by Bec McMaster
“Please,” she said. “You surprised me.”
The sound of his jeans hitting the sand echoed. “You hate it, don’t you? The fact that you can’t keep your eyes off me?”
Sometimes, she forgot he was a monster. Sometimes, all she saw was the man. In quiet little moments, like the night before, when he’d been whittling that toy, or when he carried her to the blankets and tucked her in.
And, as a man, he was a damned fine specimen.
She’d rather die than let him know that though.
“That’s not the reason I watch you,” she retorted. “You don’t turn your back on a warg.”
“Yet you’ve got your back to me now.”
Why the hell did it have to be Wade?
Riley bit her lip. There were plenty of men at the settlement. Even McClain was one hell of a handsome devil, although they rarely saw eye to eye. Yet she’d never found her gaze lingering the way it did on Wade, and when he’d kissed her... Her nipples tightened, goose bumps springing up all over her arms and the back of her neck. Behind her, the water sloshed around her as he waded into it.
Water splashed and then silence filled the cavern. Riley glanced over her shoulder. He’d vanished beneath the surface, ripples refracting light off the water. The pile of abandoned clothes on the sand sent an odd fist of longing through her belly.
Wade’s dark head surfaced first, tanned hands raking over his face as he flung water everywhere. It dripped from his elbows and the tangled lengths of his hair, sluicing over the smooth muscle of his chest. Riley’s mouth went dry. Then her eye caught the pewter charm, and a shiver ran over her skin.
Not human. Don’t ever forget that.
Wade looked up, a knowing little smile toying over his lips. “When I first saw what you were wearing, I wondered what the women out here in the settlements were thinking.” His gaze dropped. “But there’s something to be said for white cotton, it seems.”
Wet cotton. Riley dropped under the water, glaring up at him. He was too close to her, all of that smooth olive skin. She pushed backward, idly fanning the water, as if she were just swimming.
Wade caught her ankle, holding her in place. His smile held nothing of humor in it now, his eyes turning molten with heat. Riley couldn’t have looked away to save herself. His thumb stroked the inside of her ankle, and he glanced down beneath thick, dark lashes, as though examining the smooth length of her leg.
“It’s a leg,” she said, trying to make the words dry and cynical. For some reason, the last word was a breathy whisper.
“I’m aware of that.”
“I’m sure you’ve seen dozens of them,” she retorted, tugging ineffectively at his grip.
Wade held onto her for a moment, then let her go. “What do you mean by that?”
“A man like you. You’d have women all over the place.”
Water spiked off his eyelashes, clumping them together. His blue eyes were burning with some emotion she couldn’t quite figure. “Right. You’ve got me all pegged, sweetheart.” A hint of anger turned his voice sour.
Riley splashed backward, uneasy with his sudden intensity. Her back hit the cool, sloped rock wall, the rasp of granite rough against her skin, sending shivers down her body. Or perhaps that was the fact that she was virtually alone, half-naked in a pool of water with a man like Wade.
She examined him in the half-light. The emotion had faded off his face, but it had been thick in his voice. Anger. Wade was angry with her assumptions. Riley frowned. “Tell me then. Since I’m obviously wrong about you. You’re all sweetness and good conscience. I don’t know how I missed that.”
“I’m not denying my baser qualities, but womanizing isn’t one of them.” He edged closer, ripples circumnavigating his body. Sliding under the water until it covered his mouth and nose, he eyed her through the darkness.
Riley’s breath caught.
Wade vanished beneath the water, the surge of his incoming body sweeping the water up over her skin. He surfaced in front of her, brushing his dripping black hair out of his eyes. Riley’s mouth went dry at the sleek show of muscle. This was insane. She was insane. She knew what he was, what he could be, yet her body knew no difference. It ached for his touch, for the sight of him.
For just one more kiss....
Riley’s heart gave a little flutter as he speared her with that hot look again.
Somehow, she found her voice. “You’re trying to tell me you’re as innocent as a lamb? Do women actually fall for that?”
“You’re the one who keeps throwing it in my face about me being a warg. Limits my options. I won’t pay for sex, darlin’, and I ain’t interested in taking it by force. The last woman I slept with was my wife.”
Riley’s breath caught in her chest, and her gaze dropped toward his left hand. No ring. Not even a tan line where one had been.
As if realizing he’d revealed too much, Wade swam backward, his face shuttering. The sunlight washed over him, gleaming on black hair.
“Where is she now?” Riley asked, creeping forward. Oh, God, had she kissed a married man?
“Don’t know.”
Curiosity pricked her. The tone of his voice was so flat he might as well not have cared. But something in his expression warned her.
“I didn’t know wargs had wives.”
“They don’t.” He surged to his feet, the water hitting his hips. A trail of black hair arrowed down from his navel, vanishing beneath the hypnotic blue of the water. Wade met her gaze, a nasty little smile tilting his mouth. “I’ll fetch the soap.”
Conversation over. Riley watched him wade toward the sandy shore, water running down over his bare buttocks and heavily muscled thighs. She wanted to know more. Had the wife left him when she found out he was a warg? She’d never once given thought to how it must be for them. They’d only ever been monsters to her before. But they hadn’t always been so. Every single one of them had been human once.
Imagine coming home, knowing what you’d become? Knowing it would tear your family apart. A little snarl of sympathy knotted in her stomach. Her father had done as all men out here would do if clawed up – he’d bitten a bullet. But that was never an easy choice. Sometimes, a part of her wished he’d chosen the coward’s way out. Chose to run off into the desert, and that maybe, one day, she could meet him under the sun, when he was still a man. That part of her was still a little girl, longing for her daddy to pick her up in his arms, and swing her ‘round.
What had Wade’s wife thought when he was bitten?
Wade snatched a bar of soap out of his bag, and a thin flannel. Riley turned away as he returned to the water, troubled by the thought of him as just a man, albeit one cursed with a horrible affliction.
Just a man....
“So, what was her name?” she asked over her shoulder.
A growl echoed in his throat. “Why?”
“You were right,” she said. “I know nothing about you except what I assume. I want to know.”
“Curiosity killed the cat.”
Riley glanced over her shoulder. Waist deep. It was safe to look. “You won’t hurt me.” She frowned a little, watching him lather the soap between those large, tanned hands. “You were never going to hurt me, were you?”
He didn't answer that. Just watched her as he scrubbed soapy lather over his chest. His expression hardened. “Abbie. Her name was Abbie.”
Abbie. Riley tested the name in her head, a part of her wondering who the woman had been. “You loved her.”
“Why would you assume that?”
“You don’t want to talk about her,” she said. “So some part of losing her hurt you. Did she turn away from you when you turned warg?”
Water rippled as he edged closer. Riley turned, flinching as hands caught the silky strands of her hair from behind and started soaping them. She’d taken a few lovers in her time, but that had only been sex. No one had ever done anything like this before. It was intimate. Uncomfortable. She was very close to pulling away,
but something stopped her.
“I loved her,” Wade admitted in a quiet voice. “More than anything.”
Riley held still, allowing him to soap her hair. She barely dared to breathe. “What happened?”
“I got clawed up,” he said. “By someone I trusted.” He cupped water in his hands and dropped it over her head, washing away the suds. The scent of fresh lemons rose around her. Must have cost a fortune on the black market.
“Knew what was going to happen,” he continued. “So I walked away, left her. I’ve been told she waited a few years before she married again. One of my cousins. A good man.”
“Did she try to find you?”
“She knew what had happened,” he said gruffly. “I was sparing her what I could.” The law said that the marriage was dissolved if a man went missing for seven years – or if he turned warg.
Wade’s hands ran over the straps of her bra, soothing the skin of her arms and shoulders. He had a good touch. Patient. Steady. Riley tried not to shiver, her breath coming a little quicker. His hands were so warm, his calluses rough against her skin.
Sweeping her hair to the side, over her shoulder, he brushed his fingers down over the ripple of her spine. The sensation shot right through her.
“It’s been a long time since I touched a woman,” he murmured. His fingertips turned questing, as if he were soaking up the sensation of her skin, content just to feel her, to explore. “A long time... since one let me.”
Riley ground her knees together. She didn’t know what was happening, or what to do. Every instinct in her body was screaming at her to get out of there, but the slow, hypnotic slide of his hands stole her willpower.
And something else. Curiosity. Longing. Loneliness. It was hard trying to remain an independent woman out here in the settlements. Too many men would mistake an offer of companionship for something else, as though it suddenly gave them the right to rule her life. Either that, or they'd use it – and her position on Haven's Council – to barter for something. It had been a long time.
Too long, obviously.
“Here.” His voice was rough velvet. “Hold the soap.”
She took it, fumbling with the wet bar as he lathered his hands together and urged her out of the water.
“I’ll wash your back.”
A quick flick of his fingers and her bra suddenly sagged, the edges hanging at her sides. Riley gasped, cupping her breasts in her hands, the thin, worn cotton barely containing them. “What are you doing?”
His palms slid down over her back, the soap silky-slick beneath his skin. He massaged the muscles on either side of her spine, his hands trailing off just at the indent of her hips. Gripping the side of her waist, he slid them back up, fingertips brushing against the curve of her breasts.
Riley shifted uneasily. A glance over her shoulder showed she wasn’t the only one affected. She’d expected that devilish smile, the teasing gleam in his eyes, but he wasn’t smiling. Not at all.
His gaze burned her, all the way through. A need so fierce it stole her breath left her heart thumping in her chest. And something else... Wariness. As if he was simply waiting for the rejection.
Fingertips brushed against the edge of her bra, as if asking permission. Riley tore her gaze back to the cavern wall in front of her, deafened by the roar in her ears. She had the horrible suspicion that she was going to do something reckless.
Her silence gave him the permission he needed. His touch grew bolder, stronger. Breath hot against her nape and then a kiss, just the lightest of caresses, against the sensitive skin there. Riley shuddered.
“Take it off,” he whispered.
She panicked, flat-out panicked. And yet she couldn’t tear herself away. “I don’t think so.”
Fingertips traced teasing circles on her skin. “All you have to do is say no.”
Riley hesitated.
His lips trailed over her shoulder, his body pressing against hers. She could feel him through the thin cotton of her panties, huge and hard, desperate to claim her. And she suddenly realized that the answer might be yes. That she wanted it too.
Trying not to think too much, she wiggled her shoulders, let the bra slip off into the water. Adrenaline pumped through her veins, making her breath short. She tossed the bra toward the sand before she could change her mind.
“Didn’t think you’d do it.”
His voice was raw, harsh. For a moment, Wade's hands lightened, as if he himself were reconsidering this. As if it scared him too.
Cupping her arms over her breasts, Riley sank beneath the water again. Idiot. What am I doing? But something about the whole situation tempted her. This man didn't want anything else from her but this. Just the once, said a tempting little whisper in her mind. Both of them could take what they wanted, just the once, then walk away.
She was still undecided.
“Just so you know, the answer’s ‘no,’” Riley murmured over her shoulder, wondering if she was trying to prove it to herself. “But you can wash my back.”
Wade reached around her for the soap in her hands, the hairs on his chest tickling her back. The faint brush of his erection stirred against her bottom, and he lathered his hands slowly, until she was barely breathing.
“You’re too kind,” he muttered.
The soapy glide of his hands made her arch her back. A wordless murmur died in her throat as he slid his hands over her hips and up. There was no hesitation in him now, no patient steady touch. His fingers curved under her breasts, cupping them teasingly, before darting away.
Riley sucked in a sharp breath. “That’s not my back.”
“No. It’s not.” His hands trailed over her stomach, then higher, pushing her arms out of the way.
Give the man an inch... She ground her teeth together, prepared to shove away from him, when he cupped her breasts, slippery fingers dancing over her nipples.
“You looked dirty,” he whispered, laughter warming his voice. Brushing his lips against the curve of her neck, he kissed the sensitive skin there again.
A shiver went right through her. Riley tensed. She should say no. Tell him to get his hands, and mouth, off her. But it felt so good, his fingers lazily circling her nipples as he waited for her to make her decision.
Don’t be a fool.
Out here, a woman made her choices quick. Death was a constant in all their lives. It could have happened to her the night before, by revenant or reiver. She had to take her chances when they came, and a sudden yearning – not just for sex, but for Wade – came over her. Dangerous men, and all that temptation....
She forced herself to relax, ignoring the quiver in her stomach, then leaned back against his chest, her breasts rising out of the water. Soap gleamed over her pale skin, his tanned hands a dark comparison as they stilled on her skin.
Wade sucked in a breath. “Christ Jesus.” He cupped her, pinching her nipple between soapy-slick fingers. “You’re beautiful.”
Riley stirred, trying to bite back a gasp. Pressed against him like this, she could feel every hot, hard inch, including the press of his cock, rigid against her bottom. The chill of the water between her thighs melded with the molten wetness of her own body. She couldn’t help herself; her hips thrust back, rubbing against him, the thickened head of his cock dipping between her thighs for one tantalizing moment.
Did she dare? The thought was terrifying, yet arousing. She knew what her body wanted. She could feel it, all hot and shivery, her breath coming in short little gasps. His hard body caged her, a delicious tease, the hair on his chest brushing against her bare back.
Wade kissed her shoulder, the rasp of his teeth bringing another gasp to her lips. “Don’t,” he ground out. “Don’t do this if you don’t mean it.”
Some nameless emotion quivered in his voice. Riley wet her lips. If she hadn’t heard that hesitation, hadn’t realized how much this meant to him, how much he wanted it too, then she might have come to her senses. Instead, her hand slid over his. “Lower,” she
whispered, giving in to the temptation.
There was a moment of stillness as he absorbed her words. His own chest heaved against her, harsh breath exploding out of his lungs. “Where?”
Determined to make her complicit, to make her give her consent.
She didn’t want to think about it. Didn’t want to know that it was Wade. She just wanted to pretend that he was some faceless, nameless man. But he wouldn’t let her. For a moment, uncertainty twisted her stomach, but the warm heat at her back, the hard muscle, drove her mind to other places.
Riley squeezed her eyes shut and dragged his hand lower, beneath the edge of her cotton panties. His soapy fingers slid against her wet slit, palm pressing against the tangle of blonde hair there. He held himself motionless.
“How?” Another hot whisper in her ear. Daring her.
Riley pressed his hand hard against her, writhing against his touch. The first trace of his fingers made her gasp, throwing her head back.
“Here?” He suckled the skin of her throat, his fingers drawing lazy circles.
There. She nearly died and went to Heaven. So long since the touch hadn’t been hers. “Faster,” she whispered, sliding her hand up, behind his neck. “Please.”
The slow glide of his fingers drove her mad.
“Faster.”
“No. No rush, darlin’.” He kissed her again, an open-mouthed wet kiss against the back of her neck that tightened everything in her body. “I ain’t rushing this.” Turning, he drew her into his arms, wrapping them around her bottom before pressing his lips to her navel as he forced her to stand.
Riley whimpered at the loss of his fingers. Wade watched her face respond to the rasp of his stubble against her tender breasts as he brushed his lips over her nipple.
“This is crazy,” she whispered. She couldn’t look away from him.
“Yes.”
His hot mouth clamped over her.
