Page 71 of Baseball and Shifters

Bastian

Istep into the dorm, my hair still damp from my post-game shower. My body hums with the leftover adrenaline, but my bond with Rachel is what really drives the thrum in my veins. She’s close. I can feel how proud she is of me and it's a heady feeling, but under her pride is something else… anticipation.

Lucas steps out of my room, closing the door behind him before I can see what he’s up to.

“What were you doing in my room?” I narrow my eyes as I toss my bag on the couch.

Lucas leans casually against the wall like he hasn’t just spent a week benched for something that wasn’t his fault. His smirk tells me he’s definitely hiding something.

“What did you do?” I demand, narrowing my eyes.

“Oh, you know, just a little MVP celebration. Don’t say I've never done anything for you,” he snarks and jerks his head towards my bedroom door. “Time to go claim your prize, tiger.”

I don’t bother responding. I already know what’s waiting for me, or should I say who. I can feel her energy like a crackle in the air. Lust, anticipation, and a mischief I love to see growing in my Firefly as she gets more comfortable in herself as our mate.

I open my door and freeze.

Flickering light fills the room, casting long shadows across the walls. A plate of food sits on the desk, but I only have eyes for the snack laid out on my bed. The warm candlelight paints her skin in golden tones, and the soft jersey clings to curves I’ve only dared to imagine.

Rachel stretches across my bed like a gift from fate itself.

I’ve wanted to see her wearing my number all week, but I can say now with absolute certainty the fantasy could never compare to the reality. Her creamy legs are bare, the edge of the jersey barely covering the tops of her thighs. My eyes catch on Lucas’s mark as they trail up her body. Her hair fans out around her, creating an ebony halo. Her vivid green eyes catch mine, swirling with nerves, heat, and something even deeper.

Every inch of me goes stiff.

“Holy shit,” I breathe.

She gives me a coy smile, tilting her head to the side. “Took you long enough. I was beginning to think you weren’t interested in your prize.”

I growl, low and dangerous in my chest, and kick the door shut behind me before reaching back and turning the lock.

“You trying to kill me, Firefly?”

She shrugs, not bothering to hide the wicked glint in her eye. “Maybe. Or maybe I just thought my MVP deserved a little something special.”

I stalk towards her slowly, letting my eyes drag over every inch of her body. “One home run and I get this? What do I get if we win the whole season?”

Her lips curve in a sexy seductive smirk I’ve never seen on my mate before, but decide instantly that’s my new favorite expression on her. “Guess you’ll just have to stick around and find out.”

I reach the bed and brace one hand beside her head, the other sliding up the exposed skin of her thigh. “Oh, I’ll be sticking around,” I murmur, my voice rough with lust. “But right now, I’m going to unwrap my present.”

She shivers under my touch and I feel it through the bond, she wants this, needs this, maybe as much as I do.

“Bas…” she whispers, her hands tangling with my shirt, pulling me down.

I kiss her. Deep and filthy, claiming her mouth with reckless abandon. There’s nothing gentle about it. I’ve been holding back, giving her space to come to me. But she’s here now and she’smine.Time for her to find out what it means to be mated to a tiger.

“Mine,” I growl against her mouth.

She gasps, arching into me. “Yours.”

Her whispered agreement snaps the last of my control.

I lean back just enough to get a proper look at her, my eyes roaming every inch of her. “Take the jersey off,” I practically purr each word.

She bites her lower lip, hands trembling slightly as she lifts the hem of the jersey revealing inch by tantalizing inch of skin in a slow tease. My heart stops when she gets the jersey to her bellybutton. The lack of panties has my mouth drying. The only thing keeping me from seeing her most private parts is the way she positions her legs as she slowly… so fucking slowly… removes my jersey. There’s no way to hide her perky tits though, as it comes up and over her head. My tiger snarls in my head, practically feral at the sight of his mate bare before him. As usual, we’re a hundred percent on the same page.

It’s time to claim our mate.

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