Sebastian Aristide (Bayou Heat)(7)
She gave a choked sound. “This has to be a trick.”
“No trick.” He fiercely held her gaze. The time for games was over. “Your cat has decided to take command.”
“I’m not…” She halted to lick her lips, a fear that she could no longer hide tightening her face. “I can’t be.”
He ignored her ridiculous protests. “You can have your identity crisis later,” he assured her. “For now, we need to deal with your discomfort.”
“And how do you intend to do that?”
“I can ease you.”
She gave a humorless laugh. “Yeah, I bet you can.”
His thumb stroked the line of her jaw. “Or I can take you to the Wildlands.”
“Why?” she snapped. “So some other puma can ease me?”
A blinding fury raced through him at the mere thought of another man touching this female.
Hell, he’d rip apart anyone stupid enough to get near her.
“Never,” he snarled, grimacing as she winced at his feral expression. Sucking in a deep breath, he attempted to calm the beast inside. “Damn. The need shouldn’t be this overwhelming,” he confessed.
She glared at him, as if it was his fault. “Then why is it?”
“It could be a result of your cat being shackled for too long,” he said, his voice a rough growl as he pressed her lower body against his swelling cock. “Or it could be the result of our returning magic. It’s been a very long time since we’ve had a female in heat.”
She shook her head, unconsciously curling her fingers into his chest as if she had claws. “Stop saying that.”
He bent down until he was pressing his forehead against hers, his nose flaring to capture her deepening musk.
“Tell me what you want, sugar.”
“Sanity,” she muttered.
No shit. Sebastian could use a hefty dose of that himself.
But it wasn’t happening.
Not until the heat was eased.
“Answer me, Reny, before I take the decision out of your hands,” he commanded, the edge in his voice warning he was at the point of snapping. “Do we stay, or go to the Wildlands where the Healers might be able discover some pharmaceutical way to lessen your need?”
She trembled, her human mind no doubt urging her to demand to be medically cured of her ache. But it was the cat who was currently in charge, and the too-long suppressed feline wasn’t at all confused about what it wanted.
“Stay,” she whispered, her eyes glowing. “We stay.”
Arousal slammed into him with the force of a cement truck, making it difficult to think as her hand boldly stroked over his chest.
He grasped her wrist, hissing as pleasure poured through him.
“You’re sure?”
She answered the strained question by lifting her free hand to continue his torture with bold, searching fingers.
“I don’t know what’s happening to me, but right now all I want is to wrap myself around you.”
Sebastian cursed, his body swiftly threatening to explode. “Be careful what you say to me, sugar. I prefer to be a tender lover, but my cat is ready to devour you.”
She didn’t look nearly as frightened as she should. “You speak of your cat as a separate being.”
“We are one in spirit, but he’s far more…primitive. Life is simpler when I’m in my cat form. Life. Death. Hunger.” He tangled his fingers into the thick satin of her hair, loosening it from the ponytail so it could spill over her shoulders. His heart skipped a beat as the overhead light shimmered in the fire hidden in the dark satin of her hair. “The thrill of the hunt.”
His acute hearing picked up the sudden leap of her heart.
Ah. She liked the idea of being on the prowl.
“Don’t think you can hunt me.” Leaning forward, she trailed her lips along the curve of his throat. An instinctive provocation that was more Pantera than human. “I’ll never be your prey.”
Sebastian’s fingers loosened on her wrist, his thumb brushing the rapid beat of her pulse. Foolish female. Challenging a Pantera male was a certain way to provoke his most primal instincts.
Strong females were as potent as the finest aphrodisiac to the animal inside him.
Sliding his hand to the front of her neck, his fingers circled her throat, holding her in a gesture of pure possession.
“If I decide you’re mine,” he murmured softly. “I will hunt you to the end of the earth.”
“Is that a threat?” she demanded, her tone distracted as her fingers began to unbutton his shirt.
He gave a low growl, tugging her tight against his hard body.
“It’s a promise, sugar,” he rasped, his senses inflamed to the point of pain.
“This is madness.” She pulled open his shirt, trailing her tongue down the bronzed skin she’d just revealed. “Complete lunacy.”
His soft groan rumbled in his chest as he moved to cup her ass, compulsively pressing her to his rock hard cock.
“You won’t get an argument from me,” he muttered, for the first time fully appreciating the power of the mating heat.
Her hunger was a savage ache that clenched his body, the temptation of her spicy scent drowning him in need.
His cock throbbed in concert with every beat of her heart.
“Have you ever done this?”
He gave a startled laugh. “Had sex?”
She arched back to meet his searching gaze, an unexpected hint of vulnerability in her eyes.
“Have you been with many females in my…condition?”
Unable to resist the sight of that slender neck arched in open invitation, Sebastian lowered his head.
“No,” he murmured, his voice a husky growl. “Never.”
She gave a low groan as his tongue ran a searing path along the line of her throat.
“Then how do you know this will put an end to it?” Her fingers dug into his upper arms, as if her knees had suddenly become too weak to support her.
He nipped her earlobe, wryly acknowledging that the mating heat was only an excuse to give in to his desire.
He would have done everything in his power to get her in the nearest bed without the heat driving him.
“There’s only one way to find out.”
Before she could even guess his intention, Sebastian was easing her out of her jacket and unbuckling her holster to set aside her gun before swiftly dealing with the white cotton shirt. Then, reaching the end of his patience, he rid her of the lacy white bra with one sharp tug.
Sebastian made a sound of appreciation, his hands moving to cup her breasts with a reverent care.
Damn. He’d suspected she’d be beautiful beneath all that starch, but she was…perfect.
His thumbs teased the pink tips of her nipples, rumbling in pleasure as they hardened with excitement.
“Do you like that?” he demanded.
“Yes,” she whispered.
His head lowered, his lips closing over the sensitive nipple. “And this?”
Her head dropped back, a low purr vibrating in her chest.
“Oh…hell, yes.”
Softly chuckling at her eager response, Sebastian leashed his urge to pounce. Falling on her like a rabid puma probably wasn’t the best idea. Not for their first time.
Continuing to tease her nipple with his tongue, Sebastian deftly slid down the zipper of her slacks, eager to feel her naked body pressed against his. When there was no protest from Reny, he slowly began to peel them downward, lowering himself to his knees as he efficiently tugged off her sensible shoes before he finished stripping her.
Then, still kneeling, he allowed himself to drink in her beauty.
She was long and slender, but had the firm muscles of a Pantera rippling beneath her smooth skin.
Excitement scorched through him as his attention lingered on the tiny triangle of silk that was all that covered her. Well…it didn’t actually cover much.
Who would have suspected that beneath all that starch Reny Smith, FBI agent, was a woman who wore a bright red thong?
His cat snarled, urging him to rethink that whole ‘no pouncing’ decision.
Once again, however, he restrained his primitive impulse.
Instead, he skimmed his lips up the flat plane of her stomach, the valley between her breasts, at last halting at the pulse that beat wildly at the base of her neck.
She made a sound of impatience, her lips parting willingly as he at last claimed her mouth in a kiss of sheer possession.
“Sebastian,” she moaned.
“If you have any intention of changing your mind, it’d better be quick, sugar,” he warned. “My control is about to snap.”
“Let it snap,” she whispered against his lips.
“Last chance,” he offered, his hands clenching the gentle swell of her hips.
He knew once he had a taste of her it would not be enough.
Because this is way more than the mating heat.
This woman belongs in my arms.
The unnerving words seared through his mind before he could halt them.
“My last chance ended when I arrived in New Orleans,” she retorted, shivering as his tongue swiped between her lips in a very feline gesture. “I should never have left New York.”
“I would have found you, Reny Smith,” he said, grasping her hand to gently place it against his pulsing arousal. “This moment was fated from the day we were born.”
She held his gaze as her fingers traced his hard cock that strained against his zipper, her eyes glowing with the power of her cat.
Hunger clawed deep within him. Okay, maybe no pouncing, but a raw, pagan night of sex was becoming far more likely.