by London Casey
‘Who? What black-clothed fellow?’ she wondered.
*The one who insinuated himself into your company when you were dining alone. That one is dangerous, I am sure of it.*
‘Eden, hmm? Seems harmless enough. But you’ve never steered me wrong. I would be a fool to totally ignore your warning. I’ll be careful.’
*Thank you. Now, in the meantime, you have company.*
Hell, she’d almost forgotten about Rahn.
Geez, what a blatant lie. But that was her story and she was sticking to it. By the time her conversation with Adonei was done, Rahn was climbing into the hot tub with a determination in his eyes she was sure she’d never seen unless he was after a bad guy.
He was very close now. So close that if the water hadn’t already been one-hundred-two degrees, she was sure the heat emanating from his body would have taken care of any tepidness. She sat up and looked down.
Oh dear lord. The man was gloriously naked, with a cock so long, broad and hard that the game of baseball came to mind. Hell, he was at least a foot away from her, but the thick-veined tool jutting her way put him a whole lot closer.
One more step and his erection thudded against her stomach, just underneath her breasts and partially hidden by the frothing water. Her heart rate kicked up into overdrive and breathing was a whole lot higher on the scale of important things to do. Okay, time to go. So, why weren’t her legs carrying her the hell out of the damned hot tub?
“Chrysalyn?” he asked, seeking her permission to touch with a whisper-soft plea against the side of her face. With her butt rooted to the spot, she watched one of his large, strong hands move toward her face to remove her sunglasses as the other tipped her chin up just before his lips brushed sensuously against hers.
“Chrys, baby, I’ve missed you so much.” His breath was a barrage of peppermint flowing over her cheek, followed by Eskimo kisses. When was the last time she’d rubbed noses with a man, or anyone for that matter?
His perfectly chiseled body scant inches from hers sent the blood dancing in her veins as the heat in her own skin threatened to out heat the bubbling tub. God, why had he always been able to get to her like this? Especially when she should totally hate the bastard—the dark-haired, tawny-eyed, gorgeous and seemingly sincere bastard. The knowledge that he could move her like no one else pissed her off.
*Or perhaps you are more angry with yourself?* Adonei queried as he faded to a little corner of her mind.
Nope! She was not angry with herself. Even if she had made every dumb decision possible during that rocky period while on the rebound from Rahn. Even if he would have crawled back, she’d simply been too proud to forgive him, determined to stay with the fiancé from hell just to prove a point.
Oooh, but now he nibbled that little spot he knew she liked while whispering her name between little bites.
“God, Chrysalyn, you taste so good,” he murmured against her slightly parted lips before covering her mouth with his. Any gentle intent dissolved into pure lust as he entangled his tongue with hers. She felt herself slip under his spell, felt the petals of her sex tingle and burn, and it had nothing to do with the heat of the hot tub.
Then she was suddenly empty. Rahn was there, but in her mind, she was utterly, totally alone.
Usually an expert at schooling her features, her emotions slipped out of her grasp and ran away from her. The panic that reared up to press against the middle of her chest was etched clearly across her face. Adonei! He was gone. They’d never been apart since the day she’d met him as a child. Why? Why now?
*I am here, Chrysalyn, but I would not disrespect you or your mate by intruding upon your mating.*
‘What? Adonei, don’t you dare leave me!’ she wailed in her head.
*Your mate will take good care of you. Do not worry. I will be near.*
‘My mate? What’s with this mate stuff? Adonei? Come back!’
“Hey, sweetheart, what’s wrong?” Rahn asked, letting her push away just a bit. The concern in his voice, accompanied by a little shake, broke through the wall of fear quickly erecting itself around her heart and snatched her back to the present.
“Are you all right?”
Her gut clenched painfully. All right? Hell no, she wasn’t all right, but it would be a seven-below-zero day in hell before she admitted it. He couldn’t possibly understand the emptiness in her head, the little void in her heart that was always filled with Adonei’s presence. Just the thought of being alone inside her own mind was downright terrifying.
Rahn crooned into her ear, holding her tenderly, gently massaging the muscles of her back. “You look afraid. You know I won’t hurt you, love.”
Still shaken from Adonei’s absence, she snapped, “I’m not afraid of you, Rahn.” And moved to jump out of the tub.
Rahn’s hand wrapped firmly around her biceps just as her toe hit the edge of the Jacuzzi. She froze.
“I’m sorry, Chrys. I didn’t mean to upset you,” he said quickly, his smooth voice full of concern. The pained expression in his deep amber eyes moved something buried inside her she’d thought long dead—the ability to receive comfort from a man. That comfort eased through her heart, mind and body, worked its way to her head and calmed her fears.
She went willingly into his arms, allowing herself to be cocooned against the solid wall of his chest. He picked her up and the natural masculine scent of his skin enveloped her as he eased her into his lap to straddle his hips.
Mmm, and his lips, soft and slightly damp from the steam rising from the water, tasted of fresh air, mint and warm aroused man. Then again, perhaps the meaty, throbbing erection bobbing up and down between them indicated the aroused part.
“Oh, baby, I’ve missed this. Missed just being close to you.” The edginess in his voice made her thighs, draped over his, quiver like Japanese mochi pudding. The skin where their bodies touched melted clean away when he moved in for another kiss, this one hot and unapologetic. His need conveyed through the movement of his lips and tongue, the motion smooth, but hard, full of desire and heat. It made her want, made her need. Chrysalyn moaned wantonly as he practically inhaled her.
“Damn, woman, I want you more than I want to breathe,” he whispered against the damp curls plastered against the side of her face.
“Really?” she gasped when he moved away from devouring her mouth to nip the sensitive spot just underneath her jawline. “You want me? Even more than…?”
“Yes, baby, I want you more than I ever wanted her.”
How had he known what she was going to say? Then again, he’d always known what she was feeling, thinking. It was as if they’d simply picked up where they left off three years ago. Last night, she’d fled from him, hadn’t wanted to explain her breakup with her ex-fiancé. And she certainly hadn’t wanted to acknowledge how the old spark between them emerged to hum just below her skin the moment she’d come up on him sneaking around her apartment.
Now that spark flared like a newly lit stack of charcoal doused with lighter fluid. The strong feelings she’d stuffed under mounds of work and duties crashed to the surface as if they’d never been buried.
His hands slid across her steam-slick skin, pausing to knead a muscle here and there, reminding her of the most decadent massage she’d ever had in her life. One he’d given her long ago. One she’d never forgotten and never thought to experience again. And there was nothing she could think of to compare it to. Hell, she could barely think at all.
“Baby, please. Let me taste you?” he asked in a way that wasn’t really a request. And boy, did she ever want to feel his mouth on her. Her teeth snapped together with an audible click at the feel of his tongue, wet and hot, sliding up her neck to lick away the moisture along the way.
“Chrys?” he asked again. “Let me?”
Yes, oh, yes. She wanted to give him permission, but when the slightly roughened pads of his fingers eased underneath the wet fabric of the slinky little two-piece and skimmed along her ass, she couldn’t get a single word out. All
she could do was nod her head and hope he was paying attention. Could he taste her? Hell yes!
With Mahpiya’s subtle retreat to the outermost reaches of his mind, Rahn’s head was strangely empty, yet at the same time, full of Chrysalyn—the way her short silky curls reflected the morning sun, the contrast of her milk chocolate skin against his tanned fairer tones. And her height, the little firebrand was so much shorter than him. Even when he lifted her out of the water, set her on the edge of the hot tub and kneeled on the seat in front of her, they were still of a height. Her breasts were just enough decadent flesh to fill his hands and were at the perfect angle for sucking. He palmed, squeezed and toyed with them until she squirmed, then he zeroed in on the puckered nubbins at the tips of those firm mounds and let his teeth have their wicked way. She’d always been partial to biting.
He lapped and nipped her beautiful breasts through her swimsuit while his fingers ran up and down toned, muscled calves and thighs, all on a five-foot-two frame. Chrysalyn was strong, compact and hippy, just the way he liked his women. Small package. Whole lot of beautiful female.
“Time to lose the swimsuit, Chrys,” he groaned around a succulent mouthful of her lovely areolas. Her stupefied “what” made him chuckle. He repeated his request, each word said with a little pluck to her nipples. She appeared ready to swoon.
“Chrysalyn, do you want me to stop?” he growled, backing off just enough to allow a cool stream of air to pass between their bodies. “Do you want me to stop, sweet?”
“Oh god, no!”
“Then. Remove. The. Suit.”
With trembling fingers, she reached up and with a flick of her wrist undid the string secured around her neck. The top of her halter-style bikini fell free, revealing the tasty treats Rahn had been suckling through the fabric. And they were beautiful. Her breasts were full and firm, the color of caramel cappuccino with Hershey’s Kisses nipples. Damn. With his chest wedged between her knees, he couldn’t resist feasting a while longer and pulled the entire crown into his mouth while his fingers ducked into the warm flesh between her thighs.
There he found so much honeydew pleasure, he wanted to drown in her. The sounds echoing from her throat as he explored with lips, tongue and questing fingers were seductively sexy. But he wanted to push her over the edge, kick her ecstasy up a notch until she screamed to the heavens from now until the end of time.
Fingers slick with cream, he raised them up to her parted lips and pressed them inside.
“Taste yourself, love.” Her tongue snaked out and wrapped around his finger, pulling and sucking until he felt the sensation clear down to his swollen balls. “God, woman, your scent is so sweet I can’t wait another minute to sink my tongue into that pretty pussy.”
She nodded dumbly, but didn’t move, just sat there on the edge of the bubbling Jacuzzi, trembling as her chest heaved up and down. He would just have to be patient, because if he dared put his hands to her swimsuit bottom, it would be a shredded piece of no-good fabric when he was done yanking it off her succulent body. A succulent body with too many clothes on it!
Clenching his hands, he ground out, “Chrysalyn. The bottoms, sweet.”
“Uh, yes. Okay.” The words were breathy, lost. Hungry. And all for him.
She stood on the submerged seat and peeled the wet bottoms over the curve of her ass, down her lovely legs and dropped them on top of her sodden top on the deck. Settled again on the tub’s edge, she spread her legs and flashed a siren’s smile. The smoldering heat in her light brown eyes said come fuck me now. The engorged lips of her pussy, spread wide for him to see, screamed even louder. But no cock for her. Not yet.
He called quietly to his spirit guide one last time before he gorged himself on Chrysalyn’s dewy folds.
‘Mahpiya, lend me your senses.’
The reply was so faint, he almost missed it.
*Take what I offer, my charge, and enjoy your mate.* And then she faded away completely, leaving him and Chrysalyn truly alone.
Closing his eyes, he allowed the power and aura of the lioness to fill him until the very essence of his spirit guide whistled through every pore in his body. Then he lowered himself down into the water until only his chest was visible. The aroma of her sex, heightened by the lioness’s keen senses, smelled of clean, fresh woman. And something else he couldn’t quite pin down, like honey syrup and cardamom spice.
He kept his gaze pinned to hers as he pushed her thighs as far apart as they would go. The woman was practically doing the splits on the edge of that tub and he would take full advantage of it.
One swipe of his tongue up her dewy slit caused a strangled cry to erupt from between her lips.
“Oh dear god!”
A second pass brought on a shudder so intense, he thought she might keel over into the tub.
“Rahn! Oh, yesss!”
A third sent her spiraling toward release.
When the two of them had spent time together years ago, she’d never given him complete access to her body like this, saying she wanted to wait until the time was right. He’d been frustrated then, but now he was glad. This did feel, for lack of better words, right. Not forced or awkward. As if the pieces of their lives snapped together with perfect precision. The response to his touch was something he’d never dreamed of. It was as if he’d unwrapped a beautiful present, uncovered a rare jewel. And if her wild cries were any indication, the idiot she’d been engaged to had never gifted her with this kind of loving. Pride filled his chest as his lips and tongue continued to work her over.
“Oh god! Rahn! No more! I can’t take it,” she screamed. Mmm, what beautiful music. The cries torn from her throat as her orgasm peaked and consumed her filled his head as she exploded. The climax was forceful enough to set her slick channel clenching around the tip of his tongue and her legs trembling even while her knees wrapped tight around his head and her fingers gripped the edge of the tub.
Head thrown back, spine bowed, she gave herself up to his attention until she was a trembling mass of pliable flesh. Finally, Chrys collapsed backward onto the warm deck.
When her breathing returned to normal, she sat up and looked at him. What was that? Confusion? Fear? He couldn’t tell.
The next instant, she snatched her wet swimsuit up off the deck and headed through the glass doors that led to her bedroom. The definitive snap and click told him she’d locked it behind her.
What the hell? Just as he started to go after her, Mahpiya’s powerful presence charged back into the familiar place in his head.
*Hoksila, leave her be for now.*
Fuck.
‘No worries, Mah. I can tell she needs a minute alone and so do I.’
His mate. Wow, he’d never expected such a thing. With that, Rahn climbed out of the tub and went back to his room. He flopped backward onto the bed, wrapped his fingers around his aching erection and closed his eyes. What would Chrysalyn’s hot cunt feel like wrapped around him? Would she grip him tight? Would she yell like she’d done a few moments ago?
With his mind full of fantasy and his cock as hard as iron, he pulled and stroked himself until his balls drew up tight against his body. His come geysered onto his chest. The eruption provided scant relief, knowing he wouldn’t be fully satisfied until he’d sunk into Chrysalyn’s sweetness, binding her to him completely.
But why hadn’t he realized this years ago? Mahpiya chimed in.
*Because you were not ready to receive such a gift, hoksila. Certain events in your life have brought you to a place where you can appreciate her. Rest assured, Chrysalyn is the one.*
‘Thank you, Mah. Thanks for looking out for me.’
*My pleasure and my duty,* she whispered, retreating to her favorite corner with a yawn.
After a catnap, Rahn rose, showered again and headed to Chrysalyn’s room. He was determined to win her, heart and soul. May as well start now.
It was still early enough, couldn’t be much past ten a.m. Perhaps she would have breakfast with him?
>
“Chrys,” he called quietly, tapping on her door.
No answer. Maybe she was napping as well?
“Chrys, love?”
Easing the door open, he was hit square in the chest by her scent, followed keenly by a disappointment so palpable he could have torn it in two and thrown it overboard. The room was empty. Chrys was gone.
Chapter Four
Over the years, he’d thought of Chrys often, but never contacted her out of respect. After all, she had someone else in her life, or he thought she had until this morning. But after tasting and touching the woman, after being in her presence again, he had to have her.
“Mahpiya, come to me,” Rahn grumbled, deep in thought. He walked across the expanse of the living room and sat in the overstuffed chair directly across from Chrys’ bedroom. His arm hung over the side of the linen-covered chair and was immediately propped up by the sleek back of an African female lion. Rahn’s fingers automatically smoothed over the thick pelt, but stilled at Mahpiya’s irritated growl.
*May I remind you I am not one of your pathetic home cats.*
“That’s housecat, Mah,” Rahn said with a grin. He knew where this conversation was going.
*Whatever.* She yawned with a muted roar. *I am queen of my domain and have no need of petting.*
Yep, she was proud all right. And beautiful and strong. But Rahn knew every woman needed a little stroking, no matter the species. “So, what if I need to do the petting? What if it soothes me? What then?”
*If it is something you need, then I shall, of course, allow it.* She sniffed and stretched her big body out on the plush carpet and Rahn buried his hand in her fur. Corded tendons and thick muscles bunched and twitched when his fingertips slipped over the spot just above her left shoulder. That was her sweet spot.
She rolled over on her side.
*So why have you summoned me, my charge?* the powerful spirit guide asked on a purr. Direct and to the point had always been her style. Rahn wished all females were this way. At least with Mahpiya, he always knew where he stood. If all was well, she said so. If he was being an idiot, Mahpiya had no bones about telling him. No second-guessing required.