His finger was slick, the lubricant covering it cool to her overheated inner flesh. But nothing could dim the fires igniting inside her.

The sensations filling her were more than physical. It was more than pleasure. As she knelt before him. her shoulders right against the mattress, her rear raised in preparation of his invasion, she began to understand what he wanted her to feel. To know.

Submission.

Not weakness. Not protection or a sense of smothering restraint. What she felt sent her flying headlong into a knowledge that she knew would change her forever.

The spanking had only primed her. The short, fiery slaps of Braden's palm only drove her higher, made her hungrier. The blending of pleasure Braden's fingers stroking her p.u.s.s.y, dipping in, filling the slick recess of her v.a.g.i.n.a, had her screaming for o.r.g.a.s.m. The pain, a light spanking, the fingers working inside her a.n.u.s, opening her, preparing her, was driving her mad.

"There, baby." The rough croon stroked her senses as finally, blessedly she felt the blunt tip of his c.o.c.k stroking against the back entrance rather than his fingers.

She couldn't believe she was backing into him, desperate mewls of need escaping her lips as his thick width began to press in, stretching her, burning her.

"Oh my G.o.d. Braden. I don't think_"

"Don't think." His hand landed on her a.s.s once again as she felt the fiery head of his c.o.c.k breach the virgin portal.

Her eyes widened, dazed, shock and pain-filled pleasure rioting through her system as his erection continued to sink inside her. Nerve endings she had never known she possessed flared to life as Braden growled harshly behind her.

His hands gripped her hips, holding her firmly in place as he began to work inside her. Slowly, too slowly. Inch by inch she felt the invasion, spreading her, sinking into her as rapid bursts of pleasure-pain began to sizzle along her nerve endings.

It seemed to go on forever, slow, easy thrusts that stretched the tight opening, sent her spiraling further into rapture. Until he paused, his breathing harsh behind her, his erection inches from filling her fully.

"I am your mate." He snarled as a final thrust sent him in to the hilt, causing her to scream breathlessly against the invading force. There was no protest as the muscles of her a.s.s began to milk the hard length. Only pleasure. Only ecstasy.

"You will follow. I will lead."

She shook her head desperately, the muscles of her a.s.s clenching around Braden's throbbing erection as it pierced her body.

"You will follow. I will lead." He snarled again, his hand landing on her a.s.s once more.

She should be furious. She should be raging and attempting whatever it took to escape his hold. Instead, she was whimpering like a pathetic love slave eager for more.

"Feel me, Megan." He came over her then, moving his hips, pulling back marginally before plowing inside her once again.

"Yes_" She could only pant, beg for more. Oh G.o.d, this was incredible. It was past incredible.

She felt her hair being brushed from her shoulder, felt his teeth raking it warningly.

Oh man, he was going to bite her again. She could feel it coming.

He chuckled instead, raking his teeth over her flesh, licking at the wounds already there as he slowly began to withdraw his swollen flesh from her rear.

Megan gasped for breath, amazed at the sensations rushing through her. The ultrasensitive flesh burned in near ecstasy, gripping, clenching on the retreating erection as she moaned in disappointment. He couldn't leave her now.

He couldn't withdraw...

Her back arched as a scream tore from her throat. The fierce thrust inside her a.s.s had fiery pleasure ripping through her womb, her c.l.i.toris. She shook beneath him, pushing back, driving him deeper.

"I lead, you will follow." He growled in her ear, his voice harsh. "Give me your promise, Megan, and I will give you ease. I can do this for hours. As long as you wish. As long as I wish. Your a.s.s is so hot, so tight," he crooned.

She knew she was going to give in. Perspiration dripped from her forehead, coated her body. She could feel the juices flowing from her p.u.s.s.y, her nerves rioting with the need for o.r.g.a.s.m.

"Let me guide you, Megan." His voice tempted her, teased her. "As I guide you here, let me guide you in battle as well, baby. Let me show you how" His thrusts increased in intensity, sending her senses careening as pleasure exploded through her system.

"G.o.d yes," she screamed. "You b.a.s.t.a.r.d. But swear to G.o.d, you try to coddle me and I'll kill you. I'll kill you, Braden."

"Coddle you?" He groaned, his voice a fierce, triumphant growl. "How's this for coddling?"

This was not coddling. It was dominance in its most primal form. It was a claiming. A demand for submission that she had no choice but to answer.

"Now promise me." He held her on the edge, refusing to let her fly, keeping his thrusts deep and measured.

"I promise, dammit," she screamed, desperation pounding through her.

"Now do it, d.a.m.n you."

He reached one hand beneath her, curving between her thighs and plunging two fingers deep inside her aching p.u.s.s.y as he thrust hard and deep inside the tight, gripping tissue of her a.s.s.

Stars exploded behind her closed eyes. No, this wasn't coddling. It was l.u.s.t in its rawest form. It was a taking, a giving. His c.o.c.k speared into her a.s.s as his fingers f.u.c.ked her p.u.s.s.y below, driving her higher as pleasure exploded across her senses.

Her o.r.g.a.s.m ripped through her. She tightened on the pistoning erection, gripping it, milking it as she was flung past reality, worries and cares into a world of light, of rapture.

A world that consisted only of Braden and of pleasure.

"Good girl So hot and sweet."

She came back to earth slowly, shivering beneath his hard body as he stroked her stomach and whispered wickedly in her ear.

"I'm going to kill you." She was gasping for breath. "Honest, Braden. You're dead. As soon as I can move again."

She moaned harshly as she felt him withdraw. He was still hard despite the o.r.g.a.s.m she knew had swept through him as well. She had felt that d.a.m.ned barb stroking inside her a.s.s, making her crazy as her o.r.g.a.s.m powered through her.

"Then I'll just have to make certain you can't move until you change your mind." His voice was lazy, by no means sated, but satisfied.

She snorted at the thought, rolling over to watch as he disappeared into the bathroom.

"You think you're tough s.h.i.t, don't you?' she called into the other room.

"Big tough Breed got what he wanted." It rankled that she was so weak against the s.e.xual impulses he could make power through her.

She stared up at the ceiling as she listened to the water run, a small frown creasing her face at the thought of how easily she had given in to him. She never gave in, not unless she wanted to. Realizing that in the end she had wanted what he could give her more than she wanted the freedom she had barely tasted, was confusing.

"You didn't give anything up, Megan." Her head jerked to the side, her gaze locking on his naked, powerful form as he leaned against the bathroom doorway.

Naked, he was d.a.m.ned intimidating. Even more so than when he was dressed. Hard muscle rippled beneath golden flesh as he stood before her like a f.u.c.king sun G.o.d. How had nature ever messed up so bad as to pair her with the golden creature standing across the room?

He was wild and free. It was in his eyes, the way he held his body, his expression. There was nothing restrained about him, nothing tamed. Not like her. Fighting to hide, to bury her dreams.

"How do you figure that?" She rose from the bed, jerking her robe over her naked body despite the frown that furrowed his brow at her movement.

"Because I like you wild." He straightened, moving slowly toward her, the still-hard length of his c.o.c.k gleaming wetly. "Because I'll take nothing from you. Not your freedom, or your choices. But I will know your strengths and your weaknesses. I have to, otherwise there can be no trust between us as partners."

Partners. A chill raced through her at that word. She had never really had a partner, just some very close friends that she had nearly gotten killed.

Megan clenched her teeth, remembering the training mission during her final year in the Academy. It had been a disaster; her only salvation had been the fact that no one had realized just how horribly she had messed up.

The overwhelming rage and hatred of the perpetrator had frozen her, locking her mind down, filling it with pain as he slipped past the net they had set for him. The disaster had almost been fatal, and she had sworn then that it would never happen again.

"Megan." He stepped closer, ignoring her as she backed away from him, his expression quiet, calm. She hated that expression. It meant he had made up his mind about something and she was going to agree with him or else.

"I need to think" She drew in a deep, hard breath as he pinned her against the wall, the heat from his body seeming to wrap around her as she pressed her hands against his chest in protest.

At least, she tried to tell herself it was in protest. She was going to push him away in just a minute.

"Thinking will only get you in trouble." He grunted again. "I've seen you when you start thinking. You get strange ideas."

"Like what?'That took her by surprise. Her ideas always seemed perfectly sensible to her.

"Like aiming a Wounder at my d.i.c.k in that canyon." He growled as his gaze lit with amus.e.m.e.nt. "Bad girl, Megan. You could have fired by accident."

He pressed against her, dipping his knees as his hands cupped her a.s.s to lift her closer to that hard, hot flesh. Her robe parted, giving him perfect access to her as his c.o.c.k slid against the slick, aching flesh of her c.u.n.t.

"I knew what I was doing." She gasped, feeling her knees weaken as the head of his c.o.c.k parted her inner lips.

"Sure you did,'' he crooned as his head lowered to allow his lips to smooth over her jaw.

"Maybe I didn't." Her head fell back against the wall as a teasing smile curved her lips. "On second thought, maybe I should have fired Oh G.o.d Braden!"

The fierce, hard thrust inside the slick depths of her p.u.s.s.y sent shudders of reaction racing through her body.

He was lodged into the very depths of her, the head of his c.o.c.k rubbing sensually over the entrance to her womb as he flexed within her.

Racing zephyrs of electric awareness seared through her nerve endings as pleasure began to tempt pain, creating a mix of sensations that stole her breath and left her gasping.

Her hands held tight to his muscular neck as the flaming l.u.s.t and emotion in his gaze seared into her hrain. His eyes were locked on hers, refusing to allow her to close them. She didn't want to close them. She wanted to watch the flare of pleasure in the rich gold depths of his eyes as he began to move slowly, dragging his erection from her until only the swollen head remained. Then with a hard jerk of his hips he was buried inside her again.

Fiery pleasure. A whiplash of heat and mind-numbing intensity. The heavy strokes of his engorged erection filling her, overfilling her. stretching her with such erotic force that she could only cry out, beseeching, pleading for more as he f.u.c.ked her with lazy, deep thrusts. His lips played with her, his tongue stroking in and out of her mouth, the sweet taste of the Mating hormone driving her pleasure higher.

It wasn't the hormone that made her want, made her need, she decided. The hormone turned ecstasy into something more, made the pleasure more vibrant, her body better able to relax, to accept the intensity of a l.u.s.t that would have terrified most women.

But this was Braden. Her Braden.

Her lips captured his tongue, drawing on it. She wrapped her own around it as his hips began to move faster, his c.o.c.k powering into her with jackhammer strokes that destroyed her senses.

Wild. Free. She was flying.

The resulting explosion tore through her womb, spasmed her p.u.s.s.y and sent her screaming into o.r.g.a.s.m. She felt her muscles clamp down on his erection, heard his harsh, animalistic snarl and felt the sudden, heated impression of the barb extending from his c.o.c.k.

It locked inside her, holding him in place and sending her into another cataclysmic series of explosions that seemed never ending. It stroked and caressed the ultrasensitive area it was snuggled into.

Hard, pulsing shudders tore through her as Braden's head lowered to her neck. his teeth nipping, his tongue stroking at the small wound he had left there. His hands flexed on her a.s.s as his c.o.c.k flexed inside her until finally, mercifully, the almost painful pleasure began to ease and she collapsed in his arms.

Megan was only barely aware of Braden moving then until she felt the slow exit of his erection from her tender v.a.g.i.n.a and, a second later, the comforting cushion of the mattress at her back.

"Stay out of trouble," she murmured as she turned her head into the pillow, allowing the exhaustion to finally claim her. "I'm too tired to save your a.s.s."

Braden watched silently as sleep stole her from him, stilling the chaotic emotions that had swirled between them. Her mind had shut down all thought processes, finally.

The chase, the wreck, the s.e.x. The combination of adrenaline-laced activities had finally crashed inside her.

As they were crashing inside him.

He lay down beside her, pulling the sheet over them to protect her from the chill of the bedroom before closing his eyes as well. The Breeds guarding the house would keep them safe for tonight. They would leave when he arose, heading overseas to fight a much more important battle than the one he was waging here, in this desert. He was one Breed whose stubborn mate refused the safety of Sanctuary.

There were many others out there in desperate need of a ride out of h.e.l.l. The Feline community had no choice but to concentrate their efforts there. There were so few of them left.

He allowed his hand to smooth down the long strands of her silken hair. glorying in the feel of it, the memory of it wrapping around his body, caressing him with sensuous little ripples of pleasure.

She was a treasure, one he had never expected to find in his life. Now, protecting her could become his greatest battle. Because he knew that whoever or whatever was closing in on them had no intention of leaving either of them alive.

He could only pray his experience and training could pull them out of it.

Chapter Eighteen.

It was a dream; she knew it was a dream. Megan stood in the center of the training room at the Academy, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s heaving as she fought for breath after putting herself through the grueling series of exercises designed to strengthen and tone her muscles.

She was tired. The exhausting Academy courses during the day, combined with her nightly routine was getting the best of her. The agonizing drain on her strength from the emotions, hopes, dreams and hatred that filled her fellow cla.s.smates had driven her to the training center at night. There, she tried to exhaust herself to the point that her mind just didn't give a s.h.i.t what it sensed.

She couldn't seem to shut things down though. Exhaustion was eating her alive, fuzzing her brain, making it impossible for her to separate or distinguish among the individual thought patterns.

A whimper of agony sizzled through her. Not her own pain but another's, blinding and soul deep. A blistering wave of inconsolable grief and rage that brought her to her knees and left her gasping for air: It wasn't the first time the emotions filling the Law Enforcement Academy had incapacitated her. The recruits were young, some more violent than others. And this late at night their twisted dreams and nightmares reached out to her and tortured her sensitive brain.

This was worse though. Perhaps the mix of exhaustion and her own fears had caused it. Or the stress of attempting to hide the curse that haunted her every step from her superiors while a.s.suring her parents that her shields were developing against the talents she had inherited. Whichever it was, she was left trapped within the pain now, fighting for control.

She dragged herself wearily to her feet, swaying beneath the rush of rage that slammed into her head. The pent-up horror was agonizing to feel. The wail of silent screams, the determination to hold back the nightmare.

Escape. . . The word whispered through her mind.

Freedom It wasn't a word, it was a plea, a soul-deep hunger that shook her to her core.

With one hand clutched to her head, she stumbled toward the closed double doors that led from the training room. Her vision was dim and unfocused as brilliant shards of light exploded behind her eyelids. Shaking her head, she gripped the metal handle, pushing at the heavy panel as she fought the whimper that built in her throat.