“Your mother played too.”She was looking at me with those clear blue eyes.Seeing too much.“Didn’t she?”
I didn’t answer.Couldn’t.My throat had closed around the words.How did she know?What had she seen in my face while she played?
The wolf was silent inside me.Not howling, not demanding.Just watching.Waiting.As if he understood something I didn’t.
“Come.”I turned away from the piano.Away from the ghost of my mother and the girl who had somehow summoned her.“We’re not finished.”
I led her back to my quarters.My hands were shaking.I clasped them behind my back so she wouldn’t see.
The plan had been simple.Strip her.Touch her.Teach her body to respond to me.Stay cold, stay controlled, stay in command.
The piano had complicated things.
“On the bed.”My voice was steadier now.The predator reasserting itself, pushing down the rawness the music had exposed.“Face up.”
She climbed onto the mattress.Lay back against the dark silk pillows.Her dress had ridden up, exposing the length of her thighs.No undergarments beneath.Just bare skin and soft curves and that damnable scent filling the room, stronger now, layered with the unmistakable musk of arousal.
I shrugged off my jacket.Rolled up my sleeves.Watched her eyes track my movements with wary anticipation.
“Tonight I’m going to touch you.”I approached the bed.“Not between your legs.Not yet.But I’m going to learn what makes you respond.What makes you gasp.What makes you beg.”
Her breath quickened.The pulse in her throat fluttered.
“And you’re going to let me.”I sat on the edge of the bed.Reached out and traced the neckline of her dress.“Because that’s what you agreed to.That’s what you signed.”
She nodded.A tiny movement.Her defenses were entirely gone now, stripped away by the music and the intimacy of this strange evening.In its place was the same woman who’d played Chopin with her eyes closed, pouring her soul into the melody.
I wanted to devour her.
I undid the buttons of her dress slowly.One by one.Revealing her body inch by inch.Her collarbone, delicate as a bird’s wing.The swell of her breasts, rising and falling with each quickening breath.The soft skin of her stomach, trembling slightly under my gaze.
When the dress fell open, I pushed it aside and looked at her.
Perfection.Nipples already hard, tight little nubs that begged for my mouth.Skin flushed with desire, painted in shades of rose and cream.Breathing quick and shallow, her ribs visible with each inhale.And that scent.That intoxicating, maddening scent that was stronger now than ever, wrapping around me like a physical caress.
I cupped her breast in my palm.She gasped.Her back arched slightly, pushing into my touch.
“Sensitive.”I squeezed gently, feeling the weight of her, the softness.“Good.”
My thumb found her nipple.Circled it.Pressed.
She made a sound.Something between a whimper and a moan.The noise went straight to my cock, which had been half-hard since she started playing and was now straining against my trousers.
The wolf purred.More.Give her more.Make her feel good.Show her what we can do.
I bent my head and took her nipple in my mouth.
Her reaction was immediate.A sharp cry.Her hands flying up to grip my shoulders, fingers digging into the fabric of my shirt.Her body writhing beneath me as I sucked, licked, teased.
I took my time.Learned the difference between a gentle lick that made her sigh and a firm suck that made her gasp.Between teeth grazing her sensitive skin and a sharp nip that made her cry out.She was responsive in ways I hadn’t anticipated.Every touch a revelation.Every sound she made a gift.
The taste of her skin was clean, slightly salty with the faint residue of sweat.The scent of her arousal was growing stronger, filling my nostrils, making the wolf howl with want.
I moved to her other breast.Gave it the same attention.Her fingers tangled in my hair now, pulling me closer.Her hips were moving, rocking against nothing, seeking friction she wouldn’t find.
“Please.”The word escaped her before she could stop it.
I lifted my head.Looked at her.Her face was flushed, her eyes glazed with desire, her lips swollen from biting them.Beautiful.Desperate.Mine.
