Page 18 of A Mate for Christmas

My ligress smells fresh water and bounds in that direction and soon we find a small waterfall nestled between the greenest trees I think I’ve ever seen. It doesn’t take her a moment to jump into the water, cooling us down in the tropical heat.

After what can’t be more than fifteen minutes, she exits the pool and pads her way back to Carter and the pretty white house. She couldn’t be bothered about anything, tail swishing and purring loudly as she lays out on the deck to dry in the sun.

“Fuck me. You’re stunning,” Carter says when he finds us laying in the sun.

My ligress purrs louder at his words, stretching out her limbs.

“May I touch you?” His hand hovers over my left flank.

Usually, my animal doesn’t like being touched. She has been that way since I can remember. But she doesn’t seem to mind Carter, as she rolls to her back and presents her belly. Confusion rolls through me at her actions but Carter only chuckles before hunching down and rubbing the soft fur. He runs his fingers through it reverently, seeming to enjoy it just as much as we are.

“I’ve never seen a liger, much less one that’s a shifter.”

My ligress takes pride in the fact that she is his first and I mentally snort. This man is nothing like us. He isn’t inexperienced and he sure as shit would never be afraid to say what he wanted.

After long minutes of basking in his attention, he stands and places a towel I didn’t see he had on a chair.

“When you’re ready I will be inside. There are some things we need to talk about.”

My ligress yawns lazily as she rolls to her side and starts washing her paw. She’s ignoring him, unhappy that he has stopped giving her attention. Carter must pick up on this because he leans down to scratch behind her ear.

“I’ll see you again soon, Beauty, but I need to talk to River.”

She purrs loudly at his words before standing.

As Carter moves back into the house, she allows the shift to fall over us and in moments I am myself again. Well, sort of, at least. My mind whirls with confusion as my ligress continues to purr in my mind, her satisfaction palpable. It’s the first time in my life that my animal has behaved this way and it’s disconcerting, to say the least.

Grabbing what I originally assumed was a towel, I find it is indeed a robe. Shrugging it on, I sinch it around my waist and take a deep breath before going to find Carter. But my attention is drawn by the explosion of red, gold, and green that has transformed the room.

“What did you do?” I gasp.

“Didn’t do a thing, he replies. “Gabby, my housekeeper, came over and did it.”

“Carter.”

“I know you love Christmas and I want you to enjoy your time here.” He doesn’t say anything else by way of explanation.

I see my cell phone in his hand and move toward him. I need my phone to let Boss9090 know I have gone out of town for a while and ourdatewill have to wait for a while. I hope he is willing to wait.

“Before I give this to you, we need to talk,” Carter says before gesturing to the seat across from him.

I frown and want to argue but I can see this is going to be something I need to be seated for.

****

Carter Lawson

When I walk out of the house after Gabby leaves, I onlywant to see if I can spot River. I don’t expect to find the four-hundred-pound golden beauty sunbathing on my deck. She is exquisite and I can’t help but want to touch her. What catches me off guard is her ligress’s willingness to allow me, making herself vulnerable and exposing her soft belly to me. I get lost in the softness of her fur, the loudness of her purr, and the way her color shimmers in the sunlight. Her stripes are much lighter than mine but no less pronounced on her coloring.

Her ligress has clearly figured out that I am her mate. I wonder why River hasn’t clued in yet?

I want to leave her to bask in the sun but there are things we need to talk about and to get that done I need her to shift back into her human form. It takes me a minute and some sweet talking before her ligress allows it, but eventually she does.

I wait at the kitchen counter for her, in the same spot it was when we had lunch. Her face morphs into an expression of joy when she sees what Gabby has done to the inside of my house. But it doesn’t take her long to spot her cell phone.

As she takes a seat across from me, I take a deep breath before speaking.

“The man this morning,” I start.

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