Page 23 of Fire on the Moon

She was trembling, and her skin was icy. He pulled her into the warmth of his body and stroked his hand over her back and shoulders and into her hair. Neither one of them was wearing much, and he was all too conscious of his bare legs tangling with hers.

By small degrees, she stopped trembling.

“Better?”

“A little.”

“What was the dream?” he asked again.

She swallowed hard. “It was the same stuff that happened yesterday. A lot of it was pretty realistic. I was back in Uncle Angelo’s house. I was hiding in the closet, listening to the men beating him up. Then I heard them running around the house, opening and closing drawers and cabinets, shouting my name. They went quiet, and then the fire started. I got out of the house and I ran toward the fence. The gate was open, and I saw the big dog down the beach. Yesterday he saved me from the men. In the dream he was different. I called out to him begging him to help me. In real life he did. In the dream he just stood there, staring at the men as they grabbed me and dragged me off.”

That was too much for Zane.

“He’s a wolf. The wolf would never do that.”

“A wolf? How do you know?”

He silently cursed himself for saying that. Now he was stuck with making something up. “I saw him. Your mind just made up his reaction because it was a nightmare, and you were scared.” That could be the truth, but was it more? Was she unconsciously reacting to his putting distance between them all day?

“It was pretty real.”

“I’m so sorry.” He ached to tell her that he was the wolf, and he would never let anything happen to her. But he couldn’t say that. And he couldn’t say that maybe the dream was his fault.

Now the frustration of keeping silent was too much to bear.

All he could do was show her the wolf’s true feelings. Without giving himself time to think about it any longer, he lowered his mouth to hers. He had intended the kiss to be gently and reassuring. Instead it was searing, a kiss that said all the things he couldn’t say out loud. There was a dark moment when he thought she didn’t feel the same things he did. Was he wrong about the two of them?

No. He felt her response, and his uncertainty evaporated like mist burned away by the Florida sun.

Thank God.

He slanted his lips over hers, angled his head, took her mouth in every way that he could, and when his tongue demanded entrance, she opened for him.

Heat leaped inside him as he breached that barrier, reveling in the joy of tasting her.

He wanted her to know what they meant to each other—what they would mean to each other.

His hands slid down her body cupping her bottom so that he could pull her against his aching cock. He wanted her the way he had never wanted another woman. But pushing her into intimacy would be the biggest mistake of his life. Going any farther had to be her choice.

When he finally lifted his head, the dazed expression in her eyes made his chest tighten. Probably he looked similarly gobsmacked. He had gotten into her bed to comfort her. He was feeling far from comfortable.

He told himself he should stand up. Probably he should go into the bathroom and stick his head under a freezing shower. If you could get freezing water in Florida.

“I didn’t mean for that to happen.”

“But it did.”

She swallowed hard, and her voice softened. “I know. The weird thing is that I trust you. I’m not so sure about myself.” She paused, then murmured, “I guess there’s only one way to find out.”

As she came back into his arms, relief was like a spring thunderstorm pounding through him. He was frozen in place, and when he didn’t move, she lifted her face to his.

A few minutes ago, he had kissed her with desperation. It had been the desperation of the wolf afraid he would lose his mate. Now he wanted her to know how good—how right—it could be between them.

He kissed her softly, tenderly, forcing nothing, letting her silently take the lead.

As their lips explored, her hands stroked restlessly over his back as though she wanted to memorize his contours. Eyes closed, he did the same, simply absorbing the feel of her.

Once again he silently acknowledged that he needed her more than he had ever needed anyone in his life. And he sensed that she needed him with the same intensity because what they could give each other had become as necessary as breathing.

---