"Ife!" Nate called upon spotting her. She was hunched over and on her knees in the mud. "Are you injured?"
When he'd left the foundry, Owen defeated, Nate had been met by a wide-eyed Dick and a contrite Stevens. Ife was nowhere in sight. With a wordless point in the direction up the hill, Mills let Nate know where she'd gone. Why she'd fled, he didn't know.
As he took off after her, Nate couldn't help but wonder if Ife might have preferred Doc over him. That would've been a reason for her to flee him. With a sickening feeling, he thought that perhaps she viewed the shaman as her mate.
Savagely, Nate pushed the thought away. He wouldn't accept that. Not until he heard it from her lips.
Upon reaching Ife, Nate dropped down, his knees bracketing hers. When his arms came around her from behind, she tried to shrug them off and move away. But Nate only pulled her back, closer to his chest.
Shivers wracked Ife's body. Her skin was cool and wet, yet she seemed uninjured beneath his roaming hands. She shivered again. Switching their inquisitive course, Nate ran his palms briskly up and down her arms.
"Let me go." Ife's command wasn't nearly as assertive as she needed it to be. Nate ignored her, continuing in his efforts to try and heat her chilled flesh. It was a wasted effort; she didn't think she'd ever feel warm again. The heart in her chest seemed naught but a shriveled, frozen shard of ice.
"Why did you run off?" Nate tried again.
"Why do you care?" Ife shot back.
Behind her, Nate tensed. All movement ceased as his arms locked like stone around her. "Do you feel that Owen Walker is your mate?" he asked with soft violence.
"My God, you are so stupid!" Freeing a hand from Nate's tight embrace, Ife wiped angrily at her tears.
"Something that could be easily remedied if you'd talk to me." Nate's tone was gentle, but there was a thick thread of annoyance at its center.
A sound of pure frustration erupted from Ife's throat. After a calming moment of silence, she stated, "You used me." It was easier to admit without Nate looking at her.
Grunting out a curse, Nate remained like stone behind Ife. A couple of heartbeats passed before he blew out a long breath. It tickled the wet curls at her neck. Ife reached up and rubbed the spot with her free hand.
Nate bent his head slightly and turned it, so his lips weren't far from her ear. "I'd like to be honest with you, Ife." His velvety low voice rumbled through her back. Sucking in a breath, he all but whispered on the exhale, "I can't say I didn't use you to get on my target's radar. But-"
"No," Ife erupted, cutting Nate off and struggling to get some distance between them once more. "There is no 'but'. Even the repulsive Andrew knew." It was irrational, but that the shaman knew felt like the more significant betrayal.
Arms tightening further, Nate pulled Ife onto his lap. "Even though I was ordered to get close to you, that's not why I did it, mapenzi."
Ife stilled at Nate's use of the endearment. Carefully, she asked, "Then why did you do it?"
"Because," Nate began softly, "I was the lion who ruined your kill during the last full moon." His head bent forward, and he nuzzled Ife's neck. "You clawed my nose, but I knew I deserved it."
Ife sucked in a breath. Memories of what their beasts did on their one night of freedom per month were patchy for those as young as she. Hearing it from Nate caused her to recall the incident.
"When I caught your scent the next morning, I knew you were that fierce lioness."
Nate's warm mouth clamped around the sensitive point where Ife's shoulder joined her neck. Goose pimples spread as he lightly sucked at the spot. Before she could bite it back, a low moan escaped Ife's parted lips. Eyes closing, her head fell back on his shoulder, giving him better access.
"My beast recognized the scent of its mate," Nate whispered. Warm breath puffed out at the sensitive spot as he spoke, causing Ife to shiver for a wholly different reason.
When Nate's partial admission finally made its way into Ife's passion-filled brain, her breath caught in her throat. He hadn't claimed she was his mate, she reminded herself. Even so, her heart picked up its pace, seeming to mirror the fast staccato of the falling raindrops on the waterlogged ground.
Lips shifting to her neck, Nate seemed content to lazily play there for a while. Ife began to respond, then he stopped and drew in a deep breath. On the warm exhale came his soft admission, "I recognized my mate, Ife Bayo."
With his full admission, Ife found herself forgiving him. Stevens had been correct, damn him anyway. Twisting her torso, so she was facing him, Ife cupped Nate's cheek. Rough whiskers tickled her palm. Healing, just above her fingers, was a gash from his recent fight with Owen. She waited for his dark, gold-rimmed eyes to meet hers. Holding his gaze, Ife tenderly confessed, "I was slower in recognizing mine, Nathan Allen."
"Nassor Jelani," Nate murmured as his head dipped.
Ife briefly wondered what he meant before all thought fled as his lips met hers. Nate's tongue flicked across the seam of her lips. Opening them, Ife eagerly welcomed his entrance. Her tongue slid along his in naughty play.
Lifting her slightly, Nate turned Ife to face him. Her legs fell onto either side of his, and she scooted up his lap, closer to him. His hard length pressed against her. The thin material of her yoga pants wasn't much of a barrier. With a slight movement of her hips, she ran her core along his shaft. A purr escaped her throat as pleasure sparked and spread from her center to her extremities.
Nate's hand came around to splay across Ife's ass. He drew her hard against him, then pushed down, causing her to ride his rigid length in a slow, single stroke. Something between a sigh and a moan came from her throat as her clit rubbed against his shaft. Hips flexing, she repeated the move.
Nate's other hand tunneled beneath Ife's rain-soaked t-shirt. Her breath hitched as its warmth spread across her chilled, lower stomach. His long fingers gently wrapped around the dip above her waist. Pressing downward with both hands, he reminded her to continue her previous movements. Ife cupped his upper jaw and deepened their kiss as her hips shifted and she slid down his shaft. Even through the material of their pants, the move elicited pleasure.
Satisfied that Ife wouldn't stop, Nate's palm at her waist slid upward. Running lightly up her cleavage, his fingertips changed course and slipped between her bra and chilled flesh. There, they found a taut nipple. After giving it a gentle tug which shot electrifying sensations to her palms, his hand switched position. Their warmth encompassed her breast, causing a brief tremble in her movements. With his thumb, he rolled the rigid peak in a gentle caress. A moan escaped Ife, muffled by his mouth still on hers. She felt the light caress all the way to her aching core.
Lifting his head, Nate tried to get his libido under control. He wasn't a beast and didn't want to claim his mate in the rain and mud like one. His hands grasped Ife's hips, stilling their movement.
"Having second thoughts?" Ife's tone was an octave lower, and her eyes glowed the amber of her beast. Although she tried to hide it, Nate still heard the uncertainty in her tone.
"No," Nate was quick to assure his mate. Before he could explain, Ife's hand came between them to cup his hard length through his dark slacks. They were drenched, and so he felt her caress almost as if it were flesh on flesh. Her palm traveled up and down his shaft as her soft heat had done.
"Good," Ife said as her hand left Nate and reached up to remove the tie that had come loose during his scuffle with Owen. Looking at him, she noticed the puffy bruise on his jaw was nearly healed. The wounds on his knuckles were on the mend as well. His bottom lip was split, but it too was closing. She wouldn't hurt him as she took the lead.
Undoing the buttons on Nate's white dress shirt, Ife moved in closer and licked at the wound on his lip. His breath hitched as the tangy taste of blood blossomed on her tongue.
Grabbing Nate's hands from her hips, Ife placed them on the ground behind him. Then, she pulled his drenched, clinging shirt down and over his muscular shoulders. It grew taut at his elbows, and she stopped. The clinging material trapped him, minimizing the movement of his arms. Deepening her kiss, she was free to explore the warm, wet hills and valleys of his chest. Her inquisitive fingers dipped lower, to the top of his pants.
Nate strained to stop Ife, but his damned shirt trapped his arms. His mate deserved a warm bed and a roof overhead for her claiming.
Lifting her mouth from Nate's as he struggled with the clinging shirt, Ife commanded, "Don't you dare free yourself."
"Not here," Nate pled as he fell back on his palms.
"What's wrong with here?" A naughty glint entered her eye as Ife unzipped Nate's pants. Her hand slipped between the material and his aching flesh. Fingers encircling him, she stroked his hard length in a slow cadence.
Swallowing back a moan as pleasure shot through is abdomen, Nate attempted to appeal to Ife's human half. "You deserve better." Unfortunately, the words came out more like a question. Nearly all his focus was on what Ife's hand was doing to him. When her grip tightened, he grunted between clenched teeth, trying not to give voice to his true wishes.
"What nonsense," Ife replied simply as she shimmied down his torso. Catching Nate's gaze, she reminded him, "No freeing yourself." Then, her head dipped, and his tip slipped between her lips.
As Ife's hot tongue ran along the slit, Nate's head fell back. He caught himself straining, wanting to cup her head and have her take him deeper into her mouth. But his woman didn't want him to break free. Instead, Nathan fell further back on his elbows and gave a single, suggestive thrust of his hips. He was rewarded by wet heat clamping around him, encasing him almost to the root.
Ife lifted her head on a long, tight suck. It sounded as if Nate bit back a whimper. "Stay just like that," she directed, looking up his horizontal torso and catching his eye. After making sure the command was heard, she pulled his pants down his thighs. The material caught and bunched at his bent knees, but the part of him she wanted was now completely free.
Hands slipping around Nate's hips, Ife cupped the taut globes of his ass. One slid around to the font and up his stomach. Unbidden, a purr rumbled up Ife's throat as her fingertips learned the contours of his abs. They glided to the magical tattoos he had on his arms. The body art wasn't for aesthetics alone. They were shaman made and gave him added strength and power. Tracing them to his chest, her hand came to rest over his frantically beating heart.
Catching her mate's gaze, Ife reiterated, "Don't move." He was a big, bad shifter and should be able to hold the pose - hips thrust upward, offering her a tasty treat.
Breaking eye contact when she felt confident Nate would do as he was told, Ife's head turned toward his rock-hard cock. The hand gripping his ass came around to grasp his shaft. A mouth-watering moment later, her tongue slipped around its apex. On his moan, her lips wrapped around his length and she took him in, all the way to the back of her throat.
Ife was encouraged by the half-yowl, half-sigh that came from Nate's throat. It rumbled through her fingers on his chest and to her heart. Slipping up a few inches, she then sucked him deeper into her mouth. With her next ascent, she pulled nearly free before drifting back down. Her tongue swirled along the head of his cock with each upward motion. Emboldened by the sounds she was eliciting from the werelion, Ife soon set a vigorous pace.
"Mapenzi," Nate panted after a few moments. "You need to stop."
Shaking her head slightly, Ife refused to listen. There would be no stopping today. After a few more, tight sucks, a roar erupted from Nate that rivaled the thunder above. He came with shuddering force. The hot, salty taste of him coated Ife's tongue.
A split-second after his last twitch, Nate erupted. "Dammit, Ife!" he cursed as he left her mouth. "Why did you do that?"
Drawing her bottom lip between her teeth, Ife licked off the last drop. "Because I wanted to," she stated simply. Rising on her knees, she rested back on her heels.
Nate popped to his feet. With angry motions, he finished undressing. Soon, Ife was rewarded by the sight of all his dark, rain-kissed skin and muscles. Brows dipping, his look wasn't exactly friendly as he glowered at her. Using his soaked shirt, he wiped the mud from his hands. Tossing it to the ground, he stalked toward her.
"We Marines have a saying," Nate stated, stopping before Ife. "Adapt and overcome."
Reaching down, Nate pulled Ife to her feet. "I plan to do just that." Wicked promise lit those dark, gold-rimmed eyes as he stared intently at her. It sent a thrill through Ife.
Pressing her against the thick, smooth trunk of a baobab tree, Nate's fingers snaked under Ife's shirt. Before she knew it, the saturated piece of cotton material skimmed up her torso and over her head. With a flick of a wrist, it was discarded.
Gathering Ife's wrists in one hand, Nate placed them high above her head. "Keep your hands there," he directed then let go, confident she'd follow his orders. She was stretched taught against that smooth bark. The branches of the tree soared aloft. Ife found no handholds. Still, as excitement filled her, she found she was committed to playing his game.
"Pink and lacey?" Nate's voice was low. Shivers coursed through Ife as a gentle fingertip traced the jagged edge of her bra. Then, it dipped between the material, finding her sensitized flesh. It grazed her nipple, causing Ife's back to arch on a moan.
The whole time, Nate closely watched Ife's reactions to his touch with the golden eyes of his beast. Their gazes locked. It was sexy as hell.
Pulling the lace aside, Nate's head dipped. Eyes still on hers, he flicked her nipple with his tongue. Ife had little time to react to that caress before his mouth encased the rolled bud in its warm, moist environs. With a wet suck, it popped out from between his tightly clamped lips.
"Oh," Ife moaned as she felt the sensation deep in her sex. Her lids slid closed.
"Open your eyes," Nate demanded roughly.
Ife's eyes popped open and found his.
A few moments ticked by. After he was assured Ife would watch him, Nate's free hand spread across her belly. It leisurely explored the softness it found there. He could see how excited she became from such a simple touch. She was very responsive, his woman.
Need dropped heavily to Ife's core as Nate's free hand traveled over her bare stomach. Making a slow path across her rain-chilled flesh, it stopped at the rim of her yoga pants. Anticipation built as Nate's attention turned to Ife's other nipple. His middle finger languidly played with the elastic waistband but never broke the barrier.
Ife lifted her hips, trying to tell Nate what she wanted without words. Moments of sweet teasing passed, building her need for his touch. Begging for an end to the torment was on the tip of her tongue.
Nate watched Ife the whole time. The glowing amber eyes of his beast held knowledge of what he was doing to her. Then, a heartbeat later, his finger dipped lower, gliding past the elastic waistband. It slid beneath her matching, pink lace panties. With unerring precision, it slipped between her wet folds and found her throbbing core.
Ife cried out as that single digit penetrated her. Her head rolled back, and her eyes closed on the ecstasy of Nate's touch. A thrust of her hips made his finger slide in deeper.
Nate moaned as Ife's tight sheath encased him. "Watch me," he ordered between clenched teeth. "Open your eyes, mapenzi." Golden eyes found him once more as she rode each of his thrusts, intent on finding her own release.
Suddenly, Nate's finger was gone. "Not yet," he told Ife, his voice low and gravelly. A whimper escaped her parted lips as he squatted before her. Gripping the elastic waist of her pants, he pulled them and her thong down in a single move. Eagerly kicking off her shoes, she waited for him to finish undressing her.
Kneeling before Ife, Nate breathed deep, taking in the scent of his mate. His eyes roamed over her writhing body. It was curvaceous and made for sin. Lifting one of her legs, he draped it over his shoulder. The move opened her up to him.
Nate's eyes flicked upward and caught Ife's liquid, golden gaze. "Remember mapenzi," he warned, "keep your hands where they are."
Ife's frustrated retort was cut off when Nate's head dipped forward. Using his left hand, he spread her folds. The middle finger on his right slid down her wet, slick heat until it found the sensitive nub at her center. Ife's hips lifted as he gave it the attention it craved. Then, that naughty digit slipped further down. She let loose a long, drawn-out moan as it entered her once again.
Nate bent so near, Ife could feel his heated breath against her core. His gaze held hers. "Remember," was all he said before his mouth found her.
"Ah," the word was a long benediction. As Nate sucked her clit between his lips, her eyes began to slide closed with pleasure. The nails on her fingers elongated to those of her beast. Ife dug them into the smooth bark of the baobab tree.
"No," Nate commanded, and Ife's eyes snapped open. "Watch me," he ordered softly.
A frustrated groan escaped Ife's lips as her hands found purchase in the smooth bark. Nate was driving her crazy. But she did as she was told and watched as his tongue flicked out to caress the sensitive bud at the apex of her sex. Pleasure raced through her limbs with each, slow stroke. It was difficult not to close her eyes and revel in all he made her feel.
Another finger joined the first. Their hurried tempo caused Ife to writhe against Nate's mouth. She panted as she rode them and his tongue, straining for the release that was so tantalizingly close.
Finally, the inner fire Nate kindled, ignited. Flames of pleasure shot to Ife's fingertips and toes. She came hard, riding wave upon cresting wave of heat. Her gaze was still locked on Nate's as her orgasm ebbed.
Once the last shudder coursed through her, Nate shifted his shoulder. The move caused Ife's leg to slip free. Her knees were jelly, barely able to support her weight. The only thing holding her up were the claws penetrating the smooth bark of the tree.
"I've got you. You can let go now," Nate said as he caught her around the hips. Then he eased her down onto his lap. His cock was hard again she noted as it pressed hotly against her stomach.
Wrapping her arms around Nate's neck, Ife rose slightly onto tremulous knees. Her hips nudged forward. A sigh escaped her parted lips as the tip of him slid along the tingling flesh of her sex.
Nate cupped the globes of her ass. He positioned Ife above him. Applying slight pressure, she slid down his swollen staff. Breath catching in the back of her throat, she took him in, all the way to his base.
Fiercely, Nate's lips captured hers. Hands shifting to Ife's hips, he guided her up in an unhurried slide. Then, he let her slip back down to the root of his cock. Her heated, tight sheath gripped him snuggly with every upward stroke.
Warm palms glided up Ife's trim waist, then stopped to cup her breasts. She still wore her bra. The lace was pulled down to bare her nipples. Nate's mouth left hers to capture one between his lips. Tongue flicking out, he rolled it across her taut flesh.
Ife moaned, the sound coming from deep within. With each caress, their slow rhythm picked up speed. Its incremental increase brought Ife to the edge of the familiar cliff. As she tumbled over, Nate's head lifted. His mouth found the juncture of her neck and shoulder. She felt the bite that would see them forever linked all the way to her core. It set off another orgasm on the heels of the first.
Gums tingling as her teeth elongated to those of her beast, Ife cut her tongue on them. It wasn't necessary for her to bite Nate; blood magic was already bonding them. But, as her teeth sank into his flesh, Ife felt the rightness of it. As with her, the pain became pleasure and triggered his release.
The waves of ecstasy faded, and Ife's forehead fell to rest on Nate's shoulder. They were both panting, trying to catch their breath. A contented purr rumbled across Nate's chest as he pulled her closer. It set loose her own, and for an endless moment, they sat like that, each happy to be in the other's arms.
She'd found her mate, Ife thought contentedly. War and suffering were widespread, but on that muddy, rainswept hillside they'd found a moment of bliss. They'd found each other.
I hope you liked this chapter. If you want to point out mistakes or want to leave a comment, I'd appreciate that! Also, if you enjoyed reading this chapter, please consider voting for it. Thank you!