Lainey felt his sorrow and anger as if it were her own, as if his emotions flowed through her like radio waves, as if they were melded into one person. It was a dull, throbbing, red pain that burned just below the surface.
“My father and my mother were high school sweethearts. My mother grieved herself to death after he died. Her heart just gave out and she died in her sleep a few months after we buried him. Ever since then, I’ve thrown myself into work and taking care of my family. The only time I started to get close to a woman…” His face twisted into an expression of disgust. “She was a wealthy wolf shifter from Miami, and I met her while she was on vacation up here.”
The thought of Tate with another woman made Lainey’s hackles rise, literally. Claws shot from her fingertips, and she let out a low growl before she got a hold of herself and quickly sheathed them.
Tate, fortunately, didn’t seem to notice. “I think, looking back, she just wanted the prestige of being with an Alpha. After we’d dated for a few months, I found out she’d been looking into boarding schools. She thought if we were together permanently, I’d agree to send all of my younger brothers and sisters away to boarding school.”
Lainey was horrified.
“When I confronted her about it, she said that of course she was going to pay for it. She even offered to let them come home for Christmas and Thanksgiving. Both. That was mighty generous of her.”
Lainey groaned at the thought. “How long did it take you to show her the door?”
“About five seconds, after I finished laughing so hard I cried.” He put down his fork. “That was two years ago. I haven’t dated since.”
“So that’s why you’re so out of practice,” Lainey teased.
“Oh yeah?” his eyes glinted with mischief. “Is that a fact? I seem to remember that I made a certain kitty cat purr pretty loudly the other night.”
“Really? You don’t say. How did you do that?”
He leaned forward, cupped her chin, and tipped her face up to look at him. “It started like this.”
He nibbled at her lower lip, and she moaned in pleasure, a feeling of delicious heat rushing through her. Her purr rumbled up in her throat, and she squirmed in her seat, feeling an urgent pulsing between her legs. He brushed at her lips, and she moved forward to kiss him, but he pulled back slightly, still holding her chin in place.
He grinned devilishly. “Out of practice?”
“All right, you jerk. It wasn’t so bad.” She moved forward to kiss him, but he pulled away again, with a big smirk on his handsome face.
“Wasn’t so bad?”
“Oh, don’t try to play hard to get, Tate,” she snorted.
“Maybe I am hard to get.”
She felt emboldened. Normally, she never took the lead when it came to sex, but there was something about Tate…
In one swift move, she climbed on his lap and straddled him, facing him, and bent down to nibble at his neck. He groaned in pleasure, and as she sank down onto him she felt the rigid length of his erection pressing against her crotch.
“Hard to get, or just hard?” she said, pressing against him.
He looped his arms around her and cupped her buttocks with his hands as she kissed and nipped at his neck. He gasped with each nip, and she could feel his erection jerk up against her, sending answering pulses through her *.
“You do not fight fair. I’ve had a hard-on since the day I met you.” He groaned, pressing her against his crotch. “Must you torture me?”
“Yes, I must. It’s fun,” she whispered into his ear, and then took his lobe in between her teeth and nipped at it gently.
“All right, that’s it, you feline devil,” he said, and stood up, sweeping her into his arms as he did so.
With his shifter strength, he made her feel as if she were made of gossamer. He carried her into the house, into a rustic bedroom where he gently set her on a bed with a red and black flannel quilt. There was a lamp with a burlap shade by the bedside, and he turned it on, bathing the room in an amber glow.
He stood by the bed and pulled his shirt off as she kicked off her sandals and wriggled out of her jeans.
She paused for a moment to admire him in the warm light. His body was magnificent, that broad chest tapering down to that narrow waist and flat stomach, the treasure trail of curly brown hair starting at his navel and plunging down beneath the waistline of his jeans.
Would he taste salty, or sweet, or both? She quickly unbuttoned her shirt, sliding it off. She wanted to hear him groan in pleasure and shout her name.
Swiftly, she swung her legs off the bed and then sank to the floor in front of him. She kissed his stomach, running her tongue along the grooves of his six pack abs as she grabbed the waistband of his jeans and unbuttoned it.
“Oh, God, baby. You’re going to make me come in five seconds…” He gasped as she kissed her way down the treasure trail and unzipped his jeans at the same time.
The helpless desire in his voice ignited a spark that flared up inside her, turning to a sizzling fire. The way he wanted her made her feel incredibly sexy, sweeping away all of her doubts and fears.