Page 44 of Tempting Jupiter (Arena Dogs #2)

He pressed a kiss to her temple. “Sorry, if I woke you.”

“Mmm. You were thinking too loud.” Her words came out whiney in the way some of her kids had complained when they’d resisted getting up for breakfast.

Seneca kept his chuckle silent, but his chest shook beneath her cheek.

“Are you laughing at me?” The whiney drag of her syllables was still there, so he knew she wasn’t truly upset.

“There’s no rush to get up. You only slept about five hours.”

After a deep breath and a long exhale, her eyes opened, and she started to pull away from him. “I’m awake now. I might as well get back to work.”

He closed his arms around her, keeping her close. “No. Don’t go yet.”

She studied his face as if she could see something written there. “Okay.”

Together they sat up, knees bumping into each other until he scooped her up and positioned her butt in the gap between his legs then pulled her slender legs up over his thigh.

Seneca reached for the salve they’d left on the bedside table and began applying a second treatment to the already fading bruises on her arms. “There are a few things we need to talk about.”

“I’m listening.”

He could see that, but he could also see her nipples hardening at his touch. “First, you need to understand that I plan to sleep here with you from now on.”

She licked her lips, leaving them glistening. “I never told you to stop.”

He nodded. “I know. I shouldn’t have left. I know it made things harder for you.”

She grimaced. “You had every reason to hate me. Still do.”

“No. I let anger and fear get the best of me. As our mate, you deserve better from me.”

She paled. “What?”

“You are Jupiter’s mate and in our way, you and I are also bonded.

That is the second thing I wanted to talk to you about.

Last night you said that when we get him back, I’ll be free of you.

That you would be out of the way. I don’t know what you’re thinking but get it out of your head.

Jupiter won’t let you go, and neither will I. ”

She shook her head and tears welled in her eyes. “Jupiter was never mine for keeps. I knew I’d lose him the moment I contacted Morgan.”

He brushed tears from her cheeks. “You think he won’t forgive your betrayal. Didn’t he explain? Arena Dogs mate for life. You’re stuck with us.”

“I could never ask—”

“You don’t have to ask.” Jupiter would probably blame himself for not gaining her trust so that she wouldn’t have to betray them.

Vulnerability made her wide-eyed and raw. Bastard that he was, seeing her this way, without the protection of her sarcasm and her snark, spiked his arousal. He closed the millimeters of distance between them and pressed his lips against hers. She offered no resistance but gave him nothing back.

“Come on, Feeona.” He buried his hand in her hair to keep her close. “Kiss me back. We’re friends, at least. You can give me that much.” He leaned down to her and bit her bottom lip, then licked away the small hurt. “Kiss me.”

She conceded, pressing her lips lightly against his.

She kissed him gently and he nibbled at her like a thoughtful lover, but it wasn’t what either of them needed.

She opened when his tongue pressed for entrance to deepen the kiss.

She put a hand on his shoulder and her fingers flexed against his muscle as if she needed something to hold on to.

He lifted her and brought her down in a kneeling position over his lap.

It left her knees at his hips. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and let him pull her close until they pressed together from groin to chest. He moaned at the heat of her so close but not yet skin to skin.

His claim of friendship had come without thought, but it fit.

They could be friends, but more than friendship would always tie them together.

They were both in love with Jupiter and they each recognized the brokenness inside the other.

They could come to need each other the way mates needed each other.

Once the thought entered his head, he knew he wanted that. Wanted her.

He kissed her hard and this time she responded.

“Yes,” he praised between deep, hungry kisses. “We both need this.”

He left her lips to nose along her neck as he slid a hand up her thigh and beyond the wide legs of her shorts.

He palmed one cheek of her firm ass and squeezed.

She groaned.

Seneca let the tips of his fingers follow the valley between her cheeks down to the hidden oasis between her legs. She was warm and starting to become slick. Her scent became thick in the air. “So good,” he whispered in her ear.

“Seneca?” She pushed against his shoulders.

He lifted his head. And rubbed his nose against hers. Her scent had become paired with Jupiter’s in his mind and it made him long for her. “Tell me what you want, Fee. Anything. I can make you feel so good.”

“This isn’t what you want,” she said. “I’m not who you want.”

He chuckled as he nudged his dick against her. “The evidence suggests you’re wrong about that.”

He slipped his fingers between her wet-slick folds. Avoiding her clit, he stroked along the delicate skin with gentle finesse. The fist in her hair became a cradling hand as he turned her head and started kissing her again.

Again, she pulled away. “Sen, please. You don’t want to betray Jupiter this way.”

He scowled and shook his head. “Is that what you think?” Seneca frowned then pressed his forehead to hers. “This isn’t betrayal. Arena Dogs share mates… Jupiter would want me to reinforce our bond. Don’t you see? He’s your mate. He chose you. That makes you my link to him.”

It was the wrong thing to say. Feeona pushed him away with more force, leaning back to put all the distance between them that she could manage. Seneca growled from deep in his gut.

“Seneca, stop. Please. I can’t be your link to him. You two belong together. You don’t need me. You’re the one his heart wants.”

“You’re wrong.” He fought to keep his words from turning into barks.

The words she meant to comfort, poked at his guts like a guisarme —a barbed spear that could gut an enemy without getting too close to flying claws.

“When an Arena Dog finds his mate his body chemistry changes and becomes attuned to the mate. He can no longer enjoy the touch of another. If Jupiter felt for me as you claim, he’d never have been able to touch you. ”

She shook her head. “No. That can’t be right.”

“As much as it pains me, Feeona, I speak the truth.” A truth he’d been keeping far in the back of his mind. A truth too devastating to dwell on.

She punched him in the shoulder. “You idiot.”

He threw back his head and howled. She was killing him.

She sat up on her knees and cupped his face with her hands.

“If that was true and I was his mate, like you say, he wouldn’t have been able to stand your touch anymore.

” Her voice rose as she spoke. “I promise you that was the furthest thing from truth. And since he’s your true mate, you shouldn’t be able to be with me. ”

As her meaning pierced his addled brain, time stopped and stretched. His heart didn’t beat. Silence surrounded him. And then it all came crashing back into his reality. “That can’t be right.”

Warm golden flecks sparkled in Feeona’s brown eyes.

“Seneca, maybe you’re just different. You don’t look like the other Arena Dogs that came up when I did a data search.

Most of them look more like Jupiter. Dark hair, dark eyes, golden or copper skin.

” She released him and settled back on her heels.

“From what Jupiter told me, they didn’t make you all the same.

Even the guys that look similar have different DNA, right? ”

Seneca nodded his confirmation. He couldn’t seem to form words. Even his growl had quieted.

“So whatever biology makes this mates thing happen, maybe it is different for you. Maybe even for Jupiter.”

His heart swelled. Could it be true? He wanted to love her just for suggesting it. He nuzzled against her, pressing kisses to her jaw.

Fee’s breath came faster.

“God, Fee. I need you. I’ve already spilled all over you… I want inside you, Fee… It’s going to be so good.”

“Sen, this won’t fix anything.” Even as she said it, she clung to him.

“Sex never does.” He agreed, but that didn’t stop him from squeezing her ass again or sliding his fingers through the wet of her.

She gasped as his fingertips slipped deeper, stroking her smooth, slick skin.

She wrapped her arms tight around him and pressed her face into his neck. “Sen, this will only make it harder to say goodbye.”

She still thought she was going to let them go. His Dog brain needed to fuck that idea out of her head. The whore in him knew that wasn’t the way to strengthen their bond. That might work for Jupiter, but not for him. It wasn’t the Dog in him that called to her.

Seneca finally pulled back in frustration. As their eyes met, tension crackled between them. “I don’t give a damn about hard or easy. So, unless you really have a problem with having sex with me—”

“I knew you and Jupiter came as a pair, Sen. Having sex with you has never been a problem. But we both know that the sex was never about us.”

Her fear, her sadness, her doubt—only made him more determined. “This time, it will be.”

***

Feeona’s senses were on the verge of being overwhelmed and he hadn’t even fucked her yet.

Seneca had kissed and stroked her for so long and so well, she’d lost track of time and the world beyond her room.

He’d discovered and excited erogenous zones she didn’t know she had.

Generous with his body, he let her stroke and tease him back.

He sped them up and slowed them down in turns, until her body was taut as a bow string.

The man knew what he was doing. Sex with Jupiter had been aggressive and pounding and wholly satisfying.

Seneca was showing her a different way. Letting her know this was different.

It was about them—not pushing Jupiter out—just adding a new thread to the cord that bound them all together.

She gasped again as Sen stroked his tongue flat against her clit. His silky hair tickled against her inner thighs and her back bowed. She was so close. “Please don’t stop this time,” she begged.

She wanted to scream when her words stopped him. Damn it. She should have kept her mouth shut.

He moved up her body, tonguing her skin and nipping gently as he went. “Sweet, Fee. Are you telling me you need me?”

“Yes! You know I do.” He’d made her more than need him. She would snap if she didn’t orgasm soon.

He buried his nose behind her ear then inhaled with a groan. “You smell so good.”

She tossed her head, trying to get him to look her in the eye. If he did, he would surely see how desperate she’d become. “Please, Sen. I need you.”

“Where do you need me, Fee. Tell me. I want to hear you say it.” He ran his teeth along her jaw as he rolled her nipple between his finger and thumb.

“Inside. I need you inside me, Sen.” It didn’t matter that he’d stopped tonguing her clit. She still felt the throbbing demand between her legs. She spread them wider to encourage him.

“Music,” he said. “Beautiful music. Now, give me more, Fee.”

“Please.” Every twist of her nipple magnified the throbbing between her legs. His cock slipped between her folds and bumped against her clit. She let out a guttural growl. “I need you inside me, now!” It was a demand. No longer a request. She wrapped her legs around his hips and ground against him.

“That’s it,” he praised.

His words faded away as his cock slipped inside her.

She began to spasm and clinch before he was all the way in.

Once he made it there, he froze. Buried deep inside her, pinning her to the bed, he kept his body still as she lit up around him.

He stroked her skin and urged her on with whispered encouragements.

When she came down from her release, she could still feel him inside, a big stone intruder. He pulled back and slipped free with a crude, wet sound. He nudged her hip. “Turn over.” Her legs were noodles, but she managed to roll over onto her front and get to her hands and knees.

“Steady?” He stroked her hips and over her ass as he asked.

“Mmm, hmm.” Bliss was spreading through her urging her to collapse on the bed, but the knowledge that he hadn’t cum kept her from giving in. She wanted him to move inside her and she wanted to hear him, feel him, when he found his own release.

She was so wet, he slipped inside her easily. “Damn, you feel good. Hot and wet and squeezing my dick just right.” He hummed his delight.

She jumped when the flat of his hand came down on her ass with a loud smack. She must have clenched, too.

He moaned and rubbed the spot with the palm of his hand. “So pretty and pink. So tight.”

He smacked her ass again and she moaned arching her back and lifting her butt even higher.

It hurt but it also felt good—a sting that warmed into ecstasy beneath his palm.

He grabbed her hips and began long deep strokes in and out of her.

His thumb stroked between her ass cheeks and found the tightly closed entrance to her ass.

He dipped his thumb down, drawing up some of the moisture from her pussy.

He stroked gently around the entrance and then pressed solidly against the opening.

Her tension flared back to life and grew stronger with each stroke.

She was going to come again. It happened fast, before she even considered fighting it and it left her boneless and exhausted.

She collapsed onto the sheets, Seneca following her.

His hips thrust as his release coated her lower back.

He pulled her into his arms and pressed his lips against her temple. “You are Jupiter’s mate, but you are also mine.”

The words stuck another painful pin in her heart.