The Man Within (Feline Breeds Book 2)

by Lora Leigh

  He led her through another opened door, into the bedroom. The room was dimly lit, with dark, cherry furniture and thick curtains shading it from the lowering sun, giving it an intimate, sexy feeling.

  At the far end of the room was a large sleigh bed, the mattress and box springs so thick she would have to jump up to sit on it. A dark burgundy comforter was turned back, thick pillows plumped against the headboard.

  She shivered as she imagined herself on it with Taber, his body covering hers, his hands stroking her. She bit her lip, fighting the whimper that threatened to escape her throat.

  “Answer me, damn you.” Roni turned on him angrily as he moved away from her, closing the door behind them.

  She stared into his eyes . . . those deep, brilliant eyes. A predator’s eyes. She could see the evidence of his unique DNA now, in the high cheekbones, the narrowed gaze.

  “You’re coming into heat,” he said, his fingers slowly going to the buttons of his white shirt as she watched him.

  Her knees weakened as each fastening came loose, exposing more of his tanned, sleek skin. She shook her head, wanting to close her eyes, to escape the power he suddenly held over her. She wanted his shirt off. She wanted to run her fingers over the bulging muscles of his body, feel his hard heat, touch him, taste him as she had dreamed of months before.

  Then his words hit her. Coming into heat. She felt her heart begin to race in fear. She blinked at him. Each breath shuddering through her chest felt labored, painful.

  “What do you mean?” She swallowed tightly, fighting her shock.

  Taber shrugged the shirt from his shoulders, the hard, well-defined muscles of his chest and arms flexing with power and strength.

  “Exactly what I said.” His voice was hard, but his gaze had hot, liquid lust glittering in the jade depths. “You’re in heat, Roni. Your body’s preparing itself, assuring that neither of us can refuse the demand to touch, to be together.”

  He dropped the shirt carelessly at his feet as he moved to the padded chest. His eyes never left her; they raked over her, darkening, heating, as he watched her breasts heave with her fight for oxygen.

  God, she wanted to taste him. His stomach was flat, hard, the well-developed abs flexing as he removed his boots.

  “How?” She couldn’t make sense of anything except the hunger flaying her body. “It’s never been like this. Even after you bit me. Why now?”

  He came to his feet, towering over her, walking to her slowly, his gaze never leaving hers.

  “I hadn’t kissed you, Roni,” he said softly, as he came within touching distance.

  The scent of his body infused her senses. It was male, hot and dark, captivating, as she trembled before him.

  “What . . .?” She shook her head, fighting the compulsion to touch him, to taste him. “What did the kiss have to do with anything? Dammit, Taber.” Her fists clenched as she forced herself to back away from him, to fight the driving hunger thundering through her body.

  “The kiss allowed a special hormone to release from my body into yours.” He followed her, stalking her as she continued to retreat. “A hormone that is only present when I touch my mate. When I touch you. It allowed me to mark you, physical proof to any other that you belong to me. But it wasn’t enough to heighten your senses or your arousal to this state. Only my kiss can do that. My kiss marked you in a way nature won’t let you deny.”

  His voice was rough, deep, almost rumbling as Roni backed into the wall, staring back at him in horror, in fury.

  “My God. You knew.” She almost winced at the grating sound of her voice. She sounded as shocked, as frightened, as she knew she was. “When you kissed me, you knew you would do this to me. You knew what would happen.”

  His hands slapped the wall beside her, his expression turning savage, almost feral, as he bared his teeth in a warning growl. She flinched, her eyes widening, her pussy clenching at the sound.

  “You will not deny me this time, Roni.” His voice rumbled with power, with determination. “This time, you will not run away from me.”

  She would have fought him, she assured herself. She would have moved from him, would have shoved his balls to his throat with her knee if he hadn’t swooped in, his tongue piercing her mouth as his lips covered hers. The moment he did, every cell in her body sang out in relief, and the fury coursing through her whipped into lightning-hot desire.

  Sweet, dark honey filled her senses once again. She whimpered beneath the onslaught, her hands rising to grip his waist, her nails biting into his flesh as the feel of his skin seemed to sink into her cells. She moaned, her tongue tangling with his as an inner voice screamed out in warning. Danger. Temptation.

  Run!

  He didn’t touch her other than with his lips, with his tongue, and they were voracious in their demand. His strong teeth nipped at the curves of her lips. His tongue soothed the slight sting then thrust back demandingly until she closed her lips on it, desperate to hold it still as she fought to make sense of his taste, his power over her.

  He growled. A feline rumble of hunger as she tightened on his tongue, drawing on it, moaning at the faint taste of honey, suddenly needing more. His hands gripped her head as his lips slanted over hers, driving her insane with the hot, sensual provocation of the ever-deepening caress.

  Second by second she could feel her body burning brighter, hotter. Her breasts ached, the nipples hard little points begging for his attention as his chest settled closer.

  “God, you taste good.” His roughened voice caused her to shiver with pleasure as he pulled back, staring down at her, his eyes narrowed, intense. “I wonder how much better the rest of you tastes.”

  His knee slid between her legs, pressing against the sensitive mound between her thighs.

  “Don’t do this to me, Taber,” she whispered desperately, her hands tightening on his waist as she shuddered with an exquisite pain that rode much too close to heated pleasure.

  His hard thigh rocked against her cunt and she wondered desperately if he could feel the moisture seeping from her body. She wanted to tear herself away from him; she wanted to jerk him closer. The conflicting needs warred within her, fighting an insane battle for supremacy.

  “Do what? Make you mine?” he growled. “It’s already been done, Roni. I can’t take that back. And I sure as hell won’t regret it.”

  His lips moved to her ear, his tongue swirling around it sensually as she fought for breath.

  “I can’t do this,” she cried out, yet her body writhed against his, needing to touch him, to feel the heat and hardness he offered her.

  Her head fell back against the wall as his lips trailed down her neck. His fingers pulled at the buttons of her blouse, releasing the torn fabric as the air around them heated with blistering need.

  “Hush, baby,” Taber whispered as his lips stroked over her collarbone. “It’s going to be okay. I promise.”

  He pushed her shirt over her shoulders, smoothing it down her arms as he lifted first one of her hands from his waist, then the other, to allow the material to fall to the floor. It was the most sensual sensation she had known in her life, his hands, calloused and warm, sliding over her flesh, removing the cloth between his touch and her skin.

  “How pretty,” he whispered as his gaze centered on her breasts. “So full and swollen. I can’t wait to take one of those hard, little nipples in my mouth, Roni.”

  She whimpered at his words, standing before him, her breasts straining against her lacy bra. His head raised, his eyes going over the full curves that rose and fell so swiftly. She wanted to close her eyes to escape the intensity of the feelings bombarding her. At the same time, she wanted to be certain she didn’t miss a second of either seeing or feeling the power behind his sudden hunger for her.

  “I’m scared.” Roni shuddered harshly, fighting the overpowering lust with every beat of her heart. It wasn’t natural, this need. She had always wanted him, always dreamed of his kiss and his touch, but not like this. Not this
drugged, overriding demand she couldn’t control. “Taber. Make it stop. Make it stop now, dammit.”

  Her pussy clenched with such resounding demand that it took her breath. She gasped, almost crying out as his lips stroked over the smooth flesh rising from the cup of her bra.

  “It will ease soon, baby,” he promised her, his voice so rough, so harsh, it caused her to shiver in pleasure as his fingers released the front clasp of her bra. “Just as soon as I get you in that bed and slide between those pretty thighs, it’ll be all better.”

  Chapter Eight

  Roni blinked in shock as Taber’s words whispered

  around her. It will all be better? As soon as he does what?

  She pushed at his shoulders, ignoring the cramps in her womb, the moisture sliding from her tormented pussy.

  “I don’t think so.” She shuddered with need. “Taber, wait. We have to talk about this.”

  Oh, this wasn’t good at all. Her body was overruling her mind and she couldn’t seem to rein it in long enough to get a grip on the situation.

  His tongue was running over the tops of her breasts. Sweet lord, it wasn’t smooth and soft like any normal person’s would be. It was slightly rough, hot, rasping deliciously against her skin. What would it feel like on her nipples?

  “You taste so good,.” His shoulders tightened as he dipped his head further, following the inside curve of her breast, tracing the border of lace that still covered the swollen mound. “So hot and sweet.”

  His hands moved from the wall, stroking down her back until they clasped her hips, rocking her against the hard thigh insinuated between hers.

  “Taber.” She had to make him stop. Didn’t she?

  She pushed against his shoulders again, her head falling back against the wall as she fought the weakening lust surging through her blood.

  “Roni, I don’t know if I can stop,” he whispered as his lips nudged under the lacy bra, coming dangerously close to the hard peak of her breast.

  I don’t know if I want him to. She could feel his breath on the tormented tip, every cell tightening in exquisite longing as his teeth then tugged at the material, drawing it away from the swollen curve.

  “Taber. I can’t . . . Oh God!” She arched in his arms as his tongue swiped across the hard bud of her nipple. Electricity shot from the little nub straight to her womb, taking her breath as it spasmed in pleasure. Okay, so I’m not going to be able to say no, evidently, she thought distantly. It didn’t mean she had to let him live after he was done, though.

  His mouth covered her nipple, suckling at her desperately, his cheeks flexing, his tongue rasping as she began to writhe on his hard thigh. The pressure against her clit was destructive, drowning her in pleasure, in desperation.

  She was only dimly aware of his hands loosening her jeans, then sliding beneath the material until he could cup the smooth globes of her ass. His hands covered the naked skin, flexing, gripping and parting her rounded cheeks as he moved her against him.

  “I can’t wait for the bed,” he growled against her breast as his thigh moved back from the tormented mound between her thighs. “Now. Like this.”

  He shoved her pants down with one hand, the other loosening his jeans, freeing the thick length of his cock from confinement. He didn’t take time to help her kick free of her shoes. He gave her no time to deny him. Before she could voice her shock, he pushed her to her knees, following her down as he came behind her.

  “Taber.” Shocked, nearly paralyzed by the needs clawing through her system she could only whimper his name as he pressed her forward.

  He held her still, her shoulders to the floor, her hips raised, opening her for him, giving him access.

  He didn’t wait to claim what he believed was his. Roni barely had time to draw in a breath before she felt the thickness of his erection pressing against her cunt, sliding against the small slit until he found the opening to her vagina. He held her hips, he whispered her name, and then thrust inside her untried pussy.

  Roni screamed out at the pleasure/pain of his hard thrust as he buried in her to the hilt. Taber cursed, almost brokenly, but he didn’t stop. She writhed beneath him, terrified now by the fierce contractions of her womb, the force of his thrusts, the spiraling sensations colliding inside her.

  She could feel his cock stretching her, the muscles of her vagina both protesting and welcoming the thick intruder, clamping on it as the sounds of moist sucking flesh filled her head. She was too wet, too aroused. Her juices coated her thighs, her pussy. The sharp bite of pain should have drawn her back from her arousal, should have had her crying out in protest, but it only blended with the pleasure.

  Her world centered only on the deep, heavy thrusts of Taber’s cock inside her gripping sex. The agonizing pleasure seared through her body, electrifying nerve endings, taking her breath as the sensations piled, one atop the other, drowning her in their force.

  The feel of Taber, one hand pressing at her shoulder blades, holding her still, the other gripping her hip as he thrust hard and deep inside her sensitive cunt, was nearly too much to bear. She couldn’t move, she could only feel, and what she was feeling threatened to destroy her.

  The carpet beneath her rasped her knees, the tender flesh of her breasts, but the minute sensations only blended with the others. Lightning arced from her pussy through her womb, sizzling beneath her skin as it streaked through her body, throwing her higher, driving her closer to destruction.

  He pushed her headlong in her flight to ecstasy, his cock powering into her, filling her, stroking the already blistering heat higher, hotter.

  “No!” She tried to scream as she felt her womb tighten, ripple, convulse. It would kill her. Whatever the sensation, the power building furiously inside her—it would kill her.

  Then there was no breath left to scream, to cry. Her eyes widened, her vision blurred. The muscles of her cunt clamped onto his cock as she felt the sudden change occurring in it. It was as though a small thumb had distended beneath the flared hood of his erection, swelling, lodging against a bundle of nerves inside her, caressing, vibrating, until she exploded.

  “God! Roni! Baby . . . ” Deep, hard, the blasts of heated semen shot into the ultra-tight channel, triggering another tremor, another explosion that left her gasping, fighting for breath as she collapsed to the carpet.

  What was it? She shuddered again as Taber followed her down, groaning harshly as the small caress of the added stimulation kept shuddering through her body. As though . . . No. The thought was pushed away, denied. There were no physical characteristics of the animal he was. The scientists had assured the public of it. Other than the longer canines, they were human. Weren’t they?

  Then she couldn’t think anymore. The next explosion that tore through her was nearly brutal in its intensity. She could only cry out, could only let it have her while Taber collapsed over her. His breathing was harsh, his body as damp as her own now.

  “Roni.” His voice sounded tormented, pained, as he fought to catch his breath.

  “What did you do, Taber?” she whispered, the blurring at the edge of her vision becoming darker. “What did you do . . .?”

  Chapter Nine

  “She’ll be fine.” Dr. Martin patted Roni’s slack hand as he gently settled it on the bed beside her unconscious body. He had finally finished his examination. On the table beside the bed were the vials of various samples he needed. “Remember, she’s only the second known mate, and her body’s been under the strain of it for over a year. Physically, it could be much different for her than it was for Merinus. I’ll run my tests and we’ll see how she does when she awakens.”

  Taber stared down at Roni from the other side of the bed, his conscience searing him with remorse.

  What had he done to her? For the first time since his childhood, the animalistic side had controlled him, rather than the human. When it had mattered most, he had forgotten he was a man.

  “Is she sleeping or unconscious?” Taber almost winced at t
he sound of his voice and the pain seeping into it.

  Doc shot him a worried glance. “She’s just sleeping, Taber. The day has been quite eventful for her. Let her body rest and her mind cope. Sometimes it’s all that saves a soul.” The haunted shadows that lingered in the scientist’s eyes gave testament to that fact. “Have her in the lab first thing in the morning. We’ll run a few more tests, make certain they’re coinciding with the readings we had from Merinus, and then we’ll just wait and see.”

  Wait and see if she conceives. Taber’s fists clenched with an almost murderous fury. From the moment he had seen the attack on her on that damned television his only thought had been taking her. Marking her. Assuring himself that no other could ever touch her again. He pushed his fingers wearily through his hair as he stared down at her.

  She was pale. Dark circles lingered under her eyes, showing the scattering of freckles across her nose in stark relief. She looked so innocent . . .

  Hell, she had been innocent. A fucking virgin, and he had taken her like an animal.

  He turned to the window at his side, drawing back the dark curtains, staring out at the grounds of the estate. He had taken her from her home, brought her to a damned armed camp and molested her before even taking the time to explain the changes taking place in her body after his kiss.

  He had known when he kissed her what he was doing. Had known what would happen, but he had been helpless to stop. He had protected her since she was a child, until the moment she had truly needed his strength. Then he had failed her. He had allowed the animal to take control and now Roni would pay the price.

  “Taber, I’ll need samples from you as well,” Doc said softly from the end of the bed. “As soon as possible, if you don’t mind.”

  Taber pulled back from the window, allowing the drapes to fall back in place.