I couldn’t believe how happy the school visit had made me.
It was a feeling that had been missing from my life for so long, I’d forgotten that I could smile uncontrollably or laugh like a child. And while I’d worried I wouldn’t be able to handle seeing all the children since they’d only remind me of Brady, instead they helped me heal a little more inside. For too many years now, I’d denied myself the joy of being around young kids. It was too painful to hear their laughter or recognize something about Brady in each and every one of them. But now I realized that it was time to conquer that fear and I appreciated Marcus even more for helping me get to this place.
He had done more for me in one day than Elijah had in ten years.
I touched the phone in my pocket, waiting for another scathing text from my ex. Pretty sure Marcus had seen them, I purposefully kept my phone out of sight while I was with him. That was a situation I needed to handle on my own and I certainly didn’t want to bring him and his pack into it.
I looked over at the coyote alpha driving my truck to the sampling site so he could help me collect data. His dark hair hung out from underneath the ball cap he wore with his work coat and jeans. The day-old stubble on his face cast a dark shadow against his tan skin and I loved the way he wore that look. Like the Alaska mountain man who knew how good he looked and didn’t bother trying to hide it.
“What?” Marcus asked with a smile when he busted me staring at him.
“Thanks,” I said.
“For what?”
“For the school. I really needed that.” I turned my head to look out the window so I could hide my watering eyes from him again.
“You’re a natural,” he said after a few moments of silence—like he was afraid of what I might say.
“I’ve always loved kids.” That damn lump in my throat started to return so I quickly changed the subject. “And thank you for helping me today. You’ve already done so much.”
“I like science,” he said with a shrug, causing me to giggle.
“I like science, too.”
He flashed me a smile and I instantly started to melt. Those feelings of attraction I had for him last night had grown into full-on lust today. He was handsome yet modest. Rugged yet gentle. He would make a great catch for someone…someone from the shifter world who could handle that life.
I could handle it.
That fleeting thought gnawed at my chest. I had survived most of my adult life with shifters and their obscure politics—in particular, the unstable panther pride in Wyoming. Surely, I could fit into a pack of rather docile coyotes living in the middle of Alaska, right?
As though sensing my thoughts, Marcus reached over and placed his hand on my knee. He squeezed my thigh and I enjoyed the rush of heat tingling up my leg. I relaxed in my seat and slid my knees to the sides, giving him more room to explore. His hand tensed for only a moment before he slowly let his fingers glide up the inside of my thigh.
Letting out a small moan, I pushed away all of the thoughts of fear, concern, or practicality of staying away from this man. Instead, I allowed myself a moment to simply be a female. A woman who needed attention from a man every once and a while and a woman who’d been starved for years.
We reached the point in the road where Marcus had to turn left onto the dirt path used only for service vehicles. He removed his hand from my leg to wrestle with the steering of my truck, and when he did, I noticed the bulge growing in his pants. It only made me more excited, and before he even stopped the truck, I’d decided that I would be selfish and take what I wanted today.
As soon as he put the truck into park, I slid across the front seat and crawled into his lap. I didn’t allow him a chance to talk me out of it before I crushed my lips against his. He responded instantly, once again pulling the back of my neck closer to him and using his free hand to roam up and down my body. His soft lips devoured my own, his hard cock pressing oh so nicely against the seam in my jeans. I rubbed my hips up and down over the bulge, enjoying the way it made me feel powerful and sexy at the same time.
Marcus slipped his hands underneath my sweater and started to pull it over my head. I helped by lifting my arms, grinding my hips against his, and unhooking my bra before he even had a chance to throw the sweater into the back seat. His smile widened, showing the bright white teeth and stretching that chiseled jaw of his.
“Wow,” he breathed, cupping my tits and admiring the view.
I knew I had great breasts and I loved the response they pulled out of the relatively cool and calm Marcus. “See something you like?” I asked, wiggling them in front of his face.
“Oh yeah,” he growled.
A split second later, his mouth was on me. Sucking on my sensitive nubs and tugging at the skin, I knew it wouldn’t take long for me to explode. It had been years since I’d let a man touch me like this, and my body’s response had been instant. The sexy inner-me wanted him now…in every way possible. But the exterior me knew she should show some semblance of control in this situation—Marcus would want a woman in control of herself.
I let out a small scream when Marcus lifted me off him and set me to the side. He pushed the seat back, giving us more room between him and the steering wheel, and then he looked at me with a sexy, feral grin as he unzipped his jeans and pulled them down over his hips. His erection pressed tightly against his boxers, and I almost lost it then and there just thinking about how good he would feel inside me.
With my own teasing smile, I stripped out of my boots and pants and let him watch me as I crawled, slowly, back across the seat to hold my completely naked body over top of his. Bending down for a kiss, I only let him touch my lips. Slapping his hands away each time he tried to grab a breast or a hip, I enjoyed the way he writhed beneath me as we played this game.
“You’re such a tease,” he breathed into my lips.
I nipped his ear and whispered, “You like it.”
Moving too fast for me to stop him, he grabbed my good hand and pressed it firmly down onto his cock. The fabric was moist near the tip and I knew I was just as wet and ready for him. “You know I do,” he growled.
I guided his own hand back between my legs and loved the little moan that escaped his lips when he pressed his fingers against my folds.
“Fuck,” he drawled out with a sigh. “Holland, I can’t wait much longer.”
“You can,” I said, pulling his dick free from the boxers and stroking it slowly.
“You smell so damn good.” His chest rumbled with another noise, and while that might have scared me a few days ago, right now it just turned me on even more to know that I was having this kind of effect on such a powerful man.
I crushed my lips into his again, enjoying the way his teeth grazed my skin. Pushing myself even higher, I straddled his hips and readied myself for him. He sucked on my neck, my ear, and then down over my collarbone to my breast again. His hands tried to push me down, but I resisted. I was the one in charge and I would take him when I was ready.
A finger slipped inside me. Then two as his thumb teased my clit. I called out into the air and tried not to lose all control. When I grabbed his cock in my hand again, he pulled his fingers out and shook with anticipation. The moisture on the tip served as an unnecessary lubricant but allowed me to stroke him a little quicker. He tensed beneath me as he sighed into the air, and when I lowered myself onto him, he pulled me in close.
He was so big, I needed a moment to adjust. With him all the way inside, I enjoyed the feeling of a man and the way Marcus was rubbing the sides of my ribs with his fingertips. He let me just sit there for a second, seeming to simply relish in the feel of it all right now. We looked at each other, his yellow-green eyes turning more golden by the minute. I felt the tears in mine and hoped he wouldn’t misinterpret their meaning. I was happy. I felt good. And I had finally found the right person to share myself with again.
Marcus slowly started to lift my hips up and down over his cock. With our eyes locked on each other, the intensity was something I’d never experienced before. I kissed his lips, eyes still glued to his. And he increased the speed. Gliding slowly over his impressive size, I felt the heat burning between my legs in just a few seconds. As I stared to move faster, Marcus pushed his tongue into my mouth and held my head close to his. He panted in my ear, not saying any words, but letting me know how much he was enjoying himself.
Our skin slapped together as we both sped up our movements. In no time at all, I found myself bracing against the headrest and arching my back over the steering wheel so I could rub my clit against him in the perfect way. I called out his name several times, skin bouncing against skin, the windows steaming up with our breath.
When Marcus clamped down on my nipples, I wrapped my fingers in his hair, ball cap long gone and resting somewhere in the back seat. I yanked hard as he increased the pressure. Screaming into the air, I let the world know just how good he felt when the orgasm exploded from inside of me with an intensity I’d never felt before. The sensation traveled from my clit to my toes and pulsed in waves of heat and desire through my entire body. A second later, his hot seed filled me up while Marcus squeezed me tight and buried his face against my neck.
“Fuuuuck,” he moaned into my skin, body still jerking with the aftershocks.
I had a brief moment to wonder about the lack of birth control, but then pushed it away because Marcus decided to suck on my nipples again. Almost instantly, I could feel him begin to harden inside of me.
“Not done yet?” I teased.
He growled, wrapped his arm around my lower back, and flipped us around so that he was now lying on top of me in the long front seat. “Oh no,” he rumbled. “I haven’t had enough of you yet.”
Moving his hips, he slid out of me and I cried out in disappointment. Then he growled, “Turn over,” in the husky, gravelly voice that made my inner minx purr with anticipation. Marcus wanted to take me from behind? Gladly.
I climbed up onto all fours, a task not so easy in the cramped space. Shaking my ass in his face, I let out a little scream when I felt the sting of a light slap on my cheek. Looking over my shoulder, he winked at me and then pushed my upper back down into the seat. A second later, his hands clamped onto my hips and he pushed inside of me with a full-on erection once again.
And where the first instance of penetration had been intense before, this time, it simply felt wild. Marcus slammed into me hard, over and over, hitting that special spot inside that instantly made me tingle. He had one knee up on the seat, the other leg on the ground balancing us both. With each thrust he let out a noise—a mix between a growl and a grunt, and a noise that turned me on so bad.
I braced my hands against the door, protecting my head and allowing me to focus on the amazing feeling inside. With his seed from before, he moved easily in and out. Even when I squeezed him tight and his fingers dug into my hips, I enjoyed the feel of his giant cock buried deep inside. I enjoyed it so much, I couldn’t stop the orgasm when it took me by surprise. I screamed his name and he pounded me faster than I would have thought possible until he, too, released again, mumbling something under his breath as he came inside.
Bodies covered with sweat, insides satiated with release, we lay still for several moments afterward. Marcus collapsed on top of me as I sank in against the crook of his hips. It didn’t take me long to notice just how well we fit together—in every sense of the word. Marcus kissed the back of my shoulders as his pulse slowed, and I thought about just how good I felt right now. No sadness consuming me. No threats from the panthers weighing on my mind. No thoughts about my research. Marcus had fucked all of those concerns right out of me and I loved him for that.
It was exactly what I needed.
A real man who knew how to please a woman.
I laughed to myself and Marcus sat up. Still inside of me, I twisted my head around to see his sexy smile. “What’s so amusing?” he asked. His hair was sticking to his forehead and that damn scruff of his had me fantasizing about all the other ways we could fit together in this truck.
“Just thinking about how skilled you are.”
“Skilled,” he said with a huff. “Woman, I’ve got skills you haven’t even seen yet.”
I laughed hard at the one, never once thinking a phrase like that could come out of this type of man. A man in control of so many, especially of himself. It was nice to see him relax a little and take what he wanted for once.
Opening the glove box, I pulled out a handful of napkins and passed them back to Marcus. He huffed and used them as he pulled out of me. A few moments later, we were in the process of trying to get dressed when Marcus cleared his throat and started to ask a question. I could tell by the tone, I might not want to hear it, so I interrupted him.
“If you’re going to say something negative or something that would kick me back into reality, can we just wait a little longer?”
He laughed, grabbed my arm, and pulled me into a gentle, but deep kiss. “I was simply going to ask what I needed to do for you today.”
You’ve done enough already. “Oh. Um, well, since I can’t wear my gloves on this stupid hand, perhaps you can be the snow remover?”
His smile melted my heart and I knew I was in big trouble letting him get to me so quickly. I might not survive another shifter relationship…
“Snow remover?”
I reached into the small back seat and pulled up my PVC quadrat. He stared at it with a perplexed look on his face, so I clarified. “Wherever I put this square, I need you to push the snow away so I can get a good count of the winter vegetation underneath.”
“Oh,” he said, giving me a thumbs up. “I can do that.”
I kissed him again and then slid out the passenger door. The fresh, cool air felt good against my warm, and very satiated skin. Today was a good day. Today I’d bonded with a man for the first time in years. I played with children who only gave me happiness. I made my claim on Marcus and his town whether he knew it yet or not.
Yes, today had been a good day.
And tomorrow…well, I’d deal with tomorrow when I had to.