Page 45 of Her Purr-fect Christmas Mate

She’d almost run out of buttons.

Mordecai grabbed her hand as it hovered over the final button.

She raised her eyebrows at him. “Sorry? Do you not want to contribute to the local economy?”

“I want to know what I’m getting myself into.” Forget necromancer. With his shirt buttonless and falling off him and his scowling, broken-glass eyes, he looked like a grumpy pirate.

“Do I need to make it more obvious? Should I prepare a PowerPoint presentation?” She pressed herself against him. Ahornygrumpy pirate.Wow.

He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers. “I mean, are we going to have a furry problem?”

“What???”

“This could all be a trick.” His kiss turned into a bite—gentle, but with enough teeth in it to make her insides melt. “You want me vulnerable, again. Do I need to worry about you transforming, again?”

She narrowed her eyes. “You’re seriously asking this? Now?”

“Very seriously.”

“What, you’re suddenly worried about claws near your delicate parts?”

“Ye—” He looked at her suspiciously. Which was sensible. Her smile was very suspect. Like the Cheshire Cat. “Let me rephrase.” He narrowed his eyes even further. “I am as concerned as it is possible for me to be without your cat seeing it as a challenge.”

Am I that transparent?

“Yes,” he said shortly.

She danced her fingers down his bare chest. “And if I can’t guarantee I won’t accidentally explode into a pint-sized ball of fluff and knife-like talons?”

His lips twitched.

“ShouldIbe worried? About you suddenly exploding into… whatever your inner animal looks like?”

“That would be disastrous. Luckily, of the two of us, I’m the one who has shown the most control over his animal form so far.”

“Disastrous how? Worse than claws near your cock? Piercing damage to your pe—”

“Stop.”

“If I’m willing to risk disaster, you should be able to risk me turning into a tiny fluffy cat.” She paused with her fingers at the edge of his pants. He was hot and hard against her. Unyielding.

Unravel. Please. Or at least unbend, for me, even a little. Show me that you’re as lost in this as I am.

She didn’t know if he’d heard her or not. But something in his face softened.

He traced a line down her cheek, her jawbone, dipping beneath her chin. “Touché,” he murmured.

She licked her lips. “You survived last time, anyway.”

“I did.”

“If I think I’m at risk of shifting again, I’ll just think human thoughts.”

“What sort of human thoughts? In case I need to coach you through it.”

“Taxes.” He didn’t believe her. “Utility bills.”

“Tell me what you really thought of.” His voice caressed her, touching all her most sensitive places. “Tell me what made you need your human form again so badly.”

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