“Well, I hope you’re here long enough to give it a chance,” I murmured. “There’s a lot to see and enjoy in New York.”
I suddenly wished I could be the one to show him around to all the boroughs. To walk around Manhattan or Brooklyn, and enjoy all the sights, sounds, restaurants, and shops. Despite being overcrowded, the city was beautiful. I knew that because I had spent nearly my whole life here.
But, of course, I couldn’t be his chirpy tourist guide. I had Carter and the reality of my fucked-up life to get back to. Besides, Gunner was just visiting and would be gone in a few days.
But I refused to think about tomorrow. I would just focus on the here and now . . . with Gunner.
“Let’s dance,” I coaxed, grabbing his hands with both of mine and pulling him to his feet with a seductive smile.
I wiggled my hips to the beat, tugging him toward the dance floor, but he resisted.
“I’m not much of a dancer!” he shouted over the music.
“Come on. Live a little,” I countered as he finally allowed me to drag him onto the dance floor. I swayed, enjoying the exuberant energy of the salsa rhythm.
Gunner leaned in, and his lips brushed against my ear. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”
I grabbed his hands, placing them on my hips, and moved my body to the beat, loving the pressure of his hands on my hips a little too much.
The beat of the music thumped as he looked at me with a question in his eyes while his hands squeezed my hips. “You know how to dance to salsa?” he asked.
“Of course. Let me show you.”
I pressed my hips against his sensually as I took my arms and placed them over his shoulders. His hands released me to slide along my back. Sighing, I allowed my body to caress his muscular frame, my hips gyrating to the beat, and my body stirred.
At first, he didn’t do anything, but the constant bumping and jostling from other dancers forced him into an awkward yet somehow adorable rhythm.
“I don’t know how you got me into this!” Gunner shouted over the music. “I swear, I’ve never gone dancing in my damn life.”
“But you’re a natural!” I shouted back as he spun me out and then in again.
He pulled me flush against him, so my breasts were mashed up against the bottom of his rib cage. He was quite a bit taller than me. When I looked up, my breath caught at the sparkle in his silvery eyes and the grin that transformed him from brooding to utterly charming. Now, we were close enough to kiss, and I knew if I just tilted my head up a little more—
“Ow!” I yelped after someone smacked into Gunner’s back, causing his forehead to collide with mine, driving away my lust-fueled thoughts and replacing them with a throbbing ache. “Fuck. That shit hurt.” I scowled at the person over Gunner’s shoulder who seemed completely oblivious to the fact that he’d ruined my almost-there kiss.
Gunner smiled, a knowing look in his eye. “What do you say I buy you a drink?” he asked. “Since you were nice enough to bring me mine earlier.”
“Well, that sounds like the best idea I’ve heard all night.”
We ended up on one of the love seats in the corner of the lounge area, draped in shadows and slightly more tucked away from the noise than the other seating areas. Gunner got a whiskey sour for himself and a White Russian for me. I sat next to him now, appreciating his body heat and the drink.
“So, what do you do for a living?” he asked, hooking an arm around my shoulder and drawing me into his hard, muscular body.
He’d taken off his leather jacket, and I saw the ridges of his muscles through the thin cotton of his red shirt. Though shifter men were naturally muscular and in good shape, until now, I hadn’t known if the same applied to hybrids. But I had the feeling Gunner had probably been this way before he was changed.
“Who? Me?” I blinked, slightly flustered by the question. I didn’t exactly want to tell him I was the daughter of a billionaire and didn’t need a job. “Oh, I sell stocks and bonds and such,” I confessed, going for a half-truth instead.
“You’re a stockbroker?” he asked, his eyes widening in disbelief. “Damn, I never would have thought it by looking at you.”
I shook my head. “I don’t sell for other people. Just myself. I have a knack for investing.” Dad had taught me well, and I reveled in the game of predicting the stock market, even if I only dabbled in it. “What about you?” I asked, wanting to shine the spotlight away from me.
His eyes darkened a little, but he didn’t look away. “I’m retired from the armed forces,” he remarked. “Was in Special Ops when I was honorably discharged. I was in the military for five years, so I haven’t quite figured out what’s next for me yet.”
“Mmm, so that’s where you got these killer abs from,” I teased, running my hand up his abdomen.
The tension eased from his face, and his eyes lit with desire, chasing the shadows away. He tilted his head down toward mine again, so our lips were only centimeters apart. My breathing quickened.
“You’ve got a milk mustache,” he murmured, reaching up with his thumb to rub away some of the moisture that had clung to the skin above my upper lip.
Before I could say anything, he leaned in and licked the rest of it off with a slow, languid glide of his tongue against my skin. It should have been weird, but the motion was strangely sexy, and the sensation sent a shiver of desire through me.
Fuck it.
I ran my tongue against his lips just to test the chemistry, but when he tugged on my lower lip and kissed me hard, we went from playful flirting to full-throttle fuck mode. Before I knew it, I was pressing my lips against his, and then his arms were around me while he kissed me back. His lips were smooth and firm against mine while the barest hint of stubble brushed my chin. Heat erupted everywhere my body touched his, and I gasped, allowing his tongue to slide into my mouth.
I loved the way his fingers slipped into my hair, gripping it by the handful, as he held me still so he could plunder my mouth with his tongue. I enjoyed the sparks of heat flying in the air around us. Took pleasure in the way my heart was galloping in my chest. The way my cunt throbbed with the need to have him deep.
A growl rumbled in his throat. Greedily, I inhaled the masculine scent of his arousal that lingered deliciously around us. It had been so long since I actually craved the touch of a man that I was delirious from the lust breaking through the dam I’d built inside myself the day Carter walked into my life. A dam I’d thought would make him lose interest in me as a sexual conquest . . . but it did not. I buried all my wants and needs behind that barricade to protect myself from that monster of a man. Now, all the lust and want that I’d thought had withered away and died months ago was unleashed by Gunner with just one touch.
“Let’s get out of here,” he murmured against my skin, pressing openmouthed kisses that ended in delightful little nips along my jawline and down the column of my throat.
I froze. Do I really want to have sex with Gunner?
My inner beast screamed, Hell yes!
And, just like that, I made the decision to throw caution to the wind and do what I wanted—no, needed for once in my life.
Somehow, I’d managed to get into a position where I was loosely straddling him, and a bolt of excitement shot through me as I felt his erection—thick, big, and hard—pressing against my inner thigh. Lust whipped through me like a tornado. It wasn’t long before my fingers were stroking his hair as his fingers walked down my back and landed on my backside before squeezing my ass.
I tilted my head back, looking at him. “Yeah, let’s,” I murmured.
“Any place in particular you think we should go?” he inquired, pulling away from my skin.
I whimpered at the loss of contact and angled my head forward to look at him. His eyes were molten pools of silver, and I felt as if they could scorch my very soul if I let him.
“Hmm . . .” I thought for a moment, something in the tone of his voice telling me he wasn’t quite willing to take me back
to his place. Normally, that would be a bit strange, but if he was here from out of town, staying at a friend’s house, I could understand not wanting to offend his host or hostess by bringing home a strange woman. And I honestly wasn’t interested in bringing him back to my place, not for a one-night stand. “There’s this hotel a few blocks down.”
“Sounds good to me,” he grunted.
* * *
We left the club, heading north through Manhattan. We’d checked the club for our friends, but neither Jimmy nor Tamara had been anywhere in the building. I sent a quick text to Tamara, letting her know I was leaving with Gunner and where I would be, but I was surprised when he wasn’t worried in the least about Jimmy.
“He probably took one look at us on the dance floor and decided his work for the night was done,” he stated with an unconcerned shrug when I’d asked.
I stuck my hands into my pockets, shivering a little from the cold. It was November, and biting winds were blowing through the streets.
“You cold?” Gunner asked, looking down at me with concern. Before I could answer, he reached out and tucked me into his side protectively, surrounding me with his delicious body heat.
“Thank you,” I murmured as the warmth flooded me.
I couldn’t help but smile as I remembered the way he’d opened the door for me when we left the club and the way he’d smoothly but firmly ushered me to the side of the pavement, away from the street. There was something of a gentleman inside him—or at least, a man whose mother had raised him to treat women properly.
After another block, I directed him to turn on a quiet cobbled back street in the middle of SoHo. “Here we are,” I announced, pointing at a small building with a sign on the front that said, SoHo Garden Inn.
“Here?” He blinked at the ultra-modern glass façade.
“What? Were you expecting a Motel 6?” I teased.
“Well, maybe.”
He shuffled a little uncomfortably, and I realized he was thinking about the price tag.
“It’s owned by a friend of mine,” I hurried to reassure him.
It was another half-truth. The inn was actually owned by Dad. It was one of the more whimsical purchases Mom had talked him into buying before she died, and all because she’d simply fallen in love with the quaint charm of the neighborhood.
“So, I never have to pay here.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Do you come here often?”
“If you’re asking if I make a habit of picking up strange men in clubs . . . the answer is hell no. You are the first one, hybrid, but don’t let that shit go to your head.” He opened the door for me, and I sashayed into the discreet and elegant lobby without another word.
“Damn, you’re so feisty,” he muttered before chuckling and following quickly.
Soon enough, we were checked into a room on the ninth floor, offering stunning views of the rooftops of SoHo.
“Shit. Isn’t this classy?” He sat down on the white bedspread, kicking off his boots, as he looked around the room.
We’d gotten a suite with a beautiful scheme of gray, orange, and almond, colors. There was a large living area but we’d moved into the adjacent oversized bedroom with a deep bed. The elegant curtains were pulled back to reveal the floor-to-ceiling warehouse style windows overlooking the Big Apple. I would have preferred a more modest room versus this over-the-top luxury because I didn’t want to freak him out too much. But unfortunately, this was the only room available tonight. Gunner had a dominant personality; I knew he would be highly uncomfortable if he found out I was rich and that the night was on my dime—even if that really meant Dad’s dime. Something told me that Gunner was the kind of man who prided himself on being a good provider.
I stared at him. Handsome. Respectful. Responsible. And, damn . . . he’s sinfully sexy. Why on earth isn’t he settled down with a mate or a human wife?
He was what every woman wanted—at least, if you didn’t consider the hybrid wolf-shifter part. But even then, there were still plenty of hybrids that wouldn’t mind settling down with a man like him. Supernatural or not, women really weren’t very different from species to species. They all wanted a man who was strong, sexy, and able to provide for them.
“Celine? Why are you looking at me like that?”
I blinked. “Like what?”
“Like you’re trying to pull out all my secrets through my eyes.” He stood up and then shrugged out of his jacket. He placed it on the small wooden table that sat between two wingbacked chairs by the windows.
“Maybe I am,” I suggested, moving closer. I slid my hands up his shirt, and I let some of my inner wolf shine through my eyes as I grinned at him, feeling the silky-smooth skin over his muscles. A light dusting of hair teased my palms, and I began pulling off his shirt the rest of the way, so I could see all of him. “My mind tends to wander when I’m not doing anything. Maybe you could find a way to keep it . . . occupied.”
He clasped my wrists in his hands before I could pull his shirt off all the way, and we hovered just at the top of his rib cage. Swallowing, I looked down to see the hard buds of his nipples jutting through his T-shirt, and I was struck by the urge to lean down and bite one of them.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” he whispered, his silver eyes soft.
I looked up at him, and my heart melted a little as I realized he was asking me for permission. Something the average man definitely wouldn’t have done after all the signals I’d put out up to this point.
“I’m sure,” I murmured, leaning in so that my lips were barely brushing his. Then, I deliberately chose my next words to push him over the edge. “So, if you don’t start touching me now, I’ll have to do it myself.”
CHAPTER 8
Gunner
THE CHALLENGE IN CELINE’S words snapped what little control I had left. I pushed her up against the wall, claiming her mouth with barely restrained ferocity. The little vixen had riled me up to a fever pitch with her seductive smiles, glances, touches, and then that fierce, hot kiss she’d given me back at the club. Her fire drew me in like a moth to a flame, and while I knew it would be all too easy to get burned, I couldn’t stay away.
After all, this is only going to be a one-night stand, right?
Thoughts of Julia briefly flickered in my mind—her dark hair, eyes, and gentle loveliness that were so completely different from Celine’s sexy, wild, and unrestrained beauty. Suddenly, Celine dug her fingernails into my ass, and those images were burned to ash as lust consumed all available space in my mind. Groaning, I lifted her so she could hook her arms and legs around me. Then I staggered over to the bed and deposited both of us onto it.
“You’re gorgeous,” I rasped, pulling back so I could stare down at her.
Her hair was spread along the crisp white sheets, and it was just as brilliant as I’d thought it would be. Her dark umber skin was flushed with desire, and her plump lips were swollen from my ravaging kisses. And I wasn’t kidding about her beauty. She had exquisite, almost pixie-like features. The tip of her nose was slightly uptilted, her cheekbones high and prominent, and her chin was not quite pointed, as it completed the heart shape of her face.
“I want to see the rest of you.”
“Yes,” she whispered huskily, reaching up to unzip her leather jacket.
I gently brushed her hand away, wanting to do it myself. Slowly, I unzipped the jacket, revealing the red blouse beneath it that was a stark contrast to her hair and cut low enough to reveal the tops of her breasts. Desperately wanting to see them, I pulled her tank top down and scooped one globe out of the black bra beneath. It was round and firm, nicely filling my palm, the chocolate-hued nipple hardening into a perfect bud. My mouth watering, I leaned down to taste, flicking my tongue up and down the bud.
“Oh, damn.”
Her answering moan sent a thrill through me, and my lips curled as she moved her legs to clamp around my hips, dragging me closer to her.
“Don’t stop,” she begged as I drew
her nipple fully into my mouth and began sucking. She stared at me through heavy-lidded eyes, her gaze lust-filled.
Damn. She had the sexiest eyes I’d ever seen.
I gently kneaded her other breast, switching back and forth between them until she was squirming and clawing at my jeans, trying to get them off.
“My little wolf is impatient, I see,” I teased with a chuckle, pulling back. Deciding I liked the way her breasts hung out of the tank top, I left them there and popped the top button on her jeans instead. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you.”
“Gunner, I want your clothes off,” she demanded.
She tried to sit up, but my hands slid to her jaw before my lips settled across her mouth. Her breath caught. My tongue slid between her teeth. My kiss was long, slow, and deep—the stamp of my utter possession. When she softened in my grasp, I gently eased her back onto the bed and slid her boots, jeans, and panties off.
She gasped as I hooked her legs over my shoulders. Settling myself between the V of her thighs, I went after her pussy voraciously. My tongue lapped from her clit to the end of her cleft before swirling around her clit. I flicked it and then sank my tongue inside her. She panted with her hips arching. Holding her still, I fucked her unrelentingly with my tongue. She hissed as I worked her into a frenzy, using long, sensual licks. My tongue constantly teased her opening. My name was a passionate plea on her lips, spurring me on, and I wanted to feel her come in my mouth.
Showing her no damn mercy, my tongue flicked her swollen nub until she screamed, “Oh my fucking God!” and bucked as I continued to lave her with my mouth.
Thrusting two fingers into her trembling channel, I curved them inside her while pressing my thumb on her clit so my hand was clamped around her. I shoved another finger inside her, making her cry out and buck.
“Oh God, yes,” she moaned, her fingers digging into my scalp as she shamelessly rubbed her pussy against my face. “Yes, yes, yes!” she screamed as she came, her juices flowing freely.
Operation Wolf: Gunner ~ Sedona Venez Page 4
