Slade's Feisty Mate (Saber Chronicles Book Two) (3 page)

* * * * *

Gretchen felt like an idiot, but she kept
talking about herself to the saber-tooth tiger on her couch. He was
a beautiful cat. He had a white underbelly, and his thick, coarse
fur was golden with dark brown marks. His tail reminded her of a
lion, but he was definitely not like any lion she’d ever seen,
especially with those two huge canines that curved out of his
mouth.

“My parents live on pack lands, which are the
wooded areas in town. My pack has the territory on the north side
of Belle Terra. There’s another alpha named Sky, who has the south
side territory. Alpha Johner and his mate live in the main house.
When the hotel was built and Aubrey was made the manager, I was
really excited to come live here. I think the wolves, at least my
parents’ generation, are happy to live and work with the pack their
whole lives, but I wanted something more exciting. The hotel is so
much fun. I get to meet all sorts of interesting visitors, and on
this floor are supes who either don’t have any living family, like
Dredge, a warlock, or Serena the fairy who was exiled from her home
because she wouldn’t marry who her king chose for her. I guess I
have it easy considering how bad some others have it. Still…my
alpha told me tonight that he wanted me to meet this visiting pack,
and although he didn’t come right out and say it, I think he wanted
me to find a mate whether I felt a truemate connection or not.”

Slade growled and his upper lip curled. She
stroked the short, soft fur of his ears and shushed him.

“Obviously, it’s a moot point now anyway, but
I think it’s strange and kind of sucky that my alpha didn’t
encourage me to find my truemate. As if it would be perfectly fine
for me to just pick a wolf randomly and mate him. I wanted more for
my life than that.”

He lifted his head and blinked beautiful
golden eyes at her. She cupped his head and kissed his nose.

“It’s the strangest thing, Slade. I didn’t
know what would happen when I met my truemate, but I feel so
amazingly connected to you that I feel as if we’ve known each other
for years. It’s not scary. It’s comforting. We’re truemates. I’m
yours and you’re mine.”

His tongue snaked out, and he licked her lips
with a gruff purr.

“Okay, but save that for when you’ve got a
human tongue, okay, lover boy?”

There was a knock on the door and Slade
growled, hopping off the couch and stalking to the door.

“It’s just room service,” she said, laughing.
“You do want to eat, right?”

The look he gave her could have melted her
clothes right from her body. He wasn’t thinking about eating food
at all; he was thinking about eating
her
. And, oh boy, did
she really, really want him to!

* * * * *

Slade enjoyed listening to his mate talk. Her
voice was soothing, or maybe it was just being near her that made
his cat settle. She talked about everything – her family, her pack,
working for the hotel – while they waited for his shift to be over.
He didn’t know much about wolves outside of what he’d learned
fighting against them in the NWFA. He knew they ran in packs with
one leader, but he didn’t realize that many large packs, like
Gretchen’s, all lived together in one place.

He wondered if he’d be allowed to join her
pack, or if she’d leave and join their saber pride. Not that they
had an official pride since it was just the four of them, but as he
and his family found their mates and began to have cubs, then, in
essence they’d be a pride. Glancing around her place, he knew
they’d need to have a larger place eventually. He didn’t care where
they lived as long as they were together.

As the pull of his shift faded, he nuzzled
her arm and slipped from the couch. Unlike the painful fast shift
from earlier, this time he was able to shift pain-free as his cat
stepped back and the human part of him came forward. Gretchen
watched him intently as he transformed. He was glad she wasn’t
human so she would understand about his shifted form. He couldn’t
wait to see what she looked like in her shift and to go hunting
with her.

He stood slowly, and her gaze rose from his
legs, landing on his hips where his erection jutted from his body –
thick and hard – up the flat planes of his stomach to his chest and
then, finally, she met his gaze. Her cheeks pinked in blush, and he
thought it was a beautiful color on her.

“I’m Slade,” he said.

“I know,” she said, chewing on her bottom
lip. “Ask me. Now that you can talk, ask me what you would have if
your cat hadn’t gone nuts in the lobby when we met.”

“Be my mate, Gretchen.”

“I said
ask
,” she said, rolling her
eyes.

His mate was feisty. He liked that a lot.

“Please, Gretchen.”

“Since you asked so sweetly.” She stood and
closed the distance between them. She was shorter than him by about
a foot, lushly curved and scenting of a heady mix of woman and a
sweet, candy-like scent he found alluring.

“You have way too many clothes on,” he said,
tracing the column of her throat with his fingertips.

She shivered. “You can fix that, Slade. I
have a theory I’d like to test, anyway.”

“Oh?” he asked, gripping the hem of her top
and lifting it slowly over her head. Her large breasts were covered
in white lace.

“Yeah, about cats and cream.”

He stopped looking at her breasts so he could
meet her gaze. “I love cream.” Slipping an arm around her waist, he
drew her close. “Especially butterscotch-flavored cream. That’s
what you smell like to me. Sweet, decadent butterscotch.”

Her eyes darkened, and her sweet scent filled
the air. “Yes.”

“Yes, what?”

“Yes, I’ll be your mate. Pending a freaking
ton of orgasms and you bringing me breakfast in bed.”

He chuckled. “How many is a
freaking
ton
?”

“I’ll let you know when I’ve had enough,” she
said, giving him a mischievous smile.

He lifted her, and she wrapped her legs
around his waist. “It’ll never be enough, my mate. Never.” The last
word was a growled promise.

“Kiss me, Slade. Then make me yours
forever.”

“Gladly.”

Chapter 3

Gretchen thought she was going to melt from
the inside out. Slade’s hot flesh was pressed to hers as he carried
her to her bedroom.
Their
bedroom now. She was amazed at how
easily she’d accepted Slade and their mating, but she did. Her wolf
was so content she was doing the wolfy version of a purr in her
mind, which sounded kind of like a broken lawnmower.

She pressed her lips to his as he carried
her. He purred, which made his chest vibrate. His lips were soft
but firm, and he parted them immediately and stroked her lips with
his tongue. She chased his tongue with hers, wrapping her arms
around his neck more tightly and digging her fingers into his
thick, short hair. He tasted wild and the scent of him, like
sunshine and deep woods, made her pussy clench in anticipation.

Their tongues tangled and danced. He lowered
her to the bed and straightened, pulling off her bra. She’d been so
involved in their first kiss she hadn’t realized he undid the
clasp.

“Good one.”

His brow cocked and he grinned. “I haven’t
gotten started yet, baby.”

She settled back on her bed and cupped her
breasts. She was feeling very primal. Maybe it was because she felt
comfortable with her mate, or maybe it was because her wolf was
panting for them to mate, but either way, she was as turned on as
she’d ever been and feeling very…feisty.

Slade leaned over her, bracing himself on one
arm. He looked down at her in silence. His eyes were flashing
between blue and gold, and she knew his beast was riding close to
the surface, the same way her wolf was. He traced her jaw with his
fingertip, moving it slowly down her neck to the place where it met
her shoulder.

“Tell me I can mark you, make you mine
forever,” Slade said roughly, rubbing that spot over and over.

She shivered and her nipples beaded. “Yes. I
want to mark you, too.”

He purred. Was there anything sexier than
having a mate who purred when he was happy and turned on?

“You can do anything you want to me, baby.
I’m yours.”

She ran her fingers up his straightened arm.
His muscles were tense, and she traced them. “I’m yours, too.”

His brow quirked mischievously. “All of
you?”

“Every inch, Slade.” Letting her nails
lengthen slightly, she softly dug the tips into his bicep. “I’m so
hot for you, Slade. Make me come. Make me scream your name.”

The purr turned into a growl that made her
pussy clench. The man was going to make her come without putting a
hand on her.

He lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her.
Softly. Sweetly. His hand caressed her breast as if it were made of
glass, gently thumbing her nipple and making little jolts of
pleasure shoot down her spine. The kiss deepened, passion flaring
between them. She reached for his cock, anxious to feel the hard
length, to know what he tasted like and felt like.

He snarled and grabbed her hand, pressing it
to the bed. He nibbled her lower lip and stroked it with his
tongue. “If you touch me, I’m going to come all over you, baby. I
want to come
inside
you.”

“How about you do both? And why am I still
wearing pants?”

He kissed her swiftly with a chuckle and
released his hold on her hand. He grasped her waistband and undid
her jeans. His eyes didn’t leave hers, the blue a solid gold now,
flecked with bronze.

Slowly he dropped his gaze to her waist as he
tugged down her jeans and panties. She lifted her hips from the
bed, and he pulled off her clothes and dropped them to the floor.
She scooted back on the bed until her head rested on one of the
pillows and lifted her arms to him.

The bed dipped with his weight as he climbed
on it. He was huge. All over. And hers. He kissed her toes and she
giggled. He smiled at her and wrapped his hands around her ankles.
As he kissed up her legs, alternating between one and the other, he
slowly pushed them apart until she was spread wide before him.

She bent her knees, and he knelt between her
spread legs, gazing down at her pussy. She could feel how wet she
was. She didn’t think she’d ever been so turned on in her life.
This man was her mate. It didn’t matter to her that he was a
saber-tooth tiger or an NWFA fighter. It only mattered to her that
he was hers.

With a soft growl, Slade lowered himself
between her legs. He hovered over her pussy and inhaled slowly.
“You smell amazing. Like butterscotch and cream.”

His eyes darkened, the gold so deep that it
looked molten. He wrapped his hands around her thighs and lowered
his head farther. He kept eye contact with her, his gaze boring
into hers as he slowly licked her clit. Her hips tilted without
thought, and she spread her legs wider, anxious to give him access
to all of her.

He licked her pussy from bottom to top.
Sucking gently on her clit, he flicked the tip with his tongue, and
she let out a panting breath, her nails digging into the comforter.
He smiled against her flesh and then released his hold on her clit.
Tilting his head, he slid his tongue into her pussy and purred. It
made his tongue vibrate and she gasped.

“Fuck that feels so good.” He was like a
living vibrator.

He purred louder and faster, stroking his
tongue into her pussy. She felt herself spiraling into an orgasm
quickly, her body tightening as heat flooded her. Her stomach
fluttered and her toes curled. His purring grew louder, and she
closed her eyes, letting herself fall into the sensation. His
fingers dug into her thighs and his purring stuttered and then
stopped.

Her eyes popped open. He was staring at her
from between her legs. “Why did you stop?”

“Keep your eyes open, Gretchen. I want to see
your eyes when you fall apart. I want you to know that it’s
me
who’s making you come.”

“Of course I know it’s you,” she said, her
body aching and wanting.

“Open, baby.”

“Fine. I’m going to get you back later,
though.”

“I hope so,” he grinned.

Her heart clenched. He was the sexiest guy
she’d ever met, and he was teasing her while they were in bed
together. She’d never been so happy.

He liked her being feisty, so she decided to
tease him a little. Reaching her hand down to her pussy, she rubbed
her clit. He snarled. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“You’re too busy being bossy to make me come,
so I’m going to do it myself.”

“Hell no, you’re not.” He grabbed her hand
and pressed it to the bed.

This time, she kept her eyes open as he
purred loudly and tongued her core. She flipped her hand over and
gripped his wrist, anchoring herself to him as her body spun toward
climax again. As her orgasm bloomed, heat poured over her and her
stomach clenched in waves. She writhed under him, her nails digging
into his wrist as he licked her cream. He lifted from her pussy and
licked his lips. The look in his eyes was going to make her skin
melt. It was intense with passion. She’d never seen anything more
beautiful.

He kissed up her stomach slowly, moving to
his knees between her thighs. He wrapped his lips around her nipple
and sucked gently, drawing it into his mouth. She sank her fingers
into his hair. It was so soft and a pretty light brown with
sun-kissed highlights. His shoulders flexed, and he rubbed her clit
lightly with his thumb as two fingers slid into her.

He sucked on her nipple more firmly as his
thumb moved over her clit and his fingers curved and stroked within
her. Her head kicked back, sinking deeper into the pillow as he
drove her wild. Kissing across her chest, he lavished attention on
her other nipple, his fingers moving faster. She tilted her hips
and allowed him to finger her faster and deeper, and he purred, his
tongue vibrating against her nipple and sending a wave of pleasure
shooting through her.