Jupiter (Were Zoo Book 2) (6 page)

“
I feel like I’m dreaming,”
she said as she cupped his face.

“
I promise you’re not.” He
lowered his head and kissed one nipple so softly that if she hadn’t
been watching she wouldn’t have felt it. He nuzzled the peak and
then opened his lips and drew a slow circle around it with his
tongue. Her nipple tightened, and she moaned as he sucked it slowly
into his mouth. He plumped her other breast, rubbing his thumb
around the tip as he licked and sucked. Lifting from her breast, he
gazed at her as he flicked his tongue over the other nipple. She
shivered, and he smiled before drawing it into his mouth and
tending to it in the same way, until it was throbbing and
sensitive.

She let her fingers roam over his
upper body, from the rows of abs that made her mouth water, to the
flat discs of his nipples, to the smooth expanse of his back. She’d
never seen a sexier man, with his lightly tanned skin and muscles
for days. She rubbed her thumbs over his nipples, giving them a
light pinch, and he growled, releasing hers.

“
Like that, do ya?” she
teased.

“
I like your hands on me.
Anywhere, everywhere.”

Kissing down the center of her body,
he reached the waistband of her jeans and undid them swiftly,
tugging them down her legs with a barely contained growl. When he
realized that her shoes were still on, he let out a short,
exasperated rumble and sat up.

“
Can we make a rule about
no clothes in the house?” he asked, pulling off one shoe and
chucking it aside.

“
Only if it applies to you,
too.”

He glanced at her with a glint of
humor in his eyes. “Definitely.”

She watched with a smile as
he pulled her jeans and panties off after tossing her other shoe
aside. It surprised her that he hadn’t just shredded them the way
he had her bra, but she was thankful. She did need
some
clothes.

He lifted her foot and kissed the
sole, then nibbled on her instep. She shrieked with laughter at the
sensation, and he chuckled. “You have the sexiest laugh,” he
said.

He kissed her ankle, and then her
calf, pushing her legs apart as he slowly worked his way up her
body, baring her inch by inch to his lips and golden gaze. Her
heart pounded and her stomach fluttered as he gripped her knees
with his big hands and pushed her thighs wide enough for his broad
shoulders. She inhaled deeply as he lowered his head, and exhaled
shakily as he lapped at her clit.

“
Oh, fuck,” she whispered,
fisting his hair and tugging.

He closed his lips around her clit and
sucked gently, flicking his tongue across the top. His finger
probed her pussy, sliding in and out as he lapped at her clit. She
couldn’t tear her gaze away from his. His eyes were molten gold,
searing straight through her as he played with her pussy and drove
her to the pinnacle of pleasure. He twisted his finger inside her,
adding a second, and then a third. With each push of his fingers
into her, he stroked and rubbed until she thought she’d
combust.

Curling his fingers, he found a place
that made her vision darken and a husky moan erupt from her throat.
He purred, and the vibrations of his tongue pushed her over the
edge. She released her hold on his hair and fisted the bedding with
a shout, lifting her hips as he pumped his fingers into her,
rubbing over and over in just the right spot as her climax twisted
through her.

He climbed up her, licking his wet
fingers with a growl. He settled into the cradle of her hips and
nudged her pussy with his cock. She rested her hands on his sides
as he rose above her, his muscles bunching as he moved.

She gazed up at him. “I want to be
yours, Jupiter.”

“
You are.” He growled the
words, pressing into her slowly. When their bodies touched, she
felt something snap into place between them, like an invisible
connection. She could feel how happy his lion was to be with her,
and how much he already cared for her. The depth of the emotion was
so much that it made her eyes sting.

Jupiter cupped her cheek. “It’s our
bond, sweetheart. It’ll grow deeper and sweeter with time, but
we’re tied together now.”

She pressed her hand against his and
smiled. Tilting her hips up, she took him a little deeper. He
groaned and slid his hand through her hair, fisting it lightly and
kissing her as he canted his hips and slid from her. A purr rumbled
in his chest when he drove back in. She wrapped her legs around his
waist and met his thrusts, gripping his shoulders. He nipped her
bottom lip and then kissed down her neck to her shoulder, sinking
his teeth into her flesh with a growl.

He moved his leg, lifting her lower
body off the bed slightly as he crouched over her, fucking her
harder and faster. He released his hold on her neck and groaned her
name when she raked her nails down his back as pleasure swamped
her. She screamed his name and he roared, his cock spasming inside
her as he followed her over the edge into pleasure. He curled his
arms around her and rolled to his back, carrying her with him. She
splayed across him, her entire body humming with pleasure. He
stroked her back with his hands as he purred in
contentment.

“
This was not how I
pictured the day turning out,” she said.

He chuckled. “No? You didn’t think
you’d mate with a lion shifter who roars when he comes?”

She tilted her head up and chuckled.
“Nope. But I’m glad I’m here. I’m glad I came to the zoo and met
you.” She paused for a moment, stroking her finger along his strong
jaw. “My life is never going to be the same, is it?”

“
It’s not such a bad
thing.”

“
I don’t know. Do you leave
dirty dishes in the sink?”

“
I will try very hard to
remember to put them away.”

“
And put the seat
down.”

“
Yes dear,” he murmured,
lifting his head to kiss her. “Whatever you want.”

She laid her head over his heart,
listening to the steady beat. “I think I just want you.
Again.”

His purr grew louder, eclipsing the
sound of his heartbeat and making her laugh. “Whenever, wherever. A
lion lives for his mate’s pleasure.”

“
You should put that on a
pillow.”

He tweaked her side. “How about I
prove it instead?”

* * *

Celeste hadn’t intended to
fall asleep, but Jupiter was so warm and she was
so
worn out, and before
she knew what was happening, he was gently rousing her.

“
You make a wonderful
blanket, sweetheart, but there are some things we need to discuss,”
he murmured.

“
Do I have to be
conscious?” she asked.

He hummed. “It would probably be a
good idea.”

She rolled off him and stretched. “I
can’t help it that you wore me out.”

“
I’m definitely not
complaining,” he said, moving to his side and propping his head on
his upturned palm. “But it’s our first night together, and the
pride has some traditions that we need to carry out.”

She stretched a second time, smiling
inwardly as his gaze dropped to her bare breasts. Glancing at the
alarm clock on the dresser, she saw that it was nine. “It’s Monday
morning? Or is it still Sunday?”

“
It’s still
Sunday.”

He rested his hand on her stomach, and
she laid her hand on top of his. “Is it weird living
underground?”

“
At first. But it helps us
to keep our shifting natures a secret. Can you imagine if we were
in a human housing development and a lion suddenly appeared in the
yard? People would flip out. We have the above-ground paddocks for
when we’re in our shifts. We come and go through the storage
buildings, which each have a hidden staircase in the floor. We’re
careful to always be hidden from human eyes when we shift, and no
matter what, we never let our emotions get the best of
us.”

“
Being emotional makes you
shift?”

“
It can, if we’re extremely
agitated. When we’re younger it can be hard to control the shift,
but it would be devastating to have our secret revealed to humans,
so we work hard to make sure our young know how to protect
themselves, and us, when it comes to shifting.”

She rubbed her fingers over the top of
his hand as she mulled over his words. “We can’t live above
ground.”

“
No. But think of it this
way: we have the lion paddock as our own backyard. Whenever you
want to go outside, we can.”

“
Unless the park is open,”
she pointed out. “You couldn’t have a random woman walking around
in the lion paddock with visitors in the park.”

“
That’s a very good point.
I don’t want you to feel like you’re a prisoner.”

She hadn’t considered all she was
giving up by choosing to be with Jupiter. It had happened so
quickly. One moment she was a single girl on a safari tour, and the
next she was getting her world rocked by the sexiest guy she’d ever
met. She knew she’d made the right choice, because if she’d said
no, she would have regretted it for the rest of her life. But she
was worried about her parents and her best friend.

“
Sweetheart?”

“
I’m just concerned about
my parents’ reaction. I have a job and an apartment, too, and I’m
thinking about my friend.”

“
I promise we’ll figure out
how you can see your parents and your friend. As far as your job,
you can work here in the park with me if you’d like, but it’s not
necessary. You don’t need a job because the park pays for all of
our expenses. Even though there are other mates in the zoo, you’re
kind of the guinea pig.”

Her brows rose. “What?”

He laughed as he leaned over and
kissed her nose. “I mean that the other mates have been here for
years, and didn’t have the technology to be in touch with their
families as much as we do. You’re the first soulmate brought here
with this new program, and you’ll be the one who helps determine
what happens in the future when other soulmates are found. Jobs,
families, housing – these are things we were aware would need to be
dealt with, but we haven’t figured out how to do that
yet.”

“
When do I get to meet your
pride?”

“
Let’s find out,” he said
as he got up and walked out of the bedroom. She heard a door creak
open, and then a few moments later it shut. He came back into the
bedroom with his clothes under one arm and his phone to his ear.
Giving her a wink, he dropped the clothes into a hamper and sat on
the edge of the bed.

“
Yes,” he said. “That’s
fine, but for safety’s sake we should have a team of wolves walk
through the park to make sure no humans were left behind. That’s
fine, too. See you in an hour.”

He ended the call and turned to her.
She sat up and scooted close, resting her head on his shoulder.
“Why do I feel better when we’re touching?”

“
Because we’re mates. When
we made love, it bound us together.”

“
So what’s happening in an
hour?”

“
The first of our rituals.”
There was a knock on the outer door and he left the bedroom,
returning a few moments later with a stack of black clothing.
“Rituals and traditions are important to my people. It helps us
look to the future without forgetting the past.”

“
There are obviously girl
lions, since your biological mother was one, so why did you have to
use VIP coupons to entice people to come here?”

He sat on the bed and separated the
black clothes, which turned out to be a pair of leather pants and a
men’s t-shirt. “Shifters as a whole are predominantly male, so
while there are females born, they’re few and far
between.”

“
You never wanted to be
with a lioness?”

He looked at her. “I wanted
to be with the right female. I wasn’t willing to randomly hookup
with a female just to have a child, or mate a female based solely
on her shifting abilities. A soulmate is worth waiting for.
You
were worth waiting
for.”

“
That’s really
sweet.”

“
It’s the truth. My DNA is
dominant, so any children we have will be able to shift, but even
that doesn’t matter to me. I’m thankful to have found you. I’m
honored to have you as my mate. And whatever the future holds for
us, I know that with you by my side I can accomplish
anything.”

She’d never given much thought to
having kids, or what her future would be like. Just days earlier,
she and Adriana had been talking about their perfect man, focusing
on the superficial attributes. Even though Jupiter was by far the
sexiest guy who ever lived, he was much more than that –
determined, caring, protective. Package that up with a killer
six-pack and a sexy purr, and she was toast.

“
So this ritual?” she
asked, returning to their conversation.

“
A pride male has to prove
his worth to his mate through two rituals, designed to showcase his
skills and abilities. The first ritual is tonight. Once the park is
closed and it’s been ensured that there are no humans inside, we’ll
meet the pride up in the paddock. A single rabbit will be released,
and I’ll have to hunt and kill it.”