Captured Boxed Set: 9 Alpha Bad-Boys Who Will Capture Your Heart (30 page)

The sound blazed through every
nerve, every cell until she thought her skin would combust.

It felt sooooo good! He drove her
mad as she hovered on the brink of climax. If he didn’t finish her soon she
would just die. Riding his face like it was his cock, she panted as her stomach
tightened and spasmed against the pleasure. Oh yes, she was so close.

One hand reached up and spread her
lips, revealing the swollen nub of her clit. She held her breath as he inhaled
her scent, murmuring against her pussy, then dove for the bundle of nerves
peeking out from its little hood.

His lips wrapped around her
clitoris and clamped down tightly as he suckled her, pulling her deep into his
hot mouth, still humming his appreciation.

She lost it.

Her orgasm tore through her but he
didn’t let up. He kept laving her little bud, circling his tongue around and
around until the fusion bomb in her cunt detonated, and she melted into a
puddle of warm candle wax. The third time, the pleasure was so intense, she
slipped into blessed oblivion where her mind could accept the delicious torture
her body endured.

Chapter
Four

Tonight he watched her in her
pelt and wondered if she was aware he knew who she was. All this time he’d
thought she was just another jag female, but an accidental glimpse of her
showering on her screened veranda several nights back had revealed more than
he’d ever expected.

He’d stayed perfectly still,
perched in a tree, and watched the back of the building he’d tracked her to.
After awhile, his patience had paid off. She’d stalked from the cover of the
jungle and stopped to look around. He hadn’t been seen perched up on the thick branches
and was glad for the broad leaves surrounding him. The female melanistic jaguar
with her black, smooth coat glistening in the darkness walked up the back
stairs of the building. A few seconds later, a beautiful woman with perfect
milk chocolate skin and the body of a goddess stood up just outside the door
leading into the covered shelter then ducked inside. The warm spray of water
left a million sparkling droplets that shined like little diamonds all over her
ebon skin.

The
spicy rich scent of the soap she slathered on her body floated out and away
from her little haven. But the soap couldn’t conceal the sweet nectar gathering
between her silken thighs, nor could it hide the unusually spicy scent of her
womanly dew. He could smell it from here—she was in heat.

* * *

She’d been on patrol since
midnight and still hadn’t spotted a single jaguar. Not even a female. While her
senses weren’t as sharp when in her two-legged form, Reya still smelled a
strong wrongness on the air that enveloped her like a cold, wet blanket. The
skin on her bare forearms began to prickle, making her wish she’d worn a
long-sleeved jacket rather than her short-sleeved, light zip-up jacket. But
whatever was out here, she knew no garment would protect her or anyone else
from it.

The fact that another female jag
had been found dead just yesterday only made her more uncomfortable. A band of
spastic fireflies twitted around in her stomach as she moved deeper into the
jungle along well-worn paths she’d traveled for years. Unnerved, she wished
she’d come out in her pelt tonight instead of armed with a damned tranquilizer
gun.

"Hey, Reya. How’s it going?"

Reya didn’t bother to turn around,
having smelled the man long before he appeared. What was it about humans that
made them forget they were in a jungle full of wild animals at night and
walking downwind?

"Hi, Marc," she called
with a smile and a wave. She sniffed the air again. He must have been around
the jaguars tonight. She wondered if he’d sighted the jag that’d challenged her
over her new roommate.

Sigh. Speaking of roommates.

Damned man. After a decadent night
of hot sex, she woke with him glaring down at her. He proceeded to remind her
of how she’d meddled where she wasn’t wanted. Geez, all she’d done was call his
brothers and he’d hit the roof. It just wasn’t right. If she’d had an accident
or turned up missing, her aunt would worry. Wouldn’t his brothers worry too?
Why in the world did the man insist on "waiting until he could handle them",
as he put it? From what he’d told her, his brothers were some pretty nice guys,
if a bit overprotective, considering he was the youngest.

Too bad, she’d already made the
call. So after the little confrontation early this morning, she decided to
avoid him. Besides, her mind was supposed to be on her work, not that
irritating, stubborn, perfectly gorgeous specimen in her apartments.

"So what’s going on?"

Oh lord, she’d almost forgotten
Marc was walking with her. Glad the night-vision goggles perched on top of his
head couldn’t pick up heat signatures, she blushed furiously, took in a deep
breath and pushed Aaron from her mind. Almost.

"I’m fine, Marc."

"I didn’t ask how you were
doing. I asked what’s going on. You’ve seemed a bit preoccupied lately."

Reya was once again amazed at how
perceptive her good friend was. Trusting him more than anyone else, with the
exception of Dr. Matons and Bethsaida, she opened her mouth and all her
concerns tumbled right out.

"That damn Trefor’s been
stalking me, Marc. He’s really starting to get on my nerves," she snapped.
"Besides his goofy idea that the attacks on the female jags are being
carried out by poachers, his insistence that he and I were meant to be is just,
just…" she snorted, unable to even finish the sentence, it was so absurd.

"Well, you’re a beautiful woman,
Reya. Who wouldn’t want your time?"

Marc had told her many times he
thought she was attractive but it always came across as a compliment by a
brother or something. Tonight, even under the dark sky, she sensed something
different in his words and body language that made her uncomfortable. She just
didn’t like Marc "like that". A short rant about Trefor erupted past
her lips as she brushed away Marc’s words and what they might imply.

"He’s always messing with my
schedule. Always trying to insinuate himself on my time. There are other women
out here who would love to hang with him. Why doesn’t he just leave me the hell
alone? I swear the man gives me the creepies."

By the time the last of the words
were out of her mouth, she was practically yelling at the top of her lungs. But
she just didn’t feel better yet because there was something else she just had
to get off her chest.

"And you know the man who
survived the plane crash is recovering at my B&B? Well, he’s getting on my
damned nerves too!" And making her hot, bothered and all around freaky.

"Who hasn’t heard about him?"
he replied, his voice sounding a bit tight as he warmed to the subject. "Everyone’s
been talking about how you and the doc are heroes. It’s a good thing you had
the foresight to have a couple of hospital rooms built into the top floors of
the B&B when you designed the place."

"Well, I don’t know about the
hero stuff. Dr. Matons and I were just doing what anyone would have done. And
the idea about the medical rooms was my Aunt Sulu’s, not mine."

"True," he grinned and
said, "Your Aunt Sulu saw you through medical school. I bet she flipped
when you told her you wanted to research big cats and scuba dive in Belize,"
he said with a chuckle, ducking when Reya pretended to whack him on the back of
the neck. Reya could almost feel the cheeky grin on his face. But the man was
right. Her Aunt Sulu had completely wigged out at her grand idea to trek
through the jungles of Belize. After the initial yelling and pulling of hair,
her aunt had supported her in the decision, down to every detail of the
B&B.

"So when does he get to leave
the hospital rooms?" Marc asked in a casual tone. Reya didn’t bother to
tell him Aaron wasn’t in a hospital room, but in hers.

"Actually, I’m just overworked
and stressed out. Aaron isn’t…"

"Oh his name is Aaron?"

"Yes, Aaron James. He’s
actually a neat guy. If my choices were between him and Trefor, I’d pick Aaron
in a heartbeat. Actually, I’d pick Aaron under any circumstance. He’s just
testy because Dr. Matons won’t clear him to get out of bed yet, and being
waited on by a woman isn’t something he’s used to."

"Being waited on? Is that what
he calls it? Being fed, taken care of by a medically capable woman? And he
calls it being waited on? What a son of a bitch!"

Reya was taken aback. She’d never
heard Marc speak strongly about anyone, even Trefor-the-asshole. But suddenly,
her friend’s body was tense and strained while he talked about a man he didn’t
even know as if he were the world’s lowest dog.

"Marc, you need to relax,"
she said angrily, practically growling. "You don’t even know Aaron. He
happens to appreciate what I’ve done, what Dr. Matons and I continue to do. He
just doesn’t like that I have to do it, that I don’t have a choice. He mostly
hates the fact that he can’t take care of himself right now. What real man
wouldn’t feel that way?"

"Sounds like you’re sweet on
him to me," Marc snapped back, moving to stand much too close and much too
aggressive. She felt the muscles shift under her skin as her hands clenched and
unclenched at her sides. Her anger and need to protect Aaron pushed the urge to
shift up to the surface. What the hell was wrong with both her and Marc? He was
acting like Aaron was taking advantage of her, while she was ready to shift and
tear his head off for talking about the very man she’d just said was getting on
her nerves.

Good lord she needed a drink. Or
better yet, she needed a hard run in her pelt.

"Look, Reya, I’m sorry. It’s
just that I care about you. I don’t want to see you get hurt by some hotshot
just passing through, is all," Marc said quietly, stepping back from her,
his step non-threatening and his voice semi-contrite.

The bunching muscles of her
shoulders and neck relaxed and thick fur that had been ready to erupt from her
pores receded. She wanted to yell that both Dr. Matons and Bethsaida had met
and liked Aaron, which was good enough for her. Instead, with a deep breath,
Reya forced a tight-lipped smile.

Hoping the incisors receding into
her gums weren’t visible, she clapped him on the shoulder with a
positive-sounding grunt, motioned her head toward a path off to the left, and
the two companions took off into the night to finish their patrol together.

Neither
said another word the rest of the night.

* * *

Funny, he was a successful architect,
but his family still considered him the "baby". Yeah, he was a baby
all right—a horny one that took every opportunity to touch Reya whenever she
was near. He just couldn’t keep his hands off her.

When she came to check his
stitches, bring him a meal or help him to the bathroom—she waited outside of
course, after all he did have some pride—his fingers itched to skim over her
luscious form. And after that first kiss, he always looked for a way to get her
to bend down or simply reached out to grab her by the hand and pull her to him
so he could taste her mouth. She threw herself completely into each kiss they
shared and always tasted of apples and cinnamon. Delicious.

To taste but not take her was
killing him. Damned weakness royally irked him, but come hell or high water,
he’d be up and about as soon as humanly possible just to get the woman
underneath him again.

Raising his arms to hold onto the
headboard of the bed, he raised straight legs a scant two inches from the
mattress and held the position until his stomach muscles burned. Exercising in
bed was all he’d been allowed to do while he was on bed rest. He felt stronger
than just yesterday, and if Dr. Matons didn’t let him up soon he’d call his
brothers down here just to strangle the man. Oh but wait, he thought
sarcastically, Reya already called them.

Aaron grimaced at the
tongue-lashing he’d received from his oldest brother Austin. His ears still
burned from the blistering rant as his brother expressed his outrage and worry
that Aaron hadn’t called them earlier. "The second the plane dropped off
the radar, we were alerted that you were in trouble, but a woman we don’t even
know was the one to call and let us know you were okay? And a week later, when
you were perfectly capable of talking, Aaron," his brother had yelled.
Then Anthony joined in on the line and told him off some more before reminding
him how much they worried, loved and cared about him. He felt like a child all
over again. It was his own damned fault. Being so determined to handle it his way
had caused his brothers, his only family, undue stress. Now he felt like a heel
for getting on Reya’s case for doing what she felt was right. Mr. Blunder? Yep,
that was him.

If only he could stick to
architecture. Building plans didn’t get disappointed. Building plans’ eyes
didn’t fill with sadness when he stuck his finger out at them and told them
off. And building plans didn’t avoid him when he pissed them off. Aaron
couldn’t remember ever feeling this lonely. It was a sobering thought.

Reya filled his mind and a wistful
smile touched his lips. The woman was smart as a whip. Conversation wasn’t
something he’d often engaged in with a female, but he could sit and talk to
Reya for hours. In fact, that’s exactly what they’d done when he’d been able to
stay awake long enough. Now that the bruised ribs and kidney were healing
nicely, they usually talked about any and everything from the time she came in
from scuba expeditions in the early afternoon until she left for patrol at
midnight.

A laundry list of everything he
needed to do scrolled behind his eyes. The project on Ambergris Caye for his
customer in Belize wouldn’t wait forever. Thankfully, the blueprints and plans
were saved from the wreck and could be delivered. The budget had to be reworked
and the deeds on the land secured in his client’s name. He didn’t even want to
think about how much the project plan would need to be reworked, pushing back
the grand opening of the posh luxury fitness resort. He absolutely did not want
his brothers to handle it. They’d taken care of him all his life. Now he made
his own way, was his own man. He had work to do and another million to make for
their company. Then again, he’d rather stay here and…

When was the last time he’d had a
hard time making a decision between getting work done and hanging out with a
woman? Hell, he couldn’t think of a single instance. Until now. The woman had
him so wide open, Aaron couldn’t decide if he wanted to go or stay.
Nevertheless, he was still pissed off that Dr. Matons wouldn’t clear him to get
out of bed and travel to Belize City yet.