JACK TOOK Astrid to Pegasus, a Greek restaurant in downtown Seattle. The owner was Jack’s friend. Knossos seemed to be a family business. As soon as Astrid and Jack were seated, the owner’s family—his wife, their two sons and their wives, and one unmarried daughter—had started emerging from the different parts of the restaurant to greet Astrid and Jack.
“May I ask you not to put garlic in our salad dressing, please,” Astrid said to Simeon, the owner, who had come personally to take their order. “It really upsets my stomach sometimes,” she explained to Jack when Simeon returned to the kitchen.
Jack laughed. “It doesn’t upset mine, as you know, Miss Spock. You’re hoping we’ll end up kissing, that’s why you wanted our salads garlic-free.”
“It did cross my mind, I won’t deny it. Better safe than sorry.”
THEY entered St. Patrick’s Purgatory, an Irish pub two blocks down from Pegasus. Astrid was sure their impromptu rendezvous had actually been well planned, even if in haste, somewhere between the time Jack had gone to his room and Liv had knocked on Astrid’s door.
Jack introduced Astrid to the owners, three red-haired, blue-eyed Moore siblings: Riley, Liam and Bridget.
“You have lots friends here in Seattle,” Astrid said. “They’re werewolves, as well as Simeon and his family, aren’t they?” Astrid whispered in Jack’s ear. “Why can’t I smell them, then? Today I traced my own old scent in my room.”
“They know how to hide it, baby. And your own sense of smell still isn’t fully developed.”
Bridget took them to their table in the corner of the pub, dimly lit and shielded from the gaze of other guests by two tall and wide wooden beams—a perfect place for holding hands and kissing. They talked about decorating their home, the number of kids they wanted to have, places where they would go for their summer vacation, their favorite ski-resorts. “I like Lake Louise. They definitely have the best trails,” Jack said.
Astrid had her own favorite places. “The Canadian Rockies are beautiful, but a bit wild. I like Madonna di Campilio and Garmisch-Partenkirchen the best.”
“Say that again, please.”
“What?”
“Garmisch-Partenkirchen. It sounds like a quirky sex toy when you roll all those r’s over your tongue. Say it.”
She did, and Jack kissed her until she was breathless.
“You speak German, do you?” Jack said when he caught his breath again.
“Klar. Warum fragst du?”
“I’m asking because German is such a great turn on. Don’t do it now, mind you, I don’t think I can take more turning on. I’m just telling you for the future. Whisper some dirty German words to me sometime, will you?”
“What languages do you speak?”
“Enough of them to make you moan without using my hands or anything else. Italian is, for example, very good for it.”
“Oh, you got me there. How about French?”
“Let’s try it.” He bent his head until his lips touched Astrid’s ear and whispered a few words.
“I also speak French, Jack Canagan.” Astrid’s voice was a raspy whisper interrupted by laughter. “And you call me kinky? Those were naughty words, Jack. I didn’t catch the last part, though. Would you mind repeating it?”
THEY CAME back through the back door, tiptoeing across the hall, and up the staircase. Although she hadn’t touched anything stronger than mineral water, Astrid felt lightheaded and giddy, and absolutely in love with her boyfriend.
They stood in front of Astrid’s room. Jack braced his hands on the wall on each side of Astrid’s head, efficiently blocking her potential escape.
“How about one more kiss, baby,” he murmured as his mouth moved to Astrid’s.
She leaned forward and met him halfway. Jack’s tongue slipped inside without resistance, gently exploring. His hands moved to Astrid’s back, rubbing it softly. She buried her fingers in his hair and pressed her body firmly against Jack’s.
“I’ve never touched your breasts,” Jack murmured over the kiss. “I briefly saw you naked when you changed, but I didn’t touch you. May I?” His hand lazily moved up.
“You may,” Astrid whispered.
Jack’s fingers brushed the outer slope of Astrid’s breast. Her heart stopped and then continued beating somewhere in her ears.
She could hear Jack’s own heart beating loud and fast as his hand cupped her breast, fingers touching the nipple ever so lightly. Sweet ripples spread through her body, concentrating almost painfully somewhere deep in her lower abdomen.
Jack’s other hand soon joined the first.
“I can’t believe I thought they were small,” he murmured.
“Oh... but they are on the small side,” Astrid said, catching a breath.
Jack’s breath left a hot trail on the sensitive skin behind Astrid’s ear. “They are absolutely perfect, the size of my hand, and so firm.” He gave her a gentle squeeze. “You feel so good, baby... Oh, God, how I want you!”
“We shouldn’t be doing this,” Astrid moaned softly. Their lips met again in a long, sensual kiss. His hard arousal felt wonderful against her loins. She moved her hips and let out a deep purr.
“No, we shouldn’t be.” Jack sighed when they finally resurfaced. “You are not going to invite me inside, are you?
“This is our first date. I can’t invite you in after our first date, I’ve told you. And we aren’t supposed to do this.” Astrid nibbled on Jack’s lower lip. With a soft moan, Jack lowered his hand to her inner thighs.
“How to stop it now, Miss Spock?”
“Normally I would think of something, but you’re distracting me. My mind is blank. I’ll leave it to you.” Astrid made an effort to unglue herself from his body. “Jack, we can’t do this…” She sighed and rested her forehead against Jack’s, locking her arms around his neck.
“When we were in the cabin,” Jack said lazily, “you asked me if we could—”
“Could what? Oh boy, what did I ask you?”
“If we could do what teenagers do before they have real sex. Make out, you know. A sort of indefinite foreplay.”
“You just made that up, Jack Canagan,” Astrid said, laughing. “I would have never suggested anything like that!”
Jack let out a soft laugh. “Then better if I don’t mention your other suggestions, like, I quote, ‘quickie, oral sex, touching’, end quote.”
“I said that?!”
“You asked for that. And since then, I’ve been thinking… If we strictly stick to foreplay, we can have a lot of fun, and nobody will notice anything. You just take a long shower after, that’s it.”
“That’s it?”
“Yep.”
“And you tell me that now! You could’ve come up with this plan a few days ago, when we were alone in my house.”
“It was too risky before the change, with your horny wolf in command.”
“But now it’s not?”
“Not if we’re careful. So, are you going to invite me in?”
“No. My little sorcery’s going to wear off soon.”
“Refresh it, then, if it’s necessary. Your dwellings might not have Privacy Protection, but they still have excellent sound insulation. We still have several hours. Nobody will know, as long as they see our contours.” Jack lips met Astrid’s in another long, sensual kiss. “Come on, baby, let me love you.”
“No, Jack. I can’t. Not now, with your parents here.”
“Astrid, we are not children.”
“Well, right now we’re not behaving like adults, either.”
“That’s the whole idea, to do what teenagers do.”
Astrid let out a deep breath. “Jack, I met your parents a few hours ago. How would I face them in the morning if we, well, foreplayed now?”
“With a confession of what we were doing written all over your face.” He pulled her closer and started kissing her again, moving slowly from her lips to her neck, and further south.
“Good night, Jack.” Wi
ggling out of his embrace, Astrid opened the door behind and slid into her room.
She could hear his soft laugh. “Tonight it would’ve been all about you. I’d have loved you with my kisses and my hands, and I wouldn’t have left an inch of you unattended, Miss Spock. Remember our song? You know that part about playing doctor?” He whispered the lines in question, nuzzling her neck.
“You’ve already sung that part.”
“But I didn’t have a chance to explain it. Let me show you what precisely Cohen meant with those words.”
“No, Jack.”
“Astrid, you have no idea what you are missing.”
“DAMN!” ASTRID cursed and threw herself on the bed. Her body was hot, soft and achy with the need awakened by Jack’s kisses and touches. She curled up into a ball and lay motionless, trying to get her breathing under control.
Soon they would go to Red Cliffs, and Jack would be gone, and they would be more or less separated for some time. And she would be on her own, missing him terribly: his hands, his lips, his smile, his warmth.
“Double damn!”
Astrid sprang from the bed and flew out of the room. She silently hurried across the house to the opposite wing, rapidly muttering spells in a low voice along the way, which would keep the house quiet and leave her image in her room. “Wouldn’t hurt if everybody sleeps a bit longer tomorrow morning,” she whispered to herself.
She knocked on Jack’s door. “Jack, open up, I have to tell you something.”
The door swung open and an arm pulled Astrid in.
“I can’t invite you to my room after our first date. You must admit that would be highly inappropriate. I’m not changing my mind. But if I invited myself to your room, that would be a totally different concept, right?”
“You have a fine logical mind, Miss Spock. I like it very much,” Jack said, smiling as he lifted her up and carried her to the bed.
THE ROOM was dimly illuminated by a single lamp on the nightstand. The pool of soft, yellow light reached the bed, leaving the rest of the room in semi-darkness.
Jack wore only his jeans. Astrid had caught him getting ready for a shower. Her palms traveled across his bare chest, smooth and firm, broad and muscled. It was hairless, save for the thin, dark line that arrowed down from his navel to the invisible area behind his clothes.
“Are you sure this is okay, Jack?” Astrid whispered, pulling him down on herself.
“We can’t go to the end, you know that.” Jack stretched beside Astrid and took her hand into his. “No amount of soap and water would wash out my scent from you, or yours from me. That would mark us irrevocably. I gave my word to James I wouldn’t take you before you go to Red Cliffs.”
Astrid traced Jack’s arm with the tip of her fingers. “Won’t this foreplaying leave our scent on each other?”
“If I stay dressed, it won’t. Not significantly, at least. It’ll be the same as if we kissed a lot and held hands.” He lowered his head. “Astrid, I want to kiss you. A lot. Everywhere. And you have too much clothing on for the kind of kissing I have in mind. Let me undress you.”
Obediently, Astrid raised her arms and her sweater came off. Jack kissed her softly, endlessly: her forehead, her eyes, her cheeks, he gently sucked her lips, moving down to her neck, and coming back, nibbling on her earlobe and brushing the tender skin with his hot breath. She closed her eyes, immersing herself into the deep, head-spinning passion of Jack’s lips.
Jack’s warm fingers easily found the clasp of her bra. She let out a soft moan as his mouth touched her breast. It swelled immediately under his palm. He planted small, fluttery kisses on the outer curve of her breast moving slowly toward the centre. By the time his lips closed gently around her erect nipple, sucking it tenderly, Astrid was breathing in hard, heavy rasps. Jack’s tongue flicked the hard tip, and then released it, ignoring Astrid’s protests. He moved to her other breast, repeating the sweet torture.
“Do you like what I’m doing to you, love?” Jack whispered into Astrid’s ear. “Tell me.”
“Mmm...”
“I’ll take that as a yes, then.” He laughed softly and moved his lips to her stomach, toying with his tongue around Astrid’s soft belly. His fingers unfastened the button of her jeans, pulling them down to her ankles. Astrid impatiently jerked them off. Her hands plowed through Jack’s hair, holding his head pressed to her abdomen.
“Jack, if you stop now, I’ll die,” she said in a heavy, deep whisper.
“I’ve barely started, baby.” He caught the narrow strip of her panties between his teeth and gently tugged them off. “Let’s see what we have here... Oh, nice, very nice.” Jack’s hand slid between Astrid thighs, leaving a burning path behind. His fingers stroked the tender skin of her inner thighs, moving closer to the centre.
This is not real... It’s so good it can’t be real, crossed Astrid’s hazed mind at the precise moment when Jack’s fingers brushed against the hot, wet, swollen flesh between her legs.
And the world exploded into a million stars that swirled in front of her closed eyes. The seemingly endless chain of spasms shook her body and left her gasping for air.
Slowly, slowly, the crazy spinning gradually slowed down and the world came to a halt. Astrid felt Jack’s hand pressed over her mouth.
“Shhh, be quiet. You’ll wake up the whole house, insulation notwithstanding.”
Astrid blinked. Jack moved his hand, only to replace it with his mouth. “I love you, you noisy thing.”
It’d be stupid to cry now, she thought, as her eyes welled with tears. She gently cupped Jack’s head between her palms and looked deeply into his eyes. She wanted to say something, she wanted to tell him how much she loved him, but all the words remained stuck somewhere in her throat.
“It’s all right, baby. Take your time.” Jack rocked her gently, kissing her temples, forehead, the crown of her head. “Better get used to it. It’s going to be something like that every time, only better.” He smiled gently.
“When you said I would’ve known if I had had a werewolf lover before, you meant this,” Astrid finally stuttered.
“Not exactly.”
“Then don’t tell me if there’s more. I don’t think I can take more right away.” She smiled weakly, still panting. “This was incredible. I feel as if I disintegrated to the last atom, and became whole again.”
He chuckled. “I think you suffer from acute sexual deprivation. We’ll cure you in no time. So, I take it you liked it? You were a bit too quick on the draw you caught me by surprise. I had a few other things in mind.”
“What about you?” Astrid pulled herself closer to Jack, breathing in the scent of his arousal and cupping his buttocks.
“Hands to yourself, Astrid,” Jack said, laughing softly and restraining her wrists. “This is your night, I told you. I’ll wait.” He brushed away a lock of hair from her face. “Lie still and don’t try to seduce me. I don’t think I have that much control over my body.”
Astrid’s fingers traced the outline of Jack’s chin. “If we use a condom? Or maybe two?” she asked hopefully, although she guessed the answer.
“I would’ve put on ten if that would help. Nope, there isn’t much we can do now, but I’m telling you, baby, once I get between your legs, I’m gonna spend lots of time there.”
“But it must hurt you, Jack. I’m a doctor, I know.”
“I’ll take care of that later.”
“Oh.”
“Yes, oh. But look at the bright side: I got plenty of erotic stimulation tonight. I just need to rewind the movie in my head.”
Astrid’s hands traveled lazily across Jack’s torso, but the moment her fingers moved toward Jack’s abdomen, his hand clasped around her wrist.
“That’s not a good idea, Astrid. I don’t think I can handle your touch around here.”
Astrid gently touched Jack’s lips with hers. “I don’t want to make it more difficult for you. I’ll go back to my room now,” she said but didn’t move.
Jack’s thick, husky voice sent a rush of warmth straight between her legs. She involuntarily shivered in anticipation.
“Okay, where was I?” He lowered his head and gently bit her breasts. Astrid moaned softly. “I think we passed this point, but since you seemed to like it a lot…No, no, no baby, you don’t touch me. I’m doing all the touching, remember?” Jack whispered as Astrid’s hands ran over his arms. “Put your hands on the headboard and keep them there. And don’t interrupt me anymore… Don’t get too rowdy this time, my parents sleep two doors down the hallway. What would they think of you?”
She laughed, but did as she had been told. His head dipped, sending shivers throughout her whole body, and she was soon lost to everything else except the feeling of Jack’s hot lips on her skin. He was moving down, unhurriedly, stopping here and there to explore the softness around her navel, the gentle slope of her mound, the burning skin of her thighs. His fingers slowly and tenderly parted the folds of her slippery cleft, leaving her shuddering on the brink, a single touch away from another shattering release.
“Not yet, baby,” Jack whispered, breaking the contact. “I want to kiss you there. I want to love you with my mouth.” Astrid let out a soft moan that turned into heavy sobs as Jack’s lips found their target.
FOR THE next half an hour, he brought her right to the edge of a climax several times, only to pull her back at the last moment, until she quietly pleaded, “Please, Jack... I can’t take it anymore. Please…”
The second orgasm ripped through her with the force of an earthquake. She buried her fingers in Jack’s hair, keeping his head firmly between her legs while the long aftershocks rocked her body.
“Holy smoke, is there a name for it!?” she gasped as she finally released him from her grip.
“Feel free to name it,” Jack said, laughing, and gently slapped her bare butt. “Now go to your room and take a shower. Betty’s awake and she’ll be in the kitchen soon.”
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