The first spark sizzled through her fingertips and she knew he felt it when he jumped. Then a tingle crackled from her neck down her arm, the current flowing outward when it reached her hands. He slumped forward and groaned, panting as he held his weight off her, his breath hot against her cheek.
Her entire body started to warm and then her head began to ache so badly she couldn’t recite the words, couldn’t remember them. She looked down. The hair had begun to recede from his hands and the skin on his arms stretched and glowed. His claws were retracting, his fingers discernable. She tried to look up but her brain was on fire. Her nose was running and she smelled blood but she didn’t let go of his hands. They were all she could see. A sizzling current exploded, showering her with golden-yellow light that popped like firecrackers, sparkling and bright. Someone was screaming her name but she couldn’t form the words to answer.
“Kira!” The sound of his own voice startled him as shards of light exploded around them and the crystal arced from bright green to pale yellow.
He tried to pull his hands from her grip but not even the momentum of her sliding to the floor would break the connection. He followed her down, his muscles stretching and skin giving way, his bones grinding in protest as they fell.
He rolled under her, cushioning her descent so she sprawled on top of him. Maneuvering her into his lap he leaned against the center stone, cradling her and shaking from the aftermath of the sudden, electrifying change. The faint throb of her pulse whispered to him through his fingertips.
Anger, more primitive than anything he’d felt these past few weeks surged through him. What part of the fucking prophecy was this?
He’d never been a believer, never feared the unknown. Hiding in the temple had always felt right. His survival had ensured the survival of the Jaguar People. It had been as simple as that until Kira had stumbled into his life, wounded and desperate.
Now holding her while she bled and the light from the crystal flowed around them, he hoped there was more.
Wake up. Wake up. She’s mine! Give her back to me.
The Twelve had always been part of the Jaguar People’s lives, whether as myth, legend or saviors, depending on what you believed. He’d admired them for their strength as mythical Warriors of legend but they’d had each other. All he had was Kira. And he wanted her back.
She was used to surviving from one day to the next but he knew she’d always had hope. Had always wanted what he could give her now. Her place was with him for whatever time they had left. They’d be running forever. Before they ran though, he was going to make damn sure she never doubted how much he wanted her, needed her. Loved her.
* * * * *
The first day he was afraid of letting go. She’d been so feverish that he stripped off her clothes and bathed her in cool water until she calmed enough to allow him to hold her. He sat propped against the center stone while she lay in the V of his legs, her back cradled by his chest. Her steady breathing the only movement he could detect besides the fluttering of her eyelids every couple of hours.
He just kept chanting, “She’s mine. Give her back to me,” until his throat was raw. The second day she rolled to one side and rubbed her face along his chest, murmuring something he couldn’t make out.
* * * * *
Excited voices, like the beat of hummingbird wings, whispered to her. A pinpoint of bright yellow light expanded, ballooning out and forcing the darkness to its edges. Sanctuary. Lost no more. The chorus fell upon her heart and her ears, danced in her mind. She tried to speak but her tongue was thick and heavy.
She woke slowly from the most comforting dream she’d ever experienced, blinking against the sudden brightness. The crystal had changed colors right before she’d lost consciousness. And now its glow lit the room. A heartbeat drummed at her naked back, strong and insistent. Sun-bronzed arms lay beneath her palms, warm and alive, holding her close.
“You changed,” she said, and her voice sounded rusty and raw, startling her. She twisted around to look at him. She’d never seen his hair long enough to stick up in poker-straight spikes, couldn’t remember his stern jaw with dark stubble or the concern she saw shadowing his beautiful gaze. “You could have just as easily honored your jaguar nature.”
He smiled and it startled her almost as much as her voice had. “I wasn’t sure you could follow me. And I wanted something else.”
“What?” she asked, and when he didn’t say anything she wondered if this was just another dream.
Until he swallowed hard and growled, “Kiss me.”
She met him halfway, twisting deeper into his warm, solid embrace. His lips slid over hers, testing their texture. He slipped his tongue inside, exploring as if he’d never tasted her before. The soft entreaty stunned her and she recognized restrained hunger, need and soul-baring desire. She tasted it all while she twisted in his arms, trying to get closer.
He held her so tightly that her palms were trapped against his strong heartbeat, steady against her fingertips while her own heart raced and her blood heated. She couldn’t resist caressing the hard bank of muscle, inching down to graze his flat nipple until it beaded beneath her touch. He chuckled into her mouth and she drew back, surprised.
His narrowed gaze was predatory but his smile shocked her. She couldn’t remember him ever laughing, smiling. Kind. Reality, harsh and ugly, slipped around her like a dark cloud.
“What’s that face?” he murmured.
“For a moment I forgot how much trouble we were in.” Her sigh ended in a cough and he scooted against the center slabs of stone, bringing her with him and tucking her into his lap. He reached behind him and lifted a bottle of water, unscrewing the cap and tipping it to her lips. When she tried to hold onto it herself, he brushed her hand away. She nodded after half the bottle was drained. He took it and drank the rest then set it aside.
“We need to talk,” he said, so softly that goose bumps rose on her arms.
“You make me nervous when you get serious. Of course, you make me nervous when you laugh too.”
“Look at me,” he said, tipping her chin up. “And stop expecting the worst.”
“I don’t think I know how to do that anymore.”
He swept her up against his naked chest in a motion that left the sleeping bag in a tumbled heap on the floor. She shivered and wrapped her arms around his neck. She didn’t look away when he whispered harshly, “I’ve made up my mind. We have enough food and water for three days. I’m going to take you every way imaginable and then I’m going to do it all over again.”
Her arms quavered nearly as much as her voice. “Do we have that much time?”
“This place is as safe as anywhere else we could be right now. Safer, now that we know you can access the Sacred Light.”
“Excuse me?”
“I think the Council will have to recognize the prophecy, if for no other reason than to keep you out of the Brotherhood’s hands. Juan will have told them where we are.”
“You’re hoping the Council will protect us from the Brotherhood? They’ve killed the halflings they’ve only suspected possessed this power to keep them from the Brotherhood’s hands. Why would they keep me alive?”
“I’m betting there’s something about this prophecy that protects you once you reach this point. Otherwise, I don’t think Juan would have sent us.”
She glanced up at the walls and shook her head. “What else could there possibly be?”
He lifted her off his lap and repositioned her until she faced him, straddling his hips, his erection pressed warmly against her stomach. He pulled the sleeping bag over her shoulders and she couldn’t look anywhere but into his glittering, topaz eyes.
“Do you trust me?”
“I’m sitting naked on the lap of a man who took an oath to kill me and didn’t.” She smiled. “I think you’re still trying to come up with a plan to save me—us—so yes, I trust you.”
“Repeat everything I say.” He drew a harsh breath and put his arms
around her, drawing her close enough to feel his breath on her face. “I take you as my firstmate.”
His words flowed over her and brought tears to her eyes. She took a deep breath so she could speak past them. “Are you sure? Because this seems like another one of those oaths that you people take very seriously—” He put his hand over her mouth.
“Fifteen years ago I took an oath to the Council to protect the Jaguar People. I assumed Fontaine’s claims of a prophecy to be the ravings of a fundamentalist lunatic who would expose us all. I never knew the prophecy had been manipulated before, that other halflings had already died. I’d never known any to exist, until you. You are a secret that no one wants exposed and if we don’t find out why, we’ll never have any peace. Now,” he gazed at her intently and repeated the soft, deliberate vow.
“I take you as my firstmate.”
“I take you as my firstmate,” she whispered and when she closed her eyes, she felt the brush of his lips on her closed lids.
“You come before all others, all oaths, all vows.”
As if he hadn’t already proven that. She swallowed hard. “You come before all others, all oaths, all vows.”
“You are mine to protect until we are no more. You don’t have to repeat that,” he chuckled.
She opened her eyes and didn’t try to stop her tears. “You are mine to protect until we are no more,” she said very firmly and tried not to think about how soon that might be. “Do you realize that you haven’t kissed me in at least five minutes?” She laughed because she could. Because they were both alive and he was looking at her as she’d always imaged someone would look at her. She mattered to him.
She could feel it in his touch, hear it in his voice. If she never had another moment of happiness, she would have this memory. No one could take it away from her. She could have these few precious hours that belonged to them and pretend they had forever.
“Are you always going to be this demanding?” He caged her face in his hands and kissed her as if she were his lifeline, all that was standing between him and death. She opened and took him inside, dueled with his tongue and once again tried to give more than she took. He pressed closer, rocking her in his arms and groaned his acceptance.
She broke the kiss and smiled. “Always,” she answered.
“Good,” he whispered, raggedly. “I’ve brought you food and water. When you have enough strength we’re going to the purification room because that’s part of this ritual. Otherwise, you’d have already come twice and we’d be going for a third time.” He withdrew a brown plastic packet from beneath the sleeping bag and tore it open with his teeth. He opened the container inside and held it for her.
The idea of coming made her shiver and her pussy clenched, sending little tremors through her. The smell of warm tomato sauce and beef reminded her of another pressing hunger and she swayed toward him, as she dipped her fingers into breakfast. She swallowed a couple of mouthfuls as quickly as possible and held her fingers out.
Sebastian sucked Kira’s fingers into his mouth, savored the sweet sauce and wanted her more. He wanted to kiss her senseless, wanted her legs around his hips while he took her hard and fast. But even in the golden light from the crystal, she was so pale and drawn that he was afraid of hurting her. She didn’t need any more pain or anxiety about her fate.
He took over feeding her, slipping his sticky fingers into her mouth, using his tongue to flick away any lingering sauce that was left on her lips. He wanted her so bad, he was practically shaking.
It didn’t matter what was happening in the outside world. This was their time, part of a rite as old as the Jaguar People and their union deserved just as much honor as anyone else’s. He could give her this, now.
Her color was slightly better by the time she placed a cookie between his lips. He could taste the sugar crust, her scent making it sweeter as he bit into the crunchy little nugget. She leaned forward and teased the tip of her tongue playfully across his lips. He hadn’t played in a very long time. As if she knew what he was thinking, she wriggled her bare, warm pussy against his cock and he jumped, arching against her.
“Do you remember the last time we showered together?” he whispered against her lips, curving his own into a smile that still seemed to surprise her.
“You couldn’t decide whether to kill me or fuck me,” she challenged with a smirk, pretending it hadn’t frightened her. He didn’t call her on her bravado. They were both going to need their illusions.
He didn’t need a flashlight to get to the purification room. He’d memorized the steps over the past three days as he’d planned this. The torch he’d lit before she woke was still burning and illuminated the Jaguar spout. Water trickled from its mouth and ran down the wall in incandescent rivulets.
He held her gaze as he uncurled his arms and lowered her feet to the ground. She slid from his arms and pressed her naked breasts against his chest, rubbed against him as if she were learning his texture through her flesh. He dug his fingers into her ass cheeks, holding her close while he ravaged her mouth.
She opened and he speared his tongue inside, delving into the pleasure he’d once denied himself. Frantically, he brushed his hands up over her back, her neck and into her hair.
She smiled against his mouth, sliding the backs of her hands over the cold, uneven surface above her head. The sinuous movement lifted her breasts and he bent to suckle one. He drew it into his mouth, brought his hands down to cup her breasts, palming them as she strained toward him, urging him to take more. He wanted to devour her one slow inch at a time, give her the pleasure she’d been denied.
He glanced up and her mouth trembled in the semblance of a smile. He lifted his head and slid his hands into her grip, trailed his closed mouth against her brow and felt it relax under the gentle pressure. Her cheeks were like silk stretched over a fragile frame and her mouth curved into a kiss that tasted of salt and the pale dregs of a past he wanted her to leave behind. He caught her sigh between his lips and swallowed the desire behind it.
“I wanted this…” she whispered while he trailed his lips down the slim column of her neck and tremors racked her body and her voice. “When we were running and you barely remembered who I was.”
He leaned his head against her breast, his cock rigid and straining against his abdomen as he fought for control. “I never stopped wanting you, not even then.”
When they left here he never wanted her to question that he wanted her above all else. For however long they had.
He licked a path to her other breast, nipped over her ribs while he slid his palms over the curve of her waist. A breath later, he savored the earthy, musky scent that had drawn him since he’d picked up her trail so many weeks ago.
Licking across her belly, he kissed the taut hollow of her tummy as she sucked in a breath, hissing when he nuzzled the nest of curls that covered her plump sex lips. She drew up like a bowstring when he separated them with his thumbs and lapped against their surface with one smooth stroke. The last time he was able to do this she’d needed the shield of denim and he’d had to leave her before he threw her down and fucked her like the beast he’d been.
The memory made him shudder and she laughed, not understanding his fear. Her taste drew him back and he plunged his tongue inside her warm, wet pussy. The breath soughed out of her and he did it again until she took over the rhythm, curling her hips until he could reach the sensitive little bundle of nerves. She cried out and pressed insistently against his face. Her scent was inside him, all around him, her cream coated his tongue.
She was still shuddering from her orgasm when he lifted her and used the wall behind her as leverage, kissing her so deeply that she had no choice but to taste herself on his lips.
She rolled her hips toward him and he slid into her welcoming heat while he dug his fingers into her hips and she grasped his shoulders, branding him with her nails. Her smile told him she remembered. Her raspy whisper against his ear shot straight to his cock.
&n
bsp; “Fuck me hard.” Her whisper ended on a demanding growl.
He pulled her against him so fiercely that she arched, bowing her back away from the rough stone and opening her thighs wider to meet his furious thrust. He kissed her, plunging his tongue inside her mouth and swallowing her cry as his balls drew tight and he came, losing himself in her arms and the fierce pull of her orgasm.
They slid down the rock wall, fighting for breath, his cock deep inside her.
She gazed down into his warm topaz eyes and could almost believe that they were going to end up with a happily ever after. She pressed a kiss into the hollow of his throat where his pulse raced and he stretched, pulling her on top of his hard body, cushioning her from the cold stone floor, protecting her.
She didn’t protest when he pushed off the ground, still holding her close and swung her into his arms. Couldn’t have cared less when he laid her, sleeping bag and all, on the stone sleeping platform. She was happy for now and it was enough. Part of her was vaguely aware of movement, of his warmth behind her. Inside the sleeping bag, his steady breath fluttering against the back of her neck, he spooned around her backside. His erection pressed against the crease of her buttocks and she wriggled against it.
“Hold that thought until I can attend to you properly,” she whispered. “You’re not the only one who’s been planning what would happen if we were ever together again,” she threatened softly before snuggling deeper into his tightening embrace. Her last thought before she drifted off was that no one could ever take this moment away unless she let them.
She woke gradually, the torchlight flickering against the etched walls and Bastian still wrapped around her, his heartbeat steady against her back. Sliding the zipper of the sleeping bag open, she stretched against his warm length. His cock rose against her butt and she wriggled against the smooth shaft until he growled. She laughed, turned in his arms and licked the center of his chest. His growl became a moan as she traced wet swirls on a flat, dark nipple, sucking it into her mouth until it was as erect as his cock.
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