Harper was doing her best to be sexy, but she wasn’t exactly sure she was succeeding. After leading him back to the bed, she rotated them so that he was lying down, and she climbed on top of him, being careful to avoid the bandaged wound on his abdomen. She sat astride him with her core pressing against the hard ridge of his cock, giving her a type of pleasure that she’d been missing for a long time.

Domino’s hands were cupping her breasts, and he had even managed to pinch her nipples between two fingers on each hand. Each time he pinched, her hips bucked and rolled, which made him groan, which turned her on even more. When he wrapped a hand around the back of her neck and pulled her down to him, a wave of anticipation flowed over her, which was only heightened when his other arm wrapped around her back as he kissed her senseless, and then before she knew what was happening, she was on her back and his beautiful body was looming over her, looking entirely too sexy for his own good.

He kissed a line down her neck to her nipples before lavishing each one in turn, and then he continued to her panties. She was almost embarrassed about them. They were the kind of panties she would normally save for an anniversary or something, but she hadn’t exactly been expecting the day to take this turn. When she felt his teeth take hold of one of the side straps and tug, her eyes popped open, and she glanced down the length of her body at him. He grinned up at her, the white lace firmly trapped between his teeth, as he slowly pulled it down her legs, exposing the apex of her thighs. Her breath hitched, and she couldn’t look as he kissed his way back up her legs, having freed her from her panties.

As his kisses moved closer and closer to her center, her breath became unsteady, turning from deep ragged gasps into shallow pants. Finally, after what felt like hours of anticipation, he kissed her where she most wanted him to touch her. The gasp that exploded out of her startled them both, and she noticed him looking up at her in concern. “Please, don’t stop, Nic,” she said breathlessly.

Those few words were all he needed, and his tongue came out, sliding up her pussy, tantalizing every part of her until he found her nub of pleasure. He swirled his tongue around it like a hurricane, which had her writhing on the bed, arching her back to try to give him better access. When he slowly thrust a finger into her, she cried out, feeling perilously close to the edge already. He brought his free hand up and began playing with her nipples, one after the other and back again. The sensation of an orgasm was quickly building within her. It had been too long since she’d been touched like this, and her body was starving for it. When Domino added a second finger to the thrusting and began alternating his thumb and tongue on her clit, she lost it. The soft and hard sensations, combined with the thrusting of his fingers, was all too much.

The orgasm exploded inside her, making her scream in pleasure. It was like being in the sea and wave after wave of pleasure buffeting against her, making her body buck and jerk as he continued to touch her, wringing out every last ounce of pleasure he could. When the orgasm ended, she was able to open her eyes once more, feeling like she was returning from an out-of-body experience. She’d never felt anything like it. Domino grinned at her from between her thighs. The sight in and of itself was enough to make her twitch with pleasure.

“Take your boxers off.” She rasped the words out, her throat sore from the screaming orgasm she’d just had. Harper was sure she’d alerted all her neighbors that she was having sex.

“Yes, ma’am.” He stood and offered her a small fancy salute before stripping the remaining material off.

He was stunning, a perfect specimen of masculinity, at least to her. She knew some women went for the bulging muscles, but she’d never been one of them. Domino was tall and strong and thick with muscle, the kind that made her feel safe and protected without feeling like the guy must spend hours at the gym every day and watch every little thing he eats.

She pushed up on her elbows and curled a finger at him in a come-hither motion. “Sex?” she asked as he watched her with a fire in his eyes. If there was one thing she needed to feel to make her reentry into the world of dating, or whatever it was she was doing with Domino, it was the feeling of his cock thrusting in and out of her already-satisfied pussy.

“Protection?”

“Nightstand,” she said, finding it amusing that they’d resorted to one-word sentences.

He paused when he opened the drawer and pulled out a condom with one hand and her purple vibrator with the other. A raised eyebrow and a grin was all she got in question.

“What? A girl has needs.”

“I’m happy to fulfill them to the best of my ability,” he practically growled at her while he tore open the foil package and rolled the latex onto his cock.

“I’m happy to let you, or at least let you try.” She winked at him at the last part, teasing him.

“Oh, sweet Lola, there’s no trying needed on my part. Now, you just sit back and enjoy the ride.” His grin made her insides melt as he crawled between her thighs once more.

His head dipped to the hard bullets of her nipples, and he kissed and licked them while his fingers from one hand gently caressed her folds, being careful to avoid her overly sensitized bud. She felt him parting her slick heat again and again, spreading her wetness all over her lower lips before the blunt head of his cock nudged at her entrance. He inched it in a little farther before withdrawing it and inching it in again, going further each time until finally, he thrust in completely, earning a moan from her.

“Fuck,” he hissed as his hips pressed against her own. “Damn it, Lola, you’re so tight. I don’t know how long I can last.”

“Well, if you’re good, I’ll let you fuck me again later, so don’t worry about how long you last, but how good you make it.” She groaned the words as he began to move inside her.

“You’ll beg me to fuck you again, and I’ll happily oblige.” He murmured the words into her ear as he bit down on her neck to the point of pain before easing off.

Then he began to move, rocking in and out of her, his hips smacking against her own as his balls hit her ass. The feeling was amazing; it was everything she’d been wanting from him and more. When he reached behind her and grabbed her ankles, she was surprised, even more so when he pulled her legs up in front of him, lifting her butt off the bed. He put both feet over one shoulder and then thrust into her again. She almost screamed for him again. He felt huge, and she was feeling something she’d never felt before. The sensation began to build, and as his groans and huffing noises became more frequent, so did the urgency of the sensation.

“Oh, God, Nic, don’t stop!” she called out to him as he kept up the brutal pace.

He sped up at her words and moved one leg to the side so his thumb could reach her clit. As he circled it, the sensations competed with one another, and Harper felt like she was about to be pulled apart. His thumb caressed her once, twice, three times more before everything completely overwhelmed her. She heard herself scream his name, his real name, as her body clenched and released with a pleasure she’d thought was a myth, or only bestowed on hypersexual women. Everything in her hummed with satisfaction as he continued thrusting away, bringing on wave after wave of her pleasure. His thrusts became even faster and his movements jerky, and then he exploded inside her. He called her name almost like a prayer, if in that prayer he was saying fuck a lot, as she felt his cock pulse inside her.

They were both gasping for breath and covered in a sheen of sweat by the time he was done.

He rolled off her and went into the bathroom to clean up while she just lay there, a puddle of goo. She couldn’t move even if she wanted to. All her muscles felt like jelly, and all she wanted was to go to sleep. A buzzing noise prevented that from happening, though. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Pause. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

“Nic, your phone’s ringing!” she called out to him. Her brain was so addled from sex that she honestly hadn’t realized what it was at first.

He was out of the bathroom and in front of her in a few strides before realizing his pants were by the sofa. Once he was done rifling through the pockets, he held his sleek, fancy black phone that looked brand new in his hand. He pressed it to his ear briefly, and Harper could hear a woman’s voice. Shit. Did he just use her to cheat on someone?

“You okay if I make a call?” he asked, concern pinching his eyebrows.

“You’re not in a relationship, are you? I should’ve asked, but you didn’t seem like the type—”

“Not a relationship. My alpha. She’s probably not all that happy with me right now, so could you do me a huge favor, Lola, and stay quiet?”

She nodded, and added, “I don’t have the energy for much else, anyway.”

He grinned at that, and she smiled back, but in the back of her head, she prepared to listen in to the conversation like a hawk. For once, she was glad her apartment was so tiny. There was nowhere to have a private phone call unless he left, and if he did that, well, then she’d never see him again, because clearly the man would have something he was trying to hide.

“Alpha, I apologize for missing your call,” he said as soon as a woman answered the phone. Harper wasn’t sure who this alpha lady was, but she was going to find out as soon as he ended the call. “Daisy got away from her new owner and I have been helping her search, which is when we ran into the mage. Harper patched me up, but I thought you would want to know where he was and what clan I believe he’s from.”

Harper could hear the woman thanking him for letting her know and saying that she was going to pay a house call to the mage.

“He is powerful. It only took two attempts to force my shift. Please take others with you for backup.”

She was offended by this. Did he think she was incompetent? Or that she couldn’t handle herself? Harper could hear all the quiet rage behind those two questions that spoke of a woman being second-guessed because she had a man’s job.

“Of course not. I didn’t mean to offend you. I just want you to be safe, that’s all. Listen, when are you going to visit him?”

As soon as she could.

“We are going to head out now that the rain has stopped and search around the perimeter of his home for Daisy’s scent. If we don’t find an exit point, could you ask him if he would allow us to look in the back of his property for Daisy?”

Of course she would. He would need to let her know soon, though. Oh, and Imogen would be coming with her, so they could help after the meeting with the search.

“Thank you, Valentina. I’m sure it will mean a lot to Harper.”

Was he still with the human?

“Yes,” he said simply, with no explanation that could lead to more questions.

There was a pause on the other end of the phone before the woman advised him that she would like to meet the human and speak with her about the pack and what she saw today. Harper’s heart thumped in her chest. Clearly, this woman was powerful, and she honestly wasn’t sure if she wanted to meet her or not. Did she get a choice? Probably not.

While Domino wrapped up the call, she ignored the rest, satisfied that he wasn’t cheating on the woman on the phone, Valentina, with her. Cheating was something she absolutely could not stand. After he hung up, he came back over to her and climbed onto the bed, wrapping her legs around him so his hips were pressed against hers once again, but this time, it was just for the pleasure of touch. There was nothing sexual driving it.

“Everything okay?” she asked.

“Yep, my alpha wants to meet you and will help us look for Daisy.”

“You guys are much more invested in the animals you rescue than I thought you would be,” she said, trying to ignore the fact that the alpha wanted to meet her.

“We like to protect those who can’t protect themselves. Humans and animals alike. It’s why our pack is the way it is.”

“And what way is that?”

He rolled to the side and laced his fingers between hers while pulling her close to him so they were practically snuggling. She’d forgotten how comforting just lying with someone could be. A rough, mangled piece of her heart was soothed by the intimate contact that had no strings attached. He was touching her because he wanted to, not because he was trying to get in her pants. He already had been, and she hoped he would be again.

He took a deep breath, and said, “In the shifter world, most people stay with their animals. Wolves, cats, and bears all stick together but separate from one another. That’s the norm. We aren’t normal. A, we have an alpha who is a woman, and B, we are a multitude of animals, everything from bear”—he gestured to himself—“to jaguar to wolf to who knows what else. Some of our members have never shifted in front of the whole pack, just the alpha, Valentina, and that’s okay. She trusts them, her animal trusts them, and that passes through the pack bonds to us and our animals, so we trust them. And C, we take in strays.”

When he didn’t elaborate further, she poked him in the ribs and raised an eyebrow.

“Like me, for example. Bears are usually solitary creatures in the wild, and occasionally shifters will form packs, but not very often. I stumbled into Valentina’s territory, and she made me an offer, so I joined the pack. Another example is a woman who Imogen just rescued from somewhere. I still haven’t gotten the whole story on that, but she’s under our care and protection now until she no longer wants it. We all came together as strays. Some of us are animals who don’t naturally form packs; others were in a pack and were either abused or unappreciated or ridiculed, so they left. We all have our own stories, and no one in our pack judges. We just look out for one another.”

“Sounds like a nice family you guys are building.”

“It’s pretty damn good, if I do say so myself. Now, come on, you sex goddess. We need to get up and dressed so we can search the property line before Valentina gets there, or did you not hear that part?” He winked at her, letting her know that he’d known she was listening the whole time.

She poked her tongue out at him before asking, “What’s this about me being a sex goddess?”

“You’re telling me that wasn’t the best sex of your life? Because it sure as hell was for me, and the sounds you were making.” He whistled low. “Damn, Lola, you almost had me losing it with that.”

Harper paused and looked at him as she pushed up on all fours, ready to climb out of bed. Before she could say anything, he leaned forward and whispered in her ear, “I’ll have you like that later, sweetness.”

She blushed furiously.

“Come on now, you didn’t think that was a one-and-done thing, did you?” His tone was joking, but there was something in the back of his eyes that spoke of hesitation, like if she said yes, she had just wanted a one-night stand, he would be disappointed.

“God, I hope not.” She smiled back at him, feeling brave. “And as for this”—she gestured to her being on all fours—“You can have me any way you want me, so long as it feels good.”

His eyes went dark and hooded at her statement. “Oh, Lola, I’ll make you feel damn good. Just you wait.” He licked his lower lip and bit it gently as his eyes traveled over her naked body. Her nipples stiffened, and blood rushed south as her body prepared for what it thought was going to be round two. “Patience, sweetness. We’ll have as many rounds as you want later. Hell, I might not let you out of this bed for a week once we find Daisy.”

She sighed. That grin of his was positively wicked, and how did he seem to know exactly what she was thinking? They both clambered out of bed and dressed, each touching each other in small ways as they prepared to head back out. Part of her felt bad that he had to put on wet clothing when she could change into something dry, but he seemed to run hot, so she doubted it really bothered him.

Just as they were about to leave, he pulled her to him, tilting her head up to his with a knuckle under her chin. “This wasn’t a one-time thing. I intend to pursue you, if you’ll let me.”

She gulped and nodded. Her voice was barely above a whisper as she said, “Pursue away. I’m not going anywhere.”

Domino leaned down then and kissed her. This time, it wasn’t urgent or overflowing with passion. It was tender, loving. His lips moved against her own as though he were sharing the most intimate of secrets with her. She melted into him and knew she was lost. Any man who could be that tender and love her so thoroughly was worth investigating.