Jaguars' Reward [Impulse 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  She adopted a fighting stance. “Bring it on, buster.”

  Vadim faced her, a slow smile lifting the corners of his mouth as they circled one another, each weighing up the chances of making an early strike.

  “Do we have to do this immediately?” he asked. “I’ve never fought with a hard-on before. It gives you an unfair advantage.”

  She glanced down at his cock. “If it remains that rigid it’ll give you the advantage. It could take a girl’s eye out.”

  Vadim moved quickly to avoid her side kick. “I’ve never thought of using it for that purpose before.”

  Her eyes locked onto his. It would be so easy for him to read her thoughts and anticipate her next move. “Don’t you dare!”

  “You knew what I was thinking?” Vadim hoisted a brow. “You must be more shifter than you think.”

  “It was written all over your face.”

  Vadim sensed a moment’s inattention and delivered a roundhouse kick. Or would have except she anticipated it and grabbed his leg, using hikite to pull him toward her. Damn, she was good! He struck out at her throat, relying on the speed of his reflexes to regain the upper hand. She swore and released him.

  “Ready to concede, big boy?” she taunted.

  “I’m ready to put you over my knee and spank that cute butt.”

  “That’ll work, too.”

  Vadim had to end this, and end it now. She was getting to him big-time. His cock was still standing to rigid attention and he was totally turned on by what they were doing. He saw his chance and lifted one foot into a crescent kick. Before she had time to figure out what was happening, he stopped the upward arc and the attacking foot came down on her from above, landing her on the floor, with him pinning her body down. Great, just great! This was exactly the position he’d planned not to end up in.

  Or had he?

  She was red in the face and breathing heavily, her eyes smoldering with desire.

  “I win,” he said, his lips mere inches from hers.

  “You got lucky.”

  Shit, this was bad news! His cock throbbed painfully, pressed against her thigh. Her tits rubbed against his chest, the large nipples solid peaks that cried out to be sucked. A thousand and one thoughts flitted through Vadim’s brain as the moment seemed to stretch into eternity. Only one of those thoughts persisted. He’d already used a ton of energy fighting her instead of resting, greatly reducing his chances of beating Wilson. If he was going to die, he sure as hell wasn’t going to go to his grave without experiencing sex with a woman.

  His woman—his mate.

  The one lying beneath him now with passion and need reflected in her expression. Hell, he’d die happy if only he could sink his throbbing cock into her sweet pussy. He lowered his head, making the inexorable decision that had never really been in doubt since he woke up and found her sitting naked on his bed. He claimed her lips in a hard, drugging kiss that marked the beginning of the end for them both. He could hear her pulse pounding and her breath hitch as her arms circled his neck and she kissed him back. He inhaled her unique scent, caressed her face, and stroked her hair as he deepened the kiss, grinding his aching cock against her pelvis as wild sensations whipped through his bloodstream, working him into an even greater state of awareness. As preparations for battle went, this one took some beating.

  He broke the kiss and took her hand, pulling her easily to her feet.

  “Come on,” he said.

  “Where?” she asked dazedly.

  “The bed. I need you.”

  “No, you can’t. I didn’t mean for it to go that far.” She shook her head. “I really thought I could beat you just then. The last thing I intended was to drain your power.”

  “It won’t make any difference.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “Nor do you. Come on. You started this. What else did you think would happen when I woke up and found you sitting naked on my bed?”

  “I don’t want to make things more difficult for you.”

  “Too late for that.” He lifted her into his arms and carried her the short distance. “Besides, how can anything that feels so right possibly be wrong?”

  “We’re not thinking rationally,” she protested halfheartedly as he deposited her on the bed.

  “I’m done with thinking. It’s time to start feeling.”

  He said nothing more, but merely sat on the side of the bed, watching her closely.

  “Yes.” She lifted her arms and pulled him down beside her with a wanton sigh. “This whole crazy situation is beyond my understanding, but I’m too weak to do what I should.”

  “Then lie back and let me do the doing.”

  She laughed. “You have such a way with words.”

  “Baby, I have a way with quite a few of my body parts, too.”

  “I already know about your wicked tongue.”

  “Hmm, about that.”

  Vadim reached into Zayd’s drawer of toys, found a silk scarf, and used it to tie Talia’s hands to the bedhead. He then found a blindfold and used that on her, too.

  “I don’t want you to be able to touch or see. That way your ability to feel will be enhanced. You happy with that?”

  “Absolutely.”

  Vadim, feeling like a condemned man enjoying his last meal, licked his way down Talia’s neck, lapping at the hollow at the base of her neck before trailing hot kisses across her collarbone, down to her breasts. His tongue lathed, his lips sucked, and when he reached a solid nipple, his teeth came into play. So far he’d only touched her with his mouth, and that was the way he intended for it to stay for the foreseeable future. She made cute, needy little moaning noises and writhed against the restraints as he continued to agitate her passions. Her legs fell open, giving him an up-close view of the pink lips of her pussy and of her shaved pubis. Vadim drank in the sight, all the more precious because he might not ever see it again.

  “You like what’s happening to you, baby?”

  “I could use a little more.”

  He chuckled. “You want me to spank you, you only have to ask.”

  “Please,” she said in a throaty whisper.

  “Turn over, darlin’, and let me at that sweet ass.”

  Vadim untied the scarf, adjusting it so she could turn over and support her weight on her elbows before refastening it. His tongue now went to work on her ass, licking the crack between her pink cheeks, tickling her anus, nipping at her crura. Her moans increased in volume and Vadim figured the time had come to play a little rougher. Without warning her to expect it, he brought his hand down on her left ass cheek, sliding a couple of fingers into her slick pussy as he did so. She groaned, which he took to be a good sign, and repeated the process. This time he spanked a little harder and inserted a third finger. She was hot, wet, and ready for him. Vadim thought he was losing his mind and knew that if they carried on this way it would be over far too soon. The one and only chance he’d have to fuck his mate and he couldn’t control himself. It was obscene.

  It was the way it was.

  Vadim slipped the tip of his cock into the entrance of a woman’s vagina for the first time ever. He groaned as she pushed back against him, sensation streaking through him as he sank a little deeper. How could something that made him feel so fully alive possibly be bad for him? It was a tight fit, but Talia wasn’t complaining, nor was Vadim. He withdrew and then stroked himself a little deeper, building up the rhythmic stimulation necessary for them both to achieve orgasm. He reached between them and played with her anus, slipping one finger inside it as he settled into a steady assault of her tight cunt.

  “You feel that, babe? You want more?”

  “Yes, God yes!” Her voice came out as a strangled plea. “Give me as much as you’ve got.”

  Vadim withdrew almost all the way, making room to slap her ass hard. Then he sank all the way home, his loaded balls slapping painfully against her buttocks. He withdrew and then drove himself back in harder still, sweating and straining,
on the verge of release. He could feel it building deep inside his core, like nothing he’d ever known before. Her genital scent told him she was close, too. He reached beneath her and found her swollen clit. She cried out when he touched it, tightened the walls of her vagina around his cock, and exploded.

  “Fuck me, Vadim. Give me it hard. Please, I need to come.”

  “You’ve got it all now. I’m fucking you good and deep. Take it, darlin’.”

  “I’ve never…I didn’t realize…shit, that feels sooo good.”

  “I think I’m the one who should be telling you that,” Vadim said in a rasping, midnight voice. “I’m the one who’s never been with a woman, remember.”

  She chuckled, then moaned. “You seem to have gotten the hang of things.”

  “I’m a quick study.”

  “And I’m gonna come for you. Fuck me, Vadim. Let me feel your love.”

  Her words caused havoc with Vadim’s self-control. His balls tightened, his muscles spasmed, and his skin was dewy with perspiration as he strained to hold back. But it was no good. With a feline roar he exploded deep inside the woman who could never be his mate. The rush burned and intensified as fire lanced through his veins. He remained hard for so long that Talia got caught up in his excitement and came yet again, thrashing wildly against the scarf, calling his name, begging him to keep going.

  Finally they were both spent and he collapsed beside her, pulling her sideways so that her butt spooned against his still half-erect cock.

  “Oh God,” she said, sounding frantic. “What did I just make you do?”

  “Isn’t that supposed to be my line?” asked Zayd in a glacial tone.

  Chapter Eleven

  Talia hadn’t heard Zayd enter the room. Clearly Vadim hadn’t either and they both sat up, glancing at him with guilt written across their expressions. Vadim recovered first.

  “Best way to relax before a fight that I’ve ever found,” he quipped.

  Zayd glowered at him. “Glad you find the situation amusing.”

  “This wasn’t supposed to happen,” Talia said feebly.

  “Don’t stand there like a spare part, buddy,” Vadim said. “Come and sit down. We’ll talk about it.”

  “It’s a bit late for talking.”

  Even so Zayd joined them and sat cross-legged at their feet, setting an invisible demarcation line between them.

  “I had an idea of how to resolve this mess.”

  Talia hated herself for sounding so defensive when she’d actually tried to talk Vadim out of fucking her. Hadn’t she? Zayd merely flexed a brow, like he didn’t think much of her ideas. She could hardly blame him for that and found the words tumbling over one another as she hastened to explain.

  “I figured I could fight Wilson as planned in my studio tonight, but instead of a lesson I could make sure he didn’t come through unscathed. I was going to run the idea past you, but you’d gone out.”

  Zayd’s rigid expression slackened fractionally. Good. He could obviously see the sense in her suggestion. Perhaps between them they could persuade Vadim that it was the only way to go.

  “A kind thought,” Zayd said in a measured tone that made it impossible for Talia to know if he actually meant what he said. “Only problem is, Vadim’s trying to reestablish his reputation. Not that he needs to, but good luck trying to tell him that.”

  “Yes, but even so—”

  “He’d never be able to look at himself in the mirror if he let someone else fight his battles for him, and that includes me.”

  Talia drew a deep breath, ready to clout Zayd with a blunt object if he dared to suggest that as a woman she wasn’t a worthy opponent. Fortunately, even if he thought it, he had the good sense not to say it.

  “I thought you’d be on my side,” she said accusingly.

  “It’s not a question of taking sides, babe,” Vadim said. “The decision’s mine to make, and I’ve made it.”

  “What went on here?” Zayd addressed the question to Vadim, his features once again set in a rigid line. “No, don’t answer that. It’s kind of obvious. I can’t believe you did that, Vadim, especially not now.”

  Vadim shrugged. “Stay with me, buddy. Let’s not fight about it. I need you in my corner more than ever.”

  Zayd sighed. “Yeah, I guess now’s not the time. Besides, you really do need to rest before this show hits the road.”

  “Can’t be done. Not if you’re mad at me.”

  Talia couldn’t tell from Zayd’s guarded expression if he was on the verge of laughter or tears. Perhaps it was a combination of both. She could relate to that because she felt the exact same way.

  “I’ll leave you guys to it,” she said, sensing that they needed some space.

  “No!” they said together.

  “No,” Vadim said alone. “I need you both to stay with me.”

  “You okay with that?” Talia asked Zayd. “I guess you’ve got good reason to be pissed at me.”

  Zayd’s slow, sexy smile brought her satiated body roaring back to life. “Darlin’, it ain’t you, it’s this goddamned stubborn cat here who’s in my line of fire.”

  “Mine, too. Let me grab a quick shower in my room. Then I’ll be right back to play referee.”

  * * * *

  “Right,” Zayd said when the door closed behind Talia. “Alone at last. What the fuck was that really all about?”

  “Isn’t it obvious?”

  “Not to me.”

  Vadim sighed. “Okay, I’ll spell it out. This might be the end of me tonight, this thing with Wilson. Everyone here thinks so, even if they won’t come right out and say it. And that includes you.”

  “Don’t put this back on me.”

  “If everyone’s so sure I’m gonna die, why not fuck the woman I’m in love with.”

  “Love?” Zayd jerked upright. “Excuse me, but did you just say love?”

  “I’ll bet my whiskers on that being what you feel for her, too, even if you haven’t realized it yourself yet.”

  Did he? Zayd knew she was special. Something shifted in the region of his heart every time he looked at her. The thought of anyone using her, not caring if she lived or died, to get at them, filled him with ungovernable rage. Even so, he’d kidded himself into believing those feelings were engendered by good, old-fashioned chivalry. He’d never dare to say it aloud, but he still believed decent men were supposed to protect their women.

  Did his feelings run deeper than that? Very possibly, since now that Vadim had forced him to confront the issue, he had to admit that she hadn’t been absent from his conscious thoughts, not for a moment in the admittedly short time they’d known her. And as for the fantasies he’d had about her…well, probably better not to go there.

  “Perhaps,” he said guardedly, “but we can’t mate with her if we want to stay in Impulse. And you’ve probably blown your chances of ever finding the right mate now. You know we aren’t supposed to have unprotected…tell me you at least used a condom.”

  Vadim had the audacity to grin. “Must have slipped my mind.”

  “Shit, Vadim!” Zayd ran a hand through his hair. “You’ve had unprotected sex with her but can’t mate with her because of her shifter blood. But you know as well as I do that if you have unprotected sex with a human then there’s no going back.”

  “Yep.”

  “Don’t know what you’re looking so smug about,” Zayd complained. “You’re now condemned to a life with no mate, which means your powers will be gone within…well, a fucking short time.”

  “You got it right the first time. I can’t mate with Talia and stay in Impulse.”

  “Fucking hell!” Zayd extended a claw and scratched his head vigorously with it, as though trying to convince himself that he hadn’t heard right. “Don’t tell me you’re thinking of giving this all up. Not when you’ve fought countless battles to establish yourself here. Impulse is where we belong.”

  “I hadn’t been thinking along those lines until I met Talia. Then
everything changed. I began questioning if it was all really worth it, stuff like that.”

  “Well, thanks a bunch for consulting me first.”

  “I would have. If I come through this thing tonight, I’d planned to talk to you about it. Then I woke up and she was sitting naked on the bed, and…oh shit, sometimes I get sick of always being in control.”

  Zayd rolled his eyes. “You chose a great time to let go.”

  Vadim grimaced. “Yeah, well, I guess you can say Talia’s gotten under my skin.”

  “That’s one way of putting it.” Zayd wanted to stay mad at him but couldn’t help grinning. “What was it like?”

  Vadim threw his head back and let out a soft roar of satisfaction. “Un-fucking-believable! So tight, so hot, so…so damned everything. I don’t regret it, in spite of everything. Sorry, lover, but that’s the way it is.”

  Zayd touched his arm. “I’m glad. God knows why, but I am. But I’m still mad at you for not talking to me about your thoughts first.”

  “She’s only been here a day. There hasn’t exactly been much time for talking.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Zayd dropped his head into his hands and shook it from side to side. “But giving up on Impulse, on everything you’ve worked all these years to prove. Never being able to shift again. That’s what it would come to if we leave here, you do realize that?”

  “We?”

  “You think I’ll let you go without me? I wished we’d talked about it, but it’s too late for that now, given what just happened between you two.” He grimaced, but it quickly turned into a grin. “Still, I guess that means I get to have her, too. Hey, she will settle for us both, won’t she? It isn’t just your hunky body that floats her boat, because if it is, I gotta tell you—”

  “After the way she sucked you off yesterday, you need to ask me that?”

  Zayd grinned. “Yeah, I guess.”

  Vadim sat forward and pulled Zayd into his arms. “It won’t be so very bad, living life like a human, I mean. Not if we have Talia to help us through it.”