“No. I mean you went skinny dipping. The shifting came after I found you. And, to answer your first question, this is my house. I brought you back here after I took Laurie home.”
Oh dear God. Now that he mentioned it, snippets of memories from the previous night were coming back to her. She groaned and dropped her head into the hand not holding up the sheet. She heard him moving down the stairs toward her but couldn’t bring herself to look until she felt him touch her.
He gently swept a lock of hair behind her ear and she looked up to find him staring at her tenderly. “Don’t worry, I’m pretty sure I was the only one who saw you.” He grinned down at her with a devilish look on his face. “And I didn’t see anything I won’t see–” His hand came up and rubbed her arm. “touch–” He lowered his head and rubbed his lips at the spot where her neck met her shoulder. “and taste, eventually.”
As he continued to nuzzle her neck, she felt herself melting into his embrace. He nipped his teeth lightly, causing her to moan before gently licking the ache away. Samantha fisted her hand in his hair and tried to pull him closer.
“Mmm, you taste delicious. I could eat you for breakfast.” He nibbled a trail up the side of her neck until his breath fell against her ear. “But I’m guessing you’re going to need some real food to soak up all that alcohol. Why don’t you go upstairs and take a shower, and I’ll whip us up some pancakes.”
Groaning, Samantha tried to pull him closer, her body denying his plan to leave. Chuckling softly, he gently pushed her away.
“No, no, little heart. We can continue this later tonight.” Jason leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on her nose. Samantha looked up at him and could do nothing but nod.
Chapter 8
Samantha stared at the menu in awe. Surely Jason couldn’t mean for them to eat here. Everything listed cost a fortune!
“The pasta is great.” Jason smiled at Samantha from behind his menu. “Although Carmella’s doesn’t have much on their menu that isn’t great.” Smiling faintly, Samantha glanced back at the menu. “Anything strike your fancy yet?” Jason asked.
“Uh…” Geez, even the salads were almost twenty dollars! She’d never been to a restaurant like this before. She looked down at her simple dress, one of the few she owned, and felt completely out of place. Samantha sighed and returned her attention to the menu. It looked like she was having salad tonight. She glanced back at Jason to see him looking at her peculiarly. Uh-oh, did she say that out loud?
“Samantha, don’t worry about the price. You can have a salad or a steak if you want. It’s my treat.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful, it’s just…” Samantha trailed off as she realized Jason was looking at her with an almost angry gleam in his eyes.
“Samantha, I’m serious. I want you to get whatever you want. I wouldn’t have brought you here if I didn’t want to. Besides, tonight is a special night and I wanted to celebrate.”
“Oh? What are we celebrating?”
“You’re coming back to my place tonight, right?” His smile turned wolfish, and his eyes positively gleamed in the candlelight. Blushing lightly, she jerkily nodded once. After this morning, there was no question what tonight held for either of them.
“Well then, we’re celebrating us and our first night together. The first of many, I hope.”
The waitress chose that moment to come over. Jason ordered a glass of red wine and looked questioningly at her. Samantha thought briefly about drinking water after the events of the night before, but she decided she might need the liquid courage since they were going to go back to his place. She wanted this with all her heart, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t nervous. She was terrified she’d do something wrong and things would end before they began.
“I’ll have a glass of the pinot noir please.” The waitress seemed to snarl at Samantha before disappearing. What the hell? Samantha puzzled over it for a minute before shrugging it off. Surely she had imagined it. She’d been in this town less than a week and didn’t think she’d done anything to anger the pack.
When the waitress came back with their drinks a few moments later, she smiled brightly at Jason. Samantha brushed off her earlier unease and continued to enjoy herself. Jason possessed a dry humor that had her laughing throughout dinner. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed so hard or so much.
At one point during the meal, he’d grabbed her hand on the table and rubbed his thumb over the top. Her skin sizzled where he touched her, and desire pooled in her belly. Jason sent her one of his dazzling smiles, and she was completely lost.
“Are you ready to get going?” Jason asked. Staring into his eyes, Samantha took a deep breath and nodded.
Samantha was quiet on the ride back to his place, but whenever Jason glanced at her, she would smile and her eyes would shine up at him. All the signs silently told him she was excited about the night ahead. Jason took a deep breath as he led the way into his house.
He enjoyed the way her eyes lit with surprise every time he held the door open for her. “Would you like a glass of wine?” he asked over his shoulder as he hung up their coats in the closet. He turned around only to pull up short. Samantha stood right in front of him, close enough he had to look down into her eyes. He was surprised at how quietly she had snuck up behind him.
“Maybe later. Right now I have something else in mind.” Samantha stepped into him, running her hands up his chest and behind his neck.
Jason placed his hands on her hips, his blood heating at the look in her eyes. Her scent wafted up and pulled him to her. “Oh? And what might you have in mind, little heart?”
“You called me that earlier today, too.”
“You don’t like it?”
“I like it very much. Jason?”
“Yes, little heart?”
“Kiss me.”
“If you insist,” Jason murmured, lowering his head to capture her lips. He pulled her closer as his lips gently rubbed hers. Nudging her backward, he led them toward the stairs.
Samantha’s feet hit the edge and she almost fell backward, but Jason caught her and picked her up easily. She giggled against his lips as he swung her into his arms. Lifting his head, Jason smiled at Samantha as he carried her up the stairs and into his bedroom.
A small gasp escaped his eager captive as they entered his room. Before leaving for their date, Jason had scattered dozens of candles around the room.
“Wait here,” he whispered against her temple as he lowered his precious bundle onto the foot of the bed. He could feel Samantha following him with her eyes as he quickly lit the candles and turned off the light. Looking back at the bed, he saw Samantha had her shirt halfway off.
“Hey!” he said. She glanced up at him, confusion lighting her eyes. “That’s my job.”
“Oh.” She smiled and pulled her shirt back down. “My apologies. Please be my guest.”
Jason leisurely prowled toward the foot of the bed, slowly unbuttoning his shirt. He saw Samantha’s eyes change from her pale blue to the warm honey color of her fox as she took in his bare chest. Her shifted eyes triggered his own. He hadn’t been this turned on since high school. He slowly pulled off his shirt and reached for his fly but froze as Samantha sat up and placed her mouth over his nipple. Moaning, he felt her tongue come out and trace it before sucking greedily. When she nipped at him, he jumped. His jeans became uncomfortably tight as she sucked a trail up his chest and bit lightly at his neck. She didn’t break the skin, but his little fox obviously liked using her teeth. Her hand burned a trail down his chest as she reached for his fly. Her husky laugh fell hot against his neck, then she reached his erection and rubbed her hand teasingly against it over his jeans.