She jerked her chin at the nightstand. “I still got condoms in my purse.”
“Thank God.”
“You’ll have to get off me if you want me to grab them.”
“In a minute,” he said. Then he began licking her lips, tasting her mouth and her face in a way she recognized though had never experienced before. It was an animal thing, this exploration with tongue and teeth. Wolves did it, but only with their closest friends and always in wolf form.
She arched her head back, exposing her neck to him. Throat, belly, even her groin was his. Sure, he’d had her back in Noelle’s apartment, but that had been a thing of the body. This was deeper, more intimate. And with every brush of his tongue, she felt herself relax into his attention.
He pressed kisses into her neck and she felt her heartbeat flutter. She held onto his shoulders, squeezing as he tasted her pulse point and purred against the underside of her jaw.
“I want my legs free,” she whispered. Her feet had caught on the cotton sheet as he’d flipped her over. She wanted to grip him with her knees and scrape her toes along his calves.
He responded quickly, leaping off her with gratifying speed. He pulled the sheet completely off the bed, freeing her legs to move as she wanted. But he didn’t stop there. He tugged at her T-shirt and she sat up so he could strip it away. She unhooked her bra while he headed for her hips. She didn’t hesitate to lift for him, and a moment later she was free of all restraint. No sheet, no clothing, no doubts.
“Kiss me,” she said. “Everywhere.”
“Planned to,” he said.
“No. Like a bear. Like one with his mate.”
He paused, and his nostrils flared. No doubt he took in her scent, the musk of hunger and of something more. His hands clenched at his sides then released. She could tell he was aroused by what she said. His eyes burned bright and his organ pulsed thick and hungry before her. But he didn’t move.
“You want me to pretend we’re bound together?”
“It’s possible, isn’t it? Between wolf and bear?” Cross-species mating wasn’t unheard of, but it wasn’t exactly common. Every single one claimed to be a love match. No reason to buck the animal demands for anything short of love.
“Of course, it’s possible.” He swallowed. “But are you ready for that? Or is this us playing house again?”
Was this pretend? She wanted him desperately. She was wet with lust. He also eased an ache inside her. He had from the very beginning.
“What do you want?” she asked.
He didn’t answer. He held her gaze though, as he crossed to the nightstand. He found her condoms quickly enough, and she watched as he put one on with sure and steady hands. Then he spoke, and she heard a tremor beneath his words that betrayed his need.
“I can’t think clearly when I’m this hungry for you.” He crossed to the edge of the bed, drawing her down it with a quick tug on her thighs. She was open for him, her musky scent thick in the air. “So how about this? The first O is for fun.” He grinned. “Just to take the edge off.”
“And the second?” Because she guessed that with him, there was always going to be a second.
“That’s when we’ll get real.”
It was already real for her. She knew it deep in her bones. She was in love with him. He believed in her, he centered her, and most of all, he saw her. Exactly as she was, faults and all. But she couldn’t forget that she was on borrowed time. That at some point her brother and the pack he controlled would come for her, and she wasn’t likely to survive. So what harm could it do if she allowed herself to commit to a man now? To bond with a bear who had shared his burdens with her even as he eased hers. Why not make it real for now? Just so long as she didn’t tell him how deeply she was in love with him. Just so long as he didn’t tumble as far into bonding as she was with him. She didn’t have a future, but he did. And she wouldn’t steal that from him.
“Okay,” she said. “First one just to take the edge off.”
He grinned as he leaned forward. He pulled her legs up and spread her knees, inhaling deeply as he did. He settled right where she was most open to him. Pelvis to pelvis, penis to opening. Then he pressed his lips to hers.
“Well,” he hedged. “Maybe a little tasting.” He licked her lips and her mouth. He nuzzled into her hairline and ran his teeth along her cheek and the curve of her ear. His breath was hot and sweet, and she smelled his scent as hungry as her own.
When her breath grew ragged just from the scent of him, she clutched at his shoulders. He was tugging on her earlobe, the nip of his teeth as erotic as the stroke of his tongue. And then he thrust.
She’d been ready for it. Hell, she’d been dying for it, but even so the rhythm wasn’t what she expected. It felt like he had tried to hold back, but couldn’t. Need overpowered him, so that when he thrust, both of them were surprised. But she was so wet, he slid right in and moaned in delight at the stretch. He was big, and she wanted so badly for him to fill her.
She heard the shudder in his breath or maybe she felt it move between both their bodies. But either way, he moaned low into her ear. A deep vibration that echoed down her spine and straight to her womb.
“Don’t stop,” she whispered.
“Can’t,” he panted, though he wasn’t moving below. And yet she felt him, thick and hard. A pulse deep inside her. Not orgasm, but the prelude. “Trying. To. Last.”
