by Deanna Chase
He reached out and placed his hand over mine. “Ida May, what I had with you was real. I even came back to New Orleans three years later. I looked for you, but you were already gone.”
A profound sadness washed over him with those last words, and he started lightly tracing his thumb over my palm. Then he pulled the pocket watch out and placed it on the table. “I carry this with me because you were my first love. And we were good friends. I regretted our time was cut short.”
I stared at the pocket watch, and memories of our time together came roaring back. My heart swelled and nearly burst. He was right. We had been good friends, then later, something more. But it had been innocent. Never going further than stolen kisses down by the river. He’d never cared how I made my living, understood that ladies without families didn’t have a lot of opportunities, and that I did what I had to do. But it hadn’t been part of our relationship and he’d never made me feel like it was an issue.
What we’d had was sweet, and had I never spotted him with Ophelia, I’d have had warm memories of him all these years with no regrets. What had really hurt was the idea that he’d lied to me. That all along he’d had a thing with Ophelia. If he was telling the truth now, then I’d spent the last ninety-odd years being mad only because he’d been trying to protect me.
“How do I know you aren’t making all of this up just to get me on your good side? So that maybe my forgiveness will get your shift back?” I asked.
He let out an ironic chuckle, got up from the table, and grabbed a nearby laptop. After a few keystrokes, he passed it to me.
“What’s this?” I scanned the page. It was a dossier on Ophelia going back the last one hundred and twenty years. All the places she’d lived. Known love interests. Her accomplishments as well as scandals.
“The Witchy Way. It’s the sister site to Shifters Secrets. Nothing is private anymore. It’s like IMDB for paranormals.”
“I see.” How did I not know about this? I guessed being a ghost meant I missed quite a lot of technological updates. I took a moment to scan Ophelia’s history. She was currently living in North Carolina, had a long, long string of partners, though she had never married. Then I found it. Back when Diesel and I had known each other, right about the time he’d left, she’d been linked to him, but then had moved to Savannah where she’d immediately hooked up with a warlock from the United Kingdom. It had lasted two years before a curse rendered him impotent.
“Yikes,” I said and pointed to the sad fact. “That sucks for her.”
“And him,” Diesel added.
I laughed and immediately felt bad. “That’s not really funny.”
“Not for him, but for her it is. She’s a manipulative bitch and if I never see her again it will be too soon.” He stood and tugged on my hand, pulling me up with him. “I was naïve back then, Ida May. Idealistic. I wanted to believe the best in people. I thought I’d see you again; that I’d have another chance with you.”
I stared up at him, my insides melting. “You wanted a chance with me?”
He brushed my unruly hair behind my ear, his touch sending tingles straight to my toes. “I was more than a little intimidated by you back then.”
I couldn’t help the stupid grin from claiming my lips. “Why?”
He let out a bark of laughter. “Didn’t you know I was a virgin?”
“You have got to be kidding me.” I actually took a step back, putting space between us.
“Hey.” He tugged me back, this time pulling me in so close that my body was pressed up against his. “I was only seventeen.”
“Seventeen!” I’d only been twenty-four, but still. That was quite the age difference back then.
He chuckled. “I knew nothing. But one thing I did know was how beautiful you are.”
I flushed at that.
“And I’m definitely not a virgin now.”
Oh holy hell. Desire heated me from the inside out and my pulse started to race. Diesel certainly wasn’t that sweet boy I’d known back then. No. He was all man now, the kind that made panties melt. Or would if I had any.
“And don’t think I don’t know what you were up to in the tub last night.” His voice was husky, full of lust. “I nearly lost my mind when I heard your self-satisfied moans. It was all I could do to not rip the door off and take you right then and there.”
My face flamed as fire crept over my cheeks and I thought I’d die on the spot from total embarrassment. “Well, I…you know. It’d been a long time.”
“And even longer since you’ve been touched by a man. One who has spent literally decades imagining what he’d do to you if given the opportunity.”
My throat went dry and when I opened my mouth, no sound came out.
His whiskey eyes started to glow with liquid heat and his smile turned wolfish as if he was going to devour me.
I nearly came right there in his sweatpants.
“You turned me down last night,” I finally managed to say.
He pressed his thumb lightly to my rapidly beating pulse then traced the line of my neck, sending shockwaves through my veins. “Only because I wanted to be sure you didn’t regret this. That it wasn’t the booze talking. And that you wanted this with me, not just anyone. Because, Ida May, I’ve been waiting a lifetime to live out my fantasies with you.”
“Oh goddess,” I breathed. “Yes. Yes to it all. Now.”
Those eyes turned gold with my words, and then he swept me up in his arms and kissed me.
6
The bedroom door crashed open, and instead of carrying me to the bed, Diesel pressed me up against the wall, one hand gripping my ass and the other cupping my breast as he teased my already erect nipple.
“Oh, boy,” I whispered, my legs tightening around his waist. “I think I might combust right here.”
“Tell you what,” he said between mind-blowing kisses. “How about we see just how many times we can make you orgasm. Because I’m pretty sure you have some major catching up to do.”
“I can work with that,” I said as I pulled his T-shirt off, desperate to feel his bare skin. And oh man, he was just as glorious as I remembered. Broad shoulders, narrow hips, muscles for days, and a dusting of chest hair. He was perfect in every way. “You should come with a warning label.”
“What?” He peeled the sweatshirt off me and went to work on the T-shirt I was wearing.
“One taste of you and I bet the ladies are ruined for good. It’s like having to go back to ground beef after having filet mignon.”
He dipped his head and laved at the hollow of my throat.
A shiver went through me and I tightened my legs around him, moaning when I felt his hard shaft press up against my center.
“There’s nothing wrong with ground beef,” he murmured, trailing his lips along my collar bone.
“No, I suppose not. But it’s not nearly as mouthwatering.”
I felt his silent laughter rumble through him, and I decided right then and there that if this was my last day on earth, it was all worth it. Every last bit of it.
I’d never been so turned on in my life. Never felt so worshiped, and we’d barely begun. I slipped my hands to the front of his jeans, working the button.
“In a hurry, Ida May?” he whispered in my ear, just before he caught my lobe between his teeth.
“Hell yes. Get these jeans off. I want to feel every inch of you pressed up against me.”
“In good time,” he said, but he still spun and carried me to the bed. After laying me down, he stood over me, his hands on his hips, studying me for a moment. “I think you might be the most gorgeous creature I’ve ever laid eyes on.”
“Those eyes better not be the only things you lay on me,” I said and pushed the sweats down, making myself completely naked before him.
His eyes flashed that gold color again, and then he gripped my knees, slowly spreading my legs as he kneeled before me. “I can’t wait to taste you.”
“Thank the goddess,” I said, already
closing my eyes in anticipation.
His rough, calloused hands moved slowly up along my thighs, teasing my tender flesh. I quivered in anticipation.
“Do you want my tongue on you, Ida May?” he asked, his voice gruff.
“Hell yes.” I widened my legs, giving him easier access.
Chuckling, he dipped his head and kissed his way up my thigh. His light, feathery kisses nearly drove me mad.
“Diesel.” I moaned. “Please.”
“Tell me what you want, Ida May,” he said and blew on my sex.
“You,” I said, nearly writhing with anticipation.
His fingers inched higher, barely brushing my opening.
“Diesel,” I all but begged.
“Tell me,” he coaxed.
“Your tongue. I want it on me, inside me, tasting me. Now, Diesel. Make me come.”
He didn’t hesitate. With my words, came my reward. His mouth was on me and I was lost to the pleasure, moaning with each stroke of his glorious tongue, feeling each new height as he worked that bundle of nerves. And then when he paused for just a second and scraped his teeth over my most sensitive spot, I shattered. A tidal wave of pleasure crashed through me, spurred on by his relentless attention. Ripples and aftershocks carried me away.
And when I finally came back down to earth, with Diesel kissing his way up my body, I gave him a whisper of a smile.
“You liked that.” It wasn’t a question.
“I think that’s fairly obvious,” I said, running my hand through his thick hair.
He paused at my breast, taking the nipple between his teeth, gently tugging, while his hand moved to the other one, pinching with his thumb and forefinger until I let out a low moan.
“Your body is fucking amazing,” he said, his lips now inches from mine.
“Yours isn’t so bad either,” I said, running my hands down his back, only stopping when I hit the band of his jeans. “These need to go.”
He rolled, taking me with him so I was sprawled over his chest. He glanced up at me. “I couldn’t agree more.”
I laughed, and immediately went to work on his button fly. Within moments, I had my hand down his pants, sighing with pleasure when I felt his velvety shaft heavy in my palm. “This,” I said, “is glorious.”
He reached for his jeans, tugging them off his hips. I sat up and helped him, nearly gasping when I finally saw the full effect of his naked body.
He was pure perfection. Muscles everywhere. Slightly tanned skin. And a shaft I couldn’t wait to test ride.
“Diesel?” I said, resting my hand on his abdomen.
“Yes, gorgeous.”
“Tell me what you want.”
He shook his head. “Sorry, babe. Today is all about you.” He reached for me, but I shook my head and placed a hand on his arm, stopping him.
“No, it’s about us. Mutual pleasure, the way it’s supposed to be.” I scooted down on the bed, wrapped my hand around him and said, “Trust me when I say, you want my mouth on you.”
He started to say something, but when I wrapped my lips around him, all that came out was a strangled moan.
Pleased with myself, I released him and ran my tongue from base to tip, then tasted him again, working the base of his shaft with my hand while loving his tip with my tongue.
“Ida,” he said, burying his hand in my hair as he trembled beneath my ministrations. His breathing became ragged and just when I was certain he was going to lose control, he pulled me up and flipped me onto my back. Hovering over me, he stared into my eyes, his body trembling with the effort to control himself. “I’m going to fuck you now. Make you mine. Make you come so hard, you’ll never want to leave my bed.”
“Thank the gods,” I said and pulled his head down, claiming him with a searing kiss as he plunged into me.
I wrapped my legs around his waist, letting him go even deeper, and when we were fully joined, he stilled, waiting for me to adjust to his intrusion.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Better than okay. Perfect.”
Something tender flickered through his eyes, but when I dug my nails into his shoulders, that intoxicating lust came roaring back and he started to move.
Holding my gaze, he thrust into me, slowly at first, torturing me with his relentless control.
“Diesel,” I breathed, and lifted my head, kissing him with a passion so fierce I barely recognized myself. My tongue warred with his as we each struggled to dominate the other.
And then his control broke and he slammed into me as I rose up to meet his thrust, taking him so deep I cried out from pleasure and pain.
“You’re mine, now, Ida May,” he growled into my ear.
“Yours,” I agreed, willing to give him anything he wanted as long as he didn’t stop.
And he didn’t. For hours, until finally we lay in his bed, spent and exhausted.
“I need food,” I said, rolling over to kiss his shoulder.
“Breakfast is still on the table,” he mumbled, pulling me in so I was snuggled up next to him.
I glanced at the clock. “Hmm, breakfast was six hours ago. I think maybe we need a new plan.”
He kissed my temple. “Ida May, how many times did I make you come?”
“Uh, I don’t know. Five? Six?” I smiled up at him, completely content. “I lost count.”
“Exactly. I think I did my job. Now I need to rest if you want a round two.”
“Round two?” I said, my tone rising a few octaves. “You mean round ten?”
“Whatever you want to call it. But once I get my strength back, we’re going to have a repeat performance.”
I giggled. “Now you sound like me.”
He opened one eye. “You’re not complaining are you?”
“Hell no. But I am going to go get some food.” I got up, darting away from his hand as he tried to stop me from leaving. “Nope. Food. Or I’ll pass out, and no one likes an unconscious bed partner.”
“True,” he agreed. “Get enough for two.”
I shook my head at him and padded into the other room. Ten minutes later I was back with a cheese platter, complete with three types of cheese, prosciutto, and crackers. And as a bonus, I found another bottle of wine hiding in a cabinet.
“Hey, this looks great,” Diesel said, finally showing some life.
“For a wolf Shifter, your recovery period is kinda crappy,” I teased.
“Excuse me?” He ran a hand through his mussed hair, making me smile at how freakin’ sexy he looked sitting in bed naked with just a sheet covering his groin. “I believe my energy reserves should be commended. Five or six times, remember?”
I handed him a glass of wine and sat across from him, letting the quilt fall to my waist.
His eyes immediately focused on my bare breasts. “Hmm, looks like you might have a few love bites.”
I glanced down and grinned at the teeth marks he’d left. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Good.”
We sat on the bed, working our way through the snacks until I said, “I wonder if you can shift now.”
He’d had his mouth open, getting ready to bite into a cracker, but he froze. A second later, he discarded the snack and said, “You know, if you were the key, then I should be able to. You forgave me right?”
“There was nothing to forgive,” I said. “But if you were supposed to prove your worth, then I’ll be damned if you didn’t do just that.”
“And I will again the first chance I get,” he added.
I rolled my eyes, but a bolt of anticipation rippled through me and I wondered exactly when that might be.
Diesel stood, his glorious godlike body nearly making me swoon.
“For the love of all that’s holy,” I said. “I think you should be required to never wear clothes.”
He raised a curious eyebrow. “Are you suggesting that I become a nudist?”
I gave him a half shrug. “It wouldn’t be the worst thing ever. I mean, everyone co
uld use a little more beauty in this world.”
It was his turn to roll his eyes. “Sure. Except I’ll end up freezing my ass off. You wouldn’t want that, would you?”
“I suppose not.” I shoved a piece of gouda in my mouth and washed it down with a gulp of Cabernet. “Well? Are you going to get your shift on, or what?”
“I’ll try.” He lowered himself to the floor and propped himself up on his hands and knees. “Here goes nothing.”
He wasn’t kidding. After a full minute, he was still in the same position, his head bowed as he concentrated. No shift in sight.
I opened my mouth to say something, but then a pale light shimmered over him and I swore something started to happen. The light sparked, and I expected to hear bones cracking or see them elongating, but nothing happened… except a butt full of fur.
I couldn’t help it. I laughed.
Diesel, on the other hand, scowled and let out a growl of frustration.
“I’m sorry,” I said between giggles. “That just caught me off guard.”
He stood and walked over to the full length mirror, checking out his partial shift. “Son of a…”
“Can you shift back?” I asked, trying to be helpful.
He shook his head. “No, it’ll probably rectify itself on its own, but who knows how long that will be.”
“You should probably be ready to seek medical attention. You know what they say about a shift that lasts longer than four hours—”
“Too soon, Ida May. Too soon.”
7
“Do you think Zelda would let me borrow some more clothes?” I asked Diesel as I helped him wash the dishes. “At least until I can figure out what to do about money. I can’t wear your sweats forever.”
He paused and cast me an appraising look. “What do you need clothes for? All the plans I have include being naked.”
Butterflies danced in my belly at the thought of more bedroom gymnastics. “I bet they do.”
“It’s settled then. All you need are some socks. I’ll take care of the rest.” He bent and brushed his lips over mine, lingering there for just a moment. “That wine tastes good on your lips.”
