Palm Haven Shifters: Complete Five-Part Series Page 10

  Sloan’s fingers dug into her hips, drawing her to the edge of the desk. In another time, another form, he would claim his mate with marks to her hips like this. But not today. Not yet. He wanted nothing more than to give her pleasure in every way imaginable until she could take no more.

  Sarah’s back arched off the desk as his tongue made contact with the damp fabric. The bittersweet feminine taste of her invaded his senses, overwhelmed Sloan to the point that he could barely contain himself. Her musk was a heady drug that had his tiger close to the surface and his self-control hanging on by a frayed thread. He needed her. She writhed and moaned under the gentle pressure of his tongue through the thin fabric of her underwear.

  One look at the flushed vixen beneath him and Sloan knew she needed him, too.

  He shoved the fabric to the side and took care to lick the length of her dripping slit. His tongue darted into her folds, teasing her clit, making her buck against his skilled mouth.

  He slipped a finger into her clenching channel. Then another. Words lost all meaning. There was only Sloan between her legs and wordless breathless cries of passion coming from her lips. His fingers curled inside her, making Sarah’s legs tremble and quake as a whirlwind of debris fluttered around them. Her magic couldn’t be contained at that moment. But he would get her there.

  The rough pad of his tongue lapped at her quivering clit, moving in tandem with his fingers. He wanted to see her come undone. Needed to.

  A surge of power rushed through him and Sarah’s legs clenched around his head, her thighs trembling with the explosive force of her orgasm as stray papers fluttered around them.

  Sloan’s fingers slowed within her, but didn’t withdraw.

  “Holy shit,” she said, gasping for air.

  Sloan grinned, swatting at an old news article that wafted by.

  “And with only minor destruction,” he teased, bending over her for a kiss.

  Sarah moaned at the taste of herself coming from his lips. His fingers moved inside of her and she gasped, throwing her head back in pleasure.

  He nibbled on her bottom lip before removing his fingers.

  “Come on, there’s something I’ve been dreaming about since day one,” he smirked, pulling a mostly-naked Sarah into the main part of the library.

  “What if someone comes in?” she asked. Was she self-conscious about the wanton noises she’d been making at Sloan’s hands? She shouldn’t be.

  “Janine volunteered to close everything up early.”

  “That sneaky little—”

  Sloan kissed her again before whirling her around and pressing her back into one of the many rows of bookshelves.

  “Shh. This is a library, young lady,” he whispered.

  Sarah giggled and Sloan smacked her ass. Not hard enough to hurt, but enough to get her attention.

  He grabbed both of her wrists in one hand, her bracelet jangling as he thrust her arms above her head, pinning her spine to those of the books behind her. His free hand traced the contours of her body as he devoured her mouth in a desperate kiss.

  Sarah matched his enthusiasm with every bit she had. His tongue tangled with hers and she returned the favor, exploring his mouth with hungry interest.

  Sloan’s free hand moved to release his aching cock from the confines of his pants. God, she had no idea what she did to him.

  He ground his hips into her, letting her feel the way she affected him, the way his cock twitched when he touched her, the way one moan from her could drive him crazy.

  He forced her panties from her hips and they puddled at her feet as she hooked one leg around his waist, drawing him closer.

  She lunged forward, biting his lip as she pulled his mouth back to hers.

  “Please,” she whispered.

  He couldn’t take it. That little whimpered plea would be his undoing.

  Sloan captured Sarah’s cry with a kiss as he thrust into her. Her warmth enveloped him, squeezed him, and brought him to the brink.

  He withdrew slowly, making sure Sarah felt every last inch of his cock before he slammed back into her, capturing another surprised cry with his lips.

  His pace increased, but only by a bit. He wanted to drag this out. He wanted to bring her to the very edge. He wanted to see the look in her eyes when she finally gave him complete control.

  Sloan pistoned in and out of her, driving her higher and higher. She was so close, her face flushed, her breathing shallow and sharp as he drove into her relentlessly. Her hands scrabbled against the books behind her, but he wouldn’t release her wrists, keeping them pinned above her head, supporting her against the stacks, claiming her body like there was no tomorrow.

  She was getting closer. He could feel the surge of magic rising, spurring him onward, making the air feel electric and thick with the fog of arousal.

  Books on the shelves surrounding her started to rattle and shake.

  Sloan drove into her again.

  She threw her head back with a strangled cry.

  A book flew off its shelf and Sloan stopped.

  Sarah whimpered as the orgasm that had been so close slipped away from her grasp.

  Sloan kissed her and plowed into her again.

  He did this three more times, bringing her to the very edge of coming only to stop when the moment arose.

  Before too long, she realized that he was only stopping when her magic tried to lash out on its own. Understanding shone in her eyes.

  “Please,” she begged again, barely more than a whisper. Her words desperate with unappeased need. Her sex clenched around him, desperate for the release he denied her. She wriggled, seeking that stroke, the one final touch that would send her over the edge.

  “Do you want to come or do you want control?” he asked, completely still within her.

  Sarah groaned with frustration, “Both!”

  “You can’t have both. Which do you want?”

  A desperate cry tore from her chest, “I want to come,” she admitted.

  Sloan’s lips curved upwards, “Good answer.”

  Chapter 25

  SARAH

  Sarah’s hands were bound behind her with her own sweater. She wanted to touch Sloan so badly, but he insisted this was for her own good. Even after taking the time to get her cardigan from the reference desk, Sarah was on edge, ready to pounce, ready to do whatever it took to have Sloan back inside of her.

  He’d finished stripping them both before he laid her bare body on one of the large research tables. Her arms went over the sides of the table and Sloan tied them underneath so there was no escape. She was trapped; she should be frightened or — at the very least — worried, but she wasn’t. She was only hot.

  Sloan bent to take a pert pink nipple into his mouth, drawing it to a stiff peak before doing the same with the other.

  His fingers danced gracefully down her body, exploring every roll and dimple with a surprisingly appreciative touch.

  “I will give you what you want, but you have to give me what I want,” he said.

  Sarah nodded, her breaths shallow and ragged with anticipation as his hands trailed up the insides of her thighs.

  “Anything.”

  “When you get close to coming, you have to tell me. If I don’t give you permission, you cannot come. Do you understand?”

  Sarah nibbled her bottom lip and wriggled against her bonds. Yep, they were good and tight.

  “How can I stop myself? It just happens…”

  “You’re not leaving this spot until you can control it,” he said with a look that dared her to defy him. A look that made her feel like her skin would burst into flames from the intensity within it.

  “So, what will you do?” he asked.

  Sarah swallowed past the lump in her throat while his fingertips teased the damp curls covering her slit.

  “I won’t come until I’ve been given permission,” she whined, suddenly wondering if this was a good idea after all. She was so horny and he was so damn sexy. It was all her mag
ic’s fault that she was tied down naked in the library. It wasn’t her magic’s fault that she was enjoying it so much, though. That was all Sloan.

  “Good girl,” Sloan praised, “for that, you can have your pick. My fingers,” he wriggled two fingers over her clit, making Sarah gasp, “My tongue,” he gave one of her swollen nipples a long hard suck, “or…”

  “Your cock. Please. I need your cock,” Sarah begged, not even letting him finish his tease. Before she met Sloan, she never would have expected to be using those words, talking dirty, begging to be fucked, for goodness’ sake, but she couldn’t stop herself. Couldn’t fight against the roaring desire that made her mind mush and her body molten. She needed him and there was no time to be embarrassed about crude language.

  Without hesitation, Sloan slid into her until he was fully and completely buried within her slick clenching sheath. Sarah moaned, her back arching at the incredible feeling of being filled by this man that drove her so wild.

  “Oh god,” she moaned, her legs tightening around him, “I’m going to come,” she cried, the pressure building inside of her too much to resist. Her magic only made it worse. Made it so much better.

  “No,” Sloan said firmly.

  Sarah’s muscles clenched him tightly and she fought against the rising tide of pleasure even as he drove into her again and again.

  “Please,” she begged, the coil in her core winding tighter and tighter within her.

  “Not yet,” he answered, rolling a neglected nipple between his fingers.

  She arched to meet him again and the shelves all around them trembled like there was an earthquake, but Sloan didn’t stop.

  “Sarah, look at me,” he commanded.

  As if her head weighed a ton, Sarah lifted it from the table to lock eyes with him. Each thrust of him inside her made her breath hitch and her womb quiver. She couldn’t hold on for much longer.

  “Right here with me. You can do this. Do it for me,” he growled, his own completion rising in him, making him swell inside of her.

  Sarah’s eyes gazed intently into his until he shifted his hands to lift her ass.

  The new angle on Sarah’s pelvis made her wild.

  “Oh fuck. Sloan!” She screamed.

  His fingers dug into her hips. She pulled against her restraints, desperate to touch him, to feel hard muscles rippling under her fingertips. She couldn’t bear it anymore. It was too much. Too great.

  “Hold on a little while longer for me. Not yet, Sarah.”

  She whined and whimpered but obeyed.

  He molded the flesh of her ass, trying to drag out this magical coupling for as long as possible.

  “Please, Sloan, I need to come,” she cried.

  With that plaintive request, Sloan growled and seemed to lose his self-control.

  “Come for me Sarah, it’s okay,” he said, finding her clit with his thumb the moment he exploded into her.

  The world exploded in front of her eyes. Sarah felt a release unlike any other. It crashed through her and washed away a decade of fear and shame. Sarah’s body trembled with aftershocks even as he withdrew from her, still semi-hard looking at her spread eagle beneath him.

  A satisfied smile spread her lips and she giggled while he untied her and helped her stand on wobbly feet.

  “That was…” she panted.

  “Incredible,” he finished for her, slipping an arm around her waist.

  “Did I…?” she asked, looking around the library for signs of her magic run amok.

  Sloan kissed her, his own beaming smile a reflection of hers.

  “You controlled it, sweetheart. I knew you could.”

  Sarah’s eyes twinkled with gratitude and understanding.

  “You’re going to help me practice some more though, right?” She teased.

  Sloan laughed, toying with the tiger on her wrist. Did she have any idea how crazy he was for her?

  “As often as you’d like,” he answered.

  Sarah nodded and kissed Sloan again. She would never tire of that feeling. The closeness she felt with him was like no other. It was beyond a human connection; it touched all sides of them, even the sides they tried to hide from the world.

  But there was still something she had to tell him. A guilt that weighed on her.

  “You were wrong about me, though,” she said as he pulled her into his lap on one of the big armchairs in his office.

  “Oh?” he asked, clearly amused by her anxiety.

  She sighed. “I… well, I think at least… I’m pretty sure…”

  “What is it?” Sloan tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear and she leaned into his palm with a sigh.

  “I am the Guardian.”

  She wasn’t expecting him to laugh at that. But laugh he did.

  “I know. I think I knew that before you did.”

  “But… you told that other man that…” she stopped, piecing together the things he’d said. Her jaw dropped. He’d been protecting her and the Kerris just as he’d said he would. He kissed her and smoothed her hair again, cradling Sarah in his strong arms. She could stay like that forever.

  “No matter what, I will always protect you. If that extends to protecting the things you love, then so be it. And you know I’m a man of my word,” he added with a half-cocked grin.

  “Oh, do I?” Sarah teased back.

  “I told you I was going to fuck you until your magic behaved itself, did I not?”

  She giggled. It felt so strange to finally be at one with her powers. Instead of rebelling against them, instead of the magic trying to force her into something, it was just there. Like her heartbeat or the breaths she took, her magic finally felt like a part of her. Sarah looked up at the man next to her. Sloan felt like a part of her, too.

  “You did.”

  “And did I deliver?” he asked, slipping a hand over her ass before giving it a loving squeeze.

  “You most certainly did.”

  “So that settles that.”

  “That settles what?” she asked, unable to wipe the grin from her face.

  “We’ll live happily ever after.”

  Before Sarah had a chance to respond, awareness prickled in the back of her mind. Deep in the recesses of her magical stores, Sarah knew something wasn’t right.

  “What is it?” Sloan stiffened, sensing her unease.

  Her magic sounded an alarm that she couldn’t ignore. “Something’s wrong,” she whispered over the screeching in her mind.

  She expected Sloan to dismiss her worries, but to her surprise, he stood and slipped into his clothes quietly and quickly.

  “Stay put, I’ll go see what’s up.”

  Sarah nodded, her body still thrumming with the afterglow of sex and her heart swollen to immense proportions with the newfound affection she felt for this man. She couldn’t help but marvel at how he changed her life. Sloan accepted her for what she was. He fit her. Completed her. Never in a million years would she have expected to find someone that cared about her and helped her tame her magic like she did.

  She could certainly see them living happily ever after.

  Minutes passed and Sloan didn’t return. The prickle in the recesses of her mind returned. And then there was a crash.

  Chapter 26

  SLOAN

  Bare feet carried him silently across the carpeted library, his eyes and ears open for any threat. Sloan’s tiger didn’t sense the danger, but he trusted Sarah and if she thought something wasn’t right, then he was going to investigate for her.

  He’d do anything for her. His heart hammered just thinking about her. Spread out before him, crying out in ecstasy, the after-sex glow flushing her cheeks that made her a hundred times more beautiful to him.

  Making love to Sarah had been unlike anything Sloan had ever experienced. For that wondrous moment, man and tiger were one, driven by a singular goal to protect, claim, and mate. He’d meant what he said about living happily ever after. If she’d have him.

  He walked th
rough the darkened library — the sun long since set and the overhead lights were flipped off when Sarah had fetched her sweater.

  That little yellow sweater had made the perfect binding for his witch. She’d handled herself so well. He couldn’t wait to repeat the experience as soon as possible.

  His tiger surfaced, sensing something amiss. Sloan tried to push the beast down, but shattering glass drew his attention.

  Sarah?

  The sound came from the wrong direction. Sloan turned his attention to the front door and saw something that made his heart stop.

  Randal and three other men — lower ranking tigers, no doubt — marched through the shattered automatic doors without a moment of hesitation.

  Sloan heard a low menacing growl before he realized it came from him. He was growling at the other men, his stance defensive.

  “Get out,” he said, only a shred of humanity left in his voice as he struggled against the instinct to shift right then and there.

  “Yeah. Not gonna happen,” Randal answered casually. “We’re here for your little witch. Lupins have put a bounty on the Elder’s head and the only way we can defeat them is with these Ley Lines she’s holding hostage.”

  Sloan’s vision tunneled and all he saw were images of himself ripping out Randal’s throat. The other man’s blood coating his teeth and claws in wholly satisfying carnage. He’d rip Randal limb from limb before he let any of them lay a finger on Sarah.

  “You’re not going to touch her. Leave now or it’s going to get very ugly, very quickly.”

  Randal’s lips quirked into a smug sneer.

  “Tsk tsk. Choosing a woman over your clan? You know what happens to traitors, don’t you?” He asked innocently before a knowing menace darkened his eyes, “Oh, that’s right, you do.”

  Sloan felt his bones re-shaping and cracking painfully as he tried to ward off the shift. Was Randal really stupid enough to taunt him with Dana?

  “Either she gives up the Ley Lines willingly or I’ll take them… forcefully.”

  The other tigers closed in, two of them already in the process of shifting.

  “I’m not really bothered either way,” Randal said with a shrug.

  Sloan dug his heels into the carpet. It wasn’t that easy. Sarah couldn’t give them up and he would never let her even if she could. She was a Guardian. If she gave that up, she’d never be the same again. She’d never be whole again. By extension, neither would Sloan.