Cougar Wants [Cougarlicious] (Siren Publishing Classic) (6 page)

“Huh?”

“I’ve been struggling to keep ahead of my bills and was doing okay. Or so I thought. But right now
,
I don’t have the money to buy a gallon of milk, much less restock the refrigerator. I gave you my last twenty dollars for the pizza last night,” she said.

She kept her head down so he could not see her face, but he saw water spots appeared on her shirt as tears overflowed her eyes. He could read resigned sadness in her posture even without the heightened awareness connection of their being mates.

“That’s why you rented me the room,” he stated.

Her head moved up and down slowly as her misery
seemed to
overwhelm her. “Yes, that’s why I rented the room. It was the only way I could think of to make enough extra money to pay all the bills, buy groceries, and maybe even
, maybe,
rebuild my savings account
be
for
e
the next disaster
strikes
.”

Unable to stay away another second, Tate crossed to her. Pulling her into his arms, he wrapped one arm around the back of her shoulders and the other around her waist. “Go ahead and cry. Let all that bad stuff out
,
and we’ll deal with it. Together.”

Without another word, she inched her arms around his waist. He took her weight easily as she leaned even closer and rested her wet cheek against his bare chest. Hot tears scalded his skin when she began to sob.

Dropping his head forward, he rested his cheek against the top of her head and offered silent comfort. “Let it all out, baby. I’ll take good care of you from now on.”

Kimber shook her head. “No, I can’t take your charity. I’ve got to show them I can make it on my own doing what I want to do.”

“Shhh, baby. It will be all right.” Tate frowned at her words as one hand began to move up and down her back slowly.

“No, it won’t. Every time I get a little bit ahead, something happens to knock me back into the gutter,” she whined, her tears getting even stronger.

Tate began to shuffle them toward the large red chair. Once there, he lifted her easily. Sitting down, he settled her across his lap with her cheek still pressed against his chest. She did not seem to notice their change in position as her crying continued.

He cuddled her until her tears stopped
,
and she lay quietly in his arms, occasionally sniffing or lifting a hand to wipe at her face. Brushing a kiss on her forehead, he decided it was time to give her something else to think about. After all, he could not claim her as his mate until she knew the truth about his cougar.

“Cougar shape
-
shifters are, for the most part, solitary creatures. Wolves, dogs, and other species run in groups called packs. They love one another, protect and care for each other, and are closer than most families. Cougars are different. Once we hit adulthood
,
we run alone, depending on no one but ourselves until we find our mate. Once we find and claim the person we’re destined to spend our lives with, we will do anything necessary to keep our mate happy and safe. I’ve been alone since my father kicked me out of his house when I was sixteen. Since then I’ve been looking for my mate. And I’ve found her in you.”

Kimber shifted on his lap
,
and his breath caught as her hip pressed against his erection, sending shivers through him. Would he be able to hold off his orgasm long enough to make sure she was also satisfied?

Dropping her head back, she looked up at him, her brown eyes still glistening. “But how do you
know
I’m your mate?”

Tate smiled and brushed a strand of hair from her cheek as he tried to figure out how to answer her question. How was he supposed to explain that just her scent was enough to make him crazy?

“Nature has its ways of
e
nsuring that mates find one another. Just trust that I am absolutely certain we are meant to be together for the rest of our lives. You are my mate.”

He knew he was pushing hard, but if he didn’t claim her
,
and soon, he thought he would go out of his mind with lust. Without an older shape
-
shifter to answer his questions that had come up over the years, he didn’t have a lot of information, but his father had taught him how he would know his mate and how to claim her.

“But you’re so young,” she said softly, dropping her gaze to his chin. “How can you
know
that you’re meant to be with a forty-year-old woman for the next forty or fifty years?”

“Because I look at you and the rest of the world drops away
,
and all I can see is you. All you have to do is walk into the room
,
and I get hard. I’ve never in my life felt such a sense of peace in my soul as I have since meeting you last night.”

Kimber raised her eyes to his once again. “Really?” she asked, looking amazed.

“Really,” he said, closing the distance between them and kissing her.

Their moans harmonized as lips and teeth and tongues came together in a kiss that grew hotter by the second.

“Tate,” Kimber breathed when they parted for a second to suck air.

“Mmmm,” Tate returned as he pulled her lips back to his.

His cock throbbing at the same accelerated rate as his heartbeat
.
H
e was not sure how much longer he would be able to hold his cougar back from attacking and claiming his mate.

* * * *

Kimber was surprised that she was not questioning Tate’s sanity or her own. After all, he had proved that he was what he claimed to be, a shape
-
shifting cougar. And she, too, felt a connection with him that went beyond anything she had ever felt for anyone before. It was not merely physical, it was as if he was the other half of her being.

She had wanted a man in her life since her split with her ex-husband but never expected to find someone like Tate. Knowing her own caring, giving personality and what Tate had told her about shape
-
shifters taking care of their mates, she had a feeling theirs would be a partnership, mateship, or whatever it was called, that would stand the test of time no matter what life threw their way.

When she began crying about her finances, it shocked her that instead of walking away or making derogatory comments about her acting like a child as her ex would have done, Tate had hugged her, comforted her, and assured her that things would all work out. She only hoped he spoke the truth.

Slipping her hands up his chest to hold his head still, she broke the kiss a second time. “Tate,” she whispered hoarsely, meeting blue eyes that glowed with sexual hunger.

He took a deep breath before saying, “Yes, love?”

“Make me your mate.”

Tate blinked and stared at her as if stunned by her words. “Are you sure?”

His sudden hesitation sent a cold chill through her. Maybe he was having second thoughts about having an older woman as his mate. She tried to leave his lap, wondering if this whole thing, from renting the room to allowing him to move in and now this request, wasn’t a big mistake.

Problem was, Tate’s arms wrapped tight around her and refused to let her move. It was as if he could read her mind.

“Kimber, stop,” he ordered, sounding pained as she continued to squirm and fight for her release.

His tone struck a chord deep within her
,
and she froze. Looking across the room so she wouldn’t see his expression, she took a deep breath and released it slowly, trying to relax.

“If you’ve changed your mind
,
it’s okay. We can still be roommates, just without the mating stuff.”

“Look at me,” he demanded, his voice soft and low.

Again, as if he held total control of her will, Kimber turned and met his gaze. She swallowed when she saw how serious he looked.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you, but I wanted to be sure that this is what you want. Once I mate you
,
that’s it. There will be no others for either of us as long as we both shall live. Mating is a life-binding contract, even more so than being married these days
,
and I just want to make sure you are sure this is what you want.”

Kimber swallowed again before nodding. “I’m sure. It’s crazy, but there’s something powerful between us that makes me feel safe…protected…almost…”
—
she hesitated as she thought about her next word
—
“for the first time in my life. Not even my ex-husband made me feel like this
,
and we were married for years.”

She held her gaze steady as Tate stared into her eyes. It was as if he was trying to read her soul. Whatever he saw must have satisfied him, for in the next moment
,
he nodded before smiling a smile that had her wiggling on his lap again. This time she did not want to escape but get closer.

She rose from his lap, earning her a low chuff from her cougar mate-to-be. The sound did not scare her nor did the hand that grabbed her arm. Once on her feet
,
she turned and climbed back in his lap, this time straddling his legs.

“How does this work?”

Her fingers began tracing random patterns across his chest, finding the hair that covered it was indeed silky to her touch. The warmth that radiated from his skin made her want to strip off her dress, lean close
,
and just rub up against him.

He did not answer right away. Instead, his hands slid up the outsides of her thighs and hips to the waistband of her thong.

“We make love
,
and once our juices mix inside you, we will be mated for the rest of our lives.” His words were low and growly, sending more shivers through her.

His fingers slipped under the elastic of her thong and moved back and forth, sending heat straight to her pussy, which caused more fluid to pulse forth. Then his hands moved back down the way they had come. She sighed a protest when he lifted them from her body completely.

Before she could form words to complain, he wrapped one hand around the back of her neck and pulled her head closer so he could reach her lips. His other hand went to the low
V
of the neckline of her dress. Though distracted by the kiss, Kimber also remained aware as he worked each button free until her dress opened.

He broke the kiss as he pushed the sides of her dress apart. “Oh, God, you are beautiful.”

Though she wanted to argue that she was hardly a hard-body, the words flew from her brain at the heat she saw in his eyes. He then leaned forward and dragged his tongue over her right nipple. A moment later, he moved across her chest to swirl the tip around her left. Dropping his head back,
his
hands came up and covered her breasts.

“So pretty,” he breathed, slowly dragging his fingers up the mounds. “So soft.”

Tate took her nipples between his fingertips, sending electricity straight to her clit. Her pussy clenched in response. She could not fight the soft moan when he began rolling her nipples. She moved her hands to the waistband of his jeans as her hips shifted, pressing her lower lips against his erection.

“Need you,” she breathed, leaning closer to kiss him as she fumbled with the button-fly of his jeans.

She sighed when his fingers left her breasts. Hot, callused fingertips traced down the center of her body. She whined a soft protest when they disappeared from her body completely and brushed her hands away from his lap. Pulling her lips from his, she dropped her forehead to his shoulder and watched as he took over unbuttoning his jeans himself.

“Lift up, sugar,” he said in a low, deep voice once the last button had slipped from its mooring.

As she rose from his lap, he shoved his jeans down to his knees, freeing his cock. Then his hands came up and cupped her ass cheeks. She shivered when two fingertips slid down the valley of her ass and over her puckered star. Tate did not hesitate before moving even deeper between her legs until he reached her pussy.

“So wet. So hot,” he murmured as two fingers pressed about an inch into her.

Kimber moaned and tightened her hold on his shoulders as she tried to take his fingers deeper. Instead of filling her, his fingers pulled from her core.

“Tate, please,” she whimpered as arousal surged.

A moment later
,
the head of his cock brushed against her centerline, following the same path from asshole to pussy. Only his cock continued until it stroked over her clit and all the way to the top of her slit. Then he reversed direction. When he reached her knotted clit, he teased her by circling it instead of brushing over the top of it.

Kimber whined and shifted, bowing her back to capture the spongy head with her pussy. Tate moved away again, stroking back up between her lips as he chuckled.

“Stop teasing me!” she growled, tightening her fingers in his shoulders until her nails pressed into the skin.