“I know we just barely made things official,” he said softly as his fingers traced a pattern across my knuckles. “But this is eventually heading toward something... more, right? Not that I'm trying to pressure you or anything.”
Before I could answer, he kept talking. It was almost a babble, bless him.
“We haven’t…” Daniel let go of one of my hands and rubbed his forehead, then grabbed my fingers again. “We haven’t taken things to the next level in the bedroom, but I wanted to give you time. I'm trying to be conscientious of the fact that you haven't been single long, but I also don't want you to think I'm dragging my feet or that I don't know what I want.”
I looked around, trying to think of the right words to say, and realized we’d already walked all the way back to the sand just outside my backyard. “I don’t want more time,” I blurted out.
Yeah. Smooth.
“I mean, I’m ready for…”Why wouldn't my mouth work?“I want to have sex with you!” I exclaimed, then immediately wanted to take the words back, even though I meant them. That wasnotthe lead-way I wanted for us to take things to the next step.
Daniel’s jaw dropped. Before I lost my nerve, I jumped up on my tiptoes and pressed my mouth to his. He must not have been expecting me to, because he stumbled backward. He was a shifter, after all, so he recovered quickly, and the next thing I knew, Daniel swept me up into his arms.
I lost all sense of myself as I pressed my mouth to his repeatedly, clutching him tightly with my arms wrapped around his neck. When he stepped onto my deck, I came up for air. “My bedroom. Now!” I gasped. In my fervor, I’d already undone the buttons on his shirt I could reach. “Henry’s out for the night.” Thank goodness with Henry out until late I wouldn't have to worry about being quiet or discreet.
Trying to reach the keys in my pocket, I wiggled around in Daniel’s arms, enjoying the feeling that he held me in his arms without any worry of him being too winded or me being too heavy. As a bear shifter, he probably could’ve carried three of me.
When I fished them out, I handed him the ring and moved to kissing his jaw and neck as he unlocked the back door.
We headed down the hall to my room, where Daniel gently set me on the bed. My heart raced as I stared at him, and he stared back at me.
"You're sure?" he asked.
And it was so darn sweet. "I'm sure."
He crawled onto the bed next to me and his mouth met mine again. We kissed and kissed, like teenagers. Tasting each other's lips as his hands swept up and down my body like he wasn't sure what he was allowed to touch. Most of the last few weeks, he’d been wrapped around me, his hands running up and down my arms or my side, slowly driving me crazy. Here and now, with everything out in the open, I wanted more than just his light touch.
Struggling out of my jacket, I let it drop to the floor, then moved to the rest of the buttons on his shirt. His lips moved from my mouth, down my neck and shoulder. Each kiss was hot, feverish, and possessive. Passionate in a way I hadn't experienced in so many years that it felt like my body was humming.
When I got his shirt off, I dropped that on the floor too, then went for his belt. His hands closed around mine. "Uh, do you have protection?"
I froze, surprised. "Uh, unless you want to discuss safe sex on the STD front, I don't think we have to worry about that. I have an IUD." No need to clarify to him that before I got it, I’d had horrible periods. It’d been this or an early hysterectomy. I’d been really lucky that the IUD had worked. They weren’t effective for everyone.
It took him a second before he seemed to realize what I was saying, that I was past the age to worry about unwanted pregnancies. But when it hit him, he blushed and mumbled out, "Sorry, I—."
“You couldn’t have known that.” Did he think that was something to be embarrassed about? Because it was wonderful to me. Wonderful that this strong, handsome, smart, amazing man could've been jumping in and out of any beds he wanted, but he hadn't. It made this moment even more special.
He let me undo his pants, and then slowly removed my dress. Before we knew it, we were both naked and under the covers, shivering from the mixture of the cold evening and our warm bodies. Our mouths met again and again, and he wrapped me in his warmth. His body was hard and strong against mine. His every touch brought a symphony of desire to me.
My nerves felt like they were charged with electricity as his hands gently touched my breasts, touched me intimately, and I touched him too, bringing groans of pleasure from his lips. When we finally came together, it was like a storm unleashing. A beautiful storm of love and desire. It felt like something more than physical was happening between us. Like this was the missing piece in our relationship. The final thing to make it perfect.
And when we both came, I swear it was like feeling the heavens open up. Pleasure unlike anything I'd experienced in my life hit me, and some stray thought whispered that maybe this moment was so amazing because I was finally with the right person.
Later on, he held me close. Kissed my neck and whispered something I was pretty sure was, "I love you." But maybe it was only my imagination. Because whether he said it or not, he'd showed me he loved me tonight. And, I hoped, I showed him it right back.
SEVEN
Emma
“Good morning,”I whispered when I opened my eyes and found Daniel watching me. I'd always thought I wouldn't like waking up to find someone was watching me, that I'd think it was creepy. After all, Rick never had, but maybe that's what I told myself to excuse his behavior. Because lying there looking up at Daniel, knowing he'd been watching over me as I slept? Definitely not creepy. No, if anything, it made me feel more loved. “How long have you been awake?”
“Not long.” His voice sounded heavy with sleep and… satisfaction? I wanted to purr in response to it. Did him being a shifter create a visceral response in me? It sure seemed like it. I'd never felt like this or reacted like this to anyone else. “So, are we agreed that we’re not seeing other people?” he asked.
“Are you asking me to go steady? Because I thought we already covered that,” I asked, trying not to laugh.
He chuckled. “I suppose I’m just double checking that we’re still good. That you aren’t… regretting making things official.”
What a way to wake up. With my man wanting to makesureI was only his.
