The Cougar's Timid Little Lynx (Sweet Water) (13 page)

All of that couldn’t have taken more than a few seconds to transpire, although it felt like hours. The baboon was wrenched away from her and the force had her sprawling out on the bench, breathing heavily and trying to regain her emotions. She wasn’t back there with Joshua, and that was solidified when Luke stepped in front of her, his face a mask of anger, his scent of possessiveness blasting her in the face. He gently took her hand, pulled the
biggest piece of glass out so quickly she hadn’t even felt it, and tightly wrapped a linen napkin around her palm.

“Baby, are you okay?” His voice was no more than a growl, his cougar now taking control and speaking to her directly. She nodded, because Luke was right in front of her, and she felt his warmth and the way he cared for her. He made
that known by his actions and the powerful scent of propriety and possession that came from him.

“I’m okay, Luke.” Her voice was nothing but a whisper, and then suddenly all of the noise came rushing back. The music, the loud male shouts, everything was almost too much
, and she winced. Luke dipped down, kissed her fiercely on the mouth, and pressed her linen wrapped hand to her chest.

“Keep pressure on this. It doesn’t look too bad, most likely just superficial, but keep the napkin wrapped tightly around it, baby.” She nodded again and cupped her other hand on it, keeping both of them right to her chest. “Don’t move, okay?” She nodded again.

What was he going to do? His anger was tangible, and as he slowly turned his head to where the baboon was picking his drunk ass off the floor, she knew her mate was about to do some serious damage, and there was nothing she could do to stop him. But in all honesty she didn’t want to. Alice knew he had all this built-up aggression inside of him, knew that he tried to control it because he didn’t want to scare her, but she also knew he needed to release it. A male shifter couldn’t hold all of that in, because sooner rather than later it would come out without any warning, and a whole lot of destruction would be the end result.  Besides, she liked that her mate wanted to, and needed to protect her, but there was a part of her that didn’t want violence as a result of her.

Trace
came out from the back, and when he saw what was going on a dark, frightening look crossed his face. He walked over to the snake shifter and dragged him out of the bar. Luke stalked toward the now standing baboon shifter, and everyone moved away, sensing the storm that was about to be released. Even over the pounding music Alice could hear Luke’s deadly soft words.

“You dare to lay a hand on my mate?” He took a step closer. “You actually put your fucking hands on her, hurt her and caused her pain.” He didn’t phrase it like a question, and the fear was clear on the monkey’s face.

“Listen, man, I didn’t know she was mated.” Luke was right in front of him, only an inch separating their bodies. Luke towered over the now cowering shifter.

“You
never
put your hands on a female, and never on one that is mated. Clearly you’re as stupid as you look.” The baboon tried to take a step back, but the bar greeted him, halting any retreat. She saw Trace leaning against the wall, his big arms crossed over his chest and a sadistic looking smile on his face. He wanted to see this fight? The baboon made a really dumb move when he tried to land a punch in Luke’s side. Her mate caught the fist before it made contact, and counteracted with a slam of his knuckles against the other male’s face. His head cocked to the side, and blood instantly spilled from his nose and mouth. The electricity in the room became charged, and in the next moment the male shifted into his baboon form, thinking he could use his animal power to take down Luke. They became a tangle of limbs on the floor, and Luke shifted into his cougar only seconds later. The scent of blood filled the interior, but it wasn’t Luke’s, and it was painfully obvious that the baboon was only seconds away from getting his throat ripped out. The violence was something she was used to seeing and feeling, but she didn’t want any more of it. This had gone on long enough, and it was clear no one was going to stop it.

They rolled until the cougar was now dominating the baboon, and just as Luke bared his wickedly sharp and long canines at the monkey, she spoke. “Luke, please, enough.” He stopped only a centimeter from the other male’s throat, and it looked like he was trying to rein in his temper
from the inside out. “Please, just take me home.” She still clutched her hand to her chest. “I just want you to take me home.” Home, that was where Luke and Joey were, and that was where she wanted to be. “I love you, and this is enough.”

He turned his massive head toward her, and his blue eyes looked eerie against his golden colored coat. When someone shifted she knew it was hard to get through their animal instincts, but she sensed her mate in there, smelled the pheromones that came from him that spoke of how much he did want to protect her.

“You protected me, made sure everyone knew that you would hurt them if I was threatened. I love you for that, but I don’t want it to end like this.” She didn’t want this baboon’s blood on her hands, and although Luke was just doing what his instincts were telling him to, she didn’t want anyone to die because of her.

It took a long, tense moment before Luke growled low in his throat at the male beneath him, but he finally climbed off and stalked toward her. The people closest to her moved far away
from him as he growled and bared his canines at them. When he was right in front of her, his body three times the size of a cougar found in the wild, she crouched before him. He was all muscle, corded and hard and tensing right below his golden fur. Lifting her hand and cupping his massive head, she smiled when he leaned into her touch and a baritone purr came from him. Spearing her hands deeper into his thick fur, she could feel his power simmering right below the surface. Luke leaned forward and nuzzled her with his head, and she wrapped her arm around his neck, holding onto him tightly. He felt good and safe, and she never wanted to let go.

He took a step back and nudged her with his nose for her to follow him. Trace grinned and lifted his chin in their direction. The bar was still deathly quiet, and the heavy sense of people watching them settled around her. But Alice didn’t care, because she had Luke, Joey, and a new family wasn’t so unbelievable any longer. They stepped outside, and a moment later Luke shifted
back into his human form. Clearly he didn’t care that he was nude, or that several bikers were staring quizzically at them. He wrapped his arms around her, buried his head in her neck, and inhaled deeply.

“You’re mine, Alice.” There was the scent of his regret because she was injured, and she
wanted him to know that it wasn’t his fault, but before she could speak he was talking again. “I shouldn’t have lost it in there in front of you, but the sight of your hand and the smell of your blood had me losing control.”

“Luke, it’s okay. I’m okay. I just don’t want violence being in my life anymore. I
know you have to let your cougar out, and I know you can’t keep your natural aggression inside forever. I just don’t want anyone getting hurt because of me, okay.” She ran her hand over his, and he held her tighter. “I won’t make you promise because I know you’re a shifter, and an alpha at that.” His big body shook as he chuckled.

He leaned back and cupped each side of her face with his hands. “I love you, Alice.” There was no rhyme or reason to the emotions that came with finding one
’s mate, or the quick intensity of them. One thing was certain: it was all-consuming and made no logical sense.

“I love you, too.”

He leaned down and kissed her, and then pulled away and led her over to his SUV.

“Come on, baby. Let me get you home and get that hand cleaned up.”
It only took Luke less than twenty minutes to get back to his house, because although he had calmed since the fight, he needed to be with his mate. He pulled the car into the driveway, cut the engine, and had Alice out of the passenger seat and in his arms in seconds flat. First thing was first, and that was tending to her hand.

“Luke, I can walk.” He didn’t respond, just kissed her on the top of the head and held her tighter. “Luke, please.” She
turned to get down, but he made a low noise in his throat.

“Please, baby, let me do this. I
need
to do this.” She instantly stilled in his arms and rested her head on his shoulder.

“Okay.” There was a smile in her voice
, and he loved that. The fact he had been the one to put it there made him feel like he was fucking flying. Once inside he set her on the couch and a pair of sweats on, and grabbed his medical bag. He crouched before her and eyed the laceration. It pissed him off that she got hurt, and just feet from him, too. Pushing his need to go after that bastard once more, he focused on his female. There were a few shards of glass in the cut, and once he had those out, the wound cleaned and bandaged, he leaned back on his haunches and stared at her. She was so fucking beautiful that he couldn’t stop himself from leaning in and claiming her mouth, but that wasn’t the only thing he was going to claim tonight. Murmuring against her mouth he said, “I need to mark you as mine, Alice. Will you allow your mate to do that?”

She nodded and whispered something unintelligible against his mouth. In the next
few seconds he had both of their clothes off, and had her turned around and bent over the couch. Her full ass was a thing of beauty, and he palmed the round globes. His cock was hard, and he needed to be buried deep inside of her as he sank his fangs into the slender column of her throat.

“I’m
burning alive for you, Luke.” God, he knew what she meant, because he was so fucking there, too. He gripped her gloriously flared hips with one hand, and guided his dick to her pussy with the other. She was hot and tight as his head became engulfed inside of her. A deep moan came from both of them as he slowly filled her, stretching her pussy so that she had to take all of him. When his balls touched her body as he bottomed out inside of her, and let his cougar come to the surface. He started sliding in and out of her his eyes trained on her ass as it jiggled from the force of his thrusting hips. Over and over he slammed into her, gradually picking up speed until he couldn’t hold off his orgasm any longer. Alice’s cries of ecstasy fueled him on, but he needed his mate to come right along with him. He ground himself against her, swiveled his hips, and felt that hidden bundle of nerves deep inside of her swell from the action. Seconds later she came long and hard, and the gush of warm juices that came from her made the sound of wet sex and slapping skin fill the air. He threw his head back and roared out loudly, letting his cougar break free. His canines lengthened, and when he looked down at the slender arch of her neck, he gave himself up to the need to mark her.

He pierced her flesh, heard her cry out and clench around him a
s she came for the second time, milking his cock and drawing out all of his cum. When they were both sated, his animal included, he pulled away from her and licked at the wound he caused. The purr that came from him was deep and content, and when he pulled out of her still clenching body it was only to wrap his arms around her waist and drag her onto the couch with him. She curled up against him, her expression looking deliciously drowsy. Luke grabbed a throw hanging over the couch and draped it over them. He was still purring, but she didn’t seem to mind, and in fact had a soft smile on her face. All Luke could do was stare at her and feel a warmth he had never experienced fill his heart.

The future didn’t look so hazy anymore, and that was the best feeling in the world.

Two years later

Luke rubbed her arm, and all Alice wanted was for him to get the hell away from her. The pain was all-encompassing, and although she had given birth before, it was true when they said people forgot how much it hurt. Another contraction moved through her like a violent wave, and she reached for Luke’s hand. He hadn’t left her side since she realized that her contractions were no longer Braxton Hicks, and that this was the real deal.

It had been two years since she had met Luke and fallen madly in love with him. They were now married, and about to have their first child together. After the altercation at Dakota
Dark’s, and when her emotions from her past came forward, all she had been able to think about was being back in Joshua’s grasp. Her lynx had finally risen up, showed itself and the strength the animal had finally found in itself. But then Luke had been right beside her, pushing her behind him in that protective embrace of his, and had beaten the shit out of that guy. Luke had started to help her heal from the inside out, but Alice also gave herself credit because he was also healing. The distrust and general uncertainty that his ex-fiancé had left inside of him had all vanished. He was a stronger male, now certain of what was in store in his life, and proud of where he had come. And Alice was not going to leave his side, because both of them had been scarred and hurt in the past, but being together had healed them. It had been a long road from when she first crossed the Sweet Water line, but Alice was grateful every single day that she had taken that chance and done it. She wasn’t completely healed on the inside, and maybe she never could be. There were times she found herself waking up in a cold sweat from having nightmares of Joshua and everything that he had done to her, but Luke was always there, and he made things better. It was a long road of healing, but with Luke by her side she was becoming whole once again. She also couldn’t have asked for a better male to be a father to Joey. Most males wouldn’t have had the strength to take care of their mate’s child, one that wasn’t theirs, but then again most males weren’t Luke Landon, and he treated Joey like she was his own flesh and blood. She couldn’t have asked for a better mate, couldn’t have dreamed of a male that was as perfect for her as Luke was.