Hunting a Mate Read online

  But this was now, and now she pressed her body against his, shivering when his other arm encircled her and held her close. She moaned with the pleasure of his kiss, the arousal that suffused her body and her pussy grew heavy and ached with need. She became wetter by the second, preparing for his possession, and her ferret was one hundred percent onboard with that plan.

  She wanted him. His support. His heart. His bite.

  All of him.

  It was heaven but having her family so close was hell. She was ready to end their kiss and tell them to get the fuck out, but her mother had to be a bitch before Paige got the chance.

  The booming blare of an air horn sliced through the room, echoing off the walls and ringing in her ears.

  Normally, that sound would have her ferret rushing forward and taking over. Normally, she’d now be lost in a pile of cloth. Normally… she didn’t have Archer.

  Because all the sound did was annoy her inner animal and break up their kiss. She gave Archer’s lips one last press with hers and then slowly turned her head to meet her mother’s gaze.

  And then Mom did it again, depressed a button and sent the noise ringing through her living room.

  For the first time in Paige’s life, her ferret didn’t react, didn’t twitch a whisker or make a sound within her mind. It was… calm. It didn’t care about her mom or her sisters or the drama of her heat and Mel’s boyfriend. Its only thought was of Archer and their future together.

  The rest of the drama-filled world who tried to keep them apart could get fucked.

  So no, Paige didn’t react. But Archer? That was another story.

  “Get. The fuck. Out. Of this. Apartment.”

  * * *

  Archer had never been so pissed in all his life. Not only had Paige’s family staged an “intervention” and ignored the fact that they’d been told he was Paige’s mate, but they actually tried to force her into a shift.

  “Oh, I don’t think so, young man,” the mother sniffed, frowning as she looked at the air horn in her hand and then at Paige. Her confusion was evident. Before she could hit the button again, he plucked it from her hand, closed his fist, and dug his nails into the metal, releasing some of the pressure before he finally crushed the damn thing.

  “This…was low. Just fucking low.” He dropped it into her out-stretched palm, managing to restrain his fury to just a snarl as she opened her mouth to speak. She snapped her jaw shut with a click. “Scaring someone into a shift as a control measure?”

  He stepped forward, deliberately looming over the three ferret women. “How about I give that a go? How many roars do you think I’ll need to scare you all into your fur?” His voice rose to a near bellow on the last few words.

  Pop. Pop-pop-pop. All three broke out in whiskers.

  “Archer…” Paige’s voice was quiet but even in the depths of his anger he recognized her. He’d never not hear her. She was his everything.

  He nodded to let her know he’d heard her and turned his attention to the sister on the left. She still had tears in her eyes and he’d seen her expression when she’d realized her boyfriend had agreed to fuck her sister. His mate. His inner cat roared its fury. If he ever met the asshole, he’d rip his dick off and feed it to him. Slowly.

  “You…” he pointed at her. She squeaked and jumped. Pop. Her nose didn’t look so human anymore. He moderated his tone, dropping his voice a little. “Dump your asshole boyfriend. Any guy who agrees to fuck someone else is not that into you. Believe me, your mate…he ain’t ever gonna want anyone else. Period.” Then, just to needle the mother, he added, “If you like, I can hook you up with a few cats. Got a couple of brothers looking for mates. You never know, it might run in the family.”

  “That is not happening,” the mother gasped, gathering the two girls and all but dragging them toward the door. She shot a look of pure hatred at Archer, but he wasn’t done yet.

  “Mrs. Baxter?” he called out as they reached the door. All three women paused, looking over their shoulders.

  “I’m Paige’s mate. End of story. If I ever find out you’re trying to find another man to share her bed, heat or not, you will not like the consequences.”

  The Baxter woman bristled, turning to face him fully. “Was that a threat?”

  Archer laughed, but the sound held no humor. Only menace. Beside him, he felt Paige stiffen so he reached out and wrapped his arm around her. Pulling her close where she belonged.

  “No. It was a promise. Now, unless you plan on hanging around while I claim your daughter, I suggest you leave.”

  The door slammed shut behind three ferrets who couldn’t leave fast enough. Archer looked down at his little mate and cracked a grin. Her eyes had been wide and apprehensive, but at his grin, she squeaked and punched his arm.

  “Archer Moore, you were faking! You weren’t gonna hurt them!”

  His chuckle filled the room and he pulled her tighter to plant a gentle kiss on her lips. He wanted to get hot and heavy, but after stress like that, he didn’t know how much more she could handle. Ending up with an armful of ferret, right now? His cock and balls would disown him.

  “Baby, I have never faked in my life. I promise.”

  “Yeah. But…you threatened… Mom.” She managed the sentence between his kisses, when he would let her talk.

  “Yeah, I kinda did… didn’t I?” God, her lips were so soft. He could stay here kissing her, forever. Okay, so that was a lie. After kisses, he’d quickly want more. A lot more.

  “You wouldn’t—” She paused, biting her lip as though nervous about finishing the thought out loud.

  “You’re adorable. No, I wouldn’t. I was gonna play dirty and set my mom on her.”

  “Your mom? Isn’t that a bit…” She blinked, again that slow blink he loved, and grinned back. “Is your mom, hmmm… like you?”

  Translation was easy. Would his mom scare the living daylights out of hers?

  “Sweetheart, even we run when she’s mad.”

  He couldn’t resist the temptation to kiss her again. Soft lips… Was the rest of her skin this soft? Immediately his mind headed south. He groaned, the need to taste more of her almost overwhelming, and broke the kiss.

  “I’m sorry, we gotta stop…” He leaned his forehead against hers, thumb gently stroking her cheek. “I want to stay…but any more and I’m going to mate you, Paige.”

  Silence stretched between them and then, slowly, she nodded. He leaned back to look into her eyes, the man and the cat pleased by the regret he saw there. She wanted this too. At the same time though, he could see the nerves and the tiredness in her expression. Their first time needed to be special, not rushed and definitely not after the scene with the women of her family.

  Taking her hand, he walked to the door.

  “Lock up behind me, love, and get some sleep.” Leaving her was the hardest thing he’d ever done. She was all soft and sexy…and his. His mate. Biting back his groan, he allowed himself one more kiss, then stepped back through the door. “Tomorrow. Lunch. I’ll pick you up.”

  Before he could change his mind and barrel back into her apartment and kiss her into agreeing to mate him here and now, Archer sucked it up, turned, and walked away.

  Chapter Six

  As Paige got ready for bed, her mind spun through the events of hours ago. The way he’d roared, the way her ferret hadn’t reacted, and how her mother had tried to force her transformation.

  She shook her head and rubbed her towel over her scalp, soaking up the water that still dampened her strands.

  Archer had been… magnificent. Ferocious yet gentle and then that roar… She shivered, body tingling with the memory. Her ferret chirped and chittered, telling her to quit waiting for date three and jump the line already. It wanted their mate, and it wanted him now. The animal even went as far to stomp its little claw-tipped paw. Of course, then it sneezed and wiggled its whiskers. Totally ruined the aggressive stance it had going inside her head.

  “Tomorrow, you li
ttle shit,” she murmured and let the towel fall to the ground. She’d pick it up later. Really. The adrenaline crash was headed her way and she simply wanted to snuggle into bed and maybe call Archer and… ask him what he was wearing.

  Hopefully nothing.

  Then they could have a little phone fun before… She shivered as thoughts drifted forward of what exactly they’d be doing together.

  Yum.

  Paige snagged a pair of panties from a nearby drawer and wiggled into the pink frilly bit of fabric and lace. Another drawer gave her a thin tank top she slipped on as well. Even living alone, with no one to sneak in and spy her naked, her mother’s dictates intruded.

  “No Baxter would ever be caught in the nude.” As if that was a bad word. “What if the house catches on fire? Do you want everyone to see that?”

  That, by the way, was the extra pounds and jiggle Paige carried. It wasn’t like she was any fluffier than her sisters. Their height just hid things better.

  She groaned and shoved thoughts of her mother out of her mind. This was a no-parent zone. Especially if she was gonna call Archer and—

  The phone rang and her breath caught. Was it… Did he feel…

  It rang again and the sound spurred her into action. Paige leaped across the bed, her ferret giving her strength with its ever-growing anticipation. It danced and sang in her mind: Mate, our mate, do our mate. Mate…

  She snatched her cellphone from the bedside table and pressed the answer button without bothering to look at the caller ID. Which was such a mistake.

  “Archer?”

  “Um, Paige?” Her sister’s voice was wary and soft. “It’s Mel.”

  “Oh.” She swallowed her disappoint and her anger took its place. “Hi.”

  “I just… I wanted to apologize. You know how Mom and Alicia are and I…”

  Got swept up in their tornado of awful.

  “Yeah, I know.” Mel had never been a bad sister. She just hadn’t ever been a good one either. Then again, with Alicia and Mom hanging around, she probably didn’t have a good shot. “I know.”

  “I had no idea that Archer even existed, Paige. And Harvey…” Mel sniffled and a choked sob reached down the phone line.

  Harvey. Her boyfriend of years and man who’d agreed to bang Paige while still in bed with Mel.

  The sister code ordered her to comfort Mel even if she was still angry. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault. It’s his. And hers. I mean… Has she always been this way and I didn’t see it? She tried to force you to shift, Paige?”

  “I know.” And that’s what killed the hint of love she held for the woman, while it also made her feelings for Archer blossom and grow. She wouldn’t call it love, but there was a hell of a lot more than pure lust and mating instincts that drove her now.

  “I’m really happy for you, you know.”

  “Yeah, I’m happy for me, too.” Quiet reigned and her sister’s nervous swallow was loud over the phone line. “Did you need something?”

  “Yeah, it’s just harder than I thought. Because it’s usually you needing me or Mom or something.”

  Paige hadn’t needed them—asked for help—in years, but she let her carry on with the delusion.

  “Anyway, I know I don’t deserve your help at all, but I was wondering if I could use your spare room after your heat.” Mel huffed. “I’m stuck in this house with Harvey until I find a place to stay and I refuse to go to Mom’s or Alicia’s. I need a place to sleep that isn’t here and I know your heat is right around the corner. I can deal with being here until it’s done, I just… God, out of our whole fucked up family, you’re the only one I trust right now.” Mel was breathing heavily by the time the words rushed past her lips.

  “I…”

  “Please.” It was the plea and sob in her voice that broke Paige’s heart, pushed a pin in the muscle and deflated it with a single push.

  “Hold on one sec, okay? Don’t go anywhere?”

  “Okay.”

  “I’m not saying no, I swear. Just… one sec.”

  Paige quickly muted the phone so her sister couldn’t hear the call she made on the landline. To Archer. He answered on the first ring.

  “Paige? Love, is something wrong?”

  “Scale of one to ten, how anxious are you to mate?” She scrunched her nose and squeezed her eyes shut as if that’d make the question easier to ask.

  “A million, but I—”

  “I’m sitting here wondering why we’re waiting, you know? I mean, I didn’t shift with your family or on our date or even when my mom tried to force it. Because of you. You’re it for me, Archer.”

  “You’re it for me, too. You know that.” His words were whisper soft and husky.

  “I know. So why are we waiting?”

  “Because you need to feel—”

  “I’m comfortable. I’m wonderful. I’ve got my sister on the other line crying about her sleazy ex and needing a place to stay once I’m done with my heat, and fuck, it made me wonder what I’m waiting for. My ferret knows you’re it. I know you’re it. Why are we delaying the inevitable?” The words were a rush and tumble of syllables and silence met her when she was done. “Archer?”

  “Baby, I don’t wanna—”

  “My sister’s gonna be here in an hour and my heat starts tomorrow or the day after. I’d really like to be mated between those times so I might end up pregnant when all is said and done.” She was met with a deep, rumbly purr and she snorted. “Men. You just want me barefoot and pregnant.”

  “And naked. Can’t forget naked.”

  She chuckled and smiled, wondering how she could be so happy while her sister’s world was tumbling. “So…”

  “Which one is it? Do you really want her staying there? Is she really trying to get you away from me?”

  Paige shook her head. “No, she’s not trying to take me. It’s Mel and her boyfriend… I think the bullshit today really hurt her. ”

  “Ah.” Yeah, that was all that was needed. “You’re more forgiving than me.”

  “So the kits and cubs will inherit kindness from me.” She shrugged even if he couldn’t see the move. “And homicidal protective instincts from you.”

  Archer sighed. “You want this?”

  “I want you.” Not this or that, but him.

  “I’ll come get you. Ask your sister if she needs muscle to get her stuff tonight or if I can get my brothers to help her tomorrow.”

  “Okay, hold on.” She scrambled for her cell phone, but before she unmuted her sister, she had one last thing to say. “Archer?”

  “Yeah, baby?”

  “Thank you for this.”

  “Baby, I’ll do anything for you. Anything. And that apparently includes helping your sister who I kinda hate at the moment.”

  “I’ll make it worth your while,” she teased.

  “Oh, you definitely will. All night long.” That did not sound like teasing, but a promise.

  One she couldn’t wait for him to fulfill.

  * * *

  Being in Archer’s house was comfortable… and yet it wasn’t. The place was beautiful, if masculine, and it felt like home but it wasn’t her home. At least, not yet. Which made being inside it weird and awkward. What’d seemed like an amazing idea an hour ago now seemed forced and bizarre and—

  “Maybe this isn’t a good idea.” His thick, warm arms wrapped around her waist and she leaned back into him, taking comfort in his embrace. He pressed a kiss to her neck and nuzzled the column of her throat before speaking again. “I’ll make up the guest room for you. I don’t wanna rush things.”

  She was shaking her head the moment isn’t a good idea left his mouth. She turned in his hold and draped her arms over his shoulders, reveling in his nearness. Her nerves immediately calmed and her ferret released a few, very suggestive, squeaks in appreciation of his sensitivity.

  But… all she’d needed was this to drive away the uncertainty. “No. I want this. Want you. I want you
to be mine and I want to be yours and I want—”

  Archer darted forward and pressed a hard kiss to her lips, silencing her in an instant. “I have a few wants of my own.” He stepped forward, urging her to move backward with him and she trusted him not to lead her astray. “I want you to be mine. I want to be yours. I want you naked. I want you in my bed. I want my cock in your pussy and my fangs in your flesh.”

  Paige shuddered, arousal zinging through her veins with his words. “Yes, please.”

  That pulled a purely masculine, cocky as hell, chuckle from him. “You sure? Because two seconds ago—”

  “I am. This whole place is new and the situation is weird because normally a male would have just dragged his mate to bed two seconds after they met, but you’ve been so patient. And you waited. And now I don’t know how to not wait.” She was rambling and she knew it.

  The next kiss was sweet, a petal-soft caress of his lips on hers. “That’s all I needed.”

  Archer bent and swept her into his arms, cradling her against his chest, and she squeaked in alarm. Squeaked, but didn’t pop a whisker. Because it was him. Her mate, her forever, and just because he surprised her, it didn’t mean he meant her harm in any way. She looked forward to the day she didn’t have to worry one bit, but until then, she’d just make sure she stayed near him.

  Her big, bad werecougar would protect her.

  She clung to him, her arms encircling his neck while she peppered his neck and shoulders with kisses. She didn’t pay attention to where they were going—she didn’t care. As long as there was a bed, she’d be happy. And in less than a minute, she was very happy in a very large bed when he tossed her onto the center of the mattress.

  More squeaks. No whiskers.

  No whiskers when he whipped off his shirt. Or when he unbuttoned his pants. Or even when his long, thick, hard cock was revealed. Yum. The tip glistened with a drop of pre-cum, the liquid decorating the head, and he gathered that droplet on his thumb.

  She licked her lips, wondering about his taste, and then he reached for her so she wouldn’t have to wonder any longer. Mainly because she lapped at the shining liquid with her tongue and brought the flavors into her mouth. They burst across her taste buds, and she swallowed that hint of him. Musk and man and his inner animal that refused to be denied.