The Snow Leopard's Heart (Glacier Leopards 4)

Nina wrapped her arms around him, and after a second of consideration, her legs as well. “Me neither,” she admitted. “How long before we have to leave to meet everybody?”

Joel extracted a hand so he could look at his watch. “Half an hour.”

“Plenty of time. Get these clothes off.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Joel had to pull back from her embrace to do it, which left her cold in the open air. She’d gone to sleep naked, deliciously aware that she was anticipating just this moment.

Sleeping naked was a new thing for Nina, and she loved it. She’d never felt comfortable enough anywhere she’d lived to do it before. She was used to sleeping shifted, wary of predators or curious humans.

Instead, she could leave her clothes off, curl up with the softness of blankets against her skin, and not have to worry about anything but an amorous mate when she woke up.

The mate in question had stripped to the skin and returned; Nina felt a wash of heat over her skin as he covered her body with his. “What do you want?” he breathed against her mouth.

Nina tilted her hips. “Just this. You inside me.”

Joel kissed her fiercely, his fingers dipping down to test how slick she was, open her up. Nina could’ve told him that he didn’t need to. In the week they’d been together, she’d found herself wanting him inside her almost constantly. She’d soaked through more than one pair of panties thinking about it, and there’d been some embarrassing moments at work. Nothing like having to make a customer repeat an order because she was clenched tight thinking about her mate’s—

“Oh,” she groaned, as she felt him sliding in. Big and thick and exactly what she needed. Which was the sort of pornographic thought she’d never dreamed she’d have, before she’d met Joel.

Now, though—

Now, this was the best thing in the world.

“God, you feel so good.” Joel’s voice was down in its deepest registers, rumbling in his chest. He took hold of her hip with one big hand and tilted her up, thrusting shallowly until he caught that spot that made her clench and wail. “You’re so beautiful like this, Nina.”

Nina panted for breath, feeling her orgasm starting to build already. “Harder,” she gasped. “Deeper, come on, Joel, do it.”

Joel obeyed, thrusting hard into her until he was seated as deeply as he could go. Nina clutched at his shoulders, their skin slippery with sweat, reveling in the connection.

This was the moment the mate-bond was at its strongest. When they were fully joined like this, she could feel it as though it was a live thing, a bright flame inside of her, connecting her to Joel. Joel had said he could feel it too, and that it felt like something precious.

It burned brighter as Joel made love to her. Nina got a hand behind his neck and pulled him down for a kiss, feeling him move within her like he was meant to be there. “I love you.”

“I love you,” he said, heartfelt and breathless. “Nina, I love you.”

Any other words were lost in the messy press of their mouths, the movement of their hips, the slick sounds of sex. Nina felt the pleasure building and building, felt Joel’s muscles starting to tense under her hands. Her mouth dropped open as his thrusts began to feel like spasms of pure pleasure, as her muscles started contracting around him.

Nina came with a shriek, her head falling back as orgasm crashed over her like a tidal wave. Joel’s shout mingled with hers, and they fell together into mutual pleasure.

It was a long time before she had her breath back enough to speak. She ran her fingers through Joel’s damp hair and murmured, “Do we have time to wash up?”

Joel kissed her nose and grinned. “I’ll do your back.”

***

Nina was back at Oliver’s for the second time that day. This time, though, she was in the biggest booth in the place, the round one at the back.

She ended up squished into the very middle seat. Joel was next to her, his thigh pressing into hers, a warm reminder of his presence, and Zach and Teri were sitting just beyond him on the end. On Nina’s other side was Alethia, with Grey next to her, and then Jeff and Leah and baby Emily at the other end.

She couldn’t believe how much her life had changed in just a week. She and Joel were splitting their time between Zach and Teri’s place and the cabin, and Nina had found that while she loved spending a few hours hanging out with her new brother-in-law and his mate, she was even happier out at the cabin. She loved working with Joel to fix it up and then heading out to shift and run in the forest. And then coming back to cuddle in front of the fire...and do other things.

She shivered in pleasure at the memories, and Joel squeezed her hand. “Okay?” he asked her.

She nodded, reaching for a menu.

That was another thing. She’d been afraid that being so close to someone after so long alone might start to chafe, but the opposite was true. She loved that Joel was always thinking of her, that he paid attention to how she was doing, what she was saying, what she might be thinking. She soaked his attention up like it was sunlight.

And she loved paying attention to him, too. Having someone else around, caring about where they were and what they did...it was like it nourished a part of her that had been starving for years and years.