“Your… what?”
She tilts her head, a heart-tugging look of vulnerability flitting across her face. It’s like she thinks I’m making fun of her.
“You’re kidding,” she says.
“I’m not,” I reply. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She stabs her knife into her steak, hard, the blade making a high-pitched noise as it pierces the meat and hits the plate. “Come on. I’m not exactly billboard material, am I?”
Finally, it hits me.
“There’s nothing wrong with the way you look,” I growl. “Your figure, well… everybody has different tastes. And I can imagine men liking yours, your shape.”
My lips are dry. I’m trying to be as vague as I can, but it’s difficult.
“Can you?” she murmurs.
I nod fiercely. “Yes. You’re curvy in all the right places. Your shape is the sort that could drive a man wild. No, not could. It does, Piper. It drives me wild.”
Her mouth drops open, and I know I can’t stop.
I know I’ve gone too far to go back.
Standing, I walk to her side of the table, reach down and take her by the shoulders. She shivers as I pull her to her feet.
She couldn’t look younger and more skittish if she tried, with her messy hair and her mouth still making a tempting ‘O’ shape.
“You’re beautiful,” I say with full certainty. “Everything about you. Your body drives me crazy. You have no idea how… how feral you make me.”
She says nothing. Everything is a haze, as I try to judge the effect my words are having on her.
But then, without planning it, I lean forward and down.
She gasps when I press my lips against hers, and the hunger in me ignites.
She’s not kissing me back, but I can’t stop. I slide my hands down her body, to her hips, squeezing her and pulling her flush against me.
I kiss her harder, more passionately, no longer in control. The beast within has taken over, my seed roaring at me to keep going, strip her naked, and indulge greedily in her body, a body made for me, only me.
Forever.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Piper
My body freezes even as I scream in my head to kiss him back. I try to make my mouth move, but the suddenness of the kiss has me reeling, trying to find steady ground.
He snarls as his tongue slides into my mouth, finding mine, nerves shivering and sizzling throughout my body.
Finally, I snap to my senses. Something takes over and my mouth starts to move in time with his. He gives a stifled growl of acknowledgment, his hands burying deeper into my hips, his manhood pushing against my stomach.
Am I going to wake up now? Have I fallen asleep on my plate?
He slides his hands around and down, his groans changing quality as he massages my ass, pushing my ass cheeks together.
And then I sense where this is going to lead, what he wants. I can feel it in his body.
My heartbeat picks up speed, but not in passion, not in lust.
I spent too much time convincing myself he’d never want me, never want this. I didn’t stop to think about how I’d react if my dreams actually came true.
“What’s wrong?” he says, breaking off the kiss but remaining close, his breath whispering over me.
“I…”
The truth tries to erupt out of me. Both truths, the one about my crazy need, my visions for the future… and the other thing, the part I can barely acknowledge even to myself.
“It’s my mom,” I blurt out without thinking.
He takes a step back, his body trembling, as though moving away is difficult for him. “Your mom?”
I’m delaying, nothing more, trying to find a way to make it so he doesn’t drag me to the bedroom. Which is stupid, because that’s what I want. My sex is so hot and wet, my clit pulsing in time with my jackhammering heart.
“She said something earlier. Something about you.”
He narrows his eyes, as though seeing right through my excuse. He knows something else is going on here.
But I can’t tell him.
My hand twitches, of its own volition, moving up and squeezing down on his shoulder. His muscles are as solid as they look. My fingernails protest against his unyielding firmness.
“I’m sorry,” I murmur.
“Why are you sorry?” he asks.
“I know… I could tell… you wanted more.”
“Want more,” he growls. “Yes, that’s true but I’d never make you do something you’re not comfortable with.”
“Shall we finish dinner, maybe?” I ask hesitantly, betraying every desire coursing through me.
His jaw tightens and something like rage flashes across his eyes, turning them into blue fire. For a second I think he’s going to say no. It’s like something primal and beastly is pulsing inside of him, causing his veins to press against his neck like he can barely hold himself back.
My core sings yes, yes, yes.
If he leaps at me, letting his predator’s intensity fly, I won’t have to make a choice.