Winter Wishes Read online

  These weren’t little girls, more like early twenties. They were both dressed in Santa’s helper’s costumes and usually the pushed-up bosoms and short, short skirts would have had his tongue hanging out like a damn dog’s, but after the entire day being primed and ready by El’s smart-ass, take-no-prisoner attitude, they didn’t do much for him.

  That fact seriously worried him. It seemed not only was her family abnormal, they were contagious, as well. Bosomy and double-trouble, and he wasn’t reacting? Fuck.

  El slipped her arm around his waist, tucking against his side, and although having her brush up intimately was awfully nice, he totally didn’t expect it. Especially not when she pulled in tighter, resting her head on his chest. Because he didn’t expect it he wasn’t prepared to stop the purr of interest that immediately rumbled to the surface. Her parents both clued in on his reaction, her mom raising a brow and her dad leaning forward slightly, his cougar eyes narrowing as he looked Kyle up and down. Kyle suspected he was no longer considered Grade A, probably downgraded to chopped liver. The whole clan stilled, waiting for their father’s reaction.

  Shit.

  El cleared her throat. “Mom, he’s with me. If you don’t have a room for us, we’ll find a place in town. Whatever works best for you.”

  Kyle willed his body to not react. Getting a hard-on in front of her folks was not the way to make a good impression, but still…Did she just insinuate they would be sleeping together? Okay, most cats were up front about their sex lives, but in front of their sires was rather on the oh my word that’s not what I want to talk about right now side. He leaned over to whisper in her ear. “I thought we were ‘just friends.’”

  El twisted her head and the sweet scent of her perfume and the cherry gum she was chewing floated past his cheek. “Improvise with me here. I’ll explain later.”

  Whoop-dee-fucking-doo. Change in game plan so he got to end up in the same bed as her? Okay. That kind of improvisation he could do. He rubbed his chin along the top of her head and smiled sweetly at the parental unit. “Thank you so much for letting us join you for the holidays.”

  * * *

  A steaming mug of decaf coffee in her hands, El cuddled up in an oversized recliner in front of the massive fireplace that took up an entire wall in her bedroom. The triple shot of Baileys in the fiery hot liquid was the only thing making her able to sit without fidgeting.

  Okay, that whole situation had gotten out of control way too quickly.

  It was great to see her folks again, although it was true, she’d been avoiding coming home. She liked the big city, liked the people she hung out with, and it was so good to have gotten away from the whole clan of hers, where the women were barefoot and pregnant most of the time.

  She considered her ever-increasing number of younger siblings. While it was nice in some way that her parents were still so much in love…just ick. Popping out a kitten every year or two was not in Eloise Inez’s future plans, no sir.

  And now, because of the insane change in circumstances, she was going to be babysitting her charge while he was in the same room as her. The same freaking bed.

  She took a steadying sip of the liquid liquor mix. It had to happen. Once she’d realized the vast size of the house, there was no way she was going to leave him unsupervised at nights, not when she knew how much cats liked to play. There were other females in the house, like her sisters. Delilah and Darleen. It wasn’t that she was jealous of them—heck, they’d all been best friends before she’d taken off to join the police force. And it wasn’t that she didn’t trust him, or her sisters, only she knew all about cats, and cat libidos, and…Damn it anyway.

  So now she and Kyle were sharing a room, and she’d just have to deal with having every sexy inch of him rubbing her all night long. She tilted the mug and drained every last drop.

  She’d managed to beg off any further serious discussion, or house tours, or any kind of family event for the evening, claiming fatigue from the long ride. The looks the Double Ds gave Kyle made her tug him along with her for his own good.

  El sighed. Yeah, and if she kept telling herself that lie, maybe it would become true.

  She took a long look around the room. Whatever the hell had happened with her parents’ finances, the new place was insanely gorgeous. Her parents had included a room for her in the renovations, with a private bath, a sitting area and the gargantuan fireplace. Floor-to-ceiling windows in the dormer were open, and the twinkling of Christmas lights around the window trim reflected in to add a psychedelic touch to the football-field-sized bed. Massive posts on the four corners rose to a scarlet canopy. It was exactly the kind of bed she’d dreamed about having when she was little.

  The door to the bathroom opened and a swirl of steam wafted out along with six feet plus of the sexiest cougar male she’d ever seen. He had a towel knotted low around his hips, water droplets still clinging to his shoulders as he stalked over to the bike bag.

  Down. Do not look. Do not stare. Do not drool.

  It was too late.

  Kyle pivoted on the spot and winked at her. “Which side of the bed do you want?”

  El swallowed hard. “Doesn’t matter.”

  He nodded slowly, slipped off the towel and crawled under the sheets. El closed her eyes and gritted her teeth together. She counted to ten. Then to twenty.

  “Kyle, where are your clothes?”

  He sat up to plump the pillows a few times before propping them behind his head. “In the drawer.”

  She sighed. “I mean the ones you’re going to sleep in.”

  It wasn’t possible, but his grin seemed to get wider. “I don’t sleep in anything. Need to be able to shift in an instant, you know, and the last time I got tangled in a pair of jockeys, it wasn’t a pretty picture.”

  True—most shifters did sleep in the nude in case they involuntarily changed during the night but…“Do you have to seem so damn smug about it?”

  Kyle gazed at her steadily for a long while before he cleared his throat. “Look, I understand you’re in a bit of a pickle. You need to keep an eye on me—your job and all. At the same time, your family has gone and pulled a pauper to a prince routine, and add to the mix that bad Christmas caroling is getting seriously annoying as background Muzak. But you’ve got a few issues I think we’re going to have to deal with. You don’t spend a lot of time around shifters, do you?”

  “What does that mean?” He was looking at her as if she was some freak of nature or a part of a science experiment. She hated that with a passion.

  “Answer the question. I’m not talking only cats, but wolves, or bears, or birds of prey—”

  “I fail to see what that has to do with anything.”

  “It has tons to do with the snit you’re working yourself up to, and since I’m also suffering because of your self-denial of our species’ needs—”

  She shot to her feet. “Is this about me refusing to have sex with you? You’re a job. I told you that. I’m a member of the LAPD and I do not fuck my assignments.”

  “So you said. But I’m not only an assignment, I’m a fellow cat shifter, and there are sub-rules and understandings that should override your interpretation of the human conventions.”

  Holy crap. “Are you this desperate to get laid you’re going to try and turn this into a logical debate?”

  “Hey, I’m just saying that I’m not the one who masturbated in front of you in a lingerie shop.”

  El held back the urge to stomp her foot. Instead she stormed to the foot of the bed and glared at him. “I can’t believe you brought that up again. I knew you’d expect that kind of response from a fellow shifter, that’s all. By pretending, I got you interested enough to go back—”

  “Yeah, yeah, it was all a part of the job. Bullshit. You like me, we’re cats and if you’re going to insist we not have sex, good luck to that. I think you need to consider a little harder what you want, and a little less what you think you need to be doing to fit in.”

 
Bastard. “I don’t like you very much, Kyle Branegan.”

  “You don’t need to, sweetie. I’m not asking you to marry me. I’m not looking for a forever thing here—”

  “Good,” she interrupted, getting ready to lambaste him.

  He snarled and a wave of power blasted out. She snapped her lips together and froze in fear, and excitement. It was the first time she’d actually felt his power as a shifter. It burst from him as his temper flared. A shiver raced over her skin, and she was hit with a strong desire to crawl to him and rub herself against his belly. Holy shit, he was strong—way stronger than she was, if she was honest.

  They both remained still, El because she was afraid if she said anything she’d crumble into a kitty zombie and do anything he requested.

  A wary expression stole over his face and he sighed heavily. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.” He scrubbed his face and she inched past the foot of the bed on her way to the bathroom door. Oh. My. Lord. What had she gotten herself into? She’d never met a cat with that level of strength before.

  Kyle twisted on the bed, speaking softly now, gentling her. “Let’s just forget this conversation. We got off on the wrong foot, in a way. Traveling took a lot out of us, and your family, and…everything. I swear I’ll keep my hands off you tonight. Go shower, and come sleep. We’ll figure it out in the morning.”

  El stole into the bathroom and fired up the shower as hot as possible, attempting to burn away her fears and frustrations. Her family, her job. Trying to be a cat shifter in the middle of a ton of humans—was he right? Was she so busy trying to fit in she’d been completely denying what she was?

  Acting the hussy that morning for him had felt damn good. Better than anything she remembered doing for a long time. She’d figured it was because the sting was a success, but his accusation was correct—she hadn’t needed to get so intimate with him in the shop. He’d fingered her, and licked her, and she’d…loved every minute of it. That had nothing to do with being undercover, and everything to do with letting her rigid rules loose.

  El swiped the fog from the mirror to stare into her tired eyes. Was she lying to herself by trying to act too human? By trying to avoid the things she hated about her species, was she ignoring too much? She was not going to be someone’s little woman and sacrifice her career, dammit all.

  She patted herself dry on the plush terrycloth bath towel and took a deep breath. Yeah, she wasn’t planning on sleeping in pajamas or anything either. Having a nightshirt choke you in your sleep was not a fun way to wake up. She could do this. Completely ignore the mental turmoil, the physical rush of desire he gave her. Ignore it and get some sleep. Maybe.

  She nudged open the door and the bathroom light pooled across the bed. Three hundred pounds of tawny cougar lay tangled in the sheets and she laughed softly. Well, that was a solution to their sleeping dilemma that hadn’t occurred to her. El tugged the sheets free from under his lower paws and crawled in next to him. The heat of his bulk wrapped around her, and as she snuggled tight against his furry body he rolled to drape one long, heavy limb over her torso. He rumbled in his sleep—a low, calming sound—and she had to admit one thing.

  Having another cat in bed with her? Pretty damn good.

  Chapter Four

  Kyle cracked one eye open. The tinny version of “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” that floated through the air was nowhere near as distracting as the mound of hot breast in his hand. He waited a minute, desperately trying to remember if he’d gone home with someone after a night at a club or brought someone back to his houseboat. Of course, once he woke enough to realize the bed wasn’t rocking, the pier was out. There was no scent of salt from the harbor, but a heavy layer of gingerbread and nutmeg—

  El.

  Oh shit. And he was the Grinch who shoved Christmas down the poor little Whos’ throats. Damn, he’d been an asshole last night. Not intentionally, but still.

  He was totally and completely awake now, including parts of his anatomy he wished had an on/off switch like the ten-foot snowman presiding over the far corner of the room. Kyle’s erection was tucked like a present in a box along the smooth crease of El’s naked ass. She pressed intimately against him, arching her breast into his hand.

  The square root of sixty-four is eight. The nineteenth president of the United States was Rutherford B. Hayes. If you left Cincinnati on a train loaded with dynamite going west at eighty miles per hour and met a train full of bricks heading east, how big would the ensuing explosion be?

  “I’ve been thinking about what you said.” El spoke quietly and his heart leapt to his throat. His first thought was he still had his nuts, so she couldn’t have been awake for long. His second thought was the realization she’d rubbed against him while she was most definitely awake.

  Hallelujah and pass the mistletoe. Not that he’d lectured her simply to get into her pants.

  No. Really.

  He’d thought it over as he’d fallen asleep waiting for her to come to bed. First, he’d changed to cat form to make sure she knew he was serious. Cats never fucked inside in their wild form. That was one tradition none of them would break, so shifting was as good as promising hands off.

  Guilt over snapping at her last night hit him. It had been a hell of a day, but at the same time there were so many things about the whole situation that had slowly built up to piss him off. Fine, maybe he wasn’t hanging out with the ruling clan anymore, but he still knew what was right for his people. And hiding their nature and pretending to be humans—hell, that’s why they’d come out of the closet so many years ago, so they could be themselves. Let the strengths of the humans and the strengths of the shifters blend together for a better world. Work together in harmony…yada yada yada.

  Damn it. He was as bad as his brother Conner—spouting off about the good of the species. No, he was worse, because he doubted Conn had ever verbally harassed a poor shifter girl who was simply confused about her sexuality and her place in the world.

  El rolled and he leaned back slightly to allow her room to maneuver. “I think you’re right. I’ve been fighting my cat for a long time. It’s not wrong to want you.”

  He didn’t say anything, just stared down at her. Her bright hazel eyes traced his face and she brought up a hand to stroke slowly along his jaw line. Her touch sent a bolt of electricity running through him. She threaded her fingers into his hair and tugged his head down to hers and the sound of jingle bells increased.

  Her mouth was so soft as she nibbled on him, her tongue sneaking out to dip briefly past his lips. He rocked forward slightly, letting one thigh slip between hers, his shaft solid against her leg as she wrapped her arms farther around his neck.

  This kind of kissing was so different from the frantic rutting charge they’d shared yesterday morning, and he kinda liked it. The gentleness seemed almost an apology for his harsh words of the night before, true though they’d been. He’d been an ass to rub it in her face when she was so tired and so confused. But now, as their tongues tangled, he was all for letting the rubbing of another sort commence.

  The spicy tang of sex danced over his taste buds. She writhed sensuously under him, letting their skin slide together, hot and slick. Kyle breathed in deep, the aroma of her filling his senses and making his head spin. El dug her nails into his shoulders, then dragged them down his bare skin, coaxing a groan of pleasure from his lips.

  Yesterday’s wild introduction had created an ache for hot, hard and potentially creative sessions of sex with this woman. A not-so-subtle change occurred as he rolled her on top, lips staying in contact, tongues dancing together. Oh, he still wanted her in every possible position and permutation he could think of, but maybe it all needed to be dialed down a notch or two. With her single statement she had offered him something completely out of her comfort zone. Making sex a big deal wasn’t the cat way, but then she hadn’t been living like a cat.

  He’d never before in his life had the urge to go this slow and careful.
r />   El twisted her way out of his grasp to sit, her strong thighs straddling his waist. The wet heat of her sex pressed against his abdomen, her cream coating him. He admired her body as she rose over him, her firm breasts with dark areolas, the gentle scoop of her waist, the flare of her hips. He followed his gaze with his hands, brushing his knuckles against the underside of her breasts, molding his palms to her skin to appreciate the warmth. When he settled his hands on her hips he couldn’t resist, dragging her forward until her sex was centered over his mouth.

  “Kyle, I…” She stared down at him, eyes wide. She put one hand out to grip the top of the headboard. “I feel like I should be—”

  “Shhh…There’s no should. Forget what brought us here. You’re very beautiful, and I want to make you feel amazing. Let me.”

  He lowered her to his mouth and lapped in a lazy circle around her labia, opening her to his touch, filling his head with her taste and scent. She was damn wet, and with each teasing stroke her arousal increased. The tensing and twitching of her ass muscles under his hands helped him gauge her response. Slower now, then faster. A tap against her clit, a drag through her core. A thrust as deep as his tongue could reach. When she rocked against him, striving for more, he held her tighter, squeezing the rounds of her ass cheeks as he sucked and tormented her clit. El purred and moaned, the gasps coming closer together, more rapidly until she tightened and came, flooding his tongue with her sweet release, making him crazy as she whispered his name.

  Kyle lifted her off and rearranged her on the bed, stroking her still twitching body, nuzzling against her neck. She captured his head in her hands and kissed him wildly, groaning as their tongues met.

  “I can…taste…” She breathed the broken words into his mouth and he smiled against her lips.

  “You taste your cream. It’s very good, isn’t it?”

  “Hmm.” She kissed him again, softer this time, before nipping his lower lip and retreating. “Now, how about you?”