Axel grunted. “In other words, you like me back and don’t know what to do about it either. I’m a panther with a keen sense of smell. I know you want me. Why don’t you start by at least admitting your desire?”
“Yes, Axel, I want you. And I like you back. But it’s not for the reasons you think. Being here…” Sugar stopped and looked around. “I can feel that it’s as safe as I’m probably ever going to feel again in my life. Since the artifact joined with me, I don’t take feeling safe lightly. I really am grateful for your willingness to help.”
“That’s a positive attitude. Sex could be a nice way for you to show your gratitude to me. It's the only win-win scenario I see for us.”
Sugar laughed. “Good one. Bet that kind of reasoning always gets you laid.”
“Not really. I usually end up being the runner and not the chaser in relationships.” Axel inched closer. “Nothing I’ve said to you has been for seduction reasons. I could easily seduce you if I wanted. That’s how I usually sleep with women. I kiss them, make them want me, and then I take advantage of our mutual urges. That’s lust. Lust is easy. Most hardly remember me the next day because I gave them nothing but a little bit of pleasure. I approach all sex like that on purpose. Yet I don’t want that kind of sex with you. You’re not a normal female. I doubt you were before the artifact. I want something different with you.”
Sugar giggled. Man, he was laying it on thick to get her into bed. “Different? Oh yeah, that’s me alright. But doesn’t everyone think they’re special in some way?” She dropped her chin and shook her head. “I’ve always had a lot of self-confidence, but not always the best of judgment, especially when it comes to good-looking men. Let’s extend that to now include smooth-talking feline shifters with hero tendencies.”
Axel studied her downcast head. He detested her intense brooding more than he did his own. “Even my cat is going crazy knowing you want me. He’s never reacted to a female as he has to you. But I need you to admit you want me, to own it, and then tell me you want me back. I need to hear the words before I can touch you the way I want.”
Sugar sighed in the night air. Why was she denying her desire for him? They both knew her resistance was a lie. “I thought you liked to keep things uncomplicated and simple. You would have saved us both this stupid discussion if you’d just treated me like all the others.”
Axel was close now—close enough to snatch her to him. His cat urged him to do so. He pushed that part of him down.
“I’m not sure why, but how sex happens between us matters to me. So… what’s it going to be, Dr. Jennings? Are we going to both brood and go sleepless every night you spend here? Or are you going to spend the precious time we have in my bed letting me make you happy to be female?”
Sugar swallowed. She’d had much, much worse offers of sex in her life—offers that she’d sometimes taken. One of them had been the man she married. Her former husband had been good in bed—probably not Axel good she was guessing from that kiss they’d shared—but her former husband had kept her satisfied.
She always been a woman who faced her needs with eyes wide open about males and the temporary relationships most favored. Why shouldn’t she let Axel quench the fire he’d built in her? It’s what she would do if he was some other random guy she’d met and lusted for.
And what did she care about whose underwear she was wearing at the moment or if he’d told her the truth or not about it being his sister’s? She detected no other females here. The artifact would probably have told her if there were some.
The bottom line was that Axel could be hers tonight—her lover—and maybe for several nights. Perhaps even for a few months. She’d just have to be careful not to like him any more than she already did.
A low growl got her attention. It also made her giggle. What person in their right mind laughed at a jungle cat growling at them? She was losing it. The stress was finally getting to be too much.
“Simmer down, Bad Panther,” Sugar ordered. “I’m… thinking.”
“I know. I’m trying to be patient, but you’ve been staring at me and thinking for over ten minutes. Haven’t you made a damn decision yet?”
Sugar lifted her chin as she walked the few steps it took to close the distance between her and Axel. She stopped in front of him and put a hand on his naked chest. Her fingers trailed down and down to run over the threadbare sweats he wore. His gaze never left hers as she teased his arousal to the point of painfulness for both of them.
“Okay. Where are we doing this?” Sugar asked finally, her voice husky as she forced her hand back up to his chest.
“On the ground, if you don’t stop tormenting me,” Axel replied.
“Oh, honey,” Sugar whispered, finding her inner siren at last. God, she’d missed being that woman. “I haven’t begun to torment you yet.”
He had no idea what she referred to, but Axel lifted her from the ground and kissed her hotly. Sugar wrapped her legs around him and kissed him back. She ran her hands over his back and made his whole body vibrate in one long purr. The sexy shiver his purring caused in her body made him grip her more tightly.
“Hold all those thoughts until I find us a suitable surface,” Axel ordered as he walked.
“The cabin is closest,” she whispered.
Axel shook his head. “No. My bed is bigger. I want you there.”
They were kissing when he climbed into his bed with her still wrapped around him. He rolled them until she sat astride him.
Sugar pulled her lips from his and ran her tongue down Axel’s throat. Her hands shoved at clothing that gave easily until he was completely naked under her. She moved down his stomach to his lap and allowed herself one long luxurious lick before raising her head to find him staring at her.
Her sigh was loud in the room. “Did you ever want something so badly that you were afraid to make a move to get it? That’s what I’m feeling right now. You’re that sexy guy women dream about but so few rarely find.”
“Sugar—you’re killing me,” Axel hissed as he pounced. He was rolling her under him and stripping the clothes from her while she moaned his name. He wanted to moan hers back but could barely bring himself to say it. “Who gave you your silly name? Every time I say it, I have to remind myself you’re far more than a condiment.”
Her giggle meant he’d made a joke, but Axel couldn’t think of what it might be. He’d been serious when he confessed his aversion to her name.
Sugar ran her fingers over Axel’s sculpted chest and smiled at how his muscles tensed under her exploration. “When my mama would get mad at my daddy, he’d chase her around our house and demand she gives him some sugar. Normally, that means a kiss, but for them, I think it was their code word for sex. Daddy told me I was created from the best sugar he ever got from my mama.”
Axel stared into her face, rapt as he always with her stories, even the silly ones. “They named you Sugar in honor of their passion for each other?”
Sugar laughed happily. “That’s a much prettier way of saying it than I ever came up with.”
His erection throbbed between them. Axel was holding back a bit because he couldn’t remember the last time he… actually, he didn’t think he’d ever felt this way about a female.
He wanted to fuck her delirious and make her laugh again. He hadn’t figured out how both could go together. They never had before.
“When I first saw you, I didn’t think you were very attractive at all,” Axel said brutally, pushing his hips against hers to press her into his mattress.
“Oh, well… thanks ever so much for the backhanded compliment. You can leave the lights off, I suppose. I’ll visit fantasy land myself while we do the deed. It won’t be my first time.”
Axel laughed at her reaction. “No. That was my initial assessment. Now a few days later I think you’re the most incredibly beautiful female I’ve ever seen in my entire life. You’re certainly the first that I ever wanted as badly as I want you. What can I do to convince you?”
Sugar giggled. “Well, putting that hard thing between your legs inside me would be a good start. It’s been a long time.”
Axel nodded and bent to kiss her neck. She rolled her head to the side, and he nuzzled up the white column of her throat to bury his face in her hair. It was luxurious. Her legs parted, and he slid between them, breaching her wetness with tiny rocking motions forward until Sugar reached around his hips and used her fingernails to urge him into her all the way.
His groan over their full connection was loud in the room. Contentment hit him when she groaned in return and grabbed his shoulders to keep him close.
“Tell me something, Bad Panther. How long does it usually take to pay you off like this?” she teased in a whisper.
“Varies with the client,” Axel teased back, not missing a beat.
His movements were graceful as he indulged his need to thrust. Her responses were perfect. He growled as her skin got slick with heat and her arousal built around him. He growled louder when she made little mewling noises every time he hit the right spot.
Dr. Sugar Jennings was a pure joy to fuck. He could already tell he wasn’t going to get tired of her for a good long while.
“In your case, it’s going to probably take a hundred years,” he whispered back.
“Huh?” she asked, her eyes opening in surprise.
Then his mouth locked onto hers to keep Sugar from saying anything in rebuttal. Axel rocked them both hard until they reached bliss, then he kept her sated body under his afterward.
Inside his cat swished his tail, peaceful and contented. His inner panther had never reacted that way to a female before.
Eventually, Axel shifted his body and bent to her breast. Along the way to his prize, he’d grabbed her wrists to make sure Sugar did nothing to stop him from doing what he wanted.
Not only did she not fight his nipping and sucking, but her arching and open-mouthed panting made him hard all over again. Soon he was driving them up and over once more. Sugar called his name as he watched her eyes close in a climax that he made last as long as he could.
And still, he wanted more. Twice now and he was still as eager as the first time.
Her beautiful face was relaxed and serene as Sugar drifted off to sleep beneath him.
Not that he was going to let her have much because his need was too great. But at least this was a far better kind of sleeplessness than brooding and wishing.
12
Sugar turned the shower on full force and stepped under the hot spray. She had the mother of all sex hangovers this morning and the reason was still asleep in his bed. She’d woken and watched Axel sleep until she simply had to get some fresh air and find some food.
Axel had done what she considered the impossible last evening. He’d worn her entirely out. In that, he was her first. Not a single lover in her life before him had been able to keep up with her.
This morning she washed her hair, finger combed it, and stole some clean clothes from Axel’s dresser. His t-shirt hung to her knees, but at least it covered the baggy shorts she had also borrowed. Like it or not, she’d have to wash the strange woman’s clothes she’d worn. They may have belonged to Axel’s previous lovers like she still suspected, despite his “sister” story, but at least they fit her better than his oversized shirts and shorts did.
Padding to the kitchen, she saw Max sitting outside the door.
“Morning, Max,” Sugar said. She let him in and moved to the refrigerator.
There were four gallons of milk and an assortment of cooked meats. She poured half a gallon into a bowl for Max and poured herself a big glass from the rest. She couldn’t find bread, so she rolled slices of ham and turkey for herself and fed some to Max as well.
“I need to get some air. Want to take a walk with me?” she asked.
Max’s head turned to the hallway then back to her. Sugar gave his head a quick pat. “Axel won’t be up for a while. I wore him out last night. Guess you’re used to him getting all the action around here, huh?”
Max chuffed and turned toward the door, looking over his wolf shoulder at her.
“Coming,” she said, wondering if anywhere else in the world a human woman was talking to a wolf as if he understood every word.
They walked down the path to the bench. Twigs snapped nearby. Max went to full attention.
“It’s a deer,” Sugar whispered, not wanting Max’s real breakfast to hear them. “It’s creepy how I’m starting to know certain things like that. If you’re still hungry, go after it. Just don’t bring the remains back here for later. I get grossed out easily.”
Max ducked his head.
“Seriously. It’s okay. I’m going to sit here on the bench and enjoy the quiet,” Sugar whispered.
Sugar watched as Max seemed to rise up on his paws and start silently going after his meal. Shaking her head at the wolf’s stealth, she blanked her mind of all concerns.
She always thought of what she did as meditation, but really it was just slowing down her mind until she could pay attention to her body better. This morning she was looking inward at all the changes happening inside her.
“Artifact? Are you listening?” Sugar called softly.
Affirmative.
“I have some questions.”
Query.
“Were you once a live person?”
Negative.
“So, you’re a piece of technology and always have been?” Sugar asked.
Full sentience achieved with host.
Interesting, Sugar thought. “But you don’t need me to live?”
Conclusion incorrect. Symbiosis desired. Sugar accepted.
Sugar hummed as she pondered that statement. “How long ago did your last host die?”
When her chest started to hurt a bit, Sugar got worried that she’d asked something forbidden to know. She was quickly learning to associate that particular discomfort with the artifact doing something difficult.
Twenty thousand seven hundred forty-one years Gregorian calendar.
“Wow,” Sugar said. “That’s a really long time ago on Earth. Athena’s society must have been very advanced.”
Creator not from Earth. Hosts from Earth. Athena not host. Athena creator.
Which was just as she’d believed.
“What was Athena’s goal in creating the sentient blades?” When her chest ached again, Sugar rethought her word choice. “Forget that question. Answer this one. What is your purpose?”
Protect life. Host determines life worth protecting. Blade serves host.
Sugar felt her eyebrows go up. Was she more in charge of what was happening than she realized. “How many blades are there?”
Two Protectors. One Destroyer. One Creator.
“Are you in touch with them? Uh…” Sugar rubbed her chest. Geek speak, she reminded herself. She knew with certainty now that she had woke up one of the two Protector blades. The artifact just loved using that term. “Do you communicate with the other sentient blades?”
Indirect knowledge unless blade awake.
Sugar wasn’t sure what indirect knowledge meant, but she took it to mean the artifact knew about the others and maybe where they were. “How many are awake?”
Two dormant. Two awake.
“Okay. So, there’s another me already out in the world,” Sugar said in surprise. “Which one has chosen a host— besides you, I mean?”
Destroyer chose.
Sugar frowned. That didn’t sound good. “What is the purpose of the Destroyer?”
Change. Chaos. Destruction. Destroyer negates large evil.
“Do you know the Destroyer’s current location?”
Destroyer here.
“Here? Like here at Axel’s house here?” Sugar asked.
Affirmative.
She stood up from the bench slowly, fighting the panic the announcement had caused. If she hadn’t asked the artifact questions this morning, she’d have never known the Destroyer was even nearby.
How was she supposed to handle the situation if she wasn’t wholly merged with it yet… or whatever? She was going to have to see about speeding up that process.
“Report,” Sugar ordered as she took off, hoping she’d said the right geeky term. “What percentage of symbiosis have we reached?”
Fifty-five point six seven two.
Just over fifty percent. Sugar sighed at the news and ran faster. “What percentage of symbiosis has occurred between the Destroyer and his host?”
Symbiosis complete.
“Great. That’s just great,” Sugar said dryly. She stopped, glanced into the woods and cupped her mouth. “Max, breakfast is over. Get back to the house.”
After issuing her warning, Sugar took off in a real run.
13
When she arrived back at the house, Sugar saw Axel passionately hugging a woman outside his kitchen door.
Here she was thinking she’d left the bastard sleeping off the multiple orgasms she’d given him. God, she was so stupid when it came to males.
Axel warned her he wasn’t the faithful type, but geez… she’d made damn sure he was satisfied. He’d finally turned her down and begged for sleep right before they’d actually slept.
“How many women do you need to fuck in one day to be happy?” Sugar demanded, yanking Axel physically away from the woman. She was an incredibly beautiful brunette with green eyes and painted lips. “Eva’s Gargoyles were so right about you. Bad Panther is the perfect name for your whoring, tomcat ass. I refuse to call you Axel anymore.”
When she got a second look at the woman he’d been hugging, Sugar froze. She glanced at Axel over her shoulder while pointing at the strange female. “Did Dr. Moreau come to visit while I was off in the woods? This woman’s part cat, Axel. Are you married and didn’t tell me? That’s it, isn’t it? I swear I should have let the artifact incinerate you when it wanted to. You probably have all kinds of little bad panthers running around all over, don’t you?”
Frustrated, Sugar waved her hands in the air before turning to face Axel fully.
Bad Panther (Alien Guardians of Earth Book 1) Page 8