Chapter 7
Sunny stood in the adorable house and looked around.
The family room had a large chocolate-brown sofa that looked soft and comfortable, a flat-screen on a stand that doubled as a bookshelf, which Seneca had filled with cookbooks, and a coffee table with a cooking magazine open to a recipe for grilled burgers topped with something called pork roll and a fried egg.
She heard the shower turn on.
And her tigress let out a curious purr.
He was in the bathroom, probably naked, getting ready to take a shower.
And holy crap did she want to go to him.
But they’d just met last night. And while they’d spent time together talking before they went to bed, they hadn’t done more than kiss and hold each other all night.
Her body warmed considerably as she thought about him, her nerve endings tingling.
They were soulmates. That was her man in the bathroom without her and for what reason?
Why wasn’t she with him? Because she’d never believed she’d get a soulmate of her own with only half a tiger in her DNA?
But she did get a soulmate, and she wanted to be with him.
It didn’t matter that they’d just met.
They were made for each other.
Mustering her courage, she toed off her shoes and followed the sound of running water to the master bedroom. She stripped, her hands shaking with anticipation and her body humming like a tuning fork, and then she walked into the bathroom.
She could see his shadow beyond the curtain.
“Room for one more?” she asked.
He pulled the curtain back and gave her a curious but heated look. “Of course. Come on in.”
She stepped into the shower, the steam swirling when he pushed the curtain closed.
“I was planning to take a super-fast shower,” he said, turning the shampoo bottle upside down and squeezing some into his hand.
“My bear doesn’t like being away from you, but I’m trying not to overwhelm you with how much I want to be with you. ”
She watched him wash his hair, mesmerized by the way the water ran in rivulets down his chest, all the way down to his erection that made her want to let out a wanton moan.
“We’re soulmates,” she said. “I want to be with you too. I think we’re maybe putting too much emphasis on the timing of things.”
He rinsed the soap from his hair. “Yeah, probably. I have been known to overthink things.”
They switched places, but she didn’t wash her hair, which was tied back in a loose braid. She picked up the bar of soap from the ledge and handed it to him, then wet her skin under the spray.
He lathered his hands and gave her the soap, and she turned it a few times in her hands until thick suds filled her palms, then put it back on the ledge. They reached for each other at the same time, hands gliding, soap sliding over skin, teasing touches that ramped up her arousal even more.
She ran her hands down the tight ridges of his abdomen, wrapping one hand around his thick length and slipping her other soapy hand down to cup his balls.
He played with her breasts, a low growl rumbling in his chest as she stroked him slowly, playing with him as he played with her.
He leaned down to kiss her, gently pinching her nipples as he stroked his tongue against hers and sent a riot of sensations through her.
He switched them suddenly, pushing her against the wall. He kissed her roughly as he lifted her and she hooked her ankles at his lower back. She grabbed the shower bar and let out a groan as his cock slid home inside her, stretching her just right. Her tigress yowled in happiness.
She broke the kiss and dropped her head back against the wall as Seneca thrust into her over and over. He lowered his head and kissed her neck, trailing his teeth down to the place where her neck and shoulder met, and then he bit her. Not hard, just enough to wake up her tigress even more.
Sunny’s fingertips ached and she tightened her legs around his waist, using the shower bar to give herself some leverage. He didn’t need her help, though. He held her easily, fucking her hard and fast as the shower sprayed hot water on them, and her whole body felt like it was on fire.
“Oh, Seneca,” she said, tilting her head to give him more access to her neck and digging her nails into his shoulder.
He braced her with one arm and slipped his hand between them, his thumb rubbing her clit. She gasped and then grinned ferally as he rubbed her clit, his cock thick inside her and stretching her, heightening the sensations as he drove her toward the height of pleasure.
Her toes curled and she closed her eyes as heat poured over her. She was so damn close! If only… oh yes! She moaned loudly as she came, feeling sexy and wanton and so very cared for by her soulmate.
As her pussy tightened with her pleasure, he slapped his hand against the wall above her head and began to move again, growling, “You’re so fucking tight, holy hell, Sunny.”
She let go of the shower bar and held onto him as her climax moved in heated waves through her, prolonged by the way his pelvis rubbed against her sensitive flesh.
He let out a growl as he came, his cock thickening and spasming inside her, the tendons standing out on his neck, and then he groaned as pleasure hit him.
She purred and held him close, and that’s when she noticed her fingernails.
“Look,” she whispered.
He tilted his head down to look at her hands and her black, sharp nails.
“Shit, are you okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, it feels a little weird, but I think when I came, my tigress came out a little with me.”
He kissed her and eased from her body with a groan. When her feet were on the tub floor, she let go and realized she’d scratched him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize my nails were so sharp.” Her nails returned to normal and her tigress let out a happy purr.
“You can scratch me anytime, sweetheart. I promise I loved it. Your eyes turned gold when you came too.”
“Really? Wow. She must like you as much as I do.”
“The feeling is entirely mutual.”
They stared at each other for a moment and then both laughed. “Let’s finish cleaning up before the hot water runs out,” he said.
“I’m surprised it lasted this long.”
“Me too.”
She was still tingling in all the good places when they turned off the water and dried off. She took her hair out of the mostly wet braid and put it into a messy bun so it stayed off her neck until it dried. As they dressed, she asked, “Do bears mark their mates?”
He straightened, a black T-shirt in one hand. “Yeah. I did bite you, but I didn’t want to mark you until we were both ready. There’s no mating ceremony like some other shifter groups have. Once I mark you, we’re mated. But you’re already my mate, whether you’re marked or not.”
“I like that bears aren’t all caught up in ceremonies. I don’t know much about tiger customs, but I really wanted to bite you.”
“We don’t have any tigers in the park, so there’s no one for us to ask, and it’s not like shifters keep websites with detailed information. But we could just do whatever feels right when it comes to marking and mating each other, even if we do something that’s unique for us.”
She let that roll around in her head for a moment. “I like that. You’re really sweet.”
“Anything for you, Sunny.”