In the end, he settled for a compromise. He nipped her lower lip. “Be my mate for now. We’ll worry about the rest later.”
“Yes.” She laid her hand on his cheek and kissed him again, slowly, her tongue sneaking out to touch his. He groaned and pulled her closer, and the kiss was just getting interesting when his stomach let out an angry grumble.
He pulled back and kissed her forehead. “I suppose I should eat before I let you distract me.”
Ginny laughed and bit her lip. “I should go away, then. I’ll be upstairs… in the bedroom.” She brushed one last kiss over his cheek and walked out.
Jack polished off the food she’d put on the table and a second serving from the pot before the edge of his hunger had eased. In any other circumstance he would have collapsed again into much needed sleep, but the thought of Ginny waiting for him in bed made sleep the least appealing prospect ever.
After a brief stop in the bathroom to clean up, Jack climbed the stairs and stopped in the doorway. Ginny sat on the bed, propped against a pile of pillows, reading the same book she’d had downstairs. Now, though, her red hair tumbled in a wild cloud around her mostly bare shoulders, and she wore a thin gown of green, lace-edged silk.
“Wow.” He leaned against the doorjamb and smiled. “This is a sight I could get used to.”
“Not in the least.” She tossed the book on the floor and rolled to her knees, her expression playful. A slit in the gown bared her leg to the top of her thigh. “I mostly sleep na**d.”
The things he could do to her… His c*ck hardened as he stepped over the threshold and let a slow, wicked smile curl his lips. “Well, where’s the fun in that?”
“You seemed to like it well enough last night.”
“That?” He was glad he hadn’t bothered with a shirt. The borrowed pants hit the floor and he stepped out of them before curling his fingers around his cock. “Oh, honey, that was just getting to know you.”
Ginny’s gaze dropped to his hand, and she whimpered and fidgeted on the bed. “You already knew me.”
“Not as well as I wanted to.” He fixed his gaze on hers again. “Turn around and brace your hands against the headboard.”
She didn’t move at first, just twirled a lock of hair around one finger and licked her lips. Finally, she turned away and crawled up the bed until she reached the iron headboard. Her hands curled around it slowly, and she glanced back at him over her shoulder. “Like this?”
He stepped forward and ran his hand down her back and over the green silk, rubbing it against her skin. “Just like that.”
Her back arched, and she hissed in a breath. “Jack.”
The bed dipped as he set his knee on the edge, then knelt behind her. He indulged himself with a slow caress, feeling the curves of her body beneath expensive silk as he traced over her h*ps and squeezed her ass. When she whimpered again and rocked back toward him, he smiled and began to inch the fabric up. “Don’t move your hands.”
Her knees moved, though, sliding farther apart. “Not even to help?” she teased.
“If you want me to spank you, just ask, baby.”
“No.” She laughed, a husky, aroused sound. “But maybe you should tie my hands to the bed. Just to be sure I don’t move them.”
It was an excellent idea, but he wasn’t in the mood to be distracted. He eased her gown higher, until her thighs were bare and it was obvious she had decided to forego underwear. “Maybe I’ll tie you up when I’m done being amazed by how f**king gorgeous you are.”
Even her shoulders blushed. “Nothing compared to you, honey,” she whispered. “I still remember the first time I saw you.”
So did he. “You were seventeen,” he murmured as he leaned over her and curled his hands around the iron on either side of hers. “You were wild. And I’d just taken over my father’s place as alpha. I was young and full of myself back then.”
“I wanted you.” Ginny turned her head and her hair slipped away from the curve of her neck. “And you scared the hell out of me.”
He brushed his lips over her pulse. “Why?”
“I wasn’t ready for you,” she admitted. “Not by a long shot.”
“And now?”
“Now?” She arched again and rubbed her face against his. “I love you. I’m ready.”
He’d planned hours of teasing foreplay, of tormenting her and making her beg, making her his. Instead he thrust into her with one powerful stroke, burying himself in the heat of her body and driving a choked cry from her throat. Teasing could come later, after he’d made one thing clear. “Now you’re mine.”
“I already was.” Ginny’s head hit his shoulder, and she moaned and bucked. “Just like you belonged to me.”
“For longer than you know.” He slid one hand along her arm, savoring the smooth warmth of her skin as he trailed his fingers down to her shoulder, then around to cup her breast. He caught the tight nipple between his thumb and forefinger. “Five years’ worth of fantasies, Ginny. Imagining the things I’d do to you. The things you’d do to me.”
Her gasp tickled deliciously along his nerve endings. “Mmm, me too. Want to hear what I came up with?”
He pinched her nipple harder, just to hear that noise again. “Tell me.”
“R-Rainstorm last fall,” she panted. “You came into Lottie’s wet to the skin. And it was a cold rain, so you steamed when you went and stood next to the heater.” She tightened around his c*ck as a shiver ran through her. “I fantasized about your skin warming up under my tongue.”
The temptation to move was powerful, but he loved the way she squirmed beneath him. He slid his hand lower, dipped between her legs and brushed against her clit. “Did you touch yourself when you thought about it?”
She jerked. “I damn near did right in front of you. And when I got home… God, Jack, I was so wound up I couldn’t think until I made myself come.”
He rewarded them both with one sharp thrust before he straightened up. Her nightgown still hung around her waist, so he dragged it up over her head. It was long enough to slip easily through and around the ironwork on the headboard until her wrists were bound. “I’m sure this is plenty expensive, so don’t go ripping it up.”
“Lottie gave it to me months ago and told me to wear it for you.” Her whole body trembled, and she gripped the headboard tighter.
“Maybe I’ll thank her.” He leaned down again and bit the back of her neck. “Later.”
“Uh-huh.” Her pu**y squeezed tight around him again. “Later. Right now, I need you.”
“I know.” He smoothed his hand down her back and rubbed his thumb over the curve of her ass before drawing back. He could hear her heart pounding as he hovered, teasing her with his c*ck barely inside her. “Say it again.”
“Need you.” The silk strained as she fidgeted and stretched, trying to take him deeper. “Jack, please --”
He gripped her h*ps and surged forward, and the wolf howled satisfaction inside him. She was his, finally his, and by the time he let her out of this bed their scents would be so entwined no one would ever question it again.
Ginny shrieked, and the silk binding her ripped a little. “Fuck!”
He panted for breath as he thrust again. “That’s the idea, honey.”
She tossed her head and moved as much as she could, rocking her h*ps back in a desperate grind. “I told you -- one of my fantasies.” Her voice broke when he drove into her again. “Tell me one of yours.”
Maybe he should have found one of his dirtiest fantasies. One of the wicked ones he dreamt about at night, or the illicit thoughts he had when he jerked off in his bed alone.
Instead he leaned over her again, pressing his chest to her back as he settled into a grinding rock he knew would push her over the edge. “Just like this, but I’m your husband.”
He couldn’t tell at first whether her sharp, indrawn breath was due to shock or pleasure. Then she tensed and convulsed around him with a low wail. “Yes,” she rasped. “Yes, God, I love you…”
Any hope of control dissolved at the words. Pleasure rushed through him as he sank into her again and again, f**king her through the first orgasm and into the second before he gave himself permission to let go.
He bit the back of her shoulder as he came, muffling the tortured groan as he found release in the hot depths of her body. She was still writhing beneath him, whimpering and rocking into his slowing thrusts, when he lifted his head and found her ear with his lips. “I love you, Virginia Howard.”
She’d torn free of the ruined nightgown, and she raised a shaking hand to his face. “Ginny Owens.” Her lips met his in a tender kiss. “I like the sound of it.”
Exhausted, he collapsed to his side and dragged her tight to his body. “As long as I can move in with you, baby. My place isn’t exactly ranch material.”
She grinned against his shoulder and warned, “I’ll have you doing chores before sunup.”
Better chores with the woman he loved than one more lonely night in front of his fireplace. “I’ll hold you to it.”
Ginny kissed him again as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m sorry you had to wait for me. I was… scared of disappointing you.” She smiled ruefully. “Still am, I suppose.”
“Impossible.” And it was true. Just her presence, her scent and the comforting press of her power, mingling with his, soothed him so much it was hard to keep his eyes open. “As long as you love me, it’s more than enough.”
“That,” she murmured against his temple, “is a sure bet, honey.”
Lulled by the warmth of her body, he was almost asleep when one last thought occurred to him. “Wait, I lied. You do have one job from now on.”
“Typical. What is it?”