Protector Panther (Protection, Inc 3)

He nodded, a teasing smile hovering at his lips.

Like a cat plays with a mouse, she thought. No, like a cat plays with another cat.

His voice was low and rough, half-growl, half purr. “If you want me, come and get me.”

Catalina leaped. But Shane was ready for her this time. He stepped forward to meet her, and his deft hands snatched her out of the air. For a breathless moment, he swung her around as if she was light as a feather. Then they were tumbling down, rolling over and over on the floor, tearing at each other’s clothes. His hands were urgent, his scent dizzying, his breath coming in shuddering gasps. She could feel every place where his body touched hers, hot and vivid as a fever dream.

Catalina heard herself groan as she tore the shirt from his body. She was out of control, ripping his clothes to shreds and digging her nails into his back. No longer cool, Shane made a sound that was almost a snarl as he ripped her shirt off. It tore straight down the middle, along with her bra. He buried his face in her breasts, licking and nipping and kissing. His tongue left trails of fire on her skin.

She thrust against him, rubbing herself over his rock-hard shaft. He lifted his head and reached down, yanking her jeans off. Her panties tore in his hands, leaving him with shreds of thin, damp cloth that smelled like her. She was throbbing, desperate, dripping wet. Her hands shook as they fumbled at his jeans. She couldn’t get the button undone.

“Allow me,” Shane purred.

He slipped his hand between her thighs. She bucked against his fingers, barely noticing that he was sliding his jeans off with one hand while his other moved between her slick folds. All her senses were heightened almost to the point of pain, smell and touch, sight and sound and touch. His briefest caress was brought her to the point of climax, trembling and crying out. Her inner walls pulsed against his fingers as her orgasm rocketed up her spine.

Dazed, Catalina blinked hard, clearing her vision. Her climax had taken the edge off her urgency, but she wasn’t satisfied. She still wanted.

“I don’t know what’s happened to me,” she muttered. “I’ve never felt like this before. Not even with you.”

“You’re a shifter now,” Shane said. She could feel his stuttering breath against her face as he spoke; he wasn’t quite as cool as he sounded. “A new shifter. New senses. It takes some getting used to.”

Her hands clenched around his muscular shoulders. “I don’t want to get used to it.”

“Good.” Shane was naked now, poised above her, his cock a steel rod against her thighs. “Ready for more?”

She might have said yes, or might have simply pulled him toward her. His scent and heat were all around her, making it hard to think. He drove into her, filling her with his hard shaft. She arched into him, wet and more than ready. Every exhaled breath as he pushed into her rumbled through his chest, vibrating against hers in low snarls that became shorter, fiercer, more urgent with every thrust. She didn’t know what sounds she was making, but she saw in the blaze in Shane’s ice-blue eyes that he heard them, and they set him on fire.

He bit down on her shoulder, harder than he had the last time. Now she instinctively knew what that meant. He was marking her as his mate, driven irresistibly by the instinct of the panther within him. Catalina turned her head and nipped him back, marking him in turn.

“Mine,” he growled.

Mine, came an echoing purr within her.

The next thrust sent the bright flash of orgasm through her nerves. Catalina came again and again like a string of firecrackers was going off inside her body, each orgasm bursting on the heels of the next. It was almost too much to bear, but she didn’t want it to end. The last climax exploded up from her clit and rolled through her body, leaving her limp and trembling in Shane’s arms.

He stroked the wet hair from her forehead. “How was that?”

“How do you think?” Her voice, which she had meant to be light and teasing, came out shaky.

He tilted his head and frowned as if giving it genuine consideration, then allowed, “Probably not disappointing.”

Catalina laughed. “Is it always going to be like this? Or am I going to get used to my shifter senses?”

He kissed her. “Sex with you is always going to be amazing. As for the shifter senses, if the thrill does wear off after a while, I’ll just have to try harder to keep it exciting for you.”

Her mind reeled at the idea of Shane making an extra effort to keep it exciting. “I’ll hold you to that.”

They lay together for a while, but as the afterglow wore off, Catalina became filled with a restless energy. She couldn’t relax, but kept squirming and fidgeting. She had to try out her new powers.

She got up and dressed, then began moving about the room, tumbling and leaping, light as a feather and agile as a cat. It was as if she was in zero gravity. Her sense of her own body and its capacity to move in space was true and unerring as a compass needle pointing north. She could tumble through the air as easily as she could walk.

Shane lay still and watched her, his gaze appreciative. She didn’t know which she enjoyed more, her own new agility or the admiration and enjoyment that lit up his cool blue eyes. It made her want to show off for him.

Catalina jumped high rather than across, reaching up to slap her hand against the ceiling. Her hand struck harder than she had intended, opening a small crack. Plaster dust drifted down, sprinkling her upturned face as she landed.

Not just super-agility, she thought. Super-strength.

She saw in Shane’s expression that he had the same thought that she did. But his voice was casual as he asked, “Like your power?”