tell me when I’m overstepping.”
I lifted my hands and pushed at his chest. “Oh yeah, I’ll let you know. Like now, for instance.” Pulling my robe further away, his teeth closed over my bare shoulder and my nails dug into his pectorals reflexively.
Calder growled against my skin. “But you like me where I am now.”
His hands dropped to the belt of my robe, tugging at the ends. When the cool air hit my skin, it was like a slap in the face. My hands moved up to his shoulders, shoving hard. “Stop, Calder.”
His head hit the wall next to mine with a little thud and he groaned. I flinched when his hands slid under the robe to clasp my waist.
“I think we need to take this slowly,” I insisted, breathing heavily.
His head jerked back and he stared at me in disbelief. “What?”
I bit back a smile. “I think that sex will cloud the issues we’re having. It’s better if we don’t rush into it.”
“But we’ve already had sex!” he exploded.
“I thought it would just be one night, Calder. You’re telling me you want something a lot more permanent than that and I’m not willing to jump into a relationship that could end badly. I need to know more about you first.” I paused. “And didn’t you just say this same thing to me last night?” I asked pointedly.
I could practically hear his molars grinding as he stared down at me. It was only fair that I frustrated him as much as he irritated me. “Okay, you’re right.”
As though it pained him greatly, Calder pushed away from me, running his hands through his hair. The frown on his face faded quickly as he studied me.
Feeling uncomfortable, I asked, “What?”
“Well, if we’re going to get to know each other, it only makes sense that I stay here and spend as much time with you as possible. You’ll learn everything about me by the end of the week.”
I froze as I realized that my chances of withstanding Calder’s sex appeal were slim to none if we were practically living together. I’d be lucky if I lasted until his end of the week deadline.
Chapter Nine
Calder
One Week Later
N ow I knew what Hell would be like. If I believed in it, that is.
That’s what the past week had been, sheer hell. At least for me. Ricki seemed fine, almost happy, since the day after she insisted on being moved to Conner’s house.
That day was great. After we talked and she opened up to me a little, I knew that storming her defenses was the last damn thing I needed to do. If I came on too strong, she would bolt like a rabbit, which would only bring out my instinct to chase. Chasing her when she was running scared wouldn’t be the most effective way of gaining her trust, especially since I wanted her unconditional surrender.
Now that we were living in the same house and she wasn’t fighting me every step of the way, the urge to be close to my mate had faded slightly, making it easier for me to think about my plan logically, which was good. However, it created another problem. The longer I was around her, the stronger my instinct to fuck her. Newly mated shifters possessed almost unlimited sexual appetites the first few months. Frequent sex and biting strengthened the bond between them. With another shifter, our mating would have been accepted as a done deal already, but Ricki was another story.
Though she listened to me that first night, she was still holding back. She let me kiss her a few times and touch her breasts, but that was it. I felt like a human high school boy whose girlfriend would hold his hands every time she kissed him goodnight to keep him from copping a feel. It was frustrating as hell. Probably because I was in Hell.
The day Ricki insisted on leaving my house in the pack compound, Kerry told me to figure out what she liked and give it to her. It wasn’t a new concept to me. Shifter males would go out of their way to please their mates, but Ricki was human and I’d assumed things were different between human men and women. Apparently
I lifted my hands and pushed at his chest. “Oh yeah, I’ll let you know. Like now, for instance.” Pulling my robe further away, his teeth closed over my bare shoulder and my nails dug into his pectorals reflexively.
Calder growled against my skin. “But you like me where I am now.”
His hands dropped to the belt of my robe, tugging at the ends. When the cool air hit my skin, it was like a slap in the face. My hands moved up to his shoulders, shoving hard. “Stop, Calder.”
His head hit the wall next to mine with a little thud and he groaned. I flinched when his hands slid under the robe to clasp my waist.
“I think we need to take this slowly,” I insisted, breathing heavily.
His head jerked back and he stared at me in disbelief. “What?”
I bit back a smile. “I think that sex will cloud the issues we’re having. It’s better if we don’t rush into it.”
“But we’ve already had sex!” he exploded.
“I thought it would just be one night, Calder. You’re telling me you want something a lot more permanent than that and I’m not willing to jump into a relationship that could end badly. I need to know more about you first.” I paused. “And didn’t you just say this same thing to me last night?” I asked pointedly.
I could practically hear his molars grinding as he stared down at me. It was only fair that I frustrated him as much as he irritated me. “Okay, you’re right.”
As though it pained him greatly, Calder pushed away from me, running his hands through his hair. The frown on his face faded quickly as he studied me.
Feeling uncomfortable, I asked, “What?”
“Well, if we’re going to get to know each other, it only makes sense that I stay here and spend as much time with you as possible. You’ll learn everything about me by the end of the week.”
I froze as I realized that my chances of withstanding Calder’s sex appeal were slim to none if we were practically living together. I’d be lucky if I lasted until his end of the week deadline.
Chapter Nine
Calder
One Week Later
N ow I knew what Hell would be like. If I believed in it, that is.
That’s what the past week had been, sheer hell. At least for me. Ricki seemed fine, almost happy, since the day after she insisted on being moved to Conner’s house.
That day was great. After we talked and she opened up to me a little, I knew that storming her defenses was the last damn thing I needed to do. If I came on too strong, she would bolt like a rabbit, which would only bring out my instinct to chase. Chasing her when she was running scared wouldn’t be the most effective way of gaining her trust, especially since I wanted her unconditional surrender.
Now that we were living in the same house and she wasn’t fighting me every step of the way, the urge to be close to my mate had faded slightly, making it easier for me to think about my plan logically, which was good. However, it created another problem. The longer I was around her, the stronger my instinct to fuck her. Newly mated shifters possessed almost unlimited sexual appetites the first few months. Frequent sex and biting strengthened the bond between them. With another shifter, our mating would have been accepted as a done deal already, but Ricki was another story.
Though she listened to me that first night, she was still holding back. She let me kiss her a few times and touch her breasts, but that was it. I felt like a human high school boy whose girlfriend would hold his hands every time she kissed him goodnight to keep him from copping a feel. It was frustrating as hell. Probably because I was in Hell.
The day Ricki insisted on leaving my house in the pack compound, Kerry told me to figure out what she liked and give it to her. It wasn’t a new concept to me. Shifter males would go out of their way to please their mates, but Ricki was human and I’d assumed things were different between human men and women. Apparently
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