To Love a Cougar

Cougar Surrender - 2

by

Marisa Chenery

Chapter One

Blaise walked into the dining room for breakfast and found his mother, his brother Taylor and Taylor’s mate Aspen already there, eating. Blaise took a seat on the opposite side of the table from Taylor and Aspen, then filled a plate with fluffy scrambled eggs, bacon and a couple slices of toast.

“Good thing I told Taylor to leave you some,” Aspen said as she motioned to Blaise’s filled plate with her fork. “Plus, it’s a good thing you came down when you did. Taylor was about to eat your share.”

“Then I guess I have you to thank for getting something to eat this morning.” Blaise smiled at Aspen and winked. “Are you sure you’re mated to the right brother?”

Taylor let out a low cat growl. “Blaise, it was funny the first few times you asked Aspen that, but now it’s getting on my nerves.”

Blaise laughed. “I know. That’s why I do it.”

“God, you can be a pain in the ass.”

“Now, boys,” their mother said with a smile.

“No bickering at the table. Aspen and I would like to enjoy our food without listening to the two of you go at each other, even if it’s only in fun.”

Blaise chewed, then swallowed a big mouthful of eggs. “I promise to behave. Since it’s Saturday and Taylor doesn’t have to go to work at the family corporation, what are the plans for the day?”

“Tonight Aspen’s parents are coming over for dinner so I expect you to be here,” his mother said.

Unlike Blaise and the rest of his family, who were cougar shifters, Aspen was human, and the first to be a mate to one of their kind. Taylor and Aspen had only been mated a couple of months and this was the first time her parents were coming over to their daughter’s new home.

Even though as a rule cougar shifters made sure to keep their existence unknown from humans and werewolves, it’d been decided that Aspen’s parents could be told the truth about them. Blaise’s father, who was the head of their family group, had grudgingly agreed to it after his mate wouldn’t take no for an answer. It wasn’t the first time his mother had gotten her way on a major decision.

“Will Dad be coming down to eat with us?”

Blaise asked.

His mother shook her head, a look of worry flitting across her face. “No. He’s too weak to even manage that. And in some ways it’s better that he stays in our room.”

His father was very ill, which shouldn’t have been possible. Cougar shifters didn’t get sick—

ever. His dad had become ill eight months before and had been wasting away, getting sicker with each month that passed. His cousin Caleb, who was a doctor, couldn’t do anything to make Blaise’s father better, no matter what he tried.

Even though it wasn’t spoken about much, everyone was worried his dad would eventually die from this mysterious illness. If he did, that would make Taylor the new head of their family group.

Blaise nodded. “Yeah, I can see that.”

His father had made it no secret that he wasn’t exactly pleased that Taylor, his firstborn and heir, had a human for a mate. Most of the older members of their family group thought humans were beneath them. The idea that one had been accepted into their ranks had outraged more than a few. Even though his father didn’t exactly approve, he’d stood up for Taylor, but that didn’t mean he’d go out of his way to be nice to Aspen’s parents.

“It’s better,” Taylor said. “If Dad made any rude comments I’d have to put him in his place. It wouldn’t make for a nice evening.”

Blaise chuckled to himself. Taylor no longer put up with any bullshit from their father. After being banished from their family group for four years over an incident with a werewolf that had revealed Taylor as a cougar shifter, his brother had come back a stronger man who thought for himself. Taylor hated all the archaic laws just as much as Blaise did. Whenever Taylor became the head of their family group, there would be a lot of changes happening that the older members would hate.

“I’ll make sure I come back in plenty of time for supper,” Blaise said.

“I thought you wanted to make plans with Taylor and Aspen?” his mom replied.

“Since they weren’t very forthcoming with any, I’m figuring they’d rather spend the day together without me being the third wheel. In that case, I’m going to do a little hunting.”

“Hunting?”

His mother gave hima questioning look.

Taylor shook his head. “He means he’s going to harass some poor human women until he can convince one of them to go out with him.”

Their mom smiled. “Oh good. I must say I like the idea of having another human female for a daughter.” She gave Aspen a smile. “I’m rather fond of the one I have now.”

“Don’t encourage him, Mom,” Taylor said.

“Human women everywhere will thank you if you didn’t.” Aspen chuckled at her mate’s remark.

Blaise gave his brother an exaggerated scowl, playing the part of being insulted when that was the furthest thing from the truth. He’d missed having Taylor around to swap mock insults with and loved every minute of it now that he could.

“That hurt, brother mine,” Blaise said.

“You’ll get over it.”

Their mother cleared her throat. “Before this goes any further, Blaise, are you going to visit your father before you go out?”

He nodded. “I planned on it. I figured I’d wait until Caleb is close to done examining him. I want to hear the results.”

“Caleb should be here in a half hour or so.”

His mother emptied her coffee mug, then pushed back her chair. “I’ll go keep your father company until your cousin gets here.” She stood and walked out of the room.

“Now that it’s only the three of us,” Taylor said to Blaise, “as for tonight, you’d better behave.”

“Moi not behave? I’m always on good behavior.” He snickered at the look Taylor sent him that said he didn’t agree with that at all.

Aspen chuckled. “What my mate is trying to say is, no shifting to cat form while my parents are here. They’re not used to being around cougar shifters as I am now.” She stopped Blaise before he could say anything. “And don’t deny there’s a chance you’d do just that. I’ve lost count of how many times you’ve surprised me in that form.”

Blaise gave Aspen an innocent look. “I only did it so you wouldn’t jump every time you see one of us shift.”

“Sneaking up behind me late at night in a dark hallway didn’t help with that at all, and you know it.”

“So I got a little inventive.” And he’d stopped doing that once Taylor surprised Blaise by sneaking up on him and jumping his ass while in cougar form as well.

“Just try to act normal. Okay?” Aspen asked.

Taylor let out a bark of laughter. “Now you’re asking for something that’s impossible.”

Blaise ignored his brother’s comment, not hurt by it in the least, and finished the last of the food on his plate. He poured himself a cup of coffee, then stood and looked at Aspen. “I’ll be good. I promise. Now I’m going to go up to my room with my coffee until Caleb gets here.”

He left the room and headed upstairs. At the upper level, Blaise heard his mother’s voice coming from the master bedroom. With his sensitive hearing, he listened as she told her mate what she planned to have served for dinner that evening, and how she hoped to become close friends with Aspen’s parents.

That was his mother. She had the biggest heart. It helped her, considering the kind of mate she had. Even though his father loved her, there were times when he could get a little highhanded.

His mother was more than capable of putting his father in his place. The only time she’d lost to him was when he’d banished Taylor. To this day she hadn’t let her mate live that one down.

Blaise sat in his room for forty-five minutes before he went to see his father. He’d heard Caleb arrive as scheduled and figured he had to be just about finished with his examination.

He tapped on the closed double bedroom doors before he opened one and stepped just inside. Caleb put his stethoscope into his bag and waved Blaise closer.

“I’m finished,” his cousin said. “I’ve only to give him his shot.”

His father struggled to push himself up higher on the pillows that were propped at his back.

“Wait until after Blaise and I have had a chance to talk. Whatever is in that needle leaves me tired and even weaker.”

Caleb nodded. “I have a little time to spare before I’m scheduled to arrive to see my next patient. But I’ll stay here to make sure Blaise doesn’t tire you out too much.”

“I have no problem with that. Besides being my doctor, you’re also my nephew. I enjoy your company.”

Blaise waited until Caleb had moved out of the way to stand near the end of the bed before Blaise sat in the chair across from his father. Caleb was the son of Blaise’s father’s younger brother.

His uncle had disappeared, leaving mate and son behind, when Caleb had been quite young. No one spoke of it much, and nothing had ever really been said as to why his uncle had left. His aunt hadn’t taken the separation from her mate very well and had ended up taking her own life a year later. Caleb had been raised by an aunt in his mother’s family group.

“How are you feeling today, Father?”

His dad shook his head. “Not much better than I was yesterday. Caleb says he’s mixed a new concoction that should hopefully change that.”

Blaise looked at his cousin to see him nod in agreement. He had no idea what was in the needles Caleb used. He’d explained it once, using scientific terms, and it’d gone straight over Blaise’s head.

“Let’s hope this is the one that will cure you.

I’m going out for a while, but I’ll be back for dinner.”

His father snorted. “I’m sure your mother made sure you would be. I still can’t understand why she had to invite those people over here.

They’re human.”

The words “they’re human” were said in a way that conveyed how distasteful his father found the idea of the visit. Blaise couldn’t understand why his father couldn’t get over the fact that his oldest had become mated to a human, and that she now was a member of their family group. It wasn’t as if Aspen would be leaving.

“I guess she wants to be friendlier with her new daughter’s family,” Blaise said. “I don’t have any problem with them being around.”

“Taylor is starting to rub off on you. You never used to think that way.”

Actually, Blaise had. He’d just never voiced his opinion about humans around his father until Taylor had returned and become mated to Aspen.

Blaise would be more than happy to have a human as his own.

From there they talked about mundane things until his father appeared to be tiring. Caleb stepped forward even before Blaise had a chance to say he would bring this visit to a close.

Blaise stood, then shifted out of the way for his cousin. Caleb pushed the sleeve up on his patient’s pajama shirt, then injected whatever was in the syringe into his upper arm. Blaise couldn’t help but notice how thin his father had become.

Too thin.

Once he was finished, Caleb straightened, then placed the cap on the end of the needle before putting it inside his bag.

It only took a matter of seconds before Blaise’s father started coughing. He’d been prone to coughing fits, but usually he didn’t have one right after Caleb injected him. His dad’s face turned red as the racking cough made it hard for him to get a breath. Caleb didn’t seem overly concerned by it, but that wasn’t the case with Blaise, especially when his father pulled his hand away from his mouth and there was blood in his palm.

Blaise’s gaze shot to Caleb’s face. “What the hell is that? He’s worse than before you gave him that shot.”

His cousin shook his head. “This has to be another manifestation of the illness.”

“Don’t you think that’s pretty sudden?”

His father’s coughing fit finally subsided and he settled back into the pillows. His eyes closed and he appeared to fall asleep. Blaise didn’t like how pale he was or how labored his breathing sounded. Blaise’s gut clenched as Caleb wiped some blood away from Blaise’s dad’s lips with a tissue.

Becoming all professional doctor, Caleb said, “Sometimes a patient has to get worse before he gets better. I’ll continue with this new serum I’ve come up with and monitor your father. If in a couple days he doesn’t show any sign of improvement, I’ll switch back to the old one until I can mix up something new.”

Blaise hated the fact his father had to be used as a guinea pig, but there was no other way. It wasn’t as if they could take him to a hospital.

Because he was a cougar shifter, if the regular doctors took blood, the results would come back showing the differences in their chemical makeup.

Plus, his dad’s illness being the one and only case in their kind, this was all new territory for Caleb.

Still worried over his father, Blaise said a quick goodbye to Caleb before leaving the room.

He continued downstairs and then out the front door. He wasn’t going to be the one to tell his mother about this new symptom. Caleb could do that.

Blaise drove to downtown Anchorage with no set destination in mind at first. He pushed thoughts of his father’s condition to the back of his mind. He was on a hunt for the human female who could potentially be his mate.

He lifted his hand and stroked the gold cougar head pendant he wore around his neck from a gold chain. All male cougar shifters were given one once they reached adolescence. It had a bit of magic embedded inside. When a female was meant to be his mate, the ruby eyes in the male cougar’s pendant would glow.

It wasn’t something that happened with a first meeting, or even the first time the couple had sex. It sometimes took months before the eyes revealed the truth. Once it happened it was the female’s decision to accept the necklace as hers, which would create the mating bond, joining the mated pair’s souls.

If the female didn’t take the necklace after the eyes started to glow, the male ended up walking a fine line. He’d be unable to eat or sleep, basically only able to think about having sex with his newfound mate to hopefully tie her emotionally closer with each bout of lovemaking. His condition would be caused by an increase in testosterone.

Blaise hoped he’d never get to that point once he found his mate, though the chances were good it could happen if she ended up being human. She wouldn’t have grown up knowing what a male’s pendant meant to her, or that she was to claim it, and him, as her own. He was more than willing to take that chance. If it happened, it happened, and he’d deal with it when the time came.

Since it was too early to do the bar scene, Blaise decided the next best place to meet women was where they liked to go shopping—a mall.

With that decision made, he headed for the Anchorage 5th Avenue Mall, which was right in the city’s downtown core.

Once he arrived at his destination, Blaise parked his sports car in the garage and headed into the mall. It being a Saturday, it was more than a little busy. He didn’t mind. It meant there would be a better chance to meet potential women to ask out. Now he just had to determine where he wanted to begin his hunt.

Blaise just starting walking, going with the flow of people, hoping his gaze found a likely target. Much to his chagrin, going by those around him, a lot of the females were mothers with young kids, senior citizens or teenagers. Not exactly what he was looking for.

His steps slowed once a women’s lingerie store came into view. Now that was a place that could have a lot of potential. The only thing holding him back was whether he’d be considered a sicko for trying to pick up a woman there. But then again, when had anything like that ever stopped him?

He headed straight for the store and walked right inside. A quick look around and Blaise found he was the only male present. He noticed there was a small section of the store that was dedicated to men’s underwear and sleepwear. He couldn’t see a lot of guys actually deciding to come to a place like this to shop for those kinds of things for themselves. Unless the store thought the women would buy the items for their boyfriends or husbands.

Blaise walked farther into the world of women’s intimates and spotted a raven-haired beauty standing in front of a display of panties.

He’d always found himself attracted to women with dark hair since cougar shifters ranged from blond to light brown.

His prey chosen, Blaise stepped out of the middle of the walkway to observe her before he made his move. She wasn’t far enough away for him not to be able to see the color of her eyes with his keen eyesight. They were a gorgeous blue, almost the color of sapphires. As he watched, she flipped her long hair over her shoulder, appearing unimpressed with what she looked at.

She lifted her head and her gaze settled on him. She put down the pair of panties she’d been looking at, then walked around the table before heading in his direction. Blaise stayed where he was to see what she’d do. He was more than willing to let her approach him first.

Chapter Two

Harley couldn’t tear her gaze off the hottie who stood in the middle of a women’s lingerie store, and from the looks of it, alone. Up until now she’d been only browsing for herself, but a new idea came to mind that involved Mr.

Handsome. It wasn’t something she normally did, but she found this male specimen well worth the chance of having this backfire on her. For all she knew, he could have a girlfriend and she could just happen to be in one of the change rooms at the moment.

She walked up to him and said with a smile, “I was wondering if you could do me a huge favor.”

He grinned back. “And what would that be?”

Harley ran her gaze over him, loving the look of his long, tawny-blond hair that was more controlled than shaggy. His light-brown eyes, which were pretty darn close to gold, held humor in them. She also liked how tall he was. He had to be at least six foot two. At five foot seven herself, she liked men with a little height to them.

“Well,” she said. “Would you be against trying on some of the things in the men’s section for me? My sister is getting married in a couple of weeks and I’m having a bridal shower for her. I want to get something for her to give to her fiancé. He’s close to the same size as you.”

That was utter bullshit. Harley’s older sister Mel was getting married in two weeks all right, but her fiancé Sean was barely five foot eight and was a skinny, nerdy computer programmer. But Mel loved him with all her heart and soul, as Sean loved Mel.

“I guess I can do that,” Mr. Gorgeous replied.

“Great.”

Before he could change his mind, Harley grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the men’s section. She bypassed the sleepwear and went straight for the underwear. She stopped at a table that had assorted thongs displayed. Harley selected a black nylon one with metallic gold hearts on it.

She turned toward him and held it out. “This one. What’s your name?”

“It’s Blaise.” He looked down at the thong and then back up at her again. “You’re sure this is the one you want me to try on?”

“I’m Harley, and yes. It’s a bit of a gag gift as well, but I want to make sure it’s not too… constricting. I want my sister’s future hubby to be able to wear it at least for a little while without it interfering with his…ability, if you know what I mean.”

Blaise burst out laughing. “I understand. But there’s one small problem.”

“What? Are you uncomfortable trying on a thong?”

“That’s not it. You see, I’m the type of guy who prefers to go commando. I doubt the store would appreciate me trying on any underwear like that without at least buying it afterward.”

Harley swallowed as her mouth went suddenly dry at the thought of Blaise being naked under the slightly formfitting jeans he wore. She shouldn’t have looked, but she couldn’t help herself. She dropped her gaze to his fly, checking out how large the bulge was behind it. It appeared to be a good size.

Not wanting to be caught gawking at his crotch, Harley quickly yanked her gaze back up to Blaise’s face. “I’ll buy it for you.”

“Pardon?”

“You try it on, then I’ll buy it for you.”

“That would mean you’d have to buy two.”

She shrugged. “So be it. I don’t mind.”

Blaise took the thong from her. He returned it to the spot where she’d gotten it, then selected the same one but without the hearts. “If I’m going to have to keep it, then I want one without the metallic gold. Not exactly my style.”

“You’ll do it then?”

“Yes. Who am I to turn down a beautiful woman?”

Blaise headed for the single changing area in the men’s section. It was in the corner with only a heavy black drape to close it off from the rest of the store. He stepped into it and tugged the curtain around the rod until he was hidden from sight. Harley stayed just outside it. She listened to the rustle of clothing on the other side. Seconds later he called her name.

“I’m right here,” she said.

“Okay. As far as your concerns go, none of that is going to be a problem.”

“All right, but can I see what it looks like on you?” It was pushing it, asking Blaise to model it for her, but if she were really lucky, he’d do just that. “You don’t have to come out here. You can open the curtain a bit and I can take a quick peek.”

He did as she said, stuck his hand out and tugged her inside before he quickly shut the curtain again. Harley would have protested, knowing full well if they got caught they would be kicked out of the store, but seeing Blaise in nothing but the thong left her speechless. She couldn’t stop herself from running her gaze over his body. His chest was well-padded with muscle that was cut, as were his six-pack abs. His legs were just as muscular.

She stopped at the front of the thong and licked her lips. Oh man, Blaise’s body was definitely well-proportioned. There was no hiding the size of his cock in that poor excuse for men’s underwear.

Harley quickly pulled her wits about her, then said, “The front looks really good. How about the back?”

Blaise turned away from her. Harley started at his wide back, which tapered to a narrow waist.

A little lower and she stared at the finest butt she’d ever seen. It looked hard enough to bounce a quarter off it.

“Liking what you see?” he asked.

Harley tore her gaze off his butt and found him looking over his shoulder at her. “Yeah.” That single word came out breathy.

He gave her a wicked grin. “I bet you want to give it a good smack. Go ahead. I dare you. I might even like it.”

God help her, but she really did want to. Her fingers itched, that was how badly she wanted to learn that muscular ass with her hands. And she could test its firmness with a few well-placed taps.

“Is everything all right in there?” a salesgirl asked.

Harley jumped, the spell of lust that had come over her breaking in an instant. “Yes, we’re fine.”

“Then I’m going to have to ask you to leave the changing area. We don’t allow men and women in there together.”

“I’m coming out now.”

Harley gave Blaise one last wistful look before she slipped through the curtain, trying not to reveal too much of him to the salesgirl as she did so. She smiled at the other woman as she yanked the drape closed behind her.

The saleswoman gave Harley a knowing smile and leaned in closer to say quietly so only the two of them could hear, “If I had one of those, I’d be right in there with him as well. The only problem is if my manager realized I knew about it and didn’t say anything, I’d be in trouble. I do have to say, though, you’re a lucky lady.” She gave Harley a wink and walked away.

In less than a minute, Blaise yanked open the curtain and stepped out of the changing area. His gorgeous body once again clothed. For the first time, Harley noticed the gold cougar head pendant he wore around his neck. Its ruby eyes flashed in the store’s bright lights as he stepped closer.

“Do you need me to try on anything else?”

Blaise asked, his deep voice rolling over her and making her shiver inside.

“No, I think I found my gag gift.” She went over to the table of thongs, picked up a thong with the metallic gold hearts a size smaller, then walked back over to him. She held out her other hand. “I’ll pay for that now.”

Blaise handed over the thong he held. It was still warm from his body. Harley turned, then headed for the counter where the till was. He followed behind her. The same salesgirl who had spoken to her was behind it.

She smiled at Harley, her gaze flitting to Blaise briefly. “Did you find everything you wanted?”

Harley nodded. “Yes.”

She paid for her purchases before both she and Blaise headed for the store’s entrance. He walked at her side and took her hand in his, linking their fingers. Harley looked at him.

Blaise bent his head closer to hers. “Well, since I belong to you, I’d better act like it.”

Harley smiled. “Very true.” She was surprised Blaise had heard what the saleswoman said to her. She’d barely spoken above a whisper and he’d been in the changing area at the time.

They strode out into the mall and walked a few stores down before Blaise pulled Harley to a stop off to the side out of the way of other shoppers. Still holding her hand, he turned to face her.

“You’ve seen me in nothing but underwear. Is there a chance I can see you like that as well?”

“I think so. Are you going to ask me out on a date first?”

“Of course. I have a family dinner to go to this evening, so how about tomorrow evening?”

“Or we could go to the food court here right now and grab something to eat. I’m not busy.”

Blaise smiled. “Sure. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s the company I’m with who matters.”

“Then it’s a date.”

He stepped to her side again and got them moving in the direction of the escalator. The mall had five levels and the food court was on the very top one. They were now on the third.

As they walked onto the first escalator, Harley looked at Blaise. This trip to the mall had turned out a lot better than she’d hoped when she’d set out for it, thinking to help pass the hours on a Saturday. She now had a date with a hot hunk, and she’d already seen him in nothing but a thong.

Blaise looked at Harley out of the corner of his eye as they rode the first escalator up to the food court level. He couldn’t believe his luck. The first human female who caught his interest, and she’d accepted a date with him.

Much to his pleasure, he found it to be a lot less stressful than approaching a female of his kind. There was always the added pressure she’d place on him, hoping he would be her mate. Most were raised to think that was their biggest ambition in life, to set off the magic in a male’s cougar head pendant, and that they wouldn’t be complete until they had.

Since Harley was human, she had no clue about his pendant. She could still set the magic off in it, as he’d learned from Aspen setting off Taylor’s, but it wasn’t something she’d be hoping for. No pressure for it to happen.

“So do you always let strange women talk you into trying on underwear for them?” Harley asked with a smile.

Blaise shook his head and laughed as they stepped off the escalator and headed for the next one. “No. You’re the first.”

“I guess I should take that as a compliment then. What made me so special?”

He shrugged. “I can’t say it was just one thing. You caught my eye so I was more than willing to play along. It seemed like the best way to get you to agree to go out with me.”

Harley smiled. “I’ll let you in on a little secret.

I would have gone out with you anyway without you modeling for me. And since we’re being so honest here, I didn’t think up the gag gift idea until I saw you.”

“What would you have done if I’d said no?”

“I haven’t a clue.”

“Then it’s a good thing I didn’t. And I will pay you for the thong.”

“No you won’t. Think of it as compensation for making you go through all that.” She winked.

“Plus, maybe you’ll feel as if you have to wear it for me again since I did buy it for you.”

“That would mean a second date so I can’t see that being a problem.”

They finally arrived at the upper level where the food court was located. Since it was a little on the early side for lunch, they had a lot of tables to pick from. Blaise let go of Harley’s hand and followed behind her as she wove her way through them until she settled on one sort of off by itself.

Once they were seated across from each other, Blaise looked at all the different places offering food. “What do you feel like eating?” he asked.

Harley looked around as well. “I’m thinking of getting a slice of pizza.”

“Sounds good. I could go for one myself.

Why don’t you tell me what kind you want and I’ll go get it. While I do that you can stay here and save the table. My treat since this is supposed to be a date.”

Harley chuckled. “I don’t think we have to worry about that, but fine. I want a slice of pepperoni and a can of cola to go with it.”

“Will do.”

Blaise stood, then went to the pizza place.

There ended up only being one person in line ahead of him. Once it was his turn, he ordered the slice Harley wanted and a meat lover’s for himself. Tray in hand with food and drinks on it, he worked his way back to the table.

They ate for a bit before Blaise started up a conversation. “Do you spend a lot of Saturdays at the mall?”

Harley smiled. “More than I’d like to admit.

And it’s not because I like to shop. Wandering around the mall gives me something to do to pass the time. How about you?”

“Very rarely do I come here. Today I thought I’d switch up my daily routine.”

“If you can come to the mall and have this free time as part of your normal routine, it sounds as if you don’t have a job.”

Blaise smiled. “I don’t, and it’s not because I’m unemployed. My family has a very lucrative corporation that’s in the business of computer software. I worked there for a while, and have taken a bit of a leave of absence, with pay.”

“What’s it called?” Blaise said the name of his family’s corporation, and Harley’s eyes widened.

“Holy shit. You must be stinking rich. Everyone knows that software company. My future brother-

in-law has dreamed of working for you guys. He’s a computer programmer.”

“Then before our date ends I’ll give you a name and phone number he can call to be set up for an interview. He just has to tell the person in human resources I referred him and he’ll get a position.”

“Just like that? You don’t know Sean or his work background.”

“He’s going to be a part of your family, and after today, I hope you’ll want to keep seeing me, so why wouldn’t I want to help him out?”

“In that case, if he turns out to be shit rotten at the job, don’t blame me.”

Blaise laughed. “I won’t. What do you do for a living?”

“I’m a medical technician at a lab. I run some of the tests on the various specimens that come in.”

“Sounds very complicated.”

“Not to me it isn’t. I like working in the lab.”

“I guess I know who to go to if I ever need a blood test.”

Harley smiled. “And I promise to be gentle with the needle.”

“That’s good to know.”

They finished eating, then by mutual consent decided to leave the food court. It was well into lunchtime and more people had arrived, causing the noise level to increase. Plus, they no longer had that many empty tables around them.

Blaise captured Harley’s hand in his and walked them out of the busy area. “Now what would you like to do on our date? I still have hours before that family dinner and I’m not ready to say goodbye to you yet.”

“Well, we can either continue to wander around the mall or we can go to some other place that’s a little more private.”

“All right. Where do you suggest we go?”

“I’d offer my place, but I have a roommate who works steady midnight shifts. She’s sleeping right now and tends to get really grumpy if I have anyone over while she is. She’s a bit of a light sleeper.”

“All my family live together, but our house is pretty large. Plus, if you like horses, we have a stable full of them. We can go for a ride.”

“Actually, I do know how to ride. It’s been years since I’ve last been on a horse. I’d love to see yours.”

“Then it’s a plan. Do you need to go home first?”

Harley shook her head. “No, I’m good to go.”

“All right. You can follow me to my house.”

He and Harley headed for the down escalator.

At the parking garage, it turned out they hadn’t parked too far from one another. Blaise waited until Harley got into her compact car before he climbed into his sportier one. She followed behind him to the exit, and once they paid their fees, they were on their way.

As he drove, Blaise made sure to look in his rearview mirror from time to time to see that Harley was still behind him. She had no problem keeping up, not that he was speeding, much.

He was pleased she’d agreed to come to his house. The longer he was around her the more he liked her. He wanted to see just how compatible they were. And a crowded mall hadn’t been the place where he wanted to test those waters.

Once they arrived at his family’s home, Blaise directed Harley to park next to him in front of the four-car garage. He got out of his car, walked to the driver’s side of hers and waited for her to get out as well.

As they headed for the front door, Harley said, “Yup, your house is as big as I thought it would be.”

“Is that a good or bad thing?”

“Definitely good.” She handed him the bag from the woman’s lingerie store. “Don’t forget this. I took out the one for my sister’s fiancé and stuck it in my glove box.”

“I’ll have to get this up to my bedroom before we head over to the stables. If my mom or my brother, even his wife, sees me with this bag there will be questions asked.”

“Ones you don’t want to answer,” Harley added with a chuckle.

“Exactly. I would feel a tad uncomfortable if I had to show my mother the thong you bought me.”

“I guess so. I know my mom won’t know where to look when my sister opens my gag gift at her shower. I’ll get a good laugh out of it though.”

Of course as fate would have it, Blaise opened the front door, allowed Harley to walk in first before he did and saw his mom standing in the foyer. She had a jacket on, looking ready to go out somewhere.

Her gaze landed briefly on Harley before it settled on the pink bag he held. “Please don’t tell me you’ve taken up wearing women’s underthings.”

“Mom!” Blaise said. “No. It just happens the store has a men’s section as well.”

“Oh yes. I forgot they did. Are you going to introduce me?”

“This is Harley. Harley, this is my mother.”

He gave his mom a meaningful look. “Aren’t you going somewhere?”

His mother shook her head. “I’d have to be pretty thick not to get that hint. Yes, I’m going out for a bit. Your father is resting, so don’t disturb him.”

Blaise scowled. “Again? He did that this morning after Caleb was done examining him. He usually doesn’t sleep that much during the day.”

“Caleb said to expect it because of the change in medication he gave your father.” A look of worry flitted across his mother’s face before it quickly disappeared. She looked at Harley. “It’s nice meeting you. I hope to see you again.” With that said she walked around them, then out the door.

“Your dad is sick?” Harley asked once they were alone.

“Yeah. My cousin Caleb is a doctor, but he can’t figure out what’s wrong with my father.”

“Have you taken him to get another doctor’s opinion?”

“No.” Hoping to change the subject, Blaise held up the pink bag. “I’ll just run this up to my room, then we can go to the stables.”

He hurried across the foyer to the wide stairs that led to the upper floor. With Harley being in the medical field, she would think it strange they hadn’t taken his dad to see another doctor if Caleb wasn’t helping him get better. He couldn’t exactly tell her the reason why there was no one else. Not right now, anyway.

Chapter Three

Harley watched Blaise take the stairs two at a time. She dropped her gaze to his ass, appreciating how his jeans stretched tight across it with each step he took. Once he disappeared from sight at the top, she sighed to herself. The man had a killer bod.

She didn’t have long to wait before Blaise came back down again. He smiled as he met her gaze. Along with his hot body, he was handsome as sin. Harley was pretty pleased with herself for taking that chance back at the mall. He’d turned out to be better potential boyfriend material than she’d first thought. If she could get her claws into him, she would hold on for all she was worth.

“Let’s go,” Blaise said once he reached her.

Harley nodded, then followed him through the front door. She zipped up the jacket she wore as he brought her around the side of the garage and onto a graveled lane. A short distance away she saw another building that presumably was the stable. The large structure was all red wood and white trim. The paddocks near it were enclosed with white wood fencing.

Once they reached the building, Blaise led her through the large sliding door that stood open.

Harley looked down the row of stalls. There were about ten of them and each one was occupied. As they walked farther inside, large equine heads appeared over the tops of the doors. The horses snorted in greeting as they walked by.

Blaise stopped at the end in front of a stall on the right and stroked the nose of a black one.

“This is my horse. He’s a gelding called George.”

Harley burst out laughing. “You named your horse George?”

“I know it’s a suck-ass name. It started out as a joke. I couldn’t come up with one so my brother Taylor kept calling him George, thinking I’d get sick of hearing it and pick a better one. That didn’t happen so the name stuck.”

She ran her hand along the horse’s cheek.

“Despite his terrible name, he’s beautiful.”

Blaise walked over to the stall beside George’s. “This is the one you can ride. Her name is Star.”

Harley could easily see why the bay mare was called that. She had a white star in the center of her forehead. “Hello, girl. Are you ready to go for a ride?” She scratched Star’s nose.

“I’ll get them saddled up and then we can go.”

She watched Blaise get saddles and bridles, then put the horses’ tack on while they were still inside their stalls. That task completed, he led Star out to Harley before taking George out of his.

Once they were outside, they mounted up. Even though it’d been a few years since she’d last been on a horse, Harley had no problem adjusting the stirrups or holding the reins properly.

Blaise kicked George into a walk and Harley brought Star up beside him. They rode in silence until they left the stable behind them and were in a large stretch of open land. Fall had set in and turned the leaves around them to gold and red.

“All this belongs to your family?” she asked.

“Yes, as far as you can see and then some.

How about we go a little faster? Since you’ve ridden before, you shouldn’t have any problem handling Star in a canter.”

Harley nodded as she set her heels into Star’s sides, getting the mare from a walk to a trot and then into a canter. She settled into the rocking motion of the horse and kept pace with Blaise and George.

They rode like that for about five minutes before Blaise pulled George to a stop close to a tall birch tree that stood alone in the center of the grassy land. There was nobody else around but them. She took a deep breath, filling her lungs with fresh air. It was nice to get away from city life once in a while. And this was the perfect place to do that.

Blaise edged his horse closer to hers. He reached across and cupped the back of her neck before he leaned forward while nudging her in the same direction. He took her mouth in a light kiss, brushing his lips across hers.

He pulled back and met her gaze. “I’ve wanted to do that since shortly after I met you.”

“Do it again,” she said, her voice on the breathy side.

Hunger rose inside his eyes. “Like this?”

Blaise took her lips once more. Only this time it wasn’t a light brush. His mouth settled over hers, sealing it tight. His tongue came out and pushed inside, dueling with hers. Desire shot through her body, causing her nipples to grow taut and a throbbing ache to make itself known deep inside her pussy. The man was not only a hunk, he also knew how to kiss a woman.

Harley dropped her horse’s reins and buried her fingers into Blaise’s thick hair, returning his passionate kiss with as much enthusiasm as he gave her. She tried to pull him closer, but their legs were already trapped between the two horses. Blaise soon took care of that.

He caught her under her arms and hauled her over to him, sitting her on his lap so she straddled his thighs, facing him. With not much room in the saddle, her pussy ended up pressed against the hard bulge in Blaise’s jeans. Harley wrapped her arms around his neck and ground against his cock.

She couldn’t help herself. He felt so damn good.

He held her tight around her waist, pushing her down onto him, adding to the delicious friction.

The meeting of their mouths deepened. Their movements caused George to walk in a circle.

Harley absently heard Star following behind him.

For all she cared her horse could have taken off back to the stable. All she could focus on was how George’s rolling gait rocked her and Blaise together.

Harley sucked on Blaise’s tongue and he purred like a big cat. She did it again and got the same response. Obviously, he liked that. A lot. She continued to grind against his hard cock. Wetness leaked into her panties. At the rate she was going she’d be able to get off just like this.

Blaise pulled away first, breathing hard as he stared into her eyes. “I’m getting too many ideas about what you and I can do on top of my horse.

And they’re all X-rated.”

“Then you and I are on the same wavelength.” The idea of actually having sex on horseback appealed more to her than it should.

“Don’t encourage me,” Blaise said as he looked at her with stark hunger in his eyes.

“So you got me all hot and bothered for no reason?”

Blaise took a deep breath, then purred like a cat once more. “You definitely are that.”

“I’ve never had a guy purr for me like that before. I have to admit it’s a turn-on.”

“Then I’ll have to make sure I do it all the time.”

Harley bit her lip and let out a quiet moan as George took a hard step down and jolted her and Blaise together. “I’m embarrassed to say how easy it would be for me to come like this. I guess I’m showing how long it’s actually been since I last slept with a guy.”

“You know, telling me that isn’t exactly helping me get things settled down.”

She pushed against him once more. “I can see that. If it was summer instead of fall, and we weren’t so out in the open, I could help you with that.”

Blaise groaned. “Now I wish I didn’t have this family dinner.”

“Well, even if you didn’t, I couldn’t have you over to my apartment. My roommate will be there. She doesn’t work tonight. To say she’s nosy is putting it mildly. The only reason why I don’t mind living with her is because she’s usually working when I’m home. On the weekends is when we pretty much see each other.”

“How would you feel about coming back here afterward and spending the night with me?”

Harley gave Blaise a questioning look. “What about your parents? Won’t they say something about it?”

“No. My brother lives here with his wife.

Plus, my room is more like an apartment than a bedroom.”

She smiled. “After what I’ve seen so far of your house, I have to admit I’m more than a little curious to see your room. And maybe you’ll model that thong for me again.”

Blaise captured her lips in a heated kiss, causing the flames of her desire, which had been at a simmer, to come raging back to life. Harley once again found herself drowning in the sensations swamping her body. She ached to have his cock buried deep inside her pussy, pumping in and out until they both came.

He lifted his head. “I guess that means you’ll do it.”

“Yes.” That one word was all Harley was able to manage. Her brain was barely firing on two cylinders.

“Good. I think we should continue our ride.

I’m already finding it hard enough not to continue what we started.”

Blaise gathered George’s reins at Harley’s back, then steered the horse over to Star, who stood patiently waiting. Once they were at the mare’s side, Blaise lifted her off his lap and settled her in Star’s saddle.

Setting off once again, Harley tamped down the arousal deep inside her. There was no question of her not turning Blaise down. She wanted him too much. It might make her look easy by sleeping with him after only having recently met him, but she really didn’t care.

Sometimes it was better to take what she wanted rather than to wait and have it slip through her fingers. And Blaise was definitely something she wanted to hold on to with both hands and not let go.

* * *

After their ride, Blaise walked Harley to her car and gave her a kiss that would have to last him until he saw her again later that night. He’d reluctantly ended it before he watched her drive down the long lane that would take her to the main road. Once her car was no longer in sight, he turned and headed inside the house.

Since he’d spent most of the afternoon on a horse, Blaise decided a shower was in order before dinner. He hadn’t made it halfway up the flight of stairs to the upper level when his mother walked into the foyer and called his name.

He turned and said, “I was just about to go take a shower. I doubt you want me smelling like horse while you’re eating dinner.”

His mom walked up the steps and stopped on the one below his. “No, I wouldn’t. I wanted to see how your afternoon went with Harley.”

“It went very well, thank you. And to let you know, she’s coming over again later tonight.”

“You really like this human.” She said it with a smile.

“Yes.”

“Maybe she can be the one for you as Aspen was for Taylor.”

Blaise reached inside his jacket and pulled out his cougar head pendant. “As you can see, nothing so far. Even if Harley doesn’t set off the magic, I still want to see her. I enjoy being with her, and she has the same type of sense of humor I have.”

The incident at the mall came to mind and he had to hold back a chuckle.

“If that’s the case then she has to be meant for you, though having two of you around with that same kind of humor might just drive us all crazy.”

He leaned down and kissed her cheek.

“You’d love it and you know it.”

“Of course I would. Taylor, though, not so much.”

“He’d have to get over it. But don’t jump ahead of yourself now. I haven’t even known Harley for twenty-four hours yet. And to forewarn you, when she does arrive, we’re going to be locked in my bedroom so don’t disturb us.”

“I wouldn’t do that. You’re an adult male, no longer a child. There is one thing, though. Try not to be too loud. Some of us will want to sleep.”

His mom winked, then turned and headed down the stairs. Blaise shook his head as he continued up to his bedroom. That would have been something he would have said.

After closing himself inside his room, Blaise hung up his jacket in his walk-in closet, then went to the en suite. He stripped out of his clothes. To his sensitive nose, they mostly smelled like horse, but he was able to pick up Harley’s scent as well.

His cock grew hard as he remembered how it’d felt to have her in his arms, her jean-clad pussy grinding on his erection. She’d said she’d been close to coming that way. Well, it wouldn’t have taken much more for him either.

* * *

The evening meal with Aspen’s parents went well. They were good company and had accepted the fact their new son-in-law was a cougar shifter.

The one person out of Aspen’s family who didn’t know the truth about Taylor was Aspen’s older sister. Even her parents had decided it was best for their oldest daughter not to know. Aspen and her sibling weren’t very close to begin with.

His father, of course, remained up in the master bedroom. There was no question of him not being able to manage coming downstairs even for a little while. It would have been a decidedly strained evening if it had been possible. Aspen’s parents inquired about how he was feeling, and that was as far as the subject of his father had gone. They had to have known how his dad felt about humans being part of their family group.

Knowing Taylor, he would have informed his in-

laws of that.

Just as they finished eating, the sound of the front door opening and two very familiar male voices reached Blaise’s ears. After he looked at his mother to say he’d greet the newcomers, he pushed back his chair and stood. His name was called before he made it out to the foyer.

“I’m right here,” Blaise said as he met up with Jase and Grady.

The two brothers were more like his siblings than his cousins. They, Taylor and he had basically grown up together. Their mother was the younger sister of Blaise’s mother.

“Are you ready to go?” Jase asked.

“Go where?” Blaise answered.

“It’s Saturday night. We decided we’d go check out that new bar. Remember?”

“Shit, I forgot. I’m not going to be able to make it.”

“What do you mean?” Grady asked. “There can’t be anything you’d rather be doing than going out for a drink. There could be some hot girls there.”

Blaise smiled. “I already found a hot girl, thank you very much. She’s the reason why I can’t go out with you. She’s coming over in a little while to spend the night with me. The only reason why she isn’t here right now is because Aspen’s parents are over for dinner.”

“Human or cougar shifter?” Jase asked.

“Human. Her name is Harley.”

Jase looked at his brother. “Maybe we should stick around and check her out.”

Blaise shook his head. “Oh no, you won’t. I just met her this afternoon. I don’t need you two scaring her away.”

Grady smiled at Jase before he turned his gaze back on Blaise. “Sounds as if you really like her. And where exactly did you meet her?”

“At the mall downtown.”

“Maybe we should give the mall a try, Jase.

We could see if we can find our own human female hanging out there.”

Just like Blaise, his cousins wanted to find human women to date rather than cougar shifters.

They felt the same way about the opposite sex of their kind as Blaise did. And with Taylor mated to a human, there wasn’t much the other members of their family group could say to stop them.

“That’s a plan,” Blaise said. “You can go now.

The mall might still be open.”

“He’s trying to get rid of us already,” Jase said.

“I know,” Grady replied. “Maybe he’s worried one of us will steal Harley away from him. After all, we are better-looking than him.”

“I have to agree with that,” Jase said with a grin.

Blaise snorted. “Yeah right. Now get out of here.”

“All right,” Jase said. “We’ll leave. We can torment you another time.”

“Good. I wish you luck at the bar.”

Jase and Grady made Blaise promise to go out with them again soon, then walked out, discussing what other bar they would go to if the first one ended up not having any hot girls.

Blaise shut the door behind them with a shake of his head. He had to pity any human woman who actually showed interest in his cousins. They weren’t exactly womanizers, but they did appreciate beauty in the opposite sex.

Since the meal was over, Blaise returned to the dining room only long enough to excuse himself, then headed up to his room. Once there, he called Harley to let her know she was welcome to come over any time. She said she’d be there in a half hour.

Blaise ended the call and turned on his television to pass the time until Harley arrived.

He’d only just settled on the bed when he heard his father having a coughing fit. Since his mom was downstairs with company, Blaise decided he’d go look in on his dad.

He didn’t bother knocking on one of the master bedroom doors and walked in. His dad was still coughing and wheezing, trying to catch his breath. Blaise went to the bedside table and poured a glass of water from the bottle that sat there, then waited for the fit to subside.

It was over a few seconds later before he helped his dad take a drink. Blaise looked down at the tissue his father had held against his mouth while coughing. The sight of blood on it had his gut clenching. There was more than had been present that morning.

“I think you need to tell Caleb to switch your shots back to the old one. You’re getting worse,” Blaise said as he placed the glass on the table, then helped resettle his father against the pillows at his back.

“He said it would be like this.”

“I don’t care. You’re coughing up blood, Dad.

That’s not a good thing.”

“I’ll let him give me one more injection of the new medicine. He told me to give it a chance before making the decision to discontinue using it.”

“At this rate, another dose of it could have you right at death’s door. Tell him no.”

“Your cousin is doing the best he can. And I’m willing to try anything he suggests.”

“I’m going to tell you right now. If you continue to worsen with the new medication, I’ll tell Caleb to switch it whether you agree to it or not. It may be time to face facts that Caleb has reached the limit of what he’s capable of doing for you. It might also be time to check with another family group’s healer.”

His father scowled. “No. They aren’t trained doctors. I paid for Caleb to go to medical school when he showed interest in that field so we’d have a doctor if one was needed.”

“Be that as it may, this illness could be beyond Caleb. You have to admit that. He may be a skilled doctor, but he’s not one who does research into finding cures.”

“I’ll still allow Caleb to try the new medication one more time.”

“And that’s it. If you’re settled again, I’m going to leave you.”

“Are Aspen’s parents still here?”

“Yes, and they happen to be very nice people.”

“I suppose they are, but I still find it hard to accept humans being aware of what we are.”

“You need to learn to relax about that.

There’s nothing you can do about Taylor’s mate being human. Personally, I’m glad Aspen turned out to be his. It’s allowed me to date someone not of our kind.”

His dad narrowed his eyes. “You would date a human? Even though there’s a chance she could end up being your mate?”

Blaise smiled. “As of today, I am dating one.”

He didn’t wait for his father to say anything about that comment. Blaise left the master bedroom knowing full well he’d ticked his dad off, but he didn’t care much for that particular tradition. It was time to get over his kind’s stuck-

up ways when it came to humans.

Chapter Four

Blaise hurried to the front door and opened it after the doorbell rang. He’d been in the kitchen looking through the wine fridge to see what kinds were already chilled. Seeing Harley standing on the other side, he yanked her over the threshold and into his arms, claiming her lips as he walked them backward. He kicked the door shut behind them.

He lifted his head and smiled. “Hello again.”

“Hello yourself,” Harley said. “Did you miss me or something?”

“You could say that. Do you feel like having something to drink? We have wine and beer. And we have harder stuff as well. Your choice.”

“I’m not much of a beer drinker. I could go for a glass of white wine if you have some.”

“All right. You can come and pick a bottle for us to have. We have more than one.”

Blaise captured Harley’s hand and walked her through the house to the kitchen. He stopped at the wine fridge and pulled the door open.

“Take your pick,” he said.

Harley looked around the room and whistled in appreciation. “This would be a chef’s dream kitchen.” She turned her gaze to the wine fridge, which was the same size as the regular one and full of bottles. “And that is a lot of wine.”

“My parents are something of wine connoisseurs. They like to have a large variety on hand. As for the rest, we have a personal chef who cooks all our meals. Mom isn’t exactly handy in the kitchen.”

“Must be nice. I’d love to have one. I can cook, but I hate doing it, especially when it’s just me who has to eat the food when I’m done.”

“Then I’ll have the chef whip us up something nice for breakfast tomorrow.” Blaise noticed the backpack Harley had slung over one shoulder.

“And I see you brought a change of clothes, which means you haven’t changed your mind about staying overnight.”

She brushed a kiss across his lips. “No, I haven’t.” Harley looked inside the fridge and took out a bottle of white wine. “Let’s have this one. It’s about the only one I’ve tried before and know I like.”

Blaise took the bottle from her. “I’ll grab some wineglasses and a corkscrew, then we can go up to my room.”

He tucked the bottle under his arm, took out the glasses from the cupboard and the corkscrew from a drawer before he guided Harley up the stairs to his bedroom. He put what he carried on one of his bedside tables, then closed and locked the door.

Harley had placed her backpack on the floor near his dresser and stood looking around. “You weren’t kidding when you said your bedroom was more like an apartment. This is almost as big as mine. You even have a small sitting room.” She walked over to the en suite and peered in. “Yup, your bathroom is the same size as my bedroom.”

She then went to stand in front of him.

While Harley had been checking out his room, Blaise had poured each of them a glass of wine.

He held one out to her. “We do like our space around here.”

Harley took the glass and sipped from it.

“This is as good as I remembered.”

Blaise had some as well. It wasn’t too sweet and not too dry. Just the way he liked his wine.

He waited until Harley had another drink before he took her glass from her, and with his, placed them on the bedside table next to the bottle.

He turned back to her and ran the pad of his thumb along her plump bottom lip. She opened her mouth and took the tip of it inside, giving it a suck. The sexual tension between them flared to life in an instant. Blaise’s cock hardened as he imagined her sucking on it instead of his thumb.

He pulled his thumb away and bent to claim her mouth in a kiss that was all lips and tongue.

She pressed closer, her hands dropping to his waist. Blaise pushed Harley’s jacket off and dropped it to the floor. With it no longer between them, her taut nipples brushed against him through the thin layers of their shirts.

Harley moaned into his mouth and shoved her hands up the front of his t-shirt. Her fingers skimmed along his sides to his chest, then she caressed in the opposite direction to his stomach.

He couldn’t hold back a cat’s purr as she continued lower and cupped his erection through his jeans. It jerked under her touch.

“Mmm, I have a hold of something I’ve been dying to get up close and personal with,” Harley said against his mouth.

“I can say it’s wanted that too.”

“Then I’d better not disappoint it.”

Blaise held perfectly still as Harley’s lips left his mouth and she nipped his chin before dragging his shirt up and over his head. She tossed it aside, her gaze landing on his bared upper body.

“Normally I don’t like necklaces on a guy, but your cougar head pendant suits you,” she said, trailing a finger down the middle of his abs.

“I’m glad you like it,” he answered, his voice husky as his arousal increased.

Harley’s nimble fingers set to work on opening his jeans. With no difficulty she opened the button and tugged down the zipper. She parted the material and shoved a hand inside, wrapping around his hard cock.

She looked down and moaned. “Still commando I see. I had thought to suggest you put that thong on, but now that I have what I’m craving in my hand, I think that can wait for another time.”

He couldn’t agree more. With her fingers stroking his shaft, there was no way he wanted her to stop so he could change into a thong.

“Yes, I can definitely wear it some other time.”

Harley pressed a kiss to the center of his chest before she tugged his pants down low enough to spring his cock. She flicked the tip of her tongue over each of his nipples, stroking his length as she did so. Blaise sucked in a breath. He’d thought he’d be the seducer in this first encounter, but it would seem Harley had taken on that role.

Her roving mouth left his chest and headed in a downward path, her lips skimming across his stomach muscles, which he couldn’t help but tighten as her tongue flicked out to taste his skin.

Another loud purr pushed out of him.

Blaise looked down and watched Harley slowly sink to her knees in front of him. She thrust her free hand into the back of his jeans and gripped his ass. She fisted his cock at the base and lapped the very tip with her tongue. He locked his knees to keep himself upright.

She gave him a couple more good licks before she opened her mouth and took him inside. She greedily sucked, stroking with her hand what she couldn’t take with her mouth. Her head moved forward and back as she slid him in and out, keeping the delicious pressure around his length.

He rocked his hips, matching the pace she set.

All too soon Blaise had to stop her or risk coming in her mouth. It would end things a lot faster than he intended. Harley was still fully clothed, and he wanted the chance to explore her body as she’d done his before either of them found their release.

He eased away, then brought her to her feet with a gentle hand around her arm. Blaise removed her top. He stared down at the sheer bra she wore, easily able to see the dusky rose of her nipples. He covered her breasts with his hands and stroked his thumbs across the tight peaks before he set to work on removing her jeans.

Once Harley stood only in her matching bra and panties, Blaise took in what he’d revealed.

Her body was curvy in all the right places. He couldn’t wait to get his lips and tongue all over her, learning every inch of skin.

He met her gaze and held it as he undid the front clasp of her bra, then took it off. Blaise lifted her and carried her the very short distance to his king-sized bed. He placed her on the mattress and climbed up next to her, stretching out onto his side. Her chest rapidly rose and fell with each quick breath she took. The scent of her arousal filled his nose, increasing his need for her.

Blaise bent his head and licked the hollow of Harley’s throat before he kissed his way down to her breasts, which had been enticing him to suck on them. He cupped one and swirled his tongue around the nipple. She arched her back in invitation, a throaty moan leaving her. He took the peak into his mouth and sucked as he plucked at the opposite one with his thumb and index finger.

He left her breast and continued downward, placing featherlight kisses across her ribs to her bellybutton. He dipped his tongue inside it, then shifted even lower. Blaise used his teeth to drag her panties down. Once they snagged on her hips, he hooked a finger in them and pulled them the rest of the way off.

Blaise reached between Harley’s legs and ran a finger along her pussy, collecting her juices. He brought it to his mouth and licked it clean, the flavor of her making him purr. His cock ached to be inside her, but the scent of her arousal enticed him to taste even more.

He settled between her spread thighs, his shoulders pressing them farther apart, and tongued her pussy. She let out a whimpered moan, her fingers sinking into his hair as she held him to her. He licked and sucked, returning the pleasure she’d given him when she’d taken his cock into her mouth.

“No more,” Harley said on a gasp. “I want you inside me, your cock filling me. Now.”

“Are you sure you’re ready for me?”

She tugged on his hair. “Yes. God yes.”

Blaise shucked his jeans before he crawled up Harley’s body, settling his hips between her legs, the head of his cock against her slick opening.

“Then you can have me.”

He pushed forward until her pussy closed around the head of his shaft. He pulled slightly back, then pushed a little farther inside. He kept up the forward-and-retreat movement until he’d worked his full length into her.

Blaise lifted his upper body onto his bent arms and set a steady pace, his hips thrusting between Harley’s spread thighs. Her pussy fit his cock like a glove. Her inner muscles squeezed around his shaft, increasing the delicious sensations he felt. He purred, unable to hold it at bay, telling her in the way of his kind how much he enjoyed being inside her.

Harley raised her legs to either side of his hips as she lifted hers to match each of his strokes.

She held on to his biceps, her fingers digging into his muscles. Breathy moans left her. He looked down to see she had her eyes closed, the pleasure she felt written on her face.

He quickened his pace, his cock growing harder. His release edged ever closer, building at the base of his spine. Blaise angled his thrusts higher so his shaft rubbed against Harley’s clit as he pushed inside her pussy. She panted, her hands tightening even more around his arms.

“Just like that. Don’t stop,” Harley said. “Oh, so close.”

“Come. I’ll be right there with you.”

Her inner muscles fluttered around his cock, then clutched and released it as she climaxed. He pumped his hips faster, his point of no return rushing up to meet him. He let loose with a cat growl, falling into an intense orgasm. His shaft pulsed deep inside her, filling her with his cum.

Once it was over, Blaise collapsed on top of Harley, making sure to take some of his weight on his arms so he didn’t crush her with his larger size. He gently kissed her, his cock still buried inside.

“I don’t know about you,” he said, “but I want to do that again.”

Harley smiled. “Most definitely. We can go for round two as soon as you’re up for it.”

Blaise rolled off her and sat up. “In that case, let’s have more wine while we wait. No point in wasting the bottle.”

He reached over to the nightstand for their drinks as Harley pushed herself into a sitting position. Blaise ran his gaze over her naked body.

Making love to her one time wasn’t nearly enough. And he was pretty sure his recovery time wouldn’t last any longer than it took for them to finish their glasses of wine.

* * *

Blaise woke with a start, not sure what had awakened him. He looked down at Harley who was fast asleep against his side, her head pillowed on his chest. A quick look at the clock showed it was late in the morning, pushing noon. He wasn’t surprised to find it so. They’d been up most of the night making love. The last bout had ended close to dawn.

The sound of his mother shouting his name and Taylor’s had Blaise sitting bolt upright. There was no mistaking the fear in her voice by the way she called them. He jumped out of bed and grabbed his discarded jeans, then tugged them on as he headed for his bedroom door, hopping on one foot then the other as he stuck his feet into each leg.

“What’s the matter?” Harley asked, sitting up and looking at him in surprise.

“I don’t know, but my mom is calling for my brother and me. I think something is wrong.”

Blaise threw open his bedroom door and ran down the hall toward the master bedroom as Taylor reached the top of the stairs. Blaise entered the room first. It didn’t take him long to take in the scene. His mom stood at the side of it, crying, looking unsure what to do as his father appeared to be having a seizure.

“What’s going on?” Taylor demanded as he came to stand next to Blaise, who had reached their mother.

“I think Dad is having a seizure,” Blaise answered. To his mother, he asked, “Did this just start?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“Was Caleb here already?” She nodded again as she wrung her hands. “Did he give him another shot of the new medication?”

“Yes.”

“Damn it, I told Dad not to let Caleb give it to him. I had a feeling something like this would happen.”

“What are you saying?” Taylor asked.

“I think this new medication of Caleb’s isn’t helping Dad at all. It’s making him worse.”

“We can discuss this later,” his mother said, her voice nearing a hysterical level. “What should we do about your father?”

“Exactly what you’re doing now,” Harley said as she pushed her way past Blaise to stand by his father’s side. “When someone is having a seizure you leave them alone until it’s over. Just make sure there isn’t anything around them that they could hurt themselves on.”

“Are you sure?” his mom asked tearfully.

“Yes. I’m a medical lab technician and have some CPR training. Did he just start seizing?”

“Yes,” his mother replied. “How much longer will this last?”

“A seizure can last for up to five minutes, but I don’t think his will. It appears to be slowing down.”

Blaise looked at his father to see Harley was right. His father’s jerky movements were slowing.

Once they stopped completely, she instructed them to place his dad on his left side with his head also at the side just in case he vomited, which thankfully he didn’t. It took a few minutes before his dad answered his mother when she said his name.

“I’m glad you were here,” Blaise said to Harley. “None of us would have known what to do.”

“Seizures can be scary things for anyone. Do you really think your dad is having an adverse reaction to the medication?”

“Yes.”

Blaise paused once he noticed his dad had fallen asleep and he had his mother’s and Taylor’s undivided attention as well. He’d been thinking about something since Caleb started the new medication. Something that didn’t put his cousin in a good light.

“You already mentioned that, but by the look on your face, I have a feeling you have other thoughts about it as well,” his mom said.

He nodded. “Don’t you think it’s a bit too coincidental that the new medication Caleb administered causes worse symptoms shortly after he’s injected Dad? Today it was a seizure.

Yesterday he started coughing up blood. And Caleb’s real lack of concern about the latter has me questioning if he cares if Dad gets better.”

Taylor sighed. “I have to agree with Blaise, Mom. The idea had crept into my mind too.”

“Wait a minute,” Harley said. “Your dad is coughing up blood and his doctor isn’t worried about it? That has warning bells going off for me.”

“What do you suggest we do, Harley?” his mom asked.

“First off, I’d get him to see another doctor.

And I’d seriously consider taking him to an emergency room.”

Blaise, Taylor and their mother looked at each other before Blaise spoke. “That’s really not an option, Harley.”

“Why?”

“Just leave it at that. Take our word for it, we can’t. Is there something else you think we should do?”

Harley stared at him for a few seconds, then sighed. “All right. The next thing I’d do is get his blood work done. The tests can tell you any number of things.”

“Once again, it’s not something we can do.

Too many people would know.”

She looked at all three of them with her brows drawn together. “Okay. How about this?

I’d be willing to come here and draw some of your dad’s blood. And since you want the utmost privacy, there’s a way for me to run the tests myself without it going through the regular system of paperwork at the lab. I could come take the blood before I go into work tomorrow morning and have the results for you at the end of the day.”

Taylor looked at their mother. “What do you think? It’s your decision.”

His mother nodded. “We’ll do it. There really isn’t any other way.” She turned her attention on Harley. “Are you sure you can do it without getting yourself in trouble? I wouldn’t want you to lose your job over it.”

Harley smiled. “No one will know. I’ll be careful. I can go today and get the things I’ll need to draw the blood. I have keys to the lab since there are times when a doctor needs to have a test done at the last minute and I have to stay late to finish it.”

“Would you mind sleeping over tonight again?” Blaise asked. “That way you’ll be able to take the blood before Caleb gets here for his morning examination of my father. I think it’s wise we keep what you’re doing from him until we get the results.”

Taylor quickly agreed. “I think that would be best. You don’t mind, Harley, do you?” He winked at her. “Having to sleep with my brother and all that. I know it’s such a hardship.”

Harley laughed. “Of course I won’t mind.”

She stepped closer to Blaise and put her arm around his waist. “And it’s hardly a hardship. I’ll have to go to my apartment and pick up another change of clothes.”

“I can take you,” Blaise said. “And I can drive you to the lab to pick up the supplies you need.”

“That’s not necessary. I did drive myself here so I have my car. It’ll go faster if I go by myself.”

“When will you leave?”

“Can I take a shower and eat first?”

“Of course,” his mom answered for him.

“Lunch will be ready soon. If you have a shower now you’ll make it in time.”

“All right, I’ll do that,” Harley said with a smile before she walked out of the room.

Once Blaise heard his bedroom door shut, he said, “I think I’ll go get ready for lunch, if you’ll be okay with me leaving, Mom.”

She waved him to go. “Your dad is sleeping now, and it isn’t as if you aren’t still in the house if something else happens.” She glanced down at his cougar head pendant. “No glowing eyes yet, I see. I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed Harley does set off the magic inside it. I like her.”

Blaise kissed his mother cheek. “It’s still early days, Mom. I’ll see you downstairs in a little while.”

He left his brother and mother and headed to his own bedroom. Inside, he closed the door and locked it. He heard the sound of the shower running in the en suite. With a smile, he shucked his jeans, then walked toward it.

Chapter Five

Harley closed her eyes and ducked her head under the showerhead to wet her hair. She stood there longer than was needed, enjoying the warm water beating against her body. Blaise’s shower was a work of luxury with marble tile, glass surround doors and body sprays running vertically underneath the head. It was more like a spa shower than a regular one. If she owned it, she could easily see herself running up a huge water bill by taking long showers every day.

Her mind wandered to Blaise and his family as she grabbed the bottle of shampoo she’d brought from home and squeezed some into her palm. They all seemed very nice. The only person she had yet to see was Taylor’s wife Aspen, but Blaise had told her about his sister-in-law.

Taylor and Blaise looked a lot alike, right down to the same tawny-blond hair and light-

brown eyes that were almost gold in color.

Actually, both their parents had those features as well.

Harley ducked her head under the water again, rinsing the shampoo out of her hair.

Thinking of Blaise had her thoughts straying to the night before, how she enjoyed being in his arms, taking his body into hers. No, staying another night with him would be no hardship for her.

As if her thoughts had lured him to her, Harley opened her eyes at the feel of two large hands caressing her breasts and found Blaise standing in front of her. She ran her gaze over his naked body, stopping on his cock, which was fully engorged. Her pussy grew instantly wet, a throbbing ache building with her need to have him inside her.

“Decided to join me in the shower, huh? We’ll be late for lunch, you know,” she said with a smile as she skimmed her hands from his wide shoulders to the center of his chest where his pendant lay.

She ran her fingers across the cougar head, the gold feeling warm under them. It wasn’t the first time it’d felt that way when she’d touched it.

During the night, as they made love, every time the pendant came in contact with her skin, she swore it heated against her. She also found herself drawn to it, the urge to touch it one that was hard to ignore.

“We’ll make it fast,” Blaise said with a sexy grin. “Before my mom called, I’d hoped to wake you up by making love to you.”

“I guess we can have a quickie.” Harley stroked the cougar head pendant again before she lifted her face and met Blaise’s lips halfway with her own.

Passion blazed between them in an instant.

Blaise wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her flush against him. The water streamed down their bodies, making them slippery. Harley moaned at the slick feel.

Blaise left her mouth and sucked on her skin at the side of her neck. “I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of you,” he said in a husky voice. “I crave your touch, need it as much as I need the air to breathe.”

Harley shivered at his words despite the fact warm water pelted her back. And in that moment, she realized she was falling for Blaise. It’d started sometime during the night. His taking her over and over again had her wishing she could stay in his arms forever. Normally it took her a little while to have strong emotions for a man. She lusted for them in the beginning, but only a few had her feeling as she did for Blaise. And even then it wasn’t as strong as what she felt for the man who held her so intimately.

“God, I need you too.”

To show Blaise she was more than ready to be claimed by him, Harley lifted a leg, placed it around his hip, took hold of his straining erection and led it to her pussy. He made that purring sound that cranked her arousal up even more. He slowly thrust into her, feeding her his cock a little bit at a time, until he was seated to the hilt. He filled her completely.

In a show of strength, Blaise lifted her, guided her other leg around his hip, then cupping her bottom, lifted her on and off his shaft. Harley put her arms around his neck and held on. She tightened her inner muscles around his plunging cock. He controlled everything else.

Blaise nuzzled the side of her neck before he nipped it, his pendant brushing against her breast.

Harley felt the heat of it sliding along her skin, adding to her pleasure. His pace quickened as his shaft grew even harder. It stroked in and out of her pussy, stretching her, rubbing in all the right places.

Her body coiled tighter, readying itself to come. The sound of their loud breathing echoed off the tiled walls. There was no holding off her orgasm. It slammed into her, sweeping her away on a wave of intense pleasure. She cried out Blaise’s name, a whimpered moan soon following.

As her inner muscles spasmed around his thrusting cock, he let out a deep groan, coming right along with her. He held her tightly to him, emptying himself inside her.

He slowly let her legs down and rested his forehead against hers as he fought to catch his breath. She breathed just as quickly. She skimmed a hand along his chest until she reached his pendant, then hooked her fingers around it.

“Even though that was quick,” she said, “it was pretty intense.”

Blaise chuckled. “I have to agree. It just keeps getting better and better.”

That was the truth. At the rate they were going, she wasn’t sure another man would ever live up to Blaise’s standards. He said he craved her touch, well, she had a feeling she was becoming addicted to his.

Once they came down from their pleasure high, they quickly finished showering. By mutual consent, they let each other wash their own bodies. If they’d done otherwise they wouldn’t have left the shower without going for another round.

They toweled dry and headed into the bedroom to dress. Harley took her clean clothes out of her backpack. She’d pulled on the ones from the day before, sans bra and panties, before going to Blaise’s parents’ bedroom to see what was going on. She packed the dirty things to take home with her.

Once they were dressed, Blaise took her by the hand and walked her out of his bedroom and into the hallway. They silently headed down the stairs. The smell of something delicious hit Harley’s nose after they reached the lower level.

Her stomach growled in response.

“Hungry?” Blaise asked with a smile.

“Very. I think I’ve worked up an appetite.”

“Then I’d better get some food into you.”

They walked into the dining room to find his family already there eating, except for his father.

Harley was introduced to Aspen. She took an instant liking to the other woman. And from the way Aspen and Taylor acted with each other, Harley could tell they were deeply in love. She also noticed Aspen wore an identical cougar head pendant like Blaise, as did his mother. She guessed maybe it was something the men in the family did, gave their wives their necklaces once they were together. Harley thought it was cute.

She furtively gave Blaise’s pendant a glance, imagining what it would look like around her neck. Maybe if things lasted between them he’d give it to her. Harley shook her head at her silly thoughts. It was just a necklace, not as significant as, say, an engagement ring. And she wasn’t expecting one of those any time soon.

Lunch turned out to be really good. There was freshly made bread, lobster bisque and a spring mix salad dressed with a raspberry vinaigrette. There was no mistaking it as anything but a chef-made meal with the way it was plated and the garnishes sprinkled around to add color.

Harley dug into the food, relishing every mouthful. The only time she got to eat like this was if she went out to a fancy restaurant, which didn’t happen very often.

“I can see you like the food,” Blaise said as he leaned closer where he sat beside her. “You haven’t lifted your head since you started eating.”

Harley felt her cheeks grow red. She realized what he’d said was true. She had been kind of wrapped up in enjoying it. “Sorry,” she said softly.

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Blaise’s mom said. “Blaise is just being Blaise. He sometimes likes to make people the butt of his jokes. If he says something stupid like that, you have my permission to give him a smack.”

“Now that’s not very nice, Mom,” Blaise said with exaggerated indignation.

“You mean like this?” Harley asked as she reached behind Blaise and gave him a smack to the back of his head.

The surprised look Blaise turned her way had Harley laughing, along with everyone else at the table. “You hit me,” he said.

Between chuckles, she replied, “Well, your mom did say I could.”

“I think you better watch out for that one,” Taylor said. “She’ll give as good as she gets.”

The rest of the meal passed in good-natured banter. Once Harley was finished eating, she reluctantly pushed back her chair and stood.

“Thanks for the great meal. I should go do those errands before it gets too late.”

“I’ll walk you out,” Blaise said as he stood as well.

After getting her jacket and backpack from Blaise’s room, they returned to the main floor. He swept her up into a kiss that took her breath away, then let her go. Harley really didn’t want to leave now.

Blaise opened the door and walked outside with her. “You’ll come back as soon as you get what you need, right?”

“Yes, I promise. I should only be an hour or so.”

“Good.” At her car, Blaise kissed her again.

Harley climbed into her vehicle and then waved to Blaise once she started up the long lane to the road. Leaving him, she came to the conclusion it was already too late. She was in love with him. Now the big question was if he felt the same way about her.

* * *

Blaise decided not to go back into the house.

Watching Harley leave had put him on edge. He hadn’t been lying when he’d said he’d miss her.

During their night spent together, he’d grown closer to her. Plus, sleeping with her and not having her wanting to check out his pendant to see if the ruby eyes were glowing right afterward endeared her more to him.

Needing to expend a little excess energy, Blaise headed for the back of the house where he could easily get to the open stretch of land. He shifted to his cougar form and took off at a run.

He’d just hit the grassy area when another cougar came up beside him. It was Taylor. They ran until they reached the opposite end of the field before they stopped and took on their human forms once again.

“It’s a nice day for a run,” Taylor said.

“Yeah, it is.” The sun shone brightly, and even though it was fall, it wasn’t too chilly, not that they’d have felt the cold through their thick pelts.

“You really like Harley, don’t you?”

“Yes. I now know why you prefer human women. No pressure.”

“You mean a human woman, as in the singular. Aspen is the only one for me.”

“I know. I meant before you met her.”

“Being banished from the family group did give me a better perspective on life. I’m thankful one of our females didn’t set off my pendant. I don’t think I would have been able to stand it.”

“Which is why you have a human for a mate.

Speaking of your banishment, have you spoken to your werewolf buddies yet?”

Taylor had lived and worked for a werewolf.

Meadow had been human until she became the mate of one of the werewolf sentinels, who turned her. Meadow and Taylor had become so close Taylor thought of her as a sister. When he’d left Juneau, where Meadow lived, he’d done so without telling her where he was going or why, not sure what to expect when he arrived in Anchorage. Banishment was usually meant for life.

Only their father’s illness had made it possible for Taylor to come back to the family group. He’d been the heir apparent to take their father’s place.

And since Blaise had outright refused to take his brother’s place after he’d been kicked out, their dad had decided no one else but Taylor could do the job so he overturned the banishment.

His brother nodded. “Yeah, I called Meadow a couple days ago.”

“How did that go?”

Taylor chuckled.

“Good.

I explained everything to her. Once she got done giving me crap for feeling as if I couldn’t talk to her about it, she said she wants me to bring Aspen to Juneau for a visit or Meadow and her mate Durlach will come here. She made it perfectly clear she was going to remain a part of my life.”

“So you told her about Dad.” Blaise said it as a statement.

“Yes. Meadow also offered a couple options if he starts to go downhill fast. She said she’d get Durlach to bite Dad and see if he would gain immortality like them, or she’d talk to Ryder, the sentinels’ shaman, about seeing Dad and trying to cure him with a magic spell.”

The sentinels were the only werewolves who were able to turn a human, or mortal, as they called them. The six original sentinels were the very first werewolves, who were from the ice age.

Their shaman back then had used a spell to create them. They had different aspects about them that modern-day werewolves, their descendants, didn’t have. Like being able to turn humans and werewolves alike, making them hybrids, and being immortal.

Blaise met Taylor’s gaze. “The first one, I know for a fact Dad wouldn’t tolerate. He’d be a mix of werewolf and cougar, and who knows if that would even be possible. Plus, if he became immortal, then Mom would have to be turned as well since she would want the same life span as him. The shaman on the other hand, I wouldn’t turn him away.”

Taylor nodded. “I already told Meadow I’d be giving Ryder a call if it becomes necessary. She was going to pass on that message to him.” His brother paused before he spoke again. “So you’ve been having doubts about Caleb as well?”

“Yes I have. I didn’t really until the other day.

Before that, I was starting to question if he was going to be able to help Dad. Now I’m wondering if he’s purposely making him sick.”

“Even though Caleb is our cousin, we aren’t as close nor know him as well as we do Jase and Grady. He was raised in his mother’s family group after our uncle disappeared and his mother died. We’d have to know for sure he’s deliberately causing Dad harm before we accuse him of it. For one thing, Dad wouldn’t believe us.

He’s always tried to look out for Caleb when he could.”

“Even paying to send him to medical school. I know we’d have to have proof. Hopefully the blood tests Harley does will show something.”

“We don’t know for sure, but you realize there’s more than a good chance she’ll see the differences in our blood compared to a human’s.”

“I know that. I’ll deal with it if it comes down to that.”

“How?”

“I’ll tell her exactly what I am, what we are.”

“Be prepared for her not to accept it.”

“I will be. She hasn’t set off the magic in my pendant. There’s a chance she never will. I’ll let her go if she can’t handle the truth. And I’m pretty sure she’ll keep the secret of our existence as well. If she told anyone I doubt they’d believe her, and she’ll know that. She’s not stupid.”

“And if she does set off the magic? What will you do then if she still doesn’t want to be with you?”

Blaise shrugged. “I have no damn idea. I’ll have to hope she’ll come around as Aspen did for you.”

Taylor smiled. “That had a lot to do with the fact Mom went to talk to her and explained everything about us.”

“Then I guess I’ll have to ask Mom to do the same thing for me.”

His brother clapped him on the shoulder.

“We’ll have to wait and see if it comes to that. In the meantime, let’s hope Harley does find something to help Dad, be it giving proof Caleb is doing something fishy or a solid answer as to what Dad’s illness is. I’m going to head back to the house. I told Aspen I would talk to you, then we’re going for a horseback ride.”

Blaise watched Taylor change to his cougar form once more, then take off at a run toward the house. He shifted as well but headed in the opposite direction. He still had some time to kill before Harley arrived.

He thought over all the things he’d discussed with Taylor. Now that his brother voiced his own concerns about Caleb, Blaise was thinking more and more that not everything was on the up and up with his cousin. And if the blood tests did end up showing something was very wrong, he wondered how Caleb would be dealt with. Trying to harm a family group leader was not something that could be overlooked.

Then Blaise’s thoughts strayed to what if Harley did end up setting off the magic in his pendant. He wouldn’t dislike the idea of her being his mate. He was more worried about the fact she was human and wouldn’t be able to accept him being a cougar shifter. Once the cougar’s ruby eyes started to glow, he wouldn’t be able to think about anything but trying to persuade her to take his necklace from him and put it around her neck, thus causing a bond to form between them, claiming him as hers. And by persuading, he meant sex. He’d be in a state of arousal almost constantly, unable to eat or sleep. Harley rejecting him wouldn’t make it go away either. It would make it worse. The idea had Blaise feeling leery about all of it.

He slowed his loping run, figuring he’d gone far enough. Blaise turned around and headed back the way he’d come. As he’d told Taylor, he would deal with all that when the time came, if it happened. There was no guarantee.

Chapter Six

“What’s going on, and why is this person I don’t know standing in my bedroom?” Blaise’s dad asked as his gaze landed on his mate, Taylor, Blaise and Harley in turn.

“This is Harley.” His mom nodded in Harley’s direction. “She’s Blaise’s girlfriend. She also happens to be a medical lab technician. She’s going to draw some of your blood.”

“Why?”

Blaise knew what had to be going on in his dad’s head that he couldn’t voice out loud. He would want to know why Harley, a human, was going to take his blood. And he probably wasn’t too thrilled to hear she was Blaise’s girlfriend either.

“We,” his mother said, “have decided this is one thing Caleb should have done for you. Harley knows the results must be kept from those she works with, and at the risk of losing her job, has offered to run blood tests herself to keep them out of the lab’s system.”

His dad frowned. “If you think it’s so necessary, why don’t you discuss it with Caleb first?”

Taylor stepped into the conversation. “I’m going to be very blunt here. We’re not telling Caleb anything about it right now, and we want you to do the same. We have our suspicions he might be behind you not getting better. We feel he could be doing you harm rather than good.”

His father turned his gaze on Blaise. Even though his dad’s body was weak, his eyes were as sharp as ever. “You agree with what Taylor said.”

Blaise nodded. “Yes. Actually it was I who first brought Caleb’s actions into question. This new medicine he’s giving you causes you to become sicker shortly after the injection. Caleb doesn’t seem to care. Mom called him yesterday and told him about the seizure you had and asked him to switch back to the old medication. He refused, Dad. He basically told Mom she didn’t know anything, and he, as a doctor, was the only one qualified to make that decision.”

His father’s lips thinned as he glanced at his mate, who nodded. He turned his attention back on Blaise. “I had no idea. Your mother never told me. Caleb has no right to talk to her in that manner.” He paused, as if thinking over what he’d been told. “I can’t say these new symptoms haven’t bothered me. If you truly feel Caleb is behind it then I’ll agree to the blood tests so long as Harley is the only one who sees the results.

And if we’re going to accuse Caleb of wrongful doing, we need proof before we can confront him.”

“That’s what Taylor and I agreed on,” Blaise said. “Harley is the only one who might be able to do that with the results.”

“You obviously trust her.”

Blaise glanced at Harley and smiled. “I do.”

“All right then,” his dad said with a nod.

“Let’s do this before Caleb arrives.”

“One other thing,” Taylor replied. “I’ll be here when my cousin arrives. I’m not going to allow him to give you another injection. To avoid him becoming suspicious, you and I are going to have a pretend argument in front of him about it, Dad. But the outcome will be I’ll win. Harley should have the results at the end of the day.”

Taylor looked at her. “Correct?”

Harley stepped closer to the bed. “Yes. And they’ll be for my eyes only. I don’t know why you need the secrecy, but I will abide by it. As soon as I draw the blood, I’ll head for the lab and then get the tests going while I work on other ones. I’ll bring the findings here at the end of my shift.”

His dad gave another short nod and tugged up the sleeve of his pajama shirt. Harley knelt on the floor, then took out the supplies she needed to draw the blood from the small bag she carried.

Blaise watched her set to work, her movements efficient and fast. It was all done in less than a minute.

She stood, placed the glass vials of blood, along with the items she used, back into the bag and smiled. “All done. I’d better go.”

“I’ll walk you out,” Blaise said.

His mother stopped them before they could leave. “Harley, plan to stay for dinner.”

“I will,” she replied. “I look forward to it.

Thanks.”

Blaise and Harley left the others in the master bedroom and headed down to the main level. At the door, Harley picked up her backpack, which she’d brought down earlier, and slung it over her shoulder. She turned to face him and went on tiptoe to kiss him. He resisted yanking her close and kissing her breathless.

“I’m going to miss you while you’re at work,” he said once he released her mouth.

“And I you.” She smiled. “But I’ll be back. At the rate I’m going, I’ll be living here soon.”

“You’re more than welcome to share my room with me.”

“You’d better watch it. I might take you up on that offer, especially since this place comes with a personal chef.”

He pretended to look hurt. “You wound me.

That’s the only thing that would make you want to move in?”

“Okay, not the only thing. I’d have to say getting you comes in at a close second.”

Blaise turned Harley around and smacked her on the ass. “Get out of here before I take you back upstairs to show you why I should be number one.”

She laughed. “See you later. If I have time, I’ll try to text you.”

Blaise closed the door behind Harley after she walked outside. He then headed back upstairs to his room to wait for Caleb to arrive. He didn’t think he wanted to miss out on seeing his dad’s and Taylor’s acting skills. Though pretending to argue wouldn’t be very hard for them since they tended to do that frequently anyway.

It wasn’t very long before Blaise heard the sound of Caleb’s footsteps coming down the hallway toward the master bedroom. Blaise opened his door and poked his head out to see his cousin disappearing through the open double doors at the end of the hall. It was showtime.

Blaise left his bedroom and headed for his parents’. By the time he’d reached it, Taylor and their father were already starting the “argument”.

Blaise stood at the doorway and watched them put on a good show for Caleb’s benefit.

His dad appeared to take Caleb’s side when Caleb strongly urged Taylor to change his mind about the injection. His cousin tried to reassure Taylor by stating the new side effects from the medication weren’t going to do any harm, and that he’d expected them to happen. Blaise didn’t let it show on the outside, but on the inside he was seething. Plus, more warning bells were going off inside his head. What kind of doctor would use a medication knowing his patient would go through such extreme side effects? Not a good one, in Blaise’s opinion.

The “argument” was over shortly after it began, with Taylor ending up the winner as he’d planned. Caleb didn’t look at all pleased with the outcome. If anything, he looked angry, even though he appeared to be trying to hide it. After a cursory examination of his patient, he stormed past Blaise and headed downstairs. The front door slammed shut a few seconds after that.

Blaise walked over to the bed. “Was it me or did Caleb seem angry?”

“Oh he was pissed,” Taylor said. “Even though he tried to quickly get it under wraps, I was closer to him and smelled it in his scent for the split second it lasted.”

Their father sighed. “I think you were right.

Caleb is hiding something. Either it’s his inability to help me and he doesn’t want to admit defeat or he’s purposely doing me harm.”

Blaise breathed a silent sigh of relief that his dad was now on the same page with them. It would have been more difficult if he’d stuck up for Caleb. Taylor and Blaise could have had a real fight on their hands.

* * *

Harley didn’t waste any time getting the blood tests started once she arrived at the lab. The way its system was set up, it wasn’t hard for her to slip the vials in without anyone being the wiser.

Being higher up on the ladder, she had more leeway with doing things than others, which helped the process.

As those tests ran, Harley worked on the others she had to do for the day. She enjoyed working in the lab, but today she found her thoughts straying to Blaise from time to time, and watching the clock, counting how many hours there were until she could leave. She did manage to send him a text during her lunch break, which he replied to. She’d had to make sure no one could see her phone since he’d texted what he planned to do to her once he had her locked inside his bedroom after they’d eaten dinner with his family. Her whole body had heated with arousal when she’d read what he’d sent.

She now had an hour before it was quitting time and the first results of Blaise’s father’s blood tests were ready. Harley looked at the printouts, ready to spot anything that would suggest what the illness was or if something else was going on.

The first thing that brought her up short wasn’t what she’d been prepared to find. It was an irregularity in the blood itself. Harley switched to the second test she’d run and found the same finding. Not used to seeing that result, and not knowing what it stood for, she had to look it up.

What it turned out to be had her shaking her head. The irregularity was cougar hemoglobin, which was impossible. But the third test’s printout showed the same thing. If she hadn’t taken the blood herself, she would have thought someone had mixed big-cat blood with the human one.

As she scanned the rest of the page, she put the irregularity aside. What the results showed was definitely more concerning. Blaise had been right. His cousin had set out to harm Blaise’s father. There were not one but two strong poisons in his system. How he’d survived for so long was a miracle. A normal person would have died shortly after it was introduced. In the back of her mind, Harley had to wonder if it had to do with the cougar blood. She quickly pushed that thought away. She’d talk to Blaise about it after his dad was fixed up. Even though the poisons were deadly, there were medications that counteracted them, and quickly.

Harley couldn’t get her hands on the antidotes yet, but she knew a doctor who could give her what she needed. He wouldn’t ask questions. He was a research doctor whom Harley had worked for right out of school. He would trust she would need the medication without having to know the reason why. All it would take would be for her to talk to him and he’d call in the prescription to a drugstore for her to pick up.

She made her call, having the result she wanted. The only thing he asked was for her to keep him informed if all didn’t work out as she’d planned. Harley had quickly promised she would, then gave him the address to the drugstore not too far from the lab, not wanting to use the one right next door.

Harley left work and headed for the drugstore. There she was able to pick up the prescription, along with a small package of syringes, without having to wait. Her doctor friend had made sure the pharmacy filled it as a rush prescription.

During the drive to Blaise’s place, Harley found herself flicking her gaze to the blood test result printouts, which sat on the passenger seat with the white pharmacy bag. She now couldn’t get the thought of cougar hemoglobin being mixed with Blaise’s father’s blood out of her head. There was no way it could have been added later. She’d taken the sample herself, and no one had touched the vials but her. It didn’t make sense.

She turned onto the long lane that led to Blaise’s house. Once she arrived, Harley parked in front of the four-car garage. She gathered up the things from the passenger seat and got out. She knocked on the front door once she reached it.

Blaise answered. He smiled before he pulled her inside and into his arms. He kissed her hungrily, showing how much he’d missed her, before he released her. It took a second for Harley to gather her wits about her once again.

“You have the results?” Blaise asked as he glanced down at what she carried.

“Yes. I think you should get everyone up to your parents’ room so I can tell you all at the same time.”

He met her gaze with a short nod. “All right.

Wait right here. I’ll get them.”

Blaise walked to the living room. Once he disappeared from sight, Harley heard him tell his family she’d arrived and that she wanted to talk to them all upstairs with his father. They were a silent group as they stepped out into the foyer.

Taylor took the lead up the stairs with Aspen as his mother, then Harley and Blaise, followed.

Inside the master bedroom, they stood around the bed. Blaise’s dad pushed himself up higher on his pillows once his gaze landed on Harley.

“I take it you have the results,” he said to her.

Harley nodded. She held up the printouts.

“It’s not good.”

“You found out what illness he has?” Blaise’s mother quickly asked.

“It’s not that. And it’s not an illness.” Harley looked at Blaise. “You were right. Caleb is doing your father harm. He has to have known it.” She turned her gaze on her boyfriend’s dad. “I found two strong poisons in your blood. I don’t know how you’re still alive. The amounts would have killed anyone else.”

“Poison,” he replied. “It wasn’t medicine Caleb was injecting me with.”

“No. He was administering the poison that way. That’s the only thing I could come up with. I understand you’ve been sick for over half a year.

He probably managed to somehow get the first doses of poison into you through your food or something you drink. Then once you became sick enough that you needed more care, that’s when he started with the shots.”

Blaise’s father glanced at his wife with a grim expression. “It wasn’t through my food. It was through something I drank. Caleb gave me a bottle of ten-year-old scotch to show his appreciation for all I’d done to help him become a doctor. He hadn’t given me anything before. He knows I’m the only person in the house who likes scotch. It has to be that. Now that I think about it, I started to become ill shortly after I had a few drinks of it.”

Harley nodded. “The poison is the type that doesn’t leave a person’s system. It just built up with each drink you had until you thought you were really sick.”

“Is there something we can do to counteract the poison?” Blaise’s mom asked.

Harley held up the white pharmacy bag she carried. “I have it right here. I know a doctor who was able to write me a prescription for it. He’s a good friend of mine and didn’t ask any questions.

He knows I wouldn’t do anything stupid with it. I have to give you two shots. One dose of each should be enough, but if you don’t improve in a couple of days, he told me to give you another.”

Blaise’s father held out his arm. “Do it. I’m sure one dose will be enough.”

She dumped the medicine and syringes onto the bed and prepared the first injection with the amount her doctor friend prescribed. Once she administered it, she readied the second.

Harley had just stuck the needle into Blaise’s father’s shoulder when she heard, “What’s going on here? What’s she giving to my patient? I came back to check on him since I couldn’t give him his medication and this is what I find?”

She quickly pushed the plunger home, emptying the syringe. Harley barely managed to take out the needle before she was roughly pushed aside. This was obviously Caleb.

“She was undoing what you did,” Blaise said.

Anger clouded Caleb’s face. “What do you mean by that exactly?” he demanded.

“Harley is a medical lab technician. We allowed her to run some blood tests on my father’s blood. She found the poison you’ve been giving to him. We know what you’ve been doing.”

It all happened so suddenly Harley had no chance of getting away. Caleb grabbed her around the throat and spun her so her back was against his front. He growled like a big cat, his fingers tightening until she could barely breathe. She reached up and tried to tear his hand away, but he was stronger than she.

“If not for this meddling bitch none of you would have known,” Caleb said in a voice laced with another growl. “I never would have thought you’d have allowed a human to do any kind of test on him. Who would have known our glorious leader of our family group would have taken the risk of letting one learn the secret of what we are.

You’ve surprised me.”

“Let her go,” Blaise said, his upper lip lifting in a snarl. “You’ve been found out. It’s time to face up to what you’ve done.”

Caleb laughed with no humor. “I think not.

Your human girlfriend is my ticket out of here.

None of you will try anything as long as I have her.” He slowly backed away from the bed and the others.

“Why, Caleb?” Blaise’s father asked, stopping Caleb. “After all I’ve done for you.”

“All you did for me? Like taking my parents away so I could grow up with an aunt who hated me and mistreated me whenever she got the chance? I used you, took whatever I could get out of you. And don’t try to deny what you did. Tell them. Tell your precious family what you did to my father. My aunt knew because my mother told her before she took her own life.”

“I didn’t do anything. Your father, my brother, made the decision to abandon you and your mother himself.”

“That’s a lie. He never would have left my mom on his own. You knew he wanted to take your place as leader of our family group. You gave him the choice of losing his life for trying to force you out or banishment. He chose the latter.”

“Is that what your mother told your aunt? If it is, then it’s a lie. Your mother had…problems… when it came to perceiving the world around her.”

“Shut up,” Caleb said with a snarl as he tightened his grip even more on Harley’s throat, causing her to whimper with fear.

Blaise’s father held out his hand. “Stop, Caleb.

I’ll tell you the truth. Your mother was never my brother’s mate.”

“Bullshit. She wore his pendant. I remember her wearing it.”

“It wasn’t his. She had a human jeweler make a copy of one. There was no mating bond between your parents. When your mother became pregnant with you, my brother tried to make it work, even though she wasn’t his mate. But he strayed as a lot of males do when they stay in a relationship with a female who isn’t meant to be theirs. He found his mate. Your mother didn’t take it well. She plotted to kill your father’s new mate, and almost succeeded.

“My brother deemed she would always be at risk as long as he stayed in Anchorage. Not wanting your mother to learn where he ran to, he left one night and never came back. It was years later when he finally contacted me. Your mother was already dead, but my brother had made another life for himself and his mate. He thought you were better off being raised by your aunt.”

Caleb growled. “It’s still because of you I lost my family. As our leader you could have kept him from running. You could have ordered him back.”

“I wouldn’t have done that. It was my brother’s choice to make, not mine.”

Caleb took a step back, then another and another, dragging Harley along with him. She didn’t understand half of what had been said.

Family groups, mates and mating bonds weren’t a part of her world.

Fear rode her as Caleb continued to inch closer to the bedroom door. Her gaze latched on to Blaise, she pleaded desperately with her eyes for him to do something to save her. He followed, keeping enough distance between them so as not to have his cousin feel threatened. Taylor followed, as did their mother. Aspen stayed in the room with their father.

They made it down the stairs and to the foyer. Caleb kept his hand locked around her throat and an arm around her waist. He removed that one only long enough to open the door before he held her against him once more. He took a step outside, dragging her right along with him.

“Time to show you, little human, what a cougar shifter can do to your kind,” he growled into her ear.

Caleb shoved her away. The rest happened in a matter of seconds. His body blurred then shimmered and a cougar took his place. The big cat went to pounce on her, but Blaise stepped between them, shifting to a cougar as well and blocking the other. Caleb spun in midair before taking off at a run toward the back of the property.

Harley let out a whimper and crab-walked away from the remaining cougar. Her fear took over, her vision swam as she tried to scramble out of reach, but her legs refused to work, leaving her unable to get to her feet and run away.

The cougar that was Blaise would have chased after Caleb, but Taylor stepped in front of him. “I’ll go after Caleb. You have Harley to worry about.” Then Blaise’s brother turned into a cougar as well and took off at a run in the direction his cousin had gone.

Blaise turned to face her and took a few steps in her direction. Harley grabbed a handful of stones from the drive and threw them at him, hitting him in the side and head. “Stay away from me,” she cried. “Just stay away.”

Chapter Seven

Blaise hardly felt the stones hit him, he was so focused on Harley. Her first introduction to his world was not the best, by any stretch of the imagination. No one had expected Caleb to return to the house. He normally came to do his examinations only in the mornings. Obviously, their not allowing him to inject his patient hadn’t sat well with Caleb. He’d more than likely come back to try to convince them to change their minds or somehow sneak the shot in when no one was looking.

He reached for the magic inside him and shifted to his human form. As a cougar, there was no way he could verbally communicate with Harley. And right now she needed explanations, if she was in any state to listen to them.

“Harley,” Blaise said softly as he took a step toward her. “It’s all right. No one here is going to hurt you. You have nothing to be afraid of.”

She whimpered and managed to surge to her feet. Harley shook her head. “Stay away from me.

I don’t want you near me.”

“You’re safe with me. With my family. Taylor has gone after Caleb. We won’t let him near you again.”

“No. I can’t do this.” Harley quickly sidestepped around Blaise. “You’re not normal. I found cougar hemoglobin in your father’s blood. I was going to question you about it, but now I know why it was there. You’re cougar shifters?

That’s what Caleb called himself.”

“We are. We’ve been living among humans for a very long time without any of you knowing it. There aren’t that many of us. You might think we’re not normal, but we’re just a different species.”

“One that can change into a big cat whenever you want, and obviously fight off a poison that would have killed a human in a day.”

“That does have a lot to do with my dad still being alive. We don’t ever get sick, that’s why his illness didn’t make any sense to us. We also live longer than humans. We can see up to two hundred years before death takes us. My father is sixty-five. My mom is only a year younger.”

Harley backed up more. “They both don’t look that old. I thought they were in their thirties, which didn’t make sense because you’re twenty-

eight, or at least that’s what you told me.”

“I really am twenty-eight.”

“I can’t deal with this.”

She turned and took off at a run toward her car, which was parked in front of the garage. A wave of stark need washed through him when he saw she was trying to leave. He couldn’t let her go. He had to convince her to stay with him. He’d show her how good they were together, make love to her until she accepted him for what he was. He loved her and couldn’t let her go. He loved her.

Blaise caught up with Harley as she reached the driver’s side door and tried to yank it open.

He used his body to pin her against it, his erection pressing along her bottom. She cried out, her breath sawing in and out of her.

“Harley, please stay with me,” he said as he nuzzled the back of her neck. “I love you. I don’t want to lose you. We can work this out. Aspen is human. She was afraid like you when she first found out about Taylor, but she took his pendant from him and became his mate.”

Harley surprised him by throwing back her head and cracking him on the chin as she viciously jabbed her elbow into his stomach. Blaise took a step back as he grunted in pain. That was all she’d needed to wrench open the car door, clamber into the driver’s seat, then lock herself inside. She fumbled with her keys and eventually stuck them into the ignition and managed to get the engine turned over.

Blaise pounded on the window. “Harley, I want to make you understand. You can’t leave.”

“Move, Blaise,” she yelled through the glass.

“Or I’ll run you over.”

He quickly jumped out of the way as Harley backed the car up almost on him. She then gunned it as she sped down the lane to the main road.

Blaise watched her go, the overwhelming need to be with her increasing.

He ran his hands through his hair and bent over, taking deep breaths as he tried to calm himself down. This kind of behavior wasn’t normal for him. It was then he caught a flash of red in his gaze. He looked down at his pendant and saw the cougar’s ruby eyes glowed. Harley had set the magic off inside it. She was his mate.

And she’d just rejected him.

Now he understood the throbbing arousal that coursed through him. Seeing her fear of him, he realized he couldn’t lose her—that he loved her —which set off the magic inside the pendant. That in turn caused a spike in his testosterone level.

Her not accepting him caused his body to react in the only way it knew how to convince her he was the one for her—with sex.

“Blaise,” Taylor called as he came up behind him. “The bastard got away. He must have thought something was up. His car isn’t parked here so he had to have left it somewhere else in case he felt he needed to make a run for it. We’ll find him though. Where’s Harley?”

Blaise straightened. “She left me.”

“Well, at least she didn’t set off your pendant.

You won’t have to go through what I did while you try to win her back.”

Blaise turned around and faced his brother.

With the coming twilight, there was no mistaking the glowing ruby eyes of his cougar head pendant.

“She did.”

Taylor’s gaze flicked to Blaise’s necklace before he looked up at him with pity showing on his face. “Shit. She’s your mate.”

“Tell me something I don’t already know,” he said with a growl.

“You have it bad. Come inside. We’d best tell Mom and Dad. We’ll put our heads together and see what we can come up with to help you get Harley back. I don’t think you have to worry about Dad being upset with the idea of her as your mate. She did save his life, after all. Without her, we never would have known what Caleb was doing.”

Blaise followed Taylor into the house, even though every fiber in his being called out for him to chase Harley down. He prayed like hell she would come to realize they were better off together than apart.

* * *

It’d been almost a week since Harley found out about Blaise being a cougar shifter. She hadn’t been able to bring herself to talk to or see him, even though he’d constantly called and left messages on her cell over the course of the days.

He’d even sent long text messages, explaining everything about his kind. All the things he probably would have said in person if she’d allowed him to come near her.

Her initial fear of what he was had long since dimmed. What remained was a kind of numbness.

Harley went about her normal daily routine, going to work, coming home to her empty apartment and eating only because her body needed the food. When she slept, most of the time her dreams were filled with Blaise, of when they’d been together and how good it’d been to be in his arms.

By the end of her work week, Harley had to admit she felt as if a part of her was missing, and that it was Blaise who was that piece. She’d already come to the conclusion she loved him before finding out what he was, but now she realized her feelings for him hadn’t changed. She could get over the fact he was able to shift into a cougar.

She’d let so much time pass since that fateful day, she was afraid to make the first step to let him back into her life. The text messages and phone calls had stopped the day before. What if Blaise had decided to give up on her? What if he no longer wanted to be with her because she couldn’t accept what he was? She only had herself to blame. She was the one who’d run from him, was the one who held him away.

Harley jumped at the sound of her cell phone ringing. She picked it up off the coffee table, her heart thumping at the thought it could be Blaise.

The display showed it was someone buzzing from downstairs in the lobby.

“Hello?” she answered.

“Harley? Good, you’re home. It’s Taylor.”

“Is Blaise with you?”

“No, it’s just me.”

Harley’s heart dropped, but she pushed it away. “What can I do for you, Taylor?”

“I need you to come home with me. Blaise isn’t doing well.”

She sat up straighter on the couch. A number of things flew through her mind. Had Caleb done something to Blaise? Had he injured himself?

“What’s the matter with him?”

“I think it best you see for yourself. Will you come downstairs?”

“I’ll be down in a minute.”

Harley disconnected the call. Fear made her rush around the apartment as she grabbed her purse, then put on her sneakers. She was out the door and at the elevator in a matter of minutes.

Downstairs in the lobby, she saw Taylor standing in the vestibule, waiting for her. She pushed open the first glass door to where he stood. “How bad is he?”

“Bad. Thanks for deciding to come. I’m parked in the visitors parking, but if you prefer, you can always follow me in your car.”

“No, it’s okay. I’ll go with you.” Seeing Taylor again made Harley realize how much she’d missed Blaise.

Once they were on the road, Taylor glanced at her. “How are you doing? You’re not nervous to be around me, are you? I’m harmless.”

“I know. I didn’t answer Blaise’s calls or his texts explaining everything about cougar shifters, but I did get them. I read all the messages.”

“So you’ve decided we aren’t so scary after all?”

“I guess so. I never felt as if I had anything to fear from Blaise before I knew.”

“Then why haven’t you let him see you?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. I held him off for so long, I was afraid to take the step to let him back into my life.”

“Then I’m glad I came today.”

They spent the rest of the drive in silence. As Taylor stopped the car in front of the garage, all that had happened the last time Harley had been there came rushing into her mind.

“Did you end up catching Caleb?” she asked as she and Taylor walked to the front door.

“No. He got away. We’re still looking for him. My cousin Jase has taken on the job of hunting Caleb down. He’ll be found. Don’t worry about that.”

Inside the house, Taylor guided her up the stairs. Once they reached the top, he led her to Blaise’s closed bedroom door.

“Blaise is in there,” Taylor said. “Go right in.”

Harley was about to ask him why he wasn’t going to come in with her, but by the time she’d turned her head to look at him, Taylor was gone.

She figured he had to have used the preternatural speed all cougar shifters had. Blaise had told her in his texts that they were faster than humans.

She focused on the closed door, took a deep breath and opened it. Harley had expected to find Blaise in bed. Instead she found him walking out of the en suite, naked, his hair damp as if he’d just gotten out of the shower. He came to a sudden standstill once he spotted her.

“Harley?”

“Hi. Ah, Taylor came to my place to get me.

He said you were in bad shape and that I needed to come here to see you. I thought something terrible had happened to you.”

“The only thing bad that happened to me was you leaving. You have no idea how much I’ve missed you.”

Harley ran her gaze over him. There was no mistaking how haggard Blaise looked or the fact he appeared to have lost some weight. “I missed you too.”

Blaise crossed the distance between them in a few long strides. As he walked toward her, Harley noticed the ruby eyes on his cougar head pendant glowed. She had the sudden urge to touch it, to slip the chain from his neck and put it around her own.

Once he stood in front of her, she said, “You look a little the worse for wear.” Her heart beat faster from him being so near. And it wasn’t with fear. Her body remembered what it was like to have him thrusting deeply inside her.

He gave her a small smile. “That’s your fault.”

“It is?”

“Yes. You see, there was one thing I didn’t tell you about cougar shifters in my texts.” He pointed to his pendant. “I didn’t tell you about this. Every male cougar shifter is given one once he reaches adolescence. It has magic inside it.

When the male meets the female meant to be his mate, and he’s come to accept her into his heart, she sets it off. The cougar’s ruby eyes glow. Once it does, the female gets the decision to claim the male as her own.”

Harley licked her suddenly dry lips, knowing what Blaise was telling her. She was his mate.

“How does she do that?”

“It’s simple. She has to take his pendant from him and place it around her own neck. After that, the mating bond forms between them and their souls join. And from then on, there will never, ever be anyone else for them.”

“And if the female doesn’t take the pendant?”

“The male looks like crap because he can’t sleep, can’t eat, all he thinks about is her and the need to have her as his own. To make love to her until she takes what belongs to her and her alone.”

Arousal slammed into Harley’s body, making her breath catch. She focused on Blaise’s pendant.

It drew her. She wanted it. There would be no denying the urge that swept through her.

With fingers that shook, Harley reached up and took hold of the cougar head pendant. She wrapped her fingers around it, then lifted, slipping the chain over Blaise’s head. Once it was free, she pulled it over her own until it came to rest between her breasts. The instant it did so, she felt something snap between her and Blaise, like an invisible string that connected them.

“Did you feel that?” she asked.

“You’re damn right I did. Now I’m going to show you that you’ve made the best decision of your life.”

Blaise lifted her off her feet and raised her until her mouth was even with his. He kissed her hungrily, feeding from her lips as if he’d die without tasting them. Harley returned the kiss with as much fervor, the need to have him inside her just about overwhelming everything else.

“I love you,” she said. “Please take me. I can’t wait any longer.”

“I love you too. I’m glad one of us is naked.

We can get to the good part faster.”

He let her down onto her feet and proceeded to strip her clothes off, showing her exactly how fast a cougar shifter could move when he wanted to. Harley found herself naked and placed on the bed between one breath and the next. She gloried in the feel of Blaise coming down on top of her skin to skin.

His hard cock brushed up against her pussy.

She reached between them and fisted him, stroking his length. Blaise purred as she knew he would. She then led the head of his shaft to her slick opening and rubbed it in her wetness, circling her clit with it.

Blaise groaned. “If you don’t stop that I’m going to come. It’s been too long since I last had you.”

“We can’t have that.”

Harley led his cock inside her pussy, then lifted her hips to take more of him. Blaise thrust against her, filling her completely with one stroke.

He set a fast pace of in and out. She wrapped her legs around his waist and held on to his arms, her buildup to her climax growing each time he sheathed himself to the hilt. His shaft grew even harder, the purrs she loved so much constantly rumbled out of him.

Blaise had to thrust a half dozen more times before Harley’s orgasm slammed into her, stealing her breath. She let out a keening moan as her inner muscles clutched and released his plunging cock, milking him into his own release. He held on to her hips, holding her tightly to him, as he filled her with his cum.

Once the pleasurable sensations faded, Blaise collapsed on top of her, taking most of his weight on his bent arms. He kissed her tenderly.

“I love you, Harley. I wouldn’t want anyone else as my mate.”

She smiled up at him. “I’m sorry I made you go through that. I had no idea.”

“I know. I thought it best not to put any more pressure on you. You already had enough with just coming to grips with me being a cougar shifter.”

“It’s in the past now. I’m yours, and you are mine. And since we’re mated, and technically this would be considered the start of our honeymoon, I have a request.”

“And that would be?’

“Get that thong out I bought you. I want to see you in it again.”

Blaise chuckled. “Already making demands, but this one I don’t mind fulfilling.”

He crawled off the bed and went to his dresser. He held up the thong once he turned around. Harley not only got to see him wear it once more, she also got to remove it with her teeth. She then showed Blaise how enjoyable she found that.

The End

About Marisa Chenery

Marisa Chenery was always a lover of books, but after reading her first historical romance novel she found herself hooked. Having inherited a love for the written word, she soon started writing her own novels.

After trying her hand at writing historicals, she now writes paranormals.

Marisa lives in Ontario, Canada, with her husband and four children. She would love to hear from you, so drop her an email.

Marisa welcomes comments from readers.

You can find her website and email addresses on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.

Tel Us W hat You Think We appreciate hearing reader opinions about our books. You can email the author directly or you can email us at Service@ellorascave.com (when contacting Customer Service, be sure to state the book title and author).

Content

To Love a Cougar
Cougar Surrender - 2
by
Marisa Chenery

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

About Marisa Chenery