Bad Kitty (11 page)

Kitty bared her teeth and
lunged for his throat. She didn't want to hear his bullshit now or
any time in the future. Unfortunately between the ropes binding her
wrists and the arms like tree trunks pinning her, he kept her
several inches from her target. She bucked her hips hoping to make
him lose his balance
,
only to slam her sex against the unmistakable hard ridge of
his very stiff erection. Her sharp intake of breath brought a smile
to Rafe's face. The slow spread of his lips held as much menace as
they did promise.

Oh hell. He'd found the perfect channel for
her rage.

Synapses misfired in her brain as her body
caught immediate fire from the contact. Her already sensitive skin
grew taut and the nerve endings between her legs began to throb in
time with her rapidly increasing pulse. This wasn't how she was
supposed to feel. Ten minutes ago she'd been in the throes of a
full-blown rage ready to tear his entire house down piece by piece
if that's what it took to feel better. Now she wanted nothing more
than to touch...feel this man above her.

A quiet rumble began to
form in her throat. Dear God
,
if she started to purr she was going to kill him
just to save face. Kitty bit her lips to keep the not so nice
retort contained. She'd done enough damage for one day.

In a brief moment of weakness, Kitty stared
into the warm brown depths of Rafe's eyes. She watched mesmerized,
as the colors of his eyes changed as some of his wolf emerged. The
tiny flecks of gold enlarged to meld with the brown to an intense
bronze that mesmerized her. Some of the thoughts keeping her wound
tight softened around the edges. Heat flared in her body and
swelled through her limbs. Her brain tried to make sense of what
was happening but she couldn't think beyond the longing rising in
her chest and making her tingle.

The urge to rub her thighs together
overwhelmed her. Unfortunately with his body pressed to hers and
his hips settled between the vee of her legs, there would be no
self-inflicted friction to ease the sudden need she didn't
understand.

With the air charging between them, Rafe
opened his mouth on a sigh and she spotted the sharp points of his
canines. Images of his mouth pressed to her shoulder and those
teeth sliding into her flesh flooded her mind. With a slight growl,
he lowered his head and pressed his nose to her left cheek. He
inhaled. The small gesture shifted something inside Kitty that
scared the hell out of her. She had to get her head on
straight.

"You are a beautiful woman." His voice
sounded low and erratic, vibrating across her skin.

She sucked in a sharp breath at the sizzling
sensation rushing over her. Her thoughts buzzed with images of
naked skin and tight muscle. So much for getting her head on
straight. The will to be smart slowly eroded as she fantasized
about taking a taste of what this man seemed to offer. She was just
about to lean forward and tease his lips into the forbidden kiss
she couldn't stop dreaming of. One minute was all she needed. Just
a taste...

"Uhm. Excuse me."

The sound of Rafe's doctor friend at the
door broke them apart. Rafe abruptly withdrew from between her legs
and eased from the bed in the blink of an eye.

"What?" The rough question left little doubt
as to what they'd been about to do.

"Sorry
,
man. I didn't want to
interrupt."

"Then you shouldn't have.
Last time I checked
,
I've got a door." In a quick movement, the wolf untied one of
the ropes at her wrist and then reached for the second.

"Yeah, one I've been knocking on for five
minutes. Guess you couldn't hear me through all the hormones."

Rafe growled a not so subtle warning at his
friend. "So what is so damned important that I don't warrant any
privacy tonight?"

For a few moments the silence thickened in
the room. "You've been summoned."

Chapter Six

Rafe finished untying Kitty in silence
before turning to his omega. "How bad is it?"

"He's pissed. Tanner's been running his
mouth off to anyone and everyone and Burke has had enough. He wants
you two at his place yesterday so I wouldn't suggest making him
wait long."

"Uhm, excuse me." Kitty pushed at his arm
until he moved out of her way so she could sit up. "Anyone care to
explain to me what's going on?"

Rafe shook his head. He'd hoped there'd be
more time before it got to this. They still barely knew each other
and yet, the woman had stirred something inside him the wolf
couldn't let go of. He shifted uncomfortably to prove it. His balls
ached and his dick would not go down no matter how much he willed
it. They definitely needed more time.

"Your friend from the woods is looking to
take you back. I'm sure he figures you've healed by now and wolves
tend to get pretty possessive over their property." He shot a
pointed glance at his friend.

Simon held up his hands. "Don't look at me
like that. I told them she was having issues healing and put them
off as long as I could."

"Is that what you call this?" She held up
her arm and flaunted the rough puckered skin along her otherwise
smooth flesh. "An issue?"

"Don't," Rafe warned. He really didn't want
to get into this with her again.

"Whatever." She brushed his warning aside.
"That reminds me. Why the hell are there no mirrors in this
room?"

He shrugged. He had no intention of getting
into his reasoning for removing them. The damage to her arm and
side were bad enough but seeing the disfiguration of her face the
first time wasn't going to go well.

She pushed past Doc and started from the
room. "I don't know what you two are doing with your googly eyes
and bullshit sideways glances but I don't want any part of it.
Isn't it about time you released me? I've got a life to live you
know..." Her voice faded into the background as she wandered to the
other side of the house.

"Aren't you going to go after her?" Simon
questioned.

"Give her a minute. I don't think everything
I said has quite sunk in yet. Right now she's got a one-track mind
and isn't going anywhere. Nor is she going to find what she's
looking for."

His friend whistled. "What is going on with
you? This hard-on you have for her is giving me a headache."

"Shut the fuck up and tell me what else
Burke had to say."

"I'd be more worried about what he didn't
say. He ordered me to bring you and the girl in and then turned
silent. There's a huge storm brewing and I don't like the way it
feels. Tanner has managed to scrounge up a lot of support over the
last few days. There's a lot of grumbling about pack rules and
shit. And the pack women are spreading all kinds of rumors about
you two as we speak."

Rafe rolled his shoulders. "None of Tanner's
support matters when it comes down to it. At the end of the day
it's the dominant wolf who will prevail."

Doc nodded but the frown on his face
deepened. Rafe doubted his friend believed him. "You worry too
much."

"Someone around here has too."

Rafe ignored Simon's sarcasm. He could take
the ribbing to a point, especially when they were alone. As long as
he didn't poke too hard the wolf stayed out of it.

"Seriously?" Kitty quipped from the open
door. "Your best idea was to hide all the fucking mirrors? What
kind of bullshit is that?"

Simon snickered and Rafe shot him a warning
glare. He wasn't as easygoing as he wanted his friend to believe.
The snarky little cougar standing in his doorway had him so far on
the edge it wouldn't take much to tip him over. This visit with
Burke would prove to be his undoing if he didn't find some control
and soon. It wouldn't take much for the Alpha to sense how much she
meant to him.

"The kind where I don't need a hysterical
female on my hands today."

Her face flushed red and he swore he could
almost see her head about to blow before she even opened her mouth
again.

"Hysterical? Why you..."

Instead of the verbal vitriol he expected,
the cat sprung and landed claws out, piercing deep into the muscles
of his chest.

"Fuuuck!" He grabbed her around the waist
and found a handful of hair instead of the curves he expected. A
snarl sounded at his ear a second before her mouth clamped onto his
throat and the first tug of his vein served as the only warning
that she'd hit gold. The little bitch could rip his throat out and
there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. She'd caught him
off guard and managed to trap him. He forced his body to still and
willed the wolf to stay inside. A fight now might not go in his
favor. The deep wail of the cat warned him how lost in the blood
lust she'd managed to get in the few seconds since she'd grabbed
him.

"Jesus Christ, Rafe." Simon cried from the
opposite side of the bed. The stench of his friend's fear filled
the room quickly.

"Get out," he croaked. It wasn't easy to
talk with a fully primed and shifted she cougar straddling his
chest while she pinned him to the ground, all but daring him to
move.

"But..." Simon started to protest.

The cat hissed and the other man must have
gotten the message. Rafe sensed the moment his friend left the room
and he'd been left alone to deal with his mate.

Mate.

There it was again. The primal claim that
wouldn't stop beating in his head since the moment he'd found her
in the woods. She had to know it. Had to feel it too. Why else
would he still be alive? The intrinsic instinct of the animal knew
its mate. It was the one thing that superseded all others. The
continuation of the species.

He took a chance the woman
still lurked close to the surface and wrapped his arms around the
lithe feline body of the supple cougar. Short fur brushed the fine
hairs of his arms and made his skin tingle from the top of his
head
,
to the
bottom of his feet and everywhere in between. Blood rushed to his
groin, hardening his shaft and the challenge to claim he'd tried to
deny began. In a way he felt helpless to stop it and in another he
never wanted to. His whole life he'd wondered what it would feel
like to have someone be this in tune with him--this connected. All
his.

With slow, careful
movements he swiped his hands down her torso and marveled at the
strength he found just under the surface of her cougar's skin. Taut
muscles teased as well as served as a reminder that she too was as
much a predator as he, maybe more so. Felines weren't known for
their pack nature like wolves. They hunted alone and
often
,
and rarely
mated for life. It was more their human DNA that held them together
as a group, not the animal. That solitary nature made his kind wary
of getting too close to their breeds. Their loyalty was never
certain and they trusted the wolf breeds even less.

So why her and why now? The question
continued to plague him despite the lingering doubts. He turned his
face into her side and pressed his nose to her fur, inhaling deep.
She constantly reminded him of a field of wildflowers on a hot
summer day with an underlying scent of something else. He breathed
again, this time deeper. Fear. Faint but unmistakable. The truth of
their situation sliced deep. If they were to mate, a mix of their
breeds would bring nothing but trouble. He'd seen it first hand.
Which still did nothing to deter him from petting her further. The
first twinge of magic from her suffused him with an intoxicating
wave of arousal as the big cat in his arms turned seamlessly to the
woman he desired above all else.

Fur turned to warm, fragrant skin that slid
against him sinuously, teasing his senses. Instinct guided him as
he stroked and touched everywhere that he could. His Kitty was
scared and he didn't blame her. The best he could offer her for now
was a distraction--through pleasure. Yes, more pleasure than either
of them could possibly bear.

Soon the reality of their situation would
crash down on them and she'd be faced with multiple issues that
would threaten her life and his sanity.

A growl slid along his throat.

Protect
.

Fight
.

When Kitty hissed, Rafe realized he'd
tightened his hand to a white knuckled grip around her arm. For
fuck's sake. He would be no help to her if he couldn't even control
his baser urges.

Pleasure. Focus. Give her what she needs and
show her how it can be. Somehow his brain managed a few last
coherent thoughts before he flipped her to the floor and came down
on top of her. Her body called to him, made him want to see her
submitting to both their needs. But this wasn't about control. He
sensed something more important happening between them. Deeper. He
wanted her to feel the same connection he did from the inside out.
There was a lesson here they both needed to learn. Sometimes
genetics and clan rules were meant to be broken. If only for a
moment...

"You could have killed me," he bit out
before bending to her shoulder and pressing his lips to her naked
skin. "Why didn't you?"

She shrugged.

He didn't really want or expect an answer.
There were too many emotions and issues swirling between them for
that conversation. He trailed his fingers from the outside of one
knee, along the curve of her hip until he spanned her side with one
hand. With more reserve than he thought he possessed, he leaned
forward and touched his lips to her damaged face. Her reflexive
jerk did nothing to deter him as he tightened his grip on her waist
and continued to caress her scar.