“You’re overdressed for this occasion, Miss Vale.” Logan grabbed the bottom of her dress and lifted, peeling it from her body. He tossed it and stared at the beauty standing before him: a black lace bra cupped two full breasts. A flat stomach with a cute little pooch below her belly button drew his attention next. She was bare below the waist. Smooth and downright edible, but he already knew that. Unable to stop himself, he ran his hands over her stomach and up to her breasts. He cupped them in his hands. Brushed his thumbs over the lace hiding her nipples.
She shuddered, and then blinked up at him with those innocent brown eyes that made his entire body go rock-hard.
Out of nowhere, she pinched his nipple, slapped him in the ass, and laughed.
“Funny girl, huh?” Holding on to her shoulders, Logan looped his foot behind her ankle and knocked her off-kilter. He palmed the small of her back as she fell back, then guided her softly to the floor. She was still smiling beneath him, her cheeks flushed pink. “Let’s see if I can make that smile last all night.”
All night. This was it, Logan reminded himself. One night.
Feeling his smile begin to pull into a frown, Logan situated himself between her legs and kissed her to silence his thoughts. Veronica fisted his hair in her hands and cemented his mouth to hers, making the rest of the world disappear. He pressed his hips forward, then stopped. Let the thick tip of his erection pulse at her center and slide through her wetness. He pulled back. Eased forward. Swayed away, and pushed inside, a little at a time. With each gentle thrust, air rushed out of Veronica’s lungs on throaty sighs. She stomped her feet into the hardwood and rose up in time with his longest thrust, sheathing him inside her.
They moaned in unison as their hips met. Their gazes locked. Lust and insatiable need speared through him. His bones rattled. His spine straightened with a crack. His cock swelled so tight, he cried out.
He drove into Veronica again and again, sliding her back and forth along the floor. She moved in time with his thrusts, her body a perfect fit, a warm, sensual mold that seemed to be made for him. He couldn’t catch his breath. Couldn’t see straight. Her supple lips blinded him. Her creamy skin drugged him. Her thighs wrapped around him, cradling him in an exotic embrace. He couldn’t hear anything but Veronica’s ragged breathing and the drumming of his heart.
“Logan, holy heaven, you’re going to drive me…” She screamed as her core convulsed over his shaft, squeezing and releasing in erotic little pulses.
His release was there…right there. Painfully close. His balls seized. Air froze in his lungs.
The urge to claim Veronica as his Luminary and life mate decked him across the face. The human part of him wanted to release the tension balling at the base of his spine, but the werewolf part wanted to bond with Veronica and seal their fates together for the next thousand years.
He stilled. Forced the werewolf part of him to cool it.
“What’s the matter?” Veronica’s body rocked in an undulating rhythm beneath him. “Logan?”
He’d never felt the blistering sensation before—the uncontrollable urge to bond with someone—but he knew that was the feeling he’d just experienced. He felt leveled. Flattened. As though everything he had was about to be given to the woman beneath him.
A human woman.
He unsheathed himself from her center and rolled onto the hardwood so that they were lying side by side. He was wet. Covered in his sweat and her scent. The taste of her was still on his tongue. And he had a serious case of blue balls.
Veronica rolled over and propped herself on her elbow. “What is it? What’s the matter?”
You. He put his arms behind his head, craned his neck around, and looked at her. Really looked at her. She was gorgeous, there was no doubting it. And from what he’d gathered from following her around the last couple weeks, she was smart, too. But was his wolf form nuts? Bonding for life? With a human? This so wasn’t in the cards for him. This wasn’t happening.
He didn’t want anything long-term, and the werewolf act of bonding was about as long-term as you could get. Not only did the act bond a wolf to his mate, it lengthened both their lives to about a thousand years. A thousand years with one person? Nothing against Veronica, but he hadn’t planned on spending that amount of time with anyone.
He wished the feeling had struck him when they first touched, rather than now, when they were naked and lying on her living room floor. It would’ve been easier to stay the hell away from her. Luminary bonds revealed themselves differently depending on the position of the werewolf in his or her pack. For Alphas and other top-ranking positions, the spark of bonding appeared at first touch. For others, it took more time or closeness with the fated mate for the awareness to set in.
Damn fine timing.
Logan couldn’t breathe. Stifled. Damn. He was going to have to chew off a limb to get out of this mess. How could he bolt without hurting her?
“Nothing,” Logan said, getting off the floor. “I just remembered…” Problem number five million and one: my fated mate loathes werewolves. Fucking peachy. “…I have an early start tomorrow.”
Chapter Five
“Where are you going?” Veronica asked, slipping her dress over her head. “If something’s wrong, we can—”
“There’s nothing wrong.” Logan cut her off and shoved his legs into his pants. He snatched his shirt off the couch, picked up his shoes, and hightailed it to the door. “I just have to go, okay?”
This couldn’t be happening. Did she do something to stop him cold? Scream too loudly and embarrass him? Her mind was numb, so she couldn’t quite remember, but did something slip out of her mouth when she was in the throes of passion?
He’d had one-night stands before, she reminded herself with chagrin. Maybe what she felt wasn’t chemistry between them, but the effects of being with an experienced lover.
Maybe she wasn’t what he wanted.
“Logan?” She didn’t want to sound weak, so she pushed out the words harshly. “Did I do something wrong?”
He spun around, catching her off guard, and cupped her face. His hands were warm, causing a blush to fan across her cheeks. “No. You did nothing wrong. It’s just that…”
A switch flipped. He’d been harsh. Cold, even. Now, the gleam in his gray eyes was yielding. Hollowed out.
“It was a one-night stand.” He brushed his thumbs over her cheek, and her heart gave a hard clench. “It had to end sometime.”
“But—”
“Veronica, we have to stop before we make this ten times more complicated. You have no idea what it’s like for me.” He dropped his hands and turned out the door. He swung it open wide and marched onto the sidewalk.
She followed him. How was this night changing so quickly?
“This wasn’t exactly how I saw the night ending,” she said.
“Sure it was.” He strode across her front lawn and then turned back. “Did you enjoy yourself tonight?”
Her cheeks heated. “Of course I did.”
“Didn’t we say it was only one night?”
She nodded.
“There you have it.” He held her gaze, shook his head, then slapped his hands against his sides. “I can’t jump through these damn hoops anymore. You need to know.”
“Need to know what?”
Logan strode past his truck and into the street. “I don’t usually work this way. I should’ve told you from the start.”