Chapter 5
Lily
“How much do you know about shifters?” Dean watched me intently, as if he was trying to read my every thought.
“Very little. And I should probably question the accuracy of what I think I know,” I admitted. I wondered where he was going with this. And why he had to stop kissing me to ask.
“There’s something about shifters I need you to know before we continue. I should have already told you. I wanted to tell you earlier.” He took a deep breath. “I never thought I’d have to explain it to a human, so I apologize if I mess it up.”
“You’re making me nervous. I already know you turn into an animal. What’s harder to understand than that?”
He scrubbed his face with his hand. “Shifters all have fated mates. The person we’re meant to be with and love. Our animals recognize them instinctively.”
Oh god. He must be telling me this so I wouldn’t get any ideas about a relationship with him. That all we were was a hookup. My face burned and I couldn’t look him in the eye. Did he believe I was over here pining for him? I hadn’t been thinking about forever. I hadn’t even been thinking past the moment. Although now that I knew it was off the table, my heart ached, and tears threatened to rise. Like I had lost something I didn’t even know I wanted.
I swallowed, my throat thick. “I understand.”
“You do?” He looked surprised. “I thought you’d have questions.”
“No questions. You explained it well.” I peeled at the label on my beer. “Your mate will be a lucky woman. You’re a great guy.”
He swore. “Apparently, I didn’t explain it well. You’re my mate.”
I froze, my only movement a steady blinking. I even stopped breathing for a minute before the air rushed out, and I licked my lips as I tried to make sense of what he said. How could I be his mate? Was this some shifter pickup line? Tell a human she’s meant to be his and wait for her to fall into bed with him?
I narrowed my gaze at him. “Does that line really work for you?”
His brow furrowed. “What line?”
“Some women might fall for it, but I’m not that stupid.”
“You think I’m trying a pickup line on you?” His nostrils flared, and he turned my chair to face him, caging me in with his arms. “It’s not a line. It’s the truth.”
“I’m human. We don’t have mates. So I can’t be yours.” I folded my arms across my chest and fanned the flames of my anger. I’d rather be angry than hurt.
“It happens sometimes.” He growled before pausing, as if searching for the right words. “I knew the moment I smelled you. And I know you feel the connection. It won’t be as strong as for me, but it’s there.”
I thought about how safe I felt with him. How easy it was to talk to him and open up to him. Every part of me yearned for him, craved his presence. Just being near him soothed something inside me I didn’t know needed soothing. Was he telling the truth? I met his gaze. His gray eyes were earnest and unwavering. I wanted to believe him.
He wrapped his hand around the back of my neck and pulled me closer, resting his forehead against mine. We traded breaths for a moment before he said hoarsely, “You’re my everything, Lily.”
“That’s a lot.”
“It’s the shifter way.”
I lifted my hand and laid my palm against his chest. His heart beat was steady, unlike mine, which raced and his breaths even while mine were choppy. I closed my eyes and drank in the feel and scent of him. He smelled of the woods, and something wild. I matched my breathing to his and soon my racing heart slowed, syncing with his. We were in a little bubble together, and my only thought was I didn’t want it to end.
I crushed my lips to his, and he didn’t hesitate to kiss me back. He hauled me onto his lap, his powerful arms embracing me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and my fingers twisted in his hair as our kiss deepened. He squeezed my hip, kneading the flesh, as he hardened beneath me. My core flooded in response. I rubbed my legs together, wiggling on his lap, wanting, needing, pressure against that most intimate part of my body.
He stood, shifting me in his arms until my legs gripped his sides and my throbbing lower half pressed against his stomach. He kissed me again, his tongue plunging inside my mouth, mimicking what I really craved. His fingers dug into the back of my thighs as he tore his mouth from mine. “I want you in my bed.”
He strode across the main floor to the staircase and practically ran up the steps. We passed two bedrooms and a bathroom before he pushed open the door at the end of the hallway. I barely had time to take in the masculine bedroom, the walls and windows bare, before he laid me on the navy blanket covering his enormous bed. The only other furniture was a large wooden dresser and a chair in the corner with clothes piled on it.
He followed me down to the bed, covering my body with his. Hands stroked up my bare thighs to where my skirt bunched around my waist. He found the zipper and slid the skirt off before making quick work of my blouse, leaving me laying there in just my panties and bra. For a second, I wished I had sexy matching underwear, but the heated look in his eyes had me dismissing the thought.
I tugged at his shirt and he helped me remove it, baring his muscular chest with a sprinkling of hair. I caressed him from his shoulders to where his pants hung low on his waist, increasing the pressure as I gained confidence. Dean let me explore, and I kneaded his muscles and skimmed my palms across his nipples. He sucked in a sharp breath, but stayed still, and I moved down to press kisses against his hot skin, trailing lower until I reached his waistband.
He tugged me back up the bed. “As much as I want you to keep going, I won’t last if you do. I need to be inside you.”
Despite his words, he didn’t seem to be in a rush. He brushed his lips over my collarbone as he dragged my bra straps down my arms. Open-mouthed kisses traced a path to my chest, leaving a wet trail he blew lightly on. I moaned and wriggled on the bed, wanting more, but he continued his slow exploration, never quite reaching the buds that were desperate for his attention.
Finally, he unclasped my bra and threw it to the side, taking my breasts in his hands and squeezing. His thumbs tweaked my nipples and he bit lightly at the soft flesh before touching his tongue to the aching tips. I arched my back, offering myself to him, and he accepted by encasing my right nipple in his hot mouth. He sucked, his teeth scraping against the hard nub as his hand continued to play with my other breast. He was thorough in his exploration, leaving me panting for air before he switched to the other side.
His hands stroked lower, gliding across my stomach and coming to rest on the sides of my panties, squeezing my hips before easing the material down my legs. He was away from me only long enough to finish getting naked before he settled with his head between my thighs. He wasted no time in reaching out to stroke me there, his fingers gliding through the evidence of my arousal.
“You’re so wet for me,” he rasped, lifting his hand to his mouth and licking the moisture he collected. “And you taste so good.”
He dove at my core and began licking, holding my legs wide with his hands to give him better access. I whimpered and moaned, my upper body twisting against the bed beneath me while he held my lower body still with his firm hands. His tongue skated across my clit and I tried to buck, but couldn’t. There was no escaping the pleasure he wrung from my body. He drove me higher until I focused on nothing but him and what he was doing to me.
“Please,” I begged, fisting the bedspread in my hands. “I need…I need...”
He smiled against me and I worried he would continue to drag it out, but then he sucked my clit into his mouth just as he slid a finger inside me and I flew apart, screaming his name. It seemed like the pleasure stretched on forever. When I came down, he was hovering over me, the tip of his cock nudging at my entrance. He swooped down and kissed me deeply as he surged forward, filling me. His mouth swallowed my cries, and he stilled, waiting for me to adjust.
Soon I was gripping his back, urging him on, and he rocked back and forth, picking up the pace as I moved beneath him. I didn’t recognize the breathy voice coming from me, pleading with him to take me harder. He lifted my legs and pounded into me, filling me completely. My eyes drifted closed, and he growled. “Look at me.”
I instantly responded to his command, meeting his intense gaze. I couldn’t look away now if I tried. My breath came out in short pants as my peak approached. This time, I wanted him with me, so I squeezed my muscles around his cock, his rhythm faltering briefly before moving even faster. He lifted my arms over my head, holding them in place as his hips slammed against mine.
My world narrowed to the gray of his eyes, and the building climax. He held my gaze as waves of pleasure rolled over me, my body shuddering as I twitched and arched from the shocks and sparks. He continued pounding me through my orgasm, his movements becoming jerky as he followed me into bliss, spurting deep inside of me, my name on his lips.
He rolled us over so his weight wouldn’t crush me, and I clung to his side, not wanting the moment to end. His arms wrapped around me, holding me close as if he felt the same way. We were both slick with sweat, our bodies heaving from the exertion, and my thighs were sticky. But I’d never experienced anything close to the satisfaction and wonder that I did while laying in Dean’s arms.