Southern Shifters: Purred Promises (Kindle Worlds Novella) Read online

  “It’s hard to even describe, but I can’t imagine not giving her everything she wants, even though she never asks for more than my love.”

  Cody made a face. “I feel like I’m living in a romance novel.”

  Jair laughed and clapped his friend on the shoulder. “When you find your mate, you’ll do anything to make her happy, too.”

  “I’ll take your word for it,” Cody said as he walked away, shaking his head.

  Pulling his cell from his pocket, Jair texted Genesis.

  Miss you.

  A brief moment passed and she replied, Miss you too, xxoo

  * * *

  Jair sat on the bed and waited for Genesis to finish getting ready. When he’d come home after work and asked if she wanted to go up to the bar for a bit, she’d jumped at the chance. He was content to stay home with her, but he didn’t want her to feel like she never got to leave the house.

  She walked out of the bathroom, her hips swaying provocatively as she moved to him. Her eyes were bright with happiness, and the subtle rumble of her cat’s purr made his fangs tingle in his gums and parts south turn rock-hard. Her sweet scent washed over him as she moved between his legs, sliding her hands into his hair and lowering her head to kiss him.

  He grasped her hips, where her low-riding jeans accentuated the curves he loved so much. She’d paired the jeans with a t-shirt tied at the side to reveal the smooth expanse of her stomach. He pushed his hands up her sides, gathering the shirt in the process.

  She twisted away with a laugh. “Your hands are dangerous.”

  “I can’t get enough of you.”

  She bit her bottom lip and then smiled. “Waiting a little will make it hotter.”

  “Says who?” He reached for her, and she jumped back with a giggle.

  “Come on. Take me out. Let me show off my sexy mate.”

  “I’m the one who’s showing off.”

  He stood and reached for her a second time, fast enough that she couldn’t dart out of his grasp. He pulled her close, meshing their bodies together so she could feel the erection trapped between them.

  She sighed, relaxing in his hold, her eyes going to half-mast. “I love your hands on me,” she said.

  “I love it too.” He kissed her throat and bit gently on the flesh to give her a little mark, then released her. “Let’s go before my brain shorts out completely and we don’t leave the house for the whole weekend.”

  “Promises, promises.”

  She turned and walked out of the room, and he followed, wondering how fast they could play a game of pool and get back home. Back to bed. Back to falling apart in each other’s arms.

  * * *

  Genesis tugged out a chair and sat down at a table in Dark Moon. Jair sat next to her a moment later with two beers. He pressed close to her side and latched onto her neck, sucking her flesh into his mouth slowly until she felt the press of his teeth. A shiver raced down her spine, and her pussy clenched at the barely restrained growl that vibrated into her flesh.

  “I remember what it was like when we were newly mated,” Mona said with a sigh.

  “Oh, come on. I still rock your world,” Dillon replied.

  Genesis opened her eyes and pushed on Jair’s shoulder. He growled in annoyance and released her neck.

  “Why did we leave the house again?” Jair asked.

  “Because you wanted to impress me with your pool skills.”

  “I’m pretty sure I never said that.” He arched a brow. He looked over to the pool tables and said, “One’s empty. Let’s play.”

  “Already?” she asked, grasping his hand and following him.

  “Sooner we play, sooner we can leave.”

  “It’s giving me quite an ego boost that you want me home and naked all the time.”

  Genesis waved at Mona, who grinned knowingly. She and Jair went to the rack to get cues, and then he lined up the balls and offered her the first shot. The cue ball clacked loudly against the balls and she watched as two sank into pockets. “I’ll take solids,” she said, moving around the table to the cue and lining up a shot.

  “So are you the sort of girl who wants me to let her win, or do you want to play a real game?”

  She flicked her gaze up to him where he stood on the other side of the table, leaning against it with one hand. “You know me well enough to know how I feel about honesty.”

  “True. So when I win, you won’t be mad and go on a sex strike?”

  She was fairly sure he would win. She had only played for fun in her father’s basement with Geraldine, and never against anyone with real skill. According to him, Jair had spent the last year playing on the weekends and in tournaments. “I promise not to go on a sex strike. As if I could resist you.”

  She missed the next shot, and as Jair passed by her to move into place, he tweaked her side with a smile. He bent over and lined up his shot, and her cat growled at seeing him concentrating on something, a sexy smile curving his lips as he sank shot after shot. She didn’t even care that she never had a chance to shoot again. Watching him play was fascinating.

  When the eight ball spun expertly across the table and into the pocket, he straightened and said, “That wasn’t fun for you. I should have let you have another shot.”

  “Are you kidding? You’re sexy as hell, and I told you I didn’t want you to play lousy just for my benefit.”

  “Do you want to go back to the table and hang out with Mona, or do you want to play again? I’ll try to dial back the awesome.”

  She snorted as she chalked up the cue and watched him arrange the balls. “Thanks for the effort.” She knew she had no chance at all of winning a game against him with her skills, so she’d have to resort to cheating if she wanted to have any sort of edge. As she stepped into place to shoot first, she glanced at her mate and found his smile was tinged with a hint of smugness. That was enough for her to make her choice.

  Her new mantra would be, If you can’t beat ‘em, cheat.

  * * *

  Genesis was so freaking gorgeous he felt like he was trying to look at the sun every time their gazes locked. He just wanted to lay her down on the table and strip her so he could touch and taste her. He didn’t care that everyone in the bar would see them. Nudity for shifters wasn’t a big deal. Plus there would be the added bonus of everyone knowing for damn certain that she belonged to him.

  She watched him while he moved the rack, the balls clacking together noisily as he set them into place. “How about a little bet?”

  He froze mid-motion and the balls rustled quietly. “What did you have in mind?”

  She hummed quietly and rubbed the chalk slowly on the cue, pursing her lips as she blew out a short stream of air. Little flecks of blue chalk burst from the top of the cue, and her gaze darkened considerably as she locked eyes with him. “How about we play for position?”

  His beasts sat up with interest. “Position?”

  She nodded. “Winner gets choice.”

  He couldn’t stop the interested rumble from his beasts. “Loser has to do it?”

  “Yep.”

  His brain spun as every fantasy he’d entertained about his sweetheart flooded his mind. There were a million things he wanted to do to her, and the idea of having carte blanche over their evening was too good to pass up.

  “Deal,” he said. “Just so you know, my position involves an outfit of my choice.” He wanted her in one of his shirts again, and nothing else except a pair of sexy black heels she’d picked up when she was out shopping with him.

  “I guess you better win,” she teased. He lifted the rack from the balls and set it aside. She eyed the table with a practiced gaze and for a moment, he wondered if she had let him win with the first game – if she was actually an amazing player and had been worried about hurting his pride.

  He caught the scent of her cat as she growled softly and bent over, lining up her shot. She had called on her beast to help her. The
cue ball spun perfectly straight, hitting the balls in just the right place to send them scattering. Three sank into pockets.

  She straightened with a triumphant smile. “I’ll take stripes this time. And just so you know, my position involves a blanket and the front porch.”

  Jair couldn’t stop his mouth dropping open, and she chuckled as she moved fluidly around the table and lined up her next shot. She shot and narrowly missed the ball she was going for, growling in annoyance as it harmlessly bounced off the rail.

  “You want to make love outside?” he asked.

  She chewed on her bottom lip and looked at him with a gaze that could have made his clothes spontaneously combust. She nodded silently, and that was all the encouragement he needed. Whether he won or not, they were sure as hell getting naked outside.

  Taking a long moment to evaluate the best shot to take, he moved into place and then looked at her. “My position starts off on the couch.”

  He shot, and the solid ball flew into the pocket. As he aimed for the next ball, Genesis moved into his field of vision and lifted the hem of her top. She bared her stomach slowly, and his brain completely checked out. She stopped the movement of her hand just under her breasts, so he could see the complete length of her belly. It took a great deal of effort, but he managed to rip his gaze from her and focus on the ball. Which he missed.

  “Damn it,” he growled.

  It was impossible to miss her sneaky smile and the way her eyes lit up. She was cheating, and he loved it. She strode to one end of the table and he moved to her side. “I’ll spread you out on the couch and feast on you. Make you come so hard and so much that you lose your voice from saying my name.”

  She shivered and gasped, then snarled. Leaning over to line up her shot, she said, “When we’re done outside, we’ll take a bath. Together.”

  Every time she said something new, it made his body tighten. His dick was so hard it was aching. He reached out and ran his fingertip over the shell of her ear just as she moved the cue, and she missed the ball entirely, the tip of the cue skidding on the velvet.

  “Oh, come on!”

  He laughed. “You showed me your sexy belly. Fair’s fair.”

  “You touched me!”

  He gripped a belt loop on her jeans and tugged her close. “Let’s change the parameters of the bet.”

  “What did you have in mind?” Her brow arched and her eyes darkened.

  “Winner starts the night, loser finishes.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, that if I win, we start on the couch and then we move to the porch. If you win, we start on the porch and finish on the couch.”

  “Is that because I’m so awesome at pool that you’re afraid you’re going to lose?”

  He snorted. “No, it’s because I know you’re only going to get more daring at cheating.”

  “So it’s win-win.” She dropped the cue to the table and gripped his biceps.

  “It always is with you.”

  Her eyes glistened, and she tilted her face to his. He drew her closer, inhaling her thunderstorm scent as he kissed her. He could count on one hand the good things that had happened in his life, and they all involved Genesis; finding her, mating her, loving her. She was his light, his life, his everything, and nothing made him happier than making her happy.

  She bit gently on his lower lip, a purr rumbling in her chest. “Let’s put the couch out on the porch.”

  “I love how you think,” he said, chuckling. “Do we need to finish the game or can we call it a draw?”

  “Take me home, Jair,” she whispered, gazing up at him with such adoration that it made his beasts take pause and just absorb her love. He could feel how much she loved him, like it was a living, breathing creature, and he loved her just as much.

  Genesis had lost everything, and found him. He’d had nothing, but now he had all a male could ever need. He didn’t miss his old life anymore, because Genesis had become the epicenter of his world. They lived in a place where differences were celebrated and accepted, where symbols that had meant exclusion suddenly meant inclusion. Being an outcast wasn’t a bad thing when it came with a sexy mate who let him see her naked.

  Bending, he lifted her over his shoulder and headed for the door. She laughed and called, “See you later, Mona!”

  “Have a good night, hon,” Mona said, her voice tinged with humor.

  Genesis gave Jair’s ass a tap and said, “The couch is calling, my mate. Hurry.”

  He set her gently on the seat in his truck and rushed around to the driver’s side. He heard her laughing at his eagerness, but he didn’t care if she saw how much he wanted her. He drove swiftly home, then hurried her inside and moved to the couch.

  “Grab the door, love,” he encouraged as he picked up one end.

  Her eyes widened as she watched him heft the couch in the air, and then she laughed. “That’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

  She opened the door that led onto the back porch and stepped outside, holding it wide as he maneuvered the piece of furniture through the doorway. It wasn’t easy, but he was a determined male. Finally he dropped the couch onto the porch with a triumphant growl.

  “You could start your own one-man moving company,” she teased. She ducked into the house and came back out with the comforter from the bed. She laid it on the cushions and pushed one edge of the couch until it was angled toward the woods.

  She straightened and undid the tie at the side of her shirt and drew it slowly over her head. He didn’t think she was purposely stripping slowly, but it was still sexy as hell. The moonlight highlighted her features, giving her an ethereal glow that brought him to his knees before her. She gasped as he wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face in her stomach.

  “Mine,” he said, the word soaked in emotion that he couldn’t really convey. “So fucking mine.”

  Burying her fingers in his hair, she curled herself over him and held him as tightly as he was holding her. “I’ll never be anyone else’s. You’re mine and mine alone, and I’m yours.”

  His wolf and tiger rose to the surface, the rough purr that the two of them rumbled in his chest causing her arousal to spike. Her thunderstorm-drenched sweetness filled his senses as he nuzzled her belly and gripped her waistband with both hands. She lifted from him, gazing down with love and adoration, the moonlight overhead casting its pale light over them. It was the perfect night, the perfect place for them to share their love.

  “Couch beckons,” she whispered huskily, tilting to the side and falling gracefully to the cushions, where she unsnapped her jeans and crooked her finger at him.

  He lunged with a growl, and she laughed as he caged her between his arms and kissed the tops of her breasts where they swelled above her lacy bra. He grinned at her, marveling for a long moment at just what a lucky sonofabitch he really was, and then he kissed slowly down her stomach and stripped her jeans from her body.

  Finding her without panties, he growled and nipped the inside of her thigh as he pushed her legs apart. “Naughty kitten,” he teased.

  “Just for you,” she promised with a purr, tilting her hips in invitation.

  “Damn straight,” he growled, lowering his head to feast on his sweetheart, just like he’d promised. Nothing was more important to him than making her happy and hearing her scream his name in pleasure.

  As the night air was filled with her moans and cries of pleasure, he knew he’d never been happier than he was at that moment, her arousal on his tongue and her fingers twisted in his hair. For a male who’d had nothing only weeks ago, he’d come a long way, thanks to one sweet lynx princess, who stood up for herself and found a new life with him. He was lucky, and he was never going to forget it.

  The End

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