Read Sebastian/Aristide (Bayou Heat) for Free Online Page A

the truth isn’t going to help either of us. You can feel it, sugar.” He peered deep into her gaze, glimpsing the frustrated cat who prowled just below the surface. “Burning deep inside you.”
    She gave a choked sound. “This has to be a trick.”
    “No trick.” He fiercely held her gaze. The time for games was over. “Your cat has decided to take command.”
    “I’m not…” She halted to lick her lips, a fear that she could no longer hide tightening her face. “I can’t be.”
    He ignored her ridiculous protests. “You can have your identity crisis later,” he assured her. “For now, we need to deal with your discomfort.”
    “And how do you intend to do that?”
    “I can ease you.”
    She gave a humorless laugh. “Yeah, I bet you can.”
    His thumb stroked the line of her jaw. “Or I can take you to the Wildlands.”
    “Why?” she snapped. “So some other puma can ease me?”
    A blinding fury raced through him at the mere thought of another man touching this female.
    Hell, he’d rip apart anyone stupid enough to get near her.
    “Never,” he snarled, grimacing as she winced at his feral expression. Sucking in a deep breath, he attempted to calm the beast inside. “Damn. The need shouldn’t be this overwhelming,” he confessed.
    She glared at him, as if it was his fault. “Then why is it?”
    “It could be a result of your cat being shackled for too long,” he said, his voice a rough growl as he pressed her lower body against his swelling cock. “Or it could be the result of our returning magic. It’s been a very long time since we’ve had a female in heat.”
    She shook her head, unconsciously curling her fingers into his chest as if she had claws. “Stop saying that.”
    He bent down until he was pressing his forehead against hers, his nose flaring to capture her deepening musk.
    “Tell me what you want, sugar.”
    “Sanity,” she muttered.
    No shit. Sebastian could use a hefty dose of that himself.
    But it wasn’t happening.
    Not until the heat was eased.
    “Answer me, Reny, before I take the decision out of your hands,” he commanded, the edge in his voice warning he was at the point of snapping. “Do we stay, or go to the Wildlands where the Healers might be able discover some pharmaceutical way to lessen your need?”
    She trembled, her human mind no doubt urging her to demand to be medically cured of her ache. But it was the cat who was currently in charge, and the too-long suppressed feline wasn’t at all confused about what it wanted.
    “Stay,” she whispered, her eyes glowing. “We stay.”
    Arousal slammed into him with the force of a cement truck, making it difficult to think as her hand boldly stroked over his chest.
    He grasped her wrist, hissing as pleasure poured through him.
    “You’re sure?”
    She answered the strained question by lifting her free hand to continue his torture with bold, searching fingers.
    “I don’t know what’s happening to me, but right now all I want is to wrap myself around you.”
    Sebastian cursed, his body swiftly threatening to explode. “Be careful what you say to me, sugar. I prefer to be a tender lover, but my cat is ready to devour you.”
    She didn’t look nearly as frightened as she should. “You speak of your cat as a separate being.”
    “We are one in spirit, but he’s far more…primitive. Life is simpler when I’m in my cat form. Life. Death. Hunger.” He tangled his fingers into the thick satin of her hair, loosening it from the ponytail so it could spill over her shoulders. His heart skipped a beat as the overhead light shimmered in the fire hidden in the dark satin of her hair. “The thrill of the hunt.”
    His acute hearing picked up the sudden leap of her heart.
    Ah. She liked the idea of being on the prowl.
    “Don’t think you can hunt me.” Leaning forward, she trailed her lips along the curve of his throat. An instinctive provocation that was more Pantera than human. “I’ll never be your