Mine to Take (9 page)

“I was not sure.” She sucked in her breath as that wicked tongue delicately probed at the canal. The stimulating action sent shivers down her spine.

“How can I make you sure?” he whispered hotly in her ear.

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing…” His Familiar touch skipped along her heated skin. “Nothing…” His Familiar mouth captured hers. Hotly, fiercely.

She groaned something, whether denial or encouragement she had no idea. With his skilled mouth drawing on her, he made her lose every thought in her head save the feel of him.

{Open for me, Jenise.}
The telepathic command was accentuated by a sexy little nip he gave to her bottom lip.

“I—”

His tongue stroked inside her mouth. A damp, sensitizing invasion. Warm puffs of breath escaped her lungs, going into his mouth. Gian growled softly.

The Familiar kissed as if he loved the taste of her. Deep and passionate, he laved her lips, her tongue, the inner recesses of her mouth. Jenise kissed him back, enjoying his expertise in this simple act.

Only with him it was not so simple an act.

She wondered if he was going to do what he had done the last time—gift her with that exquisite torture that made her…

Surely there was no name for it!

Remembering how he had opened his sensual mouth over hers to purr directly into her throat, Jenise moaned and squirmed against him in anticipation. She shouldn’t be thinking of such things or even inviting them, but it had felt so incredibly good.

Gian smiled faintly as he licked a molten path along the delectable fullness of her lips. He knew exactly what she was remembering.

He intended to add to those memories in a most notable way.

Gian had no intention of bringing her to peak with his kiss as he had the last time. He only wanted her to think he might.

As he was forced to pace himself during this journey to Aviara, so too, he must pace himself on this other, sensual journey with his creamcat. The time had come for him to begin to introduce her to the real pleasure that existed between a man and a woman.

This non-Familiar woman was about to learn a lot about
the Familiar male. Best he teach her carefully about their special desires. Carefully and gently.
At first.

So Guardian of the Mist quickly made up his mind, as was his nature on two matters: the first, that he
was
going to take her now; the second, that his touch upon her would be a slow and easy hand.

Her anticipation would lead her unknowingly to follow him as he led her deeper into her own sensuality.

In all ways, Gian was true to his feline self. He was sometimes mischievous. He could be tricky. He was often protective. But he was always smart.

In all ways, he was a master strategist.

Regardless of the parameters of the match, Guardian of the Mist played to win. He was a powerful Familiar in his prime and, like most Familiars, he was at his most dangerous when his intent was sexual.

Jenise, who had just begun her life of adventure, had no idea how serious a Familiar could be when it came to certain matters.

As he continued to kiss and nip and lave at her mouth, using a highly expert technique, Gian carefully untied the thick black ribbon that held her cloak together. With a master’s light touch, he spread the cloak out, letting the sides drape over the
nanyat
limb.

A light breeze caught at the heavy material, flapping it gently in the sporadic wind. He liked the sound of it.

His clever fingers threaded into her long hair, letting the pale strands sift gradually through his hand as he examined its lovely sheen. The back of his other hand brushed against the creamy skin of her collarbone, in a feathery touch.

All the while, his creative mouth and tongue promised her nothing but pleasure.

Jenise clung to those talented lips, unaware of the skill
he was using on her. She arched up as male fingers whispered a sensitizing pattern down the side of her breast, over the loose material of her gown.

Gian’s open mouth teased along her jawline, his tongue flicking and darting as he went. The same hand that just skirted her breast continued its descent in a gradual exploration, lightly massaging to heighten her awareness of his touch. His other hand tangled in her hair, gently tugging.

Calmly, he licked across her collarbone, his tranquil movements enervating her. Then at the base of her throat, just above her collarbone, he suckled delicately. There was a tiny
sting.

Jenise gasped, her hands sinking into his hair.

The sensitive spot was a pleasure center well-known to male Familiars. Gian drew carefully on the tender skin, purposely leaving his signature bite—a tiny love mark.

Now, he would see it every time he looked upon her. See it and remember the incredible feminine taste of her.

Remember this first time of true pleasure.

A roll of satisfaction soughed from the back of his throat.

His palm press-rubbed the length of her thigh and calf, gathering the material of her gown in his grip as he reached her slender ankle.

Lifting the material, he let the tips of his fingers stroke up the satiny side of her leg in an easy, meandering path. Before she realized his intent, he inserted his muscular thigh between her now-exposed legs and rubbed against the soft inner skin.

Jenise blinked. What was he doing? It was certainly more than kissing. More than she had intended. “Gian,” she croaked, “perhaps we should—”

He was not listening to her.

His white teeth captured the peak of her breast right through the fabric of her gown! She could feel that damp,
burning mouth as if no cloth at all lay between them. Jenise wriggled on his thigh to get his attention, but the movement only seemed to make matters worse.

Or better, depending on one’s point of view.

Mortified, she could feel herself becoming damp. She opened her mouth to say something.

Taking Jenise’s squirming as encouragement, Gian pulled her thigh up closer around his hip and rocked enticingly against her. Still gripping the tip of her breast between his teeth, he began to draw strongly on the throbbing nub.

Jenise forgot what she had been about to say.

The man was making her feel things she had never felt before! And all of the sensations were pleasureable. Perhaps she should explore this further and see what transpired?

He unclasped her gown at the shoulders, tugging it down to her waist. His mouth truly captured her now and if she thought that what he was doing to her before could not be improved upon, then she was highly mistaken. His broad palm cupped her breast, holding it up to his lips.

A
rough tongue scraped the swollen tip in a long, slow lick.

Taking soft nibbles along the underside of her breast, he nuzzled his chin along the plump globe, purring contentedly into the satiny valley of her chest. The erotic vibrations skittered over her like pulsating waterfalls.

Jenise’s arms encircled his neck, drawing him closer to her as she decided that she definitely liked what he was doing. She had already known this man; had felt him inside her in the most intimate way possible. Now her body seemed to be humming for him, reaching toward him in a way that was not simply physical. Perhaps it was because of what they had shared in the cell where he was held captive?

Absently, she stroked his nape as he purred roughly against her.

By now she knew his scent.

It covered her, exciting her. She also knew what that alluring scent promised.

When her hand grazed the krilli-textured strands of his burnished golden hair, Jenise realized that rumors about the exquisite feel of Familiar hair were also true. She had never felt anything like it… Stroking it was addictive.

At her petting touch, Gian encouraged her by murmuring huskily.

She smiled faintly, pressing her lips against his smooth brow. He liked her touching his hair, she discovered, surprised.

If she only knew what else he liked.

His tongue traced a meandering route down the valley of her chest; its languid flicking relaxing her yet stimulating her at the same time. When he reached her navel, he circled the perimeter of the small indentation, then teasingly poked at it with the tip of his tongue.

In a very unsovereignlike action, she giggled at the ticklish sensation.

Gian chuckled at her innocent response, wondering if she was aware that the area was alive with nerve endings perfect for certain stimulation.
Friction
being the first that came to his mind.

She would be feeling that particular stimulation very soon now.

He grinned to himself as he expertly plied his sensual arts upon her.

Nudging the draping material of her gown lower with his nose, he subtly bit the rounded curve of her lower belly. It was one of several special Familiar bites that he would be introducing her to. This one was an airy graze using a gentle combination of teeth and pressure. Named the
Kitten’s Kiss,
the bite was designed to entice but not devastate.

Gian was not aiming for devastation.

Yet.

As far as he was concerned, this was her first real experience with lovemaking. He had no intention of overwhelming her with his Familiar appetite.

Unless she asked him to.

Then he would be most happy to oblige her.

Jenise shivered from the erotic sting. Once again, she began to have doubts about the wisdom of engaging a Familiar in such activities. His tastes seemed far too sophisticated for her. Her touch became noticeably hesitant upon him.

Guardian of the Mist did not give her time to become any more hesitant.

Moving up on her once again, he covered her mouth in a fiery possession, driving every concern out of her head. As he lingered upon her, kissing her senseless, his hand surreptitiously went to the lacings on his breeches. Familiar dexterity being what it was, he unlaced the
tracas
in no time at all.

Then he purposely sent her a very heated thought.

{I want to be inside you, Jenise. Like I was before…only this time, I want to show you what it is supposed to be…}
He rubbed his shaft against the delicate folds of her femininity.

As he’d expected, she was very wet. He had taken great care that she would be.

Jenise moaned at the thick surge between her legs. The Familiar slid back and forth along her nether lips, his mouth coaxing, his body pressing her down as he spoke in her mind, erotic messages, asking her to let him
in.

{Do you know what you felt like to me…?}
His tongue stroked hers. She cried out against him, caught in his spell.

{You are sweet fire and spicy cream,
taja…
I have never felt anything like it… }
He rotated his hips against her,
the broad head of his shaft pressing heavily against her dewy moisture.

A whimpering sound of desire came from her.

It was good, but Gian wanted her more than ready for him. He held off even as she opened her thighs for him. His arms encircled her, one hand sliding up under her hairline at the nape of her neck. The other hand reached down to cup her bottom, bringing her tightly to him.

He twitched against her.

Jenise thrashed in the intimate embrace, wanting him now with an intensity she never knew existed between a man and a woman. She whimpered against his lips, begging him in guttural sounds to appease this longing he had created.

{Yes, I will, Creamcat, but when I stroke inside you, I want to hear who it is you are feeling…}

He released her mouth to slide fast into her. As deep as he could go.

“Gian!”
She screamed out his name.

He groaned a feral response before sharply biting her shoulder.

There was no getting around the fact that he was a cat at heart. Wild, intense, untamable.

But he could also be very loving.

His silken lips sipped on her jawline; then he let his mouth brush tantalizingly across the tips of her eyelashes as if he had longed to do so forever. A low moan of gratification hummed from him.

Cognizant of her untried state, he moved carefully within her, using long, slow thrusts designed to acclimate her to him. The even rocking motion built and built until Jenise thought she would die of it.

“What—what do you do to me?” she panted raggedly.

{Put your other leg around my hip, Jenise, and I will show you… }

Jenise did as he asked, wrapping him completely in her embrace, wondering what more he could possibly do? Surely nothing could be more pleasurable than what he was doing now?

She was soon to discover how wrong that assumption was.

Guardian of the Mist truly came to her then. Powerfully. Consummately. He thrust into her with a steady rhythm that made her tremble all over.

A wild pressure built between her thighs where he moved. More and more. Too
much!
She tried to tell him. “I…something…”

“Yes,
something,”
he drawled out loud before capturing her breast to draw upon it strongly, his hips rotating once again.

Jenise came apart.

She reared up as rapid explosions vibrated through her. The sensations radiated from the place where they joined, intensifying moment by moment. Again she called his name, only this time on a wave of satisfaction.

Gian covered her lips to experience her cries of passion as he, too, found release. A perfect release of their first completion. He sagged against her before lifting himself on his elbows to stare down at her.

Jenise gazed up at him in awe.

Tossing his silken hair back, he gave her a crooked grin. “So, woman who seeks no pleasure, now what do you think?”

Her palm cupped his cheek. “I think from this day forward I shall be known as ‘woman who
seeks
pleasure.’”

He laughed huskily, winking at her. Since they were still joined, she could feel his deep laugh move through him and her. Curling his large hand over hers, he turned his head to kiss the center of her palm.

A puff of air escaped her lips at the warmhearted
gesture. He could be so…so…
unpredictable.
But then, Familiars—