Wolf’s Princess (31 page)

The giggles died. Rose thought Cayla and Jocelyn looked a little embarrassed, but also interested.

“Sky’s dad?” Rose said, making a production out of counting her stitches.

“Ha-ha,” said Tasha. “No,
Sky
! Come on, any guy who looks like that has to be good in bed. Is he?”

Rose clutched her knitting needles so tightly her palms hurt. She tried to find words to say, but they ran away.

“Aw, look at her blush.” Tasha blew on her nails. “That’s so cute. Come on. Spill it.”

“Uh, w-w-well,” Rose stuttered.

Everyone laughed. Even Ms. Mary couldn’t suppress a girlish giggle.

Cayla set her book down on her knee. “Oh, leave her alone.” Her tone was chiding, but her lips quirked in a suppressed smile. “Rose wouldn’t know the difference. She hasn’t been with anyone except Sky.”

The women stared.

“Really?” said Jocelyn.

“You can tell the difference,” Tasha disagreed. “Even if you’ve been with only one man, you know whether or not you like what he does.” She tossed a smile at Rose. “So, do you like what Sky does to you in bed?”

Heat ignited in Rose. Sky’s kisses were fresh in her memory. “It’s better now.”

Silence fell like a rock. Rose looked around at the women staring at her. “What?”

Sympathy bloomed on Cayla’s face. “Was he rough your first time? I wouldn’t have expected that from him.”

“No,” Rose began, but her voice trailed off in old memories of being pinned to a wall and kissed with savage inexperience.

Jocelyn clicked her tongue. “It’s always rough the first time. Even if the guy is trying to be gentle, things tear, you know?”

“My first time wasn’t bad,” Tasha disagreed. “Ryan was careful.” She smiled at Rose. “Ryan McGrath was my first.”

Rye Thomas, Rose translated. Maybe Tasha would have a chance to meet him again soon.

Time to change the subject. “I thought you all went home for the weekend.”

Tasha snorted. “This is my home.”

Jocelyn played a few melancholy notes. “I usually go for just one night. My brother’s house is too small.”

Tasha made a rude noise. “Your brother is always pissed because you only play the piano here. He’d like it better if you were a businesswoman taking a lot more money home.”

Jocelyn looked down, playing with one of her springy brown curls. “That’s true.”

“Well, I go home for only one night now and then for the opposite reason,” Cayla said. “My family is ashamed of me. Like I had a choice about my work? And it’s better to work here than at Gabe’s Girls. My dad thinks that because I do my job well that I must love it. I don’t. I don’t hate it either. But those of us who work at The Limit get paid a lot more than the other places because we are experts.”

Rose couldn’t resist her curiosity. “Experts? It’s all the same, isn’t it? I mean, uh, the man orgasms the same.”

Tasha fixed wide, horrified eyes on her. “Poor Sky. We need to teach you a few things, honey.”

Rose almost blurted, “No, thank you.” But it could be interesting. Maybe Sky would like it? “Maybe later.”

“There’s a difference between a ten minute bump and grind, and a two hour appointment with one of us,” Tasha said. “A hungry man can eat a bologna sandwich, but it’s not the same as filet mignon, now, is it?”

Rose shook her head.

Cayla snorted. “Did I tell you about that guy I had last night? He must have saved for a year to afford an appointment with me. Some skinny farmer from Missouri. He wrote a letter to reserve his spot, saying he wanted the works. So I planned to show him the best time he’d ever had in his life. And what does he do? Tells me to undress and get in bed. Then he takes all of three minutes to huff and puff and groan over me. Five minutes, from the time he opens the door until he shoots off. Then he gets up, gets dressed, says thank you ma’am, and leaves. He could have got that at Gabe’s for a quarter of the price.”

“Yeah, but now he can say he’s been with a Limit Girl,” said Tasha.

They all laughed again. Rose listened with horrified fascination as the ladies told story after story about their clients. She was listening so hard she found herself knitting when she should have purled and had to rip out several rows of Sky’s sock. She wondered if she would remember these stories every time she saw these socks.

By ten o’clock, Rose had ripped almost as much as she had knitted. She put her knitting away. “Good night,” she said to everyone.

“I’m going out to check on Odell,” Ms. Mary announced. “Come with me, Rose?”

They walked through the dining room and the kitchen in silence. Ms. Mary leaned on Rose’s arm with one hand and carried the lantern in the other. As they left the mudroom for the yard, Ms. Mary spoke quietly. “I hope the girls didn’t bother you, talking about Sky that way.”

“Oh, no.” Rose hoped she didn’t sound as uncomfortable as she felt.

The older woman patted her arm. “Good. They don’t mean any harm. Oh, look. There’s that nice boy, Snow. How is Miss Odell, Mr. Snow?”

Snow leapt off the step of the women’s dorm. “She’s in a lot of pain.” He sounded tortured. “I want to make it stop, but I can’t.”

Ms. Mary passed the lantern to Rose so she could give the strapping wolf warrior a hug. “I know it must be hard for you. Healing takes time, and it’s not pain-free. Miss Nelson is with her?”

“Yeah.”

Silent as a breeze in grass, Stone appeared beside them. He thumped a fist into Snow’s shoulder. “Sara is a good nurse. She’s helping your mate right now.”

“It looks as if everything here is going as well as can be expected.” Ms. Mary took Rose’s arm again. “Good night, gentlemen.”

Up in her bedroom, Rose set her knitting on the floor beside the dresser. What a long day. Rose sagged into the wooden chair. Too much had happened today for her to be able to keep track of it. Starting with this morning, when Sky had driven her nearly crazy with kisses, right here in this bed. Of course, she had ruined that trying to make his testicles into flatbread. If it had happened to someone else she would have thought it was funny. But the expression of agony on Sky’s face…A slightly hysterical giggle escaped. Okay, maybe it was a little funny. Remembering Odell’s injuries banished the amusement.

Weariness dragged at her as she stood up to be sure the window was firmly shut. She didn’t want Mitzi to come in and attack Sky again. How did that cat keep getting in here? She pulled off her blouse and tossed it on the bed before leaning to pull her sleeping shirt from under the pillow.

At the sound of the door opening, Rose snatched her discarded blouse off the bed and held it protectively over her chest. “Sky! What are you doing here? I thought you were going to be out late.”

He stood in the door, crisp white shirt unbuttoned to hang open, suit coat slung carelessly over his shoulder, the glare of electric light gleaming on the hard ripple of his abs. His stare was almost tangible. Rose shivered under the weight of it. “I’m back,” he said. “I couldn’t concentrate on my cards because all I could think about was kissing you.”

A flush of pleasure warmed her. Not sexual pleasure—well, maybe a little of it was sexual—but happiness that the kisses had affected him as much as they had her. “Well, step out for a minute so I can put on my nightgown and robe.”

The door closed with a quiet snick. “You won’t need them tonight.” Sky moved to her with the easy saunter of a predator who’d found his prey, the same glide she’d seen so often in his cousins, and then his hands fisted in her hair and his mouth fastened over hers with hot greed.

For a moment she was back in the dark hallway at the den, a frightened and overwhelmed sixteen year old girl being manhandled by a bossy boy only a year older. That feeling dropped away at once. She wasn’t sixteen anymore. She knew who she was, and she knew what she wanted. Maybe she should have let Tasha give her some pointers. She returned Sky’s kiss with all the passion locked inside her. With her hands exploring the feel of his arms and shoulders, only the press of his chest against hers kept her blouse from falling and leaving her exposed. He was hard muscle covered by smooth satiny skin under the cotton of his shirt, and his mouth pushed all other thoughts out of her head. His hand, large and warm, smoothed down her bare back, and then up to smooth over the side of her breast.

Her bare breast.

She managed to force an inch of space between them, panting. “Wait. What are you doing?”

“Princess, if you have to ask that, I must be doing something wrong.”

He clamped his hands over her rear end and hauled her so close she could feel the ridge of his arousal dig into her belly. She couldn’t stop herself from rubbing against him, needing to ease the hot ache in her body. She was a virgin, but she knew what her body wanted. Even a few days ago, she might have hesitated, but at this moment she knew what she craved. It wasn’t just her body. All of her needed Sky.

“Tonight,” he said in a harsh whisper against her neck. “I’ve waited a long time for you, Rose. Tonight, in the bed right behind you, you’re going to accept my mate claim.”

“I am?” Her voice lifted in a cracked squeak that turned to a breathy moan when his mouth closed over her breast. She had never felt anything like it. All her curiosity about sex, her private carnal longings, rushed to the place between her thighs. Using her fingertips on either side of his jaw, she raised his face to meet his eyes. “Yeah, Sky, I am. I accept your mate claim.”

Joy blazed on his face. His lips trembled when they spread in a smile. Just before he pressed his cheek to hers she caught a gleam of tears brighten his eyes.

“Oh, God, I’ve waited…I was afraid…” he murmured, his voice thick and hoarse, as if he had something in his throat. “I was afraid you’d repudiate me.”

His hair was soft on her lips. “I tried. Taye wouldn’t let me. Neither would you.”

He lifted his head to smile down at her. “Thank God for Taye.”

“I was pretty frustrated at the time.” She smiled a little, remembering how she’d begged to be allowed to court Jasper. Right now she could barely remember what Jasper looked like. “We don’t need to talk about that right now, do we? Isn’t there something else we could be doing?”

“Yes.” He laughed unsteadily, raising a finger to trace her lips. “I’ll be gentle.”

When he reached to turn out the light she caught his arm. “Leave the light on.”

“Okay.”

He took a short step back and looked his fill at her naked torso. Her nipples pebbled under the heat of his gaze. A shiver went through her when he touched a single fingertip to her collarbone and dragged it down her chest to trace circles on one breast, each circle smaller, until his finger rested on her nipple. When he flicked his nail back and forth over the tight point, liquid heat burned between her legs. He knew it, too. She could see his feral smile as he inhaled.

She reached to nudge his shirt aside so she could look at the tattoo on his pec. It made her smile to see it. When she laid her hand over the wolf, his heart pounded under her fingers. She could feel it and it excited her to know her touch could do that to him.

With a few impatient movements he shed his shirt. When she reached for the button on her pants he stopped her. “No, let me.”

No one had undressed her since she was two. “No, let me undress you first.”

He stepped back with a smile, holding his arms out to the side. “Here I am.”

The last person she had undressed had been Little Feather, and his clothing had consisted of a diaper. That probably didn’t count. She wasn’t familiar with belts or men’s dress trousers, but she managed to keep herself from fumbling. The belt came open with a merry jingle. Rose drew in a slow breath, looking at the outline of his…What should she call it? Penis? Cock? Erection? It was obvious beneath the loose fabric of his pants and she couldn’t tear her gaze from it.

He saw her looking. “I want you,” he whispered. “I always want you, but right now it’s almost painful. I want to tear your clothes off. I want you and me, naked, on the bed. But don’t worry. I’ll take this slow.”

“Not too slow?” she said, trying for confident teasing. It came out in a squeak.

“Only as slow as you want,” he promised. “Unbutton my pants. Then you can really see what you’re looking at.”

Rose swallowed, feeling very much like a timid virgin. “Um, yeah.”

She refused to be timid, and she wouldn’t be a virgin for much longer. Swallowing again, she slid the button out of its hole and eased the zipper down.
Holy cow
. She stared. She had seen penises before. It was impossible to avoid doing that with the men at the den changing forms in plain view, but she’d never seen one erect. She peeled his pants down farther to see all of him. She didn’t know if he was longer or thicker than other men, but he certainly looked thick and long to her. The head of his penis was darker than the shaft, and only a sprinkling of dark hair covered his testicles. She found his penis oddly beautiful.

“No underwear,” she murmured, stroking a hand down his hard flat stomach to the tender skin just above his penis.

He shuddered. “No.” He toed his shoes off and struggled out of his pants to stand before her completely naked. “Touch me, Rose,” he ordered. “Bend down and touch me.”

The commanding tone almost made her step back. She stood very straight and raised her eyebrows. “Yes, Master,” she said sweetly.

A silent laugh shook him. Rose was fascinated by the way it made his erection bob. “Dear, sweet mate, please touch me,” he corrected himself.

He was warm in her hand, the skin of his shaft silky smooth. She could feel his pulse throbbing against her fingers. She wasn’t done with him yet, but crouching was uncomfortable. She stood up and smoothed her hands over his shoulders, down his arms, and together under his scrotum. She weighed it in her hand, gently pressing to feel his testicles. He groaned.

She froze. “Sorry! Did I hurt you?”

“No. This morning you hurt me.” His smile was lazy even though his breath was fast. “This? You can hurt me like this all you want.” He carefully removed her hand. “But that reminds me. I’m going to make sure that damn cat isn’t in here. I am not going to be attacked for making love to my mate tonight.”