“Laugh, but she could have been killed,” the woman said, frowning. “And where were you when I was left alone out there in the jungle?” She scowled at the man sitting beside her, no doubt the husband who’d escaped to the cottage and confused Francisco’s head count.
The woman hadn’t been left alone in the jungle. She’d been standing near the guide with all the other tourists.
“Unlocking the door of our cottage for you, dear, so you’d have a faster escape,” the man said, sounding sour about it, though he was attempting to keep his voice level. She probably had already given him hell for it and wouldn’t let him live it down for the rest of their married lives.
Several tourists looked like they were fighting smiles.
Wade leaned over to kiss Maya’s cheek and nuzzled his mouth against her ear with tenderness. She felt her whole body tingle with need and looked up into his solemn gaze. He’d been playing the role of a man taking a woman to a family gathering for dinner, but now she could see he was still disturbed about what had occurred between her and Lion Mane.
She might pretend that the exchange between her and the shifter had meant nothing, but his clawing her had meant something. Danger, possession, or a wish to kill her. She wasn’t clear about his intentions, but since she’d brushed him off at the club and killed two of his partners in crime, she suspected she was on his terminal list. She was used to dealing with armed drug runners in the Amazon. But not anything like this. A chill slid up her spine.
“What’s on the schedule for tomorrow?” David asked.
“Resting and packing up,” Connor said. “The long bus ride, wait at the airport, and three-and-a-half-hour plane trip will be wearing enough for Kat.”
Wade leaned his head against Maya, his arm tightening around her shoulders, his whole body saying he wanted her.
She felt her face heat, hating that she was so transparent.
David blushed himself and said, more to the table than anyone, “Yeah, I’ve got a lot of resting up to do. I’ll call our boss and tell him our plans—if I can get through, considering the spotty reception in this area.”
Everyone looked at Wade. He raised his brows. “My brother and I will take the bus when you do,” he finally said. “Our flight won’t leave until the next morning, which means we’ll have to stay in a hotel in the city.” Wade looked at Maya. “Since we didn’t resolve the situation here, we’ve got a club date after that.”
Maya didn’t have much time to think about that because everyone was saying their good-nights.
Maya and Wade barely made it into her cottage before he was kissing her, shutting the door, and locking it. They never made it up the steps to the bed.
With their mouths fused, she was yanking off her sandals while he was kicking off his own with one clunk and then another. He swept his fingers along the sweetheart neckline of her sundress. A frisson of heat winged through her blood as he slipped the top of the silky dress down, freeing her breasts and allowing the cool air to whisper across her heated flesh. Her nipples were already peaked, and he smiled at the sight of them.
“No bra.” His eyes were smoky with lust, his hands moving over her breasts.
“Corset built into the dress.” She smiled at him, reaching up to fluff her hair around her shoulders as he watched, engrossed.
He smiled. “I like this dress.” His voice was gravelly with need. He began kissing her. His hands stroked her bare shoulders, but she wanted them on her breasts again, doing wicked things to her libido. She took one of his hands and curved his fingers around her swollen breast. He moved his other hand down, too, so he was covering both her breasts, skimming over them almost reverently, then squeezing them gently. His mouth was rough on hers, and the light stubble covering his face grazed her skin as he rubbed his cheek against hers, then kissed her lips again.
He slid his hand up her thigh underneath the short dress but paused when his fingers reached her hip and he hadn’t found any panties. He grinned down at her. Tickled, she smiled back.
He tried again, only this time sliding his hand between her legs, giving her an even more wicked grin when he found she truly wasn’t wearing panties. He slipped a finger inside her, smiled, and pulled his finger out. “Wet,” he said, his mouth capturing hers. His kisses and touches were desperate and unchecked.
“Wade,” she breathed against his mouth, loving the feral side of him as he sank his finger deep into her wet sheath again, his other hand pressed against her lower back, holding her steady as he kissed her harder. More passionately. No holds barred. Claiming her in a way he hadn’t before.
He moved her toward the couch, inching their way there and not stopping the sensual assault on her senses. The smell of his arousal, his maleness, the jungle, and the citrus soap he’d used in the shower were a tantalizing aphrodisiac. Before she expected it, he had positioned her next to the couch and lowered her back onto the soft cushions. Then he was tugging her skirt up, bunching the silky floral fabric at her waist and leaving the rest of her bared for his pleasure. He was still fully dressed!
He feasted on her for only a moment, his cock so hard that she could see the rigid outline against his silky shorts and marveled at the size of him and his control. She wanted him inside her now.
He jerked off his T-shirt and tossed it aside, then nestled between her bare thighs. The satiny feel of his Bermuda shorts slid against her thighs, her mound, caressing and enticing her. His arousal was stiff and ready for her, and his hot, bare chest was pressed against hers. He had to want release as badly as she did.
Instead of yielding to the lust, he cupped his hands on her face, and she gave in to the gentle kisses. His lips brushed her eyelids, her cheeks, her mouth. He was like shadow and light—dark and demanding, then subtle and soliciting. He was already between her legs, and her ache below lessened as he rubbed his erection against her, hard and compelling.
She slid her hands beneath the elastic band of his shorts and cupped his cool buttocks. He groaned against her mouth and rubbed his whole body against hers, slowly, methodically as if he was already plunging deep inside her.
He brought her knees up, her feet planted on the couch, legs spread, as he rubbed her crotch with punishing deliberation, making her want him all the more. His mouth moved down her throat, licking, kissing, tantalizing her. Then he took a mouthful of her breast, suckling, teasing, and nipping it. She throbbed with need and moaned. She squeezed his ass, licking his mouth, parting her lips, and begging him to take her to the top as she felt she was almost… Just… a… little… more…
She let out an exalted cry of release and scored his buttocks lightly with her nails.
“Ahh,” Wade groaned, ready to come in his shorts with the way Maya was responding to his kisses and rubbing that sweet body of hers against his. He smelled her fragrant arousal and tasted wine and lime pie on her lips and tongue. Agonizingly, he fumbled to slide the shorts down over his hips. When he finally managed, his cock sprang free.
With Maya, there was no going slow. No partial commitment. It was all or none. And he wanted it all. Wanted all of her. He couldn’t have stopped this if he’d tried.
His fingers brushed against her clitoris, and she gave a little gasp. She was wired. He thrust his cock deep into her wet heat, his damnable shorts at his knees, but he couldn’t do anything about that now. He was too far gone. He pounded into her with a need so great that he couldn’t quench the compelling urge to claim her.
Delicious heat spread through every nerve ending as his blood sizzled. He ground against her as she dug her heels into his buttocks. He pushed deeply, hard, fast, thrusting until he felt he was ready to come. Then he held it, held her still, and gazed into her beautiful golden eyes that simmered with passion… and love, he thought.