by Bianca D’Arc
No, it was jumping in where angels feared to tread, flinging itself at a man that the whole world wanted. Only, he was telling her that he wanted her. Just her. For the rest of her life.
That was as magical as the rest of him, and she couldn’t find the strength to resist any longer. Instead, she dove in head-first, kissing him back and then touching him all over, wanting to know every last inch of this amazing man, in case this was all some sort of crazy dream.
She felt dizzy for a moment, as if she was at the center of a whirlwind with only Ren anchoring her in reality. She opened her eyes the tiniest bit to find he had lifted her into his arms and was walking into the house. He was taking her somewhere, and frankly, all she could hope for, at the moment, was that wherever they ended up, there was a bed. Or a soft spot on the floor. Or a table. Anyplace he could put her down and ravish her. She was getting desperate.
She shut her eyes again and gave herself up to the moment as his kiss went on and on. It occurred to her that he must be pretty talented to be able to carry her, kiss her and actually find where he was going all at the same time, but then, he did something with his tongue that made all thought flee from her mind.
The sensation of a soft mattress beneath her brought momentary clarity, as did the cessation of kissing. She opened her eyes again to find herself on a bed—thank goodness! In a room that was decidedly masculine, but also sensuous, with soft fabrics on the bed beneath her fingers and rich colors of forest green and lustrous golden brown. Satin and silk. Leather and wood on the surrounding furnishings, and a discreet entertainment center on the wall opposite the enormous bed with sleek electronics and a giant screen.
Ren watched movies in bed? She wasn’t surprised, given his chosen profession.
Then, there was no more time to think as Ren’s lips returned to hers and his hands lowered to her clothing, making short work of the soft top and pants she’d been wearing. Her underthings followed more slowly as he stretched out the final step of undressing her, kissing his way down her body, his lips never leaving her skin for more than a moment as he uncovered her breasts, then lower.
He lingered over her tender spots, sucking and nipping at her most sensitive skin until she moaned. She wanted to touch him in return, but he stilled her fingers, capturing both of her hands in his.
“I can’t let you touch me right now, sweet Kat, or this will all be over way too soon. I’ve been dreaming about this, about you, for a long time,” he whispered against her skin.
She felt every word as a puff of warm air over her body. Between the physical sensations and the impact of what he was saying, she shivered. She knew longing. She’d been feeling it ever since she’d met him, if she was honest.
Oh, she’d admired his image on the screen. He was too handsome not to turn her head. But it hadn’t been until she’d met him in person that she began to feel this magnetic attraction. She’d been drawn to him. She suspected many women had felt that same pull, but if what he’d been telling her was true—and she had no reason to doubt his words, except her own insecurities—he’d felt the same attraction toward her.
He could have any woman he wanted, but for whatever reason, he wanted her. He’d shared some amazing secrets with her, and she had to believe that meant he was more serious than she might otherwise expect. She didn’t believe he went around showing his home and his amazing secret magical abilities to every woman who shared his bed.
She didn’t know exactly what it all meant at the moment, but it was too late to puzzle anything out while her brain was melting from pleasure. She’d be able to think about things…later. Much, much later.
She was naked, and Ren’s skin was hot against her straining body. He was kissing her again and moving closer until she felt the length of him against her body. He felt magnificent.
She wanted to touch, but he stopped her each time she moved her hands toward him. Frustration built along with her passion, but what he was doing to her with his mouth and talented fingers was enough to keep her distracted. Next time, she promised herself, she wouldn’t let him block her. She would get her chance to touch Ren the way she wanted, even if she had to plan a sneak attack on his bod.
Chuckling inwardly at the image in her mind, she smiled up at him as he rose over her. Ren’s head tilted to one side, as if considering her expression, and his eyes narrowed.
“What’s put such a smile on that pretty face of yours, eh?” he asked.
“Oh, you’ll find out…eventually.”
He grinned, using the tips of his fingers to tickle her waist as she began to laugh. “You want to tease? I advise you, it isn’t wise to tease a jaguar.”
“No?” she asked, breathless as he eased off tickling her. “But it seems like such fun.”
He seemed to ponder that for a moment. “I guess it all depends on the nature of the teasing, now that I think about it.” Green fire leapt in his eyes as he gazed at her. “Of course, teasing can go both ways.” He leaned down and nipped her shoulder, just hard enough to make her jump, but not in a painful way. Actually, the little nip was oddly exciting.
His lips trailed downward from her shoulder, over her chest. He paused to lap at her nipples, making her moan in delight. Then, he moved lower.
Parting her legs with his hands, he combed his fingers through the fine fringe that covered her most intimate places, parting and presenting her for his mouth. When his tongue touched the little sensitive nub between her thighs, she went off like a skyrocket, her body convulsing with pleasure as animalistic sounds issued from her throat. Damn, that felt good.
But he wasn’t done. He rode her through the pleasure, and she wasn’t even aware of it when he moved to cover her again. She felt it when the tip of his erection nudged at her opening, and her eyes blinked open in surprise to find him over her, his gaze meeting her startled eyes even as his body claimed hers.
He slid in, gently at first, testing the path, as it were. It felt marvelous, and she encouraged him silently, moving her hips to meet him. She wanted him so badly!
He didn’t make her wait, sliding home and pausing to let her adjust. Her breath left in a whoosh as he claimed her fully, her body accepting him as if she’d been made just for him. Maybe there really was something to this mating business, she thought idly. Then, he began to move, and all thought fled from her mind. Only sensation mattered. The slide of his body, the hardness, the heat. The way his eyes flared with green sparks as the magic inside him spilled over.
Everything about him was amazing, and she had never experienced the level of sensation she was feeling at that moment. She was pretty sure that her brain short circuited and only her senses remained, even overwhelmed as they were by his possession. She felt something warm in her heart, as if part of her being detached and joined with part of his, returning stronger and bonded to something she didn’t fully understand. Or, perhaps, she was just getting fanciful with all this talk of magic and other impossible things.
Ren’s pace increased, and her passion rose ever higher, reaching for something she wasn’t sure she could reach. It was almost scary how high he pushed her. The sensations rocked her world, making all memories of lovemaking with anybody else dim to nothingness by comparison. This was something totally out of her experience, and when he reached that ultimate crescendo, he took her with him into a sparkling fountain of desire that sizzled and exploded into a place she’d never even known existed. A place of unspeakable pleasure that made her body shiver and shake, even as her soul soared.
Ren held her through it all, stroking her hair after the crisis had abated, raining little kisses down on her as he cuddled her close. She felt so warm and protected. So…loved.
Incredibly. Wonderfully. Amazingly. Loved.
Chapter Sixteen
Time ceased to have meaning in the hours that followed. They would rise to eat, get cleaned up and then make love again. They made love in the shower, in the giant bathtub that easily fit them both. They made love in every room in Ren’s swa
nky house. Food appeared on the doorstep every few hours during the day, apparently delivered by some kind soul on the island who was thinking more clearly than they were.
Eating dinner the second day at Ren’s house, they sat at the dining room table, which had a gorgeous view out the front of the house, toward the ocean. Katrina still ate relatively little compared to Ren, and it still amazed her how much he could eat.
“I suppose that has something to do with your ability to shape-change?” She pointed toward his heaping plate of food as he looked up at her, a question in those startling green eyes.
“Shift. Shapeshift,” he corrected her. “We call ourselves shapeshifters, or just shifters for short. And yeah, we need a lot of energy to fuel our shifts, so we eat more than regular folk.”
“So, is everyone on the cast a shifter, then?” she asked, lingering over a breadstick. She’d finished eating already, but of course, Ren was still shoveling it in. She watched him indulgently.
“Not everyone,” he told her, pausing to send her a grin. “Just most of us.”
“Does that include the director?”
“Sonia?” Ren seemed surprised by the question. “No, she’s not a shifter, but there is something different about her. She’s allied with Mark, and by extension with our entire Clan. He’s the one who asked me to do the movie with her, to help get her career off the ground.”
“Why would Mark want to help an up-and-coming film director?” Katrina wondered aloud. “I don’t recall ever hearing that Pepard Industries was that involved with Hollywood.”
“It’s not, though my presence in the Clan has led a lot of others astray—as Mark would jokingly say—into acting, in recent years. Now that Nick has found his mate in Sully, there’s even more connections with Tinseltown in the Clan, so the influence is even stronger. I don’t know all of Mark’s reasons, but helping Sonia gain power in the human world is something he asked me to help with, and I agreed. I’d do just about anything for Mark. He’s my Alpha. The leader of our Clan. We all follow his lead, and he takes care of our interests.”
“He’s got even more responsibility than I thought,” Katrina observed.
“You don’t know the half of it,” Ren agreed. “Our kind have been in decline for the past couple of centuries. Every person on this island has been touched by violence and has lost loved ones to the drug wars and the conquest of our ancestral lands. This island is a place to make our stand, to heal and rebuild our numbers. Mark devised this plan, and it’s been working well for all intents and purposes, but we still have a long way to go.”
“That’s terrible,” she commiserated. “But I’m glad there’s hope.”
“There is,” he agreed, putting aside his fork and getting up from the table to put the dirty dishes in the sink. “Mark has done an amazing job at amassing both fortune and power. He jokes that I took care of the fame part for him, though he’s pretty well known on his own. Of course, my fame will probably come back to bite me in the end.”
He rinsed the plates and put them in the dishwasher before turning to take her into his arms. Katrina had followed him to the kitchen with the rest of the items from the table to put away for later. He held her loosely, gazing down into her eyes.
“What do you mean about your fame biting you in the end?” she asked, reaching up to twine her fingers together behind his neck. She fit so perfectly against him, it was still a bit shocking.
“Well, we shifters have a different sort of metabolism than regular folk. We have all this energy that we need to shift, but it has other effects on us, as well. For one thing, we don’t age like non-magical people. Shifters can live a few centuries. Most of that time is spent in peak physical condition. What humans call the prime of life. For us, that lasts most of our days.”
“You’re not immortal, though, right?” The thought floored her.
Ren shook his head. “No. Not immortal. We don’t really get sick, though. Not like humans. We’re not susceptible to most germs that make regular folk ill, and we generally don’t have genetic faults. Shifting heals us of many things, and it’s probably why we don’t get chronic illnesses like other people. The thing is, I’m going to have to retire from acting at some point, but my face is so well known, that I’ll have to go into hiding or maybe fake my own death or something. I haven’t figured out exactly what I’ll do when I finally retire, but it’ll mean going into virtual exile for a good long while. Luckily, I don’t think I’ll mind that too much, living here. This is going to be my retirement home. At least for a few decades, until people forget about me.”
The thought boggled her mind. If what Ren said was accurate, he was going to live a very long time, indeed. He’d retire and still have the better portion of his life ahead of him, while still being fit, healthy and able to enjoy all the activities he wanted—except going out in public, where he might be recognized. That had to be constraining.
“And…” He took a deep breath before he went on. “I want you to be here, with me, by my side. My mate for as long as we live.”
Was he serious? Was he asking her to…what? Live with him? Marry him? Her heart sank a bit after the initial joy. In light of what he’d just revealed, she had questions.
“Ren, you just told me you’ll live a lot longer than I will. How can that work? I don’t want to out-age you.”
“It doesn’t work that way for true mates. When we’re together, you’ll partake of my inner magic, and it will sustain you. It will sustain us, together, for as long as the Goddess gives us.” He lowered his head and kissed her gently. “I personally want a good century or two just to make love with you. And, if the Goddess blesses us, I want us to have children.”
Katrina’s heart filled near to bursting as hope bloomed again. Being a wife and mother might not be a fashionable goal among Hollywood types, but Katrina had always been a bit more traditional than most. She wanted children, but mostly, she wanted a loving husband who would be loyal and true. If everything Ren had said was real, her life had just changed irrevocably for the better.
“I want that, too,” she admitted, her voice shaking and tears in her eyes. “I want it all. Marriage. Children. Happiness.”
“Together,” Ren promised her, his eyes shining with joy and hope. “We can have that together, if you will consent to join your life to mine and be my mate.”
Katrina had a scary thought. “Will your people accept me? I’m not…like you.”
“They already love you,” Ren told her. “Isn’t that obvious? They came to the house to welcome your arrival. They don’t do that for just anyone. They all know you’re special to me, and therefore, you are special to them. That’s what being Clanmates is all about. We are family.”
She basked for a moment, but then, something she’d been wondering about came back to her.
“You’ve mentioned a goddess a few times…”
“Not a goddess. The Goddess,” Ren clarified.
“Ren, I’m Italian. I was raised a Catholic. God is a dude,” she told him, smiling a bit to ease what might be a contentious situation, but Ren chuckled.
“Our beliefs are not totally incompatible,” he said. “Catholics believe in the Mother Mary, if I’m not mistaken, right?” Slowly, Katrina nodded. “I’ve heard about Italian witches, called strega, who serve the Goddess in Her guise as the Blessed Mother. Some of them work pretty closely with the Vatican. Or so I’ve been told.”
“Really?” Katrina was both surprised and a little in awe. That the Vatican would knowingly work with witches seemed odd, indeed. “Does the Pope know they’re witches?”
“I don’t know about the Pope, for certain, but I’ve heard some very highly placed Cardinals are well aware of what the ladies believe and the power they wield. As long as they serve the Light—the good side of the ongoing war between good and evil—they are not only tolerated but welcomed. These women can do things on the magical plane that the more earthly clergymen cannot. Because, yeah…the battle of good versus evil isn
’t just the plot for a movie. It’s real life, and it’s been going on for eons. We’re in the middle of a flare up right now, as a matter of fact.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” Katrina commented when he paused.
“It’s not.” Ren turned to her, his expression serious. “Just so we’re clear. I serve the Light. Part of the reason the jaguar people as a whole have been in decline is because the forces of evil have been targeting our lands and people for centuries. We fight back, wherever and whenever we find evil. We’re among the strongest of shifters, so it’s our duty to fight to protect others who may be weaker.”
“That’s a noble cause,” she replied immediately, feeling it in her bones. Still, she worried about the idea of Ren having to fight anyone. Of course, she’d learned he did all his own stunts, including the fight scenes and he seemed to have real knowledge about how to do all those fancy martial arts moves. “You’re not just acting when you do martial arts, are you?”
Ren chuckled and shook his head. “We don’t really use ranks, but I’d probably be equivalent to a master, if we did. I help teach the younger generation. We all use our various talents and gifts to do what we can in the war against the darkness.”
“So, Greg is sort of a grand master, huh?” she asked.
“Oh, yeah. He can kick all our asses with one hand tied behind his back. We all learn from Greg. Even Nick.”
She wondered what made Nick so special. “Nick is like the second in command?”
“He’s the head of security for Pepard Industries, but he’s also the Beta of our Clan, which means he’s the enforcer and the might behind the Alpha. Not that Mark is a lightweight, but when they work side by side, they’re unstoppable. Mark’s the brains, and Nick’s the brawn, so to speak, but they’re both pretty sharp either way,” Ren explained. “They’re going to want to throw a party for us,” he warned her with a grin. “A mating celebration, just for the Clan. So they can all welcome you into the group and get to know you a little. It’s also an opportunity for us to run as a group and cement the bonds between both of our forms. Cats—especially jaguars—tend to be solitary. Gathering together here, on this island, is still a bit of an experiment, but it seems to be working well, so far. Just as long as we all see each other as part of one big extended family, that seems to placate our inner jaguars’ more territorial nature.”
