Dio Pantera: Captivated Inga Mahn Warning This e-book contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language. This material is meant for mature audiences!
Dio Pantera: Captivated
Reviews "Dio Pantera: Captivated is a walk on the wild side…” 5 Angel Recommended Read by Michelle @ Fallen Angel Reviews “…loaded in passion, sizzling spice, and completely captivates the reader…” 4 cups from Cherokee, Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance "I was shocked as to how much story Inga Mahn was able to pack into (the) pages. The characters were introduced quite well and the plot was laid out in amazing detail. Not only was it a full story in a few short pages, but the descriptions made it so much easier to capture the reader and pull them into the story. Both Maggy and Jarod were fleshed out characters with worries and joys. I envy Ms. Mahn, her talent to do so much with so little space. I give Dio Pantera: Captivated 4 and ½ out of 5 drops of blood for its powerful punch in such a small package." Serena Polheber, gottawritenetwork top reviewer 1
Inga Mahn
Other works by Inga Mahn Back To Sadie's Criminal Desire Last Wishes Coming Home House Of Pleasure
2
Dio Pantera: Captivated
Captivated A Whispers Publishing Publication June 2008 Copyright ©2008 Inga Mahn Cover illustration copyright © 2008 Rene Walden of BG Designs ISBN Not Assigned All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system-except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a magazine, newspaper, or on the Webwithout permission in writing from the publisher. All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention. Published by: Whispers Publishing, P.O. Box 1165, Ladson, SC 29456-1165.
3
Inga Mahn
Chapter One Jarod DeLarue stood in the decadent master suite of the family's grand New Orleans mansion, attempting to prepare himself for the ceremony that was to come, but the smells coming from the suite next door were seriously compromising his ability to concentrate. He had yet to lay eyes upon his soon-to-be bride, but her scent had been distracting him since the moment he had entered the room. From her exotic natural womanly musk, to the soft, almost invisible jasmine essence of her soap or perfume, to the faintest sweet tang of her lifeblood, it was all excruciatingly sweet torture. He could only imagine what she would look like, since he had not so much as seen a picture. Beauty was as common as water among his people, and his bride-to-be held the purest blood of all of the family’s mature females. The family elders had meticulously plotted the genealogy of the family to arrange marriages based on the strength of blood, and his bride had been the jewel of their research. He had been promised she was the epitome of everything that set their people apart from the humans they lived amongst--beauty, strength, passion, cunning--and she would be all his. In just a few hours they would be bound together for life. An animalistic growl, filled with impatience and desire, tore from his lips as he paced to the 4
Dio Pantera: Captivated
wall dividing them and placed his face to the opulently papered wall. His sole purpose in life came down to this day, his very purpose in being lay just beyond the wall in front of him. For as long as he could remember, this is what he had been prepared for. Today he would take his bride. Today he would fulfill the role he had been born to. Now was the time to carry on his family bloodline, and by doing so help to save his dwindling race. With his face to the wall, the unexpected sound of a woman’s tears and hurried struggling filled his ears. An overpowering and unspeakable sense of dread and panic filled Jarod's chest. Something felt terribly wrong. Why would she be crying or struggling unless someone had hurt her in some way? But that simply wasn't possible. She was the chosen one, just as he was. She was the salvation to their people, the designee of their legacy. All in the family should treat her as a queen, as a goddess. As he continued to listen, he confirmed she was alone in the room. The only heartbeat to be heard was hers, and there was no trace of any unknown scent in the house, human or otherwise. The walls in the family home had been constructed to be soundproof, but even by the family's standards; Jarod's hearing was far superior. With his ear to the wall, he could hear the woman’s every hurried breath, and every racing beat of her heart. The need to get to her, to make sure that she was all right was paramount. Damn to hell the 5
Inga Mahn
traditions and protocols of not seeing the bride before she was brought to him in the binding ceremony. He had to know this woman, who was soon to share his soul, was not in any way harmed or hurt. She was far too important to him, and to their people, to take any chances with. Wearing just his tailored tuxedo pants, Jarod fiercely stalked across the suite and burst through the doors and into the large hallway with all the intensity of a caged wild animal. In just several long strides of his solid six foot four frame, he was before her door. In his panic and haste, Jarod almost took the door off the hinges as he threw it open. What he saw almost shattered what little composure he had left. Lying on the floor before him, clad in a fine cream silk gown, and bound at the ankles and wrists, was the most beautiful creature he had ever laid eyes upon. A plume of silky dark chestnut-colored hair spread out around the woman on the carpet, and enough of her soft sun kissed golden skin was visible to send a jolt of awareness through Jarod's body. In a single cat-like movement, Jarod was on his knees at her side. The blood-curdling scream that came from the woman as he approached her hit him with all of the power of a physical blow. "Who did this to you, who hurt you?" he demanded from the terrified woman. Her only response was another gut-wrenching scream, and a vain but noble attempt to wiggle her bound body away from him. 6
Dio Pantera: Captivated
"Give me your hand woman," he demanded as he grabbed her bound arms, and in a swift movement brought them to his mouth. In a purely feline manner, his tongue darted from his mouth and ran over the tender flesh of the woman’s inner wrist. "Please don't hurt me," she stammered in a panic-stricken whisper. The plea was wasted upon Jarod. He released her hands, and his eyes narrowed to slits, as he began to process the images flying through his mind. As was the way with his people, once he tasted her skin, for a short time her thoughts were his to see and her emotions were his to feel. **** Maggy Courtland concentrated on trying to still her quaking body. The half-clothed man, who had just moments ago burst into the room, now crouched beside her in what appeared to be some kind of trance. His chin-length dark hair swayed around his face as he gently rocked back and forth on the balls of his bare feet. She took several deep breaths, but could not so easily calm her racing heart. The last three days of her life had been by far the most traumatic of her nineteen years of life. First she had been told by her uncle—the man who had raised her following her parents' death—that he had arranged for to be married to a man she had never met. Then the strange group of men had arrived that same day, with no explanation of who 7
Inga Mahn
they were, and taken her away from the only life and home she had ever known. While she had most definitely not been free to leave, her captors hadn't been cruel or hurt her in any way either. On the contrary, they had been completely kind and gracious. For the last few days she had been kept in what must be one of the finest homes in New Orleans. Not that Maggy would really know, since it was only her second time in the city, but even on television she had never seen furnishings so fine and fancy. She had been seen to by several young women, fed, clothed, and pampered like she had never been before in her life. Just hours ago they had informed her that today would be the day she would be married, and then they had dressed her in a gown that looked more suited for a princess than a common and sheltered girl from the rural Louisiana bayou. They had only bound her arms and legs and left her lying on the huge, decadent bed after she had tried to make a hasty escape through the window in the bathroom. Any pain she was feeling she had caused herself by trying to roll off the bed to escape. But far more unsettling than any of that was the burning awareness that had shot through her body from the spot where the man sitting beside her had touched her with his tongue. It had felt like liquid fire pulsing through her very soul, and filled her with a hot and heavy delicious sensation that she could hardly describe if she tried. Even 8
Dio Pantera: Captivated
more troubling was the almost uncontrollable desire she felt to run her tongue over the wellsculpted muscles of his body. The urge to taste him filled her mind and body completely. "Magnolia." He purred her given name in a voice so deep and rich it made her insides quake. While his eyes were still barely more than tiny slits, he seemed to be looking at her now. His expression was impossible to read, but for a reason totally unknown to her, all the fear she had felt towards this man was evaporating away faster than a summer rain shower. So many emotions she didn't understand were filling her mind, but fear was not one of them. "Please tell me who you are, how do you know my name?" she pleaded to him. "Magnolia, my poor innocent sweet Magnolia, you don't know what you are, do you? You don't know what greatness you are meant for?" was his response, as he opened his icy blue eyes fully and met Maggy's gaze with such intensity it was completely mesmerizing. "What do you mean...I don't understand?" she stammered, knowing somehow but not fully wanting to believe, that what he was about to say would somehow explain all of the things that had so recently shattered her normal and uneventful life. "Who are you?" She wasn't sure if she asked the question aloud or not, but almost immediately she knew the answer without being told. This was the man her uncle had promised her to. This was the 9
Inga Mahn
man she was supposed to marry within the day. "You will understand everything, my sweet Magnolia; soon you will know what I know." As he spoke, it was if Maggy could feel his words coursing through her, the very cadence of his speech vibrated through her body. "I won't marry you," she blurted out. Almost as soon as she spoke Maggy realized, even to her own ears, the statement seemed to lack any commitment. "It's just that I don't know you, I don't even know your name, you must understand," she continued on trying to say something convincing, and trying to mask her confusion at her own uncharacteristic behavior. "I see then, so if you knew me, then you would be more agreeable to our marriage? Would you like to get to know me, Magnolia?" The question was heavy with suggestion, and the corner of Jarod's mouth lifted in a smile filled with amusement. "Let's get you untied, and then we can see about you getting to know me better. Oh, and my name, if it will make you feel better to know, is Jarod DeLarue." Immediately she felt his hands on her body. The sensation was far from unpleasant. Just like the rest of him, his hands were huge and strong. It seemed he was moving in slow motion as he slowly untied the bindings on first her ankles and then her wrists. His hand remained on her wrist, gently caressing the spot where just minutes ago she had felt his hot velvety tongue. A soft sigh escaped 10
Dio Pantera: Captivated
Maggy's lips. The sensations he was creating in her were all so new and so powerful. She felt her selfcontrol slipping away at an alarming pace. "Do you want to know me now, Magnolia?" he softly purred in her ear. He didn't wait for an answer. "Here, taste me, know me, I can feel how much you want to." As he spoke he offered his muscular forearm to her lips. "Taste me, Magnolia; know me like I know you." In a haze of confusion and desire, Maggy slowly and timidly let the tip of her tongue pass her lips. Though it made no sense at all, the desire to do as he had suggested and taste his skin was all consuming. She slowly raised her lips the fraction of an inch to his arm, and placed her tongue on the same spot on his arm as where he had licked hers. Immediately a wave of intense sensation and vivid imagery slammed into her mind and body--it was too much too fast. Nausea and fear engulfed her. It was like the world was spinning too fast and falling out from under her feet. Images were flying through her mind so fast she couldn't make them out with any clarity. Nothing she was seeing or feeling made any sense. The only thing that kept her from screaming out in fear was feeling Jarod's strong arms around her body, holding her tight, and the tones of his voice in her ear. Whatever was happening to her, somehow she knew deep down in her heart, that he would keep her safe. The blur of feeling and images soon began to take a focused turn toward something Maggy could 11
Inga Mahn
understand. Desire. Raw, passionate, animalistic desire. At first it felt as if it weren't her own, like watching a movie play before her eyes. Before she could understand how or why, the sensation began to consume her. It was as if she had been set on fire by the heat of the feelings and images rushing through her. She could feel silky moisture pooling between her thighs, her nipples hardening and rubbing against the silk gown covering them, and a burning need to feel so much more of the man holding her. She ached with a passion so purely primitive, it hardly felt human.
12
Dio Pantera: Captivated
Chapter Two Guilt consumed Jarod as he held Maggy's shaking body in his arms. He should never have let his desire for her cloud his good judgment. He should never have let her join with him; she wasn't prepared for it. What he had seen when he had licked her wrist and joined with her had been totally shocking. She quite simply had no idea who or what she was. She didn't know that she was anything more than the common human beings that she lived amongst. She had no understanding of the powers that she possessed as a Dio Pantera. He cradled her body tightly in his arms as she reacted to the flood of information that had come to her as a result of their joining. This woman was everything that he had hoped his bride would be, and more. Her body was all lean and beautifully sculpted muscle, with curves and feminine softness in all of the right places. Her hair has long and silky, and her intense green eyes sparkled like the finest emeralds. Despite her naiveté, he could tell her mind was sharp and clever. Once she was educated as to the way of their people, she would be a woman worthy to stand next to him as a future leader of the Dio Pantera family. Maybe, just maybe, the strength of their combined blood 13
Inga Mahn
would be enough to fulfill the plan of the elders, to allow them to again take the form of the Panther, and return the family to the greatness that it once possessed. As he slowly rocked her back and forth in his arms, he began to sense a change in her. The shaking had ceased and seemed to be replaced by an almost languid embrace. Her skin was warming under his fingers, and as he brushed her hair back from her face, a sound of pure raw pleasure bubbled from her mouth. His body responded immediately, and the urge to strip off her gown and see the rest of her exquisite body was almost more than he could bear. "Magnolia, can you hear me? Open your eyes and look at me, Maggy," he demanded in a voice that was far harsher than he had intended. In response, she opened her sparkling green eyes and captured his complete attention with her gaze. "Love me, Jarod," she whispered in a voice so seductive it would break the will of the strongest man or beast. It was his undoing. Any self-control he had possessed was swallowed up in the depths of her eyes. Even in his passion-drunk mind Jarod knew he couldn't take her body until they had been properly bound. But waiting for the ceremony was out of the question; his need for her was far too great. "I will, my love, I will love you so completely that you shatter from pleasure, but you must trust me first. Stay still," he said, as he stood up, lifting 14
Dio Pantera: Captivated
her with him. In a single bound he was at the bed, and gently placing her head upon the pillow. "I will be back before you know I'm gone," he whispered before bringing his mouth to her barely parted lips. What was meant to be a momentary brush of lips immediately deepened into a mating of their mouths. It took all of the strength Jarod could muster to separate himself from the passionate creature that lay before him long enough to do what he must do. In a quick survey of the room, he saw a letter opener laying on the marble top writing desk in the far corner of the room. It wasn't the ceremonial dagger, but it would do. He moved with an inhuman speed across the room, and in mere moments he again stood before the woman whom he would share his soul with for all time. He hurriedly muttered the words of the sacred binding ritual before savagely making a tiny incision in his right arm with the letter opener. "My love, this will hurt for a moment, but once it is done, I promise you will feel only pleasure." With that he lifted her arm in his hand and gingerly marked her flesh with a matching wound. Shock and pain registered on her face for a brief moment, but as he brought the wounded spot of her arm to his lips and licked away the drop of scarlet blood that had formed there, her face began to mirror the same desire that filled him. "Taste me now, taste my blood so that we may be joined forever," he said, as he brought his arm to her mouth. 15
Inga Mahn
She didn't hesitate; as eagerly as if she had been waiting for this moment all her life, she licked away the droplet of blood and kissed the wound with a fiery passion that could have made any man forget a far more serious injury. As she looked up into his eyes, he could immediately see the change in her. She was no longer the woman she had been. He was no longer the man he had been—they were one. Their souls were bound, their minds were linked, their passion burned as one. Their people's ability to join and read the minds of others through the tasting of another's skin seemed nothing more than a cheap circus trick compared to the intimacy he now shared with Maggy. The intensity of their total joining was far beyond even what Jarod had been prepared for. His hands were immediately upon her body, ripping at the silk gown. He had to have her, he had to feel her body move as one with his, just as they now thought as one, and felt as one. He could feel her desire in his mind, matching and exceeding his own. He heard the silk of the gown tearing as he pulled it away, but all he saw was her ripe and ready body lying before him. The smell of her desire filled the room, and set off a craving in him like nothing he had ever known. As he threw the last tatters of the dress to the floor, he knelt on the bed and slowly lifted and spread her shapely legs around his body. He had to taste all of her. As 16
Dio Pantera: Captivated
he lowered himself between her thighs, and his lips came down upon her moist opening, he felt her pleasure even before he heard her cry out. The sensation of feeling both the giving and receiving of her pleasure at the same time was powerful beyond explanation. He was consumed by the spicy exotic taste of her arousal. As Jarod deftly flicked his tongue over the swollen nub of her clit, the churning whirlpool of their combined pleasure blocked out all sense of time and existence beyond that moment. His hands slid up her flat, toned stomach, savoring the texture of her silky skin beneath his fingers. His mouth followed the same path up her belly, kissing his way slowly across the steep jut of her ribcage, finally reaching her ample fleshy breasts. Her nipples were already stiff dark brown peaks that seemed to be reaching out, inviting his lips to savor them. "Please, now...” He had no idea if her plea had come from her lips, or was heard only in his mind, but he understood what she begged for. He needed the same thing. The desire for their bodies to come together was something greater than either of them, something completely instinctual. Her hands were at his waist, tearing at the fabric of his pants. Even when he assisted her, the barrier could not be removed quickly enough. It seemed a small eternity before he felt her hands against the smoldering heat of his erection. She gently stroked its length with her fingers, as she 17
Inga Mahn
looked into his eyes and silently communicated her feminine approval. He needed no further invitation. Their bodies moved together with a single objective. In an instant, Maggy had rolled to her stomach, and with a purely animal grace, raised herself to her hands and knees before him, offering all of herself to him with no modesty or shyness whatsoever. There was no holding back, no tentativeness. In a single movement Jarod buried himself deep inside her. He felt her momentary shock at being filled so completely, felt the instant of pain as he tore away her innocence, and finally felt her throbbing desire to feel him move inside her. Their shared pleasure built to an almost painful crescendo as he pumped again and again into her body. As she began to pulse and squeeze against his throbbing erection, he knew that their loving wouldn't last nearly as long as he wanted it to. In an instant, everything began to fade around them as they both were engulfed in an orgasm so powerful it shook their entire world. It was impossible to know where his pleasure ended and hers began. In a satiated haze, they both fell to the bed. But even as they did, Jarod could feel an almost palpable change come over Maggy. It not only affected her, but also somehow changed the very air and energy in the room. Despite his efforts to focus his eyes on Maggy, Jarod could not quite keep 18
Dio Pantera: Captivated
her face from fading. Her whole body seemed to be engulfed in a fine mist that blurred her features. The urge to blink his eyes to try and clear his vision was involuntary. When his eyes reopened, what he saw before him was as beyond comprehension as it was stunning. **** A blissful feeling of letting go of all control came over Maggy as she collapsed to the bed. The aftermath of the pleasure she had felt when Jarod had made love to her seemed to melt into a feeling that was not nearly so unfamiliar to her. The very air around her crackled and hissed with tiny bolts of invisible lightning, and her body warmed as it stretched and contorted into the majestic powerful being she was in her dreams. However, everything felt somehow different than it had so many times before. She didn’t remember actually going to sleep, and now she could also feel Jarod's presence in her mind. His awe and excitement confused and at the same time delighted her. "Maggy, you are so beautiful." She could hear him silently communicating to her. "So, you will talk to me in my dreams too; will I not have even a moment to myself anymore?" Her question was filled with laughter. Despite the suddenness of the joining of their minds and souls, Maggy relished the feeling of their togetherness. She had been alone her whole life, never having a real family or anyone to love or to love her. Her ability to now see Jarod's thoughts and feelings 19
Inga Mahn
helped her to understand some of what had happened, but much was still a blur to her. "My love, you are not dreaming. Look at me, look into my eyes. Please help me to understand how you changed; I can't find the answers in your mind." Speaking aloud to her, his intense tone jarred her sense of reality. "Please don't...don't say anything else," she mentally pleaded to him, as she turned her head to look into his eyes. She sensed the truth of his words immediately. She wasn't asleep, she wasn't dreaming. "What am I?" she wondered to him. The answers came to her from the recesses of his mind, even before he began explaining aloud to her. "You are Dio Pantera, my love. Our race was once considered to be Gods by the humans they revealed themselves to. Our ancestors lived among man, but they could also take the form of the Panther. Our blood was so diluted by marrying and bearing children with humans that we have nearly become extinct, but you, Maggy, you are the first of the family in over a hundred years to be able to change." As he spoke, Jarod slowly and reverently reached out a hand to touch the silky black fur of the creature that now lay next to him. Maggy could feel his wonder as he touched her. She could also sense a twinge of his jealousy. She closed her eyes, and for a moment saw what she was through his eyes. The beautiful sleek black feline creature he saw was the same majestic animal that had been a constant companion to her 20
Dio Pantera: Captivated
in her dreams for as long as she could remember. The reality of what she was momentarily stole her composure. She squeezed her eyes closed and forced her mind to picture herself back in her normal waking form. Immediately her flesh began to prickle, and the air filled with the strange current she always associated with waking from a dream. When she opened her eyes, she looked down at her hands to confirm that they were again human. So much of her life suddenly made sense. The feeling that her uncle somehow feared her as much as he cared for her, the way the few neighbors that had lived around her in the bayou seemed to cast their eyes away whenever they saw her, she suddenly understood the reasons for it all. She understood what had made her different her whole life. What she had always believed to be dreams and sleepwalking was so much more. She was Dio Pantera, and she was something unique even among her own kind. **** Jarod watched in awed wonder as the stunning black cat before him was engulfed again in mist, and miraculously changed back into the woman who was now his wife. There had never been a time in his life when he had not known what he was, but there had always been a small part of his mind that never fully believed that changing was possible. Yet, this woman, who just today had not even understood what she was, changed before him 21
Inga Mahn
with nothing but the smallest effort. In fact, it seemed she changed without even understanding that it was happening. The fragile look on Maggy's face after her changing was complete, and once she fully realized what had happened to her, grabbed at Jarod's heart like nothing else ever had. In an instant his arms were around her, pulling her close, trying to love and squeeze away the uncertainty and fear she was feeling. "I hope you understand how important you are, Maggy; don't ever again doubt how precious and special you are." He hoped his words would somehow ease the pains and emotional scars that had marred her life and childhood, and the selfdoubt that plagued her as she had just moments ago discovered what she was. "So I didn't scare you, you aren't repulsed by seeing me that way?" she asked tentatively. He knew that she already knew his answers to her questions, but he also fully understood her need to hear him say it anyway. "I have never seen anything so beautiful as you, Maggy. I am humbled to be your husband. I only wish I could change with you and that we could run together in the form our people have always been destined to." As he spoke, his voice was thick with truth and desire. The smile that began to spread across her face was filled with pure feline mischievousness. "Well, husband, since my blood now runs in your veins, and it seems that we have discovered a rather 22
Dio Pantera: Captivated
interesting way to bring on the change in me, maybe we should try again and see if we can't have the same effect on you." she seductively purred in his ear, before playfully nipping at his neck. Jarod's body immediately stirred and stiffened with desire, and in that instant changing seemed far less important to him than making sure he spent every moment he could, for the rest of their life, discovering every possible way for he and Maggy to try and stir the panther within him.
23
Inga Mahn
About The Author Inga has been an avid romance and erotica reader for longer than she cares to admit, and she has been creating her own stories for just about as long. She invites you to explore her stories, to get to know the characters who constantly keep her company, and to visit the vivid settings that her fantasies reside in. Inga currently lives in southeastern Louisiana, in the outskirts of New Orleans. You can visit her at http://www.ingamahn.com/
24
Dio Pantera: Captivated
Spicy, sensual love stories which leave a reader breathless, intense plots, alpha males, strong heroines and sizzling dialogue—find it all at Whispers! www.whispershome.com
Now Available The Seven Wonders of the World Anthology which includes Deep Encounter, The Way to Olympia, Selkie Skin, and Transcended in the anthology entitled:
Midnight Whispers In trade paperback only For more information, please visit our website at www.whispershome.com or contact us at
[email protected]
25
