Twelfth Moon (14 page)

Ten

JONAH’S LIPS WERE hot as they burned a trail along her throat, to the hollow below her ear, his breaths against her skin making her shudder. She could feel the rasp of his whiskers, vaguely recalling that he hadn’t shaved since early this morning. That facial hair, evidence that he was truly male, was deliciously arousing. Then his mouth was on hers, and he was kissing her deeply, taking possession, staking his claim, commanding her to open to him. His tongue slipped in, invading, swirling, tasting.

Her unusual affliction, caused by a spell cast generations ago, may have the power to affect a man’s will to resist her physical allure, but Jonah wasn’t just any man. He had somehow turned the tables on her. He was in control, taking what he wanted, giving no quarter.

While he stole her breath away with his mouth, his hands hadn’t remained idle. They caressed her, moving over her arms, her waist, skimmed her ribcage, and then played with her breasts, his thumbs teasing her sensitive nipples.

He kissed his way down her chest to her stomach, his tongue dipping into her navel. She was barely aware of him removing her boots, hardly noticed when he slid her trousers and short-pants over her hips, pulling them off and tossing them aside. With a start, she realized she was completely naked, the night air cooling her over-heated skin. When had he removed her shirt?

She looked up and saw that he too was naked and kneeling before her like a virile, pagan god. Her blood burned with a desperate fever as she admired his wide shoulders, the muscled contours of his chest and stomach, his narrow hips and strong thighs. Her attention, however, zeroed in on his huge erection, jutting gloriously from the nest of dark curls between his legs.

His eyes were like liquid silver, intense and penetrating, as his gaze roamed her body with blatant appreciation. “You’re beautiful,” he said, his voice low and deep. With his hands, he began a journey from her feet and ankles, to her calves, gliding ever higher to the tops of her thighs. “So soft,” he murmured. Gently, he parted her legs and maneuvered himself between them. His lips were warm and soft as he placed kisses along the insides of her thighs.

He halted at the spot that bore the imprint of his brother’s ring, paying special attention to it, kissing it tenderly and murmuring soft words of apology. Finally, he moved onward, getting closer and closer to that part of her that craved his touch.

When he lifted her legs, positioning them over his strong shoulders and placed his mouth on the opening to her body, she cried out sharply, bucking her hips. He growled low in response to her reaction and inserted his tongue, withdrawing and thrusting in a wicked imitation of another part of his anatomy. He licked and kissed her there, flicking the sensitive nub with the tip of his tongue, his teeth lightly biting, his tongue then soothing with long strokes.

Cadence was beginning to lose touch with reality, focused only on what he was doing with his skilled mouth. How had he learned such things? At the moment she didn’t care. She grew desperate for the joining of their bodies, to feel him inside her, to have him fill the aching hollowness, and ultimately claim her as his.

Jonah sensed her imminent climax, could feel her body trembling on the edge of release, so he lightened his touch, gradually pulling back. He smiled lazily when she snarled in protest. His nostrils flared as he breathed in her musky scent, enflaming his lust almost to the breaking point.

He lowered her legs, and then moved to lie beside her, hissing in his breath when the sensitized tip of his cock brushed her hip. He was painfully hard and full, had to struggle to rein in that savage side of himself – the part that wanted to fall on her and mindlessly pound into her.

His hand caressed her smooth stomach, gliding upward to cup her breast, lightly kneading, before moving on to the other. He teased her nipples, rubbing his calloused palms over them, and then pinching each one in turn between his fingers until they were hard points. He kissed her, taking full possession of her mouth.

She reached for him, her hands snaking over his shoulders, around the back of his neck, holding him there. Then one small hand found its way down, her fingers wrapping around his cock. He grunted, jerking back when she tightened her grip. He quickly removed her hand.

“Did I hurt you?” she asked tremulously.

The worry that she’d done something wrong was plain to see on her lovely face. He realized then that even though she was no longer a virgin, she was still innocent. “No, my little hellcat,” he said softly. “It felt too good. Your body, your touch, your passionate nature has brought me too close to the edge.”

She kissed him hungrily, pressing the entire length of her body against his. “Take me now, then,” she whispered hoarsely into his mouth.

Innocent or not, her exquisitely delivered invitation had an immediate effect, slithering down his spine, making him harder than he’d ever been in his life. He moved over her, careful to keep his entire weight from crushing her. He slipped one leg between hers, urging them apart. “Open your legs to me,” he said, his words thick and guttural.

When she eagerly complied, he fitted his hips at the juncture of her thighs. Reaching down, he slipped a finger into her slick folds, growling deep in his throat at what he found there. She was dripping wet and more than ready for him. Every cell in his body loudly proclaimed he could wait no longer.

Placing his hands on either side of her head, he straightened his arms to brace himself. Locking her gaze with his, he entered her slowly…a hot, slick,
tight
slide into paradise. He heard her moan of pleasure as he prolonged his forward push. He was almost there. Arching his back, he tilted his hips inward, the muscles in his buttocks flexing, and he thrust hard the last inch until he was fully seated. He groaned deeply, a raw, primal sound.

He held himself there for a moment, straining against her, savoring the pressure of her womb on the tip of his cock. His arms trembled, while sweat beaded on his forehead, dripping onto her breasts. Then he withdrew and pumped into her again with one long, hard, powerful thrust. Both of their bodies were slick with sweat, sliding against each other, the heat of the fire adding to the inferno raging between them.

His chest heaved like a bellows, his lungs straining for air as he quickened his pace. She matched his rhythm with a mad fury of need, hooking her heels over the backs of his thighs.

Cadence was completely consumed by the madness of Twelfth Moon. She had chosen her mate and no longer needed, nor wanted, to hold back. Through the haze of passion and the delight of Jonah’s lovemaking, she was clearly aware of him – of the man she was already half in love with. Her mind put that thought aside, however, letting her body rule the moment. The subject of love could be pondered later.

Her heightened senses picked up the musk of his sweat, the clean, woodsy quality of his shaving soap, mixed with the scent she recognized as uniquely Jonah. She wrapped her arms around him, her hands seeking and exploring every inch she could reach. She enjoyed his heavy body on top of her, savored the way the muscles in his back and shoulders flexed beneath skin that was smooth and supple. All these things that made him so different from her, when combined, created a potent mixture, serving as a very powerful aphrodisiac.

She clung to him as he thrust into her with the part of his body that should have repulsed and terrified her, but instead brought her intense pleasure. This was Jonah…a man she admired, a man she was attracted to, a man she would bind herself to for life.

This was nothing like what Robert had done to her. This time there was mutual consent, the attraction between them undeniable, their desire for each other leading them to its natural conclusion.

With every stroke, he brought her closer to that elusive completion she’d only gotten a taste of earlier. With his mouth, lips, and magical touch, he’d driven her mad with pleasure. And right when she was at the cusp of something wonderful, he’d retreated. It had angered her at first, but then he’d begun again, kissing her, caressing her, and ultimately rewarding her by giving her what she yearned for.

The earth beneath her seemed to shift as every nerve ending ignited like fireworks inside her body. Heat gathered in her core, growing more and more intense as Jonah thrust harder and faster. Instinctively, her legs grasped his hips, her arms wrapping around his neck in readiness.

“Come to me, Cadence,” Jonah rasped in her ear.

He knew.

The way he’d said her name, spoken with a tone of such a carnal decadence, was enough to tip the scales. Suddenly the shifting earth became a deep chasm that opened, swallowing them both. Blackness swept away her vision and for the tiniest of moments there was utter silence. Then everything came rushing back and she screamed, the sound echoing in her head like the sharp cry of a hawk. Bright light blinded her as wave after wave of pleasure wracked her body. Her inner muscles rippled along his length, her womb contracting. She heard Jonah’s shout as he released himself inside her, drenching her with his seed.

Jonah could have sworn there’d been a flash of lightening above them, could almost imagine the fading rumble of thunder. His climax had been so intense, he couldn’t be sure of anything at the moment, but he was fairly certain there hadn’t been a cloud in sight. He bent his arms and collapsed on top of her, resting as much of his weight on her as he could without crushing her. He was still embedded within her, hated the thought that they would inevitably be separated.

SEVERAL MILES AWAY, Ba'cho Gian-nah-tah gestured at the distant horizon. “It is done,” he said in Jicarilla Apache, his native tongue. His two brothers, who were his companions, silently nodded. They’d all seen the lightening and heard the deep rumble of thunder. “Mother Sky has given the sign. The gifted one has chosen her mate.”

“The myth tells of three sisters,” said his brother, Nah-kah-yen. “This one will tell us where to find the others.”

“We don’t have much time,” Too-ah-yay-say said. “We must find the woman with the sun-colored hair. She is the one with the power to save our people.”

It was not in Ba'cho Gian-nah-tah’s nature to believe in what the white man would call a
faery tale
, a story told to entertain children, or to frighten them into behaving, but in this he had no choice. It had startled him a little to have seen, with his own eyes, the flash of light in the night sky as proof. “Then we had better hurry. If we ride like our cousin, the wind, we will meet up with the shape-shifter and her mate by morning light.”

Ba'cho Gian-nah-tah and his brothers mounted their horses and rode in the direction of the lightening flash. This quest was their last and only hope. Too bad it was such a thinly stretched one. According to the
Tale of the Three Sisters
, it is said the one with the sun-colored hair possesses a powerful gift. This gift will allow her to speak to those
The People
cannot see. They only had until the time of the next full moon to find her, or his entire tribe would become trapped here forever.

JONAH’S HEART HAMMERED in his chest as he tried to catch his breath, feeling like a winded stallion after a race across the plains. He’d been with other women, and even though most of them had been paid for, he did know his way around a female body. But this – this was far beyond anything he’d ever experienced in his life. This had been an all-consuming, hell-bent-for-leather charge into pure ecstasy.

And it scared the living hell out of him.

Because he could get used to this.

But he didn’t want to get used to it, so he quickly forced away that thought. So much for keeping his distance. Cadence was a fugitive from the law. She was wanted for murder, and he was willing to break every rule in the book by taking her back to her family instead of to jail. He didn’t need the complications this – whatever-it-was between them – would bring.

He shifted, slipping out of her with a pang of regret. Moving to her side, he leaned over and kissed her. After a drawn out moment of enjoying the taste of her lips, he pulled away. “Are you all right?”

She smiled lazily. “I’m fine.”

“It doesn’t make you think about—”

She placed two fingers against his mouth. “It was nothing like that time. It –
you
– were wonderful.”

“Hmm.” That one little word he used as an endearment was eerily close to the mark. Cadence thought it ironic that Jonah would come up with it. Hellcat, indeed. If he only knew.

Jonah’s expression turned serious. “How long does it last?”

She knew what he referred to and found it an encouraging sign that he was closer to accepting her for what she was. “It is at its most intense during the full moon. As the days pass, the…urge lessens considerably.”

“If this happens once a year, what about the time in between – what about all the other months? Do you experience…desire?”

Cadence chuckled softly. “The rest of the year I’m like any other woman, Jonah. I would feel desire for a man I’m attracted to – just not with the same sense of…urgency.”

“What about right now?” His voice a low rasp as he dipped his head and licked her nipple.

She gasped at the sudden jolt of fire that rushed instantly from her breast to her loins, and then to her stomach, making it flutter with excitement. She moaned and squirmed, arching her back to give him better access, feeling the solid heat of his arousal brush against her leg.

His mouth was hot and wet against her breast as he kissed and licked and teased her nipple. He pulled back, blowing lightly on it, grazing it with his thumb, before switching to her other breast. Her need escalated quickly and from the sound of Jonah’s heavy breathing, so had his.