King's Throne (14 page)

Holding her gaze, he slid into position and then took possession, watching her for any sign of discomfort. But he saw only welcome and a deep satisfaction in her eyes when he finally joined them in one long, sliding glide. They fit together like two halves of a whole. As if she’d been made for him alone and he for her.

Mitch could’ve sworn he heard soft notes of the Goddess’s chimes as he finally claimed his mate. His mate. The concept floored him. That this special, incredible woman could be his.

“Gina,” he whispered, nearly overcome with emotion. The enormity of what he was feeling expanded his heart to envelop her, taking her within forevermore.

She gasped as he began to move, slowly rocking within her, testing the motion that would not be denied. He wanted this moment to last forever, but he couldn’t hold it. Urgency rode him. The driving need to come. To make her come. To give and receive pleasure. He wasn’t entirely sure he’d survive it, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was Gina. Amazing Gina. And the love in his newly awakened heart for her.

Chapter Nine

Gina gasped as Mitch began to move. He was big. Bigger than the few men she’d dated in medical school. They’d been purely human and totally unaware of her true nature. They’d scratched an itch and stroked the tigress into satisfaction. For a while. But nothing and no one could have prepared her for the overwhelming force of nature that was Mitch.

He began to pump his hips, his long, thick cock touching her inside in ways that made her squirm to get closer. It mad her yearn for more. She wanted everything he would give her and more. She wanted him. Forever.

“Mitch,” she breathed his name as he moved closer, his mouth nipping at her neck, his lower body moving faster as he picked up the pace. Her insides were quivering, waiting for the explosion she craved.

“You’re mine, little tigress. Now and forever, you’re mine,” he whispered near her ear, driving her wild. “Say it,” he demanded.

“I’m yours,” she agreed readily on a gasp as he changed his pace again. Oh, yeah. But she wanted more. “You’re mine too,” she insisted, her voice breathy as he drove her wild with his new rhythm.

Her words made him growl and she knew he liked her possessiveness. The tigress in her stretched, reaching for her mate.

“I’m yours, my princess. My mate,” he agreed, his raw, sexy voice setting little fires in her bloodstream.

His mouth claimed hers again in a tempestuous kiss as his lower body began an even more urgent movement. It wouldn’t be long now. Thank the Mother of All.

And then he ended this kiss, lowering his mouth to her neck and the soft spot where it met her shoulder. He nipped her skin until he found the perfect spot. And then he bit down hard as her world exploded.
She raised her head off the floor, seeking blindly for him.

She found the sweet spot and unleashed her beast, biting in return as he groaned deep in his chest, his hips stopping while he was deep inside her, every muscle in his body tensing for a long, glorious moment as they both came. Together.

Gina was blown away by the experience she’d just shared with Mitch. She hadn’t known sex could be so primal, so breathtakingly raw and urgent. He’d wowed her on every level
, and she was very much afraid her senses were singed by the experience and would never recover.

She lazed on the sheepskin rug in front of the fireplace, snuggled up against Mitch as his breathing slowed. He kept one arm around her, seeming to enjoy her closeness. She’d never cuddled after sex before. The humans she’d been with hadn’t wanted it and she hadn’t really cared enough to bother.

But with Mitch, everything was different. She wanted to touch him, to stroke his skin, to be stroked in return. She wanted it all with him. All of it. Forever.

“We didn’t use anything,” Mitch commented in a quiet, deliberate voice once his breathing had slowed enough to speak normally.
He stroked one finger in slow lines up and down her arm, as if he too craved the touch of her skin. “Condoms, I mean,” he clarified, turning his head to meet her gaze.

Truthfully, she hadn’t thought beyond the moment, but his reaction to the idea made her pause. He didn’t look panicked. He almost looked…hopeful? Would he be happy if a child resulted from what they’d just done? She searched her heart and knew she would.

Realizing that, her response to his statement was simple. She put one hand over his heart, feeling it beat against her palm through his hot skin.

“I want your babies, Mitch. A whole little tribe of tiger cubs to romp and play in our house and brighten our lives.” She traced circles on his chest as his heart sped up in what she hoped was pleased excitement.

She felt that he was watching her, so she raised her gaze to meet his again and found a sadness there that she had been expecting. Sadness and regret. She felt it too. They both knew this was a moment of peace in a turbulent time that could go either way for them.

“It’s a dream I will savor,” he said with a seriousness that she understood.

“It’s a dream I want to see come true,” she countered. “If I get pregnant, the Mother of All wills it. I’d like to have your cub, Mitch, regardless of how things go with the challenge.”

“I wouldn’t want to leave a cub fatherless, or
leave you alone to raise him or her.” His gaze narrowed as the troubled thoughts crossed his mind.

“All the more incentive to survive,” she whispered. He looked shocked and angered, but she calmed him. “I don’t mean it the way you’re thinking. Our baby would never be a pawn to me. I would love and protect our child as I love you, Mitch.”

He seemed to deflate as a cautious joy entered his eyes. “You love me?” he whispered, as if he didn’t believe her.

On firmer ground now, she sat up a little so she could rest her chin on his chest and gaze deep into his eyes. She smiled at him, loving the feel of his skin under her hands.

“Of course I love you,” she confirmed, watching his reaction. He was getting easier and easier for her to read as time went on. He wasn’t an overly demonstrative man, but there were little signals that heralded his moods if you knew how to read them.

Right now, he looked like he’d had the breath knocked from him. A second later, she felt the same way as he reversed their positions and kissed her deeply while her head sank into the cushioning sheepskin covering the floor.

“I love you too, Gina,” he whispered against her lips, taking them again and again. “I love you with everything that’s in me. With all my heart.” He punctuated each statement with kisses so sweet they made her want to cry.

Her heart was so full. All because of this incredible man.

They moved to the bed eventually and made love off and on throughout the long winter’s night. Gina never wanted it to end. She almost feared the dawn and the responsibilities it would bring. For now, she was content in their little love nest. Just the two of them. Together on a voyage of discovery as they each learned what pleased the other and drove each other to ever-increasing heights of passion and pleasure.

But dawn did come, and with it, a new day in which to prepare for what they both knew was coming. They ate breakfast together and then Mitch spent some time studying the history of their people while Gina took care of some light chores around the cabin. Her parents joined them for lunch again and even though a few pointed and very speculative glances were sent their way, they had decided to keep their growing relationship to themselves for now. After lunch they all went down to the Miller’s dojo for a long afternoon of training and dinner with the other family.

They returned to their cabin to make love long into the night and recover from the rigors of the day. This pattern repeated itself for about a week. After the first day or two, Mitch began a regimen of outdoor exercise in the mornings to retrain his body
. He would run in his fur, going farther each day and doing the heavy chores around the cabin.

Gina went out with him for part of each morning. They would climb trees, run and scout the area. He spent a lot of time honing his skills. He taught Gina things he knew that she had never thought of, while she helped him work on his new stealth against the backdrop of snow.

He got stronger and stronger, to the point where she was amazed anew each day by his abilities. He was like no tiger she’d ever known. He was like something out of legend.

Inwardly, she rejoiced. Her uncle’s skills were not to be underestimated. Mitch would need every advantage he could find against someone of Gisli’s cunning. He hadn’t ruled over a stolen kingdom for this long without having superior skills and a deceitful nature.

At least, that’s what Gina secretly thought. She didn’t remember much about her uncle, but she’d tried to keep up with the intelligence reports her father received on a regular basis since she was old enough to understand them. She’d followed her uncle’s activities from afar for many years. She knew he was a force to be reckoned with.

Mitch would need every bit of skill he could muster to win this challenge. Worry about the future was her constant companion now. That and the incredible joy being with Mitch brought her.

Every morning, they would go out for a run in their fur, prowling up snow banks and down hillocks, tussling sometimes in the loose powder, sliding fancifully on ice sheets and sharpening their claws on rocks and trees. This was their territory—okay, well, it was really her father’s territory—but they were welcomed in his domain.

They ranged f
arther afield each day, bounding along the perimeter, through the woods, well hidden from prying eyes. Their snowy coats and ingrained camouflage made them very difficult to see against the backdrop of the snowy forest. At least, that’s how it had always been for Gina. She’d roamed these woods all her life and never had a problem.

Until an arrow shot out of the misty morning to land not an inch from where her head had been
and embedded deeply in the bark of a pine tree.

Mitch growled and jumped in front of her, ushering her to relative safety behind a large boulder while he covered her body with his own. If more projectiles were coming, he had put himself in position to be hit first, protecting her as best he could.

When nothing happened for several minutes, he got up and peeked around the boulder, raising a paw, then an ear, then his head. No more arrows flew at them. Finally, he darted out from behind the boulder and swatted the arrow loose, dragging it back to cover with him.

He shifted quickly to his human form and unrolled a slip of paper that had been wrapped around the shaft of the arrow. Crouching behind the boulder, he read it an
d cursed.

“We need to get back to the cabin. This place isn’t safe anymore and your uncle is well aware of my existence. He’s issued the challenge.”

Gina rubbed her head against his shoulder in distress. She’d stayed in cat form, knowing she was faster on ice and snow in her fur than her human form. The news made her want to gasp, while at the same time the tigress in her was ready to fight. She wanted this ordeal over with. And she wanted to taste the blood of her enemies.

With a growl, she moved back, watching Mitch shift into his stunning black and white fur. Together, they ran to the cabin
, keeping to cover as much as possible. Fear followed her tracks and determination to end this once and for all spurred her on. Their idle time was over.

Whether they were ready or not, the challenge had to be met. This morning’s demonstration only emphasized the point that they weren’t as safe here as she’d always thought they were. Uncle Gisli had let them fall into a false sense of security. It was clear now that they’d
been under surveillance all this time. How else could he know about Mitch?

Gina put on a burst of speed to get to the cabin. She had to check on her parents and the other families on the mountain. They needed to send up the alarm. Her sense of peace had been well and truly shattered.

Mitch checked out the cabin before he would allow her to go inside. Things were okay this far inside the perimeter, but it was clear Gisli had his agents in the area and they couldn’t take anything for granted anymore.

Gina shifted to her human form and reached for the phone even before she reached for her clothes. Hitting speed dial, she threw on her clothing as the phone rang at her parents’ house, farther up the mountain.

“Mom. Thank the Lady. Is everything okay?” Gina knew she should probably be a little calmer and explain things, but panic had her in its grip. Her mother seemed to pick up on her urgency, reporting that everything was green up at the house. Gina was able to take a breath and regroup. She knew what she had to do. They’d rehearsed this many times. “Lockdown,” she said in a no-nonsense voice. “Someone launched an arrow at my head near the southeastern perimeter. No damage, but there was a note attached. Gisli has issued the challenge.”

Her mother, much
better in a crisis than Gina herself, went immediately into battle mode. She let Gina know as she started the chain that would automatically notify every family on the mountain that the alert status had changed. Reports would start filtering in any minute, so Gina hung up with a promise that she and Mitch were going to head up to the house. It was the most fortified location on the mountain and everyone would be gathering there before long.

The storm had gathered and was almost upon them all.

Mitch’s first view of the king’s home in exile impressed him. They’d built a good, old fashioned stone keep up on top of the mountain. How they’d managed to do so in the middle of the native forest without changing anything too drastically, he’d never know. The structure was only two or three stories high, but it still managed to have an air of antiquity about it. The stone was all native grey rock. Granite, Mitch thought. Very thick.

Windows were small and raised well off the ground with no perch points that a shifter could take advantage of in either human or shifted form. The only real danger would be from the sky—if any raptor shifters decided to come after the tiger king in exile for some reason. That was unlikely, so the place was darn near impregnable by conventional means.

And if that granite was as thick as it looked, Mitch doubted anything short of a bunker
-buster bomb would make a dent in it. He ushered Gina inside as others began to arrive. The queen met them all at the door, her lips tight as she directed everyone to the war room.