can heal faster this way.”
That made sense. He reached out to stroke her fur but withdrew his hand before it made a connection.
“You won’t hurt her. The worst has healed.”
Watching Danica’s side rise and fall as she slept, he shrugged. “Does it always happen this fast?”
When she didn’t answer, he turned and noticed her perplexed expression. “The mating.”
Color rose in her cheeks and she turned her head. “I don’t know. I’m twenty-five, and I’m a baby, according to my brothers and father. They don’t let me far from their sight.” She rolled her eyes and put aside the bowl with the creamy concoction she’d brought with her. “But, I’ve seen some mates meet and bond in the same day. I’ve been told that you just know when you meet the one you belong with. Cam and Blaine have been doing the mating dance since she came of age.”
“Came of age?”
She stood and moved to the window. Nevan was about to tell her never mind, that he hadn’t meant to embarrass her, when she answered the question. “It’s when a female shifter enters her first heat cycle.”
“And you haven’t?” When she shook her head and didn’t look at him, he cursed. “Sorry, that was too personal.”
“Oh, no. It’s okay. I’m just a late bloomer. Most females go through their first cycle by their twenty-third birthday.” She fell silent and peered at the door.
A few seconds later, the door opened slowly, and Jared stepped into the room. Nevan suppressed a groan and nodded at the male in greeting. Jared gave a sharp nod back and asked, “How is she? How did this happen?”
Shay narrowed her eyes at him. “Blaine thinks it was poachers setting up traps.”
“It’s too close to home. What are the Enforcers doing?”
“We’re doing our job.” Cameron spoke from the open door. “Stop being an ass, Jared.”
“All right. Dani needs her rest.” Shay pushed away from the window and shooed everyone out. She sent Nevan a wink before she shut the door with a soft click.
Silence filled the bedroom. Movement on the bed startled him. Turning to check on Danica, he gasped at her naked, lean body stretching. His erotic, beautiful shifter.
She smiled and placed her palm against his cheek. “I thought they’d never leave.”
He raised a brow. “How long have you been awake?”
“Long enough to hear about coming of age.” She laughed and growled as if in pain.
He jumped up on his knees to hover over her. “What is it?”
“Just bruising.” When she lifted her lids to meet his disbelieving stare, she took a deep breath.
Nevan held in his smile, knowing she was trying not the laugh. “Honest. It hurts to laugh.”
He frowned and caressed her cheek with the backs of his fingers. “Why did you go outside? I mean how did you get caught in the wire?”
She sighed. “I heard something. It’s not uncommon for humans to set up camp in the woods near here. Even in this weather. Crazy humans. So I changed into a leopard and went out to scare off whatever it was. I walked right into the barbwire. It was never there before. This is Ashwood land.
There shouldn’t have been a fence there.”
Wanting to easy her growing distress, he bent down and kissed her forehead. “I’ll go warm up the soup Shay brought.”
She stopped him with a palm on his chest. “I’m not hungry.”
“She said it would help.”
“It will help me sleep. I don’t want to sleep.”
His cock perked up at her provocative tone and the desire in her gaze. She couldn’t mean…
She pressed her index finger on his lips. “Stop thinking.”
He opened his mouth and took her finger inside with his tongue. Her sharp intake of breath enticed him to take what he wanted. Screw logic and screw his analytical mind that felt it was necessary to find reason in everything he did. It’d been too long since he had enjoyed the touch of another. The longer he was near Danica, the stronger the urge became.
“Are you sure you’re healed enough?”
She raised the brows, and her mouth curved into a seductive smile. “Are
Was he ever? It was time to move on. His time with Becca had been wonderful, and he still loved her, but he’d never felt the way he did with Danica. For the first time in years, he felt he had a future waiting for him. “Yes. I can’t not have you.”
“Good.” She cupped his head and drew him in for a kiss.
Nevan deepened the kiss. He trailed his hand down her side to her thigh and lifted so her leg wrapped around his. She let out a soft moan that sounded more like a purr.
She tugged his shirt up and slid her hand underneath. Nevan gasped and jerked. “Your hands are cold,” he said against her lips.
Giggling, she slipped her other one under the shirt. “Then warm them.”
“You like being a naughty kitty?”
She raised her head and bit his earlobe. “Yes.”
He stood, putting distance between them before he came in his jeans. Danica was an erotic beauty lying on her back, bare, with desire in her eyes. She cupped her left breast and rolled the nipple between her fingers. His dick pressed harder into the zipper of his pants. Without releasing his stare, she moved her other hand down her stomach to slip her fingers between the folds of her pussy.
He was sure she was torturing him. He ripped the shirt over his head and removed his pants. She let out a soft cry of pleasure. Nevan took her wrist and lifted her fingers to his mouth. A sharp intake of breath escaped her when he sucked on her fingers. He met her green-eyed stare, now heavy with desire, and moved to kneel between her legs.
Leaning forward, he placed a kiss on her belly and trailed light kisses down to her inner thigh where he bit lightly. She whimpered and sank her fingers into his hair to grip a handful. He lifted his head to peer into her passion-filled eyes and held her stare as he licked her clit. Her leg shook, and he felt her mounting pleasure as well as his own. He snaked two fingers through her slick folds then entered her while continuing to stroke her clit with his thumb. Another cry of pleasure escaped her. He picked up his tempo, increasing the building pleasure until an orgasm shook her body.
Nevan crawled up her body as another shudder left her body and positioned his cock at her entrance. Her dreamy-eyed green gaze locked with his and slowly slid inside her and groaned. She was so perfect, as though she’d been made for him. Wrapping her legs around his, Danica urged him closer. Her nails pierced the skin on his back. The sharp sting faded into a pleasure so intense it surged through his body like a current. He quickened his pace as Danica’s pussy milked him until an orgasm tore through him at the same time Dani cried out with one of her own.
Chapter 6
The afternoon sun shone through the blinds, casting streams of light across the floor. Danica stretched her pleasantly sore muscles. The things Nevan had done to her rolled around in her mind, rousing the hunger again. Damn, that man was fast becoming her addiction. She rolled over and frowned at the empty side of the bed. Wondering where he’d gone, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and peered at the clock.
She’d never slept in that late. Then again, she’d had the best sex of her life. A snicker tumbled from her lips, followed by a sigh at the smell of bacon on the air. Her stomach growled, pushing her into motion. Grabbing her robe, she secured it in place and went down the hall to the kitchen.
Entering the kitchen, she had to fight a moan. Nevan stood in front of the stove in nothing but jeans. She stepped up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Aren’t you cold?”
