She still smelled heavenly, like the fragrance of oranges and tangerines. He’d scoffed at Maya for buying the citrus-scented soap to wash in, wanting something less… feminine. Not now. He couldn’t stop breathing in Kat’s unique scent mixed with the sweet citrus fruits. He’d never eat another orange without thinking of washing every sweet part of her body in the waterfall.
For some time, she lay still, quiet in his arms, as if he had chased away any urge to shift. But then she tried to get free from him, kicking with her feet though her legs were twisted in the light cover, and he again tightened his hold on her.
His heroics earned him a hard-on, and he cursed his inability to keep his rampant craving for her at bay. He tried to think of anything but the way her warm, supple body felt pressed against him. He tried to avoid breathing in her sexy feline scent, mixed with the fragrance of the shampoo and soaps he’d used to wash every delectable inch of her body. He tried not to listen to her soft murmurs like those that he envisioned she would make as he brought her to climax at some later date. But he was drawn to her, needy, desiring her to the core.
At first, he thought she might be trying to get away to shift, but when she didn’t, he believed she might be having a nightmare. “Shhh, Kat, it’s just me.”
With her back to him still, she swung her clenched fist around and struck him in the hip. Night terrors. She was having a night terror, and she was trying to beat on him like she said she had done to that worthless scumbag, Roger, her ex-fiancé.
As far as Connor was concerned, Roger had deserved whatever she dished out. But Connor was determined to chase away her night terrors. Just as he had stated, she would not beat on him when they lay down together.
He took her hand and unclenched her fist, kissing the tender skin at her wrist and then the palm of her hand, though she squirmed to get loose.
“It’s just me,” he said again, whispering against her ear, kissing and nuzzling his face against hers. She quit moving, quit struggling, quit trying to fight him.
He took a deep breath, glad he could chase away her fear and encourage her to sleep again. But then she turned her head to stare over her shoulder at him, her eyes wide, luminous, and comprehending.
She licked her lips, making them glisten, and he watched with fascination as her tongue slipped back into her mouth.
She twisted around to face him.
“Did I hurt you?” she whispered, her eyes still wide, her expression glum.
He cast her an elusive smile, amused she would think striking him had made any impact, and shook his head. “No. You gave me a love pat.”
His comment earned him a sexy smile. He thought they’d both just sleep, although he couldn’t deny he wished to kiss her and push any hint of a reoccurring nightmare from her mind, but only if Kat was willing. Then the telltale sound of Maya pouncing on the ground below them changed his mind. Having shifted into her jaguar form, Maya was leaving them alone. As soon as Maya left, Kat seemed to be of the same mind as Connor. She began to kiss his mouth lightly as if she needed his touch, his affection, some acknowledgment that everything was all right between them.
He kissed her back, keeping the same measured pressure, not wanting to take this further than she wished.
But then her hands stroked his bare chest, her movements more desperate.
She seemed starved with need, and if she was willing, he wasn’t holding back, either. Their tongues intertwined, thrust, caressed, their breath minty fresh. Lips melded, brushed, kissed.
Her fingers yanked at the waistband of his boxers, trying to pull them down over his hips. He jerked them off and threw them on the floor.
She glanced down at him and took in his nakedness, his full-blown erection, his hard nipples.
He was already hot just from cuddling with her, trying to get his thoughts off the waterfall kisses they’d shared. He remembered the way she’d felt as his hands washed every inch of her, her rigid nipples and clit swelling beneath his touch, and how he had known she wanted him physically. And emotionally, he was certain. But now…
Hell, now that she was feeling stronger, he wanted to take this all the way. He wouldn’t wait, not when she was so eager. He cupped a breast, kneading a nipple and soliciting a soft mew from her mouth. The sweet, sexy sound she made was his undoing.
He kissed her mouth again, but this time with a pressing urgency that revealed just how much he wanted her. He craved claiming her for his own, wanting to put his scent on her, to prove she was his to anyone who had any other notion.
She pulled her mouth from his and kissed his throat and his chest, whispering, “Love me.”
Not make love to me, but love me.
That made him pause. He lifted her chin and looked into her eyes, saw them awash in tears, and he hugged her tight. “I will.” He kissed the top of her head and added, “I do.”
With all his heart, he meant it. He couldn’t envision returning to the jungle without Kat. Or returning home without her, either. Nothing would ever be the same.
The kissing renewed. Their lips and tongues touched and tasted, wet and soft and eager. The fervent need to bond, to connect in only the way a man and woman could, to become one in body and soul, shook him to the core. His hands cupped her face and their tongues mated, while her body arched against his, pleading for completion.
He’d never felt that way before when he’d had sex with a woman. Because that’s all it had been. A quick release and it was done.
But this… this was so much more.
He’d found his mate in Kat, and he wasn’t losing her now. The cover was already tossed on the floor, the light curtains draping out the world. The sounds of the birds and frogs and bugs disappeared as all he could focus on was the blood pounding in his ears and Kat’s soft murmurs of pleasure. He swept his hand down her hips, enjoying the satiny feel of her skin, the shapely curve of her flesh, the firmness of her thigh.
“Hurry,” she pleaded quietly, and he wondered if she was worried that Maya was in the jungle all alone or that she might return soon.
He slipped his hand between Kat’s legs and felt the silky wetness, the dark curls wet with need. She arched toward his questing fingers. His cock jerked in response as if following her lead of its own accord. Fighting the urge to plunge deep inside her, he began stroking her swollen flesh, and she looked as though she was ready to bolt from the bed.
“Uh,” she said in a moan of half pleasure, half disbelief.
He tongued a nipple and her eyes closed. Her tongue swept over her lips, and her hands slid down his back, her nails tracing his skin and his muscles in a gentle caress. His fingers kneaded her swollen nub until she opened for him like a flower unfurling before the sun.
The invitation given, he pressed a finger deep inside her. She startled a little at the intrusion, then pushed her body toward him, forcing him to go deeper, wanting more.
He smiled at her aggressiveness, loving it, loving her.
His thumb continued to stroke her, and his name slipped from her lips in a whimper as she reached around to cup him. Already engorged to the spilling point, he quickly clasped her hand in his.
“Not this time,” he whispered.
Her eyes opened and flashed dark green with flecks of burning gold. They were beautiful eyes, luminescent in the dark. Her mouth pursed and she looked ready to protest, but he pressed the tip of his cock against her hot flesh, and she pushed against him before he was ready to end the foreplay.
Again he smiled at her and was rewarded with the most devilish smile back.
Unable to hold himself in check, he pushed into her slowly, filling her, and felt the heavenly tightness of her sheath expanding to allow him in, deeper and deeper.