Page 39 of Pleasured by the Panther (The Monstrum Kindred)

MIRANDA

“Go on— I’ve got this.” Sue waved Miranda away.

“But it’s such a big mess!” Miranda protested. She’d planned to be up cleaning half the night. The wedding hadn’t been big—no more than fifty people—but that was still a lot to clean up after.

But her big sister wouldn’t hear of it.

“Go on,” she insisted, making a shooing motion. “ The caterers will help with the mess, and I don’t mind keeping busy. Besides , I think you have better things to do than pick up napkins and clear tables.” She shot a quick look at Miranda and winked.

Still, Miranda hesitated.

“Are you sure? There’s a lot to do.”

“The caterers will handle the dishes, and I can get most everything else,” Sue said again, firmly. She leaned forward and whispered in Miranda’s ear, “ I’m just glad you found someone. Now go have some fun with him.”

Her voice held no argument—it was an order wrapped in affection. Miranda knew her big sister had been worried about her after the divorce. It was nice of her to be so supportive of her new relationship.

“All right then— I’ll go.” At last, Miranda relented and rose, smoothing the turquoise dress which remained wrinkle-free, just as the Spider Monstrum had promised. “ Thanks , Sis .”

“Go have fun.” Sue winked at her again and then turned to direct the caterers.

Miranda went around the side of the house and found Korrath waiting by the fringe of lantern light, looking a little like a hero who had stepped out of the pages of a storybook—maybe one about an enchanted beast prince who had never quite regained his human form.

“Ah—there you are lovely one,” he purred.

Through their link, Miranda felt his happiness to see her, along with a strong surge of desire that made her feel weak in the knees. When was the last time she’d been with a man who truly hungered for her—who wanted her more than he wanted his next breath?

Never, she thought . I’ve never been with a man like him.

“That is because you’ve never been with a male who knows how to worship you properly,” his deep, purring voice informed her inside her head, and she realized he must have caught her last thought.

“Yes I did—you think very loudly, but I do not mind. Come , let’s go.”

He took her hand and guided her away from the last of the lingering wedding guests who were leaving now that Hanna and her husband had left for their honeymoon.

They walked beneath a soft canopy of lights, beyond the hedge that surrounded the house.

Miranda looked up at the full moon as she held her new mate’s hand.

The night felt private and vast—made only for them.

“The Joining was lovely,” Korrath said quietly.

“The part I saw was, anyway,” Miranda replied. She felt the truth of what she’d missed—how much of the ceremony had blurred under the pressure of the Second Heat that had been roiling through her and it made her a little sad.

“What is it, my love?” Korrath looked down at her, his eyes filled with worry. “ I can feel your sadness.”

“It’s just that the ceremony was beautiful,” Miranda said. “ But I couldn’t really enjoy it. I kept feeling so overheated and so needy . How did you know to come, anyway? And how did you get here so fast?”

Korrath’s face grew solemn.

“The Goddess herself came to me. She told me your heat was burning too hot and that you were in danger. I had the Mother Ship fold space for me so I could reach you quickly.”

Miranda leaned toward him, her heart filled with gratitude.

“And after I treated you so badly on the Mother Ship . I’m glad you came, despite my nasty attitude.”

He tucked a loose lock of hair behind her ear and smiled.

“I told you, my lovely one—nothing you could do or say would make me stop wanting you. I’m just glad I got to you in time. But tell me—how are you feeling now?”

Miranda opened her mouth to say she was fine…and then stopped. She touched her firm, young skin and looked at a lock of her hair, which was now pure auburn with no gray at all.

“I…” She spread her palms self-consciously. “ To be honest, I feel different— younger . What exactly happened to me?”

“You were rejuvenated.” Korrath smiled down at her.

“ When a Mature Elite enters her Second Heat and comes into contact with a Felinus Monstrum , time can roll back for her. Your body clock has reset itself—biologically, you are many years younger. Sometimes the change is subtle. Sometimes it is dramatic. You look as you did in your thirties or possibly your mid-twenties now.”

Miranda let out a soft sound somewhere between wonder and disbelief.

Her hand went automatically to her face and she ran a finger along the corner of her mouth…

only to find all the fine lines gone. It was the same around her eyes—no more crow’s feet.

Her breasts felt firmer, and her step was lighter.

Overall , she just felt good. Her back didn’t hurt, and her feet—stressed from years of standing in front of a classroom—didn’t ache anymore.

It was truly amazing.

Part of her wanted to laugh aloud, the rest stood stunned and a little frightened at the scale of it.

“So…this is permanent?” she asked, looking up at him. “ I mean, I won’t wake up tomorrow and be me again?”

He rumbled a low, purring laugh.

“You’ll always be you , my lovely one—and thank the Goddess for that, for you’re the only woman I want.

But you will remain as you are for as long as we are Bonded .

“ His voice dipped to a low, intimate growl that made the small hairs on her arms lift.

“ Because we are Bonded now and you are mine forever.”

Miranda felt his words settle between them like a pledge.

It was both thrilling and terrifying to think that the rest of her life would be spent with the big Monstrum by her side.

Hanna wasn’t the only one who had gotten married tonight—only Bonding to a Monstrum was much more intimate and permanent than any human marriage.

“Didn’t you say you want to Bond me again?” she asked, giving him a flirty smile.

“Yes,” he said simply, looking down at her. “ I would like to Bond you to me again—properly. I want more than a few minutes this time— I want all night with you.”

A shiver of desire slid through Miranda . The day’s strange, intense hunger—so painful at times—stirred in her memory. Though he had stopped the urgency of her Second Heat , she still felt the aching desire for him between her legs.

“I’d like that too,” she admitted in a low voice. “ I want to feel you inside me again.”

A low rumbling purr of desire rose in the big Monstrum’s throat. He took her hand then, one big, warm palm closing around hers.

“Then come with me—my ship is not far. Let us spend the night together. I want to taste you again, to make love to you properly and fill you deeply.”

The words, though more guarded than those she’d heard in the bedroom, still stirred something deep and feral within her. Miranda felt an answering pulse heat between her thighs and an aching need that made her heart fist in her chest.

“Yes,” she breathed. “ I want that too.”

Before she could say anything else, Korrath swept her up into his arms with a fluid motion that startled her into a laugh.

“Oh! I can walk, you know!” she protested.

“But I want to carry you, my lovely one. Besides , is it not a human tradition for the male to carry his mate over the threshold of their home after their Joining ?”

Miranda laughed.

“Yes, but we’re not to your ship yet!”

“That doesn’t matter. I just want you in my arms.”

Korreth carried her through the lawn, under the glow of the lanterns and past the remaining guests…out past the hedges toward where his shuttle waited folded like a golden jewel in the grass of an empty lot.

Miranda rested her head on his shoulder as they moved, the world contracting to the rhythm of his heartbeat beneath her ear.

Despite all the confusion and anger that had surged earlier— Hanna’s fear and anxiety about the wedding and the questions about how the big Monstrum called her daughter in the Draft to get to her— Miranda felt oddly, fiercely content.

None of it mattered now that they were together and she never wanted to be parted from Korrath again.

The big Monstrum seemed to hear her thoughts because he glanced down and gave her a small, private smile.

“I’ll take care of you, lovely one,” he promised. “ No matter what comes to us, we’ll always be together.”

Miranda held on a little tighter, feeling the promise like a warm cloak around her shoulders. She had the feeling that she was finally going home.