His hands jerked, landed on the button of his camouflage pants, and set to fumbling with the closure.
All that bulging musculature in his arms undulated like his namesake. Mostly because he'd smeared on some kind of camouflage paint to emulate stripes. Or that his green gaze was firmly fixed upon mine to the point he wasn't thinking about the metal button his fingers mindlessly fumbled with to open. No. He had other things on his mind.
Snap goes the trap. Finally, after all those years of trying to get the man to confess his intentions toward me.
Men are so predictable. Of course, it paid having so many relatives living at my sire's outpost. I think I've seen all of what men do. Yet, Boa's predictability in his noble manner is what kept me from losing my mind all along.
He skinned himself, peeling away his pants like a snake shedding its mottled skin.
Revealing the legless reptile he'd been concealing. One hell of a monster in comparison to what I'd seen splashing around the watering hole back among my closest cousins. Maybe I should run? Or does the determination suddenly glinting in his eyes note I can't escape?
It would be fun to be caught. Oh, Lordy, mine. Mine. Mine. But I don't want him to touch me until I washed off the stink of travel. I shot him what I hoped proved a sparkling grin, batted my eyes, and stepped across some of the river's damp smooth cobbles.
Arms grabbed me around the waist and swooped me into the air.
Into his arms. Talk about all the strength I expected to feel curl around me in the muscled limbs of a boa constrictor. Who wouldn't settle into his hard warm chest, grab his shaved head, and force his hot mouth to feed hers again? I stared into his attentive green gaze.
That's Boa. Aware. Alert. Attentive. Calm. Definitely the calm before the storm. Because when Father learns I defied him in mating a Bitterroot Shifter, I'd be excommunicated like Christians from their Church when the extraterrestrials arrived. Good thing we don't have that to contend with after the inhabitants of Bitterroot Valley were harvested by aliens.
He carried me a few steps until his footsteps dragged through the water, jangling like someone pulled an oar through the river.
Struggling. But his balance never wavered. He carried me like a treasure, studying me. Searching. Contemplating. Or plotting. I'm all for plotting. Go ahead. Think about all the things you want to do to me. Bite me first. Can you hear my thoughts? Bite me, Boa.
His footsteps stopped as the river hushed with its quiet sounds.
Cool water kissed my ass as he stood waist deep now. Not a bad thing in making me think only of him. He's all hot. All smoking-amazing Shifter no woman could look at without thinking about being possessed by one. Coveted by one the way he was holding me in his arms. But I needed to wash up. "I won't vanish, Boa. Put me down. I want to swim a minute."
His mouth curled sinisterly into his left cheek.
Oh no. "Boa?"
He started walking, cold water lapping a chilly trail up my back as we sank more and more into the chilly water. "You won't be getting away today."
I could have waited a lifetime to hear those words from the only man who didn't make me want to find another Shifter clan to join since Father instigated the feud. Albeit, there are many warriors old enough to mate in the valley. Rather, a handful at Father's fortress and six at the Bitterroot outpost. However, the clans severed their ties to one another, splintering when I was three. When my mother died because Boa's mother wasn't allowed to travel to help Mother foal the mares. When Mother was kicked in the forehead by Wild Sally and mortally wounded. And everyone had expected Father would look beyond his loss and find forgiveness. Even after he found another mate and gave me two younger brothers. No wonder I'm still his favorite child. He can't let go of mother.
I'm in so much trouble.
How? Everything is so warm and perfect in Boa's arms. Everything will be that way after he bites me. He just needs to mark me. Make me forget my sire needs me. "Boa?"
He blinked extremely slowly as if in deep thought and hummed a sound of acknowledgement that noted his Wolf gurgled deep inside his chest.
"Do you think our families will hate us for this?"
"Don't." He slid my body along the hard length of his, into the water until I was arm-pit deep and snaked his strong warm arms around my lower back, pulling my hips against his wonderful heat, pressing the hardness of his long engorged member into my belly.
Proof he wants me.
A wily grin teased his tanned lips apart. He chugged a louder gurgling Wolf growl, his face mere inches from mine.
A warning that his beast lurked right beneath his skin.
Gods. Just to close my eyes and tuck my nose beneath his chin.
His wide palms caressed a hot path down my ass to cup both cheeks then squeeze them.
Oh, Gods, squeeze them more.
An ache shot through my being.
Oddly shocking me into the deepest awareness I'd ever felt between my legs. Need. Pure. Raw. Hot need. I wanted to wrap my legs around his narrow waist and climb up his body, rubbing that achy need against the supple firmness of his welcoming form.
He pulled my body upward, lifting my feet off the river's rocky bottom.
My legs hung where I struggled to cling to the warmth of his doting firm muscles that kept my buoyant body pinned against him instead of floating away from his perfect rumbling mass. Oh yes. Rumbling little warnings of imminent possession.
But the water tried to pull my floating body away.
Those broad hands clutched my groin against his jutting shaft. "Don't think of Croc now," he persuaded, sliding his hands, pulling my thighs to bend my knees behind his back, "or you'll allow him to keep us apart. Today, we do what's right for us."
Right as always even though crocodiles lived in rivers. Kind of ironic…Us selfishly rubbing pliant throbbing flesh against jutting sensitive places. Yes. Flesh and jutting things. Everywhere. And soon, so very soon, that jutting flesh would be inside me. Claim me. Now. I slid my arms around his solid neck and touched the tip of my nose to the curved point of his. "You're right. I love you, Boa."
Gods, he was so close. So warm. Scented with a touch of musk like a man who marked his territory. His waist applying the most amazing pressure to the achy place between my legs. If only he'd make that pain vanish. "Boa, please," I whined and wiggled my hips enough to brush his hard belly with my pubic hair.
He gently leaned his stubbled cheek against mine, closing his eyes, and grazed his the stubble downward, dipping his head while scraping my flesh.
Just enough to stroke up a chill coursing through me with the thoughtfulness of a man consumed with passion. Yes. Oh. Yes. He loves me. Will always love me.
One of his palms whispered up my side beneath my arm.
Carefully mapping out my form with a mesmerizing touch that stole my breath away.
My heart warmed sliding downward to pool low in my belly.
Right where he teased me with the hardness of his shaft. He'll definitely mark me. Surely he'd always wanted to. "Why didn't you mark me back when Father tried to mate me to Wolverine?"
"I didn't want to frighten you." His hot breath brushed my ear.
Such counterproductive actions. I leaned my damp forehead against his and stared into his eyes as green as pine needles brightened by sunlight. "But you did frighten me. I feared you really didn't want me."
So close. Those soft lips were so damned close. But I needed to know why he'd done what he'd done.
He sucked in a cutting breath.
Staring into my eyes. Trying to read me. Or formulate an excuse. Didn't he know that of all my cousins from both of our Shifter outposts that he was the only warrior I met in secret? Often. So, damned often, risking everything, feigning the need to hunt for herbs, wild vegetables, berries, roots, and anything else I could use as an excuse to speak with the only man who made my blood race. But his gaze didn't appear to desperately search for some answer.
"I'm sorry, Willow. I didn't realize yo
u were ready to be mine."
No?
He smashed his hot moist mouth over mine and sucked a quick kiss before backing away.
Leaving me to stare into his serious gaze for answers. "So foolish we were to waste all the years we could have been together. I would have run away with you that first year." So young at thirteen. And ready. But he hadn't asked. And now he studied me with the intensity of a guilty Shifter standing before his alpha.
"You were too young," he whispered. "Young people make mistakes when it comes to love. I didn't want you to think you should have taken more time later. If your sire made you feel guilty."
So, generous and thoughtful. He can keep my heart forever.
"You're quiet," he whispered, his lips but an inch from mine, his bright eyes demanding an answer.
The air hung thick between us. And his lips were so close. Why not mate? Why talk? "Kiss me."
His erection arched against my tender sex.
Begging to stroke my soul. Inside. Gods. I'm trapped. Right where he wants me.
His mouth slanted, hastily blanketing mine with amazing heat.
Heat that burned away the world. Burned away the rest of the cool lapping water.
His steely presence strained against my sex, arching again.
Teased. Taunted. Kicking my hips into mindlessly rocking against the iron length of the club he was threatening me with. Making him groan into my mouth even though the wet sounds of his wrestling tongue diluted the moan into a fraction of the fervor it could have been. But I wanted it all. Him inside me, thrusting wildly, thrashing like I'd seen Wolverine do with Mary Locke. Mary had screamed, clawing bloody scratches into my cousin's back, then begged him to do it again after he collapsed atop her panting body. That's what I want. Absolute completion with the Shifter I choose. A man of integrity destined to head his clan because of his code of ethics. Boa. I tightened the grip of my legs around his lean waist.
He growled into my mouth shoving my mouth backward.
Intoxicatingly. And my belly strained against his washboard abs.
He snarled, his hungry mouth withdrawing an inch until I could look into his half-shuttered glowing golden eyes.
His Wolf had risen. Arrived to claim his mate.
Perfect. I glided a damp palm across his smooth freshly-shaved scalp and cupped his curved head in case he dared to look away. Dared to slide his gaze away from mine. "Please, Boa. I've waited so long. Just to be yours--"
The world shifted until water jangled, dripping from my body, and his movement through the river became the oar-like drags of his legs. Sloshing. Heading into the shallows. Him focusing on the shore as I stared at the rounded point of his nose in his strong profile.
Why are we leaving the river? Am I mistaken? No. We were always destined for each other. Him to care for my needs. Me to soothe his Wolf and give him children. A couple working together to feel complete in a world where happiness could only be bought by powerful overlords who toyed with most of the planet's remaining humans.
He stepped from the river and strode until finding a place where he descended onto his ass sitting in the soft cool grass, descending that attentive mouth of his to tickle the pulse beneath the skin at the bend where my shoulder meets my neck.
The hot pliant muscles of his body pressed against mine.
Wrapped around me. Locking me in his lap, straddling the strength of his thighs. Oh sweet stars that mouth of his unleashed so much need quaking through my body that I somehow melted out of his arm hold and seeped across the forest floor.
Those golden eyes followed me.
Stalked me. Hovered. So far away where his knees shoved my thighs apart in some secret type of torture meant to drive me insane. I tried to squeeze my thighs together against the iron of his body.
To set him off again with my legs.
He only stared.
Silently. Watching my eyes. Why isn't he touching me?
My spirit whined a desperate plea.
The glow in those eyes flickered at the sound my body had made. Then his lips descended, closing in toward my mouth, to my collarbone, finally latching on and massaging a tingling line south to the rise of my breast.
A shiver coursed through me.
Maybe it was from the way the short hairs of his circle beard scraped tingles into my being? Maybe because I had my thighs stretched wide by a man who was having his way with me. Maybe I liked that. Or his hot wet mouth sucking on my breast. The breast I arched up to smash into his attentive lips. Whatever the reason, I writhed beneath that mind-numbing firm pressure kneading the wicked aching knot out of my sensitive nipple.
Apparently, his goal was to make my groin rock uncontrollably. Silently. Beg for him. Somebody would have to do something before I lost my mind. I grabbed his head and held on for dear life.
He growled the deepest guttural sound I'd ever heard.
A sound every girl would dreamed of hearing.
His sharp incisors latched onto the taut bead of my nipple and pulled it with indescribably delicious force.
Hot molten need shafted through me.
Scorching the tissue between my heart and neediest center of my universe located down between my legs. Nothing possibly remained inside me to block his blessed cock's way when he took pity on me and finally thrust inside my aching channel. Now, why not now? I whined. "Boa, you're killing me."
And my body's bowing jerks against his steely indomitable form had to indicate I neared death. But. I think I like him killing me.
He snarled against my skin, shoving the bulge of my other breast toward where his mouth worked the first nipple, and ignored me.
Toying with me. Why? I just needed him inside me. I wanted to claw. To scream. Feel as complete as that woman I'd seen have sex so many times.
His mouth moved between both of my breasts where he shoved them together so closely that they almost touched.
Driving me insane. Sucking on the long points until one popped free of his careful bite and he could latch onto the other.
He growled the deadliest possessive gurgle and lowered his steely mass down atop my length.
My soul quaked at the weight of his hard muscle pressed against my demanding groin.
A part of my body that had taken on a mind of its own. Gods I ached so damned much down there.
He turned back to my flesh, ignoring my pathetic neediness, for some reason opting to use the moist tip of his tongue to trace a chilling line along each of my ribs.
Slowly, ever-so-damned slowly. Creeping back and forth along each rib, sliding to my jolting midline, then back up to the side of my body, to follow the next lower rib toward my navel. Until his mouth hovered over the sensitive notch, dowsing it with scorching breath.
He gurgled a clipped Wolfen declaration of something.
Maybe he simply warned me to hang on. Must have because the damp tip of his tongue traced the rim of that Y-shaped small indentation. Made me flinch against his growling head. But my body's arching motion didn't deter him. No. He thrust that tongue into the quivering hole and lathed me senseless. I couldn't gasp for a breath fast enough. Couldn't dodge the wave of desire and desperation gripping my being. All I could do was thrash against his dipping tongue and whimper until those whimpers metamorphosed into screaming pleas.
An even more inescapable need crashed into me. Coursed through me. Smothered my sanity until all I thought about was the way my need smeared his chest with the dampness his relentless efforts drained out the screaming hole my body rubbed against his. It was as if that part of me, that opening, demanded he cough up the goods, pay or suffer.
But he ignored my rucking hips.
Devouring my navel while pinning me to the very Earth that birthed me twenty-three years ago.
Life jolted through me.
Oddly confusing in I'd lived so long already.
That ravenous teasing mouth dangerously suddenly journeyed southward.
Oh. Yes. To where I ache with dangerous emptiness. Insa
nely empty. Something has to drive the void away. Anything. And that glorious mouth of his certainly could the way his tongue lapped at my sex.
Dear. Gods. I couldn't stop barking his name, rubbing my throbbing sex against his face, smashing my shoulders into the unforgiving earth…Over and over the firm tip of that tongue mapped out my delicate flesh no one had ever touched before. And it felt so wonderful I had to shut my eyes. Clamp out the blue sky. Hold my breath for fear I'd scream and my sire would hear.
The world shook with volcanic intensity.
Rather, my body did. Or the universe. All the way through my core like everything sucked back inward until there was nothing but that sensation. Nothing but something clutching my soul with an invisible grip that took it by the shoulders. Must have. To get its attention. But Boa didn't need to. He'd secured that years ago.
Loving Lucius (Werescape) Page 29