Tiger Mate (Silverlake Shifters Book 3) Read online

  “All right,” she said. She withdrew her hand from his and took his beer instead. She took a sip and then handed it back. This time Jesse felt like she was deliberately putting space between them, but he didn’t object. He didn’t want to scare her off.

  “So,” she said. “No offense, sugar, but you look like you’ve been wrung out wet and dried all wonky. Nash been giving y’all a hard time with that mating contract?”

  Apparently, it was no secret. Jesse didn’t know why he’d thought it would be. A secret in a wolf pack was like a pond in the desert. Didn’t exist.

  Jesse gave a short laugh. “Does Nash ever give anybody an easy time?”

  The woman laughed at that, but she didn’t seem entirely amused. “No, he doesn’t.”

  She studied him for a few moments. “But you look too tough to let Nash worry y’all that much. There’s somethin’ else on your mind. Tell Athena all about it, sugar.”

  He glanced at her quickly. There weren’t many people who could read him that well. He hesitated, picking at the label on his beer bottle. He wanted to impress her, not sound like a soft-hearted omega. But maybe her take on the situation would help.

  “Honestly?” he said. “I keep worrying about that girl—Sophia. The one who’s supposed to be mated with Kane.”

  A small frown grew between Athena’s eyebrows. “You don’t even know her,” she said. “Why are you worried about her?”

  Jesse shrugged. He was starting to feel silly, bringing it up to this woman. It was different with his pack—they were a close-knit group, and understood some things without being told. But her pack did things differently.

  “I just don’t see how she can be happy with this situation,” he said. “Being sent off to a strange pack, with a man she doesn’t know, all for the sake of an alliance. I don’t feel completely right about setting it up, especially without meeting her and finding out how she feels about it. And neither does Jace.”

  The goddess was quiet for a moment. “But y’all will take care of her, right? Make her feel at home?”

  “Well, sure,” Jesse said. “But it’s not the same as her falling in love with someone and wanting to be with them. And Kane…” he hesitated. “Kane’s not exactly a warm and fuzzy guy. He’s big on his duty to the pack, so I’m sure he’ll go through the motions of being a mate, but I can’t imagine any woman being happy with him. Sometimes I think he’s got a block of ice for a heart.”

  Jesse felt that churning emotion welling up inside her again, pushing at his mind. “Well, then, she’s sure to feel right at home,” Athena said, her voice brittle. “Don’t you worry about her. Nash raises all his girls to be tough as nails.”

  Jesse looked out over the pool, thinking about having to be that tough. It wasn’t right. You weren’t supposed to have to be tough to handle being mated—a mating bond was supposed to support you, make you stronger, make you your best self. Like Terin and Rafe did for each other—and Jace and Emma. Their devotion and their joy in each other was obvious.

  Maybe everybody didn’t get to have that, but it seemed sad to give up all possibility, just for money and power.

  He shook his head. “Call me a hopeless romantic,” he said, “but they could have so much more than that. They could find a true mate, or at least someone they loved. I just keep wondering, what does Sophia really want? What if she has hopes and dreams of her own?”

  Athena said, “Nash Jenkins’ daughters—and the daughters of his high-ranking wolves—don’t have hopes and dreams, sugar. What they have is unlimited credit cards and powerful mates.”

  Her tone was light, but Jesse heard the bitterness in her voice. He turned to her, a sudden realization snaking through him like ice. “Nash has you contracted to someone, doesn’t he.”

  She shrugged, not looking at him. “It’s not final yet, but yeah. There’ve been talks.”

  Jesse’s first thought was, It figures. The first woman he’d met in a long time that touched him deep inside, and she wasn’t available. Not in any way that mattered, anyway.

  And then he felt the jagged energy begin swirling inside her again. It was something to do with this contract. This mate.

  “And what about the guy?” he asked carefully. “Do you love him?” When she didn’t answer, he asked more softly, “Do you care about him at all?”

  “I haven’t met him yet.” She slid her hips off the edge of the pool and lowered herself into the waist-high water, trailing her fingers in it, then holding her hand up so the water dripped down on Jesse’s bare thigh. He shivered.

  “This is one boring subject, sugar,” she said. She followed the brush of droplets with her fingertips, stroking his skin. “Can’t you think of anything more fun we could be doin’?”

  She looked up at him under her lashes, running her fingers up the inside of his thigh. “You’re so yummy lookin’, I could just eat you up,” she murmured.

  Her scent filled his nostrils, rich and intoxicating. Despite himself, Jesse’s cock swelled again in response. Her touch was like fire, and he felt that burning sensation in his chest again.

  But he was nothing but a distraction—a random warm body that she’d grabbed onto just to convince herself it didn’t matter if she had to give herself to a stranger she didn’t care about.

  That wasn’t what he wanted.

  He caught her hand, stilling it. “Don’t do that,” he said.

  She stiffened, then pulled her hand away and walked off through the water toward the pool steps. “Fine,” she said over her shoulder. “I didn’t know y’all were such prudes, out there in Idaho.”

  She held herself proudly, head up, but Jesse could still feel her energy. Jagged and swirly, and now embarrassed and hurt. And underneath that, sad. And scared.

  Damn.

  He scrambled through the water after her and grabbed her wrist, spinning her around to face him. They stood on the steps, knee-deep in water, staring at each other.

  She needs us, his wolf said. She matters to us. Show her she matters.

  Jesse suddenly felt strong in himself. Grounded and sure. She seemed to feel it, and her energy went still.

  He slid his hand down from her wrist until he was cradling her hand. Then he slowly raised it to his lips and kissed the palm, holding her gaze with his. He felt her soft intake of breath, and kept his voice low and intimate.

  “When I’m with a woman,” he said, “I don’t pretend she’s a commodity. Or cheap entertainment.”

  He began kissing her fingertips, one by one. Her lips parted and her face softened.

  “I treat her the way a woman deserves to be treated. Take you, for instance.”

  He lifted his other hand and trailed the backs of his fingers down her face. “You’re a goddess, a sun goddess. So I’d worship your body. I’d kiss you here,” he kissed her cheek and her jawline, “and here.” He feathered kisses down her neck, and she swayed toward him. She’d forgotten the artifice, the studied flirtatiousness. Her need was naked on her face.

  He moved down a step, so that he could kiss the soft flesh just under her collarbone, moving down toward the mound of her breast. She gasped.

  “Then I’d ask if I could take this off.” He ran his fingers along the edge of her bikini top. She nodded, her eyes dark with passion, her skin flushed.

  At her sign of consent, he reached behind her and unhooked the strap, and the piece of fabric slithered off her skin and landed in the pool. Heat rushed through Jesse’s body at the sight of her full, rich breasts. He cupped them reverently, kissing each of them, and then running his tongue around one dark aureole. She hissed in pleasure, her nipples drawing up in tight buds.

  God, she was amazing. The feel of her skin, the taste of it, drove Jesse wild. He sucked her nipples, one after the other, gently at first, and then harder as she moaned in pleasure and dug her fingers into his hair. He kissed his way back up to her mouth, wanting to devour her. He nipped her neck gently, then soothed it with his tongue. He ran his hands over her wate
r-slicked skin, the exquisite curves of her waist and back, crushing her breasts to his chest.

  One hand went up to the back of her head, and he tangled his fingers in her soft, wet hair, tilting her head back. Then he brushed his lips to hers. They were soft and sweet, tasting of wine and water, of moonlight and madness. That one kiss set him on fire. He groaned.

  His goddess wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her breasts to his chest. The heat of her skin contrasting with the cool of the water drove him crazy. He wanted to kiss her all over, caress every inch of her until she felt like the goddess she was. He wanted to taste her and touch her and press his swollen cock inside her, riding her until she screamed in pleasure.

  He ran his tongue along the tender inside of her lower lip, tangling it hungrily with hers. She gave a low growl that turned into an erotic rumble in her chest.

  Jesse had never been so turned on by any woman. Her scent, her touch, her frantic need to feel like she mattered—he wanted her more than anyone he had ever touched, and his wolf was awake in him, wanting her too.

  But she was promised to someone else.

  He pulled his lips away slowly, feathering kisses over her face once more. Her face was tilted up to his, eyes closed, and he pressed two gentle kisses on her closed eyelids.

  “That’s what I’d do,” he said. “If I could. And then I’d make love to her in every way I could think of, until she was completely, totally, happy.” He punctuated each word with a soft, sensual kiss.

  She took a deep shaky breath, and then another.

  “Please,” she whispered. “Jesse, I want that. I want all of it. Please.”

  He continued to hold her close. “You’re contracted to someone else. I don’t want to violate that.”

  She shook her head, eyes still closed. “It’s not a violation. It’s not final yet. I want—I want to feel what it would be like. If I could choose. If I could have someone who…” She opened her eyes and looked into his. “If I could have someone like you. I want all of you.”

  Something inside Jesse unlocked. No one had ever wanted all of him before, in any way—not his pack mates, not the other women he’d been with, the humans or the wolves. His heart broke open, and the hope and the longing and the sadness inside her poured right in. His wolf couldn’t stand it, and neither could he.

  If this one night was all she would get to have, then he’d give it to her. He pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her.

  He knew it was crazy, and he knew he’d probably regret it tomorrow. But she needed him, needed him to see her the way she’d always wanted to be seen. For who she really was—not just what she was on the outside. And for once in his life, Jesse wanted to do something wild. Something reckless. Something that made him feel like a wolf.

  Chapter 4

  Jesse lifted her up in his arms like she weighed nothing, and carried her up the stairs and across the pool deck to one of the cabanas. Sophia loved that feeling—she wasn’t a small woman, and no man had ever made her feel delicate and cherished.

  Jesse laid her down on the double chaise and stretched out beside her, running his hand up and down her stomach, tracing the curve of her hips.

  “Are you sure you want this?” he asked.

  She knew it was crazy. Sleeping with one of Kane’s pack mates just before they were about to leave for their trial period was sheer madness.

  But she didn’t care. All her life she’d done what Nash Jenkins made her do. Just this once, she wanted to feel like she mattered to someone. To have a memory to carry with her.

  “Yes,” she whispered. “Kiss me, Jesse.”

  He bent his head to hers. She knew that both their hearts were in that kiss—both of them wanting to be truly seen, truly accepted, naked in their souls as well as their bodies. She pushed aside the thought of how he’d feel tomorrow. He deserved better than her.

  But tonight, she was going to pretend that she deserved him.

  Jesse wrapped her in his arms, making her feel protected and cared for—and at the same time alive with passion. She twined herself around him, feeling like she couldn’t get close enough to him, like she had to touch every inch of him she could.

  Jesse groaned. “You’re so beautiful,” he said. “So sweet.”

  Sophia felt tears sting her eyes. Plenty of people had called her beautiful, but no one had ever called her sweet. Jesse kissed his way down her body, lingering at her breasts, touching and tasting every inch, worshiping her body with his hands and mouth. When he reached her bikini bottom, he hooked his fingers under it and she lifted her hips, letting him slide it down her legs.

  He took his time taking it off her, kissing, nipping, licking her thighs, finding her sensitive spots, until she was writhing and moaning underneath him. When she was completely naked, he quickly shucked off his own shorts, and then shifted his weight to kneel between her legs. The sight of his giant cock sent a rush of heat into her pussy, making her even wetter for him.

  He ran his hands up her thighs, then dipped his fingers between her legs, stroking her. He watched her face, resting one hand on her hipbone, the other sliding rhythmically, adjusting his strokes to her slightest reaction.

  She put her head back and moaned, giving in to the sensation. She spread herself open to him, and heard him murmur, “Oh, beautiful.”

  He slid his fingers inside her, finding her most sensitive spot, and she moved with him, letting the heat and the sensation take her. He stroked her clit with his other hand, and she arched against him.

  Then she felt his hot breath on her pussy, and he kissed her clit, slowly and deeply, swirling his tongue as if he were kissing her mouth. Sophia almost came apart.

  He fucked her slowly with his fingers, his mouth still on her clit, kissing and licking and sucking. She heard herself whimpering, knowing she’d never lost control like this, never given herself up so completely to a man. It was heaven.

  He kept her at the edge until she thought she would explode, and then increased the rhythm for a few hard, fast strokes until her orgasm crashed over her, making her whole body shake.

  He stroked her gently until the aftershocks subsided, and then moved to put his forearms on either side of her, hovering over her.

  “Okay?” he whispered.

  She nodded, wordless, running her hands up and down the long, rippling muscles of his back. He was so beautiful. Lean, but strong, and totally ripped.

  She let her fingers slide around his hips, across his belly to his cock. He gasped as she wrapped her hand around it and stroked. That look of uninhibited pleasure was such a turn-on that she put her hands around his hips and pulled him toward her.

  “Come here,” she said.

  He moved up, straddling her on his knees, and brushed her hair back. He shook his head. “Tonight is for you,” he said.

  Sophia smiled. “For both of us.” She wanted to give him a fantasy, something to remember. She remembered the way he’d looked at her breasts, and the rapt attention he’d given them. He was a boob man, for sure.

  She reached to the shelf above the chaise and grabbed the skin lotion that was always stocked in all the cabanas. She dribbled some on her chest and then rubbed it down between her breasts. Jesse threw his head back, a grin on his face. “You cannot be thinking what I think you’re thinking.”

  She nodded. “Come here, darlin’.”

  He moved forward, still straddling her body, and then reached down and tucked a cushion behind her head. She pulled his cock into her cleavage and pushed her breasts together, trapping him between them.

  He moaned softly and gave into his desire, sliding between her breasts, watching them intently as he moved. The head of his cock, red and swollen, appeared and receded with each stroke. The next time it appeared, Sophia dipped her head and ran her tongue over it.

  The look on Jesse’s face made heat shoot straight to her core. Watching his intense pleasure turned her on so much she felt herself getting wet for him all over again. He pumped himself
between her breasts, making the most incredibly erotic sounds every time she tasted him. Finally, he pulled himself away from her with a groan, and moved down to settle between her legs. His thick shaft pressed against her clit, and she sucked in her breath in pleasure.

  “You are so amazing,” he said. “So incredible. Tell me again that you want this.”

  She pulled back slightly, looking deep into his eyes. “I want you,” she said. “Take me, Jesse. Please.”

  He shifted her hips until the opening to her sex was over his cock. Then he pressed into her, slowly, inch by glorious inch. She gasped, closing her eyes, but then opened them once more to look into his. She rolled her hips to take him deeper, deeper still.

  “I want all of you,” she whispered.

  He began stroking in and out, slow and hard and strong. She gasped and moaned, wrapping her arms and legs tighter around him to take as much of him as possible.

  They fit together perfectly, the way she’d always imagined it would be with a mate of her choosing. She was moaning now, biting at his neck. He soothed her with kisses, then nipped her in return, sending her even higher. He shifted her once more so that the base of his cock could touch her clit with every stroke. She clenched and moaned every time he hit the right spot. She almost felt like she could feel the tension building in him the way it was building in her, spiraling higher and higher until they both wanted to combust. Finally, with a strangled cry, she began pulsing, feeling as if she were being drawn into a vortex of energy, where the boundaries between them dissolved and they became one.

  She felt the moment he couldn’t hold himself back any more. He pumped into her, harder, harder, until he let himself explode inside her. He held her tight, both of them shuddering, planting little kisses on each other’s necks and shoulders, wherever they could reach.

  Jesse turned his head and kissed her swollen lips, tiny gentle kisses that were like little tastes of her, gradually calming the craziness. She didn’t want him to ever let go of her, to put even an inch of space between them. She just wanted him to stay like this with her forever. Kissing her. Loving her.