Scorch: A Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (The Tribe Series) (4 page)

H
er jaw dropped
and her eyes widened. I didn’t know what she expected. Fuck, I didn’t know what to expect. But we almost ruined everything. Everything.

I picked up my jeans from the floor and stepped into them.

“What are you doing? What did I do?”

“Nothing, darlin’.” I kissed the top of her head. “But all of a sudden, a lot of things make a lot of sense.”

She quickly wrapped a sheet around her naked body. “I’m glad it makes sense to you, because I feel like I’m completely in the dark. What is this mate stuff?”

I would have dressed her, but I had discarded her clothes somewhere near the front door.

“We need to talk.”

“You think?” Her eyes blazed.

“Yeah, but I can’t talk to you like this.” I pointed to her shoulder as the sheet fell, exposing her skin. Skin I had tasted and licked. God, she was everything I wanted her to be, and I had to get out of her bed and talk. I had to walk out of her bedroom and talk to her about our duty. About our responsibilities.

She looked embarrassed and angry. “None of this makes sense,” she growled. “Don’t walk out of this room.”

I stopped in the doorway. “I have to.” I couldn’t look at her again. If I did, I would pounce and I wouldn’t stop. And that couldn’t happen. There was an order to this. There were laws and we almost broke them.

“Drew,” she pleaded.

“I’ll meet you in the living room. I promise I’ll explain everything.” I shuffled down the hall in my bare feet and picked up my T-shirt off the couch. I pulled it over my head, remembering how she had torn it off of me. God, she was incredible. Sexy as hell. Unpredictable. Everything I wanted in a mate, and now I had to wait.

Francesca appeared a few minutes later. I could see where she had tried to dry tears on her cheeks.

“Hey, don’t be upset.” I wanted to pull her into my arms, but I wasn’t sure she’d let me.

“Don’t be upset? We were about to do something I’ve dreamed of doing. Something I haven’t been able to stop thinking about since last night. Something you’ve seduced me into since I let you in my car, and you don’t want me to be upset? It doesn’t make sense.”

“Sit,” I ordered.

She glared at me before taking a seat.

“You are my mate, damn it.” I hadn’t meant to start off harsh. “I’ve been looking for you for weeks. But you were hard to find, especially when your parents lied about you.”

“They did?” She looked devastated again. “You saw my parents?”

“Yes,” I admitted. I looked at the floor, remembering what she had revealed about her childhood. “It only made my hunt last longer.”

“Hunt? I’m not a wild animal.”

“Aren’t you?”

“No,” she snarled.

“Doesn’t matter. The council betrothed us from birth. The king sent me to find you before your birthday. Now that we’ve found each other, we can start the ceremony. Get married, bond, the whole thing.”

“Married?”

I nodded. I had the ring somewhere, but I wasn’t expecting things to play out like this. I wasn’t supposed to meet my mate while my head was between her legs. The plan was fucked.

“We’re supposed to get married?”

“Yeah, that’s how it works. You become a Maddox. We add to the Maddox line and our families are joined.”

“But I don’t have a family.”

“You do, Francesca. And now that I know who you are, I can help you figure that part out.”

“Oh.” She looked blankly at the coffee table. “But married?”

“You seem hung up on that part.”

“And you’re not? We barely know each other.”

“You were getting ready to have sex with me.”

She glared. “Sex is not marriage.”

“Depends on how you do it.” He winked. “And when we do it, it will be both.”

“Oh God.” She doubled over. “I can’t listen to any more of this.”

I rushed to her side. “Breathe, darlin’, breathe.”

“I can’t. This can’t be happening. We’re supposed to get married and bond? What is bond code for?” She searched my eyes. How did I end up with the one panther who didn’t know what her responsibility was to her line? I got the one who was a novice when it came to this stuff.

“Bonding is when we give each other ourselves. And hopefully, you give me a cub.”

“Shit.” Her eyes watered. “Cub? As in a baby? A baby shifter? Like you and me?”

“Yep.” I smiled widely. Just talking about it made me want her more. But there was a process to this. If she had been anyone else, if she had been just a Penny, I could have taken her all night, but that was not how the bonding rituals worked. First, we had to have a wedding.

“No. I don’t think I can do this.” She stood from the couch and stared at me. “I admit I’m attracted to you. And you’re hot. And my God, I want you in my bed. And I want to know what line I’m from, but this is too much. I can’t marry you, Drew.”

I reached for her arm, but she snatched it to her side. “I’m going to bed alone. I don’t expect to see you here in the morning. I’ll find my answers on my own. I don’t need you. I don’t need family.”

I heard the door close behind her and the small sound of the lock click into place. That wouldn’t keep me out, nothing would. But she was my mate and no matter what I wanted, I had to fucking wait.

I sat down. Now what was I going to do?

H
e had said mate
, and marriage. I thought he also said cub, but I shook my head and paced my room. No, that couldn’t be right. I was supposed to have a baby with him? I glared at the bedroom door and the tangled mess we had made of my sheets.

Now I knew why my body ached for him. Now I knew why the fire raced through my blood when I was close to him. He and I had been betrothed, and even though I was fairly ignorant when it came to my heritage, I knew there was strong magic involved in our relationship.

Nothing was coincidence. My body was drawn to him because I had been pledged to him before I had a say. I finally sat on the edge of the bed, hugging my pillow to my chest. And yet, could I even deny him? Did I want to?

My entire life I had looked for my family. I had looked for shifters like me. I had mourned the human parents who hated me. And now everything I had searched for was sitting in my living room, proposing to me.

But what did I give up to be his wife? I could feel the feathers poke through the seams in the pillow as I clawed at the fabric. I sat there while my body called to him. I sat there while my blood hummed for him. I sat, wanting his jaguar like I wanted air to breathe.

Damn it.

I opened the door and walked down the hall.

“Drew?”

The living room was dark, but I could see his silhouette on the couch. “Yeah?” He sat forward.

I walked toward him, stopping in front of him, his knees on either side of my legs. I didn’t know if it was instinct or if he wanted to feel that I was there, but his hands slid to my waist. I sighed. He pressed a kiss into my stomach.

“I don’t think I could stay away from you if I wanted to.” My hands played with his hair, twirling the strands through my fingers.

He lifted my tank top enough so his lips could brush against my stomach.

“I know I couldn’t,” he whispered.

I dropped to my knees, taking his jaw between my palms. “How soon?” I asked.

His lips landed on mine, crushing them with sudden force. He lifted me into his lap as my arms wrapped around the warmth of his shoulders. I rocked into his hips.

“Not soon enough,” he growled.

My head reeled back as his kisses moved from my neck to my shoulder.

“And we can’t do this until we’re married?”

His breathing was erratic. He bit my lower ear lobe. “We can do some things. But I think it might be too hard.”

I nodded. “Too hard.” He had shoved my tank top over my head, and his mouth sucked one tight nipple between his lips.

I didn’t know how we were going to do this. We had to get married before we could be together and perform whatever bonding ritual we needed to do. I was as turned on as I was scared.

He lowered me to the couch, where he rolled the free nipple between his fingers.

“I don’t think I want to wait,” I moaned. “I don’t.”

He sat back. “Shit. We’re getting carried away again.” He picked my shirt up from the floor and covered up my perky breasts.

“Just take me, like this.” I straddled him again, feeling his hardness between his legs.

“Wait, wait, wait.” He pushed me off of him and left me sitting on the couch. “I did bring something to do this properly.”

He dug through his overnight bag and returned. I looked in his eyes as he kneeled in front of me. He tugged open the lid of a velvet box. I didn’t need to turn the lights on to see the emerald stone nestled inside.

“We have to make this official.” He eyed me. “You have to invoke the bond between us.”

“I do?” I asked. I couldn’t take my eyes off the rock. It was gorgeous.

“Francesca, will you be my mate? Will you carry the Maddox line? Will you marry me?”

His eyes looked expectant. I wasn’t sure if yes was sufficient, so instead I repeated each question with a full answer.

“Drew, I will be your mate. I will carry the Maddox line. And yes, I will marry you.” I grinned as he slipped the ring over my finger.

He pulled me into a kiss, and I felt the hunger for him surging through my veins. I looked into his eyes. “Is it possible that I feel different?”

He nodded. “Yeah, your answer invoked the magic the council initiated when they matched us at birth. It’s sealed. You belong to me, Francesca.” His eyes lit with happiness.

“Then why don’t you take me?” I teased.

“Wedding first,” he reminded me.

“And how am I supposed to plan that with finals this week?”

“When is your birthday?”

“Five days.”

“Shit.” He looked worried. “We don’t have much time. I was hoping we’d have more time together.”

I didn’t get it. I didn’t understand any of it. I only knew that I was drawn to him with magic and destiny. And now that I was wearing his ring, I could feel it with every breath I took.

“Tomorrow?” I suggested. “Justice of the Peace?”

“It’s our first wedding. Don’t you want the dress and the flowers?”

“I guess I never thought about it. I never thought that would happen for me.” I was ashamed to look at him. “I don’t need all of that. I just need my mate.” I brushed the hair above his ear.

He was gorgeous and sexy. He was perfect. And he just proposed. I’d marry this jaguar in a trash bag if I had to.

“Let’s see what we can do in two days, okay?” He brushed his lips over mine. “I want to see you in a white dress. And I want you to have flowers. Whatever flowers grow in a cold spring.”

“The white dress means something to you, doesn’t it?” I asked, searching his eyes for answers.

“It means I get to take it off of you and make you mine.”

“Shit,” I whispered. Why didn’t I have a white dress now?

He laughed. “Two days, baby. We’ll pull this off in two days, and then we’ll have a night that neither of us will ever forget.”

“And tonight?” I taunted. “What about tonight?”

He grinned wickedly. “I can think of a few things.”

“
S
o
, do you think you can make it?” I asked Case.

“To your first wedding? Hell yeah, I’ll be there.”

I was relieved. I wanted some sort of family at the wedding. Francesca deserved something normal. She never had a great human life, and she was only now learning about her panther life. I felt like I owed it to her as my mate to give her a perfect wedding.

“And the rest of the Tribe?” I questioned. I didn’t know what the guys were up to. I called Case before any of the others.

“I’ll see who can drive over. They’ve got their own quests.”

“I know. I know, and I don’t want to interfere. But I want Tribe members here. I want the council to know I’ve fulfilled my first duty.”

“They will, brother. Don’t worry.” Case sounded distant.

“Hey, are things going okay in Sullen’s Grove?” I was surprised he hadn’t started gloating about his mate yet. Maybe his hunt wasn’t going well. If that was the case, he’d be the last to admit it.

“They’re fine. Look, I’ll see you tomorrow, I guess.”

“Yeah, tomorrow. It’s crazy here. We’re trying to put this whole thing together in forty-eight hours.”

“And the bonding?”

I smiled. “I’ve got that worked out. She’s going to be swept off her feet.”

“As she should be,” Case agreed.

“She should. She deserves it. All of this.”

“Hey, I’ve got to go, but I’ll be there with a tux on,” my older brother reported.

“No problem. Thanks, Case.”

I hung up and dialed Josh next. I wanted him to know I had found Francesca and she had invoked the bonding. I wished I had known her birthday was so soon. It didn’t give us much time to plan the wedding. But when I thought about how things were when we were together, there was a chance we would have rushed the wedding anyway. I couldn’t keep my hands off her. And she was all over me. Finding each other had brought out the shifter in us more than we knew possible.

She could purr and roar with the strum of my fingers. She drove me wild. Wilder than anything in my dreams. And her body was incredible. Sexy and beautiful, a paradise that I wanted to bury myself in.

But she still had questions. Lots of questions. Coffee this morning was another lesson on the cat lines. She was desperate to find out where she came from, and why her mother had given her up.

I had a few theories, but I wasn’t about to share them with my bride-to-be right before our wedding. The next forty-eight hours were about giving her the perfect experience, and the most perfect wedding night.

“Hey.” She poked her head out the front door. “Finished with your calls?”

“Yeah. You’ll get to meet my brother and some other Tribe members.”

She smiled. “I can’t believe how many other shifters there are. And all this time, I thought I was the only one.”

I stood to pull her in my arms. “Oh no, you are far from the only one.” I snaked my hands under her shirt to feel the heat of her skin. There was fire in our touch.

“I asked Alexa to be my maid of honor.” She reached up to kiss me. I inhaled her lips. “She thinks I’ve completely lost my mind marrying a hitchhiker, but she said yes after I refused a psychological exam.”

“That’s good.”

“Sort of. If anyone on campus finds out, they’re going to think I’m crazy.”

“It’s not like you can tell them we’re fated mates.” I winked. “In our world, you can.”

She smiled. “That sounds nice to finally be able to talk about it. To finally be open about who I am.”

There was a twinge of guilt under my ribs. I’d tell her the rest of her duty later, after the ceremony.

“Is there anyone else you want to call?” I asked.

She shook her head. “No. My parents wouldn’t want to be there, and they’d be more appalled by the fact I’m marrying a jaguar, so it’s best to leave them alone.”

“All right. If that’s what you want.”

“It is.” She sounded resolute.

I had met them in my quest to find her, and they weren’t the friendliest of people. It was hard to believe someone so good and kind had come from that home.

“I’m headed into town to get the licenses, the wedding bands, and the space for the ceremony and the bonding.”

She nodded. “Right. And I’m meeting with the florist, caterer, and baker.”

I caught her looking at the green stone on her hand. “You still like it?”

“I love it. I understand the green. I know why it’s not a diamond.”

“Yeah, the council has always handed out emeralds.”

She twisted her lips together. I had quickly learned that it was a sign she was debating whether or not to say something.

“See you back here in a few hours?”

“Definitely.” I kissed her hard before jogging down the stairs. Tomorrow, we would be mates. And tomorrow night, we would be bonded.