by Zoe Chant
Back in her bedroom, he held out his hands. “Check whatever you like.”
“Can you, uh.” Shoshanna swallowed her nervousness. “Can you take the shirt off?”
He stripped off the plain gray sweatshirt. The room suddenly seemed more brightly lit, with the broad expanse of his golden skin on display. Shoshanna’s eyes traced his chest, his biceps, the noticeable V of his abdominal muscles leading down past the waistband of his pants.
She’d seen all of this last night, but she hadn’t been looking in the same way. She’d been worried he was badly hurt. Washing blood off of someone’s skin wasn’t exactly a turn-on.
But now...
She could still see the faint yellowish traces of bruises along his flank, and one long cut on his ribcage hadn’t quite healed up. But he looked much, much better.
“Now the pants?” Her voice was unsteady. Max quirked his little half-smile at her, a glint of smugness in his eyes, and bent down to strip off the pants in a quick, economic movement.
He wasn’t wearing underwear.
She knew that, because she’d dressed him last night. But somehow she’d forgotten, or blocked it out temporarily, or something, because she hadn’t expected him to be so suddenly and completely naked.
Her eyes went involuntarily to his cock. Another thing she’d seen last night, but she’d been so concerned with the rest of him that she hadn’t been thinking in those terms. Much.
And last night, Max had been completely soft. Now, he was clearly a bit...interested. Which meant that she was starting to get a sense of how big he would be when fully hard.
Shoshanna tore her eyes away, and started to cursorily scan the rest of Max’s exposed skin. But her eyes caught on his right leg, which was still heavily bruised. “That doesn’t look good.”
“I will admit, I was hoping for something a little more complimentary.” Max’s voice was amused.
Shoshanna’s eyes snapped up to his face—she’d been completely ignoring it, she realized, distracted by his naked body. Heat rose in her cheeks, but she refused to be shy about this. “You’re gorgeous,” she told him. “You have to know you’re gorgeous. I was talking about your leg.”
“Thank you,” Max said, as smooth and confident as ever.
Shoshanna wanted to break that calm. She wanted to hear his voice ragged and desperate, wanted to see his face overwhelmed with pleasure.
“The leg was the worst of it,” Max was continuing. Shoshanna jerked her mind back to the subject at hand. “A hairline fracture, I believe. It’s why I was limping so obviously this morning. It’s healing much more quickly now that we’ve had some food.”
“Still.” Shoshanna frowned at it. “Probably better if you stay off it.”
“My pleasure.” There was a purring quality to that, as though Max were envisioning all of the things they might do while he stayed off his leg. “As long as there’s enough to do lying down, that is.”
He reached out a hand to her. Shoshanna took it, still nervous. What was wrong with her? One second she wanted to shove Max down on the bed and have her wicked way with him, the next second she was blushing like she’d never seen a naked man in her life.
It had been a long, long time, but not that long.
Although, she thought, as Max drew her forward, she hadn’t done anything with a man since she’d gotten out of the lab. Post-Lab Shoshanna was a different person from Pre-Lab Shoshanna, that much had become very clear to her.
She didn’t trust as easily now. She was more wary of new situations. She didn’t like making herself vulnerable to people.
Max brought her in close, so that she was almost pressed against him, but not quite. She looked up into his eyes. They were a warm gold. No hint of chill or artificial calm.
This was her mate. There wasn’t anything to be wary of here.
Shoshanna reached up and drew Max down into a kiss.
The touch of his lips to hers sent fiery trails racing through her body. Shoshanna melted against him, feeling all that naked muscle against her body, and wrapped her arms around his neck. His arms came up instantly to hold her close, and he kissed her hotly. His tongue flirted with hers; she opened her mouth for him and let him slip inside.
After what felt like years, he pulled back. Shoshanna hauled air into her lungs. She’d been so consumed by Max’s kiss that she’d forgotten to breathe.
Looking down at her, Max smiled. It wasn’t the little quirk of a half-smile that was all she’d ever seen from him so far. It wasn’t half of anything. It was a full, joyful smile, and it lit up his face from a cool, handsome mask into a brilliant, passionate man.
“Why are we still standing up when there’s a bed right here?” Shoshanna managed faintly, after a long moment.
“I have no idea.” He kissed her again. Then her jaw, then her neck. “I want you naked,” he murmured into her skin, “but I don’t want to let you go for that long.”
“Hmmm,” she said, laughing a little at the tickle of his breath. “Good thing I thought ahead and got you naked already.”
“But if you aren’t naked, there’s so many things I can’t do with you. And I promise you, you’ll want those things.” His voice had descended into its deepest register.
Shoshanna shivered. “All right,” she said. “On the bed. Give me ten seconds.”
He let go of her slowly, like she had some gravitational force that was keeping him close against his will. But finally his hands slipped away, and he laid himself out on her bed, his eyes tracing her hungrily.
He was fully hard now, Shoshanna noticed. She stripped off her sweater and undid her bra, then shimmied out of her jeans as quickly as possible.
As she got more and more naked, though, the nervousness came back. It was like when Max was touching her, his presence blocked out any worries or hesitations that other experiences might have given her, but when he took a step back, all of the other things in her brain came crowding back.
Max noticed her hesitating. "Shoshanna," he said, sitting up, a concerned line appearing in the middle of his forehead. "Do you want to stop? We can stop or slow down, whatever you like."
Shoshanna shook her head, determined. "No. I want to keep going. I just..." What? What could she say that wouldn't ruin the moment irrevocably? Not I was held captive in an evil lab for a long, long time and this is the first time I've had sex since I got out, that was for sure.
"You just what?" Max's eyes had taken on that penetrating quality she'd seen before. It felt like he was looking straight through her.
"I've just...I've had some...difficult experiences," Shoshanna managed. "I didn't think it would be a problem. It's not that I don't want to. But maybe—maybe we should slow down a little bit." As much as she'd loved the way Max's kiss swept through her body and left no reservations behind, she didn't want to suddenly get hit with all of those reservations at once later on.
Max's gaze darkened. "Did someone—"
"No," Shoshanna said hastily. "No, nothing like that. No, I just have a hard time...trusting. That's all."
There was the little half-smile, a little rueful this time. She found she liked it just as much as the full-on brilliant smile she'd seen a minute ago. Maybe because they were both honest. "So do I," Max admitted.
"I guessed," Shoshanna said, with a little smile tugging at the corner of her own mouth.
"I...suppose it was obvious." Max said obvious like it left a bad taste in his mouth. Shoshanna could bet that this was a man who hated being obvious.
"That's good, then." Shoshanna came forward and deliberately climbed onto the bed, sitting next to Max's sprawled-out golden form. "We can have trust issues together. Doesn't sound like anything could possibly go wrong with that."
She’d wanted to make him laugh, but his expression stayed serious, his eyes soft. "You can trust me to listen to you. What do you want? We can do anything you want. If you want us to get dressed..."
"No." Shoshanna shook her head firmly. "I want to keep goin
g." She steeled herself to tell the truth. If they were going to work on trust issues together, well, she had to be honest.
And if that made her vulnerable...this was her mate. He was supposed to know the things that made her vulnerable. They were supposed to protect each other's weak spots, their soft places where other people could hurt them. But they couldn't do that if they didn't know where they were.
"I just don't want to...overwhelm myself," she said slowly. "It would be so easy to just get carried away with..." she gestured between them. "But I don't want to. I want to go slowly enough to teach my brain it doesn't need to be afraid of anything. Nothing's wrong here."
"Nothing is wrong," Max agreed. He leaned back against the pillows again. "What if I kept my hands like this?" He put them behind his head, like he was just relaxing on a beach somewhere. "You can do whatever you want, and I'll wait my turn."
Shoshanna smiled. "That's very patient of you."
"I can be very, very patient. I promise you." And his voice did hold promises, thrilling ones. Shoshanna felt a flutter in her stomach at the thought.
"Okay," she said slowly. "That...that sounds good."
Presented with Max's whole long, golden, muscular body to do whatever she wanted with? It sounded fantastic.
Max settled in comfortably—he'd softened during their conversation, which was understandable. Trauma wasn't sexy. But now he was hardening again under her gaze, like just Shoshanna looking at him was enough of a turn-on for him.
She reached out slowly, and put her hand right in the center of his chest, over his sternum. She stroked down, finally getting her fill of all of that muscled chest. And then his abs, good Lord, they were something to see. And even more to feel. She resettled her weight and put both hands on his abdomen, stroking outward toward his hips. His cock was fully hard, now, she noticed, but he kept his hips completely still without any apparent effort.
She was going to make him expend some effort, she thought, looking up at his face. His eyes were half-lidded, watching her lazily. Just like a lion, comfortable on the savannah in the hot sun, enjoying a nap.
She curved her hands around his hips, then ran them up his sides, all the way to his shoulders. They were enormous, she thought. Overall, he gave the impression of being slender, but that was only because he was so tall. Really, his shoulders were broad and powerful, and his arms were as well-muscled as his chest.
Shifters didn't always bother with a heavy gym routine, since they were twice as strong as an average human even if they never lifted a weight in their lives, but Max obviously didn't subscribe to that philosophy. His triceps stood out in sharp relief, and his forearms were corded with muscle. Shoshanna stroked inward, over his collarbone, and the vulnerable hollow of his throat. He didn't move, trusting her.
She leaned down and pressed a kiss to that spot. She could feel his exhale against her hair. When she sat up, his eyes weren't half-closed anymore.
Shoshanna wasn't feeling nervous anymore. She felt powerful and sexy, knowing the effect that she was having on this strong, intelligent, man. Her mate.
It didn't matter how stubborn he was, how many control issues he had, or anything else. She knew that she was looking at the real Max right now, his golden eyes filled with both desire and trust. He wanted her, and he was keeping himself still, letting her do what she chose.
Shoshanna grinned at him, knowing that her expression had taken on a hint of wickedness. Rather than look wary of what she was about to do, Max smiled back at her, a full-on smile, and his cock twitched.
She leaned forward and kissed that smile, lightly and softly. She licked gently at his lips, kissed his gorgeous cheekbones, and then pulled back.
Then she took his cock in her hand. He made an involuntary noise—it sounded like it was pulled from the depths of his chest. Shoshanna grinned. This wasn't nerve-wracking at all, it turned out. This was fun.
His cock was warm and velvet-smooth in her hand; she could feel the beat of his pulse under her fingers. He was so aroused that it was straining with desire, but he didn't move.
Slowly, she slid her hand down to the base, and back up. He groaned. When she looked up, his pupils were black with desire.
"Shoshanna," he said, and there was the ragged edge to his voice that she'd been looking for. There was the desire, visible on his face.
But still, he kept his hands behind his head, and he didn't move. Because he wanted her to feel safe.
"Yes?" she asked. She knew she sounded teasing. She couldn't help it.
"I know I said that you should do whatever you want." He was keeping a thin veneer of amusement over the depths of arousal, but she could hear that rough undertone. "And take your time. But I should tell you that although I'm famous for my patience in professional circumstances, this is far from professional, and if you keep that up, you’ll be making me desperate very quickly."
She hadn't expected him to admit that much. In fact, she'd expected him to say something about not wanting to stay still any longer. Not being able to keep himself under control.
But she had to remind herself that she knew better. Max would keep himself under absolute control.
And that control would never falter, as long as he knew he was keeping her from feeling afraid.
She lifted her hand. He made a noise of stifled frustration.
"Move," she told him. "I want you to move."
He was up from his position before she'd finished speaking, catching her in his arms and kissing her mouth like she was water in the desert, like he needed her to survive.
Shoshanna's body was on fire. But it wasn't like before, where the flames of desire had swept away her hesitation and her nervousness, burned them away and left her wanting despite herself. This had been building up the whole time she'd been touching Max, until she wasn't hesitant, she wasn't nervous, and all she needed was this. This was what she'd been wanting, and now she had it.
He tugged her forward until she was straddling him. She still had her panties on, but his cock pressed against them, rubbing the damp material along her clit, making her clench and moan into Max's mouth.
His mouth was hot and sure, and the kiss went on and on until she thought it would melt her bones. He tipped her back, laying her gently out where he'd been a moment before, until she was the one stretched out to be looked at, and he was pulling back to sit next to her and look.
"I believe," he said, "that it's my turn, now."
And she could hear the urbane accent, the smooth, cultured, boardroom tone, but underneath it all was that rough, breathless edge of desire.
"That sounds right." Shoshanna was almost unable to stay still. The fire burning between her legs needed something to quench it, soon.
But Max had stayed still, and so could she. "Take your time." She grinned. "I can be patient."
"We have reached the limits of my patience. May I take these off?"
His fingers traced the waistband of her panties. Mouth suddenly dry, Shoshanna nodded.
He tugged the waistband downward. Shoshanna lifted her hips, allowing the wisp of material to be pulled away, and leaving her naked before her mate. She could swear that she felt the heat of his eyes on her.
She let her legs fall apart, just a bit, and he smiled. This wasn’t one of the smiles she’d seen before. It was hungry, predatory, and it said, That’s what I want, and I’m going to have it.
Shoshanna shivered with desire. She could feel how wet she was. How had she said she could be patient, just a minute ago? She couldn’t wait another minute for him to touch her.
Fortunately, it was at that moment that his hands cupped her hips, sliding down her thighs, tugging them further apart. Shoshanna was panting already, silent breaths through her open mouth, her legs opening easily under his touch.
She was expecting his hands. Instead, his hands stayed on her thighs, holding her open for him, and he leaned in and touched his tongue to her pussy.
Shoshanna made a high-pitched, startled noise,
something she wasn’t sure she’d ever heard from herself before. Max’s tongue separated her lips as he licked softly, slowly, upwards over her clit. She shuddered at the sensation, her hips twitching forward.
His hands firmed, holding her down. Then he tongued her again, and again it was long and slow, a lush pull of sensation over the whole length of her pussy. She’d never felt anything like it.
He kept going, licking her long and slow, over and over and over. The sensation built as he went, getting more and more intense, until Shoshanna could feel the orgasm inside her skin. It would only take just a little more—just a little more—
Then, instead of one more long, slow lick, Max put his mouth over her clit and sucked. Shoshanna exploded into orgasm, writhing against his mouth. She knew she was making noise, but there was a ringing in her ears so strong that she couldn't hear it.
When she was able to think again, Max had sat back. He had his smug expression on, but it was ragged at the edges. Shoshanna could tell that he was having a hard time keeping himself under control.
This was what she'd wanted. Seeing him undone, seeing him wanting her as much as she wanted him. She rallied her spaghetti-like limbs and made herself sit up. "That was fantastic," she told him. "But now it's my turn again, I think."
He breathed slowly, like he was trying to lock himself down further. Oh, no. They weren't having that. "Whatever you want," he said.
Shoshanna indicated the place she'd been lying with a sweep of her hand. She knew what she wanted, and while she would've been very happy to just pull him up from her pussy, kiss him, and tell him to get inside of her, she didn't want him hurting his leg any more than he had to.
And she wanted to make him lose that control. She wanted that more than anything.
He laid himself out for her, and she straddled his hips, holding herself over him. Her thigh muscles wanted to shake with the aftermath of that earth-shattering orgasm, but she forced herself to stay still.
His hands closed over her hips. "I think I can guess what you're planning to do."
Shoshanna smiled, leaned down, and kissed his damp lips. He tasted like her. "Well, I guess the surprise is ruined, then. Maybe I'll just stop."