Roaring for Him (BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance) (Wicked in Wilder Book 1) (6 page)

“Every woman knows exactly what they want for their big day. It’s the one day of their entire lives that has to be perfect. So when they sit with me, we work on finding that perfection for them.”

Now he smiled for an entirely different reason. It was the shift in her expression, the fear and anger vanishing beneath a look of…
love
? She
loved
what she did. The way she talked about baking a damned cake as if it were the greatest thing known to man.

“Fair enough. I’ll walk with you back to the bakery and if I’m still in town after your appointment, you’ll go with me to dinner.”

Fuck yeah, he’d still be in town.

Tilly shook her head. Stubborn woman. No one else gave him shit. But her. “No, I have to be home for Phoe—”

Just then the door to Lush flung open, Emma—he was pretty sure her name was Emma from what’d he’d overheard—sticking her head out. “Phoebe is going to Marcia’s for dinner and having a sleepover so you don’t have to wait up for her and they promised no cum talk.”

With that, the glass and metal swung shut. That was followed by a slide of metal and thunk, signifying Emma locking up. Considering Tilly had whirled toward the glass and shoved at the door just as the lock slid home, he knew the act was more to keep Tilly outside than actually closing the lingerie store.

One he hadn’t visited in the past but resolved to visit again in the near future. If he could find more of those panties in there for his mate…

Mate…

“Dammit,” Tilly whispered and then slowly brought her gaze to his.

“You have no excuse.” He raised a single eyebrow in question. “Unless you don’t want me.” He breathed deeply, savoring the musky sweetness that came from her, the pure scent of her desire for him. “But we both know that’s a lie.” His vision flickered, the wolf trying to take over, but he pushed it away. “Tell me you don’t want me.” She opened her mouth to reply and he followed up with another order. “And mean it.”

She wrinkled her nose and he fought the urge to press a kiss to the tip. Adorable. Sexy. Sweet. “You’re a pain in the ass.”

“I could be a pain in your ass.” He waggled his eyebrows only half meaning it. Or rather, he meant every word—he’d love to sink into her ass—but he kept a teasing smile on his lips. “Your appointment and then dinner.” Tilly shook her head and sighed and he knew she was still leaning toward no rather than yes. Unacceptable. “It’s just dinner.”

“In public. While your pack is chomping at the bit to find a reason to come after my family. I saw how that wolf looked at me. I scented them.”

He noticed that she wasn’t worried about herself, but her
family
. Something he’d address with the pack. Soon. For now, he reached for her, smiling when she didn’t flinch or retreat from him, and tucked wayward strands of hair behind her ear.

“Nothing will happen to your family. Nothing will happen to you. It’s dinner, Tilly.” Her name rolled off his tongue and he had to admit he liked the taste of it, the way it slid from his mouth. It sounded so fucking perfect and right. “You. Me. Food.” He traced the line of her jaw, sliding over the smooth, pale skin. He paused at her chin and then ran a single fingertip over her lower lip. “Say yes.”

“Yes,” she whispered.

The sweet, quiet moment was shattered by a feminine shout from inside Lush. “Don’t forget condoms!”

Something… happened. Tilly wasn’t sure what, exactly. They’d left her car at Bless Your Tart and she now found herself sitting beside Mitchell as he drove them out of town toward pack lands.

She’d tried to dissuade him before she climbed into the passenger seat.
“You get that a good chunk of your pack hates me, right? Cat versus dog? It’s a thing for us non-alphas.”

Instead of getting angry, he’d laughed and placed a hand on her lower back, urging her toward his vehicle.
“Trust me.”

He didn’t understand what a big deal that was. Like, a huge, ginormous, momentous, fuckton-ous deal.

Then he’d looked at her with those eyes, the ones that flickered between blue and his wolf’s amber, the ones that held a plea and demand in one. She had to remind herself that she was speaking with an alpha, the strongest and fiercest wolf in the pack. If his wolves decided to rebel, decided they wanted cat for dinner, he’d be at her side taking them down. He’d meet them claw for claw. She sensed his drive to have her near and his desire for her. She also sensed he was worth trusting.

Then again, mothers are supposed to be trustworthy, too, and look where that’s gotten me.

She banished the thought when the SUV swung around another bend.

Mitchell brought the vehicle to a stop before putting it in park and cutting the engine. “Here we are.”

“Here, what?” She looked through the front windshield and found… trees. Lots and lots and lots of trees. They were sitting in a clearing, sure, but there were no actual buildings or a restaurant in sight. She swung her attention to him. “I’m not seeing a restaurant.”

He just grinned. “Nope.”

With that, he climbed from the SUV and slammed the door behind him before coming to her side.

He tugged hers open, but remained in place, not allowing her to hop out. So she turned sideways in the seat and picked up where they left off. “But… food? I know it’s not a ‘thing’ for women to bitch about being hungry because we’re supposed to eat lettuce and carrots but I’m a lioness. A girl’s gotta have her meat.”

Mitchell smirked and her face heated as she thought over what she’d said. “Baby, I’ll give you some—”

“No.” She rolled her eyes. “Save me from the ‘meat’ jokes. The point is, I don’t see a restaurant. I assumed there would be some sort of restaurant on pack lands. Or past pack lands or… something.”

He crowded her, sliding between her knees and his natural body heat warmed her. Hell, who was she kidding? She got hot just being near him. He slid his hands along her thighs, palms caressing her through her work jeans. Bits of flour decorated the dark blue, but overall they were clean. At least, clean enough for where she’d imagined they would go to dinner. Somewhere quick and fast since the closest “nice” restaurant was all the way in Clover. And with him being a wolf and that being a cat town… Well, they were
supposed
to go to the local diner.

Not the middle of nowhere.

She should have paid more attention to his hands and less attention to her “what the fuck” thoughts. Because his fingers were curling around her hips, gripping her tightly, and then she was hauled to the edge of the seat. The juncture of her thighs flush with him, evidence of his arousal firm against her center and she battled back the tremor threatening to break free. He was so fucking hard.

For her.

Shit, that was bizarre. Tilly wasn’t butt fugly or anything, but as a lioness with junk in her trunk, she didn’t have guys slobbering after her either. Not that Mitchell was slobbering or anything. But holy-huge-hard-on, Batman.

“I take dates out to restaurants, Tilly,” he growled low, hips rocking and rubbing his cock against her cloth-covered pussy. “You are not a date.”

“Excuse the fuck outta me?” Tilly jerked back as if he’d slapped her and she shoved against his shoulders, fighting to push him away. She wasn’t some booty call. Not a date? Asshole.

He wasn’t moving, his bulk and grip on her keeping him in place. “Fucking? Yeah, I’d love for that to be on the menu.”

“Oh, that’s so not happening, asshole,” her cat was fucking
pissed
. More than pissed. She was two heartbeats away from busting out her claws and going psycho beyotch on his furry ass. She could take him down, too. Her lioness was wicked fast and agile as hell. If she got him into the forest, he was going
down
.

Insult her? Basically tell her she’s not worth the fifty bucks dinner might cost at the diner? Fuck that noise.

“Settle your fur, baby. There’s a reason you’re not a date,” he murmured, looking as if he didn’t care she was angry. “I only take women to restaurants if all I want is a quick fuck. I buy her a steak some asshole human butchered and shipped to the restaurant. All I gotta do is hand them a credit card at the end of the night. It’s easy. Simple.”

His low words were seductive despite the fact he was talking about another woman—women. Mitchell leaned toward her and she was too wrapped in his web to jerk away. She didn’t move as he brushed his lips over hers, the scent of him invading her nose. When she licked her lips, the taste of him coasted over her taste buds and she whimpered in response. The tremble she’d been fighting broke free, sliding down her spine in a sinuous wave.

“I couldn’t care less about them. My wolf fucking hates them. But you… Baby, I wanna hunt for you, I want to kill for you. I want to feed fresh meat to your lioness and make her purr for my wolf.”

She came. Right there. Okay, she didn’t
come
, but it was damned close. Her pussy clenched with his words, tightening and wishing it was filled with his long, hard cock. He’d stretch her to the point of pain, delving into her sheath until their hips met. He ghosted across her mouth once more, giving her a seductive kiss that she ached to take deeper. She’d slide her tongue into him… taste and tease and…

Tilly finally untangled his words. “Hunt? Wait, what?”

“Hunt. Shift and kill for you,” he murmured against her lips.

“And I’ll be…” What exactly was he expecting? She knew what she wanted, but she wasn’t willing to embrace all her desires.

“Shifted and hunting with me.”

This time she did manage to jerk away from him fully and released her glare. “You only want me to shift so you can see me
naked
.”

His grin was unapologetic. “That
is
a bonus.”

“Mitchell… alpha or not, I will so—”

He gave her a quick, firm kiss. “Hush. If you wanna change in the back of the SUV so I don’t see this delectable body, that’s fine. No matter what, I’m hunting for you.”

“I don’t understand what this is. Why?” She shook her head. “I’m okay with a human shipping me a hunk of meat.”

His teasing grin slid from his face to be replaced by an emotion she wasn’t ready to acknowledge. “I think you do understand. You know your cat is prowling, craving, and aching for me. I know this because my wolf is howling for you. You have no reason to trust me, but I’m asking you to anyway. This is how wolves court someone they’re serious about.”

“You’re
courting
me?” She raised her eyebrows, unsure if she should believe a word coming out of his mouth. She also refused to admit that he was right. Her cat
was
prowling, craving, and aching for him.

“Yup.” He squeezed her hips one last time and then stepped back, robbing her of his closeness. “So figure out where you’re gonna shift and let’s get to it.”

Grinning, he punctuated his statement by going first. He reached down, snagged the bottom hem of his shirt and yanked it over his head, revealing his carved chest to her gaze. Holy hell. In the daylight, his body exposed to the sun’s glow, she was able to see so much more of him. The light dusting of brown hair on his abdomen, each and every row of his abs. His pants rested low enough to reveal the deep lines at his hips. She licked her lips, mouth suddenly dry as she imagined tracing each rounded peak and valley with her tongue.

His fingers invaded her vision, tips toying with the button on his jeans and he popped the closure. The move yanked a whine from her chest, the sound low, but still loud enough for him to catch it. “See something you like, baby?”

“No,” she swallowed a whimper.

“Liar.”

Tilly refused to tell him he was right. Why bother? He scented it anyway. Every one of her emotions filled the air—from her fear to her desire, it was there for the taking.

Mitchell inhaled, drawing oxygen into himself, and released the breath with a low rumble. “Oh, yeah. You like me, you want me. So follow me, Tilly. Your cat wants you to leap, so do it.”

Had she mentioned she hated that he was right?

“Fine.” She swallowed hard. “I’ll shift in the back.”

“You won’t regret it, Tilly. I promise.” With that vow, he leaned forward and gave her another almost-chaste kiss. He’d touched her,
kissed
her, but hadn’t pushed. He knew she wanted him but wasn’t pressing his advantage or using her arousal against her. Which was… nice. More than nice, but she didn’t want to examine how much more.

Mitchell tossed his shirt onto the floorboard of the SUV and then stepped back, giving her room to hop down while he continued disrobing. “Baby, you may not want me to see you, but feel free to look at what you’re getting.”

Oh, she was looking. It was bad shifter form to ogle, but she was all about it at the moment. Ogling the flex of muscle as he kicked off his shoes and then scooped them up. Then there was the slow lowering of his zipper and that fabric sliding down his legs to reveal…

Someone in heaven loved her. With the way he was turned, she could see his ass was firm and begged to be nibbled while his cock was hard and thick and all for her. She licked her lips, imagining his musky salty taste and it wasn’t until he wrapped his hand around the base of his dick that she realized she was
really
staring.

With a squeak, she spun away and strode toward the back of the SUV. His laughter chased her, the sound full and deep as it dogged her heels. A low click from the vehicle told her he’d unlocked it and she tugged the handle of the back door to grant herself entrance. While she crawled in, she tugged clothes and listened to the rapid snap and crack of Mitchell’s bones as he changed shapes.

Tilly was quick to follow suit, allowing the shift to flow over her like a gentle wave. She’d been doing this since her thirteenth birthday, the age when all shifters gained the ability to transform from human to animal.

In the beginning, it was painful as hell. With no one to guide her—not even her human mother—she’d been sure she’d fail and get stuck half way through her transformation. But she hadn’t. Mainly because—according to Verity Collins—she had enough stubborn to fuel the world. Tilly wouldn’t let a little something like shapeshifting bother her. Only her mother hadn’t realized how painful the process was. How a teenager screamed with the first crack of bone and roared when the last finally settled into place. There were a lot of things Verity Collins didn’t know about her shapeshifter daughter. Or any of them, really.