Before he could answer, exhaustion overcame her, and she slipped into an uneasy sleep.
Balam stared at Sanika as she muttered restlessly. Telling her he wanted her as his mate had shocked and scared her. Impatiently, he raked his hair behind his ears then looked down at his rock-hard cock. He did want her, more than he could ever remember wanting a woman.
All he had to do was convince her she wanted him.
Chapter 4
Sharp, incessant pressure on her bladder woke Sanika. No masculine warmth enveloped her, and she shivered in the cool air. She was alone.
Finally!
Taking a deep breath, she sat up. For three days, she’d lain on these mats, and she was going to get up and walk! Bracing her hands against the floor, she looked around.
“I need to piss and I’m going to do it by myself.” A corner of her mind held hazy memories of Balam holding her over a large bowl. Even though she was alone, heat rushed to her face. He had done that for her?
After another deep breath, Sanika pushed herself to her feet. Almost immediately, her knees buckled and she hugged a slender stalagmite to keep from falling.
His yell was more of a roar. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Biting her lip, Sanika turned her face toward Balam. Damn, but where did he come from?
Far more rapidly than should have been possible, Balam was at her side, his arm around her waist. “Get back to the sleeping mat. You’re still too weak to walk.”
Sanika gritted her teeth. “I can’t. I have to…”
His voice held a hint of anger. “You have to do nothing. Now lie back down.”
His hand slid along her stomach, and the pressure on her bladder intensified. “No, damn it! I have to piss. Now let me be.”
His arm tightened. “I know.”
Her strength gave out and she sagged against him. “How? How can you know?”
His chuckle was a deep rumble. “I can smell it. Who do you think cared for you while you lay fevered and unconscious?”
More heat rushed to Sanika’s face. She would not let him hold her over a bowl again! “Please. I have to… let me do this myself.”
Balam stared down at the top of her head. Trembling, she sagged in his arms yet refused to acknowledge she needed his help. He sighed. In her position, he’d do the same. “Behind that boulder. But if I hear you fall, I’m coming to get you.”
Carefully, he released her.
Slowly, she stepped away from him and stumbled toward the dark corner, using stalagmites, stalactites, and boulders for support.
Balam watched until she disappeared from his sight. He smiled. She was like a jaguar cub with newly opened eyes -- too weak to move about much on its own yet insistent that it do so.
Her back braced against a boulder, Sanika squatted and sighed. Her legs trembled and she felt like collapsing right there, but if she did, he would come and get her. She would not be carried again.
Even more slowly than she left, Sanika made her way back to the sleeping mat. By all the gods, she hated being helpless!
Bowl in hand, Balam was waiting for her. “I have more broth for you.”
She made a face. “I’m tired of your broth.”
His white teeth flashed in the semidarkness. “Nevertheless, you will drink it.”
As usual, he gave her no choice. He sat down beside her, lifted her into his lap, and poured warm liquid into her mouth until she swallowed it.
When she finished, he laid her back down again. Sanika closed her eyes. Insufferable, arrogant… cat-man! He hovered over her, constantly, never giving her any privacy. Today was the first day she’d awakened alone.
Sighing, she rolled onto her side and stared at the wall. She was so tired. Her solitary trip to the far side of the cave had exhausted her, yet she wasn’t sleepy. But she had nothing else to do -- nothing but sleep or watch him.
The sound of pebbles skittering across the floor caught Sanika’s attention. She opened her eyes and rolled over.
Balam sat on the cave floor chuckling at the antics of two half-grown ocelot cubs. Both of them heard her slight gasp because they froze and stared in her direction. One of them hissed as she sat up.
Tucking one under each arm, Balam rose and brought them over to Sanika. “You don’t have to be afraid of her,” he said to them. “She’s weaker than a newborn cub.” He set both of them on the floor before her.
Both cubs froze and stared at her.
Holding her breath, Sanika watched their noses twitch as they inhaled her scent. One of them stepped closer, still sniffing. As Sanika shifted back, a lock of her hair moved.
The cub pounced.
“Ouch!”
No longer intimidated, the second cub attacked her brother. They tumbled across the sleeping mat hissing and spitting.
Sanika jerked her legs out of the way. “Get them off of me!”
Squatting at her side, Balam chuckled. “Why? They won’t hurt you. They’re still babies.”
Muscles rippled on his naked body.
Grabbing a mat, Sanika pulled it across her lap. “Don’t you ever wear clothing?”
He snatched a cub that was about to pounce on her. “No. Why should I?”
Sanika leaned back against a smooth rock. “Everybody wears clothes.”
He rolled the cub onto its back and rubbed the soft, white fur of its belly. “I don’t.”
Sanika jerked her gaze away from his broad chest. “What do you do when you get cold?”
Turning his head, he stared into her eyes. “I change. Jaguars rarely get cold.”
Sanika swallowed. For a moment, she’d forgotten what he was.
He watched her, a slight smile on his face, the look in his eyes daring her to say something more.
Sanika had never backed down from a challenge. “But you aren’t a jaguar all the time either. You can’t go wandering around naked.”
Again his teeth flashed in the dim light of the cave. “I’ve been in my human form more this last week than I have in the last five years.”
Sanika blinked. Before she could answer, the male cub attacked her foot and nipped her toe.
She jerked her foot out of the way. “Ouch! I thought you said they wouldn’t hurt me.”
Leaning over, Balam lifted the squirming cub from atop Sanika’s legs. “That little nip didn’t hurt you.” Still he caught the other cub and carried them to the doorway. He made a strange coughing sound then said, “Go play outside.”
Tumbling and rolling, they chased each other out the door.
Closing her eyes, she stifled a yawn. “Do all animals listen to you like that?”
Balam paced back across the cave and sat on a mat a few feet from Sanika. “Hunting would be much easier if they would.”
She kept her eyes averted. He was so -- male! “What about the cubs? How can they understand you?”
His voice was a smooth rumble. “All cats can understand each other.”
Sanika shivered as her shoulders slumped. He had to remind her what he was. “Why aren’t they with their mother?”
“As she drank at the river, a cayman dragged her under. I couldn’t let them die.”
Sanika blinked, fighting to keep her eyes open. Male jaguars didn’t care about cubs. Sometimes they even killed them. But Balam had adopted two orphans of another species and was raising them. He wasn’t completely without humanity then.
A yawn escaped.
Gently, he pressed down on her shoulder. “Sleep. You’re still weak.”
She fought to remain upright.
Another yawn.
Grumbling, Sanika slid down onto the mat. “Sleep, you say. All I do is sleep. I’m tired of sleeping.” Her eyes closed.
After a deep sigh, she lost her battle.
Raking his hair behind his ears, Balam watched Sanika’s breathing deepen. Healing scabs covered her cuts and she was getting stronger. Time to give her something more than broth with a sleeping potion to eat.
Chapt
er 5
Dust motes dipped and whirled in the ray of sunlight that danced its way up Sanika’s body. When it reached her face, she wrinkled her nose and squeezed her eyes shut more tightly. She was having the most wonderful dream…
A black-haired boy played at her side while she nursed another at her breast. As midwife, she’d attended the births of many children, rejoicing at every healthy birth. Deep in her heart, though, she’d dreamed of having her own child, something that was denied to her as a priestess. These dreams of having her own children were few, and she relished each one.
She didn’t want to wake up now!
When Balam appeared in her dream and gathered both her and the child she nursed into his arms, she woke abruptly.
Blinking from the bright sunlight in her eyes, she rolled to her side.
He sat a few feet away, cutting a piece of wood with a knife.
Wrapped around each other like a large, spotted ball, the ocelot cubs slept at his side.
“What are you doing?”
He looked up and smiled. “Carving.”
“Why?”
He gestured toward her. “I didn’t weave the mat you sleep on, nor did I make the bowls I use. I can’t walk into a village to trade, so I take what I need and leave these carvings in payment.”
Slivers of wood fell to the floor as Sanika watched. Over the years, stories had reached the temple of small carvings found in the places of missing possessions. Now she knew their origin.
The muscles on his chest rippled as he worked.
She concentrated on his hands. “What are you carving now?”
“A comb for you.”
Her gaze leaped to his face. “For me? Why?”
He shrugged. “I thought you would like to take a bath and be able to comb your hair.”
Sanika pushed herself into a sitting position. “A bath. Where? How? Do you mean it?”
Smiling, he nodded. “Another cave attached to this one has hot springs and pools. One is both deep enough and cool enough to use for bathing.”
Sanika hugged herself. A bath! Just the thought of being clean of the dirt and stench from her body raised her spirits higher than they had been in days.
Bracing her hand on the boulder behind her, she pushed herself to her feet. “Show me this pool. Now.”
She took a step and swayed.
In the blink of an eye, Balam was at her side. He steadied her against his body -- his warm, muscular body. “Careful. You’re still weak. Sit.”
Her eyes closed, Sanika tried to regain her balance as he guided her to a low boulder. She sat, flinching slightly when her bare ass came into contact with the cool stone.
“Here, drink this.” He held out a small, dark bowl filled with liquid.
Sanika cupped it in her hands, lifted it to her nose, and sniffed. “You mixed sleeping potion with the broth. I won’t drink any more. I’ve slept enough.”
His grin flashed. “Water.”
Sanika sipped. It was water -- cool, fresh water. She gulped it down.
She stood and swayed again. “I want my bath, now.”
Smiling at the command in her voice, he cupped her elbow. “First you eat. Then you can have a bath.”
Her stomach chose that minute to rumble. “I will not drink any more broth.”
“No broth. Meat.” Stepping to the dying fire, he lifted a cover from a wooden platter. He handed her a skewer holding chunks of meat.
She devoured them and reached for another stick. “About time you give me something substantial to eat. Have you any tortillas?” She pulled another chunk of meat from the stick and popped it into her mouth.
He shook his head. “Just meat.”
She snorted and mumbled something about finding some cornmeal.
Balam leaned back against a large rock and watched Sanika eat until the platter was empty. Bending, he picked up the comb and held it out to her. “Ready for your bath?”
After licking the grease from her fingers, Sanika took the comb. “Yes.”
Balam held out his hand, palm up. “Come.”
Sanika shook her head. “I’ll follow you.”
His brow wrinkling in a slight frown, Balam shook his head. “The path is dim and rocky. I don’t want you to fall.”
Sanika stared at his hand. It looked human -- five fingers with fingernails, not claws.
Slowly, she reached out and clasped it.
His hand was warm and strong. He laced his fingers with hers and pulled her to her feet. He waited until she steadied herself, then turned and led her toward a shadowy opening in the back of the cave.
Taking a deep breath, Sanika let Balam lead her forward, stumbling as she followed him into the darkness.
Dropping her hand, he grasped her elbow and steadied her. “Are you all right?”
Off to her left, she heard the merry splashing of water bouncing down a rock face.
She blinked, straining to see in the dim light. “Yes. I just can’t see very well.”
He slid his arm around her waist. “There’s light in the next cavern.” He shortened his stride, using his feet to knock loose stones from the path so she didn’t step on them.
As they walked, his strong, supple thigh brushed against hers. Sanika shivered. His skin was smooth, his muscles firm. The arm curled around her was strong.
She didn’t stumble again. A dim light appeared ahead. She squinted. “What’s that light?”
Balam gestured toward the ceiling with his free hand. “The cave has holes high in the walls and the roof. Light comes in. Steam goes out.”
“Steam?”
“You’ll see.”
Sanika gritted her teeth. You’ll see. Damn cat-man or man-cat or whatever he was. Why couldn’t he answer a direct question?
Again, his hip brushed against hers, and she felt her nipples tighten. Clenching her teeth harder, she swallowed the moan that welled up from deep in her belly. Damn her body for reacting to his maleness.
Sanika glanced at Balam. Right now, he looked like a normal human, but did he act like one? He might expect to mount her like jaguars mounted their mates.
Shivering, she imagined Balam bending her over, spreading her thighs, and entering her from behind as his hands cupped her breasts.
Her nipples became tender points of pain. Moisture seeped between her thighs as she imagined how deeply he would be able to thrust his cock.
“Are you cold?”
Sanika wrenched her mind from her fantasy. “No! I… I’m still a little weak.”
Balam’s lips twitched and a warm glow appeared in his eyes. He pulled her closer against his body. “I won’t let you fall. Come. We’re almost there.”
Chapter 6
Balam guided Sanika through another doorway and led her into a world of warm, swirling mist.
He dropped his arm and stepped away from her side.
Holding the comb in her hand, Sanika inhaled the rich, mineral-laden air. “What is this place?”
Balam’s answer floated out of the steam. “The volcano heats the water in the mountain, and it bubbles up into hollows in the stone.” His hand appeared. “Watch where you step. Some of the water is hot enough to kill.”
Sanika grabbed Balam’s hand and stayed close to his back, stepping where he stepped as they crossed the cave. Still, the ground was uncomfortable on her bare feet so she lifted each foot quickly.
The air cleared somewhat as Balam led her deeper into the cave but the air was still warm. Finally, he stopped next to a fairly large pool. “The water is cool enough for bathing. You’ll feel better after you’ve soaked in it.”
Bracing her hand on a rock, Sanika lowered her leg into the water until her foot touched the bottom.
He gestured to her left. “You can sit on the ledge of rock over there.”
Sanika ignored him and sank below the water until it covered her up to her neck. Sliding her hands along rock walls in the opposite direction he’d indicated, she found a relatively smooth ledge. Wit
h a sigh, she leaned her head back against the rim, closed her eyes, and let the water ease her aches and pains away.
Balam stared at Sanika as she relaxed. He’d made use of this same pool on more than one occasion and knew how comforting the water was. Shifting his weight, he leaned back against a boulder and wiped the sweat from his brow. He scratched his thigh and shifted again. Sweat beaded under his balls, and he scratched them. He glanced at Sanika again.
Eyes closed, Sanika looked very relaxed and calm. She sighed contentedly and shifted. A red nipple appeared only to disappear again.
Blood pooled in his cock. He wanted her. His jaguar instincts roared to life. Mount her. Mate her. She is mine.
Not yet, he told himself. Like any female, jaguar or human, she must be courted first.
Pushing himself away from the rock, Balam stepped into the pool, sank down onto a ledge, and stretched his legs out. His foot brushed against her thigh.
Water swirled as she jerked away from him. Her eyes snapped open. “What do you think you’re doing!”
“Bathing. There’s room enough for both of us.” Taking a deep breath, he submerged himself. Dark hair swirled on the surface as he twisted his head back and forth. When he surfaced, droplets sprayed in all directions as he shook his head then raked the hair out of his eyes. Once he’d wiped his face, he leaned back and stared at Sanika.
His eyes were dark -- and hungry.
Hidden beneath the surface, her nipples puckered. “Are you just going to sit there and stare at me?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“Why?”
“You’re beautiful.”
Water slapped against the sides of the basin as she shifted. No one had ever called her beautiful. “I’m not beautiful.”
Balam smiled. “You are more beautiful than any other woman I’ve ever seen.”
She turned her head and mumbled, “Yeah. Right. When was the last time you even looked at a woman?”
Balam shifted his gaze downward to where the water lapped against her red nipples. Whatever dye she used didn’t come off. The memory of the rich, red lips between her legs leaped into Balam’s mind. His balls ached. She was only a few feet away, within arm’s reach. The urge to pull her to him and slide her down onto his rigid cock intensified.
Myths and Legends 01 Jaguar Page 3
