Buying a Mate (BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance) (Quick & Furry Book 8) (3 page)

Taron lowered his head, lips hovering over hers and she had absolutely
no
desire to jerk away. “In your bed?”

They shared air, drawing each other’s scents in. She didn’t have the abilities of a dragon, but there was no missing the cinnamon and heat that filled his every breath. It touched her, resonating deep within her body and it answered the call with a low, internal whine. It wasn’t real. It wasn’t a solid identifiable place inside her, but that didn’t stop the need, the… desire.

Yes, she desired him. Him. Taron Jones. The… man she hired to marry her.

She should pull away. She should
push
him away.

She would… in a second. Just one more moment, just one more breath of closeness that would have to carry her through a year of loneliness.

“How about inside you?” he whispered the words, deep and husky and with more than a hint of his own need.

River licked her lips, mouth dry at the idea of having him deep within her. Her tongue flicked his lips, a taste. Yes, cinnamon sweetness with a hint of his musk. She salivated at the idea of sampling more of him, of nibbling him from head to toe, of having his mouth on her body.

“I don’t think…”

I don’t think I want to.

I don’t think this is a good idea.

I don’t think I can resist you.

Taron didn’t back off, and in fact, remained in place. His heat bathed her, his ever-changing eyes boring into hers. He finished closing the distance between them, his cloth-covered body snug against hers. Chest to chest, hip to hip, his cock pressed tightly to the juncture of her thighs, hinting at the pleasure she could find with him.

Normally she’d tell a man to go to hell, to get out and never call her again. Who did he think he was? They hardly knew each other and here he was trying to…

He wasn’t
trying
to do anything. He
was
doing.

He was kissing her; tongue lapping at her lips and then she opened for him, letting him inside. He tasted her, caressing her mouth, and she couldn’t stay still. She returned the favor, teasing and tempting him with her attentions. Her nipples pebbled as her arousal blossomed, body yearning for Taron. Begging for more and whining that it wasn’t enough.

Taron’s bulge was hot and hard, branding her with his desire, and she couldn’t have stopped her next move had she tried. And well, she didn’t try. She wanted the friction, the extra caress that came with rocking her hips. She rolled them, teasing him with the small movement, and taunting herself as well. Her pussy clenched, mind imagining the feel of him inside her, stroking her sheath with his long, thick cock.

He gripped her hips, fingers digging into her plump flesh, and controlled her movements. He encouraged her to shift this way and then that way, increasing the pressure only to have him ease away. They imitated what she desired so desperately. Fucking. Hot. Slow. Fast. Burning… He made her burn.

Perhaps the place for him wasn’t on the couch or in the guest room. It was beside her—inside her. Over and over again.

Her pussy clenched, body telling her that was the perfect answer. Her clit twitched and he seemed to know she needed more pressure there. He tore at her pencil skirt, snatching the fabric and tugging until the small slit at the back parted and gave them more space.

River found herself perched on the decorative table in the entryway, Taron easing between her spread thighs, hands snatching, pulling and tugging at her skirt. His cloth-covered cock fit snugly against the barrier of her panties, but there was no missing the wetness on the bit of silk and lace, nor did she miss the insane heat that unfurled from his body.

Heat. True heat. Proof of his dragon’s presence and she… loved it. Relished it. Reveled in it. The parts of her that called for Taron screamed she should go further, take more from him, take all of him.

And River…

“Oh. My. God.”

River wanted to kill the owner of that voice.

* * *

His gorgeous curvy mate’s sudden stiffness and the harsh scent of distress flooding the air were the only things that kept Taron in place. His need to protect and shield her overrode his first instincts. His dragon roared in fury, wanting to turn, transform just enough of his body and roast whoever had interrupted them.

He didn’t. Instead he changed his position slightly so River was mostly concealed behind his body and whispered his lips over her neck.

“Friends of yours, baby girl?” he rumbled, making sure to add enough dragon in his voice so his status as a shifter was unmistakable. At the same time he allowed his scales to ripple over his skin and spread down his arms to coat his human flesh.

She’d wanted to parade an unsuitable mate in front of everyone, so he was going to make damn sure she got it.

“Yes!” she squeaked, then… “No! Family. Kind of.”

He paused enough to scent the air. The scent was close to his mate’s yet off a little. “Sisters?”

“Half,” the voice behind them announced, the tone cool and imperious — totally at odds with the level of her sexual interest he could scent in the air. Not that he cared. He had his mate in his arms and once a dragon found his mate, all other women paled in comparison.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, River? In the
hallway
of all places. Where anyone could see you?”

“Theresa,” River started, but he cut her off with a chuckle, rubbing his chest against her breasts. Those hardened nipples branded him through the thin cloth covering his chest and the knowledge that he’d aroused her satisfied his dragon. Deliberately he nuzzled the soft spot under her ear and slid his hand up her thigh. He stroked the lace edge of her panties.

Yeah, they were in the hallway. Inside the hallway of River’s condo.

“Come on, baby girl. She could only have gotten in with a key and maybe she’s into watching…”

River squeaked, a red flush hitting her cheeks hard and fast as his fingertips slipped under the damp fabric of her panties. The first brush of his fingertips between her slick pussy lips almost unmanned him. His cock throbbed, straining against his jeans. He wanted nothing more than to free his dick and sink into her pussy in one fierce thrust. He was caught by his own deception, desperate to get the sister gone so they could finish what they started.

Fuck. Claim.
Mine
.

She simply didn’t know it yet.

“Who the hell is this…
person
, River?” Theresa demanded.

He looked over his shoulder to find a stuck-up looking woman framed in the doorway with her arms folded and a face like a bulldog chewing a wasp.

“This is…” River wheezed and he stroked her again, teasing around her clit. Her slick cream coated his skin and he ached to taste her, have her juices flow over his tongue. “Ohmygod, Taron...stop it!” she hissed, glaring and trying to move his hand. Not happening. He’d found heaven. He sure as hell wasn’t leaving now. “This is Taron...my…”

He grinned and stroked again, wanting her off balance. Wanting her nice and hot and wet. Screw the sister. She could watch if she wanted. He had to claim River. Now.

“
TaronJonesmyfiancewe’regettingmarriedinthreedays
,” she said all in a rush and pushed him. Hard. Her glare warned him he’d be sleeping on the couch, perhaps the balcony, if he didn’t behave.

He absorbed the shove without effort and pulled his hand away. Taking a half step back, he turned, still concealing River with his body so she could put her clothing right and looked down at the stuck-up bitch currently trying to look down her nose at him. Kinda hard to do when he was over a foot taller than her.

He brought his damp fingers to his mouth, lapped at the digits, and moaned with the salty sweet flavors that slid over his tongue. His dick throbbed, straining against his zipper and he was
this close
to turning back to River and stripping them both. He’d sink into his mate over and over again, her half-sister be damned. But the soft rustle of cloth reminded him his mate probably wouldn’t appreciate a rough fuck against the wall and the scent of her distress was unmistakable.

Which meant he had to draw the woman’s full attention.

“She liked it so much she plans to put a ring on it,” he grinned. He didn’t see the stuck up Theresa as someone who’d let loose with a little Beyonce, and the confusion on her face told him she was definitely lost.

“You...she…” Bitch-sister blinked, obviously struggling with the reality she now found herself in. “You’re a dragon.”

“Fuck me, you’re bright, aren’t you?” he threw back, making no attempt to be pleasant. “You know what people who’ve pissed off a dragon would tell you?”

She tilted her head, eyes narrowing. “What?”

“Fuck all. They’re dead.” He grinned, nicely, not even showing all his teeth despite his dragon’s best effort to push his fangs free.

River shoved him hard in the back. “Taron, darling, stop pretending you’ll eat Theresa. You can’t... until I tell you that you can.”

River would really like Taron to eat her half-sister and
not
in a happy fun times way.
That
type of eating was reserved for River. Assuming he wanted to, of course. Because she sure as hell wanted to climb him like a tree and lick him from head to toe. Her pussy throbbed with unfulfilled desire, sex lips slick with her wetness. Her clit pulsed and ached, silently begging to be stroked and touched.

The kiss stoked the fires of her need and then he’d teased her pussy, stroking her cloth-covered mound before dipping beneath the elastic to find her damp center.

And dear God, he was all heavily carved muscles and fierce strength. He’d held her like she weighed nothing and she’d never felt more secure, more protected, in her life.

Then, if his teasing touch hadn’t been enough, he’d busted out his scales.

Now she
really
wanted to lick him, to discover if his skin and scales tasted the same or if they felt any different than his flesh. There’d been a sting on her hip just before he’d released her—
his claws
—and she wondered what it’d feel like to have them scrape more than just her hips.

My breasts… my ass… my pussy.

She shuddered, a wave of craving washing over her. On its heels was another punch of anger at Theresa. That passionate kiss wouldn’t have been the end of their coming together. She had no doubt it would have continued, moving from the entryway, down the hallway and on to her bedroom.

Her bedroom that they’d share for the next year as pretend husband and wife.

A rush of cold water blanketed her, crushing her simmering arousal. Pretend husband and wife. Pretend.

Had he been pretending when he shoved his tongue down her throat? Maybe he’d heard Theresa’s approach with his super-dragon hearing and that was why he wrapped his arms around her, why his talented fingers skated over her skin and aroused her.

Had it all been a game of “let’s fool the human”?

“Are you listening to me?” Theresa’s snapping voice brought River from her musings and back to the problem at hand. The problem of getting her half-sister out of her condo without bloodshed.

Because, really, she wasn’t sure Taron had been kidding.

“No, actually, I wasn’t.” River picked at a piece of lint on her skirt, ignoring the other woman simply because Theresa hated it.

Yes, she was that petty.

“When you have something worth hearing,” she smoothed the wrinkled fabric. They’d retreated to the living room and she ignored the fact that her bare skin from behind the knee to upper thigh rested on her leather couch. The surface was a cold shock and now it slowly warmed to her body heat.

They’d really gotten hot and heavy, cloth tearing as he’d fought to gain access to her pussy. He couldn’t have been playing a game when he’d been that frantic, right?

“River,” another snap from Theresa. “Pay attention.”

Taron tensed at her side, the stiffening barely perceptible. No more than a hardening of the muscles of his leg against hers and the squeeze of his hand on her shoulder. A deep vibration traveled from him to her and she realized he was growling. Low enough not to be heard by human ears, but there was no missing the trembles sliding through her body.

River didn’t hesitate to lay her hand on his thigh and gave him a gentle stroke.

Of course that earned a sneer from Theresa. “I can’t believe you’re playing this stupid game, River.”

She held onto her temper—barely. “It’s not a game. I’m getting married in three days to Taron.”

Her half-sister wrinkled her nose, flicking a distasteful glance over the man at her side. “He looks nice enough to fuck, but we both know he’s not the type of man to marry
you
.”

“Because I’m a bastard?”

She sniffed. “Among other things.”

The growl became audible, sliding through the air, and Theresa didn’t have the sense to keep quiet.

“No one wants to hear from the window dressing.”

Oh dear God, Theresa really was gonna die. River might not have made the smartest decisions in her life, but she did read about shifters and knew males didn’t take disrespect well. Or rather, at all. Even the weakest of the men was twice as strong as a human and four times as proud.

Disrespect? Not acceptable.

“Theresa, get to the point.”

Her sister sighed. “I’m simply saying we both know this is some big joke. I came over as soon as I heard you’d moved this,” Theresa looked Taron up and down. “This
thing
into your condo.”

“And how, pray tell, did you find out I’d moved in?” The words escaped Taron in a low rumble. Was that smoke leaving his lips?

“Darling, you really should be silent. Just sit there and be pretty.”

Pretty? How about drop-dead gorgeous. Lickable. Nibbleable. Fuckable.

“How?” Apparently Taron was like a dragon with a bone.

“The doorman, if you must know. He’ll be fired for taking a bribe, of course, but he was useful.” Theresa’s gaze raked Taron once more. For a woman who sneered at the dragon, she sure enjoyed looking at him. And that knowledge nearly had
River
growling. “Back to the issue at hand.” Her sister slowly refocused on River. “Enough is enough. You tried to find someone willing to marry and apparently you found someone desperate enough to tie themselves to even you. But we both know it’s a sham.”