Abducting the Princess (6 page)

He was too big, surely? Yet even as the thought entered her head she became aware of her pussy’s welcoming dew. Seemed her body thought otherwise.

She tingled all over. She’d told him he’d never take her. But she’d been wrong. And so damn foolish to imagine they’d never be lovers. Her body had wanted him right from the start—as had her mind if she’d only listened.

His hand under her chin forced her stare back to his. Lust, stark and unapologetic, glinted in his eyes, causing her belly to dip and her pulse to jump. “Like what you see?” he asked huskily.

She swallowed. “I do.”

Holy heaven, it sounded like a wedding vow.

But then he was pulling her to him on a harsh groan, his mouth crashing onto hers and his cock an insistent throb against her belly. Yet even with all the physical needs going on in her body, it was the emotional needs that scared her most.

She wanted him in every way that counted. Wanted to climb inside his mind and share his thoughts, his desires, hell, even his fantasies. She wanted him more than she’d wanted anything else in her life. She wasn’t even certain right then she wouldn’t give up her kingdom to spend a night in his arms.

She hauled back her head with a gasp. Stupid! There was no better word for how she was feeling right then. Yet her panther wanted only to purr satisfaction and push against him, territorial-like. As human she wanted with a quiet desperation to touch him skin-on-skin.

Mahaya’s hands clasped her shoulders, his stare serious, face restrained as he gritted out, “Tell me now if you want to stop. We go any further and I’m not so sure I’ll be—”

She pushed onto tiptoes and fit her mouth over his, cutting off his sentence and no longer willing to sacrifice her one chance at passion. She’d deliberately not dwelled on the fact a loveless future loomed with her soon-to-be
larakyte
husband. The one and same man who undoubtedly assumed she’d long ago sated her primeval shifter needs and mated.

Yeah, but will you even want to marry Jarvias once you’ve experienced true passion?

She didn’t acknowledge her conscious. Not right then. There’d be time to dwell on the right or wrong of it later. Much later. This once she’d be selfish and think of her own needs. Her own joy.

The world abruptly tilted as Mahaya laid her down, their scattered clothes making a soft bed beneath her spine. He followed her, covering her body with his own, his outspread hands bracing either side of her head and his stare not once letting go of hers.

“I want you so much,” he murmured huskily.

“And I you,” she whispered.

No more words were necessary. Every shared breath, every touch and longing glance would be communication enough.

Their mouths merged, gentle at first. But as their needs escalated as though flame to the driest tinder, their kiss deepened, tongue brushing tongue and lips sealing over lips.

When he at last pulled back to trail open-mouthed kisses along her throat and then downward to latch onto her breast, the panther in her succumbed to a deep, throaty purr. Her back arched, pushing her sensitized flesh closer still to his mouth that ravished so thoroughly.

Heaven above, it was torture. Pleasure-pain in its most amazing form. And she wanted more.

She clasped his broad shoulders as his mouth released her breast before suckling on its twin. Breath hissing, she slid reverent hands down the sand-blasted planes of his back, thrilling in the toughness of his body that had shielded her from harm.

If magic existed, right then she basked in its sparkling radiance. A sublime experience that intensified when one of his hands settled between her thighs, a questing finger parting her moist cunt before gently, rhythmically pushing in and out of her tight, wet channel while deliberately brushing over her clit.

She counter-rubbed against him, her hips pushed high, her purrs intermingling with little groans and mewls of passion-fuelled need.

She sensed his satisfaction when he rasped, “You’re ready for me now, Mira. My Mira.”

My Mira.

Somehow the possessive connotations only sharpened her desire, made her want him all the more. And to hell with the consequences.

His hand left her aching pussy to guide his cock to her entrance.

Oh please. Please now.

In one sudden motion, he drove into her all the way to his balls. The sharp, intense sting immediately caused her inner muscles to clench. Her breath expelled in a rush through gritted teeth.

“What the fuck?” he growled in agonized disbelief. “You’re a…virgin?”

She forced back stupid tears. “Does that offend you?”

“No. Shit, no. Of course not. I just, I can’t believe you’ve restrained the carnal needs of your beast every time you shift.”

She didn’t tell him she’d never felt compelled to shift into panther, or that her secret fear of the dark and her
nightmix
traits had helped restrain any demand that may have otherwise developed. The last thing she wanted from him right then was more reservations.

She deliberately writhed beneath him, aware her inner muscles had adjusted to the impressive length and girth of his cock. At his groan she wriggled some more, glorying in the suctioning pull-push of his shaft and the fact he was planted deep inside her.

“Make love to me,” she whispered, deteriorating his gallant inner battle at her virginity and making her amazed she’d ever thought his
nightmix
birthright was a risk. “Please.”

“Goddess help me,” he breathed raggedly, “I hope you won’t regret this.”

But then he was stroking inside her, slowly at first, then faster and faster until she was gasping for breath, for sanity, realizing only as she tipped into incredible climax that she no longer had control.

Her inner panther wanted out.

Right. Now.

Chapter Five

Mahaya roared exultation as he exploded deep into Mira’s tight pussy.
Holy fuck
. He’d forgo heaven even if he only got to experience this with her once in his lifetime. Fool! He
was
in heaven. Wave after wave of his seed emptied into her, draining him until there was nothing left to give.

Nothing but his heart, his soul…

Then he saw the sudden fear in Mira’s eyes and all exaltation seeped away, leaving him cold, empty. No matter her real feelings for him, her fear of his
nightmix
would never be overcome. Dread shone through her eyes as if an accusation as she pushed away from him and staggered to her feet, retreating one step, two.

“What’s happening to me?” She whimpered. “I…I can’t control my beast.”

“You won’t control it, you know that.”

He barely withheld his own beast, only years of experience kept him from shifting. But he knew he couldn’t hold out forever. Mira’s shift would trigger his own, whether she liked it or not.

Mira groaned, bending over double. “I’ve. Never. Shifted. Before.”

He stiffened. Shocked. Disbelieving. She told the truth. There was no denying her inexperience and genuine anxiety. “Don’t fight it,” he rasped, feeling the biggest hypocrite by fighting back his own shift. “Go with it, let the change flow through your veins, meld with your bones.”

The first shift was by far the most painful. He could only hope she didn’t go the opposite way and force her transition in an attempt to get the pain over with. To do so could be life threatening, causing the excruciating agony of what was known as a
fallout
, where the pain caught up minutes or perhaps hours later. The suffering would be immense.

Mahaya took her in his arms, comforting her as she sobbed intermittently with panther growls. Gods, he’d never felt more helpless. If he could take away all her pain he would. Gladly.

He’d been more than a little in love with her even before he’d had no choice but to kidnap her. His feelings had flourished when he’d gotten to know the real princess, the woman who was beautiful inside and out. The woman who’d do anything for her people, even with her apparent fear of the dark and being a
nightmix
.

Without warning her body suddenly went limp and she fell silent.

His nostrils flared, his pulse thudding in his ears. At last. The rest of Mira’s shift into panther would come to her naturally and without too much pain.

Jax threw his head up and blew out a nervous breath before trotting a dozen or so paces away, obviously aware of the danger. It was only the stallion’s strict training and trust that kept him within range.

Mahaya couldn’t dwell on anything but what was happening between him and the princess. He released her with a growl, pheromones and her escalating panther scent pushing him beyond the edge of self-control.

It was time to release his
nightmix
.

At last the pain was no more. She’d pushed past an agony unlike anything she’d ever endured before, realizing she could no longer fight it, had nothing to prepare herself against it. She’d had to ride with the torture, become as one with the breaking and lengthening of bones and tendons, the ripping and reforming of skin and nails.

And in the blink of an eye, the world had changed. Everything around her was monochrome, fresher, sharper and more alive.

She pushed to her feet—her paws—and looked down at her silver-white furred legs. A shuddering growl pushed past her throat. She wasn’t
nightmix
!She was a silver panther! A true
larakyte
now in every way.

Warmth radiated through her body right along with joy. She’d half expected a rush of inner darkness to precede her change into a
nightmix
. And now that she knew she’d had nothing to fear all along, it was all she could do not to do a crazy jig on her paws. She turned her head, intensely aware of Mahaya in his panther form. Her heartbeat accelerated faster still, passion all but wiping out every other emotion.He was huge and black as coal. But he was so much more than that too. She lifted her snout and breathed deep, tasting him on her tongue, scenting his lust with her every inhalation.

Another rumbling growl built in her chest and spilled free from her mouth in a roar. As Mahaya’s big cat voice echoed hers, challenged her, she swung away from him and broke into a sprint that was as natural to her with four legs as two.

Adrenaline surged through her blood as Mahaya chased her, though she knew she had no hope at outrunning his great strides. He easily caught up. Despite his huge size, his coat was almost invisible in the night, his paws seemingly barely touching the ground.

She’d always felt a connection to him, but right then in her big cat form it was as if it was just the two of them in their own private world. Breathing the same pine and decay scents, seeing the same monochrome visuals of shadowy, towering trees with glimpses of moonlight in the heavens and pungent pine needles underfoot.

It was thrilling, a freedom she’d never experienced before. She’d fought Mahaya when he’d taken her from her people and everything she’d ever known. But he’d opened her eyes to another way of life. She’d been a woman scared of her own birthright, scared of the dark. Not only had he saved her from the
larakyte
dissenters, he’d exposed her to what she’d been missing out on in her controlled existence. He’d allowed her to discover her true self. Her identity.

Panting for breath, she slowed into a trot and then a walk. He slowed with her. When she stood still, he turned back to face her. She stepped forward, pushing against him with a purr, brushing her head against his before swiping her body, her tail along his length.

It had ceased to matter what she’d mistakenly believed about him, or that he could never truly be hers. All she knew right then was that no matter what form she was in, she wouldn’t ever get enough of him.

He’d given her more than he’d ever know.

He’d taken her virginity and made her a woman, and in doing so had triggered her first ever shift into a
larakyte.
The moment she’d discovered she wasn’t a
nightmix
had been the moment all her self-doubts had faded away.

How have I ever lived without him?

Her ears flattened. How
was
she ever going to live without him? Sooner or later her father’s soldiers would find her and life as she knew it would resume to normal.

Her tail swishing in sudden animalistic need, she turned and gave him a nip. She tasted blood before Mahaya turned around sharply and snarled warning. Gods, he was so magnificent and huge.

And dark, don’t forget about dark.

Somehow his darkness made her want him all the more. And he wanted her too. His primeval response sent arrows of lust straight to her loins.

But only as people would they unite as one.
Larakytes
never joined in animal form. Her own body’s lust was forcing her back to woman just the same as Mahaya’s lust was forcing him back to man.

Agony gripped her as desire triggered a shift from beast to human. She crumpled onto her side, panting and mewling as her bones, skin and flesh once again made the transition.

Don’t fight it, go with it.

Mahaya’s recent advice somehow penetrated her subconscious until she surrendered to the pain once again, distantly aware he too was going through the shift. And somehow knowing she wasn’t alone made it much more bearable.

Even when the pain was no more, she didn’t fully comprehend she was human once again. Not until she looked up to find Mahaya crouched—his shift fully complete—before he rocked to his feet and strode toward her.

His arms moved around her body and, cradling her, he carried her the way they’d come. His eyes intent, he asked gently, “Are you okay?”

“I’m not really sure,” she said in a small voice, “so much has changed.”

His stride didn’t falter. “
Everything
has changed,” he corrected. His gaze gleamed in the darkness. “We’re mated now…for life.”

Her jumbled emotions knotted harder still. Her every atom might burn with agreement at his words, but reality ensured they’d never be more than lovers. She bit back a sudden urge to sob with injustice. “Mahaya, I—”