«Mine’s not a human thing.» He buckled the belt around her wrists and traced one finger down her arm. «I’m all wolf, honey. One-hundred-percent alpha bastard.»
«And mine’s not entirely a wolf thing,» she warned. «I don’t need it all the time…but sometimes I just want to let go.»
He curled his finger under the strap on her sundress. «Whenever you want.»
He meant it. Carmen rubbed her cheek against the inside of his wrist and hummed with pleasure at the warmth and protectiveness that surrounded her.
«That’s right.» The strap fell back against her shoulder, and the touches that followed were slow. Deliberate. He stroked her through the bodice of her dress, never giving her skin-on-skin contact and never lingering in one place for too long.
Her breasts tightened under his fingers, her nipples hard against the cotton of her dress. She tried to hold still but squirmed anyway, desperate to relieve the gathering ache. «Alec.»
«Carmen?» His touch vanished, and he gathered his shirt in his hands and stripped it over his head.
He knew exactly what it did to her to look at the hard lines of his body, so she didn’t bother to hide her admiring gaze. «You’re a show-off.»
«Only because you look at me like that.» The mattress dipped as he knelt at the foot of the bed, both hands falling to her ankles. «Roll over. Onto your stomach.»
He’d bound her hands together, but not to the bed. She rolled, the scent of warm leather filling her nose as she drew her arms closer to her body so she could rest on her elbows.
He started at the backs of her calves, smoothing his hands up her legs with long, languid strokes. He toyed with the edge of her dress where it fell across her thighs, then pushed it up. «I like the dress, but this has to go.»
«What has—?» The sound of ripping fabric drowned out the words as he tore off her panties. «Oh.»
«Bad habit I have.» Strong hands urged her to her knees, legs wide, with her dress pooled across her lower back. «Good thing I can afford to replace them.»
It took her two tries to speak. «I shop at this place on Magazine. They might start to wonder what the hell’s happening to my underwear.»
He slipped his hands under the sundress and around her body, up to cup her breasts. The rough fabric of his jeans ground against naked flesh as he rocked against her. «Let ’em wonder.»
The urge to tease, to return a little of the torment he was visiting on her, made her head swim. So she arched her back, insanely grateful that one movement could thrust her breasts more fully into his hands and rub her ass against his erection.
He groaned, a low, desperate noise that turned into a challenging growl as his fingers closed tight on her nipples.
«Fuck.» The curse escaped before she could stop it, and she bit her lower lip hard to hold back her pleas. His grip tightened, pushed her just to the edge of pain, and eased off as he rocked against her.
Her nipples tingled, and she panted for breath. Every sensation was intensified because she couldn’t move, couldn’t reach for him, scratch him or pull his hair.
Instead, she squirmed while he dragged his nails along her skin, down her stomach and over her hips. Both hands followed the curve of her ass, and she felt his breath a moment before he bit her.
Heat streaked through her, a fire he had to feel as acutely as she did. «You’re trying to kill me,» she whispered.
«You know better.» He soothed the bite with his tongue only to bite her once more. Lower.
He’d drive her mad, leave her dazed and trembling — and then do it all over again. With a jolt, she realized that such pleasure wasn’t destined for a distant future, but now. «Is this what belonging to you means?»
«When it’s what you need.» He licked the inside of her thigh, his beard rubbing over her skin. «Belonging to me means you get what you need, whenever I can give it. Tonight it means me proving that you set off every dominant, animal urge I’ve got, whether you’re stoned on magic or not.»
«Don’t need proof.» She had it already, with each look and breath, and it meant so much more to her because they weren’t bound together by an uncontrollable physical instinct.
They’d chosen one another.
«That’s right,» he whispered, a quiet answer to the feelings she hadn’t spoken. He stroked her with his tongue, soft at first and then firmer, circling closer and closer to her clit without touching.
She dropped her head and breathed through the teasing pleasure. Keeping still was impossible, and her hips rocked, just a little, seeking a deeper caress. A sharper sensation.
Finally, he gave it to her, a hot, rough flick of his tongue, and she moaned and shook. He pulled back, smoothed a hand over her hip and brought his palm down in a sharp slap.
The juxtaposition between pain and pleasure drove her closer to the edge, and she threw back her head, gasping his name.
His groan rumbled through the room. «Fuck, woman, you have no idea how hot it is that I can feel how much you liked that.»
«Yes, I do.» Every one of his reactions seared through her, a fire burning them both.
«We’re going to have a lot of fun learning what else you like, aren’t we?» She heard the quick snap of a zipper jerked down too fast, and two fingers slid deep inside her.
This time, she almost screamed as she clenched tight around his fingers. Together, bound by her empathy, they could push boundaries to the limit, dance the edge between just enough and too much with dizzying precision. «I like you. Want you.»
A soft groan. The tear of a condom wrapper. His fingers curled, stroking inside her until a maddening pressure built, one only he could relieve.
He pulled his fingers away and entered her with a single slow thrust that would have driven her to her knees if she hadn’t already been on them. She whimpered and tried to stay still, but she couldn’t stop the way her body arched toward his, yearning and hungry.
Instead of another thrust, she got a soft growl and the sharp slap of his broad hand across her ass.
She froze, though the sensation made her want to buck even harder, and when she spoke she barely recognized her own voice. «Tell me what you want.»
His fingers dipped between her legs again. Rubbed. His other hand fell to her hip, holding her still as he brought those slick fingers up to tease her ass. «Don’t hold back. If I don’t want you to come, I won’t let you. If I don’t want you to move, I’ll stop you.»
It was control in its purest form, and she wanted to give it to him. She needed to.
Don’t hold back. Carmen moved suddenly, grinding against him with a low cry. She made it only a few inches before his fingers tightened on her hip, keeping her in place with effortless deliberation.
Yes. «I take it you don’t want me to move, then?»
Dark laughter rolled over her. «Didn’t say I didn’t want you to keep trying.» His fingertip pressed against her. Testing. «I love to watch you writhe.»
Just like she loved to hear him groan when she did something shocking. Instead of shying away from him touching her ass, Carmen eased closer. His finger probed deeper, arousing delicate nerve endings with an electric shock of sensation, and she shuddered through a moan.
His pleasure spiked along with hers, and he did groan, low and hoarse. Then he moved, rocking his hips back and driving forward.
«Alec!» Breathless, and still she had to speak. To tell him. «I need you.»
«I know.» Another thrust. Faster. Harder. His hand shifted until he was gripping both of her hips, holding her. Suddenly, he stopped, buried deep inside her.
Long seconds ticked by. Carmen whimpered as she tried to move, but he kept her still. She’d beg, plead, if only he would give her more, and she almost gave in.