“And now,” he murmured, “I do believe the time has come for you to confirm your earlier statement.”
“Shall we retreat to the bedroom?”
It came out husky, and he chuckled, his breath so warm against my skin. “Why waste precious time climbing stairs when we have a luxurious rug in front of the fire?”
I raised an eyebrow, even though the rapid cadence of my heart was so damn loud it seemed to echo all around us. “The floor is hard.”
“The rug is not.”
“You’re fully dressed.”
He rose and quickly stripped off.
I let my gaze dawdle down his long, lean length and sighed in appreciation. “It’s still not the bed.”
He laughed and pulled me close. His body was warm and hard against mine, his erection fierce. “No, and that’s the whole point.”
I trailed my tongue across his chest until I found a nipple and then gently pulled it into my mouth. He shuddered, and the scent of desire—both his and mine—became so thick it was almost liquid.
“And what if someone walks by?” I murmured. “There’s a public path around the lake, after all, and you don’t believe in window coverings.”
“If there’s one truth about werewolves none of us can deny,” he said, kissing his way toward my ear, “it’s that we are all exhibitionists.”
The sweet heat of his tongue delved inside my lobe, and a helpless sound of pleasure escaped my lips. He chuckled again, a throaty sound as seductive and as arousing as his touch. He slipped his hands under my T-shirt and trailed his fingers up my stomach, setting me alight. Then his big hands cupped my breasts and lightly pushed them together, his thumbs teasing the engorged points. I groaned and squirmed, every inch of me vibrating with the hunger flowing through my veins.
“Okay,” I said breathlessly. “Rug it is.”
He laughed, lifted me up, and carried me over to the rug. Once he’d divested me of my T-shirt, he pressed me back into the thick rug and straddled my body.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him down, squashing my breasts hard against his chest. I didn’t care. I simply claimed his lips and kissed him with all the urgency that surged through me. It was an urgency he shared, if the wild beating of his heart was anything to go by.
The kiss went on and on, becoming a deep exploration of heat and desire, fueling the inner flames and making me ache for his touch and his body.
Then, with a low and very sexy growl, he pulled away. “I think we need to pace ourselves. You’ve been unconscious for almost three days, remember.”
“Which also means I haven’t had sex for three days, Ranger.” I slipped a hand between us and caressed the hard length of him. “That’s almost drought territory these days.”
He laughed and pulled away. “No touching the goods just yet, young lady. Let’s explore how well you’ve recovered first.”
I sighed in a very put out sort of way. “If you insist—”
“And I do.”
I airily waved a hand to indicate my body. “Then by all means, have your wicked way with me.”
His blue eyes gleamed with hunger and need, but when his mouth once again met mine, it was little more than a brush of heat—a tingling, tantalizing promise of what was to come. Slowly, ever so slowly, he kissed his way down my neck, then lingered on my breasts, licking and nipping until I was once again shuddering and moaning in pleasure. Then he continued on down my stomach, discovering a pleasure zone I had no idea existed. Which was odd considering this was not the first time he’d explored my body in such a manner.
Then his tongue flicked across my clit, and all thought disappeared. I groaned and thrust my hips toward him, wanting more, needing more, but knowing full well he wasn’t about to fulfill the promise his tongue was making. Not yet.
He chuckled softly, his breath hot and heavy against my skin, and continued on, bringing me to the edge so very quickly. But he offered no release; instead, he claimed my mouth and kissed me until the threatening tremors subsided. Then the slow process started all over again, until desire was all-consuming and all I wanted was him inside. He didn’t comply, but this time, he didn’t withdraw, using tongue and breath to push me over that glorious edge.
The waves of my orgasm had barely eased when he thrust inside. It felt so damn good, so damn right, that I wanted to cry.
He began to move, not slowly, but fiercely, his body hot and needy against mine. The delicious, low-down pressure began to build again, fanning out in thick waves until it was a molten force that would not be denied.
He came with me, his lips capturing mine, kissing me urgently as his warmth spilled into me and his body went rigid against mine.
When I could finally breathe again, I took his face between my palms and kissed him long and slow. “I think we both needed that.”
His grin was that of a man who knew a task had been well done. “Yeah. Though I have to admit, it was a little too fast for my liking.”
I raised an eyebrow. “If that was your definition of fast, I can’t wait to see what you call slow.”
He raised a lazy eyebrow. “Shall we take this upstairs and find out?”
“I’m yours for the entire day, Ranger.”
“Then I shall certainly ensure we use the day wisely.”
And he most certainly did.
Belle was already in the kitchen doing the day’s prep when I walked in the following morning. I glanced at the clock and feigned surprise. “Did Monty kick you out of bed for snoring? It’s barely seven.”
She tossed a carrot stick at me. “As if he’d ever dare.”
I grinned and waved a hand at the full containers of cut vegetables on the counter. “You’ve obviously been here for at least an hour, so what happened?”
She grimaced. “He got a damn phone call from an old friend. She’s arriving in Melbourne this afternoon and wanted to arrange a quick catch-up.”
There was a very slight edge in her tone that had my lips twitching. “She?”
“Yes.” The terse response was accompanied by a rather brutal decapitation of a carrot.
“That wouldn’t be a smidge of jealousy in your voice, would it?”
She kept her gaze down and thoughts locked. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“You do remember that I can read auras, don’t you? Because yours, right now, is a dead giveaway.”
“Fine,” she muttered. “I won’t deny there might be just a smidge of that odious emotion.”
I smiled. “A serious understatement, if you ask me.”
“And I didn’t.”
My smile grew. “So, what was it about the call that raised the green demon?”
She blew out a breath. “The familiarity. The warmth. The overly friendly natter.”
“So, basically, everything.”
“Basically.”
“Oh, Monty is going to be so pleased to hear—”
“You dare mention it, and I’ll curse your libido for the next year.” She glared at me. “And you know I can.”
I laughed. “So didn’t he suspect anything was wrong by your abrupt departure from his bed?”
“He’s a man. They tend not to notice annoyed snits. Besides, I did warn him I had to get in early today.”