He lands the drone after a minute and turns me to face him, his face serious. “I spoke to your grant people. They won’t offer you funding again this period, but they will offer you the facilities to complete your research.”
I blink at him, my vision tunneling down to his face. “Do you want me to?—”
“Wait,” he cuts me off. “You won’t need the grant becauseI’ll fund the travel myself if you want to go. Make a scientific division of Rand Enterprises. I don’t want you stuck here with a man who barely functions because you feel you can’t step away, that you’re tied to me.”
“Cord, are you telling me to?—”
He cuts me off a second time. I close my mouth, but I’m far from obedient. From the glitter in his arctic gaze, Cord knows that and is prepared to weather my opinion on it in just a minute. “Or I can set up your research here. Study this pack, my pack, and see if it yields the information you’re after. Stay here, with me. But only if you want to. I’ll fund your research either way. If you want to part ways at the end, then I’ll do whatever makes you happiest,” he concludes on a short breath.
“You’re not kicking me out or breaking up with me?” I clarify. “If you are, be straight about it with me.” My world stops at the thought of leaving him, but I have to be sure I understand his intent. My chest tightens as my heart starts a frantic gallop. I squeeze my hands around the remote that creaks. “Like right fucking now, Cord.” My plan to keep my mouth shut fails.
“I’m not asking you to leave and there’s no way I’m breaking up with you.” He leans forward, but he doesn’t touch me. “I want to give you options, options that you control. But I still want to give you what I think—what Ihope—you want.”
“I want…” I answer, my voice less than a whisper. My heart stalls. It’s all I have right now.
“You want?” he asks in a guarded voice.
“I want to stay. Cord, I would have stayed with you without the wolves. This is a bonus. A very good, furry bonus.” I lean forward to meet his lips with mine.
“You’ll stay?” He curls his arms around my waist to slide me onto his lap.
“I’ll stay.” I wrap my arms around his shoulders, careful of jostling him, and trace the second scar on his neck.
“Even if it means giving up the nomadic lifestyle? I mean, I don’t crochet so well but I can buy you all the wolf blankets in theworld. Lanie…will you be happy here?” His eyes turn serious, his sapphire gaze delving deep inside me. “Maybe collect your junk mail every now and then?” The corner of his mouth hints at a grin.
I groan, hiding beneath my hair. “I can’t believe Winnie told you about my parents’ place.” A sigh leaves me. “Yes, the nomad life is gone because, somehow, being with you doesn’t tie me to anything. I’m not boxed in here. But I can’t make promises about the junk mail.”
“And I have wolves.” Cord winds his arms around me, sliding his fingers through my hair to angle my head the way he wants before grazing his mouth over mine. I sink into his embrace, breathing him in as his fingers work the buttons of my shirt.
“Cord, is this too fast? I don’t want to?—”
“But I do,” he interrupts firmly, sliding the rest of the buttons free. He palms my stomach, callused hands curving to fit around my waist. “I’m not agile, babe. Will you strip for me?”
I rise onto my knees, sliding my shirt free from my waistband. Goose bumps rise on my skin, but Cord’s heated gaze more than warms me. After flicking the button of my jeans open, I slide them down, letting my hair fall forward, partially obscuring his view. I kick my shoes and socks off, then the jeans. All of my clothes have been neatly collected and stowed with my shirt next to Cord’s bag.
Shaking my hair back, I stand, wearing only a white bra and matching thong.
Cord’s gaze darkens, traveling down my body and back. “Those, too. I want to remember everything about you.”
My attention never wavers from him as I reach back to unclasp my bra, leaning forward a little as it falls away. Cord groans as I palm my breasts, letting my fingers slide over my nipples, teasing them into tight buds. Pleasure shoots from the tips. I press my thighs together, my eyes drifting shut.
“Fuck, you’re gorgeous like that.” Cord’s voice breaks into my haze and I remember what I’m supposed to be doing.
I hook my thumbs into my thong, tracing around the lace trimwith my fingertips. Cord’s attention follows every motion as I slide the soft scrap down my legs.
“Come here.” He leans back against our bags and crooks a finger.
My heart pounding, I place one foot on either side of his thighs, slowly descending to straddle his fully clothed body. His hands circle my waist, squeezing, and then he drags his fingers over my ass hard enough to leave marks.
A gasp leaves me at his rough treatment, but I love the way he handles me. I nip his bottom lip, working through the remaining buttons of his shirt. The tip of my tongue touches his in our next kiss, and a moan leaves my lips, hot and wanton.This. I’ve missed this.His mouth grazes mine before he deepens the kiss, sliding his tongue inside in a dance that grows faster and faster until I can’t keep up with his pace.
His shirt finally hangs open. I slide my hands over his ribs, his abs tight and flexed from how he sits, propped up. I break away from his kiss, my lips tingling, and bend to lick his chest, his skin warm despite the chill in the air. His hands tangle in my hair.
Cord doesn’t give me a chance to breathe. Knowing fingers cup my breasts, squeezing at the perfect pressure to draw a sigh from my lips. He traces my nipples, rolling the tight buds between the pads of his fingers, alternating sharp pinches and gentle tugs. My head tilts back. I moan, leaning into his touch. Hot lips replace his fingers, his tongue teasing the sensitive points while his hands journey south.
I brace my hands on his shoulders, pulling away from him a little. “Cord, you don’t have to do this. It must be?—”
He silences my protests with his mouth. Every time I try to pull back, his tongue thrusts deeper, stealing my breath until I submit to his teasing. Cord rewards me with swirls of his fingertips over my clit. My hips buck involuntarily the moment he touches me. His other hand glides between us, coating his fingers in my copious display of arousal. My cheeks burning, I squeeze his shoulders tight.
