by Black, Tasha
“Here’s hoping your team is up soon,” Addison said with a wicked grin.
Mac gave a little shudder. “Curse you for that,” he said lightly and turned on his heel.
Addison laughed and heard his chuckle as he disappeared back into the family room.
16
Ryan
Ryan gave his grandmother a quick hug.
“You sure you’ll be comfortable here tonight?” he asked.
“Oh yes,” Grandma Stevenson replied. “Eva and I will catch up over the dishes. Then a night cap, and I’ll make her my famous muffins for breakfast.”
“Call if you change your mind,” Ryan said.
“You’d think I was an eight-year old on her first sleepover,” Grandma Stevenson complained. But her eyes were twinkling. “You’d better go find that fiancée of yours.”
“Okay,” Ryan said. “Have fun.”
He moved into the crowd, hoping to catch sight of Addison. She had been weird and distant all night.
There was no sign of her in the kitchen or family room. He was crossing the center hall to look for her in the living room when he caught sight of her trying to slip out the front door.
“Addison,” he said.
“Oh, um, hey,” she said.
At least she had the decency to look embarrassed.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“I was just going to walk home,” she said.
“That’s ridiculous,” he said. “It’s cold. I’m going to drive you”
“You really don’t have to.”
“I know,” he said. “Are you ready?”
“Yeah, okay,” she sighed.
He held the door open for her and they stepped out into the moonlight.
The cold breeze ruffled his hair and slipped under his collar as he stared up at the swollen moon.
A ripple of excitement ran down his spine. The moon was nearly full. Soon it would be time to run.
His wolf sniffed at the air and nudged him in Addison’s direction.
Easy boy, she’s not ours.
But the beast was hearing none of it. He flung himself against the bars of Ryan’s restraint, moaning for his mate.
“You okay?” Addison asked.
He heard the hidden harmonics in her voice, scented every note of her fragrance. The wolf was close to the surface now, too close.
Ryan nodded and they went wordlessly to his car.
He opened the passenger door for her and watched as she slid inside, coaching himself to be calm, calm, calm as he closed her door and got into the car himself.
The engine started with a rumble and Ryan tried to keep his focus on the road.
“I’m sorry I tried to leave without saying goodbye,” Addison said softly.
“It’s okay,” he told her. “But you were quiet all night. Is something wrong?”
She gazed out the window so long he wondered if she would speak again.
At last she turned back to him.
“No,” she said in a decided way. “I had a good talk with someone and I’m okay now. A little embarrassed, but okay.”
“I’m glad you feel better, but what were you embarrassed about?” Ryan asked. “I mean we failed big time at charades, but it was funny, and I think that’s kind of the point.”
“Oh yeah,” Addison said with a smile. “Andrew Farthing pulled me aside to say that you and I are invited to his house for more charades any time.”
Ryan chuckled.
“No,” Addison continued. “It’s more about us. And I get it, I really do. You can’t force yourself…”
“Force myself to what?” he asked, fascinated.
“Nothing,” she said. “Never mind. I get it now, that’s all.”
“No, Addison, I want to know,” Ryan said, getting frustrated. “I can’t force myself to what?”
“You can’t force yourself to want me,” she said quietly.
The world seemed to tilt on its axis.
Ryan pumped the brakes and, tires squealing, pulled the car over under the sugar maples that lined Elm.
“Is that what you think?” he growled, throwing his arm over the seat behind her as he turned to face her. “You think I don’t want you?”
She stared at him, her doe eyes wide.
“You think it’s not an effort for me not to touch you, to kiss you every moment we spend together?” he demanded.
Her lips parted but she didn’t speak.
His wolf could sense her excitement - she wasn’t frightened.
Ryan glanced out the window and nearly laughed.
He had pulled up a few car-lengths away from his own house.
And Grandma Stevenson was sleeping over at Eva Cortez’s place. He considered for the first time that she might have made the decision based more on Ryan’s need than her own.
“We’re going inside,” he told Addison.
She blinked.
“This is my place,” he told her, turning off the engine and flinging himself out of the car before he could think twice about it.
He opened her door and she stepped out.
“This is your house?” she murmured, looking up at it.
The moon cast a romantic glow over the structure, shimmering on the windows and illuminating the curve of the walkway.
“Yes,” he said. “I know it’s overkill for a single guy, but I wanted it.”
“It’s amazing,” she whispered.
But he was already scooping her up in his arms and carrying her up to the front door.
When they reached the center hall, he pulled the door shut behind him and placed her gently down.
She left her arms around his neck and for a moment he was nearly drunk with desire. Addison was in his arms. Addison was looking up at him, her dark eyes shining.
He tore his eyes from hers. He was acting like a crazy person. He didn’t want to scare her.
He felt her hands subtly tighten on his shoulders, as if she knew instinctively that he was trying to pull away.
“This is it,” he said, looking down at the floor. “This is your last chance. If you ask me, I’ll take you home and I won’t lay another finger on you, I promise. But if you stay… Oh, Addison, you’ll make me crazy.”
Slowly, so slowly, she went up on her toes and closed her eyes.
He gazed down for just a moment at her lashes kissing her cheeks, the beautiful serenity of her sweet face, so trusting.
Then he bent to brush her lips with his.
He meant to kiss her gently.
But when she pressed herself against his chest he lost control and kissed her like the world was ending.
17
Addison
Addison nearly moaned with relief at the feeling of his arms around her, the press of his big body against hers.
A tornado of pent-up desire seemed to be pulling her limb from limb and it was only his hold on her that kept her from being obliterated by it.
He thumbed her jaw open and she surrendered, reeling under the teasing sensation of his warm tongue caressing hers.
Her nipples were already tightened and her belly clenching. She had never been like this, never responded to a kiss this way. She was almost afraid of what might happen if they took things any further.
But she had no doubt they would. She needed him, whether he was bonded to her or not. Her soul cried out for his and even if it was for a single night, she was happy.
He pulled back slightly and looked down at her.
In the dim moonlight she could see the concern on his features.
He couldn’t change his mind now - he just couldn’t.
She pressed herself close to him again, took his lower lip in her teeth and sucked lightly.
With a groan of surrender he lifted her in his arms again and began to ascend the staircase.
Addison closed her eyes and tried to memorize the urgent rhythm of his footsteps on the stairs, the hard muscles of his chest, and his incredible spicy scent.
&nb
sp; Too soon, they reached their destination and he placed her gently on her feet.
“Addison, are you sure—?” he whispered to her.
She stopped him by unbuttoning the top button on her shirt.
He froze, watching her, his eyes flashing with lust.
Addison slowly flicked the next button open, willing herself to be brave.
She had never been particularly confident about her body. She was tall and lean. Compared to golden, curvy Bianca and confident, athletic Mei, Addison often felt like a tree in a flower garden.
But the look on Ryan’s face as he watched her made her suddenly feel that she was enough.
She flicked open the third button as the moonlight gleamed on her satin bra.
Ryan made a groaning sound and then fell on her, pulling the shirt over her head.
She held perfectly still as he dragged her skirt down to her ankles, and knelt before her, nuzzling her breasts.
His rough jaw felt amazing against her sensitive skin.
When he stood she almost wanted to cry.
But he reached around her ribcage and released the hooks of her bra, then slid it over her shoulders.
She let it drop to the floor and stood before him, trembling, wearing only her panties.
Ryan was still fully dressed. He gazed at her with a hunger she could feel to her core.
“Are you cold?” he growled.
She shook her head, unable to find the words to tell him she was shivering with lust, with need for him.
“Lie down,” he told her.
She crawled into bed and rolled onto her back so she could see him as he began unbuttoning his own shirt.
The moonlight caressed his gorgeous body, allowing Addison to see every bulge and every hollow. He was made of lean muscle and she longed to lick and nuzzle every inch.
As she watched, he stripped out of everything but his boxer briefs, then crawled into bed next to her.
She ached to touch him.
He must have read it in her eyes.
He took one of her hands and placed it against his chest.
She felt the warmth of his skin, the firm muscle and the throb of his heart beneath.
“Addison,” he murmured.
She closed her eyes and felt his mouth on hers again.
This time when she pressed close she felt the dizzying pleasure of his skin against hers.
He gripped her hip, pulling her close.
She could feel him throb against her, only the thin material of their underthings separating her pulsing sex from his enormous erection.
“Oh,” she whimpered against his mouth, sliding her hand up his chest and around his shoulder.
Ryan pulled away and nuzzled her neck, licking and nipping at her, as he stroked her side, his thumb grazing the side of her breast, but avoiding her stiffened nipple.
Addison felt her back arch and tightened her grip on him.
Ryan kissed his way slowly down her throat. His warm breath sent ticklish sensations throughout her, even as she craved closer contact with his hot mouth.
She whimpered again and he responded, cupping her left breast in his palm.
Lightning bolts of need sizzled through her and she could feel her nipple pouting, begging for closer contact.
Ryan groaned and lowered his mouth to flick the engorged pebble with his tongue.
Addison felt her hips lift of their own accord.
Ryan licked her nipple into his mouth, sucking with a firm, steady pressure.
Addison moaned and arched her back for more.
He growled and sucked half her small breast into his mouth, rocking his hips into her and sending her almost over the edge.
She sank her nails into his shoulder, and he moved to her other breast, licking and nipping.
Addison was frantic. She’d had boyfriends before, but none of them had ever made her feel this way - half-crazed with lust.
Ryan trailed kisses down her belly.
She moaned and tossed her head on the pillow as he slipped his fingers under the waistband of her panties and dragged them slowly down and off.
“Oh, Addison,” he moaned from his place between her thighs.
She expected to be nervous. Men never knew what they were doing when it came to the most delicate female parts. In her experience they were rough and clumsy where they most needed to be gentle. The best she could hope for was to fake a quick release and get them out of there.
But Addison was aching and eager for Ryan’s attentions tonight. She felt as if any touch could send her off, as if he couldn’t hurt her if he tried.
When he slid his hands between her thighs she allowed them to move apart for him.
“Beautiful girl,” he murmured.
His breath tickled the tender place between her legs, and she froze, waiting for what came next.
Ryan leaned in and placed an ardent kiss against her opening.
Addison cried out and closed her eyes.
She felt his tongue stroke her lightly without penetrating.
“Ohh,” she moaned.
With a growl, he fell on her again, licking and sucking at her folds, darting his tongue inside her.
Addison was seeing stars. Her whole body was taut as a violin string. She needed only the simplest touch in the right place.
But Ryan seemed determined to prolong her torture. He lapped at her with heavy strokes and eased one long finger slowly inside to circle her most sensitive spot.
“Ohh,” she whimpered. “Please…”
As if he had only been waiting to hear her beg, Ryan instantly licked her stiffened clitoris into his mouth and sucked lightly as his finger massaged her.
Addison lost track of her own sounds as she felt her whole body stretch tight and then shatter into a million pieces.
The pleasure seemed to go on and on and she trembled, caught between his hand and mouth, wishing it would never end.
At last the ecstasy began to fade.
Addison drew in a deep breath as Ryan gave her sex one last lazy lick.
Then she held her arms out to him.
He was going to be inside her now. The idea of it had her pulse racing again immediately
But when he reached her, he rolled onto his back and pulled her into his chest.
“Ryan,” she crooned. “That was amazing.”
“No, you were amazing,” he told her with a smile.
She snaked one hand down his rigid abs to find the other rigid thing she sought.
But he encircled her wrist with his hand.
“No, Addison,” he told her. “This was enough.”
“But you…?” she murmured.
“No, sweet girl,” he told her. “I got what I wanted. You rest now.”
She wanted to protest, but his chest was so warm and after what he’d done, she was so relaxed.
She decided to close her eyes for just a moment before arguing with him.
18
Ryan
Ryan held Addison close until his heart slowed, until he felt her drift into the doldrums of sleep.
He loved her. He knew that now. It was beyond a mating bond that drew him to her. He loved her for herself.
With the scent of her in the air and the taste of her still on his tongue, it was hard to fight the need to claim her. The wolf paced in his head, moaning for release.
He gazed out the window at the stars.
The moon pulsed from behind the sycamore tree, bathing the lawn in dreamy blue brilliance.
It pulled on his wolf, offering release, if not of one kind, then another.
Addison’s breathing was slow and deep. She wouldn’t wake for hours.
Claim her, the wolf demanded. Wake her and claim her.
But that was exactly what he couldn’t do, though he felt torn in half between his desire to mark her as his own and the protective instinct not to rush her.
He could not allow her to be drawn into his life without choosing it.
Come on, he told t
he wolf grudgingly. Let’s run.
He crawled carefully out of bed, replacing his body with pillows, tucking a warm blanket around Addison’s sleeping form.
She didn’t stir.
He peeled the last of his clothes off and placed them on his dresser.
Moonlight spilled in from the window, caressing his skin.
The wolf trembled.
He glanced once more at Addison, but she was sleeping soundly and took no notice of him. He took a small amount of pride at having pleased her enough to relax her so thoroughly.
Ryan opened the window, then took a deep breath and sank into his wolf.
Instantly, the room dimmed before his changed eyes and the smells of the house invaded his senses.
He shook himself briskly, dissipating the distracting honey-sweet fragrance of his mate, and feeling the cool air on his wriggling pelt.
Then he leapt to the window seat.
For one glorious moment he lifted his snout to taste the moonlight and the delicious night air.
Then he bounded to the porch roof and from there onto the lawn.
The grass was cool beneath his paws. He jogged to the back of the house and loped along the hedge lines toward the college woods.
His thoughts were simpler in this form, his joy in the outdoors more pure, his sadness more firmly placed on the unclaimed mate.
Tonight he would stretch his legs and find some measure of relief in the loamy soil, the shade of the trees, and the cold bite of the November wind.
Tonight he would run and howl and leap and hunt until he emerged ready to face the world on two legs once more.
19
Addison
Addison stirred from her slumber.
Something wasn’t right. She had fallen asleep ensconced in Ryan’s warm arms.
She was still cuddled up warmly, but it was a blanket holding in her body heat. And there seemed to be a cool breeze in the room.
She opened her eyes very slightly.
Movement at the window drew her attention.
Addison froze in place, unbelieving.
