Page 31 of Fated to the Wolf Prince

I locked eyes with Kane as I tucked my thumbs into the waist of my favorite black yoga pants, and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, not breaking my gaze.

I slowly lowered the pants, exposing my lacy plum, cheeky panties inch by inch as a low, rumbling growl reverberated from his chest. When they reached my knees I let them fall to the ground, stepping each leg out much more slowly than necessary.

I froze as he started with his shirt, doing that guy thing where he reached over the back of his head and pulled the whole thing off by the back of the neck. It was a lovely green Henley that brought out the gold flecks in his eyes, but my mouth started watering again as it hit the soft grass underfoot, leavingso much muscleon display.

Damn, I wanted to jump him again. Why did I want to jump him every time we were within three feet of each other? I wasn’t normally a sexually aggressive girl. Sure, I enjoyed an energetic romp as much as anyone, but I liked to let the man come to me and do the pursuing.

With Kane? I wanted to jump into his arms, take that blisteringly hot chest to the ground, and ride him until I collapsed. Goddess, I was as bad as Leigh with herstud ponyjokes.

Yeah, I had problems. Not the least of which were Leigh’s throat clearing and the snap of bones around us signaling that we were taking way too long caught up in our own stripteases, as other wolves were already in fur, leaping around and nipping each other’s flanks and tails playfully. Kane stepped out of his black pants, leaving nothing but tight, black boxer briefs underneath.

I swallowed hard and grabbed the hem of my long T-shirt, but it was barely above my navel when Shay gasped.

“Oh my Goddess. Are thosemate marks?” Leigh’s words weren’t quiet, and they carried through the clearing. Wolves stilled almost as one, and I could practically feel the dozens of eyes burrowing into the tiny strip of exposed markings on my hip.

A blush burned up my cheeks—I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten in the heat of the moment. They were nothing to be embarrassed of; in fact, they were often prized and cherished, much like human women’s wedding rings. But, Kane hadn’t even seen them yet, and here I was about to flash them to the whole pack.

It was skipping alotof steps.

I didn’t even have time to process all that before Kane’s arms were around me, spinning me so that his back—his naked, naked back—was between me and the crowd of nosy wolves.

I buried my face in my hands, perhaps in the childish hope that if I couldn’t see them, they couldn’t see me, and this would all just vanish when I next looked up. But Kane’s fingers were persistent, and they ever-so-gently pried my hands away from my face and tilted my chin up. A little thrill shot through me when his eyes met mine. So few people ever had the privilege, and before him, I certainly never had as the lowest she-wolf on the pack totem pole.

But his eyes were warm and vibrant green, gold flecks sparkling in their depths and sucking me into his gaze. They were utterly gorgeous, and staring into them had a piece of my heart chipping and falling off, right into his waiting palms. Hopefully he didn’t crush it to dust, because I was helpless to take it back.

I didn’t want to take it back. I wantedhim.

“These are mine,” he whispered, grazing his calloused fingertips lightly over the skin of my hip, sending a forest fire’s worth of heat sparking through my veins in their wake. “And I admit to feeling jealous at the idea of my pack mates and a bunch of other wolves seeing them with me for the first time.” His fingers skimmed up, up, up, under the hem of my shirt, stoking that fire to molten, liquid heat.

“Mmm, your wolf likes it when I’m a caveman, huh? I can’t wait to see her. I bet she’s as beautiful as you are, with those deep brown eyes and all this irresistible skin.” He dropped his mouth next to my ear, and I couldn’t help arching my neck toward him, bared for his fangs like a good little mate. Goddess, who was I? It was a brazen invitation, the crowd of wolves utterly forgotten as my world shrank to just us. Brielle and Kane.Fated mates.

Kane ran his nose up my neck, the tiny touch electrifying. When he reached my ear, he whispered low so the onlookers couldn’t hear, his lips brushing against the tender shell of my ear. “I can smell your arousal. Are you wet for me, Brielle?”

My knees shook as my wolf whined, and he chuckled, low and dark. “I can’t wait to feel you, baby, but now is not the time. The first time I take you, it will be just us. I’ll make sure you forget every other wolf but me. But now… will you let me see these marks? My wolf is dying to get out and howl about how lucky he is to have the most beautiful she-wolf there is as a mate.”

I nodded and almost self-combusted when he pressed a hot, open-mouthed kiss on my neck just below my ear.

His other hand slipped under the hem of my shirt as well, one anchoring me at the hips as the other lifted the T-shirt. All thoughts of embarrassment fled as his hot eyes met my flesh, inch by painstaking inch. He growled low in his throat when the full mark was exposed, bisected by the thin strap of my panties.

His touch over the beautiful blue swirls was reverent, tender. His wolf’s green eyes shone through, proving he was as on edge as I was.

How could I have thought he didn’t want me? The look in his eyes right now would swallow me up, drown me in his passion, if I let it.

Gentle strokes vanished, he stopped toying with my shirt. He pulled it quickly off over my head, and his eyes darkened another shade when he saw my bra, lacy and sheer, with my pebbled nipples poking against the thin fabric.

“Goddess, Brielle. You are utter perfection. How did I get so damn lucky?” His hands skimmed up my sides, leaving goose bumps in their wake, every inch of me aware of his heat, his closeness, and how little clothing was still between us. The wicked thought that maybe he’d follow me to the ground right here and take meright now, seal this bond between us, if I reached for his boxers and slid them down, nearly overwhelmed me.

When his hands brushed the underside of my breasts, I nearly came unglued. They’d never been terribly sensitive with any past lovers, but Kane didn’t even have my bra off, and I was ready to beg him to touch, hold,taste. He traced the bra around to the back, deftly flicking the hooks apart. When it fell away from my chest, I closed my eyes and hissed out a breath, unable to take any other sensation as my bare breasts pressed up against his chest, skin on skin for the first time.

I clawed him against me tighter, and his hot erection pressed against my belly, his boxers doing nothing to disguise his arousal.Goddess, he’s huge.

He rumbled contentedly and stroked from the nape of my neck down to the band of my panties, long and soothing strokes.

“Are you ready to run? Most of the pack left without us.”

“They did?” I leaned back just far enough to peek around his large biceps, and sure enough, the clearing had emptied while we were lost in our own world. Leigh and Shay waited in wolf form just inside the tree line with Gael and Reed, all of them studiously looking elsewhere to let us have a private moment, and a bit beyond them were a few curious stragglers who weren’t the least bit shy about staring. Dread pooled in my stomach, dampening some of the liquid heat Kane roused there when I recognized Shane as one of the waiting wolves.

Ugh. It was bad enough to have to tell Kane that I was a weak wolf, but to have the other arrogant alpha watch would make it all a thousand times worse.

---