By the Horns (28 page)

The way she swayed her graceful, curvy and, hell, flexible body was like a tantalizing seduction. Though mindless fucking had been his specialty, with Nat, nope. His brain flooded with images of the different ways he wanted to bend her, the sexy moans she made in the back of her throat, how her hair cascaded in a shimmering halo framing her face.

Shit, he’d gone all poetic. She was beautiful to him in every way. Looking at her, he’d never have guessed how tough her interior was. How lethal her abilities. How clever her mind.

She could be anyone to anyone.

He needed her to be Nat to him.

Her sweet pussy gripped him tight as she rocked her hips, pumping up and down. She paused to capture his mouth with hers, flicking her silky tongue against his. He took advantage of her distraction, dug his hands into her ass, and lifted her off him.

She pulled back with a questioning murmur.

“You’ve had plenty of fun.” He hauled her over his shoulder before he could determine how pissed she was.

“Kassian.” Her voice trembled with warning.

“Ah, trust me.” He gave her lush ass a slap and carted her to the bed he’d constructed. Setting her on her feet, he spun her to face the crates.

“When?” she questioned over her shoulder, but he tilted her head back, sliding his hands down her arms and pressing kisses along her suntanned skin. Warm and salty with a hint of coconut.

“My turn,” he growled in her ear, nudging her forward.

Chapter 25

Nat’s legs buckled beneath the heat of Kassian’s kisses as though he melted her from the inside. It seemed she didn’t require legs, because he pressed her shoulders down to make her kneel. He snatched her hands and planted them on the top of the crates, raised above her shoulders.

The anticipation of waiting for him to enter her speared through her core and the dampness between her thighs grew slick. The wooden pallet below them creaked as Kassian kneeled behind her. Her hands trembled, shivers traveling down her arms and shooting through the rest of her body.

She was ready to splinter from the anticipation. As he stroked one fingertip down her spine, she bucked and moaned. Her sheath clamped and relaxed in demand of the blissful fullness it had enjoyed moments ago. He’d let her come close to the peak of an orgasm as she’d ridden him, and then he’d pulled it out from under her, making her helpless, at his mercy for fulfillment. Her breaths came in uneven pants while she awaited his next move. Who’d have guessed Kassian had this dominant side?

Even more, who’d have concluded she craved it from him. Losing herself in him, to his control. A fact he seemed intent on drilling into her. She wished he’d hurry up and get on with the drilling.

“Kassian,” she moaned, hoping he’d cede and give her some form of release.

The wait alone wasn’t the torture. It was his nearness. How he stood so close to her yet so far from her reach.

“Is this what you want?” He nudged her thighs open and brushed the head of his cock against her entrance. She moaned and tilted her hips, trying to take him inside.

The bastard sank back. She lifted her hand off the crate and reached behind her.

“
Uh-uhn
,” he tsked, his large hand wrapping around hers and guiding it to the top of the crate. “I said this is my turn. I’ll fuck you how I damn well please.” His hot breath caressed her neck while he purred those naughty words into her ear, making her whimper. His Aussie accent, usually mild, grew thick, his tongue augmenting the sound of the vowels, rolling over them and cutting the ends of the words off short.

Hell. How could any woman withstand that? A gorgeous hunk of a man with a deep, sexy accent to boot?

Kassian was made for seduction. That he’d denied the female sex his services for years was a travesty, yet—Nat smiled—he’d changed his mind.

For me.

“What are you waiting for, big guy? I’m so wet for you.” She flicked her hair over her shoulder and sent him her best smoldering look. If he played the dirty talk game, she’d give his cock equal payback.

She parted her thighs and shimmied her ass, rolling her spine. He might have made up the rules, but she was an expert at circumventing them. Finding loopholes. Sliding in under the radar.

Catching others unaware.

His husky groan was proof. If he’d hoped for a demure woman in his bed, he’d chosen the wrong person to be stranded on a deserted island with.

Oh, yes. She’d break his rules and make him pay. She lifted her hand off the crate again, and palmed her body, cupping her breast and lifting the weight for his approval, before tweaking the tip and moaning.

“Dammit, Nat. What are you doing?”

“It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it? If you won’t give me what I want, I’ll take it for myself.” To prove her point, she glided her hand between her thighs and stroked her clit.

Kassian spewed a steady stream of under-his-breath curses. She rolled her hips and glanced over her shoulder.

His intense gaze seared into her while his hand wrapped around his thick cock, pumping his rigid length.

“Are you going to help me out or just enjoy the show?”

“The view is pretty great from here.”

She smiled at him. If they shut out the world and their responsibilities, being with Kassian was easy. Natural. She hadn’t been this comfortable making love to anyone…ever.

Her climax grew, but she craved being with him so she removed her hand and placed it back on the crate. “I need you, Kassian.” The words might be tied to her level of lust, but more than desire existed in them.

He seemed to sense this, because he came behind her, covering her back with his strong body. “Do you promise?”

His voice broke on the words. She guessed what he really asked, but she couldn’t give him an answer.

He didn’t wait for one as he pressed a trail of kisses from the top of her head down her shoulders, and he tilted her head to kiss her mouth. His hands dropped to nudge her thighs wider and he guided his cock to her sex, driving inside her in one swift thrust.

They moaned together. He waited a second before rolling his hips and rocking back into her, building a rhythm. His fingers slid to the front of her waist and spanned her stomach as he leveraged his body to pound into her. His other hand curled around her right one on top of the crate.

She contracted her inner muscles, squeezing him.

“What…are you doing?” The husk of Kassian’s voice was a sweet reward.

“You’re not the only one with tricks. This one’s called ‘constricting the serpent.’ “

“Fuck.”

She smiled and lost herself in the rhythm of his thrusts. For endless moments, only he existed, enveloping her in his strength, pouring himself into her body. His deep groans in her ear and the male scent of him in her nostrils. She closed her eyes. Her body climbed toward ecstasy. Kassian’s thick cock stroked the intimate part of her, deeper and deeper as the crescendo built.

The wave crashed over her and she cried out, clawing her nails into the wooden crate. Kassian slammed his hips against hers in rapid fire before his cock pulsed inside her with the strength of his release. His low grunting sang in her ears. A melody of pure lust sated and utter satisfaction.

Sparks like this didn’t fly every day or between any two people.

He shuddered and laid his cheek against the top of her head. His hand squeezed her right one. He rested, still rock hard inside her. After a moment, his hand spanning her stomach dipped toward the apex of her thighs.

“Oh, don’t you dare.” She snared his hand with her left.

His chuckle puffed above her ear. “Don’t tell me you’re sated yet, vixen. Because I’m certainly not done with you.” He tugged his hand free and glided his fingertips over her clit. The gentle yet firm pressure proved enough to re-ignite her body.

Damn, but the man was right. Where he was concerned, she’d never be done.

That was just the problem.

***

Kassian brought Nat to orgasm a few more times before they both collapsed onto the mattress. He sprawled on his back and hauled her slender body against his. She tossed a leg over his waist and curled into his side, one hand splayed across his chest.

She fit him like a damn glove.

He curled one arm around her shoulders, coaxing her head to rest on his bicep, and twined the hand on his chest with his. The silk of her hair tickled his skin, but he didn’t dare move and ruin this moment. It wouldn’t last forever. He kept telling himself that, kept trying to make the fact sink in.

Hell, he was fairly certain Nat had only agreed to sleep with him because he’d added in the not-forever clause.

His traitorous brain refused acceptance. He spun everything around in his mind, searching for a way to keep her.

Like she was a bloody possession he could purchase. Fuck. He snorted. Nat would make up her mind and nothing he did or said would change it. Even though Snake had joined with Tiger, she might not choose to live at Kek Lok Si. Would Nat grow bored there? Tire of him? She was an adventure seeker. A Lotus.

Would she give up that lifestyle for him? How could he ask her to?

Damn, he couldn’t.

He understood, but his heart refused to accept the facts. Once they departed this island, he might never get to hold Nat like this again.

He let his head slam onto the wooden pallet. The mattress wasn’t long enough for him and, in the position they’d collapsed, his head rested off the bedding.

Who the hell was complaining? Not him.

Nat fit perfectly, snuggled in his arms, and that made up for the rest.

“Are you okay?” Her sleepy inquiry was followed by her fingertips tracing zigzagging lines along the ridges of his abdomen.

“You keep that up and we won’t get any sleep.” To strengthen his warning, his cock twitched and swelled.

Nat emitted a crystal laugh of feminine victory. “Is that a promise?”

Her hand slid down his body toward his cock, but he snatched it and brought her fingertips to his mouth, kissing each one. “Yep. It will have to wait because we should talk. Where are you headed? It’s time to let me in.”

She drew back her hand. The air between them grew stifled, thick with tension and unspoken thoughts until her whisper cut through the silence.

“My father.” The words hung in the air.

“Yeah, what about him?” Nat’s dad was a right bastard, but what did the sonofabitch have to do with anything?

“I have to kill him.”

“Shit.” He shot up and stared at her, bewilderment funneling through his brain.

She scrambled up too, her crossed legs covering her nudity. “It’s not what it sounds like. He’s not my dad. Not anymore.”

“That needs an explanation.”

She pinched the bridge of her nose. “That last summer… What I came home to…” She exhaled and her voice grew monotone, like she was reciting the events. Probably easier than to relive them. “I always believed there was something evil about him but, that summer, he changed. When I came home, he was holding a knife to my mother’s neck. He stared right at me as he slashed it across her throat.”

“Holy shit.” Kassian threw his arms around her.

A sob shook her shoulders. “He killed my m-mother.” Tears slipped from her eyes, wetting his chest. “I watched him leave and I didn’t do anything to stop him. Why didn’t I stop him?” She shook her head and swiped her fingers across her eyes.

“I never knew. I’m so sorry.” He clutched her tighter. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“The Matchmaker came. Appeared out of nowhere. She took care of everything. Swept away the evidence, buried my mother, and offered me a place in the League. I had to accept.” She twisted to gaze at him. “My father took everything from me, but I couldn’t tell anyone…because of what I saw.”

“What was that?”

“He’s the same.” She swallowed hard. “The same as Zhao.” She spoke with precision. “I joined the Lotus League to hunt my father. I’ve tracked him for years, but I’ve never been strong enough to confront him. One time, I tried. Three years ago, in Thailand.” Her lip whitened where she bit it. “I foolishly believed I could stop him by myself, but I had no idea what he’d become. How powerful he was. Or what he’d been up to.” She lifted her gaze to stare into his eyes. “My father helped unleash the Plague God.”

His breath iced in his lungs. The puzzle pieces clicked together. “Your dad is one of them?”

She nodded. “He’s part of it all. His first victims…” She squeezed her eyes shut, but a tear leaked through her lashes.

He leaned forward to wipe it away.

“They didn’t just unleash the Plague God. They…experimented.” She drew a shaky hand over her mouth. “They manipulated the Plague God, somehow, until they got the Red Death. One of the victims, her name was Mali. I didn’t know her well, but she was the daughter of a maid in our house. He used her to perfect the virus.” She sniffed. “She was only seven.”

“Oh, Nat.” He crushed his arms around her. This. He clenched his jaw. This was the burden she’d been carrying? He pressed his lips to her hair.

Her cries quieted, and she pushed back from his chest. “My father’s a monster. I can’t rest until I’ve stopped him. Until I’ve avenged Mali and my mother. And the whole world.”