“Here goes nothing. Trista, I’ve never believed in all the fairy tale bullshit of what people put in books about how we find our mates.”
“Fucking right. I told you he was the perfect mate.” My liger smiled, echoing her words back to me from the first day we met August. Instead of giving her the satisfaction of answering, I simply took a drink of coffee, allowing the warm liquid to fall down my throat and distract me momentarily.
“Mates?”
“This is all coming out wrong, even though my leopard doesn’t seem to think so,” he admitted out of frustration and ran his fingers along one of the creases his furrowed brow caused as he frowned.
“Neither does my liger,” I confessed with a shake of my head, staring into the black liquid in my cup.
“Well, that doesn’t make this any easier.”
This was the breaking point for August. He didn’t want to hurt my feelings, but he wanted to fuck. It was what our inner beasts wanted, so both of them would be happy. Taking in a deep breath, I prepared for what he was going to say next.
“Fuck it. I’m just going to say it. I’ve never believed that things were different when you actually found the one you were supposed to for life. That was until you. Even before I met you, everything about me was different. I couldn’t control my powers. I mean, hell, fucking lightning struck through a house and into the literal place we met. I couldn’t stop it. The thought of you in pain killed me, and I didn’t know the first thing about you at that point. I didn’t even know if I could trust you or if you were full of shit, but I wanted to protect you regardless. I don’t put anything above my brothers, and you had just killed a prospect. I shouldn’t have asked the first question. In all honesty, I should have just shifted and ripped you to shreds, but I couldn’t. Do you know why?” he spoke quickly, and some of his words ran together, but I didn’t know what to say. This wasn’t at all what I expected.
I was speechless.
“Wow!”
“You got that fucking right, Trista. Say something before I take over our body.”
“What do I say?”
“Figure it out.”
Unable to form words, I shook my head in response. I had to let him know I was listening, even if I was too shocked to speak.
“Because all the shit I didn’t believe, the shit that people put in books and movies, it’s what happened because of you. I imprinted on you, and I hadn’t even met you yet. I know all of this sounds fucking insane. It is fucking insane, but it’s the truth, and I’m tired of walking around acting like it isn’t.” He ran his fingers through his thick dark hair out of frustration and stood to pace the floor.
“I’ll understand if you want to move out. I’ll help you get your own place, but I’d feel better if you were here, and I knew you were safe. All of this has turned me into a pussy. I’m the guy I used to make fun of, and I don’t give a damn about it. It wouldn’t matter if I did, there isn’t a damn thing I can do about it anyway.”
“She feels the same, August,” my liger forced out of my mouth. I fought the urge to smack myself in the face because it wouldn’t be her who I inflicted pain upon. It would hurt me. I bit my tongue to stop her from revealing anything else I wished to remain a secret.
“She does?”
“I do, but I didn’t know what to say. Every time I thought I’d worked up the courage to respond, you said something else. My liger warned me if I didn’t say something, she was going to…and she did.” I chuckled nervously, having no clue where this would go after I quit talking. I understood why he kept blurting words one after another because the silence was more uncomfortable than anything right now.
“So, where do we go from here?” I asked him, standing up and pacing the opposite direction from him.
“Let’s give our animals what they want.” He planted his feet in front of me, and his hands landed on my shoulders.
“It isn’t the worst idea he’s ever had.” She laughed, and then an audible purr left my throat.
“You weren’t lying, were you?” He smiled, brushing a few stray strands of hair away from my face.
“Not at all. She’s insatiable.”
“So is he.” August admitted, licking his lips. I wasn’t sure if August was referring to his leopard or if it was his leopard doing the talking. Honestly, I didn’t care who was responsible for the statement..
He pulled me to him and bend down to press his lips against mine. All of my hormones and emotions rushed to every pore in my body, and as a result, an unintentional moan left my lips. The apples of my cheeks reddened from embarrassment, and I prayed he didn’t notice. As a general note, I wasn’t a shy person, but I was finding out that nothing was typical with August. I guessed I should think of the expected and then anticipate the inverse with him moving forward from this moment on. It was too soon to plan out our entire
