Chapter Twenty-One
Ethan was losing control. He could feel his eyes burning in their sockets, knew the shift would damn near be inevitable. He’d also seen the brief confusion in Piper’s eyes as she’d gazed into his own.
The feverish glow in a shifter’s eyes was usually the only warning of an impending shift before a wolf took control and emerged.
It had taken Ethan years to tame the wolf inside, to control his shifts and live a halfway normal life. But Piper threatened that control. Everything about her called to the wolf within.
Ethan wanted nothing more than to tame her, to sink his teeth into the fleshy pad of her shoulder and dominate her incredible body.
But the man in him, that part of him that craved her acceptance, her love, wanted nothing more than to pleasure her, to hold her close to his heart and never let go.
Her beautiful ass lay before him, smooth and tan. He ran his palms over the soft swell of her flesh, dragging them back down to her thighs.
She moaned as he pushed her legs apart and touched her heat with the tips of his fingers.
“Beautiful.” The guttural sound of his voice caught him off guard.
A light sprinkling of hair appeared on the backs of his hands.
Ethan’s heart began to pound as he fought to control the wolf clawing him apart on the inside, demanding to be free, needing to mate.
Piper arched her hips in invitation, and the wolf roared its way to the surface.
With a snarl of surrender, Ethan buried his face against Piper’s sweet, wet pussy and drove his tongue inside her depths.
A hoarse cry ripped from her throat to fuel his already frantic need to take her.
Ethan licked and sucked her into a frenzy, pushing her thighs farther apart to gain better access.
Her body began to shake, her hips bucking against his roaming mouth.
An animalistic sound came from Ethan’s throat as wolf and man battled for dominance.
Ethan released her with his mouth, placed his knees on the bed between her open thighs, and gripped his throbbing cock.
“You better hold on,” he demanded in a deep, guttural voice before thrusting into her waiting heat.
Piper cried out with his initial penetration, her hands gripping the edge of the mattress in front of her.
Ethan grabbed her hips, jerked her up onto her knees, and drove into her as deep as her body would allow.
His vision tunneled on Piper’s shoulder as the room changed to a light shade of red in his peripheral.
The sting of his teeth extending did little to slow his pumping hips, but it was the smooth skin of her shoulder that held his attention the most.
His wolf demanded the submission of its mate. And Piper was his mate, whether she knew it or not.
She turned her head to the side, the look on her face one of ecstasy.
Ethan dropped down over her, driving into her again and again.
He swiped his tongue over her neck, taking in her intoxicating taste.
His gums began to throb in time with his thrusting cock. His mouth opened against her shoulder, her scent filling his nostrils.
No, Ethan mentally growled, fighting against the urge to bite. If he bit her, he would lose her forever.
Jerking his face away from her shoulder, Ethan raised up, closed his eyes, and concentrated on the feel of her tight vaginal walls wrapped firmly around him.
Breathe through it, he mentally growled, his hold tightening on her hips.
And then she came.
Ethan could only hang on as she contracted around his swollen cock, her cries of release echoing inside his head to further tempt his tormented wolf.
His only release exploded from him with a force that buckled his knees. He dropped down over her, his hips jerking forward with ever jet of his seed that wrenched from his body.
In all his life, Ethan had never had to fight so hard to hold onto his humanity as he did this night.
With one last shudder, he lifted up onto his elbows to remove some of his weight from Piper’s back and brought his wolf to heel.
Regret was instant. He’d taken Piper almost savagely, foregoing any finesse he knew himself to be capable of.
He lowered his mouth to her ear, his breathing uneven. “Are you hurt?”
She shook her head, a languid smile touching her lips. “That was incredible.”
Rolling off her, Ethan brushed her hair back from her face. “I wanted to go slow with you.”
Piper reached up to touch his cheek. “I didn’t want slow. I was too turned on for that.”
His damnable wolf stirred to life once again. As did his cock.
The sound of the door opening downstairs brought Piper’s head up. “Someone’s here.”
“Are you expecting company?” Ethan asked, sliding from the bed to gather up his clothes.
A female voice suddenly called out from below. “Piper, honey, it’s Mom!”
Piper jumped from the bed, pulling on her clothes with a quickness that would have been humorous at any other time. She ran her fingers through her hair. “Stay here.”
As if he’d planned on going anywhere, Ethan thought with a grin. “Piper?”
She turned back as she reached her bedroom door. “Yes?”
“Hurry back. I’m not finished with you.”