She curled her hand around the back of his neck. Instead of answering with words, she kissed him, letting her actions speak for her.
Chapter 22
Rafe carried Jasmine to the couch. Flushed from their loving, she looked sated and far more tempting than she could ever imagine. He focused on her shoulder and ran his tongue over his descended fangs. The delicate slope would be a perfect backdrop for his claim.
For the mate bite that would tie her to his soul for eternity.
With one knee on the thin cushions, he stroked the crook of her neck. The raised scar would announce to the world that she was his. He wanted that—to claim the one female who’d captured him.
He breathed deeply, filling his lungs with her scent. The big predators he housed lay down, rested their heads on their paws, and closed their eyes. Their peace radiated through him. That was something all shifters—Royals and single shifters alike—sought.
Peace.
It was incredibly hard sharing a body with other souls, especially when the entities tied to each other didn’t get along. There was no running from them, and living in constant discontent often drove the person mad, along with the animals inside them.
Jasmine’s presence promised he’d never have to face that fate. He couldn’t say exactly what it was about her that had managed to not only tame his cats but mesmerize him. Her scent had attracted him, so had her beauty, but other women had smelled incredibly alluring and had aroused him instantly. Those clues weren’t enough to go by when looking for a true mate.
He knew of many males who’d thought they’d found their true mate, only to learn it had been nothing more than lust. A couple of times in bed with their supposed one true mate had cured them of the fascination.
For him, it was more. He respected Jasmine for raising shifters, protecting them as if they were her own. Add in her warm personality and ability to meet life’s challenges and he saw a woman strong enough to face an eternity’s worth of ups and downs.
Maybe his cats hadn’t realized how perfect she was for him at first glance, but they’d sensed something special about her. They’d wanted to get closer to find out what. Rafe was glad he’d given in to them.
She showed him what life could entail when he wasn’t always fighting his animals’ wants. He didn’t want to give that up. Neither did his cats. They’d made their choice—Jasmine.
It didn’t seem to matter to them that she was human and would never be able to carry his kids. For many older Royal males, that fact didn’t matter. After living alone for centuries, the promise of peace a true mate offered overrode their animalistic drive to breed. Rafe agreed. Eternity was a long time to spend with a woman you only desired, not loved.
He was ready to give up on having kids of his own. Hell, he’d give up everything.
Jasmine on the other hand? She wasn’t ready to accept him. She didn’t trust him, not completely, and he needed her to have complete faith in him.
The mating process between Royals and non-Royals was too dangerous to allow for even a second of doubt. If she fought him as he walked through her soul, she might die before he could complete their bond. For a human, that level of trust would not be gained overnight. He would gain it, though, and once he had it, he’d claim his true mate.
Rafe turned away from the couch and the temptation Jasmine posed and studied the room she used as an office. It was simply decorated—a desk, a couple of metal filing cabinets, and a small table shoved in one corner with catalogs and unopened mail on its surface.
The other corner held a tiny kitchen with a sink, microwave, and mini-fridge. Next to it, boxes of toys and stacks of books sat on the floor near an ancient boxy television complete with rabbit ears. A photo stood on top of the old set.
Brown hair, smiles that suggested their childhood had been a happy one, and eyes that stopped his heart exactly as they had the last time he’d looked into them. Darker than his with less of a luminous quality, their eyes hinted that their father was a single shifter, not another Royal.
Biologically, conception was possible as long as he was a feline shifter. Practically, Rafe had never heard of any Royal female willingly mating a single shifter. Why would she? The laws of the heavens didn’t allow her to share her immortality with a non-Royal. Eventually her mate would die. And she’d be left alone. For eternity. No sane Royal female would agree to such a situation.
No. Seth and Levi’s mother likely hadn’t agreed to a bond with their single shifter father. He’d no doubt forced her into a breeding bond. Probably so he could exploit their kids. Even as a single shifter, his kids would be Royals. As strong as their mother and just as valuable. Those groups who experimented on shifters would pay a hefty amount for them.
Rafe didn’t want to imagine which one of his missing relatives had met that fate. Nina wasn’t the only female they’d lost over the years, she was just the last. But in the end the ‘who’ didn’t matter. One of his relatives—sister, niece, or cousin—was tied in a breeding bond with a single shifter. The proof was right in front of him.
He replaced the picture. How had Jasmine ended up with Seth and Levi? Her account of finding them abandoned didn’t ring true. She’d lied, at least about not knowing the mother. But why? Even if Seth and Levi had been conceived through rape, their mother would still be protective of them. A shifter’s instincts were powerful.
Jasmine had been afraid when she’d delivered her lie. Something bad had happened that had left her alone and fearful. He had to get
