Two To Go: Bayou Heat (Pantera Security League Book 2) (8 page)

He could practically feel her smile. “What?”

“About you.”

She turned her head so she could plant openmouthed kisses over his chest.

“Boring,” she said in husky tones. “I can think of better ways to spend our time.”

His body hardened, in instant agreement with her unspoken suggestion of how they could be spending their time.

But that would come. Later.

With a low growl he rolled to pin her beneath his large body, grabbing her wrists to pull her arms above her head.

“You might be able to deflect everyone else, but not me,” he warned, leaning down until they were nose to nose. “I’m stubborn enough to break through your walls.”

“I bet you are,” she whispered, canting her hips. “I think you should break through my walls right now.”

“Ely,” he warned.

She bared her teeth, hissing at him. “You’re being tiresome. There’s nothing to say.”

He swallowed the urge to laugh. She was such a cat. Instead, he growled right back at her.

Clearly, they were going to have a constant skirmish to see who was alpha. It was a battle he looked forward to with savage anticipation.

“You say you have no family,” he started. “What happened to your parents?”

Wariness darkened her eyes.

He tightened his grip on her wrists. “Come on, female. Give me something here.”

“They’re not in the picture,” she ground out.

He released an exasperated sigh. “That answer sucks.”

“Well, it’s the only one I have.”

“I doubt that.”

There was a long silence and he took the opportunity to move down a few inches and take one of her nipples into his mouth. After a sharp suckle, he whispered against the pointy tip, “You’re going to talk to me. This can’t work, we can’t work, unless you open up and let me see who you really—”

“Fine. My parents are dead, and I was kidnapped when I was five, okay?” The words came out in a breathy rush.

Max stilled.
Well…shit.
That wasn’t what he’d been expecting. He left her breast and lifted his eyes to meet hers again. Her suddenly pale face bothered him, and he stared at her with open sympathy. Granted, he hadn’t been kidnapped, but he understood the pain of being violently separated from his family. It’d left wounds that he wasn’t sure would ever fully heal.

“I’m sorry, about your parents,” he said. “Was it Benson Enterprises? Who took you?”

She gave a slow shake of her head. “No, it was a few local assholes who were hoping to blackmail my parents for my return.”

Her voice was completely stripped of emotion, he noticed. Which warned him that this was definitely a traumatic moment in her life. It was a pattern with her. The more she emotionally vulnerable she felt, the more aggressively she tried to pretend it meant nothing.

“It wasn’t until after they’d snatched me that they realized I wasn’t…normal.”

Although he’d been made a Pantera by blood infusions, Max had seen a few of the pure Pantera male children who had been brought to the lab. They’d been vicious fighters who’d been able to take out more than one guard. He’d always wondered what had happened to them. Maybe he’d find out.

“Did you bite them?” he asked.

Fierce satisfaction settled on her face. “Maybe once or twice.”

“Good.” He studied the shadows that lurked in the back of her eyes. Her memories haunted her, perhaps even more than his did. Maybe because she hadn’t dealt with them. “What happened after you were taken?”

She licked her lips and released an irritated breath, clearly wanting to tell him to go to hell. Deep-seated distrust flickered in her eyes. She didn’t open up, to anyone, he’d be willing to bet.

“They took me to the jungle and dumped me in the river. Are we done now?”

Max sucked in a sharp breath and released her arms. He took her face in his hands. It was impossible to imagine being just five years old and not only being ripped from your family but tossed in the middle of a jungle.

It didn’t matter if she was Pantera or not.

“Damn.” Sympathy twisted his gut into a tight knot. “You were just a baby.”

She shrugged. “It was fine. I may not have been able to release my cat, but she helped me to survive anyway—until I was taken in by a local village.”

He wasn’t fooled for a second by her nonchalant tone. How did he get in there? Her heart? “You must have been terrified.”

Her lashes swept downward, hiding her eyes. “Like I said, I survived.”

Anger blasted through him. Frustration too. She wouldn’t be broken. Those walls. Those damned walls she kept not only building, but fortifying. Hell, he’d shared his nightmare with her. If this was going to happen between them, she needed to be able to trust him, open up to him.

“Why can’t you just admit that you were frightened to be a child alone in the wilderness?” he pressed. He waited for her to meet his glare. When she didn’t, he leaned down to nip her lower lip in warning. “Elyon?”

She muttered a curse, then her lashes lifted to reveal eyes that glowed with annoyance.

“Yes, I was afraid,” she snapped. “Satisfied?”

Max ignored her burst of temper. He suspected that trying to earn her trust was going to be an ongoing battle. But he’d win. He was a stubborn beast.

“No,” he said bluntly. “I don’t like when you do that.”

She blinked, almost as if she didn’t even realize that she’d so effectively shut him out.

“Do what?”

He held her gaze, his fingers tightening around her wrists. “You’re not allowed to hide your emotions from me.”

She pressed her lips together, eying him with blatant suspicion. “Most males are happy not to have to deal with emotions.”

He bent his head, pressing his lips against hers in a fierce kiss. “I’m not most males.”

She melted against him. “True.”

He continued to kiss her. No battles of the tongue and teeth. Just slow, drugging passion to share as their flesh heated up once again.

“No more hiding,” he commanded, lifting his head to study her flushed face with a brooding gaze. “Deal?”

She wrinkled her nose. “I’ll try.”

His lips twitched with humor.
What a shocker. She’s stubborn too.
“Who finally came for you? Who found you? A Pantera?”

She was caught off guard by the question. “Yes, Raphael found me.”

Without warning, Max was the one who was fighting back a surge of anger. A male’s name had crossed her lips. After he’d just tasted them. He didn’t like the way her features had softened and her scent deepened at the mention of— “Raphael?” he ground out.

One eyebrow drew up at his fierce tone. “He’s the leader of our species. Of the Pantera.”

“Is he your lover?” he snarled.

“No, of course not,” she breathed in shock. “He has a mate and a small daughter.”

“But you care about him,” he pressed.

“He’s a friend. A mentor.” She lifted her head to brush her lips along the line of his tense jaw. “A member of the
sort of
family I mentioned before.”

His eyes were pinned to hers, and he felt like his guts were twisting. And that thing under his chest, that vibrating thing was sending up shots of adrenaline and possessiveness.

“Hey, dude,” she said, smiling up at him wickedly. “Where’s that trust you want from me?”

On a soft growl, Max released her wrists, and spread her legs with his thigh. “Maybe we’d better talk about what we are, Ely.”

Her eyes instantly softened and sparkled. “Oh, yes. Let’s do that. Let’s
talk
.”

“I’m serious.”

“I know you are.”

He rose up and entered slowly, stretching her with each inch, before halting and holding himself there. “Who you belong to. Who I belong to.”

The warm heat of her, the way her muscles closed around him and squeezed, his mind threatened to explode. But he forced the thing to remain clear. He wanted an answer from her, needed it.

She reached for him, for his braid, which had fallen over one shoulder. Slowly, almost lovingly, she pulled off the band and released his hair. The long black strands fell forward and made a curtain around them.

“Wow,” she breathed, wrapping her legs around his waist and holding on tight. “You are something else, Max.” Her eyes lifted to meet his. “And make no mistake, you belong to me. Have from the second I walked into this place.”

He growled at her.

“Now, show me,” she said with a smile. “Prove it. Mark me. Not on the outside of my body like some in our world. But inside.” Her eyes flashed with the heat of her cat. “Deep.”

Mind.

Blown.

Gone.

Hers.

And as the night outside grew darker still, he thrust into the female he was certain would rule his heart for eternity. Just as she’d commanded: deep, marking her well and good as he buried himself in every inch of her hot, creamy walls.

Elyon pulled her shirt over her head, then grabbed her boots. She’d taken a quick shower to wake her sex-addled brain, though she’d wanted to keep his scent on her for as long as possible. Maybe when they returned to the Wildlands, she’d shove him up against a wall again. Or hell, on the plane ride home. Those bathrooms were just the right size for one standing, one on their knees.

She was desperate to taste him.

That long, thick—

Her phone vibrated on the low nightstand, cutting off her oh-so heavenly thoughts. After shoving her foot in her remaining boot, she reached for it.

Thanks, E. 2 fists to my very pretty face & a bullet that grazed my ass.

She rolled her eyes at Leo’s dramatics.
Did you get them?

Who or what do you think I am?

Dangerous question, bro. Lab’s still not back w/the results.

Ha ha. Fuck u.

She laughed, feeling a strange, new sensation. Happiness? Satisfaction? Possibility? Whatever it was, she could figure it out later. Right now, they were so out of here, and
yippee!
she would get her sweaty plane time sooner than expected.

Nice people, btw. Scared shitless.

Not surprised. Been through hell.

Ok. On our way to the meeting point. C U.

“What’s going on?” Max moved to stand behind her, his massive arms loosely wrapping around her waist as he nuzzled her neck.

Elyon went soft and warm in seconds. She pressed back against his chest, marveling at how easy it was to accept his strength, his possession. Only hours ago she would have kicked the ass of anyone stupid enough to try and hold her so intimately.

“Your parents are safe.”

She felt a tremor race through his body and turned to face him. He was a fearsome thing. A true warrior. Dark, dangerous, broad, and bad, his black hair loose around his shoulders. She knew just how he would be in the ring. Merciless. Tireless. But right then, gazing down at her he looked…young. Vulnerable.

“You’re sure?” he asked, his voice threaded with disbelief.

“See for yourself.” She held up her phone, pressing on the video that had just hit her inbox.
Thank you, Leo, even though you’re a douchebag most of the time.

Instantly the image of an older couple became visible. It looked like they were seated in the back of a moving car, their lined faces wreathed with smiles even as their eyes remained dark with concern.

“Max, we’re on our way to something called the Wildlands,” his mother said, leaning toward the camera as if physically willing her son to listen to her plea. “Please get out of that awful place. We’re safe, and we love you.”

A rough sound wrenched from Max’s throat, and he did the strangest, most amazing thing. He let his head drop to her shoulder. The gesture did something to her. Unraveled her. Like she’d been a ball of twine—always been a ball of twine—since she was just five and was stolen away from all that she knew.

Tightly bound.

But this male was slowly tickling the frayed edges of that twine, encouraging her, making her believe she was both needed and wanted. Making her crave a connection that was far deeper than friendship or even what she had always believed mating to be.

With Cerviel, with all of the Pantera, she’d thought taking a mate was a normal progression of time, and the body’s understanding that it had found its sexual equal.

Well, it was true she’d definitely found that. In fact, she was going to have to eat a lot of protein to keep up with this one. But as Max lifted his head and found her gaze, she knew why Cerviel had acted the way he had outside the safe house, why he didn’t seem to give a shit if Raphael kicked him out of The Six. Why he wouldn’t leave Hallie for anything. Real and true mating fused hearts for life.

Even damaged ones.

Perhaps most especially damaged ones.

She ran comforting hands up and down the curve of his broad back. He’d showered too and he smelled good, soap and his unique Pantera musk. In turn, he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to the side of her neck.

“You ready, baby?” he said against her skin.

She shivered. No one called her those names, those endearments. She hadn’t allowed it. But with him, all she said was, “Always.”
For you. Always.

Raking his teeth over the thin band of muscle at her neck, he groaned. “You’re going to be my addiction. Wanting more. Never enough.”

“Let’s hope so.”

He eased back and gave her a hungry grin. “My Ely.”

Yes.

Then he planted a quick kiss on her mouth before he released her.

She watched as he pulled on a pair of gray sweats over his boxers, and a matching hoodie over the most beautiful chest ever created.

“Why did you get the angel wings?” she asked him.

He paused. “Pretty simple actually. I wanted to cover the scars of my imprisonment with a symbol of my freedom.”

Not twenty-four hours ago, Elyon would’ve nodded at that answer. Made sense. Moving on. That sort of thing. But tonight, her eyes fixed on her mate, her heart his for the taking and the holding, she felt a pull…from her insides to his. Her cat to his. Her soul to his. She knew what true freedom felt like after not having it for so long. And she was so thankful he had it now.