His hands balled into fists and he arched his hips. “Ride it.”
When she ignored him and released his cock, he thought he’d lose his mind. She enclosed his hard length in her grip, but this time she leaned down far enough to lick his balls. With her other hand she found the spot between his anus and balls and rubbed him. The combination about blew his head off.
“Shit. Ride, me,” he said again, his voice hoarse. “Do it now.”
It must have been his plea that did it. She released him long enough to straddle his hips.
Yeah. Oh, yeah. This is gonna be good.
But the little minx hadn’t finished tormenting him.
She waited, gazing into his eyes with an intensity that left him breathless, as if she could read his mind and understood the urges roaring inside him like a pounding waterfall, a furious wind that rushed through his soul and imprinted on his psyche forever.
Then, like a seductress, she reached up and plucked her nipple. Oh, hell. She wouldn’t, would she? Demand he watch while she got off in her own special way? He didn’t think he could stand it, yet he wanted it more than anything.
“Do it again,” he said, his voice rusty.
She not only did it again, Keira reached down and touched her pussy. Her middle finger began to stimulate her clit, and Zane thought his cock would blow right then and there. His mind reeled as his breathing came harsh and heavy. Her fingers went slick and shiny from her juices and she pinched first one nipple, then the next. Her tongue passed over her passion-swollen lips, her gaze riveted to his. Need grew in her eyes, smoldering and intense. He wanted to give her anything and everything she needed to climax, writhing and bucking on his cock like a woman gone mad with ecstasy.
“What do you want?” He arched his hips and his cock bumped against her butt cheeks again. “What do you need to get off?”
Her lips parted a little, her eyes widened as if his husky questions took her off guard. “I…I need to ride you.”
“Do it, honey. Do it now and put me out of my misery.” He’d never begged a woman to fuck him before, but he’d die if she didn’t.
Without hesitation she lined up his cock with her pussy and moved down over him like a scabbard. Bliss vaulted up his spine and his cock and balls ached. As wet, heated flesh encompassed him, Zane gripped the side of the table with a vengeance. Sliding soft and wet, her flesh grasped him within an inferno he didn’t know if he could survive.
A growl left his throat. “Come on, fuck me.”
Trapped by the cuffs on his ankles and wrists, he could endure but not participate much more than to arch his hips the slightest bit. So he did. He pushed his hips upward that little increment and his breath hissed between his lips as her wet, hot passage caressed him.
As Keira started to pump up and down, she continued to pluck and pinch her nipples and manipulate her clit. Trapped in her pussy’s sweet grip, all he could do was watch her pleasure unfold and enjoy the slick channel that embraced him.
As pleasure started to climb, he knew he couldn’t last as long this time. She threw her head back and whimpered as she took him, slamming down on his cock with ever increasing movements of her hips. The added stimulation of the butt plug threatened to send him off any minute. He tightened his ass cheeks, determined to keep the butt plug firmly inside.
As their pleasure increased she mumbled an erotic litany. “Oh, yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Yes!”
Her body vibrated and he felt the twitching, the pull and tug as her pussy walls gripped and released him in rippling waves. Her shriek triggered the onrush. He aided her orgasm by grinding upward at the same time she jammed her hips against his.
Climax slammed him like a freight train and he groaned and his hips bucked with each screaming blast of cum. His body shuddered, shivering deep inside her as bliss spread through his veins, his muscles, his very skin. Pure ecstasy pulsed out of his cock as he filled her with spurt after spurt of cum.
Languid enjoyment sluiced through his body as she collapsed on him. He felt boneless. She nuzzled his neck and he sighed and savored the exhilaration buzzing through his head like the aftereffect of a strange tonic. She eased away, but not before sharing a hungry, deep kiss. As she released him she smiled.
Casually he looked to the left and his gaze snagged on an object he hadn’t noticed before.
“I can’t believe it,” he said as his attention adhered to the strange statue on the corner of the bar.
She followed his gaze. “What?”
“I hate to break the mood, but look at that statue on the edge of the bar. What do you see?”
Her gaze narrowed and she sat up all the way and stared at the odd statue. “It looks similar to the figures we saw in the circle of stones in the jungle.”
Dark wood rather than stonework, the foot-tall statue showed a man holding a woman in his embrace. The statue was missing an interlocking half showing the entire body of another figure, presumably the woman. Their lower bodies blended into the wood.
“It’s beautiful,” she said. “Is it broken in half?”
“Maybe.” Clearly she didn’t see what he did. “Look at the base of the statue.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh my God.”
Then he saw something over her shoulder that froze his blood.
Keira must have spotted the reaction on his face. She whirled and a gasp left her throat.
Chapter Fifteen
El Jaguar stood at the bottom of the stairs, his brown eyes intense and icy.
Ah shit. Zane almost groaned at the injustice. He was trussed up like a fuckin’ chicken with this madman gawking at Keira’s naked ass.
At first no one spoke, but then the rebel smiled. His gaze coasted over Keira in appreciation, but his eyes held no malice. Composed and calculating, and probably enjoying what he’d seen, El Jaguar moved closer.
“Undo me,” Zane said to Keira.
El Jaguar put up his hand as she reached for the buckle on Zane’s left wrist. “No, Keira. I think you should leave him there. He looks comfortable.”
She didn’t listen, thank God. She managed to get the left wrist undone before Zane heard the distinctive click of a weapon being readied. She froze.
El Jaguar aimed a small caliber pistol right at her head. Fear for Keira burned a path through Zane’s veins like acid. His breath hitched in his throat.
“I said, I think you should leave him as is.” The rebel gestured. “Get off the table and put on your clothes.”
She slipped off the table and started to dress. Zane’s heartbeat eased a little, but not by much.
“What the hell are you doing here and how did you get in?” Zane asked the rebel.
El Jaguar’s smile held sarcasm. “Haan’s security is not all it seems. He left an important hole when he took that hairy thug Douglas with him. We’ve disabled the rest of his guards.”
Zane frowned and tested his other wrist, clenching his fist and pulling at the strap. “Did you bring your whole army with you?”
“Only part, Señor. Enough to get the job done.”
Great. Just great. He stood here with his cock gleaming with pussy juices and cum and a butt plug stuck in his ass. If he wasn’t so damned pissed he’d be amused. If this story ever made it back to SIA he’d be the laughingstock of the entire organization, not to mention kissing his career goodbye.
Keira could be hurt or killed all because he’d allowed his physical needs get in the way of the mission.
Son of a bitch!
By this time Keira slipped back into her rumpled wedding dress and the flush of embarrassment left her face. She glared at the rebel. “Let me undo Zane so he can dress.”
“I do not think so, chica. He is much too dangerous. I think keeping him naked is a good idea for now.”
She looked like she wanted to argue, but she stopped short of saying anymore about it. Instead she asked, “Why are you here?”
Keeping his weapon trained in their general direction, El Jaguar said, “To take
the one half of La Pasion back to the jungle with me.”
“What?” she asked.
“You heard me. La Pasion. What your people call the Octagon. They belong to the tribe. To my people. First they were stolen by the British and placed in a museum. They paid a terrible for their arrogance expecting La Pasion to comply in captivity.”
“You make them sound like animate objects,” she said.
El Jaguar chuckled. “Animate and ready to be of service, but only to those deserving. When they were put together in the museum, a terrible thing happened because those who put them together did not understand the forces within them.”
“How did you know what happened in the museum?” Zane asked.
El Jaguar’s smile held pure contempt. “I have sources in the museum that would see La Pasion returned to its rightful place.”
Keira looked puzzled as she stood by the table near Zane’s free left hand. “So why did one man survive the event in the museum and the other didn’t?”
El Jaguar lowered his weapon and shoved it back into his shoulder holster. “You don’t know who the man is that survived the situation in the museum?”
She shrugged, a wariness coming into those tawny eyes. “Should I?”
Sighing, the rebel took a turn around the table until he ended up on Zane’s right side. His dark eyes glittered. “The man who lived was your grandfather. He is one of my sources.”
Despite the SIA’s extensive intelligence network, this factoid blew Zane away. The room went deathly silent, until Zane thought he could hear his heart beat.
“You’re lying,” she said.
“I am not, Señora. He has worked for us since he survived La Pasion being brought together. Because he is pure of heart and a good man, La Pasion would not harm him. It never harms innocence. Only those who are evil or unworthy.”
She shook her head and Zane could see she didn’t believe a word of it. Truth be told, neither did he. Makepeace remained guilty as far as Zane was concerned.
“We approached him all those years ago,” El Jaguar said. “When he realized my people and I were sincere about saving La Pasion and bringing it back to the jungle of La Selva Negra, he vowed to assist us. He is a wise man, your grandfather. He knows truth from lies. He saw that our world would not be the same without the artifacts returned to us. Since La Pasion was stolen all those years before, the power of my people has diminished. We grow weaker each day.”
“It took all these years for him to get the La Pasion out of England and into your hands?” Zane asked. “Then why is it here in Haan’s house?”
El Jaguar paced to the end of the table, then back to Keira’s side. “An extraction difficulty. When we smuggled it from the museum in Britain and then into the country, our source was killed by Haan’s men and half the artifact taken.”
“Then where is the other statue? Somewhere in the house?” Zane asked.
El Jaguar shook his head. “We have it. Two sources came into the country at different times to avoid such a problem. One half of La Pasion resides in the city in the jungle in its rightful place.”
She looked puzzled. “There’s a city in the jungle?”
Zane said, “You remember the legend we talked about? The lost city no one has ever found? That must be what he’s talking about.”
El Jaguar actually appeared relaxed, his hostility tempered by the telling of the tale. “Sí. It exists in La Selva Negra not far from where we first took you to our temporary camp. It seems you were well on your way to going there, chica, when you stopped by the waterfall and took a rest. A little while longer with the ring on your finger and you would have found the dark city. The ring protected you against anything that might harm you.”
Her mouth popped open. Revelation hit Zane right between the eyes. “That’s where Haan went when he took that trek into the jungle. He was after the second half of La Pasion and discovered the city in the jungle.”
The rebel’s dark eyes seemed to grow liquid, and for a second Zane thought he saw them shift, their size and color fluctuating. Zane blinked hard. It couldn’t be. A man’s eyes didn’t change like that.
“Oh, yes, Señor Spinella. You could say that Mr. Haan learned there are greater mysteries in the jungle than he could have imagined. Things he didn’t want to know about once he exposed them. He left the city without the male half of La Pasion because his expedition was decimated before he could reach it. His greed caused their demise. His hatred burns a hole in our land and La Selva Negra. Evil damages the jungle in more ways than one.”
“Why would Haan give me the ring? Does he know what it does?” Keira asked.
“He knows. He sent a man to follow you in hopes the ring would take you to the city. Then the man could find the other half of La Pasion, take the ring from you and come back to Haan. You see, the ring was also stolen from my people, but many years ago. It has been in Haan’s possession all this time. He finally figured out what it was for.”
“Jesus,” Zane breathed out. “A directional finder. A compass to help the bearer locate the city without harm.”
“Exactly,” El Jaguar said.
Part of Zane didn’t want to believe it. Couldn’t believe it. But he’d seen too damned many weird things in the last few days not to give El Jaguar’s statements about the ring credence.
“What happened to the man who stalked Keira in the jungle?” Zane asked.
“Yes,” she said. “What did happen to him?”
El Jaguar shrugged. “My men disposed of him. He would have harmed you. Not only did he mean to follow you to the city, he would have raped and perhaps murdered you once there. Haan’s men have no regard for women. Unlike my tribe where women are revered and protected.”
A long paused entered the room until Keira deigned to speak.
“Why didn’t you come for the other half of the statue until now?” Keira clutched the side of the bondage table, her knuckles white.
The rebel smiled shrewdly. “We waited until the coast was clear, as you would say.” He walked toward the artifact and lifted it. “And now I’ve claimed it, I will be going.”
Zane drew in a breath. “Not with the statue.”
El Jaguar’s gaze went from soft to hard as his gaze swung back to Zane. “Oh, yes, Señor. I will be going with the statue. You see, I know you want to take it back to the museum, and I can’t permit that.”
“Son of a bitch,” Zane said with a growl. “You know I have to take it back. It doesn’t matter where you go with it, I will get it back.”
A nonchalant smile eased over the rebel’s mouth. “I think not. You are at a slight disadvantage, no? And I think when Haan returns and discovers you allowed me to take the statue, you will be in a very bad way.”
Keira looked at Zane, her gaze hard. “You knew my grandfather was one of the sources at the museum but didn’t tell me.”
He shook his head. “I didn’t know he was this so-called source for El Jaguar. I thought he was just a thief in league with Haan.”
Pain entered her pretty features. “I guess I should have listened to you.”
“Do not be harsh upon your grandfather,” El Jaguar said. “He has sold nothing to anyone. Any other artifacts you’ve seen in Haan’s home were taken by another thief, not by your grandfather.”
She shook her head. “How can I believe you?”
El Jaguar put the statue back on the table. He reached out and touched her face, his gesture as tender as a lover’s caress.
Jealousy and pure fear spiked through Zane. El Jaguar may claim his tribe didn’t hurt women, but Zane didn’t trust him. “Don’t touch her.”
The rebel laughed softly and complied. “She is a rare beauty and yet I’m not sure you deserve her, Señor Spinella. After all, you would take La Pasion back to Britain. I think she is more like her grandfather and sees the error in returning it to the museum. We’ve protected Aloysius Makepeace and his family from forces who would destroy him.” The rebel’s eyes actually looked gent
le as he observed her. “We will do so for you.”
Keira stiffened. Tears fell from her eyes and Zane’s defensive urges rose up.
“You didn’t protect my grandmother,” Keira said, her voice hoarse with sorrow.
“Keira.” Zane’s throat tightened at the sight of her grief. Frustration and fierce desire to gather her in his arms made him say, “Damn it, El Jaguar, untie me.”
“I think not.”
She crossed her arms, her stance protective to her body and perhaps to her soul. “If you wanted to help my grandfather, why didn’t you—?” She shivered. “It all goes together now. It all makes sense.”
“Why didn’t they what?” Zane asked. “Keira?”
Her gaze returned to Zane’s. “You know. My grandmother was kidnapped while we were in Egypt. Hollister told my grandfather if he didn’t deliver the second artifact my grandmother would be killed. When you saw us in the square that day, Grandfather was telling Hollister it would take time to get the second half. I had no idea what he was talking about because Grandfather refused to explain what the artifacts were. He simply said he’d have to make contact with someone in Puerto Azul and then the artifact could be delivered. Grandmother was murdered anyway when Grandfather couldn’t guarantee delivery on time.” She stomped toward El Jaguar, her face enraged with fresh pain. “Did Grandfather tell you what happened? Did he?”
To Zane’s surprise he saw equal sorrow on the rebel’s face.
“He tried,” El Jaguar said. “We were deep in La Selva Negra when he attempted to contact me about his dear wife’s situation. But it was too late. If we would have known, you may rest assured we would have done everything we could to help her.”
“Even given up La Pasion?” she asked.
Slowly El Jaguar shook his head. “Everything but that. Even your grandfather knew we could not give up La Pasion.”
Zane’s soul ached at the pain on Keira’s face. Did she feel her grandfather had sacrificed her grandmother in order to keep La Pasion safe?
Zane didn’t give a fuck about statues. Nothing mattered but returning La Pasion to Britain and keeping Keira safe. No, if it came down to it, he would never sacrifice her for a statue.
Special Investigations Agency: Primordial Page 27
