The Cougar's Timid Little Lynx (Sweet Water) (9 page)

Joey continued to play, and when Luke made his way back toward her and sat down, that low simmering arousal slammed back into her full force. She placed her hands on her lap, twisted her fingers together, and despite her clenching inner muscles desperately aching for something substantial, she kept thinking about what Talia said. Should she bring it up
, or let him tell her on his own time? There was no doubt Alice wanted to know what his sister had meant when she talked about the female he once loved, and why it had taken five years for him to recover from it. So many questions flew through her mind, but she kept her mouth shut, and knew that she wouldn’t have liked someone prying into her life before she was ready to let them in.

For the next ten minutes they stayed quiet, and as much as Alice wanted to talk to him, to get back to that spot where there was just electricity sparking between them, making absolutely no sense, but feeling so right on every single level. “Luke—”

“Alice.” They looked at each other at the same time, and she held her breath when he ran the pad of his thumb along her bottom lip until she was trembling. He had his eyes lowered as he stroked her lip, as if he were transfixed by it. “I feel I should be honest with you, too, but I don’t want to do it here.” He smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes, and then he dropped his hand and faced forward.

“Can I make you dinner tonight, Luke?” He looked at her sharply, and she saw the way his Adam’s apple bobbed when he swallowed. “I’d really like to make you dinner, Luke.”
There was surprise on his face, and she smiled widely.

“I’d love that, Alice.” They turned back to watch
Joey play, and when he reached over for her hand, entwined his fingers with hers, and rested their hands on his thigh, it was the most relaxed she had been in a very long time, and she didn’t want it to end.

Alice tucked Joey in and
shut the door quietly behind her. Before she went back to the living room to be with Luke she headed into the kitchen and poured them both a glass of wine. She rarely drank, but she knew both of them might need a little something to help them relax. With a glass in each hand she made her way back to Luke and stopped when she reached the entryway. He made her couch look like it should be in a dollhouse, and she found herself smiling. As if he sensed her he slowly turned only his head. At that moment, with his blue eyes looking so dark, she saw his cougar flashing right below the surface.

“Come here, Alice.” Her nipples instantly hardened
at the rough timbre of his voice, and her pussy became wet, swollen. She moved on unsteady feet, her hands slightly shaky with each step she took. When she was seated beside him, he took the glasses from her and set them on the coffee table. He turned her toward him with a hand on each of her shoulders, took both of her hands, and started to tell her what he hadn’t been able to say earlier. “Five years ago I thought I was in love. I was even going to marry her.” Alice’s heart threatened to burst through her ribs. Apparently he wanted to just get this over with, but that was all right with her because she would rather it just be done quickly so they could move forward. That revelation stunned her, because she meant it with every fiber of her being. “But she betrayed me. I broke off the engagement, and spent the next five years wallowing in my own hatred and anger, not being able to trust anyone, and wondering if I would ever find a female that I could give my heart and soul to.” His gaze was penetrating, as if he was staring right through her soul. “I thought I loved her, thought my heart was right there with her, but once I had let go I realized that there wasn’t anything there that was meaningful or genuine. She broke my heart, ruined me, and betrayed me with other men, and because of that I lost trust in a lot of things.”

The anguish in his voice felt like her own, and she wanted to reach for him, bring him closer, and show him that not everything was bad. Alice had just realized that, and all it had taken was meeting her mate and feeling
the joy and happiness that he brought blossom inside of her. It was strange to have feelings this strong for a person she had just met such a short time ago, but they were what they were, and they made her feel good and happy.

“I’m sorry
she hurt you, Luke. I am so sorry.” And she was, because his pain surrounded her, seeped into her, and made her feel like she had been right there with him, experiencing what he had. Was this how mates felt with each other? Would it always be this way? She didn’t know what else to say, because even if he still kept his hard composure and mask of indifference, Alice sensed that he was uncomfortable with talking about this.

“Alice?”

“Yeah?” Her voice was nothing more than a whisper.

“No more apologies remember?” His voice was just as soft, and everything around her stilled as he started to slowly move closer. She felt so small beside him, like if he wrapped his arms around her she would be fully encased in his hard warmth. All she could do was nod and stare at his mouth as it got closer, and closer, and closer, until they were only separated by a hairbreadth. “I want to kiss you so badly, Alice.” The way his lips moved, slowly, sensually, had her core tightening almost painfully. “Tell me it’s okay. Tell me that you’re mine, and I fucking promise you that I will be gentle and kind to you always, baby.”

His coarse language and declaration had her breathing increasing, and before she realized what was happening, and for the first time in her life, her lynx was rising to the surface and taking control of the situation. She speared her hands in his hair, and pulled him close so there wasn’t any space that separated them any longer. All it took was her taking the initiative before Luke’s cougar was coming out, taking control in a way Alice had never dreamed of, but that she enjoyed. It didn’t make her feel weak or restrained, but free and cared for.

Their lips touched, and then he was stroking his tongue along her bottom lip, urging her to open for him, which she gladly did.
The strength that poured inside of her sucked her breath away, had her heart pounding, and made her toes and fingers tingle. Now it was he who speared his hands in her hair, tilting her head so that he could deepen the kiss, stroke his tongue along hers, and elicit a deep, haggard groan from her.

“You taste so good, smell so good, and I won’t ever be able to get enough.”

Mouth opened wide, tongues moving together in a very erotic way, and pussy so wet she felt her panties grow even wetter, all Alice could do was hold on. This was certainly something she thought about, but never thought she’d be strong enough to follow through with. She gripped his biceps, those hard mountains of muscle that were like steel beneath her palms, promising the full power that lay right below the surface.

“You’ll trust me, baby, trust me to take care of you, to make sure nothing bad ever happens to you or Joey?” He whispered the words against her mouth, and when she nodded, because
nothing felt as good and right as it did being right here with Luke, he started to trail his lips down her jaw and to her neck. She could feel how hard and frantic her pulse was beating right below her ear, and Luke decided to drag his tongue along it, causing it to jump and throb wildly.

“What are you doing to me, Luke?” It was a rhetorical question, because obviously she knew what he was doing, but her thoughts and feelings were shifting, and the fear that had held her down for so long was starting to disintegrate with every word he spoke, and every touch he delivered.

“I’m trying to heal us, Alice. I’m trying to make two broken pieces whole again.” He took her mouth before she could respond, but she didn’t even know if she could have. He broke her heart, but made her feel so happy all in the same breath. He was so heartbreakingly perfect for her, that right now she truly believed in fate and destiny, and how things really did work out for the best. He used his upper body to gently push her back against the cushions. Once she was lying flat with his broad, hard chest against hers, his soft, warm mouth mimicking an act she wanted him to do between her thighs, and feeling his very big erection press right against her damp pussy, Alice knew that short of a natural disaster she wouldn’t stop this. He tasted like a wild animal, acted like he wanted to devour her, and made her feel wholly feminine.

“I don’t want you to stop, Luke.” She said the words because she knew he would have asked her regardless, and she wasn’t going to let her insecurities or fear creep up and spoil this one perfect moment. He pulled back, but only enough that he could look into her eyes. It seemed like forever that he just stared down at her, his shaft practically throbbing behind his jeans, pressing against her clit and causing the already swollen bundle of nerves to grow even more sensitive. The shirt she wore was
thin cotton and her bra thinner yet. The dual material did nothing to hide the outline of her stiff nipples, and when he slowly dragged his eyes over her body and stopped at her chest, she swore the peaks hardened further.

“You want me.” She knew he was talking to himself by the almost awed quality in his voice. “Your arousal is so thick, coming off of you like a potent perfume.” He snapped his eyes to her face once more
, and in a voice that was slightly distorted from his animal brushing up against the surface, he said, “Everything about you makes me so fucking hot, makes my cock so damn hard, and makes my cougar want to tear you up in the best of ways.” Never had a male talked to her so passionately that she actually felt the words. “I won’t pressure you, Alice, never, but I need to know that you’re mine.” This was nothing like the obsessed need she felt with Joshua. Being with Luke was like a whole other world, one where she only felt pleasure and elation. Could she actually say something so deep to a male that she had meet just weeks ago? Mating was no joke, and the intensity in which it claimed a person was like someone ripping her heart out with their bare hands.

He continued to lick and suck at her pulse, one of his hands right over her heart. His fingers were strong, so very long, and finding her courage once more, she gripped his wrist and moved his hand to where she wanted it
… right over an aching breast. His groan could be felt through every cell in her body, vibrating from his chest and spearing right into hers. Alice swore his cock jerked behind his pants at the same time he curled those wickedly potent fingers around her breasts.

“It’s so good, Alice.” He started sucking with fervor at her throat, and a whimper left her. “Your body was made for me, baby.” Luke stated to slowly push his jean clad shaft against her mound, and her wanton thoughts had her wishing she had worn a skirt. Although there was far too much material separating them, the sensations were like nothing she had ever encountered. Who was this woman that had taken over? The sounds coming from her were soft but distinct. They were ones of pleasure and need, and she didn’t bother hiding any of it.

“I don’t know what’s happening, Luke.” And she didn’t, but she also didn’t want it to stop. He didn’t move away from her neck, and instead started trailing his lips down her throat, over her collarbones, and stopped right above her heaving breasts. Alice had her eyes closed, but as soon as she felt his warm, humid breath brushing along the top of her breasts, the way that light waft of air skimmed along the flesh that was slightly popped out over the top of her shirt, had her snapping her eyes open and watching Luke. He didn’t stop and give her time to acclimate to what he was doing, because he knew she wanted this, knew that for a fact since she had given herself to him without preamble.

“Your mate is taking you, baby.” He curled his fingers along the hem of her blouse, pulled the stretchy material down until the edge of her bra peeked out.
“Tell me you want your mate to take you, that you
need
for me to claim you.” The force of her breathing, of her violently lifting and falling chest had those twin mounds nearly coming into contact with his mouth that stood only an inch away.

“I want you, Luke. I have never felt these things moving inside of me, but I want more, Luke. God, I really want more.”

He groaned, and the look of ravenous rapture on his face was clear. Slowly, so agonizingly slowly, he started to thrust against her, bringing his hardness to her softness. “I can smell how wet you are for me.” He lowered his head until his lips brushed along her flesh, right above her breast. Alice was too far gone to stop this, and curled her fingers into his biceps even more, knowing that it had to be painful, but only hearing a deep, satisfied groan come from him. “You doing okay, baby?” She nodded, not trusting her voice. “I want to touch you, Alice. Can I touch you, baby?”

“Yes, Luke. Please touch me.”

That was all he needed from her before he pulled her top down, unlatched her front clasped bra, and bared her breasts for him. He pulled back and made a sound that had her flesh tightening in anticipation. His pupils dilated as he stared at her exposed body. “So fucking perfect.” He attacked her right breast, sucking and licking, nipping and caressing the mound until the blood rushed angrily to the surface. She found herself thrusting her chest further into his mouth. Alternating between her right and left breasts, Luke didn’t relent on the pleasure, didn’t stop the delicious torture, and had her shamelessly lifting her hips to meet his.

They
were intimate, but there was no penetration, and it was driving her mad. How could she become so lost, so unhinged from a male this quickly? How could he so easily help her ugly past fade into the distance? He pulled back suddenly, and she was left lying beneath him, her entire body in flames, and the need to feel every single part of him riding her hard. Luke ran a hand over his jaw, one that had a hint of day old scruff, and stared down at her. He looked feral at that moment, and so very attractive. He also seemed bigger, more muscular, and she knew his shirt hadn’t been that tight around his arms and chest moments before. A deep inhalation proved he was close to shifting, that he was so aroused that it was hard for him to even keep collected.