“Always.” Anticipation filled her. Would tonight be the night? Would he finally mark her? Claim her? Show the world she belonged only to him?
She shuddered with need, fumbling to get her clothes off. He pushed her hands away, yanking her arms above her head to dispose of her shirt. He lowered his head to the curve of her breast, sucking her through the thin silk cup of her bra, tearing an impassioned moan from her.
“So sweet,” he murmured. “Nothing like the taste of you.” He ripped the flimsy material with a sharp claw and lapped at her again, his tongue swirling over her nipple. “My one and only.”
Her craving for him flamed out of control. She could not get close enough, no matter how much she tightened her arms around him, rubbed her body against his in feline fashion, attempted to climb him, like the cat she’d been born.
But the compulsion of the moon gripped him totally now. He tore off his clothes and dropped to all fours. “Run with me, Aura Lee,” he growled, the last words he could utter.
As usual, she grew wet watching him shift, the bright shimmer of air around him as his muscles stretched and bones cracked to accommodate his lupine form, the expression of ecstasy as his beloved human features hardened and lengthened. He butted his honey-furred hide against thigh her until she stripped also. The moon kissed her upturned face as she whirled naked beneath the shining orb.
Then Brick raised his head and let out a challenging howl, his mating cry. Her breath caught in her throat. He offered her a wicked amber wink and loped away. She shifted, leaping into the air, soaring high above him, keeping pace.
And then they were racing together under the stars, gilded by moonlight, through the glimmering, sparkling night.
The moon had not yet faded from the sky when they finally came to rest and shifted, collapsing naked to the earth. Although they’d run for miles, they’d found their way back to the lake near the cabin, where he’d first viewed her human form.
She’d barely caught her breath before he turned toward her with a grin, shamelessly displaying his enormous erection.
“A good run, wasn’t it, Annabel Lee?” The same words he’d said that first time she’d flown with him. He’d called her “Aura Lee” since then, but she loved that he remembered.
“Always,” she agreed.
He shot her a devilish grin as he snatched her into his arms, rolling with her over the soft grass. “Let’s see if we can make it better.”
His weight pressed her down as he reached past her head to grab a bag he’d left earlier.
“Smart ass,” she murmured.
“You love my ass.”
She nodded. “You know I do.”
“That’s good. Because I feel the same about yours.”
And suddenly the verbal jousting ended. He began teasing her in a more devastating way, his lips and hands and tongue all over her, his kisses consuming, his caresses delicious, little nips and nibbles and touches that singed her skin, arousing her, setting her ablaze. He stroked her between her legs and she knew he felt her arousal, her moisture, her heat.
His mating scent enveloped her, coming off him in clouds, dark and rich, spicy and full of depth and danger.
“I can’t wait,” he groaned, apologizing in advance. “Moon’s still in my blood. It’s gonna be a hot and hard and furious fucking.”
“I’m on board with that.” She looped her arms around his neck, holding him tight.
“But then I’m going to make love to you. Long, and slow and sweet.”
He guided his thick, hot cock to her entrance and drove into her with a quick, powerful thrust, a savage groan. Goddess Mother Moon. Spirit of the Great Hawk. Nothing had ever equaled the explosion of pleasure she experienced having him inside her, huge and throbbing, filling her, making her soar to greater and greater heights.
She moaned and curled her legs over his hips, linking her ankles behind his back. He found a pounding rhythm that left her breathless and shuddering, no nerve ending untouched. Desire licked her, as he pumped into her over and over, her ecstasy building until the tension became indescribable. She never wanted him to stop, the friction of flesh on flesh, the erotic sound of his groans, the smack of his balls against her ass, his cock plunging in and out of her wet channel, all almost more than she could bear.
And his scent. By everything holy. Pine and juniper, his crisp natural essence, mixing with the sexy, luxurious and overwhelming scent of a wolf claiming his mate. For once and always.
She wanted the blast of sensation to go on forever, but she hungered for release.
“Brick,” she moaned, on the verge of orgasm. “Mark me. Please, baby. I need to belong to you.” Tears seeped from beneath her closed eyelids. “Take me there.”