Page 6 of Fated to the Panther

Where did he go? He promised me answers and now that the shock had worn off, I expected them.

As if conjured by my thoughts, he stepped into the room through a woven vine covered door that I vaguely recalled led to a large balcony where we’d broken through the shimmering barrier. He’d put on a skintight black t-shirt that outlined his pecs and his massive arms, and had thankfully buttoned up his cargo pants. There was still a bulge behind his zipper, but it seemed to have gone down a bit. The outfit was similar to what the explorers and scientists from my base camp wore.

Thinking of them made me wonder if anyone had missed me yet. Had Hector been captured by the demons or was he even now alerting my colleagues to the attack?

“Better?” Roane asked as his eyes roamed my body.

Must resist the pull. “Much. Thank you. Could we set aside the niceties though? I think seeing you naked has propelled us past the awkward getting to know each other phase. I’d like some answers now. And what in the heck,” I threw up my hands and twirled, “is this place?”

Dramatic much, Kara?Feeling calmer now that I’d released some of the pent-up frustration that wasn’t only from demons suddenly appearing, but my body’s instant attraction to him, I took a cleansing breath then added, “Please?”

“Of course. It was never my intent to keep information from you, merely to allow you to settle in.” He walked to a pair of chairs and said, “It’s not a short story. Please, sit.” His full lipslifted into a smile, transforming his hard features into a panty-melting dazzler. The cliché had never been more appropriate.

“To answer in the order asked, my name is Roane Smythe. I know your name from my mother, and this is my home. One of them anyway. I had not planned to meet in such a way, although if we hadn’t, you’d be in the hands of my family’s greatest enemy, so I would not change you witnessing my other form so soon.”

His other form.So, I hadn’t dreamed that he was a panther shifter.

With each word he spoke, my heart rate once increased, and my skin broke out in goose bumps. “Your mother? Do I know her?”

“If you’d ever met my mother, you’d remember. In a word, she’s unforgettable. And a regular pain in the ass for me and each of my five brothers.”

The last bit was muttered under his breath, as if saying the words out loud might produce her in the flesh.

Oh, my. There are five more of him out there? “Okay, but why? Why were you there in the exact moment I needed you, and how are we safe from more demons finding us?”

Roane. I repeated his name silently several times. Had I heard his name before and if not, why did it…why did it feel as if we were always meant to meet? Long-ago dreams began to filter into my mind, adding to the weirdness of the day.

“Magic protects my home. All of our homes. Magic on behalf of my goddess mother.”

“Wait, goddess? Did I miss something? You obviously are a shifter and I’m… well, I’m a witch. I’m not sure you knew that. And wow, I’ve never been able to say that out loud to anyone else before. Well, not outside of the coven. So that’s why I’m not shocked that there are immortals out there, even demons. But a goddess?”

He stood and began pacing. His movements sleek, mimicking his panther half.

I marveled at his muscles as they bunched beneath his clothes with every stride. I wiped my chin, checking for drool as my gaze then roamed up his wide chest to his corded neck and the smooth skin of his head. I’d never been attracted to a bald man and yet, as I continued eating him up with my gaze, I couldn’t imagine wanting anyone else. What was I missing?

As each second ticked by, I wondered if this pull toward Roane was what my coven sisters and my college friends felt when they met the men who’d taken their virginity? I’d never felt strongly enough toward the handful of men, boys really, who I’d dated in the past, to give my virginity to, and now that felt like the best decision I’d ever made.

“Kara, unless you want me to claim you right now, you need to stop looking at me like….”

The air between us crackled. Filled with unexplored sexual need to the point of compulsion to be stripped bare, giving myself to Roane and only to him. Was I under a spell? Or was this the moment I’d been waiting my entire adult life to experience? To finally feel, to crave a man beyond reason. A man who, with his simple gaze and mere touch, sparks an uncontrollable need within. To welcome him inside my body and maybe my heart?

“Looking at you like what?” I whispered.

“Like you mean to use that delectable pink tongue of yours, which you keep licking your lips with, to lick my length until I can no longer take the lashing and bury myself so deep?—”

“Stop!” Sweat beaded upon my skin and it had nothing to do with the jungle heat. His words painted a picture I would have no trouble fulfilling if he were naked once again.

The room suddenly filled with an animalistic mixture of purring and low growls. Panting and dazed, we seemed to be ina standoff. On the edge of making each other our next meal, I barely held myself back from launching into his arms, begging for a shared orgasm I so desperately wanted.

“It’s the mating pull. A prophecy has brought us together, love, and until we, and I know this sounds corny, but until we become one, it’s only going to grow. As much as I would like to give in, I know by the confusion you’re radiating under all that delicious desire I can taste, that you have no idea what I’m talking about. For what it’s worth, all the others were equally in the dark.”

But it wasn’t confusion. What he thought I needed was time, when in reality everything I felt for him was…did he say “others?”

“Wait a minute, what others?” Was this how he scored with women? Saving them from a demon attack and carrying them off to his magical treehouse?

“Now don’t get your panties in a twist. You’re my mate, my only mate. The only woman I’ve ever felt this for. My brothers also went through an awkwardness with their fated mates. But they’re all happily mated, and some are even expecting the next generation. Well, except Gavin. He’s the last of us, now that I’ve discovered you.” Roane released a long sigh. His emotions seeming to match my own. Raw and undeniable.

“I hate to be the one to break this to you, but witches don’t have fated mates. We’ve never believed in them.” But how could I deny the need to give myself to him? Right now, this feeling was only equaled my need for more information. I came to South America to find a rare plant, a cure that I’d been dreaming of since my best friend succumbed to cancer, but what if this, what if Roane had been the reason all along?

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