In the Flames
A Carnal Desires Short Story
By Crystal Jordan
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2011 Crystal Jordan
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
Thank you for downloading this free ebook. You are welcome to share it with your friends. This book may be reproduced, copied and distributed for non-commercial purposes, provided the book remains in its complete original form. If you enjoyed this book, please return to Smashwords.com to discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support.
* * * *
He was a forbidden pleasure, and she craved him. Devani’s breath caught as his cock slid into her, stretched her to the very limit. She threaded her fingers through his auburn and black tiger-striped hair and held on for the hard, fast ride. Just the way she loved it. Oh, Gods, how she loved it. Everything about him was irresistible.
“Taymullah.” She threw her head back, arching to press her breasts against his broad chest. The white marble statue of naked lovers entwined in an embrace that matched her and Taymullah’s loomed over her. She closed her eyes to focus on the hot sensations rushing through her. She wanted more, needed more. “Please.”
He dipped to suck her nipple into his mouth, scraped his teeth over the sensitive crest, and bit lightly. Her fingers clenched in his thick hair, tugging on the short strands. His hands cupped her hips, working her up and down his long cock as she straddled his lap. The pebbles on the garden path they lay on pricked into her knees, but she was beyond caring about anything but the feel of his skin sliding against hers, the rich, masculine scent of him teasing her nose.
Yes, Devani. Tell me what you want, and it shall be yours. His deep amber eyes crinkled at the corners as he sent the telepathic thought to her. He rotated his hips, ground into her at a different angle.
She burned as the words brushed against her mind, her sex fisted tight on his thrusting cock. Her mind went blank. Nothing mattered but the drive toward orgasm. Not Taymullah’s social position or her own, not her father, not the weretiger pride politics. Nothing. She loved that his touch could drive her to madness.
And loving him was madness, but she couldn’t stop the feeling. Her heart squeezed with the intensity of emotion he pulled from her. Gods, she loved him. And it could never be anything more than sex between them. A sob caught in her throat, grief threatening to consume her. She pushed the thoughts away, focusing on his big body moving with hers.
“I love you,” she whispered. This was the last time she would feel this kind of passion, the last time she could trace her fingers over the tiger stripes that crossed his skin, the last time she could love him.
His big hands brushed down her back. He bit her shoulder, flicking his tongue over her skin. I love you, too, Devani.
Flames licked at her veins. He loved her. She knew it and hugged that knowledge to herself. And, yet, there was no hope for them. Not with him as Prince Regent of their planet and her as a contentious pride lord’s daughter. Tears welled in her eyes. Anguish and pleasure mingled inside her, the emotions squeezing her chest. Sweat beaded on her forehead and between her breasts to slip down her skin. A warm breeze caressed her limbs, cooling the sweat. She shivered at the contrast in sensations.
The muscles in her thighs flexed as she lifted and lowered herself on his cock. Every stroke pushed her closer to the edge of orgasm. Passion ran wild through her. Her fangs slid out as she spun out of control, a low moan ripped from her throat.
His fingers clenched on her thighs, pulling her wide as he slammed inside her. Faster and faster, harder and harder. Her heart pounded, heat bubbling deep with in her. Her hips twisted, seeking, desperate for all he could give her. She would wring every moment of pleasure from this last time with him. Yes. Oh, yes.
“Taymullah…I’m going to…I can’t…” A tiger shriek erupted from her throat. Her pussy contracted around him as orgasm rolled over her in a wave.
His hips arched, his arms banding around her to seal their bodies together as his shoved his cock into her. His body shuddered beneath her, inside her, as he came. He roared out his own orgasm as his seed filled her. Her pussy clenched again, an aftershock tightening her muscles.
Their breath bellowed out, and they clung to each other as they came down from the rush. She shivered as another gust of wind hit her skin. The scent of Taymullah, the hot deserts of Vesperi, and the salty expanse of the Dead Sea teased her nostrils. Why did she have to love him? Why? The bitter pain of it twisted through her. She shook herself. Stop it, Devani. There were so many reasons she couldn’t have him, and she’d known the first time he’d touched her that it could never be anything but a short-lived affair.
As the Prince Regent, Taymullah was not a good match for her—he was the most powerful tiger on Vesperi while his brother, Amir Varad, and his sister in law, Amira Mahlia, were away on the annual trade route to the three other planets colonized by humans. A tight smile pulled at her lips. Well, what was left of the human race. Each planet was populated by a different kind of wereanimal: bears, tigers, dragons, and merpeople. She’d never see those other worlds, never know anything but the quiet life her father had planned for her. This time in Taymullah’s arms, feeling the sweetness of his love, was the greatest adventure she would ever have. And now it was over.
Taymullah kissed her shoulder, licking the stripes on her skin. She closed her eyes, hoping to hide the tears that welled there. Love and agony rolled through her in waves. Please, Gods, let this be over soon. Please, Gods, let it never end.
* * * *
“This won’t happen again. I can’t….be with you anymore.” Devani’s soft words reached his ears. He tensed, his belly cramping with a churning mixture of pain and sudden rage.
“Why?” His question gritted past clenched teeth. He knew why, but he wanted to hear her say it. Why she didn’t want him, why he couldn’t have her.
“My mating heat comes soon.”
Lust tightened his gut at just the thought of possessing her, claiming her in a way none could deny. Fire burned in him, and his cock rose thick between his thighs again. He watched her stand, the deep tan tiger stripes arched across her smooth pale gold skin. She turned her back to him to pull her gown over her head. The pale green saltwater silk of her dress clung to her ample curves and accented her dark red and brunette striped curls. He paused for a moment to admire the sweet globes of her ass. He wanted them filling his palms as he thrust his cock into her. Again. Always. He wanted her. Loved her.
Gods, he loved her. How could he lose her? Pain fisted in his chest. He’d made a point to interact with her as often as possible since she’d come to the weretiger court four months before. She was shy, unassuming. Lovely and unexpected. He wanted to know her, be near her. Obsession had sunk its fierce claws into him the moment he had seen her.
“When?”
She started, glancing over her shoulder at him. “What?”
“Your mating heat…when is it?”
“Any time now. I can feel it building. My father…wants me to mate with Lord Gyan. The negotiations have already taken place.” A harsh laugh erupted from her, and he flinched at the pain he heard in it. “But you know this already, don’t you? You’re the Prince Regent. You probably know everything about me, my life, my family.”
A growl vibrated in his throat at the thought of some minor pride lord mating with Devani. How dare anyone touch the woman he wanted? His jaw clenched as blinding rage rolled through him. He knew it wasn’t rational, but the need to possess her, to feel the heat of her fist around his swollen cock was more than he could bear.
“I do know. I made it my business to know.”
“Why?”
“I love you.” His statement was bald, direct, undeniable. He needed to say the words.
Her breathing hitched, and her fists clenched at her sides. She swung around to look at him. “Yes. And I love you, but my father would never allow our mating. Your brother wouldn’t want you to mate while he’s away, would he? And when he returns…it will be too late. I will be bound to Gyan.”
“No.” He roared loud, the tiger within him tearing loose. His fangs bared as he leaped to his feet to face her. A small corner of his mind knew she was right, but he didn’t want to acknowledge it. As a member of the royal family, he was vastly more powerful than her father’s pride. The petty man should not be able to rob him of the one woman he desired.
After he’d been appointed Prince Regent, he’d avoided bestowing any woman with his undivided attention. It would encourage the already rabid politics between the tiger prides to a feeding frenzy. He was the most eligible bachelor on the planet, every Vesperi pride lord who allied to Varad hoped to foist their daughter onto Taymullah. Devani’s father did not lead one of those prides, damn him. Taymullah had had no intention to mate while his brother was away. He’d been a bachelor, and happily so, so years.
But Devani? Her, he couldn’t resist. He’d thought his brother mad when he’d made a minor pride lord’s daughter the Amira of Vesperi. When Varad married her, Mahlia had been woefully unprepared for the political games she’d have to play as a ruler of tigers. Taymullah had been unable to fathom what had made his brother choose Mahlia over one of the many tigresses groomed to mate with an Amir. Until Devani, he never knew a man could feel such a bone deep pull toward a woman. Within moments of meeting her, folding her soft hand into his, he’d known she was his future.
Madness. He’d been right. To want a woman this much was madness. Only a fool would want it. He needed to cool his temper, clear his mind of the lustful thoughts that had him it their grip. His brother was counting on his to rule well in his stead. Taymullah would not let him down. Not ever.
His jaw clenched. Advisable or not, Devani would be his before his brother returned. “I am willing to risk your father’s wrath…and my brother’s. I know he would understand.”
Her breath caught and hope shone in her eyes, but it quickly died out. She shook her head. “My father will not. I can’t…I can’t defy him, Taymullah. He would disown me. What political gain would there be for your family if I had none to claim me? Be reasonable, my love.”
A pain so great he thought it might crush him sat upon his chest. It was the agony of a man whose love wasn’t returned. Not enough. She didn’t love him enough to let go of her fears and risk everything to be with him. A harsh laugh jerked from him. “You think this is reasonable? That love could ever be reasoned with? Do you truly believe that I would have chosen you to love out of all the courtiers on Vesperi? Do you?”
The blood leeched from her face, and she stared at him. “No.”
“No. It would have been simple, easy, to love a woman born into a pride that wanted to build close allegiances with the royal family. You don’t think I know this? But, no. Love is not simple, Devani. Not reasonable. I had to have you the moment I touched you. And no one will ever know you as I do, want you just as you are like I do. You long for adventure, don’t you? That’s what led you to my bed in the first place. Wasn’t it?”
“Taymullah, please. Don’t—”
“Wasn’t it?” he demanded.
Her golden eyes filled with tears. “Yes.”
He pushed on, determined to fight for what he wanted, who he wanted. He had to convince her. “I can give you that adventure. Not just in my bed, but in everything. When Varad and Mahlia return they’ll remain here to rule for the rest of their lives. I will be assuming command of the trade runs. I can show you all the known worlds. Tell me you don’t want that. Tell me you don’t want me.”
She swallowed. “I can’t. I do want you, more than you’ll ever know because this cannot be. We cannot be. I didn’t think I would love you. I can’t control the way I feel about you, but I can control what I do about that love.”
“And the action you take will be to leave me in favor of Lord Gyan.”
“That isn’t the way of it.”
“Isn’t it? Go then…leave. Take the coward’s way out.”
Her lips twisted, and a single tear slipped down the smooth curve of her cheek. She nodded, turned on her heel, and fled. He watched her wind through the statues of the Nude Garden. Soft glowlights shone on the long curving paths. It would be hours before the sun rose and natural flooded in through the tiny skyholes above the garden. Just as she disappeared from his sight, her soft telepathy brushed against his mind.
I’m sorry, Taymullah. I do love you.
He closed his eyes against the pain of it. She loved him. But not enough to fight for him. And that was the one thing he couldn’t coerce, coax, or force to his will. Her father, his brother, the prides of Vesperi, yes. Her heart? No.
* * * *
A tiger shriek of agony ripped from her as she ran as fast as her legs would carry her. Through marble hallways, passed rich tapestries, down curving staircases. She didn’t know where to run to escape herself and the pain that tore through her. There was no escape. The muscles in her calves and thighs burned as she went. The wildness within her rose until she couldn’t contain it any longer. Jerking her gown over her head, she discarded it with little care as to where it fell. She folded in half as she ran, and her body shuddered as the sucking pops that signaled the reforming of her bones into a more feline shape broke the tranquility of the night. She dropped onto all fours and watched the striped skin on her arms fill in with a thick tiger’s pelt. She flexed her claws against the marble tiles, stretching into a fluid sprint as her body remembered how to move in this form.
Time slowed down, became elastic and meaningless. What was a few moments if Taymullah wasn’t in them? Her breath sobbed out as she streaked through the main palace doors and down the steps that led to the moonlight market. She didn’t pause to answer the people who called out to her. This scene would reach her father’s ears soon, and the rest of the court would be gossiping about it by morning. She couldn’t dredge up the will to care just now. The salty scent of the Dead Sea reached her nose. Yes. She could find peace in the waves rolling up onto the shore there. Threading through the marketplace, she doubled back toward the water.
The sand crunched under her paws as she walked to the edge, letting the waves swirl around her ankles. She collapsed on the soft beach. Her heart pounded from her run, her blood rushing through her veins. They were nothing compared to the thoughts ricocheting through her mind. The pain eating at her soul.
The first rays of sunlight began to brighten the underground ocean. Thousands of tiny skyholes let in the sunshine. Her breathing shuddered out. If she couldn’t go a few hours knowing she’d never touch him again, how was she going to survive days, weeks…the rest of her life? But she’d been taught since birth that her duty to her family, her pride, came before everything else. Before her needs, her wants, her heart. An ache filled her chest. Could Taymullah truly withstand his brother’s anger if she brought no political allegiances with her? Unlike Mahlia’s pride, Devani’s father was not a supporter of the royal family. He would not see an advantage to her mating with a prince. Everything on Vesperi was a game of politics. Felines loved the challenge of it, the competition of it. Devani was exhausted by it. Gods, help her. Would the writhing agony twisting through her ever abate? She doubted it. She closed her eyes and moaned.
Sudden anger whipped through her. Damn them all. Why did she have to mate for what it could gain for her family? Why couldn’t she just love? Wasn’t that a rare enough prize to win? None of her siblings could claim to love their mates and changed them with each tigeress’ heat cycle. That wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted what the Amir and Amira had—a lifelong mating. She wanted Taymullah. Was she willing to fight for him? To give up everything she knew for him? If she didn’t, was she the coward Taymullah claimed she was? Her heart throbbed at the hurt of his accusation. He was right. Only a coward would throw away love. Is this how she wanted to live the rest of her life? Regretting what might have been with a man who matched her perfectly? The questions wouldn’t stop, wouldn’t let her rest, wouldn’t allow her forget. Wouldn’t let her give up on Taymullah. Or let her watch him mate with another tigress.
She jerked to her feet. She couldn’t do it. Taymullah was hers, and no woman would mate with him except her. Steely determination whipped through her. Her father would disown her, of that she had no doubts. She would lose her friends and her family. Her pride. And she was willing to give it all up for the love of a good man, and the life of adventure he promised her.
Yes. She pulled in a deep breath, peace wrapping around her as the decision settled. Urgency slammed into her. She had to find Taymullah and tell him everything. Pivoting on her haunches, she raced back the way she had come. She burst through the palace doors and went straight for his chambers.
Rounding a corner, she skidded to a stop as she came nose to knees with her father. A disapproving frown marred the feline beauty of his face when she looked up at him. “What’s this I have heard about you making a spectacle of—”
She cut him off with her telepathy for the very first time in her life, and shock flashed across his features. I’m mating with Prince Taymullah, father. I will never let Gyan or any other man touch me.
His golden eyes widened, the slitted pupils expanding. His face flushed with quiet rage. “You understand what this means?”
I do. She nodded for emphasis.
“Then I no longer have a daughter.” His eyes went flat, hard. He stepped back, turned his back on her, and walked away without a backward glance.
She waited for the pain to flood her, and it did, but it was nothing to what losing Taymullah would be. She’d spent the last hours coming to terms with that fact. A sigh pulled from her, relief that it was done. It was hard, it was painful, but her father didn’t love her enough to get passed her choice of a mate. There was nothing she could do about that. She could only effect her own actions, make her own choices. And she chose love, unconditional, unquenchable love. Now to tell Taymullah that. A curl of excitement unfurled in her belly.
Taynullah!
Not bothering to pause and formally announce herself, she burst through Taymullah’s door. And skidded to a stop at the sight of two naked tigresses lounging across his saltwater silk coverlets. They raised their eyebrows at her, and she returned the stare. Disbelief rocked her to her very core, numb shock spreading through her limbs. A few hours and he’d replaced her. Was this the measure of his love? She snorted, brushing that foolishness aside. He wouldn’t give up so quickly. Not Taymullah. And if he had…well, he’d just have to become accustomed to monogamy. Starting immediately.
Now to deal with these interlopers. Her eyes narrowed on the two of them lying in a bed she had shared with Taymullah.
A furious hiss erupted from her throat. Her tail lashed behind her. Standing on her hind paws, she shifted back into human form, her claws and fangs retracting so she wouldn’t rip their throats out. Her fingers balled into fists at her sides, and she gritted passed clenched teeth, “Get. Out.”
One of the women paled and reached for a robe to cover herself.
The other tigress, a lady of a powerful pride, rose gracefully. Her tone was dismissive. “You cannot order us about, Lady Devani.”
“But I can. My lady has just command you to leave. Obey her. Now.” Taymullah’s rich voice sounded from behind Devani. She snapped around, only then realizing that he hadn’t been in the chamber with the women. His scent in the room was almost a full day old. Good. She’d be right about him, right to trust him with her future.
He lounged in the open doorway, arms and legs crossed casually. They waited in silence as the two tigresses flounced out of his chambers. He stepped forward and kicked the door closed behind them. He stalked her, backing her towards the bed. Moisture pooled between her thighs. Gods, he made her wet. Just by looking at her. She wanted him, wanted the wildness he pulled from her.
Hurt and anger flashed in his amber gaze, and he didn’t bother to hide it from her. His voice mocked her. “Does your father know you’re here, Devani?”
The back of her legs hit the bed frame, and she lifted her palms to press against his chest. He stilled beneath her touch, and she reveled in it. Not long ago, she’d imagined a life without ever stroking her fingers over his warm flesh. Thank the Gods. She closed her eyes for a moment before meeting his gaze squarely. “I hope you meant what you said about risking the wrath of everyone we know. My father has disowned me for wanting to mate with you.”
His breathing hitched, and his hands closed over her bare shoulders. “You fought for me, for us. With the tigresses. With your father.”
“Yes. I want to be by your side for the rest of my days. If you’ll have me. I’m—I’m sorry I doubted, sorry I hurt you, sorry I ran from you. Can you forgive me?” Her voice shook as she spoke, and she prayed her actions hadn’t ruined his faith in her. Dread coiled in her belly, cramping her muscles as she tensed.
“Forgive you?” His voice went flat, blank. Like her father’s had before he turned on her. Her breath caught, agony slicing through her.
“I’m so very sorry, Taymullah. I love you.” She whispered the words, hoping they weren’t the last time she would get to say them to him.
His arms closed around her, crushing her to his chest. He leaned his forehead against hers. “I thought I lost you, my love.”
“Never. I’m yours for as long as you’ll have me.” Giddy relief sang through her.
“Oh, I’ll have you. Now. An hour from now. A week from now. A decade form now. It will be an adventure, don’t you agree?” His thigh pressed between hers, riding the hard muscles against her clit.
She shivered at his words and his actions, heat pulsing through her body. Her nipples tightened to points, rubbing against his broad chest. This is exactly what she wanted. With him. Right here. Right now. Forever. “Yes.”
* * * *
About the Author
Crystal Jordan began writing romance after she finished graduate school and needed something to fill the hours that used to be eaten away by homework. Currently, she serves as a librarian at a university in California, but has lived and worked all over the United States. She writes paranormal, futuristic and erotic romance. To learn more about Crystal please visit http://www.crystaljordan.com.