Mortified, she pushed her chair back and rushed from the table, running through the maze of hedges. She stopped when her dress caught on a thorny branch, wrestling desperately with the fabric. Kenneth jogged up to her.
He didn’t say “What the hell’s the matter with you?”
He didn’t say “Why did you run off?”
He did say “here, let me get that.” Gently, he reached out and freed the fabric from the branch.
“Oh, go away…it’s hopeless!” she choked out.
“What’s hopeless?”
“I’m the clumsiest cat ever! How could you ever even like someone like me?” Her eyes swam with tears and she blinked frantically, desperate not to cry.
“It’s actually one of the things that I like about you.”
He turned her around and gathered her in his arms.
“Why?”
“Because it’s nice to feel needed.”
“Don’t hug me. I spilled chocolate mousse on my chest.” If he made fun of her, she knew she’d burst into tears.
But he didn’t.
“I happen to love chocolate mousse, so thank you for that,” he said with a wicked gleam in his eye, and he bent down and lapped the smear of chocolate on her breast.
The feeling of his tongue sent a red hot thunderbolt of desire through her body. She couldn’t help herself; she gasped aloud.
He ran his tongue over it again, and again.
She could swear he’d already lapped up all the chocolate, but he was still teasing her with his tongue. He slid the edge of her dress’s neckline down, lower, lower, until he’d exposed her ruby red nipple. He sucked her nipple into her mouth and she whimpered in pleasure as he scraped her tender flesh with his teeth.
“We’re…we’re outside,” she panted, looking around. “We should…”
“We should get naked. Yes. There’s no-one on this side of the house now; I sent them all away.”
Because he’d assumed they’d be together? Part of her knew she should be furious at his presumptuousness…a very, very small part. Mostly she was so aroused she was afraid she’d orgasm the next time he touched her.
He shed his clothes in less than a minute. He was every bit as magnificent as she’d thought he would be. Back at her grandmother’s house, she’d caught a brief glimpse after he shifted and his clothes ripped off him, but now he stood there in all his glory. His cock was thick and erect, jutting upward from a thatch of curly coal black hair.
Blushing, she pulled her dress off and dropped it on the ground.
Suddenly, a devilish thought seized her.
“If you can catch me, I’m yours,” she said, and before he could say a word, she’d shifted into panther form. Her senses blazed to life, and the evening air was full of intoxicating smells. She could smell the rich, loamy earth, and the fragrant rosemary hedges, and the musk of Kenneth’s arousal.
On all fours, she turned and ran through the maze, tail switching behind her.
Ha. She’d show him, Mr. Smarty-pants. She had endless stamina when she was in panther form. She could ran all night. She’d lead him on a chase he never –
She only made it around one corner before she tripped over a root that jutted up from the ground and landed with a thud. She scrambled to her feet again, and Kenneth landed on top of her in panther form, sending her sprawling onto the mossy ground. His fur was silky, and the muscles sliding underneath his pelt were massive, and his eyes were so luminous they glowed like blue candle flames.
Instantly she shifted back, and so did he. He was lying on top of her, naked.
“Really?” he laughed. “I thought you’d at least try to pretend to play hard to get.”
She smacked his shoulder. “I was trying! Then I tripped. Stupid roots. I told you, I’m the world’s clumsiest panther.”
“Then you’ll need me by your side at all times, so I can be there to catch you when you fall.” His eyes twinkled wickedly. “Because I suspect that’s going to happen a lot.”
“You-” she spluttered indignantly, or tried to, but then his mouth claimed hers, and she lost the power of speech.
He slid on top of her, and she shivered with delight at the feeling of his rock hard body pressing against her.
He cupped her face with his hand, his tongue thrusting inside her mouth and leading her tongue in a hot, passionate duet. He tasted sweet and smoky at the same time, and he sucked at her hungrily, with a passion that made her shudder with desire.
His knee slipped between her legs, nudging them apart, and she felt the rigid length of his shaft pressing against her stomach. She circled her arms around his back, pulling him against her, his hardness against her soft flesh.
Slowly, he pulled away from the kiss, and she whimpered and tangled her fingers in his silky back hair, trying to draw him back in.
“No, I want to taste all of you,” he husked, and began kissing his way down the tender curve of her neck, and then nipping at it.
“Ohh,” she wailed. “Oh, God. Yes.”
With each nip of her tender flesh, he swirled his tongue around the area that he’d just teased with his teeth. She clutched at his hair with one hand, her other hand on his shoulder, fingers squeezing him.
More. More. Don’t stop. Had she said it out loud? She couldn’t be sure.
He moved on to her breasts, sucking one ruby tip into his mouth and tugging at it gently. Liquid heat shot through her veins, and she wrapped one leg around him, brazen and shameless.
“I love what you’re doing to me,” she gasped.
“I love doing it. I love the noises that you’re making,” he murmured into her breast.
Part of her thought, this is madness. I’m surrendering to the devil himself.
She wanted him so badly, though, every cell in her body aching for him, her nerve endings burning with desire. She wanted to pull him inside her, wanted to melt into his body until they were one.
Whatever hell I wake up to tomorrow, she thought, it will be worth it. This one night of magic and bliss will be worth it.
She understood now why her grandmother had fallen so hard for Kenneth’s grandfather. The Chamberlin men were irresistible.
He cupped one breast in his hand, running his thumb over the rosy bud, while he continued his conquest of her other breast, biting and sucking at her nipple. Her flesh was unbearably sensitive, and she cried out as teeth rasped across the tender flesh.
Then he moved down lower, and she shivered in anticipation as he scraped his teeth across her flat belly. When he dipped his tongue into her navel, heat pooled in her abdomen.
His tongue swirled slowly, lazily, and she couldn’t suppress a low moan of pleasure. She wanted to writhe, to scream out loud, but she forced herself to lie perfectly still, quivering with anticipation of what was to come.
Then he worked his way lower, lower, until he was between her legs. His strong hands spread her thighs apart, and then his fingers slid between the wet pink petals of her pussy. He was breathing hard.
“You smell like heaven,” he groaned. “Like honey and roses.” She was spread wide open, and he ran his tongue lightly along the seam that he’d exposed. Little jolts of pleasure shocked her.
“Please,” she whimpered.
“You want it? You want me to kiss you? To suck you?”
“Yes! Please!” she cried, and he moved his hot mouth onto the swollen bud of her clitoris and sucked at it, wrenching a small shriek from her throat.
She lay there helplessly, as the heat inside her grew unbearable. His suckled her sensitive flesh, and one finger slipped inside her slick wet opening and curved inward. Tears pricked her eyes; she wanted to weep with pleasure, at all the unbearably pleasurable sensations stabbing at her.
He moved his finger inside her until he found a sensitive spot that she didn’t even know existed, and she let out another shriek. Could people hear her? Could anyone see them? She didn’t even care any more, she was so desperate for release.
He sucke
d harder, and at the same time stroked her with the one finger. Sweat beaded on her forehead and trickled between her breasts, and the soft mossy ground was like silk beneath her. The heat inside her suddenly bunched up into a ball, and then exploded like a grenade, hurling jagged shards of pleasure throughout her whole body. She cried out wordlessly as her orgasm rolled over her in wave after wave, and blessed relief came. She felt as if a sweet, liquid fire was flowing throughout her whole body.
Kenneth moved up, wrapping his arms around her. They were both drenched in sweat, and the cool night air and her damp skin made her shiver.
“I’ll keep you warm,” he murmured into her ear, wrapping himself around her.
“When you hold me like that, I feel so safe,” she said, resting her head on the moss.
“You should feel safe. I’d die before I let anything happen to you.” It sounded so perfect, the words that she yearned to here. Could she believe him? She wanted to believe him. She’d been raised on a lifetime of mistrust of the Chamberlins, and now she was torn between wondering if it had all been lies, and wondering if she’d just let herself be misled by pure lust.
Kenneth buried his face in her hair and breathed in deeply. “You smell so sweet…and you taste even better,” he husked.
What had she been thinking a minute ago? Now she couldn’t remember. Desire flared up through her again, like the coals of a dying fire that had been stoked back to life.
She moved her hands, lightly caressing his back with her fingertips, and he groaned, and moved his hips until the head of his cock was pressed against her slick entrance. He pressed hard until her flesh yielded to him, and then slid inside her, an inch at a time, working his way up further and further.
His girth stretched her, her tight muscles forced to accommodate his massive size. It was a strange, heady mix of pleasure and pain, and she wrapped her legs around him, urging him in.
Kenneth began moving his hips, sliding almost all the way out until she cried out at the loss, and then moving to fill her again, so deliciously stuffing her full to overflowing. She could feel his pubic hair tickling against hers, and he pumped into her, testicles slapping against her buttocks every time he plunged in to the hilt.
Her pleasure reached its peak and she could feel her muscles clamping down on his cock, and he quickly pulled out, groaning in pleasure and spilling his seed onto the ground.
“No condom,” he gasped.
“Oh. Right. Forgot.” Yes, she had, hadn’t she? When she was around Kenneth she couldn’t think straight.
He lay beside her, his breath coming in gasps, caressing the sweat-slicked flesh of her abdomen. The air reeked of sex and sweat.
Finally he spoke. “Condoms are inside. Shall we?”
* * *
A fat yellow cat lay sprawled across the cobblestones of the narrow street, basking in a sunny spot. The ancient buildings lining the town square were roofed with red barrel tile, and pots of geraniums brightened the windows. A mix of people and shifters strolled slowly past the little shops, enjoying the unseasonably warm fall weather.
Kenneth had woken Chloe up early and insisted that they go to town to enjoy breakfast at a little café in the center of town. Now her stomach was full, her body ached pleasantly after a night of the hottest sex she’d ever had, and she was ready to head back to Kenneth’s villa for another round.
“You know, they have universities in California,” Kenneth said, looping his arm around Chloe’s waist and pulling her up against him.
“You don’t say. I didn’t even know you people could read.”
“Careful. Sassy girls get spanked.” He pressed his lips against her ear and nibbled gently.
She shivered, and lightning bolts of desire sizzled through her.
“But what will you do to punish me?” she teased him. Instead of answering, he bent down and kissed her neck, tongue tracing the curve. Instantly her nipples swelled and hardened, rubbing against the fabric of her blouse, and she let out a small whimper.
“Stop!” she gasped. “There are people in the café! They can see us!”
He lapped at her neck and she felt her panties grow damp with desire. If he didn’t stop, she was going to have an orgasm right there on the spot – and when it came to Kenneth, she was not capable of coming quietly.
“Do you give?”
“I give! Uncle, I cry uncle!”
He stepped back away from her, a self-satisfied smile on his face.
“You’re so easy,” he bragged. “I know exactly what buttons to push. I mean that in the dirty sense, by the way. And now, as I was saying…we have a very nice university in Playa Linda, where I live. But do you know what they’re lacking?”
“I have a feeling you’re about to tell me,” she said.
“A classics department. I’ve been thinking for some time that I should fund one. That department would need a chairman, of course. Or chairwoman.”
“Really?” her lips curved in an amused smile. “When you say for some time, exactly how long do you mean?”
“A week or two. All right, since yesterday. I thought, what could possibly lure Chloe away from her job? How about the opportunity to design her own department and curriculum?”
Chloe was temporarily speechless. Was this really happening? Last night she’d been ready to accept that the penalty for a night with Kenneth Chamberlin could easily be a lifetime of regret and sorrow. And now, here he was asking her to – what was he asking her, exactly?’
“Where…where would I live?” she asked cautiously.
He gave her a chiding look, as if to say, “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“I know a weekly motel you could stay at,” he suggested. She punched his arm, laughing.
“That is a tempting offer,” she said.
“I also know a handsome billionaire who has room in his bed for a beautiful, stubborn, smart-mouthed, very well-educated panther.”
“Really? Could you introduce me to him?” she grinned, and then danced away from him before he could start tormenting her with his sensuous lips and tongue again.
“You’re a funny girl.” He moved towards her, eyes gleaming, and she took a step back.
“This is…very sudden. We just met,” she said.
“Chloe, we’re fated mates. You know it. I know it. Come live with me, and get to know me, so I can sweep you off your feet. I promise you, I am very convincing when I put my mind to it.”
“My mother lives in New York. My friends. I’d be on the opposite side of the country from them.”
“I have a private jet at your disposal any time that you get lonely.”
“Are you trying to lure me to California by flashing your big, swollen, oversized, throbbing…bank account?” she asked suspiciously.
“Yes. Is it working?”
“Kind of,” she admitted. “I’m apparently crazy enough to think about it. Oh, don’t look so smug.”
“I am feeling very smug, especially because you admit that I’m oversized.” He grinned hugely. “Come inside the market with me. I want to show you off.”
She felt a little glow of pleasure at that. Kenneth Chamberlin, ridiculously handsome, most eligible bachelor on the planet, wanted to show her off.
But they’d passed the most amazing chapel a block from the market place. It dwarfed the buildings around it with its wonderfully baroque architecture and its arched wooden doors were hand-painted with biblical scenes; she was desperate to get a closer look.
“Do you mind if I dash off to look at that church first?”
“Nerd. Hurry back.” He kissed the top of her head, and she rushed off happily around the corner. There was nothing she loved better than an old city. All of the buildings here were 17th century or earlier; she felt like a time traveler, walking over these ancient cobblestones.
A car rumbled by, distracting her from her reverie and jerking her back into the 21st century. She fought a twinge of annoyance, turning her back on the car to stare at the church, which w
as bathed in sunbeams.
The car door opened and shut, and oddly, she felt a sudden trill of alarm shoot through her.
“Well, well, well. You and the playboy. Wasn’t that a touching scene,” a familiar voice said right behind Chloe’s ear.
It was Alfonse. He had a computer tablet in his hand, which he held up to show her. A lightning bolt of shock zapped through her as she saw the picture on its screen: it was a close up picture of her mother’s face, looking angry and afraid.
He no longer had that fake, polite smile pasted on his face. “You could have made this much easier on all of us,” he said reprovingly. “You could have just come with me when I asked you to.”
“You son of a bitch,” she hissed. “If you hurt her-”
“Keep your voice down,” he said. “We have your mother, and your grandmother.”
“You bastard!” she hissed. She was so furious that it was all she could do to keep from shifting and ripping his smug face off. The only thing stopping her was fear for her family.
He gestured at the car.
“Get in now, or your mother and grandmother die.”
She looked around frantically. Kenneth was nowhere in sight. A small group of tourists was standing across the street by the church, a family was strolling with a baby…no Kenneth.
Some of the tourists casually glanced their way.
“Act as if we’re together,” Alfonse said, and tried to put his arm around her waist. A wave of revulsion washed over her, and she jumped back, knocking his arm away.
“Don’t touch me,” she hissed.
His eyes blazed with anger. “Get in the car now, if you ever want to see your mother again,” he snarled at her.
She had no choice. Quickly, she slid into the car, heart sinking in her chest as he slid in next to her and slammed the car door shut.
“From now on, do what I say, or it will go badly for your family.”
How had she ever thought he was handsome? His eyes had a maniacal gleam to them, practically bulging from his face like a chihuahua’s. His lips were thin and white with anger.
His Purrfect Mate Page 11