“You don't know what you're doing to me,” he whispered, and now it was her turn to laugh.
“Show me. Oh, show me.”
He did, riding his fingers against her, into her, watching with his mouth dry and his skin on fire as she rocked against his body, growing increasingly frantic until she went tense and still.
“Macy? ”
“Don't stop, don't stop, don't stop, ” she chanted, and with a brief moan, he continued. She was braced against him, something in her winding tighter as he slid over her clit again and again.
The only thing that mattered was the woman in his arms, the way her red mouth opened around his name. He was aware in a distant way of how she reached back to dig her hands into his clothes, how the foot on the ground tapped out an insistent rhythm that spelled out her need, but there was absolutely nothing beyond it at all. It was just Macy, and when she went up in flames, somehow she took him with her.
Her climax broke like a storm, and she brought her own hand up to her lips to stifle the sound as the opposite hand came down to press against the one between her legs. He was slightlydisappointed, suddenly he wanted nothing more than to hear her shout echo down the empty halls, but that could be for later, as, he realized with delight, they were going to have so much later to look forward to.
He stayed still until she relaxed against him, her breathing slowing, a dazed smile on her face. Slowly, he eased his hand away, and her smile grew sharper, positively smug.
“Well, you were right. That definitely does not need condoms.”
He started to reply but then she was kissing him, her lips on hers and somehow he could taste the pleasure in it, how well he had pleased her.
“You think you can get away with just that?” she growled against his mouth.
It was a human growl, but it made his panther utter a growl of his own, something that Luca didn't even realize before Macy's eyes widened in pleasure.
“Oh you like that,” she said, rubbing her cheek up against his, and yes, yes he did.
Her hand slipped down his chest, stroking slyly over his hip before curving around to squeeze his rear, and he growled again, softer this time, almost a hum.
“You gorgeous thing,” she murmured. “I don't think I've everfeltanything as gorgeous as you.”
He started to say something, probably something unspeakably romantic and mushy about how beautiful she was and how lucky he felt, but then there was a movement out of the corner of his eye, a flash of woodsy brown near the door. Hefroze, and just as Macy started to ask him what was wrong, he kissed her cheek apologetically.
“Sorry,” he muttered, and he was off of her and on the ground in a heartbeat.
It was the cerastes, but just as he was getting ready to grab his hook, it turned with ridiculous speed, arrowing through the open door. Macy shouted with surprise, and he half-turned to her in alarm before she sat up, wrestling her shirt closed and gesturing for him to go ahead, she was fine, of course she was fine!
He was after the cerastes in a moment, and he managed to catch it squirming its way under a battered grating, the tip of its sharp tail slipping through his actual fingertips as it made its escape.
He swore, staring at the grate as if he could summon it back by sheer will alone, and Macy came up behind him, squeezing his shoulder comfortingly.
“You almost got him that time,” she said, and he looked up at her.
From the way she blinked at him, he knew that his expression was fiercer than it should have been.
“Luca? You okay?”
“That,” he said precisely, “is a very endangered cryptid that needs to be contained and taken to someone who knows what to do with it. It is also keeping me from my true mate, and that means it needs to be dealt with as soon as possible.”
Macy's grin was like the sun breaking through the clouds. Even in his frustration, it made him want to bask in it, to let it keep him warm for the rest of his life.
“You are going to take such good care of it.”
He came up to his feet, pulling her in for a light and regretful kiss. He couldn't let it get too deep, or he would just be in the same position again, desperately needing her touch at a time when he needed to be concentrating on the job.
“I will take such good care of it,” he said direly. “I am going to bring it to a place where it can be safe, where it will find a mate, where it will be pampered and loved for the rest of its possibly immortal life. I'm going to make sure that it gets all the good care in the world.”
“That's my man,” Macy said pertly, and yes, he was.
CHAPTER SEVEN
