One Down

by Alexandra Ivy

  “I don’t know how much more I can take,” Cerviel whispered, his fingers tantalizing her other breast now. “You are…something incomprehensible to me.”

  Hallie pulled him closer, kissed him hard and hungry as he squeezed and rolled her nipple. Her belly felt unbelievably tight and her sex was contracting in anticipation. It wanted him too, inside, deep inside…

  “What is it like, Cerviel?” she asked breathlessly between hungry, demanding kisses.

  “What, kitten?” he rasped.

  “To shift into a puma?”

  She could feel him smile against her lips. “Wild, intense, free.”

  “Like this?”

  He pulled back a few inches. His eyes were wild and close to black. “Oh, ma chère, very close to this.”

  Every inch of skin on her body trembled with awareness and need. She sat up, forcing him off her for a moment. Without a word or a thought, she grabbed the hem of her sweatshirt and yanked it off.

  “Kitten,” he whispered, his voice a grave warning. “What are you doing?”

  Toeing off her boots, she then quickly removed her pants and tossed them aside.

  Her gaze went to him as she reclined back on the bed of leaves once again. “I’ve been like this for five years. In a strange way, I’m more comfortable naked than clothed. But I’ve never felt safe.” She gave him a smile. “Until now. I’ve never wanted anyone to touch me.” She reached for his hand and placed it on her stomach. “Until now.”

  She saw him visibly shudder with unbridled hunger. His eyes were polished stones and the muscles in his gorgeous face were contracting, pulsing. He looked like he was barely holding on, like he wanted to attack and graze and savor, but was afraid of such force and passion.

  “You are so beautiful,” he said, his gaze trained on her face, her eyes. “It’s there, Hallie.”

  “What?”

  “Your cat. I see her in your eyes.”

  Hallie guided his hand down until the tips of his fingers threaded into the hair covering her sex. “What does she look like now?”

  His nostrils flared. “Fearsome.”

  She grinned.

  He moved over her and his head dipped, his mouth closing over her nipple. Shards of exquisite pain lanced her pussy and she released a groan. His tongue was magic and talented, hot lashes and teasing bites. Her eyes closed and her hips canted and she commanded him to give her more, more, endlessly more.

  “Oh, such soft fur you have, kitten.” His fingers slipped between the lips of her sex, and when he found her slick, he snarled against her wet bud.

  She shivered and thrust her hips up, higher, mindless. “Is it always like this?” she whispered breathlessly. “Like you want to crawl into each other’s skin? Like you want to cry and laugh with each touch…each kiss? Like you don’t want to come, but yet you do…so desperately.”

  “With the right one, it can be all of those things and more.” He lifted his head and gazed down at her. His eyes glowed with a savage fire. “I believe.”

  Her breath hitched as he started to circle her clit. “You don’t know?”

  He shook his head, slowly. “But I think I’m beginning to.”

  She smiled, her heart clenching with a need to know everything about this male. How had he been sent to her? The One? Her One.

  Don’t do that. Don’t claim him when you don’t know how he feels, what he wants, what’s coming.

  “I want to feel inside you, Hallie,” he said, slipping his fingers from her clit and moving them down. “How wet you are. How tight. You have to guide me.”

  She nodded. “But first…”

  “Yes? Anything.”

  Her grin widened. “Shirt. Off.”

  His brow lifted.

  “I want to feel your skin too.”

  A slow smile touched his beautiful mouth. “Done.”

  In seconds, he had his shirt and jacket off and his hands back where they belonged. Hallie held her breath waiting for the sweet invasion. And when he slid two fingers inside her, slow and deep, she gasped with unbridled pleasure. This. This was how it was supposed to feel. This was intimacy. Two beings wanting each other, connecting, making each other happy.

  She never wanted it to end.

  Cerviel found her mouth again and as he pumped her slowly, teasing her clit with his thumb, he kissed her. It wasn’t savage or hungry, though she loved when he kissed her that way. No, he took his time, sucking her lower lip into his mouth, playing with her tongue, gently feeding from her as he thrust. And she touched him, explored the hot skin of his chest and waves upon waves of muscle.

  It was strange. An amazing brand of strange. She no longer knew where she was, only that she was under the spell of this male. She saw only his hair and his forehead as she blinked. She was given over to him—not by anyone else, but by herself.

  It was as if she was meant for him. In an ancient way.

  “Oh, Cerviel,” she suddenly gasped. He had stopped thrusting, but his fingers remained deep inside her. And he was doing something—something glorious, something that was making her insides quake and quicken. His fingertips were pressing on something… “It’s…” she began. “The pressure, it’s building, and the heat… I feel like I might go mad. It’s supposed to feel like this, right?”

  He raised his head and stared down at her. “Hallie… Oh, my beautiful kitten, you’ve never come before?”

  Tears pricked her eyes. Is that what was happening? Her heart broke and she shook her head. “I wouldn’t. I couldn’t. No one was going to have that, steal that from me. It belongs to me.” For a second she felt a thread of embarrassment move over her, but when his mouth covered hers once again, and he started to thrust into her with deep, wonderful strokes, she forgot everything but the total, consuming happiness and madness and emotional intensity that rose up in great waves inside her.

  “Take it, Hallie,” he whispered in between kisses. “Just as you said, it belongs to you. I’m honored I can be here, watching you. My beautiful female. Mine…”

  The madness reached for her and grabbed hold. She cried out into the dark coolness of the cave, bucking against his hand, claiming each delicious wave of climax.

  Mine.

  Mine.

  Finally mine.

  Cerviel was watching her, his eyes on her face as he followed the movement of her body, his fingers sliding in and out, so wet. She rode him, again and again, chasing the incredible sensation. Until it receded and she lay there, in his strong, safe arms, spent.

  Exhaustion unlike anything she’d ever known attempted to claim her, pull her under. But it wasn’t fair. She wanted Cerviel… Wanted to touch him, taste him, make him growl out her name when he came…

  “I want you,” she whispered, nuzzling into him, her eyes unable to remain open. I wish I could.

  “I have everything I need, everything I want right here.” He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. “Sleep, my kitten. We have plenty of time. You’re with me now. Nothing will harm you. Ever again. Sleep easy tonight.”

  She couldn’t argue with him. Her mind was lost and her body was replete. And his words were like a warm blanket over her heart, and to her bruised and battered psyche.

  She gave in to his lulling, loving words and to the ache that had never left her in five years. To be able to sleep in peace and security.

  Because in Cerviel’s arms, she found both.

  She’d found everything.

  8BCHAPTER 7

  Cerviel woke slowly and painfully.

  He was hard as a hammer and his cat was clawing to get at the warm, soft female sleeping beside him.

  Not that he was going to do anything about it. Dawn was coming. Though it was still dark, he could scent its approach in the air. And at first light, they needed to get the hell out of the cave and travel through some rugged terrain to reach the chopper.

  He turned his head and glanced at the sleeping beauty wrapped in his arms. The light of the lantern was low now, but
it gave off enough of a glow to see wild red hair, a gorgeous and very relaxed face and a good five feet of naked, pink skin. A few of those inches being her thigh, which was draped across his jean-clad shaft.

  Torture.

  He turned back and stared at the ceiling of the cave. Repeat after me: getting her to safety is more important than rolling her to her back and slipping inside her.

  Or suckling her sweet nipples while he made her cry out again. Just the thought had his dick pulsing.

  Down, you rabid motherfucker.

  A soft buzzing sound at his side stole his attention. He’d removed his cell from his back pocket the night before and placed it right next to his side, along with his gun. Without waking Hallie, he grabbed it. Shit. A text from Zagan. What was he doing?

  Where the fuck are you, C?

  Delayed.

  Delayed or getting laid?

  What’s the problem, Z?

  The big boss is sending me to L.A.

  Shit. Sry.

  You know I can’t go back there.

  No choice.

  We always have a choice.

  Not if you want to stay a ghost.

  Looks like I’m going to be resur-fucking-rected in L.A.

  Steer clear of her.

  Impossible. I’ll be able to smell her the second I cross the border into Cali.

  Beside him, Hallie stirred. He glanced at her and his chest tightened. Gotta go, Z. Stay safe.

  Yeah. U too.

  Slipping the phone back onto the rocks, Cerviel turned to the beautiful female who was making him consider the oath he’d taken, the rules he’d broken last night—remaining a ghost. How was he going to manage it? Having her and having the PSL? Because sure as shit he wasn’t giving up either.

  Resisting the urge to climb on top of her and lick his way down her body until he reached the cream his cat wanted so badly to taste, he gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze. But instead of waking, stretching, she sighed and clung to him even tighter.

  He ground his teeth. If his dick got any harder the thing was going to fall off.

  “Kitten,” he whispered in a measured yet gravelly tone.

  She snuggled into his neck.

  “We should go.” His voice was anything but calm, cool. Every inch of him was sending out shock waves. The vibration had to be felt miles away, it was so intense. This female was going to be his addiction. One he couldn’t and wouldn’t shake. He could feel it. And if she woke up, she was going to feel it too. Pressing insistently against her thigh.

  “Hallie…” he warned.

  “No,” she said on a very feminine groan, grinding her sex against the outside of his hipbone. “Not yet.”

  His eyes were going to roll into the back of his motherfucking head any second. “We don’t have much time.”

  “How long?” she asked, lapping at his neck with her hot tongue.

  He sucked air between his teeth and clenched his hands into fists. “Half hour max.”

  “Perfect,” she whispered, kissing his neck, biting as she slid her hand down his chest and into the waistband of his jeans. “I can make that work.” He could feel her smile against his skin as she took his cock in her hand and squeezed. “I can definitely make that work.”

  * * *

  After the most perfect night of sleep, warm from this male’s body, safe because of this male’s promise, all Hallie wanted was to feel him on top of her, beneath her, against her…

  Inside her.

  So deep there would be no question to whom she belonged.

  Maybe she was crazy to feel the way she did. Aching. Desperate to be completely taken and consumed by this male after five years of imprisonment and being forced…

  No. Why did she even have to question herself? Her motives? For taking what she wanted? Asking for what she wanted? She deserved everything good and real. That heinous part of her life was over. She was the boss now. She took and gave because she wanted to. Because the brokenness inside her was slowly starting to repair with every kiss she gave and every smile he offered.

  As she had the thought, her lips curved into a smile of her own. Mine. You’re mine, male, she mused as she squeezed Cerviel’s shaft. He felt like hot, smooth steel in her hand, and her insides hummed with a want she was just barely starting to understanding.

  “You’re unleashing a beast with that,” Cerviel uttered on a growl.

  Her smile widened. “Oh, I hope so.” She couldn’t even fully grip him, he was so thick. But she could stroke him. Up and down, squeezing him tight, brushing her thumb over the tip, following and reveling in his groans of pleasure.

  The cave was still bathed in darkness, though a strange, steely light was starting to creep inside, comingling with the fading light of the lantern. But it was enough to see him, watch the bands of muscle in his neck tighten and pulse with strain, watch his finely chiseled stomach tense with every ragged breath.

  But it wasn’t enough to see…everything.

  Releasing him momentarily, she grabbed the waist of his jeans and pulled them down to his ankles, then stripped them off completely. He wasn’t wearing underwear, and for a just a moment she gazed at him. Beautiful, majestic, predatory.

  Mine, she thought again as she crawled on top of him and straddled his hips.

  Cerviel’s eyes widened and turned black with lust. And directly before her parted sex, his cock stood stiff and proud.

  “Hallie,” he said, his voice threaded with barely contained desire. “If I lift you up and place you down on my shaft… If I’m inside you, so deep you can’t breathe, so deep I can’t think…you will belong to me.”

  Her nipples tightened to buds, aching, desperate to be touched, and her pussy creamed against the shaft of his cock.

  “Do you understand what I’m saying?” he urged, his face a mask of unbridled tension. “I’m Pantera, a puma. I can’t possibly walk away from you after I’ve had you. I know that as I know my own name.”

  The thing…inside her was growling, clawing at the edges of her skin. It wanted to get to him. It wasn’t to bite him.

  “Please,” he begged. “I’ll let you go if I must. But push off me now…get dressed and wait outside—”

  She didn’t let him finish. She was up, on her knees and with her eyes pinned to his, she sat down forcefully on his cock.

  A gasp ripped from her throat at the deep invasion, and for a moment—a delicious moment—she couldn’t find air.

  Cerviel let out a sound she’d never heard before in her life. Animal and male fused. And it did something to her. Caused a chemical reaction inside her. Her skin flushed, her breasts ached and inside her pussy, she felt anxious and wet. Very, very wet. And she had to move.

  His hands closed around her hips and he started to rock her back and forward, every few seconds jacking up his hips to get himself deeper.

  This was it, Hallie thought, her entire being humming with the music of this male’s body and soul and heart and promise. This was how sex, making love, even fucking should feel. Utterly free, completely safe, and wonderfully connected.

  “You’re so tight, Hallie,” he said through gritted teeth. “So warm. Your sweet pussy is sucking me deep.”

  Every word he uttered was like hot lightning exploding inside her body. Every thrust took her closer and closer to that amazing shatter of climax she’d experienced last night. But this time when she came her eyes would be on his—and they’d do it together.

  “Cerviel,” she cried as she circled her hips, grinding herself against him, her wet heat against his soft hair.

  “Yes, ma chère. Tell me.”

  She shook her head and placed her hands on his chest, squeezing his pectoral muscles. “I just wanted to say it. Your name. On my tongue.”

  He growled at her and thrust into her over and over until she whimpered. Then he dragged his hands from her hips to her ass. “Come here. Let me have that tongue.”

  She was close, so close and if he kissed her, deep and hungry, she woul
d fall over the edge and crash. But she followed his order—after all, he was her male—and leaned in, her hands bracketing his face.

  “My kitten,” he said near her lips. And with a light swat her to left ass cheek, he took her mouth in a deep, everlasting kiss.

  Hallie smiled with sexual heat. “Tell me again, Cerviel. Tell me what happens after this.”

  He nipped at her lower lip, then swept her up in another hot kiss. “I can never let you go.”

  It was there, on the cliff. She just had to take it. She started to move, her hips lifting and lowering, rotating and grinding at a mad and fevered pace. Not only was she going to take what was hers, but she was going to send him there too.

  “Never,” he growled. “You’re mine. Oh, fuck, kitten!”

  Hallie’s mind flashed red, then pink as she exploded. Her hands threaded in his hair and gripped his scalp. And as wave after wave crashed inside her, she held still, frozen, letting him take over, letting him pound into her as he too grabbed hold of the perfect bliss.

  “Hallie,” he snarled and growled as his body went mad and his fingers dug into her ass. “So hot! So fucking hot and soft…”

  The cave echoed with the slap of their bodies and the cries of their release.

  Cerviel didn’t slow, not even as hot seed poured into her.

  He was doing what a Pantera male did, she was certain of it. Something inside her understood and welcomed it.

  He was marking her.

  Good and deep and eternal.

  9BCHAPTER 8

  Dawn had broken, along with his vows as a member of the PSL.

  But did he have one shred of a regret?

  Fuck. No.

  He’d deal with that when they returned.

  Cerviel glanced over at the female he and his cat now called MINE. She was dressed, like him, but her hair was gloriously wild and free and her eyes still held the glow of her climax. They’d both dressed quickly, knowing the trek was long, and that the chopper would soon be arriving. But even so, Cerviel couldn’t help himself. He went to her, took her hand and pulled her into his arms. The addiction. Wanting to feel her soft weight against him for as long as possible.