JaguarintheSun (3 page)

Xbal was still leaning back, smiling—as relaxed as a big cat
in the sun, as sexy as sin and twice as dangerous. Cassie’s breath hitched in
her throat and she tightened her grip on the cloth in her hand, her stomach
turning a slow somersault, every nerve ending jumping to electrified life. A
sensation, akin to freefalling but scarier, came over her as she took in his
posture, expression, the aura of complete and utter confidence surrounding him.

“What’s so funny?”

Goose bumps flared across her lower back, down her legs. Her
brain screamed at her to end this
now
, tell him she’d changed her mind
and walk away, although why this sensation of deep, dark jeopardy should
suddenly assail her, she had no clue. It made no sense. She’d been the object
of his predatory stare, his concentrated focus, but neither scared her as much
as this seemingly innocuous smile. Never, ever before had she wanted a man the
way she wanted him at that moment, and it was terrifying.

Yet the part of her urging retreat wasn’t stronger than her
innate recklessness, or her desire. If anything the potential of risk beyond
what she’d anticipated spurred her on.

Meeting his gaze, she lowered the napkin back to her lap and
straightened in her seat, chin lifted, fully aware of the arrogance of her
stance.

“I never moan or scream, much less beg.”

His eyes flared, her words hanging between them for what
seemed like a very, very long time although it was no more than a second or
two. Then his lids drifted down, masking his expression, but his lips were
still tilted up.

“A silent lover, then?”

Cassie tilted her chin a little higher. “Pretty much.”

“Why?”

The question left her at a loss. It wasn’t something she’d
ever really thought about, and she had no intention of doing so now, for him.

“It’s just the way I am—how I’ve always been. No reason for
it that I know of.”

Xbal’s smile seemed to widen infinitesimally. “Interesting.”

“Really?” She couldn’t resist poking at him, annoyance
rising at his continued amusement. “What’s so interesting about that?”

His movement was so swift, so smooth, she could only gasp.
One moment he was leaning back in the booth, the next his elbows were on the
table and he was close enough for her to see how his pupils had dilated, his
face had gone from amusement to near emotionless.

The predator was back and her body heated, softened,
tightened all at the same time, lust heightening in a rush that almost left her
breathless.

“It makes me wonder whether it’s a mark of your control or
an indication of your former lovers’ lack of imagination.”

She sought a snappy comeback, was forestalled by the
realization he wasn’t being funny, didn’t seek to bait her with his words. When
she spoke, it was without conscious decision, the words simply flowing from
between her lips in a teasing, taunting whisper.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”

“I’m inclined to find out.” The low rumble seemed to have a
physical manifestation, brushing against her cheek, slicking across her lower
lip, reminding her of the touch of his mouth on hers. “Let’s test it out, shall
we?”

It wasn’t her imagination, Cassie realized, as the soft,
sweeping sensation trailed along her neck and came to rest against the pulse
now pounding at the base of her throat. The bastard was using his command of
sex magic to reach across the table and touch her.

Her heart leapt, but Cassie gave him a challenging stare,
even as her breasts ached and her pussy began to throb with the promise of what
was ahead.

“Go for it.”

Oh, she was a cool one.

Xbal grinned with almost savage joy, knowing such an
expression would send the average woman running for the hills. But this was
Cassandra, and she merely stared back at him, amethyst eyes snapping, even as a
blush stained her cheeks.

What an utter delight she was. What a challenge. He couldn’t
remember the last time he’d felt like this—full of anticipation, so alive each
throb of his blood through his veins was a visceral, discrete sensation.
Through the bond of the
atraspa
he could feel her heartbeat too, faster,
excited, and the two rhythms, hers and his, became the music of desire.

So she didn’t moan during sex, or scream with pleasure when
she came? Xbal almost laughed aloud at the thought. Hopefully she was telling
the truth, because there was no way in hell he was leaving this booth without
giving her an orgasm.

“Let me know if you want me to stop.” As he said it he
pushed the magic lower so it brushed the tops of her breasts, exposed by the
vee of her dress.

“I doubt I will.” She was still giving him the stink-eye,
that determined chin jutting, the picture of determination. “Do your worst.”

That did make him chuckle, but it wasn’t amusement echoing
in the low sound. “Worst? I’ll do even worse than that.” He strengthened the
magic, made the touch more intense, pushed it beneath the leather of her top so
it cupped her breasts completely. “I’ll do my very best.”

Her lips parted on a silent gasp, and Xbal inhaled, marshaling
his control, pulling it around him so as to really begin.

What most people didn’t realize was, like all magic,
atraspa
was both cause and effect. It was not just an extension of magic and mind, but
of all the senses. When he touched with the magic of sex his fingers felt the
flesh, his tongue tasted, the scents flooded his head. And whatever pleasure
was given out was also given back to the practitioner threefold. That was why
so few initiates made it past the first few levels. They lacked the ability to
withstand the blowback, the sensations returning to them too strong to be
tolerated, often bringing themselves off before the receiver achieved orgasm.

Xbal didn’t have that problem. Or, to be more truthful, he’d
taught himself how not to, after a long and determined battle with his very
strong, very insistent libido. And he had never been more glad for the
centuries of work, as the sensations traveling back through the bond grew in
intensity.

He turned inward, savoring the feeling of the warm weight of
her breasts even as he watched every changing expression on Cassandra’s face.
Her nipples were already hard peaks under the silky bra, and he couldn’t resist
slipping beneath the filmy fabric to pinch at them. That elicited another
silent gasp and a flutter of her lashes. He pinched a little harder and her
eyes widened for an instant before half-closing.

“Harder?” he asked in a low, intimate whisper, and from the
rush of lust that came back at him knew what the answer would be even before
she nodded slightly.

He indulged her, increasing the strength, gauging her
reactions from the throb of her pulse, the increasing shallowness of her
breathing. As soon as she held her breath he stopped, knowing she was on the
brink of pain and the optimal pressure had been reached.

“Is that good?”

“Yes, thank you.”

The wobble in her voice gave lie to the polite words and the
dichotomy ratcheted his own desire up a notch.

Suddenly, as though struck by lightning, Xbal realized
exactly what was happening, and the realization made him want to smile again.
Finally,
finally
, he had the opportunity to do to this woman all the
things he’d dreamed of doing. Touch her, explore the lush, enticing body, watch
her come apart under his hands.

His excitement faded slightly. He was an idiot to do this
here, in a restaurant, in public where he could only use magic, not his hands
and mouth and cock the way he really wanted to.

Yet she was loving it. He could tell by the shivering waves
of pleasure coming back at him through the bond and her glazed eyes, dark now,
closer to violet than their usual lighter hue. Her heart was pounding, her skin
growing moist as her temperature rose. Inhaling through the bond brought a rush
of her gloriously aroused scent to fill his head.

There was no way he was going to stop.

Leaving the pressure on her nipples, he let the
atraspa
caress down her arms, over her torso.
By the Heavens
, her skin was soft,
smoother than the spidersilk over her breasts, the warm, trembling expanse
stretched taut across the sweet, full curves of her body. She shivered when he
touched the insides of her elbows, clenched her fingers into fists as he
circled her navel, shifted in her seat when he slowly, carefully explored the
length of her spine.

“You are incredibly lovely.” It took a lot more effort than
he expected to keep his voice conversational. “Your body is so delectable, I
want to gorge myself on you.”

“I…” Her voice faltered and she blinked slowly, as though
trying to pull herself together. “I wish you would.”

“I will. Later. In bed. With you completely naked and spread
wide for me, so I can look and touch and taste and fuck you until you’re too
exhausted to move.”

Cassie didn’t answer, but the powerful jolt coming through
the bond made him have to tighten his own control when his cock pulsed for a
moment, as though catching the frantic beat of her heart and wanting to mimic
it.

Through the
atraspa
he found her toes, used his magic
to fully explore each one, feeling them curl and flex, her foot arching in
response. Later he’d suck on them, now he knew how sensitive they were, how
much she enjoyed having them touched.

Up now to her calves, where the muscles strained and
shivered beneath the long, slow strokes of his caresses. Then to the backs of
her knees, which didn’t seem to thrill her as much, despite the slight spike in
her excitement. When her legs inched apart, he knew she was anticipating him
going higher, to her thighs, her pussy.

Oh, he wasn’t in a hurry. He no longer cared where they
were, only wanted to know what it would be like to take her lust to the edge of
madness, feel the explosion of her release.

“Do you like what I’m doing, Cassandra? Does it feel rushed,
or incomplete?”

Her eyes had fallen almost shut, and her lashes fluttered
slightly at his question, a shiver working its way along her spine to her
shoulders, her temperature rising again.

“No.” It was little more than a breath of sound, laden with
enjoyment and longing. Resting her head back against the high cushion of the
booth, she licked her lips and repeated, “No, it doesn’t.”

Xbal watched her, felt her through the bond, not ready to
take her to orgasm although he knew how badly she already wanted it. How badly
he
wanted to do it. Beneath the thrum and pulse of her arousal was still a barrier
between her and final, fully actualized pleasure. He’d seen it before in a
couple of women, an inability to trust or to relinquish the self to desire, and
it hadn’t bothered him before. It didn’t mean they weren’t enjoying themselves,
weren’t able to find release, just that they held a part of themselves in
abeyance. Why was it he wanted so badly to break through Cassandra’s wall of
control, have all of her, not just the little part she was willing to give?

He pushed the thought aside, but couldn’t help upping the
power of his magic, wanting her to know this was just a taste of what he was
capable of.

As he stroked along the outsides of her thighs, from knees
to hips, he changed the tenor of his attention on her nipples, which before
this he’d kept at that initial, constant pinch. Now he sucked and laved, as
though a pair of mouths were on her breasts, two men dedicated to nothing but
bringing those pink, tight peaks to the highest pitch of sensation. Her back
arched slightly, her eyes flew open and her lips parted but she didn’t make a
sound. Holding her shocked, pleasure-drunk gaze, he let the
atraspa
on
her legs stroke inward, knead the soft, silken skin of her inner thighs.

She sighed, as though releasing a long-held breath, and her
eyes drooped closed, her legs moving apart in silent appeal. Her belly
tightened, shivered, and he knew she was getting closer and closer to orgasm.
It wouldn’t take much to push her over the edge.

How tempting it was to pause right then and ask her if she
wanted him to continue, make her ask for him to make her come, but Xbal knew he
wouldn’t. Strange to be unsure about whether she would give in or not, to care
whether she would be able to walk away and not be willing to take the chance
she would.

Leaning a little closer, he growled, “I hope you have
nothing else planned for this afternoon, Cassandra, or for the rest of the
night. You came and asked me to have sex with you, and I plan to do just
that—repeatedly, all night long. In as many positions and ways as I can think
of.”

Not giving her a chance to reply, bracing himself against
the harsh stab of her reaction, he found her most intimate flesh, bombarded it
with sensation. There was an almost vicious edge to his need, to the attention
he gave the wet, slick folds and crevasses. His exploration was thorough, from
the puffy outer lips to the delicate inner, swirling and teasing and pressing.
Finding her opening he circled it, even as he was also going lower, finding the
tight pucker of her ass and circling it too. He touched everywhere, except the
place he knew she wanted it most—her clit. Oh, no, he wasn’t letting her off
that easily.

The sudden bloom of red in her already flushed cheeks was
beautiful, the shocks and pulses of her rise to release made Xbal have to grit
his teeth, draw on reserves of control he hadn’t needed in centuries. She was
panting through barely opened lips, squirming slightly in her seat, yet he knew
to anyone who might happen to look across, it would seem almost as though
Cassandra were taking a nap.
By the Heavens
, her silent yet fervent
inner response to his magic was enough to make him want to lunge across the
table, tear off her clothes and have her, right there in front of everyone.

He couldn’t resist pushing into her body, wanting the
sensation of her wetness and heat surrounding his magic. When he did, and the
walls of her pussy clamped around it, Xbal bit back a growl of pleasure.

More.

It was what he wanted to hear her say, but instead it was
the chant inside his own head, demanding he force her higher, press her to the
breaking point.

Snaking a tendril of magic into her ass made her gasp, low
and hot and passion-struck, and he let it linger there, twirling in a slow,
intimate dance. Cassie’s eyelids lifted fractionally, revealing just a sliver
of gleaming purple, and her lower lip trembled. Her hand, which had been lying
on the table clenched in a fist, slowly slid off into her lap and she pressed
her palm against her shuddering abdomen. There was a hard clench of her inner
muscles, a rush of intense bliss coming at him through the bond, as she slid
down a little in her seat and spread her legs wider for him.

She was wet, hot, ready, and Xbal wanted more than anything
in the world to be inside her, physically rather than just magically. Once more
he cursed himself for starting this. Once more he knew, no matter what, he
wasn’t going to stop.

Clawing back the need tearing at his control, he began to
work all the points of magical contact in tandem. The sucking on her nipples
and twirling in her ass were joined by deep, strong thrusts into the willing,
pulsing heat of her cunt. Through the bond of
atraspa
he felt her heart
rate accelerate, her breathing pick up speed too, until both magical movements
and physical responses were in sync, rushing her toward orgasm.

The muscles in her beautiful throat tightened, the glowing
flesh of her breasts began to tremble, just enough for him to see it from
across the table. He couldn’t help feeling a flash of respect for her, for the
ability to take all he was giving without making even one revealing sound.

It was the hottest thing he’d ever witnessed.

And, suddenly, Xbal knew he couldn’t wait a moment more. The
sensations charging back at him, coupled with those received from the actual
connection of the magic to his own flesh, were growing too much to handle. His
cock was so hard it hurt, his balls pulsed with an almost angry beat. Sweat
coated his skin beneath his clothing, and the snarl of the jaguar inside was
that of a cat on the verge of the kill.

Yet he held on to his control, tightening it until he felt
almost sick from the strain, and leaned a little farther over the table to
growl.

“I’m going to make you come now, Cassandra, then I’m going
to take you home and make you come, and come, and come again.”

Using the magic to open her outer lips, he flicked across
her clitoris, once, twice and, before he could do it a third time, her body
went rigid, her head rolled toward the back of the booth, hiding the
unmistakable grimace of orgasm from the other patrons of the restaurant. But he
didn’t stop, didn’t ease up, loving the sensation of it, the look of her lost
in passion, the thrill of finally having her body pulsing and coming for him too
much to be easily relinquished.

It was only when the insistent urges of his body broke
through the
atraspa
and he realized he too was on the verge of orgasm
did he stop, break the bond and sit back. Battling the almost overwhelming need
to come, he took a couple of deep breaths and forced the magic to settle.
Cassandra still had her face turned toward the back of the booth, and Xbal
watched the pulse beneath her ear slowly begin to go back to a normal pace.
When they were alone and she was naked beneath him, he would put his lips
there, feed the inner beast with the sensation of her life rushing through her
veins.