Page 36 of Courting the Tiger King

“Never,” she growled, and his laughter cut off only when she surged upward and caught his mouth with her own. For a second there was only bliss, heat and desire pooling low in his stomach as he hardened against her softness.

That lasted all of two seconds, before pain slammed into him and she fled once more.

Wren cursed soundly, pressing a finger up to his lip and shaking it off when it came away stained red. She’d bitten him.

The laughter couldn’t be held back and, this time, he kept things fair. Heedless of his naked body, he gave chase. If she wanted him to prove he could best her on two feet instead of four, then he would do so.

It was cool but not cold, the leaves slapping at his body barely a hindrance as he pushed through them with ease. Neah’sfeet thumped rhythmically against the forest floor up ahead and Wren smirked. This was possibly the best lunar hunt of his life.

When the trees thinned, leading to an open clearing, he put on the burst of speed he’d been holding back, bolting across the open space and toward the gold lengths of hair that danced in the wind just ahead of him.

Neah glanced back over her shoulder and that was what cost her. Her eyes widened, following the broad line of his shoulders and then dropping to below his waist. She stumbled and, before she could hit the ground, his arms closed around her.

Her hair hung down in a golden sheet, her breaths warming his chilled skin as she looked up at him with wide amber eyes. The world paused in that moment, their heartbeats caught in sync until the world sped up again and her plump lips opened to whisper, “I concede.”

It was what he’d been waiting for. Magic washed over him, like the Goddess herself was watching, blessing them, and the influx of power made his claws return and fangs to arc down from his mouth. His kiss turned into a bite, the mark blooming red on the skin between her throat and shoulder, the satisfaction making him growl as he tugged her closer and their lips met.

Neah may have conceded, but that didn’t mean she was subordinate, a fact she proved when she took control of the kiss, licking into his mouth with a possessiveness that made his cock swell, brushing against her stomach.

Her hand closed around it tightly and he hissed at the pinch of her nails, the wicked gleam in her eyes, pulling away and using his claws to finish the work he’d started before. The silk of her shirt fell away fully, leaving the creamy expanse of her skin bared to the moonlight, and Wren swallowed hard, loving the way his mark looked against the relative perfection of her.

Small scars covered her body, battle wounds that were shaped like tiger stripes, and Wren traced each one with his mouth as he lowered her to the grass beneath where they stood.

He’d known he was right. She was his, whether she accepted it or not — the moon didn’t lie and the connection that throbbed between them was as tangible as the branches of the trees a few paces away.

Impatient to see her, all of her, his claws shredded what remained of her trousers as he pulled them free from her body, wanting to see more, to feel her against him, to taste her and breathe her in until he drowned in the scent of her desire.

Strong hands threaded in his hair, tugging at the long strands until his mouth tasted her skin, licking each line of scars on her body until Wren gave in and let her direct his head as she wanted, chuckling when her thighs came up and around his shoulders.

It wasn’t enough, though, so he unlocked them from his body and instead pushed them wide on either side of her, opening her up until she was spread beautifully for him, glistening with her own arousal beneath the golden moon.

He dipped one clawed finger into her, oh-so careful, and he grinned when she gasped, her hands flying up to clutch at his shoulders.

So she liked the bite of pain with her pleasure? He could work with that.

Wren withdrew, tasting her heady scent in the air as he pressed the tips of his claws into her inner thighs, keeping her spread open like a feast just for him. He lowered his head slowly, watching her above the top of her mound, loving the way her eyes glowed and her hips bucked in an effort to reach his mouth.

He gave in, taking pity on her, and let his breath coast across her engorged wet heat before closing his mouth around the sweet bud that arced upward, throbbing for his attention. Hercry made him growl, his tongue working her clit in circles that made her shudder before he stopped fucking around andsucked.

Neah’s back arched and when she screamed his name he felt his cock dip in response, the tip growing wet as she begged him with her body, called for him with her soul so loudly that he knew anyone nearby would hear. Would know she was his.

The thought pleased him and he smiled into her pussy as he speared his tongue into her entrance, lapping at her wetness as she writhed, begging him for more. He obeyed. One finger, sans-claw, curled into her as he re-focused his attention back on her clit, sucking and licking it until she whimpered—only then did he curl the digit inside of her to rub against her sensitive inner walls.

When she came, she did so with a cry loud enough to send birds flying out of the trees, soaking Wren’s face as she throbbed against him and he grinned, enjoying the way she tried to ride his face even as he kept her pinned in place.

Once her shaking had subsided and the moon began to wane, Wren released her and backed away. Their instincts had been heightened, they had acted on desires more animal than man, and now that reason would be returning to their bodies and minds, Wren wasn’t sure what he’d find in Neah’s eyes. Regret? Fear at what they’d just done?

He wasn’t sure he wanted to wait around and find out. Perhaps she herself didn’t know how to feel yet. She hadn’t been ready to accept that he was hers before, but now… Well, Wren could be patient.

Under Selene’s moon, he’d proven to Neah what he could offer her as a mate, in the most physical sense anyway. What he had to give her now was time.

Wren bent down, pressing a chaste kiss to the sweat-slicked skin of her forehead and then inclined his head before letting the shift ripple back across his skin and padding away into the night.

CHAPTER TWENTY

NEAH

“And then what happened?” Zennon leaned in eagerly, eyes bright like she was living vicariously through Neah.

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