The Diamond Heartstone (4 page)

He watched as her hands went into the ‘v’ of her tan blouse.

Suddenly, invisible fingers rubbed along the outside of his nipples. ‚Stop.‛

‚What?‛ She jumped in place, both hands reaching down to steady

her.

‚You will stop that.‛ No doubt that witch told her how to torture

him.

‚Stop what?‛ she asked. ‚Not only am I being kidnapped by aliens,

but they’re crazy ones.‛

It was his heartstone. It peeked from beneath her shirt. ‚Hand me

the heartstone.‛

‚What, my necklace?‛ She looked down to the stone.

24

The Diamond Heartstone by Leila Brown

‚Don’t play games. That is my heartstone no matter what the

damned Peddler said.‛ He reached for the heart.

‚No.‛ She wrapped her hands around the stone. ‚She said it wasn’t

stolen. And I bought it. That makes it mine.‛

‚See that’d work if you were talking to someone who gave a fuck.

But seeing as how you’re not, hand over my stone.‛

Her hand tightened on the gem. ‚And if I don’t?‛

‚Then I will just have to take it from you.‛

‚No.‛ She raced away from him.

‚There’s nowhere to run.‛ He chuckled as he followed behind her.

‚I’ll break it on the floor before I give it to you.‛ She yanked on the

chain. It didn’t break.

Okay. The Peddler never said whether the stone could break or not.

Who knew what would happen if it broke? There was too much he didn’t

know for him to chance it.

‚Wait. At least let me look at it.‛

She narrowed her eyes and shook her head at him. ‚If it was yours,

wouldn’t you already know what it looks like? Try again.‛

‚It’s not like you have a choice.‛ He advanced on her, moving so

quickly she didn’t have a chance to move. Her fist was tightly closed

around the heart. He grabbed her hand and squeezed. Enough pressure

and she’d let it go.

Her knuckles cracked.

‚Let it go.‛ He squeezed tighter.

Her fingers loosened around the stone. He pushed it onto her the

skin of her chest to try to stop her from closing her fingers back around it.

Heat seemed to burn from within the heartstone.

‚Stop. It burns. Stop!‛

The fire seared the tips of his fingers. He yanked his hand back and

watched as she pulled her hands away too. Light blinded him. Water

streamed out the corner of his eyes. Another of the witch’s tricks.

25

The Diamond Heartstone by Leila Brown

The pain was going to make her pass out. The smell of burned skin

scorched her nostrils. The roaring in her ears got louder.

‚Help me,‛ she pleaded with the thing standing in front of her. Her

chest was going to burst. Her lungs burned with the need to take in a

breath but the pain stopped her from doing it. Every beat of her heart sent

the pain higher. It closed her throat and radiated down her arms.

Just as quickly as the pain started, it stopped. She lifted her hand to

her chest. The skin was tender but nothing too—. Oh hell. What was that?

She tentatively touched the raised flesh again. A burn mark?

‚What the hell did you do to me?‛ Looking down, she saw the

darkened outline of a heart. It looked like a brand. She touched the

sensitive scorched skin. It wasn’t kind of like a brand. It
was
a brand.

He walked up to her and ripped her shirt. The buttons popped off

and scattered onto the floor. His eyes narrowed as he examined the mark.

He must have decided her breasts were more important because his eyes

dipped down to inspect them.

‚Get your hands off of me, you perv.‛ She slapped at his hands.

‚Mates don’t deny each other,‛ he said, gripping her tighter.

‚I told you I’m not your mate.‛ There were a lot of things going on

here but she knew for a fact that she was not his anything. He wasn’t even

human. And one of her biggest standards was that a guy had to be human.

‚Shall I prove it to you?‛

26

The Diamond Heartstone by Leila Brown

She didn’t like that sound of that. Mates… well they mated. And she

doubted that would be a good idea. What if he didn’t have the right

equipment? Even if he did, what if it wasn’t the right size? That could

prove to be painful… for her. She tried not to look down between his legs

but couldn’t help it. The pale black tattoos that covered his face and upper

chest flowed all the way down his body and even up over his large penis.

What the hell was she doing? She wasn’t actually considering sex

with this cat man. She wasn’t that desperate.

‚Look, I’m just saying that I’m human and you obviously are

umm… umm… not.‛

‚That doesn’t seem to matter,‛ he said, pointing down at his clearly

evident erection.

Okay, so maybe he did have the right equipment. That still didn’t

mean she was going to do it with him. She liked animals but not like that.

‚It matters to me.‛

‚Please buckle in and prepare to land,‛ an automated voice

announced in the ship.

‚There’s only one seat on this cruiser so you need to sit on my lap.‛

He turned the chair around and sat down.

‚Not on your life, buddy.‛

‚That’s fine with me. But if this thing has any problems with the

landing, you’re going to hit the ceiling. Maybe get knocked out again.‛

And find herself in a worse situation than she was in now.

Narrowing her eyes at him, she moved around the chair and sat on the

front of his legs near his knees. As her hands ran across the soft fur, the

muscles in his legs tightened.

He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her back onto his lap.

Her back was in full contact with his chest. His erection pressed into the

lower part of her back. He was big. She could feel the length of him. No

mating with him. Definitely, no mating.

‚This does not mean that I am your mate.‛ She kept telling herself

that but from the wetness pooling in her panties, her body wasn’t buying

it.

‚Whatever you say,‛ he whispered against the back of her neck.

27

The Diamond Heartstone by Leila Brown

The hairs on the back of her neck strained. It took everything in her

not to let a shiver race down her spine. She watched through the large

window as the ground got further and further away. Once they broke

through the clouds she saw the sun. It wasn’t yellow like the sun she was

used to. It was white. Pure white.

‚Where am I?‛ Did she just step into the twilight zone?

‚You’re home,‛ he said, pointing to a floating space ship. The metal

gleamed in the bright sunlight. The ship was easily hundreds of times

larger than the tiny can they were on.

She ground her teeth together. ‚And where is that?’

‚Wherever I am.‛ He reached out and touched a button on the

watch-like thing on his wrist.

A large bed filled the center of the room. Alycia shook her head.

There was no bed in the small ship. They were no longer in the ship. They

were in someone’s room. Someone’s bedroom.

She turned around and around but didn’t see a door. No way out.

‚The door is voice activated. My voice.‛

‚Look. I am not your mate. I don’t know how else to say this. How

to make you understand.‛ She moved around the room, trying to keep him

at arm’s length.

‚There is only one way to tell if we are mates.‛ He moved slowly.

Stalking her.

‚I don’t think so.‛ She kept moving, trying to stay exactly opposite

him. The bed was proving to be a better blocker than the chair on that

damn matchbox of a ship.

‚If we do this and we’re not mates, I will take you back home.‛

That brought her up short. Back home. One time and she could go

home. If she didn’t take him up on this, he might decide to just not take her

home at all. One time. Just one time and she could go home and forget this

crazy day ever happened.

‚One time and you take me home.‛

‚If we’re not mates. If we are mates, this will be your new home.‛

He leveled a gaze on her. This wasn’t an agreement so much as a

command.

28

The Diamond Heartstone by Leila Brown

‚What if you think we’re mates and I don’t?‛

‚There is no mistaking a true mating. No denying it.‛ He took

another step towards her.

She took a step away. If she was going to do this, she needed to stop

backing away. No matter how much half of her disagreed. He said he

would take her home. She had no choice but to trust him.

‚Okay,‛ she said, taking a deep breath.

He rounded the bed and walked to her. She didn’t move. Didn’t try

to run away. She’d made her decision. One time. And one time only.

He stopped right in front of her. ‚You will enjoy this.‛ He stroked

her chin and tilted her face up to him. His lips dipped down and covered

hers. Funny, she didn’t feel any whiskers. No fur. His lips were soft and he

tasted like pure decadence. She pulled in a deep breath. Her nostrils filled

with his overpowering male scent with a hint of a deep forest smell.

Stop. She refused to enjoy this. Refused. He bit her lips softly. Small

tiny bites. Not enough to hurt, but enough to entice her into opening her

mouth.

His slipped the shirt off her shoulders. The only thing between her

breasts and him was her lacy red bra. His hands traced down her sides,

stopping at the top of her work khakis.

‚Stand still.‛ He pulled up a hand. His fingernail elongated and

curved down. Like a claw. The hard nail hooked inside her pants and

underwear at the same time. He pulled down and ripped them all the way

to her feet. Once he finished with one side, he did the other. The clothes fell

into a pool at her feet.

Moving a hand up, he ripped the back and shoulder straps of her

bra. Her last shield fell to the floor.

‚Beautiful.‛ He lifted his head to stare down at her. His eyes

darkened to an emerald green. They were so large and clear, her own

reflection stared back at her. His erection poked her in the stomach. He

rubbed up and down against her. The short fur along his chest tickled her

skin. Mmm… softer than any blanket she’d ever owned.

He picked her up, dropped her on the bed and crawled on it behind

her. His hands gripped her by the hips and he ground his erection against

29

The Diamond Heartstone by Leila Brown

her ass.

He let go of her hips and reached to the table by the bed. He grasped

the empty bottle and put it up to his mouth. He bit down on the top and

yanked it off with his teeth. He pulled out his penis and let out a deep

breath, squirting into the bottle at a full blast for about three or four

seconds. He filled the glass vial about a third of the way before screwing

the top back on.

‚Did you just pee in a bottle?‛

30

The Diamond Heartstone by Leila Brown

‚No. I did not piss in a bottle.‛

Alycia slumped on the bed. She went from revved up to repulsed in

seconds. If he hadn’t had that damned bottle, he would have pissed all

over her.

‚If it’s not piss, what was it?‛ she asked, trying to scoot away from

him.

‚My essence. A very strong dose of pheromones. You know what

that is?‛

She ignored his question. Of course she knew what pheromones

were. ‚And you just happened to have a bottle sitting by the side of the

bed.‛

‚Yeah. I know when it’s about to come and that stuff is too precious

to waste.‛

She’d heard that animal pheromones were a highly sought after

prize but seeing what it really was, she doubted the rumors. There is no

way anyone put that on them. The liquid was yellow just like urine.

Pheromones… yeah, right.

‚Would you like me to prove it to you?‛ He didn’t wait for an

answer. He wrapped his hand around his penis and pushed the head up

and down until a few drops of liquid pooled at the top. He wiped up the

liquid with one finger and turned her around. His fingers held her face

with one hand while he wiped the liquid along the flesh of her upper lip.

31

The Diamond Heartstone by Leila Brown

When she inhaled, her throat went dry, her stomach clenched and

fire raced through her. He bent down and pulled her into a kiss. He tasted

sweeter than the richest chocolate.
More
. She opened her mouth to him. She

needed more. His hands brushed over her shoulders and down her back.

She arched up and pushed against him.

The softness of the fur beneath her fingers required her full

attention. She found his nipple and bent down and sucked it into her

mouth. He pulled a breath in and held it. His chest puffed out, giving her a

better target. She licked, bit, sucked and teased the bud into a tight peak