Branded by Fire

She yelped. "Riley."

"Just checking the evidence." His face was implacable, but his skin, his skin burned so hot, she could feel the heat brush against her in lapping waves. "Maybe I want to see it, too."

Her eyes were all but rolling into the back of her head from the exquisite pleasure of his stroking fingers. He knew just how to caress her . . . including how very much it frustrated her to have her clitoris circled but never touched. "Kincaid, you have a mean streak."

"Only around you." He slipped a single finger inside her, teasing her body into moving on him. "You make me act like a damn juvenile."

"Good." Curling her fingers in the damp hair at his nape, she leaned in for another long, wickedly sensual kiss. "Now, stop teasing."

He withdrew his hand.

She moaned. "I didn’t mean that! Come back."

"You ready for a full-time man?" Hard words. "Because I don’t do part-time."

"Neither do I." Her words had been said in anger, thoughtless, unmeant.

"I haven’t heard an apology yet."

"Oh, God, Riley." She ran her hands over his chest. "You’re an incredible lover. Now, can I play with your beautiful cock?"

He blinked and the wolf retreated to show the man. "Christ, Mercy."

But she was already pushing that damn towel to the floor to expose him. Her breath came out in a shuddering sigh as she closed her hand around the rigid length of him. "Oh, I have plans for this gorgeous thing."

Riley jerked in her hand, his next words a growl. "Give me your mouth." The kiss was wild, untamed, real. They were both breathing in jagged gasps by the time it ended, and she was sliding her hand up and down his length in desperate need. It didn’t surprise her when her clothes ended up shredded on the floor and Riley lifted her up against the door.

"My boots," she muttered.

"Hot," Riley muttered, tugging away her hand so he could grip her h*ps and ease her onto him slow and easy.

Trembling, she held on to his shoulders and decided she’d died and gone to heaven. The man was simply magnificent – possessiveness, dominance, and all. He was also hers. If only she could figure a way out of the minefield between them.

Riley stroked his hand through the silky red hair spread across his chest. It was a kick to the gut to see Mercy here, in his domain. The wolf wanted to bite her again, not to hurt, never to hurt. Just to make sure she really was here.

Then she stirred, scratching her claws lightly over his skin in lazy affection. "I still have my boots on."

He grinned. "A na**d redhead with her boots on. Nirvana."

"Smart-ass." A kiss pressed over his heartbeat, a hand stroking across his chest, playing with his chest hairs in a way that was very feline. Petting him, he thought. She was petting him. He wasn’t a man anyone petted. But coming from his mate . . . he relaxed into it, content.

"Riley, about this afternoon."

"We’re square, kitty cat." More than square. Never in a million years had he thought that wild, untamable Mercy would come to him.

But she gave a frustrated sigh and sat up, pushing her hair off her face. When he couldn’t help but stare at her beautiful br**sts, she growled in her throat and flipped the long strands back over them.

He looked up, scowling. "Now what?"

"Have you thought through the consequences of our mating, Riley? Have you?" She poked a finger into his chest. "One of us is going to have to break from our pack. One of us is going to have to cut out our heart." Her. She was the one who’d have to break. She knew that beyond any shadow of a doubt . . . because Riley was just a fraction older, just a fraction more dominant. Not enough to change the dynamic of their relationship, but more than enough to rip her from DarkRiver.

"We’ll still be close physically – "

"That’s bullshit. You know it and I know it." Fisting her hands, she thumped them on her thighs. "DarkRiver is as much a part of my soul as SnowDancer is yours. Sentinels don’t leave their packs, not unless they choose to follow a new alpha. Neither do lieutenants."

"We have an alliance," Riley said, feeling a chill creep up his back. "There’s no reason for either of us to break from our packs."

"But we will! Soon as we mate, for one of us, the connection to our alpha, to our pack, the blood bond, will break. We’ll feel it right here." Mercy slammed a fist into her heart. Because he understood her – damn it – he didn’t say it, but she knew he was as aware as she was that it would be her.

"You’re not going to give up your mate to stay in your pack." Ground out through clenched teeth.

She couldn’t argue with him. "No." Having a mate was a gift, a brilliance of being. "But it’ll destroy a part of me. I won’t be the same woman. I’ll be less." That was what had so terrified her this afternoon, the recognition that to be with this man, with her mate, she’d have to give up not only her pack . . . but part of herself. "I don’t know if my leopard can accept that."

Riley swore, then reached out to close a hand over hers. The leopard snarled, making her jerk back in reflex. His mouth tightened. "You’re not just a leopard, Mercy, you’re human, too. You won’t be less – you’ll adapt."

"I might be human," she said, aching to touch him, yet angry with him at the same time, "but I’m also a pack animal. I’m not a loner, Riley. I never have been. I can’t be whole without my pack." She sucked in a breath. "If it had been another leopard pack, it would’ve hurt like hell but I think my cat would’ve learned to adapt. But to come into a pack of wolves – "