Wolf Nip Split

Chapter Nine

Tessa had been strangely quiet since she and Keri returned to the pack house. She curled under his arm again, but this time all the fidgeting seemed to have drained from her.

Mark stroked her arm gently, worried. “Are you okay? What did Keri say to you?”

“Nothing but the truth.” She blinked hard, and his heart skipped a beat.

“Are you crying?” He touched her cheek. “Don’t be sad. There’s nothing we can’t face together, okay?”

That only seemed to make her sniff harder. “Can we go home?”

The words snuck out slowly.

“Of course.” He brought her to her feet. They made their goodbyes to their friends. Mark gave Keri a dirty look for whatever it was she’d done to upset Tessa.

The short ride home passed in silence. The exterior lights were on at the house, the upper floor sparkling with the new fixtures she’d chosen and he’d rushed to install. He pointed them out to her. “You picked the perfect ones. I love how they look.”

Tessa smiled, but it never reached her eyes. She tugged him to a stop before they hit the door. “Wait. I need to…look around.”

This night got more and more confusing. “Of course.”

She caught his fingers in hers and refused to let him go. The feel of her skin under his hand—he’d never got the concept of pleasure/pain before, but being with her without being with her was teaching him fast.

There didn’t seem to be anywhere specific she wanted to go. They shot past the full wood shed, through the freshly painted paddlewheel blades that she’d mentioned would look great in dark green, around the outside where he’d begun to widen the front walkway.

Tessa brought him inside and paced through the rooms that were ready and waiting for the drywall that was on order—he’d run out of things to build. While waiting for supplies, he’d switched to making furniture.

She trailed her fingers over the smooth sanded surface of a bedpost, still not talking. Not explaining what was wrong.

His wolf was ready to burst out when she finally smiled. A real smile. “Come upstairs, I have something to show you.”

The beast inside calmed enough he could take the stairs at her side without panicking. But when she stopped in the kitchen of all places, he couldn’t hold it in any longer.

“Tessa, what the heck is wrong? What did Keri say?”

Tessa poked at the coffeemaker on the island countertop. “Keri told me to open my eyes and stop being a fool.”

One more tug, and she had him in the large open space where the giant table for the group dinners would sit. When she would have brought him to the floor, he hesitated.

“Tessa, this isn’t a good idea.” If he got down with her, she might not get up for the rest of the night. “I’ll just go—”

“Stay,” she ordered. “I need to tell you something important.”

He knelt, keeping a bit of distance between them. Tessa eyed the space, and sighed unhappily.

His heart ached, but he didn’t break. Not yet. Not until she lifted her gaze to meet his, and her eyes were full of unshed tears.

Mark moved without thinking, scooping her up and cradling her in his lap, holding her head to his shoulder and rocking her. The connection between their bodies heated like a branding iron, but somewhere he’d find the power to give her what she needed without claiming her.

Tessa’s fingers brushed his cheek. “You’ve been saying it all along, haven’t you?”

Mark paused, partly because her touch was driving electric pulses through his entire system, and partly because he wasn’t sure what she meant.

She wiggled upright and held his face in both her hands. “You’ve been saying it all along and I wasn’t listening. That’s what Keri smacked me over the head with—that I’m a cat and you’re a wolf. It wasn’t a stupid comment that my brother made not very long ago.”

“Tony?” Had she been chatting with family? “That reminds me. I wanted to suggest you invite everyone over for a visit. Whenever works for them. We’ll have room—”

Her mouth covering his stopped his rush of words and, holy moly, he really was going to die now. Because after a few days without tasting her, there was no way he’d be able to convince his wolf to stop. The buzz of chemicals turned him inside out, longing far too soft of a word for what he felt.

Her lips caressed delicately though, and his fingers trembled on her hips as he fought for control.

A slick of tongues together, and the shaking increased to include his arms.

When she buried her hands in his hair and leaned back, pulling him on top of her, he was torn between stripping them naked and worrying about her on the hard wood floor.

Her entire body softened as they kissed, his groin so tight to hers he was afraid he might spontaneously erupt. Mark rolled, putting her on top, protecting her from the cold and the unpadded surface.

His gums ached with the urge to mark her, to take her, to possess her. But while she was kissing him, at least he wasn’t doing anything crazy like.

Tessa planted her palms to his chest and pushed herself upright, straddling him and pinning him in place. Well, as much as a lightweight like her could keep him trapped.

She calmed her breathing, that beautiful smile he’d fallen in love with returning to brighten her face. “Do you even know you’re doing it?”

“That I’m lying on the floor trying not to ravish you? Oh, I know, sweetheart, I know.”

She shook her head. “I mention I’m worried about the cold winter—you fill the shed with a two-year supply of wood. I try to break your coffeemaker; you get me a different one. You’ve worked and worked and listened to every single thing I’ve said, and I’m so ashamed of myself…”

He curled himself upright, sexual tension temporarily forgotten in an attempt to reassure her. “Hey, stop that. You haven’t done anything wrong.”

Tessa tilted her head to the side. “Maybe not if you were a cat, but you’re a wolf. And even if you were a cat, I’m guilty of one terrible thing. I haven’t been listening. Not like you have. Can you forgive me?”

Mark was lost, but… “Sure. I forgive you. But are you going to tell me what specifically I’m forgiving you for?”

She stroked his chest lightly. “I had my own agenda when I came out here, and that’s not wrong. It’s good for me to have goals, and even though we’re mates, I’m not going to give up thinking things through and making plans.”

“I wouldn’t want you to,” Mark insisted.

She nodded. “I know, yet that’s why I’m sorry. I had an idea of what ‘being in love’ looked like, and when you didn’t do those things, I figured we had to wait. I wasn’t listening to what you were really saying.”

His brain had focused in on one part of her confession. “You figured we had to wait. Does that mean…we don’t have to any longer?”

Tessa paused. “Do you love me?”

“Of course I do.” His heart raced. “I mean, I’ll fall in love with you more as time goes past, but right now I can honestly say I love you.”

“You love me because we’re mates…”

Mark laughed. “You’re still hung up on that, aren’t you? I know it’s not a cat way. But, Tessa, I love you because you’re you. That’s why we’re mates in the first place. I wouldn’t have this draw inside toward a random stranger who wasn’t perfect for me. Who wouldn’t complement my talents, who couldn’t enjoy the things I enjoy. It’s not like a shortcut to happiness because we need to work at it, but we’re right together. That’s what being mates means.”

Enough. He stood and carried her into the bedroom. This time he dropped her—actually, he lofted her toward the bed.

Tessa twisted with a feline grace and landed on all fours, the most incredible smile beaming out. “Like I said, you listen all the time.”

This incredible mixture of sorrow and delight filled her.

She’d screwed up, badly, but he wasn’t going to hold it against her. That much she knew without the slightest doubt.

Tessa sat back on her heels. Stared at him as he waited patiently, as usual. “Remember I told you I don’t feel successful at times?”

He nodded.

“That doesn’t change the facts. I am good at what I do. I have the skills, I have the drive and the enthusiasm, and I work and make things happen.”

There was a distance between them, but hope lit his eyes—just a flutter of it crossing his face. “Feelings and reality aren’t always the same thing?”

“No.” There was so much she wasn’t certain about, only she’d been an idiot to ignore the specific truths in this situation. “Mark, you’re a wolf.”

His face twisted as he attempted to hide his laughter. “Umm, yes. You said that already.”

“I might need to say it a few more times, just to get it to sink into my thick cat skull. You’re a wolf, and you love me. We’re mates, and that’s not going to change for you.”

His dark eyes sparkled. “Nope. Well, it’ll get stronger—the being-in-love-with-you part.”

This time his assurance sent a thrill through her, and that was the final nudge she needed to move forward. Now how to say this without sounding like a diva, a freak or bitch? The last thing she wanted was to remove the happiness blooming on his face.

She squared her shoulders and went for honest. “I’m stealing your line—it’s going to get stronger for me too. The falling-in-love-with-you part.”

Mark sucked in a breath.

She hurried on before he could interrupt. “Since I’m a cat and all?—my feelings don’t work like yours. I mean, we met barely a week ago, so me being in love with you doesn’t make sense. But that doesn’t mean I can’t make the proper choice right now.”

Two shuffles put her at the edge of the bed where she caught hold of his belt buckle in one hand and dragged him toward her. His uneasy smile had grown stronger…like the love between them would grow. She was sure of it now.

“I choose to be your mate, Mark. I choose to accept all the love you’ve poured out for me, and I’m going to smarten up and start listening to the quiet, hardworking ways you say it. I’m going to let the feelings come whenever they come, but in the meantime?” She stared up and let all the admiration she had for him shine out. All the longings she had as well. “I think you’re pretty damn amazing, and I would be honoured to be your mate. I can’t wait to fall in love with you as hard as your wolf is already in love with me.”

For one terrible, horrible no-good-moment, Mark didn’t budge. Tessa considered repeating her confession, but that seemed so—

He pounced.

Tessa squealed as he bore her to the mattress, his weight pressing her down as he found her lips.

When he lifted his head far enough they could both suck for oxygen, all traces of his faint smile were gone, replaced with an enormous grin. “I had to fall in love with a cat.”

She could have sworn her cougar preened. Silly beastie.

“You’re okay with it all?”

He nodded. “You making a choice? Blows my mind. I’m going to make sure you never regret it.”

“Cats aren’t all bad, you know…” There was just enough room between them. She stripped down to nothing far quicker than even his needy wolf could ask.

His delighted growl filled the air. “Neat trick.”

Then it was past time for talking. Time for doing—for giving to the other side of them, and giving to Mark what he’d been so patiently waiting for. Tessa caught him around the neck and pulled him back against her naked body.

She tugged at his clothing as they kissed, all tongues, teeth and lips, their heavy panting echoing through the room.

Mark licked her neck, and Tessa shivered as she protested, “You have too many clothes on.”

“The only way I can make it last longer than thirty seconds.”

“We can just do it again,” she pointed out.

“We will,” he promised. “Again, and again, and again. But this first time?”

He slipped down to worship her breasts, and Tessa’s satisfaction rose at having seen the light. He didn’t have to know everything about her now. She didn’t know everything about herself—she’d assumed she couldn’t cook, but she’d managed to learn. If she was changing and growing, then they could change and grow together as mates.

He nibbled just the right way, and the tingles turned into full-body pulses. “You’re going to mark me, right?”

“Everywhere. Like you’re my own personal chew toy.” His teeth went into the side of her breast, and the ensuing shot of sexual pleasure lifted her off the bed.

Mark caught her hips in his hands and locked her in position, trailing his tongue over her stomach until he reached her belly button. Her hipbones. The ticklish crease between her leg and torso. The cold air brushed past everywhere he touched, and she got goose bumps all over her body.

“Hmm, you smell delicious.” She shuffled up on her elbows just in time to see him inhale deeply, his expression one of complete contentment.

Tessa held her breath as he slipped a finger through her curls. She bit her lip as he lowered his head. And she lost it all when he snuck out his tongue to taste her.

She collapsed back on the bed, opened her thighs as wide as she could and prepared for the explosion that was sure to come. Each graze of his tongue like a flick of a timer, the old-fashioned ones with little numbers that fell in sequence.

One stroke.

Another, this time from her core to the bundle of aching nerves she wanted him to focus on. Tessa drove her fingers into his hair and attempted to keep him in one spot, but he chuckled evilly and thrust his tongue lower, into her body, humming as he lapped at her sex.

He seemed so occupied it shocked her when another touch hit. She peered through half-lidded eyes to see what went with the amazing sensation.

He’d spread his palm over her lower belly, his thumb centered over her clit. As he continued to lick, he pressed down, the tight circle focused on her trigger button.

Tessa called out his name as she came, gasping for air as he didn’t let up but did it all over again until the pulses from her core and the lack of air from her gasping threatened to make her pass out.

Mark lifted up, just enough to strip off his shirt, and the words on his chest made her laugh out loud. “I can’t believe you let me write on you like that.”

He’d lost his pants and boxers, and crawled beside her in all his naked glory. He caught her hand and pressed it to the thick blue lines. “It’s true. I’m yours.”

Not yet, he wasn’t, but nearly. Tessa’s cat preened and fussed, happy from the orgasms, but wanting it all. She reached between them and closed her fingers around him carefully, loving the contrast of hard shaft and soft skin. “No condoms.”

He shook his head. “You tell me. As shifters we’re good, but…”

“I’m a cat. I can’t get pregnant right now.” His eyes rolled back as she stroked him, playing with the amount of pressure, the speed.

Mark caught her wrist. “Stop.”

Wow. “How do you talk through your teeth like that?”

He grinned and leaned in to kiss her until she tingled all over. He rolled over her, nudging her thighs apart with his knees.

“Look at me,” he ordered.

Tessa stared into his eyes as his cock slipped between her folds. Heat and pressure and something else slid into her, a sensory overload of pleasure. Of belonging.

His.

Together.

Mark buried himself all the way. Tessa lifted her legs around his waist and moaned in delight.

“This. This is only part of it.” Mark pulled his hips back so slowly, his cock teasing as it rubbed the perfect places inside. He rocked forward and her breath gasped out, forced by the depths of his possession.

The entire time he took her, he watched. His gaze drifted over her face, her torso. Hungrily memorizing her? Whatever it was, Tessa was on fire. It had never been like this before. Something deeper than physical connection wrapped around her. Drew them together.

Mark kissed her without missing a stroke. Harder drives now, his breath fanning past her cheek. His cock a hard point of pleasure taking her again, and again. Tessa arched up to add to the motion, squeezing her thighs, digging her heels into his ass until the sound of their bodies echoed through the room. Panting breaths, frantic motions.

A blinding rush of desire in her core burst out, pulsing around him and wringing his climax from him. Mark brought his teeth to her neck and bit down and…

There were no fireworks, no twirling lights. It was like being thrown from a massive height yet knowing there was a safety net to catch her. Mark was that net. Mark would always be there to catch her. Free fall, a rush of excitement that made her cat thrill and her human clutch his shoulders and rock.

“That was totally wicked…”

She’d meant to say it out loud, but her ears never heard the words.

Mark stiffened, though, as if she had spoken. His every muscle had gone tight, his teeth buried in her neck like his cock was buried in her sex. He jerked, the final pulses of his release escaping as he groaned.

“Tessa, oh damn, I can’t believe it.”

She was too bonelessly satisfied to bounce with excitement. “Whoa…I can hear you in my head.”

Mark licked her. Pressed his lips to the spot that radiated waves indicating something…other…had just happened. “Mate bond. This is it. You’re mine.”

Tessa nuzzled the side of his head until he twisted far enough their lips could meet. It seemed like the appropriate moment for a kiss. “I think this means you’re mine. After all, you are the one that’s labeled and all.”

Mark chuckled against her lips. “Semantics.”

She shook her head seriously. “No way. To a cat? Ownership is everything. You’re mine.” Tessa rocked her hips, pleased to discover that another one of the stories she’d heard about wolves and mates wasn’t a fable. “Hmm, you’re hard again.”

“I noticed.” Mark sighed wearily. “Guess we’ll just have to start all over and try harder.”

Tessa laughed before she caught his head in her hands. “I’m thrilled to be yours. And I’m going to love you more as time goes by. If you’re okay with that.”

His grin alone would have been enough of an answer—she was a quick study, she had figured out listening to what actions said was important.

Still, she couldn’t deny that the words he whispered through their mate bond gave her a thrill.

“As you wish…”