Page 46 of Into the Lion's Den (Secrets of the Northland Shifters)

“Tell me,” I said. “Where did you come from?”

Sarah bit down on her bottom lip. “I don’t know how to answer questions like that.”

Avoidance. It teased me so deliciously I licked my teeth. I’d never liked easy prey. “One kiss, kitten. One kiss can’t get us into too much trouble, now, can it?”

She flinched, but she wasn’t walking away this time. And she wasn’t berating me for the term of endearment either.

She’d done that in the past when I’d crossed the line, but not tonight. Emboldened, I took a step closer, and the air intensified with the perfumed scent of her pheromones—spicy and sweet. This woman wanted me. I had no doubt.

Still, if she really didn’t want to engage with me… “Sarah, if you don’t—”

She lunged forward, throwing her arms around my neck as if afraid she was missing her chance.

The desperation made me chuckle, even as her lips slammed against mine. But all laughing was quickly set aside.

She tipped her head back, giving me full access to her lips, her jaw, her neck. Her robe slipped, and when I touched my tongue to the bare skin of her shoulder, she shivered sweetly in my arms. So delicious. So perfect.

I lifted her up so we were at equal height, but that was one move I should have given more premeditation. She instinctively wrapped her legs around my hips to hold on, and that brought my hard cock in direct contact with her wet heat.

If it wasn’t for my jeans and her thin pair of shorts, I could have entered her over and over and over again. What happened to my plan? My one, innocent, curious little kiss? That was all this was supposed to be.

Her fingers plowed through my hair.

I twisted her long hair in my hand and clutched it tightly in my fist to prove my dominance—just as I’d wanted to do the first moment I saw her.

My other hand supported her under her ass, and a surge of desire came over me, so overwhelming I growled down her throat.

“Yes,” Sarah cried, grinding down on my cock. “Best dream ever.”

I was ready to claim what I knew in my gut was mine to claim. Sarah certainly wasn’t doing anything to dispute it, but that comment made me wonder. Did she think she was…asleep?

No. Impossible. Our conversation had been perfectly lucid, but… “Sarah?”

“Yes.” Her eyes remained closed, and her lips parted.

“Sarah, you know you’re awake, right?”

“No,” she said. “Keep going.”

“Sarah.” I shook her.

Her eyes snapped open, and she glanced around the kitchen as if dazed.

Fuck. My life seemed to be moving from one insane moment to the next.

She turned over her shoulder to where she’d set her milk on the counter. “Oh my god. This is real?”

“It’s okay,” I lied. “Nothing happened.”

“I’m an idiot.”

“No. It’s okay.” Maybe if I said it one more time I could make it true. But I’d tasted those lips. I’d felt the heat pouring off her. And I knew damn well I was going to have it again.

The lion snarled and swiped its paw at the edges of my mind, claws extended.

If I’d harbored any doubts about what Sarah was to me, they were now gone. But we would have both been luckier if our paths had never crossed. Because my father had taught me to never take a human mate, even one who was so clearly made for me.

“Go back to bed,” I said. “Everything will be fine in the morning.”

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