I took advantage and nibbled along her jaw, down the line of her neck. She angled her chin up, offering me access. Her sharp little nails dug into my shoulders. Fuck, she was a little wildcat.
I lifted my head enough to take her in. Wet, swollen lips, flushed cheeks, hazy gaze, ragged breath. Her hair was mussed from my hand, and her glasses were crooked. Fuck, yes.
Except, for the first time in my life, I experienced a stab of guilt at seducing her so quickly. My wolf was down—oh boy, was he down, but there was something behind it all.
Maybe because I knew this was so much more than the figurative and literal roll in the hay. This female was my mate—even though it made no logical sense. I hadn’t dared even think that one word… mate. I’d said from the first time I saw her that she was mine, but mate? That word was powerful.
Too fucking powerful because she was human and didn’t belong here or in the pack. Yet I couldn’t deny the rightness of kissing her. Of touching her. Having her press against me, hearing the sweet sounds of her pleasure that me and my wolf brought out. In the past, I’d felt cocky knowing I could get a woman all hot and bothered. With Audrey, it was different. Hot as fucking hell, but reverent somehow. As if the sounds she made were precious, were just for me.
And instead of asking her on a date and taking my time to get to know her, I had her pushed against the barn wall, drunk on pheromones. I was everything I didn’t want to be. This wasn’t happy-go-lucky wham bam thank you, ma’am. This was so much more.
I hated myself in this moment because while it was special, I had no other choice. I couldn’t very well lift my shirt and show her there wasn’t even a mark where that bull’s horn went through my side. I had to be the asshole who seduced her for a reason, and it wasn’t only because she was mine and I wanted to hear every desperate sound she made, to feel the prick of her nails, the catch to her breath. No, it was because I had to make her forget all about the fact that I was a fucking shifter and she was human and we’d never be right, no matter how much my wolf said so.
Because of all that bullshit and not because I needed to with every cell in my body, I went back to kissing the hell out of her. Making her forget all about that unfortunate incident. I could get her off and get her back in her car in under a minute.
I lifted my head. She was my mate. I couldn’t be a dick. She might not be able to be mine and I might not be able to claim her, but I could show her what it could be like between us. I wouldn’t fake anything. Hell, I’d give it my all, so she’d come like never before. If this was it, then I wanted it to be as special as I could make it, so I could remember. Could make it the top of my spank bank file for the rest of my life. This was perfection, and I had to savor every second.
My tongue swept between her lips, danced against hers. My palms slid down to cup her ass. I squeezed and kneaded those perfect globes as I took my fill of her mouth.
I had to scratch that. I probably would never get my fill. Because tasting her was like an arrival.
The achievement I’d been searching for without knowing it all these years. My wolf nudged me, snarled, agreeing with me not to be a dick and do this right. I couldn’t take from her for a reason.
I had to give.
6
BOYD
“You feel so fucking good, Doc,” I murmured against her ear when I finally broke the kiss. “You feel feverish.” I nipped her earlobe. “Hot all over. What other symptoms you got? Dampness between your legs?” I ground my hardened dick against the apex of her thighs once again.
“Jesus, Boyd.” Her head fell back against the wooden boards. She sounded breathless.
I wanted to roll on a condom and sink into that delicious heat, but I wasn’t going to. For one thing, I was supposed to be injured. For another, this wasn’t for my pleasure—it was for hers.
I eased her away from the wall, so her feet came down, then worked the button on her jeans. “I’m going to need to give you a thorough examination, Doctor.” I inched her zipper lower at the same time I nibbled along the side of her neck.
“Oh...um… wow.” Fuck, I loved that breathy quality of her voice. “I’m supposed to be checking on you.”