Fated to a Cougar

Chapter Six

Making the funeral arrangements for her sister was the toughest thing Sage had ever done. She was more than grateful Grady had decided to go with her. Him just being with her helped her get through some of the rougher moments.

Hank’s parents had accepted Olivia’s offer for dinner. Once they were done at the funeral home, they decided to return to the hotel before they went to Grady’s house since there were more than a few hours to kill in between. Sage had Grady drive to her place to pick up Josh’s playpen. On the way, she also had him stop at a store to buy Josh some new clothes since there was no way she was going to her sister’s house to get more.

At her place Sage led Grady upstairs to her bedroom. She packed a bag with a change of clothes before she set to work closing up the playpen to take with them. After she had it collapsed and bundled, ready to go, she sat on the bed beside him and folded the blankets. She set them aside, then turned to him.

“Will your mom mind if we take a little longer getting back to the house?” Sage asked.

“I doubt it.”

“Good.”

Sage threw herself into Grady’s arms, pushing him onto his back. She landed on top of him and kissed him hungrily. She needed to get as close to him as she could, have him make her feel alive.

Grady put his arms around her and kissed her back with the same fervor. He pushed his tongue into her mouth and thoroughly tasted her. Sage spread her legs and brought her pussy on top of his hard cock. She rocked against him, making them both moan.

As arousal beat at her, Sage left Grady’s mouth and kissed a trail down to the side of his jaw. She reached between them and dragged the bottom of his shirt up. He quickly pulled it the rest of the way off and threw it over the side of the bed. His arm then snaked around her waist and held her to him as he positioned them both in the center of the bed, giving them more room.

After they settled in place, Sage shifted lower on Grady’s body, licking and kissing as she went. A cat-sounding purr rumbled out of him, something he seemed to do a lot during sex. She didn’t mind, it turned her on just as much as his moans and groans. She figured he had a different way of showing how much he enjoyed what she did to him.

Sage paused at his cougar head pendant and brushed it with her finger. It was warm to the touch, warmer than it should be from Grady’s body heat. She couldn’t explain her fascination with it. The thought of taking it from him once again flashed through her mind but she pushed it aside. There was something else she wanted more.

Lower she went, taking the time to drag her tongue along his washboard abs. At the top of his jeans, she undid them and parted the material. Sage ran a finger down the length of Grady’s cock through his underwear. It jerked in response.

She met Grady’s gaze as she took hold of the top of his pants and underwear and tugged them both down past his hips. “Earlier I didn’t get to explore as much as I wanted. I don’t intend to miss out this time.”

“By all means. Explore to your heart’s content. It might kill me but I’m giving you the control.”

“If that’s the case, then I want you completely naked.”

Grady helped Sage as she pulled his jeans and underwear the rest of the way off and tossed them aside. She feasted her eyes on him. He had a great body, muscular and cut but not overly bulky. But what really made her mouth water was his cock. Fully engorged, it was thick and long. From their previous lovemaking, she already knew it filled her pussy all the way up. And he definitely could use it to make her want to scream his name in pleasure.

She straddled his thighs and wrapped her fingers around his shaft. She pumped it a few times until a drop of pre-cum appeared on the tip. Grady groaned, his hips lifting off the mattress, thrusting his erection tighter into her hand.

Sage firmly grasped him at the base and circled the head of his cock with her tongue. Grady groaned louder, a purr mixing with the sound. She gave him one last lick before opening her mouth and taking the head inside. She sucked back more of his length, then slowly lifted her head until only the tip remained. His hands fisted the covers under him as she took him in and out, taking as much as she could handle.

His cock grew even harder. “Sage,” he said with a moan. “I’m getting too close. I want to be inside you.”

Sage sucked him almost to the back of her throat, then released his shaft. She sat up. “And I want you there.”

She watched Grady as she took off her shirt and bra. His gaze followed her every movement. Next came her pants. Her panties, she took her time removing. She was already wet for him, more than ready to take his cock into her pussy.

Once she was as naked as he, she straddled his hips, then lowered herself onto his erection. It stretched her as she worked it in and out until she completely impaled herself. Sage lifted to her knees, sliding him almost free of her body only to push back down until he was all the way inside.

Sage continued to ride Grady, clenching her inner muscles around his plunging cock. She set a slow and steady pace that had her climax inching toward the surface. He reached up and palmed her breasts, tugging on her taut nipples. She placed her hands over his to keep them there. It was just enough extra stimulation she needed to have her panting, straining for her release.

As Grady let out a strangled moan and his cock pulsed inside her, Sage fell into her own orgasm. Her pussy clutched and released his shaft, milking him as wave after wave of pleasure tore through her. Once it was over, she collapsed onto his chest, gasping for breath. She found his cougar head pendant with her hand and held on to it.

“That was pretty intense,” Grady said.

Lost in the moment, Sage blurted, “I love you.”

Grady cupped her face and brought her lips to his. He kissed her slowly. “And I love you.”

His pendant warmed even more. Sage opened her hand and looked at it. “Why are the cougar’s ruby eyes glowing?”

“They are?” Grady asked with something akin to hope in his voice.

“Yeah. Look.” She sat up and lifted the pendant for him to see. “And why do I have this almost overwhelming urge to put it around my own neck?”

She couldn’t see what made the rubies glow. The light was dim at best in the room since the curtains were closed and it was getting dark out. It being the middle of January, the sun set around four thirty in the afternoon.

“Take it.”

“What?”

“Take the pendant. You’re meant to have it. I want to see you wearing it.”

The way Grady spoke, it was if the idea of her doing what he’d said was something that would mean a lot to him. Sage couldn’t deny the fact she really, really wanted his necklace. And she wasn’t even one for wearing jewelry.

“Take it,” Grady whispered.

Sage gripped the pendant again and slowly pulled it over Grady’s head. She turned it over and looked at the glowing eyes before she focused back on him. He lay there intently, watching her with a look of anticipation on his face. She took hold of it by its chain, turned it so the cougar head would face out, then slipped it over her head.

Grady held his breath as Sage lowered his pendant around her neck. Once it settled on her chest just above her cleavage, he sucked in a breath. The mating bond formed in an instant, joining their souls. From the look of surprise on her face, he guessed she felt it too.

Katarina had been right. Sage was the one. She was now his mate since she’d claimed him when she took his pendant as her own. Not that she knew that, but Grady did. Seeing her wear it, the love he had for her solidified. She was his. The moment the bond formed between them, he’d gained not only a mate but a nephew as well.

“What was that?” Sage asked as she searched his face. “I felt something—”

He cut her off by sitting up and taking her lips in a heated kiss. His cock went instantly rock hard inside her. He wanted her again. He needed to show her with his body how much he loved her and was glad she was his.

Grady held Sage close, then took her down to the mattress on her back. He pumped between her legs, glorying in the feel of her pussy taking his cock. She clutched his ass and pulled him in tighter as she lifted her hips to meet each thrust.

He already knew he wasn’t going to last long. Grady hooked one of Sage’s legs over his arm and spread her wider. He sank deeper. He angled his cock in just the right way so it hit her G-spot. She moaned, her fingers digging into the tops of his shoulders as she held on to him.

Then she panted his name as her inner muscles squeezed and released his shaft. As she came, his balls rose closer to his body and his point of no return tried to rush to the surface. He pushed it back. He wasn’t ready to come just yet.

Grady waited until Sage settled under him after her climax ended. He pulled out of her, then shifted to her side. With gentle hands, he urged her over onto her stomach, then up onto her hands and knees. Once he had her in that position, he came up behind her and stroked his hands down her back to her hips.

He held her still as he probed her slick entrance with the head of his cock. Grady purred at the feel of her wetness bathing the tip of him. He stroked her pussy without entering her, rubbing her clit with each pass. Sage pushed back and moaned.

Grady kept hold of Sage as he pushed forward and seated himself to the hilt inside her with one stroke. He stilled as her pussy spasmed around his length. After it ceased, he stroked in and out of her. She took more of him in this position, and his balls slapped against her with each thrust.

He reached around her and found her clit. He rubbed it as he surged into her. It ended up being enough to send her into another orgasm. She moaned with her release and that pushed him over the edge. Grady pumped his hips faster, then with a groan that bordered on a growl, he climaxed, filling her with his cum.

With no more left to give, Grady wrapped an arm around Sage and took them down onto the bed on their sides. Both of them were breathing as if they’d run a marathon. He was satiated and didn’t know if he could move again. All he wanted to do was hold his mate in his arms.

After what had just happened, there would be no getting around telling Sage about him being a cougar shifter later that night. He should have had that conversation with her once the ruby eyes in his pendant had glowed, but he’d wanted to see if she would take it from him. Hopefully she would accept him for what he was and not get too angry with him for not telling her before the mating bond formed between them.

Sage and Grady arrived at his house twenty minutes after they’d made love at her place. She helped him haul all the things they’d brought inside. Olivia had greeted them and informed Sage that Josh had gone down for a nap and that she’d put him upstairs on the bed in the master bedroom with pillows around him so he wouldn’t roll off. Olivia had then asked how everything had gone at the funeral home.

“Good,” Sage answered as she set down the bag she carried.

“And will Josh’s grandparents be coming for dinner?”

“Yes. They asked me to thank you for the invitation.” Sage shrugged out of her winter jacket.

“Oh my goodness,” Olivia said as she looked at Sage, then at Grady and back to Sage again.

“What?” Sage asked, not sure why Grady’s mother looked awfully happy all of a sudden.

“You’re wearing Grady’s pendant.” Olivia’s smile grew even bigger. She then gave her a hug.

Sage tentatively hugged the other woman back. “Ah, yeah, I am. I didn’t realize it was that big a deal.”

Olivia let go of Sage and looked at her son. “You didn’t tell her, did you?”

Grady gave his mother a pained smile. “It happened really suddenly. I sort of didn’t want to spoil the mood. I’d already decided we were going to have a talk with the rest of you. I figured it would be easier that way.”

“Be sure you do, but I have to say I couldn’t be happier. Now I get my wish.” Olivia gave Grady a kiss. “I have to go tell your father, Jase and Katarina.” She then headed up the stairs to the upper level.

Sage turned to face Grady. “What was all that about? The way your mom talked, you’d think we’d just gotten engaged or something.”

“I’m going to leave it at you taking my pendant is a bigger deal to my family than you know. The rest I’ll tell you later tonight once Josh’s grandparents leave.”

“Okay, I think.”

She wasn’t sure what to make of what had passed between Grady and his mom. It was obvious they were keeping something from her for some reason. They didn’t appear to think it was bad, since Olivia had been happy about Sage wearing Grady’s pendant. That could stem from the fact the other women of the house wore the same necklaces as well. Maybe in their eyes Grady giving her his pendant was tantamount to him asking her to marry him, and she, not knowing the significance, had accepted while in the dark about the whole thing. She guessed she’d find out one way or the other later.

Sage spent the rest of the afternoon taking care of Josh. Since they were eating dinner in the early evening shortly after the baby went to bed for the night, she made sure she had him bathed and in his pajamas before Hank’s parents arrived.

Bathing a six-month-old was a new experience for Sage. She probably would have done a quicker job of it if Grady hadn’t offered to help by getting into the whirlpool tub with Josh to hold him while she did the washing part. Her nephew had a ball splashing them both, and he moved around so much Grady said it was like holding on to a slippery fish.

After Hank’s parents arrived, they took turns passing Josh between them. It’d been a month since they’d last seen their grandson. Hank’s mom Kate got a little teary over the fact Josh looked more and more like his father the older he got.

Once Sage got the baby upstairs to bed in Grady’s room, the adults sat down to dinner. They talked about the services for Macy and Hank that would take place in two days. Much to Sage’s surprise, all of Grady’s family said they would be attending. Even Jase and his dad stated they would be around to help with the heavy lifting when the time came for Sage, Kate and Max to empty out Macy and Hank’s house.

That was something Sage still dreaded, but it had to be done and put on the market. There was no way she could keep both her house and the other one. And she couldn’t afford to pay the mortgage for Macy’s with only her income. And Max and Kate had their own place in Fairbanks.

Hank’s parents said their goodbyes once it grew late and promised Sage they’d talk to her the next day. After they left, everyone else headed back into the living room. She couldn’t help noticing how nervous Grady looked all of a sudden.

They all sat, spreading out on the couch, loveseat and armchairs. Sage and Grady ended up on the loveseat, which was across from the couch. At first, Sage wasn’t sure anyone was going to start the conversation since the others all seemed to be waiting for something.

Grady cleared his throat. “I guess I’d better be the one to get the ball rolling.” He cleared his throat again and took hold of Sage’s hand and looked her right in the eyes. “What I’m about to tell you, I’ve never told anyone like you before.”

She gave him a confused look over the “anyone like you” comment. Was he referring to her being a cop or was it something else entirely? “Okay.”

“I’ve been told it’s best if I just come right out and say it without easing into it too much. So here it goes.” His face grew serious, not showing any emotion. “Sage, I’m a cougar shifter. You set off the magic in my pendant and made the cougar’s ruby eyes glow, which means you’re my mate. When you took it from me and put it around your neck, you claimed me as yours and the mating bond formed, joining our souls.”