Skin against skin.
My cock started to harden.
My Wolf leapt in anticipation.
Shit. I needed to get her back to the cave before she was solid ice. She bolted because of me and my big mouth. Whatever I had to do to keep her safe was now part of my future. I owed her. I stepped toward her.
She turned when I was two steps away. “Beast.” Her words were broken. But she stepped into my chest without any hesitation.
Into my heat. Shifters had more of it than Normals.
Her body quaked with tremors. “Cold,” she sputtered and snaked her arms around my waist to cling to my bare slick skin.
Poor mite. She'd be warm and dry again in a few moments. I swung her into my arms and hopped into a trot.
She settled into me, burying her nose into my neck with her arms wrapped around my shoulders.
The touch of her skin against mine, the heat of her breath made my legs move faster as she clung with determination, her teeth rattling as fast as a woodpecker could drill.
Everything heated up with each of my footfalls.
Especially the boiling blood in my groin. Luckily, I cleared the biting wind and rain into the sheltering cave to find the fire's orange flames still licking away at a log.
Bless all holy and revered things. Because a chill rattled my bones. Maybe it was just my body picking up on Sylvie's chills. I knelt beside the fire's heat and settled her insignificant weight down upon my lap. Yet, there was nothing else insignificant about her.
"I don't know what you meant to achieve, Little Bit, but running in the freezing rain accomplished nothing."
Her teeth chattered. She tugged her quivering arms away from my neck.
Loneliness. Gods-be-damned loneliness slunk into my bones.
Why did my body yearn for those arms to hold me?
Her mouth moved, silently, incapable of uttering words. But her gaze stayed pinned to the cave's floor.
She was freezing. The last thing I needed was to have to deal with another catastrophe. “I have to remove your clothing and wrap you up. Do you understand?"
Her eye widened in profile, and she nodded.
She had enough sense not to attempt to argue. I unzipped her coat and yanked at the sucking leather on her arms. She shivered and flinched.
More likely from her body's attempt to warm her bones than my peeling off its layers of clothing. From her slender curves. Beyond slender. She hadn't eaten much on her little cross-country trek.
How could I have been so heartless? Driving her out of my cave. What kind of man did such a thing to a weak frightened woman needing help? Tonight only reiterated the point I shouldn't have anything to do with other people beyond simple trading or freeing someone from bastards like Prophets.
Gods damn. I yanked at the buckles on her boots and pulled the heels.
They were overly heavy. Or secure. Probably loaded with a small fortune. The sneaky little wealthy princess. I wouldn't call her on her hidden coin though. She was panicked enough.
Her jerking arms immediately crossed her bare breasts.
She seemed to try to warm herself. But the Gods knew her actions were futile. I left her panties on just in case she was embarrassed and retrieved dry blankets and hides to wrap her and rub the remaining dampness from her skin. If that was even possible after she ensured the autumn chill burrowed in to chill her marrow for the season.
The fire's heat caressed my skin like lover's hands as I wildly rubbed up a friction with the hide along her arms and back.
Her gaze remained on her lap though.
Safely. Or defeated? Little Bit? Probably ashamed at her sudden irrational lapse of thought. Humiliated. She should be with that ridiculous stunt of running into the storm. Her conquered posture was enough to make me bite back another lecture though. Especially when my cock decided the fire was hot enough to blow the mindless thing up like a balloon.
My Wolf panted, gaping at a mile of sensuous curves. Lean and untouched curves.
Mine, he howled.
No. Not another mate. I'd failed my first one. I didn't deserve another.
Her body jerked and flinched beneath the wolf skin in my hands. “Can-t-t get wa- warm,” she sputtered.
Fine then. I'd manage the old-fashioned way. I dropped the hide, grabbed her under the arms, and hefted her onto the damp pants covering my Wolf's club.
She didn't open her eyes as her elbows jabbed into my arms where they protected her breasts from touching my chest, and she tucked her cold nose into my neck.
Probably more to avoid eye-to-eye contact.
Damn, she was so icy. So frozen. Stiff but rattling with shivers.
In one sudden move, she jerked her elbows wide and glided her frozen palms around the barrel of my chest. “Co-old-d."
The chill in her body didn't wipe out my hard-on. No. Heat billowed through me like the flames racing across the fire's log. Sending the last drops of my boiling blood flooding into my cock.
Wolf jumped. Panting. Clawing at my chest.
Every ounce of my sanity metamorphosed into an awareness of Little Bit. Her icy skin melting into velvet. Her trembles turning into sleek contentment. Her erratic breathing fading into a patter of her heart. The thorny points of her nipples piercing my pectorals right above my own nipples.
My hard-on throbbed, pinned beneath her ass.
I brushed my fingers down the sweet curve of her back and pulled her delicate frame into my Wolf.
He hummed in contentment.
She fidgeted, sliding a thigh over one side of my lap until she straddled my cock trapped inside my pants. And she sighed, the longest, most revealing sound I'd ever heard.
She was mine. All mine.
And I didn't want her.
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Chapter Five
Sylvie focused on the shushing rain outside the cave and tried to ignore the rattling heart tapping against hers. Beast's strength in his pliant muscles became the cave. Small. Warm. Comforting. Enveloping me. His hand soothing away my fears.
He felt so damned good. And he made me feel so safe.
Oh. Dear. God. I wanted him to lean me down onto the hard cold earth and run those hands all over my body. Spread my legs until my joints resisted. Fill my body with the pulsing thickness I felt beneath his damp pants. Over and over until we couldn't stay awake. The way I'd watched so many others having sex when I spied on them throughout my childhood.
Why, oh why, couldn't I feel safe and satiated one night before returning to the real world? I leaned back slightly, sliding my cheek against the bristly whiskers of his cheek, and met his glowing yellow gaze.
Those golden eyes were the telltale sign. His Wolf fought to surface. But he was so gentle with me. Holding back his beast. Would he balk at my request? It was simple. One night to remember. To understand how life was meant to be. After all, I never spoke up before. “Beast?"
His lips hung but inches from mine. “Yes?"
"One night."
He stared at my lips. Fixated.
Was he even listening? “One night before I face reality."
His golden gaze flicked to meet mine.
A question hung therein. Did he know what I wanted to say? Did he wonder if I could spit out the words? “I want to feel safe, Beast. Make love to me."
He inhaled so deeply.
Like he tried to push me away with his glorious skin that I'd be damned to shrink away from by filling his lungs.
He whisked his calloused palm along one side of my back, halting beneath my arm to brush his thumb slowly, tickling my rush of breath out of me, ever-so-lightly across the outer curve of my breast, moving onward up my side until he wrapped his palm around my jaw, tilting my head up, gazing into my fiery eyes.
Yes. I'd chosen the right man for the job. He could melt my soul with his gentleness. But would he push me away again? Would he? Was I really that young to him? Childish? Definitely after my stupidity from bolting into the rain. But ho
w could I be repulsive the way his steely shaft pulsed beneath my leg?
His gaze studied my eyes, my nose, my lips as he turned his face, slightly. Ever-so slightly. He exhaled.
Hell. Nude. I sat nude, straddling a stick of dynamite, and all he could do was breathe? A girl had to do everything. I pressed my lips up to the satin of his. “Love me,” I whispered against the velvety softness of his mouth.
And he opened that mouth, planting heat over mine. Sliding his hand to the back of my head. Holding me at his convenience.
I'd been kissed before. Many times. And I'd be cursed if he got away tonight.
If he didn't want me in the morning, he didn't want me. But tonight, I think he did. I thrust my tongue into the warm cavern of his mouth. Inviting him to take what he wanted.
He devoured my mouth with a groan, matching my little seductive reminder of penetration with his strong tongue and used his other hand to pull my crotch against his lower belly.
His hard iron shaft throbbed next to the most sensitive place on my body.
My mind reeled.
Begged for understanding of what happened between a man and a woman beyond simple observation and reading secondhand accounts. I wanted those lips sucking on my breasts. I wanted those hands fingering everything naughty on my body. Now. So damned now. He could pull me into another world. Into him. And I'd go willingly. There was nothing left for me in this life. Nothing but the tingles the touch of his skin ignited all over my body.
His hand slid across my waist, draping the curve, stopping. Lingering as if he enjoyed measuring my thickness. Then moved on to rub his thumb in circles around my navel.
Playing with my mind. Sucking me down into a pit of need.
I groaned, dragging in a gulp of air, running my palms down the lush dips and rises of his chest.
He backed away, just enough to gaze into my eyes, hissing.
No, to watch my hands touch him or to look down as if watching his thumb kneading my navel. Not a bad thing since my taut nipples had embedded my breasts into his chest. He must gravitate toward breasts.
He wouldn't be getting away tonight.
Maybe even tomorrow.
My sex ached badly, low in my belly, or lower.
He sighed, rolling his golden Wolf eyes up without turning his head. “You're so beautiful."
My soul melted.
Gushing in a flurry, downward, billowing down, until I ached relentlessly in the most intimate of places.
A little uncontrollable oh escaped my lips.
A loud breath knifed out of his nose. “It's been a long time, Little Bit. I don't know if I can keep a leash on my Wolf. I don't want to hurt you. Or scare you."
How could anyone with that wonderfully serious edge to his voice hurt me? “You won't. Please, Beast, please lay me down and show me how a man loves a woman. Before it's too late, and I never know."
His eyes flashed with awareness.
A chill skittered through me.
My nipples ached with a pinch.
And slowly, ever-so-slowly with an unwavering scrutinizing gaze, the iron of his rock-hard body pressed me backward, lowering me until my shoulders touched the furs he'd dropped on the ground earlier. His supple flesh pressed into mine. Pinning me spread-eagled for his pleasure with a tilt of his hips. Right where my body ached the most.
Oh how I wanted him to find pleasure with my body. To want me enough to keep me with him. Here. In his safe little world.
He just studied me with his nose a hair's width from mine. “My Wolf wants to claim you. Sink its teeth into your neck, Little Bit. Eat you until your scent roots in its nostrils. Does that frighten you?"
No. I wagged my head. “All I've ever wanted was for a man to want me like that,” I whispered. “Not a bastard. But a real man."
He growled, eyeing my neck. “I can't. You deserve better. A worthy man."
My choice. “You don't get to make my mind up for me. I don't care how goddamned twisted the world is AEI. It's my choice."
His ravenous gaze locked onto mine. “I can't stop, Sylvie,” he groaned a pitiful sound. “But I won't ruin your future for you. You'll be able to walk away. I swear.” His massaging lips fell onto my cheek and kneaded fiery kisses into my skin on a march across my jaw.
Down. To the pulse at the juncture of my neck and collarbone.
He latched on and sucked with need.
Lower. Feast on my nipples. Yes. Lower. I thrust my fingers into his damp hair and shoved his intoxicating mouth toward the mounds aching to feed him.
He chuckled and trailed his tongue along with an infectious tickle to one of my breasts and withdrew the molten heat of his mouth. “Watch me, Little Bit."
Oh, who needed to watch? With my eyes closed, I could feel his every move.
"Watch me,” he growled.
Okay. I somehow hoisted up my extremely heavy head and found his glowing eyes poised over my bulging mounds.
He grabbed a beaded nipple between a finger and thumb and pinched. “Watch me, Little Bit,” he commanded. “Watch me want your body. Watch me enjoy every inch of you. I promise it'll make you hotter."
"I don't think I can get any hotter."
He growled and trailed out his tongue to circle the tip around my aching nub.
Lightning bolted through me.
Just suck. I arched against his wet tool of torture.
His gaze never wavered. But he dropped his mouth to take my hard pearl between his squeezing lips. To pull it. To stretch it into the most delightful pain my body ever felt shooting through me like electricity. A searing line all the way to my grinding hips.
He slid a hand beneath my panties, slowly through my silken hairs, between my folds.
I jumped with a gasp.
"The anticipation will kill a person,” he snarled.
Amen came to mind. But Christianity might kill the mood. I slithered against his amazing skin and whined.
"Why do I think you're ready for slaughter?” he chuckled.
"Because you're so damned perfect,” I groaned, planting my hands on his shoulders and pushing him down.
"Nobody's perfect, Sylvie.” He nibbled at my other knotted nipple, tugging it between his sharp teeth, pulling it into a long stretch of tissue.
He really needed to stop worrying about what everyone thought. Everyone except me. I slid my palms along his bulky shoulders until I could grab onto his queue and turn his full attention to my face. “You are perfect the way you make me feel."
He snarled the wildest sound, revealing sharp Wolf teeth.
Oh yes, he cranked up the heat. My furnace flared so high that sweat beaded upon my brow. I wanted him more than any man I fantasized about possessing. Forever. But the forever aspect would surely dampen his mood. And I wasn't ready to give up on his exploratory foray. Not now that I had his full attention.
"Sylvie,” he groaned against my skin, releasing my nipple, scooting down, past my breast, dropping his gaze until I could barely see one glowing eye. And his tongue went to work lathing the length of each of my ribs.
I want him.
Inside me.
I need him.
I writhed and whined.
"Patience,” he muttered. “It's going to be a long night, Little Bit."
Playing with fire was a dangerous game, Beast thought while thrusting his tongue into her navel. Having to move instead of enjoying every last twitch of her body was murder. But the seductive little minx squirming the heat of her sex against my cock was about to hang me beyond redemption. No shifting though. Never. This first time, she needed a man with a gentle touch. Not a roaring, snarling, hairy animal plugging her to the gills with his over-sized cock. Ribbed or not. Women seemed to like it though. But not the first time when her body needed a little easing into the concept.
"Beast!” she whined.
Gods-be-damned, her little navel was so lick-able. The more she rocked her hips, the more I wanted to lick. However, I'd have to pick up the pace. I could pla
y with her afterward. All night. I shoved my shoulders off her wet sex and slid down to the place where all hell was going to knock me for a loop where someone undoubtedly laid a trap, encircling the sweet hollow of her sex with a hangman's noose.
So much for avoiding temptation. I'd have to be careful or dangle in my death throes.
The muskiness of her soft nether folds made my Wolf snarl.
Yearn to claim its territory. Fight for air. Shit. Better to get this over with. Or Wolf would win. I dragged my tongue along the salty slit of her folds.
She cried as her hips rocked furiously.
Oh yes. Mine.
Shut up, Wolf. I'd truly lost my mind. But what could a man do when the sweetest, sassiest, sexy little female just threw herself at his soul? She needed me.
Wolf snorted, sucking in deep breaths.
The animal would terrify her. I had to draw in the reins. Just plow home.
But Wolf wanted to play. Eat. Devour her.
I latched onto her salty nub and sucked until Wolf shuddered with unruly possession.
Bad. Very bad. Can't let him mark her. Gotta let her go tomorrow.
Mine.
Sit, Wolf. Or it ends now. I choked back a roar.
Wolf calmed.
Only until I began licking her. Lapping up every trace of her musky saltiness. Making her warmth squirm against my tongue.
"Please, Beast!” Her hips rocked wildly against my teeth.
Begging was good. As good as eating her. Gods, I'd be hungry tomorrow. I shoved onto my palms and walked my hands up alongside her slender body. Past those perfect round breasts and their pink pointed nipples I'd never forget. Ever. Up to where her chestnut hair swirled like a dark haze behind her head where it fanned out against the wolf skin she laid upon. Did she realize it was a wolf pelt?
Wolf growled.
A dead wolf, Wolf. Not competition.
And I'd leave her with memories that always haunted the competition my memories faced. Time to teach her all about g-spots.
Her hands slithered across my back. Then her legs. She whimpered.
Resurrecting The Beast [Werescape Book II] Page 4