Beast Master Read online

  The enemy’s finger was lodged within her and constantly moving. It ran over her inner walls, stroking and gliding, triggering jolt after jolt. Even as she commanded herself not to, her pussy closed down around the intrusion. Whether she’d applied enough pressure to trap him didn’t matter. He was in her. She had no defenses left and wanted none. Soon! So soon! Just a few more strokes on his part and she’d—

  “So ready,” he said. “Ready and willing. Maybe not my captive after all.”

  How could he say that? He’d driven her to the ground and rendered her helpless. Free, she’d never allow him to do any of the things he was.

  Another jolt rocked her. Fighting a curse, she tried to look at him. Just then he withdrew and caught her clit between thumb and forefinger. Shrieking, she climaxed. Her sex muscles spasmed. Juices bubbled out of her to run down her inner thigh, and she again cried out.

  “What is this, Luann?”

  She couldn’t make it stop! The explosion went on and on, triggered by his command of her. Sweat bloomed everywhere. Her lungs surrendered the last of the air they’d held, and her legs gave way. She didn’t care that she was falling, dying maybe.

  Then the rage and roar that had taken over began to recede and she realized his hand was no longer between her legs but around her waist and holding her off the ground. He continued to breathe as if he’d been running, but at least the sound reminded her to do the same.

  The air was sweet and wonderful. It cleared her head and feeling returned to her legs. Still weak, she nevertheless forced herself to stand. He continued to hold her, and she couldn’t put her mind to how she might end that.

  “You had no right,” she insisted.

  “I don’t need right. I have power. And when I command you to give me release, you will obey.”

  “No!”

  “Yes.”

  * * * * *

  Ber led the way along a well-trod deer trail with her following close behind. She’d still been trying to accept what he’d said about his power allowing him to do whatever he wanted to, when he’d untied her wrists only to quickly secure them in front of her. He now held a short length of the leather strip in a large hand, and she’d be a fool to try to jerk free, not that she could put her mind to the effort. She’d taken small solace in the fact that he’d picked up her knife and carrying pouch. Either he intended to make those items his or planned to eventually return them to her. Unfortunately, she didn’t have that much time. Neither did her clanspeople who were waiting for and dependent on her return.

  Even with the sense of urgency pressing down on her, she studied both her surroundings and Ber’s hard, naked ass cheeks as he walked ahead of her. The man belonged here in ways that awed her. He might not be as dark as the great and ancient trees they were passing, but his stature spoke of a oneness with the awesome growth. She’d seen the mountain from a distance and been impressed by trees that seemed to be growing into the heavens, but now the impact was much more.

  Watching the effortless way Ber stepped along the trail, she admitted she wouldn’t have been as taken by the woods if she hadn’t met a man who was an integral part of the woods. But that wasn’t the only reason she felt surrounded by him. Bottom line, she’d never suspected a man could have such powerfully defined muscles.

  That had to be why she’d lost control while he was doing whatever he did to her. Any woman would be impressed by Ber’s stature, although overwhelmed was a more fitting term. If she’d been a member of his clan, she’d have no hesitancy about trusting in his strength and leadership. Perhaps all he’d have to do was crook a finger and she’d hurry to his side, eager to follow him wherever he led, hopefully to his bed.

  What was the matter with her? She’d never stumble after a man simply because his shoulders were broad and his cock hard.

  Only she was trailing behind him, wasn’t she? And wondering what his cock looked like. And loving the smooth, measured way his buttocks worked.

  The languid heat generated by her climax had faded, but she was still warmer than she wanted to be. Of course it was summer, her captor had her off balance, and she was trying to keep up with his longer legs, but there was something else at play, something she didn’t dare let Ber know.

  But even with those perfectly logical reasons for the sweat on her temples, she sensed she hadn’t acknowledged everything. The unknown element was embedded in her surroundings. Something she couldn’t comprehend was out there.

  Lifting her head, she stared at the trees growing all around, but the shadows were so dense she couldn’t see as much as she wished. Was she being watched or was it just her imagination?

  She was trying to look behind her when Ber stopped, and she bumped into him. His solid body distracted her, and she took longer than she should have to back away from that all-consuming form. To her surprise, he didn’t acknowledge her. Instead he was staring ahead of him and his hand was lifted in—what—greeting?

  Her mouth dried at the thought of meeting members of his clan, and she had to force herself to step to the side so she could look around him. At first she didn’t see anything. Then what she’d initially believed was part of the shadows separated itself from the vast shade. From this distance she couldn’t be certain how large it was, but there was no mistaking the form. She was looking at a massive puma. The blood in her veins chilled, and her legs locked. Much as she wanted to hide behind her captor, she couldn’t move.

  “The Beast,” Ber explained. She barely heard him. “Only rarely does he show himself and usually only to me.”

  “What does he want?” she asked, unable to pull her gaze from off the great beast.

  “I don’t know yet. I’ll go to him, alone.”

  Even though Ber wasn’t looking at her, she nodded. Surely he knew the last thing she’d want was to get any closer than she was to the frightening shape. Her mouth dried even more, and fear wrapped around her. Despite that, the Beast fascinated her. He, or it, was real.

  “Listen to me, Luann,” Ber continued. “I have no doubt you’re the reason the Beast is here today.”

  “Am I in danger?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Hearing that made her shiver. A normal puma wasn’t a particularly large predator and certainly nothing a grown human had to fear, but this creature was nearly beyond her comprehension. When Ber fastened the rope he’d been holding to a tree branch over her head, she lifted her arms without protest, not that struggling would have done her any good. Securing her the way he had made it clear he still saw her as his hostage. After assuring himself that she couldn’t reach the tie, he stared at her.

  “What are you thinking?” she demanded so he wouldn’t know how much his intensity unnerved her.

  The corner of his mouth lifted as he ran his knuckles over the inside of an upstretched arm. “I like seeing you like that. Whenever I want, you’re within reach.”

  “It doesn’t matter to you how I feel, does it? I could hate everything about you and it wouldn’t change anything.”

  “You might hate me for many things but that isn’t all you feel.” He stared openly at her crotch before returning his attention to her face.

  Another shiver rocked her. His look was so intense, his impact so total. And he was right, he could do what he wanted to her when he wanted. Maybe that’s why she felt so exposed.

  She couldn’t say how long they’d stared at each other when he spun on his heels and started toward the Beast.

  “No, please!” she gasped. “What if he attacks you? What’s going to happen to me?” She immediately chided herself for putting her welfare ahead of his.

  “He won’t attack. Remember, I’m the Beast Master.”

  “No one controls the Beast.”

  “I don’t need to as long as he and I understand each other.”

  Despite her confusion and concern for his safety, the forthright way he approached the monster-sized puma filled her heart with a strange new sensation. She acknowledged her admiration of Ber’s
courage, but it was more than that. She didn’t want anything to happen to him. Seeing this man she didn’t understand and should hate attacked and killed would be more than she could endure.

  Be careful.

  Chapter Four

  Never before when he’d approached the Beast had Ber’s mind been on anything except his mission. Despite his silent command to dismiss the woman behind him, he couldn’t shake himself free of the sight of her with her arms upraised and her body outlined beneath soft, clinging deer hide, her pale hair streaming down her back. Having her arms high caused her garment’s hem to rise. Granted, he’d seen and touched her thighs and more earlier, but the exploration had done nothing to quiet his response. Quite the opposite, he’d give anything to fuck her right now.

  He’d been totally honest when he’d told her what seeing her like that did to him. True, he hadn’t revealed what he’d been pondering, which was whether he could have sex with her positioned the way she was, but maybe she’d read his thoughts. Would she want his hands roaming her helpless body? Yes, she’d shuddered when he stroked her armpit, but he would have done the same.

  What if he was her prisoner? How would it feel to be unable to stop her from whatever she did to him, and what would she subject him to? The idea of her small hands on his chest and back, to say nothing of his scrotum and between his ass cheeks as he’d done to her, had him licking his suddenly dry lips. No matter how much he struggled or cursed, she’d continue her exploration. Wise as only a woman can be about a man, she’d repeatedly cradle his cock only to abandon him despite his pleas to the contrary. She’d be the one in charge, the one to drive him insane with wanting.

  A pungent smell pulled him back to what he was doing, forcing him to dismiss Luann. As usual, the Beast’s smell was far from pleasant, but he’d become accustomed to the mix of greasy fur and dried blood. The blood was strong enough that he gathered the Beast had recently killed and fed.

  Who is she? the Beast asked.

  “She calls herself Luann.” No matter how many times he’d seen the Beast up close, the foot-long fangs and a head nearly twice the size of his awed him. The Beast’s feet splayed over the ground, claws longer than his hand digging into the soil.

  What is she doing here?

  “I don’t know yet. She’s a member of the Deer clan,” he added because if he didn’t, the Beast would ask.

  Is she alone?

  The Beast knew every inch of this mountain. He’d know not just if strangers had come to it but how many. “I believe so.”

  A Deer woman, alone? What does she want?

  “I haven’t tried to get that out of her yet.”

  Because her body speaks to your cock. Have you fucked her?

  Unlike most pumas, the Beast wasn’t silvery-gray in color. Instead, his upper coat was a burnished red with a nearly black stripe down his spine. His throat and belly were a soft gold and not the usual near white. What most impressed Ber were his dull gray whiskers, indicative of his great age. From what the Beast had told him, he concluded he’d been alive for nearly a century. The Beast had tried to mate countless times. Usually the females fled as soon as they spotted his massive cock. Occasionally, if she was heavily in heat, she’d turn her back to him and lift her tail in invitation, but only two had been able to take him. Both had died giving birth to oversized cubs that had also perished.

  “No, I haven’t,” Ber replied with his mind on the Beast’s regret at knowing he’d never have offspring. He was the end of his kind. “The Pumas aren’t rapists, you know that.”

  Not those who are of their clan. Because there are so few Puma females, they are treated with great respect. But the creature you captured is different, less.

  “She’s still human.” Strange, he’d never argued with the Beast before. “If I force myself on her, we both become animals.”

  You’re wrong. I’ve watched humans far longer than you’ve been alive. You’re a Puma warrior. Just because there isn’t a Puma woman for you doesn’t mean you must always deny yourself. Take pride in your strength. Claim what’s yours.

  None less than Ashlyn the Ruler had proclaimed that the Beast was filled with wisdom. which was why Ber had been chosen to heed and pass on everything the Beast told him. Was the Beast right? This woman from the Deer clan was less than a Puma?

  “I’m conflicted,” he admitted. “Maybe it’s because I’ve had no contact with outside women. I don’t know how to look at them.”

  She was sent as a test. To see if you are weak. If she believes you take pity on her, she’ll use it to her advantage. She’ll return to her people and tell them the Pumas can easily be overtaken.

  Mulling over what the Beast had told him, he glanced back at Luann. She looked so helpless and vulnerable with no choice but to wait for his return. As long as he kept bonds on her, she was unable to rejoin her people. Judging by the way his heart rate kicked up and his groin tightened at the sight of her, he couldn’t imagine ever setting her free.

  He wanted to take her to his bed, the desire a fire in his belly. Her reaction when he caressed her sex had left no doubt that she was a sensual woman. She hadn’t wanted to climax—he’d pushed her to the edge and beyond. Surely it wouldn’t take much to have her begging him for sex. But in the meantime—

  Take what’s yours by right of power. She’ll submit. She has no choice. Ber, don’t spend your life alone as I’ve been forced to.

  Most of the time, the Beast didn’t concern himself with the emotions of the man who trailed him. From what Ber had been able to determine, the Beast saw him as a nearly constant but unimportant presence in his life. Quite simply, the Beast lived his life. If a member of the Puma clan chose to watch him go about that life, so be it. But perhaps the Beast had given him more consideration than he’d believed.

  “I’m not alone,” Ber pointed out. “I’m one of a number of humans who—”

  Who share the sacred mountain with me, I know. Your clan pleases me. All of you treat the wilderness with respect. Nothing is wasted or taken for granted.

  “We try not to.”

  What about her and her people? Do they have the same reverence for the mountain or did she come determined to steal something that belongs here? Listen to me, listen and learn. See her for what she is, your possession. Reach deep into her but don’t allow her to do the same thing. Feed from her body but keep your heart and mind separate. Get to the truth of her. And if her goal is to steal what she has no right to, punish her for it so her people will understand.

  Ber’s mind throbbed. He’d been handed so much in a brief period that he wished he could ask the Beast to explain in more detail, but he didn’t dare. Besides, he was torn between continuing this conversation and returning to his—what—his possession?

  Possession?

  “I’ve long tried to follow in your footsteps,” he said. “But I lack your wisdom and experience.”

  You will learn. Remember one thing if nothing else, never trust the enemy. That’s what she is, the enemy in a seductive woman’s body.

  * * * * *

  If Luann could have one wish in life it would be to know what Ber was thinking as he strode back to her. He and the huge puma had spent what seemed like forever together. She’d occasionally heard Ber’s voice but had been unable to sort out the words. And she hadn’t been able to catch so much as a mutter from the predator.

  The puma had turned and walked away before Ber started her way. Going by his expression, whatever the two of them had talked about had been serious. She had no doubt she was the subject of that conversation.

  Instinct kicked in, and she tried to back away, but of course the man who’d captured her had made that impossible. Giving up, she again studied Ber’s form. Damn him for being in such prime physical condition! Damn her for wanting that body.

  When he stood so close that she again felt his body heat, he reached up as if to release her from the branch only to lower his arm and trail his fingers between her breasts. Shivering, she
started to turn away only to have him stop her by grabbing her elbow.

  “You said you came here for a fern. I don’t believe you.”

  “It’s true. I need…”

  “What do you need it for?” he demanded and leaned closer so she had no choice but to acknowledge his position of power. “Go on, tell me.”

  “It’s nothing that concerns you. And I only need a little.” Her lie caught in her throat. If only she dared tell him the truth.

  “A little piece of fern isn’t worth the effort or danger of coming here.” He pressed his chest against her. “The Beast reminded me that you’re the enemy. What is it? The Deer clan has learned how to mix certain plants together to make a poison? A bit of fern will render the Pumas helpless, maybe kill them?”

  “No! I would never—”

  “You expect me to believe that?”

  Trying to come up with the words to convince him that she represented no danger both exhausted her and added to her thirst. She’d been through so much since he’d stormed into her life, weathered so much when it took most of her strength just to stay on her feet. Even more disconcerting, her mind wanted to slip away and not be bothered by anything.

  Maybe one thing. Him.

  “You aren’t answering. Why not?”

  “Would you believe anything I say?”

  Her question must have made sense because she sensed more than saw him nod. Again they were so close that his features had blurred, but what had her the most off balance was the way her traitorous body was acting. She should be afraid, probably terrified. Instead, she wanted him touching her everywhere.

  Maybe not on her armpits again, she amended, but the rest of her needed nothing more than his fingers sliding over her. If it was in her power, she might have already yanked off her dress. Hopefully he’d envelop her naked body and seal them together, his cock burying itself in her hot, wet sex. But what if he was content simply to look at her? How long would she shift from one leg to the other while his hard gaze burned her? No doubt about it, her hand would go between her legs and she’d do the things she needed to in order to first feed and then extinguish the flames there.