Bayon/Jean-Baptiste (Bayou Heat) by Alexandra Ivy, Laura Wright

crawl into your bed.”
    “And it never occurred to you that maybe all those stories were more myth than truth?”
    “Yeah, right.”
    She tried to sound skeptical, but he didn’t miss her tiny groan of pleasure as his fingers grasped the nipples already beaded in anticipation. He tugged them with enough force to make her hiss with a growing hunger.
    “I may not be a virgin, but—”
    “Understatement of the century.”
    With an impatient motion, he yanked off the tiny top, cupping her swollen breasts with a gentle reverence.
    “But my reputation has been highly exaggerated.”
    She groaned, her claws extending to prick the skin of his chest. “I doubt that.”
    “Why?” he muttered, distracted by the spectacular sight of her rosy nipples that begged for his kiss.
    “Because you flirted with every female in the Wildlands.”
    “Did you sleep with every male you flirted with?”
    “Fine.” She cleared her throat. “What about the females you kept in New Orleans?”
    Bayon lifted himself until he could shuck off his boots and jeans before kneeling between her legs as he wrenched his T-shirt over his head.
    “There were no females.”

 

     
    Chapter 4
     
     
    Keira shuddered, lifting herself on her elbows to regard the man kneeling between her legs like an ancient conqueror.
    She should be pissed.
    She was an alpha. Men didn’t toss her on her back and have their way with her.
    Not unless they wanted their throats ripped out.
    So why was she lying there like she was some helpless kitten?
    Perhaps it was because she was so damned consumed by her hunger for this male she couldn’t think of anything but getting that hard, bronzed body on top of her.
    Or perhaps it was because she was struggling to accept that he wasn’t the testosterone-driven playboy she’d believed for so long.
    “Then why did you let people think you had an apartment in New Orleans where you kept your latest lover?” she husked.
    A golden glow spread through his pale green eyes as his cat studied her with a restless need.
    “Because I didn’t want a bunch of curious cats pushing their noses into my business.”
    She frowned, struck by an intense need to know what Bayon had been hiding. “Is it some secret?”
    He hesitated, as if debating whether or not to confess the truth. Then he gave a small shrug.
    “My mother was a born Nurturer,” he at last said.
    Keira nodded. Bayon’s mother was beloved by all Pantera. “I remember her being in charge of the nursery,” she said in fond tones. “I don’t know how many times she kissed my boo-boos or slipped me a chocolate chip cookie when the other girls teased me for not playing with dolls like the rest of them. Your mother will always have a special place in my heart.”
    His blunt features softened with love. “In all our hearts.”
    “I don’t understand what this has to do with New Orleans.”
    “When the Pantera stopped having children, the nursery was closed.” He grimaced. “My mother was…devastated.”
    “Of course she would be,” Keira breathed, wishing she’d made the effort to realize how difficult the past years had been on the Nurturers.
    “I feared that she was losing her will to live, so I found a project that would keep her occupied.”
    “What project?”
    “I opened an orphanage in New Orleans.” His lips twisted as her eyes widened with shock. “It seemed like the perfect solution. My mother has endless love to share with the human children.”
    “Oh.” Her heart melted. She’d always known Bayon was special. This only proved just how special. “Why the hell did you keep it such a mystery?”
    “I did it for my mother,” he said. “There was no need for anyone else to know. Besides—”
    “Besides what?”
    His gaze strayed toward her naked breasts. “Besides, I wanted you to believe that I had a harem in New Orleans.”
    “Why?”
    “You know why.”
    She did. It was the same reason she’d pretended that Sean was her lover.
    Stupid