Page 34 of Bad Blood Panther

Chapter 13

Mates.

She was Xander’s mate.

To Jenny, it still felt strange and surreal, whether she was going to work and learning the ropes at the Bearcat Construction office, or sitting around the firepit at night with the crew, barbecuing and drinking and listening to Sloan play the guitar, or sleeping in Xander’s arms after wild, hungry sex.

The crew was beginning to accept her. Lissa and Caitlyn included her in a girls’ chick flick marathon, and Jasmin and Brody let her join in when they taught Xander and Lissa cage fighting techniques. Especially ways to defeat an opponent that you didn’t want to kill.

Which Xander kept saying was stupid, because he supposedly wanted to kill everything. But as the days went on, it seemed like maybe he didn’t. Like maybe his cat was settling, and he wasn’t so angry and unhappy anymore.

Jenny tried to make him happy. She wanted to be a good mate, although with Xander it was sometimes hard to know what he really felt or wanted. He still had trouble being serious, a lot of the time, and took refuge in his “don’t give a fuck” attitude. Especially when his emotions were running high.

The feelings between them were so powerful, and there was so much history standing between them.

And Jenny still hadn’t told him about Brandon.

She’d talked to Anthea on their regularly scheduled days, sneaking off by herself to make the calls. Brandon was fine; he missed Jenny, but he seemed happy. Every time she hung up, she felt overwhelmed with guilt—guilt over leaving Brandon; guilt for not telling Xander about him.

It hasn’t even been a week, she told herself. She’d tell him soon. They just needed to solidify their bond, and get used to being together.

In the meantime, Xander had decided being a good mate meant wooing Jenny by dreaming up imaginative dates. Jenny loved that so much she could hardly stand it. She’d never had anyone pay so much attention to her, or want to know everything she liked and figure out how to give it to her.

One day, he bought giant bubble kits and took her to blow soap bubbles in the middle of a field of wildflowers.

The next night, he drove her out to an overlook in his truck so they could lie on the hood and watch the stars, like they used to. Only this time, he set up candles on the toolbox in the truck bed, and danced with her to sappy country oldies on the radio before making sweet, passionate love to her under the full moon.

Tonight, he’d bought a huge tub of mint chocolate chip ice cream and about a bazillion women’s magazines, so he could supposedly learn all there was to know about her by making her do all the cheesy magazine quizzes while they binged on ice cream in bed.

“Come on. This is an important step in our evolution as a couple,” he said, when she groaned and tried to shove the pile of airbrushed cover models away. “The magazines all say so.”

“Nooo,” she protested. “I can feel the oppression of patriarchal expectations of feminine beauty crushing me from here. Make them go awaaaay…”

“Fuck the patriarchy. You’re gorgeous,” Xander said. That made her feel better. Especially since she was probably going to get fat from all this ice cream.

“Here’s a good one.” He opened the tub of ice cream and handed her a spoon, then returned to the magazine. “‘What your nail polish color reveals about the inner you.’”

“I’m not wearing nail polish,” Jenny said. “I never do. What does that say about the inner me?”

“That it’s either very mysterious, or nonexistent,” Xander said. He reached over and diverted her spoon to his mouth, stealing her bite of ice cream. “Here, wait.” He dug another magazine out of the pile and flipped through it to a nail polish ad. “Pick a color.”

Jenny glanced at it. “They’re all hideous.”

Xander rolled his eyes. “Close your eyes and pick one, then.”

“How’s a random color choice going to reveal the inner me?”

“No more ice cream until you do it.”

Jenny closed her eyes and pointed.

Xander returned to his quiz. “Purple…purple…here it is: You are a smart, beautiful and sassy woman...”

“I like it so far,” Jenny said.

“…who loves getting your boyfriend naked and letting him spank you. You also love oral sex and getting fucked really slow…”

“It does not say that!” Jenny grabbed for the magazine, but Xander pulled it away.