A Jaguar's Kiss (7 page)

to his face shredded her insides. Right now she didn’t know

what
she wanted past this moment.

Owen looked into Gabriela’s dark eyes, seeing the firelight

reflect in their depths.
One night?
He wanted a hel of a lot

more, but he could see the determined set of her jaw. A jaw

he wanted to nibble kisses along.

She might think this was a onetime thing but he’d

convince her it wasn’t. He had to. Reaching for the button

on her jeans, he said, “Lift.”

The quiet order seemed to startle her but she raised her

hips and let him tug her jeans down and off. Now she was

just wearing a shirt and barely there green-lace panties that

didn’t cover
anything
. He could see the soft patch of her

honey-brown hair covering her mound through the sheer

material. From earlier he knew that the fine hair had been

perfectly trimmed.

Suddenly it hit him how cold the floor of the cave was.

Even if they had higher body temperatures than humans, he

wanted to give her as much comfort as he could.

Moving with a supernatural speed, he picked her up and

moved her until she was stretched out on his sleeping bag.

He’d only meant to stay in the cave for a few hours. Until

dawn. This area of the woods was on the outskirts of his

pack’s territory and he’d wanted to scout it out and get

some solace.

Of course now he didn’t want to be alone. He wanted to

be buried inside Gabriela.

Taking him by surprise she reached for the hem of her

shirt and tugged it off. For a split second, his brain short-

circuited. She was completely bare to him. When they were

kids and innocent they’d shifted in front of each other and

gone running al the time. That had al changed when they’d

become teenagers. She’d become a lot more self-

conscious then. And when he’d had her trapped up against

the door of the cabin wal this morning he’d forced himself

not to drink his fil of her.

Now he could stare al he wanted. Her breasts were on

the smal side and perfectly rounded. Perfect for him to

stroke and kiss. Her nipples were a light brown, though they

were slightly darkening as the buds turned harder. A very

sweet scent rol ed off her, letting him know just how turned

on she was.

He heard a strangled sound and realized it came from

him. He might have seen flashes of her body before but this

was so very different. Her long, sexy legs stretched out in

front of her lean, lithe and bronzed body. Despite the winter

and her natural y darker coloring, she looked as if her entire

body had been recently sun kissed.

As his eyes tracked over her entire body, trying to

memorize every inch, he frowned at the web-like scar on

her upper chest. It was situated between her right shoulder

and breast. For a shifter to scar that way the wound had to

be… He blinked once as realization dawned on him. “Were

you
shot
with silver?”

Her dark eyes flickered shut once before meeting his

gaze. Leaning forward, she reached for the button of his

jeans and it hit him that she planned to ignore his question.

Stil ing her, he encircled her wrists, forcing her to look at

him again. Annoyance flitted across her features.

“What happened?” he demanded again.

“Yes, I was shot with silver,” she final y muttered, her jaw

clenched tight.

She tried to pul her hands back but he wouldn’t let her. A

dark, territorial anger streaked through him. “By who?”

“I can’t tel you.”

“Can’t?”

A quick shake of her head. “It’s…classified.”

He narrowed his gaze on her face but it was a mask.

Owen knew that after she’d graduated col ege she’d gone

to work for the government. He’d tried to glean bits of

information about her over the years, but it had been

scarce. Years ago he’d even cal ed in a favor to a friend

who worked for the state department to run a check on her

but his friend had come up with nothing. Or at least that’s

what he’d told Owen. Now he wondered if that was even

true. “Who do you work for?”

She bit her bottom lip for a long moment then shook her

head, her expression apologetic. “I can’t tel you.”

Fine. He could live with that for now. “Is whoever shot you

dead?” It made him crazy that anyone would harm her like

that.

Gabriela nodded as she whispered, “Yes.”

This conversation wasn’t over, but he didn’t want to dwel

on whatever job she had that obviously put her in danger.

He wanted to savor her. Talking could come later. “Good,”

he growled before slowly covering her mouth with his. He

gave her plenty of time to back away, to tel him to stop.

She didn’t. Her hands slid up his chest, stroking so softly

against him until he moaned from the sheer pleasure of

having her touching his body. When her fingers dug into his

skin he began nibbling his way down to her jaw.

Stretched out beneath him, Gabriela shuddered when he

nipped her ear. Pul ing lightly, he tugged on the sensitive

lobe. When he pressed his teeth down, she arched her

back, rubbing her breasts against his chest and it was

almost an overload to his senses.

The feel of having those rock-hard nipples brushing his

body sent a wave of heat spiraling through him. His

fantasies of her over the years had never dimmed. No

matter how hard he tried to forget about her.

Having her underneath him like this now was better than

anything he could imagine. Reaching between them, he slid

his hand down her stomach until he cupped her mound.

Even with the lacy scrap of material covering her, he could

feel her scorching heat.

As he pushed her panties to the side and slid a finger

into her tight wet heat, he continued blazing a path of kisses

down the column of her neck. Her fingers threaded through

his hair as she gripped onto his head. She kept letting out

soft moans that were driving him crazy.

When he reached one of her breasts, he hovered there

for a moment, drinking her in. Her areola was light brown,

almost blending with her tanned skin.

Before taking her nipple in his mouth he gently rubbed a

thumb over it, watching as it hardened even more. Her inner

wal s tightened around the finger he had buried inside her.

“I’ve thought about you a lot over the years. Fantasized

about doing this,” he breathed against her hot skin.

Her hands tightened on his head. “Me, too. Even when I

wanted to hate you I could never get you out of my head.”

The words seemed to be ripped from her core.

Looking up at her, he saw the raw need in her dark eyes.

With their gazes locked, he drew his finger out of her then

slowly pushed back in. She sucked in a breath and rol ed

her hips against his hand. As he pul ed out again, he added

another finger. Her body was tight around him and it took al

his restraint not to pul his fingers out and plunge into her

with his cock. But she wasn’t ready and neither was he.

Using her wetness, he drew his fingers out and gently

began teasing her clit. She jerked against him, her

breathing becoming more erratic. Savoring her body’s

reaction, he dipped his head down and sucked a nipple

into his mouth.

As he flicked and teased the smal bud with his tongue,

he increased the pressure with his fingers. When they’d

been sixteen and seventeen and had first started exploring

each other’s bodies they’d never gotten this far. Not even

remotely. There had been a lot of kissing and a lot of over-

the-clothes groping. Of course he’d wanted more, but she

hadn’t been ready and he hadn’t minded waiting. Hel , he’d

have waited forever for her. Some primal part of him knew

there would never be anyone else for him.

It was one of the reasons he’d never mated. Never even

thought about it these past few years. Knowing Gabriela

was out there had made it impossible to contemplate

settling down with someone else. No one would ever hold a

candle to her. Not as far as he was concerned. Unless

she’d drastical y changed since they’d been friends, he

knew what her heart was like. She was loyal to a fault and

incredibly giving. Another reason shame stil burned bright

inside him for the things he’d said so long ago. But there

was no room for those thoughts right now. He didn’t want

anything between them at the moment. Just pleasure.

When he switched breasts, her fingers slid from his hair

down to his shoulders. She smoothed her hands over them,

until she reached his biceps. Squeezing lightly, she tugged

on him.

Lifting his head, he met her dark gaze. Fire seemed to

dance in her eyes. “I want to see al of you.”

He’d wanted to give her more foreplay, to taste her again

before taking her, but she kil ed al his good intentions.

Seeing the hunger on her face and scenting her sweet

need was too much for any man.

When he went to reach for his jeans, she stopped him,

grabbing the button herself and practical y ripping it off

before she grappled with the zipper. Hurriedly she shoved

at his pants, pushing them down his hips.

After pul ing a condom from his back pocket, he kicked

them completely off and his cock jutted out, desperate to be

inside her. With heavy lidded eyes she stared at him. Her

mouth parted slightly and when she licked her lips almost

absently, he groaned. Her eyes snapped up to meet his

and she actual y blushed.

When she went to reach for him, he stopped her and

quickly rol ed the condom on. Under normal circumstances

they wouldn’t have needed one but he could scent that she

was in heat. Though he wanted to feel her gripping him, he

didn’t have the kind of wil power to let her touch him now.

He was barely hanging on to his control as it was.

There would be time enough later to feel her mouth and

hands on his cock. He didn’t care what she said. One night

would
never
be enough. And even if this was al they had

together, they had the rest of the night in front of them and

he didn’t plan to sleep for one minute. Right now he just

needed to be inside her.

Leaning forward, he covered her body with his, sliding

his hard length inside her wet sheath. He didn’t bother

guiding himself with his hand because he didn’t need to.

His cock knew exactly where it wanted to be.

Her thighs spread farther as she wrapped her legs

around him. Arching her back into him, she dug her heels

into his ass, urging him deeper. The feeling it created was

so erotic his entire body ached.

As he pushed ful y inside her she let out a soft moan. Her

eyes were half open and her breathing was as unsteady as

his. Being inside her like this, after so many years apart,

was too surreal.

When she dug her fingers into his back, he covered her

mouth with his. Despite his primal urge to thrust hard into

her, to mark and claim her, he remained stil and let her get

used to his size. Her inner wal s molded around him as if

they were made for each other.

Leaning down until he reached right below her shoulder,

he kissed and licked her scarred skin. The thought of

anyone hurting her brought out al his protective urges. She

shuddered underneath him, her fingers digging into his

back.

“You feel amazing, but you have
got
to move.” Gabriela’s

voice was urgent against his ear as she rol ed her hips

against his.

He could definitely do that. Pushing up on his elbows, he

put enough space between them so that he could see her.

Slowly, he moved his hips back until he was almost

completely out of her. Then he pushed back in.

She grew wetter with each stroke and when he reached

between their bodies and tweaked her clit, she jerked wildly

against him. It stil wasn’t enough for her, though. He could

see that on her face. Her inner wal s were constantly

tightening around him, but not in that uncontrol able way he

knew she would right before she climaxed.

“Cup your breasts, play with your nipples,” he ordered

softly, wanting to see her pleasuring herself more than he

wanted his next breath.

He could easily stroke and kiss her nipples but the

thought of seeing her do it…A giant shudder raked through

him as her hands came to rest under the soft globes.