He tossed his head back and held on for all he was worth as her tongue swirled over his crown. Lacey sucked his shaft deep down her throat, again tempting him to thrust. The warm, wet orifice felt unbelievably good, with her plump lips surrounding him while her tongue stroked his length. The overwhelming need inside his balls built to near explosive levels.
Lacey deep-throated his full length in one slow, smooth, fluid movement, and at that moment Hunter experienced heaven on earth. His mind couldn’t focus on anything but the pleasure. But when he opened his eyes and met hers, he realized with a mouth as talented as hers, he should be the one on his knees worshipping her.
She hand-pumped his cock and took him down her throat again, forcing him to tighten his control. He took a deep breath, forking his fingers through her golden hair for better purchase, and held her in place. Her tongue stroked and her lips vibrated over his crown, moaning as if she was eating a decadent dessert. She sucked and paused several times until the pressure behind his balls ached to release.
Hunter gasped, unable to stand holding back any more, and then pulled out. His cock jerked, objecting to being separated from the pleasure. He had barely prevented her from devouring him and bringing him to completion in that tempting mouth of hers.
“Hunter, I want this. You smell delicious.” Lacey mumbled, nuzzling his groin. “Let me do this for you—for me. I want to taste you.”
She wanted him, but Hunter realized she wasn’t ready for complete intimacy. She would do this much, satisfying him and her need for his lion’s essence…but no more. Lacey wasn’t going to let him fuck her. Not yet.
He should be satisfied knowing she wanted him, needed him sexually in some way at least. With time, she might be able to accept him completely.
“God, Lacey, how could any man resist an offer like that from these lips?”
Hunter leaned over and kissed her, driving his tongue inside her mouth and devouring her. He tasted a hint of his own wild, tangy flavor inside her mouth. Yes, he wanted her to swallow as much of his essence as possible. The more of his taste and scent she experienced, the closer they would become.
Lacey smiled a feline grin, licking her lips when his fingers wound through her hair and he drew her closer to his engorged shaft. “Like I said—I’m all yours.”
Eventually, her lioness would beg to have his cock inside her. Fucking the lioness was the only way to scratch her itch. When the time came, he wanted her prepared for him, but they both had to be ready for the commitment.
Hunter felt the moon’s pull ever since he’d been infected, and it wouldn’t be long before Lacey completed her transition and shifted. Her scent grew stronger, and his skin prickled with need.
He loved her enthusiastic mouth, but his lion was roaring inside him, demanding to take his mate. For her own safety, Hunter gave himself up to Lacey’s ministrations and didn’t hold back when she started bobbing up and down around his cock, building the pressure behind his balls to explosive levels.
“Lace, I’m going to come. If you don’t want to—”
She pressed a finger inside his ass and Hunter lost it. Cum erupted, spewing into her mouth and down her throat while she sucked, swallowed, and licked, not missing a drop.
“I warned you—”
“I told you. I wanted to taste you.” Lacey narrowed her eyes and licked her lips with that sexy feline smile. “You taste wonderful. I feel better than I have in months.”
Her eyes slowly focused on her hand. She still held his semi-hard cock in her fist. Suddenly, she turned aside. With a shy glance up at Hunter she released him. He wanted to cry at the loss of her touch, but he sensed she wasn’t ready for more.
“Are you ready to head back to the ranch?”
She nodded shyly, looking uncomfortable. “Bryan will be wondering…”
“Bryan will know you’re okay with me.”
“But…he’ll be wondering about…us.”
“Lacey? Are you okay with us? Because… Hell, I don’t know how to tell you this.”
“What?” Lacey looked so innocent—so confused.
“Bryan already knows…about this. You’re bound to him. He can sense your thoughts, experience your emotions.”
“Oh, God.” She moaned and covered her face. “Why didn’t someone tell me this before?”
“I thought you understood. Don’t be embarrassed. He knew what we were going to do.”
“Knowing is one thing. Sharing is another. Poor Bryan.”
“You must have been linked to his feelings before.”
“Yes, I guess. I never quite understood it.” She picked up her clothes and got dressed. “We should get back. I need to see him.”
“No. Let me do this. I think I know where he is.”
Hunter rode the Appaloosa and brought along a second horse, tethered behind him. Bryan wondered what took him so long. It was only a matter of time before his brother found him. He shouldn’t have had trouble tracking him since Bryan had listed all the places he stashed clothes for him last week. He’d started that practice anytime they settled in an area so he’d never be caught with his pants off.
Hunter also knew the high cliffs were one of Bryan’s favorite places to think.
“You okay, bro? Lacey’s concerned.” Hunter’s deep voice on the trail behind him didn’t surprise him.
“I’m fine. I came up here to get away from the two of you. How is she?”
“You don’t know?”
Bryan shook his head without looking at Hunter. “I shifted and ran. Put space between us. I needed to be far enough away to avoid the emotions.”
“She’ll be relieved to hear that. Apparently, she didn’t understand your connection with each other. She freaked out when I told her you could sense her feelings.”
“When her need pounds at me, it’s almost impossible to resist.”
“Where did you go?”
“Went hunting on my land—Emma’s portion of the Cauldwell spread. Found a rabbit while I sniffed around for clues.”
“Find anything else besides dinner?” Hunter asked and then snorted.
“The rabbit was a snack,” Bryan said. “I did find some tracks but they were old. The rogues had been out there. Not recently, though. I caught another scent—stench really. Not sure what it was. Definitely not wolf. More cat than dog, though. Nothing else.”
“In five years, dust settles. Someone could cover up a town in that time.”
“I know. But Lacey wants answers. She’ll need them if she’s ever going to trust me,” Bryan said.
“She’s going to need both of us. But Lacey, the woman, isn’t ready for a ménage relationship.”
“Her transition will be more difficult unless she agrees to accept us together.”
“You and I both know that, but…” Hunter lifted a shoulder in a careless shrug. “I’m not exactly sure how she feels about me. For now, the chemistry between our inner cats draws us together, but we don’t have the same human connection you two have.”
Bryan noticed that despite Hunter’s casual attitude, he wasn’t taking things as lightly as he made out. Bryan scrubbed his hands down his face. Frustrated. How were they going to manage this?
“Look, Hunter, she and I have history. Good and bad. She’s understandably attached to me emotionally, but if her lioness needs us both during her transition, will it matter?”
“No. Neither of us will allow her to go through the pain. We’ll ease her through her need. After, she can decide what she wants to accept.”
“Her ranch house won’t work after she starts the metamorphosis.” Bryan looked out over the hills. “Being out by the grotto and caves seems the best choice after the transition. We stay in the nearby cabin.” Bryan smiled. “It’s on my property and away from the town and neighbors.”
“Sounds like the perfect place to teach her shifting and hunting. Until she learns how to control her body, her change can take over anytime, anywhere,” Hunter said. “We need to be prepared.”
“Until when? How long, Hunter?”
“The next full moon cycle. Within the month, we should be able to convince her we’re what she wants. A month won’t give her time to master her ability to shift, though.”
“There’s so much to do to prepare,” Bryan said. They would have to hide her until she stabilized. “In the morning, I’m filing the papers to take back the ranch land. We’ll need the land.”
“One of us has to be with her at all times, Bryan. What do you plan to do about taking care of her ranch and the kids’ charity? Who is going to take over her riding business?”
“I’ll get Keiran to cover the charity for her. Thomas can oversee the horse business. He’s got a good mind for making money. Her classes at the university don’t start until next month. It’ll be close, but I think she’ll be able to manage it by then. Anything else, you or I can handle.”
“She has to agree.”
“Don’t count on it. She’s highly volatile. So are we, in our present state—at least ’til we establish the ménage bond between us. We have to convince her, in short order, to accept both of us.”
“Good luck.”
Lacey drifted out of her bedroom and curled up on the couch.
“Mmm, the heat feels good for a change, but I’m so sleepy I could take another nap.” Basking in the sun with her head on one arm, she looked up with those slanted cat eyes all rounded, innocent, and questioning. “Would you mind?”
Bryan shook his head. What he really wanted to do was blanket her with his own body. “No, you go ahead. Rest. You’ll need your strength.”
“Mmm, thanks,” she purred, but Bryan’s insides jerked awake when she smiled with the sultry, catlike features superimposed beneath her own lovely ones. The lioness’s full potential hadn’t emerged yet, but he was captivated watching her transformation. Lacey was so amazing he wondered if he’d survive her full transformation.
Soon her slumbered breathing turned to muffled snores. She kept shimmering back and forth between her human and mountain lion forms without truly taking on the lioness. It was hard to keep track of what she’d do next. For the moment, she claimed the one sunny spot in the room and curled up—human, naked, and sexy as hell.
Bryan picked up a blanket and cautiously covered her.
As they waited for the miracle of the transformation to complete, Bryan watched over her while Hunter sorted through the meager supplies they found in her kitchen.
“Thomas said her appetite’s been lousy.”
“Well, that’ll all change when she wakes up. This time she’ll be hungry—ready for red meat.”
Bryan remembered the hunger—the lack of control. Lacey would be ravenous for a week.
“Then for all our sakes, you better fix a meal out of what she’s got on hand until I can hunt up something more substantial.”
“Yeah, good thinking. I’d rather not be dinner,” Bryan said.
He found what he needed in the freezer and fried up some burgers. There were a few cans of chili in the pantry. He opened two and poured them into a pot to simmer until she woke.
His own stomach growled. “Guess I’m hungry, too.”
“You eat something before she wakes up and toss me a burger.” Hunter sniffed the delicious aroma wafting through the kitchen and glanced at Lacey through the doorway. She was still sleeping soundly. “I should go hunt up something more substantial.”
“Go ahead. I’ll be fine here with her.”
Lacey stretched out, moving to her side with a hand beneath her head. Looking more like an angel than the dangerous mountain lioness she was, she practically purred in her sleep. When she let out a deep rumble, Bryan looked at Hunter, acknowledging the danger with a knowing nod. Just because she looked human didn’t mean she was. During transition, residual feline traits would keep appearing without warning.
Instead of filling him with apprehension, the fact seemed to increase his interest. Maybe it was the cat inside him that was attracted to her wild side. Even knowing any moment she could shift and eat them for lunch, he couldn’t help responding to their bond. And he wasn’t alone. She had Hunter aroused, too. Being a lion’s snack should have been a sobering thought. Apparently, certain parts of their anatomy had minds of their own.
“Fuck this! We need to feed her this for now.” Hunter ordered, handing Bryan the burgers he’d cooked.
Before he pulled off his jeans, he said, “Remember, be careful while I’m gone. She’ll want fresh meat, and I don’t want her eating the horses when she wakes up.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be extra careful.” Bryan glanced at Lacey’s fingernails, noting that they’d grown while she slept. “I know how unstable she is right now.”
As an afterthought, Hunter asked, “Will you be able to resist her if I leave you two alone?”
“Our bond connects us. It should soothe the animal lust. You said I’ll be safe as long as she’s sexually satisfied while she goes through the remainder of her transition.”
“You sure you can handle her?” Hunter asked.
“Oh, I can handle Lacey.”
“Yeah, I know that. But remember, she’s not the old Lacey. Our little kitty is at a dangerous stage. Take care.”
“I’ll distract her with an orgasm or two if I have to.”
Lacey rolled over on her back and stretched. Her nails bit into the mattress and shredded the sheets as she released a growl.