Laura Wright - Raphael/Parish

He was lost.

Lost in the overwhelming sensation of her pussy clenched tight and hot around his surging cock.

Continuing his relentless pace, he waited for her to tense beneath him, the sound of her thundering heartbeat echoing inside him with a pagan rhythm.

Still it wasn’t until she gave a soft cry of release that he unleashed his cat, unknowingly using his claws to slice through her skin, marking her on a most primal level.

With one last thrust he buried himself until his balls were flush against her ass and allowed his climax to smash into him with mind-numbing force.

God. Damn.

Was the world still spinning? It felt as if it must have come to a shuddering, cataclysmic halt.

Raising his head, he studied Ashe’s sated expression, a smile of smug satisfaction curving his lips.

The scent of lust and his personal musk was thick in the air, along with…

Blood?

With a stunned sense of disbelief, he turned to the side, rolling her over so he could inspect the scratches that marred the satin skin of her upper back.

Marks made by claws, not human nails.

They weren’t deep, but he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that they would leave four silver lines on each shoulder that would forever claim her as his mate.

No. It wasn’t possible.

A Pantera couldn’t shift unless they were in the Wildlands.

Their eyes glowed in the dark, or when their emotions were aroused, and they produced a musk that was directly connected to their cats. But they couldn’t actually change body parts.

So what the hell had just happened?

RAPHAEL didn’t try to prevent Ashe from lying back on the mattress, a frown chasing away her earlier glow of post-coital bliss as she regarded him with a wary suspicion.

“What was that about?”

“This is madness,” he muttered.

“I agree.” Her chin tilted to a defensive angle, yanking the sheet over her body still flushed from her recent climax. “Sex with a stranger who says he’s not even human is most certainly madness. Even worse, I’m now stuck with an unwanted pregnancy.”

His stunned reaction to yet another impossibility becoming possible was shattered by her stark words.

While he’d been reeling at the sight of his mating marks, she’d been left feeling raw and exposed by their explosive passion. He should have been cuddling her close and assuring her that she was precisely where she belonged.

In his arms.

Now she was scrambling to resurrect her protective walls.

Christ, could he fuck up the situation any worse?

He leaned on his elbow, meeting her guarded gaze with an expression of open concern.

“You don’t want the baby?”

Her defiance faltered, something heartrendingly vulnerable visible in the depths of her dark eyes.

“I…haven’t had time to think about it.”

His hand moved to cautiously touch her lower stomach, struggling against the sudden, brutal fear that she might actually do something to end the pregnancy.

“Ashe, I’m not exaggerating when I say this is a miracle,” he said softly, not minding the edge of pleading in his voice. His child might very well prove to be the savior of the Pantera. “My people—”

His words came to abrupt halt as he tensed, turning his head toward the door.

“What is it?” she demanded.

“I’m not sure.”

With a fluid movement he was off the bed and pulling on his jeans and T-shirt before moving silently across the room.

He pressed his ear to the door, his heightened senses picking up the unmistakable scent of two human males walking up the steps and the metallic tang of the guns they carried.

It wasn’t the stench of their weapons, however, that made his cat snarl in warning.

There was something…off in their smell.

Not drugs or disease.

But a sour smell that was just wrong.

Without hesitation he spun on his heel and headed back across the room. He didn’t know who the hell these men were, but he wasn’t hanging around to find out.

Not when his mate and child needed his protection.

Reaching the bed, Raphael leaned down to wrap the sheet around a startled Ashe, scooping her off the mattress and cradling her against his chest as he headed toward the open window.

“What the hell are you doing?” she rasped, futilely battling against the sheet tangled around her limbs.

“We’re leaving.”

“But I’m—”

He covered her mouth with his hand, bending down to whisper directly in her ear.

“Shh. We need to get out of here. Now.”

She tensed in his arms. “You’re scaring me.”

“I’m not going to let anything happen to you.” The words were a vow that came from his very soul. “Hold on.”

Her eyes widened as he held her out the window, and she belatedly realized his intent.

“No,” she choked as he gave a shove with his feet and they were falling through the air.

He landed softly, keeping her tightly pressed against his chest as he allowed his senses to search the darkness.

Only when he was certain that there were no strangers lurking in the alley did he jog toward a nearby side street, heading south of town at a speed that could never be mistaken for human.

Right now he didn’t care if he exposed his superior skills or not. He needed to get Ashe somewhere safe.

Still struggling to get her arms free so she could no doubt punch him in the face, Ashe at last gave a hiss of frustration.

“Dammit, let me down.”

“Not until we’re safe.”

“Safe from what?”

He met her narrowed black eyes, knowing nothing he said was going to make her happy.

“I’m not sure.”

“You’re dragging me naked through town in the middle of the night and you’re not sure why?”

“That about sums it up.”

“Sums it up?” She kicked her feet in fury. “Take me back to the hotel.”

“Not a chance in hell.”

“I’ll scream. I—” She bit off her words as he reached the outskirts of town, jogging along the edge of the swamp before heading straight for The Cougar’s Den. “Why did you bring me here?”

He ignored her question, heading up the back stairs and slamming his fist against the steel door.

There was a tense wait as security checked him out on the monitors, then the door was finally shoved open to reveal a furious Bayon.

“What the hell are you doing?” the younger Pantera snarled, glaring at the female in Raphael’s arms.

Raphael stepped past his friend, entering the storage room of the bar.

“Make sure we weren’t followed,” he commanded.

For a moment Bayon bristled, as if he might demand an explanation. Then, muttering something about crazy cats in heat, he slipped out the door and melted into the shadows.

Tightening his hold on a still furious Ashe, Raphael crossed the storage room to kick the edge of the wooden shelves, watching the wall swing inward to reveal the secret chambers hidden behind the bar.

He halted in the communal room, where the Pantera visiting the area could gather in private.

It wasn’t fancy. Nothing more than two overstuffed sofas and a handful of padded chairs sturdy enough to endure the roughhousing that came with a race of people who were cats at heart.

It was, however, the only place they could talk in privacy.

The attached room was dedicated to high-tech security that kept watch on the fringes of the swamp, monitoring everything and everyone who entered the bayous, while the upper story was set aside for private bedrooms.

There was no way in hell he was going to take Ashe to another room that included a bed.

Not until he was convinced there was no threat.

Gingerly setting Ashe on her feet, Raphael stepped back, but not before she managed to take a swing, clipping him on the chin.