She feared he was the type of man women got reckless over, made stupid decisions for. He made her think, Vows of chastity? What vows?
That night in the swamp - when she'd been so close to letting him take her - had been the first time she'd had an orgasm with a man. No wonder she was continually thinking about him - he'd made her climax. Of course. Naturally she'd want to experience it again.
Just recalling how his eyes had been filled with lust made her heart race all over again. She'd witnessed him almost completely naked, with only his jeans at his knees, and had seen tantalizing glimpses of his thick erection. If she'd had any hesitation about being with a male, or fears from her past, he'd quelled them with his toe-curling kisses against her panties.
5
Now her ni**les budded against her camisole, her breaths quickening. She was wet for him, aching for more. She turned onto her front - which was worse, so she flipped back over. Glaring at the ceiling, she realized there was no fighting it.
Her hand eased into her panties.
Something woke Garreth, putting him on edge. It was an uncanny feeling, as if the air were crackling with electricity. Shouldn't be surprising - lightning struck constantly in this bizarre place, like ongoing mini-explosions.
Some bolts hit so close, the entire manor quaked, dust raining from the ceiling - ominous signs in a structure built so long ago. And between the lightning strikes, he heard Valkyrie shrieks, the drone of the TV, and jaunty video game music that was like nails on slate.
Adding to his misery, Garreth could scent Lucia at every hour, could hear her voice, hear her whispers to the glowing freak:
"I sense he's getting more powerful than ever before," Lucia had said this afternoon. Who?
"Then I'm glad we have a back-up plan," Regin had replied. Back-up to what?
"Everything depends on finding it. If I have to go inside for this round, then I want to be able to get back out." Find what? Where the bluidy hell is she going?
"How much time do we have?"
"Maybe a year. Before they come..."
Before who - or what - came? What had Lucia meant?
It maddened him, and she wouldn't return no matter how much he bellowed. The most mysterious female he'd ever imagined, and all day and night, the mystery deepened -
Suddenly, he caught the scent... of her desire? He felt the current in the air, sensed it came from her.
Realization hit. No, it canna be. She would no' be....
Lucia's eyes slid shut as her fingers dipped into her panties, seeking - and finding - wet flesh.
With a sigh, she gave a stroke against her swollen clitoris, fantasizing about MacRieve's body. The already continual lightning built. Another stroke as she envisioned his poor battered chest, packed with muscle. She rubbed faster... faster...
His torso tapering to his narrow hips. She moaned. That trail of dusky hair leading down to his shaft -
"Lousha!" he bellowed.
She shot up in bed, yanking her hand away. He couldn't know... surely not.
"Come to me!"
He did know! Oh, gods, what do I do now? Her sisters were already suspicious, intimating that maybe the interest went both ways. What to do? Her eyes darted around the room.
When he yelled her name again, she leapt from the bed and snatched a robe from her closet. Hastening from her room, she stole down to the basement.
Once she entered, he quieted. Like the trapped beast that he was, he eyed her every move.
"What's the matter with you?" she demanded as she neared the cage. "Why do you keep roaring for me? I'm the one with no power to free you."
"You can unlock this."
"I won't. Save your breath."
Studying her expression for weakness, and apparently finding none, he changed tactics.
"Then come to me." His irises wavered from blue back to gold.
"Why?"
"So I can finish for you what you started in your bed."
She felt her cheeks flame. "I don't... wh-what are you talking about?"
"Come here, Lousha." His voice was as mesmerizing as his eyes.
"If you think to seduce me to free you, it won't happen."
"Seducing you is its own end, love."
She hesitated, glancing over her shoulder.
"Remember how good it was that night in the bayou? How I made you feel?"
A night of sweat and need and lightning. She shivered at the memory. "That was a mistake - I shouldn't have encouraged you."
"Come to me." He had that look in his eyes again.
"And do what?" Mind going blank. Damn him, what hold did he have over her?
"Let me kiss you."
Her lips parted and lightning struck just outside. "Through the bars?" That aspect actually appealed to her. The bars were about six inches apart, so it'd be possible for them to kiss - but unlikely to get out of hand.
I could control the situation better than before.
"Aye. Just need to kiss you. Touch you."
"No, I can't," she whispered, even as she found herself easing closer to him, as if drawn by a magnet. "Why do you keep pursuing me - when you say I'm not your mate?"
"Because, Valkyrie, you're the most desirable female I've ever known."
And you're the most desirable male I've ever imagined. Yes, through the bars. She could satisfy her curiosity - determine his appeal. So I can better fight it.
Her legs felt weak. I could control it; we'd just bring each other pleasure. When she reached forward to steady herself, putting her fists on the bars, he snatched her hand. He sucked the tip of her finger - the one she'd masturbated with - between his lips, growling, "Ah, gods, woman, your taste..."
Lightning built to a furor, and she melted for him.
13
Garreth sucked, shuddering in bliss. Licking her honey from her own finger. When he'd scented her desire earlier, every muscle in his body had clenched with want. Lykae males yearned to pleasure their mates, and he was crazed to satisfy Lucia.
The cage, her deceit, the unsettling news she'd delivered earlier - all became secondary to the need to make her come, as she obviously yearned to.
Slowly, he withdrew her finger from his mouth. Cupping the back of her neck, he brought her face close to the bars for a kiss, slanting his lips over hers. With each stroke of his tongue, she began to relax. She grasped his shoulders, her wee claws digging into them.
He broke the kiss to say, "If you start this, Lousha, you finish it."
Her eyes were half-lidded. "What does that mean?"
"It means that unless you're going to make me come this time, you'll be icing down my aching bollocks, just as I did that last night."