Page 59 of The Wolf Queen’s Curse

Another pause. Then, “It is.”

“From my Alpha?”

He locks gazes with me. “Yes.”

I reach back for the buttons and undo them one at a time. He stands and watches as I shimmy out of the dress.

“Chilly out here,” I say as I shiver.

A grin that is definitely wolfish. “Then you’d better run fast enough to warm up.”

“Oh, I wasn’t complaining.”

“No?”

I roll my shoulders and inhale the sharp night air. “It isn’t unpleasant. Different. Mild discomfort, which is…” I rub my arms and then look at him. “Interesting.”

“Petticoats off.”

“That will be chilly.”

“If this isn’t what you want, just say so.”

“Or stop complaining?”

A deep chuckle. “The rules are the rules.”

“And the rules of this particular game are that I accept or I do not, and if I accept now, I’ve committed to seeing it through?”

“If you ever want me to stop, you only need to say no.”

I step closer and look into his eyes. “If I want you to stop, I can stop you myself.”

A low laugh. “You think so?”

“I know so. And I’m fine with the rules as you initially seemed to suggest. Accepting now is committing to seeing it through. On one condition.”

“Which is?”

“That you don’t keep checking with me.” I reach out and untie his cravat. “If I want you to stop, I will stop you. Otherwise, for tonight, presume the way is clear. I’m a witch and a lycan. I can take care of myself.”

I step back and remove my petticoats. Then I look up at him.

“Keep going,” he says.

“How far?”

He meets my gaze. “All of it.”

I do as he says, taking off each layer and letting it fall to the ground. The night breeze is crisp and cold, but even as I shiver, there’s something delicious in the discomfort. Something delicious in giving in and doing as he says, handing over the reins for tonight because he needs that and I don’t.

When I’m standing there, naked, his gaze drinks me in, stopping on my breasts, the nipples hard as pebbles.

“You look cold,” he says, his voice rough.

“I am.”

“And magnificent.”