Hunted by a Jaguar

by Felicity Heaton

  “I believe he will be. It will hurt, but he will overcome it. I can only hope that he can find his ki’ara.”

  “Ki’ara?” Kyter frowned across his shoulder at her as she leaned against the balcony railing beside him, facing the courtyard and the realm beyond it, her elbows resting on the dark stone.

  “It is the elf term for a fated female. The male’s eternal mate.” She looked away from the beautiful view, settling her eyes on one that felt more beautiful right now.

  Her fated mate. Her male.

  His golden eyes were bright in the evening light. That warm light hung matching golden threads in his sandy hair. It was still damp, tousled and wild. When he had been injured, she had felt as if her heart would split in two and had been paralyzed by her fear that the male Fernandez had sent, one of his top assassins, would deal the finishing blow.

  A blow that would take Kyter from her.

  The thought of losing him had driven her to comply with the assassins, to do whatever it took to keep him safe and alive. Even leave him when it had killed her to do such a thing.

  It had also made her aware of the depth of her feelings for the jaguar shifter.

  She turned towards him and ran her hand down his bare arm, tracing the contours of his powerful muscles. “You would be my ki’aro.”

  “Ki’aro,” he said but she could see from his eyes that he was stuck on how she had phrased things, specifically using him as her reference for the elf term for a fated male rather than speaking in general as she had for females.

  She nodded and went to look back at the view, but he shifted to face her and caught her cheek, keeping her eyes on him, his filled with warmth and an intensity she couldn’t decipher.

  “Iolanthe?” he murmured and shifted closer, until his body brushed hers, sending a warm shiver through her that had her leaning closer to him. “Whatever happens… whether we mate or we never mate… it won’t change my feelings for you. I can’t lie and say I don’t want you as my bonded mate, but I am willing to wait. If I have to wait forever, I will wait forever. Just being with you is enough for me.”

  She wasn’t sure how to respond to that. It touched her deeply and she knew he was speaking from his heart again. He didn’t want to pressure her into mating with him and forming a bond between them. That he would do that for her only made her fall harder for him.

  He would wait for her. Being with her was enough for him.

  She didn’t want to wait. This wasn’t enough for her.

  Speaking with her brother had made her realise that.

  Kyter was the male who had been made just for her. Her one shot at a love that would last forever.

  And she did love him.

  She knew now that he would never force her to do anything, would never seek to control her, or tell her what to do. He wanted to stand at her side and keep her safe, to protect her and take care of her. She wanted to do the same with him.

  She wanted forever with him.

  There was a vast difference in their natural lifespans though. In order to have forever with him, she needed to bind them through a mating. It would significantly increase his lifespan, allowing him to live for thousands of years as she could.

  Iolanthe slipped her hand into his and led him away from the balcony.

  “Where are we going?” he husked, the raspy edge to his deep voice speaking to her of his desire, stirring her own.

  “Not to the bed.” She looked back over her shoulder at him and he frowned at her, disappointment colouring his expression. A smile tugged at her lips and she pulled him towards the arched entrance to the next room, off to her left. “The waters in my realm are very pure and have healing properties. I want to bathe your ankle.”

  His golden eyes took on a wicked shimmer. “And the rest of me? Because I’m fairly damp and dirty from Pompeii.”

  She raked a look over him, not showing a single drop of the arousal that bolted through her at the thought of bathing with him. “I would say you are dirty, but perhaps not in the manner you mean it.”

  He grinned, flashing short fangs, and passed her, tugging her along now. Her eyes slowly lowered down his lean back to the sensual dips above his backside and then traversed his long legs to his ankles. There was a cut in the back of his right boot where the sword had sliced clean through the leather. Her stomach somersaulted at the memory of seeing that blow happen, hobbling him before her eyes, and she tightened her grip on his hand, reassuring herself that he was here and he was well again now.

  He entered the bathing chamber ahead of her and stopped dead.

  “I never knew Bleu had such a swanky place.” Kyter stared at the room, his eyes darting over the elegant stone basins that hung from the wall to her right below large mirrors and the other facilities, and settling back on the bathing pool.

  It was raised from the floor, three broad steps leading up to the wide rim, made from the same dark stone as the floor and walls.

  “It looks like a bloody swimming pool.”

  She smiled at Kyter’s shock and moved past him, stepping into the light cast through the first of the three arched windows in the left wall. “All of the apartments in the castle have such bathing facilities. The warm water is pumped up from a natural hot spring. Bleu is fortunate to have rooms here in the castle. I have heard the quarters in the barracks for normal soldiers are cramped, with two or more to a room, and they share a single communal bathing pool.”

  Kyter shuddered. “Good thing for us your brother is the prince’s best friend.”

  Her eyebrows rose. She supposed Bleu was in a way Prince Loren’s closest companion. She had never really thought about it before. It pleased her that her brother had such friends, but made her angrier with the prince at the same time. Prince Loren had allowed Bleu’s feelings to be hurt by the mortal huntress and insisted on having her around him. A good friend wouldn’t put her brother through such cruelty.

  “You do not like the thought of sharing a bath?” she said to shake off her anger at the prince and bring her focus back to Kyter.

  She pulled the silver pin from her black hair and teleported it away from her. Her long black hair tumbled down her back as she took the stone steps up to the huge rectangular bathing pool, commanding her armour to disappear at the same time. Kyter’s gaze burned into her, setting her on fire as the black scales swept over her body, revealing it to him.

  “Hell no… not with anyone other than you.” He stalked after her and she swayed her hips, teasing him as her armour finally finished obeying her command, leaving her nude with the exception of the twin black and silver bands around her wrists. “The thought of you bathing in a communal pool… gods, I think I would kill every male in the vicinity.”

  She took the deep step down into the pool that also acted as a seat and looked back at him over her shoulder as she took the second step to the bottom and sank down into the hot water.

  Kyter growled.

  Iolanthe smiled as she rolled to face him, enjoying the way the water heated her right down to her bones and soothed all her aches away. She ducked her head backwards, wetting her hair, and ran her hands over it, smoothing it back from her face.

  “Does the kitty not want to get wet?” she teased and his eyes darkened and then brightened to liquid gold.

  He toed off his boots, grimacing as he removed his right one, and made swift work of unbuttoning his olive combat trousers.

  She almost purred as he shoved them down, revealing his glorious body to her hungry eyes. He kicked out of his trousers, tugged his socks off, and prowled towards her, a sensual yet lethal predator stalking his prey.

  “I’ll have you know that jaguars love to swim. We’re water babies and we like hunting prey in water.”

  He ascended the stone stairs and then stepped down into the water.

  His pained grimace as his right ankle hit the water spoiled his seductive allure and she got to her feet and waded towards him, concern making her move.

  She caught his arm an
d helped him sit on the deep stone step in the water, trying not to smile at his sour expression or the bitter disappointment that laced his earthy scent. His pride looked a little dented but she was sure he would bounce back.

  “Let me take a look.” She kneeled in the water before him and he regained his seductive air, splaying his arms out along the side of the pool and looking down at her through hooded eyes. Water glistened on his bare chest, clinging to powerful honed muscles that she wanted to explore with her lips and tongue.

  She tamped down that desire and focused on his ankle.

  Iolanthe carefully took hold of it and lifted it from the water. He grimaced again and she caught it, issuing an apologetic smile as she lowered his leg back towards the surface of the water, lessening the strain on his Achilles tendon.

  The wound was healed but still dark pink. She flinched whenever he did as she probed it gently, feeling her way along the tendon and over the bones of his ankle.

  “Bleu gave me elf medicine for it.” His deep voice echoed in the chamber, curling around her, teasing her ears and making her mind leap to imagine how he would sound as she pleasured him.

  She wanted to hear him growl and roar in this place and have it encompass her, speaking to her of his strength and power.

  “I can imagine that hurt.” She probed the tendon again. Elf medicine such as the type her brother had given to Kyter accelerated the healing process, but it meant suffering all of the pain he would have endured during that healing process in one short numbing burst.

  She looked up at him but he didn’t give away whether it had hurt or not. He stared at her, eyes hooded and dark with desire, a predator eyeing his prey again. She surmised it had hurt and he wasn’t willing to admit it, in case it damaged her opinion of him as a strong male and his pride suffered another blow.

  “Bleu hates it,” she said to Kyter’s ankle as she finished checking it. “He complains whenever he has to use it. He believes it is akin to torture and will often go without it if he can, coping with his injury until it heals naturally.”

  She glanced at him and he still didn’t give away whether it had hurt him or not. Males. She wouldn’t think any less of him if he admitted that he had experienced great pain. He had endured it. That made him strong in her eyes.

  He had endured the injury when it had happened too, dealing with it far better than she could have, or most of the males she had met in her life. Most would have passed out from the pain, but he hadn’t. Because he had felt the need to remain awake in order to protect her?

  Had he suffered with the pain just so he would be there if she needed him?

  Her heart said that he had. He hadn’t wanted to leave her vulnerable to the four males. It must have taken incredible willpower to remain conscious and incredible strength to move as he had, trying to protect her from the males and then comforting her after they had gone.

  It must have been painful for him to see that male touch her as he had and know he could do nothing to stop him.

  She lowered Kyter’s ankle and her gaze with it, staring into the clear water at the bottom of the pool between his legs.

  “I am sorry they hurt you… I am sorry you have been dragged into this. It was not what I wanted.”

  He leaned forwards, smoothed his palm along her jaw and gently raised her eyes up to his. There was only warmth in his golden gaze, tenderness that flooded her with heat and soothed her.

  “I know. You tried to protect me from them. You don’t need to, Iolanthe. We’re stronger if we do things together. I won’t let that guy get the jump on me again. I won’t let him near you. Understand?” His eyes searched hers, intense and focused, filled with dark promise that spoke to her heart and made her believe that he would keep that vow and would kill the male if they ever saw him again. She nodded and he half-smiled as he stroked her cheek. “You are mine to protect now, and I’m yours. We’ll have each other’s backs… as partners should.”

  She smiled at the meaning behind that word. They were more than lovers. More than fated mates. They were partners. They would face everything together.

  Not with her held behind him, shielded and unable to act freely.

  But side by side, on equal footing.

  Iolanthe released his leg, rose out of the water while remaining on her knees, and brought her lips close to his. He dropped his head and claimed them, his kiss sweet and tender, filled with emotion that spread through her, making her feel light and airy inside, as if she was floating. Each barely-there sweep of his lips across hers sent her higher and warmth mixed with light flowed through her body, leaving her craving more of his kiss.

  More of the wonderful feeling of being with him, sharing a quiet intimate moment, one that would stay with her forever.

  She shifted closer to him, kneeling between his thighs, and he cupped the nape of her neck and deepened the kiss, turning all of the warmth and light inside her into heat and fire.

  He moaned into her mouth as his other hand dropped beneath the water to clutch her backside and she joined him as he tugged her closer, shifting to the edge of the stone seat at the same time. His body pressed against hers and she lowered her hands to it, unable to resist her need to touch him again.

  She stroked her hands over the broad slabs of his chest, his taut nipples grazing her palms, and drifted them lower, caressing and teasing every ridge of muscle on his stomach. She slowly worked her way downwards as she kissed him and smiled against his lips as her hands reached the water and the head of his hard shaft and he groaned into her mouth.

  “Iolanthe.” The plea in her name and the gravelly edge of desire in his voice made her give him what he desired.

  She wrapped her left hand around his rigid length and stroked downwards, revealing the crown and feeling him pulse against her palm. He kissed her hard, the demanding press of his mouth on hers sending hot shivers through her, and she stroked him, gliding her hand up and down his length, teasing him until he felt like iron and was groaning into her mouth.

  She bit back a squeak as he suddenly grabbed her around the waist, hauled her from the water as if she weighed nothing, and settled her astride his thighs. The cooler air chilled her skin and goose bumps broke out across it, her nipples tightening into hard peaks. Water ran from the tangled threads of her long black hair, rolling down her back to the water that lapped at her waist.

  Kyter didn’t break the kiss. He angled his head and claimed the nape of her neck with his right hand, pressing his fingers in hard as he held her to his mouth. She moaned and slid down his thighs, another hot blast of tingles racing through her as their bodies came into contact, his hard length pressing deliciously between her plush petals.

  Iolanthe wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him as she kissed him, tangling her tongue with his, and rocked against him, rubbing herself along his length beneath the water. Ripples spread outwards from them, gentle waves that rolled towards the sides of the pool, bounced off it and came back again.

  Kyter dropped his free hand beneath the water and clutched her backside as he sank lower, bringing his bottom away from the edge of the pool and his body more underneath hers. The position placed him closer to her, so she could feel every inch of his cock as she rubbed against him, and she forgot everything she had intended to do.

  They could wash later.

  All she wanted to do right now was lose herself in Kyter again.

  His hungry mouth devoured hers, mastering and driving her into submission. She ran her hands over his shoulders and down his chest, delighting in the feel of his powerful body. Each sweep of her hands had the fire in her belly growing hotter, stoking her need for him. She moaned as she ground against him, fevered and aching for more.

  “Iolanthe,” he murmured, husky and beautiful, his need for her lacing her name in a way that she would always love.

  He hid nothing from her.

  She moaned in response to him and shifted forwards again, so her knees pressed against the side of the pool behind h
im and they were as close as they could get.

  “Kyter,” she whispered against his lips and feathered them with kisses, teasing him as she rolled her hips under the water, rubbing herself against his hard shaft.

  He groaned and his length kicked against her. Both hands dropped to her backside and he moved her, sliding her up and down, further than she had been shifting. The head of his length rubbed her aroused nub and she moaned and forgot about kissing him as she breathed hard against his face, lost in the feel of him and the sensations lighting her up inside.

  “Can’t wait.” He caught her under her backside with one hand, raised her up his body, and then pushed her down.

  Iolanthe tipped her head back and groaned as the head of his hard length nudged into her slick centre and he lowered her onto him, the slow joining driving her wild with need. She wanted to press down onto him, taking him quickly into her, but she also wanted to savour it and feel every inch of him as he entered her.

  Slow won and she moaned with him as she slid down onto his cock until she couldn’t take any more of him. He angled his hips then, sinking lower still in the water, enough that he could drive deeper, claiming all of her as the head struck her deepest point. She had never felt so full. So wonderful.

  He grunted and grasped her hips and moved her on him, slow and steady, raising her almost all the way off him before driving her back down. The waves that flowed outwards from them across the pool grew larger, the sounds of the splashing joining their deep moans and groans as passion and need overtook them, seizing control of both of them.

  Iolanthe clutched his shoulders, pressing her nails into his muscles, and tipped her head back, arching forwards as she rode him. She writhed, shifting her hips in an almost circular motion with each thrust, a slave to her desire. Kyter groaned, pressed one hand to her back and pulled her stomach against his. His lips descended on her breasts, his mouth wrapping around her left nipple and tugging on it as he drove into her, deeper and harder, his tempo building in time with her arousal as it soared and consumed her.