Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Rylee

I don’t understand how I can be completely terrified and completely… what is it? Secure. That’s it. I feel completely secure.

And terrified.

You can’t help but feel a little terror in the presence of this panther. It’s bigger than the championship bull I saw at the State Fair back in high school. I think that bull was thirteen hundred or fourteen hundred pounds. It has to be four or five times as big as a normal panther or even bigger.

Not it.

Erik.

Erik has to be four or five times as big as a normal panther or even bigger. His head is very big. The bottom of his face is at my belly button and I’m staring directly into his eyes. That’s how huge he is. It’s like a movie, you know, where someone rides a great cat but a giant one. Or like that cartoon with the guy who sings yeah, yeah what’s going on in the memes. Who is that again? He Man, I think. That’s it. Erik is like the big saber tooth tiger he rides.

Except bigger.

His coat is jet black and I reach forward to touch it, which is really strange because the moment I’m reaching out, I’m doubly terrified. But I keep doing it. I guess my brain is unable to reconcile the fear a creature like this giant cat can create with the simple reality that inside of the animal is the man I love. Also, I guess, the other reality, that this cat already saved me once. It already…

Stupid, stupid, stupid…

Thinking about how the cat saved me has my mind reeling with images of his massive body moving. I see one of my assailants cut down by a swipe of his massive paw. I see another’s head crushed between his jaws.

The terror is too much and I pull my hand away. The huge cat tilts its head and steps forward, pressing its muzzle against my torso. I gasp and then see the eyes. They’re so huge! So expressive. They’re not the eyes of the creature that ended the lives of those men.

Well, of course they are.

But they’re different now, and the sight of them tells me that this creature isn’t just a killing machine. I put both hands on his head before I really think about what I’m doing. His fur is thick and not as coarse as I expect. It’s not the fluffy fur of a housecat, of course. But it’s not as wild as I expect.

And then something in his eyes really clicks for me.

“It is you,” I breathe out. “You’re the cat. You’re… the cat is a form of you, not the other way around. The panther… you can become the panther but you’re the man I love. The man isn’t something the panther can become.”

And then it’s him again.

He stands there in front of me, naked. “There’s a lot of controversy about that, actually. Are we humans who can become animals or are we animals who can become people? Nobody knows and…”

“That’s not true because I know,” I say. “You’re a man who can become a panther.” I kiss him again, hard, and my hand slides down immediately to take hold of his cock. I stroke softly as we kiss. I can feel him growing hard in my hand. Damn… for days since freaking out about the music and all my prior quest for fame encompassed, I’ve not given myself to these moments. It seems almost… I don’t know how to express it.

I guess I feel almost like a character in some stupid porn movie or an adolescent sex romp (except without the comedy) the way that I’m so fixated on his dick. I mean, stroking a penis isn’t the way to be suddenly okay, right? His cock is in my hand. This hasn’t turned my life into perfection. Why am I… and then I hear the sound of a car horn in the distance.It’s blocks away but, um…

Um, duh.

I’m outside.

We’re outside in the open!

I pull back in shock and fear, looking around in terror. He smiles and whisks me up in his arms. Suddenly we’re walking through the well-lit parking lot! I don’t know what the hell to do or say but I feel like I’m going to die of embarrassment, and I’m not even the one who’s undressed.

We get to my door, thank goodness. Most of the rooms are like mine with outside doors rather than ones that open into hallways. At least I’m spared the embarrassment of going through the lobby. I fumble for the keys. As freaked out as all of this makes me, I don’t want Erik to kick the door in and have to pay extra to fix it. So, I hand him the keys, and he unlocks the door. He does all of this while holding me in his arms.

He walks me over the threshold while kissing me roughly. When we get through and he kicks the door closed, I feel a ton of relief. It makes me giggle a little, and I feel like I’ve just been involved in this deliciously naughty adventure. I mean, I don’t want to head out to the parking lot and screw each other in front of the world. But the fact that all that happened in such a risky way is just… I don’t know. It’s hot.

He kisses me hard, and there’s real hunger between us now. We were always a bit wild, but now, well, I know that I want this man. I want this more than just a man. I want him desperately. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been hungry for him before but I guess I’ve also been holding back a little bit. I’m figuring that out now. I’ve been at least a little recalcitrant. I haven’t given myself over completely. Maybe that’s just because I wasn’t ever really myself. Maybe that’s it.

Hell, I’m done analyzing this. For Pete’s sake, I’m in the middle of something really amazing here, and I don’t need any of this self-reflection over-analyzing BS to detract from the moment.

Erik sets me down on the floor and helps me undress. Our hands and mouths don’t stop exploring, touching, tasting, groping, and grabbing. It’s like we can’t press enough of each other together at once, can’t consume each other completely enough to satisfy.

We fall onto the bed together, our hands roaming over our bodies. He climbs on top of me and with no preamble, no foreplay, no teasing, I guide him so he slides that beautiful, huge cock inside me. I arch my back and then lift my hips to meet his thrusts. We kiss each other, our tongues matching our motions as we move together.

Damn.

So, this is what it’s like to want someone—to need someone! —enough that you don’t want to do anything but just get right to it. It’s such a powerful feeling, such a desperate feeling.

And this is what’s so different than any other time. We are moving together, without talking, without one planning ahead for the other, without one taking charge. We’re moving as one unit with the same kind of hunger for each other.

It fuels my need for him even more.

I haven’t felt this way with any other person in my life. I’ve never felt so in harmony with another person. I think of it as music because I think of everything as music. We are playing the same song in the same key. We are naturally taking our parts and harmonizing, without any purposeful thought. It’s just happening.

Erik slips an arm under me and pulls me close and then, we roll together so that I’m on top and he’s below me. I feel his cock thrust even more deeply into me, and I throw my head back and sigh. I sit up more and Erik brings his hands up along my stomach to my breasts and cups them in his palms, massaging them so that the sensations mingle with the building pleasure in my pussy.

I feel like we’re fulfilling every romcom movie, every romance novel, every love ballad. His fingers ignite a wild, raw energy in me wherever he touches me. I reach behind me and stretch to let my fingertips brush over his balls. His reaction is immediate as he sucks in his breath and moves his hands to grip my hips while he bucks beneath me.

I fall forward when he starts to thrust into me hard and fast, so that I bounce around like a true rodeo rider. I’d laugh at the image if his cock moving inside me wasn’t making me lose my mind.We’re grabbing at each other again, clawing for each other, our need desperate and obvious. I burrow into Erik, pressing my mouth to his neck, I breath out as he digs his fingers into my hips and I feel his cock swell at the same time my orgasm grips me so hard my breath is taken from me.

But I manage to claw some breath back, even as my very center is slugged by an orgasm bigger than anything I’ve ever experienced before, and I whimper Erik’s ear as I float away.

His arms come around me and I sigh and shudder and melt into this man that rescued me time and time again.

“I love you, too.”

He says it as we breathe together, our chests rising and falling in unison like a machine, a very organic and sweaty machine.

And I smile because I realize he’s answering me. I told the panther that he was the man I love. I hear that confession and it’s a wonder I don’t cry from happiness. Oh, I suppose I will. I suppose I’ll have plenty of time to cry from happiness. “You can’t leave me ever,” I whisper, “if I sing, I need you close.”

“Never,” he says.

“Never ever.”

“I promise,” he replies. “Whether or not you sing, I’ll never leave you.”

Okay, so plenty of time to cry from happiness is right now. Sure, it’s kind of crazy for that to happen while I’m still wrapped around this man, still kind of in the middle of an orgasm, and still filled up by him.

But Erik isn’t complaining and you better believe I’m not.

Did you enjoy reading Dark Panther's Desperate Beauty ? I hope so. I really enjoy writing about the Company 417 firemen shifters. You already know that if you’ve read any of the other books I’ve written. I’m definitely a shifter-loving girl. I don’t just have book boyfriends. I have a menagerie full of them! Bears, wolves, lions, tigers, and those giant majestic dragons!

I loved writing about Erik. I think any girl can go for a sexy fireman, of course. I love also that he’s so committed to Rylee’s dreams, even if he risks her ire for the commitment. There’s something sexy about a man who wants his woman’s success, right? I mean, a shifter and a fireman and a real advocate… Sign me up, please! I love how he’s so deeply in love with Rylee and how she captivates him.

Naturally, I fell in love with Benjamin while I wrote the book. That isn’t going to surprise any of you out there who’ve read my other Company 417 books. I fall in love with every sexy shifter leading man I write! I can’t help it and I always imagine I’m the girl, too.

Rylee got herself a sexy man, an incredible fireman, and a strong and powerful shifter. I have a feeling that she’s going to spend the rest of her life being just as head over heels in love with him as she is right now. And what a fun way for her to find out he’s a shifter, too. Erik and Rylee are well on their way to a wonderful life together. I love the two of them together.

Do you love the two of them together, too? What did you like about the characters?

I guess I’m just hopeless when it comes to shifters!

Anyway, I really hope you enjoyed reading about Rylee and her panther shifter lover. These two have a really sweet and sexy happily ever after in their future, don’t they?

I’ll tell you one thing right now. I could go for that kind of happily ever after!

If you enjoyed this story, then I think you’ll love the next tale of paranormal romance in the Company 417 Fireman Shifters series.

Zoe Charles isn’t interested in any kind of a relationship but she knows she needs to move on. Her last relationship ended badly when the only man she could even imagine loving ended things. He thought he was too old for her. Adrian thought she deserved a man who wasn’t a firefighter, regularly risking his life while she waited for the day someone would arrive to tell her that he’d made the ultimate sacrifice. He moved away three years ago. Adrian wasn’t interested in letting Zoe make a decision for herself.

And Zoe isn’t interested in making the decision now either. But since she’s moved to a new city (armed with her college degree and a great opportunity with an industrial supply firm eager for new engineering talent); she figures it’s probably time to try to move on. So, she promises herself to be open to possibilities and after a week in town, finally goes to a bar to meet some people.

But she meets Adrian there.

Somehow, she ended up in the same city as he did. Neither of them thinks clearly and instead, they spend the night in each other’s arms. The problem with a night of passion is that there’s always a morning after. This man broke her heart once before. How can she possibly risk that happening again?

Find out all about it in A Second Chance for Protective Lion , the next exciting tale in the sexy, steamy age gap shifter firefighter romance series Company 417 Fireman Shifters !