Текст книги "Unconditional"

Автор книги: Lauren Dane

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Текущая страница: 5 (всего у книги 13 страниц)

Chapter Six

She checked her phone every few minutes until he finally put a hand on hers. “Your phone is on. You’ll hear it if you get a message or a call. My people all know where to reach me too.”

He’d called Damon and his mate, Gina, to come over for a bit. Josh had wanted to hold her. To kiss her and fuck her senseless to wipe the worry off her features for at least a little while. But he forced himself to be patient.

Nina called to report she’d hacked the cameras at the rest stops and that they’d stopped working for fifteen minutes at the first stop and six minutes at the second. Michelle figured it was a spell of some sort, but at least they could work out a rudimentary timeline based on that information.

But it was pretty close to what she’d already figured out, so she took some notes and ended up staring out the window again.

The loneliness seemed to flow from her in waves. He could fix that. Or try anyway. Gina was awesome. Funny, warm and totally accustomed to being surrounded by Others. She was exactly the kind of person who’d extend friendship. And clearly Michelle needed it. He wanted her to understand it was possible to live in a vibrant community of likeminded Others. Sure she couldn’t announce that witches existed to the world, but she didn’t always have to hide it either.

Damon and Gina arrived, and as he’d figured, Gina was warm, holding her hands out to Michelle.

“You’re Michelle. I’m so happy to meet you. I brought cake. I’m sure he’ll make you a lovely dinner, but he won’t have cake and one needs cake.”

“It’s the rules.” Michelle nodded with a smile.

Damon watched his woman, affection clear on his features, before he turned to Josh and thrust bags at him. “She wasn’t kidding. Dips and chips and cake. Oh and beer.”

Josh happily took in the way Gina drew Michelle out, chatting with her about every day things as well as magick and witches.

“Thanks for coming over.” Josh told Damon this as he poured chips into a bowl and Damon opened the dips.

“Gina would have barged in anyway. I filled her in…a little so don’t get that look.” Damon said it low enough that only another wolf would have heard. “It’s not a secret to anyone with eyes, Josh. Looking at a beautiful woman is one thing. Looking at your beautiful woman is another.”

Josh smiled. His. Yeah. “I’m taking things slow. She doesn’t know so keep your mouth shut about it.”

Damon grinned. “I like seeing you this way. All flaily and out of your element.”

“Flaily? I’m not flaily.”

“Ha. You are. And it’s good for you.”

Laughing, Michelle looked across the living room to where he stood with Damon in the kitchen. He held up the tray of food and she smiled.

They joined the women, and he settled in next to her on the couch. “Dinner is in the oven.”

“I was just inviting Michelle to our weekly get-togethers. The Owen witches who live down here, that is. They’re usually at our house, so you know they’ll be well guarded by a big, badass grumpy werewolf.”

If Michelle was there, Josh would be there too.

“I don’t know how long I’ll be around. I mean, once I find Allie she’ll need me in Roseburg. I have a job there.”

Gina’s gaze cut to Josh quickly and then back. Did everyone on the planet know Michelle was his mate or what? “I get that. I hope you’ll reconsider maybe settling up here. Once you get Allie back and safe. And in the mean time, you can drive up, right?”

Michelle nodded but her happiness had ebbed a little.

His life was in Portland. But she was to be part of that life. The center of it, of course. He couldn’t protect her if she lived in Roseburg. They needed to talk in-depth about all of this stuff. There was a lot to discuss. She was under a great deal of pressure, and he didn’t want to add to that stress.

So he’d take it baby step by baby step.

Gina and Damon stayed for dinner and cake and left shortly after that. It had been a really good several hours, and Michelle seemed lighter once he’d closed his door.

“I know today’s been a long one. Yesterday and the day before too. Did you know I have a giant soaking tub? It’s a good place to relax a while.”

One corner of her mouth quirked up. “Is that an invitation?”

He moved closer, his body brushing hers. “Do you want it to be?”

She took a deep breath, her eyes closing for long moments before she opened and snagged his gaze again. “I…” She licked her lips and he bent to do the same. She exhaled, and he pulled it into his lungs, heady with desire.

“We’ve known each other a long time, Michelle. That means something to me. More than what we were back in high school. You’re my friend. You can tell me anything. I am here for you, not just for this situation, but afterward too.”

She nodded, her eyes still on his, intent. “I want you,” she murmured, and he drew even closer, their bodies touching, heat spilling between them.

“Thank God. I want you so much my hands would be shaking if I wasn’t keeping them on your hips. But I know you’re going through a lot of stuff right now. I can wait.”

“Help me forget. Just for a little while at least.”

He swallowed and had a stern inner dialogue with his wolf. The wolf wanted to rut and claim and comfort. The man knew she needed the rutting and the comforting but the claiming had to wait.

He kissed each eyelid as he did this. Across her brow, delighting in the way the furrows smoothed.

Her hands slid up his chest, leaving heat in their wake. Funny thing, given that he was the shifter and his body temperature was higher than hers. But chemistry made it that way. Clicked with his and made it uniquely theirs.

Argument settled—for the time being, his wolf waited for the chance to do things his way—Josh eased her down the hallway toward his bathroom.

She pulled her hair from the ponytail and shook it free. She’d taken her shoes off earlier, and he looked up as her hands went to her pants button.

“Don’t undress yet.” He turned on the taps after plugging the drain.

She smiled at him. “Should I go in fully dressed?”

He laughed, straightening. “No, I want to undress you myself.”

He pulled her shirt and the tank under it over her head. He kissed her shoulder as he slid the bra strap down. That’s when he saw the bloom of color on her side and paused. “What is that?”

The way she started and then was very still for long moments made him realize he’d probably growled it instead of asking. The price of dallying with a wolf, he supposed. He caressed her hip, and she relaxed a little as she turned to look down.

“Those of us who aren’t shifters have to deal with bruises on the job from time to time.” Her lips curved, amusement on her features. “I hit that asshole pretty hard yesterday when I took him down.”

If Charlie hadn’t been in jail, Josh would have hunted him down and killed him for leaving a mark on his woman.

“I get bruises too. But they heal fast.”

He dropped to his knees before her, pressing a kiss softly over the bruised skin at her side, then on her belly, moving lower as he undid her pants, sliding them down her hips and legs, taking her socks with her.

Her toenails were painted bright pink. Her legs were toned and strong. Not long, she was pretty petite, but she was in shape. Powerful. He liked that.

He pressed his face to the front of the panties she wore. Pink, like the nails. Damn. Her fingers slid into his hair, pulling just a little. He took a breath scented with her. With her desire. It clawed at him, holding him tighter than her fingers ever could.

Deftly, he yanked the panties down, and she put a hand on his shoulder to step free. He looked up the line of her body to find her staring down at him, her lips parted, her pupils huge.

If he’d had any questions about how much she wanted him, the way she smelled, the way she looked, the heat coming off her skin all combined like a fist, guiding him to his feet to remove her bra and leave her there totally naked.

“Christ, you’re beautiful.”

She blushed, and he moaned, leaning down to breathe her in again.

“You like to sniff me.” Amusement was clear in her voice. “Also, it’s not like you haven’t seen it all before. And when it was in better shape.”

He scoffed at that.

“When you blush it heats your skin, and you smell really, really good. As far as better? No. Younger? Yes. But your tits are far nicer now. Your ass is higher, tighter. Your legs are more toned. There’s also the added bonus that we can fuck all night long in my apartment if we want and no one is going to come home to discover us.”

She laughed, pulling his shirt up and off, caressing all of him she could reach.

“You’re one to talk about beautiful.” She pressed a kiss on his chest, over his heart, her hands skimming across his back, helping to shove his pants down before she took handfuls of his ass and hauled him close.

So good. Skin to skin.

He felt the curve of her lips against his chest as she brushed against his cock from side to side.

Thank God she seemed to be as on board with sex as he was.

The water was done, and he reluctantly moved away to turn it off and to switch the jets on. He’d bought condoms on his way home the night before, hoping he’d get the chance to use them. He glanced toward the medicine cabinet where he’d stored the ones not in his nightstand or wallet.

She stepped into the water and groaned. “Oh my God. If I had one of these in my apartment, I’d never leave it.”

He was absolutely fine with her spending as much time as she pleased in his big bathtub.

“I only use this tub when I get my ass kicked. But with you around, I can see other, better uses.”

He joined her, settling her in between his thighs. Funny, he had this moment as they sat together, the steam from the water rising between them, he’d never realized how unsettled he’d been until she had walked into his building and everything had sort of clicked into place. Not even a full two days ago. Christ, how much in your life can change in such a short time.

For the first time in a long time, and certainly since she’d answered that call three days before, she felt…all right. Being there with him soothed her. Made her feel safe.

Which was silly. Of course she was capable of taking care of herself. But it was novel, being taken care of for a change.

It was probably stupid to like it. Certainly to get used to it. They all seemed to talk like she’d simply move up to Portland. Which she supposed meant he wanted more than a fun weekend with her.

She didn’t know what she wanted. She had a life in Roseburg. A job she liked but was growing increasingly unhappy with because of the attitudes of her boss. Being here made her realize maybe it wasn’t enough.

“Want to share whatever’s got you thinking so hard your muscles are bunching up? I know you’re worried about Allie.” He spoke softly, his hands sliding up her arms where he began to knead her shoulders.

“You’re really good with your hands,” she nearly purred, relaxing into him.

He laughed. That laugh men do when they’re really thinking about sex. It sent a thrill through her. It wasn’t that she didn’t think the next stop was bed. She was lying in his tub naked, between his thighs, his cock hard at the small of her back.

But he owned his sexuality in a way that rendered her a little breathless with anticipation. And that laugh, mmm.

“Restless I guess.” Which was the truth on several levels.

“Why do I get the feeling you mean more than just about Allie? Talk to me.”

“I’m not ready to yet. I’m mulling it all over.”

“When you’re like this, I realize how much I missed you all these years.”

That made her laugh. “How so? Naked? Between your legs?”

He laughed too, brushing a kiss at her temple. “I have not been like this with anyone. Not since you. Did you…never mind.”

“Did I sit in the bathtub and talk about my feelings with Mark?”

“I don’t have a right to know. It’s okay.”

“He was a good man. Is a good man. He loved me, and in my own way I guess I loved him too.” She paused, wondering about taking the risk of stripping herself bare. “But I couldn’t share a big part of my life with him. Or, well I could have, but I didn’t trust him with it. And I didn’t trust you with it either, back then. But I can be who I am when I’m with you, and that is something I’ve never had with anyone but Allie, and not…well not like this.”

The fingers that had been kneading stopped as he encircled her shoulders and pulled her close. “I’m surrounded by wolves every day. But until I looked into your eyes yesterday, I didn’t realize how lonely I was. I have missed you so much. Because I have always talked to you and you’ve always listened. But the adult Michelle? You’re beyond alluring. I know you have a case. And I know you have a life, but when this is settled, I want you to consider there’s something up here for you. I’m part of it.”

She wanted to accept. Wanted to spin and say yes and fall into his arms and be his. But sudden didn’t begin to describe what the situation was.

“This is moving so fast.”

“I’ve known you since you were twelve and I was fourteen. You were my first. My first everything. This isn’t fast. This is slow. Long and simmering. Until we were both in a different place. Enough to appreciate it maybe. I left in a dickish way and—”

She interrupted. “I understand. I hated you for it then. I thought it was about me. That I wasn’t worth it. Before I knew the why, I mean. But even at that, when I saw you yesterday none of it mattered anymore.”

He squeezed her a little tighter. “I’m sorry again that I gave you cause to think it was about you. It was about me but it was stupid how I did it. Your saying all this means a lot. Now that you’re here…if you walked out of my life I’d hate it.”

They were silent for some time. She was sleepy and warm, and it felt right there in his arms.

“I’d hate it too. I don’t understand it. The way you make me feel, I mean. I’m not a quick decision kind of person. It took me nearly a year to decide on what couch to buy.”

He snorted. “Witches are control freaks.”

“We are? Or I am?”

“Every witch I’ve ever met. I should have remembered back to what you were like in high school. Is your room still brutally organized?”

“If you put everything where it’s supposed to go, you can always find it later.”

“I love how prim you are when you say that. Water’s getting cold. Should I top us off with more hot or are you ready to get out?”

“I don’t know. What are your plans if we get out?”

He slid his hands under the water to take her breasts in his hands, flicking his thumbs over her nipples. “Depends on what you’ll let me do to you?”

“I’m pretty sure you’ve got a blank check in that department.”

“Hm. I have credit? Nice.”

He spun her, and she went to her knees as he caged her with those powerful thighs.

“You’re crazy-hot when you’re clothed, but naked? I’m not sure I’ll survive.” His grin was nearly a leer, and it filled her with a rush of emotion. Joy, lust, amusement, affection. She tipped her head back and laughed.

She wanted him. Even if it was only for a brief period of time before they both went back to their lives.

He stood, and she wrapped her legs around him to keep from falling. Not that she didn’t enjoy all that strength. Good gracious.

“A girl could get used to a man in her bed with werewolf strength,” she murmured as he wrapped a towel around them both and carried her through an adjacent doorway and into his bedroom.

He laid her on the bed and took her in from head to toe with so much raw desire on his features her breath got caught.

“So fucking beautiful.”

She blushed but soaked up all the attention in any case. His cock, wow, she really couldn’t seem to stop returning her attention to it. Rock hard and ready.

She licked her lips, and he groaned, tearing her attention from his cock to his face.

“I want to take my time with you and you go staring and it makes me forget the slow.”

“You gonna use that on me?” She nodded at his cock, and his grin made things south of her belly button tighten and get wetter.

“You wanted me to help you forget. It’s probably going to take a few hours.”

She caught her bottom lip between her teeth as he bent and took her left foot in his hands. His big, strong hands.

“Either you have a thing for having your feet touched or I did something else you really like. Your pussy smells so good, Michelle.”

“Hands,” she gasped out as he nuzzled her instep and his stubble scratched that sensitive skin in all the right ways. “I have a thing.” She moaned as he kissed her ankle and bent her leg, his lips moving along her calf.

“A thing about hands?”

He got to his knees on the bed and kept kissing her calf, pausing at her knee before switching to the other foot and leg.

“Yes.” A breathy gasp that meant more than just his question. Yes to whatever he wanted. However he wanted it.

She’d never wanted anyone the way she did right then. Not even back in the day when she had him. Things were different. They were different, and yet, he knew her in a way no one else on the planet did and it was enough.

He gripped her tighter, sliding the aforementioned hands up her legs to her thighs, spreading them wide and holding her that way.

She nearly choked at the way it felt.

“I’m not sure I truly appreciated the heightened sense of scent I have until right this moment when your pussy got even hotter and wetter when I did that.”

She had to close her eyes a moment. She’d never actually had a man use dirty talk during sex. It was totally underrated.

He settled against her, lying on top of her but keeping most of his weight off. It was…good to be held down like that.

His mouth met hers with similar strength, his teeth nipped her lip before his tongue swept inside like it was meant to be there.

His muscles bunched and relaxed as he moved against her, stroking against her skin. Her magick rose, unbidden, bringing a gasp as she knew it drifted over his body like a caress.

He opened his eyes slowly, carefully, the normal color having bled into that otherworldly green of his wolf.

“Your magick is nearly as tasty as your skin.” The burr of his wolf was there. Her magick liked it. She realized her magick seemed to be apart from her as well as an integral part of her existence. It wanted his magick.

“I’ve never been with a witch before.” He tipped his head back and breathed in deep. “I like it. Whatever you’re doing with your magick, I mean. The rest of you is something I like too.”

She tried to laugh but got lungs full of his scent, and she writhed beneath him, bringing the sharpness of his gaze back to her.

Was it him? The combo of him and her? Was it her magick and his? Whatever it was, like him, she’d never experienced it before. Maybe it was because she’d never had sex with another Other, and it was always like this. But given his response she didn’t think it was that either.

“I’m not doing it on purpose. It would seem my magick really likes your wolf. Or something like that. Don’t let this go to your head, but it’s never been like this with anyone else.”

His smile though, wow. Her nipples ached when he gave her that look.

“How can that not go to my head?” He shimmied down her body a little, licking over her nipples until heat rolled through her, leaving her nearly boneless.

She supposed he had a point. But she couldn’t think about it right then with the edge of his teeth against her nipple.

“You’re really good at that.” She didn’t even recognize her own voice as wave after wave of pleasure rolled through her. It had to be the stress and grief of the last days. Or something. Or maybe two Others getting down? Whatever.

“You’re overthinking. I can tell.” He kissed the swell beneath her nipple and then licked and kissed down her ribs and the hollow at her hipbone.

She laughed, but it strangled into a moan as he breathed warm air over her pussy but didn’t stop, continuing to kiss his way over to the other hip.

“I’m not! I can’t even speak much less think in any coherent way.”

Her fingers slid into his hair, and she held on and tried not to order him to get those kisses and licks to the right.

“I only want you to think about this.” He took a long, slow lick through her pussy and up to her clit that stole her breath.

“No problem,” she managed to say, though her words were barely intelligible.

He slid his tongue up into her, making her arch on a gasp.

His fingers dug into the flesh of her ass, holding her up as if to serve himself of her body. All while he continued to devastate her pussy with his mouth.

It wasn’t like she was small or delicate. At just a hair under five and a half feet tall she had been shorter than most of her boyfriends. But Josh was just so big. His strength, the ease with which he held her and did what he wanted with her body made her shiver with delight.

He shifted a little, finding her clit with that tongue of his. Swirl and suck, swirl and suck until she couldn’t stop the “please” from escaping her lips as she tugged him closer by the hair still in her hands.

Orgasm shot through her as she gasped, nearly drowning in it as it sucked her down over and over until he laid her down gently with a kiss to her thigh before settling in next to her, pulling her close.

“I don’t think I was very good at this the last time we were together. But I think I may have earned another chance.”

She couldn’t help it, she laughed. “Considering that most boys didn’t eat pussy at all? I don’t recall thinking you sucked at it. But certainly if you had, the job you just did would have erased all red marks on your record. Once my teeth stop tingling, we can get back to it. Hopefully by then I’ll have regained muscle control.”

She had no idea what it meant to hear so much satisfied pleasure in her tone. His woman, satisfied. The shadow of her earlier distress had been pushed away for a time. He’d made it better. She’d allowed him to.

Her taste lived in him. On his skin, on lips and tongue. Her climax had sent a rush of magick and scent through his system, and he wanted to roll around in it. Christ, it was heady stuff. He hadn’t been drunk in a very long time. Wolves weren’t really able to get drunk given the speed of their metabolisms, though a huge amount of alcohol or drugs could work for a brief period. That was usually something saved for emergencies though.

“Hearing you say pussy makes me really hard.” He moved his weight, getting close enough to kiss her shoulder and then her mouth, which she’d turned to him.

She wrapped her arms around him, snuggling in, her body pressed to his as he kissed her lazily, taking his fill of her.

Ha. He wanted to gorge. To claim her until she was boneless and totally his. But that wasn’t to be. Not for the time being. So he’d take his fill within limits.

She broke from his mouth and kissed down his throat, her teeth grazing the tendons where shoulder met neck and sending a shiver through his system. His wolf clutched her tighter, urging her to bite harder.

She licked over the tender skin, humming her satisfaction.

“I promise not to leave a mark,” she murmured, moving to the hollow of his throat.

“Feel free to mark me all you like.” His wolf would love it even more than he would.

“You’re so hot I just want to take a bite.”

He flipped her to her back, looming over her. She grinned up at him.

“It makes me hot when you bite me.” He nipped her shoulder for emphasis. “It’s…” he paused to taste the words he’d never said before, “…a flattering, sexy thing for a Were to be marked by his partner. Love bites, bite marks, whatever. And that it’s you, makes it even better. So if you want to take a bite, go ahead on because I’ve got no complaints.”

“Oh.” Her grin slid into a nearly shy smile, and it tightened things low in his belly. She caught her bottom lip between her teeth for a moment. “I’d like to get back to work. I want to taste a lot more of you.”

She did some fancy cop moves, and he was on his back again as she scrambled to all fours over his body.

She laid a trail of kisses over his chest, nipping here and there.

“Harder,” he whispered.

Her pupils swallowed more color in her eyes. She liked that. The scent of her desire rose, underlining the point.

She bit him again on his biceps and he pushed into her teeth. She gave him more pressure until his hips jutted forward without him thinking about it.

Her gaze locked with his as she licked over the place she’d just bitten.

“Goddamn,” he snarled. “Don’t want to wait. Want to be in you.”

“Did you use to be this impatient?” She ignored his orders and kissed her way to the other nipple and then scooted down his body to his cock. Her gaze locked on his, she angled him and swirled her tongue around the head.

He strangled a reply and cleared his throat to repeat himself. “Was I, a teenage boy, impatient about sex?” He laughed. “I’m just grateful I wasn’t so bad at it that you laughed in my face tonight.”

She did something with her fingers just behind his balls, and his laugh died on what was probably a beg. And he was okay with that.

He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the sight of her mouth taking the length of his cock in and pulling back, leaving it dark and slick.

He let it go on nearly too long, nearly too close to losing it and blowing down that pretty throat. But he hadn’t lied, he wanted to fuck her so with a gasp and a draw on all his control, he took her shoulders and pushed her back.

“So good. Too good.” He rolled over and grabbed a condom. He hadn’t used one since college, but it wasn’t like it was complicated. A quick tear of the top and it was on.

She had a smile on her mouth and he had to kiss it a bit. Which was good as he was able to wrest his need back a little. The last thing he wanted was to come five seconds after he got inside her.

In fact…

“You on top, gorgeous. Or I’ll find it a lot harder to go slow.”

She straddled his waist, her hair a tumble around her face and shoulders, her skin dusted with her magick like glitter.

But when she slid down his cock with her cunt, squeezing, so hot that he had to bite back a curse, he had to suck in a breath before clenching his jaw. So good it dug into his gut, sending a burst of pleasure so intense through him that he broke out in a sweat.

Michelle’s groan made it even better. And that was before she gripped his sides, her nails digging in as she began to move. Not up and down, but back and forth, rubbing herself against him as she kept him deep.

He wasn’t the only one who’d learned a few things since those earlier, less-finessed days when they’d been together before. On one hand, he was clearly the beneficiary of that. She’d grown into a confident woman, and they had plenty of good times in bed ahead of them. That was a positive.

On the other, it meant she’d been with people who’d taught her this. Wolves were incredibly possessive of their mates. The thought of another man’s hands on her made him want to yank the condom off and fill her full of his seed, marking her in as many ways as he could.

His wolf didn’t care that the times had changed. That a modern man worth having wouldn’t ever do such a thing. That part of his existence was all about urges and passion, deep, sweeping emotion, and it didn’t care that humans didn’t act that way.

And in the years since he’d been a wolf, the man had never had to struggle to control those urges the way he did right then, her pussy rippling around his cock as she rode him.

Her gaze had gone blurry and he arched to get her attention. She moaned and swallowed hard, her gaze sharpening and landing on his face.

“Hey there. You with me?”

She nodded, licking her lips.

“Good. You feel so amazing.”

One corner of her mouth rose.

Her head tipped back, exposing the line of her body, gleaming with magick and sweat, the scent of all that mingling into a perfumed vise around him as he took her in. The points of her nipples on breasts that swayed slightly as she moved. The swell of her hips beneath his hands. The play of her muscles there, against his palms. He caught peeks of his cock as she undulated.

It was impossible that he could feel so much at once without simply exploding from it.

“More.”

She moved to look into his face again.

“I’m here. You’re inside me. Take what you need.”

She had no idea what that statement did to him.

He rolled, staying buried in her pussy. She wrapped her legs around his waist and held on as he sped up his thrusts. Deeper. God. Harder.

She arched into him, her nails in his back, urging him on, rolling her hips to meet him each time he slid back into her cunt.

She made a noise in the back of her throat each time he got all the way in. He kissed her, hard, swallowing that sound.

“Make yourself come,” he whispered into her mouth.

She sucked at his tongue and then let go of his shoulder with one hand.

Being with him felt so daring.

She’d never, ever made herself come in front of another person. Even when she was having sex with them.

He made her bold. Sexy. Like no matter what she said or wanted, he’d give to her without judging. Or even better, like it that way.

With him so deep inside, the moment she stroked her clit with her middle finger she was already halfway there. It was sooo good as he fucked into her body in such a raw way.

“Yes. God, you’re hot.” He brushed his mouth over her jaw and down her neck. “Tight. Wet. I’m close. Don’t let me go first.”

She sped her fingers, firmed her touch. His groan told her he felt the way she clamped down around his cock.

So full.

He angled, still thrusting, and sucked the skin on the side of her breast. Hard enough to make it nearly hurt. Hard enough and long enough to leave a mark.

That excited her more than she’d ever imagined such a thing could. And the edge she’d been walking dropped away and she plunged into climax with a snarl that matched his as he licked against her skin.

Thrusting several more times before he stopped, he remained buried deep with a long groan of her name.

He nuzzled the spot he’d given her a hickey for a moment. “I’ll be right back.”

Which is when she realized he’d used a condom. Dimly she remembered that Weres didn’t transmit or catch STDs and that they had some sort of super smell that could tell when the female was fertile.

She shrugged to herself as she relaxed back into the bed. Maybe she’d dodged a bullet and her cycle was off. No matter. The sex was just the thing she needed to burn off some of the anxiety that had drowned her for the last days.