“Would you be comfortable if I touched you?” she whispered, looking him straight in the eyes.
Comfortable? He was dying for her touch. “I’d love it.”
She lowered her gaze again. “I haven’t been around many wolves recently. I’m frightened by what I’m feeling. I think I know what this is, but I’m scared…”
Oh mercy. “I’ll take care of you.”
He took a step to the side, still standing waist deep in the water. With one hand on the grass on either side of her hips he caged her between his arms. They both glanced toward the others to make sure they weren’t being watched. Then like conspirators, they leaned together and their lips connected.
Sweet summertime air. The feel of the wind through his fur on a moonlight run. All the most treasured moments of his life faded in comparison as he tasted her. This, this was the moment he’d waited for all his life. She met him with her mouth slightly open, her breath mingling with his before their tongues even touched. He forced himself to keep his hands in place but she had no such compunction. As they kissed, slow and easy, learning each other’s flavour, she caressed his shoulders, rubbing her palms over his
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13
Vivian Arend
brush cut. Smoothing her long fingers down his chest. His skin shivered in anticipation of where she would touch next. Light, fleeting touches that brought his blood to a boil.
He concentrated on enjoying her scent, drawing it into his very being. Nibbles on her bottom lip, light kisses across her cheek. He licked softly at the pounding pulse at her throat. His gums itched with the desire to bite, to mark her permanently as his. But not yet. Not now that she’d confessed her fears. Still, his wolf demanded he take some action. The beast within grew as wild as he’d ever felt it, driving Erik to claim his mate. Instead of biting he suckled, drawing the soft skin of her neck into his mouth until he’d brought the blood to stain the creamy surface. The moan of desire escaping her lips nearly made him change his mind and take her right there on the embankment.
Oh hell, he wanted her. All his. Now.
It took concentration to pull away, to watch her panting breaths slowly calm, his body aching for more. His gaze fell on the rosy circle marring her throat and his wolf grumbled with delight. His mate. He paused.
“Your friend is full human, isn’t she?”
Maggie ran her hands over his shoulders again and again, her fingers clinging to him. She peeked at where Pam still played with the boys. “There’s no way I can explain to her why I’d let a total stranger give me a hickey. She’s going to think I’ve gone insane.” She snorted. “Maybe I have. Oh Lord, I never expected this to happen.”
Erik lifted her off the edge and lowered her into the water. He longed to pull her back onto his lap, and touch her more and more intimately. If this had been any normal situation, they would already be making love. It was the way with mates. Sometimes it took a lifetime to find the one special person who would complete you on every level—physical, mental and emotional. Once you found each other there was no hesitation. No recrimination for simply taking and joining together what was meant to be.
Waiting was going to kick his ass.
He took a seat on one of the underwater benches opposite her. “We don’t have to tell her. She’s flying back to Vancouver in a couple of days, right?”
Maggie nodded.
“We’ll wait. As much as I want to take you back to my tent and make love with you right now, we can wait for the sake of your friend.” A shiver shook Maggie briefly and she glanced at him, a trace of fear back in her eyes. His wolf howled and fought to comfort her. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t want a mate.”
He snorted. Bullshit. “Too bad. You’ve got one.”
Her jaw dropped, and she gaped at him. “You can’t just say something like that and expect me to be all right with it. I’m telling you I don’t want a mate. I’m still freaked out at the thought of trying to live within the confines of a pack. Why would I also want a mate to deal with?”
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Wolf Games
That made no sense at all. “A mate isn’t to deal with, a mate is to love.”
She stopped cold. He had the sudden vision of the two of them, tangled together intimately, and had to reach into the water to adjust himself before his cock exploded. Her gaze followed his hands and she blushed hard.
“I know this isn’t fair. I’m sorry, I really am, but as much as my body is interested, we can’t do this.
I’m telling you straight up so you can be prepared. Even after Pam leaves, I’m not having sex with you. I’m not ready to be anyone’s mate until I deal with some issues.”
“Are you telling me this because you think if you say it, you’ll be able to resist wanting to be with me? Maggie, we’re werewolves and we’re mates. There’s a chemical reaction between us, yes, but this isn’t just physical. Becoming mates is in our best interest.”