As a tiger, he’d made it his business to watch everyone else all the time. What they did, what they said.
It was strange and refreshing to be with someone that noticed him right back.
He sat on the bed, and Mel leaned against him, their shoulders touching. He ran a hand down her back, just needing to feel her and remind his tiger she was safe and sound.
“I guess I’ll start…” Dallas said.
Mel hummed, listening.
“I guess you already know half of the story. I was raised by the Blackhearts. Well… created, more like. Created to serve their purposes. So when I escaped when I was young, I had to survive on my own for a while. Then Harrison found me as a kid.”
“Harrison? Like the grumpy, surly Harrison?”
Dallas chuckled at that. “The same. He found me on the streets, brought me back here to Dragonclaw. I’ve lived here my whole life, afraid I was an outlaw because of what I was. Because I was different from other shifters.”
“I’m not sure what ‘different’ even entails. It’s all new to me. New and awesome.”
He nuzzled her closer, calm settling over them. “So when Harrison told me about a certain reporter that was coming into town and told me to keep an eye on her, I felt like my loyalty was to my family and Dragonclaw. I didn’t think I’d fall for you as fast as I did.”
Mel smiled. “To be honest, I wasn’t sure what I was doing agreeing to your help in the first place. I should’ve run, screaming, from someone so big and intimidating. But you put me at ease from the first time we met. And every day since, I only think about you more and more.”
Dallas’s heart surged with happy emotion at hearing that.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you about my family even when I brought you here for the interviews. I wanted to tell you, especially when I knew you were my mate. And then the Blackhearts showed up, the last people in the world I thought I’d have to face again, and the basilisk appeared too, and everything turned upside down.”
Mel surprised him by getting up off the bed and turning around to straddle his lap. It was sweet and intimate. And her hand as it cupped his cheek healed his soul in some deep way.
“You don’t need to blame yourself for anything, Dallas. Not for what you are. Not for protecting the people you love. Not for how you’ve handled any of this.” Her brown eyes sparkled with understanding, and Dallas was nearly bowled over by her beauty as she looked at him without fear or apprehension.
The way her hips pressed into his right now wasn’t bad either.
“I ran earlier because it was all too much to handle. But never again, Dallas. I want you. Forever,” she said.
“Only you for me too. You’re my mate. But what about your job, your search?”
She grinned, wrapping her arms around his neck. “As I see it, I found exactly what I came here to find. And a whole lot more, frankly. More than I deserved.”
He growled, nuzzling her neck as the sound of her sigh made his nerves awaken instantly. “You deserve everything, mate.”
“So what is a mate, exactly? Harrison and the others threw the word around when they thought I couldn’t hear them. Or on the recording, it came up a bunch.”
“Mate means a shifter’s partner. Like marriage but much stronger. Unbreakable. It means we’re bonded to each other, and wherever you go, I go too.”
“That pretty much sounds like the most awesome thing ever.” She giggled. “Where do I sign?”
“Actually… we just need to have unprotected sex. Well, and one other thing. I’m going to mark you.” He could feel himself blush at just the mention of them being together like that, even though they’d had amazing nights and mornings this past week already.
But mating was different.
“Hm?” The red hue on her cheeks was evidence he wasn’t the only one thinking about the bed beneath them right now.
He’d heard about the practice from other cat shifters, how when they mated, they left a mark on their mates, something their animal decided in the moment.
“It’s a cat shifter thing. It’s small usually, like a tattoo, but harder to see.”
“I’ll admit I’m extremely curious. But you could mark my whole back and front, and I’d still do it just to be with you, sexy.”
He laughed nervously. His tiger had something much more subtle in mind. “I guess this is your last chance to say no, then. Otherwise, I can’t hold back from wanting you any longer, Mel.”
“Then don’t, tiger… if it’s okay if I call you that?” Her voice was husky, full of want he felt thrumming like a drum in his heart at the same moment.
“You can call me anything you want as long as it’s my name on your lips when you’re coming,” he whispered harshly into her ear, making Mel gasp as he picked her up in his arms and made for the bathroom.
She didn’t object, just hummed as he kissed her neck and her ear, teasing his mate while he made for the shower and turned it on.
It wasn’t big, but it was just enough for the two of them. And in seconds, they were both naked, hot water streaming over their bodies as mist filled the air.
He wanted this moment to be perfect. Wanted the scent of earth and cougars and basilisks and trouble washed away before they started their journey into forever together.
“Fuck, so gorgeous,” Dallas said, filling his hands with soap and stroking over her curves. Mel leaned against the tiled wall, squirming with pleasure as he washed down her arms, his fingers entwining with hers for a moment before running his hands over her shoulders and down her breasts, their tips hardening immediately beneath
