Free Lure of the Jaguar: Hades' Carnival, Book 7 by N.J. Walters Page B

perfume that was uniquely Toni. She stroked his shoulders and back and then gripped his butt, digging her nails in.
    He fucked her harder and faster. His balls drew up tight once again, a telltale sign he was close to release. Toni threw her head back and moaned. Her lips were parted, her eyes closed and her skin flushed. Beautiful. She was everything to him.
    He thrust again and again, angling his pelvis so he brushed her sensitive clit. Her eyes flew open and she called out his name. Her pussy clamped around his cock and he roared.
    As he came inside her welcoming heat, Stavros placed one hand over her heart and released his life force into her. A brilliant light exploded and then a rainbow of colors showered down all around them. Toni cried out and came harder, convulsing around his throbbing erection.
    She shivered and grabbed hold of his shoulders. Stavros shuddered, his big body shaking as he shared his seed and his life force with her. He sensed the moment he’d given her enough and pulled back. The light disappeared, taking the brilliant colors with it.
    Stavros collapsed on top of her, covering her entire body with his. Protecting her. Toni was his now. But would she want him when she learned what he’d done?
    She shivered beneath him and he angled himself off her enough so he wasn’t completely crushing her. It wasn’t easy. He didn’t want to move at all.
    Her face was pale, her eyes slightly glassy. “I feel different.” She put her hand on her chest, covering her heart. “What did you do to me?” He hated the tinge of fear in her voice.
    Stavros sat up and braced himself for her reaction.
    “What did you do?” she asked again, this time louder.
    He swallowed hard and faced her, knowing whatever her reaction, he’d do the same thing again. Whatever it took to protect her. “I made you immortal.”

Chapter Seven
    Toni was sure she’d misunderstood what Stavros had said. “You made me immortal?”
    He nodded. “Yes. To protect you from Hades.” Stavros reached out and touched her face, rubbing his thumb over her rosy cheek. “Now he can never harm you because you are a part of me.”
    Okay, she was really getting freaked out now. Her body was humming with satisfaction from the most amazing orgasm of her life, but she couldn’t relax and enjoy it. Her skin still tingled from where a shower of colored lights had fallen around them. And her heart—that organ felt different. Powerful yet light. She felt as though something inside her had been stripped away and replaced. And if Stavros was to be believed—and at this point she had no reason not to believe him—that something was her mortality.
    Toni raised her hand in front of her and studied it. She didn’t look any different. At least not that she could see. “I’m not going to become a jaguar, am I?”
    Stavros shook his head, his expression unreadable. Toni buried the small disappointment. It might have been cool to be able to shift into a big cat. And she wasn’t seriously contemplating this, was she?
    There really was no choice. She had to consider the fact he was telling the truth, that she was now immortal. How did she feel about that?
    Before she could decide, the atmosphere in the room changed. The light from the bedside lamp grew dim, as though something was sucking power from it.
    Stavros leapt from the bed, all sleek and fluid grace, landing lightly on his feet. He was now wearing pants and holding a four-foot sword in his hand. She blinked, but the sword didn’t disappear. The blade gleamed, and she had no doubt it was lethal. The jaguar tattoo stared back at her, the cat’s expression fierce. But she didn’t fear the jaguar any more than she feared the man.
    Her heart skipped a beat. In spite of everything, she trusted him.
    “Whatever you do, stay behind me,” Stavros instructed. Toni grabbed the blanket from the top of the bed and wrapped it around her. Too bad she couldn’t conjure clothing out of thin air like he could.