“I built the whole place by hand myself,” he said, looking proud. “We have excursions to a nearby waterfall.” He raised his brows in question as he took Connor’s money to pay for the room.
Kat didn’t attempt to hide a smile at Connor as she caught his gaze. After he’d washed her in the waterfall, she would never see another in the same way again.
“I can drive you to the park tomorrow so we can hike through the nature reserve and see all the wildlife.”
“Uh, no, thank you,” Kat said. They had seen all the wildlife she needed for the time being, and as for hiking any further? She was ready to be transported somewhere closer to home without having to slog one booted foot in front of another on any more long hikes.
Garcia watched their expressions as if he was trying to determine just where they had come from and why they were here. Finally, he mentioned the beaches and at that Maya nodded. “Yes, we must take in the beach.”
Garcia seemed to sigh with a bit of relief, maybe worried they were trouble.
“We’re biologists,” Connor offered. “We spent some time in the Amazon to do research.”
“Ah.” Garcia looked as though he could believe that.
When Kat offered to help pay for the accommodations, Connor gave her a macho look and shook his head. The intimation was that he paid, she enjoyed. She raised a brow at him. He looked smug.
“You’ll have cabanas close to each other. But privacy also.” Garcia handed them their keys and gave them directions.
They hiked up the path to Maya’s cabana, which was surrounded by dense foliage, trees, flowers, and colorful parrots, and even a monkey clambered up a tree high above. Now this was more like it: jungle fauna and flora, but also air-conditioned accommodations.
“Come see us in an hour after you’ve cleaned up and changed,” Connor said to Maya. “We’ll have breakfast, and then you can return here and we’ll all get some much-needed sleep.”
She heartily agreed, gave them both a hug, then closed her door and locked it.
After leaving Maya at her place, Connor and Kat continued up to the cabana at the top of the path. Maya’s was near enough that if they encountered any trouble, they could easily get together in a few seconds via the stone path that wound its way down to the main house and restaurant.
Inside the cabana, exposed stone walls and polished bamboo floors and a real bed covered in a hibiscus floral spread made Kat feel like she was in a swanky resort. A private balcony that overlooked the jungle had an adobe tile floor for the patio and a hammock strung across it. Floor-to-ceiling windows covered with white lacy curtains let in filtered light. And air-conditioning blasted them with cool, dry air!
A shower in the bathroom was even open to the sun, which was why Connor had picked the one at the top of the group of cabanas for Kat and himself.
A small restaurant was situated next to the main lobby, and nearby was a freshwater swimming pool, which Kat was hoping they could avail themselves of later that night.
Dirty and sweaty, Connor pulled Kat in for a hard embrace, kissing her lips with a searing kiss. “Let’s get cleaned up and then we can share breakfast on the patio with Maya.”
Kat loved how he didn’t want to leave his sister out, even though Kat was fairly sure he would have loved spending the rest of the day and night alone with her. He dumped the contents of his bag on the table and pulled out the shampoo and body wash.
“Come on, Kat. Let’s take a shower.”
“Don’t tell me… together, so we can share the hot water.” She ran her hands underneath his shirt, her fingers tracing his muscles.
“Nope.” He started unbuttoning her blouse with a glint in his eye and a curve to his lips.
She cast him a mock frown and then began to peel away his trousers. “No?”
“The water’s cold. We’ll have to share it to keep warm.”
She chuckled. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you planned it.”
He laughed and quickly began dispensing with her clothes, as if he wouldn’t last or was afraid they wouldn’t have enough time before Maya joined them.
He scooped her up. “Grab the soaps, will you, Kat?”
“Eagerly.”
And then he carried her into the bathroom and leaned down so she could turn on the water. It splashed her arm and she squealed, not intending to, but he was right. The water was cold!
The sun streamed into the shower, making it seem like a cleaner version of the waterfall. And she was excited about getting clean and whatever else they could come up with.
The scene was reminiscent of when Connor had washed Kat under the waterfall, except this time, he would be naked, too. That was much, much better because he could finish what they had started the last time. He lathered up his hands with the silky body wash and began to soap her up.
She smiled up at him, her hands already covered in soap as she smeared it all over his chest. She looked like a feral cat who loved the water as much as he did, who relished it and was emboldened by it.
The water was cold, but the sun and friction between them warmed them as he slid his hands all over her satiny skin, enjoying her soft curves and the way she smiled up at him as she began to soap all his body parts, making him hard as steel. He should have skipped the soap and just gotten down to business.
But spreading the silky soap over her skin turned him on just as much as it aroused her. He loved seeing her arousal, her sage eyes darkening to jungle green, the way her nipples tightened and her breasts swelled, the way her clit grew with his strokes, and the way she purred like a cat. He loved the way she barely breathed as he continued to stroke her sensitive G-spot, loved how she arched against his fingers, wanting him to touch her harder and faster and more.
She was like malleable heated clay in his hands as she melted under his ministrations, barely able to stand while he supported her with one hand around her back. He kissed her mouth as the water sluiced down their heated bodies, washing the soap off them and leaving them clean and smelling of tangerines and oranges, and musky female and male cat sex.
He might feel he had conquered the she-cat, but she had him panting, craving and savoring the feel of her, the smell of her, the sweet sexy sounds she made. As he bent to kiss her lips, her mouth parted to let him in, and he plunged his tongue inside the way he wanted to sheathe his cock between her legs. They slid their bodies against each other, bare skin to bare skin, her softness feeling so right against his hardness. Her belly pressed against his thick erection, and he cursed his need to fill her now as he tried to take it slower. But he was already ablaze, his loins on fire.
Every move she made against him turned the furnace higher.
Her hands were drifting lower, her nails lightly scratching his back and down and down. His cock moved against her soft stomach as if it had a mind of its own, soliciting a smile from her lips. Yeah, he had no control over it. Every tantalizing touch—the way her tongue probed his mouth, the way she rubbed affectionately against his body, like a cat would, only with a mission in mind—forced his body to respond with eagerness.
“You… are… mine,” he groaned against her lips, desperate to hear her say she loved him, too, that she would stay with him forever, that she felt the same rampant need to be with him exclusively.
But she seemed so lost in his touch as he renewed stroking her sweet spot that she didn’t say anything. Her eyes were closed, her fingers grasping his hips as if she was about to come unglued if she didn’t have something to cling to, her breathing shallow and labored.
He loved her, loved the way she responded so eagerly, became so wrapped up in the act that nothing would deter her. “You… are… beautiful,” he whispered, licking a trail down the water droplets spilling over her skin until he latched on to a nipple and sucked, his finger still stroking her into ecstasy.
She cried out before he’d expected it and he smiled against one nipple, then suckled the other before he lifted her, angling her so he could enter her e
asily. Her legs wrapped around his waist, her heels pressing provocatively against him. He slowly penetrated her sheath with his cock until she could accept his size, then thrust deep inside her, wanting her, needing her, feeling the climax she had just experienced gripping his cock tightly.
Harder, faster, deeper he pushed into her narrow passage, claiming her, his shifter mate, different from him and yet the same. She licked the water off his chin and his cheek, seeking his mouth, and tangled her tongue with his in another mating dance.
He was reminded of the waterfall where he had kissed her, feeling her heavenly body rubbing against him, the torture of her naked skin pressing his erection when he was still wearing clothes and trying to keep some distance. He could hear the same jungle sounds, only this time from the national park next door. The monkeys and birds and bugs communicating in their way, the smell of the rain forest, sweet and decadent, and the taste of citrus fruits on Kat’s lips and tongue all reminded him of being back at the falls. Only this time, God, she felt so incredibly tight and feral, but most of all his.
He felt the end coming but knew that with her, it would never be the end. That she would always be at the edge of his awareness, whether he was sleeping or awake, and he would want her like this, close by, within easy reach.
He thrust hard and furious, and finally let loose his seed and groaned with spent pleasure. He leaned her against the bathroom wall, feeling satiated and more at ease than he had in years. All because he had found Kat.
And yet, it wasn’t over. He wanted her, wanted to keep her, to have shifter babies if they could. But she still hadn’t said the words that meant she was willing to stay with him forever.
Chapter 21
Kat knew what Connor wanted, but she couldn’t give it to him. Not yet. What if she said “I love you” and “I want to be with you forever”—like she’d done with Roger—and that was the turnoff in their relationship?
Maybe just being there for one another, loving and caring, but not making the “I do” commitment was better. Maybe their relationship would last longer.
For now, while she was still testing the waters with her new abilities and still unsure what her future might hold, she didn’t want Connor to believe that he had to be tied down to her if he found someone else who had been born a shifter.
Her heart wouldn’t be broken again if she reserved some part of herself by not making the commitment.
Once they had cleaned up in their suite, they had breakfast on their patio with Maya. They watched the antics of the birds twittering about the flowers and greenery surrounding the cabana, butterflies fluttering about, a brilliantly colored poisonous frog sitting on a broad leaf, humming birds drinking from the long-throated red flowers, and even small monkeys clambering through the trees.
They intended to sleep around the clock. Although, Kat said, “If they have beef steak on the menu, that’s what I want for dinner.”
Connor gave her a light squeeze and kissed her forehead. “No more Jurassic-era catfish?” He said to Maya, “Warn us if you have any trouble at all.”
Looking beat, Maya nodded. She left their cabana and made her way to her own, while Connor took Kat’s hand and led her into the bedroom and shut the door quietly behind them.
Connor released Kat’s hand. “If you sleepwalk this time, you’ll wake me. I’m not risking that we’ll lose you again.”
He rested his hands on either side of her head and placed his forehead against hers in a sign of relief.
Kat wrapped her arms around him and held him close. “Maya didn’t have to tell on me.”
“Yes, she did.” He let out his breath. “What other secrets do you have that we should know about?”
Kat snorted and released him, but he seized her arms and wrapped them around his neck, then encircled her back with his and hugged her close.
“I could say the same about you. Who would have ever thought you hunted caiman with your teeth?” Kat said.
He smiled a little at her comment. “We’re fabulously wealthy.”
She raised a brow.
He took a deep breath. “Part of the fun in getting to know one another is learning all about each other’s… secrets. Come, let’s get some sleep.”
Connor had turned the air conditioner on high. After having lived in the jungle for a week in the heat and humidity, Kat was freezing. But when she tried to leave the bed with the intent of turning the air conditioner down lower, Connor pulled her into his arms and whispered into her ear, “Leave it. We’ll warm up after a bit.”
She just hoped they were far enough away from Maya’s cabana that she couldn’t hear them if they got a little noisy when they were supposed to be napping.
***
Hot, Connor thought as he slid his hand over Kat’s T-shirt covered body and the soft fabric moved over her lithe form. He wasn’t sure about her, but he definitely needed the air conditioner on high to cool his fevered blood. They had slept for some time, but he had awakened with Kat pressed hard against his body, clinging to him for warmth. Her heat and softness and delightful scent had triggered all his senses to take their fill of her. But he wanted more.
His painful arousal jutted against her belly, and he was surprised that his prodding her with it as she pressed closer hadn’t awakened her. At some point while he was sleeping, she had slipped away from him and pulled on a long shirt. That bothered him a bit. Not that she had gotten cold and put something on, but that he hadn’t awakened when she’d left the bed.
Now he lifted her shirt so he could run his hands over her silky back and lower to her naked buttocks. He squeezed them, his own balls tightening.
He hadn’t really had a plan except that he would sleep with her and ensure she didn’t shift and sleepwalk right out of the cabana. He couldn’t believe they had this additional problem to worry about.
But now he wanted her again, just like he had craved making love to her when they were standing in the waterfall—kissing, stroking, and working each other up—and again every night since they’d made love at the hut. Even when they’d kissed in the river with the dolphins swimming near them, he’d wanted to take this further with Kat.
Now, he wanted to wake her, ravish her, and encourage her to ravish him right back. He kissed her forehead, licked her cheek, ran his hand up the front of her T-shirt, and cupped a breast. It was warm and malleable, the tip turning hard and needy against the palm of his hand. He massaged to feel the hard nipple teasing his heated flesh.
He rubbed his stiff cock against her belly, making her smile. He knew she hadn’t been asleep. Had she wanted to see just how hard he would try to wake her?
He leaned down and kissed her smiling lips. “Vixen.”
She opened her eyes and grinned at him. “I didn’t think you’d ever wake up,” she whispered. “Even though part of you seemed wide-awake.”
He chuckled low. “How could it be otherwise, the way you cuddled against me so tightly?”
“I was cold.”
“And now?”
“You’re heating me right up.”
She smelled divine, like a she-cat and mandarin oranges and tangerines, a sexy citrus delight. The humming of the air conditioner couldn’t drum out the jungle sounds surrounding the cabana. It felt right to be here like this with Kat as he kissed her mouth with a raw passion that he had never felt with any woman before. It most likely had to do with the way she kissed him back, just as aggressively, just as needy, punishing his mouth with bruising kisses while she ran her hands down his backside and kneaded his ass.
“Hmm, Kat,” he said just before she licked his mouth, and he smiled, then plunged his tongue between her parted lips that welcomed him to take his fill. She tasted sweet, of citrus fruits, her tongue teasing and touching his.
She was panting, pressing against his arousal, her fingers raking down his back.
He slid her T-shirt up her body, exposing her mons, her belly, her breasts. He kept moving the shirt upward until he pulled it over her
head and tossed it onto the floor. Running his fingers through her silky hair, he took in a deep breath of her, smelling her sex and her readiness to have him.
He kicked off his boxers and kissed her mouth softly this time, his hands cupping her breasts, glorying in the feel of the soft mounds, the hard nipples, the way her body arched against him, seeking more.
He kissed her harder and moved his hand down her soft belly and through her short dark curls, and then slid his fingers into her sex. She was wet and ready, and she smiled a willful, half-lidded smile. He stroked her clit, wanting to see her come, wanting to make it happen.
She purred and arched, and he had to will himself to take it slowly with her, not to rush it. But when she tugged at him to join with her, he nudged his penis at her tight entrance and slid in slowly.
He felt hot, silky, wet delight as her flesh surrounded his, welcoming him in, but he paused, wanting to see her come first, although it was killing him to put on the brakes. He stroked her again, his erection still filling her. Seeing them joined made him even hotter.
From the look of desire and craving, and from the way her heels dug into the mattress as she pressed herself harder against his fingers, she was near the edge, which made him even hotter. Before the climax hit her, he pushed his advantage and drove deep into her tight passage. She arched in climax, calling out his name in a half purr, half growl as he continued to slam into her, driven to possess, to conquer, to satisfy the need to have her.
He kissed her nipples, licked and suckled, then kissed her mouth again right before he surged inside of her. He felt the end coming, held his breath, and let go, bathing her womb with his hot seed. She was exquisite, sexy, loving, and generous. And he was one lucky damned jaguar god. She cuddled against him and seemed to drift off to sleep as he pulled the bedcovers up over them.
He had never thought of himself as a possessive man and had always kept an emotional distance from the women he’d had sex with, but not with Kat. He felt like he was a part of her, like their souls were connected in some ancient, mystical jaguar way. Not really knowing for sure whether she had lived or died after the Army ambush had nearly killed him. As if even then they were linked by some invisible magical thread of existence.