Page 37 of Pleasured by the Panther (The Monstrum Kindred)

MIRANDA

Miranda’s head was still swimming when the reality of it hit her: a voice—his voice—was inside her head. And that somehow meant they were Bonded .

She froze on the edge of the bed, fingers curled into the soft green coverlet, heart pounding a staccato rhythm of shock and something like awe.

Korrath’s breathing was heavy behind her—she could feel the slow rise and fall of his breath through the press of his body. He was so close—still filling her—and now his presence thrummed inside her in a way that went beyond mere touch.

“This is part of bonding—being able to communicate with our minds,” he sent, the thought washing over her like warm cream.

It wasn’t sound…it wasn’t quite speech—it was more like a feeling. It was the way she sometimes remembered lines of poetry…immediate and intimate, curling straight into the center of her.

Miranda’s throat worked. She had to try. She focused, clumsy and astonished, and let the thought tumble out, tentative as a whisper.

“All right—can you hear me too?” she sent through the new mental channel.

“Yes. I can—your voice is so sweet inside me,” he answered, and the sensation of him hearing her words—not spoken aloud but felt—made her knees go a little weak.

She shifted her hips and caught herself. They were still joined—his knot still locked inside her, which made movement feel strange and difficult. She was about to ask how long before she could move freely when a knock came on the door—loud, familiar, and disastrously domestic.

“Miranda—are you in there? Everyone is downstairs—we need to cut the cake!” came her sister Susan’s voice, edged with the kind of impatient cheer that made her stomach flip.

“I’ll be there in a minute!” Miranda called aloud, scrambling for cover as her cheeks flamed. “ I … I spilled something on my dress and had to change.” To Korrath , she thought,

“Quick—get us unstuck. I have to get downstairs!”

Korrath’s thought reached her immediately, calm and steady.

“ You are lucky I have control of my knot. Not every Monstrum can say the same. Be still a moment and let me release you.”

She did as he asked, biting down on the urge to twist or check in the mirror again. A second later, she felt him tense and then, with a small, incredible sliding sensation, the pressure eased and he slipped free.

There was a warm, wet rush that left a dark stain on the green coverlet—a reminder that, unfortunately, her own bed didn’t have the absorbent properties of his back on the Monstrum Mother Ship .

Miranda pressed a trembling palm to the spot, feeling faintly ridiculous and gloriously alive at the same time. Korrath had filled her—he had Claimed her. And now they were Bonded for life.

The thought both horrified and thrilled her.

“Quick,” she breathed to him, her voice a harsh whisper. “ Help me—please.”

“Of course, my lovely one.”

He was already moving, sweeping up a towel she’d left on the other side of the bed and offering it to her.

“It’s all right, my lovely one,” he murmured as he watched her clean herself. “ You should be well now—your Second Heat is under control.”

“Thank you.” Miranda was already reaching for the Spider Monstrum’s bag, folded impossibly small into a shimmering square.

She pulled at the zipper, and the bag unfurled, warming in her hands like a living thing.

Inside the dresses lay perfect—no wrinkles, no hint of being folded so many times.

She looked through them quickly, wanting something really beautiful for the reception.

“Wear the turquoise one,” Korrath sent through their link. “ It suits you beautifully.”

“All right.” Miranda pulled it out.

The big Monstrum helped her into the turquoise gown, his fingers brushing at the nape of her neck and smoothing the fabric across her breasts and hips. His praise was quiet, a rumble that warmed her from the inside out.

“Gorgeous,” he thought into her mind, and the image of herself reflected in the mirror, with him—all black fur and fierce green eyes—behind her made her pulse stutter.

She caught a glimpse of herself in his mental vision and saw, briefly, that she had changed again—her hair was an even richer auburn and the lines at her eyes and now mouth seemed to be completely erased.

“Did…did I change again?” she asked, turning back to the mirror.

But before she could really study herself, there was another knock on her bedroom door. This time, it was one of the bridesmaids, sounding breathless.

“Mrs. Slocum , are you okay? Hanna’s getting worried about you!”

“I’ll be right down!” Miranda called, her fingers smoothing the gown’s soft waist nervously. She glanced at Korrath .

“Five minutes,” she sent through their link. “ Then come down. Sneak around the back—don’t interrupt anything.”

His thought replied, wry and tender.

“ I will be careful. I will wait. I will come for you when you are ready.”

She smoothed the turquoise spider silk gown with trembling hands, took a deep breath, and forced her legs to move under her. Somehow , she felt steadier—replenished and raw all at once after the quick Bonding session.

As she stepped toward the door, she cast a last, fleeting look at the bed where the green coverlet still bore the faint evidence of their Bonding Sex . She hoped she did not look like a woman who had just been Claimed by a Monstrum —panting and marked…and possibly carrying a secret in her belly.

But the dress fit like a dream, and even if anyone guessed what she’d been doing with Korrath , the warmth in her chest told her that she didn’t regret any of it.

She opened the door and walked out, heart hammering, into the ordinary noise of her family’s celebration—into laughter and clinking glasses and the dizzying world of being a mother at her daughter’s wedding.

Everything was going to be fine—she was sure of it.