JaguarintheSun Read online

  “I can’t get enough of you.” Xbal rubbed his lips along her collarbone as he spoke, then brushed his cheek against it too. Cassie clenched her teeth, the rasp of his faint stubble so deliciously rough on her skin. “I want everything you have to give, and I’ll do everything I can to get it.”

  She heard him, part of her understanding the words and their attendant danger. But instead of shaking her out of the spell he seemed to have cast on her the implication just pulled her deeper in. Cassie wanted him to do his worst, his best, wanted to revel in it, take as much from him as he seemed set to take from her.

  When his lips moved lower, toward her breast, she almost cried with relief, strung so tight she was already on the edge of falling apart. She needed his attention on her nipples, her pussy. Needed rescuing from the lust he’d already churned into a frenzy.

  “Not yet, Cassandra.” His words seemed to come from far away, percolating into her fogged brain and making her shiver with the agonized realization he wasn’t about to offer her surcease. “Give me a little more time, sweetheart, and it will be better for the wait.”

  I don’t want to wait!

  Yet the words couldn’t pass her throat, and her back bowed in supplication as his mouth slipped between her breasts, lingering there for a moment before moving to her trembling stomach. As he licked and nipped at her, teased her bellybutton with the tip of his tongue, Cassie tried to lift her leg to put it over his shoulder, but found she didn’t have the strength. While her insides burned and quaked with need, her limbs were weighed-down, useless, trembling appendages. No longer did she think she had the strength to pull the leather sleeves down her arms. Nor could her legs do anything more than hold her up—and even that was becoming harder with each sweet swipe of his tongue over her skin.

  As though sensing her growing weakness, Xbal slid his hands beneath the leather dress and cupped her bottom.

  “By the Heavens, I love your ass.” His fingers kneading and palms pressing her cheeks apart made Cassie’s toes curl in her boots. “So plump and soft, just made to be adored. I can’t wait to give it the attention it deserves.”

  By Sol, she was going to die, any minute now, if he kept saying things like that to her. How easy it was to imagine that talented tongue of his rimming her, getting her ready for his cock. Or being fucked from behind, the roughness of his thrusts into her pussy punctuated by equally hard slaps on her tender flesh.

  Then the images fled like pixie dust in the wind as Xbal traced a hot, wet arc from her stomach, across her hipbone to her upper thigh, stopping just on the crease where hip and leg met. Just one small kiss away from her mound. But instead of going closer, giving her what she craved, Xbal leaned back.

  “I want to look at you.” His fingers were at the elastic top of her panties and already pulling them down as he spoke. “Let me see your sweet pussy, baby. I’ve imagined doing that for so long. Don’t deny me the chance.”

  He was pleading, as though she could or would deny him anything now. As though the thought of his voracious gaze trained on her cunt didn’t take her straight to the quivering edge of orgasm.

  Through the fog of her desire she felt her underwear catch on the tops of her boots, heard him say something she didn’t need to understand to know was a profanity. Getting the minute triangle of spidersilk down to her ankles, he lifted her left foot and tugged the thong free. Then he raised that foot higher, until the sole was resting on his shoulder, and pushed her knee out, holding it there as his other hand returned to cup her ass. There was a rush of cool air against the heated flesh between her thighs and Cassie realized she was spread open to his gaze, just as he’d wanted.

  “Ah, fuck…” Xbal’s voice trailed away into a sound redolent with such hunger it caused her cunt to spasm with pleasure. “By the Heavens, you’re so beautiful, all wet and flushed, your clit so hard it wouldn’t take more than a touch to make you come.”

  Yes. That was all it would take, all she needed. She tilted her hips closer to him, widening her legs as much as she could, hoping he’d give it to her—give her that one kiss, the one flick of his tongue she craved.

  “Oh, sweetheart. I wish you could see yourself like this, wish you could feel how much harder I get when I look at you, when your scent fills my head, makes my mouth water.”

  The hand on her knee slid up along the inside of her thigh and the leg she was standing on turned to water. It was only Xbal’s strength holding her aloft now, only the hand on her ass stopping her from melting to the floor. With his palm on her thigh, he delicately thumbed her outer labia farther open and groaned at the expanded view.

  “Look at that,” he crooned, the words a low, growled whisper. “Just look at that.”

  He wasn’t talking to her, but suddenly she wanted to see if his face reflected the appreciation and longing echoing in his voice. She needed to know if he truly wanted her that way—with the all-encompassing passion she heard in his words. Forcing her eyelids open, Cassie looked down to where Xbal knelt at her feet.

  She hardly recognized him.

  Gone was the cool, suave man she’d come to know. In his place was a disheveled, flushed, beautiful god—hair in disarray, shirt torn open, a light slick of perspiration glistening on his skin. Taut flesh highlighted every plane and hollow of his face, desire revealing the untamed side of his character he usually kept so carefully hidden. Just the sight of him adoring her body, touching her so gently, made her soul blossom and her arousal take on a sharper, yet also tenderer edge.

  Xbal lifted his gaze to her face and Cassie lost herself in his eyes—so dark now the tiny ring of light-brown around the edge glowed. It was like looking into the heart of a solar eclipse, seeing eternity and wanting, so badly, to become a part of it.

  “Will you trust me, Cassandra?” The hint of an accent in his voice was more noticeable now, but there was no mistaking the mixture of appeal and command. “Trust me to take you where you’ve never been before?”

  He already had, but she wasn’t prepared to admit that—could hardly bear to admit it to herself, much less to him—and wished she had the control to say something, to hide just how badly affected she was by what they’d shared so far. It was, she knew, a forlorn hope. Sagging against the door, scarcely able to stand, her body shivering uncontrollably with need, there was no doubt he knew exactly how close he’d taken her to release without even a touch on the more intimate parts of her body. What did he plan to do next, that he demanded her agreement? Just wondering made her even weaker with lust, had her thinking she shouldn’t say yes, shouldn’t take the chance of finding out exactly how much further he could push her.

  She nodded.

  Xbal smiled and Cassie’s heart turned over, began to pound even harder at that expression of mingled triumph and delight.

  Still holding her gaze, he crouched lower, dipped his head and she caught a glimpse of his tongue as he dampened his lips. She shuddered, tilting her hips to open even wider for him, ravenous for the pleasure his eyes so freely promised.

  Slick heat circling the entrance to her pussy had her head dropping back, her spine arching as she attempted to get closer to his wicked mouth. Holding her almost immobilized, Xbal flicked and slipped his tongue along her outer lips, through her folds, everywhere but on her clitoris, which pulsed in time to her racing heart. Just one lick there, she knew, and she’d be gone—blasted into the stratosphere—so she writhed and squirmed, trying to get him to do it, hoping he’d slip, take pity, have mercy on her overwrought body. But Xbal was a master tormentor. He wasn’t allowing her to mess with whatever diabolical plan he had in store. Over and over again he circled around the straining bundle of nerves, never touching, never giving her more than a hint of what he could do if he concentrated his focus there.

  Just ask for it.

  Somehow she knew if she did, he’d give her what she craved, take her over the top, but the part of her psyche she kept just for herself, that she never allowed anyone to access, wouldn’t allow it.
Giving in, begging, would be crossing a line she’d drawn for herself, and couldn’t afford to cross. So she stayed silent, even as her body tried to speak for her and inside she was screaming, please, please, please.

  Was this what he’d meant when he said he’d make her beg? Did he think she was so weak she’d give in just because he’d refused to give her the satisfaction she wanted?

  She wished she could convince herself she wouldn’t beg soon if he didn’t take her to orgasm. Realistically, she was on the verge of doing just that and the realization should have made her angry, should cause her desperate need to abate, but it didn’t.

  By Sol, I’m lost.

  He pulled away slightly, leaving her shivering and bereft, her hips pulsing in his grip.

  “Are you ready, darling?” His breath rushed over her, warm even against the heat and dampness between her quivering thighs. “Trust me. I promise, it’ll be worth it.”

  Cassie couldn’t reply, so it was just as well he didn’t wait for an answer. His thumb moved to the top of her cleft and pulled up, the shifting of the flesh over her clitoris so sublime it took her up onto her toes. He’d pulled back the hood, she knew, exposing the sensitive, engorged flesh beneath.

  She held her breath.

  But she wasn’t prepared for the first touch of his tongue, for it wasn’t soft and slick but slightly rough, and Cassie realized he was tapping into his jaguar nature, the texture of his tongue changed by a partial shift. The shock of it made the desperate need to come retreat, even as her body accepted and derived a strange type of pleasure from the unexpected pain.

  And as he continued, his tongue rasping gently over her clitoris, the pressure inside began to build again, stronger and more insistent although very different from before. It was as though her body refused to find release, even though it couldn’t help being stimulated by the sensation, working itself up to a state of hypersensitivity but shutting down the mechanism by which it could orgasm. Cassie tried to close her thighs, to lower her leg, but Xbal held her in an unbreakable grip and it was a halfhearted effort at best. She wanted it to stop, but never wanted it to stop. She wanted the excruciating pleasure, but also yearned desperately for the culmination it couldn’t provide.

  The contradictions were almost too much for her to take, pushing her into a place where the entire world shrank to just Xbal between her legs and the slow, hot, painfully decadent slide of his tongue. Her body went rigid, the only movements a jerk of her hips to meet each determined swipe of his tongue. Behind eyelids screwed tightly shut with passion flashed remembered images of Xbal—talking, laughing, looking at her with amusement, interest, annoyance—each one a precious taste of the man controlling her every desire now. And she could imagine the picture they made together, with her spread open for him, bound in her dress, helpless to resist the beautiful man between her thighs. Unable but, most importantly, unwilling to resist.

  Wherever this divine torture was taking her, she wanted to go.

  It took a moment for her to realize he’d stopped lapping at her clitoris and for a few beats she continued rocking in tandem with the rhythm he’d set. Impossible to interpret what she was feeling, for it was all a jumble, the inferno inside her belly engulfing all sensibilities and leaving her nothing but a column of caged longing, waiting for him to set her free. She wasn’t sure how she retained her footing. Lethargy swamped her limbs, although she felt anything but sleepy. The urge to slide down the door was overwhelming, although Cassie couldn’t move, afraid to lose the contact between them.

  “I have you, baby.” His voice came at her from a distance, but still had the ability to both pacify and excite. “I’ll never let you go.”

  Somehow she believed him, and that belief brought tears to her eyes, while a shiver of anticipation traveled the length of her spine. Xbal’s hands shifted, tightened on her flesh, intensifying the sense of safety, of being exactly where she needed to be. Crazy to feel this way, to give in to it, even as a part of her tried to say she shouldn’t, couldn’t take what he seemed to be offering.

  “Come for me now, sweetheart. Come for me.”

  He barely touched her, his tongue soft again, slick and gentle as it fluttered over her aching clitoris. Cassie jerked, all the heat fleeing her limbs to settle in her core, her inner muscles clenching, the tender assault pushing her toward ecstasy. She wanted him to increase the pressure, but he didn’t, keeping the contact so light she strained to feel it. Yet each touch was like experiencing the flick of a lash, the sensations shocking in their intensity, pulling her outside herself and into a swirling, crazy world of physical fulfillment unlike anything she’d experienced previously. Even before her orgasm struck she was almost crying with satisfaction, her overstimulated flesh soothed into accepting the release it wouldn’t tolerate before.

  It built, growing like a tidal wave within, then it struck and the world went dark, leaving only the memory of Xbal’s eyes and the awareness of having been flung out of what she’d always known and expected into a new, thrilling, frightening place.

  A place where Xbal the jaguar god, rather than Sol, her deity, was the center of the universe.

  Somewhere she had no business being, but couldn’t find the strength to regret entering.

  The place she wanted, more than anything, to stay.

  Chapter Six

  Cassie was coming and coming, and Xbal didn’t want her to stop. Covering her pussy with his mouth, he pulled at the smooth outer lips and ran his tongue between them each time she started to descend from her orgasmic high. Just slicking over her clitoris, now once more covered by its delicate outer membrane, made another shock fire through her body and brought him a corresponding shudder of pleasure. She’d wrapped her leg around his neck and was holding his head clenched between her plump, strong thighs, as though she never wanted to let him go. The scent and taste of her made him crazy for more and he kept stimulating her, drawing her climax out as long as he could, holding her up, knowing from the weight on his arm she’d crumple to the floor if he let her go.

  And the sounds she was making—little whimpers and gasping cries indicative of gratified need—by the Heavens, they were driving him mad with lust.

  She’d told him she didn’t moan or cry out during sex, and knowing he’d broken through that barrier, given her an experience she’d never had before, was like being crowned emperor of the Universe. In all his centuries of existence he’d never derived such intense, savage satisfaction from making love to another. Especially since he had yet to actually reach orgasm himself.

  It didn’t seem that significant. Of overriding importance was driving Cassie to new levels of pleasure, feeling and hearing her achieve them, savoring every second they were together.

  “One more time,” he groaned against her, knowing she couldn’t hear him but would feel the words rumbling into her trembling flesh. “Come for me one more time.”

  He took her clitoris between his lips and flicked it with his tongue, lashing it fast and hard.

  “Xbal,” she whispered, the muscles in her thighs going taut and hard. “Xbal. Xbal. Xbal…ohhh…”

  With each repetition of his name her voice rose, and his need rose with it, for to hear her cry out for him with such abandon was almost more than he could stand. His delicious, silent lover had, whether she realized it or not, just given herself to him in a way he knew she hadn’t anticipated and the jaguar within snarled triumphant.

  Cassandra’s body jerked, muscles so tight they seemed set to snap, and he gentled his touch, releasing her after one final tender swipe of his tongue. As if she’d suddenly become boneless her leg began to slip off his shoulder and he held on to it, lowering it to the ground. But he retained his grip on her ass, using it to support her while he got to his feet. Dragging her to his chest he held her tight, absorbing the last tremors of her orgasm, taking her weight, trying to stop himself from tearing off the rest of their clothes and thrusting into her wet heat on the floor right in front of the door. Her br
easts tormented his chest with each shuddering breath she took. The scent of her perfume mingled with the tang of lust surrounded them, driving him toward the edge of sexual insanity.

  Using one hand and then the other, he eased the dress the rest of the way down her arms, freeing her from the constricting garment. She was still limp but her fingers fluttered against his thighs, as though trying to find purchase, and her legs shifted between his, bringing her into closer contact with his aching cock.

  By the Heavens, he wanted her, needed her with a desire so voracious it was almost frightening. She’d said all she could offer him was today. He was determined to make her change her mind. This kind of passion, this kind of connection didn’t come along often—was usually a once-in-a-lifetime experience—and he wouldn’t stop until she realized it.

  Cassie sighed, the rush of warm air making goose flesh prickle across his chest.

  “You didn’t use magic?”

  The husky rasp of her voice was glorious to his ears and he tightened his grip on her, bending to touch his lips to her forehead.

  “No.”

  She leaned away slightly, lifting her head to look at him and blinking slowly, as though awakening from slumber.

  “Wow…”

  He didn’t know how one such innocuous a word could make him grin like a fool, even in the face of his still-painful arousal, but it did.

  “Glad you enjoyed it.”

  “I did.” Cassie’s answering smile made both his heart and his cock ache, for it was a unique combination of sweet satisfaction and continuing desire. “I can’t wait to see what you’ll do as a follow-up act.”