the towel she’d been holding around her body falling to the side, coolness from the air-conditioned room slapping against her exposed skin. He grabbed her ankles then, pulling them apart and pushing them back until her legs bent, feet planted on the bed. She hissed his name, but he ignored her, leaned down until his lips were touching her plump folds, his tongue delving deep into her center, swirling around until her hips jolted up off the bed. When she shivered all over his tongue moved upward, circling around her clit until she was biting her bottom lip, the cat inside purring with complete glory.
Nivea couldn’t close her eyes. She couldn’t fall into the pleasure, the warrior in her held her from succumbing so easily. “I won’t do as you command,” she said through clenched teeth.
He barely paused, but his attention slipped from front to back, his tongue swirling over her anus, dampening her there. Her teeth chattered, fingers gripping the sheets of the bed. All the while she shook her head, refusing to let his words stand. She would not allow him to control her. Regardless of whether or not Eli Preston was her mate, he would not dictate what she could or could not do in her life. She’d vowed after leaving New York to never live that way again.
“I won’t,” she whispered.
He pulled his mouth away from her and Nivea felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. She missed his mouth on her immediately, but would not make a sound.
“You want to act tough?” he asked, not looking up at her, his gaze still locked on her soaking wet pussy, on the remnants of his clever ministrations.
“You want to tempt me and yet defy me,” he continued, rubbing a finger up and down her slit until her entire body trembled. He circled her clit, rubbing in teasing circles until her pussy pulsated, her essence dripping onto the bed.
“I won’t see you hurt,” he told her, his voice tight, restrained. He dipped a finger inside of her, pressing deep then pulling back. In went two fingers this time, stretching inside her, pressing with delicious pleasure against her walls.
“You can’t … control … me,” she gasped, her chest heaving, eyes still focused on the top of his head.
He looked up then, their gazes locking, holding, simmering. His fingers slipped from her center, down, back, until one wet digit was pressing into her anus, stretching the sensitive skin there, breaching a barrier Nivea had never known the feeling of before. She drew in a breath, loving the feel of how tight her body sucked on his finger.
“You sure about that, my little hellcat?” he asked, one of his thick brows rising.
Nivea struggled to keep herself still, her eyes open and her gaze focused on him. This was a battle for control, for everything she’d ever worked for and she felt like she was losing. Her body wanted this pleasure. The cat inside wanted everything Eli, its mate, was offering her at this moment. But was that enough? The human in her knew it wasn’t, it knew the game Eli was playing. He would use her pleasure to control her, just as Richard had once used her innocence to keep her quiet.
“No!” she yelled at him. Then with all the strength she could muster she closed her legs, rolling to the side until his finger was dislodged, her shoulder throbbing with the pressure of being pushed into the mattress.
He’d been about to say something, to rebut the single word she’d been able to speak, when there was a knock at the door. A soft, tentative knock, as if someone knew he’d need a moment to respond. Nivea inhaled deeply, their companheiro calor so strong and assaulting to her senses that she almost wanted to cry out. Instead Nivea rolled completely off the bed, grabbing the towel, and headed back into the bathroom, leaving Eli and the anger surrounding him like a cloak behind.
* * *
“The press is all over what happened today,” Rome said solemnly. “Ezra dropped Rimas off at the hospital. His