“Need to explore you,” he mumbled.
I thought he might step back. Take a look. But nope. He pressed his face against the side of my neck and inhaled deeply. His short beard scraped across my sensitive skin. Then he nipped gently at my throat before trailing his tongue down to my shoulder. I held my breath. Would he bite me?Fuck. I think I might even like that.
He grunted in pleasure as I curled my fingers into his hair and held on as he continued his exploration lower. I hadn’t even realized I was bucking against him until his large hands bit into my hips to hold me still.
“Gideon…” I whispered in a pleading tone.
“Fuck,” he murmured against my chest. “I’ve dreamed about getting you naked from the moment I met you.”
I closed my eyes and shuddered as his tongue flicked over my nipple. They weren’t usually that sensitive, but today it was like every part of my body was clamoring for his attention. Then hemoved lower again. At the first brush of his hot breath across my cock, I blinked open my eyes to watch.
Fuck. The sight of Gideon kneeling in front of me made me dizzy with want. His mouth was a mere whisper away from my erection. He held my gaze as his tongue slipped over the tip.
My knees collapsed beneath me. I was sure Gideon could have held me up, but instead, he guided me to lie on the floor beside him. The cool hardwood felt good against my flushed skin.
Then Gideon crawled over me, covering me with his body. There was something about this position that did it for me. I felt protected, as if he was putting his body between me and the rest of the world. And I instinctively knew it was true. Gideon would shelter me from any hardship the world tried to throw at me.
He was my protector. My wolf shifter lover. My…
It felt like the answer was right there, on the tip of my tongue. Because this was much more than mere attraction or lust.
As he pressed sweet kisses to my face, I reached between us and took our lengths in my hand. We both groaned. I loved everything about this moment. I wanted to remember every little part of it, from the feel of him pressing me to the floor to his hard length gliding against mine. Precum dripped over my hand. I spread it across our cocks. Lube would have been better, but fuck if this wasn’t sexy as hell.
“Sweet Goddess, Declan…” He moaned as he bucked into my grip, drawing his cock against mine. Each thrust pushed me closer to the edge. “I’m going to…”
“Yes. Just like that.” I tightened my grip around our cocks as I threw my head back and rocked my hips against his. Then I was coming. My release shot between us.
Gideon grunted. His teeth scraped over my shoulder before he twisted his head away. He jolted against me once more beforehe slammed his mouth to mine as his release spurted across my stomach.
We lay on the floor for a few minutes as our bodies cooled. Then Gideon groaned and rolled to the floor beside me. I pulled off my glasses. They’d fogged up, and I didn’t need them right now anyway. I tossed them over to where we’d dropped my clothes.
“Fuck,” he said as he stared at the ceiling. “I can’t believe we didn’t make it more than two feet inside the door.”
I grinned at him. “That was pretty amazing.”
He shook his head at me as he stood up, but I could tell he was pleased. He extended his hand to me. “Come on.”
“Round two?” I asked as he pulled me to my feet.
“I was thinking about having a shower, but…”
I laughed and pulled him toward the bathroom. “There’s no reason we can’t do both of those things at the same time.”
Chapter Eighteen
Alibis and dead ends
Gideon
A couple of hours later, I kissed Declan goodbye at the door to his room. If it was up to me, I would have kept him right there in bed with me for the rest of the day, but he’d promised Elwood he would help him get some things ready for the next day’s festival. Plus, it was time for the festival to be over for the day, and while Elwood had seemed to be fine with me and Declan being together, I doubted he wanted to come home in the middle of the afternoon and catch me leaving his grandson’s bed.
Not to mention the fact that I had a business to run, and I’d already been away for most of the day, something I’d been making a habit of here lately. I entered through the back hallway prepared for chaos, but that wasn’t what I found at all.
Everything was running smoothly. A number of guests were sitting around eating and drinking beer. There were a few localsI recognized, but mostly out-of-towners who were probably there for the festival.
I really needed to give Sable a raise. She had Gabe, a flirty wolf shifter, waiting tables, and she was behind the bar looking out over the place like it was her kingdom, and she was the queen.
She looked over to see me walk in. She didn’t comment on the fact that I’d been gone all afternoon; instead, she just smiled at me. “Afternoon, boss.”
