He withdrew his fingers, brought them to his mouth and sucked. She shuddered and he immediately stretched out beside her and pulled her into his strong and warm embrace. It felt incredibly right to snuggle up against his hard chest.
Stavros knew his cock was going to explode any second now. He could smell Toni’s sweet arousal on his fingers, taste her sweet and spicy flavor on his lips. She was perfection.
But she wasn’t quite his. Not yet.
He brushed his fingers through her hair, frowning when he realized it was still braided. Taking his time, he pulled off the elastic band holding it together and slowly unwound the braid. He purred with satisfaction when he threaded his fingers through the thick mass. Her hair fell below her shoulders in a thick curtain. He could spend hours playing with it.
But another time. If he didn’t get inside her soon, he was going to disgrace himself. He started to turn her so he could finally get inside her, but she pulled away from him. He missed the warmth and weight of her body immediately. She fit against him like she’d been made especially for him.
She shook her head and he froze. Was she telling him no? As much as it might kill him, he would never force her to do anything she didn’t want to.
Toni placed her hand in the center of his chest and rose up on her knees beside him. “My turn.”
Stavros was surprised the top didn’t come off his head when he realized her intent. A small, sultry smile played at the corners of her lush lips. And when she brushed a kiss against the center of his chest, he thought his heart might burst from his body.
“Just lie there and relax.”
Was she crazy? There was no way he was going to relax. Not with her tongue flicking his flat nipple. He groaned and curled his hands into fists to keep from reaching for her. He sensed this was important to Toni. She needed to assert herself, and it was up to him to let her have her way.
Yeah, he was a giver all right. It was such a hardship to lie here and let her touch him. She grazed her hands over his broad chest and then moved lower. Her mouth followed. She kissed a path down the center of his chest, following the thin line of hair all the way to his belly button.
He moaned when she nipped at his flesh. His jaguar roared inside him, the creature stretching and preening beneath her arousing hands.
His cock was engorged, the head purple and damp. His hips jerked when her lips traced the turgid length from tip to base.
“Toni.” Her name was little more than a growl. He couldn’t take much more of this. His balls were heavy and tight and practically ready to crawl inside him.
“Mmm.” The little humming sound she made drove him crazy. He wanted her to make it while her mouth was sucking his cock. Every muscle in his body was stretched tight with the effort it took him not to grab her and roll her beneath him. Or better yet, put her on her hands and knees and fuck her from behind.
Yeah, that would work.
He roared when she closed her warm lips around the head of his dick. He reached for her, unable not to touch her any longer. He clutched her hair and pulled her closer. She laughed and opened her mouth wider, taking him deeper.
Heaven. Surely if such a place existed, this was what it must be like. Toni licked and sucked his hard length, using her tongue to tease the sensitive underside when she pulled back to the tip. She gripped his shaft and dragged her tongue around the sensitive head before flicking it over the slit.
He growled again, unable to stop himself. The animal part of him wanted his mate and wanted her now. No more waiting. But he also didn’t want to stop her. What she was doing to him was incredible.
Toni wrapped one small, strong hand around him and pumped. At the same time, she took the head of his cock into her mouth and sucked hard.
Stavros’ breath was coming in ragged gasps. He wasn’t going to be able to stop. “I’m coming,” he warned her.
She sucked him harder. He felt his eyes cross and his balls clench. Then his release rocketed up his shaft and out the tip. His entire body convulsed with pleasure as he came. And Toni, sweet, sexy Toni, sucked and licked and took everything he gave her.
Stavros lost all sense of reality, lost in his own personal heaven. His big body shuddered and then relaxed. Toni released his cock, looked up at him and smiled.
If he didn’t already love her, he would have fallen hard for her in that moment. She looked like the cat who’d gotten the cream. The image made him smile.
A sense of foreboding hit him like a sledgehammer. There was no time to waste. He had to protect Toni and he had to do it now.
“Do you trust me?” he asked. Stavros knew he was asking a lot from her. Toni didn’t trust easily.
She hesitated and then nodded. His heart swelled and he reached out to her. “Come here.” He dragged her over him until she was straddling him. His cock, hard and ready once again, brushed against her stomach.
She seemed surprised and her eyes widened. “Really? You just came.”
He smiled. “I’m not human, sweetheart. I can go all night.”
She closed her hand around his shaft and pumped. “Is that so?”
A sense of urgency was driving him. He wanted to take his time but felt the clock ticking. “Take me inside you.” This had to be her choice.
Toni lifted up onto her knees and maneuvered until the thick head of his dick was pressed against her slick opening. She hovered over him for a long moment with him poised at her entrance.
Just when he thought he’d have to take over, she began to lower herself onto his shaft one slow inch at a time. He stroked his hands up her thighs and over her hips, settling them on her tiny waist. It was ridiculous how much smaller than him she was. She was tiny, but she certainly wasn’t fragile. Delicate but strong.
She gasped as his big cock filled her, but she kept going until she was sitting on his groin. Neither of them spoke. Stavros stared deeply into her expressive blue eyes. He wanted to look into those eyes for the rest of his life.
Her breathing quickened and each inhalation made her breasts sway in a tempting manner. Her nipples were taut and red. He licked his lips and sat up. Toni gasped when his shaft sank deeper into her wet depths. Opening his mouth, he took one pert nipple inside. She clutched at his shoulders. Stavros shuddered, loving her touch.
He moved from one damp tip to the other, kissing and licking her breasts. Toni began to move, raising herself an inch before dropping back down onto his shaft.
Stavros rolled and Toni gasped when she found herself flat on her back with him buried deep. She blinked and stared up at him.
“Put your arms around my neck and don’t let go.” She didn’t hesitate, locking her hands at his nape. “Trust me.” He had to do this, had to make sure Hades could never harm her.
Stavros began to fuck her, slow and steady, building up speed as he went. And she was with him all the way, arching her hips up to meet him, offering herself freely.
The scent of sex permeated the small room. He loved the way she smelled, sweet and spicy and some unnamable perfume that was uniquely Toni. She stroked his shoulders and back and then gripped his butt, digging her nails in.
He fucked her harder and faster. His balls drew up tight once again, a telltale sign he was close to release. Toni threw her head back and moaned. Her lips were parted, her eyes closed and her skin flushed. Beautiful. She was everything to him.
He thrust again and again, angling his pelvis so he brushed her sensitive clit. Her eyes flew open and she called out his name. Her pussy clamped around his cock and he roared.
As he came inside her welcoming heat, Stavros placed one hand over her heart and released his life force into her. A brilliant light exploded and then a rainbow of colors showered down all around them. Toni cried out and came harder, convulsing around his throbbing erection.
She shivered and grabbed hold of his shoulders. Stavros shuddered,
his big body shaking as he shared his seed and his life force with her. He sensed the moment he’d given her enough and pulled back. The light disappeared, taking the brilliant colors with it.
Stavros collapsed on top of her, covering her entire body with his. Protecting her. Toni was his now. But would she want him when she learned what he’d done?
She shivered beneath him and he angled himself off her enough so he wasn’t completely crushing her. It wasn’t easy. He didn’t want to move at all.
Her face was pale, her eyes slightly glassy. “I feel different.” She put her hand on her chest, covering her heart. “What did you do to me?” He hated the tinge of fear in her voice.
Stavros sat up and braced himself for her reaction.
“What did you do?” she asked again, this time louder.
He swallowed hard and faced her, knowing whatever her reaction, he’d do the same thing again. Whatever it took to protect her. “I made you immortal.”
Chapter Seven
Toni was sure she’d misunderstood what Stavros had said. “You made me immortal?”
He nodded. “Yes. To protect you from Hades.” Stavros reached out and touched her face, rubbing his thumb over her rosy cheek. “Now he can never harm you because you are a part of me.”
Okay, she was really getting freaked out now. Her body was humming with satisfaction from the most amazing orgasm of her life, but she couldn’t relax and enjoy it. Her skin still tingled from where a shower of colored lights had fallen around them. And her heart—that organ felt different. Powerful yet light. She felt as though something inside her had been stripped away and replaced. And if Stavros was to be believed—and at this point she had no reason not to believe him—that something was her mortality.
Toni raised her hand in front of her and studied it. She didn’t look any different. At least not that she could see. “I’m not going to become a jaguar, am I?”
Stavros shook his head, his expression unreadable. Toni buried the small disappointment. It might have been cool to be able to shift into a big cat. And she wasn’t seriously contemplating this, was she?
There really was no choice. She had to consider the fact he was telling the truth, that she was now immortal. How did she feel about that?
Before she could decide, the atmosphere in the room changed. The light from the bedside lamp grew dim, as though something was sucking power from it.
Stavros leapt from the bed, all sleek and fluid grace, landing lightly on his feet. He was now wearing pants and holding a four-foot sword in his hand. She blinked, but the sword didn’t disappear. The blade gleamed, and she had no doubt it was lethal. The jaguar tattoo stared back at her, the cat’s expression fierce. But she didn’t fear the jaguar any more than she feared the man.
Her heart skipped a beat. In spite of everything, she trusted him.
“Whatever you do, stay behind me,” Stavros instructed. Toni grabbed the blanket from the top of the bed and wrapped it around her. Too bad she couldn’t conjure clothing out of thin air like he could. She had no idea what was happening, but she knew she didn’t want to be naked and any more vulnerable than she already was.
An inky-black circle appeared in the corner of the room. With each passing second, it grew larger and larger and seemed to suck most of the light from the room. Toni rubbed her eyes, but it didn’t disappear. She wasn’t seeing things.
A rush of pure menace slammed into her, and she scooted back on the mattress before she stopped herself. The hell with this. No way was she letting Stavros face whatever this threat was alone. She briefly wished her gun wasn’t tucked away safely in the trunk of her car.
She slid from the bed and took a step toward Stavros. He never took his gaze off the swirling black hole, but she knew he sensed her movement.
“Stay back,” he warned her.
“What is it?” She had to know. It looked like some dark portal. She shivered as another wave of menace slammed into her.
“Not what. Who.” Stavros held the sword hilt with both hands, the blade angled in front of him. “Hades has come for you.”
Up until that moment, Toni realized a small part of her had doubted Stavros entire story in spite of everything she’d seen and experienced. But no more.
Before she could ask Stavros any questions, a man stepped from the dark depths of the portal and it collapsed behind him, winking out of existence. He was tall with dark hair and midnight-black eyes. There was a cruel twist to his lips, which was echoed in his eyes. His face was all angles and planes. There was nothing soft about him. He wore a suit that had obviously been tailored to his lithe, muscular frame.
“Hades.” Stavros called the man by name. No, not a man, a Greek god.
Toni felt slightly lightheaded. She took a deep breath and then another. She’d been holding her breath and that wasn’t smart. An honest to god— No, scrap that. This guy was the real deal.
Hades looked more like a CEO than a god. His shoes gleamed, his shirt was crisp and he even had a pocket square in flaming red tucked in his breast pocket.
“Warrior.” The god inclined his head at Stavros and then turned his attention to her. Hades pinned her in place with his dark gaze. There were nightmares in those eyes, endless suffering and fear. In spite of her determination to be brave, Toni shivered as a sense of dread filled her.
Hades smiled as if he knew the effect he was having on her and was pleased by it. Toni straightened her shoulders and glared back at him. Hades chuckled.
“I’ve come for your little friend,” Hades informed Stavros.
Stavros shook his head. “You can’t have her.” And then her warrior smiled. “In any event, you’re too late. I’ve already claimed her. Toni belongs to me.”
The possessiveness in his voice sent a shiver down her spine. Her skin went clammy and she felt slightly ill. What did he mean that she belonged to him? She belonged to no man. She liked being single. Liked her life as it was. It was one thing to sleep with Stavros, but that was all it was—sex between two mutually consenting adults.
She was lying to herself. Somehow, someway the jaguar has sneaked beneath her barriers and into her heart. Damn him.
Red fire blazed in Hades’ eyes. The fires of Hell.
Toni clenched her fists and stepped closer to Stavros, not so close she would impede him if he needed to swing that scary-looking sword, but close enough for him to know he wasn’t alone. She might fight with him later, but right now they were united against a common enemy.
Hades hurled a bolt of lightning at her. Toni screamed. There was nowhere for her to go, no way for her to avoid being hit. It was instinctual to throw up her hands in front of her. It was a puny defense at best, and she knew she didn’t have a hope in hell of surviving. But the deadly blast never touched her. It seemed to ricochet against an indivisible barrier and deflect back at the god.
Hades was thrown backward and crashed into the wall, crumbling the plaster as his body punched a huge hole in it. He seemed dazed for a moment. He swore and shook himself. The flecks of plaster disappeared from his suit, leaving it pristine once again.
“What have you done?” Hades demanded.
“I’ve shared my immortality with her, my life force. She is part of me now. And more importantly, I am part of her.” Stavros’ smile made her shudder. Right now, she wasn’t sure who the most dangerous man in the room was.
Holy hell, the whole immortal thing was real. And she had to stop using any sayings with the word hell in them. But it was hard to comprehend the idea that she was now immortal. Stavros had given her that. And all because he wanted to save her from Hades.
“And since I am a part of her, you cannot harm her,” Stavros continued. “If you try, you are the one who will be destroyed.”
Hades clenched his hands at his sides, threw back his head and roared. Glass shattered and the furniture rose in the air before
slamming back to the floor. He didn’t look so suave and sophisticated now. No, now he was the all-avenging god.
“Why?” Hades demanded. “Why do you warriors share your power with these human women? You barely know her, yet you give so much to her. Why?”
It was obvious to Toni by the way he said the word human that he didn’t think much of them as a race.
Stavros shook his head. “If I have to explain it, you’ll never understand.”
“Tell me,” the god demanded. He was panting hard and, if she wasn’t mistaken, smoke was seeping from beneath the cuffs of his sleeves and the hem of his pants.
“When you love someone, you’ll do anything in your power to keep them safe, even if that means sacrificing yourself.”
Toni was dumbstruck. This was the first time in her life a man had told her he loved her, and he hadn’t really told her at all. He’d told Hades.
Stavros had gifted her with part of his immortality to save her. That was easier to believe than the fact that he loved her. But Stavros wasn’t the type of man to lie. He would always tell her the truth.
He loved her.
She played that over in her head, trying to get used to the idea.
Hades spoke in a language she couldn’t understand, but she didn’t need a translation to know he was swearing.
Just then, another portal began to form. This one was a swirling combination of brilliant white and darkest black. It formed much quicker than the first one had. A gorgeous woman stepped from the depths of the spinning circle and into the room. She was slender, but there was no mistaking the surge of power that preceded her. Her hair was black and fell to her waist. She was also wearing jeans and a silk blouse. Toni wondered who she was.
“Persephone.” Hades seemed surprised to see the woman. From what little Toni knew about the Greek gods, she knew Persephone was married to Hades. Or at least that’s what the books said. Toni was quickly realizing that they truly knew little about the ancient gods.
Persephone frowned and shook her head. “You just had to come here, didn’t you?” She walked over to the dark god, totally unafraid. Toni admired the other woman even if she wondered about her sanity. After all, the guy was the Lord of the Underworld.
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