By this point, they had gotten deep enough into the trees to start their own little hunting rituals, to shift without being seen. They both stripped off their clothes, leaving them in a neat pile by a tree while respectfully trying to keep their eyes off one another—and failing pretty miserably. They each shifted smoothly into their feline forms, lunging onto all fours and taking off, running at top speed through the trees.Jackson was a bit larger than Lana as a human, but even more so as a tiger. They ran together, but the longer their race went on, the further ahead Jackson got. Lana quickly became frustrated that he was so much faster than her, weaving in and out between the trees gracefully as though this were where he truly belonged. He took notice that she was lagging behind and slowed a little bit, allowing her to catch up, but she leaped on top of him, pulling him down to the

 The vibration of Lana’s moan against him made Roman even harder than before.Never had he met anyone who seemed to read exactly what he wanted as clearly as this woman did. Nor had he ever found anyone so instantly ready to play the games he enjoyed in bed.He wondered briefly what she’d been like with Jackson but brushed the thought aside.If he really needed to know, he could ask.Later.Right now, though, he planned to slide his cock between Lana’s pliant pink lips, and then push it as deep as he could, as hard and as fast as he could until he came.And oh, fuck, Lana knew how to use that mouth, too, first sucking in the length of him, then pulling away, and then—at just the right moment—opening wide enough to take all of him deep down her throat, wrapping her arms around Roman’s thighs to pull him down even farther.“You’re amazing, Lana,” he rasped.

 When Lana knocked later, Jackson opened the door with a wide smile, and Lana wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.She’s glad to see me, at least.If Jackson thought it was a little bit strange that she should greet him this way, he didn’t complain. It was nice. He returned her hug, breathing her in and resting his cheek on the top of her head. “Happy to see you too, Lana. Come on in, I made dinner.”“It smells amazing,” Lana said quietly as she took a few tentative steps into his suite.“Thank you,” he responded with a grin, happy that she was there. “I figured since we didn’t get Thanksgiving dinner, we could have something like it now.”They each sat at the little table in his small, eat-in kitchen, and began to eat. She took a bite of her food and groaned with delight. “This is delicious, where did you learn to do this?”“Li

Chapter 26December 3Drake Torres didn’t want any part of Roman’s plan for him to join the Alpha Mate.Whenever Drake he felt overwhelmingly lonely—which, granted, was often—he would venture into town to mingle among the humans, where he would find a new willing lady to plow—then dash away from.No strings attached meant no opportunities for either party to get hurt in any way.Drake’s sexual encounters provided him with much-needed chances to blow off steam. Humans meant nothing to him, and he meant nothing to the female humans he picked up. And that was the way he liked it.He didn’t need someone else’s leftovers. Even if that meant giving up a chance with Lana.He stared at her in the meeting hall, where she was handing out assignments to the various groups of tigers who were headed out on patrol.As if any of those Losoya fuckers are left. “Hey, Dra

 As Drake dropped her to her feet near the doorway of her room, panic flashed through his eyes. Lana didn’t bother to try to calm him, choosing instead to pull his lips down to hers until she was kissing him, first softly, then harder. Even the taste of him seemed right, hot and slightly spicy, his tiger underscoring the taste that was uniquely Drake.Pulling her closer to him, Drake deepened the kiss, his tongue tangling with hers in a way that was both brand new and achingly familiar, as if she had been waiting all her life for him to complete her.The shape of his shoulders under her questing hands was uniquely Drake as well. Lana ran her fingertips down the back of his arms, tracing the sharply defined triceps and sliding her palms down to his wrists.With a strangled noise in the back of his throat, Drake slid his own hands down her back until they cupped her ass, then pulled her up against him, the hard length of him burning through hi