Page 10 of His Tainted Mate

“Hamish. The disease has taken hold of your sister. She was determined to prove that the serum was effective. She had them take a blood sample and then allowed herself to be given the cure. She was worried about you. Hamish needed me to find you and ensure the disease didn’t claim you as a victim.”

Outside, the lightning flashed and thunder rumbled. In that moment, the line between hunter and hunted began to blur.

ELLE

He moved like the predator she believed him to be. She managed to shimmy out of her clothing in a way that kept the snow leopard from seeing anything more than she wanted him to. She handed him her clothing and then watched as he laid it out to dry before stripping down to nothing and pulling on a pair of dry jeans.

Elle had never seen a man more beautifully made. His muscles rippled in the flickering fire light, revealing a powerful chest, sculpted abs, and what might be the finest ass she’d ever seen. Internally she rolled her eyes. She was dying and being held against her will, and instead of being appalled, she was becoming wildly aroused.

“See something you like?” he asked as he laid out his own clothing.

“Maybe,” she said in a voice far too husky for her own liking. She shouldn’t be putting ideas in his head, but if the bulge behind his fly was any indication, they were already there.

“Elle,” he growled softly as he sank to his knees and crawled to her. His hands found their way under the blanket, rough and warm.

The touch of his fingertips against her sensitized skin forced a cry from deep within her. It was madness, this inferno of need amidst the shadows of death and desire. His hands moved lower, one hand holding her in place while the other trailed down her body, straight to the spot that seemed to want his touch the most.

Her breath hitched as his fingers teased her sex, the heat of his skin and the roughness of his touch sending shivers up her spine. She’d never felt so alive, so vulnerable, and so reckless. Standing on what she’d thought had been death’s door, she now knew how much she wanted to live. The thought of how dangerous it was to give herself over to the snow leopard only seemed to heighten the intensity of the moment.

“Rab, we shouldn’t…” she murmured, the words catching in her throat. The primitive need that had taken hold of her wouldn’t be denied, and her body craved the connection that she believed only he could give to her.

As his fingers slipped deeper, his thumb now strumming against her clit, she arched into his touch, each movement drawing a low groan from him. It was clear that her resistance was waning, and she knew that the line between life and death had never felt so thin.

But even as her body trembled, her mind raced with a thousand thoughts. The uncertainty of the disease’s progression, the danger from the storm, and the understanding that he would want to claim her. Hamish had shown great patience with Trudi; Elle did not expect the same from Rab. She could feel the heat and need rolling off of him.

“Show me, Elle,” he rumbled.

His words were both command and plea as he urged her on, his hand delving lower. She was on fire, every stroke, every nibble sending sparks skittering across her skin, igniting something primal within her. She clutched the blanket more tightly around her body—a small, thin barrier against him, even as she lost herself to the sensations overwhelming her senses.

“Show me how you come. Show me how your body moves. Let me hear the sounds you make,” he purred seductively.

Elle gazed into his eyes, emerald-green pools reflecting her own desire as her body shuddered with release. Her sounds filled the cave, sweet echoes of a pleasure so intense it bordered on pain. In that moment, it wasn’t about fear or death. It was about being alive, here and now, with him.

She reached behind his fly. His cock was heavy in her hand, and she ran her fingers up and down its length, feeling the tension and the heat radiating from him. She could feel his urgency, the desperation behind his eyes as he watched her touch him only making her more aroused, more eager to satisfy this craving they both shared.

Panting, she stared into Rab’s eyes, dark and intense—the same eyes that wanted to watch her unravel. His breath came out in ragged pulls, each one syncing with the erratic beats of her heart. His lips crashed against hers, raw and urgent, his groan melding with her own into a singular sound that reverberated off the stone walls.

“Rab,” she murmured against his mouth as the world exploded, feeling his body tense as if her voice was a trigger.

She trembled against him, her body wracked with the pleasure sparking from his fingers up into her brain. Her back arched as her hot lips pressed into his, but she was gone, lost to him and only him.

She couldn’t think, couldn’t question any of it as she came down. She tugged him closer, her hands shoving the blanket aside so she lay naked beneath him. He shed his own jeans with a swift movement, and in a heartbeat, he was there, inside her, filling her completely where she needed him most. No hesitation, no second-guessing. It was just the two of them and the primal need neither could deny.

His movements were relentless, a rhythm that matched the pounding in her ears. He dragged himself back, forcing himself from her body as he lifted just enough to flip her onto her belly and then he was inside her again, his arm wrapped around her hips, holding her up and in place.

“Again, for me, Elle,” he breathed out, an order wrapped in velvet, as he pulled her onto her knees, thrusting in and out of her. “Come for me again.”

His hands grasped roughly at her breasts as he pounded into her, sparking bright spots of pleasure. Rab thrust himself so deep inside of her it was as if they had become one.

The cave echoed with their primitive cries as they surrendered to raw desire. The danger from both the disease and the raging storm seemed to melt away, replaced by a fierce, all-consuming passion that left no room for fear or doubt. Their bodies moved in a frenzy, their pace matching the wild beating of their hearts. Sweat drenched their skin, mingling their scents into an intoxicating cocktail of musk and lust. The cold walls of the cave melted away under his touch, replaced by the fire that blazed between them.

Her center pulsed with each thrust, each gasping breath, each ragged moan. Elle was lost in the rhythm, in the fire that burned within their joined bodies, in the desire that coursed through her veins. She arched her back, her back bowing as he leaned over her, pushing her hair aside and baring her neck. She knew what he was going to do, and in that moment, she didn’t care. She didn’t care that his claiming bite would heal her—his snow leopard DNA overwriting her own. The sensations started to build into something that made her breath catch in her chest, as the world narrowed down to one pinpoint.

Rab nuzzled the nape of her neck lovingly, softly kissing each spot where she knew his fangs would sink deep. Harder and deeper he thrust until finally she stiffened, crying out in release. He bit down savagely, making her scream in a combination of ecstasy and pain.

There had been no asking for permission, no sweet or gentle words of persuasion, only the claiming bite of a superior predator who would expect her to submit. She would be cured of the disease, but she would be forever changed. The vice-like bite loosened for an instant before Rab sank his fangs even deeper. This time she did not scream; she merely went limp, too exhausted to do anything else.

She felt his cum bathing the inner walls of her pussy as he began to pump his seed deep inside her. Her pussy spasmed all along his length. He continued to thrust until he’d emptied himself into her. When he was done, he released her neck before withdrawing and rolling to his back, drawing her close, his arm anchoring her to his side as he wedged his hard thigh between hers.

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