She knows she should be fighting back, pushing him off and getting free but his grip is firm and she feels like prey trapped beneath a larger, stronger predator and his lips on hers feel nice. He licks into her mouth, tasting her and dominating the kiss entirely. She doesn't know if he's a good kisser or not, being so inexperienced herself. She feels tingles all the way from where their lips are touching down her spine to the tips of her toes.
Her fingers find their way to the lapels of his suit, clutching tightly.
Tentatively, she tries to kiss him back. She picks up the bitter tang of coffee and something else she can't discern. The small gesture makes him growl, his fingers tightening around her waist, leaving more bruises the shape of his hands on her skin. The deep sound of his growl vibrates down her spine and makes every nerve ending in her body come awake with lust.
Too quickly, his lips part from hers, his breath grazing her jaw as he exhales softly against her skin. He leaves a trail of kisses down her neck and shoulders and she gives into the uncontrollable shiver as her body betrays her and she tilts her head to the side, offering her more of his neck. He trails open-mouthed kisses down her collar bone, sucking occasionally to leave blue-black bruises on her pale skin.
Pleasure wracks through her body, destroying her common sense. In the haze of confusion and pleasure, she remembers that she knows nothing of the man and she shouldn't be letting him touch her like this.
"Stop," she whines softly, swallowing tears.
He pulls back only to lift her into his chest, holding her tight as he settles into one of the soft couches.
He secures her on his lap, containing the floundering arms and letting her legs trash out. "Scent me," he says, cradling the back of her head with one large hand and pushing her face to the curve of his neck.
She inhales more in panic than anything. She doesn't know what he wants from her. He smells like sandalwood, like pine and whiskey and- She freezes- He smells like home. She brushes her nose to his chin, rubbing her face against his neck without thinking so she can breathe deeper, pick up more of his scent. It doesn't make sense. The only person who's ever smelled like home to her is her brother. She pulls away as the last of her resistance crumbles. She feels her animal struggling to surface, to come out and greet this new friend.
"You still don't understand?" he questions with a frown. "I'm like you," he says, eyes flashing a golden hue again. At her look of confusion, he sighs and lets his animal surface. The change looks agonizing, nose shifting and bones reconstructing, dark brown fur growing on his skin. It takes only seconds but feels longer.
She blinks, too confused for a second because she's expecting wolf-like features. Instead, she's presented with a face that's unequivocally cat. Jaguar, her mind supplies helpfully. "Not- not like me," she whispers. Bigger. Stronger. Still a cat, but
much, much more dangerous.
"Almost," he rumbles, teeth sharp and too close to her face. The shift back to his human form is much quicker. "Similar enough that my animal recognizes you as kin, as mate," he says.
A large hand sweeps up under her shirt, brushing over the warm tail she keeps hidden underneath. He grips her tail and unwinds it for her stomach, tugging it free.
She tenses and then reacts without thinking, scratching him across his face.
He pulls away too fast and her sharp claws slashes in thin air. "Feisty," he says with a feral grin that makes her tense.
She knows, even without him having to shift, that he is more than capable of taking her in a fight.
"Come on, let me have a look at you," he coaxes, tugging her tail out from underneath her shirt. When she continues to struggle and writhe in his grasp, he yanks his own tie free and in a smooth motion that she misses completely, manages to tie her wrists behind her back, putting her completely at his mercy as he curls his fingers around the thick fur of her bushy tail and pulls it free.
She whimpers and her eyes fill with tears at the sight of her tail out in view like this. She's never let anyone but her brother see her tail. It feels like she's being stripped naked.
"Come now, baby. No need for tears," he says, pressing a kiss to the side of her head. "I've been looking everywhere for you," he says. "And you were right here the whole time."
"I'm not- I don't," she starts and whimpers.
Seeing her panic, his resolve to keep her at his mercy crumbles and he quickly frees her hands.
She automatically reaches for her tail. He's gripping it a little too tightly and she doesn't like it.
With a huff, he lets her grab the end of her tail. She brings it to her face immediately, soothing herself by mouthing her tail, rubbing the tip to her lips. He sees what she's doing and his expression turns from amused to worried in a second. "I'm not going to hurt you," he promises. "Look at me," he says, tipping her head up with his forefinger on the bottom on her chin.
She must look quite ridiculous, chewing on her tail like this, tears stinging in her eyes.
"Poor thing. I didn't mean to scare you, kit," he says. "Come now. No chewing," he coos, prying her mouth open by pressing his forefinger in through the gap of her teeth and trusting that she won't bite his finger. He tugs her tail away from her mouth in a gentle way that reminds her so much of her brother.
She used to do this a lot when she's younger and she was feeling anxious. The habit resurfaced a few months ago, when he left to pursue his dreams and she had to cope with living alone and settling into her new job. She doesn't let him know that, though. She doesn't want him to worry. She wonders if Mateo has siblings who chew on their tails when they're stressed too.
"How old are you?" he asks.
"Eighteen," she mumbles, reaching beseechingly at her tail to take it back.
He lets her have it but tuts at her when she tries to put it back into her mouth.