Taming the Queen of Beasts

<strong>GAR</strong>

He got lost in her then, the warm rush of her breath, the friction between them that set them both alight. The way she rippled under his hands and whispered his name.

He wasn't sure when, but at some point he cupped the back of her head, wrapped an arm around her waist, and twisted to lay himself down on the couch, pulling her down on top of him so he could touch all of her, but she felt free to move, to get away if she needed to.

But Rika's fear had dissolved. He could smell it—or the lack of it. She seemed wholly focused on him, pressing herself against her, wriggling and writhing, her fingers digging into his neck, his hair, and her kiss becoming frantic.

But deep inside himself, Gar fought a war. He wanted her. So badly. And she clearly wanted him. There was no hesitation in her. He had been with enough females to know the signals, and she gave them freely, willingly. The way her eyes hazed and her kiss lost control… he didn't need to fear frightening her.

And yet… he'd been here before with a female. And something about that felt wrong. This wasn't a roll in the grass with a willing partner. This was his mate. She owned him to his soul and it seemed wrong to simply plow her on the couch like any female he'd given himself to.

He hated admitting it to himself, but… he wanted this to be special. Not just for her—for him. For them. He wanted it to be different. He wanted to mark it as unique in his life.

Suck in a breath, he let his head drop back, out of the kiss, so he could speak. But Rika only took the opportunity to kiss his neck, letting her teeth graze the skin just under his ear in a way that sent all thoughts flying out of his head and had him huffing the mating call and holding her to him as he ground against her.

"Oh, Rika… fuck!"

She huffed a laugh and flicked his jaw with her tongue. Suddenly she was scrambling out of his hands, giggling. "Just let me get these pants off—"

She pushed up on his chest and took her weight on her arms to pull her leg over him and slide to the floor next to the couch, grinning at him again as she reached for her own leathers.

But Gar took a breath and sat up, grabbing her wrists and stopping her, his chest heaving, hair falling over his face as he stared up at her where she stood in front of him.

Her eyes went wide and all smiles vanished.

"Gar?" she breathed, "What—?"

"We need to stop. Not permanently!" he rushed to reassure her when her eyes widened further in horror.

Gar swallowed hard, still panting. "Just… a pause. I want… I want to do this right, Rika."

Her brows pinched over her nose, but she let go of her leathers and turned her hands to grip his arms. "What… what's wrong? Is this different for Anima? Did I break a tradition or—"

"No, no," he reassured her, sitting up and pulling her to stand between his knees. She came willingly, but still confused, putting her hands gently on his shoulders and staring at him.

"Then, what? Why do you want to stop? Are you worried about me? I'm not worried, Gar. I'm not saying I'll never have a hesitation, but right now—"

"No, no. I… just give me a second to find my words," he puffed, dropping his forehead to her chest, closing his eyes and trying to ignore the plump softness of her breasts at either temple as he fought to gather his wits.

Then he took a deep breath and sat  up straight, almost as tall as her when he sat as she was, standing in front of him. He clasped her hands, stroking them with his thumbs as he spoke, searching her eyes, desperate for her to believe him.

"I want to do this right, for us," he murmured, then reached up to comb her hair back behind her ear. "The Flames and Smoke isn't right for us, but I want to make that commitment to you, Rika. Somehow. I need to… I need to mark this. You're different. Your important. I don't want to ignore that."

One side of her mouth slid up in a smile. "Omigosh… I never had you pegged for a gentleman, Gar," she said with a soft chuckle.

But he didn't smile back. He cupped her face and held her gaze. "You're forever for me, Rika. That's not something to sniff at."

She blinked and bit her lip again, and Gar almost groaned. She had no idea the effect she had on him.

"But," she murmured, "You said that the ritual isn't right for us."

He shook his head. "Definitely not."

"So… what do you want to do?"

"I don't know," he growled, sighing heavily and raking a hand through his hair. "But I think I know someone who does."

Rika tipped her head. "Who?"

Gar wanted to growl because he didn't want to admit it. But she was going to find out anyway. "My parents," he said reluctantly.

Her eyes lit with amusement, and a soft kind of joy. "You're adorable."

"Stop teasing me."

"I'm not. I think your mom is awesome."

He nodded. "And she knows your traditions too, so… I just think if there's a way to do this, so it's official. So no one will question, and so I can… I don't know, Rika. I just feel like there's something inside me that's holding back. And I don't want to feel that way. I want everything with you."

Her forehead crinkled into her lines and she looked like she might cry. "That's… beautiful."

"Like you," he said, then grinned.

Rika snorted and slapped his shoulder, but he caught her hand and pulled her into a hug. She held him, gripping his back and shoulder, sighing.

When they released each other, she turned, looking for her shirt. "Well, you're welcome to stay stripped—I mean, please do—but if we're going to go talk to your parents I think I should have my shirt on," she said, embarrassed.

"Sure, sure," he said as she stooped down to pick it up from where it had fallen on the floor and pulled it over her shoulders. But watching her put it on and do up those buttons… he groaned.

Rika looked at him, surprised. Then tipped her head again. "I thought you wanted to wait?" she said with a sly smile.

"I never said I wanted to," Gar grumbled, pulling her close again. "Just that I feel like I should."

"Then let me get dressed and we can go find them."

"You can get dressed," Gar said dryly, "But it's going to be a little while before we'll be walking out of here."

He let his eyes drop to his own lap, then brought them back up to meet hers.

Rika followed his gaze, then snorted. "Yeah, I suppose, that would be a little… confrontational," she said.

Gar growled again as he pulled her into another hug—one that didn't help him in his plight to calm down at all.

But he decided it was worth the delay.

Definitely.