Where are you? Reyna sounded weak, even communicating as they were, mind-to-mind.
Don’t know. Hunting grounds…somewhere.
So that’s where she’d gone. It was a hell of a jump. The Felini hunting grounds, comprised of hundreds of thousands of mountainous and forested range, were several hours away from here. Mating with Tariq must have increased her abilities.
Tired…hungry.
He winced. The word hunger was imbued with so much need he knew it wasn’t food to which she referred. Come home, he commanded.
Can’t. Too weak.
Shit! She could be anywhere on the grounds. Even with a full crew it could literally take days to find her. Reyna didn’t have that long. Are you hurt?
Bleeding…sore.
In heat, losing blood, and weak, her scent would be a beacon to every predator in the area. Reyna, listen carefully. Call me to you.
Nothing but silence.
Reyna?
Maybe it’s better this way. The voice was faint, exhausted.
Damn it, Reyna, don’t you give up on me! Live, damn you. Teleport me, just like when you were little. Jorlan wouldn’t let her simply fade away.
It hurts.
He knew she wasn’t referring to her wounds, but the pain of being too different, of never being accepted, and never fitting in. Get over it. You have a husband now.
Felini don’t mate, asshole.
Jorlan laughed. He didn’t know if asshole referred to him or Tariq, but an angry Reyna was a fighting one. I know who he is. Call me to you, he taunted, or I’ll tell him how to find you.
You wouldn’t dare. Her mental voice was stronger.
Wouldn’t I? Do you really want to take that chance?
There was a long pause.
Reyna?
I don’t remember how. The words were sighed in his mind.
He grinned, knowing he could help her with this. Focus, Reyna. Picture what you want. Instinct will do the rest.
What if I’m not strong enough?
You will. He didn’t know why, but she used less energy bringing objects to herself than teleporting her body to another location. Reyna used to bring toys, food, and her favorite person—him—to herself until Isabella, her mother, discovered what she was doing. Fear for Reyna’s safety forced Isabella to make her stop, to hide what she could do. He hadn’t agreed then and didn’t now.
While he understood and shared Isabella’s concerns, had she allowed Reyna to be herself and all it entailed, she’d be a stronger, more powerful, confident woman. One not easily destroyed by those who considered her an abomination and would see her life forfeited. Instead, she’d been taught to fear and despise who she was and what she could do. While her will was strong, Reyna was operating from a position rife with insecurity. Not the best position to be in with foes willing to exploit your every weakness.
A tingling began in his extremities, spreading rapidly inward. He closed his eyes and relaxed into the sensation, knowing from experience if he didn’t fight, the process went faster and was easier on Reyna.
When he looked, he found himself in a small cave. Her feline had good instincts. From the lack of trees near the opening, it appeared to be fairly high up in the mountain. His sensitive nostrils picked up the scent of water nearby. Judging by the angle, the opening wasn’t easy to see from the ground. It was a good place to seek refuge.
Reyna, still in cat form, lay at his feet, panting and struggling for breath. A trail of blood streamed from the entrance to the dark corner where she must have collapsed, and she lay in a growing puddle of blood. There were deep claw marks on her flanks, and jagged rips and tears along the back of her neck and throat.
She must have run across a male—or several by the looks of her. Drawn by her heat, they would have been in a frenzy to mount her, both shifters and mountain lions—the earth ones. In a Felini’s cat form, even the animals couldn’t distinguish the difference. She was lucky to have gotten away. Something for which he knew he had Tariq to thank. A female during her first shift was normally as weak as a kitten, and definitely not strong enough to fight off males in their prime.
As he crouched at her side, he realized he was naked and in animal form. Bad kitty, he sent the thought to her, although he was the one who’d told her to visualize what she wanted. He shifted to human before the scent of Reyna’s estrous could agitate his cat.
“Reyna, shift so you can feed.”
Tired.
“I know, kitten, but you’ll feel better real soon. Come on, now; change back. Don’t I smell good?” He shoved his wrist under her nose. “Dinner’s just a bite away.” As far as he knew, Reyna couldn’t feed in this form.
Slowly but seamlessly, the fur receded from her body until she lay naked before him, her only covering the blood still seeping from her wounds.
“Good girl. Now feed so I can heal you.” He lifted Reyna off the ground, settled her in his lap, and held his wrist to her mouth.
She shoved it away. Throat.
Jorlan’s left eyebrow shot up toward his hairline. This was new. He readjusted her position so she straddled him, enabling her to reach his neck easier and keep him from straining to hold it at an awkward angle. When her arms proved too heavy for her to lift, he cupped the back of her head and leaned down, pulling her mouth against his throat.
Reyna licked once, twice.
Jorlan hissed as her fangs sank deep and arousal shot straight to his cock. Feeding her had never affected him this way. Since childhood, she’d never fed from anyone else. Not even Isabella had given her blood. Reyna was like a beloved younger sister. No, more like the child he’d yet to sire.
Between her heat and the eroticism of her bite, only his familial love for her kept him from taking her to the ground and fucking her. This new feeling of lust for Reyna shocked and appalled him.
Reyna moaned and her arms came up to encircle his shoulders. One hand rose to stroke his hair and the other draped loosely around him. The enticing scent of her cream drifted to his nostrils, saturated with Felini pheromones. His cat, recognizing the mating call, roared in him and tried to rise to the surface. He viciously shoved it down.
While he was busy subduing his alter ego, Reyna began to undulate against him. She lined her slit up with his cock and rubbed, up and down, in an agonizingly slow rhythm. The hard peaks of her breasts scraped back and forth across his chest. Even her sucking became more sensuous, more arousing. Something he didn’t think possible.
He pinned her body against the wall in an attempt to hold her still. “Reyna, you’re killing me.”
Fuck me, Jorlan. She ground against him. I need.
He groaned and sent up a prayer for help.
Reyna was a mature Felini female in the throes of her first estrous and his DNA was programmed to provide the relief she needed.