“You know what I mean.”
“Yes, I do. I haven’t had a date since the one with you. There’s no one here, Jess.”
Heat coursed through me, my own this time. His groan was soft, and suddenly I didn’t know what we were doing. I didn’t know if I was about to make a big mistake.
I was certain I didn’t care.
“Have you ever listened in on me?” I asked, my voice belonging to another woman, thick and sultry and wanton. “Through the link, I mean. When I’ve…”
“Yes.” His voice dripped with arousal. My nipples tightened and I rubbed my thighs together, unable to stand the pounding heat.
“I should be mad at that,” I whispered.
“Probably,” he replied, and pleasure once again swirled between my thighs. I moaned, the feeling threatening to sweep me away. “It happened by accident at first. I was reading and the pleasure caught me off guard. Most of the time I block the link, but sometimes…”
I sighed at the pounding deep inside of me, my knees parting, my hand slipping down my stomach and between my legs.
He growled into the phone.
“Does it feel like someone is touching you?” I asked, arching.
“It feels like you are touching me. Sometimes it feels like you are sliding onto me. I assume that’s when you use…help…”
I should’ve been embarrassed, definitely. But I groaned into the phone.
“During these times, the feelings from the link are heightened. Incredibly heightened. It feels like you’re lying beside me. Or straddling me. The feeling of you when you aren’t here is better than I can remember anyone else feeling in the flesh. More consuming.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, my hips jerking against the mattress. “I don’t think it’s like this for everyone. From what Jasper said—”
A spark of rage blistered through the link, and strangely, any embarrassment that lingered from the conversation with Jasper eased, almost like Austin was squashing it dead.
“Thinking someone was there with you… I didn’t like it,” I admitted. “I’m not usually jealous, but…”
“Thinking of anyone with you…”
Another wave of rage pushed through me, sparking my adrenaline and heightening my pleasure. I didn’t understand why. I should be worried or afraid, ready to step in and calm him down. Instead, I could barely focus as I imagined his hands on me, his body filling mine.
“It’s your primal response to my primal reaction,” he said, clearly having deciphered my feelings. “My unconscious rage stems from wanting to crush any competition that seeks your hand. To claim you as mine. Your reaction to that mimics your desire for it to happen. If you were angry or scared, it would mean you didn’t like the match. It would mean you were worried about being taken by an alpha by force. Your pleasure means you’d welcome it.”
His rough tone caressed me, and while I was pretty sure I needed to be a shifter to feel and really understand all he’d said, there was no denying the aching rapture of his reaction.
“Friends that kiss and sometimes have late-night phone conversations,” I choked out, the feelings consuming, my thoughts frazzling.
“There’s no point in pretending anymore, Jacinta. Not after what happened at the bar.”
I meant to ask for clarification.
I ended up begging for more.
Nine
“Hey, Mom.” Jimmy trudged into the kitchen, a cup of steaming coffee in his hand. Mr. Tom’s notable absence meant he was probably already ransacking Jimmy’s room for dirty clothes and dishes and whatever else he could clean. He probably worried Jimmy would be like my parents and try to clean up after himself. Or worse, clean up after Mr. Tom.
“Hey, bud. You hungry? Mr. Tom made some eggs and toast.”
He squinted at the digital clock on the oven. “You’re not pissed I’m up so late?”
“Ten thirty is about normal for me these days. We all keep late hours.”
“Sweet.” He opened the microwave. “Where?”
“Oven—”
“I’ll do that for you, don’t you worry.” Mr. Tom bustled past the kitchen in the hallway, heading for the laundry room with a hamper. “Just have a seat and I’ll be right there.”
Jimmy stared after him, his hair standing up in all directions, much like Sebastian’s last night.
Last night.
A wave of emotion rolled over me, both from my tandem release with Austin over the phone and also what he’d said. He’d promised he would see me today, and his voice had been rough and raw when he spoke about my reactions to him.
Something had shifted between us last night, and I wasn’t sure exactly what. We’d certainly muddied things with that phone call, but the physical stuff hadn’t been the deciding factor for him. He thought we’d turned a corner for other reasons, and I wasn’t sure what those were. I was nervous to find out what. Just as nervous as I was to climb the stairs and go into the office, to take the blood oath and accept my permanent place at Ivy House.