Chapter 28
She hadn’t just worked it out. She’d felt it. He could feel it himself, as surely as if she’d taken his hand. The bond between them doubling, running in both directions at last.
“What?” he stammered. “How-?”
And that was as far as he got before Leonie let out a whoop of delight, and pounced.
Shan had been braced for an argument. Not for her to leap into his arms. He staggered, barely managing to catch her without toppling over backwards.
“Oh, you idiot.” Leonie wrapped her legs around his waist, locking her hands together behind his neck. She shook him, which would have been more effective if she wasn’t also climbing him like a tree. “Shan, you utterly ridiculous man. Were you really going to just walk away?”
“Yes.” Was she trying to embrace him, or throttle him? “I am sorry. You have every right to be angry with me.”
“I am furious with you.” She punctuated each word with hard, fierce kisses along the edge of his jaw. “How can someone be so perceptive and yet so stupid? I should keep you locked in my closet for your own good.”
His qiongqi rumbled in amused agreement. Truth.
Now he was completely off-balance, mentally as well as physically. The fact that his bare hands were now full of her denim-clad backside wasn’t helping to regain his composure.
“I don’t understand,” he said plaintively. “I thought you couldn’t feel the mate bond.”
She nipped at his neck. If this was meant to be some sort of punishment, it wasn’t working. “Well, obviously I can.”
“But...you don’t have your own animal.” It had to be right.
It was the only explanation that made sense.
“I couldn’t understand why you didn’t recognize me as your mate before.
Then you told me about your sister, and it all became clear.
She’s the lion shifter. You shouldn’t be able to feel the bond. Not without your eagle.”
Leonie pulled away just far enough to give him an exasperated glare.
“Or, Mister I’ve-got-it-all-worked-out, I just couldn’t feel the bond because you were so convinced you were a monster, you did everything you could to push me away.
How was my lioness supposed to recognize you when you kept your own animal crushed and chained? ”
That, he had to admit, was also possible. It was what he’d thought himself, before he’d learned about her sister.
Secrets, his qiongqi whispered, though it didn’t sound entirely sure of itself. Truth, but not the only truth. She should have known us. Stay on the trail.
He adjusted his grip, trying to cup her buttocks as politely as he could. “Leonie. We should talk—”
She put her hand over his mouth.
“Shan.” She leaned in, fingers trailing across his lower lip. “Shut up and kiss me.”
Her lips almost brushed his, but she didn’t move closer. She held still, eyes on his, daring him to take that final step.
So he did.
All doubt burned away. This, this was right. The taste of her; her sweetness, her heat.
Hunger swept through him. He kissed her desperately, the mate bond roaring in his ears. She matched his urgency, pulling him closer, fingers tangling in his hair.
Leonie broke the kiss first, gasping for air. “You must be getting tired of holding me up.”
He tightened his grip. “Never.”
She laughed, kissing the side of his mouth. “Still. Put me down. We need to do something about this fire.”
“Yes.”
She poked his chest in exasperation. “The actual fire, Shan. Camp rules. Last one at the fire makes sure it’s safely put out. We can’t leave while it’s still burning. And I don’t know about you, but I want to find somewhere more private.”
There were very few things that could have persuaded him to put her down. That was one of them.
Leonie slid down his body—which almost changed his mind—returning to the ground. He helped her rake the embers apart and douse them. He worked mechanically, not looking at what he was doing. He couldn’t take his eyes off her, light-headed with wonder and desire.
“There,” Leonie said at last, after what seemed like several eons. She dusted off her hands. “Now, where were we?”
With a hungry growl, he caught her round the waist. “Here.”
Mine. My mate. Mine.
“Mmm,” Leonie purred against his mouth. She broke the kiss again—far too soon, in his opinion—looking up at him with a speculative air. “How do qiongqi mate?”
It took him a second to work out what she meant. He was not exactly thinking clearly. They were mates, but they weren’t yet mated. For most shifters, cementing that bond took more than just the union of bodies. She was asking about joining their souls. Forever.
Yes, yes, yes. Every part of him yearned to claim her, but he shook his head. “Leonie, we don’t have to do that. Not tonight. You should take some time to think first. To be certain.”
“I am certain, you ridiculous man. And I’m not giving you a chance to have another attack of idiocy and run away.” She trailed her fingernails up his neck, mouth curving in a wicked, predatory smile. “Before this night is over, I intend to make you mine.”
His breath caught in his chest. “Please.”
Leonie laughed again, pulling him down for another kiss. When she finally pushed him away, her amber eyes were sparkling, bright with anticipation. “So, how do qiongqi form the mate bond? Is there anything specific we need to do?”
“I have no idea,” he had to admit. “Apart from my father, I’ve never met another of my kind.”
She touched his cheek gently, a world of unspoken understanding in the simple gesture. “Then we’ll just do whatever feels right. What does your animal say?”
After so long battling his qiongqi, it felt strange to reach out to it deliberately. He took a deep breath, listening.
Hunt. Catch. Claim.
He moistened his lips. “I…think I would like to chase you.”
Leonie’s eyes gleamed. Without another word, took a step back, shifting.
*Try and catch me, then,* her voice whispered in his mind.
With a last teasing glance over her shoulder, the lioness bounded away. He couldn’t have not followed. He shifted as well, surging after her.
MINE. MY MATE. MINE.
He was bigger, but she was faster. She stayed ahead easily, taunting him with her tail. Snarling with need and frustration, he dropped back, spreading his wings. He sprang, struggling to gain height in the still evening air.
Too late. She reached the edge of the forest, slipping under the shadow of the trees before he had a chance to swoop.
He growled, banking over the treetops. His mate should be up here, with him. Not hiding in shadows.
But she couldn’t follow him into the sky. It went against his instincts, but he landed. Folding his wings, he followed her trail.
Oh, she was clever. He could smell her desire, but she didn’t make this easy for him.
He almost missed her trail twice, where she’d doubled back or slipped through some gap too small for his broader form.
She flirted with him; maddeningly close, yet never quite in sight.
Drawing out the game, the hunt, until he was nothing but hunger and need.
And then, he lost her.
Her scent vanished. She seemed to have simply disappeared into thin air, fading like a ghost. No matter how he searched, he couldn’t pick up any trace of her.
Had something happened to her? Surely not. These words were safe. And anyway, she was fierce and powerful. She could take care of herself, not that she ever did.
Perhaps she had grown bored and left.
A terrible fear gripped him. He roared, calling for her, his need echoing through the night. He had failed, he was not fit to be her mate, she was gone—
She hit him in the flank, knocking him clean off his paws. He ended up on his back, wings trapped and helpless. The lioness pinned him down, growling, amber eyes bright with glee.
The tawny shape blurred. Leonie grinned down at him, flushed with triumph.
“I win,” she said smugly.
He shifted as well, pulling her down. She giggled as he rolled, pinning her against the forest floor.
“My mate.” He covered her body with his own, claiming her mouth. “Mine.”
“Mine,” she whispered back, arching up to meet him. “My own.”
He wound his fingers in her hair, lost to everything but her. So soft, so strong. And wearing far too many clothes. He hooked a claw into her T-shirt, ripping down to expose her curves. She gasped as he dropped his head, mouth closing over her breast—
A shrill cry split the air, right overhead. There was a confused moment as they both instinctively shifted, each trying to leap to the other’s defense. Shan found himself crouched over a bristling lioness, tails tangled, her back paws braced against his belly.
Leonie peered past his spread wings. She relaxed, shrinking.
“It’s all right.” She patted his muzzle. “Just another owl.”
The bird stared down at them like a scandalized chaperone. It screeched again and flew off.
He growled, shifting back to human as well. “I am going to have words with Alder-in-Winter.”
“It does rather kill the mood, knowing that the local wildlife might be reporting your every move back to a prudish unicorn.” Leonie wriggled out from underneath him, tugging her torn T-shirt back over her breasts. “Pity. I was enjoying that.”
He breathed in, savoring the sweetness. “Truth.”
“Oh, well.” She flipped her braid over her shoulder, wisps of hair escaping around her face. “Much as I’d love to have my way with you right here, we’d better take this indoors. Is your animal satisfied?”
“Not even close.”
She grinned down at him. “Good.”
Leonie had been a little anxious that the walk back to camp would give Shan time to have second thoughts. He was such a careful, deliberate person, and he’d spent most of his life suppressing his instincts. But after that wild chase, she was not in the mood to talk.
She needn’t have worried. The second the door of her cabin closed behind them, he pinned her against the wall. His hand fisted in her torn T-shirt as he captured her mouth.
“Off,” he growled into her mouth, and pulled.