Jaguar's Kiss (Lone Pine Pride) (10 page)

“Fancy little shoes,” he rumbled, the words rough against the shell of her ear as his other hand repeated the upward path of the first. “Frilly little outfits.” He jerked her panties down an inch beneath her skirt on the other side and Lila lifted her hips to help him take them farther, but he didn’t take the bait, his fingers releasing and tracing down again, bending her knee, grasping her ankle. “You know what they do to men, don’t you? You know how they make us want to strip you of all your little decorations until every inch of you is bare.”

Her second shoe sailed over his shoulder. He placed her foot on the mattress next to his hip, her knees bracketing his waist.

“So what are you waiting for?” She braced her feet and rocked up against him, inviting him in with arms and eyes.

His grin was fierce as he bent to nip her ear. “Patience,
reina mia
. The prettiest packages take the longest to unwrap.”

“I never could wait to see what was inside,” Lila purred. “I love how this shirt brings out your eyes.” She flashed her claws. “If you don’t want me to shred it, you might want to get it out of my way.”

He laughed and reared back to strip it off, revealing a gorgeous stretch of golden muscle with an enticing trail of hair disappearing into his jeans. She ran her hands over his pecs then traced that trail down to unbutton his jeans. He groaned and pulled her hands away, caging them on either side of her head. “I thought we were being patient.”

She growled and pushed against his hands, not managing to budge him an inch. “I finally know what I want, and I want it
now
.” Before she had time to worry about the fact that she hadn’t done this before. She didn’t want to let the fear that he would be disappointed in her creep in, but the slower they went, the more time she had to realize she couldn’t compete with the women he must have known before.

He seemed to realize the flash fire of lust was fading because he lowered his weight against her and kissed her again. The press of his body, the sinful skill of his lips—she forgot her reservations as he pushed every thought but
more
from her mind. She twisted beneath him, aching to be closer, but he controlled everything—the pace, the pressure, every touch.

Until she sucked hard on his tongue as she thrust her hips up and ground against his erection, and all that tightly wound control snapped. He growled and yanked at her clothes, shoving her shirt and bra up to feast on her breasts, teeth and lips and tongue making her writhe and release breathless, eager gasps. He nibbled along the under curve of her breasts, his palms shaping the plump mounds, raising one nipple to his lips. His tongue flicked lightly across the swollen tip, then his teeth closed and tugged, triggering a surge of heavy, liquid heat, spreading through her body and pooling at her core.

Then he sucked, and each pull released another pulse of heat. She whimpered his name and he released her with a moist pop and a flash of his teeth, before he bent to give her other breast the same treatment.

Realizing belatedly that her hands were free, Lila traced her claws over his bare shoulders, feather light. He rewarded her with a drawing pull of his lips, then his hands were shoving at her clothes again. She helped him tug the clinging fabric of her shirt over her head and discard her bra, and this time when she lifted her hips, he reared back to slide her skirt and panties down her legs, caressing every inch on the way to her feet. Then she was naked. Vulnerable—if ever a predatory cat can be vulnerable. And purring.

An answering sound rumbled from his chest as he looked down at her, sprawled out on the royal blue comforter on his bed. “Perfect,” he rasped, reaching for his zipper. He shoved his jeans and briefs down over his hips and Lila’s nerves returned in a rush at the sight of him, large and veined and thrusting up toward her, the tip a rosy purple. She didn’t know what to do, how to touch him, but she reached out and gently brushed her fingers up the side of his shaft, catching the first drop of moisture from the tip on her fingertip and bringing it to her mouth. Santiago’s pupils dilated and he growled, “
Fuck
, Lila,” low in his throat, reaching for her with hard hands, dragging her toward him and positioning her as he wanted, her hips at the edge of the bed.

He fitted himself to her, notching the heavy head inside her and Lila gasped, fighting the urge to squirm against the intrusion. He hissed in a curse and dropped his forehead down to rest against hers, whispering a string of barely sensible phrases, not all of them in English, praising the tight clasp of her body, urging her to open for him, all the while rocking his hips to push in deeper.
Too much
. Lila stiffened, the pleasure-pain shifting into pure pain. She wanted to love it so badly, wanted it to be as good as all the books she’d read and the fire in her blood had promised, but the pain stirred her doubt and she stiffened, a soft, uncertain sound escaping her throat. Santiago reached between them, still whispering his smoky encouragement, and found her clit, rolling it beneath his thumb in a tight circle that unknotted every muscle in her body and wound it tight with a new kind of tension. A building, eager ache, twisting toward something, striving and pushing. He thrust deeper and Lila moaned, pushing up to meet him, his thickness stretching her, filling her until she could feel him in places she hadn’t known she had.

He rolled his thumb faster and her cries changed in pitch, high and desperate. “That’s it, baby,” he murmured against her ear, his teeth catching the lobe. “Just a little more.”

How could she take more? As his thumb worked her clit, his other hand splayed over her hip, holding her steady as he pushed into her with little pulses. He grabbed her knee, pressing it toward her shoulder, and with the angle he hit something inside her and her tension catapulted to a new level, the last of her reservations swamped by a tide of pure, blinding sensation. Lila cried out, breathless, panting his name.

He sank his teeth into her shoulder, his free hand linking with hers as he released the pressure on her clit with the other, flicked it lightly, then rolled it hard and pleasure slammed into her, rolled her under, shuddering through her limbs and melting her bones.

He hilted with her orgasm, pushing into her with short, deep pulses, then withdrawing all the way and driving deep. Before she could catch her breath, she was climbing again, punctuating the end of each sharp, fast thrust with a little cry and sobbing with the force of a second release hard on the heels of the first.

Santiago growled and lifted her off the bed, still deep inside her as he spun and pinned her against the wall, pounding into her, his claws digging into the plaster as rough, inhuman sounds ripped from his throat. She clung, wrapping her legs tight around him as he groaned, driving hard one last time and holding as his body shuddered and he spilled into her.

Dazed, Lila trembled with aftershocks, closing her eyes and trying to memorize this moment. The heat of him. The sweat. The fullness and the ache. His arms coming tenderly around her. His lips brushing her ear, whispering soft words in a language she didn’t speak but somehow understood. The way his voice wrapped around the vowels of her name. The gentle brush of his hand, pushing her hair back from her face. His low, groaning chuckle as he peeled them both off the wall and slid free of her body, sweeping her up into the cradle of his arms and carrying her to the bed to curl his body around hers.

She didn’t want to forget a moment of this. Because she could never have it again.

Chapter Nine

Santiago lolled on his bed, feeling like the king of the universe. The water was running in the bathroom. His woman was in the shower.
His
woman. He should go in there and join her, but it was too soon to take her again. She’d be sore. He hadn’t missed the fact that she was a virgin.

He knew it made him a Neanderthal, but part of him loved that he’d been the first. That she was only his, and always would be. His lioness. His Lila.

Perhaps they wouldn’t go as far as Seattle. Just far enough to shake her free of the pride’s obligations, to show her that the world wouldn’t crumble if she didn’t marry Roman. Over to Billings, maybe. Or up into Canada. There was a wolf pack just north of the border Lila might be interested to meet.

The water shut off and he came to his feet, eager to see her again, even if they’d only been apart fifteen minutes. He pulled on his jeans to remind himself not to touch her and crossed to tap on the bathroom door she’d left cracked open. It swung back to reveal her standing in front of the vanity, wearing only a towel.

She met his eyes in the reflection and smiled. “Hey.”

“Hey. How are you feeling?”

He hadn’t been as gentle as he would have liked. He hadn’t been gentle at all, but Lila had seemed to be with him all the way. He hoped she wasn’t regretting it now.

Her smile turned wistful. “Right now I’m so good I wonder how I’m ever going to leave.”

“So stay. We can pick up anything you might need on the road.”

The smile fell away from her face. “The road?”

“I thought you might be interested in seeing Canada. There’s a wolf pack—”

“Santiago. I can’t.”

He came up behind her, looping his arms around her waist, the terrycloth rubbing against his skin. “We wouldn’t be gone long—just enough time to get some separation from the pride. If we stay here, it’ll be that much harder to make a clean break, but if that’s what you want, I’ll stay with you.”

“That isn’t what I meant.” She turned in his arms. “I can’t go. Nothing has changed.”

Dread began to seep in around the edges of his perfect contentment. His hands curled into fists, the cat rising to press against his skin. “Everything has changed. You’re mine and I’m yours. You said—”

“I know. And I’ll always be yours. Nothing can take that away from us. But this can’t happen again. I’m sorry, but I have to go back. I have to do my duty for the pride.”

“You can’t be serious.” Anger throbbed, blinding and hot, with every beat of his heart. “What the fuck do I have to do?”

“Nothing. Santiago—” She tried to put her arms around him, but he shoved away, stalking out of the bathroom and into the bedroom.

The jaguar clawed and snarled beneath his skin, itching to get out, but he shoved it down. He paced to the bed and back as Lila hovered in the bathroom doorway, watching him warily. “Do you want me to challenge Roman for you? Is that it?” he growled.

“No! No, you can’t. You have to promise me you won’t.”

“Because it might destabilize the pride? Because every goddamn thing we do has to be about the fucking pride?”

“Because I couldn’t bear it if you were hurt,” she whispered.

Rage flared that she could doubt him. “I wouldn’t lose, Lila. I will tear any bastard to pieces who tries to keep me away from you, do you understand?”

“He’s so much bigger—”

“I would gut him,” he said ruthlessly. “You’re
mine
.” He prowled over to her, the jaguar riding him hard, and claimed her with a hard, fast kiss. “Understand?”

She braced her hands on his chest, right over the brutal thud of his heart. “I do, and I wasn’t lying when I said I was yours. Part of me—”

“You can’t offer your heart and soul in half measures,” Santiago snarled. “I love you.”

She gave a little gasp, as if she could actually be shocked by the words. How could she not know?

But he wasn’t done yet. He bent his head, pressing their foreheads together. “No one could ever love you the way I do. I was fine being alone, thought I always would be until I met you. You changed me. Brought me to life. Made me feel like I had a heart for the first time. I only know how to love because of you and I will never stop.”

Moisture sparkled on her eyelashes. “I should go.”

An angry growl ripped passage through his throat. “Tell me you really want me to let you go and I will.” His arms closed around her, drawing her into his body. “But we both know it would be a lie.” She wanted to be with him. He knew that down to his soul. But she was ruled by her fear. Too damn scared to take hold of the life she really wanted when it was staring her in the face. “I won’t make you rule the pride or be anything you don’t want to be. We can choose our own life together, whatever you want it to be, if you’re only brave enough to take it.”

“It isn’t bravery. Don’t you see? It’s
selfishness
.” She twisted out of his grip and moved around the room, gathering up her scattered clothing. “If I run away, it creates an appearance of weakness in the pride, a fault line in the power structure. My father or Roman could be challenged by one of the new lions—”

“If they can’t hold their own against the new lions then they don’t deserve to hold the pride.”

“So you want to see some stranger who doesn’t love this place take over and do whatever the hell he wants with it just because he’s good in a fight? You want all the non-lion shifters who have lived here for twenty years to be turned out because that isn’t the way the new Alpha wants it? You want some unknown nomad in charge of things right when it’s time to decide whether we’ll come out to the humans or whether we’ll fight back against this organization that’s hunting us?”

“I want
you
.”

“There are consequences!” she shouted. She sucked in a breath, seeming startled by her own volume. When she spoke again, it was with careful modulated softness. “I shouldn’t have come here. It was selfish of me to want you, even for a little while, but I thought if I could just have this one thing it would be easier to go back and do what I have to.”