Brooke, Leah - Panthers' Prey [Black Panthers 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (20 page)

His mate was a fighter.

She didn’t even realize the distance she’d run into the woods that night, her bravery and stamina astounding him. While looking for her necklace, she hadn’t come anywhere near where they’d found her.

The stories he’d heard about how she kicked those kids out of her bar filled him with both fear for her safety and pride. Damn, she was something!

Although she was small, she packed a lot of energy into that body, and she had surprising strength.

She was definitely a woman he would have wanted to know better even without suspecting that she was destined to belong to him.

With her long, honey-colored hair and eyes, dimples, and a fresh peaches-and-cream complexion, she looked sweet and adorable. Her full lips just begged to be taken, and she had a petite, tight little body that appeared almost frail.

All in all, she looked delicate, fragile, and cute as hell.

He smiled to himself as he imagined her reaction to being called cute.

The combination of delectable beauty and amazing strength and courage drew him in even more, filling him with pride and curiosity. He wanted to know everything about her, wanted to explore the mysterious woman he’d been lucky enough to find and had no intention of letting go.

Unlike Marc, he didn’t see the need to fight something he already knew he wanted.

He considered the wild attraction to each other as a form of chemistry, one that would keep her close and give him the opportunity to tie her to him in as many ways as possible.

He’d never met anyone who excited him sexually as much as Bailey did.

Emotionally, though, they still had a few hurdles to cross. The most important of those hurdles would be to get her to accept the fact that he and Marc really were shape-shifters.

She didn’t believe it. He couldn’t blame her for that. Hell, he wouldn’t have believed it, but he had to convince her that it was true,
and
get her to accept it, before they could go much further.

He couldn’t help but notice that she carefully avoided the subject, something that he understood, but that frustrated him all the same. Any logical woman would have trouble accepting it, even when she’d seen it with her own eyes.

Sighing, he lifted his cup again.

In the end, she’d have no choice but to accept it. He and Marc would have to bring the subject up again soon, but they both wanted to wait until she settled some. They could press their advantage with her in other ways, and hopefully, they’d all be much more adjusted to the changes they all faced.

He sighed and glanced at his best friend, who’d been even quieter than usual.

Marc appeared to be having a hell of a time accepting Bailey as their mate. He could see his friend’s confusion and anger at his own loss of control around her, which prompted his constant need to get the upper hand with Bailey.

James had to admit, he enjoyed watching the two of them together. It both amused and aroused him to watch his friend and his mate fight their attraction for each other.

It also frustrated the hell out of him because it added even more stumbling blocks to an already difficult situation, but he figured the two of them had to work it out for themselves.

In the meantime, he would enjoy learning more about the fascinating creature who had come into his life, one who made him happier than he’d ever been.

Hell, she excited him. He’d become so fascinated with her that he couldn’t stand being away from her even long enough for her to take a shower.

Pitiful, but right now he didn’t care.

Grimacing, he adjusted his jeans, wondering if his cock would ever go down again. Watching his friend move around the kitchen, he cleared his throat, deciding to bring a few things out in the open.

“You were a little hard on her, weren’t you?”

Marc spun, his eyes laser sharp. “I know that, damn it. But I’ll be damned if I let a woman’s scent decide my future.”

“Well, if it’s only her scent that draws you, I agree with you.”

With a shrug, James looked away to hide a smile and traced a drop of moisture down the side of his glass of iced tea. He knew his friend well, and that snap of temper told him that Bailey had gotten to Marc even more than he’d suspected.

Even through his amusement, the need to defend his mate burned hot, and he had to consciously bite back his own anger, reminding himself that Marc cared for Bailey just as much as he did. He let a minute or two pass before he spoke again.

“It’s not her fault, Marc, and it appeared to affect her, too. She was scared, mad, and insulted, but she still couldn’t fight how much she wanted both of us. She was like a cat in heat, for Christ’s sake, and it shook her. Badly. On top of that, we dropped a hell of a bombshell on her.”

Marc glared at him over his shoulder and set about breaking a dozen eggs into a bowl, saying nothing until he started to whip them with a fork. Using more force than the task called for, he turned from the counter, still whipping eggs and dangerously close to spilling them, his jaw clenched.

“We can’t let her leave here until we’re sure she’s not going to betray us by running to Brown. He’s been suspicious of me ever since I came to town. He’s like a fucking dog with a bone, and he just won’t give up, even though he has no idea what he’s looking for.”

Blowing out a breath, he dropped the fork into the bowl and turned away. He slammed the bowl of eggs on the counter, sending raw egg flying over the edge and onto the black granite countertop.

“I should never have listened to Leland. What the hell was he thinking? We should never have told her the truth. By telling her, I’ve put all of us in danger.”

Amused at the absence of his friend’s usual calm, cool demeanor and his usual eagerness to blame himself, James sat back, trying to ignore the sound of water running in the other room. Imagining Bailey warm, wet, and pliant just served to keep his cock hard and fucking uncomfortable.

“You didn’t exactly do it alone, and Leland wouldn’t have said it if he didn’t think it was the right thing to do. You know he weighs any decision that affects the rest of us very seriously.”

Marc’s quick, jerky swipes of the dishcloth got rid of the egg mess as he glanced at James over his shoulder.

“Yeah, well, he didn’t have to stick around and deal with the consequences, did he? Christ, that’s all I need, for my mate to be the one to bring the pack down.”

This time, James couldn’t hold back a grin. “At least you acknowledge her as our mate now. I was getting worried.”

“Fuck you.” Marc tossed the cloth into the sink and sighed, turning toward the table and gripping the back of the chair across from James, bowing over it. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, obviously fighting for control as he looked toward the doorway.

“When she defied me, I wanted nothing more than to bend her over and sink my cock into that fine ass of hers. I wanted to take her in an act of possession I’ve never felt before. I don’t get possessive over women. Ever. It scared the hell out of me. When she cried out there in the woods, I swear I would have killed for her. If this is how Leland felt, I’m not surprised he pushed his mate away. I don’t like losing control like this. I’ve got to figure out a way to get her the hell out of my system. I can’t let the beast have control.”

His eyes darkened in anguish. “Can you imagine what would happen if that part of us lost control? Can you imagine what we could do to her?”

Aware that the water in the shower had stopped, James stiffened, grimacing at the pressure of his cock against his zipper. Although he felt the same about Bailey, he didn’t feel the need to get her out of his system.

He actually looked forward to exploring this phenomenon with Bailey as much as possible, the chemistry between them too enticing to ignore.

“We would never hurt her, in any form. Did we hurt her the night we rescued her?”

Trying not to think about her running the towel over her naked curves, he took another sip of his iced tea to ease the dryness in his throat. Setting it back on the table, he looked up at Marc, shocked when his friend’s tight grip actually snapped the back of the chair.

“I couldn’t live with myself if I hurt her.”

What struck James the most was that Marc didn’t even appear to notice that he’d damaged the chair.

With a sigh, James sat forward and pushed Marc’s hand away before he could do even more damage, smiling faintly at Marc’s look of surprise when he saw what he’d inadvertently done.

“Calm down. Look, we’re not going to hurt our mate, and there’s nothing we can do about her knowing about us. Don’t blame her for that. We had to go. What the hell were we supposed to do when she screamed and started crying? With your asshole cop running around the woods at all hours of the day and night, we had to go to her, and she had to find out, Marc.”

He knew he wouldn’t forget the sound of her sobs anytime soon.

Remembering her cries still had the power to enrage him and scare the hell out of him at the same time. He’d never imagined the terrified cry of his mate would ever affect him the way it did, but it was a sound he never wanted to hear again.

They’d already known she was in the woods, catching her scent on a breeze while sitting on the deck having coffee. Brown had already been through there in the middle of the night and had left only an hour before Bailey arrived. Curious to see why she would go back to the place she’d been attacked, and eager to see her again, they’d shifted and headed out to investigate.

Finding it faster and easier to cover the uneven ground in panther form, he hadn’t given shifting a thought, not even caring about hiding his true self. His only concern had been to get to her.

After all, they’d done it the day after they’d found Bailey while the police searched for the gun, and no one had even caught so much of a glimpse of them.

This time, however, Bailey’s scream and sobs had drawn them out from hiding. This time their
mate
was in trouble.

James sighed. None of that seemed to make any difference to his best friend.

Marc went to the stove and turned on the burner, glancing at him over his shoulder.

“You seem to be taking all of this pretty well. Like being dragged around by the cock, do you?”

James grinned at his friend’s grouchiness, not bothering to hide his amusement.

“There are a lot worse things in life than being with a woman who excites, fascinates, and intrigues me. I’m looking forward to exploring this thing with her. I’m dying to get to know her better. I’m surprised you aren’t. Have you noticed that she doesn’t even realize she’s beautiful?”

Clasping his hands behind his head, he leaned back, grinning, his amusement growing at Marc’s glower.

“But if you’re not interested, it leaves more of her time for me. It looks like I’m going to have to start looking for land to build a house around here. You wouldn’t be willing to sell me some of yours, would you? We could live nearby.”

Hearing the shuffle of Bailey’s stockinged feet over the hardwood floors, he ignored Marc’s glare and straightened, his cock jumping. He’d taken her clothes and replaced them with his white robe and thick, white socks, and he couldn’t wait to see her in them.

Interested in seeing what Marc’s reaction would be to seeing her wearing his things, he straightened and waited, smiling at her scowl when she appeared in the doorway.

“Where the hell are my clothes?”

Taking a deep breath, he savored the clean, sweet scent that was uniquely hers.

“Ah, the beautiful, twinkling sound of my mate’s voice.”