Leopard's Prey

  Her heart began to pound again. Her breasts swayed. Her hair hung in damp tangles around her face, sweeping the floor. His shaft swelled, pushed deep and spread her tight sheath muscles even more when it didn't seem possible.

  Hot breath blasted her. For a moment she swore she felt the slide of fur along her shoulder and then teeth drove deep, long, razor-sharp canines, in a holding bite. She cried out and thrashed beneath him, but he refused to let go. Deep inside, that wild, feral other rose until she felt an itch running like waves under her skin and fire burned between her thighs. She dropped her head, panting away the pain, accepting of Remy and his crazy, rough sex. Whatever was inside of her embraced him. Needed him. Wanted him. And was every bit as savage as he was.

  Slowly the teeth slipped from her skin and his tongue lapped at the wounds. He began to move, sending streaks of fire racing over her body, burning through her veins and settling into her battered sheath. She never wanted him to stop. The sensations were stronger than ever, pleasure rushing over her while he slammed into her with furious intent. She couldn't stop the all-encompassing orgasm, the way it took her belly and breasts and rode down to her thighs.

  Remy caught her by the hair and jerked her head back, adding a myriad of sensations burning through her body, increasing the strength of her muscles contracting around his shaft. Still he didn't stop and neither did her orgasm. Her body shuddered and pulsed in frenzied insanity. She heard herself scream as another orgasm ripped through her. Remy emptied himself into her as she pulsed around him.

  Too weak to hold herself up, Bijou would have collapsed on the floor if Remy hadn't held on to her.

  "What in the world did you do to me?" she whispered. "What's wrong with me?"

  "Nothin' is wrong with you," Remy assured, kissing her spine.

  She made a derisive sound in her throat. There was something very much wrong with her, but she didn't have the energy to argue. "I can't move. I really can't. I'm so exhausted I think I'll sleep here. Just leave me."

  Remy slipped out of her. She didn't turn around, but let herself collapse right there on the floor. She closed her eyes and heard him move. The bed creaked and groaned as if a heavy weight had landed on it. She heard ripping as if something tore apart the heavy drapes or the walls, but honestly, she wasn't about to lift her head, even if she could. It felt good to just lie there and listen to her heart beating semi-normally.

  The terrible thunder was gone, and for the moment, she felt sated, the burning gone between her legs. Terrified the sensation would start again, she kept her eyes closed tight so she couldn't see Remy, afraid he was the trigger. She hoped she'd just go to sleep and wake up to find the entire episode was only one of her erotic dreams about him. True, she'd never quite dreamt so vividly or imagined in any way that sex with Remy would be so perfect or brutal, but in her own right she was an artist and entitled to a vivid imagination.

  She heard the water go on in the bathtub and smelled lavender. She couldn't move. Remy had to leave. It was nice of him to run a bath for her, which she was certain he was doing, but she wasn't about to face him even if she could. Which she couldn't because she couldn't get off the floor. Satisfied that she made perfect sense, she kept her eyes closed.

  "Come on, Blue. We have to get you into hot water."

  She managed to wiggle her fingers, trying to shoo him. "Go away. Really, Remy. I'm not movin'. I'm sleepin' right here and I'll think about all this tomorrow."

  He laughed softly. "If you don' get into that bath, chere, you won' be walkin' tomorrow. Come on."

  Ignoring her murmur of protest and the hand that tried to bat him away, Remy lifted her into his arms and cradled her against his chest. It wasn't fair that he still had strength and she was virtually spaghetti. Every muscle felt deliciously bruised and battered. Her body felt used and decadent.

  In a horrible, secret part of her mind, she was elated--shocked, of course--but so intensely happy that she had it in her to keep up just a bit with Remy Boudreaux. Or even that he wanted her for a single night, let alone made her state that she was his alone.

  She realized her thighs were sticky and she was an absolute mess. How did a woman gracefully retreat after crazy sex? She had no idea, but she had to open her eyes soon and she could tell he was staring down at her. She could feel those piercing, intelligent eyes focused on her face.

  Bijou took a deep breath and opened her eyes, looking, not at him, but at the room she rented from Saria. One wall had a caved-in spot with several cracks racing up it. Another wall, over by the bed, had furrows dug deep as if a large tiger or a bear had raked it with two claws. The bed sagged from the broken board. The sheets were in bloodstained strips and a lamp was knocked over and broken on the floor.

  "Oh, my God." She covered her red face with her hands. "What am I goin' to tell Saria? We've ruined her beautiful room."

  Not only was she going to have to face Remy in the daylight, but there was no way to keep Saria from finding out what had taken place in this room. Or just how crazy she'd acted with Remy.

  "I'm puttin' you in the water, chere. Don' be thinking about the room. We can fix the room up. This is going to sting a little. I put some salts in there as well."

  He didn't lower her feet as she expected, but stepped into the tub with her and just sank down. Frankly, she was too exhausted to care how she got in the water, but the moment the extreme heat hit her sex she tried to scramble out of his arms. Remy tightened his hold on her and forced her down into the water.

  "Your body needs this whether you think so or not."

  She blew out her breath, but already, the hot water was beginning to soothe her sore, raw body. "I guess I'll let you live a little longer," she said grudgingly. "But you really do have to stop bossin' me around."

  He laughed softly, shifting her off his lap and over to one side of the large claw-foot tub. "That's not likely to ever happen, woman, so don' hold your breath."

  She leaned her head against the high back and allowed her lashes to drift down again. "My arms feel like noodles. I don' think I'll ever be able to walk again either."

  "Give yourself a few minutes, Blue. The water will revive you in no time." Remy cleared his throat. Waited until she looked at him from under her long lashes. Guilt rode him hard. "Listen, honey, I knew you were a virgin and I should have taken more care with you. I didn't hold back or take that into consideration at all and I apologize."

  Her lashes fluttered and she closed her eyes again. A small smile curved her lower lip. That fantasy lower lip he wanted to lean forward and bite.

  "Seriously? Remy, I think it's a little too late for either of us to think about that now. I know you want your apology to be sincere, but how could it be after the way we were together?" She frowned. "Or is that the way it always is when one has sex, because if so, I've been missing out."

  She had a point. Still, he wished he could have been just a little gentler initially. He winced a little at that, "when one has sex." She didn't say "make love" like every other woman he knew would have. He had definitely had savage, brutal leopard sex with her, but still . . .

  He didn't understand why her female hadn't emerged and it worried him just a little bit. He was certain he was right about Bijou and her cat, he'd even felt his male reacting to what he thought was her female, yet Bijou hadn't been forced to shift.

  He pushed both hands through his hair and studied her face. There were shadows there and around her neck little smudges and love bites. The back of her neck had been marked by his cat, claiming her. She was sore, bruised and feeling guilty as sin. How did he explain her leopard to her?

  "Sex will never be like that with anyone else," Remy said honestly, "so you're better off sticking with me."

  That faint smile appeared again. "Or I could be dead in a week after spending time with you." A blush crept up her chest and neck. She still wouldn't look at him.

  He couldn't imagine how she felt. She'd shed every inhibition and had absolutely no idea why. If he b
lurted out, "Hon, you're a leopard, just like me,"' she'd run for the hills and he couldn't blame her. He should have tried to explain before they'd ever gotten started, but he was too far gone, too far into the frenzied thrall of mating.

  "It would be a hell of a way to go," Remy said, injecting humor into his voice. He could still lose her. She was out of her depth and fighting not to be ashamed of herself when there was nothing to be ashamed of.

  "Wouldn't it?" She tilted her chin. "Why haven't you ever married?"

  That was a loaded question if he ever heard one. He turned her around and picked up the spray nozzle so he could wash her hair. "I never found the right person. For me it was far better to be alone than to be with the wrong woman. I'll never be an easy man to live with and my woman will have to put up with a lot, so there was no doubt in my mind I'd better find the right one if I was going to be with someone."

  He massaged her scalp, trying to ease some of the tension from her. The bite mark on the back of her neck was deeper than he had intended. He couldn't help but lean forward and brush a kiss over the wound. She seemed to drift a little while he rinsed, towel dried and then braided her hair into a long, thick rope.

  Bijou suddenly jerked away, turning her head toward him, her eyes wide with fear and shock. "Remy." She said his name like a talisman, her white knight, the only man she could trust in a frightening situation.

  He stood up quickly, pulling the drain on the water and drawing her with him. Taking her out of the water, he wrapped a towel around her. Her body shuddered, sensitive to the slightest touch. She moistened her lips and looked up at him, her jeweled eyes meeting his. "It's happening again. I can feel it--a hunger spreading like fire through me. Is it you? Have you given me something like a drug? A chemical to make this happen? Have I turned into a nymphomaniac? Is it in my blood?"

  He shook his head. "Don' be silly. It's none of those things. Just know that when it happens to you, it also happens to me. We're in this together, Blue, and I'll get you through it. Look at me, I had you not even an hour ago and I'm all jacked up again."

  Bijou looked at him with rapt attention, at the size of his cock, and he felt himself jerk in response. They'd had violent sex, and yet that didn't matter. He knew she was sore. He knew her body needed rest. Hell. So did his. That didn't matter either, it seemed. His wayward cock had a mind of its own, just as her poor abused body did.

  He reached out and caught the nape of her neck, leaning a little toward her. "I sat on that damned balcony three nights in a row, so hard I thought I'd break into pieces if I dared to even move. I made up stories in my mind, all those erotic images of you kneeling at my feet, your beautiful lips wrapped around my cock givin' me relief."

  She bit down on her lower lip, her blue eyes rising to meet his. The impact hit him hard, like a punch to the gut. The tip of her tongue came out and she licked at her lips as if the thought was intriguing. "I want to, Remy. I dreamt of pleasin' you that way, maybe a million times, but I honestly don't know how. I'm a fast learner," she added. "I read books just in case you wanted me. I didn't want to disappoint you."

  "You could never disappoint me, Bijou. The key to being good at this is to enjoy it. If you do, and I know you want me like that and that you enjoy having me in your mouth, lovin' me that way, anything you do will be perfect."

  "Would you help me learn? If you talk me through it and have patience . . ." She trailed off.

  The hopeful note in her voice tugged at his heart. She was squirming again. The Han Vol Dan was so close and her leopard was definitely a very sexual passionate animal, just as his was. She wouldn't give Bijou any relief, her heat driving her to mate.

  He put a little pressure on her shoulders, silently commanding her to kneel. "I'm a very good teacher," he told her hoarsely.

  He was not going to last long, his passion rising to meet hers. He would have to be inside of her soon. The thrall was on both of them, not just Bijou, and he couldn't stop himself from taking her again and again, no matter the cost to either of them.

  Who could resist the sight of Bijou, her long hair falling around her soft skin, on her knees looking up at him with dark desire in her incredible eyes? He needed her mouth wrapped around his cock. He was already dripping in anticipation.

  Her breasts rose and fell, her nipples harder than ever. She wanted this every bit as much as he did, and that had him nearly falling to his own knees. He nudged her knees a little farther apart with his foot, enjoying the reality of her rather than an image. Her body was open to his, needy like his, and she licked her lips again as if she couldn't wait to taste him.

  Already he could scent her call, that wild lavender honey wafting up from between her thighs to tease his senses and drive him insane with need all over again. She was leopard, she would take to every passionate, erotic lesson he gave her. He let her look her fill and then he caught her hair in his fist and urged her chin up. "Explore with your tongue. Get to know me. Every part of me. I belong to you, so take your time and enjoy yourself."

  He wasn't altogether certain he could give her that time, but he found he needed this from her. Her hands touched him tentatively at first, stroking little caresses that made him want to growl. Then she touched with more confidence, testing his weight, his girth, holding his balls and rolling them gently. He threw back his head at the first stroke of her tongue. Featherlight. Velvet soft. He wasn't going to survive this night.

  He used the back of his hand to gently caress the sides of her face, encouraging her as she built up her courage. It was all he could do not to force himself to thrust his cock into her mouth. Fire burned over him when her tongue stroked and licked and then she sucked at his heavy sac. This wasn't going to work, not when she was so sensuous and obviously into pleasing his every whim. He would never last.

  "Blue, I need your mouth around me. Suck on me hard." Now his voice was nearly gone, just a hard command that was more growl than voice.

  Bijou licked up the shaft, swirled her tongue around the ridge and down under the head of his cock. His breath hissed out of him as she licked over the head and then pushed down, taking it into the heat of her mouth. The suction was tight and her tongue teased over his hard flesh. He forgot all about teaching her anything. There was no way he could allow her to explore much longer, not if he planned on being inside of her.

  Her scent beckoned him, a wild call he couldn't ignore, not even for the ecstasy of her mouth moving over him with such care. She was squirming, her hips undulating in desperation, yet she still did her best to please him.

  He tugged at her hair, waiting until she looked up at him. Her eyes were nearly pure cat, glowing at him like two glittering jewels in the night.

  "I need to be inside you, chere. Right now. There's all the time in the world for you to pleasure me like this, but right now, I need something else." He drew her up and pointed to the bed. "Kneel down there."

  Bijou did as he commanded without question. He knew exhaustion didn't matter. Inhibitions didn't count. She had no more choice than he did. All he could do was make their joining the most pleasurable and passionate he could.

  In the end, as dawn crept in, and she finally fell into a fitful sleep, he had no real idea of how many times he had taken her, only that each time she had screamed in pleasure, her body riding his as he took them both to paradise again and again.

  Remy looked down at Bijou sprawled across the bed, her skin marred with his fingermarks, and the teeth of his leopard. He'd marked her--claimed her in the manner of his people, a primitive ritual, but it served its purpose of warning off other males, and making certain the emerging female leopard accepted the male. Bijou Breaux was formally now and forever . . . his.

  7

  "YOU really pissed off someone," Gage said, hands on his hips, as he surveyed the damage to his brother's apartment.

  Remy noted with an inner smile that his younger brother had positioned himself protectively just a little in front of Remy. He knew without a doubt, if there was t
rouble, he could shove his brother out of the way, but it would slow him down by a second or two. On the other hand, it was a good feeling to know his brother had those protective instincts--for him.

  "I guess I did," Remy admitted with some satisfaction. He looked around the small apartment he rented in New Orleans. His home would always be the bayou, but it wasn't always convenient to make his way that distance every night, so he kept a place closer to the police station.

  "He really tore up your apartment," Gage said. "I don' think there's anythin' left."

  "I don' keep anythin' of value here," Remy replied and took a long, slow look around the sitting room of his apartment.

  Everything was smashed. His end tables, his lamps. The television set that had been on the wall was shattered, leaving a huge hole in the Sheetrock. The couch and recliner cushions were slashed and the stuffing torn out.

  "I'd say he was in a rage," Gage said. He glanced at his brother. "What did you do?"

  Remy shrugged. "I kissed a girl."

  "I hope she was worth it," Gage said, and stepped back, closer to his brother in order to peer into the bedroom.

  Remy knew the exact moment Gage inhaled and caught his scent. His head swung around, eyes wide with shock.

  "What the hell have you done, Remy?" he asked, swinging around to fully face his brother. "You have Bijou's scent all over you. There's no mistakin' . . ." He trailed off, suddenly catching that other much more elusive scent shadowing Bijou's. He inhaled sharply. "She's . . ."

  Remy nodded. "Leopard. Mine." He made that very clear. "This bastard has been stalkin' her. He's not going to get away with it."

  Gage held up his hand, shaking his head. "Wait a minute. I need a moment here. You claimed Bijou Breaux? The multimillionaire, born with a silver spoon in her mouth, daughter of a legend? Are you out of your mind?"

  "I've been asked that more than once, and watch your mouth." Remy shrugged lightly, but his hands closed into fists, the ache in his knuckles telling him his leopard was close.

  "Get real, Remy. She's slummin', comin' back to New Orleans. You think she's a hometown girl? She's never been one of us. She's elegant and stylish and she's restless as hell. She's used to livin' a lifestyle on red carpets with jet-setters and private jets. We don' belong there and never have. She's come here on a whim, putting her club together and her cutesy little apartment." Gage laid a hand on his brother's arm. "She's goin' to rip your heart apart. She'll never stay."