Claws (3 page)

He rolled her under him onto her belly.
They shifted in unison, her snarls growing fierce as he bit her
neck, holding her still as he pounded within her. Eli roared as he
pinned his mate to the bed. The animal encounter was so satisfying
neither could stop.

Eli knew they should stop but he
couldn’t break from her, furious snarls emanating from his mouth as
his fangs elongated and bit harder into her shoulder.

The bed shook and the headboard slapped
furiously against the wall. Her snarling grew louder as she dug
into the mattress with her forepaws. Eli let out a fierce roar and
his pounding grew intense, driving into his mate until he went
still at last.

Hearing the loud, satisfied purring; he
realized he’d failed to pull out. They shifted back into human form
together and lay sweaty, dazed in one another’s arms.

“You better hope that doesn’t take,”
she snapped as her breathing became normal once more. “I’m over
this! I didn’t get married to be a baby making machine! When will
they grow up again?”

“You might rethink that when they’re
full grown, wife,” he commented as he stroked her small perfect
breasts, smiling against her hair. “In five years they’ll make you
a grandmother.”

Vivvie sat up on an elbow, regarding
her handsome husband with a disgusted look. “That soon, you
think?”

“Sooner if you don’t keep an eye on
them. They can surprise you.”

Vivvie was still amazed her children
grew so quickly but reasoned they had the same evolution as their
panther counterpart. She realized he was right. To think of Elaina
being full grown in one year made her feel wistful. Her babies
would not stay babies long.

Their bodies might grow into adulthood
but they were still children to her. It was annoying to know they
would start school soon. She had only a month of diapering and
bottle feeding them before they were both shifting and chasing
mice. Devon went after anything that moved. Elaina played with her
food. They found dead mice, birds, and rabbits all over their beach
house in Perth.

“I don’t think I’m ready for this,”
Vivvie said and smiled sadly. “They’re just babies.”

“Our kind are only babies one month,”
Eli replied and gazed at her fondly. “By a year; they’ll be the
size of teenagers. That’s when their growth slows. Usually by age
five; they begin to mate.”

“I don’t want to think about it,”
Vivvie said with a groan and buried her head into his shoulder.
“I’m going to be a grandma before I’m thirty. Great!”

Eli smiled teasingly. “You’ll be a
Mother again soon. That should keep you busy.”

She punched his shoulder. “I said no
more for a while. I’m not going through that again so soon after
the twins.”

Eli rolled her onto her back and eased
back inside of her, making her gasp. “I think I’ll keep you
pregnant for the next decade. I really like making them with you,
Vivvie.”

“You don’t like chasing them! Watch it
this time!” she warned as she arched to meet his body, gasping as
blood seemed to gather around her feminine region, engorging the
area. A sure sign she was in heat.

She met his thrusts eagerly, her nails
digging into his back. The pleasure was so intense she squirmed and
dug her heels into his backside. Eli closed his eyes, moaning as
his wife moved with him. Soon all caution was forgotten and he came
hard again within her, mumbling apologetically once
more.

Vivvie glared up at him. He kissed the
tip of her nose. “I meant what I said! I’m not breeding a new
compound for you, Eli! We said we’d wait a year! It’s been four
months!”

“I love you, woman,” he growled as he
nipped at her neck playfully. “I can’t control myself when you go
into heat. Your smell drives me into fits.”

“You need to learn to plug your nose,”
she informed him as her eyes met his amused ones.

“Maybe it won’t take,” he offered as he
pulled out and rolled to her side.

She raised an incredulous eyebrow.
“This is the first day of my heat. I would say it took! We’ll know
in a week.”

Eli was unapologetic as he cuddled his
wife to his hard chest. “Devon and Elaina might like to have a
litter to play with.”

Vivvie made a disgusted sound and sat
up. “I mean it this time, Eli. No more for a while. I want to enjoy
my marriage, not chase kittens every two months. We’ve been married
less than four months. At the rate we’re going; we’ll have twenty
kids before we have our first wedding anniversary.”

“Think of all the gifts they can give
us,” he joked and got another smack from his wife.

“Eli, no more kids for awhile,” Vivvie
argued. Her green eyes were serious. “If I have to; I’ll get
sterilized. Jericho said he’d do it for me.”

“I thought you changed your mind and
wanted more?” he asked and sounded pissed now. “Make up your mind,
wife!”

“More, meaning one or two; in a couple
years,” she protested angrily. “You realize I could have up to four
the next time I get pregnant? I’ll go out of my mind!”

“That’s the price of passion,” he
muttered as his hands slid over her body, his voice growing thick
with renewed desire. “I can’t control myself with your damned smell
teasing me.”

Her answer was an elbow to his side. “I
mean it, Eli.”

His was to cover his protesting wife’s
lips with his, cutting off her complaints until she was once more
sighing and purring in contentment. She soon forgot their argument
and had little cause to complain. Her husband took his time and
showed her with aching tenderness how much he missed their
lovemaking this last week.

They slept for a time, Vivvie keeping
an ear open for their young. Devon had the devil in him. With
enough effort, he could open doors and locks with his gift. As Eli
slept, she rolled over and contemplated her handsome husband, eyes
growing dreamy.

Eli had a killer tan from all the
diving he indulged in. His rippling muscles were even tighter now
with the running they did each morning on the beach. His inky black
hair was in sore need of a trim, but she found it sexy in a rock
star kind of way.

His looks aside, he drove her
absolutely crazy with love for him. Despite the challenges of
parenting new panthers, they were ecstatic together. His happiness
was obvious in the curve of contentment about his full sensuous
lips.

He challenged her, fought with her, and
tormented her daily. She was more in love with him now than ever,
unable to think of ever being parted from him. Jericho said that
was what it was like for mated pairs. The fact Eli surrendered to
taking a mate after hundreds of years of being single made it
monumental.

She smirked to think of his harem
within the compound. Her husband’s former lovers all took the hint
from her and moved out while they were gone. Vivvie wanted no
competition for her mate.

She trusted Eli, but knew a female in
heat was too much for any of the Alphas to resist. It was a fact of
their nature. She refused to share him with the tribe’s other
women. Besides, they never did warm up to her.

A Newbreed snapping up their leader was
too much for any of them to take. She was glad for it, getting
tired of the catty looks and hisses at her back. They gave her the
respect she was due as Eli’s mate, but she knew they despised
her.

She was sad to see so many children
abandoned here now as a result of Eli’s decree they could leave.
Many did, but left their young behind when they did. As a result,
they were overrun with children, needing more teachers than just
Jericho.

Lydia and Mara, the former
schoolteachers, were both executed for turning traitor and helping
Ryken. Eli begged her to do it, but Vivvie was determined to get
her degree. With only one semester under her belt, she wasn’t ready
for the classroom.

That left Jericho to teach the
compounds remaining twenty-seven children. The elder had the
patience, but with so many different levels of education, he found
it difficult.

She looked around their room
appreciatively. Someone came in and cleaned the place up before
their arrival. She knew they did it for their leader, not for her.
It still stung to know the only friends she had here were Jericho,
Evan, and Ewan. She took it too personally, Eli said.

The desire for a real friend besides
one of the Alphas was strong. Ty still emailed her weekly. Her
former lover kept things casual, knowing she was married to Eli. He
moved to the role of a friend easily. She desired a female friend,
even missing her old roommate Dina now. Girl talk was seriously
lacking among Jericho, Gideon, and Eli’s sons.

A sigh made one deep blue eye pop open.
Before she could react his large arms snatched her to his chest.
His lips slid to her neck. She squirmed in his arms, making
half-hearted protests.

Eli raised his head from her throat, a
wolfish smile on his face. “We might as well enjoy ourselves now
that my seed has taken.”

Vivvie stared up at him in surprise.
She would never get used to his gift. He could speak to their
unborn child or children. “You heard the baby talking
already?”

“The children,” he emphasized to her
disgruntled expression, “started chattering almost immediately
after they were conceived, Vivvie. I know you wanted to wait for
awhile, but it’s done. You’re knocked up again,
sweetheart.”

Vivvie ignored the twinge of
disappointment to hear she carried more than one. Another thing she
would never get used to, having a litter, meaning more than one.
Having one of these children was a handful, having more than that
was a test of anyone’s sanity.

“Are you upset?” he asked quietly as he
stared down at her, seeing her anguished expression. The glow of
desire faded in an instant, replaced with a solemn look.

Vivvie knew Eli wouldn’t understand how
overwhelmed she felt. The tears gave her away. He moved away from
her and ran a hand through his black hair in frustration. He gazed
at her in pained silence. It hung between them now.

“I’m not ready for all this,” she said
as she rolled over and buried her face into the pillow. “It’s too
soon!”

“Vivvie, it’s a part of our nature,” he
began and stroked her back. “You knew this. We will deal with this.
I’ll help you.”

“We will deal with it? Or me?” she
added harshly as she rolled to face him, face filled with fear.
“You haven’t exactly stepped up with our first two! I’m the one who
does most of the chasing and potty runs!”

Eli looked furious and got up from the
bed. “I’ll be there for you, wife! This isn’t the end of the
world!”

“Maybe not for you!” she snapped
irately. “You’re used to this! Having a litter is an everyday thing
for you people!”

“
Maybe the problem isn’t
that you’re having another litter, but that you still refuse to
accept what you are.”

“Oh shut up!” she snarled and threw a
pillow at him. “I’m so sick of you twisting everything I say
around! I know what I am! I’m a Kittybake oven that spits out your
kids every eight weeks!”

Eli had the audacity to chuckle. She
fumed, looking for something else to throw at him. He knew better
than to push her. He snatched up his sweats off the floor and
scurried out of the bedroom, blowing her a kiss.

“On that note; I’m going out for a
run!”

Vivvie lay back down in a huff, her
hand going to the flat of her abdomen, closing her eyes in sadness.
She opened her eyes and got up. She dressed in a loose tee-shirt
and jean shorts and went looking for her only friend.

~ ~ ~

Jericho was under the hood of the
Chevelle when she found him. One look at her and he chuckled
wickedly. His handsome face was smeared with grease. His yellow
green eyes crinkled at the corners. He rubbed his golden goatee and
shook his head.

“
I know that look. You two
don’t waste any time, do you? You’ve been back an hour.”

“Is it that obvious?” she snapped as
she leaned against the car, green eyes bleak.

“Vivvie, it’s the smell you put off,”
he informed her with teasing look. “I knew you were here the minute
you walked in. You seem to have lost that enchanting fragrance of
Eau de heat. It’s a dead giveaway, babe.”

She drew in a trembling breath. “I
don’t want them, Jericho.”

Jericho set down his socket wrench and
his smile faded. “Come see me after their born. We talked about
this. You said you wanted to wait as I recall. The waiting only got
you another litter, kitty girl.”

Vivvie felt tears of frustration
forming. “I know it’s my fault. I should have had it
done.”

“What does Eli say of all
this?”

She made a face. “What do you think our
fearless leader said? We’ll be ok, Vivvie. I’ll be there for you,”
she mimicked and rolled her eyes, feeling tears
threaten.

“He forgets you’re still new to our
ways,” Jericho observed and wisely held his tongue.

“It’s too soon, Jericho,” she stated in
a harsh whisper. “I can’t go through that again right
now.”