By the Tail

Chapter Ten

Five days later, Quince sat up in his bed in his own bedroom, tired of lazing around—which was saying something for a cat—and swore at Miles, glad Joy wasn’t around to hear him. “Look, shithead, I accept your apology. You’re on my last fucking nerve. Get over it already. I have.”

Miles sighed. His humility had been fun the first two days, but Quince couldn’t handle it any more. He wanted the arrogant, annoying, fun-loving Miles back. The guy he used to be able to pal around with. Not this sap.

“Okay, I’m sorry. I just hate that I believed something like that about my best friend.”

Best friend. Inside, Quince was overjoyed. God, he’s missed Miles more than he’d thought. “Yeah, well, I’ll guilt you about that for years. But you’ve played out the ‘I’m sorry’ card. Get lost so I can bang your sister when she gets back, would you?”

Miles stared down at him, still with the sad eyes, then socked him in the gut, right above where the bastard had left his mark days ago.

“Ow!”

“Watch your mouth,” Miles growled. “She might be your mate, but she’s my little sister. You treat her right or I’ll reopen that cut and strangle you by your intestines.”

Finally. The real Miles Bermin had returned. “Yeah, yeah. You know, Dean Chastell gave me the exact same warning not too long ago.” Miles’s scowl delighted him. “Come on, bro. Joy is hot. And she’s finally mine.” He wiggled his brows.

“I can’t believe you’ve had that scraggly thing for so long.” He glanced at the frayed string bracelet beaded around Quince’s left wrist. “Just don’t tell anyone it’s a Bermin design. That’s embarrassing.”

“Okay, Nancy.” He flipped Miles a finger and chuckled. “Now remember, you can’t over-task my fiancée.” He and Joy were going to make it super official. Mated and married in another six months. He didn’t care what she wanted, as long as she loved him. “Between her job as liaison and working with that new bathing suit crap for your lady line of clothes, she’s barely taking care of me like she should.”

“Please.” Miles snorted and sat across from him in a leather reading chair. “She’s been by your side for the past week. I’ve never seen her coddle anyone the way she’s been taking care of you. It’s a little sickening.”

“Yeah.” His smile left him. Sickening sweet. The woman wouldn’t respond to his more amorous overtures either. “I’ve shifted a few times, even hunted a wild boar. But she just won’t believe I’m totally recovered yet. Who knew she had that mother hen instinct?”

“She’ll be a good mom.” Miles smiled wryly. “You as a dad… yeah. Between your protective instincts and her mothering, your kids are set.”

Quite a compliment.

“And of course, with me as his or her uncle, the child will be blessed beyond anything.”

“Of course,” Quince said wryly, knowing Miles meant it.

“So onto more important things…”

“Meaning you.”

“Meaning me,” Miles agreed. “How the hell do I get out of being pride leader? You were doing such a great job.”

“No. I stepped in because Michael asked me to, but I never wanted the position. I’m perfectly content being your lieutenant.”

Miles cringed. “Danville keeps arranging meetings. I’m having to talk to lions in France, Burke in Montana and some assholes in San Francisco. They want a big pow-wow next summer. Hell, I have businesses to take care of. They don’t run themselves.”

“Too bad.” No way in hell would Quince ever go back to being in charge. “Hire more employees. The pride needs you. Trust me. I tried to find someone suitable months ago. There is no one better suited to run things. You’re not on a power trip, you don’t need money and you won’t let the fuckheads in the pride ruin the good thing we have going. Everyone’s happy again. Did you see everyone at the House the other night?

“All that hunting and purring and laughter? This is the way life is supposed to be.” Quince smiled.

“Alissa didn’t look too happy.”

“She won’t be unless you decide to mate her. Woman wants power.” At Miles’s disgust, Quince chuckled. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Ellis and I will keep an eye on her. You need to figure out how to manage things without me next week, though. Joy and I are taking some alone time.”

“She didn’t mention it to me.”

“Mention what?” Joy asked as she entered the room. Dressed in a pair of faded jeans and a bright red tee-shirt, her hair wild and her eyes bright, she looked absolutely beautiful to him.

“Our vacation, baby. We need time alone.”

“Oh. Okay.” She smiled and punched her brother in the arm. “How’s it going, pride leader?”

Miles groaned. “You keep telling me I owe you, but you owe me. Not nice to trick your wonderful brother into the position from hell.”

She laughed.

“Speaking of the position from hell…” Quince patted the bed next to him and said in a deep voice, “Come here, Joy.”

Miles grimaced. “I have work to do. Somewhere far, far away.” He walked to the door, then stopped and turned to smile at his sister. “Happiness looks good on you, Joy.”

“That’s because I’m great,” she said.

“And a true Bermin.” Quince snorted. “It’s like the whole family was born with giant-sized egos.”

“That’s about right.” Miles’s smile deepened. “It’s good to have you back, Quince.”

“Yeah, you too, bud.” Quince watched him leave and close the door behind him.

Without pause, he hurried from the bed, locked the door and stripped out of his clothes. Joy’s gaze went immediately to his lower abdomen, where the scar had nearly faded. He’d always been a fast healer, but apparently that Forissol crap wasn’t just a sedative, it had healing properties. Doc Hicks was going nuts trying to figure out how to manufacture the stuff without the sedative part.

“Quince?” Joy had that sly look on her face that he loved.

“Strip. Now, woman.”

“Make me.” She fingered the bottom of her tee-shirt, and he pounced.

Between laughter and breathless sighs, he had her naked and under him in seconds. And then he slid inside her wet heat. Home. Where he belonged.

“I’m yours,” she pledged and kissed him.

He kissed her back, sliding his tongue in time with his cock, plunging into the woman he couldn’t do without. It had taken persistence, patience and a lot of grunt work to get in her good graces. But damn, it had been worth every hardship.

He pulled out of her and kissed his way down her body, not wanting to end things too soon. “I’ve been out of my mind wanting you,” he said between kisses.

She moaned. “Me too. Oh God, that feels so good…” He kissed past her mound and lingered over her clit, licking up the sweetness pooling there for him. He angled a finger inside her and grazed the spot that set her off. Then he sucked her clit into his mouth and gently teethed her.

Joy lit up like a firecracker and cried out as she came. Loving how her cat purred and rubbed against his, he felt that indescribable urge to join fully with her again.

“Oh yeah, that’s it,” he said on a breath and glided back up her body and into her. He thrust in and out with deliberate slowness, then ceased moving, embedded deep inside her. “How about something different?” he whispered and rotated his pelvis, hitting her hot spots.

She arched into him. “Yes. More. Fuck, you’re good.”

He laughed, then groaned when she clamped down on him. “Shit. Easy, or I’ll come too soon.” As it was, he nearly spent inside her when her clever hands reached for his chest. She stroked and petted him, and he pumped inside her a few more times.

“Witch,” he rasped and hurriedly withdrew. Then he reached into the nightstand and took out a small tube of lube. She’d made him wet, but he wanted nothing to impede her pleasure. After oiling himself, he dragged her ass to the edge of the bed, pushed her legs wider, and angled her hips up.

“Oh, yeah. In me.”

He positioned himself against her anus and slowly pushed. Deeper, slower, the heat enveloping him while he circled her clit with his thumb, stirring her to orgasm once more.

She whimpered and begged him to fuck her while he rubbed her taut bud, and then he was moving with her, faster, harder, his strokes impossibly deep.

“I’m coming. Oh, fuck. Yes,” he hissed and shoved hard one final time. He came just as she shuddered and bore down on him, lost in her own ecstatic release.

After he lost his mind and found it once more, he withdrew, then left her to hurry to the bathroom. He returned in moments to clean her up, loving the fact that each and every time with Joy their scents entwined and grew stronger, deeper. A commitment of love and affection that nothing would change. His cat purred along with hers, and after cleaning himself up as well, he joined her in bed.

“I’d say you’re feeling much better,” she growled in a sexy voice and fingered his belly.

“Yeah. This is exactly what the doctor ordered.” He sighed and hugged her close. “I fucking love you, baby. So much.”

“Nice mouth,” she chastised.

“Didn’t hear you complaining when I licked that orgasm right out of you.” He grinned at her blush. “That’s so sexy. I like when you get all pink. Like when you come and get me all slick, that flush on your breasts makes me want to eat you up.”

“Stop it.” She rubbed her pelvis against his. “Oh my God. You aren’t getting hard again?”

“Hey, it’s your fault. Remember? Joy is great… At taking it up the ass.” He snickered when she smacked him. “Man, I’ve been dying to use that one. But I have to admit, you’re good either way. Ass, pussy, that mouth. I really love your mouth.”

“Flatterer.” She kissed his chest, right over his heart—which clearly belonged to her. “So we’re good now. We’re happy. You and Miles are girlfriends again—”

“Joy.”

“And after we get married, we’re going to try for some cubs of our own.”

He froze. “Really?”

“Well, maybe not right after. I want to play with you for a while, just you and me. But I’d love to have a tiny black kitten with your eyes. I love your eyes. But my temperament and intelligence. I am a Bermin after all.”

“Not for much longer. Then you’ll be a Castille,” he said, the satisfaction in that statement impossible to miss. “Oh, we’ll have to call my mom. Zoe too. She always liked you.”

“I love your mom and sister.” Obviously remembering some of the stunts she’d pulled with Zoe in her teens, she grinned. “Zoe’s a trip.”

Quince leaned down for a kiss, which changed from exploratory and lazy to deeper, more passionate.

And then his cell phone rang.

“Do you have to get that?” Joy asked between kisses.

“Probably.” He sighed and rolled over her to grab his phone.

“Well, hurry up. My pussy is hungry.”

“I love when you talk dirty.” He tensed when she gripped his semi-hard cock then stroked him. “Oh, man. I’m going to make you pay for that.”

“Can’t wait.”

“Hello?” he said into his cell, breathless. He wouldn’t have answered, except everyone knew not to bother him, only in case of an emergency. Miles’s and Joy’s orders.

“Hey big bro! Congrats. I heard you’ve taken over the pride.”

“Zoe?” He sat straighter and swallowed hard when Joy ran her hands down his shaft to cup his balls. “I was just talking about you.”

“All good, right?” She laughed. “Well, I’m coming home. And don’t worry about running the pride anymore. I’m ready to take over.”

“Take over?” He was losing his train of thought as Joy slithered down between his legs and followed her hands with her tongue.

“Yeah. I’ve learned all I needed. I’m prepared to run the pride now, just like Michael said I’d be.”

“Huh?” He silently groaned when Joy engulfed him. Definitely not time to be talking to anyone right now, let alone his sister. “Can’t talk.”

“Cat got your tongue, eh?” She chuckled. “Tell the guys I said hi. Can’t wait to see everyone again. I’ll be there in a few weeks. Mama too. Love you.”

She disconnected, but Quince couldn’t focus past the need to bury himself in his mate once more. “Oh my God. If I haven’t said it enough, I’ll say it again.” He groaned and ran his fingers through her hair as she laved him with her tongue. “Joy is great.”

Zoe, Esmeralda Castille’s pride and joy, turned to her and nodded. “Yep. Past time we went back. You were right. Big brother needs me, Mama. All that crap with Michael passing and then that asshole Lex must have worn him thin. He didn’t sound right on the phone.”

“He’s a protector, you know that.” Esmie adjusted the strap on her deep-green bikini and lazed next to her daughter, conscious of the male attention focused on them. Rio was by far the most beautiful beach they’d visited, but as she’d known for a while now, it was time to go home. Time to visit her boy’s new mate. Time for the future to come to pass.

Esmie knew things. The way her mother and grandmother had. Like Quince, her daughter had a destiny just waiting for her. In Zoe’s case, a big, blond-haired destiny with an attitude and a need for the right woman to fix him but good. She smiled at her daughter, proud and a touch arrogant that she’d had a part in creating such a beautiful feline with such style. Such power.

Problem was the girl had too much energy for most men to handle. But not him—the one Esmie had been dreaming about for months. She’d known their time neared. Now she just had to get the two of them together and watch the fireworks explode. Time for a few grandchildren. She might look thirty, but truth to tell, Esmie was beginning to feel all of her fifty-three years.

“Honey, there’s something I need to tell you.” She would miss this time with her daughter, but Zoe had the training and knowhow to do what needed to be done. With the encroaching raptors flying close to Miami’s shores, the pride would need a strong leader. Someone different than those who’d come before, to lead them in a fight that would either end the pride or make them twice as strong.

“Yes?” Zoe rolled to her back, and Esmie noticed another man not too far away nod to his friend before pointing at Zoe. Not a bad looking human. But still, he wasn’t Ac-taw.

Esmie sighed. “Nothing. Enjoy yourself while you can. I have a feeling that when we get back home and settle down where we belong, you’re going to have your work cut out for you. You know they won’t easily accept a woman taking charge.”

Typical, Zoe shrugged away her mother’s worries and eased into her lounger, basking in the sun. “Too bad. I’m not taking no for an answer. It’s my destiny, Mama. You know that.”

Esmie shielded her eyes against the glare of the water and grinned. “And so is he.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Enjoy the sun, chica. And let your mama dream about fireworks.”

“Whatever makes you happy,” Zoe mumbled and dozed while Esmie watched the men watching her daughter and thought about the dream she’d had of Zoe’s blond-haired babies in Miles Bermin’s strong arms.