Southern Shifters: Stick Shifter (Kindle Worlds Novella) by Moxie North Page B

rubbed his head into her hand.
    “So cool,” she whispered. There was never a time in Delaney’s life that she could imagine being this close to such a dangerous animal. She didn’t even have pets growing up. Now there was a big cat that was part man? Or a man that was part cat that seemed to like her very much.
    “Can I see it in reverse?” The cat seemed content to let her pet him all day. But she needed to see Will again to cement that this was all real.
    The cougar gave a huffing sigh and took a step back. The shimmering from before started again, and in a flash of color, Will stood before her, and there was no cat to be seen.
    “You’re a cougar.” Delaney knew she was stating the obvious, but it still needed to be said.
    “I am. Or more specifically, I’m your cougar now. We belong to you just like you belong to us. We only get one shot at a mate in our life. The second our eyes met we knew. Like you know the world turns and that the sun will rise. You are our everything, and I couldn’t be patient and let you get to know the man before showing you the cougar. I want us to start our lives together, and I wanted to do it now.”
    Delaney was still processing the naked man that had magically reappeared in front of her. “You think I’m your mate?”
    “I know you are my mate. I want to bond with you, marry you, and have children with you. All of it, and I want to start now.”
    “How can you start a life with someone you don’t know, and you don’t love?”
    “What makes you think I don’t?”
    “Do you?” Delaney was a little skeptical of this. Lust, sure, she had that in spades. But he was talking much bigger than just the need to get a little action.
    “Ask me,” he said, his voice dropping low.
    Shit, Delaney didn’t expect to be put on the spot. Now she was nervous. She could guess what he was going to say. But what did she do with that information?
    Stepping around him, she walked to the blanket and flopped down. He came and sat next to her, still apparently unconcerned about his naked state.
    She stared at him and took a deep breath. “Do you love me?”
    Will didn’t immediately answer which ratcheted up her nervous state. Finally, he said, “Pay me.”
    Damn, she forgot about that. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to be with him. She did, so very much. She’d been in a perpetual state of arousal since he’d shown up that morning. Seeing the cougar should have turned her cold; instead, it turned her on.
    “What’s the cost?” she asked back, giving herself an extra moment to steady her racing heart.
    “A taste.” His eyes dropped to her lap.

Chapter Seventeen
    D elaney felt her clit spasm , and her pussy dampen even more than it already was. Making her decision, she sat up to her knees and pulled her tank back off. She moved the zipper back down and stood to shuck off her suit with a number of shimmys to peel it off. Her boots were kicked off before she pulled the pants off. It left her standing in her panties in front of a man that looked very, very hungry.
    Will reached his hand up to her, and she took it without hesitation. He pulled her back down to him and laid her gently on the blanket. He covered her body with his, touching their skin together for the first time. He made a sound low in his throat, his eyes closing at the contact.
    “Did you just purr?”
    “Yes, you make my cat very happy, Monkey. Expect to hear that sound a lot in the future.” Will brushed her hair away from her face.
    “So what now?”
    “Well, I get my taste, and then we go from there.”
    “Go where? I mean how is this going to work? I live here, and you live thousands of miles away. You picked me, and now I’m what, a what did you call it?”
    “A mate, it’s what you are. But you can choose being human when you want to bond with me. Shifter pairs will bite each other to seal themselves to one another. It brings them closer, and they will permanently only want each other for the rest of