The Jaguar

Chapter One.

A black jaguar hopped into a wide, richly furnished room through an open window. He stalked across the room, his powerful muscles flexing and jumping with each deliberately lazy stride.

Stretched out on a large king-sized bed was a woman. Her skin shone like polished coral in the dim light. She wore nothing but a string of pearls and feathers around her neck and a gold band around her ankle.

He chuffed low in his chest as he approached, his tongue dragging from her ankle up to her hair in one slow, claiming stroke. The trail cooled in the night air, making her shiver.

When she opened her eyes, his gaze locked with hers -- a deep green that reminded her of the forest. She combed her fingers through his sleek fur, giggling when he licked her face.

"Are you going to change," she murmured, "or fuck me like this?"

She sat up, kissed his face, looked into his beautiful cat eyes, and whispered, "I'll take you any way I can get you."

He stepped back, and in the blink of an eye, the jaguar was gone. In his place stood a man. He was caramel-skinned, gloriously naked, his black-rimmed, uptilted eyes roamed her body hungrily.

Heat pooled between her thighs under his stare. Slowly, she spread herself for him, letting the light catch on her wetness. "Aaron," she breathed, "take me."

Aaron's eyes darkened at the scent of her. She smelled like ripe, sweet berries: black, straw, and blue. His full lips parted, his tongue darting out to wet his lips as he knelt before the plate set before him.

With a husky chuckle, he knelt between her legs, gripping her thighs and holding her wide. His tongue found her instantly, and a growl of satisfaction vibrated against her clit.. This was the perfect dessert after a successful hunt.

Nia's mouth was opened in a silent O. Every sense she possessed was narrowed down to the magic happening between her legs.

He was both man and beast, and both sides intertwined or remained separate at his will.

Sometimes smooth and human, sometimes a little rough like the jaguar -- he alternated his tongue without mercy, kissing her mound, suckling her clit, then lashing her slit.

He slowed down, kissed her swollen nether lips, and then resumed drawing complex shapes on her clit with his tongue till she couldn't think anymore.

Aaron was having the time of his life watching Nia's face. He knew exactly what he was doing, and he knew the effect it had on her. He thought of being gentler on her, but...

She'd been gone for weeks without a word, and he had spent those nights prowling, restless, aching. Tonight, she'd pay. He looked up at her from between her legs and grinned.

From her teary-eyed, blurred vision, Nia saw him glance up at her. She saw those wicked eyes, that slow, cruel grin. Her body tensed in anticipation.

His tongue morphed again, textured and studded, spreading her into a perfect split as he licked her from base to tip. Her pussy clenched hard, and when he withdrew, she whimpered.

He waited. She knew what he wanted.

"Aaron... my King... my Liege... fuck me. I'm yours. I exist for your pleasure."

His growl vibrated through her core as he drove his tongue into her again, withdrawing inch by inch so every bump dragged along her walls. Saliva and slickness pooled between them. One hand pinched her clit while the other forced her open for the relentless thrusts of his tongue.

The orgasm hit like a storm. She was pitched into total blackness... and then she saw stars as she came to on the sound of her own screaming.

Before she could catch her breath, his weight shifted over her. A heavy, velvet shaft nudged at her entrance.

"I hope you ate dinner, Sweetness." His lips brushed her neck before he pushed into her with one long, unstoppable thrust. She gasped and shattered again around him.

"I'm going to fuck you all night."

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A Great Horned Owl hooted in a nearby tree, its low call rolling through the quiet morning. Nia cracked one heavy eyelid open, every muscle in her body aching from the relentless pummeling Aaron had given her through the night and into the pale glimmer of dawn.

He had claimed her over and over, using slow, bruising thrusts, quick punishing ones...until there was nothing left between them but the mingled scent of sweat, musk, and satisfied exhaustion. He'd taken her in every way a body could be taken, leaving her wrung out, trembling, and utterly spent.

She turned her head to look at him. Aaron lay half-turned toward her, the sharp edges of his boyish features softened by sleep. His lashes were so long they brushed shadows onto his golden skin, and his lips--full, double-toned, achingly kissable--parted slightly with each slow breath.

Her chest tightened, the kind of ache that had nothing to do with the soreness in her limbs. She bit down on the sob that threatened to escape. She was hopelessly in love with him, against every shred of good sense she possessed. Everyone had warned her, including Aaron himself, not to give him her heart. To enjoy him, but never keep him.

But how could she not?

He was a beautiful man...exceedingly so. The kind of beauty that lived in the body and the spirit, drawing people in like moths to flame. And he knew her. All of her. Every secret thought, every hidden scar, every place inside her that ached to be touched.

The owl outside hooted again, more insistent this time. Nia rolled her eyes toward the sound, irritation sparking. Her clan didn't care that she'd been tangled in the king's bed until morning--they still expected her to work, to be sharp, to be theirs. No rest, no reprieve.

With a groan, she peeled herself from the warmth of Aaron's bed--its soft, cloudlike mattress and the comforting weight of his arm. Stretching, she padded toward the tall window where the jaguar had entered his chambers last night.

As she moved, her skin began to shift, folding over itself in ripples. Brown and white feathers burst through, fanning over her shoulders and arms. Her fingers lengthened, narrowing into the graceful arcs of wings, while her face stretched, eyes widening into twin golden globes. In moments, an enchanting barn owl stood where a woman had been.

She launched into the morning air, her powerful wings cutting through the cool breeze. Passing her brother mid-flight, she caught his exasperated glance before he fell into formation beside her. Scouting duty. With the king's mistress. It was going to be a long day.

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Aaron reached out for her, finding only cool sheets. His jaw tensed. He'd hoped to keep her in his bed for at least three days. That was the least she could give him after so long apart.

Her scent still lingered, intoxicating. Wild berries and rainwater. Her taste still haunted his tongue from the moments he had pulled out of her warmth just to bury his face between her thighs, feasting until her cries broke apart into gasps. Sweet and salty--his human side craved the sugar, his jaguar craved the salt. Together, she was perfection.

He'd taken many lovers. None of them had ever sated him the way Nia did.

But the council was growing restless. They wanted their king married. He had no desire for it, but... it was unavoidable. Still, the thought brought an unexpected impatience. Fine. He would wed their queen-to-be. She could stand at his side, wear his crown. But Nia... Nia would always be his.

A knock came at the massive double doors.

"Enter," he commanded.

A ruby-skinned boy stepped inside, bowing as he placed a silver basin and a pitcher of water on the table. Aaron grunted. After a night like last night, that would hardly be enough. He was obsessively clean. He'd need more than a rinse. Waving the boy away, he rose fluidly from the bed, stretching his long, sculpted limbs.

The morning sunlight poured over him as he stepped to the window. He closed his eyes, basking for a breath, then leapt.

Mid-air, his body flowed into another form--sleek, muscled, lethal. The black jaguar landed soundlessly on the forest floor far below, paws sinking into the bed of leaves. Without pause, he padded toward the stream. He needed water. And soon.

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Milei's dress fell in a heap at the riverbank, her bare skin shivering as she slipped into the cool, rushing stream. She'd been running since dawn, trying to burn off the restless anticipation knotting inside her. Tonight, she would marry the king.

She'd never seen him. Had only ever heard whispers. They called him The Jaguar. Her mother had once described his "felinity," whatever that meant.

The water lapped at her thighs, her hips, her breasts, sending shivers up her spine. She rose, droplets streaming down her skin as the breeze slid over her. Her nipples pebbled instantly, tightening and standing proud from her breasts. They were her favorite part of her body--long, sensitive, aching for touch.

She giggled to herself, rolling one between her fingers. The giggle caught halfway, tumbling into a breathy moan. A pulse of heat bloomed low in her belly, a damp ache between her thighs. She stilled her hand, chiding herself. Not now.

She finished her washing quickly, stepping back onto the grassy bank. But her dress was gone.

Her gaze darted up. It dangled from someone's fingers, swaying just out of reach.

She lunged for it, only for it to slip away. Again she tried, and again it evaded her. Frustration flared, her eyes narrowing into a glare at the thief--

--until she followed the line of the arm, the shoulder, the neck... and met a face so breathtaking it made the rest of the world fall away.