They were well off the trail and surrounded by thick trees and fragrant flowers all laid around a thick carpet of bright green grass. She tore her attention away from the beauty of the place and back to her captor, and the heat behind his sensual gray eyes pulled a gasp from her lungs. Oh was he ever up to something. But he wasn’t moving a muscle. Just stood there, looking at her like she was his favorite steak or something.
"Aaron? What’s going on?" she asked, a bit wary now. His body language was tense, dangerous. She wasn’t afraid he would hurt her, but she definitely wondered what the hell he had in mind way out here. When he started stalking toward her, his body all sinewy grace and deadly intent, her feet backed up all on their own. Eyes wide, she felt her back made contact with a very solid tree. Okay, time to go. Or at least that’s what she thought, but even her shifter reflexes weren’t fast enough. As soon as her muscles bunched to spring away, he was on her. All over her.
Aaron’s hard, lean body rubbed against hers as he pressed her against the towering tree trunk, holding her hands over her head. The thick, long ridge of his cock pressed into her stomach, hot enough to scald through her clothes.
"Aaron," she said breathlessly, the scorching between her legs skyrocketing by the second, "I-I really need to go. Maybe we can get together later?"
As he shifting his hips, something hard dug into her side. Not his arousal. Something small, square and surprisingly familiar—her satellite phone was clipped to his belt loop. The little silver box gleamed dully in the muted light of the canopy of green over her head. With both her hands secured in one of his, he used his free hand to unclip it and flip it open. Too curious to be upset, she looked up at him and quirked a brow. What the hell was he doing?
"Close your eyes and I’ll let you call the boat." The words brushed against her ear, low, seductive, determined.
She did as he said, knowing she had only a few more minutes to get to the river.
"Good girl. Now just stand here a second."
Stand here? She didn’t have time to stand…oooh! Okay, not fair! Warm, sensuous lips nipped at her bottom lip before sliding down to her neck. Her mind screamed for him to stop. Her body, however, wasn’t so inclined.
The kiss was gentle, seductive as his lips moved down to the juncture of her neck and shoulder. Then he laid into her, sucking fiercely, marking her until she squirmed against him, her breath coming in shallow gasps. Now the tip of his tongue outlined her ear and she heard a hiss of air float up into the morning sky. When her lungs burned, she realized that air had escaped from her chest as her breath seized in her throat. The man literally took her breath away.
His body kept her pinned against the tree. She wanted to move against him, grind her hips into the delicious hardness at his center. But she couldn’t move, except to breathe in the masculine scent of him and let it out on a sigh, a moan or a gasp.
A beep caught her attention but not enough to hold it.
"Reya?"
"Oh yes," she breathed, eyes closed against the assault on her senses. His scent. The feel of his tongue and lips on her skin. The sound of the wind that floated through the trees and mixed with her own breathing. The wild call of colorful birds and the scurrying of insects up the smooth trunks of the trees. The easy burn that flowed out from her core and wrapped around her clit. She felt, heard and smelled it all. Now a taste was in order. With a tilt of her head, she caught his mouth with her own and flicked out her tongue to play with his. He opened to her and she was lost.
Whimpering with need, she chased his mouth as he tried to break the kiss.
"Reya, call the boat."
"Huh, why?" she pleaded, again trying to get to his magical mouth. A mouth that made her want, made her need.
"Tell them you’re not going to make it."
She jerked her neck back and asked, "What? I’ve never missed a booking."
"Yeah. Until today." As he bent to nip the globes of her sensitive breasts through her camouflage shirt, she fought to free her hands so she could press him closer.
"Mmmm, that feels so good." When he bit down on the hard berry of her nipple, she cried out and threw her head back, unfazed when it made contact with the tree. Boat? What boat?
"Aaron," she gasped. "Oh lord!"
"Call them…" he crooned, his words full of a promise he’d damned well better keep.
* * *
Aaron flipped open the phone and held it out to her, then changed his mind, realizing he would have to release her hands.
"Tell me the number," he ground out. The erection pressed tight against his zipper bordered on pain.
"What? You want me to think now?" she protested.
A self-satisfied smile spread over his face. So she couldn’t think, eh? Good. He’d make sure she was flat-out mindless as soon as the phone call was made. She would think of no one but him. Not Trefor, not Marc. Nobody. Just him.
Deliberately teasing her, grinding his cock against her fluttering belly, he said again, "The number, Reya. Tell it to me."
She spit out the numbers between gasps. He keyed it in and held the phone against her ear while his mouth played with her skin.
"H-Hello? Hi, this is…oh god!" she screeched, when he’d given her a full, open-mouthed lick from her collarbone up to her ear. "T-This is Reya Daines. Sorry, I, I’ll need you to…Jesus!" He’d just bitten the sensitive spot on her shoulder. "I c-can’t make it to my dive appointment. Please have Shelly in Hopkins take the crew out for me. She’s on standby, thankfully."
Aaron disconnected the call, tossed the phone into the grass next to her duffel and pulled her hard against his body. She felt so good and he’d missed her so much, he just couldn’t hold himself back or away from her any longer.
"Baby, I’ve missed you the past couple of days. Take your shirt off. If I do it, I’ll rip it to shreds."
"Then rip it," she whispered. Her gray eyes, so much like his, gleamed with passion.
He grabbed the top of her shirt and buttons flew in all directions as her shirt fell open and hung loosely on her body. He fell on her like a parched man who’d just discovered a fresh, cool drink of water and kissed her everywhere his lips could reach. Her lush, swollen breasts boasted nipples like chocolate candies, her skin like silken cocoa. And it was all his.
So attuned to her arousal, he felt every shudder, every quiver as he all but devoured her until she was a moaning, whimpering mass of want. He kneaded her breasts in his large hands and his mouth moved from one to the other, tasting, sucking, until her knees knocked together.
"Aaron," she gasped. "Oh god, baby, I need more. Please…"
Down on his knees now, he unbuttoned her camo pants and slid them down to her ankles. Her strong fingers tangled in his hair as her body undulated like waves breaking over a sandy beach, rushing and eager for fulfillment. He’d always been into the Barbie-doll type, but the flare of Reya’s ample hips intrigued him. They reached east and west below a trim waist and made him want to slide into her until she was full of his seed.
"I love your body, Reya, your wide hips, your tight, firm ass. And your stomach, all lean and toned. A man would kill for your washboard abs. But…" he paused, kissing a path down the cropped mound of her woman’s place, "most of all, I love your pussy. It’s like a Dove ice cream bar. Dark chocolate on the outside, creamy and sweet on the inside."
His mouth slid between her dewy lips, latched onto her clit and sucked for all he was worth. She screamed.
When her knees buckled he caught her, lifted her high and ground his jean-covered erection against her wet mound, and slammed his mouth down over hers so she could taste herself on his tongue. It was the most erotic dance he’d ever experienced. But his woman was insatiable. She wanted more and wasn’t afraid to ask for it.
"Aaron, oh baby. Please. Now." Her words pulled at his gut. She was ravenous, starving. Her fingers reached down to massage the bulge in his pants and then a harsh groan emanated from deep in his chest as she unerringly yanked open his bel
t and unbuttoned his jeans in short order.
"I want you. Deep. Right now," she breathed, each word sending a jolt of sensation directly to his balls.
"You want it? Then take it." His head swam with her scent, her taste so heady and overwhelming, Aaron had no idea how he’d even formed the words.
The warm, humid air of the jungle wrapped around his steel erection scant seconds before the tip was surrounded by the warm, wet caress of Reya’s pussy. The rest of his cock was jealous of the head and demanded he sink deep so her wet channel could envelop it, surround it completely.
His hips had a life of their own as they thrusted, his cock stroking the inside of her vagina until they were both grunting, straining for a completion they could only find in each other.
Aaron felt his balls pull close to his body and pressed his sweaty forehead against Reya’s as she rode him like a professional bronco, taking everything he had. The tight walls of her cunt milked him until he could hold back no longer. Her toes pointed as her thighs tightened around his back as she came long and hard. A plume of thick cum shot up through his rod like the cork of a shaken champagne bottle, eager to splash against her womb and fill her with his cream.
Sapped of strength, his knees were history. He fell back into the grass, taking her with him where she lay on top of him, cushioned against his body. Chest to chest, her strong legs straddled around his hips. Still buried deep inside her soaked pussy, his fingers played in her hair as hers plucked at the hard nipples of his pecs, causing them to instinctively flex and bunch. The woman giggled as she wreaked havoc on his nervous system. Chest muscles danced, stomach muscles rippled as she tortured him with soft touches and gentle scrapes of her fingernails over his sensitized skin.
"Witch." He let out a chuckle as she tickled his top rib.
"That’s Miz Witch to you," she purred.
"You seem to have caught your breath," he queried playfully.
"Mmm hmm."
Her pussy fluttered and his cock stirred wickedly in response, stretching and filling her as it flared back to life. Pushing up on her elbows, Reya looked down at him with amazement.
"Already?" she asked, one of her perfect brows raised a good inch.
"Baby, I’ve got lost time to make up for." The plan? Fuck her until she couldn’t walk or see straight.
Chapter Seven
Son of a bitch! How dare he make love to her then decide to leave! Oh sure, claim it was to finish his original business in Belize City. Claim he was going to take care of a client so he could return to her with no distractions and concentrate on her. Yeah, whatever.
To further kick her in the face, the man had moved all his things into her office. Granted, he only had the black duffel she’d salvaged, but that wasn’t the point. He wouldn’t sleep in her bed with her, claiming it was bad enough he’d made love to her without a commitment, and tried to stress the significance of the fact that it had never been important to him until he’d met her. Sure, she believed that one, all right.
Reya had been so angry, she’d yelled that she couldn’t wait for him to leave for Belize City so she could have her life back. Rage flared in his steely gray eyes and he’d practically ripped every last shred of clothing from her shivering body. In spite of his anger, his touch had been so gentle and his words so sexy, by the time the last bit of fabric hit the floor she’d practically sobbed with anticipation.
The loving had been hot, desperate. Both of them took with mutual hunger and gave with unrestrained passion. Caught up in the rapture, she’d screamed words at him that would have normally made her blush, had told him with unrestrained fervor what she wanted him to do to her. In turn, he’d promised and delivered everything she’d begged for.
He’d left her sometime in the night for the futon in the office, leaving her to wake alone. Still, she hadn’t wanted to risk facing him and slipped out of her apartment and down to the dining area much earlier than usual.
But she still hadn’t managed to avoid him. The second he stepped foot into the dining hall, her body recognized his presence, tingling from her scalp down to the base of her spine. They worked practically side by side in the B&B but hadn’t exchanged a single word. The stiff set of his shoulders told Reya she’d hurt him with her accusation that he’d simply wanted a piece of her ass and had no intention of coming back. She hadn’t exactly said that, but it was close enough.
Later that morning, she’d made her way down to the boat, tired of the stress and strain of having such an imposing man so near. Aaron’s anger and pain were practically palpable, setting her nerves on edge. It didn’t help to see his finely honed body, all golden skin and stacks of cut muscle wrapped around long limbs, flex and stretch as he worked with the kitchen staff. Pissed off as she was, the man still made her knees wobble.
On her way to and from her diving spot, there’d been plenty of time to think. The conclusion—her mouth and temper had gotten the best of her, and as much as she hated to admit it, the stinging words had tumbled out before she could stop them. She hadn’t meant to be so harsh and only intended to learn his reasons for leaving for Belize City now. But it had come out as an accusation, and a mean-spirited one at that.
With no patrol tonight, perhaps they could talk, clear the air before he left in a couple of days, but when she returned from the river, he’d used the excuse of working late. She guessed it was his turn to avoid her. The rejection wrapped around her heart and squeezed brutally until she fled their apartments with the excuse of needing to see Bethsaida.
And now here she sat on her good friend’s balcony, sprawled in a rattan chair, bawling her eyes out. Mega bastard.
"He seems to be a good man, and you’re a good woman. Surely two good people can work things out. You’ll see," Bethsaida said softly, soothing Reya’s hair back from her forehead before handing her another tissue.
"I-I just feel so mixed up and out of sorts. I like Aaron, I really do. But he makes me feel so out of control, it’s scary," Reya sniffed. An ache crept up the back of her neck. Crying certainly wasn’t helping. And what was she crying for anyway? Hell, she wasn’t sure.
"From what you’ve said, he told you he’s never felt this way about a woman before either. So you’re at least on an equal playing field. But you’ll have to bend, sweetie. Flexible branches don’t break, eh?"
"Yeah, I guess. I don’t even know if he wants…"
"Stop trying to figure out what he’s thinking and just ask him, Reya."
Her elbows rested on her knees and her head in her hands. She didn’t say anything, simply thought about Bethsaida’s words while wallowing in her self-imposed misery.
"Reya, why don’t you go to bed? Things are always clearer in the morning."
"Thanks, Beth. Maybe I’ll do that."
Kissing the older woman on the cheek, Reya saw herself out and headed toward her own apartments. Almost to her front door on the third floor, she changed her mind, headed back down to the first floor and made her way out the kitchen doors instead.
She knew exactly what she needed to get her head together. A bit of time communing with the land, air, wind and a few of her wild cousins.
Easing into the surrounding foliage, a quick stop behind a huge tree found her stripped naked in a flash. Dropping to all fours, she felt the power of her gift ripple through the muscles of her legs and up through her back. Each limb trembled, stretched and shrunk. The breath of the spirit of nature traipsed along her skin then sank down through her pores until it filled her soul and pumped through her blood.
Bones crunched as they moved and made way for their new configuration. Her height, or rather length, remained the same, but her strong thighs became lean, bulky haunches, her chest thick and heavily muscled, and her jaw widened. Covered with silky black fur, she laid on the jungle floor. A long pink tongue flicked out over thin lips before snaking out to clean her whiskers.
Padding silently into deeper bush when she was a good distance away, she opened her mouth and let out the f
rustrated yell she’d been holding in all day. It came out a loud, frightening roar, carried on the wind. The sounds of the insects, loud birds and even louder monkeys quieted as huge paws dug into the soft earth. There was a predator among them.
Muscles bunched beneath her, and she shot out into the night. Two miles from the B&B, her cry lit the night again. This time, two gold and black females flew out of the trees and joined her in the run, romping and playing as they loped under the canopy of huge trees, into the night.
* * *
What had he been thinking when he’d volunteered to keep his hands off Reya? For the life of him, the reasons for tormenting himself just weren’t surfacing. He must have been crazy to invite this kind of suffering. Maybe a late fever from his injuries had set in, or temporary insanity? His expression was pensive as he wondered if she was suffering as well. But it wasn’t about him, not this time. It was about doing right by her, and until she was really, truly his, he had no right to touch her again. Trying to "work" her out of his mind obviously hadn’t worked considering he’d fallen asleep with his laptop perched on his thighs and a pile of unfinished business on the coffee table. And now that he was awake, he wanted her more than he had before he’d decided to bury himself in trying to catch up on work.
Rising from the couch, he stretched, trying to work the kinks out of his back. Reya’s bed was much more comfortable than her couch by a long stretch. Reya. He wondered what she was dreaming about. Or was she awake like him, trying to push him out of her thoughts like he was?
He looked down at his feet and wondered when he’d walked across the room to her door. Bone tired and weary of heart, he threw in the towel and knocked softly on her door.
"Reya?" he called quietly, tilting his head and listening intently. Nothing. "Reya," he called again, this time silently turning the door handle and poking his head inside. The room was shrouded in darkness. As usual, the shade was up and the window wide open. He could see the veranda from this window, but unless someone could jump twenty feet horizontally then tear off the screen, the window couldn’t be reached from the balcony. After his eyes adjusted to the gloomy gray of the room, an alarm went off in his head.
Captured Boxed Set: 9 Alpha Bad-Boys Who Will Capture Your Heart Page 30