Winter (Rise of the Pride, Book 2) (15 page)

“What if we are not mates?” she worried.

“The way my panther has been prowling from
the scent of your arousal, I can guarantee that we are,” he
whispered, pushing himself back away from her neck.

“You can…” she blushed.

“I know the scent of your skin, the scent of
your hair…and the scent of your sweet pussy when it is wet for me,”
Winter growled. “Nova, there is not one thing about you that I
don’t crave.”

“Why do you tease me like this?” She sighed.
“Winter, I can’t take this not knowing any longer. I
ache
for you to touch me.”

“I know,” he said, leaning forward. His
breath was hot against her lips. He was so close she could almost
taste him. “I’m going to kiss you now.”

“Finally,” Nova breathed, the moment his
hands cupped her face and Winter Blue pressed his lips to hers.

Winter’s panther howled as his fingers made
contact with her skin. A fissure of awareness crackled silently
through the air. His body tightened, his mating scent drifted
across his nose, and his heart sped as he took her lips for the
first time.

Mine!

Mate!

Mine!

“You’re mine,” he whispered as he released
her lips to allow both of them to catch their breath. Before she
could respond, Winter shut her up with his tongue in her mouth and
a hand tangled in the back of her long hair. She moaned when he
used his free arm to wrap around her waist, lifting Nova off of her
feet. He immediately started walking toward the back of the house,
his body hardening…preparing himself to finally own her.

“Your tongue is rough.” She hummed, tilting
her head to the side so Winter could continue kissing and licking a
path from her lips to her neck. He nipped at the spot where he
would make his mark on her, telling all other males that she was
his.

“My panther is in control,” he confessed,
kicking open his bedroom door. It took two steps to reach his bed,
and then they were both on the mattress.

“God, you smell so good.” She inhaled,
closing her eyes as his scent reached her.

“Mating scent,” he mumbled as he grabbed the
end of her shirt, lifting it over her head and tossing it off the
side of his bed. Nova squirmed beneath him, but he wasn’t done
taking in her body. God, she was beautiful; every inch of her skin
was flawless. His panther demanded he mount her properly, but
Winter pushed him back. There would be time for that later.

“Please, Winter,” Nova cried as his hands
cupped her breasts through the white, lacy bra he needed gone.
Unleashing a claw on his forefinger, Winter sliced through the
center, purring when the cups fell to the side. Automatically, he
nuzzled between her breasts, kissing and licking the warm skin
before laying the flat of his rough tongue against the swell of her
breast, making a path over her nipple, stopping to take the flesh
between his teeth. He repeated the action to the other breast,
blowing cold air over the points.

“Touch me, Winter,” she begged, her hands
clamped tightly on the tops of his shoulders. Winter snarled when
her nails dug into the flesh. Not that he didn’t like it…quite the
opposite…he loved it.

His hands shook as his fingers tucked into
the elastic waistband of her black yoga pants, pulling them and her
panties from her body. The scent of her desire reached him and he
growled as he wasted no time burying his face between her legs,
reaching for the fly of his jeans.

The first taste of her was pure heaven. Nova
Raines had been made for him and he was going to devour her. Nails
scratched at his scalp, but Winter didn’t care if she drew blood.
He’d wear any mark she made on him with pride.

“Come for me,” he urged, making another pass
with his tongue.

“Winter, I want you inside me,” she pleaded,
reaching for his shoulders.

He traced her sex with a finger, pushing one
inside. Her back arched as her pussy clamped down, pulling him
deeper inside. Nova raised her knee and tilted her pelvis, silently
begging for more. He abandoned the assault with his mouth and
climbed up her body, at no time removing his hand. His lips, wet
with her essence, touched hers and his tongue traced her bottom
lip. Nova ran her fingers through the longer hair on top of his
head, pulling him closer to her lips, and kissed him wildly.

With his free hand, Winter rolled up on his
knees and pushed the denim jeans below his ass. She was close and
he needed inside of her sweetness. Jesus, she was beautiful,
writhing beneath him, trusting him to give her pleasure.

“If I hurt you, you must stop me, Nova,” he
said, leaning forward. His cock jumped when it nudged against her
soaking wet core.

“If I am your mate, Winter,” she panted.
“Then I want you to make me yours in all ways.”

A loud snarl left his lips as he pulled
back, his eyes wide at her confession. His panther panted heavily,
demanding to mark her as his own.

“I will bite you,” he said, his voice
already hindered by the length of his canines. “I’ll take you
hard.”

“Shut up and do it, Winter,” she
snarled.

In a move even he was surprised at, Winter
flipped her over onto her stomach, pulling at her hips. A loud
crack echoed in the room as his hand landed firmly on her ass.
“That’s for pushing me, little one.”

“Oh, my,” Nova shivered.

His length disappeared into her body as he
wrapped his hand into Nova’s long hair. Two twists of his wrist and
he had enough hold to pull her up so his chest rested tightly
against her back.

“You can scream and no one will hear you,”
he snarled as he struck the tender flesh of her neck, pumping deep
inside her.

Nova’s scream of pain and pleasure spurred
him on. His hand clamped onto her hip, holding her in place as he
fucked her with wild abandon. As he opened his mouth to remove his
canines from her neck, he used the saliva in his animal DNA to seal
the wounds, but not enough to heal them completely. The marks he’d
left were larger than any other he’d seen on a mate. His panther
growled with approval.

“Did I hurt you?” he asked, still pumping
inside her.

“No.” She tensed. “More, Winter.”

“More?” he said, slowing.

“I need it harder, please,” she begged,
leaning her head back against his chest. Winter noticed her eyes
were glazed over in ecstasy. He tightened his hold on her hair,
twisting her head so he could capture her lips. The hand holding
her hip slid down to her sex. He rolled her clit a few times before
adding just the right amount of pressure to send her over the
edge.

“Fuck me,” she screamed, bucking against
him. Winter didn’t release her, knowing his little hellcat was
enjoying his firm control over their mating.

As her body slumped, Winter let her fall
forward before pulling out of her sex. She made a sound of protest,
but moaned when he rolled her over to her back and entered her in
one swift movement.

“I want you to look in my eyes when I come
inside you,” Winter said. Where this primal need to mark her with
his scent and seed came from drew him up short for a moment, but
his panther snarled inside his head, telling him this was his
nature…he wasn’t human anymore.

And as Nova wrapped her legs over his hips,
Winter felt his alpha tendencies rear up, demanding exactly what
his panther had been screaming for months.

Nova Raines was his.

Chapter Eleven

Nova’s body was encased in warm, smooth skin
as she opened her eyes. A smile played on her lips as she melted
into Winter’s muscular chest, pressing her lips over his heart. His
chin rested on top of her head and his arms made a bracket around
her body. She was sure that if anyone entered the room, she’d be
completely hidden by his massive size. Winter’s chest rumbled as he
shifted, pulling her tighter into his sleepy embrace.

“Winter?” she whispered, shifting slightly.
“Wake up.”

“No,” he grumbled.

“I have to go to the bar.” She smiled,
wiggling a little more.

“Take the day off,” he mumbled, not once
opening his eyes.

“I’ve taken too many days off as it is,” she
said, finally getting an arm free. He wasn’t going to budge, so she
poked him in the side, but he still didn’t move. “Tell me how to
get you to let me go.”

“Not happening, little one.” He smiled in
his sleepy haze.

“Did you sleep at all last night?” she
asked, remembering how tired he’d looked when she woke up a few
hours ago. It was now close noon and it didn’t look like he was
going to let her go.

“No,” he replied.

“You need to rest.” She smirked wickedly.
“I’ll call Dane and have him take me to the bar.”

His eyes opened wide, they’d completely
changed over to a glowing amber. He hissed and bared his fangs at
her. “He will
not
take you anywhere.”

“Please, Winter. I have to go work,” she
sighed.

“When a panther finds his mate, he usually
keeps her in their bed for a few days,” he explained, blinking to
clear his eyes.

“So, we are mates?” she asked.

“I’ve marked you as my mate,” he said,
pulling her over as he sat up in the bed. She straddled his hips as
he rested his back against the oak headboard. “Everything else can
wait for later.”

“Everything like what?” she prodded. He
obviously was keeping something from her by the way he looked at
something over her shoulder and not directly into her eyes.

“Time, Nova,” he hedged.

“I have time, Winter,” she replied, pushing
him away. “I have to get ready for work.”

“Shower and I’ll take you when you’re ready
to go,” he yawned. “After I take a little cat nap.”

“You’re funny,” she snickered, pulling his
black comforter from bed to use as a cover. Winter growled but
didn’t protest because he’d fallen back to sleep, a soft purr
rumbling in his chest.

An hour later, Nova unlocked the door to the
bar, allowing Winter to walk ahead of her to check the building
while she disarmed the alarm system. She’d been through this
routine for the past few months and knew to just stand by the door
until he returned.

Her eyes followed his every move as he
checked behind the bar. Winter moved with grace, sleek and very
quiet. Every single one of the panthers, even for as large as they
were, could enter a building so quietly no one would know they were
there.

“All clear,” Winter announced, pulling her
into his arms.

“When do you need to go into work?” she
asked, after he had assaulted her lips for a few minutes.

“I’m taking the day off.” He smiled as they
walked toward the end of the bar. “I can do that as the boss.”

Savage was the first one to enter the bar.
He froze as he approached Nova.

“It’s about damn time, you stubborn son of a
bitch,” Savage chuckled, taking a seat at the bar. Savage cupped
Winter’s shoulder and gave him a good shake. “But did you have to
cover her in your scent? Jesus Christ, I
liked
the way she
smelled before you mated her.”

Savage let out a grunt when Winter elbowed
him directly in his side, but Savage being Savage, did nothing more
than laugh. He jutted his chin toward the bar, silently asking Nova
if he could help himself. When she nodded, he walked around the bar
and poured himself a whiskey on the rocks. As soon as his lips
touched the rim, the menacing looking shifter, with his long hair
and arms heavily covered in tattoos, froze.

Nova glanced up as Mary Grace rushed through
the door, hastily pulling her long brown hair up into a ponytail,
her face flushed. “Sorry I’m late.”

“What’s wrong?” Savage growled, setting his
glass on the bar top heavily. Nova frowned at his reaction.

“Ah, nothing.” Mary Grace froze, her eyes
widening at Savage’s tone. His eyes sparked amber and he was
obviously pissed.