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  Josh had done nothing to deserve death, unless stubbornness counted. Although Rafe hadn’t come right out and told him the truth, he’d hinted at the fact that Megan was different, not quite normal. Josh had gone on to deliver a string of curses involving his foot and ass. Amusing, but not the most productive conversation he’d ever had.

  Josh had agreed to meet him though. It was the best Rafe would get unless he was willing to swoop in and take Megan from him by force, which he had considered, despite Kade’s insistence they not rip Megan from her family. Kade feared it’d be too traumatic. He wanted to assess the situation. Rafe wasn’t so sure he agreed. Humans didn’t belong in their world. It was too dangerous but the protectiveness Josh had shown toward the girl impressed him. Intrigued him, frankly. For the moment, with Devin watching the house, she was safe and they’d intervene if necessary.

  Josh bent to kiss Jasmine and all three predators slammed into him. Claws raked his insides. He swallowed a groan. He might be immortal but being torn apart from the inside wasn’t a pleasant feeling. He snapped his teeth together and pushed against their forceful wills. One by one they abated, but he got the impression it wouldn’t take much to stir them to action.

  Their reaction to the woman surprised him. Yes, she was beautiful, tasted of a rich, sweet wine and had the body of a goddess. But she smelled of another feline, a turnoff for most males. Not for him. He’d scented her the moment she’d walked in the bar and when she’d stood on the chair and waved her arms so her lush breasts swayed, he’d had to keep his head averted to hide the emergence of his cats.

  His vision had sharpened, the distracting vibrant hues faded to variations of gray and the darkened room brightened. From experience, he knew his eyes would’ve been feline—completely honey-gold, no white—and not ones humans should see, especially the delectable Jasmine. She’d recognize them for what they were.

  Rafe waited for Josh to leave then stepped behind Jasmine and slipped an arm around her waist, locking her to him. She molded against him, softness to hardness, and was short enough to tuck under his arm. She leaned into his embrace as if she’d done so for a lifetime, head tipped back to rest against his chest. The easy way she accepted him pushed him to take more. With a palm on her hip, he tugged her closer, pressed his engorged shaft to her body. She stiffened and spun, blonde hair very similar in shade to his whipping with the move. Wide-eyed, she stared at him. He loosened his grip but didn’t release her.

  Gods, she was beautiful. Gray eyes, dilated at the moment, a few freckles on the tip of a slightly crooked nose and a mouth made for kissing. Her rounded face with its finely sloped forehead lent her an angelic quality, but the desire stamped on it ensured she’d be the wicked kind of angel, given the proper encouragement. And he had every confidence in his ability to bring out the vixen hidden behind her sweet exterior.

  He thought about all the ways he could urge the siren out and a grin spread. Oh the unveiling would be fun.

  She shoved at his chest, didn’t move him, and huffed. “Let go, buddy. We’re done.”

  Her husky voice wrapped around him and the bite of irritation in it appealed to him as well. He enjoyed feisty females—in bed and out.

  “But you didn’t answer me,” he replied, enjoying the confusion making her brows scrunch. Tiny crinkles appeared by the corner of her almond-shaped eyes. He liked how they looked there.

  “What did you ask?”

  “Am I hot enough for you?”

  Her jaw dropped, but the evidence of her desire drifted to his nose.

  “Good. I’m glad I fit your needs.”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “You didn’t have to.” He took her hand, linking their fingers, and led her away from her human friend and the other males’ appreciative glances. He wanted her alone…to talk.

  She hesitated at the entrance to the employee hallway. “What a sec, buddy. I am not going anywhere with you.”

  He tipped her chin up, met those hypnotizing gray eyes. “Name’s Rafe. Rafe Alexander.”

  She licked her lips. “Rafe,” she said.

  Damn, his name sounded good in her breathless voice.

  “Jasmine.” He tried the name out. It rolled nicely on his tongue. “Walk with me.”

  She shook her head but didn’t tear her gaze from his. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  He leaned closer, brushed his lips against her cheek. Mouth near her ear, he drawled, “I think it’s a very good idea. You taste of heaven, Jasmine. And I find it’s a flavor I crave. I want more.”

  Her exhaled breath wafted over his neck, heated his blood.

  “Jazz, not Jasmine. I’m not a damn flower,” she said but there was no animosity in the declaration.

  He flicked his tongue to her earlobe. A slight shudder ran through her body. The involuntary reaction pleased him. He tucked her closer. “You’re pretty enough to be one.” A breathless laugh met his declaration, no denial. “Tell me, Jazz, am I too late?”

  She slid her hands up his chest, started to inch them around his neck but stopped. She moved them to his biceps and skimmed them over his muscles. “Too late for what?”

  The scent of royal feline—a mix of predators—drifted to his nose. Cheek pressed to the top of her head so he could breathe in her untainted fragrance, he looked at the dainty fingers tracing his arm. He’d wondered what part of her body had been marked. The location her owner had chosen eased the jealousy that had flared when he’d first discovered it.

  He lifted her hand, brought her wrist to his nose and inhaled. Frowned. He sniffed again, open-mouthed to taste the pheromones laced into the smell. Confusion settled over him. Two distinct signatures were rubbed into her skin—a temporary claim that was nearly gone, washed off. Male. Of that he was certain but he couldn’t tell anything else from it except that it wasn’t familiar.

  He licked her wrist. Her pulse sped. With slow swipes of his tongue, he removed the scent. Her flavor filled his mouth, sweet and heady and purely Jasmine. He laved her skin, enjoying the taste of her, but his tongue roughened and the first hint of fangs slipped past his teeth. He turned his head, her wrist pressed to his cheek, and breathed through the reaction. It shocked him, left him a little unsteady. Never before had a female brought his primal side out. He wasn’t quite sure he was happy about it.

  “Too late for what?” she repeated.

  He leaned back enough to look into her face. “To lay claim to you.”

  She studied him with scrunched brows. “You talk funny. Are you European?”

  “Originally, yes.” He took her hand once more and urged her to follow him. She wavered a moment and flicked her gaze to the crowded room but fell in step beside him. He tried the nearest door, found it open and the room empty. An office, Josh’s going by the scent lingering there. No matter. It was quiet and private.

  She grabbed the doorjamb. “No way, buddy—”

  “Rafe.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I am not going in there with you, Rafe.”

  He crowded her against the door. “Why not?”

  “I don’t know you and I’m not the type of girl to go off with a man. In fact,” she slipped under his arm, “I shouldn’t have followed you out of the bar. I’ve got to get home.”

  She stepped away. He followed and pulled her back against his chest. “Wait, Jazz. Don’t leave. Not yet,” he breathed the words against her ear. “I want to talk to you.”

  She laughed breathlessly and turned in his arms, inching her fingers up his arm.

  “About what?” she asked.

  Her owners. Why she was at Tony’s house. The fact that every male in the bar had looked upon her with lust yet she’d only responded to him. Who Josh was to her. But the question that came out had nothing to do with any of those topics.

  “About what it’ll take for me to find my way into your bed.”

  She grinned, stood on her tiptoes and linked her hands around his neck. “That’s a line I haven’t heard befor
e.”

  He returned her smile. “Will it work?”

  She tugged his head to hers, pressed her mouth to his ear. “No.” She pushed away from him. “I’ve got to get home.”

  Rafe watched her walk away. A wave of panic hit him. She couldn’t leave him. Two strides brought him in front of her. Hands on her hips, he lifted her and pressed her against the wall. He swallowed her shocked gasp with a kiss, one she resisted for only a moment before opening to him. Slipping his tongue between her parted lips, he explored the wet depths he’d only touched briefly in the bar.

  He led the kiss with deep, rolling thrusts of his tongue, forcing her to accept him. She did, following him in the raw exploration of mouths. He licked her teeth, memorizing the uneven edges, the uniqueness of her. He allowed the texture to imprint itself, before turning his attention to her cheeks. With the tip of his tongue, he swept the inside, brought more of her flavor into his mouth.

  Her essence filled him, became a part of him. He widened his stance to steady his legs and pressed her more firmly into the wall with his hips. Instincts rose, ones he had no business feeling, but the need to leave his mark on her grew with each breathy moan he pulled from her. The urge worried him. But he couldn’t deny it, not when his skin tingled and ached with the need to feel hers rubbing against it, sweat slickened and in the throes of passion. It was lust—plain and simple—but the fear of dying if he didn’t get inside her wasn’t a normal reaction. It was damn scary one. Didn’t stop him though.

  She sifted her fingers through his hair and tugged at the strands until the tie slipped free. With her hands fisted in his mane, she treated him to the same deep, sensual exploration he’d given her. The stinging along his scalp betrayed how tightly she tugged his hair. He didn’t mind the pinch of pain or the hungry way she kissed him. It pleased him. So did the guttural groan she shoved down his throat. The raw sound appealed to his primal side. It was also one he’d never heard a female make while kissing him.

  While she loved his mouth, he traced her sides. The cotton top made the tips of his fingers itch. He shoved it up until bare skin met his touch. The tingles spread into his palm but with each inch of her body he touched, the uncomfortable sensation turned pleasurable. More, he needed more. He slid his hand around her sides to her lower back, then down to inch past her waistband. Not resisting him, she lifted her bottom, giving him access. He slipped one hand inside the tight confines of her shorts. The feeling of warm, soft flesh under his palm quickened his breaths. He squeezed the rounded cheek and she moaned, the cry muffled against his mouth.

  The noises from the open bar behind them reminded him how close they were to others, males who would look upon Jasmine with lust. He growled, yanked his hand out of her shorts and urged her to wrap her legs around him. She did, hooking her ankles at his lower back. With the help of his cats and their heightened senses, he navigated the narrow hallway without breaking their lip-lock and turned into the office.

  In the back of his mind, he knew this was a mistake. The woman kissing him as if she were starved for his taste was an unknown, somehow involved with royal felines. She might even be associated with the group who ran the trafficking ring that had decimated their species. The possibilities chilled him. He allowed each scenario to surface before pushing them aside to be dealt with later.

  Jasmine was the first female to stir his instincts and bring his primal side out. He needed to taste her arousal, swallow her desire. Nothing else mattered.

  With a kick, the door clicked closed, blocking out the laughter and music. The rapid beat of her heart and the soft moans reflecting her approval filled his ears, a sound that suddenly seemed necessary. He carried her to the leather couch he’d spied earlier and lowered her without breaking the melding of their mouths. Stretched over her, he slipped his hand into the fall of her hair and cradled the back of her head. On and on they kissed until her arms looped around him and one leg hooked over his waist. The move opened her to him, an invitation that assured him she felt safe in his arms, ready to allow him further access to her body.

  He broke the kiss and skimmed his lips along her jaw to her ear. He caught the tender lobe between his teeth and nibbled. Another shudder ran through her body. A sensitive spot. Good. Finding each one seemed necessary. He should be worried about why that was, but he wasn’t. The soft moans she rewarded him with outweighed the concern.

  While he sucked on the flesh, he reached for the button of her shorts, popped it and pulled the zipper down. Her muscles tensed but he sat up, hooked his fingers around the hem and yanked the denim down her legs. A flick of his wrist and he tossed the material behind him. Simple white bikinis covered her sex. Nothing had ever looked more tempting.

  “What are you doing?”

  She didn’t tell him to stop so he laid a palm over the cotton and slid his fingers down her cloth-covered cleft. Dampened heat seeped into the fingertips but he needed to touch her, feel the slickened lips. He slid one finger under the elastic and groaned.

  “Touching you.”

  He peeked at her through the fall of his hair, not bothering to push it out of the way. Watching the half-lidded, drowsy look of arousal spread over her face was much more important.

  “You’re wet, Jasmine.”

  She whimpered. Her gaze flicked from his face to where his fingers moved behind the cloth of her panties. The excited yet hesitant way she watched him made him wonder exactly how experienced the little siren was. From the way she kissed, he would’ve said very. But this display made him question that assumption.

  He slipped a finger between her lower lips, swirled it in the opening and whispered, “Drenched.”

  “We shouldn’t do this,” she said but made no attempt to get away so he dipped the tip inside.

  The sheath he slid his finger into felt untried, tight. Muscles gripped the small invasion. Her eyes rolled back and a low moan spilled from her throat. His breathing quickened in response to her growing excitement. He pushed deeper, met no resistance. Not a virgin, just inexperienced. And he looked forward to educating her. Starting now. But first he had to be sure.

  “Do you want me to stop?”

  She met his eyes and gave a small shake of her head. He grinned and stroked the opening until more welcoming cream flowed. Her muscles parted with his shallow thrusts and raspy pants escaped her lips. Each exhale lifted her breasts, pushed her erect nipples against the thin cotton. In and out he slid his finger while he focused on her. He listened, adjusting the speed and angle when he heard her breathing hitch. He wasn’t quite ready to allow the hot little Jasmine to orgasm. He enjoyed hearing the sounds coming from her lips.

  “Rafe, please,” she whispered.

  It was all the encouragement he needed. He tore the material shielding her sex and replaced his finger with his tongue. She cried out and he groaned. Her flavor was as unique as the woman in his arms—a sweet, earthy tang that left him hungry for more. He slid his hands under her bottom and lifted her so he could delve deeper, kiss her as completely as he’d explored her mouth.

  He licked her, ate her out and she squirmed for him, feeding him her nectar. There was no hesitation now. This was the siren he’d sensed within her, the one whose undulating hips had his cock jerking in his pants. She hooked her legs over his shoulders. The soles of her sneakers bit into his back. The move pushed her slick lips against his face, his nose into glistening, short curls. He moaned, loving her taste, her eager response, her passion.

  With his hands on her butt cheeks, he encouraged her, helped her fuck herself on his tongue. Her cries guided him, showed him what she needed to feel good and he gave it to her.

  A groan crawled up his throat. She shuddered in response so he growled softly, let the rumble against her sensitive lips take her higher while he curled his tongue and explored her sheath.

  “Oh god,” she cried.

  More flicks and she sobbed his name. He changed the angle, reached deeper and touched on the spot that made her tremble. Fuckin
g perfect. Worshiping this woman became his world. He listened, felt the slight change in the muscles along her core. She was close. Ready to come. He tilted his head, withdrew his tongue and sucked. She screamed his name and he drank her pleasure, his reward. It was an odd thought, one he’d never had while giving a woman oral sex, but true nonetheless. More honeyed cream spilled and her husky cry encouraged him to drag every drop free. He kissed her until she quivered before releasing her.

  Her bottom plopped onto the leather and he crawled over her. He took her mouth, eager to share her taste, the pleasure she’d given him. She welcomed him with a groan and languidly twined their tongues.

  “Delicious,” he praised her. “Thank you, my Jasmine.”

  She laughed, the nervous sound reflecting a shyness that didn’t match what they’d just shared. Trembling fingers traced his cheek. “Uhmm, shouldn’t that be my line?”

  He turned his hand and sucked her fingers into his mouth, caressing each tip with his tongue before releasing them. “No line, Jasmine. You’ve honored me with your passion. I feel privileged to be the male gifted with your cries, the chance to taste your sweetness.”

  She released a shaky breath and swiped her tongue over her upper lip. “Wow. You’re a dangerous man, Rafe Alexander.”

  Yes, he was. In more ways than one. If his instincts failed him, then she would learn exactly how dangerous he was. No. He wouldn’t allow those thoughts to take hold. His inner spirits would never have allowed him to touch this female if they doubted her. He had to trust them.

  Whatever secret she held, he’d uncover and he needed to do so soon. His cock hurt and he feared the only sheath that would soothe it was Jasmine’s.