I bring my finger to my mouth again. There’s still a dusting of sugar on the tip, glittering like frost. I drag my tongue over it, tasting the sweetness, then let out the purr that’s been building in my throat.
His breathing deepens, muscles shifting, chest rising and falling with each slow, ragged pull of air as his gaze tracks the movement of my wet fingertip against my lips. I can almost feel his control wavering, the way the wolf inside him prowls just beneath the surface, waiting for permission to break free.
I suck the sugar from my thumb and release it with a wet pop.
A growl vibrates deep in his chest, and his hands clench at his sides, knuckles flashing white.
My tongue curls around the pad of my index finger, heat pulsing between my legs as I hold his gaze. I suck it all the way into my mouth before letting it slide free, slow enough that his breath hitches on the way out.
“You earned one of these, too.” I pick up another cookie and hold it out to him. “Do you want it?”
His eyes lift from my mouth, and the look that meets mine is pure ruin. “You have no idea what I want.”
West stalks toward me. Each step devours the distance between us, the air thickening with heat and smoke and that wild scent of clove and pepper that’s entirely him, entirely wolf.
My pulse trips, my fox bristles, and for a second, I swear the whole room leans toward him too, pulled by the same gravitythat has me frozen in place, trembling, focused on the sound of his steps against the floorboards and the way his gaze pins me in place.
My thighs press together, a helpless reflex against the ache building between them. The cookie trembles in my hand, dough flaking over my fingers as I hold on too tight.
He’s closer now. Close enough that the scent of him wraps around me, thick and heavy. It fills my lungs, clings to my skin, seeps into the edges of my thoughts until there’s nothing left but him.
When he reaches me, I lift the cookie, my hand unsteady. He leans in, eyes locked on mine as he closes the last inches between us. His breath brushes my fingertips, his teeth sinking into the soft dough. He tears away a piece with a low, guttural sound that vibrates straight through me, lighting up every one of my nerve endings.
Sugar dusts his lower lip. I want to taste it as he drags his tongue along the sparkling grains.
“I can’t tell who’s winning this game,” I whisper, the words catching on a shaky breath.
West’s jaw flexes as he chews, his gaze never leaving mine. His throat works with a swallow, and his voice roughens, the wolf right there beneath the words.
“I know how we both can.”
CHAPTER 6
WEST
I don’t remember decidingto kiss her. One moment she’s standing there blue eyes bright, mouth taunting and sweet, hair wild, and then next I’ve got her caged against my chest.
Emme is all curves and heat, and she releases a wicked purr that drips from her throat like she wants me to lose it. And I do. I crash my mouth to hers, hard enough to bruise, and the second our lips meet, the rest of the world falls away. There’s only her. Her taste. Her scent. Her little fucking noises.
Her lips part beneath mine, and the taste of her hits deep. It’s sweet and first, then darker, sugar left over open flames long enough to turn smoky and rich. Each rough kiss deepens it, heat curling at the base of my spine, her sweetness heady and intoxicating. Our mouths move together, tongues tangling, the flavor of her clinging to every breath until it’s impossible to tell where the sugar ends and she begins.
She moans into my mouth, high and desperate, and the sound is gasoline on the fire burning away what little control I have left. I answer with a growl as every inch of me hardens. My wolf lunges forward, snarling for skin, for her. I kiss her like I’m starving and she’s the last sweet thing on earth. My teethdrag over her bottom lip, sucking it between mine until she whimpers, clawing at my shoulders.
She arches into me, panting. “West,” she gasps, voice fraying. “I need?—”
“You’ll get it,” I snarl.
I lift her, and she comes willingly, like she belongs in my arms, and fuck, the way she clutches at me—legs cinched tight around my waist, nails biting into my shoulders like she’s holding on for dear life—it makes my cock ache.
The movement draws a sharp, musical yip from her, bright and wild and vixen to the core. My wolf lives for that sound and responds with a possessive growl that rumbles in my chest.
Without thinking, I bury my face in the curve of her throat and bite. Hard enough to leave a mark, because I need her wearing me. She shudders, body jerking in my arms as I drag my tongue over the sting, soothing and claiming in the same breath. I want her trembling. I want her to feel me there for days. Her skin tastes like sugar and heat and something wild I’ll never finish chasing.
I catch her earlobe between my teeth and pull just enough to hear her gasp and feel her legs clamp tighter around my waist.
Her fingers tangle in my hair, her arms around my neck like she’d fall if she didn’t hold on. She arches into me, tits pressing to my chest, soft and flushed and aching to be bitten next. And those sounds,fuck, those sounds she makes…little yips that melt into broken whimpers, breathy and desperate and made just for me.
Each one hits me lower, hotter, and my cock throbs, straining against my zipper.
