He put his hand over his chest. “I promise I won’t hold you up too much.”
“When I agreed to the drink I thought we’d have it down here, not in your room.”
“I promise I’m not some deranged stalker or anything. I just want to get to know you better. Somewhere where there will be no interruptions.”
Jorja appeared to think it over as she chewed on her bottom lip. “I’ll go on one condition—I tell someone I work with your name and suite number. J-Just in case.”
The last bit had come out with a blush. Kian understood where Jorja was coming from. She didn’t exactly know him well enough to be accepting an invitation up to his room.
“Agreed,” he said. “You go tell whoever you want while I wait here for you.”
Jorja nodded and went farther down the bar to speak with the bartender. Kian watched the exchange and saw the man nod. His would-be mate returned after that.
“It’s done,” she said. “I-I just have to phone down to the bar and let him know what your suite number is.”
“Then it looks as if we’re all set.”
Kian grabbed the wine bottle around the neck and picked it up before he slipped off the barstool. The room spun a bit for a few seconds, but he quickly got a handle on walking straight as he took hold of Jorja’s hand with his free one.
They silently walked through the casino to the bank of elevators that would take them up to his Parlor suite room. A single, quiet ding announced the arrival of a car, and Jorja and he stepped inside. The doors closed with them being the only ones in the elevator.
Kian pushed the button for the correct floor, then stepped back to Jorja’s side. Her scent wafted around him inside the small space. Now that he was around her, in close quarters, his mating urge rode him harder, digging its claws into him. His cock hardened. He leaned closer until their shoulders touched and he took a deep breath. He smelled the scent that was hers alone, but mixed into it was the scent of Jorja’s arousal. It wasn’t strong, but it was definitely there.
He had to close his eyes for a second to rein himself back under control. The pounding need that thrummed through his body demanded he take her, claim her as his. Kian couldn’t let things get out of hand. With Jorja being his mate, he couldn’t just sleep with her and be able to walk away if he wanted to. The first time mates made love their souls joined, became one, forming a mating bond. Once it was in place, one couldn’t be away from the other for any real length of time without suffering. Each would think something had happened to the other. The need to be together would override almost everything else. And when the separated couple reunited, explosive sex happened soon after, reaffirming the mating bond.
The elevator dinged again once it reached their stop. Kian guided Jorja off the car and down the long hallway to his room. In front of the door, he let go of her hand and fished the keycard out of his jeans pocket. He fumbled it once before he managed to get it into the slot on the door correctly and unlocked it.
He shifted to the side to allow Jorja to step into the room first. After she used the phone to call down to the bar with his suite number, she put her coat and purse on the couch and crossed to stand in front of the back wall, which was completely filled with a row of windows.
“Even though I live here in Niagara Falls, I can never get enough of watching the Falls, especially when they are lit up at night,” she said.
Kian joined her at the windows. His room gave a spectacular view of the Horseshoe Falls. The tumbling water had been lit with blues and reds. “Yeah, it is pretty awe-inspiring. But I prefer the view inside the room.”
Jorja turned her head to look at him. Her cheeks were stained red. “I…I have to agree with you on that.”
Seeing and hearing her nervousness return, Kian decided to distract her with the wine. He lifted it higher for Jorja to see. “I had the bartender open this, so I just need to pull out the cork. I forgot to ask for a couple of wineglasses. Hopefully you won’t mind using the small tumblers from the hotel room.”
She smiled. “As long as I don’t have to drink it out of the bottle, I’m good.”
He put the wine bottle on the small table in the conversation area, then went to the bathroom to collect the tumblers. Shortly after that, he had the wine poured and sat on the couch with Jorja.
“I hope you like red wine,” he said.
Jorja nodded, then took a sip from her glass. “It’s good.”
Kian took a big gulp of his, even though it would only go straight to his head. In his present condition, his wolf had more of an influence over him than he normally allowed while in human form. And right now, his wolf wanted Jorja. Add the mating urge into the mix, and Kian felt his control slip as each second went by.
He waited until she’d had a few more sips from her glass before he took it from her and placed it on the table with his. Kian inched closer and reached out to stroke a finger along her soft cheek. Her lips parted and the tip of her tongue came out to wet her bottom lip. His gaze became glued to her lush mouth. It was too much. He had to have another taste of her.
Kian shifted his hand to cup her cheek and brought his mouth down onto Jorja’s. A wolf’s growl of satisfaction punched out of him before he could stop it. She stiffened at the sound, but soon pressed herself closer when he deepened the kiss, pushing his tongue between her lips.
The taste of her cranked his arousal and need for this woman up another notch. His head, already swimming from the alcohol he’d consumed, swam even more. And more of his wolf instincts took over. He wrapped his other arm around her waist and pulled her chest tightly to his. Knowing his eyes had to be mutedly glowing at this point—something they did whenever he was very aroused or angry—Kian closed them.
The kiss became more carnal, their tongues dueling with each other. The sound of Jorja’s rapidly beating heart and harsh breathing filled his ears. He ran his hand down her cheek to stroke the side of her neck to her shoulder. He skimmed across the front of her violet, silky blouse until he reached her full breast. She moaned into his mouth as he stroked the taut nipple with his thumb.
Needing to touch more of her, Kian lifted Jorja and seated her sideways across his lap. His aching cock pressed against her ass. Still kissing her, he ran a hand down from her knee to her foot. He made quick work of pulling off the black pumps she wore.
That done, he stroked back up her leg. Since she didn’t wear any pantyhose, there was nothing between her skin and his hand. Higher he caressed until he reached her knee once again.
Kian broke away from her mouth and dropped his head to nuzzle the hollow of Jorja’s throat. “Will you let me touch you?” he asked.
Her reply was a breathy, “Yes.”
He licked a path to her upper chest and nudged the vee of her blouse open wider with his nose as his hand continued its upward exploration. Reaching the hem of her skirt, Kian ran his fingers along her inner thigh, diving under it. Her skin felt like silk beneath his fingertips. He wanted to take the same path with his lips and tongue.
Encountering the edge of her panties, Kian brushed his hand against her pussy. The material felt damp. A small, whimpered moan escaped Jorja as he stroked her there, causing her to become even wetter.
His wolf howled in his mind, a mournful cry for his mate. With Jorja so willing in his arms, Kian surrendered to his animal side. All the reasons why he shouldn’t claim her right then and there no longer meant anything. The only thing that mattered was having her, making her his, so no other could take her from him.
In a show of strength, he gathered her close in his arms and stood. Jorja rested her head on his shoulder as he carried her to the king-sized bed. He placed her on the center of the mattress and crawled up to straddle her thighs. Keeping his gaze averted, he went to work unbuttoning her blouse. Her chest rapidly rose and fell with her breaths.