by J. K Harper
Even if it seemed arrogant to admit it, Tate knew he was extremely good at reading body language. And Claire's body language was crystal clear, even if he still sensed some hesitation behind her eyes. In a split second, he firmly made up his mind on how to approach the rest of the evening.
The elevator stopped and the doors opened. Without skipping a beat, Tate reached for Claire's hand and gently tugged her out. Trying not to stagger from the sparks of flaming desire as his skin touched hers, he quietly said, “Which room, Claire? Because right now, darlin', I can't even remember my own name for wanting you so badly. So please take me to your bed before I explode right here in this hallway.”
Her beautiful lips slowly parted as her pulse wildly sped up. Clear green eyes wide and focused on him, Claire stared at him. His wolf pushed hard at his mind, demanding to be let out so he could claim his mate. Gently, Tate brought her hand up to his mouth and grazed the back of it with his lips, never taking his eyes from hers.
Claire closed her eyes. A small, needy sound escaped her, nearly causing Tate to spasmodically crush her hand in his as he struggled for control for at least another several moments. Swallowing hard, Claire opened her eyes. They'd darkened to a smoky green with her arousal. Voice low and full of an intent that had Tate swaying on his feet, she said, “Follow me, then.”
Chapter Four
Claire held her breath as they hustled into her hotel room. The pressure between her legs seemed full to bursting. Behind her, Tate was completely silent. She was so keenly attuned to his presence, though, that she could sense his own undeniable need as loudly as if he were yelling it. The second the door softly clicked shut behind him, Claire turned a half step and looked over her shoulder at the gorgeous man who prowled into the room after her.
Tate sucked in his breath, then breathed out, “Claire.” All laughter was gone from his expression. The intensity in his chocolate-brown eyes touched Claire on an equally deep level. Her wolf stirred even more strongly, staring back at Tate through Claire's eyes with an avid hunger. Easily, Claire let her wild side guide this most instinctual of dances.
“Yes,” she breathed back, nodding her head once. “Yes, please.”
The dark-haired cowboy needed no further invitation. A groan spilling out of his mouth, he strode forward the two steps it took him to reach her and enveloped her in a embrace that tangled their lips, their tongues, their arms together. Claire felt fire lick along her limbs, racing through her in alternating hot shivers as Tate's mouth descended on hers, gently demanding and finding entrance. The spicy, heady maleness of his scent overwhelmed her as the mingled sound of their breathing filled the room.
He felt so right. His body molded against hers perfectly. Claire moaned into him as his tongue explored her. Her legs shook a bit. Tate slid a hand down her back, then over the swell of her rear. Gasping, she tipped her head back a bit as sensations zinged through her. She felt her rational human reasoning drift away as her feral side took over, guiding her movements with joyous excitement. The sense of utter acceptance she felt about this man still somewhat baffled her, but she wasn't about to question it now. Not when she knew down to her toes he was about to touch and stroke her body into stratospheric sensations. She'd missed this.
Not only that, it somehow felt like she'd also missed this particular man.
Tate leaned down and nipped at her neck. His teeth grazed the hypersensitive skin there, sending mini earthquakes of desire skittering through her.
“I like it when you groan like that,” he murmured. The movement of his lips made a delightful buzzing against her skin. “Have to admit I'd been wondering what you'd sound like when I kissed you.”
“Oh, really?” she managed to say. Her voice came out in a ragged whisper. The faint background roaring of something huge and undeniable began to overtake her, pushing her rational human side ever farther back as her purely instinctive wolf side reveled in this sensual moment.
“Yes, indeed, darlin'. Since the very moment I saw you.”
His lips traveled up her neck, slowly exploring, each centimeter of their movement causing more ripples to shimmy their way down her skin. She'd never known her neck was so capable of sensation. When Tate's lips reached her ear and carefully played with the soft lobe, Claire gasped in surprise at the intensity of the feelings that made her shiver and twist in his arms. A bolt of wet need pulsed between her legs so powerfully she wondered if she was actually about to climax on the spot.
“God, Claire,” he murmured, amazement sounding from his own voice. “You are so responsive to my touch. Can you tell what that does to me?” He growled those last words, pressing hard against her body.
Yes. Yes, she could indeed feel the impact she had upon him. The hard length of his cock pressed into her thigh, hot and straining against his jeans. Whimpering a bit, Claire let the little shudders of anticipation race up and down her spine. A hot wave rolled through her, seeming to melt her bones and her mind into a puddle of goo.
Pulling back from him, she tugged at his fingers and pulled him to the king-sized bed. The hotel cleaning staff had left it neatly made. She was about to muss the hell out of it with this man. This man, who made her weak in the knees, scattered in the head, and tingling all over her body. This man she'd just met, didn't even know, but who felt so comfortable it was if she'd been with him her entire life.
This gorgeous, stunning man she was about to get very naked and sweaty with. Breath hitching in her chest, she turned around to face him when they reached the foot of the bed. Tate's eyes were darkened almost to black with his desire. Slowly, she rubbed her hands up his arms, feeling him shiver as she did. The slide of his muscles beneath her fingers made her pulse bang as she felt the strength in them. He could hold her so easily, keep her safe in his arms.
The faraway thought that she didn't need him to keep her safe, she could protect herself just fine, flared briefly before flickering out completely as she batted it away. This moment. This moment was all she cared about right now.
She lightly ran her fingers up to his shoulders, then traced the collar of his shirt before dipping them under it to touch his bare skin. A satisfied male groan told her how much he liked that.
“Come here.” She whispered the words, watching him closely. His pulse jumped and his black licorice eyes, darkened from his arousal, were half-lidded but far from sleepy. “I want to feel you close to me. Like this,” she added, and pushed herself up against him. The long, firm length of his body against her once more made them both inhale, hard. Claire could smell the sweet need of his desire as much as hers. Caution fled her as she allowed her senses to drive her fully.
Gently, Tate leaned on her until the backs of her knees bent at the edge of the bed. Guided by his hand at the small of her back, she slowly felt herself reclining in a half-sitting, half-lying down position onto the mattress. Tate braced himself on his arms above her, looking into her eyes. She saw the focus of his wolf staring out, making Tate's eyes glow behind their darkness. Carefully, he urged them both farther up the bed until they lay completely on it. Silence held them in thrall the entire time, although Claire's heart beat so loudly she was positive he had to hear it.
“Claire,” he said in a casual voice.
“Mm?” She wondered if it was possible for her heart to beat its way out of her chest.
“How attached are you to your clothes, darlin'?” His voice hoarsened. Lowering himself to one elbow, the other arm still bracing above her, he trailed a fingertip along her side.
Sucking in a sharp breath at his touch, Claire shook her head, slightly confused. “I have other clothes. Why?”
Tate smiled and hooked a finger beneath her blouse. “Because I want you out of them, now. But I don't want to make you too mad at me just yet.”
Despite the nearly overwhelming sensations zipping through her tensed, ready body, Claire stuttered out a small laugh. “If you make me mad, guess you'll just have to pay the price for it.”
Tate groaned.
“Don't tease me like that. Oh, god,” he muttered. Closing his eyes for the briefest second, when he opened them again their rich glow stole Claire's breath. “I can't hold back anymore.”
Arching herself into him, pressing her breasts against his hard chest, she urgently replied, “Then don't.”
With another small groan tearing out of his throat, Tate ripped her blouse off in one move, sending popped buttons zinging off all over the bed and onto the carpet. Claire gasped from shock and a sharp, aching spike in her wild desire. Her panties immediately flooded with hot, wet warmth. Tate gazed down at her breasts, encased in a lacy rose-colored bra, with the worshipful attention of a man who was aware of nothing else in the world at the moment. Muttering a low swear word, he reached down to cup one breast in his hand.
Claire uttered an inarticulate cry, thrusting herself into his hand as her nipple stiffened just from the touch of his fingers on her bra. Hot swirls of feeling puckered her nipple even more as he began to play with it through the silky fabric.
“Christ, Claire,” he muttered. “You're beyond stunning.” She closed her eyes, spinning in the sensations his light touch caused. “Claire, beautiful woman, look at me,” he suddenly demanded.
Dragging her eyes back open, she stared back at him, feeling as if a lit firecracker was bouncing around inside her, beautifully enflaming everything it touched.
“Am I going too fast here?” His voice was heavy with need.
“No.” She shook her head hard to emphasize it. “Not fast enough,” she added, reaching up her arms to him and pulling him down to her for another long, deep kiss.
Tate said something but it muffled in her mouth. He tasted just like his spicy chocolate scent, all smoky and rich and exploding on her tongue. This time, though, his hands explored her body. One lingered on her breasts, exploring first one, then the other. His other hand traveled down her hip, tracing her leg through her pants. He slowly swirled his fingers, heating small infernos under her skin and eliciting more small cries from her.
He was so strong. So exciting. So—so him.
Mine, her most primal part thought in a firm rush of possessiveness that left Claire breathless. Mine.
***
Tate wondered if he might pass out from the sheer intoxication of Claire's kiss. Feeling her soft, supple body beneath his, so pliant and open, was shutting down all thinking in his brain. The bewitching scent of hers, that wild pure snow scent that also enveloped him with the sense of his home, suffused him on all levels.
Breath catching in his throat again as he pulled back a bit to look at her gorgeous face, he felt the spiraling desire rocketing through him. Slowly. Take it slowly.
Claire growled just the slightest bit, startling and arousing him at the same time. “More,” she demanded, and pulled his face back down to hers, greedily exploring him with her lips and tongue.
After another long moment lost in the kiss, Tate pulled back again with reluctance. Just as she protested, though, he slid his hand around her back and managed to fumble off the clasp of her bra. The strap loosened, freeing her breasts. Claire half sighed, half groaned, the sound lengthening Tate's cock ever more and forcing his control to be tightly leashed. Otherwise, he'd just rip off the rest of her clothes and plunge into her sweet, willing warmth.
“I like the sounds you make,” he said, nuzzling his face into her neck before sliding the bra straps down her arms and off. As the gorgeous fullness of her breasts tumbled free, Tate groaned himself. “Christ, woman, you're going to kill me.”
Claire smiled, running light fingertips over the nape of his neck as the green of her eyes glowed with rich desire. Then Tate nestled his face into her breasts and gently sucked one raised nipple into his mouth. She arched her back into him, her breathy cries and moans urging him on. Tasting her sweet nipples one at a time, he gently swirled them with his tongue. She pushed his head into her, making him ever more bold. Light nips at her breasts with his teeth excited her more, to judge by her immediate response.
“Don't stop,” she said. “Don't stop, don't stop, don't stop.” The nearly breathless chant drove him on. He splayed his fingers around one breast, still biting the nipple, amazed at how the simple act of tasting her there set his brain on fire and made his body shake.
“Not stopping now,” he said. “No way. Well,” he pulled back to look into her face again, which was flushed and needy, “except maybe to do this.”
Coming onto his knees so he straddled her body, he ripped off his own shirt, making more buttons fly onto the bed. Claire giggled and gasped at the same time, though her eyes darkened to a deep, smoldering green. “That's a nice shirt you're ruining there, cowboy,” she said, voice caught between teasing and craving.
“Don't need it for what I'm about to do.”
Claire's breath caught in her throat as she continued to stare at him, pulse battering against the side of her neck. Tate smiled at her, then slowly inched himself down her legs so he could reach the zipper on her pants.
***
Feeling like her heart was trying to bang its way out her chest, Claire drank in the sight of a shirtless Tate with all the avidity of a woman long parched. The muscles rippling along his arms shot small shudders of desires racing along her skin, as did his stunning chest and abs.
Not that she was shallow, but wow, was the man utterly gorgeous.
When his hand reached for her pants zipper, she felt light-headed and spinny. The soft snicking sound as he slowly drew it down sent a new flood of warmth through her belly and her already desperately aching clit. She throbbed so hard between her legs it was nearly painful.
“Tate,” she said, voice low and feral.
She didn't have to say anything else. His eyes caught on hers as he started to shimmy her pants down her hips, then completely off. Only her panties remained to cover her. The look in his eyes as he took a long moment to examine her body told her he was barely holding onto his control.
She didn't want him to.
“Tate,” she said again, reaching her hand toward him. Gently dragging her fingers against his own hard nipples and down his sculpted chest, which made him gasp, she said in a low, urgent voice, “I want you. Right now. Don't hold back.”
His entire face rippled with a quick succession of emotions, from surprise to pleasure to pure lust. With only the barest of grins to signal his intentions, he reach down and tore off her panties. The shredded fabric got tossed to the side. Taking a moment to travel his eyes down and then up her body, Tate then stood up on the bed, legs on either side of Claire's stretched out, utterly naked body.
“Anything you say, darlin'.” With that promise, he shucked off his jeans, staying balanced with an oddly catlike grace above her.
Claire's jaw slowly fell to her chest as she stared up at Tate, standing naked above her in all of his glorious maleness. Her brain completely fuzzed out for a moment at the sight of his lean, strong legs, the narrow waist topped by rippling muscles, and that gorgeously engorged part of him she was suddenly desperate to touch. Reaching out to him, struggling to sit up from the softness of the bed, a tiny gasp tore out of her throat when Tate suddenly jumped back down to stretch his body along hers. His long, hard shaft pressed up against her inner thighs, which she parted with a needy moan. But Tate shook his head at her, letting just a touch of that teasing grin play at his lips.
“Let me lead you, darlin'.” His whisper teetered at the edge of control, but she was fully aware he knew what he was doing. With a quick nod, she breathlessly waited for his next move.
With one hand, Tate grabbed both of hers and pulled them over her head, where he lightly held them together. Claire gave a token struggle to test his strength, then another. He tightened his grasp in small increments, still watching her carefully despite the roiling need she saw almost completely surfaced in his eyes. But she let a pleased smile linger on her face so he knew how she felt about being held down by him.
She loved it. She wanted nothing more than to open f
or him utterly, to let him consume and possess her in a way she'd never before allowed. Never before known she wanted.
“Yes,” she whispered, the word almost lost in the ragged breathing that filled the room. “Please, yes.”
“Claire,” he groaned her name. Lightly nipping at her ear, her neck, tracing her collarbones with his tongue, he let his other hand slip back down her body. It first fondled her breasts, gently tugging at her nipples, setting off more seismic shudders deep inside her. His hand danced over her ribs, slowly curved over her side, then dipped in to explore her belly button—which made her ticklish, so she arched away from that touch with a tiny shriek. She felt him grin against her shoulder, which he then lightly bit. The sensation of his teeth gently scraping over her skin triggered the desire to feel him do exactly that farther down. Between her legs, where she burned with an aching need to be filled. Something huge built inside her, some sort of frenzy that had her writhing beneath him, thinking of nothing and no one else in the world.
“Now,” she said, a growl making it an order. “Now!”
But he chuckled and shook his head. “You're letting me lead this dance,” he said, raising his head to look into her eyes again. His eyes glowed fully. She knew he was being driven almost completely by his wild instincts. “You have to be patient just a little longer.”
“No!” She practically wailed the word. Thrashing against his hold, bringing her longing hips up against his, she spread her legs so she could wrap them around him, to capture him close to her. But Tate was too quick for her again. His free arm inexorably pushed her left leg back onto the bed. She fought again, until his hand quested right to that one spot her entire world had narrowed down to. Immediately, she stopped struggling, almost holding her breath as she waited for his first touch there.
As soon as his fingers touched her wet folds, Claire cried out from the exquisiteness of it. Tate made a choked sound as his fingers explored her, one slipping inside her while another gently twirled around the hardened little nub above. “Ah, you're so damn wet for me. Christ, woman, you're ready, aren't you.” The richness of his voice was framed with a rough edge. “Ah, god, I can't hold back, Claire.”