Chapter Five
April was boneless by the time she and James made it back to his home. The walk down to the orchard and through the trees to James’s truck was relatively quiet. To April’s dismay, James had slipped back into his shirt, but she couldn’t stay upset about it for too long. Her thoughts were clustered and frantic, still trying to sort out the information she was given and what she was supposed to say in this situation.
April floundered for words, but James’s peaceful silence allowed her to relax, if only a little bit.
He held the front door open for her, and took the time to slide out of his boots next to her while she toed out of her tennis shoes. She was dusty and felt more than a little grimy from spending the entire day outside, but when James gave her a tender smile, April found she couldn’t care less.
They walked side by side into the spacious living room. James settled down on the couch, and April settled in right next to him. She tucked herself against his side, and James draped his arm over her shoulders. The silence was anything but uncomfortable or awkward. April knew for a fact that she had never felt as comfortable simply being quiet around someone else in her life.
For all she knew, hours passed before either of them spoke.
“That’s the first time I’ve shown an outsider,” James muttered. He was so quiet that April could have easily believed she didn’t hear anything at all.
“Shown an outsider?” April parroted.
James smiled. He squeezed April’s shoulder. “That’s the first time anybody but a Sullivan has seen my wolf.”
April nearly brought up the men around town that had seen James and his family before, but she wisely held her tongue. “Your wolf?” she asked, figuring it was a much safer topic of discussion. “Aren’t you the wolf?”
James made a face and shrugged. “Yes and no,” he answered. “I am me, and I can become a wolf, but he is his own being,” he explained. “He is much different than I am; he can be wild and stubborn, and sometimes very aggressive.”
April giggled. She attempted to school her expression into a coy, teasing smirk. “I’d like to let you see him take the wheel for a while. I would never consider ‘wild’ a word to describe you with.”
James let out a slow, staggered breath through his nose. He caught April’s chin in his hand, and she gasped. James was less than an inch away, staring at her with those golden eyes. Now April understood; the eyes were not James’s, but the wolf’s. It made a new sort of shivery dance along her bones. Knowing she had the power to make James forget himself and let a wild animal come forward was more than exciting.
“You have no idea how much I would love that,” James said, and growled.
The sound made April’s ears burn. She was positive that her face was as red as a cherry. She sealed the gap between them, and stole a kiss from James. He leaned in, hungry for more, but April pulled away. The sound James made was feral.
“Do you have a shower I can use?” April asked, placing her hand on his chest to hold him at bay. His eyes were still golden.
James hesitated, but then came back to himself. He blinked, and with a furrow of his brows, his eyes were back to their usual toffee brown.
“Yes, I do,” he replied, and stood, offering his hand. She took it and he pulled her up gently from the couch.
James led April up the stairs and through a long hallway. There were doors every which way she looked, and she barely had enough time to take in all the art and photographs that hung on the walls in organized rows.
They ducked into an open, spacious room, and April’s breath left her all at once. The room was warm and inviting, with rich colors and a huge bed in the center. There were photos of the desert and orchard on the walls. On the far side of the room, a window with velvet curtains stretched almost from floor to ceiling.
“This is your room?” April asked, flabbergasted.
James nodded. “Shower’s through that door,” he said, pointing April in the right direction.
Suddenly, April didn’t care very much about her shower. She padded in the direction of the connected bathroom, but she wanted nothing more than to admire his room for as long as she could. The view was stunning.
April stepped into the bathroom, and nearly fell over. Everything was polished and gleaming, as clean as the rest of the house. Products and toiletries were lined neatly along the counter, and April realized she didn’t have any of her own. She flushed. That train of thought meant she was hoping to spend the night with James. She glanced over her shoulder, but James was out of sight. Part of her was praying she would get to spend the night with him.
April leaned down and slipped out of her socks. She then pulled off her blouse and tank top, setting everything aside in a hamper next to the shower. Hopefully James wouldn’t mind. April unbuttoned her shorts, slid them down her legs, and tossed the dirty denim into the hamper as well.
She reached behind herself to unclasp her bra, and yelped out loud when warm, strong hands closed over her own. April’s gaze snapped to the mirror above the sink. James was behind her, holding her hands in his own as he nuzzled at her neck. April glanced down in the mirror, James was in boxers. Only boxers and they hung low on his hips.
“James,” April chided, but there wasn’t an ounce of bite in her words.
He grazed his mouth along the curve of her neck and down to her shoulder. He playfully nibbled at the skin before moving back to her neck. He bit down a little harder at the point where her neck met her shoulder, and April gasped.
“James!” she repeated. “What are you doing?”
James’s hands each took one of April’s. He guided her hands down and to her sides, leaving them there. April refused to look at the mirror again, suspense and excitement making her body quiver in anticipation. His fingers rematerialized at her back, toying with the clasp of her bra.
“I thought you said you wanted my wolf to take over for a while?” he drawled.
April inhaled sharply from the way James’s hot breath ghosted along her skin, leaving goosebumps in its wake. She nodded a little. He pressed his lips to the nape of her neck, and she could feel the smirk that spread across his lips.
“Then let him take over,” April replied, and let out a slight growl. Hoping it sounded as sexy as she thought it would sound.
He groaned against her skin, and started undoing the clasp faster, pushing the material away from her shoulders and breasts. Her heart pounded in her chest as she reached up to cover herself, but James beat her to it. He pushed her hands out of the way and cupped her breasts, lovingly, in his large hands, alternating between rubbing his fingers over the soft skin and squeezing. The entire time, his mouth continued its soft and urgent ministrations against her neck.
April moaned loudly when his fingers found her nipples, rolling the sensitive buds into stiff peaks. She panted and gasped, leaning back against him. He easily supported her weight. She tilted her neck sideways, exposing more of her throat and James sucked greedily on her neck.
His canines, just shy of being painfully sharp, dragged along April’s throat. His teeth left slight indents along her skin. His mouth and scorching tongue seared and lapped at her skin. She felt like she was going to combust. Her body tingled from head to toe.
He pulled his hands away from April’s breasts, wrapped his fingers around her biceps and spun her around so fast that if he hadn’t been supporting her, she would have fallen. His mouth was on hers, kissing and devouring her mouth and tongue.
The kiss was nothing like the ones they shared earlier in the evening. Where those had been sweet and exploratory, this was demanding and almost desperate. James claimed April’s mouth with his own, turning her body to jelly against his as he dragged her to press up against him. His hands dropped to her hips. He squeezed hard, leaving imprints with his nails on her bare skin.
James broke the kiss, panting heavily. Her head was reeling as she struggled to take in enough oxygen. James seemed to be everywhere all at once, claiming every inch of her body as if his life depended on it. James squeezed down tighter on April’s hips, forcing her back into reality.
He met her eyes, and punctuated the action with a slow, deliberate roll of his hips against hers. April gasped. She could feel every hard inch of him, against her. A moan bubbled from her throat as James rolled his hips once more.
“This is what you’ve done to me,” James murmured. He kissed April again, long and slow until her eyes were rolling back. He grinned as they broke away, his tongue flicking out to get another taste of her swollen mouth.
Still reeling from the attention, April grabbed onto James’s arms. His muscles strained under her grip, flexing and twitching.
“From the first day I saw you,” James continued. The way his eyes sparkled was drawing April in. She didn’t, couldn’t, look away from his intense gaze. “You smelled so beautiful, like apple blossoms on a new tree. When I caught a whiff, he wouldn’t settle down. I had to go back and see you.”
April’s cheeks flushed bright red, embarrassed and flattered at once.
“I heard your friend, Lisa, teasing you. Saying I had found a mate in you.” His eyes bore into her. “April, it’s true. Just like everything else said,” he told her softly, breathing deeply, pulling in her scent.
Ever so slowly, James lowered his body. He dragged his blunt nails up and down April’s ribs with a wild smirk as she shuddered from his touch. When he reached his knees, James toyed with the elastic edge of April’s panties, snapping them playfully against her skin.
“A wolf knows his mate when he sees her and scents her.” James kissed below April’s belly button, and began to pull her panties slowly down her legs. He kissed the dips near her hip bones. “There is no one else that I can have, April,” he told her against her skin. He tapped her heels with his fingers, encouraging her to step out of her panties.
“I don’t know what to say,” April said, panting softly.
Her body felt coiled tight like a spring, ready to snap at any moment. Seeing James on his knees, looking up at her with those big, sullen eyes, was almost her undoing. With his gentle prodding and nudging, she opened her legs a little wider for him.
James glanced at his prize, and then back up at April.
“Don’t say anything.”
The first wet stripe of James’s wide, flat tongue delving through her folds had April gasping. The tip of his tongue teased April’s clit and it was as if a hot brand skewered through her body. April curled her toes against the cold tile of the bathroom floor. He started out messy, licking in broad laps that left her wetter than she already was.
April whined, desperate and needy from a few flicks of his sinful tongue. She canted her hips forward, searching for more friction, but his powerful arms held her in place, gripping her hips.
“You’re beautiful,” James said against her skin, and groaned, pulling away to look up at April and admire her before pressing his mouth against her core.
The flattery had April squirming in pleasure. Hearing James’s voice sound so wrecked because of what he was doing to her was intoxicating.
He took his sweet time between her legs. His tongue swirled and rubbed against her engorged clit, teasing in the best kind of way. The heat of his mouth enveloping her sensitive nub. April cried out, and her hands flew to the back of James’s head. She curled her fingers into his auburn hair, and did her best not to tug at the wonderfully thick locks.
Every thought aside from James was wiped from April’s head as he teased and prodded her body with his tongue. He refused to let up, even as April’s gasping and moaning poured out of her like a waterfall.
Liquid heat rushed through April’s body, spreading all the way through her fingers and toes.
“James, James, ah!” she cried out.
James groaned at the noises, pressing his tongue flat against April over and over until the coil buried deep in her gut snapped.
April was helpless to her climax. She moaned loudly as she shook and convulsed, and squeezed her thighs.
Too caught up in the throes of pleasure, April missed James wiping his mouth with a nearby towel and standing. He peppered kisses along her collarbones, and brought her back to reality. April’s legs were quivering with aftershocks and she giggled.
“Can you walk?” he asked. There was a charming mix of concern and playfulness in his voice.
James might have been the recluse of Aconitum, but he certainly had experience when it came to women. April clung to James like a lifeline, half hoping they would continue and half hoping her bones would melt away so she wouldn’t have to support herself any longer.
James chose a third option.
He ducked down for half a second, and scooped April into his arms. She had half a mind to protest, but when she was pressed against the warmth radiating from his chest, she snuggled closer as the last of the fight was taken out of her.
He set her down on the bed as if she were made of glass, and crawled onto the bed behind her. He curled himself against her back, tucked an arm under her head, and draped the other over her waist.
When April regained control of her breathing, she halfway turned to face James. She furrowed her brows at him.
“What about you?” she asked.
James shook his head. He carded his fingers through her hair, and gently tugged away the tie from her ponytail. He buried his face in her hair, breathing in her scent once more.
“You need your rest,” James argued.
His hand rubbed up and down April’s side, and she found that she couldn’t argue. She was exhausted, and James knew it. April turned back onto her side, and scooted backward until her body was flush against James. She knew she was sweaty, but James took it in stride.
He played with her hair, and the motions were soothing enough that she nearly fell asleep with her head pillowed on his arm. Sleep tugged at the edges of April’s mind, slowing her breathing and begging her to rest.
She ignored the feeling for a few more minutes. “Did you mean what you said?” she asked.
“You’re going to have to be more specific, sweetheart,” James murmured. He shifted against April’s body, tucking his knees against hers.
“When you said there was nobody else you could have,” April clarified. “I don’t quite understand all of this shifter stuff. In New York, shifters were a myth.”
“Much like they are in Aconitum,” James agreed. He sighed and adjusted himself once more, settling down when he could clearly feel April’s breathing. “Finding a mate means that something clicked,” he explained. “Something in me was meant for you, and something in you was meant for me. My wolf wanted you, and I wanted you, too.”
April let a sleepy smile claim her features. “It sounds a lot like soul-mates,” she whispered.
She felt James chuckle. “Very much like soul-mates,” he agreed.