Secretly Mated(7)

“No,” she ground out. “I would never. You know that.”

He bent to her neck, his ball cap sliding back on his forehead as he inhaled again. “Then what is that smell?”

Sadness. The smell was sadness buried so deep she hardly ever admitted it was there. And he didn’t recognize it because what little time they spent together was all about arousal. Arousal cancelled out sadness. Usually.

“It’s nothing.”

His frown deepened to a scowl. “I don’t like it. I want it off of you. I want…” His throat worked around a swallow. “I want you to smell like me.”

But that wasn’t true. Showering immediately after their union   was always a requirement. If she was honest, it was probably her favorite part. Or at least bittersweet. She loved the tender way he bathed and cared for her; she hated watching his scent go down the drain.

“For just a little while,” she said, hoping he was trying to tell her something different this time.

But he nodded in agreement. “For a little while.”

His mouth swooped in to kiss her lips, but she stopped him. She had to know first.

“Did you?”

The question barely made it past her voice box. If he was with another female, it would crush her. Her heart would be dust in the palm of his hand.

They’d made a promise in the beginning. They’d never break the clan’s no-mating pact, and always fulfill their sexual needs with each other. There was no way to know for sure if Owyn had kept his part, but she had.

His eyes narrowed.

“Did I what?” his voice whipped.

She had to swallow the fear down before she was able to voice her question.

“Have another?” Doc jutted her chin to make her whisper-thin voice seem stronger.

“If I had, do you think I’d be here right now, needing you so fucking bad I want to kill somebody?”

That wasn’t an answer.

“Just tell me,” she snapped. “I’m a big girl. I can handle it.”

Those words weren’t true. She could never handle something like that. It was why she’d joined Magic’s clan in the first place.

Owyn fumed. He was strung so tight, he was mentally more animal than man. Whatever was going on with him, he needed a release. Soon.

“I’m going to fuck you now, unless you stop me.”

She couldn’t stop him. Oh sure, she could say no, and he’d honor that. Owyn was a good man. But her heart, her body, it bent to his will no matter what. She needed this pairing as much as he did. And inside, her cat wailed for him like an in-heat tabby.

She needed and wanted him. End of story.

It was their bond. They were secretly mated. He was hers. Her secret pleasure, her secret torture.

She had one final thought as he prepared her for his body.

What would their secrets do to them before it was all over?

And then she lost herself in her mate’s attention.

***

Owyn’s panther roared beneath the surface. They’d been away from mate too long. Now mate smelled all wrong. Needed to fix it. Make her feel good and make her smell like his.

Forcing his hands to be gentle, he tilted her head back to get full access to her beautiful neck. He buried his face at the curve where it met up with her shoulder, nuzzling with his lips.

Too rough. Her pale skin went pink from the brushing of his day old beard.

Owyn lapped at the spot with his tongue to sooth it and Doc let out a strangled moan.

What he wouldn’t give for her to be free to respond as loudly as she desired. What a rush it would be to hear his female scream his name while he gave her body what it needed.

Panther roared louder, and Owyn clenched his teeth to keep the sound from escaping.

Grief and regret swirled with desire and need. He was a fucking mess right now. With what he’d learned while visiting the dogs, about their Christmas visitor and shifter hunters, and his little meeting with Magic and Gash about the shadow clan… he needed Doc to make him solid again. He needed her to anchor him to life again so he could think.

Make her need you.

It had been his goal for five damn years whether she knew it or not.

Grabbing a handful of her long platinum hair, he brought the strands to his nose and inhaled. Mmm. There she was, his mate with her scent of sweet orange flowers. How she smelled like an orange grove in the middle of the mountains, he didn’t know, but it was his favorite smell.

With his other hand he quickly unbuttoned her shirt, pushing it and her white lab coat from her shoulders so her pink bra was exposed. Nice, but he wanted that out of the way too. He needed skin to skin. So close he could forget they were two separate people.

Owyn ripped his shirt over his head and flung it. Somewhere over his shoulder there was a soft thud and crash.