Mating Fever Read online

  “And what might that be?” she asked, her voice somehow managing to be both sensual and full of challenge at the same time.

  “Well, for one thing, that’s my client’s painting you have in your bag. I’ll be having it back, if you don’t mind.”

  Her eyes darkened and she shook her head in denial. “It’s mine. You can’t have it. Not the painting, and not anything else you might be thinking to claim.”

  “Is that so?” he challenged and prowled across the room, doing his best to ignore the steel rod that had replaced his cock and the demanding roar of his tiger who wanted nothing but to take what was his.

  She held her ground until he was only two feet in front of her, but then her gaze lowered to his very obvious erection and she took a step back. “No.”

  “You keep saying that word as if it’s going to change anything, my beauty. It won’t.” He lunged for her, grabbing her and hauling her roughly into his arms. He couldn’t wait any longer.

  “You’re mine.”

  4

  Tessa

  “Like hell I am!” Tessa summoned her claws and raked them down Doyle’s chest, which merely shredded the fabric to reveal his muscled torso. What god had she pissed off that they would present her mate to her now? She was in the middle of a job … and apparently so was he.

  The same job.

  She snarled again, but the scent of her mate was making it hard to hold onto her anger. All she wanted was to rub up against him, lick him, bite him and fuck him hard.

  Shit.

  Her leopard was completely enthralled, the traitorous cat howling inside her head, insisting she accept her mate. Doyle gripped her hair, tugging her head back sharply so that she was looking up into his face.

  Holy shit, he’s gorgeous.

  He had ice-blue eyes and the chiselled features of a model, masked by a close cropped beard that was only a few shades darker than his hair. He was tall and powerfully built, like most cat shifters, but she couldn’t tell what species he was. Not that she’d had a lot of experience with her own kind.

  “Your name, mate. Tell me your name.”

  “Tessa. I’m Tessa Banks.”

  “Hello, Tessa.” The way he whispered her name made her heart do a slow somersault in her chest. She opened her mouth to answer, but his lips crashed down her hers, fierce, feral, and demanding. Her resistance crumbled in an instant as the full force of the mating fever hit her. There was no fighting it. No stopping the inevitable. This was her mate, and she needed him to claim her. Here. Now.

  His scent filled her lungs, saturated her very cells, imprinting itself on her psyche forever. She climbed his body, lips still mated to his, mouth open, tongues dancing. His hands manifested claws, tearing away her clothing. Tessa responded in kind, wrapping her legs around his hips to steady herself as she tore away the rest of his shirt. He growled into her mouth loud enough that the vibrations reverberated down to her very soul, eliciting a soft rumble of response from her leopard.

  He held her tight as he dropped to his knees and then eased her back onto the floor. Her legs were still tight around his hips, and the hard ridge of his cock was now pressed to the seam of her slick pussy. Every touch made her wetter, and she could taste her own arousal perfuming the air around them, blending with the tantalizing scent of spice that belonged was all his. As if sharing the same thought, he lifted his mouth from hers and drew in a lungful of air, his eyes glittering with lust as he stared down at her.

  “You smell amazing.” He dipped his head to run his tongue along the line of her jaw. “You taste even better, and I’ll bet that fucking you is going to be the best thing I’ve ever experienced. I need to fuck you, Tessa. Need to feel your hot little cunt around my cock.”

  “Yes, need you, too,” she moaned, lifting her hips off the floor to grind her pussy along his dick.

  “Say my name,” he demanded, his voice barely human now. He pushed up and away from her and she untangled her legs from his hips, freeing him.

  “Doyle.”

  He tore away his pants with a swipe of his claws and she lifted her head to stare at his incredible length of his cock. He was gorgeous and ridiculously well-endowed. Maybe the gods didn’t hate her.

  “Tell me you need me again, and say my name, woman.”

  On second thought, maybe the gods hated her after all.

  “You did not just say that.”

  The snarl that filled the air was pure animal. “Yes, I did.”

  Tessa’s human side wanted to roll her eyes, but her leopard wanted nothing more than to roll over and offer herself to the pushy bastard kneeling between her legs.

  “Get over yourself.”

  “I’d rather get inside you,” he said as his claws raked across the front of her pants, reducing them to scraps. A few more swipes and she damned near naked, with only a few tattered shreds left of her jeans. Doyle moved slowly back up her body, pausing to nuzzle and suckle at her breasts until she arched up off the floor and moaned.

  Gods, she wanted him. Every arrogant, sexy inch of him. Damn fate right to Hell for choosing this bastard to be her soul mate.

  Doyle covered her body with his, rubbing the thick crown of his cock against her swollen folds. “Say… My… Name.”

  Her leopard clawed her way to dominance and Tessa heard herself speak, her words a half-snarl that came straight from the animal that shared her soul. “I want you, Doyle. Take me. Claim me.”

  He growled in response, a primal sound that fired her blood and sent a fresh flood of cream to her pussy. His mouth slanted over hers and her lips parted, inviting him into the depths of her mouth. He reached between them, talented fingers pressing into her soaking wet folds to toy with the delicate pearl of her clit. Doyle’s touch sent her into another fevered frenzy, her hips rising to grind herself against his hand.

  “Please, Doyle.”

  A shudder coursed through him at the sound of his name. He withdrew his hand and rocked his hips, angling his cock so that it slipped into the needy depths of her pussy. She tangled the fingers of one hand into his hair and kissed him back, the nails of one hand shifting to talons as she clawed at his back, wanting to force him deeper.

  The mating fever dragged her deeper into a lustful fog as the scent of his blood mingled with the smell of their mutual need. Her fangs lengthened and her pussy clamped tight around the driving thrusts of his cock. Every stroke was harder than the one before it, and he tore his mouth from hers to bury his face in the crook of her neck. Tessa turned her head, offering him her throat. It was an act of submission she had never performed for anyone. One she would have never considered, not until him.

  Her fangs dropped and the urge to sink her teeth into him and seal their mating grew as she neared the moment of orgasm. She knew he was driven by the same need, because she could feel the prick of his teeth pressing to her throat. The mating fever made it nearly impossible to resist the urge to claim a mate, and once it was done they would be bound together for the rest of their lives. It should have terrified her, but Tessa didn’t care. She couldn’t. Not when all she could think about was the incredible pleasure coursing through her.

  “Tessa…” he growled her name in an inhuman voice that was a blend of man and animal.

  Her toes curled as his breath caught and she knew they were on the verge, so close to release she could feel the first tremors that heralded the moment he would claim her. That was when a tinny voice started squawking, and Doyle froze.

  Something was wrong.

  5

  Doyle

  “The alarms are resetting! Get out! Get out now!”

  The twins were yelling into his earpiece, but Doyle couldn’t respond. Not now. Not with Tessa’s legs wrapped around him and his dick buried deep inside her tight pussy. He had to finish this, had to brand her body with his mark so that she could never leave him. She tasted as sweet as wild honey and her body fit him like a living glove. She was perfect, and he would make her his. Nothing else mattered.


  Claws raked his back, leaving his skin burning. Doyle knew what she wanted, what they both needed. He started moving again, surging into her slick channel as they both raced toward rapture. Tessa came first, her pussy gripping him like a fist. Her inner walls milked his cock as she cried out before sinking her fangs into his shoulder. The exquisite blend of pleasure and pain made his balls tighten and his cock swell. Doyle pounded into her with all the pent-up need of more than a hundred years of loneliness. As the first jets of cum poured into her, he bit down on the tender flesh of her throat. Blood coated his mouth and he absorbed her life’s essence, making it a part of himself.

  She is mine.

  The mating fever faded enough for him to be able to think again, and the twins shouts finally registered. They were in trouble. His mate was in danger. Doyle released his grip on Tessa’s throat and pushed himself up and away from him. Confusion and hurt flashed in his beauty’s eyes at his sudden withdrawal, and regret sliced through his heart. “Sorry, love. I’ll make this up to you later. Right now, we need to run.”

  “What?”

  He surged to his feet, drawing her up with him. “The alarms are resetting, grab your bag and get out of here, now!”

  “Why didn’t you mention that earlier? Fuck, fuck, fuck!” she cursed and tore herself out of his arms.

  “I was distracted,” he said and she snorted with laughter.

  “I’ll say you were. When we get out of here we really need to talk about—” The electronic screech of an alarm cut her off mid-sentence. They were out of time. He grabbed his bag in one hand, taking her hand with the other. They raced for the door at inhuman speed. Before they had crossed half the distance, he could see they weren’t going to make it.

  A barred gate was rapidly dropping into place, cutting off the only exit. He knew in an instant what he needed to do. When they were close enough, Doyle came to a sudden halt and used all his strength to hurtle Tessa past him and through the narrowing gap between the descending gate and the floor. She shifted forms as she flew beneath the bars, her naked body transforming to a blur of gold and black fur that landed gracefully on the far side of the barrier, her bag landing in a heap at her paws. The gate slammed shut behind her, cutting off his escape. He felt nothing but relief that she’d made it out.

  “Doyle, what the hell is going on in there? Talk to us!” He’d almost forgotten about the twins, and the incessant alarm made it nearly impossible to hear them over the din. “I’m trapped, Tessa’s not. She has the painting. Get her out of here or I’ll have two more wolf pelts to hang on my wall.”

  “The sex kitten you were just banging has the painting? What the fuck?”

  “Call her that again and I’ll strip your hide off your useless ass while you’re still breathing, pup!”

  “Sorry.”

  Doyle tugged the transmitter off his ear and threw it through the bars to Tessa, yelling to be heard over the wails that were threatening to deafen him. “My team will get you out of here. You’ll need this to find them, now go!”

  She snarled and shook her head, swiping at the bars with one paw.

  Fuck, she’s beautiful in either form.

  “Don’t argue, go!” He pointed down the hallway and she growled again, but she carefully picked up transmitter between her jaws and dropped it into her bag. She grabbed the bag with her mouth, gave him one last look and bounded down the hall, taking his heart with him.

  He could face being caught, if only she were safe. If she made it out before the house locked down. If she could find the twins. He snarled in frustration, placing his hands over his ears in a futile attempt to block out some of the noise. There was too much outside of his control right now, and he didn’t like it one fucking bit.

  He paced the walls of his temporary prison, admiring and checking every painting displayed on the walls as he went. He wasn’t really thinking of stealing them, but it gave him something to do, and there was a small chance he’d find a hidden panel that would allow him to escape. There had to be one somewhere, and he had nothing but time. Well, not really. He had until the police arrived, which wouldn’t be more than another eight to ten minutes.

  Whatever catastrophic fuck-up the twins had made, he hoped Rafe took it out of their hides. More importantly, he hoped the idiots managed to find Tessa and get her safely back home. Once they were there, his best friend, Flynn, would take care of her, and Rafe would see to it she had everything she needed. Well, not everything. She wouldn’t have her mate, and Doyle could already feel the mating fever surging again. If they couldn’t be together, both of them would suffer.

  His tiger roared, tearing at the walls that caged him inside Doyle’s mind. The beast wanted its mate. So did Doyle, but by now she would be long gone. He turned and slammed his fist into the wall in frustration.

  He was trapped.

  6

  Tessa

  That arrogant, pushy, sexy, bastard had actually thrown her out into the hall! Tessa couldn’t believe it. He’d tossed her under the gate, saved her ass and then ordered her to go. When she got hold of him again, she was going to tear his head off … or fuck him again.

  Maybe both.

  Every step took her further from her mate, and her stomach was twisting itself into painful knots as the distance between them grew. She didn’t want to leave him behind. He might be a stranger, but he was still her mate. She could still taste his blood on her tongue and her pussy ached from the incredible pounding he’d given it only minutes ago. This was insane. There was no way she was going anywhere without him. He could order her to go until he turned blue in the face, she wasn’t about to be bossed around by anyone, not even her mate. Tessa had dealt with enough of that in her life already.

  Please, don’t let him be like my father.

  Her sire had been an angry, violent man who abused his mate and their only child at every opportunity. Tessa was only nine when he’d finally gone too far and killed her mother in a drunken rage. He’d shifted to his leopard form, chasing his mate from room to room before finally tearing her apart. The police had called it a freak animal attack, and Tessa had never said anything to counter that belief. In fact, she hadn’t said anything at all for nearly a year.

  If Doyle turned out to be anything like her father, she’d leave and never look back. She was stronger than her mother. She’d had to be to survive. Tessa had learned to rely on herself and no one else, at least, not until today. Today Doyle had sacrificed himself for her.

  When she reached the top of the stairs, Tessa glanced down them to where the front door still sat ajar. She could be outside in seconds, free and clear. Instead, she turned around and headed back down the hall, stopping at an open doorway. She charged into the room and looked around.

  Yes. This just might work.

  Large windows lined the outer wall of this room, while statues carved of granite, marble and gleaming woods filling much of the space. Alcoves were built into the walls at regular intervals, each of them containing yet another statue or figurine.

  Dropping the bag near the door, Tessa eyed several of the alcoves, settling on one with a four foot high figurine that looked to be made of brass or bronze. She ran to the far side of the room, lined up with her chosen target, and launched herself straight at it. Two strides out she leaped into the air, striking the figurine in the chest and sending it toppling backward into the wall. The plaster crumbled away around the impact point, and she inwardly cheered.

  A long time ago one of her mentors had mentioned that many times someone paid huge sums of money to secure doors and windows, but then neglected to do anything to the surrounding walls. In this case, he’d been right. The walls to Christophe’s treasure room were the same as in a typical house, and that meant she could tear through them.

  Claws bared, she started ripping through the wall where the figurine had punched through. Dust clogged her nose and filled her mouth, but she ignored it. The shrill tones of the alarm bored into her skull, but she couldn�
��t do anything about it so she ignored that, too. There wasn’t time to do anything else. Not if she wanted to get Doyle out of here.

  As the hole grew bigger she paused to muscle the statue out of her way. It fell to the ground with a crash that made the floor shake, and Tessa briefly wondered if Doyle had heard it.

  Doyle Frost. Her mate.

  The word had always terrified her, conjuring specters of violence, pain and fear. Not anymore. Here she was, risking her freedom to rescue a man she didn’t know, but was bound to for life. She hoped that whatever gods had arranged this, they were enjoying the show.

  Wood splintered beneath her paws, tearing at her skin and slowing down her frantic pace. Desperate, she focused all her thoughts on Doyle, painting an image of him in her mind one detail at a time. Pale blond hair with a hint of curl and ice-blue eyes that gleamed with arrogance and humor. She recalled the heat of his mouth when he kissed her and the feel of his powerful body as he moved over her, their limbs entwined.

  “Doyle, I’m coming for you!” She sent the message with all the force she could muster, unsure if it would do any good. She’d never linked with anyone but her parents. After her mother died, Tessa had avoided her kind. She knew almost nothing about shifters, except that they were dangerous and rarely welcomed outsiders like herself.

  “Tessa?” Doyle’s voice was in her head a second later, but it was more than just his voice, it was him. His thoughts and feelings, fleeting but real, flashed through her mind.

  “I couldn’t leave you behind. I’m tearing through the west wall, but I’m not going to be fast enough. You have to help!”

  The roar of his reply assaulted her ears and her mind. Whatever the hell Doyle was in his animal form, he was big.

  “Tiger, love. I’m a tiger. And you are the most beautiful leopard I’ve ever seen. Which isn’t going to save you from the spanking you’re going to get for coming back for me. Now, what part of this wall needs to come down?” His thoughts were rife with humor and more than a little annoyance that she hadn’t listened to him, but there wasn’t a whisper of rage or darkness in his mind.