“Stop.” He grabbed her wrists from the back of his neck and tried to peel her away. “Kellsie, wait.” She squeezed her thighs around his waist and ignored him. She peppered his face and neck with butterfly kisses.
Growling, Marko shook her lightly. “Not yet.”
His words finally seemed to penetrate the sensual haze she was lost in. He was sorry he had to distract her. By the Lady, he was being stupid. He should just take her hard and fast against the cave wall and be done with it.
No. She could get hurt that way. Her skin was soft and fragile and would be torn by the jagged rock.
Tension filled her now where moments before she’d been lost in passion. Marko wanted to roar with frustration. Her limbs were no longer trying to cling to him but pushing him away.
He released her and she took a step back. She crossed her arms over her bare chest and glanced at the ground in search of her top. “Kellsie.” He cupped her chin in his hand and forced her to look at him. “The ground is too hard. I don’t want to hurt you.”
She relaxed almost imperceptibly, but he saw it and it gave him hope that all was not lost. “You can be on the bottom.”
Her words had his cock jerking, trying to find a way out of his pants. It was all too easy to picture himself stretched out on the ground with Kellsie on top of him. Her breasts would sway with each stroke as he buried his thick cock deep into her warm, welcoming heat. Her hair would brush against her shoulders and back, a cascade of sunshine to help warm him after his years of cold imprisonment.
She frowned and looked around. “Why did I dream a cave and not a four-star hotel? That sucks.” She closed her eyes and scrunched them tight, muttering under her breath for a moment before opening them again.
“What are you doing?” Everything about her fascinated him, including her thought processes.
“Trying to change location.” She sounded so disgruntled by her failure he drew her into his arms and hugged her, rocking her gently from side to side.
“I can’t give you a hotel.” The image of a decadent room with a huge mattress and acres of silk popped into his brain. He’d caught a glimpse of such a place about two thousand years ago in the Orient when the demons had moved them into an emperor’s palace for a short while.
They’d kept them mostly in caves, especially in the early years, but sometimes they’d left them in better places for a decade or two at a time. He’d liked those times best of all because that’s where he’d managed to learn about the evolution of mankind and the changes in the world. They’d been kept in palaces, in museums and even in a dusty warehouse in New York at the turn of the last century. Everywhere they’d been kept, he’d soaked up all he could about the world. Bears were naturally curious and it had helped keep him sane.
He’d love to see the emperor’s palace again someday. Better yet, he’d love to take Kellsie to such a place and spend days making love to her. He shoved the thought aside. He had here and now and she was looking at him expectantly. “But I can make things a little nicer. Wait here.”
He released her and hurried outside, anxious to find what he needed. He heard her call his name and it occurred to him that she might be afraid of being alone in the dark. “I won’t go far,” he called over his shoulder.
He stopped a few feet from the cave and examined the trees. There were plenty for him to choose from. He stared at his hand and willed it to change. The hand morphed into a hair-covered paw tipped with long, lethal claws. “As good as an axe,” he muttered as he sliced through branches of a pine tree. He didn’t stop until he had a nice sized pile at his feet. That would do it. Marko allowed the paw to shift back to a hand and quickly hefted the pile into his arms.
Kellsie was pacing when he returned. She whirled to watch him as he entered and he could see her eyes widen. His vision was much keener than hers and he could see her as clearly as if they were standing in the midday sun.
“What’s that?” She came to his side and reached out her hand to touch one of the branches.
“Your bed.” He dumped them on the floor just inside the door so the moonlight would shine upon them. He positioned the thick, soft branches on the ground. When he was satisfied with the arrangement, he grabbed her long-sleeved top and laid it over the pile. He frowned and quickly skinned out of his pants and added them. He wished he could conjure something better, but clothing and weapons were as far as his powers went at the moment. He hoped in time they would return full force. Until then, he would have to make do.
Kellsie gasped and he glanced over his shoulder. She was looking at his ass. He smiled at the way her hand was reaching out, as if she wanted to touch him. When she saw him watching her, she yanked her hand back by her side, curling her fingers against her palm.
Marko straightened and went to her. Her eyes widened as she studied his erection. She could have no doubts as to how much he wanted her.
She swallowed hard as he picked up the tail of her braid and slowly undid it, letting her hair cascade over her shoulders. “We need to add your pants to the top of the branches. That should just about do it.”
She nodded and didn’t stop him as he unbuttoned her jeans and pulled down the zipper. It was strange to see such things in person. He knew what zippers were and how to work them, but he was amazed by such a creation. And he knew the world was filled with such wonders. But the greatest wonder in the world was standing in front of him, allowing him to remove her clothing, making herself vulnerable to him.
His heart swelled as he went down on one knee in front of her and urged her right foot up. He tugged off her sneaker and sock before skimming the thicker material of her pants off. Then he did the same with the left foot. The only thing left was the tiny fragment of material that covered her mound. Panties. He knew from absorbing the information from the world around him that they were called panties and were designed not so much to cover a woman but to drive a man insane. He wanted to touch the treasure they hid from his view, to stroke his finger over her heated folds to see if she was damp with arousal.
Marko traced the thin band that ran over her flat tummy just below her belly button. Her skin was warm and her muscles quivered beneath his touch. He leaned inward and inhaled deeply, drawing her womanly scent into his nostrils. She was just as sweet and spicy as he remembered from his dream. This time he would do more than just smell her. This time he would taste and savor every part of her body.
“Beautiful.” He ran his finger down the front of the thin fabric. He easily felt the springy curls hidden beneath. He smiled as she tilted her hips forward ever so slightly, silently asking for more of his touch.
“Marko.” His name was little more than a puff of air on the night breeze, but he heard it all the same. The desperation and need in that single word set his blood pumping and his muscles rippling. How he wanted this woman.
In answer to her plea, he slid his finger along the satiny crotch of her panties. It was wet and hot. He brushed her clit and she moaned. It was the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard.
He looked up, needing to see her face. Kellsie’s head was tilted back, her lips parted on a soundless cry. Her chest was moving rapidly as her breathing increased. She was as beautiful as any goddess he’d ever seen. And he’d seen more than his share. The difference between them was that Kellsie held nothing back, giving freely of herself. She expected nothing from him but an exchange of pleasure.
She shivered and goose bumps raced down her legs. He frowned, wishing it was warmer. He didn’t notice the chill, but Kellsie was only human. “Come.” He rose to his feet, grabbed her pants and spread them over their makeshift bed. When he reached out his hand she took it without hesitation.