It was bent slightly at the second wound. It was noticeable, but there was still swelling to go down. It would probably get better.
Her hips flexed and she let out a hiss.
“Not yet, huh?” He fingered one of her ears, rubbing the tip in a circular motion. “Okay, baby. Are you ready? Let’s do this.”
He stepped back, giving her room to maneuver.
“See what you can do.”
Tentatively, she took a step forward. Wobbly, but determined to go farther. Just like his Layna. His sassy little sweetheart with a dirty mouth.
His grin split his face and she seemed to scowl.
“What?” he asked, watching her take another off-balance step. “You’re sexy like that. All focused and determined to get what you want.”
Her eyes narrowed and she licked her lips, looking like she wanted to eat him. In a good way.
With a quick move, he yanked his shirt off and took two steps back.
“Incentive,” he said, when her feline gaze combed over his shoulders and chest.
More steady this time, she took two careful steps toward him as he slowly unbuckled his belt and stepped backward.
Again, she moved forward, her tail finding new ways to balance her until she barely swayed.
“What else shook I take off, my Layna? These jeans? It’s pretty damn cold out here, so you’ll have to make it worth it.”
She gave him a sexy growl and his cock went rock hard. He’d been so strung for her between last night and this morning, he wasn’t sure how he’d make it through without being a one pump chump. Maybe the cold would help.
He dropped his jeans, kicking them and his boots off at the same time, and then stepping backward again.
His cougar’s eyes widened at the sight of him almost bare. In all their close encounters, she hadn’t seen his body. He’d only seen hers.
That was about to change. Just a couple more steps.
Ryan dragged his hand down his rippled eight-pack abs, and tucked his thumb under the waistband of his boxer briefs. “Almost there, baby,” he husked.
Did she even realize she’d walked twenty feet without a single wobble? His woman was going to be just fine. He knew it.
She took two more steps as he edged backward around a rock.
Achingly slow, he slid his waistband down his hips, letting his erection pop out the top, big and bobbing for her touch.
But he didn’t make it all the way down with his pants because the cougar took a bounding leap, landing with her front paws on his chest, and shifting in the next blink. Her claws retracted to soft human hands and her body, smooth and tender, pressed into him with urgency.
“Got you,” she breathed. “Now what am I going to do with you?”
“Anything you want.” He smacked both palms on her ample ass and squeezed, bringing her even closer for his kiss.
***
Ryan tasted delicious. Hot and sultry, pushing away the chill of December air. She needed him fully, to be one with him in the purest way. They couldn’t wait any longer. She needed his physical claiming the way she needed her next breath to live.
Mine, her cougar moaned.
She broke their kiss and trailed her mouth down his rough jaw. He had the face of a magazine model, all sharp features with those soft eyes. He melted her. Down his neck, she sucked, earning tortured groans from his lips. Nipping her way lower and lower, she traced every defined abdominal muscle with her tongue, and that ridge that slanted toward his hard erection.
Going to her knees, she was finally there. Right where she wanted to be. Face to groin.
He gasped as she took him in her hand, finally feeling that part of him that had ached for her body to relieve it. Gently she ran her fingers along his length as he stood there, hips jutting forward, clenching his fists over and over.
“Layna, I—”
She didn’t let him finish. Instead, she took him into her mouth, tasting him for the first time, drawing him all the way to the back of her throat. Her cat purred at his flavor.
His trembling hand brushed her hair from her face. “Baby…”
She met his gaze, swirling her tongue around his tip, and he squeezed his eyes closed as the pleasure flowed through their bond so perfectly.
“Please,” he groaned. “This will be over too fast.”
She sucked hard, releasing him with a soft pop.
“Need to get you home,” he rumbled. “Need to make you mine.”
Layna shook her head. “Can’t wait. Take me right here.”
He pulled her forward, his mouth dropping to her breast. “Our first time can’t be in the woods,” he murmured between nips and licks. “What kind of fairytale goes like that?”
“The kind…” Layna moaned when he took her hard nipple gently between his teeth. “The kind that happens beneath the mistletoe.”