Not yet. Instead, she closed her eyes and squeezed her inner muscles tight around his cock.
Icy deliberation shattered. Not for long, just a second, enough for a single, wild surge forward. His hands hit the bed on either side of her arms, and he pressed his forehead to her shoulder with a groan. «You’re hell on my self-control,» he whispered, voice trembling with need and affection and something deeper that eclipsed both.
Then he fisted his hands in the covers and began to fuck her.
Rational thought vanished, not only unimportant but impossible in the face of such possession. Every stroke, every breath, was a new claim, one that drove her closer to the edge. Everything in her was his, and not because a hint of animal instinct hungered for him. Because he could give her what she needed.
And she could do the same for him.
The leather around her wrists creaked as she rocked with him. «Yours.»
«I know.» He kissed the back of her neck. Licked it. Bit it. «All mine.»
Words, because they were habit, though they only echoed what she could already feel through the empathy that bound them. A connection, both primal and immediate, that plucked at something deep inside her and rendered things like language obsolete.
It was that connection that swept her away, up into a dizzying spiral of pleasure that shook her, body and mind. «Come with me. Come—»
He shook above her, the last fine threads of control unraveling as they fell into flames together. His hips moved erratically, every thrust urging her on until nothing remained but the way he made her feel and the words he rasped against her cheek. «That’s it. You feel so good around my cock when you come. So goddamn hot when I’m fucking you.»
«Fuck, Alec.» Another orgasm swelled through her, and she slammed her head back against his shoulder. «Fuck.»
He came with her, roaring his pleasure as he drove into her one last time, hard enough to push her hips against the bed.
There was no beginning and no end to the sensations cascading through her, through them both, a chain reaction fed by pleasure and desire and even more pleasure. Carmen tried to slow it down, to separate what was hers from what was his, but it was useless. Everything was shared and doubled because of it.
«Shh.» Alec was stroking her, his hand smoothing from her shoulder to her hip in slow, gentle movements. Her wrists were free, though she couldn’t remember how they’d gotten that way, or when he’d shifted them so she was curled against his chest, her cheek pillowed on his arm.
She pressed an open-mouthed kiss to his skin and nestled into his embrace. «I love being in your arms.»
«I love having you here.» His hand followed her arm on the next stroke, fingers rubbing at her wrists. «Wasn’t too rough, was it?»
«Mmm, no.» She caught his hand. «I won’t break.»
A quiet, relieved sigh stirred the hair at the back of her neck. «Good.»
«You were worried.»
«Not really.» He yawned and tugged her closer. «Don’t have to worry so much with you. If I hurt you, I’ll know. I’ll feel it.»
She’d known men who enjoyed the sexual feedback associated with her psychic ability, but never one who valued it as a way to ensure her well-being, and never one who understood her other needs so completely.
But did he, really? The doubt rose, unbidden, but instead of pushing it away, she took a deep breath. «Can I ask you something?»
«Of course, honey.»
It was hard to find the words, but she tried. The last thing she wanted was to have her relationship with Alec fall apart because they couldn’t talk to each other. «The dominance. You said it’s not something you need in bed all the time, but what about out of it? Everyday stuff?»
«I’m a bossy fucker. That’s never going to change.» His hand settled on her hip. «But the nice thing about all those wolfy instincts going away? I don’t need you to obey me. Don’t even want it, unless we’re in a dangerous situation where I need to keep us safe.»
The fact that she wasn’t a wolf hadn’t mattered in the past, not to the other lovers she’d had to walk away from when their controlling behavior spilled over outside the bedroom. «Is that a typical alpha attitude, or are you unusual in that respect?»
«I’m more alpha than most, but that just means I don’t have much to prove. It’s the ones who aren’t secure — they’re the ones who have to throw their power around all the damn time.»
Maybe that had been the constant conflict. Insecurity could drive people to make all sorts of demands, and obedience was one she’d never been okay with. «I don’t need someone to control my life for me. It’s not that I think you would, but it’s caused problems in the past, so I wanted to get it out there.»
His hand tightened on her hip, and he eased her over onto her back before propping his head up on one hand. «Dated a few controlling assholes, huh?»
«To put it mildly.» Even her family didn’t know the extent of it, how close some of her lovers had come to crossing the line.
The sudden feral gleam in Alec’s eyes said she couldn’t hide as easily from him. «Don’t suppose you want to let me hunt them down and kick respect into them after the fact?»
«No, I do not.» She wiggled closer. «I’d rather move forward, if you don’t mind.»
«Spoilsport.» But he smiled as he leaned down and kissed her forehead. «Fine, I’ll behave.»
«Thank you.» The line of his throat beckoned, and Carmen followed it with her lips. «You’re an unusual sort of man, Alec Jacobson.»
«It’s okay. You can call me odd.»
«Your word, not mine.» She bit his chin. «I wouldn’t say odd. I’d say…fascinating.»
That earned her a smile. «I like that word. ’Specially when you’re saying it.»
She could have said so much more, and would have, except that his cell phone began to ring.
Alec heaved a sigh and rolled away. His phone sat on the night table, but when he picked it up, he frowned. «It’s your brother. Julio.»
«Want me to answer it?»
He passed her the phone in silence, and Carmen thumbed it open. «Hello?»
«Carmen.» Julio sounded rough, almost hoarse. «Are you finished with your thing in Wyoming?»
«Yeah.» She instantly regretted not telling him why she’d flown up on the spur of the moment, but she hadn’t wanted to worry him. «What’s wrong?»
«It’s Miguel. This thing, this spell — they did it to him too.»
A cold shiver took her, a curiously hot numbness on its heels. «They did what?»
«They turned him.» His voice grew even scratchier, as if he could barely speak. «Miguel’s a wolf.»
Chapter Fourteen
Another night of travel, another pot of coffee.
Alec was on his third cup of the morning, and glad he was used to going without sleep. «So they did the spell the night before they tried it on Carmen?»
«Apparently.» Julio prodded at one of the stale donuts he’d brought. «I tried to reach Miguel for days, but my father gave me the runaround. I guess to give him time to recover and adjust.»
What a fucking mess. «And has he? Adjusted, I mean.»
«As well as can be expected.» His mouth firmed into a tense line. «Not like I’ve had a lot of access to him, though. Carmen? She’ll be lucky if she gets to see him at all. Miguel inherited our father’s love of avoidance when it comes to tough situations.»
Alec had known Carmen long enough to know one thing. «She’s not gonna like that much.»
«She shouldn’t.» Julio glowered. «It’s low and cowardly, and I hate that Miguel still looks up to the bastard. But he wasn’t even born yet when Dad left. He won’t ever really understand.»