Page 26 of The Beast's Betrayed Mate
It had been a lie.
And he had told her the truth in that cafeteria.
But he was kissing her back, and he was groaning beneath her touch. and there was absolutely nothing for it but to embrace it, embrace him.
The room was heating up from the steam. If they were listened in on, then she sure as hell wasn’t going to turn the water off, but maybe they could make this interesting.
She’d always been a surprise in the bedroom. Every lover she’d ever had, had told her as much. Underneath that put-together exterior, she liked to play. She always had. But only with the right person and she had to admit that, so far, the lovers she had taken hadn’t made the best of playmates.
She had a feeling that he would be, though.
She had had that feeling from the moment she saw him.
“You need a shower,” she said, curious to see how he would react. “Take your clothes off,” she murmured in his ear, biting his earlobe before stepping away from him.
His eyes were dazed with desire, her hand around his erection had secured her that. He had told her to tell him what to do, she was only doing as asked, and perhaps his expression had something to do with that as well. She hadn’t expected that from him, not after what happened in the alley. On another level, it made perfect sense to her. He was always keeping himself under such a tight leash. The wolf had broken that leash and this… Submitting like this… It was a different type of freedom all together.
He didn’t have to think.
He just had to follow orders.
She smiled at the thought, the ache between her legs intensifying. She knew he could take her in a heartbeat. She had felt the power of him beneath her fingertips, had seen it with her own eyes as he stalked her in the alley, she could taste it on him. He could get her beneath him and have his way with her, and there would be nothing she could do about it.
But he wouldn’t.
And that knowledge made her more excited than anything.
The thought that she held all the control and still not knowing if it was him, or his wolf, or both. If it was only him, then perhaps she’d push the wolf to a breaking point. It might tear loose…
The possibility was thrilling and yet there was no fear.
Because he wouldn’t hurt her.
That bone-deep faith told her so.
Before his reaction to her telling him that she thought they’d be great together and that they should have dinner had damaged her trust in herself, she had always had that same bone-deep faith in her own instincts. She had believed that he was the right person for her, so he had to be. That had been her way of thinking. His reaction had made that faith retreat like a turtle tucking any external limbs back into its hard shell. But here he was shaking it loose again, teasing it out of that shell. It was a relief. As though she’d forgotten how to manage it on her own.
She wasn’t in any danger from him, it told her.
Unless she wanted to be.
She licked her lips as he pulled the T-shirt over his head. For a second, he played with the string in his sweatpants before pushing them down over his ass, stepping out of them. She swallowed again. He was fucking stunning.
He had that broad chest that dipped into a V, a trail of hair leading from his chest and down around his cock. His hard on was impressive and resting her eyes on it made her give another slight noise at the back of her throat. Fuck, he was delicious. His thigh muscles were thick, his arms strong and defined, and she wanted to touch him again. Have him touch her all over with those beautiful hands of his.
But first, he should get in the shower.
She nodded to it; eyebrow cocked.
For a second, she thought he was going to ignore her command, grab her and tear her clothes off her. It made the ache begin to pulsate with anticipation. The moment was drawn out, a soft dare in his gaze, as though he was enjoying taking his time to adhere to her request.
Then he stepped into the shower, into the stream of water, tilting his head back.
She watched his skin begin to glisten with the wet, then began to pull her clothes off.
Her blouse. Her jeans. Her bra. Her panties.
She knew he was observing her keenly through the glass door. It was steaming over and she heard his hand move across it so that he could keep her in sight. The idea of how tantalizing it was to see the outline of him through the steam made her take her sweet time. She could see he was stroking himself slowly, and she wanted to put a hand between her legs but refrained.
