She was like malleable heated clay in his hands as she melted under his ministrations, barely able to stand while he supported her with one hand around her back. He kissed her mouth as the water sluiced down their heated bodies, washing the soap off them and leaving them clean and smelling of tangerines and oranges, and musky female and male cat sex.
He might feel he had conquered the she-cat, but she had him panting, craving and savoring the feel of her, the smell of her, the sweet sexy sounds she made. As he bent to kiss her lips, her mouth parted to let him in, and he plunged his tongue inside the way he wanted to sheathe his cock between her legs. They slid their bodies against each other, bare skin to bare skin, her softness feeling so right against his hardness. Her belly pressed against his thick erection, and he cursed his need to fill her now as he tried to take it slower. But he was already ablaze, his loins on fire.
Every move she made against him turned the furnace higher.
Her hands were drifting lower, her nails lightly scratching his back and down and down. His cock moved against her soft stomach as if it had a mind of its own, soliciting a smile from her lips. Yeah, he had no control over it. Every tantalizing touch—the way her tongue probed his mouth, the way she rubbed affectionately against his body, like a cat would, only with a mission in mind—forced his body to respond with eagerness.
“You… are… mine,” he groaned against her lips, desperate to hear her say she loved him, too, that she would stay with him forever, that she felt the same rampant need to be with him exclusively.
But she seemed so lost in his touch as he renewed stroking her sweet spot that she didn’t say anything. Her eyes were closed, her fingers grasping his hips as if she was about to come unglued if she didn’t have something to cling to, her breathing shallow and labored.
He loved her, loved the way she responded so eagerly, became so wrapped up in the act that nothing would deter her. “You… are… beautiful,” he whispered, licking a trail down the water droplets spilling over her skin until he latched on to a nipple and sucked, his finger still stroking her into ecstasy.
She cried out before he’d expected it and he smiled against one nipple, then suckled the other before he lifted her, angling her so he could enter her easily. Her legs wrapped around his waist, her heels pressing provocatively against him. He slowly penetrated her sheath with his cock until she could accept his size, then thrust deep inside her, wanting her, needing her, feeling the climax she had just experienced gripping his cock tightly.
Harder, faster, deeper he pushed into her narrow passage, claiming her, his shifter mate, different from him and yet the same. She licked the water off his chin and his cheek, seeking his mouth, and tangled her tongue with his in another mating dance.
He was reminded of the waterfall where he had kissed her, feeling her heavenly body rubbing against him, the torture of her naked skin pressing his erection when he was still wearing clothes and trying to keep some distance. He could hear the same jungle sounds, only this time from the national park next door. The monkeys and birds and bugs communicating in their way, the smell of the rain forest, sweet and decadent, and the taste of citrus fruits on Kat’s lips and tongue all reminded him of being back at the falls. Only this time, God, she felt so incredibly tight and feral, but most of all his.
He felt the end coming but knew that with her, it would never be the end. That she would always be at the edge of his awareness, whether he was sleeping or awake, and he would want her like this, close by, within easy reach.
He thrust hard and furious, and finally let loose his seed and groaned with spent pleasure. He leaned her against the bathroom wall, feeling satiated and more at ease than he had in years. All because he had found Kat.
And yet, it wasn’t over. He wanted her, wanted to keep her, to have shifter babies if they could. But she still hadn’t said the words that meant she was willing to stay with him forever.
Chapter 21
Kat knew what Connor wanted, but she couldn’t give it to him. Not yet. What if she said “I love you” and “I want to be with you forever”—like she’d done with Roger—and that was the turnoff in their relationship?
Maybe just being there for one another, loving and caring, but not making the “I do” commitment was better. Maybe their relationship would last longer.
For now, while she was still testing the waters with her new abilities and still unsure what her future might hold, she didn’t want Connor to believe that he had to be tied down to her if he found someone else who had been born a shifter.
Her heart wouldn’t be broken again if she reserved some part of herself by not making the commitment.
Once they had cleaned up in their suite, they had breakfast on their patio with Maya. They watched the antics of the birds twittering about the flowers and greenery surrounding the cabana, butterflies fluttering about, a brilliantly colored poisonous frog sitting on a broad leaf, humming birds drinking from the long-throated red flowers, and even small monkeys clambering through the trees.
They intended to sleep around the clock. Although, Kat said, “If they have beef steak on the menu, that’s what I want for dinner.”
Connor gave her a light squeeze and kissed her forehead. “No more Jurassic-era catfish?” He said to Maya, “Warn us if you have any trouble at all.”
Looking beat, Maya nodded. She left their cabana and made her way to her own, while Connor took Kat’s hand and led her into the bedroom and shut the door quietly behind them.
Connor released Kat’s hand. “If you sleepwalk this time, you’ll wake me. I’m not risking that we’ll lose you again.”
He rested his hands on either side of her head and placed his forehead against hers in a sign of relief.
Kat wrapped her arms around him and held him close. “Maya didn’t have to tell on me.”
“Yes, she did.” He let out his breath. “What other secrets do you have that we should know about?”
Kat snorted and released him, but he seized her arms and wrapped them around his neck, then encircled her back with his and hugged her close.
“I could say the same about you. Who would have ever thought you hunted caiman with your teeth?” Kat said.
He smiled a little at her comment. “We’re fabulously wealthy.”
She raised a brow.
He took a deep breath. “Part of the fun in getting to know one another is learning all about each other’s… secrets. Come, let’s get some sleep.”
Connor had turned the air conditioner on high. After having lived in the jungle for a week in the heat and humidity, Kat was freezing. But when she tried to leave the bed with the intent of turning the air conditioner down lower, Connor pulled her into his arms and whispered into her ear, “Leave it. We’ll warm up after a bit.”
She just hoped they were far enough away from Maya’s cabana that she couldn’t hear them if they got a little noisy when they were supposed to be napping.
Hot, Connor thought as he slid his hand over Kat’s T-shirt covered body and the soft fabric moved over her lithe form. He wasn’t sure about her, but he definitely needed the air conditioner on high to cool his fevered blood. They had slept for some time, but he had awakened with Kat pressed hard against his body, clinging to him for warmth. Her heat and softness and delightful scent had triggered all his senses to take their fill of her. But he wanted more.