As she moved her hand between them, sliding it down and over the bulge in his pants, he hissed. She smiled. “How about we take care of that?”
“We have reservations with my brother.” Christian wanted to fuck her but he knew if he did, the odds of him withdrawing before he came inside her were slim to none. Not to mention the fact he’d most likely bite her and stake his claim for all time.
“How could you have made reservations when you didn’t even know me? Better yet, why were you in my room to begin with?”
Christian racked his brain for an answer that would satisfy her. He wanted to tell her an elaborate lie. That wasn’t what popped out. “I knew the Powers That Be arranged for my mate to stay with me in this stateroom, so I planned accordingly.”
What? Why did I confess that?
She licked her lower lip before kissing his cheeks lightly. “Mmm-hmm, Powers That Be. Aren’t they the guys supernaturals answer to? Are you a supernatural?”
“I’m a were-panther,” he said before rational thought kicked in. “I mean, I’m a—”
Winter’s sexy laugh enveloped him. “A were-panther? What a coincidence, panthers just happen to be my favorite animal. But you already knew that. Cute. I should probably tell you that I’m a were-panther too then.”
If only you were.
Christian turned his head when his teeth attempted to lengthen once more as the beast within tried to force him to claim Winter. He wouldn’t take her until he knew for sure he could spend his life with a human mate, even if she did become immortal by the will of the gods.
As she cupped his clothed cock, he moved his hand to cover hers. It skimmed her belly and flashes of what it would be like to see her swollen with his children struck him with a force that made him sway.
Winter had him unbuttoned before he could protest and her cool hand wrapped around his hot cock. She stroked him, nicking away at his resistance. “Just a quickie,” she whispered, tracing the edges of his mouth with her tongue. “Just to get you some release as well.”
“Winter, I can’t.”
“I’ve had all my shots, baby, so it’s safe.”
Baby? Had she really just addressed him with a pet name?
She cupped his sac gently, massaging his balls and bringing him dangerously close to coming. “Come on, Christian. Use me to get off. I want you in me.”
As he went to protest, Winter slid down over his cock, taking him deep within her pussy as she sat on his thighs. His jaw clenched as her tight sheath gripped him. He lost his train of thought, focusing instead on how perfectly they fit together.
Winter clawed at his upper back. “Ah, too big.”
Christian reached between their bodies and found her clit. Rubbing it, he refrained from inserting his shaft all the way until he felt her pussy relaxing a bit for him. “Mmm.”
She still clung to him, digging her nails into his upper back as she bit down on his shoulder. He began to pump in and out of her, increasing his thrusts until he’d struck a rhythm that suited them both.
She was so tight.
So perfect.
So his.
Mine.
The beast within surged to the surface. His teeth lengthened again and he found himself leaping to his feet, taking her with him as he sniffed her neck. He buried his face in her hair as he fucked her hard against the wall. He knew an orgasm was building within her and his wasn’t far off either. As his balls drew up, Christian bit down, breaking her skin. Something pinched on his shoulder. His cum shot into her, filling her clenching pussy as the coppery sweet taste of her blood filled his mouth.
Mine.
He continued to pump, using her sweet pussy to wring his cock dry. His mind fuzzed as he lost himself in the moment. Before he knew it he was licking her neck, magically healing the bite mark and drawing his sated cock from her wet hold.
“Ohmygod, I bit you,” Winter said, her voice barely above a whisper. “I bit you and made you bleed. Christian, I’m so sorry. I’ve never lost control like—”
Drew blood?
Slowly, his mind cleared. As the realization of what he’d done began to sink in, his stomach clenched. Not only did he spill his seed inside her as he’d bitten her, she’d also bitten him. The act effectively claimed her as his mate, his wife. It was an unbreakable bond. Winter was now his for all eternity. The knowledge soothed something that had been aching in his chest.
My heart.
“I bit you. Ohmygod.” She tried to push free of his hold. Her fear, her uncertainty radiated off her.
Christian refused to let her down. “Shhh, ma chérie. It was natural. Neither of us had any control.”
A lone tear danced down her cheek. He kissed it away before capturing her lips with his own. He would worry about what he’d done later. Now the overwhelming need to make sure Winter held no regret took priority.
Shaking her head, she still managed to kiss him while protesting what had taken place. Christian chuckled, lacing his tongue around hers and sucking gently. His cock twitched, hardening once more. Apparently, it wanted more of Winter as well. Who was he to argue?
He broke their kiss. Winter moaned and tried to hug him as he turned her to face the wall. Planting tiny kisses on her golden shoulders, Christian nudged the cleft of her ass with his cock. “Mmm, can you feel that?”
A tiny whimper escaped her. “I bit you.”
“You loved me, ma chérie.”
Loved me?
She pressed her ass against him and tipped her head back. A tiny smile greeted him. “Yes,” she said, blinking slowly. “I loved you.”
His heart beat madly at her confession. Needing to force his mind from it, Christian rubbed his cock in her wet cleft and cupped the back of her neck, directing her attention to the wall. He would fuck her out of his system enough to allow him to think clearly. He parted her ass cheeks with his cock and found he was a hair too tall to take her from behind while standing. Not wanting to admit defeat, Christian snaked one arm around Winter’s waist, lifting her with ease.
He positioned her just right, leaving the head of his cock pressed to her anus. Their combined juices soaked her there. Christian leaned forward, holding back on entering as he inhaled his mate’s scent. “Let me love you,” he whispered, shocking himself again.
Winter moaned, grinding her ass against his cock, causing him to enter her. Two quick pops later and he could scarcely breathe for fear of coming. Her ass held him tight. So tight that the idea of moving even an inch left him positive he would lose control and come.
Winter let out a sultry laugh. “Is this how you love me? You don’t even move once you fill me with your huge cock?”
He knew she was goading him, trying to get him to fuck her like a crazed man. In time, he would. Not now. Not the first time he sampled her ass. He kissed her shoulder and began to move slowly, in and out. “Non, ma chérie, this,” he reached down, finding her clit and rubbing it as he continued to fuck her ass, “this is how.”
She rode his hand as he held her, pressed to the wall, pinned in place by his cock. “Christian!”
His balls drew up, signifying how close to the edge of culmination he was. He rubbed her clit faster, working it with a steady rhythm as he found paradise in his mate’s body. She cried out, going rigid and he knew she was coming. Thrusting hard and fast, he didn’t fight as his orgasm struck, jetting seed into her warm, tight ass. Sated for the moment but not wanting to let his mate go just yet, Christian put his lips to her shoulder and kissed gently. “Je t’aime.”
He meant it. He did love her as the Powers that Be knew he would.
“We should shower, mate,” he said, his voice low as he withdrew his cock from her soaked ass.
Winter twisted in his arms and he instantly embraced her. “Christian, why do you keep calling me that?”
Drawing in a deep breath, he prepared himself as best he could for her rejection. “Because that is what you are to me. I spoke the truth when I told you the Powers That B
e had their hand in the two of us finding one another. When I entered you,” he kissed the tip of her nose and cupped her face, “then spilled my seed inside your body as I bit you, I claimed you as my mate—my wife.”
He closed his eyes, waiting for her objections. When she pressed her lips to his, he peeked out of one eye to find her smiling. His brow furrowed. “You’re not upset with me?”
She shook her head, still smiling. “I bit you too, remember?”
“Winter?”
Rolling her eyes, she nipped playfully at his lips. “Christian, I’m trying to point out that I claimed you too. I can’t be mad at you for being my destiny.”
“You do not mind being tied to me for all eternity, forsaking all others for me?”
She swallowed hard and he instantly picked up on her regret. It hit him like a ton of bricks. Christian tried to pull away but Winter held his cheeks. “Don’t go.”
“I should have explained it all to you. I shouldn’t have just claimed you.”
Her mouth fell open in shock.
“I tried to tell you sooner, mon sucré, but you kept distracting me with this delicious body of yours. The Powers That Be—”
“Ah yeah, yeah, Powers That Be, mating, got it,” Winter rushed, quieting him. “Are you telling me you’re really a were-panther?”
He nodded.
She kissed him passionately before drawing back slightly. “I’m not upset about being with only you, Christian. I love the knowledge that it will be you I wake up with each morning. I’m upset because I, unlike you, don’t have eternity. This pairing isn’t fair to you. I’ll grow old and die. You will—”
“Die with you if that happens,” he said, finishing her sentence. She tried to object but he pressed his finger to her lips. “Don’t. It is true. If it were not possible to ensure you immortality as well, I would find a way to give mine up. I would age with you.” A slow smile moved over his face as he saw the resignation in her face and the tears of joy in her eyes. “I am happy this pleases you but I have something to ask of you. I wish to make you immortal as well.” He drew in a deep breath and continued on. “The Powers tell us that the process of ensuring our human mates are immortal begins the moment we fill them with our seed and claim them as our own. While I trust in them, I wish to have additional assurance. I wish to—”
“Make me a were-panther too?” she asked, arching a brow and grinning. Her tone light and teasing, she said, “Hmm, I’ll have to think about it since I’m not really buying you are one. I’m thinking you’re a werewolf. Aren’t they rumored to be insatiable?”
“You think me to be a wolf?” he asked.
She giggled. “Or a were-goat. Hmm, yes, that might be it.”
Lifting her into his arms, Christian headed for the bathroom as Winter continued to suggest all the things he could be. Unable to help himself, he laughed when she said were-penguin.
Chapter Four
Anna sighed as she put her shower cap back into her small travel bag. Though she used soap, she hadn’t washed her hair. She wasn’t really in the mood to restyle it anyway, instead choosing to just stand as the water hit against her back like a massage. She hoped the onboard spa got her list of appointments. They had told her that her confirmation letters would be in her stateroom when she arrived. As for the onboard fine dining, she needed to remember to call and make reservations. There was no way she was spending the entire cruise sustaining her figure at an all-you-can-eat buffet line.
The long, hot shower had done wonders for her temperament, as did the fresh change of clothes. She put on another suit, much like the first one she’d worn—even though the outfit hadn’t been that dirty. Her mother had been a stickler for cleanliness and Anna didn’t find it necessary to break the instilled habit. Taking her lip gloss out of her small travel bag, she stood to face the mirror.
Anna frowned when she saw a black-and-white-striped toothbrush on the little shelf by the sink. That most certainly wasn’t hers. She’d never be caught dead with something like that. Anna had ordered her satin-white electric toothbrush from the same French company her mother used.
“Who in the world would put—?”
A frightening thought came to her mind. Dropping the unused lip gloss in her bag, she darted across the bathroom and pressed her ear against the door. No sound came from the other side. Was it just left over from another guest? If so, Anna would be having words with the steward. There was no excuse for such an unsanitary lapse.
Opening the door to ensure the man had left her alone, she gasped. The man still hadn’t gone and she was horrified to see he held the atrocious leather corset and panties Winter had given her, twirling the underwear on his finger as he lay on the bed. It was almost as if he’d been waiting for her to come out and catch him with it.
“I’ve never been with a dominatrix before but I’m willing to try anything once, maybe twice.” The man winked playfully at her, not getting up from the bed.
She knew he was teasing but she couldn’t help but be mortified. Thinking better than to scream and threaten the job of a man clearly her superior in physical strength, she endeavored to get him out of her stateroom. Later she could have him fired for daring to go through her things, let alone make rude comments about them. “I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t need you unpacking my bags.”
“No need to thank me. It’s already done.” He rolled up to sitting, the movement somewhat seductive despite that fact she didn’t want him in her room.
Deciding to take a firmer stance, she said, “I’m sure several of your clients enjoy whatever it is you could possibly do here but I’m not one of them. Now get out of my room at once or I will be forced to report you to security.”
“You’re funny,” he mused. Then, seeing how her face didn’t change, he said, “All right, I shouldn’t have snooped in your bags. I’m sorry, okay. I didn’t realize you were such a private person. But if it makes you feel better, I brought some special things for you too.”
“Or are you trying to lose your job?” Anna demanded, hurrying forward to grab the corset from him. She shoved it back in her bag. “You don’t work for the cruise line, do you?
He shook his head and grinned. “No, I don’t work for the cruise line.”
Another thought struck her and she grimaced. “Oh God, you’re like the ship’s gigolo! Well, I’m not rich, so you just go find yourself another sugar-mama. Okay?”
“Not that I care about how much money you have, but your eight-hundred-dollar shoes tend to dispute that fact,” he said.
“They were three hundred,” she asserted weakly, disturbed by his hot look. Why wasn’t he leaving?
“As for your sugar.” He groaned. “Ça me prend la tête!”
“My ‘sugar’ is not what is making you crazy.” Anna scowled at him, hoping he’d be intimidated. Nothing she did seemed to have an effect on his easygoing, playful manner.
“You speak my language.” He nodded in approval. Somehow his look said he wasn’t talking about the national language of France but something else, something much more primitive.
“That’s your toothbrush in the bathroom, isn’t it?” she asked.
“Yes, we’re sharing this stateroom.” He looked puzzled. “You weren’t made aware that you had a roommate for the trip? Is that what this charming little tantrum is about?”
“I don’t have tantrums!” Anna paled even more. She could have sworn the ship’s blueprints had their cabins marked as the luxury staterooms. It wasn’t like her to make a mistake like that. She took a deep breath, endeavoring to keep her temper and remain rational and calm. All right, she needed to review the facts. Date with Destiny, obviously a low-end, shoddy game show to begin with, thought a sex cruise was a classy gift—either that or Winter had managed to switch their tickets. Okay, she could buy that. Once she stopped to think about it, she’d have been mortified to have won such a clearly lascivious prize.
She hoped Date with Destiny hadn’t announced what this cruise line sp
ecialized in on television. Her parents would die if they realized it wasn’t what it appeared to be. She’d never really heard what was said, she’d just stared numbly at the camera, trying not to pass out.
“What are you thinking just now?”
Anna blinked, completely unaware that she’d gone still as she contemplated what to do. Slowly, she reasoned, “One of us needs to contact the captain and get this mess straightened out. You will not spending the entire cruise with—”
“Actually, yeah, the other staterooms are all booked. These cruises always are.” The man grinned and nodded.
“Fine, then you switch with my friend Winter, and she’ll stay here with me. Problem solved. So long as you don’t go all barbaric and trash the place, I think it a simple enough solution to our problem.”
“Only no, because then we have another problem,” he said, his tone still light. It was the same easygoing quality that made her want to scream at Winter in frustration most of the time.
“There’s another one of you—whatever you are—in my friend’s room, isn’t there?”
The man chuckled, nodding again, his grin widening. Oh, he really needed to stop looking at her like that! She was normally a conservative person but this man had her thinking thoughts that would make a stripper blush.
“I see,” she said calmly. “Well, sir—”
“Andre.”
“Well, Andre, I’m sorry to break this news to you but you’re going to be spending this cruise bunking with the stranger. Either that or you’ll be spending it in the hall. So what I need to know is would it be easier for me to leave or you? We are not sharing a stateroom.”
“Would your friend really want to switch rooms?” He didn’t look eager to go anywhere.
Anna thought of Winter. Not knowing what prompted her to answer honestly, she said, “No.”
“And knowing my brother as I do, Christian won’t want to leave her room to bunk with me. You’re stuck with me, princesse.”
Pleasure Cruise Trilogy (Box Set) Page 19
