SeducingtheHuntress (4 page)

Leaning over her with his weight on outspread hands on
either side of her head, he slanted his mouth over hers. Heaven help him, her
lips were soft pillows that he wanted to pillage and plunder. He pulled back
long enough to whisper hotly, “Taste yourself on me.” Then his mouth was on
hers again and he was deepening the kiss until she was all but sucking on his
tongue, greedy for the flavor.

His cock throbbed, his gut twisting with need when he
finally pulled back and wrenched off his wet shirt. She half-sat to touch and
explore his bared skin. Pleasure skittered through his nerve endings before
centering at his cock, her little sighs of admiration only magnifying his lust
tenfold.

Goddess give him strength, did she not know how many times a
big cat, even in its human form, could fuck a woman? He could easily keep her
up half the night, slamming into her pussy over and over, and making her forget
every man she’d ever been under.

A tight groan morphed into a possessive growl when he moved
over her again, the head of his dick pressing between her thighs.

“Wait!” Her eyes glinted in her flushed, beautiful face. “I
told you my name but you…you never told me yours.”

He felt the cords stand out on his neck as he restrained the
urge to thrust into her wet, welcoming cunt. “You never asked,” he said
hoarsely. “Reuben,” he announced in the next breath, before he pushed deep
inside her.

She cried out sharply, her inner muscles tensing.

He froze. Dear lord, he was mistaken, surely? His voice came
out harsh. “You’re a virgin?”

Reuben’s stunned expression was all too easy to make out,
even in the growing darkness. His reaction might have been comical in any other
situation. But the sharp pain of his entry soon gave way to an even deeper
throb of desire. He wouldn’t dare pull out of her now!

Right then she didn’t even care that she wanted to trick him
into falling in love with her—or at least in lust with her! She’d missed out on
sex for too many years already, what with all the halfway eligible men too afraid
of Jacob, her eagle-eyed father, to consider lying with her.

Her throat convulsed as she swallowed hard. “Yes, I am a
virgin,” she finally managed to answer, her breasts rising and falling sharply.

His brow furrowed, his eyes piercing hers. “You should have
told me.”

She narrowed her eyes in what she hoped was a glare, though
passion still held her in its grip. “Spare me the lectures.” She got enough of
them from her father. She blew out a heavy breath. “Just…fuck me, Reuben.
Please!”

Having him as her lover went way beyond anything strategic,
no matter how much she might wish otherwise. Right then nothing else mattered
other than the fact she wanted him, the
man
who’d awakened her body.

A bead of sweat formed on his brow, his jaw locking tight at
what appeared to be a battle of his conscience.

Her eyes narrowed.

Oh no you don’t!

She writhed beneath him, her breasts sliding over his slick
chest, her tight pussy grinding along his cock. His eyes flashed. Then he gave
in with a groan, rocking carefully in and out of her until her inner muscles
fully accepted his length and his strokes became longer and harder.

And nothing else mattered but the pleasure that quickly
intensified between them.

Holy shit.

Sex was incredible, mind-blowing.

And she’d been missing out on it for too many years!

In one smooth motion he clasped her hips and pushed back
onto his knees, bringing her with him. Her legs instinctively hooked around his
waist. His eyes glittered and he thrust deep.

All breath stalled in her throat. The angle was…delicious!
At his next stroke, something came undone inside her and a wave of ecstasy hit
her hard. Her neck arched back and she cried out his name. Bliss threw her into
the heavens to soar on the highest of highs before she floated slowly,
luxuriously back to earth.

Still she was aware of the muscle in Reuben’s jaw that
locked as he pulled almost all the way out. Then he pushed home deep and his
voice joined hers in a long groan, his warm seed pulsing inside.

She closed her eyes, drinking in the glow that infused her
whole body. She was warmth and sated bliss. She was contented, boneless putty.
And she didn’t want that feeling to ever end.

She didn’t even try to gather her scattered wits when he
gently disengaged. Yes, she was aware of the loss, but her eyelids stayed
firmly closed.

“That was…amazing,” she murmured, before promptly
surrendering to the layers of sleep dragging her under.

Isabella woke to the sound of a startled cry still in her
ears and to the deep feeling something wasn’t right. She bit her bottom lip,
thankful for the full moon outside her window that lit up all but the corners
of her room. She squinted into the far shadows, hearing nothing but thick
silence and the harsh drumming of her pulse in her ears.

You’re eight now, a big girl. Don’t be such a baby!

She forced suddenly stiff muscles to cooperate, the floor
cold underfoot as she crept from her bedroom and slowly opened the door. An owl
hooted. She started then giggled nervously. A bad dream had woken her, that was
all. No doubt the same dream her daddy said she had most every night, ever
since her mummy had left them and gone to heaven a couple of years ago.

Her daddy’s snuffling and occasional loud snore filtered
under the crack of his bedroom door. She released a small breath. She wanted to
wake him, except her bad dreams had woken him up most nights, making him look
worn out, his eyes dull. She squared her shoulders. No, he needed his sleep.

A grunt followed by a dull thud turned her attention
downstairs. The faintest glow from the dying coals of the fire in her father’s
library pushed away all but the most stubborn of night’s shadows.

She moved downstairs on silent feet, head cocking to one
side at the muffled cry that sounded all too familiar. Her step quickened,
right along with her pulse. “Benj?” she called out.

At the pervasive silence she hurried to the open door of
the library. And abruptly froze at what her eyes saw and her brain couldn’t
accept.

Her twin brother swayed on his feet in front of the
fireplace, his beloved bow hanging limply at his side—as if even the ability to
protect himself was beyond him. Even in the dull light she could see the blood
all over him, all over the floor. Vicious claws had torn his clothes and much
of his torso to shreds.

She put a hand to her mouth as a sudden growl shook the
thick, metallic-tainted air. Liquid warmth puddled between her feet. She
scarcely noticed. She was unable to speak, to scream, as the red eyes of a
nightmix appeared from the gloom on the opposite side of the room.

Somehow she knew the beast was playing with her brother,
prolonging his torment. Goddess help him, he was just a child!

She forced her legs to move and stepped into the room.
She’d help her brother. She’d find something to fight off the nightmix. Otherwise
she and Benj would join their mother in heaven with the angels.

A floorboard creaked under her feet. Her brother’s
attention turned to her. He lifted his head about the same time the nightmix
turned its cold, evil stare her way. “Isabella, no,” he croaked. “Run! Go! Get
out of here!”

She broke through layers of sleep, her breath coming in
gasps and her pulse floundering with terror. A fire crackled and spat with
warmth. The fresh scent of pine overlaid with something…metallic.

Her eyes cracked open to full daylight.

And her nightmare continued.

A high-pitched scream—hers—dissolved into choking terror
before she scrambled backward. Away from the man, the
monster
with blood
on his hands.

Nightmix.

Her spine hit an immovable wall. She pressed fisted hands to
her cheeks, scarcely aware of the rivulets of tears though everything around
her became blurred and distorted. “Stay away from me,” she choked.

But suddenly he was crouched beside her, his face appearing
all kinds of gentle despite his kill. “Easy,” he soothed. “Shh. It’s okay. You
had a nightmare, but you’re awake now.”

She shook her head and hissed, “Murderer!”

A shadow dulled his bright eyes. He leaned back. “Not unless
killing a deer for our dinner is considered a crime?”

She gulped in a breath, reality taking slow hold of her
composure and pushing her nightmare to the far reaches of her mind, where it
belonged. She hiccupped, her tear-blurred vision moving away from him to the
meat on the wooden table in the far corner. Fresh game meat, nothing more. Her voice
quivered. “I’m sorry.” She lifted a hand. “I thought—”

“Never mind,” he interjected. Studying her face, he released
a slow breath. “What happened to you to make you distrust so much?” he asked.

Her vision blurred as terrible memories threatened again to
resurface. “I can’t…I don’t want to talk about it.”

He stood and moved away for a moment to wash his hands in a
bowl on the table before drying off with a clean towel. And all the while his
thoughtful stare stayed with her. When he returned and crouched back to her
level, he said huskily, “You just relived the worst part of your past with me.
Talking about it isn’t going to make things any worse.”

She closed her eyes for a second, feeling as though she was
teetering on the edge of a great cliff and his hands were within reach. But was
he there to push her off or save her from a fall?

Nevertheless, when she started to speak the words rushed
out, as though eager to be free from her mind. “I was eight when a noise woke
me up. I went downstairs and found my brother. He was c…covered in his own
blood.” She swallowed. “He was trying to fend off a
nightmix
with his
bow and arrow. But he was only eight too, he…he didn’t have a chance.”

“And you blame yourself?” Reuben asked gently.

She nodded before pressing a fist to her mouth and biting
into a knuckle. Finding composure, she dropped her hand and said softly, “I
went into the room to help him fight but he screamed at me to run and…and I
did.” She shook her head. “I was a coward.”

Reuben’s eyes flashed. “Your brother would have escaped too
if he could. Not even an adult would face a
nightmix
alone.”

Yeah, he should know, what with being a
nightmix
and
all. But somehow she couldn’t find the strength to hate him right then. Even
with the intensity of her emotions, an unladylike snort found its way past her
tight throat. “Then perhaps you should have warned me before I went off hunting
you on my own?”

A wry smile curled his lips. “You were never in any danger.
Not from me.”

He was wrong on so many levels, if only he knew. Even before
she’d questioned herself that maybe he wasn’t a killer, her hatred had been
turned on its head.

Imagine if I’d killed him before ever having gotten to
know him.

She cleared her throat, thinking back to when she’d been so
close to doing just that. “Yesterday when I…I hunted you. I released a second
arrow before I blacked out…?”

He arched a dark brow. “Yes. Fortunately for me the arrow
fell just shy of my feet.”

“Oh.”

His shoulders tensed. “Is it too much for me to hope that
you’re glad I wasn’t hurt?”

She dug her teeth into her bottom lip. “That’s just it. I
am
glad.”

His breath rushed out, his eyes gleaming. “Really.”

It wasn’t a question, but she answered anyway. “Yes.
Really.”

When he leaned forward, his mouth brushing over hers and his
stubble rasping her soft skin, she didn’t object. Goddess, she was certain that
she wanted this as much, more even, than he did. Being with him, joined to him,
seemed like the one sure way to forget all the bad stuff in her past.

Her arms twined around his neck and their kiss deepened,
became intense all too quickly. She fumbled to take off his clothes. He moaned,
then helped strip off, the urgency between them becoming even more powerful,
their kiss harder and more demanding.

Even so, Reuben pulled back suddenly and muttered, “I washed
blood from between your thighs a short time ago. You’re probably not yet
ready—”

She drew him back to her, covering his mouth with her own.
She didn’t have time to debate the merits of her torn hymen. Or the fact that
he’d washed her and she hadn’t even been awake to appreciate the fact. His
attention and care only made her want him all the more.

When he next pulled back, she splayed her legs wide and
watched him with a half-shuttered stare. She was more than aware his passion was
barely held in check at her wanton display and he moved over her, his body so
big and powerful over hers and causing her heart to flutter in anticipation.

Yes he was large in every way, but when they became as one
they were a perfect fit.

She clasped his big, hard cock to guide him to her pussy.
Damn she was already wet, her cunt putting out the welcoming juices even before
he pushed into her all the way to his balls.

Breath shuddered from her lungs.

So. Damn. Good.

She lifted her hips to meet his rocking tempo in perfect
harmony, their sweat mingling and their moans filling the air.

Everything inside her compressed, tightening in readiness
for the ecstasy that was just seconds away…

He abruptly pulled out. Her gasp turned into a startled,
undignified squawk when he clasped her hips and rolled her onto her belly.

Oh…yes!

Her womb clenched hard.

Though a virgin not even twenty-four hours ago, she was no
stranger to the sexual act. She’d seen her father’s stallion with his herd of
mares. She’d been both frightened and intrigued by the impressive length and
girth of the stallion’s penis.

“On your hands and knees,” Reuben demanded thickly.

She obeyed, mewling softly when he inserted first one
finger, then another inside her before sliding them in and out repeatedly. Her
eyes squeezed shut as pleasure escalated at his every push. The moist squelch
of her inner flesh seemed to satisfy him that she was ready. He removed his
fingers and pressed into place the head of his cock, before thrusting in deep.

The connection was tight but slick.

Her breaths came out sharp, frantic, as he pushed in and out
faster and harder. Her breasts bounced and swayed. Her throat tightened as
rapture swelled.

Goddess, she couldn’t take much more. Was it possible to die
of pleasure?

She slammed backward against his every penetration, doubling
the ecstasy. Until her toes abruptly curled and her pussy contracted around his
shaft, and she was crying out her wonder and joy.

Gripping her hips, he pulled her tight against him, locking
her in place while his seed flooded into her, his appreciative groan long and
loud.

Then his hands gentled and he lowered her onto the floor. He
followed right after, sprawling over her as she lay panting on her belly, his
weight centered on his arms either side of her, his cock lodged inside her.

A part of her.

She put her head to one side, absently aware the rain
outside had disappeared and the sky was now a crisp, glorious strip of azure.
“Mmm. I like that position,” she murmured drowsily.