Page 91 of Primal Bonds

His answer was a fierce kiss. When it ended, she was on the bed with him kneeling over her.

The first thing he did was to strip off her clothes. He dropped them next to the bed and sent his own after them. “That’s better.” His gaze stroked down her body where she lay with one knee bent up, lingering on her nipples, which tingled eagerly, and then continued down to the tuft of dark blond hair between her legs.

“You’re darker here.” He traced a fingertip through her curls.

“Because I’m a natural blond. This—” she touched the hair on her head—“gets bleached by the sun. That doesn’t, unless I sunbathe naked.” She slanted him a wicked smile.

“Damn.” He pressed her bent leg down and straddled her. “Now I’ve got a picture in my head of you spread out naked in the sun like a fucking sex goddess.” He traced a finger around her nipples and then down her breastbone. “Would you burn?”

“No—I don’t burn. I just get a little darker.”

“Beautiful,” he murmured as he stroked her flank. “This afternoon in the sun, you sparkled like someone sprinkled silver dust on you. I wonder if you have some sun fae in you. You should talk to Queen C about it.”

“Sure. I’ll just drive up to Rising Sun and knock on her door. If she even has a door…”

“Adric knows her. He could talk to her.”

She shook her head. “If the sun fae wanted me, they’d have done something a long time ago.”

“Maybe. The fae have their own way of looking at things, though. And time moves more slowly for them. She may be planning on doing something, but by the time she gets around to it, you’ll be fifty years old. You should think about it—the sun fae can help you train your Gift, if you don’t want to ask Leesa.”

“All right—I’ll think about it.” She trailed a finger down the hard muscles of his abdomen. “But right now, I have better things to do.”

“I like how you think, woman.” His eyes glinted with his cat: golden brown with shards of green radiating out from the pupils.

She slipped her arms around his neck. “You promised I’d see your jaguar again.”

“Mm.” His chest rumbled, and she grinned.

“Are you purring?”

“Yeah,” he said with a sheepish smile. “The cat likes you.”

“So I can see him?”

“Sure.” He backed off and crouched on the mattress. Color cascaded over his skin, bright bits of green and gold and copper that reminded her of the inside of a fae light. They spread out until his body glittered, indescribably beautiful.

And then suddenly, his form was more cat than man, and then a black panther stood on the foot of the bed. He was big and brawny, with powerful legs and long, sharp canines. This close, she could see the roseate pattern on his pelt—large, irregular black spots surrounded by a dark walnut that blended in to make him appear all black from a distance.

She drew in a breath, awed and the tiniest bit afraid, even though she knew it was Jace.

He settled next to her and nudged her with his head. “You want me to pet you?” He rumbled and nudged her harder, so much like Tigger it was impossible to be afraid. “Okay,” she said with a chuckle and smoothed a hand over his head. His fur was velvety soft over the hard bones of his skull. “You’re beautiful.”

He pushed his head harder into her hand, and then crept even closer so he could rub against her jaw. Marking her with his scent.

She turned her head and their eyes met. His irises were a pure green now, but she saw the man there too, his gaze alive with intelligence.

She stroked a hand over his jaw. This time his purr was loud and clear.

He came up over her, and rubbed his head over her chest. Her already sensitized nipples hardened. Her breasts felt achingly full.

Then he moved down her body and rubbed his head against her mound, too. Her breath sucked in. “Jace.”

He gave a badass growl and came on top of her again, a paw on either side of her head. His fur glittered, and she watched as he changed back to man. This time it was a quick shift—less than thirty seconds.

“I want you,” he said in a gravelly voice that was half cat, half man. “Now.”

“Yes.” Her arms were already around him. Her hips rocked off the bed, touching his erection where it hung, hard and heavy.

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