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  Sass This!

  By

  Aliyah Burke

  Blurb

  The only time Crystal “Cee Cee” Castle is confident is when she peers through her camera lens. In Africa, she finds an elusive king cheetah only to discover there is more to this cat than she could ever begin to realize.

  Kent “Ziggs” Ziggler hadn’t been expecting to find his mate much less meet her in his feline form while she faced down some poachers looking to kill him. However, now that she’s in his terrain, he’s out to convince her to stay. If he can keep her alive.

  Dedication

  First, I want to thank Milly Taiden for allowing me to play in her world. I had a lot of fun with Cee Cee and Ziggs, starting their adventure. And always, to my readers, new and established, thank you for your support. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. To DH, it’s been over 15 years and I love you more each day. To my editor and cover artist, thank you! To the men and women of our Armed Forces, I will never forget your sacrifice. God Bless!

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Additional Books By Aliyah Burke

  Other Books in the Sassy Ever After Series

  Chapter One

  Crystal “Cee Cee” Castle adjusted the tatty shoulder strap on her camera bag and picked up her pace. She’d heard the cheetah’s chirp and had been on her way to see if she could sneak in a few pictures. Being as their chirps could be heard up to a mile away, she wasn’t sure if she would catch up to it or not. Then the chirp turned into bleating. A noise that sounded like a meow, it was a call of distress.

  Her excitement morphed to alarm. These astonishing animals were being hunted at an alarming rate and she was doing her best to bring that to the world’s attention. Sweat dripped down her back as she chugged along. If there were poachers, she wanted to catch them on film.

  If they could begin to prosecute those responsible, that would be an entirely different outcome for these creatures. She stumbled, swore, righted herself, and continued on once more.

  The call came again, this time off to her left and she frowned, instantly suspicious. Was she being tricked? Or was this a mother trying to keep predators away from her cubs. Cee Cee paused and wiped the sweat from her eyes before readjusting her sunglasses.

  Once more, the call echoed over the vast savannah. Eyes still scanning the horizon she reached for her water bottle always on her side and pulled a long draw from it, allowing the refreshing liquid to cool her internal temperature.

  The bark of a hyena came from her right and she swore. She didn’t need to be messing with any of those animals. Another drink before she set off once more.

  A vehicle was parked near a large balboa tree and she drew up. Poachers. She removed her camera from her bag and put it up to her eye, snapping away. Taking pictures of the truck, it’s plate and make.

  As she went around the other side of the tree, she found two men drinking and laughing at the large cheetah caught in one of their traps. Her breath hitched.

  It was a king cheetah. And not a small one. This male was easily twice as large as the ones she was used to snapping photos. If not more. The distinctive pattern on the king, or Cooper, wasn’t hard to miss, it was a blotchy pattern but so beautiful in her eyes.

  “Afternoon gentlemen,” she said.

  They turned to her, eyes wide and full of shock, that quickly morphed into anger.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Taking your picture and what you’re doing to that cheetah.”

  “We’re going to kill you. Rape first, then kill you.”

  “You’re already recognized. This isn’t just a film that has to be developed. It’s also got a chip so each time I snap a picture it gets uploaded automatically in a file at my boss’ PC. That way, if anything happens to me, they will know exactly who did it.”

  They stopped and she took two more pictures. Raking a hand through her loose curls, she gestured toward the cat. “Why don’t you just get going?”

  They stepped toward her and she swiftly brought up her rifle. “Let’s not do that. Go on now. Off you chaps go.”

  “You can’t do this to us.”

  “I can’t?” She canted her head to the side. “Kiss this. I think I just did.” Cee Cee gestured once more with the muzzle of her rifle. “Go. On your feet.”

  “Our vehicle?”

  “Mine now. Thanks, I needed one.” Her heart thundered but she held steady. She’d faced down larger groups and meaner looking ones than this.

  The cat had fallen silent and seemed to be extremely interested in the conversation going on with the humans before him. She hoped he would hold on just a short time longer, then she would figure out a way to free him from the trap.

  It only took two bullets to burrow into the ground in front them for them to take off. At least they’d been cocky and left their weapons in the jeep which had given her the upper hand.

  For now. She couldn’t linger.

  Still, she waited until they were out of sight, then she looked at the cat.

  He panted and stared back at her. While cheetah teeth were small, relatively speaking when compared to other big cats, they would and could do a deadly amount of damage to her if he wanted to.

  This male hadn’t looked away from her and she shifted beneath the intensity of that look. “I don’t suppose you’ll let me free you without ripping into me, will you?”

  She scanned around again, making sure those men weren’t doubling back. Satisfied for the moment, she put the rifle down and withdrew her water canteen once more. Rooting around in the jeep, she came up with a dish and she poured the liquid into it and walked toward the feline.

  “You have to be thirsty.”

  He bared his teeth but she couldn’t hear any warning growl.

  Right, because there can only be an attack if they growl first.

  She rolled her eyes and put the dish on the ground before picking up the rifle and using it to slide the water closer. He didn’t move his focus from her face even though she saw his wide nose flex and knew he could smell it.

  “Come on, big boy. I have to get you out of there. I know those fuckers will be back soon.”

  She heard a motor in the distance and knew her time was even shorter now.

  He dropped his head and lapped at the water.

  She moved closer and it snapped back up, those pearly white teeth warning her to stay away.

  “This is fucking going to suck.”

  The closer she moved the farther back he leaned. When she reached out for the rusty metal of the trap, she heard it. The low warning growl. She ignored it, she was risking her life for this, but she had to. She couldn’t allow those fuckers to kill this cat.

  Gripping the edges, she pulled, cutting herself in the process and her blood mingled with the cheetah’s. She bit back her curse and put more strength into it. Slowly, it creaked open as the cheetah gripped her shoulder with his jaw.

  She whimpered, she knew how they killed but he’d not gone for he
r neck. Yet. The tips of his teeth sank into her skin but the second she pulled the trap far enough, he released her and backed off, favoring his paw.

  Sure he was out of danger from it, she let it snap shut, jumping at the force it closed with. She scrambled backward, reaching for the rifle and holding it close. The motor grew louder and she pushed to her feet, stumbled for the vehicle, and tossed her stuff inside, followed quickly by herself.

  No key.

  Of course not. That hadn’t stopped her before and it wouldn’t stop her now. Blessing her mother who’d taught her how to do this, she swiftly used her Leatherman to get the access she needed. Her shoulder throbbed like a bitch while she flicked the wires together to get the heap running, so she could get her ass out of there.

  “Fuck yeah,” she muttered, readjusting in the seat. She glanced to the trap in the back then to the spot it had been.

  The king cheetah remained there, watching her with those amber eyes.

  Cee Cee revved the engine. “Go on! Get out of here. All this will have been for naught if you’re still around when those fuckards come back.” For both of them.

  He turned and was just gone. There one second, she blinked and he was gone.

  Chapter Two

  Kent stared at the woman lying in bed. Correction, his bed. His gaze drifted more than once to his bite-mark on her shoulder. His mind was still fuzzy in regards to how he’d gotten into the trap to begin with but he’d since healed.

  After this woman had saved him, freed him, only to hot wire a stolen truck and race away from the poachers she’d sassed and challenged, he’d followed. Hell, he couldn’t have let her be anyway, he’d bitten her. She was his.

  When she first opened her mouth and spoke, he’d forgotten about the steel trap around his paw. The soft velvet quality to her tone as it wove around him, awakened part of him he’d thought wouldn’t ever come alive. The part that told his kind, this is your mate.

  Her accent had sounded familiar and he swore he scented wolf shifter on her, so he called his friend, Aric Wolfe, to see if she was one of his.

  Turned out, she wasn’t and his friend hadn’t even heard of her. Kent had gone through her bag to find her personal information to be able to pass it along. His friend was the next Alpha of his pack and while he’d not taken over yet, he and his mate were more than up for the position.

  Aric was one of the few wolves he trusted. His brothers were on the to-be-trusted list but then it grew sparse. He’d never felt like himself in the United States, always too crowded and not enough running room. Wolves had large territories but it was different for cheetahs. It was hard for him to get up to speed when he had to slow and dodge a bunch of crap like forests. Here on the savannah, he could run and play without all that.

  She moaned and he was at her side, brushing those thick black sexy as fuck curls away from her face. Kent wanted her to open her eyes. Even his cat had responded the first time they’d locked eyes. Those striking pale green eyes that met his had only strengthened the vines holding them together.

  Her hair moved like satin through his fingers and he wanted it to slide over his entire body. Fuck, even his cat wanted to come out and roll in it. His jaw ached as his canines lengthened in time with the raw lust and need growing within him.

  Kent stepped back. This wasn’t the way to introduce himself to his future mate. Not fucking her, while she lay there. He wasn’t like that. Never had been. Never would be.

  It hadn’t been easy for him to follow her after she drove off, not with his injured paw, but he would walk through the fiery pits of hell to get to her side, so a nearly broken paw wasn’t about to stop him. Had he been a normal cheetah, it probably would have snapped his ankle, but shifter bones were stronger.

  So, he’d been with her when she slowed the vehicle and hopped out as if she did it all the time. And he was there when she collapsed from the bite he’d given her. That was when he shifted and brought her back to his place.

  She looked fucking amazing lying in his bed, the golden sun streaming in the windows and highlighting the warm tones of her skin, turning it to a beautiful caramel mocha hue. Her curves were mouthwatering and he couldn’t wait to strip her naked and lick every inch of smooth skin.

  Is she bare or does she have some hair surrounding her pussy? What is she going to taste like as I swipe my tongue up between those lips?

  A low growl emerged from his throat and Kent clenched his fists, not willing to let his cat get the upper hand. True, he felt more animal than human a lot of the time, but it wasn’t any way to act. Hell, he should tell her his name first.

  Then I’ll tell her I marked her.

  Kent was an alpha. Loner, but that didn’t make him a beta at all. He had no coalition anymore. His friends and brothers were dead and he was the last. That he knew of, he’d come back here to see if there were more like him. So far he’d come up with zero. He’d run into some of the local cheetahs and they tended to give him a wide berth. Kent was larger than they were and smelled different.

  There were two young males that were trying to survive with a coalition of their own that he watched over, so he would sometimes go run with them, merely for the companionship his cat wanted from time to time. They were both outcasts so to him, he wanted to ensure they had a sporting chance in this world. It was hard anyway but when you were smaller, it only got harder.

  His ears twitched as he heard them come up in the area. He’d claimed this area but they had been made aware they were allowed to be there. Other males weren’t. One more look to the woman lying in his bed then he went to the sliding glass door and opened it.

  He stepped out and surveyed his domain which was more than a typical male claimed. He watched over the average range for a female, closer to three hundred miles. But it was his.

  Kent gave a welcoming purr to the young males as they walked up to him, slowly. They didn’t like him much in human form but they knew his scent.

  They butted their heads beneath his palms and rubbed along him, twining against him. He walked with them away from the house and shifted. The males immediately relaxed and the three of them played for a while.

  When they were tired and had drunk their fill of fresh water, he returned to human while they lay panting beneath a large tree, enjoying the shade. Kent returned to the house and checked on his mate. She still lay sleeping so he went to fix her some food, aware she’d be hungry when she woke.

  He’d just finished making the sandwich when her breathing changed and the spike of adrenaline could be scented. Rushing to the bedroom, Kent slowed as he saw the two youngsters walking in the room, sniffing and exploring.

  While not an uncommon thing for them to do, he’d never had his mate there before. Protectiveness rushed with the force of a monsoon but he restrained it. These males weren’t of mating age and weren’t a threat in that regard. However, he wasn’t sure how they would respond to her as human.

  Kent remained in the doorway, aware the males knew he was there. Resting his shoulder against the doorframe, he waited. She was awake, he knew that, her breathing pattern had changed. There wasn’t any fear in her, and he expected none. For a woman who braved what she had to save him, couldn’t be afraid of two juveniles.

  His sharp gaze caught sight of her left hand, the one that was away from the cats. Slight movements as if she were clicking the shutter on her camera. She shifted, a minuscule movement, against the bedding.

  They froze. Seconds later, they were gone.

  “Damn it,” she swore, pushing up onto her hands and knees.

  He ogled her ass as she rose. God, he wanted to smack it and bite it. “They’ll be back.”

  She screamed and whirled around, sliding off the bed in the process to land on that very ass he’d been staring at. “Who the fuck are you?”

  Her heartbeat thundered in his ears. Now, he also picked up on some fear in her and that bothered him, horribly. While the man and beast both longed to comfort her, Kent merely offered his hand. �
��I’m the man who found you slumped over out in the savannah. Do you have someone I can contact for you?”

  “N…no, thank you.” She ignored his hand and slid back a foot before she got to her feet. Her gaze flashed to where her bag was, along with the rifle she’d stolen off the poacher and back to him. “I-I—I am fine. Thanks for the help.”

  This woman wasn’t the same confident one who’d faced down those poachers and had risked her own life to save a cheetah.

  “You can’t leave.”

  Her eyes widened but she didn’t speak. Her gaze was wary and her need to run stamped all over her face.

  “It’s nearly dark. You have to know it’s not safe for you to be out there at that time.” He stepped back before he did something like kissing her. And lord help him, he wanted to feel her full plump lips beneath his. Wanted to see her on her knees before him as he pushed his cock between her waiting lips. “You’re safe here.”

  She lowered her gaze briefly then gave a short nod.

  Okay, this wasn’t going well.

  “I fixed you something to eat. There’s a table out the sliding door behind you. Why don’t you go sit out there and I’ll bring it to you.” He left to grab the plate with her sandwich on it and returned to see a flash of her vanishing back out the door, bag in hand.

  Shit.

  He rushed to the door, expecting to see her running but instead, she was crouched down where she wouldn’t be in the way of the two adolescents who were hanging around. Apparently, they were as interested in her as she was them.

  She was taking pictures of them and she radiated excitement, although on her scent, he picked up something else. There it was again, this hint of wolf.

  “Look at you two boys,” she whispered to herself as she snapped images of the males while they trotted up closer to the space she was occupying. “So handsome. Small, but beautiful. I don’t suppose you’ve seen that magnificent king cheetah around here have you? Probably wouldn’t tell me if you had. I know they’re rare.”