"That is the problem Ellie, now I have tasted you, I don’t think I can stop."
Flabbergasted Ellie was speechless, as her head cleared she thought he was going to do it again; inside she hoped he would kiss her again even though the sensible part of her brain made her step back.
"Now you wait a minute Mr, this does not mean you can just kiss me anytime I like, I mean anytime you like." God she was flustered which the mix up in her words demonstrated.
"Well, my gorgeous, strong warrior your body says otherwise." He stepped closer to her again, she stepped back, he mimicked her again only this time grabbing her. Bringing his head closer to her, she waited in anticipation while furious at her body's betrayal.
Indignant she cursed him in her head. "My body does not say anything of the kind."
His head was close to her but not touching. "Oh it does, I can feel and smell your arousal and I like it. Now, before you get all agitated and insecure this is how much I like it." He moved her hand placing it over his groin.
Damn he did like it was Ellie's first thought followed by the thought that maybe he liked it a little too much. "Luke don’t you start kissing me whenever you want, and don’t do it in front of everyone, if you do I will have to retaliate." Even though her voice was hard she didn’t think he was taking her too seriously.
"Or what warrior?" There was a challenge in his voice, one she wouldn’t back down from.
"Or I will…" Thinking of a suitable deterrent she answered. "I will kick you in the balls." She stalked away from him prompting him to chase after her through the high grass while laughing. When he caught up with her, he grabbed her round the waist and spun her to face him.
"How about we make a deal." Narrowing her eyes she wasn’t sure that she would like any deal he had to offer.
"If it involves kissing me the answer is no." He had a firm grasp of her arm, she wanted to push him off, and if she had tried she would have succeeded only she was mesmerised by his lips.
"It does involve kissing you so here are your choices, if we can't make a deal I will catch you and kiss you whenever I want, in front of whomever I want and I will take the kick in the balls every time, although I hope you won't be too hard on me. Or you agree that I can kiss you whenever I want, but only when no-one is watching."
She threw this around in her head for a minute while watching his lips. Her instinct said run away while her body said, no deal and let the kisses come. Maybe she should use Luke to teach her art of kissing, he was certainly talented enough. If it became too much she could always avoid him.
Coming to a decision, she nodded resulting in another mind blowing kiss before he let her go so she could walk away on shaky legs.
"Ellie." She turned back to his grinning face, "Just so you know I don’t mind if you kiss me whenever you want in front of whomever you want, I won't even kick you."
Trying to contain the laughter she ran to get ready for dinner sneaking in to wash her face first just to make sure she didn’t smell like Luke, and she was stupidly worried that people would be able to tell he had kissed her. Just as Ellie was damming the creation of men she recalled that her sisters had kissed several men, and she was sure that she hadn’t always known about it.
***********************
This dinner was more settled for Ellie than the previous ones, in fact, it would have been lovely had Luke not continued looking at her with a strange expression on his face. Sandy asked if they could help her decorate the old cottage as she had no time, and the extra hands would get it done quickly, though all agreed, Claire seemed excited at the prospect which pleased Ellie. She was helping clear away the dishes when Sandy surprised her.
"Ellie, would you mind helping me with the class tomorrow Albert is a bit tired." She saw a mumbling Albert as he headed outside for a smoke.
"Are you sure, you aren’t worried that I will be clumsy and drop some poor child on their head?"
"Of course not, I have a couple of challenging children in this class and could do with the help of a strong female role model." Ellie was bristling like a peacock fluffing out his feathers.
"I would like that, thank you." As Claire had gone to bed early, and Ellie had made the decision to avoid Luke and his kisses she said her goodnights while Luke was outside with Albert.
She found Claire pacing the room. "Hey sis, why are you pacing."
Claire was biting her nails. "It's fine, actually it's not I feel edgy. I think I am going to take a walk."
Ellie stood to go with her. "No Ellie I need some me time, I feel settled in the forest I don’t know why but the trees and warmth of the place comforts me. I promise I will be back within the hour."
Instinct made her want to follow her from a distance which Claire sensed. "Don’t even think about it Ellie, you need to trust me and trust I am safe, although sometimes I feel as though I am in a cage striving for freedom."
She didn’t know what to do so she let someone else make the decision for her by calling her mom, who was also worried until Ben chimed in from the extension phone. "Girls stop worrying, Ellie can she run off?"
"No, it's secure."
"Then give her some space if she isn’t back in two hours call me, and I will head over." He talked as if they were across the road not hundreds of miles away.
Taking a calming breath she agreed, only to hear her mom chastise Ben. "If we are not to worry oh Alpha god, then why are you putting on your shoes?"
Ben was busted. "I am going to visit Beth and Vlad to see how the pregnant girl is, that is all."
Ellie knew where this was going, and she was amused enough to join her mom in antagonising Ben. "So it has nothing to do with Vlad being able to teleport you here if Claire doesn’t return."
Ben was quick to answer. "No it does not, and unlike you girls I have other children to worry about so I don’t have time to discuss this further." They both heard the receiver hit the cradle which caused a level of hysteria between Ellie and her mom. The rest of the conversation with her mom was enough to calm her down.
Deciding on a shower, she let the spray of water soothe her aching muscles, she hadn’t fully exercised since she arrived here so the tension in her muscles was building. She needed to Google boxing clubs, maybe she could get in some sparring somewhere local, with the decision made she padded through the hallway to her room with a towel on her head and another wrapped around her body.
When hands grabbed at her, she reacted instinctively using her foot to slam into the assailant's foot as she went into fight mode only to find a jumping Luke hopping into his room cursing. Following him full of apologies she was stopped when he grabbed her pulling her flush against his body.
"I thought you would only kick me when others were around."
Suddenly aware that she was covered only in two towels, one of which was on her head she inched backwards to the door. For the first time since she met him, she saw the predator in the man as he in turn silently stalked her moving his hand out to close the door before she reached safety. His eyes narrowed on her until she felt naked under his gaze.
"I am making sure no-one sees us because at some point in the future I would like my balls to have a purpose."
She nearly asked what purpose that would be, and then was thankful that she was able to hold her tongue for it would have led to some erotic and inappropriate conversation. As Luke stole a kiss he put his tongue to use, which prompted her tongue to join in. Again that heady feeling hit her, causing a slight dizziness though it was a thoroughly delightful dizziness. This time it was Luke who broke away.
"Jesus El, what the hell happens when we kiss?"
She shrugged. "I don’t know I assumed it was your fault."
"Why is it my fault?" His voice was low and soft.
"Everything that happens between us is you fault." She answered with a little smile.
Rather than respond, his eyes seemed a little heavy and hooded as he looked down at the towel.
"What is under that towe
l?"
Wrapping her hands around the top of it, she frowned. "Nothing you need to know about." She moved back again only for him to stop her before lifting her to place himself against the door.
"On the contrary I do need to know about it." With that he swept her into yet another heart stopping kiss, this one caused her toes to curl. Before she knew it she was on the bed with him kissing her and running his hands down her neck which caused shivers to travel up her spine. The sensations in her body were building, she could feel him pushing against her thigh, and instead of fearing it Ellie revelled in the power of the emotions charging from him to her and vice versa.
His hand slipped lower unfastening the towel as his kisses reigned over her neck so when his hands stroked her naked breasts she wanted to protest, surprise hit her when she instead sighed a welcome sigh.
Luke needed her, he needed to be inside of her, he no longer had any other purpose than to have her, he craved her as if she were a drug, his own sweet addicting drug. Her skin melted against his tongue as the soft and gentle feel of her smooth skin hit him like an aphrodisiac.
Aware that he had undone the towel and that her breasts were exposed with no ensuing kick in the balls, he revelled in the feel of her so when he heard her heady sigh it was the undoing of him. He was going to take everything she offered until his Jaguar whined a warning inside of him. As much as the Jaguar wanted to claim her, he felt her own confusion in allowing him to proceed, and pushed the man in him to accept that this was too quick and his Jaguar didn’t want her to regret it which was more thought than the man had given.
Stopping the connection, he pushed his hair back and stood facing the most magnificent vision he had ever seen. "Ellie unless you are going to let me take you right now, you need to move and stay dressed around me. It is too much for me to handle."
He felt savage with the need riding him, sense pushed into his head leaving him with a frustrated erection. In all of those months when he had feared impotency he now wished for a small window of impotency.
As she rushed from the room confused, he wasn’t able to comfort her for his sexual energy was too high. Climbing out of the window as he had as a boy, he watched the night reminiscing on the simple times from childhood, where he had observed the star constellations night after night. He listened to the familiar sounds of the owls and birds fluttering through the forest.
In the distance he could see Claire sat at the base of a tree where her body was bent giving the impression of both sadness and pain. He thought about going to find her, he thought about getting Ellie to go to her and then he thought she might need some time to heal the pain inside of her. So instead he watched, slowly she seemed to pull herself together and head back to the house. When she was safe, and he heard his mom as she locked up the house he went back in and stripped off and climbed into bed with an image of a siren in a towel filtering through his dreams.
She couldn’t sleep; she was tossing and turning, huffing and puffing. Claire was in bed asleep, well Ellie hoped she was. Just to be sure Ellie made for the door before turning back and adding joggers to her boy shorts and tank. Claire was sound asleep although somewhat unsettled, so for a while Ellie sat and listened to her dream as she murmured odd words such as monkey and frog, leaving Ellie to remark in a whisper that people's dreams were bizarre. Without any conscious thought, she found herself passing her room and gently opening Luke's door. She could hear a soft snore and wallowed in watching him, this was safe stood here while he slept.
Gently closing his door, she tiptoed to the chair next to his bed and sat watching him in his slumber. His chest was laid naked; the muscles relaxed but still sound and defined. Seeing him like that brought the strange feelings back to the surface making her want to touch him. Moving her hand out she tried to stop herself with little success. With her fingertips she touched his naked skin, when he didn’t wake she stroked her hand over his nipple eliciting a change in his breathing. Pulling back, she waited and did it again, his nipple peppered so she stroked it again.
So engrossed in taking in the contours of his body, she nearly fell out of the chair when he murmured. "Hey warrior, you can touch me anytime."
Abruptly she stood, his eyes flashed open as he took hold of her hand. "Don’t go."
It was the softness in his voice that made her sit. "Are you okay El?"
Was she okay, she wasn’t sure that she had been okay since she had met him? "I can't sleep."
She watched curiously as he moved away from her and lifted the edge of the blankets. "Maybe some company will help."
Looking distrustfully at him, he grinned and sighed. "No naughtiness I promise."
The bed did look comfortable, she felt lonely and a little home sick so hesitantly she climbed in, and almost jumped out again when he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.
"Luke do you know that you have no clothes on?"
He chuckled in her ear. "I hadn’t noticed until you climbed in fully clothed."
She playfully nudged him. "You told me to climb in, um Luke do you know that your thing is sticking into my thigh."
His grip on her body tightened. "I do, it's my way of reminding you that I am here."
"I don’t need reminding, you are everywhere I bloody turn." He liked it when she was being playful. "Luke, tell me something that no-one knows about you, something that isn’t about Luke the superstar."
Although she felt him tense, he kissed her shoulder. "How about I tell you the worst thing about my life and then you will have your reason to jump out of bed and run away." Why he had offered that Luke wasn't sure, he could only surmise that things were developing between them so he didn't want there to be secrets.
"I won't do that Luke, I won't run."
He wasn’t so sure about that, yet as much as he feared telling her, he felt the need for her to know the worst so that if she did run, he could do everything possible to stay away from her.
"I was born in a rain forest in Peru; I have a father and at least one brother out there." She went to interrupt him with questions about this new information until he shushed her.
"El the likelihood is that I will never say this again so you need to listen. My Mom was the daughter of what would be our pack, although Jaguars call them Prides. I never met my granddad though I have heard that he ruled with a fierce but firm hand, and he protected his only daughter. You see he never had a son which meant that the person who mated my mom would eventually take over, so my grandad wanted to find the right mate."
Lying next to him in the darkness, she felt safe and secure; she knew Luke was heading somewhere that would be painful for him so she stroked his arm, hoping he felt as safe as she did.
"One night the warriors in the group became sick, all of them were painfully unwell including my grandad. Thinking they had eaten some rotten meat they took to their beds and my mom was stolen in the night. She was kidnapped by a rival Jaguar and two of his associates who had a plan to take my mom to a local priest who had been paid to marry them. Their plan was successful, instead of returning her to the forest; they took her onto the ocean by boat where he took her by force until she became pregnant with me." He took a pause waiting for her response.
"Before you continue can I say that I hope this has a happy ending, something along the lines of, your dad being gutted and hung for everyone to see, or he was castrated, either will work for me?"
This woman was incredible, he expected her disgust yet he received anger towards his father which was something he could deal with. "Not quite my blood thirsty warrior. When he was certain she was pregnant and too late for anything to be done, he returned to the forest taking my mom with him, my grandfather was furious and challenged him. Before it could be done fairly my father stabbed my grandfather in the chest piercing his heart. He then challenged the other Jaguars for the right to be Alpha, a couple stepped forward only to be shot by my father's associates who had been hiding in the forest. Unfortunately, he still perulives."
"He will meet his match one day Luke, everyone does. What happened then?" Ellie wanted to be reassuring while pushing for the rest of the story.
"When I was born, he claimed me as his heir until his brother, my uncle arrived from neighbouring lands. Even as a young child I was calm and happy except around my father who tried his best to mould me into his vision from birth. My uncle claimed that I was weak because even as a child I was more interested in play and singing than aggression and domination, he then asked my father to allow him to produce an offspring with my mother, one strong enough to dominate."
Without meaning to, a gasp slipped out of Ellie's mouth. "Hush warrior, one of my grandfather's closest friends had alliances with the ship owners who came to the lands for supplies. He made plans and snuck me out to the ship while my mother left scents of her body through various parts of the forest. By this time my father felt strong and in full power of the Pride so he didn’t notice us missing for several hours, by which time it was too late as we had set sail and finally arrived in America. We moved around for several years changing our names to protect us, we knew he had sent people after us and that the order was to kill me and return mom to him. He will never let her go as she is of a lineage that has control of the Pride."
Her head was reeling, she didn’t expect that. "Your mom is an amazingly strong woman, and you are a fantastic son to hide your true self away to protect her. It all makes sense now."
"She is strong; I once asked her why she kept me considering my conception. She told me that regardless of who my father was, I was her child that she had loved from the moment she felt me move inside of her." His confession felt liberating so he continued talking.
"I went to find him when I was in my twenties. I met a medicine man when I arrived in the rainforest; it was as if destiny had sent him to me which I know is ludicrous. Anyway the medicine man took me to his village; he talked about the time being wrong and that it wasn’t my time. That night another Jaguar arrived, his name was Assaud and he was introduced as my younger brother. At that point I didn’t know I had a brother so it was an amusing conversation, it transpired out that Assaud and the medicine man are friends and that he had been helping Assaud manage his gift."
Taming the Warrior Page 15