They ended up with Iona flat on the mattress, Eric on her back, his whole body covering her.
They loved like that until they fell asleep again. When they woke the next time, Eric rolled over with her, and started loving her once more.
The mating frenzy, a cool voice said in the back of his brain. Nature’s way of ensuring the continuance of the species.
Shut up, Eric responded, then heard nothing but Iona’s cries and his own, as their loving went on into the night.
In the first light of morning, Iona peeled open her eyes to find Eric facedown next to her. He lay on top of the covers, his face relaxed in sleep.
Eric was a beautiful man. Liquid bronze skin covered a body of sculpted muscle, his waist tapering to a tight, bare backside. The tattoo that covered his shoulder and trailed down his arm invited her tongue, the scratches on his back testimony to her frenzy last night.
She moved to stretch and stifled a groan. Every muscle was sore, her mouth raw from Eric’s wild kisses.
Life with a Shifter. Exhausting.
And yet, something within Iona had relaxed, a tightness dissolving. She’d spent her life up to this point knowing she was different and would never fit in, no matter what she did. She’d learned to pretend, to act human enough that she made it through school and college, enough so she didn’t concern her mother and sister.
Then Eric had come into her life. He’d told her bluntly that she was denying her Shifter side, and he’d been right.
This man wanted her to explore that forbidden part of her—all of it. Iona had been terrified at first, but she knew that she was perfectly safe learning about her Shifter self, because Eric was with her to guide and protect her.
She could do any Shifter thing she wanted, while Eric watched, ready to catch her if she started to fall.
Iona ran her hand down Eric’s back to his firm bu**ocks, his skin smooth. If learning to be Shifter involved touching his naked body, she’d just have to live with that.
She snuggled down a little closer to him as he went on sleeping. Her fingers drifted over his fine ass and back to his tattoo, lightly tracing the lines. She let her eyes close, as close to contentment as she’d ever been in her life.
Iona jumped awake to someone pounding on the bedroom door. The sun was high now, hours having gone by. Eric was up and on his feet.
“What?” he called irritably.
“Dad, it’s Cass.” Jace’s voice was agitated and breathless. “The cub is coming, and Cass wants Iona.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
The cub is coming.
Iona dressed in record time, Eric right behind her. Iona charged out to find Cass in the kitchen in sweatpants and T-shirt, hanging on to the breakfast bar while she leaned over it, her breath coming in slow gasps.
Diego wasn’t there, having already departed for his office, Jace said, but he was on his way back.
“Iona,” Cassidy panted.
“I’m here.” Iona put her hands on Cassidy’s shoulders and nearly jerked away. Cassidy’s skin was roasting hot through the shirt. “You okay?”
“Except for being about to drop a cub in the kitchen? Fine.”
“You’re hot.”
“Supposed to be.” She looked up, her eyes full of both fear and excitement. “Say you’ll come, Iona. I need someone with me besides a bunch of males.”
“Hear the gratitude,” Jace said.
Eric was already out of the house, starting up Iona’s pickup.
“Time to go,” Jace said. “Diego will have to meet you at the clinic.”
“Probably a good idea,” Cassidy said, her voice nearly a whisper. “Iona?”
Iona thought about how Nicole had looked both glad and apprehensive when she’d confirmed that Iona had been right about her pregnancy. Cassidy’s scent conveyed the same kind of happy worry—and that this cub was on its way.
Iona kissed Cassidy’s burning cheek. “Of course I’ll come. I’ve got you.”
Cassidy looked relieved that Iona walked out with her, though Iona was uncertain how effective her help would be. Iona had been very young when Nicole had come along, and she was certainly no expert on children—let alone Shifter cubs.
But she could be a friendly face and a hand to hold. Iona slid into the middle of the truck’s cab next to Eric, and Jace helped Cassidy wedge herself into the seat. Jace leapt gracefully into the truck bed behind them, and Eric gunned the pickup into the street.
“Where are we going?” Iona asked.
“Clinic,” Eric said, as they shot down the road. Other Shifters seemed to figure out what was up, because they came out of houses, waving and looking excited. Eric acknowledged them with a return wave as they raced through Shiftertown and out the gates.
“A clinic?” Iona prompted.
“One that will help Shifters,” Eric said. “Not state-of-the-art, but better than nothing. We’ll have doctors and nurses standing by in case anything goes wrong.”
“I hate doctors,” Cassidy muttered.
“So do I,” Eric said, “but they can help if we need them to, and they have antibiotics and things.”
“And epidurals,” Iona said.
“It doesn’t hurt that much,” Cassidy said. “Except I want to shift, so bad.”
“Don’t,” Eric said. “Your cub will come out human, so stay human.”
“Why will her cub come out human?” Iona asked.
Cassidy answered, her words breathy. “Pure Shifters are born animal and learn to shift later. Half-human Shifters are born human. Mixed species come out whichever species happens to have the dominant gene.”
“What will my cubs come out as?” Iona asked. “He or she will be three-quarters Shifter.”
“Hell if I know,” Eric said. “But I guess we’ll find out.” He sounded smug.
“You won’t have long to wait,” Cassidy said with a laugh, “the way you two were going at it last night.”
Iona’s face went hot. “It’s too soon to tell, isn’t it?”
Cassidy glanced at her with the same knowledge in her eyes Iona knew she’d had when she’d sensed Nicole’s baby. “It’s not. This time next year, we’ll have two cubs in the house.”
Iona realized she was right. Too many distractions—and maybe a little denial—had prevented her from acknowledging what her panther knew to be true. “Crap,” Iona whispered.
Eric laughed. “Yes!” he shouted. He stomped on the accelerator, and they shot through the streets to his whoops of joy.