Beast Untamed: Beasts of Bodmin Moor, Book 3

by Faye Avalon

  “If you want a tester, I’m your man.”

  Erin laughed. “You’ve got a sweet tooth by the looks of things. The way you enjoyed that ice cream…”

  “Yeah. I’ve got a sweet tooth.” He grinned, slow and sexy. “I remember how good you taste, don’t I?”

  Damn it. Now, with all her earlier nerves abated, she was starting to break out in a hot sweat remembering how it felt having him lick her, taste her. “We’re not going upstairs again, Nathan.”

  “Then we’ll stay here. Clear the table.”

  God in heaven, how was it that she could give herself all manner of promises to keep him at a distance, then, with a few choice words and a sexy look, he could make all those promises extinct?

  She shored up all her remaining defenses for one last push. At least then she could console herself that she’d tried her hardest to keep him away. “I’m not sure what you expect,” she said, trying to keep her hands steady. “Is this because I blew you off before you could do it to me?”

  “A man doesn’t like to be shown the door, sugar.”

  “That’s a yes, then.” Disappointment rippled through her. This was one time when his honesty wasn’t entirely welcome.

  “You didn’t let me finish. I was about to add that a man doesn’t like being shown the door when he had no intention of closing it himself.”

  “The thrill of the chase, you mean. I’m simply a loose end.”

  “There’s nothing loose about your end, sugar. It’s tight and just about perfect from where I’m sitting.”

  He grabbed her hand and tugged her onto his lap so fast, her breath came out on a whoosh. “Hey!”

  It felt so good to be this close to him again. To enjoy his warmth, draw in his masculine scent…feel his erection pushing against her backside.

  “Put your arms around my neck, Erin.”

  No sooner had she done so than his mouth came down on hers, surprisingly gentle. His tongue teased the seam of her lips and she opened to him. The kiss wasn’t tentative for either of them, and in its depth was a need that couldn’t be denied. Erin knew she still wanted him. Any doubts or warnings she had faded beneath his kiss.

  His arms tightened around her, his erection prodding with more intensity against her ass. She wasn’t going to deny him, and she sensed he knew it as well as she did.

  “What’s it to be?” he asked, waggling his eyebrows. “Table or bed.”

  Erin laughed. “Bed. I don’t think my table will stand the strain.”

  He stood with her in his arms as if she weighed nothing at all. On his way to the door, he stopped at the counter and reached one-armed for Willa’s treat tin. He flicked open the lid and grabbed a small handful of biscuits.

  “There you go, girl,” he said tossing them down to Willa who promptly set about devouring them. “Don’t say I don’t give you anything.”

  “You need to put the lid back on,” Erin said, watching in fascination. “Otherwise she’ll be up on the counter with her head in the tin. Then I’ll be up all night with a sick dog.”

  “Don’t want that,” Nathan agreed, thumping the lid back on. “I’ve got plans for you that won’t have you on your feet for a good few hours.”

  He closed the door on a happily munching Willa, and Erin tightened her arms around his neck as he thundered up her narrow stairs.

  In the bedroom, he lowered her to her feet and turned her so her back was to his chest. Holding her hips steady, he proceeded to nuzzle her neck. “You smell so good.”

  She wanted to tell him it was just soap but didn’t want to ruin the mood by stating something so banal.

  He slid his hands up to her waist, clutching the edge of her baggy top. Seconds later, he divested her of the top and threw it on the floor. His hands cupped her naked breasts. “Glad you took my advice.”

  “What advice?” Erin placed her hands over his, loving the feel of his warm flesh molding her tender breasts. She loved the feel of his mouth on her neck, the way he seemed to hover over one particular area, as if it held some secret attraction.

  “You ditched the bra. Makes for easier access to these.”

  He gave her flesh a squeeze, then rubbed his thumb over her nipples. Erin dropped her head back against his shoulder, easing her hips back and forth over his erection. “I wasn’t expecting company, so I thought I’d make myself comfortable,” she offered. “You just happen to be a bonus.”

  He pinched her nipples lightly between his thumb and forefinger. “Is that so? Then maybe I’d better make it count.”

  He slid a hand down over her waist, her stomach, and dipped his fingers inside her sweatpants. Erin knew she was already slick, so the rumble of his laughter against her neck came as no real surprise. “No panties either. You’re a real surprise tonight, Erin.”

  She clenched around the finger he slid easily inside her, all the while his hot breath whispering over her neck. Her legs had already given up the plot, and she could barely feel them. She thanked providence that he was effectively holding her up.

  Headily, she reached back and grabbed his hips, holding him tighter against her so she could feel him firm against her crease.

  His low groan resonated in her ear, and he eased her away from him. Air whisked across her lower half as suddenly her workout pants were around her ankles and she was once again naked in his arms. He turned her and she reached to his waistband and tugged his polo shirt from his jeans. “This time, you’re going to be as naked as I am.”

  He raised his arms when she slid up the shirt. “No argument here.”

  His shirt joined her clothes on the floor, then she began unzipping him. “I’ve been telling myself, trying to convince myself, that this is a bad idea. But right now? I don’t seem to have any argument with it.”

  He toed off his shoes. “Amen to that.”

  Erin yanked his jeans and boxers down over his hips, and seconds later, he stepped out of them. He caught her up and carried her to the bed. Laying her down, he flipped her over onto her stomach. Surprised, Erin tried to sit up, but his weight eased her back down to the mattress. “I need to touch you,” he said, kissing across the back of her shoulders. “Need to touch every fucking inch of you.”

  Seeing as she felt the same about him, she didn’t argue, but turned her head to the side and gave herself up to the pleasure he offered.

  He ran his hand down her back, trailing along the side of her spine, causing tiny shivers to break out wherever he touched. His hand covered her ass cheeks, slid over them with carnal intention. He reached beneath her hip and slid his finger between her pussy lips.

  Erin gasped. The feel of it was amazing with the weight of Nathan’s body pressing down and his finger pushing up inside her. She writhed against his hand while he rained kisses over her lower back. She clenched her fingers around the sheet, searching for something to hold on to as the intensity grew. She was going to come. Already.

  “Nathan…”

  He didn’t respond, just continued with that long slow rhythm of push and retreat. His length prodded against her, and she wanted him inside her so much that she tried to lift up. He only pressed her down. “Come like this,” he said moving over her, his breath sliding against her ear. “Let me feel you pulse against my fingers.”

  He’d no sooner finished the sentence when she obliged him. She pressed her head deep into the mattress, gripped that damned sheet and just flew. She couldn’t catch her breath, and his weight against her made it impossible to move, which meant all she could do was lie there and let the storm power through her.

  Coming down, she grabbed for air, but she’d no sooner released the coiled-up tension when Nathan’s hands wrapped around her hips, and he tugged her down until she was straddling the lower corner of the bed. He knelt behind her, adjusting her legs to his liking.

  With one hand on her ass, he reached behind for
his pants and grabbed a condom from the pocket.

  She turned her head to watch him sheath himself, but he coaxed her head down to the mattress. His fingers slid into her hair. “I thought this would make things difficult,” Nathan said, his voice incredibly low and husky.

  “What?” Erin managed.

  “Can’t grab hold of you,” he said, working to fist her hair. “Your hair’s too short.”

  “You’re doing pretty well,” Erin grated when he drew her head back, exposing her throat.

  He used his free hand to fist himself and touched the head of his penis to her entrance. He slid along her labia, the movement aided by her wetness. Releasing his hand, he reached beneath her and circled the tip of his finger around her clit.

  Erin felt the heat rising again, amazed at how easily he could get her to boiling point so soon after she’d just had an amazing orgasm. She moved her hips against his finger and cock. He slid in slowly, and she almost screamed in frustration when he removed his hand from her clit.

  His hand came to her ass again, and she moaned when he began molding her flesh. The light slap made her jerk, the surprise of it momentarily stealing her breath. She stiffened, then relaxed when his hand slid over her skin.

  “Okay?” His enquiry, delivered in a deep, husky tone, fired need through her body.

  “Yes,” she grated.

  “The truth, Erin.” If possible, his tone deepened further. “If you don’t want—”

  She cut off his words with a shift of her hips, her backside pushing against him.

  He drove his cock in deeper, held still and slapped her ass again. It was a little harder this time, but apart from the slight shock, Erin felt no discomfort. In fact, it seemed to be turning her on even more.

  He drew her head back so that she had to use her hands to support herself. She had never engaged in anything quite so raunchy. It felt illicit, decadent, delicious…

  Nathan pushed deeper, his breathing echoing off the walls of her tiny bedroom. He held steady once more, slapping her ass again. This time she must have let out a sound because he slid his hand beneath her hips and worked his finger on her clit.

  He drove in all the way, pushing her deeper into the mattress. He tugged lightly on her hair, encouraging her head back still more and causing her back to arch. The pressure on her pelvis was amazing.

  The rocking motion set the old bed creaking, the sound adding to the risqué feel of what they were doing.

  Nathan’s thrusts increased in speed and depth until Erin felt the friction not only from Nathan’s cock but from the slide of the sheet beneath her. Her legs were wide apart and angled across the corner of the bed, while her breasts jiggled freely. It seemed as if the assault on her senses came from every direction.

  Nathan released her head and placed his hand on her hip, lifting it and driving harder, deeper. He grunted as he climaxed, and seconds later, Erin joined him. She loved the feel of his hot semen pumping into the condom and warming through her vagina.

  He collapsed over her, his head between her shoulder blades. Erin turned her head to the side to make it easier to grab for air. She could feel Nathan’s chest rising and falling against her back.

  Erin couldn’t speak. It had been too intense, too…much. After a few intakes of much-needed oxygen, she let out a long sigh.

  Lazily, Nathan rubbed her ass cheek, the one he’d spanked. “You sure you’re okay?”

  “I’m fine.” Nobody could be more surprised than she was. It seemed she was a bit more adventurous than she’d ever thought possible. Who knew? “I’ve never done anything like that before.”

  “Yeah?”

  He eased out of her, and Erin drew her legs together. She crawled up the bed and turned on her back. Nathan prowled up over her. “There are things I want to do with you, Erin. Things I want to do to you.” He rained light kisses over her mouth, along her shoulder, across her breast.

  She ran her hands down across his back, loving how broad and muscular it was. How hot his flesh felt beneath her palms. “What sort of things?”

  He gave a low, husky laugh. “You name it. I want to do it.”

  It came as another surprise that she could actually get behind that. Sort of. “I’ve never been adventurous. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it.”

  “We’ll take things slow. If there’s anything you don’t like or don’t want me to do, you just sing out.”

  “Okay.”

  Nathan drew her nipple into his mouth and ran his tongue around the hardened nub. Then he looked up at her. The beginnings of stubble showed around his strong jaw, while his eyes glittered with wicked intent. “Just for starters, that frilly apron you were wearing at the coffee shop? Did you bring it home?”

  Chapter Nine

  In the light of his past exploits, he hadn’t been especially adventurous, Nathan thought as he let himself into his house just over a week later. For the last seven nights, he’d contented himself largely with pure vanilla, which, if he was being honest, satisfied him more with Erin than some of the more extreme activities he’d shared with other women.

  He didn’t want to spook Erin, and he couldn’t quite get past the look in her eye and the small voice that warned him not to push her too fast, too far. He had a feeling that if he’d tied her to the bed or suggested anal play, she’d put the brakes on. That was the last thing he wanted.

  Which surprised him.

  He was more than relieved that there hadn’t been a repeat of his eyes turning gold. Before that first night with Erin, his eyes only changed color when he shifted into full panther state. For other males it happened when they had sex with their chosen mate. That had shocked the hell out of him. Until Caleb had convinced him that it was an anomaly, and down to those crossed wires in his brain his friend had talked about.

  But he couldn’t forget the look on Erin’s face when she’d noticed. Shock. Disbelief. Fear.

  For the first time ever, he wondered what it would mean to tell a human woman that he was a shapeshifter. That he had the ability to morph into a panther whenever the mood took him. Not only that, but he was one of many. A pack of animal shifters who walked among humans and secretly integrated with the community.

  Shit. He was glad he never had to make that particular declaration. Since he never intended to permanently hook up with a human woman, or a shifter female, for that matter, the concern was moot.

  But the eyes-turning-gold deal had been a real issue. For the last seven nights, he’d taken steps to ensure it would never happen again. He’d kept control, directed his power into the sexual act itself and focused on the technicalities and not the woman beneath him. And willed his eyes to remain green.

  Now, walking toward his home office, he wondered how Caleb had managed the conversation with Talia. But since Talia had been married, albeit briefly, to Caleb’s half brother, she’d already known about the pack’s existence when Caleb claimed her for his own. Still, considering it wasn’t going to be an issue for him, he didn’t need to give it a further thought.

  He couldn’t deny that he felt more satisfied and laid-back than he’d felt in a long while. Which kind of pissed him the hell off. He wasn’t used to feeling this way, not even during his fuck-buddy arrangement with Naomi. Like Naomi, there was none of the whole after-sex awkwardness with Erin. She didn’t want a relationship any more than he did. Which meant he didn’t have to hedge around the whole thanks it’s been great but… conversation, and he didn’t have to firm up plans for the next time, if any, that they’d hook up.

  Which beggared the question, why was he so fucking irritated?

  Because, unlike Naomi, he wasn’t sure what to do about Erin.

  What he should do was what he always did after a night of great sex. Or in this case, several great nights. What he should do was nothing. Let things slide in the hope that they would naturally fizzle out. O
r maybe discuss another friends-with-benefits arrangement with Erin. But that meant Erin would be free to hook up with someone else. Someone like that jerk at the coffee shop.

  The flare of possession was so intense, he felt his claws lengthen and his fangs descend. Shit. He needed to run, clear his head. Get that damn female out of his thoughts.

  A sound from his office brought his attention back. Entering, he was momentarily surprised to see Tynan sitting at the computer.

  “Well, well. Good of you to show up.” Tynan sat back in his chair, folded his arms across his chest and tutted, an easy grin spreading slowly across his mouth. “And just before the clock strikes noon.”

  Nathan spared his friend a glance but continued to his own computer without breaking stride. He didn’t care for having his life monitored or people keeping a check on his comings and goings. “What are you? My mother?”

  “Thankfully, no. Although I’m sure your departed mother would have something to say about her only son staying out all night.”

  Briefly, he wondered which mother Tynan was referring to. His birth mother or adopted one. The thought layered fresh irritation to that which was already there.

  “I’m thirty years old, for fuck’s sake. I get to run my own life. When did you get back anyway? And how did you get here? Didn’t see your excuse for a vehicle in my driveway.”

  “Got back last night. Naomi was getting antsy about missing her patients. I swear my female is one of a kind. She dropped me off as my car’s in for service. So who’s the lucky lady?”

  “What?”

  “The one who kept you out all night and the one you stayed to enjoy breakfast with.” Tynan made a show of glancing at his watch. “Or should I say brunch.”

  It came as no surprise that Caleb hadn’t mentioned Nathan hooking up with Erin to their friend. Caleb was as circumspect as a man could be. Like Nathan, he considered a man’s business to be his own.