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bsp; He knew without having to be told that if he wanted to take her to bed right now, she would say yes.
A small part of him knew he should leave. But the excitement of the night had his blood on fire. More than anything in the world right now, he wanted to make love to her.
Without debating the matter further, he took her in his arms, pushed her hair behind her shoulder then kissed her cheek. Afterward he settled his lips on hers and lingered.
She moaned softly and leaned into him.
He drew back and caressed her shoulders. “I don’t want you to misunderstand. Just once. Tonight. Nothing more.” He was already breathing hard and all he’d done was kiss her.
“I understand.”
When she drew back, he thought she meant to say good-bye and send him on his way. Instead, she took his hand then led him into her house and straight to her bedroom.
Chapter Five
Cole had been in Lauren’s bedroom more times than he could count. It looked the same. The bed was across from the door and had a white, wrought-iron head-board. She’d replaced a sliding glass door with French doors. During the night, lacy sheers held a view of a backyard that looked like it belonged in a magazine.
The garden layout had square tiles, a number of shade trees, shrubs and a dozen flower beds. His wolf vision allowed him to see the space as though it was lit in a late afternoon’s glow.
He’d forgotten that her garden had been one of the reasons he’d been drawn to her. She’d built an outdoor sensual retreat that appealed to his wolf. Her owl-companion lived out there as well.
She headed into the bathroom. “I’ll be right back.”
When she disappeared through the doorway to the right and he heard the water running, he moved to the French doors. There was still an hour before dawn. As he opened the doors, a cool, morning breeze entered the room. June could get hot during the day, but at night, with low humidity, it was a beautiful time of year.
He glanced up at the stars and saw the violet waves of her security spell. Odd that he hadn’t been able to see them before, but he could now. He wondered if she’d changed her spell in some way and whether it was still soundproof. He hoped so. If he howled, which he often did when he made love to her, no one would hear him.
The barn owl she kept as a muse left his perch high in one of the trees and flapped his way toward Cole. He landed on the tall perch to the left of the door and hooted a greeting. At almost the same moment, he felt Janey rub up against his ankles. Lauren’s pets or muses or whatever she called her cat and owl had accepted him from the first. Maybe they liked his wolfness, he wasn’t sure.
He petted them both and murmured the greetings he would offer when he’d been seeing her.
“They dote on you, but I don’t know why.”
He turned and his heart swelled up. She wore absolutely nothing and his wolf, as always, loved it.
She came to him and pulled his shirt out of his leathers then drew his tank up and over his head. Her hands fell to his arms and she squeezed her way down his tough, wolf muscles. He’d loved this about her as well, how much she took pleasure in every part of his body.
As she continued to caress his arms, he took off his weapons belt then laid it carefully across the chair by the bedside table.
The rest he did by himself. His boots were grimy from the night’s work. His leathers not much better.
She waited, her gaze flitting over his thighs and abdomen. When he was naked like her, she took his hand and his body heated up. “I want to wash your hair, Cole. Will you let me do that like I used to?”
Right now, if she said she wanted to throw him off the side of the Grand Canyon, he’d say, ‘Sure. Anything, Sweetheart.’ He nodded, and she led him into the bathroom.
He was struck again, like the first time he’d been inside her home, how it wasn’t like anything he’d known from before his alter life. She’d torn the bathroom apart and had installed an oversized sunken tub. The walls were tiled with stone.
He climbed in then held out his hand to her. She took it but used her levitation to land herself flat against him. He sank into the water and she followed, submerging with him.
As he’d done before, he rolled them in the water then brought them upright. She came up laughing. “I forgot how you loved to do that.” Then her smile froze as she stared at him. “You’re amazing to look at, Cole. Your face. Your body. Thank you for doing this with me tonight.”
She gave herself a shake then told him to turn around. She opened the clasp and though his hair was wet, she gently worked the two braids apart that held the mass of his hair back. When he’d gone wolf his hair had thickened and it seemed right to wear it long. It was a very wolf-like thing to do.
He felt the water move then heard the pumping motion as she filled her hands with soap. He sank to his bottom and let her wash his hair. When he’d asked for sex, he’d forgotten what she was like and how much he’d enjoyed her attentions. She took her time and lathered, then pulled him backward into the water until only his face was above the water line. She rinsed out his hair with slow massages of his scalp. After such a long night, damn it felt good.
When she was done, he turned to face her. She’d already soaped up some more, so she went to work. She scrubbed every part of his body and paid particular attention to his groin.
