Hunger Untamed (Feral Warriors #5)(17)

Watching her with those pale eyes, he dipped his head, his mouth replacing his hand, his warm lips caressing her sensitive neck, his soft beard tickling her skin. She shivered, the need growing. As if he sensed her weakening, he grasped her waist, his hands sliding beneath her shirt, his fingers cool against the heat of her skin.

She inhaled deeply, arching at the delicious touch of him. Goddess, she had to get control. Already, her breathing was turning shallow, her br**sts aching for the feel of his hands. Or mouth.

Think, Ariana. Seduce him. Seduction came as easily as breathing to an Ilina. Pleasure--her own and others'--was a necessary source of strength for a mist warrior. The challenge was to avoid falling into the seduction herself.

"Let me see you." Her voice sounded husky even to her own ears. "I want to see you, Kougar." At the thought of him removing his clothes, her body began to give off the mating scent few immortal males, and no human, could resist.

His eyes darkened. Her own quick glance below his waist told her his body was more than ready.

Behind her contacts, her eyes began to tingle in a way that told her they'd started to sparkle with sexual heat--another natural seduction she hadn't felt in far too long. There'd been no one in a millennium whom she'd wanted to seduce. But her eyes would do little to attract him hidden, as they were, behind the contacts she'd worn for years in the unlikely event she stumbled into the path of an immortal who might recognize her too-blue eyes for what they were--Ilina eyes.

"Release one of my hands, Kougar. My contacts are growing uncomfortable."

"No." The word came out rough, little more than a growl. "Leave them in." His own eyes had turned silver, his pupils dilated. His breaths were becoming as shallow as her own.

It was a game they both played, now. Maintain as much control as possible while seducing the other. It was a game he wouldn't win. But could she?

"Let me see you, Kougar," she said huskily. "Take off your shirt for me."

He ignored her, his mouth moving lower, to the flesh bared by the vee neck of her scrubs. His hands rose beneath her shirt, his fingers brushing against her abdomen, then sliding up and over her br**sts to claim them. The feel of his hands on her, cupping her, squeezing her, had her arching into his touch and gasping with true pleasure.

He released her suddenly, and she made a sound of dismay before she could stop herself, then quieted, holding her breath when he reached behind her to unfasten her bra. A moment later, he pushed the lacy garment up and out of his way, covering her br**sts, skin to skin, her sensitive ni**les brushing the rough curve of his palms.

Her head tipped back at the achingly right feel of his touch. She reveled in the roughness of that touch, which revealed his own growing need. He dipped his head, pushing her shirt out of his way with an impatient tug, and sucked the fullness of one hungry breast deep into his mouth.

Ariana moaned, her hips rocking, her body hot and wet, burning to be filled by this man whose touch she'd missed so desperately. "Kougar . . ."

Still suckling her breast, he grasped the waistband of her pants with hands as unsteady as the pounding of her heart and pushed them down over her hips. With a low growl, he released her breast, meeting her gaze with eyes like hot steel before he stepped back and turned his attention to her feet. With quick, efficient movements, he pulled off her shoes and socks, then yanked her pants down her legs and off.

She stood shaking before him, wanting what he was about to give even as her heart rebelled.

His breathing shallow and erratic, he rose and met her gaze again, a rich, carnal promise in his eyes. And a hard determination that told her that he was still firmly in control. Ripping that control from him was never going to happen. This was his game, his experiment--to see if he could make her turn to mist.

And he was going to fail.

But oh how her body looked forward to the trial, even as her heart ached at the callousness of it. She longed to tell him the truth--that she'd never lost her soul. That she loved him still and always had.

But the truth was far too dangerous. All she could do was play this out and keep him safe, the wreckage of her heart a price she gladly paid.

The breaths tore into Kougar's lungs, the oxygen barely reaching his brain as all the blood in his body pulsed and throbbed between his legs. He pressed his pelvis against hers, a hiss tearing between his teeth at the damp heat he swore he could feel even through the fabric of his pants. As if his cat had taken over, he found himself rubbing his cheek against her hair, marking her with his scent even as her own scent made his blood pound a deep, thunderous beat.

He was losing control.

He'd meant to excite Ariana to release, taking her with his fingers or his mouth, forcing her to turn to mist, proving to them both that she could--that she was either a liar or, at the very least, mistaken. But the moment he'd started to touch her, his need for her--for the woman she used to be--crashed over him like a pent-up wave.

He had to get this over with to prove his point and secure her cooperation. Then he'd be done with her once and for all. But his body wanted more. His cat growled at him to claim her completely, to make her his again as she'd once been. And the soft feelings he'd lived with for so long demanded that if this was the only time her body was to be his again, he savor every moment.

It was a mistake to give in, he knew that. The more he tasted her, the more he touched her, the more he remembered. And the deeper the pain corkscrewed into his heart that this wasn't the Ariana he wanted.