by Callie Rose
So that’s exactly what I do.
My hands roam over the hard, sculpted expanse of his muscles as I touch every inch of him I can reach, groping him without a hint of shame. We end up on our knees on the bed, our bodies pressed together as our lips and tongues grapple. It’s almost like a war, a battle to see who can consume more of the other person.
It’s a fight I want to both win and lose.
When my fingers drop down to the hem of Ridge’s shirt, he finally breaks our kiss, leaning away from me enough for me to draw the dark tee up and over his head. I toss it away onto the floor, tugging my bottom lip between my teeth as I take in the shadowy form of his chest and torso.
I’ve seen this man naked more times than I would have if we were living in human society, with no need to strip down for a shift. I’m still not entirely used to the wolf shifters’ casual attitude toward nudity, but I’ve reached the point where I at least don’t flush bright red every time they discard their clothes or shift back into human form naked. I’m learning to see it as just a part of daily life.
But this?
This is different.
This is Ridge’s broad chest bared only for me. This is an intimate moment, charged with heady desire.
Seeing Ridge shirtless in this context is totally different than when he strips down before shifting. It’s even different than the night all four men surrounded me on the bed and made me feel things I never had before.
It’s just me and him.
I suddenly do feel a little shy, but I don’t let that stop me from reaching out and resting my hands on his chest. His pecs are muscular and slightly rounded, and they flex under my touch, as if it’s taking all his restraint to stay still while I explore him. Butterflies flap around in my stomach and my breath picks up a little as I drag my palms downward, feeling the slight prickle of his chest hair against my skin.
My fingertips drop lower, tracing the contours of his abs, and when my gaze flickers down to the bulge in his pants, my mouth goes a little dry.
He seems so big compared to me. Large and imposing in every sense.
My fingers graze the skin below his belly button, following the small trail of hair that disappears beneath the waistband of his pants, and Ridge’s breath catches. I see his hands curl into fists at his sides, but he still doesn’t move, allowing me the freedom to touch him and explore him however I want.
Fuck, there are so many ways I want to touch him. I’d need to grow extra arms to do it all at once.
As my hands move lower, I press one palm over the straining bulge in his pants, and Ridge shudders. His hips thrust against me just a little, like he can’t help himself, and I’m shocked when a surge of wetness dampens my panties in response. My clit is throbbing, and as I squeeze the inner muscles of my core, more arousal slicks my panties.
Ridge’s nostrils flare, his honey-colored eyes almost seeming to glow in the dim light.
The recognition in his eyes and the flash of heat in their depths makes me shudder a little.
I’m tempted to reach inside his pants, to flick his button and fly open and free his hard cock. But instead, I drag my hands upward again, soaking up the delicious feeling of his warm, smooth skin beneath my palms.
As I rake my nails gently down his back, I lean forward, drawn by curiosity and blooming desire. My lips meet his chest, and I feel the vibration of his groan as I kiss my way across his skin. His nipples are smaller than mine, but they look just as hard as mine feel. I swipe my tongue across one like a cat lapping up milk, and then I bite down, drawing it between my teeth.
“Fuck.”
Ridge’s voice is choked, the word barely more than a grunt. Before I can swap to the other side and give the same treatment to his left nipple, he grabs my face in his large hands, tilting my head up a half-second before his lips crash down on mine.
If our first kiss tonight was one hundred, this is a thousand. It feels like there’s an actual electric current filling my body, like he’s pouring lightning into my soul, and I cling to him as he bends me backward, his body curving over mine.
I’m gasping for breath when he tugs my shirt off over my head, baring my skin to the heated air between us. His large palms brace my back, supporting me as I arch backward even more. My breasts are on perfect display for him, begging for his lips, his teeth, his tongue. And he doesn’t hesitate.
Just like I did to him, he laps at my nipple with the flat of his tongue. Then he clamps his lips around my breast and sucks, flicking the tight bud with the tip of his tongue until soft whimpers spill from my throat. I don’t know how I can feel everything he’s doing in my clit, but I can. It throbs harder with every brush of his tongue on my nipple, and I squeeze my thighs together, trying to relieve the desperately building ache.
My hands latch on to Ridge’s hair as he devours my breasts, switching from one to the other and then back. I’m staring up at the ceiling, but I can barely even see it. All I’m conscious of is the way this man makes me feel.
“You’re beautiful, Sable,” he murmurs against my skin as he moves his mouth upward, dragging his lips up the valley between my breasts. “You’re like moonlight come to life.”
I blink at his words, startled by the poetry of them. I don’t think I could string two words together right now if I tried, but somehow in the midst of this hurricane of desire and raw need, Ridge found a way to bring tears to my eyes.
I want to say something back—to tell him how ruggedly beautiful he is and how I want to wrap myself in his pine scent—but before I can get my mouth to cooperate, his large hands move down over my ass and grip my thighs.
He lifts me as if I weigh nothing, and my legs automatically wrap around his waist. I can feel the damp crotch of my panties press against his lower abdomen, and he groans when he realizes how wet I am.
Although his entire body is still rigid with tension, he’s gentle and careful as he lays me back on the mattress, settling me beneath him. As his body drapes over mine, I feel the hardness of his cock press against my core, and the friction on my clit makes me whimper. I feel like I’m burning up from the inside, desperate for something to quench the fire in my veins as I hook my heels over Ridge’s ass and grind against him.
He lets out a guttural grunt, his hips rotating against mine with little pulsing thrusts as we crush our bodies together.
It feels so good, pressure in all the right places as his tongue dips into my mouth again, tangling with mine.
I could come like this, I realize. With my panties and his pants still between us, with nothing more than the grind of his cock against me and the feel of him kissing me like he might never stop.
And then, almost as soon as the thought fills my mind, I do come.
The pleasure inside me crests in a delicious spike, and I rip my mouth away from Ridge’s, throwing my head back and crying out. My hips roll against his over and over as I feed the orgasm, drawing it out until I’m a quivering, shaking mess beneath him.
Ridge stops moving, bracing himself on his arms as he stares down at me with hooded eyes.
As the overwhelming pleasure begins to die out, a small ripple of embarrassment moves in to take its place.
Is it weird that I came so fast? That I came so hard just from grinding against him like a dog humping someone’s leg? My inexperience feels blatant and obvious now, and I shift a little beneath Ridge, my gaze darting sideways.
Two large fingers catch my chin, turning my head back so that he can meet my gaze. Banked heat still burns in his irises, but I see concern in them too.
Fuck. I knew it. That wasn’t normal. I made it weird because my body couldn’t wait.
“Sable, are you all right? Did I hurt you?” he murmurs, his voice a rough burn.
I blink. “No.” Not even a little bit. I swallow. “I just… I didn’t want to come like that. I wanted… I wanted you…”
My mouth stumbles over the words. I’m starting to feel even more embarrassed, but then understanding dawns i
n Ridge’s eyes—and the heat in them flares like an inferno.
“Are you sure?” His eyes bounce between mine as if he’s searching for any hint of doubt.
I nod quickly, some of my awkwardness banished by the feelings rising up in me as I take in his dark, intense features. Maybe it doesn’t matter that I already came once just from rubbing against him. I still want him inside me. I still want more.
And from the way he’s looking at me with a mixture of desire and reverence, I think he does too.
Before I can let my nerves take over again, I drop my hands to his pants, fumbling with his button and fly. It’s not as smooth as I wish it was, but Ridge reaches down to help me, never taking his gaze from mine. Together, we shove his pants and boxers down over his hips, and he kicks them off before sitting back on his heels. With careful, deliberate movements, he drags my panties down my legs and tosses them aside.
We’re both fully naked now, my legs splayed open as he kneels between them. Anticipation hangs over us in such a thick cloud that it’s almost hard to breathe.
Ridge’s cock juts out from his body, long and hard. Still holding my gaze, he reaches down and fists himself, stroking his hand up and down his shaft. My heart slams against my chest at the sight of him touching himself like that. It’s not even my hand on him, but it sends a surge of arousal through me that makes my flushed and swollen core ache with need again.
I need him.
I need his cock.
I need it to be not his hand but my body that wraps around him, squeezing him tight. I need to feel him inside me.
“Please, Ridge,” I murmur. Those two words are all I can manage.
His entire body shudders lightly at the sound of my husky voice, and he leans over me again, bracing himself above me like before. Only this time, there’s nothing at all between us. The thick length of his cock slides through my wet folds, and my eyes practically roll back in my head from how good it feels.
More.
I need more of that.
“Tell me if you need to stop,” he says quietly. “I’ll go slow, but if it hurts, tell me.”
I nod, sliding my hands down the bare skin of his back and over his firm ass, pulling him toward me. I can’t wait any longer. I feel like a bomb with a lit fuse, ready to detonate.
Ridge groans softly, shifting his hips so that the tip of his cock slips inside me. I feel a strange, pleasant stretch as he presses his hips forward slowly. With every inch he fills me, the stretch grows more intense, until I swear I can feel it in my entire body.
It hurts a little, and I dig my fingers into the muscles of his shoulder, but when he looks down at me in question, I nod fervently.
“More,” I gasp. “Keep going.”
He’s breathing hard as he eases his way inside me, and my breath matches his. We’re both hardly moving, but we might as well be sprinting up a mountain. My entire body feels awake and alive, attuned to the smallest movement of Ridge’s large form.
Finally, his pelvis rests flush against mine, his cock filling me completely. He drops his head, a bead of sweat trickling down his temple. His muscles are flexed and tense, but he stays still for a long moment, letting me relax and adjust to the new sensations. But when he doesn’t start moving after another few heartbeats, I wriggle beneath him, squeezing my inner muscles around his thickness and grinding my clit against him.
Little sparks of pleasure shoot through me at the friction, and Ridge lets out a low curse.
“I don’t want to hurt you, little wolf,” he grates out.
His nickname for me—the one he used before I discovered I’m actually a witch—makes a new kind of pleasure surge inside me.
I may not be a wolf, but I can pretend I am for just one night. I can pretend this is all happening as it’s meant to, pretend there’s no reason at all why Ridge and I shouldn’t be together.
“You’re not hurting me,” I gasp out. “It feels good. It feels… I need…”
Words fail me again, so I grab his ass again instead, rolling my hips as I urge him to start moving.
“God, I need you.” With those ragged words, he finally gives in, drawing out before thrusting forward again, setting up a steady pace.
At first, it burns a little, making me intimately aware of how big he is and how tight I am. But with every stroke, the pain begins to fade away. Pleasure replaces it, simmering in my veins until I’m clinging to Ridge, moving my hips in opposition to his as his thrusts become wilder and harder.
Our bodies slam together over and over again, and I can’t think at all now.
I can only feel.
I can only trust.
I can only crave.
Just as another orgasm begins to spread through me, Ridge wraps his arms around me, sitting back and pulling me with him so that our chests are pinned together. He feels even deeper inside me in this position, and I can tell the exact moment he comes.
His cock pulses hard, seeming to expand against my tight walls as warmth floods my insides, and the feel of him letting go is more than I can take.
“Ridge!” I gasp out his name, burying my face in his neck and holding on to him with everything I have as pleasure rips through me.
“Sable…”
My name on his lips isn’t a harsh cry. It’s just a whisper, like a reassurance or a prayer. His strong arms tighten around me, and he holds me in his embrace for a long time as I cling to him.
He’s sweaty.
So am I, I think. Our skin sticks together, as if our bodies don’t want to let anything pull us apart.
A million emotions spiral through me, and I just keep holding on to Ridge as I ride out the wave, trusting him to be my anchor in the storm. He doesn’t loosen his hold until I do, and when he finally lays me back down on the mattress and pulls out of me, there’s only one emotion left, burning bright inside my chest.
Happiness.
13
Sable
I’m too boneless to move, too exhausted to think, but Ridge crawls off the bed and grabs a washcloth from the bathroom. He cleans me up a little, and I think I murmur something like thank you before he hovers over me and presses a soft kiss to my lips.
Then he lies down beside me and draws me in toward him, tucking me against his large body.
Somewhere in the house, a clock chimes the late hour. Ridge’s chest rises and falls beneath my cheek in time with the gentle, lulling sound. Ten distant chimes, each of them haunting, beautiful… and as lazy and satiated as me.
I feel amazing.
Perfect.
Changed.
I’m a brand new girl, still reveling in one of the most life-changing experiences a woman can have. My body aches all over, but this time, it’s for the right reasons and in all the right places. I’m still coming down off the high, although I wish I could stay there forever.
Ridge’s arms are warm as he holds me, trailing his fingers over my back. Even though he’s no longer inside me, I don’t want this skin-to-skin contact to end. In fact, I’m positive I could stay right here forever and never want to get out of bed.
But despite the comforting way he’s tracing figure eights on my bare skin, I’m still on edge.
What if this was the catalyst for something just as awful as my transformation? The night the four shifters saved me from my uncle’s grasp, we came together in the mating cabin. Each of the men touched me, worshipped my body, brought me to dizzying heights of pleasure… and it caused a major flare up of my powers.
I can’t say for sure that taking that step with them was what caused my transformation and brought out my witch, but it can’t be a coincidence either. One moment I was burning alive beneath their fingertips, and the next, I began to turn into the very thing they all hate and fear. That speaks to some weird correlation in my opinion, and frankly, I’m terrified it was only the beginning.
What if having sex with Ridge shook me up, metaphysically? What if my powers go haywire and hurt me? Or hurt him?
I
stare at the far wall, basically holding my breath and waiting for the other shoe to drop. To be honest, Ridge seems like he’s bracing himself for something to happen as well. There’s a low level tension humming through his muscles beneath my fingertips. I wonder if he’s having the same worries.
But nothing happens.
Several moments pass.
Our breathing levels out.
I relax against his bare chest and listen to his heartbeat finally slow back to normal. This moment is the most peaceful I’ve experienced in my entire life. I could stay in it forever.
I lift my head and rest my chin on the back of my hand as I gaze up at Ridge. It’s so strange to me to be lying here, our naked bodies flush against each other. A few weeks ago, he was an unknown man who’d picked me up in the wilderness and carried me home. Now… what are we now? Lovers? That would suggest we’ll do this again. And again and again, and God, I hope so.
Maybe even soon. Maybe even tonight.
Ridge smiles, his eyes half-closed with satisfaction as he gazes down at me. With one hand, he grabs my waist and tugs me higher to kiss me. It’s a slow, lazy kiss, filled with the promise of more. More heat, more need, more of his body moving inside mine until I’ve forgotten my name, my age, my voice, what it even means to breathe. When I pull away, we share silent smiles.
A wanton part of me whispers, tell him you want more.
Then we’re kissing again. His arms tighten around my waist, drawing me closer. I slide my leg over his hips and feel his cock hardening. A little thrill runs through me, and I tease him, sliding my thigh oh-so-gently over his erection, already anticipating the way he’ll open my thighs and claim me all over again. I want to drive him to madness until we crash together mindlessly and forget about everything except the way our bodies fit together.
Behind me, the bedroom door creaks.
We break the kiss simultaneously. My heart jolts, doing its best to leap from my chest. I flip over, holding the blankets tight to my breasts as my gaze shoots to the doorway. We left the door wide open. I was exhausted after dinner when Ridge tucked me in, and I practically begged him to stay with me without even giving him a chance to go finish the dishes.
