Twenty
Water dripped from Rylee’s hand onto the gleaming tile floor, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. Niko had reached up, taken her hair down, and now stood in front of her, his skillful fingers doing things to her scalp that she swore should be reserved for the bedroom. Her eyes rolled back. “That feels so good.” Any better, and she might start to drool. How sexy.
“I can make you feel better,” he promised as he brought his magic hands to her shoulders.
“Is that right?” she asked, her voice sounding a little raspy and a whole lot needy.
“I think so.” He leaned in closer and licked the corner of her mouth before pulling back.
“And how would you do that?”
With his hands on her hips, he pulled her forward, taking her with him toward the glass-enclosed shower. He reached inside and turned the faucet. Before long, steam billowed around them. “First, I’d remove my clothes,” he said as he pulled his T-shirt up and off, exposing the hard chest she loved to run her hands—and tongue—all over. Next came the jeans. When he pulled them past his hips, he took his boxers along with them. Those, along with his socks, joined his T-shirt on the floor.
He reached into the shower again and adjusted the temperature. Her mouth watered at the sight of all that muscle twisting and reaching. There wasn’t a single part of him that wasn’t hard.
When he turned again, he caught her ogling and grinned. “Then, I’d take all your clothes off.” He quirked an eyebrow as though asking permission to proceed and she almost laughed. Like she’d ever say no.
He reached for her then, stroking his hands from her shoulders to her wrists and up again, then down her chest and over her breasts, making her nipples pucker into tight nubs before moving to the hem of the T-shirt she’d borrowed.
For a second, from the way he’d grabbed the material, she thought he’d tear it in half. She brought her hands down to cover his. “Don’t. I love this shirt.”
“I’ll buy you twenty more,” he promised, then when she gasped and tried to pull away, he loosened his hold.
She didn’t want twenty more. She needed this one. His scent permeated the fabric. It didn’t make sense, but she could almost feel his warmth against her bare skin anywhere the material made contact. “But the new ones wouldn’t smell like you,” she protested. Was that even her voice? She couldn’t remember ever sounding so breathless.
He pursed his lips. “It does look good on you.”
“It’ll be even better off,” she said before whipping it over her head and tossing it to the growing pile.
The half-grunt, half-moan he emitted urged her forward. The lust in his eyes warmed her skin as he took her in. His tongue darted out to wet his lips. He trailed a lone fingertip from her collarbone to her breast, leaving a path of fiery heat on her skin and her puckered nipple begging for more.
“Now the jeans,” he commanded as he dropped his hand to fist his cock and slowly stroke it from root to tip.
She sucked in a sharp gasp. The pulse between her thighs pounded harder.
She reached for him then, her fingertips memorizing the hard planes of his chest and the dips and valleys she was desperate to get close to. She scraped a fingernail over each of his nipples, then smiled when he moaned at the rougher touch.
He allowed her exploration for a few seconds more before he stepped back. “Your jeans.”
Two words. Not even sexy ones, yet her clit throbbed and her need grew. She popped the snap, and just as quickly, lowered the zipper. Niko’s hungry gaze followed her fingers. All the while, his hand slid up and down his length from the base to the glistening tip.
She tugged her jeans down a couple of inches, taking her panties with them. His pupils dilated, and his mouth gaped open. Rather than pulling them the rest of the way to her ankles, she rested her hand on her lower belly, then stroked lower.
Niko’s cock jerked in his hand. His lids drooped over his eyes, and a soft growl rumbled from his throat.
The first swipe of her fingers over her clit had pleasure zinging from that tiny point through the rest of her body. She wasn’t going to get herself off—not even close—but seeing the desperate need in his eyes as she caressed her flesh was worth waiting for more.
She drew a ragged breath as his fist crested his shaft then closed over the head. He squeezed it, then with a moan, released his cock.
“Don’t stop,” he ordered.
Niko fell to his knees before her and brought his hands up to her hips, tugging her forward. His chest expanded with his deep breath, and he moaned again. A couple more inches… That’s all it would take for his face to be buried between her folds, and her battle against having an orgasm so soon would be lost. His hot exhale teased at her flesh, but she refused to close the distance between his mouth and her body. The pleasure, when he decided to give it to her, would be all that much sweeter for having waited for it.
Rylee was aware—vaguely—of her jeans coming off and Niko’s work-roughened hands smoothing over her now naked legs, up her thighs, and around to cup her ass.
“Stop,” he said, his voice no more than a husky whisper.
***
The second Niko issued his command, Rylee’s hand retreated to her belly where she traced small circles over the soft flesh. Was she even aware of the sighs she was making that filled the room and drove him—and his wolf—wild? Her breasts heaved with every breath she took, and it was all he could do to keep from backing her up against the sink and pounding into her right then and there.
But this wasn’t about him. Making love to her was about soothing her and making her forget about the horrors she’d seen—the brutality she’d been exposed to. And from the hungry look in her eyes as she watched him stroke his cock, the only thing in her mind right then was him.
Unable to resist, he dug his fingers into the flesh of her ass and tugged her closer. Even though she’d showered earlier, he could make out his scent on her body, intensifying his pleasure. Once they were mated, it would be stronger—permanent—but until then, he’d satisfy himself with marking her every chance he got.
“Please,” she begged as her hips shifted a fraction closer.
His nose ruffled the soft hair at the top of her slit. He traveled his gaze up her body, over her belly and breasts to catch her in his stare just before he slicked his tongue over her swollen flesh.
She threaded her fingers through his hair, holding him, yet not directing. It was as though she needed him to anchor her. With a rumbling moan that was more wolf than human, he dove in again. Rylee’s eyes fluttered closed. She threw her head back, her soft hair cascading down her back to tickle his hands. A small whimper followed her gasp as she tightened their hold. Her legs shook, but he wouldn’t let her fall. He had her. No matter what, he’d always catch her. In time, she’d realize it and even come to believe it.
He pressed the flat of his tongue over her clit before circling around it. Tension hardened the muscles of her thighs and ass with each delicious rotation. More of her intoxicating flavor coated his tongue until he wasn’t sure if the pleasure was more his or hers. It didn’t matter. Her moans filled the bathroom, her nails dug into his scalp, and her body quaked against him.
He brought her as close to the edge as he dared before locking his lips around the little bundle of nerves and sucking on the swollen bud.
Her high-pitched wail drove him to draw harder on her flesh, flicking the tip of his tongue over the quivering nub, sending her soaring. Only when she sagged against him, and her fingers loosened in his hair, did he release her and stand, sliding his body along the length of hers to capture her mouth.