Chapter 4

Rio helped Mari up from the poolside lounge, and they walked hand in hand toward the barracks. Anticipation curled in her belly, low and tight. She didn't know exactly what Cisco had planned, but she knew guards wandered in and out of the break room frequently throughout the night. And sometimes the parties there got wild.

She was just turning toward Rio, seeking some reassurance, when klaxons sounded all over the compound at once. In a swift movement Mari couldn't track, Rio scooped her up into his arms and sprinted toward the break room. He moved at an unbelievable speed that made the world blur.

Cisco charged out of the break room door, his face a mask of fury. The tight expression eased when he saw them. "Get her inside."

Rio nodded and moved past Cisco where he held the door open. "Stay safe."

Cisco spared a moment to squeeze Rio's shoulder and then surged into the sky on a beat of his powerful wings.

The break room was empty as they moved inside. Distant gunfire rent the silence of the night a moment later. The noise was muffled as Rio closed the door.

Mari took a breath to calm herself. She knew all the doors and walls of the compound were bulletproof, but she worried about the guards who were still outside—and Cisco. "What's going on?" In all her life, she'd never heard those alarms going off.

"That means the perimeter has been breached." Rio looked over his shoulder, concern evident on his face.

His pain made something ache in her chest. She didn't want to be the cause of his discomfort. "You think you should be out there. I'll be okay here if you want to go."

Rio returned his attention to her and smiled softly. "No, I'm exactly where I need to be." He hugged her to his chest. "If anything happened to you after you stayed to help him, he'd never forgive himself."

"Did you know he was planning on telling me to leave?"

Rio nodded. "I told him you wouldn't do it, but he was adamant to try."

"He seemed so sure I would."

Rio set her on her feet and reached to touch her face. "It was hard for him to watch you be hurt all those years without being able to stop it. He wanted to protect you from what's going on out there and hoped that you would accept it."

"And leave all of you here to pay the price for that protection?"

"We would have done what we had to." He shrugged as if there had never been any other choice. "But I'm glad you stayed."

The tenderness in his voice brought her up onto her toes to stare into his eyes. "So am I." She leaned in to press a soft kiss to his mouth.

He rested his hands on her hips as he parted his lips, silently encouraging her to deepen the kiss. Her magic surged forward, urging her to accept his invitation. Unable to resist the throbbing of her power, she gripped the back of his neck and pressed her tongue into his mouth. The soul-deep groan that vibrated against her lips was extremely satisfying.

The power sang along her nerves, swelling in response to his rising desire. She pulled back from the kiss, breathing hard, feeling guilty about chasing her pleasure when lives might be in danger just on the other side of the door.

Rio lifted her hand and nipped the lower knuckle of her thumb. "He's okay, princesa."

Mari bit her lip, wishing she wasn't so easy to read. "How do you know?"

"If something was wrong, I would feel it."

She exhaled a sigh that released some of her tension. "Is that a bond thing or a cat thing?"

He shrugged. "All I know is that it's a me thing."

Sometimes, she forgot she wasn't the only member of this household who had been sheltered and improperly educated by the oppressive will of her father. She ran her fingers through the tail ends of Rio's hair behind his neck. "Well, so far, I'm a fan of all the you things." She pulled him into another kiss.

He opened to her at once, his mouth soft and pliant. Kissing him was so different than kissing Cisco. She plundered him with reckless abandon as her power spread through her once more, simmering along her nerves. Rio broke the kiss, ducking slightly to grab a double handful of her ass to lift her so her legs wrapped around him. "I know how to make you stop worrying."

"Oh yeah? What did you have in mind?" Mari peeked over her shoulder to see where he was taking her while arching against him in invitation. He was headed for the table that Cisco had said he would fuck her on. It was big and sturdy and stood in the center of the comfortable room.

Rio set her on the table, the wood cool on the backs of her legs. "Well, it starts a little something like this." He pulled off her panties and tucked them into his pocket with a sultry smile that made the bottom drop out of her stomach.

She swallowed harshly as he sank to his knees in front of her. "So far it seems like it's working."

He smoothed his hands over her thighs and pushed her skirt up. "Feeling better?"

Her breath caught when he started to slowly spread her legs. "Feeling some kind of way, for sure."

He leaned forward, and when she tensed with anticipation, he turned to bite the inside of her thigh teasingly. Laughing, she reached for his head. He let himself be led to where she so desperately needed him and then dropped a chaste kiss on the seam of her lips before slipping his tongue inside.

Shivering as the desire rose to take hold of her, Mari leaned back onto her hands to allow him better access. Rio held her thighs wide as he began to fuck her with deep, slow strokes of his tongue. Watching him savor her with such obvious enjoyment in this room where anyone could enter at any time felt illicit in the best possible way.

He eased his thumb to her clit, rubbing in gentle circles to stoke her pleasure even further. She lifted her hips, clenching around his tongue.

"Fuck, that's so hot," Cisco said as he crossed the room toward them after closing the door behind him.

Her magic unfurled as he approached, surprising her as it wrapped around him with familiarity and a sense of inevitability. "What happened?"

He waved one clawed hand. "Later. You two look too fucking sexy to talk about anything else." He rumbled his approval. "Skirt pushed up with his head between your legs."

She rocked her hips forward, taking Rio deeper, and relished the predatory expression that took over Cisco's face. "You promised to make me beg."

"I will. But right now, I'm enjoying the view." He placed one hand on Rio's head, prompting a purr that vibrated through the most intimate crevices of her body. "Make that pretty pussy sing, mi amor."

Using his hands to press her thighs wider, Rio licked his way up to suck her clit into his mouth. Mari groaned as her magic sparked higher in response to the overwhelming sensation that coursed through her. "Oh, fuck," she said in a shaking voice.

"His mouth is delicious, isn't it?" Cisco ran his fingers through Rio's long hair lovingly. "Give her more, precioso."

Rio moaned into her and then stroked his tongue over her before sucking harder. She lost all semblance of composure, crying out wordlessly as her legs shook. He slid his hands around to her ass to hold her more firmly as she started to squirm.

Cisco moved closer, hooking one hand around to the back of her neck, his hot gaze roving over her face. "When he lets the cat play, it's going to get so much better."

Mari groaned, unable to imagine what that would feel like. She arched her back, hoping he would indulge in the temptation she offered.

Cisco leaned down to kiss her collarbone and nuzzled into her skin, his mouth soft and unhurried against her in contrast to Rio's more aggressive action. Cisco moved his lips up to the column of her exposed throat. "Take her right to the edge, but she doesn't come except around my dick."

Mari had very little chance to lament his command because Rio pulled her closer and devoured her. The decadent pressure building in her body was too insistent to deny. Her magic tumbled wildly inside her, growing in direct proportion to her arousal, which was soaring to all-new heights.

The first indication that the puma had surged forward to take control was the sharp points of Rio's claws pressing into the tender flesh of her ass. He was careful not to break the skin, but his grip was wild and possessive as he pulled her impossibly closer to his face. Then, the roughened surface of his tongue rasped over her clit, sending sparks of sensation along her nerves, and she lost all coherent thought as her back bowed.

"That would be the unrivaled pleasure of his tongue." Cisco chuckled into her throat. "Give her just a little taste of the teeth."

Mari whimpered because she knew it wouldn't be enough to tip her over the edge, but she was already wound so tight she couldn't imagine taking more. He made her wait for the kiss of his teeth, working her over several times with his maddening tongue with long, slow strokes. She exhaled a shaky sigh, and that was when Rio bit down gently on her clit, sharp teeth grazing her sensitive, slick skin. Her body jolted as the shock of pain ripped through her, twisting into pleasure that cut even deeper.

A wordless cry tore from her throat, harsh and breathless.

"That's enough," Cisco rumbled.

Rio loosened his grip and soothed her clit with slow laps of his tongue, smooth once more.

"Please," Mari sobbed, reaching for Cisco's shirt to pull him closer as Rio continued to tease her gently. "I'll do anything you want."

He favored her with a smile, his dark eyes filled with desire for her. He tugged one of her nipples lightly through the sheer fabric of her tank, sending curls of arousal through her needy body. "Tell me what you want, Mariana."

She moaned and pushed into his hand, pleading for more. "I want you to do that again, harder."

He complied with a slow pinch and tug that left her panting. "Like that?"

"Just like that." She moved one hand to the bulge in his slacks. "Please, I need you to fuck me soon. I'm dying."

He leaned down to kiss her sweetly, giving her nipple another slow tug when he did. "You need to tell me exactly what you want, in excruciating detail, and then ask nicely."

She huffed with frustration as Rio continued to stoke her lust to a distracting degree with his tongue. "I want you to push me down on this table, hike my skirt up, and fuck me into next week."

"Close." He pulled on her nipple again until her toes curled and, this time, kept his grip tight. Her magic and her heartbeat both throbbed. His eyes sparkled. "A little more detail."

She took a calming breath that only made her feel the growing tension in her body more. "Push me face down on this table. Hike my skirt up. Take me from behind until I come all over your giant fucking cock."

Cisco's growl of triumph vibrated through the room. Rio slid away silently as Cisco manhandled her until he pushed her down onto the surface of the table face-first. She moaned as the cold surface chilled her sensitive nipples through her thin tank. He made sure that her face was turned toward Rio where he eased onto a sofa nearby. The obvious appreciation in his appraisal of them made her magic strum in her belly.

Cisco took hold of both of her wrists and held them at the small of her back with one hand. The very tips of her toes just barely touched the ground in the tall wedges, not anywhere near enough to get purchase or hold herself steady.

Mari groaned with need when he slowly pushed her skirt up to expose her. He palmed one asscheek firmly, massaging his fingers into the flesh. "I very specifically told you that you were going to beg for my dick after flaunting this ass at me in that tiny fucking skirt all day."

Secretly, she loved that she made him as crazy as he made her. "Please," she panted, "please fuck me."

He moved his hand so that he thumbed her clit with a gentle brush of pressure, only enough to make her squirm. "Not nearly good enough, Mariana."

"Please," she said, her voice breathy and light. "I need you inside me."

He stroked over her clit again, slightly harder. "Keep going. You know what I like."

She did know. He wanted her to be as wanton as she'd always dreamed of being. She tried to arch up into his touch, but she couldn't move enough to make a difference the way he had her pinned. "Please, I need to feel you stretch me when you push into me hard that first time," she whined. "I need to feel you slamming into my soaking wet cunt over and over until I forget everything." She strained to rub herself against his thumb just the tiniest bit so he could feel her reaction. "I need to come all over your huge fucking cock before I die of wanting you."

The hand between her legs vanished, and she was bereft until she heard the sweetest music: the sound of his zipper. He pushed the head of his cock between her folds and stroked it up and down several times.

"Oh yes. Oh fuck. Oh Saints. Please." The final word stretched out long as he speared her, hard and fast. Her walls pulsed around the sudden intrusion. Her thighs clenched. She moaned long and low, absolutely wrecked, and he hadn't even started yet. She felt the heated pulse of her power filling her belly, and then every inch of her, swiftly.

She was so turned on that she assumed he would drive her over the edge quickly, but instead, he took his time, gradually building her up with slow, short strokes that massaged her over his ridges again and again. Her toes curled from the intensity of the friction at the steep angle.

Then he pulled out almost all the way and smacked her ass a couple of times before driving home. He let go of her wrists and leaned forward, wrapping a hand around the back of her neck and pressing her into the table as he fucked her deliberate and slow. His other hand clutched her left hip, his claws digging in slightly to keep her motionless under him. She cried out at the bottom of every stroke, begging for the release that stayed just out of reach.

"Please," she said, breathless. "I need to come."

Ignoring her plea, he slowed his pace even more. His tail wrapped around her right thigh, the muscular appendage spreading her wider for him as he continued his relentless onslaught, letting him drive deeper.

Held pinned, she was helpless under him for the first time, but rather than feel afraid, her desire swelled until it consumed her. All she could do was moan into the table as her body quaked. He thrust all the way in before coming to a complete stop, making her whimper.

He gave her neck a soothing squeeze as he worked the tip of his tail between her legs. Remaining motionless inside her, he began to rub her clit hard and fast. Unable to move to relieve any of the building tension, she vibrated with need. "Please," she gasped.

He rumbled with approval. "Come all over my dick, Mariana."

A moan erupted from her as her body immediately obeyed his command, the orgasm crashing over her. Her magic surged and released in wave after wave. She knew Rio, and probably anyone who was outside the building, could feel the intensity of her climax. Her muscles tightened around him as he resumed moving, faster than he had before, chasing his own pleasure while she was still in the throes of hers. He moved both hands to her ass, spreading her cheeks and pushing her into the table as he fucked her brutally so that he could get just the slightest bit deeper. Her pleasure crested higher while he was still riding her, and she groaned incoherently into the table as her body refused to stop clenching.

He came with a growl that made goosebumps erupt all over her, driving deep one last time as her walls continued to twitch around him. He leaned to rest his hands on the table on either side of her, his breath coming in harsh pants.

He recovered before her and ducked to kiss between her shoulder blades, taking a quiet moment to nuzzle into her skin. "You okay?"

Mari groaned. "Better than okay. Transcendent."

With a chuckle, he kissed her once more and then withdrew from her. "I was worried it might have been too much."

"It was perfect." She'd given him everything she had, every scrap of magic that had been building all day, and now the wards were full to bursting. She'd had some doubts about her ability to keep the lights on, but she'd just proven to herself that she could, without question.