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  When she reached between them and began unbuckling his belt, Xbal growled low in his throat and immediately undid first one cufflink and then the other. He should take her to the bed, he knew, but with her leg now hooked behind his, he also realized she had no intention of going anywhere just yet.

  “I’m sure I can come up with something,” he replied, earning a soft laugh and a heavy-lidded look.

  “I’m sure you can too.”

  Shoving the cufflinks into his pants pocket, he quickly shrugged out of the ruined shirt, toeing off one loafer as he did. Cassandra was making swift work of unzipping his pants and he was vibrating inside with eagerness to have her hands on his aching flesh. When she pushed both pants and boxer-briefs down, he swiveled his hips to help her and was ridiculously gratified by her little purr of appreciation when his cock sprang free.

  “Mmm…” She licked her lips, skimmed her fingers up his straining length, and he clenched his teeth as a shock of lust made his balls tighten even more. “Beautiful.”

  When her fingers closed around him Xbal realized he was losing control faster than he ever had before. If he didn’t take the situation in hand, he’d be coming in a trice and that just wouldn’t do.

  He clasped her wrists, pulled her hands away from his body.

  Cassie snarled, tugging against his grip. “Let go. I want to touch you.”

  He snarled right back, saw her eyes widen as he said, “If you touch me any more my follow-up act will be over before I’m ready. When I come, I want to be inside you. Want to feel you coming around me.”

  Spanning both of her wrists with one hand, he held them above her head, pinned to the door. As he toed off his other shoe, he lost patience with undressing himself and magicked his pants away. Then he leaned against Cassandra, letting the full length of his body settle on hers, absorbing and savoring the soft press of her breasts and thighs, the way she undulated against him in obvious pleasure.

  Once he entered her he wasn’t going to last. His head was already spinning with anticipation, his body strung tight and wired to explode. Where was his vaulted control now? Why did it feel as though the lessons of centuries had deserted him, just when he needed them most?

  Yet, even knowing it might be over far sooner than he wanted, there was no way to resist having Cassandra right here, right now.

  Releasing her wrists, he reached down and around her thighs, lifting her high against the door. Immediately her legs went around his waist, and she made a sound of pure appreciation. A tilt of her hips caused the head of his erection to slick between her pussy lips, and the sublimely erotic sensation had Xbal growling with frustration. Cassandra laughed softly, rocked against him again, but when he bumped her clitoris the laughter was curtailed by a swift inhalation and she buried her face in his neck.

  Hitching her a little higher, promising himself he’d go slower next time and give her a long, unhurried fuck, he swiveled his hips slightly, until the hot, wet flesh parted to welcome the tip of his cock. He froze, just that first contact almost too much to bear, the intimacy and perfection of it stunning in its beauty.

  Cassie had gone still too, her ragged breaths gusting against his throat, her arms locked tight around his shoulders. Somehow, for all the glory of it, the moment was incomplete and Xbal knew why.

  “Look at me, Cassandra.” He leaned his torso back, giving her room to comply. “Look at me while I take you.”

  She stayed where she was, her fingers digging into his back, as though in an effort to defy him.

  “Look at me,” he commanded again, even as his body cried out for full penetration, for the release it so desperately craved.

  Making a sound—almost a sob—deep in her throat, she tossed her head back, fiery tresses whipping across his face before settling over her shoulders and breasts, revealing the expression of stark passion on her face. Heavy-lidded violet eyes locked with his and Xbal groaned her name, feeling the connection between them strengthen into something infinite and unbreakable.

  It steadied him, took him beyond the mere physicality of the moment and into a place of almost spiritual joy. Stunned by the immensity of it, Xbal slowly lowered her, feeling her body flower open to take him, her inner muscles gripping as if to urge him inside. She was holding her breath, her gaze reflecting the same shocked bliss he felt, and, as Xbal entered her fully, tears gathered to pool against her lower lashes.

  “Don’t cry, querida.” The sight of her undone in his arms rocked him to his soul. “Please, don’t cry.”

  “I never cry,” she choked out, even as a blink caused the first drops to fall.

  Xbal bent to sip the moisture from her cheeks, his body trembling with the intensity of his need and emotions. Cassie turned her head, her mouth seeking his, and as they kissed he began to move inside her, withdrawing slowly and then driving back in.

  Each thrust drew another sobbing moan from her throat, but the way she moved to meet him, tilting her hips to take him deep, drove him to withdraw and thrust again.

  “Querida,” he groaned against her lips, holding her as close as possible, filling her as much as he could, wanting her to feel the way he did—utterly completed by their joining. “Ah, cariño.”

  Cassandra arched, her hips rocking against him, her legs gripping him harder, thigh muscles growing tight. Xbal caught the rhythm she set and added a counter-motion that instantly boosted his own arousal to insane levels. They were hardly moving, really, but each roll of their pelvises caused the most sublime sensations—the twist of her inner walls around his cock, the slide of her nipples against his chest—and Xbal knew orgasm was just a heartbeat or two away.

  He found the rushed pulse just beneath her ear, licked over the vein, absorbing the frantic pace, evidence of her life force and excitement.

  “Xbal!”

  As though that final touch was all she needed, she writhed in his arms, grinding against him, fingernails digging into his back, her pussy contracting and releasing with a beat as wild as her pulse. And, unable to hold back even one moment more, Xbal came with her, wanting to shout her name, shout triumphant at the bond he’d found with her, but incapable of forcing even one sound out from his throat.

  They shuddered together, locked tight in each other’s arms, and the thought he was experiencing one of the most pivotal moments of his life exploded in Xbal’s brain. The jaguar snarled in agreement and suddenly he knew what had to be said, was able to growl it into her ear.

  “Mine. Only mine.”

  She was shattered, devastated by the emotion Xbal so effortlessly brought out in her and the knowledge she didn’t want—couldn’t afford—to feel the way she was right now. All she wanted was to stay exactly where she was, wrapped in Xbal’s powerful arms, his words ringing in her ears and giving her a sense of having found a safe harbor. Never had she felt more alive—more completely herself and yet one with another—than she did in this moment.

  The worse of it was she believed what he’d said.

  In her heart she’d felt it too, the soul-shaking certainty that she’d surrendered everything she had and was to him, received the same from him in return. Somehow what should have been just sex had morphed into the most tender and loving experience she’d ever had.

  The hard shell she’d so diligently built around her heart had melted beneath Xbal’s passion, leaving her so vulnerable a newborn baby was better protected from pain than she was right now.

  It frightened her more than anything else she’d ever had to face, made her realize just why she’d avoided getting involved with him. And the surfeit of emotion pissed her right off too.

  Thank Sol for that last part because her anger—at herself for allowing this to happen, at him for being so open to it—gave her the strength she needed.

  Still holding her so tightly she could barely breathe, his cock still firmly embedded in her body, Xbal was carrying her to his high, four-poster bed. Cassie let herself savor the sensation of being his just for a moment more, knowing everyth
ing was about to blow up. She had to get away. If she didn’t, if she remained in his arms, she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to let him go.

  And staying wasn’t an option.

  As he climbed the two steps, bringing them up to the level of the mattress, Cassie drew a deep breath, preparing for battle. He laid her on the soft counterpane and, still standing on the top step, planted his hands on either side of her shoulders, so he was looking down into her face. By Sol, if having Xbal cradled between her legs and being surrounded by his strength wasn’t enough to make her want to surrender, the tender heat in his eyes was like a barrage aimed straight at her heart. There was no option but to burst the bubble of intimacy surrounding them. Deny the bond she already knew they’d forged.

  “That was a good fuck.” She kept her voice level, forced feigned amusement into the words. “You know your way around a woman’s body, I’ll give you that.”

  She expected surprise or anger from him, but the only noticeable reaction was a sharpening of his gaze and his voice was soft when he replied, “I’m learning my way around yours, finding a path into that fortress you call a heart.”

  His admission was shocking, sent another wave of anger and fear into her bloodstream. Damn him for saying it aloud, for laying it out in words so it couldn’t be ignored or passively negated.

  “Don’t even try it.” He didn’t need to know he’d already invaded her heart and soul as he took her body. The fact she would forever be his, as she had never been any others’, was her secret to hold. “I told you from the beginning it’s just one afternoon. And just sex.”

  For a long moment he said nothing in reply. Although she didn’t see any change in his expression, she was suddenly more aware than ever of the primitive nature beneath his urbane exterior and her heartbeat escalated.

  “Do you still really believe that, Cassandra?” With an almost leisurely tilt of his hips, he pushed his cock deeper into her, fusing them even tighter together. “Can you really lie to yourself so effectively?”

  “It’s how it has to be.” By Sol, she wouldn’t cry. No matter how badly she wanted to. No matter how saying the words tore at the core of her being, shredding her emotionally. “I’m not lying. There can’t be anything more between us.”

  “Why?”

  The single word was like a gunshot cracking in the room, startling her with its ferocity. All she could do was shake her head, biting her tongue so as not to give in and tell him the truth. There was more at stake than just the two of them, their needs and feelings. What she was going to do when she left him was actually illegal, the instigators—including her own parents—liable to punishment so severe she didn’t dare tell anyone what was planned. Yet it had to happen. The fate of the entire world, both on this side of the Veil and the other, depended on her.

  That knowledge was the only thing holding her together. If she reneged on her duty even Xbal would cease to exist, and that was a thought so heinous she refused to contemplate it.

  “Tell me why.” The demand in his voice was unmistakable. “Tell me why you won’t acknowledge the connection between us, won’t even consider there is more to what’s happening between us than just the physical.”

  “I can’t.” The words were jerked from her throat, a hoarse plea. “Just take me at my word, Xbal. This afternoon is all we have. This—” She lifted her lower body to press against his, gasping as the motion brought a sharp, somehow surprising spasm of desire. “This is all I can give you.”

  He searched her eyes, his body growing tenser with each second that passed, until he seemed coiled to the breaking point. A beast about to strike, full of untamed intent. Yet she felt no fear, only a rapid rise of renewed passion and even more powerful need. It was only when he spoke again, the words little more than a growl, that she knew the first frisson of unease.

  “Then I’ll take it all. Everything you have, Cassandra. More than you ever thought you could give.”

  Chapter Seven

  There was a hard slam of magic, which stole her breath and made her stomach drop and roll. Everything around them warped, only Xbal’s eyes remaining in focus. When the magic dissipated Cassie realized the softness of the bed beneath her and the brightness of the afternoon sun were gone. Instead she was lying on cool, slightly rough stone and they were surrounded by dim, green-hued light.

  Xbal was still above her, but as she tried to get her bearings he straightened and pulled back, disengaging their bodies and leaving her feeling empty.

  When he walked away she was bereft, unable to fight a rush of sadness and loss.

  After a moment she forced back the emotions and sat up, looking around. The sight that met her eyes made her gasp.

  It was a temple, apparently long abandoned. The roof was gone, replaced with thick, twisted vines which, with the sunlight filtering through them, gave the space its green glow. At the opposite end of the temple was a thick, raised stone slab, an altar of some type she thought, with a throne-like stone seat behind it. On either side of the wide room was a colonnade, freestanding columns at least thirty feet high, and through the encroaching vines carved figures and unfamiliar symbols were visible. High up on the outer walls and set between each column were niches, each one containing a huge stone statue she easily recognized as the figure she’d often seen on the interior of the Music Roars elevator.

  And every one of those stone Xbals seemed to be looking right at her.

  It made a strange shiver—not quite apprehension, not quite excitement—trickle down her spine.

  Xbal was walking toward the altar, his feet making no sound despite the thick carpet of fallen leaves and other detritus on the ground. In that instant she saw his jaguar nature clearly, as though man and cat were transposed, one atop the other, stalking toward some battle only he could see. A rush of heat, which owed nothing to the humid jungle air, flared over her skin, and her mouth went dry.

  With a graceful, effortless leap Xbal jumped up onto the altar and turned to face her, his gorgeous, aroused body unselfconsciously displayed by his wide-legged stance. Even with the entire length of the massive room between them, Cassie felt his gaze settle on her and she shivered, her nipples tightening, passion unfurling to twist through her veins. Just like that, within the space of a heartbeat, she was ready for him again, craving a sweet ache in her belly and between her legs.

  Licking her lips, she found the wherewithal to ask, “Where are we?”

  “Deep in the jungles of South America, on the human side of the Veil.” He tilted his head slightly, a small smile flirting at the corners of his lips. “Strangely enough, this is where I am most at home, where my power is strongest.” The smile faded, and Cassie saw his eyes begin to glow. “Don’t you feel it, Cassandra?”

  When she paid attention she did, recognizing the magic potent in the air, pulsing and twirling, making her scalp prickle and goose bumps flare across her arms and torso. What she’d taken at first to be just the heat and dampness of the jungle was actually a manifestation of natural power rising from the earth. Reaching out to it with her own abilities brought no increase in her magic, and she realized she was, for want of a better description, on the wrong frequency. This magic was for Xbal alone and she shivered again, wondering what he planned to do with it. What he planned for her.

  It seemed she was about to find out, as he held out one hand to her, fingers crooked in command. “Come to me.”

  Before she could get up from the stone ledge she was on Cassie felt it drop away and she was floating upright through the air toward the altar. Toward Xbal’s open arms. He caught her, holding her so tightly she found it hard to take a breath.

  Yet breathing wasn’t high on the list of her priorities anyway. There was something about being in the seat of his power, having his rigid, aroused body pressed so tightly to hers and knowing herself to be truly at his mercy that made her shake with passion.

  “I’ve never brought anyone here.” His breath was hot against her skin and ruffled the hair ne
ar her ear. “Never done atraspa within the confines of the temple once sacred to me.” He pulled back, cupping her cheek so their eyes met, the glow of need in his making her want to moan with pleasure. “Be warned, querida. I won’t stop until I’ve wrung the last orgasm I can from your body.”

  She thought he might say more, but instead he kissed her, his mouth firm and demanding, pressing her head back as their tongues dueled and danced together. Drinking him in, reveling in the sensations of his cock hard against her belly, one hand kneading her ass and the other tangled in her hair, Cassie knew she’d give him whatever he desired, let him do whatever he wanted. And although it went against every instinct she had, there was nothing she’d do to change it.

  These were the memories she’d take with her into the unknown, the only ones that would completely break her heart and the only ones she’d be glad to have.

  Xbal ended the kiss, and she was glad to see she wasn’t the only one finding it hard to catch a full breath. The air rasped in and out of his throat, and his ribcage heaved beneath her questing hands.

  “You destroy me, Cassandra.” The growled words went through her like a flash-fire, and she leaned back in his arms, blatantly offering herself to him. “I want you more than I want food, air or even my magic.”

  “Then take me.” She’d never offered herself this way, meaning it completely, utterly. “Take me, Xbal.”

  “I will.” With one more hard kiss he turned her so her back nestled against his chest, then guided her to sit, so she was between his thighs, their legs hanging over the edge of the altar. “Repeatedly.”

  Leaning her head back on his shoulder, Cassie let go of all misgivings, all control, and surrendered. As though feeling her capitulation, Xbal growled low in his chest and swept her hair aside so as to bite the tender flesh at the start of her shoulder. The sweet sting jolted her and she gasped, making Xbal growl again.

  “When I watched you come in the restaurant, when I felt and smelled and tasted you through the atraspa I almost lost control.” Reaching down he grasped her thighs, lifted them so they lay over his. Then he moved his legs farther apart, opening her to the first soft twist of magic as it glided over her breasts and down to lightly brush her labia. “I cursed myself for starting something I couldn’t finish the way I wanted to, but here there’s nothing to stop me.” The magic grew stronger, pinching at her nipples so her back arched and her belly trembled. “I can love you with my magic and my hands and my cock, all at once. Do to you all the things I’ve dreamed of doing over the years I’ve known you.”