Her soft moans fill my ears like music, and I feel a purr rumble from my chest. Her taste is addictive, and I can’t get enough. She responds to my kiss with an equal fervor, her handsclutching my hair, pulling me closer. But there's still a part of me that needs to be careful. Gently, I break the kiss and step back, running my thumb over her lower lip.
“Are you ready for more?” I ask, my voice rough from our kisses. She nods, eyes glassy with desire, and I can see she wants this as much as I do.
This time, I can't hold back.
I lift her effortlessly so she’s sitting on the countertop, legs spread slightly and her dress bunched up. My eyes can’t help but trace the line of her thighs to where she’s already wet for me. I can feel my wolf smiling at this development. She grabs my shirt as I lean down and taste her neck, nipping softly before kissing a trail down to her collarbone. Her breath hitches, and I know she likes it.
Slowly, so slowly, I push aside her panties and take in a sharp breath at the sight of her. She’s perfect. Bending down in front of her, I run my tongue around her entrance, tasting her for the first time and finding myself addicted to her flavor. Her hips jerk forward, seeking more contact, and I smile against her skin.
“Shh, love,” I soothe. “I’ve got you.”
Using one finger to stretch her slowly, I watch as she closes her eyes in blissful agony while another finger teases her entrance. She gasps when I finally breach her tightness with my tongue, licking and sucking until she cries out my name. I did this in our dreamscape, but nothing could have prepared me for reality.
Her walls clench around my fingers as she comes undone beneath me, legs shaking and a muffled cry escaping her lips. I look up at her, eyes closed in ecstasy, and know that this is it. This is what I’ve been waiting for. She’s mine now, and I won’t let go.
Pulling away, I give her time to recover while I position myself between her legs. I rub my cock over her wet entrance, ready to take her. I lift her chin and force her to look at me. “Are you sure, love? You have to tell me.”
Her beautiful eyes flutter open, dark with desire. She nods, “Yes, Rowan. I need this. Please…” She bites her bottom lip as I push inside, taking care not to hurt her but determined to claim every inch of her. She’s so much tighter than I expected, confirming my suspicions.
I rest my head against hers. “Love, have you been with a man before?” She shakes her head, gripping my shirt. I know I need to be careful, but damn, if the knowledge that I’m her first doesn’t fill me with anticipation. “I’ll be as gentle as I can.”
She gasps as I fill her completely, both of us adjusting to the sensation of being so joined. Her pain mixes with pleasure in her eyes, and I lean down to kiss the sting from them.
“You’re doing great,” I murmur against her lips before starting a slow, steady rhythm that has us both moaning in no time.
Her taste is on my tongue with each thrust, and the sounds of skin slapping against skin fill the room as her amazing breasts rest against my chest. Although tentative at first, she wraps her legs around my waist, pulling me closer as we move together like we were made for this moment. And maybe we were. The dreamscapes were like foreplay, and now the bond grows stronger with each agonizing thrust of pleasure.
The scent of sex fills the air around us, making my beasts howl in approval from deep within me. They want more, impossibly more. I lean back, admiring her body as I reach my hand between us to rub circles around her hard clit. She bucks beneath me, and I feel her body rising to the precipice. Longingto join her there, I flick her clit until she screams, coming apart in my arms.
I swallow our screams with a kiss, using one hand to hold her in place as I pump my load deep into her body. I keep her soft body pressed firmly against mine as our breathing returns to normal. At once, I feel guilty. I took my virgin mate in the kitchen, half-clothed like a horny teenager.
“Apologies, love,” I whisper against her hair, smoothing it out of her face. “I intended for that to be more romantic. Are you okay?”
She nods into the palm of my hand as I cup her face. “W-why was that just like the dreams?” she whispers.
I sigh, knowing our shifter nature cannot explain our dreamscape. “The bond, love. It’s the bond,” I whisper as I hold her in the kitchen, reluctant to let her go but unwilling to let her in.
Chapter 9 - Willow
The PCR machine whirs in the background as the final samples complete their rotation. I stare at the stack of files in front of me, occasionally willing my eyes to focus on the data, but my mind is hopelessly elsewhere.
His strong hands gripping my thighs…the water cascading over his muscles this morning as he pinned me to the shower wall…
Jesus. My cheeks burn, and I jump as the file I’m holding slides out of my hands and flutters to the floor. I’m so embarrassed, even though I look around the room and see I’m alone.
How do people get anything done with all this…in their heads, I lament as I force myself to read through the latest Nicholson data, trying again to make sense of what I’m seeing and trying not to think about Rowan and the things he’s been doing to me every chance we get for the last week.
Any lingering thought that he was just teasing me has long since vanished—his emotions are still unreadable, but physically, I’m in no doubt about what he wants. Ever since he took my virginity that night, our lovemaking has been insatiable. I thought the dreams would stop, and to a degree, they have, because I’m with him every night, but now he comes to me during the day.
He says it’s the bond. I don’t want to be naive, and of course, I know about the bond between shifters, but I didn’t realize it could be so vivid. So real.
I’m not sure where this leaves us in terms of the future, though, he talks about the bond, but he hasn’t declared his feelings for me. He hasn’t said we’re true mates, but that is whatcomes with the bond; this doesn’t feel like anything my friends have described. It feels so much more.
He promised not to do it when I’m working in the lab, but it appears my imagination can cause enough problems on its own. I’m clearly just as insatiable as he is. I blush even more thinking about Rowan and his wicked tongue…
“You have a minute?” A voice from the door has me spinning around in my chair, hoping my thoughts are not displayed on my face.
I look at Rian and cringe, praying I’m not as bright red as I fear. “Um, yes, of course,” I say, lifting a stack of printouts from the PCR machine off the spare chair.