Desert Roots

by Anna Lowe

  Luke did, too.

  She did it again, starting by tilting her right shoulder down and resting her left hand lightly on his hip. Her fingers massaged slowly on the downstroke, featherlight on the upstroke, moving closer to the front of his body this time. And when she straightened, her nipples skipped in and out of contact with his skin.

  Her wolf just about threw back its head and howled, it felt that good.

  Of course, she was supposed to be taking care of Luke, not living out a fantasy, but it was too hard to resist. Damn near impossible, in fact, so she did it again. This time with a hand on each of his hips, traveling slowly down…

  Down…

  Down.

  Her hands curved forward slightly as she imagined touching his cock. Playing with it gently, rubbing up and down.

  When she came up again, brushing her chest along his back the whole way, Luke’s head wasn’t hanging low. It was up. Still facing the wall, but definitely more alert.

  “You want me to stop?” she whispered.

  He shuffled a little, spreading his legs in a tiny but unmistakable gesture.

  “I never want you to stop,” he murmured in a voice so low, she nearly missed it.

  She pressed her cheek to his shoulder and closed her eyes. Was she really going to allow herself to do this?

  Her wolf wasn’t the only voice answering with a Hell, yes! Her soul screamed it, too.

  She lathered up her hands and dipped down again. The line of his ribs guided her hands to his rear, where she followed the flow of water along his ass. She bent low enough to kiss his lower back, and when she straightened, she didn’t stand so much as climb his body, rubbing every inch of his skin. Her hands slid forward, brushing against the hard jut of his cock.

  Carly grinned in spite of herself. The shower was definitely perking him up.

  Luke pushed backward slightly, seeking more contact. And the next time she repeated the long, sensual slide, he put his hands over hers and guided them right to his cock.

  He didn’t say a word, but when she took his steel-hard shaft in her hand, he tipped his head back and held his breath.

  She paused long enough to lather up well — cheap excuse — and stroked up, down, and around his cock until every last sud had been carried away by the water streaming from overhead.

  The fire inside her crackled and swirled, and her thoughts melted into each other until the only message that got through was a primal, needy one.

  Want this man, her wolf growled. Need this man.

  He needs us, too, her human side agreed, on board at last.

  Luke caught her hands and turned slowly around. His deep, dark eyes shone in the dim light, and the muscles of his face were hard. His lips opened a crack.

  So close, her body screamed. Close enough to kiss.

  “Last chance,” he whispered.

  “Last chance for what?” she asked, trying to play it cool. Bracing herself for an epic fail, because she was close to dropping to her knees to beg — or better yet, to lick and taste.

  “Last chance for you to leave before we do something you regret.”

  His hands gripped hers firmly yet gently. The pain had gone from his eyes, replaced by a need she was sure her eyes showed, too.

  She leaned in closer, bringing her lips within an inch of his. “Would you regret this?”

  He was so close, he had to tip his chin down to maintain eye contact. “Never.”

  His voice was hoarse but firm. So firm, it ought to have set off every alarm in her body. When a powerful he-wolf decided something was his, he’d never give up the pursuit of it. Never. Was she ready for that?

  She held herself in check just long enough to ascertain that she didn’t give a damn. Not with her core weeping, her nipples hardening, her mouth starving for him.

  “No regrets,” she murmured, tipping her chin up.

  I’ll hold you to that, her wolf murmured as she gently wrapped her arms around his neck and covered his mouth with hers.

  Remember, her wolf said. No regrets.

  She was ready to promise anything to anybody at that point. Her Triumph. Her first-born child. Her soul to the devil. She’d been fighting destiny all week, and she was finally ready to admit defeat.

  No regrets, she told herself, losing herself in the kiss.

  It was more of a full-frontal attack than a kiss, but Luke didn’t seem to mind. His lips parted, yielding to her tongue, and he pulled her body snugly against his chest. So snug, she could have wrapped her legs around him and gone airborne, leaving the standing to him.

  She settled for grinding against his erection and whimpering out loud.

  So good. So good…

  Whether that was her wolf moaning in pleasure or her human side, she couldn’t tell. All she cared about was getting closer. She angled her head right and Luke did the same, and their tongues tangled. Their hands tangled, too — hers, seeking the thick heat of his cock, while his plowed down her rear in long, hard strokes.

  Strokes that said, Mine. Mine. Mine.

  Strokes that echoed the sweep of her lips and craving tongue. Mine.

  When she reached blindly for the tap and turned the water off, she was already thinking ahead to toweling Luke off and dragging him to the bed. But when she eased away, he turned and pinned her body between his and the tiled wall.

  “Not yet,” he whispered. “Not yet.”

  Water streamed off his shoulders and onto hers. Heat flared back and forth between their bodies in uncontrollable bursts as he took over the kiss. His tongue reached deeper, and his lips plucked even more desperately than hers had at his.

  “Need this,” he whispered. “Need you.”

  When he lifted her arms and held them high over her head, capturing her completely, the last droplets of water ran in slow, lazy lines along her breasts.

  Let me guess, she said, trying to keep a little sass in her voice. Shifter healing has finally kicked in.

  He nodded through the kiss, pulling her head up and down with his. Let me prove it to you.

  Before she could respond, he ducked and sealed his mouth over her neck, nipping, sucking, and licking until she was writhing in his arms. His hands kept hers captive, and it didn’t bother her that she couldn’t tug free. She was enjoying the play-struggle far too much.

  Maybe she wanted to be captured. Maybe she wanted to be possessed.

  She pressed her hips closer to Luke’s. When he stiffened and hissed into her ear, her grin grew. Maybe he liked being captured, too. Because the lean and tilt of his hips wasn’t so much a struggle as an erotic dance for two.

  She stretched her torso, pulling her breasts along his chest, then sank down again, seeking the best connection of all.

  “Luke,” she whispered.

  “Not yet,” he murmured, dipping lower. His tongue flicked along her breast, taunting her nipple until he caught it and nipped.

  She howled and arched within his grip, desperate to be filled. “Luke,” she moaned.

  He twisted and sucked her nipple harder, and she shook in his arms. She was close to climaxing already, damn it, and he hadn’t even touched her where she needed him most yet.

  “Not yet,” he murmured, though his voice shook this time.

  He switched to the other breast and worked it hard while his warm, wide hand pressed between her legs.

  “Right there,” she murmured, rocking against him.

  Her hips were still tight against his, so he didn’t have much space — on the outside, that is. Inside, she was wide and slick and practically weeping for him. He teased her for a minute longer until his breath came in short pants, much like hers.

  “Luke. Please,” she begged.

  He held her nipple in his mouth a moment longer, stroking the underside with his tongue, then slowly straightened until they were face-to-face. He kissed her so long and hard, she couldn’t see straight. Everything became vague and blurry, and she was barely aware of Luke tipping right.

  “Towel,�
�� he murmured.

  “Towel?”

  “Need to get you to that bed.”

  She forced herself back to her senses as he whisked the towel over her back.

  “You sure you’re okay?” she managed. “If this is too much…”

  He broke her off with a searing kiss. “Don’t even think about stopping now.” He wrapped the towel around her and kissed her all the way over to the bedroom. “Don’t…even…think…about…it.”

  When her legs bumped the bed frame, she pulled the towel out of his hands and wiped him dry — thoroughly.

  Shifter healing, her wolf murmured as she dabbed at his chest. The bruises were still there, but not quite as colorful as before.

  She scrubbed his hair, grinning at the way it spiked up.

  “I think I’m dry enough,” he murmured, cupping her breasts.

  She grinned and gently elbowed herself free. “Gotta make sure, you know.” She ran the towel down his belly, then up and down his shaft.

  He closed his eyes, letting her play with him. His head rolled back, and his fists clenched at his sides. Obviously, she wasn’t the only one enjoying such a simple act. When his eyes snapped open, they glowed.

  He pulled the towel out of her hands and patted the bed. “Lie back.”

  “Make me,” she retorted, half challenge, half tease.

  He smiled that devastating smile. “I’ll make you want to.”

  The husky note in his voice alone made her want to drop flat on her back. And when he started kissing her, she was a goner all over again.

  “Lie back,” he whispered, all hoarse and gritty.

  She leaned back, hanging on to him. Spreading her legs as she went. Luke followed, coming down on top of her, kissing her breast while reaching between her legs.

  “Yes…” she whispered, arching her back.

  His fingers swept back and forth across her folds, opening her.

  “Yes,” she cried as he fingered her inside.

  One finger. Two fingers. Three, and she still wasn’t satisfied.

  “Luke,” she panted.

  His breath came in impatient little puffs, too, but still, he teased her.

  “I need you inside me,” she begged. “Need you so bad…”

  She wrapped her legs around him as he crawled up her body. She moaned and wiggled, willing his cock into position at her core.

  His nostrils widened as he hitched her leg higher, keeping it nice and tight against his side. She braced herself for him to penetrate, but he paused and looked at her.

  “No regrets?” Luke asked, looking as serious as she’d ever seen him.

  His gritty voice was full of need — and barely hidden beneath that, pain and uncertainty. Enough to make her soul cry out for him.

  She locked eyes on his and shook her head quickly. “No regrets.”

  “No leaving without saying good-bye.”

  That caught her by surprise. Had she hurt him by sneaking out that morning after their meeting at the bar?

  She shook her head in solemn promise. “No leaving without saying good-bye.”

  A good thing he didn’t ask her never to leave, period, because she just might have promised that, too.

  He nodded, and his eyes narrowed on her face. A quiet second slipped by, just long enough to have squeezed in three little words if either of them had had the nerve to.

  I love you.

  She saw the words on the tip of his tongue as surely as she felt them on her own. Then his lips parted, and his teeth came together in a tiny signal of warning. His cock twitched against the soft flesh of her core.

  “Please,” she urged.

  When Luke planted his hands beside either side of her head, Carly braced herself, knowing when he came, it would be hard, hot, and deep.

  Chapter Twelve

  “Please,” Carly whispered.

  A ripple of need pulsed through Luke’s body, and he knew he couldn’t hold back long. Just long enough to memorize this moment so he could cherish it for a lifetime.

  It was insane, the effect Carly had on him. Just hearing her utter his name blinded him with desire. It made him forget that caught-at-the-doorway-to-hell feeling he’d had when he was trapped inside the collapsing aqueduct. It made him forget the weary labor of the past week, too. He truly had reached the point of lonely misery.

  But then Carly had come along with her soft hands, silky hair, and gentle voice — the first time she’d spoken to him that way. The first time anyone had spoken to him that way in a long, long time, in fact. Maybe the first time he’d listened hard enough to catch the wobble of concern, the scratch of terror in her tone.

  And now, to catch the raw need in her words.

  “Need you,” she pleaded, squirming against him. “Please.”

  Her words were his command. He hammered into her, eliciting a wild howl from his inner wolf.

  God, she was so tight. So perfect. So beautiful. And she was all his.

  Carly hissed and tipped her head back, her lips moving with a cry of pleasure that echoed in his head. Her hair fanned out around the pillow, still wet in places, gold and silky in others. Her nipples peaked against his chest, pink and rosy and hard. Her legs held his hips tightly, ready for a wild ride. All week, he’d been dreaming of her.

  Not dreaming any more, his wolf howled.

  He pulled back and plunged forward again, relishing the squeeze around his cock, the give as she stretched around him.

  “Luke,” she groaned, digging her nails into his shoulders.

  More, her wolf cried into his mind. More.

  In his dreams, he’d taken his time to tease and torture her. In his dreams, he’d made her come multiple times before plunging in.

  In reality, he pumped wildly, crazy with need. His mind emptied of all the different fantasies he’d harbored — the positions he wanted to tease her with, the whispered confessions he needed to get off his chest, the slow, lazy lovemaking he’d pictured sharing with her. But this was instinctive. Animal. Almost edging toward survival, as if his entire future — and hers — hinged on the two of them coming to a screaming high at exactly the same time.

  It does, a deep, dark voice whispered in his mind. Take her. Make her yours right now.

  “Yes,” she moaned, bucking against him. Was she agreeing with the voice of destiny, or was it just a word?

  Every time she squeezed her inner muscles around his cock, it burned. A burn he couldn’t get enough of, so he withdrew and plunged back in to feel it all over again.

  “Yes… Yes…” she panted.

  His heart hammered. The last bead of water — or the first drop of sweat — fell from his chest to hers and glistened there.

  Take her, the earthy voice commanded. Make her yours.

  His canines ached, begging to extend. Carly tipped her head back, exposing her neck.

  This is your mate. One bite will bind her to you forever. Don’t wait, that scratchy voice said.

  A roar built up in his ears, and his body screamed for release.

  Take her. Make her ours, his wolf howled.

  He eyed her neck as his hips pumped on, getting a feel for the timing so he could plunge his teeth into her and deliver the mating bite.

  So, so easy. She’s ours, his wolf howled in glee.

  His cock burned. His soul danced. But deep at the back of his mind, one tiny alarm pinged.

  Mine, mine, mine. So easy—

  Easy? The distraction threw him off-balance just long enough for his brain to flick on again.

  Easy wasn’t good. Easy wasn’t lasting. Easy wasn’t why he’d been working his ass off at this ranch instead of hightailing it north.

  “Close,” she murmured, bringing her legs higher. “I’m so close…”

  His canines screamed as he forced them to recede. Better the long road to reward than a shortcut to hell, right?

  His wolf cried, but his heart tapped its approval inside his chest.

  “Yes,” Carly cried as he found his
rhythm again.

  Yes. He nodded to himself. She was his destined mate.

  “Yes…” Her voice shot higher.

  Yes. He wanted her more than anything.

  “God, yes…” she mumbled, clutching his shoulders.

  He pounded harder and harder, clenching his teeth. Counting down five more slides into heaven before he’d allow himself to come.

  Carly cried out as her body convulsed around his.

  He gritted his teeth through the last two thrusts, then exploded into a release. White light blinded his eyes, and a deep, searing heat rushed through his body.

  “Oh,” Carly moaned, clamping around him in a second wave of ecstasy.

  Oh, yes, he said, though all that came out was a growl.

  Every muscle in his body contracted in deliriously pleasurable pain, and he folded over her body, spent.

  A warm wave of satisfaction seeped through him. Carly sighed and went limp. Her hands fluttered over his back, and she mumbled incoherently as he panted against her skin.

  Mate, his soul wolf hummed. My destined mate.

  He started to roll sideways, but Carly protested. “Stay. Please stay.”

  He paused, relishing the soft press of her breasts against his chest, the slick heat between her legs where his cock still lay.

  Why didn’t you make her ours? his wolf demanded. Why take the risk?

  Because Carly would never forgive him if he did. Because she wasn’t his to take. Because she was worth it.

  His wolf grumbled — but when Carly stroked his back, the beast gave itself over to pleasure again. She wrapped him in a hug that promised this wouldn’t be their last night together, and the beast let out a deep sigh.

  Just when he was about to drift off to sleep, Carly shifted position and kissed him. On the shoulder first, then on the neck and cheek. She propped herself up and looked down at him with shiny eyes.

  “Not bad, Hot Stuff. Not bad.”

  “Not bad?”

  She smiled, then lowered herself into a gentler version of their first, desperate kiss. This one was just as wide and deep, but slower and satisfied. Damn satisfied, just like him.

  Eventually, she pulled away and got around to wiping both of them off with a corner of the sheet. Then she flopped onto the mattress and snuggled up. She stroked his back in a way that made his weary body bliss out for a while. Back and forth, back and forth. Her fingers moved over his skin. If he’d been in wolf form, he’d have rolled onto his back and thumped one leg wildly.