Tropical Tiger Spy (Shifting Sands Resort 1)

“No, it's ... condoms. I didn't bring condoms.”

That gave her pause, but it was a grateful pause, and the smile that bloomed across her face was more reward than he had expected. “You really are a white knight,” she said warmly. “I'm on the pill, if it makes you feel better.”

The pause changed the timbre of the urgency, but not the magnitude. Tony wanted her more badly than ever, and gathered her into his arms for a deep kiss. He cradled both sides of her face, her silky hair spilling over his hands, and let his tongue explore the depths of her mouth.

She slid her arms around his neck and kissed back, licking and twining his tongue until they were both panting for breath.

He laid her down on the big bed and kissed down her neck, loving the way her body arched to his fingers. He stroked her bare arms, and over her bra, down her sides, and she closed her eyes and purred at him in delight. He put fingers along the waistband of her shorts, but when she raised her hips in invitation to remove them, only stroked her side again, and kissed between her breasts while she squirmed.

It was his first time with his mate, and he wanted to savor it as long as he could.

Amber had other plans, and gave a little frustrated growl when he ignored her signals. She pushed him off with more strength than he expected from her short frame, and he rolled over onto his back on the bed willingly while she straddled him. Her loose hair brushed his chest as she put an arm on either side of him and leaned down to kiss and nibble at his chest. Then she sat up again, and deftly unfastened her own bra, letting it spill off of her and release the breasts he had been vainly trying not to stare at all evening.

They were perfect orbs of firm flesh, with big nipples that were hard with desire, and he could no more keep his hands from them than deny that this woman was his one perfect, fated companion.

She moaned as he cupped them, threw back her head in ecstasy, and ground herself against the thick erection that was only a few light layers of clothing away. Tony wasn't sure what he would have done without them; he was at such a fever pitch that he would have embarrassed himself like a first-time teenager without the cloth to dull the sensation a little.

He used his thumbs to make lazy circles around her areolas, then dragged them across the erect nipples, and she gave a little cry of pleasure that made him feel proud and powerful. He did it again, with a little squeeze of his hands of the beautiful, soft flesh of her breasts. She cried out again in appreciation, scratching him reflexively, then tipped her head down to look at him and beg, “I want you ...”

The shorts were no longer welcome in the bed, and there was an acrobatic flurry as they both tried frantically to shed them, without withdrawing from each other more than absolutely necessarily. The moment they were fully naked, he had to hold her against him, just enjoying the silky length of her warm body beside his, and then he was slipping into her wet, soft folds without a hint of resistance.

He gave her a slow, careful thrust, burying himself into her in one smooth, careful motion, fighting himself for control. To his shock, she arched in his arms, crying out in intense pleasure and shuddering in unexpected orgasm. He had to bite his lip to keep from taking her with abandon then, but gave a second slow, contained thrust, trying to keep her at that plateau of pleasure.

Her next cry was less, but still powerful, and she opened astonished eyes to meet his gaze as he rolled her onto her back without unlocking from her. His third thrust was less controlled, and she lifted her hips to eagerly meet him as her fingers raked across his shoulders.

It was like swimming in a hot pool of pleasure, thrusting into her. She was a heady mix of pliable and resistant, and the bite of her fingernails on his arms as she held him and moaned was an intoxicating aphrodisiac. Tony realized he was growling with need and kissed her, nibbling at her ear as gently as he could manage.

He had to stop doing that, his entire world narrowing to concentrating on continuing to thrust and put off his own mounting release until he realized that Amber was crying out in orgasmic pleasure again; the sound of her delight was too much for him to resist and he was filling her with his hot seed.

His frantic thrusts slowed at last, and he was gradually aware again of the room around them, the chirps of insects and frogs outside, and the door of the cottage, still wide open.

Chapter Seven

Amber came back to herself slowly as Tony's thrusts tapered off into a finishing rhythm. They continued to couple in the afterglow of the pleasure, as long as possible, and finally lay next to each other in gleeful exhaustion as their panting breath returned to normal.

When she had decided to treat the vacation as an excuse to cut loose, she had not expected it to feel anywhere near this ... natural. She felt more comfortable with this complete stranger than she had ever been with anyone she had ever known, and he had taken her to heights she'd never dreamed possible. She hadn't even known it was possible to orgasm at a first thrust; this man was clearly no stranger to giving a woman pleasure.

His hand, still making lazy circles on her belly and breasts, promised more, if she was brave enough to accept it.

'It's just a vacation fling,' she reminded herself, and she thrust away the pang of regret that came with the practicality. His experience and his concern about condoms suggested that he was not any more interested in a relationship that extended past the boundaries of the resort than she was, and she ought to be grateful for that. As much as she wanted children, it wouldn't do to get knocked up here.

Her plan had always been to go home to Minnesota after a week of freedom, pick the least objectionable of the shy farmboys who made eyes at her at the garden supply store and start a perfectly respectable family. She couldn't let a magnetic tiger shifter tempt her away from that practical path, no matter how intensely her inner mountain cat was trying to convince her that this was something more.

This week, she would take each day as it came and fixedly not think about what would come afterwards.

It was hard, though, to watch Tony get up and bring them towels to clean up with, and not think about how he made every one of those farmboys look spindly, pale, and utterly unappealing in comparison.

“I, ah ... that was ... thank you! Wow!” Amber said, not sure what else to say but aware that something was in order.

Tony smiled at her, a beautiful, confident smile that warmed Amber to her toes, and leaned over to kiss her possessively. “I was just thinking the exact same thing.”

“I should get my sandal,” she giggled against his lips after a lengthy kiss. “And close the front door ...”

His cottage came with bathrobes, and she gratefully slipped into one and padded outside with a flashlight as Tony picked up their clothing and repaired the bed.

She leaned against the doorframe with her rescued sandal on one finger, watching as he deftly shook the comforter back into shape. It was refreshing, watching such a big, manly-looking male make a bed. His long arms served him well; he was able to fluff it with one smooth motion, where Amber would have been running from corner t

o corner.