“Wow. You really know how to turn on thepressure.”
“Again, I have nothing to compare it to. The bar’s prettylow.”
“I still haven’t figured that out. How does someone as smart, and funny, and hot as you are make it out of high schoolwithout…?”
I shrugged, and the comforter bunched beneath my shoulder. “No one was special enough. Untilnow.”
Justus went absolutely still, like only a shifter can. He didn’t even seem to be breathing. Yet his gaze held mine, and suddenly all the humor was gone. There was nothing left in his eyes but a deep, aching hunger, and some sense of…possession I could suddenly scent on his skin. In hispheromones.
And it wasdelicious.
Did I smell that good tohim?
“I want to give you all of that,” he whispered, still staring straight into my eyes. “All the romance. But I’m suddenly very aware that we’re in an eighty-nine-dollar-a-night-motel room, and I’ve just fed you microwave lasagna from the freezer section of the pharmacy. I can’t even identify the material this comforter is made out of. But it doesn’t smell especially…new.”
“I don’t care.” I tugged him down for a kiss, and when I opened my mouth for him, he groaned. Then he pulled awayagain.
“Icare. We just got married. We should be sipping champagne on a beach in some country where you’re old enough to drink. There should be fresh flowers in the room—with a bloom behind your ear—and…”
I propped myself up on my elbows and kissed him again. “I don’t need any of that.” Another kiss, and I slid my hand into the hair at the back of his skull to hold him close as I whispered into his ear. “Please don’t make me ask you again to touchme.”
He groaned. “I don’t think you’ve actually asked me toyet.”
I lay down again and gave him the sexiest smile I could muster. “Touch me, Justus. Please. But first…take your shirtoff.”
He laughed as he pulled his tee over his head, then tossed it onto the floor. I ran one hand over his chest, marveling at the flat planes and hard ridges. “Human guys don’t look like this. They don’t feel like this either. Not normal guys,anyway.”
“It’s the shifter metabolism, and all the hunting. Lots of exercise and large amounts of protein make for a very lowBMI.”
“BMI?”
“Body mass—” He shook his head. “Never mind. That’s not romantic. What I’m saying is that shifter metabolism looks good on everyone. Butespeciallyon you.” He leaned down to kiss me, and his hand slid beneath my shirtagain.
I sucked in a breath, startled not by his touch, but by how badly I wantedit.
“Are you sure?” Justus propped himself up and looked down at me, frowning. “We don’t have to do this just because we’re married. That really just means we have the rest of ourlives.”
“I’m sure.” I pulled him down for another kiss. “Show me what I’ve been missing, Justus.”In case we never get anotherchance…
“Yeah. Okay. Come here.” He stood and helped me off the bed with one hand, then held my gaze while his hands skimmed slowly up my sides beneath my shirt, dragging it up as he went. And as good as that felt, the sexiest part—the part that made me forget tobreathe, was the eye contact. The way he watched me while he touched me, holding me there in that moment with him, creating an indelible connection between the delicious sensation and the man behindit.
When he got up to my bra strap, I lifted my arms, and he slowly pulled my shirt off, careful not to snag the bandage on my left arm. My shirt hit the floor and he stepped back to look at me. His nostrils flared and his pupils dilated. His pulse began torace.
Heart pounding in sync with his, I reached back to unsnap my bra, but he stepped closer, his chest brushing my breasts through the material, and stilled my hands. “Let me. That’s part ofit.”
I nearly melted into a puddle on thecarpet.
He gently tilted my head and nibbled his way down my neck to my collarbone, then over my shoulder, dragging my bra strap out of the way, and each new touch—each new place his mouth found to explore—set off a fresh wave of sensations inside me. I wanted to tell him to hurryup.
Yet I never wanted it to beover.
His fingers trailed around my back, and my bra got tighter for a second, then gaped loose. Justus slid my bra down my arms and let it fall. “You aresobeautiful.”
“Thanks, but…you say that as if you’ve never seen me nakedbefore.”
“I haven’t. Not like this. This is different. This isreal,” he said, and somehow, I knew exactly what he meant. He stepped forward until his body was pressed the length of mine, and this time when he kissed me, my nipples got suddenly, embarrassingly hard. He groaned into my mouth, his chest pressed against mine, and my breasts felt both heavy and... achy. As if theyneeded—
Justus ran his left hand up my side, then stopped. His thumb brushed the lower curve of my right breast, but went nofurther.
