The elevator door slid open, and she tugged him out into the hallway before answering. “No.
If someone needs me… Anna does, sometimes, and Miguel too. If they need to spend time with me because my magic helps them feel calmer, I don’t want to take that away.”
“But?”
Even though the hall was empty, she didn’t answer until he’d opened the door and led her into the suite. She pushed it closed in silence and locked it for good measure, then turned to face him. “I need to belong to you. It scares me a little and it makes you feel like a jackass. But pretending it’s not there won’t change it.”
Everything she said was true—including the part about the futility of denial. “It’s different,” he said finally. “If I know you need it, I mean. If I don’t have to wonder whether I’m forcing you without realizing it.”
She wet her lips, looking almost nervous. “I promise I won’t let you force me without realizing it. If you’re taking away the choice I want to make, I promise I’ll tell you. I just need you to promise to listen.”
To what she wasn’t saying as well as what she was. “I can do that.”
Her shoulders relaxed a little, but she didn’t push away from the door. “I get off on the dominance in bed, and on you letting everyone know I’m yours. Those are easy. It’s the life parts that always tangle me up.”
Julio held out his hand. “So we take it as it comes.”
A smile played at the edge of her lips. Teasing. Mischievous. “You could take me as I come.”
The wicked smile may as well have been a hand around his dick. Julio stifled a growl and arched an eyebrow. “Sera.”
Without looking away, she slipped her fingers over his, and he twisted his hand and closed it around hers.
She wanted to belong to him, and there was no better way to show her she did.
“When do you want dinner?” he asked casually.
“Whenever.” Her lips twitched. “Later, unless you’re hungry right now.”
“No, I think I want to stay in for a while.”
Sera laughed and spun, turning toward their joined hands so that his arm ended up around her when her back thumped against his chest. “Finally, I get you to myself. No fathers or sisters or needy alphas or precogs with gambling problems.”
“Not all of which was actually my fault,” he murmured against the curve of her neck.
“People need you.” She tilted her head forward, and her braids slipped over her shoulders to bare the back of her neck. “I don’t mind sharing you, as long as I get time like this, too.”
“You mean like…this?” He breathed the last word just before closing his teeth on the delicate line of her spine.
“Exactly this.” Her body melted against him, a trembling mix of soft submission and eager anticipation. “Now you know why I picked two braids instead of one.”
“You think ahead. I like that.” Julio slid one hand around her to splay on her stomach. She was sweet against him, yielding and warm.
And for once, not in a hurry. Her frantic impatience had disappeared, leaving a woman who rocked back against him with a satisfied moan but didn’t try to hurry him. “I think about your mouth on my throat. Or your hand. I think about you touching me so often my brain’s like a nonstop porno.”
“Now you sound like me.”
“Good.” She traced her fingers over the back of his hand before twisting to kiss his jaw. “Can this be the one where the alpha wolf lets his hot-as-fuck possessive and bossy side out to play?”
“Depends.” On whether she was ready. On whether he was.
She pressed her forehead to his jaw. “Only if you want to.” The quiet words were tiny.
Vulnerable. “It’s empty if it’s not about both of us needing it. Don’t ever give me more than you really want.”
It had never been about a lack of desire, not ever. Julio nudged her head up and kissed her slowly. “How far, darling? Tell me now.”
She didn’t answer right away, and she didn’t tell him anything. He watched her consider the question seriously, and after a moment she gave a serious answer. Not one meant to tease or sound sexy, but a quiet drawing of boundaries. “Light bondage, spanking and rough sex are fine. I don’t like degradation as much. I don’t mind experimenting with pain, but maybe not tonight.”
“No pain.” It wasn’t his thing, and he’d never been into name-calling or punishment. “Bring me your makeup bag. Show me what you bought the other day when you thought I wasn’t paying attention.”
She blushed almost as red as her hair and ducked under his arm to get to the luggage.
“Maybe I was thinking ahead.”
“To what?” He caught her around the waist, held her bent over and lowered his voice to a rumbling growl. “Me fucking your ass?”
“Yes.” Her tank top slipped toward her shoulders, revealing pale, freckled skin and the lacy edge of the same pale-green bra he’d seen before. She wiggled, grinding back against him as she tugged the shirt over her head. “Don’t tell me you haven’t been thinking about it.”
He edged his hand under the back waistband of her shorts, smoothing his fingers over the swell of her ass. “I have.”
“Now?” She sounded breathless as she tore open her suitcase and surfaced with her makeup bag. “You want it now?”
“Not yet.” She had to be ready, because he wasn’t about to hold back, not this time. “I want your mouth.”
“Yeah?” Another wiggle. “Can’t put my mouth anywhere interesting from here.”
He slapped her ass. “I could.”
Sera whimpered her arousal and pushed up on her toes. Her movements practically begged for him to slap her again, but she didn’t say anything as she clutched at her makeup bag, her fingers tight around the handle.
He let her straighten. “Show me what’s in there.”
The top unzipped, and she held the bag open to reveal a jumble of makeup containers and hair elastics. Her birth control pills were tucked into the left pocket. The right one was stuffed full of condoms.
Blushing, she tugged open an interior zipper to reveal a third storage space holding a slim vibrator and a full bottle of lube.
The blush was adorable, and the rest of it… Julio pulled the vibrator and the small bottle from the case and dropped them on the bed. “Want to help me undress?”
Sera tossed the bag to the floor and followed it down, ending up on her knees in front of him wearing her tiny shorts, lacy bra and the wickedest smile he’d ever seen curve her lips. She got both hands around his belt and lifted her gaze to his. “You never make me feel dirty for what I want.”
“Why should you?” He leaned down to unhook her bra, then slipped his hands under the lace to palm her delectable breasts. “I want the same stuff.”
Her nipples drew tight against his palms, and her head fell back. She got his belt open, but her fingers fumbled with the button. “Fuck.”
“Slow.” He pulled his hands free, taking her bra too. Once he’d slipped it from her arms, he tilted her chin up. “We’ve got all night.”
She laughed and nuzzled his hand. “Maybe I’m just that excited about blowing you.”
“That’s a flattering possibility.”
“It should be.” This time her nimble fingers conquered the button on his fly with a minimum of fumbling, and she guided the zipper down without looking away from his eyes. “And it’s true.
You wouldn’t believe the daydreams you’ve starred in, baby.”
Julio thrust against her hands, challenging her. “Show me.”
She left his jeans hanging open and pressed her open mouth to his erection, breath hot through the fabric of his boxers. Before he could react her fingers hooked under the waistband, and she freed his cock with an appreciative moan. “You still want slow?”