I hesitated a moment longer, and then my wolf curiosity got the best of me. My fingers stroked through the curls of his sex, and I brushed them against his sac. The skin there was softer than I’d imagined, yet delicate. Fascinated, I trailed my fingertips upward, tracing a large vein that ran along the underside of his cock.
His breathing became rapid. “That feels good, Alice. I like your touch. Your hands are soft.”
“Softer than yours,” I said, surprised at my teasing as I wrapped my fingers around his length, testing the girth of him. Thicker than I’d imagined, too.
“Feels better on my c*ck than all these calluses,” he told me, spreading a hand out so I could see.
As he did, I wondered how those calluses would feel against my skin. I shivered at the thought, my ni**les pricking again, and I shifted in place, feeling deliciously slick between my legs. “Have you had many lovers?” I couldn’t help but ask. I had to know.
“Not many,” he admitted. “Don’t like to get involved without some sort of commitment.”
I understood that. It was exactly why I was a virgin still: pack came first in all aspects. I studied my hand on his c*ck and wondered if I was brave enough to take him into my mouth and taste him. Maybe not yet, though I was curious what his flavor would be like on my tongue. Instead, I gave his c*ck an awkward stroke, then frowned when my fingers dragged on his skin and he winced.
“Am I doing this wrong?”
“Depends on what it is you’re wanting to do.”
My cheeks felt scorching hot. “I thought I’d…um…”
“Hand job?” he murmured, his hand moving to my thigh and stroking it in a comforting fashion. Not sexual, just petting me, letting me know everything was okay.
I nodded.
“Those are tricky without lube of some kind. You could spit on your hand.” At my screwed up face of disgust, he chuckled. “Or not. How about lotion?”
“I have lotion,” I said breathlessly, and leaned over to my nightstand, grabbing the tube of lotion I kept for winter nights, when my legs were dry. As I sat back down, I noticed his gaze had slid to my ass and he’d been watching me move. That made me feel all hot and achy inside, in a pleasant way.
I held out the tube to him, settling back down to my place at his side.
He shook his head, hot gaze on me, that thumb still lightly stroking my thigh. “You do it. Put some on your palms and rub them together to heat it up.”
I hesitated. “What if I do something wrong?”
“You won’t,” he said, and gave me that lazy smile that made my heart flip-flop in my chest.
I squirted an enormous amount of lotion onto my hands and tossed the tube aside, then rubbed them together until they were slick. Then I looked over at his face, judging to see his reaction. When he nodded again, I laid my hands on his c*ck and encircled it, then pumped.
“Ah, f**k,” he bit out.
I flinched, my hands flying away. “What?”
“No, no,” he said quickly, his hand going back to my thigh and patting it. “You’re doing good, Alice. It just felt…really damn good. Startled me with how good.”
“Oh.” I studied his face a moment longer, then encircled his c*ck with my slippery fingers again, stroking the hard length of him up and down. I repeated the motion slowly, once or twice, then looked to him for guidance.
“Tighten your fingers like a circle,” he told me, and strain was evident on his face. “Stroke hard and fast. I like it that way.”
I focused on him again, my gaze sliding back to his cock. The head was beaded with even more pre-cum, and as I watched, a drop dribbled down one side of the crown. I wanted to lick him - but at this point, I’d get a mouthful of lotion. So I just gripped my fingers around him and squirmed hard at the low groan he gave in response, my sex wet with my own need. God, who knew that jerking a guy off would be so hot?
He made a low growl in his throat that I found incredibly erotic, and I began to stroke again, my slippery fingers gliding over him. I tightened my grip, moving harder and faster against his hot skin, and his hand began to clench my thigh, hard, which only excited me and made me apply more pressure.
Then, suddenly, his big hand covered one of mine and he began to guide my stroking, tightening my hand against him and guiding me harder and faster. Then, with a heavy exhale of breath, he came. Semen spurted onto his stomach and my hands, and I watched, fascinated, as he continued to use my grip to milk his orgasm. His eyes were tightly shut, his face contorted with pleasure.
A few moments later, he slowed and then released my hand. His eyes opened and he gave me the warmest, most sheepish smile I’d ever seen on him. “And here I promised not to grab you.”
“It’s okay,” I said breathlessly, my hands still covered with his come and lotion. I wanted to do more. Keep touching him. Something. I felt satisfied that I’d made him come so hard, but curiously malcontent. And overheated.
As I stared at him, Jackson reached over the side of the bed and grabbed his boxers, then swabbed my hands with them. When they were wiped mostly clean, I retreated to the adjoining bathroom and washed my hands, then crawled back into bed.
To my disappointment, he’d produced a new set of boxers and had put them on. He joined me in the bed a moment later, and I didn’t flinch when his skin rubbed against mine this time. Now he felt warm and wonderful against me, and I relaxed when he put a hand around my waist, drawing me against him.
His lips brushed my cheekbone in the barest kiss. “Night, Alice.”
“Night,” I murmured to him, staring at the wall. I wanted him to roll me over and touch me. I wanted to touch him more. I wanted him to give me a real kiss, not the peck on the cheek.
But I didn’t know how to ask for any of it. So I closed my eyes and went to sleep, his big, delicious body pressed against mine.
Chapter Eight
“You sure you’re going to be okay?” I bounced baby Eddie for a minute, then pulled him close and pressed a kiss to his forehead, inhaling the baby scent before I handed him back to Holly. “I don’t like leaving you behind.”
“Someone has to stay with the baby,” she said with a sweet smile, accepting him back into her arms. Eddie held his chubby hands out to Holly, eager for her again, and she held him close, grinning. “Dan promised to take me out on a run tomorrow night just to get the wolf out of my system.”
Well, that wasn’t surprising. In the short time that Dan had arrived into our pack, the young man had meshed with the teenagers as if he’d been here all his life. His eager-to-please personality was a perfect fit with my group, especially good-natured and shy Holly. The two of them had taken to each other as if they’d been sweethearts all their lives, and every time I turned a corner, I found them sitting or whispering together, or playing with the baby together. There was never anything untoward going on - I suspected Dan was extremely conscious of his place in the new pack - but it was clear they mutually adored each other. Two missing puzzle pieces, suddenly joined at the hip.
I was envious of their easy acceptance of each other. Why couldn’t I have been that way with Jackson? Instead, every time he looked at me, I blushed bright red. Every time he touched me, I jumped. I gave a nervous laugh every time he cast a flirty comment in my direction.
In short, I was obvious as hell and completely uncomfortable. I didn’t know if I should flirt back - heck, I didn’t know how to flirt back - and I didn’t know how he’d react if I did. So I just stared at him when he teased me.
Sexy, I know.
Which was why I was glad that tonight was the full moon and we were readying for our pack run. Some packs just let their members turn wolf whenever, or spent a ton of time in wolf form. My father had always cautioned me against it, though; it was too easy to give in to the beast and let it turn you wild. We were human above all things, and we needed to embrace our human side, and just let the wolf out to play occasionally. With civilization creeping into every corner of the world and no place safe for a wolf anymore, it made even more sense to hunt as a pack. Safety in numbers. We’d go out as a group, spend all night hunting and howling at the moon, vent a little steam, and return in the morning ready to go a few more weeks in our two-legged forms.
But I was reluctant to leave Holly and Dan behind. I knew, logically, that someone would have to stay with the baby. We couldn’t just leave him to fend for himself all night.
As I watched, Dan moved forward and held a finger out for Eddie to grab. The baby snagged it, fur sprouted in a show of aggression, and then he giggled, the fur dying away again. Dan grinned at me, clearly pleased.
I sighed. They’d be fine, but I still worried. Tonight was the full moon, and Roscoe was still out there, looking to score females for his pack. Holly was vulnerable. “All right. You have the keys to the panic room if anything happens?”
Holly nodded, glancing over at Dan. “We’ll probably go in there and watch movies anyhow. Just to be safe.”
I leaned in and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. “You do that. I like safe.”
She took the baby’s hand in hers and guided it into the baby version of a half-wave. “We’ll be fine. You go have fun.”
I left them reluctantly, heading out to the back porch. The air was hot and humid despite the fact that it was almost nine at night and the sun was finally going down. The heat wouldn’t matter once we were in wolf form - you’d be surprised at how little things like that matter when you’re in wolf form - but for now, the bodies of my waiting pack were gleaming with a fine sheen of sweat and I could smell it in the air, along with burgeoning excitement. Len, Spence, and Trina were waiting on the back porch, hanging out on one of the stair rails and horseplaying. Jackson stood nearby, leaning against one of the plantation-style pillars and watching them bicker with amusement.
All eyes turned to me the moment I arrived, and I felt an excited flutter in my stomach. Time to run. I stripped off my shirt, grinning. “Let’s go, then.”