Cougar Wants [Cougarlicious] (Siren Publishing Classic) (5 page)

Walking into the kitchen, he easily found the coffeemaker. Opening the cupboard above it, he pulled out the most masculine mug he could find—red with a yellow rubber duck on it. A duck was better than the butterflies or kittens he saw on some of the other mugs. He would have to add a couple of his plain black mugs to her collection.

After filling the mug, he began the search for the sugar and milk that he normally drank in it. He found a plastic contain
er
marked
“
sugar
”
in a cupboard that was
otherwise
mostly empty. Opening the refrigerator, he blinked several times at the blinding whiteness from the nearly empty walls reflecting the light. Except for a gallon bottle of water, a quart of milk
,
and the pizza he’d delivered the night before, the machine was empty. After adding a splash of milk to his coffee, he returned it before opening the freezer and frowning to find it just as empty. Only a large package of hot dogs and a large box of individually wrapped sliced cheese filled the big empty box.

“Well
,
at least I won’t have to worry about where to store my food,” he muttered as he took a spoon from the dish-drainer and stirred his milk.

Returning to the porch, he sat in the rocking chair next to the door. He drank his coffee and relaxed, waiting for the woman to start the conversation. As a predator, cougars
—
both shape
-
shifters and in the wild
—
were known to be solitary creatures, but the last thing Tate wanted was to return to his lonely existence now that he had found his mate.

Neither spoke a word for the next few minutes. Finally Kimber drained her mug and stood up. “Ready to go to work?”

He nodded and finished the last of his coffee in three swallows. “Yes, ma’am.”

Kimber froze mid-step and made a face at him. “Please don’t call me that. I’m old, but I will never be a ‘ma’am
.
’”

He stood as she moved toward him, hoping for a repeat of the previous night’s kiss, but she stepped wide around him. She stopped at the door and turned. She looked resigned as she said, “I’ve been thinking
,
and last night was a mistake.”

“Excuse me?” Tate managed to choke out as his heart dropped to his toes
,
and his stomach clenched.

Which part of last night? The part where she had rented him the room? Or the part where they had kissed and come close to making love standing in the middle of her office?

Taking a deep breath
,
he forced a smile. “You’re not kicking me out already, are you?”

“No, you’re welcome to rent the room, but I don’t think we should…um…kiss again,” Kimber said, her cheeks growing rosy with each word. Her gaze dropped to his chin instead of his eyes as she continued. “It was wonderful but had to be a fluke. No way can there be such instant chemistry between two people.”

Stepping closer, Tate did not stop until there was barely an inch between them. Looking down
,
he met her eyes and saw both lust and confusion in their depths.

“That’s not really what you think, is it
,
mate?” He lifted a hand and cupped her cheek, the softness of her skin causing blood to surge to his cock.

She shook her head slowly back and forth in a negative, the lust winning out over any hesitation she felt toward him. When her mouth opened on a soft sigh, he began to stroke his thumb back and forth over her lower lip.

“I didn’t think so,” he said
,
lowering his head and kissing her again.

He did not bother easing her into things but went straight for a deep, wet, hard, openmouthed kiss that would prove to her last night’s exchange was not a fluke. Her tongue met his second thrust and dueled with him passionately until he finally pulled his head back. He smiled when she made a soft sound of disappointment as they caught their breath.

“Nope, that kiss last night wasn’t a fluke, my mate. We are meant to be together. Now, let’s get the furniture moved and unloaded so we can go grocery shopping.”

With his hands on her waist, he turned her around and patted her ass to get her moving into the house. He followed several steps behind, his eyes glued to her beautifully round, firm ass.

* * * *

Kimber was surprised at how quickly the furniture moving went. In less than two hours, they not only had her furniture transferred into the smallest bedroom, but all of Tate’s things had been brought in from the truck and set up in his new bedroom.

As they worked, they talked. They exchanged information as if they were on a first date and not preparing to live together under the same roof for the foreseeable future. He explained he worked three jobs because he was trying to bank enough so he could eventually go back to school full-time, get his contractor’s license
,
and eventually start his own construction company. She shared that she rented out the room because she was gaining popularity as a cover artist at a slower pace than she had hoped.

It wasn’t until she handed him the last drawer full of well-worn jeans that she asked the question that had been niggling at her since he had kissed her.

“Why did you call me
‘
mate
’
?”

“Excuse me?” he asked
,
taking the drawer and sliding it into place in the dresser.

“Earlier on the porch when you kissed me. Why did you call me mate?”

He straightened and looked at her with an unreadable expression. “Actually
,
it was a mutual kiss. And I called you
‘
mate
’
because you are.”

Kimber frowned. “I am what?”

“You are my mate. Would it be okay if I had cable run into this room?”

“Sure. There’s a hole in the floor over there
.
”
As
she waved toward the corner
,
an insane possibility occurred to her. “Are you…what are you
,
that you can say I’m your mate after barely meeting me?”

“From the books in your bookcase, you already know about shape
-
shifters. Well, we are not just a figment of some creative writer or moviemaker’s imagination. We are real
.
” Tate crossed his arms over his broad chest and leaned his hip against the dresser.

“Wha...wha…what kind of shape
-
shifter are you?” Kimber took two steps back until she ran into the wall.

Instead of answering, Tate pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it on the bed. Kimber’s mouth went dry at the broad, heavily muscled chest covered with a pelt of tawny fur. Her fingers itched with a need to see if the hair was soft and silky or coarse. She swallowed when he bent over, untied, and took off his boots and socks. After his feet were bare, he straightened
,
and his hands went to the waistband of his jeans.

“What are you doing?” Kimber squeaked as he unbuttoned the top two buttons of his jeans
,
proving he wore nothing beneath them.

“You don’t seem like the kind of person who will believe without proof,” he said as his fingers continued to work the buttons free.

Kimber’s breath caught
,
and her mouth went dry when the thick, purple-red head of his erect cock popped into view. She tried to turn away, look anywhere else in the room, but the sight of Tate bending over and pushing off his jeans entranced her. She pulled in a sharp breath when he straightened, now completely naked. His fully aroused cock extended long, thick, and proud from the sandy brown curls at the apex of his thighs.

“Oh, my God,” she breathed
,
unable to tear her eyes from his erection. She took a step forward, her fingers itching to touch it, feel it, play with it.

But before she could take a second one, the man disappeared
,
and in his place stood a huge tawny cougar. She froze as the big animal with Tate’s blue eyes met her gaze. He looked fierce, but after a moment
,
she decided that was because of his darker facial markings and not because he was angry with her. His eyes looked wary as he waited for her to do something.

Though normally scared of big animals and wild
things
of any size, Kimber felt herself drawn to this one. She was also shocked that she would now be living with a real live shape
-
shifter. Though her pussy had been wet and ready for sex the entire time they worked, it now began to tingle and itch as it demanded more than just a play session with her toys.

“Tate? Can you understand me?” she asked, stumbling to the bed and sitting down when her knees went weak.

The big cat nodded once before slowly padding to her and laying his head in her lap.

“You’re beautiful,” she said, holding her hand out so he could sniff at
it
as she would with any animal she did not know.

Instead of smelling her fingers, he licked them, his tongue rough against her skin but causing her to giggle in response. The hesitation in his eyes turned to warmth and then hunger as he pressed forward, rubbing his chest and legs against her lower legs. She began to stroke him, smiling when he began to purr. When his head dropped and he pressed his face into the
V
of her thighs as if he wanted to get at the cream soaking her panties, she knew she was in real trouble.

Shape
-
shifter or not, she wanted Tate Pierce more than any man she had ever met before.

“Sorry, but I don’t do animals,” she said, scruffing her fingers in the fur just behind his ears, “and I need to know more about this mate stuff before you get to lick any of
that
cream, buster.”

In a heartbeat, Tate shifted back. His cock, and the rest of him,
demanded he
clear up any questions or problems she had so he could move forward in claiming his mate. The fact that she was willing to even discuss his true nature gave him hope that things would very soon go beyond being simply roommates.

Once back in human form, he grinned when his nose remained just inches from her cloth-covered pussy. He took a deep breath. The scent of her arousal filled his lungs. He nuzzled his nose up and down the seam of her jeans, feeling her pussy lips pressing against the other side of the material.

His cockhead drooled as he took an even deeper breath, which he released on a groan. Damn, his mate smelled so damn good. He could not wait to strip her and lap at her cream. Before he could rip through the jeans with his teeth, her fingers tightened in his hair and pulled his head back.

“Owww,” he yelped, sitting back when she finally released his hair.

“I said we need to talk, not fool around,” she scolded
,
though her color was high, telling him he wasn’t the only one all wound up.

“Couldn’t we do both?”

She shook her head in answer. After glancing at his still
-
hard cock, she stood up and walked out of the room. “And put on some clothes,” she threw over her shoulder.

Tate grinned and grabbed his jeans. Slipping them on, he followed
the
trail of her scent to the kitchen where she was standing in front of the open refrigerator. Stopping right behind her, he rested his chin on her shoulder and looked into the empty box as well.

“How about I take you out for a burger? Then we can hit the grocery store,” he offered gently as he slipped his hands around her waist before pulling her back against his front.

Before he had even finished speaking, she began shaking her head.

“Why not?”

She took a deep breath and closed the refrigerator door before pulling out of his hold. He released her then followed as she stalked slowly into the living room.

“I can’t go grocery shopping until next week,” she said sadly.

“Why not?” he repeated, leaning against the arched doorway that divided the dining room from the living room.

She stopped and looked in his eyes
,
and he immediately straightened. Whatever she was about to say was going to be hard for her. He wanted to cross the distance between them but knew instinctively that she would not appreciate his comfort until she had her say.

She took a deep breath
,
and her eyes dropped to his chest for a few seconds before dropping further until she was staring at the floor between them. “Because my car needed new tires so it would pass inspection
.
I don’t have anything left I can sell except my forty-year-old body
,
and no one wants to rent an old woman when they can have some twenty-something hard body, and I don’t want to have to get a real job,” she said miserably.