Page 16 of The Mountain Lion's Mate

“And Mom? Someone took her away for a reason, didn’t they?” Her voice held so much pain, I gathered her close and stroked her back for a few minutes until she went on. “They killed her.”

“We think so. She never told your father you existed. They had a real love affair, if short, and he was supposed to marry someone else. Some kind of royal alliance. And they always knew they would not be able to stay together. So, after he went home, she kept you a secret from a man whose life she didn’t think had room for you. Certainly not for her.”

“And then they got rid of the one person who knew who I was.”

I nodded. “And when your father very excitedly learned he had a child, they had to extend their plan to you. Making use of someone they’d stationed here many years ago.”

“How do you know all this? You’re a guy who grew up here, and suddenly you are deep in international intrigue?”

“I’m your bodyguard.”

If I’d thought anything would upset her, it wouldn’t have been that. But I’d have been so wrong. After all we’d been through, all she’d seen, my job sent her into tears.

“Emmalise, please don’t cry. I can’t stand it.” And my lion was freaking out. “Tell me how to make it better.”

“You’re my bodyguard. I thought you liked me. I was going to sleep with you, and I don’t sleep with people. But I thought we had something special. You were talking about the future, and you only meant it was while you were protecting me. I’m such a fool.”

“Oh no, don’t even think that. You’re my mate. My lion recognized you right away. You belong to us, with us, and we want so much more with you.”

“You’re just saying that.” Tears continued to stream down her face. “And it’s all right. I appreciate what you’ve done.” She froze. “Oh my gods, who’s paying for you? You must be so expensive and I only have my savings. It’s not that much, but you can have it all.”

Caressing her hair, I pressed kisses all over her lips and cheeks. “I don’t know. It doesn’t matter; that is between my boss and the client. Although, it seems likely it’s your father in this case.”

“But why? He doesn’t even know me.”

“You’re his daughter. And when he does get to know you, if you want to know him, he’ll love you even more.”

She snuggled closer, her tears wetting my/her bright-blue shirt. “Did I hear the sheriff calling you a blue jay?”

“Yeah, but I’ll get back at him next time we go golfing. You should see what he wears.”

We continued to talk for a while, kissing and touching, and eventually taking each other’s clothes off. The love seat was not roomy, so I scooped her up in my arms and carried her back to her bedroom where I laid her on the bed. She still wore a bra and panties, delicate lace that set off her skin tone in the moonlight coming through the open window.

I was kissing my way down her belly when she asked, “Do shifters make love differently from the rest of us?”

“Other than claiming, I don’t think so.” I nuzzled her belly button. “Mmmm.”

She giggled. “You’re tickling me. What is claiming?”

“We can talk about that some other time.” I had the edge of her panties in my teeth when she grabbed my head and lifted it up to look at her.

“Talk about it now.”

“Very well.” I took time for a few nips along her inner thigh before crawling back up her body to touch the place where her neck met her shoulder. “When we mate, when we have sex, I bite you here and leave a mark. In fact, we also call it marking.”

“Does it hurt?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never been marked.”

“And can I mark you back? I want to mark you back.”

I lifted her breast to my lips and sucked the tip before doing the same to the other one. She shivered but stayed on topic. “Can I mark you?”

“I don’t see why not. But you don’t have the same teeth, so maybe do it a little lower where you won’t find an artery or anything.”

We touched and caressed one another until we couldn’t wait any longer, and then I lay between her legs and watched her face while I positioned my penis at her entrance and slowly pressed inside.

I met resistance and my lion purred. But I stopped. “You’ve never…”

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