CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Shadow
As the sun drops and Alarria’s moonless sky darkens to purple, the yawning kits refuse to go to sleep, even though they can’t keep their eyes open.
Finally, their parents come and pluck them up by the back of the neck to carry them into the den, Wisp calling out one last, “You promised we can come visit.”
“You can. You will.” I’ve already talked to Moonlight and the kits’ parents. My mother will bring them to my wedding ceremony this weekend. It might not be real, but it can still be a party and an excellent excuse to show the little ones the benefits of learning to shift.
More of the pack passes, each brushing against me and murmuring a good night, my cousin Mist saying an especially fond goodbye as she butts me with her head.
“You’ll come this weekend?” I ask.
“I will.” She grins. “Can’t have you being the only Earth expert, now can I?”
Moonlight pads over and bumps her head against my thigh. “Will you stay, my son? Will you spend the night and join the full harmonizing once again?”
A part of me aches to say yes, missing the way the combined purrs of my pack echo through the den, resounding off the walls until there’s nothing else in the world but connection and love. It’s even better than the harmonizing they gifted me with as a greeting.
My gaze turns to Kayla, who sits bathed by the glow of the fire, her purple hair highlighted with gold by the dancing flames. I have nothing that would make a soft enough bed for my witchy beauty, and I refuse to let her be uncomfortable.
“Ah, I see.” Moonlight’s eyes glitter at me with amusement. “You’re still playing the courtship game?”
There’s no point in denying it. My mother is far too canny. I grin. “I am, and I mean to win.”
“So the old tales are true: the cat sith can find mates among the other fae and humans. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised you would be the first. You’ve always been the most adventurous among us.”
“I think you mean the biggest tangle in your fur.” I smirk, hoping to make her laugh. It’s a heavy burden to carry the wellbeing of the entire pack on her shoulders. My mother bears it well, yet it’s still a burden.
She chuffs in amusement. “That too.”
“About the old tales,” I say. “Have you remembered anything more about the rituals used when we marry someone who’s not cat sith?”
“I have not.” She grins at me. “Most of our stories focus on the chase and knotting.”
“Even if the other person wasn’t cat sith?”
“Even then.” She gives a regal nod.
The words conjure a picture of chasing Kayla through the forest, running her to the ground, taking and claiming her. My erection stirs.
“Go.” Moonlight gives another chuffing laugh. “Be with your witch. I will see you in a few days.”
“Thank you, Alpha.” I give her a courtly bow such as you’d see in the fine palaces of the shadow fae, making her laugh again. Then I throw my arms around her, breathing in her familiar scent, and whisper, “Thank you, Mother.”
“I love you, my son.” Her purr rumbles through me. “Now go and ensure you win her heart.”
Stalking over to the fire, I scoop Kayla into my arms. “Let’s go home.” I step onto the shadow roads.
After only a few strides, she cries, “Wait! Is there somewhere we can go and be alone?”
“Here, in Alarria?”
She nibbles her lower lip and nods.
I slow to a walk and extend my senses, warping our path until it matches my new destination.
We step out into a wide clearing, half moss-covered ground, half pond.
A waterfall splashes into the far end, the humidity adding a pleasant coolness to the summer night air.
Pixies dot the area like blue fireflies, darting out of the trees to play in the falling water until they light its entire length.
“Oh, that’s so pretty,” Kayla says, awe softening her tone.
“I hoped you’d like it.”
“I’m totally going to put it in a game.”
I set her on her feet, trying to remember if there’s anything else close by that might inspire her.
“So, I was thinking…” She bites her lower lip.
“Victoria complained that she couldn’t feel me the last time I was in Faerie, and I think that’s true this time as well.
When we came through the door, I stopped feeling her presence.
” She rubs her chest. “Which means if we have sex here, she won’t know, and we won’t activate the consummation clause. ”
“Sneaky.”
“Well, she’s the one who was sneaky when she did the whole fine-print thing.” Kayla waves a hand. “This is simply me being sneaky to get around her sneakiness.”
“Does that make it double the sneakiness or sneakiness squared?” I grin down at her.
“I wasn’t complaining. Quite the opposite.
I love it.” I’ll grab any chance to be with her with both hands.
“Is it all right that we don’t have any toys or protection?
” Humans worry about such things, and I want to put her at ease.
All fae find it difficult to conceive, and it’s almost impossible without knotting for hours.
I can’t knot and claim her yet, no matter how much I want to.
I might take advantage of the marriage contract to stay close to her, but I refuse to make our most intimate joining a trap.
I’ll knot Kayla once I win her heart.
“I want to try without a toy. Your aphrodisiac come is pretty great.” Her cheeks darken. “And I’m on birth control, so no worries there.”
I call upon my magic to start my shift.
“No!” Kayla grips my arm, her heart racing so loudly I can hear it. “Stay a werepanther.”
Then she does the last thing I ever expect. She turns her back on me, and she runs.
A growl fills my chest, but I force myself to remain still. My wife, my mate, just invited me to chase her. Does she have any idea what this means to a cat sith?
“You coming, or am I doing this chase by myself?” Kayla calls from the edge of the forest.
Goddess, my witchy beauty knows exactly what this means to me!
Brightness floods the area as she activates the flashlight on her phone, and she takes off running again.
Instinct takes over as a primal need floods my body. To chase. To claim.
I bolt forward, a roar tearing from my throat, warning all others away. This prey is mine.
I rip my shirt over my head and pause just long enough to kick off my boots.
Then I’m off, hot on her heels. Tree limbs slap at me as I run, doing little damage through my thick fur.
Even without the light showing me exactly where she is, I’d hear her.
Moreover, I’d scent her. Kayla could be quiet as a mouse, and I’d find her from her musky sweetness alone, that hint of lavender over lust that drives me wild.
My feet pound against the ground, matching time with the speeding beat of my heart. Claws dig into the soft loam, providing extra purchase as I spring forward, keeping each footfall true.
Leaping over a clump of ferns, I catch a fleeting glimpse of Kayla, a darker shadow outlined by light. Her arms pump, her purple hair streaming behind her like a flag waving me on.
I am the hunter in the night, silent, intent, focused only on my prey.
Closing the distance, I let her sense me behind her as I steer her back toward the falls. My roar fills the woods.
Kayla gasps, and the wind carries the rich scent of her increased arousal. My lips pull back from my fangs as I suck in her taste, coating my tongue and the extra gland in the roof of my mouth that tells me ripe and female. Goddess, she’s intoxicating. I can’t get enough.
The rush of the waterfall grows louder ahead. She’s almost where I want her. I no longer have to hold back. A low growl reverberates through my chest as I speed up.
Kayla becomes visible through the trees, her steps slower, her breath coming in harsh pants. She glances over her shoulder and gasps to see me so close.
The sound goes straight to my cock.
Right before she breaks out of the woods and into the clearing, I dive forward. My right arm circles her waist, my fangs clamping onto the side of her neck. Impact jars through me as my left forearm slams into a tree, but I ignore the flash of pain, bracing to keep Kayla from injury.
Her phone flies from her grasp, landing under a clump of ferns and reducing its light to a glow.
I plaster myself to her, molding my body over hers until her deliciously plump ass presses against my cock.
My tongue flickers over her neck as my fangs hold her in place, not breaking the skin but not letting go either.
A growl rumbles through me as I use my claws to shred her T-shirt, stripping it from her. Her bra goes next.
Kayla braces both of her hands against the trunk and pushes back into me, her body begging for more as her ass grinds against my groin.
I hook a claw in the waistband of her jeans and pull, the knife-sharp edge slicing through the thick fabric. I shred them from her legs, then tear away the thin, silky panties, bringing them to my nose and pulling her delicious scent deep.
“Oh, god,” she gasps, and her heady scent grows richer, making my cock leap.
When she stands naked before me, I rip off my own jeans to have nothing between us.
I groan as the soft skin of her lush ass cradles my cock, pressing against the sensitive knot at the base of my cock.
My hips jerk, my erection leaking seed onto her and making her moan as its aphrodisiac effect takes hold.
“What—ah! What is that?” Kayla’s hand reaches back, her fingers playing over the swollen base of my cock.
I grunt, hips snapping forward as pleasure goes through me.
“Oh, god! You have a knot! It’s huge.”
Wait until she feels it after I climax—it’s supposed to double in size. I growl, and more precum leaks from me.
“I need you, Shadow.” She shivers. “I need you now.”
There are no toys here, and with my fangs latched onto her throat, I don’t even have words. There’s only me and her and this primal need to take, to claim.
With every last bit of will I have left, I force my claws to retract.
Then I reach around and glide my fingers over her clit.
She’s already so wet it makes me groan. Kayla spreads her legs just enough, and my fingers plunge into her, stroking over that spot she loves as my thumb continues to caress her clit.
Little mews of want fall from her lips, and each needy rock of her body against my hand and cock only makes me crave her more. I slide a third finger into her, then the fourth, stretching and working her pussy to get her good and ready.
“Shadow!” Her muscles flutter around my hand as she screams, her whole body shaking.
My hand slides from her sweet depths, and I cup her stomach and pull her up onto her toes. My other fists my cock, rubbing the sensitive head along the slick heat of her folds. I growl, a rumbling sound of need and want.
She tilts her hips and pushes back against me, snapping the last thread of my restraint.
I plunge forward, burying myself in the tight, wet heat of her up to my knot. My eyes roll back in my head, and my jaw finally releases its hold on her neck. “Goddess, dirty girl,” I groan. “You feel so exquisite around my cock. Even better than I ever imagined.”
I thrust in and out of her, my knot hitting her clit, stretching her entrance a little bit more each time.
“Shadow. Oh god, Shadow.” She writhes, caught between me and the tree, rocked onto her toes with every thrust. “I need more.”
“Does that pretty little pussy need my knot? Do you need to be stuffed full, my dirty girl?”
Her head bobs a frantic yes, her body straining toward mine.
“Say it.” I bury my hand in Kayla’s hair, pulling her head and making her back arch. “Say you need my knot stuffing you full.”
She teeters on her toes, only my hands and cock keeping her upright. I love it. I love feeling her give me control of her big, strong body, knowing I’ll give her exactly what she needs.
“I need it,” she says in a breathy little sob. “I need you.”
My balls tighten, and I groan at the delicious feeling as she tightens around me. “Dirty girl. My delectable, amazing beauty.” I pound into her, Kayla taking more and more of my knot with each thrust.
“Going to stuff you so full. Going to give you exactly what you need.” I plunge forward, and my knot slips inside her in a wash of heat and pressure and sheer fucking ecstasy that almost sends me to my knees.
“Shadow!” Kayla wails as she shatters around me, her muscles clamping so tight I roar.