Taming the Queen of Beasts

I HOPE YOU'RE ENJOYING YOUR HUGE MASS RELEASE DAY! Thank you for all of your support of this book and these characters (and me!) We're just a few weeks from THE END and I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure we go out with a bang. So enjoy--there will be new chapters all day, double chapters every day, and maybe a few extra along the way...

(This message added after publication so you aren't charged for the words.)*****

<strong>GAR</strong>

Gar tensed. They were almost nose to nose, both of them breathing heavily, shoulders rising and falling. His body clamored to be closer, but his mind spun with all the ways that this was going desperately wrong.

"You want me to disregard all the pain you've been through, Rika?" he said softly, firmly. "I can't do it. I love you. I can't just… forget."

Her eyes narrowed, her brow pinching. "I'm not asking you to forget. I'm asking you to treat me like I'm not going to shatter at the slightest bump. I want to bump with you, Gar. I want to bump a lot. And hard. And in multiple positions."

Desire flared in his chest and his fingers twitched with the urge to take hold of her. But he didn't know how to… how to cross that line without—

"See?" she said sadly. "You can't even kiss me. You're too scared to even touch me in case I break. We're here, miserable, because of me and my hang-ups."

"No, Rika, we're here because I'm yours, and your mine and I don't give a flying fuck how long it takes or what we have to do, we are in this together, so stop fighting me."

"I'm not fighting you, Gar. I'm being realistic." And right in front of his eyes, she deflated like a popped wineskin.

Panic ripped through his veins as he watched her eyes fade from heated anger, to sadness, to hurt.

He'd hurt her. By trying so hard not to scare her, he'd hurt her.

He wanted to bite something.

Then she looked down and sighed and everything in him shuddered with fear. He was the ass, standing there, hard and aching and she thought he didn't want her.

His mate thought he didn't want her?

Fuck that!

"You're wrong about this, Rika," he growled.

"No, Gar, you're just new to this, that's all." She wouldn't even meet his eyes. "It's okay. It's not your fault. You're just too nice to… to push through."

"I am fucking not."

She sighed and turned away. "I didn't mean it that, way, I just—"

"Give me a word," he snarled.

"What?" she asked, frowning.

"Give me a word. Something you'll say if you're getting nervous, or you need a break."

She lifted her eyes to his again and despite the desperate loneliness, he saw a flare of her spirit, too.

"You want to have a safe word, Gar?" she asked quietly. This amused her, apparently.

Gar leaned down until their noses almost touched and locked eyes with her. "Give. Me. A fucking. Word."

Her lips twisted and a tiny hint of hope danced in her eyes. "Catnip," she said, and he got the feeling she was stifling laughter.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Catnip. It's a… a herb. Don't you have catnip in Anima?"

"I… no?"

Rika rolled her lips in like she was fighting not to say something. "It's just… trust me, it's a good thing."

"Catnip?"

"Catnip."

He narrowed his eyes, certain she was playing a game. But any word would suffice, and it certainly wasn't one she'd used accidentally here in Anima.

"Fine, then. Catnip," he said skeptically. "So we're setting ground rules, right? The second I hear that word on your lips, everything stops. Everything."

"Okay," her throat bobbed, and the light returned to her eyes. "Ground rules for what, though? What happens until I say it?"

Gar tilted his head and let his voice go low. "Until then, you're mine," he rasped and descended on her.

*****

<strong>RIKA</strong>

It was such an overwhelming relief when he touched her, she almost sobbed.

Instead, she gasped as one of his hands slid into her hair, the other to her waist, and she was suddenly covered in Gar—the warmth of his skin, the scent of him. His lips landed on hers and his tongue tasted her even as he pulled her tightly against him.

She kissed him back enthusiastically, but at first she was tense, the devastation she'd been feeling roiling in her gut as she waited to see if he would hesitate again.

But his entire skin vibrated under her hands, his body trembling with need as he took her mouth—invaded. His tongue dancing, breath thundering.

She gripped his shoulders, finding purchase in the valley of his muscles, the roll and ripple of all his strength, contained in this warm, soft skin. He was heavenly, and when he kissed her like that…

"Holy shit, Rika," he breathed into her mouth, then dropped his chin, muttering to her as he painted her skin in his kiss. "How can you ever think I don't want you? My whole body aches for you."

He pulled away then, holding her shoulders, though their hips still pressed together. Rika gripped his arms, tensing, but he was just putting enough space between them to glare at her.

"Don't ever say those words again," he croaked.

"Which ones?"

"The ones where you give up on yourself. On us," he snarled, and oh… the snap in his voice, the heat in his eyes. "You're mine, Rika. Mine! The Creator made you for me!"

Then he took her mouth again and she almost laughed with joy. The desperation in him was overwhelming in the best way. She could only cling, her fingers digging into his shoulders, holding on as one hand slid down to cup her ass and pull her against him, the other cupped the back of her head and held her to his kiss.

Fingers, lips, teeth, he shuddered with the force of his want and she could feel it in him. Everything else began to fade—the cool air in the cave, the warm crackle of the fire, the world outside its door… Her entire world began to narrow, sucking in and down on the rise of his chest, the fizzing pleasure of his fingers on her skin, the shock of the air on her thighs when he removed her leathers.

Her tension dissolved in the face of the onslaught of him, and she shuddered, dropping her head back, digging her fingers into his shoulders when his teeth grazed her throat.

"Rika?" he rasped. "God, I need you."

"Yes, Gar. Please!" she gasped. "Don't stop."