Primal Design

Danica Avet

Book two in the Cajun Heat series.

Fashion designer and bear shifter Kitty Chambers thought fifteen years was enough time to get over her first love, Monk Badeaux, but when she sees the sexy cougar again, her mating instincts return and it’s all she can do to keep her paws off him. Despite her wariness, Monk unearths a part of her sexuality she’d never known existed, using it ruthlessly to win her back. Monk is hazardous to her well-being and her heart, but Kitty isn’t sure she stands a chance against all this heat.

If you love something, set it free. Monk Badeaux did that and suffered the consequences. When Kitty comes home, he falls head over heels in love with the independent, no-panty-wearing woman his childhood sweetheart has become. And she hates him. Luck is on his side when he discovers his mate has a streak of exhibitionism he’s more than happy to exploit if it’ll bring them closer. Alleys, school gyms, cars…no location is sacred when a cougar is out to win his mate.

Primal Design

Danica Avet

Acknowledgments

I have to thank my fabulous critique partner, Avril Ashton, for being the voice of reason when I hit the brick wall in this story. Thank you, chica! I also need to thank Tim Gunn. He’ll probably never know who I am, but he’s helped me get through more spots than I can name. When things get bad, I repeat his catch phrase “make it work” and I’m able to keep working. I’m sending a huge thank-you to my family for being so supportive and for loving me even though I’m sometimes crabby and frequently lost in daydreams. And finally, thank you to the wonderful people at Ellora’s Cave for making my dreams come true.

Chapter One

Fifteen years ago

Kitty Chambers walked with an obvious spring to her step. She couldn’t help herself. Love and happiness bubbled in her veins like champagne. The slight tenderness between her legs was easily ignored. She had a mate, had marked him the night before just as he’d marked her. They were going to get married once they graduated.

Life couldn’t be more perfect.

She practically skipped through Pointe-Aux-Chat High School, ready to see Monk this morning although she wasn’t sure she’d be able to stop herself from blushing. The things they’d done together in the back of his car! It was enough to make her feel a little faint, but she didn’t regret a single second of it. She’d saved herself for the love of her life and he’d been worth every minute of the slight pain and embarrassment from the way her slick sex clung to him.

I love you, Kitty-Cat, he’d whispered as he came to rest in her. I’m going to marry you. Then he’d bit her shoulder. She shivered as the mark on her skin tingled with renewed arousal. If that was what sex with your mate was like, she couldn’t wait until they did it every single night for the rest of their lives.

Kitty was so lost in her daydreams she nearly walked straight into a couple of shifters who played on the football team with Monk. They were both wolves and cute in their own way, but she’d never spared a single glance for anyone but her boyfriend.

“Sorry,” she said with a bright smile as she moved to go around them.

But they stepped to the side, blocking her way. The taller one, Brady if she remembered his name right, smiled at her, a dark, strange look on his face. “Well, hey there, Kitty-Cat,” he said in a weird tone of voice.

She frowned. Kitty-Cat was Monk’s nickname for her. Ironic really since he was the cougar shifter and she was a grizzly, but she didn’t mind because it was cute coming from him. The same couldn’t be said when Brady called her that. It made her skin crawl.

“Hey,” she mumbled, because if there was one thing Kitty had learned in her seventeen years, it was that confrontation was not her forte. “I have to go.”

The other wolf, Greg, put his hand on her shoulder. “Wait a minute, we just wanted to talk for a second.”

She froze when he touched her, shocked that he dared. Most shifters refused to come within twenty feet of a grizzly, even an overweight, shy grizzly like herself. Yet he was touching her, his thumb rubbing in circles that made her stomach tighten into knots.

“Don’t touch me.” She frowned at him.

Brady smiled, moving closer, bringing the scent of his wolf. Her bear let out a subvocal growl because it couldn’t abide another male coming so close to her. Only her mate had the privilege of entering her private space.

He held his hands up with a grin. “It’s okay, Kitty-Cat, we’re not gonna hurt you or anything. We heard you were pretty wild in the sack and thought we were just the wolves to tame you.”

Forget knots, she was going to throw up. She looked back and forth between the two wolves, waiting for them to laugh and tell her they were joking. But beneath their charming smiles she saw sexual interest and hunger. It was a look she’d seen on Monk’s face several times, usually when they were making out and he decided they’d gone too far. No one else ever looked at her like that and she was glad because it made her feel dirty.

Her brain could only concentrate on their presence, not their words. The buzzing in her ears made it hard to hear what they were saying, but it sounded as though Monk had bragged about what they’d done. She shook her head. That was impossible. He loved her, had told her several times over the last two weeks as their relationship grew hotter and stronger. And he’d bitten her to mark her as his own. He wouldn’t say something so ugly about his own mate.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said and stepped back. She’d just go around the hall to get to the courtyard where she met Monk every morning. Kitty allowed her bear to rise momentarily, letting the wolves see the grizzly in her eyes in a clear warning. “Leave me alone.”

She started back the way she’d come, but the wolves followed closely, not touching her or saying anything, but they didn’t need to, did they? The stares and whispers of the other students talked for them. She’d missed it the first time because she’d been floating along in a bubble of happiness. Nothing could touch her there, not ugly stares or words.

But now she heard everything.

No worse than a whore just like her ancestors. She comes from a long line of prostitutes, you know.

And all this time she acted like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth.

If I had known all it took to get in Kitty Chambers’ pants was the promise of marriage, I’d have proposed last year.

A nasty laugh. Yeah, although she probably wouldn’t have given Monk such a good ride if you had. I heard him say she was tighter than a fucking fist, man.

Dude, that’s Brady and Greg, think they’re gonna do her together?

She blocked out the words, her heart turning to ash in her chest. She continued walking, but she could barely feel her limbs move. The girls she’d befriended over the years turned their backs on her, ignoring her even as they whispered to each other. The boys, who’d never looked at her twice because of her awkward height and shy personality, suddenly eyed her as if she were a side of meat.

It was like walking a gantlet, the derision, contempt and ugly lust beating at her with every step she took, but she didn’t walk any faster and she didn’t curl her shoulders against it. Kitty Chambers was a lady despite what everyone thought. She wouldn’t make a scene because there had to be an explanation for this. Maybe Monk had confided in one of his best friends and they’d embellished the story. There was no way her mate would have purposely told anyone about what they’d done. They were getting married and her idiotic peers would eat their words. She was so going to tell Monk who talked ugly about her. She might not have the balls to do something about this, but he would. Satisfied that justice would be served, Kitty continued on her way to the courtyard.

And stopped dead in her tracks before she’d stepped outside.

Monk sat on their bench, the one they always met at to hold hands and talk before classes. His sandy-brown hair, a little longer than fashion dictated, caught the early-morning sunlight. It was all she could really see of him other than his long legs and big hands because he had a girl straddling his lap.

Kitty felt as if someone had punched her in the chest. The wolves behind her were saying something, but she couldn’t hear them through the wild buzzing in her ears. The hands that had caressed her so gently the night before cupped the ass of a girl Kitty recognized as Callie Hebert. Callie was a raven shifter, a popular girl who never made any secret of her contempt for Kitty. And she was sitting on Monk’s lap as if she belonged there, her hands in his hair.

There was no mistaking the sight before her as anything other than a very heavy make-out session. In the middle of the school courtyard with others looking on with interest.

She watched someone sitting near Monk and Callie say something, ending their kiss. Callie looked over her shoulder in Kitty’s direction, a smug smile on her thin, pretty face. But Kitty only had eyes for the cougar who stared at her as if he’d never seen her before. Gone was the love, the heated passion of the male she’d so stupidly given herself to. In the place of the friend she’d grown up and fallen in love with was a stranger with cold green eyes.

Callie said something and Monk shrugged, but he didn’t try to hide what he was doing. Then, with barely another look in her direction, he lifted one of his hands to Callie’s thick black hair and turned her toward him for another kiss with lots of tongue. It was carnal and hot and it made Kitty feel as though she’d been dunked in a vat of ice.

Her bear threatened to tear through her skin, to charge the couple on the bench, to destroy every human and shifter staring at the tableau as if it belonged on television. They all waited for her to rage. She could smell the twisted excitement of a crowd who expected to be entertained.

But Kitty refused to become further fodder for gossip. Monk had ruined her reputation. She didn’t know why he’d set his sights on her, on the girl who’d been his friend since they were five, and she no longer cared.

She turned on her heel, her head held proudly, and her shoulders back. The two wolves who’d followed her through the halls took a wary step away from her. Maybe she wasn’t as good at hiding her rage as she thought, but at this point it didn’t matter.

She walked down the hall to her locker, acting as though the stares didn’t bother her. Dialing in her combination and opening the locker, she was confronted with a picture of her and Monk they’d taken a couple of weeks before. She’d been sitting on his lap, her arm around his neck, her cheeks flushed with love and happiness.

That was the day she’d decided to give up her dreams of becoming a fashion designer because Monk was needed in Maison Rouge. He was his father’s only son, the only family Walter Badeaux had left. Kitty had respected that and loved him even more for being loyal to his only parent. She’d let go of her dreams for him that day because leaving Monk wasn’t an option in her mind.

Heart still bleeding from the betrayal of giving her love and body to Monk, Kitty wanted to rip the picture up to vent her anger, but again, that would mean she was giving the crowd what they expected. Instead of crumpling it up and stomping on it a few million times, she idly tugged the picture loose from the tape it was adhered with and let it drift to the ground. She didn’t need the books she pulled out of her locker, but she put them in her backpack anyway, hoping she seemed casual and completely unfazed by the events of the morning.

“Kitty?”

The soft voice caused the first tears to form in her eyes, but she forced them away. Daisy Picou, her black bear cousin and best friend, sounded as though she’d been crying. Kitty could understand. She, Daisy and Monk had been friends since they were young. If she’d heard half of the rumors floating around the school this morning, she had to be torn between her loyalties. Kitty didn’t want that because a pissed-off Daisy meant bloodshed.

Trying to avoid her cousin ending up in another brawl, Kitty forced her voice to sound lighthearted and airy. She turned around with a bright smile. “Hey, Daisy, I was wondering if you wanted to go to New Orleans this weekend. I want to look at some fabric for the dress I’m making for graduation.”

Daisy’s brown eyes were wide with the betrayal. It made Kitty’s heart hurt to look at her, but if she gave in to emotion now, she knew she’d raze the school to the ground. Monk wasn’t worth life in prison. He wasn’t worth wasting another second of her time thinking about. She pushed the memories away and fought to ignore the burning of the mate mark on her shoulder.

The humans and shifters gossiping about her right now didn’t matter. Most of them would stay in Maison Rouge, marry, have babies and die here. Not Kitty Chambers. She’d almost given up her dreams for a worthless male. She wasn’t going to fall into that same trap. She had a future to think about and Monk Badeaux did not factor into a single minute of it.

* * * * *

Monk prowled through the halls, the stink of Callie’s arousal all over him. His cougar slashed at him, demanding he go find the grizzly he’d taken as a mate, but Monk couldn’t, wouldn’t do that to her.

God, the expression on her face when she’d seen him with Callie would haunt him for the rest of his fucking life. She’d looked as if someone had sucker punched her, which he supposed he had. But he’d done what he had to in order to protect her from a fate worse than a broken heart.

He looked down at his hands, at the veins pumping tainted blood through his body. He wasn’t worthy of touching a sweet girl like Kitty Chambers. She was too good for him. Monk only wished he would’ve known before he’d taken their relationship that final step. There was no taking it back now though. He’d marked her. The skin on the side of his neck tingled where she’d marked him. His cougar accepted Kitty as its mate and it wanted her. It didn’t care that marrying her would lead to death.

“Hey, Monk, you’re the motherfuckin’ man!” one of the guys said in the locker room when he arrived for gym.

Not caring what they had to say, he went to his locker.

Several guys were hanging around talking. They stopped when he showed up. They were mostly shifters, but there were a couple of humans who’d shown they were able to take the punishment of playing shifter football.

He stripped out of his clothes, keeping his neck hidden beneath his hair.

“Hey, uh, Monk, sooo,” Brady said in opening.

Monk glanced over. “What?”

The wolf looked nervous, but Greg nudged him in the side. He cleared his throat. “Uh, just wondered, you know, if it’s true Kitty’s on the market again. ’Cause, uh, if you wanted to just keep her on the side or something while you’re with Callie, that’s cool.”

He barely kept from slashing the fucker’s throat with his claws. The cougar wanted to kill each of the bastards hovering around him, waiting to hear his declaration. They wanted to touch his mate. He could read it in their eyes. Adrenaline pumped through his system, the hairs on the back of his neck rising in challenge.

But Monk held back the rage. He couldn’t be with Kitty, he couldn’t give her the future she deserved, the one with a loving mate who’d become a protective father for their young. That would never be him. Ever.

His lips were numb when he forced himself to speak again. “Nah, she was just a quick fuck.” He was going to throw up, the nausea churning in his stomach like lava. “Although it took a lot longer to get in her pants than I thought it would, but whatcha gonna do?” He forced his shoulders to lift in a shrug as if he didn’t care what he was doing to her reputation, as if he didn’t love her with all of his heart.

The wolf smiled and almost signed his death warrant. “Awesome. I’m goin’ after her.”

Others joined the talk, their discussion about Kitty’s body sparking rage that Monk let loose on the basketball court during class, but never once did he stop them from talking and letting the story spread. He needed to make a clean break even though it felt more like he’d left a jagged scar where Kitty had fit in his life. It was for the best, he knew. One day, she might even thank him. When she was mated to some other male who wasn’t tainted, when she’d carried that male’s children beneath her heart and raised them to adulthood, maybe then she’d look back at Monk and think she hadn’t loved him at all.

But he couldn’t stop himself from walking down the hall leading to her locker after school, the halls empty of students and teachers. He stopped in front of the metal door that held the scent of his mate and breathed deep.

His shoulders drooped, his head hanging down as he tried to force himself to move. It wouldn’t do any good to torture himself like this. Everyone had been quick to tell him that Kitty acted as though nothing had ever happened, as if she didn’t even care about Monk. His lips quirked. She was much stronger than he was, or ever would be.

Monk opened his eyes to see a picture half-buried beneath papers on the ground at his feet. He squatted to pick it up and felt his heart lurch in his chest. It was the picture they’d taken just two weeks earlier. He remembered the soft feel of her on his lap, her curvy body fitting against him perfectly. She was nearly his height, but she never appeared big, not to him. In his mind, Kitty was delicate and sweet.

He stroked his thumb over her two-dimensional face, the sparkling dark eyes, the dusky skin she’d inherited from her Native American father, the full, sweet lips he’d kissed a hundred times. This was all he’d ever have of her, but if she lived a full, happy life, it would be enough.

Monk stood again and tucked the picture into his pocket. He sucked in another deep breath, the light floral scent mingled with bear that he associated with his mate filling his lungs.

This was for the best for everyone. If it left him feeling like an empty shell of a person, so be it. But better him than Kitty. He’d do anything to protect her, even if it meant making her hate him.

Chapter Two

Present Day

Kitty Chambers balked at the entrance of the Pointe-Aux-Chat High School gym. It was packed to the rafters. The sound of hundreds of people had been muted by the amazing soundproofing the builders had insisted upon. She hadn’t known what to expect when Daisy asked her to attend the premier of Saber’s latest video, which had been shot in Maison Rouge. Figuring it would be a small turnout with the band members and a few others present, the size of the crowd baffled her even as it made her heart leap into her throat.

“C’mon, we have seats right up in front,” Daisy Picou urged with a tug on Kitty’s arm.

“Um, why don’t I just stand in the back?” Kitty pulled back against her cousin’s hold. She did not want to go in there.

A big, heavy arm draped over her shoulders from behind, the scent of man and tiger surrounding her. “Aw, c’mon, Kitty. You can sit next to me and tell me how hot I look.”

If Nick Gamble had been going for the distraction, he’d succeeded. Kitty glared up at him, giving Daisy enough slack to tow her farther into the gym. Nick snickered, but didn’t let go of her, as though the two had planned it in advance. She shook her head and followed Daisy to the front row of floor seats. She was not going to start suspecting her cousin of conspiring against her. If there was anyone in the world she could trust to have her back, it was Daisy Lynn Picou soon-to-be Reinhardt.

Kitty didn’t look around at the humans and shifters packed into the bleachers or seated in the rows of chairs set on center court. Part of the reason was from the memories bombarding her, but mostly because she was scared to death to see contempt and outright hatred on the faces turned her way.

She’d only been home three days, but luckily had managed to avoid going into town. First it had been because of exhaustion and stress due to working nearly around the clock for the entire week prior to her trip to Louisiana. Despite being her own boss, she had a fall line to design and prepare for as well as regular business problems, like making sure her employees were paid and disinclined to rebellion.

Once she’d caught up on her sleep after hibernating in her childhood room, it had been time to meet Daisy’s fiancé and his friends. Kitty shot Daisy a glare when her cousin pushed her into one of the folding chairs on the front row, only to receive an impish grin in response. Francine and Hunter, Kitty’s parents, sat farther down the row with Daisy’s parents. Knowing there was no way out now, Kitty forced herself to relax. Nick sandwiched her between him and Daisy, his big shoulder almost pinning her in place with Ram doing the same on the other side of Daisy.

It was still hard to believe her cousin was marrying one of the hottest men in the rock world. But after seeing Daisy and Ramsey “Ram” Reinhardt together, Kitty no longer doubted that they were perfect for each other. It had been a bit surreal to meet the rest of the band who’d hugged her as if they were part of her family. It wasn’t because they were famous—she rubbed elbows with movie stars and dignitaries all the time. It was more because they were all so sexy.

Kitty shivered and focused her attention on the massive television screen set up at the front of the gym. She frowned. Back when she’d been a student here, they’d barely been able to afford new books, yet the school board had purchased a television screen the size of a stadium big screen?

“We brought the television,” Nick whispered in her ear.

If her skin rippled, it was because her ears had always been one of her biggest erogenous zones. It had nothing to do with the wild scent of tiger that made her bear rouse in mild interest. As attractive as the all-cat-shifter band was, Kitty did not mess with felines anymore. It didn’t matter what subspecies they were, she didn’t go there.

Daisy patted her hand. “Just relax and enjoy.”

Just then Mr. Fourchier, Pointe-Aux-Chat’s Parish President, emerged from the direction of the locker rooms and came to stand next to the television. His red face shone in the light, his smile huge and blatantly false.

“Good evening, folks,” he said into the microphone. The sound system squealed, which elicited howls from the wolf shifters. He fiddled with the base of the mic for a second. “Sorry, is this better? Good! Hey y’all, I want to thank y’all for coming out tonight to celebrate the premier of a music video that was shot right here in Maison Rouge.”

Kitty glanced around at the shrieks and screams of excitement. They came mostly from the teenagers whose faces were bright with anticipation. The older shifters and humans looked tolerant, if skeptical.

“Yes, well, exactly. It’s an exciting occasion and it wouldn’t have happened without help. I, along with the other members of the parish government, have been working to make changes in Maison Rouge. As you all know, our reliance on the oil industry has its ups and downs. While things are good right now, they might not always be that way, which is why we’re trying to turn our little corner of south Louisiana into a tourist attraction.” He beamed, ignoring the sighs of boredom from the young crowd. “When we were approached by the Pointe-Aux-Chat Festival Committee about bringing in bigger headlining acts, we weren’t certain what the result would be, but it seems we underestimated the committee’s esteemed chairman who brought us the band Saber for this year’s festival.” The crowd cheered again.

Kitty struggled to hide her amusement as Mr. Fourchier looked startled by the noise. Then his smile grew bigger. Poor man obviously thought they were cheering for him. The silent shaking of Nick’s big body told her that he found this amusing as well.

Mr. Fourchier preened. “They shot a music video at the festival, which we’ll see tonight, but the good news didn’t stop there.” His bright blue eyes zeroed in on Daisy and Ram. “The lead singer, Ramsey Reinhardt, fell in love with and mated our very own Deputy Daisy Picou, and he’s planning to make his home with us here in Maison Rouge.” The crowd started up again, but Mr. Fourchier talked over them. “Even better, Ramsey has assured me that he and the rest of the band are planning to set up a recording studio here in town for not only their use, but any other bands who might be interested in enjoying the special qualities our community has to offer.”

This time there was no talking over the screams of excitement. Kitty glanced at Nick, who looked a little uneasy by the attention, but kept it well hidden with a charming smile he aimed at the audience surrounding them.

Mr. Fourchier was talking again, apparently overcome by the excitement in the air. “There’s more information to come, but let me hand the floor over to the man responsible for helping Pointe-Aux-Chat Parish by bringing Saber to Maison Rouge, Monk Badeaux, Chairman for the Pointe-Aux-Chat Festival Committee!”

Kitty’s entire body stiffened as a tall figure emerged from the double doors leading to the locker rooms. She hadn’t been prepared for this. Not at all. Since coming home, she’d made a point of not mentioning Monk and had purposely turned her attention elsewhere when his name came up.

Daisy reached out again and gripped her hand. Kitty held on to her cousin, needing her strength because God knew if she’d been standing, she would have fallen to the ground in a crumpled mess. It wasn’t fair for him to be sexier now than he’d been as an immature boy, but he was. He’d grown taller and broader, his body fulfilling the promise his lanky frame had hinted at years ago. His hair was cut a little shorter than it used to be, but it was still thick and light brown. Monk’s face had lost its softness, turning lean and hard, making him look like a young Clint Eastwood.

Kitty’s heart pounded and her mouth dried as Monk took Mr. Fourchier’s place in front of nearly the entire town. Sharp green eyes scanned the audience as he waited for the applause to die down and that’s when his gaze snagged on Kitty. She felt closer than ever to the seventeen-year-old girl who’d had to pull the shredded remains of her dignity around her. He looked so remote and handsome and impossibly perfect. Kitty went back to that place, the one where she realized she wasn’t good enough to win his love, but a squeeze on her hand brought her back to herself.

Daisy.

Fifteen years later.

Kitty took a deep breath. She was no longer that insecure little girl who’d given her heart to a male who didn’t deserve it. She was Kitty Chambers, fashion designer, independent woman, feisty lover and grizzly shifter. She was stronger than her memories and damn well strong enough to face down the bastard who’d tried to make her a victim.

Kitty’s chin went up as she straightened in her chair, her grip on Daisy’s hand less of a panicked hold and more of a clasp of friendship, of love. She even let her lips curl in amused contempt at Monk’s continued stare.

Fuck you, you bastard.

Monk couldn’t find his voice. Standing there in front of the entire town of Maison Rouge, he lost all powers of speech because of the woman sitting in the front row. Kitty Chambers here in the flesh and what beautiful, perfect flesh it was.

He hadn’t recognized her at first, only noting a beautiful woman sitting between Daisy and Nick, but the more he stared, the blanker his mind became and the harder his heart pounded. There was no mistaking the sleek cap of black hair, although it was much shorter than it’d been in high school. His cougar mourned the loss of the long tresses, but Monk had to admit it showed off her petite face and long, slender neck to perfection. It also helped display her wide-spaced, dark eyes, making them the focal point of her dusky face.

Had he ever paid that much attention to how gorgeous she was? Or had he taken her for granted because he’d grown up with her, had seen her with acne, with braces, with mud smeared all over her face. But he was looking now and God, how could a cougar get so lucky?

His cock threatened to lift the fly of his slacks and the applause had died out a few seconds ago, leaving an awkward silence behind. Someone coughed and another person let out a nervous chuckle. But he couldn’t stop looking at her, staring into her dark eyes. Even when those eyes went cold and hard, the surprise fading away beneath the ire of furious predatory female.

“Did you forget your speech?” Mr. Fourchier whispered. As if whispering did any good when the microphone picked up his words and broadcast them to everyone in the gym, causing a few chuckles.

Monk looked away from Kitty, finding it almost impossible to do so, especially when his cougar recognized her as its mate. Down, boy, we’ll get to her as soon as we finish this. Momentarily appeased, the cougar sat back, tail twitching with impatience.

His confidence came surging back and he smiled. “Sorry about that, it’s been awhile since Mrs. Simmons’ speech class.” His old classmates chuckled. “The Pointe-Aux-Chat Festival Committee has been working in close association with the parish government to put Pointe-Aux-Chat on the map as a tourist destination. We have a lot to offer the world, things that our neighbors in New Orleans can’t.” He started pacing back and forth in front of the big screen, his excitement growing. Giving his parish a way to generate more income had become his reason for living ever since his father nearly lost everything during the last oil bust and Kitty left Maison Rouge for greener pastures.

Any hesitation he’d felt earlier vanished as he spoke with increasing excitement about the changes coming to the parish. Words tumbled out of his mouth, faster and faster, the crowd’s anticipation feeding his own. These were good people who deserved to keep their way of life preserved. The parish government had thought about knocking down buildings, developing marsh and all other kinds of gimmicks to attract residents until Monk convinced them that if they had a tourist trade, the residents would come on their own and they wouldn’t have to weaken their ecosystem to do it.

He’d watched far too many parishes lose the natural resources that made south Louisiana a mecca for shifters by attempting to become more modern, but in doing so only managed to destroy themselves. Thousands and thousands of acres of untouched swamp and marsh protected the little town of Maison Rouge from hurricanes, but it also provided hunting grounds and areas for shifters who needed to let their beasts stretch. Monk wanted to keep Pointe-Aux-Chat as unspoiled as possible and keep jobs coming in.

Several of the people he’d talked to through the years expressed interest in hosting boarders, some of them going so far as to expand their homes to turn them into bed and breakfasts. They didn’t want big hotel chains to come in with their massive parking lots and unattractive buildings. Everyone wanted the town to retain the old-world look their ancestors had built.

Monk wasn’t sure how long he talked about the plans he and the parish government were in the process of following, but when he stopped, the gym was silent. Coming back to himself, he looked around to see the young people looked bored, but the older crowd seemed just as excited as he felt. They were the ones who feared losing their kids to the lure of the big cities where jobs were plentiful. The plan to bring tourism to Maison Rouge would mean more jobs and more opportunities for the younger generation.

Satisfied he’d gotten his message across, he couldn’t resist glancing Kitty’s way only to see her snuggled next to Nick, her eyes closed. If Monk had been in his cougar form, the fur on his entire body would have puffed up. His cat let out a feral, subvocal snarl at the tiger who was entirely too close to his mate. Nick inclined his head at Monk, not seeming to realize he was on the verge of being maimed.

But before Monk could leap across the distance between him and his prey, Mr. Fourchier appeared at his side with a loud laugh. He grabbed the mic from Monk’s weak grasp.

“As y’all can see, Monk is very excited about the changes to come. If you have any concerns, don’t hesitate to contact your parish councilman. We all need to work together if we’re going to attain the goals we have for our lovely parish.” He nudged Monk to the side. “And now for the video we’re all excited to see. Someone get the lights please!”

Monk was still glaring at Nick who’d tickled Kitty awake by digging his fingers into her ribs. He took a step forward, determined to tear the bastard apart, except Mr. Fourchier grabbed his arm and tugged him off to the side where the parish officials sat to watch the video. He could have broken away from the older man’s hold, but even cougars couldn’t overpower a fully grown boar shifter when they were determined.

Vowing to catch up with the Goddamn bear-stealing tiger after the assembly, Monk sat where he was directed and crossed his arms over his chest to stare at Kitty and Nick. She’d fallen asleep during his speech, she’d let some tiger provide a resting place for her, and now she ignored him as though he didn’t exist. Kitty Chambers was in a lot of fucking trouble when he got his hands on her.

* * * * *

Kitty pressed one of her knuckles into Nick’s ribs, eliciting a strangled scream out of him. “That’s what you get for tickling me,” she muttered under her breath as the lights in the gym dimmed.

“You were sleeping,” he protested, rubbing his ribs with a wince. “Damn, woman, you have the boniest fucking knuckles!”

She didn’t deign to answer him, mostly because she hadn’t been sleeping. She’d been trying to pretend she didn’t exist, that she wasn’t here listening to her first love—a.k.a the fucker—rave about something that was amazingly perceptive. In the years since she left Maison Rouge, Kitty had done her best not to think about Monk, but when she did, it was with the hopes that he’d become an overweight, henpecked shifter with a bad case of fleas who had resorted to speaking in grunts. It just wasn’t fair that he’d turned out to be something so much better.

His plan, and she knew it was his alone, was thoughtful and practical. With her eyes closed, she could almost see the future Monk envisioned for Pointe-Aux-Chat. It would be a place where tourists, of the shifter and human variety, could learn more about the Cajun culture, enjoy Cajun food—something she’d dearly missed while living in New York—and help provide jobs for the community. It was a brilliant plan.

Damn the bastard to hell. When had he developed a community conscience? The signs hadn’t been there when they were younger. Other than what he’d done to her their senior year, he’d never displayed a streak of cruelty, but neither had he gone out of his way to help anyone. Monk had been the golden boy, the quarterback, the one most likely to be shot by outraged fathers. He hadn’t given a single thought to community service, yet here he was, trying to lead Pointe-Aux-Chat into a bright, new future.

It was too bizarre to dwell on and Kitty thanked the distraction of the video. She couldn’t help but laugh as she heard the kids in the audience shriek when they saw themselves on television. The song was from Saber’s latest album, one she’d listened to on the flight from New York, and she had to admit, it was downright awesome to see shots of Maison Rouge interspersed with feed from the show the band had performed at the festival.

“Oh my God,” Daisy moaned as the camera zoomed in on her standing at the front of the stage in her uniform.

Kitty laughed out loud at her cousin’s dismay, especially when Ram whispered loudly, “You looked hot.”

The picture went to a broader view of the fairgrounds and she caught a glimpse of a solitary figure standing next to the food stands. Her heart leapt as she recognized Monk. She chanced a quick glance over to the seats where the community leaders sat and quickly averted her gaze.

Monk was staring at her. Hard. Even in the flickering lights coming from the screen in front of them, she’d seen the way his green eyes glittered dangerously. She frowned at the images in front of her, trying to figure out what she could have done to piss him off. Breathe maybe? Did he hate her so much after all this time? Kitty ignored the pang in her chest at the thought. It didn’t matter how he felt about her. They would have no reason to see each other after tonight and if she had her way, she wouldn’t come in contact with him at all while she was home.

The video ended with a thank you from the band to the people of Maison Rouge for their warm hospitality. The kids in the crowd, hyped up after seeing themselves on television, screamed again, kept in their seats by the deputies standing on the floor. Kitty couldn’t help but smile at their antics as they chanted, “Saber, Saber, Saber” while stomping their feet. She remembered many concerts she and Daisy had gone to in their misguided youth when they’d been just as rabid for their favorite bands.

Mr. Fourchier stepped up to the center of attention again and held his hands up for silence. It didn’t work. He spoke into the microphone, trying to speak over the kids and finally gave up after a good five minutes. He looked over at Ram with a helpless shrug.

The lion shifter lead singer stood and motioned for the other guys in the band to join him in the front of the crowd. The kids’ screams became wilder, shriller as their idols waved at them. Kitty glanced over at Daisy who was beaming at her mate, pride shining in her eyes. It was a great look for her cousin and she wished them all the happiness in the world, except Kitty couldn’t completely stifle the kernel of jealousy she felt at seeing the love evident between the newly mated couple.

She gave a mental headshake. She’d long given up on meeting a male she could trust with her heart again. The pain of Monk’s betrayal had scarred her and prevented her from getting close to anyone, even sexually, for a long time. One day, after several months of dodging phone calls and surprise visits and flowers and candy, she’d finally caved and agreed to go on a date with a wolf shifter who’d worked as a hair stylist for one of her first runway shows. He’d seemed harmless enough and part of her figured he just wanted to get his hands on her hair, but as it turned out, they’d become good friends and even better lovers. They’d broken their sexual relationship off when Colby met his mate, but they remained good friends. He’d helped Kitty get over a lot of her issues simply by explaining it wasn’t her fault her first love had been a fucked-up hick.

Now, years later, Kitty reveled in her sexual appeal. She’d had several lovers, some human, some shifters, but they’d all been friends she stayed in touch with. They’d become extended family. There was no jealousy or hurt feelings when the sex ended because they all knew it wasn’t going to last. It suited her hectic life, although part of her, a very small part of her, still wished to find someone who could pierce through the shields she built up after Monk.

Looking at Daisy go all soft and glowy for Ram, Kitty thought it might be possible for her. Maybe one day when I’m not trying to make my mark on the fashion world. She sighed softly, but smiled when her cousin looked her way questioningly. One day.

Once the band gave their thanks to the audience and talked a bit about their plans to lure more musicians to the area, they promised to stick around for autographs after the assembly was over. The crowd settled down again and Mr. Fourchier returned to the front of the gym.

“It’s time for the most important part of tonight’s gathering. I’m pleased to welcome Ramsey and the other members of Saber to our community and I hope they’ll learn to love it as much as we do. It’s always exciting to have celebrities in our midst, but it’s even more exciting when they’re one of our very own.” His small blue eyes zeroed in on Kitty who froze like a deer in headlights. “Kitty Chambers graduated from Pointe-Aux-Chat High School. She probably sat in this very gym at one point as bored as you students are now. But Kitty had a dream.” He looked somewhere over her head and nodded.

The lights went down and the big screen lit up again. This time though, it showed her high school graduation picture. A voice started speaking over the montage of pictures from her childhood. She recognized that voice as belonging to the back-stabbing bear sitting next to her. Kitty almost slid from her chair in mortification, but Daisy wouldn’t let her go.

“I’m going to kill you,” she whispered to her cousin, her bear not liking this any more than she did. “I’m going to skin you al—”

She lost all capacity for speech because there, on the huge television, was the picture she’d had in her locker of her and Monk. Her stomach flipped upside down. She’d thought that picture long gone. Her gaze skittered over to the male who shared the screen with her to see he still watched her, although this time he didn’t look pissed. Movement to the side of him drew her attention and she stiffened at the sight of Callie Hebert sitting next to Monk. As though they were a couple. Still. She glanced back at Monk, but he didn’t even pay Callie any heed.

Kitty looked away again because—God the expression on his face fucked her up emotionally. As if he were proud of her or something, but why should he even fucking care?

She breathed a sigh of relief as the picture slideshow moved beyond her high-school years to her life in New York. She frowned. Some of those pictures had been taken backstage at runway shows, or at private cocktail parties.

“How?” she asked Daisy in a low voice.

“I called your friends and they sent me what pictures they had of you,” Daisy whispered. “Girl, I had no idea you’d dated Steven Hains. Why didn’t you tell me? Do you still talk to him? Can you get me an auto—?”

A big hand clamped over Daisy’s mouth, interrupting her whispered gushing. “Let’s not talk about other males while you’re sitting next to me, baby,” Ram said to his mate before hauling her tight against him.

Still not liking becoming the focus of attention, Kitty squirmed as the narration continued, outlining the awards she’d won, the celebrities who wore her designs, and the fact that she was one of the few designers who made clothing strictly for shifters. She couldn’t help but preen at that last part. She took great pride in knowing all of her designs were shifter-friendly, meaning they were easy to get out of when shapeshifting from human to beast. It’d taken her years of experimenting with seams and draping before she perfected her art.

“Her designs have been featured in industry magazines as well as red carpet premiers and she’s only just begun. Maison Rouge is proud to welcome home our very own Kitty Chambers.”

Chapter Three

The lights came back up as applause broke out through the gym. Kitty’s cheeks burned from embarrassment, but she didn’t resist when Daisy pushed her to her feet. She hadn’t expected this at all, didn’t even want it. But then she made the mistake of glancing over at her parents. Her mama had tears streaming down her face and her dad, always so stoic, looked as though he was about to explode from pride.

Straightening her shoulders, she stood tall and plastered a fake smile on her face as Mr. Fourchier approached with the microphone and a massive key in his hands. Oh God, someone shoot me. This was just too fucking bizarre.

“On behalf of the Pointe-Aux-Chat Parish government, I’d like to present Kitty Chambers with the key to the city of Maison Rouge. We’re all very proud of her accomplishments and in honor of her achievements, we’ve named tomorrow, February 16, Kitty Chambers Day!” He extended the key in her direction.

Numb with disbelief and incredulity, Kitty accepted the heavy brass key. She stared at it long and hard since she’d never actually seen one of them in person. It was inscribed with the words, Presented on this 15th day of February, 2012 to Kitty Chambers in honor of her achievements. The people of Pointe-Aux-Chat are proud to call you our own.

She barely had time to marvel at the thing before something else was thrust in front of her face. The microphone. Startled, she shook her head at Mr. Fourchier, who only smiled brightly and grabbed her hand to haul her in front of the big screen. Damn boar shifters.

Oh God, oh God. She’d talked in front of the toughest crowds during fashion week, but the thought of speaking in front of her hometown scared the ever lovin’ shit out of her. There was no time to get out of it because the microphone was slapped in her hand and she was given a gentle shove forward.

Heart hammering and palms sweaty, Kitty looked at the mass of people staring at her. She’d avoided peering into the stands, but now she had no choice. She recognized a lot of faces, although they’d changed over the years. They weren’t baying for her blood, weren’t passing out rotten vegetables or stones to throw. They appeared genuinely happy for her.

She cleared her throat. Here goes nothing. “Thank you,” she blurted because that seemed the right thing to do. You were supposed to start off a speech that way. Maybe she’d have to find Mrs. Simmons after the assembly to find out how she did. “When I came home, I never expected this.” Truth. She’d expected to be run out of the parish at the very least, burned at the stake like Hester Prynne at the very worst. So yeah, this was a pleasant surprise.

Movement in the front row caught her attention and she saw her dad wrap his arm around her mom’s shoulders. Their presence steadied her. Her voice gained strength. “Having a dream is easy. Everyone dreams of something, whether it’s fortune or fame, but not everyone can achieve those dreams. I’m one of the lucky few. As I’m sure the guys in the band can tell you,” she said with a nod toward Ram, Nick, Craig, Trick and Leland, “it takes a lot of hard work and dedication, but most of all, it takes sacrifice. I gave up a lot to follow my dream. I left my family, my friends, and the only home I’d ever known.” She looked over at her parents. “Success isn’t much without those you love to share it with you. Mom, Dad, I wouldn’t have been able to do this without your support. Thank you. I also have to thank Daisy who modeled designs I came up with long before I knew what I was doing.” She laughed and smiled at her cousin. “I should pay you back for this by showing the pictures I took of you in my creations.”

Daisy’s face paled. “Don’t you dare!”

The audience laughed, some of the seriousness fading. Kitty sighed. “Just thank y’all from the bottom of my heart.” Mr. Fourchier fidgeted, drawing her attention. “Before I hand the mic back over, I’d like to say how proud I am of our parish government for their proactive plans to change Pointe-Aux-Chat. This is an amazing part of the world and it’s time we showcase it. Thank you.”

She passed the mic and made her way back to her chair with buckling knees. She fell onto the hard seat, not caring that it sent a spike of pain up her tailbone. “I’m going to murder you in your sleep,” she muttered to Daisy, who was grinning at her like the Cheshire cat.

“You’ll have to go through Ram to get me,” her cousin muttered back.

Kitty rested her head on Daisy’s shoulder, loving her cousin all the more for doing this for her. Turning the massive key over in her hands, she mused that it eased some of her past pain to be accepted and appreciated for her success. Her heartbreak had led to some amazing life experiences, so maybe it hadn’t been all that bad.

Of course, that still didn’t mean she was going to forgive Monk for it. If he even tried to talk to her as if the past never happened, she’d have to castrate him with a very dull knife.

* * * * *

Monk leaned against the wall, watching as the townspeople approached Kitty to hug her, shake her hand, take pictures with her, or get her autograph. She handled everything with ease, smiling and chatting with everyone. Even better, she seemed to be enjoying herself, pulling names out of her impressive memory to put with the faces that must be blurring in front of her eyes. She was simply amazing.

Nick tugged on a lock of her sleek black hair, making her laugh and bat at him. Monk gritted his teeth. It was as though the bastard wanted to be fed his own teeth. Every time he looked, the tiger was standing right next to Kitty, teasing her, making her laugh, giving her what looked like innocent touches, but every male recognized as a way of getting a female accustomed to your hand.

“You’re such a head case,” Daisy Lynn said, coming to join him along the wall without Monk realizing it.

He grunted at her. He and Daisy Lynn’s relationship had improved by leaps and bounds since they’d had their forced confrontation a couple of months before. She understood why he’d broken Kitty’s heart and he understood she’d always take Kitty’s side of any argument. Since Monk was all about protecting his mate, he appreciated Daisy Lynn’s stance when it came to her cousin.

She sighed. “Look, I didn’t want to get involved in this thing between y’all. She’s my best friend, you know? And as much as I’ve enjoyed rekindling our friendship, she comes first.” Her words were an eerie echo of his thoughts, something that she’d always managed to do when they were younger.

“I know that.”

“It’s just, after talking with some of her friends in New York when I was putting that clip together I realized Kitty has a whole life up there. She’s happy. She misses her family, but this town holds nothing but painful memories for her.”

Now that hurt to hear. “She hasn’t mated,” he pointed out. “Kitty always dreamed of getting mated and married.” At least that’s what she’d said when they were dating and talking about the future. Designing had been a secondary dream for her then. Fuck. He’d changed her goals by forcing that scene on her.

Daisy Lynn’s voice when she spoke again was uncommonly gentle. “She doesn’t want that anymore, Monk. We were talking about mating and the wedding and all she said was that she was glad she’d decided to stay unmated so she could enjoy the single life.” The scent of her unease was sharp. “I think she has a lot of…um, friends back home that she’s fond of.”

The cougar screamed in Monk’s mind, jealousy lending a red cast to his vision. Without conscious thought, he pushed away from the wall and headed in her direction. Daisy Lynn tried stopping him, but a near-silent hiss made her back off with her hands up and a look of chagrin on her face. Yeah, she’d opened a can of worms she probably wished she hadn’t, but Monk was actually glad he knew about Kitty’s other male friends. Because he was going to show his erstwhile mate that no one would ever love her as much as he did.

* * * * *

Kitty couldn’t believe how normal everything seemed, well, except for the whole people gawking at her as if she would suddenly spout another head thing. She was kind of used to that anyway. She might not be a top name in the fashion industry yet, but she’d dated a few celebrities who were fawned over all the time. She mostly went ignored, although there were some instances when she became the focus of attention with people wondering who she was, why she was with so-and-so, and if she was worth asking for an autograph.

It was a little weird to have the same people she’d feared from high school approach with their mates and kids, boasting about who sat next to her in English, or who was there when she tripped on the stadium bleachers and took out the whole dance team. It was embarrassing, but in a way she could handle. She’d forgotten about most of the things they mentioned, her whole past seemingly wiped out once Monk pulled his bullshit, yet those were the things her former classmates mentioned. No one even talked about them dating. They all wanted to focus on Steve Hains, the eagle shifter movie star, or Hank Morales, the polar bear boxer, or Ridley Scott, the golden bear shifter rugby player.

The entire time she chatted with people, Nick refused to leave her alone, pinching her arm, tugging at her hair or otherwise needling her until she was laughing hysterically. There was no arousal in his scent toward her, and despite the earlier flap where he’d breathed against her ear, Kitty wasn’t that attracted to him. He would insert himself in the conversation when he wasn’t besieged by rabid teenage fans, making all the women laugh and flirt back with him.

It was embarrassing and flattering and kind of nuts, but she loved every minute of it because the women wanted to ask her about her designs, Daisy’s wedding gown and the runway shows. Oh, and when they’d be able to afford her creations.

Kitty laughed. “I’ve actually been in talks with a few major department stores. I have a line in mind that I think would be fantastic for the everyday shifter woman, you know? I’m hoping we can wrap up talks soon and get into production within the next two years. As soon as I know I’ll—”

A big hand wrapped around her arm and tugged her away from the group. Heat scorched her through the material of her suit, the long-healed mating bite on her shoulder buzzing with sudden life. Whipping her head around, Kitty could only gape at Monk, whose gaze shot around the gym until he zeroed in on the doors leading to the locker rooms.

“What are you doing?” she asked, her voice coming out high and breathless rather than cool and demanding.

Butterflies in her belly heralded the return of an arousal she hadn’t felt since she was seventeen. She hadn’t understood how priceless the chemistry between her and Monk was; she thought everyone felt that way. It’d taken her years to understand that while sex was good with other males, with Monk it had been amazingly mind-shattering despite the slight pain of losing her virginity.

The hallway doors leading to the locker rooms burst open with a loud crack and slammed shut behind them. The musky scent of years of sweat, shifters and dampness brought Kitty right back to high school. It wasn’t dark in the hallway, but it wasn’t bright either, the outdated lights giving off just enough of a glow that she could see the glitter in Monk’s eyes when he turned to look at her.

Her mind told her this was not good at all, but her body practically melted when he gave her that Alpha glare. She didn’t dig the whole dominant-male thing. She actually liked it when she was treated as an equal, but in this moment, with this male, she wanted to drop to her knees in supplication and become his little sex slave.

No! Bad, Kitty. We’re not going there again. This is one predator who’ll tear us apart and make us wish we were dead. Again. And then her brain had the nerve to give her a play-by-play memory of the days, weeks and months she’d cried herself to sleep in her shoebox of an apartment in New York from heartache and loneliness.

The memories were a much-needed reality check. Her body was still soft and warm and ready for Monk, but Kitty had proven before that she was stronger than her physical form. She pulled away from him, her wrist snapping out of his hand with enough force to make him stumble a bit.

“What the fuck is your problem?” she asked in a voice that was all pissed-off grizzly.

He swiped a hand over his mouth with a wince, but he didn’t look away from her. No, Monk stood his ground just like he had that day he had Callie Hebert’s tongue down his throat. For a moment, she held her breath, her anger abating a little because he looked so pained and nothing like the confident male who’d enthralled a whole gym of people with his plans for the future. If she wasn’t mistaken, he looked…remorseful.

Then he opened his mouth. “You shouldn’t let Nick touch you like that. He’s just trying to get you in bed.” He folded his arms over his chest. Kitty barely refrained from gaping at him, not that Monk seemed to notice. It seemed in fifteen years he’d turned into a preachy, self-righteous prig who thought it was his business what and who she did. “He’s been through nearly all the females in town. You’re fresh prey to him. It wouldn’t do your reputation any good to be seen with him.”

That motherfucker. Kitty had never thought she could actually become angrier than she’d been that day fifteen years ago, but Monk managed to push her to greater heights of emotional trauma without trying much. The bastard.

“Do you really think so?” she asked in a purposely unsure tone. Oh, he was going to wish he’d never opened this can of worms.

He nodded, looking superior and attractive and God, she hated him. “I’m sure he seems safe because he’s a friend of Ram’s, but he’s a womanizer.”

Kitty bit her bottom lip and wrinkled her forehead, playing this moment for all it was worth. Monk’s face twisted as though it broke his heart to tell her this. The hypocritical asshole. “You mean he might, I don’t know, say he loves me, use me for my body, and then tell people about it making me a social pariah?”

That’s when Monk’s eyes widened. She could see him trying to formulate a response, so she went in for the kill. “Maybe he’ll tell me he loves me and then promise a lifetime of happiness and when I believe him, he’ll turn on me.” She paused to tap a finger against her jaw in faux deep thought. “Although, you know I think I’ve used that move myself a few times. It’s amazing how effective it is, huh, Monk?” She smiled using all of her teeth. “Thanks for reminding me of it. I’ve wanted to yank that tiger’s tail for days. I hope Ram doesn’t mind when I use and abuse his poor friend, but somehow I don’t think Nick will complain.”

“Baby, I’ve been hoping that’s what you wanted ever since I saw your sweet ass,” Nick’s deep voice said from the entry behind her. Before she could expire of mortification, he spun her around and gave her the worst kiss she’d ever had and that included the one Matthew Parker had given her in kindergarten.

Knowing Monk watched, the scent of his anger rising around them, Kitty latched on to Nick like the pleco fish one of her exes had in his aquarium, all suction and little joy. The kiss probably looked a lot worse than it was. Nick didn’t even attempt to slip her some tongue. Actually, now that she wasn’t looking at the reason for her heartbreak, Kitty realized Nick’s lips were pressed to the corner of her mouth, his hands in nonsexual places.

Tears burned the backs of her eyes as she realized he was saving her further humiliation. God bless his sweet, tattooed heart.

He pulled away, his golden eyes tender when he looked at her. “C’mon baby, let’s blow this popsicle stand.”

Kitty knew her smile was wobbly at best, but she gave it to him anyway. “Sounds good to me, tiger.” She glanced over her shoulder at Monk, whose body practically seethed with strong emotion. “Thanks for your worry over my reputation. It’s a rare friend who cares.” She was going to throw up, but she snuggled into Nick’s side. “Let’s get out of here. It was…interesting seeing you again, Monk.”

Allowing Nick to lead her out of the hallway where the air had grown suffocating and thick, Kitty willed away the hurt.

I think that went well. At least I didn’t kill him. But God, she needed a drink, maybe a few hundred if she was going to wipe the memory of this encounter from her brain.

* * * * *

“You’re a dumbass.”

Monk barely paid attention to Ram’s astute observation, too busy staring at the doorway where Kitty disappeared with the tiger.

You mean he might, I don’t know, use me for my body and then tell people about it making me a social pariah?

The “like you did” went unsaid, but it’d been a direct hit regardless. He hadn’t meant to say anything about the tiger. He’d wanted to apologize for hurting her, but the minute she turned on him, her bear bristling with hostility, his brain tripped up and all he could do was spout that bullshit about Nick, his possessiveness roaring to the forefront and obliterating all common sense. It was a hard admission for him to make, but this Kitty Chambers, the woman she’d become, made him feel like a complete idiot.

A sentiment Ram obviously shared. The lion came to stand next to him, disgust twisting his face. “You seriously tried to warn her away from Nick? Are you trying to push her into bed with him?”

The garbled snarl that escaped his throat came out a cross between “no” and “I’ll kill him”. Neither of which impressed Ram. Monk sucked in a deep breath to calm his cat, who wanted to chase after his mate and the fucking tiger. “Spying on me, lion?” he asked instead of punching the most convenient warm body.

Ram let out a disgusted sigh. “No, Daisy told me she saw you drag Kitty down the hall, then I saw Nick coming this way and figured I’d better make sure there was no bloodshed. These Lebeau woman get ornery around cats, it seems.” He turned to Monk. “What the fuck was up with that holier-than-thou speech anyway? You know how oppositional-defiant Daisy and her kin are.”

His throat made a clicking sound as he swallowed. Yeah, he knew how much the Lebeau women hated being told what to do, although Kitty had never before displayed that stubbornness. It was practically part of their genetic makeup handed down from Fleur Lebeau, the bear-shifting lady of the night who’d come to Louisiana from France to be a bride. She’d pretty much flipped off the King of France and in outright defiance opened a brothel. He’d always admired Daisy Lynn’s strength of will knowing she was an almost direct throwback to her ancestor who’d defied a king, but preferred Kitty’s soft sweetness. Now it looked as though his mate had discovered that previously untouched part of her heritage.

And it turned him on. God, did it. His mating mark had flared to life the instant he touched her arm. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t touching skin, he could feel the heat of her body through the thin material of her jacket and it made his cougar yowl in excitement. His ears buzzed, his cock throbbed and his brain went on hiatus and apparently he said stupid shit designed to remind her of what he’d done to her.

“Son of a bitch,” he muttered under his breath, running a hand over his face. “I don’t know what the fuck I was thinking. I saw her and…” His voice trailed off before he admitted, “I went all reverend caveman on her. Fuck.”

“Dipshit,” Ram said in total agreement. “She’s going to be hard to pin down after this.”

He knew. And it wouldn’t help that he’d practically thrown her to the tigers. His cougar snarled in rage. Yeah, yeah, join the club. I’d love to kick my ass too. “I’ll figure something out.”

Ram snorted and started walking way. “You’d better because if you piss Daisy off I won’t stop her from kicking your ass this time.”

The double doors slammed closed behind the asshole lion, leaving Monk alone in the hallway. God, he’d fucked up so bad. He scrubbed a hand over his face. For the last two months, ever since Daisy Lynn made him see sense about how he’d wronged Kitty by not trusting her to take care of any kids they’d have, all he could think about was how to win her back. The tainted blood his mother had passed down to him wouldn’t have mattered to the old Kitty. She would have loved him anyway, would have taken every precaution to make sure their children were safe, so he wouldn’t try to kill them the way his mother had tried to kill him. But he’d arrogantly thought Kitty too sweet and gentle to handle the troubles he brought with him.

Not for the first time, Monk damned his bloodlines. As he stormed from the gym, taking the back way out of the building to avoid running into anyone, he thought about everything he’d learned about his fucked-up family. His mother had been locked up in an asylum after trying to kill him, his father telling everyone in town that she’d died of cancer to avoid scandal. Walter, his dad, had been the last of his line and his mother, Carla, had been the center of his world until he’d discovered her trying to kill his son.

Monk stumbled into the cool night air and breathed deep. Walter had told him Carla claimed her mother tried to kill her as well when she was young. Monk had no reason not to believe it, not when it had pained his father to admit he’d made a mistake in marrying Carla. He’d never come out and said he regretted Monk being his kid, but Monk had read between the lines. He was the last of Carla’s line and it was a line that needed to die with him. At least, that’s what he’d thought fifteen years before.

It was a case of too little too late. After he’d dropped Kitty off at home that fateful night, he’d gone to his house to tell his dad his plans to marry Kitty since he’d just marked her. Oh the plans he’d had. They would graduate, he’d go to work offshore if he had to, but he’d marry his girl and start a family. That was all he could think about, his teenaged single-mindedness almost causing him to attack his father when the truth came out.

Yeah, things had not gone well that night. He and his father had fought. Not verbally, but physically. Monk taking his pain and anger out on the man who’d lied to him his whole life, the man who made it impossible for Monk to have Kitty. He’d roamed the woods after the fight and found himself behind Kitty’s house. He watched the light go off in her bedroom, eyes burning with unshed tears. It’d been the longest night of his life, but when he went to school the next morning, it was with a plan to make her hate him.

Monk grunted as he climbed in his car and closed the door. The Mustang was a relic from his days in high school, one he couldn’t force himself to get rid of because it was where he and Kitty had spent so much time. Talk about fucking torture. Her scent had faded long ago, but those first few days after the breakup, he’d sit in his car and just breathe her in.

He rested his head on the steering wheel, his shoulders bowed under the pressure of wanting to find her right now and explain himself. He couldn’t though. She’d been seriously pissed off. With the way his luck was going tonight, he’d stare at her blankly and blurt something inappropriate. Again. Then she’d kill him. He didn’t doubt for a minute that Kitty’s bear wanted to lob him off at the knees and he wouldn’t even blame her for it.

But there was still tomorrow. Sucking in another deep, steadying breath, Monk sat up and stared through the windshield at the parking lot as it emptied of cars. Kitty was staying in town until at least Daisy’s wedding, which was a little over a month away. As long as she didn’t do another disappearing act, he’d catch up with her and next time he wouldn’t act like an ass.

He hoped.

Chapter Four

Two weeks later…

Monk glared at the flowers sitting on his desk. For two weeks his sly mate had eluded him. He had no idea how she knew when he was visiting Daisy Lynn and Ram because he never announced his intentions to go to Red House, but he’d always arrive right on the heels of her leaving. Her scent would linger in the air, taunting him and driving him fucking insane. He’d tried sending her flowers and the next day the flowers would be sitting on his office desk, the note still attached with no signs of being opened. His office was starting to look like a Goddamn funeral parlor and Monk had finally reached the end of his rope.

Shoving to his feet, he glared at the vase of roses as though they morally offended him. He was going to corner the bear in her den, or in this case, her parents’ house. He knew she was there. Everyone else in Maison Rouge seemed to have seen her or talked to his Kitty at some point in the past two weeks except for him. She’d stopped to visit Mrs. Haydel, had tea with Monica Doucet and her group of friends, helped a couple of the teenage girls pick out dresses for prom, and had even gone out drinking with Daisy Lynn and the boys from Saber at The Goose. But Monk had seen neither hide nor hair of her since the night of the assembly.

“Ginny!” he shouted at the top of his lungs.

His assistant, a human and a damn good asset to the Festival Committee, appeared in the doorway, her eyes wide. “Yes, Mr. Badeaux?” she asked in a timid voice.

He bit back a groan. “God, Ginny, we’ve been working together for five years. Couldn’t you call me Monk?” Even though he knew it wouldn’t do any good. She’d go right back to calling him Mr. Badeaux in an hour, making him feel as though he should be using a walker.

Her fingers twisted together. “Yes, M-Monk,” she squeaked. She cleared her throat. “Was that all you needed, sir?”

He sighed. “No. Have someone bring these flowers to the Senior Citizen’s Center. I’m sure some of the ladies there would like them.” He pushed to his feet. “I’m leaving for a few hours, hold all of my calls. If anything urgent comes through, send me a text.”

Ginny nibbled on her lip as she watched him shut down his computer and gather his things. “What do you want to do with the uh, cards?”

“Burn them.” Because what he had to say to his woman couldn’t be said on a piece of paper anyway. “I’ll be back later.” He slammed out of the office, the scent of flowers clinging to him as he strolled to his car.

“Monk,” Sheriff Thomas Picou called out, “comment ça va?”

Stifling another groan, Monk turned to face his mate’s uncle. “Hey, Thomas, ça va bien, et tu?”

“Comme ci, comme ça,” he said with a waggle of his hand to the left and the right in a universal “so-so” gesture. “Daisy’s wedding is making me crazy.” He shook his head. “I never did see so many women get worked up for a three-hour event. Claudette’s got magazines all over the house and I can’t move a single one of them without her raising hell.”

Despite his rush to corner Kitty, Monk couldn’t help but grin. “It’s a big day for the bride and the mother of the bride.”

The bobcat shifter scratched the side of his nose. “Mais,yeah, I know that, but Kitty’s been actin’ strange too, like this wedding dress she’s makin’ is life or death.” He made a clicking sound with his tongue. “Pauvre bête barely sleeps and you should see what she’s been wearin’ around the house! Pants with the holes in them all over the place. She told me they’re designer, but the last time I saw pants like that I was throwin’ them away.”

Monk’s cougar had perked up at the mention of Kitty, but it didn’t like what it heard. “She’s staying over at your place?” he asked in a casual tone he hoped Thomas wouldn’t question.

The sheriff nodded, his gaze flickering beyond Monk’s shoulder. “Yeah, she was driving Francine crazy with her late hours. Claudette doesn’t mind so much because she’s used to me doing shift work, besides, it gives her a chance to harass Kitty about the dress when she wants to. We would’ve put her up at the rental, but those musicians are stayin’ there until the wedding since they don’t want to intrude on Daisy’s and Ram’s privacy.” He narrowed his eyes on something over Monk’s shoulder and cursed. “I have to go. I see Martha Bourdier in the front window of the Dollar House, stuffin’ somethin’ in her underwear.” He started away, his short legs carrying him across the street faster than one would expect.

Monk watched him go, puzzling over everything he’d said. Kitty wasn’t staying at home and he doubted it had anything to do with her hours. No, she’d gone to her aunt’s house because it was close to Nick. It had to be. He’d heard over and over what an attractive couple they made until he wanted to slash throats with his claws. His worry that he might have pushed Kitty right into the tiger’s arms dyed his vision red and made his cougar hiss with anger.

Cursing himself lower than a flea-bitten dog, Monk hopped in his car and tore off down the street in the direction of the Picous’ house. He’d been there enough times throughout his friendship with Daisy Lynn to be comfortable going over without calling ahead. Besides, if he called ahead, Kitty would know and might try to duck out on him. Again.

I’ve got you now, baby, and this time I’m not leaving until we talk.

* * * * *

“I’m sorry, cher, but she’s busy,” Claudette said when Monk knocked on her door. She stood in front of him with a harried expression. “I poked my head in the door to tell her I was leaving for work and she snarled at me. At me! Her own aunt.” The black bear shifter sniffed and stepped outside, forcing Monk to back up to give her room. “I’m sure she’ll have more time to visit with everyone as soon as she starts sewing the underdress.”

Monk had no idea what she was talking about. “When will that happen?” he asked as he walked Daisy Lynn’s mom to her truck.

Claudette waved her hand. “I don’t know. She’s got me so crazy. She barely let me see the design she came up with saying it needed tweaking. I don’t know if Daisy has even seen it.” She threw her purse and another bag onto the truck’s bench and turned back to him. “Kitty is completely unreasonable about this, but Daisy tells me she’s an artist and she needs her space. Well, how am I supposed to know what to wear to the wedding if I don’t know what the gown looks like?”

“I’m sure she doesn’t mean anything by it, Ms. Claudette,” Monk soothed. He even patted her shoulder. “I’m sure Kitty knows what she’s doing. I mean, she’s a professional, right?”

* * * * *

“Goddammit,” Kitty muttered under her breath and bit the tip of her tongue to get it Just. Right. It didn’t help. “Fuck, fuck, fuck. I’m not giving up until I get this.”

“Kitty Marie Chambers, I’m shocked.”

The unexpected sound of Monk’s voice jolted Kitty out of her fascination with Angry Birds. Almost jumping out of her skin, she looked up to see Monk poking his head through the open window, grinning at her. It was a sight reminiscent of the times he’d done the same thing at her parents’ house. He’d climb the tree next to her window, sit on the porch roof and talk with her for hours. And that was before they started dating.

He stood with his arms draped over the sill and a friendly, open grin on his face. She could almost imagine they were fifteen again and he’d come over to her house to tease her about spending so much time studying. Except he didn’t resemble his teenage self any more than she did.

“What are you doing here?” she asked as she dropped her smartphone on the sewing table she was supposed to be working at. “Where’s Tante Claudette?”

“You mean the poor bear sow so desperate to see her daughter’s dress she’d risk a grizzly bear’s displeasure? She went to work, which you probably would have known if you hadn’t been playing a game on your phone.” He leaned farther in the window, craning his neck to see the screen of her phone. “Angry Birds, Kitty? I’m well and truly shocked. You wouldn’t have shirked work for a game when we were kids. And I ought to know since I tried getting you to do just that on more than one occasion.”

She folded her arms over her chest to hide the way her nipples had tightened in interest as his scent wafted into the room. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t smelled him a mile away, but the stress from being home, making Daisy’s dress and the memories that tried to crush her every time she went to town made her brain fuzzy. She hadn’t slept well since the night of the assembly.

It wasn’t just the memories though, oh no. If only that were her only problem. It was the fucking dreams she wanted to avoid that left her staring at the ceiling until she passed out from exhaustion. Hot, sticky, dangerous dreams that involved her and Monk and a variety of positions she’d never even known were possible. She only thanked God that Daisy’s old bedroom was on the opposite end of her aunt’s house, otherwise her relatives would smell her arousal or hear her when she came. Because her dreams always ended with her hand buried between her legs, her pussy clamping on nothing.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded in an ugly tone that she hoped would discourage him.

Her body and her subconscious mind might have forgotten what he’d said to her two weeks ago, but her brain hadn’t. Neither had her bear and it set her to seething. She’d tried to think of other, more important things, like the gown she needed to make for her cousin, but the echo of Monk’s words haunted her, made her feel cheap and dirty, something she’d worked very hard to get over once before.

His grin faltered and his eyes darkened. “I wanted to apologize for what I said.”

Kitty went cold, hot, then cold again. “Which time?” She couldn’t resist baiting him and faked a grimace. “Well, I suppose I should say this time since the last time you never actually said anything to me, did you?”

She shouldn’t have gotten such sadistic pleasure in the tide of color that flooded his face, but she did. Kitty mentally licked her finger and gave this round to herself.

Monk cleared his throat. “God, Kitty, I’m so fucking sorry for all of it.”

“That’s nice,” she said without much interest.

She forced her eyes away from him, turning to look down on the gown she was designing for Daisy. It was the kind of dress Kitty would have made for herself back in the day. Well, not exactly the same. Back then she’d been nothing but raw talent and dreams. She hadn’t refined her craft, something she wouldn’t have cared about anyway. All that would have mattered was the male she met at the end of the aisle. The same male who’d stolen that dream of happily-ever-after from her. Kitty and her bear wanted blood.

“It’s funny, but I tell people I’m sorry when I bump into them by accident, or when I interrupt someone’s conversation.” She looked up at him and pinned him in place with her gaze. “I don’t tell people I’m sorry when I try to ruin their lives. I don’t apologize because I’m such a sick, miserable fuck that I get off hurting other people. Do you know why, Monk? Because until now, I never wanted to hurt anyone. Until you.” Her heart slammed against her ribs, adrenaline coursing through her body at finally telling the bastard what she thought of him. “Now, if you’d like to keep all of your parts intact, I suggest you get the fuck out of the window.”

The hurt that flashed in his eyes didn’t give her the satisfaction she thought it would, but she couldn’t back down. “You think I don’t know how inadequate sorry is, Kitty? Fuck, I’ve lived with what I did to you for years and then when I see you again, instead of begging for forgiveness, I lecture you.” He sounded disgusted with himself.

But her mind snagged on the most important part of what he’d said. “You’ve lived with it for years?” she asked as she leapt to her feet, anger scouring her veins. “You’ve lived with it? You son of a bitch!” Storming up to him, she poked him hard in the chest. “I was humiliated. For the first time in my entire life, I felt cheap and dirty and it didn’t help to have all of my ‘friends’ give me the cold shoulder, or ask me if I was available for a quick fuck.” Tears burned her eyes. Those same people fawned over her now, as if it had never happened.

She poked his shoulder, her claws itching to spring out of her skin and shred him to pieces. “I was counting the days to leave this town, to leave my family, all because of you. It took me a long time to realize not all males were dipshit assholes who only think about themselves. Years, Monk, before I could trust anyone with my body, all because of you. And you have the fucking nerve to act like you’re the one who suffered?”

With a move too quick for her to register in her furious state, Monk’s hands went to either side of her head. In a swift, gentle motion, he pulled her forward and kissed her. The move was so unexpected and so reminiscent of the times he would calm her with a gentle press of the lips, Kitty stood frozen for a moment.

He didn’t give her brain a chance to catch up. Between soft, nibbling kisses that didn’t press for more, he whispered against her mouth, “I’m sorry.” He brushed his lips against hers. “Forgive me.” He pressed a soft kiss to the corner of her mouth. “I’m so sorry, Kitty-Cat.” His tongue lapped at her bottom lip. “So damn sorry.”

He really is sorry.

Her greatest fears since returning to Maison Rouge came to life. He was touching her, kissing her, apologizing in the sweetest way, and her body was melting. Her bear threw her headlong into that kiss. The bear didn’t care that the woman wanted to punch this male in the nose. The bear recognized her mate’s scent, recognized his taste, and she wanted more.

“No,” she mewled into his mouth when her lips finally parted against her will. She was so angry, so impossibly furious with him, yet there was no denying how much her body craved his. The combustible chemistry between them in full swing, just like it’d been fifteen years ago.

Take him, use him like he used you. Tit for tat, Kitty.

And as crazy as it should have seemed, Kitty’s body was all on board with the idea of taking her revenge out of Monk’s hide. Or rather his dick.

He fucked her mouth with his tongue, banishing any further feelings of doubt. Kitty needed. She hungered for him. She suckled him, the mint and cinnamon taste of Monk seeping into her veins, drugging her the way it always had. Her hands sank into his thick hair, holding him in place, the edge of the windowsill digging into her stomach. Heat pooled between her legs, desire dampened her thighs, her lack of panties only making her hotter. Only Monk had ever had the power to turn her on this much and she silently thanked him for fucking her over all those years ago, otherwise she would’ve had to go on disability from riding him like a cowgirl every minute of every day.

Big, hot hands drifted down her back to cup her ass through the thin material of her skirt. She always wore loose, comfortable clothes when she was working because she needed to feel free. But it had the added bonus of being easy to get beneath, as Monk proved right now, his hands pulling her skirt up to her waist. She knew the instant he realized she wasn’t wearing underwear because his breath hitched and he paused. He muttered something under his breath and cupped the bare globes of her ass, the faintly rough pads of his fingers sliding across her tender skin.

Kitty rocked her hips, the sill hampering her movements. She needed to have him inside her now. With the desperation of a woman on the edge, she tugged Monk through the window, his long body landing on hers, although not fully because he managed to catch most of his weight on his hands so he wouldn’t crush her. It made her heart do a stupid, unnecessary flop, but she chose not to pay attention to that.

Because once she rolled them so she was on top, Kitty had Monk right where she wanted him. The bulge of his cock pressed right against her bare pussy. She wiggled back a few inches, knowing she couldn’t get to him if she sat right on top of him. A feral growl rumbled in the back of her throat as she hiked her skirt higher, not to provide him with a show, but to get at the zipper of his pants.

He caught her hands with his, stopping her from reaching her goal. “Baby, slow down.” His voice was rough and ragged, telling her he was nearly as crazed as she was. “We don’t need to rush this.”

But they did because if she let him slow down, she’d come to her senses and kick his ass for being a bastard. So she used a dirty trick, one she’d learned from him, but never attempted before because she’d been far too shy.

Kitty licked her lips, letting her need shine in her eyes as she looked down at him. He looked sexy with his hair all tousled, his face dark with need and his lips slightly puffy from their kiss. If she weren’t in such a rush to fuck him, she’d let him do the one thing she hadn’t back in high school and let him eat her out. Her pussy creamed at the thought of straddling his head and riding his face. Maybe if the heat became unbearable again, she’d try that. Right now, she wanted cock.

“I want to fuck you, Monk.” She pulled on her hands to get him to release them. His eyes widened at her words. He’d always been a sucker for dirty talk. “I want to slide that big cock in my pussy until you’re buried to the hilt.” Kitty’s heart hammered as her words conjured images of doing just that, her inner muscles clenching in anticipation. “I want to ride you hard and fast, feeling every inch of your cock inside me, ramming into me over and over again. I’m so wet for you right now, my pussy aches.”

He let go of her hands, panting harshly as he hurriedly undid his belt and the button of his slacks. Kitty watched in hungry excitement as he unzipped his pants, his cock nearly bursting out of the opening. Long, thick and ruddy with lust, Monk’s cock looked like the perfect fit for the need pounding through her. Well, soon to be pounding in her, she thought with a sly smile that faded when he fisted himself and stroked.

“You want this?” he asked in a near growl. “You want my cock, Kitty-Cat?”

Instead of answering him, Kitty reached out to swipe the pearly bead of pre-cum coating the tip of his cock and sucked her finger clean. She moaned at his taste, richer than his kisses, but definitely Monk.

“Fuck, that’s hot.” His fingers circled the base of his cock, squeezing.

She chuckled, releasing her finger with a pop. “Bet I can get you hotter,” she boasted as she reached for his cock, needing to guide him to her aching cunt.

He allowed her to take control as she used the crown of his cock to stroke between her slick folds, wetting him even as she teased herself, every brush of his hardness against her clit making her gasp. Holding his length between her folds, she rocked her hips, riding him in a slow, steady glide that left her panting for air.

Monk’s hands gripped her hips, his claws piercing her thin skirt to score her skin. The slight pain caused her nipples to tighten into aching peaks. She wanted to rip her top off, to give him her breast to suckle, but knew if he saw what she’d done with his former mating mark, he’d go ballistic. Keep shirt on, get cock in pussy. It sounded like a plan.

She guided his cock, now soaked with her juices and his pre-cum, to her entrance and pressed down. It’d been a while since her last lover, but even if it hadn’t been, David hadn’t been nearly as wide at the tip as Monk. Luckily, she was so worked up that it didn’t take more than a slight burn and a little sweat for her to slide all the way down his length. She didn’t stop until her pelvis rested against his, her eyes closing with the exquisite pleasure-pain of his thick cock buried deep inside her.

“Goddamn,” he spat, his voice sounding strained. The hands on her hips dug deeper, the claws lightly piercing her skin. “Don’t move yet. Don’t— Let me get some control, or I’ll come too—”

Kitty rocked her hips, a moan bursting out of her as his shaft slid along her inner walls, the friction sending pleasure darting through her body. It felt so good, so fucking perfect she couldn’t have stopped if she wanted. And she didn’t want to. Not now.

Monk deserved a fucking medal. He gritted his teeth, the tight clasp of Kitty’s body holding him like a silken fist. He’d tried holding her still, tried reasoning with her, but it seemed his Kitty-Cat had a mind of her own. Thank God because this is the most pleasure I’ve ever known. But it was too much.

Then his little beast lifted her lips and slammed down on him. His cougar urged him to give his mate the hard fucking she demanded, but Monk fought for control. There were…things he wanted her to know. Important…things, he was sure. It was hard to tell because his mind went fuzzy from the sound of her moans as she rode him faster, the feel of her pussy sliding up and down his dick, clenching and fluttering around him. The scent of her arousal grew thicker until he swore he could taste it on the back of his tongue. His cougar wrestled for dominance, his claws digging into her skin until the coppery scent of blood joined the musk of her need. It was that combination of smells that helped Monk’s cougar take the lead.

Rolling Kitty onto her back, Monk released her hips to grab her hands and pin them to the floor. She writhed beneath him, her bear’s strength testing his own, but in a fight for dominance, he didn’t pull any stops. When it seemed as if she would flip them over again, Monk ground his hips against hers, the crown of his cock hitting her deeper than ever.

“Oh,” she gasped, her body going nearly lax beneath him. But then she wrapped her legs high on his waist, bringing him in even deeper. “More. Harder. Now.”

Normally Monk enjoyed slow, almost torturous lovemaking, but Kitty made him feel like the beast living beneath his skin, like fucking her was life or death. Bracing his knees on the floor, he had to clench his jaw tight as he withdrew his cock. The relief when he slammed home again caused sparks to explode behind his eyes. He needed more of her, he needed all of her.

He transferred her wrists into one of his hands so he could free the other one. Gripping her thigh hard, he shifted it to drape over his shoulder, changing the angle of his thrusts. Thanking God that his Kitty was a flexible girl, he gave it to her hard and fast, the slap of his balls against her ass punctuating the air.

“Yes, yes, yes,” she chanted as he fucked her like a madman, her inner muscles tensing around him. “Fuck me, fuck, fuck, fuck!”

Her last words ended on a shriek as her orgasm crashed through her. If he had been in control, the way he was used to, Monk would have enjoyed watching her fall apart. He could have ridden her through the orgasm and made her crest again. Purposely. But once her tight pussy started clamping and clenching around him, the base of his spine tingled, his balls tightened and he blew the tip off his dick with the power of his climax.

Grunting loudly at the force of his release, Monk’s hips hammered into Kitty, his cock jerking into her, making her moan as her pussy started up another round of clenching and clamping and milking. He was completely fucking lost in her, his climax bursting out of him, bathing her with his seed until he had nothing left. Yet his body still humped against her, not ready to leave the warm, wet haven of her pussy despite the sensitivity of his cock.

Minutes later, possibly hours going by his shuddering muscles and hopelessly limp dick, Monk slumped over Kitty. Breathing in the combined scent of sex and blood, his cougar let out a purr of satisfaction. Their mate had allowed them to have her, had demanded it really. It was a good fucking day. And as soon as he was able to move again, he’d pull her shirt to the side and remark her.

Monk closed his eyes, content and happy for the first time since he’d purposely hurt her so many years ago. This was where he was meant to be, buried deep inside his mate— With her hand shoving him away. Still a little boneless from the force of his climax, Monk rolled off Kitty with a groan, his cock sliding free of her.

That was fine. He’d just lie here until he had enough energy to put Kitty over his lap and spank her soft ass. He was the dominant male and if he wanted to sleep in the female he loved, he would and she’d like it. His cock should have been wrung out and waving the white flag, but the minute he thought about how tight and wet and hot Kitty’s pussy was, it stirred with interest.

Interest his mate didn’t share because he heard her moving next to him. “Well, that was nice,” she said in a bright, chipper tone.

Monk squinted at her through one eye to see her get to her feet, her skirt falling down to cover her gorgeous legs. “Nice?” he managed to croak, his voice rough from all the panting and grunting he’d done. She’d made him come like a porn star and she thought it was fun? How about amazing, or exceptional, or even awesome?

“Mm-hmm,” she murmured as she moved across the room to the dress form with things pinned in it like a voodoo doll. “Be sure to lock the door behind you when you leave.”

That roused Monk enough to sit up and stare at her. Kitty ignored him, picking up a length of fabric and draping it over the shoulder of the form. “Leave?” he asked, feeling like a fucking macaw, repeating everything she said. He cleared his throat and tucked his cock away to feel a little less vulnerable in the face of his insane mate. “I’m not leaving yet.”

She laughed, further proving she’d lost her fucking mind. “Of course you are. I have work to do.” She glanced at him over her shoulder, her dark eyes twinkling. “It was fun, Monk, but you didn’t think it was anything more than sex, did you?”

Stomach twisting with dread, Monk got to his feet and tried ignoring how slack and weak his muscles felt. “What? Of course this was more than sex. This was us getting back together.”

The sparkle in her eyes died and her full, kiss-swollen lips tightened. “There is no us and there definitely won’t be any getting back together.” She straightened and turned to face him, looking completely unlike the woman he’d just made love to on the floor. “This was just us scratching a mutual itch and while it was good, it was only sex. So thank you.”

Monk’s brain scrambled to figure out what she was doing. There had to be another reason for this about-face. He’d apologized to her. Thinking back to the frantic, animalistic coupling, he realized she hadn’t once looked at him with tenderness, the way she used to. She hadn’t said “make love to me”. She’d said “fuck me”. His cock twitched again because the one time they’d been together, he’d tried to get her to tell him what she wanted, but she’d been too shy. Well that’s certainly changed.

“You’re getting back at me for what I did.” It made sense. He’d hurt her a lot worse than he’d intended and she wanted to strike out at him for it. “But you never let me explain—”

“No, I didn’t because it doesn’t matter anymore.” Her voice was cool and collected, the look she sent him just as contained. “And yeah, maybe part of me wanted to have sex with you in some weird sort of revenge, but it was more that I wanted sex and you provided. Is that so hard to understand?”

Anger flaring at her dismissive words, he stepped closer to her. “Yes, it’s fucking hard to understand. Is this all some kind of game you’re playing to make me feel even worse about what I did to you? I hated myself for it, okay? I still fucking do, but I never stopped loving you!” The disbelief on her face caused the dam to break, words pouring out of his mouth without conscious thought. “I was afraid that if we mated, I’d kill our cubs, okay? I was scared of killing the love you had for me.”

She blinked at him and shook her head. “What?”

Monk’s anger deflated just as quickly as it arose. He ran a hand through his hair. “I went home after, well after we made love and I told my dad I was going to mate and marry you. He told me the truth about my mother. She didn’t die of cancer the way he told everyone. She tried killing me when I was a cub and he had her committed to an asylum.” He blew out a hard breath at the incredulous expression on her face, his heart thumping madly. “It’s hereditary, Kitty. Nearly every female on my maternal side either killed, or tried to kill her children. And God, I loved you so fucking much.” His throat tightened, but he forged ahead anyway. “You were everything I wanted, my best friend, my lover, my mate. Everything. And I couldn’t put you through the worry of wondering when I might snap.” He took a step forward, beseeching her with his eyes. “I only wanted what was best for you.”

She shook her head again, her face pale and her eyes wide. Taking that small movement and her expression as rejection, Monk let out a snarl of rage at himself, at her, at everything, and slammed out of the room. She’d gotten exactly what she wanted. He was leaving, but he wasn’t about to let this stop him from claiming her again. She was his and always would be. She just didn’t know it yet.

Chapter Five

“You had sex with Monk?” Daisy asked with wide eyes and a gaping jaw.

Kitty didn’t say a word, her focus on the material she was cutting for Tante Claudette’s mother-of-the-bride gown. In the three days since she’d taken Monk down like a gazelle in Daisy’s old bedroom, Kitty had worked like a demon, her mind finally clear enough to finish most of Daisy’s wedding gown and start on her aunt’s. She almost felt the way she had when she first began designing, the excitement of the concept coming to life in front of her eyes keeping her going. Not that she’d ever stopped enjoying her art, but after several years it became a job. Now though, she couldn’t seem to stop coming up with ideas, designs flowing through her mind.

When her back ached too much from sewing, she’d sit on the front porch and sketch out other concepts she wanted to use in her everyday shifter clothing line. It felt good. Too bad the rest of her felt like shit. Monk’s face when she couldn’t say a word to him about his revelation haunted her. Her shock had known no bounds and she hadn’t been able to speak. It’d hurt and enraged him. She’s seen that clear enough. The scissors flashed as she followed the line she’d marked out, the sharp blades sliding through the silk like butter, freeing her design from the rest of the fabric. If only everything in life could be fixed with a pair of scissors, a few pins and a neat hem.

Because her heart felt ragged after what he’d told her. She didn’t doubt his word. He might have been able to lie to her all those years ago with his actions, but her beast had heard the agony in every word he spoke, the heartbreak. His mother tried to kill him. Her heart bled for the young cub she’d grown up with and the man who carried the burden of his genetics. But she couldn’t make herself seek him out. Not yet. Because while he hurt from his family, she still hurt from him. God, it was a fucking mess.

“How was it?” Daisy suddenly asked, breaking into Kitty’s thoughts.

“How was what?”

The scissors were snatched from her hand. “The sex! God, Kitty, where in the fuck is your brain today? I come over here to see how the dress is coming along and the first thing you tell me is, ‘I fucked Monk Badeaux on the floor of your childhood bedroom. Do you feel traumatized?’ and then go back to doing,” she waved the hand wielding the scissors, causing Kitty to duck, “whatever you’re doing and you don’t expect me to ask you questions?”

Kitty’s cheeks heated at her cousin’s incredulous tone. “If you don’t keep it down, your mama’s going to hear you screeching and come up here,” she whispered as she grabbed the scissors back from Daisy. “And I’m cutting out the pattern to her dress which is a fucking surprise. If you ruin that, I’ll put a big bow on the ass of the gown I’m making you.”

“God, not a bow,” Daisy groaned. “Okay, fine.” Her voice lowered. “How was the sex with Monk? Did you treat him like a dirty, naughty boy?”

This time it was Kitty’s jaw that dropped even as she felt as though her face was on fucking fire. “Daisy Lynn!”

“What? I’m just askin’.”

Kitty slumped in her chair. “It was fucking fantastic. And I didn’t treat him like a dirty, naughty boy. I treated him like a whore.” She groaned and covered her face with her hands. “He was just lying there looking all sexy and sated and…and satisfied, like he finally got his way. So I just had this urge to take him down a notch and I told him it was just sex, then I told him to get out,” she said in a big rush.

It made her feel worse looking back on it now because he’d honestly believed they were getting back together. She was such a bitch.

She peeked through her fingers for Daisy’s reaction. It was exactly what she expected. Daisy’s eyes were wide with shock, her mouth a perfect O of surprise. God, if I shock even Daisy, what did Monk feel like when I did that to him? Guilt, something that had been hanging over her head for days, settled heavier on her shoulders. Her mama had always told her two wrongs don’t make a right and she’d wronged Monk because he’d wronged her.

A groan built up in her throat, but didn’t make it out because strong arms wrapped around her, compressing the air from her lungs. She looked down to see Daisy hugging her, her brown eyes sparking with delight.

“You’re my motherfuckin’ hero, Kitty. Mon cher bon Dieu! What did he say? Did he cry? Please tell me he cried.” She gave another enthusiastic squeeze of her arms. “Well? You’re not going to leave it at that, are you? I need details, bitch.”

“Can’t. Breathe.”

“Oh.” The arms let go and Kitty dragged in a much-needed breath, but Daisy didn’t let her recuperate for long before she grabbed Kitty by the shoulders and shook her. “Tell me fucking everything!”

Kitty slapped away her cousin’s hands, her grizzly a little stronger than Daisy’s black bear. “What? Why? What does it matter to you what happened?” Because she couldn’t share the heartbreak she’d seen in Monk’s eyes, or the way his face had fallen. It hadn’t brought her any enjoyment, only more confusion and pain.

Daisy pulled back with a frown. “Because he’s an ass. I mean, we talk and everything, but you should see the females in town just about throw their panties at him like he’s Tom Jones or something. Hell, not even Ram gets hit on as much as he does.”

“Because they know you’d kill them if they did,” Kitty said wryly, purposely ignoring the part about Monk.

“This is true, but you, my most wonderful, awesome, man-killer friend, have brought the manwhore down. You should have, I don’t know, made a plaster of his cock and had it framed because as far as I know there isn’t a single female in the parish who hasn’t taken a ride on the cougar and come out the winner. Hell, just this morning I saw Callie Hebert chasing him down Main Street wearing this ridiculous little—” Daisy’s eyes widened and she clamped her mouth closed as though realizing she might have said the wrong thing.

And if her aim was to keep Kitty calm and mellow, her cousin had definitely fucked up because Kitty’s mind could too easily picture Callie’s thin body wrapped around Monk’s the way it had so many years before. This time though, Kitty was hauling around a fully grown grizzly in her soul and this bear wanted blood.

Her bear let out a roar that made the walls of the room shake. Daisy paled, her eyes as big as saucers. Fangs punched out of Kitty’s gums, her claws sliced through the tips of her fingers. She even felt the layers of muscles behind her neck twisting as her bear tried to burst free of her human skin. It wanted to go out and maim the little slut who thought to put her hands on Kitty’s mate.

She fought the change because a grizzly shifting on the second floor of an older home was never really a good idea, but it came anyway. Her clothes, one of her designs, fell away without tearing, but Kitty barely had a chance to enjoy the success of seeing her craft at work. Her bear wanted to snap Callie’s birdlike neck. With the animal guiding her, Kitty stormed out of the bedroom and down the extra-wide stairs.

“Oh shit. Kitty! Stop,” Daisy called out, racing after her. “She didn’t catch him. Damn. Mama, open the front door!”

Kitty’s bear didn’t pay attention to anything but the need to get outside and hunt her mate down. Tante Claudette appeared in the foyer, her eyes wide, but she still flung the door open before Kitty reached it. Then she was outside, her head tilted back as she let loose with a grizzly’s enraged roar.

She was going hunting.

* * * * *

Monk glared at the annoying female sitting across from him. “I was eating alone,” he snarled. “The diner has several other places to sit.”

Callie only laughed, tilting her head back as though he’d told the funniest joke. “Oh, Monk, you’re just a grumpy kitty today, aren’t you?”

Grumpy didn’t even begin to express his frame of mind. He hadn’t seen his mate in the three days since his confession. No one in town had seen her either. Oh sure, Claudette said she was working hard, but Monk had seen Kitty playing Angry Birds. He smiled, wondering if the title of the game should be changed to Angry Bears and the pigs replaced by cats. It would be a hit.

“Now that’s what I like to see,” Callie said with a lilt to her voice. “I’m glad you’re happy to see me because I wanted to talk with you about— Holy shit!”

Monk blinked at his high school one-night mistake to see that her face had paled considerably as she stared at something over his shoulder. Wondering what could have possibly made the annoyingly bold female react that way, Monk looked over his shoulder and beheld his mate lumbering down Main Street, headed straight for the diner.

He leapt out of his chair, heart in his throat. Kitty would never in a million years take to the streets in her bear suit if something wasn’t wrong. Ignoring the squawking coming from Callie and whispers from the other townspeople, Monk hit the door at a dead run, his only thought to get to his mate. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t contacted him since he told her his dark secret. It didn’t matter that he’d been miserable every fucking minute since that day. She needed him and he would be there.

Monk ran forward, meeting her in the middle of Main Street, his gaze flickering over her. He didn’t smell blood, didn’t see any damage to her, which meant she was here on someone else’s behalf. She had to be.

“Kitty-Cat, what’s wrong? Is it—?”

He didn’t get to finish the question because his calm, rational mate wrapped her mouth around his arm, careful to keep her fangs from puncturing his skin and began dragging him down the street. Monk didn’t fight her, not that it would do any good. Kitty outweighed him in her current form and he wasn’t exactly in the mood to lose a limb. Whatever reason she had for coming to get him in town was a good one.

She didn’t take him far, pulling him down one of the side streets, before she guided him down an alley behind Zack Trahan’s bakery, and relative privacy. She released his arm, but didn’t shift right away. No, she backed him against the wall with her size and began to sniff him.

Monk stared in bemusement at the massive head of his mate as she wiggled her snout over the front of his body. It was weird, but even weirder was his body’s reaction to it. His cock hardened and his balls grew tight. He shifted his feet to relieve the pressure on his groin and bit back a moan when Kitty’s snout lowered to that area. He didn’t know what she was looking for, but if she didn’t stop, she’d get more than she bargained for.

Just when he thought he might embarrass himself by coming in his jeans like a teenager, she shifted to her human form. Not that a naked Kitty would help him discover his control. She hadn’t allowed him even the briefest glimpse of her body except for her pussy during their encounter at her aunt’s house. He could paddle her ass for that because Kitty full grown left him with a leaking dick.

“I can smell her on you,” she growled without an ounce of shame at her nudity.

Monk wanted to look her in the face, to find out what was going on, but her breasts had him hypnotized. They swayed with her every breath, the dusky-brown nipples tight from the slightly cool air. His gaze wandered farther south, taking in her indented waist, full hips and the smooth, bare mound of her sex. He licked his lips, the throbbing in his cock magnified by the sight of her nude body.

Fingers snapping in front of his face brought Monk’s gaze back up to stare into a pair of pissed-off dark eyes. “You’re not even listening to me,” Kitty accused, putting her fisted hands on her hips. “You’re something else, Monk Badeaux. You have sex with me and three days later, you’re taking Callie Hebert out to lunch?” Before he could defend himself, she threw up her hands. “I don’t know why I expect better of you. God knows you did the same fucking thing when we were in high school. I…”

But he wasn’t paying attention, again. But this time it was because the movement of her hands drew his attention to her shoulder. Specifically the spot where he’d placed his mating mark. It would have healed over years ago, not even leaving a scar. No one would have known about his marking her, except she’d had the words “Never Again” tattooed in the exact spot his teeth had struck. The letters were thick and heavy, surrounded by a band of barbed wire.

He reached out to touch it, ignoring the way she went still and stopped talking. The marking was smooth, all silky skin, but he still felt something when he touched it. Painful guilt. Kitty had talked about how scary she found tattoos when all of their classmates were getting them. She didn’t like needles and she didn’t like the thought of being permanently marked by something she might hate later. And yet she’d braved the needle to thumb her nose at him and at the whole concept of mating. It was a permanent reminder of what he’d done to her.

Dragging his gaze away from the marking, Monk met her eyes. “It’s good work.”

“I know. A friend of mine did it.”

He nodded, letting his hand fall from her shoulder, his fingertips skidding down her arm in a last caress. For the first time since she shifted to her human form, Monk found it easy to look her right in the face. “You’ll never be able to forgive me, will you?”

Kitty looked away from him, her throat rippling as she swallowed hard. “I don’t know.” She glanced back at him. “I probably would have gone the rest of my life without coming back here and been happy, you know? I didn’t come here to rehash the past or anything, Monk. I wanted it left where it was, but seeing you again,” she shrugged, “it brought a lot of memories back.”

Monk stuffed his hands in the pockets of his slacks. “Yeah, I’m sorry about that too.”

To his surprise she snorted. “Don’t give yourself that much credit, cat. Not all of my memories are about you.” She rolled her eyes. “I think being home has shown me that if it hadn’t been for you,” she swallowed hard again, “breaking it off with me like that, I would have stayed here. I would have been happy, I know, but I wouldn’t be designing, which I love. So maybe it wasn’t all for nothing. I don’t know if I can forgive you. What you did was awful, but,” she shrugged, “maybe I can learn to get over it.”

“Just give me a chance, Kitty, that’s all I ask.”

Her teeth sank into her bottom lip, the unconscious move making lust zing through Monk again. “Okay,” she said after a few, tense seconds. “But I swear to God, if you go near Callie, I won’t be held responsible for what I do.”

This time it was Monk’s turn to frown. “Callie? She sat down with me, but that’s all.”

Color bloomed in her cheeks and her dark eyes darted away from him. “That’s not how Daisy made it sound,” she muttered under her breath.

Thinking back over Kitty’s run into town in her bear form, the way she’d tried to go after Callie, and the sniff test she’d given him a few moments before, Monk was able to put the pieces together and damn, but it made his heart thump like a damn tympani. She was jealous of Callie. It felt good to know she still cared. The warm and fuzzies faded because he didn’t want her hurt by the stupid bird.

“I haven’t touched her since that one time in high school,” he blurted before she could think that he actually wanted Callie. “I don’t want her, you know. She just follows me around and—”

“It’s okay, Monk,” she cut in with a smile. “It’s not like I expect you to actually live up to your name. I’d just like us to be exclusive while I’m here.”

Wait, what? “What do you mean? Of course we’re exclusive. You’re my mate.”

Her lips thinned and she got that stubborn look on her face again, the same one she’d had the other day when she told him it was just sex. “You’re jumping to conclusions again, cat. I never agreed to be your mate. I’m just barely agreeing to starting our friendship over.”

“Friendship?”

“Well yeah, why not? We used to be friends and this time around, we’re old enough to enjoy a sexual relationship without strings attached.”

“What?” he choked out, still not sure he understood what she was saying. “You want to be friends with benefits? With your own mate?”

She frowned at him. “We’re not mates, Monk. An old, faded bite does not a mate make. As for being friends with bennies, I can’t deny that I really enjoyed having sex with you and I’d like to do it again.” She wasn’t as blasé about her words if the color of her cheeks was any indication.

He wanted to roar at her, snap at her and tell her fuck no, but his cougar, that crafty, wily hunter, stopped him. It knew Kitty was theirs. It also knew she was bound to be stubborn no matter what he told her to convince her they belonged together. The only solution would be to make her see it. He’d once told Ram that Daisy wouldn’t believe he loved her if he didn’t show her. Those words came back to haunt him as he stared into Kitty’s beautiful eyes. His mate needed to be shown she was the one he loved, the only one he needed.

Monk couldn’t help the smile that pulled at his mouth, or the heat that pooled in his groin as he scented her arousal. He knew exactly how to show his Kitty-Cat she belonged with him forever.

Kitty waited for Monk to tell her to fuck off, to demand his rights as a mate, to try to mark her again, something. He did none of those things. His slow smile was pure sex, the dark light in his green eyes making her heart race and her pussy weep in anticipation. She didn’t know what changed his mind about coming after her in full mate mode, but she was glad for it. Chasing after him in bear form, smelling his arousal on his skin, had left her feeling frisky.

She hadn’t lied to him. She wasn’t ready for them to pick up where they’d left off. Kitty wasn’t sure she’d ever be ready for that. And yet she couldn’t deny herself the pleasure only Monk could give her. Even without him touching her, without him pounding deep inside her, she quivered with need. It was only for him and had always been that way. What that said about her heart, Kitty chose to ignore. The physical was so much easier to handle than the emotional. Besides, her body ached for him.

So when Monk grabbed her by the shoulders and spun until her back was to the brick wall he’d been leaning against, she went with the flow. He pinned her in place, his nostrils flaring as he no doubt caught the scent of her arousal. I’m practically begging for it. If he hadn’t moved me here I probably would’ve dropped to the ground and raised my ass in the air for him to mount me. Hmm. Her body flushed all over at the thought of him pounding into her from behind, his claws digging into her as he fucked her to orgasm. Maybe next time.

Because he chose that moment to dip his head, his mouth plundering hers until she couldn’t breathe. The material of his shirt, while soft, abraded the aching peaks of her breasts causing her pussy to nearly drip. She should have been embarrassed by how wet she’d become from a kiss, but she didn’t care. It would make it easier for him to thrust into her.

Kitty moaned in the back of her throat, her hands tugging at his hair. She arched against him, pressing her breasts to his chest appreciating the long kiss, but wanting so much more.

As though he read her mind, Monk pulled back, his face flushed with lust. “Are you ready for me, Kitty-Cat?”

Her womb clenched, more moisture slicking her passage, but instead of falling into a puddle of painful arousal, Kitty gave him a challenging smile. “Give me whatever you have, cat.”

His pupils exploded. With a snarl, he spun her around to face the wall. Kitty winced as her nipples brushed the rough brick and she braced her hands against it to keep them from being rubbed raw. She should have been more specific about how she wanted this. As hot as it would be to fuck him against a wall, she would have preferred something like plaster since it would have been easier on her—

The press of his cock against her slick nether lips barely prepared her for his entry, the hard, long thrust as he pushed into her until the fabric of his pants met the backs of her thighs burning her from the inside out. She moaned at the sudden invasion. He felt so good inside her, his cock hitting all the right places and filling her to the brim.

“You like that, don’t you, baby?” he asked in her ear. His tongue swiped over the sensitive lobe, making her cream, another bolt of desire making her shiver around him. He chuckled. “You always did like having your ears played with, huh? I was disappointed when I saw you’d cut your hair off, but I like knowing I can do this,” he leaned forward to suckle her ear lobe and she cried out, “without moving your hair aside.”

“Monk, move, dammit!” She tried to buck her hips against him, to get him to move, but he grabbed her with strong hands and held her still.

“Not yet, Kitty-Cat. You had your fun last time, now it’s my turn. So stay still,” he admonished with a light slap against her left ass cheek. He stroked his hands over her ass, massaging lightly. “Do you have any idea how fucking sexy this is, baby? You completely naked, pressed against a wall, me still covered except for my cock which is buried inside you? I can see how much I stretch you and if I do this…” He pulled out just a little. “I can see your juices on my dick.”

Kitty’s eyes rolled to the back of her head at the slight movement, her pussy tensing at the decadent drag of his shaft against her inner walls. “Please,” she breathed, resting her forehead against the wall. “Please fuck me.”

He purred. “I love it when you talk dirty. Tell me something else and I’ll give you a reward,” he urged with a flex of his hips that sent his cock back inside her.

A hiccupping breath escaped her. He wanted her to talk? She could barely remember her own damn name. “Fuck me,” she panted, trying to twist her hips to make him move.

This time, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pressed hard against her. It made the crown of his cock nudge her cervix. A high-pitched keen escaped her at the burst of near-painful pleasure.

“Tell me what you want me to do, baby,” he said again, his other hand sliding up her stomach to capture one of her breasts in his palm. “Do you want me to fuck you hard and fast until my balls are slapping against your clit? Do you want me to take you slow so you can feel every ridge of my dick inside you?” He pinched her nipple, tugging gently. “Do you want me to put my hand on your pussy so I can play with your clit while I fuck you? Tell me and I’ll give it to you.”

Kitty was panting, wheezing in fact. When she’d challenged him, she’d expected him to be impatient to come. She wasn’t prepared for this in-control Monk. Her claws had punched through the tips of her fingers the second he spanked her. She dug into the brick to keep from lashing out at him, her bear wanting to come. The male had her pinned, his cock inside her. He should be fucking moving, but go figure, her cougar had a plan up his sleeve to drive her crazy.

She licked her lips, her mind picturing what she wanted. She’d never really done dirty talk except for that one time three days ago. But it seemed Monk wasn’t going to let her come without a little effort on her part.

“I want you to fuck me hard and fast, like you want to come before someone passes the end of the alley and sees us.” The words were almost garbled from her raspy breathing.

His hips moved, his cock withdrawing from her before returning in a hard thrust. “Like that?” he asked in a raspy voice.

“Mm, yes, like that, but faster. I want to feel your cock piston inside my pussy. I’m so wet for you, Monk, so wet and ready and—”

An inarticulate cry escaped her as he fulfilled her wish. He held her body immobile with a hard arm around her waist, his hips slamming against her ass as his cock tunneled into her. The wet, slick sounds of their bodies meeting mingled with his rough pants in her ear. The hand on her breast slid down between her legs, his fingers finding the swollen bud at the top of her slit.

Kitty threw her head back to rest on his shoulder, groaning cries wrenched from her throat as he tortured her clit, giving her just enough pressure to let her know he was there, but not enough to bring her over. His clothing scratched against her hypersensitive skin, adding another layer of eroticism to an already overwhelming buffet of arousal.

“Fuck me, Monk,” she ordered, her tits bouncing with his hard thrusts. “Make me come.”

Movement out the corner of her eye caught her attention and she turned her head to see someone peeking out of the door of the building they were fucking against. Her vision was too fuzzy from need to tell who it was, but knowing someone was watching Monk mount her caused her to shake from head to toe, her orgasm roaring up from nowhere.

Kitty moaned loudly, her pussy giving one last warning flutter before she exploded in a million pieces. “Yes! Yes!” she screamed as Monk gave her hips a little jostle that changed the angle of his thrust.

The slight change caused the length of his cock to glide across a small bundle of supersensitive nerves. White-hot pleasure flashed through her. A sound that was a cross between a roar and a cry escaped her, her orgasm going from awesome to oh-my-God-I-think-I-might-die-from-the-pleasure and Kitty had never embraced the thought of death with as much zeal as she did now.

She clenched around him, making him grunt, his hands sliding down to cup her hips, holding her in place for his pleasure. His slams became more erratic, his breathing more labored, the tension in his body evident in the hard grip he had on her.

“Come in me,” she whispered in a voice that was hoarse from too much panting and moaning and, oh yeah, screaming. “Come inside me, baby.”

With a strangled roar, he did, his cock jerking inside her, his heat bathing her channel. He pressed his forehead between her shoulder blades as he continued to slam into her, his claws threatening to break through her skin. Kitty moaned, her pussy fluttering around his still-pumping cock, a warm wave of contented pleasure washing over her. It’d never been like this with anyone else and she felt a tiny spark of fear in her soul because she knew she’d never find another who made her feel this way.

“God, woman,” Monk purred against her spine, placing soft, nibbling kissing over her shoulder blades. “The top of my head just about blew off.”

“Mm.” She pushed the fear away for now. This was just temporary. Monk wasn’t the only male in the world. She’d find someone when she was ready to mate. If she was ever ready. “That was amazing.”

He nipped her with his teeth. “Better than just nice?” he asked in a teasing tone.

Kitty craned her head around to see him, but only managed to catch his sexy smile out the corner of her eye. “A lot better than nice,” she shot back, giving her internal muscles a little squeeze.

Monk sucked in a hissing breath, his body shuddering against her. “Evil woman.” He kissed her spine again and moved away, his cock sliding out of her. “We’d better go,” he said as he started to fix his clothes. “Someone might—”

“Kitty Marie Chambers!” an all-too-familiar voice shouted at the edge of the alley.

Whipping around, Kitty saw Daisy standing with her arms crossed over her chest and a frown on her face. Shit.

“Daisy Lynn, it’s not what you think,” Monk said, coming to stand in front of Kitty as though he could protect her from her cousin’s wrath. “She was—”

“She scared the living daylights out of Mrs. Boudreaux who was watering her garden when Kitty came barreling through in full bear-rage mode, then she almost made William Foret drive his lawnmower off the road, not to mention the phone calls from the Rise N’ Dine about a rabid grizzly bear who kidnapped you,” she paused for breath, “and then I find she just finished fucking you in an alley?”

Kitty cringed at the reminder of everything she’d done, but her stomach twisted into knots as she waited to hear Daisy’s verdict. It was one thing to defile her cousin’s childhood bedroom and a completely different thing to have sex in an alley where anyone could hear them, and someone most definitely saw them.

“Kitty Marie, you’re a pervert.” Daisy’s loud voice bounced off the walls of the alley. “A pervert who probably just scarred Zach Trahan for fucking life.”

“Not for life, although I’ll definitely be having nice dreams for a few months,” a wry male voice said behind them.

Monk spun around, his face twisted in surprise. “You won’t be thinking of it for long if I bust your fucking head open,” he snarled at the tiger shifter who owned the building they’d just fucked against.

Kitty’s face exploded with heat. God, what did I do?

“Let me get you home before my daddy comes out here to investigate,” Daisy suggested with a shove of Monk’s shoulder. “Get outta my way, alley cat. Taking advantage of my poor, sweet, innocent cousin in an alley of all places. You’re a pervert too.”

“Wait a second,” Monk stated, reaching for Kitty, but Zach, always something of a hothead, sauntered up with a cocky grin.

“You’re gonna what, little kitty?” he taunted.

Before Kitty could correct Daisy, apologize to Monk, or threaten to kick Zach’s ass, her cousin had dragged her out of the alley and threw her into the front seat of her cruiser. She looked back in time to see Monk and Zach rolling around the alley.

“You have to stop them,” she told Daisy when her cousin climbed in the truck.

Daisy peered over her shoulder. “They’re okay. Not using claws or anything. Besides, after the show you gave him, I’m sure Zach has some energy to burn and Monk is wishing he could punch me in the face like that, but won’t because he knows I’d kick his ass.”

Kitty sighed as she turned away from the sight of Monk and Zach duking it out. Shifting to get comfortable on the seat, she squirmed at the feel of something rough beneath her tender ass. She looked down to see Daisy had brought a towel with her.

“You’re such a whore.” Daisy’s words were harsh, but she said them with a small smile as they drove out of town, leaving the fighting males behind.

“You’re one to talk. At least I didn’t have some guy eating me out while I was on the phone with my mother,” Kitty shot back, wrapping the towel around her naked body. “Thanks for the towel.”

“Ram likes to catch me when I’m distracted,” Daisy defended herself. “You practically pillaged today.” She sniffed. “I’m so proud of you. And I brought the towel because I refuse to have Monk’s love juice staining my seats.”

“Daisy!”

Her cousin only grinned and gunned the engine. “Dude, you can’t play the good girl with me anymore. I now know you’re the kind of girl who drags a man into an alley and fucks him within an inch of his life and does it with someone watching.” She held up her fist. “C’mon, give me some, you kinky bear.”

Kitty groaned and slumped against the door. She was never going to live this down.

Chapter Six

“Kitty. Kitty, wake up.”

A low whisper and a gentle push on her shoulder roused Kitty from sleep. She grumbled and buried her head under a pillow. She was having such an amazing dream. Monk had her tied up to his bed—which she’d never seen—and was licking honey off her skin. They’d just gotten to the point where he was devouring her pussy when someone rude wanted to wake her up.

“If you don’t wake up now to stop that boy, Thomas is gonna go after him with his gun,” Tante Claudette insisted in a soft whisper. “Now get up.”

Her last command was accompanied by a sharp slap to Kitty’s ass. Kitty let out a muffled yelp and sat up to glare at her aunt. A glare that died as her aunt gave her The Eye. Damn, they should not be able to do that to fully grown women. But she looked down anyway.

“Sorry, Tante Claudette,” she mumbled as she rubbed at her eyes. “What’s wrong? Who’s getting shot?”

Claudette folded her arms over her chest, her long nightgown a lot prettier than Kitty would have expected of her straitlaced aunt. “Monk’s gonna get shot if he doesn’t stop that caterwauling. Thomas has been working fifteen-hour shifts this week with one of his deputies out and he’ll either shoot that idiot, or arrest him.”

Kitty gaped and vaulted out of bed, throwing on her short silk robe. “Monk? Where? What’s he doing?”

“Don’t you hear it?” Claudette asked, cocking her head to the side.

Pausing in the process of grabbing her sneakers, Kitty listened as well and heard…music. “What in the world?”

She darted out the guest room, down the stairs she’d nearly broken in her haste to get out of the house the day before, and onto the porch. After that, she wasn’t sure she could walk anymore, or breathe. Because Monk stood in front of her aunt’s house wearing his high school letterman jacket. It was a little tight around the shoulders, but she remembered wearing it during Mardi Gras and breathing in his scent embedded in the material.

That wasn’t what stopped her short though. No, it was the fact that he was holding an iPod over his head with Peter Gabriel’s In Your Eyes playing. A bubble of laughter traveled up her throat, but she held it back. Say Anything had been one of the movies she adored as a teenager and she’d made Monk watch it with her at least half a dozen times. And now he was reenacting her favorite scene as best he could.

His green eyes dared her to come out to play. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Claudette close the door. Turning back to Monk, Kitty wrapped one arm around the porch post to keep from throwing herself at him.

“What are you doing here?” she asked in a low voice to keep from waking up her Nonc Thomas.

He shook his head and still holding the iPod high, held one hand out to her. Kitty stared at his hand, part of her dying to take it to see what he was up to, but the other, more experienced Kitty warned her not to do it. Monk was charming. She knew that better than anyone. If she went to him whenever he called, she’d be no better than the teenage girl who’d given him her heart.

He crooked his finger at her in a come-here gesture, a wicked smile playing at the corners of his mouth. Kitty licked her lips and shook her head. “What do you want?”

“Come with me and find out.”

She should not be doing this. She was thirty-two years old, for crying out loud. She didn’t go jaunting off in the middle of the night in her pajamas, especially when the man she wanted to go with was the same one she’d wanted to kill only days before. Yet her feet still moved forward, her arm falling away from the pillar she’d been clinging to.

Kitty reached for his hand and felt something inside her snap into place when his fingers closed around hers. He lowered his arm holding up the iPod and tucked it into the pocket of his jeans.

“C’mon, Kitty-Cat,” he said in a near whisper and tugged her hand to get her moving.

She followed him down the driveway, her sneakers protecting her now-tender feet from the gravel. Years ago, her soles would have been tough enough to walk on the limestone without noticing. City living had changed her. Closing her eyes, she scented jasmine, grass and Monk. How many times had she and Monk dropped Daisy off after curfew and taken off as soon as the front door was closed? She chuckled softly. Too many to count. And every time, Monk would drive her to the spot by Bayou Rouge where they would fog up the windows of his Mustang.

He stopped walking and she opened her eyes to see he’d walked them right up to the same Mustang he’d had in high school. It was in much better condition now than it’d been back then, but she had a lot of memories tied up with this car.

“What are we doing?” she asked again now that they were farther away from the house.

Monk dipped his head to kiss her softly on the lips. “I want to make out with you.”

She couldn’t help but laugh. “What? Here?”

“No,” he said rubbing his nose against hers. “I want to take you to our spot like we did when we were teenagers.”

Kitty shivered. It was as though he was in her mind and she didn’t know if she liked it. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said slowly. “This is just friends with benefits, Monk. If you’re trying to recreate something—”

He placed his fingers against her mouth. “No, baby, I’m not trying to make up for anything. I was tuning up my car earlier and I thought how much fun we used to have together in our spot. I wanted to see if it’s still as much fun as it was. That’s all. I promise.”

She studied him in the meager light and saw the seriousness in his eyes and scented the spice of his arousal. Making out with Monk in his car as if they were teenagers again? What could be the harm in that?

“Okay.”

* * * * *

Their spot hadn’t changed much over the years, but only because Monk had purposely purchased this piece of land not long after he graduated from high school. It might have been morbid of him, but he’d wanted to own the land where he’d taken Kitty’s virginity. In the years since, he would visit the small plot nestled between thick oak and cypress trees that grew along Bayou Rouge. This was their place. The place where they’d lie together on a blanket or on the hood of his car and make plans for their future together.

With his cougar’s idea to seduce her into being their mate in mind, Monk had spent the time between fighting with Zach and tonight, coming up with plans that would end with Kitty accepting another mating mark. The first step in the plan was to make her fall in love with him all over again. He hoped coming back here to neck like a couple of teenagers would remind her of why she’d loved him in the first place. He felt like a fucking genius for the John Cusack impersonation even though he’d had to settle for his old high school letterman instead of a trench coat. The look in Kitty’s eyes when she saw him had made his heart rate increase and the rest of him go to mush.

He loved her more than he had fifteen years ago and it was time she knew it.

Shutting off the engine, Monk glanced over at Kitty to see her staring out the windshield as if she couldn’t believe her eyes. With her distracted, he took a minute to take in the very short shorts she wore, the little tank top that didn’t do much to cover her breasts, and the silk robe. Oh, and he couldn’t forget the sneakers. He grinned at his woman’s feet.

“What are you grinning at?” she asked in a playful tone that made his cock stand at attention.

He unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned back, spreading his arm over the back of her seat. “Your feet. You stopped to put shoes on. Not slippers, but shoes.”

She rolled her eyes. “Well, when Tante Claudette woke me up, I wasn’t sure what to expect. She just said Nonc was going to shoot someone.”

“Kitty Marie, were you worried about me?” he asked in fake astonishment, pleased when his acting made her cheeks flush. “That’s so sweet.”

“Shut up, Monk Paul,” she sassed back. “I didn’t want to have to take down my uncle before he committed murder. What in the world were you thinking?”

He reached over to stroke the long length of her neck. “I was thinking that you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen and I had to see you tonight.” The skeptical look she sent him made him want to laugh. He held it in though. Barely. “You think I don’t find you gorgeous, Kitty-Cat?”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re a male who wants to get in my pants, Monk. Of course you’re going to think I’m attractive. I don’t mind though ’cause I want to get in your pants too.”

His cougar purred. She was being playful. Perfect.

“Well why don’t you come over here?” he asked with a pat on his lap.

She eyed the bulge at his groin. “That doesn’t look very comfortable.”

“It’s the best seat in the house,” he said with a fake leer. He grinned at her laughter. “C’mon, sugar, give me some sugar.”

She kicked off her shoes and crawled closer to him across the gear shift, the scent of woman and spices filling the air. Without her needing to ask, Monk eased his seat all the way back, memories of doing this exact same thing years ago crashing through his mind. Having a lap full of Kitty Chambers had been some of the happiest memories of his youth.

When she swung her leg over to straddle him, he held his breath and let it out with a shuddering groan as she lowered herself directly over his cock. He could feel her heat through his denim and her thin shorts and all he wanted to do was dive right in, but he wasn’t here to make love to her. He was doing this to show her he had restraint. He did have restraint, right? Right?

His heart thundered in his ears when she wiggled in his lap. “Why, Monk, what a big…stick shift you have.”

“Brat,” he groaned as he gripped her hips to hold her still. Not that it helped much. He could smell her arousal and almost taste the honey between her legs. “You know, I never did get to taste you,” he mused out loud. She went still on top of him. “I spent hours and hours jerking off as a teenager thinking about burying my face in your pussy, lapping at you until you came.” Her scent grew stronger and her nipples hardened beneath her tank top. “It was my number-one fantasy, followed by taking you in every position known to man.”

Her hands came up to rest on his shoulders, her hips grinding a wicked little circle against his denim-covered cock. “And now? What’s your number-one fantasy?”

To mark you again and make you mine, this time forever. The words were there on the tip of his tongue, but he held them back. She’d only go back to defense mode if she suspected he was doing any of this to mate her again. Instead, he said, “It’s still my number-one fantasy, except this time I’d lay you out on the hood of the car and eat you out that way.”

The way she shivered told him she wasn’t completely opposed to the idea, but February was still a little too cool for that kind of play. If he could convince her to stay home, he’d wait until March or April to make love to her on the hood. For now though, he’d play with her and hopefully keep his cock in his pants.

Kitty looked down at him, her dark eyes wide, her lips parted on panted breaths. “Kiss me, Monk.”

He slid his hands into her short hair, cupping the back of her skull. He kissed her with everything he had, trying to convey to her exactly how much he needed her, loved her and wanted her. He tried to tell her with the almost reverent way he brushed his lips against hers, in the way he kissed the corners of her mouth, or when he nibbled on her bottom lip. She was gasping by the time his tongue delved between her lips, her sweet and spicy taste flooding him.

Her hands scrambled against his shoulders, clutching him tighter to her, her breasts pressed into his chest. The heat in the car was getting unbearable as his temperature began to rise. Remembering he still wore his jacket, Monk tried to get out of the fucking torture device, but it was too tight in the shoulders now. He’d had to strain to get in it in the first place.

His flailing tore his mouth from Kitty’s and one of his hands slapped her shoulder. “Ow! What are you doing?” she asked in a breathless voice.

“I’m trying,” he grunted and sat forward only to press her into the steering wheel, or rather the horn, which let out a loud bleat, “fuck.” He sat back against his seat. “I’m trying to get out of this fucking jacket.”

He grunted again, still struggling with the sleeves when he felt her shaking against him. Startled, he looked up to see she had her hand pressed over her mouth, her eyes wide with laughter as she giggled.

“Think that’s funny, huh?” he asked, relaxing back against his seat. She nodded with her hand still over her mouth, looking so damn beautiful it made his heart ache. He smiled at her. “It’s probably a good thing I couldn’t get out of this jacket because I didn’t bring you here to make love to you.”

Her laughter died. “You didn’t?”

Monk shook his head, his hands coming to rest on her bare knees. “Nope. I came here to make out with you. Clothes on.”

She pouted and crossed her arms over her chest. “But I’m horny now.”

He coasted his hands up her long, silken thighs. “I can take care of that,” he murmured as he came closer and closer to the edge of her shorts. “Lift your shirt over your breasts.”

“No. You said clothes on,” she told him with that damn stubborn tilt to her chin.

He shrugged, his thumbs flirting beneath the edge of her shorts, close to the wet heat of her cunt. “That’s okay, I can work around that.”

Leaning forward, he captured one of her hard nipples through the thin material of her top, his thumbs finding her slick flesh. She wasn’t wearing panties. Again. He almost came right then and there. He definitely liked this new Kitty. Hell, he loved her and not just because she seemed to have developed an aversion to underwear. She was smart and funny and tough.

“Oh God,” she moaned, her back arching in an offer to him. “Monk.”

He fucking loved hearing her say his name like that too. To reward her, he slid one of his hands beneath the gaping material of her shorts to touch her pussy. With her legs straddling his hips, her sleek lips were spread open, exposed. And all his.

“Oh yes.” More honey coated his fingers where he skimmed them over her labia. “Please make me come.”

He could totally do that. He gave her nipple one sharp bite that made her cry out and sat back. He had to watch this, watch her come apart. And it was a sight well worth leaving her breasts for.

Kitty’s face was slack with pleasure, her eyes heavy-lidded as she stared back at him. She didn’t try to close her legs, or try to shy away from him. No, she arched her back even more, her hands sliding up her torso to play with her nipples as he fingered her slick sex. Monk glanced down to watch his hand under the leg of her shorts, the way her thighs tensed as his thumb found her clit and circled. He glanced up again to study her expressions as he eased two fingers in her tight pussy, the muscles clamping hard around him.

She had her bottom lip between her teeth, her nostrils flaring as she sucked in air. Her eyelids fluttered as he set up a fast rhythm, fucking her hard with his fingers, his thumb circling endlessly. She pinched her nipples, a cry escaping her as her inner muscles tensed.

“Monk,” she breathed, her hips rocking as she rode his fingers. “More.” A hiccupping breath. “More, please give me more.”

“I’ll give you anything you want, baby, always.” Hoping she hadn’t heard the vow in his words or the reverence in his voice, he gave her three fingers, stretching her pussy. “Fuck, Kitty-Cat, you’re so tight and wet. You’re soaking my hand.”

“Mm-hmm. Uh-huh, okay.”

He reached over to pull her shorts completely to the side, watching his fingers tunnel in and out of her pussy. “You’re all pink and shiny,” he said, his cock leaving a damp spot on the front of his jeans. He was going to come just from fingering her. “Look at you, all hungry.” He flicked the edge of his fingernail over her clit. She let out a strangled scream, her arousal thick in the air. “Are you gonna come for me, Kitty-Cat?”

She rode his fingers faster, her hips bucking in time with his thrusts. “Yeah, yeah.” A gasping cry. “Yeah! I’m coming.”

But he could already feel her clamping around his fingers, her tight muscles nearly snapping his bones in half. Awed by her response, he glanced up to see her mouth open on a silent scream, her eyes wide with shocked pleasure. Thrusting against her clenching, Monk gave it to her harder, faster, his fingers searching out that spot that made her lose her mind yesterday. When he found it, he tapped it once. She jumped. Twice, she squeaked. The third time, she wailed, her hands leaving her breasts to grab his shoulders as her entire body shuddered with the force of her orgasm.

It was amazing and heady to know he could bring her that much pleasure. Sure, his balls felt as if they were going to explode, his cock ached and the front of his jeans were soaked, but it was a small price to pay for the sound of Kitty’s cries, which still echoed around the car. She slumped against him, her breath coming in fits and starts, her body shivering against him.

Reluctantly, he pulled his hand out of her shorts. Her thick cream glistened on his fingers and he put them in his mouth, purring at her sharp, sweet taste. “You taste fantastic, baby,” he said around his fingers.

She let out a soft sigh, her body relaxed and sated against him. His cock still throbbed, but Monk was far too happy with the position they were in to shift her away. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her, cuddling her close, and listened to her breath evening out as she fell asleep.

Closing his eyes against his raging need, Monk breathed in the scents of his female, his cougar purring with contentment. This was all they’d ever wanted. They wanted Kitty and her bear to feel secure enough with them to let down their guard, to accept them as the ones who would keep them safe.

* * * * *

“Kitty, we have a problem.”

Frowning at Daisy’s wedding gown, which was almost finished, Kitty shook her head and adjusted the clip on her ear. “What do you mean, we have a problem? I thought everything was going well back in New York.”

Margaret Myers, her personal assistant and one of the best seamstresses Kitty had ever worked with, growled softly. “Someone’s spreading rumors that KC Designs plans to use fur in its next collection.”

Kitty’s hands fell into her lap in shock. “What?”

“I know! Like shifters would be so crass, but that’s what the word on the street is. Even worse, I think S.H.A.F.T. is involved. You know how much they like to take down celebrities.”

“But I’m not using fur. I never would!” Kitty cried as she clenched her hands together. S.H.A.F.T. stood for Shifters and Humans Against the Fur Trade and they were one of the biggest anti-fur advocates in the United States. This was bad. “I’m a shifter, for crying out loud. Why would I want to use fur when mine could very well make a nice cloak?”

“Shit, I know that, Kitty. I have Stan beating tracks to all the major newspapers and magazines explaining that we’d never use fur in our designs, but I needed to warn you what was going on. Just watch your back, okay?”

“Fuck, Margaret,” she moaned as she bounced her leg up and down, nervous energy sizzling along her veins. “This could ruin me.”

“I won’t let it ruin you because that means I don’t get a nice bonus at the end of the year for keeping you on schedule,” Margaret said firmly. “Now, in other, less earth-shattering news, the bridesmaids’ gowns are headed your way. You should get them tomorrow along with the shoes we talked about.”

The conversation drifted to less stressful topics, but Kitty could barely concentrate on her assistant’s words. After hanging up, she tried to work on the dress. It was almost complete except for a few finishing touches. The last couple of weeks had brought her a new clarity she’d directed toward finishing the two most important dresses for the wedding. Tante Claudette’s dress had been finished three days ago and hung up waiting for the big unveiling.

Daisy’s gown was slowly becoming perfection. The Thai silk Kitty had chosen was gorgeous, changing colors with the light. The ivory would be perfect against Daisy’s skin and make her glow, not that she needed much help, but Kitty was determined to make the best gown of her life for Daisy. It was her wedding gift to her best friend and cousin. Daisy would love it, but only if Kitty didn’t manage to fuck it up beforehand by working on it when she couldn’t focus.

Sighing, she dropped her face in her hands. This was a nightmare of monstrous proportions. Why someone would slander her in such a way, she didn’t know. She didn’t have any enemies in the industry that she knew of, having been very careful to walk a fine line between ruthlessness and competitiveness. And now, all of a sudden someone was spreading rumors about her using fur in her upcoming line. Did it help to know Stan, her publicist, was already on the case? It made her feel a little better, but Kitty knew once the idea was planted in the public’s mind, they would turn on her like rabid badgers.

A knock sounded on the door, but it didn’t open. “Hey, Kitty, we’ll be leaving for the engagement party soon. Are you ready yet?”

Kitty looked around. Shit. She’d forgotten about the pre-wedding party. “I’m running a little late, I’ll have to go on without y’all, Tante Claudette.”

“Okay.” She paused. “Are you sure I can’t look at the gown? Just a quick peek?”

The familiar refrain asked in her aunt’s pleading tone pulled Kitty a little further from the edge of no return in terms of freak outs. “No, not yet. You get to see the gown on the night of the rehearsal supper, but not until then.”

Her aunt’s grumbles could be heard through the door, making Kitty chuckle a little. She carefully arranged the silk so it wouldn’t wrinkle and put away her supplies. She wasn’t in the mood for a party, not after the news she’d received, but as the maid of honor, she had to go. Besides, Monk would be there. Her heart lifted a little higher at the thought.

As Kitty showered and dressed for the party, she couldn’t get over how much things had changed in the two weeks since she and Monk had made that truce with each other. They didn’t have sex all the time, although it was a close thing. Knowing he was her friend once more eased something inside her, something that made her feel as if she were set free. When she wasn’t working on Daisy’s gown or Tante Claudette’s dress, she spent time with Monk.

They talked about things not involving their past, or the shouted confession he’d made about his mother. Kitty wasn’t ready to face that because every time she thought about Monk’s life ending at his parent’s hands, she felt sick inside. It was better to keep things light and fun. By unspoken agreement they left anything touchy alone, instead concentrating on other things and just having fun together.

It wasn’t always easy being around him, especially if they happened to run into Nick or Zach, who for some reason Monk seemed to think wanted her. Neither male showed her the slightest interest when they caught her alone, but the instant they saw her with Monk, they flirted outrageously with her. Kitty snorted and applied her makeup. Males were idiots just looking for a reason to fight and in the last two weeks, Monk had gotten into at least three fights, not counting the one in the alley.

Kitty slipped into the dress she’d picked from her catalog for this party and smiled to see it fit a trifle snugger than it had when she first tried it on. It seemed her Tante Claudette’s cooking was putting the weight on her that she’d lost in New York. That’ll make Mama happy. Her mom had come over nearly every single day to visit. She was the only one besides Monk and Daisy allowed in Kitty’s workroom, something Claudette pouted about any time they visited.

Francine hadn’t asked if Kitty was staying. She hadn’t asked how things were going with Monk, probably because she knew if she did, Kitty would sprint for the nearest airport. Everything should have been perfect and it had been except for a few minor incidents she hadn’t mentioned to anyone because she hadn’t wanted to sound like a drama bear.

Stepping into her impossibly high Louboutins, she mused over the strange feeling of being watched she’d had ever since that day in the alley with Monk. It never happened when she was with him, only when she was either taking a quick walk in the woods to clear her head, or when she was headed into town to see Monk. She suspected she had a reporter on her tail trying to take snapshots for a tabloid magazine. The problem was each time she had the feeling, she never caught a scent. It was baffling and she’d chalked it up to a puffed-up sense of self until now. Because the more Kitty thought about it and the conversation she had with Margaret, the more she was starting to believe her watcher was trying to catch her doing something with fur. It made sense that the press would want proof of her wearing fur so they could plaster it all over the news.

Dammit. Kitty finished dressing and grabbed her clutch. She couldn’t remember if she’d killed anything while on her walks. Most shifters, when in their animal forms, did a little hunting because it soothed their beasts. No one thought anything of it. Of course, most of them weren’t being accused of skinning helpless bunnies and shit in the name of fashion. Goddammit, I’m in so much fucking trouble.

She sucked in a calming breath and left her room. She could handle this. The party tonight would help take her mind off her problems. Monk would be there and although it was something that would have sent her into a tizzy weeks ago, now she looked forward to seeing him and spending time with him. It wasn’t love. It was…friendly affection with a heavy dose of lust.

Snorting at herself, Kitty locked up her aunt’s house and walked to her rental car. She didn’t love Monk and despite what he’d shouted at her, he didn’t love her. He hadn’t said it again. And I’m glad. I don’t want a messy goodbye when I leave. Yeah, when she left. Gah, stop thinking about it. She reached for her door handle, the hair on the back of her neck lifting, and it had nothing to do with her thoughts.

She paused at her car door and looked around her aunt’s familiar yard. Nothing was out of place, but she had the feeling she was being watched again. Expanding her senses, she smelled the fresh air and the earthy scent of the bayou several yards away. Everything appeared normal, yet she couldn’t shake the sensation of eyes on her. Deciding it had to be an owl or something, Kitty climbed in the car.

The instant she was in the close confines of the vehicle, her mind instantly leapt to Monk and her need to go home. Kitty sighed and started the engine, pulling out of her aunt’s driveway with a heavy heart. She wasn’t quite ready to go back to New York. It was only because she’d missed being around her family. Monk played a small part in her reluctance to leave.

God, she was such a bad liar.

It took a conscious effort not to speed into town in an attempt to escape the thoughts whirling around her brain. Home wasn’t in Maison Rouge anymore. She’d made a life in New York. It was sometimes lonely, but it was all hers. She couldn’t just up and leave because of homesickness. Could she?

Kitty frowned at the empty highway in front of her. There was no way she was moving back here. This thing with Monk was temporary, just a little sexual stress relief. Right?

Rounding the last curve before the city limits, she was nearly blinded by headlights that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Kitty squinted against the glare just in time to see a truck scream around the curve taking up the middle of the road. Everything seemed to slow down. Ice trickled down her spine, a numb sensation spreading through her limbs. The truck didn’t slow, didn’t attempt to turn away.

Kitty said a quick prayer and jerked the wheel to the right and the wide, gravel shoulder.

Chapter Seven

“Where’s Kitty?” Monk asked Daisy Lynn when he met her in the reception line.

She rolled her eyes, looking beautiful in what he suspected was one of Kitty’s creations. “Mais,it’s good to see you too, Monk. Thank you for congratulating my fiancé and me on our upcoming wedding. Why yes, I do think it’s getting warmer out. No, you can’t kiss my feet for being the reason Kitty came back home, but you can get me a wonderful wedding present. How are you?”

He laughed and leaned over to kiss her cheek, ignoring Ram’s subvocal growl next to them. “Sorry, Daisy Lynn. You look beautiful and I already have a wedding present picked out. As for kissing your feet, I wouldn’t get near those things if someone paid me.” Ducking her swing, he laughed. “But seriously, I thought Kitty would be in line with y’all.”

Daisy Lynn frowned. “I know. She should be here by now. Mama said she was running a little late by the time they left the house, but you know Kitty, she’d have broken speed records to get here on time. Maybe she’s having a little trouble getting in. There’s a big crowd of spectators out there who came to watch Ram sashay his ass into the hall.” She squeaked and jumped, her mate obviously pinching her in retaliation. She stuck her tongue out at the lion shifter before turning back to Monk. “Besides, there’s that whole red carpet thing with photographers and stuff. A red carpet in Maison Rouge, who would’ve thought?”

She laughed and waved at someone across the hall. “They freaked Mama so bad, she almost tripped. Maybe the reporters stopped to ask her some questions.” More people walked in behind Monk and Daisy Lynn turned to them. “I’m sure she’ll be here any minute. Have a drink while you wait and thanks for coming.”

Strolling away from the line with his hands in his pockets, Monk nodded to a few people and tried to ignore the bad feeling in his gut. It was just paranoia because the past couple of weeks had been great. He and Kitty were bonding again as friends and lovers. She had a wicked tongue she used to cut like a knife, or to pleasure him until his eyes rolled to the back of his head. She was so much more than he deserved in a mate, but he wasn’t giving her up.

Monk leaned against a wall so he could see the door of the gym, which was decorated in silver and black. It looked elegant for a basketball court, but he saw Daisy Lynn had made sure there were several pirogues full of iced-down beer. He grinned at the blank looks on Ram’s band mates’ faces. Likely they’d never seen a party like this. He almost couldn’t wait for the wedding reception.

“You certainly look like you’re in a good mood,” a female voice purred next to him.

Stifling a sigh, Monk looked over to see Callie standing next to him. He supposed she was going for sophisticated, what with her glass of champagne and the little black dress, but all he could picture was her standing like that over a grave with the same smirk on her face. There was something cold about Callie that he hadn’t noticed as a younger man. Of course, all he’d thought about back then was fucking someone to make him forget Kitty. Yeah, and that worked out well.

“Evenin’, Callie,” he said politely. “It’s a party, of course I’m in a good mood.”

She shifted on her heels, moving a little closer to him. “Hmm, you sure weren’t in a good mood that day in the diner.” Her sly smile raised his hackles. “Then I heard Kitty Chambers turned that frown upside down.”

He didn’t say anything, looking away from her in the hopes she’d get the message that he wasn’t interested in talking to her. Besides, if Kitty walked in and saw him with Callie, there was no telling what she’d do. He hadn’t asked her what would happen, but he had a feeling it wouldn’t be good for either him, or Callie.

“So you and Kitty are back together, huh?” she continued, oblivious to his lack of interest. “Well, that’s a surprise, I must say. After what you told me about her so long ago, I would’ve figured you wouldn’t go near her with a ten-foot pole.”

“As you pointed out, that was a long time ago.” He shot her a hard look. “The past is in the past.”

She laughed, throwing her head back, exposing her fragile throat. “The past always comes back to bite us in the ass, Monk. Don’t you know that?”

Monk turned on Callie with a snarl that made her back up a step. “If you cause trouble for me and Kitty, you’ll regret it. Now go the fuck away.”

Her face paled, but bright spots of color appeared at the tops of her thin cheeks. She glanced away from him, her gaze sharpening on something across the gym. Her hand trembled as she raised her glass and drained the rest of the champagne. She licked her lips when she finished, turning back to him. “You wanted me once, Monk. I know you did.”

He didn’t want to be cruel, but she didn’t get it and never would without blunt honesty. “I was trying to use you to forget Kitty, Callie. It was wrong of me and I’m sorry, but I thought of her the entire time.”

Her nostrils flared and her dark eyes blazed with fury. “I know you’re lying,” she whispered but she stepped back. “I don’t know why you’re doing this, but I’m not giving up without a fight, Monk.”

Before he could say another word, she whirled away and stalked across the room. Feeling like a bastard for touching her and giving her hope, Monk glared at the door. He needed Kitty. His cougar paced in his mind, snarling at the arrogance of the raven who thought she could ever replace his mate. Callie hadn’t lied though, the past did come back to bite you in the ass because right now, he regretted going near her in an attempt to forget Kitty. It had given the raven a false sense of ownership. He didn’t get it. Sure, Callie had pursued him for years, but never so aggressively. It was only since Kitty came home that Callie stepped up her pursuit, following him all over town. It was unnerving and not in the least bit flattering. He didn’t want her anywhere near him. He just wanted Kitty.

As though some divine power heard his thoughts, Kitty appeared in the doorway of the hall, looking absolutely stunning. The print dress she wore showed off her curvy figure, the jewel tones making her dusky skin glow the way it did after they made love. His heart lurched in his chest at the sight of her, his cougar thrilled to see her again.

Monk started across the hall as she hugged Ram and Daisy Lynn and took her place at their side along with Nick, Ram’s best man. Monk approached them, not liking the appreciative look in the tiger’s eyes. His cougar snarled out a warning that made Nick laugh and back away with his hands in the air.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Daisy Lynn asked Kitty as Monk walked up.

Kitty smiled at him, ignoring Daisy Lynn’s question. “Hey, Monk.”

He grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips, inhaling her sweet, musky scent. “You look gorgeous.”

She gave a little laugh. “Thanks.” She surveyed him, her gaze like a caress he felt beneath his dark suit. “And you clean up very, very well.”

There was a breathless quality to her voice that made Monk’s cock twitch. He recognized that sound, especially when it was accompanied by the sharp scent of her lust. He licked his lips. He’d planned for them to dance tonight, to act as though this was a real date, but those thoughts flew from his mind as he took in her dilated pupils and her nipples, which had tightened beneath her dress.

Daisy Lynn snapped her fingers in front of Monk’s face, breaking the trance Kitty’s arousal had put him in. “I’m trying to talk to my cousin,” she said loudly.

Monk let go of Kitty’s hand, but couldn’t resist slipping into line next to her, his hand sliding across her waist to rest on her lower back. The heat of her skin scorched him through the fabric of her dress. He wanted to tear it off her and bathe her with his tongue.

Kitty grimaced at Daisy Lynn. “I knew I shouldn’t have said anything,” she grumbled. Daisy Lynn glared at Kitty until she sighed. “It was nothing, really. I didn’t even get a ding on my car.”

That managed to break through Monk’s lustful thoughts. “What?”

She flicked him a wry glance. “I was driving to town when a truck came barreling around that curve right by the big oak tree. They nearly ran me off the road, but thanks to Nonc Thomas’ defensive driving lessons, I got out of their way.”

Monk couldn’t believe she was being so blasé about her near accident. He gripped her hand again and looked her over carefully while Daisy Lynn fired a round of questions like the cop she was. Kitty didn’t look hurt and the fine tremor in her hands abated the longer he held her.

“I’m fine, I’m fine! I think it was probably either a drunk driver or a kid who was afraid of losing control in the curve. But you might want to call one of the deputies on duty to let them know it was a dark four-door truck with off-road tires.” She shrugged. “It was too dark to see exactly what color it was though. I’m just glad it was me driving and not someone else. They might have been hurt.”

“You could have been hurt, you idiot,” Daisy Lynn breathed, her face white.

Kitty sighed and extracted her hand from Monk’s grip to hug her cousin. “I shouldn’t have said anything.” She pulled back to look at Daisy Lynn. “I swear I’m fine.” She glanced at Monk. “Could you get her a glass of champagne or something to help calm her down?”

“I’m fine,” Daisy Lynn muttered and gave Kitty another tight hug. “I’m fine. I’ll have Dad call one of the guys to look for the truck. Now, let’s get this over with so I can sit down. My feet are killing me.”

As the cranky bride-to-be turned back to greet more guests, Monk brushed a kiss over Kitty’s cheek, breathing in her scent. He felt just as frantic as Daisy Lynn did at the thought of something happening to her, but he was trying not to crowd his mate. She eyed him as if she expected him to freak out and while he wanted to pitch a fit, he held his shit together.

“I’ll see you in a little while,” he murmured against her ear, feeling her shiver. “I have a surprise for you.”

When he pulled back, her face was lightly flushed and her breathing a little faster. “I look forward to it.”

Monk winked at her and stepped out of the line. He had to find the perfect spot to seduce his exhibitionist mate.

* * * * *

It was a lot harder to pretend everything was fine than Kitty thought it would be. She’d sat in the parking lot for a few minutes to compose herself, the rest of the drive to the gym occurring without further incident, but she’d been a nervous wreck the entire time. She hadn’t lied to Monk and Daisy. If it hadn’t been for Nonc Thomas teaching her how to drive defensively, she would’ve flipped or crashed into the truck. And the driver hadn’t even stopped to see if she was okay, roaring away with a squeal of tires. She grimaced. She shouldn’t have told Daisy about it because her cousin had been on the verge of having a shit fit. To her surprise, Monk hadn’t said a word, although his eyes had glittered with concern.

Then she’d had to brave the crowds of people lined up outside the gym. She’d never seen anything like it in Maison Rouge. As she’d walked up to the doors, cameras had flashed and reporters, more than the few hounds who’d been dogging Saber around town, shouted questions. They’d recognized her and she’d had to stop and pose for them to look at her gown, pretend that she wasn’t having the biggest freak out of her life. Some of the people in the crowd had given her slightly hostile looks, which hadn’t helped her at all.

Stepping into the gym, which was decorated better than it had for any of the high school dances she’d been to, Kitty had almost fainted with relief to see Daisy and Ram. A quick glance around the gym showed it was packed again, this time with extended family and what looked like some of Ram’s friends from LA. She even recognized a few of them as clients. Fun. I’m sure they’ve already heard about the fur fiasco.

Then she’d seen Monk and every worry, every fear flew out of her head. God, he was gorgeous in what she knew had to be a tailored suit. He looked as if he should have been standing on the red carpet himself with some trophy wife on his arm, not going stag. Then he’d given her that look, the one that said he was thinking of her naked. Her body immediately heated, her thighs growing slick with arousal. He left her standing in the receiving line with Daisy and the others, her mind buzzing with the need to see what the promise in his eyes meant. An hour and a half later, Kitty was dismissed from the line and able to mingle. She couldn’t find Monk right away, so she headed over to talk with her parents, who were with some relatives Kitty hadn’t seen in years.

“And here’s Kitty,” Francine announced with great pride. “You remember Aunt Martha?” she asked Kitty.

“I’m sorry, no,” she said with a grimace.

Francine gave her a disappointed look. “Aunt Martha was your grandmother’s oldest sister. Anyway, this is Aunt Martha’s daughter’s son, Michael and his wife Marla. Y’all used to play together when y’all were babies.”

Kitty exchanged polite smiles with Michael, not recognizing him as anyone she would remember, but they were family. Her dad slipped his arm around Kitty’s waist and hugged her close. Her paternal family was very small and a lot quieter than the black bears of Pointe-Aux-Chat Parish. Every time there was a reunion, wedding or funeral on her mother’s side of the family, Hunter would go into silent mode, shadowing behind his vivacious wife, or sticking close to Kitty.

“Everything okay, little bear?” he whispered against the top of her head while her mother talked with her hands.

It figured her dad would know something was wrong, but this wasn’t the time to talk with him about it. If Daisy was a loose cannon when she was angry, her father was an atom bomb. “For now,” she said with a small smile. “I’m going to see if I can find Monk.”

Hunter’s dark face scowled down at her. “He better not break your heart or I’ll break him in half.”

Laughing at the very familiar warning he used to give her every time she went on a date with Monk, Kitty reached up to kiss his cheek. “Love you.”

Wandering around the gym, Kitty kept her eye open for Monk while talking with various relatives and people from town as well as the out-of-towners from Ram’s side of the guest list. It was almost easy to forget about the car incident and the fur problem back in New York because everyone was just so thrilled for Daisy and Ram. Or better yet, they were thrilled with the food Zach Trahan had provided through his catering service. There’d almost been a scuffle between Kitty’s first-grade teacher, who happened to be another aunt, and some music producer’s girlfriend in front of the crab bisque.

Kitty grabbed a glass of champagne and moved off to the side to get a better view of the room. She sure hoped Tante Claudette and Nonc Thomas had been putting money aside for the wedding, because if this was the guest list, St. Patrick’s Church would be packed to full capacity with more people spilling outside.

Something hit her shoulder, making her jump. She glanced at her dress, but didn’t see anything. Shaking her head, she went back to her perusal of the crowd. Monk had to be somewhere out there. She’d tried sniffing him out, but there were far too many shifters, not to mention humans who’d doused themselves in perfume and cologne.

A little ball of something pinged against her shoulder again and this time Kitty looked around. If some brat thought it was funny to shoot spitballs at her while she was wearing this dress, she was going to scare the shit out of them. But when she glared at the people nearest to her, they were busy with each other. No one was paying her any attention.

“Psst,” someone hissed behind her.

Kitty glanced over her shoulder at the maintenance door leading to the announcer’s booth. Seductive green eyes met her startled gaze with a knowing look. Monk peeked out the door and crooked his finger at her.

Heart thumping with forbidden excitement, Kitty looked around to make sure no one noticed and slinked to the door. Monk snagged her hand as soon as she was close enough and pulled her into the small hallway, the door closing behind her.

Before Kitty could ask what he thought he was doing, even though she already knew, she found herself pressed against the door, Monk’s lips on hers in a hot, wet kiss that made her bones melt. His hands seemed to be everywhere at once, her skin sizzling with every touch. She wanted to tear her dress off and mount him right then and there. Kitty hooked her right leg around his hips to grind her aching mound against the bulge in his trousers.

They both groaned at the contact, but to her surprise Monk pulled back. “Wait,” he whispered against her mouth. “C’mon, baby. I want to show you something.”

Their fingers laced together in a familiar hold that brought her back to high school and a time when Kitty would have followed him anywhere. As he led her up a set of stairs, she mused that not much had changed in fifteen years.

Monk could scent Kitty’s arousal as he guided her upstairs to the press box above the gym. If he hadn’t remembered everything he wanted to do to her, he would have taken her against the door, but he’d spent the last hour getting everything as romantic as he could in a school gym. His balls ached from the seductive thoughts flooding his mind, each one starring Kitty naked and all his. He had it bad for her. Very bad and he loved every second of it.

Reaching the top of the stairs, he let Kitty take in the changes he’d made and waited for her reaction. He’d snagged a bottle of champagne, a couple of glasses and two plates of food, but he hadn’t stopped there. He’d found some velvet curtains that used to hang up in the auditorium and made them a bed on the floor of the booth. The lights from the gym below filtered into the room, allowing them to see, but not be seen. He hoped.

Kitty’s fingers squeezed his. “You did this?”

“As soon as I left you standing in line.”

She looked at him, her dark eyes wide. “Thank you, it’s romantic.”

Monk wouldn’t be male if his chest didn’t puff out at her breathless words. Even his cougar purred despite the cat thinking this was a waste of time. Told you so, he muttered to the cat who ignored him. He wanted to squeeze her tight to him, his heart thundering at the thought of her near miss, but his mate wasn’t a woman to be coddled.

Unable to help himself any longer, Monk cupped her jaw and tilted her face up to his. This time the kiss was a little softer, sweeter than the one they’d shared earlier, but it was no less powerful. It was a reaffirmation for him that she was safe with him and an unspoken promise to keep her safe. He heard Kitty’s breath catch in her throat, felt her tremble against him, her body snuggled up to his. He deepened the kiss, his hands stroking over her back, the silk sliding beneath his palms.

“Wait,” she whispered against his mouth when he would have tugged up the skirt.

She stepped back and reached behind her to release something magical because with a shimmy of her body, the dress slid down, revealing her proud breasts, rounded stomach, full hips and the glossy, bare lips of her pussy before the silk pooled on the floor at her feet. Monk’s heart was somewhere in his groin. This female did things to him that no other woman could compete with.

Kitty bent over at the waist to tackle her shoes, but he said, “No, leave them on and bend exactly like that over the desk.”

Her heart-shaped face tilted up and she looked at him before she swung her gaze around to stare at the desk that stood against the windows looking down at the court. Her breathing quickened, the scent of her arousal grew heavier in the close confines of the booth.

Monk started to strip out of his suit, watching her profile as she nibbled on her bottom lip. “You know you want to. You think I haven’t realized you’re an exhibitionist, baby? You like to be fucked when you think we might be caught. You want someone to glance up and see you bent over, me standing behind you as I pound my cock into you.” She whimpered. “But they can’t hear us, or see us, I promise. Just be a good girl and bend over the desk.”

He carefully draped his suit over the arm of the only chair in the room and waited to see what his mate would do. She glanced at him, her eyes widening as she took in his nude body. She licked her lips, her gaze centered on his cock. Monk fisted himself, stroking slowly. He’d learned she loved giving head, a major bonus for him since he definitely liked receiving it from her.

“You want a taste first?” he asked in a husky tone.

She nodded, her breathing ragged. “Yes.”

“Come here,” he said pointing to the floor in front of him.

Kitty straightened, the heels making her legs look even longer, and swayed to him before she fell to her knees. Tilting her head back, she stared up at his face as she ran her hands up his legs. Pre-cum pearled at the tip of his cock and she wet her lips again.

“Take me all the way in,” he ordered. His control was slipping just from having her at his feet. Oh, he knew she wasn’t submissive to him at all. She gave in to his orders only because she wanted to, not because she felt he was more dominant. And that was far better than a female born to submit.

Without using her hands, she opened her mouth and engulfed his cock in one motion. He almost stopped breathing at the sensation of her throat working around him. The first time she’d done that, he’d wanted to kill the bastard who taught her how to deep-throat until she told him she’d learned it from listening to her gay friends. Now he could only appreciate the way her tongue stroked the underside of his cock as her throat rippled around him.

“Fuck, baby,” he panted, balls tingling with the need to come. Already. But then Kitty always shot him to the edge when they were making love.

He fisted her hair in his hands and began a slow, shallow thrust into her mouth. She moaned around his dick, the sound traveling up his spine. Her fingernails dug into his thighs for a moment before one of her hands slipped between his legs to cup his balls, rolling them around in her hand in time with his thrusts.

“Fuck, Kitty-Cat, you’re gonna make me come.” Her sucking became harder, more determined, her cheeks hollowing out. She kept her dark eyes on his face the entire time, as though half her pleasure in the act came from watching him lose it. “Is that what you want, baby? You want me to come down your throat?”

She gently scraped her teeth against his glans and Monk had to clamp his jaw tight to keep from shouting as his cock exploded, his seed jetting into her mouth. His knees threatened to buckle even as his hips jerked. His Kitty was ready for it though, swallowing him without spilling a drop. Once the compulsive jerks of his body ended, Kitty carefully licked him clean, making him hiss.

“Thank you,” she whispered with a grin and a twinkle in her eye.

Monk gripped her head tight and tilted her back to kiss her, tasting himself on her lips. He loved this woman with every fiber of his body and soul. He pulled away from her decadent mouth and bit her bottom lip hard enough to make her jump.

“Go bend over the fucking desk, Kitty Marie,” he ordered and was rewarded by her indrawn breath. “Now.”

“You’re not the boss of me,” she muttered with a pout even as she got to her feet and walked over to the desk.

No, she didn’t walk. She sashayed, her hips swaying from side to side in an exaggerated stride that made his limp cock twitch with interest. Then the little minx bent over the desk, legs straight, and wiggled her ass at him.

She peeked over her shoulder. “Like this?” she asked with clear challenge in her voice.

Monk strode over to her, ready to drive her insane. “Exactly like that.”

She knew it was dangerous to tug the cougar’s tail, but Kitty couldn’t help herself. His flavor still lingered on her lips, all salty spice and she loved it. She loved to watch him lose control, the way the cords in his neck would distend, the way his eyes gleamed like emeralds, and when he groaned her name, she could almost orgasm from that alone.

And now he was going to make her pay. The thought had her pussy creaming and her thighs squeezing together to try to appease some of the ache between them. Kitty propped herself on her elbows and peeked over the edge of the windows facing the gym. She couldn’t believe she was doing this with her parents, hell her entire family and people she’d known most of her life, within eyesight.

Something wet and faintly raspy darted up the back of her leg making her squeak.

“Shh, baby, you don’t want to get as loud as you do sometimes,” Monk cautioned her, the heat of his breath moving closer and closer to her hungry core. “You don’t want those hundreds of people to know you’re up here about to have your cunt eaten out, do you?”

She sucked in a deep breath. Monk’s dirty talk turned her on almost as much as he did. God, there really were a lot of people down there, but their faces blurred as her arousal increased. Monk’s hands cupped her thighs, his thumbs spreading her nether lips open.

“Look how wet you are,” he marveled, his thumbs massaging her labia. He blew a stream of cool air over her exposed pussy, making Kitty shiver. “I love how wet it makes you to think of someone looking up at any minute to see your face flush with pleasure as I eat you out. You want that, don’t you?”

Kitty couldn’t answer. Not with his tongue sliding down her slit until he found her clit. She whimpered, biting her lip as he latched on to the sensitive nubbin of flesh and suckled.

“Oh God,” she whispered. He released her clit to lap at it, lashing with his tongue until more moisture coated her sex. “Oh God, Monk. Please don’t tease me.”

He lifted his mouth for a moment, but didn’t stop his torment, two of his fingers sliding deep inside her hungry pussy. “It’s only teasing if I don’t follow through, Kitty-Cat. And I definitely plan to follow through.” He thrust in her shallow and slow, not keeping to any particular rhythm. “I’m gonna make you come, baby, and then I’m gonna lap up every ounce of cream you give me and then I’m gonna make you cream again so I can fuck you fast and hard.” He twisted his fingers inside her, finding a spot that made her eyes roll with pleasure. “And when you come either time, you can’t scream. Unless you really do want someone to see us. I can almost picture it,” he continued in a tone that would have been more conversational if it weren’t for the rumbling growl beneath every word.

“I’ll have you sittin’ on the edge of the desk, your legs spread as wide as they’ll go.” His Cajun accent grew thicker the more aroused he became. Kitty closed her eyes, picturing his words, her hips rocking back in the hopes he’d fuck her harder with his fingers. “I’ll slide my cock all way in and stay still because there’s nothin’ more beautiful than the sight of your pussy stretched around me until I’m soaked.”

She was going to come. He must have realized because he eased up on his thrusts. “And then, once you start getting all impatient and hungry, I’m going to fuck you so hard we’re going to rock this big desk. It’ll sound as if a giant is knockin’ on the roof and everyone’ll be lookin’ around trying to figure out where the sound is comin’ from. And then you’ll come around me, your pussy creaming so much it soaks my balls.”

Kitty let out a sharp gasp, her body going tense as he gave her clit a light tap. Her inner muscles clamped around his fingers as she bucked her hips back, soft moans escaping her.

“There you go, baby, just like that. Come all over my fingers, Kitty-Cat. You feel so fucking good, like silk,” he panted against her pussy before removing his fingers and pressing his face into her.

His tongue flickered along her slit, lapping at her juices, just the way he’d promised to, the torment prolonging Kitty’s orgasm until she was nothing but a puddle of skin and blood because there were no bones left in her body. It was always this way with him and she’d spent countless hours trying to figure out why. But now, pressed against the desk and looking out over the crowd of party-goers below, Kitty understood.

He got something about her she hadn’t realized before coming back to Maison Rouge. None of her other lovers had picked up on the need she hadn’t even known she had for public sex. Who would have thought it? She’d always been somewhat repressed until the last few years, but even when she’d embraced her sexuality, she hadn’t experimented with what really turned her on. But Monk knew and gave it to her without putting her at serious risk. It was amazing and primal. He was amazing and sexy and—oh God, she was in love with him. Again.

“Ah, baby, you taste so good,” he purred against her thigh, his teeth nipping gently. “I could spend hours right here.”

Kitty let her head thump against the desk, her heart clenching in time with the flutters of her sex as Monk made good on his promise to lick her clean. She was in so much trouble.

Chapter Eight

Monk cuddled Kitty closer, the velvet pallet he’d made providing some relief from the hard floor. He had no clue how long they’d been up in the booth, but it was long enough to make her come four times, twice with his mouth and hands, twice with his cock buried deep inside her. They’d collapsed on the pallet, drinking champagne and devouring the food he’d carried upstairs.

Now, replete from sex and food, they lounged together. “This is nice,” he murmured into the quiet of the booth.

Music had started playing downstairs right as he brought Kitty to climax the fourth time. And a good thing too, since she hadn’t been able to hold back her scream of pleasure that time. Pride made Monk puff out his chest. He’d made her lose all control.

“It is,” she answered without moving her head from his chest.

He buried his nose in her hair, inhaling the wonderful, sweet and spicy scent of his mate. “I did good, didn’t I?”

She pinched the skin over his ribs. “Don’t be cocky.”

“Don’t hate me because I make you scream like a banshee,” he teased, tickling his fingers down the center of her back to reach for and squeeze her ass.

They were quiet for a moment, the sounds from below filtering to them. “We should probably go back downstairs,” Kitty said on a long, drawn-out sigh.

Monk frowned at the ceiling above them, something niggling at his mind. “What’s wrong, Kitty?”

She tensed. “Nothing’s wrong. I’m supposed to be downstairs, mingling and stuff, you know, wedding stuff.”

“No, that’s not what I mean,” he said, shifting until he could look at her face. “Something’s bothering you. What is it?”

Kitty pushed away from him and rolled to her feet in one graceful movement. He didn’t bother trying to hold her down. It seemed she was ready to get up. Rolling to his feet as well, Monk grabbed the pack of towelettes he’d found in one of the storage closets.

“Here, I thought you might want to clean up,” he said tossing them in her direction.

He was pissed at her for not opening up to him, but he said nothing else about it. He pulled his clothes on and silently fumed. How many times did he have to beg her for forgiveness for what he’d done as a stupid teenager? But he knew it was more than that. He’d gained some of her trust, but despite everything they’d done together for the past two weeks, she couldn’t, or wouldn’t, give him more. It infuriated him since he practically wore his fucking heart on his sleeve for her. Only for her and she couldn’t give him a little assurance by opening up to him.

She finished cleaning herself and dressing before he did and went to stand at the desk where they’d just enjoyed each other. The silence between them was thick and edged with something big. Monk straightened his tie and smoothed a hand over his hair before stepping up to join her in staring down at the crowd below them.

“They look happy, don’t they?” she asked in a hushed voice.

He could see Daisy and Ram feeding each other, their gazes locked. Kitty’s parents stood in line together, Hunter carefully choosing the best pieces of food for his mate. Claudette and Thomas, Daisy’s parents, were two-stepping in the middle of the room, their odd height differences barely noticeable as they moved together as a single unit.

“They all look very happy,” he agreed. Maybe it was the harsh way she’d ignored him, or maybe it was because he was tired of acting as if the past never happened, but Monk breached a subject he and Kitty had been careful to avoid in the last two weeks. “I was always jealous of you and Daisy.”

She glanced at him over her shoulder, her eyes puzzled. “You were? Why?”

“I only had my dad.” He shrugged. “I loved him, you know? But we weren’t close like you and Daisy are with your parents. And then to find out he lied to me my entire life…things just weren’t the same between us.”

Kitty didn’t speak for a long moment, but she didn’t move away either, something that gave Monk hope. “Do you see him much anymore?”

He turned to look at her, resting his hips on the edge of the desk. She kept her eyes on the gym, leaving him with a clear view of her profile. “Dad left Maison Rouge not long after graduation. He gave me the house and moved to Houston. He’d lost his job when the economy went in the tank. He wanted me to go with him, but I couldn’t leave Maison Rouge.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets, trying not to sound like an orphan or something equally pathetic. “It was better for our relationship that he left. Every time I saw him, all I could think was how he fucked up the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Kitty’s face paled, but she still didn’t say anything.

Monk bit back a sigh of frustration, his cougar cautioning him to take this slow. “He’s married to someone else now, someone who didn’t try to kill her kids. Last time I talked to him, he seemed happy.”

Her head turned to pin him in place with her sharp eyes. “What made you decide you could finally tell me the truth?”

Rubbing the back of his neck with a grimace, Monk tried to think of a way it wouldn’t sound as if he’d trusted Daisy Lynn before Kitty, but nothing he came up with made it seem any better. “Daisy Lynn tortured me for years after you left,” he finally sighed. His lips quirked. “She was beyond pissed off at me for what I did to you, what I did to her.” He shrugged. “Then Ram came along and he made us actually talk to each other. It sort of came out then. She chewed my ass out for that as well because she pointed out, rightly I might add, that you wouldn’t have let anything like I feared happen to our kids.”

She still stared at him, her thoughts closed off. He ran a hand through his hair. “God, Kitty, I was seventeen, okay? All I could see was the way Dad looked when he told me and imagined putting you in his position. Did you know he had to hurt my mother to make her let go of me? Now tell me you would have been able to hurt me, possibly damn near kill me if we had mated and married so young, Kitty.” His voice was harsher than he meant it to be and it made her flinch. “If I would have told you about it, would you have accepted it and gone on? No, because you’re stubborn.” He let out a laugh that wasn’t very humorous. “God, you’re stubborn, Kitty. You would’ve stayed. We probably would have had three or four kids by now, maybe more considering I can’t keep my hands off you, but one day I would’ve snapped. You know it and I damn well know it. When that happened, what would you have done?”

Her face was stark white by the time he stopped speaking, even her lush lips were devoid of color. “We’ll never know the answers to your questions, will we, Monk?” she asked in a low tone. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m needed downstairs.”

She skirted around him, heading for the door. Monk wasn’t letting her go yet. He sprang at her, his hands catching her shoulders and pinning her to the wall. “No, you don’t get to run away again, Kitty. This time we’re going to deal with this.”

“Let me go, Monk,” she said in that careful voice that told him she was barely holding on to her temper. “I don’t want to destroy things by arguing with you.”

He got in her face. “You mean you don’t want to destroy our fuck-buddy relationship? That’s all I am to you, isn’t it, Kitty? I’m just a convenient cock for you to enjoy.” He pushed away from her, his stomach roiling with pain. “I miss the old Kitty. She was a lot braver than you are. She put her heart and soul into anything she did. She would’ve never spread her legs for someone she didn’t love.”

Her hand flashed out, catching him across the face, not in a slap, but in a full-blown right cross. Monk saw stars and stumbled back, his hand over his eye.

“You motherfucker,” she seethed through her teeth. “You miss the old Kitty? Well I miss the old Monk who believed in me. He had faith in me, in how strong I was. He cared about my feelings.” She slammed her hand against her chest. “Now you think you can just turn back time and I’ll be the same girl you betrayed? Think again, Monk. I deserve someone who loves me. This me, not the one who was too weak for you to trust.”

“I do trust you, dammit! I trust you to be strong enough to kill me if you need to.”

Her face went slack. “What?”

He stepped up close to her, his face still throbbing from her punch, and bared his soul. “You’re strong, Kitty. So damn strong and I should have realized it then, but I was scared to tell you about my fucked-up genetics. You’ve proven to everyone that you don’t need me, but I need you, Kitty Marie. I never stopped loving you and spending this time with you since you’ve been back only made me love you more.” He saw a flash of hopeful pleasure in her eyes at his words and rushed on. “Please give me another chance, baby,” he whispered, sliding closer to her, his hands almost touching her. “Please just let me have another shot at making you happy and giving you the babies you’ve always wanted.”

For a moment, he thought she would melt right into his arms. Her eyelashes fluttered and her mouth softened, but then as though someone had cut off the power, her face closed down, her lips quivering slightly at the edges. “I can’t.” She sucked in a shuddering breath. “I don’t know if I can trust you again. Not like you seem to want me to.”

This time, Monk knew the blood had drained from his face because he felt it actually pool somewhere. Probably on the floor where his fucking heart lay after she ripped it out of his chest. Deep in his soul, his cougar screamed in rage and pain, but Monk didn’t let it out. He’d given her fucking everything. The truth about what he’d done, why he’d done it, and bared his soul to her, but it wasn’t enough. He had a feeling it would never be enough for her.

His hands froze next to her waist, hovering close enough he could feel her body heat. His arms fell to his sides. “You’re a cold bitch, Kitty Chambers,” Monk whispered harshly. Her eyelashes flickered at his words, but she didn’t say anything, her face a cool, distant mask. He sucked in a deep breath and took a step back. “Get the fuck out of here. And consider our friendship,” he sneered, “over.”

Monk turned his back on her, not wanting to watch her leave, not again, and turned to face the gym. His superior hearing tracked Kitty’s footsteps as she walked out of the booth and down the stairs. The distant sound of the door closing was a death knell for any hopes he’d had for a future with the woman he loved.

Cold and numb, Monk eyed the bottle of champagne they hadn’t finished. It was the perfect night to get shitfaced.

* * * * *

Kitty moved through the crowd on automatic pilot, every step forcing her to relive the pleasure Monk had given her, but even that did little to dispel the strange buzz in her head. When people smiled at her, she returned the expression, although her face felt frozen. She needed to get out of here. The sounds of people talking and laughing just added to the agony crushing her.

She refused to look back at the booth. If Monk happened to be watching her, she didn’t want him to see the pain she felt. She’d hidden it from him, probably a little too well considering how he’d looked at her, but she wouldn’t be able to hold on to it much longer.

A hand snagged her wrist. “Hey, where’ve you been, you kinky bear?” Daisy asked in a playful tone as she stopped Kitty’s progress to the door.

Swallowing hard, she looked at her cousin with another one of her plastic smiles. “I’ve been mingling. I’m sorry, I thought I could stay, but I want to finish your dress tonight.” She tugged out of Daisy’s hold. “The rehearsal supper is only in a couple of days.”

“What’s wrong?” This time Daisy’s voice was low and hard. She stepped in front of Kitty, forced her to look up to meet her eyes. “What happened to you? Where’s Monk?”

Hearing his name sent another spike of pain shooting straight at her heart. What could she say? He’s upstairs where I left him looking like I’d just stabbed him. She shrugged. “I don’t know and this has nothing to do with him. I’m ready to get back to work on your dress.”

Daisy’s brown eyes narrowed on Kitty’s face, her lips pressed flat. “We’ve never lied to each other and I don’t want to start now. What the fuck happened?”

Some of the people nearby looked over at Daisy’s hard voice, curiosity on their faces. Smiling, Kitty said through her teeth, “We’re not talking about it here. Drop it.”

Daisy reached out and slapped the back of Kitty’s head. “You’re so tête dur! You’ve done something stupid, haven’t you?” Daisy demanded with a glare.

Kitty’s head smarted where her cousin had hit her. She didn’t argue with Daisy though because she was hardheaded. But then so was Daisy. “I did what I had to,” she said through clenched teeth. “And we’re not talking about it here.”

Her cousin’s nostrils flared, but she didn’t say anything else on the subject. “Fine, but I’m going to kick your ass once I’m not wearing these damn shoes.”

Daisy flounced away, or teetered more like it.

Left alone in the middle of the crowd, Kitty forced a carefree grin on her face and looked at the people staring between her and Daisy. “She’s anxious to see her dress,” she told them with a stilted laugh. Understanding dawned on their faces and people went back to their conversations, smiling.

Still holding that wide, false grin, Kitty made her way outside, ducking her mama and Tante Claudette who both seemed to feel the vibes of anger between their daughters. She couldn’t deal with anyone who actually loved her at the moment. Not after she’d so coldly thrown Monk’s love away. She needed space and silence.

Stepping through the doors of the gym, she found neither. A crowd had formed outside the building, a mingling of reporters and tourists and the minute the doors closed behind her, she was mobbed.

“Ms. Chambers, Ms. Chambers, is it true that you’re using fur in your upcoming fall collection?”

“Ms. Chambers, is it true you’re seeing a local who you once dated?”

“Are you moving back to Maison Rouge?”

“Murderer!”

The word was barely spoken before a tide of something red and wet was launched directly at Kitty. She only had enough time to close her eyes before a wave of red paint splashed over her. She could hear the horrified gasps of the tourists, the frantic shouts of the S.H.A.F.T. members, and the continuous clicking of cameras as everything was caught for the public’s entertainment.

Reaching up, Kitty wiped the paint from her eyes and blinked at the roiling crowd in front of her. Several of the locals who hadn’t come to the party grabbed the activists, holding them while sirens wailed in the distance. The reporters were torn between keeping an eye on the struggles of the locals and the activists, and going for Kitty’s blood.

With the combination of her earlier scare, her bruised heart and being accused of using fur in her designs, Kitty had had enough. “You want to see my fur coat?” she shouted to the crowd.

Everyone turned to look at her and Kitty let her bear come out. She saw eyes widen in shock seconds before she fell on all fours, letting out a roar of rage. People scattered. The shifters in the crowd, especially those with S.H.A.F.T. shirts on, shifted and ran for their lives. The humans ran for vehicles.

Kitty lumbered down the red carpet, her head swinging from side to side as the sense of being watched came over her again. The bear snorted. Of course she was being watched. The reporters had only gone far enough away that they could still run, but her keen ears picked up the sounds of cameras clicking and voices talking into microphones. Let them report that she’d gone rabid. She didn’t care. Everything in her life was ruined.

She stopped and roared again, this time from anguish. The bear wanted to go back through the gym doors and track Monk down, mark him as hers and have cubs with him, but Kitty yanked on the beast before she could follow through. She hadn’t lied to Monk. She couldn’t trust him not to hurt her again. Especially since she knew the love she felt for him now was a hundred times more powerful than it’d been when she was a teenager. If he betrayed her, it would destroy her. Coming home had been a mistake because all it did was show her how empty her life was without him in it and despite her independence and self-confidence, she still didn’t have the balls to go after what she really wanted. She was a coward.

Ignoring the clicking cameras and the whispered voices all around her, Kitty shambled across the parking lot heading for the woods. She needed to be alone. The farther she moved away from the gym, the quieter things became until the only sounds were those of the smaller animals scurrying through the undergrowth around her. She scented their wariness of her, but they weren’t of any interest.

A bear with a lot on her mind, Kitty roamed the woods, winding her way in a circular route to the spot where she and Monk had first made love. She’d been so stunned to find out he’d bought the property after she left, she hadn’t known how to react. It had seemed so much easier to keep things physical between them, but she should’ve known she wouldn’t be able to hold out against him for long. Monk had always been her weakness from the moment they met when they were in elementary school.

Pushing through the thick brush surrounding “their spot”, Kitty trundled into the clearing where she’d spent so much time with her mate. And he was her mate. She plopped her heavy ass on the ground and snuffled. His scent was all over this place and it soothed her bear somewhat. Stretching out on the cool ground, she rested her head on her paws. There was no use denying it. She loved the man and her bear loved the cougar but she had to be practical.

A, if she mated him, Monk freely admitted he might try to kill any children they would have. Her bear huffed at the thought, protective instincts rising to the surface. He was right that she’d kill him if he tried, but it would destroy something inside her to do it. And it would leave her to raise their cubs alone. He might have faith that she was strong enough to bear it, but Kitty doubted she could go through something that traumatic and come out sane.

B, her work, the only thing that had kept her going, was back in New York. Yes, she could work from Maison Rouge if she had to, but it would severely limit her resources. Or would it? Her furry face scrunched up in thought. She was well-established, not a household name by any means, but she was getting there. Maybe she could expand her business, open a boutique in the area to sell her designs here as well. Her plans to get her designs to more people wouldn’t have to change. She could travel back to New York if needed, or her contacts could fly to New Orleans. It wasn’t as though it was impossible to work from her hometown.

Which brought about C. She missed being near her family. Monk wasn’t the only reason she was tempted to stay in Maison Rouge. Coming home again after all this time, being surrounded by family and friends and reconnecting with her culture made her realize how much she’d sacrificed to follow her dream. Which meant if she stayed without taking him up on his tempting offer, she’d have to deal with seeing Monk frequently and trying to deny how much she loved him.

And finally D. She’d burned any hopes she had of having him even if she wanted to take a chance of mating and having cubs. She’d flat-out rejected him. She’d thrown his love back in his face and walked away. Yeah, he’d be so ready to accept her if she tried to take it back.

She heaved a long sigh, her bear rumbling with discontent. There was no easy fix to this except leaving and she was tired of running. She missed being home, missed everything about it from her family, to Monk, to being able to shift when she wanted to. Back in New York she had to pay a yearly fee to the city in order to shift and that was only allowed at certain times of the month and in designated places, which meant every shifter in the area crowded together to let their animals out. It was nothing like the freedom she had in Maison Rouge.

The fur along the bear’s back rose as the sense of being watched returned. Lifting her head, Kitty searched the shadowed bushes on either side of the clearing, but saw nothing. She sniffed the air, but whatever watched her was downwind. Unease made her bear cranky and she lumbered to her feet, a warning growl escaping her.

She turned toward the bushes she’d run through, intent on looking for the intruder. She’d taken no more than three steps when a soft hiss sounded and something pierced the thick fur of her hindquarters. Roaring in anger and surprise, she ran for the woods, ready to take on the fucker who thought to attack her, but her body moved sluggishly. She made it to the edge of the woods where she caught the faint hint of cat before crashing to the ground with a grunt.

Male. Cat. Those were the only impressions her bear was able to make out before darkness swirled around her, sucking her down.

* * * * *

Monk groaned and rolled over, sunlight sending shards of pain straight through his skull. He draped an arm over his eyes to shield himself and smacked his lips. His mouth was dry, his tongue felt thick and nausea swirled in his stomach. All he could smell was the sickly sweet scent of strong liquor as it oozed out of his pores. Yup, he’d gotten shitfaced last night. He remembered a bottle of champagne, which he’d finished before prowling into Daisy Lynn’s party. He’d had a little bit of an altercation with the bartender, which he’d won, leaving him to bring liquor back to the booth. The scotch had stung and the whiskey had burned. Then he didn’t remember anything else he might have polluted his body with. But what the hell had sent him on a bender?

He racked his brain and remembered with sickening clarity Kitty’s face as she told him “I can’t” after he’d bared his fucking soul to her. She couldn’t trust him again. Him, the man who’d given up his happiness to protect her. At the time he’d said to hell with her, he didn’t need her. This morning though, he felt like an idiot. He loved that woman and he wasn’t about to let her go traipsing off into the sunset without him.

Yeah, they had some things to work out and it was probably completely unfair of him to expect her to monitor him in the future, but they would make it work. Failure wasn’t an option.

Monk scratched his chest and yawned. He needed to take a shower, take a few painkillers, and find his Kitty-Cat before she did something crazy, like run again. His cougar was not happy with him this morning, clawing at his mind as if it were a scratch post. It wanted to find her now, not later, but Monk wasn’t sure he could move just yet.

Something moved on the bed next to him and his eyes popped open in surprise. Turning his head on the pillow, he spied Kitty lying next to him, her eyelashes fanned closed. Her lips were parted, letting out a soft, whispery snore. Why he hadn’t heard it before could be blamed on the pounding in his head, or rather the sound of his blood rushing through his brain. The alcohol he’d consumed the night before had prevented him from smelling her.

What was she doing here with him? Had she changed her mind? Hope made his heart skip a beat and he cursed himself for being a pussy. What had happened to the male who could take, or leave, any woman he wanted without being emotionally involved? Oh right, he’d seen his mate again after fifteen years and realized when it came to Kitty Chambers, he was a moron.

Monk turned on his side to get a better look at her and that’s when he realized he wasn’t in his bed. Freezing, his cougar pacing with nervous energy, Monk studied every aspect of the room he found himself in. It wasn’t anywhere he knew. Plain to the point of being bare, the only furniture was the bed they were on and a big chair in the corner. The walls were untreated lumber, rough and unfinished.

Where the hell were they? He looked back down at Kitty, seeing her bare shoulders above the sheet. He didn’t remember going to find her the night before, or her coming to find him, so how had they ended up here together? Wherever here was.

The pounding in his head increased as he tried to reason out where they were and why, but as though she could smell the burning from his gears struggling to turn, Kitty moaned softly and snuggled closer to him. He held his breath, staring down at her lax face.

It didn’t take long for her to register someone was next to her and her eyes flew open, revealing an unfocused gaze. And closed immediately. She moaned, slapping a hand over her eyes. “Cher bon dieu, my head hurts.”

“You got drunk too?” he asked in a whisper out of concern for both their heads.

She peeked through her fingers at him. “What? Of course not!” Then she frowned, her hand falling away from her face. “Wait a minute, what are you doing in my bed?”

He snorted. “We’re not in your bed.”

Her jaw dropped and she looked around. “We’re in your bed? How the fuck did I end up in your bed?” She paused, her head swinging around to pin him in place with a glare. “You fucker, you shot me!”

Monk jackknifed into a seated position, aches and pains pushed to the side as protective fury roared to life. “Someone shot you?” he bellowed. “Are you hurt?” He yanked the sheet off her and ran his gaze along her body. That fucking tattoo stood out as plain as day, but he ignored it, more worried about any injuries. “Was it a hunter? I don’t smell blood.”

He ran his hands over her body, feeling for any wounds before he flipped her onto her stomach to check her back but saw nothing. Something hit the floor next to the bed, tinkling on the wood. Letting her go only to lean over her, Monk saw something that looked like a dart. He snatched it off the floor and sat back up, ignoring Kitty’s grumbling under her breath as she turned over again.

Sniffing the dart, all Monk could smell was the drug used to knock her out. It was plucked from his hand and Kitty brought it to her nose as well. Her brown eyes glittered dangerously. Oh, she was pissed, but then so was he.

“I can’t believe you thought I shot you,” he snarled at her, the cougar just as angry.

She glared at him. “What else was I supposed to think? I woke up next to you after we…argued, with no memory of anything after I felt a dart hit me in the ass.”

Monk pounced on the pause. “What were you going to say?”

Crossing her arms over her chest, which only drew more attention to her bare breasts, she jutted her chin out. “I was going to say after we broke up, but then I remembered we were only fuck buddies.”

He winced. Yeah, he’d thrown those words in her face. She just made him so crazy his mouth ran away from him. He scrubbed a hand over his jaw, staring at her as if he could see inside her head. Sometimes he wished he could avoid pissing her off, except then he wouldn’t have so much fun making it up to her. There was something he loved about getting Kitty worked up that made the blood rush through his veins, making him feel truly alive.

“Wait a minute,” she shrieked, breaking into his thoughts. “If you didn’t shoot me…and I’m here with you, how the fuck did I get here?”

Monk clamped his hands over his ears. Bears were not supposed to be able to hit those octaves, but Kitty’s pitch was bang on and his headache returned with a vengeance. “I don’t know!” he shouted right back at her. “I don’t know where we are or how we got here.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know?” she demanded in a hard voice that quickly softened. “Were you shot too?”

His hands dropped. She sounded concerned for him. He studied her closely, but she only watched him over her shoulder. He swiped a hand over his face. “No, I imagine they got me when I passed out.”

“So that’s why you asked me if I got drunk too,” she murmured thoughtfully. She studied the room and climbed off the bed to walk to the window.

Monk’s tongue was hanging out. It had to be because watching Kitty walk, her round ass swaying from side to side was one of his favorite things in the whole wide world. Right up there with breathing, in fact. But they weren’t here for sex. They’d been kidnapped? He scowled, his lust quickly morphing into protectiveness as he leapt from the bed to try the door.

No surprise it was locked, but why and by whom? He glanced over at Kitty, who stood frozen as she gazed out the window. “What is it?”

“I think we’re in Matador Bay.”

Going to stand beside her, Monk peered out the window. Water and cypress trees as far as the eye could see. Looking down, he saw the house, or camp, they were in was on eight-foot pilings. Matador Bay was in a very secluded part of Pointe-Aux-Chat Parish. The only way to get to it was by boat. The water wasn’t usually very deep, but there were pockets of quicksand dotted throughout the area, which meant walking it wasn’t wise if the tide were to come in. Most of the residents in the area kept hunting camps in the bay area, but this wasn’t the time of year for hunting.

She turned to him, her eyes wide. “You really didn’t bring me here?”

Unable to help himself, Monk reached for her, smelling her anxiety. “No, I wouldn’t do that. I’d tie you to my bed before I drugged you and dragged you out here, Kitty-Cat.”

Kitty’s head came to rest on his shoulder for a moment before she looked up into his face. “I think someone’s out to get me.”

Great way to introduce the subject, Kitty Marie.

Kitty sat on the edge of the bed watching Monk pace and rant. The minute she’d said the words, he’d plopped her on the bed and demanded to know what she was talking about. After explaining the sense of being watched, the car incident, the paint being thrown on her at the party, and then being drugged and brought here, Monk had taken to pacing like a caged animal.

Her lips quirked at the thought. They were caged animals. The door wouldn’t open. They’d tried kicking it open, picking the lock, and nothing. It was reinforced with something that proved impenetrable to their shifter strength. Not that there was anywhere to go. Neither of them would be able to make it across the ten-mile bay in either of their forms without risking death. Which meant they wouldn’t be jumping out of the window. Of course, it was made of some kind of Plexiglas that only cracked when punched without breaking completely. And there was no boat as far as they could tell. They were trapped together in the middle of the marsh.

And Kitty actually felt pretty good about it. Apparently the drugs they used to knock her out were still in her system. She should have been freaking out. Someone had shot at her after all. Oh, and tried to run her off the road, but she was okay. She was still pissed about the paint, but she didn’t think that was part of the plot to kill her. Mostly because they would’ve had to stick her head in a can of paint to drown her in it, not throw it on her. And they’d ruined one of her specially designed shifter gowns. She was probably more angry about that than anything else, but even that couldn’t stop the feeling of goodness in her stomach. Because she was with Monk.

She wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her chin on them as she watched him pace. He’d given her his shirt to wear, keeping his slacks for himself. Kitty decided she could definitely get used to wearing Monk’s clothes. His scent surrounded her. Besides, if she was wearing his shirts it meant he wasn’t and a prowling, half-naked Monk made her pussy tingle.

“Why didn’t you tell me you thought you were being watched?” he demanded, running an irate hand through his hair leaving it wonderfully rumpled. “We could have told your uncle and had a protective detail put on you.” He stopped to glare at the floor. “I bet it’s Callie.”

That startled Kitty enough to drop her arms. “What? Callie Hebert?”

He glanced up, his green eyes sparking with rage. “She’s been trying to get in my bed ever since you came to town, like now that you’re here I’m going to change my mind about not wanting her. I told her it wasn’t going to happen and she said something about the past never going away. She’s the only one I could think who’d want to hurt you.”

Kitty blinked. “To get to you?”

Monk’s frown was mighty. “Yeah. She’s obsessed with me.”

She couldn’t help it, she laughed, flopping back on the bed to let out great belly-quaking guffaws. She laughed until tears streamed down her face and Monk climbed on the bed next to her to stare at her with a puzzled frown. That only made her laugh harder.

When she finally calmed down it was to see Monk smiling at her as if he thought she’d lost her mind. Reaching up, she cupped his cheek. “Poor Monk, all the women love him so much they’d take on a grizzly bear for him.”

Chapter Nine

She felt his blush before she saw it and her heart softened. Oh, it’d been softening ever since he started pacing, his concern for her evident in his every stride, but now, her heart was nothing more than mush. “Ah, Monk,” she sighed, stroking her thumb over his cheekbone. “It isn’t Callie because she’s been following Zach Trahan around. The only reason she’s talking to you is to make him jealous.”

His eyebrows drew together. “How do you know that?”

Kitty shrugged. “Monica Doucet told Karen Boudreaux, who told Erica Yost, who told Daisy, who told me. Everyone in town knows Callie’s after Zach, but he’s proving resistant so she figures if she makes him jealous by following you around, he’ll change his mind.”

The man pouted, his lips turning down.

“Aw, pauvre bête,” she whispered and leaned up to kiss his mouth. “I’m an idiot.”

“Why would you say something stupid like that?”

She pinched his nipple for his smartass remark before answering. “I’m an idiot because I thought I could actually resist you.” He froze next to her, his eyes darkening. “Just wait, okay? Let me say a few things.” His jaw tightened but he nodded. Relaxing beneath him, Kitty sighed and stared at the ceiling. “I’m not disgusted by you, or what defects you think you have. I’m scared though.” She glanced over at him. “I don’t want to be your executioner, Monk. I’ve loved you too long to be able to kill you if you go off. You’re right that I wouldn’t have been able to handle it when I was younger. Hell, I don’t know if I can handle it now, you know?”

Monk’s lips thinned, but he nodded.

Kitty’s heart pounded hard enough to make her fear cardiac arrest, but she had to say this. “When I left you last night and those idiots threw paint on me, all I could think was that everything was ruined. My career, my credibility, everything, but most of all, I was pissed that I’d ruined my relationship with you. And I’d done that, no one else.” She stroked his hair away from his face. “I was so mad at you for offering me everything I wanted when I’d finally decided I’d never have it. Do you understand? I’d long ago given up on having a mate, cubs and a family of my own.

“All I had was work. I spent the rest of the night thinking about you and my life and my career and realized that you were the most important part of me.” She sucked in a shuddering breath. “I don’t know if I’m ready to mate, but I want to try being with you. I…” She swallowed, her throat clicking with the movement. She chanced looking at him, waiting for him to reject her. It would only be fair because of the way she’d constantly rejected him, but he captured her gaze with soft, green eyes. “I can move back here, but I’ll have to go back and forth to New York a lot and it’s going to be crazy and I’ll understand if you don’t want—”

“That’s all I ever wanted, Kitty-Cat.” He placed his finger over her mouth when she would have continued talking about her job. “Shh, baby. I wouldn’t want you to give up anything for me. We can make it work. Us. You and me together.” His eyes were fierce. “I’m so damn proud of the woman you’ve become, Kitty. You have so much talent it would be a crime to even think about taking you away from it.”

Her lips trembled as emotions threatened to overwhelm her. “Do you still love me?”

He smiled at her. “Don’t you know? I’ll always love you, Kitty-Cat. Always.”

When he leaned down to kiss her, she met him halfway. It wasn’t one of their usual, hungry, all-consuming kisses. This one was sweet, almost as if they were sealing a deal and she supposed they were. She was giving Monk the chance he’d been asking for. She wouldn’t hold anything back this time, because he’d been right about her. She’d protected herself over the years by keeping a part of herself distant from everyone around her, but to give them a chance at a future, she’d have to go all out. She tried to convey her promise in her kiss, her hands coming up to tangle in his hair.

The love Kitty had for this man filled her up until there was nothing left. It should have terrified her, but instead she felt reconnected with the old Kitty. It was as though a bridge had formed between her present and past selves and made her a new woman. One who could fiercely love her man and still become a designing powerhouse. She could do it all as long as he was at her side.

His tongue slid out to lap at the seam of her mouth and her lips parted for him. The kiss deepened. Sweet and languid flew out the window to be replaced by hot and hungry. She moaned as his body came to rest against hers, the hard muscles pressing tight to her curves. They were made for each other. She’d just been hiding her head in the sand trying to deny it.

Monk’s mouth left hers to trail gnawing, hungry kisses down her neck. Buttons flew as his hands ripped open his dress shirt, baring her to his view. “You’re so fucking beautiful,” he whispered against the hollow of her throat.

Kitty loved hearing the hunger in his voice, loved the feel of his fangs as he scraped them down the center of her chest, but she didn’t have the patience for foreplay. She’d been wet before they even talked, her body hungering for him just from watching him walk. Her thighs were damp, her inner muscles tensing. The bear wanted their mate right this instant and was adamant she would get it. Her claws slashed out, tearing the pants from his body.

“No playing.” Kitty panted as she writhed beneath him. “Make love to me.”

He paused with his mouth a hairsbreadth away from her nipple and looked up at her, green eyes startled. That was when Kitty realized it was the first time she’d called what they did making love. For the last two weeks she’d demanded he fuck her, but never, ever had she demanded he make love to her. Until now.

“I need you inside me, Monk.” Desperation was clear in her voice and she didn’t care.

His cheeks flushed as his eyes burned jewel bright. “Anything for my Kitty-Cat.”

His body was all lethal grace as he knelt between her legs. His skin gleamed like polished gold in the light coming from the window. In that moment, he resembled a cougar made human and her breath caught in her throat in awe. He coasted his hands up her splayed thighs until he bracketed her pussy.

“Mine,” he purred, his thumbs brushing up and down the slick folds of her sex.

If he had said something along those lines earlier, she would have taken exception to it. Now though, she reached down to palm the hard length of his cock. “Mine,” she growled with a soft squeeze.

The muscles in his body tensed when she gripped him and his cock seemed to turn into steel when she squeezed, but he didn’t argue with her. Instead, he slid his hands around the backs of her thighs to open her wider, letting her guide his cock to her waiting slit.

“Put me inside you,” he ordered in a rough voice, his eyes on where they would soon be joined.

Kitty looked down as well, her body creaming at the sight of her hand on his ruddy shaft. She brought him closer until the proud crown brushed her pussy. Her breath hitched as he pressed forward, the bulbous head breaching her tight entrance. She couldn’t hold back a moan, her hand dropping away to grip the sheets as he continued sliding deeper inside her until his groin rested flush against her ass.

“Kitty-Cat,” he said on a groan, his hands tightened on her thighs.

She looked up, instantly caught by his bright gaze. His face was strained, the muscles in his neck standing out as though he held himself in careful check. Releasing her hold on the sheets, Kitty reached up to stroke his beautiful chest. His heart thudded fast and hard against her hand, the beat matching hers.

Wishing she could give him everything he wanted right now, but knowing it was too soon, Kitty gave him what she could. “I love you, Monk,” she told him in a voice gone husky from emotion and need.

His entire face lit up, making him look exactly like the young man she’d fallen in love with so many years before. “I love you too, baby.”

And he moved. Her claws punched through the tips of her fingers at the exquisite friction of his cock gliding out of her channel, digging into the meaty muscles of his pecs, but he didn’t seem to mind if the way he slammed back into her was any indication. Kitty gasped at the sharp bolt of pleasure that wound its way through her.

Monk kept a slow, methodical rhythm designed to drive her insane. She scrabbled at his hips, trying to pull him deeper, harder against her, but he resisted her urgings by sitting on his heels. It changed the angle of his thrusts. He made sure she felt every inch of his cock sliding in and out of her. Kitty gave up reaching for him and cupped her breasts, squeezing and plucking at her nipples in time with his thrusts.

“That’s my girl,” he rasped, his thrusts picking up speed and intensity, his cock slamming harder into her. “Roll them between your fingers, baby, get them nice and red.”

Kitty mewled, her head twisting on the pillow as he plundered her body and she tortured herself. Nearly overwhelming heat scorched her from the inside out, her inner muscles tensing in preparation for her orgasm. Her gasping moans and Monk’s rough breathing combined with the wet sounds of his cock tunneling into her, turning her on even more.

“Monk,” she panted in a pleading tone. “Please, baby.” He ground his hips against her, the head of his cock nudging her cervix. “Oh! Oh God, oh God, please, please!”

And like that, her mate snapped. He adjusted her legs until her calves rested against his shoulders and his hands were free to grip her hips. Then he slammed into her hard and fast, the new angle rubbing his cock against that magic spot inside her that burned her alive.

Kitty arched her back, her hands leaving her breasts to find Monk’s strong thighs, her claws digging into the muscles. The clap of their bodies meeting in a primal mating echoed throughout the room. She closed her eyes, the pleasure almost too much to bear, but a sharp nip to the inside of her leg had her blinking hazily at the man pounding into her.

“Keep your eyes on me, Kitty-Cat.” The deep, lethal tone made her womb clench. “I wanna see your face when your pussy clenches around me, wanna watch you fall apart as I come inside you.”

As usual, his explicit words, delivered in his sexy, Cajun accent sent her spiraling out of control. “Monk!” she screamed, her body bucking as her orgasm slammed into her like a tidal wave. She didn’t close her eyes, although it was a near thing.

And she was glad she hadn’t because she would have missed the look of pained bliss on his face when she tightened around him. His eyes flashed pale green for a moment, his cat making a brief appearance before he growled, low and deep, his hips ramming into hers.

“Mine,” he grunted with each sharp jab of his cock into her quaking pussy. “Mine, mine, mine, mine. My mate!”

His final word ended on a roar as his cock jerked inside her, his seed jetting into her in a hot, wet gush. Kitty moaned softly, Monk’s climax setting off another wave of spasms in her body as it eagerly accepted everything he had to give her.

With one last heave of his hips into hers, her mate seemed to go boneless, his impressive strength drained. Kitty was barely conscious, but she felt her legs slide off his shoulders to rest on either side of his body as he stretched out on top of her. He was a little heavy and sticky and she didn’t give a damn. She was wrapped in her mate’s scent and warmth, the way she loved.

Wiggling slightly to find a more comfortable position for them both that ended with his head pillowed on her breasts and his body resting along one side of hers, Kitty finally released a sigh of sheer happiness. There was still a lot for them to work through, but she wasn’t going to fight her instincts or her heart any longer. It wasn’t worth it, not when Monk gave her everything she needed.

Something buzzed in the back of her mind, trying to remind her of something important, but Monk had fucked—no, made love to her—so thoroughly that all she wanted was a little rest. Whatever it was could wait until she’d recovered from the mind-numbing orgasm her mate had given her.

* * * * *

Kitty woke up again, this time without an ache in her head. No, that particular sensation was much lower, especially in her thighs and pussy, but remembering how it’d gotten there made her lips curl in a small smile.

“What’s that smile for?” a lazy male voice asked somewhere over her head.

Squinting against the light, she saw Monk resting on his side, his sandy hair tousled around his head. His eyes were heavy-lidded and lazy from a climax-induced sleep, his chest marked with fading scratches. He’d never looked sexier than he did at that moment.

Kitty arched her back in a full-body stretch, delighting in the way his gaze trailed over her, pausing at her breasts and the juncture of her thighs. “That’s the smile of a very satisfied man,” she purred.

Slightly roughened fingers danced down the center of her chest to circle her navel. “You’re one incredibly sexy woman, Kitty Chambers.”

She grinned at him. “So are you.”

He studied her face with the satisfied smile of a male who knew he’d done a good job pleasuring his female before he dropped his gaze to follow the movement of his hand. He watched as his fingers kept up a leisurely exploration of her skin, meandering around her ribs to wander around her breast. She sucked in a breath when he lightly stroked her hardened nipple, but he didn’t linger there, his fingers skating up to her shoulder.

Because Kitty was watching his face, she saw the way his lips turned down at the corners when he touched the tattoo she’d gotten to cover his mark. Her heart ached at the sadness in his expression. She’d gotten the tattoo six months after leaving Maison Rouge and she’d never regretted it, until now.

She opened her mouth to say something, anything to take that look off his face, but her bear caught a whiff of a strange cat. She froze, her head snapping in the direction of the door seconds before a mechanism on the door clicked, followed by someone rapping on the door.

An unfamiliar male voice called through the thick wood, “If you two are finished in there, I have some clothes for you that I’m leaving at the door. C’mon out when you’re dressed.”

Monk sat up straight, his head swiveling around to stare at the door. “What the fuck?”

Kitty clutched the twisted sheet to her chest and sat up as well. “Who was that?”

He looked back at her, his eyes wide and disbelieving. “That was my dad.”

Her jaw dropped open in shock. “Your dad kidnapped us?”

A scowl forming on his face, Monk swung out of the bed and approached the door. He stopped short of his goal. “Wait a second, I smell—”

Someone else tapped on the door. “Kitty, honey, hurry up in there. You too, Monk.”

Kitty felt as if she’d fallen into Alice’s rabbit hole. “What the hell is my mom doing with your dad?”

Monk glanced over his shoulder. “It isn’t just her, your dad’s here too.”

“What?”

His lips thinned. “We won’t find out until we get out there.” He pulled open the door and peered out, dipping down to pick something off the floor before he slammed the door closed again. Turning around, he tossed the clothes on the bed. “I don’t know what the fuck’s going on, Kitty, but I think it’s time we found out.”

Sorting through the pile of clothes he’d dumped on the bed, Kitty grabbed a pair of sweats, pulling them on with more force than necessary. “Why would they do this? It doesn’t make any sense.”

Monk, dressing in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, grunted. “If I’m not mistaken, they probably got the idea from your aunt and uncle.”

Kitty paused in the process of finger-combing her hair. “What do you mean?”

He sighed and came over to her, grabbing her hand and pulling her onto the side of the bed. “When Daisy Lynn was being so stubborn about mating with Ram, your Uncle Thomas arrested her. Maybe your parents thought the same thing would work with us. As for my dad,” he ran a hand through his hair, “I have no idea why he’s involved, but chances are he’s the one who’s been following you. He was in Special Forces when he was younger. He could have come within feet of you without you seeing, or smelling him. I have no clue why he would want to.” His eyes glittered dangerously when he stood again, tugging her to her feet. “But I’m going to find out.”

Monk smelled outraged father as soon as he opened the door and knew Hunter Chambers was not a happy camper. Normally, Monk would go out of his way to be nice to a male he hoped would be his father-in-law one day, but that wasn’t happening now. Not after realizing one of the three in the other room had drugged Kitty. He didn’t care if they thought it was for her own good, it pissed him off.

Kitty was right beside him as they stepped out of their prison into a narrow hallway with closed doors on either side. The musky scent of cougar was more evident in the hall, mingled with grizzly and black bear, but the cat scent overwhelmed the bears. Monk even recognized the smells that belonged to his father’s extended family.

“This is your family’s camp,” Kitty said in a low whisper. “And you didn’t recognize it?”

A tide of heat flowed up his neck and he avoided her gaze. “I’ve never been here. I’m not overly fond of the water.”

“Oh. I forgot about that.”

He shot her a glance to see a frown on her face. “Yeah, well, since I never use it, my cousins do. I just can’t believe they cleaned that room we were in to the extent that we didn’t smell them in there. The fuckers must have been in on it.” He led the way down the hall, following the scent of their parents, which became stronger.

The hallway emptied into the living area where Walter Badeaux and Francine and Hunter Chambers sat on saggy, old furniture. It was beyond strange to see them sitting together, looking relaxed and normal. He hadn’t actually seen his dad in years and had to admit the time away from Maison Rouge seemed to have agreed with the older cougar. His hair was threaded with silver, but it didn’t detract from his youthful-looking face, a face Monk’s so strongly resembled.

Walter sat in a chair in the corner of the big room with the Chamberses sitting together on a sofa a few feet away. Francine looked pleased, Hunter looked pissed and Walter looked sheepish. Not exactly the reaction Monk was looking for in their parents.

Kitty dragged her feet, making him pull her a little farther in the room before she stopped completely. He scented her wariness and confusion because he felt the same, but his was heavily dosed with anger. “What’s going on?” He gripped Kitty’s hand tighter.

Hunter was the first to speak, a surprise since he usually had very little to say to anyone. “I sure as hell hope you’re planning to make an honest woman of my daughter this time,” he growled, his dark eyes flickering to light brown.

Francine slapped her mate’s leg and beamed. “I’m sure they’re making plans to take the next step.”

Monk wanted to yowl because he could feel Kitty’s body tense. She wasn’t ready to mate with him yet and he planned to give her plenty of time to get used to the idea, but if her parents pressured her— He didn’t even want to think what she’d do.

“That’s between me and Kitty,” he said as politely as he could. Hunter bared his teeth at Monk, the muscles between his shoulders becoming more pronounced. “Is that why you’re here?” he asked his father, looking the older cougar in the eye for the first time since stepping into the room. “To tell Kitty why we can’t mate? When we’re ready,” he tacked on as she stiffened even further.

He rubbed the inside of her wrist with his thumb, to calm her down, glad when she relaxed fractionally.

Walter cleared his throat and glanced at the Chamberses, who were glaring at him. He rubbed his hands on his legs a few times, the sound overly loud in the silent, tense room. “About that…”

“He was wrong,” Francine said flatly.

“You knew about this?” Kitty asked before Monk could, taking a step forward to face her parents. “You knew why Monk and I weren’t together anymore and you didn’t tell me?”

“Aw, cher, it wasn’t like that,” Francine said with a deep sigh.

Hunter sat forward, his dark eyes focused on his daughter. “Did you think we wouldn’t find out what happened, baby?”

Kitty’s grip on Monk’s hand tightened to the point of pain. “What?”

The grizzly’s gaze flickered over to Monk. “We knew what happened between you two the day after you broke up. You were…” His face twisted with pain for his daughter. “I’ve never seen you look like that, or hurt like that, baby girl. I never approved of you getting mixed up with a cat, but you loved him.” He shrugged, his deep-black hair glinting in the light. “But when he hurt you, when I found out what everyone was saying about you and why you were really leaving, I planned to skin him alive.”

The way Hunter looked at Monk suggested he still wouldn’t mind fulfilling that fantasy, but Francine patted her mate’s knee. “We went to talk with Walter about it.”

All gazes swung to the old cat sitting in the corner, looking as if he wished he were anywhere but there. Monk saw shame in his father’s eyes and his heart pounded. “What did you do?”

Walter looked down at his feet. “I told them the same story I told you. Your mother did try to hurt you, Monk.” He grimaced and Monk felt a twinge of reluctant sympathy for the older cougar. “I was working twenty-hour days back then, trying to make ends meet at two jobs and your mama was with you all alone a lot. You were always so sick, which I never understood, but she took care of you, nursed you back each and every time.” His voice choked up. “I wouldn’t have known she was doing it to you if I hadn’t come home from work early one night. You were only ten months old. I could hear you crying from the driveway, but before I even got to the door, you stopped. When I stepped into the house, she had a pillow over your face.”

Kitty’s free hand gripped Monk’s arm, her fingernails digging deep. Monk barely felt it. His father had only told him his mother tried to kill him. He’d been too distressed and angry to listen to any details fifteen years before, but hearing his dad talk about it made everything seem so real.

“I fought with her,” Walter continued, his face ashen and older-looking than it’d been only moments before. “I knocked her out and checked on you. You were fine, thank God,” he said crossing himself. His lips trembled a second before he continued. “I called a friend of mine who lived in Mississippi and we arranged to have your mama moved. I didn’t call the police because I didn’t want either of us to become the center of attention in town. I didn’t tell anyone what happened, only that Carla was very sick. Even your grandmother didn’t know, but by then she was dying of the cancer as well. It seemed best for everyone involved if Carla just…disappeared.”

He tightened his hands into fists. “The doctors would call me to ask questions about Carla’s history. They said she claimed her mother tried to kill her when she was a child. Another time she told them I never showed her enough attention except when you were involved. I didn’t know what to believe, but after a couple of years, she…” His voice grew thick. “She kept insisting it was my fault for not being home more, that your grandmother made her hate children. It took a while for the doctors to diagnose her, calling what she had Munchausen by proxy and depression, but by then it was too late. She killed herself shortly after.”

His throat clicked as he swallowed. He looked at Kitty. “I’m so sorry, Kitty, but I was a bitter, guilty man then. I didn’t know if what Carla had would be passed on to Monk, or if he would find himself in the same position I was in with a mate who hated him. I told him it was hereditary without knowing. My friend, the one who helped me get Carla admitted to the hospital, swore it wasn’t genetic, but I couldn’t take the chance with his future. I omitted a lot, but God, I was only doing it to protect both of you.”

Silence filled the room, heavy and tense. Monk’s mind was trying to comprehend what his father said. He’d only been distantly aware of the pain his father felt when he told Monk about his legacy because he’d been far too angry and selfish to listen, but now, as an adult, he could see all too clearly how much his father had hurt. Even Hunter looked like he understood Walter’s confession better than Monk ever would. Because it was something a father did when he loved his child to the extent these two men did. They would cheat, lie and steal if it meant their children were protected and safe.

It was the way Monk knew he’d feel when he held his first child in his arms. And if his father’s words were true, if there was no hereditary predisposition to attacking their own children, then Monk could be a father. As soon as Kitty agreed.

He looked over at her to see her eyes swimming with tears and sympathy as she stared at their fathers. He didn’t know what was going through her mind, but he wasn’t sure he could forgive them for what they’d done. His heart ached for everything Kitty had been put through and he realized he’d done exactly what their parents had. He’d purposely misguided her to protect her. Monk had known he would rather give Kitty up than take the chance that he’d hurt her later on, but now he realized his father had done the same thing to him, he finally knew the pain she’d felt. And how amazing she was to have forgiven him.

Ignoring their parents for the moment, he turned to his mate and took her in his arms. She didn’t fight him, didn’t try to push him away, but cuddled close, her trembling shoulders telling him just how much she was holding back.

“I love you,” he whispered against her ear. “God, baby, I love you and I’m so fucking sorry I hurt you.”

Her arms wrapped around his waist, holding him tightly. “I love you too. But I swear to God if you ever do something like that again, I’ll castrate you.”

Even as his balls did a quick retreat, Monk chuckled, his throat suspiciously tight. “I’ll hand you the dull knife.”

He didn’t know how long they stood locked together, but it was the clearing of a throat that made Monk look over to see her mother beaming, her father glaring and his father looking hopeful.

He met his father’s eyes, protectiveness welling up. “You tranqed my mate.”

“Ah, that was my suggestion,” Francine said, surprising Kitty enough to turn to stare at her mother. “Don’t look at me like that, Kitty Marie. You’re so tête dur, I knew if we approached you about clearing things up, you wouldn’t even listen. Daisy Lynn told me all about your argument, so we decided to take matters into our own hands. Walter went after you and Daisy Lynn and I went after Monk. Who, by the way, had drunk himself into a stupor and kept mumbling about tattoos and kittens.” The older bear folded her arms over her chest, her chin lifting in a move he’d seen Kitty use many times when she thought he was being unreasonable. “Now, Kitty Marie Chambers, I have only one thing left to say. I’m tired of you living in New York. It’s time for you to come home and concentrate on family for a little while.”

Kitty pushed away from Monk, her face contorting with anger. “You manipulated me! I thought someone was trying to kill me, dammit.”

“Kitty,” Hunter warned.

She closed her eyes. “Sorry,” she muttered. “Why would you scare me?” She gaped. “Did you arrange to have someone drive me off the road too? What about throwing paint on me?” Her voice got higher and higher the more worked up she became and Monk slid an arm around her waist in a silent show of support. If her parents had done all of that in some misguided attempt to get her to stay in Maison Rouge, he’d sell his house and move to New York with Kitty. “Were you trying to ruin my career?”

Francine gasped, coming to her feet in outrage. “As if I’d do something like that! Daisy Lynn told me about that truck before we came out here today and said it was a couple of kids who took their parents’ truck for a joyride. They were too scared to stop when they nearly ran you off the road.” She sniffed. “As for the paint, you can thank Callie Hebert for that.”

“What?” Kitty and Monk asked in unison.

The older sow nodded, looking self-righteous and pissed off. “Someone named Margaret called last night while we were trying to figure where you’d run off to and said the leak came from Callie Hebert.” Her lips tightened. “Seems she decided to hedge her bets since it looks as if Zach isn’t falling into line the way she wants, so she figured she’d stir up trouble that would make you leave for New York. Margaret said she’s already contacted the lawyer you keep on retainer to sue for slander.”

“I told you Callie had it in for me,” Monk murmured in Kitty’s ear.

She jabbed his ribs with her elbow and broke away from him. “I’m sorry, Mama,” she said as she hugged her mother. “It’s been so confusing and crazy and then this happened… I know you wouldn’t do anything to hurt or scare me.”

Francine wrapped her arms around her daughter and squeezed. “Of course I would if I thought it would make you see sense. Sometimes I wonder where you get that hard head of yours. And Hunter, you can stop coughing now.”

The Chambers patriarch moved forward, wrapping both his women in his arms, the three of them bonding by scent. Monk wanted to be a part of that, maybe not with Hunter, but with Kitty. He shuffled his feet and fought a rising tide of jealousy.

Movement next to him raised his head to see Walter had come to stand at his side, his Special Forces training keeping Monk from sensing him until they were shoulder to shoulder. The older cougar looked at the Chambers family and back at Monk.

“I really am sorry, son,” he said in a low tone that wouldn’t carry across the room. “I thought I was doing the right thing for both of you.” He tilted his head in Kitty’s direction. “You’ve got yourself a fine female and if you’re smart, you’ll do everything you can to hold on to her.”

Not sure how to take the fatherly advice so soon after learning of his father’s lies, Monk spoke a little stiffly. “I plan to.”

They stood together awkwardly, the sounds of Kitty’s family excitedly talking together, reassuring each other of their love making the moment tenser. Monk cleared his throat. “How long have you been in town?”

Walter shrugged. “’Bout three weeks. Francine called me when it looked as if you and Kitty were getting along better. She thought it was time to tell y’all the truth.”

Monk shot his father a glare. “Is that why you were spying on her?”

The older man had the grace to blush lightly. “I just wanted to make sure she was the right female for you. I didn’t want you to fall into the same trap I did. Kitty isn’t anything like Carla was.” He ran a hand through his hair, a nervous habit Monk had picked up long ago. “Your mama wasn’t a strong woman, son. She…well, she was selfish, but I loved her and thought she’d grow out of it. Kitty isn’t like that. She’s got a spine of solid steel and she loves you.” He nodded approvingly. “She’s a damn good female who’ll make you a strong, loyal mate.”

Since Monk knew that already, he said nothing for a moment.

“How long you stayin’ in town?”

Walter glanced over at him. “I don’t know. Thomas Picou invited me to Daisy Lynn’s wedding. I thought I might stay until then at least.”

Monk shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “You’re welcome to stay with me,” he mumbled awkwardly.

“That’d be nice.”

The Chamberses’ hug-fest wrapped up and Kitty turned to Monk with shining eyes. He was sure it was an indication of her happiness, but his cougar was still in protective mode. He started for her, unwilling to wait for her to cross over to him.

He took two steps toward his mate and paused to say over his shoulder, “It’s good to see you again. Dad.”

Chapter Ten

St. Patrick’s Cathedral was packed when Kitty peeked through the doors leading to the altar. Ram and his band mates were standing at the front of the church, looking entirely too gorgeous in their deep-gray tuxes. Even Nick had gone for a more subdued look for the wedding, wearing his hair tied down instead of in his usual Mohawk, but Kitty only had eyes for Monk.

He’d taken a pew not far from the front on Daisy’s side of the church, his father standing next to him. She couldn’t stop her sigh at the sight of them together. Walter Badeaux was a handsome older cat, which told her Monk would age gracefully. In the week since she’d woken up next to Monk in his family’s hunting camp, things had been too hectic for them to do more than talk on the phone, or have dinner either with her parents or his. Kitty had her hands full finishing Daisy’s dress, making statements to the press about Callie’s attempts to slander her, and organizing her business in order to remain in Maison Rouge.

Monk, on the other hand, had been recruited by Claudette to help organize the reception. As the Chairman of the Pointe-Aux-Chat Festival, he’d agreed to allow the wedding reception to be held on the fairgrounds since it was the only place big enough to hold the nearly six hundred people who’d been invited to the wedding.

“I’m going to throw up,” Daisy moaned behind Kitty.

Dragging her eyes from her handsome cougar, Kitty turned to her cousin, who looked very green. “I swear to God if you throw up on my dress, I’m going to kill you, Daisy,” she swore as she pulled up the skirt of her gown and hurried over.

“Here, give her this,” Monica Doucet said as she thrust a few crackers in Kitty’s hand. “That should help her.”

“Crackers?” Kitty asked doubtfully.

The bobcat shifter shrugged. “It’s good for morning sickness.”

Mouth dropping open, Kitty stared at Daisy with new eyes. Despite the misery etched across her face, Daisy glowed with something. A careful sniff at her cousin told the whole story. “You slut, you’re pregnant!” she exclaimed in a soft whisper.

“I cannot believe you’re swearing in church, Kitty. I’m telling Aunt Francine.”

Kitty ignored that, gripping her cousin’s arms in her hands. “You’re pregnant. Oh my God! Does Ram know? Does Tante Claudette?”

Daisy groaned. “Not yet, but when I throw up on his feet at the altar, I’m sure he’ll realize.”

Kitty squealed, wrapping her arms around her cousin, but still being careful not to wrinkle the gown. “I’m so happy for you! Oh my God, I’m going to be an aunt.”

The other bear hugged her halfheartedly. “I’m excited too, but I kind of need to get married, otherwise I think Daddy might kill Ram for knocking me up.”

Giddy with happiness, Kitty pulled back and looked for her uncle, but didn’t see him, although the other three bridesmaids were watching them curiously. “I think we’re safe for the moment, but I’ll keep it on the down-low.” She hoped. She was so excited she thought she might burst with it. “Oh Daisy, you’re going to be such a great mama.”

Her cousin’s mouth curled into a trembling smile. “So will you when you’re ready.” She squeezed Kitty’s hands. “You’re next, you know. We always did things together, so no more playing, my kinky little bear,” she whispered with a wink. “My kid’s going to want a cousin to play with.”

“I love you, Daisy,” Kitty whispered with a tight throat. “Thank you for kicking my ass.”

“Well, someone needed to do it. God knows Monk just wants to stroke it, pet it and call it his,” she teased, referring to the many times she’d caught Monk’s hand on Kitty’s ass. “I mean really, I keep expecting him to call you his ‘Precious’ or somethin’. Seriously, put that man out of his misery.”

Kitty blushed but said nothing because Nonc Thomas chose that moment to arrive with a huge smile. Stepping back to allow Daisy and her dad some privacy, Kitty knew her cousin was right. The reservations she’d had about mating with Monk again had withered beneath the onslaught of information she’d received. It was messed up how everyone around her had gone out of their way to keep her in the dark, but she understood their reasoning. It was what you did for those you love, protecting them even when they didn’t want it.

Dining with Walter, she’d heard stories about Monk she’d never known before. More than that though, she’d seen the love the elder Badeaux had for his only son. It touched her heart to know father and son were becoming closer, their need to protect their loved ones helping them bond.

Fate is so screwed up. She smoothed out her skirt. If she and Monk had married and mated when they were eighteen, neither of them would have appreciated what they had now. She could almost thank their parents for interfering in their lives because it’d allowed both Kitty and Monk to grow up.

“Bridesmaids, line up,” someone called out.

Kitty barely had time to move back to avoid being stampeded by her fellow bridesmaids. The women were giddy to be wearing original gowns and more than ready to show off for the wedding guests. Because Daisy’s gown was a surprise to everyone except her parents, they’d all dressed at the church. Her cousin had been adamant that when she stepped out for her first picture as a bride, she wanted it to be with her mate at her side.

Music played overhead and the doors opened. One by one the bridesmaids led the way down the aisle. Kitty stayed back, waiting for her cue, but couldn’t resist peeking around the door to enjoy the gasps of delight from the audience. The gowns she’d designed for herself and the bridesmaids were flattering on any figure. At Daisy’s insistence, Kitty had given them all different colors the girls decided upon themselves. Designing the gowns for the wedding had been fun, but she knew she wouldn’t be taking on such a big project again. Bridesmaids were hell to work with.

Proud of her designs and almost trembling with the excitement of Daisy’s gown finally being revealed, Kitty moved to the doorway. She recognized most of the people on both sides of the church. Family and townspeople packed into the pews behind Daisy’s parents, while Ram’s friends from LA as well as his small family filled the seats behind his mother. Cameras flashed as she stepped out of the lobby and onto the carpet leading to the altar.

She didn’t see any of that though. Not when Monk was looking at her as though he’d never seen her before. Her heart pounded and her hands shook, causing her to clutch her bouquet of flowers tighter. She wanted to run to him and throw herself in his arms. God, she loved the impossible cat. And he loved her as well because he didn’t even try to disguise his admiration or feelings from anyone. It was out there for everyone to see.

Kitty practically floated to the altar, barely aware of the people whispering around her. It was vastly different from the last time she’d felt this happy because this time she knew her man loved her.

Once in place, Kitty turned to face the congregation. The song changed to The Wedding March and everyone stood for a view of the bride. The doors at the back of the church opened and a collective gasp sounded. Kitty didn’t need to see what held them enthralled because she knew Daisy had never looked so beautiful in her life.

She peeked at Ram, who looked as if he’d just been punched in the chest. He recovered. Barely. Kitty grinned. The dress was magnificent. The very best design she’d ever made and she couldn’t have been happier to have made it for her best friend. The ivory silk gown floated around Daisy’s long legs, outlining them with every step before sweeping into a tight bodice that displayed her smaller waist and round bosom. Kitty had done some clever dart work to draw attention away from Daisy’s broader shoulders, but it was the back of the gown that was the masterpiece.

And as Daisy walked down the aisle, everyone got a look at it, their whispers following her like a wave. The back of the gown had a large cutout with fine, skin-toned netting covered in tiny crystals that sparkled with her every step. There was no bow, despite what Kitty had threatened her cousin with. Just absolute elegance that had been tailored to Daisy’s unique beauty.

The cousins’ eyes met for a moment and Kitty could read the love and happiness on Daisy’s face. It was enough to make her tear up. Turning away, she glanced at the audience, only to be caught in Monk’s reverent gaze. Her heart pounded and a smile of happiness pulled at her mouth.

It was so damn good to be home.

* * * * *

Monk strolled through the crowd of people at the fairgrounds, talking with those he knew and smiling at those he didn’t. He hadn’t minded at all loaning the sprawling fairgrounds for the reception. He adored Daisy Lynn for giving him the ass kicking he’d so desperately needed. Without that, he wouldn’t have had a chance in hell of getting back together with Kitty.

“Monk, comment ça va?” Alvin Callais, one of the oldest shifters in Maison Rouge, stopped him with the hail.

Monk paused to smile at the old swan shifter. “Ça va bien, et tu?”

“Can’t complain because no one will listen, hanh?”

Chuckling at the older male’s words, Monk clapped him on the shoulder. “You can always marry a young woman to listen to your complaints.”

The old swan, one of the richest males in the parish, chuckled as well and sat back down. Monk continued on his way to the small lake where the wedding party had collected to take pictures. He still couldn’t believe how amazingly talented his mate was. When he’d seen the bridesmaids’ dresses, Monk knew she was an artist, but when Daisy stepped out, he’d known his mate was beyond amazing. He’d wanted to stand up and applaud for her, let out a shout or something to show his support of her, but he didn’t think Ms. Claudette would approve. She’d cast looks at anyone who made a sound other than a whisper of awe, not wanting to miss a single word spoken between Father Bryan and the couple.

He grinned at the memory. It made him anxious to convince Kitty to marry him. He could imagine her mother’s reaction during the ceremony and it made him want to laugh. The good feeling didn’t last long, however.

Stopping on the edge of the crowd watching the pictures being taken, Monk tried not to stride forward to punch the shit out of the tiger who had his hands on Kitty’s hips. The asshole stood entirely too close to Monk’s mate. It mattered little to him that the other bridesmaids and groomsmen stood the same way, as if they were taking a prom picture. The other females weren’t his.

But Kitty happened to look over and see him, her smile going from forced to blinding. Feeling better because he’d been the one she smiled at that way, Monk relaxed slightly.

The torture session lasted another ten minutes before someone called out, “Ram and Daisy are ready!”

The photographer let the bridal party head for the bank of the lake. Monk fought his way to Kitty’s side, sliding his arm around her waist. “Hey, beautiful,” he murmured in her ear.

She snuggled up against his side. “Hey, handsome.”

The bodice of her dress dipped dangerously low, giving him an unobstructed view of her breasts and just like that, Monk went from mellow and happy to horny and happy. He wanted to rub his face between her breasts, wallow in her scent, and follow her sweet skin down her—

“Oh my God, what are they doing?” Kitty suddenly shrieked, jerking out of his arms.

Convinced some catastrophe had happened, Monk leapt after his mate, who tore through the crowd standing on the bank of the lake. He apologized as he followed her, wondering what the hell had happened.

Finally catching up with her at the very edge of the bank, he saw she was yelling at the photographer. “You’re out of your damn fool mind! Do you have any idea what kind of damage this water could do to that dress if they overturn?”

The photographer, some snooty LA type, sniffed at Kitty. “Mr. Reinhardt assured me they’d be perfectly safe. They’ve been practicing for this surprise.”

Kitty almost lunged for the photographer’s throat, but Monk caught her by the waist to reel her in. “Baby, what’s wrong?” he asked, never having seen Kitty get so worked up unless she was pissed at him.

“Look!” she declared in a tearful voice, pointing toward the lake.

Monk followed her gesture to see Ram and Daisy Lynn rowing out into the middle of the small lake in a pirogue. Ram rowed the shallow-bottom boat effortlessly, looking far more confident than Monk would have guessed. Hell, he had no idea what they were doing, but he had to admire how easily the lion shifter handled the small boat. Monk knew from experience how perilous the balance in a pirogue was.

Ram brought the small boat to a stop in the middle of the lake. He said something to Daisy Lynn, who laughed and carefully stood. The boat barely moved, Daisy Lynn being a bayou girl through and through. Ram was a little slower to stand, but followed suit. Kitty groaned and buried her face in Monk’s shoulder. He had no idea what she was so scared about, but whatever it was had her freaking out.

“It’ll be okay. Look, they’re barely moving,” he soothed her, even as his heart sped up.

The newlyweds stepped toward each other, careful not to rock the pirogue. They looked at each other a moment, the clicks of the photographer’s camera the only sound other than the distant rumble of voices as people at the other end of the fairgrounds moved closer. Monk could see why they’d want to get a picture like that. It was romantic with the bride and groom outlined against the setting sun. Not that he’d do anything similar. And with the way Kitty moaned in the back of her throat, he suspected she felt the same.

Then, as though they’d practiced, just as the photographer suggested, they kissed.

A sighed “aw” escaped the hundreds of people standing on the banks of the little lake. The photographer took what sounded like a hundred pictures, his finger pressing on the shutter button faster than Monk could blink.

“There, see?” the photographer said triumphantly. “Nothing happened.”

But Monk kept his eyes on the couple. Daisy Lynn pulled back with a smile on her face. She said something to Ram that made his body stiffen. No sooner did a horrible sense of dooming disaster crawl over Monk, than Ram suddenly whooped and grabbed Daisy Lynn, dipping her to the side for a huge kiss.

Unfortunately, the lion seemed to have forgotten they were in a pirogue. Their lips met briefly before the pirogue rocked with their movements, dumping them into the lake.

“Oh my God!” Kitty screamed.

Her body seemed to wilt and Monk caught her. “They’re okay, baby,” he said urgently, seeing first Daisy Lynn, then Ram’s heads pop out of the water. They were laughing. “They’re not hurt, Kitty-Cat. It’s okay.”

“My dress,” she moaned, her eyes rolling back. “My dress!”

Monk swept his anguished mate in his arms, trying not to laugh. It wasn’t funny that she was so upset about the dress taking a dip in the lake, but he had to admit it had been a priceless moment. Excusing them, Monk carried his moaning, muttering mate out of the crowd. Barely anyone paid them any attention, their laughing faces turned to the newlyweds swimming back to shore.

With Kitty swooning in his arms like Scarlett O’Hara, Monk made his way across the fairgrounds to one of the buildings that usually housed the security team for the festival. It was more a squat, concrete shack than a building, but it was private and cool and had a large sofa for quick naps. Monk juggled his mate in his arms, finally swinging her over his shoulder so he could free his hands from the yards of fabric making up her skirt to unlock the door.

He knew she was in a bad way by the lack of reaction her new position caused and he hurried inside, locking the door behind him. Hitting the switch to turn the air on, Monk carried Kitty straight to the sofa and eased her down.

Kneeling next to her, he studied her pale, miserable face. “Baby, it’s okay. I’m sure the dress can be cleaned.” Maybe. Laundry, while something he did because he had to, wasn’t his area of expertise. And the way Kitty moaned at his words suggested she didn’t believe him. “It’s not that bad.”

She squinted up at him, her dark eyes narrowed on his face. “Not that bad? My gown, which could have sold for at least five thousand dollars, just took a dip in a lake with algae and God only knows what else.” She whimpered. “And it was all caught on film.”

“But it was beautiful before that and that’s all anyone will remember. Daisy Lynn and Ram acting like asses is just the icing on the cake.”

Her lips curled into a half smile. She seemed to calm herself. “You’re right. It’s her dress now and she’ll have to just…clean it herself.” But her face twisted. “I’ll have nightmares about today for a long time.”

Unable to resist any longer, Monk leaned forward and brushed his lips over hers. “Unless we think of something to get rid of those bad thoughts,” he suggested with a smile.

She fluttered her eyelashes at him, the stress draining away from her face. “Oh? How are we going to do that?”

Monk’s cock sprang to attention. “Well, we don’t have a lot of time. I’m sure your cousin’s going to be looking for you soon to help her out of her gown and we’ll have to dance, but maybe if I very carefully lift your dress over your head, we can work something out.” He waggled his eyebrows, earning a loud laugh from her.

God he loved it when she laughed, when her eyes sparkled with happiness. It made him feel like a motherfucking demi-god.

She sat up. “We’d better hurry,” she practically purred at him, her eyes flashing with instant lust as she reached for his belt with one hand.

“I don’t think that’s gonna be a problem, Kitty-Cat.” He slid his hands under the hem of her dress. “I’m about to come and you haven’t even touched my c—” His words ended on a groan as she closed her hand around his dick and stroked. “Damn, woman, I need you right now.”

She gave him a siren’s smile. “Then have me.”

Kitty was impressed by Monk’s care when he tugged her to her feet and turned her to face the sofa. “Grab the back,” he ordered, even as his hands eased the fragile yards of fabric that made her skirt.

Hotter than ever from the gravelly command, Kitty leaned over and gripped the back of the sofa. It had a wide seat, which forced her to bend all the way in order to reach the other side. Cool air kissed the back of her legs, traveling up with the folds of her skirt until she felt a breeze over her slick pussy.

“Stay just like that, Kitty-Cat.” He softly patted her ass. “I really like your habit of not wearing panties, baby. It makes things a lot easier.”

Twisting her head around, she saw him pulling his jacket and shirt off, carefully placing them on the tiny desk in the corner. He walked back to her, his hands lowering his slacks to just beneath his hips. His cock jutted out, bobbing as he walked. Kitty panted, her need slicking her thighs.

“It’s gonna be fast and hard, baby,” he warned as he stepped up behind her. “It’s been too damn long since I had you.”

She knew the feeling. Their last time together seemed like a dream, one she’d enjoyed the last few nights alone in her room. Unfortunately, her hand couldn’t compare to the pleasure Monk gave her. Wanting everything he had to give, she arched her back, spreading her feet farther apart in offering.

“Take me.”

He gripped her hips in a firm hold, his cock sliding along her slit. She shuddered when he grazed her clit, the pleasure shooting through her veins. But before she could recover from that incidental touch, he thrust into her. Kitty moaned, her fingers digging into the sofa.

“Damn, baby. Just damn.” He panted behind her, pausing for one moment. “So hot.”

Monk withdrew slightly before slamming into her again. And again. The hard, fast thrusts forced air out of her lungs. Soon, he had a rhythm that caused their bodies to clap together, his balls slapping her clit with every glide into her.

“Aw, fuck, fuck!” He let go of her hips to grip the sofa on either side of her, his arms caging her in. The move changed the angle of his thrusts, finding the sweet spot only he’d ever discovered and Kitty let out a strangled scream. “Kitty, mine,” he grunted against her nape. His hot breath only added to the fire pooling in her stomach. “My Kitty.”

Orgasm raced toward her, brutal and hard and without giving it another thought, Kitty turned her head and sank her fangs into the exposed skin of Monk’s arm. He shouted against her nape, his hips slamming into her ass as he fucked her harder and faster, finding that spot with unerring accuracy. Her inner muscles clenched around him, pulling him in, milking him and Monk broke.

Fangs pierced the tender skin between her shoulder and neck, holding her in place as her mate’s cock jerked inside her, bathing her with his hot, wet release. He growled, low and deep, the corded muscles in his arms tightening as he squeezed the sofa, making sure she couldn’t get away. Not that she wanted to.

Releasing his arm, Kitty tenderly bathed the punctures she’d left on his skin, her bear rumbling with love and contentment. This was what it’d wanted from the very beginning. Probably ever since Kitty first saw Monk on the playground when they were five. He was hers, now and forever.

His breath scorched her skin where he still bit her, his cougar needing to pour everything it had into her and Kitty welcomed it, arching her back to give him better access. It was animalistic, instinctive and it started with the love she had for him. She gave him her all and took all he had to give.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Monk’s fangs retreated from her neck. She shivered as his faintly rough tongue licked the mark he’d left on her skin. It took several more minutes before he was able to step away from her and when he did, she had to bite back a moan of disappointment. He couldn’t stay in her forever.

“Kitty,” he rasped, carefully turning her to face him, her skirt falling around her legs, hiding all evidence that she’d been ravished within an inch of her life by the man she loved. Monk’s eyes were tormented, yet triumphant. “Kitty, does this mean…?” He hesitated. “You’ll be my mate, my wife?”

Hating herself for having put him through so much when she first got to town, Kitty cupped his cheek. “If you’ll be my mate and my husband,” she replied in a voice that wobbled slightly. “Besides, you have to make an honest woman out of me. My daddy said so.”

His eyes widened with hope and he whooped. Not seeming to care that his pants were around his knees, or that his body was sticky with sweat and fluids, he grabbed her around the waist and swung her around. “I love you, Kitty-Cat,” he whispered against her lips. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist me if I tried hard enough.”

Kitty wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. “You always were too charming for my own good, Monk.” They looked at each other, the happiness Kitty felt reflected in Monk’s eyes. His gaze flicked down to the shoulder he’d marked nearly two decades before. “I can have it removed,” she whispered.

To her surprise he shook his head. “No. It’ll be a lesson to both of us never to keep secrets from each other, or to take each other for granted. I’ll never hold anything back from you ever again.”

She opened her mouth to respond, but a sharp rap on the door interrupted her.

“What’re you doing in there, kinky little bear?” Daisy’s familiar voice called out. “Are you fucking at my wedding reception? With Father Bryan twenty feet away?”

“Daisy, what are you doing?” Ram asked.

Kitty and Monk stared at each other, laughter bright in their eyes, but they didn’t speak as he hurriedly pulled his clothes back on. She hated to see him cover his beautiful body, but they didn’t have a lot of time.

“I’m just reminding my cousin that perversion runs in the family. I just saw her mama and daddy heading off into the woods together.” She practically sang out the words.

“Your dad just carried your mom in the direction of the concession stands,” Ram said, cutting off Daisy’s laughter. “So yeah, I guess it really does.” Another knock sounded on the door. “Congrats, you two. Kitty, I’m sorry about the dress. I’ll have someone clean it as soon as I tear it off my beautiful wife’s body. See you guys at the party. C’mon, baby,” he said, obviously not talking to them, but to his wife because Daisy giggled.

Left alone again, Kitty hoped at least, she looked at her mate. “Are you sure you want to marry into this family?”

He pulled her close for a hard, fast kiss. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

The End

About Danica Avet

Danica Avet was born and raised in the wilds of South Louisiana where mosquitoes are big enough to carry off small children and there are only two seasons: hot and hotter. With a BA in History, she figured there were enough fry cooks in the world and decided to try her hand at writing.

Danica is the lucky pet of a compulsively needy dog and two cats. The pitter-patter of little feet has been known to make her break out into a cold sweat.

Writing is how she gives the voices in her head a way out. When she isn’t writing, working or contemplating the complexities of the universe, she spends time gathering inspiration from her insane family, reads far more than any sane person would want to, and watches hot burly men chase an oblong ball all over a field.

Danica welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email addresses on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.

Tell Us What 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).

Also by Danica Avet

Primal Song

Ellora’s Cave Publishing

www.ellorascave.com

Primal Design

ISBN 9781419942174

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Primal Design Copyright © 2012 Danica Avet

Edited by Grace Bradley

Cover design by Perry

Photos: Svetara, RLuxton, MidoSemsem and Conrado/Shutterstock.com

Electronic book publication September 2012

The terms Romantica® and Quickies® are registered trademarks of Ellora’s Cave Publishing.

With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502.

Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.  (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/). Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

The publisher and author(s) acknowledge the trademark status and trademark ownership of all trademarks, service marks and word marks mentioned in this book.

The publisher does not have any control over, and does not assume any responsibility for, author or third-party websites or their content.

Discover for yourself why readers can’t get enough of the multiple award-winning publisher Ellora’s Cave. Be sure to visit EC on the web at www.ellorascave.com to find erotic reading experiences that will leave you breathless. You can also find our books at all the major e-tailers (Barnes & Noble, Amazon Kindle, Sony, Kobo, Google, Apple iBookstore, All Romance eBooks, and others).

www.ellorascave.com