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  She cried out in pleasure then, enjoying that smidgen of anticipated pain as he pinched the hard peak of her nipple. The sudden impact of his cum shot through her pussy, and his thick release splashed against her intimate walls, traveling inside her as she tightened and pulsed around him.

  “Oh, Jagger!” She bucked against him, then stilled for a moment, indulging in the rush of sensations that washed over her and held her captive for just a fleeting second before she threw her hips back and matched him thrust for thrust. Within seconds, she was writhing in his arms, her manic movements propelling her body to the left then back to the right.

  When it was over, he collapsed on her back, forcing her against the mattress. He left her with a trail of kisses up and down her spine before he pulled out. A shard of pleasure-pain left her cunt clenching at the emptiness as he abandoned her pussy and rested beside her. Praying for conception, she curled up in his arms, wilted and complete, if only for a few minutes.

  He pulled her against him and kissed the top of her head. “Better now?”

  “Much,” she replied, her nipples already sore from the previous day of lovemaking. They’d fucked for hours, lounged around their home like two newlyweds on an erotic field trip, unaware then that their lovemaking should’ve been postponed with the onset of her breeding season.

  While the lioness shifters didn’t endure the need to mate as frequently as a hundred times a day like their four-legged counterparts, they still possessed an insatiable appetite when their mating period was upon them. Like the beasts living within them, their frequent copulation often left her longing for more.

  “A quick fuck only whets the appetite,” she reminded him, stroking his spent cock.

  He stared down the slender bridge of his nose. “Behave. I do have to run to the office.” He popped her bottom with a firm hand.

  “Ah, the sounds of sex.”

  “The sounds aren’t what you like, baby,” he assured her, leaving the bed and fondling his cock in pursuit of the bathroom.

  “Then what is it?” she asked, rising to her elbows.

  He returned to bed long enough to leave a peck upon her lips. “You know what.”

  “Do I?” She pumped his now roused cock, admiring the strength in his growing length. She could probably coax him into another round of loving.

  A masculine and quite guttural growl filled the room, but he left her again to go shower. Shrugging off the sexual heat consuming her, she thought of their first mating period—how well Jagger had loved her, how often he’d reassured her. He could stand the pressure and endure the long sessions of tremendous loving.

  Unlike so many other male lion shifters, Jagger never grumbled. He vowed she’d never face the mating season alone, like scores of other lioness shifters. Jagger wasn’t just her best friend and the boy she’d known since childhood. He was the love of her life. He was her soul mate.

  They’d known they’d belonged to one another since childhood, an impossible situation they accepted when they had no other choice. They’d clung to one another, and held fast to the fated love they were destined to own.

  “Do you think I’ll ever get pregnant?” she asked several minutes later when Jagger returned to their room freshly showered and fully clothed.

  Jagger glanced at his watch and took a deep breath. “Ariela, I have a meeting. I really don’t want to be an ass and ask you to table this discussion, but we need to do that this morning. We’ll talk about it tonight. Okay?”

  “So much for thinking sweet thoughts about how kind and understanding you are,” she grumbled. She quickly waved him away when he bent down to kiss her goodbye. As much as she hated to admit it, the mating season was a tad inconvenient. It brought hours upon hours of pleasure, but tears were part of the deal, too. She was sentimental to a fault. “Damn hormones.”

  “Don’t do that,” Jagger said, lifting her chin to his. Brushing his knuckles across her cheeks, he added, “Why don’t you hurry and get ready? I’ll wait on you. I’d feel better if you were nearby today. You can stay in one of the suites and lounge around all day with room service at your fingertips.”

  “So you can take care of my needs?” she asked, tucking the sheet underneath her arms and folding her hands in her lap. She wasn’t about to go to the casino today. She could only imagine the way she might act in public. Besides, Jagger knew as well as she did that she’d claw her way onto his lap a couple of times between here and there. Already her pussy felt like an inferno again, the rising desire to fuck all too consuming.

  “Yes,” he replied honestly. “I’d feel better if you were at the hotel. I’ll come up and visit you whenever you call me.”

  “You sound as if you don’t trust me here alone.”

  “Most of the time I trust you….”

  “But?”

  “But when you’re in heat, I can’t trust you as far as I can see you. And you know why.” He paused, taking a minute to thumb the window behind him. “Ariela, your scent will lure shifters and true lions alike. I can’t feel at ease about leaving you, unless you promise you’ll stay inside with the doors locked.”

  “You always add the last part, as if our four-legged counterparts are planning to barge through our front door as soon as they see you drive away.”

  “If they knew the kind of lioness I housed behind these four walls, they’d line up for miles.” His grin warmed her heart.

  “Tell me again why you can’t work from home today?” she asked, dreading the hours ahead. By lunchtime, her vibrator and other playthings would begin to bore her. Her uncontrollable urges would represent fragility and volatility, traits she otherwise wouldn’t possess.

  “I can’t postpone this meeting, baby,” he replied, checking his watch once more.

  “Then go,” she snapped. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you. You never know what might happen while the cat’s away.”

  He winked. “Your words aren’t scratching at a cat, doll. They’re gnawing at this lion. And I suggest you consider the consequences before you wander too far beyond his den.”

  * * * *

  A few hours later, Jagger stood at his office window overlooking the casino. With over a hundred and forty thousand square feet of gaming floor space, Pride’s Las Vegas Casino wasn’t the largest on the Strip, but it was often hailed as the luckiest. At the moment, Jagger didn’t feel Lady Luck’s tender hand resting upon his shoulder which could only mean one of two things. Either the casino’s patrons were cashing in and winning large, or his unease was attributed to leaving Ariela in the desert alone.

  Electing to believe the latter, he picked up the phone and called her. It rang twice before he heard a breathless, “Hiya.”

  “How ya doin’, baby?” he asked, stepping away from the glass.

  “I’ve enjoyed better pleasures.” Her words were like a breathless whisper, seductive and laden with explicit suggestions.

  “Want to tell me about it?” A smile tugged at his lips. At times like this, he missed living at the casino. If Ariela were nearby, he could’ve easily slipped in and out of their room to take care of her needs.

  “Sure,” she drawled. “You called just in time.”

  He poured himself a drink and sat on the sofa. “What are you doing right now, baby?”

  “Playing with my clit.”

  “Are you wet, Ariela?”

  “Very.”

  “Hot?”

  “And bothered,” she assured him. “Want to come home?”

  “I have another meeting.” He unzipped his pants and pulled out his cock. “But I have some time. Talk to me, kitten. Tell me where those slender fingers are.”

  “Buried inside my pussy.”

  “Hmm,” he crooned, dragging his thumb over his damp cockhead. “Spread your legs, Ariela.”

  “If they were any wider, you’d accuse me of inviting a party.”

  Ah, fuck. He could only imagine those splayed legs, her tiny fingers dipp
ing in and out in a slow maneuver meant to entice her partner and self-service at the same time.

  “Use one finger, Ariela. Ah yes, that’s it. Touch, baby. Touch and feel.” He gripped his cock, massaging the defined veins stretching with his erection.

  “Mmm, Jagger…”

  “That’s my girl. Now add one more. There you go. Right there.” He pumped his cock up and down, slowing his pace to match the one he imagined she might have followed. “Yes. Feels good, doesn’t it?”

  “Yes,” Ariela agreed. “Your cock would feel so much better, Jagger.”

  A hot sensation whipped around his balls as the need in her voice singed the lines of communications between them. “Not right now, Ariela. Right now, this is perfect for us.” He paused, changed the grip around his cock and pulled harder, imagining his mate spread out on his sofa.

  Her blonde hair was a matted mess, tangled around his fingers. He thrust inside her, tightening his grip as he imagined her pussy’s snug hold.

  Jagger then shut his eyes, closing off his executive surroundings. He channeled his energy and focused on Ariela’s body. The image his mind’s eye painted was one of incredible seduction.

  His little vixen loved taunting him. Whether she was in season or not, didn’t matter. She enjoyed the thrill of the chase and the endless hours of foreplay.

  “Where are you?”

  “On the bed,” she told him.

  “Roll over to the nightstand and grab those nipple clamps I bought you.”

  “Jagger,” she whined.

  “Do it, Ariela. When I come home, I’ll check for the claw prints, so you’d better mind me.”

  “Hang on,” she grumbled. A minute later, she returned. “Now what?”

  He grinned to himself. “Perfect. Slip one on each nipple. Pinch those perfect beads. Roll them between your fingers. There we go. Now, secure them.”

  She groaned then and his dick danced. She always looked so pretty wearing clamps.

  Jagger’s balls burned as he thought of her fingering those sweet little rosy gems. His own nipples throbbed as he pictured her full, plump breasts showcasing cherry-red peaks, tightly drawn and secured as he’d instructed.

  “Jagger, you’re making me wet.”

  “Mmm, baby, I hope so.” He grabbed a better hold of his straining erection. “Look at those gorgeous breasts. There we go. Beautiful.”

  “It’s not enough,” she whimpered.

  “Ariela, I didn’t tell you to touch your pussy again. Are your fingers inside your cunt?”

  “Yes… I mean, not anymore.”

  “Slap your pussy. Let me hear you spank it, baby.”

  Loud wallops resounded, and his cock sprang to life. A low roar seeped from his lips as he thought of her legs trembling, the overwhelming need building within her, as her mating season demands remained unmet. Her insatiable appetite had undoubtedly flourished. Damn it! He should’ve been at home with his woman!

  He tilted his head and peered down at his length. The pulse of his cock made him need her more than he’d needed her that morning. “God, Ariela. You have no idea what I’ll do to you when I get home tonight.”

  “Tell me,” she purred.

  “I’ll bend you over the balcony and fuck your pretty little ass until you cry out my name for all to hear.”

  “Will you spank me?”

  “Damn right, I will.”

  “Will you fuck me from behind while I finger myself?” Her breathing was ragged again.

  “Don’t play,” he warned her.

  “Are you playing, Jagger?”

  “Oh, yeah.” He pulled his cock, kneading flesh over his cockhead as he pulled his shaft from base to tip.

  “Not fair,” she whispered.

  “Oh it’s fair, baby.” He thought about her naked body stretched across their bed, and he was horny as hell then. He wanted to go home. He needed to be in Ariela’s bed, grounding his cock deep inside her pulsing pussy while burying his face in her beautiful golden hair. He craved the clench of her cunt, the pinch of her pussy clamping down on him as he rode her.

  Damn it! He needed more than his hand around his cock! He longed to hear her call out his name. He wanted to feel as if he were in pleasure’s grasp, pounding out an unsteady rhythm, fucking her as if he possessed no other duty, no other commitments or professional responsibilities. “Slap your pussy again for me.”

  One smack rang out.

  “Again.” His prick twitched. “Spank that waxed mound for me.”

  She followed his request, and the repetitive smacking noises made his balls burn. Stroking the pain away, he spread his legs wider. Leaning back on the cushions, he stared at the ceiling. God, what he’d give to have her towering over him, her full breasts in his face, the chain from the clamps hanging right above his mouth, swaying with her lunges as she rode him.

  “Fuck yourself with your fingers, Ariela,” he demanded, listening to the voices outside his office door. Soon his annoying secretary would barge inside the office, and catch him with his pants balled around his ankles.

  “You’re fucking me. I have to picture you fucking me.” Her confession fell in short, clipped spurts.

  “Then work with my body, baby. My cock is buried inside your pussy, reaching for your special little hot spot.”

  “Oh yes, Jagger. Yes!”

  “Your cunt closes around my prick. Fuck. It’s so tight and hot, princess. You’re so damn slick,” he said, getting into the scene as he remembered that choke-hold grip, the way her clenching cunt milked his cock. “Come with me, Ariela. I’m inside you baby, pounding away at that sweet pussy…”

  “Hmm…”

  A barely audible sloshing sound from the other end of the phone made him as hard as steel. Ariela always used too much lube when she played alone. She cried out his name, a definite mix of pleasure and pain lingering in her voice. “I’m coming, Jagger.”

  A sudden jolt left him humping at thin air as he pictured her body enveloping his. He bit his bottom lip and jerked violently as his sticky release splashed over the crest of his cock, leaving him spent and very much alone.

  “Ah Jagger, Jagger, Jagger,” she sang. “Please come home to me. I can’t take the self–pleasure. There’s no real satisfaction found. I’m hot for you, so hot. Now Jagger. Come home and take care of me. Please.”

  Her anxiety-ridden voice struck like a bolt of lightning to his spine. “I’ll be beside you soon. I promise.”

  “Cancel your meeting. I’ll make it worth your trouble.” She was quiet then. She probably expected him to follow her request to the letter. He’d spoiled her, and she was used to having whatever her little heart desired. “Jagger?”

  “If I could be there right now, I would be. You know that, Ariela.”

  “It’s only business,” Ariela whined. “The casino will be there tomorrow.”

  “I have to take care of a few things, Ariela. If we expect to have a profitable business, I can’t leave every time you’re in heat. Eventually, our employees will know I’m being summoned home for a thrashing fuck.”

  She should’ve stayed at the casino’s hotel like he’d suggested.

  “Maybe you should start caring less about the longevity of the casino and more about the durability of our relationship.”

  “Ariela, you’re acting immature,” he said, nipping this conversation in the bud by using a superior tone.

  “I’m horny,” she whined.

  So much for nipping. Then again, he understood. Ariela wasn’t the only one who had a problem. With his mate in heat, Jagger had been one perpetual hard-on, walking around with tented slacks for most of the morning.

  “A woman has needs, desires only her mate can satisfy, Jagger.”

  “I hear a clamoring pussycat and unless you want to make your lion roar with anger, I suggest you practice patience, kitten. A little understanding would go a long way.”

  “I know but—”

&
nbsp; “Babe, I have to go,” he said, physically pained because he really couldn’t give Ariela her way. Not this time. The pressing business couldn’t wait.

  “Promise you’ll be home soon?”

  “I’ll be there before you need new batteries for your vibrator.”

  “I doubt that,” she grumbled. “Mine are the rechargeable and always ready to go.”

  “You just described a woman I know.”

  “Yes, Jagger, I did. And a man would have to be out of his ever-loving mind to keep a woman like me waiting.”

  Chapter Two

  Eight hours later, Jagger was completely stir-crazy. He had broken his damned word, and he could only imagine the forthcoming consequences he’d suffer after spewing his unintentional lie. Leaning over the boardroom table he glared at Melinda Parker, seething. At times like these, he wondered if Ariela was right about her.

  Ariela called her Miss Opportunist. Jagger added an ed to the “Miss” and considered her a bygone, perhaps a former starlet in another life.

  Pushing her scarlet curls over her shoulder, Melinda fluttered her eyelashes and cleared her throat. “We should move forward with the expansion plans, Jagger. Lion exhibits have always attracted an audience here in Vegas. If you’re certain Ariela can handle the long-haired beasts, then that’s half the battle right there.” She paused, batted her eyelashes again, and added, “I’m sure she has a way with animals.”

  Damn woman practically purred. Yes, Ariela was right. Melinda wasn’t just a corporate snake in the grass. She was a vixen on the prowl.

  A throaty grunt fell from his lips, and Melinda nearly sprang to attention. Her shoulders squared. Her cheeks flushed. No doubt, she misinterpreted his vocal expression for one with lustful intent.

  He didn’t have to wonder what inspired her enthusiasm for the project. Apparently, Melinda believed Ariela would meet her unfortunate demise by training the lions they’d soon purchase for the show.