by Vonnie Davis
She padded back into the living room and climbed onto her man again. Her man. Didn’t she wish? Where did that thought come from? Wasn’t it just yesterday she was afraid to get close to him or any guy? Get a grip, girl.
“Wolf. Wolf, wake up.”
His long, dark lashes fluttered a couple times before they opened. A slow, sexy smile spread and her world went from morning grey to rainbow bright.
What the heck is wrong with me? Where’s my control?
“Morning, sweetheart.” A lock of his dark hair hung over his forehead. She pushed it back, surprised at the silkiness. His large hand slipped under her shorts and cupped her bottom just as it had in his sleep.
“You’ve got your hand on my ass.”
“Yeah.” He stretched one muscled arm over his head and yawned, seemingly quite pleased with himself. “And a mighty fine ass it is.” Just for good measure, he squeezed it.
He also had a massive morning hard-on, but she wasn’t mentioning that. She’d slept all night in his arms. With Tommy Ray demanding his room to sprawl out on the bed, they’d never lain with their limbs entwined. This was a first. Yet, snuggled against this man, she’d slept better than she had in years.
“Your lisp is gone.”
“So it is.” She hadn’t noticed until he mentioned it.
“How’s your head this morning?” Wolf’s forehead was wrinkled in concern and she was touched once again by his caring nature. Well, why the hell not.
She cupped her hands around his face, enjoying the whisker stubble against her palms. “I feel wonderful.”
His eyes widened when she leaned in and claimed his lips. She moved her mouth over Wolf’s soft lips, angling her head so her nose wouldn’t touch his. The hand on her bare backside opened and closed twice, before a masculine groan rumbled from deep inside. She rocked a couple times against his erection. Both of his muscular arms banded around her waist as he pressed kisses down her neck. “You better stop this while I still have some control left.”
There, he’d done it again. He put her welfare ahead of his needs. Evidently, this was part of his personality. Hadn’t he left the SEALs to take care of his family after their parents died in a fire? Was that why he became a fireman? To save the parents of other children so they wouldn’t know the pain he and his siblings had? What was it he’d said last night about wolves? Something about rendering service where there was no reward? This altruistic man stood head and shoulders taller than any she’d ever known.
She kissed his chin and then both his eyes. “Do you have a condom?”
The emotions that played out on his face fascinated her. He was more complex than she’d imagined. Could she reach the part of him he kept so tightly caged, the part that desired for himself? What were his secret yearnings? Did he ever reveal them to anyone? Well, he would to her. She’d find them; dig deep into him until he showed her the real Wolf.
She ran her tongue over his lips and a tremble jogged through him. “Condom?”
He raised his hips and reached into his back pocket, tugging out his wallet. Where most men had pictures in plastic sleeves, he had foil packets. She compressed the flame of jealousy that scorched through her veins to singe her heart. How many women was he seeing that he needed to carry them like this?
His wallet hit the coffee table after Wolf retrieved one. He held the packet between his fingers and she snatched it from him.
“Before I put this on you, Dan Wolford, I want to make one thing clear. In my ignorance, I shared my ex-husband with other women. I won’t share you. If you and I only last a week, it’ll be one week where you’re only having sex with me.” She waved the condom at him. “Are we clear?”
Dark eyelashes blinked and seriousness smoothed Wolf’s facial features. “Crystal.” He forked fingers through his hair. “Get up.”
Her heart dropped along with the condom he’d handed her. Had she pushed him too far? Demanded too much? Then so be it. Better to know now before she allowed her feelings to color the picture. She’d not be hurt or used again. She stood and waited for him to leave. Einstein trotted over and shoved his muzzle against her hand. The dog was so good at reading her emotions.
Her not-so-willing sex partner reached for his wallet and condom, shoving both into his back pocket. Her wounded feminine pride limped back to its hiding place.
With a resigned sigh, she shifted to her desk and fiddled with the flowers Wolf had sent her. Well, so much for that. Looks like once more I’m not going to be woman enough to keep a guy from leaving.
His hand snaked out and wrapped around her waist, pulling her to him. “Don’t go so far. This deal goes both ways. I won’t share you with anyone either.” Her dog growled and Wolf smiled. “Okay, I’ll acquiesce to you for the moment, Einstein.” His dark gaze flitted back to her. “Look, sweetheart, I’ve got no problem with being exclusive, but what’s happening between us will damn well last more than a week.” He scooped her into his arms and carried her up the stairs.
“What are you doing?” She laughed, surprised at how happy she was at this particular second. He wasn’t leaving. He was staying and by the way desire darkened his eyes, he was planning on doing delightful things to her. Yay for me!
“Tell your dog to stay. I’m not making love to you with his beady eyes watching. Our first time is going to be in a bed—alone, naked, sweaty and so damn into each other a nuclear blast could melt the roof off this place and we’d never notice.”
Well, this was different. A speedboat of desire raced through her system. “Really?”
“Bet on it.”
“Einstein, get on your chair and stay.”
Chapter 9
Before Wolf carried her into the bedroom, he stopped and kissed her lips. God, she had a sweet mouth. “Close your eyes.” If she saw her reflection in the mirror as he carried her to the bed, she’d freak. Both eyes were black. Hell, nearly her whole face was bruised. Even her lips bore a strange bluish tint.
“Why?” She smiled, her white teeth gleaming in a face dappled with bruises. Even in this marked state, her beauty nearly brought him to his knees. Her arms were wrapped around his neck and he inclined his head to kiss her shoulder.
“God, you’re so beautiful. Close your eyes.”
“Close my eyes?”
“Let me teach you how the absence of sight will heighten your other senses.” He winked.
“Ah…okay.” Her eyes snapped shut. “You won’t hurt me?”
“Never. I promise.” Why would she even ask such a thing? He kissed her forehead and set her on her feet next to the purple-covered bed. His gaze swept the room, hunting for something to use as a blindfold. A white scarf was draped over the corner of her dresser mirror. “Keep your eyes closed. No peeking.” He snatched the end of the scarf, snapped it out and tied it around her eyes. “That’s not too tight, is it? I don’t want you in pain.”
“No, it’s fine.”
“Good.” He pushed her long hair aside and kissed the back of her neck. So soft. Her skin was so freakin’ soft. He could devour her. Her smell, her taste, her satiny essence beckoned to him like a siren.
Her bedroom was a study in femininity. There were various shades of lavenders and purples in this space, showcasing white furniture. On a large nightstand sat two stacks of romance novels, if the bare-chested men on the covers were any indication. A forties vintage white phone, flowered notepad and feathered pen sat on the other side of a white lamp with crystal beads dangling from the bottom of the lampshade.
“You enjoy being a woman, don’t you?”
A nervous laugh escaped. “It’s what I am.” She tensed beneath his fingers. “Wait, you’re not into some kind of weird role play, are you? I’m not pretending to be a man for anyone.”
He laughed. “No, baby, I’m not into that. I’m just looking around your room. Everything is so feminine and sensual. Just like you.” Answering his acute need to touch her, he trailed fingers down her arms. “It smells like you too. Of vanilla an
d lilacs.”
She shrugged. “One’s room should reflect its owner. How does yours look?”
He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back against his chest. “You’ll find out tonight.” He nipped her shoulder and studied the large black-and-white framed pictures of a younger Becca in leotards, dancing and leaping through the air.
“You’re a dancer?” He was spellbound. Whoever had taken the photos had captured her grace and beauty and strength. “Damn, Becca. Why are you hiding these pictures up here? You should have them downstairs where everyone can see them.”
“They’re private. Taken before my dad left us, when my life was happy and secure.” Her voice wavered.
All his questions about her past would have to wait for another time. For now, he and his lady had needs. He placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her around. Taking her hands, he placed them at the bottom of his shirt. “Pull this off me, sweetheart.”
“At last, I get to do something. You know, this isn’t fair. You get to see me, but I can’t see you.” She leaned in and kissed his chest. He hardened more, if that were possible.
“You can touch me and taste me. Tonight I’ll take the blindfold.” He cupped her face and kissed her lips. “Tonight you can make me as vulnerable as you feel right now.”
She lifted a shoulder. “Well…I suppose your idea has some merit.”
Her beautiful, bruised face tugged at his heart. “Sweetheart, why don’t you take off your shirt? I might knock your nose. Sometimes I can be what Mom used to refer to as a bull in a china shop.”
She grimaced at his words. “Bull?”
He could have sworn her bruises paled before she blushed. Grasping the hem of her shirt, she slowly pulled it over her head, and Wolf’s heart went on strike.
“My God, sweetheart. You’re beautiful.” Her full, round breasts were tipped with the purest pink he’d ever seen and he longed to touch and kiss and suck them. She cupped her breasts to hide them, a movement that aroused him even more, if possible. He’d made her uncomfortable and that disturbed him. Maybe if he was less vocal and concentrated more on giving her pleasure. He pulled a hand from a breast and pressed a kiss to her palm. “I have to be the luckiest man on this planet.”
He released her hand and feathered fingertips up her arm. Her lips parted and the pulse at her slender throat increased. His fingertips continued their journey across her shoulder blades as he stepped behind her. “Skin like porcelain.”
Sweeping her long auburn hair aside, he pressed three kisses to the back of her neck. There was a subtle intake of her breath. He rained more kisses across her shoulder. “You’re like satin and silk. A man could die touching you…” he trailed the tip of his tongue down the graceful arch of her spine, “…tasting you. But believe me, the dying man would count his life as one well-lived.” He hoped to hell that he was that guy.
Slowly, he turned her around and tipped his forehead to touch hers, his hands at her waist. “There will never be another woman like you. Never.” His lips covered hers and her mouth opened to him. His tongue delved in to lay claim and possess, for this woman would damn well be his. He’d never imagined himself to be the kind of man to fall so quickly, but fallen he had. Now the most important objective in his life was winning and keeping her love.
Wolf backed her to the bed, thrust one hand into her hair and fisted the silken strands. The other slid around her back and slipped under her shorts to clasp the perfect curve of her ass. Her arms wrapped around his waist and sharp nails scraped his back. Tremors of need surged through him. If he didn’t step back and slow down, he’d be inside her before her back even hit the mattress. That wasn’t what he wanted. Their first time had to be special. Memorable. Mutually satisfying.
“Lie down, baby.” He used her movement to his advantage and slipped off her sleep shorts as she stretched out on her bed. “Give me a sec.” He tugged his wallet from his jeans and laid it open on the nightstand, removing two foil packets before shedding his jeans and socks. Then he snagged a long string of pearls from her dresser. Belts hung from a lace-covered hanger on her closet door, and he removed two of them.
“What are you doing?” Becca shifted on the bed, obviously nervous and trying to listen to his movements.
“Setting the scene.”
“Candles?”
“Belts.”
“What?”
He hooked two leather belts together. “You need to learn to trust me. To trust I won’t ever hurt you, and to do that I need to make you more vulnerable than you’ve ever been with anyone else. I’m going to tie your wrists over your head. If that thought freaks you out, tell me. I’ll stop.” The military operated on much the same principle. Tear personnel down to their lowest and then build them back up again. He had no intention of being quite so extreme, just taking away a measure of control so she would finally feel safe in his care. He sensed her shocked glare from beneath the blindfold. “Becca, I won’t hurt you.”
She licked her lips, her breathing more rapid. “You’re going to tie my hands?”
“Unless you tell me otherwise.” He waited. This had to be her decision or she’d never trust him.
Her swallow was audible within the silence of the room. “O…okay.”
He straddled her hips, leaned down and gently kissed her lips. “Good choice. Now, clasp your hands and place them above your head on the pillows.” Making a loop in the belts, he placed it over her wrists and tied a loose knot around one of the spindles on the headboard with the other end. “Comfy?”
“I get to do this to you tonight. Right?” She sounded a little pissed, as if she weren’t overly thrilled with being blindfolded and tied up.
He reached for the strand of pearls. “Sweetheart, you can do anything you want to me. Anytime.” He palmed the jewelry. “I want you to concentrate on your sense of touch. You won’t be able to see what I’m doing to you, but your other senses will pick up the slack.” He held the pearls near her ear and opened and closed his hand. “What do you hear?”
“A rattling. Wolf, what does any of this have to do with sex? All I was after was a morning quickie.”
He leaned over and whispered next to one ear while softly moving the pearls next to her other, rubbing the beads together. “I want you to be aware of all your senses when I make love to you—whether it’s slow, sweet love or fast, passionate, up-against-the-wall sex. From now on, you’ll be aware of everything and take nothing for granted.”
She turned her head toward him and he outlined her lips with his tongue. He trailed the necklace over the inside of her arm. She jerked.
“Pearls. Feel their warmth?”
She licked her lips. “Yes.”
He skimmed the beads over her face, neck and breasts. “The skin of your throat and chest has a pearly white glow. These poor things don’t stand a chance of measuring up to your beauty. I’m going to run my fingertips over one breast and your pearls over the other. Can you feel the difference?” Her skin quivered under his touch, sending a jolt of desire through him. He wanted to please her like no other man before him and, in that moment, he knew he wanted to be the last man to ever touch her in this way. He wanted her—and he wanted her to want him in equal measure.
“Which breast is being touched by my fingers?”
She arched and sighed. “Don’t know. You better touch me some more.” The corners of her delectable mouth quirked in a smile.
Oh, she was a delight, she was. “You wouldn’t be teasing me, would you?”
“Aren’t you teasing me, big guy?”
“I’ve only begun.” He lay the pearls aside and reached for the feather pen. Turning it around, he flicked the feather beneath the curve of her breast and across her nipple. Her mouth opened slightly as her nipple peaked even more. “Every time you use your pen from now on, you’ll think of the naughty ways I’ve used it.” He moved to her side and trailed it down her stomach. “Naughty?” Her voice had a breathy quality which hardened him to
the point of madness.
He flicked the feather across the tops of her thighs near their juncture and she arched again. “Oh, yeah, baby. Naughty.” Tossing the feather aside because, really, why should it have all the fun, he scooted farther down the bed and began kissing her ankles. Slowly he worked his way up her toned legs, inhaling her scent and loving every inch of her satiny smooth skin with his hands and lips.
When he reached the apex of the most luscious pair of legs he’d ever had the pleasure of tasting, her moans were a real turn-on, shooting a rush of hot blood to his groin. Still, it was nothing compared to her writhing and fisting of the comforter when he feasted on her. With the second stroke of his tongue, she climaxed. The shriek of his name tumbling from her lips was something he’d not soon forget. He stayed with her, giving her tender kisses and touches until the spasms receded.
Then he undid the belt and removed her blindfold. “I need your hands on me, baby. And I want to watch your eyes while I make slow love to you.” He rubbed her wrists, kissing the tender skin at her pulse points. “Do you trust me now?” He cupped her beautiful face in his hands. Like topaz jewels, her eyes fixed upon his. “Have I convinced you I’d never do anything to hurt you? I could overpower you in a heartbeat. Yet, I never would. I care too much.” He kissed her, pouring out all the novel, powerful emotions that had rocketed through him the moment he touched her the night of his birthday party. “I care.” He kissed her again, long and languid. “I care.”
Touching and tasting her had him more aroused than ever before. He reached for a packet on the nightstand, opened it and sheathed himself.
Becca stroked and rubbed as she took her turn exploring his body. Every touch of her hands shoved him closer to the edge of release. He wanted to plunge into her warmth, yet he willed himself to take things slow.
She bit his nipple before sucking it and his eyes crossed. “I can’t believe you took all that time with me.”
