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Mate’s hands. Yes.
His tongue darted out to lick her hand in encouragement. Leisurely, she ran her fingers through his thick black and tan fur.
“So soft,” she murmured. “I never would’ve imagined.”
He curled next to her on the bed, his paw resting on her shoulder while he licked her face. She giggled some more. He loved making her do that.
“You know,” she said. “If you turn back into a man, we can talk this all out. And maybe… I don’t know. Maybe you can lick me like that some more. Unless…” She laughed as his whiskers tickled her nose. “Unless I taste better as a cat or something.”
Oh, his playful, naughty mate. How perfect was she?
He’d lick her alright. Lick her so good she’d think his tongue’s only function was to give her pleasure. But first, he had some explaining to do.
* * *
Eagan’s jaguarwas a magnificent creature. He was huge with thick, muscular legs and paws the size of a dinner plate. She knew there were sharp, lethal claws in there somewhere but he was so very gentle with her, she couldn’t be afraid.
He was completely Eagan. Kind and sensitive and concerned for her, even in his animal form. Why she thought he’d be any different, she didn’t know. The cat and the human were the same. One man. Two forms.
It was amazing.
She leaned her head against him and stroked his fur, listening to the rumbling sound erupting from his throat. Gently, he nipped her shoulder and pulled back.
Between one blink and the next, he’d transformed. Taut, smooth skin replacing sleek fur. Cat eyes that almost glowed, replaced by the stormy ones she loved so much.
And he was naked. Lying next to her in the bed.
“Renner is completely faithful to Bethany. That’s what I was trying to tell you. He’s the only mated cat in our clan, and he’s… different. He’s decided to go a different route. A mutual mating, he calls it.”
“A mutual mating?”
Eagan nodded. “See, the way it usually goes, the male finds his mate, claims her—whether she agrees to the matter or not—gets her with young, and then moves on to his next female.”
“That’s…” God, that was nothing Clara wanted any part of. “…awful.”
He reached across the bed to touch her cheek. “I know. But he always comes back to his mate. She’s the one that matters to him. The one he protects at all cost. Monogamous or not, instinct demands we provide and care for our females and young. It sounds wrong, but male cats actually care deeply for their mates. There’s a bond, it’s just… flawed. And like I said, it lasts for life.”
Clara frowned. “That doesn’t make it okay to be with others.”
“No.”
“But your clan doesn’t do this.”
Eagan shook his head.
“And that’s why Magic was mad when he caught us in the kitchen.”
“Yes. He’s uncomfortable because more and more of us are wanting to mate. He doesn’t believe it’s possible for us to deny our instincts to stray. But some of us want to be faithful. To raise a family with a female and be happy.”
Clara considered it, her heart lodged in her throat. She’d never imagined herself in a long term relationship of any kind. But so much had changed in the last week. And Eagan made her want to try. But if he couldn’t promise she was it for him… no amount of base logic was going to make her stay.
It left her feeling cold inside.
He was hers.
“What if Magic is right?” she asked quietly.
“He’s not. Taking other lovers has nothing to do with our instincts. I know because of the way I feel about you. I want you happy and whole more than I want anything else. Me being with another female would never make you happy, so I have no desire to do it. That’s my instinct. Being faithful is a matter of choice. And I—just like Renner—would choose to be faithful to my mate.”
