Dark Hunger

It was his turn to yell. The sound ripped from his throat when her mouth engulfed him, took him deep into her throat and began a slow, sensuous foray. I thought I would find out how you taste. Whether you're hot and spicy and tangy. Her teasing laughter played over his senses and stroked at his body. He lost time, drifting in the waves of the pool lapping at his body, with her hot mouth and tongue bringing him to a fever pitch. When he could no longer stay still, he moved his hips into her, letting her take charge of the rhythm, set the pace. She teased him to the brink of an orgasm, sucking hard and lavishing attention with her tongue, only to slide her mouth loosely over him, her teeth gentle. I love to feel what you feel. I love to hear the roar in your head and know I can put it there just by doing this. Her mouth pulled at him. His hands fisted in her hair, his hips growing more urgent, more frantic in his response. She took him deep, working him until he was so caught in her spell, so far gone with pleasure he couldn't think straight.

'Finish it or let me have you,' he managed to hiss out between his teeth.

She complied, her soft, taunting laughter only teasing his senses more. Juliette reveled in her power. He was enormously strong and dangerous, and yet he needed her. You need fun in your life, Riordan. You really do need me.

Damn it. He growled it in her mind, his hands bunching in her hair.

Her mouth sent him deliberately over the edge, milking him as her teasing laughter burned in his brain. She was etched in his very bones for all time. He would never be able to go back to what he had been. And he would never be able to be without her. She carried light with her and she made him feel it in the unrelenting darkness that had been his home.

She ducked under the water, pushing away from him. Riordan reached out and caught her, dragging her back. He pushed the wet hair from her face and stared down at her. His miracle. 'I do need you,' he admitted. If she could be brave and honest and admit what she wanted and needed he could do no less. 'You are everything.'

Chapter 7

'I need blood, Juliette. The night is slipping away from us. We must return to your family at full strength. I would love to spend the rest of my days here, making love to you and discovering the secrets of my lifemate, but I must have sustenance to renew my strength.' Riordan waded out of the pool and held out his hand to her.

Juliette took her time, her eyes taking her fill of him. 'I swore I would never have anything to do with a man. The men I've known have no knowledge of caring.' She looked down at the ground. 'It's a terrible thing to grow up being ashamed of what you are, knowing you might give birth to a male of the species and no matter what you do, how much you love him, how you raise him, his nature will always prevent him from loving you back.'

His fingers settled around her wrist and he drew her to him. 'I have lived many years and have found that each species has both strengths and weaknesses. The males of the jaguar race are wanderers, but the ones I encountered cared about their women. They could not settle down and the continual drive to perpetuate their race became their downfall. They would not stay with one female, though I believe many of them tried and were very distressed that they could not.' He drew her into his arms to comfort her. 'The rain forest here in South America is very large and there are no borders in the jungle. We settled in Brazil, on the edge of the forest, but we travel from country to country to insure the safety of the inhabitants. In our travels we often encounter the males. They are all solitary creatures. We had been instructed by our prince to avoid them if possible, but often we spoke with them. Jaguars, like our species, are on the verge of extinction. They are intelligent and know they contributed to their own extinction, yet they still could not stop what nature dictated.' And a part of him felt very much as if they deserved their fate when they refused to treasure their women and children.

'You're saying it's not their fault.' Juliette pulled out of his arms, turning her face away from him as she gathered her clothes with shaking hands. She stepped into her jeans and dragged them up over her bare skin, blinking back tears. That was twice she'd nearly cried in front of him. She didn't cry. Not because of a man.

'We are not talking about the rogue males, the ones out of control and doing harm to their women. They should be brought to justice, not allowed to be kidnapping and raping women with the idea of creating baby machines.' He took the shirt from her hands and turned her around to face him, tipping up her chin so she had to meet his dark gaze. 'I may be rough, Juliette, and I will admit I have long ago forgotten how to be gentle, but I would never harm a woman unless she threatened my life or my people. It is not done.'

She framed his face, her palms resting along his shadowed jaw. 'You're gentle enough for me.' And he was. He moved her like no other man had ever done-or ever could. They had come together in fire, burning hot and out of control, yet then he had stroked tender caresses down her body with a trembling hand, sitting her on his lap, cupping her breasts reverently.

Riordan leaned down to kiss her upturned face, taking his time, lingering over it. His heart found the rhythm of hers. 'You are an unexpected gift. I am not a man to throw such things away.'

She took her shirt from him and slipped into it.

He reached out to pull the edges of the material together over her generous breasts. 'Even in your clothes, you look so sexy I am uncertain whether or not I can keep my hands off of you.' He lifted the soft weight of her breast, his fingers sliding over creamy skin. 'Your skin is so soft and warm and inviting.' He bent down and drew her nipple into the heat of his mouth, unable to resist the temptation.

Juliette closed her eyes, pressing closer to him, wrapping her arms around his head, holding him to her while waves of pleasure coursed through her body, swamped her utterly and completely. She loved the way he indulged himself with her body. She loved that he enjoyed her so much and that he obviously wanted her to feel the same about him. 'We're never going to leave this spot if we keep this up,' she murmured, wanting to strip off her jeans and wrap her legs firmly around his waist. 'I think sex with you is addicting.'

'I cannot help myself.' His tongue teased her nipple into a hard peak before reluctantly releasing her. 'Your body is such a temptation.'

Her fingers drifted over his heavy erection. 'There you go again, blaming it on me. I see you like this, hard and thick and so in need, and naturally I want to do something about it.'

He groaned. 'I have no discipline around you.' He tugged at the jeans until they were down around her ankles and she could kick them aside. 'If I do not get some relief, I doubt I will be able to walk, let alone battle any vampires. What do you intend to do about it?'

She circled his neck with her arms and pulled herself up his body, wrapping her legs tightly around his waist. 'I thought I would just take a ride,' she whispered and licked his ear with a teasing tongue. Very slowly she settled over his penis, lowering herself with slow deliberation. As he began to push his way through her tight folds she shivered with pleasure. 'It's always so perfect with you.' She waited to move until he had filled her completely, sinking down onto his shaft so that she was impaled and full and every nerve ending was alive and sizzling with flames.

Riordan didn't wait for her, catching her hips in his hands and helping her with her sensuous ride; long, hard thrusts that went deep inside of her, joining them together. He loved the way her breasts rubbed against his chest, the way she threw her head back, obvious pleasure lighting her face. She purred, just like a cat, deepening the movement, as wild and uninhibited as he was. He was so tuned to her mind now, he could adjust his every movement to better give her pleasure. He knew the moment she wanted him to be slow and deep and he knew when she needed the hard, long strokes that sent fiery friction whipping through both of them.

Night shadows hid them in the small grotto. The wind rustled in the canopy overhead. Bats fluttered above the water, hitting insects just above the surface. Raindrops splattered into the pool. Juliette inhaled the scents of the night, the combined scent of man and woman. Her nails dug into Riordan's shoulders and back as wave after wave of orgasm burst through her. He shared the experience in her mind and the riptide of ecstasy coursing through her sent him over the edge. Juliette, merged so completely with Riordan, felt the pressure start deep in his core and explode through his body with the force of a locomotive. They fed each other passion and heat, a firestorm of pleasure that washed over and through them and left them breathless and clinging to one another.

Juliette fastened her mouth to his-hot, wet, hungry. She tried to crawl inside of him, share the same body, the same mind. Kisses went from greedy lust to slower, calmer, leisurely exploration, to long, lingering enjoyment. She lifted her head and looked into his eyes. They stared at one another for a long time, drinking each other in, falling into the depths of each other's eyes. 'I look at you and everything just comes together, Riordan. I don't know why,