Rebekka’s heart stuttered as hope slammed into it, tripped into a racing beat until she realized the only promise inherent in his words was that he would do to her what a man could do to any female, whether she belonged to him or not. It wasn’t a declaration of love or an acknowledgment of a shared future. It was a promise of carnal exploration and pleasure, nothing more.
A hint of pain snaked through her chest, and yet despite it she didn’t want to stop what they were doing. She wanted more. She wanted to feel him deep inside her, his body joined with hers. But going that far risked her heart and she’d guarded it too long to casually expose it now.
She rubbed her cheek against his, glad she couldn’t see his face as she said, “I’m not ready to couple with you.” Yet. She heard the unspoken word as clearly as if she’d said it.
His tongue slid into her ear then retreated. “There’s more to lovemaking than the act of fucking.”
Her heart did a slow roll in her chest. Was it lovemaking for him?
She didn’t have the courage to ask, or to face all the additional questions that would come after that one. There couldn’t be talk of a future without a discussion of the past.
She didn’t resist when he maneuvered them to the sand. Stripping her bra away before pressing her to the ground and positioning himself above her.
The heat of his cock burned through the thin barrier of her panties. Rebekka moaned at the feel of it sliding up and down along her clit. She shivered with the renewed thrust of his tongue against hers, answered each parry with one of her own.
Her hands roamed over smooth muscle and firm buttocks. Repeatedly returning to the silky strands of his hair and refusing to let the kisses end until he shifted his weight onto an elbow with a growl.
His hand went to his cock then, tightened at the base of his shaft as if fighting to keep from coming, and the knowledge she was responsible emboldened Rebekka. She became the aggressor, forcing his hand away from his heated penis so her fingers could curl around it.
She captured his tongue with her lips. Sucked hard and deep in a sensual battle she was determined to win.
Pleasure swept through her when he lost control. Arousal poured from her slit as he began thrusting, fucking through the tight clamp of her fist with steady, desperate movements.
She took his moans, swallowed them as his penis jerked, wet her belly and chest with his seed. He shuddered above her for long moments, finally breaking the seal of their lips, his breath coming in fast pants as he pulled from her grip and lay on his side next to her.
His eyes glittered as they traveled down to where he’d spent himself on her. His face was flushed, not with embarrassment but with satisfaction. “To steal your earlier words,” he said. “Your turn.”
Her toes curled as he leaned in, mouth latching onto a nipple. A whimper escaped when his hand cupped her mound, rubbing, pressing in time to the pull of his lips.
She lifted her hips with each of his sucks, didn’t think to protest as his hand slid beneath the waistband of her panties. A shudder went through her when his fingers grazed her slit, collecting the moisture there before going to her clit. A cry followed as he stroked the tiny head, tormenting her as she’d tormented him.
Her channel clenched, sending more arousal to soak her panties. She felt the press of teeth against nipple, arched her back at the implied threat of a bite.
He clamped down harder, to the point pain and pleasure blended, his fingers concentrating on her engorged clit, finding all the ways she liked to be touched.
Her movements became frenzied. Her heart raced at a dizzying pace while her lungs struggled to get enough air.
She grew desperate for relief, to feel his fingers slide into her opening and find the spot deep inside her that would make her come.
Her moans turned into fevered pleas, and finally a breathless “Please.”
His touches became more devastating, more demanding. He intended to make her as helpless in desire as she’d made him.
His mouth went to the breast he’d been neglecting. Biting and sucking the nipple, keeping her hovering on the edge of climax as he gave it the same attention as the first.
Her hands roamed his back. Without conscious thought her nails dug into his flesh, raked over his skin.
It inflamed him. His head jerked up. His eyes blazed. He brought his face inches away from hers as he fucked into her with his fingers, striking her clit with each thrust.
She gave herself over to sensation as he watched. His mouth covering hers at the moment of release, swallowing the sounds of her pleasure as she’d swallowed his.
Twenty
AS Rebekka dressed she felt shy, uncertain. Defenseless against physical desire and her growing feelings for Aryck.
She couldn’t lie to herself. Only his need to return to camp and discuss forming an alliance kept them from doing more than they’d already done.
Despite her internal arguments against it, when he touched her intimately, her resolve not to give in weakened dangerously. They needed to talk.
She braved a glance at Aryck. He seemed aloof, withdrawn, his thoughts already on other things.
Aryck felt Rebekka’s eyes on him and looked up. Uncertainty clung to her like a shroud, making him want to close the distance between them and rip it away.
Was she regretting what had happened between them? Already thinking about leaving him and returning to Oakland with Levi?
The Jaguar’s silent snarl mirrored the man’s. His scent coated her belly and chest in a primitive warning to all others that she belonged to him. Hers marked him as well, as did the shallow scratches on his back.
Unable to stop himself, he took the few steps needed to reach her. There was a hint of resistance when he pulled her into his arms.
The Jaguar reacted badly, thrashing to separate life with a desire for Rebekka’s complete acceptance and submission, demanding Aryck take the skin at the base of her neck between his teeth and clamp down hard enough to leave visible proof of her claiming.
Aryck fought the urge, already thinking it would be best to bathe before going into camp rather than to openly acknowledge what had happened between them. He needed to speak with his father, to Nahuatl, and, if necessary, the elders, not just about the possibility of alliance among the Weres but allowing Rebekka to remain in their lands and belong to the pack as his mate.
It could be done. Perhaps it had been done deep in the past, in a story the elders held in their memories but chose not to share.
Frustration rumbled through him at not being able to speak openly about the future. To make promises. The Jaguar threatened to claw its way through his gut at the possibility the needs of the outcasts in the brothels might hold the greater power over her.
Aryck’s arms tightened on her. If she thought to return to Oakland, then she was mistaken.
He nuzzled her ear and felt a shiver of renewed desire go through her. It soothed the Jaguar.
“We’ve got to get back to camp,” he told her. “I need to speak to my father.”
Her arms went around his waist and her body melded to his. She turned her head, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. “I know.”
He couldn’t release her without taking her lips fully. Expressing his hopes and desires in the only way he could at the moment.
She softened further against him. Yielded to the thrust of his tongue. Answered the command of his two souls that she accept, submit.
Her response calmed the Jaguar’s wild emotion even as she roused the man’s desire to take her fully, hardening his cock in readiness for it. He ended the kiss, released all but her hand, unwilling to let her go completely as they headed toward camp.
“Jael said something about a human en—”