Chapter Twenty-Nine #2
And boy did I jump. We rocked together again and again. Slowly at first, then harder and faster.
My hair swayed in front of my face. The blankets slipped away. Warm, sharp breaths tickled my back. I leaned right, making my hair sway to one side. Roux made a hungry sound and ran his teeth along the side of my neck.
I shivered in anticipation. Those weren’t regular, human teeth. They were elongated, like a tiger’s.
“Yes,” I mumbled, angling my head to give him more space.
He ran his teeth back up, and I begged for more.
“Yes…please…”
I wasn’t actually sure what I was begging for, only that I needed it badly.
“Are you sure?” Roux rasped in my ear.
Of course I was sure, though I couldn’t name what I was starving for.
“It’s forever, Gen,” he warned.
I nodded stupidly. We’d already given forever a thumbs-up. So, what was the holdup?
Then I realized what he meant. A mating bite.
The notion ought to have filled me with fear, but it didn’t.
Roux scraped his teeth along my neck again, breathing harder than ever. Then he tensed, muttered to himself, and kissed me instead.
“Not tonight.”
“Who says?” I protested.
“Believe me, I want it too. But we ought to wait.”
I shook my head. “Waiting is also overrated.”
He kissed the light scratches on my neck.
“Picture how good it will be when we’re not exhausted. When we’ve had a good day. When things are settled.”
I could have screamed, but then I remembered all the times he’d saved me from myself. Was this another one?
“In case you haven’t noticed, delayed gratification is not my thing.”
He chuckled. “Oh, I noticed. But we don’t have to wait a long time. Just for the right time.”
I slumped. “I hate it when you’re right.”
Then I pictured a moonlight walk. A slow dance. Candles. Clean sheets. A fire crackling in the fireplace.
Maybe waiting wouldn’t be so bad after all.
“I’ll make it up to you. I promise.” He snuck a hand along my ribs to cup my breast. “Now, where were we?”
I bumped back against him.
“Right…about…here,” I squeaked when he pushed back into me.
That was the last thing I said for a long time, and the only sound was the quiet creak of the bed as we worked our way back into a steady rhythm. No talking, just panting. Touching. Needing.
“Yes…” I moaned as an inferno raged inside me.
Roux slammed into me again and again, and I rocked back, amplifying every thrust. Our steady rhythm faltered, then went completely haywire.
Roux hammered several more times, then exploded inside me with a strangled cry. I opened my mouth in a silent howl of ecstasy, and my vision blurred.
When it slowly came back into focus, I was in a different place and time. In place of wrinkled sheets before me, I saw a tangled forest stabbed with long shafts of light. I smelled damp leaves, and I felt dirt under my paws.
Wait. Paws?
Roux exhaled and lowered his hands from my hips to the mattress.
I sensed it, but I saw something different — a blur of orange, black, and white stripes gliding along at my side as I trotted through that forest. Together, we passed through bands of light and the dark shadows in between. Light, shadow. Light, shadow…
I spotted triangular ears flecked with white but tipped in black, and a long whip of a tail where orange and black squeezed into orderly bands. Above all, I saw glowing, amber eyes.
You’re stunning, the me in my vision breathed to her mate.
He chuffed and whispered back. You’re the stunning one, my mate.
I looked down, going wide-eyed. My chest was furry and white, wrapped with thin lines of black. My legs were long, lean, and orange, my nose creased by thick black stripes.
All that, I knew because I saw myself through Roux’s eyes.
Then that vision faded, and I was back in bed, staring at the sheets. Slowly, I crumpled to my stomach. Roux pressed over me, equally exhausted.
He found my hands and wove his fingers through mine. His quick breaths stirred a few strands of my hair, but otherwise, we didn’t move.
I’d never felt so warm. So wanted. So connected.
Eventually, we cleaned up, rearranged the blankets, and spooned together, with Roux’s front to my back and his thick arm resting over my chest.
I closed my eyes and hummed in satisfaction. That vision would soon be reality. And, wow. Then I could control some types of magic and shift too. A dream come true.
“Thank you,” I whispered. “For everything.”
He shook his head. “Thank you.”
I snorted. “What do you have to thank me for? Other than great sex, I mean.”
He chuckled. “I love it when you’re modest.”
“I’m so bad at so many things, I like to give myself credit for the things I’m actually good at.”
He shook his head. “Not true. You’re good at magic…”
I snorted.
“You’re good at diplomacy too.”
“Diplomacy?”
He nodded firmly. “When it comes to dealing with us and with Gordon.”
I groaned. “I’m giving myself the rest of the night off from bad things.”
“Good. Think about the future.”
I perked up and curled my fingers around his. “Like, a mating bite?”
He snickered. “And they say men are obsessed with sex.”
“It’s your fault.”
He sighed. “Now you sound like Bene.”
I laughed, then stroked his chest, thinking. “You realize that if we take that step—”
“When,” he corrected me.
I smiled. “When we take that step, it will make Marius your brother-in-law. Can you handle that?”
He grimaced, then shrugged. “Could be worse. Could be Henrik.”
I gagged. “Please, no. Don’t even joke about it.”
He grinned. “Well, I think your mother will like me better than Marius,” he said a little smugly. “I know more about art.”
He knew a hell of a lot, as I’d learned — and loved. Still, that wasn’t what worried me.
“Seriously,” I went on. “Do you think you can live under the same roof with Marius? I mean, not when you’re assigned to work together, but doing it by choice.”
He gestured up. “Luckily, it’s a big roof.”
He had a point there.
I glanced around, rearranging the space in my imagination. I hadn’t had time to spruce things up and make the apartment homey, but it would be great when I did. Not just this room or my sitting room, but the other two rooms too. Kids’ rooms, maybe?
Roux’s eyes went wide when he caught the gist of my thoughts, and I bit my lip.
“Sorry. I’m getting a little ahead of myself.”
He pulled me closer. “Always good to have a visionary on the team.”
“As well as someone with their feet on the ground.” I pointed at him.
His amber eyes glowed. “Not on the ground. More like cloud nine.”
I snuggled back into a spooned position, and we lay quietly, growing drowsy. It had been a hell of a day, but for once, we could look forward to sleeping in the next morning.
“About that mating bite…” I whispered.
He groaned. “I’ve created a monster.”
I chuckled. “You really don’t mind waiting?”
He shook his head. “Like I said, tigers are patient. And we know a good thing when we find it.” Then he kissed my shoulder and pulled the blanket a little higher over our shoulders. “Good night, Geneviève.”
“Good night,” I whispered, then smiled. “The best in a long, long time.”
He nuzzled me with his chin. “The first of many.”