Standing under the powerful showerhead, Lauren’s eyes snapped open in shock. She stood there frozen before her hands went to cover her naked breasts. But not before he saw the light brown color of her tightly beaded nipples. Instantly his cock hardened to the point it was almost painful. He wanted to drag her hands away, to look his fill of her luscious body.
In a delayed realization, it hit him that she’d had one of her hands between her legs. Had she been stroking herself? The thought of that was insanely hot. Before he could dwell on that mental image, she blindly grabbed for a washcloth and slapped it at him, hitting his shoulder with a wet snap. She dropped it when she realized she’d left one of her breasts exposed to hit him.
“What the hell are you doing?” Her voice was a screech of panic. “Get out of here now!”
He crossed his arms over his chest as he struggled to keep his eyes on her face instead of roving over her body like he craved. He shouldn’t have come in here like this but he didn’t care. He needed her to
see
him, to acknowledge the heat burning between them. Needed her to want him as much as he wanted her. “Why the fuck did you leave like that?”
“I’m not having this conversation while I’m naked.” Her eyes narrowed on him in warning. And damn it, he still couldn’t scent any desire coming from her even though he knew damn well she’d had her hand buried between her legs a minute ago. Had she been thinking of him while she stroked herself? His cock swelled even more.
“Would it make you feel better if I was naked too?” he murmured, ready to strip completely. His blood pounded hot and heavy through his veins, pulsed in his cock. The wolf was there, clawing for freedom and the chance to take what it wanted. Lauren. Wet and naked and willing, responding to his every touch, each nip of his mouth on her smooth skin.
“No,” she snapped before grabbing the shower curtain to cover herself. She held it up above her breasts, the water splashing over it and spraying everywhere. “Have you lost your mind?”
Max certainly felt like it. He’d never reacted to a female this way. Before he could respond, she continued.
“You don’t get to tell me who I can or can’t talk to. I’ll take phone numbers from every guy in that bar next time I’m there. We made our deal and that was that I was to stay with you, which
I’ve done
. I even helped out at your pack’s bar. What I didn’t agree to, was letting you push me around or harass me while I’m naked in the shower.”
He was silent for a moment as he watched her breathing become erratic. The rise and fall of her chest was unsteady and the anger rolling off her was palpable, but he also scented something else. Desire. Triumph rolled through him. His inner wolf growled in pleasure. Everything she’d said was true. He shouldn’t have come in here, but there was no reining his wolf in right now. Max didn’t want walls between them.
“Were you touching yourself when I walked in here?”
She hissed in a breath, but didn’t respond. Just swallowed hard and glared at him. Holy shit, she had been.
“What were you thinking of? Me?” Yeah, it was arrogant to ask. But he needed to know.
She rolled her eyes, but he didn’t miss the way she subtly trembled. “You wish.”
He did.
Knowing he needed to clear the air, he said, “That woman from earlier kissed me, not the other way around. We’ve been done for a long time. She came in tonight and was drunk. You saw me pushing her off. Nothing more. And I’m not sleeping with anyone right now. Haven’t been for over six months.” Let her make of that what she wanted.
Lauren’s hand slackened slightly, the shower curtain dipping low enough to show the soft swell of her breasts, but still covering her. “Why do you think I care?”
He saw the indecision warring in her eyes, and pounced on it. “You care for the same reason I wanted to claw Derrick to shreds for giving you his number. For the same reason I wanted to do the same to every male you flirted with tonight. You’re mine.” Admitting that made him feel vulnerable, but he knew he had to put himself out there.
Her lips parted a fraction, surprise in her gaze. She watched him, her eyes wide and that same scent of desire still rolling off her. It was growing stronger each second that passed, but she still didn’t say anything or reach for him.
Finally he forced himself to take a step back, ready to leave. There was nothing else to say. And if he stayed, his wolf would win the fight and he’d be naked and taking her against the shower wall in seconds.
“Don’t go,” she said, so softly he barely heard her words above the rushing water. He stopped, unsure if it was the invitation he’d been dying for. Then she dropped the shower curtain, baring all of herself to him. No hands covering herself this time, though she looked incredibly nervous.
He barely stifled a growl at the sight of her naked body. Petite, lean and soft in all the right places, she was his hottest fantasy come to life. With her honey brown hair wet it appeared darker as it fell in ropes over and around her breasts.
His throat clenched as he struggled to talk. “I want you.” Fucking understatement of the century.
She tracked his every move with those big brown eyes. When he stripped his shirt off, her eyes grew heavy as she watched him. It was almost as if she was mesmerized by what he was doing. He took off his jeans, but kept his boxers on. It was a struggle in control, forcing him to go against all of his instincts, but it was
necessary
.
Frowning, she opened her mouth to say something as he stepped into the shower, but he placed one finger over her lips as he grabbed her bare hip and tugged her close with his other hand. “If these come off, I’ll be inside you, fucking hard and rough. Right now I don’t want that.” Okay, that was a huge lie. He wanted exactly that. But…he wanted to taste her, to learn her body first. She deserved it and even though his wolf was raging at him, clawing and snarling with a vengeance to take what he wanted, he knew on a primal level that if he pushed her too far, too fast tonight it could damage his chance with her.
Though she kept her smoldering gaze on his, her swallow was audible as she reached up to place her delicate hands on his shoulders. Her touch seared him. The second her fingers made contact, his hands fisted on her hips and he lifted her up, moving until he had her flat against the wall.
She wrapped her legs around him, her bare pussy rubbing against his lower abdomen. Max let out a soft growl. He kept her up high enough on his body that she wasn’t directly rubbing over his cock. Not yet. He wasn’t that much of a masochist.
Lauren molded her lean body to his as she linked her fingers together at the back of his neck. He loved that she still held his gaze, even when he could see the nervousness lurking there. “Do you feel…” She trailed off, almost as if she wasn’t sure how to continue, but he knew what she meant.
“The fucking strongest attraction I’ve ever experienced in my entire life?” Attraction was such a lame word for what he felt. Magnetic pull, hunger, desire…even those didn’t describe his need.
She nodded and pushed out a breath, her hard nipples rubbing against his chest. “I’m glad I’m not the only one. I’ve been trying to…hide my need for you but it’s killing me.”
It was the same for him. Holding her so close, feeling her lush, naked body against was soothing the most primal part of him, even as it was making him insane with desire.
Lauren was his and he wanted her to know it in every cell of her being. Before he was through with her tonight, she would. Reaching between their bodies, he cupped one of her breasts, holding it firmly as he began to slowly stroke her nipple. Their embrace was intimate and he was going into sensory overload having Lauren naked and in his arms, but they had all the time in the world and he refused to rush this. He wanted to see her reaction to every single touch.
“Did you flirt with those shifters tonight to make me jealous?” he growled.
“Yes.” Her answer was immediate and non-apologetic.
He lightly pinched her nipple and she gasped. She arched her back, pushing her breast farther into his hold, another pleasured sound escaping her lips.
Unable to stop himself, he cupped the back of her head in a dominating grip and covered her mouth with his. Her lips were soft, pliable and she opened immediately for him. Her tongue stroked against his, her kisses teasing and playful as she wrapped her legs tighter around his waist.
Continuing to strum her nipple in lazy movements, he blazed a trail of kisses away from her mouth, down her jaw line and to her ear, only stopping to rake his teeth over the spot below her ear. She shivered in his arms. “I didn’t like it. Never again, Lauren. You’re mine.” A delayed admission to her answer.
“Well I didn’t like that woman kissing you,” she rasped out, another moan escaping when he lightly tugged on her earlobe with his teeth.
Max could only imagine how he’d react if another male had kissed her. But even the thought of that made his inner wolf swipe out in anger so he shoved it away.
Lauren was on fire, burning up from the inside out. She reached between their bodies, running her hand down his washboard abs in a slow, determined path. She wanted to feel his hard length between her hands. But when she reached the top of his boxers, the strong hand cupping her head moved with supernatural speed to stop her.
Max lightly grasped her wrist, his fingers slightly flexing. “No.”
The word sounded almost guttural, torn from him with clear effort. His wolf flashed in his gaze for a second before once again she was looking into pale blue eyes that made her lose all her common sense. Her entire body was primed for this male, ready to take him deep inside her. She was already soaked. Had been from the moment he’d displayed all that dominance and shredded the phone number that shifter had given her. It had angered her, but mainly turned her on.
Then when Max had barged into her bathroom a tiny part of her had been outraged, but she’d been glad he followed her from the bar. It was all part of her animal instinct, she knew that. But she’d never cared for the male-female chase before.
Tonight she’d finally understood why her oldest sister had led her soon-to-be mate around on a merry chase for months.
There was a thrill in being pursued and she wanted to enjoy a week of raw sex with Max. Talk about the best punishment ever. She knew there was no viable way for them to be together long term—not when he was a wolf and she was a jaguar—but for now she could enjoy herself. And lord, she’d never wanted a man as badly as she wanted him. She wanted to feel all that raw power unleashed on her, to be the focus of his formidable sexual energy, even just once.
She didn’t understand why he wouldn’t let her touch him though. She wanted to wrap her fingers around his cock and feel him slide deep into her. “Why?” she tried to demand, though the question came our breathless and unsteady.
In response he kissed her, his crushing lips hard and dominating. His tongue invaded her mouth as he rolled his hips against her. She gasped at the feel of his thick erection pressed against her. His kisses mimicked sex—no, fucking. There was something primal about the way he was stroking his tongue against hers. Flicking, teasing and hungry, he didn’t let up on his assault and she didn’t want him to.
She slid down his body until his covered erection rubbed over her wet slit, coming in contact with her pulsing clit. While she hadn’t seen that part of him yet, what she could feel was impressive.
She was aching for him, her body on fire with the kind of need only he could sate. She’d had only a couple lovers in the past and they’d always left her wanting. Right now she was more turned on by Max than she’d ever been and it was because of the power he radiated, because of the way he looked at her, made her feel. Like she was the most beautiful woman on the planet.
Taking her off guard, he tore his mouth from hers, his breathing uneven, his eyes flashing from wolf to human. As if he was barely holding onto his control. The tense muscles beneath her hands quivered with restraint.
Before she realized his intent, he gripped her hips and dropped to his knees. But there was nothing submissive about his gesture.
“Put one leg over my shoulder,” he commanded.
A demand she would gladly follow. Hot water flowed from the showerhead, spraying both of them as she lifted her right leg and placed her foot on his shoulder. In this position she felt so exposed and almost vulnerable but he didn’t give her time to think.
His mouth zeroed in on her most sensitive area, his tongue licking along the length of her wet slit, up and down, over and over before he pushed his tongue inside her, tasting, teasing.
Dropping her head back against the tile wall, she closed her eyes and let herself just feel. She threaded her fingers through his dark hair as he pleasured her, her inner walls clenching to be filled completely. As if he read her mind, Max slid his fingers inside her. He didn’t test her slickness with one, he just pushed two right into her.
Thrusting deep, he curled his fingers against the sensitive spot that drove her insane and began stroking her as he worked her clit with his tongue. The sensations were too much, pushing her over the edge before she was prepared.
Nipples tingling in the most delicious way, she arched her back off the wall as the beginning of her climax rippled through her. It built and built, the sensation pushing out to all her nerve endings as Max continued teasing her body, until suddenly she felt as if she was in a freefall.