by Maya Banks
She continued to regard him for a long moment, and then she simply loped away, disappearing into the surrounding forest.
Her paws pounded the earth, and her heart rejoiced in her freedom. She kept to the shadows, leaping behind rocks and keeping under the cover of the trees. She was whole.
Power pulsed through her veins. She was the guardian, charged with keeping her human safe. With each leap, each push forward, she could feel her strength returning. Just as transforming to human had rejuvenated the cheetah, shifting to cheetah was healing the human. Two halves that made up the whole. Each dependent on the other for survival.
The human part of her mind cautioned against going too far, warning her to return soon and shift back as soon as possible. The cheetah only wanted to run free, to exhaust herself and later succumb to a healing sleep.
Her lithe body stretched and coiled as she pushed herself harder. Her soul sang and rejoiced as she embraced the wind.
As she began to tire, her human mind regained more control, and she remembered that Duncan waited for her.
Reluctantly, she turned back, returning slower than she’d come. Fatigue rippled through her muscles, and she slowed to a walk. Her breath escaped in a light fog as she panted. Her energy was spent, but she felt lighter than she had in many months. Since she’d run along the African Savannah with her cheetah kin.
By the time she neared the truck, the change was already working its way over her body. She fell to the ground, shivering with cold and exhaustion as the human regained control.
Mustering her strength, she pushed herself to her feet and made her way unsteadily back to where Duncan waited. When she stumbled onto the road, Duncan looked up and started for her. She collapsed into his arms as he gathered her shivering body close.
“Dear God, Aliyah, you’re like a freaking icicle.”
She burrowed into his warmth, absorbing his heat and his scent. He scooped her up and carried her back to the truck where the clothes still laid on the hood.
“I should have kept the truck running so it would stay heated,” he murmured as he began dressing her. “I just didn’t want to draw any attention to our location.”
“Duncan, I’m fine,” she said around chattering teeth. “I’m just tired.”
She sagged against him when he finished buttoning her shirt. Again, he simply plucked her up and deposited her into the passenger seat.
He retrieved her socks and boots and put them on her feet as she lay against the still warm leather. He quickly shut her door and walked around to his side.
A brief burst of cold air blew in when he opened his door, but he got in quickly and started the engine. He flipped the heater on high and then reached over to touch her cheek.
“Are you all right?”
She nodded and closed her eyes, leaning further into his hand. She loved his touch. Found much comfort in his tender gestures.
“Come here,” he said and pulled her against him.
She curled her legs into the seat and snuggled into his side. He put his arm around her and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
“Let’s go home.”
He turned the truck around and headed back down the narrow road as she lay against him.
Home.
She was suddenly filled with a fierce longing. Not for her own home and her parents who she hadn’t seen in so long. No, she was imagining what home would be like with Duncan. With this untamed warrior. Someone who knew what she was and accepted her. Who understood her and protected her. It was something she’d never dared hope for outside her own race.
She liked Duncan, and, she decided, she trusted him. Her time with him was limited, but she wanted to enjoy the attraction between them, wanted to share her body with him, and, she knew, a part of her soul. A part that would remain with him when she left. A part she wouldn’t want back, just as she would take a part of him to keep forever.
“Duncan?”
“Yes, honey.”
“In a few days…” She let her hand slide down his leg. “In a few days, I’ll have to go.”
He stiffened against her. “Why do you have to go?” he asked, surprising her with his bluntness. Was he asking her to stay?
But she couldn’t stay, even if he wanted her to. Her parents thought her dead, and they’d already lost one daughter. She risked discovery here with the poachers crawling over the mountains like vicious, hungry ants.
She couldn’t do that to her parents or to her people. Sadness clogged her throat. How telling was it that on the eve of her freedom that she was reluctant to take it?
With a sigh, she turned her face up to Duncan.
“I like you. And I think you like me. I’d like…I’d like to make the most of our remaining time together.”
His hand tightened on her arm then relaxed, and he stroked his fingers up and down the flannel of her shirt.
“I’d like that, too,” he finally said.
“I want you to make love to me again. All night long. I want to spend what time we have in your arms.”
“Then that’s where you’ll spend it,” he said simply.
CHAPTER 12
It was well past midnight when Duncan pulled up to his cabin. He glanced down at the sleeping Aliyah and gently shook her awake.
She opened her eyes and gave him that warm, sleepy look that made him want to take her straight to bed. She sat up then reached for her door, but he put a hand out to her arm.
“I’ll come around.”
He hurried out and walked around to her side to open the door. When he held out his arms, she climbed down into them and buried her face in his neck.
This was something he could get used to, he thought, as he walked toward the house, his arms full of a vibrant, beautiful woman. The fact that was she was a cheetah would take a little more getting used to. But she was leaving soon, and he couldn’t give her a single reason to stay. And why should he?
She didn’t fit into his world any more than he fit into hers. But he wanted to, and that was the rub.
He set her down on the couch then knelt down to pull off her shoes and socks. When he was done, he reached up and pulled a blanket over her. She’d made no secret of what she wanted, and he wasn’t going to dance around the issue.
“How do you feel about making love in front of the fire?” he asked.
She smiled and stretched sensuously. “Build it, but I doubt we’ll need the warmth.”
He kissed her, long and hot, until they were both breathing hard. Then he placed his finger over her lips. “Hold that thought. I’ll be right back.”
Aliyah watched as he went to the fireplace and stacked logs over kindling. Soon flames flickered over the dry wood, and the snap and pop echoed across the quiet cabin.
When he would have turned and come back to her, she stopped him. “Undress for me,” she said. “Right there. I want to watch.”
Something dark and arousing flickered in his eyes. He shrugged off his jacket and tossed it toward a nearby chair. Next he kicked off his boots and peeled away his socks. He stood there, staring at her, his gaze never wavering as he reached for the button of his fly.
He undid his pants, leaving them open as he worked the buttons free on his shirt. His broad chest came into view, and the muscles in his arms coiled and rippled as he slowly let his shirt fall to the floor.
He was beautiful. All male. Powerful.
Her breath caught in her throat when he began to pull his jeans downward, his underwear coming with them. He paused, giving her the barest glimpse of the dark hair at the top of his pelvis. Then he continued downward, and his cock, freed from constriction, bobbed upward.
Thick, hard. Her mouth watered with the need to taste him. She wanted to lick every inch, suck him deep into her throat, hear him moan with pleasure.
His jeans pooled at his feet, and he stepped out of them. He posed an impressive figure standing in front of the fireplace, naked, lean, power radiating from him in waves.
Her pr
otector. She wanted to explore all her fantasies. Discover his and make them reality. She wanted to fit a lifetime into the few days they had, and she didn’t want to waste a minute.
She crooked her finger, and he gave her a cocky grin before he sauntered over to the couch, seemingly unabashed by his nudity. But with a body like his, he certainly had no reason to be ashamed.
He straddled her lap and eased down, careful to keep his full weight off her. Unable to resist a moment longer, she ran her hands over his chest, exploring each dip and curve, every outline of each muscle with her fingertips.
“I’m here, now what are you going to do with me?”
His seductive voice slid over her skin like suede. Her nipples beaded against her shirt, and her groin ached with need.
“What are your fantasies?” she asked huskily. “What are your deep, dark secrets?”
He laughed. “Now that’s a loaded question to ask a guy with a raging hard-on.”
Her hands slid lower, into the crisp hair surrounding his cock. She circled him with her fingers, testing his thickness, stroking the hard length with light caresses.
“I’ll be more specific,” she purred. “What are some things you’ve always wanted to try…but haven’t.”
He arched a brow, indecision flickering in his eyes. It was her turn to laugh.
“That juicy, huh? Come on, you won’t scare me away.”
She captured a single drop of moisture from the slit at the tip of his cock and slowly raised her finger to her lips. She sucked it into her mouth and watched his entire body tighten, his pupils dilate.
“I’d love those lips wrapped around my dick,” he said in a strained voice. “What guy wouldn’t love that?”
She gave him a patient stare. “I’m not interested in what every guy wants. I want to know what you like. What you’ve never tried but wanted to. If you could do anything you wanted to me, what would you do?”
“You really want to hear this?”
She continued to caress him intimately, cupping and massaging his balls, alternating it with firm strokes to his cock.
“I don’t want to just hear it,” she whispered. “I want to do it. All of it.”
“Christ.” He put his hand down to stop hers. “Let me catch up, baby. I’m so turned on right now that I’m not going to last for thirty more seconds, and if you’re offering yourself to me on a silver platter, I damn sure want to be capable of devouring you.”
She smiled but moved her hands up over his hips, behind to rest against his firm buttocks.
“I want to fuck your mouth. Hard, fast, down your throat. I want to come and for you to swallow every drop.”
“Mmmm, I’d like that too. What else?”
He shook his head. “Oh no, it’s your turn. I share, you share.”
She grinned. “Okay, that’s fair. I want you to fuck my ass. Hard, deep, relentless. I want you to own me. I want to feel you in every inch of my body.”
His eyes widened in shock. “Are you shitting me? Chicks don’t like anal sex.”
She shrugged. “Well, if you aren’t interested…”
He growled. “Honey, you bring that sweet little ass and I’ll fuck it. That’ll mark off fantasy number two on my list.”
“You’ve never?” she asked.
He let out a grunt. “I think most guys get off on the idea of trying it at least once. But if we value our balls, we don’t go around advertising that fact.”
She almost laughed at the hope in his voice.
“You like it?” he asked. “Really?”
She smoothed her hands up his back and gave him a lazy smile. “It’s exciting. Edgy. Forbidden. It’s downright naughty. I love that first thrust, the sudden pain, when my body tightens and bucks, like it doesn’t know how to react, and then the overwhelming pleasure that mixes with the bite. I like it hard while I touch myself. I can control my orgasm, taking as long as I want or as little time as I want. I like to come when the guy does, when he pours himself into me.”
His cock nudged her belly, and despite his earlier protest, she reached for it again, wanting her hands wrapped around that steel.
“Your turn,” she said sweetly.
“Fuck. How am I supposed to top that?” A disgusted look crossed his face. “Damn.”
She looked up at him. “What?”
“I uhm don’t have any lube, you know, for us to have anal sex.”
He looked so disappointed that she had to stifle her laughter.
“Have any good olive oil? Body lotion? Either will do.”
He gave her a look that was a cross between surprise and admiration. “You’re one kinky girl.”
“I prefer to think of myself as adventurous,” she said with a wink. “Now, what’s next on your list?”
He lowered his head and angled to kiss her. Lightly at first, just a touch. Then he curved his hand behind her neck and tilted her head up to meet his mouth. Deeper, his tongue swept across her lips, coaxing them open, then moving inside, over her tongue, tasting, exploring.
As he drew away, his eyes smoldered with desire, melting the brown into a pool of chocolate.
“Next on my list is getting you naked.”
“Funny, that was next on my list,” she said as he slid off her lap.
He pulled her up to stand in front of him, his hands going to her shirt to unbutton it. With each inch of flesh he bared on his way down, he pressed his lips to it until she was shivering.
When the last button was undone, he pushed the material over her shoulders and let it fall to the floor.
“You have such perfect breasts,” he murmured.
Instead of touching them like she thought, hoped he would, he merely bent down and licked one of the taut nipples. Her knees buckled, and she had to grasp his shoulders to keep her balance.
“Sweet. You taste so good.”
He ran his tongue over the valley between her breasts and over the swell of the next and finally to her other nipple. He sucked it between his teeth and tugged gently.
She murmured a protest when he pulled away and reached for the band of her sweats.
He didn’t hurry. Instead, he eased them down, inch by inch until she squirmed with impatience. Finally she kicked the pants away, and they stood naked before each other.
She pressed her body to his, delighting in the feel of skin on skin. His hardness against her much softer body. He ran his hands down her back and over the swell of her bottom. His fingers tightened as he cupped and squeezed, and she tingled all over as she imagined him sliding his big cock deep into her ass.
But first she was going to give him number one on his list.
She stepped away until the backs of her knees met the edge of the couch, and she sat, eye level with his very large, very erect penis.
She glanced up at him and uttered the invitation. “Fuck my mouth.”
Raw desire sparked in his eyes. He moved forward and cupped the back of her neck with one hand. With the other, he grasped his cock and guided it toward her mouth.
“Open,” he said in a guttural voice.
She licked her lips, brushing the tip as he thrust into her open mouth. He was tentative at first, sliding gently to the back of her throat and retreating, but she wanted more. She wanted his passion, the power she felt simmering just below the surface.
She pulled away and stared up at him. “Don’t hold back. I want all of you. I won’t break, Duncan. Fuck me.”
With a predatory growl, his grip on the back of her neck tightened, and he thrust forward, burying himself in her mouth. Her lips stretched to accommodate his width, and her tongue glided over the smooth hardness, tasting, absorbing the rugged maleness.
She inhaled deeply, surrounding herself with his scent, the smell of sex and power heightening every one of her senses.
His hand twisted in her hair, pulling her to meet his thrusts. She closed her eyes and surrendered to him completely. His moans filled the air, and she sucked greedily at him, wanting more, w
anting to give him the same pleasure she was taking.
A light burst of fluid spilled onto her tongue as he pulled back. She swallowed even as he rode forward again.
“Deeper,” he growled. “I want you to take all of me. That’s it. Swallow me whole. God, baby, I’m going to come. Down your throat. Swallow it all.”
His movements became more urgent, and both hands grasped her head, tangled in her hair. He slid all the way in. Her nose pressed against the springy hair at his groin just as she felt the first jet of his release slide down her throat.
He strained against her, pumping harder as more hot liquid filled her mouth. She savored it, holding it for a moment before swallowing it as he’d demanded.
He continued with shorter, gentler thrusts as she licked and sucked every drop from his skin. His grip on her head eased, and finally, he pulled away from her.
She looked up to see him staring down at her, desire and deep satisfaction mirrored in his gaze.
“Do you have any idea how sexy you look with your lips all red and puffy, wet with my cum?”
She ran her tongue over her top lip in a slow, deliberate motion, and he groaned.
“That was fantastic,” he breathed. “You’re fantastic. I think I need to sit down.”
She grinned as he sank onto the couch beside her. He reached up and pulled her back against him, and she went willingly, cuddling against his chest.
His heart thudded against her ear, and his chest dipped with shallow breaths. She slid her hand down to his softening erection and touched and petted, enjoying the contrast to the iron hardness of just a few minutes ago.
“Not so impressive now is it?” he said with a grunt.
She laughed. “You men are so hung up on your appendages. It’s still quite impressive,” she consoled.
His chest shook with laughter. “Still want it up your ass?”
A light shiver raced over her skin as she stroked and caressed his balls. She glanced up at him. “Imagine how tight I’ll feel. Like you can’t even get inside me. For just that moment when my body resists your invasion and then when it gives way and you’re balls deep in my ass. So tell me, do you still want up my ass?”
