Lifting his mouth, he murmured his request against her damp skin. “Unzip my jeans.” Then he went back to nuzzling her beautiful breasts.
“Do you have a condom?”
He paused in midnuzzle, confused as to why she’d ask him that. He didn’t need condoms. Never had. Never would. Then the truth of the situation penetrated his hormone-soaked brain.
She’d asked because she was human. Humans needed condoms to prevent unplanned pregnancies and disease. Rachel didn’t know anything about werewolves, so she didn’t know they didn’t have to worry about either. They were immune to diseases and could reproduce only with their bonded soul mate. But because he’d never had sex with a human before, he hadn’t realized she wouldn’t understand any of that.
Reluctantly leaving the erotic contemplation of her plump breasts, he raised his head to look into her gray eyes. They reminded him of storm clouds heavy with rain, begging for release. He wanted to give her that release, and very soon, too.
He’d rather not have to take time for a lengthy explanation about werewolves and birth control. “Weres don’t use condoms.”
Lightning flashed in her storm-cloud eyes. “If they intend to have sex with me, they do.”
He definitely intended to have sex with her, but he didn’t have a single condom in the house. If he’d had one, he would have used it to forestall an argument. But he’d never bought one in his life.
He tried to keep the explanation concise. He had things to do, orgasms to give. “We’re disease resistant and we can’t get a female pregnant unless we’ve been through the mating ritual.”
“I’ve heard that line before and I didn’t buy it then, either.”
He sucked in a breath. “From a werewolf?”
“No, from a guy who didn’t like wearing little raincoats on his pride and joy. He claimed to be disease-free and sterile. I kicked him out of bed.”
“I’m different.”
“I won’t argue that point, but the part about not getting me pregnant sounds fishy.” She looked him in the eye. “We need to rethink this.”
He wanted to howl in frustration. They’d been so close! More than close, actually. She was completely naked and he could be naked in no time. Except she didn’t trust him without a condom in hand or, more precisely, on his cock.
Time for a compromise. He stroked her thighs. “At least let me make you come.”
“No.” She grasped his wrists. “That could be a trick. You give me a lovely orgasm, and while I’m feeling all loose and accommodating, you get busy.”
“I’m insulted that you’d believe that of me.”
“Anyone who tries to have sex without a condom is suspect in my book.” She shoved at his bare chest. “Go on, now. Move away so I can get down and put my clothes on.”
“What can I do to convince you?”
“I don’t know, Jake. I’m not an easy sell on this point.” She hopped down from the counter and began gathering her clothes.
“It’s not like I can run up to the store and buy some. Ted’s closed up for the night, and besides, I wouldn’t dare buy them from him when he knows we’re hanging out together.”
“Yeah, that would be a bad idea.” She shrugged. “Oh, well. I know you have ice cream in your freezer. Shall we have some dessert?”
Her nonchalance about this irritated him to no end. He ached from not following through on what they’d started. She must be in bad shape, too, but she wasn’t willing to let on.
Now she wanted to act as if a bowl of chocolate ice cream would suit her in place of a mind-blowing climax. That was insulting to his abilities as a lover. He could give her way more pleasure than that stupid ice cream.
He blew out a breath. “That’s a damn poor substitute for the dessert I had in mind.”
“Maybe so, but we can both enjoy it without worrying about consequences other than a sugar high.”
“I’ll dish it up.” He buttoned his shirt as he stomped over to the freezer. He was already thinking of a way he might be able to prove to her that he didn’t need condoms when they had sex. But it would involve breaching Were security even more than he already had.
How far was he willing to go to satisfy this craving? Pretty far, apparently.
Chapter 12
Bitterly disappointed in Jake, Rachel sat in his easy chair eating ice cream and wishing he could have been the wonderful lover she’d imagined he would be. She’d tried to settle the condom issue early on, but he hadn’t let her talk to him. Then he’d been ready to blow right past the subject with some weird mumbo jumbo about werewolves not needing them.
Yeah, right. Maybe next he’d try to sell her oceanfront property in Arizona. She might be running a sexual deficit these days, but she wasn’t bankrupt enough to chance a condomless encounter with Jake Hunter, no matter how gorgeous he was.
While she sat in the easy chair, he paced the living room, eating from his ice cream bowl as he roamed around. Probably walking it off—
Pausing in his circuit of the room, he faced her. “You wanted to know more about the werewolf community, right?”
“Sure.” He was trying to get on her good side, and she had to admit he was going about it the right way. She was dying of curiosity. She suspected that Duncan’s book wouldn’t be available at a normal bookstore or online outlet, but she wanted a copy. If Jake fell asleep, which he’d have to do eventually, she’d go read the rest of it while she had the chance.
“Naturally Weres can’t use the Internet without being found out, so we’ve created our own digital communication system that only Weres can access. Duncan has a blog on it. I have a website for WARM there, too. We also have a version of Twitter, only we call it Sniffer.”
Rachel couldn’t help smiling. “That’s funny.”
“Want to see it work?”
She gazed up at him. “You know how to tempt a girl, don’t you, Jake?”
He didn’t deny it. “I could get in huge trouble for showing you this, but . . .” He shrugged. “I’m already in huge trouble, and you’ll learn more about us this way. Maybe that’s a good thing, like you said.”
She wasn’t fooled. “You’re going to round up some support for your claim about not needing condoms while you’re on this Sniffer thing, aren’t you?”
“It’s a thought.”
She fell into a fit of giggles. “Were or human, male animals are all the same. They think with their dicks.”
“Hey! I’ve wanted to seduce you for three years! I’ve controlled that urge because it was inappropriate. I didn’t give in until you were right under my nose. You’re damned right I’m focused on my cock.”
“Fair enough.” She glanced around. “Where’s your computer? I don’t remember seeing one when I . . . when I was here earlier.”
“What you meant to say was you didn’t see one when you invaded my private space late this afternoon. Isn’t that right?”
She finished the last of her ice cream and scraped the bowl with her spoon. “I felt justified.”
“Want more ice cream?”
“No, thank you.” She stood and walked into the kitchen with her bowl. “FYI, you have some broken dishes in the sink.” She thought about why they were broken and sexual excitement curled within her.
“It was almost worth it.”
She walked back into the living room. “Smart-ass. It’s not my fault that you came to the party without a present.”
