Emerson stared out the floor-to-ceiling window that dominated one wall of Clay’s living room. His penthouse was in the middle of downtown. She stared into the distance at the tiny ribbon of blue winding its way through the woods that flanked the north side of the city. Clay’s scent drifted into the room only seconds before she heard him enter.
He stood behind her, as silent and pensive as he’d been all through lunch.
“This view is incredible,” she said. “You can even see the river from here. I guess that’s what happens when you live in a penthouse.”
He stepped closer. Emerson could feel his breath stirring her hair, feel the brush of his pelvis against her ass. She gave in to what she wanted and leaned against him, hoping like hell that he didn’t pull away.
To her relief, he pressed closer, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing the side of her throat before resting his chin in the crook of her neck. “I bought it for the view.”
“It must have cost a fortune. The real estate downtown is crazy expensive.”
“It is,” he agreed.
She tilted her head to the side to stare at him. “How rich are you, Clay?”
She didn’t expect him to answer, so when he said, “I have three million in an offshore account and about half a million in my regular account,” her mouth dropped open, and she could only stare at him in shocked silence.
He grinned and kissed her jaw. “You okay?”
“I… you’re the richest person I know,” she said stupidly. “No wonder you have a penthouse with,” she glanced at the couch to their right, “furniture more expensive than my car.”
“Your ex-husband has money,” he said.
“Yeah, but he’s comfortable rich, not obscenely rich… wait, how do you know that?”
“Saul. I need information about the marks I use.”
He was being deliberate with his language, acting like she was just another job, to make her change her opinion that he was a good guy. Well, she wouldn’t make it that easy on him.
“That makes sense,” she said. “So, did you find out about my criminal past?”
Lines appeared between his eyes. “Saul didn’t mention it.”
“Maybe he’s not as good as he says he is at hacking,” she said.
“What did you do?” Clay said.
“Stole a candy bar from the 7-11 when I was eight.”
A low chuckle escaped his throat. “Is that right?”
“Mm, hmm. Kat was pissed when she saw it sticking out of my jacket.”
“Why did you steal it?” His hand slid up her stomach and cupped her breast through her shirt.
She hadn’t put her clothes on for lunch. Instead, she’d taken a shirt from Clay’s closet and slipped it over her head. He hadn’t said anything when she’d joined him in the kitchen, but he’d stolen glances at her legs and her tits all through lunch.
“I wanted it, and I’d already spent all my money on a glow-in-the-dark bracelet.”
“Naughty girl.” He squeezed her breast. She moaned when he rubbed his thumb over her hardening nipple.
“No, just impulsive,” she said. “I make a lot of impulsive choices and decisions. I always have. My entire life.”
She could smell the change in his scent, feel the way his body stiffened. He started to back away, and she grabbed his arms, holding him tight as her jaguar purred to him.
“What I’m trying to say is that I know exactly when I’m doing something impulsive,” she said. “You’re not an impulsive decision, Clay.”
“I’m not the settling down type,” he said. “I’ve never had a serious relationship, and I never will.”
“Why?” she said.
“You know why. What I do, who I am… I’m meant to be alone.”
“That’s bullshit.” She turned in his arms to face him. “If you don’t like who you are anymore, you can change, Clay.”
“Who says I don’t like who I am?”
“You kill people for a living, right?”
“Yes.”
“Before the cabin, before being forced to kill those men to save my life, when was the last time you killed someone?”
“Em, stop it.” He tried to look away, and she cupped his face.
“Tell me, Clay. When was the last time you took a contract to kill someone?”
“Before I started working with Wyatt.”
“That’s a long time for someone who kills people for a living, not to kill a person,” she said.
He scowled at her. “Don’t try to pretend I’ve had a change of heart. I didn’t take on any jobs because I was busy looking for Owen.”
“Liar,” she said softly.
“Lying doesn’t have a scent,” he said.
She smiled and pressed a kiss against his jaw. “The truth is written all over your face, Clay.”
He stared at her, his blue eyes dark with pain and a hint of sorrow. “I’m not a good man, Em.”
“Yes, you are.” She pressed a kiss against his mouth. “You don’t believe you are, but I’ll believe enough for both of us until you do.”
She kissed down his throat, nibbling at his warm skin as he groaned and one hand cupped her ass. “We can’t… we can’t be together, Emerson. I don’t do relationships.”
“That’s good because I don’t either.” She tasted the hollow of his throat and then kissed her way back up his throat to his ear. “I’m terrible at them.”
She slid her hand into his shorts and wrapped her fingers around his erect cock. He gasped into her ear, the scent of his lust washing over her and making her nearly dizzy with desire. She purred to him and stroked his dick with slow, firm pulls of her hand.
He moaned her name before cupping her jaw and squeezing. “Em, stop for a second.”
She stopped with her hand cupping him loosely. “What is it?”
He swallowed hard, and she could smell his discomfort and, her heart ached for him, loneliness. “Owen is the only one who matters to me. Do you understand? I’ll sacrifice everyone else to save him. Everyone, Em.”
“I know,” she said.
He searched her face, his eyes dark with lust and anger and a hint of that sorrow she could smell on him. “Do you?”
“Yes,” she said.
Something in her face must have satisfied him because he nodded with a weary look of resignation. He pulled her hand out of his shorts and kissed the palm. “Get dressed, and I’ll take you back to Kat’s office.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean?” he said.
“It’s not even three yet. The office doesn’t close until six. Plenty of time for me to suck your cock.”
Lust flared back to life in his eyes and covered him in a thick, delicious scent. He looked away. “You don’t mean that.”
“I never offer to suck a cock if I don’t mean it,” she said.
“Stop it,” he said. “You can’t still want me. Not after what I just said.”
“I still want you,” she said and took off her shirt.
He sucked in a harsh breath, staring at her naked body as she cupped her breasts and circled her thumbs over her nipples.
“Emerson.” Clay’s voice was low, and the front of his shorts had tented to an impressive peak.
“Yes, Clay?”
He picked up a pillow from the couch and dropped it on the floor in front of him. “On your knees, baby.”
She purred happily, her pussy throbbing with need as Clay shoved his shorts down his legs and stepped out of them. He stroked his dick as she kneeled gracefully on the pillow in front of him.
“You’re so beautiful, Em.” He used his free hand to smooth her hair back from her face.
“So are you,” she said and reached for his cock.
He relinquished his hold on it, and she slipped her fingers around the base, rubbing with short strokes as she licked a path around the head of his cock. He hissed out a breath, his hands tangling in her hair and his hips popping forward.
She grinned up at him before licking the underside from the base to the very tip. He moaned, and she could see his abs clenching. “Em, baby, please. Don’t tease.”
For roughly three seconds, she considered torturing him before giving in to what she wanted too. She slid her mouth over his cock, taking him deep and sucking hard as Clay cried her name and his hands tightened in her hair.
She hollowed her cheeks, sucking and licking as she cupped his balls and played gently with them. When she pressed just behind his sac, he cried out, his hips jerked, and her mouth flooded with precum. She released his cock with a wet pop before licking her lips and smiling up at him. “You taste good, human.”
“Fuck, baby, please,” he moaned. The scent of his lust drove her need higher. She sucked him into her mouth again and set a fast pace, purring loudly when Clay moaned again and fucked her mouth with hard thrusts.
His cock swelled in her mouth, and more precum covered her tongue. She released him and licked the head of his cock clean as he stared down at her with burning eyes.
“Baby, please,” he said.
“Do you want me to finish you with my mouth or my pussy?” she said, then licked his cock again.
“Fuck!” His hips jerked forward, but he pulled her head back when she tried to suck him into her mouth again. “Your pussy. I want your pussy.”
He hauled her to her feet. She pushed him toward the couch, and when he sat down, she straddled him. He cupped her tits and sucked on her nipples as she reached between them and grabbed his cock.
“Put me inside of you right now,” Clay said against the smooth curve of one breast.
His hard hands grabbed her hips and lifted her enough for the head of his cock to bump against her clit. She purred and cried his name before shifting slightly. He slid into her with one smooth motion, her pussy soaking wet and more than ready for him.
“Fuck,” Clay muttered as he stared down at where their bodies were connected. “I love your hot little pussy, Em. It’s so tight and wet.”
He rubbed her clit as she gripped the back of the couch and bounced up and down on his dick. “Thank you. I love your dick.”
His laugh turned into a groan of need when she made a rolling, grinding motion with her hips on the next downward stroke. “Oh fuck, where the hell did you learn that?”
She didn’t reply. She stared at Clay’s chest and throat before releasing her claws. The human was hers, and other females needed to know. She would mark him with her nails so they’d see he belonged to her.
She reached for his chest, hissing her displeasure when Clay caught her wrists in a hard grip. “No claws, baby.”
“You’re mine, human,” she growled. “They need to know you’re mine.”
“Not by scratching, Em,” he said.
She pouted at him. “Please, pretty human?”
“No,” he said. “No scratching or biting.” He pumped his hips, and she rode his hard thrusts with pleasure before smiling sweetly at him.
“I can mark you without biting or scratching.”
“Is that right?” He released her wrists cautiously. When she left her hands at her side, he cupped her tits again and played with her nipples as she ground her pelvis against him. “Fuck, baby, that feels good.”
“No biting or scratching, I promise. Will you let me mark you, human?” She leaned forward and licked his mouth before purring lightly. “Please, honey?”
“Yes,” he groaned out. “Yes, you can mark me.”
She trilled happily before sliding her hands into his short hair and yanking his head back. He grunted in pain and his body tensed, but she only licked from the bottom of his throat to his chin before whispering, “No biting, honey.”
They fucked slowly as she rubbed her face against one side of his throat and then the other. While not as crazy as wolves were about marking their mates with their scent, cats could and would scent mark, especially if they thought they had a rival for their mate.
Mate? Is that what Clay is to you?
She ignored her inner voice and marked Clay’s throat and chest again and again until his scent was almost buried beneath her own. Finally satisfied, her jaguar retreated, and Emerson retracted her claws before trailing her fingers over Clay’s abs.
He groaned, and she smiled at him. “Time for you to come, honey.”
She rode him hard and fast, crying out when his rough fingers found her clit and rubbed in the tight circles that she liked best. She gripped the back of the couch again and let her head fall back, the pleasure flowing through her body.
Dimly, she heard Clay roar his release, felt his hot seed filling her up just as her orgasm exploded within her in a shower of light and fire and perfect bliss. Her purring turned into a loud trill of pleasure, and she ground herself down on Clay’s dick as the last of her orgasm flowed through her.
Her body shaking, she collapsed against Clay and buried her face in his throat. He stroked the length of her back, his body trembling a little beneath hers until she sat up and stared at him.
“That was really good,” she said.
He grinned. “That’s one way to put it.” He touched his throat and his chest. “So, did you mark me?”
She wanted to be embarrassed by her behaviour, but her jaguar was purring happily and strutting around like she owned the damn place, and there was no room for embarrassment.
“Yes. I scent marked you.”
“Oh,” he said. “So, I smell like you now?”
“To shifters. Other females know they’re not allowed to fuck you now.”
“Forever?” He cocked an eyebrow at her but didn’t look particularly worried at the idea that he would never get laid again by anyone but her.
“My scent will wear off in a couple of days,” she said.
“So, I’ll be back on the market by Thursday, is what you’re saying,” he teased.
She growled at him. The thought immediately riled up her jaguar that another female would take Clay for her own. “No. I’ll mark you again. You’re mine, human. If you let another female touch you, I’ll tear her apart. Do you understand?”
Her claws were out again, and both her sense of smell and her sense of sight had sharpened. She knew her eyes were green. Knew her pupils were slits. She didn’t care if she was scaring the human. He needed to know that he belonged to her and only her.
She pressed her claws against his chest, letting them drag lightly across his skin. “Mine, Clay. Say it.”
When he didn’t reply, she pressed harder, his hissed-in breath and the metallic scent of his blood only inflamed her more. “You’re mine. Say it, human. Right now.”
“I’m yours,” he said. “Yours, Em.”
She purred to him and retracted her claws before pressing a kiss against his mouth. “That’s my good human.”
Her jaguar retreated with a satisfied growl. Em stared blankly at the thin lines of blood on Clay’s chest before horror overtook her. “Oh my God, Clay! Fuck, oh no, I’m so sorry. I didn’t…”
She tried to push off his body, but he held her close. “It’s just scratches, Em. Don’t worry about it.”
“I’m sorry,” she repeated. “My jaguar, she… oh God, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not a big deal,” he said.
“I could have really hurt you,” she said.
“But you didn’t.” He leaned forward and kissed her before helping her ease off his lap. “I’m tired, and you are too. We’ll nap, and then I’ll take you to your sister’s office.”
“I can sleep here on the couch if you’re worried that I’ll hurt you.”
“I’m not,” he said.
Trying not to stare at the scratches on his chest, Emerson took Clay’s hand and followed him to his bedroom.