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“Oh, Goddess,” he moaned. “Hearing you speak my name… It sounds in my heart like the clearest bell…” And his lips descended on hers.
This was nothing like to the stolen kiss, nor even the kiss in the Bassett Room. Any restrictions or barriers between them, of hesitation or of manners, were utterly obliterated. His fingers tore out the few pins impeding him and ran through her hair, as hers did his, and their tongues clashed for dominance before agreeing to share the wealth. She broke off to rid herself of her jacket and slung her leg over his lap, situating herself against That Chest, her sensitive female parts settling down onto his masculine gifts.
“Magnificent things, trousers,” she whispered as she slid a hand under the lapel of his dressing gown and over his shoulder.
“Magnificent,” he agreed as he slipped his hands over her hips and onto her bum and then squeezed.
He captured her mouth once more, and her senses enflamed. She smelled the delicious, dry, vetiver earthiness of his soap, the musk of his skin, and yes, fur. That Chest heaved against hers as they held each other closer. There was a rumble within him that was doubtless Alfie, and she found that it made her want to laugh more than anything else. She heard the sounds they were making, her sighs, his groans, the rustle of their clothing, the sound her tailored shirt made as he yanked it out of her trousers, dragged it up to her shoulders, nearly tearing it off her body, the scrape of the hair on his chest against hers—
“My shirt,” she began, having no idea what she intended to say next.
“I neglected to mention my sense of taste,” he said as he ran his open mouth up and down her throat. “I have a very fussy palate.”
“You’d never know from those meals.” She sat up, her nearly naked breast very close to his mouth. “What about all that meat you eat? As one with an animal essence, you must be averse to such.”
“I am a predator.” His eyes had chilled to his usual icy blue, and yet they smiled at her right before he leaned in to nip where her neck met her shoulder. “You taste delicious. I seek to know the flavor of all of you, head to toe.”
She hated her toes. “I don’t think—”
“Excellent.” He untied her soft-wrap corset and pulled it off. “Don’t.”
She thought she might die. The roughness of his flesh against her breasts made them feel all the softer, and his moan told her he felt the same. His hands joined his mouth in worshipping that part of her that had always made her feel so ungainly, so much, too much. She had a new appreciation for that aspect of her anatomy as he demonstrated his wholehearted admiration. He squeezed, coaxing a variety of sounds out of her that had no name but for passion. He licked, closer and closer to her nipples, and she held her breath, wary and impatient. He licked one, and she squeaked. He smiled and licked the other while he pinched the first, lightly then with more force as her back arched. Her hands came up to grip his hair, pull him closer. She lowered her forehead to the top of his head, her fingers wound in his thick locks, then roamed down to his shoulders and pushed the banyan off.
He snapped his head up, eyes slumberous, his tongue licking his lips. She ran her hands over his unclothed shoulders, around and down, and found his nipples. “I wonder…” she whispered and slid down to lick one, felt it harden under her tongue. She pinched it as she licked the other, looking up at him, his head thrown back, his hands gripping her hips enough to cause pain—but of an exquisite sort. Her hands roamed down that tantalizing line of hair that lead to hismasculinity, hisfamily jewelsas she heard a groom call them once when he didn’t know she was in earshot, hisreproductive organ—“The words for this are not very nice,” she said as she ran a finger down the hot, steely, silky length.
“Words?” He looked at her, dazed. “No words, madam.” He unbuttoned her modified falls and yanked her trousers down around her knees and nestled her against his chest. Oh, holy night, he was throbbing against her—her…if there were no good words for his part, the ones for hers were patently ridiculous.Mount of Venus, pincushion, fancy bit, all so silly. He squeezed her bum as if he heard her thoughts wandering, and she leaned against him more fully, her own bits throbbing, bit him on the jaw even as he nipped her on the earlobe. They kissed again, licking, holding still as their tongues played, as if they had all the time in the world before they joined. Were they going to join? Here and now?
“Alfred,” she said and felt his dismayed reaction throughout her entire being. “Stop. Alfred. I cannot.”
“We so very nearly are,” he coaxed, running his fingers alongside her honeypot. That was another,honeypot! She found the strength, somehow, to kneel and pull up her trousers. He rubbed his chin along the tops of her breasts, eyes closed, inhaling all the while. “I cannot even begin to describe what the scent of your arousal does to me.”
“I can feel what it’s doing to you,” she quipped and regretted it as he pulled her back against him. “No, stop, please.”
“Let us bond now.” His voice was a guttural plea. “I swear, on my life, on the lives of all in my pack, that this is true and meant and that all will become clear once we have made love.”
“No.” She climbed off him, leaving him exposed, about which he did nothing. She yanked up her trousers again, and pulled down her shirt, and moved to the end of the divan. “That is clearly the version ofversipellianrakery. I said no.”
A flash of the oppressive feeling tried to take hold of her, brief and almost reluctant. She buttoned her shirt with unsteady fingers. “You did not explain this breathlessness, this impulse to give in to you.”
“It is known as thedominatum, the power of the Alpha. It is employed to prevent poor decisions at best, and insurrection at worst. And to get my way when my way is what is needed…or what I desire.” He belatedly pulled his banyan closed and retied the sash. “It is yet another indication you are meant for me. There is no one else in my life who can resist the compulsion of my power, only you.”
“But I am no one—”
“You areyourself, and you aremine.”
It was as if he leapt atop her but gently. She lay beneath him, without fear, nor was there force. His fingers cradled her jaw, caressing it, and she couldn’t help herself—she parted her legs so he might sink down against her.
“Your hair,” he murmured, “I had no idea how beautiful it was until you let it down. I had no idea how pleasing your figure was until I held you in my arms while you slept in the coach. I had no notion of how perfectly you would fit in my arms until I embraced you that first night after the meal. How brave you were until you met my wolf in the meadow, how kind until I saw you with my people in the village.” He buried his face in her hair; she licked his neck; he huffed, in a way she was beginning to understand meant both he and his wolf were well pleased. “I knew none of this, yet I knew you and wanted you.”
He leaned up on his elbows. “Do you understand? I would have taken anyone, would just anyone do. Any one of those dreadful debutantes with their repugnant parents, who would run screaming from me did they know the truth of my nature. As you did not. As you never will. It means nothing to me where you stand on the social ladder, what the world perceives as your fitness for this role.” He held her face in his hands, held her gaze as if to make her see the truth of it. “I would make you mine in truth, now.” He rolled his hips against hers, and Felicity embraced a moment of surrender before she came to her senses.
“Up, up.” She pushed against his chest, and he sat, pulling her along with him. “You cannot turn from a wolf into a man before my eyes and expect I shall follow your will without question.”
“I am at your service.” His tone was gentlemanly enough, but she heard the undertone of animal frustration.
“You think little of society and its mores, and yet such a whirlwind courtship is in fact howtonbusiness proceeds.” These questions were important, her mind assured her, as her body wailed in reproof.
“This is nothing,” he growled. “We’d have had you bedded and mated that first evening.”
