by Anna Lowe
“Good?” he whispered.
“Real good.”
“Gonna make it better.”
“Be my guest,” she muttered, gyrating over his hand. Driving his fingers deeper. Deeper…
He curved his fingers inside her, making her cry out. She leaned forward, and his mouth closed over the skin of her neck.
“I am going to make you come so hard,” he murmured into her skin.
She wanted to come up with a smart aleck retort. Something like Not as hard as I’ll make you come, maybe, or Wanna bet? But damn, he was right, and she knew it. And though her lips moved, the only sounds she could produce were desperate moans.
The aching need built higher and higher, driving her in an upward spiral. Every muscle in her body coiled while she fought her release. The downpour outside was a roar in her ears. Cruz’s sure motions drove her further and further past her limits until she cried out once more.
“Just like that…” Cruz whispered, pushing deep, deep inside her as she shuddered and came.
Ecstasy swept over her like a wave — a huge, winter wave that tumbled her off her surfboard and laughed in her face. Like nature, reminding her who was boss — or rather, Cruz, reminding her he was a man of his word.
I am going to make you come so hard…
The man hadn’t been kidding — she really was putty in his hands. Just as her muscles slowly gave in to the heat wave melting her from the inside, an aftershock hit her, and she arched, crying out. Cruz pumped twice more before letting her glide gently back to earth.
She slumped over his body, panting into his neck.
“Good?” The word rumbled from his chest, and the sound wave vibrated through her body.
She kissed his neck. “Pretty good.”
“Pretty good?”
She laughed out loud. “How much do you want me to stoke your ego?”
Cruz’s breath tickled her ear. “Maybe just a little bit.”
His tone was light, but his arms tightened around her. She thought of his tree house, hidden way in the woods. The dark, warning looks he flashed to anyone who dared approach his personal space. The way he’d cuddled Keiki.
Maybe her bodyguard had spent a little too much time alone. Maybe he really did need a few bolstering words. Or even more than words. Maybe he needed love.
She pulled her head back and looked deep into his eyes. Her hair was a cascading mess but it curtained the outside world away, and that was good. She cupped his face with both hands and let her lips play over his.
“That was more than good. That was great.”
His yellow-green eyes seemed to glow, and his hands tightened over her waist.
“So good, I might just be purring,” she added.
He grinned then pressed his ear to her chest. “I don’t hear anything.”
She snorted because he had to hear her heart hammering away. “Okay, maybe not purring purring, but purring inside. Like a cat.”
He pushed closer until she couldn’t see his face, then murmured, “Like a tiger.”
She laughed. “You said tigers don’t purr.”
He looked up at her again, dead serious. “They do inside.”
She nodded slowly, trying to figure out how to tell him just how good he made her feel. How secure. How at home.
But words were only one way to communicate all the emotions welling up inside — and not always the best way. So she dropped tiny kisses across his lips, his nose, and the sharp line of his cheekbones. All the places that had been off-limits until now.
Cruz held her silently, seriously, and closed his eyes.
She pressed closer and snuggled her nose against his, hoping the gesture wasn’t too intimate for him. A different kind of intimate than his hand against her skin or his mouth over her breast. More intimate, in some ways. That was flesh, parts of a body. This snuggle, though, was more.
She moved her nose slowly, tipping her head this way and that. Cruz mirrored her movements, pushing harder then backing off and snuggling at a whole new angle. Her cheeks stretched into a smile so broad, it hurt. Maybe Dark Eyes didn’t want to keep himself shuttered off from the world. Maybe he just needed the right woman to open the door to his unlocked cell.
“Hey,” she whispered. Not a question or a demand. Just a placeholder for other words she was tempted to try out sometime. Words like, I love you. She wondered how long it had taken her mom and dad to get those words out in the open. Not too long, from what she’d heard, because there really was such a thing as love at first sight.
How long would it be until she dared utter those words to Cruz?
“Hey,” he murmured, tipping his head against hers.
Outside, the rain slowed to a cheery tap over the roof of the car as the worst of the storm swept out to sea.
She and Cruz held each other in silence. It was a tipping point, she realized. A time to transition to whatever came next. Like a lot more sex, hopefully.
“Oh,” he murmured, stirring at last. He popped the button on his pants pocket and pulled out her bracelets. “These are yours.”
As if her heart weren’t already close to bursting.
“Thanks,” she said, slipping them back on. He watched her, and she gulped away the lump that filled her throat. “I won’t be as easy on you next time,” she added, going for a lighter mood.
Cruz smiled. “Next time, huh?”
“The sooner, the better,” she admitted, snaking her hand down his chest. All that time, he’d been taking care of her. Now it was time to take care of him.
But Cruz closed his fingers over hers — gently, yet firmly — and shook his head. “Not here. Not until I get you to a bed.”
She made a sad puppy face. “Soon?”
“Soon.” He laughed and brushed a kiss across her knuckles.
She heaved a theatrical sigh and retreated slowly from his lap, making sure to bump and grind a few more times. She left him with a long, sloppy kiss.
“You’re torturing me,” he growled.
“Gotta keep your eyes on the prize.” She yanked on her bundled up T-shirt and pointed to the ignition. “Warp speed, Captain.”
Cruz arched his eyebrow. “Warp speed?”
She tapped his thigh, enjoying the rare, lighthearted feeling of the moment. “Come on, already. Vroom, vroom.”
He started the engine with a roar and wiped a narrow path across the condensation on the windshield. He was chuckling, though, and looking like he hadn’t had this much fun in years.
“Vroom, vroom,” he murmured, hiding a grin. Then he sped off, making the tires squeal.
Chapter Twelve
Wolves howled their emotions. Dragons spat fire. Bears chuffed.
Cruz’s inner tiger roared and pranced in delight.
All right, already, he muttered, tightening his knuckles around the steering wheel.
It was hard enough to keep the car on the road with the rain, a raging hard-on, and the soft play of Jody’s hands over his thigh. To have a tiger roaring in his head at the same time — really roaring, wanting to announce his joy to every living beast across hundreds of miles and remind them who was boss — well, that just made it harder to steer a straight line.
The rain had settled into a steady shower, and the slice of blue in the sky was down to a narrow band far out on the horizon, over past Lanai. That wouldn’t last long, though — not with the storm chasing the sunshine away.
“Gonna last a while,” he murmured, worried that an awkward silence might settle between them.
Of course, he was with Jody, and there was nothing awkward or silent about her.
“The good thing about ridiculously expensive sports cars,” she said as casually as if discussing the weather, “is that they can rush you from one side of a tropical island paradise to the other — fast.”
“Not fast enough.”
Jody nodded in agreement and tapped her foot impatiently. She slid her hand over his on the gearshift, and that felt nice. Really nice.
“Not too cold?” he asked. They had the air conditioning on to counter the condensation on the windshield, but even sitting there shirtless, he was still plenty warm inside.
Jody fanned herself with her hand. “Hot. Way too hot.”
Which only ratcheted up his core temperature another few degrees.
He clenched his left hand around the steering wheel and subtly adjusted his pants. Every car on the road had slowed to a snail’s pace in the rain, and he wanted to cuss out each and every one. If he didn’t get home soon, he’d end up stopping at a motel just to avoid dying from lust.
But he didn’t want a motel. He didn’t want to screw Jody in the car. He wanted to lay her out on his bed and make slow, sweet love to her there. Or maybe hot, hard sex. Whichever. And as for her being human — well, he couldn’t bring himself to care anymore. She was an exception, a one of a kind.
Jody sat with her eyes closed and a wicked look on her face that said she was imagining all the things he’d do to her — or what she’d do to him — the second they got home.
Home, his tiger murmured. Home is wherever she is.
Yeah, well, the bed was at Koa Point. He sped up, overtaking another car, then slowed behind a truck. This drive was going to kill him.
I wonder what she’s thinking, his tiger said.
Slowly, tentatively, he reached out with his mind. Closely bonded shifters could read each other’s thoughts, and destined mates could, too. Not that Cruz wanted to examine that possibility too closely — not in the state he was in. But he was dying to know what she was thinking — even a tiny little hint.
Her free hand slid over her thigh. Her lips moved. And gradually, an image formed in his mind. A feeling. The feeling that Jody might tiptoe her fingers up his thigh then creep in along the crotch of his pants.
He sucked in a deep breath. If she did that, he’d be tempted to unzip his pants to let her touch.
He concentrated a little harder, and the image grew clearer. How she’d slide a hand in and fist his cock. Stroke it. Tickle it. Explore from the thick base to the slit at the tip. Then she’d stroke just hard enough to—
“Stop,” he grunted, as much to himself as to her.
Her eyes flew open. “What?”
He looked over and found her eyes hazy with lust. Wow. She really had been thinking along those lines.
“Stop thinking that.” He shifted in the seat before the pressure in his dick killed him.
“Thinking what?” Her voice was all innocence, but her sidelong glance at his crotch gave her away.
He snorted. “Stop thinking about sex.”
Like you haven’t been thinking about it? his tiger pointed out.
She frowned. “You didn’t like what we did?”
“I did, and you know it. I can’t wait to…to…”
Her breath caught as he struggled for words.
“To what?” she asked.
He stared past the swishing wipers. Would Jody prefer him talking dirty or should he pretend to be a gentleman and find some polite euphemism for screwing her senseless?
Be direct, his tiger said. She likes direct.
So, bam — without a further second’s deliberation, the words flew out of his mouth. “I can’t wait to fuck you in my bed until we both come undone.”
Her mouth fell open. Her nipples pebbled under the shirt that clung to her chest. Her hands trembled in her lap.
“Oh,” she mumbled.
“Oh?”
She wiggled in her seat. “If there is such a thing as a verbally induced orgasm, I think I just had one.”
A low, rumbly, satisfied sound came from his chest. It was incredible how Jody managed to push every one of his buttons. And they were still miles away from home.
She drew her knees up to her chest and watched the road quietly before whispering, “Say that again.”
He couldn’t hold back a choke of surprise and plucked at his pants. “You really are going to kill me, you know that?”
“Just once. Say it just once, and I promise to be a good girl.”
“You’re a minx, and you know it.” He couldn’t keep a smile off his face, though. “You’re a minx, and I can’t wait to fuck you in my bed until we both come undone.”
She pursed her lips, not giving away anything. But the sugary scent of lust filled the car, so strong he nearly swerved.
A few minutes later, she was at it again. Thinking. Fantasizing. Filling his mind with all kinds of sensual plans. Like how he would lay her out on his big bed and thrust into her in one smooth stroke. Or how she would fall to her knees and give him the blow job he’d fantasized about. Or—
He growled, looking over. “Minx. Minx, minx, minx.”
“Are you reading my mind or something?”
Something, he wanted to say. “It’s pretty obvious,” he said, hoping she didn’t press him on it.
She didn’t. Another minute of silence passed, and she started taking deep breaths. Really deep, loud, rattly breaths.
“Now what are you doing?” he demanded once they inched through the intersection at Ma’alaea.
“Ujjayi breathing.”
“Ujjayi what?”
“Like in yoga. I’m trying to center myself.”
He shifted up a gear as traffic thinned again. “Center yourself?”
“You know, to transport my mind to a different plane. Like those monks who levitate.”
“I don’t know much about monks.”
She laughed. “Would never have guessed.”
Cruz grinned. Yes, he couldn’t wait to get home, but this was kind of fun, too. Jody made everything fun. Even nearly perishing from desire.
“Is it working?” he asked, going with the flow for a change.
“Nope. You ever try it?”
“Levitating? No. Though my feet might have left the ground for a minute or two while you were posing. What the hell were you thinking about?”
She gulped water from her bottle and offered it to him before answering casually. “I was thinking about giving you the blow job of your life.”
Cruz choked back the water that caught halfway down his throat, nearly spitting all over the dashboard.
Jody put up her hands and grinned. “Sorry. I promise to shut up for the rest of the drive.”
“That, I have to see,” he said, not quite concealing the chuckle in his voice.
“Watch me.” Jody crossed her arms and shut her mouth tight.
He wondered how long she would last, and the funny thing was, that was kind of fun, too.
She opened her mouth at least three more times throughout the interminable drive but snapped it shut each time. He leaned closer, anticipating her words, but she just crossed her arms more tightly and looked away.
“You know you want to say something,” he teased.
Her lips folded inward in a totally sexy way. Of course, anything she did at that point made him think of sex, so now he was the guilty one.
He sped down the road, weaving in and out of slower traffic — in other words, every other car on the road — until finally, finally! — he could take his foot off the pedal and let the car coast down the driveway to Koa Point. Cruz grabbed his shirt but didn’t put it on. Jody, meanwhile, straightened her shirt and bundled up the rest of her things before stepping out of the car. They both slammed the doors behind them and stood peering out from under the roof of the garage.
“Gonna have to run for it,” he murmured, watching the pelting rain.
She laughed. “I’m getting good at that. You, too.”
He had to work hard to hide his smile, but when she sidled up beside him and ran a hand up his chest, his mood became serious again. Where was all this leading? He was falling for her, hard and fast. Breaking every cardinal rule of a warrior who didn’t mess around, especially not with his heart.
She took both his hands, telling him she wasn’t messing around either, and whispered, “Hey.”
He took a deep breath and rested
his forehead against hers. “Hey.”
Her chest rose and fell in time with his breaths, and the chill that had started to creep into him in the air-conditioned car gave way to her body’s warmth.
“Am I allowed to think dirty thoughts now?” she whispered.
He nodded slowly, making both their heads bob. “Now is good. But first, are you ready to run?”
“Ready.”
He didn’t count down and shout, Go! but Jody took off across the lawn the second he did. She sprinted along, laughing like it was the most fun she’d had all week. And it was fun, he had to admit. That build of anticipation. The sloppy, splashy run through the grass and mud. They raced down the winding path and over the footbridge to his place. The forest canopy closed overhead without blocking the rain — it just made the downpour jump from leaf to oversize leaf on the way down. They both rushed into the shelter of the living room and stood panting, looking out at the rain.
“Almost there,” Cruz said, gesturing up to his bedroom.
Jody gripped his hand and stared at him. “You weren’t kidding, huh?”
He shook his head. No, he hadn’t been kidding about wanting her in his bed. And yes, he wanted to lead her across the rope bridge to the platform that held his big, solitary bed. His private bedroom — though private was relative, since it had a roof and no walls, like the living room Jody had slept in for the past few nights.
“You sure?” she whispered.
See? His tiger hummed inside. She gets it. She gets us and how important this place is.
He looked around. “Well, since this room looks like it got hit by a tornado…”
She play-slapped his arm. “It’s not that messy.”
It was, but he didn’t care. Not about the towel she’d left hanging over the chair, nor about yesterday’s clothes in a heap on the floor, and not even about the magazine turned upside down halfway under the couch. All he cared about was her.
She bit her lip, growing serious again. Was she getting second thoughts about all this or giving him a last chance to opt out? “So, you ready to show a girl a good time?”
An instant later, he towed her along, rushing up the connecting platform to the shelter of his bedroom above. Then he hit the brakes and gave her a moment to take it all in.
