“Of course you do, but… honestly? Why would we choose anything else?” He sputtered out a scoff, but I pressed on to explain. “Fate has handed you the one person guaranteed to make you happiest in the whole wide world. I will take care of your every need, just as I know you would for me. And our physical chemistry is fire… Am I wrong?” Chagrined, he shook his head. “You can reject me if you want. It’s your choice, I won’t stop you, but first tell me why. Is it my beast? Are you scared that I’ll hurt you? Because we would never.”
“No, that’s not it,” he rushed to say, and my beast blew out a relieved sigh. “Honestly? I just feel like such an idiot. Maybe fate got it wrong. You deserve a smarter mate than me.” He rolled his eyes, then groaned and dragged the blanket up over his face.
“What? Why would you say that?” He didn’t answer, so I grabbed the corner of the blanket and yanked it back, making his hair stick up, but at least I could see him now. There would never be a time when I didn’t want to see his beautiful face, even when his skin was blotchy and his roommate hadn’t made him shower like he did me.
He huffed and kicked his feet against the mattress a couple times in frustration. “Because! This whole time, there was all this weird stuff going on, but I didn’t see it. Hell, Ichosenot to see it. I ignored it all. Who does that?”
“Someone who is kind and accepting and trusting.” I scooted closer, and when he didn’t complain, I claimed another inch of space.
He snorted. “I think you mean gullible and naïve,” he said.
“Nope, I said what I meant. Fate doesn’t make mistakes, Joel. You are everything I never knew to ask for in a mate. Funny, independent…” His lips twitched with the hint of a smile, so I nuzzled closer still until his fingers were tangled in my shirt, dragging me the rest of the way, and I cursed the blanket adding such a thick layer between us. “Flirty, sexy, patient, so brave you’re not even scared of a jaguar…”
His giggle was music to my ears. “I think your jaguar is the exception.”
“Do you want to meet him?” I offered, though I knew it would mean letting go of him, temporarily at least.
His eyes lit up. “Can I? He won’t mind?”
“Mind?” I laughed. “He’s been sneaking out to see you every chance he gets.” He tilted his head, confused by that, but I figured it would be easier to show him. I rolled off the bed, the fledgling bond tensing in my chest.
When I started peeling my shirt up, Joel sat straight up, suddenly a whole lot more alert. “Um, you’re getting naked.”
I paused. “Well, yeah. I don’t want to tear through my clothes when I shift.”
“Oh. Right. Becauseyou’remagic, not your clothes.” I continued undressing, tossing my shirt aside. Joel cleared his throat, eyes skittering away nervously, then coming straight back to eat up every inch of exposed skin. WhenI unlaced my belt buckle, his cheeks flamed red-hot. “Should I, like, give you some privacy or something?”
“Nope,” I said, staring him right in the eye, daring him not to look away.
His gulp was loud, but then he squared his jaw and tilted his chin up. Challenge accepted. And he didn’t waver until I dropped my pants and underwear to pool around my ankles, and he let out a little needy whimper. We both ignored the giant erection I was sporting. There would be time for that later. But now…
My beast practically threw himself forward to claim the shift, and as bone and sinew popped and snapped, fur sprouting from rippling muscles, Joel’s eyes only seemed to get larger. “Woooow,” he whispered in a reverent hush, squirming to get out from his blanket prison.
Joel dropped onto the floor on all fours with a thud, which made him seem even smaller compared to my jaguar. He lifted one hand, hovering in the air between us. “May I?” he asked, waiting for permission.
Granting it, my jaguar leaned into his hand, in complete bliss. The sensation of Joel’s fingers through our fur sent shivers all through me, until I wasn’t sure if the purr was mine or my beast’s. He seemed an expert at finding each and every sweet spot—behind our ears, under the chin,the base of our tail. He danced his fingers across the nearly invisible rosettes among the black.
“It was you, wasn’t it,” he said, his voice shivery with excitement. “That night outside my apartment, it was you chasing me… hunting me…” There was a tone of excitement in his words, not fear.
In reply, my jaguar butted his head onto Joel’s shoulder, nearly toppling him. Still purring, he dragged our sandpaper tongue up his neck and cheek, all the way up to his hairline. Laughing, Joel squealed, “Stop it!” but he clung to us all the same.
This might not have been the last we would see of Joel’s doubts, but I knew by the way the unclaimed bond sang between us that our souls were connected by more than just ink.
Chapter 14
Joel
Forasplitsecond,when North turned back into his human shape, I was disappointed. His ginormous cat wasamazing. Certainly better than any pet I’d hoped to own one day. Warm and soft, he was also strong enough to be the world’s best guard dog… er, cat. As big and scary as he was, though, I hadn’t been even a little worried about having his razor-sharp teeth so close to my jugular, or his claws pricking through my ratty t-shirt into my skin beneath. I trusted him entirely.
So, yeah, when he changed back to a flesh-and-blood human, I almost felt like I’d lost something. But then I realized all that flesh was bare, and suddenly I’d gained something else, and it was very, very hot.
“Oh,” I gasped, finding his naked body pressed against me, where his jaguar had been just moments ago. Myhands, which had been buried in his thick black fur, were now kneading at his bulky shoulders.
If I thought for one second he wanted me to let go, I would have, but then he leaned in and licked the same path his rough cat’s tongue had just a moment ago, starting from the base of my throat, as if his human half needed to confirm the taste of my skin.
It took no time at all for my dick to get with the program, and I carded my fingers into his short hair, hoping to keep him in place just a little longer.
“Does that mean I can stay?” he whispered in my ear.
