Merrily Mated (Ouachita Mountain Shifters 3) (9 page)

Chapter Nine

Ryan combed his fingers through Layna’s thick coat of fur. He thought it was too soon, but she’d insisted he take her out to the woods so she could shift and check out the damage to her tail herself. Doc asked her some doctorly questions and decided it wouldn’t hurt. She’d even seemed a little impressed by the quick progress of Layna’s healing.

So, take that Doc
. A Christmas miracle. Ryan smirked.

Maybe he and Layna’s bond had been building all this time and he just didn’t realize it. Whatever the case, he was happy his woman wasn’t in any pain, and he hoped like hell when she tried to walk in a minute, she didn’t hobble over.

She rubbed her face against his neck, her purr rumbling the silence of the forest. They hadn’t ventured far even though Gash and Renner had swept the area looking for other traps. Just far enough none of the humans would see her.

Her rough tongue darted out to lick his jaw and he groaned.

“You keep that up, and I’ll carry you straight to our cabin. We’ll save this for another day.”

She nipped his jaw in response.

“Lemme see that beautiful tail.”

He eased to the side to examine her wounds. Two harsh pink lines showed through the area where Doc had shaved away Layna’s fur. But the stitches were already gone, and there was no sign of the wound opening again. It looked better than he’d expected.

For the hundredth time since talking with Gash and Magic, a hot flash of anger worked its way up his throat. That bastard Felix and his shadow clan. They’d done this to her. They’d pay for it too.

Layna growled softly. She didn’t want him thinking about it. She’d informed him earlier that those cats couldn’t be allowed to put a damper on what was sure to be the best Christmas of her lifetime.

“Yeah, I know,” he murmured, leaning down to kiss her head. “Now try to straighten your tail.”

It was bent slightly at the second wound. It was noticeable, but there was still swelling to go down. It would probably get better.

Her hips flexed and she let out a hiss.

“Not yet, huh?” He fingered one of her ears, rubbing the tip in a circular motion. “Okay, baby. Are you ready? Let’s do this.”

He stepped back, giving her room to maneuver.

“See what you can do.”

Tentatively, she took a step forward. Wobbly, but determined to go farther. Just like his Layna. His sassy little sweetheart with a dirty mouth.

His grin split his face and she seemed to scowl.

“What?” he asked, watching her take another off-balance step. “You’re sexy like that. All focused and determined to get what you want.”

Her eyes narrowed and she licked her lips, looking like she wanted to eat him. In a good way.

With a quick move, he yanked his shirt off and took two steps back.

“Incentive,” he said, when her feline gaze combed over his shoulders and chest.

More steady this time, she took two careful steps toward him as he slowly unbuckled his belt and stepped backward.

Again, she moved forward, her tail finding new ways to balance her until she barely swayed.

“What else shook I take off, my Layna? These jeans? It’s pretty damn cold out here, so you’ll have to make it worth it.”

She gave him a sexy growl and his cock went rock hard. He’d been so strung for her between last night and this morning, he wasn’t sure how he’d make it through without being a one pump chump. Maybe the cold would help.

He dropped his jeans, kicking them and his boots off at the same time, and then stepping backward again.

His cougar’s eyes widened at the sight of him almost bare. In all their close encounters, she hadn’t seen his body. He’d only seen hers.

That was about to change. Just a couple more steps.

Ryan dragged his hand down his rippled eight-pack abs, and tucked his thumb under the waistband of his boxer briefs. “Almost there, baby,” he husked.

Did she even realize she’d walked twenty feet without a single wobble? His woman was going to be just fine. He knew it.

She took two more steps as he edged backward around a rock.

Achingly slow, he slid his waistband down his hips, letting his erection pop out the top, big and bobbing for her touch.

But he didn’t make it all the way down with his pants because the cougar took a bounding leap, landing with her front paws on his chest, and shifting in the next blink. Her claws retracted to soft human hands and her body, smooth and tender, pressed into him with urgency.

“Got you,” she breathed. “Now what am I going to do with you?”

“Anything you want.” He smacked both palms on her ample ass and squeezed, bringing her even closer for his kiss.

***

Ryan tasted delicious. Hot and sultry, pushing away the chill of December air. She needed him fully, to be one with him in the purest way. They couldn’t wait any longer. She needed his physical claiming the way she needed her next breath to live.

Mine
, her cougar moaned.

She broke their kiss and trailed her mouth down his rough jaw. He had the face of a magazine model, all sharp features with those soft eyes. He melted her. Down his neck, she sucked, earning tortured groans from his lips. Nipping her way lower and lower, she traced every defined abdominal muscle with her tongue, and that ridge that slanted toward his hard erection.

Going to her knees, she was finally there. Right where she wanted to be. Face to groin.

He gasped as she took him in her hand, finally feeling that part of him that had ached for her body to relieve it. Gently she ran her fingers along his length as he stood there, hips jutting forward, clenching his fists over and over.

“Layna, I—”

She didn’t let him finish. Instead, she took him into her mouth, tasting him for the first time, drawing him all the way to the back of her throat. Her cat purred at his flavor.

His trembling hand brushed her hair from her face. “Baby…”

She met his gaze, swirling her tongue around his tip, and he squeezed his eyes closed as the pleasure flowed through their bond so perfectly.

“Please,” he groaned. “This will be over too fast.”

She sucked hard, releasing him with a soft pop.

“Need to get you home,” he rumbled. “Need to make you mine.”

Layna shook her head. “Can’t wait. Take me right here.”

He pulled her forward, his mouth dropping to her breast. “Our first time can’t be in the woods,” he murmured between nips and licks. “What kind of fairytale goes like that?”

“The kind…” Layna moaned when he took her hard nipple gently between his teeth. “The kind that happens beneath the mistletoe.”

“Hmm?” His hand swept lower, grazing over her tender clit.

“Look up,” she managed. “Mistletoe. In the tree.”

His head tipped back and he squinted.

“It’s meant to be,” she said. “Our first kiss. Our first time.”

His eyes came back to her, hot and needy. “Are you ready for me, mate?” he asked, testing her wetness with his fingers and finding her drenched.

“Fuck yes.”

“Hold on to my shoulders.”

Hands gripping her waist, he lifted her so her legs wrapped around him. It seemed like no effort at all as his biceps flexed to position her poised at the tip of his cock. With a little growl, he pushed into her, barely able to go slow.

Her mouth opened on a silent gasp as her body took him, and a flood of sensation overwhelmed her. She stared into his eyes, wonderstruck at their union. In all her years, she’d never imagined having such a beautiful mating.

“Oh, my Layna, you feel perfect,” he ground out through clenched teeth. “You feel like mine.”

“I am yours,” she whispered, dropping a soft kiss to his mouth.

“Say it again.” He lifted her hips, sliding her along his length, before easing her back down.

“I’m yours.”

“Again,” he breathed, repeating the motion with her hips and making her tremble.

“I’m all yours.” She gripped his shoulders, holding on as they flexed for him to increase the speed.

“More,” he demanded. “I love hearing you say it, baby.”

“I’m yours. I’ll always be yours. Forever. Storybook. Christmases. And Facebook posts. Yours, yours, yours,” she chanted as he continued to thrust into her hard and sure.

Supporting her weight with one arm, he reached up to sweep the hair from her eyes. “Look at me, love. I want to see your face when you come.”

And she was oh so close. He rocked into her another time, and another, his face reddening from his efforts.

“
Ryan
…” she wailed, but he didn’t relent. He was tossing her off the edge, with only their love as her life preserver.

And damn, what a beautiful ride it was going to be.

“Wish…” A tiny flicker of sadness touched his eyes, but then it was gone. “Wish I could mark you.” He let out a groan loud enough she heard birds flutter away from the sound. “This will have to do.”

The first hot jet of his release hit and she was done for, spasming and gripping him within her.

“Yesss. Yes, mate. So good.”

With this, their bond was complete, the connection between them strong as steel. Something that could never be broken. Her life would end with his. Life mates.

He continued to thrust, slowing his rhythm as his knees went weak and he buried his face against her neck, holding her like she was precious. She held his head, tangling her fingers in his hair and breathing in their mingled scents.

“I can’t believe I finally have you,” he croaked, shuddering.

She smiled against his hair, so blissed out she felt like she was dreaming.

Eventually, he slid out, and set her carefully on the ground. But he didn’t take his arms from around her. He seemed reluctant to let her go.

“I should get you back to my bed so we can continue this.”

“Continue?”

He chuckled. “Oh yes, baby. Do you think I’m finished with you after one glorious encounter? We’re just getting started.”

She laughed, knowing he was right. Their life together was just beginning, and it was going to be glorious. Sure, there would be struggles. There was with any relationship. But she wasn’t worried about her human. He had the heart of a lion.

And it was all hers.

Chapter Ten

Layna awoke Christmas morning alone. Her cougar came awake with the knowledge that one side of her bed was empty. Usually Ryan was there, in the predawn hours, with his arms tangled around her and his leg tucked between hers.

Rolling over, she saw he’d stoked the fire in the woodstove of their cabin, but he was nowhere to be seen and there were no sounds coming from the kitchen.

She glanced at his pillow and her eyes caught on a slip of paper. Picking it up, she squinted to read the scrawled words.

My love. You looked so sweet this morning I could hardly leave you. But I have a special surprise for you and I didn’t want to spoil it. Meet me in Gash’s office as soon as you can. I love you, Ryan
.

Layna grinned, crushing the note to her chest like a giddy schoolgirl. If any of her clan saw her now she’d be the laughingstock of the lodge. She’d turned into a lovesick lump of goo because of her new mating. Good thing Ryan was good at keeping her mushy side a secret.

In public, she was still a snarky badass that cursed like a sailor.

Quickly, she dressed and loaded up on the four-wheeler, taking the fastest way to the lodge. It was still early. Eagan and Bailey might be in the kitchen, but everyone else would be asleep. Except Ryan. And Gash, since he was a nightowl. She couldn’t imagine what those two were up to.

In the lobby, she started the Christmas carols playing softly to help put their early morning risers in the Christmas spirit, and then made her way down the corridor to the security office.

She knocked on the door and waited until she heard a sharp, “Yeah.”

Peeking in, she found Ryan grinning from ear to ear while Gash bent over his hand where it rested on the desk. A buzzing filled the room and irritated her feline ears. Reaching up, she scratched her earlobe.

“Hey,” she said, unsure.

Gash looked up. “Well, shut the door, would ya.”

She flipped him the bird and stepped in the room, closing it behind her.

“I’m almost done,” he murmured, and then the buzzing started back up.

In the cramped quarters, she couldn’t see what he was doing. Especially since his big body covered so much space.

“What is this,” she asked Ryan.

“Well. I’ve been thinking. I’m not a cat so I can’t really mark you as mine. And the human way, well, we do rings. But a ring won’t work for you because the first time you shifted, it’d be lost. Or you’d have to take it off all the time and put it back on when you changed back to human. Kind of inconvenient. But I want people to know you’re taken.” He clenched his jaw, giving her an idea of his frustration. “It’s been rubbing me raw for weeks now. The idea that the males coming in and out of here don’t know you’re mine…”

She rubbed her hand through his hair. “Aww.” She gave him a fake pout. “I’ll tell them if they ask, okay?”

He growled low in his throat and nipped playfully at her hand.

“Be still.” Gash snapped.

Ryan rolled his eyes and sat perfectly still for another few seconds until Gash sat back, and reached for a tube of cream.

“Done,” he said.

Ryan grinned and handed her a small picture of a male lion’s head. “So, here’s what I came up with.”

She stared at it. “I… I don’t get it.”

He pulled his hand away from the desk and held it out to show her. There, on the ring finger of his left hand, Gash had tattooed the face of a female mountain lion. A cougar. One that looked suspiciously like her.

Her eyes went wide. “It’s
beautiful
.”

“We took it from a picture of you in your cat form.”

She narrowed her gaze at him. “How’d you get a picture of me as a cat?”

“Oh, I’m very sneaky with a camera phone.” He winked. “And now, you’re here in my skin forever. On the finger that means commitment for my kind.”

She chewed her lip, trying like hell not to tear up in front of Gash. “I love it,” she whispered, taking his hand for a closer look. The skin was red and angry, but the art was exquisite. Gash had talent. “Did it hurt?”

Ryan smirked. “No. And even if it did, I wouldn’t admit it. But comparing it to the claws in my arm… let’s just say, no.”

“Pussy,” Gash muttered, but Layna saw the teasing glint in his eye.

“I got some, and you don’t.” Ryan quipped back without missing a beat.

Gash shook his head and started cleaning things with alcohol. “You’re turn, woman.”

“This one’s yours,” Ryan said, gesturing to the male lion picture. “Obviously, it’s not me. Gash drew it freehand. It’s more… symbolic, I guess.”

She bent, kissing him hard on the lips, and pulling back with a smile. “It’s fucking perfect.”

Switching places with him in the chair, Gash readied her hand for the mark. Instinctively, Ryan let his hand fall on her shoulder and slide up to grip the back of her neck in a possessive move. She could have purred, she loved it so much, this dominant side of him.

“Alright, alright, human. I get the vibe you’re throwing off.” Gash shook his head, exasperated. “Must be tough shit watching another male mark your female.”

Layna felt the tick of jealousy through their bond, and pushed her love back at Ryan in return. When his gaze found hers, she winked, reminding him of all the dirty sexy things they’d done last night. Making love in front of the Christmas tree was now on her yearly Christmas to-do list.

She snickered to herself as she recalled how he’d pretty near fucked her clear across the living room. They’d finished up in front of the woodstove instead of the tree.

As the buzzing of the tattoo gun started up, Layna heard Silver Bells playing over Gash’s speakers.

“Huh. I never figured you for the type that liked Christmas music.”

He shrugged one broad shoulder. “Bailey likes it—” He stopped short, pulling the gun back, every muscle in his body tensing as his eyes focused on Layna’s hand. So many seconds ticked by with him frozen like that, she almost asked him if he needed Doc. But then his jaw ticked and he went back to work on her hand. “It’s not really my thing,” he said, gruffly.

Layna looked at Ryan, who shrugged. Gash’s demons weren’t something they could fix on a Christmas morning. But she had a feeling they were coming for them soon.

Time passed while the needle poked Ryan’s mark into her finger. Her skin was raw by the time Gash pulled the gun away, but in its place was the strong face of a lion etched into her ring finger. A representation of her lion-hearted human and her commitment to him. Beautiful and everlasting.

She grinned up at him as he took her hand in his to examine the mark. “Perfect,” he murmured, pulling her from the chair and winding his arms around her. He kissed her finger on the knuckle below the mark, bringing his teeth down gently for a moment before releasing it.

“Merry Christmas, my Layna.”

“Merry Christmas, my Ryan.”

“Merry Christmas, Gash,” came a high-pitched mocking tone. And then a deeper one. “Merry Christmas, you merrily mated assholes. Now get out of my office before they give me a pipe and call me Scrooge and I have to fuck three Christmas ghosts, or however that story goes. I can’t remember.”

Layna laughed. She laughed so hard, she couldn’t catch her breath. “What did you do, watch the porno version?”

He scrunched his brow. “Maybe? Probably. But seriously. Get out of my office with that shit. I feel my Christmas cookies coming back up.”

Layna laughed some more and Ryan pulled her toward the door. “Thank you, Gash,” she said, sobering.

He gave her a nod, looking uncomfortable with her thanks.

“Thanks, brother,” Ryan added, and Gash’s hard eyes eased a touch.

“Yeah. No problem.” He turned to finish cleaning up. “And… merry fucking Christmas and shit.”

Layna smirked and followed Ryan out the door. She’d follow him anywhere. But hopefully, he was taking her for Eagan’s Christmas morning cinnamon rolls.

“Best Christmas present ever,” she whispered in his ear.

“Oh, no. I haven’t given you your present yet. That’ll be tonight. And it’ll be right here.” His hand crept between her legs, rubbing.

She sighed. “My sentiment stands. Best fucking Christmas present
ever
.”

One corner of his mouth slid up. “You and your filthy mouth.”

“You want to lick it clean?”

Ryan growled in appreciation.

  “Like a candy cane, baby.”

***********

For information on new releases, exclusive excerpts, and giveaways, sign up for P. Jameson’s Newsletter
HERE
. Or visit her website at
www.pjamesonbooks.blogspot.com