Judge: Mating Fever: Shifters Forever Worlds (Barely After Dark Book 3) (3 page)

G
od
, Judge could not rid his memories of the scent of her, the sex of her, the everything of her from his mind. Their night together had imprinted itself on his soul and left him unable to even glance at another woman.

T
hat night
… so long ago… and yet as if it were yesterday…

T
hey’d been
at her place, eating pizza, watching a movie on a thick carpet next to the fire in front of the TV.

This time the movie had been Lani’s choice. Some chick flick. He couldn’t even remember the title. At the end of it, he’d turned to tease her about how sappy it was, when he’d seen the tears winding their way down her cheek. Her eyes glistened with more unshed tears.

“Damn,” the word escaped him in a hiss. Judge wasn’t so good with emotions. He had no clue what to say to her.

“Sorry.” She gave him a half-smile, her face still shiny from crying. The smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“It’s okay.” He grabbed the first thing he could, a pizza napkin, and dabbed at her cheeks.

He’d left pizza sauce where the tears had been. He burst into laughter.

“My turn to be sorry.” Judge pressed the pad of his thumb over the sauce, ran it down, then showed it to her.

“Oh God. It looks like I’m crying blood.”

She seized a clean napkin and went to town cleaning the streaks he’d left on her face.

He took the napkin from her. “Let me. It’s the least I can do, since I made that mess.”

The firelight flickered gold and amber flames in her eyes, pulling him and his bear in, closer, closer, even closer.

Lani’s eyes remained open, drawing Judge and his bear. His lips hovered over hers, their warmth emanating, the energy between them palpable.

“I like being with you too much,” she said. It was as if it was a confession she didn’t want to admit to. And it made alarms ring for Judge and his bears.

“Truth?” He reached out a hand and placed it over hers, her skin felt almost feverish. His hand completely covered hers.

“Always.”

L
ani squirmed
under Judge’s dark gaze. Especially with the way his bear’s presence flared golden flames in the depths of his eyes.

He took so long to answer that she finally looked up at him.

“I like it too much myself.” He curled his hand under, and ran his thumb over the tender skin on her wrist.

She wondered if he could feel her pulse racing. She knew shifters had extrasensory types of perceptions. So did Intuitives, but a different type. Her pulse matched the butterflies zigging and zagging in her stomach.

God. I’ve never felt this way before.

“You’re a shifter.”
Shit. I did not just blurt that out.
Yes, she had.

Judge frowned. “And?”

J
udge drew in a deep breath
. He and his bear savored her scent—stimulating warmth along with a hint of her longing as it filled his chest, driving his bear crazy with a need to push out of his skin and make this woman see they were meant for each other.

Despite the Compliance Unit’s regulations.

Regardless of their careers.

In the face of the old rules that Intuitives had about shifters.

Even though the old notions persevered that shifters didn’t appreciate or think highly of the Intuitives skills.

Was she trying to tell him to stay away? It was way too late for that. There wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell he could lose the feelings he had for this Intuitive woman. His bear knew she was their mate. He knew it, too.

He felt the gentle touch of her fingertip on his chin. Her touch was so feathery, he looked down to be sure it wasn’t his imagination. His bear grumbled at Judge to seduce her, to make her theirs.

Judge tuned his bear out, one of the few times in his life he’d done that. He captured her hand in his and pressed her palm against his lips, fighting the urge to unleash his desire, to crush her to his chest and claim her mouth.

To touch her lips with his and feel her curves against his without the barrier of clothing. Her body—hips to hold on to, offset by a waist that was just the right amount of narrow. His dick twitched. Judge grunted to contain it and his bear, hoping she hadn’t noticed his reaction.

He studied the fire to keep from thinking of driving deeply into her. He could scent her wetness—musky, sexual, female, all Lani.

She swallowed, the sound loud, her pulse pounding in his ears. He wanted to cover them because hearing her reaction to him served as a fuel that heightened his desire.

She swiped her tongue over her lower lip, nervously.

That did it.

There’s just so much a man can handle.

He dropped his head, locking his lips to hers, the ache and passion he’d been holding back, craving more from her.

His bear took control, done with waiting.

L
ani had never been kissed
like that. She’d never known anyone like Judge. His hands ran down her body, and shivers followed the trail his fingertips forged.

He took hold of her top and pulled it upward gently.

Could she do this?

Yes!

The answer to that question was ingrained in her mind, heart, body, and Intuitive senses.

Lani sighed her assent. She wanted him. She’d have to accept that.

Right or wrong.

Repercussions with the Intuitive community.

Ramifications with the Compliance Unit.

She’d deal with all that later.

His lips departed from hers for a fleeting nanosecond while he drew her top over her head. Before her lips could get cold or her mind and body could protest, he’d claimed her mouth again. He took control, helping himself.

The fabric of his shirt rubbed against her flesh as he pulled her closer.

She grabbed his shirt, the barrier that kept her flesh from his, and jerked twice, clumsily—her fingers fumbling with urgency and need.

“Let me help.” There was a chuckle in his voice.

Instantly and deftly, he took the shirt off.

She appraised the dark olive skin, taut with muscles, wide chest, devoid of hair, broad shoulders that tapered to a vee.

Judge pulled her close, his body hot against hers. Lani held him as if there’d be no tomorrow.

There will be no tomorrow. There can’t be.

She trailed her fingers on his chest and found his muscles flexed and hard beneath her touch. Gliding her hands lower, his abdomen contracted. Her nails raked the flesh, rewarded with a groan that came from deep within him and scorched Lani’s desire and center.

She’d wanted him for too long, denied this for what seemed an eternity.

Achingly stiff and tender, with a need for Judge’s touch, her nipples pushed at the lace fabric of her bra. She unhooked it with a snap and lowered it, relishing the way his eyes dropped to her rosy nipples, enjoying the way they reacted to his gaze, pearling, tingling with an excitement, clear to her mound.

“Beautiful. Damn. Just beautiful.” Judge cupped her breasts, thumbing her nipples brusquely. The throbbing between her legs grew, moisture gathered.

Her desire skyrocketed with his touch. “I want you.”

“You’ve got me. Right here. Right now. Forever.” His own voice was hoarse with passion as he tugged her pants down.

Forever.

First, that word sent the right kind of shiver through her. Then it sent the wrong kind.

She was breaking the fundamental taboo of her people by being with him.

Lani shoved the thought away. She’d deal with it later.

He lay her back, spreading her legs, then leaned forward, inhaling. She watched his chest expand with the breath.

Judge ran his tongue over his lower lip, almost throwing Lani into a climax at the idea of that tongue on her—in her. His face neared her breast, he moved the short distance and took her nipple in his mouth.

His five-o’clock shadow was a coarse stroke that made a surge of electricity travel the distance to her core, lighting her on fire with an intensity that made her moan.

“I have to taste you.” His tongue trailed between her breasts, then seared her skin as he drove southward.

He spread her lips with his fingers, and the coolness of the air touched her heated flesh, causing her to tremble.

Judge lowered his head, his breath warm, countering the cool air on her pussy, caressing her lips. A tremor traveled over Lani’s body.

He put his arms under her thighs, her legs hooked over his wide shoulders. She was fully exposed and a feast for his bear’s vision, even in the dimness. Knowing he was surveying her body and enjoying the slick pink and redness he found between her legs, watching his face as lust settled on it, making his dark eyes even darker. Lani moaned with need for Judge. Only Judge. Always Judge.

He blew on her clit, making it spasm, making her legs jump.

“Please, Judge.” She didn’t even know what she was asking for.

“I aim to.”

God, yes.

He drew in the swollen, sensitive button of her need, then licked her from up from her ass to her sleekness with a long, deliberate swipe of his tongue. He reversed his path, letting just the tip travel the same distance, allowing it to penetrate her.

Lani released a guttural groan, grabbing his head, bringing him closer.

She panted as he plunged his tongue deeply inside. A roar from his chest turned her on even more, drowning out the sound of her panting.

He plunged his fingers into her while he sucked on her tender, swollen core and sent her into a turmoil. Her nails dug into his flesh, scoring it. She thrashed as a climactic wave overtook her, sending her off a cliff of pleasure.

Throwing her head back, she screamed her pleasure, sure the neighbors would hear. He kissed the inside her thighs, first one, then the other, then covered her body with his.

Breathing hard, unable to move, Lani lay in place, immobile and recuperating, panting and fighting to catch her breath.

His eyes glowed with his bear’s amber-colored light.

Lani locked her lips onto his, tasting herself, loving how her essences merged with his musky manliness. Boldly, she reached down, cupped his hardness.

Her breath caught in her throat. He was so very large. Judge rose, but she nudged him back, and unzipped his pants, easing his length out.

She slid down his body and appraised his thickness, lowering her head, she touched the tip of her tongue to the large drop of moisture on the tip.

His essence glided across her tongue. Lani paused, savoring Judge’s flavor, relishing the earthiness and manliness of him. This only served to fire her desire all over again. She licked the rim of his engorged head.

Judge released a groan that grew into a rumble when she wrapped her lips around his cock snugly. She sucked until his rumble deepened into a growl.

“Enough.” Judge grabbed her roughly, pulling her up his hard body.

He captured her tongue into a kiss, while she straddled his muscular body, his cock tucked against her slickness. Leaning back, Lani pushed off, and rose, ready to slide onto his shaft. She dropped her body, impaling herself on his hardness. His thickness elicited a gasp and a cry as her body fought to accommodate his girth.

She rocked on his cock, her breasts swaying close to his face. Judge reached for her breasts and cupped them, tweaking her nipples roughly, pulling and pinching, then rolling the hardened nubs between his fingers.

Lani moved faster in tempo with the passion he was pushing to a crescendo. Palms on his thick chest for leverage, she pushed herself up, then slammed herself down.

Again.

And again.

Over and over.

He released a low, long, drawn out groan, grunted once, then flipped her with a swift wrestling-style move. With one fierce push, he plunged in, filling, demanding, punishing, claiming.

Lani pushed against him, taking him deeper, meeting him thrust for thrust.

The intimacy of their merged breathing, the sounds of their sex, the smacking of skin against skin, was too much.

Starbursts appeared behind her closed lids, like uber-sparklers. Her body felt like it belonged to a wild, wanton woman. She dug her nails into the carpeting, climaxing with a long moan, biting on her lip to keep the frenzied scream that threatened to explode from her lungs.

His grip on her hips was ferocious. He pulled her tightly against him and was still while his cock pulsated streams of his passion deep within.

Judge swept the hair on her neck aside, placing his lips on her nape. His breath was warm, his body hot against hers.

She bit a sob back.

I shouldn’t have done this.

How would she ever be able to work with him, day in, day out without wanting him. Without sensing that he wanted her.

She sensed his bear’s conviction that she was their mate.

What she couldn’t convey to him was how this couldn’t happen. She couldn’t disappoint her family, her community.

She didn’t swipe at the tear that made its way down her cheek. She didn’t want him to know.

T
he next morning
, Judge woke feeling as if the largest piece of a puzzle had finally settled into place. He awakened Lani with a kiss on her shoulder. She’d leaned back, her body pressed into his.

Then jumped up, a horrified look on her face.

“I can’t do this.”

Then she grabbed clothing, half-putting it on, half-carrying it, and ran out, leaving behind a very confused, very naked Judge.

With morning wood.

J
udge snapped
himself back to the moment at hand. Lani had just walked out on him.

Again.

Anger renewed itself in Judge. His bear roared in frustration, insisting they go after Lani. He opened the door as the engine of her car purred to life. Judge ran inside, grabbed his keys and headed toward his vehicle.

The sight before him drew him up short.

A knife lay on the ground next to his tire.

Next to his flat tire.

Fuck.

Admiration at her quickness in action and thought rose in him, even though she’d thwarted him. Behind her departing vehicle, dust gathered and settled.

But she hadn’t won this one. Not yet. Not by a long shot.

This is my mountain.

Judge gave his bear his way. The morphing was excruciating, but swift, thanks to Judge’s ability to shift adeptly. A few bone-crunching and sinew-tearing seconds later, Judge had shifted into his bear and was heading down the mountain at a breakneck lope. He could beat her down the mountain, she had to take all the curves. His path would be straight.

Maybe a bit treacherous.

Maybe a lot.

But then he’d be at the third curve and could stand in front of her car. She’d have to stop. They’d talk. They had a lot to talk about.

From her AWOL, to Pepper, to why she left their unit and wouldn’t respond to his calls.

Yeah, we have a lot to cover.

But right now he had a lot of ground to cover.

He barreled between trees, oblivious to the terrain and roots that reached upward, almost tripping him over and over.

Out of breath, his bear’s heart beating mightily in his chest, he pushed on, saliva dripping from open jaws, unaware of the frightful sight he’d make to a human, this out of control, rabid-appearing bear.

T
ears blinded Lani’s sight
, making everything blurry, making the road precarious to careen down. She swiped at her cheeks.

That did nothing to improve her vision. She should slow down, but the last thing she needed was to be close to Judge. His essence was still making her body vibrate in response, as though her Intuitive senses were on high alert. Or as if he was getting closer.

Impossible.

She had to figure out how to help Pepper on her own, but right now, she needed to be as far from Judge as she could. Nausea rose in her tummy, knots and bile joined forces. She dry-heaved, catching herself midway, swallowing nothing down.

“Damn it.” She barely managed the words out when a large entity, brown, furry, appeared in front of her.

Lani tried to react. She swerved. She hit the brakes. She couldn’t have said what happened—did she over-correct? Did her car underreact?

In the split second she hit the entity, she realized it was a grizzly.

Large.

Drooling.

Red and orange glowing in its eyes.

Something else was in its eyes.

Lani didn’t have the time to figure out what it was. Her car spun, refused to obey and began a slide, ricocheting off a tree.

Her head snapped in one direction while it seemed her car went in another.

With an unyielding snap, her temple slammed into the car’s window.

The world went dark. Instantly, shutting her off completely.