Desperately Seeking Shapeshifter (23 page)

“Out of what? Our fake relationship?” I laughed weakly. My heart beat like a hummingbird in my breast.

He looked stung at my laugh, his face growing stony.

Oh. I hadn’t realized I was hurting his feelings. My fingers went to his big arm. “I’m trying to let
you
out of it, silly. I don’t want to steal another woman’s mate.”

“She’s not my mate,” he murmured, his hands tugging my T-shirt up to expose my breasts.

“She’s pretty,” I admitted and thought of the female bear-shifter’s tall and sturdy form. “And strong. And she doesn’t smell like wet dog.”

“You don’t smell like wet dog,” he murmured against my belly, kissing the pale flesh there.

“Then what do I smell like?”

“Like you belong to me.”

My breath caught in my throat at the possessive look in his eyes. “And do I? Belong to you?”

“Only if you want to.”

“Ramsey Bjorn,” I said in a soft, scolding voice. “That is such a pussy answer.”

“I won’t force you into anything, Sara. Your life is your own. It doesn’t belong to wolf or mate. Just to you.”

So sweet. I brushed my fingertips over his lips. “I’m wearing your mark. I’m aching for you to take me as yours in all ways. It’s not pretending for me anymore.” My hands moved down his chest. “I want you.”

His eyes flared, reflecting the light the way all shifters did, and I shivered with pleasure. “I want you to mark me,” he said in a rasping voice.

“What? Can we . . . is that allowed? Can we do that?”

“I don’t care,” he said, his voice a low rumble in his chest. “I want everyone to see your mark on me.”

Scandalous excitement shivered over me, and I touched his neck. Everyone would see that I’d claimed him as my own. The wolves would hate it, too.

I’d freaking love every minute of it.

I licked my lips, suddenly overcome with the craving to sink my teeth into his skin and taste him. “Are you sure?” I asked one last time.

“I want it more than anything.”

I wrapped my fists in his shirt and tugged him to the side, encouraging him to roll over. He did, and I straddled his chest. “Can I touch you everywhere?”

“If you like,” he said hoarsely.

“Oh, I like,” I said with a grin. My hands slid his shirt up his body, and he reached down and grasped it, ripping the fabric off his chest. A sigh of pleasure escaped me at the sight. He was all thick, hard muscle lightly dusted with golden hair. I sat back and ran
my fingertips along his chest, feeling the twitch of his muscles under my hands. I curled my fingers in his chest hair and suddenly wanted to feel it against my own naked skin. I ripped off my own T-shirt, my small breasts bouncing with the motion.

He gave a groan of need, one big hand reaching up to brush a peak. I arched against his touch, then leaned over him and brushed my nipples against his chest, enjoying the shock waves that rocketed through my body—and his sharp inhalation of breath.

He reached for me again, and I caught his hand and forced it to my jeans-clad hip. “Let me touch you,” I scolded with a smile, then leaned in and licked one of his hard, flat nipples.

He groaned again and his hands cupped my ass, kneading the muscle there. I wiggled against his grasp, enjoying the sensation, and swirled my tongue around the areola of his nipple, then lightly bit the tip. A rumble began low in his throat as I teased the other one with my fingertips.

I felt his fingertips skim along the seam of my jeans, brushing against my sex. I gasped in response. “Not fair.”

“Don’t talk to me of fair,” he said in a low rasp. “I’m about to spill in my jeans.”

“Let me help you with that,” I said, sliding off him and reaching for his belt. His hands beat mine, and within seconds he had his jeans and boxers down around his knees. I tugged them the rest of the way off and he kicked them onto the floor, his gaze raptly focused on my body. It was a heady,
delicious feeling, that I had this big, naked man so utterly captivated by my simple touches. My hand feathered down his torso, grazed his abdomen, and then paused.

I’d seen his cock plenty of times before, but this was my chance to truly explore him and touch him. And what I saw made my mouth a little dry even as it made my sex wet. I wrapped my fingertips around the girth. He groaned in response, and as I watched, another drop of pre-cum slid down the head, the tip already wet.

“Sara . . . please,” he groaned. “I’m going to—”

“Shhh,” I said and quickly grasped the head in my palm, a trick I’d just learned on the internet. Either this would go over really, really well, or it would be a disaster.

His entire body shuddered.

I squeezed the head of his cock and kept squeezing.

He nearly came off the bed, his hips bucking, his breath escaping in a massive gasp. But he didn’t come. I kept my grip firm and continued to squeeze for a moment longer, and then released.

He panted and stared down at me in shock.

“Speechless?” Jeez, I hoped he wasn’t in pain.

Ramsey shook his head at me. “Where did you learn that?”

“Internet,” I said proudly, then licked my wet hand, slick with his pre-cum. It tasted of salt and Ramsey, and was utterly delicious.

He groaned again at the sight, reaching for me,
but I slid out of his reach and straddled his knees this time, the better to concentrate my efforts. “Lie down,” I told him in a kittenish voice. “I’m playing and I don’t want to be interrupted.”

He dropped back to the pillows with another groan, his cock jerking slightly against my hand.

“Tell me if you’re going to come,” I said, “and I can squeeze again.”

“I’m not sure I want you to,” he growled.

“You’d deprive me of getting to touch you?” I said lightly, brushing my fingers through the thick blond curls that surrounded his sex. “Cruel man.”

“Sara—”

Recognizing the desperate tone in his voice, I immediately put my hand back on the crown of his cock and squeezed. “I’ll never get to explore you if you don’t last a few minutes longer,” I teased. “Lie back and think of math equations.”

I kept one hand grasping the head of his cock tightly, and with my other, I touched his heavy sac. He made a choking noise as I touched the soft skin, and his hips bucked as I rubbed the seam, then reached down to taste it with my tongue.

“Sara,” he growled hard, and I felt his hand close over mine, forcing it down and over his thick shaft, pumping into my hand.

“No, Ramsey,” I said, squeezing hard again.

“Want. To. Come.”

“I know,” I said softly. “But I want to bite you first, and I haven’t finished playing yet—”

Before I could finish my teasing statement, he
hauled me up his body and pulled my mouth close to his neck. His other hand went to the fly of my jeans, popping the buttons apart. I arched against his hand, suddenly wanting that big, warm hand in my panties, and I leaned in and licked the base of his neck, encouraging him. “Just like that,” I breathed when he slid his hand into my pants and his fingers encountered my hot, slick sex.

His breath came in sharp, ragged pants as his fingers slipped through my folds, gliding over my clit and dipping deeper. I cried out and lifted my hips against his hand as he sank a thick finger deep inside me. My cry erupted as a hiss and my nails dug into his shoulders.

“Bite me,” he growled low, the rumble building in his throat. “Mark me, Sara.” His finger thrust again into my wet heat.

I swirled my tongue against the hot, smooth skin of his neck and then bit down, scoring my teeth over the skin. His body bucked under mine, his hand jerking in my pants, causing me to rock hard against his hand with a whimper. His big body stiffened and he thrust his finger inside me again, hard, and I bit him again. And then a third time when he thrust his finger deep into me again and I shattered, my cry of ecstasy coming out as a moan as I bit down on his neck once more, my hips rocking against his hand over and over again, my body shuddering.

When I finally stopped shuddering, I remained sprawled over him, my mouth buried against his neck. I licked his skin in apology. “I think I bit you too hard.”

“No such thing,” he said softly, and I felt his hand slide out of my panties, and he hugged me close. I didn’t need to look down to see if he’d come or not; I felt the wetness.

He sighed and turned his head toward mine, and I impulsively kissed him. “That was nice.”

“Very nice,” he agreed gruffly, and I would have bet that he was blushing in the dark.

I trailed a finger over his naked chest. “But not as nice as full-on sex,” I said softly.

“No,” he agreed after a moment.

Then why wouldn’t he have sex with me? I stared down at him, waiting for him to say more. When he didn’t, I brushed a fingertip over his chest. “Ramsey?”

“Hm?” He pulled me close, cuddling me.

I needed to ask him why we stopped every time before we sealed the deal, but . . . I was suddenly afraid of the answer. What if he was holding back because of the bear clan? Did I want to hear that? Then what would happen? Would our semi-relationship die?

I laid my cheek against his chest. “Nothing.”

Chapter Fourteen

R
amsey drove us to work the next morning. Gracie hopped out as soon as the truck stopped, but when I moved to follow, Ramsey grasped my hand. He pulled me close and kissed my forehead. “Don’t leave the agency today, Sara. If anything happens, call me immediately. I’ll be there as fast as I can. Understand?”

I nodded. He seemed tense and unhappy at leaving me. “I’ll be perfectly fine,” I told him. “Nothing ever happens. What’s going on?”

“Just rumors,” Ramsey said. “I’m taking two of the Russells to check it out.”

If it had been just rumors, he wouldn’t have been practically vibrating with tension. I squeezed his hand. “Be careful.”

He pulled me back to him and then kissed me, hard. I was surprised, but I returned it with equal passion.

“You be careful today,” he said against my mouth, gave me one last, light kiss, and then released me. Breathless, I wobbled out of the truck.
Like I was going to be able to concentrate on work after that kiss?

As I reached the office, Bathsheba came to the door. “Oh, good. I thought you’d never get here,” she exclaimed in a rush.

I looked at my watch. Ten minutes early.

“I have to run,” Bath said, handing me the office keys. “The community center double-booked the location for the barn dance tonight, and I have to go down there and make sure that we get the place and not the Boy Scout troop. Ryder’s already there waiting, and she said the hay guy is on his way.”

“Tonight?” I echoed.

She gave me an odd look. “Don’t you remember?”

“I remember. I just thought it was next week,” I said. Guess I’d been distracted. “I’ll call you if I need anything.”

She nodded, her phone already to her ear.

I looked over at Gracie. “Guess it’s just you and me.”

“Goody,” she drawled, went to Bath’s desk, and sat in her chair. She propped her bare feet on the edge of the desk, pulled out her phone, and began to text with one hand. “So what’s this about a barn dance?”

“It’s an Alliance get-together put on by the agency.”

She didn’t look up from her texting. “So can I go?”

I sat down at my desk. “I don’t know. Are you Alliance?”

“Nope,” she said with a wolflike grin. “But I’m
supposed to follow you everywhere. Daddy says so.”

I ignored that. Gracie’s version of “following me everywhere” was only when it suited her. She was a more lackadaisical guard than Connor.

“ ’Sides, your business isn’t all Alliance, is it? You have vampires and fairies and some wolves, and I bet they aren’t Alliance.”

“They’re not,” I agreed. The ones that weren’t in the Alliance were definitely being worked in that direction, though. “But this dance
is
Alliance.”

“Too bad,” she said. “Wolves are good dancers. Guess you’ll have to represent our pack on the dance floor.”

Like I wanted to represent the pack in any shape or manner.

Gracie continued to text while I went through my email. The office was quiet, and I hoped Bath was doing all right. I’d just picked up the phone to check in with her when the front doorbell clanged against the glass. I looked up . . . and my blood ran cold.

Three men had entered, one wiping his hands on an oily rag. All three wore dirty jeans, dirty baseball caps, and stained blue uniform shirts. The hot, pungent smell of sweat and wolf hit my nostrils, and I instinctively recoiled.

The Anderson pack was here and I was alone, with Gracie.

She swung her feet off my sister’s desk and stood up, crossing her arms over her chest. “ ’Bout time y’all got here.”

She’d invited them? I eyed Gracie uneasily. Had she waited deliberately for my sister to leave? Was she going to hand me over to the wolf pack?

“Had to leave work,” said the first, wiping his hands with the greasy rag. He looked over at me and winked. “Hey, baby doll.”

“My name is Sara,” I said stiffly, eyeing them. Maynard was the one with the rag. The patches on their shirts said that the other two were Buck and Wyatt. They were watching me with far too much interest, and the skin on the back of my neck prickled a warning. “What do you want?”

Buck sat down across from me and crossed his arms, grinning. His teeth were crooked and his breath smelled. “Want you to set us up with your agency. Find us some girls, like you been finding Gracie some men.”

I looked over at her in surprise.

She beamed at me. “Just drumming you up some business.” She moved to her brother Wyatt and wrapped an arm around his neck in a wrestling hold, even though he was twice the size of her. “These idiots don’t get a lot of action ’cause there ain’t a lot of wolves in the area.”

“There’s a few in the Savage pack out in East Texas,” Buck said, “but Dylan’s done put his claim on them.”

Poor women.

“Figured if we wanted to get us some tail, this was the place,” Maynard said, leering at me. “But I’m up for dating just about anything.”

“I’m not sure—,” I began.

“Now’s the best time to do this,” Gracie interrupted. “No humans around. Just wolves.”