Guarding His Heart (4 page)

Cemil released him and stepped back. Cemil glanced at Sage, cocked his eyebrow, and nodded. Sage glided away without another word.

“So you found your mate, did you?”

Trevor shook his head even as his heart pounded the answer.
Yes. Damn psychics. Reading people’s minds.

“No. She’s my charge. That’s all.”

Cemil patted Trevor’s arm, a smile curving his mouth.

“Sure, my friend, fight it if you feel you must. You might take a look at Rekkus, though.”

“I gotta go, Cemil. Don’t go sharing your observations with your siblings.”

I have to find her, damn it. She could be in danger.

Once he was outside and far enough away from everyone, he cloaked and began hunting for her.

Almost immediately, her laugh chimed on the breeze. His stomach tightened because she wasn’t with him; he feared she never would be with him. Keeping her at arm’s length was his choice. She’d been willing—more than willing—to get involved, but he had secrets he couldn’t share and he was unwilling to allow anyone to hurt her, even him.

Chapter
4

T
he night seemed never ending.

Staying cloaked required focus and energy. Eventually Trevor gave up being invisible, but he still kept watch over Cassidy.

Protecting her would be a hell of a lot easier if she knew he was her guard and cooperated with his efforts. He seriously doubted she would cooperate with anything he wanted.

He needed to keep his distance. If he was right and she was his intended mate, she would be drawn by the pheromone his kind exuded. This adaptation had evolved due to his kind’s huge home range.

Cassidy dined with the resident mermaid who served as the staff’s marine security. He relaxed for a few minutes, decloaked, and managed a quick bite from Myron’s plate—who this evening wore the name Samantha—before making sure Cassidy hadn’t slipped from the dining room unnoticed.

Thankfully, she retired to her room early.

Sage refused to provide him a key to Cassidy’s room, so he set up in the hallway outside her door on an uncomfortable Queen Anne style chair completely unsuited to his large frame. Every once in a while, Trevor rose to stretch his long legs and work the kinks out of his back. His wound ached and throbbed, and his eyes were tired. He closed them just for a minute…

“Oh, come on, you big idiot.” Despite her irritation with Trevor, Cassidy felt sorry for the long-legged man slumped down in the tiny lady’s chair and decided to wake him up and send him to his room.

Was he here to apologize? If not, then what?

He looks like a sweet little boy sleeping
. Well, not so little. In sleep, his face relaxed, lines around his mouth softened, and affection surged in her. She longed to smooth the errant lock of hair from his brow. Just like little boys in her class who disappointed her, she ached to give him another chance. But he’d rejected her.

She shook his shoulder.

Trevor’s bulging forearm swung from out of nowhere. He stopped a fraction before crushing her windpipe.

She sucked in a ragged breath as she fought his grasp. She dug her fingernails into his wrist, fighting his grip on her neck. Fear snaked through her as she struggled to gasp his name. He wouldn’t hurt her if he realized who she was.

“Trevor.”

His face softened. His brows pulled together and he blew out a deep breath.

As quickly as he’d attacked her, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her brow, her hair. “Baby, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry. You have to believe me, I’d never hurt you.”

His words registered, but just barely as her head spun. Yet again she was on an emotional rollercoaster. One minute, she fought for air, the next she was nestled in his arms. He intoxicated her with his warmth and scent surrounding her. Her head swam with the memory of his lips on hers. She needed to step back, separate herself before he could reject her again.

“Trevor,” she began…

He swallowed her words as his mouth descended on hers. Heat sang through her, propelled by her pounding heart.

Oh God, don’t let him pull away again.

She ached for this physical contact, the release only he could provide. Something about him, his unique scent, entranced her, rendered her incapable of thinking of anything but him. Tension already tight in her belly coiled even tighter in anticipation.

His tongue glided over the seam of her lips. Tempting, but not demanding. On a sigh, she parted her lips, opening for him, inviting, her tongue meeting his. Had she ever wondered if his lips were too thin to kiss well? He definitely had technique and finesse in abundance. She had to break the kiss just to breathe.

Feeling reckless and loving it, she keyed the door and pulled him in the room.

Don’t let him reconsider.

She pressed against his long lean body, a ball of heat igniting low in her belly. Her lips sought his again, were captured again as he wove a sexual spell about her. Everything inside her melted and surged like molten lava.

His mouth moved to the sensitive spot under her ear. And the one under her jaw. Oh, and the hollow at the base of her neck. By the time she caught her breath, she lost it again.

She tilted her head back to look into his eyes. She needed to see him, know that he was seeing her. Glittering blue, his eyes stared into hers, his expression inscrutable.

Damn, not again
.

As she started to pull away, to tell him to leave, he stroked his knuckles down her cheek.

Gentle and deliberate, he asked, “Are you sure you want this? That you want me? I’m not sure I’ll be able to let you go after. I need you to be sure.”

Oh, hell
. He hadn’t turned away from her because he didn’t want her. He wanted too much from her. Was she ready for that? Was she ready for a relationship with a man she didn’t know, didn’t understand? It didn’t make any sense, but her heart said “yes.”
Give him, us, a chance. You know he’s a man of honor and courage.

She smiled up at this gentle giant of a man. “Yes, Trevor, I am sure. I want you.”

His mouth took hers again, this time with a desperation that bespoke a need transcending simple lust. His tongue swept her mouth, stoking her desire to a raging fire. She dragged his shirt over his head, breaking the kiss for but a second. She trailed her fingers through the springy, coarse hair on his chest. She drew a line down to his belt, quickly unfastening it and snapped it from the loops. It dropped to the floor with a thud. When she went after his zipper, he grabbed her hands.

“Slow down, Cassie.”

No one called her that, but she didn’t mind—didn’t give a damn at that moment—as he slid the thin straps of her short nightgown from her shoulders. The silky garment slipped down her body and pooled at her feet.

Trevor trailed a fingertip from one shoulder down to the rise over her breast, pausing to blow softly on her nipple. She sucked in a breath, forcing air into a suddenly tight chest. He hovered over the spot where her heart pounded against her breastbone. Could he hear it? She could barely hear anything over the thudding of her blood through her veins.

He traveled past her navel and tugged at her panties. For a second, she regretted not wearing matching ones, but from the intensity in his eyes, he didn’t care. Her panties joined the nightgown on the floor and he lifted her into his arms.

His lips plundered hers. Demanding, taking, enticing, promising fulfillment. She wrapped her legs around his waist, her desire evident as her wet core pressed to his belly. She ground against him, needing the friction.

Embarrassed by her unabashed desire, she pulled back, unable to meet his eyes. She’d never been this wanton with anyone, not even her live-in boyfriend five years ago.

A growl sounded in his throat. Startled, she gazed into his impassioned blue eyes.

“Don’t even think of apologizing, if that’s what you were going to do,” he said, his voice gravelly and deep. “It means you want me.”

He tightened his hold on her, walked to the bed and laid her down. His gaze caressed her naked body, heating her up without even touching her. He shucked his pants and stood still for her perusal.

She stared at his hard, tough body, her own muscles tightening in anticipation. She admired his broad chest, tapered waist, trim hips, traveling to sculpted thighs and calves. She couldn’t wait to trace every muscle, every vein that stood out on his arms. This man’s chiseled physique rivaled Michelangelo’s David with one obvious difference: he was exceptionally endowed.

He kneeled on the floor next to the bed.
What is he doing?
Gently, he encircled her ankles and dragged her toward him, finally nestling his face between her legs.

A quiver ran through her with the first lap of his tongue on her tender flesh. If she thought she was hot before, she was burning up now. Warmth raced up her chest and straight to the top of her head. He bent her legs at the knees and rested her feet on his shoulders. She lay open for his pleasure, but her pleasure ratcheted higher with each swipe of his tongue.

He circled her swollen nub, flicked it, and her whole body jerked with an intense thrill. She panted with each lap of the flat of his tongue. She gasped each time he speared into her. He alternated the rhythm, keeping her on a razor’s edge. She couldn’t catch her breath. Didn’t care to. She dug her fingers into the comforter beneath her but couldn’t hold on. Her inner muscles tightened, coiled, bunched. Her heart raced. She bit her lip to keep from moaning.

“Let go, Cassie.”

God, she wanted to, she wanted to do anything he asked. Demanded. Hell, ordered. But she couldn’t.

“I can’t, Trevor. I just can’t. Please, I need you inside me.”

The supplication and pure need in her voice convinced him she wanted to be with him. She didn’t play games. She personified goodness and sweetness and was probably more than a bit inhibited with her previous lovers.

He smiled as he rose to his feet.
That is something we can fix, but not now
.

After grabbing a packet from the nightstand, he crawled over the bed as she scooted back to accommodate his body.

He lay beside her, marveling at her perfect milky white breasts with the pretty pink peaks. He circled one with a finger then took it into his mouth.

He couldn’t take much more of this. His cock throbbed painfully. His heart hammered in his chest. He trembled with every stroke of her fingers on his back, his arms. Electricity charged through him wherever they touched. He needed to be inside her as much as she wanted him there.

He sucked gently and flicked the rosy bud with the tip of his tongue. He slid his hand down her body over the curve of her hip, past the silky skin of her belly.

By the gods, she was so hot, so wet for him. No doubt, she’d be tight, but as aroused as she was, their first time would be fine. Better than fine.

Fucking fantastic.

No turning back now
. He stroked his fingers between her legs. No way he could deny his driving need again. Not when her skin trembled beneath his touch.

Her body tensed around his finger. Blood surged in his veins, pounded in his head. He longed for her inner muscles to tighten around his engorged shaft.

She found his erection, grasped him firmly. She stroked from the base to the tip and smoothed the fluid over the tip. His cock reacted by swelling even more. He almost came in her hand.

He removed her hand from his shaft, ripped the foil packet, and rolled the condom into place. After he settled between her legs, his eager member nudged her slick opening.

“Cassie, my sweet Cassie,” he said between soft kisses, “I’ve wanted you ever since I first laid eyes on you. Now, you’re mine.”

Her smile turned to a breathy gasp as he eased into her. He paused, gave her time to adjust to his girth. Even then, her muscles pulsed around his engorged cock, driving his inner beast insane with the mindless need to take.

“Damn, Cassie, you’re so tight,” he growled. At the widening of her eyes, he anticipated her reaction, grinding out, “Don’t you dare apologize for how you’re made. You’re amazing.” With supreme control, he slid in another inch. With each exquisite advance into her tight channel, his ability to hold himself in check slipped a degree.

He distracted himself by feasting on her breasts, sucking them, grazing the tips with his teeth. Her hips rose. Her body fell to the mattress only to drive him inside her again. And again. Each time, a moan broke from her, her desire forcing her wildness to the surface, something he was sure she didn’t even know she had inside.

With each moan, he lost ground in the battle with his inner beast. Her inner muscles tightened and began to spasm.

With a growl of discontent that he’d lost the war he’d waged with the animal inside him, he rode her hard, deep, spurred by the pricks of pain incurred by her fingernails on his back. She met each of his thrusts, enshrining his cock in her velvet heat, until he hung on the edge of ecstasy. Close. By the gods, she would come first.

Her feminine whimpers became muffled as she caught her bottom lip between her teeth to keep from crying out.

“Don’t hold back,” he ground out. He needed her to show him how much he turned her on. He leaned down and kissed her hard, swallowing her scream when he reached between their bodies to stroke her swollen clit.

He kept his rhythm, thrusting deep, unable to deny his body’s need for release. She came hard. Her body jerked against him, her muscles gripping him like a fist, triggering his own unbelievably violent orgasm. His head arched back and he roared in explosive ecstasy. His seed spurted forth in hot jets, draining him.

No woman, human or paranormal, had pushed his limits, had made him work harder to control his beast. Sex had always been a pleasant physical release, but never this grinding need to be with her again. And again. To never let her go. Could she be his intended mate? Could the fates have chosen a human woman for him?

Careful not to crush her even though he desperately wanted to collapse, he lowered his body to hers, keeping some of his weight on his arms. He nuzzled his face in the crook of her neck, his heart turning over in his chest when her arms pulled him close and her legs rubbed up and down over his ass and the backs of his thighs.

“You’re really furry,” she murmured, tracing circles with one finger in the hair on his chest.

You have no idea
. He kissed her soft neck.