secret to keep for a lifetime. And if he loves you, he’s not going to think you’re crazy.” Jake knew that much for sure. Any male in love with Rachel would know she wouldn’t lie to him.
She moved close enough to lay her palms against his chest. “I will keep this secret for a lifetime.” Her eyes glowed with purpose and something he dared not name. “Whatever relationship I have with this person, Jake, I won’t be sharing my memories of you. Even if I hadn’t promised you to keep my mouth shut, I still wouldn’t share with anyone. Our time together is private.” She lifted her face and brushed her lips over his. “Special.”
With a groan he pulled her into his arms and captured her mouth in a kiss that said all that he could not say. He poured all his longing and frustration into that kiss. She responded by wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing herself tight against him, as if she wanted to climb right inside and never leave.
Unable to help himself, he hoisted her up, backpack and all, so she could wrap both legs around him, too.
She cooperated with the plan and then moved out of kissing range by leaning her head back.
“Hey, don’t stop kissing me.”
“I just want to know where you’re going with this maneuver.”
“Don’t know.” He settled his aching cock against the welcoming vee of her thighs. “Playing it by ear.”
“From the sound of this tune, I suggest we play it inside.”
“Excellent suggestion.” He carried her to the front door and held her tight, not wanting to break the erotic connection, while she unhooked her backpack and located her keys.
She finally found them after much wiggling around. Her cheeks were flushed and her breathing uneven by the time she pulled the key out and fit it in the lock. “I think that counts as foreplay.”
“Good thing, because I’m not in the mood to dawdle once we get in there.”
“Mm.” She tightened her thighs. “How gratifying to have an eager man. I mean, an eager—”
“Lover.” He carried her over the threshold. He liked the sound of
Once they were inside, she dropped the backpack to the floor. “To the right.”
“I remember exactly where it is.” He kicked the door shut and headed for her bedroom. “And how desperately I wanted to be in human form that night so I could do to you then exactly what I’m about to do to you this morning.”
“What if you’d shifted in the kitchen, like you planned? Would you have come back to ravish me?”
“No, couldn’t risk it.” He reached the bed and lowered her to the thick mattress. “But I intend to ravish you, now.”
“Oh, I do hope so.”
“Count on it.” And he reached for her shoe. His undressing technique wasn’t elegant, but it was effective. Her jeans and shoes made it off undamaged, but her panties did not. He didn’t worry about taking off either his shirt or hers. All he needed was access to her wet, juicy . . . ahhh. He sank his cock up to the hilt and was rewarded when she moaned and grasped his hips, tugging him in tighter.
“You never did tell me, Jake.”
“Tell you what?” Bracing himself on his forearms, he gazed into her silver eyes. How he loved watching them darken with pleasure as he began to stroke.
“Whether you like werewolf sex better than human sex.”
“No comparison.” Which was true. Nothing compared with this. He changed the angle slightly and caught his breath at how good that felt.
“Because Were sex is better?” Her breathing grew shallow as she lifted to meet his thrusts.
“No.” He picked up the pace.
“Then human sex is better?” She moaned and arched against him.
“Uh . . . Rachel . . .” As she tightened around him, nearly at the edge, and his climax hovered, poised to follow hers, lust clouded his brain.
“Tell, me, Jake!” She panted with excitement. Her body, hot and trembling, invited him to plunge deeper.
“Rachel . . .” He drove into her and she came in a burst of glory, her cries urging him on. He moved faster, and then even faster. When he erupted, his release curled his toes. “Rachel . . . sex.”
Sometime later, he rested his cheek against her shoulder, still covered with the cotton of her T-shirt. She slid her hand up under his shirt to caress his back. Her touch was so sweet. He lay there with his eyes closed and soaked up the joy of being with her.
She turned her head and kissed his hair. “I heard you say something right at the end, about the time you were coming.”
“Probably
“No, it sounded more like
“Don’t know. Might’ve said that.”
“I think you did.” She kissed his hair again. “Yes, I think that’s what you said.”
He decided not to confirm or deny. But apparently in the frenzy of making love to her, he’d managed to confess his true feelings. He no longer cared about the difference between human and Were sex.
The only female he wanted, Were or human, was Rachel. That had been true even before they’d consummated this love affair, but now it was indelibly burned into his psyche. That could be a problem someday in the future when he had to choose a mate, but he couldn’t change what had happened.
“Jake sex is the best, too,” she said softly. “Just so you know.”
“I shouldn’t be so damned happy to hear that.” His earlier thoughts about causing her pain drifted back to him. He tried to push them away, but they were persistent devils. “I should want this experience to be just okay, so you can leave me and quickly find someone who’s ten times better at pleasing you.”
“You should, but you don’t.” It was a statement, not a question. She continued to stroke his back.
“That’s right. What I’d really like is for you to have no more lovers after me, but that’s completely unrealistic, so I’ll settle for them being less competent than I am.”
“I think it’s good that you’re admitting this,” she said. “We should always tell each other the truth.”
“The truth isn’t very pretty. Now you know that I’m a selfish bastard who doesn’t want another male getting top billing, even if that means you end up with less pleasure in your life as a result. I’m not proud of that.”
She ran her fingers down his backbone. “Why do you suppose I kept pestering you about werewolf versus human sex? I know once you leave me you’ll mate with a werewolf. I don’t want you to have more fun with her than you’ve had with me. So I’m selfish, too.”
He chuckled. “What a fine mess we made for ourselves, huh?”
“I suppose so, but I’m not sorry.”
“I’m not, either.”
“You’re sure?” Her question had a slightly uneasy lilt to it.
“Yep.”
She let out her breath in a whoosh. “That’s a relief, Jake. I was afraid you might be sorry, considering how getting tangled up with me goes against your beliefs.”
“I don’t regret a single second I’ve shared with you. Well, maybe the agony of having you clean my wounds, but even that had its moments.”
“See, that would never happen now. If you hurt yourself, I’d let you handle it.” She fell silent as she continued her lazy caress. “So how many humans are mated with werewolves?”
“Only a handful so far. Why?”
“Just curious.” Her hand grew still. “How has that changed their lives, exactly?”
Jake recognized a leading question when he heard one. He lifted his head to look into her eyes. “It’s changed their lives drastically, Rachel.”
“In what way? I mean, werewolves live as humans a good part of the time, so aside from having your mate shift and go for a run in the woods now and then, what’s so different about living with a werewolf?”
“Everything.” He eased away from her and climbed out of bed. “Let’s take that hike we planned. It’s time you watched me shift.”
“Good. I want to do that.” She scooted off the bed. “I think it’ll be cool.”
“It may not be quite what you think.”
