Leaning forward, I brushed my thumb over his pouty, maddening, perfect bottom lip. “Like I said before, I intend tomake up for lost time. And I want to take my time with you tonight. I’ve been thinking about it since the kitchen counter.”
“Just the kitchen counter?” he asked, his teasing tone returning. Fresh lust flowed between us, and I pinched his nipple through his sweater.
He sucked in a sharp breath.
“Before that,” I admitted. I knew my wolf showed in my eyes as I teased the peak, plucking and rolling the little nub. “I’ve wanted your ass since the second I saw you.”
He made a low sound, his chest vibrating under my fingers. “Jesse…”
We leaned toward each other at the same time, meeting in a slow, easy kiss. We were gentle with it, as if we both knew it had to be that way. Anything else, and we weren’t going to make it out of the parking lot, let alone to my house.
I slid my lips down his jaw and closed my teeth over his earlobe before putting my mouth to his ear. “This is what’s going to happen. I’m going to take you home, and you’re going to get ready for me. Then I’m going to take you to bed and eat your ass until you can’t see straight. And when you’re open and sloppy, I’m going to put you on your back and make love to you. You might get a little frustrated with me because I’m going to spend a long time in that tight ass of yours. But you’re going to love it. And when you’re begging to come, I’m going to put you on all fours and pound you through my bed until you give up every drop of seed in your beautiful sack.”
His breathing had gone ragged as I spoke. Now, he didn’t breathe at all. Just stared, his eyes glassy with lust.
“Does that sound good to you?” I asked.
“Yes,” he croaked.
Smiling, I sat back in my seat and started the SUV. “Good. Let’s go home.”
Chapter
Eleven
CALEB
Jesse clearly had a different definition of “townhouse” than I did. Because his place was nothing like the cookie cutter structure I’d pictured.
His building was a stately brownstone with three stories and lots of thick, dark walnut. It looked like a place where Oprah might live, maybe hosting book clubs or something.
But books were the last thing on my mind as I hesitated in the doorway that connected Jesse’s insanely enormous bathroom to his equally enormous master bedroom. He sat propped against a small mountain of pillows, his long legs encased in a pair of navy pajama pants. His bare chest was covered in hair that spread over thick, round pecs before descending to a happy trail that disappeared into his waistband. The bulge between his legs set my mouth watering.
He looked up from the book on his lap, his face as youthful and handsome as it had been in the photo at the restaurant.
Immortal.
Invincible.
Or something close to it, at least. In church, everyone talked about “everlasting life” like it was the greatest thing ever. That was the whole point of religion, right? You behaved yourself andtithed every week, and when you died you hoped Jesus let you into the club.
But no one ever talked about what cameafter. Like, what did people do in heaven? If nothing ever ended, how did anything new begin?
Jesse set his book on the bedside table. “What are you thinking about?”
“Forever,” I said before I could stop myself. Right away, I wished I could take back the words. Jesse had lost the werewolf who turned him—a man he’d obviously cared about. And here I was, ready to bitch about the gift of immortality. On a more selfish note, I’d been hard as a rock all through dinner. Jesse might be filthy as hell, but he’d shown hints of a prim and proper streak. Maybe it was a teacher thing. If he thought I was freaking out, he’d probably send me to bed with cookies and milk or something.
I tugged at the hem of my T-shirt: a gray Hale Valley football crew neck I’d stuffed in my duffel. The fabric was thin and worn from hundreds of trips through the washer, and it clung to my chest in a way that had earned me plenty of second looks from girls—and the occasional guy—on campus.
“I’m sorry,” I said, not really sure what I was apologizing for. Maybe I’d been doing it for so long that it felt natural but meaningless, like saying “good” when someone asks how you’re doing. They never expect you to tell the truth, and they don’t want you to.
Jesse moved to the center of the bed, then patted the space next to him. “C’mere.”
I went to him, and when he held out his arms, I didn’t even care if I looked pathetic climbing into them. I plunked my head on his shoulder and hitched one of my thighs over his. He wrapped his arms around me and rested his chin on the top of my head. His heart thumped steadily under myear, and he smelled clean and expensive, like cologne splashed over diamonds. For a long moment, he just…held me. And I couldn’t remember anyone ever doing that. If my parents had, it happened so long ago that I didn’t recall it.
Jesse’s embrace wasn’t sexual, but his broad, thick chest under my cheek and his slow, steady breaths stirring my hair felt so damn good that my dick pressed against the front of my sweats.I’ve wanted your ass since the second I saw you.
Sure, it wasn’t poetry. But I wanted it. I wanted everything Jesse van der Meer had to give me. That first night in his kitchen, the pull in my chest had urged me to curl up at his feet. The same feeling pulled at me now, but it wasn’t fallout from what had happened to me in August. No, this was just…falling. I was falling for him.
