The blood startled him. It seeped from her fingers, though he couldn’t see any cuts.
As he watched, the trickle slowed, then stopped.
Jewel stirred. “Colton?” Her voice was thick, as though she’d just awakened from a deep sleep.
His first mistake was leaning close. When she kissed him, his second was deepening the kiss.
His body, always half-aroused around her, instantly sprung to life.
“I can’t…” Swallowing, she pushed herself back, staring at him with desperate eyes.
This time, he kissed her. Like a man drowning, having denied himself far too long to continually resist. Her breathing shifted and she raised her hand, caressing his face. “Hounds help me, I need you.”
Her words barely registered. Everything about her, the sleek, silky smoothness of her skin, the faint musk of her desire, trapped him as neatly as any spider with a web.
Desire slammed into him, tsunami strength, and he shuddered. He felt as if he were drowning, sinking slowly as the waves closed over him. He took a breath, trying for sanity, for air, all the while helplessly pushing himself against her.
“Are you…” He swallowed, tried again. “Are you sure?”
Instead of answering, she smiled. It was fierce, that smile, and full of secrets and desire. The power of that smile did him in.
Her hands were everywhere, her breath, soft upon his skin. But his need—oh, his need, it filled him, possessed him, and turned him into a wild thing.
She tore at his clothing. He heard the cloth rip and didn’t care.
Her dress came off easily. At the sight of her, all curves and alabaster skin, he nearly lost control.
She drew him toward her.
Once again, he tried for restraint. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he rasped.
With a laugh, she climbed on top of him, her tight femininity wrapping him in a silky cloak. She rode him, hard and fast and so furious he could no longer think. Only feel, only experience, and he knew in a flash of brilliance that it was her, only her. The one he should have waited for, the one he’d always want.
With a cry, he let loose. Opening his eyes, he saw a look in hers so conflicted, so full of desire and need and self-loathing, he nearly paused.
But he was too far gone to stop now and, as his essence poured into her, he could have sworn he heard a howl.
