
mate?”

He opened his mouth to disagree, but
snapped it shut with a click when she put her hand up. “I’m not
finished.” She stared at him hard for a moment, and then
deliberately dropped her gaze to his erection. “Where’s the
bedroom?”

He couldn’t find any words to say. All
he could think was that she was staring at him, and he swore he
could scent her arousal, a sweet smell that called to his beast. He
pointed to the hall. She winked at him, pulled off her jacket and
tossed it to him, then walked toward his room. Her hips swayed as
she moved, the tight-fitting tank she wore hugging the curves he’d
felt under his hands. Every masculine instinct within him, along
with his cat, roared.

She. Was. His.

Chapter 6

The hallway that led to the bedrooms
had four doors, and only one was open. Celeste pushed it open
further and found a bedroom with a huge bed against one wall. Dark
wood furniture was highlighted against cream-colored walls and
carpet. She knew that she was moving fast with Jupiter, but she
couldn’t imagine anything better than exploring all his sexy
goodness. In the office, she’d thought he was off his rocker, but
once she watched him change into a lion – once she’d been face to
face with the truth of what he was – clarity had washed through
her. She’d felt connected to him in a profound way. As if they were
old souls. As if her whole life had led up to the moment their
gazes locked through the fence.

She looked down at her hands. They
were trembling, and her heart was threatening to pound out of her
chest. She wasn’t scared; she was entirely certain that Jupiter
would never let anything happen to her. But she was damned
nervous.

She turned as Jupiter stalked into the
room behind her, his eyes the golden color of his cat and his
entire body tensed and hard. Without her permission, her gaze
dropped to his thick erection. Her mind flitted back to telling
Adriana that going on the VIP tour would be an adventure, and she
now realized how very true those words had been. She was embarking
on an adventure that would change her life forever. Right here, at
this moment, she could stop things or she could take that first
step, trusting the place deep inside her that believed everything
Jupiter had said.

That she was his
one
. That he’d been
waiting for her.

He cupped her face, and she forced
herself to meet his gaze, when what she’d been enjoying doing was
staring at his cock and imaging all the wicked things they could do
together. He purred, and the sound tickled its way down her spine,
making her belly tighten and her pussy clench.

Wrapping her hands around his
forearms, she rose onto her toes and kissed him. He was at least
six feet tall, dwarfing her five-and-a-half-foot frame. She was
curvy, but next to his big, muscular body she felt delicate. Their
lips met – softly at first, but then he tilted her head and
deepened the kiss, plunging his tongue into her mouth. Her head
spun as he explored every inch of her mouth. She’d never been so
thoroughly kissed in all her life, and as he lifted from her lips
and his hot breath fanned her face, she opened her eyes
slowly.

“
This,” she whispered,
“isn’t just for a night. You mean for us to be together for the
rest of our lives.”

His gaze darkened to a beautiful
glowing amber. “Be mine, Celeste. Be my mate and stay with me here.
Build a life with me.”

Tears pricked her eyes at the earnest,
emotional tone of his words. “Yes.”

He kissed her with a happy growl. “I’m
never letting you go.”

She laughed and moved her hands to his
waist, giving him a little tug. He brushed his thumbs over her
cheeks and down her throat, leaning in for another kiss as he
reached for the hem of her tank. Goosebumps rose over her skin as
he leaned back and pulled her shirt over her head. She wished she
had on sexy undies. Her plain beige bra and the pink-and-blue
striped bikini weren’t exactly screaming ‘sex goddess.’ He hooked a
finger in the center of her bra and tugged.

She opened her mouth to tell him that
it didn’t open that way, when a claw emerged from his fingertip and
he shredded it. Her mouth fell open at the same time as her
bra.

“
Hey! That was my comfiest
one,” she grumbled.

Pushing aside the fabric, he chuckled
as he bared her breasts. “Don’t wear them on my
account.”

It was her turn to laugh, as she slid
her fingers through his thick hair and drew him closer. He nuzzled
her breasts, kissing the tips as he pulled the ruined bra off
completely and tossed it aside. He picked her up in his arms and
carried her to the bed, laying her down and climbing up next to
her. Gazing down at her for a long moment, he said, “You’re so
beautiful.”