Wandering Off the Path (10 page)

“But I wouldn’t mind a few hours.”

Understanding lit his stare. He pounced on her, gathering her close, the air escaping her lungs with the force of his embrace. His lips captured hers. His possessive kiss heated to blazing. Her breasts mashed into his chest.

She accepted his control, knowing she wouldn’t be able to remain complacent for long. She needed to rebel against him. It was what they both enjoyed. He might wish to dominate her, but he wanted a good fight before he captured his prize. No weak-willed woman would ever satisfy her Wolf.

Wolf skimmed his hands down her arms, wrapping around her wrists. Her fingertips tingled beneath his demanding grip. She bit back a cry, his hold tightening minutely against her soft flesh.

“I’m going to enjoy punishing you for that tease.”

Wolf’s gruff words combined with the tangy scent of her arousal threatened to throw her once again past her restraint, into a realm where nothing mattered beyond Wolf’s hard body against hers, moving within her.

He pushed her the remaining distance to the bed. Her calves knocked against the cold wooden frame. The sheets caressed the sensitive crook behind her knees. Her breasts tightened, as she remembered the bliss she’d discovered last time they were here. Her stomach curled, anticipating the sensation of being flat on her back, Wolf’s weight pressing her into the soft mattress.

She smiled. Wolf slid his mouth down the column of her neck. His rough beard bristled against her throat, stimulating the nerves.

“Now don’t you wish you’d strayed off the path with me?” His voice was gruff with desire and his breath pelted against her skin.

He pulled her arms behind her back as he spoke, sending her heartbeat skittering higher, and a flame lit deep in her stomach. He used his teeth along her neck and shoulder. She let out a moan, tightening her hands into fists to subdue her quivering muscles.

Abigail smiled to herself. She’d wandered off the path with him and she was glad she’d done so. She knew now what she needed. She knew what real passion was. And for
a moment, she’d lived.

Abigail flittered around the living room, collecting the neglected food from their meals. She crinkled her nose in disgust at the remnants crusted to the plates. She should’ve cleaned yesterday, but she’d been pleasurably distracted. Since Wolf had dragged her back to bed two days ago, she’d barely had time to miss her grandmother, let alone tidy up.

She lifted Wolf’s shirt from the bench seat, where it’d been thrown aside in one of their many bouts of lovemaking. She spread the soiled linen across her chest, joining the sleeves together. Doubling the body over her arm, she folded the fabric into a square.

She couldn’t protest Wolf’s affections—how could she when she had no idea how much longer she’d be able to enjoy them? Each time she’d fallen asleep, worn out from their play, or turned her focus from Wolf even for a moment, she’d expected him to leave. To slip back out into the night he’d come from, leaving her to her dull existence with no idea how to find happiness again.

She’d simply have to find a way, with or without Wolf. There was no other option. She refused to go back to the way she used to be—confined, oppressed.

She pulled the shirt to her nose, inhaling the masculine, musky smell of Wolf on the cloth. Closing her eyes, she sighed. The scent enraptured her. The woodsy aroma the same that filled her nose when she’d curled into Wolf, her face buried in his chest, warm, protected and satisfied.

There was no reason to dwell on the future now. Worrying wouldn’t change it. She’d decided instead to enjoy every second she had with him.

“If a shirt can put that look on your face, imagine what I could do with a little effort.” Wolf called to her across the room, curling her toes with the deep baritone sound.

She snapped her head up, intending to unleash her own cutting retort upon him, but the reply died on her lips. Her eyes drank in her Wolf. His face was clean-shaven—the soft bristles that had lovingly abraded her skin were missing. His shoulder-length hair had been trimmed, the ratty edges severed and tied gracefully at the base of his neck with a neat black ribbon.

The change softened his look. He no longer gave the impression of the wild creature Abigail had come to know. He appeared alluring, dignified and charming, though he retained a hard edge. The dangerous gleam in his eyes ensured the polished exterior still belonged to the man she loved.

“You cut your hair.”

He’d donned all his clothing except the linen shirt she clasped. His bare torso displayed thick salt-and-pepper hair, the furry line running down beneath the seam of his leather pants.

“Do you like it?” He shifted nervously, pulling a smile to her lips.

She nodded. Her entire body constrained by raw lust.

His position softened, his eyes brightening. “I thought it was time to make a change.”

Her stomach twisted with tenderness. His whispered words hung in the air. The mere notion that he would alter himself for her warmed her heart.

Wolf’s gaze moved over her with the same ravenous appreciation she offered him. Her affection twisted into a burning desire. His eyes darkened, calling to the place deep inside her that had learnt to submit to him and received such pleasure in return.

“Now it’s your turn.” Wolf produced a set of long silver scissors from behind his back. The gleam off the metal was dim compared to his golden eyes.

Reflexively, Abigail retreated. A small thread of fear set her heart pounding, filling her with heat and longing. She dropped Wolf’s shirt to the ground, divesting it from its careful folds. She stepped backwards until her spine pressed against the cold cabin wall but Wolf continued his pursuit.

“I don’t need a haircut.” Subconsciously, she brushed a long lock of copper hair from her face. Her nerves quaked as he stalked closer, the long metal instrument held out before him. Moisture seeped between her thighs.

“Your hair’s not what I had in mind.” He grinned wickedly, extending the twin blades towards her. The metal was smooth and cool against the overheated skin of her throat, compelling a ripple to shudder across her chest.

Grasping her cloak within the scissors’ grip, he twitched the blades. The sharp metal severed the fastenings with a rip. The cloak slipped from her shoulders. Its vacancy exposed her thin white chemise, her only other clothing, beneath.

Wolf’s smile expanded with the exposure of the body-hugging linen. His gaze roamed her curves with the hunger of a starved animal. His wicked expression set her blood aflame. The increased heat warmed her beyond the need of a cloak.

“That’s a good start.” His grin deepened with devilish glee. He raised the scissors to her neckline, pinching the thin linen between the twin blades.

“Don’t you dare,” she sneered through clenched teeth, but the challenge only incited him.

Wolf clamped the handles together, severing the fabric and exposing the upper swells of her breasts with a smile. His eyes glowed at her revealed flesh. The warm puffs of his accelerated breath brushed her skin.

His hands shook as he dropped the scissors. A frustrated growl escaped his lips at the small slit in the fabric the scissors had made. Clenching one side of the thin garment in each hand, he ripped down the centre with one hard pull.

Completely exposed, she shivered as Wolf’s large hands skimmed her feverish body. She fought for breath. Trying to ignore the lust flooding her senses, she focused her anger upon the man before her, smiling like a cat with his first kill.

“Do you have any idea how long it took to make that?” She forced her voice to be as severe as possible, but a traitorous shudder shredded her words.

Wolf’s rough, callused palms danced across her nipples, cupping her breasts. He smiled. The small sign of his pleasure at her reaction had her heart fluttering. He pressed his body into hers. “I’ll have to repay you for the loss with my own skills.”

His words were whispered against her seconds before his lips made contact with her neck. His lips fluttered a chain of kisses down the length. His teeth captured the skin inches from where it met her shoulder. Her nerves sizzled with the warm bite.

Abigail moaned deep in her chest, trying to contain the sound, but failing miserably. She refused to concede so easily to his seductive touch. She needed the fight just as much as he enjoyed the challenge. Without the struggle she’d forever be chained to Wolf by her own unrelenting need.

Wolf kissed down her neck, lavishing the delicate bone of her clavicle with his tongue. His attentions occupied, Abigail grabbed the scissors from his hand. Drawing them away easily and redirecting the instrument towards him, she pressed the cold flat length of the blades against his bare chest.

“Or maybe I should suffer the same treatment upon you.” She ran the pointed tips down the centre of his chest. His breath hitched at the jagged stroke. “Maybe I should cut you wide open.”

Wolf’s face rose, his expression changed. His eyes lost their menacing sheen, softening beneath her gaze. His grin had dropped from his face, replaced with an open, honest smile. It was the same look she found staring down at her after they’d made love, or in the quiet moments she spied his gaze upon her when he thought her otherwise occupied.

This expression filled her with a different kind of heat. Not the drugging, fiery passion she’d come to expect from Wolf’s touch, but a blissfully warm, safe sensation.

“You already have,” he whispered gruffly. “You’ve opened me up and crawled inside. You’ve killed the animal I once was.”

A noise escaped her throat, somewhere between a sob and a sigh, but Wolf understood it. He grabbed the scissors from her shaky hold and placed them hastily on the table before returning to her warm, welcoming embrace. Pulling her close, he captured her lips in a passionate kiss. He twined his fingers in her sunset strands. Cradling her face in his hands, he moulded his body to hers, keeping her warm and loved in his hold.

She pulled him tighter, imploring him to
show
her. To drive her once again to the height of ecstasy. To show him his presence in her life had changed her, too. He’d devoured her, overtaken her senses, until there was nothing left of the scared, dissatisfied woman she used to be. Remaking her into a woman aware of the person she was. Who felt beautiful and loved and happy, as her true self.

Abigail pulled back from him, giving them both a moment to breathe. She gripped his hair tight, divesting it from the careful ponytail. Their gazes met. His eyes, dark and enchanting, consumed her. The electricity of his hold ran along her nerves, heightening her senses.

“What about that debt you owe me?” She smiled wickedly, feeling the dark seductress Wolf had groomed peek out.

Wolf growled his approval against her skin. “Your wish is my command.”

Her responding laughter enveloped them. He nuzzled her neck, following the line down her sternum. He captured a nipple in his mouth, sucking firmly until her laughter transformed into rolling moans.

He scraped his teeth across the sensitive tip, setting every nerve in her body on fire. Abigail shrieked. His suction increased at her response and her nipples contracted into hard knots, needy and wanting.

He circled his hand over her opposite breast, tracing the base and swirling softly towards the peak. Once he reached the very tip, he pinched her swollen nipple, forcing her to gasp. Then he retreated, following the same path back down.

He slid his finger down her body, tiptoeing between the muscles of her abdomen, along the curve of her pelvic bone, until he reached the apex of her thighs. She moaned deep and low in her throat as he explored her sex.

Her throat was dry, thick and tight. A fierce roar exploded from her when he touched a particularly sensitive spot.

“Is this the type of payment you had in mind?” He smiled a wolfish grin. Pulling back, he surveyed her body from her quivering stomach muscles to her tingling mouth desperate for his kisses.

“Yes,” she groaned. She stared down at him through slitted eyes. His lips were covered with a slight sheen. “But you haven’t come anywhere close to paying your debt yet.” She gripped his head hard, until her nails bit into his scalp. As she pulled him closer, his soft lips brushed her skin, sending her stomach fluttering.

“Yes, madam.”

He returned his lips to her breast, merciless in his attention. He pushed his finger inside her, stroking her nerves to heightened sensitivity. Brushing wet, open-mouthed kisses across her skin, he explored her body, finding every spot that made her squirm and shiver. She moaned deep, her toes curling into the floor. How had she ever lived before this?

He licked the curve of her stomach, paying extra attention to sensitive space between her hipbones. Holding her hips tightly, he kept her in place against the wall, while the rest of his body destroyed her equilibrium. He thrust his finger inside her, probing, thrusting, twisting.

His now-smooth chin nestled against the forest of fiery hair at the junction of her legs. He stretched out his tongue to lick the line of hair, igniting a new set of sensations. Her legs shook as he explored lower, licking into the folds of her sex, discovering the small peak hidden within.

“Oh, God, Wolf,” she screamed.

Her thighs ached from being pushed wide to accommodate his shoulders. Molten shakes raced through her body, centred at his touch. She quivered and shook so hard that, without his large body beneath her, she wouldn’t have remained standing. She gripped into his shoulders for support, spurring him on in the same movement.