Sebastian/Aristide

  Kat’s heart lurched and she shook her head. “He wants one more,” she said. “It’s why I’ve been working at The Cougar’s Den.” Her eyes implored him as the tears continued to fall. “I need you to believe me. I didn’t know why I was writing that horrible article, just that if I didn’t I’d never see my son again.”

  Aristide released a heavy breath and brought his hand around to cup her face. He gently brushed away her tears with the pad of his thumb. “I believe you, Katherine. I believe you.”

  CHAPTER 5

  “She’s no enemy,” Aristide declared.

  With twilight descending, he stood at the darkening shore of the bayou just outside Medical, the leader of the Hunters on his left, his sister, Amalie, on the other. As a Hunter herself, Mal was fully aware of what was going on both with the threat to the Pantera and with Aristide’s houseguest.

  “How can you say that after what she’s done?” Parish asked him. “Everything she’s written? Knowing none of it was true.”

  “Because I know her motivations,” Aristide said. “Her belief that if she didn’t write whatever this Marco wanted her to write, her child would be harmed.”

  “Maybe she just wants you to feel sorry for her,” Amalie suggested. “Maybe she just wanted to get into the Wildlands, get another story.”

  “Well, then this one would actually be true, wouldn’t it?” he countered.

  Parish sneered, his gold eyes darkening to amber in the dying light of day. “I should never have allowed you to take her home.”

  The puma inside of Aristide snarled. “You could never have stopped it.”

  “Goddammit, Aristide, you’re not taking this seriously!”

  A deadly calm moved over Aristide. “You’re very wrong about that. I will get you this Marco’s location.”

  Parish’s eyebrows lifted.

  “How?” Amalie asked.

  “I’m certain he’s connected to the assassins,” Aristide said, looking out over the moonlit bayou. His home, the one he would always protect. “Maybe we can stop him before their plan can be carried out.”

  “We?” Amalie repeated slowly.

  He turned to face her. “I’m going with you.”

  Mal blanched. “Ari, you’re no Hunter.”

  Aristide shook his head. “No negotiations. You take out the assassins before they can get to Ashe and the cub, and I’ll get Katherine’s boy.”

  “And do what with him?” Parish demanded. “Bring him here?”

  Aristide nodded.

  “We can’t house a human, Ari,” Amalie said. “Not for any length of time, anyway.”

  “Not unless she’s mated to a Pantera,” Parish put in.

  “This I know,” Aristide said in a clipped voice. “I’m going back to her now.”

  “Be careful,” Amalie said as he turned to go.

  “Always, sister,” he returned.

  But Parish wasn’t done with him yet. “Why are you doing this for the woman?” he called after him.

  Aristide stopped and turned around. Both his sister and Parish were backlit by the yellow moon. “It’s for the Pantera.”

  “Why are you doing this for the woman?” Parish repeated.

  Aristide sighed. Looked away. Then back at the pair. “I believe my cat wants her.”

  Amalie gave him a worried look. “Just your cat?”

  “It must be,” he said with a little too much passion.

  “Why, brother?”

  He cursed. “I am Pantera, Mal. You know me. You know what my plans for the future have always been. I must mate a Pantera. It’s what I want.” No. It’s what I used to want.

  A smile tugged at Parish’s lips. “My mate’s human, and she’s helping another human give birth to a Pantera cub as we speak. Things aren’t what they used to be here, Ari. Our past is not our future, it seems.” His chest puffed up a little. “My Julia would give her life for me, and for any Pantera, I believe. She’s my everything; my happiness, my soul. I’m so proud to call her my mate.” He lifted one dark eyebrow. “With all that’s gone down, there are many reasons to reject your attraction, your need for this woman, Katherine Burke. But being human shouldn’t be one of them.”

  Aristide didn’t answer. He couldn’t. His past wants and desires were engrained in him. In the idea of a true Pantera mating. Like what his parents had. What his own sister had. Right now, he needed to get back and talk with the human woman. The woman who he cared for, certainly, and who he would help. But not a female he would ever call his mate.

  He gave them both a quick nod before turning away, leaving the ever-darkening bank of the bayou.

  ***

  The moonlight clung to the tops of the trees, refusing to filter through and offer her safe passage. Kat followed the bayou, hoping, praying it led her out of the Wildlands and into La Pierre. Once there, she could find a way back to New Orleans. And to where she knew Marco was staying.

  Hearing something, she stopped near the shore and glanced around. She’d never been in the bayou at night, but it was definitely not the still and silent place she’d believed it to be. Noises came from everywhere: the water and the land, and the sky. Kat hissed as a small nutria ran past her feet, the semiaquatic rodent heading straight for the bayou. Once it was safely underwater, Kat started moving again, waiting for that familiar sense of relief to wash over her, the relief that stated, ‘You’re fine. That was just a little animal who probably has very small teeth.’ But what she felt instead as she jogged along the shoreline in a stolen pair of what she’d assumed were Aristide’s sister’s shoes, was a strange shock of guilt.

  Aristide. He’d trusted her. Enough to leave the house without locking a door—or locking her up. What would he think when he returned? That she’d lied to him? About everything, about Noah? Her heart lurched. She hated the idea that Aristide would ever think she’d betrayed him. And yet, that was exactly what she was doing, wasn’t it?

  Betraying him to save her son.

  The snap of a twig on the shoreline made her jump, and she picked up her pace. What was she going to say to Marco when she got there? Would he understand that being taken by the Pantera had not her fault? Was there any possibility that she could end this now? That her one awful writing mistake about the Pantera could be her last? That she could take Noah and just…disappear? She didn’t even want to contemplate what might be coming her way. What her future, and Noah’s, might look like if Marco was as ‘above the law’ as he’d claimed.

  Up ahead, she saw an open area, almost a field, with high grass, and stopped for a moment to catch her breath. Was this the border? she wondered, looking around. Was she close to town?

  But her questions went completely unanswered as a rush of heat hit the back of her neck, and a very male voice whispered near her ear.

  “Big mistake, Katherine,” Aristide said.

  Panic flooded Kat’s body. Large hands encircled her waist and he spun her to face him. Dressed in jeans and a thin black long-sleeve shirt that accentuated every hill and valley of muscle he possessed, Aristide stared down at her under the wash of moonlight. Lips pressed together in a frown, and eyes darker than the sky, he looked ominous. His nostrils were flared, and he was breathing heavily. She wondered if he’d just shifted, if it had been his puma who had found her, scented her, chased her down. Or the man himself had tracked her.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, struggling to free herself from his grasp. “But I have to get to Noah.”

  Aristide bared his teeth and his black eyes glittered like polished stones. “You think when you show up on that bastard’s doorstep he’s just going to hand the boy over to you?”

  “I don’t know, but I have to try.”

  “That he’s going to be suddenly caring and honorable?” Aristide continued. “That he’s going to be the boy’s father now?”

  Kat felt the blood drain from her face and she stopped struggling. “Don’t call him that.” She shook her head. “Never call him that. Marco was a sperm donor
, nothing more. As far as I’m concerned, Noah has no father.”

  Aristide’s face tightened. “Don’t you understand? Going to that man could endanger Noah even more. What do you have to give him? A new story? Or the tale of your failure and capture?”

  “Maybe he’d give me Noah if I tell that story, too,” she cried out, hating herself with every word she uttered.

  But Aristide didn’t admonish her for her ugly threat. Instead, he loosened his grip on her and released a breath.

  “You won’t do that, Katherine,” he said. “You don’t want to do that.”

  “I will do anything for that boy. He and I…we’re the only family we got.” Her voice broke. “Don’t you get that?”

  “I do.” His eyes moved over her face. “My life has always been about family. Cherishing the one I had and lost, and waiting for the one I hope to have in the future.”

  His words cut into Kat, so deep she sagged in his grasp. Why didn’t a man like this exist outside the magical world of the Wildlands?

  “Why are you doing this?” she asked him wearily as a breeze off the bayou ruffled her hair.

  His brows drew together. “What do you mean?”

  “Acting like you care.”

  “I’m not acting, woman,” he growled.

  “Then…why? What do you want from me?”

  His answer came swiftly, and in the form of the most breath-stealing kiss Kat had ever experienced. One moment he was holding her arms, and the next, he’d taken her face in his hands and captured her lips with his own. Heat radiated off his body, yet his soft, full mouth felt cool. Kat groaned into his kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck, reveling in the feel of him so close. He tasted like fresh air and stars, and she never wanted him to stop.

  His hands plunged into her hair, held the back of her skull while he nipped at her lower lip, than lapped at it with his tongue. Kat’s legs felt like water, and her belly ached. Not with pain, but with a need, a desire, she hadn’t felt in years. A desire she hadn’t thought existed inside of her anymore. Something long dead, surely. Something she had refused to even contemplate trying to revive.

  Something this man—Aristide, with his kindness and his fierceness–had resurrected with just one kiss.

  Knowing it was probably her one and only shot, Kat gave herself over completely to the amazing feeling running up and down and in and out. She gave herself over to all the hot, wet sensations driving through her body. And when Aristide groaned and changed the angle of his head, deepened his kiss and let his hands travel down her back and over her hips to cup her backside, Kat pressed against his palms. She thought of the bread pudding. How every bite had made her want more. Kissing him, being touched by him, was like that—but times a thousand.

  God, she wanted everything. She wanted to be on her back with this man naked above her. She wanted him looking at her, those amazing eyes of his, the ones that made her hope, gazing down at her as he pushed inside her willing and very wet body. She wanted him to say her name, over and over, as he came. And then she wanted him to hold her, whisper in her ear that everything would be okay before he kissed her asleep.

  Aristide eased her forward, pressed her against his chest as he kissed her, hard and excited now, his tongue ruthlessly invading her mouth. Kat’s breasts tingled and tightened, and her sex grew slick with arousal. She wanted him. She wanted him like she’d never wanted anyone. And when his fingers wrapped around the hem of her skirt and he lifted the fabric up to her waist, she nearly broke from his kiss and shouted, “Thank God!”

  As cool air played over her ass, Kat gripped Aristide’s scalp tightly and suckled his tongue into her mouth. Aristide responded with a growl and a quick, heady squeeze to her backside. Oh, yes. Oh, god, yes. The growl continued, moving down his throat, vibrating in his chest, causing Kat’s breasts to ache terribly. It was only when one of his hands slipped inside the waistband of her panties and headed south, down over her buttocks to where she truly ached, that Kat believed she might know pleasure for the first time in years.

  Panting against his mouth, she arched her back, giving him easier access to her sex, silently begging him to touch her. And when he did, when he found her drenched and ready, he slipped two fingers inside of her and cursed.

  Electric heat flowed through Kat’s body at the delicious invasion, radiating in all the right spots. Feeling full, feeling desperate, she clung to him, moaning and crying out and suckling his heavy lower lip as he slowly worked his fingers in and out of her. It had been ages since she’d been touched like this. And truly, her own hand didn’t count–was a joke in comparison to this, to him. But she did know the burgeoning sensation of impending climax, and all of it was coming upon her now. Rocking her hips, rubbing herself against him, she wanted to scream at the rising tide of orgasm—tell it to go away, give her more time. Just a little bit more time. She even thought of begging Aristide to stop, but she knew if she was given a voice, she’d only beg him to continue—and god, continue hard and deep…and rough.

  As if he could read her thoughts, Aristide quickened his pace, then drove up inside of her so deep, Kat gasped. Yes. This was perfection. This was heaven. Holding her close, Aristide worked that soft, G-spot close to her womb. That spot that would send her flying and crashing at any moment. But it was when he pulled his mouth from hers and commanded that she look at him, that Kat knew she was done for.

  “Come for me, Katherine,” he whispered on a growl. “Damn, if it’s possible you’re even more beautiful when you’re aroused.”

  Kat stared up at him, her lips parted, panting. “How do you make me feel this way?”

  “What way is that?”

  “Sexy, and so safe.”

  “Because I want you, Katherine. I want you more than you can imagine.” His eyes pinned to hers, the moonlight shimmering overhead, the bayou breeze rushing over their skin, Aristide thrust into her over and over as his thumb expertly massaged her clit. “And if you’ll let me, I’ll make sure you feel all of that and so much more.”

  Waves of heat crashed over Kat and her body stiffened. She didn’t want it…didn’t want it to end…

  But she was powerless against the pleasure that radiated out from her sex. Her cries echoed throughout the Wildlands as she gave in, gave up, to the most intense and wondrous feeling in the world.

  As her body bucked, and cream coated his fingers and her inner thighs, Aristide just held her steady, and continued to gaze upon her as if she was something amazing. As if she was precious to him.

  Was she? She knew he wanted her. But was she precious to him?

  The question undid her, exhausted her, and she dropped her head against his chest, sated. Breathing heavily, she whimpered, and Aristide kissed her hair and slid his fingers from her body. With gentle hands, he eased her skirt back down where it belonged, then gathered her into his arms. For several, wonderful minutes, Kat allowed him to hold her. But after awhile, as her skin cooled, the feeling of vulnerability and closeness was almost too much to bear, and she forced herself to move away from him.

  With some distance between them, Kat found his gaze and held it, wishing this—whatever was going on between them—could last. No…could grow. But it wasn’t possible. They were from two completely different worlds and life paths.

  “What now?” she asked him.

  He gave her a soft smile. “Come back with me.”

  Kat closed her eyes on a sigh. “Please tell me you didn’t come after me because I’m your prisoner and you want information.”

  “I can’t tell you that, Katherine,” he said, his eyes studying her.

  The pain that ripped through Kat at his words, his admission, nearly stole her breath. But she could still manage a terse, “Bastard.” Tears tightened her throat and she backed up another foot. She knew it. God, she knew it. They were all the same. They all lied and used—

  “But that’s not the only reason I came after you,” he said, his expression rigid. “Or, Opela help me, the most i
mportant reason.”

  “What?” Her anger still humming at the surface of her skin, she just stared at him. “What are you talking about?”

  “I want to protect you, Katherine,” he continued, moving toward her. “I want to find your cub. And I want to save the one who is about to be born here in the Wildlands.”

  Her mind raced over what he’d just said. Find her cub? What? Was he saying he wanted to help her? Help her get Noah? And if so, how could she believe him?

  “Oh, Katherine,” he whispered, reaching for her hand, lacing his fingers with hers. “My puma knew it before I did.”

  “Knew what?”

  His eyes glowed black fire. “Please. Just trust me.”

  Her belly clenched. “I don’t know you, Aristide.”

  He squeezed her hand. “And yet, you kind of do. Right? I know I feel that way. Shit, I felt it at The Cougar’s Den the first time I saw you.”

  She shook her head, her fingers curling around his even as she warned herself to stop touching him. “But how is that even possible?”

  He sighed. “Oh, the magic of the Wildlands is a curious thing. It exists inside every Pantera, and when a male or female recognizes their other half, the one they are connected to on a level that surpasses reason, that magic’s released. It finds the match, the mate, and grabs on tight until both parties realize it.”

  He smiled at her. He was so gorgeous, so sexy, so convinced of what he was saying. But how could that be? He cared for her, wanted to protect her, help Noah…

  “Keep that in mind for your next article, by the way,” he added, then brought her hand to his lips and kissed the palm.

  Kat shivered. Not with fear or pleasure. But with all that he’d just said to her.

  “Let’s work together,” he said. “To bring Noah back to you, and to make sure that his sperm donor never gets near him again.”

  Kat didn’t know if she believed in magic, or god—if she even deserved it. But in that moment, her heart believed. In Aristide and all that he promised. She felt somewhere deep inside of her soul, somewhere she had always refused to access for fear of being hurt further, disappointed further, that he would do everything possible to help her and her cub. She smiled at that. Her boy.