"Pleasure is nothing to fear." He kept his hand on her breast. "Stop fighting it."
"I'm afraid." It was a husky whisper.
"Afraid enough to let it control you?"
A short pause and then she shook her head, the defiant nature of her personality asserting itself. "If I'm going to go down, at least I'll know what I died for."
His hackles rose. "Who are you frightened of?"
"No." She touched his lips with a finger. "This dream is about pleasure. We can talk about death in the real world. Show me pleasure, Lucas. Show me the things I've never known."
Protective instincts vied with arousal. In the end they both won. If pleasure was what it would take to banish the fear from her eyes, then he'd drown her in it. Claiming her mouth in a kiss that was just this side of savage, he let the leopard out to play. The growl at the back of his throat poured into her mouth and he felt her entire body vibrate in response.
The sound she made fed the hunger but it also fed the protectiveness. He let her catch her breath before taking her lips in another kiss, but this time he gentled himself. This time, he used his tongue to tangle with hers. The surprised jerk of her body gave way to enthusiastic participation only seconds later.
Certain that she was ready to embrace the next step of their dance, he bit her lower lip as he broke the kiss and moved down the slender vulnerability of her neck. Half covered by the lace of her bra, the tender upper curves of her br**sts teased at his every male instinct. She was more than a handful and he was delighted.
"Purr for me, kitten." He kissed his way across the bared expanse of skin.
She shuddered. "I'm n-not a cat."
Chuckling, he let his thumb and forefinger play with the taut bud of one nipple. Her fingers dug into his skull. He arched into the caress and she understood, raking her hands through his hair hard enough for him to feel the pressure against his scalp. Just like he'd taught her last time. "You remember, too." He replaced his fingers with his mouth, sucking the nipple hard and tight through the lace.
"Oh! Please! Please." Her hands gripped frantically at his shoulders, but he had no intention of rushing this. He intended for the waves of pleasure to lap at her before consuming her, before turning her into passion and heat, surrender and demand.
Releasing the suction, he returned to steal another kiss while her chest heaved up and down under him. She tasted tarter than last time, as if the spice in her nature had risen to the top. "Did you like that?" he asked against her lips, not waiting for an answer before moving down to repeat the teasing caress on her neglected breast.
Her body almost bowed as sensation shot through her. The pressure of his weight kept her from arching all the way up but he couldn't keep her completely immobile. Suddenly, his erection was cradled in the vee of her thighs, snug against the place it wanted to be. All he had to do was push aside the gusset of her panties and he could have her. Claim her. Brand her.
Claws pushed against the skin of his humanity.
Gritting his teeth, he tried to move away. Slender feminine limbs wrapped around his hips, holding him tight. "Let go." He was so close to the edge that he was starting to see the world through the panther's eyes.
"I can't take any more."
"Sure you can." It took every ounce of willpower he had to chain the beast more than willing to take Sascha - she wasn't ready yet. Using the leverage he had, he began to rock against her vulnerably parted flesh.
"Lucas!" It was a scream. Her hands fell to the sheets, clutching wildly as she tried to ride the pleasure.
"Shh," he gentled, stopping to give her a little tenderness. "I like hearing you scream my name." He kissed her brow, her eyelids, the tip of her nose, her cheeks, and finally her lips. Soft, slow, undemanding. Until her breathing was easier and those night-sky eyes were no longer blind with desire. Then he started moving again.
Her eyes fluttered shut and reopened as if by force of will, her exotic skin shimmering with a layer of perspiration. Rich and heady, the musky scent of her was a carnal invitation. She lasted a couple of minutes this time before he had to stop and bring her back down until she could handle it again.
Each time she lasted longer and his control grew more fragile. He wanted this female with a hunger he'd never before felt. He wanted to ravage her, adore her, mark her. But even the panther knew she had to come to him willingly. There could be no doubt between them, no boundaries and no hesitation, because when the panther shattered its bonds and animal hunger took over, she had to trust him absolutely. Otherwise they'd both break.
Somewhere during the teasing, he got off her bra and feasted his eyes on the beauty of her br**sts. She was too dazed by pleasure to protest the kisses he dropped on the upper slopes or the caresses he bestowed with one of his hands. He kept everything easy, getting her used to her own sensuality.
It threatened to drive him to madness.
He could be like this in bed but it was usually after he'd sated himself in his partner's body and drunk deep of her screams of pleasure. The panther wasn't selfish - it merely liked to quench the edge of its thirst before it started to play. But today Lucas was with a woman who needed the play before anything else.
"Don't you stop this time!" she snapped, when he started to slow the rocking motion. Her hands rose to lock around his neck as she tried to pull him down.
"I'm too heavy." He leaned down far enough that his chest rubbed against her br**sts, far enough that they could tangle their tongues in a heated mating of mouths. "And," he said as the kiss broke, "you still have on these." He ran the fingers of one hand along the bottom edge of her panties, stroking at the tender skin he found.