He ducked his head and sucked one nipple into his mouth, grazing it with his teeth while he moved a hand between them, sliding his fingers over her straining clit. He rocked his hips forward, thrusting deeply.
Only once had she ever experienced sex without a condom, and that time was long buried in painful memories. It wouldn’t intrude here where it had no place. This was beautiful, not ugly, not hurtful.
Pleasure blossomed, growing and fanning out, building higher and higher as her body tightened around him. Tension grew, wonderful, edgy, almost painful in its intensity.
His fingers stroked as his mouth sucked at her breast. His cock worked deep, gliding through her wetness, rough and yet silken.
“Come for me, sugar. Give me your pleasure.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck, yanked at the thong securing his hair. Black silk spilled over his shoulders. She threaded her fingers through the strands and pulled his head closer to her breast. As he turned his head to her other breast, his earring flashed in the light. She lowered one of her hands to finger the lobe of his ear.
He thrust again and strained against her body, burying himself to the hilt. His fingers expertly fluttered across her clit, light at first then harder.
“Come,” he said again, a whisper across her nipple.
He pushed harder, driving her up to impossible heights. She buried both hands in his hair, arched upward as she split into a million pieces, each one hot, jagged, piercing and exquisitely pleasurable.
As she pulsed around his cock, he pulled out. She could feel his arm bumping against her and a moment later, hot liquid surged onto her belly. And then he collapsed against her, gathering her close, his mouth skating up her jaw to her lips.
“That wasn’t very fair to you,” she said hazily, her vision and speech still blurred by her orgasm.
He chuckled softly. “Oh no, sugar. We both got what we wanted. You got me deep, and I got to come all over you.”
“I need another shower,” she murmured. “We both do. And then I want sleep.”
He kissed her forehead and smoothed her hair back. “I’ll give us a quick rinse, sugar, and then we’ll both get some rest.”
Chapter Seventeen
Eli watched Tyana sleep. She hadn’t stirred once when he’d slipped out of bed to dress. She was lying on her side, her knees drawn up protectively to her chest. Her bruised cheek and split lip faced outward.
He sat down on the edge of the bed and feathered one finger over the faint yellow and green discoloration on her face. She stirred and opened her eyes. For a long moment, she just stared at him, and then she reached down for the sheet, pulling it up over her chest as she sat up in bed.
“Good morning,” he said.
She closed her eyes for a moment. “I did it again.” She yanked the sheet down angrily and scooted past him to get out of bed. He put a hand on her arm.
“What did you do?”
She glanced sideways at him. “Lost perspective. Had sex with you when I should have been figuring out my next move. Damn it, Eli, I can’t be around you. I can’t keep doing this.”
She balled her fists in frustration and started to shove herself off the bed. His hand tightened on her arm, and he pulled her back down.
“Cut yourself some slack, Tyana. You needed sleep. You’re running on fumes. You aren’t any good to your brother that way. You’re rested now. We’ll eat some breakfast, and then we’ll figure out what has to be done.”
She flinched. “We,” she muttered. “There isn’t a we, Eli.”
He gripped her chin and turned it toward him, forcing her to face him. “Yes, Tyana. There is a we. You deny it all you want, but you came here for a reason, and it wasn’t to kill anyone or hand-deliver me to Esteban.”
Her eyes skittered sideways, breaking their gaze though he still held her chin in his hand. He leaned in and kissed the corner of her mouth.
“You go grab a shower and wake up. I’ll fix something for breakfast. We need to talk. Come out when you’re done.”
She nodded and stood, then stalked toward the bathroom, her body back to its normal rigidity.
Eli sighed and shuffled to the kitchen. He found Ian and Braden already up, and he eyed them curiously, gauging their mood.
They looked tired and a little uneasy, but otherwise they seemed okay.
“So what happened last night?” Eli asked with no preamble.
Ian stopped what he was doing and put his hands on the countertop. Then he shoved off and turned around to stare at Eli.
“I wish to fuck I knew. I can’t remember anything except knowing the shift was coming on. Next thing I know I was staring up at you from the ground and praying to God I hadn’t just attacked my brother.”
Braden looked up, his expression brooding. “Give yourself a break, man. Nothing happened.”
“I saw you, Ian,” Eli said quietly. “You were protecting him. From me. From Tyana. We wouldn’t have been able to get close to him. Whether or not you retain any of yourself when you become the jaguar, your instincts obviously remain intact. You never made a move to hurt him.”
Hope and relief flared in Ian’s eyes and then he glanced sideways at Braden. “I’d thought I’d gotten better at controlling it and only letting go when I knew it was safe. Last night, though, it just came out of nowhere. I felt threatened. I remember feeling like Braden was threatened.”
Eli rubbed his chin then dragged a hand through his hair. “My fault, I think. This shit with Tyana, drawing her here. You were probably reacting to the potential threat. It was a mistake,” he admitted. “I didn’t stop to think about what it would do to you two.”
“So is she?” Braden broke in. “A threat?”
Eli shook his head. “We’ll hash it out over breakfast. I’m asking you to trust me in this.”
Ian nodded his acceptance as did Braden.
They were interrupted when Gabe ambled in, barefooted as usual, wearing a dingy T-shirt with a smartass saying on it and tattered jeans.
“You guys okay?” he asked. “I couldn’t help but overhear that something went down last night.”
“Yeah, we’re good,” Braden said.
Gabe looked uncomfortable and regret pooled in his eyes. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here. I should have been. I was pissed at Eli and took off. It won’t happen again.”
“You’re not our babysitter,” Ian said sourly. “You can’t be around us all the time. This is something we have to figure out and deal with on our own.”
Gabe shrugged. “Yeah, I know. I hear you. But if something had happened…look, we’ve been together a long time. I owe you more than you got from me yesterday.”
Eli held his hands up. “Let it go, man. We’ve got a situation to deal with here.”
They all looked up when Tyana walked hesitantly into the kitchen. While her expression clearly said don’t fuck with me, her demeanor was less certain.
Gabe folded his arms over his chest and watched her intently as she skated closer to Eli. Then her gaze went to Ian and Braden.
“Are you okay?” she asked, her voice tinged with concern.
They looked surprised by her question, but they both nodded.
She pulled out a small aerosol canister from her pocket, the same one she’d used on Eli in Singapore. She fiddled with it a little nervously then looked back up at the brothers.
“This might help. At first. It didn’t work on Eli, and I assumed that you guys would all be stable like him.”
Eli frowned. “What exactly is it?”
“It’s an inhibitor created by the doctor we brought in for Damiano. At first it prevented his shifts when he felt them coming on. We also inject a stronger dosage when necessary.”
“At first?” Ian asked with a frown.