With an impatient motion, he yanked off the tiny top, cupping her swollen breasts with a gentle reverence.
“But my reputation has been highly exaggerated.”
She groaned, her claws extending to prick the skin of his chest. “I doubt that.”
“Why?” he muttered, distracted by the spectacular sight of her rosy nipples that begged for his kiss.
“Because you flirted with every female in the Wildlands.”
“Did you sleep with every male you flirted with?”
“Fine.” She cleared her throat. “What about the females you kept in New Orleans?”
Bayon lifted himself until he could shuck off his boots and jeans before kneeling between her legs as he wrenched his T-shirt over his head.
“There were no females.”
Chapter 4
Keira shuddered, lifting herself on her elbows to regard the man kneeling between her legs like an ancient conqueror.
She should be pissed.
She was an alpha. Men didn’t toss her on her back and have their way with her.
Not unless they wanted their throats ripped out.
So why was she lying there like she was some helpless kitten?
Perhaps it was because she was so damned consumed by her hunger for this male she couldn’t think of anything but getting that hard, bronzed body on top of her.
Or perhaps it was because she was struggling to accept that he wasn’t the testosterone-driven playboy she’d believed for so long.
“Then why did you let people think you had an apartment in New Orleans where you kept your latest lover?” she husked.
A golden glow spread through his pale green eyes as his cat studied her with a restless need.
“Because I didn’t want a bunch of curious cats pushing their noses into my business.”
She frowned, struck by an intense need to know what Bayon had been hiding. “Is it some secret?”
He hesitated, as if debating whether or not to confess the truth. Then he gave a small shrug.
“My mother was a born Nurturer,” he at last said.
Keira nodded. Bayon’s mother was beloved by all Pantera. “I remember her being in charge of the nursery,” she said in fond tones. “I don’t know how many times she kissed my boo-boos or slipped me a chocolate chip cookie when the other girls teased me for not playing with dolls like the rest of them. Your mother will always have a special place in my heart.”
His blunt features softened with love. “In all our hearts.”
“I don’t understand what this has to do with New Orleans.”
“When the Pantera stopped having children, the nursery was closed.” He grimaced. “My mother was…devastated.”
“Of course she would be,” Keira breathed, wishing she’d made the effort to realize how difficult the past years had been on the Nurturers.
“I feared that she was losing her will to live, so I found a project that would keep her occupied.”
“What project?”
“I opened an orphanage in New Orleans.” His lips twisted as her eyes widened with shock. “It seemed like the perfect solution. My mother has endless love to share with the human children.”
“Oh.” Her heart melted. She’d always known Bayon was special. This only proved just how special. “Why the hell did you keep it such a mystery?”
“I did it for my mother,” he said. “There was no need for anyone else to know. Besides—”
“Besides what?”
His gaze strayed toward her naked breasts. “Besides, I wanted you to believe that I had a harem in New Orleans.”
“Why?”
“You know why.”
She did. It was the same reason she’d pretended that Sean was her lover.
Stupid games designed to keep barriers between them.
But now the truth had torn down those walls, and left them both unable to deny the raw, savage need that pulsed between them.
Slowly her gaze lowered to take in his massive erection that seemed to grow even larger as she studied it with an undisguised desire.
“You’re playing with fire, honey,” he breathed, lowering himself to sprawl beside her, the heat of his naked body like a furnace.
“This is crazy.”
“Not as crazy as denying what we both want.” His cat glowed in his eyes as he reached for her hand, pressing it against his dick. “Feel what you do to me.”
“Bayon.”
Unable to resist temptation, she wrapped her fingers around his erection, exploring down to the heavy testicles before slowly skimming back up to find the broad tip that was already damp with his seed.
He shuddered, exposing his claws to slice her jeans and then her tiny lace thong into tatters. She parted her lips to protest the destruction of her clothing, only to have a groan escape as he cupped her bare ass, his fingers squeezing her flesh in a promise of pleasure to come.
“I let you keep me at a distance for too long.” He peered deep into her eyes. “I’m not letting you do it again.”
She forced herself not to look away. There would be no more hiding. “Do you know why I was afraid to let you near?”
“Because I wasn’t going to let you neuter me like you did your other lovers.”
She deliberately gave his cock a slow pump, taking full pleasure in the fine layer of sweat that suddenly glistened on his bronzed skin.
“It was because I feared you would undermine my authority as the leader of the Hunters,” she bluntly confessed. “I had a hard enough time being taken seriously as an alpha without you distracting me.”
“I might have tried,” he admitted, his lips curving into the boyish grin that was lethal to the female heart. “But I have faith you would have sliced off my balls if I’d become too obnoxious.”
Clever, clever cat.
He knew precisely what to say.
And how to touch, she acknowledged, as his fingers moved from her ass to trace the curve of her waist.
“My need for dominance doesn’t bother you?” she pressed, knowing his answer was important.
Her cat would never be happy in a subservient role.
“Let’s say I’m willing to compromise,” he said, the rasp of his breath filling the air. “I don’t always have to be on top.”
Without warning his hands gripped her hips, rolling her until she was lodged on top of him. Tiny jolts of bliss speared through her as her already damp flesh was pressed to his thick cock.
“Oh hell,” she moaned.
“No more denying what’s between us, Keira?”
She met his gaze that blazed a brilliant gold.
She’d fought this moment for so long. Ever since she’d sensed this cat was destined to be more than just another lover.
She couldn’t fight any longer.
“No more,” she whispered.
His hands skimmed to cup her breasts, his cat watching her with a sensual intensity.
“Admit that you want me,” he prodded, his fingers squeezing her nipples with a pressure that was on the right side of pain.
Oh…yes.
“I want you,” she breathed.
“Bayon.” His voice was thick with need. “Say my name.”
“Bayon.”
He smiled with satisfaction. “Now show me what you want.”
She planted her hands on either side of his shoulders, lowering her body and tilting her head to the side in open invitation. With a growl of approval, Bayon sank his teeth into the tender curve of throat where it met her shoulder.
The same spot he’d used to imprint himself.
She shuddered, rubbing against his hard erection as his elongated fangs pressed into her flesh.
“Wait.” He clamped his hands on her hips, holding her still as his lips kissed the tiny wounds on her throat. “You aren’t going to freak out once you’re mine, are you?”