After they’d incarcerated him, the leaders had called a pack meeting in the Town Hall. Since neither Grant nor Sherrie were pack members, they’d been excluded. In the early hours of morning, John had given Sherrie directions to his house only a few blocks away and watched while Grant escorted her down the street. Reluctantly, he’d turned and entered the Town Hall to tell his tale once more for the assembled village. Heated discussion of how their prisoner should be dealt with had followed, but, as usual, the Council’s word was law and everyone eventually bowed to it.
Now, as John walked home, he couldn’t wait to take a shower and fall into bed…with Sherrie. He wished he could have her to himself, but imagined he’d find her curled up in his bed with Grant. The thought made his hackles rise.
Their threesome had been necessary, and if he was going to be honest, he’d been turned on by the panther’s deep kiss. But he sure as hell didn’t want to share Sherrie with him on a regular basis. If she was even his to share. His gut told him they were meant to be mated, but that didn’t mean she felt the same way.
Maybe she wouldn’t want to stay with him. Maybe he was completely nuts and jumping the gun by thinking of her as his.
When he reached home, the front door was unlocked as always. One of the perks of living in Browning was the practically nonexistent crime rate. Perron wasn’t sleeping on the couch, and John’s heart dropped as he walked back to the bedroom, expecting to find the pair of them together.
He pushed open the door. The blinds were drawn. Only a little light crept in around the edges, but it was enough to see that only one person occupied the bed. Sherrie slept naked with the covers pooled around her hips and one arm flung above her head. A gentle snore issued from her parted lips.
John stared at the delectable sight of her breasts rising and falling with every breath, her brown hair tumbled across the pillow. He wouldn’t have thought he had enough energy left to raise another erection, but his cock evidently had more resiliency than he did as it sprang to attention. He didn’t spare a thought about where Perron had gone as he stripped off his clothes and climbed beneath the covers beside Sherrie’s soft, sleepy body. He sank gratefully into the mattress and wrapped his arm around her.
Sherrie snorted and her mouth snapped shut. She made a small grumbling sound of annoyance and rolled onto her side. John snuggled against her backside and pressed a kiss to her shoulder. She smelled of his shampoo and soap, and her hair was still a little damp. He probably should’ve grabbed a shower too, before lying down, but he was too damn tired.
A moment later, Sherrie shifted in his arms and pressed her bottom against his erection. “You’re back,” she murmured. “How’d it go?”
“Banishment. That’s the worst punishment we have, sending someone away from the pack. I don’t know if it’s much of a punishment for Blake, but that’s what they decided. If he’s ever seen in our territory again, he’ll be hunted and killed.”
“Sounds fair, but creepy having him still out there somewhere.” She glanced over her shoulder at him.
“If you could’ve seen inside his mind, it was a scary place.”
“I worry that he might try to come after you when you go home. Maybe you should stay here awhile.” She rolled onto her back and looked into his face. A smile curved her lips. “Is this your way of asking me to live with you? John, we barely know each other.” He ducked his head, feeling like a fool. “I know, but I want you to stay. Not because of Blake, but because I like you. I feel…”
“…a connection,” she said in unison with him. “Me, too, as crazy as it sounds. And it’s not about the sex or the power-sharing. It’s something more.”
“We call it the mating bond. I never much bought into the idea before, but this has hit me upside the head like a baseball bat.”
Her smile broadened to a grin and she reached up to touch the side of his face. “How romantic.”
“Will you stay? See how you like living in Browning?” Her mouth was drawing him like a magnet.
He couldn’t drag his gaze from it.
Sherrie bit her lower lip as though considering. “Got any diners in town? I may be only a mediocre actress, but I’m a helluva waitress.”
He dipped his face toward hers and latched onto her mouth, tasting minty-sweet toothpaste, then he pulled away and answered. “Considering you saved our people, I think you can have about any job in town you want. We all owe you.”
“Naw. It took all three of us.” She curved her hand around the back of his neck and kissed him again, slowly, tenderly. “By the way, Grant’s gone home. He wanted to check on his people. Says he’ll drop by sometime for a visit.”