“Nope.” He held the plates over his head. “It’s my bed and my sheets. If I want to eat chocolate cake in here, I will.”
“And you accused my brother of not acting his age! Seriously, even if you try to be careful, you’ll ruin these sheets.”
“I have no intention of being careful.” He started toward the bedroom with the plates. “But I have every intention of licking chocolate off your—”
“Luke, don’t do this. You’re about to make a huge mess.”
“No, we are. Unless you’re not coming. Oh, but I think you will come. Many times. Chocolate is an aphrodisiac. Did you know that?” He continued walking toward his bedroom. “Not that I need an aphrodisiac with you around. I’m getting hard again. That’s good, though, because then you’ll have an easier time putting chocolate on it.”
“You’re incorrigible.” But she followed him, despite her misgivings. She was also laughing, which wasn’t helpful. And when she pictured him smearing chocolate over her body and licking it off, her resolve slipped another notch.
He stood in the bedroom on his white carpet, holding the plates and gazing at her. “You look good naked, but you’ll look even better in chocolate.”
“I have an idea. Let’s keep the plan but move the venue into the bathroom. We can lie in your Jacuzzi tub without any water, do this chocolate body paint thing, and shower off afterward.”
“Sounds sensible.”
“Good. Then let’s do that.” She started toward the double doors into his large bathroom.
“I don’t want to be sensible. The white sheets are history, anyway. Let’s mess them up.” There was a stubborn light in his blue eyes.
She began to understand what was behind his insistence. Like her brother, he was expected to shoulder a huge amount of responsibility. Unlike her brother, he didn’t have the luxury of running away. His father had died, and he was the only one who could step in and take over.
Perhaps ruining a set of high-thread-count sheets was exactly what Luke needed to blow off a little steam. As rebellions went, it wasn’t particularly destructive. And as he’d pointed out, he was going to get rid of the sheets anyway.
She also liked thinking that she’d help create a once-in-a-lifetime experience for him. Chances were slim he’d ever buy white sheets again, let alone defy common sense by playing chocolate games on them. This night would be one for the record books. Although reason told her they had no future, her feelings for him were strong enough that she didn’t want him to forget her.
“Okay, I’m in,” she said.
“Excellent.” His grin was triumphant. “Then I can put these down without worrying that you’ll snatch them away.” He walked over and set the plates on a low dresser.
“But can we at least take the white comforter off first?”
“I dunno.” Arms folded, he surveyed the bed, which looked like a giant marshmallow. “I doubt that I’ll keep that, either, so why save it from its fate?”
“Let’s say you decided to buy black satin sheets. A white comforter on top of that would be very sexy and sophisticated.”
“Hm.”
“Come on, Luke. Don’t ruin that beautiful goose-down comforter.”
“How’d you know it was goose down?”
“I can sm—” She caught herself. “Anybody could tell it is. It’s obvious.”
“That’s not what you started to say.” He uncrossed his arms and walked over to her, his expression curious. “You started to say you could smell it. But it’s supposed to be supersanitized goose down. It shouldn’t smell any different from the polyester filling in other comforters.”
Well, damn. This was what she got for jumping into an intimate relationship with a human. She couldn’t say the first thing that popped into her head the way she might with a werewolf lover. The werewolf lover wouldn’t have asked the question, though. He would have been able to smell the difference, too.
“You’ve already told me you have better-than-average hearing,” Luke said. “Do you have a better-than-average nose, too?”
“Apparently.” She had to see this through. “But I tend to freak people out if they know that, so I try not to let on.”
Luke smiled. “But you let down your guard with me.” He reached for her and drew her into his arms. “I’m flattered. But now I wonder if I should shower before we take this evening any further.”
“No!” Whoops, that was a little too emphatic. “I mean, please don’t. I like the way you smell.” She more than liked it. She was drawn to it in a way that shocked her.
Technically, she shouldn’t be so turned on by a human’s scent, but something about Luke’s natural aroma hit all her olfactory pleasure centers. And when he was aroused, like now, her response was off the charts. She had to stifle the urge to bury her nose in the curve of his neck and inhale.
“Are you sure?” He looked at her as if he thought she might be making that up. “Most women I know like the scrubbed version of me, complete with aftershave.”
“I like this version.” Giving in to her primitive needs, she stood on tiptoe and sniffed the hollow of his throat. “Mmm.” Then she licked him there.
He chuckled. “I believe you, and you’re turning me on with that routine. If you don’t watch out, we’ll be doing it doggie style next.”
No, they wouldn’t, she thought with some sadness. That position was reserved for the werewolf tradition of binding, when a male and a female mated for life. She would never experience that with Luke.
Stepping back, he surveyed her from head to toe. “You’re wonderful,” he said softly. “And you are going to look so good covered in chocolate.”
That propelled her into action. “Not until I take off that comforter!” She hurried over to the bed.
“I don’t give a damn about the comforter.” He grabbed her from behind, wrapped his arms around her midriff, and hauled her against him. “Leave it.” His mouth found the curve of her neck, and he nipped her there.
She quivered with lust. Without realizing it, he was behaving in a very wolflike manner by grabbing her from behind and nipping at her throat. He couldn’t know that was the very thing that would drive her wild, and yet somehow he’d instinctively done it.
“You smell good, too. And you taste good.” He nuzzled her shoulder as he cupped her breast with one hand and slipped the other unerringly through the triangle of red curls to his ultimate destination. His voice roughened. “And you feel good. Especially here.”
She gasped as he probed deep with his fingers. Her desire had been no secret before, and it was no secret now, either. She was drenched and he knew it.
“The chocolate might have to wait,” he murmured as he moved his fingers rhythmically back and forth.
She couldn’t speak. Having him hold her like this, imprisoned by his arms and her own desperate needs, was incredibly erotic. She couldn’t move and didn’t want to.
He pressed her close, so the long, hard length of his cock was wedged in the cleft of her backside, pinning her to him. And all the while he massaged her slick heat and gently squeezed her breast.
His warm breath feathered across her sensitive earlobe. “Come for me, Giselle.”
She would have laughed if she had the breath to do it, but she was too busy gasping and moaning.
“That’s it.” Murmuring soft words of encouragement, he pushed in deeper and curved his fingers, seeking her G-spot.
When he found it, she knew the game was over.
“There.” His voice tickled her ear. “Right there. I can feel you tightening around my fingers. That’s the magic place, and you’re going down, lady.”
Helpless beneath his practiced touch, she surrendered. Bathing his questing fingers with her climax, she pressed her head against his broad shoulder and cried out with the joy of it.