One Down: Bayou Heat (Pantera Security League Book 1) (7 page)

Instantly, she recoiled.

“What’s wrong?” His cat was screaming for her, for more. For everything. “What are you doing?”

“You don’t have to say it,” she uttered, her eyes on the ground. “You don’t have to say anything.”

“What are you talking about?”

She crossed her arms over her chest protectively. “Look, I get it. You don’t want to kiss me. I don’t blame you. You’ve seen me at my worst. The lowest. I nearly choked you. And how I must’ve looked in that cage—” Her voice broke. “Naked and pathetic and used up—”

“Stop,” he growled at her, taking her by the shoulders. “Right now.” He knew his voice was as fierce as his gaze, but the moment demanded it. “Don’t you ever speak of yourself like that again, do you hear me?”

Her eyes pricked with tears. “God, I’m such a fucking mess.”

“No, Hallie. You are beautiful and kind and funny and real.”

A sob wrenched from her throat.

The sound was a cannon in his soul and he crumbled. “I want to touch you, female. More than you can ever imagine. I ache with the need. Look at me. My face, my body. I’m tense, hungry, and my cock is more than ready.” He released her arms and she sagged against him, her head to his chest. He groaned. It felt like fucking heaven. “I know I said it before, but it’s true. You deserve more. You deserve time and space and—”

“Now you stop!” she shouted. She pointed at her chest. “Like
I
said before, Cerviel, I get to say what I motherfucking deserve!”

He stilled. “Of course you do. I just—”

“And I deserve this—you.” She eased back and looked at him, her eyes searching his. “I’ve never been kissed until you. I’ve never been touched by anyone I desired until you. I’ve never felt pleasure and happiness under a male’s hand. Only pain and humiliation.” She reached up and curled her hand around the back of his neck. “Do I have to beg, Cerviel? Do I?” Her eyes implored him. “Because I will.”

Beg?
Goddess, was she serious with such a word? To just look upon her was an honor. To touch her…
Fuck…
He was humbled at the very thought.

“You never have to beg me for anything, kitten,” he whispered, dropping his head and nuzzling her lips. “Never.”

* * *

His kisses made her lightheaded.

Warm, wet, gentle, yet with an undercurrent of fierce hunger. He was going slow, for her. But she egged him on, coaxing him, letting him know she liked his ferocity. That it didn’t make her cower in fear. In fact, fear had no place in her heart anymore. Not with this male at her side. He had not only given her the truth, stunning as it was, but he’d plucked her out of her nightmare and granted her a soft place to fall.

Groaning at the wondrous sensation, she drove her fingers into his thick hair and gripped his scalp. A soft snarl tore from his throat as she pressed him closer, tighter against her mouth. It was the strangest feeling. She couldn’t seem to get enough of him, kiss him deeply enough, bite at his lower lip hard enough.

And then his hands stole around her waist and the pads of his fingers dragged up her back.

Oh, whoever, or whatever, is emerging inside of me, I say yes, yes, yes to it.

Ripping her mouth from his, she descended on his throat, kissing his skin and dragging her teeth over the bands of muscle she found there. She was going on instinct. She had so much to learn, but she was ready for it. For his touch, his mouth, his eyes on hers as his fingers explored every soft, wet inch of her. What had been done to her in that iron prison had nothing to do with intimacy. It had been all about violence and control. This was the complete opposite in every way. She was giving herself to this male. Freely, gladly, excitedly. Wanting more than anything to know what it felt like to need and desire another, instead of turning herself off like a switch, and enduring.

His hands held her tightly, safely as he eased back a few inches. Just so he could look at her. His eyes were so soft, as though he was looking at something precious.

You, Hallie. He’s looking at you.

She shivered with the realization.

“I want to make you feel good, kitten. Happy, safe.” He raised a brow. “You guide me, okay? Tell me to stop, slow down, speed up. I’m here for you.”

Her heart tripped, then melted. Those words were priceless and so wonderfully exposed. And when he took her mouth again, and gently reclined her back on the smooth rock floor of the cave, she felt herself open completely. To him, to the moment, to a future that could be bright and happy and hopeful, if she embraced it.

A soft growl vibrated in his throat as he changed the angle of the kiss and lapped at her tongue with his own. The gesture instantly sent curls of tension spiraling through her body and she arched her back, wanting more, wanting to get closer. Impatience drove her a little mad, and she grabbed his hand and guided it down and under her sweatshirt.
Oh…
the feel of strong, safe hands on her sensitive skin.

“Talk to me, Hallie,” he uttered against her lips, his voice like hot ash.

“Touch me. I want to feel you on my skin.”
I want to feel you everywhere. I want you to claim every inch of me. Give me new memories, wonderful memories…

She grabbed his wrist over the fabric and drew his hand up until he palmed her naked breast.

His sharp intake of breath against her mouth made her melt, made her turn liquid. Made her nipples harden.

“Oh, kitten,” he whispered, his large hand squeezing her flesh, massaging, then easing back and teasing the tight bud between his thumb and forefinger.

A cry erupted from Hallie. She’d never felt such intensity, such rabid hunger. It almost scared her. Would it ever be enough? Would every touch, every kiss only fuel the flame that would rage inside her for this male?

“I don’t know how much more I can take,” Cerviel whispered, his fingers tantalizing her other breast now. “You are…something incomprehensible to me.”

Hallie pulled him closer, kissed him hard and hungry as he squeezed and rolled her nipple. Her belly felt unbelievably tight and her sex was contracting in anticipation. It wanted him too, inside, deep inside…

“What is it like, Cerviel?” she asked breathlessly between hungry, demanding kisses.

“What, kitten?” he rasped.

“To shift into a puma?”

She could feel him smile against her lips. “Wild, intense, free.”

“Like this?”

He pulled back a few inches. His eyes were wild and close to black. “Oh,
ma chère
, very close to this.”

Every inch of skin on her body trembled with awareness and need. She sat up, forcing him off her for a moment. Without a word or a thought, she grabbed the hem of her sweatshirt and yanked it off.

“Kitten,” he whispered, his voice a grave warning. “What are you doing?”

Toeing off her boots, she then quickly removed her pants and tossed them aside.

Her gaze went to him as she reclined back on the bed of leaves once again. “I’ve been like this for five years. In a strange way, I’m more comfortable naked than clothed. But I’ve never felt safe.” She gave him a smile. “Until now. I’ve never wanted anyone to touch me.” She reached for his hand and placed it on her stomach. “Until now.”

She saw him visibly shudder with unbridled hunger. His eyes were polished stones and the muscles in his gorgeous face were contracting, pulsing. He looked like he was barely holding on, like he wanted to attack and graze and savor, but was afraid of such force and passion.

“You are so beautiful,” he said, his gaze trained on her face, her eyes. “It’s there, Hallie.”

“What?”

“Your cat. I see her in your eyes.”

Hallie guided his hand down until the tips of his fingers threaded into the hair covering her sex. “What does she look like now?”

His nostrils flared. “Fearsome.”

She grinned.

He moved over her and his head dipped, his mouth closing over her nipple. Shards of exquisite pain lanced her pussy and she released a groan. His tongue was magic and talented, hot lashes and teasing bites. Her eyes closed and her hips canted and she commanded him to give her more, more, endlessly more.

“Oh, such soft fur you have, kitten.” His fingers slipped between the lips of her sex, and when he found her slick, he snarled against her wet bud.

She shivered and thrust her hips up, higher, mindless. “Is it always like this?” she whispered breathlessly. “Like you want to crawl into each other’s skin? Like you want to cry and laugh with each touch…each kiss? Like you don’t want to come, but yet you do…so desperately.”

“With the right one, it can be all of those things and more.” He lifted his head and gazed down at her. His eyes glowed with a savage fire. “I believe.”

Her breath hitched as he started to circle her clit. “You don’t know?”

He shook his head, slowly. “But I think I’m beginning to.”

She smiled, her heart clenching with a need to know everything about this male. How had he been sent to her? The One? Her One.

Don’t do that. Don’t claim him when you don’t know how he feels, what he wants, what’s coming.

“I want to feel inside you, Hallie,” he said, slipping his fingers from her clit and moving them down. “How wet you are. How tight. You have to guide me.”

She nodded. “But first…”

“Yes? Anything.”

Her grin widened. “Shirt. Off.”

His brow lifted.

“I want to feel your skin too.”

A slow smile touched his beautiful mouth. “Done.”

In seconds, he had his shirt and jacket off and his hands back where they belonged. Hallie held her breath waiting for the sweet invasion. And when he slid two fingers inside her, slow and deep, she gasped with unbridled pleasure.
This.
This was how it was supposed to feel. This was intimacy. Two beings wanting each other, connecting, making each other happy.

She never wanted it to end.

Cerviel found her mouth again and as he pumped her slowly, teasing her clit with his thumb, he kissed her. It wasn’t savage or hungry, though she loved when he kissed her that way. No, he took his time, sucking her lower lip into his mouth, playing with her tongue, gently feeding from her as he thrust. And she touched him, explored the hot skin of his chest and waves upon waves of muscle.

It was strange. An amazing brand of strange. She no longer knew where she was, only that she was under the spell of this male. She saw only his hair and his forehead as she blinked. She was given over to him—not by anyone else, but by herself.

It was as if she was meant for him. In an ancient way.

“Oh, Cerviel,” she suddenly gasped. He had stopped thrusting, but his fingers remained deep inside her. And he was doing something—something glorious, something that was making her insides quake and quicken. His fingertips were pressing on something… “It’s…” she began. “The pressure, it’s building, and the heat… I feel like I might go mad. It’s supposed to feel like this, right?”

He raised his head and stared down at her. “Hallie… Oh, my beautiful kitten, you’ve never come before?”

Tears pricked her eyes. Is that what was happening? Her heart broke and she shook her head. “I wouldn’t. I couldn’t. No one was going to have that, steal that from me. It belongs to me.” For a second she felt a thread of embarrassment move over her, but when his mouth covered hers once again, and he started to thrust into her with deep, wonderful strokes, she forgot everything but the total, consuming happiness and madness and emotional intensity that rose up in great waves inside her.

“Take it, Hallie,” he whispered in between kisses. “Just as you said, it belongs to you. I’m honored I can be here, watching you. My beautiful female. Mine…”

The madness reached for her and grabbed hold. She cried out into the dark coolness of the cave, bucking against his hand, claiming each delicious wave of climax.

Mine.

Mine.

Finally mine.

Cerviel was watching her, his eyes on her face as he followed the movement of her body, his fingers sliding in and out, so wet. She rode him, again and again, chasing the incredible sensation. Until it receded and she lay there, in his strong, safe arms, spent.

Exhaustion unlike anything she’d ever known attempted to claim her, pull her under. But it wasn’t fair. She wanted Cerviel… Wanted to touch him, taste him, make him growl out her name when he came…

“I want you,” she whispered, nuzzling into him, her eyes unable to remain open.
I wish I could.

“I have everything I need, everything I want right here.” He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. “Sleep, my kitten. We have plenty of time. You’re with me now. Nothing will harm you. Ever again. Sleep easy tonight.”

She couldn’t argue with him. Her mind was lost and her body was replete. And his words were like a warm blanket over her heart, and to her bruised and battered psyche.

She gave in to his lulling, loving words and to the ache that had never left her in five years. To be able to sleep in peace and security.

Because in Cerviel’s arms, she found both.

She’d found everything.

Cerviel woke slowly and painfully.

He was hard as a hammer and his cat was clawing to get at the warm, soft female sleeping beside him.

Not that he was going to do anything about it. Dawn was coming. Though it was still dark, he could scent its approach in the air. And at first light, they needed to get the hell out of the cave and travel through some rugged terrain to reach the chopper.

He turned his head and glanced at the sleeping beauty wrapped in his arms. The light of the lantern was low now, but it gave off enough of a glow to see wild red hair, a gorgeous and very relaxed face and a good five feet of naked, pink skin. A few of those inches being her thigh, which was draped across his jean-clad shaft.

Torture.

He turned back and stared at the ceiling of the cave.
Repeat after me: getting her to safety is more important than rolling her to her back and slipping inside her
.