Page 26 of The Jaguar's Flower

“Only pleasure.” She kissed him tenderly. “There was only a pinch of pain at the beginning.” She gasped when she shifted against him. “This. This is only pleasure.” She pressed closer to him as if she could connect their hearts. “I’m amazed, but please don’t pull away. I want to continue to feel this with you.”

“I don’t want to pull away.” As if to prove his point, he rocked against her. The sensation caused her to tighten around his cock. A muffled groan came from him as he kept his lips against hers.

“Mac.” She whimpered as she tested the movement, only to moan when her hips rolled. Another intense wave of pleasure washed through her. “Is it always like this?”

Mac cupped her cheek. “This is a first for me.” When she rolled her hips, he copied the movements. Every sensation only intensified until the connection faded. He finally slipped out of Violet’s warmth. “I wonder if it will always be like this with you.” He nuzzled her neck.

“I hope so.” She cuddled into his arms. “I liked that connection with you.” A blush crept up her cheeks as she considered everything that happened. Her head turned to meet his eyes. “You don’t regret it, do you?”

He shook his head. “The only thing I regret is having to leave you tonight.” His fingers tangled in her hair. As his eyes soaked her in, he knew their time would end soon. “I want to go again and again.” He nuzzled her neck and nipped at her ear. “I don’t want to stop until you beg me to, Violet. Is that wrong?”

She relaxed in his arms and smiled until his nips brought a moan from her lips. “No. I want that too.” Her fingers caressed his cheek. “I still want to sleep beside you and wake up with you in bed with me.” They needed to find a way to free him.

“We’ll figure out a plan tonight.” Both of his hands tangled in her hair as he kissed her deeply. When he heard the first alarm, he sank back into Violet’s pussy. “Until then, we will keep plotting.” He nipped at her bottom lip as the night took him to another level of pleasure.

Chapter eighteen

WhentheknockalertedViolet to Draven’s arrival, her head throbbed, and her stomach rumbled with the need for food. She couldn’t say how long she spent almost the same position in that chair, but she knew it was for more than a few hours. Thoughts of Mac kept her distracted. She had a small window to shower and change. Then she needed to return to the lab to finish her work and see her jaguar again.

As she opened the door, she hummed with the idea of a brief detour by the cafeteria on their way to her apartment. However, when she looked up, it wasn’t Draven who stood at attention at the entrance. Another soldier stood there, though she vaguely recognized him.

“Dr. Morris, are you ready?”

Violet snapped her jaw shut. She didn’t want to offend her new escort but needed to know what happened to Draven. “Where’s 002?”

“He had other duties to attend to.” The soldier’s voice sounded flat to her ears. “If you’re not ready, I can return later.”

Her head shook as she stepped back from the door. “I’ll be ready as soon as I grab my things.” Before she turned away from him, she paused and met his emotionless eyes. “What’s your name?” She reached into her pocket and produced a piece of candy.

The soldier paused at the sight of the wrapped candy and stepped forward. It wasn’t until he was in the lab that he took the candy. “005, ma’am.” He peeked at the candy and whispered, “Is this the peppermint one?”

She grinned as she relaxed. This was another shifter soldier she had given candy to while collecting specimens. “It is.” As much as she disagreed with their treatment, she enjoyed the company of the soldiers. “As soon as I get my bag and lock it up, you can escort me to my apartment.”

He focused on the wrapper of the candy as he nodded. While his eyes remained trained on the candy, she turned and grabbed her bag. She shut off the multiple monitors while tests continued to process. The results would remain on the screens when they finished, but the tests wouldn’t finish for another few hours at least.

Violet slung the strap of her bag over her shoulder and followed 005 from the room. He paused long enough to allow her to lock the door to her lab before he continued down the hall. When he took her in a different direction than Draven, she tried not to let her exhaustion lead her into a downward spiral of paranoia. It wasn’t until they stopped outside of a door that she spoke.

“What are we doing?” Her voice sounded small even to her ears, so she could only assume how she sounded to the large shifter beside her.

His eye twitched at her question, so he brought out his handheld and double-checked it. “You’re to meet with Renfield. Then another escort will be called.” Though it was against their training, he turned the device around so she could see his assignment.

The exhaustion seemed to amplify her emotions as she trembled. “No, I’m supposed to go home.” To say the day had been trying, put it mildly. All she wanted was a long hot shower and to see Mac. It didn’t help she barely slept in the last few weeks. She didn’t regret her time with Mac but hated Renfield’s demands.

His voice dropped to barely above a whisper. “I’m sorry, Dr. Morris, but I’ve been assigned here.”

At the pain she read in his eyes, she reached into the pocket of her lab coat. “It’s alright. You’re doing your job.” With a fake smile plastered on her face, she handed the candy over to him.

“Can you do me a favor?” She waited for him to nod. “Will you take my bag back to my lab? I’ll have my next escort take me back.” She retrieved the keys from the bag’s side pocket and handed them to him. “Thank you, 005.”

He seemed reluctant, but in the end, he took her bag and opened the door to the exam room. Once the lights came to life, she realized she was alone. It was too late to call 005 back to her, so she wandered around the exam room while she waited on Renfield.

A clipboard rested on a counter and seemed to beckon to her. When she drew close enough to read the words on the top page, she groaned at the sight of her name.

Dr. Morris,

You are to stay in the room. I deem it necessary for you to extract genetic samples upon my arrival.

Renfield.

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