The Cougar's Timid Little Lynx (Sweet Water) (6 page)

Pushing his human emotions to the side, he let his cougar rise up and take control. The only thing he felt now was a steady beat of stillness inside of him. Good, that was what he needed.

Once on the road he took the two turns he would need to navigate in order to get to her home. She was so fucking close to him, and the fact he had run through the woods as a cougar, stopped right at the tree line, and watched her through the kitchen window on more than one occasion, was something he felt slightly ashamed of. It could be construed as a bit stalker-ish, or maybe obsessed, but in reality it was a male being called to by his mate, and there was nothing and no one that could stop him, not even his own human rationalization.

When he was pulled up in front of the small one-story cottage style house, the scent of his pheromones coming out full force filled the interior of the car. She was just right there, behind those four walls and a few feet away. He had seen her plenty of times since she
’d left his office, but they had been from a distance, and without her knowledge. This moment was different. She had accepted his invitation, and his animal lifted its head, growled in pleasure, and wanted nothing more than to show her exactly what it meant to be a cougar’s mate.

Luke
pulled his car to a stop in front of Alice’s house and shut off the engine. He took only a few seconds to gather his thoughts and get his emotions under control. This was the first step in building something meaningful with Alice and Joey, and he couldn’t screw it up. He climbed out of the car and made his way toward the house. When he was in front of her house, he lifted his hands and brought his knuckles down on the wood, and took a step back. Only a minute passed before he heard the sound of little footsteps running toward the door. A second later there was little Joey standing in front of him, her hair parted and two braids hanging on either shoulder.

“Momma, it’s the doctor.” Her smile was big, and a second later Alice was beside her daughter, her hands on her tiny shoulders. She got down on her haunches so she was eye
-level with Joey.

“Sweetie, I told you it isn’t safe to open the door when you don’t know who is on the other side.”

“But Momma, you told me he was coming.” Alice smiled at Joey and stood, placing her daughter behind her. She looked up at him, and he was struck by what this female did to him with only one innocent expression.

“I’m sorry, but—
”

Luke held up his hands and offered her a smile. “You don’t need to explain. You’re right.” He got down on his haunches and smiled at Joey. She peeked her head around her mom’s leg, the scent of her being upset from Alice reprimanding her filling his nose like tiny blooming roses. “Your mom is right. It isn’t safe to open the door to strangers.”

“But you’re not a stranger. You’re the doctor I saw.” Well, she was a clever little thing. He smiled, knowing it wouldn’t do much good to explain it to her again. So, he nodded, stood, and looked up at Alice because he was a bit at a loss. He dealt with children on a daily basis because of his profession, but this was totally new territory for him.

As he looked between Alice and Joey, there was no uncertainty, anger, or even jealousy that his mate had a child from another male. In fact, all he could feel was warmth in his chest when he gazed upon them. With Alice his feelings were strong, intense, possessive
, and territorial. The thought of another male even coming near her, touching her, speaking to her in a sexual way, sent sparks of animal aggression through him. When he looked at Joey he felt protectiveness for the little girl that looked so much like her mother. She was tiny and gentle, and because she was human and so fragile, all he wanted to do was take her in his arms and make sure no one hurt her like they had so clearly done with his mate.

He looked back at Alice and noticed she looked at him strangely. He hadn’t bothered hiding his
feelings, and knew she had sensed his every emotion as clearly as he did with her. A small smile was on her face, and although she was good at hiding everything about her, she didn’t bother masking anything right now. She was happy, and not one ounce of being uncomfortable filled her. Pride and male satisfaction coursed through him, and he shifted on his feet.

“Let me just grab my purse.” Alice went to the left, and he took that one moment to look around. The house was made of white pine and smelled of lemon. It felt warm and inviting, even though she had no pictures on the wall, and a glance in the living room showed only the barest of items. She had just moved in,
but wouldn’t someone have items they collected during their lifetime to fill such a small house? She was back only seconds later, and all other thoughts left him as he let himself actually look at her. She wore a modest skirt that fell to her knees, and was a little too big on her. Her blouse was of the same loose covering, but didn’t hide all of her curves. He could still see the generous mounds of her breasts and the way her hips flared out attractively. She wasn’t all skin and bones like a lot of the women who approached him were. She had womanly curves, ones that made him think of having her in his bed, under him, and crying out as she came around his cock. Those thoughts were dangerous, and he forced himself to push them away. Now was not the time to let his libido take control.

“Are you ladies ready? I thought we’d go to Polly’s PlayDay.” The family oriented restaurant was not a place he had ever frequented for obvious reasons, but when he knew he was going to take them out that had been the first place he thought of
. It had incredible food and a play area for children, and he knew Joey would have a great time while he talked with Alice. After all, the importance of what he said and of what he knew she needed to say, would require a lot of concentration. He forced himself to look away from Alice, and stared down at Joey. She was all smiles, and he loved the innocent, childish wonder that came from her.

Once they were in the car and headed out of Sweet Water city limits, he didn’t try
to start up a conversation to ease the silence that surrounded them. The radio was on, and Joey started to sing to a Beatles song that came on. He glanced at her in the rearview mirror and couldn’t help but smile.

Once he finally reached his destination and they were out of the car and headed up to the
restaurant, he felt the powerful excitement come from Joey. She was bouncing up and down as she saw the colorful balloons, eclectic decorations, and overall enthusiastic atmosphere.

“Wow, this sure is some place.” There was a hint of wonder in Alice’s voice, even mimicking Joey’s, and that had him grinning. He liked seeing them stunned into a sort of state of happiness. Children ran around, and the noise was earsplitting, but Alice was comfortable and Joey was excited, and that was all that mattered.

The hostess, a porcupine shifter, led them toward the back to one of the booths. Once the waitress came by and took their order, Luke knew what Joey was about to say before she even said it.

“Momma,
Momma, Momma.” She bounced on the seat, and Alice gave him a sympathetic look and mouthed “sorry”.

“Go on, but make sure I can see you.” Joey squealed and all but climbed over Alice. She ran toward the secured play area, where a clown was making balloon animals, kids were
playing on the jungle gym, and others were rolling around in the ball pit. Alice kept looking at where Joey was playing, and without thinking and just going on instinct he reached across the table and took one of her hands in his. Her shock was instant and came at him like a sledgehammer. They stared at each other for a moment.

“She’ll be fine. This place is like the Fort Knox for the kids.
I made sure she would be safe before we came here.” He offered her a smile, but her uneasiness stayed strong. He reluctantly let go of her hand, but reveled in the feel of her soft skin, long slender fingers, and the way he sensed her lynx start to move closer to the surface of her body, as if it was hesitant, but curious. Her animal recognized him as hers, but the animal was still shy and frightened. Once his hand was free from hers she immediately placed them in her lap and looked down. He waited until the waitress set their drinks down before he started the conversation that didn’t need to be postponed any longer.

“Alice
.” He waited until she lifted her head and looked at him. “I don’t want to beat around the bush when it is obvious there are things that need to be brought out in the open.” She licked her lips, and he forced himself to continue to stare into her bright blue eyes. Finally, she nodded. “You’re my mate. It was clear as soon as I caught your scent, and I know you are aware of this by the way you reacted when you first saw me.”

“Yes, I knew, but it doesn’t really matter, Luke.” His heart pounded hard in his chest
, and he forced himself to remain calm.

“It matters, Alice.” He lowered her voice so she was the only one that could hear him, and said with determination in his voice, “It really fucking matters.” When she flinched he cursed himself for using profanity when it was clear he should have been treading lightly. “I’m sorry.
I shouldn’t have cursed like that.” He leaned back in the booth and ran his hand over his eyes.

“I don’t think I’ve ever met a male that apologizes as much as you.” There was a smile in her voice
, and he looked over at her. She looked even more beautiful when she smiled, and her entire face lit up. He didn’t really know what to say, because the truth of it was he had never apologized for anything in his life, but for Alice, he would do it tenfold, and had a feeling he would be saying sorry for a lot of the shit he did.

“I’m male enough to admit when I am wrong, and there are a lot of things that I am wrong about, but this situation
and meeting you isn’t one of them.” The silence moved around them, but the sound of Joey laughing had both of them turning and watching the little girl jumping up and down with a balloon animal hat on her head.

“Thank you for bringing us here. I don’t think there has ever been a time when she was this happy.”

He turned back around and looked at her, and the anguish on her face would have knocked him on his ass if he wasn’t already sitting down. He could feel the wave of whatever she was she about to say rise up like a tsunami about to level out a village. Alice started folding and unfolding her napkin, but Luke didn’t rush her, because he knew what she was going to say would be monumental.

“I normally wouldn’t say anything, but given the fact we’re,” she glanced up at him and shrugged, “mates, you deserve to know that I’m not the female you probably were expecting
as a life partner.”

How wrong she was, because even without hearing what she was going to say, she was perfect for him in every way. It didn’t matter that he felt this uncontrollable pull toward her because she was destined to be his. All he had to do was look into her eyes, see pain in
them, and know that they were kindred souls. She was tormented by her past, unable to let it go, and despite the fact he knew she had it far worse than him, he did understand her, and her reluctance to move forward.

“I don’t want to push you, Alice. That’s not what tonight was about.” Not totally, at least. He did want to talk with her, but it was clear she was extremely uncomfortable
. “Yes, we are mates, and yes, I won’t deny that I want you like I’ve never wanted another female before.” Her chest was rising and falling harshly, and he inhaled deeply, smelling the tiny hint of arousal. The cougar in him growled in need, trying to take control, but he pushed the alpha fucker back, trying to reason with his dominant ass that she was fragile in more ways than one. “But what I want more right now is to be a friend to you and Joey, and earn your trust.” He meant every single word, and the way her breath hitched and tears filled her eyes, had him wishing maybe he shouldn’t have said anything at all. “I didn’t mean to upset you more, Alice. I just want to let you know that yes, my animal wants you just as fiercely as my human does, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t know when to go slow.” He reached out, praying beyond everything that she wouldn’t pull away from him. He needed her touch, needed to feel her warm skin on his, and sense her acceptance. He exhaled roughly when he had her hand in his, and she actually curled her fingers into his. “I don’t know what you went through, but I want to be here for you now. We are mates, and you and I both know I can’t just walk away.”

“Luke
.” She closed her eyes, and a few tears spilled down her cheeks, but she quickly wiped them away. When she opened them again they were so blue he didn’t stop himself from reaching up and capturing one of her tears on his thumb. “I am so unbelievably broken, and I don’t think I can ever be fixed.” The sounds of Joey giggling in the background, and of the other noises surrounding them, weren’t nearly as strong as when Alice had just said those words. They were like a hot spear right to his heart.

“Alice—”

“No, Luke, please let me just get this done and over with.” She pulled her hand away from his, but didn’t break their stare. “I know what we are, and how big that is, but I don’t want a mate right now, or if I will ever be ready for one.” His pulse racketed higher at her words. “I grew up without parents, and lived in a home for shifter children that were just like me. Some of the other children were cruel, said things to me I will never forget, and hurt me, but I moved past all of that and didn’t let it shape who I was. I kept to myself, didn’t talk to people, and that never bothered me. My lynx didn’t come out and fight like others did, and maybe that was why I had it harder at times, but I still moved forward. When I was eighteen and on my own I met Joshua.” He saw the way her throat worked as she swallowed, and Luke knew this was the male that had hurt her. Gripping the edge of the table, he forced his growl and the possessive need rising violently inside of him to back down. “He gave me everything I had been starved for while growing up: love, companionship, friendship, everything. I fell in love with him, or so I thought.” It was hard hearing her talk of another man in this manner, but there was no fucking way he was going to stop her. He needed this, and she needed to tell him. “Things were good at first, but slowly the man that I thought I knew vanished, and in his place was a stranger that was filled with anger and hatred, and it all seemed to be directed toward me.” Alice drew her attention to where he knew where Joey was. There was sadness in her eyes, but also fierce love, the kind only a mother had. “The night she was conceived was painful, frightening, and I thought Joshua would kill me.” Another lone tear slipped down her cheek, and Luke held onto the table with enough force the wood started to crack under his hold. “But how can I hate something, and someone, so much when they gave me the most perfect, brightest little girl, even if she was created from fear?”