She was all sleek muscle and curves wrapped in one delicious bundle. Nick fought the male animal within before he gently took her into his arms. Her aura and the authority that clung to her told him she was a powerful she-wolf, but one with a delightful dichotomy between the strength she projected and the sensual woman he sensed beneath the mask.

Harsh treatment would just piss her off and make her clam up. He didn’t want that. No, indeed. He needed to ease beneath her defenses and get her to open for him.

Her eyes, a beautiful grey-blue, twinkled with amusement as she looked up at him. “Better? After that dance? I think I know everything about you, including your inside leg measurement. Which by the way, is rather impressive.”

“Haven’t you heard?” He slipped his hand around her waist, pulling her hips from the wall and flush against him. “It’s not what you’ve got, it’s what you do with it.”

Bending his head, he gave into the urge he had since he’d seen her putting that young wolf in his place earlier and claimed her mouth. His lips massaged hers, a test and exploration in one. She sighed, her slender fingers mangling the lapels of his jacket, holding him in place one moment then pulling him closer the next. He hid his smile with a gentle sweep of his tongue against her full lower lip and held his breath. Would she relax and let him in, or would they play the game a little more?

She murmured in the back of her throat, the sound closer to a purr than a growl. Almost a feline sound, but he didn’t care, it was sexy. Anticipation and lust rolled through him, fighting for dominance.

Then it happened. She relaxed, her lips parting in invitation and he surged forward, unable to hold back a growl of pleasure. He slipped past her lips to stroke his tongue along hers. Heat blasted him at the first taste of her soft mouth, like strawberries and cream, with a kick from the champagne she drank earlier. The familiar tastes turned to something heady and erotic.

Crowding closer, he pressed her back against the wall, caging her body with his. Hands either side of her tiny waist, over the black dress that hugged her curves like a second skin, he lifted her slightly. Just enough to bring her to her toes and off balance so he could kiss her senseless. He wasn’t heavily muscled like the brute of a wolf guarding Reena, nor did he resort to aggression when he could talk his way through a situation, but with her, the primal side of his nature came to the fore. The need to claim and possess uppermost in his mind.

She gave as good as she got, sliding her tongue along his then drawing back to tease him. Evading him, she tempted him with quick strokes of her tongue until he growled. Driving a hand into her hair, he scattered the pins there to free long blond waves. A grunt of satisfaction escaped him as he ran his fingers through the silken strands. So soft. A sudden image of what it would feel like sliding over his naked body, around his cock, assaulted him and a bolt of lust lanced him.

His dick throbbed in his pants, impossibly hard. Sliding his tongue into her mouth again, he allowed imagination to take over. Instantly they were stripped of clothes, her delicate, lithe body beneath his as he drove within her. He broke the kiss to curse as the fantasy alone almost unmanned him.

She moaned in protest, following his lips with hers, then kissed along his jawline when he tipped his head back and fought for control. He couldn’t keep on kissing her. Not without shoving that dress higher, ripping her panties off and burying himself balls deep in her heat.

But her soft lips were too much temptation and he bent his head again, quickly recapturing her mouth to taste her. She whimpered and plastered herself against him, seemingly not bothered that anyone could walk out of the crowded ballroom mere feet away and find them.

Yes, his wolf rumbled in agreement. Let them find her wrapped in his arms, his scent all over her skin and know she was his. Especially that little prick from earlier. Breaking the kiss once more, he rested his forehead against hers, his breathing ragged.

Her breathing was as compromised as his, and he couldn’t tear his gaze from her cleavage. The slim fitted sheath wasn’t revealing; women in the ballroom wore far less fabric on their bodies, but the modesty was far more erotic than acres of flesh on display. He wanted to tear the damn thing from her.

“Should we return to the ball?” he suggested, ignoring the snarl of rage from his wolf. He didn’t intend to, but he had to offer her the illusion of choice. It was only gentlemanly, after all. Even if the last thing he felt like was gentle. “Or is there somewhere more private we can take this little party to?”

Soft banners of color decorated her cheeks as she looked back at the door he’d swept her through and he froze. She wouldn’t return to the ball. He knew a woman who was into him and this one was. A fact borne when she slid a little sideways glance at him under her lashes and smiled. Just the hint of a smile, little more than a curve of her lips, but it held endless possibilities.

“Well, as it happens…” She walked her fingers up his chest over his shirt. He cursed the damn thing again. The need to feel her fingers on his skin clawed at him. Ate away at his control. He held his breath when she trailed off.

“My room is in this wing.”

Yes! Triumph surged through him, followed by a wave of heat so complete, he was surprised his skin didn’t spontaneously combust and burn his clothing away like some kind of lycan fireball superhero.

Her gaze flicked to his and he was caught, snared in the web cast by her beautiful eyes. Amber leeched into the blue, from the inner ring outward, but then in turn eaten up by the darkness of desire. Stark and simple. It took his breath away.

He reached for her hand again, lifting it to his lips. “Then lead the way, my lady.”

---

Oh, he was good. Very, very good.

Anticipation and need surged through Isla’s veins as she led Nick through the corridors. The guard at the bottom of the stairs merely glanced at their linked hands but didn’t say anything. Wise move. After Liam earlier, she wasn’t interested in any other wolf getting up in her business.

He was silent, taking her lead until they reached her door. Opening it a crack, she paused and looked up at him. Nerves shimmied through her stomach. She didn’t do this. Didn’t take guys back to her room for sex. Ever. Her last relationship had been long term, and it had taken months before they’d…

“Stop thinking.” The order was a harsh whisper as he bent to brush his mouth over hers. They caught, then clung and she parted her lips to let him slide within. The kiss was soft, but thorough, only their lips touching and their fingers laced. It was a promise, and the heat lurking behind the softness made her shiver.

She tried to move closer but he stopped her with a finger on her lips.

“Impatient.”

“Hell, yeah.” Impatient wasn’t the word. A growl in her throat, she yanked on his lapels and pulled him into the room. A quick kick shut the door and she shoved him against it, pinning him between her and the heavy wood.

Reaching on her tiptoes, she mashed her lips against his. Their exchanges so far had been hot, but restrained in a way, as though he were courting her gently. She didn’t want gentle. She wanted the power leashed within him. They were wolves, and when wolves came together, it was always primal.

Thighs parted, he cradled her with his bigger body, driving his hands into her hair to deepen the kiss. She opened for him eagerly, the fire in her blood raising her temperature. Her skin was too hot, her clothes too tight…and the only remedy was his hands on her. Soothing her. Stroking her. Touching her.

She moaned as his tongue stroked along hers again, but it wasn’t enough. She needed more of everything. Breaking away with a gasp, she kissed the corner of his lips. He growled, fingers digging into her hair, his strong hand cupping the back of her neck. Her lips trailed along his jaw. The slight stubble there prickled against her soft skin.

Driven by need, she lifted onto her toes again to nip his lower lip. A love bite, no more, but the effect was instantaneous. The rumble of pleasure in the back of his throat became a full on growl and within a heartbeat she found herself spun and pinned against the door.

“Little lady wants to play rough, huh? We can do that,” he muttered against her lips, then kissed her again. This time, no holds barred. He kissed like she was the only thing in the world, his entire reason for existence. With a slide of his tongue over her lips, he demanded access, driving inside with the dominance she sensed the moment she’d first seen him. Gently spoken and courtly, he was still a wolf in wolf’s clothing—the most dangerous kind.

She gasped when he pulled her away from the door, hands on her thighs as he bent slightly and lifted her off her feet. Without breaking the kiss, he urged her to wrap her legs around his waist. She did, a wave of pure heat hitting her as the thick bar of his cock rubbed and pressed over her clit. By the moon, if that move wasn’t practiced, she’d never seen one that was.

Turning them, he strode toward the bed. She rocked her hips as he walked, pleasuring them both. He couldn’t get them to the bed quick enough for her. Arms around his broad shoulders, she teased him with her kiss, loving the feeling of his strong fingers digging into her ass. Her dress was around her waist but she didn’t care.

Hard and fast, or slow and hard…she didn’t care how he wanted to play …as long as they got to the playing. And soon. Pulling the silk wrap from his hair, she freed the long dark locks to flow over his shoulders. He pulled back as they stood at the edge of the bed and caught her eye. No speech was necessary, the electricity and tension arching between them said more than words ever could. A connection she felt down to her wolf soul.

Slowly, he leaned forward, laying her on the bed and following her down in one smooth movement. Their hands were everywhere. Hers on his shoulders, shoving the jacket from them as his slid up her legs. It was a race. One that he won as he pulled her panties to the side and swept his fingertips between her slick pussy lips.

“Ohhh…” Her hands went slack as he did it again and fire cartwheeled through her veins. Oh, fuck, that was good. Good with a side of her neglected sex drive roaring into action. She needed this, anticipation filling her at the thought of him sliding that thick, long cock deep inside her.

“Like that? Plenty more where that came from, my lady.” He brushed his lips along her neck. Not kissing precisely, but scenting, tasting. Then, as he found her clit and rubbed in light circle, he parted his lips and bit her neck. His blunt human teeth pressed into the skin lightly and she jerked, pure pleasure flooding her body at the fake bite.

He wouldn’t bite her for real, not during sex. Such an act would bind them, mate them, and no one wanted an accidental mate. But the fantasy deepened her need and the sensations coursing through her body. It was a common lover’s game, and playing it with him took her arousal to the boiling point.

He chuckled against her skin. She growled back at him. The damn sexy bastard knew what he was doing to her. She didn’t get the chance to growl again because at that moment he slid two fingers deep into her pussy. Liquid heat flooded her body. He brought his thumb into action, stroking her clit as he finger fucked her.

She gasped and wriggled, rocking her hips against him to get more penetration. He had big hands, strong fingers but it wasn’t enough. She needed more. Thicker. Harder. She needed his cock and she needed it now. Yesterday.

Teeth clenched, she grabbed hold of the back of his hair and pulled so he had to look at her. “Quit fucking about,” she ordered. “And get on with it.”