Through the grime that coated Evershaw like armor, the witch’s skin on his burned. Jokes and innuendo went out the window — when it was just the two of them, there was only instinct. Primal, base, powerful instinct that led to action. Evershaw lowered his head to take her nipple in his mouth, but Deirdre struck his head, blocking his move, and frowned. “You’re all dirty, you barbarian. Shower first. Nookie later.”

“Nookie?” It was Evershaw’s turn to arch an eyebrow. “Did you just say ‘nookie?’”

“Yep,” said the witch. “You got a problem with that?”

“Maybe,” he replied, voice husky and silky smooth. “You expect me to not behave like a barbarian when you’re in my presence, looking like that?”

“Looking like what?” She bent over the tub and turned the faucet, all the while giving him a sinful view of her tight and altogether too spankable ass. Water started flowing, filling the tub too slowly for Evershaw’s plans. He smacked her ass. The cracking noise reverberated in the room, and Deirdre shot up, startled. “Hey!”

Evershaw chuckled but — not one to waste an opportunity when one presented itself — moved behind her and pressed his hard cock along the crack of her ass. The witch shivered, goosebumps spreading across her back. He wrapped his arms around her and cupped her breasts. She sighed, the faintest hint of a moan, and it took everything he had to resist bending her over again and taking her then and there, his grimy skin be damned.

“I want you,” he whispered, breath hot in her ear, and the witch trembled again. “You have no idea what you do to me.”

She snaked her hand back and gripped the base of his cock tight. “I have a pretty good idea.”

The witch turned and looked deep into his eyes, promising things that were too fleeting and nuanced for words. Evershaw licked his lips, staring at her mouth and wondering whether he could convince her to lick him back, then gave up the wondering in order to take what he wanted first – her. He went to his knees and leaned closer, breathing against her slit in a promise of things to come. Deirdre wobbled a little as he kissed the warm swell of her mouth, and she held onto his head as his tongue slid between her lips.

She started to protest, murmuring something about waiting, but he ignored her and instead flicked his tongue against her clit. She spread her legs, despite the objections, and her knees trembled as she held onto him and moaned. He covered her pussy with his mouth, using the pressure of his teeth against her clit to tease her while his tongue pressed into her channel.

She panted and her hips moved, trying to grind against his mouth, and Evershaw retreated until she moaned a complaint. Deirdre groaned and dug her fingers into his scalp. “Oh my God, I hate you.”

“Nah,” he said, and looked up the length of her body to watch as he licked, light as a feather, her folds and circled back to her clit under her hips jerked. He moved carefully to hook her leg over his shoulder, helping her balance, and let her brace against the wall. “You love me and you know it.”

The look she gave him once again said more than he knew how to put in words. The air around them thickened and the surroundings faded away until only the two of them existed. Evershaw got in the zone, teasing and licking and sucking her until Deirdre panted and moved against him. He retreated just as her breathing hitched and he knew she was close, and dragged his teeth across the inside of her thigh. “Tell me, Deirdre.”

Her fingers tightened against his hair and she whispered, “I love you. And don’t you dare stop.”

He chuckled and breathed against her, teasing her opening with his fingers until she moved her thighs farther apart and sighed and rocked her hips. Everything about her did him in: her moans, the way her legs spasmed as he nibbled on her clit, her scent, the soft pressure of her hands against his head…

She seized up and cried out, her fingers turning into claws, and he held onto her hips to keep her stable as she jerked and her knees started to give. Deirdre held on for dear life as he just sat back and admired her, still teasing her clit with his tongue, until she trembled and whispered, “Wait. Wait.”

He retreated but didn’t go far, and stroked himself slowly as he watched the flush retreat from her face. She was so beautiful he didn’t know how he’d gotten so lucky that she was his. When Deirdre wobbled again, he helped her sit on the edge of the tub, still holding her shoulders to keep her steady. He wanted to preen at the fact that he’d made her legs fail. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Evershaw meant to grumble something about washing up or dragging her into the shower, regardless of whether the bathtub also called with all kinds of possibilities, but Deirdre’s hand found his cock and he stilled. She stroked him with just the right amount of pressure as he stood in front of her, and braced her other hand on his thigh. Evershaw groaned and threaded his fingers into her hair, glad she at least had a ponytail that time. “Just like that, babe.”

She eyed him but kept up the stroking, leaning down to lick the head of his cock in a brief, tantalizing touch. Evershaw eased her head closer, encouraging her to take more, but the witch retreated again and gave him a dark look. He scowled and bent to kiss her forehead, working his fingers against her scalp. “Don’t be a tease, witch.”

“Then don’t interrupt me,” she muttered, and flicked water from the bathtub in his face.

He wanted to just push her into the water, but with her hand still on his cock, he didn’t think that was the best idea. He’d already seen what happened when she was surprised.

So he took his time picking her up and dipping her into the water, sending little waves to break against the edges of the tub. He plopped in after her and water sloshed over the sides. Deirdre slipped and nearly dunked herself, coming up spluttering, and whipped her wet hair out of her face. “What the hell?”

“I can’t wait,” he said. “And besides, you wanted me clean, right?”

Her eyes narrowed and flashed, but her lips twitched and he knew she found him charming instead of irritating. She just wouldn’t admit it. So he picked up a sponge or something she called a loofah and dumped a bunch of fancy ass body wash gunk on it, smelling like rosemary and mint, and dragged her to sit between his legs so he could soap her up.

Deirdre murmured in appreciation as she sat on his thighs and his cock periodically pressed against her slit, and they were both quiet as he ran the loofah over her breasts. She scooped up the suds and started to run her hands over his chest and shoulders, and his cock jumped in response. He wanted to plunge into her, to drag her to him again, but soaping her up and watching his hands glide along her sides was too damn fun.

She got all breathless as he kept it up. “I think I’m clean, Miles.”

“Pretty sure there still something…” and he went back to circling her breasts, thumbs brushing her nipples.

Deirdre laughed and managed to pull the loofah away from him so she could turn it on his grimy skin, scrubbing with a great deal of vigor as Miles kept teasing her tits and then squeezing her ass. She felt all wiggly and slippery in his arms; he held her tighter even as she started to slide out of his grip, and pressed her down against his cock until the tip breached her channel.

She gasped and her head tilted back, the loofah forgotten, and Miles took the opportunity to seal his mouth to her throat. He wanted to cover her in hickies so no one would doubt she was claimed. He growled against her skin, the clean scent of her and rosemary tangling in his brain, and a sudden rush of emotion caught him by surprise.

Grooming and cleaning were important to wolves. Sitting in the tub with her, even with his cock buried deep inside her, and making sure she was clean and smelled good were a greater intimacy than any wild and sweaty sex they could have. Especially compared to all the dirty whispers they’d exchanged elsewhere, the simple ritual of a bath represented, to him, an act of the utmost intimacy. It was the last wall around his heart, falling down because of Deirdre. She’d dragged him out of the cold fortress of grief and asshole-ishness and into a place where he was giving his woman a bath and would have enjoyed it even if she wasn’t wiggling and whining for his cock.

She murmured, “You missed a spot,” and dabbed at his nose with a soapy hand. Her hand lingered, and she stroked down to his lip and then chin. “All done.”

He twined her fingers through his own and shifted how he sat in the tub so there was room for her knees on either side of his hips. “We’re just getting started.”

“You’re going to make a complete mess of the bathroom,” she said, looking dubiously over the side of the tub at where a small lake grew on the tile. “Are you going to clean that up?”

He started laughing, shaking her since he couldn’t let her go, and pressed his face against her throat. “That’s what pack is for. They’ll clean it up. Alphas don’t clean.”

“Oh, for God’s sake,” she said. She took his face in her hands and gave him her fiercest look. “Miles, we talked about this –”

“We are not going to argue about who mops the fucking floor when I want to fuck you senseless,” he said as patiently as he could manage. “Especially when you’re already on my cock.”

Her whole face reddened, particularly when he bounced her on his thighs to remind her how deeply he was seated inside her. Deirdre still tried to sound all prim and proper and drove the wolf out of his fucking mind. “I can’t condone this behavior –”

He grunted and abruptly stood her up, got to his feet, and carried her into the bedroom as fast as he could, both of them shedding water everywhere. “You’re killing me, witch.”

She muttered something but he couldn’t hear – and probably didn’t want to hear, from his experience. He tossed her onto the bed and stood over her, surveying the slick pink skin and the smoldering gaze she turned on him. Evershaw started forward to jump on top of her and bury himself in her once more, but Deirdre scooted away and rolled off the bed.

He tensed, sensing a chase, and the wolf tore at his control. Evershaw let a hint of warning creep into his voice. “Don’t run, babe, or I won’t be able to hold back.”

“I know,” she said. She didn’t bolt, like he feared, but instead retrieved something from the drawer in her nightstand.

His interest immediately piqued, since he knew that particular drawer held some fun toys and all kinds of excitement. He’d stocked it for her, of course, after he discovered only one vibrator, and Deirdre just about laughed herself stupid the first time she opened it and found it stuffed full of vibrators, dildos, ass trainers, handcuffs, lube, rope, and everything else he could imagine using to pleasure her.

Evershaw’s cock throbbed as she dangled the handcuffs from a finger and swayed her hips as she approached the bed. He growled and knelt on the bed, ready to leap at her. “Get over here before I have to spank you.”

Her dark eyebrow arched. “I want to take you, baby.”

He groaned and reached for her. “Just as soon as I –”

“No,” she said, then tiled her head at the headboard. “I want to take you,” and she snapped one of the cuffs around his wrist.

Evershaw froze as he finally got her meaning, and the wolf didn’t know how to feel. He cleared his throat and managed to drag her closer so he could kiss her. Part of him really, really liked the idea of her taking control and riding him, but the part of him that was a fucking alpha didn’t like being on his back with her over him. Even if he trusted her… there were some things an alpha didn’t do. “Babe, we’ll have so much fun if you –”

“Miles,” she whispered, and his heart cracked. God, he was a fool for the woman. Just the way she said his name sent shivers through him. And Deirdre bit her lower lip until his brain short-circuited. “Make yourself vulnerable to me.”

He grumbled and started to shake his head. “Taming the wolf just doesn’t happen, witch. Anything else, and –”

But the way she looked at him… He warred with himself over it; he wanted to give her anything and everything she wanted, but giving her that kind of power over him… He rejected the idea even as part of him knew he owed it to her. He’d asked a hell of a lot from her, and maybe hadn’t offered much in return.

When she saw him wavering, Deirdre’s fingers drifted down her chest and over her breasts, then down her stomach to linger at the top of her slit. “I’ll make it work your while.”

He growled in anticipation. He didn’t allow his women to run the show. He was a giver, that was for goddamn certain, but it was all under his strict control. But gradually, Deirdre had started revealing hidden parts of his soul that had been there all along, unbeknownst to him.

He finally lay back on the bed and tried not to melt at the way she grinned and almost bounced on the mattress as she leaned to secure his hands and the cuffs to the headboard. Of course, with her stretched out over him, he managed to capture one of those perfect tits in his mouth. Deirdre lingered for a long moment, then pulled back so she could shake a finger in his face. “None of that. You’ll do as you’re told, wolf.”

Evershaw liked her more confident, a little demanding. He settled back to see where things went; from the look on her face, he was going to pay for something he’d done.