Page 70 of In Her Own Rite

“Mm,” she says, and I can hear her breath hitch.

“Are you sore?” I ask, bringing my mouth close to her ear. “Do you need some relief?”

“Maybe. Just a little.”

“It would be easier to massage you if I could be on top,” I say.

She presses herself up to look at me, and I can see her eyes are dark with desire. The hormones of her heat are already fading away, but I can still sense the edge of it on her. Without a word she climbs off of the couch and onto the rug, lying on her stomach, putting her head on the backs of her hands.

“Like this?” she asks innocently.

I straddle her, sitting lightly over the backs of her thighs, and I slide my hands gently under the hem of her shorts. She lets out a sigh and I feel my body respond, growing hard at the way her breath catches, the way she reacts to my touch.

“These are in the way,” I say as I reach for the waistband of her shorts.

“I can—”

Before she finishes her sentence I pull them higher, so the front seam of the shorts pulls in against her slit. I hear her gasp, her back arching from the sensation.

“That’s better,” I murmur.

“Kier,” she breathes.

Agaayit. I shouldn’t be doing this. But my wolf is hungry for her, and he’s in control now.

“Where else do you want me to touch you?” I ask. “Where else do you have some tension you need to release?”

I bring my hands low on her ass to dip my thumbs between her thighs. I run them over the seam of her shorts, where I can feel the shape of her lips under the fabric. She moans at my touch.

“Does that feel good?” I murmur.

“Yes,” she breathes, and I slip one of my thumbs under the fabric, running it over the seam of her.

“How about this?”

She gasps in reply, her back arching for me, breath growing heavy. I dip my thumb between her lips, and my whole body responds as I register the wetness pooling there for me. I slide down to her clit, and I can see the second I reach it, her whole body tensing.

“I— Em,” I manage to get out. I swallow.Agaayu.I can’t believe I’m doing this. “You said things were different for you. Do you… do youwantto be doing this right now?”

God. Please say yes.

She hesitates, and I sense the moment her desire takes a back seat and her higher consciousness kicks in.

“I— I don’t know,” she says finally.

I climb off of her, giving her some space so I can sit next to her on the floor. She sits up, one leg curled to her chest, and I can smell her arousal in the air, see it in her eyes.

“I want you,” she says. “Trust me, I do…”

“Em,” I say softly, resting a hand against her face. “So then what are we doing?”

“I don’t know.”

“Are we together? What’s going on?” My voice is desperate. I sound like a lovesick schoolkid, and I hate it.

“We’re notnottogether.”

“Then why aren’t you sleeping in my bed? Why are we keeping our distance all day?”

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