The silence between them felt heavy and tense, even though Brynn’s fingers never stopped their slow, maddening caress. Finally she pulled back just enough to meet his eyes. “Do you want to?”
Joe swallowed, then let go of her and backed away a step. He’d convinced himself that, if Cindy would be Brynn’s Guide, he could handle everything else she asked of him. “What happened to friendly sex? No big deal?”
Something flashed across her face—pain or vulnerability or maybe even rejection—but she was good at controlling her expression. It was gone a heartbeat later, replaced with a fixed smile that looked strained around the edges. “I’m sorry. I got a little carried away.”
He ran a shaking hand through his hair. “Damn it, Brynn. Will you stop trying to be so damn sophisticated and worldly for five minutes and tell me what it is you want?”
That got an honest reaction out of her. Brynn scrambled to her knees and clutched her bra against her chest as she glared at him. “That is some condescending bullshit right there. But if you’d like me to blunt it up for you, sure. I want to have dirty f**king sex with you with an intensity that sort of freaks me out, because guns and muscles and hero shit has never turned me on before, but suddenly now I can’t think of anything but you.”
He steeled himself, tamping down the surge of emotion that rose at her words. “That isn’t what I meant. You just can’t seem to decide whether you want to take me for a tumble, or warn every other woman in town away from me.” He caught her arm as she jerked away. “So which is it?”
“I don’t know.” The words were low and desperate, and he knew she was lying. She knew, too; he saw it in her face before she looked away and squeezed her eyes shut. When she spoke, it was in a whisper so soft he almost couldn’t hear her. “I don’t want to share you. I want you to myself.”
He hauled her toward him, catching her when she might have tumbled off the bed. His mouth landed on hers, firm and demanding, opening her lips so his tongue could slip inside. Her hair spilled around them like long threads of silk, and he pulled the cotton bra away so he could smooth his hand over her skin.
She moaned, the sound mostly muffled by his mouth, and for several long minutes she seemed content with nothing more than kissing him. As aggressive as she’d been about initiating sex, she seemed more subdued now. Not submissive, exactly, and certainly not passive, but willing—even eager—to let him take the lead.
Joe climbed on the bed, pressing her back into the pillows, and trailed his lips down the soft curve of her neck. “I’ll be careful. I swear it, Brynn.”
Her sigh was one of pleasure, and she tangled her fingers in his hair and tilted her head back a little more. “I trust you, and I’m not going to break.”
He’d throw himself off the roof before he hurt her physically, but he wasn’t sure if that was what he’d meant at all. “I know.” He scraped his teeth over her skin and fought a groan when her body jerked under his. “Tonight’s just going to be something good, honey. You need that. We both do.”
“We both do,” she agreed, and the way her voice trembled made his fingers tighten around the button of her jeans. The fingers of her free hand traced over his shoulder and down his arm, following his biceps.
“You never did tell me what else you kinky Green Beret werewolves like. Are we talking Discovery Channel and hair pulling? Or, like, whips and chains and leather skirts? I didn’t pack any vinyl, just so you know…”
He yanked the button free and nudged her zipper down slowly. “Good thing I have plastic wrap in the kitchen,” he joked.
She laughed, low and breathless, and there was something distinctly naughty about the look in her eyes. “I let a guy try to tie me to the bed with plastic wrap once. The idea was much more appealing in theory than practice.”
“Do you usually sleep with stupid guys? That’s not what the plastic is for.” He levered himself up and reached for the drawer in his bedside table. “See, this is what you use to tie a woman up.” He dragged out several scarves and let them drop to skim over her bare br**sts as he moved them to his other hand.
He didn’t need his enhanced senses to register her approval of the idea. Her ni**les tightened under the teasing brush of silk, and she sucked in a sharp breath as her eyes fluttered shut. “I didn’t sleep with stupid men. I slept with overeducated men. Sometimes that’s worse.”
“Losers come in all shapes, sizes and tax brackets, honey.” He reached for her arm and froze when he saw the wrap around her delicate wrist. Shit. He’d forgotten about her sprain. “This is a bad idea.”
Her eyes popped open again. “What? Why?”
He grinned, his ego soothed by the fact that she’d forgotten, as well. “You’re hurt.” His thumb stroked over the bandage. “It slipped our minds.”
“So don’t tie me up.” She shifted her other hand and slid it down his back. “Save something for later.”
They should be saving it all for later, for a time when he could think, when his mind wasn’t so scrambled by desire. But he still dropped the silk to the bed and stretched out over her, his lips finding the bare, vulnerable curve where her neck met her shoulder.
She drew in a breath and let it out on a soft sigh as her fingers drifted lower. Her hand dipped under the waistband of his jeans, and she turned her head so her breath tickled against his ear. “I’m thinking the clothes need to be gone.”
A sharp, quick tug brought her jeans off her hips, revealing the white cotton panties she wore. “All of them?” he teased as he hooked one finger under the elastic band and pulled gently.
“I was talking about your clothing.” But she lifted her h*ps a little in obvious invitation. “Not that you don’t look absurdly hot in nothing but jeans, but they might get in the way of my plans for the evening.”
Joe drew the cotton down her legs along with her jeans. “I know what you were talking about, honey.”
He left his own jeans buttoned and in place. “Plenty of time.”
She braced her elbows on the bed and lifted up a little to watch him. “And what, exactly, are you planning to do to me that’s going to take all this time?”
He laughed and dropped her pants on the floor, then teased the back of her knee with his fingers. “I didn’t know you wanted a formal program for the evening.”
“Mmm, no. I’ve got confidence in your experience.” She shifted her leg and rubbed her calf against his side. “I think we can go forward without an outline.”
“Good to know.” He climbed on the bed, this time stretching out beside her and twisting a lock of her hair around his finger. “I’m better at winging it, anyway.” He used the tip of one curl to tease over her skin, then followed the invisible path with his tongue.
She responded with a shiver and an encouraging noise. Her hands found his back again, more
aggressive this time as she dragged her nails lightly over his shoulders. He swallowed the growl that rose in his throat and stroked his hand down her belly and between her thighs as his lips parted over her breast and he sucked her nipple into his mouth.
She arched up to his touch, hot and wet, and his fingers slipped against her. This time, he groaned against her skin and caught her nipple between his teeth.
“Oh, God…” Her hand groped at the back of his head, and she choked on another moan as she shifted her legs apart and rocked into his touch with shameless abandon.
He barely brushed her clit, teasing more than anything else, and moved to swirl his tongue around her other nipple. He remained there, touching her without deepening his caresses, and waited for her to come to him.
It didn’t take long. A whimper escaped her and she dug her feet into the bed and arched her h*ps into his touch. “Joe! ”
He turned his face to her neck. “What?”
She wiggled a little and somehow worked a hand between them. Her fingers rubbed against his c*ck through the fabric of his jeans, and she moaned again. “I am way too turned on for teasing.”
He clenched his jaw and moved his hand lower and pressed one finger inside her, rocking the heel of his hand against her. “Better?”
Brynn groaned, and her hand shifted up until her fingers encountered his belt. She swore softly and clutched at it as her h*ps rocked with his hand. “Fuck! I…can’t—oh Christ…”
“That’s right,” he murmured. He drew his finger back and thrust another one in, as well. “You want me na**d, you have to come for me.”
It wouldn’t take long to get her there, that was clear from the way her body tightened around his fingers. She moaned, and he felt her teeth close around his ear. “Cocky bastard.”
A shiver ran down his spine, and he turned his head to bite her lower lip. “Are you complaining?” As he spoke, he raised his thumb to rub circles over her clit.
“L-Later—” She hissed in a sharp breath and squeezed her eyes shut. “Complaining later. Think I’m coming now…”
Her h*ps bucked under his hand, her response shaking his already frayed control. He bit her again, closing his teeth on the soft skin of her shoulder. Her moan turned into a hoarse cry, and her body clenched as cl**ax shook through her.
Joe held her, dropping gentle kisses to her neck and cheek. When she stilled, panting, against him, he moved back and reached for his belt.
She slapped his hand away with a breathless laugh. “My turn.”
He’d slept with enough non-wolves to accept her playful aggression with ease. Instead of bristling, he grinned and held up his hands. “Whatever you say, sweetheart.”
It took her two gratifying tries to get his belt open. Her hands shook as she tugged open the button on his jeans and wrestled with the zipper. “Am I breaking werewolf sex protocol?”
“How?” He helped her lower his zipper before catching her hands. “By undressing me?”