Mating Fever (2 page)

Heart pounding with adrenaline, Jessica
squirmed through the closed bodies. It was like trying to squeeze
through a crack in the wall, and she wondered how the thief had
managed it so quickly and easily. After a minute, she broke through
and raced past a man hawking naked girls and went into the
alley.

An immediate feeling of danger clutched her
chest, squeezing her ribs like two gods snapping a wishbone.

A narrow band of light stretched through the
center, leaving the sides in utter blackness. Garbage littered the
cracked pavement. A clatter of cans sounded deeper, stirred by wind
or fleeing feet, she didn’t know. She heard the sounds of a
scuffle, of meaty fist strikes and the unmistakable crash of
metal.

Jessica stopped halfway down the alley,
catching her breath, wondering what kind of shit she was in now.
Was it worth it? She thought the necklace was, but there was no way
she could take on a grown man by herself. Or whatever was fighting
up ahead.

Suddenly a man stepped out of the shadows and
walked towards her with a cocky stride. Had she run headlong into
more trouble? Jessica instinctively backed up a step, remaining
wary and tense ... until she saw what dangled in his hand.

The silver medallion twirled on its chain,
glinting in the failing light and the glare from a distant street
lamp. Startled into immobility, Jessica looked blankly up from her
necklace to the man. Whatever questioning words she’d had fell
forgotten from her mind.

A tension seemed to fill his body, belying
his easy, relaxed stance. His left thumb was hooked in his
waistband in easy confidence. He held her necklace with his right
hand, playing with it as he watched her steadily with an unblinking
stare that missed nothing and seemed to see straight through her
clothes. Jessica didn’t stop to wonder why he was standing there,
or what he’d done to get her necklace back. She should’ve been
grateful. She should’ve demanded that he return it to her. But she
couldn’t do anything but stare at him, dumbfounded.

The spunk she’d always prided herself on
possessing deserted her. She blamed it on shock, on unfamiliar
surroundings, on being practically attacked. But those were lies.
She’d been all ready to kick ass and chew bubble gum until she saw
him. She felt like she’d been kicked in the gut and all the breath
knocked from her lungs.

He easily outdistanced her own height,
standing at least 6’ 2”, but that wasn’t what had her entranced. He
was naked from the waist up, and though she’d seen plenty of
practically naked men and women running around the streets, this
man put them all to shame. Thin, silver studded rings glinted
wickedly from each nipple. His sculpted chest was sparsely covered
with hair, hiding none of the beautiful planes, and it moved in a
straight, purposeful dark path down his rippled belly and into his
jeans--which were tantalizingly unbuttoned, as though he’d hastily
thrust them on after carnal pursuits and raced out into the
night.

That alone was enough to fuel the coldest
woman’s fantasies--even her own. She’d never seen a man with
pierced nipples. She wondered what they felt like. Her fingertips
prickled with the need to flick those rings and find out.

The shredded, torn jeans he wore fit him like
a glove and left little to the imagination. What they covered had
her mind racing to find out his secrets, and hoping he’d slip and
fall and tear the jeans the rest of the way off. A patch of skin on
one hip showed, and one lingering glimpse at it told her he didn’t
wear anything beneath those jeans. If the zipper slid a little
lower, she could see everything....

She’d been schooled to at least make a
pretense of being a lady, to quash baser instincts. Lessens of
‘good girls don’t’ and ‘bad girls do’ seemed to mesh in one
confusing jumble, and she couldn’t for the life of her think of why
any good girl wouldn’t
do
a
man like this.

Jessica swallowed, working moisture down her
tight throat as she tore her eyes away from his groin. Her eyes
felt indelibly seared by that prominent bulge, just waiting to
burst out at any moment. Slowly, she worked her astonished way back
up to his face. The hard line of his jaw came into view, sharply
outlined with black stubble. Full lips quirked at her in a cocky
half-smile that seemed to indicate he knew something she
didn’t.

He closed the distance between them, but
Jessica barely noticed, only knew he was coming closer. All the
better to see him.

She frowned at his amused lips, then peered
straight up at his eyes. Sleek, inky hair clung to his throat and
streamed over his forehead in rakish abandon, looking mussed and
incredibly sexy. Bedroom hair. Smoky bedroom eyes. Brown and
flecked with gold, they were mesmerizing and glowed with sensual
promise from the light behind her. He appeared to have trace
Spanish blood in him--as did many of the locals, giving them darkly
sensual looks and deep, bronze skin.

He looked as delicious and sinful as
chocolate ... but with bite to it.

He was definitely a heart breaker. Women
probably fell all over themselves for one peep at him ... just like
her. She tried to be annoyed, but irritation was the furthest thing
from her mind.

He held her gaze, watching her intently
beneath heavy, straight brows, eyes reflecting the tension in his
body.

Jessica blushed so brightly under his
intense, knowing stare, she was sure she glowed in the dark. She
tore her eyes away from his and focused on his lips, blushed again
at her errant thoughts, and dropped her gaze yet again to his chin.
Her eyes kept straying down that belly to his unbuttoned fly. His
fly bulged impressively, and she wondered absently if anything was
going to jump out and bite her. And if she’d really fight it off if
it attacked.

“Like what you see,
chere
?” he finally asked in a velvet drawl,
breaking her out of her stupor.

If she’d had fur, she was sure it would
ruffle and prickle under that stroking, baritone voice. With an
effort, Jessica dragged her gaze back to his, hating that her
interest was so damned obvious. Hating more that she continued to
blush. She was so hot, she felt like she’d break out in a sweat at
any moment. What did she expect? She’d probably been drooling at
him like he was a juicy steak for at least five minutes.

Something changed in him, and his look turned
to one of amusement at her perusal. His gaze dropped to her feet,
and he roamed his way up her body, leaving her strangely flushed
and aroused. She hadn’t thought it was possible to become aroused
just looking at someone, let alone a stranger, and she didn’t like
the feeling one bit.

Get a grip
, she
told herself, and fixed him with a stern stare. “Did you see
someone run by here?” she asked, then immediately thought about how
stupid that probably sounded. She didn’t know how long she’d gaped
at him, because her brain was strangely foggy, but he was holding
her necklace and she’d heard the brief fight.

Dammit
. She
normally curbed her impulse to ask dumb questions. It was hell
being a blonde. Society just had no idea the burden they placed on
already burdened minds.

He didn’t seem to notice her dumb blonde
moment.

He leaned back on his heels. “I did. I
found sometin’ you lost,
cherie
,” he murmured, cocking that smile again.
He held up his hand, dangling her necklace before her eyes. The
medallion glinted and twirled on its chain.

His husky, drawling accent caressed her ears
like a melody, sending shivers up and down her spine like smooth
silk. Jessica shook herself with an effort. It was time to stiffen
her spine and stop thinking between her legs. She was as bad as a
man.

“Thank you.” She reached up to take it, but
he snatched his hand back.

“No’ so fast,
cherie
. Don’ your champion deserve sometin’ in
return?”

Maybe she did owe him something for the
trouble ... but she wasn’t so sure about just giving in to his
demands though. “What kind of rescuer would demand payment?” she
asked, propping her hands on her hips and mustering up a glare at
him.

His teeth flashed in a wide grin. “One
who’s smitten with your beauty,
chere
.”

Jessica rolled her eyes, trying not to laugh.
Why did all Southern men lay the charm on so thickly? “Oh
puhlease.”

He looked hurt that she doubted him.
“You wound me,
chere
. Have you
no heart? I have risked my life only t’please, and you begrudge me
so small a token as a kiss?”

“A kiss?” she exclaimed. Her heart tripped in
her chest, staggered up, and started to run.

He rubbed a thumb against his jaw, measuring
her. “Your name and ... a kiss.”

Jessica released an exasperated breath,
trying to block out the breathless feeling in her chest at the idea
of letting those sultry, pouty lips touch hers. She wasn’t going to
play these games. She’d give him what he wanted all right. “It’s
Jessica Talvert, and here’s your reward.” She stood on her toes and
kissed him on the cheek. She dropped down and gave him a syrupy
smile of satisfaction at outwitting him.

Who said she was a dumb blonde?

“Sweet, but I’m no’ your
brodder,
chere
,” he said in a
voice brimming with enough sensual menace a delicious primal shiver
skated through her body. He caught her arms about the same time she
realized his intent, blocking her defensive ball busting move with
one knee and her titty twister with an unbreakable hold. Before she
knew what was happening, she found herself whirled around and
thrust against one wall, hauled tightly against his
body.

Shadows cloaked them, spilling across his
face. He seemed a lot bigger and more dangerous so tightly against
her. She should’ve abandoned her necklace to him.

“Some hero,” she gritted out, squirming
in his hold, trying to free a hand. Despite her struggles, she
insanely anticipated him stealing a kiss from her. Didn’t it make
it all right to enjoy herself if she didn’t
really
give in? That was a rule somewhere, she
was sure.

Something dark and predatory flashed in his
eyes, like a slumbering wolf had been awakened. Her breath caught.
All the silly little, nervous thoughts washing through her brain
froze. He smiled ferally, then bent his head to claim her lips.

Jessica gasped, partly in outrage, but mostly
from a surge of heat so sharp and drastic, her heart stopped for a
breathless moment.

He seized the break in her defenses and
plunged his tongue into her mouth, filling her with hot persuasion
and the stroking glide of his tongue. He tasted spicy, like
cinnamon and rum and something infinitely wilder and more
dangerous.

Jessica wanted to bite him for his audacity,
to fight him off, but he rubbed sensuously against her own tongue,
silky, slick and rough. It took only moments for vengeful thoughts
to disappear entirely and be replaced by the seductive call of
desire. Jessica gave a shocked whimper when he retreated and sucked
her tongue into his mouth.

She tried to pull back, but he captured the
back of her head with an easy, merciless grip, holding her to the
thrall of his mouth and his hungry, sucking kiss.

Slowly, she began to realize a pressure that
had never been there before built low in her belly. Arousal cramped
her pussy with a jerking spasm of pleasure. She gasped into his
mouth at the piercing, sweet agony, the awakening of some long
slumbering beast inside her. His mouth drove her wild, made her
respond in a way she’d never dreamed possible. Heat rippled through
her like liquid fire.

He cradled his body into hers, stroking
those rough jeans against her trapped slit, melting her core until
she felt her wet arousal trickle between her thighs. His groin
nestled in the juncture of her thighs, so incredibly close to where
she
needed
it, unbearably hard
and erotic, wrecking what little resolve she still
possessed.

At some point, he’d freed her hands to draw
his around her waist and bring her tighter against him, slipping
them down to clutch her buttocks and mold her to the hot tightness
of his cock.

Jessica clung to him, her fingers stroking
his satiny skin and muscled back. She squirmed in pleasurable agony
as he thrust against her, fighting the thrill that surged in her
blood at his possessive hold and the knowledge that she’d conjured
his lust.

She couldn’t seem to get enough air. She felt
dizzy with it and the tingling pleasure between her thighs. Her
lips and tongue felt gloriously bruised from his kiss, so sensitive
she could orgasm if only he’d continue devouring her.

He broke away from her mouth suddenly,
leaving her gasping for breath and her knees weak.

“You’re so sweet,
cherie
,” he said with a drowsy, heated look,
rubbing his thumb across his lips and licking the moisture
lingering from her mouth off the pad.