“Mate.” Again, Nathan stretches the word out, infusing it with ever more satisfaction.
Corin’s breathing heavily, audible over the phone, until suddenly, I hear a grunt, followed by a distant command“Give me that.”
“Johanna, see if you can get him to say your name.” Dan’s voice comes through loud and clear, replacing Corin’s.
“My name?” I back further down the hall. Two more steps will bring me to my bedroom. I nearly trip over my bunny slippers, so I kick them off to the side. The floor is cool underfoot, helping me focus.
“Just do it—see if he can say it.” Thuds and a slamming door punctuate the command. It’s not exactly a bark—I could demur—but it’s the first suggestion of an alternative to retreat.
“Nathan, I’m Johanna.Johanna.” He’s so close, his breath warms my neck. I cup his chin and push him to face me. A thin brown line rings his blown pupils. “Remember me?”
“Mate.” One of his arms curves around my waist as he slips free of my hand to bury his face against my neck.
“I’m Johanna. Say my name. Who am I?” I stumble back against the entry to my bedroom; the doorframe’s hard, steady support holds me up.
“Johanna.” Nathan’s scent is more potent this close. He’s all I can see, feel, smell. He’s so warm, as though he’s going into heat. His erection pulses against my thigh, but he doesn’t push, too busy nuzzling my throat. My skin tingles where we touch, whether skin to skin or with layers of cloth between. “Johanna. Mate.”
“He’s sniffing my neck.” I gasp as Nathan’s mouth opens, lips covering teeth as he presses loose kisses against my collarbone and shoulder. “Kissing it. But he said my name.”
“I heard,” Dan says. “Don’t let him bite you.”
“Figured that much—but what do Ido?” It would be so easy to give in and let the fever boiling off Nathan swamp me. Every mote of my body blazes with arousal, except a small part of my brain—the same core of reason that got me through Max’s heats, year after year, when it would’ve been simpler to let go.
Nathan’s already half-seduced my instinctive self into wondering what would be so wrong about letting him bite me. We’d be a done deal—unless his rational self disagrees with his alpha.
I want Nathan talking to me, the two of us figuring out what to try to ensure we both find pleasure, as we did during Max’s last heat. Something along the lines of how Corin and I moved from friends to lovers—not this heady demand, Nathan’s alpha ruling, pushing me, and now, sucking in a way sure to leave a hickey.
“Keep getting him to say your name,” Dan urges as odd bangs and slams sound in the background. “As long as he’s able to do that, he’s still in the first stages of rut, and we can get him out without hours of hassle.”
“Now he’s sucking my neck.”
“Sucking is okay—well notokay, but not final. Justdon’t let him bite.” Dan growls.
The sound catches Nathan’s attention in a way that the others’ words, haven’t. He lifts his head and looks around—trying to scent the source of the growl, given the way his nose works—and snarls in response.
“Hold the phone so Nathan can hear, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Order Nathan not to bite her. Tell him he can lick and suck, but no teeth.” The volume of Dan’s voice lowers, suggesting he’s not talking to me.
“Why not you?” Corin asks, distant and slightly harder to hear.
Nathan stops looking for rivals, returning to nuzzling and licking my throat.
Another short growl from Dan. “Because you’re prime alpha—or will be—while Nathan and I are still figuring out who will dominate who, and when. If you give the order, he might listen.”
All the while, Nathan’s licking and sucking. His teeth press lightly against my throat as I angle the phone so the speaker points at him.
“I’m Johanna, Nathan.” It’s hard to breath with his body against me. My voice comes out high and breathy as I repeat, “Say my name.”
“Johanna.” Nathan pulls back a moment. When he returns to my throat, his lips cover his teeth. Somewhere deep inside, his rational self knows me and resists the urge to bite. A little of the tension in my shoulders bleeds away. “Mate.”
“Nathan,” Corin says, loud and strong.
Even coming from the phone, there’s an edge to his voice that commands attention. I turn up the audio.
Nathan freezes.
